God's Plan: Daniel 9:25-27
To say the interpretation of Daniel 9 is troubled is a great understatement. People in the Jewish faith claim this passage has nothing to do with God’s Messiah. While most Christians see the passage pointing to Christ, there is great debate about the timing of the events and whether the prophecy has been completely fulfilled or mostly fulfilled. In passages like this, I try to remember that salvation does not rest upon a unified understanding of this passage. We are saved through Christ’s death on the cross, not our ability to be unified on this passage. God gives us the freedom to make mistakes and the grace to forgive them; we must treat others the same. We will only know for certain the intricacies of God’s mysteries after they are revealed to us in full. As they say, only hindsight is 20/20.
Gabriel sets out three distinct periods of time. The first period is the seven sevens, which starts with a decree to go out for the Hebrew people to return and rebuild. It makes sense that a little bit of time will pass as the decree goes out, people are organized, materials are gathered, and the restoration is completed. When all you have are simple machines and human strength, building projects on this scale take time and planning.
Gabriel then speaks about a time of sixty-two sevens. This period is considerably longer. During this time, life will be relatively back to normal for the Hebrew people. The temple will be present for sacrifices. The people will dwell in the land God gave them. It will be a troubled time, however. The Hebrew people will dwell in their land but under the thumb of rulers of other nations. They start off under the Persians but eventually fall under the Greeks and Romans. The Hebrew people always have degrees of freedom to do as they like, but tension between the Hebrew people and their Gentile rulers will always exist.
Finally, Gabriel talks about the seventieth seven. During this time, an anointed one will be cut off. There will be floods and wars and destruction. Covenants will be made and broken. The temple sacrifices will be stopped. This will continue until God finally decrees it to be over.
Some people, myself included, see these words fulfilled in Jesus’ death and the following decades as Roman Empire makes war on Jerusalem and ultimately destroys the temple again. Other people believe the full interpretation won’t take place until some future event of rebellion.
In the end we can say two things. First, Gabriel’s point is the people of God are never promised a life free from trouble. Second, when looking at passages like this, we need to take a position of grace rather than absolutism. To say the interpretation of Daniel 9 is troubled is a great understatement.
