Week 11 - The Seventy Weeks

The Prayer of Daniel - Daniel 9:1-19

• 9:1 Darius, son of Ahasuerus. Uncle and father-in-law of Cyrus. Which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans. I.e. appointed by Cyrus, not Cyrus himself. Also, father of Esther's Artaxerces and according to Jewish tradition, he gave Belshazzar's daughter Vashti to his son as a wife.
• 9:2 Daniel is counting the years of Jeremiahs prophecy, written in books (scrolls as opposed to clay tablets) and sees the 70 years are about up.
• 9:3 A sure fire way to get your prayer answered is to pray for what God has already prophesied!
• A 9:4 Adoration
• C 9:5-14 Confession
• T 9:15 Thanksgiving
• S 9:16-19 Supplication

The Seventy Weeks - Daniel 9:20-26

• 9:21 The man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, touched me. [Daniel 8:15]
• 9:23 Gabriel is commanded to brief Daniel on the future on Israel. "consider the vision" - he is providing more detail about the vision of Daniel 8.
• 9:24 This briefing concerns Jerusalem and the people of Israel. The 70 years prophesied by Jeremiah are extended by 70 weeks of years. In 490 years God will:
  • finish the transgression
  • make an end of sins
  • make reconciliation for iniquity
  • bring in everlasting righteousness
  • "seal up" the vision and prophecy
  • anoint the Most Holy
• 9:25 The commandment to rebuild Jerusalem was given by Artaxerces in 457BC, and starts the 70 weeks prophesied by the Gabriel. [Ezra 7:7-26] It took 7 weeks of years to rebuild Jerusalem. In another 62 weeks, Jesus began his ministry - 483 years from the commandment, or 27AD. (The precise date of Jesus' birth is controversial, but this makes Him around 30.)
• 9:26 Some time after the 62 weeks, the Messiah was cut off, and the Romans destroyed Jerusalem by war. "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh." Luke 21:20

  From AD 66 to 70, over a million Jews were killed, and over 90000 taken as slaves. "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Luke 21:24

The Seventieth Week - Daniel 9:27

• 9:27 (preterist version) More precisely, the Messiah would confirm the covenant with Israel for 1 week (the 70th week), and end sacrifice and oblation as far as God was concerned in the middle of that week. Jesus was anointed as the Most Holy and confirmed the covenant for 3½ years through personal ministry, then made reconcilation for iniquity, and an end of sins to bring in everlasting righteousness. The Shekinah glory of God left the temple, leaving it desolate. He would continue confirming the covenant through His disciples for another 3½ years before Jewish leaders fully rejected Messiah and began persecuting His followers. The further desolations of verse 26 will be poured out upon the desolate city, and the Shekinah Glory will not return to the temple until the consummation of the age of the Gentiles.
• 9:27 (premillenial version) Fast forward 2000+ years. "He" suddenly refers to the little horn of Daniel 7:24-26, who will make a lying covenant with Israel for 1 week (the 70th week, disconnected from the previous 69), and in the midst of the week, i.e. after 3½ years, he outdoes the little horn of the Goat kingdom in defiling the temple and persecuting the Jews for another 3½ years (the Great Tribulation) until the second 2nd coming consummates the age of the Gentiles. The long gap between the 69th and 70th week is called the "Church Age".