Amazing Errors

Chapter 7 - The Seventy Weeks in Dan. 9:24-27

By Aaron Nyman


A week in Daniel's chronology was seven years. Seventy weeks are accordingly four hundred and ninety years. When did this period begin and when did it end? Who is the Messiah who was put to death after the sixty-two weeks? And who is the prince who sent his people to destroy the city of Jerusalem and the sanctuary, and caused the sacrifice and the oblation to cease for a half week {three and a half years)?

The seventy weeks offer few difficulties for the one who has studied and understands Daniel's 8th, 11th, and 12th chapters.

A week in Daniel's chronology is seven years. All the commentaries I have consulted are agreed that seventy weeks stand for a period of 490 years, which is correct.

Since Daniel had been in the captivity sixty-eight years he found in the prophet Jeremiah that the time for their captivity was to last seventy years (Dan. 9:2). Then he went to the Lord in prayer. His prayer can be read in the ninth chapter from verse 4 to 19. In verses 16 and 17 the petition is found that Daniel lay before God, that he should have mercy upon the people, upon the city, and upon the sanctuary, for his name's sake. While he was praying the angel Gabriel came to him saying, "At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee: for thou art greatly beloved : therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision" (verse 23).

The Adventists assert both in speech and writing that Daniel prayed for and received an explanation of the vision which he had had in the eighth chapter. But Daniel did not ask for an explanation of the vision in the eighth chapter. It is not true. They think so because the angel said that seventy weeks are cut off, and say that there is no other time to cut off time from than the 2,300 evenings and mornings (Dan. 8:14). The 2,300 days are a certain measure and the seventy weeks are another measure. No one can cut anything off from a measure, as it is a measure by which one is measuring, and that must not be shortened. There is no other line from which to cut off time than the only line which is caused by the revolution of the earth around the sun and around its axis. Both of the above mentioned periods shall be cut off from the general time. Here they have themselves destroyed their prophetic message though they do not know it.

It is of small importance to know when Daniel had the vision. The vision itself and when it was fulfilled interests us more.

The interpretation which the Adventists give of the seventy weeks or 490 years is briefly this. The 2,300 days and the 490 years begin both B.C. 457, and that the 490 years must be cut off from the 2,300 evenings and mornings. Both these numbers are a measure and must not be shortened.

Here are two legs upon which their doctrine rests. The number 2,300, which they say shall begin in the year B.C. 457 and the 490 years must begin simultaneously. The angel has shown us in Daniel's eighth chapter, that the 2,300 evenings and mornings shall come after B.C. 176; the Adventists have gone back nearly 300 years beyond that date. Here one of the legs is pushed away by the word of the Lord. We are soon going to take away the other crutch, upon which they rest their opinions when they say that the 490 years begin in B.C. 457.

WHAT IS POSSIBLE AND WHAT IMPOSSIBLE CONCERNING - THE SEVENTY WEEKS, FOUR HUNDRED AND NINETY YEARS?

The words of the angel to Daniel are these, "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy" (verse 24).

The 490 years must be cut off from the time arising from the revolution of the earth around the sun and its axis. You may just as well tell a scientist that a crooked line is the shortest distance between two points, as to say that you can cut off a certain measure from any other line than the common astronomical time.

If this be so, then the 490 years must be cut off from the time arising from the revolution of the earth around its axis and around the sun.

The important question next is, "Where shall the 490 years begin or end?" If we find out where they begin, we count so many years forward, and vice versa.

One thing shall be fulfilled in the beginning of the 490 years: The commandment to restore and build Jerusalem is going forth then (Dan. 9:25). And six things shall be fulfilled at the end of this period:

  1. A limit shall be set for the transgression.

  2. Sins will have an end.

  3. Reconciliation made for iniquity.

  4. Everlasting righteousness brought forth.

  5. The vision of prophecy sealed.

  6. The Most Holy be anointed.

    When did now these seventy weeks, the 490 years, begin at the beginning of which the commandment of the restoration of Jerusalem went forth and at the close of which these above six events took place? This is the scope of our study.

    Those who have written on this subject have begun their calculations at various times: B.C. 536, 519, 457, 454 and 444.

    The Adventists say that it is "one" message, thereby meaning that the beginning can be anywhere between B.C. 536 and 444. There is a difference of 92 years between 536 and 444. The word of the Lord says that the seventy weeks shall begin at the time the commandment of the restoration of Jerusalem went forth, not from those "times." The time of the angel cannot be counted from more than one starting point. Therefore only one can be right of those who have started from five various points.

    The yardstick is the 490 years which shall be laid alongside the general time upon which all time is computed.

    In the 25th verse we read of a Messiah, an anointed prince. It has been thought from the days of Martin Luther that he was Christ. The translators of the Bible are probably responsible for this mistake. The latter translations have corrected the previous misunderstanding.

    AN ILLUSTRATION TO HELP US UNDERSTAND THE SUBJECT

    Let us suppose that the government in Washington decided in 1887 to build a new Custom house in New York city. The house shall be erected between 1897 and 1913, a period of sixteen years. The president who was inaugurated in 1897 should see to it that the foundation was laid. Wm. McKinley became president that year. He issued an order that the foundation should be laid. Theodore Roosevelt, his successor, had to continue the work according to the decision of 1887. Wm. Taft succeeded Roosevelt. The decision of the government was that the president whose term expired 1913, should have finished the house.

    The house was built and finished by the order of Presidents William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and William H. Taft.

    Here is the question that gives us the solution of the whole matter:

    Is it possible that President Taft, who was elected 1909, and who was to finish the work, could make an order to lay the foundation of the house twelve years before he became president?

    We say that it is absolutely impossible. If we admit the order was given after McKinley then we exclude him and the government.

    The Persian king Cyrus gave permission to the Jews, B.C. 536, to return to Jerusalem in order to build the temple and the city. If we count the 490 years from B.C. 536 they end in B.C. 46 and Messiah is excluded. If the 490 years begin B.C. 536 the six events mentioned before should happen in the year B.C. 46 viz. a limit should be set for the transgression, sins should have an end, reconciliation being made for iniquity, everlasting righteousness brought forth, the vision of prophecy was sealed and the Most Holy anointed. (Verse 24.) Nothing of the kind can be proved to have taken place in B.C. 46. We must not, therefore, begin the 490 years in B.C. 536.

    Was nothing accomplished then by Cyrus, some one asks. Yes, they began building up the desolate city and laid the foundation to the temple. But then they were forbidden to proceed with this work in 534 and no progress was made till the second year of King Darius, B.C. 519, a period of fifteen years. If we count the 490 years from 519 we are brought down to B.C. 29, and Messiah is left out again.

    The third starting point, the one the Adventists adhere to, is B.C. 457 in the seventh year of the Persian King Artaxerxes I, according to Ezra's seventh chapter. But to the humiliation of the Adventists and their manner of reading the Bible there is not one word in Ezra's seventh chapter saying that Ezra received any commandment in B.C. 457 to build either city or temple. This is the second leg upon which the Adventist doctrine rests. A veritable falsehood. Ezra was ordered to go to Jerusalem in religious affairs, as to beautify the temple and its service and teach the law to the people. For this purpose he received an escort of priests, and Levites, and singers, and porters, and Nethinim. Was he sent to build? There is not a word to that effect in Ezra's seventh chapter. Let the Adventists sit down and study their lesson again. It is stated in Ezra 7:14 that he was sent by the king and his seven counselors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of God, which was in his hand.

    On the 2nd of February, 1912, I offered through the "Chicago Record-Herald" to the first Adventist, who could show me in what verse of Ezra's 7th chapter it is written that Ezra received a commandment to build Jerusalem, a ticket to the Olympian Games in Stockholm. Other papers copied this offer. At the same time I wrote to several Adventist papers in the country asking them to show me the verse in Ezra's 7th chapter which says that Ezra was ordered to build up Jerusalem in B.C. 457. Some were foolish enough to refer to the old falsehood that it is recorded in Ezra 7:8. Let us read this passage then, "And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king." Can any one come to the conclusion from reading this that Ezra should build up Jerusalem? We know that Ezra came to Jerusalem B.C. 457. The seventy weeks must be counted from the time the word went forth to build Jerusalem according to the words of the angel. But there is a vast difference between coming to a city and building up a city.

    The Seventh-day Adventists publish a paper in Washington, D. C, called "The Review and Herald." This paper had a long article in the issue of February 22, 1912, with reference to my promise in the Chicago papers. The writer, W.W. Prescott, said that the 2,300 evenings and mornings in Dan. 8:14 are years, and that those as well as the seventy weeks must begin B.C. 457. That was the whole content of his argument. If I had believed him blindly without knowledge whether it is so or not, I had, of course, been a good Adventist, but now I am considered a satanic adversary, who is not willing to believe the truth. It is easy to make assertions when one is not compelled to prove the statements.

    I wrote to Mr. Prescott asking him to show upon what ground he said that the 2,300 days and the seventy weeks commenced at B.C. 457. He referred me to their various publications where the subject is clearly stated. But I am only too well acquainted with their fantastic literature.

    The only one, who has given a correct answer to my question regarding the alleged commandment in Ezra, that he should build up Jerusalem, is the assistant editor of the above publication, Mr. C. M. Snow. He writes, "There is no commandment in Ezra seventh chapter in so many words, that he should build up Jerusalem." Then he adds that the commandment takes in the temple also, and if the years' do not begin there, there will be a missing link in the great prophecy.

    The whole prophetic folly by which they have deluded more than 100,000 people rests therefore on the assertion that Artaxerxes commanded Ezra in B.C. 457 to build up Jerusalem. If they cannot prove the statement they have for seventy years been deluded and have led many people astray. My question is what is written in Ezra's seventh chapter and not in the Adventist books where they think all the treasures of wisdom are hidden.

    An Adventist woman who had heard me lecture on this subject came to my home and asked me to get a Bible so that she could read herself in Ezra seventh, and see if Jerusalem should be built up at that time. Having read through the chapter she said, "It is not there, and let him be right who is right." This was from a woman. If it had been one of their preachers he had, no doubt, found some way out of the dilemma by falsifying the plainest facts; for it must be there, otherwise our whole blessed doctrine crumbles to dust, and think of what shame that would be for our wonderful prophetess and for "the present truth!"

    One of their preachers who found that the doctrine of Jesus becoming our high priest first in 1844 was false left them, because he saw that their system was tottering on that mistake alone. He said to me that he really had believed that the word concerning the building up Jerusalem had gone forth in B.C. 457; but he admits now that no one can go against my exposition who is not totally blind.

    Another Swedish preacher, Henry Johnson, has published six maps on the prophecies. I sent for them and am prepared to say that their typographical make-up is beautiful but their contents are erroneous from beginning to end, because the foundation is wrong, though he does not understand how terribly weak it is.

    He begins with the 2,300 evenings and mornings and the seventy weeks, counting them from B.C. 457, when according to Ezra 7:7 the commandment went forth that the City of Jerusalem should be restored. "And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinim, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king." Is there anything said in this verse about building?

    The people mentioned were set apart for the temple service. If they had come to build up a ruined city, the verse had read something like this: "Architects, contractors, carpenters, builders, brick masons, stonecutters, ironworkers, copper and tinsmiths, hodcarriers" etc.

    We ask Henry Johnson to examine Ezra 7:7a little more closely. If you have held-such opinions heretofore, God may have pity on you on account of the times of ignorance, but do not sell any more of those maps, for they are incorrect and misleading from beginning to end. Do not despise a word of admonition. We wish you only well.

    When a person does not understand the starting point, even if it looks good at first sight, the whole argument will be false.

    Two persons received respectively 15/16 of 208 dollars and 9/13 of 221 dollars. To this sum are added seventy-five dollars. Before they were allowed to divide the rest between themselves they had to pay a bill of 188 dollars. How much did each one receive?

    One should think that 15/16 of 208 are sixty-eight dollars and 9/13 of 221 are fifty-five dollars. Total 123 dollars, plus seventy-five dollars equals 198 dollars. The bill should first be paid which is 188 dollars, leaving a balance of ten dollars. These ten dollars shall now be divided between the two men and therefore they get five dollars each.

    If we add seventy-five dollars to 123 dollars, does that not make 198? Do you see how it agrees with facts? If we pay our bill of 188 dollars, are there not ten dollars left? This is true. If we divide equally the ten dollars between two persons, everyone knows that each gets five dollars.

    This is the whole truth and he who cannot see this is incapable of reasoning. We are the only Church of Christ who has a prophetess and she has proved by her visions that we have the truth. "Believe your prophets," says the word of God, "and you shall succeed." As many as can see the truth in our calculations, please raise your hand. Nearly all with the exception of Nyman and some others who have left the truth do not believe their calculations raise one hand. We warn you against Nyman and others who say that they have figured out the numbers and found that we are wrong from beginning to end. Do not listen to them, they are the agents of the Devil and we should have nothing to do with them. They are under the severe judgment of God, because they want to destroy the firm prophetical word. If there come any circulars to you, don't read them; throw them into the stove ! He who has read our writings knows how well everything harmonizes. It was ten dollars at last which should be divided between the two persons, and when they received this money they felt satisfied and said it was right, and you may be sure that God does not bless any heresy.

    This is another application that is damaging to their doctrines.

    The two persons who received five dollars each could probably use the four rules of arithmetic, but they did not understand multiplication of fractions ; therefore, they believed without knowledge that their calculation was correct.

    But just what they did not know was the cause of their mistake, namely 15/16 of 208 and 9/13 of 221. 15/16 of 208 is not 68. Divide 208 by 16 and the quotient is 13. When 1/13 of 208 is 13, how much is 15/16. It must be 15 times 13 which equals 195 and not 68. How much is 9/13 of 221 ? Divide 221 by 13 and the quotient is 17. When 1/13 of 221 equals 17, then 9/13 must be 9 times 17, or 153, and not 55. 195 plus 153 equals 348; plus 75 equals 423 dollars. The bill of 188 dollars must now be subtracted from 423 dollars and we get a difference of 235 dollars, which shall be divided between the two persons, leaving an amount of 117 dollars and 50 cents to each.

    So it is with the message of the Adventists and Henry Johnson's prophetical charts. When one is using Ezra's 7:7 as a starting point for a prophecy, and says that a commandment went forth to build up Jerusalem, the foundation of such a prophecy is false, yes a falsehood, no matter how strong faith you have in your doctrines.

    When the Adventists happen to see that it is not written in Ezra 7:7 that a commandment went forth to build up Jerusalem, they say that the temple, as well as the city, are included in the message, and that Ezra built the temple. We ask, where is it written?

    The temple was dedicated in the sixth year of the King Darius. Darius became king of Persia B. C. 521. The sixth year of his reign was B.C. 515 (Ezra 6:15).

    Ezra came to Jerusalem B.C. 457, and issued an order to build" the temple which was dedicated in 515, just fifty-eight years before Ezra came there.

    Is there any reason in assertions like these? People ought to be ashamed to call such nonsense "the present truth;" it is in, fact a seventy year old error upon which your whole system is based.

    "Tidens Tecken och Sions Vaktare" (The Signs of the Times and Zion's Watchman) is the official organ of the Swedish Seventh-day Adventists. In its number for July 23, 1912, there was an article under the heading, "The Sanctuary," translated from the American paper, "The Signs." The article begins like this, "The order that was issued by the Persian king to restore and rebuild Jerusalem with its temple may be found in the seventh chapter of Ezra."

    Is it possible that Ezra could issue an order to restore the temple in B.C. 457, when it was dedicated 515, or fifty-eight years before Ezra arrived at Jerusalem?

    On this point rests their prophetic message. They must distort the facts in order to retain their pet hobby.

    Adventist leaders, will you admit that you have sent out a falsehood to your ignorant people who don't know history but believe blindly what they read in the papers? If you are honest and sincere, recall this falsehood. Your message truly falls to the ground; but it is better than deceiving people, and at last to stand with shame before the face of God.

    If an Adventist dies believing in their message, then he dies in the faith of "the present truth." But in reality he dies believing in the error that came up in 1844.. If he has lived a righteous life we don't believe by any means that he is lost, but their death notices would read a great deal better, if they could say that he died in the faith in Christ and not in such follies.

    Ezra beautified the house of God and improved the temple service. But there is a vast difference between building a new temple or beautifying an old one that was built fifty-eight years previously!

    There is not" a trace in Ezra's seventh chapter of any people that Ezra brought with him for building purposes, neither that he had with him a cent for the building; he did not buy as much as a brick nor a foot of lumber ; not that he filled a crevice in the wall nor that he hung a door on the hinges before thirteen years afterwards (Neh. 2:1).

    The Adventists have fortunately no patent on the reading of Ezra's book; there are still many people who can read this chapter correctly. Pastor C. T. Russell believes that a message went forth B.C. 454, but that is equally wrong.

    We have now reached the fifth and last starting point, which some think is the right one, counting the days and weeks from the twentieth year of Artaxerxes in B.C. 444. The year B.C. 444 and A.D. 46 are supposed to comprise the seventy weeks, 490 years. But as the end of the period is as late as forty-six Messiah is excluded again. I heard a D. D. in the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago lecture on this subject. He said that Messiah (the anointed one) who was killed after the sixty-nine weeks, was Christ.

    If we deduct one week (seven years) from A.D. 46, we get the year A.D. 39, as the year when Christ died. This is erroneous, as Jesus was not fully thirty-four years at his death.

    Professor J. G. Princell has published a book on the history of Israel. He makes the seventy weeks begin at B.C. 444. Pointing out that Christ was four years old at the year one of the Christian era, which is probable, he makes another mistake here. While he goes back with the four years between Christ's birth and the year A.D. 1, the sixty-nine weeks are also brought back from the year A. D. 39 to 35. Then he begins counting from the year B.C. 4. This cannot be done, because the earth cannot go back four years and again return to its course.

    Owing to several discrepancies in the translations of this passage it has been difficult to understand correctly. Dr. Martin Luther, Dr. H. M. Melin, Dr. Adam Clarke, Per Fjellstedt, Missionary Franzon and many others have, in my opinion, failed to bring out the clear and correct meaning. They have given their opinions and the case has been settled. The Adventists and Pastor C. T. Russell have used those views as a foundation for their doctrines. They have allowed the seventy weeks to begin at times without any correspondence in the Bible or history. The city was rebuilt B.C. 444 by Nehemiah. One can understand why so many have let the seventy weeks commence there, when they have not thoroughly studied the eighth chapter, the very foundation of the ninth chapter.

    Some people have wondered if I am really sane who has dared to criticise both doctors of divinity and professors, widely known both for piety and learning. But wise men can also make mistakes. I have studied these prophecies carefully, and while I cannot boast of profound learning, I think I have discovered the thread which goes through the whole system of Daniel's prophecies. But you cannot do it while you are drinking your morning coffee. It takes time.

    As a working man who has to labor daily for the support of his family, I have used my leisure hours, sometimes past midnight, and studied hard after my dear ones have retired and resting soundly. The blessing of God has been my sweet reward and supported my physical strength.

    A minister who is occupied with other studies and the multifarious duties of his calling has hardly time enough to sit down and study these things carefully. I am therefore glad if the result of my efforts in this direction can be of any service and give you any suggestions in this interesting field of research.

    "And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes, king of Persia." (Ezra 6: 14.) The commandment to build Jerusalem must not be counted from Artaxerxes, for he was the fourth in the order and should finish the work. If we count the order from him, God, Cyrus and Darius are excluded. In my illustration of the building of the Custom house, that was to be built by the government, McKinley, Roosevelt and Taft. Taft was the last one who was to complete the work, therefore the building could not commence during his administration, as the other three would then be excluded. In this place most of the commentators have failed, because they have assumed that Jesus was the anointed prince (Messiah) referred to in the ninth chapter.

    Let us now see what God himself* has to say concerning Cyrus and the restoration of Jerusalem, and the reader will more readily see the solution of the intricate question.

    "I am the Lord, that saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd and that shall perform all my pleasure; even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid." (Isaiah 44: 28.)

    "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

    For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have summoned thee, though thou hast not known me.

    I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God besides me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known." (Isaiah 45: 1-5.)

    "I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways : he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of hosts" (Isaiah 45:13).

    From the foregoing passages we learn that it was Cyrus, who should restore the city, lay the foundation of the temple and set the captives free.

    Next to God it is Cyrus who shall give out the order to build up Jerusalem. When the 490 years shall begin at the time the commandment went forth to restore Jerusalem, and God himself has said, that Cyrus should issue the commandment, the seventy weeks (490 years) cannot begin after Cyrus, but must begin either before or during his time. If now Christ is the anointed prince (Messiah) in Dan. 9:25, which a great number have believed, we cannot exclude him, but Cyrus will be excluded; for 490 years from Cyrus' reign (B.C. 536) brings us to B.C. 46. One of these two will then have to be excluded, either Cyrus or the anointed prince (Messiah). If we exclude Cyrus then the Lord himself becomes a deceiver through the statements of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezra and 2 Chron.

    Most writers on this subject whom I have consulted have thought that Christ is the anointed prince in Dan. 9:25. They have therefore been forced to exclude Cyrus and let the words of the restoration of Jerusalem begin at several times, the latest in B.C. 444, ninety-two years from Cyrus (536) and eighty-five after his death. Cyrus died in B.C. 529.

    As we cannot exclude Cyrus from the period covered by the seventy weeks because God himself would then be a deceiver, we must try to find out whether the Messiah, that is the anointed prince, in the ninth chapter is Christ or if the title is applied to someone else. We are soon going to show that the anointed prince is not Christ, and that the mistake in so many calculations can be traced back to this verse.

    Before going any farther in our discussion I wish to say that the commandment of the restoration of Jerusalem cannot be dated from Cyrus, B. C. 536, Darius 519, 'Artaxerxes 457, 454, or 444, It shall not start from any of the five above mentioned points. The angel could not begin from more than one of them, and then he must begin with Cyrus 536, but in such a case the six events at the close of the period happen B.C. 46. But as it cannot be proved that a single of these events happened then, it must be wrong to begin with Cyrus B.C. 536.

    I will now use another illustration throwing light upon the truth we are seeking.

    A king wishes to notify his whole artillery that it shall take part in a maneuver a certain day. Does the king personally give to every soldier his order? No. He sends the order to the general master of the ordnance. He sends the order to the commanding general in each military district. Does the latter communicate the order directly to each soldier? No. He sends it to the chief of each regiment in his district. Does the chief communicate directly with the soldiers? No. He sends it to each battery and company officer? Do these officers come in contact with the individual privates? No. He sends for his adjutant, and if there are several batteries and companies located in one place, they have a common division adjutant who reads the order to the various battery and company adjutants in that place. These officers take down the order in the journal. The soldiers are called together and while they stand in "attention" the adjutants read the order to the soldiers. Whose order is it, or from whom did it emanate? If a certain, period shall be calculated from the time the order was issued, that period must be counted from the time the order was sent by the king, all the others through whose hands the order went are only instruments in the hands of the king.

    If we count the order from the various regiment chiefs the king and all the other officers are excluded. We cannot count the order from the battery adjutant who read it before the soldiers. The order must be dated from the king himself. The seventy weeks shall be dated from the time the order went forth. If we begin these weeks from the time of Artaxerxes, we exclude God, Cyrus and Darius. In the same way it was impossible for President Taft, who was to complete the Custom house, to give out the order of its building twelve years before he became president.

    "And they budded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia." (Ezra 6: 14.) v Here is another important item that must be correctly understood. Were the seventy weeks going to begin when the commandment was given that Jerusalem should be rebuilt, or shall they be counted from the year the building actually began? A society decides this year (1913) that a Home for Old People shall be erected, and that the work shall begin 1920. The contractor cannot begin the work before he is ordered to do it. The order precedes the building. On this point several have made a mistake. Let us suppose that Cyrus was the first builder. From whom did he get the order? We find the answer in God's word : "Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the 'Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up" ... (2 Chron. 36:22,23; Ezra 1:1.)

    Cyrus found first though the prophecies of Isaiah that the Lord had said that he (Cyrus) was to build up the holy city and get the captives in liberty. There is good authority for the opinion that this prophecy was given 210 years before Cyrus occupied the throne. 210 added to 536 makes B.C. 746. Isaiah prophesied between 759-698, a period of sixty-one years. This agrees with the Lord's words, saying that he had girded him and surnamed him Cyrus, though he did not know God.

    The Adventists assert that Cyrus did nothing to the city, but turned all his attention to the temple. Some time ago I asked one of their professors to show me where it is written in Ezra's seventh chapter that any message was issued in B.C. 457, to build up Jerusalem. His answer was, "If it is not in the seventh it is in the sixth chapter." The sixth chapter relates that it was done, but not that Ezra issued any order to have it done; and what becomes then of the anointed prince? "The message must be dated from the time the commandment went forth to build the city, but Cyrus gave order only concerning the temple," he said. I asked him to let me have the Bible he held in his hand; but then he rose from his seat and said he was no schoolboy and walked behind the curtain in his tent. There were two other persons in the tent. I took the Bible lying on the table and read Ezra 4:12, "Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations." Then I went out in the large tent where the professor was and said to him, that if Cyrus did not give an order the word of God concerning him is a falsehood and asked him to read Ezra 4:12. He did not answer. Then I said, "You do not seem to have any more grace in your heart now than twelve years ago when you spat on the Baptist church in Worcester, Mass., calling it a harlot." "That's not true," he said. I answered, "I walked on your left hand side and heard it; but I would never use such vulgar language as that." Then I left the tent.

    A FALSE EXPLANATION OF THE ANOINTED PRINCE SPOKEN OF IN DAN. 9:24-27.

    "Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous time." (Verse 25, Am. Revised Version.)

    The seven weeks and the sixty-two weeks are placed in juxtaposition; wherefore, it is easy to make the mistake of bringing forth the anointed prince first after the sixty-two weeks have elapsed. But we have reason to expect that something is going to take place at the end of the first seven weeks, before the sixty-two weeks commence; if not, why are the sixty-nine weeks mentioned in one connection?

    In later versions the seven weeks and the sixty-two are so clearly set apart that no misunderstanding needs to exist to him who dares to use his brain. But though the Adventists see this distinction between the two periods, they cannot grasp that their ill-conceived doctrines are shipwrecked on this rock. This was the reason S. Mortenson wanted to exclude modern versions of the Bible, if we were going to have a public debate; for he understood what the consequences would be, though his people do not understand it.

    From the time the commandment went forth to restore and build Jerusalem, till the Messiah (the anointed one), a prince was coming, seven weeks should pass. The general view is that Christ is the anointed one. I have asked through their papers and used the revised version to find out who is the anointed prince coming up after the seven weeks. (Verse 25.) The answer was: "It is undoubtedly Christ."

    The Adventists begin the seventy weeks in B.C. 457. After seven weeks an anointed one, a prince, should come (49 years after 457), and the anointed one who is Christ is then born B.C. 408. "And after three score and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing." (Verse 26.) Who is the prince that should be killed after the sixty-two weeks? The Adventists say, "It is Christ." A week is seven years. Sixty-two weeks are sixty-two times seven equals 434 years. 434 from B.C. 408, when the anointed prince was born, who, as they say, is Christ, brings us down to A. D. 26. Then Christ will be 434 years old at his death.

    I asked a woman who is a full fledged Mrs. White worshiper to read these verses in the latest version of the Bible. When she had read about the anointed prince who was to come after the seven weeks, I asked her, "who is this prince?" She answered, "That is Christ." She continued to read, "And after the sixty-two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off." I asked her who she thought this anointed one to be. The answer was, "It is Christ." I said, "These sixty-two weeks stand for 434 years; then Christ was 434 years old when he died." She opened her eyes wide and said it was only I who said so, who had left the truth. It is impossible to reason with such people. But that is the kind of children Mrs. White has fostered.

    Let us continue on the twenty-sixth verse, "And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined." (Am. Rev. Version.)

    "And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate." (Verse 27.)

    "Christ is the anointed prince who died upon the cross in the midst of the seventh week," the Adventists say, and through his death he cast down the sacrifice and oblation spoken of in this verse." If Christ is the anointed prince, the result will be the following:

    Christ was born in B.C. 408. He is the anointed one who died after the sixty-two weeks, the year A.D. 26, at the age of 434 years. Though dead now he is sending people to destroy the city and the sanctuary. In the midst of the seventieth week he throws down sacrifice and oblation by dying for the second time, but now he was only thirty or thirty-four years old. Finally having died twice wrath shall be poured out upon the desolate (Christ).

    This is the doctrine of Christ, the anointed prince, in Daniel's ninth chapter. A beautiful and logical interpretation?

    IS THERE ONLY ONE ANOINTED PRINCE SPOKEN OF IN DAN. 9:24-27?

    An observing reader will find in the three last verses of Daniel's ninth chapter that reference is made to three different persons.

    Seven weeks, or forty-nine years, shall pass from the going forth of the commandment to restore Jerusalem until the anointed one, the prince, shall come. Here we have an anointed one, a prince, who should come after forty-nine years since the commandment had gone forth. The American Revised version has a comma after this statement in verse twenty-five. After the sixty-two weeks shall an anointed one, but not a prince, be cut off, or killed, and no one shall follow him. The anointed one is destroyed here. If he had been the same who should come after the forty-nine years, he had been 434 years from this time, sixty-two weeks. After the anointed one had been destroyed the sentence is complete and followed by a period, whereupon the twenty-sixth verse begins with an entirely new meaning.

    "And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood" (verse 26).

    Here appears another prince whose people were to destroy the city and the sanctuary. This is not the anointed prince who came after the seven weeks, neither the anointed one who was put to death after the sixty-two weeks; but this is a third prince who sent people to destroy the city and the sanctuary in Jerusalem; he himself came to his end in a flood, thereby understood a violent death.

    "And he," the 27th verse begins. Which he? The reference is to the prince who should send his people to destroy the city and the sanctuary. "And he" (the pronoun, "he," refers to this prince) shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate."

    This prince shall make a firm covenant with many for a week, and for a half week sacrifice and oblation should cease through him.

    If the Adventists dared to use their brains and think of what they are reading, they could never get Jesus to be the third prince here.

    There are three things that must fit this prince :

    1. He shall send his people to destroy the city and the sanctuary in Jerusalem. No one can prove that Jesus ever sent any people for that purpose.

    2. He should abolish sacrifice and oblation for a half week. The Adventists have made this application to Jesus, that he worked for three and a half years, the first half of the seventieth week ; afterwards he, through his death, caused the sacrificial system to cease; that it took Jesus three and a half years to do away with the sacrifices for ever.

      There is a great difference between abolishing a thing for a half week, and when that half week is past the thing that was abolished commences again, or to take the time of a half week to abolish the thing for ever.

      A superintendent for a school closes the school for half a week. When the half week is gone the school is opened again. He did not take half a week to close the school for ever.

      Which one of these two opinions is correct?

      For half a week is the same as during half a week. When the half week, three and one-half years, are past, the sacrifices begin again. This is the correct meaning in Dan. 9:27.

      An Adventist professor who had left their communion paid me a visit one day, and when I showed him this difference, he said he had never thought of it, but knew immediately to whom the prophecy referred.

      The Lord Jesus did not abolish the sacrifice for a half week, he made them to cease for ever; but this prince should cause them to cease for half a week, three and a half years. This is the correct meaning without any subterfuges or jugglery.

    3. "Wrath shall be poured out upon the desolate" (verse 27). If Christ was this prince who died upon the cross and abolished the sacrifice through his death, how could then wrath or punishment come upon him, since he had died?

    It is clear enough in all the Bibles I have read who this third prince is, so there is no reason why they have made such blunders. If the anointed one had been Christ here and he was cut off after the sixty-two weeks, then it cannot be he who abolished the sacrifice, for in such case he would have to die a second time. Finally when he was cut off twice a determined wrath shall be poured out upon him.

    When I have pointed out these things to the Adventists and Russellites, they have said that I explain away Christ; and even one who believes that he is a great prophet said that I did not want any Christ, etc. God knows that I am only seeking the truth, and anyone who seeks it in the right spirit shall find it. But those who are only looking for arguments to support their false visions and curious hobbies will continue to walk in darkness, nor know whither they are going. What should take place at the,end of the seventy weeks? (Verse 24.)

    1. "Transgression should be finished." If we begin the seventy weeks at B.C. 457, they will end A.D. 33. Were the transgressions finished then? Not at all.

    2. "An end was made to sin." How can sins be said to have an end? By putting the sinner out of existence. All our sins were laid upon Christ, and in that way they came to an end at the end of the seventy weeks, the Adventists say. But Jesus died, according to the same authority, in the middle of the seven weeks, or three and a half years before this time.

    3. "To make reconciliation for iniquity." Whose iniquity was reconciled A.D. 33 or 34? It cannot apply to Christ for he was dead before that time.

    4. "To bring in everlasting righteousness." One tries to show that this righteousness is Christ. An everlasting righteousness is a principle, not a person. If the word had had reference to Christ it would have been an everlasting righteous. Christ was dead before that time.

    5. "To seal up vision and prophecy." Which prophecy was sealed up in A.D. 33 or 34? The anointed prince died? No, he was dead three and a half years before.

    6. "To anoint the most holy." There is nothing in all these six paragraphs that happens at the time A.D. 33 or 34.

    Is there any trace in history of a most holy being anointed in the year 33 or 34 after Christ? Was it the sanctuary ("a most holy" appears to have reference to the place in the temple bearing that name) in heaven that should be anointed, and should it be done at the death of Christ or at his ascension? We remark that the Adventists say that Jesus was born three years before the Christian era, which is correct; but then Jesus did not ascend to heaven A. D. 33 or 34, but in the year 30. But the sanctuary should not be anointed before 33 — 34, if the seventy weeks began B. C. 457. Christ would then have to stand waiting in heaven three and a half years before the sanctuary was anointed. Afterwards he entered upon his office as a priest in the holy place and did not become a high priest before A.D. 1844.

    These six paragraphs should all be fulfilled at the end of the seventy weeks. And if the weeks began in B.C. 457 they should be fulfilled in A.D. 33 or 34. But according to this theory they were fulfilled three and a half years before, though not one of them can be applied to Christ because the starting point is wrong. No message was sent out in B.C. 457, according to Ezra 7th chapter, to restore Jerusalem; there is not a word to that effect, though the Adventists vainly make such assertion in their books and pulpits in order to bolster up a doctrine that rests upon an error. It has been pointed out long enough that it is not there; and still they persist in perverting the truth whenever the fact is held before their eyes. It is a miserable message which is built upon so weak a foundation that they must prevaricate before the people to maintain the doctrine. If they were not blind and insincere, they would immediately read Ezra 7th chapter and say that their opponents are right, it is not found there. And besides, if it was unmistakably stated in Ezra that such a commandment was given, we cannot allow the weeks to begin there, because then we would exclude God, Cyrus and Darius.

    WE WILL NOW EXPLAIN THE PROPHECY IN DAN. 9:24-27 WITH BIBLICAL, HISTORICAL AND SCIENTIFIC FACTS.

    Having thoroughly studied the eighth chapter of Daniel we have seen how easily the prophecy explains itself under the guidance of the angel, and we have also found that the key to the whole problem is found there. When we understand the eighth chapter there is no difficulty to find the truth about the seventy weeks.

    In Dan. 9:26 we read of desolations that are determined. Who has determined that these desolations should come? The Lord God himself.

    When should the people of the prince come to destroy the city and the sanctuary? (Verse 26.)

    After the three score and three weeks, after the anointed one had been cut off.

    When should the desolations come that were determined?

    After the three score and two weeks, since the anointed one had been killed. (Verse 26.)

    As it is the same prince whose people should destroy the city and the sanctuary, who should cause sacrifice and oblation to cease for three and a half years, and finally desolations were determined upon him; it is absolutely impossible to apply these things upon the Lord Jesus.

    The little horn in Dan. 8:11 should take away from the prince of hosts his daily sacrifice and cast clown the place of his sanctuary.

    That is the same thing as we have in Dan. 9:26, 27.

    In Dan. 8:12 we hear of a host that was given over through transgression.

    Here is the key to our long investigation. What does it mean to be given over?

    To be left in the hands of the destroyer without protection and defence.

    Their desolation was determined. (Verse 26.)

    What does "desolation" mean?

    The synonymous words are waste, ruin, destruction, devastation, destitution, gloom.

    At what time did this ruin come that was unalterably determined ?

    In the latter time of their kingdom when the transgressors are come to the full (Dan. 8:23). Greece was divided into four kingdoms and their influence is dated from the death of Alexander, B.C. 323 to 30. The latter time of their kingdom is from B.C. 176 to 30. The transgressors had come to the full some time between B.C. 176 and 30. This is the explanation of the angel.

    When the transgressors had come to the full, they were given over through transgression. Desolations were determined by God.

    The little horn, a fierce king, was to come at the same time.

    Over what people did the desolation come?

    Over Daniel's people, the Jews.

    Those who have carefully studied Daniel's 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th chapters together with the Bible and general history, will find, that these chapters are a connected story and one chapter explains the other. You want to hear a story from beginning to end, if you are going to understand it. And if you are going to repeat the story you must know it from beginning to end.

    There are many who have published monographs on the seventy weeks; but if they have not studied the eighth chapter thoroughly, where we have to look for the key to the ninth chapter, it is not to be wondered at if they have not understood the seventy weeks. It is as difficult as to tell a story of which you have heard only a part.

    These prophecies are so interlaced that they must not be studied separately, independent of each other.

    A general is sending out an officer to reconnoiter a part of a landscape. The officer is ordered to follow the course of a river from a certain point to. where it empties into a lake. He shall make a map of the cities, villages, plains and hills three miles on either bank of the river. The river is the leading factor of that map. If he loses sight of the river and goes more than three miles from it, his map will be. faulty. If he commences his reconnoitering along another river than the one pointed out by the general, the map is valueless to the general, however well it may be executed.

    Our study is just as much depending upon the vision in the eighth chapter as the officer depended upon following the river for a correct map. If we do not understand the vision in the eighth chapter, it is absolutely impossible to lay out any prophecy that corresponds with the word of the Lord and history, just as impossible as it was for the officer to get his map correct when he began at the wrong place and followed another river than the one designated by the general.

    We have shown plainly and with incontrovertible arguments according to the word of God which says, "The vision is at the time of the end," that the time of the end is where the vision was being fulfilled.

    The vision began to be fulfilled in the Medo-Persian empire when the ram was pushing westward, northward and southward. We have followed the vision to the war of Alexander with Medo-Persia and its ruin in B.C. 331, the death of Alexander 323 and the division of his kingdom. At the latter time of their kingdom the transgressors had come to the full, between B.C. 176—30. At that time the little horn makes its appearance and becomes a scourge over the ungodly Jews. The last part of the vision was the fury of the little horn against the Jews. The 2,300 evenings and mornings are six years, four months, and twenty days. When the sanctuary was cleansed the vision ended. The sanctuary was cleansed B.C. 164 when Judas Maccabeus captured Jerusalem and restored the divine worship. No event in our study goes beyond that period. Dean F. W. Farrar says in his exposition on Daniel that the prophecy does not go beyond the year B.C. 164, where the vision ended. When I read that I said amen, because I know it is correct.

    Has a person need of any learning to see that? One must be blind if he does not see it.

    To go out and teach that the time of the end is for the world when Jesus is going to return, that it began in A.D. 1798 and lasted till A.D. 1844, that Jesus entered into his sacerdotal office then, that he had served as a priest in the first apartment until that time, that the searching judgment began then, that the seventh trumpet was sounding then: "The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever"; all this, I say, is an astounding error. If the doctrine of the Adventists is true here, the angel has been deceiving the world for sixty-eight years (1844 — 1912); for the kingdoms of the world are pretty much the same as they have been. These and similar views we call "astounding errors."

    If they had followed the vision when it was fulfilled from beginning to end, they would without any difficulty have seen that there is no question of the end of the world but of the ungodly Jews whose transgressions had come to the full in the latter part of the divided kingdom of Greece. Antiochus Epiphanes is the little horn, the fierce king, who fills the requirements of the prophecy here. The 2,300 evenings and mornings in Dan. 8:14 is a certain time during his reign. This vision was closed when the sanctuary was cleansed, Dec. 25, B.C. 164, when the first sacrifice was offered since the sacrificial system and the temple service had been set aside for three and a half years. This is a fact, even if the reader cannot see or believe it is so.

    We have found with a certainty that these prophecies do not go beyond the year B.C. 164 and that the vision is the leading river having its source in Medo-Persia and ending in 164 when the temple service was restored again.

    According to the time of the angel the seventy weeks should begin when the word went forth that the city should be rebuilt. Daniel had this vision B.C. 538. When the commandment was "going forth," the angel said; according to the laws of the language this proves that the commandment had already gone forth, otherwise the angel had used another tense.

    The angel has not more than one starting point for the seventy weeks ; but we notice how several have been mentioned: B.C. 536, 519, 457, 454, and 444.

    If Christ is the anointed prince in Daniel's ninth chapter, as many have believed, the time does not fit the historic Christ. The calculations of the Adventists and pastor C. T. Russell are the most nearly correct ; but in order to get the beginning of their calculations approximately correct they are compelled to select dates that have no foundation, in the Bible or history. The Adventists might just as well try to show the bones of Adam at their meetings as to prove from the seventh chapter of Ezra's book that Ezra ever received any commandment to restore Jerusalem. Pastor Russell has commenced the 490 years in B.C. 454 because he has seen someone else do so.

    How important it is to understand the vision and know that it ended with the 2,300 evenings and mornings, B.C. 164.

    Let us now examine the six points to find out if they correspond with the events at that time.

    1. "The host was given over to it through transgression." (Dan. 8:12.) "To finish transgression, and to make an end of sins .... desolation was determined upon them." (Dan. 9:24.)

      Transgression was finished when Antiochus Epiphanes at this time put to death the transgressors and other Jews began to obey the Lord.

    2. "An end of sins was made." When the sinners were taken away an end was made to sins.

    3. "Reconciliation was made for iniquity." The Jews reconciled their sins with their death.

    4. "Everlasting righteousness was brought in." An everlasting righteousness is a principle which God had toward the people and not a person. If he had meant a person he would have said "a righteous."

      God demanded obedience. He had instituted morning and evening sacrifices, circumcision and other rites which they ought to have observed according to the precepts of Jehovah. The Jews had neglected these ordinances to a great extent. The people lived in sins as the fish in water. Even the priests were found in heathen gambling dens watching the people who took part in the abominations of the gentiles. When Judas Maccabeus had captured the city and introduced the principles of God an everlasting righteousness was brought in again.

    5. "Vision and prophecy were sealed up." When a prophetic vision has been fulfilled then the prophecy is sealed by its fulfillment.

    6. "The most holy is anointed." There is a difference between anointing a holy sanctuary and a person. This refers to the most holy place. The little horn, A. Epiphanes, took away from God his daily sacrifice in Jerusalem for three years and a half. Cast down the sanctuary and the host.

    Judas Maccabeus restored the temple service, the sanctuary was anointed and dedicated, the services were conducted according to the divine ritual, in other words the sanctuary was cleansed. Here the prophecy as well as the vision ends, in B.C. 164.

    The vision was sealed to the time of the end, we read in several places, and that it was the vision in the eighth chapter closing with the 2,300 evenings and mornings. When the power of the people has been broken in pieces, all these things shall be finished. (Dan. 12:7.)

    The 8th, 10th, 11th, and 12th chapters refer to the vision and state that it belongs to the time of the end. The time of the end was where the vision is fulfilled. It ended B.C. 164 when the sanctuary was cleansed.

    The seventy weeks are the same time of the end; the same city, the same sanctuary, the same desolation that was irrevocably determined, the same people of the prince that was to destroy the city and the sanctuary spoken of in chapter 11:31. "And forces shall stand on his part, and they shall profane the sanctuary; even the fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt-offering, and they shall set up the abomination that maketh desolate." The same sacrifice which the people of this prince should take away. These chapters are as closely knit together as the links in a chain.

    The six points mentioned in the prophecy were all fulfilled at the end of the seventy weeks. There is no difficulty now to find where the weeks shall begin.

    The reader is requested to pardon the many repetitions I make here and there. They are made to help the reader whenever I take up some new item in the argument. The seventy weeks should begin at the time the commandment of the restoring of Jerusalem went forth.

    "And they builded and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes, king of Persia." (Ezra 6:14.)

    Who is now first in the commandment — God or Artaxerxes? The quoted verse says that God is first. Then we must see to it if we can find a time when God first said that Jerusalem should be restored, for we must date this commandment from God himself, as he is first mentioned in the commandment.

    As we have previously pointed out, God, Cyrus and Darius are also mentioned in the commandment to restore Jerusalem, and we cannot exclude them and begin with Artaxerxes.

    God had said concerning Cyrus that he should say about Jerusalem, "She shall be built" ; and of the temple, "Thy foundation shall be laid." (Isa. 44:28.) The message can therefore not begin after him. If we let it commence with him, B.C. 536, and count the 490 years (seventy weeks) from there, they end in B. C. 46, but none of the six points were fulfilled then.

    Darius issued an order to rebuild the temple on account of the commandment given by Cyrus, B.C. 536.

    Request was made of Darius that he should investigate if there was any order given by Cyrus in Babylon to rebuild the temple. "Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the archives, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon. And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media, a roll" (Ezra 6:2, 3) containing the decree by Cyrus, B.C. 536.

    It was on the strength of this order of Cyrus, B.C. 536, that Darius completed the temple from B.C. 519 to 515. During the year B.C. 457 no order was issued, neither were any steps taken in that direction. The prophetic message of the Adventists is resting on this point, and therefore it is so fearfully weak. In the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, B.C. 444, we do not know of any decree emanating from him. Nehemiah was permitted to return to Jerusalem in answer to his petition. Artaxerxes has received credit for having issued an order to rebuild the temple; but after closer investigation we find that he gave Nehemiah permission to return to Jerusalem and that the work was completed during his reign. When Nehemiah brought wine to the king, the latter asked him, why his countenance was sad. Thou art not sick; this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Nehemiah answered the king, "Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchers, lieth waste, and the gates thereof consumed with fire?" (Neh. 2:1-3.) Then he asked the king permission to go to Jerusalem to rebuild its walls that they no longer should be the scorn of the enemies. The king granted his request, but we cannot say that he issued any direct order to Nehemiah, so that the words of the angel can be applied to this permission given by Artaxerxes.

    Nehemiah went to Jerusalem, built the walls, and completed his work in about two months.

    Ezra, the builder of the Adventists, was a total failure who did not in thirteen years, from 457 to 444, place a single stone upon the wall or fill a single hole.

    He was with Nehemiah and aided him, but our Adventist friends have very little help from that fact, because their writings state everywhere that the commandment to build the city is based upon Ezra 7th chapter, an assertion which time and again has been proved to be erroneous.

    We cannot pass by the prophecy which God spoke concerning Cyrus, that he should build the city and set the captives free. (Isa. 45:13.) Did this order emanate from Cyrus' own heart? No, but in order that the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished. (Ezra 1:1.) It is accordingly the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah that came to the Persian king, so that he on that account gave an order to the Jews to return to Jerusalem.

    This is the course we must follow if we are going to find the true beginning of the seventy weeks, for God was the first one who gave the commandment that Jerusalem should be rebuilt.

    The seventy weeks must begin at the time when the commandment went forth to restore and build Jerusalem, and not from the order of anyone when they went to the work of building. It is here so many have made their mistakes. We may not exclude Jehovah, Cyrus and Darius. Anyone who makes a proper use of his understanding will soon find that he cannot begin with Artaxerxes, B.C. 444, and exclude God and Cyrus, B.C. 536. The difference between Cyrus and Artaxerxes is ninety-two years.

    If we exclude God from our calculations Jeremiah becomes a deceiver. The word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah is valueless, if we begin with anyone else but God himself. Just as the king was first in our illustration about the soldiers, so God is first in the order to restore Jerusalem.

    Necho, an Egyptian king, having come to the throne B.C. 610, had a war with Syria. Nebuchadnezzar drove Necho out of Syria, B.C. 605, and afterwards marched against Jerusalem. If this is correct, the Jews were subdued by Nebuchadnezzar 605, and from that year we may date the Babylonian captivity, instead of B.C. 606.

    The Jews received the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah. "Thus saith Jehovah, after seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good toward you, in causing you to return to this place" (Jer. 29:10).

    A man and a woman have kept company for some time. After a while the man asks her if she thinks they could live happily together. The young woman answers blushingly that she has thought of the same thing. The man promises to marry her after a certain time. The promise was given now at the engagement but was not fulfilled before he redeemed his promise.

    The Lord could not have spoken to the Jews B.C. 606 or 605, saying that he should fulfill his word of promise to them if he had not given them a promise before, and this promise was that he was going to lead them back to this place which should be built again.

    Those who believe that Messiah is the anointed prince in Daniel's ninth chapter cannot for this reason get the right opinion of the seventy weeks.

    The word "Messiah" means "the anointed." The authorized version does not translate the word into English, but the American Revised version, which is by far the best English translation, renders it "the anointed."

    "Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks" (forty-nine years). If we subtract forty-nine years from B. C. 605 there remain 556. What shall happen that year? The anointed prince shall come forth according to the prophecy.

    In 2 Chron. 36:22 and in Ezra 1:1 it is recorded that Cyrus in the first year of his reign gave permission to the Jews to return to Jerusalem. On account of this statement some have come to the conclusion that Cyrus came to the throne that year (B. C. 536). This opinion has been confusing both to myself and many others. Some learned men have also been mistaken here. But it is a fact, that Cyrus made himself a ruler and went against the Medes conquering them in B.C. 558. (See McClintock and Strong's Cyclopaedia, Vol. G, page 18.) Two years later, or B.C. 556, the coronation of Cyrus took place. Here is the anointed prince who should come forth after the seven weeks, forty-nine years. (Verse 25.) Subtract forty-nine from 605 (when the word of Jehovah went forth by the mouth of Jeremiah — Jer. 29:10) and we have the year B. C. 556, when Cyrus became king. (The Evolution of a Great Literature, pages 175, 176.)

    Both the author of the Chronicles and Ezra have quoted Jeremiah. They refer to the first years of the reign of Cyrus since he had with his Persian soldiers taken the Babylonian empire.

    It would be difficult to disprove these facts. He is the anointed prince, whom God had called before he knew God and had received this divine distinction, "the anointed" (Messiah in Hebrew). (Isa. 45:1, 4.) "And three score and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times" (9:25). "And after sixty-two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing" (9:26). That this anointed one cannot be Cyrus is apparent from the fact that he should have been at least 434 years old at his death. Cyrus died B.C. 529. The anointed one cannot be Christ either, because he was not born yet.

    From what time shall we date the sixty-two weeks, 434 years? That question arrested my study for quite a while. I saw how the author of "The Evolution of a Great Literature" wanted to calculate, but my opinion had always been that the sixty-two weeks were to begin where the first seven ended.

    Every word in the 26th and 27th verses applies to Antiochus Epiphanes. But on account of my belief that the 434 years should begin where the forty-nine years ended I could not get the time to correspond. If I make the 434 years to begin, as is done in the book mentioned above, at the same time as the forty-nine years, or B.C. 605, then I cover the forty-nine years twice. And so I stood before a problem I could not solve. I was convinced that the seventy weeks ended simultaneously with the vision; but I wanted to understand the beginning as well as the end. I did not wish to exclude the seventy weeks from the book, for although there was abundant evidence against the Seventh-day Adventists, that they never have had any message to the world, here is another proof against their assertion that the commandment to build Jerusalem went forth B.C. 457.

    Some people go to God in prayer when they do not understand a difficult question in the Bible. If they ask for wisdom that they might grasp the meaning with the understanding, their prayer is reasonable ; but quite a number of them think that God is going to explain the difficulty in some miraculous way, that the Spirit is going to tell them how it is. The Spirit is the very truth, says John. The Spirit leads us to the truth ; but we must grasp it or understand it. Many instances could be cited, how people have been greatly mistaken here and believed a mass of imaginations which they think have come from God under the inspiration of the Spirit, by which they have caused much evil. We need the Spirit which leads us to the full truth that one can comprehend with the understanding. A Spirit that leads people to believe in Mrs. White's fantasies and the message of the Seventh-day Adventists anyone can have who is able to believe without any real foundation.

    There is a story of a high-strung religious man who saw a house at a distance while crossing a prairie. He wondered whether he ought to go there to talk to the people in the house about the Lord. He asked first, if it was God's will that he should go there and received the answer that he ought to go. Led by the spirit he went there, but found to his surprise that the house was vacant, not having been occupied for a number of years. That time the Spirit did not lead to the truth. If he had used a little common horse sense here he had first gone to the house to find out whether it was inhabited or not. It is a vast difference between being filled with the Spirit of God, or filled with hobbies which one thinks is the Spirit.

    Finally I became uneasy concerning the question, and I asked the Lord that he might enlighten my understanding through his Holy Spirit, and soon I received light upon the difficult question.

    It is clear that the sixty-two weeks shall begin at the same place as the seven weeks, in the year B.C. 605, when the captivity began.

    Let us suppose that the mayor of Chicago has made arrangements for the members of his council to go to New York. From the time he promised them to go till the time the train arrives at New York shall be thirty-three hours. Know and understand that from the time the train left Chicago for Fort Wayne, Indiana, seven hours shall pass, and after seventeen hours the train shall be in Buffalo, N. Y., after twenty-five hours it shall be in Patterson, N. J. One hour shall make them all happy, and the last half hour the journey shall end.

    Seven hours are required from Chicago to Fort Wayne, and after seventeen hours the train shall be in Buffalo. The seventeen hours are not counted from Fort Wayne but from the starting point Chicago. And after twenty-five hours the train shall arrive at Patterson. These twenty-five hours shall not be counted from Buffalo but from Chicago. The last hour will finish the journey. The thirty- three hours are now past that were determined by the mayor. The journey has not required more than twenty-six hours, you say, whereas, thirty-three were determined. You count the time between Chicago and Fort Wayne twice. We answer no. From the time the mayor gave the order concerning the journey till the time the train arrived at the station thirty-three hours had past, but the journey did not require more than twenty-six hours. Seven hours passed from the hour the journey was determined to the hour the train left the station. We see there is a difference between the order that they "were" going to leave Chicago and that they "did" leave Chicago.

    The seventy weeks should begin when the commandment went forth to restore Jerusalem and not when they actually began the building of the city.

    The commandment to restore Jerusalem was the word of Jehovah by the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah. But the commandment to start the work came first from Cyrus and ended with the labors of Nehemiah in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, B.C. 444.

    Owing to the transgressions of the Jews God made them understand that unless they repented of their sins they should serve the kings of Babylon seventy years. God also set a limit to their transgressions, and Daniel was told the time was 490 years.

    Forty-nine years before the captivity was B. C. 605, when their transgressions were increasing, God determined a season of desolations over them. This time past the transgressors had come to the full and they were punished on account of their sins.

    After sixty-two weeks (434 years) an anointed one shall be destroyed without having any successor. 434 from 605 brings us down to B.C. 171, when the high priest Onias III was murdered at Jerusalem (2 Mac. 4:34).

    There were twelve high priests from Ahimaak and twelve high priests from Asariah I to Josadak, and twelve high priests from Josadak to Onias III. The Jews had not any faithful high priest for the time being. The one that succeeded Onias was an hypocrite. It is probable that he was the thirty-sixth and last high priest of Aaron's tribe. "And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary" (verse 26). The prince is Antiochus Epiphanes whose people under the leadership of Apollonius destroyed the city and the sanctuary at Jerusalem. This prince should confirm the covenant with many for one week, seven years.

    In Mac. 1:11 we are told that Antiochus came to the throne B.C. 175. The twelfth verse begins, "In that time there were evil men in Israel, they came before the people and said : Let us make a covenant with the heathens around us and take up their worship; for we have suffered much since we have opposed the heathens. This saying pleased the people. And some of the people were sent to the king; he commanded them to follow the way of the heathens. Then they opened a heathen gambling house in Jerusalem, and circumcision was neglected, and they fell away from the holy covenant, and followed the heathen and were hardened to commit all shameful vices." In 2 Mac. 4:12-14 we are further told, that the king caused a gambling house to be erected under the fort and made the strongest men practice the vices of the heathen. The relapse from the true worship of Jehovah went even so far that the priests neglected the sacrifices and the temple and attended the games of the decadent youth.

    According to history Antiochus Epiphanes decided to introduce Hellenic culture and worship in his kingdom and befriended such of his subjects who made no resistance to his plans both among the Jews as well as the children of Moab, Edom and Amnion. These tribes lived on the borderline of Judea and had inherited from their forefathers an inveterate hatred against the Jews. He lived on a friendly footing with a large number of renegade Jews for a period of seven years, from 175 to 168, but then he broke the covenant made with them. These prophecies refer to about the same thing, though they begin somewhat differently and vary as to some minor details, but they end where the 2,300 days cease, in the year B. C. 164.

    The little horn in Daniel 8:14 should take from the Prince of princes his daily sacrifice.

    Anyone who has studied his Bible together with the profane history can easily see that Antiochus Epiphanes fills all the requirements of prophecy.

    "And arms shall stand on his part" (Dan. 11:31), shall do the same thing and set up the abomination of desolation, the idol Jupiter Capitolinus, which Antiochus had imported from Rome.

    The twelfth chapter deals with the same idea. "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up,'" etc. "It shall be for a time, times, and a half : and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished." (Verses 11 and 7.)

    After the anointed one was cut off (Dan. 9:26), the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. This does not refer to Christ, but the prince is Antiochus Epiphanes who had sent his general Apollonius with 22,000 men. He destroyed the city and the sanctuary.

    The same prince should for a half week abolish the sacrifice and oblation (same time as in the twelfth chapter) and set up the abomination of desolation, his idol.

    Christ did not abolish any sacrifice for a half week but forever. The general of Antiochus cast down the sacrifice in June, B.C. 167, but when the sanctuary was cleansed, Dec. 25, B.C. 164, this time came to an end. Finally desolations should be poured upon the desolate.

    It is the same person who caused the sacrifice to cease upon whom desolation was determined. But desolation could not be poured upon Christ since he was dead.

    Antiochus Epiphanes fills the prophecy and the determined desolation was poured upon him at last.

    The 2,300 days in Dan. 8:14 were a certain time under the fury of the little horn against the Jews, six years, four months and twenty days, from B.C. 170, and they ended at the close of the vision, Dec. 25, B.C. 164.

    "And he shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done." (Dan. 11:36.)

    When that had been accomplished which was determined, viz., the punishment of the Jews, the vision was ended in B.C. 164.

    "Yet he (Antiochus) shall come to his end, and none shall help him." (Dan. 11:45.) This happened after the end of the vision, B.C. 164.

    Seventy weeks (490 years) were determined for the Jews before a limit was set for their transgressions. The host was sacrificed for transgression. Desolations were determined. Thus saith the word of the Lord. The last events to take place toward the end of the seventy weeks aside from the six facts mentioned before were these: The people of a prince should destroy the city and the sanctuary, cause sacrifice and oblation to cease for three and a half years and put the abomination of desolation (the idol) in the holy place. Finally destruction was determined upon the desolate.

    All these prophecies ended in B.C. 164.

    The prince was Antiochus Epiphanes. His people were Apollonius at the head of 22,000 men through whom he destroyed the city and sanctuary and put up his idol. Punishment was at last meted out to the originator of all this misery.

    The commandment went out from God himself that Jerusalem should be restored. The time was cut off from B.C. 654. 490 from 654 brings us down to B.C. 164 where all the prophecies of Daniel end, when the sanctuary was cleansed.

    Any attempt to refute the arguments that Antiochus Epiphanes is the prince referred to in the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh verses would be useless.

    If the statements in the Bible concerning the seventy weeks are reliable, which we cannot doubt, and a week in Daniel's chronology is seven years, then we must count the 490 years from B.C. 654, when it was determined by the Lord to let the Jews be sent in a captivity of seventy years duration, then back to Jerusalem again, and at last after the 490 years the transgressors had come to the full. The time of their punishment was between B.C. 170 — 164. About 538, when the angel spoke to Daniel, the word had already gone forth, otherwise the angel had not said, "Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment," not "shall go forth." This shows that it already had gone forth at that time. One has made the objection, that the city was not yet destroyed at the time. That does not alter the case. They knew it was destroyed when Jeremiah prophesied, and the Lord knew of their wanderings on beforehand.

    My ear is always open to sensible reasoning. I accept all the enlightenment that can be obtained on the subject. But do not attempt to prove that Jesus is the prince who sent his people to destroy the city and the sanctuary in Jerusalem, caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease for half a week, three and a half years, etc. No Bible that I have read gives the least support to such an exegesis.

    No one has yet published any tenable exposition on the seventy weeks, nor can they do it, with this point in view / that Christ is the anointed prince in Dan. ninth chapter. There are three different persons: The anointed prince is Cyrus; the anointed one is the high priest Onias III ; and the prince in verses 26 and 27 is Antiochus Epiphanes just as surely as one plus one are two.

    A NEW BOOK ON DANIEL

    Just as I was going to finish this work another book on Daniel's prophecies fell into my hands. The author, A. C. Gaebelin, is the editor of "Our Hope," a paper published in New York.

    What especially interested me was what he had to say concerning the questions upon which the Seventh-day Adventists base their prophetic message.

    1. Who fills the qualifications of prophecy in the eighth chapter of Daniel, Rome or Antiochus Epiphanes? He says Antiochus Epiphanes.

    2. How does he interpret the 2,300 evenings and mornings in Dan. 8:14? He answers, They are literal days during the reign of Antiochus, and that they must be counted backward from Dec. 25, B.C. 164.

    3. That Christ became our high priest first A.D. 1844 is a Satanic doctrine. He adds that there is not a scintilla of truth in the statement that the commandment to restore Jerusalem went forth B.C. 457, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes. We agree in these points, showing that the Adventists have built their message upon the sand.

    There are many who can see how blind and deluded the Adventists are though the latter cannot see it because they have placed Mrs. White between themselves and the light.


    Previous Chapter Next Chapter BACK HOME