The 70-Week Prophecy and the Jewish Nation
“‘Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place’” (Dan. 9:24, ESV).
According to the year-day principle, 70 weeks are 490 years. A footnote in the RSV refers to “seventy weeks of years, or 490 years (i.e., 70 x 7 years), after which the messianic kingdom will come.” The evangelical scholar S. R. Miller correctly says, “The verb translated ‘decreed’ (khātak) occurs only here in the Old Testament but is used in later Hebrew and Aramaic to mean ‘cut, cut off, decide.’”1 This meaning fits the context well. In view of the connections between Daniel 8 and 9, the 70 weeks or 490 years (457 B.C.– A.D. 34) are cut off from the longer period of the 2300 evenings and mornings (457 B.C.–A.D. 1844) in Daniel 8:14. The great work to be accomplished in this seventy-week period refers to the work of God through Jesus on behalf of humanity. But why are these 70 weeks specifically decreed (cut off) for the Jews and their city?
God placed Israel in Palestine, the crossroad of the ancient world; He desired to make Israel a witness of His love for the world. It was His purpose to set them “on high above all nations of the earth” (Deut. 28:1, ASV). “If obedient to His requirements, they were to be placed far in advance of other peoples in wisdom and understanding; but this supremacy was to be reached and maintained only in order that through them the purpose of God for ‘all nations of the earth’ might be fulfilled.”2
It was God’s plan that the children of Israel were to occupy all the territory that He had appointed them. But beyond that “All who, like Rahab the Canaanite, and Ruth the Moabitess, turned from idolatry to the worship of the true God, were to unite themselves with His chosen people. As the numbers of Israel increased they were to enlarge their borders, until their kingdom should embrace the world.”3 What a wonderful plan! These promises of prosperity and of a successful mission were to have “met fulfillment in large measure during the centuries following the return of the Israelites from the lands of their captivity. It was God’s design that the whole earth be prepared for the first advent of Christ, even as today the way is preparing for His second coming.”4
Unfortunately, Israel did not live up to God’s plan. Throughout the Old Testament, Israel repeatedly forsook the Lord and joined their Canaanite neighbors in the worship of false gods. In spite of the many judgment messages for Israel (Isa. 9:8–21; 28:1–13; Hosea 4:1–10; 8:1–7) and Judah (Isa. 28:14–22; Jer. 4:3–9; 22:1–7), the people and almost all of their kings refused to listen. Thus, the northern kingdom Israel was eventually carried into Assyrian captivity (722 B.C.), and the southern kingdom Judah into captivity to Babylon (605, 597, and 586 B.C.). Both nations experienced the curses of Deuteronomy 28:15–68 in their history, whenever they turned their backs on God (1 Kings 17:1; Dan. 1:1, 2).
The final test for Israel came in the person of the Jesus Christ, the Messiah. With His rejection, Israel filled up their measure of guilt before God (Matt. 23:32). Christ, therefore, told them: “‘I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing its fruit’” (Matt. 21:43, NASB). “This solemn decision implies that Israel would no longer be the people of God and would be replaced by a people that would accept the Messiah and His message of the kingdom of God.”5
The entity that replaced Israel was spiritual Israel—the Christian church, consisting of believing Jews and Gentiles. “The two combined are ‘Abraham’s seed.’ Galatians 3:29.”6 The covenant promises and blessings were transferred to spiritual Israel, the church, as God’s chosen witness on earth. The restoration of Israel promised by Joel (2:28; 3:1) was, on the day of Pentecost, applied by Peter to the church (Acts 2:16–21), “Abraham’s spiritual seed, his true spiritual children, are men and women of faith, whatever their ethnic background. The church has become ‘the Israel of God’ (Gal. 6:16).”7
J. N. Andrews, the theologian of the young Adventist denomination, wrote in his book The Sanctuary and Twenty-three Hundred Days that during the 70 weeks, “the Jewish people were to fill up their measure of iniquity by rejecting and crucifying their Messiah, and were no longer to be His people, or host. Dan. 9:24; Matt. 23:32, 33; 21:33–43; 27:25.”8 In other words, at the end of the 70 weeks, the Jews lost their status as the elect people of God. According to Uriah Smith, the death of Christ led to “the turning away from the Jews to the Gentiles.”9
In his commentary on Daniel, Stephen Haskell wrote that the 70 weeks represented the time allotted to Israel as a nation “for repentance, the time when type would meet antitype in all sacrificial offerings; the period when probation would end for the Hebrew race, and everlasting righteousness would be preached to the world at large.”10
That Ellen White also understood the 70-week period as a time of probation for the Jewish nation is evident from several of her statements: “The calamities that had fallen upon individuals were warnings from God to a nation equally guilty. ‘Except ye repent,’ said Jesus, ‘ye shall all likewise perish.’ For a little time the day of probation lingered for them. There was still time for them to know the things that belonged to their peace. . . . With what unwearied love did Christ minister to Israel during the period of added probation.”11
“For a few moments the Son of God stands upon Mount Olivet, expressing the intense yearning of His soul that Jerusalem might repent in the last few moments before the westering sun shall sink behind the hill. That day the Jews as a nation would end their probation. Mercy, that had long been appointed as their guardian angel, had been insulted, despised, and rejected, and was already stepping down from the golden throne, ready to depart.”12
Ellen White not only confirmed God’s rejection of the nation of Israel, she also spoke about a conversion of many Jews in the future prior to the Second Coming:
“I saw that God had forsaken the Jews as a nation; but that individuals among them will yet be converted and be enabled to tear the veil from their hearts and see that the prophecy concerning them has been fulfilled; they will receive Jesus as the Saviour of the world and see the great sin of their nation in rejecting and crucifying Him.”13
That at the end of the 70 weeks Israel lost its special status as God’s elect people became the standard position of the Adventist Church. In 1902, the Adventist Jew F. C. Gilbert in his book Practical Lessons wrote concerning the 70-week prophecy: “The seventy weeks had ended; Israel as a nation, as a separate people, was cut off. . . . And the Gentiles, who formerly were not a people, had now become the people of God.”14 Similarly the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary explains: “When the probationary period of 490 years ended, the nation was still obdurate and impenitent, and as a result forfeited its privileged role as His representative on earth.”15 And William H. Shea, speaking about the stoning of Stephen, wrote, “When Stephen died, the last prophetic voice had spoken to Israel as the elect people of God.”16
In 2000, The Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology was published by the Biblical Research Institute. The editor, Raoul Dederen, in his article “The Church” wrote: “In NT times the term ‘Israel’ represents no longer a national entity but the spiritual people of God, the new Israel. Because national Israel rejected its Messiah, God pursued His work of salvation by giving the kingdom ‘to a nation producing the fruits of it’ (Matt. 21:43). . . . Israel, as God’s covenant people, was rejected. . . The privileges, promises, and blessing of the covenant relationship were transferred to the Christian church as spiritual Israel and as God’s chosen instrument on earth.”17
This view was confirmed in the more recent book Seventh-day Adventists Believe, which states, “When the Jews lost their mission they became just another nation and ceased to be God’s Church. In their place God established a new nation, a Church that would carry forward His mission for the world (Matt. 21: 41, 43).”18
While the above view has been challenged,19 Paul’s statement that “their [the Jews’] rejection is the reconciliation of the world” (Rom. 11:15, NIV) is still true. Only a remnant of the Jewish people, those who accepted Jesus, continued to be God’s chosen people (11:5). As Ellen White stated: “When the early Christian church was founded, it was composed of these faithful Jews who recognized Jesus of Nazareth as the one for whose advent they had been longing.”20
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. Stephen R. Miller, Daniel, The New American Commentary (Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman and Holman, 1994), 258.
2. Prophets and Kings, 368, 369.
3. Christ’s Object Lessons, 290.
4. Prophets and Kings, 703, 704.
5. Hans LaRondelle, The Israel of God in Prophecy (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Andrews University Press, 1983), 101.
6. Steve Wohlberg, Exploding the Israel Deception (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press, 2004), 58.
7. Raoul Dederen, “The Church,” in Handbook of Seventh-Day Adventist Theology, Raoul Dederen, ed. (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald, 2000), 545.
8. J. N. Andrews, The Sanctuary and Twenty-three Hundred Days (Battle Creek, Mich.: Steam Press, 1872), 71.
9. Uriah Smith, Thoughts, Critical and Practical, on the Book of Daniel and Revelation (Nashville, Tenn.: Southern Publishing Association, 1897), 231. In the revised edition of 1944 (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press, 1944, 199) the sentence reads, “the rejection of the Jews and the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles.”
10. S. N. Haskell, The Story of Daniel the Prophet (Battle Creek, Mich.: Review and Herald, 1901), 123.
11. Christ's Object Lessons, 213, 214, 218. Italics supplied.
12. Ellen G. White, “The Time of Thy Visitation,” Signs of the Times 22:19 (February 27, 1896): par. 11. Italics supplied.
13. Early Writings, 213. See also The Acts of the Apostles, 381.
14. F. C. Gilbert, Practical Lessons (South Lancaster, Mass.: South Lancaster Printing Company, 1902), 303, 304.
15. F. D. Nichol, ed., Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary(Washington, D.C., Review and Herald, 1955), 4:32.
16. William H. Shea, Daniel 7–12, The Abundant Life Bible Amplifier (Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press, 1996), 59. See also C. Mervyn Maxwell, God Cares, 2 vols. (Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press, 1981), 1:231; Taylor G. Bunch, The Book of Daniel (reprint, Payson, Ariz.: Leaves of Autumn Books, 1991), 141; Brempong Owusu-Antwi, The Chronology of Daniel 9: 24-27 (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Adventist Theological Society Publications, 1995), 118; Marvin Moore, The Case for the Investigative Judgment (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2010), 229.
17. Raoul Dederen, “The Church,” Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology, Raoul Dederen, ed. (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald, 2000), 543, 544.
18. Seventh-day Adventists Believe (Silver Spring, Md.: Ministerial Association of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 2005), 166.
19. Richard Elofer, “Comforting Jews, Practical Methods and Tools,” in Comfort, Comfort My People, Richard Elofer, ed. (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Department of World Mission, 2009), 146.
20. The Acts of the Apostles, 377.
1. Stephen R. Miller, Daniel, The New American Commentary (Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman and Holman, 1994), 258.
2. Prophets and Kings, 368, 369.
3. Christ’s Object Lessons, 290.
4. Prophets and Kings, 703, 704.
5. Hans LaRondelle, The Israel of God in Prophecy (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Andrews University Press, 1983), 101.
6. Steve Wohlberg, Exploding the Israel Deception (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press, 2004), 58.
7. Raoul Dederen, “The Church,” in Handbook of Seventh-Day Adventist Theology, Raoul Dederen, ed. (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald, 2000), 545.
8. J. N. Andrews, The Sanctuary and Twenty-three Hundred Days (Battle Creek, Mich.: Steam Press, 1872), 71.
9. Uriah Smith, Thoughts, Critical and Practical, on the Book of Daniel and Revelation (Nashville, Tenn.: Southern Publishing Association, 1897), 231. In the revised edition of 1944 (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press, 1944, 199) the sentence reads, “the rejection of the Jews and the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles.”
10. S. N. Haskell, The Story of Daniel the Prophet (Battle Creek, Mich.: Review and Herald, 1901), 123.
11. Christ's Object Lessons, 213, 214, 218. Italics supplied.
12. Ellen G. White, “The Time of Thy Visitation,” Signs of the Times 22:19 (February 27, 1896): par. 11. Italics supplied.
13. Early Writings, 213. See also The Acts of the Apostles, 381.
14. F. C. Gilbert, Practical Lessons (South Lancaster, Mass.: South Lancaster Printing Company, 1902), 303, 304.
15. F. D. Nichol, ed., Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary(Washington, D.C., Review and Herald, 1955), 4:32.
16. William H. Shea, Daniel 7–12, The Abundant Life Bible Amplifier (Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press, 1996), 59. See also C. Mervyn Maxwell, God Cares, 2 vols. (Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press, 1981), 1:231; Taylor G. Bunch, The Book of Daniel (reprint, Payson, Ariz.: Leaves of Autumn Books, 1991), 141; Brempong Owusu-Antwi, The Chronology of Daniel 9: 24-27 (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Adventist Theological Society Publications, 1995), 118; Marvin Moore, The Case for the Investigative Judgment (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2010), 229.
17. Raoul Dederen, “The Church,” Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology, Raoul Dederen, ed. (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald, 2000), 543, 544.
18. Seventh-day Adventists Believe (Silver Spring, Md.: Ministerial Association of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 2005), 166.
19. Richard Elofer, “Comforting Jews, Practical Methods and Tools,” in Comfort, Comfort My People, Richard Elofer, ed. (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Department of World Mission, 2009), 146.
20. The Acts of the Apostles, 377.