Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. 25 Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times. 26 And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing: 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 even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined. 27 And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate" (Dan 9:24-27).

In order that we may get our bearings for the further study of Daniel 9:24-27, we must remember the salient points which have been discussed in this series of studies. As we have seen, Daniel was studying the prophecy found in the Book of Jeremiah. Doubtless he was using the prophecy of Isaiah 44:28 and related passages.

It is quite evident that Daniel, though he was an inspired messenger of Jehovah, could make mistakes and draw erroneous conclusions when the Spirit of God was not speaking through him. As we see in 9:1 the time was the first year of Darius which was the 68th year of the Babylonian captivity. From Jeremiah Daniel knew that the seventy years of captivity would end within two years. He therefore doubtless rejoiced in the expectation of returning to his fatherland. As he read the prophecy of the return of the Jews from Babylonian captivity (Jer. 29:10-14), his eye became fixed upon what the prophet had said concerning the return from a world-wide dispersion (v. 14).

This prophecy of Jeremiah is an illustration of the law of double reference--the blending of two similar events. Verse 10 speaks of the return of the captives from Babylon whereas verse 14 speaks of the Jews' return from a world-wide dispersion--a far greater return of the Jews to their homeland. Jeremiah spoke of both returns to the homeland, blending what he says about the return of the Jews from Babylon with the final restoration and conversion of Israel which will become an accomplished fact at the end of the Tribulation and at the beginning of the Millennium. It is quite certain that in reading the prophecy Daniel failed to note the difference between the two portions of the one prophecy. He, therefore, hastily concluded that the final restoration and conversion of the nation would be accomplished in the immediate future. He was thinking in terms of the seventy years of Babylonian captivity. The angel Gabriel, knowing that Daniel had drawn, an erroneous conclusion with reference to the final restoration and thinking that the entire prophecy would be shortly fulfilled, told Daniel to consider the facts and understand the truth regarding the final restoration and conversion of Israel.

Since Daniel was thinking about the seventy years of Babylonian captivity, and since he was captivated with the idea of the establishment of the reign of righteousness upon the earth, Gabriel revealed to him the truth in terms that Daniel had been using. Instead of the coming of the Millennial Age at the end of the seventy years of Babylonian captivity, Gabriel said that there would be seven seventy-year periods for the establishment, of the Millennium on earth. In other words, therefore, Gabriel said that there would be 490 years for the fulfillment of the prophecy: "seven seventies are decreed upon thy people and upon thy Holy city ..." to bring in the age of righteousness.

The initial date was the year when the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple was given. Cyrus, King of Persia, as we have already learned, was the one who issued the said decree. In the Ussher chronology the year 536 B.C. was the initial date of the 490-year period from the issuing of the decree unto "the anointed one, the prince." There were to be seven sevens and sixty-two sevens of years in this period from the date of the issuing of the decree to the Messiah--483 years.

What is the significance of the expression "anointed one, the prince"? Various answers are given by commentators. Since however, the angel Gabriel told Daniel that the Messiah would be "cut off, and shall have nothing," it is most probable that the cutting off of Messiah has reference to His crucifixion.

Does the 484th year follow the 483rd year? No, because the angel speaks about the destruction of the Temple and the city, which were destroyed in the year A.D. 70. Moreover, at the end of the 490th year the Millennial Kingdom will be established. The seventieth week of years, therefore, does not follow the sixty-ninth. This prophecy, studied in the light of related passages, is seen to pass over an indefinite period of years which in the New Testament is known as the Christian Dispensation. Thus, at the end of the Christian Dispensation the seventieth week begins.

Moses, the Prophets, the Psalmists, and the writers of the New Testament give much information concerning the Day of Jehovah and the Kingdom Age. In fact these subjects loom large on the prophetic horizon. On account of the abundance of material given in the Scriptures concerning prophetic themes, the student of the Word of God must be careful noting especially those phrases that show the relationship of events, movements, and outstanding individuals. In this connection let me emphasize the value of the Golden Rule of Interpretation, which is, "When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning, unless the facts of the immediate context studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths indicate clearly otherwise." Observing the fundamental principles of this rule will pay great spiritual dividends.