The Prophet Daniel

By Arno Clement Gaebelein

Chapter 9

The Great Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks

The previous chapter closed with the effect of the vision and its interpretation upon the holy seer. He famished and became sick. Great astonishment filled his soul and none understood it. This should dispel the idea, which some people seem to have, as if the prophets were simply in a passive state and the visions they had and prophecies they received came to them in a mechanical way. The prophets were holy men of God and they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. i. 21). It is true they did not: completely understand their visions; they had to search themselves and much was mysterious and hidden to them, yet they believed (1 Pet. i. 10-12). Daniel shows how deeply moved he was after these visions. We read of him how each vision was connected with the deepest soul exercise, with fasting and prayer as well as the reading of those portions of the Word of God he possessed. Especially in the present chapter do we find that the greatest revelation he received was an answer to prayer.

And here we may well think of the same necessity for us. We too cannot advance in the knowl-edge of the revelation of God unless it is through prayer and soul exercise. The lessons are many and precious which we gather especially from the great prayer the man greatly beloved uttered and the still greater spiritual experience which followed the divine, heaven-sent answer (chapter x.).

The Time of Daniel's Prayer. Before we examine the occasion of the prayer of Daniel and the prayer itself we consider the time when the Prophet prayed.

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; In 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.

From this we learn that this chapter takes us into the first year of the reign of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes. Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus is still unknown by name to history and to the monuments, but that in itself is no argument against the book of Daniel. Belshazzar's name was likewise unknown to history and to the ancient monuments, till the discovered memorials of Nabonnaid confirmed so fully the correctness of Daniel's writings. But the poor critics have not yet learned their lessons and they will continue to doubt the Word of God, till some day to their eternal loss they will find out the complete defeat as well as wickedness of their destructive work. Another objection has been made that the names " Darius, son of Ahasuerus " are not Median, but Persian. But this objection likewise falls to the ground, for the language of the Persians was almost identical with that of the Medes.

What led Daniel to Pray. It was a critical time for Daniel's people, when Darius the Mede began his reign. Babylon which had been the instrument of the captivity had fallen and the 70 years, which God had announced should be the duration of the punishment, had almost expired. We see Daniel occupied with the reading of the Word of God. Besides the Pentateuch and other historical books, he possessed most of the Psalms and the former. Prophets, the books of Isaiah, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Amos, Jeremiah, and others. In these oracles of God he read of a better day, which was to come for his beloved people and that God had promised them great mercies and a glorious future. Being a prophet himself he understood the promises of blessing. We see him especially occupied with the prophet Jeremiah. " I Daniel, understood by books¹ the number of the years, where of the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." What presumption it is when the puny critics of the present day deny that the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah and the other prophets, when so great a man as Daniel knew that the Word of the Lord did come to them as well as to himself. It was by turning to the Word that he became so deeply interested. Though he was a prophet, highly favored of the Lord, he felt the need of perusing what other prophets before him had said. And God's own Word led him close to God and revealed to him God's thoughts and God's purposes. He did not need a special communication concerning the duration and termination of the Babylonian captivity. God had given a revelation already on this question as well as on the mercy in store for Jerusalem. The Prophet therefore did not turn to the Lord for a new revelation, but he read His revelation as given in the Books. This is an important principle. There have been and there are misguided people who believe that God gives still revelations and that they receive them. But God has given to us a complete revelation concerning Himself, ourselves, and the future, the things to come and He expects us now to study that completed revelation and to believe it. From His Word we learn His purposes and living, as we do, in a critical time, when God will soon fulfill His promises and carry out His purposes how diligent we ought to be to read and understand.

Daniel after reading in the books and in Jeremiah about God's gracious promises to Jerusalem (see Jeremiah xxiv. 5-10) drew near to God. He might have announced his discovery to the people, but he turned to the Lord in prayer. He knew Babylon had been conquered and that Cyrus the Persian was the King who was to give the command that Jerusalem should be built (Isaiah xliv. 28 to xlv. 4) and the next was that, prophet like, he sought the face of God to intercede for His people, whom he so deeply loved. True prayer must have for its foundation the Word of God.

The Prayer. It is one of the greatest prayers of the Bible, which Daniel prayed. In reading it one feels still its great warmth, and its earnest pleadings, deep humility, confession of sin and failure touch every spiritually minded believer. We think it well to quote the entire prayer.

And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 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. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of face, 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. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 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. 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. And 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. As 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. 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. And 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. 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 of our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of they servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 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 righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, barken and do: defer not, for thine own sake, O my God : for thy city and thy people are called by thy name (verses 5-19).

In Deepest Humiliation the great man of God approached the Lord his God. The first thing we read is that he made his confession. " I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession." Throughout this prayer we read how completely he identified himself with the sins, the failure, the shame and the judgment of the people of God. This is remarkable. As we have seen from the first chapter, he was brought to Babylon when quite young and belonged even then to the believing God fearing element of the nation. Yet he speaks of the nation's sins, their rebellion, their transgressions of the law and their wicked deeds as if they belonged to him. Of all the Bible characters Daniel appears as the purest. The failures of Abraham, Moses, Aaron, David and others are recorded but Daniel appears with no flaw whatever in his character. As far as the record goes he was a perfect man. Of course he too was " a man of like passions " as we are and as such a sinner. Yet this devoted and aged servant with such a record of loyalty to God and to His laws confesses all the people's sins and the curse and shame, which came upon them as His own. We have sinned — we hearkened not unto thy servants — we have rebelled against thee; — neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God; — we have sinned and done wickedly; these are some of the expressions he uses in his prayer of confession. The confusion of face, the shame and reproach, the curse and the anger he also takes upon himself. Well may we see in him a type of the Lord Jesus Christ who took the sins of His people upon himself and confessed them as His own. Daniel loving his people and knowing the cause of all the confusion of face, the reproach and anger resting upon them, takes his place with them in all they had done and all which came upon them. Their sin is his sin, their failure his failure, their confusion of face and reproach, he makes his own. Instead of exempting himself from any blame of what the nation did and what came upon them as a result of their apostasy, he takes his place right with them. Such a spirit pleases God. From all this we may profit likewise. Instead of boasting, as it is so often heard, among believing Christians, " that we are the people " or little narrow circles of fellowship, claiming to be " the church of God on earth " in which no failure is found, we too like Daniel should confess the failure in which we all have a share and part and in deep humiliation seek the face of God, confessing our sins. This is the way to blessing. Daniel pleads for the nation, for Jerusalem, the sanctuary, for the desolate city called by the name of the Lord. He reminds Him that they are His people, His city, His sanctuary and appeals to Jehovah that His anger and fury be turned away, to cause his face to shine on His sanctuary, to incline His ears, to open His eyes, to forgive and not delay. It is a great prayer of confession and intercession. As our chief purpose in this book is to explain the prophetic visions and revelations, we do not enter into greater detail, but point out briefly the scope of the prayer.

It may be divided into three parts. (1) Verses 4-10. Confession of the failures of the nation and acknowledgment of God's covenant mercies. (2) Verses 11-14. The deserved curse as written in the law of Moses. (3) Verses 15-19. Pleadings for mercy to turn away His anger and to remember His city Jerusalem and His people.

The Interrupted Prayer. Daniel was not permitted to finish his prayer. When he poured out his heart and said " defer not for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name " he was suddenly interrupted. Before him stood once more the heavenly messenger, the man Gabriel. But we shall first of all read Daniel's own words on what took place.

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; yea, while 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. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. 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 (verses 20-23).

Twice Daniel tells us that whilst he was speaking in prayer he was interrupted by the same one, whom he had seen in the previous vision and that he touched him. The prayer was cut short for Gabriel had come to bring him the answer. The man Gabriel appeared at the time of the evening oblation, that is at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. But ,was there a time of the evening oblation in Babylon ? Certainly not. The temple had been consumed byfire almost 70 years before and the Jews then as now in their greater dispersion, had no altar and no sacrifices left. It is one of the evidences of faith in Daniel. Though there was no temple and no evening oblation, yet he remembered the time and the memories of the past filled his soul. The messenger had been caused by God's own power to fly swiftly. He informs Daniel that he had come to give him skill and understanding. He addresses him as " greatly beloved " and tells Daniel that when he began his supplications with deep humiliation and confession, he, Gabriel, received the command to fly swiftly and bring Daniel the answer to his prayer.

How Near Heaven is. How far is heaven from earth? How long does a message take from God's dwelling place in the third heaven to reach this earth? Astronomy tells us of the immeasurable depths of the universe with its mighty and innumerable bodies called stars and its wonders. But beyond the most distant constellation there is the Heaven of the heavens, there is the throne of God and all His Glory. And yet heaven is not far away. It took the man Gabriel just a few minutes, being caused to fly swiftly, to reach Daniel and acquaint him with the secrets of God. As long as it takes to utter the words Daniel prayed, so long it took Gabriel to reach the intercessor's side. This is an inconceivable speed. But why should it be thought impossible with God? Puny man on earth, which as a globe in the mighty universe is in size the least of all these great bodies, like a small grain of sand on the shore of the ocean, and yet man has discovered to cast his thoughts through space in an invisible way. Heaven is not far away. There is no space and distance for God. What an encouragement to prayer this ought to be to God's people. The moment we pray in the Spirit and in His name our voices are heard in the highest heaven.

The Answer. A Great Prophecy. The message Gabriel brought to Daniel contains more than an answer to his prayer. It was an answer to his requests concerning the people, the holy city and the sanctuary, but at the same time it is a great apocalypsis of the entire future of Israel from the end of the Babylonian captivity to the time of the end, when the Roman Prince shall make a covenant with many of the Jews, when the desolator shall invade the land and when the final great and glorious deliverance of Daniel's people shall come.

The prophetic message Gabriel brought from the throne of God to Daniel is perhaps the most important not only in the Book of Daniel, but in the whole Bible. The clear understanding of it is indispensable to every reader of God's Word, who wants to know God's purposes concerning the future. In the few verses which contain the words of Gabriel, events relating to Jewish future history are predicted. The return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity, the rebuilding of the city in time of distress, the coming of Christ in humiliation. His death, the destruction of the temple and the city by the Romans, the desolations and wars which were to follow, all this is prewritten in this great prophecy. The final end of the times of the Gentiles, the great eventful week of seven years is revealed in the last verse.

A Corrected Text of the Prophecy. The authorized version is somewhat incorrect. We give therefore first of all a corrected translation.

Seventy weeks are apportioned out upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins, and to cover iniquity, and to bring in the righteousness of the ages, and to seal the vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies. Know therefore and understand: From the going forth of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem unto Messiah, the Prince, shall be Seven Weeks and Sixty-two Weeks. The street and the wall shall be built again, even in troublous times. And after the Sixty-two Weeks shall Messiah be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with an overflow, and unto the end war, the desolations determined. And he shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week; and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease and because of the protection of abominations there shall be a desolator, even until the consummation and what is determined shall be poured out upon the desolator (verses 24-27).

What are the Seventy Weeks? To many readers of the Book of Daniel it is not quite clear what the expression " seventy weeks " means and when it is stated that each week represents a period of seven years, many Christians do not know why such is the case. A brief word of explanation may therefore be in order. The literal translation of the term " seventy weeks " is " seventy sevens." Now this word " sevens " translated " weeks " may mean " days " and it may mean " years." What then is meant here, seventy times seven days or seventy times seven years? It is evident that the " sevens " mean year weeks, seven years to each prophetic week. Daniel was occupied in reading the books and in prayer with the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity. And now Gabriel is going to reveal to him something which will take place in " seventy sevens," which means seventy times seven years. The proof that such is the case is furnished by the fulfillment of the prophecy itself. Now seventy seven years makes 490 years.

What is to be Accomplished. Verse 24 gives the great things, which are to be accomplished during these seventy year weeks or 490 years. They are the following: (1) To finish the transgression. (2) To make an end of sins. (3) To cover iniquity. (4) To bring in the righteousness of ages. (5) To seal the vision and prophet. (6) To anoint the Holy of Holies.

Now it must be borne in mind that these things concern exclusively Daniel's people and not Gentiles but the holy city Jerusalem. It is clear that the finishing of transgression, the end of sins and the covering of iniquity has a special meaning for Israel as a nation. The foundation upon .which this future work of Grace for His earthly people rests is the death of Christ. Our blessed Lord " died for that nation " as He also died for us who are sinners of the Gentiles (John xi. 50). Up to now the transgression of the Jewish people is not yet finished nor is for them an end made of sins. The death of Christ has made this possible for the nation, but before it becomes a reality this period of time, 490 years, must have passed, and when they are accomplished the transgression of His people will be finished and all the other blessings will come upon them. That will be according to other Scriptures when the times of the Gentiles end and when the Son of Man, the rejected One, appears the second time. Then "He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob " and "will take away their sins." (Rev. xi. 26-27). Many passages in the prophetic Word reveal the same promises of national cleansing and forgiveness, into which we cannot enter more fully. We see at once that the blessings promised here to Daniel's people and to the holy city refer us to the time when the Son of Man is manifested, the time when the remnant of the nation shall look upon Him whom they have pierced (Zech. xii.).

At the same time when God will be merciful to His people and cover their iniquity " the righteousness of the ages " will be brought in. This means the beginning of that age of blessing, which in the New Testament is called " the dispensation of the fulness of times " (Ephes. i. 10) in which the King shall reign in righteousness. Then righteousness will be established upon this earth and the holy city, as Gabriel calls Jerusalem, will not only be a sharer of the blessings and glory, but will herself be righteous. It is written of Jerusalem " afterward thou shalt be called, The City of righteousness" (Isaiah i. 26). Still greater is Jeremiah's word he received from the Lord concerning that day when the righteousness of the ages has come.

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called. The Lord our righteousness (Jeremiah xxxiii, 14-16).

The vision and prophet will be sealed, that is accredited, because their final accomplishment has been reached in these events of blessing for God's earthly people. Also the Holy of Holies will be anointed, a statement which many have applied to our Lord. It has nothing whatever to do with Him, but it is the anointing of the Holy of Holies in another temple, which will stand in the midst of Jerusalem. Of this great millennial temple the prophetic Word is not silent. The other great prophet of the captivity, Ezekiel, had a g^eat vision of this temple and its worship.

It is of the greatest importance to grasp the thought that these things have nothing to do with Gentiles or with the church. They concern Daniel's people, the Jews and Jerusalem. If this had been understood the learned commentators would not have invented that misleading, blundering interpretation of the seventy weeks prophecy which is so universally taught in our day. We shall touch upon these errors in the course of our exposition.

The Division of the Seventy Weeks. After the general announcement of the seventy sevens and what is to be accomplished for Jerusalem and Daniel's people when this prophetic period of time expires, Gabriel gives further information to the Prophet. This information is introduced by the exhortation to know and to understand or to discriminate. What follows is the division of the seventy .weeks into three parts. The first part consists of seven year weeks, that is 49 years. The second part consists of sixty-two weeks or 434 years, then there is one week, the seventieth, left, which gives us the third part.

The Beginning of the Seventy Weeks. We have to ascertain in examining the prophetic history of these different divisions when the seventy year weeks began. If we were to touch upon the different views and explanations, which have been made on this point we would have to fill numerous pages. One is reminded of Job xxxviii. 2 in reading the theories of commentators, " Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?" The text is very plain. We read the definite beginning in verse 25. It is when the command was to be given to restore and build Jerusalem. From that time to Messiah the Prince are to be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, that is 483 years. Now it is wrong to reckon these 70 year weeks from the time Daniel prayed or from the time Cyrus gave permission for the people to return and to build the temple. In Ezra chapter i. we read that it was in the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia, that the Lord stirred him up, whose coming and work Isaiah had announced long before his birth. Significant is the proclamation, which Cyrus sent forth. But it has only to do with the building of the temple in Jerusalem. " The Lord of heaven has given me all the Kingdoms of the earth; and He hath charged me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah." But this edict is not the starting point of the 70 year weeks, for they are to begin with the word to restore and build the city itself. But in the Book of Ezra also we find in chapter vii. what happened in the reign of Artaxerxes, King of Persia, known in history as Artaxerxes Longimanus in the seventh year of his reign. Another edict was issued, but a careful reading will show that the command to restore and build Jerusalem was not given in the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes. We have to turn to the second chapter in Nehemiah*s writings to discover the beginning of these seventy year weeks. Then in the twentieth year of the reign of Artaxerxes the command was given to restore and build Jerusalem. From this time then the seventy year weeks must be reckoned. This 20th year of Artaxerxes was the year 445 B. C, which is proven historically. The year is not alone mentioned in Nehemiah ii. but also the month. It was in Nisan. The seventy year weeks began therefore in the month of Nisan 445 B. C.

When we read that " the street and the wall shall be built again, even in troublous time " and then up to the time when Messiah is to be cut off, it should be 62 year weeks (434 years), we have the time revealed how long it would take to restore the city, namely 7 year weeks, 49 years.

A Remarkable Prediction. We have then before us a remarkable prediction. The exact number of years are given when Messiah the Prince, He who is the Hope of His people Israel, should appear. But still more remarkable is the fact that a certain event of His life on earth is predicted. It is not His birth which is to take place after the expiration of the 69 year weeks, but He is to be " cut off and shall have nothing." It is a prediction of His death on the cross. It remains to be seen if this has found its literal fulfillment and if Messiah died at the time when the 483 years reckoned from the month Nisan 445 B. C. had expired. Before we do so we must call here attention to the pernicious critics of the Book of Daniel and their methods.

We have seen before that because the critics do not want to believe that it is possible to predict far off events, such as are written in Daniel, the career and death of Alexander, the work of Antiochus Epiphanes and others, they invented an imaginary pious Jew (pious fraud) who wrote the Book of Daniel after Antiochus Epiphanes had been on the scene. Now if this were true and such a " pious Jew " and not Daniel wrote this book, how can it be explained that after all there is a prediction made which clearly points to the death of Christ and which also outlines the result upon the city of Jerusalem, that the people of the Prince to come are to destroy the city and the sanctuary? These gentlemen, whose habit is to deny, solved the difficulty here by denying absolutely that the person called " Messiah the Prince " is Christ. What dishonest methods, juggling and twisting of words they have used to reach this conclusion would be amusing, if it were not so sad. Chief among those is Dean Farrar on Daniel.² We quote from his book:

" An anointed one shall be cut off." There can be no reasonable donbt that this is a reference to the deposition of the high priest Onias III, and his murder by Adronicus (b. c). This startling event is mentioned in 2 Mace. iv. 34, and by Josephus, and in Daniel xi. 22. It is added "and no ... to him." Perhaps the word helper" (xi. 45) has fallen out of the text, as Graetz supposes; or the words may mean "there is no (priest) for it (the people)." The A. V. renders it but not for himself"; and in the margin "and shall have nothing"; or "and they (the Jews)) shall be no more his people." The R. V. renders it "and shall have nothing." I believe with Dr. Joel that, in the Hebrew words " veeyn lo " there may be a sort of cryptographic allusion to the name Onias. " The people of the coming prince shall devastate the city and the sanctuary (translation uncertain). This is an obvious allusion to the destruction and massacre inflicted on Jerusalem by Appollonius and the army of Antiochus Epiphanes (b. C. 167)", Antiochus is called the prince that shall come "because he was at Rome when Onias III was murdered."

But enough of this; the way these men try to avoid the truth and by their reasoning methods try to get rid of everything God's people have believed in the past, is sufficient to show what spirit stands behind them.

The Evidence that "Messiah the Prince" is Christ. The question then is do the words " Messiah the Prince " the One who is to be cut off and nothing for him, really mean Christ or some other anointed one, as the critics claim? The evidence that it is the Lord Jesus Christ is furnished in the most remarkable fulfillment of the prophecy in the time when our Lord came to Jerusalem the last time before His passion. Exactly 483 years after the command to restore and build Jerusalem had been given, the Lord Jesus Christ entered into Jerusalem to present Himself and His claims; a few days after He was nailed to the cross. This has been shown in a perfect chronological way so that it is beyond even the shadow of a doubt. We give an extract from " Daniel in the Critics' Den " ³ which shows this fact.

If, therefore, the vision be a Divine prophecy, an era of " Sixty-nine weeks " that is 483 prophetic years, reckoned from the 14th of March, b. c, 445, should close with the public presentation and death of " Messiah the Prince." No student of the Gospels can fail to see that the Lord's last visit to Jerusalem was not only in fact, but in intention the crisis of His ministry. From the time that the accredited leaders of the nation had rejected His Messianic claims, He had avoided all public recognition of those claims. But now His testimony had been fully given, and the purpose of His entry into the capital was to openly proclaim His Messiahship and to receive His doom. Even His apostles themselves had again and again been charged that they should not make Him known; but now He accepted the acclamations of the whole multitude of the disciples. And when the Pharisees protested, He silenced them with the indignant rebuke, "I tell you that if these should hold their peace the stones would immediately cry out." These words can only mean that the divinely appointed time had arrived for the public announcement of His Messiahship, and that the Divine purpose could not be thwarted. The full significance of the words which follow is lost in our Authorised Version. As the cry was raised by His disciples, " Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the Name of the Lord." He looked off towards the Holy City and exclaimed, "If thou also hadst known, even ON THIS DAY, the things that belong to thy peace — but now they are hid from thine eyes!" The nation had already rejected Him, but this was the fateful day when their decision must be irrevocable. And we are expressly told that it was the fulfillment of prophecy, " Shout O daughter of Jerusalem; behold thy King cometh unto thee." It was the only occasion on which His kingly claims were publicly announced.

And no other day in all His ministry will satisfy the words of Daniel's vision. And the date of that first " Palm Sunday " can be ascertained with certaintv. No year in the whole field of ancient history is more definitely indicated than that of the beginning of our Lord's public ministry. According to the Evangelist it was "the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar." (Luke iii. i). Now the reign of Tiberius, as beginning from August 19, A. D. 14, was as well known a date in the time of Luke as the reign of Queen Victoria is in our own day. The Evangelist, moreover, with a prophetic anticipation of the perverseness of expositors and " reconcilers " goes on to name six prominent public men as holding specified positions in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, and each one of these is known to have actually held the position thus assigned to him in the year in question. As, therefore, the first Passover of the Lord's ministry was that of Nisan a. d. 29, the date of the Passion is thus fixed by Scripture itself. For it is no longer necessary to offer proof that the crucifixion took place at the fourth Passover of the ministry. According to the Jewish custom, our Lord went up to Jerusalem on the 8th Nisan, which, as we know, fell that year upon a Friday. And having spent the Sabbath at Bethany, He entered the Holy City the following day, as recorded in the Gospels. The Julian date oi that loth Nisan was Sunday the 6th of April, a. d. 32. What then was the length of the period intervening between the issuing of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and this public advent of "Messiah the Prince" — between the 14th of March, b. c. 445 and the 6th of April A. D. 32 (when He entered into Jerusalem) ? THE INTERVAL WAS EXACTLY AND TO THE VERY DAY 173, 880 DAYS, OR SEVEN TIMES SIXTY NINE PROPHETIC YEARS OF 360 DAYS).⁴

Here then is perfect evidence that " Messiah the Prince," who was to be " cut off and shall have nothing " is our Lord Jesus Christ, for He appeared in Jerusalem on exactly the day on which the 69 prophetic year weeks expired and a few days later, He was put to death on the cross. No wonder the critics invent all kinds of schemes and interpretations to get rid, so to speak, of this powerful evidence of revelation.

The Hebrew phrase " veeyn lo " translated in the authorized version, but not for Himself, is better rendered by " and shall have nothing." It has been interpreted in different ways. We believe it means that He did not receive then the Messianic kingdom. He was rejected by His own and received not that which belongs to Him.

The Destruction of the City Predicted. Linked with the cutting off of Messiah is another remarkable prophecy. " And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with an overflow, and unto the end war — the desolations determined." Judgment according to this is to overtake the city which rejected the Messiah and both the city and the Temple were to be destroyed. This work was to be done " by the people of the prince that shall come." The prince of course is not " Messiah the Prince," it is a prince that shall come. But he himself is not to destroy the city and the sanctuary, but the people from whose midst that coming prince is to arise, will do the destructive work. Now the people who are here in view are the Romans. Out of the Roman empire there shall arise in the future a prince. This prince or chief of the fourth empire is identical with the little horn of Daniel vii. Once more the head of the restored Roman empire as it is to be during the time of the end looms up before us in the last two verses of this chapter. The people of the coming prince, the Romans, were to come and destroy both city and temple, after Messiah had been cut off and had nothing for Himself. And this came to pass as everybody knows. Our Lord had predicted this doom of Jerusalem and had wept over it as He beheld the awful doom in store for the city. The Jews had anticipated what would come for the chief priests and Pharisees declared " The Romans will come and take away both' our place and our nation." (John xi. 48.) The Romans under Titus Vespasianus in the year 70 fulfilled this prediction and in that year the prophecy before us became history. But Titus is not "the prince that shall come."

The Future of the Jews Foretold. Another, prophecy is linked with the one just examined. " The end thereof shall be with an overflow, and unto the end war — the desolations determined." These words give us the history of the Jewish people, of their land and their city, up to the present time. It is identical with what our Lord said, " and 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 are fulfilled." (Luke xxi. 24.) Both the prediction as communicated to Daniel by Gabriel and the words of our Lord tell of what is to be the lot of the Jews and of Jerusalem throughout this present age, till the end of the times of the Gentiles has been reached. History gives the answer about the fulfillment of these words.

The Seventieth Year Week. We have found up to this point that 69 weeks or 483 years of the 70 year weeks are past. But what about the remaining 7 years, the Seventieth week? The last verse of Chapter ix tells us of that one week. It has not yet come, but still lies in the future.

The course of the 70 year weeks was interrupted by the rejection of Messiah the Prince, who came to His own and they received Him not. With this event, as we have seen, the 69th week closed and an indefinite period of unreckoned time follows; .when that is expired the last prophetic week of seven years will begin and run its appointed course.

A close scrutiny of the 26th verse will make this clear. While we know that the Messiah was cut off immediately upon the close of the 69th week. nothing is said about the time when the destruction of the city and the sanctuary should take place. History tells us it transpired 38 years after the death of Christ. Wars should continue to the end, but not a word is said when that end is to come. The one week, that is the Seventieth week, is mentioned in the verse which follows this prediction, it comes therefore after this long interval has terminated.

This unreckoned period of time at the close of the 69th week has already lasted almost 1900 years. During this time the Jewish people have been scattered among all the nations of the earth and the predicted miseries written in their own law and in the prophets have been fulfilled in every generation. Yet God has preserved them not alone physically but also as a distinct race, even as our Lord announced when He spoke of the events of the last week of Daniel in His Olivet Discourse (Matthew xxiv.). "This generation (race) shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."

During this unreckoned period of time God has made known by revelation the blessed mystery of eternity, a mystery not made known in other ages, concerning the church. There is now being gathered out from the nations a people for His Name and the church is still building. The Gospel is being heralded world-wide. The heavens, however, are closed and this unreckoned period of time leading up to the end of the times of the Gentiles runs its appointed course. As we do not write on this present and, in the Old Testament, unrevealed age and its characteristics, we must turn our attention to the events recorded in verse 27.

Who Confirms a Covenant? The first thing we read is " And he shall confirm a (not the) covenant with the many for one week." We must remind ourselves again that all we read here concerns, as 'did the previous 69 weeks, Daniel's people, the Jews. When that last week of seven years begins, preceding the time of ultimate blessing for the Jewish people, one will make a covenant with the mass of Jews. The question arises, who then is this person and what is the covenant he makes?

We mentioned before an erroneous view, which holds that everything predicted in these 70 weeks has been fulfilled in the past. The view holds that Messiah the Prince, the one who was cut off, is our Lord. However, the teaching is that " the prince that shall come " is also Christ and that it is Christ Himself who confirms the covenant in the last week. We quote Dr. Pusey who delivered a series of very learned lectures on Daniel at Oxford, and whose book on Daniel is considered an authority :

Not in, but after, these Sixty-two weeks, it is said, Messiah shall be cut off. Then follows the subdivision of the last week (verse 27) or seven years, wherein he was to be cut off, and yet not in the Sixty-nine weeks. He shall make then a covenant with many for one week and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease.⁵

The Lord Jesus Christ is believed to be the one ;who makes the covenant. The cessation of the sacrifice and oblation in the midst of the week is explained as having been accomplished by His death on the cross. But such a view is altogether untenable. According to this widely accepted theory Christ made a covenant for seven years. Where is this stated elsewhere in Scripture? Nowhere is there even a hint that Christ was to confirm a covenant with many for seven years, but His covenant is an everlasting one. The error springs from the fact that the future of the Jewish people is not considered and the teaching of what is yet to be in the time of the end is completely passed by.

The one who confirms the covenant with the many for one week is " the prince that shall come " of verse 26. The prince that shall come, as we have seen, rises from the people who destroyed the city and the sanctuary, the Roman people. The prince that shall come is the dreadful little horn on the fourth beast (the Roman empire), the great head of the Roman empire seen as the Beast out of the Sea in Revelation xiii. When the last seven years, so pregnant with Jewish events, begin, the first thing will be that the Jews look for protection to the great Man, who as a mighty prince controls the affairs of the Roman empire brought together under him as head. The aim of the Jews is to repossess Palestine, to have a Jewish state and to gain possession of the city of Jerusalem, so that they may be able to have a temple and their sacrificial ceremonies again. Zionism is the step towards such a restoration in unbelief, the first beginnings of it. This coming prince, the beast, will take the Jews and their desires into consideration, perhaps he needs them too in the beginning of his career. He will make a covenant with them and under this covenant, most likely, they will be permitted to possess Palestine and to build a temple in Jerusalem. He will also promise them protection against any outside foes, especially the one who threateningly arises in the North, the Assyrian of Prophecy.

This covenant the Roman prince will make with the many, not with all the Jews. Throughout the prophetic Word we find the clearest evidences of a remnant of Jews, who trusting in the Lord, will see through this wicked prince and refuse to have anything whatever to do with that covenant. Isaiah xxviii. 15 and 18 speak of this covenant. It is there called a covenant with death and an agreement with hell.

After the first three and one-half years of this last prophetic week are gone, he will break the covenant by causing the sacrifice and oblation to cease. From the Book of Revelation we learn that at that time he will become possessed by the power of Satan. In fellowship with the second beast, the false prophet, the personal Antichrist, who is in Jerusalem, he introduces idolatry and the most awful blasphemies among the Jews. All the temple ceremonials, sacrifices and oblations will have to be abandoned. The apostate nation will accept the Antichrist as their Messiah and king and fall in line with these blasphemies. Then the character of the little horn and what was said of him will fully come out. " He shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the Saints of the most High (the Jews who refused to enter his covenant), and think to change times and laws, and they shall be given into his hands until a time and times and the dividing of time." (Three and one-half years — Daniel vii. 25). "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given unto him to continue forty-two months" (Rev. xiii. 5). This shows the work he will do for 1260 days, 42 months, 3j^ years, the last half of the Seventieth week. The part of the personal Antichrist in these 1260 days the Syi years is described in Revel, xiii. 11-17. An image of the first beast, the wicked head of the Roman power will be set up and the great idol endued with supernatural, satanic power must be worshipped under the penalty of death. Antichrist himself, this wicked counterfeit of the true Christ, takes a place in the temple of God and by lying wonders shews himself that he is God and exalting himself above all that is God and that is worshipped. Then the great tribulation will be in force and the Jewish faithful remnant will pass through the deepest waters of suffering. In the details of all this we must not enter at this time for it would make it necessary that we follow the greater part of the Book of Revelation in which we have the fuller description of the last half of the Seventieth week of Daniel's prophecy, as well as the first 31/2 years.

We have still something unexplained in the last verse of our chapter. We read " and because of the protection (lit. wing) of abominations there shall be a desolator, even until the consummation and what is determined shall be poured out upon the desolator." We shall not weary our readers with giving them the different views and opinions on this seemingly difficult passage. The abominations mentioned are idols and idol worship. The protection, or wing, of these idols is sought by the people and God is completely forgotten and set aside by the apostate masses, who bow before the Antichrist. The fulfillment of the words of our Lord in Matthew has come :

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he salth, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also imto this wicked generation (Matth. xii; 43-45).

The wicked spirit, idolatry, will take hold of them and they will be swept along into the worst blasphemies and worship Satan's masterpiece. On account of this abomination " there shall be a desolator," one who desolates the land. This desolator will continue to plague the Jews from the outside, while the Antichrist is with them in Jerusalem. The desolator will devastate the land and conquer Jerusalem till the consummation is reached. The consummation is the close of the seven years. When that is reached the desolator himself will be dealt with in judgment as well as the two beasts. Who is the desolator? The King of the North, the Assyrian of the endtime ; he is the one of whom we read in the previous chapter and whose terrible work against the apostate nation is here once more touched upon as falling into the second half of the last prophetic week.

It is interesting to compare the two New Testament records which give a larger vision of the events of the seven years which are in store for Daniel's people and the Holy City, before the full blessing for the remnant of this people and for Jerusalem can come. These records are Matthew xxiv. and that part of Revelation which treats of these coming events, Chapters vi.-xix. The reader will find this followed out in our exposition of the Gospel of Matthew.⁶

And how far is the beginning of this last week of Paniel from our times? No one can give an answer. God only knows how soon all will come to pass. However, there is a sign present with us .which is very significant. It is the restoration movement of the Jews and their inability to carry out the plans and schemes for their complete restoration. They are waiting for " the Prince that shall come." It behooves us to wait and watch. The days of God's Saints may be very few on earth. The last and next great event in the unreckoned period of time, between the 69th and 70th week, is the coming of the Lord for His Saints and that is imminent.

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1. Hebrew " Hassephorim. " The Books,"

2. The plates of this work were lately imported by so-called publishers of " Christian " literature to be sold in very cheap editions for use in S. Schools and Bible classes. Thus the most dangerous infidelity is circulated among the young and no voice seems to be raised against it.

3. The volume by Sir Robert Anderson "Daniel in the Critics' Den" is good. We heartily recommend it to our readers who may order through us.

4. From B. C. 445 to A. D. 32 is 476 years = 173,740 days (476 X 365) + 116 days for leap years. And from 14th March to 6th April, reckoned inclusively according to Jewish practice) is 24 days. But 173,746 + 16 +  24 = 173,880. And 69 X 7 X 360 = 173,880.

It must be borne in mind here that in reckoning years from B. c. to A. D, one year must always be omitted; for, of course, the interval between b. c. i and a. d. i is not two years but one year. In fact b. C. i ought to be called b. c. 0; and it is so described by astronomers, with whom b. c. 445 is — 444. And again, as the Julian year is 11 m. 10.46 s., or about the 129th part of a day, longer than the mean solar year, the Julian calendar has three leap years too many in every four centuries. This error is corrected by the Gregorian reform, which reckons three secular years out of four as common years. For instance, 1700. 1800, and 1900 were common years, and 2000 will be a leap year.

5. Pusey, Daniel, page 176.

6. Gospel of Matthew by A. C. G., $1.50 postpaid.