Hello All
I know another really long post but read it you will not be sorry I promise it will make you go wait a minute!!!
I think before you can get into the weeks of years it would help to know what the heck Daniel is actually talking about and what his understanding of all this was. So lets get some perspective.
Dan 9:[2] in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years which, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.
That is what Daniel is considering here when will the punishment be over the punishment he tells is
Dan 9:[11] All Israel has transgressed thy law and turned aside, refusing to obey thy voice. And the curse and oath which are written in the law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.
So what is the curse of the covenant Daniel is talking about in Verse 11
Well Actually Lev 25 and 26 lays it all out doesn't it. The Blessings and the curse of the covenant.
Lev 25:[2] "Say to the people of Israel, When you come into the land which I give you, the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD. [3] Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruits; [4] but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
This is the main rule that we are dealing with here.
Lev 26: [1]"You shall make for yourselves no idols and erect no graven image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land, to bow down to them; for I am the LORD your God.[2] You shall keep my sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.[3]"If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them,[4] then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.[5] And your threshing shall last to the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last to the time for sowing; and you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land securely.[6] And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; and I will remove evil beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land.[7] And you shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.[8] Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.[9] And I will have regard for you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and will confirm my covenant with you.[10] And you shall eat old store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new.[11] And I will make my abode among you, and my soul shall not abhor you.[12] And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.
That is the blessing part.
So from Daniel's perspective this is exactly what has just happened. We need to remember Daniel is a Priest and they lived and breathed the books of Moses. So they violated the Covenant as clearly laid out by Jeremiah and so The Curse of the Covenant as clearly laid out in Leviticus is poured out upon them as Daniel so quaintly puts it.
Lev 26 [14]"But if you will not hearken to me, and will not do all these commandments,[15] if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my ordinances, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant,[16] I will do this to you: I will appoint over you sudden terror, consumption, and fever that waste the eyes and cause life to pine away. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it;[17] I will set my face against you, and you shall be smitten before your enemies; those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you.
Even Stating this
"Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its sabbaths. [35] As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest which it had not in your sabbaths when you dwelt upon it.
So now we have established what scripture says the 70 years are for. We know why it was 70 years. We know that 70 Sabbath years were missed during the Years from Saul to the Babylonian Captivity.
So first the Israelite's are dragged away then the Jews and the Land will lie desolate for 70 years and have the rest it missed while they were on it.
So the next question is what about when they are in captivity does the curse stop when they are dragged away or are they still under the rules of the covenant even in captivity........................ and the answer is yes they are still under the covenant.
SO what now what if they repent
"But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery which they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me,[41] so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity; [42] then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
Ok So God will return them to their Glory and remember the Covenant.
SO ....did they repent while they were in captivity?..........Well we know they did not.... all worshiped the statue except three men we are told this in Dan 3: Daniel confirms this
Dan 9 [13] As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us, yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and giving heed to thy truth.
So what happens in the curse of the covenant if they do not repent?
Lev 26:[23]"And if by this discipline you are not turned to me, but walk contrary to me,[24] then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will smite you sevenfold for your sins.
So they will be punished seven times or sevenfold for their refusal to repent.
So Daniel prays, confesses they have violated the covenant and asked to be told when will the seventy years of punishment be over and when will the Israelite iniquity be healed. And make no mistake the Covenant calls it their iniquity.
[39] And those of you that are left shall pine away in your enemies' lands because of their iniquity; and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall pine away like them. [40] "But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery which they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, [41] so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity;
So it is very clear this is all about the Hebrews Sins, the Hebrews iniquity that Daniel is asking for answers on.
So Daniel asks the question and the answer comes back...
[24]"Seventy weeks of years are decreed concerning your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
The answer is not what he wanted to hear. They have not repented so Seven Times more for their sins as they are still under the curse of the covenant and if they do not repent God will increase the punishment by seven times.
So 70 years times 7 = 490 years
Now we see that the 490 years is not a random number it is what is laid out in the very curse of the Covenant Daniel speaks of in this chapter.
Notice it is concerning your people to put an end to THEIR SIN TO ATONE FOR THEIR INIQUITY all exactly as laid out in the curse of the covenant Daniel speaks of
Dan 9:[11] All Israel has transgressed thy law and turned aside, refusing to obey thy voice. And the curse and oath which are written in the law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.
It is not about Jesus dying on the cross and ending sin to atone for mankind's iniquity as some doctrines of men teach. It is about exactly what it says it is about Their iniquity their sins their violation of the covenant and their punishment for it.
The reality is only after the 490 years can the Promise to Abraham Issac and Jacob be fulfilled and not one day sooner because they are still being punished for the whole 490 years.
This prophecy starts with the decree of Cyrus as stated by Daniel himself in verse one and ends 490 years later with the end of the Priest king line in 47 BC. After that then can the promise to Abraham be fulfilled.
This prophecy has nothing to do with Jesus the anti christ or any thing else that has been added to it after 120 AD.
Use common sense ask yourself this question, if this prophecy actually names the very year Jesus was born then why did not Jesus and the Apostles directly refer to it over and over as proof Jesus was the Messiah. They refer to dozens and dozens of other scriptures but just leave out the one prophecy that supposedly names the exact year of Jesus's birth. Please that is just plain nonsense. They would have quoted it over and over as the most compelling proof of Jesus being the Messiah. Why didn't the Pharisees tell Herod the exact year Jesus was to be born why all the mystery. Apparently only the wise men knew the Messiah was born because of some star!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But the very people who read and studied the word of God day after day were what....Just to stupid to be able to add?????? Really ...Seriously.
The earliest Church Fathers knew the truth of this prophecy its time you did too.
