APPENDIX II
Seventy Weeks – A Dual Prophecy?
(Daniel 9)
Years of Apostasy
Through Jeremiah God confronted the leaders of
“Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and
all the families of the house of
In graphic language, through proverbs, metaphors and
symbols He raised their awareness equal to the depth their rebellion had gone.
In the passionate language of a lover, God pled, “Turn, O backsliding children,
saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city,
and two of a family, and I will bring you to
With endearing language Jeremiah appeals to the
princes of
1.
I will bring evil from the north
2.
With great destruction
3.
Your land will become desolate
4.
Cities will be laid to waste without inhabitants
5.
This will happen by a military campaign from a far country
God said that this would occur because of His “fierce
anger” (4:8) towards
Several years passed by. God again used Jeremiah to
remind Judah of His covenant.
“Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto
the men of
“And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of
Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant,
Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out
of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them,
according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be
your God: That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to
give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then
answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD.” Jeremiah 11:3-5.
The covenant promise, given in various segments over
time, portrayed a final restored people to an Edenic type land, experiencing
everlasting holiness and righteousness. God longed to see that great covenant
plan fulfilled.
Judgment Coming
For fifteen years Jeremiah brought warnings. Then
finally he prophesied that the land would become desolate and they would serve
the king of
Even with this event God still had compassion on His
people:
1.
He promised that a covenant restoration would occur after the captivity.
2.
He re-explained why they were in captivity.
3.
God finally promised that
Though meeting literal fulfillment, each of these
issues again became a prophetic metaphor for what would happen at the end of the
world. God’s people will experience an eternal covenant restoration. They will
go, after captivity, to the promised land. The meaning of sin and why there is
divine abhorrence will become explicitly clear.
Though couched in a literal Jewish (God’s people)
setting, the messages became a prophetic symbol of the righteous who will stand
with the Lamb on Mount Zion (Revelation 14:1) and the great multitude with the
Lamb standing before the throne having just come out of a “great tribulation”
(Revelation 7:9, 14), known by Jeremiah as Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7).
This is amazing information! The sins and rebellion
that provoked God to punish
Daniel and Jeremiah are linked closely in
characterizing restitution issues for God’s church. Jeremiah unfolds deep
spiritual matters that will affect man’s future relationship with God. Daniel
picks up on these themes and, in symbols and short illustrations, introduces the
major players and time periods in the “restoration warfare.” A final segment of
time is described when Satan wars against God’s people. But in that probationary
time a holy people emerges (Daniel
God’s Dream
Time periods are often discounted and even
depreciated by expositors. Yet, every redemptive theme, each aspect of the
ancient Hebrew theocracy and every divine agenda to rescue man has profound
dates, periods or symbolic numbers attached to them. God is constantly answering
the “when” or “how long” questions that are of interest to everyone. Within
every timeframe is a message of hope and some type of ending. “Eternity” is only
referenced when it relates to unending joy with God or in promise that sin is
forever gone. What an amazing plan! Redemption unfolds within our timing
framework, and God frequently tells us what time it is!
Jeremiah addresses one major timing issue. He
prophesied that
“Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth,
and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the
bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole
land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall
serve the king of
“For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be
accomplished at
When released from bondage, what were God’s dreams?
“Not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the
land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto
them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in
their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and
they shall be my people.... for they shall all know me, from the least of them
unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity,
and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:32-34.
What is being described? The fulfillment of the
everlasting covenant. In the release from captivity God anticipates a peaceful
kingdom devoid of evil. Gabriel described that era to Daniel when he said that
transgression would be finished, there would be an end to sins and
reconciliation for all iniquity would have occurred. Wonder of wonders, other
things would exist: everlasting righteousness would have come and God’s people
would be holy. In addition, the warfare instigated by Satan and his minions
would be over.
That culminating prophecy, unveiling God’s covenant
dream, was 490 years of probation given to
That Amazing Sabbath
Jeremiah outlined in many discourses what has made
God unhappy. It can be all summarized in the metaphor of an unfaithful spouse.
God imagines being married to His people. They are unfaithful – have “played the
harlot with many lovers” (Jeremiah 2:1). How does one recognize their lover,
their God? How is loyalty measured in the heavenly courts?
God is recognized as the Creator (Exodus 20:8-10) by
keeping the seventh-day Sabbath, which was established at earth’s beginning. God
recognizes us as His family by our loyalty to His sacred day. The Sabbath is the
seal of the marriage contract.
“I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes,
and keep my judgments, and do them; And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a
sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.”
Ezekiel 20:19-20.
Provocative and fundamental in comprehending Bible
truth is the Sabbath issue. Restoration, in turn, is the Biblical theme. The
Sabbath recognizes that creative process. It anticipates holiness and
sanctification of God’s people. When we enter into that “rest,” it extols God.
It pays Him deference over all other gods, including the god of self. And – it
esteems the re-creative process in man. That respects the everlasting covenant
whereby His character is written in our hearts and minds. Paul expresses this in
another way: “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the
glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of
glory.” Colossians 1:27.
Daniel was very interested to ascertain every nuance
of truth as to why he and his people had been conquered and placed in captivity.
This intensified in 538 B.C. when only one to two years remained of that seventy
years. He studied the “books” (plural), which included Jeremiah (Daniel 9:1).
Daniel had been acquainted with many of the communiqués that Jeremiah had
written. – The Review and Herald,
It is most interesting that this prophet continued to
write to the Jewish leaders in
Jeremiah included a wonderful promise in those
letters:
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,
saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken
unto you.” Jeremiah 29:11-12.
Daniel was so moved by these messages that he said,
“And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications”
(Daniel 9:3) how to re-establish the covenant relationship with Him. While he
prayed he had God’s promises to claim. “I will hearken unto you,” and “you will
find me” once again!
The Sabbath issue was part of
“To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of
Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: [for] as long as she lay
desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.” II Chronicles
36:21.
In ancient Israel God set up special “sevenths” to
rivet in their minds the true Sabbath rest and its great sanctifying theme. It
also was another divine mechanism to remind them of His sovereign position as
Creator.
“The seventh year after they [
“This was to show that nature was not God, that God
controlled nature. God designed that from nature His church should constantly
learn important lessons. They were to cherish a vivid sense that God was the
manager, the householder. They were to know the reality of His presence and His
providential care over all the earth. They were to realize that all nature was
under His supervision, all the productions of the ground under His ministration.
This was to give them faith in His providence. He could withhold His blessings
or bestow them. – Ms 121, 1899.” – Manuscript Releases, vol. 3, p. 347.
For every Sabbath year the Jewish people disgraced,
they spent a year in Babylonian captivity – 70 years. Since the Sabbatical year
was every seventh year, they had been in rebellion 490 years. The story now
takes on special meaning. We have Daniel praying for his people. He recognizes
For the first time in Daniel’s writings, he addressed
God in his prayer in His great covenant name – Adonay. This was
interspersed with Yaweh. The imagery is being choreographed to elevate
our thinking to the holiness mankind might achieve when united with God in the
highest sense.
Thus far we have seen:
Apostasy of
Warnings from God
Remnant appeals
Awaiting
God’s people
Then loss and
Daniel’s prayer
restoration
captivity
on behalf of his
[Deliverance]
people
Who are Daniel’s people – God’s people?
When Gabriel came to Daniel in response to his
passionate prayer he noted that seventy weeks of years were given to “thy
people” and “thy holy city” to achieve six holy objectives. This made the answer
to his prayer conditional for his people and the holy city (
Two vital questions must then be addressed:
1.
What do “thy people” and “holy city” mean?
2.
Why are the six goals eschatologically timed elsewhere in Scripture?
Daniel has just been praying for “my people
Daniel was informed approximately five years
previously that a people would not be vindicated or become holy until after 2300
years. Additionally, in 12:1, related to the time of Michael standing up
and the great tribulation and deliverance of God’s people, Gabriel informs
Daniel that “at that time” your people are “all those written in the
book” [of life]. This places Daniel’s people in an end-time context and includes
the saved of all ages.
The structural unity of Daniel recognizes in chapters
2, 7–8 and 11–12 that the “end” is marked by God’s kingdom restored and a
resurrection or parousia. In each, an eschatological tyrant comes to its
end at the hands of the Messiah. This also appears to be the great interest in
Jeremiah’s prophetic appeals and Daniel’s prayerful pleas.
Daniel 2 represents ten toes crushed by the arrival
of the Messianic Kingdom. Chapter 7 shows the reign of a tyrant followed by a
kingdom administered by the Son of Man and the saints. Daniel 8 describes a
tyrannical king who opposes the Prince of princes that is finally brought to its
ruin. Daniel 11:45–12:2 sees the same king destroyed at the time of the
deliverance of God’s people and the resurrection.
Chapter 9 actually follows a similar pattern. There
is a probationary time, the Messiah is then cut off, with the sacrifices and
oblations ceasing. Then it notes that it has already been prophesied or decreed
that the war, which was associated with this Messianic death, would come to its
end when the abomination leads to desolation at the consummation (
In addition, there is another profound issue that is
too often fertile ground for speculation. The six goals Gabriel challenges
“Daniel’s people” with are a compendium of the uniqueness of the coming kingdom.
All the above prophecies move towards an end. Daniel uses the
Hebrew word sedeq in his prayer (9:7, 14, 16), characterizing and
honoring God’s justice and righteousness coming to His people. In Gabriel’s
response the first three items use sedeq to describe that
Furthermore, Gabriel said that the seventy-week
period would end when everlasting righteousness comes in. That is a unique
depiction as to when the Messianic Kingdom is to be set up immediately prior to
Jesus’ second coming, after His priestly ministry is completed.
You may protest that Jesus received His kingdom at
His ascension. He did. He sat on the right hand of God on His throne (Revelation
“‘And, behold, one like the Son of man came with the
clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near
before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all
people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away.’ Daniel 7:13, 14. The coming of Christ here
described is not His second coming to the earth. He comes to the Ancient of Days
in heaven to receive dominion and glory and a kingdom, which will be given
Him at the close of His work as a mediator. It is this coming,
and not His second advent to the earth, that was foretold in prophecy to take
place at the termination of the 2300 days in 1844. Attended by heavenly angels,
our great High Priest enters the holy of holies and there appears in the
presence of God to engage in the last acts of His ministration in behalf of man
– to perform the work of investigative judgment and to make an atonement for all
who are shown to be entitled to its benefits.” – The Great Controversy, p
479.
Daniel
As we noticed ever so briefly in Jeremiah, those
warnings and prophecies, written specifically for apostate Israel, had a greater
and more complete fulfillment at the very end of time. So here in Daniel the
seventy-week prophecy has not only specific counsel for ancient
Dividing the Message
It is now essential that we move into evaluating what
part was apropos to Daniel and what truth is applicable to the end of time.
Since prophecy usually has a minor fulfillment related to near the time it was
written and a complete fulfillment at the end of time, this recognition can help
us begin.
This document is not written to evaluate all the rich
issues in Daniel 9. The goal is to unfold as to why there must be an important
end-time application within its structure.
The decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus of 457 B.C.
fulfilled the details of Gabriel’s prophecy. It was not a decree to
restore and build the city. If it were, 457 B.C. would not fit. The decree was
to reestablish a theocracy. For those who may resist this, we urge you to study
that decree in Ezra. Also, most helpful is the book End-Time Secrets of
Daniel 8–12 (see end of this appendix for resource). This is why the great
appeal comes to see Daniel 8–12 through the eyes of covenant fulfillment (as
Daniel does). That resolves a thousand debates.
Artaxerxes was very interested in having the Jewish
people return to
We get an amazing clue as to what time period covered
ancient
In Daniel 11:2-20 there is an incredible message.
Those kings stopped with the “raiser of taxes” (vs 20). From the sequence
portrayed, he is clearly Augustus Caesar. The weight of evidence tells us that
the prophecy for those ancient Jews would end at the time of Christ. In
addition, the basic message of Daniel 9:26 and 27 ends with the death of Christ.
The phrases that include “abomination,” “desolation” and “consummation” refer us
to other areas in Daniel 8–12 related to the he-goat, little horn and king of
the north. Jesus explicitly said that those things would occur after His era and
related to either the fall of
It is apparent that the last week of seven years is
broken into two time segments. One relates to the three and a half years of
Christ’s ministry, which ended at the cross – the “Messiah the Prince” (vs 25)
who was “cut off” (vs 26), causing the “sacrifice and oblation to cease” (vs
27). The next three and a half years, by context, relates to the “abomination,”
“desolation” and “consummation.”
Was there a three and a half years associated with
the literal fall of
Was there to be another three and a half years right
at the very end of time? That’s why we have Daniel 12, Revelation 11, 12 and 13
to mature our grasp of the 70-week prophecy. Those collectively tell us when and
how the warfare will end and God’s people will be delivered during a final three
and a half years.
E. G. White and 34 A.D.
Since the 490 years represent a probationary time for
restoration and holiness, it was first given to the ancient Jewish nation in
mercy after their captivity. It came as “another chance.” That chance would go
to 34 A.D., at least that was the duration calculated from the prophecy.
But there is a question. What happens to the prophecy
if mercy ceases early? The probation was given to the Jewish people as a
nation.
“‘In the time of Abraham, mercy ceased to plead with
the guilty inhabitants of
“The hour of hope and pardon was fast passing; the
cup of God’s long-deferred wrath was almost full. The cloud that had been
gathering through ages of apostasy and rebellion, now black with woe, was about
to burst upon a guilty people; and He who alone could save them from their
impending fate had been slighted, abused, rejected, and was soon to be
crucified. When Christ should hang upon the cross of
Then what happened to the last three and a half years
as a prophecy for the Jewish nation? In fact, the evening of the triumphal ride,
which would have been Nissan 10 – the day the Passover lamb was to be chosen, we
are told:
“The sheep gate was before Christ, and the path which
led to the temple, and for centuries the victims had been conducted thither for
sacrifice. The lambs that had been slain had been a representation of the great
anti-typical sacrifice that in a few hours would be made for those who rejected
his grace and compassion, the refusers of his offers of mercy. The only-begotten
Son of the Infinite God would be led through the sheep gate as a lamb to the
slaughter, while through the priests and rulers and through the common people
would be manifested satanic attributes. For a few moments the Son of God stands
upon
But E. G. White said:
“The seventy weeks, or 490 years, were to pertain
especially to the Jews. At the expiration of this period the nation sealed its
rejection of Christ by the persecution of His disciples, and the apostles turned
to the Gentiles, A.D. 34. The first 490 years of the 2300 having then ended,
1810 years would remain. From A.D. 34, 1810 years extend to 1844. ‘Then,’ said
the angel, ‘shall the sanctuary be cleansed.’ All the preceding specifications
of the prophecy had been unquestionably fulfilled at the time appointed.” –
The Great Controversy, p. 410.
“The seventy weeks, or 490 years, especially
allotted to the Jews, ended, as we have seen, in A.D. 34. At that time, through
the action of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the nation sealed its rejection of the
gospel by the martyrdom of Stephen and the persecution of the followers of
Christ. Then the message of salvation, no longer restricted to the chosen
people, was given to the world. The disciples, forced by persecution to flee
from
There appears to be a conflict. As with Scripture, it
is important to compare the writings of an expositor to obtain a complete
picture. She also noted:
“Mercy was extended to them, and their
probation was lengthened, until three years and a half after the death of
Christ, when the apostles declared: ‘It was necessary that the word of God
should first have been spoken to you; but seeing you put it from you, and judge
yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.’” – The
Review and Herald,
What is this all saying? A probation, which was cut
off, was then lengthened by special decree. A special dispensation of time was
given to the Jewish people until 34 A.D.
God, through Gabriel, gave a prophecy in Daniel 9
that would extend right up to the end of the world. The conditions and setting
has not yet been completed. Another three and a half years remains to be
completed right at the end of time to fulfill all righteousness. Did E. G. White
know that? Absolutely. That is not part of this discussion, but before her life
ended, she made it clear in writing that timing issues from Daniel would be
completed at the very end (not 1798 nor 1844).
God’s pleas through Jeremiah were forward-looking to
complete restoration. The ram and he-goat messages with the terrible little horn
anticipated the time when holiness would come to God’s people. Daniel 11 and 12
describe amazing details regarding the end of the warfare – the great
controversy. Daniel 9 is no exception. It spans the time from 457 B.C. to the
deliverance of God’s people at the resurrection. Is there a time gap?
Absolutely. The Bible calls it “the tarrying time.” And that is another exciting
saga in God’s wonderful redemption plan.