Welcome back, my fellow sojourners!  Yesterday we examined God’s plan for the Gentiles.  Today we will begin a 4-day treasure hunt into perhaps the most stunning four verses of prophecy in the entire Bible!  Understanding these four verses, God’s timeline for the Jews, is the foundation to understanding other prophecy.  So pull out your metal detectors and let’s search for gold!

 

Let’s outline Daniel 9!  (Taken from teachings by Dr David Jeremiah.)

 

• Secret of Prophecy  (Daniel 9:1-19)

We know that Daniel was a man of prayer, and the first 19 verses of this all-important prophetic chapter contain Daniel’s petition before the God of Abraham.  What was the focus of Daniel’s prayer in verses 4-15?  How would you summarize verses 16-19?

 

• Setting of Prophecy  (Daniel 9:20-23)

According to verse 20, what happened while Daniel was speaking, praying, confessing and presenting supplication?

 

Verse 21 indicates that Gabriel came and spoke to him at the time of evening offering, a very sacred time for Jews.  Remember, the Jews had been in captivity for about 70 years at this point, and most had long forgotten Jewish rituals and traditions.  But not Daniel!  There he was, offering up his sacrifice of prayer to God.  While he was praying, God dispatched His special messenger angel to speak to Daniel!

 

Being a man committed to his God, Daniel was likely familiar with God’s promise in Isaiah 65:24.  What is that promise?

 

• Sense of Prophecy  (Daniel 9:24-27)

Now we get to the answer to Daniel’s prayer!  Read Daniel 9:24-27.

 

Verse 24 references “seventy weeks.”  However, it is important to know that the Hebrew text is referring not to a week as we know it, but to a week of years…7 years.  Scripture talks of seven Sabbaths of years (eg – Leviticus 25:3-9).  The idea of Sabbath was initially illustrated by God’s creative acts.  He created the world in six days then took a Sabbath rest.  The prophet, Daniel, clearly understood a week of years to be seven years.

 

Now to define a year.  By studying the chronology of Noah’s flood, and the history of the Jewish calendar, we know that a historic year is 360 days.  Some examples that confirm that are:

 

• Revelation 13:4-7 references 42 months.  We understand that to be half of the seven-year Tribulation (3 ½ years).
• Revelation 12:13-14 speaks of a time, times and half a time, known as a year, two years and a half a year…3 ½ years.
• Finally, Revelation 12:6 identifies 1260 days as the length of half the Tribulation.  1260 days/3.5 years = 360 days per year!

 

• Subject of Prophecy  (Daniel 9:24)

Who do you believe “your people” and “your holy city” are?  Indeed, this prophecy concerns God’s people, the Jews, and God’s holy city, Jerusalem.  God has a plan for His people and it will never be abated.  He decreed 70 weeks of years…490 years.  He will be faithful to His people, but first we must deal with a prophetic pause in the midst of those 490 years!

 

• Sequence of Prophecy  (Daniel 9:24-27)

Verse 24 is the summary statement, indicating 70 weeks in order to accomplish 6 things among the Jewish people.  What are those 6 things?

 

Yes, God has objectives in which He is committed to fulfill!

 

Sixty-nine weeks of years are described in verse 25, referencing a decree which we will study later this week.  Then, we learn that after the “seven and sixty-two” (69) weeks of years (483 years), the Messiah will be cut off.  We will see later that God pressed the pause button in this verse!  However, as described in verse 27, a covenant will be made for another week, the 70^th week!  Stay tuned for more details of that later this week!

 

I believe the 70 weeks of Daniel relate to God’s plan for Israel, and that 69 weeks have already passed and the 70^th week is yet to come.  Do you agree?  Why or why not?

 

My friends, the Bible is accurate in every detail!  Today we have begun to uncover details of the meaning of 70 weeks of Daniel.  In the next two days we will discover the accuracy of the prophecy, and specific detail of the prophetic pause.  Before we go there, though, take time to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  Press on!