Overview of Daniel's Prophecy

God has a prophetic purpose for planet earth. In the bible there are people who have an earthly inheritance. But there are also people with a heavenly inheritance. It is a huge mistake to confuse and to MIX the doctrine pertaining to one group with the doctrine pertaining to another group. We are told to "rightly divide the word of truth" in 2 Timothy 2:15. We find out, by way of Paul, that God has a purpose for Heaven. But, during the Old Testament you know nothing of God's heavenly purpose or God's heavenly people. That was a mystery which was only made known to the Apostle Paul. As in:

Colossians 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;

To fulfill the word of God literally means to fill up, to complete. Paul completed the word of God in the writing of his 13 books, Romans through Philemon. Without the revelations given to Paul there would be a huge gap, there would be no information at all about the church, the body of Christ and there would be no revelation of the mystery.

Colossians 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

The very first verse in the bible says that God created two places...heaven and earth. He has a purpose for both places. The prophecy in the book of Daniel is concerned with the earth. In Genesis you come from Adam, to Noah, and down to Abraham. God calls Abraham in Genesis chapter twelve. From Genesis Chapter 12 all the way through Acts Chapter 12 (Peter's ministry) God's focus is on Abraham's descendents. Abraham was a Hebrew. He was a descendant of Eber who was a descendant of Shem. Strong's says that the name "Hebrew" denotes passage, or pilgrimage, or coming from BEYOND the Euphrates River. And that's exactly where Abraham was when God called him. Joshua calls it THE OTHER SIDE of the flood. (Not referring to Noah's flood but to the often flooded Euphrates river):

Joshua 24:2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.

Joshua 24:3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.

Abraham was from UR of the CHALDEES and when God called him he came into the land of Canaan. God promised Abraham several things. Among them that his seed would outnumber the stars. When God said that to Abraham the bible says that he "believed in the Lord." That is to say, Abraham just took God at his word, and because he did "he counted it (faith) to him for righteousness." (Genesis 15:6) Throughout the bible people are put right with God simply by faith. All salvation in the bible is by faith. However, NOT ALL salvation is BY GRACE through faith. For instance, Noah FOUND grace in the eyes of the Lord. But that is not the case where we are concerned. We were GIVEN grace. (Ephesians 4:7) Only in the dispensation of grace, this present age, are people saved purely by grace alone through faith alone. Titus 2:11 says that the grace of God "which bringeth salvation" has appeared to all men. In time past that was not the case.

But back in Genesis God had told Abraham that IN ISAAC shall thy seed be called. In other words, all of the promises of God to Abraham are in Christ. So Isaac was the promised SEED of Abraham and was a type of Christ, being the CHILD of PROMISE. Paul refers to that in Galatians:

Galatians 4:28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

Of course the Galatians are a different type of people than, say, the Ephesians because God never made any promises to the Ephesians. They were ALIENS from the promises. They were just like you and me. That's why it is important to recognize the specific things that Paul writes in Ephesians. There is a mystery revealed in Ephesians that pertains to the very salvation of people living today, and that mystery is distinct from other mysteries Paul writes about.

But Abraham begat Isaac and Isaac begat Jacob. Jacob had twelve sons and his name was changed to Israel. So his descendants became the Twelve Tribes of Israel. In the New Testament, James wrote to those people:

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

Peter and John also wrote to them. Peter refers to them as the "scattered strangers," in 1 Peter 1:1. He says that they are "among the Gentiles," in 1 Peter 2:12. But John says that they went forth "taking nothing of the Gentiles," in 3 John, verse 7. in his earthly ministry, Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision, according to Romans 15:8. The circumcision is a reference to Israel. The Lord trained 12 men to be the apostles of the circumcision to preach the gospel of the circumcision, as in Galatians 2:7-9.

Now the twelve tribes were not ALWAYS scattered abroad. After Moses led them out of Egypt and Joshua led them into the promised land they had, first Judges and then Kings. First there was Saul, then David and then Solomon. They were the Kings in the united Kingdom. All Israel was there in the "promised land."

After the death of Solomon the Kingdom was divided. Ten of the tribes became known as Israel and two of them were known as Judah. Israel was taken away captive into Assyria and then some time later Judah was carried into captivity in Babylon. After SEVENTY YEARS Judah returned to the land of Israel after their captivity and a fair representation of the whole twelve tribes returned with them. From the time of the book of Esther they have been known as Jews. Paul was a Jew. Peter was a Jew. They were Hebrews, Jews and Israelites. But in the bible they are generally referred to as Jews. Especially in the New Testament. At the time of Daniel his people had fallen into the idolatry of the nations around them and were carried into captivity. Notice:

2 Chronicles 36:15 And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:

2 Chronicles 36:16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

2 Chronicles 36:17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.

2 Chronicles 36:18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.

The nations of Assyria and Babylon were always anxious to conquer and replace Israel, but God held them back until, as the verse says there was no remedy. So Jeremiah prophesied:

Jeremiah 25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

And so began the TIMES OF THE GENTILES that Christ referred to:

Luke 21:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

The "times of the Gentiles" should not be confused with the phrase "fulness of the Gentiles" that Paul speaks of in Romans 11:25:

Romans 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

When Paul refers to the fulness of the Gentiles he is making a reference to Gentiles who are being saved today, after the fall of Israel during the book of Acts. It was through the fall of Israel that salvation came to the Gentiles by grace alone through faith alone in this age. But this fulness is not the same as the "times of the Gentiles." The times of the Gentiles began when Israel lost it's political preeminence, and will continue on over into the tribulation, which is what Daniel's prophecies are concerned with. Notice John in the book of Revelation:

Revelation 11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

Revelation 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

So the "times of the Gentiles" are still going on even into the tribulation period.

At the time of the Babylonian captivity, Israel lost it's political power. God had exalted the nation both politically and spiritually but from that time they never regained their political power...and there eventually came a time...in the book of Acts when they lost their spiritual advantage as well. Paul refers to that advantage in Romans 3:1-2, as late as Acts chapter twenty (the time Romans was written). By the time Paul became a prisoner in Rome, Israel was cast away...but not permanently. Hosea had prophesied of this very time:

Hosea 1:9 Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.

The word "Ammi" means "my people" but when you add the prefix "Lo" to the word it becomes "not my people." This period of time in which God does not recognize national Israel as His people began when Israel was cast away, scattered among the nations, and the Roman army came and destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the Temple which was there. Biblically, this "loammi" period is referred to as "after Acts chapter 28." So there is an undetermined amount of time between Hosea 1:9 and Hosea 1:10. The amount of time so far, from AD70, the time of the destruction, until now, is over 1900 years. But Hosea clearly says that Israel will be regathered and will rise again:

Hosea 1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

Hosea 1:11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

There is nothing today to indicate that this prophecy has been fulfilled, was fulfilled, or is being fulfilled. So the fulfillment of it awaits a future day. In the day in which we live, according to the doctrine committed to Paul, God puts no difference between Jews and Gentiles and shows no national preference to any nation. Today God will have "all men to be saved" and come unto the knowledge of the truth. Today the "grace of God which bringeth salvation" has appeared to all men...without distinction or exception. It is not true that God restored Israel in 1948 or that God is dealing with people on Earth today on the basis of covenants and promises made to Israel. He WILL yet do that but the time for the fulfillment of old testament prophecies pertaining to Israel is yet future. Prophecy preachers make a serious mistake to try to turn peoples attention to newspaper and television reports and try to equate them with bible prophecy. Israel is "Loammi," they are not God's people today.

The seventy years of captivity in Babylon is also a "loammi" period. Consider that the expression "the God of Israel" is not to be found in the book of Daniel. When Daniel requests his three friends to pray he asks that they desire mercies of the "God of Heaven." (Daniel 2:18-19, 37, 44) The phrase "the Lord" appears once in Chapter 1 and once in Chapter five, in reference to the vessels of the house of God which were taken to Babylon. In Daniel chapter nine, the expression "the Lord" is seen nine times, all in relation to Daniel's prayer in the chapter. God is THE LORD but the fact that he is not referred to as "the God of Israel" indicates an "out of favor" or "loammi" condition. In Ezra, in connection with the restoration work, the "God of Israel" is referred to 13 times, by way of comparison.

What follows is a simple overview of some important things in the book of Daniel. It is not an exhaustive study and it assumes some familiarity with what is written in Daniel. Daniel's first vision is in chapter two and is the interpretation of the dream of the King of Babylon. In Daniel chapter five is the interpreation of the "handwriting on the wall." That signifed the end of the reign of the family of Nebuchadnezzer and the beginning of the reign of the Medes and Persions. Belshazzar, the (grand)son of Nebuchadnezzer died that very night and the kingdom passed into the hands of the Medes and the Persions, with Darius the Mede taking the kingdom. However, in chapter seven, the vision recorded there actually took place in the FIRST YEAR of Belshazzer, king of Babylon. The vision recorded in chapter eight occurred in the THIRD YEAR of Belshazzer. Both of these were before the "handwriting on the wall."

It was in the first year of Darius the Mede that Daniel's prayer and the appearance of the angel Gabriel happened. That is what is recorded in Daniel chapter nine. Later on, in the third year of Cyrus, king of PERSIA, Daniel received another revelation. That is the subject of Daniel chapter ten, eleven and twelve. Daniel learned that following Cyrus, that there were to be three more kings of Persia and following those, the kingdom of Grecia, or Alexander the Great (which we know from history), and "others beside those."

Now when Daniel first goes to Babylon he is a young man. By the time the book of Daniel is complete he is an old man, probably 85 or so years old. So Israel is in captivity in Babylon and this King, Nebechadnezzar, has a dream...but when he woke up it was gone from him, he couldn't remember it. He demanded the wise men and magicians and astrologers to not only reproduce the dream but to tell him what it meant. They couldn't do it and Nebuchadnezzar ordered them to be put to death. But Daniel is in a well placed position with the King by this time and he asks the King for some time....and he and his companions pray. Then, in a night vision, the dream and it's meaning was made known to Daniel.

Daniel 2:31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.

Daniel 2:32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

Daniel 2:33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

Daniel 2:34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.

Daniel 2:35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

So the Lord revealed to Daniel what the King had dreamed and what the dream meant:

Daniel 2:36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.

Daniel 2:37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.

Daniel 2:38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.

Daniel 2:39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

Daniel 2:40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

Daniel 2:41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.

Daniel 2:42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

Daniel 2:43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

So the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar has to do with all the Kingdoms of the world right on down to the second coming of Jesus Christ. If the God of heaven is going to set up a kingdom which will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms then it stands to reason that the kingdom that God sets up REPLACES all those other kingdoms. In other words, it is a literal and visible kingdom just as all the others had been, and like the others it is UPON the EARTH. That is the very subject of the so-called "Lord's prayer:"

Matthew 6:10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

 Now other than this dream of the King, Daniel himself had several visions and all the visions related back to this dream. What happens in the book of Daniel is PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. In other words each of the visions reinforces the previous vision and adds more information. His visions are found in Chapter 5 through Chapter 12. It was so overwhelming to Daniel that notice:

Daniel 8:27 And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.

The Gentile King was NOT given the revelations but rather the revelations were given to Daniel. Reason being...the revelations concerned Daniel and HIS PEOPLE. Notice what the angel told Daniel:

Daniel 10:14 Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.

So the visions pertain to who? Daniels people. The people of Israel...Jews. Today, is God dealing with Daniel's people....AS Daniel's people...as the nation of Israel? No he is not. He deals with all men the same today. The grace of God that bringeth salvation has appeared to ALL MEN...without distinction. No matter whether you are Jew or Gentile today. This is because at a point in time God stopped dealing with Israel as a nation, they lost their spiritual advantage, and in fact became "Loammi" or "not God's people." But they won't always be that way. There is yet a future for the Israel of God. The present day state of Israel created by politicians in response to the Zionist movement is not the Israel of the bible. The "Israel of God" existed in Paul's day, but cannot be seen in the earth today.

Galatians 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

So both the dream and the visions of Daniel in the book of Daniel have to do with FOUR worldwide empires. The first is Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar is the head on that image, or the first Kingdom. The second one is the Medes and the Persians. The third is that of Alexander the Great and the FOURTH is DIVERSE. It is different, that is to say NOT THE SAME. Popular teaching is that this has to do with the ancient Roman empire, the revived Roman Empire and some great future European leader who will emerge and become the antichrist. Daniel learns exactly who the worldwide empires are in the series of visions he has. The second Kingdom is obviously spelled out as the Medes and the Persians. Notice the writing on the wall:

Daniel 5:25 And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

Daniel 5:26 This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.

Daniel 5:27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.

Daniel 5:28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

The Kingdom passed from Babylon to the Medes and the Persians. The THIRD Kingdom was that of Alexander the Great. The Kingdom of Greece:

Daniel 8:20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.

Daniel 8:21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

Daniel 8:22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.

So from that vision Daniel understood that after the Medes and Persians would be the Kingdom of Grecia. That would be Alexander the Great. And that his Kingdom would be divided into four Kingdoms. In other words his four Generals came into power and you have the Kingdoms of Egypt and Syria...the NORTH and the SOUTH...and the Kingdoms of Thrace and Macedonia. That is the THIRD Kingdom in the visions. So it was to be divided into these four parts...and look what else:

Daniel 11:2 And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.

Daniel 11:3 And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.

Daniel 11:4 And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.

Now after the Medes and the Persians, and after Alexander the Great and the Kingdom of Greece, what do you have?  It says others beside those. So where in that is the  revival of the great Roman Empire or some great European leader? It's just not there. It simply says others beside those.

When Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70 who was it that did it? It was Titus and the Roman Army. So the ROMANS were in political power at the time of Christ, but do you know what they are called in the book of Daniel? They are not called something great, or the great Roman Empire and there is no indication of a so-called "revival of the great Roman Empire." They are simply called "the PEOPLE of the prince that shall come:" The Roman army was obviously made up, not exclusively of people from Rome, but of many different people of different ethnic groups, including Egyptians and Syrians, Greeks, Macedonians and others. For instance, the "chief captain" who had an encounter with Paul in Acts 21 payed a great sum of money to become a Roman citizen. Roman army soldiers could also earn citizenship for many years of service in the Roman army. In Acts 21 the Roman chief captain mistook Paul for an Egyptian who had led four thousand men in an "uproar." In Acts chapter ten there is a man, Cornelius, who is head of the "Italian band." Whatever that means, the Roman army was comprised of military units made up of many different ethnic groups. Notice "the people" in this verse we find in the prophecy of "Daniel's seventy weeks:"

Daniel 9:26 And 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.

It doesn't say the prince that shall come but the PEOPLE OF the prince that shall come. The Roman army did that. And they are called, in Daniel chapter 11..."even others beside those" of the four divisions of the Kingdom of Alexander the Great. So although the Roman empire was in control in the first century, during the life of Christ and even after, the prophecies in Daniel do not imply that there must be a revival of that empire, and neither do they suggest that the antichrist will be some great, charismatic European leader. Notice the phrase again, "others beside those."

Daniel 11:4 And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.

Various theologians have put forth a number of different views in attempting to tie these prophecies to world history.

There are two views concerning Daniel chapter 11. One is that the "gap" in Daniel's prophecy is between verse 20 and 21. The second is that Daniel chapter 11 up to verse four is TIME PAST. And from verse FIVE and onward is yet future. In other words there is a GAP between verse four and verse five of Daniel chapter 11. And beginning with verse five the focus is on TWO KINGS...the King of the North and the King of the South. But whichever view is correct, to have the legs of the image in Nebuchadnezzer's dream represent Rome is probably a mistake.

The two legs in Nebuchadnezzar's image are most likely the King of the North and the King of the South and has NOTHING to do with the revival of the Roman empire, or the rise of some great Gentile European leader, or a fifth Kingdom. There are only FOUR Kingdoms named in the book of Daniel, and look at the Fourth:

Daniel 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

Daniel 7:24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

Those ten kings correspond with the ten toes of the image in Nebuchadnezzer's dream. They are ten kings which will arise toward the end of the prophetic time. It is interesting that the book of Psalms makes this reference:

Psalms 83:4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.

Psalms 83:5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:

Psalms 83:6 The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;

Psalms 83:7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;

Psalms 83:8 Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.

Now notice in John's vision of the scarlet colored beast upon which the great whore sits in the book of Revelation:

Revelation 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

Revelation 17:13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

Revelation 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

The people mentioned there in Psalms are all middle eastern, not European. The book of Revelation is not about Europeans but rather concerns the very events involved in Daniel's prophecy. The focus of the entire prophecy concerns Daniel's people. It concerns Israel, with Jerusalem at the center.

It says that the FOURTH Kingdom shall be DIVERSE and that that King will be DIVERSE. The focus centers on the King of the North and the King of the South and Daniel is made to understand that this DIVERSE King is coming out of that Northern Division...out of Syria. But not only that he is going to be a Jew...not some great European leader. Notice:

Daniel 11:36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.

Daniel 11:37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.

Daniel 11:38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.

Daniel 11:39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.

A "strange god" is not the God of his fathers. His father's knew the God of Abraham, but it says that he shall not regard the God (capital "G") of his fathers. But notice chapter 12:

Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

The culmination of all of the visions has to do with a time of trouble. The bible calls it the "time of Jacob's trouble." So Daniel is in captivity in Babylon. He is getting older by now. He had been taken into captivity as a young man and spent all those years in captivity in Babylon. He understands that Jeremiah had prophesied of this seventy year captivity but he also prophesied the Jews return to their land:

Jeremiah 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

Daniel understands and believes his Hebrew scriptures.

Daniel 9:1 In 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;

Daniel 9:2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

That is a reference to:

Jeremiah 25:9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and 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.

Jeremiah 25:10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.

Jeremiah 25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

From that  Daniel understands that those 70 years are going to end and he is praying for himself and for his people:

Daniel 9:7 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.

Notice he is speaking of ALL ISRAEL, those that are near and those that are FAR OFF. That is in one accord with Peter:

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

In Acts chapter two Peter is speaking to the men of Israel, to the whole house of Israel. They are referred to as "Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven." The ones who are afar off that Peter refers to are the same as those Daniel refers to, the people of Israel. So Daniel prays and he confesses his sins and the sins of his people Israel. This prayer compares with 1 John 1:9, as well as 2 Chronicles 7:14 and Leviticus 26:40-42. And he prays pertaining to the City and the Temple and the restoration of the Jews to their land...and the angel Gabriel is sent in answer to his prayer...hence you have the 70 WEEKS OF DANIEL:

Daniel 9:24 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.

Daniel 9:25 Know 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.

Daniel 9:26 And 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.

Daniel 9:27 And 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.

Those Seventy Weeks are understood as weeks of years. Seventy sevens or seventy times seven or a total of 490 years. Why do we understand it that way? How can we be sure that the seventy weeks are to be understood as WEEKS OF YEARS, or a total of 490 years? Well, one thing is the fact that the commandment the angel Gabriel referred to we will find in Nehemiah chapter two. It was in 450 BC. If you take 450 years, up until the birth of Jesus Christ, and you add 33 years to that, Christ was crucified at the age of 33, you have exactly 483 years....with the last seven of those years to yet be fulfilled.

Another reason you have to understand the word WEEKS in the passage as referring to "weeks of years"...is a situation you see with Jacob:

Genesis 29:22 And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.

Genesis 29:23 And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her.

Genesis 29:24 And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid.

Genesis 29:25 And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?

Genesis 29:26 And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.

Genesis 29:27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.

Genesis 29:28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.

Laban had tricked Jacob and given him his older daughter, Leah, to marry, when it was actually Rachel that he had agreed to serve Laban for the right to marry. Jacob had served Laban for SEVEN YEARS, and notice he says "thou shalt serve me YET SEVEN other years." So we see then that the WEEK was literally seven years. The "rule of first mention" is one reason for determining that the seventy weeks are weeks of years. The passage in Genesis is the "first mention" of seven years referred to as a "week."

What other reason do we have to believe that the seventy weeks refer to a literal period of time of 490 years? A strong reason is that the NUMBER OF YEARS was the very subject of Daniel's prayer:

Daniel 9:2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

Now in bible prophecy we come across such divisions of time as: hours, days, weeks, months, years, It's evident that in order to understand the meaning of all this that there must be ONE scale. And what is that scale? Well notice:

Numbers 14:34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

Now that judgment was literally fulfilled, because the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for FORTY years, a YEAR for each day that the spies searched out the land of Canaan. Notice also this verse in Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 4:6 And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.

So we see then that a DAY stands for a year. We know that a WEEK refers to SEVEN YEARS, and when we apply that to Daniel's vision we come up with seventy WEEKS of years, or 490 years.

Within the 490 years there are THREE specific periods of time.

In Verse 24 there is something specific which will start the PROPHETIC CLOCK. It is a commandment to restore and to build....not the Temple...but the city of Jerusalem. That commandment is in Nehemiah chapter two. Nehemiah is the cupbearer for the King of Persia:

Nehemiah 2:1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.

Nehemiah 2:2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,

Nehemiah 2:3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?

Nehemiah 2:4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Nehemiah 2:5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.

Nehemiah 2:6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

The queen, by the way, would be none other than Queen Esther. So a time was set. That started the FIRST SEVEN WEEKS in the vision. The first 49 years of the rebuilding:

Daniel 9:25 Know 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 you come to the second period of time and it is referred to as threescore and two weeks. A score is twenty. So three score would be SIXTY plus TWO or 62 weeks. And after that, notice:

Daniel 9:26 And 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.

In this second period of time 434 years passed. Messiah was cut off. In other words, according to Peter in the book of Acts...the men of Israel MURDERED their King:

Acts 3:17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.

Acts 3:18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.

So Christ died on the cross. They didn't know WHY. Peter told the men of Israel they had murdered their King, they had killed the Prince of Life. Peter's good news was that God had raised up Christ from the dead to sit on David's throne, the heir to the throne of David, King of Israel. Peter promised the men of Israel a future day of atonement and the restoring of Israel's kingdom. But also in our passage in Daniel there was something else that was to happen AFTER Messiah was cut off.

The PEOPLE of the prince...not the prince but the people. The prince is the antichrist..the one Daniel learned about in all those visions...his people would destroy the city and the sanctuary. His people turn out to be Titus and the Roman Army. They destroyed both the Temple and the City in AD 70 and Israel was cast away and scattered among the nations. The Lord told of that very thing in Luke 21:

Luke 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

Luke 21:21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.

Luke 21:22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

So if you add up those TWO periods of time you have 7 WEEKS or 49 years and then you have 62 WEEKS or 434 years. 49 years plus 434 equals 483 years.

The fact you need to see is that Messiah would be cut off AND the destruction of Jerusalem are both AFTER the 7 weeks and the 62 weeks. In other words AFTER the period of time of 483 years, but before verse 27...which is about the LAST SEVEN YEARS of the prophecy. Everything except the last seven years of Daniel's prophecy has already literally come to pass and has been fulfilled. There are still seven years remaining in that prophecy which are yet to be fulfilled. And here is how you know:

Daniel 9:27 And 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.

The "he" in the verse is the prince that shall come. He will make a COVENANT. It will be a covenant of PEACE in the Middle East. The covenant will allow Temple worship to be restored, including the sacrifices. It is for ONE WEEK or seven years...the last seven years of Daniels Seventy Weeks. No such covenant has ever been made. Some try to apply the verse to Jesus Christ, when in fact, it is about the ANTICHRIST, not Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ NEVER made any covenant for a week and he certainly never broke one. God never breaks covenants.

So this one is yet future and will happen AFTER the Rapture of the church which was a MYSTERY to Daniel and a mystery to all the Old Testament prophets but which was revealed to the Apostle Paul. The old testament contains no prophecy or information pertaining to the church, the body of Christ, or any information at all about the dispensation of the grace of God.

This covenant will be made by the MAN OF SIN (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4) with Daniel's people, the people of Israel. The breaking of the covenant in the middle of the week will result in the abomination of desolation that Christ referred to in Matthew 24:15. That has never happened since the Lord spoke those words...yet. Daniel makes four references to this abomination: Daniell 8:13; Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:31 and Daniel 12:11.

Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

Matthew 24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

Paul writes about this same thing:

2 Thessalonians 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

The absolute guideline for the fulfillment of Daniel's seventieth week is the prophecy of Daniel chapter eleven. Nothing since the time of Christ has yet fulfilled it. But instead of looking for the "man of sin" to be revealed the body of Christ looks for our "blessed hope, and the glorious appearing the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." We look to be "delivered from this present evil world," according to the will of God and our Father. Paul says in Romans 5 that "being NOW justified by his blood, we shall be saved FROM wrath through (Jesus Christ)." The church, the body of Christ will not be involved in the events of Daniel's Seventieth Week.