David Cloud
Daniel 9:24-27 - “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
The occasion of this prophecy was Daniel’s prayer that God would have mercy on Israel after the 70 year captivity in Babylon (Da. 9:1-19). God’s answer was delivered by the angel Gabriel (Da. 9:20-27). The prophecy reveals the time schedule and major events which will lead to the establishment of Israel’s Messianic kingdom.
Daniel’s 70 Week prophecy is one of the great Bible prophecies that prove it is God’s Holy Word. A book that tells the future with exact precision is a divine Book! Daniel’s 70 Week prophecy foretold exactly when Christ would come as the Prince of Israel to make atonement for man’s sin (“shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself,” Da. 9:26).
The supernatural character of Daniel’s 70 Week prophecy is confirmed by Christ’s prophecy in Matthew 24. Christ cited Daniel as a prophet of God and said the Antichrist prophecy is yet future and will arise just before Christ’s return (Mt. 24:15-21, 29). This refutes the liberal scorners who claim that Daniel did not write supernatural prophecy. And it refutes the teaching that the Antichrist prophecy has already been fulfilled.
Daniel’s 70 Week prophecy proves that Bible prophecy is to be interpreted literally. The events of the first 69 weeks were fulfilled literally. Christ came 483 years after the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem. It is obvious that the rest of the prophecy will be fulfilled literally.
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