We have seen that Daniel's prophecy was fulfilled to the very day, and it is incredibly accurate. Is the 360-day year interpretation of Daniel and the 173,880 days correct? Let's analyze the approach using astronomy.

Before we use astronomy, we must note the lunar position when Daniel's "time-oriented" prophecy began and ended. For instance, when Nehemiah received the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, a new moon hung in the sky. It was Nisan 1. This picture shows the lunar position for the Hebrew date of Nisan 1 at the beginning of Daniel's "time-oriented" prophecy..

Daniel's time line prophecy ended when Jesus rode into Jerusalem with crowds proclaiming him as the Messiah on Nisan 10. The moon had circled the earth 5,888 times from the decree given to Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem to the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem as the Messiah, and had moved nine (9) days past the new moon position to Nisan 10 as shown below.

The previous graphs show the lunar position at the beginning (Nisan 1) and ending (Nisan 10) points of Daniel's prophecy. I can now analyze the 173,880 days with lunar cycles. How many revolutions did the moon make around the earth in 173,880 days. I find the answer by dividing the 173,880 days by the time it takes the moon to circle the earth.

The moon circles the earth every 29½ days. The exact time is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 2.8 seconds. The division gives the following answer.

So the moon circled the earth 5,888 times with a remainder of 3.9 days. The 5,888 lunar circuits started on Nisan 1, the new moon in Nehemiah's era and end on Nisan 1, the new moon in Jesus' era. But, there are only 3.9 days remaining.

Since we are dealing with the calendar, the remainder of 3.9 days equal four complete days. Adding the four days to Nisan 1 brings us to Nisan 5. But the end of Daniel's time line must attain Nisan 10. We have a problem. The picture below shows how the lunar position lacks five complete days.

The graph shows five missing days from Nisan 5 to Nisan 10. How can I account for the five missing days?
 

Finding the five missing days requires me to move the problem forward to the full moon on Nisan 15, the date of the crucifixion. Since there are five days missing at Nisan 10,there will also be five days missing at the full moon on Nisan 15. The following chart shows where the full moon should be for the Friday crucifixion, with five missing days.

The ideal lunar alignment for the crucifixion would have the moon in line with the earth and sun on Nisan 15, a Friday. However, the five missing days illustrate an important question. Did the crucifixion occur on a Friday with a full moon? Many scholars(1)(2) and scientists(3) have assumed that Jesus died on a Friday with a full moon. Yet, the five missing days reveal the fault of the full moon on a Friday assumption.

The 173,880 days from Daniel point to AD 32 as the year of Jesus' crucifixion. Astronomical charts for AD 32 show the full moon did not occur until Monday, April 14, about noon time. Since Jesus would have died on Friday, April 11, the astronomical charts uncover three missing days in the year AD 32. You can count the three days from Friday, the day of Jesus' death, to the full moon on Monday as follows:

This accounts for three of the six missing days.

Where do I find the other three missing days? The only place to look for the missing days is at the start of Daniel's prophecy in 445 BC. Astronomical charts show the new moon occurred at 7:12 a.m. on March 13, 445 BC.(4) But, the decree to rebuild Jerusalem happened on March 16 based on the Elephantine papyrus dated November 18, 446 BC. This accounts for the other missing three days.

We have learned two important facts by probing Daniel's time line with lunar cycles.

1. The Hebrew calendar was off by three days in AD 32.
2. The crucifixion had to occur BEFORE a full moon.

The picture below shows the lunar position on the day Jesus died and where the four missing days are found.

Daniel's prophecy was fulfilled to the very day with amazing accuracy. Astronomical charts support the biblical 360-day year interpretation of Daniel's time line.

The 360-day year interpretation of Daniel exposes the 14,000 days from Jesus' ride into Jerusalem as the Messiah to the temple's destruction in AD 70. Scientific dating biblical events appears to show supernatural control of human events. Was God directing Israeli conquest of Jerusalem in the Six-Day War to align the 14,000 days perfectly with the Feast of Trumpets in 2005? Is it possible that Daniel's prophecy and the Messiah's utterances are unfolding with divine perfection for modern man?

Recent in-depth research (done in 2004) on the Torah reveals a parallel generation of 14,000 days at the time that Moses led the Israelis out of Egypt to enter the promised land. However, that generation was not allowed to enter the promised land. Instead, that generation as counted from the census taken at Mount Sinai to the day that Joshua crossed into the promised land is exactly 14,000 days. However, the time span of 14,000 days is entirely dependent upon using the 360 days/year number. To review this research and visit the website that did this research, click here.

Do you want more information on dating the crucifixion? Click here or on the icon below to get an astronomical analysis for the years AD 29 to 34.