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The angel next proceeds to give further light upon this time by saying that the period
from the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of Messiah the
Prince will be 7 weeks and 62 weeks, and that after the 62 weeks have elapsed the
Messiah will be cut off. We found it useful when speaking of "Lo-ammi" periods to use
a simple illustration to make the matter clearer. It may be of service to use the same
method here. Suppose that a motorist is being directed to a certain destination and that,
instead of being told that his goal is 69 miles away, he is told that it is 7 miles and
62 miles away. If after that somewhat cryptic statement, a remark is added about some
feature in the road that marks a junction, the obvious thing for the motorist to do would
be to travel the first seven miles and then look out for some change. If at the end of 7
miles of rather bad country lane the car emerged into a new, well-made road which
continued for the remaining 62 miles, he would realize the reason for dividing the
distance. Moreover, if he had been told that at the end of 62 miles he would come to a
cross, he would look for it at the end of 62 miles of new road, for so the direction had
indicated.
Now it must be obvious that when the angel speaks of 7 weeks as distinct from
62 weeks, he has some special reason for it. The angel also speaks of the building of the
wall and the street of Jerusalem as an event related to the time periods with which his
message deals. The Companion Bible in Appendix 58 gives the history of Nehemiah
and Ezra. It is much too long to quote here, but we give two extracts to prove our point.
We must leave our readers to test the matter further by consulting that appendix for
themselves.
B.C.455.
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Neh. 1: 11 - 2: 8.--Hanani's report in the month Chisleu leads
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to the "going forth of the commandment to rebuild
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Jerusalem" (Dan. 9: 25).
B.C.454.
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By Artaxerxes in his twentieth year.
B.C.407.
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Nehemiah obtains leave of absence (Neh. 13: 6),
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and returns to be present at
B.C.405.
|
The dedication of the temple.
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This ends the "seven sevens" from the going forth of
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the commandment in 454B.100:
This, then, is the first space covered, the building of the wall corresponding to the
seven miles of bad road in the illustration. We now arrive at the most important feature
of our discussion, and one that we have seen canvassed in no other work of Daniel. It
follows from the logical application of the "Lo-ammi" principle. The question is whether
or not the 490 years, set apart for the achievement of God's purpose in Israel, begin at the
going forth of the proclamation to rebuild Jerusalem. To this question expositors give an
affirmative answer, but the "Lo-ammi" principle demands a negative one. We read in
Nehemiah:--
"The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction
and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof burned
with fire" (Neh. 1: 3).