Page 287 - Daniel

second advent of Jesus Christ that closes the seventieth seven of Israel as
well as the times of the Gentiles pictured in Daniel’s prophecies of the
four great world empires. For most of the period, the two great lines of
prophecy relating to the Gentiles and Israel run concurrently. And both
end with the same major event—the second advent of Jesus Christ, when

oppressed Israel is delivered and the oppressor, the Gentiles, are judged.
With Israel today back in the land, the fulfillment of these prophecies
may not be too distant.

Excursis: The Prophecy of the “Seventy Weeks”

THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The historical context of Daniel 9 argues strongly for Daniel
understanding the seventy “weeks” to refer to weeks of years—a total of
490 years. First, Daniel was studying the prophecies of Jeremiah that
stated that Jerusalem’s desolation would last seventy years (Jer. 25:11–
12; 29:10). The compiler of Chronicles explained that Israel’s captivity

had to last seventy years “to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of
Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay
desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years” (2 Chron. 36:21). The
“Sabbaths” being kept were the previously disregarded Sabbatical years
that God had commanded so that the land would remain fallow (Lev.
25:1–5).

In the covenant curses God announced that the ultimate curse would
be expulsion from the land. “Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as

long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the
land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths” (Lev. 26:34). It seems likely that
Daniel understood that the seventy-year captivity was the fulfillment of
the seventy Sabbatical years that Israel had failed to keep while in the
land. In response to his prayer, God decreed that another “seventy
sevens” must occur before God’s final restoration would be completed. In
context, Daniel would have assumed the “weeks” also referred to

Sabbatical years. Thus God was announcing an additional time period of
490 years (70 × 7).

Before any attempt can be made to match the prophecy to history, one