God’s Future Program for Israel

Daniel 9:20-27

Leopold Cohn

I. Daniel’s Prayer (Dan 9:1-19)

Dan. 9:1 In the 1st year of Darius, who wasthe son of Ahasuerus, was a Mede by birth, and was ruler over the kingdom of the Chaldeans—2 in the 1st year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the scrolls according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophetthat the number of years for the desolationof Jerusalem would be 70. 3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

II. God’s Answerto Daniel’s Prayer (Dan 9:20-27)

Dan. 9:20 While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before Yahweh my God concerning the holy mountain of my God— 21 while I was praying, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the 1st vision, came to me in my extreme weariness, about the time of the evening offering. 22 He gave me this explan-ation: “Daniel, I’ve come now to give you understanding. 23 At the beginning of your petitions an answer went out, and I have come to give it, for you are treasured |by God|. So consider the message and understand the vision:

Dan. 9:24a  70 weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city—

  70 7’s are decreed …

70 X 7 years = 490 years

Why did God use 7, 70, and 490?

Lev. 25:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land I am giving you, the land will observe a Sabbath to the LORD. 3 You may sow your field for6 years, and you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce for 6 years. 4 But there will be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land in the 7th year, a Sabbath to the LORD: you are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard.

There were several reasons for this law:

1. This law was designed to test their faith.

There were several reasons for this law:

1. This law was designed to test their faith.2. It gave all farm workers and work animals 1 year’s vacation every 7 years.

There were several reasons for this law:

1. This law was designed to test their faith.2. It gave all farm workers and work animals 1 year’s vacation every 7 years. 3. This law would keep the soil fertile, prevent overuse and erosion of the land, and stop depletion of natural resources.

2 Chr. 36:20   Those who escaped from the sword Nebuchadnezzar deported to Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the rise of the Persian kingdom. 21 This fulfilled the word of the LORD through Jeremiah and the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation until 70 years were fulfilled.

God’s Program for Israel

Before In Daniel’s AfterDaniel Time Daniel

70 X 7 70 years 70 X 7= 490 years in Exile = 490 years

Years Israel IsCaptives Years to finish disobeyed in Babylon God’s programin the land outside the land in the land

Dan. 9:24  70 7’s are decreed about your people and your holy city— [7 X 70 = 490 years]

to bring the rebellion to an end,to put a stop to sin,to wipe away injustice,to bring in everlasting righteousness,to seal up vision and prophecy,and to anoint the most holy place.

Vs 24

1st 3 are negative: God will remove what is bad for Israel and Jerusalem:

to bring the rebellion to an end,to put a stop to sin,to wipe away injustice,

Vs 24

1st 3 are negative: God will remove what is bad for Israel and Jerusalem:

to bring the rebellion to an end,to put a stop to sin,to wipe away injustice,

2nd 3 are positive: God will add what is good for Israel and Jerusalem:

to bring in everlasting righteousness,to seal up vision and prophecy,and to anoint the most holy place.

Bifocal or Double Fulfillment Prophecies

A Double Fulfillment or Bifocal Prophecyis one prophecy that has both

a near and far fulfillment.

Vs 24: to bring the rebellion to an end,to put a stop to sin,to wipe away injustice,

Vs 24 to bring in everlasting righteousness,to seal up vision and prophecy,and to anoint the most holy place.

Dan 9:25Know and understand this:

From the issuing of the decreeto restore and rebuild Jerusalemuntil Messiah the Princewill be 7 7’s and 62 7’s.Jerusalem will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat, but in difficult times.

In vs 25, Gabriel predicts 2 sets of 7 years:

7 X 7 yrs = 49 years [until Jerusalem is “rebuilt + with a plaza and a moat”]62 X 7 yrs = 434 years [“until Messiah the Prince”]

Total = 483 years [from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah]

Good Bible students have calculated these 483 years using2 different systems of counting, but either way, both give usthe exact time Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, was on Earth!

A. In 458 B.C., King Artraxerxes of Persia gave Ezra a command to return to Israel, rebuilt the temple and repair Jerusalem (Ezra 7:11-26; 9:6-15). When Ezra got there, he rebuilt the temple, but not the walls.

From 458 B.C. count forward 483 years[365 days each year] = A.D. 26, the year many believe Jesus was baptized and began His ministry. Jesus died 3+ years later A.D. 30.

B. On March 5, 444 B.C., King Artraxerxes issued a 2nd decree for Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls (Neh 2:5-8, 17-18).

From 444 B.C. count forward 483 years[360 days each year] [or 476 years of 365 days each] = 33 A.D. Many believe Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem, March 30, A.D. 33.

Again, whichever waywe calculate the 483 years,this amazing prediction lands us smack on Jesus’ life and ministryat its beginning or its end!No other Bible prophecy comes close with this kind of calendar precision!

With the arrival of Messiah,God’s Great Prophetic Clock stops ticking!

Dan9:26a After those 62 7’s the Messiahwill be cut off and will have nothing.

Dan 9:26b The people of the coming prince will destroy the city and the sanctuary.

Mountain Peaks of Prophecy

Mountain Peaks of Prophecy are2 prophecies with a gap of timebetween be their fulfillments.

Gabriel predicted the death of the Messiah and the destruction of Jerusalem, but Daniel couldn’t see the gap of 40 years between them.

Dan 9:26c The end will come with a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations are decreed.

Dan 9:27a He will make a firm covenant with many for one 7 [ = 7 years]

Dan 9:27b…but in the middle of the 7 [years= 3 1/2 years] he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering.And the abomination of desolationwill be on a wing of the temple …

Dan 9:27c … until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.”

88 Reasons…in 88