The Fourth Decree:

In 445 B.C. in the twentieth year of the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus, Nehemiah appeared before the king with a sad heart. His countenance told the king that something was drastically wrong and that Nehemiah was a man under a heavy burden and much sorrow. The king asked him, "Wherefore the king said unto me, Why [is] thy countenance sad, seeing thou [art] not sick? this [is] nothing [else] but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid" (Nehemiah 2:2). Nehemiah made his request known to the king and asked permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild it. He said to the king, "...Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathersí sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?" (Neh. 2:3).

When Nehemiah made this statement to the king, he inquired how long the prophet desired to be away, and just what he wanted the king to do concerning the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah was allowed to return to the Holy City, and his mission was not only religious; it was also political in the eyes of the enemies of the Jews, because such outsiders as Sanballat and Tobiah opposed the mission, saying that the building of the walls and restoration of the city would be an act of rebellion and a danger to the kingís empire.

Nehemiah and the group who returned with him repaired the walls in 52 days (Neh. 6:15), but it took 12 years to complete the rebuilding and restoration of the city of Jerusalem, reestablish the law and ordinance of worship in the temple. Nehemiahís rebuilding of the wall and the city is definitely a fulfillment of the prophecy in Daniel 9:25: "...The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times."

Nehemiah's mission was not only to re-establish Jerusalem as a city of worship (the city of the temple) but as a political capital also - the capital of the Jewish nation:

"And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, [that] wine [was] before him: and I took up the wine, and gave [it] unto the king. Now I had not been [beforetime] sad in his presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why [is] thy countenance sad, seeing thou [art] not sick? this [is] nothing [else] but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathersí sepulchres, [lieth] waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathersí sepulchres, that I may build it.

"And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the kingís forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which [appertained] to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

"Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the kingís letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard [of it], it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.

"And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I [any] man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither [was there any] beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.

"Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the kingís pool: but [there was] no place for the beast [that was] under me to pass. Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and [so] returned. And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told [it] to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.
"Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we [are] in, how Jerusalem [lieth] waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the kingís words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for [this] good [work]. But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard [it], they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What [is] this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king? Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem" (Neh. 2:1 - 20).

In the second chapter of Nehemiah, there is no decree in words, but the king undoubtedly gave the prophet some form of document or letters giving him the authority to repair the walls and rebuild the city - for had not Nehemiah had some form of legal document, the enemies of the restoration of the Holy City would certainly have stopped him from repairing the walls. The decree given to Nehemiah by Artaxerxes is the only one which has to do with rebuilding the city; therefore, it must be the same decree referred to by Gabriel as having to do with the beginning of the seventy weeks of prophecy.
By using literal arithmetic, it will be found that the yearstick of 483 years (7 weeks and 62 weeks...69 weeks) will not fit into any of these spaces. We can see that the decree of Cyrus in 536 B.C. could not have been the starting point of the seventy weeks, because according to the scale of a day representing a year, counting from the time Cyrus issued his decree until "Messiah the Prince," the time would have run out in 53 B.C. - 49 years before the birth of Christ (which Bible authorities agree was 4 B.C.).
Then, if we should take the second decree (given by King Darius in 519 B.C.) the 483 years of the 69 weeks would have run out in 36 B.C., 32 years before the birth of Christ.

If we should take the third decree (given by Artaxerxes in 458 B.C.) the 69 weeks of years - 483 years would run over to the year 25 A.D. - 29 years AFTER the birth of Christ.

If we take the fourth decree (given by Artaxerxes in 445 B.C.) the 483 years would carry us to 38 A.D., which would be after the crucifixion of Christ.
We have seen four suggested beginning points of the 69 weeks. Now let us consider points of ending for those weeks. Certainly we know that "Messiah the Prince" (Dan. 9:25) refers to the Lord Jesus Christ; it could mean none other; but what particular period or event in the life of the Lord Jesus does the prophecy point out? Does it refer to His birth? His baptism? His triumphal entry? or to some other incident?

According to authorities, the life of Jesus on earth was 33 years. Was the birth of Christ the point where the 69 weeks climaxed? Many Bible scholars teach that the birth of Christ was the termination of the 69 weeks of prophecy. Remember, it was Gabriel who announced the 69 weeks to Daniel, and it was the same Gabriel who announced to Mary that she would be the mother of Messiah the Prince: "And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:30 - 33).

It is true that Gabriel did not, in so many words, tell Mary that Jesus was Messiah the Prince, but he did announce to her that Jesus would have the throne of David - and He was born a prince of the house of David. The wise men in Matthew 2:1,2 referred to Jesus as King, in John 18:33 - 37 Pilate asked Him if He were a king, and He was crucified "King of the Jews." Yet He was never crowned king, He never occupied the throne of David; but He was a Prince, a prince is a king in the making - and a king must be a prince in the house of his father before he is crowned king. To date Jesus has not been crowned king, He has not received His kingdom; but He will be crowned King, He will sit on the throne of His father David in Jerusalem and reign over this earth during the thousand years. Jesus is now our High Priest; He is at the right hand of God making intercession for believers (Heb. 1:1 - 3; 1 Tim. 2:5).

In the fulness of time Jesus came, born of a virgin, born Jesus the Saviour - born to die on the cross to satisfy the holiness of God and make possible the salvation of sinners in that His death made it possible for God the Father to be just, and yet justify the ungodly on the merit of the shed blood of His Son. Jesus was not king while here upon this earth - He was Saviour. He came, born of a woman, born under the law - not to reign, but to redeem those who were under the law (Gal. 4:4).

After the custom of the law, Jesus went with His parents to the temple at the age of twelve; but with that one exception, His first public appearance was at the age of thirty when He came to John to be baptized in Jordan. John knew who He was and refused to baptize Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" But Jesus said, "Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness" (Matt. 3:13 - 17 in part). John baptized Jesus, "and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him." Jesus was anointed by the Holy Ghost. ("Messiah" means "anointed one.")
When Jesus was baptized, God the Father announced, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." He did not announce, "This is my King who shall reign over all the earth." God the Father - sovereign God - knows the end in the beginning; He knows all that will occur between the beginning and the ending. Jesus was to wear the crown of thorns before He was to wear a crown as King of kings and reign over the earth. The baptism of Jesus announced His entrance into His public ministry, which ministry announced the kingdom; but the Jews rejected the kingdom. They cried out, "We will not have this man to reign over us! Give us Barabbas! Crucify the Christ! Let His blood be upon us, and upon our children!"

The third outstanding event in the life of Jesus here on earth was His triumphal entry into the Holy City. Christ was omniscient, knowing all things. He knew who He was, He knew why He came into the world. He said, "I came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give my life a ransom for many. No man taketh my life from me - I lay it down of myself. I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly."

Jesus knew that His crucifixion was near, and that He was soon to be "cut off" (Dan. 9:26). His Messiahship must be publicly declared and publicly recognized before He was nailed to the cross. He therefore set the stage and took the proper steps toward the public declaration of His Messiahship:
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he [is] just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass" (Zechariah 9:9).

At the time of the yearly Passover, people flocked to the city by the hundreds. On that memorable day Jesus descended the Mount of Olives, riding upon as ass, "the foal of an ass" (As was prophesied centuries before). The people shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!"

Since Jesus was omniscient (He was God in flesh), why did He permit the people to refer to Him as King of Israel when He knew that in a few days He would be nailed to a cross, to die the most shameful death any criminal could die in His day? The answer is simple: to fulfill the Word of God. Jesus not only allowed it - He encouraged it and set the stage for it. He instructed His disciples to bring a donkey which they would find tied at the entrance to the city (Matt. 21:1 - 3; Luke 19:28 - 40). He even told them what to say if the owners of the donkey asked why they were taking him. They were to answer, "The Master hath need of him."

As the people shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord!" the Pharisees said to Jesus, "Master, rebuke thy disciples." Jesus answered, "I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out!" (Luke 19:40).

Earlier in the ministry of Jesus this same crowd had attempted to force Him to become their King - they would have crowned Him by force; but He rejected their attempt. Now He is consenting and contributing to it. He accepted their calling Him King and gave aid in bringing it about, thus proving that the triumphal entry certainly had prophetic significance. The people spread their garments in His path, strewed His way with palm branches and cried, "Hosanna!" Jesus did not allow this just in order to put Himself in the limelight, to put on a "dress parade" or to make the headlines. This was definitely a fulfillment of prophecy.

Many Bible scholars agree (and so does this author) that the triumphal entry is the end of Danielís 69th week and marks the point of the coming of Messiah the Prince. It was the only time in His earthly ministry when Jesus assumed the attitude of a king. Those who accepted Jesus as King accepted Him as MESSIAH THE PRINCE, and there is no reason why the prophecies recorded in Zechariah 9:9 and Daniel 9:25 should not refer to this event.
The first time Jesus rode into Jerusalem, He was riding on an humble little donkey as prophesied in Zechariah 9:9. When He comes to Jerusalem a second time, He will be riding on a magnificent white stallion and He will be followed by the armies of heaven riding on white horses (Rev. 19:11 - 16). When He rides into Jerusalem from the air, followed by His armies on white horses, that will mark the end of the 70th week of Danielís prophecy - the end of the reign of Antichrist, the time when Jesus will destroy the armies of antichrist and annihilate the enemies of Godís chosen people, Israel.
It seems reasonable that when Jesus rode into Jerusalem upon a little colt, His humble entry into the Holy City should mark the ending of the 69 weeks of trouble - some times; and when He comes with the armies of heaven as recorded in Revelation 19, this tremendous event will mark the climax of the reign of the false messiah, Antichrist.

Go to Part 6 - Scripture's Calendar