THE BOOK OF DANIEL
THE SEVENTY WEEKS PROPHECY

Daniel was contemporary with the prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah. He also was among the first Israelites taken captive to Babylon in 605 B.C. Ezekiel was taken captive 8 years later in 597BC. Jeremiah was held in Jerusalem as a prisoner in a dungeon at the estate of Jonathan the Priest.
Jeremiah labored in Jerusalem for over 50 years and was known as “The weeping prophet” because he witnessed the destruction of the city, the temple and the slaughter of thousands of Jews at the command og Nebuchadnezzar.
Place: Babylon; Origin, Genesis chapter 11; Name from the word “Babel” [confusion] Founded by Nimrod son of Cush a son of Ham, a son of Noah.
Time: @ 1830 B.C. The city did not reach any importance until @ 605 B.C. with the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, [may Nebo protect the crown] who reigned from 605-562 B.C. He was succeeded by Evil-merodach, 2nd’ Kings 25:27 from 562-560B.C. next was Nergal-shar-usur from 559- 555 who was succeed by Nabonidus who ruled jointly with his son Belshazzar from 555- 539.
The kingdom fell to Cyrus king of Persia on Oct.12, 539 B.C.
The book of Daniel is written in both Aramaic and Hebrew. Chapters 2:4- 7:28 are in Aramaic with the rest being in Hebrew.
The book begins with the capture of four “Hebrew”, children [youths] of the tribe of Judah, named Daniel,[God is my judge] changed to Belteshazzar [protect his life]
Hananiah, [God has favored] changed to Shadrach [royal scribe]
Mishael, [what God is] changed to Meshack [guest of a king]
Azariah, [Jehovah has helped] changed to Abednego [servant of Nebo ‘high place”]
Jehoiakim, second son of Josiah began to reign over Judah [Hebrew name Eliakim, changed by Nebuchadnezzar] was king for @ 11 years. He was in the third year of his reign when the prophecy of Jeremiah chapter 25 must be fulfilled. See 2nd’ Kings 24:1- and 2nd’ Chr. 36:6-.
Other kings to follow were; Jehoiachin, also called Jeconiah; was one of the captives took from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar he was on throne 3 months then placed in prison for 36 years. See 2nd’Kings 24:5-8 and 25:27-30
The last King of Judah was Zedekiah, [Hebrew name “Mattaniah”] the third son of Josiah to be king of Judah. He was a puppet king following orders from Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel was @ eighteen years old when this first raid by Babylon was made to capture some of the “best young men” of Judah and lived through the entire seventy years of captivity. Chapter 1:21.
It is important to note that the chapters that speak prophetically are not in chronological order. Example: chapters 5, 7, and 8 are about King Belshazzar, but chapter 6 is about Cyrus a Persian king who did not appear until Babylon was no longer a nation.
Chapter # 2:-7: 28 are written in Aramaic as well as Ezra 4: 8-6: 18, 7: 12-26, and Jeremiah 10: 11. Chapter # 2 begins with the first prophetic message, with the dream of the King that he could not remember and no one in Babylon could interpret. But by the providence of God, Daniel was called to demonstrate the power of God to reveal the secrets of the heart of mankind.
The dream was of a giant man made up of diverse materials, each representing four world kingdoms beginning with Babylon, [from @ 626- 539 BC] next, Medo-Persia,[from @ 539-330 BC] then Greece, [from @ 330-63 BC] and ending with Rome. [from @ 63 BC -@ 395 AD; when it split into a Eastern and western halves and later into 10 divisions and fell to the Germans @ 476 AD] Daniel had a vision years later found in chapter seven with animal characters representing the same kingdoms.
As Daniel gave the interpretation of the dream, he also saw a fifth kingdom that would appear as these Kingdoms ended; this would be The Kingdom of God. See ch.7, Psalms 2:6-12. Isaiah 60; Micah 4:7, Matt. 3:1, 4:17. Also Isaiah 28:16-17. The time of this event was @ 603 B.C.
50 years later, Daniel now an old man in chapter seven in the first year of King Belshazzar, had vision by night, seeing four beasts that represented the same world kingdoms; #1Babylon, [the lion] #2 Medo Persia,[the bear] #3 Greece under Alexander the great, [the leopard] and #4 Rome. [The terrible beast with 10 horns]
Special note: The Kingdom of God would appear when the last of these kingdoms would be in power.
This was fulfilled in the closing days of the Roman Empire with the coming of Jesus and the institution of the Christian Church. Luke 17:20And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Chapter # 8; In the third year of the reign of King Belteshazzar @ 531BC; Chapter # 8 preceded Chapter # 5. This chapter tells the story of a a second "vision" that was given to Belshazzar . This was about # 1 a "ram with two high horns", [this ram represented the Medo- Persian Empire] but one horn was higher than the other, # 2 was "a he goat with a horn of note between his eyes. This goat and it' horn represented the Grecian Empire and it's prominent ruler Alexander the Great. This goat attacked the ram and broke its two horns. After the "great horn" was broken it was replaced with four other horns and they moved toward the "four winds [directions] of heaven.
Chapter three is the story of the fiery furnace.
Chapter four deals with a personal prophecy against the king, where he was driven from among men and live as a beast in a field for seven years until he recognized and reverenced the King of Heaven. It is said he lived one year after these events.
Chapter five deals with a part of the reign of Belshazzar and the party where the Holy vessels of The Temple of God were defiled, the “hand” writing on the wall with the interpretation by Daniel and the closing statements in verses 30 and 31. “In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
There were four Persian rulers named Darius. # 1 Darius the Great,[Hystaapis] 522-485 B.C.
# 2 Darius –Ochus; son of Artaxerxes; 423-404 B.C. # 3 Darius-Codomannus 336-330 the end of the Persian Empire. And # 4 Darius the Mede. This is the one we are working with here. He was Govenor under Cyrus the founder of the Persian Empire. He is named in chapters 5,6,9 and 11 also in Haggai, and Zechariah. He was also known as “Gobryus”. Others are mentioned in Ezra and Nehemiah.
Again we notice chapters out of chronological order; ch. 5; 30 Belshazzar is dead and in ch. # 7: begins with in the first year of Belshazzar. Chapter 8: begins “In the third year of King Belshazzar.”
Chapter numbers 7 and 8 the Medo-Persia and the rise and fall of the Greek Empire.
Before I begin to discuss the “Seventy Weeks Prophecy” I must tell you that there is a very popular teaching today that totally changes the interpretation of this prophecy. This is known as “THE GAP THEORY”, It teaches that God stopped his “Time Clock” at the end of the 69th. Week and will not be started again until the time of the “Gentiles” is completed; Then it will be restarted and the Temple will be rebuilt and Israel again will turn to God.
The key to understanding this prophecy is to ascertain “when the counting of time began.
Chapter 9 with prophecy of the “Seventy weeks” covers the entire time from the decree of Cyrus to build the “House for the God of heaven” in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. See 2nd' Chr.36: 23 and Ezra 1:1-8 until the destruction of Jerusalem and the Roman captivity in the year of 70 AD.
At the beginning of chapter 9 Daniel makes a profound statement; “I understood [remembered] by the books the number of years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolation’s of Jerusalem. [Jeremiah chapter # 25] This was @ 535 B.C. Sixty six years had passed since the captivity began. Daniel prays and offers repentance for Judah, knowing soon God would grant freedom once more to build a Temple unto God.
Verse 21 While he was praying, the “man” “Gabriel touched me about sunset”. “I have come to give you skill and understanding.”
Now begins the “seventy weeks” discourse. This prophecy is divided into three parts; 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and 1 week. It is understood these weeks represented years of weeks, or a total of 490 years.
The question is when does this time count begin? Many apply this to Cyrus’ instructions in Ezra 1:3, but Cyrus only directed the building of the temple in Jerusalem. Daniel’s vision was to restore and build Jerusalem including the streets and wall. This could only refer to the command of Artaxrexes, [known as Longinamus] to Nehemiah in chapter two of his book. This man ruled from 465-423 B.C. [ The 3rd. son of Ahaserus “Xerxes”]
Now we must separate the three divisions of this prophecy, seven weeks, [or 49 years for the completion of the wall] This is to be counted from the time of the destruction of the temple 570 B.C. or @ 521 B.C. sixty two weeks or 434 years. This brings us to the approximate time of the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. @ 29-31 A.D. Now we have only one week or seven years to account for and answer some hard questions. Historians give different dates for this declaration; none can be said to be absolutely correct.
Jahn says; 444.B.C, Hales says; 414, Calumet 449, and Usher 454 B.C. his gives a range of time from 39-29- 31 A,D. or very close to the exact time of the beginning of Jesus ministry.
See scriptural references to Darius the King of Persia.
DARIUS: EZRA, 4:5-24, 5:5-7, 6:1,12-15. NEHMIAH, 12:22; DANIEL, 5:31; 6:1,6, 9, 25, 28; 9: 1; 11:1; HAGGAI, 1:1,15; 2:10; ZECHARIAH, 1:1,7; 7:1.
Verse 26; After the 434 years, the Messiah [Jesus] shall be cut off, But not for himself. [He will be cut down, but as the Messiah the anointed one he is eternal]
Next the “people” of the prince shall come and destroy the city and the sanctuary, and the end will bring desolations. Take special note the word “prince” here is not capitalized, meaning this is a different prince than the one in verse 25, who was the Messiah. This prince would seem to represent the Roman government.
Verse 27: Now comes the hard part. The covenant is to be confirmed by a Prince. First we must decide what the covenant is and then which Prince will confirm it.
Jeremiah declares in chapter 31: the birth of the redeemer and the “New Covenant” God would make with Israel and Judah. This would be an everlasting covenant and it would be written in the heart of mankind. Only Jesus the Messiah could bring this to fruition, See Luke 1:72, Romans 11:27, Hebrews 8:6-18, 12:24 and 13:20
Jesus at the middle of the week died on the cross and the veil of the temple was “rent in twain” signifying the end of the sacrificial system, but the world had to be evangelized with the Gospel before the New Covenant could be come effective. This was accomplished in the last half of the week; see Romans 10:18 Colossians 1:6 and 23.
Now the only problem we have is the time of the war and destruction of the temple. The prophet did not set a time for this to conclude, only that the end would be with a flood, destruction, and desolation.
In @ 35 years the Roman general Titus with the help of the disobedient Rabbi's would perform exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 24:2 “There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.” A person needs only go visit Jerusalem and stand at the Wailing [Western] Wall and look at the Muslim structure now standing on the temple mount to witness the fulfillment of this scripture.
So ends the seventy weeks of Daniel chapter # 9: Jesus came as promised, The Roman Empire in collaboration with the Jewish religious system condemned him to death, his blood was shed to redeem sinners. He was resurrected the third day and after 40 days ascended into Heaven. He now sits on the "right hand" of the Father, awaiting his return for his bride the Church.
EVEN SO, COME LORD JESUS COME.

Scriptures to examine:
Zech. 12: 7-14; fulfilled in John 19:34-37.
Matt. 24: Mk.13; 1st. Thes. 4:13-5:13, 2nd.Thes. 1:7--; 2nd Pet.3:6-13.
History of the Doctrine of “Dispensationalism”.
Seven periods of God’s dealing with humanity.
# 1 Innocence
# 2 Conscience
# 3 Civil Government
# 4 Pattarchal rule
# 5 Mosiac Law
# 6 Grace
# 7 Millennial Reign; 1,000 years.
Teachings began with John Nelson Darby of the Plymouth Brethren in Ireland.
Doctrine of separation of Israel and the Gentile Church in relation to God and his people.
The church age is a “Parenthesis of time”; Based on Lk.21:24 Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Some say this was fulfilled in 1948 when Israel became a Nation again.
Other leaders of this movement were C.I. Schofield who introduced hid reference Bible to the Dallas Theological Seminary in 1909 AD. And later for accreditation purposes the Church of God Employed Teachers from this school and introduced the doctrine into the Pentecostal churches.
Also Lewis Chafer, who became a major writer and commentator for this movement.
Other teachings connected with dispensationism are;
The Gospel of John, The Acts and the Epistles are the only scriptures for Gentiles.
The “Great Commission” was for Jews only.
The “LORD’S prayer is not to be recited by Gentiles.