Daniel pt 9

In Daniel 9, Daniel prays as an intercessor for Israel. He reads in the prophet Jeremiah’s writings that God said it would be 70 years when Israel gets to go back to the Land. From what I’ve been taught, Daniel had been counting. It is almost 70 years (maybe it is 70 years?) and so Daniel is praying for the completion of such a word.

While Daniel is praying, an angel interrupts him.

Daniel 9:20: 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, 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. He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. 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 9:24: “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. 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. 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. 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.”

Gabriel tells Daniel that it isn’t just about 70 years. There is more than 70 years going on. The proper way of translation of verse 24 would be “seventy sevens.” Daniel was praying about the 70 years. Gabriel then tells him it will be 70 times 7. The end of these 70 “weeks” is that transgression, sin, and iniquity would be done away with. Everlasting righteousness, a seal of both vision and prophet, and an anointing of the most holy place come after that. So what happens in the 70 “weeks” to get to that point?

From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (read Nehemiah) to the rebuilding of the Temple will be 7 “weeks.” These weeks are actually 7 years. Remember that it would be better to translate it as “seventy sevens.” So for 7 weeks would actually be 49 years. The history books tell us that it was indeed 49 years from the going back to Jerusalem to rebuild to the rebuilding of the Temple. For 18 years the work on the Temple stopped, and then prophets like Haggai and Zechariah came along to declare that they need to rebuild the Temple.

After those 49 years, another set of 62 “weeks” was announced until the Messiah came. Once again, if you check the history books, from the time the Temple was rebuilt to the time when Jesus died was 434 years. It was exactly as the prophet Daniel had proclaimed. “After 62 weeks an anointed one shall be cut off and have nothing.” This wording, “and have nothing,” could also be “will have no one…”

Either way, the point is that the Messiah Jesus died exactly as the prophet Daniel had proclaimed. This is why Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for not knowing the time of their visitation. It was prophesied to the year.

In the next sentence, there is this talk of a prince. The anointed one that is cut off and the prince that is spoken of in the next sentence are not the same person. The prince that will come is the antichrist. If you do your math, you’ll notice that we have only added up to 69 “weeks,” but Gabriel said there was supposed to be 70. The last 7 years is mentioned in verse 27. This prince who comes and destroys the sanctuary and the city establishes a covenant with Israel.

The reason I know that it is with the people Israel is because I’ve read Daniel 11. However, it is fair to note that it isn’t only with Israel. This covenant, according to the context of this text, is probably with many nations. It is a peace covenant. All of the wars that are taking place in the Middle East will be brought to a stop for a short time. That is what this 7 is all about. These 7 years is the Tribulation. In the middle of the 7 years (time, times, and half a time; 3 ½ years), the sacrifice and offering are cut off. This goes in line with what was said in Daniel 8:11.

Now, once again, the ESV doesn’t translate verse 27 very well. It isn’t on the wings of desolation that the one who makes desolate come. It is on the “wing” of the Temple… The Hebrew word for wing also means corner. He stands the abomination of desolation at the corner of the Temple. He does this and cuts off the sacrifice 3 ½ years into the covenant of peace. It is from that time to the end that we’re facing what Jeremiah calls “the Time of Jacob’s Trouble.”

Daniel 9 ends with “until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” We know from Daniel 7 and 8 that the end being poured out on the desolator is the return of Christ.

You can see how God is continually adding pieces. It is being built piece by piece. Now I’ll admit that many commentators believe that this chapter kind of sticks out of Daniel. Many believe that these 70 “weeks” are in the past. The last week of the tribulation actually was about Jesus being the antichrist. Of course, they wouldn’t call him the antichrist. They would say something like, “Jesus abolished the need for sacrifices and temples and thus destroyed them both.”

The problem with this is that even within the context of Daniel 9 we have to take certain aspects and spiritualize them. If you can only take parts literally, then who is to say the whole thing isn’t symbolic or metaphoric? Maybe these weeks are actually 7000-year spans. Maybe the rebuilding of the Temple would be Pentecost. Maybe the cutting off of the anointed one wasn’t Jesus.

My issue with a lot of the interpretations of Daniel 9 is that many times it is either not taken literally and therefore seems out of place, or it is taken too literally that the last 7 year period is taken as Jesus being the antichrist. You can take it literally and not abolish it when saying that this last 7 years fits in with the end. That does fit in the translation. It is like everything else in prophecy. Maybe times the Messiah fulfilled part of a Scripture about Him, but not the whole thing (read Luke 4:18-19 and then read Isaiah 61). Many times Jesus would fulfill half a sentence of prophecy and the other half of the sentence has been promised to be fulfilled at the second coming. It happens all over the place. My suggestion is that maybe here in Daniel 9 this last 7 years is another one of those moments where the prophecy looks far off ahead and can only see one event when the event is obviously more than one (I refer back to Isaiah 61 again).