Daniel's prophecy of the "70 Weeks" was the only Old Testament prophecy that quantitatively marked the date for the Lord's first coming as King, making it potentially very important for first century Israel. Unfortunately, those first century Jews failed to discern its meaning, and its significance has continued to remain obscure to the Jews even to modern times. In fact, that prophecy would appear to have little prophetic value to modern-day Israel, since they have continued to reject the premise that Jesus Christ was Israel's King. However, we will now demonstrate how that entire prophecy of Daniel's 70 Weeks actually remains viable, and serves as a reference from which our work in The Prophets Speak may now be verified.

The left-hand column of the following "70-Week Timeline" chart displays key dates in Israel's prophetic history, which we now know are pertinent, both in ancient and modern times.

1. May 14, 445 BC to April 6, AD 32

Daniel's 70 Weeks began when the Persian king Artaxeres approved Nehemiah's request to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, following its earlier destruction at the hands of the Babylonians. This was the only recorded instance of the physical restoration of Jerusalem following the Babylonian Exile, and was the event to which the angel Gabriel had referred in his earlier disclosure of the "70 Weeks" to Daniel. The angel had specifically mentioned the rebuilding of Jerusalem including the wall in (Daniel 9.25), and (Nehemiah 2.8) identifies the need for certain materials to be acquired for those very same projects. The detailed account of Nehemiah's return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding projects are given in the remainder of the book of Nehemiah.

The time span from 445 BC until AD 32 is easily calculated when it is recalled that it must be counted on the basis of a 360-day Calendar. Sir Robert Anderson, in his book "The Coming Prince", refined that basic calculation by also assuming that Nehemiah most likely made his request on Nisan 1, since ancient Hebrew literature often omitted, but intended, the first day of a month when only the month was given. His refinement produced additional evidence of the correctness of the calculation because it was discovered that the Nisan 1 starting date produced an April 6 (Sunday), AD 32 final date. This final date is very significant, because April 6, AD 32 was the Sunday prior to a Friday Passover in that year, thereby agreeing precisely with the Bible's detailed description of Jesus' final week leading up to His crucifixion.

For those who may wish to study the Biblical account, see Nehemiah's alijah to Jerusalem, or for the calculations and details related to His first coming, see "The Time of Messiah's First Coming.pdf".

2. April 6, AD 32 to August 4, AD 70

This second time span began on April 6, AD 32, a very significant date for three reasons:

• April 6, AD 32 was the date when Messiah officially presented Himself as Israel's King on Palm Sunday as He entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9.9).

• April 6, AD 32 was likewise the date when He completed the first 69 Weeks of Daniel's prophecy (Daniel 9.25). 

• Finally, April 6, AD 32 was the date when He pronounced the coming AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem, because its people would not accept His Kingship

It ended on August 4, AD 70, another very significant date:

• August 4, AD 70 was the final day of the first of two 14000-Day periods during the 70-Week Timeline. The Roman army destroyed the Temple on the very next day, marking the beginning of Israel's expatriation from the Land at the advent of the Times of the Gentiles. 

3. August 5, AD 70 to September 1, 1939

The AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple sealed the fate of ancient Israel, and served to guarantee that there would be no fulfillment of those Old Testament Kingdom promises for Israel for the then foreseeable future. Indeed many of the Jews remaining were led captive into Gentile nations, where they were oppressed for many centuries during the Times of the Gentiles, as indicated in (Luke 21.24).

4. September 1, 1939 to June 7, 1967

The Times of the Gentiles came to an end with the coming of World War II, which according to (Daniel 11.40) occurred at "the time of the end". It was during that six-year period of Great Tribulation that the Abomination of Desolation, i.e. Holocaust, occurred. 

The Jews were released from the concentration camps in Europe, and began to return to the Land of their inheritance during Jubilee year 1945, but the State of Israel was not created until May 14, 1948. Indeed, it had to be created on that very date so it could begin to reproduce the Old Testament timeline, which originally governed the setting up of the Davidic kingdom. Even so, it was not until the six-day war in 1967 that the Jews were repatriated back to their capital city of Jerusalem. The details of that return are recorded in the following historic record, quoted from the Jewish web site www.aish.com.

On June 4, Iraq joined the military alliance with Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The Arab rhetoric was matched by the mobilization of Arab forces. Approximately 465,000 troops -- more than 2,800 tanks, and 800 aircraft -- ringed Israel.  By this time, Israeli forces had been on alert for three weeks. The country could not remain fully mobilized indefinitely, nor could it allow its sea-lane through the Gulf of Aqaba to be interdicted. Israel had no choice but preemptive action. To do this successfully, Israel needed the element of surprise. Had it waited for an Arab invasion, Israel would have been at a potentially catastrophic disadvantage. On June 5, the order was given to attack Egypt.  On June 5, Israel was indeed alone, but its military commanders had conceived a brilliant war strategy. The entire Israeli Air Force, with the exception of just 12 fighters assigned to defend Israeli air space, took off at 7:14 a.m. with the intent of bombing Egyptian airfields while the Egyptian pilots were eating breakfast. In less than two hours, roughly 300 Egyptian aircraft were destroyed.  A few hours’ later, Israeli fighters were sent to attack the Jordanian and Syrian air forces, as well as one airfield in Iraq. By the end of the first day, nearly the entire Egyptian and Jordanian air forces, and half the Syrians', had been destroyed on the ground.  The battle then moved to the ground, and some of history's greatest tank battles were fought between Egyptian and Israeli armor in the blast furnace conditions of the Sinai desert. It took only three days for Israeli forces to defeat the Jordanian legion. On the morning of June 7, the order was given to recapture the Old City. Israeli paratroopers stormed the city and secured it before Defense Minister Moshe Dayan arrived with Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin to formally mark the Jews' return to their historic capital and their holiest site. At the Western Wall, the IDF's chaplain blew a shofar to celebrate the event.

5. June 7, 1967 to October 4, 2005

On the day that the State of Israel returned to Jerusalem, the final 14,000 days required to complete the 70-Week Timeline could begin. We now understand why the 70-Week Timeline is built around things that happened in Jerusalem over a period of almost 2,500 years.

• The Timeline began in 445 BC when Jerusalem was first rebuilt, following the Babylonian Exile.

• It was highlighted 483 years later (69 Weeks of years) when King Messiah came to Jerusalem on AD 32 to offer Israel salvation, and the Kingdom promised by the Lord through the Old Testament prophets.

• When Israel rejected their King, they also rejected their Kingdom, so the Timeline was aborted after 14,000 days on August 5, AD 70 by the destruction of Jerusalem, the city of the King.

• Following the second Exile by the Romans during the Times of the Gentiles, the Jews were returned to Jerusalem a second time in 1967.

• This enabled a second 14,000 days, which ended on October 4, 2005.

We have searched for some way to prophetically link the time of Messiah's first century coming as King, at the conclusion of the first 69 Weeks of Daniel, with those two End Time 70th Week segments in the above chart, and have discovered that they are linked by virtue of those two 14000-Day periods seen in the right-hand column of the above "70-Week Timeline". Therefore, let's now explore the underlying prophetic significance of that linkage by the following questions.

1. What is the prophetic significance of the root number "14"?
   
   W. A. Criswell, a foremost Bible scholar and evangelist of the 20th century had this to say about the number "14", as it appears in the genealogy of the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 1.1-17).

Thus, we may surmise from Criswell's statements that the number "14" is used to denote pivotal epochs in Israel's history, defining that nation's high and low times with respect to their relationship to God. By extension, the application of this same root number "14" to the two time periods in the "70-Week Timeline" also suggest major epochs in Israel's history, beginning with the first coming of Messiah.  Accordingly, since the end of that first 14000-day period led to ancient Israel's destruction, and a low in Israel's history, the end of that second 14000-day period (Jerusalem's 1967 Jewish repatriation to October 4, 2005) might also be expected to lead to a low time of Judgement for modern-day Israel.

2. Why are both 14000-day periods linked to events in Jerusalem?
   
   In essence, the two 14000-Day periods focus on Israel, by providing a definite prophetic link between ancient Israel and Modern-Day Israel, i.e.

1. The first "14000 Days" signified a pivotal epochal period from ancient Israel's rejection of Messiah, following His first coming as King on April 6, AD 32, until ancient Israel's expatriation from Jerusalem on August 5, AD 70, and the beginning of the Times of the Gentiles.

2. The second "14000 Days" signified a pivotal epochal period from the State of Israel's repatriation to Jerusalem on June 7, 1967, until October 4 (Trumpets), 2005, for it was the period of time after they were restored to Jerusalem until their time of Judgement arrived, because of their continued refusal to repent and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and King.

3. What is the prophetic significance of the final date of October 4 (Trumpets), 2005 in the second 14000-Day period?

Certainly, we have a well documented basis for asserting the Biblical significance of the time of Trumpets, which is the first day of the 7th month of Tishri, and Israel's New Year.

Surely the dire straits in which Modern-Day Israel finds itself should make Trumpets, 2005 an especially appropriate time to begin to "consider your ways", and prepare to receive the salvation at the hands of your long-awaited Messiah. Just as the Lord spoke in Haggai about those ancient Hebrews after their Babylonian Exile, Modern-Day Israel needs to repent, and turn to the only One who can fulfill.

It can be seen how this material has followed a sequence of historic events that leads up to the period of Judgement for modern-day Israel (Daniel 12.2b). Indeed, the two "14000-Day" periods clearly intended to link Messiah's first coming as King on April 6, AD 32 with October 4 (Trumpets), 2005, thereby indicating that the final Trumpets, 2005 date, should prophetically earmark the beginning of Messiah's Judgement of modern-day Israel. However, we have yet to understand when the redemption for the Sons of Daniel's People will occur in harmony with the Rapture of the Body of Christ (See this discussion in the Two Witnesses).