Daniel 9

דניאלDaniel

Seventy Sevens

Daniel 9:20 - 27

20 Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21 while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. 22 He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. 23 “At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.24 “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. (NASB95)

Daniel 9:20 -- 27

25 “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. 26 “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. 27 “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.” (NASB95)

Exegetical quagmire• Dr. Kenneth Barker, a Hebrew professor at DTS, thought that Daniel 9:24-27 had more

problems for an interpreter to solve than any other passage in the entire Old Testament. He thought that there were 14 problems that an interpreter needed to solve in order to correctly understand the passage.

• 70 weeks• Determined• Your people• Your holy city• end of sin• Atonement• Everlasting righteousness• Seal up vision• Anoint the holy place• Decree to rebuild Jerusalem• Seven weeks and 62 weeks• Times of distress• Cut off• People of the prince• To the end desolation’s

The gap theory (not from Genesis)

• Even C. F. Keil, the German scholar, cannot resist the clear implications of this prophecy when he states: “From the contents of these six statements it thus appears that the termination of the seventy weeks coincides with the end of the present course of the world.”

• Post millennialist see the fulfillment in A.D 70

• It has been well observed by various writers that if the seventy weeks are to end with the death of Christ and the incoming destruction of Jerusalem, it is simply impossible-with all ingenuity expended in this direction by eminent men-to make out an accurate fulfillment of prophecy from the dates given, for the time usually adduced being either too long to fit with the crucifixion of Christ or too short to extend to the destruction of Jerusalem.-George N. H. Peters

• in harmony with numerous passages in the Old Testament that reveal the two advents of Christ (e.g. Gen. 49:10-12; Deut. 18:16; 2 Sam. 7:13-16; Isa. 9:1-7; 11:1-2, 11; 52:13-59:21; 61:1-11, cf. Luke 4:16-19; 7:22; Joel 2:28, cf. Acts 2:17; Zeph. 2:13-3:20; Zech. 9:9-10; Mic. 5:2-15; Ps. 2:7-8, cf. Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5; 5:5; Ps. 22:1-32; 34:14, 16; Mal. 3:1-3; 4:5-6; 53:10-11).

but

Isaiah 61• 1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has chosen me. He has

commissioned me to encourage the poor, to help the brokenhearted, to decree the release of captives, and the freeing of prisoners, 2 to announce the year when the Lord will show his favor

• , the day when our God will seek vengeance, to console all who mourn, 3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion, by giving them a turban, instead of ashes, oil symbolizing joy, instead of mourning, a garment symbolizing praise, instead of discouragement. They will be called godly oaks, trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. 4 They will rebuild the perpetual ruins and restore the places that were desolate; they will reestablish the ruined cities, the places that have been desolate since ancient times. 5

“Foreigners will take care of your sheep; foreigners will work in your fields and vineyards. 6 You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests, servants of our God.’ You will enjoy the wealth of nations and boast about the riches you receive from them. 7 Instead of shame, you will get a double portion; instead of humiliation, they will rejoice over the land they receive. Yes, they will possess a double portion in their land and experience lasting joy. 8 For I, the Lord, love justice and hate robbery and sin. I will repay them because of my faithfulness; I will make a permanent covenant with them. 9 Their descendants will be known among the nations, their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will recognize that the Lord has blessed them.” 10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; I will be happy because of my God. For he clothes me in garments of deliverance; he puts on me a robe symbolizing vindication. I look like a bridegroom when he wears a turban as a priest would; I look like a bride when she puts on her jewelry. 11 For just as the ground produces its crops and a garden yields its produce, so the sovereign Lord will cause deliverance to grow, and give his people reason to praise him in the sight of all the nations. NET

Luke 4:16-19

• Luke 4:16-19 (The NET Bible)16 Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, 4:19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Amillennial

• It may then be vindicated, for instance, by noting that the period from Jeremiah’s prophecy (605 b.c.) to that of Cyrus’s accession (556) was 49 years and the period from Jeremiah’s prophecy to the death of the high priest Onias III (171) was 434 years so that the sum of these periods is 483 years. Goldingay, John WBC

The reason for the captivity

• To understand the gap before the 70th week we must understand the reason for the captivity

• “The seventy-year captivity was due to the Jews having violated seventy sabbatical years over a 490-year period and Daniel now saw seventy units of sevens decreed for another 490 years into Israel’s future.”

Leviticus 25:8-12 (The NET Bible)

• 8 “‘You must count off seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, and the days of the seven weeks of years will amount to forty-nine years. 9 You must sound loud horn blasts—in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, on the Day of Atonement—you must sound the horn in your entire land. 10 So you must consecrate the fiftieth year, and you must proclaim a release in the land for all its inhabitants. That year will be your jubilee; each one of you must return to his property and each one of you must return to his clan. 11 That fiftieth year will be your jubilee; you must not sow the land, harvest its aftergrowth, or pick the grapes of its unpruned vines. 12 Because that year is a jubilee, it will be holy to you—you may eat its produce from the field.

Jeremiah 25:11-12 and 29:10-14

• Jeremiah 25:11-12 (NASB95)11 ‘This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 ‘Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation.

• Jeremiah 29:10-14 (NASB95)10 “For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

ד ַק1 .paqad to pay attention to, observe ָּפ31a2 to attend to. 1a3 to seek, look about for. 1a4 to seek in vain, need, miss, lack. 1a5 to visit. 1a6 to visit upon, punish. Strong, James. The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible :

visit

Leviticus 26:23-24 (The NET Bible)Leviticus 26:30-34 (NASB95)

• 23 “‘If in spite of these things you do not allow yourselves to be disciplined and you walk in hostility against me, 24 I myself will also walk in hostility against you and strike you seven times on account of your sins.

• 30 ‘I then will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and heap your remains on the remains of your idols, for My soul shall abhor you. 31 ‘I will lay waste your cities as well and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your soothing aromas. 32 ‘I will make the land desolate so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled over it. 33 ‘You, however, I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become waste. 34 ‘Then the land will enjoy its Sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths.

seven

The sabbatical year

• Leviticus 25:4-8– Every seventh year– And every fiftieth year a Jubilee

• After Moses the Israelites entered the land in 1400 B.C.

• The deportation out of the land was in 586 B.C.• Israel occupied the land 814 years• 116 Sabbath’s could have been observed• And 16 Jubilee years

Pentecost

• Deut 16:10,16 – Uses the same word as Daniel 9:24– Refers to the feast of Pentecost

• Christ was crucified on Passover• He died on the first day of the feast of

unleavened bread• He rose on the feast of first fruits• And 49 days after the feast of unleavened bread

the spirit fell on the disciples at Pentecost

Daniel 9:24

• Determined -- occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible, and from Jewish targums means “to cut” or “mark out”

• Your people – the unique emphasis of ‘am lies in its reference to a group of “people as viewed by one of themselves” as lo-’ami “not my people” Hos 2:23. TWOT

• Your holy city– can only mean Jerusalem

• End of sin -- ע ַׁש1 ,a stronger word than sin [/pesha` /peh·shah] ָּפ:ָאה ָּט3 את, ַח1 ָּט3 ַח1 [chatta’ah /khat·taw·aw/], which follows and would relate

to the sabbatical years. • Atonement --    ַפ�ר�� kâphar, kaw-far’; to cover; fig. to expiate or ָּכ

condone, to placate or cancel:• Everlasting righteousness – justice or what is right; ם ,ôwlâm‘ עֹוָל3

o-lawm’; forever, perpetuity

• Seal up vision – as a king’s seal of authority, not like Dan 12:2, the authenticating work of Christ

• Anoint the holy place – the restoration of the holy of holies, the tabernacle or temple

To decree one, two, three (Dan 9:25)

• 1) the decree of Cyrus (Ezra 1:2-4; 6:3-5), issued in 537 b.c.• 2) the decree of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:11-26) given in 458 b.c.• 3) a second decree from Artaxerxes (Neh. 2:5-8, 17, 18) given in 444

b.c., at the time of Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem • In regards to the 458 B.C. date Kenneth Gentry states “This

interpretation is quite widely agreed upon by conservative scholars, being virtually ‘universal among Christian exegetes’-excluding dispensationalists.”

• Only decree three speaks specifically of Jerusalem. It is clear that Nehemiah received a decree to “rebuild and restore Jerusalem” from King Artaxerxes. The passage says, “let letters be given me . . .” and “a letter to Asaph . . .” (Neh. 2:7-8). These letters were permission being given by King Artaxerxes to Nehemiah for permission and authority to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild it.

• “The entire book of Nehemiah is proof that this godly governor built Jerusalem and its streets and walls, and this, as this prophecy says, in troublous times.

What do all these words mean?

Seven weeks and 62 weeks – and though separated follow in succession, while the last week is separated by ַא�ֲח�ֵר�י� ְו“and after.”

Times of distress – certainly describes the whole book of Nehemiah

Cut off ת ַר1 cut the covenant or kill or cut off a body [/karath /kaw·rath] ָּכ3part, how could it be anything else other than Christ?

People of the prince – not the Antichrist himself but the people from where he would come

To the end desolation’s – the end follows the cutting off for the Messiah, Charles Feinberg agrees: The final words of verse 26 sum up the history of Israel since a.d. 70: “desolations are determined.” Surely the determined wars and desolations have come upon them (cf. Luke 21:24). Such has been the lot of Israel and the city of Jerusalem, and such will be the portion, until the “time of the Gentiles” have been fulfilled. The fact Israel still suffers today means we have not reached the end.

Postmillennial comparison

• The cutting off of the Messiah (Dan. 9:26) is a very inappropriate way to refer to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus at the commencement of His ministry.

• The date for the beginning of Jesus’ ministry is not a.d. 26 or 27 but a.d. 29.

• To what does Daniel refer in 9:27 when he states he is confirming a covenant? If it refers to Christ, then what covenant was it and how did He break it?

– His ministry did not last seven years, – He did not set up “the abomination that causes desolation” (Matt. 24:15).

• To say that the middle of the seventieth week refers to Christ’s crucifixion in a.d. 30 is untenable on two grounds:

– (1) the sacrifices did not cease at Christ’s crucifixion, and – (2) though the date of a.d. 30 is possible the a.d. 33 date is far more plausible.

The timing is off

• As the result of the Jews’ rejection of Jesus, they would lose their inheritance. This would not occur for another forty years (Matt. 21:33-46; 22:1-14). Similarly, Jesus pronounced the temple “desolate” when He walked out of it even though its destruction did not come for another forty year (23:38). In principle, it was a “done deal” when He turned His back on the temple. It is no wonder that Jesus described the temple as “your house” (23:38). The temple’s destruction was a consequence, a result, of the apostate Jews’ rejection of Jesus (see Isa. 10:22; Lam. 2:8; Luke 22:22; Matt 27.25).

Mar 5, 444 B.C.Nisan 1, Artexerxis 20th year

Mar 30, A.D. 33Nissan 10, A.D. 33

Pentecost

CHURCH 70th week, AGE Revelation

Daniel’s Seventy Weeks?

• 69*7*360 = 173,880 days/365.24 = 476.07 yrs

• .07*365.24 = 25.5 days; thus 476yr 25.5days in solar yrs

• 476 - 444 – 33 + 1 = 0 (no year between –1BC & 1 AD)

• Add 25 days and Mar 5 becomes Mar 30, the day of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Monday

Sir Robert Anderson

• Sir Robert Anderson, a British Brethren, developed a chronology that used a 360-day year, that he called a “prophetic year.” Anderson bases this upon the Jewish calendar and the clear implication that the prophetic timetable of Daniel was derived from it as well (i.e., 42 months = 1260 days). Anderson began the 483-year countdown with Artaxerxes’ decree that he said was March 14, 445 b.c. (Nisan 1, 445 b.c.) and it culminates in Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem on April 6, a.d. 32 (Nisan 10, a.d. 32).

• His errors revolves around the initial timing and calendar of Artaxerxes’

Amillennial view from the fifth century and on

• Jerome the guy learning Hebrew in Jerusalem with a skull on his desk

• “But the saints shall never possess an earthly kingdom,” declares Jerome, “but only a heavenly. Away, then, with the fable about a millennium!”

• Augustine was a big proponent of the amillennial view• Keil and Leupold (more recent amillennials) recognize the

prince as the final Antichrist, because he’s already selected for prophecy in direct language in chapter 7 as “the little horn,” and in type in chapter 8

Not a new thing

• Irenaeus one of the earliest church fathers supported postponement of the 70th week

• Hippolytus gives a very detailed breakdown of the 70th week

• Julius Africanus reported in Eusebius is credited with first recognizing the significance of Daniel’s prophecy and the prediction of the coming Messiah, and also accepted the postponement of the 70th week