I guess we can, in part... I did this study over 10 years ago... But He wasn't baptized, but died 483 years, 13 days later!
Artaxerxes' order... Daniel's Prophecy - CY 3520
Creation Year:
3520 Western Year:
457 BC At least we agree when it started 
The order is given to Ezra (Ezra 7:9) to rebuild the city and establish a government (Ezra 7:25) (which is different from that of Cyrus which was to rebuild only the temple), this is the year of the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy and the start of that same prophecy concerning the Messiah, Daniel 9:25-27.
This happened 1 Nisan 3304 (Mar 26, 457 BC) (Ezra 7:9)
Daniel 9:25-27 “
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. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
Ezra 7:9 “
For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.”
Ezra 7:25 “
And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.”
In 483 years and 13 days, Jesus is "cut off" (Daniel 9:26) in the Jewish date of 14 Nisan 3787 (9 Apr 27AD).
Daniel's Prophecy
Ok, so you're still not convinced, that's fine. Remember, I mentioned that I went through the whole Bible to find any reference to a date. Well that study, completed after this one, gave me another confirmation of Jesus' date of His death. It comes from Daniel:
Daniel 9:25-26 "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. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined."
Ezra is the source to finding this date. In Daniel's 70 weeks of 7 years (490 years), the Messiah would die 69 weeks of 7 years or 483 years later, that is clearly in scripture, as you can see. The understanding of when this series of years starts is
"... going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem..." When did this occur? Well let's start with when the first Jews from Babylon returned to Israel to "
rebuild the temple". Cyrus gave a decree for the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple. Josephus says that Cyrus read the book of Isaiah and saw that he was mentioned as the chosen one to rebuild God's house.
Isaiah 44:28 “That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.”
Cyrus was so moved that he made the decree in 538 B.C. [year 3223 in Jewish calendar], which was his first year of reign as King of Babylon.
Ezra 1:1 “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,”
He was already King of Persia from 559 B.C. Ezra and Nehemiah counted the people, which came to 42,360 Jews, 7337 servants, and 245 singers, totaling 49,942 souls left Babylon
Ezra 2:64-65 “The whole congregation together was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore, Beside their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and there were among them two hundred singing men and singing women.”
Nehemiah 7:66-67 “The whole congregation together was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore, Beside their manservants and their maidservants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and they had two hundred forty and five singing men and singing women.”
Very few considering the number that went into captivity. So with the decree they went back to Jerusalem to start building the House of God - not the city, so this decree isn't the one from Daniel.
Ezra 1:3 “Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.”
The adversaries of Benjamin and Judah hindered the Jews until the second year of the reign of Darius I, 519 B.C. At this time all work ceased, Ezra 4:24 . By the leadership of Haggai and Zechariah, the work resumed and the rulers of the area wrote letters to King Darius to make them stop and to verify their claim to build the House of God by Cyrus' decree. Well it was found to be true and Darius made a decree not to hinder the work, Ezra 6:1-12. Again, this decree is for the House of God alone, so this too isn't the decree of Daniel prophecy. Finally, the temple was completed in the sixth year of Darius (515 B.C. [3246]) on the third day of the twelfth month, and in the following month they kept the Passover. Ezra 6:15 , Ezra 6:19 .
Ezra 4:24 “Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.”
Ezra 6:1-12 “Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon. And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record thus written: In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits; With three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expences be given out of the king's house: And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to his place, and place them in the house of God. Now therefore, Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shetharboznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, which are beyond the river, be ye far from thence: Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in his place. Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expences be given unto these men, that they be not hindered. And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests which are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail: That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons. Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this. And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there destroy all kings and people, that shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with speed.”
Ezra 6:15 “And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.”
Ezra 6:19 “And the children of the captivity kept the passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month.”
King Artaxerxes, in the seventh year of his reign (457 B.C.), authorized Ezra the priest and scribe, and all who wished to join him, to go to Jerusalem. It was Ezra's desire to instruct the Jews in the laws of God. Artaxerxes granted him large amounts of silver and gold to furnish the temple, and gave instruction that his treasurers on that side of the river should provide whatever was needed to beautify the Lord's house. In the decree, Artaxerxes commanded Ezra to "
set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not. And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment." Ezra 7:25-26. Ezra left on 1 Nisan 3304 (26 March 457 B.C.) to go to Jerusalem. This is the decree of Daniel's prophecy. Why? Because the next decree for Nehemiah is also to rebuild Jerusalem, but Ezra was told to set up the city and the government. The letter of Ezra's decree was not preserved, but we can see by the rulers of the area complained again and the work was stopped, Ezra 4:17-22.
Ezra 4:17-22 “Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest beyond the river, Peace, and at such a time. The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me. And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein. There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom, was paid unto them. Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me. Take heed now that ye fail not to do this: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?”
Nehemiah's story begins in the 20th year of Artaxerxes' reign. Nehemiah was praying that the Lord would give Nehemiah favor in the King's eyes so that Jerusalem would be restored. God granted his desire and Artaxerxes gave Nehemiah leave to go and build Jerusalem. Although the text wording would make this decree the decree of Daniel, this one really was just a reaffirmation of the one given to Ezra, which we do not have the wording to, but we know it was to not only beautify the Temple, but to build the city. This was clearly understood to be an authorization for the full reestablishment of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation. Shortly after this the enemies of the Jews wrote to the king complaining that "
the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations", Ezra 4:12. That the walls had been completely set up was obviously an exaggeration, as verse 13 reveals. Yet this incident shows that for the first time there was actual work being done to rebuild the city. This had not been the case under the previous decrees.
King's years
Something that must be understood in understanding a statement like "
in the seventh year of his reign" is that to the Jews, the first year of a king's rule isn't the completion of 12 months, but in the completion of the first calendar year. That is, if a non-Jewish king took office in April, the completion of his first year wouldn't be until 20 months later. This is why, if you decide, and you should, to verify my dates with encyclopedias and history books, you'll find that some say that Artaxerxes' reign started in 465 B.C. and others will say 464 B.C. - it depends on how the "year" was counted. Accordingly, the first year of Artaxerxes' reign is both 465 B.C. AND 464 B.C. as his accession year. That means that some books are counting from the calendar year (from April to April in our example, 12 months) and others count as the Jews and Babylonian's did (from April to the second December – 20 months).
From our decree time of 1 Nisan 3304 + 483 years = 3787, exactly 483 years, 13 days later, Jesus died on the cross for His people.
Daniel 9:26 , "
And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off..." When you look at all the precedence and the facts, it is so awesome to make such a discovery like this. I am so very grateful to the Lord for this. All glory and honor are His!!!!
Either way, there's still an appointed
week to be had, whether it's part of the 69th or the 71st, it's still going to happen. The antichrist will confirm a week of 7 years with the Jews, then that day the Two Witnesses will arrive and preach for 1260 days. At the completion they will be killed by the AC and lie dead for 3.5 days. After that they will be raptured to heaven. The day they die to the return of Jesus to start His 1000-year reign on earth will be exactly 1260 days (the time Israel is to flee to Jordan). 1260 + 1260 = 2520 (or two sets of 42 months, or 7 years). Time, Times and Half a time twice...
