The Book of Daniel – Number Five

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Seventy Years

 

Key Takeaways

• Introduction
  • Jehoiakim, the first of the last three kings of Judah, marked the beginning of the seventy years of slavery for the southern kingdom when conquered by Babylon.
  • The seventy years signify the reign of Babylon, the first kingdom of Bible prophecy.
• Prophetic Symbolism
  • Isaiah chapter twenty-three mentions the whore of Tyre forgotten for seventy symbolic years, representing the papacy.
  • The end of the symbolic seventy years marks the papacy’s engagement with the United Nations (UN) and its relationship with the United States, identified as the earth beast with two horns.
• Daniel Chapters One through Five
  • Daniel chapters one through five outline the history of Babylon’s seventy years.
  • Chapters four and five identify Babylon’s first and last kings, representing the history of the earth beast and its two horns.
• Judgment of the Earth Beast
  • The judgment of the earth beast (United States) and its two horns is represented by the judgment of Babylon’s first and last kings (Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar).
  • Nebuchadnezzar’s judgment was banishment for “seven times,” living as a wild beast for 2520 days.
  • Belshazzar’s judgment equated to 2520, identifying the judgment of the earth beast and its two horns as the “seven times” of Leviticus twenty-six.
• The “Seven Times” and Adventism
  • The “seven times” is a stumbling stone for Adventism, often unrecognized despite being foundational in Bible prophecy.
  • William Miller used Nebuchadnezzar’s 2520 days as a prophetic witness to support Leviticus twenty-six’s “seven times.”
  • The “seven times” is both the foundation stone and the headstone in Zechariah chapter four.
• Seventy Years of Captivity and Leviticus
  • Jehoiakim’s overthrow marked the beginning of seventy years of captivity, fulfilling Jeremiah’s prophecy.
  • Zedekiah’s rebellion led to the desolation of Jerusalem and the seventy years of captivity.
  • The reason for Babylon’s conquest was to fulfill the sabbath rest for the land commanded in Leviticus chapters twenty-five and twenty-six.
• Day-for-a-Year Principle
  • The “seven times” is connected with the twenty-three hundred days of Daniel chapter eight, emphasizing the day-for-a-year principle.
  • Prophetic years are three hundred and sixty days each, totaling 2520 days for “seven times.”
• Misconceptions on “Seven Times”
  • The argument against the numerical application of “seven times” in Leviticus twenty-six is flawed.
  • William Miller’s understanding was guided by context, not Hebrew language expertise.
• Day-for-Year Principle in Leviticus
  • Leviticus chapters twenty-five and twenty-six illustrate the day-for-a-year principle in Bible prophecy.
  • The sabbath commandments for men and the land emphasize the day-for-a-year principle.
• Daniel’s Understanding and Prayer
  • Daniel understood the seventy years through study, recognizing it as the “curse” of the “seven times” in Leviticus.
  • Daniel’s prayer shows repentance and understanding of the vision, including the twenty-three hundred days.
• Seventy Weeks and Probationary Time
  • Seventy weeks were determined or “cut off” from the twenty-three hundred days, beginning with the third decree in 457 BC.
  • The seventy prophetic weeks equate to four hundred and ninety years, representing probationary time for Daniel’s people.
  • Two periods of four hundred and ninety years each are observed in the captivity, decrees, and the arrival of the three angels’ messages.
    • The first 490 years was the past rebellion against the sabbaths of the land law, and the second 490 years was future probation to see if Israel would accept the Lord of the Sabbath.
• Conclusion
  • The three decrees represent the arrival of the three angels’ messages in the history of 1798 through 1844.
  • The first six chapters of Daniel are linked to the “curse” or blessing of the “seven times.”
• Closing Quote
  • The understanding of the books of Daniel and Revelation will lead to a different religious experience, emphasizing the close connection between God and His people.

 

Jehoiakim was the first of the last three kings of Judah, and when he was conquered by the Babylonians the seventy years of slavery for the southern kingdom began. Those seventy years identify the period of time that Babylon, the first kingdom of Bible prophecy would reign. In Isaiah chapter twenty-three, the whore of Tyre would be forgotten for seventy symbolic years that were prophetically identified as the days of one king. In Bible prophecy a king is a kingdom, and the days of the only kingdom of Bible prophecy which amounted to seventy years, was Babylon.

During that history, the whore of Tyre, who represents the papacy, would be forgotten. At the end of the seventy symbolic years, she would be remembered and go forth and commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the earth. Spiritual fornication is the unlawful relationship of the combination of church and state. At the end of the symbolic seventy years, the papacy would come into a relationship with the United Nations, represented by all the kings that the whore of Tyre commits fornication with at the end of the seventy symbolic years. The kingdom that reigns during the seventy symbolic years is the United States, the earth beast with two horns.

Daniel chapters one through five, outline the history of Babylon’s seventy years, and therefore those chapters represent the history of both horns of the earth beast. Chapters four and five identify Babylon’s first and last kings, and together those two chapters identify the history of the earth beast and its two horns. The judgment of the two horns, and the earth beast itself is represented by the judgment of the first king and the last kings. Nebuchadnezzar’s judgment was banishment for “seven times,” while he lived as a wild beast for twenty-five hundred and twenty days off the grass and dew. Belshazzar’s judgment was written on the wall, and equated to the number twenty-five hundred and twenty, thus identifying that the judgment of the earth beast and its two horns is represented by the “seven times” of Leviticus twenty-six. This is based on the witness of two kings, and the two witnesses represent the first and the last.

The “seven times” is the stumbling stone for Adventism, and therefore cannot be recognized, though it is plainly there—for those who wish to see. It is the symbol of judgment of the nation (Babylon) that reigned for seventy years, and the symbol of judgment for the kingdom that reigns for seventy symbolic years. When William Miller presented his understanding of the “seven times” of Leviticus twenty-six, he employed Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-five hundred and twenty days living as a beast in Daniel chapter four as one of the prophetic witnesses to uphold Leviticus twenty-six’s “seven times.” The “seven times” is both the foundation stone and the headstone in Zechariah chapter four. Jesus, Sister White, Isaiah and Peter identify it as the stone that becomes the head of the corner. It is the crowning doctrine of Bible prophecy, though it is essentially unseen by those who profess to be the messengers of the third angel.

As we begin to consider the first six chapters of the book of Daniel, it is important to recognize that from the very outset the “seven times” is identified. When Jehoiakim was overthrown by Babylon, the captivity of seventy-years began. The book of Chronicles explains why they were taken captive for seventy years.

Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord. And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel. Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand. And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. 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. 2 Chronicles 36:11–23.

 

The seventy years in slavery were to fulfill the word of Jeremiah, “until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths, for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath.” There is only one passage in God’s word, other than the verse in Chronicles we are citing, that refers to the land “enjoying” her sabbaths. That passage is in Leviticus chapters twenty-five and twenty-six. Chapter twenty-five gives the instruction on how to allow the land to enjoy its sabbath rest, and chapter twenty-six outlines the curse of “seven times” if those covenant instructions were not followed.

Jehoiakim’s fate marked the beginning of the captivity which is an element of what Daniel called the “curse” and “oath” of Moses in chapter nine. Daniel understood the curse of the “seven times,” for he gives testimony in chapter nine, that it was through his study of the seventy-year prophecy of Jeremiah, that he understood the number of years that God’s people would be enslaved in Babylon.

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. Daniel 9:2.

 

Daniel understood the seventy years “by books,” not only the book of Jeremiah. The other book he understood was the writings of Moses, for in his prayer he identifies that the “curse” of the seventy years of slavery was the “oath” of Moses. The word in Daniel chapter nine, which is translated as “oath,” is the same word that is translated as “seven times” in Leviticus twenty-six. The captivity of Judah in Babylon for seventy years was a fulfillment of the curse of the “seven times,” in spite of what any modern theologian might argue. Its plain as day, but only if you are willing to see.

And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee, And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat. And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. Leviticus 25:1–9.

 

It is important to see that in the instructions of letting the land rest, that the seven cycles of six years of working the land and one year of allowing the land to rest continue unto the forty-ninth year, when there was to be a jubilee identifying the fulfillment of seven cycles of seven years. The crucial point to see is that the sounding of the jubilee trumpet was to take place on the Day of Atonement, thus identifying that when the anti-typical Day of Atonement began on October 22, 1844, the jubilee trumpet representing the cycle of “seven times” was to be then sounded. The “seven times” that began when Manasseh was carried into Babylon in 677 BC, represented twenty-five hundred and twenty years that concluded on the anti-typical Day of Atonement. The connection will only be missed by those who are unwilling to see. The cycle of “seven times,” is connected with the twenty-three hundred years.

It is also important to see that within the covenant instructions of the first nine verses of Leviticus twenty-five is the most profound illustration of the day-for-a-year principle in God’s word. The dish of fables that the theologians toss out to keep the flock intoxicated with Babylonian wine, is that the judgment of “seven times” in chapter twenty-six is an incorrect understanding of the Hebrew meaning of the word translated as “seven times.” That argument is not true. The Hebrew meaning of the word fully contains within its definition, the justification for applying it in a numerical fashion, but their flawed argument, which they prop up by a misguided premise based upon their self-proclaimed expertise of Hebrew grammar, is simply an argument of misdirection.

The judgment represented as “seven times” in chapter twenty-six, is recognized by the context of the passage, not by some modern-day theologians wresting the Hebrew language. William Miller formed his conclusion without any reference to the Hebrew language, and inspiration endorsed his understanding as correct. The angels guided his understanding based upon the context of the chapter where the judgment of “seven times” is located, not upon the Hebrew language.

The context of chapter twenty-five is where the covenant directions are identified, and chapter twenty-six then provides a promised blessing for keeping those covenant instructions, and thereafter identifies what Daniel calls the “curse of Moses” for disobedience to those instructions.

The context is the theme of the principle of a day-for-a-year in Bible prophecy. Those initial verses of Leviticus twenty-five identify that in Bible prophecy a day represents a year. In the book of Exodus, Moses clearly identifies the relationship of the seventh-day sabbath rest for man and beast, and the seventh-year sabbath rest for the land.

And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof: But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard. Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed. Exodus 23:10–12.

 

Within those three verses can be recognized that a day of rest for men and beasts, equates to a year of rest for the land. In Leviticus chapter twenty-five, in the first five verses, we find the identical grammatical structure to the Sabbath commandment of Exodus chapter twenty, verses eight through eleven.

And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. Leviticus 25:1–5.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Exodus 20:8–11.

 

Together the two sabbath commandments identify the context of Leviticus twenty-five and twenty-six. Brought together line upon line, they testify that for “six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work,” and for “six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof.” “But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God,” and “the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord”.

Both words that are translated as “seventh,” in either of the sabbath commandments, whether it is the sabbath for men or the sabbath for the land, are the same Hebrew word that is translated as “seven times” in chapter twenty-six of Leviticus. The context of chapters twenty-five and twenty-six of Leviticus is set within the prophetic rule that a day represents a year in Bible prophecy. Just as significant is the prophetic rule of first mention.

The first thing mentioned in these two chapters is the day-for-a-year principle. William Miller was led by Gabriel and other angels to identify the “seven times” of Leviticus as a symbol of twenty-five hundred and twenty years, and it is in total agreement with the context of the chapters which is the day-for-a-year principle that is set forth in the opening five verses of chapter twenty-five.

When the author of Chronicles identified the reason Babylon was allowed to take the southern kingdom of Judah into captivity he said it was to allow the land to enjoy her sabbath rest. The only other place in God’s word that identifies the land enjoying a rest is located in chapters twenty-five and twenty-six of Leviticus. The seventy years that Babylon reigned as the first kingdom of Bible prophecy, not only presents the symbolic years that the earth beast would reign as the sixth kingdom of Bible prophecy, but the seventy years are a direct reference to the “seven times” of Moses’ curse.

When we begin to study the prophecies that are represented in the first six chapters of Daniel, it is essential to know that the curse of the “seven times,” as well as the blessing of the “seven times,” is an element of each of those chapters.

It is also important to remember that the cycle of seven cycles of seven years is marked by the blowing of the trumpet of the jubilee on the tenth day of the seventh month, which is the Day of Atonement. This fact binds the “seven times” together with the twenty-three hundred days of Daniel chapter eight, and verse fourteen. It is also important to remember that a prophetic year is three hundred and sixty days, and if you add together three hundred and sixty days, over and over, for “seven times” it equates to twenty-five hundred and twenty days.

When Daniel understood by books the number of years that Jeremiah had identified, he began a prayer that addresses every element of the response of repentance that is identified as necessary, if God’s people ever awaken to the reality that they are captives in the enemy’s land. At the end of Daniel’s Leviticus twenty-six prayer, Gabriel appeared to give Daniel understanding of the vision which he had “heard”, the vision of the twenty-three hundred days. Gabriel began by informing Daniel that seventy weeks were “determined” for Daniel’s people.

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. Daniel 9:24.

 

The word translated as “determined” in the verse means “cut off”, and therefore it means seventy weeks were to be cut off from the twenty-three hundred days. Beginning at the third decree in 457 BC, Daniel’s people would have seventy prophetic weeks of probationary time. Seventy prophetic weeks equals four hundred and ninety years. Four hundred and ninety years after the third decree, ancient Israel would stone Stephen in the year 34, and they would be fully divorced from God.

The captivity that preceded the three decrees, that identify the starting point of the four hundred and ninety years of probationary time, had been seventy years. Those seventy years were to allow the land to enjoy the sabbath rests that ancient Israel never fulfilled. Seventy years of sabbath rests for the land, were brought about because of four hundred and ninety years (or seventy weeks of years) of rebellion against the oath of Moses.

Four hundred and ninety years of rebellion against the covenant of Leviticus twenty-five, produced seventy years of captivity for the land to enjoy its rest. The seventy years of captivity led to three decrees, which marked another four hundred and ninety years of probationary time for ancient Israel. So we see two probationary periods of four hundred and ninety years each.  The three decrees typify the three angel’s messages, the first of which arrived in 1798, at the end of the first indignation of “seven times” against the northern kingdom. The third angel arrived twenty-three hundred years after the third decree on October 22, 1844, which is when “the last end of the indignation” also arrived.

During the forty-six years between the end of the first indignation and the end of the last indignation Jesus laid the foundation of the Millerite temple, and the foundation stone was the “seven times.” That stone was to be either the foundation stone (or else the stumbling stone) for Adventism at the beginning, and either the headstone and capstone (or else the gravestone) for Adventism at the end. The three decrees that represent the arrival of the three angels’ messages in the history of 1798 through 1844, also represent the first three chapters of the book of Daniel.

We will begin to consider the first six chapters in the next article.

“When the books of Daniel and Revelation are better understood, believers will have an entirely different religious experience. . . One thing will certainly be understood from the study of Revelation—that the connection between God and His people is close and decided.” The Faith I Live By, 345.