Daniel appears in a new character in this chapter. Up to now we have seen him as the recipient in different ways of divine and prophetic communications; we now behold him discovering the mind of God from studying the Scriptures, and as an intercessor for God’s chosen people. How long an interval had elapsed between this and the preceding chapters cannot be ascertained, since we know not the duration of Belshazzar’s reign. Belshazzar, on account of his impiety, had forfeited his life under the just judgment of God, and “Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes...was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans”; and the events of this chapter took place “in the first year of his reign” (Dan. 9:1-21In 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; 2In 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. (Daniel 9:1‑2)).
Two things evidently distinguished Daniel: an intense love for the place where God’s honor had dwelt; and an undying affection for God’s people. He might truly have been the mouthpiece of his fellow-captives in the well-known psalm, the authorship of which is not revealed, “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy” (Psa. 137:5-65If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. 6If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. (Psalm 137:5‑6)). It was doubtless this love for Jerusalem that led him to the writings of Jeremiah, to ascertain how long it was to remain in desolation; and he says, giving the result of his study, “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” (Dan. 9:22In 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. (Daniel 9:2); Jer. 25:11; 29:1011And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. (Jeremiah 25:11)
10For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. (Jeremiah 29:10)).
The effect of this discovery on Daniel was, in his unquenchable love for his people, to lead him to identify himself with their state, to confess their sins, and to intercede for their forgiveness and restoration; for he well knew that there must first be a work wrought in their souls to qualify them for returning to their own land and to their city. It is only where divine affections for the people of God exist in the heart, as so markedly exemplified both in Moses and in Paul, as well as in Daniel and in Ezra, that there can be power in intercession on their behalf. And may it not be suggested as present instruction that the urgent need of today is that of intercessors? Of holy men and women, who, divinely taught and filled with the Spirit, shall be enabled, like Epaphras, to labor fervently for the saints in prayer? And if we ourselves, through lack of zeal for God’s glory, and of love for His people, cannot be intercessors, we may at least pray that such may be raised up throughout the whole church of God in every part of the world.
Before considering Daniel’s prayer it may be helpful to observe what has been elsewhere pointed out, that the intercession of the prophet is one of three links in God’s ways for the accomplishment of His purposes in respect of Jerusalem. Jeremiah was commissioned to prophecy of her desolation for seventy years on account of her transgressions; Daniel was stirred up by the Spirit of God to pray for her restoration; and finally Cyrus was raised up, “that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled,” to issue a proclamation concerning the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezra 1). God Himself must have the glory of all His work, and He will not permit any of His servants to claim the credit of that which His own power has executed.
It will not be necessary to make more than a few brief remarks upon the prayer, as its intention, character, and purport are easily apprehended. It should be noted, however, first of all, that Daniel’s own state of soul was in correspondence with his confessions and prayers. He says, “I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes” (Dan. 9:33And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: (Daniel 9:3)). It is only as we ourselves are truly humbled before God that we can humble ourselves for His people. Through grace, and the power of the Holy Spirit, we must put ourselves morally into the circumstances of those whose case we desire to present to God. The state of the people required prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes, and the prophet as one of them, understanding their condition, took this ground in the presence of God. The Lord Himself was the perfect example of this, as when seen in the Psalms confessing His people’s sins. Nothing indeed more plainly exhibits the Spirit of Christ than this complete identification with the sorrowful condition of God’s people through their sins. It is thus that saints may bear one another’s burdens, and fulfill the law of Him who was the great burden-bearer.
The two prominent features of Daniel’s supplications are confession and the justification of God in what He had done in His dealings with His people. In the address to God in verse 4, he lays the basis for justifying God. He says, “O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments.” God could not fail in keeping His covenant with His people, and hence the conduct of the people themselves must have been the cause of all the chastisement by which they had been overtaken. And it is this sinful conduct which Daniel now proceeded to specify. “We,” he says, “have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from Thy precepts and from Thy judgments” (Dan. 9:55We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: (Daniel 9:5)). He offers no palliation of, nor does he seek to extenuate, the enormity of the guilt of his people; but in every variety of expression makes the fullest confession of their manifold transgressions. They had aggravated their sin, moreover, by refusing to listen to the prophets whom God, in His longsuffering and tender mercy, had sent to their kings, their princes, their fathers, and to all the people of the land (Dan. 9:66Neither 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. (Daniel 9:6)). The guilt lay alike upon every class. As a consequence, and this Daniel owns, righteousness in His ways with His people, belonged to the Lord, but confusion of face “to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither Thou halt driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against Thee” (Dan. 9:77O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, 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. (Daniel 9:7)).
This particularity of confession, taking nothing for granted as already known in the presence of God, may be well commended to us for imitation. It is an infallible sign of the “true heart,” of uprightness of soul before God, and hence of a real work of the Holy Spirit in the heart and conscience. But if confusion of face, as Daniel again confesses (Dan. 9:88O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. (Daniel 9:8)), belonged to every class of the people because of their sins, “to the Lord our God,” he proceeds to say, “belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against Him,” though they had not obeyed His voice through the prophets, and though all Israel had transgressed the law of the Lord their God, and had therefore fallen under the curse and penalty of their sins, as had been written in the law of Moses the servant of God (Dan. 9:9-119To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 10Neither 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. 11Yea, 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. (Daniel 9:9‑11)). Daniel in that one sentence, “To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses,” had reached the only foundation on which he could rest in his intercession. Had he known only the law, he could not have hoped to be heard; but he knew the Lord his God also in the measure of grace in which He had been revealed both to Moses (Ex. 34:6-76And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. (Exodus 34:6‑7)), to David, and to Solomon in connection with the building of the temple on Mount Zion, which was from then on to be known as the expression of royal grace. (See 1 Chron. 21; 2 Chron. 6:36-3936If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near; 37Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly; 38If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name: 39Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee. (2 Chronicles 6:36‑39)). It was therefore on God as known in grace that the prophet depended; and it is only as grace is known that the heart is enabled to unburden its sins and sorrows in the presence of God.
Daniel will hide nothing, and hence he further says that, while God had only confirmed His words in bringing upon His people so great an evil (and there was never a greater under the whole heaven than that which had been done upon Jerusalem); and while the evil came upon them exactly as written in the law of Moses, “yet,” he says, “made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand Thy truth” (Dan. 9:12-1312And 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. 13As 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. (Daniel 9:12‑13)). The result of all this evil conduct is now stated: “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” (Dan. 9:1414Therefore 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 9:14)). Yet again he mentions another aggravation of their guilt—it was against Him who had redeemed them with a mighty hand out of the land of Egypt, and had gotten Himself renown, that they had sinned and done wickedly (Dan. 9:1515And 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. (Daniel 9:15)). Daniel went thus to the very bottom, and viewed all the sins of his people in the light of God’s holiness, justifying God, and, owning that the judgment which had overtaken Jerusalem, Judah, Israel, kings, princes, and people, was but their righteous due. It is therefore a pattern confession for all time, whether for saints or for sinners, only remembering that grace is now still further known, (see 1 John 2:1-21My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1‑2); 1 John 1:99If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)); but if further known this is an additional incentive for thoroughness and open-heartedness in confession.
Having confessed the sins and iniquities of his people, Daniel, in the next place, turns to intercession. The form of it is much to be observed. Daniel had fully owned the righteousness of God in the chastisement of His people, and now he appeals to the Lord according to all His righteousness, to turn away His anger and His fury from His city Jerusalem, His holy mountain; and he further pleads that Jerusalem and Jehovah’s people, because of their sins and iniquities, were now “a reproach to all that are about us.” The prophet was entitled to plead the Lord’s righteousness, for Jehovah had put His NAME in the sanctuary built by Solomon; He had moreover accepted Solomon’s prayer at its dedication, and He had thus bound Himself to hear the prayers of His people, when humbled before Him by reason of their sins. (See also Deut. 30). Daniel, therefore, in this plea counted on all that Jehovah was as revealed to Israel, and upon His fidelity to His own word. Nothing gives the soul so much courage as the apprehension of God’s righteousness, or so completely sets it at liberty in God’s presence. It is very touching also to see the way in which Daniel uses the term, “Thy people.” In fact God had written Lo-ammi (“not My people”) on Israel, but faith would re-establish the link, and hence it refuses the terra of reproach.
The sanctuary in all its desolation is next, presented; and the ground of his prayer and supplications that God would cause His face to shine upon His sanctuary, is, “for the Lord’s sake,” a ground of appeal which could not, be refused. In Daniel 9:1818O 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. (Daniel 9:18) the subject of his petition is “our desolations, and the city which is called by Thy name,” and for this he urges yet another plea: “We do not present our supplications before Thee for our righteousnesses, but for Thy great mercies.”
These then are the three pleas Daniel urges before the Lord—His righteousness, His own sake, and His mercies; and having laid these out in His presence, he gathers up all his desires and pours them forth in one last earnest entreaty: “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” Here was the secret of his strength; he was concerned most of all for the name of his God, and for His interests in His sanctuary, His city, and His people. He has not one single thing to ask for himself, or even for his companions in captivity; but his whole heart goes out in supplication for the honor of the name of his God, and for the interests of God upon the earth. It is a prayer, therefore, which might well be often studied by those who desire, in any measure, to be in fellowship with God’s heart concerning the sorrowful condition of His church in the world.
Before Daniel had ended his supplications the answer to his cries was received—in so far as concerned the revelation of the mind of God touching the subjects of his prayer. He says: “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; 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” (Dan. 9:20-2120And 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; 21Yea, 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. (Daniel 9:20‑21)). Two remarks may be made before proceeding: first, to remind ourselves anew that God’s ear is ever open to the prayers of His people. As John wrote, “If we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us,” and it was so in this case. Daniel was in the secret of God’s mind, and God delighted in His servant’s supplications, every word of which ascended up before Him as sweet incense; for, in truth, they were His own desires which had been begotten in His servant’s heart. Secondly, it was at the time of the evening oblation that Gabriel arrived and “touched” Daniel. The evening oblation was the perpetual burnt offering—appointed to be presented morning and evening continually. The temple having been destroyed, it could no longer be offered; but Daniel was before God in the virtue of it; that is, he identified himself in spirit with all its sweet fragrance, as constituting his own acceptance, and the efficacy of his prayers. (Compare 1 Sam. 7:9-109And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the Lord: and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel; and the Lord heard him. 10And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel. (1 Samuel 7:9‑10); 2 Kings 3:2020And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water. (2 Kings 3:20)). So is it with our prayers now when, through faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit, we rest wholly and entirely upon what Christ is, and upon all the virtue of His sacrifice, before God.
Gabriel came, first of all, to give Daniel “skill and understanding” (Dan. 9:2222And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. (Daniel 9:22)); and, moreover, told him “at the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision” (Dan. 9:2323At 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 9:23)). The revelation about to be made would need divine intelligence to comprehend it, and this it was that God first imparted, through Gabriel, to His servant. He would have Daniel also know that He had read the desires of his heart, and had, at the beginning of his supplications, given commandment for Gabriel’s mission; and in His precious grace, to encourage Daniel’s heart, He would also have him informed that he was greatly beloved —beloved, like the disciple whom Jesus loved, as being in the intimacy of the Lord’s mind and affections, and thus enabled to receive the impartation of divine secrets. For it is ever true that the nearer we are to the Lord the more fully He can open out His mind to us. Hence Gabriel adds, “Therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.” The qualifications were possessed; divine intelligence and a heart in communion with God; and Daniel, thus endowed through grace, was in a position to comprehend the revelation he was about to receive.
This brings us to the most difficult part of the book, or at least to one made difficult through speculation and controversy, namely, the subject of the
SEVENTY WEEKS.
Some preliminary observations will pave the way for its consideration. It is then of the utmost moment to note that the revelation of God’s purpose goes a long way beyond the prophet’s prayer. Jeremiah had said, “Thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place” (Jer. 29:1010For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. (Jeremiah 29:10); see also Jer. 25:11-1411And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. 13And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. 14For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands. (Jeremiah 25:11‑14)). It was these scriptures which Daniel had discovered, and on which he had based his intercession, becoming, as possessing the mind of God, a mediator. Hence it is that, as often observed, he does not go back to God’s unconditional covenant with the patriarchs, on the ground of which, in virtue of the death of Christ, He will finally re-establish His people in the land in blessing under the reign of Christ (see Lev. 26:40-4540If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; 41And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: 42Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. 43The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes. 44And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God. 45But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 26:40‑45)), but only to the revelation God had made of Himself, and to the promises He gave, to Moses in Exodus 34. What Daniel sought in his supplications was the fulfillment of the promise made through Jeremiah, and, as led of the Spirit of God, he took the appropriate ground for this in the presence of God. But in the communication made through Gabriel, it is revealed to him that God had still larger thoughts of blessing for His people, which would be surely fulfilled at the end of the seventy weeks.
It must also be borne in mind that this revelation entirely concerns the Jewish people and Jerusalem. It is strange indeed that this should need to be insisted upon, considering the language employed; but the tendency is so persistent in some quarters to explain away, by spiritualizing, the scriptures which have in view the future restoration of the chosen nation, that it becomes necessary to affirm and to hold fast their manifest application. Gabriel thus says to Daniel, “Thy people,” and “thy holy city.” Even a child, if he know but the elements of the New Testament, understands that Christians have no holy city upon earth. And should it be contended that it is the heavenly city, new Jerusalem, which is here indicated, it might well be inquired, When were its walls thrown down, so as to need rebuilding? No, the city prayed for is the city of which Gabriel speaks, as is evident from verse 25 and consequently Daniel’s people are the Jews, and his city is the earthly Jerusalem. Remark also that, though Daniel had said to the Lord, “Thy people” and “Thy city” Jerusalem, Gabriel says to him, “thy people” and “thy city.” (Compare the intercession of Moses in Ex. 32-34.) The link with Jehovah had been broken by Israel’s sin, and Lo-ammi (not My people), as before explained, had been pronounced over them; and from that time, until the appearing of Christ and the restoration of His people, the term “my people” is never used.
Another thing to determine is the meaning of the expression “weeks”—seventy weeks. From familiarity with the term “weeks,” and its common use, it might be supposed that a period of seven days was meant; and there have been expositors who have insisted on this theory. The answer is simple and irrefragable. The date of the commencement of the seventy weeks is laid down with the utmost precision (Dan. 9:2525Know 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. (Daniel 9:25)); and starting from this date, was there, it may well be inquired, if seventy weeks of days are signified, any fulfillment of this prediction within the period named? Nay; has there even yet been the accomplishment of Gabriel’s revelation? If not, it is proved beyond all question, for those who believe in the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures, that “weeks” in this passage are not weeks of days. The following quotations from one whose intimate acquaintance with the Hebrew language none would question, will be helpful in the understanding of the term. He says: “The word itself is strictly, something divided into, or consisting of, seven parts—a heptad, a hebdomad.” Again, “Daniel had made inquiry about seventy years of the captivity in Babylon. The answer speaks also of seventy periods, which in our English translation are called weeks. The word, however, does not necessarily mean seven days, but a period of seven parts; of course, it is much more often used in speaking of a week than anything else, because nothing is so often mentioned as a week which is similarly divided. The Hebrews, however, used a septenary scale as to time just as habitually as we should reckon by tens; the sabbatical years, the jubilees, all tended to give this thought a permanent place in their minds. The denomination is here to be taken from the subject of Daniel’s prayer. He prayed about years, he is answered about periods of seven years; that is, the recurrence of sabbatical years.” (S, P. Tregelles, LL.D).
Having shown that weeks in this scripture signify periods of seven years, our next inquiry must be concerning the date of their commencement. It is stated by Gabriel to be “from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem” (Dan. 9:2525Know 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. (Daniel 9:25)). In the book of Ezra we have a decree by Cyrus, and another by Artaxerxes in the seventh year of his reign; but both of these are concerning the house of God in Jerusalem, and hence neither satisfies the terms mentioned by Gabriel. Passing on however to Nehemiah, we find that, “in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes,” he issued letters, in response to Nehemiah’s request, commissioning him to go unto Judah, unto the city of his fathers’ sepulchers, that he might build it (Dan. 2). Here then is the date referred to by Gabriel, and, as there is no other such “commandment” as to the restoration and building of Jerusalem in any part of scripture, the point of time is fixed and certain.
Another question arises as to whether the year in the world’s history of this “commandment” can be ascertained. Without going into the details of the investigation, which can easily be pursued if desired, it may be stated that the twentieth year of Artaxerxes is believed to coincide, as nearly as possible, with 454 or 455 B.C. The application of this date will be seen in considering the several parts of Gabriel’s communication.
Taking then verse 24, we have the statement that “seventy weeks (490 years) 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” (or, the holy of holies). All these expressions look plainly onward to the full re-establishment of Daniel’s people and city in blessing. The transgression will be ended, the transgression for which they have been scattered, Jerusalem having now “received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins,” their iniquity will be pardoned (Isa. 40:22Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. (Isaiah 40:2)), everlasting righteousness, God’s righteousness, will be brought in (Isa. 51:4-84Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people. 5My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust. 6Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. 7Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. 8For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation. (Isaiah 51:4‑8)), visions and prophecies will be closed up forever (see Zech. 13), and the holy of holies will once more be set apart, sanctified according to the requirements of the glory of Him who will again dwell there. (See Ex. 40:99And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the vessels thereof: and it shall be holy. (Exodus 40:9)).
In the next verse (25th) the period of seventy weeks is divided: “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.” The seventy weeks are thus divided into three portions—seven weeks, threescore and two weeks, and one week. The first portion undoubtedly comprises the period occupied in rebuilding Jerusalem and the wall, for the end of the verse expressly speaks of the “troublous,” or “strait of,” times during which this was performed. In the book of Nehemiah some account is given of the obstacles and opposition which Nehemiah and his builders had to encounter.
Next we have sixty-two weeks, which reach “unto” the Messiah, the Prince. That is, adding the forty-nine years occupied in the restoration of the city, there would be four hundred and eighty-three years until Christ. It must be carefully observed that the expression is general, that neither the birth of Christ, His anointing for His mission, nor His death is specified. It simply says, “unto” Messiah, the Prince. Some taking the date of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem as 454 or 455 B.C., calculate that the 483 years, included in the sixty-nine weeks, terminated with the death of Christ. Had the Messiah been received, the Jewish nation would, as we know, have been at once established in the kingdom; and even, had He been received by the nation after the crucifixion, the times of refreshing, as Peter distinctly declares, would have come from the presence of the Lord; and He would have sent Jesus Christ to His people (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)). But God foreknew all, and hence, after naming the sixty-two weeks, says, “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, and [marginal rendering] shall have nothing” (Dan. 9:2626And 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 9:26)). It should be noticed that it does not say immediately after, only “after,” leaving room, we cannot doubt, for the half week of the Lord’s ministry.
Be that however as it may, the facts mentioned are divinely given, and are therefore indisputable, namely, that sixty-two weeks, dating from the restoration of Jerusalem, ran on till Christ; and that, “after” the termination of this period, He, being rejected, was cut off, and had nothing; for the kingdom and its glory were as a consequence postponed, and, together with it, the fulfillment of the last portion of the seventy weeks. This will be more clearly seen as we follow the scripture.
In connection then with Messiah’s being cut off, it is said: “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.” (Dan. 9:2626And 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 9:26)). The most careful attention must be given to the exact words used in this scripture if we are to understand their import, and it may help to their elucidation if we recall one or two facts to our minds. We have seen then, in the earlier chapters, that the fourth kingdom, the successor to that of Greece, which is to complete the times of the Gentiles, is Rome; and we have also seen that this has no earthly successor, that it will, in fact, be displaced by the kingdom of the Son of Man; and consequently that, though to outward eyes the Western Roman empire may appear to have passed away forever, it will, according to the teaching of Scripture, be revived (see Rev. 13 and 17), and will assume the form of ten kingdoms, confederated under one imperial head—the little horn of Daniel 7, or the first beast of Revelation 13. Moreover, it was in the time of the fourth empire, as a well-known fact in history, and testified to in the Scriptures, that the Lord Jesus came into this world, and that it was at Rome’s tribunal, with Pilate as judge, that He was sentenced to the death of the cross. These facts have a most important bearing upon the statements of our scripture.
Remark then, first, that it does not say that a prince shall come and destroy the city and the sanctuary, but that the people of the prince that shall come shall do so. In other words, “the prince that shall come” applies to the future, and is indeed, as will be seen in the next verse, the imperial head of the revived Roman empire in the last days. The “people” are identified with him because they are Romans, of the same kingdom that is yet to reappear, and of which this prince will be the leader and the chief. What we have then, in this passage, is the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans after the death of Christ as God’s judgment upon the Jews for their rejection and crucifixion of their Messiah. Our Lord Himself often spoke of this sorrowful event, and always connected it with His own rejection. (See Matt. 22:77But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. (Matthew 22:7); Luke 19:41-4441And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. (Luke 19:41‑44)).
The fearful character of this judgment is pointed out in the closing words of the verse—“The end thereof shall be with a flood, and,” adopting the alternative translation given, “until the end,” there will be wars for the accomplishment of God’s will in the desolations of the holy city; for, as the Lord Himself said, “They [the Jews] shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 21:2424And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. (Luke 21:24); see also Rev. 11:22But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. (Revelation 11:2)).
It is now apparent why the last of the seventy weeks is separated from the previous sixty-two. Within one week (seven years) when Christ came, the seventy weeks spoken of by Gabriel had run their course; and had the Jews but received Jesus of Nazareth as their promised Messiah, He would have at once established His kingdom, and brought in all the blessings spoken of in verse 24; but they knew not the time of their visitation. As a consequence the course of the seventy weeks has been interrupted, and God does not count time while His ancient people on earth are out of their inheritance, and scattered over the globe. There is therefore a blank, so to speak, in Jewish history, an interval during which the nation, though still watched over, has no recognized relationship with God. But, blessed be His name, “through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy” (Rom. 11:1111I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. (Romans 11:11)). For it has pleased God, in the depth of the riches both of His wisdom and of His knowledge, to use this very interval for the unfolding and accomplishment of His eternal counsels in Christ concerning the saints who are to be joint heirs with Christ, and to form His body and His bride. It is precisely this interval, wherein time is not reckoned, which forms the church-period; and when this—the acceptable year of the Lord—is ended, God will again put forth His power for the blessing of the chosen earthly people; and then they will sing with overflowing hearts, “O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; and gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south” (Psa. 107:1-31O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 2Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; 3And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. (Psalm 107:1‑3)).
It will be perceived that an immense interval is to be interposed between verses 26 and 27; that verse 26 refers to the death of Christ and God’s judgment upon Jerusalem some thirty years after, while verse 27 passes on to a time after the church-period is closed, when the Jews, though in unbelief, will be again in their own land. Should anyone regard this interpretation as forced, he may be reminded that such instances are common in the prophetic scriptures. Peter, for example, in citing from Psalm 34, says, “The face of the Lord is against them that do evil,” but he does not add, what is found in the Psalm, “to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth,” for the reason that since God is now acting in grace, while it is ever true that His face is against them that do evil, He will not cut such off from the earth until the kingdom of Christ is established. In other words, the whole of the present period, the day of grace, has to be inserted between the two clauses of the same verse.
We may now proceed to consider the opening statement of verse 27, “And he shall confirm the [rather a] covenant with many [really the many] for one week.” The first thing to be decided in this statement is as to who is the person who makes a covenant with the many. Adopting the English translation, “the covenant,” some have hastily concluded that it is Christ Himself, omitting to notice that the covenant mentioned is only made for seven years. It is now, however, admitted on all hands that the words should be rendered a covenant, and this at once shows that it could not be the Messiah. Indeed the proper antecedent of the pronoun “he” is the prince that shall come; and it is to this personage that the reference is made. What is asserted therefore is, that the future head of the revived Roman empire will make a covenant with “the many,” that is, with the mass or majority of the Jews, who at that time will be again in their own land; for the mention of the sacrifice and the oblation puts it beyond doubt that Jerusalem is in question, and that the temple has been rebuilt. This prince will then enter into an alliance with the Jews, with all of them save the godly remnant, professedly as befriending their cause, and as protecting them from their adversaries. And it should be well observed that the term of this covenant is one week—that is, for the seventieth week, as we judge, in respect of the unbelieving Jews. Faith may accept the Lord’s ministry, when on earth, as the first half of this last week, and go on to the time when the prince breaks his covenant with the Jews for the commencement of the last half; but for unbelief the seventieth week is the week for which this covenant is made. Other scriptures allude to this covenant. We thus read in Isaiah 28, “Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves,” and so forth (Isa. 28:14-1514Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. 15Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: (Isaiah 28:14‑15)). It would appear therefore that it will be the fear of another adversary, “the overflowing scourge” (who is no less a personage than the Assyrian, or the king of the north), which will drive these “scornful men” into the arms of the imperial head of the Roman empire. It must also be remembered, as will be seen when Daniel 11 is reached, that the Antichrist will at this time have his seat and sway in Jerusalem, and that he will act as the “prophet,” the false prophet to the prince of the empire (Rev. 13). It will thus be, as led by him, that in fear of their terrible adversary, the Assyrian, they will accept the treaty of alliance proposed by the head of the Roman Empire.
At the outset, as we have seen in Isaiah, all will promise well, and the Jews will delude themselves with the thought that they have secured themselves from all possible danger. Shutting God out, they will lean upon the arm of the most powerful monarch of the world. Of whom therefore should they be afraid? But the very one in whom they trust becomes their enemy; for, false to his own covenant, “in the midst of the week” (that is, at the end of, three years and a half) “he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease,” and more than this, for (we now give what most competent students of Scripture accept as the true sense or rendering of what follows) “on account of the protection of idols there is a desolator, and until the consummation that is determined there shall be poured [judgment] upon the desolate.” Without attempting to unravel the intricacies of this admittedly difficult passage, it may be affirmed that its general sense is quite plain, inasmuch as there is light from other scriptures to guide us as to it.
Not only will this Roman prince cause the daily sacrifices to be removed, but in addition to his own image erected by Antichrist, which will be endowed with seemingly miraculous powers (Rev. 13), the Antichrist himself, as we learn from 2 Thessalonians 2, will as God sit in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God (Dan. 9:1111Yea, 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. (Daniel 9:11)). The Lord Himself refers to this awful fact in Matthew 24, where He speaks of the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, as to be set up in the holy place, referring to Daniel 12:1111And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. (Daniel 12:11).
The situation then will be thus: The Jews at this time will have returned to their own land, and, though in unbelief as to the mass, they will have rebuilt the temple and restored the temple services. Antichrist, according to the Lord’s prediction, having come in his own name, will be received as their king; and, under his leadership, when threatened by the power of the Assyrian, they will enter into a covenant, and make a treaty, with the head of the western empire. This prince breaks his covenant, as we have seen, and “in the midst of the week” abolishes the temple services; and, with daring profanity, the Antichrist, as his prophet, causes an image of himself to be erected in the holy of holies, and demands that divine honors should be rendered to himself instead of to Jehovah.
We have repeated these facts because that, from this point, the setting up of the abomination of desolation in the holy place, commences the last half of the seventieth prophetic week. This is the beginning of the “time and times and the dividing of time” of Daniel 7:2525And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. (Daniel 7:25), and of the forty-two months, or the 1260 days of the book of Revelation, that is of the three years and a half-the last half of the seventieth week. It is of this period our blessed Lord speaks in Matthew 24 as a time of unequaled sorrow, saying, “Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved” (Matt. 24:21-2221For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (Matthew 24:21‑22)); for it is during these days that the trumpet judgments, and “the vials of the wrath of God,” of which we read in Revelation, are poured out on the earth.
It is to these judgments, as affecting Jerusalem and the Jews that allusion is made in the verse in Daniel which we are considering.
First, then, it says, according to the amended translation given: “On account of the protection of idols there is a desolator.” The desolator here is undoubtedly the “overflowing scourge” of Isaiah 28; for, as before seen, the Jews are led by antichrist to form a treaty with the head of the Roman empire to protect themselves from their northern adversary; and the “scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem,” boast of their security. But, says the prophet, “your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it” (Isa. 28:1818And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. (Isaiah 28:18); see also vss. 19-22). In fact, God uses the Assyrian as a rod to break the guilty people to pieces, twice guilty—in rejecting Christ and in again accepting idolatry after the house had been swept and garnished.
There is yet more, for “until the consummation that is determined, there shall be poured [judgment] on the desolate.” Commencing then with the overflowing scourge the Jews will be the objects of unceasing judgment, and Jerusalem will be given up to the fury, of her oppressors. As another has said, “The consummation that is determined” is an expression constantly used for the last judgments that shall fall upon the Jews. (See Isa. 10:22; 28:2222For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. (Isaiah 10:22)
22Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth. (Isaiah 28:22)). As these will come before us towards the close of the book, further consideration of them now may be deferred, only remarking that at the close of this night of tribulation their Messiah will appear, and “will destroy in this mountain (Zion) the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it” (Isa. 25:7-87And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. 8He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. (Isaiah 25:7‑8)).