Daniel 1
Daniel 9
Daniel's Prayer for his People
1In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; 2In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of Yahuah came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.[A] 3And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: 4And I prayed unto Yahuah my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; 5We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 6Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
7 O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. 8O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 9To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 10Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Yahuah our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. 12And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 13As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before Yahuah our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. 14Therefore hath Yahuah watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for Yahuah our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
[A] Jeremiah 25
7Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith Yahuah; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
8Therefore thus saith Yahuah of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, 9Behold, I will send... Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.... 11And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
12And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon.....
15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
Daniel's Prayer is Interrupted & Gabriel Explains to Daniel the Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks Concerning the Messiah
20And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahuah my God for the holy mountain of my God; 21Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. 22And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. 23At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.
Daniel 9 is one of the most popular books for discussing end time prophecies. Here is the ironic thing. All of this 'end time information' comes from the final 4 verses of Daniel 9, which are verses 24 through 27.
Scholars normally believe Daniel 9 is speaking of 1 of 3 things.
1) The Messiah Yahusha only
2) The Anti-Christ
3) The Messiah and the Anti-christ
Here is my petition to you. The answer is number one. Daniel 9, specifically verses 24 through 27 are speaking solely about the Messiah.
If you have heard of a 7 year tribulation period it comes from Daniel chapter 9. That is because in all of scripture, a seven year tribulation period is never mentioned, except when incorrectly interpretted in Daniel 9.
If you have heard that 3 and a half years into, or in the middle of this 7 year tribulation people would be forced to take 'The mark of the beast', this comes from Daniel chapter 9.
Let's read the final verses of Daniel 9 and then we will break the verses down.
24Seventy 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. 25Know 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, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
If you remember earlier I stated that normally scholars believe Daniel 9 is speaking of 1 of 3 things. Why is this so important to grasp? The importance of this question lies in the fact of a warning given by the Messiah Yahusha. Yahusha stated that when we saw this abomination standing where it ought not...to RUN!!
In Matthew 24 Yahusha says "15When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
The holy place is God's temple, and our bodies are that temple.
Mark 13 phrases it just a little different. He says when we see the abomination of desolation "standing where it ought not" to run.
So we know Yahusha was giving his disciples a warning, that when they see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel to run. So now all we have to do is go back to Daniel and find out what this abomination is.
The word abomination is mentioned 3 times in Daniel. Daniel chapters 9, 11, and 12. Most people believe this abomination of desolation refers to either chapter 9 or 11, but not chapter 12 because chapter 12 gives us little info. Next week, Yahuah willing, we will be discussing the abomination spoken of in chapter 11, but this week we will only be focusing on Daniel chapter 9.
You might ask "Ok, but wait....do people really believe this abomination that Yahusha was warning about comes from Daniel chapter 9? I mean are you sure people really teach this?"
Well, let's see if we can get a few witnesses.
This is from a polular site called gotquestions.org. If you've ever googled any religous questions, this site probably popped up. What do they say? This is directly from there website.
Question: "What is the abomination of desolation?"
Answer: The phrase “abomination of desolation” refers to Matthew 24:15 (KJV): “So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand.” This is referring to Daniel 9:27, “He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing [of the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” In 167 B.C. a Greek ruler by the name of Antiochus Epiphanies set up an altar to Zeus over the altar of burnt offerings in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. He also sacrificed a pig on the altar in the Temple in Jerusalem. This event is known as the abomination of desolation.
Now I obviously don't agree with everything they wrote but we do see they pointed back to Daniel 9.
Seventh Day Adventists (SDA's) normally use Daniel 11 but also use Daniel 9. What have some SDA's written about the abomination of desolation?
“The “abomination of desolation” is called “armies” in Luke 21:20, and refers to the Roman army. “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.” This desolating power is spoken of by Daniel as follows: “And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. . . . And for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” Margin, “desolator.” Dan.9:26,27.”(J S WHITE (1821-1881)The Second Coming of Christ, or a Brief Exposition of Matthew 24, pg 28)
If you caught the author who wrote this, it was J S White, the co-founder of SDA's and husband of Ellen G White. Now he doesn't directly point us to Daniel 9, but instead includes a Margin stating the the Roman armies could be the "desolator" mentioned in Daniel 9. None the less they still refer us back to Daniel 9.
What about Pentecostals?
The book Classic Pentecostal Sermon Library states:
The Antichrist will make a seven-year covenant with the Jewish people. He will deceive the Jews at first and pose as their friend.... Daniel prophesied And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (9:27)
So Pentecostals teach this and refer us back to Daniel 9 as well. There are 3 examples that show Daniel 9 is often referenced when trying to determine who this abomination of desolation is.
Who is this man?
Now that we know people do link the abomination of desolation or anti-christ to Daniel 9, let's break the verses down.
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.
First we see that 70 weeks are determined. Those are prophetic weeks. Since 7 times 70 equals 490, then Daniel is being told there is a 490 year time frame that has already been determined for all these things to play out.
Now I prefer the word Messiah over Christ, but since the term 'anti-christ' is so popular we will be answering a series of questions together. Your response can be christ or anti-christ.
After the transgression who can make an end of sins? Christ or anti-Christ.
Who can make reconciliation for iniquity? Christ or Anti-Christ?
Who can bring in everlasting righteousness? Christ or Anti-christ?
Who will be (has been) anointed the most Holy? Christ or Anti-Christ?
Got your answers? Who do you think Daniel 9 is speaking of, Christ or Anti-christ?
Daniel 25 goes on to say:
25Know 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, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
Now remember, we just read that 70 weeks were determined. Those 70 weeks represented 490 years. Daniel 25 is giving us our starting point of when we need to start counting the 490 years. It says:
"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem"
That is our starting point, from the going forth of the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem. But when did this happen. Ezra 7 tells us it was in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. Ezra 7 states:
7And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
11Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of Yahuah, and of his statutes to Israel. 12Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time. 13I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee. 14Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellers, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand; 15And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellers have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem, 16And all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem: 17That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.
18And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do after the will of your God. 19The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, those deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem.20And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure house.
21And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,
22Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. 23Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons? 24Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them.
So we see the decree went out in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes' reign. But when did Artaxerxes begin reigning? We will reference Ptolemy the Astronomer born in A.D. 85.
The astronomer Ptolemy of Alexandria, who lived in the second century CE (or AD, used the system of regnal years and has handed down to us an important list of kings. It is called the Canon and has been preserved in several astronomical texts by later authors, which usually continue the list up to their own time. Because they were only interested in dating astronomical phenomena, kings who died during a certain year were usually allowed to give their name to the entire year, and the next ruler is supposed to have ascended to the Babylonian throne on the first day of the new year. (Kings who reigned for less than one year are ignored.) http://www.livius.org/articles/concept/ptolemys-canon/
Using this list we see King Artaxerxes began reigning in A.D. 464.
Artaxerxes the First: Reigned from 464-424 B.C.
So if Artaxerxes began reigning in in 464 B.C., his seventh year of reign would be around 457 B.C. We do have some wiggle room in those dates for various reasons, but for now this should give us a 'close enough' date to calculate when Daniel 9 should be fullfilled.
If we advance 490 years from 457 B.C. we end up on 34 A.D. With this knowledge we could read Daniel 9 as:
25Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem in 457 B.C. unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks or 483 years.
This places the Messiah's arrival around 27 A.D. and his death around 30 A.D. This is around the time people place the Messiah's death. Would you look at that!! God has shown the world that he knew the date of his son's arrival and death over 500 years in advance.
We continue with verse 26.
26And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Cutting off means killed. Daniel 9:26 states the Messiah would be killed, but, not, for, himself! So he would be killed but not for himself. Once again, who do you know that died not for himself but for others? Does that sound like Christ or anti-christ?
Now the second part of the verse is a little vague, but after considering all things I believe it is referring to Titus, who came and destroyed the temple in A.D. 70, after Yahusha's death and ressurection. With this information we could read Daniel 9:26 as:
26 And after 483 years which would be after A.D. 27 (note, not on A.D. 27 but after), The Messiah Yahusha will be killed, but not for himself, but for the world: and then, the people of prince Titus that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war, the desolations of Israel are already determined.
Finally Verse 27 says.
27And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
No so far we have been answering questions of whether Daniel 9 was referring to Christ or anti-christ. Verse 27 is no different. Most scholars state that the Messiah prophecied for 3 1/2 years. Verse 27 tells us the Messiah would confirm the covenant with many for one week, which we know represents 7 years, but........in the midst of the week or in the middle of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. Didn't Yahusha's death cause the need for animal sacrifices to cease? Does that sound more like this is referring to Christ or anti-christ?
So if we are dealing in prophetic weeks here then the Messiah confirming the covenant with many for one week actually means he would confirm the covenant for 7 years. And in the middle of those 7 years He would cause the sacrifice to cease...wait what is the middle point of 7? It's 3.5. And how many years do most people say the Messiah preached? also 3.5 years. Coincidence? Probably not.
Now we can't be too dogmatic about that since it does say midst and not middle, so it could technically be 4.5 years in or anything between 0 and 7 years but I do find it very interesting seeing how scholars often state Yahusha preached for 3 1/2 years and the middle point of a prophetic week would be 3.5 years.
Sadly, Yahusha had no choice but to leave Israel desolate, for rejecting God's word and ultimately killing him. Yahusha cried in Matthew 23:
"37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38Behold, your house is left unto you desolate."
It is hard not to tear up while reading Yahusha's plea as he cried O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Yahusha tried to get the people to hear God's word, but they would not, and because of their hardened state, he had no choice but to leave them desolate.
Knowing Daniel 27 refers to the Messiah we can read verse 27 as:
27And Yahusha shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of that 7 year period he shall cause the sacrifice of animals and the oblation to cease by offering himself as an eternal sacrifice, and for the overspreading of Israel's abominations, the chief of all abominations being killing the savior God sent to them, he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Who were the desolate? Israel. Israel is the desolate people mentioned in verse 27. Remember Yahusha just told Israel that he was leaving them desolate. God sent them a savior and they rejected Him. God already knew they would reject his son,therefore the pre-determined punishment was poured upon the desolate house of Israel.
So Why is Daniel 9 Important?
Why is Daniel 9 so important?
1.) It outlines a 490 year timeline that foretells the Messiah's arrival and death over 500 years in the future proving God's word is divine and shows that not only does God know what will happen, but also determines the exact date things will happen proving He is fully in control.
2) It foretells of the Messiah, and Yahusha's life shows this prophecy was full-filled just as God had said.
3) It identifies the person that Yahusha Himself warned about.
If Yahusha is not God, but rather the Son of God, then placing Yahusha in the temple of god, which is our body, and declaring him as god would be idolatry.
If you are not a trinitarian this should be a very clear and easy warning to understand. Even though Paul feared the people might accept another Jesus (2 Cor 11:3-4), the disciples probably couldn't fathom how future generations would fall away from the truth and mistake God's son as God himself, destroying the true father son relationship between Yahuah and Yahusha. But Yahusha knew. So if Yahusha knew he would one day take the place of god in the hearts of many why didn't he just tell them? Then answer is simple, Yahusha was telling only the people that were granted to see the things of God. Yahusha says in Mark 4:
11And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: 12That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
Today many people are looking for this anti-christ, when Yahusha Himself already told us who it is, but while seeing they do not perceive, and while hearing they do not understand!
Because trinitarians cannot except that Yahusha standing in the temple of God, declaring Himself God would be wrong, they then must make Daniel 9 about someone completely else...the anti-christ. And this anti-christ would confirm the covenant with many for one week, or 7 years, hence the seven year tribulation........and in the middle of the 7 weeks he will cause the sacrifice to cease....but since Israel isn't doing sacrifices anymore because of the lack of a temple, they believe the temple will one day be rebuilt and then they will start sacrificing animals again. After this a man will come and be nice and 'confirm the covenant' with many for 3.5 years, die, be resurrected, stop the sacrifices in the newly rebuilt temple, declare he's god and have everyone take his mark, the mark of the beast. The whole world will then be fooled by this, take his mark and and worship him as god, and because of the great delusion spoken about in 2 Thessalonians 2:11, everyone will be blinded to the truth.
As you hopefully can see, the great delusion isn't coming...... it's already here. May Yahuah bless us all to have understanding.