Picture: Solomon’s temple. That and the city wall were torn down when the Babylonians burned and destroyed the city in 587 f.Kr. But the new temple that was built later was smaller, this was something that they did not control, it was the Persian king Cyrus who was behind this and then Herod the Great was behind a rebuilding, so it was called Herod’s temple. 

Worse, they did not stick to what Ezekiel said about the priestly ministry and did not obey what Malachi later said about it.

Ezekiel saw the Lord’s glory return to the new temple in Jerusalem.

Prophecy and history.

Ezekiel was a priest and was a prophet around 592-570 BC and Jerusalem fell in 587 BC, then the temple and the wall around Jerusalem were demolished.

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babel conquered Jerusalem in 597 f.Kr. Jehoiachin was only 18 years old and had been king for only 3 months and he voluntarily surrendered and was taken away to Babylonia, so he followed the advice of the prophet Jeremiah. Five years later, in 592 C.E., Ezekiel saw God’s glory in the Chaldeans. Nebuchadnezzar appointed Jehoiachin’s uncle to rule in Jerusalem as his representative, and called him Zedekiah. Ezekiel prophesied about this as an eagle (the king of Babylon) who took the top of a cedar and planted it in good soil, like a willow, and it became a vine. But then it stretched the roots underground to another eagle, Egypt, but it did not go well (Ezekiel 17). Zedekiah rebelled against the Baylonian king and Jerusalem was burned and destroyed, the temple and the city walls were torn down (2 Kings 25 Jer.37).

Later, Ezekiel saw a new temple in Jerusalem (Ezek.40). It was 25 years after they had gone into exile, it had to be in 572 f.Kr, it was 14 years after the city had been taken, in 573 BC. A rounding error of a year is not so bad, this was then at New Year.

Comparison between the four creatures and the four realms.

The first kingdom that Daniel prophesied about resembled a lion, does this mean that it had an eagle’s face as well? Perhaps the four creatures that Ezekiel saw said something about the four great kingdoms to come, that every one of them had some of these qualities? They looked a bit like both lions, eagles and humans, but not bulls, they were probably not that peaceful, no? The first had eagle wings and stood up like a human. The other looked like a bear, but stood halfway up. The third had four heads and four wings. The fourth was nothing like either of them, but had teeth of iron, so the Iron Age had probably made a big breakthrough. But it got a horn with eyes like a man and a mouth that spoke great words.

Daniel 7:1 In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream filled with visionswhile he was lying on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream in summary fashion. 2Daniel explained: “I was watching in my vision during the night as the four winds of the sky were stirring up the great sea. 3 Then four large beasts came up from the sea; they were different from one another. 

4 “The first one was like a lion with eagles’ wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off, and it was lifted up from the ground. It was made to stand on two feet like a human being, and a human mind was given to it.

5 “Then a second beast appeared, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and there were three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and devour muchflesh!’ 

6 “After these things, as I was watching, another beast like a leopard appeared, with fourbird-like wings on its back. This beast had four heads, and ruling authority was given to it.

7 “After these things, as I was watching in the night visions a fourth beast appeared—one dreadful, terrible, and very strong. It had two large rows of iron teeth. It devouredand crushed, and anything that was left it trampled with its feet. It was different from allthe beasts that came before it, and it had 10 horns. 

8 “As I was contemplating the horns, another horn—a small one—came up betweenthem, and three of the former horns were torn out by the roots to make room for it. Thishorn had eyes resembling human eyes and a mouth speaking arrogant things. 

But none of this was lasting, just read on in Dan.7. But such four faces we see again in John´s revelation 4, there are four creatures with one face each, a lion, an ox, an eagle and a human. 

Ezekiel saw the new temple in “Jerusalem.”

Ezekiel saw the new temple in “Jerusalem” (Ezek.40-42), the hand of the Lord came upon him and brought him to Jerusalem, in vision from God, God took him to Israel and set him down on a mountain, in the south there was a building that resembled a city. It was a vision and he experienced it, it was a prophecy, he got to see the new temple. What significance did this have? Was the new temple built according to this model and the drawing that it gave them? No, it was built as Cyrus the Persian king said.

Ezekiel.40:1 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on this very day, the hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me there. 2 By divine visions he brought me to the land of Israel and placed me on a very high mountain, and on it was a structurelike a city, to the south. 3 When he brought me there, I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring stick in his hand. He was standing in the gateway. 4 The man said to me, “Son of man, watch closely, listen carefully, and payattention to everything I show you, for you have been brought here so that I can show it to you. Tell the house of Israel everything you see.” 

5 I saw a wall all around the outside of the temple. In the man’s hand was a measuringstick 10½ feet

As many as three chapters are spent telling how the temple, the courtyard and the surrounding area should be, it should be consecrated to the Lord. 

Ezekiel 42: 14 When the priests enter, then they will not go out from the sanctuary to the outer court without taking off their garments in which they minister, for these are holy; they will put on other garments, then they will go near the places where the people are.” 

15 Now when he had finished measuring the interior of the temple, he led me out by the gate that faces east and measured all around. 16 He measured the east side with the measuring stick as 875 feet by the measuring stick. 17 He measured the north side as 875 feet by the measuring stick. 18 He measured the south side as 875 feet by the measuring stick. 19 He turned to the west side and measured 875 feet by the measuringstick. 20 He measured it on all four sides. It had a wall around it, 875 feet long and 875feet wide, to separate the holy and common places.

So this is about distinguishing between what is sacred and what is not.

This we can compare with 

John´s Revelation 11:1 Then a measuring rod like a staff was given to me, and I was told, “Get up andmeasure the temple of God, and the altar, and the ones who worship there. 2 But do notmeasure the outer courtyard of the temple; leave it out because it has been given to the Gentiles, and they will trample on the holy city for forty-two months. 

I assume that Jesus is the man with the measuring line and the measuring stick in Ezek.40:3 A measuring line and measuring stick are common tools when something is to be built, but here it has already been built. Surely it is so that it will serve as a model and drawing for those who will build the new temple?! They are still in the old covenant and there is a lot of this we do not understand why it should be so important. But much of the old covenant serves as a model of the new covenant, and we must try to understand that. It is the physical nature that can be measured and weighed and they had to learn to do it right, especially so that they did not cheat with wages and trade. Yet there is much that we are unable to measure, weigh and count, we are unable to weigh the mountains or count the grains of sand or the stars in the sky. And then God gives us his Spirit without measure, as when he anointed David as king. 

Here is a little about the measurements of this temple:

Ezekiel.41:1 Then he brought me to the outer sanctuary and measured the jambs; the jambs were 10½ feet wide on each side. 2 The width of the entrance was 17½ feet, and the sidesof the entrance were 8¾ feet on each side. He measured the length of the outer sanctuary as 70 feet and its width as 35 feet.

…..

12 The building that was facing the temple courtyard at the west side was 122½ feet wide; the wall of the building was 8¾ feet thick all around, and its length 157½ feet.

13 Then he measured the temple as 175 feet long, the courtyard of the temple and the building and its walls as 175 feet long, 14 and also the width of the front of the temple and the courtyard on the east as 175 feet.

15 Then he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard at the rear of the temple, with its galleries on either side as 175 feet.

So the building was 175 feet long (v. 13) long and 122½ feet wide (v. 12).

According to Biblex, it was not the ancient Jerusalem he saw, but a place similar to it (v.2), as a prophecy it is typically groundbreaking, but not as in Revelation 20-22. It’s still in the old covenant! Broadly speaking, the floor plans resembled Solomon’s temple. Everything is described by earthly terms, yes, such things as can be measured with a measuring line and a measuring rod.

Ezekiel saw God’s glory return to the new temple in Jerusalem.

Ezekiel saw that the glory of the Lord was coming back to the new temple in Jerusalem and then he said that this was the place of his throne and the soles of his feet, who also said that he has his throne in heaven and the earth is his footstool. 

Isaiah 66:1 This is what the Lord says:

“The heavens are my throne

and the earth is my footstool.

Where then is the house you will build for me?

Where is the place where I will rest? 

2 My hand made them;

that is how they came to be,” says the Lord.

“I show special favor to the humble and contrite,

who respect what I have to say.

Ezekiel.43:1 Then he brought me to the gate that faced toward the east. 2 I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east; the sound was like that of rushing water, and the earth radiated his glory. 3 It was like the vision I saw when he came to destroy the city, and the vision I saw by the Kebar River. I threw myself face down. 4 The glory of the Lordcame into the temple by way of the gate that faces east. 5 Then a wind lifted me up and brought me to the inner court; I watched the glory of the Lord filling the temple.

The temple was the dwelling place of God’s name, but now they would no longer defile it, as both the people and the kings of Judah had done with Solomon’s temple. 

“Mother Israel” was God’s wife, so the children he had with her should be God’s children. But with her idolatry she became a whore, they defiled themselves with idolatry and adultery, there is a connection. The kings of Judah put their doorstep close to the doorstep of the house of the Lord (1 Kings 6-7) and came too close to the dead bodies of their forfathers. Thus the people and kings defiled Solomon’s temple. But from now on, they kept their distance.

Ezek.43:6 I heard someone speaking to me from the temple, while the man was standing besideme. 7 He said to me: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet, where I will live among the people of Israel forever. The house of Israelwill no longer profane my holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their spiritual prostitution or by the pillars of their kings set up when they die. 8 When they placedtheir threshold by my threshold and their doorpost by my doorpost, with only the wallbetween me and them, they profaned my holy name by the abominable deeds they committed. So I consumed them in my anger. 9 Now they must put away their spiritual prostitution and the pillars of their kings far from me, and then I will live among them forever. 

10 “As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they will be ashamed of their sins and measure the pattern. 11 When they are ashamed of all thatthey have done, make known to them the design of the temple—its pattern, its exits and entrances, and its whole design—all its statutes, its entire design, and all its laws; write it all down in their sight, so that they may observe its entire design and all its statutes and do them.

12 “This is the law of the temple: The entire area on top of the mountain all around will be most holy. Indeed, this is the law of the temple.

The entire top of the Temple Mount was to be holy (v.12). 

When they returned from exile and began to build on the new temple, it was according to a different plan, so it was smaller, but they should have had the right ones painted by Ezekiel. Is there a point in verse 11 that they have not yet been ashamed and learned and understood? No, then the prophets had spoken out when they started building the new temple. Zerubbabel was then chosen and anointed as the builder. Here’s clearly something we don’t understand yet.

The east gate was to be shut, but the prince was to enter the gate and eat for the Lord, and go out the same way.

The Lord had entered through the east gate, therefore it was to be closed, but the prince could come into the hall and eat there before the Lord.

Ezekiel.44, Then he brought me back by way of the outer gate of the sanctuary that faces east, but it was shut. 2 The Lord said to me: “This gate will be shut; it will not be opened, and noone will enter by it. For the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it will remain shut. 3 Only the prince may sit in it to eat a sacrificial meal before the Lord; he will enter by way of the porch of the gate and will go out by the same way.” 

4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. As I watched, I noticed the glory of the Lord filling the Lord’s temple, and I threw myself face down. 5The Lord said to me: “Son of man, pay attention, watch closely, and listen carefully toeverything I tell you concerning all the statutes of the Lord’s house and all its laws. Payattention to the entrances to the temple with all the exits of the sanctuary. 

Only Levite priests of Zadok-tribe were to take charge of the priestly ministry. Why is that?

Only Levites of the Zadok-tribe were allowed to approach the Lord in the Most Holy Place and serve Him there.

Ezek.44:9 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: No foreigner who is uncircumcised in heart and flesh among all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel will enter into my sanctuary.

10 “‘But the Levites who went far from me, straying off from me after their idols when Israel went astray, will be responsible for their sin. 11 Yet they will be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple, and serving the temple. They will slaughter the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for the people, and they will stand beforethem to minister to them. 12 Because they used to minister to them before their idolsand became a sinful obstacle to the house of Israel, consequently I have made a vowconcerning them, declares the Sovereign Lord, that they will be responsible for their sin. 13 They will not come near me to serve me as priest, nor will they come near any of my holy things, the things that are most sacred. They will bear the shame of the abominable deeds they have committed. 14 Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, allits service, and all that will be done in it.

15 “‘But the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, will approach me to ministerto me; they will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the SovereignLord. 16 They will enter my sanctuary and approach my table to minister to me; they will keep my charge.

What is it referring to here? First, Zadok the priest was faithful to King David when he anointed his son Solomon king after him.

1 Kings 1:32 King David said, “Summon Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” They came before the king, 33 and he told them, “Take your master’s servantswith you, put my son Solomon on my mule, and lead him down to Gihon. 34 There Zadokthe priest and Nathan the prophet will anoint him king over Israel; then blow the trumpet and declare, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ 35 Then follow him up as he comes and sits on my throne. He will be king in my place; I have decreed that he will be ruler overIsrael and Judah.” 36 Benaiah son of Jehoiada responded to the king: “So be it! May the Lord God of my master the king confirm it! 37 As the Lord is with my master the king, somay he be with Solomon, and may he make him an even greater king than my masterKing David!”

38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites went down, put Solomon on King David’s mule, and led him to Gihon. 39Zadok the priest took a horn filled with olive oil from the tent and poured it on Solomon; the trumpet was blown and all the people declared, “Long live King Solomon!” 40 All the people followed him up, playing flutes and celebrating so loudly they made the groundshake.

1 Kings 2:26 The king then told Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your property in Anathoth. Youdeserve to die, but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the SovereignLord before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times.” 27 Solomon removed Abiathar from being a priest for the Lord, fulfilling the Lord’s message that he had pronounced against the family of Eli in Shiloh.

But then there was an additional requirement, that they had taken care of the priestly ministry in the sanctuary when the people of Israel strayed away from the Lord.

Zadok anointed Salomon as king, and this is precedent to the anointing in the new covenant.

Zadok the priest anointed Solomon as king and this is precedent to the anointing in the new covenant. For Jesus is God’s Messiah (Christ in Greek) and that means God’s anointed one for eternity. All who received him, he gave the right to become God’s children, born of the water of life and the Spirit of God, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. He is the one who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit, so we receive His anointing and it teaches us to know the Truth.

1.John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming, so nowmany antichrists have appeared. We know from this that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us because if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But they went out from us to demonstrate that all of them do not belong to us.

20 Nevertheless you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. 21 I have not written to you that you do not know the truth, but that you do know it, and that no lieis of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son hasthe Father also.

24 As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what youheard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 Now this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life. 26 These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

I have written about this here: 

The earthly sanctuary with the Levitical priesthood was only a picture of the heavenly things.

Moses was to erect the tabernacle according to the pattern he saw on the mountain. By comparison, Ezekiel saw the new temple in a heavenly revelation, the floor plan similar to Solomon’s temple, but nothing was said about decoration. The point is that Jesus entered the heavenly sanctuary, it exists as a spiritual sanctuary that is. God is spirit and He exists and His kingdom is a spiritual reality.

Hebrews 7:11 If perfection could be reached through the Levitical priesthood, to which the people were bound by the law, why would there be a priest of a different kind, one who is called a priest of the same kind as Melchizedek and not like Aaron? 12 But when the priesthood is changed, it is necessary that the law be changed as well. 13 For the one in question was of another tribe, and no one of that tribe has served at the altar. 14 It is well known that our Lord comes from Judah, and Moses has never said anything about priests from that tribe.

15 All this becomes even clearer when another priest comes forward, one like Melchizedek. 16 He has not become a priest through a law requiring a specific lineage, but through the power of an incorruptible life. 17 He then receives this testimony:

You Will Forever Be a Priest

of the same kind as Melchizedek.

18 Meanwhile, an older commandment has ceased to apply because it was weakened and without the world. 19 For the law brought nothing to perfection. But now comes something better, a hope that allows us to draw close to God.

Christ Is a Priest Forever

20 This has not happened without an oath being given. The others became priests without an owner, 21 but this one was installed with the possession of God, who says,

The Lord has sworn and does not regret it:

You will be a priest forever.

22 That is why she is also so much better, the covenant that Jesus endorses.

Heb.8:1  Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We have such a high priest, one who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up. 3 For every high priestis appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. So this one, too, had to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 The place where they serve is a sketch andshadow of the heavenly sanctuary, just as Moses was warned by God as he was about to complete the tabernacle. For he says, “See that you make everything according tothe design shown to you on the mountain.”

Exodus 25:40 40 Now be sure to make them according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain.

How it should or should have gone, “ideally”? 

From the time of the judges to the time of the kings.

In the beginning, the people of Israel had no king or army, the only “state organisation” they had was the priesthood and the sanctuary was a tent (Exodus 25-31). Then it was not so strange that nomads came into their land and displaced them. But then God claimed that it was because they had turned away from him, so they had to humble themselves before him and prey for mercy and help. Then he raised up a judge who led them in the fight against the enemy. In this way, they had to take back their land many times. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them such a king as they wanted, so he let Samuel anoint Saul as king. It eventually failed, because he rejected God’s Word and therefore God rejected him as king, so he lost the anointing. But God chose a man according to his heart, David, and let Samuel anoint him as king when he was just a little shepherd boy. The anointing is a symbol of the Holy Spirit and he experienced that the Lord was with him and led him, so that he became a great and powerful king.

A weak king in the style of a relatively small temple?

In this way, they could and should have sought God when they returned to their country after the exile as well, and that was precisely the purpose of starting to build the temple. Isaiah had prophesied that the Persian king Cyrus was his servant, who would allow them to return to their land and he set them to build the temple. Zerubbabel was the grandson of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and Cyrus appointed him governor of Judea  to direct the building work. Still, it stopped, but it got going again when the prophets Haggai and Zechariah encouraged them to do so, as prophecy from the Lord. Zechariah prophesied that High Priest Joshua would look forward to the coming of God’s servant, Sprout, he and the other priests were symbols for what was to come (Zech. 3). He and Zerubbabel the builder were the two olive branches, the ones that the Lord had anointed (Zech. 4). 

Here it is appropriate to recall how David prophesied about the Messiah.

Psalm 110, 1 A psalm of David.

Here is the Lord’s proclamation to my lord:

“Sit down at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”

2 The Lord extends your dominion from Zion.

Rule in the midst of your enemies. 

3 Your people willingly follow you when you go into battle.

On the holy hills at sunrise the dew of your youth belongs to you.

4 The Lord makes this promise on oath and will not revoke it:

“You are an eternal priest after the pattern of Melchizedek.”

The priesthood and the kingship were inherited, but with anointing.

The priesthood was inherited, and so could the ministry of governor and builder, but the building was basically finished, even though it was not as large and beautiful as Solomon’s temple, nor as the temple Ezekiel had prophesied about. 

Solomon directed the construction of Solomon’s temple, in comparison, the governor Zerubbabel directed the construction of a smaller temple. But now suppose that Zerubbabel’s son took over as governor and Joshua’s son took over as high priest. Couldn´t the new high priest then anoint the new governor for the ministry, as a weak king of the people of Israel? What was so important about Zadok the priest was precisely that he wanted to anoint David’s son, Solomon, as king after his father. That was how he would be installed as king, not like those who would try to make a coup, that is. We can compare it to Samuel anointing David as king when he was just a shepherd boy. It was risky for David, but the anointing was a symbol of the Holy Spirit and it led him to become a great king. Thus it could be risky now, too, but the anointing would teach them to solve the problems as they came. It could continue for several generations, so the kingdom became stronger.

The prophets Joel and Malachi.

Both Joshua and Zerubbabel were anointed for the ministries, so they both had prophetic insight. But didn´t a prophet be needed in addition to that, like Nathan when Solomon was anointed as king? 

Joel prophesied to them about the enemy coming from the north, so they had to humble themselves before the Lord, declare fasting, and pray for mercy and help. He reminded them of how God judged in the valley of Jehoshaphat and saved them, and they had to go for that strategy again. Couldn’t the priests then suggest to him, that they anointed a man of Zerubbabel’s seed as a weak king, who led them as Jehoshaphat had done? He led them in prayer and fasting and then the Spirit of God came upon a priest, so he spoke prophetically and gave them answers and it was a success. 

After a time, Malachi prophesied and rebuked both the priests and the people. If they had listened to him and turned around and obeyed what he said, they might ask him for advice as well, such as suggesting that they anoint one of Zerubbabel’s seed to act as a weak king in Israel, even though they were subject to a great king and without rebellion.  But in relation to the great king he was to continue as governor-general, for the time being.

What would it have been like for a governor of Zerubbabel’s seed, anointed as a weak king of Israel, when the worst calamity from the north came, with Antipchus 4. Epiphanes? How would it have been to the Roman Empire.

If they had had an anointed weak king of Zerubbabel’s seed as governor, they would have been better prepared, when the worst calamity from the north came at Antiochus 4. Epiphanes. We can imagine that Daniel’s prophecy did just as well come true, so there was a war of life and death, but the son of Zerubbabel led them in the war and won in the end. He made a deal with the Romans, expecting that the ruler of Rome would help him in comparison with King Michael of Dan.12. At that time, the Roman Empire was a republic, so there was limited democracy at the top level.

1.Macc.8:11 The Romans had also destroyed and subdued the other kingdoms and islands, all who had ever rebelled against them. 12 But with their friends and those who sought refuge with them, they stood firm in friendship. They had defeated kings far and near, and everyone who heard stories about them feared them. 13 All whom they would help to become kings, became kings, and those whom they would depose, you deposed. They had become very powerful.

14 In spite of all this, none of them had put on a king’s crown or dressed in purple to pretend being something great. 15 But they had established a senate, and there were 320 senators meeting every day, who were constantly counseling about how best to govern the people. 16 Every year they left it to one man to reign them and rule over all the land. Everyone obeyed this one, there was no envy or jealousy among them.

Maccabees took power in the country in 164 f.Kr. But now we can imagine that instead it was a governor, a descendant of Zerubbabel, who had led the resistance and stood out as a weak king in Israel. But what would happen when the Roman Empire came to power in the country in 63 f.Kr? The governors collected taxes and it was common for them to be corrupt and help themselves with tax money, so they could come as poor and become rich in a year.

There were three “Punar Wars” between Rome and Carthage, it ended with Rome winning and Carthage being razed to the ground in 146 f.Kr. Hannibal was the commander of the army from Carthage and in the Second Punar War they ravaged southern Italy, so the peasants were driven from the land and came into Rome as unemployed proletarians. Rich landowners took over the farms and ran them with hired labor and slaves. 

At this time, there was a folks-tribune position, they were supposed to speak for the common people and it became important to them that the peasants should be allowed to return to their fields, this became a class struggle that resulted in civil war. 

The people of Israel should have learned to deal with such problems by what the Mosaic Law says about the Sabbath years and the year of release after 7 sabbath years, then those who had lost their land and had become slaves would be allowed to return to their land. 

Jeremiah had prophesied that it would be 70 years before they could return to their land, but by then the temple was almost finished. When the time came, Daniel fasted and prayed for three weeks. Then the angel Gabriel answered him as if the 70 years were 70 sabbatical years, ten years of release, and now it was approaching the tenth year of release. I have written about this here,

Quotation:

After a 7th sabbatical year, someone who was anointed would appear, it had to be Cyrus. Jerusalem fell in 587 BC, 49 years later would then be in 538, so that is fine. The last week of the year was to be difficult, if we count 69 sabbaticals, 483 years from 586, we come to 103 BC. The next sabbatical year would be in 94 BC. It was then to be the tenth year of release.

Dan.9:22 He spoke with me, instructing me as follows: “Daniel, I have nowcome to impart understanding to you. 23 At the beginning of your requests a messagewent out, and I have come to convey it to you, for you are of great value in God’s sight.Therefore consider the message and understand the vision:

24 “Seventy weeks have been determined

concerning your people and your holy city

to put an end to rebellion,

to bring sin to completion,

to atone for iniquity,

to bring in perpetual righteousness,

to seal up the prophetic vision,

and to anoint a Most Holy Place.

……

How does this relate to history? 

Quotaton from https://snl.no/det_gamle_israel :

Alexander Janneus (Jannai) (103–76 B.C.E.) was the first to proclaim himself king, and to rule an area that encompassed all of Palestine from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the highlands east of the Jordan River, from the Golan in the north to Edom in the south. After his death, his wife, Salome Aleksandra (139–67 BCE), succeeded as reigning queen. Her reign is considered the last peaceful time in the country.

END OF QUOTATION.

In the interpretations of these verses, the last Sabbath week becomes long, as also with this interpretation. The explanation may be that they did not comply with what the law said about the sabbaticals, there was a reason why they were taken away from their land, so that the country could take back its sabbaticals. But here it became clear that they did not aim for the tenth year of release to be a year of release. Instead, it became a reason for them to be abducted from their country again. So how did it turn out? Now we know.

But let us now imagine what might have happened if it had been a descendant of Zerubbabel who had become weak king of Israel and made a friendship treaty with the Roman Empire. The folks-tribunes were influenced by Greek ideas of freedom and democracy, and it was the opposite of the Greek power interest that had attacked Israel at Antiochus 4. Epiphanes. So there was a similar opposition in the Roman Empire as in Greece, a similar opposition was in Israel as well, but they should have learned to deal with it. I have written about this here:

If this “Zerubbabel-son” saw it as his policy to protect the poor and defenseless, like David (Psalm 72), then he could probably also see the opportunity to get support for such a policy from the Roman Empire, in comparison with King Michael in Dan.12. It could depend a bit on what he himself was up to, if he himself proposed such a policy, it could seem like encouragement and desire to the Romans to follow up with a similar policy.