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Daniel 9 - 70 Weeks

146 BC

Rome

Daniel 9







Daniel 9:1 "In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes,
which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;"
Daniel 9:2 "In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood"

First lets clear up when this prophecy is taking place and who Darius the Mede is.
Here is a good Timeline of Kings. They show Darius the Mede in power from 521-486 BC.
Outside of the Book of Daniel there is no mention of Darius the Mede by name.
So there is a big debate on the Identity of Darius the Mede.

Daniel 9:2 "In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years,
whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet,
that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem."

The 70 Year Prophecy that Daniel understood had just ended. (See Ezra 1:1)

Daniel 9:21 "Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even 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."
Daniel 9:22 "And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel,
I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.
Daniel 9:23 "At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth,
and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved:
therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision."

Gabriel could not finish in the last vision because Daniel had fainted (Dan 8:27).
Gabriel comes again to explain the vision.


From Daniel 3-19, Daneil asks forgiveness for him and his people.

And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplication, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.
To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;
Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.
Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.
Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.
O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.


Daniel 9:20-23 Gabriel comes AGAIN, to finish where he left off in Daniel 8.



And whiles 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;
Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even 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.
And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.
At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.


Daniel 9:24 "Seventy weeks are determined."

Determined means to Cut Off.
So what was the 70 Weeks cut off from?
The last time Gabriel met with Daniel he told him about the 2300 days.
So 70 weeks would be cut off from the 2300 days.

The Great Controversy (1888) Chapter XVIII. - An American Reformer. Page 326
The angel had been sent to Daniel for the express purpose of explaining to him the point which he had failed to understand in the vision of the eighth chapter, the statement relative to time,--"Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." After bidding Daniel "understand the matter, and consider the vision," the very first words of the angel are, "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city." The word here translated "determined," literally signifies "cut off." Seventy weeks, representing 490 years, are declared by the angel to be cut off, as specially pertaining to the Jews. But from what were they cut off? As the 2300 days was the only period of time mentioned in chapter eight, it must be the period from which the seventy weeks were cut off; the seventy weeks must therefore be a part of the 2300 days, and the two periods must begin together. The seventy weeks were declared by the angel to date from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. If the date of this commandment could be found, then the starting-point for the great period of the 2300 days would be ascertained.

I also read here that the closest Hebrew word to chathak (determined or cut off) linguistically is chathal, meaning: "to wrap an infant in swaddling clothes".

Daniel 9:24 "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy 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."

70 weeks are determined to bring about all these things for Israel.
Using the Prophetic Time - A Day For A Year Principle you get 490 Years.
Probation period  490
Decree to rebuild Jerusalem-457BC
Equals =   33AD
Plus one since there is no zero year.   +1
Finaly the Year   34AD

Daniel 9:25 "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times."

Lets deal first what happens in this verse then go back to what all took place in verse 24.
Unto the Messiah?
This prophecy tells excatly when the Messiah would come.
If anyone comes before or after this time, then they can not be the true Messiah.
Threescore means 60.
Threescore and two weeks = 62 weeks.
62 weeks + the seven weeks = 69.
There is seven days in a week so 69*7=483.
Weeks equal years so 483 years till the Messiah.

The years till the Messiah comes:  483
The Decree to rebuild Jerusalem: -457 BC
Equals:   26 AD
Plus one since there is no zero year:   +1
Equals:   27 AD

What happened in 27AD?
Jesus the Messiah was baptised and started his ministry!
What an amazing prophecy that came true right on time!

And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.
And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.
And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
(Mark 1:9-15)


The only time prophecy was the Daniel 9 one of when the Messiah would come.
Even the people of that day knew and understood that their Messiah had come right when he was supposed to.



Ok, lets go back and piece what happens in this prophecy from the start.



Daniel 9:24 "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city"


Whose in Trouble?
Thy People and Thy City


Here is part of Daniels prayer.


Daniel 9:11 "Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him."


The curse we looked at in Daniel Eight is upon Israel (the nation).


Daniel 9:24 "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city"


Israel was given 490 Years.

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. (Matthew 18:21-22)

Israel the Nation time was up.

They had their chance.

The curse would take effect.

The seventy weeks, or 490 years, especially allotted to the Jews, ended, as we have seen, in A.D. 34. At that time, through the action of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the nation sealed its rejection of the gospel by the martyrdom of Stephen and the persecution of the followers of Christ. Then the message of salvation, no longer restricted to the chosen people, was given to the world. The disciples, forced by persecution to flee from Jerusalem, "went everywhere preaching the word." "Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them." Peter, divinely sguided, opened the gospel to the centurion of Caesarea, the God-fearing Cornelius; and the ardent Paul, won to the faith of Christ, was commissioned to carry the glad tidings "far hence unto the Gentiles." Acts 8:4, 5; 22:21. {CIHS 85.3}

What does the Bible say about this?

Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. (Matthew 21:43)

And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. (Matthew 21:19)

Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. (Acts 13:46)

And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; (Matthew 27:51)

But who would be God's people now?

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:26-29)

What about the people of the nation Israel?


And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? (Romans 11:23-24)

What about the Jews who don't believe Christ is our savior?

I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. (Revelation 2:9)

What about the Israel as a nation?


Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.
I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him. (Ezekiel 21:26-27)

The next King Of Israel is Jesus!



But there was more to the 70 weeks than just the curse.


The prophecy also tells when the Messiah would come.


Daniel 9:25 "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times."




The curse can be removed through the Sanctuary.


The first part was the sacrifice.


Daniel 9:26 "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself:


Looking at the picture above first comes 7 than comes 62 which equals 69.


Jesus came right on time. He was baptized in 27 AD.


Jesus sacrifice was so that we can be saved. Nothing to do with himself.


Daniel 9:26 "and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.


This wraps up things, Jerusalem is captured, the temple is destroyed, many jews are killed.

The great King Himself hath made a marriage for His Son. He hath sent forth His servants for many hundreds of years, saying, "Come, for all things are ready." But how little do they [His people] heed the invitation! They make light of it and go their ways to their worldly pursuits and worldly pleasures, the same as they have done for centuries. But the King sendeth forth His armies and destroys those murders and burns up their city [church], and we are told in the ninth chapter of Daniel, the 26th verse, that "the people of the Prince that shall come shall destroy the city...; and the end thereof shall be with a flood." {1SAT 5.1}

Daniel 9:27 "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."


Then, said the angel, "He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week [seven years]." For seven years after the Saviour entered on His ministry, the gospel was to be preached especially to the Jews; for three and a half years by Christ Himself; and afterward by the apostles. "In the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease." Daniel 9:27. In the spring of A. D. 31, Christ the true sacrifice was offered on Calvary. Then the veil of the temple was rent in twain, showing that the sacredness and significance of the sacrificial service had departed. The time had come for the earthly sacrifice and oblation to cease. (Ellen White - Desire Of Ages - Chapter 23 - The Kingdom of God Is at Hand - Page 233)



So the sacrificial part has already been completed.


We still have 2 more parts to go after that.


Which we already saw more clearly in Daniel 8.


After Jesus died on the cross he rose again and went to Heaven into the Holy Place.


The ministration of the priest throughout the year in the first apartment of the sanctuary, "within the veil" which formed the door and separated the holy place from the outer court, represents the work of ministration upon which Christ entered at His ascension. It was the work of the priest in the daily ministration to present before God the blood of the sin offering, also the incense which ascended with the prayers of Israel. So did Christ plead His blood before the Father in behalf of sinners, and present before Him also, with the precious fragrance of His own righteousness, the prayers of penitent believers. Such was the work of ministration in the first apartment of the sanctuary in heaven. {CIHS 145.2}


It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: (Hebrews 9:23-24)






Daniel 9:24 "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy 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."


Here is a good summary of Daniel 9:24:


Our Firm Foundation Volume II 1953 p. 21-24
a. "To finish the transgression." Throughout their en- tire history Israel had broken God's covenant. Warning after warning had been sent to them by the prophets, but no amount of affliction or instruction could bring that nation to keep the covenant. The covenant could not be kept in their own power. Jesus came to break the power of transgres- sion, to bruise the head of the serpent, to take away the usurped dominion of the tyrant, and to set up His kingdom of love in the hearts of men upon the ruins of Satan's king- dom, that where transgression and death had reigned, right- eousness and life might reign through Christ.

b. "To make an end of sins." Margin: "To seal up sins." "What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." Rom. 8:3. He took upon Himself flesh and blood, "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." Heb. 2:14. The "Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." 1 John 3:8. He came to make an end of sin, to take it away and abolish it, that it might not rise up in judgment against us. He came "to seal up sins," that they may not appear or break out against us, to accuse and condemn us. A seal is set upon sin, as when the devil is cast into the bottomless pit a seal is set upon him. (Rev. 20:3.)

c. "To make reconciliation for iniquity." "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." 2 Cor. 5:19. Sin had alienated man from God. Christ came to bring man and God together. By His atoning sacrifice He satisfied the justice of God, and by His life He opened the way for man to re- turn to God.

"The Lord Jesus Christ was set forth 'a propitiation' (Rom. 3:25). This propitiation was 'in his blood,' which shows that he is speaking of the death on the Cross. The propitiation is the penalty for sin, the penalty for the broken law, and it is rendered unto God. There is the mystery that God is the one who makes the sacrifice, and God is the one to whom the sacrifice is made. God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." 8

Christ died for the sins of the whole world. "He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world." 1 John 2:2. The iniquity of us all was cast upon Him. (Isa. 53:6.) He "tasted death for every man." Heb. 2:9.

d. "To bring in everlasting righteousness." Instead of putting an end to the sinner Christ found another way to save the sinner from sin by providing righteousness for him. Had man stood in the beginning, his innocency would have been his righteousness; but being fallen, man must have something else to plead. Christ provided the plea: The merit of His sacrifice is our righteousness. With this we answer all the demands of the law. "Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness." 1 Cor. 1:30. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Cor. 5:21.

Man could not atone for his sin; therefore God provided righteousness for him. Paul wrote: "There is none righteous, no, not one," and, "All the world may become guilty before God." "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Rom. 3:10, 19, 23. "But now," the apostle continues, "the righteousness of God without the law is manifested . . . ; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe." Verses 21, 22.

"Against that black picture of sin abounding, Paul is now giving the glorious message of a 'righteousness of God.' The wrath of God was revealed against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men. Men need righteousness, and they do not have it. Now there is the revelation of a righteousness which God is to give to man. . . .

"The problem of all problems with regard to sin is: How can God clear the guilty? The answer is that God cannot clear the guilty, unless the penalty is fully paid. . . . The propitiation is the penalty for sin, the penalty for the broken law, and it is rendered unto God. . . .

"Here then is the good news. God declares righteous everyone that has faith in Jesus, whether he be a circumcised Jew or an uncircum- cised Gentile. The ground of this righteousness is the righteousness of Christ and His blood; but there is also a condition: the condition is faith." '

e. "To seal up the vision and prophecy." Prophecy had written Christ's biography in advance His birth, His life and work, His betrayal and death, His burial and resurrec- tion, and His ascension and priesthood. Now He came to seal all Old Testament prophecies that referred to Him as the Messiah. He accomplished them, fulfilled them, con- firmed the truth of them.

The prophecy stated, "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks." Dan. 9:25. Sixty-nine of the seventy weeks would pass, and then the Messiah would come. The decree that marked the beginning of the seventy weeks of years came in 457 B.C. The 483 years reached to A.D. 27. Precisely at that time Messiah was anointed "with the Holy Ghost and with power" (Acts 10:38) at His baptism. Christ entered upon His ministry. He introduced the new covenant and confirmed it for one wreek. That marked "the beginning of the gospel." (Mark 1:1.)

God's eternal purpose to save men, His everlasting cove- nant, which existed from the beginning, now came into full force as the new covenant. Israel had broken the covenant, but God is faithful and still holds to His purpose to save. Through Christ a new covenant relationship was established, based on better promises. (Jer. 31:31-34.) This covenant Christ came to confirm (1) by His teachings and miracles, (2) by His death and resurrection, (3) by the ordinances of bap- tism and the Lord's Supper, and (4) by bestowing the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the believers. His anointing by the Holy Spirit was an earnest of the anointing of the whole church, that the work He began could be continued by the same power and authority. (Acts 1:8; John 14:12.)