KING'S BUSINESS PROPHECY SECTION
G od gave to D a n ie l a prophecy which revealed many details concerning the eagerly-awaited Messiah. It tells us clearly not only the work which He was to do, as other prophecies had done, at least in part, but it also indicates the time’ when this was to be done. In this particular the prophecy was unique. Israel was in captivity at the time. Daniel knew from the prophecy of Jeremiah that the period of the captivity would be seventy years. According to his cal culations, that period was just about complete, and he was anxious to know how soon his people would be freed. He then received a shock. God sent Gabriel to tell him that although the regathering from Babylon was seventy years, the complete regathering was not seventy years, but seventy times seven years. “ Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people,” he said (Dan. 9:24). The Hebrew word for week is also the word for seven. Whether the sevens are days or years depends upon the context. In one Old Testament passage the word is trans lated week and stands for seven years. Jacob loved La ban’s daughter Rachel and served seven years for her. Laban deceived him and gave him Leah instead. When Jacob complained Laban answered: “ Fulfill her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years” (Gen. 29:27). That this period is years, not days, is further con firmed by the fact that all the Hebrew and early Chris tian writers, as Bishop Wordsworth observes, under stood the period to be one of 490 years. Also, as Daniel was thinking in terms of years, it is most probable that the answer would be in years. Six results will come within the period of the seventy weeks. The first three relate to the removal of sin, the negative side of the restoration. The remaining three re late to the bringing in of righteousness, the positive side of the restoration. It will be noticed also that these clauses are so arranged that the first is related to the fourth, the second to the fifth, and the third to the sixth. The first is “to finish the transgression.” This means
to put a stop to the sin of the nation of Israel. The thought is not of the pardoning of the sin, but rather the stopping of it from spreading. From then onwards the sin of Israel will be restrained. They will have suffered seven times punishment, and they will be wiser for their sad experi ence. The second is “ to make an end of sins.” This will mean that sin will no longer enslave men. The third is “ to make reconciliation for iniquity.” Christ died for the Jews as Well as the Gentiles, that they might be reconciled to God. As the seventy weeks are to bring in the millennium, we can see the force of this statement. As Keil has pointed out, these three expressions all deal with the setting aside of sin, but handle the sub ject in different ways. The first gives the general thought that the sin will be shut up so that it cannot spread. The other two explain how it is that the sin will be stayed and will be put away. These three are well summed up by C. H. Spurgeon as follows: “ First sin is shut up; it is confined in a cell and the door is locked; then it is sealed for certainty of custody, shut up, it is sealed up as a document put into a case, and then sealed down; lastly it is covered up so that the place of sin’s sepulchre cannot be seen any more for ever.” Now we turn to the other side. The first result is “ to bring in everlasting righteousness.” Israel, though hav ing sins of double-dyed guilt, is yet to be purified from them, and that in one day. So God says through Jere miah (31:33, 34): “This shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will re member their sin no more.” God through Isaiah (66:8) asks: “Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one THE KING'S BUSINESS
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