Revisiting the Seventy-Weeks Prophecy–Part One
What can we know about the seventy-weeks prophecy recorded in the book of Daniel? Does it represent a 490-year period of time pointing to the ministry of Jesus and his second coming? Following the customary practice of recognizing and appeasing the gods of other lands, Artaxerxes I and seven of his trusted counselors made an offering of gold and silver to the God of Israel who resided in Jerusalem. So eager were they to seek the favor of this God who lived at Jerusalem that Artaxerxes I commanded that the gold and silver remaining in the province of Babylon should be conscripted and given with the people’s willing offering to “the house of their God which is in Jerusalem.” Such was the nature of Artaxerxes I (Longimanus) decree in the time of Ezra the scribe. This type of offering was a long-standing practice among Babylonian and Persian rulers thinking to forestall calamity to their empire by appeasing the gods of other lands. An example of this is recorded in Scripture in respect to Cyrus the Great, king of Persia. “The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1:2-4). [Author’s emphasis throughout.] Confirmation of this type of decree can be found on the Akkadian cuneiform inscription known as the Cyrus Cylinder that was discovered during excavations within the ruins of ancient Babylon (Ezra 5:13-17). Part of the inscription reads: “I returned them unharmed to their cells, in the sanctuaries that make them happy. May all the gods that I returned to their sanctuaries, every day before Bel and Nabu, ask for a long life for me, and mention my good deeds, and say to Marduk, my lord, this: “Cyrus, the king who fears you, and Cambyses his son, may they be the provisioners of our shrines until distant (?) days, and the population of Babylon call blessings on my kingship. I have enabled all the lands to live in peace.” Now in Ezra’s account regarding Cyrus’ decree, following the period of Babylonian domination as foretold by the prophet Jeremiah, we see that the rebuilding of a temple would take many years to complete. This was partly the result of the continual opposition the returning Jews experienced from those who were then living in the land (Neh. 4:1-3). Eventually the opposition became so great that the Jews had to appeal to Darius to allow them to continue restoring the temple, which required a search of the records kept at Ecbatana where it was discovered that Cyrus had indeed made a decree for the restoration of temples and religious sanctuaries in his realm, which would have included the temple at Jerusalem. Then Darius reaffirmed the decree of Cyrus by making his own decree: “Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered” (Ezra 6:8). And so the temple was finished in the sixth year of Darius I (the Great). Now when we examine the decree of Artaxerxes I we find that it also had a specific purpose with the intent to please the God who lived in Jerusalem. “Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?” (Ezra 7:23.) We see here that Artaxerxes’ decree was fundamentally the same as the decrees of Cyrus and Darius before him, which Ezra confirmed by stating that the king’s purpose was to make an offering to “beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem” (Ezra 7:27). Now we shouldn’t think that the reason for Artaxerxes’ decree was for the purpose of rebuilding Jerusalem into a city-state. The Persian kings had no intentions of relinquishing their authority over Jerusalem, granting the people of the land their independence. We can conclude this from the king’s threat of severe judgment upon those who failed to do “the law of the king” (Ezra 7:26). This meant that the people of Jerusalem and the Jews who continued to return to this part of the Middle East were still under the complete authority and dominance of the Persian rulers (Neh. 9:36-37). What is interesting about the decrees of these Persian kings is that there is no mandate to rebuild the city-state of Jerusalem, even though this was obviously done as much as possible while the Jews restored the temple and governor’s house (Neh. 2:8). Nonetheless, we know that Artaxerxes decree was an extension of the decrees made by Cyrus and Darius, which allowed a temple to continue to be restored and beautified in Jerusalem. Therefore we read that: “the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it [temple], according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia” (Ezra 6:14). (All three kings are seen as giving a singular decree.) Now some people reason that Artaxerxes’ decree was given for the restoration of the city of Jerusalem, and thereby they conclude that his decree was