Daniel shut up the words
and sealed the book, “until the time of
the end,” (12:4, 9). That “time of
the end” as seen by Daniel was fulfilled when Jerusalem was destroyed and
the Jews dispersed in 70 AD. Thus we
find that in the Book of Revelation, chapter 5, there is a scroll, (or book), “sealed with seven seals,” the “weeks” or
“sevens” of Daniel.[1] I
submit that this is that same book which Daniel sealed “until the time of the end.” The “end of the age” had come upon the earthly city of Jerusalem and the
earthly sanctuary, when John was given the
vision. This destruction is described by John under the symbol of the Great
Whore, Babylon the Great, after
which the true Holy City appears, coming down from God out of heaven,
the New Jerusalem.
Some
dispensationalists and pre-millennialists say that Daniel 9:24-27 “doesn’t tell us
that the seventy weeks were fulfilled, because when the Jews refused their
Messiah, God stopped the clock, breached his promise,” (as in
Numbers 14:34).[2]
To
accuse God of “breach of promise” is to accuse Him of lying! This idea is
totally foreign to the concept of the covenant-keeping God of the Bible. Numbers 23:19 says:
God [is] not a man, that he should lie; neither the son
of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do [it]? Or hath
he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Indeed, the passage in Numbers 14:33-34 shows
clearly that when God says “forty years” He means just that, for in Numbers
26:63-65 it is recorded that this promise was literally fulfilled. He is a God
of faithfulness, (Deut. 32:4). He does not change, (Mal. 3:6; James 1:17). He keeps
His covenant to “all generations,”
(Psalm 33:11; 45:17;
100:5; 119:90, and many other references). Psalm 105:8:
He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word
[which] he commanded to a thousand generations.
The
word translated “breach of promise”
is Hebrew tenuw’ah, from nuw’, meaning “my opposition,” or, as translated in Job 33:10, “occasion for hostility,” (BDB ). The Lord was saying that they should
bear their iniquity for forty years that they might know His “opposition” to their rebellion, the “occasion for His hostility,” not that He
failed to keep His word!
He had
promised to bring them out of Egypt in 400 years,
(Gen. 15:13), but had not promised to bring them in to Canaan in
400 years. He had indeed brought them out of Egypt after 400 years of
oppression as recorded in Exodus 12:40-41. (The
full time of their sojourn in Egypt was 430 years, but the time of their
oppression was 400 years of that period. The first thirty years was no doubt
the time that the Pharaoh friendly to Joseph reigned. See also Acts 7:6.)
Another
incident in which the Lord specified a certain number of years is found in
Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10.
We know that this prophecy was fulfilled as recorded in Daniel 9:2. Daniel knew
when the time had come for the Babylonian captivity to end
because he had read in the Book of Jeremiah that it was to be seventy years. He
did not think that God would call a “time out“ for an indefinite period before they were brought out
of this captivity.
It must
therefore be understood that when the Lord gave Daniel the prophecy of
the “end” which would come in 490 years plus a time,
times and half a time, those who believed in God and knew the covenant were
expecting both the Messiah and the “end” as
foretold by Daniel’s prophecy. Simeon and Anna knew it was time
for the Messiah, (Luke 2:25-34). The
Samaritans knew that it was time for the Messiah, (John 4:25, 29-30).
Andrew knew it was time
for the Messiah, (John 1:40-41), and Philip also knew, (John
1:45). Indeed, Christ Himself plainly
taught that the “end” foreseen by Daniel was to come within the life span of
the generation to whom He was speaking, (Matt. 24:34; Mark 13:30; Luke
21:32). The early Church expected this “end,”
(for example: Heb. 9:26; 1 Pet. 4:7;
1 Cor. 7:29).
The
passage in Daniel chapter 9 is
about an “end,” (vv. 24, “end of sin,” v. 26, “end of sanctuary,” v. 27, “the decreed end is poured out”). Daniel
chapters 10 and 11 are about events leading up to this “end,” and refer to the history between Daniels time and the time of
John the Revelator.[3]
Daniel 12:7d: And when the shattering of the power of the
holy people comes to an end all these things would be accomplished, (RSV).
This
passage in Daniel is referred to in
Revelation 10:5-7. Indeed,
the Angel appears to be the
same in both passages:
5 And the angel
which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,
6 And sware by him that liveth for ever
and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth,
and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein,
that there should be time no longer: 7
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin
to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his
servants the prophets.
The
phrase in 10:6: “…that there should be
time no longer,” literally means: ‘“The
time is up” or “There shall be no
more delay.” This refers to the “time”
spoken of by Daniel; the “time was up.”
“All of these things” came to pass when
Jerusalem was destroyed
along with the Temple in 70 AD: There was
an “end of sin” and transgression for
fleshly Israel, because from this point on there was no other Israel than Christ, the only living legitimate heir.[4]
Christ’s death “atoned for iniquity and
brought in everlasting righteousness”; in Christ’s Body, “a most holy (place) was anointed,” the
Church; there was an “end
of the sanctuary,” because the physical Temple was destroyed.
The “end” which Daniel foresaw was also “to seal up the vision and prophecy.” In
this passage the words “seal up” is the Hebrew chatham, defined as: “…to seal, affix one’s seal, in attestation… as for example in Nehemiah 10:1-27, where the
men attested to or ratified the covenant by setting their seal to it,” (BDB “seal”). In other words, Daniel’s prophecy would be proven by its
fulfillment. This sense of attesting or ratifying is also used in the New
Testament in John 3:33; 1
Corinthians. 9:2; 2 Timothy 2:19. It
indicates the stamp of authenticity.
“The vision and prophecy” were attested
to, or proven, by the coming of Christ, His finished work of redemption, the preaching of the
Gospel at that time to
the whole Jewish world as well as
to some of the Gentiles, the formation of the New Israel of God in Christ’s
Body the Church, the subsequent destruction of the fleshly nation and
the earthly city of Jerusalem. God’s prophets had foretold all of these things. Now
they were attested to, and ratified by the fulfillment of that which had been
foretold. Therefore, Daniel’s “appointed times” were fulfilled, “accomplished”
– both the blessedness of the righteous who believed and the tribulation of
those who refused to believe.
Jesus Himself, in
answer to the question concerning the “end
of the age,” (Matt. 24:1-28), interpreted Daniel’s prophecy as coming to pass when Jerusalem and the Temple would be
destroyed. Therefore, God’s “unfinished business with Israel” spoken of by
Daniel became “finished business” in 70 AD as
described in the Book of Revelation.
Dispensationalists
and pre-millennialists say that Joel 2:1-2 and
Zephaniah 1:17-18 have
never yet been fulfilled but speak of the yet future time of great tribulation.[5]
Joel 2:28-32a, (which
is to occur after the events of the preceding verses), are quoted in Acts
2:16-21 as having been fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. Since Acts 2:16-21 interprets Joel 2:28-32 as having
been fulfilled, there should be no further question as to the fact of its
fulfillment. The blessings are to “the
remnant whom the Lord shall call”; i.e., the Church, (Joel 2:32. See also Rom. 10:13). The great
tribulation for the unbelievers, the wicked, which came to pass in the
destruction of the Jewish nation, was an
example to the whole world. All of these things were written for our learning,
(Rom. 15:4).
The immediate
reference of Zephaniah 1:17-18 is to the
destruction by Nebuchadnezzar which followed
soon after the original prophecy was given, as described by the Book of
Lamentations 2:21; 4:13-14. As a general reference, it can be applied to
the later destruction under Titus, as described by Josephus in his Wars of the Jews, as well as to any
nation who forgets God, (Psalm 9:17). As an eschatological
reference, it can be applied to the end of the world in the future.
Since
the word that is translated “earth” may also be translated as “land,” the
prophecy can therefore be accurately applied to the destruction of “all the
land,” as when the land of Israel was destroyed, or “all the earth,” as in the
future. Likewise the term “all the
inhabitants of the land” can equally be translated “all the inhabitants of the earth.” (The twelve tribes are
sometimes called “nations” Genesis 35:11; Exodus 19:6; Acts 2:5.
The Roman Empire is called “all the world” in Luke 2:1.)
The dispensational and
pre-millennial view of Daniel’s 70 weeks is: “…when the Jews refused their Messiah, God stopped the clock, called “time
out“, so to speak….breached His
promise, (as in Numbers 14:34)…. “Time in” hasn’t been called yet.”[6]
Eusebius
says: “After the Saviour’s passion, and the cries with which the Jewish mob clamoured for the reprieve of the bandit
and murderer and begged that the Author of Life should be removed from them,
disaster befell the entire nation. There is no need to add anything to the
historical records. But it would be right to mention, too, certain facts which
bring home the beneficence of all-gracious Providence, which for forty years
after their crime against Christ delayed their destruction,” (Eusebius, 3.7.3).
There was indeed a space of time of
40 years, (as in Numbers 14:34), after the rejection of the Messiah, (about 30 AD), to the destruction of the nation,
(about 70 AD). That this period of time was considered analogous to the 40-year
wilderness experience is confirmed by Hebrews 3:7-4:11 and 1 Corinthians. 10:1-11. This was
the period of time in which the gospel was preached throughout the Roman Empire to all the Jews, Colossians 1:23. This space of time, however, was not a “breach
of promise” but was a demonstration of God’s mercy.
In fact, the “forty years of the
Messiah“ was a tradition amongst the
Jews, as attested in their writings. Lightfoot quotes R. Eliezer from Sanhedrin:
The days of the Messiah are forty years,
according as it is said, “Forty years…shall I be grieved with this generation.” The
Gloss is, “Because it is …(in the future tense) it is a sign the prophecy is
concerning the time to come.” It is ingenuously done, however, of these “Jews”,
that they parallel that faithless generation that was in the days of the
Messiah with that perverse and rebellious generation that had been in the
wilderness: for they will, both of them prove a loathing and offence to God for
the space of forty years. And as those forty years in the
wilderness were numbered according to the forty days in which the land
had been searching [Num. xiv.34]; so also may those forty years of the
Messiah be numbered according to the forty days wherein he was
conversant amongst mankind after his resurrection from the dead.[7]
The
angel proclaims that this “delay” is over, Revelation 10:5-7, (RSV):
And the angel whom I saw standing on sea and land lifted
up his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who
created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and
what is in it, that there should be no more delay, but in the days of the
trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God, as he
announced to his servants the prophets, should be fulfilled.
The
passage in Numbers 14 speaks of the
long-suffering of God by waiting forty years while the doubting generation
died. This is referred to in Hebrews 3:7-19 and is
applied to the contemporary audience: “Today!”
There is a serious problem, however, with the interpretation that “God stopped
the clock for a “time out“ which hasn’t been called back in yet,” (after 2,000
years!)
The
time spoken of by Daniel was an “appointed
time” (Dan. 8:19; 11:27, 29, 35, etc.) This “appointed time” ended the “time of the end” (Dan. 8:17, 35, etc.)
This meant that a specific date was set in the future. It is the Hebrew word mow’ed, meaning “an appointed time,
place, meeting or congregation.”[8]
This is
the word that is used for setting an appointed time for meetings at an
appointed place; for example the appointed time for keeping the feast of
unleavened bread, (Exod. 34:18). It would have been quite confusing if a “time
out“ was called without everyone knowing when, or for how
long, the “time out” was. If “time out” could be called, how could there have
been a meeting? The concept of a “time out” for an “appointed time” is
self-contradictory.
When
Daniel was studying the Book
of Jeremiah, (Dan. 9:2), who had prophesied a set time of seventy
years, (Jer. 29:10), he did not think that God had called “time out“ or was using some secret method of calculating the
seventy years, but rather he knew that the “appointed time” for restoration was
near.
[1] In the Hebrew the words for 'week' and 'seven' are the same
root and are closely related to the word for 'oath.'
[2] This view is commonly held and taught. One example of this teaching is
the tape series ‘Latest Word on the Last Days’ taught by Pastor Paul Dodson at the Reigning Life Assembly Church in Spencer, Oklahoma, summer 1994.
[3] Lightfoot, commenting
on Acts 2:17, notes that: ‘We have elsewhere observed that by the last days
is to be understood the last days of Jerusalem and the Jewish economy, viz. when the...end
of the Jewish world drew near. And there would be the less doubt as to this
matter if we would frame a right notion of ...'that great and terrible day of
the Lord;' that is, the day of his vengeance upon that place and nation,’ (CNT
vol.4, p. 30).
[4] See my Commentary at 7:4 ‘Israel of God.’
[5] Again I refer to Pastor Dodson's, Latest Word series for a specific
example of a widespread teaching.
[6] Again, I use Pastor Dodson's Latest Word series as an example of this
teaching. He cites a source which attempts to count the 490 years on the basis of a solar year. The
chronology of the seventy weeks used by Pastor Dodson's source is erroneous
because it does not understand the Old Testament calendar. Their year was a
moon year of 354 days. Their months were determined by observation of the
appearance of the new moon, about 29 1/2 days. However, an accurate calculation
of the times predicted by Daniel will indeed come to the events of Christ.
[7] Lightfoot, (CNT, vol.
4, pp. 7-8), quoting Sanhedrin fol. 99.1. Lightfoot also records concerning Rabbi Jochanan Ben
Zaccai that it was said: ‘Forty years before the destruction of the
city, when the gates of the temple flew open of their own accord, Rabban
Jochanan Ben Zaccai said, 'O temple, temple, why dost thou disturb thyself? I
know thy end, that thou shalt be destroyed; for so the prophet Zachary hath
spoken concerning thee, Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy
cedars,'‘ (CNT vol. 4, p. 44).
This would have been at the time of Christ's
crucifixion, perhaps when the veil was rent. From this it is clear that the
tradition of the forty years of grace was strong amongst both the Jews of the
Pharisaic religion as well as the
Christians.
This lesson is from my book Revelation In Context, pages 80-84. Revelation In Context is available locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma. It is also available online at www.Amazon.com and www.xulonpress.com. Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.
