REVELATION - DANIEL RESEARCH PAPER #2

Revelation - Daniel research paper #2

Revelation

Introduction

Jesus Christ emphatically declared that the Old Testament Scriptures contained prophecies He would fulfill (Luke 24:27, 44). Biblical scholars have catalogued more than 300 amazing prophecies that find precise fulfillment in the life and labor of the Son of God. One of these predictive declarations is found in Daniel 9:24-27, commonly referred to as the prophecy of “Daniel's 70 weeks.” A proper analysis of Daniel 9:24ff involves several factors.

Daniel's Prophecy of the “Seventy Weeks”

First, one should reflect upon the historical background out of which the prophetic utterance arose. Second, consideration should be given to the theological aspects of the Messiah's work that are set forth in this passage. Third, the chronology of the prophecy must be noted carefully; it represents a prime example of the precision of divine prediction. Finally, one should contemplate the sobering judgment that was to be visited upon the Jewish nation in the wake of its rejection of Christ. Let us give some attention to each of these issues.

The Historical Context

Because of Israel's apostasy, the prophet Jeremiah had foretold that the Jews would be delivered as captives to Babylon. In that foreign land they would be confined for 70 years (Jeremiah 25:12; 29: 10). Sure enough, the prophet's warnings proved accurate. The general period of the Babylonian confinement was 70 years (Daniel 9:2; 2 Chronicles 36:21; Zechariah 1:12; 7:5). But why was a 70-year captivity decreed? Why not 60, or 80? There was a reason for this exact time frame. The Law of Moses had commanded the Israelites to acknowledge every seventh year as a sabbatical year.

The ground was to lie at rest (Leviticus 25:1-7). Apparently, across the centuries Israel had ignored that divinely imposed regulation. In their pre-captivity history, there seems to be no example of their ever having honored the sabbath-year law. Thus, according to the testimony of one biblical writer, the 70 years of the Babylonian captivity was assigned “until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths” (2 Chronicles 36:21). If each of the 70 captivity-years represented a violation of the sabbatical-year requirement (i.e., every seventh year) as 2 Chronicles 36:21 appears to suggest, this would indicate that Israel had neglected the divine injunction for approximately 490 years.

The captivity era therefore looked backward upon almost five centuries of sinful neglect. At the same time, Daniel's prophecy telescoped forward to a time—some 490 years into the future—when the “Anointed One” would “make an end of sins” (9:24). Daniel's prophecy seems to mark a sort of “mid-way” point in the historical scheme of things. Observe the following diagram over 70 years of captivity:

In the first year of Darius, who had been appointed king over the realm of the Chaldeans (c. 538 B.C.), Daniel, reflecting upon the time span suggested by Jeremiah's prophecies, calculated that the captivity period almost was over (9:1-2). He thus approached Jehovah in prayer. The prophet confessed his own sins, as well as those of the ...