THE WORDS JESUS AND CHRIST AS DEFINED IN THE BIBLE

I) DEFINITION AND WORD STUDY ON JESUS CHRIST

1 [Jn 1:25-34]:

(Jn 1:25 NASB) '''They asked him, [John the Baptist] and said to him, "Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"

(Jn 1:26 NASB) John answered them saying, "I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know.

(Jn 1:27 NASB) It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."

(Jn 1:28 NASB) These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

(Jn 1:29 NASB) The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

(Jn 1:30 NASB) This is He on behalf of whom I said, "After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.

(Jn 1:31 NASB) I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water."

(Jn 1:32 NASB) John testified saying, "I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.

(Jn 1:33 NASB) I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, "He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit."

(Jn 1:34 NASB) I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God."

Christos comes from the Greek word “chrio” (number 5548) meaning contact, to smear, to rub. It is used in the context of anointing with oil, for a particular purpose such as designating being appointed to some position or office or funtion. To anoint is to gift or joyously bestow. In Scripture "Christos" is given an assigned usage meaning, “the Anointed one." In Scripture it often refers to the Messiah / Savior / Ruler Who is to come from Israel into the world. So the Christ is the One Who is gifted (joyously bestowed) with the Lordship of heaven and earth - of all creation - by the Father.

The first phrase of the First Epistle of John at the first verse of chapter five, is rendered (1 Jn 5:1a NASB) "Whoever believes [lit., whoever.is the believing one] that Jesus is the Christ [has been born] of God,"

Only twice in the N.T. is “Messias” (Number 3323) used. John 1:41 & 4:25. Interestingly it is in John 4:25 that both messias and christos are used. There are several other Greek words translated anoint, anointing, or anointed in the N.T. The references are only a few to illustrate the usage of each word.

“Aleipho” (number 218) meaning to oil. Mt. 6:17; Mk 6:13; 16:1; Luke 7:38.

“Murizo” (number 3462) meaning apply, anoint. Mk 14:8

“Chrio” (number 5548) meaning to contact, to smear, to rub (with oil). Luke 4:18.

“Epichrio” (number 2025) meaning to smear over (with oil). John 9:6. “Epi” (number 1909) meaning over, upon. John 9:6.

“Chrisma” (number 5545 from 5548) meaning smearing, unguent. I John 2:27.

THE MESSIAH JESUS CHRIST

The Messiah is God

The Messiah is Christ

The Messiah is described in Scripture as One Person Who is both God and Perfect Man at the same time!

In Hebrew, The Messiah in English letters looks like this: "HaMaschioch". It is pronounced: Ha-me-shee-ah.

Our Lord's name which we say is "Jesus" in English looks like this in the Hebrew transliterated into English letters: "Jehoshua." It is pronounced: "Ye-shoo-ah"

HEBREW

Jehoshua = Ye-shoo-ah = Jesus

HaMaschioch = Ha-Me-shee-ah = The Messiah

GREEK

Iesous = Jesus

Christos = Christ

Jesus (Ye-shoo-ah) refers to God the Son's name in His First Coming to die for sins.

It means "JEHOVAH IS SALVATION."

The Christ (Ha-me-sh e-ah) refers to God the Son's name in His Second Coming to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords.

THE CHRIST means THE MESSIAH or THE ANOINTED ONE which is what the word Christos, (Christ) means in the Greek. To anoint is to gift or joyously bestow. Christ is the One Who is gifted (joyously bestowed) with the Lordship of heaven and earth - of all creation - by the Father.

[Kenneth S. Wuest, 'Ephesians and Colossians in the Greek New Testament', Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Grand Rapids, Mich, 1963, p. 15]:

" 'Christ' is the transliteration of christos which means 'anointed'....

...In the Church Epistles, the word does not refer to our Lord in His official capacity of the Messiah of the Jewish nation, but as The Anointed of God, the Person chosen from the Godhead to be the anointed Prophet, Priest, and King to accomplish the purposes of God in the plan of salvation."

The word 'Christos' appears in Scripture with and without the definite article as follows:

II) THE UNIQUE NAME 'CHRIST' = THE UNIQUELY ANOINTED ONE REFERS TO OUR LORD AND HIM ONLY AND IS DEPICTED AND PROPHESIED ABOUT IN SCRIPTURE AS FOLLOWS:

A) [Ps 2:1-12]:

(Ps 2:1 NKJV) '''Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing?

(Ps 2:2 NKJV) The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,

(Ps 2:3 NKJV) "Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us."

(Ps 2:4 NKJV) He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision.

(Ps 2:5 NKJV) Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure:

(Ps 2:6 NKJV) "Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.

(Ps 2:7 NKJV) I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.

(Ps 2:8 NKJV) Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.

(Ps 2:9 NKJV) You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.'

(Ps 2:10 NKJV) Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth.

(Ps 2:11 NKJV) Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling.

(Ps 2:12 NKJV) Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him." '''

The Psalmist asks why, in the sense of the futility of it, the nations of the world are in a rage, the peoples of the world, the kings and the rulers of the earth vainly plot and take counsel together and set themselves against the LORD and His Anointed. This is vanity especially in view of God's Almighty power and sovereignty, (Ps 1:1-2).

The LORD's Anointed is His chosen one to be ruler of Zion, i.e., the people of Israel, His chosen people, with David, the first king in view, (Ps 2:2, 6).

The Psalmist declares that the kings and rulers of the earth in their rebellion against God and His Anointed are saying, 'Let us break their bonds in piece and cast away their cords from us,' (Ps 2:3).

The nations, peoples, kings and rulers of the world were evidently aware of the LORD and His Anointed ruler of the people of Zion. They were enraged and consorted with one another to defeat God's sovereignty over them. It was their view that they were in bondage to the LORD and His king, (Ps 2:2-3).

But the Psalmist declares that the LORD in heaven will laugh and hold them in derision. He will speak to them via His wrath and distress them via action that reflects His deep displeasure, (Ps 2:4-5).

The LORD declares that He has set His anointed king on His holy hill, Zion, (Ps 2:6).

The word Zion here refers to Jerusalem which indicates that the LORD's chosen people are Israelites whose Anointed / Chosen one is their king. Zion was originally a Canaanite city which was being conquered by David. The name Zion later on was used to refer to the temple area and then to the entire city of Jerusalem. The term 'Holy hill' is a synonym for the temple mount in Jerusalem. And the LORD declares that His Anointed / Chosen One has been begotten of God as His Son, (Ps 2:7).

In view of the fact that physical sonship is not reversible, so much the more is sonship to God irrevocable, and moreso, it is eternal because God is eternal. God goes on to say to His Anointed, "Ask of Me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel" (Ps 2:8-9).

The phrase "You are My son" in Ps 2:7, comes from the Davidic Covenant (2 Sam 7:14). It is appropriated in Psalm 2 to show the legitimate God ordained right of the king to rule. The phrase 'Today I have begotten You' refers to the day of one being Anointed / Chosen by God to be king of Israel, i.e., the day of the coronation of the king, and his adoption as a son of God into the family of God in an eternal familial relationship with God. It is implied that the Anointed king of Israel, being declared to be a son of God, has the reception of eternal life and will receive an eternal kingdom inheritance to rule the nations to the ends of the earth in the future eternal kingdom, (Ps 2:8).

This also implies that the rebellion of the nations of the world toward the LORD and His Anointed, will finally be put down.

In view of the lack of complete fulfillment of the prophecies in verses 1 through 9, through king David or any king after him so far, the context must jump out of the time of David to a future King of Israel, "the Anointed One, "the Christ," from the Greek, "ho Christos," Who will inherit the nations of the world, and the ends of the earth, evidently as an eternal inheritance and possession, (Ps 2:8).

So the Future Anointed of God, "the Christ," will meet the enraged nations, peoples, kings and rulers of the world in conflict and "break them with a rod of iron" and "dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel," despite the warning of the LORD through the Psalmist in verses 10-12, "Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him." Notice that individual's throughout the world are blessed when they put their trust in the Anointed One of the LORD = "the Christ." This Anointed One is far more than a temporal king of Israel; for throughout the world one may trust in Him to be blessed. No temporal king can say or do that. Nor can the wrath of a king over all the nations of the earth be so powerful unless He is God Himself.

B) [Ps 45:6-7]:

(v. 6) "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of Your kingdom.

(v. 7) You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has set You above Your companions by anointing You with the oil of joy."

C) [Ps 8:1-9]:

[Note that this passage does not have the word 'anointed' in it, but it reflects the results of the One Whom God has anointed with His majesty, glory, praise]:

(v. 1) "O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens.

(v. 2) From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

(v. 3) When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

(v. 4) what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

(v. 5) You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned Him with glory and honor.

(v. 6) You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:

(v. 7) all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,

(v. 8) the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

(v. 9) O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"

D) [Gen 3:15]:

[At the very beginning of God's Word we have God's promise of a Messiah = an Anointed One Who will be born of a woman and defeat Satan]:

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise and tread your head under foot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel.".

"And I [Jehovah God the Son] will put enmity [bitter hostility] between you [Satan] and the woman and between your seed [unsaved mankind] and her Seed [Christ the Messiah]. He shall bruise and tread your head under foot [conquer and destroy Satan]

and you [Satan] will lie in wait and bruise His heel [wound Him but not fatally]"

So there will be a battle to final destruction between the power behind the serpent who is the devil, Satan (Rev 12:9-11) with his forces (the demons and unsaved mankind - the seed of Satan who are his children Jn 8:42-44). There will be a battle between Satan's forces

and

the "Seed of the woman" is Christ the Messiah. His own are believers, His children, (Gal 4:28-29).

"Seed of the woman" =

The "Seed of the woman" Who is Christ the Messiah and His own who are believers, His children. This is an uncommon expression for the author of Genesis (Moses) to use in that a human son is referred to all of the time as the seed of the man - of the human father. For the human father - the male - has the seed. But our Lord, in His humanity is unique in that He was born of the seed of the woman - a miraculous virgin birth which added humanity to His diety without inheriting a sin nature from a human father. It is through the seed of the man that one inherits the sin nature from Adam

E) [Compare Ro 5:12]:

"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned"

But our Lord Jesus Christ's human nature was conceived by the seed of God the Holy Spirit and is therefore without a sin nature - without the capacity to sin:

F) [Compare Mt 1:18]:

"This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit."

And our Lord became flesh in order to be the Savior of the world:

G) [Mt 1:20-21]:

"But after he [Joseph] had considered this

[divorcing Mary because she was pregnant],

an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus because He will save His people from their sins.' "

There are some who say that Christ must have had a sin nature to be fully like man. But a sin nature is not normal for man to have. It is an aberration, an abnormality. Adam did not have a sin nature until he rebelled against God. If the first Adam was created without a sin nature (Gen 1:31), surely Christ Who is called the second Adam can be without a sin nature yet fully experience the human condition. Scripture testifies to this:

H) [Heb 4:15]:

"For we do not have a High Priest

[Jesus the Son of God, Heb 4:14]

Who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,

but we have One Who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin."

I) [Heb 7:25-26]:

(v. 25) "Therefore He [Christ] is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.

(v. 26) Such a High Priest meets our need-One Who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens."

Such holiness, blamelessness and purity in our Lord could not exist in our Lord Himself if He possessed a sin nature.

J) [1 Jn 3:5]:

"But you know that He [Christ] appeared so that He might take away our sins. And in Him is no sin."

In Christ is no sin - no acts of sin - no capability to sin - no sin nature!! Consider Adam when he had no sin nature - yet he sinned and contaminated his very nature. Consider our Lord Jesus Christ in His humanity Who has no sin nature. He did not sin, even under the greatest of continual temptations (Mt 4:1-11). Our Lord was tempted far beyond the breaking point of any other man. One may therefore have full and complete confidence in our great High Priest's capabilty to save us and keep us saved. For that matter, one may have confidence that our Lord knows fully the tribulations and temptations that each of us goes through in our lives. Finally, the Apostle Paul speaks of our Lord's perfect righteousness which God has freely provided for us believers as a gift at the moment when we expressed our faith in Him:

K) [2 Cor 5:21]:

"God made Him [Christ] Who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."

Our human righteousness is not sufficient to be acceptable to God for it is contaminated with our sin nature. But the absolutely perfect righteousness of God Himself becomes our possession upon exercising our faith in Christ as Savior, (Ro 3:21-22).

This verse in 2 Corinthians above indicates that Christ "had no sin" - sin singular, (as opposed to sins plural). This indicates NOT ONLY that He did not have any sins (plural) in His life (and He did not), but that He had no sin tendancy, no sin nature, no sin (singular):

"God made Him Who had no sin........." (hamartian = sin = sin nature)

"to be sin for us............."

God the Father appointed God the Son, Jesus Christ, Who had no sins or sin nature to take upon Himself the responsibility for all of our sins and sin natures - our lack of perfect righteousness, i.e. to make provision for us to receive a new perfect nature which is acceptable nature to God and to pay the penalty for our sins which are an expression of that sin nature.

K cont.) [2 Cor 5:21 cont]:

"God made Him [Christ] Who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."

This verse also says that Christ has the perfect righteousness of God, (because He is God and only God is the Possessor and Grantor of perfect righteousness, (cp Jer 23:5-6 with 1 Cor 1:30); and in Christ we receive that righteousness:

"so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." = So that in Him, i.e. those who trust in Him, (Ro 3:21-22a), will receive the gift of perfect righteousness from Him which only He has, (because He is God) and which is the only way a person can enter eternal life with God in heaven. (Jn 14:6).

L) [Isa 9:6-7]:

[Old Testament Scripture spoke in ancient times of a Messiah Savior Who would be born as a Child and be God and Man at the same time. The prophet Isaiah verfies that a Messiah-Savior would be born of Israel Who is "Mighty God" and "Everlasting Father" Who could only then be God Himself as there are no other Gods, (Isa 43:10-11; 44:6)]:

(v. 6) "For a child will be born to us, [Israel, (vv. 1-5)] a Son will be given to us;

And the government will rest on His shoulders;

And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

(v. 7) There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,

On the throne of David and over His kingdom,

To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness

From then on and forevermore.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this."

And our Lord became a Perfect Man in order to fulfill the prophecy of His bringing salvation and justice to the world:

M) [Isa 42:1-4]:

[Note: God the Father is speaking (v. 5)]:

(v. 1) "Behold, My Servant, [Jesus Christ] Whom I uphold;

My Chosen One in Whom My soul delights.

I have put My Spirit [God the Holy Spirit] upon Him;

He will bring forth justice to the nations.

(v. 2) He will not cry out or raise His voice,

Nor make His voice heard in the street.

(v. 3) A bruised reed He will not break,

And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;

He will faithfully bring forth justice.

(v. 4) He will not be disheartened or crushed,

Until He has established justice in the earth;

And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law."

The prophet Isaiah also spoke in ancient times of a Savior Who would suffer in order to heal the world of its spiritual sickness - SIN - bearing upon Himself the sins of the whole world:

N) [Isa 53:5]:

"But He was pierced for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,

and by His wounds we are healed [of our sin natures]"

Our Lord suffered on the cross for the sins of the whole world. God the Father crushed Him for all the sins committed by all men throughout history (Cp. Isa 53:4, 10-12 & I Jn 2:2). The eternal punishment for our sins was brought upon Jesus Christ instead of all men which provided for the only avenue for a man's peace with God, (Cp. Jn 14:6). So by the wounds which Christ received on the cross ALL OF MANKIND is provided with the atonement, (payment of the penalty) for all sins. Provision is also made by what the Savior did on the cross for the healing of our sin natures which produced all those iniquities - all of our sins. All of our sins are paid for regardless of our mental attitude but our spiritual sickness - our sin nature - will only be healed should we decide to receive that spiritual healing by faith alone in Christ alone as our Savior - our Spiritual Healer, (cp. Acts 10:43). An individual cannot enter heaven without being spiritually healed of his sin nature even though the penalty for his sins is paid for.

Believers in their lifetime on earth, however, do not receive a healed spiritual condition - they continue to struggle with their sin natures, (Ro 7:14-25). They will receive the gift of a nature of perfect righteousness when they go to be with the Lord in heaven, (1 Cor 15:51-57).

Continuing in Isaiah chapter 53:

N cont.) [Isa 53:5-6 cont.]:

(v. 5) "But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.

(v. 6) "We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

In verse 6 above, the prophet Isaiah repeats what he just said in verse 5: how our Lord will die for the sins of the whole world. Then he adds that all men have turned to their own sinful ways, (cp Ro chapters 1-3). And God the Father has laid on God the Son the penalty for such iniquity - for the sins of all mankind throughout history. So this Child, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, was to be born of a virgin and He would be called by a name that would signify that God is with us:

O) [Isa 7:14]:

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a Son, and will call Him Immanuel."

"Immanuel" in Hebrew is not referred to in this passage as a specific name by which our Lord is to be called - other passages determine His specific name as Jesus, (Mt 1:21). Rather, the word "Immanuel" is a characterization which is to describe the nature of our Lord and it means "God with us":

P) [Mt 1:23b]:

"'...and they will call Him Immanuel'" - which means 'God with us'"

And the name in Hebrew by which our Lord is to be called, Jehoshua, (Jesus) means "Jehovah God is salvation." Such a name fulfills the above prophecy (Isa 7:14, Mt 1:23) for it is a name which characterizes that our Lord truly is 'God with us' Jesus was a descendant of King David thus authenticating Who He was by fulfilling the prophecy about the Messiah:

Q) [Ps 89:35-36]:

"Once for all I have sworn by My

holiness -

and I will not lie to David -

that his line will continue forever

and his throne endure before Me like the sun;

it will be established forever like the moon,

the faithful witness in the sky."

P) [Jer 23:5-6]:

" 'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will raise up to David a righteous branch, [descendant] a King Who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.

In His days Judah will be saved

and Israel will live in safety.

This is the name by which He will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness' "

Hundreds of years beforehand, the prophet Daniel prophesies of such an "anointed Ruler" - a Messiah - a Man Who is executed at the precise time when Christ was crucified:

EXCERPTS FROM DANIEL CHAPTER 9

[Dan 9:24]:

(v. 24) "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy."

["Seventy 'sevens'" = 70 x 7 = 490 Jewish calendar years. Daniel, being a Jew, would be thinking in terms of Jewish calendar years when he wrote the word "sevens " = "heptad" in Hebrew because a number of other Scripture passages indicate that 70 years was a period of time in which God dealt with the nation Israel, (Cp Jer 25:11-12; 2 Chron 36:21).

Sir Robert Anderson states in 'The Coming Prince', Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Mich 49503, 1967, p.69:

"One of the characteristic ordinances of the Jewish law was, that every seventh year the land was to lie fallow, and it was in relation to the neglect of this ordinance that the era of the desolations was decreed. It was to last 'until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths; for so long as she lay desolate, she kept Sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.[70 years]"

[2 Chron 36:21; Lev 26:34, 35].

So the Israel people thought in terms of sevens, ("heptads"):

one week = seven days

every 7th yr=sabbath rest year(Lev25:1-7)

the Year of Jubilee = 50th year = the next yr after seven 'sevens' or 7x7 = 49 years (Lev 25:8-12). Sir Robert Anderson states, (op cit, pp. 67-68):

'''In English ears it must sound pedantic to speak of "weeks" in any other than the familiar acceptation of the term. But with the Jew it was far otherwise. The effect of his laws was fitted "to render the word week capable of meaning a seven of years almost as naturally as a seven of days. Indeed the generality of the word would have this effect at any rate. Hence its use to denote the latter in prophecy is not mere arbitrary symbolism, but the employment of a not unfamiliar and easily understood language.*

*Smith's Bib. Dict., III., 1726, "Week." "Greek and Latin philosophers too have known of 'weeks of years.' " - Pusey, Daniel, p. 167.'''

Therefore "Seventy 'sevens'" must mean seventy sevens of years or 70 x 7 = 490 years. "Seventy 'sevens'" could not mean days or weeks, that would be too short of a time for all of the events in the prophecy to happen. And history proves this out since 490 days and 490 weeks have already transpired without the fulfillment of the prophecy occurring. If days were meant rather than years then the words in Hebrew which are translated in English as "of days" would have also been added as it was in Dan 10:2-3.

[Dan 10:2-3]:

(v. 2) "At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks [of days = 21 days]

(v. 3) I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks [of days = 21 days] were over."

["three weeks" = literally in the Hebrew "weeks of days" = (Strongs # 7620 = "heptad" = "week" + Strongs # 3117 = " of days" This term is to be distinguished from weeks of years.

The word "sevens" in Dan 9:24 must mean sevens of years also because Israel had not been letting the land lie fallow every seventh year as commanded by God, (Lev 25:1-7). This made a total of 70 sabbatical years which were not honored by this time in Israel's history. It would now require 490 years of time for God to enforce this command as per His Word, (Lev 26:34-35), and provide for the land being left fallow every 7th year, (70 sabbatical years missed x 7 = 490 years)

Finally, the most basic of proofs that "seventy 'sevens' " refers to years is to test the verse out calculating "sevens" to be years and seeing if the prophecies were precisely fulfilled:

(v. 24 cont.) "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy." [God has decreed that there will be a period of 490 years, (70 weeks x 7years/week), of Jewish history until there will be:

1) a "finish" to "transgression" - a finish to Israel's willful disobedience will be brought to an end.

2) "an end of sin" - the Hebrew word hatam" = "an end of" = completion of in the sense of ending. The context of this passage in Daniel combined with the examination of other passages which are about the same doctrine, (see *** below), indicate that the

phrase "an end of sin" means a sealing up of - a final ending of the problem of unpunished sin with the satisfactory amount of punishment, (cp 2 Cor 5:21).

(***The concept of sealing up of sin is clearly taught in Dt 32:34 & Job 14:17).

3) atonement "for wickedness" = payment for sins - this specifically refers to our Lord's once for all time atonement for the sins of the whole world, (Ro 3:21; I Jn 2:2; Hebrews chapter 9).

4) a bringing in of "everlasting righteousness"

"to bring in everlasting righteousness" = in the verb form in this passage "to bring in" = to cause to come in. This refers to the causing to come in by God of a period of everlasting righteousness. This can only refer to that period of time in history beginning with the millennium. There is no other period in history which has everlasting righteousness.

5) a sealing up - a fulfilling, finally, of all "visions and prophecy" in Scripture. All visions and prophecies in Scripture will be sealed, i.e. fulfilled and completed and thereby sealed up as completed, no longer applicable for fulfillment.

6) An anointing of - the enthronement of "the Most Holy", the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of Lords. This enthronement of our Lord refers to an earthly enthronement, as many other passages testify to, (cp Isaiah chapters 2, 4, 9-11; Joel chapter 2).

Not all of these 6 points have occurred yet in history. Only #'s 2 & 3 were fulfilled by our Lord at Calvary. "Seventy 'sevens'" must therefore be 70 'sevens' of years or 70 x 7 = 490 Jewish calendar years, and not seventy sevens of weeks or days. Descriptions in Scripture of the kingdom age millennium include the fulfillment of the rest of these points. If God's Word is to be taken as the authors were inspired by God to write it - with the original words being given their normative meanings within the context of the times, the readership and the passage - then this EARTHLY KINGDOM AGE which is described in these passages has not occurred and is yet future, (cp Isaiah chapters 2, 4, 9-11; Joel chapter 2; Rev 20:4).

The next verse in Daniel chapter 9 indicates that this 490 year period of Jewish history began at the time when king Artxerses issued a decree to rebuild Jerusalem. As we are now living in the church age, then this 490 year of Jewish history where God focuses on the nation Israel through whom He largely deals with the world, has been interrupted in its 483rd year.... interrupted by approximately 2000 years of church age history with 7 years of the 490 Jewish calendar years remaining before the kingdom age begins. The rest of the passage in Daniel chapter 9 supports this truth]:

EXCERPT FROM STUDY ON DAN CHAPTER 9, (cont.)

I) [Dan 9:24]:

"Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most Holy."

B) GOD DECREED A 490 YEAR PERIOD FOR ISRAEL & JERUSALEM IN WHICH THERE WILL BE A FINISH OF TRANSGRESSION, AN END TO SIN, ATONEMENT FOR WICKEDNESS, BRINGING IN OF EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS, FULFILLMENT OF ALL VISIONS & PROPHECIES & ANOINTING OF JESUS CHRIST AS KING OF KINGS

1) A FINISH TO TRANSGRESSION

A "finish" to "transgression" = a finish to, i.e., a solution to the problem of Israel's willful disobedience to the statutes of the Law will be brought to an end when our Lord will pay for the sins of the whole world and Israel will accept her Messiah and finally resolve the problem of her transgression.

2) AN END OF SIN

"an end of sin" = the Hebrew word "hatam" = "an end of" = a completion of in the sense of ending. The context of this passage in Daniel combined with the examination of other passages which are about the same doctrine, (Ref. Dt 32:34; Job 14:17), indicate that the phrase "an end of sin" means a sealing up of; i.e., a final ending of the problem of unpunished sin with the satisfactory amount of punishment, sin being anything outside of the Righteousness of God.

3) ATONEMENT FOR WICKEDNESS

Atonement "for wickedness" = payment for sins. This specifically refers to our Lord's once for all time atonement for the sins of the whole world, (Ro 3:21; I Jn 2:2; Hebrews chapter 9).

4) A BRINGING IN OF EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS

a bringing in of "everlasting righteousness" =

"to bring in" - in the verb form in this passage "to bring in" = to cause to come in. This refers to the causing to come in by God of a period of rule of everlasting righteousness. This can only refer to that period of time in history beginning with the millennium. There is no other period in history which brings in a period of rule of everlasting rightouesness. This rule will continue into eternity future, hence it is described as everlasting.

5) A SEALING UP, I.E., FULFILLMENT OF VISIONS AND PROPHECIES

"a sealing up" = a fulfilling, finally, of "vision and prophecy" in Scripture. All visions and prophecies in Scripture will be sealed, i.e. fulfilled and completed and thereby sealed up as completed, no longer applicable for fulfillment.

6) AN ANOINTING OF THE MOST HOLY ONE

An anointing of = the enthronement of "the Most Holy", the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of Lords. This will occur beginning at the period of the millennium.

II) [Dan 9:25-26]:

(v. 25) " 'Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the Ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens'. It [Jerusalem] will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.

(v. 26) After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One [Jesus Christ] will be cut off [i.e., excecuted as a criminal] but not for Himself. [Then] The people of the ruler [the Antichrist] who will come will destroy the city [of Jerusalem] and the sanctuary [of the temple]. The end [of human history as we know it] will come like a flood. War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed."

A) ARTAXERXES LONGIMANUS, KING OF BABYLON, ISSUED A DECREE IN 445 B.C. TO REBUILD JERUSALAM

"From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem" =

Artxerxes Longimanus, king of Babylon, issued a decree [Heb = "dabar" = command, decree, (cf. Est 1:19)] to permit Nehemiah to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem. King Artaxerses did this on the Jewish calendar month and day of Nisan 1, 445 B.C.,(Mar 14); (cp Nehemiah 2:1-8).

1) [Neh 2:1-8]:

(v. 1) "In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I [Nehemiah] took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before;

(v. 2) so the king asked me, 'Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.' I was very much afraid,

(v. 3) but I said to the king, 'May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?'

(v. 4) The king said to me, 'What is it you want?' Then I prayed to the God of heaven,

(v. 5) and I answerd the king, 'If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.'

(v. 6) Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, 'How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?' It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.

(v. 7) I also said to him, 'If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah?

(v. 8) And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?' And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests."

So this 490 year period which leads into the millennial rule of the Kingdom of God will begin at the time when king Artxerxes issues a decree to rebuild Jerusalem.

The rest of this passage speaks of letters of safe passage, military escort protection and authorizations to secure materials and safe conduct in order to reconstruct Jerusalem. The edict given by Artxerses needs to be pinpointed in history in order to test the accuracy of Daniel's prophecy. Artxerses Longimanus, historians have established, began his first year of rule in 464 B.C.. His 20th year of reign then being 445 B.C. Objectors point away from Artxerses Longimanus to other rulers of Medo-Persia in order to avoid the astoningly miraculous accuracy of Daniel's prophecy. Many objectors point to another Medo-Persian ruler, Cyrus, who issued an edict to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. But notice that the edict was only to bebuild the temple, not the whole city:

[Ezra 1:2]:

"This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: 'The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build a temple for Him at Jerusalem in Judah."

Still other objectors to setting the commencement date of this prophecy in Dan 9 as 445 B.C. point to another date, 457 B.C. when Artaxerxes, king of Persia issued a decree to Ezra authorizing him to reinstitute the Temple services, appoint judges and magistrates, and teach the Law. But notice that a rebuilding of Jerusalem was not specifically stipulated. [Compare Ezra 7:11-26].

Furthermore, when carefully considered, the 445 B.C. propecy date works out perfectly to that first Palm Sunday when our Lord first presented Himself as Messiah/King to Israel riding on a foal of a donkey; after which, as the prophecy goes, He was indeed rejected thereupon "cut-off", i.e., crucified. The date of that Sunday was Nissan 10 [Apr 6] A.D. 32.

[Sir Robert Anderson states, op. cit. pp. 121-122]:

"The date of Artaxerses' reign can be definitely ascertained...by the united voice of secular historians and chronologers. .....The Persian edict which restored the autonomy of Judah was issued in the Jewish month of Nisan. It may in fact have been dated the 1st of Nisan, but no other day being named, the prophetic period must be reckoned according to a practice common with the Jews, from the Jewish New Year's Day. 'On the 1st of Nisan is a new year for the computation of the reign of kings and for festivals' - Mishna, treatise. Rosh Hash. So when an event is dated as it was in Nehemiah 2:1, without a particular day of the month stated, then the first of the month was intended. The final proof of this is established when the precise number of days prophesied in Daniel points back to Nisan 1."

B) "THE ANOINTED ONE" = THE RULER, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

"The Anointed One" = "Christos" (Greek) = The Messiah = The Lord Jesus Christ.

"Until the Anointed One [i.e., the Messiah] comes" = until our Lord appears in His First Coming to present Himself as Messiah, i.e., Ruler of the world. (He will be rejected as Messiah and crucified as Scripture prophesies).

C) THE DECREE TO REBUILD JERUSALEM IS TO BEGIN A TIMESPAN OF 483 YEARS UNTIL THE CRUCIFIXION OF OUR LORD

" 'Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the Ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens'. =

1) THE TIMESPAN FROM ARTAXERSES' DECREE TO THE FIRST 'PALM SUNDAY' PROPHESIED BY DANIEL IS 483 YEARS OR 173,880 DAYS

[Sir Robert Anderson also establishes the date of our Lord's crucifixion, op. cit., pp. 121-123]:

"The statement of St Luke is explicit and unequivocal, that our Lord's public ministry began in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar. It is equally clear that it began shortly before the Passover. [cp Jn 2:13] The date of it can thus be fixed as between August A.D. 28 and April A.D. 29. The Passover of the crucifixion therefore was [3 yrs later according to the Gospels] in A.D. 32 when Christ was betrayed on the night of the Paschal [Passover] Supper, and put to death on the day of the Paschal Feast."

[Anderson goes on to say]:

"...In B.C. 445 the new moon by which the Passover was regulated [was] on the 13th of March at 7h. 9m. A.M....courtesy of the Astronmer Royal... Royal Observatory, Greenwich. [England] June 26th, 1877.... And accordingly the 1st Nisan may be assigned to the 14th March."

[Anderson, op. cit., p. 127-8]:

"In accordance with the Jewish custom, the Lord went up to Jerusalem upon the 8th Nisan, "six days before the Passover" [Jn 11:55; 12:1]. But as the 14th, on which the Paschal Supper was eaten, fell that year [32 A.D.] upon a Thursday, the 8th was the preceding Friday. He must have spent the Sabbath, therefore, at [nearby] Bethany...' [Jn 11:55; 12:1]:

(v. 11:55) "When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover.

(v. 12:1) Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead."

[Anderson, cont.]:

"...and on the evening of the 9th, after the Sabbath had ended the Supper took place in Martha's [Lazarus'] house. Upon the following day, the 10th Nisan, He entered Jerusalem as recorded in the Gospels. The Julian date of that 10th Nisan was Sunday the 6th April, A.D. 32....

The intervening period was 476 years and 24 days (the days being reckoned inclusively, as required by the language of the prophecy, and in accordance with the Jewish practice).

476 modern x 365 = 173,740 da calendar yrs Add 14 days from and = 24 " including Mar 14 thru Apr 6 Add for leap years[see below*] 116 " Total days 'til Christ crucified 173,880da Compare to Daniel's prophecy: 69 weeks of years x 7yrs/wk = 483 Jewish cal yrs 483 x 360da/Jewish yr = 173,880da [*A total of 476 years divided by four (a leap year every four years) gives 119 additional days. But three days must be subtracted from 119 because centennial years are not leap years, though every 400th year is a leap year.

[Anderson goes on to say, op. cit., p. 128]:

"...in reckoning years from B.C. to A.D., one year must always be omitted; for it is obvious, ex. gr., that from B.C. 1 to A.D. I was not two years, but one year. B.C. 1 ought to be described as B.C. 0, and it is so reckoned by astronomers, who would describe the historical date B.C. 445, as 444....secondly, the Julian year is 11m. 10'46s., or about the 129th part of a day, longer than the mean solar year. The Julian calendar, therefore, contains three leap years too many in four centuries, an error which had amounted to eleven days in A.D. 1752, when our English calendar was corrected by declaring the 3rd September to be the 14th September, and by introducing the Gregorian reform which reckons three secular years out of four as common years; ex. gr., 1700, 1800 and 1900 are common years, and 2000 is a leap year."

2) JERUSALEM WILL BE REBUILT "IN TIMES OF TROUBLE"

"times of trouble" = Jerusalem was rebuilt back in ancient times by Nehemiah in "times of trouble". Compare Nehemiah chapters 2-6.

3) AT THE END OF 483 YEARS THE MESSIAH WILL PRESENT HIMSELF TO ISRAEL AND THEN HE WILL BE EXECUTED AS A CRIMINAL [CRUCIFIED] BUT NOT FOR HIMSELF, I.E., NOT FOR WHAT HE HIMSELF DID

"After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One [Jesus Christ] will be cut off but not for Himself." =

"karat" = cut off, executed as a criminal.

"but not for Himself" = but not for what he did himself =

The Messiah, the anointed one, was executed as a criminal, but not executed for something He did Himself. The Messiah Jesus Christ, (Christ = "Anointed One"), died for our sins, (1 Jn 2:2), not for anything He did Himself. At the end of the stipulated period of 483 years which began when Nehemiah received the decree from Artaxerxes to rebuild Jerusalem on Nissan 1, 445 B.C; our Lord presented Himself as Messiah exactly 173,880 days later when He rode into Jerusalem on a young donkey - Sunday, April 6, 32 A.D., (Mt 21:1-11). Shortly thereafter, the text says: "After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off..." So after this presentation of Himself as Ruler on Palm Sunday April 6, 32 A.D., the Lord Jesus Christ, the "Anointed One" was crucified as a criminal as the prophecy in Daniel predicted.

III) [DAN 9:26-27]:

(v. 26) "After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One [Jesus Christ] will be cut off [i.e., excecuted as a criminal] but not for Himself. [Then] The people of the ruler [the Antichrist] who will come will destroy the city [of Jerusalem] and the sanctuary [of the temple]. The end [of the Mosaic Law Age] will come like a flood. War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed."

(v. 27) He [the Antichrist] will confirm a covenant with many [Israel] for one 'seven'. In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple, he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."

A) DANIEL'S PROPHECY OF 490 YEARS JUMPS FROM OUR LORD'S CRUCIFIXION AT YEAR #483 SKIPPING ANY MENTION OF THIS PRESENT CHURCH AGE AND LEAPING 2,000 YEARS TO THE REMAINING 7 YEARS: A PERIOD OF THE ANTICHRIST AND GREAT TRIBULATION

"[Then] the people of the ruler [Antichrist, (v. 27)]" =

This next part of verse 26 (v. 26b), jumps hundreds of years in time from our Lord's crucifixion, (v. 26a), skipping over this present Church Age of 2,000 years as if it were an intercalation, i.e., an unrelated interruption, to the 7 year Tribulation period, the time of the Antichrist.

This remaining seven years when added to the previous total of 483 years = 490 years. This is the overall period of time indicated in Daniel 9:24, ("Seventy sevens" = 70 x 7 = 490 yrs). This 490 year period will pass including the intercalation of the 2,000 year Church Age and then there will be the end of human history as we know it. It will also be the end of the last seven years of the Mosaic Law Period climaxed by our Lord's Second Coming.

[Showers, cont.]:

"Gabriel said that the time from the beginning of the 70 weeks until the Messiah, the Prince, would be 69 weeks or 483 years (v. 25). Thus, 483 years after the beginning of the 70 weeks, the Messiah would be present in the world. The fact that this prophecy gave a very specific time when the Messiah would be present indicates that a significant event would happen with regard to the Messiah at the end of the first 69 weeks. What could that event be?

The fact that Gabriel referred to the Messiah as 'the Prince' implies that the event must be related significantly to the Messiah's being Israel's Prince or coming King. Zechariah 9:9 declared that Israel could identify its coming King by the fact that He would come to Jerusalem mounted on the foal of a donkey. In light of this, it would appear that the specific event that would happen at the end of the first 69 weeks or 483 years would be the Messiah's official presentation of Himself to Israel as its Prince or coming King by coming to Jerusalem mounted on the foal of a donkey.

Jesus Christ fulfilled this part of the 70-weeks prophecy when He officially presented Himself to Israel as its Messiah-Prince through His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey on Palm Sunday. Several things indicate that this was the specific event that ended the first 69 weeks or 483 years of the 70-weeks prophecy. First, some of the crowd on that Palm Sunday recognized the significance of Jesus' actions on that day, for they called Him 'King' (Lk 19:37-38).

Second, as Jesus approached Jerusalem on that day, He wept over the city and said, 'If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hidden from thine eyes.' He warned Jerusalem that it would be destroyed by enemy forces 'because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation' (Lk 19:41-44). Jesus' language indicated that that particular day had been marked out by God as the time of Jerusalem's visitation by her Messiah-Prince - the day that could have brought lasting peace to that city if its people had accepted Jesus for Who He was. It also indicated that the people of Israel should have recognized that that particular day was the day when the Messiah would visit Jerusalem as Prince because several centuries earlier, in Daniel 9, God had revealed the exact time when the Messiah would present Himself as Prince to Israel.

Third, the 70-weeks prophecy foretold that the Messiah would be 'cut off' after the end of the first 69 weeks or 483 years (vv. 25-26). The word translated 'cut off' was used for the death penalty (Lev 7:20-21, 25, 27) and often referred to a violent death (1 Sam. 17:51; Obad. 9; Nah. 3:15). In this instance, it referred to the fact that the Messiah would be condemned to suffer the death penalty and thus would experience a violent death after the end of the first 69 weeks. It is a fact of history that Jesus was condemned to death and crucified several days (less than a week) after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Mk 11-15).

Fourth, the 70-weeks prophecy foretold that Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed after the end of the first 69 weeks (vv. 25-26). It is a fact of history that Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by the Romans in 70 A. D., some 30 to 40 years after Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. As we noted earlier, on that Palm Sunday Jesus warned Jerusalem concerning that destruction by enemy forces as He approached the city.

Taken together, these four items indicate that the first 69 weeks of the 70-weeks prophecy ended on the day when Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey and officially presented Himself to Israel as its Prince or coming King."

***************END OF DAN CHAPTER 9 EXCERPT***********