Return to Answers to Missionary Proofs
G-d took the form of a man when He saved the three men in the furnace.
Proof:
Daniel 3:23-27: (23) And these men, the three of them, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell into the burning, fiery furnace, bound. (24) Then King Nebuchadnezzar was bewildered and stood up in haste. He shouted and said to his leaders, "Did I not cast three men into the fiery furnace, bound?" They answered and said to the king, "The king is true." (25) He called out and said, "Behold, I see four free men walking in the midst of the fire, and there is no wound upon them, and the form of the fourth one is like [that of] an angel." (26) Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the gate of the burning, fiery furnace. He shouted and said, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, the servants of the Most High God! Step out and come!" Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire. (27) And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the leaders of the king gathered [and] saw these men, that the fire had taken no effect on their bodies, the hair of their heads was not singed, their robes had not changed, and the smell of fire had not been absorbed by them.
Nebuchadnezzar refers to the appearance of the fourth as being like an angel which is a reference back to II Kings 19:35.
II Kings 19:35: And it came to pass on that night that an angel of the Lord went out and slew one hundred eighty-five thousand of the camp of Assyria. And they arose in the morning, and behold they were all dead corpses.
Nebuchadnezzar knows who saved the three from the fire - it was an angel and not G-d in physical form.
Daniel 3:28: Nebuchadnezzar cried out and said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, Who sent His angel and rescued His servants, who trusted Him, deviated from the command of the king, and risked their lives in order not to worship or prostrate themselves to any god except to their God.
After 69 weeks the messiah will come and the 70th week will occur with Jesus' "second coming".
Proof:
Daniel 9:24: Seventy weeks [of years] have been decreed upon your people and upon the city of your Sanctuary to terminate the transgression and to end sin, and to expiate iniquity, and to bring eternal righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the Holy of Holies.
Seventy weeks [of years] have been decreed upon your people and upon the city of your Sanctuary...
A week is a reference to a seven-year period.
Leviticus 25:8: And you shall count for yourself seven sabbatical years, seven years seven times. And the days of these seven sabbatical years shall amount to forty nine years for you.
...to terminate the transgression and to end sin, and to expiate iniquity, and to bring eternal righteousness,...
During the 490 years, the Jews could have made teshuvah, repented and turned back to Hashem. If they had repented, the Messianic Age would have started.
...and to seal up vision and prophet,...
Prophecy ended with Malachi during this 490-year period.
...and to anoint the Holy of Holies.
This references the building of the Second Temple.
Daniel 9:25: And you shall know and understand that from the emergence of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until the anointed king [shall be] seven weeks, and [in] sixty-two weeks it will return and be built street and moat, but in troubled times.
And you shall know and understand that from the emergence of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until the anointed king [shall be] seven weeks,...
Seven weeks of years passed after the destruction of the First Temple and the anointed of Hashem was revealed. The prophecy of Cyrus comes from Isaiah.
Isaiah 45:1, 13: (1) So said the Lord to His anointed one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I held, to flatten nations before him, and the loins of kings I will loosen, to open portals before him, and gates shall not be closed. (13) I aroused him with righteousness, and all his ways I will straighten out. He shall build My city and free My exiles, neither for a price nor for a bribe," said the Lord of Hosts.
This prophecy was fulfilled in Ezra 1:1-3.
(1) And in the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, at the completion of the word of the Lord from the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord aroused the Spirit of Cyrus, the king of Persia, and he issued a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also in writing, saying: (2) "So said Cyrus, the king of Persia, 'All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of the heavens delivered to me, and He commanded me to build Him a House in Jerusalem, which is in Judea. (3) Who is among you of all His people, may his God be with him, and he may ascend to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and let him build the House of the Lord, God of Israel; He is the God Who is in Jerusalem.'
...and [in] sixty-two weeks it will return and be built street and moat, but in troubled times.
This refers to Jerusalem having endured this tumultuous time.
Daniel 9:26: And after the sixty-two weeks, the anointed one will be cut off, and he will be no more, and the people of the coming monarch will destroy the city and the Sanctuary, and his end will come about by inundation, and until the end of the war, it will be cut off into desolation.
And after the sixty-two weeks, the anointed one will be cut off, and he will be no more,...
This anointed one is referring to King Agrippa II. In 70 CE his rule came to an end suddenly with the siege and destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the people.
...and the people of the coming monarch will destroy the city and the Sanctuary,...
The prince referenced here is Vespasian who led the Roman army that eventually destroyed the Second Temple.
...and his end will come about by inundation, and until the end of the war, it will be cut off into desolation.
Jerusalem’s end came as a flood
Nahum 1:8: But, with an overrunning flood He shall make a full end of its place, and darkness shall pursue His enemies.
Daniel 9:27: And he will strengthen a covenant for the princes for one week, and half the week he will abolish sacrifice and meal-offering, and on high, among abominations, will be the dumb one, and until destruction and extermination befall the dumb one.
And he will strengthen a covenant for the princes for one week, and half the week he will abolish sacrifice and meal-offering,...
Vespasian made a peace agreement in the seventieth week which concluded the entire time period spoken of in verse 24. However, after three-and-one-half years (first half week) the Romans violated this agreement and abolished the sacrifices.
*Jewish Scripture from The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary
**Christian Scripture from the New King James Version |