Daniel 9 1. In the
first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by birth a Mede, who was made
king over the realm of the Chaldeans; 2. In the first year of his reign
I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, by the word of the
Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy
years in the desolations of Jerusalem.....19. O Lord, hear; O Lord,
forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for you own sake, O my God:
for your city and your people are called by your name. 20. And 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 for
the holy mountain of my God; 21. Yes, whiles I was speaking in prayer,
the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being
caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening
oblation. 22. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O
Daniel, I am now come forth to give you skill and understanding. 23. At
the beginning of your supplications the commandment came forth, and I am
come to show you; for you art greatly beloved: therefore understand the
matter, and consider the vision. 24. Seventy weeks are determined upon
your 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. 25. Know therefore and
understand, that from the going forth of the
commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Messiah the Prince
shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: the street shall be built
again, and the wall, even in troubled times. 26. And after sixty-two
weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of
the prince that shall come and shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;
and the end of it shall be with a flood, and to the end of the war
desolations are determined. 27. And he shall confirm the covenant with
many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the
sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of
abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and
that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
The command to rebuild and restore Jerusalem was given in 457 B.C. by
Artaxerxes as recorded in Ezra 7:11-26. In verse 25 it says from
the time of that command there will be seven weeks, then sixty-two
weeks. Sixty nine weeks in all or 483 years. The Messiah was baptized by
John and started his ministry at that point of 483 years. There are 70
weeks or 490 years to this prophecy and as it states the Messiah will be
cut off or killed in the middle of the last week, the 70th week or at
486.5 years. His Apostles continued his ministry to Israel for the
additional 3 1\2 years. That is the end of the 70th week or 490 years
and the time when the governing authorities of Israel officially
rejected the messiah and began their persecution of those who followed
him. Lets look at the wording concerning the Messiah a little more
closely before looking at the verses concerning the end.
Starting from the last verse and moving backwards: 27.
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the
midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to
cease...., This
is exactly what the messiah did. He confirmed the covenant made to
Abraham through his own personal ministry to Israel for 3 1\2 years and
then through his disciples for an additional 3 1\2 years for a total of
one "week." In the middle of that last week he offered himself as "the
lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world." Putting an end (as
far as God was concerned) to the ritual sacrifices and oblations of the
Law that for thousands of years symbolized his sacrifice.
We read in verses 25-26: 25. Know
therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment
to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Messiah the Prince shall be
seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: the street shall be built again, and
the wall, even in troubled times.26. And after sixty-two weeks shall
Messiah be cut off, but not for himself..... The
first 7 weeks
or 42 years were the time it took to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. At
that point the 62 weeks began that ended with Jesus being baptized and
beginning his ministry of confirming the covenant made with Abraham.
Verse 26 does not make clear the exact time that messiah will be cut
off. It only says after 62 weeks. It is verse 27 that does give the
exact date, 3 1\2 years after the 62 weeks are fulfilled. i.e. In the
middle of the 70th week.
Back to verse 24: Seventy
weeks are determined upon your people and upon your 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. At
the end of this 490 year time table that has a start date. God
accomplished what he promised starting in the very beginning of the book
of Genesis and then throughout every other book of the Old Testament. As
the palmist quite accurately states concerning the messiah: Psalm
40:7
Then I said, Look, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of
me....,
That could be termed the good news part of this prophecy, which now
leaves us to look at the bad news part. In
chap. 9:26-27 the angel gives Daniel the interpretation of his third
vision from chap. 8:17-19
that states. 17....Understand,
O son of man: for at
the time of the end shall
the vision be.....19. And he said, look, I will make you understand what
shall be in
the final period of wrath: for at the time appointed the end shall be. Remember
this verse has already declared by the angel to refer to time period
near the end of the Greek Empire and the "little horn" that came out of
one of the "four horns" of Alexander's empire. The little horn being
Antiochus IV Epiphanies. This is called final season of "wrath" before
the appointed end that has a fixed date. So chap. 9:26-27 then spells
out what exactly this bad news is that has a fixed date referred to as
an end: 26:.....and
the people of the prince that shall come and shall destroy the city and
the sanctuary; and the end of it shall be with a flood, and to the end
of the war desolations are determined. 27:.... and for the overspreading
of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation,
and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. So
this particular end is referring to the destruction of the city of
Jerusalem and the sanctuary by way of war. This happens after the 70
weeks are fulfilled, after the messiah comes and the covenant is
confirmed and sealed. None of these prophecies declare the exact day of
this war and destruction. They do however say clearly state that it is
within this particular time period of this final season of wrath. As it
turned out, just as Jesus and his apostles prophesied on multiple
occasions in the new Testament. The war and Jerusalem's destruction occurred in the very
generation that Jesus and his apostles ministered to as they walked on
the earth
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