Don’t forget to leave a like and a comment at the bottom of the blog! This helps extend the vibe of Christ to more people!

Daniel 9:25

25         “Know therefore and discern that from the going out of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times.

That Was Longer Than Expected

Daniel is referring to a decree that would start the rebuilding of Jerusalem. There were many decrees issues at this time, but the most common associated with this verse is the decree by Artaxerxes I in 445/444 BC. This allowed Nehemeiah to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city. This prophecy from Daniel predicts the coming of Jesus, showing a timeline to His arrival. The “weeks” that are mentioned here aren’t our typical seven-day weeks. These are understood as “weeks of years.” So, a week in this context would represent seven years. Seven weeks plus sixty-two weeks total 483 years. This would put us approximately AD 38/39, aligning with an approximate timeline of Christ’s ministry and crucifixion. Jerusalem will be rebuilt in this timeline. The streets and moats tell us that this will be a complete restoration, not just rebuilding the Temple and the necessities for defense and public works. Ezra and Nehemiah show us how difficult it was to rebuild Jerusalem. They faced conflict inside the city and from outside threats.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: Learning at a week, in this context, represented 7 years was interesting to see. How does that affect other stories of the Bible?

God’s Time is Not Like Our Time

God’s plan unfolds according to His divine timetable. The citizens of Jerusalem, I’m sure, didn’t want to have to wait 483 years for their city to have its proper rebuilt. Yet, this led to Christ’s entrance into the world. There’s a study of scripture that focuses on numerology – studying the numbers used in Scripture to have a divine meaning. I did a whole series on this back in 2022 called “Numbers of Lent” that looks that the key numbers shown in the Lenten stories. I believe it may be good here, to – quickly – go through what numbers show up in the Christmas story:

• The number 1 – representing unity and God’s gift – describes Jesus as God’s one and only Son.
• The number 3 – representing divine completeness – is shown through the three Magi and their gifts.

I point this out to show how we interpret something as simple as numbers can have a divine meaning. Recognizing the difference of how we understand weeks (7-days) to the biblical understanding of weeks (7-years) shows us a completely massive time change. However, it’s a great reminder to us that God’s time is not like our time. 2 Peter 3:8 says, “But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Our concept of time doesn’t align with God time, but we are always following the timeline that God has for us. Jesus was sent to the world at the right time based on God’s plan. We can receive Jesus at the right time for the plan He has for us. We need to do it sooner rather than later because we truly don’t know when our time will be up. I don’t say to scare people into a relationship with Christ. I say this from a true recognition that our lives can be taken in a moment due to poor decisions from those around us, and even our poor decisions. Make that decision today to secure your eternal place in the Kingdom of God. There’s no better time than right now.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: What can you do today that you have been putting off for a little bit?

Next part: What Christmas Means || Curious About Christmas || Part 9