Elizabeth explained, "At the end of the first 49 years, the city would have been rebuilt. Also at this time in history, the first 39 books of the Bible would have been completed."⁶

"When was the command issued to rebuild Jerusalem?" Brian wanted to know.

"Nehemiah was the cup bearer for King Artaxerxes. One day when he was serving the king, the king noticed that Nehemiah was sad. He asked Nehemiah why he was sad. Nehemiah told the king he desired to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall of the city. The king granted his request and allowed Nehemiah to return to the city of Jerusalem. This is recorded in Nehemiah chapter 2. The first verse of that chapter tells us this took place in the Jewish month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes reign. This would have been March 14, 445 B.C. on our calendar."⁷

Jamie's mother explained, "A biblical year is 360 days. In order to correctly calculate when the period of 483 years would be finished, you will need to multiply 483 by 360."

Brian and Jamie began to work on the problem. A few minutes later they were finished. "That would be a total of 173,880 days!" Brian announced.

Jamie confirmed his results.

"The next step is to convert your answer into a year of 365 days," Elizabeth instructed them.

"A few minutes later Jamie looked up from her paper. "That would 476 of our years plus 140 days."

"What about leap years," Brian asked, "We can't forget them."

"You are absolutely right, Brian. One hundred sixteen leap years occurred during those 476 years." Elizabeth was quite pleased with their progress.

Jamie thought for a moment then said, "That would leave only 24 extra days."

Elizabeth had a few words of caution for them. "There is one thing to remember when you try to figure out the ending date."

"What's that, Mom?"

"There wasn't a year between the year 1 B.C. and the year 1 A.D."

"No year zero. Good thing you told us that or we would have been off by a year," Brian commented as he began to figure out the final step in the problem.

Finally, Jamie announced she had the result. A minute later Brian reached a conclusion as well.

"All right, what do you have for an answer?" Elizabeth asked.

"April 6, 32 A.D." Jamie replied.⁸

"That's exactly right, Jamie." Her mother smiled.

"Great job!" Darryl shouted, and gave her a big hug.

"Wait a minute! I got March 14, 32 A.D." Brian couldn't imagine that he had made a mistake.

"You forgot to add those extra 24 days on at the end," Jamie told him after she looked at his paper.

"Oh yeah, you're right!" Brian agreed. "What is so special about April 6, 32 A.D.?"

"The scripture tells us Messiah would be cut off. Another way of saying it is that the Messiah would be killed!" Elizabeth answered.

Jamie's eyes widened. "Isn't that around the time Yeshua (Jesus) was crucified?"

Darryl grinned from ear to ear. "That's exactly right, Jamie. A few days before Yeshua (Jesus) was nailed to the execution stake (cross) he rode into Jerusalem on a young donkey. The crowd placed palm branches and their coats on the ground. They shouted, 'Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the L-rd! Hosanna in the Highest!' ⁹ As usual, the Pharisees in the crowd who didn't recognize Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah wanted Yeshua (Jesus) to rebuke his followers. Yeshua (Jesus) told them if they kept silent the very rocks would cry out. In Luke 19: 41-44 we read, 'As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace -- but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of G-d's coming to you."' As you can see, Yeshua (Jesus) said that the people didn't recognize the time of G-d's coming. This I believe is a reference to Gabriel's message to Daniel in chapter nine. The rabbis, scribes, and Pharisees would have immediately recognized Yeshua (Jesus) was the true Messiah if they had studied the prophecy in Daniel chapter nine."

Jamie was very excited and said, "Gabriel told Daniel that the Messiah would not die for himself. We know that this is true because Yeshua (Jesus) died for the sins of the world!"

"This is the most impressive thing we've studied in Daniel," Brian was astounded at the preciseness of the prophecy.

"It's hard to believe they weren't counting down the days until his arrival," Jamie added. "Why, didn't they realize that Yeshua (Jesus) was the Messiah? Why is it that only a few recognized Him?"

"They didn't recognize Yeshua (Jesus) that day as their Messiah because G-d blinded their eyes for a time so that the Gentile world would have the chance to hear the gospel message. As we approach the return of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), many Jewish people are accepting Yeshua (Jesus) as their L-rd and Messiah."

Brian looked puzzled, "Yeshua (Jesus) said something about not one stone on another. What did he mean by that?"