When I say prophesy, what do you think of? Edgar Cayce, Jean Dixon, Nostradamus? You may even think of the prophets of the Old Testament, but I doubt you would think of Daniel.
Although we may not think of him, Gabriel gave Daniel the most pinpoint accurate prediction known to man; or at least those that choose to learn.
Why was Palm Sunday so important? Most don’t really understand what this was all about. This was when Jesus proclaimed Himself “The Meschiach Nagid”, The Messiah the King; according to the prophet Zechariah; which brings us back to Daniel. Gabriel told Daniel the exact day that Jesus would do this very thing.
In Daniel 9, Gabriel gives him 4 verses that are key for most end time studies. It is verse 25 that we will look at. Daniel 9:25 "Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times". The idiom for “week” of years was common in Israel. In verse 24, Gabriel tells Daniel, "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people…" That would be 490 years and verse 26 lets us know that there is a break in between the 69th and 70th week which we know is later described in Revelation as the seven year period in which the second half of that is the great tribulation.
This prophecy, although just words, is mathematical in nature. If we want to know the exact date, we simply need to know when the decree to rebuild was put forth. Keep in mind that Jewish and Babylonian years were 360 days so if you multiplied the 69 weeks of years X 360 days, you get 173,880 days. On March 14, 445 B.C., Artaxerxes Longimanus gave the order to rebuild the city. The way you distinguish between this and the rebuilding of the temple is in verse 25, Gabriel says “the street” and “the wall”. There were no streets in the temple.
Zechariah 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he [is] just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass". When did Jesus fulfill Zechariah 9:9 and proclaim Himself as King. All through His ministry, there were different times where people tried to make Him king. He would often say “My time is not yet come”. There was however one time He allowed it. He not only allowed it; He meticulously arranged it. Anytime we fail to see what is going on, the Pharisees always help us out. The crowd laid down palm branches and sang a quote from Psalm 118:24 "This [is] the day [which] the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it". The Pharisees thought the crowd was blaspheming by claiming that Jesus was the Messiah. They knew that the Psalm was about the Messiah.
Jesus fulfilled this prophecy on April 6, 32 AD. If you do the math and account for leap years, it is exactly 173,880 days between March 14, 445 BC and April 6, 32 AD. It is amazing that Gabriel predicted to the day when Jesus would proclaim Himself the Messiah the King and that it was done 800 years in advance. Remember that it is in black and white 270 years before Jesus birth in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament. Now look through different eyes and realize every detail in the Old Testament points to the Meshiach Nagid, Messiah the King.
Do not for get that He will hold us accountable to know these things as He held the Jews accountable for knowing that day!