Understanding the “start date” of the “seventy weeks” is vital to its interpretation. WHEN the period commenced determines when it will end. Fortunately, the interpreting angel provided Daniel with that information – “From the going forth of the word to return and to build Jerusalem.” And the identification of this “word” is found in the context of the chapter.
Continue reading “The Word to Return”
The angel divided the period of “seventy weeks” into three divisions – the initial period of “seven weeks,” the second of “sixty-two weeks,” and the final segment of “one week.” The latter is subdivided further into two “half weeks.” And at the start of the prophecy, the angel listed six redemptive goals that must be achieved by the end of all seventy “weeks.”
Continue reading “Seventy-Sevens Divided”
After contemplating Jeremiah’s prophecy, Daniel began to pray and repent for the nation’s sins. He did not seek revelation into the meaning of the prophecy since he understood its prediction (“I understood by the writings the number of the years”). Instead, he confessed Israel’s sins as Jeremiah had instructed.
Continue reading “Prayer & Visitation”
Daniel received the revelation about the “seventy weeks” in the “first year” of Darius the Mede, shortly after the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire to the “Medes and Persians.” And his inquiry and prayer indicate that the events in chapter 9 occurred before the return of the first Jewish exiles to Jerusalem after the decree of Cyrus the Great.
Continue reading “The Word of Jeremiah”
Next, Daniel receives the interpretation of his vision of the “ram and goat.” In chapter 7, only the first “beast” can be identified with certainty – Babylon. In contrast, in the interpretation in chapter 8, two of the four kingdoms are identified by name, the kingdom of the “Medes and Persians” and “Greece.”
Continue reading “King of Fierce Countenance”
Insights into Bible Prophecy 