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Caesar's Messiah
CHAPTER 13
Josephus' Use of the Book of Daniel
Thus far, I have shown the reader the parallels, allegories, and puz-
zles that lie within the New Testament and the works of Josephus to
indicate that the Flavian family created Christianity. However, the
reader can take another route to this understanding, using only the
literal meanings of the words in these works.
As I have stated, the works of Josephus provided support for the
religious doctrine of Christianity. Early Christian writers held that
the parallels between Jesus' prophecies and Josephus' histories prove
that Jesus could see into the future. Moreover, in addition to simply
recording that Jesus' prophecies had come to pass, Josephus falsified
the dates of the events that he describes in War of the Jews. He does
this so that the sequence of events appear to "prove" that Daniel's
prophecies came to pass within the first century C.E. and that Jesus
is the son of God that Daniel envisioned.
The following passage from St. Augustine exemplifies the early
church fathers' belief that the 70 C.E. destruction of Jerusalem
simultaneously fulfilled the prophecies of both Daniel and Jesus.
Luke, to show that the abomination spoken of by Daniel will
take place when Jerusalem is captured, recalls these
words of the Lord in the same context: When you shall see
Jerusalem compassed about with an army, then know that
the desolation thereof is at hand. For Luke very clearly
bears witness that the prophecy of Daniel was fulfilled
when Jerusalem was overthrown. 167
It is not well known today that Josephus falsified the dates of
the events in War of the Jews so that work would be seen as the ful-
259
260 Caesar's Messiah
fillment of Daniel's prophecies; this is remarkable because he con-
stantly reminds his readers that he is doing just that.
. . . And indeed it so came to pass, that our nation suffered
these things under Antiochus Epiphanes, according to
Daniel's vision, and what he wrote many years before they
came to pass. In the very same manner Daniel also wrote
concerning the Roman government, and that our country
should be made desolate by them. All these things did this
man leave in writing, as God had showed them to him ... 168
The passage above could not state the proposition any more
clearly. Josephus is claiming that the events he describes in his
works are part of the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecies. He shares
this understanding of the events with Jesus, who also believed that
Daniel's prophecies foresaw the 70 C.E. destruction of Jerusalem.
Daniel's prophecies foresaw events that spanned five centuries.
They predicted that toward the end of this time period a Messiah,
who would be a son of God, would appear and then be "cut off."
This cutting off of the Messiah is then followed by the destruction
of Jerusalem. Therefore, to demonstrate that the war between the
Romans and the Jews is the one that Daniel envisioned, Josephus
begins to align his history with Daniel's prophecies many years
before the events of the first century C.E. Josephus begins War of the
Jews with a passage that describes Antiochus Epiphanes' assault on
Jerusalem, which occurred approximately 200 years before the birth
of Christ. Josephus clearly indicates that the assault was an event on
Daniel's prophetic continuum — specifically, the desolation Daniel
predicts in Daniel 7:13-8:12. He does this by using a phrase found
only in the Book of Daniel, the "ending of the daily sacrifice," and
by documenting the amount of time during which the daily sacrifice
was halted, "three years and six months." By using these phrases,
Josephus is flatly stating that Daniel's prophecies are coming to pass.
This position cannot be disputed because Josephus himself writes
the passage above that "our nation suffered these things under Anti-
ochus Epiphanes, according to Daniel's vision."
While the following passage may seem innocuous, it is in fact
Josephus' "proof that Daniel's prophetic continuum was occurring,
Josephus' Use of the Book of Daniel 261
and that therefore, the first century C.E. would see both a Messiah
who would be "cut off and the destruction of Jerusalem. Notice
Josephus' use of Daniel's phrase "three years and six months."
At the same time that Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes,
had a quarrel with the sixth Ptolemy about his right to the
whole country of Syria, a great sedition fell among the men
of power in Judea, and they had a contention about obtain-
ing the government; while each of those that were of dignity
could not endure to be subject to their equals. However,
Onias, one of the high priests, got the better, and cast the
sons of Tobias out of the city; who fled to Antiochus, and
besought him to make use of them for his leaders, and to
make an expedition into Judea. The king being thereto dis-
posed beforehand, complied with them, and came upon the
Jews with a great army, and took their city by force, and
slew a great multitude of those that favored Ptolemy, and
sent out his soldiers to plunder them without mercy. He also
spoiled the temple, and put a stop to the constant practice
of offering a daily sacrifice of expiation for three years and
six months. 169
By beginning his work with this description, Josephus is, in effect,
stating that all the events in Daniel's prophetic continuum will come
to pass within the era that his histories cover. This is because once one
links an event to a point on Daniel's continuum there can be no stop-
ping until all the prophecies in his continuum have been fulfilled.
The cutting off of the Messiah that Daniel predicted is one of
these events. Therefore, even though Jesus is not mentioned in War
of the Jews, Josephus was aware that if the destruction of Jerusalem
that Daniel prophecies comes to pass in 70 C.E., the Messiah that
Daniel predicted would have lived and been "cut off earlier in the
first century. Josephus is, in effect, providing support for the claim
that Jesus existed, and was the Messiah that Daniel prophesied with
the very first sentence of his work.
After establishing the continuum of Daniel's prophecies with
Antiochus Epiphanes' assault on Jerusalem, Josephus then records
that the 70 C.E. destruction of Jerusalem brings Daniel's prophecies
262 Caesar's Messiah
to a close. He does this by "documenting," once again, that the time
sequences between the related events during the war match the con-
clusion Daniel envisioned, and by using terms found only in the
Book of Daniel.
The reader will notice that in none of the examples I present does
Josephus try to portray certain events as occurring at precise dates.
There was no system in the first century to precisely determine dates
to which Daniel's prophecies could be aligned. In any case, Daniel's
prophecies are so vague as to defy temporal specificity. The only cer-
tainties regarding them is that he uses the word "week" to refer to a
seven-year, not a seven-day period and that his visions encompass a
490-year span.
Josephus guides his readers to reach his intended conclusions
by using words and phrases such as "desolation" and "ending of the
daily sacrifice," which he expects the reader to be familiar with from
Daniel, and, more concretely, by simply stating that Daniel's prophe-
cies were coming to pass. Moreover, Josephus also dates events
within his history in precise time spans relative to one another, creat-
ing the impression that they were part of Daniel's prophecies.
Josephus recorded that the related events were either three and
a half years (half a week) or seven years (a week) apart. The length
of the war was seven years and the "ending of the daily sacrifice"
was three and a half years from its beginning.
Bear in mind that Josephus was not merely inventing a religion;
he was also inventing a time sequence within which the religion is
contained. None of the first-century chronology we orient ourselves
by today existed until the author(s) of the works of Josephus created
it. Because he was literally creating both history and time, Josephus
was free to place events in relation to one another any way he chose.
His recording of the perfect alignment of events in the time sequences
Daniel predicted is either his witnessing of supernatural phenomena
or a deliberate falsification.
Currently there is contention among scholars regarding virtu-
ally of the chronology Josephus gives in War of the Jews. 170 For
example, Josephus gives a later date than Suetonius 171 and Dio for
when Vespasian began to prepare for the civil war in Rome that led
to his becoming emperor. It is probable that Josephus did this to
Josephus' Use of the Book of Daniel 263
provide support for the Flavian claim that Vespasian was not anxi-
ious to become Emperor. This "shaping" of time by Josephus to cre-
ate Flavian propaganda is exactly the same technique he used to cre-
ate the alignment between the Flavian campaign in Judea and the
prophecies of Daniel.
While it is not necessary that the reader be completely knowl-
edgeable about Daniel's arcane prophecies and dating system to
understand this analysis, some information is useful.
Daniel envisioned a series of tribulations for the Jews during
which various disasters would befall them. Inside this time period,
he foresaw that a Messiah, who he referred to as the son of God,
would be "cut off." The period would last 490 years, the "seven
times seventy weeks" foreseen by Daniel. Several half weeks, three-
and-a-half-year periods, would occur within specific weeks.
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon
thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end
of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring
in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and
prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 172
When Josephus aligns events of the first century with the
prophecies of Daniel, he is creating a historical context that includes
the son of God, the Messiah. No other interpretation is possible.
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. 173
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. 174
Daniel foresees a war that will last a week (seven years). At the
mid-point of this week (three and a half years after its beginning)
the "daily sacrifice" will cease and the "abomination of desolation,"
also foreseen by Jesus, will occur.
264 Caesar's Messiah
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:
and in the midst of the week (three and a half years) he
shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for
the overspreading of abominations he shall make it deso-
late, even until the consummation, and that determined
shall be poured upon the desolate. 175
Understanding this much, the reader should appreciate that the-
following passage from War of the Jews is, without question, meant
to be understood as demonstrating the alignment between Daniel's
prophecies and the history Josephus is describing. The "failure of
the daily sacrifice," three and a half years from the beginning of the
war, is too unique and precise a concept to permit any other inter-
pretation. Further, this passage must be describing the "abomination
of desolation" Jesus prophesied in the New Testament, a point I shall
go into in depth.
The passage is the most important in the works of Josephus for
revealing the dating technique he was attempting to create. I have
included the entire passage because it contains many points central
to my theory. The passage begins with Titus bringing Josephus to the
walls of Jerusalem to inform the Jewish rebels in their own language
of Titus' concern over ending of the "daily sacrifice" to God. The
passage makes it completely clear that Josephus understands that
Daniel's prophecies are being fulfilled. Note that Josephus is not
reporting second- or third-hand descriptions, which might merely
suggest this. Josephus is quoting himself.
AND now Titus gave orders to his soldiers that were with
him to dig up the foundations of the tower of Antonia, and
make him a ready passage for his army to come up; while
he himself had Josephus brought to him, (for he had been
informed that on that very day, which was the seventeenth
day of Panemus [Tammuz], the sacrifice called "the Daily
Sacrifice" had failed, and had not been offered to God, for
want of men to offer it, and that the people were grievously
troubled at it,) and commanded him to say the same things
to John that he had said before, that if he had any malicious
inclination for fighting, he might come out with as many of
his men as he pleased, in order to fight, without the danger
Josephus' Use of the Book of Daniel
of destroying either his city or temple; but that he desired
he would not defile the temple, nor thereby offend against
God. That he might, if he pleased, offer the sacrifices which
were now discontinued of the Jews whom he should pitch
upon. Upon this Josephus stood in such a place where he
might be heard, not by John only, but by many more, and
then declared to them what Caesar had given him in
charge, and this in the Hebrew language. So he earnestly
prayed them to spare their own city, and to prevent that fire
which was just ready to seize upon the temple, and to offer
their usual sacrifices to God therein. At these words of his
a great sadness and silence were observed among the peo-
ple. But the tyrant himself cast many reproaches upon
Josephus, with imprecations besides; and at last added this
withal, that he did never fear the taking of the city, because
it was God's own city. In answer to which Josephus said
thus with a loud voice: "To be sure thou hast kept this city
wonderfully pure for God's sake; the temple also continues
entirely unpolluted! Nor hast thou been guilty of all impiety
against him for whose assistance thou hopest! He still
receives his accustomed sacrifices! Vile wretch that thou
art! if any one shouLd deprive thee of thy daily food, thou
wouldst esteem him to be an enemy to thee; but thou
hopest to have that God for thy supporter in this whom
thou hast deprived of his everlasting worship; and thou
imputest those sins to the Romans, who to this very time
take care to have our laws observed, and almost compel
these sacrifices to be still offered to God, which have by thy
means been intermitted! Who is there that can avoid groans
and lamentations at the amazing change that is made in
this city? since very foreigners and enemies do now correct
that impiety which thou hast occasioned; while thou, who
art a Jew, and wast educated in our laws, art become a
greater enemy to them than the others. 176
Josephus is attempting at this point in the passage to twist
Judaism against itself. He tries to convince "John," the rebel leader,
in a manner reminiscent of Jesus, of the wisdom of "repentantce." To
do this he points out that Jechoniah, a former king of the Jews, sur-
266 Caesar's Messiah
rendered to the Babylonians rather than risk having the temple
destroyed, an act for which Jews will forever revere him. Notice also
that Josephus is speaking directly to John, the rebel leader, who was
the basis for the New Testament character, the Apostle John.
Josephus, in effect, is using the Jews' own religious convictions
to bring them to surrender, or, as Jesus would say, "to turn the other
cheek."
But still, John, it is never dishonorable to repent, and
amend what hath been done amiss, even at the last
extremity. Thou hast an instance before thee in Jechoniah,
the king of the Jews, if thou hast a mind to save the city,
who, when the king of Babylon made war against him, did
of his own accord go out of this city before it was taken, and
did undergo a voluntary captivity with his family, that the
sanctuary might not be delivered up to the enemy, and that
he might not see the house of God set on fire; on which
account he is celebrated among all the Jews, in their
sacred memorials, and his memory is become immortal,
and will be conveyed fresh down to our posterity through all
ages. This, John, is an excellent example in such a time of
danger, and I dare venture to promise that the Romans
shall still forgive thee. And take notice that I, who make this
exhortation to thee, am one of thine own nation; I, who am
a Jew, do make this promise to thee. And it will become
thee to consider who I am that give thee this counsel, and
whence I am derived; for while I am alive I shall never be in
such slavery, as to forego my own kindred, or forget the
laws of our forefathers. Thou hast indignation at me again,
and makest a clamor at me, and reproachest me; indeed I
cannot deny but I am worthy of worse treatment than all
this amounts to, because, in opposition to fate, I make this
kind invitation to thee, and endeavor to force deliverance
upon those whom God hath condemned. And who is there
that does not know what the writings of the ancient
prophets contain in them — and particularly that oracle
which is just now going to be fulfilled upon this miserable
city? For they foretold that this city should be then taken
when somebody shall begin the slaughter of his own coun-
Josephus' Use of the Book of Daniel 267
trymen. And are not both the city and the entire temple now
full of the dead bodies of your countrymen? It is God, there-
fore, it is God himself who is bringing on this fire, to purge
that city and temple by means of the Romans, and is going
to pluck up this city, which is full of your pollutions.
Returning to my analysis of Josephus' use of the Book of Daniel,
I have included Whiston's two footnotes to the passage above.
As the footnotes show, Whiston understood the relationship
between Daniel's prophecies and Josephus' dating of the events of
the Jewish war. A devout Christian, he accepted that Josephus was
faithfully recording supernatural occurrences.
In the first footnote below, Whiston recognizes that the siege of
Jerusalem began exactly "three years and a half after Vespasian began
the war. This time span shows that Daniel's prophecy, "in the midst
of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,"
had come to pass. This was either, as Whiston believed, an example
of Josephus' witnessing of the supernatural or, as I prefer, an exam-
ple of his deliberate falsification of history to create the impression
that Daniel had envisioned the 70 C.E. destruction of Jerusalem.
This was a remarkable day indeed, the seventeenth of
Paneruns [Tammuz], A.D. 70, when, according to Daniel's
prediction, six hundred and six years before, the Romans
"in half a week caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease,"
Daniel 9:27. For from the month of February, A.D. 66, about
which time Vespasian entered on this war, to this very time,
was just three years and a half.
Whiston's second footnote is even more remarkable. In it Whis-
ton comes to show the exact conclusion that Josephus intended.
Since Whiston could not consider the possibility of a nonsupernat-
ural explanation for what he read in Josephus, he concludes that
God was aligned with the Romans, that the Jews were wicked, and
that Jesus and Daniel shared the same prophetic vision.
Of this oracle . . . Josephus, both here and in many places
elsewhere, speaks so, that it is most evident he was fully
satisfied that God was on the Romans' side, and made use
of them now for the destruction of that wicked nation of the
268 Caesar's Messiah
Jews; which was for certain the true state of this matter, as
the prophet Daniel first, and our Savior himself afterwards,
had clearly foretold.
If we accept what Josephus has recorded above as true, then the
prophet foreseen by Daniel can only have been Jesus. Likewise, Jesus'
"doomsday" prophecies must have foreseen the 70 C.E. destruction
of Jerusalem, because it is the only destruction of Jerusalem that
Daniel's prophet could have envisioned had he lived in the first cen-
tury. Further cinching this knot of logic is the fact that it would it
have been impossible for Josephus to record this perfect manifesta-
tion of Daniel's visions had it not, in fact, come to pass in the war
with the Jews.
Josephus recorded history to demonstrate that Daniel's prophe-
cies came to pass in 70 C.E. Josephus goes overboard to make cer-
tain that his readers come to this conclusion. This was one of the
primary reasons the first Christians believed in Jesus' divinity. Some-
how this knowledge has been lost and is no longer understood
today, even by New Testament scholars.
Scholars have debated whether the Testimonium was written by
Josephus or added by later Christian redactors. Previously, I pre-
sented an analysis of the Testimonium that demonstrates that it is not
separate from the two tales that follow it. However, for Josephus to
remain consistent in his placing of first-century events in the con-
text of Daniel's prophecies, he would have to place a "Messiah" at
the point in history that these prophecies called for. Because Jose-
phus claims that the "end of the daily sacrifice" foreseen by Daniel's
prophecies came to pass during the 70 C.E. destruction of Jerusalem
by the Romans, one needs only to work backward from 70 C.E. to
determine if the positioning of the "Christ" in Antiquities is consis-
tent with this date. This is exactly what early Christian scholars did,
using the relevant dates in Josephus and the New Testament to
demonstrate that Jesus had fulfilled the prophecies of Daniel. The
following example by the Tertullian, written circa 200 C.E., repre-
sents a complete victory for Josephus. Tertullian has completely
adopted Josephus' perspective and arranged history to show that
Daniel foresaw Jesus and the 70 C.E. destruction of Jerusalem.
Josephus' Use of the Book of Daniel 269
Let us see, therefore, how the years are filled up until the
advent of the Christ: —
For Darius reigned . . . viiii years (9).
Artaxerxes reigned . . . xl and I years (41).
Then King Ochus (who is also
called Cyrus) reigned . . . xxiiii years (24).
Argus . . . one year.
Another Darius, who is also named Melas . . . xxi years
(21).
Alexander the Macedonian, xii years (12).
Then, after Alexander, who had reigned over both
Medes and Persians, whom he had reconquered, and had
established his kingdom firmly in Alexandria, when withal
he called that (city) by his own name; (10) after him reigned,
(there, in Alexandria)
Soter. . . xxxv years (35).
To whom succeeds
Philadelphus, reigning xxx and viii years (38).
To him succeeds Euergetes, xxv years (25).
Then Philopator . . . xvii years (17).
After him Epiphanes ... xxiiii years (24).
Then another Euergetes . . . xxviiii years (29).
Then another Soter. . . .xxxviii years (38).
Ptolemy . . . xxxvii years (37).
Cleopatra . . . xx years v months (20 5/12).
Yet again Cleopatra reigned jointly with Augustus ... xiii
years (13.)
After Cleopatra, Augustus reigned other . . . xliii years
(43).
For all the years of the empire of Augustus were Ivi
years (56).
Let us see, moreover, how in the forty-first year of the
empire of Augustus, when he has been reigning for xx and
viii years after the death of Cleopatra, the Christ is born.
(And the same Augustus survived, after Christ is born, xv
years; and the remaining times of years to the day of the
birth of Christ will bring us to the xl first year, which is the
270 Caesar's Messiah
xx and viiith of Augustus after the death of Cleopatra. There
are (then) made up cccxxx and vii years, v months: (whence
are filled up Ixii hebdomads and an half: which make up
ccccxxxvii years, vi months:) on the day of the birth of
Christ. And (then) "righteousness eternal" was manifested,
and "an Holy One of holy ones was anointed" — that is,
Christ — and "sealed was vision and prophet," and "sins"
were remitted, which, through faith in the name of Christ,
are washed away (1) for all who believe on Him. But what
does he mean by saying that "vision and prophecy are
sealed?" That all prophets ever announced of Him that He
was to come and had to suffer. Therefore, since the
prophecy was fulfilled through His advent, for that reason
he said that "vision and prophecy were sealed;" inasmuch
as He is the signet of all prophets, fulfilling all things which
in days bygone they had announced of Him. (2) For after the
advent of Christ and His passion there is no longer "vision
or prophet" to announce Him as to come. In short, if this is
not so, let the Jews exhibit, subsequently to Christ, any vol-
umes of prophets, visible miracles wrought by any angels,
(such as those) which in bygone days the patriarchs saw
until the advent of Christ, who is now come; since which
event "sealed is vision and prophecy," that is, confirmed.
And justly does the evangelist (3) write, "The law and the
prophets (were) until John" the Baptist. For, on Christ's being
baptized, that is, on His sanctifying the waters in His own
baptism, (4) all the plenitude of bygone spiritual grace-gifts
ceased in Christ, sealing as He did all vision and prophecies,
which by His advent He fulfilled. Whence most firmly does
he assert that His advent "seals visions and prophecy."
Accordingly, showing, (as we have done) both the num-
ber of the years, and the time of the Ix two and an half ful-
filled hebdomads, on completion of which, (we have shown)
that Christ is come, that is, has been born, let us see what
(mean) other "vii and an half hebdomads," which have been
subdivided in the abscision of (5) the former hebdomads;
(let us see, namely,) in what event they have been ful-
filled:-
Josephus' Use of the Book of Daniel 27 1
For, after Augustus who survived after the birth of
Christ, are made up . . . xv years
To whom succeeded Tiberius Caesar, and held the
empire . . . xx years, vii months, xxviii days (20 etc.).
(In the fiftieth year of his empire Christ suffered, being
about xxx years of age when he suffered.)
Again Caius Caesar, also called Caligula . . . iii years,
viii months, xiii days (3 etc.).
Nero Caesar, . . xi years, ix months, xiii days (1 1 etc.).
Galba ... vii months, vi days. (7 etc.).
Otho ... iii days.
Vitellius . . . viii mos., xxvii days (8 mos.).
Vespasian, in the first year of his empire, subdues the
Jews in war; and there are made Iii years, vi months. For he
reigned xi years. And thus, in the day of their storming, the
Jews fulfilled the Ixx hebdomads predicted in Daniel.
While the above chronology is difficult to comprehend and his-
torically implausible, it is only necessary to be aware that Tertullian
and all early church fathers believed that Daniel's prophecies had come
to pass in 70 C.E. This belief came from their reading the sole his-
torian of the era, Josephus, in conjunction with the New Testament.
Another, less tortured, explanation of Daniel's connection to
Christianity was given by Sulpcius Severus (353-429 C.E.) in his
book Sacred History (403 C.E.):
But from the restoration of the temple to its destruction,
which was completed by Titus under Vespasian, when
Augustus was consul, there was a period of four hundred
and eighty-three years. That was formerly predicted by
Daniel, who announced that from the restoration of the
temple to its overthrow there would elapse seventy and
nine weeks. Now, from the date of the captivity of the Jews
until the time of the restoration of the city, there were two
hundred and sixty years.
The War of the Jews, therefore, is entirely structured, from its
first paragraph to its last, to document that Daniel's prophecies had
come to pass within the first century. This indicates that Josephus
272 Caesar's Messiah
was aware that the "son of God" foreseen by Daniel had appeared
earlier in the century and been "cut off." Once Josephus had begun
the alignment between his history and Daniel's prophecies, there
could be no stopping until Jerusalem was destroyed.
Thus, Josephus was not mildly conscious of some unimportant
religious mystic wandering about the Galilean countryside. Jose-
phus was keenly aware that his work demonstrated that Daniel's
prophecies had come to pass and that Jesus was the Messiah the
prophecies had envisioned. Since this was obviously the case, why
then did Josephus take so little notice of Jesus?
It made the forgery less obvious.
If one wishes to "create" a prophet, it is easy enough — simply
invent one who existed in the past. Then fabricate a work in his
name dated from the time that you claim he lived. In the book,
describe the prophet predicting events that you know have already
occurred. Inventing the prophet and his predictions is not the hard
part. The hard part is not having the forgery discovered. In order for
the New Testament/Josephus fabrication to be believable, the two
works had to be seen as independent of one another. Therefore,
Josephus focused on the events that Daniel had predicted and not on
the "son of God" himself.
Josephus' successful effort in overlaying Daniel on events in the
first century, in a way, provides support for my theory. It does so by
being such an obvious ruse. The "wickedness" of the Jews of the first
century was their refusal to compromise Judaism and submit to
Rome; they did exactly what the religion of Moses and Daniel
required. Josephus' use of the prophecies of Daniel to substantiate
the events of the first century was, clearly, an effort to manipulate
Judaism into alignment with Roman interests — exactly as was the
case with the creation of Christianity.
If the Romans were the creators of Christianity and the works of
Josephus, why did they portray their fictitious Messiah as the one
foreseen by Daniel? Among the Dead Sea Scrolls are many relating
to the Book of Daniel. They show that at least some of the Jews of
that era were using the dating system within the Book of Daniel to
try to determine when the Messiah would appear to lead them in
their holy war against Rome.
Josephus' Use of the Book of Daniel 273
The Romans understood that the messianic Jewish rebels inter-
preted passages from Daniel and other of their prophets in a way
that justified their own militaristic theology. Among the Dead Sea
Scrolls were found numerous examples of this type of interpretation.
Roman intellectuals, no doubt, analyzed these works and realized
that it was just as possible to interpret the passages in order to cre-
ate an entirely different, pro-Roman theology. Rome's solution to
these militaristic anti-Roman interpretations of the Book of Daniel
was to create a literature that interpreted Daniel's prophecies in a
way acceptable to Rome — the New Testament and War of the Jews.
I will now analyze in depth the link between Jesus' statement
concerning the "abomination of desolation" and Josephus' passage
describing the end of the "daily sacrifice."
Early Christian scholars were aware of the three-way link
between Jesus' statements in Matthew 24, the Book of Daniel, and
War of the Jews. St. Augustine, for example, understood that Jesus
had claimed that Daniel's prophecies "came to pass" within the first
century. In the passage below, notice that Augustine is clear about
what period Jesus' prophecies referred to — the 70 C.E. destruction
of Jerusalem.
Luke recalls these words of the Lord in the same context:
When you shall see Jerusalem compassed about with an
army, then know that the desolation thereof is at hand. For
Luke very clearly bears witness that the prophecy of Daniel
was fulfilled when Jerusalem was overthrown.
Eusebius shared this understanding. In the following passage,
notice that he actually points out that the works of Josephus are the
basis for his belief.
— all these things, as well as the many great sieges which
were carried on against the cities of Judea, and the exces-
sive sufferings endured by those that fled to Jerusalem
itself, as to a city of perfect safety, and finally the general
course of the whole war, as well as its particular occur-
rences in detail, and how at last the abomination of desola-
tion, proclaimed by the prophets, stood in the very temple
of God, so celebrated of old, the temple which was now
274 Caesar's Messiah
awaiting its total and final destruction by fire, — all these
things any one that wishes may find accurately described in
the history written by Josephus. 177
Matthew 24:15 is interesting because it is only there that Jesus
explicitly shares a vision of the future with another prophet; it is also
the only place in the New Testament where the reader is directly
addressed.
Therefore when you see the "abomination of desolation"
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy Place
(whoever reads let him understand) 178
In the passage from the Book of Daniel that Jesus is referring to,
the "abomination of desolation" is to begin with the end of the
"daily sacrifice." Notice that the time span Daniel describes is three
and a half years.
And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and
the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be a
thousand two hundred and ninety days. 179
When Jesus' statement above is read with the passage from War
of the Jews that describes the end of the daily sacrifice, they provide
an example, par excellence, of the prophetic linkage between War of
the Jews and the New Testament.
Note that Josephus does not use the same expression from the
Book of Daniel that Jesus uses above, the "abomination of desola-
tion," but rather used Daniel's other expression, the "daily sacri-
fice" — leaving it to the reader to "understand" that one must lead to
the other. I believe that the use of different but complementary
terms from Daniel in the New Testament and the passage from Jose-
phus was intentional — a "slight of hand" aimed at convincing early
Christians that the New Testament and War of the Jews were written
independently of one another.
AND now Titus gave orders to his soldiers that were with
him to dig up the foundations of the tower of Antonia, and
make him a ready passage for his army to come up; while
he himself had Josephus brought to him, [for he had been
Josephus' Use of the Book of Daniel 275
informed that on that very day, which was the seventeenth
day of Panemus [Tammuz], the sacrifice called "The Daily
Sacrifice" had failed, and had not been offered to God, for
want of men to offer it . . . 180
In the Section from Jewish Antiquities below, Josephus again
states his understanding that the destruction of Jerusalem was the
fulfillment of Daniel's prophesies. I have included Josephus' self-
serving argument that fulfilled prophecies prove the existence of
God. This argument is interesting historically in that it may reveal
the reasoning that Christian "missionaries" would have used with
first-century slaves and peasants. In other words, the fulfillment of
prophecies, which, of course, the combination of the New Testament
and the works of Josephus represented, not only "proved" that God
existed but that his providence was with the Romans. It also sug-
gests the era's obsession with prophecy, showing why it was made
such an important part of Jesus' ministry.
And indeed it so came to pass, that our nation suffered
these things under Antiochus Epiphanes, according to
Daniel's vision, and what he wrote many years before they
came to pass. In the very same manner Daniel also wrote
concerning the Roman government, and that our country
should be made desolate by them. All these things did this
man leave in writing, as God had showed them to him, inso-
much that such as read his prophecies, and see how they
have been fulfilled, would wonder at the honor wherewith
God honored Daniel; and may thence discover how the Epi-
cureans are in an error, who cast Providence out of human
life, and do not believe that God takes care of the affairs of
the world, nor that the universe is governed and continued
in being by that blessed and immortal nature, but say that
the world is carried along of its own accord, without a ruler
and a curator; which, were it destitute of a guide to conduct
it, as they imagine, it would be like ships without pilots,
which we see drowned by the winds, or like chariots with-
out drivers, which are overturned; so would the world be
dashed to pieces by its being carried without a Providence,
and so perish, and come to naught. So that, by the afore-
276 Caesar's Messiah
mentioned predictions of Daniel, those men seem to me
very much to err from the truth, who determine that God
exercises no providence over human affairs; for if that were
the case, that the world went on by mechanical necessity,
we should not see that all things would come to pass
according to his prophecy. 181
Josephus' argument above, that Daniel's prophecies give evi-
dence to the idea that "these men err . . . who determine that God
exercises no providence over human affairs," is the one that I sus-
pect was used with the original converts of Christianity. In other
words, since War of the Jews reveals that Jesus' prophecies have
"come to pass," it demonstrates Jesus' divinity. This "proof of Jesus'
divinity would have made it impossible to deny the New Testament's
and Josephus' other claims — that the Jews are wicked, that slaves
should obey, etc. Who can argue with what the fulfillment of
prophecy has proven to be the "word of God"?
Further, when the New Testament has Jesus predict the "abom-
ination of desolation," how could the reader "understand" what he
was referring to? Nothing in the New Testament enables its readers
to know that the complex prophecy sequence that Daniel used to
predict the "Abomination of Desolation," would "come to pass" dur-
ing the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. Only one book has given
the information the reader needs to arrive at this interpretation: War
of the Jews. Therefore, the "reader" that Jesus referred to must also
have been aware that Josephus recorded the fulfillment of Daniel's
prophecies as occurring in the first century Without Josephus,
Christ's words are meaningless.
Notice that Jesus is providing support for Josephus' contention
that Daniel's prophecies were coming to pass. The logic runs in
reverse. Jesus' use of Daniel's vocabulary identified him as Daniel's
Messiah. If Jesus was Daniel's Messiah, then the destruction of
Jerusalem must be the one Daniel envisioned, because it was on the
same time line. The New Testament and the works of Josephus are
completely entwined and mutually supportive.
Finally, Jesus and Josephus both "recommend" only one
prophet to their readers. They each recommend Daniel. Josephus
writes: ... yet if any one be so very desirous of knowing truth, as
Josephus' Use oj the Book oj Daniel 277
not to waive such points of curiosity, and cannot curb his inclination
for understanding the uncertainties of futurity, and whether they
will happen or not, let him be diligent in reading the book of Daniel,
which he will find among the sacred writings. 182
Both the authors of the New Testament and Josephus attempted
to have their readers come to the same mistaken conclusion about
the prophecies of Daniel, that they came to pass within the first cen-
tury. This fact suggests that the same person or group produced both
works, because two independent authors would not have, by
chance, come to such a conclusion.
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