Anchored in Christ Bible Study: The 70 Weeks by Patrick Griffin скачать в хорошем качестве

Anchored in Christ Bible Study: The 70 Weeks by Patrick Griffin

The Seventy Weeks I. Jeremiah prophesied a seventy-year exile in Babylon: Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10. A. Although the Jews began returning in 538 BC, the exile was measured prophetically by the destruction of the temple in 586 and the completion of its rebuilding in 516. (See Jeremiah 52:5,13; Ezra 6:15). 1. This gives us a reference for identifying the completion of “the times of the Gentiles” referred to by Christ in Luke 21:24. II. More than a century before the exile, Isaiah had prophesied by name the king who would command the release of the captives for the rebuilding of the temple AND the city: Isaiah 44:28; 45:13. This is important, as there are many commentators who miss this crucial point. III. Daniel 9:1-3. In “the first year of Darius” (539/38 BC) Daniel began praying for the restoration of Jerusalem and its temple (verses 4-19, notice in particular 16-19). A. Daniel 9:20-23. As Daniel prayed, the angel Gabriel appeared and informed him that at the beginning of his prayer “the command went out”. Verse 25 tells us this command was the very thing Daniel had prayed for—the restoration and rebuilding of Jerusalem. B. The immediate context of the passage leaves no reasonable doubt as to when “the 70 weeks” began. This is our first decisive observation: Whatever the 70 weeks is referring to, we know it began “in the first year of Darius”. C. The first year of “Darius the Mede” is the same calendar year as “the first year of Cyrus king of Persia”: Compare Daniel 5:30–31; 2Chronicles 36:22–23/Ezra 1:1; 5:13. D. In that first year after the overthrow of Babylon, Cyrus the Persian (who either co-reigned with Darius or is the same person with different political titles), in fulfillment of Isaiah‘s prophecy, gave the command to free the captives for returning to Jerusalem and rebuilding the temple and the city. We know this by comparing the prophecies of Isaiah with the historical information in Daniel, Ezra, and 2Chronicles. IV. The context of the passage demands our recognition that the 70 weeks began as Daniel prayed in the first year of Darius. This knowledge stares us in the face and gives us a stake in the ground for our study of the 70 weeks. We know from direct observation in Scripture that the 70 weeks began in 538 BC. V. Throughout this passage, the word translated weeks is the Hebrew sabua [7620], the same word used in Daniel 10:2-3 where he fasted “three whole weeks,” and the same word used in “Feast of Weeks” (Exodus 34:22), and in Genesis 29:27–28 where Jacob was told to “fulfill her week”. Although this word literally means sevens, throughout the Old Testament it is ALWAYS used as a term for week or weeks (see also Ezekiel 45:21). A. This presents a very big challenge for anyone trying to understand “the 70 weeks“ while insisting on a “literal method of interpretation”. VI. The passage tells us, in verses 25-26, that “from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks.” Given these observations, how could we possibly understand this use of “weeks” in a literal sense? A. Observations on efforts by dispensational commentators to interpret the passage. What is at stake here for the theology of dispensationalism? B. Note: If each “week” refers to a seven year period, the Jews could have calculated the exact year of Messiah’s coming. VII. In our next study we will come back to verse 24, but tonight we will finish by looking again at verses 25–26. Daniel, aware of the many prophetic promises of a glorious restoration for Israel under a Son of David called Messiah, is told that when Messiah comes, He will be killed, and both Jerusalem and its temple will again be destroyed. Would Daniel have been able to understand how this could fit into God‘s plan? (Read 1Peter 1:10–12 and Luke 24:25-27, 44–47). VIII. In summary review, we have noted that the command to restore and build Jerusalem went out while Daniel was praying for that very thing in the first year of Darius. A. The context demands that we acknowledge what is staring us in the face, that “the 70 weeks“ began in the first year of Darius (538 BC). We cannot reject this without doing violence to the passage itself, or to the prophecies given by God through Isaiah. B. Our only sensible conclusion is to recognize this as a prophetic number, rather than a number we can calculate by manipulating calendars. In next week’s study we will search the Scriptures for what we can learn about the meaning of this prophetic number.