Hey Copland…
Your research doesn’t seem in line with what Ron has just laid out. I am of course leaning toward your break down. It does seem logical. :thumbsup:The 70 weeks of the Daniel doesn’t seem to have anything to do with a modern day rebuilt Jewish Temple, the tribulation, the antichrist or the rapture, (“caught up” as in 2 Thessalonians). It appears to be pointing to the coming of the Messiah, of course in the person of Jesus.
Is there anything, in your opinion, to what Ron has suggested? Seems like you have a firm grasp on the various theological aspects of the topic.
I like Ron, he’s a nice guy and has done some great things for those studying Scripture. But I don’t have much in common with him when it comes to interpreting Scripture. I seek the traditional Catholic interpretation which is found among the Fathers and medieval Catholic commentators.
This is an old thread, and I have done some work on Daniel since then, which is in the Aquinas Study Bible. Here is a quote from my latest work on Daniel in that Study Bible
9:24-27 The weeks are actually to be understood as a sabbatical measure of time in the Jewish calendar, which means that each week is a 7 year cycle (compare to Genesis 29:26-28 ). Of all the explanations about this passage, Theodoret of Cyrus in my view gives the best interpretation. I will present a summary of his interpretation.
The 70 weeks begins at the year of Artaxerxes somewhere around 465BC.
The 62nd week marked the** time period **around when the high priests were being appointed illegally and the death of John Hyrcanus II around 31BC. The calculation does not start here exactly at the death of Hyrcanus, but in this
time period, so an exact calculation would be around 22BC.
The 69th week brings us to the Baptism of Jesus around 27AD.
The 70th week is broken up into two 3 and a half year periods. The first half is the 3 and half year ministry of Jesus until His Passion around 30AD, and the second half being the 3 and half year period of the Apostles establishing the Church starting in Jerusalem until around 33-34AD.
The abomination of desolations does not only concern the final week but also to the entire time until the end of the world (Daniel 9:27). Pilate brought images into Jerusalem in this time period, and the same kind of abominations will continue until the end of the world.
9:24 seventy weeks= 490 years: this began with Artaxerxes to the crucifixion of Christ and 3 and a half years beyond. In this passage God allows Jerusalem to be rebuilt and a further set of years of living according to the Law. Here Jesus is referred to as Most Holy.
9:25 The 7 weeks and 62 weeks makes 69 weeks, in turn makes 483 years. This would bring us to the bapism of Jesus by John the Baptist.
**9:26 **“After the 62 weeks” takes us back 7 weeks from verse 25 which marks the end of when the high priests flourished and others were appointed illegally. This would bring us to Hyrcanus II, the last high priest of the Hasmoneans, whom Herod slew (31 BC). From this time period to the Baptism of Jesus is the period between the 62nd and the 69th week. **and the people that shall deny him shall not be his: **And since those appointed illegally were called high priests, Daniel was right to say the people shall deny him. If they are appointed but not anointed according to the Law, they take it upon themselves to act illegally.
And a people, with their leader, that shall come, shall destroy the city, and the sanctuary: The city will suffer and so will the illegal rulers who are to come; by the prince who is coming he is referring to the foreign kingdom and high priest.
9:27 This one week/seven years, is the period of time beginning with the baptism of Jesus to that of the holy Apostles teaching in Jersualem after the Resurrection. The Lord preached for about 3 and a half years, and strengthened His disciples. But after the Resurrection, Ascension into Heaven, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles spent the rest of the three and half years preaching in Jerusalem, working wonders and guiding many thousands, and they imparted the new covenant and caused them to enjoy the grace of baptism.
The abomination of desolations is to be understood as something that took place and continues to take place even until the end of time. It is not to be understood as a one time event in the past or future. Pilate was responsible for such an offense according to Josephus (Ant. 18.55-59) and Eusbeius (Hist. eccel. 2.6.3-4).
And he shall confirm the covenant with many, in one week: The new covenant will be given to the believers in this week, and He will fill them with all power.
and in the half of the week the victim and the sacrifice shall fail: sacrifice according to the law will come to an end when the true sacrifice of the innocent lamb, who takes away the sin of the world, is offered; when it is finally offered, the other will cease.
and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation: that is, that formerally venerable and fearsome place will be made desolate. A sign of the desolation will be the introduction into it of certain images forbidden by the law; Pilate was guilty of this by introducing into the divine temple by night the imperial images in violation of the law (according to Josephus Ant. 18.55-59 an Philo The embassy to Caligula 299-305). Read Philo and Josephus’ quotes HERE
In case the Jews should think the divine temple would recover its former splendor and glory, he consequently added…
and the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end until the end of the age: the consumation of the desolation will continue, undergoing no change.
Or, maybe I have missed something.