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[1] Years -
Evidence for using a 360-day lunar year in the calculations comes from; 1) the
account of the flood, which lasted 5 months or 150 days (Gen. 7:11,24; 8:3-4) ;
2) the 180-day feast of Ahasuerus which is thought to have lasted 6 months; 3) from
the apparent equivalency of 3 � years, 42 months, and 1260 days (Dan. 7:25; Dan. 12:7; Jas 5:17;
Rev. 11:2-3; Rev. 12:6,14; Rev. 13:5). The latter appears to represent � of the
final week (Dan. 9:27).
When using lunar years, 69 sevens = 483 lunar years = 476 solar years. Not all
interpreters utilize lunar years.[a]
[2]
Seven
sevens - Most understand this to
be the period during which the rebuilding of Jerusalem was completed.[b]
[3] Command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem
(terminus a quo) - There are various views as to which decree is meant and the
exact date. Bold entries are favored by this teacher and a majority of
futurist interpreters.
Decree |
Date |
Interpreter |
Artaxerxes, 20th
yr to Nehemiah |
March 14, 445 B.C. |
Anderson[c] |
March 5, 444 B.C. |
Hoehner[d] |
|
454 B.C. |
||
Artaxerxes[g],
7th yr (Ezra 7:7-28) |
458 B.C. |
|
Cyrus for Jews to
return (2Chr. 36:22-23, Ezra 1:1-4; 6:1-5; Isa. 44:28; 45:1, 13) |
538-537 (489 [j])
B.C. |
Fruchtenbaum[k] |
Event |
Date |
Interpreter |
Birth of Jesus |
6-4 B.C. |
Fruchtenbaum |
Baptism of Jesus by
John, Messiah Anointed |
A.D. 26 |
Newton[l] |
A.D. 25 |
Klassen[m] |
|
Presentation as King |
April 6, A.D. 32 |
Anderson |
March 30, A.D. 33 |
Hoehner |
|
A.D. 30 |
Jones |
|
Crucifixion of Jesus |
29 A.D. |
Anstey[n] |
[5] Sixty-nine Sevens - Calculated as follows, showing the conversion between solar and lunar years:
Lunar Years |
Solar Years |
69 x 7 = 483 years,
483 years x 360 days/lunar year = 173,880 days |
444 B.C. to A.D. 33 =
476 years (only one year expires between B.C. 1 and A.D. 1) |
[6]
Gap
-Evidence for a gap
is as follows: 1) The grammar of verse 26 describes what happens after the
sixty-ninth week and before the seventieth week, implying a temporal gap
between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks; 2) Intervals in the fulfillment
of prophecies are a common Old Testament phenomenon (e.g., Isa. 9:6-7 and Luke
61:1-2; cf. Isa. 61:1-2); 3)The final week is treated separately from the
first sixty-nine; 4)The last half of the seventieth week fits well with what we
know elsewhere about the events of the last half of the Tribulation period
(Dan. 7:25; 2Th. 2:3ff.; Rev. 12, 13, 19); 5) Jesus speaks of the abomination
of desolation as yet future (Mat. 13:14; Mark 13:14).[p]
[7]
Seventieth
Week - Some of the early church fathers understood the last week
to be yet future. Irenaeus places the appearance of Antichrist at the end of
the age in the last week�. So likewise Hippolytus states that Daniel �indicates
the showing forth of the seven years which shall be in the last times.� [q]
[8] Then he shall confirm a covenant with many - It is the signing of this covenant, not the rapture of
the church, which begins the final week. There are no preconditions for the rapture
which has always been �imminent.�
The identity of �he� is taken to be the �prince� of 9:26, not the �prince� of 9:25 (Messiah). The following reasons apply: 1)
�the prince� of 9:26 is the nearer antecedent; 2) the prince is said to be a
Roman (9:26), which accords with Dan. 23-24, 23-24, where a little horn is said
to arise out of the fourth kingdom , Rome; 3) the article before the participle
�the coming one� (9:26) indicates that this prince has been previously
mentioned and is known to the readers (e.g., Dan. 23-24, 23-24); the activities
of the verse fit what is known elsewhere of Antichrist.
[a] � Floyd Nolen Jones, Chronology Of The Old Testament
(Woodlands, TX: KingsWord Press, 1999), 234-263.
[b] � Vowel pointing added to the original Hebrew text by the Masoretes
in the 9th and 10th century A.D. infers the appearance of an anointed one at
the end of both the seven week period and the sixty-two week period which some
translations and interpreters allow. �Paul
D. Feinberg, �An Exegetical and Theological Study of Daniel 9:24-27� in John S. Feinberg and Paul D.
Feinberg. Tradition & Testament: Essays In Honor Of Charles Lee Feinberg
(Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1981), 211.
[c] � Robert Anderson, The Coming Prince (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel
Publications, 1984, 1957), 128.
[d] � Harold W. Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of
Christ (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1977), 115-140.
[e] � Martin Anstey cited in David L. Cooper, The 70 Weeks of Daniel
(Los Angeles, CA: Biblical Research Society, 1941), 39.
[f] � Jones, 234-263.
[g] � Artaxerxes Longimanus (B.C. 465-424, Jones)
[h] � Isaac Newton, Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel,
130-143. Cited by Jones, 217.� Sir Isaac
Newton proposed his solution in 1728.
[i] �� Frank. R. Klassen, The Chronology Of The Bible. Nashville (TN: Regal Publishers, Inc.,
1975), 46, 53.
[j] �� Arnold Fruchtenbaum assumes errors in existing Persian chronology as
discussed by David L. Cooper, The 70 Weeks of Daniel (Los Angeles. CA: Biblical Research
Society, 1941). [Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Manuscript
#67: The Seventy Sevens of Daniel (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 1984), 190.]
[k] � Fruchtenbaum, 4-5.
[l] �� Some interpreters understand Christ as the �he� of Dan. 9:27 and see His crucifixion
after 3� years of ministry as bringing an end to sacrifice and offering in the
�middle of the week.�� But this conflicts
with Dan. 9:26 which says Messiah shall be cut off after the 62 weeks, not in
the middle of the 70th week. There are also other significant problems with
this view (see detailed class notes on the website).
[m] � Klassen�s calculations show no evidence of accounting for the
period between 1 B.C. and A.D. 1 as one year rather than two.
[n] � This view fails to appreciate the subtleties of vv. 26-27 which
state 7+62 weeks until Messiah who is then cut off after the sixty-two.
There is no need for the 62 weeks to terminate with the crucifixion, in fact
the text implies otherwise.
[o] � John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, eds., The Bible Knowledge Commentary
(Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.) Dan. 9:26. See Hoehner, 115-140 (or
the teaching notes on the website) for details.
[p] � The value of this consideration will depend on whether or not one
sees the Olivet discourse as having been fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
[q] � C.I. Scofield, Holy Bible - NKJV Scofield - Study Bible (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2002), 1187.