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No other King than Jesus
Sevens Timeline Simplified - Kings.png

Our first step back in time takes us to the period of the Kings. Here we see a 1000 years before Jesus a unified nation of Israel under the reign of King David. Yet, because this is Man's rule and a rejection of God's rule, we see the first cracks appearing that eventually lead to the break up Israel into 2 parts (Israel and Judah). Things get worse as those in the northern Kingdom are led away by the Assyrians and incorporated into the other nations. Judah was soon to become subjugated; its lowest ebb when some are exiled to Babylon. When Israel was seemingly no more, a remnant returned to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Hope was offered by the prophets who spoke of a time when the Lord Jesus would reign over the Kingdom of God forevermore, and over not just Israel, but over everyone who puts there faith in Jesus.

Measured Dates From Jesus Ministry
Kings.png

The dates below reference key 777 year divisions. In this window in the timeline of biblical history we are taken from King David to Jesus.

 

This provides a skeleton which can be fleshed out in more detail. It sees the establishment of new kingdom under Jesus as the head; noticing that we can draw a parallels with the new Jerusalem, the vast army (Ezekiel's vision) and the bride of Christ, the Church.

  • 976 BC - Satan provokes David to not trust God and number Israel (a similar ploy he used on Adam)

  • 936 BC (40 years after 976 BC) - Jeroboam I accepts 10 pieces torn from a new cloak from the Ahijah, the prophet, signifying the tearing of 10  northern tribes (Kingdom of Israel), leaving the 2 southern tribes (Kingdom of Judah). Jeroboam I flees to Egypt until Solomon dies, when he then comes to rule in 931 BC.

  • 749 BC ~ King Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall

  • 609 BC - Assyria defeated and Babylonian rule begins

    • 592 BC - Ezekiel's inaugural vision and the revelation about the siege of Jerusalem to come.

      • 586 BC (390 years after 976 BC) - The Babylonians destroy the first temple of Jerusalem

  • 539 BC (70 years after 609 BC) - The fall of Babylon to the Persians and Medes under Cyrus and Darius the Mede, respectively. The period of 70 'sevens' is revealed to Daniel by the angel Gabriel; Daniel makes reference also to 70 years of Babylonian rule that the prophet Jeremiah spoke of - we see here the start of a triple of 70 year periods relating rule, vision and the temple.

    • 522 BC (70 years after 592 BC) - ​Prophets Zechariah and Haggai reveals that the Jews would now prosper and encourage the building of the second temple. Possibly a Jubilee year (every 50 years) based on Ezekiel 1:1 as the 30th year in from a Jubilee and the Jubilee when Jesus reads from Isaiah 61:1-11 (the year of the Lord's favour) in 29 AD. This being the middle of 3 has similarities with the middle of the 3 Jupiter-Regulus conjunctions (see the 'Jesus' page) that fell on 2 BC February 17, which was Purim, a celebration of Jewish freedom from their enemies.

      •  516 BC (70 years after 586 BC) - The second temple is completed during the reign of Darius I of Persia.

  • ​522 BC - New Missing Piece interpretation of Daniel's 'sevens' - Jesus surveys Jerusalem

    • OT - 522 - 473 BC (7 'sevens' to rebuild the city) - To the time of Esther

    • NT - 473 - 424 BC (7 'sevens' to restore the people) - To the time of Malachi, the last prophet of the Old Testament

    • 424 BC - 11 AD (62 'sevens' ) (12 years after Jesus Birth) - Jesus 'Son of the Commandment' comes to the temple

    • Jesus grows in wisdom and stature​

    • 26 AD (start of last 'seven')​ ~ Start of John the Baptist ministry

    • 29 AD (middle of last 'seven') - Start of Jesus' ministry. Year of the Lord's favour. The 777 year border lies in the middle of a 'seven'

    • 33 AD (end of last 'seven') - Jesus dies on the cross, announcing it is finished and rises on 3rd day

Note that in this interpretation of Daniel's sevens Ezra and Nehemiah are part of the story of rebuilding the city at an earlier date than is typically recognised - I will address this later. The new interpretation has the advantage that it fits in with the only specific age given for Jesus; when he is at home in his Father's house, the temple (Luke 2:41-50). The book of Esther is also brought to the fore and the link to the 2nd Jupiter-Regulus conjunction that occurred at Purim Katan in the middle of Mary's pregnancy. The dual interpretation touches on both the outwardly practical and internal spiritual aspects, of rebuilding and restoring, which includes themes of freedom, unity and worship. There is the noticeable change by the time of Malachi where other nations have come to Jerusalem after all that God has done for the Jews. No more direct words from God to the Jews are heard instead the focus is on Jesus' life, death and resurrection.. Daniel's 'Sevens' is such a large topic that it requires it's own part with the 'Return' section.

Choosing a King

The overarching theme over this period is to find a king who would lead in the right way who was incorruptible and worthy of serving. Of course only Jesus could fill this requirement. Isaiah says:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:7

These verses come during the reign of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, when there was a imminent threat to Jerusalem (Isaiah 7-9)

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Preceding the period of the Kings was the period of the Judges. The last verse of the books of Judges shows that the period of the Judges fared no better for lack of a king.

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

Judges 21:25

The Israelites where insistent to have a king over them like the other nations, and so God said:

They have rejected me as their king.

1 Samuel 8:7

Samuel further attests to this speaking to the Israelites.

You said to me, 'No, we want a king to rule over us,' when the Lord your God was your king.

1 Samuel 12:12

Saul was the first king to be anointed but the Lord saw that King David had the right heart - so to King Saul he said,

‘You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.’

1 Samuel 13:13-14

Fallible Kings - 390 year and 40 year distances

It is from David that we have terrific insight into his thoughts through the Psalms that he wrote. These are in the form of songs and poems - a way of crystalizing and externalising his thoughts in words to God. For most part they are of praise and worship, even sometimes prophetic, but there are times when he is confessing his sin and asking God for a clean heart (Psalm 51).

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As a king, David was held even more accountable for his actions. There are 2 particular sins that are described which illustrate his misuse of his position as king. The first on an individual level and the second on a national level.

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The first sin was to take Uriah the Hittite's wife, Bathsheba, and having Uriah killed on the battle field (2 Samuel 11 & 12). Upon the prophet Nathan's rebuke, David confesses his sin. The Lord takes away the sin but his child born from the adultery dies,​

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It is the second sin that has far more reaching consequences. The instigator was Satan, but David played his part.

And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

1 Chronicles 21:1

King David sinned when he ordered Joab to take a census to see how many fighting men he had (1 Chronicles 21). His sin was not trusting in God, but in Man’s strength. This is a warning for when the Church begins to regiment to be effective, but restricts the way the Spirit moves. Plenty of times in the past God showed how he was to be trusted even though the Israelites were totally outnumbered and this is the thrust of Joab's reply.

‘May the Lord multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord’s subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?’

1 Chronicles 21:3

So severe was David's action that God gave David 3 options that would be the consequence of his action:

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  • 3 years of famine

  • 3 months of sword

  • 3 months of plague

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David chose the latter. An angel of the Lord descended on Israel and towards Jerusalem. God relented on carrying out his judgement. David now in sackcloth and ashes sees the disaster averted and decides to builds an altar at the place and then makes plans build the temple (1 Chronicles 22:1).

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King David was succeeded by his Solomon who began to build the temple in 966 BC. Already there were clear cracks appearing when the southern rule imposed a heavy tax burden on the Israelites for the massive building projects. The Kingdoms Israel and Judah split with Jeroboam 1 taking the 10 northern tribes. God sees that the fault is shared, both pulling apart - 'it takes two to tango'. Jeroboam 1 sets up two shrines in Bethel and Dan to rival the temple in Jerusalem.

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And so it goes, both kingdoms have a series of successive kings that are fallible (some more than others). The 777 year division picks out one particular example - Uzziah (aka Azariah). It shouldn't go unnoticed that it was in his reign that the prophet Amos foresees the the great earthquake that caused atlars to crack and even the temple of Bethel to collapse [1]. Uzziah's pride in his power led to his fall. Consequentially, the northern kingdom was taken away a number of years later by Assyria,

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We now move forward to the time of Ezekiel who foretells that Nebuchadnezzar will come to destroy Jerusalem and the temple. God gets Ezekiel to lie on his left side for a period 390 days and then to lie on his right side for a further 40 days. Indeed it was a strange thing to do but it got the message across to the Jews of how much God had put up with their sin - 390 years for Israel and 40 years for Judah.

I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel. ‘After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. 

Ezekiel 4:5-6

The judgement is continued as Ezekiel describes the outcome of the siege with a nod to the earlier pronouncement of judgement in the time of King David.

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Ezekiel 5:12

  • 1/3 die by plague or famine

  • 1/3 die by sword outside walls

  • 1/3 scattered to the winds pursued by sword

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As noted above the Exile ended in 539 BC and Daniel received the word of the 70 ‘sevens’. A little while afterwards in 522 BC God reinforced the message that he was the one to trust prior to the temple being rebuilt.

‘Not by might, nor by power, but My Spirit, says the Lord’

Zechariah 4:6.

Daniel's 70 'Sevens' lead us up to Jesus death where we encounter the number 3 many times (three in the afternoon, 3 times the cock crows, 3rd April 33 AD, rose on the third day -  paying the price of the debt caused by sin. Jesus death and resurrection marks the end of sin and death and the promise of being restored in the New Jerusalem. In his death, like his birth, he was hailed King of the Jews.

Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

John 19:30

Footnotes:

[1] Amos Earthquake

https://www.icr.org/article/scientific-scriptural-impact-amos-earthquake

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