June, 1939
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
216
the Seventy Weeks* Daniel's Prophecy of
AND SEVENTIETH WEEKS
II. THE PARENTHESIS OF TIME BETWEEN THE SIXTY-NINTH By A LV A J. M cC LA IN Akron, Ohio
in the future. At first sight, to those not familiar with certain characteristics of Messianic prophecy, this will seem a very startling view. And some have earnestly denounced it as a violent expedient of inter pretation. But there are plenty of convinc ing reasons for holding this view. In fact, the deeper one pushes into the prophetic Word, the greater in number and impor tance do these evidences appear. A Clue in the Text 1. Such a gap in time before the 70th week is implied by the most natural reading o f the prophecy. This seems so clear to me today that it is hard to understand how along with many others I could have missed the point so long. But doubtless, like the average English reader, I came to the pas sage with what the late M. G. Kyle used to call “our Anglo-Saxon passion for a con tinuous chronology,” a thing in which the Oriental mind was not greatly interested. It is quite possible that no one would ever have thought of making the last “one week" continuous with the first 69 weeks had it not been for the language of verse 24 where we read that "seventy weeks are determined.” And having read this expression “ seventy weeks,” we at once jumped to the conclu sion that all seventy were continuous, and then carried this erroneous impression throughout the reading of the rest of the prophecy. But let the student now read carefully the analysis of the “weeks” in verses 25 to 27, forgetting if possible the expression of verse 24, and notice the order of events. First, in verse 25 we have a period of 69 weeks ending with a definite historical event, the appearance of Messiah the Prince. Then, "after” these 69 weeks come two other events, the death of Messiah and the destruction of the city (v. 26). And after these two events we come to the final "one week” in verse 27. If we follow the order of the record strictly, both the death of Messiah and the destruction of Jerusalem are placed between the 69th and 70th weeks of the prophecy. This leads directly to a second important argument. The Gap in History 2. A gap in time between the last two weeks is demanded by the historical fulfill ment o f the two predicted events o f verse 26. These events were the death of Messiah and the destruction of Jerusalem, and by the prophecy both of them are placed “after,” not within, the 69 weeks. Now it is a well-known fact of history that A.D. 70 was the time Titus the Roman destroyed the city of Jerusalem and its sanctuary in one of the most frightful sieges of all time. And since it is certain that the first 69 weeks came to an end not later than A.D. 32, the
[The present discussion by the President o f Grace Theological Seminary carries for ward for K ing ’ s B usiness readers a treat ment o f a prophecy that is basic for under standing the purpose o f G od for the present age. T he next installment in this series is scheduled to appear in an early issue. —E ditor .] I N THE earlier articles dealing with the great prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27, which appeared in the preceding two issues of T he K ing ’ s B usiness , the period of the first Sixty-Nine Weeks was discussed. And we found first, that the "weeks" of the prophecy were weeks or “sevens” of years, not days; second, that the length of these prophetic years was 360 days; third, that the entire period of “weeks" began with the "commandment" to rebu ild Jerusalem, which was issued by Artaxerxes on March 14, 445 B.C. (Neh. 2:1-8); fourth, that from this date to the appearance of Messiah as the "Prince” of Israel would be exactly 69 weeks of years, or 483 years (Dan. 9:25); and fifth, that at the end of these 69 weeks of years, to the very day, April 6, 32 A.D., our Lord Jesus Christ rode up to Jerusalem on the “foal of an ass” in fulfillment of the well-known prediction of Zechariah (9 :9 ). Thus we have in past history a complete demonstration of the chronological exact ness of Daniel’s prophecy up to the 70th week. *All rights reserved.
Two Interpretations In the present article we turn our atten tion to this final “week” of the prophecy. And whereas in the interpretation of the first 69 weeks there is general agreement among devout scholars (except in minor details of chronology), the case is totally different when we come to the 70th week. Here the scholars split into two absolutely distinct schools of interpretation, so radi cally different that the results reach far into the field of New Testament eschatology. The one school holds to what I shall call the Continuous interpretation, and the other to the Gap interpretation. According to the Continuous view, the whole period of the Seventy Weeks is con tinuous and unbroken. There is no break anywhere. The 70th week follows the 69th without any gap in time. Regardless of minor differences, according to the Continu ous view the whole prophecy of the Seven ty Weeks has been fulfilled for over nine teen hundred years, and the future contains nothing comprehended within the scope of the prophecy. On the other hand, according to what I have called the Gap interpretation, the 70th week does not immediately follow the 69th week, but there is a great parenthesis of time between these two weeks which has already lasted for over nineteen hundred years, and therefore the 70th week still lies
Oh, For Abraham’s Faith.
Herbert G. Tovey I S ----- 1 &
Mrs. J. F. Moser Q u a r t e t t e fete
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1 But will, in face of dan-gers great, Go forth at God’s command. That knows that He who prom-is - es Is a - ble to per-form. Though i - dols crash, and hopes all die, And friends all turn a - way. ft-*- — * * * HI 1^- m a,'- 1 ^ 'J A International Copyright, 1927»byHerbert G. Tovey THE FAITH OF THE M ISSION AR Y Faith that does not wait "till It can understand" is required for the Christian mission ary who, like Abraham, hears the Lord say, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee" (Gen. 12:1).
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