AKA: Daniel 9

Christians claim that Jesus has to be the messiah because the messiah has to come back before the second temple was destroyed.

In order to understand this passage, we begin with Daniel 9:1:

1 In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans—

2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, consulted the books concerning the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD that had come to Jeremiah the prophet, were to be the term of Jerusalem’s desolation—seventy years. Daniel 9:1-2 (SCE)

This “the word of the LORD that had come to Jeremiah the prophet,” refers to “the term of Jerusalem's desolation—seventy years.” This indicates that Jeremiah is considering the prophecies in Jeremiah 25 and 29 that mention seventy weeks. There are two specific prophecies here, which I will refer to as Prophecy A and Prophecy B.

The first prophecy, A, is that the Babylonian empire would collapse:

12 When the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation and the land of the Chaldeans for their sins—declares GOD—and I will make it a desolation for all time. Jeremiah 25:12 (SCE)

Daniel was clearly referring to this prophecy, as it is the prophecy of seventy years found in Jeremiah.

However, there is another part to this prophecy:

Prophecy B is that God would return the exiled Jews back to Jerusalem:

10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.Jeremiah 29:10 (ESV)

Daniel's connundrum appears in his prayer, from Daniel 9:3-19. Specifically, he references the Law of Moses, and likely quotes Ezekiel who was a contemporary prophet:

11 All Israel has violated the law, disobeying You. Therefore the curse is upon us – the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God – because we have sinned against Him.

12 He has confirmed the threat which He made against us, and against our rulers who judged us, to bring upon us great misfortune: for never under all heaven has been done like what was done to Jerusalem.

13 As it is written in the law of Moses, this curse has come upon us: yet we did not supplicate the Lord our God, did not turn from our iniquities or become wise through Your truth. Daniel 9:11-13 (NSV)

Daniel's connundrum is precisely that Prophecy A has occurred, but Prophecy B has not occurred, and that it has not occurred because of what was written in the law of Moses regarding curses that could be placed on Israel during exile:

17 I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.

18 “‘If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. Leviticus 26:17-18 (ESV)

Remember! Prophecy A was going to happen, but Prophecy B came with a caveat!

12 When you call Me, and come and pray to Me, I will give heed to you.

13 You will search for Me and find Me, if only you seek Me wholeheartedly.

14 I will be at hand for you—declares GOD—and I will restore your fortunes. And I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places to which I have banished you—declares GOD—and I will bring you back to the place from which I have exiled you.Jeremiah 29:12-14

Given Daniel's prayer, it seems as if Daniel was concerned that Israel did not 'seek Him wholeheartedly', and thus, was liable for the punishment in Leviticus 26:17-18.

In response to Daniel's prayer, God sends the angel Gabriel to educate Daniel on his question:

21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.

22 He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding.

23 At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.Daniel 9-21-23 (ESV)

Gabriel thus issues his response to Daniel. The response can be broken up into three parts:

Gabriel explains the setting of the prophecy, Jeremiah's prophecy of 70 weeks. In the below, I will add in square brackets the years associated with weeks (one day is one year):

• “Seventy weeks [490 years] are decreed about 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. –Daniel 9:24 (ESV)

This is the part Christians mistake; it cannot be about the future because they are not in the holy city yet. The entire point of Daniel's plea is that they have not yet returned to the holy city. Therefore this is about the past. Daniel's entire plea was thus: even though they did not yet atone for their iniquity, that God should forgive them.

Recall that the temple must be destroyed before the Messiah can come because one of the roles of the Messiah is that he must rebuild the temple; this was revealed by Ezekiel, a contemporaneous prophet with Daniel:

24 “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes.

25 They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever.

26 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.

27 My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

28 Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”Ezekiel 34:24-28 (ESV)

Gabriel continues with the explanation of the timeline:

• 25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks.

This is the explanation part, so Gabriel says, “Know therefore and understand…”. This is the part Daniel doesn't understand: There will be seven weeks between the word to restore and build Jerusalem

Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again[e] with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its[f] end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. 27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week,[g] and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”