We have seen the Seventy Weeks are divided by the Spirit of God into three parts. We have also seen that the first two divisions reach up to “Messiah the Prince,” who was cut off after the sixty nine weeks. This, the majority of chronologers are agreed, took place in the year A.D. 29, or early in 30. Our reference Bibles, however, give A.D. 33, which reckoning from B.C. 4, would make our Lord's age thirty-six instead of thirty-three years as usually supposed. But Bengel says respecting this, “The year 33 is too late and is refuted by all the opinions of the ancient church.” He maintained that A.D. 30 was the correct date of our Lord's death.
Now seeing we have, as already shown, abundant evidence respecting the death of the Messiah, and the time when it happened, but not so strong perhaps for the 20th year of Artaxerxes, when the decree was issued, we can take the former event as our starting point and reckon back sixty nine weeks, and we are brought to 454 B. C, as the date required. Thus the demands of the prophecy are met, which is the important thing to consider. For God must be true, and profane chronology must agree with His or it cannot be true. Upon this every Christian should rest satisfied.
There is yet another division remaining, however, to complete the prophecy, and the seventy weeks as well. One week of the seventy, or seven years, have still to be accounted for. But there are certain events mentioned in Dan. 9:26, which could not possibly take place within this last week, seeing it does not allow sufficient time for their accomplishment. Take, for instance, the first clause, after the death of the Messiah and His reward is described. The verse continues, “and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” Now the city here mentioned can be no other than Jerusalem; and the sanctuary, the temple that Herod built. “The people of the prince” were the Romans under Titus who destroyed the city and set the temple on fire, so that it was destroyed. And this took place in the year A.D. 69 or 70 which was forty years after the crucifixion. It is clear then that the seventieth week does not follow the sixty-ninth in uninterrupted sequence of time; because, if such were the case, all the terms of the prophecy could not be met (for seven years added to 29 would only reach A.D. 36). But every jot and tittle of ver. 26 must be fulfilled. How, then, is this to be done? Only by supposing a long interval of time to elapse, between the end of the sixty-ninth week, and the beginning of the seventieth.
The prophecy begins with “Seventy weeks are determined,” or rather “divided.” As here a different Hebrew word is used for “determined” from that in vers. 26, 27, so “divided,” as Dr. Tregelles translates, seems to suit the 24th verse best, And this rendering strongly supports the view that the whole seventy weeks do not necessarily imply a continuous period of 490 years. That a prophecy apparently continuous, may contain an interval of considerable length is strikingly evident from our Lord's use in Luke 4:18-21 of “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor... to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Here the Lord Jesus, in quoting the prophet finishes with “the acceptable year of the Lord,” saying “this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” He had come to introduce this, and not yet “the day of vengeance of our God,” which awaits His second advent. We have then between two clauses of this prophecy an interval of more than 1,800 years, during which “the acceptable year of the Lord” has continued. Why then may not a period of similar length be found in ver. 26 of Daniel's prophecy? Such I believe to be the case and confirmed by the New Testament.
But in order to enter intelligently into its teaching regarding this matter, it is well first to inquire as to the present place the Jews occupy in God's government of the world.
Now we find in the prophet Hosea (chap. 1:9), “Then said [God], Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye [are] not my people, and I will not be your [God].” From this scripture we learn, that a time was coming when God would disown His ancient people the Jews, and cast them off. And this took place at the death of their Messiah. Then the dread sentence “Lo-ammi” took effect morally, and they are no longer owned by God as His people. This suspension of relationship is clearly taught in Matt. 23:38, 39, where the Lord in His solemn denunciation of the Jews concludes by saying, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed [is] he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” They had slighted all the Lord's overtures of mercy to them, and persistently refused to accept Him. Now they were cast off until the time when they would be prepared to receive Him as their Messiah and the hope of Israel. The Jews being thus rejected, room was left for the gathering in of the Gentiles. And this will continue until “the fullness of the Gentiles be come in” (Rom. 11:25). This must not be confounded, however, with another term used in Luke 21:24, 25, “until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Here we have mentioned Gentile rule in the earth; in the other case (Rom. 11:25), the gathering in of the last member of Christ's body is referred to by the Spirit.
Politically, the Jews had at one time the chief place amongst the nations of the world; but they lost it through their disobedience. It was then transferred to the Gentiles in the person of Nebuchadnezzar. To him the prophet declared by the Spirit, “Thou, O king, art a king of kings, for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.” And the Gentile holds this rule up to the present. This he will continue to do until the Lord shall come to judge the rulers of the earth (cf. Psa. 82.) and restore to the Jews the place they once occupied as the chief amongst the nations. Then will be fulfilled “the times of the Gentiles.”
Religiously, however, the Jews continued to retain their place as God's people until the Lord came. But they rejected and crucified Him. Then God no longer confined Himself to one nation only, but went out in grace to all men. For in Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, but all on one common level (Eph. 2). From this we may gather, surely, that at present God does not own an earthly people as witnesses for Himself upon the earth, but is, on the contrary, gathering out from all nations a people, “partakers of a heavenly calling,” who shall constitute the bride, the Lamb's wife.
Again, the same truth is brought out in Rom. 11. There the rejected nation of the Jews is compared to the broken off branches of an olive tree, and the Gentiles are grafted in their place. But they are cautioned against boasting, because through unbelief the Jews were rejected, and they stood by faith. They were not to be high-minded, however, but fear; for God would most assuredly bestow upon the Jews all their former privileges and blessings. For His “gifts and calling are without repentance.” Here we have further proof of the same order of events as before. The Jews cast off, the Gentiles brought in—God gathering out of them a people for His name (Acts 15:14); afterward the Jews reinstated into their former blessings and relationship with God. The Gentiles will then fall back into a subordinate place, and receive all their blessings through and by the Jew. (Comp. Zech. 8:22, 23; 14:9-21.)
With this convincing evidence before us, gathered from the New Testament, we may surely conclude, that the manner of God's dealings with the Jews as described in Rom. 11, is precisely that foretold by Dan. 9:24-27 long before; and it is also clear that ver. 26 forms a sort of parenthesis. The events mentioned in it, although forming part of the prophecy, do not come within its time limit; but are enacted in a period of undefined duration coming between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks, but not connected with either.
Now, before proceeding further with the prophecy, it might not be out of place to inquire how history agrees with it thus far. It is well known, indeed, that history is the standard by which the word of God is judged by the critics; and not, history by the word, the alone infallible standard of truth. According to history then, the Messiah was crucified, at, or about, the time appointed, as we have already seen. Forty years after, the Romans came and besieged Jerusalem, which they took after a protracted siege, during which the inhabitants passed through indescribable sufferings. At the capture of the city multitudes were slain in cold blood, and many thousands carried away captive. The Temple, which was the pride of every Jew's heart and his religious rallying point, was burnt to the ground. Thus the Jews as a nation were swept out of existence. Since that time this people have been more or less the objects of hatred and oppression by the nations whither they have been scattered. The last part of vers. 26 informs us of the continuous desolation which was to befall their city and race, and this subsequent to the death of the Messiah. This is exactly where Israel are now. They have been turned out of that city and sanctuary, and have never had either since. It is true they have made a remarkable footing for themselves in most countries of the earth—their influence extends into every court and cabinet of the world: but they have never, until lately, obtained the smallest power in their own land and city. And there we see these desolations going on. Thus has been, and is being, fulfilled, the word by the prophet Hosea (chap. 3:4), “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and Teraphim.” “Clearly,” says one, “this describes the present condition of Israel—the most anomalous spectacle the world has ever seen—a people who go on age after age without any of those elements which are supposed to be essential for keeping a people in existence. For they have lost their king, and prince, they have neither God nor an idol. They are not able to present a sacrifice, having nobody that they know to be a prince. Partly since Babylon carried them into captivity, entirely since Titus destroyed Jerusalem they are literally without those genealogies, which the priests must possess and produce in order to prove their title to minister in the holy place. Whatever their pretentions they can prove nothing, and yet they are upheld by God.” How wonderful that the Prophet should have given this exceedingly accurate description of the present condition of the Jews so patent to every thinking person. Yet the book of Hosea was written many years before “the events.” Is it not very strange that our critics do not see the finger of God here? But it seems indeed true that the person who will not see is the blindest of men. So with regard to our 26th verse, history has confirmed certain facts mentioned there. The prophecy however was written before “the events” took place. The history came in its right place “after the events.” How comes it, then, that these events are so minutely detailed so long before they happened? Could it have been the result of forethought or instinct, or whatever else one likes to call it? Was there any apparent data given by which the writer could arrive at a correct judgment in these matters? There was nothing to assist him in whatever date he assigned to the prophecy. And such being the case, the writer could only have obtained his information from the Spirit of God. Thus far, then, we have not been able to do without inspiration with which many persons deal so profanely, and mention in such a scoffing manner.