Sermon: Daniel's Remarkable Seventy Weeks Prophecy: Part 2

Daniel's Remarkable Seventy Weeks Prophecy
Part 2 of 2 (Click here for Part 1)
Daniel 9:24-27
By Dave Redick
Note: A Handout in PDF format was used with this sermon

Biblical prophecy is a "solid food" issue. It is a difficult subject that can be a real challenge to a newcomer to Scripture. To understand it, at the very least, you must be willing to apply yourself prayerfully and with all the powers of your intellect.

Introduction

I want to begin this morning with a brief look at Paul's words to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 3:1-2.

"And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it."

Paul makes a distinction here in his teaching between milk and solid food (your translation may say "milk" and "meat.") "Milk" describes the easier things to understand and digest about the Scripture. "Solid food" describes the more difficult.

Biblical prophecy is a "solid food" issue. It is a difficult subject that can be a real challenge to a newcomer to Scripture. To understand it, at the very least, you must be willing to apply yourself prayerfully and with all the powers of your intellect. That is what I encourage you to do as we continue this morning with our study of the Seventy Weeks Prophecy of Daniel 9. Last Sunday we took a look at that remarkable passage of Scripture, but we didn't have time to finish. Please join me once again in your Bibles at Daniel 9:24-27.

(Read Daniel 9:24-27)

We spent our time last Sunday on verse 24 and part of verse 25. I'll review those briefly and then move right into the remaining verses.

1. Verse 24

Verse 24 is a summary verse for this passage. It describes a period of 70 prophetic weeks. We saw last time that Daniel received this prophecy directly from the angel Gabriel in about 538 BC. Verse 24 says,

"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."

If you will note the first page of your handout you will see this verse diagrammed. God decreed that the Jews, their temple, and their city had 70 prophetic weeks of time remaining on the clock of their history until some drastic things and some important things would happen. We reckoned by using the common prophetic usage of one day for one year and came up with a period of 490 years that correspond to the 70 weeks (70 x 7 years). At some point during these years, six things would be accomplished. All of them are mentioned in verse 24:

· Their transgression would be finished.
· Their sin would be ended.
· Atonement for iniquity would be made.
· Everlasting righteousness would be brought in.
· Vision and prophecy would be sealed up.
· The Most Holy would be anointed.

2. Verse 25

Beginning with verse 25, we read the particulars of 69 of those 70 weeks or, using the same method of calculation, 483 of the 490 years. You'll find this verse diagrammed at the top of page two of your notes.

"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."

Note that the time between the decree to rebuild Jerusalem (which lay in ruins in Daniel's day) and the appearance of Messiah was to be 7 weeks and 62 weeks or, a total of 69 weeks. Verse 25 does not discuss the final week of the 70 week period. That will be covered in verse 27.

Again applying the one day equals one year reckoning, we came up with 7 + 62 = 69 periods of 7 or 69 x 7 = 483 years between the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and Messiah.

Since both the decree and the appearance of Messiah are history to us, we then proceeded to check out Daniel's prophecy to see if it actually came true.

I showed you the dates and texts of three, or perhaps four different decrees recorded in Scripture that pertained to the return of the Jews to their homeland during the years after Gabriel spoke these words to Daniel. I won't cover that ground again because of our time restraints. If you want to go over it I encourage you to get a copy of the sermon manuscript from last Sunday from the church office. Only one of the decrees fit the requirements of verse 25 of the prophecy, that is, to rebuild the temple ("it will be built again"), the walls ("moat" here probably has reference to the walls) and the interior of the city ("plaza" or "expanse"). That was the decree of Artaxerxes 1 or Artaxerxes Longimanus in 457 BC.

When we took the year 457 BC and ran it 483 years (69 prophetic weeks) into the future. The calculation brought us forward to the year 26 AD. Adding a year to compensate for the fact that there is no "year zero" in the calendar, we came up with 27 AD. Considering that Jesus was actually born in 4 BC(1) by our modern calendar reckoning, this put the fulfillment of Daniel's prediction at exactly the same year that Jesus was baptized and began His ministry.

Thus we concluded that this prophecy, given by Gabriel to Daniel, was highly accurate (as all of God's prophecies are.) In fact, it provides strong evidence that Jesus was the Messiah that Gabriel predicted. It should bolster the faith of people living today to know the precision of this fulfillment.

And by the way, we began last week's message by speaking of the Magi and their following the star to Bethlehem several months after the Birth of Jesus. I suggested that knowledge of Daniel's writings, including this passage, might have been a portion of the reason they came to worship "Him who is born king of the Jews." If they were able to descipher the prophecy, they may have been looking for Messiah in the era of His birth. While the prophecy foretold His appearance at the point of Him ministry and not necessarily His birth, their knowledge of Jewish culture and the reckoning of a man being mature at age 30 could have helped them (along with the star) ascertain the time of His birth.

Let's go ahead now and finish the prophecy.

You'll note in your handout, again on page two, that verse 25 divided the 69 weeks from the decree until Messiah into 7 weeks and 62 weeks. Again, here is what it says.

The most common and reasonable view that accounts for this division is that the seven weeks (or 49 years, that is, 7 X 7 = 49) predicted the amount of time it would take to rebuild the wall and the city. If we take the 457 BC date as the correct one for the decree to rebuild the city, we know that Jerusalem was still without a wall 13 or 14 years later, in the days of Nehemiah. By that time the progress had nearly halted due to opposition from the surrounding neighbors of the Jews. It was certainly a time of "distress," as verse 25 foretold. Here is the report that came to Nehemiah who served as cupbearer to the king of Persia(2) in Nehemiah 1:3:

"The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire."

It isn't easy to build a city out of ruins, especially in a place where your enemies do all they can to disrupt and discourage the project. Verse 25 of the prophecy said that it would be built "even in times of distress." Nehemiah would accomplish a portion of this monumental task when he went to Jerusalem with the king's permission and organized the people to rebuild the wall in 52 days.(3) During that time the opposition was so strong that they had to literally work with a sword in one hand and a tool in the other.(4)

Yet even with a wall around them, the Jews in Jerusalem still had to contend with mountains of rubble and ash within the city. The words of Nehemiah confirm this in Nehemiah 7:4: "Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few and the houses were not built." All of this would need to be dealt with before it could be said that the city had been "built again, with plaza and moat…." We haven't time for a lengthy study of this matter. I can, however, refer you to the work of Albert Barnes in his commentary on Daniel, with specific reference to this passage, where he concluded after an extensive presentation of the history of that period that: "The last act of Nehemiah in restoring the city occurred in the fifteenth year of the reign of Darius Notbus-according to Prideaux (Con. II. 206, following) - that is, 408 BC."(5)

Remarkably, when you take the 457 BC date for the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus and take it 49 years (that is, 7 periods of 7) into the future you come up with 457 BC - 49 years = 408 BC. That is the very date that Barnes' research presented as the time of the completion of the city under Nehemiah.

The wall and the city would be rebuilt within "seven weeks" or 49 years of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. That was fulfilled down to the exact year. Then, after another period of 62 weeks, Messiah would come.

3. Verse 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."

Looking at the bottom half of the second page of your handout, notice that at some point "after the sixty two weeks" (that is, after the second division of the 69 weeks) two things would happen, according to Gabriel's prediction to Daniel:

· Messiah would be "cut off and have nothing"
· The "people of the prince [who was] to come" would destroy the city of Jerusalem and the temple once again
· Also mentioned is that the destruction would come during a time of war.

Notice that this verse does not specify exactly when these things would happen other than to say that they would occur sometime "after the sixty two weeks." The Hebrew word translated "after" here does not necessarily mean "immediately after."(6) But before we draw any conclusions, let's read on in Daniel 9.

4. Verse 27

I have diagrammed this verse on page 3 of your notes. This verse deals with the final week of Daniel's prophecy.

"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."

The prophecy of Daniel 9 has so far been fairly strait forward. Up to this point you will find some agreement among expositors of Scripture. Beginning with this verse however, understandings diverge, depending upon conclusions reached in other portions of Biblical prophecy. (You might recall that in last week's message I mentioned that with prophecy especially, if you make a mistake in one portion of Scripture, it often affects other areas. No one is immune from this effect.)

The first problem is that little word "he." It says, "and he will make a firm covenant with many for one week…." To whom does this refer? Those who take an amillennial view of prophetic scripture as I do usually consider the "He" here to be Messiah. Those who take a premillennial view often consider the "he" here to be the one Daniel called "the prince who is to come" who "will destroy the city and the sanctuary."(7)

I don't consider it my burden to explain a system of understanding with which I disagree. If you're interested in comparing some of the differing explanations of this verse, I'd be happy to help you at some other time. In my understanding of this passage, the "He" is Messiah.

A. "He" [Messiah, that is, Jesus] will make a firm covenant with the many for one week…."

Since the "one week" referred to here is the final week in the 70 week prophecy. According to our reckoning so far, this would refer to a period of seven years, beginning with the baptism of Jesus. During this time Messiah would make a firm covenant with "many." Did He do so?

I'm reminded of the words of Jesus at the last Passover meal that He had with His disciples in Matthew 26:28: "…for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins." It also reminds me of His statement in Matthew 20:28: "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Jesus certainly did make a firm covenant with many. He began the process at the beginning of His earthly ministry.

B. "…but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering…."

The middle of a seven day week comes at a point 3 ½ days from the beginning of the first day. In our reckoning that would be 3 ½ years into Jesus' ministry. What happened 3 ½ years into Jesus' ministry that would put a stop to the Jewish sacrifices and offerings? He was crucified! Remember, back in verse 26 we learned that sometime after the 62 weeks, Messiah would "be cut off and have nothing." Here we find out how long after that 62 weeks that was going to happen.

So just how did Messiah's crucifixion put a stop to the Jewish sacrifices? Surely it didn't stop them literally. We know from history that they would continue until the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. However, Jesus' death marked the end of the effectiveness and validity of the sacrifices of the Jewish temple. The whole Jewish sacrificial system came to an end because Jesus made it obsolete with His death. This can be seen in a number of verses of the New Testament. Hebrews 8:13, speaking of the New Covenant that Jesus established, says, "When He said, 'A new covenant,' He has made the first obsolete." Colossians 2:14 tells us that Jesus took the Old Testament Law (and all of the system of animal sacrifice included in it) out of the way, "having nailed it to the cross." Ephesians 2:15 tells us, concerning the law of Moses (the practice of which separated Jew from Gentile) that Jesus removed it by "abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances…." If I had time I could cite other verses that make this same point. The death of Jesus on the cross put an end to the effectiveness of the Jewish sacrificial system.

We must stop there and ask an important question. According to verse 27, Jesus made a firm covenant with many for one week (which would be 7 days or 7 years according to our reckoning.) He was crucified in the middle of the week. So what happened to the other 3 ½ years? The reasonable answer, it seems to me, is that He continued the full prophetic week, making the firm covenant with many, just as the prophecy said He would. I'll explain in a few minutes.

Hang onto your hats though, because this is where that other view of prophetic scripture I mentioned, the premillennial view goes rather off the charts in my humble opinion. This view takes the remaining 3 ½ years and moves it 2000+ years into the future. In fact, according to the premillennial view, the 3 ½ years has not yet happened.

As I said, I don't consider it my burden to explain someone else's view of Scripture (especially in the limited amount of time I have for a sermon.) But I do want to ask you if you see anything in this passage that would indicate a 2000+ year gap. I certainly see no indication of such a period or any reason whatsoever to do such violence to Daniel's straight forward prophetic accounting. For 2000+ years to be found in this passage, it must be inserted from some other source.

It seems more in keeping with the text to say that the 3 ½ year period in question falls in the same succession of Daniel's 70 weeks or 490 years as did the other periods foretold.

So is there something that took place during the 3 ½ years after the death of Christ that would qualify as the last 3 ½ weeks of Daniel's 70 week period decreed for the Jewish people and their city? Whatever the explanation might be, it must have Jesus continuing to "make a firm covenant with many," as we've already noted. According to Daniel, that was done "for one week," not just for 3½ years.

Please note that this whole prophecy was written from the perspective and for the understanding of the Jewish people. Verse 24 said, "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city...." While certainly the Gentiles would reap the benefits of the appearance of Messiah and would ultimately be included in the covenant He would make, they are not the primary focus of this prophecy. These words were spoken by the angel to a Jewish prophet for the benefit of the Jewish people.

It is sometimes overlooked or forgotten that the ministry of Jesus while He was on the earth was exclusively among the Jews. In Matthew 15:24, He said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." In Matthew 10:5-6 Jesus instructed His disciples, "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." In fact, up until His crucifixion His message went nearly exclusively to the Jews.(8) After Pentecost this Jewish emphasis continued for awhile. Peter, in His sermon on Pentecost, said, "Let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." In fact, though prior to His ascension, Jesus told the apostles to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature," and also told them that they would be His witnesses "even to the remotest parts of the earth,"(9) they were slow to grasp the meaning of His words. They continued, for a time, to work only among the Jews just as He had during His time on earth. And I suppose it would have stayed that way had not God driven them out of Jerusalem. That started with the persecution of a young man named Saul of Tarsus in the wake of the stoning of Stephen. Do you know where those people went who fled Jerusalem when Saul persecuted the church? Acts 8:1 says, "they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria…." But remember, Jesus had specifically told his disciples earlier to stay out of the cities of the Samaritans.(10) But now they went there anyway because they had to escape and Samaria was probably a good place to hide since Jews didn't like to go there! Trouble was that as they went, they couldn't seem to keep their mouths shut! According to Acts 8:4, they "went about preaching the word." Pretty soon, according to Acts 8:5, Philip, a Jerusalem deacon-turned-evangelist,(11) went down to the city of Samaria and began preaching the word to those who lived there. (The Samaritans were not full-blood Jews.) Soon after that, Jerusalem heard that these formerly untouchable Samaritans had receive the word and sent Peter and John down to check it out.(12) "The rest is history," as they say. Saul of Tarsus was converted and began preaching to the Gentiles with great results. Gradually, over time, fewer and fewer Jews responded and more and more Gentiles. To this day, the spread of the gospel has been a primarily "Gentile" thing. This is not to say that Jews haven't responded. They did in the first century and the still do - sometimes. But the majority of Christianity is from among the Gentiles.

If you care to look a bit deeper into this, I refer you to Paul's discussion in the eleventh chapter of Romans where he tells us that, at least for a time, God turned away from the Jewish nation when they rejected Jesus as Messiah. In my understanding, that turning away took place at the end of Daniel's 70th week..

What event can be pointed to that has sufficient merit to end the prophecy of Daniel? Though I don't know if we can be 100% certain, the death of Stephen seems to me to be a likely candidate. But was it a major enough event to bring an end to Daniel's prophecy and the end of God's dealing specifically with the Jewish nation?(13) Apparently the Holy Spirit who inspired the book of Acts thought so. Luke, the author of Acts, dedicated one full chapter and parts of two others to an explanation of the occurrence and results of Stephen's martyrdom.(14) While we don't know the exact date that Stephen was stoned, some estimates put the time within three or four years after the death of Christ, which would bring us very close to the 3 ½ years remaining in the last week of Daniel's prophecy. Jesus confirmed His covenant with the Jews for 3 ½ years in person, then another 3 ½ years through His Apostles. After this He turned to the Gentiles.

The martyrdom of Stephen (and the changes that followed) set in motion that chain reaction of events that brought an end to God's dealing only with the Jews. God turned away from them as His chosen people.(15) This marked the end of Daniel's 490 year prophecy for the Jews. It was the point where, as was said in verse 24, transgression (of the Jews) was finished. And end was made to (their sin) as God's people. Atonement was made through Christ and no longer through their animal sacrifices. Everlasting righteousness was brought in where formerly there was "the remembrance of sins year after year."(16) Prophecy and vision exclusively to the Jews was sealed up. And The Most Holy (that is, Messiah) was anointed.

C. "…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."

We're out of time. Suffice it now for me to say that in 70 AD, the "prince who [was] to come," the General of the Roman army that destroyed the city and the temple, General Titus, laid siege to the city of Jerusalem.(17) When the war was over the city and the temple were leveled. (I have heard it pointed out that the Christians got out ahead of time, due to the warnings of Jesus in Matthew 24.) Sacrifices, which had been empty and meaningless since the death of Jesus, were ended once and for all. The Jews were without a center of worship. The temple has never been rebuilt. In my opinion and understanding, it never will be. According to 1 Corinthians 3:16, the temple of God today is the church. (If you hold the premillennial view, with all the gaps,(18) then you may think I'm wrong.)

Conclusion

What good is this prophecy to us living today if all these things have already occurred? My friends, it is verification that God does exactly what He says he will do.

If you haven't understood anything else of what I have said, please understand this: The Lord Jesus will return again to this world one day and it will probably be soon. He will not return as the gentle servant-teacher. He will return in vengeance against all who have rejected Him or who do not know Him.(19) My friends, we must be ready for that day!

Footnotes: Please use your "back" button to return to your place

1. From Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia Deluxe © 1999 The Learning Company, Inc. – Entry under "Jesus Christ."
2. Nehemiah 1:11
3. Nehemiah 6:15
4. Nehemiah 4:15-18
5. Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft, under the lengthy section of comments on Daniel 9:25.
6. See Barnes’ comments on this verse.
7. Verse 26
8. Though some, like the woman at the well in Samaria, and the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:2-28) would prematurely come under His influence.
9. Acts 1:8
10. Matthew 10:5-6
11. Compare Acts 6 with Acts 21:8
12. Acts 8:14
13. Romans 11 seems to speak of a time when God will again work with the Jews.
14. Acts 6:8-8:8
15. Again, this statement must be tempered with Paul’s teaching in Romans 11.
16. Hebrews 10:3
17. This was foretold in much detail in Matthew 23-24.
18. This one puts another 2000+ year gap in Daniel’s prophecy in Daniel 2
19. 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

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All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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