Daniel's 'Weeks'
Bible translations quoted are the NKJ (New King James version) or
NASB (New American Standard Verion--Updated Edition, The Zondervan Corporation,
1999).
The prophet Daniel wrote:
"Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the
sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD
my God for the holy mountain of my God, yes, while I was speaking in prayer,
the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being
caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering.
And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, 'O Daniel, I have now
come forth to give you skill to understand. At the beginning of your supplications
the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly
beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:"
"Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city,
to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation
for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision
and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and understand,
that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem
until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.
And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and
the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of
the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with
many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end
to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one
who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is
poured out on the desolate.'" (Daniel 9:20-27 NKJ)"
How Long Is a 'Week?'
Seventy 'weeks' were decreed for Daniel's people and holy city—the Judean
Israelites (the Jewish people) and Jerusalem—to make an end to sins, to
bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, etc.
Seventy 'weeks' must therefore pass before Messiah reigns on earth. The
Hebrew word in this passage translated 'week' is "shavua." The word means
'seven.' It refers to seven 'mystery intervals' of time. Some people have
guessed that this passage is referring to 'seven year periods.' Daniel,
however, does not mention "years."
Let's find in the Bible the length of time in the mystery interval.
Daniel wrote:
"But in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to
sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who
makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured
out on the desolate." (Daniel 9:27 NKJ)
In the above passage, the final 'week,' decreed for the Jews and Jerusalem
prior to Messiah's earthly reign, is divided in half, at the time someone
ends sacrifice and offering. Seven divided by two equals three-and-a-half.
Therefore, the final 'week' (of seven 'mystery intervals') is divided into
two periods of three-and-a-half 'mystery intervals.'
A passage in Daniel chapter 7 reads:
"...another [king] will arise... and he will be different from
the previous ones and will subdue three kings. He will speak out against
the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One... they will
be given into his hand for a time, times and half a time. But the
court will sit... and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and
destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness
of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people
of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom..."
(Daniel 7:24-27 NASB)
In the above passage, a period of "a time, times and half a time" contains
the time period in which an oppressive king rules. This period immediately
precedes God's establishment of the government of his kingdom on earth.
Near the end of Daniel's prophetic book, he wrote:
"Then I, Daniel, looked; and there stood two others, one on this
riverbank and the other on that riverbank. And one said to the man clothed
in linen, who was above the waters of the river, 'How long shall the fulfillment
of these wonders be?' Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above
the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand
to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a
time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people
has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished." (Daniel
12:5-7 NKJ)
In the above passage, a period of "a time, times and half a time" contains
the final period after which Daniel's apocalyptic prophecies are fulfilled.
We can infer that this apocalyptic period of "a time, times and half a
time" in Daniel chapter 12 is the same apocalyptic "time, times and half
a time" designated for the oppressive king in Daniel chapter 7. We can
also infer that this apocalyptic period is the last half of the final 'week'
of Daniel's prophecy in chapter 9. Half of a 'week' equals three-and-a-half
"times," or "a time, times and half a time."
How long is a time, times and half a time? In the book of Revelation,
John wrote:
"But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might
fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time
and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent." (Revelation
12:14 NKJ)
John also wrote:
"Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place
prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred
and sixty days." (Revelation 12:6 NKJ)
Both passages above describe the same event. These passages, written over
600 years after Daniel's prophecy, reveal the amount of time in the mysterious
interval of Daniel. A "time, times and half a time" (three and a half "times")
is equal to 1,260 days (about 3 years and 5 ½ months). If three-and-a-half
"times" equals 1,260 days, then one "time" equals 360 days. One 'week,'
therefore, equals 2,520 days (about 6 years and 11 months).
Sixty Nine Weeks to Messiah
"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the
command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there
shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built
again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two
weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself." (Daniel 9:25-26 NKJ)
In Daniel's above passage, he prophesied that Messiah the Prince ("messiah"
means "anointed one") would make an appearance when exactly 7 'weeks' (17,640
days) plus 62 'weeks' (156,240 days) had passed from the command to rebuild
Jerusalem. The reason we add 7 and 62 is that in the Hebrew text, the Hebrew
letter "vav" (the equivalent of "and") is between the two numbers. When
the word "and" is between two numbers, they are added (for example, 2 and
2 equals 4). Therefore, the time to pass between the decree and Messiah's
appearance would be 7 + 62 = 69 'weeks,' which equals 173,880 days. This
is 476 years and 24 days on the Gregorian (modern) calendar.41
The command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem was given by Artaxerxes
(Longimanus) during the 20th year of his reign in the spring, during the
Jewish month of Nisan.
"... in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes...
I... said to the king, 'May the king live forever! Why should my face not
be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste...?'
Then the king said to me, 'What do you request?' So I prayed to the God
of heaven. And I said to the king, 'If it pleases the king, ...I ask
that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may
rebuild it.'" (Nehemiah 2:1-5 NKJ)
"Furthermore I said to the king, 'If it pleases the king, let letters
be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they
must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph
the keeper of the king's forest, that he must give me timber to make beams
for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city
wall, and for the house that I will occupy.' And the king granted them
to me according to the good hand of my God upon me." (Nehemiah 2:7-8
NKJ)
Artaxerxes (Longimanus) reigned over the Persian empire from 465 BC to
424 BC.42 He ascended the throne after
his father, Xerxes, was murdered in August, 465 BC.43
Based on the reasoning in the passage below from the Talmud, Nehemiah reckoned
the regnal years of Artaxerxes from the Jewish month of Tishri. Note that
Nisan is the first Jewish month, and is in the spring.44
Tishri is the seventh Jewish month, and is in the autumn.
"R. Hisda said: The rule [that New Year for kings is in Nisan]
was only meant to apply to the kings of Israel, but the years of
non-Israelitish kings are reckoned from Tishri..." (Talmud, Rosh
HaShanah, 3a)
The next passage, also from the Talmud, shows that if an Israelite king
rose to the throne in the middle of a year, then his second regnal year
began on the next 1 Nisan. Note that Adar is the month before Nisan.
"Our Rabbis learnt: If a king ascended the throne on the twenty-ninth
of Adar, as soon as the first of Nisan arrives he is reckoned to have reigned
a year. If on the other hand he ascended the throne on the first of Nisan,
he is not reckoned to have reigned a year till the next first of Nisan
comes round." (Talmud, Rosh HaShanah 2a)
Applying the rules and reasoning in the above two passages to the reigns
of non-Israelite kings, if a non-Israelite king ascended the throne in
the middle of a regnal year, then his second regnal year began on the next
1 Tishri, in the autumn (September-October time-frame). Artaxerxes was
a non-Israelite king. His first regnal year extended from his August, 465
BC accession to the new moon of Tishri, 465 BC, a month or two later. His
second regnal year, therefore, began 1 Tishri, 465 BC. His third regnal
year began 1 Tishri, 464 BC. Continuing this count, his 20th regnal year
by the Jewish count began 1 Tishri, autumn of 447 BC. Nehemiah received
the word from Artaxerxes to rebuild the city of Jerusalem the following
spring, in the Jewish month of Nisan, 446 BC.
According to Daniel, 7 + 62 = 69 'weeks' would pass from the decree
to rebuild Jerusalem to "Messiah the Prince." Let us now add 69 'weeks'
to Nisan, 446 BC, so we can see the period of "Messiah the Prince." Adding
69 'weeks' (173,880 days, which is 476 years and 24 days)45
to Nisan, 446 BC, brings us to the spring of AD 31 (only one year exists
between 1 BC and AD 1).46 It was around
that time that Jesus completed his physical ministry on earth.47
At the moment the 69th 'week' ended, Messiah was to become "mashiach
nagid" (Hebrew for "Messiah the ruler"), he was to be "karat" (Hebrew for
'cut off' or 'removed') and he was to become "ain" (Hebrew for 'nothing').
Here is how a modern Jewish Bible translates the last two concepts:
"...the anointed one will disappear and vanish." (Daniel 9:26)48
These things may have been physically fulfilled the day Jesus ascended
into heaven. On that day he vanished from our sight, he was physically
removed from the earth, he sat at the right hand of the Father, and began
ruling his Kingdom through his Spirit.
The Leader Who Will Come
Daniel wrote:
"And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not
for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy
the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till
the end of the war desolations are determined." (Daniel 9:26 NKJ)
In the above passage, Daniel prophesied that after the 62 weeks (after
7 + 62, or 69 consecutive weeks), Messiah was to be 'cut off' and Jerusalem
and the Temple would be destroyed. Messiah physically left the earth around
AD 31. Jerusalem was besieged and the Temple destroyed in AD 70.
Daniel then wrote:
"Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in
the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate..." (Daniel
9:27 NKJ)
In the above verse, Daniel mentioned a final 'week' that has not yet
happened. This final 'week' is not continuous with the first 69 'weeks.'
It is separate. We know this because of the way the passage is laid out
chronologically. Messiah the Prince was to be designated a prince/ruler
at the end of 7 + 62 = 69 weeks from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Simultaneously,
Messiah was to be 'cut off' (removed) and 'vanish.' Then, an indefinite
period was to pass between the end of the 69th 'week' and the beginning
of the 70th 'week.' During that period, Jerusalem and the Temple were to
be destroyed. That happened in AD 70. At the end of the indefinite period,
the 70th week will begin. The beginning of the 70th week will be marked
by the confirming of a one 'week' covenant by the "leader who is to come."
The 70th 'week' is the final prophetic 'week,' designated for the Jewish
people and Jerusalem, to happen before the end of the age. Once the 70th
'week' is complete, there will be an end of sins, everlasting righteousness
will be brought in, etc. Thus Messiah will reign on earth, which has not
happened, so the 70th week has not yet happened.
"Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy
city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation
for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision
and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." (Daniel 9:24 NKJ)
The "he" in verse 27...
"Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week..."
(Daniel 9:27 NKJ)
...refers directly back to "the prince who is to come" in
verse 26.49
"...the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy
the city and the sanctuary..." (Daniel 9:26 NKJ)
This prince is the one many call the "antichrist" (anti-messiah), who will
come out of an area the Roman empire controlled in AD 70. We know this
because verse 26 prophesied that his people destroyed Jerusalem and the
Temple (Roman soldiers drawn from the empire destroyed Jerusalem and the
Temple in AD 70), and yet he (the prince) is still to come.
Some people have speculated that the "prince who is to come" of Daniel
chapter 9 was Antiochus Epiphanes, the Greek political leader who stormed
Jerusalem in the second century BC. He cannot be the "prince who is to
come" for two reasons. The first is that Daniel prophesied that this "prince"
will confirm a covenant after Jerusalem and the Temple are destroyed.
"And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the
city and the sanctuary... Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for
one week." (Daniel 9:26-27 NKJ)
Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed in AD 70. Antiochus Epiphanes lived
over two centuries earlier, therefore he was not "the prince who is to
come."
The second reason Antiochus Epiphanes was not the "prince who is to
come" is that Jesus prophesied that an event ("the abomination that causes
desolation," mentioned in the passage below) regarding this prince would
happen in the future, near the time of the end of the age, after the gospel
of the kingdom has been preached to all nations. Antiochus Epiphanes
lived and died before the time of Jesus.
"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world
as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. Therefore
when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through
Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains." --Jesus (Matthew
24:14-16 NASB)
Some people have speculated that Titus, the Roman commander whose forces
besieged Jerusalem in AD 70, was the "prince who is to come." Logically,
this is impossible for three reasons. First, the passage tells us that
the "prince who is to come" confirms a covenant after the Temple
is destroyed. In the middle of the 'one week' period of that covenant (after
half a 'week,' which is 1,260 days, or about 3 years and 5 ½ months,
from the time he confirms the covenant), he puts an end to sacrifice and
offering.
"And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the
city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the
end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant
with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an
end to sacrifice and offering..." (Daniel 9:26-27 NKJ)
It would have been impossible for Titus to have made a covenant after the
Temple was destroyed, and then in the middle of the 'week' of that covenant
(after 1260 days—about 3 years and 5 ½ months) to have put an end
to sacrifice and offering. This is because after the Temple was destroyed
there was no sacrifice and offering to abolish since there was no Temple.
The second reason Titus could not have been the "prince who is to come"
is that Jesus prophesied that "the abomination that causes desolation,
spoken of through the prophet Daniel," will happen after the gospel has
been preached to all nations, at the time of the end.
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world
as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. So when
you see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation,
spoken of through the prophet Daniel..." --Jesus (Matthew 24:14-15
NKJ)
The third reason that Titus could not have been the "prince who is to come"
is that at the end of the 70th'week'of Daniel, all of the following conditions
must be met, which was not the case after the time of Titus:
"Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy
city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation
for
iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and
prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." (Daniel 9:24 NKJ)
Based on the chronology of events displayed in Daniel's prophecy, the "prince
who is to come" has not yet come. It is important to note this, because
Daniel chapter 9, using a minimum number of words, tells us that a future
Temple will be standing in Jerusalem at the time of this "prince."
The Third Temple
The "prince who is to come" will bring an end to sacrifice and offering
in the middle of the final 'week.'
"But in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice
and offering..." (Daniel 9:27 NKJ)
The passage above indicates that the Temple will be standing "in the middle
of the week," the 70th and final 'week' of Daniel's prophecy. We can deduce
that the Temple will be standing at that time because the "prince" will
end sacrifice and offering, which happens at the Temple.
Ezekiel prophesied that God commanded that a system be established in
the future third Temple for the regular presentation of burnt offerings
and fellowship offerings. God's command is found at the end of Ezekiel
chapter 43 (recall that Ezekiel described the future third Temple in chapters
40-43).
"When they have completed the days, it shall be that on the eighth
day and onward, the priests shall offer your burnt offerings on the altar..."
(Ezekiel 43:27 NIV)
The book of Revelation, which John wrote after Jerusalem and the second
Temple had been destroyed, further indicates that the Temple will be standing
in the middle of Daniel's 70th 'week.'
"Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood,
saying, 'Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those
who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple,
and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they
will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. And I will
give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand
two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.'" (Revelation 11:1-3
NKJ)
John's passage above indicates that in the last half of Daniel's 70th 'week,'
the Temple will be standing in Jerusalem. John wrote that in his vision
an angel told him to measure the Temple of God. At the time of John's vision,
Jerusalem lay in ruins, and there was no Temple.50
John saw in his vision the future third Temple. He also prophesied that
the Gentiles would tread Jerusalem underfoot for 42 months,51
and that God would give power to His two witnesses to prophesy 1,260 days,
the amount of time in "a time, times and half a time," and the amount of
time in the last half of Daniel's 70th week.
The Jewish apostle Paul also prophesied that the third Temple would
exist in the time of the "prince who is to come," the "antichrist."
"Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless
the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son
of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god
or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God,
displaying himself as being God." (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 NIV)
The above detailed explanation of Daniel's prophecy shows that the Temple
will be standing in the middle of Daniel's 70th 'week,' the final 'week'
before the end of the age. The Temple will be built, and the sacrificial
system operating, no later than 1,260 days (3 years and 5 ½ months)
before the end of the age.
Home
Endnotes
41 See endnote 45,
below, for a description of the exact calculation. On the Gregorian (modern)
calendar, an average year is 365.2425 days. This accounts for one leap
year every four years minus three leap years every four centuries. The
mean solar (tropical) year is actually closer to 365.24219878 days long
(see The Babylonian Calendar, The Proceedings of the Friesian School,
Fourth Series, at http://www.friesian.com/calendar.htm
paragraph 7).
42 Achtemier, Paul
J., Th.D. Harper's Bible Dictionary. San Francisco: Harper and Row,
Publishers, Inc., 1985 (Accessed via Logos Bible Software 2.0c,
The Logos Library System, Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.,
1996).
43 The Cambridge
Ancient History, Second Ed., Vol V, The Fifth Century BC. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1992 (Library of Congress card #75-85719),
"…the death of Xerxes, recently firmly dated to August 465…" (page 13)
"…somewhere between 4 and 8 August" (page 13, footnote 47). See also Stolper,
M. W. "Some Ghost Facts About Achaemenid Babylonian Texts," Journal
of Hellenic Studies 108 (1988), pp. 196-8. See also Parker, Richard
A., and Dubberstein, Waldo H., Babylonian Chronology 626 BC - AD 75.
Providence, RI: Brown University Press, 1956 (Library of Congress Catalogue
# 56-10735), "(Aug. 4? - 8?, 465), Death by murder of Xerxes…" "The day
number is imperfectly preserved…" (page 17).
44 A lunar month
is the time from one new moon to the next. It is approximately 29.53059
days. The Jewish Passover, which happens on 14 Nisan, cannot fall before
the spring (vernal) equinox. The spring equinox falls around March 21 at
the moment the sun passes directly over the equator, moving from South
to North. At that time, the length of time in a day and night are approximately
equal. The first 'fourteenth day of a lunar cycle' on or after the spring
equinox is Passover, and its lunar month is Nisan. For further reading,
see Bushwick, Nathan, Understanding the Jewish Calendar. Brooklyn,
NY: Moznaim Publishing Corporation, 1989, p. 106.
45 On the Gregorian
(modern) calendar, adding 173,880 days to a date in the spring of 446 BC
is the same as adding 476 years and 24 days. This accounts for 116 leap
years (from February, 445 BC to February, AD 28). On the Gregorian calendar,
101 BC, 201 BC, and 301 BC were not leap years. 1 BC and 401 BC were leap
years. One year passed between 1 BC and AD 1. The calculation is (7 'weeks')
+ (62 'weeks') = (69 'weeks') X (2520 days-per-'week') = 173,880 days =
(376 years) X (365 days-per-year) + (116 leap-year-days) + (24 additional
days).
46 I plan do an astronomical
computer calculation to determine the new moon of the month of Nisan at
the time of Artaxerxes' decree, and the new moon of Nisan 476 years later.
These calculations would allow us to obtain a one-month range for the time
of "Messiah the Prince" by adding 476 Gregorian years and 24 days to both
the first and last days of Nisan, the year of the command. The calculations
and values obtained must account for and show scientific error.
47 Jesus was crucified
in the spring, Passover, 14 Nisan on the traditional Jewish lunisolar calendar
upheld by the Pharisees.* The spring equinox is around March 21. Passover
falls between the spring equinox and 29 days later. Passover fluctuates
from year to year with reference to the equinox because Passover is the
first 14th day of a lunar cycle after the spring equinox. *A calendar
discovered at Qumran suggests that a minority Jewish first-century sect
used a 364-day solar calendar. This may account for the Passover discrepancy
between the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) and the gospel of
John. The minority sect always held Passover on a specific Tuesday, regardless
of the majority's Passover day. I do not know how the minority sect dealt
with the approximately 1.25-day discrepancy between their year and a true
solar year. Nor have I found any information that interpolates their new
years days to the Gregorian calendar. (see Talmon, Shemaryahu, The
World of Qumran from Within: Collected Studies. Jerusalem: Magnes Press,
1989, pp. 147-185; see also The Calendar (Mishmarot) of the Community
at Qumram, Baltimore City Community College, at http://www.erols.com/bcccsbs/dsscal.htm).
48 Tanakh The
Holy Scriptures. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1985.
49 According to the
rules of grammar, a pronoun refers to the noun that is the nearest antecedent.
50 "Most evangelical
scholars affirm that Revelation was written in AD 95 or 96. This is based
on accounts of the early church fathers that the Apostle John had been
exiled on Patmos Island during the reign of Domitian who died in AD 96.
John was then allowed to return to Ephesus." Walvoord, John F., and Zuck,
Roy B., The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Wheaton, Illinois: Scripture
Press Publications, Inc., 1983, 1985.
51 One month equals
29.53059 days, the amount of time in a lunar cycle.* Therefore, 42 lunar
months equals 1,240.28 days (about 3 years and 4 ¾ Gregorian [modern]
months). Note also Revelation 13:5 (NIV): "The beast was given a mouth
to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for
forty-two
months." *Some have hypothesized that before the Flood, an ancient
month (lunar cycle) may have been exactly 30 days, based on the following
passages: "...on the seventeenth day of the second month...all the springs
of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened."
(Genesis 7:11 NIV); "The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty
days." (Genesis 7:24 NIV); "At the end of the hundred and fifty days the
water had gone down, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the
ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat." (Genesis 8:3-4 NIV) Based
on the above three passages, some think that 5 pre-Flood months passed
in 150 days, thus an ancient month may have equaled 30 days. This may mean
that during the Flood, the earth's rotational period slightly decreased
and/or the moon's orbital period slightly increased. For a theory that
may lead to a logical explanation for these possible phenomenon, see the
Hydroplate Theory at www.creationscience.com, and consider the physical
effects on the earth of the Genesis 7:11 event: "...on that day all the
springs of the great deep burst forth..." (NIV).
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