The Messiah Comes
After 14 Generations
Another way to confirm that the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14 began in 457 B.C. and ended in 1844 — counting the generations of Matthew 1:17.
Before We Begin
This study follows the fourteen generations “from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ” and shows that they arrive at the very same year as the 69 weeks of Daniel 9:25. Each question carries its own scripture reference — open your Bible, read the passage, and write what you find.
Several of the questions ask you to work out a date. Do the arithmetic yourself before reading on; the notes that follow confirm the answer.
“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.
The following is another way to confirm that the 2300 prophetic days of Daniel 8:14 began in the year 457 B.C. and ended in 1844. In that year, Jesus moved from the holy place into the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to begin the work of cleansing the sanctuary, the work of investigative judgment on the antitypical Day of Atonement.
Read the following scripture.
“So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.”
Matthew 1:17How many years does one biblical generation represent?
Numbers 32:13; Psalm 95:10; Hebrews 3:9,10How many years would fourteen generations represent?
40 × 14 = ?
How many generations from “David until the carrying away into Babylon”?
Matthew 1:17What year did Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, attack Judah and carry the Hebrews into captivity, as stated in Daniel 1:1-3?
Daniel 1:1-3“In 606 B.C. Babylon came in contact with the people of God, when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and led Judah into captivity. It comes at this point, consequently, into the field of prophecy, at the end of Jewish theocracy.”
Uriah Smith, Daniel and the Revelation1
“The empire dates, however, from about the accession of his father as governor of Babylon, in 625 B.C. (Encyc. Brit.), and with whom Nebuchadnezzar was associated in the year 606, [co-regency] the date of the beginning of the seventy years’ captivity of the Jews. Three years later, in 603, the prophecy under consideration begins.”
E. J. Waggoner, The Signs of the Times2
“Although Isaiah had prophesied the captivity, he had not said how long it should be. Jeremiah told that it should be seventy years. In the year 606 B.C., the first captivity was made, when among those taken was Daniel. Then, exactly when the seventy years ended — B.C. 536 — Cyrus issues his proclamation for the return of the captives to their own land, to build the temple of the Lord.”
A. T. Jones, The Signs of the Times3
How many years were the Hebrews to remain in captivity?
2 Chronicles 36:18-21; Daniel 9:1,2What year was the ending date for the captivity of the Hebrews?
606 B.C. − 70 years = ?
Who began to reign over Babylon and over the Hebrews in the year 536 B.C.?
The Persian Empire was founded by Cyrus in 536 B.C., after they succeeded the Babylonian Empire. The first king of the Persian Empire was Cyrus, who issued the famous decree for the Jews to return to their homeland to rebuild their Temple.
Bible History; Bible Hub4
“On the taking of Babylon, B.C. 538, Cyaxeres (who is called Darius in Dan. 5:31), as civil ruler, took the throne. On his death, two years later, B.C. 536, he made Cyrus his successor, and the same year, Cambyses, the father of Cyrus dying, Cyrus was brought also to the Persian throne. The two were then united in one; and thus was founded the Medo-Persian empire, the ruling house being in the Persian line.”
Uriah Smith, The Biblical Institute5
What proclamation did king Cyrus decree in his first year as king, in 536 B.C.?
Ezra 1:1-3When did the Hebrews leave captivity and return to Jerusalem, in order to lay the foundation of the temple as they attempted to rebuild?
Ezra 3:6,8What date in the future would be the second year from 536 B.C.?
How many generations from “the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ”?
Matthew 1:17How many years would fourteen generations represent?
40 × 14 = ?
Take 534 B.C. as your starting date, then add 14 generations, or 560 years, in the future. Your date from the calculation is A.D. 27. Bear in mind that you must add one year once you cross over from B.C. to A.D.
What does the word “Christ” mean, which is found in Matthew 1:17?
Matthew 1:17Christ means the anointed one and the Messiah. See The Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Greek Dictionary number 5547.6
What did John the Baptist do to Jesus, and what did Jesus receive from His Father, that led Andrew and John to call Jesus the Messiah and the Christ?
John 1:32-36,40,41; Acts 10:36-38Jesus was baptized in the year A.D. 27 and officially became the Christ, the Messiah.
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?
Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:669 × 7 = ? One 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.
Who was prophesied to lay the foundation — and did lay the foundation — of the second temple?
Zechariah 4:7-9; Ezra 2:1,2; Ezra 3:6,8,10Once Zerubbabel laid the foundation of the second temple, the Desire of All Nations (Jesus the Messiah, or Jesus the Christ) would come to the temple. From the second year, when the foundation of the temple was laid by Zerubbabel, the 14 generations (560 years) must be counted.
See Haggai 2:2,3,7,9,18Where did Jesus go after His baptism and after His wilderness temptation? What did Jesus say once He entered that place?
Luke 3:21-23; Luke 4:1-13; Luke 4:16-18While many of God’s professed people rejected Him and refused to acknowledge prophecy and that Jesus was the Messiah, what did the devils acknowledge?
Luke 4:41,34What does the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, want to do for us, before it is too late?
Luke 4:18Your Answers
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Sources
- Uriah Smith, Daniel and the Revelation (1897), p. 47. Reference as given in the study notes: {1897 UrS, DAR 47.1}
- E. J. Waggoner, The Signs of the Times, September 10, 1885, p. 551. Reference as given in the study notes: {September 10, 1885 EJW, SITI 551.1}
- A. T. Jones, The Signs of the Times, February 11, 1886, p. 91. Reference as given in the study notes: {February 11, 1886 ATJ, SITI 91.1}
- Bible History, “Map of the Persian Empire.” bible-history.com/maps/04-persian-empire.html; and “The Decree of Cyrus.” biblehub.com/sermons/auth/macdonald/the_decree_of_cyrus.htm
- Uriah Smith, The Biblical Institute (1878), p. 50. Reference as given in the study notes: {1878 UrS, TBI 50.1}
- Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Greek Dictionary, number 5547.