2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
There are times when God gives me a tough assignment. He asks me to have a deep enough understanding of a particular Scripture passage, so that I can explain it to someone else. I’m an ordinary person who often feels inadequate to the task, but I am reminded over and over again by one competent theologian after another that God equips us to do what He asks of us. Today, my assignment is to share what I understand about DN 9: 25-26a. “Note this and understand it: From the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until God’s chosen leader comes, seven times seven years will pass. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, and will stand for seven times sixty-two years, but this will be a times of troubles. And at the end of that time God’s chosen leader will be killed unjustly.”
Understanding the historical and cultural context of the Scriptures always gives us a more profound understanding of them and best reveals the Lord’s hand in them. Daniel was a captive serving in the court of the Babylonian empire under kings Nebuchadnezzar, Evil Merodach, Neringlissar, Labashi Marduk, Nabonidus, and Belshazzar. When the Medo-Persians defeated Babylonia, he was retained in that position under kings Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian until his death sometime between 535 and 530 BC in his mid-eighties. This prophet was “a man of high esteem” in God’s eyes [DN 10: 11]. There are two significant events mentioned in the Bible which could mark the beginning of the two groups of years mentioned in this passage. The first is the issuing of a letter by King Artexerxes I to the Jewish priest, Ezra in EZRA 7: 11-26. This letter gave Ezra permission to go to Jerusalem from Persia to help restore Israel’s nationhood and religious practices. The other possible starting point for the first group of “7 times 7 years” is the commissioning of Nehemiah, King Artexerxes I’s Jewish wine steward, to lead a group of Jews back to Israel to rebuild the walls and Temple in Jerusalem discussed in NE 1: 1, 11, and 2: 1-8. I hope you will read these passages. The date for this onset could be interpreted either as 458 BC on a solar calendar or 445 BC on the lunar calendar.
When one considers that one of God’s “weeks” equals seven of man’s years, then the first group of years can be interpreted as 7 yrs./wk times 7 weeks or 49 years. That is commonly considered the time it took to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. The second grouping of years mentioned is 7 yrs./wk. times 62 weeks or 434 years. That is the time from the completion of Jerusalem being rebuilt to Christ’s death. This period is described as a “time of troubles.” Jerusalem was rebuilt with a public square and a protective channel. One needs only to read the book of Nehemiah to know that all during the rebuilding of Jerusalem there was opposition from within and without. NE 4: 7-9, “Sanballat, Tobiah, and the people of Arabia, Ammon, and Ashdod heard that we were making progress in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem and that the gaps in the wall were being closed, and they became very angry. So they all plotted together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion, but we prayed to our God and kept men on guard against them day and night.”
The meat of DN 9: 25-26a is God’s revelation of the length of time it was to take between the edict to rebuild the Jewish homeland and the time at which the Messiah is “cut off,” i.e. Christ was crucified. 49 years + 434 years = 483 years. Taking into consideration leap years, calendar errors, and the change from BC to AD, the (7+62 weeks or 69 weeks) ended at the end of Christ’s public ministry. There is no accident in this; it is God-driven. Some experts say the period ended five days before Christ’s death with His triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday); others say it ended with His actual crucifixion. No matter which is correct, we can’t lose sight of the significance of this in revealing that Christ truly is the Messiah of the OT for Whom traditional Jews eagerly await. We must pray that the veil is lifted from their eyes soon, so they will know the truth of this part of Daniel’s Vision of the Seventy Weeks [DN 9: 24-27; RO 11: 25].
PRAYER: O Lord, it is clear from the Scriptures that you rewarded Daniel for his endurance in faith with knowing the future. It should not be lost on us that we are being allowed to share in that reward. By understanding Daniel’s vision of the Seventy Weeks, we are allowed to see the significance of events in our past and in our future. The past events, such as the rebuilding of Jerusalem and Your Son’s death on the cross, allow us to see how long-standing and often-repeated OT prophecies have come true. You, Dear Jehovah, are revealed as a truthful Promise-Keeper. The events yet to happen in our future are revealed along with a vital message from You for us. We must be ready for the second coming of Your Son and have the discernment to know to reject the antichrist and what he stands for. You ask us to get our spiritual houses in order, and we dedicate ourselves in humility and love to doing that. We also dedicate ourselves to spreading this all-important message to as many people who will listen, so that they can repent and be saved. Your desire to have us do this is one of many measures of how much You love us. We thank, praise, honor, glorify, magnify, and worship You. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will look at what is revealed in DN 9: 26b-27 about our future and it’s significance to us. In the meanwhile, rest assured that our Lord loves us all consistently and completely. He wants to have a relationship with each of us that is real and personal. He offers us salvation through the Son’s death on the cross, understanding of His Word and ways through the Holy Spirit, and the sustenance, guidance, and love which only a loving Parent can provide. We are truly a blessed people! Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn