Pastor Peter's Bible Insights
Daniel Chapter Nine
The ninth chapter returns us to the timeline of Chapter six. Daniel is now eighty years old. He has been at court for 63 years. He has had 13 years to think about the vision of the Goat and the Ram, 14 years to think about the Four Beasts coming out of the sea and 64 years to think about Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. He has been meditating on all these things and studying the great prophets who had preceded him. Now God will reveal to him one of the greatest revelations of Scripture, “Daniel’s Seventy Weeks.” Most scholars agree that these weeks represent years rather than seven-day weeks. Daniel foresees a period of 490 years divided into three periods. Daniel will peer into the future and see the Jews back in Jerusalem; he will see the ministry of Jesus, then he will leap ahead over two thousand years to see the end of time.
Vs 24. "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city..."
Vs 25. "So you are to know and discern that 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, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress."
The first period containing 7 weeks covers 49 years of history.
The second period containing 62 weeks covers 434 years of history.
The third period containing 1 week covers 7 years of history.
THE FIRST PERIOD
445 BC to 396 BC
Four possible dates for the beginning of the first period have been suggested.
1. The decree of Cyrus in 538 BC authorizing the return of Jews to Jerusalem. Approximately fifty thousand captives returned with Ezra to rebuild the temple. The foundation of the temple was laid in April or May of 536 BC (Ezra 2:64-65).
2. The decree of Darius Hystaspes in 519 BC ordering a search to be made of Cyrus' original decree (Ezra 6:1-12).
3. The decree of Artaxerxes in 458 BC sending Ezra to Jerusalem to bring about civil reform.
4. The decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus in the month of Nisan 445 BC commissioning Nehemiah to restore the city of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:5-9). When a month is given with no specific day named, the first day of the month is assumed.
Artaxerxes Longimanus' decree is the most likely point in time that was revealed to Daniel by the angel in the first year of Darius the Mede (538 BC). His decree is the one that best fulfills Daniel 9:25. "Restore and rebuild Jerusalem... it will be built again, with plaza and moat..." The other decrees focus on repatriation, the temple and civil order. Daniel was shown these events almost 100 years before they happened. Reconstruction of the city went on for the next 49 years. During the later years of this period Malachi, the last prophet of the Old Testament, began his ministry. It is my belief that the first period comes to an end in 396 with the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the writings of Malachi which completed the Old Testament Canon.
THE SECOND PERIOD
The second period of time has been the subject of much debate. There is no break in time between the first and the second periods. The second period combined with the first period comprises 69 weeks or 483 years. They are launched by the same decree of Artaxerxes in the month of Nissan 445 BC. I believe that the second period culminates with Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Much effort has been expended to calculate the number of days between these events, leading to the conclusion that the time between Artaxerxes' decree and the presentation of Jesus as Israel's Messiah was exactly 483 years. The reasoning goes this way. 360 days (Jewish year) multiplied by 438 years equals 173,880 days. Sir Robert Anderson calculated that from the first of Nisan 445 (Artaxerxes' decree) to the tenth of Nisan in the eighteenth year of Tiberius, Palm Sunday 32 AD when Jesus entered Jerusalem, was 173,880 days.
It is beyond the scope of my present work to explain the mathmatical details of this thesis. After much study I have conluded that God has built into the solar system the inability for anybody to design a calendar that fits the orbit of the earth around the sun. For one thing the Jews used a calendar based upon 360 days. Over the course of 19 years, 7 leap years had to be added to keep their calendar in sync with the solar system. At some point in the future I plan to write an article on the major calendars used in ancient times, including the two calendars used during the time of Christ. I recommend visiting the site The Calendar to advance your understanding of how complicated it is to calculate the passage of time.
For more information on the details of the second period, I recommend:
"Daniel in the Critic's Den" London: James Nisbet and Co., Ltd. 1902
"Exploring The Book of Daniel" by John Phillips & Jerry Vines, 1990 Loizeaux
"The Handwriting on the Wall" by David Jeremiah, 1992 Word Publishing
"Final Mysteries Unsealed" by Jack Van Impe, 1998 Word Publishing
THE THIRD PERIOD
The third period of time, Daniel's seventieth week, is yet to be fulfilled. It will begin with the arrival of a wicked world leader identified as the antichrist.
Vs 26. "Then after the 62 weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city."
This site was written and produced by Rev. Peter McLewin 2001, all rights reserved.