Daniel – Chapter 9c
Chapter 9 Outline
I. Historical 70 (9:1-19)
a. The Scripture (9:1-2)
1. Time (9:1)
2. Text (9:2)
b. The Supplication (9:3-19)
1. God’s Character (9:4-9)
2. God’s Command (9:10-14)
3. God’s Covenant (9:15-17)
4. God’s Compassion (9:18-19)
II. Prophetical 70 (9:20-27)
a. Gabriel’s Mission (9:20-23)
1. When he Came (9:20-21)
2. Why he Came (9:22-23)
b. Gabriel’s Message (9:24-27)
1. First Period (9:25)
2. Second Period (9:26)
3. Third Period (9:27)
Message
II. Prophetical 70 (9:20-27)
a. Gabriel’s Mission (9:20-23)
1. When he Came (9:20-21)
Daniel’s prayer was interrupted. He had said enough. God heard and answered. God sent Gabriel, whom Daniel had met before in Chapter 8:16. The phrase fly swiftly has given rise to the idea that angels have wings and fly from place to place, but arrows, bullets and missiles fly swiftly and don’t have wings.
Angels are spirits and don’t have bodies Hebrews 1:7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. When they appear to humans, they take on a temporary human form – Genesis 18:2 three men appear to Abraham. The angelic creatures seen by Isaiah (6:2) and Ezekiel (1:6, 8, 11) did have wings, but they were special creatures performing special ministries.
We don’t know at what time of day Daniel started his prayer, but he was still praying at the time of the evening oblation. Daniel might have been living in Babylon but he was still measuring time by the Jewish religious practices. His body was in Babylon but his heart and mind were in Jerusalem. Had the temple still been standing and the priests still officiating, this would have been the “ninth hour” when the lamb was offered as a burnt offering.
The Law of Moses required an unblemished lamb to be offered morning and evening along with a meal offering and a drink offering Numbers 28:3-8. The time of the evening oblation was 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the same time when Christ died on the cross.
John Philips tells us how significant the ritual of the evening sacrifice was. “The lamb spoke of Christ’s being offered as a spotless burnt offering to God. The fine flour depicted His flawless life. The oil depicted the Holy Spirit, who filled and anointed Him. The frankincense spoke of the fragrance of His life; the salt, its freedom from corruption; and the outpoured wine, the joy that was set before Him as He endured the cross, despising the shame.”
2. Why he Came (9:22-23)
Verse 22
What Daniel was about to learn was not something that he could gain from study, but was something that had to be revealed to him. However, when it was revealed it still required something that only God could give and that was skill and understanding.
Gabriel didn’t give Daniel a vision that required interpretation; no animals, no statues, no trees, no beasts, instead he gave him a plain statement, in everyday language, of events that were to come. Gabriel demanded that Daniel employ the skill and understanding that God now gave him, so that he could put his mind to work and grasp the significance of the revelation.
Verse 23
The moment Daniel began to pray God gave the command for the angel to be sent to Daniel. How little we understand the significance of our prayers. Daniel was like David, a man after Gods own heart, he was like John, a beloved disciple, and like Joseph the Holy Spirit records only good.
Daniel was a man greatly beloved (meaning pleasant, precious). Luke 1:19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. Gabriel was commissioned to leave the heights of heaven to tell this man that he was precious to God. Outwardly Daniel was just an old man, dressed in sackcloth, covered in ashes and worn out by the intensity of his prayer. But he was Gods, and precious at that.
Gabriel is about to tell Daniel what is to come…
b. Gabriel’s Message (9:24-27)
Verse 24 – Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city…
For 70 years Israel was punished in exile; now God reveals that for 70 weeks Israel would continue, until the golden age of Messianic rule. Notice that this time period of 70 weeks relate specifically to Daniel’s people, the Jews, and their holy city, Jerusalem.
So what are these 70 weeks? In the original language the word week is the word ‘seven’. The word week here is used like we use the word ‘dozen’ to describe a category of 12. As Western Europeans we are used to thinking of time in terms of tens, decades, but the Jews always worked in sevens:
(i) Seven days = 1 week
(ii) The 7th day = Sabbath
(iii) Every 7th year a Sabbath year
(iv) Seven sevens brought them to the year of jubilee
Literally it means “70 seven’s.” It is the same word used in Genesis 29:26-28 And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. [27] Fulfil her week (7 years), and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. [28] And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week (7 years),: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
In this context seventy “weeks” or sevens = 490 years.
Gabriel explained that during those 490 years, the Lord would accomplish 6 specific purposes for the Jewish people. The first three have to do with sin and the last three with righteousness.
The Lord would finish the transgression, that is, the transgression of the Jewish people and make an end of sins. This was one of the main burdens of Daniel’s prayer. Israel was a scattered suffering nation because she was a sinful nation. How would the Lord accomplish this? He would make reconciliation for iniquity, that is, He would make a sacrifice that would atone for their sin. This is the cross of Jesus Christ, Israel’s Messiah.
When Jesus died on the cross, He died for the sins of the whole world 1 John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. We can proclaim this good news to sinners everywhere.
Christ died for the Church Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
This sacrifice was for the people of Israel, He died for His own people Isaiah 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
The last three divine purposes focus on righteousness and the future kingdom of Messiah. When Christ returns He will establish His righteous kingdom and He will rule in righteousness Jer 23:5-6 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. [6] In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
To seal up the vision and prophecy – All that the prophets have foretold, of both comings of Christ, will be fulfilled to the letter. Not even the most obscure prophetic Scripture will be overlooked. History will put its seal on the entire prophetic page. Unbelief will be silenced forever.
To anoint the most holy – When the tabernacle was finished, it was anointed (Numbers 7:1). No such anointing is spoken of in connection with Solomon’s or Zerubbabel’s temple. They are viewed as an extension of the tabernacle.
But now that the Lord’s sacrifice for sin has been made at Calvary, when Ezekiel’s temple is built as the centre of worship during the Millennium, the Holy of Holies will be anointed as Gabriel proclaimed here.
Calvary calls for significant changes, the ark of the covenant, which featured so prominently in the Holy of Holies will be replaced by the throne of the Messiah Zechariah 6:13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. These changes will call for a fresh anointing of the Holy of Holies.
All of these features are millennial in focus. The close of the 70 weeks will coincide with the end of the “times of the Gentiles” and with the start of the millennial reign of Christ. The end of the seventy weeks is not at Calvary but the Second coming of Christ to reign.
These six purposes declare the answers to Daniel’s prayer. Ultimately Israel’s sins will be forgiven, the city of Jerusalem will be rebuilt, and the temple and its ministry will be restored, all because of the atoning death of Christ. These accomplishments will be fulfilled during the 490 years that Gabriel goes on to explain.
He divides the seventy sevens (490 years) into three significant periods: 49 years, 434 years and 7 years.
1. First Period – 49 years (9:25)
During this period, the Jews will rebuild the city of Jerusalem in troublous times. The key issue here is the date of the decree. This is not the decree of Cyrus in 538 BC permitting the Jews to return to their land and rebuild their temple (Ezra1) because the emphasis of the decree is on the city not the temple.
The decree is probably that of Artaxerxes in 445BC authorising Nehemiah to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls and restore the gates Nehemiah 2:5-8
Reconstruction work possibly went on long after the walls were rebuilt. The first period of 7 weeks (49 years) takes us to 396 B.C. Malachi likely prophesied about this time. If so, then the first seven weeks comes to an end with the closing of the Old Testament.
2. Second Period – 434 years (9:26)
Sir Robert Anderson put the edict for rebuilding the city as the first of Nisan 445 BC. From that date to Messiah the prince was to be 69 weeks (69 x 7 = 483 years) The Hebrews used a 360 day calendar so 483x360 = 173,880 days.
Sir Robert’s calculations show that from the first of Nisan 445 BC to the end of the 173,880 days brings us to the tenth of Nisan in the eighteenth year of Tiberius, the day when the Lord made His public Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and presented Himself as “Messiah the Prince.”
The Lord showed Himself to the Jewish people as their Messiah, and within a few short days He was cut off by crucifixion.
The critical Tenth of Nisan marked a turning point in the fortunes of the Jewish people. They rejected Christ and thus began a long interval during which God stopped the prophetic clock. Between the 69th week and the 70th week of this prophecy is the church age.
3. Third Period – 7 years (9:27)
This is the Antichrist. We are now in the final seven years of the prophetic calendar that Gabriel gave Daniel, the period that we know as The Tribulation. While the world has always known wars and desolations the end of the age will introduce a time of terrible suffering that will climax with the return of Christ.
The event that triggers this last week (seven years) is the signing of a covenant between the Antichrist and the Jewish nation. At this time the Antichrist is a key political figure and has the authority and ability to end the Middle East problem. He covenants to protect the Jews from their enemies, probably so they can build their temple and restore their sacrifices.
The spiritually blind Jewish leaders, ignorant of their own Scripture will gladly enter into the covenant John 5:43 I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
After 3 ½ years, the Antichrist will break the covenant, seize the temple and put his own image there and will force the world to worship him 2 Thessalonians 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
This is the Abomination of Desolation that Jesus spoke about that marks the mid point of the Tribulation period. The man of sin, the son of perdition who up until now has deceived the world by playing a political game will now reveal himself as a tool of Satan and a cruel world dictator. Christ will defeat him when He returns to establish His kingdom.
Gabriel didn’t tell Daniel what would happen between the 69th and 70th week. Why? Because the prophecy had to do with the Jews, the Jewish Temple, and the city of Jerusalem. The period of time between the 69th and 70th week has to do with the church, the body of Christ, which was a mystery God had hidden in Old Testament times and didn’t reveal until the time of Christ and the apostles.
We are living in the church age today, Israel has been blinded but like Paul we must have a concern for the Jewish people, pray for them, and seek to share the Gospel with them. Gentile believers have a debt to the people of Israel because they gave us the knowledge of the true and living God, the inspired written Scriptures, and the Saviour Jesus Christ.
