DANIEL 8
THE MOST FASCINATING PROPECY IN THE BIBLE!
DANIEL CHAPTER 9:20-27
Roger Miller July 31 2011
Sadly; there are millions of people you who do not believe that the Bible is
literally the God’s revelation to man for his salvation. One reason to study
the whole book of Daniel, is it is one of the best evidences that the Bible is
the word of God. I am confident if the most hardened skeptic would only
study this one prophecy in Daniel 9 objectively he/she would agree this
pericope is from God!
Even though it is one of the best evidence of God’s hand in revelation, because
it is from God it is very difficult passage for man to understand. Edward J. Young
describes it as "one of the most difficult in all the OT, and the interpretations
which have been offered are almost legion. Stuart says that "it would require a
volume of considerable magnitude even to give a history of the ever-varying and
contradictory opinions that have been offered" With such a difficult passage
before us, we should ... Approach it with humility, and not dogmatically. Remember
your salvation is not dependent on your understanding of Daniel 9. I would also
urge us to not draw conclusions that would contradict clear teachings of
Scripture .
1. During a Time of Prayer Daniel 9:20-23
While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people
Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill— 21 while I
was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to
me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me
and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and under-
standing. 23 As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have
come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the
message and understand the vision:
The nineteen verses that precede these verses make it clear that Daniel
had been studying the scroll of the prophet Jeremiah, specifically Jeremiah 25:11
Which says; This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these
nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. As Daniel studies this
verse he realizes the seventy years is up and prays that God would keep his word
and send his people home.
Notice the basis of Daniels prayer was a plea for mercy, not for help, because he
knew that his people deserved God’s wrath and punishment. God sends his help, not because we deserve it, but because he wants to show great mercy. If God would
refuse to help us because of our sin, how could we complain? But when he sends
mercy instead of the punishment we deserve, how can we withhold our praise and
thanksgiving? Sometimes; we wrongly think idolatrous thoughts such as; God exists for my well being. Remember he is our creator, we were created for his pleasure.
Our prayers of help need to be grounded in mercy and putting God first!
Daniel receives more than he prayed for, isn’t that the way of our Heavenly Father? God will keep his word to send Israel home, but he sends the Angel Gabriel to answer his prayer and is given a victorious vision of God’s people over centuries! Truly God does not treat us as our sins deserve!
Gabriel was the angel provided explanation to Daniel regarding the vision of the ram and the goat (Dan 8:16), now proceeds to give details concerning what is to follow in the future of God’s people. Interestingly; The Hebrew and Greek words for angels originally mean messenger. These messengers in Scripture can be humans but most often are spiritual beings to help God’s Children. Listen to Hebrews 1:14; “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? “ What’s amazing about this is it implies our prayers as God’s children activate the angels of heaven into action! Keep Praying-Keep begging for God’s mercy!
2.THE VISION OF SEVENTY DANIEL 9:24
Seventy ‘sevens’[c] are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish[d]
transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in
everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the
most holy.
A. WEEKS?
If you have the NIV you will see right after the word Seventy-Sevens in quotes
with a textual note. If you have the KJV or the NASB it will read Seventy weeks.
So back to the NIV if you look at the note at the bottom of your bible it should
explain that . The word "weeks" in Hebrew is actually "sevens". So the best
translation would be to say; seventy Weeks. What does this mean? First, a week
means a unit of seven, just as a there are seven days in a week. Within the text it
means there are seventy units of seven or 490 days or units of time that Gabriel is
explaining to Daniel and us through the bible.
Most Bible student agree Daniel 9:4 likely refers to "weeks", but weeks of
what? 1)Possibility is that Weeks of days? Then it would be Prophecy 490
days into the future Few believe this to be the case, because it is a little
over a year and a half for all the prophecy to come true this is too little
time for all the prophecy to be fulfilled plus it fits no historical events.
Because every time frame of this passage has strengths and weaknesses, every
one to some extent interprets this passage figurative. The most widely held
belief is that each week represents a year, this means according to the Roman
calendar it would be 490 years. This is my view of the prophecy, and the
starting point I will use to flesh the passage out.
The weakness of this view is the Jews used a lunar calendar (360 days/yr), so
it would be 483 years according to our calendar. Many suggest this to be the
answer, but it is also not without difficulty. It’s problem is historical
landmarks are not where they should be. Some hold to the view The weeks are
years but not complete years. Those who hold to this teach it may just refer
to seventy complete periods of time. And each week may not be equivalent in
time (i.e.,one "week" may be longer than other "weeks") The weakness of this
is it seems to contradict the context of Gabriel’s giving exact periods of
time! Let me finish this point by saying: the time line is not as important
as what happens during the Seventy Sevens. But before we look into this, I
will give you the timeline we are going to work off of!
7 Weeks 49 Yrs 62 Weeks 434 YRS 31/2 3 1/2
l____________l_____________l__________t______________l_
Edict Jewish Jesus Min Christ Gospel
to Ezra Com restored begins is cut off taken to Gentiles
458 BC 409 BC 26 AD off 30 AD Gentiles 33 AD
Let’s fill in the details from the periscope of Daniel 9, to see what God has done.
1. Amazing Prophecy because it predicts when Israel Restored!
First, the Messiah would not come till Jerusalem would be Restored. Look at verse
25; “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree[f] to restore
and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One,[g] the ruler, comes, there will
be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a
trench, but in times of trouble.
At least three possible decrees may serve as the start of the 70 "weeks"
1) The decree of Cyrus (539-538 BC) In the first year of Cyrus king of
Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the
LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation
throughout his realm and to put it in writing: “This is what Cyrus king of
Persia says: “‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of
the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in
Judah. 3 Anyone of his people among you—may his God be with him, and let
him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God
of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And the people of any place where
survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods
and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in
Jerusalem.’” Ezra 1:1-4
If one starts here, then the 70 weeks could not be 490 literal years, for
that would place the end of the 70 weeks around 55 B.C. (much too early)
The appeal of using this decree as the starting point 1] It is the most well-
known decree regarding the restoration of Israel 2] It was given about the
time Daniel received his vision of the 70 weeks This decree is preferred by
many who do not hold to a literal 490 years such as(Young, Harkrider,
McGuiggan.)
2) The decree of Artaxerxes (458 BC) Now I decree that any of the Israelites
in my kingdom, including priests and Levites, who wish to go to Jerusalem with
you, may go. 14 You are sent by the king and his seven advisers to inquire
about Judah and Jerusalem with regard to the Law of your God, which is in
your hand. Ezr 7:13-14
This decree was to allow Ezra to restore the Law and its worship. Starting
here, 490 Julian years or the calendar we use, the prophecy would end the 70
weeks around 33 A.D. But 490 lunar years end the 70 weeks around 26 A.D.
seven years too early.
3) The second decree of Artaxerxes (445-444 BC) - cf. I also said to him, “If
it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates,
so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 8 And may I
have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so he will give me timber
to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city
wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of
my God was upon me, the king granted my requests. Neh 2:7,8
For Nehemiah to build the city and walls. If you Start here, with 490 lunar
years end the 70 weeks around 38 A.D. This would place the start of the 70th
week near the beginning of Jesus' public ministry (ca. 30 A.D.)There are
problems with the first 7 weeks ending around 396 B.C., which some contend is
too late for the restoration of the city.
Each starting date has its problems, but I lean towards decree ofArtaxerxes
in 458 B.C. as the start for this prophecy. More Importantly notice how out Heavenly Father treats his children, notice Israel is rebuilt in troubled times. God does not spoil his children, He is always faithful in his promises but requires us to work with him to bring about the Change our Heavenly Father wants.
2. Amazing Prophecy because it predicts when Israel’s Messiah would come!
Daniel 9:26,27 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off
and will have nothing.[h] The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the
city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until
the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with
many for one ‘seven.’[i] In the middle of the ‘seven’[j] he will put an end to
sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him
According to this verse Jesus would come in another 62 weeks. And as we have
already pointed out 62 times seven means 434 years. Add 434 on to 408 B.C. and
what is the result? 26 AD. This is important because that is the exact year that
Jesus Christ was baptized and began his Ministry. Think of that Gabriel gives
Daniel a glimpse almost 500 years in the future. How would you like to guess what
is going to happen 434 years into the future! Yet God knew in advance every event;
that would lead to the first coming of Jesus!
Daniel and the deported Jews needed this prophecy to assure them God is still on
the Throne and he still has the whole world in hand! After the last book as written
in the New Testament, there was almost 500 years of silence from God. Those
saints needed this message, so they would know that it was God not man using the
Meade’s and Persians to rebuild Jerusalem, That it would be God, who would use
the Greeks to give us a worldwide trade language so all could understand God’s
revelation and the Romans so all would hear about Jesus! We need it because we
get blasé about Christ second coming. Look at this Prophecy and know God kept his word and sent Jesus the first time-Know That Jesus is coming soon! We must be
ready, each day his second coming draws closer!
3. Amazing Prophecy of What God would do in seven Years we need to return
to Verse 24 Seventy ‘sevens’[c] are decreed for your people and your holy city
to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring
in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the
most holy.
Understand Premilleniall dispensationalist place the last 7 years Just Prior to the
Second Coming of Christ because this is a prophecy to the Jews so the church age
does not count. For me this is poor scriptural interpretation, because there is no
indication in the text that God intends this split of thousands of years. Let’s zero
in on What Jesus Came to do!
A. To Finish Transgression
Those who insist this is a ends times message, make this a literal ending of all sin.
But if you would lay out five of the most accurate Bible Translations The KJV,
NASB, ESV, NIV and RSV you would find that scholars who have spend their whole
life on translating this passage, their emerges several possible interpretations and
the least favored is the literal ending of all sin. In fact the marginal reading in the
NASB has "restrain" for finish. The idea is that Messiah Jesus would provide a
restraining power and influence which would check the progress of sin (Barnes),
until his return when sin is done away for all eternity.
Most translations link the word transgression to God’s People and God’s City.
NLT gives maybe the best insight into the passage when it states; “and your holy
city to finish their rebellion.” Daniel 9:24 NLT.
Older commentaries on this passage interpret this as the cup of iniquity would be
filled to the brim when Israel would reject their messiah Jesus! (Butler Daniel
college Press) There would be not greater sin than rejecting the Messiah sent to
save you. Matt 23:32 in the Amplified puts it this way: “Fill up, then, the
measure of your fathers' sins to the brim [so [a]that nothing may be
wanting to a full measure.” It is scary and hard to understand that we can sin to
the point of no-return-but it also makes sense that if only heavens Savior can save
us and we reject him, then we have put a whole in our life raft. Do not reject
Jesus, instead cling to him and be saved!
B. Put an End to Sin
The phrase Put an end to sin – may mean to take away sin, bring sin to final
judgment or seal up sin. The sealing up sin would be similar to locking it in prison.
Sin is removed and caused to be ineffective. Every one of these meaning is
fulfilled on the Cross of Jesus Christ; listen to Paul in Romans 3:21-26 NLT But
now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the
requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses[a] and the
prophets long ago.We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus
Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet
God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this
through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For
God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God
when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This
sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish
those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them
in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his
righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be
right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
C. Atone for Wickedness
The words Gabriel uses would bring back memories to Daniel of the blood being
sprinkled on the mercy seat, depicting the people’s sins being covered (Lev. 16:15,
16), but that ritual on the Day of Atonement was only a temporary appeasement
(Rom. 3:25). The Redeemer’s death is a permanent removal, and the Lord is
justified in expiating the iniquities of the faithful because the Son’s blood was
shed.
Most religions require specific duties that must be performed to make a person
acceptable to a god. Christianity is unique in that no good deed that we do will make us right with God. No amount of human achievement or personal goodness will close the gap between God’s moral perfection and our imperfect daily performance. This is Why only God can atone for sin; Only the perfect Lamb of God-Jesus could pay for our sins! Have you trusted in what Jesus did for you on Calvary?
D. Bring Everlasting Righteousness
There are parts to righteousness, one is called imputed righteousness, there is
righteousness God declares we have, but we do not merit. So we are righteous in
God’s eyes not because of what we have done, but because we have the
righteousness of Christ thru faith! Second; we have what I call practicing
righteousness, there are works that are prompted by out of faith and love for
Jesus. This is what Ephesians 2:10 NLT means; For we are God’s masterpiece.
He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he
planned for us long ago.
One reason why the Jews were rejected as a nation is found in the fact that they
did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish
their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Romans 10:3 We are
no different than Israel we are not saved by our own works, but the righteous
works of Jesus Christ! Let us all say with faith out loud Romans 10:4 Christ is
the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who
believes.
E. Seal up Prophecy
I believe without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is the end, the fulfillment
of all OT prophecy and he will be the Amen at the second coming! This what Paul
was getting at in 2 Corinthians 1:20 when he writes For no matter how many
promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the
“Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. All of God’s promises of what the
Messiah would be like are fulfilled in Christ (“he is the divine Yes”). Jesus
was completely faithful in his ministry; he never sinned (1 Peter 3:18); he
faithfully died for us (Hebrews 2:9); and now he faithfully intercedes for us
(Romans 8:34; Hebrews 4:14-15). Because Jesus Christ is faithful, Paul
wanted to be faithful to Jesus, just as our obedience should be based on our
love for Jesus!
F. Anoint the Holy One
The anointing of the messiah or God’s Holy one occurs without a definite
article meaning it is not a place but a thing. Literally it should read the
anointing of Holiness of Holiness. Peter confirms this is fulfilled in Jesus
during the first Century when he preached to the centurion saying: You know what
has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that
John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit
and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under
the power of the devil, because God was with him. Acts 10:37,38.
CONCLUSION: Daniel 9 is the most amazing prophecy of scripture. It is
precise on when the Messiah would come and what he would do when he came.
One day, all of the prophecies that are about his second coming will come
true as well. That is why Jesus warns us in 25:13; Therefore keep watch, because
you do not know the day or the hour. Are you ready for Jesus to come back
right now? Have you accepted him as Lord and Savior? Have you put on the
righteousness of Christ? Galatians 3:26-29 tells us how; You are all sons of God
through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ
have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave
nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you
belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the
promise. You can know the fulfillment of Daniel 9 by coming in contact with the
blood of Jesus at baptism.
