Category: Daniel 9

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The Daniel 9-prophecy does not list events chronologically.

ABSTRACT: Daniel 9 mentions the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 first (v26) and then the “firm covenant” of the 70th week (v27) but the prophecy does not list events in chronological sequence. The poetic pattern shows that the prophecy alternates between two foci; Jerusalem and the Messiah. The Jerusalem-events are in chronological sequence. So also, the Messiah-events. But the poetic pattern and the chiasm show that verse 27 repeats verse 26.

A summary of this article is available HERE.

PURPOSE

Daniel 9 mentions the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 first and then the “firm covenant” of the 70th week (Dan 9:26-27). On the assumption that the prophecy lists events in chronological sequence, Dispensationalism uses this to assert that:

Firstly, the 70th week will be later than AD 70. Since the first 483 years came to an end at the time of Christ, this requires a gap between the first 483 years and the last seven years.

Secondly, the “he” of verse 27 cannot be the Messiah, for the Messiah died about four decades earlier. Therefore, “he” refers to the prince whose people destroyed the city in AD 70 (verse 26). Dispensationalism proposes that the Roman Empire will be revived in the end-time and that “he” refers to the emperor of that revived empire. He will be the end-time Antichrist.

The purpose of this article is (1) to show that the prophecy does not list events chronologically and (2) to explain the structure of the prophecy.

NOT CHRONOLOGICAL

ChronologicalDaniel 9 does not list events in chronologic sequence. For example:

Firstly, verse 26 mentions the destruction of the sanctuary first, and then, in verse 27, the prince causes sacrifices to cease. But after the sanctuary has been destroyed, there remains no sacrificial system that can be ceased.

Secondly, verse 25 mentions the appearance of the Messiah first and then the rebuilding of the city. However, the city was rebuilt four centuries before the Messiah appeared.

Thirdly, the city is destroyed in verse 26 while the final week is described in verse 27. But, since the full 70 weeks have been determined for the city of “your people” (v24), the city can only be destroyed AFTER the end of the 70 weeks and, therefore, after the 70th week.

The challenge, then, is to understand the logic behind the sequence in which the events are listed.

POETIC PATTERN

It is important to note that the prophecy alternates between two foci; Jerusalem and “Messiah the Prince” (Dan 9:25):

JERUSALEM MESSIAH
25 … from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince
there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
it will be built again … 26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off …
and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city … 27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering;
… complete destruction,
one that is decreed …

The Jerusalem-events are in chronological sequence. Daniel prayed for Jerusalem (Dan 9:18) and Gabriel told him that seventy weeks were decreed for the city, starting with “the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem” (Dan 9:25). Then it is “built again” (v25) but, Daniel had to also hear that people “will destroy the city” (v26).

This pattern supports the proposal that the duration of the building project will be “seven weeks” (49 years).

The Messiah-events are also in chronological sequence. The Messiah will appear at the end of the 7+62 weeks (483 years) (v25) and later be “cut off” (v26), which means to be killed. This pattern identifies the “he,” who confirms the covenant and puts a stop to sacrifice (v27), as the Messiah (Jesus Christ). The article – Who confirms What – validates this conclusion with several other arguments.

But then, one may ask how “he” could confirm the covenant for “one week” (seven years) after He has been killed. But another article – The end of the 490 years – shows that Jesus confirmed the covenant during the last week both before and after His death. (He died in the middle of that week.) Before His death, He confirmed the covenant personally. After He died, He did it through the Holy Spirit, which He sent with power, but only to Jews.

CAUSE-EFFECT

Since the destruction of the city in verse 26 and the firm covenant in verse 27 fall in different columns, one should not assume that these events are chronologically sequential. The relationship between the Jerusalem-events and the Messiah-events is not chronology but cause and effect:

Verses 25-26, by twice mentioning the Messiah immediately after the rebuilding of Jerusalem, implies that the city was rebuilt to receive the Messiah.

Verse 26, by mentioning the destruction of the city immediately after the killing of the Messiah, implies that the city is again destroyed because it did not receive (accept) the Messiah. This cause-effect relationship was confirmed by Jesus when He said:

“They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you” (Luke 19:44; cf. Luke 21:20-24).

DESTRUCTION IN VERSE 27

The destruction in the last part of verse 27 should refer to Jerusalem because it falls in the Jerusalem column. The article – Destruction of Jerusalem – provides additional support for this conclusion. 

CHIASM

Another insight into the structure of the prophecy is to note that Daniel 9:25-27 is also structured in a chiasm. This means that the first item corresponds to the last, the second to the second last, etc. The chiasm is as follows:

Messiah cut off 26a
Construction 25c —— Destruction 26b
Messiah the Prince 25b ———– Covenant one week 27a
Construction 25a ———————- Destruction 27c

A chiasm is a literary device used by Bible writers to emphasize the statement at the center of the chiasm. In Daniel 9, the central point is the death of the Messiah in verse 26a. In other words, His death is the great focus of the entire prophecy. His death would “make atonement for iniquity … bring in everlasting righteousness” (Daniel 9:24). For this reason, we must reject any interpretation of this prophecy that does not put the main focus on His death.

This chiasm confirms that the “he” in verse 27 refers to the Messiah, for the chiasm links that part of the prophecy to the Messiah in 25b. It also confirms that the destruction in verse 27 is the destruction of Jerusalem, for it corresponds to 25a; the decree to rebuild Jerusalem.

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With the 70-weeks prophecy, God extended His covenant with Israel.

EXCERPT: 

This article shows that the covenant pattern (disobey – exile – repent – covenant renewal) is the framework that unites Daniel’s prayer and the prophecy. Through his prayer, Daniel appealed to God to renew His covenant. Consequently, with the 70-weeks prophecy, God extended His covenant with Israel.

A summary of this article is available HERE.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this article is to show that, by determining “seventy weeks” for Israel, God promised to extend His covenant with Israel by 490 years. For that reason, and for other reasons listed in the article – Who Confirms What Covenant? – the covenant of the 70th week in verse 27 is still God’s covenant with Israel; not the covenant of an Antichrist.

THE COVENANT

God made a covenant with Israel that they will be His people and He will be their God. The Bible records several benefits that Israel will derive from this arrangement but the covenant also contained many “curses,” namely penalties for disobedience. Exile was the most severe of the covenant curses. God will lay waste their cities, make their sanctuaries desolate (Lev 26:31) and scatter the people among the nations (Lev 26:33).

THE COVENANT EXILE PATTERN

Leviticus 26, which lists the covenant promises (blessings) and warnings (curses), also provides the covenant exile pattern:

      1. Should Israel become unfaithful (Lev 26:14-39),
      2. God will send them into exile and scatter them among the nations (Lev 26:33). But
      3. If Israel in exile confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers (Lev 26:40, 41, 44),
      4. God will remember His covenants with Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham (Lev 26:42) “that I might be their God” (Lev 26:45). In other words, God would renew His covenant with Israel.

See also Deuteronomy 30.

THE ANNUAL SABBATHS

God also commanded Israel that every seventh year must be a Sabbath year (Lev 25:2), comparable to the weekly Sabbath day. Israel had to work the land for six years (Lev 25:3) but, in the seventh year, the land had to rest (Lev 25:4). This divided the Jewish calendar into weeks (groups of seven years each), with each seventh year a sabbath.

God also said that, while Israel was in exile:

The land “will observe the rest which it did not observe on your sabbaths, while you were living on it” (Lev 26:34-35).

And, “the land … will make up for its sabbaths” (Lev 26:43).

Sign of the CovenantThis made this Sabbath year cycle part of the covenant:

It implies that God measured faithfulness by their compliance with the annual Sabbaths. The weekly Sabbath was a perpetual sign of the covenant between Him and His people (Exo 31:13, 17; Ezek 20:12, 20). The above implies that the same applies to the annual Sabbaths.

It also implies that Israel would be in exile one year for every Sabbath year not observed. And since every seventh year was a Sabbath year, we can say that Israel would be in exile one year for every seven years of disobedience.

THE COVENANT IN DANIEL 9

Daniel 9 follows this covenant exile pattern:

(1) EXILE TO BABYLON

The prophecy was received at a time when Israel was in exile to Babylon and Jerusalem was in ruins (Dan 9:2, 7). Jeremiah and Chronicles confirmed that this exile was the consequence of the covenant. To explain:

Through Jeremiah, God promised to restore Israel to Jerusalem after 70 years “for Babylon:”

“Thus says … the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon … ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place” (Jer 29:10).

Chronicles referred to this prophecy and said that, during these 70 years, “the land had enjoyed its sabbaths” (2 Chron 36:21). By referring to the land enjoying “its sabbaths,” Chronicles interpreted the 70-year Babylonian exile as a covenant curse.

(2) WHY DANIEL PRAYED

Babylon fellDaniel 9 begins by saying that Daniel read in Jeremiah that the exile would come to an end after 70 years (Dan 9:2-3). Since Babylon fell the previous year (539 BC; cf. Dan 9:1) and since Jeremiah’s prophecy specifically described the 70 years as the period of Babylon’s dominance (Jer 29:10), Daniel knew that Israel’s deliverance was near.

Daniel prayed because he knew (a) that Israel was exiled by God in accordance with the covenant, (b) that God, in His covenant, promised to renew His covenant and (c) because He expected God to restore Israel soon.

(3) COVENANT TERMINOLOGY

Daniel’s prayer is replete with covenant terminology. This confirms that he put his trust, for the restoration of Israel, in God’s covenant. For example:

Daniel 9 is the only chapter in the book to use the peculiar covenant name YHWH (Dan 9:2, 4, 10, 13, 14, 20).

Daniel referred to God as the Lord who “keeps the covenant” (Dan 9:4).

Equally appropriate to the covenantal context is the repeated use of Adonay (Lord); the characteristic designation of the dominant party in the covenant. In the book of Daniel, this name is used only in this chapter and in Dan 1:2.

The many other covenant words found here include ‘ahab, “love” (Dan 9:4), hesed, “covenant loyalty” (Dan 9:4), sub, “turn” (Dan 9:13, 16), and hata, “sin” (Dan 9:5, 8, 11, 15). The prayer is indeed saturated with expressions drawn from the Mosaic treaties, particularly from the Deuteronomic covenant. Compare:

        • Dan 9:4 with Deut 7:9, 21; 10:17;
        • Dan 9:5 with Deut 17:20;
        • Dan 9:10 with Deut 4:8, 30; 11:32;
        • Dan 9:11 with Deut 29:20; 33:1; 34:5;
        • Dan 9:12 with Deut 2:25; 4:19; 9:5;
        • Dan 9:15 with Deut 6:21; and
        • Dan 9:18 with Deut 28:10.

(4) DANIEL APPEALED TO THE COVENANT

That Daniel’s prayer, as recorded in the first part of Daniel 9, was an appeal to God, in terms of the covenant, to renew His covenant with Israel, can be seen in how his prayer followed the covenant pattern as set by Leviticus 26:

Following this pattern:

(a) Daniel acknowledged that the exile was the consequence of a covenant curse: “Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law … so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses” (Daniel 9:11).

(b) He fulfilled the covenant’s requirement for covenant renewal (Lev 26:40-41) by acknowledging that God had acted justly (Dan 9:4, 7, 14) and by confessing Israel’s guilt: “We have sinned … Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us open shame … those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them” (Daniel 9:5-10; cf. 11, 15-16). In this way, Daniel fulfilled the condition for covenant renewal after the exile (Lev 26:40-41).

(c) On behalf of Israel, he prayed that God would renew His covenant with Israel and Jerusalem, as God had promised to do in the covenant itself: “O my God … see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name … O Lord, listen and take action! … do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name” (Dan 9:18-19; cf. 16-17).

(5) THE 490 YEARS ANSWER HIS PRAYER.

Gabriel arrived with the prophecy even while Daniel was still praying (Dan 9:20). That means that the prophecy was the answer to Daniel’s prayer. Since Daniel’s prayer was an appeal to God to renew His covenant with Israel, when Gabriel brought God’s answer, namely that “seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city” (Dan 9:24), that was the fulfillment of the promise in the covenant (Lev 26:42 and 45) that God would renew His covenant with Israel. In other words, the “seventy weeks” were a promise by God to renew the covenant for a further 490 years.

(6) “SEVENTY WEEKS” ARE COVENANT-TIME.

This is confirmed by the way in which the prophecy expresses the time period, namely as “seventy weeks” (Dan 9:24). Since these are weeks of years in which every seventh year was Sabbath for the land (Lev 25:2 ff.), and since God made the seven-year cycle part of the covenant, the phrase “seventy sevens” identifies this as ‘covenant-time’.

(7) REPLACING THE WASTED 490 YEARS

A final reason for saying that the “seventy weeks” is an extension of the covenant is because the “seventy weeks” serve as a replacement of the 490 years before the exile which Israel wasted through disobedience. To explain:

Jeremiah prophesied that Israel would return from exile after 70 years “for Babylon.” Note the relationship between the 70 years of exile and the 70 weeks of Daniel 9. That both are “70” units of time is not a coincidence. As discussed above, in terms of the covenant, Israel would be in exile one year for every seven years of disobedience. In other words, the 70 years of exile were the consequence of 70×7=490 years of disobedience before the exile. When Gabriel, then, brings the promise that Israel will receive a further “seventy weeks,” it is a promise that God will renew His covenant with Israel for a further 490 years as an opportunity for Israel to succeed where they failed before:

“To finish the transgression, and
to make an end of sins” (Dan 9:24).

CONCLUSIONS

(a) The covenant pattern (disobey – exile – repent – covenant renewal) is the framework that unites Daniel’s prayer and the prophecy. God’s covenant with Israel is the central theme in the entire Daniel 9.

(b) Therefore, the 490 years promised by Daniel 9 are a renewal or extension of God’s covenant with Israel.

(c) Consequently, the covenant that is confirmed during the “one week” (Dan 9:27) is the final seven years of God’s time-limited renewed covenant with Israel.

(d) God’s covenant with Israel comes to an end at the end of the 70 weeks of years.

(e) Since the 490 years of Daniel 9 are an extension of God’s covenant with Israel, and since the Sabbath year cycle is part of this covenant, every seventh year will be a Sabbath year. This means that these are 490 literal years, not prophetic years, as in Dispensationalism.

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