The 70 Weeks of Daniel

***BONUS EPISODE***
A detailed discussion and exposition of Daniel the 9th chapter. This was one of our all-time favorites, and we think you're gonna love it too!!!

Transcript

[Music] good morning good afternoon or good evening wherever or whenever you're listening to us right now and welcome to this bonus episode of the Churchosity podcast my name is Heath Brady and I'm Andrea Brady and we are your Churchosity podcast Personnel these are the types of episodes that we like to call the postcript because these are the things that we like to think talk about when the record button is off so we thank you all for listening and welcome to the Inner Circle well Andrea oh my you said my full name I did did it get your attention it did it got my attention nice oh my goodness well I have to tell you yeah I am very excited for this episode uhhuh because we're doing something here today that is very out of of the ordinary for us well we're going to have this kind of pseudo Bible study that's kind of outside the parameters of all the other stuff that we got going on on church ocity so it's like a bonus bonus a bonus bonus yes cool it is a bonus bonus episode we are going to for lots of reasons uh we are going to have a conversation about a rather peculiar and somewhat confusing or controversial passage of scripture in the Old Testament okay and that would be from The Book of Daniel chapter 9 and we are going to discuss the quote unquote 70 weeks of Daniel on this episode all right so I hope that you're strapped in well I'm strapped in cuz I know nothing awesome because this is going to be an adventure uhhuh and very informative for all of us and I'm fairly confident that everybody is going to hear something that offends them on this episode oh okay well I'm a blank slate so awesome preach away baby okay um I I want to kind of start things off by reiterating as you've probably heard me say many times on our Bible study episodes that I am not a dispensational Believer I do not hold a dispensational hermeneutic of scripture I do not believe that scripture supports the idea that God is put in a box during different phases of human history and only deals with certain people in certain ways within those periods of time right I believe that all of scripture from cover to cover on virtually every page has the same message and that is God's Plan of Redemption for his people through the sacrifice of the Messiah right Jesus Christ and because I hold that view it also has led me to hold a rather peculiar view that is always open for discussion and that is that I tend to take the scriptures literally but there are two kinds of literal there are plain literal mhm and there is figurative literal because not every single genre of scripture is written in plain literal in fact you have things like songs and poetry like for instance where the scripture says uh the rocks cry out well do rocks literally cry out I don't know or is that a figure of speech if they do I can't hear them sure that's fair there's apocryphal language um certain passages in the Book of Daniel Ezekiel Book of Revelation um many of those things are full of idioms and similes and metaphors and allegories that you cannot take plain literally okay they are meant to serve as signs and wonders about other things mhm why all of this matters is because on the kind of immediate Horizon in our world and its events there is much conversation about the end of all things so to speak you know are we living in the last days is the rapture going to happen is the Lord about to come back if you're listening to this episode in real time uh it's getting close to April the 8th and there's going to be this complete solar eclipse and people have lost their mind about whether or not it's a sign that the Rapture is going to happen or that the Lord's going to come back so there's there's a lot of conversation you mean people in social media yes there's a lot of conversation that I personally believe are distractions from not only real Biblical truth and the reliability of the literalness of the scriptures but also being sold out to the Bone actively living our life lives for Christ mhm and they serve as so many distractions part of that conversation revolves around this passage of scripture in Daniel chapter 9 it's four verses in the Book of Daniel chapter 9 that's referred to as the 70 weeks of Daniel huh okay in all fairness I think that it is safe to want to go to this passage of scripture because Jesus himself in two different places in the New Testament references something that is brought up in Daniel chapter 9 H in both Matthew CH 24 and Mark 13 Jesus is having kind of a private briefing with some people and the context of his conversation with these folks are things that are going to happen in the future that are not necessarily good in fact terrifying and in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 and also in Luke 21 there are these conversations that revolve around people asking Jesus questions as to what will be the signs how will we know that these things are about to take place mhm well in Mark 13 and in Matthew 24 and I'm going to focus on the Matthew 241 for this part of the conversation Jesus says something interesting he says that when you see the abomination of desolation that's a clue okay but he goes one step further in the Matthew account of this statement he says when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the Prophet standing in the Holy place and then some of the most difficult words to hear Let the reader understand so I played a dirty trick on all of you okay did you all hear me say that verse well if you did then you are commanded to understand it okay so now you're all trapped and you have to and you have to finish the episode with me but here's one of the just as a side note here's one of the ways that I can prove or or determine for you why I take the Bible literally was Daniel a real guy was he a prophet yes he was how do I know that cuz Jesus said so right here in Matthew 24 so he's referencing this thing called the abomination of desolation which literally see this English here creates this alternate idea this alternate image in our heads of what that might be we read this and we think oh this is something that's going to happen in the temple in the holy of holies something that's an Abomination to God like an idol being constructed and it's going to cause desolation now certainly an Abomination that causes desolation can involve that in fact there is actually a literal occurrence of that very thing that happened in the past and I'll refer to that in a little bit but in the actual language it's not what those words actually mean desolation means Terror or Horror oh okay and Abomination just simply means a foul or detestable thing okay and an example of that would be Idols or things pertaining to idolatry right so essentially what Jesus is saying here is that when you see that foul or detestable thing that causes all kinds of horror which was spoken of through Daniel the Prophet standing in the Holy place and holy Place yeah is probably referring to Jerusalem as a whole okay it's not a specific location the holy city yeah like the holy city okay so with all of that in mind as sort of a preamble why don't we go to Daniel chapter 9 okay and we are actually going to read the entire chapter but not not all at once we're going to break it up and discuss it because context is very very important here okay especially for this uh a little bit of background uh The Book of Daniel was written by Daniel except for I believe believe it's chapter 4 chapter 4 was actually written by Nebuchadnezzar but this was written during the time of Israel's Babylonian captivity a period of 70 years that the Prophet Jeremiah for 50 years warned the nation of Israel about their sin against God and that if they didn't stop they were going to be thrown into captivity and there's a lot more to that that I'll explain a little bit later but essentially the Babylonian captivity began around 606 BC in 602 BC Nebuchadnezzar has his infamous dream 556 BC is known as the time of the Gentiles then Daniel has this RAM and goat Vision that takes place in roughly 554 BC then Babylon falls to the Persians remember Cyrus the Persian yeah in 539 BC and then here in Daniel chapter 9 he has this vision of 70 weeks and that's roughly 538 BC and I say all of that because if you do the math you can see that this is about 6768 years into the Babylonian captivity that Daniel is getting this Vision so he is well aware that the time of their captivity is about to be over okay right now as I mentioned in Matthew 24 Mark 13 and Luke 21 Jesus has This Confidential briefing disciples are asking him people are asking him some questions they want to know when will these things begin to happen What will be the sign of your coming and what about the end of the world and he references this abomination of desolation that Daniel spoke about well here in Daniel chapter 9 is where Daniel speaks about it okay it's important to know just as a side note that what we consider the Old Testament text it's also known as the Tanakh uh in their original Hebrew we know that the entire Old Testament in its original Hebrew text was assembled during the days of Ezra and Nehemiah now in the third Century BC if you were a Jew you probably did not speak Hebrew you actually would have spoken Greek because it was ordered by Alexander the Great forward that Greek be the official spoken language of the time and now Latin we know became the official judicial language of Rome and the Roman Empire but everybody commonly casually spoke Greek and so because of this in 285 BC pomy philadelphus II commissioned 70 top Scholars from Alexandria to translate the Hebrew Old Testament into common Greek we know this translation to be the

translated into English from the septu translation of the Old Testament so it's kind of like a second edition of accuracy checking got it from the Hebrew to the Greek and there's a whole way that you can go and study the history and the Great Lengths that these 70 individuals went to to make sure that pretty much every single word for word was translated correctly from Hebrew into Greek it's pretty fascinating but what's interesting is that when these 70 folks translated the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek it was in print three centuries before Christ was ever born okay so at the time that Jesus is born the Old Testament text to the common Jew outside of the synagogue was in Greek H you follow me mhm you also have what's known as as the mastic text the mazeres uh were derived from a council of yamia in 90 ad and they translated the Hebrew text as well it's not as accurate and depending on what modern translation you study from you may see a footnote occasionally that has an MSS next to it okay and when you look at the footnote it says early mtic texts exclude this or include this right so it's not the most accurate version of a translation so you have the original Hebrew but then you also have the original Hebrew and the

captivity mhm So Daniel knows that the end is near and Daniel decides to do something very interesting now if you or I knew today Andy say that the Lord was going to return 3 weeks from now yeah he's not but I mean he could but we're not naming dates but just go with me here hypothetically speaking if you and I knew that the Lord was coming back 3 weeks from today uhhuh what would be the first thing that we would want to do with that knowledge um tell everyone well sure but before that I don't know we would pray oh well yeah we would start to pray and that's exactly what Daniel does get right with Jesus not just for that not just for that okay so let's read because the way Daniel 9 breaks out breaks down is pretty cool you have Daniel's prayer okay through verse 19 then you have a visit from Gabriel where he's interrupted which is verses 20 to 23 and then you have the vision of the 70 weeks which is 24 through 27 it's just four verses that have pretty much steered ecclesiology and eschatology for a majority of churches for centuries centuries centuries because of what's going on in those four verses so let's go through this I'll do it as quickly as I Poss Poss can but let's start reading Daniel chapter 9 beginning in verse 1 in the first year of Darius the son of azerus of median descent who was made King over the kingdom of the caldan in the first year of his Reign I Daniel observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem Nam 70 years so here in verse 2 we see that Daniel literally took Jeremiah literally Jeremiah said 70 years Daniel believes it's going to be exactly 70 years he takes them literally got it what does that look like well in Jeremiah 25: 11 and 12 he writes this whole land will be a desolation and a horror and these nations will serve the king of Babylon 70 years then it will be when 70 years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that Nation declares the Lord for their iniquity and the land of the calans and I will make it an everlasting desolation yikes in Jeremiah 29: 10 for thus says the Lord when 70 years have been completed for Babylon I will visit you and fulfill my good word to you to bring you back to this place Place H so in Daniel chapter 9 Daniel is saying that he read the num the books of the numbers of the years and it's 70 years so it's going to be literally 70 years and it's almost been 70 years wow verse three so I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications with fasting sackcloth and Ashes so I have a question yeah should we be praying for the Lord's Second Coming [Laughter] yeah I guess well think about the Lord's prayer Our Father Who Art in Heaven thy kingdom come yeah we pray it in the Lord's Prayer mhm prayer is God's way of enlisting Us in what he is doing it doesn't mean that we're going to get what we ask for it means that whatever is God's will he is enlisting Us in his will through prayer isn't that yeah that's deep So Daniel knows that the 70 years are about to be up he's not going to change anything but he starts praying and what's fascinating to me is what or I should say who he's praying for H verse four I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said alas oh Lord the great and awesome God who keeps his Covenant and loving kindnesses for those who love him and keep his Commandments we have sinned committed iniquity acted wickedly and rebelled even turning aside from your Commandments and ordinances wouldn't it be amazing if our entire nation rallied around this type of a prayer yeah Daniel's kind of acting in the role of a chief priest here in a way cuz he's praying for the sins of all of Israel MH verse 6 moreover we have not listened listen to your servants the prophets who spoke in your name to our Kings our princes our fathers and all the people of the land righteousness belongs to you oh Lord but to US Open shame as it is this day to the men of Judah the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which you have driven them because of their unfaithful Deeds which they have committed against you verse 8 open shame belongs to us oh Lord to our Kings our princes and our fathers because we have sinned against you to the Lord Our God belong compassion and forgiveness now he starts to shift gears for we have rebelled against him he's praying for compassion and forgiveness now mhm nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord Our God to walk in his teachings which he set before us through his servants the prophets indeed all Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside not obeying your voice so the curse has been poured out on us along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God for we have sinned against him huh verse 12 thus he has confirmed his words which he had spoken against us and our rulers who ruled us to bring on us great Calamity for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like was done to Jerusalem that's pretty deep yeah as it is written in the law of Moses All This calamity has come on us yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord Our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to your truth so you want to know this is why they were in bondage for 70 years therefore the Lord has kept the Calamity in store and brought it on us for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all his deeds which he has done but we have not obeyed his voice and now oh Lord Our God who have brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name for yourself as it is this day we have sinned we have been Wicked oh Lord in accordance with all your righteous acts let now your anger and your wrath turn away from your City Jerusalem your Holy Mountain for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all those around

us now listen to the intensity of this prayer here mhm so now our god listen to the prayer of your servant and to his supplications and for your sake O Lord let your face shine on your desolate Sanctuary oh my God incline your ear and hear open your eyes and see our desolation and the city which is called by your name for we are not presenting our supplications before you on account of any merits of our own but on account of your great compassion oh Lord hear oh Lord forgive oh Lord listen and take action for your own sake oh my God do not delay because your city and your people are called by your name I've got goosebumps right now wow I just really intense I can just picture in my head Daniel like the emotion in those last few verses of this prayer are just insane to me right yeah well then in verse 20 it says now while I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of My People Israel and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God on behalf of the Holy Mountain of my God while I was still speaking in prayer then the man Gabriel who I had seen in the vision previously it's in a different chapter he came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering what's interesting to me about this you know Daniel is in you know this captivity which is now the Persians have now taken over and he has been away from home in Jerusalem virtually his entire life and back home in Jerusalem the temple and the city are laying in ruin okay and yet he is it's it's like he's looking out the window of his prayer closet towards Jerusalem praying for the restoration of his people and the city and he even references that this is the time of the evening offering or the evening oblation when the people of Israel were in the land they had their schedule of prayers and offerings and worship and it's almost as if Daniel is saying I still kept it even though I was in captivity mhm and in the middle of the his time of the evening offering or the evening oblation the angel Gabriel shows up and interrupts him H it's just like I have Goosebumps like just picturing this right what's interesting also is that you know Gabriel is one of the archangels right mm we know that there were three Gabriel Michael and Lucifer and Lucifer got himself into a lot of trouble because of his pride right mhm but it's always been interesting to me as I've studied the scriptures all these years I've noticed something really interesting about Gabriel and Michael Michael is always dispatched on some sort of a military type mission on behalf of the nation of Israel you know he's always fighting the battles on behalf of the nation of Israel okay right like who fought the Battle of Jericho well it was Michael and it was also Jesus but that's a different conversation right but with Gabriel mhm it always seems that in the scriptures when Gabriel when we know it's identified as Gabriel when he shows up it's always to have some sort of announcement yeah like a message referencing something to do with a messiah cool it's very interesting yeah so this is the Archangel Gabriel that the Lord dispatches to come to Daniel when he's praying on behalf of his people cool verse 22 he Gabriel gave me instruction and talked with me and said oh Daniel I have now come forth to give you Insight with understanding oh Amen to that wouldn't that be wonderful please now come give me some insight and understanding right at the beginning of your supplications the command was issued that's encouraging the moment that Daniel started praying the command was issued to send Gabriel to him that's really awesome and I have come to tell you for you are highly esteemed oh so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision now this uh highly esteemed another word for highly esteemed would be desirable or beloved a kind of curious you know I've I I've mentioned on other podcasts before that when it comes to like Bible prophecy and interpretation for for a Jew these things are interpreted through patterns okay there's patterns right mhm Abraham the Lord called a friend

the disciples Jesus called his friends now what's interesting is that with both Abraham and the disciples the Lord tells them what the plan is okay Daniel is called the Beloved John is also called The Beloved and with both of them he not only tells the Lord not only tells them what the plan is but he shows them what the plan is like come closer and let me show you what the plan is it's very interesting similarities here between Daniel and John Daniel writing all of these prophetic Visions down in his book and John is the Revelator who writes the book of Revelation in signs and wonders they were both shown exactly what the plan was so here we get into these controversial and confusing and exciting four verses in all of the Bible known as Daniel's 70 weeks in verse 24 we read the scope verse 27 we have the 70th week and verse 26 is probably the most controversial verse of all four of these which I will explain when we get there so let's look at the scope of these 70 weeks shall we 77s 70 weeks have been decreed for your people and your Holy City to finish the transgression to make an end of sin to make atonement for iniquity to bring in Everlasting righteousness to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy Place H now let's talk about these 70s okay there's lots of 7s of things in Scripture you have 70 weeks of days like every Sabbath day is on the seventh day right that's established in Genesis chapter 2 Ezekiel chapter 20 you also have weeks of weeks like you have the Feast of Weeks uh in Leviticus 23: 15 and 16 you also have weeks of months uh from Nissan to tishri or from tishri to Nissan it's it it's known as the uh weeks of months you can read about that in Exodus 12:2 and Leviticus

23:24 but then you have these weeks of years they were they were to be Sabbath years for the land so for six years you work the land and on the seventh year you rest and let the land recover mhm well guess what what for 490 years the nation of Israel refused to take a sabatical year oh how many sabatical years is that 70 oh my gosh that's why they were in Babylon for 70 years essentially the Lord told Israel you owe me 70 years of for Disobedience check out Leviticus 25: 1-22 Leviticus 26: 33-35 Deuteronomy 15 Exodus 23: 10 And1 and 2 Chronicles 36:1 17-21 you want to know why Israel was in the was in Babylon for 70 years they blatantly disobeyed the Lord with their weeks of years for their Sabbath but the complete time period was 490 years it's very interesting number by the way mhm so here here these are 77s these are 70 weeks of years okay so this is like 490 years okay it's very confusing I know but it'll make it'll make sense by the end I promise so then Gabriel breaks down that's the scope of this prophecy now he breaks down the different phases of the 70 weeks of years if you will verse 25 so you are to know know and discern that from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the prince there will be 7 weeks and 62 weeks so 69 weeks okay okay that's easy math mhm it will be built again with Plaza and moat even in times of distress and that word there for moat could also mean wall okay all right so in verse 25 just as Gabriel does he mentions something to do with Messiah and he says that from the beginning of the 70 weeks that will start with the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem and the end of the 69th week will be when Messiah the prince is declared you follow me okay all right and not only will the city of Jerusalem be rebuilt but also the plaza and the moat even in times of distress now remember Daniel is now A Very Old Man mhm he was deported as a teenager from his homeland of Jerusalem of Judea to Babylon at the very beginning of the Captivity while in Babylon he almost immediately Rose to power he was like second in command to Nebuchadnezzar remember mhm then as time goes by Cyrus conquers Babylon and once again Daniel Rises to power in the Persian Kingdom now so what we're looking for here to understand these these 69 weeks of the 70 is we're looking for the possibility of there ever having been made a commandment to restore Jerusalem that's the beginning of these weeks of years okay and the end is when the Messiah the king is declared so you have 69 weeks of 7 years which comes out to roughly 483 years so essentially from the time that the command to restore Jerusalem is given to the time that the Messiah the king is is decreed is approximately 483 years you with me yeah now now was there ever a decree to rebuild Jerusalem and again the reason why I'm getting into these details is because Daniel took Jeremiah literally 70 years meant 70 years so these must be literal details okay they did didn't they yes yeah the decree to rebuild Jerusalem yeah the problem though is that there's not one not two not even three but actually Four decrees to build to rebuild Jerusalem oh okay Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild Jerusalem by sending everyone back home MH to Jerusalem right mhm that was in 537 BC and that is in Ezra 1: 2-4 but that was just to rebuild the city Darius same thing but in Ezra 6: 1-12 the decree to go home and build the city got it in 458 BC we read in Ezra 7: 11-26 that arz Xerxes issued a decree to go rebuild the city of Jerusalem but again it's just the city it isn't until the time of Nehemiah who incidentally was a cup Bearer he was the official taster for arz Xerxes in 445 BC we read in Nehemiah 2: 5-18 to go home rebuild the city and the streets and the walls and the moates so it's not just the city but it's also the temple and the walls so 445 BC is what is what I'm going to use as the starting point for when the issue of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem is all right so 445 BC okay you with me yeah so there was this commandment to build rebuild and restore Jerusalem it was decreed by Artis Xerxes longus on March the 14th of 445

BC now here's where it gets really confusing because what types of years are these well the biblical usage of years is 360-day years oh the original calendar that earthlings used was a 360-day yearly calendar oh interesting it's established in Genesis chapter 7 again in chapter 8 we're dealing with it here in Daniel chapter 9 and also in Daniel CH 12 and then it's referenced in Revelation chapters 11 and chapter 13 in fact the all of the ancient cultures their calendars were all based on a 360-day year not just the Israelites but the Assyrians the caldan the Egyptians the Hebrews as I've mentioned the Persians the Greeks the Phoenicians the Chinese the Mayans the Hindus the carthaginians the rusans and the tuttons ETC they all used a 360-day year calendar but all of that changed around 701 BC and no one really knows exactly why but very very highly intelligent people like far higher intelligent than I am trust me they've studied this for like decades probably even centuries I don't know that maybe there was some sort of orbital changes with the Earth that caused the years to be lengthened H like for instance in Joshua 10: 12 and 13 you have the long day of Joshua remember where the sun halted right that's true but cosmologists and scientists you know people who study space and all that they thought that maybe it could be due to these Mars passbys which are known as orbital resonance H prior to 701 BC the Earth was on a 360-day orbital cycle Mars was on a 720 day orbital cycle it's like twice as long every 104 years there was a near passby where Mars and Earth would come within close proximity of each other in the spring around March 20th or 21st when the Earth would pass on the inside the Earth would gain energy and Mars would lose energy but in the fall around October 25th when the Earth was on the outside and Mars passed behind it the Earth lost energy and Mars gained energy and these energy transfers were stabilized in 701 BC so since 701 BC on the Earth has been on a 365 and 1/4 day yearly rotation and Mars 687 huh so that's why a lot of really smart Scholars think that in 701 BC that's why all the calendars were organized were reorganized I should say m now as I mentioned the end of these 69 weeks comes with the announcement of Messiah the king so if you do all of this math from beginning to end it's supposed to come out to literally 173,880 days from beginning to end okay all

right this here is Gabriel's prediction to the presentation of Messiah the king Messiah the Nagi just as a side note only one other person in all of scripture was ever called the nagid and that was King Saul oh interesting in first Samuel 9:16 and 10:1 it means ruler captain or Prince h on several occasions in the New Testament when the people attempted to take Jesus as their King now remember Andy yeah he emphatically declined mhm remember how many times he said it's not my time it's not my but then one day he actually arranges it okay in Luke 19 Jesus tells his disciples to go and get this donkey oh yes and meet him at the edge of the city oo remember mhm so this is a specific day that he is arranging and then it gets kind of creepy Luke chapter 19 we read about the triumphal entry that he goes into the city mhm and it says in verse 29 when he approached Beth Page at Bethany near the Mount that is called olvet he sent two of the disciples saying go into the village ahead of you there as you enter you will find a Colt tied on which no one has yet ever sat untie it and bring it here if anyone asks you why are you untying it you shall say the Lord is in need of it so those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them as they were untying the cult its owner said to them why are you untying the colt and they said the Lord has need of it verse 35 they brought it to Jesus and they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it as he was going they were spreading their coats on the road as soon as he was approaching near The Descent of the Mount of Olives the whole crowd of disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the Miracles which they had seen shouting blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord peace in heaven and Glory in the highest now catch this verse 39 M some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him teacher rebuke your disciples now I'm going to stop there okay now what's interesting is that in verse 38 this phrase blessed is the king Messiah who comes in the name of the Lord that's Psalm 118 oh all of the people are singing this song and it's a song that they would sing at Passover oh but Jesus is the one that they're singing this to okay so in verse 39 some of the Pharisees in the crowd say to Jesus teacher rebuke your disciples tell them to stop singing why would they want him to make them stop singing what for cuz they're calling him the Messiah they're declaring him as messiah nagid messiah the king that is exactly L right so this is the day okay that Jesus arranges to be declared as Messiah the king just as it was spoken of in Daniel chapter 9 mhm are you getting tingly yet yes cuz we just had Palm Sunday that's right now let's look at a chronology of Christ's Ministry real quick all right his ministry begins in the fall of 28 ad how do we know this well Tiberius was appointed in 14 ad Augustus died August 19th of 14 ad we know from Luke 3:1 that Jesus began his ministry within the 15th year of Tiberius his rule after Jesus's Ministry begins and the years go by this is now his fourth Passover that he celebrating and this is taking place on April the 6th 32 ad that is the day of the triumphal entry April 6th 32 ad now remember the seagan translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek was done 300 years prior to this okay okay now from 4:45 BC to 32 a is 173,880 days but then you also have to factor in all of the extra days that are added because of the calendars being changed so that adds another 24 days and because they're going on that 365 and a quarter day year calendar yeah you know you now all also have to add leap years oh right so that adds another 116 days so if you add all of those days up together you come to the grand total of 173,880 days literally the number of exact days from the day that the order and decree was issued to rebuild Jerusalem in the city all the way to the day that Jesus was announced as Messiah the king the numbers are exactly the same from Daniel chapter 9 through history oh my I never knew that now let me ask ask you one quick question Andy yeah what's the holy spirit's margin of error on this zero [Laughter] zero are do you have Goosebumps now yeah all right now here's what's interesting though The Story Goes On from there in Luke chapter 19 the Pharisees Want Jesus to rebuke his disciples verse 40 he answers them and says I tell you if these become silent the stones will cry out so maybe the stones really would have cried out yeah exactly but when he approached Jerusalem he saw the city and wept over it saying if you had known in this day even you the things which make for peace but now they have been hidden from your eyes now watch this verse 43 for the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you and Surround you and hem you in on every side and they will level you to the ground and your children within you and they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not recognize the time of your visitation this is pretty intense of a judgment M that that Jesus gives them because he expected them to know that this was the day I mean just catch this catch this for a second even if they weren't good at math and knew that it had been 173,880 days until this morning okay all of those years of being taught and all of those years being in the T in the Tabernacle and all of those years of being in the temple and all of those years of being in the synagogues and all of those family traditions and feasts and everything mhm nowhere anywhere did anybody declare thems as the Messiah this day should have at least gone oh my gosh could this be the day that's true but as a whole Jerusalem wasn't paying attention and so because of it they were going to be utterly decimated and what do we know from history Andy well they were decimated 38 years later in 70 AD for 9 months long was this campaign where the Romans rans sacked Jerusalem the city the temple all of it

huh back to Daniel chapter 9 okay so we just covered the 69 weeks okay mhm now we get into verse 26 and the controversy 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 and the sanctuary and its end will come with a flood even to the end there will be War desolations are determined now many competent Bible scholars many choose to lay some sort of a dispensational template over these four verses and claim that verse 26 is some period of an interval or a parenthetical period of time H essentially especially if there are folks who fall into the camp of those who believe in the Rapture they believe that this interval of verse 26 has lasted for roughly 2,000 years oh there are a lot of problems with that mhm first of all everything about this chapter says take me literally would you agree or disagree it seems like it yeah literally I mean it kind of proved it with the numbers of days and stuff up yeah I mean the holy spirit's margin of error was zero right exactly so I'm going to take this plain literally mhm because all the rest of it we're essentially told take this plain literally Al so after the 69th week is up well the 69 week came to an end on the tri the day of the triumphal entry right yes that's when the Messiah was declared the Messiah the prince the Messiah NGE blessed is he who comes correct yeah what's the next major event that happens in Jesus's life he's crucified right well let's see after the 62 weeks the Messiah will be cut off at have nothing hm mhm okay but then it says and the people of the prince who is to come well again many dispensational people want to say that this prince who is to come is quote unquote the Antichrist okay and they want to say that what's happening here in Daniel chapter 9 verse 26 is in the future that it's way in the future that it's after this Antichrist has shown up on the scene and part of the reason for that is also in verse 27 which I'll come back to in a few minutes but there's this interesting thing it says that 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 and on the wing of Abominations will come one who makes desolate now all of that sounds very Antichrist in that dispensational model because the dispensationalists will say they're referring to what's known as the seven-year tribulation this is also called the 70th week of Daniel and that it's a 7-year period and for the first 3 and 1/2 Years it'll be a time of Peace because this world leader this Antichrist person will make a covenant with Israel and there will be peace in the world but halfway through he'll declare himself as God break his Covenant and then the last 3 and 1/2 years are known as What's called the Great Tribulation so this is what the dispensational people think correct okay I got a little confused there for a second I know that's well that's why this is confusing because up until verse 26 we've been taking everything literally okay and we've been seeing the literal fulfillment of everything in the New Testament true right like even to the very day right correct mhm so let's go back to verse 26 okay after the 62 weeks which is the end of the 69th week the Messiah will be cut off Jesus was crucified the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary well what happened in 70 AD the Romans came and destroyed the city and Sanctuary correct okay well the prince who is to come that's Titus vaspian oh who was the captain he was a prince which I'll explain in a second he was the captain in charge of the siege the Roman Siege on Jerusalem where the city was rans sacked and the temple was utterly destroyed huh okay coincidentally just as Jesus said what happen in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 and Luke 21 mhm okay

mhm and then it says the end will come with the flood its end will come with a flood a better translation of that word flood would be diaspora oh diaspora is a historical label for what event in Jewish history Andy what's the scattering of the Jews which happened after the fall of Jerusalem yeah they fled they fled and even to the very end there will be War or desolations are determined and that word for desolation means horror like scary scary times okay so from the time that the Jews are fleeing and continuing to flee even to the very end there's going to be constant war and desolations have been determined so verse 26 has literally been fulfilled yeah you follow me well when it says do even to the end does that mean the end of the age or does it just mean what does it mean well it it references uh the sentence before and its end will come with a flood uhhuh it's like rehashing that even to the end there will be War so this prince who is to come will destroy the city in the sanctuary and its end that's the city in the sanctuary will come with the flood even to the end there will be War desolations are determined in other words it doesn't stop until the end comes okay you follow me yeah and this campaign of Rome against Jerusalem lasted 9 months oh dear it very very Bloody War I mean Millions upon millions of people were killed in in this 70 AD event okay now we get into verse 27 the 70th week and he who is the he who's the antecedent that is the prince from verse 26 okay 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 and on the wing of Abominations will come one who makes desolate even until a complete destruction one that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate now for a dispensationalist this is a very exciting verse because this is very Antichrist right mm the he is as I said is referencing the prince from verse 26 the many is an idiom for Israel so the prince who is to come that's Titus vaspian MH he will make a firm Covenant with Israel for one week so that's a week of a year so this is a 7year period okay but in the middle of that week so three roughly 3 and 1/2 years in he's going to put a stop to what the Jews are doing oh okay and then will come the Abominations the foul things that are done that cause all kinds of horror until the complete destructions take place so verse 27 is essentially a a more detailed and deeper unpacking of verse 26 oh I see it's essentially what's going to happen now there's some interesting things that happened with Titus basian and his father that that actually fit into this pattern of verse 27 they're all a matter of history but Titus vaspian was the son of vaspian and when Nero died there were four captains who were competing to become the next emperor of Rome and basian was one of them so in the midst of this conflict with Rome and Jerusalem before the war started a halt was put on the tension because vaspian went to Rome to deal with the situation in Rome and eventually he is appointed the new emperor which technically now makes Titus his son the prince okay and guess how long it took for all of that to happen how long just over 3 years oh okay and then out of nowhere Titus vaspian who is the new Prince launches an allout assault on Jerusalem and the temple and it's a campaign that he leads that lasts 9 months and everybody flees and millions of people die oh dear okay like it literally was fulfilled essentially what I'm trying to say is that this 70th week these all 70 of these weeks have already come and gone mhm if you take it literally yeah doesn't mean I'm right I always say be a Berean he what I'm saying acts 1711 prove whether those things are so I'm giving you scriptures giving you permission to not believe a word I say but there's problems with this meaning something other than what I have just explained for all of us yeah first of all and probably the most important if you take these 70 weeks

prophecy and make the church not only the center of focus in these four verses but inserted into the verses you're breaking so many rules not the least of which is everything in Daniel chapter 9 has Israel has Jerusalem at its Central Focus mhm and you have Gabriel who is dispatched to make an announcement regarding the Jewish Messiah everything about this chapter is Jewish Jewish Jewish in fact fact most of the Book of Daniel isn't even written in Hebrew it's actually written in Aramaic oh the caldan language yeah but when you get to Daniel chapter 9 Guess What Hebrew it's back in Hebrew again oh it is such arrogant presumption to take something that is not Jewish distinctly and make it the center of focus or attention in these four verses let alone anywhere in this chapter and I take great offense to that when when people do that in verse 27 for a dispensationalist there's a lot of quote Antichrist language going on here right yeah it seems like it when it says here that in the middle of the week he'll put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering he will cause sacrifice and oblation to cease so so whatever was going on in Jerusalem before 70 AD was exactly the same thing that Daniel was still engaged in in Daniel chapter 9 the whole system of prayer and worship remember he was in the evening oblation when Gabriel interrupted him right so he's using the same language that this prince who is to come he makes this Covenant and halfway through it he breaks it and puts a complete stop to all the things that the Jews are doing in Jerusalem specific spefically in the temple M now here's here's a little wrinkle there is an event in Jewish history that is actually known as quote the abomination of desolation it occurred in 167 BC oh and this is when Antiochus epiphanies went into the temple into the holy of holies sacrificed a pig on the Altar and erected a statue of Zeus and this event triggered and led to what is historically known as the maban revolt and that Revolt took 3 years and Jesus references this prophetically in Mark 13:14 so could what happened in 70 AD been a repeat offense of a Sim of this event from 167 BC the reason why I ask this Andy yeah is because when you look at the Imperial succession after Nero cuz remember Nero died right you have General galbo who is assassinated you have ortho who is unfit for Duty and he commits suicide

and then comes General vaspian who is the father of Titus vaspian who was the one in charge of The Siege on Jerusalem in 70 AD mhm Titus very well may have been a direct descendant of Antiochus epiphanies so he may have had firsthand knowledge of the abomination of desolation and how his great great great grandfather pulled it off oh interesting nuts yeah that is so what everyone needs to be careful of here is to take any of these verses especially verse 27 and try to cram it into prophetic verses or language in places like the Book of Revelation yeah because they're not the same thing they're not the same time they're not the same time period they're not the same level of literalness if you will mhm but I do also believe in the now and not yet so there was an event that took place in 167 BC there was an event that took place in 70 AD could those be foreshadows or types of something that may occur on the earth in the future it could be I guess it could be I'm not ruling that out but what I am saying is that what Daniel is given a vision of here in the book of Daniel chapter 9 is not something way in the future got it he's given a vision of 70 AD that's all I'm trying to say got it does that make sense yeah now to close out this episode cuz I think I've baked everyone's cookies enough I would like to show you something very very provocative okay so how many years was the nation of Israel on the hook for when it came to the Babylonian captivity 70 and those were 7 it was 70 years because they did not observe the satic sabatical year so that entire time period that included those 70 sabatical years that Israel skipped out on how much time was that was 490 years right prior prior M it's a very peculiar number of years in Scripture okay okay check this out from the time that Abraham is called from the earth of the caldes and he is given the promise from the Lord 75 years take place from then until the time that the promise is fulfilled is another 430 years for a total of 55 years but when you subtract the years that is ishma was the distraction from Abraham and Sarah doing the Lord's will was 15 years oh guess what 505 - 15 equals 490 490 oh but wait there's more okay from The Exodus of Egypt to the beginning of the building of the temple in First Kings is 594 years it takes 7 years to complete it that's a total of 601 years but when you subtract all of the years that the nation of Israel was under servitude to the judges you have 8 years with Mesopotamia 18 years with the moabites 20 years with the Canaanites 7 years with the midianites 18 years with the ammonites and 40 years under the Philistines for a total of 111 years that they were outside of the Lord's will guess what 601 minus 111 is 490 490 okay oh but wait there's more okay when the temple was completed was around 105 BC when the nation of Israel returns under the Edict of arz Xerxes to rebuild the Temple and the City and the walls that's 445 BC that's 560 years mhm oh but when you subtract the number of years that Babylon that they were in the Babylonian captivity 70 years what's 560 minus 70 490 490 oh but wait there's more from the order from arz Xerxes to go back and rebuild the city the temple the walls everything to the day that 70 AD happens it's 490 years H wow 490 is an important number CU it's all over the Old Testament yeah God means what he says and says what he means and that's why because of the precise detail even to the very number of years for all of this stuff the very day right mhm that's why I take scripture literally but it's also why I believe in the doctrine of eminency because even though Daniel chapter 9 specifically verse 27 does not speak of something that happens hundreds and hundreds of years in the future from when it was written it does not negate the fact that Jesus Christ Our Messiah our King is going to return literally and it could happen at any time right constantly the church is instructed emphatically to live as though Jesus could come back at any moment to expect him at any time in fact imminency literally means the next expectation to expect him at any moment M it's an expression of Hope and a spirit of expectancy but it should result in a Victorious Life and the reason why I felt that it was important to go through this chapter not just because of how ridiculously hair-raisingly accurate detailed fulfillment this chapter is but I get excited at the Precision of scripture and I more than anything want people to fall in love with Jesus and fall in love with the scriptures and this is why why because in the scriptures we find life we find the story of redemption we find the Messiah on virtually every page and when we get distracted by all of these other philosophies and theories and all of these other things we get distracted from what the main thing is communicating and the main thing is Jesus Christ Our Messiah and so what I would want especially in the context of a prophetic passage or an eschatological conversation or an ecclesiology conversation whatever that might be whatever that conversation might be my prayer is that we stop being so focused on is there an antichrist who's the Antichrist where's the Antichrist when's the Antichrist but rather where is Jesus Christ and that's all we have to say about that thank you for listening to the Churchosity podcast the postscripts we hope that you've enjoyed this conversation about the 70 weeks of Daniel and we hope that you will use it in the future for references of other series that we do as bonuses but until next time this is the Churchosity podcast Personnel saying peace