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Short summary chart on
approaches to select verses in Daniel 8-9
Thesis, antithesis, synthesis
Larry Christoffel
Loma Linda, CA
© 2002
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| Dan. 8:14 "Unto two thousand three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be restored to its rightful place" | On October 22, 1844, Jesus Christ went into the Most Holy Place and began the Investigative Judgment | The restoration of the sanctuary did not happen when it was supposed to happen due to conditional factors. However, the New Testament sees the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecies in terms of Christ's 2nd Coming. | The restoration of the sanctuary refers first to Christ's death and resurrection and secondly to His 2nd coming. |
| Dan. 9:24 "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place." | Points to the events related to the first coming of Jesus Christ. The period ends with the stoning of Stephen in A.D. 34, when the probation of the Jewish people was closed. After A.D. 34, the covenant passed from the Jews to the Christian church, spiritual Israel. | Points to a hypothetical construct
which never happened due to
conditional factors. The 490 years began with the "word" going forth when Gabriel visited Daniel in 538 B.C. It ended 490 years later in 48 B.C. |
Applies to the going forth of the "word" when Gabriel visited Daniel and also to the decrees of the Persian kings (Ezra 6:14). The elements mentioned relate to the saving work of Jesus Christ. There is an application to Christ's 1st coming and to his 2nd coming in these verses. |
| Dan. 9:25 "So You are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerualem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress." | The decree was Artaxerxes' in 457 B.C. Messiah the Prince is Jesus Christ who comes on the scene 483 years after 457 B.C. The first 7 sevens (49 years) are for the rebuilding of the city. | The issuing of the "word" was the moment when Gabriel uttered this statement in 538 B.C. "Messiah prince" comes after 49 years, and he is a local civil leader. The next 434 years (62 sevens) are given for the rebuilding of the city. | The word goes forth in 538 B.C. and it also extends to the decrees of 3 Persian kings (See Ezra 6:14). Messiah Prince is Jesus Christ who announced that the kingdom was at hand (Mark 1:15). He comes 69 sevens (483 years) after 457 B.C. The city is rebuilt during the first 49 years in times of distress. |
| Dan. 9:26 "Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. | Jesus Christ dies on the cross for our sins in fulfilllment of this prophecy. The people are the Romans and the Prince is Titus who destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70. | The royal line which came in at the end of the seven sevens of years comes to an end sixty two sevens of years later. "Have nothing" means that nothing more is heard of this royal line throughout the remainder of the section. Jesus applies this prophecy to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70. | The Messiah here is Jesus Christ. His being cut off is the cross. His having nothing refers to his loss of everything in his vicarious death for our sins. The destruction of the city and sanctuary point to the end of the literal city and sanctuary, but also to the final scenario of Christ's return which would have happened if the Jewish nation had received Jesus as Messiah. |
| Dan. 9:27 "And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate. | Jesus Christ confirms the covenant for 7 years, from A.D. 27 to A.D. 34. He puts an end to the sacrifice and offering typologically by dying on the cross for our sins. The "abomination of desolation" refers to the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the temple in A.D. 70 by Titus. | The "he" who makes a covenant with the many is the wicked prince of verse 26, and is also the "little horn" of Daniel 8. The "covenant" is the alliance of renegade Jews mentioned in Daniel 11. The putting a stop to "sacrifice and grain offering" is the same as the little horn of Daniel 8's taking away of the "daily". The "abomination of desolation" points to the destruction of the city and temple by the coming antichrist. Jesus Christ applies this to A.D. 70 when the Romans destroy Jerusalem. | The "he" is Messiah the Prince. He "confirms" not "make[s]" a covenant with the many beginning in A.D. 27. The "death" of Jesus ends the typological sacrificial service. It is brought to a permanent end. The placing of the "abomination of desolation" occurs in the middle of the 70th week, and it corresponds with the beginning of the 2300 evenings/mornings of Daniel 8:14. The "middle of the week" marks the point at which the sacrificial system ends and the abomination of desolation is placed. The final 3 1/2 years transpires before the prophecy is completely fulfilled. |
| Meaning of the prophecy
of the book of Daniel |
In the Book of Daniel there are several prophecies which stretch from Daniel's day until the final consummation. The cutting out of the stone without hands and its smiting the image (Dan. 2) points to Christ's second coming. The kingdom of the Son of Man of Dan. 7 points to Christ's 2nd coming. The 3 1/2 times of Dan. 7:25 refers to the period from A.D. 538 to A.D. 1798. The 2300 evenings and mornings of Dan. 8:14 refer to 2300 years from 457 B.C. to A.D. 1844. The 490 days-years and the 2300 days-years begin together so that the 2300 years ends in 1844. | The prophecies of the 2300 evenings and mornings and the 490 years were intended to end together, not begin together. God intended to usher in the kingdom around the time of Jesus Christ and would have, had the Jewish nation had received him. The 2300 evenings and mornings comprise 1150 actual days which fit into the last half of the 70th week of Dan. 9:24-27. The conditional prophecy never happened on account of the Jews rejecting Jesus Christ. Jesus, however, looked forward to the final end in connection with the destruction of the city and the temple. | The 3 1/2 times of Dan. 7:25 and the 3 1/2 times of Dan. 12:7 and the last half of the 70th week of Dan. 9:24-27 all point to the same period. The 2300 evenings and mornings of Dan. 8:14 take place within the final 3 1/2 years of the 490 years of Dan. 9:24-27. The taking away of the daily of Daniel 8 and the causing the sacrifice and offering to cease occur simultaneously at the middle of the 70th week of Dan. 9:27. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ becomes the fulcrum of the prophecy of the final events. On one hand, the Messiah deals decisively with sin and ushers in everlasting righteousness at his first coming. The little horn tries to frustrate God's purposes (hence the broken 7, i.e. 3 1/2). Nevertheless, God's plans are accomplished. Thus, the Stone Kingdom, the Son of Man's Kingdom, the Restoration of the Sanctuary and the fulfillment of the 6 items of Dan. 9:24 find their initial fulfillment in connection with Christ's first coming (his death and resurrection) and a final fulfillment at the end of the ages when sin is destroyed and God's eternal kingdom is set up. |
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