Daniel

Daniel








Prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27
BIBL 450
Liberty University

Sharon Brown


Prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27
Introduction
Daniel 9:24-27 is seen as four of the most controversial verses in the Bible because there are many views as to what they mean. Many have different views as to what Daniel’s seventy weeks actually are. I will attempt to discuss each verse and the different views of each and then conclude with my own point-of-view. Let’s start with an overview of the passage – “the overview of the passage reveals that v.24 summarizes all four verses, v.25 concerns the 69 “sevens,” and v.27 describes the 70th “seven.””1 Before discussing each verse I will try to briefly summarize some of the major interpretations or views of the “seventy weeks” that are held by scholars and people today.
When Daniel wrote these verses he was in prayer asking God what the future for Israel was since they were in captivity. It was then that Gabriel appeared to him and showed him what God’s future was for the people of Israel as well as for the city of Jerusalem. This short passage in my opinion has one of the most variety when it comes to interpretation than any of the other prophetic scriptures in the Bible.
Seventy Weeks
As it relates to the “seventy weeks” the liberal viewpoint is that since Daniel was written in the second century BC, that the “seventy weeks” and any prophecy was fulfilled by the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. Therefore the liberal viewpoint believes that Daniel is writing about history and not future prophecy. Another view is the literal view, as Leon Wood explains, “the literal translation is indeed “sevens” and does not specify a particular unit of time, such as days, weeks, months, or years. He also points out that the word here is used in a particular form, meaning “to be made up of seven parts.”2 According to this view the “sevens” or “weeks” are made up of seven years each, resulting in a total period of 490 years (seventy...

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