“Seventy weeks are appointed for your people and for your holy city, to put an end to transgression, and to put away sins, and to cover iniquity, and to establish everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the holy of holies. Know then and understand that from the time of the decree to restore and build Jerusalem to the anointed the prince 7 weeks and 62 weeks elapse; Roads and ditches are being built again, and at a time of urgency. And after the 62 weeks the anointed one will be put to death and have nothing; but the city and sanctuary will be destroyed by the people of the future prince, and the end will come like a flood; and to the end there will be war, devastation determined. For a week he will strengthen the covenant for many. In the middle of the week he will stop sacrifice and grain offerings, and abominations of desolation will be set up on the wing until the decreed end is poured out on him.”
(Daniel 9,24:27-XNUMX SL/ELB/KJV/NIV)

The context of the prophecy

Daniel was a young Jew from Judea who was deported to Babylon. As a Jew, he was faithful to Gd* and awaited the end of the exile. He knew that according to the prophet Jeremiah it would take seventy years. At the beginning of the eighth chapter of his book, Daniel tells us that he was "in the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar" (Daniel 8,1:XNUMX), at the very end of that period.

In the eighth chapter, Gd* gave Daniel a vision in which he heard angels talking to one another. One of them said to him: »Up to 2300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be justified.” (Daniel 8,14:2300) Daniel did not understand these words. For him, the justification of the sanctuary meant the rebuilding of the temple and Jerusalem, ie the end of the Babylonian exile. But the angel had said "2300 evenings and mornings" (for Jews this meant XNUMX days).

Daniel knew that according to the divine principle of symbolic interpretation of prophetic time, the rule was that one day equals one year. This point was confirmed when the angel said to him, "Now what was said about the vision of the evenings and mornings is true; and you should keep your face, because it refers to days that are far off.« (Daniel 8,26:2300) 70 days are only slightly more than six years. Daniel understood that the angel's words only made sense when he applied the principle that one day equals a year. But that would mean that Gd would have postponed the liberation of the Jews far into the future. But that would have contradicted Jeremiah's prophecy of XNUMX years of exile.

Chapter eight of Daniel concludes with Daniel falling ill because he does not understand the vision: 'But I, Daniel, lay ill for several days before I could get up and attend to the king's business. But I was amazed at the sight, and no one understood it." (Daniel 8,27:XNUMX)

The Good News of Prophecy

When the eighth chapter ended, Daniel wasn't particularly happy or relaxed. He waited for the exile to end, but the angel seemed to be telling him that it would be a long time before Jerusalem would be justified.

Daniel thought: The sins of Israel must be so great that Gd postponed the return of the captives to Jerusalem. So Daniel confessed the sins of his people in a wonderful prayer for Jerusalem and her people (Daniel 9,1:19-XNUMX).

When Daniel was praying for the Holy City of Jerusalem (Daniel 9,17:18-XNUMX), an angel was sent to him to help him understand the matter of Jerusalem and answer his prayer. Daniel's prayer was not only heard, but answered. Gd didn't just want to comfort him about Jerusalem. He also made him see the Messiah who would bring forgiveness to his people.

Daniel 9 is the real good news of the coming of the Messiah. The vision revealed the exact date of his arrival. "Seventy weeks are appointed for your people and for your holy city, to put an end to transgression, and to put away sins, and to cover guilt, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the holy of holies." (Daniel 9,24:XNUMX)

In that short period of time, the seventy weeks, the Almighty would:
put an end to the transgression
dismiss the sins
cover the guilt
establish eternal justice
Seal vision and prophets
anoint the holy of holies
In short, He would send Mashiach-Nagid, the Messiah Prince (Daniel 9,25:XNUMX), awaited since Adam and Eve. What good news for Israel!

The Messiah is killed

This prophecy is not a commission to Israel, but predicts what the Messiah will do and what He will accomplish through His ministry when Gd's light reaches the nations.

The Mashiach-Nagid will come in due time and:
put an end to the transgression
dismiss the sins
cover the guilt
establish eternal justice
Seal vision and prophets
anoint the holy of holies

But how? The Almighty wanted to explain to Israel that all atonement, all forgiveness, could only be effected through death, the death of the sinner or a substitute. The story of the Aqedat Yitzhak (the binding of Isaac) is in the Bible as an illustration of this substitution. Abraham's son Isaac was to die. But at the last moment, Gd sent a ram to die in his place.

This biblical truth shows us that Mashiach, who would give us righteousness and eternal life, was willing to die in our place.

That is why Daniel 9,26:XNUMX says explicitly: "The anointed will be killed and have nothing." He will be killed in the middle of last week: "In the middle of the week he will stop offerings and grain offerings." (Daniel 9,27:XNUMX)

Israel had received forgiveness for its sins through the sacrifices in the temple. These sacrifices symbolically pointed to the Messiah's death for the sins of Israel (cf. Isaiah 53). By his death the Messiah would now put away sin and seal the vision and the prophecy.

The end of the prophecy

As already mentioned, in prophetic times the number of days corresponds to whole years. When the angel spoke of seventy "sevens," he meant seventy seven-day weeks or 70 x 7 = 490 days or years. This period is divided into three periods: 1) seven weeks, 2) 62 weeks and 3) one week.

The first segment of 7 weeks or 49 years was the direct answer to Daniel's prayer. She announces the rebuilding of Jerusalem: "From the time of the decree to restore and build Jerusalem" (Daniel 9,25:49) to its implementation would be 457 years (408-XNUMX BC).

The second segment of 62 weeks or 434 years points to the anointing of the Messiah. "From the time of the decree to restore and build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, 7 weeks and 62 weeks elapse." (Daniel 9,25:69) This means: 7 x 483 = 408 (27 BC – 27 AD). Exactly in AD XNUMX, Yeshua was immersed in the mikveh (bath) of the Jordan.

The last segment of 1 week or 7 years concludes the 490 years of prophecy. During that time the covenant would be strengthened (Daniel 9,27:31). In the middle of that week the Mashiach-Nagid would be killed. And again the prophecy was fulfilled: Yeshua died at the hands of the Roman soldiers on the eve of Passover in AD 53,10. But he was resurrected as the prophecy in Isaiah 27:34 had foretold. In the last prophetic week from AD XNUMX to XNUMX, he strengthened the covenant with all who became his talmidim (disciples).

There is not enough space to explain the precise timing, but Ezra 7 describes the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. He can be dated to the year 457 BC. date. The prophecy covered a period of 490 years. That means it ended in AD 34. The year 34 is an important year in salvation history. That year the Pharisee did Sha'ul Teshuvah (repentance) and became a Shaliach (Apostle). He was sent to bring G'd's light to the Gentiles, i.e. to fulfill the commission of Israel, Or la Goyim to be (»a light for the nations«). The end of the prophecy was that the covenant was extended to the nations. This was done through the ministry of Rabbi Sha'ul, also known as the Apostle Paul.

Original: Richard Elofer, The Prophecy of Daniel 9, A Good News for the Jewish People

*German Jews have the habit of not writing the vowel in the word G'tt or H'RR and instead write it adonai or Hashem to read. For them, this is an expression of reverence god.

Recommended link:
https://wjafc.globalmissioncenters.org/