DANIEL SIMPLIFIED

 

CHAPTER 9.24

Gleanings from the Book of Daniel:

A Weekly Verse-by-Verse Bible Study Series

 

DANIEL

Chapter Nine

The Prophecy of Seventy Weeks

 

 

Introduction

After the prior study, Daniel was in prayer confessing his sin and the sins of his people Israel before Almighty God. Upon reading Scripture, Daniel understood the seventy-year captivity was coming to a close as Jeremiah predicted, and that the physical and spiritual redemption of Israel was neigh.

 

As Daniel was petitioning the Lord based on His promise during the evening oblation, the archangel Gabriel swiftly appeared to Daniel before his prayer was completed and gave him an answer by way of the revelation of future events. However, Daniel was informed to pay close attention so that he completely understood the prophecy before it was recorded.

 

In Chapter 9, God had given Daniel a precise timetable specifically for the people of Judah and Israel, not the Gentiles. The prophecy of the Seventy Weeks is the apex of the book of Daniel. It has been identified by various commentators in this manner:

1. The backbone of all Bible prophecy

2. The framework by which all other prophecies are built

3. The most profound prophecy in the Word of God

4. The most incredible prophecy regarding the history of Israel ever given in the Bible

 

As early as 400 A.D. there have been many interpretations of the remaining passages in Daniel 9. Keep in mind, however, all Scripture has but one interpretation.

 

 

1. The Occasion of the Vision )Vv. 1-2)

2. The Prayer of Daniel (Vv. 3-19)

3. The Appearance of Gabriel (Vv. 20-23)

4. The Response of the Lord (Vv. 24-27)

(Verse 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.

 

Seventy weeks

Shâbûwaʻ or šā·ḇu·‘îm is the Hebrew word for weeks. It is defined as heptad, meaning a unit of seven. It also designates a collection of seven things.

 

Accordingly, when Daniel refers to weeks, he is not referring to a seven-day week. No, he means seventy units of sevens and is talking about one week consisting of 7 years, i.e., seven weeks of years.

 

Simply illustrated: If 7 weeks of years are equal to 49 years. Subsequently, the meaning of the prophecy would factor as such:

 

70 X 7 = 490 years,

 

 

[i.e., 70 sets of 7 years enumerated totals 1290 days].

 

 

Historical Background

Borrowed from Roman culture, people think in terms of tens:

1. Ten years equals a decade

2. Ten decades equals a century

3. Ten centuries equals a millennium

 

In Hebrew antiquity, their thinking was geared toward units of sevens, namely:

1. A week of 7 days: Six days of labor and the seventh day was for rest – Called the Sabbath (cf Genesis 1:24 – 2:3; see further Exodus 16:23, 25-26; 20:8-11)

 

2. A week of 7 years: Six years of farming, and the seventh year the land was to lie fallow – Called the Sabbatical year [the  Shemittah (cf. Leviticus 25:1-7)]

 

3. A week of 7 Sabbatical years, i.e., 7 cycles of 7 years  (49 years), and the fiftieth year was called a Year of Jubilee (cf. Leviticus 25:10a, 11). It was a time of atonement.

a.  The land was to rest (cf. Leviticus 25:4)

 

b.  The appropriated property, possessions, and personal belongings were released from indebtedness (cf. Leviticus 25:35-38)

 

c.  The slaves, prisoners, and captives were to be set free (cf. Leviticus 25:39-55)

 

Time Measurement Models

Some examples in Scripture allude to the collection-of-days principle to form a unit. For instance:

1.  When the Lord God created the heavens and earth in 6 days and rested on the seventh (cf. Genesis 1), there were 7 total days of creation.

 

2. When Jacob worked for Rachael for 7 years, it was calculated one week. Laban said:

Genesis 29:27 – [To] Fulfil (finish or complete) her week (7 years), and we will give thee this [one] (Rachael) also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.

 

3. When God judged the spies for the number of days employed in spying out the land of Canaan, a day for each concept was employed:

Numbers 14:34 - After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know My breach of promise (opposition).

 

4. When Moses realized his fallen nature, he prayed for the  omnipotent God's intervention on how to apply wisdom and number his days:

Psalm 90:4 - For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

 

5. When Peter taught about Christ’s Second Coming, he reminded them time is meaningless with God:

2 Peter 3:8 - But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

 

Analysis

Although the passage does not specifically say years, most biblical interpreters agree that weeks are years in this case and not days. And, seventy multiplied by 10 signifies God’s number of completion [see further: Revelation Simplified 4.1.A.Introduction, Seven Dispensations].

 

Seventy Years of God’s Punishment

As a reminder, the passages below determined the 70 years of the nation Israel’s captivity.

God’s Initial warning to Israel for disobedience:

Leviticus 26:34-35 - Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her Sabbaths. As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your Sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.

 

God’s punishment of captivity for Israel’s disobedience:

2 Chronicles 36:20-21 - And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years (70 years).

 

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city

The word for determined in Hebrew (charats, Strong’s 2782) may be defined as come to pass, or cannot change. However, in this context, it is taken from the verb to decide, move, decree, or allot (RSV).

 

Hence, 70 weeks or 490 years are decreed upon:

1. The nation of Israel

All prophecies contained in Daniel 2, 7, and 8 are directed toward Gentile nations.

 

2. The capital city of Israel

Even as it lies in ruins (v. 20), Jerusalem is set apart (made holy) in the heart of God.

 

This is all part of a universal special burden executed by God that must befall before Messiah comes (presently at His Second Advent).

 

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

Six Aspects of God’s Redemptive Plan

Daniel next proceeds to enumerate six objectives God will accomplish during the projected 490 years:

1. To finish the transgression

God intends to bring an end to all national Israel’s rebellion against Him on earth. Their future rejection of Jesus as Messiah is included as well.

Zechariah 12:10 - And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn (NKJV).

 

2. To make an end to sins

Similar to the prior objective, God will seal up or eliminate sins (plural), wickedness from His sight, and human failure to obey Him.

Ezekiel 37:23 - Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be My people, and I will be their God.

 

3. To make reconciliation for iniquity

Reconciliation speaks of atonement (cleanse, forgive, pardon) or the expiation of wickedness. This purpose is also twofold, i.e., the historical as well as its eschatological fulfillment: (1). Christ reconciled the world to Himself (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:19), and ultimately (2) at the Second Coming when sin, death, and Satan are no more (cf. Revelation 20:14).

 

4. To bring in everlasting righteousness

First, an age characterized by Christ’s righteousness will be eternally established:

Psalm 85:11, 13 - Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven…Righteousness shall go before Him; and shall set us in the way of His steps.

 

And secondly, God’s righteousness will be visible on earth:

Jeremiah 31:31, 34b - Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:…for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

 

5. To seal up the vision and prophecy

Once the Kingdom of God is established, God’s revelations will no longer be needed. All visual and oral prophecies will be fulfilled.

 

6. To anoint the Most Holy

The term Most Holy is mentioned 39 times in the Old Testament and it is always concerning the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle and Temple. Although Zerubbabel’s Temple was historically consecrated, the Millennial Temple is the one with which it is pointing in this context (cf. Ezekiel 40 - 46).

 

So, in these six aspects, God reveals mankind will be completely redeemed and restored. It historically indicated Christ’s redemptive work on the cross, and prophetically announces everlasting shalom and righteousness. Above all, the New Jerusalem shall be established as a place for God’s eternal glory following the seventy weeks of years, i.e., the final Jubilee!

 

 

The following study, Daniel 9:25-27, will delve into the Antichrist, the destruction of the Temple, and the Great Tribulation Period.

 

 

QUESTIONS:

1. How are seventy weeks determined?

2. How many days/years comprise 70 weeks?

3. To whom or what are the 70 weeks determined?

4. What are some elements of God’s redemptive plan?

5. What is meant by: to seal up the prophecy?

6. What is meant by the Most Holy?

7. [Not in notes] Is God’s plan exclusively for the Jews?

 

 

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