IT may be thought, from what I have said in my paper on Dan. 9 that Christ was cut off at THE END OF THE WEEK, that is, in the twelfth month of the seventh year. Till very recently I own I had no definite thought on the subject. Now, however, I see that this could not be, because of the Passover being fixed to the fourteenth day of the first month, on which day, we know, that the crucifixion of Jesus took place. This, it may be thought, interferes with my views of the prophecy—a conclusion which, I am thankful to say, has no foundation whatever. On the contrary, I hail this discovery as a fresh ray of light on the subject, which greatly adds to my previous convictions about it. What I have taught is, that the seventieth week was canceled, in consequence of Israel's rejection of Christ, but the exact time of His death I had not noticed, nor considered indeed. True, I have spoken of His testimony to the nation as occupying the second half of the week, as that of John the Baptist had occupied the first half thereof. Now, if what I have just said be true, this was not actually the case, inasmuch as, after His death, the Lord's personal connection with Israel had entirely ceased, He having to do, during the interval between His resurrection and His ascension to heaven, with His disciples alone. Still, in God's mind, according to the analogy of scripture, and on the principle, that if a period be entered upon, the whole of it is taken into account, the latter half of the week, down to its closing hour, is to be viewed in this light, notwithstanding the fact that Christ having died, therein accomplishing the work of atonement, having risen again, and ascended to heaven the actual testimony to Israel at this time was that of the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of Peter, and others, to Christ as the sheaf of first-fruits, the Son of God raised from the dead.
And now, if it be asked, if Christ did not die at the close of the week, what event are we to look for in scripture as marking this crisis? This is a question, which I believe, none can decidedly answer; certain it is that it was not the descent of the Holy Ghost recorded in Acts 2 seeing that this occurred on the day of Pentecost, the fiftieth day after the Passover, in the third month, and not in the twelfth, at the close of the week. No event that I know of can we decidedly connect with this moment, however we conjecture about it. But while this is the case, we do know how it ought to have been—that not only the SABBATICAL YEAR, but also THE JUBILEE, ought to have come in before then. Not the type, but the antitype, the great reality to which these two Levitical ordinances, from one fiftieth year to another, through the whole course of Israel's history, bore witness. The year in which Jesus was crucified) we know, was the last year of the week, and therefore the seventh, or sabbatical year, and, not only so, but the forty-ninth from the foregoing jubilee, ushering in, as it did, in the seventh month thereof, A FRESH YEAR OF JUBILEE, which, had Israel been faithful, had they discerned in the lowly Jesus of Nazareth their Messiah, their King, their Deliverer, would have proved to be, NOT THE TYPE, BUT THE ANTITYPE—THE YEAR OF ACCOMPLISHED REDEMPTION, THE JUBILEE ACCORDING TO GOD.
Again, that we may understand this a little more clearly, let us consider the jubilee, as we find it, in Leviticus 25. The law connected therewith was as follows. The children of Israel were forbidden to sell their lands for a longer space than forty-nine years. Within that time they might sell and buy as they chose, and if an estate had been sold, the owner thereof might redeem it, or, if he were too poor so to do, his nearest of kin was allowed to purchase it for him. But in the jubilee, the Lord Himself took the place, and acted the part of kinsman to such, and, without money or price, his land came back to him free. A beautiful type this of redemption through Christ, of that redemption which was in the mind of the two disciples in Luke 24:2121But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. (Luke 24:21), of the year foretold by Isaiah in that wonderful prophecy "The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." (Isa. 61:1, 21The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; (Isaiah 61:1‑2)) From all this we assuredly gather, that the redemption of Israel is that to which the year of jubilee pointed. But while it is so, I feel sure that, not Israel only, but the church of God, in like manner (more faintly foreshown, it is true), holds its place in the scene, and most suitably so, because this being the most full type in scripture of the times of refreshing, we might be prepared to find it foreshadowing the whole of God's purpose, even that which concerned the CHURCH, as well as that which related to ISRAEL, TOGETHER WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD. Here then, with a view to our seeing how this is, we may turn to Lev. 25, in order to see how the year of jubilee was produced, and in what relation it stood to the Levitical order of time. "Seven times seven," or forty-nine years, we there see, was the interval between every jubilee. The jubilee itself being designated NOT THE FORTY-NINTH, BUT THE FIFTIETH YEAR, a statement which might lead to the conclusion that, in the ordinary way, it succeeded the forty-ninth year. This, however, was not the case, seeing that it began on the tenth day of the seventh month of this forty-ninth, or seventh sabbatical year, reckoning from the foregoing jubilee, which, with us, would be the fiftieth year, but which with Israel was the first of the next series of years. Thus it came in as a link, so to speak, between these two years, taking in THE LAST HALF OF ONE AND THE FIRST HALF OF THE OTHER, embracing, in this way, the SEVENTH YEAR AND THE FIRST, namely, the forty-ninth, or seventh sabbatical year, and the first year of a new week. Now in all this, as before said, the twofold state of the true year of jubilee opens upon us, here we discern in figure "the days of heaven upon the earth" for which the whole creation is waiting,—"The bridal of the earth and sky," as the poet Herbert has said. This is clear, when we remember what the millennium will be, even the seventh and last age of the world, during which the Jews, together with the worshipping Gentiles, will dwell upon earth, under the peaceful scepter of Christ, the true Son of David, while the church in the heavens above, having passed beyond the limits of earth and of time altogether, will share the kingdom with Christ, her glorified Head. Thus the joy will be twofold, time and eternity mingling together, when the glorified church in the heavens above, will unite with the elect upon earth in adoring the Lamb, in singing the song of redemption.
This view, it will be Seen, is based on the fact that THE SABBATH, OR SEVENTH DAY of the week, was to Israel the pledge of the millennial rest upon earth—while the resurrection of Christ from the dead, on the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, has secured to the church a place of unequaled dignity and blessing, on high, with Him, her glorified Head. Here then, agreeing with this, in our type, the seventh year and the first, one expressive of time, the other of that which passes beyond it, even eternity, mingle together, so as to form THE JUBILEE, THE FIFTIETH YEAR, SO as to foreshadow the day when the children of the resurrection, like the angels of old seen in vision by the patriarch Jacob, passing upwards and downwards, to and fro, on the mystical ladder, will ascend and descend, in their ministrations of blessing and love to the dwellers on earth.
This, then, it was which the Lord had in view when standing up in the synagogue of Nazareth, and opening the book of the prophecy of Isaiah, he read, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord," (Luke 4:18,1918The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. (Luke 4:18‑19),) and then closing the book, he gave it back to the minister, saying, "THIS DAY IS THIS SCRIPTURE FULFILLED IN YOUR EARS” (ver. 21), thereby showing that while it is true that the time of Israel's blessing was come, the blessing itself was yet in the distance, that the true year of jubilee, of which the prophecy speaks, which in one sense was come, was not come in another. The Lord's way of treating the prophecy indicates this. Observe how he breaks off at "THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD," without going on to speak of 46 THE DAY OF VENGEANCE OF OUR GOD," which will usher in that year, when it comes in reality. This was very significant, it showed that while the time of the kingdom was come, the King was for the present to " have nothing"—that His crown was to be cast down to the ground, while a long age of estrangement from God was to be the lot of that people who refused to bow to His scepter.
This, then, it was which led to Israel's rejection, not merely their personal hatred of Him, while He tarried among them, but their persistence therein, when in resurrection He was a second time presented to them, as the One who even then was willing and able to bless and redeem them. “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when (or so that) the times of refreshing shall (or may) come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall (or may) send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." (Acts 3:19-2119Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; 20And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:19‑21).) Such was God's message to them, through the apostle Peter, showing that, in spite of the deed they had done, there was mercy for them even then. But they closed their hearts and their ears to it all; and for this was no forgiveness. As long as they had spoken against the Son of man, as long as they had only put Him to death, there was hope, a way of escape for them, and that through the very blood which they had impiously shed; but when they had sinned against the Holy Ghost, this sealed their doom, and hence the last week which might have ushered in the day of the Lord, was set aside, for a season, to make way for a future week of a totally different character—a week; not of grace and forbearance, like that now come to its close, but of retributive judgment.
And then as to this last year of which we have been especially speaking, observe the Lord's way with His people in connection with it how He left nothing. undone to win them back to Himself, and how in everything they rejected His love—thus, FIRST, the year had Scarcely begun when, six days before the Passover, we read of Christ riding into the city as King, as the Son of David, claiming His kingdom; SECONDLY, we see Him, after this, laying down His life on the cross; THIRDLY, then, on the third day, we see Him rising again from the dead; FOURTHLY, after which, on the fiftieth day, the day of Pentecost, we read of the Holy Ghost coming from heaven, God's last witness to Israel as to who and what He was whom His people had crucified.
Then look at the period—what a witness against them it was! The sabbatical year and the jubilee are found coming together—the latter opening, in the way I have explained, in the seventh month of the former, and that, observe, on the tenth day of the month—the day of atonement—on which day hereafter, according to Dan. 8:1414And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. (Daniel 8:14), the sanctuary will be cleansed, and on which it would even then have been sanctified, had Israel repented.
Such was the final year of this eventful week, which, beginning, as it did, with the testimony of John to the coming Messiah, and intensifying in interest as it went on, closed with Israel's rejection, because of their rejection of Him whom they should have known and hailed as their Messiah, their Savior. It began, I say, with the mission of John, and closed, as we have seen, with the testimony of Peter and others, to the ascension of the crucified One to the right hand of God. Can we wonder, after this, that the week should be canceled, and the people scattered and peeled? Can we do otherwise than wonder, that, after the lapse of hundreds of years, this lapsed week should reappear, as it will do, and end with the restoration of this rebellious, gainsaying people? It was (as the following diagram shows) during the year of jubilee, at the central point of the year, that this week came to an end; and it will be critically at the corresponding point, in the future week, that the transgression of Israel will be forgiven, that reconciliation will be made for iniquity, that he who is to deceive and oppress them will come to his end, without any to help him.
Having already spoken of this, I do not enlarge on it here; suffice it to say, that such, on the one hand, is man; such, on the other hand, is God. Man, the more he is tested, only more fully evinces the total ruin of his nature, his entire departure from God; God, on the contrary, throughout the whole history of His dealings with the world, shows that nothing can baffle His grace, that it is His purpose to bless, and that none can turn Him aside from that purpose; so that the motto which one feels is best suited to the record of His ways with His people, is this—"WHERE SIN ABOUNDED, GRACE DID MUCH MORE ABOUND.”
I now turn to another point connected still with our week, namely, to show the distinction between, two words belonging to it, which are often thought to mean the same thing, "UNTO," and "AFTER," (Dan. 9:25, 2625Know 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. 26And 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. (Daniel 9:25‑26),) and in so doing, I use the following illustration: suppose we read, in the History of England, that "from William the Conqueror UNTO William the Third, there were six hundred and twenty-three years," should we begin to consider whether that period terminated at the accession, or at the death, of the last-named king? Should we not know, without any calculation whatever, that "unto" can imply nothing else, than the former? That it reached down, to the opening, not the close, of his reign? If, indeed, the historian really meant to his death, then he would have to alter the figures, that is, to the six hundred and twenty-three years above-named, to add the thirteen years of the reign of King William, and say, "six hundred and thirty-six years unto Queen Anne," she being William's successor, and the period in question extending from the conquest to her, and not to William at' all. In the same way, when we read, "From the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks:" we cannot surely suppose that this means to the crucifixion of Christ, and that we are to identify it with the other passage referred to, "after (the) threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, and have nothing." The word "unto," as in the above case of King William, forbids the idea. "Unto" must refer, either to the birth of our Lord, to His presentation to Israel by John, or to His own personal ministry—one of the three,—and not to the point of time when He was set aside as "Messiah the Prince," and had nothing. Which of the three we may easily know, from Mark 1, where John the Baptist is presented as the forerunner of Christ, and his preaching as "THE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD." Thus the distinction is evident between these two passages, which, for the sake of greater perspicuity, and to mark the contrast between them, I bring forward again, as follows: "From the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem UNTO Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks." (Ver. 25.) "And AFTER (the) threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, and have nothing."
Then there is another point. Those who ignore the unnoticed week of Messiah's rejection, not realizing the contrast between "UNTO" and "AFTER," believing Christ to have suffered immediately after the sixty-ninth week, in this way place His death in an unlimited space between that and the final week yet to come, in no part of our period, whether UNCANCELLED OR CANCELED, therefore breaking the continuity, or sequence, of God's dealings with Israel, which are manifestly linked with the great probationary period fixed by Himself, in view of the first and second advent of Christ. This surely is most inconsistent: the whole of the prophetical action, bearing, as it does, on Israel's restoration and blessing, together with the glory of Christ, as their expected deliverer, in the nature of things, must occur within the limits of our prophetical period, and altogether apart from the long age of disgrace and desertion, the dreary hiatus between the past weeks of their history, and the future week, which, however fearful it may be in. the way of retributive vengeance, will end, nevertheless (such is the abounding grace of Him with whom we all have to do I), with the redemption of Israel. Strange indeed would it be, if that on which their future blessing depends, the great central fact in their history, the death of the Surety, the cutting off of the Messiah, should come in in the interval, after God's trial of the nation had ended, and when "LO-AMMI" had become the only term whereby to describe their hapless outcast condition. True, in this space one prophetical fact is here recorded as happening; but what is it? THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CITY AND SANCTUARY BY TITUS, an event forming no part of their history, while they were borne with by God, while owned as His people, but wholly the contrary, a disastrous event, consequent on their killing the Lord, and resulting in their being scattered, as at present, over the face of the earth. This, therefore, is no warrant whatever for putting Christ's death in this space, and not keeping it strictly within the limits of Israel's true history, before the Levitical weeks, into which Jewish time was divided, had fully and finally come to a close, which certainly they had not done, while the Lord was among them, and as long as the Levitical law was in being.
Then there is another consideration. Those who view the prophecy thus, leave no room for the period of Gospel history to come in, for John the Baptist and Christ to take their place in the scene. In disposing of the canceled week, as they do, in admitting no week, they unwittingly, of course, get rid of all this; of the most momentous and interesting crisis in the history of Israel,—indeed of the world. And is not this serious? Is this the way of the Lord? Are we, hi a prophecy which treats of the first and second coming of Christ, to find no place therein for Himself? not to be able to see, or to realize HIM, at that sorrowful moment, when all He had to say, as He looked back on His mission, in the mournful words of Isaiah, was; " I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught, and in vain"? (Isa. 49:44Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. (Isaiah 49:4).) Those who view it in this light, must, of course, have an idea about it, just approaching the truth, knowing, of course, that Christ came upon earth about this time, and so they put John and the Lord into the sixty-ninth week, which, however, observe, "unto Messiah the Prince” will not allow of, because, in this case, it would be not sixty-nine weeks at all, but rather, it would appear, sixty-eight, opposed altogether to the terms of the prophecy, "From the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem UNTO Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks.”
And here, in conclusion, I would say a word in defense of the term adopted by me to express that which involves the setting aside of Israel's hopes at the first advent of Christ. Do I mean, by speaking of a "Canceled WEEK," to imply that the mission of Christ has been in vain, lost in such a way that nothing will result from all He has done? Assuredly not. All that I mean by the week being canceled, is, that Ile, having labored in vain, and spent His strength for naught and in vain, the week, which ought to have been the last (and, in fact, was) the last of the seventy, and so ushered in, the day of deliverance, and the millennial reign, has, because of Israel's opposition to Christ, not done so as yet, for which reason the angel, in tracing the prophetical history of Israel, has left this week unnamed and unreckoned, has anticipatively set it aside, as though it had no existence at all. True, when we come to the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, there the week, or rather its history, meets us: while, if we look back to Daniel, though there it appears that a space is left for it to come in, we find the angel has passed it over altogether in silence.
To my mind, "THE CANCELLED WEEK" is the best term which I can possibly use, and those who are willing to listen to what I have to say on the subject, are in no way stumbled thereby. Why, I ask, should a meaning be attached to a phrase which never was meant, and which really does not belong to it?
The following diagram illustrates the two opposite theories as to the terms "UNTO" and "AFTER." In figure 1, "unto" and "after" are represented as meaning the same thing. In figure 2, it is different; there "unto" reaches no farther than the close of the sixty-ninth week, while "after," on the contrary, goes on to the end of the seventieth, that which has already elapsed, though not named in the prophecy, the canceled week referred to so often.