Daniel 9.
1896 115 Let us now turn to the next chapter which contains Times and Seasons with their deeply interesting introduction. Why do we rise here? Because Christ is brought in, and Christ rejected. Notice further that here for the first time in these prophecies is Jerusalem expressly mentioned. There is also the sanctuary, and the One who sanctifies it and is infinitely higher, whatever unbelief may think or say. In order to have such a vision Daniel was again and more than ever on his face. It was a Wily remarkable epoch too. Daniel was a student, among the other prophets, of Jeremiah, who is the weeping prophet of Israel. More than anyone else was he the witness of deep suffering, sorrow, and shame, and aware that deeper was coming. The consequence is seen in a whole book of his devoted to "Lamentations." And Daniel had thorough communion with him, and knew through him that the time was come for "accomplishing the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years." Instead of elation, as the natural impulse would have been in hailing such an auspicious event, he betook himself to humiliation before God. "And I set my face unto the Lord God to seek after prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes; and I prayed unto Jehovah my God, and made confession." A holy man, he looked beneath the surface of circumstances, so pleasant to the Jew, of returning to his own land. No doubt, the Jew was entitled to have a deeper feeling than others. It was "Immanuel's land," and one day to be made worthy of the name, as Israel will be of Jehovah's choice. But the realisation is inseparable from faith in the Messiah, Who alone will make either land or people what promise intends them to be.
No Christian should envy such a prospect: alas! that one should speak of a feeling so unworthy in a believer's heart. Are we not blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ? Let us rejoice that Israel are yet to be blessed on earth, and to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth.
But Daniel, knowing the moral state of the Jewish captives, poured out his confession in verses 4-19, and found no rest save in God's manifold mercies. He was right. The heart of the remnant was sadly wrong. Nor in fact did Daniel return. As things were, he justly thought that he might as well die in Babylon as in Jerusalem. As we hear later (Dan. 12:13), his hope was in God for the end, and meanwhile it was for him to rest, and stand in his lot at the end of the days. He was waiting, not for Cyrus' proclamation, but for the great trumpet to be blown, that shall gather the perishing in Assyria and the outcasts in Egypt, who shall worship Jehovah in the holy mountain at Jerusalem. Indeed it will be his to hear ere that a greater trumpet at Christ's coming, when "we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in the twinkling of an eye."
Daniel the prophet did not slur over his own sins, holy as he was, but he also confessed the sins of all Israel. Yet there was but a small part of Israel in Babylon, a little remnant of two tribes. Where were the ten? They are still in the east; and as Ps. 83. calls them, "hidden ones," to emerge in due time. What nonsense has been talked about them! The American Indians, the Nestorians, the Anglo-Saxons! Nobody as yet knows anything of them; but all the world shall learn at the right moment. This will begin when the Lord has performed His whole work upon mount Zion and upon Jerusalem.
I met Dr. Joseph Wolff many years ago, and a question was raised by a person of learning, how it was that Israel, as compared with the Jews, only came distinctly forward in the middle or third book of Psalms (Ps. 73 — 89). In order to solve the question, during the course of a long conversation, W. was asked if he did not recollect once meeting a family in Central Asia, who claimed to be, not Jews, but Israelites? He had an excellent memory but had forgotten it, though repeatedly related in his Journals and Travels. Their tradition was that, when Cyrus proclaimed liberty to return, some did not avail themselves of it, to escape some terrible evil into which those returning were to fall. Therefore did they prefer to remain dispersed, till Messiah could recall His people triumphantly into the land. It is not far to seek. For as Isaiah long ago had predicted the rejection and sufferings of Messiah through Israel's unbelief (Isa. 50, 53), so it is made known in this very chapter to our prophet; and Zechariah named it more than once (Zech. 12:10, Zech. 13:6-7). This extreme enormity of sin befell the Jews or two tribes that went up from Babylon. God is always righteous in His dealings, and special sin brought special suffering. Therefore are the Jews to go through the tribulation without parallel at the end of this age. The same people who rejected the true Christ will receive the Anti-Christ. The ten tribes, not having so treated the Messiah, will take no part with Anti-Christ. For the Jews is reserved this last hour of Jacob's trouble in its intensest degree. Then God will bring the ten tribes from their hiding place. Apparently this is what will trouble the last king of the north (Dan. 11), as we shall see later.
But here Daniel brings all the people before God. Is this what you do about Christians? The Pope is busy sending out his emissaries in the vain effort to unite all Christendom. If it could be, what would be the effect? "A hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird," and if any saints could be there, only the more a conglomerate of horrors. More and more do the professors of Christianity deny the spotless humanity of Christ, as others His deity, while we hear of His person divided now as of old. Most prevalent is the revolt against God's judgment of sin, as well as against the divine authority of scripture. These abominations are as rife at least among Romanists as among Protestants, Anglicans, etc. What sort of Christians are such? and what would be the value of their re-union?
The Jesuits of course are committed to this and every other ambitious project of the Papacy; but Babylon is doomed to fall. Strong is the Lord God that judgeth her. For all saints there is revealed "the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him." This is our sure re-union, but it will be under a heavenly banner, and to the one Name, Who is worthy of all glory. In scripture we see that when Israel broke up into two kingdoms, and idolatry was imposed to keep up the breach, the time came for the dispersion of the ten tribes among the idolatrous heathen. In their case no such thing as re-union can be until Christ comes. Is it otherwise with the church? Long has it been broken up through sin and idolatry; never will it be re-united in a holy way; and the deeper the plunge of Christendom is into unbelief and pride and indifference to grace, truth, and holiness, the less desirable is the gathering of such abominations into one. The only way that glorifies God now is to keep Christ's word, and not to deny His name. Pretentiousness is of all things the least becoming in God's sight; as humiliation for all saints is precious to Him.
So Daniel brings "all Israel" (vers. 7, 11, 20) before God — the people as a whole. This was faith and love; for in fact only a remnant of Judah and Benjamin was in Babylon. Let us weigh too the righteous feeling, as well as the faith in God's compassion that pervades His prayer, "We have sinned" (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15). It is a mere cheat if we confess only some of our sins, and perhaps not the greatest. God will have all out in order to forgiveness. And oh! the sin and folly of making confession of our sins to man. Grace alone removes guile and imparts integrity.
When Daniel was humbling himself; and while he yet spoke in prayer, fresh light is given through Gabriel, who told the prophet that he was now come to make him skilful of understanding. It lies on the surface that Daniel was encouraged to consider the matter and understand the vision; and as he was inspired to write it, the Jews had it before them, as we now have had it before us. By faith alone can we understand this scripture or any other.
1896 32 The prophecy is distinguished by several defined times, more marked than any other vision of scripture. There is no small variety in the character of the prophecies. God gives the very best of every kind; but here we have certain definite times. You may recall what the Lord said in the beginning of His ministry (Mark 1:15), "The time is fulfilled." What time? Does He not allude to this vision of Daniel? Notoriously, as a matter of fact, "the people were in expectation," and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning John, whether haply he were the Christ. The Magi in the East might not know the recent prophets; but they had preserved the remembrance of a vision seen of old by a Gentile seer, hired to curse Israel, yet compelled of God to bless. He had said, "I see Him, but not now, I behold Him, but not nigh. There shall come forth a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel," etc. When God gave the star to these gazers, it was enough to send them to Jerusalem. Evidently they had conscience toward God, and when they saw the star they connected it with the ancient prophecy, and set out on their long and arduous journey to pay honour to the one born King of the Jews.
Certain it is that they were in earnest, and the Lord blessed them. Thus not only the Jews but also distant Gentiles were on the watch when the time arrived. It was more especially "fulfilled" when the Lord presented Himself to Israel as the Messiah and began to preach the kingdom of heaven as drawn nigh.
Here are the terms of this prophecy. "Seventy weeks are decreed (or apportioned) upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression and to make an end of sins, an to make expiation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies (ver. 24).
Here the scope is laid down with precision. The period as a whole regards, not the gospel or the church, or even Israel in general, but the Jews as such: "Seventy weeks are apportioned (or decreed) upon thy people and upon thy holy city." Nor is this all, but we have this result — "to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins," etc. This cannot be for the Jews distinctively till they shall say, Blessed be He that cometh in the name of Jehovah. Then will they see the Messiah with the eye of faith. It will only be when the last week has run its course; but this, as will appear shortly, supposes the condemnation of this age, and the beginning of the age to come. No doubt we receive the blessing of the gospel now, while the Jews as a people are wrapped up in unbelief. We who know Christ gone on high after suffering on the cross do not wait for expiation till then; whereas the Jews have it only when the Great Priest comes forth from the heavenly sanctuary by-and-by, as Lev. 16. shows. Then for them will everlasting righteousness be brought in, vision and prophet be sealed up, and the holy of holies anointed; for us who walk by faith, not sight, God foresaw and bestowed "some better thing." But the Jews will surely have their good portion at the close of the age.
The Seventy Weeks are beyond just question four hundred and ninety years; but we are prepared, not only for sections, but also for an interruption of indefinite length between the last two. This seems clearly conveyed by the language of the prophecy itself in verse 26: "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It shall be built again, street and moat, even in troublous times. And after the sixty-two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and its end shall be with an overflow, and unto the end war — the desolations determined" (vers. 25, 26).
The first section of seven weeks means a period of forty-nine years; and this was occupied with the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple as recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah. Then come the sixty-two weeks besides, which bring us down to Messiah expressly. Of course the starting-point from this period of sixty-nine weeks is itself important. It is the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, of which we have the inspired account in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. There are two commands of the same king. The one was in the seventh year, the other in the twentieth, of Artaxerxes Longimanus. The one more particularly referred to the temple, and the other to the city. Thus a question has arisen, as to which it is well not to speak too confidently. It is, after all, an interval of less than fourteen years. Between the two the epoch must fall. It may help to observe that the beginning of ver. 26 gives a little latitude, as the text says, not "at" but "after the sixty-two weeks" with the first seven. This appears to leave room for the margin; and such care seems to be consistent with God's wisdom. After the sixty-two weeks then, we are told that Messiah would be — received? The saddest reverse: "Messiah shall be cut off, and shall have nothing."
The prophecy, therefore, is remarkable, not only for giving the time with a noteworthy care, but also for that momentous truth: the actual downfall of Judaism in the rejection of Christ. The latter clause is wretchedly mistaken in the Authorised version. The Revised, on the contrary, gives it right. It should not be, "but not for himself," but "and shall have nothing." There is no question on the ground of Hebrew grammar. It can mean only "and shall have nothing." "But not for himself" is wholly unfounded. Shall I tell you how it came in? Because the Authorised Version wanted to make it sound Christian doctrine. But what had this to do with Gabriel's communication to Daniel? The only legitimate sense is "He shall be cut off and shall have nothing." With His cutting off went the loss of His Messianic rights, His glory as set king on the holy hill of Zion. All that was His in connection with the Jewish people and Jerusalem passed away entirely for the time. And how true is all this? "They shall smite the Judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek" (Micah 5:1). Christ has none of the promised glory as Ruler in Israel, though "His goings forth are from of old, from the days of eternity."
As far as the Jews are concerned in His blessings, He is as if He did not exist. It is blessedly true, as we Christians know, that God raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory of a new kind, altogether outside of prophecy, not David's throne in Zion, but God's throne in heaven. How absurd to confound with this the throne of David! David never reigned in heaven, and Christ does not reign on earth; and that theologians confound the two wholly different things is an error which not only makes their scheme fabulous, but lowers His glory and our hope from heaven to earth. The proper character of Christianity is lost, and Israel are naturally defrauded of their peculiar prospects.
It is not scripture that is wrong, but only men's version and interpretation, made to suit a Judaised Christianity. Our Lord being rejected by the people would and could not reign over a rebellious people. Even when they wanted to force on Him a kingdom on earth, the Lord withdrew to the mountain and would have none of it. He was not to reign over the wicked, the unclean, the unbelieving. Men thought it excellent to have a king that could give them bread without working for it. And such is the socialist craving in another form today. Man would provide for the needy out of the means of the thrifty and industrious. Certainly the Jews desired then to make Jesus their king who had proved His power and willingness to feed them freely. There was no repentance any more than faith in that. Why were Jews without bread? Why, servants of the Gentiles? Repentance owns our sins, and faith cannot stop short of remission of sins from the God Who has sent His Son to save. Miracles are a sign to sinners that God concerns Himself compassionately with those who have departed from Him. Only in the Son of God is life, eternal life; and God is giving it in Him to all that believe; and it is He Who bore our sins in His own body on the tree, so that the blessing is complete.
1896 147 The vainest of delusions is to talk of man's rights in the presence of Christ's cross, which proclaims nothing but his wrongs. There all mankind stands convicted; and the Jew cannot cast a stone at the Gentile, as he himself had the greater sin. For the Jew took the lead in cutting off the Messiah by the hand of lawless men, as Peter preached to them at Pentecost. The cross of Christ denies the rights, and demonstrates the wrongs, of man. But God thereby wrought atonement and set forth Jesus a mercy seat through faith in His blood, not only for vindication of His passing over of sins that are past in the forbearance of God, but for declaration of His righteousness at this gospel time, in His being just and justifying the believer.
This however is the apostolic doctrine in Rom. 3:25-26. The prophecy in Dan. 9:26 does not go beyond the sin of Messiah cut off, and its consequence in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Romans, as well as in the disastrous history of the Jewish people to this day. The cross of Christ accordingly has two sides, the judgment of man, and the grace of God. Man displayed therein his wickedness, the Jew his hatred, to the uttermost; as God thereby is justifying freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Whom God raised from the dead and set at His own right hand in a glory incomparably higher than David's. Then is the church formed, from Jews and Gentiles, and by the Holy Spirit sent down united to the glorified Head on high as His one body. This was an entirely new thing, which the N. T. makes as plain as possible; but it is wholly distinct from what the prophecy discloses.
The Jew is blotted out meantime, but will as surely reappear as the object of divine dealing in the end of the age, as we see in ver. 27. Israel in the new age will have the first place on earth. She that was cast far of shall be made a strong nation, and the former or first dominion shall come to Zion.
But what was to happen as the judicial consequence of Messiah cut off? "The people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary." And so the Romans did, as the Lord warned in Matt. 22:7, and in Luke 19:42-44. It is not said, that a Roman prince should come, but the people of the coming prince. This prince was not Titus. He no doubt came with his people, his army; but here it is the people of the prince that shall come, the future imperial enemy of God, the Beast or fourth empire of that time revived, not the foe but the avowed friend of the apostate Jew and of the Antichrist reigning over Jerusalem. The people came then, but under another prince, for the destruction of the city and sanctuary; the prince here predicted is not come yet. They came then to destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof was indeed with a flood or overthrow, and even to the end was desolation determined.
The Jews tried to rebuild Jerusalem later, and were almost exterminated by the Emperor Hadrian. Since then what slaughter and persecution in almost every country under the sun! Sad to say, our own forefathers were guilty of selfishly and savagely ill-treating the Jew. Things no doubt are changed now, not because the world compassionates the Jew as God's ancient people suffering for their sins, but rather through a godless respect for the fancied rights of man. But this will fail, when God begins to move on their behalf, as we read in Isaiah 18:6 and elsewhere. "And he shall confirm covenant with the many for one week." Attention is called to the correct rendering, which when pointed out no scholar can fairly question. Who is the "he." Not a few imagine it is the Lord Jesus. But where is the sense (I do not even ask, the spirituality) of such a view? How could Christ be referred to in "He shall confirm covenant with the many for one week" or seven years? Christ make a covenant as here "with the many" or mass of faithless Jews! for seven years! Short-lived princes may make short covenants with their fellows; but the idea is preposterous of Christ (Who had been "cut off," and is therefore risen again) making a covenant for seven years! and with had people, as "the many" invariably means in Daniel, is yet more so! Theologians who do not understand the prophets may believe it, as they seem never able to rise above the weakest tradition.
I looked purposely at dear old Trapp, and found him no better than the rest. For he endorses the same delusion. You may perceive how much depends on the right consideration of the article, which is here doubly misrepresented. "Covenant" has got the article without warrant, and "many" has been stripped of it. What corresponds with our "the" is as important a factor in Hebrew as in other languages. To be brief then, let me repeat the true force: "And he shall confirm covenant for one week with the many." How very different a thing from Christ's confirming the covenant! Are the wicked mass of the Jews the persons with whom the Lord made covenant? The context makes it all plain and sure.
The last person named is the far different and coming prince of the Roman people. He is already familiar to us in Dan. 7 ; the same "little horn" who is to aggrandise himself by the uprooting three of the first horns, and then by his blasphemies he leads the entire empire to its destruction by the Most High, when he shall be given to the burning of fire. He it is that makes a covenant with the wicked Jews at the close, when the last or seventieth week receives its fulfilment. Isaiah seems to refer to this as "a covenant with death," and "an agreement with hell" or Sheol: totally different from the gospel or even the law. No thoughtful mind should overlook a covenant expressly limited to seven years, any more than that the coming prince of Rome is the last personage named, or than the "many" with whom it is to be made.
Besides, this brief agreement is soon broken. How could it be if grace made it? The Roman prince breaks it. He allows their worship for three and a half years, the first half of the seventieth week; "and in the midst of the week he shall cause sacrifice and oblation to cease." That is, he puts an end to the Jewish ritual, in order, as we learn explicitly from elsewhere, to bring an image of himself into the holy place, the abomination of desolation, as it is called.
You all perhaps know that "abomination" is the regular term for an idol. And here we read, "And for the wing (or protection) of abominations [is] one that maketh desolate." I understand the meaning to be, that because of the protection given to abominations, or idols, by the Roman emperor and his ally in Jerusalem (the Antichrist), there shall be a desolator, a power quite opposed to both. He is in fact no other than the one whose career is given in the close of Dan. 8. , the "little horn" of the East. He may pretend zeal for God in opposing the Antichrist and the Western chief; but he is just as wicked as they, and will meet with a no less terrible end in due time. This we shall see clearly in the close of Dan. 11. The Antichrist is to reign in the land; and he, too, is to set himself up as God in His temple, as we know from 2 Thess. 2. , where the Roman prince sets up his image. This the king of the north resents and opposes. How the Lord deals with each will be shown in the next lecture. Here we are only told that "[there is, or shall be] a desolator, even until the consumption, and what is determined shall be poured upon the desolate."
The prophecy is by no means obscure. It is only when misapplied that men complain of difficulty. When we seize the Holy Spirit's aim in it, all flows with an easy and onward current. Without His guidance no scripture can be entered into or yield enjoyment and profit. May it be yours to search "the scriptures whether these things be so."