The Meaning Of Daniel 9: 24-27

The meaning of Daniel 9:24-27 is to provide a message of life and an assurance that the Lord has sovereignly decreed a forthcoming timeline of events concerning the restoration Israel, the coming Messiah and the establishment of his kingdom. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the various eschatological elements present in Daniel 9:24-27 and their relationship to God’s final plan for Israel. The study was initially undertaken through an inductive analysis of the passage followed by a review of commentaries and theological encyclopedias. Additionally, various secondary sources were utilized to focus on the individual components of the passage and the continuous academic discussion concerning its purpose and significance. The paper

The use of the word “sevens” resonates throughout this passage being utilized five times by the angelic messenger and it is generally understood to mean a period of seven days or years. Nevertheless, the use of the term “sevens” has generated tremendous debate among scholars. Joyce G. Baldwin argues there is an element of symbolism contained in the use of “sevens” and that this symbolism must be employed in any exegesis of this passage. This view rests upon the occurrence of a Sabbath year every seven years (Lev. 25:1-7) and the knowledge that seven “sevens” brought the year of Jubilee (Lev. 25:8-12). Paul Reddit echoes this stating, “The author of Daniel 9 took that interpretation [the symbolic “sevens”] as his cue for reading the seventy-years as seventy Sabbaths, which turn out to be ten Jubilees.” However, David H. Lurie contends the term “sevens” is “something that is an integer multiple of seven—that is, seven, fourteen, twenty-one, twenty-eight, and so on.” By interpreting “sevens” as an integer, Lurie is able to reinforce his thesis that the decree of Cyrus marked the beginning of the

24). The first three items have a negative connotation as they deal with the problem of sin. The first item, “to finish transgression” suggests that at the close of the seventy-weeks of years the rebellion of Israel will finally come to an end. In some sense, this has occurred as some Jewish people have accepted Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Still, the nation as a whole does not recognize that the Messiah has come in the person of Jesus