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people of the prince that shall come,” verse 26, who is also the one referred to by the pronoun “he” in verse 27 and who “makes a firm covenant with many for one week.” A further consideration militating against the thought that the terminal date of the 483rd year was the baptism of Jesus is the statement made in Daniel 9 :26, “and after the three score and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off and shall have nothing.” These words, taken at their face value, since nothing in the context indicates otherwise, seem to teach that at the end of the three score and two weeks (483rd year) the Messiah is cut off, is cru cified and has nothing; hence, the crucifixion appears, to the writer, to be the terminal date. II. P osition of th e S eventieth W eek One would judge from the language of this passage that the seventieth week follows immediately upon the expiration of the sixty-ninth week just as each of the sixty-eight preceding weeks followed immediately upon the one immediately preceding. ; Such is the natural infer ence and should be accepted as true unless there are indi cations in the context pointing definitely to a different con clusion. Here again there is diversity of opinion among Biblical scholars. As stated above, “the law of love and tolerance” should be exercised by all since men of pro found piety and unquestioned Biblical scholarship are ar rayed on both sides. On the one hand, those taking the position that the seventieth week followed immediately the sixty-ninth, as stated above, see no reason for assuming a gap intervening between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks. Further more, since according to verse 24, “seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in ever lasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy,” and since the atonement of the Messiah is the thing which accomplishes the six items mentioned in this quotation, it is assumed that this sev entieth week is connected with the Messiah’s personal min istry, death and atonement. In this connection, it is well to note the fact that there is some difference of opinion as to the Messiah’s crucifixion and its relation to the seven tieth week, namely, whether it occurred in the midst of the week or at the conclusion. As to those details, opinion varies among those believing that the seventieth week im mediately followed the sixty-ninth. On the other hand others of equal piety and Biblical scholarship see indi cations in the text which lead them to believe that a gap does intervene here and that this gap is what is known as the Church Age, beginning A.D.-30 and continuing until Christ comes for His saints (1 Thess. 4:14-18). The chief consideration which leads this group of scholars to take said position is the fact that verse 24 states that “seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city” to accomplish these six items which, as they believe, is the bringing in of the kingdom of God upon earth when the will of God shall be done upon earth as it is in heaven. One naturally judges from the reading of the passage that at the expiration of the seventy weeks these conditions will prevail and not until then. They recognize the fact that the finishing of transgression, the making an end of sin, etc., are the result of the atoning: work of Christ upon the Cross; but they further believe that potentially these things were accomplished then, but on account of men’s disbelief and unwillingness to accept Christ and His atonement they will not be translated into actual experience until Israel shall say “Blessed is He that
Prophetic Study “The Seventy Weeks of Dan iel”
B y D avid L. C ooper I N a preceding article the first installment of an investi gation concerning the seventy weeks of Daniel ap peared. In this article the historical setting of the seventy weeks of Dan. 9 :24-27 was given together with the dis cussion of the significance of the expression “seventy weeks (490 years).” The initial date of this period, verse 25, was found to be the year 3589 A. H. (year of man)— 536 B. C. and, as we shall see below, the terminal date of this period falls within the days of the Messiah. Further more, we learned that, since the secular chronology is in such utter confusion, the only reliable data upon which we can depend for our chronology is that which is sup plied by this prophecy of Daniel. Before entering into an investigation of the details of this prophecy it is well for every truth-seeker to remember that there are many things which, after all the available data has been gathered, cannot be determined with mathe matical exactness; hence, dogmatism is to be ruled out of consideration. In this connection it is well for everyone to recall the fact that Biblical students are not in agree ment with reference to many of the details of this proph ecy, as is the case with many .other portions of the sacred Scriptures. In view of these facts it behooves each one of us to exercise “the law of love” toward those who may not see “eye to eye” on every point in the details. I. T erm ination of the S ixty -N in th W eek ( 483 rd Y ear ) ' Some excellent Bible students, after years of con scientious study, have arrived at the conclusion that the sixty-ninth week (483rd year) terminated with the bap tism of Jesus. (Matt. 3:13-17). This conclusion is con firmed, in their minds, by the fact that “the law and the prophets were until John: from that time the Gospel of the kingdom of God is preached” (Luke 16:16), at which time Jesus, the Messiah, was made manifest to Israel (John 1 :32-34)—“unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks” (Dan. 9: 25). A further consideration confirming this conclusion is the facts that the personal ministry of Christ covered a period of three and one-half years (which calculation is based upon the passovers mentioned by John), and that the half week of Daniel 9 :27 is a prediction of the personal ministry. These two considerations together with others make the proposition seem quite plausible, but the plaus ibility, it seems to the writer, is lessened by the fact that, with the present data, it is impossible to be dogmatic in affirming that the personal ministry of Christ was three and one-half years long. This uncertainty is due to the fact that there is no way of ascertaining whether John mentions all of the passovers which occurred in the per sonal ministry, and to the further consideration that the feast, mentioned in John 5:1, is not definitely known to be a passover; hence, there is great uncertainty here. These statements being true, one cannot dogmatize in affirming that the half week of Daniel’s prophecy was fulfilled in the personal ministry of Christ. Another consideration which throws doubt upon this position is the fact that “the an ointed one, the prince,” of verse 25, cannot possibly be identified as the prince mentioned in the expression “the
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