Most scholarship, I believe, puts the stoning of Stephen in 34 or 35 AD. Is there reason within the Scriptures to substantiate this claim? Yes, I believe there is! However, such substantiation comes from prophecy in both Old and New Testaments, but the understanding of these very prophecies is clouded by the interpretation of most scholarship, which puts the fulfillment of them at the second coming of Jesus.
I have written similar posts which had to do with Stephen’s death back in November of 2009. However, I think I should be clearer on this matter in order to have a better understanding of the timeline of early Acts with a particular interest in the placement of the High Priests for Stephen’s death, Paul’s persecution of the Jewish believers in Jesus in Acts 9:1, and when the “peace” occurred in Acts 9:31.
The Seventy Weeks Prophecy of Daniel 9 was supposed to offer the believer the identity of the Messiah by showing the exact time in which he would appear. The 70 Weeks Prophecy begins with the first sacrifice offered on the rebuilt altar on the Temple mount when Joshua, the High Priest, and Zerubbabel returned from the captivity. The Jews began to make daily offerings to God from the first day of the seventh month upon their return from captivity (Ezra 3:6). This is a very important date, as it represents the first time in decades that worship of the God of Israel was offered from the Temple mount, and it represents the “firstfruits” of the decree of the emperor, which I believe is implied in the prophecy. So, the date of the decree itself is not important, but date of the firstfruits of that decree is the important part of the prophecy in terms of when it begins. The Messiah was to come at the beginning of the 70th week or 483 years after the first sacrifice was offered by the returning captives.
No matter which year one chooses to begin the 70 Weeks Prophecy, the 484th year must begin in the fall and on the Feast of Trumpets. I submit that from Luke 4:16 and up to Luke 6:49 Luke shows Jesus beginning his ministry on the Feast of Trumpets (Luke 4:16) and each Sabbath mentioned thereafter is either an annual Holy Day or a seventh day Sabbath. The odd “second Sabbath after the first” in Luke 6:1 is the seventh day Sabbath which occurred in that year back to back with the annual Day of Atonement, a fast day, which is why the Apostles were hungry and began to take some grain from the fields on the Sabbath day, rubbing it in their hands and eating the kernels.
Anyway, long-story-short, 3 ½ years later Jesus was crucified, and the 70 Weeks prophecy foretold the Messiah would be ‘cut’ (offered for the covenant) in the midst or the middle of the prophetic week (Daniel 9:26-27). The 70th week comprises 7 years, 3 ½ of which represented Jesus public ministry culminating in his crucifixion and resurrection. Notice in Luke 10:18 that Jesus said he beheld Satan like lightning fall from heaven. This is shown in Revelation 12:7-10 where Michael/Jesus makes war with Satan. Now I am not saying Jesus is an angelic being, but I am saying Michel is Jesus—the Angel of the LORD who is God in the Old Testament. Anyway, Jesus with his disciples were waging spiritual warfare against Satan’s kingdom (cf. Luke 10:17). The angels in Revelation 12 represent the messengers of Jesus and Satan respectively. In the Gospels they are Jesus’ disciples waging war against Satan or the Pharisees and high priests who fought against Jesus and his disciples. The woman (the Jewish believers) had a place of safety for 1260 days (Revelation 12:6). This is the first part of the 70th prophetic week and represents Jesus care for his disciples—they were safe, and he lost no one.
In the second part of the week the disciples were also safe according to Revelation 12:14. The believers were spiritually nourished for a time (1) + times (2) and half a time (1/2) or 3 ½ years. Daniel refers to this time as the 1290 days.
Formerly, I had believed the 1290 days began on the day of Jesus’ resurrection, which if it did, the days would have culminated on the Day of Atonement in 34 AD. However, had they done this, it would have indicated national repentance, which didn’t occur, and the proof of this is Stephen’s death, which occurred on that day. Thus, the 1260 days ended in blood (the crucifixion), but the 1290 days were intended to end in repentance, but instead Stephen was stoned. Therefore the fulfillment of the 1290 days were delayed. There is a gap between the 1260 days and the 1290 days of nearly 40 years due to unbelief, and is typified by Israel’s wandering in the wilderness for 40 year due to their unbelief. The 1290 days begin when the Roman general, Cestius, surrounded Jerusalem with his armies (cf. Luke 21:20), tore down the northern wall of Jerusalem, but for no good reason retreated, allowing Jesus’ disciples to flee (Luke 21:21). They end, when Titus, the Roman general and son of the Emperor, surrounded Jerusalem with his armies, broke down the northern wall (that was repaired) and encamped inside the walls of Jerusalem. Thus the city fell.[1]
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[1] See my study, The Seventy Weeks Prophecy and the 1290 Days, which details this.
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105 responses to “When Was Stephen Stoned?”
Hello Eddit, Straight to the point: Dan 9:26a “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, , but not for Himself; (NKJV). There isn’t any assumption on my part; this verse clearly states the fact.
27b And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”
27b is a totally different individual or is the Messiah the one who is destroying the sanctuary and bringing wars? Did Jesus cut off His covenant with us in the middle of the week and we no longer have a Messiah? The Temple wasn’t destroyed until 70AD and Titus roasted a pig in the Holy of Holies before he destroyed it. The last week will be fulfilled by the Anti-Christ after the construction of the last Temple.
Greetings once again Roger. I agree that the verse, as it is translated clearly states Messiah will be cut (off) after the 62 weeks, and the implication of the translation seems to be immediately–just as you ‘presume’. The problem is that that there are words inserted by the translator that are not in the Hebrew, and if you have a translation with Strong’s numbers over the English words, you are able to see for yourself which words have been inserted–not fraudulently, but hoping to give a clear meaning to the text. The flip side of this is, what do these verses say without the inserted words? Certainly you would agree that the **inserted** words are not Scripture; they are the translator’s–meant to offer the correct understanding. Notice verse-25. It says that Messiah comes after 7 weeks plus 62 weeks (69 weeks)! Messiah cannot come **after** 69 weeks and do what he needs to do **before** the 70th week. The 70th week follows immediately after the 69th week according to the text. In the 1st century CE folks who knew the Scriptures believed the last 7 years came immediately after the 483 years, and, quite frankly, I don’t see how Christianity’s more modern interpretation of this is strong enough to supersede what was originally thought by the Jews, including the disciples of the Lord.
Eddie, the problem is that you leave out the 7 weeks until the rebuilding of the temple in verse 25 and then the 62 weeks until the Messiah making 69.
The 7th week; is Christ the one made the the abominations in the first half of the week?: Dan 9:27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”
The one who will make the covenant for 1 week and Jesus will destroy when He returns: 2 Thes 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God…… 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Greetings Roger. I don’t believe I’ve left out anything. 7+62=69! The bottom line is none of the popular commentaries which support removing the 70th Week from the preceding 69 show the ministry of Christ. All are caught up on some future strong man who will be the enemy of both the Jews and the Church. I find no support for that theory here in Daniel. You have **forced** 2Thessalonians 2:4 into the equation, and it doesn’t belong here. I have three studies on ‘the man of sin’ which can be found HERE, if you are interested.
Concerning how the 70th Week is broken up and how this pertains to Christ confirming the Covenant with many, I have linked to three additional studies in the post we are now discussing. Simply click on those three links, if you care to understand my point of view concerning Christ’s ministry during the 70th Week.
Eddie, I do not adhere to any commentary since they are the words of man and not God; that is the problem we are having here.