5. The revelation of Israel's future in 70 sevens 9:24-27

 

"In the concluding four verses of Daniel 9, one of the most important prophecies of the Old Testament is contained. The prophecy as a whole is presented in verse 24. The first sixty-nine sevens is described in verse 25. The events between the sixty-ninth seventh and the seventieth seventh are detailed in verse 26. The final period of the seventieth seventh is described in verse 27."³⁵⁹

9:24 The Hebrew word translated "weeks"(sabu'im) literally means "sevens."It can refer to seven days (Gen. 29:27-28) or seven years (Lev. 25:3-5). Most scholars believe that this word here represents seven years. Daniel had been thinking of God's program for Israel in terms of years (vv. 1-2). It would have been normal then for him to interpret these sevens as years.³⁶⁰

Seventy seven-year periods totals 490 years. As Jerusalem was suffering under the hand of Gentiles for 70 years (v. 2), so the Jews and Jerusalem would suffer under the hand of Gentiles for 490 years. "Your people"and "your holy city"are obvious references to the Jews and Jerusalem (cf. vv. 7, 11, 20). They have nothing to do with the church, which is a distinct entity from Israel (cf. 1 Cor. 10:32). However as the following verses clarify, these will not be uninterrupted years.

God had decreed these years. He had ordained them, and they are as certain to come as anything else that God has foreordained. The purpose for God decreeing this period is six-fold. First, it will end rebellion against Him. Second, it will end human failure to obey God. Third, it will provide time for atonement that will cover human wickedness. Fourth, it will inaugurate a new society in which righteousness prevails. Fifth, it will bring in the fulfillment of the vision that God has for the earth. Sixth, it will result in the anointing of the most holy, probably a reference to a new and more glorious temple.

God has already achieved some of these goals, specifically the third one and to some extent the first two. However other goals have not yet seen fulfillment. Therefore it is reasonable to look for a future fulfillment from our perspective in history.³⁶¹

"By the time these 490 years run their course, God will have completed six things for Israel. The first three have to do with sin, and the second three with the kingdom. The basis for the first three was provided in the work of Christ on the cross, but all six will be realized by Israel at the Second Advent of Christ."³⁶²

"This prophecy, it must be noted, concerns three deliverances. Daniel was greatly burdened about an early deliverance of the Jews from Babylon to return to Jerusalem. God was also interested in their deliverance from bondage to sin (at Christ's first advent) and in the final deliverance of the Jews from oppression (at Christ's second coming) . . ."³⁶³

9:25 There are four decrees concerning the rebuilding of Jerusalem that Scripture records. The first was Cyrus' decree to rebuild the temple in 538 B.C. (2 Chron. 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4; 6:1-5). The second was Darius I's decree in 512 B.C. confirming Cyrus' earlier one (Ezra 6:1, 6-12). The third was Artaxerxes' decree in 457 B.C. (Ezra 7:11-26).³⁶⁴The fourth was Artaxerxes' decree authorizing Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem in 444 B.C. (Neh. 2:1-8). The first two authorized the rebuilding of the temple, and the third provided for animal sacrifices in the temple. The fourth one gave the Jews permission to rebuild Jerusalem's walls, and it seems to be the one in view here. The Jews encountered opposition as they sought to rebuild and refortify their ancient capital, as the Book of Nehemiah records. The date 444 B.C. then marks the beginning of this 490-year period.

Seven sevens plus sixty-two sevens equals 483 years. Gabriel predicted that after 483 years Messiah would be cut off. Detailed chronological studies have been done that show that Jesus Christ's death occurred then. One scholar, Sir Robert Anderson, believed that the day Jesus entered Jerusalem in his triumphal entry was the last day of this long period.³⁶⁵Whether or not the chronology is that exact, almost all expositors agree that the death of Christ is in view and that it occurred at the end of the sixty-ninth week.

What happened after 49 years that justifies breaking this period into two parts? Perhaps it was the end of the Old Testament revelation through the writing prophets. Another more probable view is that it took that long to clear out all the debris from Jerusalem and to restore it fully as a thriving city with streets and moat.³⁶⁶

"This perfectly describes the work of Nehemiah and under what difficult circumstances he performed his tasks."³⁶⁷

9:26 Most Christian interpreters have taken the cutting off of Messiah as a reference to Jesus Christ's death. He had nothing then in a very real sense.

The prince who will come seems to be a different person from the Messiah.³⁶⁸His people, not he himself, would destroy the city. This happened in A.D. 70 when the Roman army under Titus leveled Jerusalem. The prince who will come, however, was evidently not Titus but a future ruler, namely, the Antichrist (7:8). Titus made no covenant with the Jews (v. 27). However, Titus did initially what this prince will do ultimately. Jerusalem did not end because of a literal flood of water in Titus' day, but Roman soldiers overwhelmed it (cf. 11:10, 22, 26, 40; Isa. 8:8). War preceded the destruction. Gabriel announced that God had determined the city's desolation (cf. Matt. 24:7-22).

Some interpreters believe that the end of this verse describes conditions that have followed Titus' destruction and continue even today.³⁶⁹Others think it only describes what Titus did.³⁷⁰

9:27 "In contrast to the rather clear fulfillment of verses 25-26, verse 27 is an enigma as far as history is concerned; and only futuristic interpretation allows any literal fulfillment."³⁷¹

The nearest antecedent of "he"is "the prince who is to come"(v. 26). Titus made no covenant with Israel, so who is in view? Apparently a future ruler of the revived or reorganized Roman Empire, the little horn of chapter 7, is in view. This seems preferable to taking the antecedent of "he"as Messiah since Jesus Christ did not do the things predicted of the prince here. This means that the seventieth week does not follow the sixty-ninth week immediately. Such a break in prophetic chronology has precedent in the predictions of Messiah's first and second advents (Isa. 61:1-2).

This future ruler, according to Gabriel, will make a covenant with "the many"for one week (seven years). "The many"evidently refers to Daniel's people (v. 24), believers in the religion of Judaism (cf. 11:39; 12:2). After three and one-half years, this Antichrist will terminate the sacrifices and offerings that he permitted these Jews to offer. Their ability to offer these sacrifices indicates that they will be back in the land worshipping at a rebuilt temple.

The wing of abominations may be a reference to a wing of the temple that is particularly abominable because of idolatry, possibly the pinnacle or summit of the temple.³⁷²Another interpretation takes "wing"figuratively and sees Antichrist descending vulture-like on his prey.³⁷³Perhaps the simplest explanation is to take "on the wing of"in the sense of "with."Apparently the prince will appear in the Jerusalem temple when he ends the sacrifices.

Daniel 12:11 refers to a future stopping of the Jewish sacrifices forty-two months before Messiah returns to the earth. Revelation 13:4-7 also describes this future ruler in harmony with what Gabriel revealed here. Jesus too warned of him in Matthew 24:15-28 as did the Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 and the Apostle John in 1 John 2:18. The complete destruction decreed by God and poured out on this prince will come, according to these passages, when Messiah returns to the earth.

Students of this passage who do not take this verse as predicting future events usually adopt one of the following interpretations.³⁷⁴Liberal commentators believe that the events in the seventieth seven, as well as those in the preceding sixty-nine sevens, happened in a loose sense after the Maccabean persecution of the second century B.C.³⁷⁵Orthodox Jewish scholars usually take the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 as the fulfillment of this verse. Many amillennialists understand the seventieth week to represent what has happened since Jesus Christ's first advent and what will continue until His second advent.³⁷⁶A few amillennialists take the seventieth seven as seven literal years beginning with Jesus' public ministry and ending about three and one-half years after his death.³⁷⁷Pentecost represents the standard premillennial, pretribulational interpretation.

"This seven-year period will begin after the Rapture of the church (which will consummate God's program in this present Age). The 70th seven' will continue till the return of Jesus Christ to the earth. Because Jesus said this will be a time of great distress' (Matt. 24:21), this period is often called the Tribulation."³⁷⁸

The strongest argument for a literal fulfillment of the events predicted in verse 27 is that the events predicted in verses 24-26 were fulfilled literally.

"The abomination of desolation' set up by Antiochus is notthe ultimate fulfillment of Daniel 9:27 because (a) Antiochus does not fit the time sequence given in that verse, and (b) long after the time of Antiochus, Jesus said Daniel's prophecy of the abomination of desolation was stillfuture (Matt. 14:15-16)."³⁷⁹