In the First Year of Darius

1. In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; 2. In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. 3. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: 4. And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; 5. We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 6. Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7. O LORD, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. 8. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 9. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 10. Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. 12. And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 13. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. 14. Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice. 15. And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 16. O LORD, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. 17. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 18. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 19. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. 20. And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God; 21. Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. 22. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. 23. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. 24. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

*Isaiah 44:24-28, "Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers: That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid."

In the first year of the reign of Darius Daniel was reading the word of the Lord by Jeremiah the prophet which the Lord had told Jeremiah to write in the scroll of a book. "For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive, "*Jeremiah 29:10-14.

Then he turned his heart to pray and repent for his people according to all that Jeremiah had spoken against Jerusalem because of their transgressions against the Lord most high. "From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear. They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever: And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations," *Jeremiah 25:3-13.

Seventy years were determined against the nation of Israel. "And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up," *II Chronicles 36:20-23.

Israel had broken the covenant of their God. They had spoiled the land and rejected the Law that they had promise to obey saying, "All these commandments we will observe to do." Therefore, the land laid barren for seven sabbaths of years or seventy years. Daniel realized that now was the time the people would turn their eyes toward Jerusalem and the Lord would deliver them from them captivity as spoken by the prophet. "The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it," *Jeremiah 30:1-3.

*Isaiah 45:1-6, "Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else."

While Daniel was praying, the angel Gabriel came to him and said, "O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth," *Daniel 9:23.

The scriptures tell us in the first year of Cyrus the Great a decree was made, God had appointed him to restore the temple in Jerusalem. This ended the seventy years of captivity and the fulfillment of the prophesy of Jeremiah. Cyrus appointed Ezra as governor and they began building the temple in 536 B.C. completing it in 516 B.C. twenty years later.

However, Gabriel also spoke to Daniel concerning another period of time. "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city." During these seventy weeks the following events would occur:

*Jeremiah 30:17-22, "For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after. Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof. And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them. And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD. And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God."

The word weeks used in Daniel chapter nine is 'shabuwa' in Hebrew. It means 1) seven, period of seven (days or years), heptad, week 1a) period of seven days, a week 1a1) Feast of Weeks 1b) heptad, seven (of years). The root word is 'sheba.' It is defined as seven, seventh, seventeen +, seven times, seventeenth +, sevens +, 1) seven (cardinal number) 1a) as ordinal number 1b) in combination. One way to determine exactly which definition we are to use is to look at what has occurred and the dates when they occurred.

Since the beginning, Israel has used lunar dates to divide periods of time because the word of God tells us in Genesis chapter one that each day was "the evening and the morning." The evening, or sunset, meaning the beginning of a new day. The beginning of a new day being set at 6:00 in the evening. A lunar month is twenty-eight to thirty days from one new moon to the next; therefore, there are twelve months totaling 360 days in the Jewish calendar year. About every third year an extra month was added, a leap month, called Ve-Adar.

In 445 B.C. Nehemiah, the king's cupbearer, received a disturbing report about the city of Jerusalem and explained this to king Artaxerxes. "And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it," * Nehemiah 2:1-5. Artaxerxes agreed and sent Nehemiah to Jerusalem.

Nehemiah began rebuilding the wall in 445 B.C. and the rebuilding of the city was completed in 396 B.C. forty-nine years later. "The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times," *Daniel 9:25. The Old Testament canon was also completed in 396 B.C., "to seal up the vision and prophecy," *Daniel 9:24.

The prophesy in Daniel 9:25 states, "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks." There are two periods of weeks in this statement, seven weeks and threescore and two weeks, with the 'and' dividing these periods. Therefore, considering the above observations and the seven weeks mentioned in this scripture it would indicate 'seven sevens' (7 x 7) totaling forty-nine years.

*Zechariah 9:9, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."

Four four-hundred years the nation of Israel would remain in silence without a prophet until 30 A.D. when a man named John the Baptist would walk among them declaring the Day of the Lord was at hand. Jesus came to John to be baptized in water by John, but God baptized Him with the Holy Spirit. 'To anoint the most Holy.' For three and one-half years Jesus went throughout all Judea preaching the kingdom of heaven was among them.

In 33 A.D. Jesus entered Jerusalem. "And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves," *Matthew 21:1-13. Three and one-half days later Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried in a sealed tomb. "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself," *Daniel 9:26.

"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks," Daniel 9:25. The second period of time mentioned in this scripture is threescore and two weeks. The term 'score' is the numeric value times two; therefore threescore = six (3 x 2). The 'and two' reverts back to the score which would make the actual number sixty-two. Considering the definition for weeks this would bring the multiplier to 62 x 7 or a period of 434 years.

Artaxerxes decree was in December, Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem was in April which would indicate the beginning of a sacred year in Israel. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord," *Matthew 23:37-39.) Jesus told the people you can discern the signs in the sky but you cannot discern the signs of the times. Had they understood the book of Daniel they would have known the exact day that 'Messiah' would appear in the temple.

In 70 A.D. Rome destroyed the city of Jerusalem disassembling the wall and the temple destroying all that remained in the city. "And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined,"(* Daniel 9:26.) A dispersion occurred and many of the Jewish believers fled.

Gabriel told Daniel that, "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city," 70 x 7 = 490 years. From the time of, "the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince," we have two periods of time 7 weeks and 62 weeks totaling 69 weeks (7 + 62). This would give us at total of 483 years (49 + 434). This leaves one week or seven years remaining to be fulfilled.

*Isaiah 13:6-11, " Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible."

The final seven years in this 'seventy weeks' period is called the time of Jacob's trouble (Jeremiah 30:7). Within scripture it is also referred to as the day of the Lord, the day of Christ, the day of the Lord's vengeance, and a day of trouble.

There will be a prince who will make a seven year covenant with the nation of Israel; however, in the middle of this time period, after three and one-half years, he will stop the sacrifice and oblation. When the sacrifice is stopped, this prince of desolation will fill the land once again with the abominations that caused it to become unclean. When the seven years are completed it has been decreed that these abominations will be poured out upon the desolator. "And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain," *Revelation 16:10.

In Daniel chapter seven we looked at a creature referred to as 'the little horn.' With this in mind, let's compare the interpretations of chapter seven and chapter nine with II Thessalonians chapter two:

In the middle of this 'seven weeks,' or seven year period, this prince will take the throne of Christ in the temple declaring he is god. For the remaining three and one-half years the wrath of God will be poured out.

In chapter seven this seven weeks period is worded "until a time and times and the dividing of times," (*Daniel 7:24). Please record these observations on the chart you made for 'the little horn' of Daniel chapter seven noting anything that you have observed personally.

*Revelation 10:1-7, "And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets."

God never does anything without revealing what He purposes in His heart to do. Gabriel told Daniel that the purpose for these seventy weeks was:

As we complete the remainder of this study we will see how Daniel set his heart to totally understand these visions and the interpretation that came to him by the mouth of the Lord.

*Jeremiah 31:31-34, "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

& Please fill in your observations for chapter nine on your worksheet recording all that you have observed and anything that the Holy Spirit reveals to you. Next we will look at Daniel chapter ten. Please continue reading Daniel chapters ten through twelve recording anything you may observe. The rewards you receive from your study are the treasures that the Lord reveals to you personally.

Also, please read Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 making a separate chart recording anything you see in these scriptures that pertain to the visions in Daniel. We will look at these scriptures in depth during the remainder of the study of Daniel.