Daniel 9:1-2. Overview

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1 Daniel 9:1-2 Overview Daniel chapter 9 speaks of Israel s history from the time of Ezra and Nehemiah to the establishment of the kingdom of heaven on earth through the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, which is immediately preceded by the worst time in Israel s history, namely Daniel s Seventieth Week and in particular the last three and a half years of this seven year period. Daniel chapter nine records the third of four great prophetic revelations that Daniel received from God. In Daniel chapter seven, he received prophetic revelation from God during the first year of Belshazzar s reign as co-regent with his father Nabonidus. This would be the year 553 B.C. This dream took place 14 years prior to his experience in the lions den. He was 68 years of age in 553 B.C. since he was taken captive about the age of 16 or 17 which was 52 years earlier in 605 B.C. This revelation Daniel received from God as recorded in chapter eight also took place before the events of Daniel chapter five, which took place in 539 B.C. Thus, this revelation in chapter seven took place 14 years prior to the fall of Babylon. In chapter eight, he received his second great prophetic revelation from God in 551 B.C. during the third year of the reign of Belshazzar. Then, chapter nine records Daniel receiving his third great prophetic revelation during the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus in 539 B.C. Lastly, chapter ten records Daniel receiving the fourth and final great prophetic revelation from God in 536 B.C. during the third year of the reign of Cyrus king of Persia. Daniel chapter nine contains one of the major prophecies of the Bible, which is called by students of prophecy, The Seventy Weeks of Daniel. As we will note, this prophecy refers to four hundred ninety prophetic years of Israel s history. Sixty-nine of these seventy weeks, four hundred eighty-three prophetic years, has been fulfilled in human history. However, the seventieth week has not but will take place after the rapture of the church and will begin with Antichrist s peace treaty with Israel and will last seven years and will end with the Second Advent of Christ. This prophecy of Daniel s took place in the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, in 538 B.C., when Daniel was between 85 and 90 years of age, 66 years after he had been exiled to Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar in 606 B.C. As a result of his prophetic abilities, Daniel was elevated from the position of a captive slave to ultimately becoming the prime minister of the Babylonian empire, which at that time, ruled the world. However, the Babylonian empire was overthrown by Medo- Persian Empire, which paved the way for the liberation of the Jewish captives who had been in exile since Nebuchadnezzar s first invasion of Jerusalem in 606 B.C. Medo-Persian Empire under Darius honored Daniel who served Darius successor 2013 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 1

2 Cyrus, which takes us to the days that Daniel received the prophecy regarding the seventy prophetic weeks regarding the future of the nation of Israel and Her Messiah. Daniel has now seen a new great world power emerge and is wondering about the future and especially the future of his own people who are in exile in Babylon. The following is the outline of Daniel chapter nine: (1) Daniel s circumstances (1-2) (2) Daniel s confession on behalf of himself and the Jewish nation (3-14) (3) Daniel petitions God to restore Jerusalem (15-19) (4) God responds to Daniel s prayer (20-23) (5) The prophecy of the 490 Prophetic Years of Israel called the The Seventy Weeks. (24-27). In Daniel 9:1-2, Daniel gives us his circumstances when he received from the angel Gabriel the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks. He also tells the reader that he was studying Jeremiah s prophecy of Jerusalem s restoration which is recorded in Jeremiah 25:11-12 and 29: Therefore, in 538 B.C. Daniel was reading this prophecy and knew that the 70 years of the Babylonian Captivity would end within 2 years in 536 B.C. Daniel 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. (NASB95) Daniel 9:3-14 records Daniel s prayer of confession on behalf of the nation of Israel which is in response to Jeremiah s prophecy of the restoration of the Jewish exiles to Jerusalem from Babylon. Daniel 9:3 So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed and said, Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. 6 Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. 8 Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; 10 nor have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in 2013 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 2

3 His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets. 11 Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him. 12 Thus He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth. 14 Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the LORD our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice. (NASB95) In Daniel 9:15-19, we have Daniel petitioning God to restore the Jewish exiles to the land of Israel. Daniel 9:15 And now, O Lord our God, who have brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name for Yourself, as it is this day we have sinned, we have been wicked. 16 O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us. 17 So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary. 18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name. (NASB95) Daniel 9:20-23 records God s response to Daniel s prayer for the restoration of the Jewish people to their land. Daniel 9:20 Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21 while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. 22 He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. 23 At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to 2013 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3

4 tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision. (NASB95) In Daniel 9:24-27, the elect angel Gabriel communicates to Daniel the prophetic future of the nation of Israel, which is called by expositors of the Bible The Seventy Weeks of Daniel. Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. 25 So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate. (NASB95) In the Hebrew text, the phrase seventy weeks literally reads, seventy sevens, which refers to years and not days as clearly indicated through a comparison of Scripture with Scripture. First of all, as we noted earlier, Daniel was reading Jeremiah s prophecy regarding Israel s Babylonian exile, which was to last 70 years. Jeremiah 25:11 This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, declares the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation. (NASB95) Jeremiah 29:10 For thus says the Lord, When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile. (NASB95) 2013 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 4

5 Furthermore, 2 Chronicles 36:21 speaks of Jeremiah s prophecy concerning the Babylonian exile and it indicates quite clearly that the exile would last 70 years. 2 Chronicles 36:20 Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete. (NASB95) These 70 weeks in Daniel 9:24 cannot possibly be 70 weeks in the ordinary, literal sense or 490 days for the number has an obvious relation to the 70 years of Jeremiah s prophecy in Jeremiah 25:11 and 2 Chronicles 36:21. Finally, the context clearly indicates that Daniel is referring to years and not days since Daniel 9:2 indicates that Jeremiah s prophecy of Israel s Babylonian captivity would be 70 years. The 70 years of captivity were the specific penalty for violating 70 sabbatic years, which would be 70 sevens, a total of 70 years. Seven days are in one week and every seventh year was a Sabbath rest and seventy sevens brought them to the year of Jubilee which is noted in Leviticus 25:8-12. The provisions for the land s Sabbath rest are recorded in detail in Leviticus 25:2-4, 26:32-35, 43 but in those 490 years, Israel had violated exactly 70 sabbatic years so they would go into captivity for 70 years to make amends. The 490 could not designate days (about 1 1/3 years) for that would not be enough time for the events prophesied by Daniel 9:24-27 to occur and the same is true of 490 weeks of seven days each (i.e. 3,430 days, about 9 ½ years). Also if days were intended one would expect Daniel to have added the phrase of days after 70 sevens for in Daniel 10:2-3 he wrote literally, three sevens of days. Also, it is important to understand that the length of a prophetic year was not 365 days but rather 360 days since the solar year, which we live by, of days was unknown to the nations in the Old Testament but the Jewish year of biblical times was lunar-solar and had only 360 days. This is borne out in Revelation in John s vision of the Great Tribulation period since it describes the last 3 ½ years as precisely 1260 days (Rev. 12:6) a time, times and half a time where time in Hebrew stands for a year of 360 days (verse 14) and forty-two months of 30 days each (13:5). Therefore, the seventy weeks of Daniel refer to 490 biblical years of 360 days. Harold Hoehner commenting on the seventy weeks writes The term שׁבעים in the Old Testament. The term שׁבעים is the plural form of שׁבוּע which is a unit or period of seven, heptad, or week. 4 It is used twenty times in the Old Testament. Three times it means a unit of seven and is followed by ימים days (Ezek 45:21; 4 Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles Briggs, eds., A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1907), pp ; Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, eds., Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1958), p William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 5

6 Dan 10:2, 3); six times it means week(s), a normal seven-day week (Gen 29:27, 28; Deut 16:9 bis; Lev 12:5; Deut 16:10, 16; 2 Chron 8:13); and six times it is used as a unit of seven without reference to days (Dan 9:24, 25 bis,26, 27 bis). עשׂוֹר Therefore, the context determines its meaning. This can also be illustrated by which is normally translated ten days because the context demands this rendering thirteen out of sixteen occurrences in the Old Testament. However, three times (Ps 33:2; 92:3; 144:9) it has reference to a musical instrument and would have to be translated ten strings. 5 Thus has the idea of a unit of ten as determined by the context. In conclusion the term שׁבוּע means a unit of seven and its particular meaning must be determined by the particular context. The term שׁבעים in Daniel 9: In this passage the term refers to units of seven years and thus Daniel is speaking of seventy of these units of seven years or a total of 490 years. The reasons for this conclusion are as follows. First, in the context Daniel had been thinking in terms of years as well as multiples (ten times seven) of years (Dan 9:1 2). Second, Daniel had been considering Jeremiah 25:11 and 29:10 regarding the seventy-year captivity. The captivity was a result of violating the sabbatical year, which was to have been observed after every six years (2 Chron 36:21; cf. Lev 26:34 35, 43). Each year of captivity represented one seven-year cycle in which the seventh or Sabbath year had not been observed. Thus it is clear that the context refers to years, not days. Daniel then saw another 490 years into Israel s future. שׁבעים This can be diagrammed in the following way: Third, the only other usage of by Daniel is in 10:2, 3 where the phrase שׁלשׁה שׁבעים ימים is literally three units of seven days or twenty-one days. This has reference to Daniel s mourning for three weeks since the word ימים is included. The very fact that Daniel adds ימים in, indicates that he did not want his readers to think of the unit of seven the same way it was used in chapter nine. Everyone would have realized that Daniel would not have fasted twenty-one years, but the fact that he inserted ימים days in 10:2, 3 when it was not necessary would seem to indicate that he would have used ימים in 9:24 27 if there he meant 490 days. Therefore, in 9:24 27 Daniel was referring to years and not days. Fourth, it is impossible to fit the events described in 9:24 27, regardless of the terminus a quo, into 490 days or weeks. Only that number of years is viable. Fifth, in 9:27 the covenant that will be confirmed for one unit of seven (שׁבוּע) will be broken in the middle of that unit of seven. If one accepts the as a unit of seven years, this would mean that the covenant will be broken at שׁבוּע the three and one-half year point and the last three and one-half years will be a time of trouble and desolation. This fits well with the trouble described by the temporal note time, times, and half a time in Daniel 7:25 and 12:7 as well as in Revelation 12:14. Sixth, although the term שׁבוּע does not refer to years elsewhere 5 Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon, p William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 6

7 in the Bible it has this meaning in the Mishnah. 6 In conclusion the term שׁבעים in Daniel 9 most reasonably refers to a unit of seven years. To make it anything else does not make good sense. However, for the sake of clarity this unit of seven years will be called week(s) for the remainder of this article, for it is simpler to refer to seventy weeks than to seventy units of seven years. Therefore, Daniel s reference to seventy weeks means a period of 490 years. 1 In Daniel 9:24, we have Gabriel communicating God s objectives as pertaining to these seventy weeks. Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. The phrase your people indicates that the prophecy deals specifically with the history of the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem and not with world history or church history. To finish the transgression refers to the nation of Israel s apostasy and sin and wandering over the face of the earth will be brought to its consummation within the seventy-sevens or 490 prophetic years at the Second Advent of Christ, on the Day of Atonement. To bring an end of sin refers to bringing sin into judgment at the cross, and extending forgiveness for sins already committed through faith in the coming Redeemer, the Messiah. To make an atonement for iniquity refers to the Cross of Christ as it affects the restoration of the nation of Israel at the Second Advent of Christ (See Zechariah 12:10). In the Hebrew text, the phrase to bring in everlasting righteousness literally means to cause to bring in everlasting righteousness and refers to the millennial reign which will be characterized by righteousness. The phrase to seal up vision and prophecy refers to the fact that all that God promised to Israel throughout her history by means of the prophets will be fulfilled during Christ s millennial reign. The sixth divine objective to anoint the Most Holy Place refers to the dedication of the most holy place in the millennial temple which is described in detail in Ezekiel Daniel 9:25 So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 6 Mishnah: Baba Metzia ix. 10; Sanhedrin v Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 132. (1975)., 132(525), William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 7

8 The issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem was the fourth of four decrees made by Persian rulers in reference to the Jews: (1) Cyrus decree in 538 B.C. (2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4; 5:13). (2) Darius I decree in 520 B.C. (Ezra 6:1; 6-12). (3) Artaxerxes Longimanus decree in 458 B.C. (Ezra 7:11-26). (4) Artaxerxes Longimanus decree in 444 B.C. (Nehemiah 2:1-8). The first three decrees say nothing about the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem itself since the first two decrees pertain to the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem and the third relates to finances for animal sacrifices at the temple but the fourth decree granted the Jews permission to rebuild Jerusalem s city walls. The first period of 49 years refers to the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Neh. 2:12-15) and the 62 sevens or 434 years extend up to the introduction of Jesus as the Messiah to the nation of Israel ( until the Messiah, the Prince ), which was concluded on the day of our Lord s Triumphal entry into Jerusalem just before He was crucified ( cut off ). Harold Hoehner writes Daniel 9:25 states that the starting point of the seventy weeks is the issuance of a command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem where a plaza (or square) and a moat (or trench) will be built during distressing times. Three things are to be noted in the description of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. First, the words להשׁיב ולבנוֹת ( to restore and to rebuild ) suggest that the city was raised to its former state. It is not a partial rebuilding but a complete restoration. 7 Second, the words רחוֹב וֹחרוּח ( plaza and moat ) give weight to the position for a complete restoration of the city. The first of these words means a plaza, street, or square, the broad spaces, generally just inside the city gates, the centre of city life. 8 It is a wide and free unoccupied place in the city (cf. Ezra 10:9; Esther 4:6; 2 Chron 32:6; Neh 8:1, 3). The second word,,חרוּח is more difficult to define. It is a passive participle of חרח meaning to cut, to sharpen, to decide. 9 In the Old Testament it is used fourteen times: four times it refers to a sharpened threshing instrument, a threshing sledge (Isa 28:27; 41:15; Amos 1:3); 10 one time it suggests the idea of being maimed, cut, or mutilated (Lev 22:22); six times it is used poetically of gold from the idea of the sharp bright color or from the idea that it is eagerly desired by men ( חרח can have the idea to be eager, to covet ) (Ps 68:14 [13]; Prov 3:14; 8:10, 19; 16:16; Zech 9:3); two times it refers to something decided, a strict decision as in the phrase valley of decision (Joel 3:14 bis); and once it is used in Daniel 9:25. Outside the Bible this term is used in Aramaic of a trench ; 11 in Akkadian it has the idea of a city moat ; 12 in the Qumran writings it is used of a moat of the 7 For a fuller discussion of these terms, see E. W. Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament, trans. Theodore Meyer and James Martin, 4 vols. (Edinburgh: T.& T. Clark, ), 3: Montgomery, Commentary on the Book of Daniel, p Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon, p Joseph Reider, Etymological Studies in Biblical Hebrew, Vetus Testamentum 2 (April 1952): Montgomery, The Book of Daniel, p Ibid William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 8

9 rampart or bulwark ; 13 and in mishnaic and targumic literature it has the idea of an incison, furrow, or trench. 14 Thus its basic idea is to make an incision or cut or dig a trench. Commentators are divided on how to apply the two words, וֹחרוּח,רחוֹב to Daniel 9:25, but it is best to take the first word plaza as referring to the interior of the city and the second word trench as referring to a moat going around the outside of the city. Part of Jerusalem s natural defenses consisted of a great cutting in the rock along the northern wall, which is still visible, for the purpose of building a defense wall. 15 Montgomery states that these two items present a graphic picture of the complete restoration. 16 Third, it should be noted that the rebuilding of Jerusalem would be done in times of distress or oppression. In conclusion, then, Daniel describes the rebuilding of Jerusalem as being a complete restoration during troublous times. Having discussed the description of the rebuilding of Jerusalem, one needs to determine when this occurred. The first decree is the one of Cyrus to rebuild the temple, probably given on October 29, 539 B.C. 17 (2 Chron 36:22 23; Ezra 1:1 4; 6:3 5). This decree concerned the return of the captives and the rebuilding of the temple but not a complete restoration of the city. However, Keil, 18 Leupold, 19 and Young 20 feel this. decree marks the starting point of the seventy weeks. Young states: This edict [Cyrus ], furthermore, was issued in fulfillment of the prophecy of Jer., and it speaks expressly of going to Jerusalem and building there the temple-the first and most important step in rebuilding of the city. In this connection also one should consider the prophecies of Isa 44:28 in which Cyrus is described as saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. Likewise Isa 45:13 declares of Cyrus, he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives. Lastly, it should be noted that the book of Ezra pictures Jerusalem as an existing city (cf. Ezra 4:12, 9:9). It cannot be denied that this was the year in which the effects of the going forth of a word began to appear in history. Cyrus issued the decree which brought an end to the exile and again turned the Jews toward Jerusalem. It is not justifiable to distinguish too sharply between the building of the city and the building of the temple. Certainly, if the people had received permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, there was also implied in this permission to build for themselves homes in which to dwell. There is no doubt whatever but that the people thus understood the decree (cf. Haggai 1:2 4). The edict of Cyrus mentions the temple specifically, because 13 M. Baillet, J. T. Milik, et R. de Vaux, Les Petites Grottes de Qumrân 2 vols., Discoveries in the Judean Desert of Jordan: III (Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1962), 1: Marcus Jastrow, comp., A Dictionary of the Targumin, the Talmud Bibli Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, 2 vols. (London: W. C. Luzac and Co., 1903), 1:502; cf. p Montgomery, The Book of Daniel, p. 380; Judah J. Slotki, Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah (London: Soncino Press, 1951), p Montgomery, The Book of Daniel, p John C. Whitcomb, Jr., Darius the Mede (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1959), pp Keil, Daniel, pp Leupold, Exposition of Daniel, pp Edward J. Young, The Prophecy of Daniel: A Commmentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1949), pp William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 9

10 that was the religious center of the city, that which distinguished it as the holy city of the Jews. If, therefore, we are to discover in history the effects of the going forth of a Divine word we discover them first appearing during the first year of Cyrus the king, and this year is thus to be regarded as the terminus a quo of the 70 sevens. 21 While at first sight this all seems quite convincing, there are several problems with this view. First, Cyrus edict refers to the rebuilding of the temple and not to the city. Although it is granted there were inhabitants and a city was built in Cyrus time as predicted by Isaiah, certainly it was not a city that could defend itself as described in Daniel 9:25. Young cites two Scripture verses from Ezra to substantiate his view. The first passage Ezra 4:12 (see also vv. 13 and 16 ) is not applicable for it is referring not to Cyrus time but to Artaxerxes reign (465/ B.C.) as even Young argues vigorously in another work of his. 22 The second passage Ezra 9:9 also refers to Artaxerxes reign and not Cyrus reign. Also the word for wall,,גדר is a fence used to surround a vineyard and not a military defensive wall. 23 It is never used in Nehemiah in relation to building a defensive wall. Most likely it is metaphorically speaking of security brought about by the protection of the Persian kings. 24 The only other references to the walls in Ezra are the walls of the temple (Ezra 5:3, 8, 9). Therefore, neither of these Scripture passages is in the context of Cyrus decree and has no reference to a defensive wall. Second, a distinction should be made between the rebuilding of a city and the restoration of a city to its former state. Japan rebuilt itself after World War II, but that is quite different from restoring it to its pre-world War II military state. The commencement of the rebuilding began with Cyrus decree but the city s complete restoration was not at that time. Third, if one accepts the seventy weeks as beginning with Cyrus decree, how does one reckon the 490 years? Young states: The 7 sevens apparently has [sic] reference to the time which should elapse between the issuance of the word and the completion of the city and temple; roughly, to the end of the period of Ezra and Neh. The 62 sevens follows [sic] this period. In vs. 25 these 62 sevens are not characterized, but in vs. 26 we are told what will happen after the expiry of the 62 sevens. The 62 sevens therefore have reference to the period which follows the age of Ezra and Neh. to the time of Christ. 25 Though Young is not specific regarding the final week, it seems that he would make the first half of that week include all of Christ s incarnation and the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, but with no indication of the terminus ad quem of the seventieth week. 26 Young s formulation, according to the first seven 21 Ibid. 22 Edward J. Young, An Introduction to the Old Testament, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1960), pp Brown, Driver, and Briggs speak of it as a wall of stones without mortar, Hebrew and English Lexicon, p C. F. Keil, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, trans. Sophia Taylor (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1873), pp ; Slotki, Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah, p Young, Daniel, pp , 220; cf. Young, Messianic Prophecies, pp Young, Daniel, pp ; Young, Messianic Prophecies, pp William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 10

11 weeks, would cover a period of about one hundred years (each week thus representing about fourteen years); the second period of sixty-two weeks would cover from Nehemiah to the time of Christ, a period of about 450 years (each week representing about seven years); and the final week would be divided into two parts, the first half covering the lif e of Christ and going even until the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, a period of thirty-five to seventy years (about ten to twenty years for each week), and the second half of the seventieth week would have no terminus ad quem. Of course, other scholars who begin the decree with Cyrus do not all calculate the seventieth week as Young does. However, it seems that this system makes havoc of Gabriel s sayings, which were rather specific. Also Young s lengthy explanation leads one to be suspicious of this interpretation. It seems highly subjective as is evident when one reads the various commentators who hold to a symbolical interpretation. In conclusion, then, it is most unlikely that Cyrus decree marks the terminus a quo of the seventy weeks described in Daniel. The next decree in the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem was due to Tattenai, governor of Judah, who questioned the Jews right to rebuild the temple (Ezra 5:3 17). Darius had a search made of Cyrus decree and then issued a decree himself about 519/18 B.C. to confirm Cyrus original decree (Ezra 6:1 12). This decree will not serve as the beginning date for the seventy weeks because it has specific reference to the temple and not to the city, and because it really is not a new decree but only confirms a former one. The decree of Artaxerxes to Ezra. The third decree was the decree to Ezra in 457 B.C. It encouraged the return of more exiles with Ezra, the further enhancement of the temple and its accompanying worship, and the appointment of civil leaders (Ezra 7:11 26). It is thought by men such as Pusey, 27 Boutflower, 28 Payne, 29 and Goss 30 that this decree marked the terminus a quo of the seventy weeks and that the end of the sixty-ninth week brings one to A.D. 26 or 27 (depending on whether or not one dates the decree 458 or 457 B.C.), which marks the commencement of Christ s ministry. The proponents of this view (with the exception of Goss) would see at the middle of the seventieth. week the crucifixion of Christ in A.D. 30 and the terminus ad quem of the seventieth week would be in A.D. 33, the probable date of Stephen s death and Paul s conversion. There are several problems with this view. First, and foremost, is that this decree has not a word about the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem but rather the temple in Jerusalem. 31 This is even admitted by Payne. 32 The proponents of this theory say 27 E. B. Pusey, Daniel the Prophet (Oxford: James Parker & Co., 1876), pp , esp. pp Charles Boutflower, In and Around the Book of Daniel (London: SPCK, 1923), pp J. Barton Payne, The Theology of the Older Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1962), pp ; J. Barton Payne, The Imminent Appearing of Christ (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1962), pp Glenn Richard Goss, The Chronological Problems of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1966), pp Keil, Daniel, p. 379; cf. Michael J. Gruenthaner, The Seventy Weeks, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 1 (January 1939): Payne, Imminent Appearing, p William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 11

12 that a wall was permitted to be built because Artaxerxes gave unlimited freedom to use the leftover silver and gold (Ezra 7:18) and because Ezra was to appoint civil authorities (Ezra 7:25) who would want to build a wall. But the leftover silver and gold was to be used for the temple worship and the civil authorities were appointed for the purpose of judging and not for building defense walls. 33 Second, to have the sixty-nine weeks terminate at the commencement of Christ s ministry in A.D. 26 or 27 is untenable for two reasons: (a) The cutting off of the Messiah (Dan 9:26) is a very inappropriate way to refer to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus at the commencement of His ministry. (b) The date for the beginning of Jesus ministry is not A.D. 26 or 27 but A.D. 29, as discussed previously. 34 Third, to what does Daniel refer in 9:27 when he states he is confirming a covenant? If it refers to Christ, then what covenant was it and how did He break it? Fourth, to say that the middle of the seventieth week refers to Christ s crucifixion in A.D. 30 is untenable on two grounds: (a) the sacrifices did not cease at Christ s crucifixion, and (b) though the date of A.D. 30 is possible the A.D. 33 date is far more plausible. 35 Fifth, to say that the end of the seventieth week refers to Stephen s death and Paul s conversion in A.D. 33 is pure speculation. There is no hint of this in the texts of Daniel 9:27 and Acts 8 9 to denote the fulfillment of the seventieth week. Also the date of Paul s conversion as well as Stephen s martyrdom was more likely in A.D In conclusion the decree of Artaxerxes to Ezra in 457 B.C. serving as the starting point of the seventy weeks is highly unlikely. The decree of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah. Another decree is that of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah in 444 B.C. to rebuild the city of Jerusalem (Neh 2:1 8). Several factors commend this decree as the one prophesied by Daniel (9:25) for the commencement of the seventy weeks. First, there is a direct reference to the restoration of the city (2:3, 5) and of the city gates and walls (2:3, 8). Second, Artaxerxes wrote a letter to Asaph to give materials to be used specifically for the walls (2:8). Third, the Book of Nehemiah and Ezra 4:7 23 indicate that certainly the restoration of the walls was done in the most distressing circumstances, as predicted by Daniel (Dan 9:25). Fourth, no later decrees were given by the Persian kings pertaining to the rebuilding of Jerusalem. 37 Keil objects to calling this a decree. He thinks it would more appropriately be seen as a royal favor. 38 However, Daniel 9:25, though not requiring a decree, 39 does require a command (דבר) and certainly this was the case with Artaxerxes as seen in 33 For a fuller discussion, see Fred Holtzman, A Re-examination of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel (Th.M. thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1974), pp Harold W. Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, Part 11: The Commencement of Christ s Ministry, Bibliotheca Sacra 131 (January-March 1974): Harold W. Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, Part V: The Year of Christ s Crucifixion, Bibliotheca Sacra 131 (October- December 1974): Harold Hoehner, Chronology of the Apostolic Age (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1965), pp ; George Ogg, The Odyssey of Paul (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1968), pp Cf. Albert Barnes, Notes, Critical, Illustrative, and Practical, on the Book of Daniel (New York: R. Worthington, 1881), p Keil, Daniel, pp Goss, Chronological Problems, p William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 12

13 the letters he wrote to the governors of the provinces beyond the river and to Asaph (Neh 2:7 9). In conclusion this is the only decree that adequately fits the strictures given in Daniel 9:25. Hence this decree of Artaxerxes is considered the terminus a quo of the seventy weeks. The date of this decree is given in the biblical record. Nehemiah 1:1 states that Nehemiah heard of Jerusalem s desolate conditions in the month of Chislev (November/December) in Artaxerxes twentieth year. Then later in Artaxerxes twentieth year in the month of Nisan (March/April) Nehemiah reports that he was granted permission to restore the city and build its walls (2:1). To have Nisan later than Chislev (in the same year) may seem strange until one realizes that Nehemiah was using a Tishri-to-Tishri (September/October) dating method rather than the Persian Nisanto-Nisan method. Nehemiah was following what was used by the kings of Judah earlier in their history. 40 This method used by Nehemiah is confirmed by Jews in Elephantine who also used this method during the same time period as Nehemiah. 41 Next, one needs to establish the beginning of Artaxerxes rule. His father Xerxes died shortly after December 17, 465 B.C. 42 and Artaxerxes immediately succeeded him. Since the accession-year system was used 43 the first year of Artaxerxes reign according to the Persian Nisan-to-Nisan reckoning would be Nisan 464 to Nisan 463 and according to the Jewish Tishri-to- Tishri reckoning would be Tishri 464 to Tishri 463. In conclusion the report to Nehemiah (1:1) occurred in Chislev (November/December) of 445 B.C. and the decree of Artaxerxes (2:1) occurred in Nisan (March/April) of 444 B.C. 44 Therefore, Nisan 444 B.C. marks the terminus a quo of the seventy weeks of Daniel 9: In Daniel 9:26, Gabriel informs that the Messiah will killed after the 483 years of the prophecy and that Jerusalem along with the Temple will be destroyed as a result. Daniel 9:26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. The statement after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off refers to the crucifixion of Christ. The people refers to the Romans who under the general Titus destroyed the city of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. 40 Edwin R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1965), pp , S. H. Horn and L. H. Wood, The Fifth-Century Jewish Calendar at Elephantine, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 13 (January 1954): 4, Ibid., 13:9. 43 Ibid., p Richard A. Parker and Waldo H. Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C. - A.D. 75, 2d ed. (Providence: Brown University Press, 1956), p. 32; Herman H. Goldstine, New and Full Moons 1001 B.C. to A.D (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1973), p Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 132. (1975)., 132(525), William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 13

14 The prince who is to come refers to the Antichrist who will make a seven year treaty with Israel to begin Daniel s seventieth week. The church age takes place between Daniel 9:26 and 27 and was a mystery (Eph. 3:9) meaning it was not known to Old Testament prophets such as Daniel. God has temporarily set aside Israel because of her rejection of Jesus Christ as Messiah (Rom. 9-11) in order to form the church and to fulfill the times of the Gentiles, which we will note in this study of the day of the Lord. The church is delivered from the wrath to come during Daniel s seventieth week. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. (NASB95) So therefore, the last seven years of Daniel s prophecy have yet to be fulfilled but will be fulfilled after the rapture of the church (1 Thess. 4:13-18). Daniel 9:27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate. Revelation 6:1-2 records the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven breaking the first of the seven seal judgments, which results in the appearance of the Antichrist on the stage of history as a peace maker and who is depicted as riding on a white horse. Revelation 6:1 Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, Come. 2 I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. (NASB95) Notice that the rider sat on a white horse, which is significant since white is a symbol of peace, thus the symbolism is that Antichrist will come as a peacemaker. One of Antichrist s first accomplishments will be to find a solution to the Arab- Israeli conflict with a peace treaty with Israel according to Daniel 9:26-27, which begins Daniel s seventieth week, the unprecedented time of Jacob s distress (Jer. 30:7). Also, notice that the rider s weapon is a bow, yet no arrows are mentioned. The bow is a symbol of distant victory and since no arrows are mentioned it seems to indicate that he gains his victory by bloodless tactics. That all this is true is indicated further by the fact that peace isn t taken from the earth until the second seal. Antichrist will have a hidden agenda since his purpose is not world peace, but rather world domination since Revelation 6 goes on to say that he goes out conquering and to conquer. Today the world is ripe for the rise of such a man with his world government as an answer to international problems. Prominent world leaders and movements have 2013 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 14

15 posed the idea that what we need is a world order with a charismatic leader who can mold the world into harmony and peace. In his book, written in 1973, The Day the Dollar Dies, Willard Cantelon quotes a number of world leaders to this effect. He writes: Harold Urey said, The only escape from total destruction of civilization will be a world government. Robert J. Oppenheimer stated, In the field of atomic energy, there must be set up a world power. Arthur Compton added his word, World government has become inevitable. Dr. Ralph Barton Perry of Harvard said, One world government is in the making. Whether we like it or not, we are moving toward a one-world government. Professor Hocking wrote, Therefore the alternative is that we vest all political power in one agency and resign that power ourselves. This covenant between Antichrist and Israel is a peace treaty, which will guarantee Israel s safety in the land and suggests that Israel will be in her land but will seek support that she had previously. The United States is nowhere in prophecy and is thus no longer a superpower at the time of Antichrist s rise to power. The United States is the greatest benefactor of Israel since her return to the land in 1948 and so it is easy to see why Israel would seek an alliance with a superpower with the United States no longer a major player on the world stage. Therefore, it appears that she will seek a treaty with the Revived Roman Empire, the United States of Europe headed by Antichrist and she will welcome the peacemaking role of Antichrist and the Revived Roman Empire. In Daniel chapter seven, the prophet Daniel tells us that the Antichrist will come to power through the ten-nation confederacy that will constitute the revived form of the Roman Empire. In Daniel chapter seven, he is called the little horn. The little horn refers to the Antichrist since it is identified with the Revived Roman Empire and Daniel 7:19-26 describes it as waging war against God s people up to the time that Jesus Christ s Second Advent to establish His millennial reign, which corresponds to the depiction of the antichrist in Revelation (Daniel 7:11, 20-26; 8:25; Revelation 13:1-10; 19:20). The Scriptures give the Antichrist many titles and names: (1) The beast (Revelation 13:1-2) (2) The prince that will come (Daniel 9:26-27) (3) The man of lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:3-10) (4) The scarlet beast (Revelation 17:3) (5) The willful king (Daniel 11:36-40) (6) The man of sin (2 Thessalonians 2:3), (7) The son of perdition (2 Thessalonians 2:3) (8) The Desolater (Daniel 9:27). He will not appear until the Day of the Lord has begun (2 Thessalonians 2:2) and his manifestation is being hindered by the Restrainer (2 Thessalonians 2:6-7) 2013 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 15

16 and this appearance will be preceded by the rapture of the church (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Antichrist will be a Gentile since he arises from the sea according to Revelation 13:1 and since the sea depicts the Gentile nations according to Revelation 17:15, he must be of Gentile origin. He will arise from the Roman Empire, since he is a ruler of the people who destroyed Jerusalem (Dan. 9:26). Antichrist is the head of the last form of Gentile world dominion, for he is like a leopard, a bear, and a lion (Revelation 13:1; compare Daniel 7:7-8, 20,24; Revelation 17:9-11) and as such he is a political leader. Daniel 7:8 reveals that the little horn came after the ten horns, which represent ten kings, who were in existence and then were contemporaneous with them and uprooted three of the ten horns and was intelligent. Daniel 7:11 revealed that the little horn was arrogant and boastful, which corresponds to the actions of the first beast in Revelation 13:6. Daniel 7:21-22 reveals the following regarding the little horn: (1) He will persecute the saints of the Most High and is thus a person and Daniel 7:24 says that he is a king. (2) He will overcome the nation of Israel and will bring that nation under his authority (Revelation 12:13-17; 17:7). (3) He will be judged by God (Revelation 19:19-20) and Israel will thus enter into her millennial reign. Daniel 7:23 reveals that the little horn will have a world-wide kingdom (Compare Revelation 13:7) and it will be an overwhelming conquest, which anticipates a coming one-world government under a worldwide dictator. Daniel 7:25 corresponds to Revelation 13:1-10 and gives us three more additional facts about the little horn: (1) He will oppose God s authority as indicated by the phrase He will speak out against the Most High (Compare Revelation 13:6). (2) He will oppress born-again Israel as indicated by the statement wear down the saints of the Highest One. (3) He will introduce an entirely new era in which he will abandon all previous laws and institute his own system as indicated by the statement he will intend to make alterations in times in law (Compare Daniel 11:36-37; 2 Thessalonians 2:4). The expression for a time, times, and a half time refers to the last three and a half years of Daniel s Seventieth Week called the Great Tribulation with a time meaning one year, times two years and half a time six months. This equals the 1,260 days in Revelation 12:6 and the 42 months in Revelation 11:2 and 13:5. Daniel 7:26 refers to the Supreme Court of Heaven, (God the Father) passing down the decision to remove the little horn s power, which will take place at the Second Advent of Christ, which terminates Daniel s Seventieth Week (See Revelation 19:11-20:6). Daniel 7:27 is a reference to the millennial reign of Christ that will follow the Second Advent of Christ and the judgments of Israel (Ezekiel 2013 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 16

17 20:37-38; Zechariah 13:8-9; Malachi 3:2-3, 5; Matthew 25:1-30) and the Gentiles (Matthew 25:31-46). This ten-nation confederacy that will take place in the future will be a revived form of the Roman Empire since it is portrayed in Daniel 2 and 7 as emerging from the fourth kingdom, Rome. The little horn will seek to prevent Christ s rule on the earth by attempting to destroy God s covenant people Israel but his reign will be short, only three and a half years and will be terminated with the Second Advent of Jesus Christ who at that time will establish His millennial reign on earth in fulfillment of God s covenant promises to Israel. This prophecy concerning the little horn will take place in the future since no such ruler has attained world-wide rulership over a one-world government, no such ruler has subdued 3 of 10 kings who were ruling at once and no such ruler has persecuted Israel for three and a half years and no such ruler has been destroyed by the return of Jesus Christ! Daniel 9:27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate. The statement he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week refers to antichrist making a covenant with Israel during the Daniel s seventieth week (See 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4). The expression firm covenant means that Antichrist will not renew an existing treaty but will establish an original one that contains strong and firm guarantees with the Israeli leadership ensuring Israel s security. The many does not mean that Antichrist will make this covenant with all since the definite article in the Hebrew text that precedes the adjective rav (br^) (rav), converts the adjective into a noun and means, the leaders which is a reference to the military and political leadership of the nation of Israel at that time. Therefore, Daniel 9:27 teaches that Daniel s seventieth week comes after the rapture but does not begin with the rapture. So, while the rapture will precede Daniel s seventieth week (Great Tribulation period), it does not begin Daniel s seventieth week but rather the signing of the peace treaty between Antichrist and the leadership in Israel will begin it. But in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, refers to the antichrist stopping the Levitical sacrifices that will be reestablished in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem in the middle of Daniel s seventieth week. Three and a half years into the treaty, he will break it and desecrate the rebuilt Jewish temple and declare himself world-ruler and God and will demand to be worshipped as God. The Russian led invasion of Israel mentioned in Ezekiel William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 17

18 will cause the Antichrist to break his treaty with Israel and occupy Israel according to Daniel 11:41. In His Olivet Discourse, in Matthew 24:15-16, the Lord Jesus Christ makes mention of this event. In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-13, the apostle Paul also refers to the Antichrist s desecrating the temple and declaring himself God and demanding the worship of the world. In Daniel 9:27, the phrase even until a complete destruction, one (Antichrist) that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate refers to the destruction of Antichrist at the Second Advent of Christ when he will be thrown into the lake of fire (See Revelation 19:20; Daniel 7:11, 26). The Second Advent of Christ terminates Daniel s seventieth week, aka, the Tribulation and at that time, the Lord will bodily land in Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives (See Zechariah 14:4). At His Second Advent, the Lord Jesus Christ will destroy the Tribulational armies, have Antichrist and the False Prophet thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:11-19), will imprison Satan for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3) and will establish His millennial reign on planet earth (Rev. 20:4-6). Therefore, we can see that Daniel s seventieth week is a 7-year period that extends from Antichrist s peace treaty with Israel after the rapture of the church to the Second Advent of Christ and is concerned with the nation of Israel exclusively and will be the worst period in all of Israel s and the world s history. This 7-year period is divided into two three and a half year periods with the first three and a half years characterized as a cold war (Mt. 24:6) whereas the last three and a half years are characterized as a hot war (Mt. 24:21-22). This period will end with the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, which is the visible return of Christ to planet earth with the elect angels and the Church in order to deliver Israel from her enemies and establish Jesus Christ s millennial reign resulting in the fulfillment of the four unconditional covenants to Israel (Dan. 2:44-45; Zech. 14; Mt. 24:29-31; Rev. 1:7; 19:11-21). So we can see that the first seven weeks and the sixty-two weeks that followed it ran consecutively with no time between them and totaled 483 years and extended from March 5, 444 B.C to March 30, 33 A.D. In order to understand how 444 B.C. to A.D. 33 can equal 483 years, we must understand that the Jewish calendar had 360 days per year, thus 483 years times 360 days equals 173,880 days. The Gregorian Calendar contains 365 days a year and under this 444 B.C. to A.D. 33 would be 476 years since only one year expired between 1 B.C. and A.D. 1. A total of 476 years divided by four (a leap year every four years) gives 119 additional days but three days must be subtracted from 119 because centennial years are not leap years, though every 400 th years is a leap year. Thus, 476 years times 365 days equals 173,740 days and if we add 116 days in leap years and 24 days (March 5-30), we have 173,880 days William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 18

19 Again, Harold Hoehner has an excellent comment, he writes Keil, Leupold, Payne, Young, and others say that the seventieth week follows immediately after the sixty-ninth week. However, it is far more plausible to see the sixty-nine weeks fulfilled historically and the seventieth week as yet unfulfilled. The reasons are as follows: First, to view the six things in Daniel 9:24 to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place as having been fulfilled in Christ s death at His first advent is impossible. All these have reference to the nation of Israel and none of these has been fulfilled to that nation. Israel has not yet finished her transgression, nor been purged of her iniquity. Nor has she experienced the everlasting righteousness promised her. Paul sees this still in the future for Israel (Rom 11:25 27).45 The anointing of the most holy is not a reference to Christ s anointing, as Young would have it;46 instead the most holy קדשׁים) (קדשׁ are technical words that are always translated in the Old Testament as the holy of holies. Second, the Messiah was cut off after the sixty-ninth week and not during the seventieth. Gundry stated it well when he wrote: If the cutting off of the Messiah occurred in the middle of the seventieth week, it is very strange that the cutting off is said to be after the sixty-nine weeks (figuring the sum of the seven and the sixty-two weeks). Much more naturally the text would have read during or in the midst of the seventieth week, as it does in verse twenty-seven concerning the stoppage of the sacrifices. The only adequate explanation for this unusual turn of expression is that the seventieth week did not follow on the heels of the sixty-ninth, but that an interval separates the two. The crucifixion then comes shortly after the sixty-ninth but not within the seventieth because of an intervening gap. The possibility of a gap between the sixty-ninth and the seventieth weeks is established by the well-accepted OT phenomenon of prophetic perspective, in which gaps such as that between the first and second advents were not perceived. 47 An example of a gap between the two advents of Christ is seen in Luke 4:18 19 when Christ quoted Isaiah 61:1 2 leaving in the words referring to His first advent but omitting the words referring to His second advent. Third, the person who confirms the covenant in Daniel 9:27 cannot refer to Christ. (a) The nearest antecedent is the prince who is to come, in verse (b) At no time in Christ s ministry did he confirm an already-existing covenant. Certainly Payne s attempt to say that Christ cause[d] to prevail an existing covenant rather than making a new covenant on the basis of the absence of the word new in some Greek manuscripts in Matthew 26:28 49 is tenuous to say the 45 Robert H. Gundry, The Church and the Tribulation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1973), p Young, Daniel, p Gundry, The Church and the Tribulation, p John F. Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p Payne, Imminent Appearing, p William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 19

20 least, for, as Gundry points out, the adjective new is in Luke 22:20 and 1 Corinthians 11:25 and the new covenant is twice quoted in Hebrews. 50 (c) If Christ did confirm a covenant in His first advent, when did He break it? Would Christ break a covenant He has made? Thus the covenant-confirmer does not refer to Christ but to a prince who is yet to come. Fourth, Christ s death did render inoperative the animal sacrifices but did not cause them to cease immediately. In fact, the Jews sacrificed animals until Jerusalem s destruction in A.D. 70. Fifth, the abomination of desolation has not yet been fulfilled. In Matthew 24:15 Jesus said that it would occur after His ministry on earth. He spoke of the appearance of the abomination of desolation in the Jerusalem temple as a signal of the great tribulation which is immediately followed by Christ s second advent. It is true that Jerusalem suffered destruction in A.D but Christ did not return in A.D. 70. In fact, the Book of Revelation speaks of Jerusalem s desolation as yet future and not as having been fulfilled nearly a quarter century before its composition. 51 Sixth, the person in view in Daniel 9:27 correlates very well with the wicked person in 7:25 and in Revelation 12 and 13, who has not yet appeared and been judged as described in Revelation 19. Seventh, the events of the last half of the seventieth week, described in Daniel 9:27b, fit well into the second three and onehalf years of the tribulation described in the Book of Revelation, which is yet future. In conclusion it is far better to see an Intervening gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks than to view the seventieth as following the sixty-ninth. The seventieth week is yet to be fulfilled. The sixty-nine weeks have been fulfilled and there now needs to be a discussion as to how it relates chronologically to Christ s ministry on earth. Thus far it has been concluded that the terminus a quo of the seventy weeks is Nisan 444 B.C. After the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing (Dan 9:26). 52 This has reference to Christ s death and indicates that in His first advent He would not acquire the messianic kingdom envisioned in the Old Testament. Thus the sixty-nine weeks were to expire shortly before Christ s death. Hence the terminus ad quem for the sixty-ninth week is shortly before Christ s death. In the previous articles in this series this writer concluded that Christ s death occurred on Friday, Nisan 14 in A.D. 33. If one multiplies the sixty-nine weeks by seven solar years, the total is 483 years. Subtracting this from 444 B.C. gives the date of A.D. 38, five years after Christ s crucifixion. So it is obvious that a calculation using the solar year does not work. A new attempt has been made by Newman who calculates sixty-nine sabbatical years between the termini a quo and ad quem of the sixty-nine years. His conclusion is 50 Gundry, The Church and the Tribulation, pp Ibid., p C. G. Ozanne, Three Textual Problems in Daniel, The Journal of Theological Studies 16 (October 1965): William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 20

21 that the sixty-ninth sabbatical year was A.D However, there are some problems with this view. First, the first sabbatical period would be from 452 to 445 B.C., which is one year before the decree of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah. Thus one would have only sixty-eight sabbatical years between the decree and Christ s death. Second, Daniel says that the Messiah would be cut off after the sixty-nine weeks, and thus according to Newman s view Christ would have to be cut off after A.D. 34, a year after His crucifixion. Third, the figures in Daniel seem to be more specific than sabbatical years. If sabbatical years were used, one would expect the decree to have been given in a sabbatical year and Christ s death to have occurred in a sabbatical year. Fourth, although the seventy-year captivity was for Israel s disobedience of not observing the sabbatical years, there is no specific reference to sabbatical years mentioned in the immediate context. Fifth, there is no direct biblical evidence as to which year the sabbatical year occurred. All the evidence Newman gives is from secondary sources. Therefore, this system of calculation does not solve the problem. The solution that is the most plausible is the one introduced by Anderson. He proposed that the length of the year should be calculated as 360 days. He called these 360-day years prophetic years. 54 This makes good sense for several reasons. First, with modern astronomy one can reckon a year very precisely as being days, or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, seconds. 55 However, in ancient times various systems were used. It was common during at least some parts of the histories of Egypt, 56 India, 57 Assyria and Babylon, 58 and Greece 59 to have twelve thirtyday months making a total of 360 days for the year and then to have some system of intercalating the other five days so that the year would come out correctly. Although it may be strange to present-day thinking, it was common in those days to think of a 360-day year. Second, in conjunction with the prophetic literature of the Bible, the 360-day year is used. Daniel s seventieth week is a good illustration of this fact. A covenant will be confirmed for the seven years of the seventieth week (Dan 9:27) but it will be broken in the middle of the week. In the last half of the week, or for three and one-half years, there will be the terrible persecution. This matches with the persecution mentioned in 7:24 25, which will last for a time, times, and half a time, or three and one-half years. This phrase is also mentioned in 12:7. However, it is not until one comes to the New Testament that the duration of the year is 53 Robert C. Newman, Daniel s Seventy Weeks and the Old Testament Sabbath-Year Cycle, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 16 (Fall 1973): Robert Anderson, The Coming Prince, 10th ed. (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1915), pp Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1964), p Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14th ed., s.v. Calendar, IV. Egyptian Calendar ; Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14th ed., s.v. Chronology, III. Egyptian ; Finegan, Biblical Chronology, pp. 29, 32; Horn and Wood, Jewish Calendar at Elephantine, p Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14th ed., s.v. Calendar, V. Hindu Calendar. 58 Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14th ed., s.v. Calendar, VI. Babylonian and Assyrian Calendars ; cf. Horn and Wood, Jewish Calendar at Elephantine, p Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14th ed., s.v. Calendar, VIII. Greek Calendar William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 21

22 known. John uses the same terminology of time, times, and half a time in Revelation 12:14. Speaking of the same situation within the same chapter, John says that the persecution will be for 1,260 days (12:6). John again uses this figure of 1,260 days in 11:3 and that period is also listed as being forty-two months in the previous verse (11:2). Also the forty-two month period is mentioned in 13:5, which speaks of the same period of persecution. Thus the forty-two months equals the 1,260 days, and that equals the time, times, and half a time or three and one-half years, which in turn equals the half week in Daniel 9:27. Hence the month is thirty days and the year is 360 days. Third, outside the prophetic literature the 360-day year is used one other time in the Bible. Genesis 7:11 states that the flood began on the seventeenth day of the second month. According to Genesis 8:4 the flood ended on the seventeenth day of the seventh month, exactly five months later. Genesis 7:24 and 8:3 state that the duration of the flood was 150 days. Hence five months equals 150 days or each month equals thirty days. Therefore, in the light of these observations the prophetic year of 360 days should not be too surprising. Does the 360-day year correlate with the date of the cutting off of the Messiah? Anderson multiplies the sixty-nine weeks by seven years for each week by 360 days and comes to the total of 173,880 days. His terminus a quo for the sixty-nine weeks is Nisan 1 in Artaxerxes twentieth year or March 14, 445 B.C. and his terminus ad quem is the triumphal entry on Nisan 10, April 6, A.D. 32. He shows that this works out perfectly. The time between 445 B.C. and A.D. 32 is 476 years; multiplying 476 by 365 days totals 173,740 days. He adds 116 days for leap years and 24 days for the difference between March 14 (of 445 B.C.) and April 6 (of A.D. 32) and thus arrives at a total of 173,880 days. 60 Anderson s calculations include some problems. First, in the light of new evidence since Anderson s day, the 445 B.C. date is not acceptable for Artaxerxes twentieth year; instead the decree was given in Nisan, 444 B.C. Second, the A.D. 32 date for the crucifixion is untenable. It would mean that Christ was crucified on either a Sunday or Monday. 61 In fact, Anderson realizes the dilemma and he has to do mathematical gymnastics to arrive at a Friday crucifixion. This makes one immediately suspect. Actually there is no good evidence for an A.D. 32 crucifixion date. In previous articles in this series it was concluded that Christ s crucifixion occurred on Friday, Nisan 14, in A.D. 33. Reckoning His death according to the Julian calendar, Christ died on Friday, April 3, A.D As discussed above, the terminus a quo occurred in Nisan, 444 B.C. Thus Nisan 1 in 444 B.C. was March 4, or more likely March 5 since the crescent of the new moon would have been first visible so late at 60 Anderson, The Coming Prince, pp J. K. Fotheringham, The Evidence of Astronomy and Technical Chronology for the Date of the Crucifixion, The Journal of Theological Studies 35 (April 1934): See Goldstine, New and Full Moons, p. 87; Parker and Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology, p. 46; Fotheringham, Evidence of Astronomy, pp ; Joachim Jeremias, The Eucharistic Words of Jesus, trans. Norman Perrin, 3d ed. (London: SCM Press, 1966), p William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 22

23 night (ca. 10 P.M.) on March 4 and could easily have been missed. 63 Using the prophetic year the calculation would be as follows. Multiplying the sixty-nine weeks by seven years for each week by 360 days gives a total of 173,880 days. The difference between 444 B.C. and A.D. 33 then is 476 solar years. By multiplying 476 by or by 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, seconds, one comes to 173,855 days, 6 hours, 52 minutes, 44 seconds, or 173,855 days. This leaves only 25 days to be accounted for between 444 B.C. and A.D. 33. By adding the 25 days to March 5 (of 444 B.C.), one comes to March 30 (or A.D. 33) which was Nisan 10 in A.D. 33. This is the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. 3 Therefore, we can see that the seventy weeks of Daniel of 490 prophetic years are divided into three segments: (1) 7 sevens (49 years): The decree of Artaxerxes in 444 B.C. (Neh. 2:1-8) to the completion of the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Dan. 9:25). (2) 62 sevens (434 years): The completion of the rebuilding of Jerusalem to Christ s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and crucifixion in 33 A.D. (Dan. 9:25-26) (3) 1 seven (7 years): Tribulation period (Dan. 9:27). Daniel s 70 Weeks (Daniel 9:24-27) Decree to rebuild Jerusalem in 444 B.C. Completion of the Rebuilding of Jerusalem Christ s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem Antichrist Antichrist s Breaks Treaty with Treaty Israel Rapture Second Advent of Christ 7 Weeks= 49 Years 62 Weeks = 434 Years 69 Weeks=483 Years Historical-Have Been Fulfilled Church Age 3 ½ Years 3 ½ Years 70 th Week-7 Years Eschatological- Future 63 Goldstine, New and Full Moons, p Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 132. (1975)., 132(525), William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 23

24 2013 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 24