Thoughts on the Book of Daniel
VERSE 25. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26. And after 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. 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 oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. The angel now gives to Daniel the event which is to mark the commencement of the seventy weeks. They were to date from the going forth of a commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. And not only is the event given which was to determine the time of the commencement of this period, but those also which were to transpire at its close. Thus a double test is provided by which to try the application of this prophecy. But more than this, the period of seventy weeks is divided into three grand divisions, and one of these is again divided, and the intermediate events are given which were to mark the termination of each one of these divisions. If, now, we can find a date which will harmonize with all these events, we have, beyond a doubt, the true application; for none but that which is correct could meet and fulfil so many conditions. Let the reader take in at one view the points of harmony to be made, that he may be the better prepared to guard against a false application. First, we are to find at the commencement of the period, a commandment going forth to restore and build Jerusalem. To this work seven weeks are allotted. As we reach the end of this, the first division, seven weeks from the commencement, we are to find, secondly, Jerusalem in its material aspect, restored, the work of building the street and the wall fully accomplished. From this point, sixty-two weeks are measured off; and as we reach the termination of this division, sixty-nine weeks from the beginning, we are to see, thirdly, the manifestation before the world of the Messiah, the Prince. One week more is given us, completing the seventy. And, fourthly, in the midst of this week, the Messiah is to be cut off and cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease; and, fifthly, when the last week expires of that period which was allotted to the Jews as the time during which they were to be the especial people of God, we naturally look for the going forth of the blessing and work of God to other people. We now inquire for the date which will harmonize with all these particulars. The command was to include more than mere building. There was to be restoration; by which we must understand all the forms and regulations of civil, political, and judicial life. When did such a commandment go forth? At the time these words were spoken to Daniel, Jerusalem lay in complete and utter desolation, and had thus been lying for seventy years. The restoration, pointed to in the future, must be its restoration from this desolation. We then inquire, When and how was Jerusalem restored after the seventy-years' captivity?