70 Weeks of Daniel-Daniel 9

Vs 1: “In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;”

The ninth chapter of Daniel begins in the first year of Darius. Judah is in captivity. Darius was made king over Babylon, the very night Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was slain (Dan 5:30). Babylon is the place of the captivity of the children of Judah.

Vs 2: “In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by the books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.”

Though God had given Daniel grace to understand throughout the book of Daniel, the grace to understand what was obviously written in the book in two passages of Jeremiah was not given, until near the end of the time of captivity. May partakers of the grace of God understand! No matter how obvious understanding seems in the writings of the prophets and the writings of the apostles apart from God’s grace no man can see it. No man can really understand what is written. ”Captivity” prophesies of the Christ, Yeshua’s death for our sins, His leading “captivity captive”, and this in the resurrection. “He led captivity captivity and He gave gifts to men.” (Psalms 68) My understanding of the scriptures is witnessed to by Paul’s understanding in Ephesians 4:8ff. The understanding of Paul is Christ Jesus tasted death for every man. The entire book of Daniel, except chapter 10 &12 were written in captivity. It is very significant that God did not give Daniel grace to understand what was clearly written (if we assume that 70 years written in two places in Jeremiah is such that it could be called obvious) in Jer 25 & 29 until the end of captivity. Daniel was deeply affected because apart from God’s grace He would have not known “the end of captivity” and the event that would follow captivity. At the end of the seventy years Babylon herself would be judged. Daniel who faithfully served the king would have continued on with the king in Babylon, and ended up under the very judgment of God he was spared 70 years before when Yerushalem was destroyed (586 BC). It was only God’s grace each step of the way for Daniel, as the writing of Daniel prophesies the purpose of God in Christ Jesus. It was only God’s grace each step of the way for the Mashiach. Not that He himself had need of grace, for He was very God, but He obtained grace for men. And God choses men according to His will and puts them in the Christ who is made everything to them.

All, said 70 weeks is 70 weeks. It is not 490 years or all the other formulations men come up with. It is 70 weeks, a little over one year-a quick work. And when Daniel was given understanding by grace the seventy weeks had already begun, to magnify more the grace of God. It was less than 63 weeks when Daniel was given understanding. Understand what God the Father has performed in God the Son!

You might say, how do you know that the seventy weeks had already begun. Whenever God gives a number for a length of time in the scriptures of the prophets it cannot be calculated, for no man knows the day or the hour of judgment. It is a length of time that has already begun. In Daniel 9 it would now be correct according to the Spirit and truth to say “Babylon is fallen, is fallen”. Her judgment is declared as if it had already occurred. It is a sure thing. Daniel 9:24-27 prophesies in the time of Daniel and has relevance to Babylon, not Jerusalem and her temple, but the city of Babylon on her temple. The anointed one was not the Messiah, but king Darius. And so the word of the Lord spoken in the time of Daniel had relevance in his time, and was written, to have an even greater fulfillment in the Christ, Yeshua’s death for our sins, His burial and resurrection the third day. It is true!

The seventy weeks are divided into 7, 62, & 7. Again the seventy weeks had already begun when the word of the Lord was given to Daniel. The time of the writing is in the reign of Darius.  The only witness in the scriptures to 62 is Daniel 5:31, “and Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about three score and two years old”-62 years old. The witness to 62 in the scriptures is Darius himself. And the last week being the week he was cut off “but not for himself” or his own sins, unlike Beltashazzar who was cut-off for his sins, Darius was not cutoff for his sins. It takes two kings, one cut-off for his sins, and one cut-off not for his sins, to give us the understanding of Christ-He who knew no sin, became sin, that we might be the righteousness of God in Him.(2 Cor)

Again 70 weeks is 70 weeks-a short time, and there was even less time to the judgment of Babylon when Daniel chapter 9 occurred. The day of judgment was at hand, as it was in the generation of Yeshua, when Yeshua said “the kingdom of God is at hand”. As it was in the days of the apostolos John, “behold I come quickly” and “the time is at hand”. And in our day and hour, “the day of Christ is at hand”, the falling away has occurred first and the man of sin, the son of perdition, the antichirstos, the false prophet has been revealed. “I hate the deeds of those who follow Billy Graham” sayeth Yeshua.