I understand that the Old Testament prophecies many different things about the Messiah who was to come, including the virgin birth, His suffering, His resurrection, etc.
However, is there anything in the Old Testament that indicates the time in history in which He would come, or is it just "some time in the future"?
Yes. Daniel, who wrote during the Babylonian Empire prophesied that Messiah would come after four succesive Kingdoms. One which had already existed, the Babylonian, would be taken over by the Persian, then the Persian taken over by the Greek. The Greek then taken over by the Roman, then Messiah overthrowing the Roman. This is not just a Christian re-interpretation but an actual Jewish expectation that Messiah would overturn the Roman Empire. Of course the common Jewish expectation was that Messiah would lead by sword, not by conversion to an 'invisible' kingdom, but nevertheless, both traditional Jewish and Christian interpretation of Daniel Chapter 7 puts Messiah after the formation of the Roman Empire.
A wiki article on the four beasts of Daniel has it right:
The following interpretation is a traditional view of Jewish and Christian Historicists, Futurists, Dispensationalists, Partial Preterists, and other futuristic Jewish and Christian hybrids, as well as certain Messianic Jews, who typically believe that the kingdoms in Daniel (with variations) are:
This was the scheme described by Jerome in his Commentary on Daniel.[7] Within this framework there are numerous variations.
Yet this is not all. Many respectable theologians believe that Daniel was more particular in foretelling the time of the coming of Christ than ever any prophet had been before. In Daniel 9 of his prophecy, it is foretold that it should be '70 weeks', i.e. 70 weeks of years, or 70 times 7 years, or 490 years, from the decree to rebuild and restore the state of the Jews till the Messiah should be crucified. There is much calculation by various people to argue that this was the very year that Christ died dated from the commission granted to Ezra by Artaxerxes in Ezra 7. Naturally this is fairly complicated to prove and there would be much debate about the details.
However this exactness to the precise year does not appear to have provided any Rabbinic traditions to expect Messiah at the time of Christ exactly, rather according to the Jewish historian Alfred Edersheim there was many guesses from around 4000 years after the Creation to around 729 A.D. based on an extended view of a five monarchy prediction where after Rome somehow Ishmael was added without any scriptural warrant. Yet even in this confusion and speculation some interesting Rabbinic opinions can be found concerning Daniel. First around the time of Messiah as predicted by Daniel some thought that the second temple would be destroyed which is surprisingly accurate considering.
Dan. 9:24. In (The Talmudic Tractate Nazir, on the Nasirate. 32 b) it is noted that this referred to the time when the second Temple was to be destroyed. So also in Yalkut vol. ii. p. 79 d, lines 16 &c. from the bottom. (Edersheim, A. (1896). Vol. 2: The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (P734)
Second, a kind of disappearance and reappearance of Messiah was thought of. Although not seen as 3 days in the grave a 45 day disappearance is again a pretty good guess:
Dan. 12:11, 12. These two verses receive a peculiar Messianic interpretation, and that by the authority of the Rabbis. For it is argued that, as Moses, the first Redeemer, appeared, and was withdrawn for a time, and then reappeared, so would the second Redeemer; and the interval between His disappearance and reappearance is calculated at 45 days, arrived at by deducting the 1,290 days of the cessation of the sacrifice (Dan. 12:11) from the 1,335 days of Dan. 12:12 (Midr. on Ruth 2:14, ed. Warsh. p. 43 b). (Edersheim, A. (1896). Vol. 2: The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (P734).
These predictions are all quite remarkable and they shows us how precise and speculative those were who pondered them, yet somehwat accurate still. Also it should give us pause to consider how miraculous that these prophecies did predict events which arguably occured. Of course after the fact we are able to see the predictions more clearly but that is partly the purpose of prophecy, to prove that events which have occurred were clearly predicted by an omniscient God.
The Scriptures pretty much don't seem to give absolute dates (i.e. in 3000 years this will happen), but rather times in relation to specific events. Although some could interpret the 7 days of Creation to represent 7000 years which the last 1000 could mean the 100 year reign.
Check out these for further thoughts:
Isaiah 7:14 (NKJV)
14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.Mark 13:30 (NKJV)
30 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.
The prophecy commonly known as "Daniel's 70 Weeks" may be the most precise prediction of the time of Messiah:
“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.
So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” Daniel 9:24-27 NASB
Weeks
The Hebrew word that is translated "weeks" is more literally translated as "seven". Consequently, it should not be automatically translated as a 7 day period. For various reasons, many scholars interpret this to be referring to years. If this is so, then 70 "sevens" would indicate a time span of 490 years in which the prophecy will be fulfilled.
Specific Prophecies
It is important to note the fullness of the prophecy. All of these things would be fulfilled within the 490 years, albeit not all at the same time:
The 490 Years Begins
The 490 year time period begins from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Artaxerxes issued such a decree in 445 B.C. (Nehemiah 2:1-8).
The Cutting Off of the Messiah
The prophecy proclaims that after a total of 69 sevens (the 7 sevens and 62 sevens), Messiah will come and will be cut off. (Some translate Messiah as an anointed one rather than transliterating the Hebrew word itself.) Seven times Sixty-Nine equals 483 years. However, the Jews did not employ our modern solar calendar, so adjusting 483 years to our modern calendar gives us 476 years and 24 days. So -445 B.C. + 476 years equals 31 A.D., then add one year (since there wasn't a year zero), and you get 32 A.D. This is, of course, the time in history when Jesus was crucified. In His crucifixion, He atoned for iniquity as the prophecy foretold.
Other Parts of the Prophecy
It is important to remember that all of the prophecies mentioned were to be completed in 490 years and not after just 483 years, when the Messiah was to be cut off. There are varying opinions on how the 70th seven is fulfilled. At the end of that time, the remaining prophecies will be fulfilled.
The destroying of the city and the sanctuary (the Temple) did occur in 70 A.D., as was prophesied: "after the sixty-two weeks... the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.
(NOTE: There are some who compute the years a bit differently, but they all arrive at dates between 27 A.D. and 33 A.D. Some start at 457 B.C. Nonetheless, the cutting off of Messiah falls in the narrow range in which we know Jesus was actually crucified.)
For further reading:
Does the Old Testament foretell the time in history in which the Messiah would come (the first time)?
Yes!
It was 490 years from the day Ezra left Babylon to return to rebuild Jerusalem (Ezra 7:9) to the Resurrection Day using the Gregorian Calendar if we accept AD 33, April 3rd (Julian) as the date of the crucifixion.
If we accept that our Lord was crucified on a Friday then there are only two possible dates on which he could have been crucified: 7th April AD 30 (Julian) or 3rd April AD 33 (Julian). Only in these two years did 14th Nisan, the preparation day for the Passover feast, fall on a Friday, between 26 and 36 AD.
For the last seventy five years since 1956, the standard work on the dates of New Moons for the years 626 BC to AD 75, has been "Babylonian Chronology - 626 BC to AD 75" by Richard A Parker and Waldo H. Dubberstein, 2nd edition. In this book a table give the dates of the 1st of each lunar month using the Julian Calendar.
Parker & Dubberstein place the day mentioned in Ezra 7:9 as 8th April 458 BC (Julian).
In late 2006/early 2007 Pastor Derek Walker of (Oxford Bible Church, England) tried changing the Julian dates to their Gregorian equivalents. The rationale for changing the date is that the Gregorian Calendar over a period of 490 years has exactly the same number of days as the astronomical Solar Year. The year length of the Gregorian Calendar differs from the Solar Year length by just 26 seconds: it won't be until 4909 AD that the Gregorian Calendar is a full day different from the Solar Calendar. Pastor Walker realized that the Gregorian date for Ezra 7:9 was 3rd April 458 BC. In the first century AD the Gregorian date differs from the Julian date by two days. So if the crucifixion happened on AD 33, 1st April (Gregorian) then the resurrection was on 3rd April 33 AD (Gregorian).
So if the crucifixion was on AD 33 3rd April then the Resurrection was 490 years or "70 weeks" (Daniel 9:24) after the day of Ezra 7:9 (when Ezra left Babylon to return to Jerusalem in obedience to the decree to rebuild Jerusalem) to the exact day according to the Solar Year.
Later, Pastor Steve Rudd of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (www.bible.ca) and Rodger C. Young (rcyoung.org) made the same discovery.
The data of Parker & Dubberstein was calculated using the astronomical knowledge of nearly a hundred years ago. In recent years Rita Gautschy has used software based on modern astronomical knowledge: the dates provided by her software are the same as those of Parker & Dubberstein.
You can use https://www.onlineconversion.com/julian_date.htm to check this: the Battle of Hastings was on Saturday, 14th October 1066 (Julian) and our Lord was crucified on Friday 3rd April 33 AD (Julian).
Google search "Rita Gautschy first and last lunar sightings" and find data for Babylon's first sightings for 1st Nisanu for the astronomical year -457 (ie 458 BC). And google search "Rita Gautschy Jewish Calendar" to see the date of 1st Nisan for the year 33 AD. In both these cases the date shown is the date of the evening when the moon was first sighted. The 1st Nisan continues into the next day (and the same is true for every day of the month).
Daniel's prophecies are the clearest, because they can be used to count years. However, another way to measure time is by generations. Note how in Matthew 1, the writer of the Gospel makes this curious statement:
17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.
The construction of 14 + 14 + 14 draws attention to the number forty-two, but the genealogy only lists forty-one names; King David's name is given twice. Let us subtract Jesus' name (because he is divine and the one who brings an end to death and the spiritual exile from Eden). That leaves us with forty names of fallen men wandering in the desert of the world of exile, waiting for a savior to lead them to the promised land of the new Eden in Heaven. In the Bible, the number forty is associated with suffering and exile:
Thus in a subtle way, the Old Testament draws attention to the number forty as signifying the length of time between when an exile begins and it ends. It also makes much of God's promises as pertaining to generations of people, with the line from Adam to the savior being defined in terms of the descendants from one chosen person to the next.
The last name in Matthew's genealogy mentioned in the Old Testament was Zerubbabel, who returned with the first wave of exiles in about 538 BC. That leaves ten more generations of non-saviors left to make it all the way to the savior, or about fifty years per generation. Given God's habit of often skipping the firstborn, this line of reasoning would have given a window of 300-600 years from the time of Zerubbabel to the Christ. Not precise in terms of years, but precise in terms of generations.
