15 Years of His Reign,
Then Christ Comes
The fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar brings us to A.D. 27, the baptism of Jesus — and from there the last prophetic week of Daniel 9 falls into place, season by season.
Before We Begin
This study uses Luke’s record of the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, together with history, to fix the year of Jesus’ baptism at A.D. 27 — exactly where the 69 prophetic weeks of Daniel 9:25 end. From that anchor it works out the last prophetic week: the cross in the middle of the week, the stoning of Stephen at its close, and the autumn starting point of both the 70 weeks and the 2300 days. Each question carries its own scripture reference — open your Bible, read the passage, and write what you find.
The study has three parts: present truth and the baptism of Jesus (points 1–10), the 69 weeks and the last week (points 11–20), and the seasons of the last week — Spring and Autumn (points 21–31).
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15The Key Dates at a Glance
Six dates carry this study. Each one is established from scripture and history in the lessons below.
What does Peter desire to establish us in?
2 Peter 1:12The word establish means to confirm, to seal, to settle, to set fast in a place and be immovable.
According to the following statement, what does the flock of God need now? What subjects comprise present truth?
“There are many precious truths contained in the Word of God, but it is ‘present truth’ that the flock needs now. I have seen the danger of the messengers running off from the important points of present truth, to dwell upon subjects that are not calculated to unite the flock and sanctify the soul. Satan will here take every possible advantage to injure the cause.
“But such subjects as the sanctuary, in connection with the 2300 days, the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, are perfectly calculated to explain the past Advent movement and show what our present position is, establish the faith of the doubting, and give certainty to the glorious future. These, I have frequently seen, were the principal subjects on which the messengers should dwell.”
Ellen G. White, Early Writings1
This Bible study is part four of our Study To Show Bible series.
How old was Jesus when He was baptized by John the Baptist?
Luke 3:21-23In what year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar did John the Baptist begin his ministry and his baptisms?
Luke 3:1-3Tiberius Caesar began his reign as co-regent or co-ruler with Augustus in A.D. 12. Tiberius became sole ruler, after the death of Augustus, in A.D. 14. Read the following historic records.
Tiberius Caesar Augustus was the second Roman emperor, reigning from AD 14 to 37. He succeeded his stepfather, Augustus… Thus, according to Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, a Roman historian, these ceremonies and the declaration of his “co-Princeps” took place in the year 12 AD, after Tiberius’ return from Germania. “But he was at once recalled, and finding Augustus in his last illness but still alive, he spent an entire day with him in private.” Augustus died in AD 14, a month before his 76th birthday. Tiberius was confirmed as his sole surviving heir.
Wikipedia, “Tiberius”2
Christ was six months younger than John the Baptist, and is generally considered to have entered upon his ministry six months later; both of them commencing their work, according to the law of the priesthood, when they were thirty years of age. Of Christ, Luke says expressly that at the time of his baptism he began to be about thirty years of age. Luke 3:23. Now John entered upon his ministry, as Luke informs us (3:1), in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar. Tiberius was the successor of Augustus, who reigned to A.D. 14. The date of Augustus’ death is indisputably fixed by means of the great lunar eclipse… But the reign of Tiberius is to be reckoned, according to Prideaux, Dr. Hales, Lardner, and others, from his elevation to the throne to reign jointly with Augustus his step-father, in August, A.D. 12, two years before the death of the latter. The fifteenth year of Tiberius would therefore be from August, A.D. 26, to August, A.D. 27. If John commenced in the spring in the latter portion of the fifteenth year of Tiberius, it would bring the commencement of Christ’s ministry in the autumn of A.D. 27, the very point where the 483 years of Dan. 9 expire.
Uriah Smith, The Sanctuary and the 2300 Days3
Which of the two dates should we use as the start of Tiberius’ reign?
Luke 3:1-3A.D. 12. The context of Luke 3:1-3 shows us that we should use A.D. 12, when Tiberius was co-ruler with Augustus. To confirm, Luke gives other rulers reigning simultaneously, especially Herod and Philip being tetrarchs, and Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests.
Calculate the following: A.D. 12 + 15 years =
This confirms that Jesus was baptized in A.D. 27 by John the Baptist and officially became the Christ, the Messiah.
We will discover later on in this Bible study the time of the year in A.D. 27 when Jesus was baptized.
How many prophetic weeks should elapse and then the Messiah should come, meaning that Jesus would be baptized, according to the prophet Daniel?
Daniel 9:25How many years would 69 weeks represent? Calculate 69 × 7 =
Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6One prophetic day represents a year.
Use 457 B.C. as the starting date. Calculate 483 years in the future. Your answer should be 26. Bear in mind that you must add one year once you cross over from B.C. to A.D. Therefore your final answer must be A.D. 27.
We have just confirmed that 457 B.C. is the starting date for the 70 prophetic weeks of Daniel 9:24. Additionally, we confirmed A.D. 34 as the ending date for the 70 prophetic weeks, or 490 years.
Secondly, we just confirmed that 457 B.C. is the starting date for the larger prophecy of which the 70 prophetic weeks is a part, namely the 2300 prophetic days of Daniel 8:14. Therefore 1844 is the ending date for the 2300 years; and that is the year when Jesus began the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, the work of investigative judgment on the antitypical Day of Atonement.
Since Jesus became the Messiah, the Christ, at the end of 69 prophetic weeks, how many weeks remained from the 70 prophetic weeks?
Daniel 9:24-27How many years does one prophetic week represent?
Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:67 years. One prophetic day stands for one year, so one prophetic week is seven years.
Calculate A.D. 27 + 7 years =
According to our previous study in this Bible study series and the following statements, what happened to Stephen in A.D. 34?
Acts 7:54-60“On Dec. 26, the universal Church commemorates the death of St. Stephen in 34 A.D., the first man to give his life in witness to the faith. He is sometimes referred to as the ‘protomartyr.’”
Catholic News Herald4
At the supreme Jewish law court, the Sanhedrin, Stephen recounted the many mercies that God had given the children of Israel, and the ungrateful way in which they had repaid Him. He accused them of murdering Jesus, whose coming, he said, had been foretold by Moses. This angered the crowd and he was dragged out onto the streets. He was then stoned to death according to the law at that time, an event witnessed by St Paul. It is believed he died around the year 34 CE.
BBC, Religions: Saint Stephen5
What was prophesied to happen to Jesus in the middle of the last prophetic week, between A.D. 27 and A.D. 34?
Daniel 9:27When Jesus died on Calvary’s cross, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from top to bottom. This signaled that type had met antitype and that God would no longer accept the sacrifices of animals for man’s sins.
Read Matthew 27:50,51; Hebrews 10:4-6,12On which feast day was Jesus crucified?
1 Corinthians 5:7; Matthew 26:2; John 13:1; John 18:28,39; John 19:14What is the name of the month for Passover?
Exodus 13:3,4; Exodus 12:1-6,13Passover occurred in the Spring annually. Read the following.
“The first month of the Jewish ecclesiastical year [called Abib], corresponding nearly to the Gregorian April. After the Babylonish captivity this month was called Nisan.”
Wiktionary, “Abib”6
Jesus was crucified in the middle of A.D. 27 and A.D. 34 (Daniel 9:27). The middle point of those last seven years is A.D. 31, Spring.
A.D. 31 Spring to A.D. 34 Spring is 3 years. Add 6 months to A.D. 34 Spring and you get A.D. 34 Autumn. Stephen was stoned.
A.D. 27 Autumn to A.D. 30 Autumn is 3 years. Add 6 months to A.D. 30 Autumn and you get A.D. 31 Spring. Jesus was crucified.
A.D. 27 Autumn: Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. 3½ years later, Jesus was crucified in A.D. 31 Spring. 3½ years later, Stephen was stoned in A.D. 34 Autumn.
Therefore, the starting date for both the 2300 prophetic days of Daniel 8:14 and the 70 prophetic weeks of Daniel 9:24 is 457 B.C., Autumn.
The ending date for the 2300 prophetic days of Daniel 8:14 is A.D. 1844, Autumn.
Read and meditate upon the following scriptures and write down your thoughts.
Revelation 14:6,7Your Answers
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Sources
- Ellen G. White, Early Writings, p. 63. Reference as given in the study notes: {EW 63.1, 63.2}
- Wikipedia, “Tiberius.” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius
- Uriah Smith, The Sanctuary and the 2300 Days (1877), p. 84. Reference as given in the study notes: {1877 UrS, STTHD 84.3}
- Catholic News Herald, “St. Stephen, the first martyr, remembered Dec. 26.” catholicnewsherald.com
- BBC, Religions: “Saint Stephen.” bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/saints/stephen.shtml
- Wiktionary, “Abib.” en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Abib