Saturday, August 25, 2012

Is There Really a Seventieth Week of Daniel?


  Jeremiah 34:14—At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free.


Believe it or not this verse is a major key to understanding the prophecy of Daniel’s seventy weeks. This verse tells us that when God says seven years he means that in six years all work is to be done and the slave is freed to return home to his family for the seventh year. The seventh year to God is the same as the seventh day; it is to be kept holy. God used this Modus operandi when he gave Jeremiah the length of time for the Babylonian captivity. The exile was to last for seventy years but ended after sixty nine years were counted and the seventieth year was kept holy. I believe God does this same thing in the prophecy of the seventy weeks of Daniel. This theory makes much more sense than the way Sir Robert Anderson ascertained the prophecy of Daniel’s seventy weeks.

Daniel 9:24—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.

Dan 9:25—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 (7), and threescore and two (62) weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

Sir Robert Anderson counts the seven weeks before the sixty two weeks and leaves the last verse to explain the seventieth week. I have heard Bible teachers say “no one knows why the seven weeks were separated from the sixty two weeks.” It seems this would throw up a red flag in the understanding of the seventy weeks and make people ask questions but it hasn’t. No one questions men of scholar and that is one reason why there are so many heresies in our world today. Let’s go against the average man and ask a couple of questions. Why would Gabriel mention the seven weeks and then neglect to count or explain them? Why would he say “after sixty two weeks” and then jump to the seventieth week, ignoring the seven weeks?

The answers to those questions are that Gabriel didn’t neglect to count or explain the seven weeks to Daniel. Both  the seven weeks and the sixty two weeks are explained and counted: the Messiah is cut off after sixty two weeks and the covenant is confirmed at the beginning of the last seven weeks totaling sixty nine weeks (69 yrs). In the theory I am presenting the seventy weeks is a generation of seventy years and would fit perfectly in the chronology of Matthew 1:17.  The seventy weeks are lined up with what took place in the time of the Babylonian captivity: a judgment that was to last seventy years but ended after sixty nine years and the seventieth year (the tenth Sabbath since judgment began) was a time of joy and worship.

In Mr. Anderson’s theory the seven weeks are ignored and the seventieth week is explained instead. His speculation purposes that there are four hundred ninety years of which four hundred and eighty three of those years happened two thousand years ago and we are just waiting on the last seven years to pop up at any minute. In no way does his assertion coincide with the generation Jesus spoke of in Matthew twenty four and by no means would it fit into the chronology of Matthew 1:17. In my opinion it is a no brainer which theory makes better sense but of course it is up to you as to rather you believe it or not..  

Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2012, from http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G3767&t=KJV






King
James Version of the Holy Bible.
The Coming Prince. (n.d.). Retrieved August 18, 2012, from Philologos: http://philologos.org/__eb-tcp/default.htm
 


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