The second question to consider is: Why do we claim that the prophecy of Daniel 9:25 finds its fulfillment in the year 457 B.C. during the time of Ezra, without any biblical foundation; when in reality in the book of Nehemiah, we find categorical declarations that show Nehemiah in 444 B.C., not only received authorization to REBUILD THE WALLS AND RECONSTRUCT JERUSALEM, but also ORGANIZED AND DIRECTED SAID CONSTRUCTIONS? For approximately 180 years we have asserted that the first part of the text of Daniel 9:25, which states: “From the going forth of the command to rebuild and restore Jerusalem until the Prince Messiah …”, found its fulfillment in the year 457 B.C., the year Ezra traveled to Jerusalem. Before continuing, it is important to clarify that the previous interpretation, of the beginning of the prophecy of the 70 weeks, is not of our own making – because we have adopted it – nor is it the result of a divine revelation received by Sister White. History reveals that in the first fifteen centuries of Christian history, scholars of prophecies formulated various interpretations of the 70 weeks, where some made it start from Adam, until the rejection of the Jews of the Lord, which ended with the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 of our era; others made it start from Cyrus until the time of Christ; and still, others pointed out that the prophecy began in the first year of Darius, ending also with the destruction of Jerusalem. It is worth highlighting an interpretation that has endured for more than eighteen centuries, from Julius Africanus in the 2nd century, through the Venerable Bede in the 8th century, continuing with the priest Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century, and up to our time. The previous interpretation calculates time using lunar years of 354 days and not solar years of 365 days as we currently do; because the prophecy was given to the Jewish people who used lunar years before, during, and after the prophetic revelation given to Daniel, since the lunisolar years, that by approximation are equivalent to solar years, were implemented by the Babylonians until the 4th century B.C., after Daniel received the vision. This interpretation begins the seventy weeks in the 20th year of Artaxerxes’ reign, that is, the year 444 B.C. and ends with the baptism of the Lord Jesus. If we calculate the time of the prophecy using solar years, there is a discrepancy of thirteen years in relation to the baptism of the Lord Jesus in the year 27 of our era; this does not happen if we calculate time using lunar years, which places the end of the prophecy in the autumn season of the year 26 A.D., the season in which the Lord was baptized. During the Reformation in the 16th century, some scholars proposed that the 70 weeks began in the year 457 B.C. with Ezra’s journey to Jerusalem, an interpretation that enjoyed popularity until the mid-19th century, to then gradually be discarded due to the biblical and historical inconsistencies it presents. Our church is one of the few, if not the only one that continues to uphold it because it was recorded in our inspired books, which are unquestionable, and do not allow for a revision of our prophetic beliefs. The majority of religious denominations have adopted the interpretation that the seventy weeks began in 444 B.C. in the 20th year of Artaxerxes’ reign. At this point, we must ask ourselves: Which interpretation has a stronger biblical and historical basis? When reviewing the book of Nehemiah, we find in chapter 2, that in the 20th year of Artaxerxes’ reign, Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king, and at a certain moment informed the king that the city, the house of his fathers’ tombs, lay in ruins, and its gates were consumed by fire, asking the king to send him to Judah to REBUILD THE CITY (verses 3 and 5). In verses 6-8, we find that Artaxerxes granted Nehemiah’s request, and gave him letters for the governors on the other side of the river to grant him safe passage, and for the keeper of the king’s forest to provide him with wood to rebuild the WALLS OF JERUSALEM, and the house where he would live. At this point, some of our theologians, trying to downplay the account in the book of Nehemiah, in order to dismiss the possibility that Nehemiah in 444 B.C. fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel 9:25, claim that Nehemiah did not receive an imperial decree from the king as required by Daniel 9:25, but only permission. It is important to highlight here that it is true that the book of Nehemiah does not record that he received an order; however, it is no less true that Nehemiah undertook an official journey to Jerusalem in 444 B.C. as the governor (Nehemiah 5:14), for which the king provided him with a military escort, made up of army captains and mounted troops, which was not provided to Ezra, who traveled alone as a priest and scribe. Additionally, the permission granted to Nehemiah constituted an order because “… in the official language of the time, permission was an order,” as stated by the SDA Bible Commentary, Volume III, page 355. In the book Prophets and Kings, page 470, it is mentioned, “Nehemiah had brought a royal mandate that would require the inhabitants to cooperate with him in rebuilding the wall”, a mandate that is recorded in chapter 2 of Nehemiah, where it describes how this Jewish leader received the king’s authorization to RETURN TO JUDAH TO REBUILD JERUSALEM AND BUILD THE CITY WALL. In chapter 3 of that book, it recounts how Nehemiah organized the people to build the city walls; in chapter 11, it mentions the procedures implemented to repopulate Jerusalem so that its new inhabitants could begin building their houses, and consequently the city; and finally, in chapter 12, it highlights the solemn dedication of the wall with such joy that it was heard from afar. After the above considerations, we end up formulating the initial question: ¿ Did the prophecy of Daniel 9:25 find its fulfillment in the year 457 B. C., as we have conjectured without any biblical basis, or in the year 444 B. C. as it is categorically revealed in the book of Nehemiah? To be continued. Blessings.
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