of Jerusalem, occurred thirty-eight years after the close of the sixty-ninth week. Therefore, we most naturally conclude that there must be a gap of unmeasured time between the sixty-ninth and the seventieth week. The order as given in the text might be charted as follows: 7 weeks and 62 weeks (Messiah cut off; the destruction of the city and sanctuary) and one week. There are two more compelling facts which drive us to the unavoidable conclusion that the seventieth week is yet future. First, the six-fold consummation described in verse 24 has never been fulfilled and is therefore future; consequently the seventieth week must also be future. Secondly, Daniel describes the abomination of desolation as coming in the middle of the seventieth week; the Lord Jesus Christ in His Olivet Discourse places the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, as coming before His own return to the earth (Matthew 24:15, 29-31). To us this seems absolutely con clusive that the seventieth week is yet future. Since the first sixty-nine weeks have been literally fulfilled, as proved by the fact that the crucifixion of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem which are pre dicted to occur after the sixty-ninth week are history, and since the seventieth week has been shown to be still future, we cannot deny that there is a parenthesis of unmeasured time between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks. The principle of the parenthesis is not at all an un usual phenomenon in Old Testament prophecy. We could cite many examples. One will suffice. The Lord Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth read the prophecy from Isaiah 61:1, 2, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the accept able year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God.” Now turn to Luke 4:19 and note at what point in this prophecy Jesus closed the book and said, “This day is this Scripture fulfilled.” Jesus stopped at a comma and closed the book. If He had read beyond the comma which fol lowed the phrase, “ the acceptable year of the Lord,” He could not have said, “This day is this Scripture fulfilled,” because the very next phrase, “ the day of the vengeance of our God,” belongs to the second coming of Christ. None can deny that there is a great parenthesis of unmeasured time represented by that comma in Isaiah’s prophecy. Similarly the prophets often saw the sufferings of Christ and the glory which should follow as though they were one continuous event, not seeing the time gap between them. The time gap, therefore, which we have discovered between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks of Daniel is not contrary to the method of Old Testament prophecy, it is rather an example of a commonly employed princi ple. Verse 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 deter mined shall be poured upon the desolate.” W e mus t r ememb e r that this prophecy concerns Daniel’s people. Someone is going to make a covenant with the many, or the majority of the Jews for one week of seven years. Then in the middle of the week, or after three and one-half years, he will break his agreement and cause the sacrifice to cease. At the time something occurs which Gabriel calls the overspreading of abomina tions. Luther translated it, “Upon the wings stands the abomination of desolation.” This ushers in that unprece-
strated that it was exactly sixty-nine times seven years (or 483 years) from the above date that Jesus of Nazareth rode into Jerusalem on the donkey in literal fulfillment of the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9. Now in verse 25 of our prophecy it is definitely stated that the time from the command to build Jerusalem to Messiah the Prince (which refers unmistakably to Christ) shall be “ seven weeks and threescore and two weeks,” i.e., a total of sixty-nine weeks or 483 years. So then, the first sixty-nine weeks of years have already run their course in literal and exact fulfillment. The seventieth week is mentioned by itself at the very end of the prophecy in verse 27. Verse 26. “And after (the) 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.” Observe that the seventy weeks are divided into three parts in the following order: seven weeks and sixty-two weeks and one week. It is after “ the threescore and two weeks,” i.e., after sixty-nine weeks have run their course, that two most startling events are predicted to occur. (1) Messiah shall be cut off but not for himself. Of course, we recognize this to refer to the crucifixion of Christ. It took place a few days after the expiration of 483 years (sixty-nine weeks) from the command to rebuild Jeru salem. (2) The city and the sanctuary shall be destroyed. We recognize this to be the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. by the Romans. Incidentally, this verse also identifies the people of the Antichrist. Note, it is the people of the prince that shall come who destroy the city. Since we now know that the Romans destroyed the city and temple, we now also know that the Antichrist shall be a Roman. Of course, that does not prevent his being an apostate Jew also, as some are inclined to believe that he will be. We have not yet read about the seventieth week, yet we have been told of two events that follow the sixty- ninth week. The second of these events, the destruction
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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