We have seen the Seventy Weeks are divided by the Spirit of God into three parts. We have also seen that the first two divisions reach up to “Messiah the Prince,” who was cut off after the sixty nine weeks. This, the majority of chronologers are agreed, took place in the year A.D. 29, or early in 30. Our reference Bibles, however, give A.D. 33, which reckoning from B.C. 4, would make our Lord's age thirty-six instead of thirty-three years as usually supposed. But Bengel says respecting this, “The year 33 is too late and is refuted by all the opinions of the ancient church.” He maintained that A.D. 30 was the correct date of our Lord's death.
Now seeing we have, as already shown, abundant evidence respecting the death of the Messiah, and the time when it happened, but not so strong perhaps for the 20th year of Artaxerxes, when the decree was issued, we can take the former event as our starting point and reckon back sixty nine weeks, and we are brought to 454 B. C, as the date required. Thus the demands of the prophecy are met, which is the important thing to consider. For God must be true, and profane chronology must agree with His or it cannot be true. Upon this every Christian should rest satisfied.
There is yet another division remaining, however, to complete the prophecy, and the seventy weeks as well. One week of the seventy, or seven years, have still to be accounted for. But there are certain events mentioned in 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), which could not possibly take place within this last week, seeing it does not allow sufficient time for their accomplishment. Take, for instance, the first clause, after the death of the Messiah and His reward is described. The verse continues, “and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” Now the city here mentioned can be no other than Jerusalem; and the sanctuary, the temple that Herod built. “The people of the prince” were the Romans under Titus who destroyed the city and set the temple on fire, so that it was destroyed. And this took place in the year A.D. 69 or 70 which was forty years after the crucifixion. It is clear then that the seventieth week does not follow the sixty-ninth in uninterrupted sequence of time; because, if such were the case, all the terms of the prophecy could not be met (for seven years added to 29 would only reach A.D. 36). But every jot and tittle of ver. 26 must be fulfilled. How, then, is this to be done? Only by supposing a long interval of time to elapse, between the end of the sixty-ninth week, and the beginning of the seventieth.
The prophecy begins with “Seventy weeks are determined,” or rather “divided.” As here a different Hebrew word is used for “determined” from that in vers. 26, 27, so “divided,” as Dr. Tregelles translates, seems to suit the 24th verse best, And this rendering strongly supports the view that the whole seventy weeks do not necessarily imply a continuous period of 490 years. That a prophecy apparently continuous, may contain an interval of considerable length is strikingly evident from our Lord's use in Luke 4:18-2118The 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. 20And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. (Luke 4:18‑21) of “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor... to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Here the Lord Jesus, in quoting the prophet finishes with “the acceptable year of the Lord,” saying “this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” He had come to introduce this, and not yet “the day of vengeance of our God,” which awaits His second advent. We have then between two clauses of this prophecy an interval of more than 1,800 years, during which “the acceptable year of the Lord” has continued. Why then may not a period of similar length be found in ver. 26 of Daniel's prophecy? Such I believe to be the case and confirmed by the New Testament.
But in order to enter intelligently into its teaching regarding this matter, it is well first to inquire as to the present place the Jews occupy in God's government of the world.
Now we find in the prophet Hosea (chap. 1:9), “Then said [God], Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye [are] not my people, and I will not be your [God].” From this scripture we learn, that a time was coming when God would disown His ancient people the Jews, and cast them off. And this took place at the death of their Messiah. Then the dread sentence “Lo-ammi” took effect morally, and they are no longer owned by God as His people. This suspension of relationship is clearly taught in Matt. 23:38, 3938Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. (Matthew 23:38‑39), where the Lord in His solemn denunciation of the Jews concludes by saying, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed [is] he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” They had slighted all the Lord's overtures of mercy to them, and persistently refused to accept Him. Now they were cast off until the time when they would be prepared to receive Him as their Messiah and the hope of Israel. The Jews being thus rejected, room was left for the gathering in of the Gentiles. And this will continue until “the fullness of the Gentiles be come in” (Rom. 11:2525For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. (Romans 11:25)). This must not be confounded, however, with another term used in Luke 21:24, 2524And 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. 25And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; (Luke 21:24‑25), “until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Here we have mentioned Gentile rule in the earth; in the other case (Rom. 11:2525For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. (Romans 11:25)), the gathering in of the last member of Christ's body is referred to by the Spirit.
Politically, the Jews had at one time the chief place amongst the nations of the world; but they lost it through their disobedience. It was then transferred to the Gentiles in the person of Nebuchadnezzar. To him the prophet declared by the Spirit, “Thou, O king, art a king of kings, for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.” And the Gentile holds this rule up to the present. This he will continue to do until the Lord shall come to judge the rulers of the earth (cf. Psa. 82.) and restore to the Jews the place they once occupied as the chief amongst the nations. Then will be fulfilled “the times of the Gentiles.”
Religiously, however, the Jews continued to retain their place as God's people until the Lord came. But they rejected and crucified Him. Then God no longer confined Himself to one nation only, but went out in grace to all men. For in Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, but all on one common level (Eph. 2). From this we may gather, surely, that at present God does not own an earthly people as witnesses for Himself upon the earth, but is, on the contrary, gathering out from all nations a people, “partakers of a heavenly calling,” who shall constitute the bride, the Lamb's wife.
Again, the same truth is brought out in Rom. 11. There the rejected nation of the Jews is compared to the broken off branches of an olive tree, and the Gentiles are grafted in their place. But they are cautioned against boasting, because through unbelief the Jews were rejected, and they stood by faith. They were not to be high-minded, however, but fear; for God would most assuredly bestow upon the Jews all their former privileges and blessings. For His “gifts and calling are without repentance.” Here we have further proof of the same order of events as before. The Jews cast off, the Gentiles brought in—God gathering out of them a people for His name (Acts 15:1414Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. (Acts 15:14)); afterward the Jews reinstated into their former blessings and relationship with God. The Gentiles will then fall back into a subordinate place, and receive all their blessings through and by the Jew. (Comp. Zech. 8:22, 23; 14:9-2122Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. 23Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you. (Zechariah 8:22‑23)
9And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one. 10All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses. 11And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. 12And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. 13And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor. 14And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. 15And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. 16And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. 18And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 19This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 20In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. 21Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts. (Zechariah 14:9‑21).)
With this convincing evidence before us, gathered from the New Testament, we may surely conclude, that the manner of God's dealings with the Jews as described in Rom. 11, is precisely that foretold by Dan. 9:24-2724Seventy 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. 25Know 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. 27And 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 9:24‑27) long before; and it is also clear that ver. 26 forms a sort of parenthesis. The events mentioned in it, although forming part of the prophecy, do not come within its time limit; but are enacted in a period of undefined duration coming between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks, but not connected with either.
Now, before proceeding further with the prophecy, it might not be out of place to inquire how history agrees with it thus far. It is well known, indeed, that history is the standard by which the word of God is judged by the critics; and not, history by the word, the alone infallible standard of truth. According to history then, the Messiah was crucified, at, or about, the time appointed, as we have already seen. Forty years after, the Romans came and besieged Jerusalem, which they took after a protracted siege, during which the inhabitants passed through indescribable sufferings. At the capture of the city multitudes were slain in cold blood, and many thousands carried away captive. The Temple, which was the pride of every Jew's heart and his religious rallying point, was burnt to the ground. Thus the Jews as a nation were swept out of existence. Since that time this people have been more or less the objects of hatred and oppression by the nations whither they have been scattered. The last part of vers. 26 informs us of the continuous desolation which was to befall their city and race, and this subsequent to the death of the Messiah. This is exactly where Israel are now. They have been turned out of that city and sanctuary, and have never had either since. It is true they have made a remarkable footing for themselves in most countries of the earth—their influence extends into every court and cabinet of the world: but they have never, until lately, obtained the smallest power in their own land and city. And there we see these desolations going on. Thus has been, and is being, fulfilled, the word by the prophet Hosea (chap. 3:4), “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and Teraphim.” “Clearly,” says one, “this describes the present condition of Israel—the most anomalous spectacle the world has ever seen—a people who go on age after age without any of those elements which are supposed to be essential for keeping a people in existence. For they have lost their king, and prince, they have neither God nor an idol. They are not able to present a sacrifice, having nobody that they know to be a prince. Partly since Babylon carried them into captivity, entirely since Titus destroyed Jerusalem they are literally without those genealogies, which the priests must possess and produce in order to prove their title to minister in the holy place. Whatever their pretentions they can prove nothing, and yet they are upheld by God.” How wonderful that the Prophet should have given this exceedingly accurate description of the present condition of the Jews so patent to every thinking person. Yet the book of Hosea was written many years before “the events.” Is it not very strange that our critics do not see the finger of God here? But it seems indeed true that the person who will not see is the blindest of men. So with regard to our 26th verse, history has confirmed certain facts mentioned there. The prophecy however was written before “the events” took place. The history came in its right place “after the events.” How comes it, then, that these events are so minutely detailed so long before they happened? Could it have been the result of forethought or instinct, or whatever else one likes to call it? Was there any apparent data given by which the writer could arrive at a correct judgment in these matters? There was nothing to assist him in whatever date he assigned to the prophecy. And such being the case, the writer could only have obtained his information from the Spirit of God. Thus far, then, we have not been able to do without inspiration with which many persons deal so profanely, and mention in such a scoffing manner.