Daniel 9

1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;

2 In the first year of his reign, I Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years, which came as the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, to fulfill for deserted Jerusalem, seventy years.

“Year one of Darius marked a crisis in the affairs of Daniel and his people (the believers in God), as well as the end of the Babylonian empire and the beginning of the Medo-Persian supremacy. Without going into exact figures or dates, it is likely that the Babylonian dynasty lasted about seventy years, and that Daniel had now been deported about the same length of time. From a mere youth of under twenty he had become a veteran of nearly ninety. How it must have stirred his heart to understand that a new era was about to commence for his people and his land! The prophecy of Jeremiah, limiting the time to seventy years, made a great commotion in his breast, for it seemed that the long deferred hope of Israel’s Kingdom was about to be fulfilled. . .

“He grasped eagerly at Jeremiah’s prophecy of the seventy years. As the fulfillment of his desires were not to be realized at that time, he is given a revelation concerning seventy sevens of years, after which all the hopes of his heart would be satisfied.” Knoch, A. E. Concordant Studies in the Book of Daniel, p 287, 288.

Jeremiah, the prophet, had written of the deportation of Israel.

For 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 (Jerusalem). Jeremiah 29:10

God VISITS the Deported Israelites in Babylon

Notice the word visit used here. This word is used many times in the original Scriptures, however, when God visits judgments on an individual (allowing him to reap what he has sown) the translators often translate the word as punish. But this is a gross mistranslation and is blasphemous toward God’s character. The word punish is NOWHERE in the Bible. It has been improperly written in by the translators at their whim, to make God look monstrous and punitive.

God does NOT punish! He allows us to reap what we have sown!

When one finds the word visit in the original Scriptures, it means one is reaping what he has sown. Sometimes God visits good things on people, when they have made correct decisions, and sometimes God visits bad thing on people, when they have made wrong decisions. But in both cases, the person has done it to himself. He is reaping what he has sown. It is a natural consequence of his own actions.

But God takes responsibility for visiting it on them because God is our Creator – and everything is of Him!

Why Just Seventy Years of Deportation?

“Among the many judgments which the law threatened as a penalty for disobedience was one for failure to keep the Sabbaths. Every seventh year was to be a sabbatism for the land (Lev. 25:1-22).

And the Lord spake unto Moses in Mount Sinai, saying,

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When you come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord.

Six years you shall sow you field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;

But in the seventh year shall be a Sabbath of rest unto the land, a Sabbath for the Lord; thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

That which grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, neither gather the grapes of your vine undressed; for it is a year of rest for the land.

And the Sabbath of the land shall be food for you; for you, and for your servant, and for your maid, and for your hired servant, and for your stranger (visitor) that sojourneth with you.

And for your cattle, and for the beast that are in your land, shall all the increase thereof be for food. Leviticus 25:1-7

If this was not observed, then Jehovah threatened to bring the land into desolation and scatter them among the nations (unbelievers).

“The seventy years’ desolation simply gave the land what the law demanded. If for four hundred and ninety years they failed to keep each seventh year as a Sabbath, then there would be seventy Sabbaths to make up. . .

“The law of the seventh year Sabbath was a test which the people could not meet (Lev 25:2,7). To leave the land lie fallow and the vine unpruned was too much for their faith. That this would be so is intimated in the law itself, for there we read, “And if you shall say ‘ What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase.’ Then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year. . .

“It seems that the year-sabbath, to be observed every seven years, fell away during the time of Israel’s kings. This is in close harmony with the fact that these kings were chosen in preference to Jehovah, and represented dependence on the arm of flesh rather than on the Word of God. They worked on the seventh year Sabbath during the period of the kings, and they were rewarded for their toil by the seventy years of desolation, in which the land kept the Sabbaths, which were its due.” Ibid. p 292

Please note: It is this same “failure to rest” the land of the entire world for the last 6,000 years (since creation)) that will necessitate the one thousand year millennial rest for the land (the whole earth) after Jesus comes. Because the land of the whole earth has not been rested and allowed to lay fallow every seventh year for 6,000 years, God has demanded the 1,000-year millennial rest for the land.

After Jesus comes and takes the righteous to heaven, the entire earth will be laid waste – in order for it to rejuvenate. The righteous will go to heaven for 1,000 years when Jesus comes, and all the others living on this earth will be destroyed by the fire that will consume and purify the earth.

Remember, the earth was “baptized” with water at the time of the flood (symbolic of outward purification). When Jesus comes, the earth will be totally “baptized”(purified) with fire.

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be BURNED UP!” 2 Peter 3:10

The earth will be uninhabitable for the 1,000 year millennial rest!

This outward and inward purification of the earth symbolizes the Christian’s outward baptism, and eventual inward purification by the fiery trials God brings into our life.

John the Baptist baptized with water. Jesus came to baptize with spiritual “fire” – His “fiery” law (Deuteronomy 33:2) and “fiery” trials (1 Peter 4:12).

“John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit (God’s spirit of holiness) and with fire.” Luke 3:16 and Matt 3:11.

Remember that the FIRST is always physical and the SECOND is always Spiritual. (See John, Chapter 3 – first and second births, and 1 Corinthians 15:44-49.)

After the 1,000-year millennial rest, when the only ones on this earth will be Satan and his angels, the unsaved will be resurrected for the Great White Throne Judgment, after which they will begin to reap what they have sown. This will occur in the Last Eon. (See: “Does “Forever” Really Mean Forever?”)

“This year-sabbath (resting of the land) was of prime importance in Israel. It was even better calculated to teach then to cease from their own works than the weekly and annual Sabbath days. The word Sabbath does not signify rest, though it is often so recorded in English versions. God does not need to rest. Rather man needs to cease from his own efforts, and his vain attempts to keep the law and build his own righteousness, and save himself. . .

“The fact that Israel did not keep this Sabbath for so long shows clearly how much they were taken with their own doings and how little place they had in their hearts for the work of God. . .

“Superficially, it seemed a time of much loss to Israel. Spiritually seen, it was a time of great gain for God. The deportation of Israelites was humbled and helpless, and cast upon God, and learned to look to Jehovah for salvation. They made Him their expectation. Great harvests of precious fruit were garnered into God’s granary at the very time that the land withheld its increase and lay waste.

“It is of the utmost importance that we clearly grasp the great fact that the desolations did NOT come because of failure to work, but on account of their refusal to stop working. This is ALWAYS the great failure of those who claim to follow God.” Ibid. p 292, 293

One more very important point. If God cares so much about His command that the earth must be rested every seventh year that He would send the Israelites into captivity in Babylon when they disobeyed Him, a command(ment) written by Moses, how much more does He value His Ten Commandments that were written BY GOD with His OWN finger in STONE!

God has commanded that man CEASE from His work every Seventh-day Sabbath, Saturday, in order to spend the day with the Lord. Yet man, for most of the last 6,000 years, has ignored God’s command and chosen instead to worship on the day that “man” has chosen, the First Day of the Week, Sunday, the day of the Sun, the day of the worship of the creation rather than the Creator.

It is likely that ignorance of God’s Fourth Commandment will eventually lead to enslavement of the whole world, especially the professing Christians who have rebelled against the day that God, Himself, declared Holy!

3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

4 And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and lovingkindness to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments.

5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from Thy precepts and from Thy judgments:

6 Neither have we hearkened unto Thy servants the prophets, which spake in Thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7 O Lord, righteousness belongs unto Thee, but unto us shame 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 has driven them, because of the unfaithfulness that they have committed against Thee.

8 O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against Thee.

9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against Him;

It is noteworthy that Daniel included himself among the sinners of Israel when, in fact, Daniel is about the only person in the Bible about which God said nothing bad. Nevertheless, Daniel was so concerned for the multitude of sinners among the professed followers of God, that he included his lot with theirs.

“Christians” often become callous about the salvation of those who are far from God. “They had their chance,” “They didn’t make the right choice,” is often heard from the mouths of these so-called “Christians.” But this passage in Daniel instructs us that the salvation of ALL the unsaved must be as important to us as our own salvation. If it is not that important to us, then WE are not safe to save!

It is also important to realize that Daniel studied prophecy. Without that, he would have been ignorant of the Seventy-year prophecy in Jeremiah 29!

We, too, must study prophecy in order to understand the “signs of the times.”

10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.

11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed Thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey Thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him.

12 And He has confirmed His words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven has not been done as has been done upon Jerusalem.

Failure to keep the Law was no light matter, for it incurred the curses that were contained in the law itself. The terrible list of disasters coming on Israel because of their wandering away from the law of God included the following: diseases, enemies, death, oppression, fear, crop failure, wild beasts, war, pestilence, captivity, famine, desolation, deportation, destruction. Only confession and humility and acceptance of God’s judgments led to restoration (Lev 26:40).

It will be the same in the coming time of trouble, the time that is upon us now.

13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this disaster 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.

14 Therefore has the Lord kept the disaster, and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all His works which He does: for we obeyed not His voice.

15 And now, O Lord our God, that has brought Thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and has made a name for Yourself, as of this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

16 O Lord, according to all Thy righteousness, I beseech Thee, let Thine anger and Thy fury be turned away from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people have become a reproach to all that are about us.

It will be noted that in this connection, Daniel appeals to the Lord’s righteousness (right-doing).

17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of Thy servant, and his supplications, and be gracious upon Thy temple that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.

18 O my God, incline Thine ear, and hear; open Thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by Thy name: for we do not present our supplications before Thee for our righteousness, but for Thy great mercies.

19 O Lord, hear: O Lord, forgive: O Lord, listen and act; delay not, for Thine own sake, O my God; for Thy city and Thy people are called by Thy name.

“O that the saints could revel in the great truth that not only God’s mercy and grace, but also His righteousness and glory are engaged in their behalf? O that they could exult in the fundamental fact that their salvation and blessing is a vital part of God’s revelation of Himself, so that His name and fame are at stake, rather than their welfare! He would suffer infinitely more than they, should He fail to fulfill all the rich and rare promises of His word.” Ibid. p 300

20 And while 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;

21 Yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning being weary with weariness, reached me about the time of the evening offering.

22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill in understanding.

23 At the beginning of thy supplications the word came forth, and I am come to tell thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore give heed to the matter and understand the vision.

24 Seventy sevens are determined upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting (eonian) righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.

(“Eonian” righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus that He places in us when we follow Him.)

At the beginning of the chapter, Daniel brings to mind the prophecy of Jeremiah of the seventy years of Babylonian captivity for the Israelites that is now coming to an end.

Now, Gabriel brings another a prophecy to Daniel, himself, a prophecy of not just seventy years, but Seventy Sevens – apparently 490 years! At that time, there will be an end of sins, a reconciliation for iniquity, a revelation of eonian righteousness and an anointing of the Most Holy. This could mean nothing less than the coming of the Messiah.

So, when does the 490 year period begin?

25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven sevens, and threescore and two sevens

(7 sevens + sixty-two sevens = sixty-nine sevens or 69 weeks); the open square (street) shall be built again, and the moat (wall) even in troublous times.

In Daniel 9:25, 69 of the 70 weeks are explained. The prophecy begins with the command to rebuild Jerusalem. Sixty-nine weeks later, the prophecy ends with “the Messiah the Prince.” So, we have two historical events in Daniel 9:25: (1) the command to rebuild Jerusalem and (2) “the Messiah the Prince.”

The Hebrew word for “Messiah” is translated in Greek as Christos (Christ). So clearly the prophecy is talking bout Christ. (Mathew 1:1; Matthew 16:16; Acts 3:15; Acts 5:31)

The prophecy focuses on Jesus. The first 69 weeks of the prophecy are used to bring us to Jesus as the Messiah.

26 And after threescore and two sevens 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.

27 and He shall confirm the covenant with THE many for one week (7 years) and in the middle of the week (a total or 486 1/2 years – or 487), He shall cause the sacrifice and the offering 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 (desolator?)

“In the middle of the week, He (Jesus Christ – the Messiah) shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations He shall make it desolate.”

When Christ was crucified, the Temple curtain between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place was ripped in two, signifying that the Sanctuary rituals were OVER. Jesus’ death for the sins of the world, the spiritual fulfillment of the literal animal sacrifices, was the final atonement. Animal sacrifices were never to be offered again. Jesus had done it all.

“Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, breathed His last (incorrectly translated in the KJV “yielded up the ghost.”)

And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake and the rocks split,

And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose.” Matthew 27:50-52

In addition, right before Jesus was crucified He rebuked the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites, blind guides, vipers, and a brood of vipers. (Matt. 23) Then He added:

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Behold, YOUR house (temple) is left unto you DESOLATE!”

Matt 23:37,38

Shortly before, in Matthew 21:12,13, Jesus had gone into the temple to cast out the moneychangers and overturned the tables, saying:

“It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a Den of Thieves.”

When Jesus was crucified (in the midst – middle - of the last week - 7 years - of the 70 week prophecy), the sacrifices and offerings to the true God in the temple ceased and the temple that had been an abominable den of thieves was left desolate – God’s presence in the Most Holy place was now gone.

The 70 week prophecy began in 457/458 B. C. (please see attached information). Jesus was born sometime between 4-6 B.C. (See “In What year was Jesus born?” at the end of the study.) Jesus was crucified at the age of 33 in the middle of the last “week” – 7 years. 457 years + around 30 A.D. = about 487 years. Stephen was stoned in about A.D. 34, causing the disciples and other followers of Christ to flee from Jerusalem, ending the 70 “Week” – 490 year prophecy.

Questions Remaining:

The questions remaining, to be answered at the end of the study of all chapters of Daniel are:

1.    Is the 70 Week prophecy of Daniel 9 a part of the 2300 day (evening/morning) prophecy of Daniel 8?

2.    Is the 70 Week prophecy applicable not only to the FIRST advent of Christ, when determined as 490 YEARS, but is it also applicable to the SECOND coming of Christ, when determined in literal DAYS – 490 DAYS before Jesus’ SECOND coming?

Daniel 9

The Coming of the Messiah

The First Coming of the Messiah ONLY? Or does the Prophecy apply to BOTH the First AND the Second Advent of Christ?