20151220 Sunday, December 20 2015
Daniel 09: The Seventy Sevens In History And Prophecy

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks"

Daniel was one of the greatest true prophets of all time because he faithfully delivered the Word of God, purely and precisely, as the LORD (see The Identity Of The LORD God and The LORD God Our Saviour) had given it to him - just as the LORD had done with all of the true prophets before him. Notice how Daniel knew that the exile of the people of Judah would last seventy years simply by reading the Word of God as it was given to an earlier prophet i.e. "I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem" (see The LORD's Letter To The Exiles In Babylon).

"9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans [see also The Medes And Chaldees Prophecies]; 9:2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. 9:3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes" (Daniel 9:1-3 KJV)

Based on his historic knowledge of the reason that the people of Judah had brought the wrath of the LORD upon themselves, along with the prophetic knowledge that the duration of the exile would be for a prescribed time of seven decades, one day Daniel prayed to the LORD with a very specific request. The prayer began with a confession of Judah's guilt: "We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments" (see Why Did Judah Fall To Babylon?).

"9:4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God [i.e. Daniel was a Christian - see Who Is The LORD?], and made my confession, and said,

O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant [see Israel In History and Prophecy: The New Covenant] and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; 9:5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 9:6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

9:7 O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah [see Israel In History and Prophecy: Kingdom Of Judah], and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel [see Israel In History and Prophecy: The Lost Ten Tribes], that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. 9:8 O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 9:9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 9:10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets [see Israel In History and Prophecy: The Prophets]. 9:11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.

9:12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 9:13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. 9:14 Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice." (Daniel 9:4-14 KJV)

Daniel was aware of the promise of the prophesied return - there was no need to pray about that. But he prayed that the people of Judah would, while in Babylon, not further make themselves unworthy of the return, "for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies."

"9:15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 9:16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.

9:17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the LORD's sake. 9:18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 9:19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name." (Daniel 9:15-19 KJV)

"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city"

Many have sought to "interpret" a meaning for themselves (or even, for those who claim themselves to be so great that, in their delusional minds, the Holy Bible is merely about themselves and their present-day politics) about "Daniel's seventy weeks prophecy" (as it is commonly known). It has long been one of the most debated and disputed prophecies of the Holy Bible - variously used to calculate the year of the Messiah's first coming after the Babylonian exile, to the yet-future time of His Return, to specific Messianic events. Amazingly, even the true Church of God has held differing views of Daniel's vision, which was given to him, and then explained to him, by Gabriel: "I am come to show thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision." The "seventy weeks prophecy" was an answer to Daniel's prayer, as we read above, for an "exodus" out of "Babylon."

"9:20 And whiles I was speaking, and 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; 9:21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. 9:22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. 9:23 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision." (Daniel 9:20-23 KJV)

Note carefully however that the next statement is addressed to Daniel personally.

"9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy." (Daniel 9:24 KJV)

Keeping in mind that the people of Judah were returning to Jerusalem solely for the purpose of the coming Messiah, the prophecy then becomes entirely Messianic ("to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah") and dynamic. Just as Daniel was also given prophecies about the multi-fulfillment "abomination of desolation" (see the Fact Finder question below), so too the "weeks" of prophecy apply to the restoration of Jerusalem from the exile (a necessary fulfillment for the others to happen), the abomination of desolations (plural), including the 42-month (3 ½ years) infestation by the antichrist, the "cutting off" of the Messiah and the ultimate restoration of the His Sacrifice (see the Fact Finder question below).

"9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." (Daniel 9:25-27 KJV)

Fact Finder: What are the elements of the fulfillments (plural) of "the seventy weeks" prophecy?
See A History Of Jerusalem: Abomination Of Desolation and The Holy Place In History And Prophecy; also What Happened When The Messiah Arrived In Heaven? and The Temple Vessel Prophecies Today