Prophecy groups and some denominations today are teaching that the Temple in Jerusalem must be rebuilt for certain Prophecies in Daniel 9 [1] to be fulfilled.
The Archangel Gabriel speaking to Daniel:
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. Daniel 9:25
And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. Daniel 9:24-27
Examine the verses closely: Daniel does not mention rebuilding the Temple in these verses. As a matter of fact, nowhere in the Book of Daniel does he say anything directly about "rebuilding the Temple". Daniel does state that Nebuchadnezzar took the things he did out of the First Temple, and that the Second Temple (not yet constructed) would be destroyed!
The verses above do speak of "restoring and rebuilding Jerusalem" and "the street amd wall"; not the Temple proper. Remember this as it will become important as we go along.
The doctrine rooted in Dispensationalism which insists that the "seven year great tribulation" represents the "final seven years of The Jewish Age" which G-d "still owes the Jewish people" is in question. It denies the Fulfillment of Daniels' "70th week".
They say that G-d still owes the Jewish people seven years based on Daniel 9:27[3] They also say that the Christian Church has unrighteously taken for themselves the Prophecies of the Old Testament and misapplied them to the Church, when they really belong "to Israel" (the Jewish people). The Church, they say, was unknown to all the OT Prophets. They use words like stolen and theft concerning the OT Promises. All this is contrary to Amos 3:7,8, but that is another matter. On to the study at hand.
Moving on in our investigation, and to understand Daniel 9, we first have to choose what command is to be used. Let us therefore look at the three commands.
THE THREE COMMANDS
Some say that the Prophecy in Daniel 9:25 specifically points to the rebuilding of the Temple. They cite both Ezra and Nehemiah together as their sources. But in Ezra there is one command by Cyrus I (Cyrus the Great) in 538 B.C., (Ezra 1:1); another by Artaxerxes in Ezra 7:7 in 458 B.C.; and still another in Nehemiah, again by Artaxerxes, in 444 B.C. (Nehemiah 2:1)
Which command applies?
THE FIRST COMMAND OF CYRUS (EZRA 1:1)
The command to rebuild the Temple was clearly given in 538 B.C. by Cyrus I to Ezra to "fulfill the words of Jeremiah". (Ezra 1:1).
We should pay special attention to the fact that it does NOT say to "fulfill the words of Daniel."!!!
The Temple was rebuilt under Zerubbabel, completed and Dedicated in 516 B.C. (Ezra 6:16)
THE SECOND COMMAND BY ARTAXERXES (EZRA 7:7)
The second command in our study was the first command by Artaxerxes to restore an already completed Temple. It was given in 458 B.C. in the 7th year of his reign. Ezra 7:7. It says nothing of rebuilding the Temple, After all, the Temple was completed in 516!
THE THIRD COMMAND (NEHEMIAH 2:1)
A third command in our study was the second given by Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 2:6) in 444 B.C. in Nehemiah Chapter 2, which actually says nothing about rebuilding the Temple either. It says the "street shall be built again, and the wall". Nehemiahs' request to Artaxerxes was concerning "walls and gates" as seen in Nehemiah 2:3.
The palace had been attacked and the walls torn down and gates burned, but there is no mention of the Temple itself. The Temple was still standing. This was "the Second Temple" completed under Zerubbabel. (op. cit.) There is no suggestion that any "third Temple" was constructed or Dedicated under Nehemiah. Only repairs to the city and walls and gates, not the commencement of rebuilding the Temple.
The first command of Artaxerxes in 458 B.C. (Ezra 7:7) is the one Prophesied in Daniel 9:25 which Fulfills Daniels' 70th week and not the first command of Cyrus I. If the commad of Cyrus (458) is used there is no way to have that work out to be 490 years, nor the command in 444 B.C. which they say fulfills only the 69th week. Yet they insist this one (444) fits. How? We shall see how they get that a little later.
RESOLVED:
Can it be proved by Scripture that Daniels' 70th week has already been Fulfilled? We believe it can. We will seek to conclusively demonstrate this with the following evidence, so please have your Bibles ready for action:
WHY ALL THE CONCERN?
All the concern is because the 70th week is either Fulfilled or it isn't. If it is, then the entire Dispensational argument becomes false. Therefore, the specific "clock" given by the Archangel Gabriel in Daniel 9:24 has to start with either one command or another. There is a critical time difference between all three commands concerning Daniels' 70th week, so let's look at them.
538 B.C. (EZRA 1:1)
If we start counting forward from Cyrus' command in 538 B.C. counting forward 490 years we arrive at 48 B.C. There was no known Messiah Revealed at that time. Moreover, in 63 B.C., we did have the fall of Jerusalem to the Roman General Pompey, and Judah ceasing to be a state! This would not have outwardly been a very "Messianic" indication if we were counting from 538 B.C.!
458 B.C. (EZRA 7:7)
On the other hand, if we calculate forward 490 years from the second command, (the first by Artaxerxes in 458 B.C.) we arrive at 33 A.D. Was there a Messiah Announced then? Yes! This was the Revealing of Yeshua (Jesus): thus the Fulfillment of Daniel 9:24.
444 B.C. (NEHEMIAH 2:1)
If we calculate 490 years from this date we arrive at 45 A.D. This was after the fact. But remember, that is using a solar calendar. We will learn soon why the Dispensationalists try to use a lunar calendar here instead! But first, we will explode the "exact day fallacy" of the Dispies.
"THE EXACT DAY" FALLACY BASED ON NEHEMIAH 2
Dispensationalists are very fond of saying they "know the precise time" of the fulfillment of Daniel 9 "to the exact day"! Is this so, or not? As we have seen, they have hitched their wagons to Nehemiah 2:1 (444 B.C.). Look and see for yourself. It doesn't take a genius to see that there is a month given in Nehemiah 2:1, but NO DAY! How could they then know the day? They can't! What's going on here but trickery on someones' part and the rest following like lemmings?[5]
Away with this Dispensational fallacy! Where IS there a day given? Ezra 7:9. (458 B.C.) Look and see. The month and day are there. Another obvious reason to accept 458 B.C. and count forward 490 years to 33 A.D. where we clearly find the Fulfillment of Daniels' 70th week in Yeshuas' Sacrifice.
ALSO, ANIMAL SACRIFICES TO BE RESUMED WITH G-DS APPROVAL?
Shouldn't we ask ourselves: For which sins will these sacrifices be being offered? Sins for which Yeshua (Jesus) already Gave His Life?
Consider carefully this passage:
For He is our Peace Who has Made both One, and has broken down the middle wall of partition [between us]: Having abolished in His Flesh the enmity, [even] the law of commandments contained in the ordinances; for to Make In Himself of two One New Man, [so] Making Peace. And that He Might Reconcile both unto G-d, in One Body by the Cross, having slain the enmity thereby. Ephesians 2:14-16
Because the Dispensationalists say Daniels' 70th week hasn't happened yet (we have just proved it has) they are teaching that G-d will give His Approval to RESTORE the "middle wall of partition" again? After all the Dispys have Jesus returning to a carnal earth, sitting in Jerusalem while animal sacrifices are being done?!?
We believe Dispensationalists have ignored such Scriptures as these and twisted others to make them "work out" with their theories.
WHY ALL THE EMPHASIS ON DANIEL FOR A REBUILT TEMPLE?
The emphasis has to be placed on Daniel (and not Jeremiah, which really applies[6]) because Jesus mentions Daniel in Matthew 24.
This is the reason the focus is placed on Daniel for this "end time rebuilding scenario". But as we have seen, the Scripture does not apply in Daniel the way Dispensationalists would have us believe.
QUESTIONS ARISE
The Dispensationalists continually insist that Daniel 9:25 relates to Aa future rebuilding of the Temple "from the ground up" (obviously) which is "authorized by God". This is obviously an error because any Prophecy that relates to rebuilding the Temple was Fulfilled in 516 B.C. The Temple had ALREADY been rebuilt, completed and Dedicated because of the FIRST command of Cyrus in Ezra 1:1 given in 538 B.C., and Daniel refers only to the "street and wall" and not any rebuilding of the Temple proper.
CONCLUSIONS
Thus, Daniel 9:25 is not related to Ezra 1:1 (rebuilding any Temple: 538 B.C.), nor to Nehemiah 2:1 but rather related to Ezra 7:7 (458 B.C.) where there is no mention of the Temple being rebuilt, as it was already completed long before, and lands us 490 years later at 33 A.D.
Therefore, this totally refutes Francisco Riberas' Futurist argument[4] and the Dispensationalist maxims that rely on Daniel 9:25 for "rebuilding of the Temple" as a requirement for Yeshuas' Return.
Simply put, the Dispensationalists, by lumping together both commands (in Ezra 1:1 together with Nehemiah 2:1) boldly assert "Biblical authorization" and that the Temple MUST BE REBUILT for Yeshua to return. They have failed to see the second command (Nehemiah 2:1) is unrelated to beginning a Temple. That project was already accomplished at the first command of Cyrus under Zerubbabel in 516.
MORE FOLLOWING SOON!
PEOPLE OF G-D MINISTRIES
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FOOTNOTES
[1
These ones are teaching that the "seven year great tribulation" will commence immediately after "Darbys' Rapture version": the Temple will be rebuilt and animal sacrifices (which they call the "Jewish Age" or "Age of the Law") will then resume once more. This is in violation of Ephesians 2:14-16 however (see above).
Does this mean a temple will never be rebuilt? Perhaps it will, but such a temple would not be based on the Divine Prophecy of Daniel 9:25, nor would it have "Gods' approval" as they maintain.
[2
The second command of the three (458 B.C.) ONLY is the one referred to in Daniel 9:25 and to which we must alone look.
Also, they arrived in Jerusalem in 458 B.C.; in the 5th month of the very same year the command was issued. We know this from Ezra 7:8. Some say it was in 457, but that is not correct.
[3
"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." Daniel 9:27
They say the "he" who "confirms the covenant" is "the Antichrist" and was not Yeshua. This is outrageous!
[4
The doctrine has gone through numerous major changes. Scofield had to reject some of Darbys' teachings regarding the critical 70th week concluding it is all still future!? Go HERE to read that Darby theorizes the first half of the 70th week has already come and gone?!?! Or is it maybe yes and maybe no?
Go HERE for more studies in Daniel.
[5
So, having no "exact day", which is impossible from Nehemiah 2:1 ff, they tell us they are correct? This rejects every 365 day year solar Calendar, and gives further credibilty to the Essene Calendar with 365 day years as having been used by Yeshua and the disciples..
[6
This is the main reason why the command of Cyrus to actually rebuild the Temple cannot work with the Dispensational "end-time scenario", for as Cyrus says, it was given to fulfill the words of Jeremiah (not Daniel) and Jeremiah speaks only and specifically of the return of the exiles from Babylon after the captivity. Nothing else.
Allis, Oswald T. Prophecy and the Church.
Darby, John Nelson.
Scofield, C. I. The Scofield Reference Bible.