The Messiah’s Appearance​—When?

THE Babylonian Talmud preserves an interesting legend involving Jonathan ben Uzziel, the translator of the Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew prophets known as the Targums. According to this legend, Jonathan wished to translate the Hagiographa, the final portion of the Hebrew Scriptures, into Aramaic. However, a “heavenly voice” told Jonathan to desist because that portion of the Scriptures contained the date for the Messiah’s appearance.

Interestingly, a prophecy of Daniel (the book of Daniel is a part of the Hagiographa) that we have already seen as specifically referring to the Messiah does contain chronological information regarding his appearance. Consider once again what we are told at Daniel 9:24-27 (Zunz):

“Seventy (year-) weeks have been appointed over you people and over your holy city, to restrain the apostasy and to make an end of sin, and to atone for the error, and to bring everlasting salvation. . . . And you may know and understand: From the going forth of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the Prince, there are seven (year-) weeks; also sixty-two (year-) weeks, so market place and moat will be rebuilt, and that in the pressure of the times. And after the sixty-two (year-) weeks an Anointed One will be destroyed. . . . And he will conclude a strong covenant with many, for one (year-) week, and at the half of the (year-) week he will cancel sacrifice and oblation.”

Notice that this period of time is said to be “seventy (year-) weeks.” The Hebrew expression used here literally means “seventy weeks,” or “seventy heptads.” However, it has generally been understood by Jewish scholars that each week is not seven days long but, rather, seven years long. Accordingly, Rabbi Leopold Zunz rendered the Hebrew as “seventy (year-) weeks” in the translation noted above. (See also Moffatt’s translation rendering, “weeks of years.”) Thus, the entire period of “seventy weeks” runs 490 years.

When does this 490-year period start? According to the prophecy, the starting point is “the going forth of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem.” Was such a decree ever made?

Although Daniel lived to learn of a decree by King Cyrus of Persia in 538/7 B.C.E. to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem, it was almost a century later before a decree was given to rebuild Jerusalem itself. Nehemiah 2:1-8 records how King Artaxerxes Longimanus gave such a decree in the 20th year of his reign. And when was that? The most reliable historical sources tell us that Artaxerxes began his rule in 474 B.C.E., which places his 20th year and his decree in 455 B.C.E.a Hence, this 490-year period began in 455 B.C.E.

When exactly during those 490 years was the Messiah to appear? Notice that the 70 weeks are broken into three periods, namely, of 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and one week. In addition, the prophecy says that the Messiah would appear after both the 7-week and the 62-week periods passed, or after 69 “weeks of years,” or 483 years. We can therefore conclude that the Messiah was prophesied to appear 483 years after 455 B.C.E., or in 29 C.E.

Furthermore, the prophecy indicates that the Messiah would be destroyed or would die after the 62-week period (which followed the 7-week period), and, hence, during the final period of one week’s duration. This final period of seven years was to run from 29 C.E. to 36 C.E. But when during this final week would he die? We are told that “at the half of the (year-) week” the Messiah would “cancel sacrifice and oblation.” As the prophecy had also indicated that the Messiah’s death would provide true atonement for sin, once the Messiah died, any animal sacrifices at the temple would be meaningless. So the prophecy evidently foretold that the Messiah would die “at the half of the (year-) week,” or in 33 C.E.

Did the Messiah actually appear in 29 C.E. and die in 33 C.E.? As we have already seen, the Jews of that first century were eagerly expecting the Messiah at that time. (Luke 3:15) But of all the Messianic claimants of the first century, only one appeared on the world scene in 29 C.E. and died in 33 C.E., and that was Jesus of Nazareth!​—Compare Luke 3:1, 2.

As we have also seen, Jesus’ first-century followers not only were able to harmonize events in Jesus’ life with Hebrew Scripture prophecies but were also convinced, by Jesus’ appearances after his death, that he was resurrected and would return one day to rule as the Messianic King and bring in the foretold era of peace.

But where does this leave us today? It is now about 2,000 years since Jesus died, and we have not yet seen that foretold era of peace. However, Jesus himself foretold what conditions would exist at the time of the “last days” of this present system of things and the full establishment of the Messianic Kingdom of God.​—Matthew, chapter 24, and Luke, chapter 21.

If this is so, it would mean that we could live to see the time when “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; . . . and the lion shall eat straw like the ox,” the time when people “shall not hurt nor destroy.”​—Isaiah 11:1-10.

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