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EARNESTLY CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH:
CLARENCE LARKIN:
THE BOOK OF DANIEL:
CHAPTER 9: THE SEVENTY WEEKS
(A PDF Copy Of The Complete Book Is Available Here)
(A WordPerfect Copy Of The Complete Book Is Available Here)
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The date of the chapter is important. The Prophet tells us that it was in the FIRST YEAR of the reign of Darius the Median over Babylon, which was B. C. 538. The time was critical, and Daniel’s mind was in a state of perplexity and confusion. He had understood the Visions of the “Four Wild Beasts,” and the “Ram and He-Goat,” which foretold of a prolonged period of “Dispersion” for his people, but while he believed what had been revealed to him, he found it hard to reconcile with what he understood “THE BOOKS,” the writings of Moses and the Prophets, to teach as to the Captivity of his people, the Jews. From the Book of Jeremiah, Daniel understood that the Babylonian Captivity was to last but seventy years.
The “False Prophets” contradicted this, and encouraged the people to believe that the Captivity would be of short duration. To counteract this the Prophet Jeremiah wrote to the Captives at Babylon to settle down for a long stay, saying,
From this we see that Jeremiah was recognized as a Divinely inspired Prophet, and that Daniel, while himself a Prophet, was a STUDENT OF PROPHECY, and that he not only read the Word of God, but also BELIEVED it. Like Daniel, we should “Search the Scriptures” and find out what they have to say as to the times in which we live, and then believe what they say. Now Daniel knew that as the Captivity began when he was carried a captive to Babylon in B. C. 606, that sixty-eight years of the seventy had already expired. He also knew that the man whom the Prophet Isaiah foretold would issue the edict for the return of the Jews, Cyrus, had taken Babylon as prophesied. Isa. 44:28. To him therefore the Captivity should end in a couple of years. How was he to reconcile this with his Visions that FOUR “World Wide Empires” were to come and go before the Children of Israel were to be restored to their “National Existence.” Only one had come and gone, the Babylonian, leaving only two years for the passing of the other three. This was the cause of his perplexity. He had to learn that Israel’s seventy years’ sojourn in Babylon was a TYPE of a longer Dispersion, that was to last seven times as long. The Vision of the “SEVENTY WEEKS” that we are about to study was given to Daniel for this purpose. In the meantime Daniel gave himself to prayer, because he had read in the writings of Moses (Lev. 26:40-45; Deu. 30:1-10) that if Israel as a nation repented and turned to God, He would hear their cry and restore them to their own land.
Daniel’s prayer is one of the most sublime in the Bible, and is a model of confession, supplication, and intercession, in which Daniel, the most spotless character outside of Christ, associates himself as a sinner with his people. It was in this year that Daniel was cast into the “Lions’ Den” for praying to his God, and it may have been that during that testing period, as he knelt at the time of the “Evening Oblation” (3 P. M.), verse 21, that Daniel made this prayer, and saw this Vision of the “Seventy Weeks.” If so, we can understand how it strengthened him to face the “Lions’ Den.” As a preparation for the prayer Daniel fasted, and clothed himself in sackcloth and ashes, a token of humility. Verse 3
In his Prayer Daniel associates himself with sinning Israel. He does not say-“Behold, the people have sinned,” but “WE” have sinned, and committed iniquity, and done wickedly, and have rebelled, and departed from Thy precepts and judgments. There is no covering up of the shameful facts. To “US” belongs confusion of face. And he confesses that all the evil that had befallen them was because they had broken the “Law of Moses.” He does not base his supplication upon any righteousness that he or Israel had done, but upon God’s deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage, and that the renown of that would be lost if God should now permit them to perish. He also pleaded that the Lord would deliver them for the sake of Jerusalem, His Holy Mountain, that the Sanctuary, then desolate. might be rebuilt. It was the “Glory of the Lord” he had in view, and not their worthiness.
It is not often that God breaks in upon our prayers, but He did in this instance. This is the INTERRUPTED PRAYER of the Bible. The time of the “Interruption” was that of the “Evening Oblation” in the Temple, which was 3 P. M. There was no Temple in Babylon, and the one at Jerusalem had been destroyed, but Daniel, as he had been taught in his youth, observed the set times of the Temple services. This throws a “side-light” upon his religious habits. Special note is made of the swiftness of the man Gabriel. That between the commencement of Daniel’s prayer, and its conclusion Gabriel had flown from Heaven to Babylon. The margin translates “swift,” with “weariness,” as if the flight was of such a great distance as to produce weariness. While Gabriel is an angel, Daniel speaks of him as a man, because angels when they appear to human beings always assume the form of a man. Gen. 18:1-2. The reason Gabriel gave for coming to Daniel was, that he was GREATLY BELOVED IN HEAVEN. Think of celestial beings, the highest in the Universe-the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the angel shaving such high regard and esteem for a mortal man here upon the earth, as to deputize an angel of the rank of Gabriel to tell him so. It would appear from the words-“Gabriel, whom I had seen in the Vision at the beginning” (verse 21), as if Daniel had a Vision at the beginning of his prayer that is not recorded. For there does not appear in the preceding Vision anything that was not explained to Daniel. If there was a Vision that is not recorded, we may surmise what it was from the character of the revelation of the “Seventy Weeks.” It must have been a Vision connected in some way with the “Seventy Years” of the Babylonian Captivity, that led Daniel to pray as he did. And Gabriel was sent to show him that the “Seventy Years” were only a “type” of a longer period that would be seven times as long. The time therefore of the chronological disclosure of the “Seventy Weeks” was very appropriate. It was as definite a forecast of the 490 years of “Dispersion” that still remained for Israel, as was the seventy years of Captivity then closing. Daniel adds- “He (Gabriel) informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.” How blessed to have an angel, or the Holy Spirit, to instruct us in God’s Plan and Purpose as to this world’s affairs.
This Vision of the “Seventy Weeks” is the most important revelation, in many ways, made in the Scriptures. It is not only an interpretation of “Prophetic Chronology,” but it is the “Key” that unlocks the “Scriptures of Truth.” It also discloses another important fact that the “Seventy Weeks” only cover the period when the Jews are DWELLING IN THEIR OWN LAND, and does not cover the present period of their “Dispersion,” but takes up their history again when they return to their own land. thus covering the time from the going forth of the decree to “restore and rebuild Jerusalem” until the “Second Coming of Christ.”
We are told in verse 24 that the purpose of the “Seventy Weeks” is “six-fold”–
We are told that these “Six Things” concern only Daniel’s PEOPLE (the Jews), and the HOLY CITY (Jerusalem). This is very important. It discloses the fact that the “Seventy Weeks” have nothing to do with the “Gentiles” or the “Church,” but only with the JEWS and JERUSALEM. While the “Messiah the Prince” (Christ) when He was “CUT OFF” (Crucified), as described in verse 26, made an “End of Sin” (Heb. 10:12), and “Reconciliation for Iniquity” (Rom. 5:6-10), that was for the whole world. But the Atonement of Christ for the whole world is not in view here. It is the “putting away” or “finishing” of the “Transgression” of one class of persons – THE JEWS. That their “Transgression” is not yet finished is evident from the fact that they are still in disfavor with God. It will not be finished until they as a Nation repent and turn to God.
Here again it is the “Sin” of Israel that is meant. The margin reads “Seal up Sin.” That is, restrain it, as when a criminal is “locked up” and the door sealed. We read that the time will come when God “shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob, and take away from Israel all their sins.” But this will not be until the “DELIVERER” (Christ at His Second Coming) comes. Rom. 11:26-27.
Here again it is the “Iniquity” of Israel that is meant. The word “iniquity” means wickedness, unrighteousness, etc. It is written in Isa. 53:6 – “The Lord hath laid on HIM (Christ) the iniquity of us all.” This is blessedly true. But it has no application to the Jews as a people in this Dispensation. If a Jew desires to be saved by the Blood of Christ he must renounce his nationality and become a member of the “Body of Christ” (the Church), in which there is neither Jew nor Gentile. Gal. 3:26-28. Col. 3:10-11. But when the “Body of Christ” is complete, and “caught out,” then the Jews, not as individuals but as a Nation, shall look upon Him Whom they pierced (Rev. 1:7) at His Second Coming, and a “nation,” the JEWISH NATION, shall be born (converted) IN A DAY. Isa. 66:8. “in ‘That Day’ (the Day of the Lord) there shall be a ‘Fountain’ opened to the ‘HOUSE OF DAVID’ (Israel) and to the inhabitants of JERUSALEM for sin and uncleanness.” Zech. 13:1.
There can be no “Everlasting Righteousness” until the “Millennial Kingdom” of Christ is set up, and it cannot be set up until the “Transgressions of Israel” have come to an end, and their “sins” sealed up. Then shall the Lord make a “New Covenant” with the “House of Israel.”
While “Vision” and “Prophecy” appear to be sealed up at present to the Jews, it is only temporary.
When the “Transgression” of Israel has ceased, and they have uninterrupted communion with God, there will no longer be any need for “Vision” or “Prophet.”
It is a noteworthy fact that “Vision” and “Prophecy” have been confined to the Jewish race, and when all the “Visions” and “Prophecies” have been fulfilled, and there is no further use for them, they will be “sealed up” for preservation.
Some claim that by the “Most Holy” Christ is meant, and that this anointing of the “Most Holy” was fulfilled when He was anointed with the Holy Spirit at His Baptism. But the “Most Holy” is a PLACE, not a person. The reference is doubtless to the “Most Holy Place” of the new “Millennial Temple” as described in Ezek. 41:1--42:20, whose erection is still future. The first appearance of the “Shekinah Glory” of God was at the Exodus, when the Lord went before the Children of Israel in a “Pillar of Cloud” by day, and a “Pillar of Fire” by night. Ex. 13:21-22. Later when the “Tabernacle” was erected the “Shekinah Glory” took possession of the “Most Holy Place,” and dwelt between the Cherubim on the “Ark of the Covenant.” Ex. 40:34-35. Ex. 25:10-22. Num. 7:89. When the Temple of Solomon was dedicated the “Shekinah Cloud” filled the “Holy Place” so that the Priests could not stand to minister. 1 Kings 8:10-11. The Prophet Ezekiel tells us that he saw the “Shekinah Glory” of God reluctantly leave “The House” (The Temple), Ezek. 9:3, and later the City (Jerusalem), Ezek. 11:23, to return to Heaven. And in his Vision of the “Millennial Temple” Ezekiel sees the “Shekinah Glory” return from the East. Ezek. 43:1-6. From this we see that when the “Millennial Temple” is built the “Shekinah Clary” of the Lord will return and anoint the “Most Holy Place.” Thus the “Time Space” between the “Departure” and “Return” of the “Shekinah Glory” marks the duration of the “Times of the Gentiles.” Now as the “Six-fold” purpose of the “Seventy Weeks” is all still future, the “Seventy Weeks” did not end with the “First” Coming of Christ, as some claim, but reach on down to His “Second” Coming.
Literally these words should read “SEVENTY SEVENS.” The word “WEEK” is retained because we have no exact equivalent for the Hebrew original, which signifies a period of “Seven.” Whether those “sevens” are days, weeks, or years, is to be determined by the context. It is a noteworthy fact that both the “Natural World” and the “Spirit World” are built on the “Law of Sevens,” thus proving that they have a common origin. In the Natural World we read that God rested on the “Seventh Day.” And all through the Scriptures the number “Seven” is a basic number. There is the “Week of DAYS,” the “Week of WEEKS,” the “Week of MONTHS,” the “Week of YEARS,” the “Week of WEEKS OF YEARS,” the “Week of MILLENNIUMS,” and the “Week of AGES,” seven in all. The last book of the Bible. the book of Revelation, which is the book of “Consummation,” has seven divisions,
The number “Seven” is the PERFECT number. It is composed of the “Divine Number”– THREE, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and the “World Number”– FOUR, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
Now if nature and the Scriptures are based on the “Law of Sevens,” does it not seem reasonable that there is a “Time Element” that enters into all God’s plans, and that He has a system of “Prophetical Chronology” by which He makes known His “Plans and Purposes” as to the Ages and Dispensations? That this is so is clear from Christ’s reply to His Disciples when they asked Him-“Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the Kingdom of Israel?” and He said- “It is not for you to know the ‘TIMES’ or the ‘SEASONS,’ which the Father hath put in His own power.” Acts 1:6-7. From this we see that there are “Times” and “Seasons” in God’s plans for the Ages. And we know that-“When the ‘FULNESS OF THE TIME’ was come, God sent forth His Son.” Gal. 4:4. ,In other words everything moves on “Schedule Time’; in the Universe. And as we have seen from fulfilled prophecy that nothing has failed to be fulfilled on time, so we can confidently believe that all that the Scriptures foretell of the future will likewise come to pass to the very minute. In “Prophetical Chronology” we come across such divisions of time as “hours,” “days,” “weeks,” “months,” “years,” “time, times, and an half.” It is evident that these divisions of time, in order to be intelligible, must all be interpreted on the same scale. What scale is it? God has given us the “Key” in His Word. In Num. 14:34 we read –
Now we know that this judgment was literally fulfilled, for the Children of Israel wandered in the Wilderness forty years, a YEAR for every day that the spies searched out the land of Canaan. See also Ezek. 4:6. From this we see that the “Divine Scale” of “Prophetical Chronology” is, A DAY STANDS FOR A YEAR. Apply now this “Scale” to the “Seventy Weeks,” and we find that in 70 weeks we have 490 days, or on the “Year Day Scale” 490 years. We are told in verse 25-“That from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be ‘seven weeks,’ and ‘threescore and two weeks,’ “ that is 7 + 62 = 69 weeks, or on the “Year Day Scale” 483 YEARS. If we take as the beginning of this period the edict of Cyrus, B. C. 536, and its end the birth of Christ, B. C. 4, we have the length of the period as 532 years, which is 49 years too much. Right here it will be well to note that we are not sure as to the chronology of the above period. The Old Testament stops with Malachi, 400 years before Christ, and we have to depend upon profane writers such as Ptolemy for the chronology of those times, and some think that he makes the time too long, having given too much time to the kings of Persia. It is not generally known that if it were not for the Bible we would not know how long the human race has been on the earth. The genealogical tables giving the length of life of the patriarchs up to the Exodus, and then of the Judges and Kings of Israel and Judah on down to the Babylonian Captivity, bring us down to B. C. 606, and from there we have to depend on profane history. When we study profane history and try to find the origin of such nations as Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, we find them enveloped in the mists of Mythology. They seemed not, until a late date, to have seen the importance of keeping any chronological records, and the method some adopted of keeping the record by dynasties, or from some event in their history, is confusing. The fact is they all date from Babel, or the “Confusion of Tongues” (Gen. 11:1-9), and the traditions they have of Creation and the Flood are proof of this rather than the reverse. The reliability of Biblical Chronology as recorded in the Old Testament is seen when we understand God’s purpose in it was to trace the “Line of Descent” from Adam to Christ. While the records are incomplete in some cases, as not giving the birth date, or where the reign of father and son overlap, the number of years involved are trifling in comparison with the sum total. This is seen when we compare the total number of years from Adam to Christ as given by the following leading Bible Chronologists:
Here there is only a difference of 134 years in 4000. The length of time then that man has existed on the earth is B. C. 4004+ A. D. 1924.*[*The year the author was called Home.] or 5928 years. With this understanding of the difficulty of securing, with absolute certainty, chronological data, let us return to the “Seventy Weeks.”
The first thing to do in studying the Period of the “Seventy Weeks” is to find the date of its commencement. Here there is a conflict of opinion. There are four “Decrees” as to the restoration of Jerusalem and the Temple, after the Babylonian Captivity.
The “First Decree” was given by Cyrus in B. C. 536.
This proclamation of Cyrus is confirmed in 2 Chron. 36:22-23. But a careful reading of it reveals the fact that nothing is said in it about “restoring and rebuilding Jerusalem,” all that is mentioned is the “House of the Lord,” or the TEMPLE. But some claim that it must be interpreted by the passage in Isa. 44:28, where the Lord says of Cyrus, 176 years before he came to the throne –
It would be interesting to know what prompted the heathen King, Cyrus, to utter his decree. Did Daniel call his attention to the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jer. 25 :11-14), that the Jews were to be captives in Babylon for seventy years, and that the time was up, and did he ask for their freedom, or did he call the King’s attention to Isa. 44:28, which the Holy Spirit used to move Cyrus to free the Jews from their Captivity and send them back to rebuild the Temple, even restoring the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple? Whatever prompted Cyrus to issue his “Decree,” we are told that as the result of it 50,000 captives returned to Jerusalem (Ezra 2:64-65), that they set up an altar and renewed their sacrificial offerings and feasts,’ and proceeded to rebuild the Temple, but the work dragged because of adversaries. Is this a fulfilment of Gabriel’s words to Daniel? As Cyrus limited himself in his commandment to the rebuilding of the Temple, and said nothing about the restoration and rebuilding of Jerusalem, are we to infer that he included that, or in the 176 years between Isaiah’s prophecy and the issuance of Cyrus’ decree, had the Lord changed His mind and limited the work of Cyrus to the mere rebuilding of the Temple? It would seem as if we should limit ourselves to the words of Cyrus himself, that the Lord charged him to simply build Him an “HOUSE” in Jerusalem.
The “Second Decree” was that of Darius, B. C. 519. It is recorded in Ezra 6:1-12. In Ezra 5:1-17 we read how those who were trying to rebuild the Temple were interfered with in their work on the score that they had no authority for it, so they made an appeal to Darius to make a search in the king’s treasure house in Babylon, which he did. The search revealed the Decree of Cyrus; and Darius’ Decree is simply a reaffirmation of the Decree of Cyrus with penalties attached. It is worthy of note that Darius’ Decree has reference to the Temple only, nothing is said about restoring and rebuilding the City, thus confirming the limitation of Cyrus’ decree to the Temple.
The “Third Decree” was that of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, in B. C. 458. It was simply a letter giving to Ezra permission to go up to Jerusalem and take with him some of the Priests and Levites, with authority to collect gold and silver to purchase bullocks, rams, and lambs for offerings in the Temple, and if necessary to draw on the King’s Treasurers to the extent of “an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.” Ezra 7:11-22. There is nothing in this “Decree” that had anything to do with restoring or rebuilding of Jerusalem. It was simply a “letter” given to a Scribe who had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and who wished to see that Law carried out in the service of the House of the Lord.
This was the Decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus, given in B. C. 445, in the twentieth year of his reign, and is recorded in Neh. 2:1-8. It was given to Nehemiah, the King’s “Cupbearer,” a very high official of the Persian Court, and one of the King’s trusted servants ; and was permission to return to Jerusalem and “BUILD” it. It was a political and not a religious mission, as is evident from the opposition of outsiders, such as Sanballat and Tobiah. who felt that the rebuilding of the walls and the fortifying of the City was a rebellious act. While the walls were repaired in fifty-two days, it took Nehemiah twelve years to rebuild and restore the City, and re-establish the Law, thus fulfilling the prophecy – “The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” Verse 25. The purpose of Nehemiah’s mission was the restoration of Jerusalem as a political capital, and the re-establishment of the Jewish Nation. While the words of the Decree are not given, the character of Nehemiah’s work, that of restoration, is proof of its nature. That the “letters” given Nehemiah by the King were in the form of a Decree is evident, otherwise Nehemiah would have had no authority to do what he did. As there is no other Decree authorizing such restoration, therefore this one of Artaxerxes Longimanus must be the one meant by Gabriel. Let us look at it in another way. If we take the “First Decree,” that of Cyrus, B. C. 536, as the starting point of the “Seventy Weeks,” then the 7 + 62 Weeks, or 483 years on the “Year Day Scale” to “Messiah the Prince,” ran out in B. C. 53, or 49 years before the “Birth of Christ,” B. C. 4. If we take the “Second Decree,” that of Darius, B. C. 519, the 483 years ran out in B. C. 36, or 32 years before the “Birth of Christ.” Now if our present chronology is correct we cannot take either of the first two “Decrees” as a starting point, unless we admit that there is a “time-space” of 49 or 32 years between the “7 Weeks” and the “62 Weeks,” which the prophecy will permit, in fact implies, by the division of the “69 Weeks” into “7 Weeks” and “62 Weeks.”
If we take the “Third Decree,” that of Artaxerxes, B. C. 458, the 483 years carry us over to A. D. 25, or 29 years after the “Birth of Christ.” Christ being born D. C. 4. If we take the “Fourth Decree,” that of Artaxerxes Longimanus, D. C. 445, the 483 years carry us over to A. D. 38, or 8 years after the “Crucifixion of Christ” in A. D. 30. From this we see that we must either allow a “Time-Space” between the “7 Weeks” and the “62 Weeks,” or we must use some other method of calculation.
But there is another factor that enters into the problem. We have considered the four possible “starting points” of the “Seventy Weeks,” how about their “ending?” What does the statement – “Unto Messiah the Prince” mean? We know that “Messiah the Prince” means Christ, but to what particular period or event in His life does the prophecy point? To His Birth, His Baptism, or His “Triumphal Entry?” These cover a period of 33 years and affect our reckoning. Let us look at them. Was the “BIRTH” of Christ the “Terminus” of the Sixty-nine Weeks?” Naturally we would suppose it was. “If Gabriel was sent to D:miel to announce the “Seventy Weeks,” what more suitable person could there be than he to announce the expiration of the “69 Weeks.” and the Birth of “Messiah the Prince.” So we find that when the “Fulness of Time” (Gal. 4:4) of the “Seventy Weeks” had come for the appearance of “Messiah the Prince,” Gabriel appeared to Mary and said –
While Gabriel did not announce to Mary, or the angels, that Jesus was the “Messiah the Prince,” he did announce that He was to’ have the Throne of His father David, and therefore he was born as a “Prince” of the “House of David.” While the “Wise Men” (Matt. 2:1-2) and Pilate (John 18:33-39) called him a King, and He was so crucified, He is still a “Prince,” for a Prince is a King in the making, and Jesus has not as yet been crowned and received His Kingdom, for He is now a “High Priest,” and will not be a King until He receives the Kingdom from the Father. Dan. 7:13-14. There was a wonderful suitableness therefore in Jesus being called “Messiah the PRINCE” when He came the first time, for if Gabriel had said, “Unto Messiah the KING,” the “69 Weeks” would have reached to His “Second Coming” as KING. But as Jesus did not become publicly known at His birth it becomes a question whether that event fulfils the prophecy. The first public event in Jesus’ life was His Baptism, when, at the age of thirty, He had the twofold witness of the Father and the Holy Spirit to His Deity. Matt. 3:13-17. The Father saying– “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” and the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove anointing Him. Luke 4:16-19. Now the word “Messiah” means the “Anointed One,” and so the date of Christ’s Baptism might have been the time of the expiration of the “Sixty-nine Weeks,” for at that time He entered upon His Public Ministry and proclaimed that the “Kingdom of Heaven” was “at hand,” but the offer of the Kingdom was rejected, and from that time Jesus’ ministry took on a different form. So the “Baptism” of Jesus could not have been the “Terminus” of the “69 Weeks” because Jesus avoided all public recognition of His claim as Messiah even charging His Disciples again and again that they should not make Him known. The third event in Christ’s life that might be considered as the “Terminus” of the “Sixty-nine Weeks” was the “Triumphal Entry” of Christ into Jerusalem on “Palm Sunday,” April 2, A. D. 30, a few days before His Crucifixion, and recorded in all four Gospels. Knowing that He was soon to be “cut-off” (Crucified), Dan. 9:26, and that His MESSIAHSHIP must be publicly recognized before that event, Jesus Himself took steps toward the fulfilment of Zech 9:9.
We are told in John 12:13, that the people who went out to meet Him as He descended the Mount of Olives, cried-“Hosanna: Blessed is the ‘KING OF ISRAEL’ that cometh in the name of the Lord.” Why was this public proclamation of the “Kingship” of Jesus? The fact that Jesus at that time not only consented, but took steps to bring about His “Triumphal Entry” by commanding His Disciples to bring a “certain ass,” whose location He pointed out to them (Matt. 21:1-3), and declared, when He was asked to rebuke His Disciples (Luke 19:39-40), that if they should hold their peace the stones would immediately cry out; the fact, I say, that Jesus not only consented to be called “KING,” but aided in bringing it about, is proof that the “Triumphal Entry” had some prophetical significance, and what greater significance could it have had than that of proclaiming the end of the “Sixty-nine Weeks,” and the coming of “MESSIAH THE PRINCE?” There was no reason why the prophecies of Dan. 9:25 and Zech. 9:9 should not be fulfilled in the same event, the “TRIUMPHAL ENTRY,” for those who thus accepted Jesus as “King,” in that act accepted Him as “MESSIAH THE PRINCE.” When Jesus came the first time He rode, meek and lowly, into Jerusalem on an “ass;” when He comes to Jerusalem the second time it will be on a “WHITE HORSE” accompanied by the armies of Heaven. Rev. 19:11-16. It seems logical therefore that we should accept His “Triumphal Entry” as the date of the “Terminus” of the “Sixty-nine Weeks,’ rather than either that of His “Birth” or “Baptism.” Having reached the conclusion that the “STARTING POINT” of the “69 Weeks” was the “Decree” of Artaxerxes Longimanus, given March 14th, 13. C. 445, and the “TERMINUS” the “Triumphal Entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem on “Palm Sunday.” April 2, A. D. 30, it remains to be seen if the “69 Weeks” cover the “Time-Space” between these dates. But before we proceed it would be well to note that there is a difference of opinion as to the elate of Christ’s birth and death. He was not born A. D. 1, for He was born before the death of Herod (Matt. 2:1-23), and Herod died the latter part of B. C. 4. Then we read that when Christ was Baptized He was “about thirty years of age” (Luke 3:23), which would make the date of His Baptism the latter part of A. D. 26. And as His Public Ministry lasted three and one-half years, that would carry Him over until the spring of A. D. 30, when He was Crucified at the time of “The Passover,” which that year fell on Friday, April 7, making the “Triumphal Entry” fall on the preceding Sunday, April 2, A. D. 30. Thus far we have figured on the Julian, or Astronomical year of 365¼ clays. but there are other years, There is the Solar year of 365 days, the Calendar year of 360 days, and the Lunar year of 354 days. Which of these years does God use in the Scriptures? We find the answer in the account of the Flood in Gen. 7:11-24; 8:3-4. There we are told that the 5 months. from the 17th day of the second month until the 17th day of the seventh month, are reckoned as 150 days. or 30 days to a month. or 360 days to a year. So we see that in “Prophetical Chronology” we ‘are to use a “Calendar” year of 360 clays. Having discovered t hat God’s measures of “Prophetic Time” are “A DAY FOR A YEAR,” and “THIRTY DAYS TO A MONTH,” let us now apply them to the “Seventy Weeks” of Daniel. According to ordinary chronology the 475 years from B. C. 445 to A. D. 30 inclusive are “Solar” years of 365 days each. Now counting the years between these two dates (444 + 29 = 473 years), and counting B. C. 1 and A. D. 1 as 2 years, B. C. 445 we have 473 “Solar” year. Multiply these by 365 (the number of days in a “Solar” year) and we have 172,645 days, to which add the number of days inclusive from March 14 to December 31, B. C. 445 = 293 days, and the number of ays from January 1 to April 2, A. D. 30 = 92 days, we have 172,645 + 293 + 92 = 173,030 days. To which add 116 days for “leap years,” and we have 173,146 days. Divide these by 360, the number of days in a “Prophetic Year,” and we have 481 years, less 14 days, or within 2 years and 14 clays of 483 years, the number of “Year Days” in “69 Weeks.” This reckoning does not gree with that of Sir Robert Anderson in his book, “Daniel in the Critic’s Den,” page 134. Sir Robert claims that Jesus’ “Triumphal Entry” was made on Sunday, April 6, A. D. 32. He fixes the date on the tatement of Luke (Luke 3:1-3), that John the Baptist began his ministry in the fifteenth yea of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, which was A. D. 29, if profane history is correct. Now as Jesus was baptized during the first year of John’s ministry. then He must have been baptized in A. D. 29. And Sir obert by limiting Jesus’ ministry to three years, makes the date of the “Triumphal Entry” to be Sunday, April 6, A. D. 32. This conflicts with the previous statement of the writer that Jesus was born in B. C. 4. ecause He was born before the death of Herod (Matt. 2:1-23). and Herod died the latter part of that year. Now Luke tells us that Jesus was “about thirty years of age” when He was Baptized (Luke 323), and if He was born in B. C. 4, and John the Baptist began his ministry in A. D. 29, Jesus as 33 years old when He was Baptized, and if His Ministry lasted for 30 years, He was 360 years old whe He was crucified. The whole thing hinges on whether Herod died in B. C. 4, or Tiberius Caesar began his reign in A. D. 14. We quote below the figures of Sir Robert:
Thus he claims that the “69 Weeks” were exactly fulfilled to the day. But Sir Robert counts the years B. C. 445 and A. D. 32 as full years, when he ought only to count from March 14 to December 31 of B. C. 445, and from January 1 to April 6 of A. D. 32. That would leave only 474 full years in between B. C. 445 and A. D. 32, counting B. C. 1 and A. D. 1 as one year. Figuring this out, we have 474 X 365 = 173,010 + 293 days from March 14 to December 31, B. C. 445, + 96 days from January 1 to April 6, A. D. 30, + 116 days for leap years (173,010 + 293 + 96 + 116) equals 173,515. Divide this by 360 and we have 482 years less 5 days, or 1 year and 5 days short of the 483 years. The first of these calculations (that of the writer) is 2 years and 14 days short of 483 years, while that of the second (Sir Robert Anderson’s) is 1 year and 5 days short. How are we to explain this shortage? The only way we can explain it is that there is an error in profane chronology, of a year or two, between B. C. 445 and A. D. 30 or 32. If such an error is discovered, and it amounts to more than a year or two, that would not invalidate the calculation, but could readily be explained on the supposition that there is a “Time-Space” between the “7 Weeks” and the “62 Weeks.” The fact is, that the difference in time, in either of the above calculations, is so small as to amount to a demonstration that the “69 Weeks” cover the time between the Edict of Artaxerxes Longimanus, B. C. 445, and the “Triumphal Entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem. We see from this that if the “Students of Prophecy” of Christ’s day had been on the alert, and had understood Daniel’s Prophecy of the “Seventy Weeks,” they would have been looking for Him, and would have known to a certainty whether He was the Messiah or not. What a rebuke is all this to those teachers and preachers of today who make light of the prophetical statements of the “Word of God.” The “Second Coming” of Christ will find them just as much unprepared to receive Him as the Jews were to receive Him at His First Coming. It was just as the man “clothed in linen,” who stood on the river bank. said to Daniel-“None of the wicked shall understand; but the Wise Shall Understand.” Dan. 12:10. That is, the scripturally and spiritually wise.
Having shown that 69 of the “70 Weeks’ ran their course with the “Triumphal Entry” of Christ into Jerusalem, the next question is, does the “70th Week” immediately follow the “69th” or is there a “Time-Space” between them? A “Time-Space” that takes ill the whole of the present Dispensation. There are some who claim that there is no “Time-Space.” Some of these claim that the “69th Week” ended at the Birth of Christ, and the Middle of the “70th” at His Crucifixion, when He was “cut off,” and that the remainder of the “70th Week” is now in the process of fulfilment. The fallacy of this is seen in that it divides the “70th Week” into two unequal parts, one of 330 years, from the Birth of Christ until His Crucifixion, the other of 1900 or more years, when the “70th Week” can be no longer than each of the “69 Weeks,” which we have seen were 7 years. Some of those who claim that there is no “Time- Space” between the “69th” and “70th Week” affirm that it would be contrary to other Scripture to put a “Gap” between them, and they quote the “Seventy Years” of the Babylonian Captivity, which lasted for exactly 70 years without a break. They also mention the 430 years’ sojourning of Abraham’s descendants in Egypt (Gen. 15:13; Ex. 12:40; Gal. 3:17), which was fulfilled to a day (Ex. 12:41-42), and the 40 years’ wandering in the Wilderness of the Children of Israel (N um. 14:34), which was literally fulfilled without a break. But they forget that there were no “Time Divisions” in those prophecies, while in this prophecy of the “Seventy Weeks” there are three (7 + 62 + 1), and each period has its own particular work to do. The fact that each period is mentioned separately is an intimation, if not direct proof, that in the mind of God there was to be a “break,” if not a “GAP,” between them. “If this be true,” you ask, “what filled in the ‘Gap’ between the ‘7 Weeks’ and the ‘62 Weeks?’” While there is no statement as to what happened between the “7 Weeks” and the “62 Weeks,” as there is as to what happened between the “69th” and “70th” Week (which was the Crucifixion of Christ and the Destruction of Jerusalem), it is clear from the fact that they are mentioned separately, that the “7 Weeks” lead up to some event that marks a “Time Space,” which might have been only a day or a year. Now we know that the “7 Weeks,” or 49 years, give the time it took to rebuild the Temple. and re-establish the Temple form of worship, and that they cover the time exactly between the Decree of Artaxerxes, B. C. 445, and the close of Hebrew prophecy and of the Old Testament Scriptures, B. C. 396. This leaves the “62 Weeks” to cover the “Time of Silence” from the close of the Old Testament, B. C. 396, to Christ’s “Triumphal Entry” into Jerusalem, A. D. 30. Verse 26 tells us what is going to happen between the “69th” and “70th Week.” First, that “Messiah the Prince” (Christ) should be “cut-off” (Crucified). Second, that Jerusalem and the Temple were to be destroyed by the Romans. Third, that after their destruction there would be a long period covered by wars, etc. It was of this last period that Jesus said- “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the ‘Times of the Gentiles’ be fulfilled” (Luke 21 :24), and as the “Times of the Gentiles” are still running, we see that verse 26 cannot be a description of the “70th Week” immediately following the “69th,” for it covers a period now nearly 1900 years long, while the “70th Week” is to Cover only SEVEN YEARS. Those who claim that the “69th Week” ended and the “70th” began when Jesus appeared at the Jordan to be Baptized, and that the 3y.; years of His Public Ministry were the “First Half” of the “70th Week,” and that His Crucifixion was the “Middle of the Week,” when by His death on the Cross He caused “the Sacrifice and the Oblation to cease,” meaning that He then caused all “bloody sacrifices” to cease, forget that the “bloody sacrifices” of the Temple did not cease at the Crucifixion, nor were they put away by Christ. They did not cease until the destruction of the Temple by the Romans 40 years later.
When Jesus uttered His “Olivet Discourse” the “69 Weeks” were already BEHIND Him, and He stood within two days of the “AFTER” when He was to be “CUT-OFF” (Crucified). Dan. 9:26. And as in that “Discourse” He foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, and how it was to be trodden under foot of the Gentiles until the “Times of the Gentiles” be fulfilled (and they are still running), After Which He would return, we see that the “70th Week” could not appear until the END of this Dispensation, and therefore there is a “GAP” of 1900 or more years between the “69th” and “70th Week.” The “Olivet Discourse” then is the “Key” to the interpretation of Dan. 9:26-27. But we have still further confirmatory evidence in the Book of Revelation, written A. D. 96, twenty-six years after the destruction of Jerusalem. We must not forget that the Book of Revelation, while written by the Apostle John, is the “Revelation of JESUS CHRIST” (Rev. 1:1), and therefore is a “Revelation” made by Him AFTER HIS ASCENSION, and is not only confirmatory of His “Olivet Discourse,” but gives in detail what is to happen during “Daniel’s Seventieth Week.” The Book of Revelation is written in chronological order.* In chapters 2 and 3, in the “Messages to the Churches” there is a “Prophetic Outline” of the Christian Church during the present Dispensation. In chapter 4 the Church is “caught out,” and passes through the “OPEN DOOR” (verse 1) into Heaven. This is the “Rapture” of the Church as described in 1 Thess. 4:13-18. And from the 5th chapter to the 19th inclusive, we have a description of the whole of “Daniel’s Seventieth Week,” which covers the “End Time” of this Dispensation. From this we see that “Daniel’s Seventieth Week” (Dan:9:24-27), Jesus’ “Olivet Discourse” (Matt. 24:1-35), and John’s “Seals, Trumpets and Vials” (Rev. 6:1 to 18:24), cover the SAME period, and are Jewish and have no reference to the Christian Church. Daniel draws the outline in his “Seventieth Week,” Jesus roughs in the picture in His “Olivet Discourse,” and John fills in the details in the “Book of Revelation.” What Daniel condenses in one verse, John enlarges to thirteen chapters.
We must not forget that the Book of Daniel treats of the “TIMES OF THE GENTILES,” and that therefore its “Visions” should cover the whole sweep of “Gentile Times.” Take the “Dream Vision” of Nebuchadnezzar. It covers the whole “Time of the Gentiles,” and the “Golden Headed Image” he saw was not to be destroyed until Christ sets up His “Stone Kingdom” at His Second Coming. The “Beast Visions” of Daniel also carry us down until the “END,” when the “Little Horn” (Antichrist) is destroyed at the Second Coming of Christ. Is the “Vision” of the “Seventy Weeks” an exception to these? Does it only extend to the “First Coming” of Christ, and end with the destruction of Jerusalem? Does it not follow that it must cover the whole period of the “Times of the Gentiles,” like the others, to be in harmony with the purpose of the “Vision,” which was to inform Daniel what was to happen to his people (the Jews), and the Holy City (Jerusalem), until the transgressions of the jews are finished. and their transgressions are not yet finished, else why are they scattered all over the world, and Jerusalem still trodden down of the Gentiles? From this we see that the “Seventy Weeks” are distinctively “JEWISH,” and are “cut out” from the whole course of the “Times of the Gentiles.” Neither have they any reference or application to the “Christian Church.” We must not forget that the “Christian Church” was not revealed in the Old Testament. This is why Daniel jumps from the “cutting off” (Crucifixion) of Christ, and the destruction of Jerusalem (verse 26), to the confirming of a Covenant by Antichrist (verse 27), which is still future. The fact then that the “Christian Church,” which comes in between the “Crucifixion” and the revealing of the “Prince that shall come” (Antichrist), had no place in a prophecy concerning Daniel’s People and City, makes it imperative that there should be a “GAP” or “PARENTHESIS” between the “69th” and “70th Week,” a “Gap” as wide as this “Church Dispensation” shall last.
It is most interesting, and not generally known to Bible students, that there is not only one “Seventy Week” period in the Scriptures but four, and that these four begin with the birth of Abraham, and follow each other, without a break, until the Second Coming of Christ, and are connected with the Jews only, and give us the “Prophetic Chronology” of that nation, and prove that God in the Scriptures only reckons time when the Jews are in His favor, for there is no revelation of the length of the “Times of the Gentiles,” or of the Church Period, in the Scriptures, for if there were we might be able to find out the time of the Lord’s return.
In Gen. 12:1-4 we read: that Abraham was seventy-five years old when he received the “Promise.” And in Gal. 3:17, Paul tells us that the “Covenant,” or “Promise,” was not annulled by the “Law” (the Law given on Mt. Sinai), which was given 430 years later. This would make the length of time from the birth of Abraham to the Exodus, 75 + 430 = 505 years. But during that time, from the conception of Ishmael, Gen. 16:16, to the birth of Isaac, Gen. 21 :5, a period of about 15 years, Ishmael was a usurper, and the time should not be reckoned. So when we subtract those 15 years from the 505 years we have remaining 490 years, or our first “Seventy Weeks” of years, which run from the birth of Abraham, B. C. 2111, to the Exodus, B. C. 1606. While these dates are not those of Archbishop Ussher given in our Bibles, which dates are only approximately true, we find that counting back from Christ, on the basis of these four “Seventies,” that the above dates are established.
In 1 Kings 6:1 we are told that it was 480 years from the Exodus to the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, when he began to build the Temple. But in Acts 13:18-21, Paul tells us in his sermon at Antioch that God for 40 years suffered the manners of Israel in the Wilderness; then, after the dividing of the land, for about 450 years (say 448 years), He gave them Judges (which it would appear included Joshua and the Elders that outlived him) until Samuel the Prophet, who acted as Judge about 20 years. Then follows the reign of King Saul, 40 years; the reign of King David, 40 years; and up to the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, which makes from the Exodus to the building of the Temple 591 years. Here there is a difference between the statement in Acts, and the one in 1 Kings, of 111 years. How are we to account for it? It is accounted for by not reckoning the time during that period that the Children of Israel were out of favor with God. From the Exodus to the building of the Temple the Children of Israel were in SERVITUDE six times, as follows –
Subtract these 111 years of “Servitude” from Paul’s statement in Acts of the 591 years, and you have 480 years the time mentioned in Kings, which clearly shows that the writer in Kings deducted the “Years of Servitude” from the time from the Exodus to the building of the Temple, thus recognizing the fact that God does not count time for the Children of Israel when they are in servitude to other nations. Now we know that the Temple was not finished until 7 years later (1 Kings 6:38), and as it probably took Hiram 3 years longer to cast the brazen pillars and make the brazen vessels for the service of the Temple (1 Kings 7:13-51), we have 10 years, which added to the 480 years makes 490 years from the Exodus to the “Dedication of the Temple” (1 Kings 8:1-66), according to the Jewish way of reckoning time, but the actual time was 480 years plus the 111 of “Servitude,” or 591 years, making the date of the “Dedication of the Temple” B. C. 1005.* [*See Chart of “The Seventy Weeks of Scriptures.”]
Right here it might be well to correct the erroneous method of calculating the length of the “Times of the Gentiles.” It has already been stated that there is no revelation of the length of the “Times of the Gentiles,” or of the “Church Period,” in the Scriptures. But some claim that there is, and base their claim on Lev. 26:18-21, 24-28, where Moses foretold, and four times repeated it, that if the Children of Israel disobeyed God, He would punish them “Seven Times” for their sins, and that Jesus referred to these “Seven Times” when He spoke of the “TIMES of the Gentiles,” and that He meant by a “TIME,” a “Prophetical Time,” which they claim is a year of 360 days, each day standing for a year, thus making a “Time” equal to 360 years, and “Seven Times” equal to 2520 years. If this be true, and “Seven Times” is the length of the “Times of the Gentiles,” then the length of the “Times of the Gentiles” is 2520 years, and as they began in B. C. 606, they ran out in A. D. 1914, which we know is not true, for the “Times of the Gentiles” are still running, with no encl in sight. We have already seen that a “Time” is not 360 years but only one year, and “Seven Times” would be but seven years. And if we should admit that the “Times of the Gentiles” are 2520 years long, they would not be years of 365)4 days but “Prophetic Years” of 360 days, and we would have to reduce the 2520 years from 365~ days per year to 360 days as follows: 2520 X 365)4 = 920.430 -7- 360 = 2556)I years, which is 36)I years over 2520. So if the 2520 years of 365)4 years ran out in A. D. 1914, the 2520 years of 360 days ran out 36)I years before, or in A. D. 1878. As the “Times of the Gentiles” are still running, this proves that they are more than 2520 years long. and that their length is not given. The fact is the “Seven Times” of Lev. 2():18-28 have no reference to the “Times of the Gentiles” at all, but refer to the “Six Servitudes” during the time of the Judges, and to the “Babylonian Captivity,” which makes the seventh. The present “Dispersion” of the Jews does not count, for it is neither a “Servitude” nor a “Captivity.” So we see that the “Children of Israel” have been already punished “Seven Times,” and that Lev. 26:18-28 has been fulfilled.
By counting the years from the “Dedication of the Temple,” B. C. 1005. to the Edict of Artaxerxes to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, B. C. 445, we find they are 560, but when we deduct the 70 years of the “Babylonian Captivity” we have left 490 years, making our “Third Seventy Years,” and proving our contention that God does not count time prophetically when the Jews are out of favor. This is also further proof that the “Seventy Weeks” begin with the “Decree” of Artaxerxes Longimanus, B. C. 445.
We have now reached the period covered by Daniel’s “Seventy Weeks.” We have seen that “69 Weeks,” or 483 years on the “Year Day Scale,” of those “Seventy Weeks” elapsed with the “Triumphal Entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem in A. D. 30. While Jerusalem was not destroyed and the Jews scattered until A. D. 70, their doom was sealed when Christ was crucified. The remaining 40 years were merely years of probation, like the 40 years in the Wilderness. and cannot be counted as years of favor. So far then 483 years of the 490 of Daniel’s “Seventy Weeks” have expired. There is “One Week,” or seven years, yet to be fulfilled. For nearly 1900 years the Jews have been scattered over the earth. They have never been assimilated by the nations. They have never lost their identity or national peculiarities. And we have the unique spectacle of a people without a king, government, or land. retaining their national existence, and a land, Palestine, that seems to he under a curse, awaiting the return of its legal owners. Why is this? Is it not a fulfilment of the prophecy of Hosea 3:4?
And the prophet adds in the next verse –
Here is the secret of their preservation. They are being kept that they may RETURN IN THE LATTER DAYS. We see from this that “God has NOT CAST AWAY HIS PEOPLE” (the Jews-Rom. 11 :1-2), that “blindness IN PART is happened to Israel, UNTIL the ‘Fulness of the Gentiles’ (the Church) be come in” (Rom. 11:25), and that the Jews are to be nationally restored to their own land. J er. 30:10-11; 16:14-15; 24:6. Isa. 11:11-12; 43:5-7. Amos 9:14-15. For the time being the Jews are out of favor with God, and God’s “Time-piece,” as far as the Jews are concerned, stopped at the end of the “69th Week” of Daniel’s “Seventy Weeks,” when they crucified the Lord. Acts 2:22-23. We are living in the “Gap” between the “69th” and “70th Week,” and the “70th Week” cannot begin until God begins to deal again with Israel. From this study of the four “Seventy Week” periods, from the birth of Abraham, B. C. 2111, to the present time, A. D. 1924,* [*The year the author was called Home.] we find that 4035 years have elapsed; but when we deduct the number of years that Abraham and his descendants have been out of favor with God, which amounts to 2090 years (15 + 111 + 70 + 1894 = 2090), we find that God’s people, the Children of Israel, have been under discipline over half the time.
In the “Gap” between the “69th” and “70th Week,” we are told in verse 26 that four things would occur.
Let us look at these four things more in detail.
Jesus did not die for Himself, He died for others. He died that He might bear our sins on the “Tree.” 1 Pet. 2:24. The margin reads – “and shall have nothing.” It was announced to Mary by the Angel Gabriel, that her son Jesus should have the “Throne” of his father David. Luke 1:30-33. But instead of receiving the Kingdom, which John the Baptist, Jesus, and His Disciples proclaimed as “at hand,” Jesus was rejected as the Messiah and “cut-off” without anything. Instead of sitting on the Throne of His father David, and reigning in peace over the whole earth, He was Crucified between two thieves, and had none of the earthly dignities and glories to which, as Israel’s promised Messiah, He was entitled. He received no Crown, except the “Crown of Thorns,” no Throne, no Kingdom. Thus was foretold by Daniel the Crucifixion of Christ, and the postponement of the Kingdom.
It is clear that as soon as the Jews rejected Jesus as their King, that He refused to any longer recognize them as a nation. The day after His “Triumphal Entry” Jesus visited the Temple and drove out the “Money Changers,” declaring “MY House shall be called the ‘House of Prayer,’ but ye have made it a ‘Den of Thieves.’‘’ Matt. 21:13. From that time Jesus no longer recognized the Temple as “God’s House,” but said of it-“YOUR House is left unto you desolate,” that is, God-forsaken. Matt. 23:38. On the evening of the following day, as Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, overlooking the City over which He had wept, He foretold its destruction, saying of it and its inhabitants –
Now we know that this came to pass in A. D. 70, just as Jesus foretold. Jerusalem has never since been a Jewish city. It has been besieged and rebuilt over twenty times, and been under the control of a number of foreign Governments, but the Jews for the most part have not been permitted to set their foot in it. There is a movement on foot, called “Zionism,” to recover the possession of Palestine, but it will be of little avail, for it must remain desolate until the “Times of the Gentiles” are fulfilled, when God will restore it, without a penny of expense, to its original owners, the Children of Israel, and thus fulfil His Covenant with Abraham. Gen. 13:14-18. How do those who claim that the Book of Daniel was written by some pious Jew after the time of Antiochus Epiphanes (B. C. 175-164), because they do not believe that it is possible to predict future events, account for the fact that the verse we are considering foretells two outstanding historical events as the “Crucifixion of Christ,” and the “Destruction of Jerusalem,” neither of which took place until over 190 years after the time they claim the Book of Daniel was written?
This “Prince” was not the “Messiah the Prince” of verse 25, for the “Prince to come” is to be a “Roman,” that is of the “People” who destroyed the City of Jerusalem, who were the Romans, but “Messiah the Prince” (Jesus) was not a Roman. Those who claim that by the “Prince that shall come,” Titus, the leader of the Roman forces, was meant, and not some still future “Prince,” declare, that as the “Prince” is to be a Roman, and there is no Roman nation today, therefore some past Roman Prince, such as Titus, must have been meant. But such claimants forget that the Roman Empire is to be revived, and a “Prince,” the Antichrist, is to arise in it. The use of the words “People” and “Prince That Shall Come” show clearly that Titus was not that “Prince,” for the words “shall come” are future in their application, and imply that the “Prince that shall come” was to come at a time far removed from the time of Titus and the destruction of Jerusalem. The same argument applies to Herod. We must not forget that it was not necessary for the Angel Gabriel to specify to Daniel more in detail who the “Prince that was to come” was, or to give his name, for Daniel already knew. He knew that he would be the “Little Horn” that would rise among the “Ten Horns” on the head of the “Fourth Wild Beast.” Dan. 7:7-8, 23-27. While Daniel knew what Empires the first three “Wild Beasts” stood for (Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece), we are not sure that he knew that the “Fourth Wild Beast” stood for Rome. If he did, then he knew that the “People” that should destroy the City and the Sanctuary would be the Romans. We must not forget in the study of the Book of Daniel, that it has to do with the “Times of the Gentiles,” and its purpose is to disclose in the “Little Horn” the last great “Gentile Ruler”– THE ANTICHRIST. Naturally, the Prophecy of the “Seventy Weeks” should include him, for the purpose of the Prophecy is to inform us as to the “END TIME,” and what shall come to pass in the “LATTER DAYS.”
The Land of Palestine when it was first occupied by the Children of Israel under Joshua was a land of “milk” and “honey,” and of “all manner of fruits” (Deu. 8:7-9), and its soil brought forth “abundantly,” and this continued as long as the Children of Israel kept its Sabbaths. But God had warned them that if they did not obey Him and turned aside to worship other gods He would shut up the heavens and the harvests would fail. Deu. 11:13-17. Palestine today has the same fertile soil it had in Joshua’s time, but it lacks rain and irrigation. It is under the curse. God has withheld the “early” (October and November) and the “latter” rains (April and May), though they are now becoming more frequent, a sign that the lifting of the curse is near. This desolation of Palestine _is what was foretold by Daniel in verse 26, and it is to continue until the Millennium, when
Thus we see from these four things that were prophesied in verse 26 to occur AFTER the “69th Week,” two of which have been fulfilled, one now in the process of fulfilment, and the third, the coming of the “Prince,” still future, that there is a “Gap,” covering the whole of this “Church Dispensation,” between the “69th” and “70th Week.”
We now come to the last verse of the Prophecy, the 27th.
The first question is, who is meant by the pronoun “HE?” Some claim that the pronoun “He” refers to “Messiah the Prince,” or Christ, and that the “Covenant” is the “New Covenant” that Christ proclaimed when He instituted the Lord’s Supper, saying as He handed to His Disciples the cup-“This is my blood of the ‘New Testament’ (Covenant), which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Matt. 26; 28. But they forget that Christ’s Covenant is an “Everlasting Covenant” (Heb. 13; 20), while this “Covenant” is broken in the “Midst of the Week,” or at the end of three and one-half years. The pronoun “He” then cannot refer to Christ, but must refer to the last person mentioned in the preceding verse, who is the “Prince that shall come,” or the Antichrist. We know from other Scriptures that the Jews are to be gathered back to their own land and become a “Nation” again. Jer. 30:10-11. Amos 9:14-15. Jer. 16:14-15. Isa. 43:5-7. When the time comes for this there will have gathered back to Palestine a great number of Jews, whose desire will be to repossess the land, build a Temple in which they can revive their sacrificial form of worship, and re-establish the Jewish State. They will not be able to do this without outside assistance and at the “Psychological Moment” the Antichrist will appear on the scene and enter into a Covenant with them, that the Prophet Isaiah calls –
Notice that this “Covenant” will be made with “many,” not with all, for God will have His “Reserves,” like the 7000 of Israel (1 Kings 19:18) and the 144,000 of Rev. 7:2-10, who will not bow the knee to Antichrist. Christ refers to this time in His Parable of
It is clear from the words – “This Wicked Generation,” that Christ applied the parable to the Jews; and not merely the Jews of His own time, but to all time, for the word “generation” means “race,” and not merely a period of time. It is a matter of history that the Jews were delivered of the “Unclean Spirit of Idolatry” by their “Babylonian Captivity,” and they are free from it today, their house being “empty,” “swept,” and “garnished,” but the “Unclean Spirit” can still say of them-“MY HOUSE.” The “Unclean Spirit of Idolatry” is yet to return to the Jews, and he will take with him seven more spirits more wicked than himself. This will happen when, in the “Midst of the Week,” the Antichrist will break the Covenant, treat it as a “scrap of paper,” and cause the “Sacrifice and Oblation” to cease, and the “Abomination of Desolation” to stand in the Holy Place of the rebuilt Temple (Matt. 24:15), which “Abomination of Desolation” will be an “Image of the BEAST,” that the “False Prophet” will cause the followers of Antichrist to erect and worship under penalty of death. Rev. 13:14-15. This “Image” will be the Antitype of the “Golden Image” that Nebuchadnezzar commanded to be made and set up in the “Plain of Dura” in the Province of Babylon (Dan. 3:1-30). before which, at the sounding of musical instruments, the people were commanded to bow down and worship under penalty, for those who disobeyed, of being cast into a “BURNING FIERY FURNACE.” Doubtless there will be many in the “Day of Antichrist” who will refuse to bow down and worship the “Image of the Beast,” and who will not escape as did the “Three Hebrew Children,” unless miraculously delivered by God, but will die by the “Guillotine.” Rev. 20:4. The word “Abomination” was a common term among the Hebrews for a “false god,” and in the Old Testament means an “idol,” and in one passage (1 Kings 11:5-7) we read how King Solomon, to please his heathen wives, built a “high place” for Chemosh, the “Abomination of Moab,” in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the “Abomination of the Children of Ammon.” The word rendered “overspreading,” literally means “wings,” which in the Scriptures suggests the idea of protection, as “Under His wings shalt thou trust.” The meaning is that the Jews in that day shall seek protection under the “Wing of the Abomination of Desolation,” or the “Idol Image” of the ANTICHRIST. This will mean a “SEVENFOLD” return of the “Evil Spirit of Idolatry,” so that their last state shall be worse than their first. And this shall continue until the “Consummation,’ that is until the “End of the Week,” when Christ will return, and they shall look upon Him whom they pierced (Rev. 1:7) and turn from their idolatry, and the “Desolator” (Antichrist) shall be destroyed by the “brightness of His Coming.” 2 Thess. 2:8. Rev. 19:20. From this we see that in those Antichristian days there will be set up in the rebuilt Temple the “Wings of Abomination” instead of the “Wings of the Cherubim.” It is at this time, after their “national repentance,” and they have received Christ as their “Messiah the KING,” that He will make a “NEW COVENANT” with them that shall never be broken.
The writer of Hebrews quotes the above passage (Heb. 8:7-13) and declares the promise of the “New Covenant” is for the Jews, and not for the Church, though the Church has a share in it; and that the time when this New Covenant shall be made with the Jews will be when their sins and iniquities have been put away. Which corresponds to Dan. 9:24, or at the end of the “Seventy Weeks,” which is further proof that the “Seventy Weeks” have not as yet reached their end. |
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