The Coming Prince, by Sir Robert Anderson, 1894

The Coming Prince, written by Sir Robert Anderson in 1894, provides the timing of God’s dealing with Israel during a final 490 year period.  The period began with the issuing of a decree, in 445 BC by Artaxerxes Longimanus, to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:5). The period will end with the return of Jesus.  However, after 483 years, there will be an interruption that will last 2,000+ years, plus a seven-year period known as the Tribulation, or the Seventieth Week of Daniel.

The Timeline Illustrated

Anderson, in his book, provides the exact number of days from the decree of Artaxerxes to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which was prophesied in Daniel 9.  The following is an excerpt from the book,

From The Coming Prince

The Julian date of that 10th Nisan was Sunday the 6th April, A.D. 32. What then was the length of the period intervening between the issuing of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the public advent of “Messiah the Prince,” – between the 14th March, B.C. 445, and the 6th April, A.D. 32?

THE INTERVAL CONTAINED EXACTLY AND TO THE VERY DAY 173880 DAYS, OR SEVEN TIMES SIXTY-NINE PROPHETIC YEARS OF 360 DAYS, the first sixty-nine weeks of Gabriel’s prophecy.

• The 1st Nisan in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes (the edict to rebuild Jerusalem) was 14th March, B. C. 445.
  The 10th Nisan in Passion Week (Christ’s entry into Jerusalem) was 6th April, A. D. 32.
  And the intervening period was 476 years and 24 days (the days being reckoned inclusively, as required by the language of the prophecy, and in accordance with the Jewish practice).

Calculation of Days

476 x 365= 173,740 days
Add (14 March to 6th April, both inclusive) 24 days
Add for leap years 116 days
Equals a total of 173,880 days
And 69 weeks of prophetic years of 360 days (or 69 x 7 x 360) 173, 880 days.

It may be well to offer here two explanatory remarks.

First; in reckoning years from B. C. to A. D., one year must always be omitted; for it is obvious, ex. gr., that from B. C. 1 to A. D. I was not two years, but one year. B. C. 1 ought to be described as B. C. 0, and it is so reckoned by astronomers, who would describe the historical date B. C. 445, as 444.

And secondly, the Julian year is 11m. 10 46s., or about the 129th part of a day, longer than ‘the mean solar year. The Julian calendar, therefore, contains three leap years too many in four centuries, an error which had amounted to eleven days in A. D. 17527 when our English calendar was corrected by declaring the 3rd September to be the 14th September, and by introducing the Gregorian reform which reckons three secular years out of four as common years; ex. gr., 1700, 1800, and 1900 are common years, and 2000 is a leap year.  “Old Christmas day” is still marked in our calendars, and observed in some localities, on the 6th January; and to this day the calendar remains uncorrected in Russia. [for more refer to Appendix 4, p. 306 note 8 in the book The Coming Prince]

[Note:  The Coming Prince, by Sir Robert Anderson, is a book in the Public Domain. It can be found online in PDF format because there is no longer a copyright on the book’s content.]

Precise to the Day

Daniel’s prophecy of the triumphal entry of Israel’s Messiah was precise to the day.  Anderson’s thorough research and clear documentation support the accuracy of God’s Word and His faithfulness to do as He said He would do in the exact timing that He said it would happen. The same will be true of prophecies yet-to-be fulfilled.  They will happen exactly as spoken, with the same precision of fulfillment as the Daniel 9 prophecy.  Sadly, looking forward things are never as clearly seen as they are when looking backward.  But we can be confident because it’s not on our vision that the future “hangs.”  It is on the vision of the One who is omniscient, knowing all things, and sees all things from the beginning of time to the end of the world as we know it and eternity future.  In Hin we trust.

Read more about the Seventieth Week of Daniel.

About Sir Robert Anderson

Anderson (29 May 1841 – 15 November 1918) was the second Assistant Commissioner (Crime) of the London Metropolitan Police, from 1888 to 1901. He was also an intelligence officer, theologian, and prolific writer, including writing more than 20 books on religious topics.  His research was extensive and the information in his books is thorough. His book The Coming Prince gives clear documentation of the timing and accuracy of the biblical prophecy of Daniel 9 and can be used as a strong, effective apologetic resource to prove the veracity of the Bible.