THE FOCUS OF DANIEL 9:24
Daniel 9:24 introduces the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks. This prophecy is greatly loved in certainly eschatological circles. But it is little understood.
A major reason for the confusion is that too many leap over the first verse of the prophecy and set about trying to install gaps in the more exciting part in verses 26–27. When they do so, they should be prepared to sing Elvis Presley’s “I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell” because that is precisely what they will do. So before we can get into interpreting the meaning of the prophecy, we have to recognize its own stated rationale which is found in verse 24.
Daniel 9:24 states the prophecy’s overriding, glorious expectation: “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.”
These six infinitival phrases are the prophecy’s main point. They are three couplets containing two parallel matters each. They effectively serve as the heading of the following explication in verses 25–27. The “know therefore and understand” statement in verse 25 begins that explication. Unfortunately, too few populist “prophecy experts” take the time to “know therefore and understand.”
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