Daniel Chapter Nine: Part Two

In the last reading, we talked about Daniel’s actual prayer. That section of the book is always such a challenge to me personally. To consider God’s glory in all of my requests – not just my comfort. Being honest before God about our sin and our need for him is not easy, but it is necessary. This week, we pick up in verse 20 and dive into a very intricate portion of Scripture.

V. 20 – While he was still speaking. While he was confessing and drawing near to God. Just because we don’t know God’s timetable or we can’t sense God doesn’t mean he is ignoring us. If we are coming before him in humility with confession and requests that are within his will – he hears us (1 John 5:14-15). He reveals himself on a deeper level when we seek him.

V. 21 – Gabriel is becoming an old friend at this point. He comes with swift flight – with urgency from God. I love that even though Daniel is exiled, he still measures time by when the sacrifices would have been offered. This is another indication that these prophesies were for his fellow Israelites – not their captors.

V. 22-23 – To give thee insight – Daniel might have wondered what he needed skill for. Obviously, he understood Jeremiah’s prophecy, what else was there to understand? God is going to expand on this notion of 70 years. This is almost always the way truth works. We study, we understand, we repent and seek to obey, and God gives us more truth and responsibility. Daniel is beloved of God because he has continued to seek God’s heart in a foreign and oppressive land. Understand the vision – Daniel had not had a vision in this instance (at least not yet). This has the idea of giving him understanding of deeper things that will unfold in the future.

V. 24 – 70 weeks – or literally seventy sevens. This wording can mean sevens of anything. The exception is when it is used with the word day, multiple times in the Old Testament. 70 sevens (heptades is the Greek word which is plural in this case). There are some important benchmarks for what will happen before the 70 weeks are concluded.

Finish the transgression – note that transgression here is not plural (as in acts of sin). Rather the idea of destroying the source of sin (Satan/Sin nature)
Make an end of sins – the outflow of that source – to put an end to the acts of sin
Reconcile or atone for iniquity – Christ did this on the cross
Bring everlasting righteousness – this will happen after the Millennial reign and final judgment
Seal the vision – complete all prophecy – wrap it all up in Christ at the end (Ephesians 1:8-10)
Anoint the Most Holy place – Typically references the Holy of Holies and the restoration of the Temple. Can also refer not just to a place, but also a person – in reference to Jesus. Jesus has already been anointed as the chosen one. He will reign publicly for 1,000 years and then for all eternity.

Literal weeks are an insufficient explanation and considering that Daniel has been studying Jeremiah’s prophecy on the 70 years, it seems a more likely time period. If you take 70x7 in reference to years, you get 490 years. Interestingly, this number also comes up in God’s indictment of Israel’s sins. In 2 Chronicles 36:21, God ties the 70 years of captivity to the missed Sabbath years (a rest year that was supposed to occur every 7 years). The 70 years of captivity allowed the land to recoup a 490 year period of lost Sabbath years in one stretch.

The first question is, when did the 490 years start? There are several different dates that have been proposed, but v. 25 is very specific in giving us the answer.

V. 25 – Decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. There are four possible dates to consider in order for us to arrive in 30 AD and the anointed one being “cut off.”

Cyrus’ permission to the Jews to return and rebuild the temple in approximately 538 B.C. (2 Chronicles 36:22-23)
Darius I confirmation of decree allowing them to return to land in approximately 520/519 B.C.
Artaxerxes checking in/making sure there was no rebellion – 457 B.C.
Contingent sent from Artaxerxes under Nehemiah with permission and resources to rebuild the actual city – 446 B.C.

The only decree that fits the timeline and the official decree to rebuild the wall – not just permission to return is the fourth scenario. Let’s think, 446 B.C. + 490 years gets us to 44 A.D. This is a significant deviation from the historical documented death of Jesus. Let’s start with the divisions of time.

7 weeks – 49 years total. The wall/gates/streets/city took approximately 49 years total to rebuild. Read Nehemiah and Malachi for reference. This period of 7 weeks also concludes Old Testament prophecy. It is also important to note that there is some debate regarding the original phrasing of this verse. It can also be translated, “And thou shalt know and understand, from the going forth of the word to determine and build Jerusalem until the anointed leader, is seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.” I’m not going to go into all the Greek/Latin translation details, but it is important to understand that the Anointed One is cut off after 69 weeks – not 7 weeks.

62 weeks – 434 years – there was ongoing construction and expansion in Jerusalem, especially due to frequent military campaigns. There were many troubled times that plagued the builders.

V. 26 – So we’re are talking about 483 years (69 weeks) until the anointed one is cut off. You can do the math as well as I can, 446 B.C. + 483 years = 37 A.D. This is certainly closer than 44 A.D. However, we know that Jesus didn’t die any later than 33 A.D. and 30 A.D. is the more historically accepted date. We need to dig deeper.

Almost all prophecy like this in the Old Testament and in Revelation (1260 days = 3.5 years) is based on the prophetic calendar of 360 days. So, let’s do some math (my least favorite subject). 360 days x 483 years = 173,880 days / 365.25 days = 476 years. 446 B.C. + 476 years = 30 A.D. Now, some people like to take exception to this calculation. However, we need to give the Jews sufficient credit. They knew their calendars were off so they would actually add leap months every few years called Adar II. This addition realigned their calendars to the actual rotation of the earth (what we know as the Gregorian calendar of 365.25 days per year). I think it would be incredibly confusing to have a leap month added in, but it was totally normal for them. They could have easily arrived at 30 A.D. for when the Messiah would be “cut off.”

It may seem like it, but this isn’t some sort of convoluted math to twist Scripture. It is just practical deductions and one of the most compelling prophesies ever given 500+ years before Jesus was born.

The Messiah, the Anointed One is cut off – but not for himself. I’m not sure how much of this Daniel understood as far as references to redemption = the Anointed one being cut off, but Gabriel is literally unfolding God’s plan of salvation. God gave Israel every evidence of who Jesus was – including a precise timeline for when he would arrive, and they still rejected him. Someone should have questioned his arrival and message in conjunction with Daniel’s timeline.

When the Messiah is cut off, the people of the Prince who is to come – not Jesus, but the Antichrist.

V. 27 – He will make a covenant for 1 week (7 years). In the middle of that 7 year period, he will stop the sacrifices in the Temple. He will desecrate the holy place and it will remain desecrated until the decreed end.

Revelation 11, 12, and 13 all deal with the division of the 7 year tribulation into 3 ½ year periods. They address the breaking of the covenant and align perfectly with the prophecy here in Daniel.

Matthew 24:3-15 addresses the abomination of desolation associated with the end times.

If you’re anything like me, you might be wondering, why the break? We are about 2000 years post 69th week. Why aren’t we in the 70th week yet? First of all, there is no indication that the final week has to start right away. Also, none of the Old Testament prophets saw the church age. That I am aware of, no biblical prophesies give an indication of how long the “church” age will be. We do not know the hour of his return (Matthew 24:36).

So why didn’t they recognize that they were watching one of the most remarkable prophecies unfold before their eyes? How did they miss it? The priests were quoting Psalm 22:8, a Messianic Psalm, as Jesus was dying on the cross. They fully understood who Jesus was claiming to be, but they willfully rejected him. Before we judge them, perhaps we should ask ourselves why we often reject the truth we know. Why do we choose to disobey in the face of truth? Why do we trivialize Christ’s plans?

Daniel was faithful. Those wisemen who showed up at Jesus’ birth would likely have known who Daniel was. They might have even read his writings. They *might* have even been more familiar with them than the Jewish contemporaries of that day. They showed up looking for the Messiah and the Pharisees tell them where he is supposed to be born. However, these religious leaders can’t bother to travel the five miles to Bethlehem to see if this is the one who Daniel foretold. They had their agenda and ideologies. A Messiah who would save them from their sins did not fit into their plans. How often we miss what Jesus has for us because it does not conform to our pre-conceived notions.

They missed Jesus because they chose to ignore truth – we risk missing what he has for us if we fall into the same trap.