Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore
and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be
seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and
moat, but in a troubled time.

Daniel 9: 25-27

Having established the starting point for the count of years, we will now establish the exact time the prophecy gives for the appearing of the Messiah. We saw previously that the prophecy of seventy years is broken into three sections: seven weeks (49 years), 62 weeks (434 years), and a final week (7 years). We will focus here on the first two sections which together cover a period of 483 years (69 weeks).

The phrase “shall be seven weeks” (9:25) is the exact period of time, from the issuing of the command by Cyrus to the actual rebuilding of the temple. Gabriel describes this period as a troubled time. The twin books of Ezra and Nehemiah (one book in the Hebrew canon), record the struggles the Jews had during this period rebuilding the temple. The enemies of the Jews were committed to stopping the work at all costs. Nehemiah tells of the struggle to build the walls to protect the city of Jerusalem.

The second period is that of sixty-two weeks or 434 years which brings us to a total of 483 years from the issuing of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, “to the coming of an anointed one, a prince.” We have previously seen that the Hebrew word for ‘anointed one’ is Mashiach which when translated from Hebrew to Greek is Khristós from which our word Christ is derived. So this prophecy clearly deals with the number of years from the command issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem unto the coming of the Messiah. In other words, this prophecy supplies the exact count from a definitive beginning to Messiah’s appearance.

But to what time period in Messiah’s history does this prophecy point? We will begin to find an answer to this question by remembering that the prophecy identifies Messiah as the “Anointed One.” “We are accustomed to regard the term ‘the Messiah’ as merely a name or a title, but in fact, it is a descriptive Hebrew word meaning “the Anointed One.” In Greek, the word Christos has the same meaning. Therefore, we have only to ask, when was Jesus of Nazareth presented to Israel as the Anointed One. As to this, we are not left in any doubt whatever, for it was an event of the greatest importance in the life of Jesus our Lord, as well as in the dealings of God with Israel, and in the history of the world, an event which is made prominent in all the four Gospels. It was at his baptism in Jordan that our Lord was anointed for His ministry; for then it was the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily shape as a dove” (The Seventy Weeks and the Great Tribulation, page 56).

It is clear in the light of Scripture that the 483 years terminated at the Lord’s baptism, when his earthly ministry began. To confirm that we only need to read further in the prophecy and see what it says about the final week, the last seven years: “And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering;” (Daniel 9:27).

The reference to the “one week” describes the last seven years. But the focus on his putting an “end to sacrifice and offering” refers to the fact that in half of the week, he would offer himself as a sacrifice for sin thus putting “an end to sacrifice and offering.” The final week begins with the anointing of Jesus with the Holy Spirit at Jordan. How long was the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus? The Gospel of John substantiates that the earthly ministry of Jesus was three and a half years in duration.

Jesus made his appearance to Israel at His baptism by John fulfilling the 69 weeks (483 years). When we take the beginning of the issuing of the decree of Daniel 9:25 which was given by Cyrus in 457 B.C., and add 483 years, we arrive at the year 27 A.D., when Jesus was baptized and anointed by the Holy Spirit to become the Messiah or Jesus Christ. Counting three and a half years later (half of seven) you come to around 30 A.D., when Messiah was cut off. So, this prophecy pinpoints the exact moment when Jesus was presented to Israel by John’s baptism until three and a half years later (half of the week).