Message for THE LORD S DAY MORNING, August 12, 2012 MESSAGE 13 in Daniel Sermon Series) Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister (This message is in memory of my late father, Bob G. Braziel, who would have been 78 years old today) The Prophecy of The 70 Weeks (Message 13 in Daniel Sermon Series) Daniel 9:20-27 (NKJV) As we continue with our series of messages from the Book of Daniel, please turn with me to Daniel chapter nine. Let s read VERSES 20-27. Daniel 9:20-27 (NKJV) The Seventy-Weeks Prophecy 20 Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God, 21 yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. 22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. 23 At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision: 24 Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.
P R A Y E R 25 Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate. ******************************************************************************************** I N T R O D U C T I O N When it comes to interpreting biblical prophecy there is a very important foundational rule and that is: If the PLAIN SENSE makes GOOD SENSE, don t try to make some OTHER SENSE, Or it may result in NO SENSE. (nonsense) The passage we are looking at this morning has been interpreted in every way imaginable. But in the end there is only one interpretation that really makes any sense. And it is this interpretation that helps us to make sense out of the Book of Revelation. With the Lord s help I will try to explain this interpretation in this message. (P A U S E )
When we last left Daniel he was praying for the Lord s forgiveness of his sins and the sins of Israel. We learn in verses 20-23 23 that while Daniel was still praying God sent the angel Gabriel to deliver a very important prophetic message in answer to his prayer. Some people believe angels are omnipresent like God Himself, but they are not. Angels cannot be every where at once. Now how quickly can an angel travel? Gabriel informs Daniel in verse 23 that he left on his journey as soon as Daniel started praying, and we learn in verse 20 that Gabriel arrived before Daniel finished his prayer. And you thought those Olympic sprinters were fast! The fact that Daniel recognized Gabriel from his earlier vision tells us angels have recognizable features. Hebrews 13:2 says, Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. Now I want to draw your attention to the way Gabriel addresses Daniel in VERSE 23.. VERSE 23 v.23 At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are GREATLY BELOVED. Now why is that significant? It is significant because the greatest source of prophecy in the New Testament is the apostle John, and the greatest source of prophecy in the Old Testament is Daniel. John was called the disciple whom Jesus loved. And Daniel is called greatly beloved. Both John and Daniel exhibited an extraordinary love and devotion to God. Perhaps this is why these two men were selected by God to bear the great prophetic messages we find in the Book of Daniel and The Book of Revelation. This now brings us to the prophetic message Gabriel delivered to Daniel. Gabriel s message was basically this: Daniel, God is going to successfully accomplish His divine plan for Israel over a specified number of years. In vs. 24-27 27 Gabriel gives Daniel the details. vs. 24 27
First of all let s consider.. I. The NUMBER of God s Divine Plan (v.24) 24 Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy. 1. Notice that first sentence, Seventy weeks are determined. In order to understand this prophecy we must understand something about the ancient Jewish dating system. 2. In our current culture we use a number of common terms to describe increments of years. For instance we know if someone says a decade they mean 10 years. If someone says a a century they mean 100 years. And if someone says a millennium they mean 1,000 years. 3. Likewise the ancient Jews had a number of common ways to describe increments of time. If someone said a week of days the Jewish people knew that meant a literal seven day week. But if someone said a week of years the Jewish people understood that to mean a a period of seven years. 4. The Hebrew term used in verse 24 is the word shabua. Seventy shabua are determined Or literally Seventy weeks of years are determined. Now do the math.. One week of years equals 7 YEARS. Seventy weeks of years equals 490 YEARS. 70 x 7 years = 490 years.
5. Now something else that must be taken into account is the length of a Jewish year. The ancient Jews operated by the lunar calendar, today we operate by the solar calendar. The lunar calendar year was 360 days or twelve 30-day months. Our solar calendar year is 365 days or twelve months consisting of a varying number of days from 28 days to 31 days. 6. Got all that? If you are mathematically challenged like me your brain may be smoking by now. The main thing I want you to remember for now is that Gabriel is revealing to Daniel God s divine plan for the Jewish people after they are released from Babylonian captivity. That plan would encompass a period of 490 years. There will be some more math problems later, but for now let s move on to.. II. The NATURE of God s Divine Plan 1. Verses 24-27 can be broken down into four very distinct periods. -Verse 24 gives us an overview of the entire 490 years. (Or 70 weeks of years) -Verse 25 describes the first 483 years or the first 69 weeks. -Verse 26 tells us the gap between the 69 th and 70 th week. -And Verse 27 tells us what will happen during the 70 th week. 2. Now let s go back and consider the details. (A) The Overview of The Entire 490 Years (70 Weeks) (verse 24) v.24 Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.
You see in this verse six initiatives God intends to accomplish during those 70 Weeks or 490 years. (1) To finish the transgression The Jewish people were guilty of many transgressions against God. Daniel has mentioned those many sins in his prayer earlier in this chapter. The transgressions of the Jewish people will not be brought to their complete finish until the second coming of Christ. (2) To make an end of sins This points to Christ s final judgment against the sins of the Jewish people as well as all mankind. (Revelation 20:11-15) (3) To make reconciliation for iniquity. This points to the cutting off of crucifixion of the Messiah. (see verse 26) (4) To bring in everlasting righteousness Here God is promising to bring righteousness back to the Jewish people after several thousand years of national apostasy. This righteousness will not come to Israel until the end of time. (5) To seal up vision and prophecy Here God is promising to bring all the visions and prophecies He has given to Daniel to their ultimate fulfillment. There we no longer be any need of visions and prophecies. (6) And to anoint the Most Holy This points to the day when Christ will come in glory and reign with His saints for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4-6) After giving Daniel an overview of the entire 70 weeks or 490 years, Gabriel now tells Daniel about..
(B) The first 69 weeks (483 years) v. 25 Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there shall be seven weeks and sixty two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. Notice Gabriel gives Daniel a very specific starting point and stopping point of the first 69 weeks. The starting point would be the day the command would be issued to start the reconstruction of Jerusalem. We find that date in Nehemiah 2:1-8. Nehemiah 2:1 says And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him that I took wine and gave it to the king. It was during that meeting with Artaxerxes that Nehemiah requested that the King give him official papers to go back to Jerusalem and begin reconstructing the city and the walls which had been destroyed by the Babylonians when they took the Jewish people into captivity. On that very day Artaxerxes issued the command to restore and build Jerusalem. Now let s do a little math. Artaxerxes became king in 465 B.C. Nehemiah 2:1 says he issued the decree in the twentieth year of his reign, which would have been 445 B.C. (remember you count backwards in the B.C. years) The first day of Nisan is MARCH 14 TH on our calendar. Now you notice in verse 25 Gabriel said there shall be seven seven weeks and sixty two weeks. Seven weeks would equal 49 years. The Bible tells us it only took Nehemiah 52 days to reconstruct the wall. (Nehemiah 6:15) But history tells us it took 49 years to clean up all the debris left from the destruction of Jerusalem. And during that time there was strong opposition from the Arabas and Samaritans. The 62 WEEKS in verse 25 would account for the remaining 434 YEARS. So the starting point of the first 69 weeks was March 14, 445 B.C.
The stopping point of the first 69 weeks according to Gabriel was the coming of Messiah the Prince. Now here is where it gets interesting, so stay with me. This first 69 WEEKS equaled 483 YEARS. Each year was 360 days long. If you multiply 483 x 360 you get 173,800 days. Starting with the day Artaxerxes issued the decree to start rebuilding Jerusalem, which was MARCH 14, 445 B.C. and add 173,800 DAYS you come to APRIL 6, 32 A.D. According to Sir Robert Anderson in his Chronology of Jewish History, April 6, 32 A.D. was the day Jesus made His Triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Gabriel had told Daniel that from the day the decree went forth to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince would come would be 69 WEEKS OF YEARS or 483 YEARS. This now brings us to. (C) The Gap between the 69 TH and 70 TH Weeks v. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war of desolations are determined. When Daniel was told that six things must happen in order to complete the prophecy of THE 70 WEEKS, Gabriel listed them: -To finish transgression. -To make an end of sins. -To make reconciliation for iniquity. -To bring in everlasting righteousness. -To seal up vision and prophecy. -And to anoint the Most Holy. Have these things occurred? Is there an end to sin in the world? Have the Jewish people been reconciled to God yet? Has everlasting righteousness come to the Jewish people yet? It is obvious these prophecies have yet to be fulfilled. There are two events recorded in this 26 TH verse that are of great importance as it relates to God s dealings with the Jewish people.
The first event was the cutting off of the Messiah. This of course is referring to the crucifixion of Jesus. The Jewish people did not recognize Jesus as their promised Messiah. The Jewish people rejected Christ and even called for His crucifixion. John 1:10,11 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. So after 69 WEEKS or 483 YEARS God s dealings with the Jewish people was put on hold, and it has been on hold ever since. During this gap this halt in the prophetic plan a number of key things have happened. -For one, JERUSALEM was once again destroyed. This destruction occurred in the year 70 A.D. by the Roman Empire.. This is the second event recorded in VERSE 26. - But something else has happened during this gap this halt between the 69 TH and 70 TH WEEKS. You see, during this gap we have been living in the Church age. For over 2,000 years now, God has been offering His salvation to the Gentile world, the salvation that the Jews rejected when they crucified Jesus. -Also during this gap the Jewish people have been scattered all over the world. And as we have noted before in this series, it wasn t until 1948 that Israel once again became a nation. This brings us to where we are at this very moment in this prophecy. We are still living in the Church age, we don t know how much longer it will continue. We are still in the gap between the 69 TH and 70 TH WEEKS KS. But God, who is faithful to fulfill every promise and every prophecy, is NOT done with the Jewish people. That brings us to.
(D) The 70 TH WEEK v. 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate. There are two things I would have you to notice First of all notice Gabriel says, Then he shall confirm a covenant. Who is the he Gabriel is referring to? He is a reference to the Antichrist. This is the little horn Daniel had seen in his vision in Daniel chapter 7.. Secondly, notice the period of time. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for ONE WEEK. This doesn t mean one week as in seven days. It means one week of years, in other words seven years. There is the 70 TH WEEK Gabriel spoke about. This is the period of time that has yet to happen called The Tribulation. As noted in this 27 TH VERSE the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation period will be a time of peace. This is what Gabriel means when he tells Daniel, Then he shall confirm a covenant (or a peace treaty) with many for one week. Many Bible scholars believe it will be during this time of peace, the Antichrist will permit the Jewish people to build the new Temple in Jerusalem and resume their daily sacrifices. But then notice Gabriel says something drastic will happen in the middle of week or in the middle of the seven years. All the sudden the Antichrist will put a stop to the sacrifices and offerings and set himself up in the Temple to be worshiped as God. Gabriel calls this The abomination that causes desolation. During those last 3 ½ years of the Tribulation many of the Jewish people will do what their forefathers didn t do when Christ came two thousand years ago. They will accept Christ as their Messiah, their Savior. And many of the Jews, if not most, will be brutally martyred for their faith in Christ.
C O N C L U S I O N Now I realize I have given you a whole lot more information this morning than you will ever remember. I would be the first to admit that all this information about 70 WEEKS and SEVEN WEEKS and SIXTY TWO WEEKS and ONE WEEK can be quite mind-boggling. But here is what I pray you will take away from this message. One, that God is NOT finished with the Jewish people. In spite of all the rebellion and rejection and spiritual ups and downs the Jewish people have been through, GOD IS STILL FAITHFUL TO KEEP THE COVENANT HE MADE WITH ABRAHAM ALMOST 5,000 YEARS AGO. And the other thing I hope you will remember from this message is that BY GOD S GRACE, HE OFFERED YOU AND ME THE SALVATION THROUGH CHRIST THAT THE JEWS REJECTED. And were it not for the AMAZING GRACE of GOD you and I would be forever lost in our sins.