The Seventy Weeks
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Daniel
The Book of the
Prophet Daniel
“But you, Daniel, shut up
the words and seal the book, until the time of the end.”
Daniel
12:4
Chapter 9:20-27 The
Seventy Weeks
20. While I was speaking and praying,
confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea
before the LORD my God for the holy hill of my God,
21. while I was speaking in prayer, the
man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift
flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.
22. He made me understand, speaking with
me and saying, "O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and
understanding.
23. At the beginning of your pleas for
mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly
loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.
Daniel’s
prayer has been conducted according to the Word of God, presented in the book
of Jeremiah. The study of the Word goes hand in hand with prayer. I mentioned
in my commentary over the first part of this chapter that Daniel prayed in the
first person plural… we. One might
conclude that his identification with the people was strictly national… he was
praying, as a fellow Jew. Or possibly, he might be tempted to see Daniel as a
bit sanctimonious, attempting to appear humble before God. Of course, we need
to reject any such thoughts and see this man, acutely aware of his own sin. The
order in the first verse of this lesson is, first of all, “my sin”, and then
“the sin of my people Israel”. All genuine men of God walk in the light that
reveals their own sin, before the sins of others.
Daniel was in the act of prayer, when the answer came; we might say that he prayed
until the answer came. Gabriel, the angel who was named in chapter eight, when
Daniel was in Susa in his vision, has returned. He appears as a man and yet, he
is flying. He comes swiftly: When a person is praying in the will of God, with
only the fulfillment of His purposes in mind, God is not only willing to
answer, but He sends the answer swiftly. It may be worthwhile to mention, that
the ways of heaven have always been superior to the ways of earth. Long before
the jet age on earth, heaven messaged by “air mail”.
In
prayer, Daniel was in the Spirit, involved with Zion, “the holy hill of my God”,
and his time schedule is in tune with “the evening sacrifice”. Once
Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the temple, the evening and morning sacrifices
ceased, but Daniel’s thoughts were still in accordance with the way things God
had ordained that they should be. The man of God cannot forget these things,
because they find their fulfillment in Christ, the hope of Israel. The arrival
of Gabriel corresponds with the ninth-hour whole burnt offering, which was the
time of day, when Jesus cried with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. “Who through the eternal Spirit offered
himself without spot to God” (He.9:14). This is the answer to the sin
problem, for which Daniel has interceded.
The
heavenly messenger brought “insight and understanding” with him. Godly religion
is not like the heathen religions that keep their devotees in ignorance. “I do not want you to be uninformed,” Paul
said, “You know that when you were
pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led” (1
Co.12:1,2). Christianity is not a playground for the ignorant. It is not an
excuse for the lazy mind of the foolish, although manipulators would like to
deceive them, because they find easy prey among the ignorant. The
representatives of Rome tried to keep the Word of God out of the hands of their
people, in general, so that they could hold them in subjection. To teach that a
lack of understanding offers some kind of advantage is totally false. Gabriel
brings understanding to Daniel, in order that he might relay it to the whole
world in his day and in the ages to come. This is the will of God, as well as
the will of His prophets and apostles.
Gabriel
presents another important truth: God’s answer is sent out immediately at the
onset of prayer. It comes on angel’s wings, swiftly and personally. (We will
see another factor, concerning answers to prayer, that comes into play in the
next chapter.) This truth is given for our encouragement in prayer and we need
to keep it in mind constantly, don’t we?
Jesus
gave great enlightenment to Nathanael at the beginning of his discipleship. He
said, “Truly, truly (amen, amen), “I say to you, you will see heaven opened,
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (Jn.1:51).
Christ was Jacob’s ladder, through Whom the communication between earth and
heaven is possible. Angels ascend with the prayers of saints, who offer them in
Jesus’ name, and they descend with the answer from the Throne Room. We see it
in this passage, in the following chapter, and in the case of Zachariah
(Lk.1:11,13), Cornelius (Ac.10:3-4) and in the prayer of the church for Peter
(Ac.12:5,7). See also Revelation 8:3-5.
Prayer
is at the center of our relationship with God and is intimate communication
between God and man. Gabriel brings Daniel a message, while he was alone,
talking to God, which came straight from the Lord’s heart. Daniel, recognizing
his sin and that of his people, has been pleading for mercy. Consequently, “A
word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved.”
The Lord wanted Daniel to be assured of His love for him.
The
Bible is all about a love relationship with God. Abraham and Moses were
particularly called friends of God and
there is multiple evidence throughout the Old Testament of God’s personal love
for individuals. In the New Testament, the apostle John, especially, conveys to
his reader, the love that exists between the Father and the Son. He gives his
own testimony, concerning that love, which was revealed to him. He showed us
that Jesus desired friendship with his followers, called Lazarus our friend, and John made a special
comment, “Jesus loved Martha and her
sister and Lazarus” (Jn.11:5). Then, two chapters later, he remarks, “Having loved his own who were in the
world, he loved them to perfection (eternally, or to the maximum… Jn.13:1)
24. "Seventy weeks are decreed
about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an
end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness,
to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
25. Know therefore and understand that
from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of
an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks
it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time.
26. And after the sixty-two weeks, an
anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the
prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall
come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are
decreed.
27. And he shall make a strong covenant
with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to
sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who
makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the
desolator."
These
four verses are some of the most crucial and startlingly accurate pro-phecies in
all the Bible. They open a key to the book of Revelation. When Jesus made a
remark about the “abomination of
deso-lation” it seems to me most likely that it was Matthew, who inserted a
comment, “Let the reader under-stand”
(Mt.24:15). Gabriel has come to give insight and understanding, precisely, over
this matter and the Lord has given it to Daniel, so that his readers also might
understand. The Holy Spirit, who shows us things to come (Jn.16:13), expects
that we should know the meaning of this portion. If you do not, after studying
the next page or two, you should know. That is quite a hopeful prospect, don’t
you think?
Do you have a problem with the term seventy weeks? I will just simply state, that the Jews of the Old Testament did not. That is, in their literature they were familiar with using the term weeks, as applied to weeks of years, rather than weeks of days. Actually, the literal Hebrew word is not weeks, but sevens... so literally, we are dealing with seventy sevens. Notice, very similarly in Leviticus 25:8, concerning the Year of Jubilee: "You shall count seven
weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of
years shall give you forty-nine years” (Lev.25:8). There are other texts that we could point to,
but I think this one sufficiently clarifies the need to substitute years for
days in our thinking. If not, just read this paragraph carefully again.
The
prophecy basically concerns Daniel’s people and his holy city… that is, it is a
prophecy concerning the Jews and Jerusalem. We may term it, “The Time of the
Jews”. As Gentiles, it is a Jewish matter, into which we are engrafted. Because
the Messiah is vitally involved, it holds great interest for us, as well.
However, when Jesus began to speak about the abomination of desolation, He
applied it strictly to the Jews. Notice,
“Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains,” (Mt.24:16). This
prophetic order is to be taken very literally and so are the verses that follow
it.
These
seventy sevens, or seventy times seven, 490 years, are divided into three
unequal parts. The first is exactly as long as the period marked in Leviticus,
seven times seven, or 49 years. The second is sixty-two times seven, or 434
years. Those two periods total 483 years, so we have left a third period, a
single period of seven years, completing 490 years, or seventy times seven. Are
you ready to continue?
Several
things occur during this time, relating to the Jews, in answer to Daniel’s
prayer for mercy and forgiveness. In the first place, it will serve “to finish
the transgression (See v.11… it deals with the long trend of sin and
disobedience in Israel), to put an end to sin (to finally and forever judge sin
by the death of the Messiah), and to atone for iniquity (to cover sin through
the blood of the Messiah)”. These three works were accomplished at the cross,
but will not be fully applied to the Jewish nation until Christ returns. Then,
righteousness will be ushered in and Israel will become a righteous nation. The
vision and the prophets will come to their completion in total fulfillment of
all prophecy. Finally, the third temple will be constructed and used, as a
center or worship, during the Millennium.
These
490 years have a very definite starting point. “From the going out of the word
to restore and build Jerusalem… there shall be seven weeks.” The beginning of
the first 49 years is found in the book of Nehemiah, when he receives the
kingly order to reconstruct Jerusalem, beginning with the walls, “in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth
year of King Artaxerxes… the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of
my God was upon me” (Neh.2:1-8). In our reckoning, it happened in
March/April, 445 B.C.
God’s
hand was very clearly and sovereignly in this matter, because it was leading to
the time of the Messiah. After Jerusalem was reconstructed, Gabriel revealed,
the second part of the time schedule would begin. It is the sixty-two times
seven year period, or 434 years, and marks the end of the Old Testament, the
interim period between Testaments and the beginning of the New Testament. The
total of 483 years (49 + 434) take us precisely to March/April of 33 A.D.
The second chapter of Luke marks 450 years into the 483-year time period and in the chapter, we find people awaiting Christ’s coming, although they didn’t know exactly, the time of His birth. Gabriel did not reveal that time to Daniel, nor is it revealed in any other prophecy. Gabriel came only to Mary to announce her instrumentality in His soon-coming birth and then, a few months into her pregnancy, he revealed it to Joseph. No one else knew beforehand.
So, it was a precise time schedule, which Jesus entered and understood, as He approached the cross. It was marked to the month and year. “Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father” (Jn.13:1).The 483rd year, marked the death of the Messiah, the Anointed One. “After the sixty-two weeks (plus the prior seven weeks), an anointed one, shall be cut off.” He was identified already in verse 25 as an anointed one and a prince. He would not die a natural death, He would be cut off… He would be killed.
The second chapter of Luke marks 450 years into the 483-year time period and in the chapter, we find people awaiting Christ’s coming, although they didn’t know exactly, the time of His birth. Gabriel did not reveal that time to Daniel, nor is it revealed in any other prophecy. Gabriel came only to Mary to announce her instrumentality in His soon-coming birth and then, a few months into her pregnancy, he revealed it to Joseph. No one else knew beforehand.
We remember the story of Simeon and Anna, to be sure, but notice, when Joseph and Mary bring Jesus to the temple to present him to the Lord, Anna began to “speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Lk.2:38). There was a people in Jerusalem in high expectation of the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy! Perhaps, they had already been waiting for several years and with each passing year, they knew that His coming was that much closer. With only 33 more years until His death, it must be very close. Do you find this as astounding as I do?
So
Simeon, Anna and this group of people that we find in the temple in Jerusalem
450 years after the order to rebuild Jerusalem, although they didn’t know the
age of the Messiah at His death, they did know the month and year of His death.
They understood that He would not fulfill a normal life span. Also, he would
not establish His kingdom in Jerusalem at that time… He “shall have nothing.” We have here absolute
prophetic proof that the promised Messiah of Israel came and died in the First Century!
I have heard at least one Jew testify that it was this prophecy that caused him
to believe that Jesus of Nazareth was his Messiah.
“The
people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.”
The legs of the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and that of the fourth beast in
Daniel’s dream come into play at this time. You will see now how vital the
prophecies of chapter two and seven are. The prince of the fourth beast (and the legs of the image) would invade
Jerusalem, sometime after the death of the Messiah, and would destroy it,
burning the sanctuary and putting the Jews to flight. They were scattered to
the ends of the earth. This happened in 70 A.D. and, from that point until the
20th Century, the Jews were without a homeland.
Another
very important matter took place in Jesus’ final week on this earth. The clock
(the timer, if you will) given to Daniel that marked the Time of the Jews as 490 years, stopped after 483 years. It has not
started again since. Instead, God opened the door specifically to the nations
of the world, giving opportunity to all the non-Jewish people to find
salvation. You will see how this process developed in the book of Acts. Jesus called
it The Times of the Gentiles (Lc.11:24)
and Paul spoke of the fulfillment of that time (Ro.11:25). You can also read Paul’s account of the Gentiles being ushered
in, and also of the final restoration of the Jews, in which all Israel will be
saved, in Romans 9 through 11.
The
Roman general, Titus, brought total destruction to Jerusalem and its temple,
like a flood. Jesus said, “There will
not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down” (Mt.24:2).
He also declared, “Your house is left to
you desolate” (Mt.23:38). He turned His Father’s house over to them for
destruction and it was left desolate. Not only was the temple desolate, but all
the city was left desolate by the Jews, and, in fact, they totally abandoned
their homeland.
Verse
27 brings the 490-year period to a close, but, as we mentioned, after 483
years, the Lord opened the door to preach the gospel among all the nations. It
has been taking place right up to the present day in 2018. At the beginning of
the last seven years of the Jews, which could occur at any time, he, the prince of the final beast, will
make a covenant with many of the Jews. He
is the leader of Rome, the fourth empire, but he is not the same person,
obviously, as in verse 26. I tried to
emphasize the oneness of the image in Daniel 2, precisely because of the
pronoun he in this verse. It is the prince
of all the composite world empires that have ever existed. It is the little
horn on the fourth beast and the ruler of the feet of the image. He comes to
the fore in the reformation of the Roman Empire, which will take place in the
last days of this age, and he is the Antichrist.
He
will make a strong, but deceitful, seven-year treaty that involves the Jews… for
their final seven years… and in it they will restore their sacrificial system. Midway
through the treaty, he will break the treaty and put an end to their sacrificial
worship. He himself will take his seat in the temple and proclaim himself God
(2 Tes.2:3-12). This act is the abomination
of desolation. The temple is desolate, because he has desecrated it by
blasphemous words and deeds (notice the similarity to the desolation caused by
Antiochus Epiphanes). He will govern the entire world for those final 3½ years.
The
end of the Antichrist is described here and in several other places, some of
which we have already studied in chapter 2 and 7. In the last words of this
chapter, Gabriel concludes… “until the decreed end is poured out on the
desolator.” In 2 Thessalonians 2:8, Paul
declares, “Whom the Lord Jesus will kill
with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his
coming.” I think, we have already quoted twice Revelation 13:10 and in
chapter 19:11-16, John describes One on
a white horse, called Faithful and True, the Word of God, King of Kings and
Lord of Lords. He also has a name, which only He Himself knows. He captured the
beast and the false prophet and they were thrown alive into the Lake of Fire
(Rev.19:20).
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