DANIEL 9

9:1 DATE: about 538 BC, the first year of King Darius (called "Darius the Median" in 5:31). He was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans (Babylon) apparently by Cyrus (there is no historical evidence outside the Bible for the reign of Darius), the Persian king. Ahasuerus is a Persian name for "king." It is more of a title than a name (like Caesar, Pharaoh, etc.).

9:2 "Daniel understood by books," especially the prophecies of Jeremiah that the 70 year captivity had nearly run its course (cf. Jer.25:11,12; 29:10-14). God warned the Israelites that they were to keep the sabbaths or they would be scattered (Lev.25:3-5; 26:32-35; cf. II Chron.36:20,21). Daniel had been taken captive about 67 years earlier (605 BC) so he knew the time would soon be upon them. The temple was destroyed in 586 BC and rebuilt in 516 BC.

9:3 APPLICATION: Just as Daniel "understood by books" the end of the 70 year captivity, so we today can understand through studying God’s Word that the return of the Lord is near. Our response should be like Daniel’s as well – prayer (9:3). Daniel fasted and repented (9:3). In the Bible, "sackcloth and ashes" always represents repentance or mourning (cf. Matt.11:21).

9:4-20 Daniel confessed the sins of the entire nation. He identified with their sin, as though he were personally responsible. Notice: "we," "us," "our," etc. He trusted in God’s faithfulness and mercy (9:4,9). Daniel confessed every different type of sin:

• "We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments" (9:5)
• 9:6 "neither have we hearkened"
• 9:7 "trespass"
• 9:8 "we have sinned against Thee"
• 9:9 "we have rebelled"
• 9:10 "Neither have we obeyed"
• 9:11 "Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law…we have sinned against Him"
• 9:12 "for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem"
• 9:13 "yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities"
• 9:14 "for we obeyed not His voice"
• 9:15 "we have sinned, we have done wickedly"
• 9:16 "because of our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers"

9:17-19 Having prayed for the removal of God’s wrath (9:16), Daniel next prayed for God’s forgiveness. He asked that God would hear his prayers and supplications (9:17), cause His face to shine upon His sanctuary that is desolate (the temple in Jerusalem), and restore His people.

9:20,21 Daniel earnestly prayed: "O Lord, hearken and do; defer not" (9:19), and God quickly sent His angel Gabriel (cf. 8:16). He arrived at "about the time of the evening oblation" (9:21), i.e. between 3 & 4 p.m. The evening oblation (sacrifice) was one of the two daily sacrifices required by the law of Moses (cf. Num.28:4). There had been no evening oblation for 48 years since the temple was destroyed in 586 BC. However, Daniel still observed that time as an appointed time of prayer (cf. Acts 3:1; 10:3,30). It was at this appointed time of the evening oblation, i.e. "the ninth hour," that the Lamb of God died on the cross for our sins (Matt.27:46).

9:22,23 God answers prayer.

9:24-27 This passage is the key to understanding all Bible prophecy. Its importance goes beyond the doctrine of eschatology (last things). "Probably no single prophetic utterance is more crucial in the fields of Biblical Interpretation, Apologetics, and Eschatology" – Alva McClain.

THE MEANING OF WEEKS:

1. The Hebrew word shabua (sha-boo-a), translated "week" literally means "a seven" (9:24). Therefore, this literally means, "Seventy sevens are determined…"
2. The Hebrews thought in terms of seven. Every seventh year was a sabbath rest year (Lev.25:1-7). Seven sevens (49 years) brought them to their year of Jubilee (Lev.25:8-12).

SEVEN REASONS WHY DANIEL’S 70 WEEKS REFERS TO 490 YEARS

1. Daniel had been thinking in terms of years, not days (Dan.9:1,2; cf. Jer.25:11; 29:10; II Chron.36:21; Zech.1:12).
2. Also, Daniel realized that the Sabbatic years had been violated for 70 cycles (Lev.26:34,35).
3. God’s sovereign objectives could not possibly be accomplished in 490 days.
4. The "prince that shall come," i.e. the antichrist (Dan.9:26,27; cf. 7:20-26; 8:23-25), breaks his covenant with the nation Israel in the midst of the 70^th week. This three and a half year period obviously relates to the "40 and 2 months" of Rev.11:2 (cf. Matt.24:15-21; Rev.12:6,14; 13:5; Dan.12:7).
5. Outside of Dan.9:24-27, the Hebrew word shabua is found in only one other passage (Dan.10:2,3) in Daniel, where he states that he was mourning "three full weeks." Here it is plain that the context demands weeks of days, for Daniel obviously did not mourn for 21 years. Furthermore, the Hebrew word yamin (days) is added to "weeks," so in the Hebrew it literally reads, "three weeks of days."
6. Cf. Gen.29:27,28.
7. It would be virtually impossible to "build Jerusalem" (9:25) and then see it destroyed again within 490 days (9:25,26; cf. #3 above).

SIX PURPOSES OF GOD THAT ARE TO BE FULFILLED WITHIN THE SEVENY YEARS (9:24)

1. "To finish the transgression" – Israel’s course of apostasy and sin and wandering over the face of the earth will be brought to completion within the seventy sevens. The restoration of Israel which Daniel sought in prayer (9:16-19) will ultimately have its fulfillment when our Lord Jesus Christ comes back (cf. 9:27, "even until the consummation").
2. "To make an end of sins" – to take away sin and bring sin to its final judgment.
3. "To make reconciliation for iniquity" – this can only be done through faith in the shed blood of our Lord (II Cor.5:19).
4. "To bring in everlasting righteousness" – when our Lord returns to set up His kingdom.
5. "To seal up the vision and prophecy" (cf. 8:26; 12:8,9). The prophecies are sealed and awaiting their fulfillment. There are no prophets today (cf. I Cor.13:8; Rev.22:18,19).
6. "To anoint the most Holy" – refers to the millennial temple (Ezek.40-48).

THE BEGINNING OF THE 70 WEEKS (9:25)

1. The angel Gabriel told Daniel that this 490 year program would begin "from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem." This commandment was the last of four decrees made by a Persian rulers in reference to the Jewish nation.

1. The decree of Cyrus in 538 BC (II Chron.36:22,23; Ezra 1:1-4; 5:13).
2. The decree of Darius in 512 BC (Ezra 6:1-12), which confirmed the decree of Cyrus. Note that these decrees only gave permission to rebuild the temple, not the entire city.
3. The decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus in 457 BC (Ezra 7:7-28), which provided finances for the temple.
4. The second decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus in 445 BC (Nehemiah 2:1-8), which granted the Jews permission to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. The 70 weeks commence from this point.

2. The first 69 weeks (of the 70) extend from this commandment in 445 BC to the day of our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem (cf. Luke 19:38). It is probably in reference to Daniel’s prophecy that our Lord alludes to in Luke 19:42-44.
3. The 69 sevens = 483 years of 360 days.

1. The Jewish calendar had 360 days (12 months of 30 days).
2. The prophecy was given to Daniel at Babylon and the Babylonian calendar also had 12 months of 30 days, 360 days in the year.
3. The Bible teaches a 360 day year (cf. Gen.7:11,24; 8:3,4).

• The flood began on the 17^th day of the second month (7:11).
• The flood ended on the 17^th day of the seventh month (8:4).
• Therefore, the flood lasted 5 months, i.e. 150 days (7:24; 8:3).

THE GAP BETWEEN THE 69^th AND THE 70^th WEEK (9:26)

1. Cf. Scofield’s notes on p. 915.
2. Dan.9:24 states that there are 70 weeks. Next, in 9:25, it states "seven weeks and threescore and two weeks" (69 weeks).
3. Dan.9:27 mentions the remaining "one week," and the week being divided in half. The second half is referred to as "the great tribulation" (Matt.24:21; Rev.7:14).
4. It is obvious that there must be an indeterminate space of time after the 69^th week because "the people of the prince that shall come" is a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD by the Roman army under Titus.
5. Gaps are not uncommon in the Bible. God reckons time with the Jews only when He is dealing with them nationally. Furthermore, the church is never mentioned in the O.T.
6. Examples of "gaps":

1. Our Lord read from the book of Isaiah in the synagogue (Luke 4:16-21; cf. Isa.61:1,2).
2. Isa.9:6,7.
3. Luke 1:31-33.
4. The apostles recognized that God’s program with Israel was in abeyance while the Lord "first did visit the Gentiles" and then after the church age would "return and rebuild again the tabernacle of David" (Acts 15:14-17).
5. Peter quoted Ps.34:16 but left out the prophetic portion dealing with the future judgment (I Peter 3:12).

7. Our Lord anticipated this great parenthesis when He warned the Jews of "the abomination of desolation" (Matt.24:15; cf. Dan.11:31) that would mark the "great tribulation" preceding His second coming (Matt.24:21-28).

EVENTS THAT WILL FOLLOW THE 69^th WEEK

1. The Messiah shall be "cut off" (cf. Isa.53:7,12), i.e. killed (cf. Gen.9:11; Ps.37:9; Jer.11:19).
2. Messiah = "anointed one" (Christ).
3. "But not for Himself" refers to His vicarious death (cf. John 1:29; I John 2:2).
4. "And the people of the prince that shall come" refers to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD (cf. Matt.22:1-14, particularly verse 7; also 24:1,2).

1. "The prince that shall come" (9:26) is the antichrist, emerging from the revived Roman empire.
2. "And the end thereof…" (9:26) – ever since the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, trouble, wars and desolation (including horrible terrorism) are the normal experience of the people of Israel. This will continue until the "consummation" (9:27).

THE BEGINNING OF THE 70^th WEEK (9:27)

1. Dan.9:25,26 are historical, though they were prophetic when Daniel wrote them. Dan.9:27 is still future.
2. It is vitally important to correctly understand who "he" refers to in 9:27. Some people mistakenly believe "he" is Christ, but in fact it is the antichrist ("the prince that shall come" is the direct antecedent).
3. Israel will accept this false messiah.

• He will be a phony "man of peace" (Dan.8:25; I Thess.5:3; Rev.6:2).
• He will double-cross Israel "in the midst of the week" (9:27).
• "He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease" (9:27; cf. II Thess.2:3,4; Rev.13:4-8,14-18).
• "And for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it (the temple) desolate" (9:27; cf. Matt.24:15).
• The Jews will think they are embracing their Messiah (cf. John 5:43).
• The Jews will think they are entering the millennium (a "new age" or "new world order"), but will in reality be in the tribulation, the time of "Jacob’s trouble" (Jer.30:7), their "day of darkness" (Joel 2:2).
• Since all of the events of the first 69 weeks have been literally fulfilled, we can expect the same for the 70^th week.