I wondering about chapter 9 (of the book Daniel in the Bible), if it is
not possible to look at the last week as taking 70 years instead of 7, and
have it overlap the others so that it covers from the birth of Jesus till
the destruction of the temple in which case Jesus would be crucified about
the middle of the week? I have another question about Daniel. I read the
end of chapter 11 as referring to Augustus’ death which means “at that
time” of chapter 12 is within the life time of Jesus, while he “grew in
stature and wisdom” then the time of suffering is the crucifixion (not the
destruction of the temple, as normal) the deliverance is the atonement and
the multitudes would be those referred to in Mt 27:52.

Let me answer your first question. That one really got me thinking. (By
the way, for anyone else reading this question, the book on Daniel is
available at www.greatcommission.com). I would say that it cannot be ruled
out. Let me state a couple reasons that I personally would not take it as
the most likely explanation. First, the seventieth week began in AD 25
(plus or minus a year). If one were to accept your view, the last week
would end in the year AD 95, which would be 25 years after Jerusalem was
destroyed and animal sacrifice was brought to an end, once and for all.
Second, it is a bit tough to accept the first sixty-nine weeks being seven
years and the last week being seventy without any evidence. I will admit
that the explanation I give (a forty year hiatus) is somewhat speculative
as well, but it just so happens to fit the time line quite well. It also
fits God’s very common use of forty year or forty day periods of waiting,
found in many places throughout both the Old and the New Testament. So, I
appreciate your thought (which, by the way, I had never thought of), and
you may be right, but that would not be my choice of an interpretation of
the vision.

As to your second question, I do agree that Daniel 11:36-45 deals with the
conflict between Augustus Caesar (known as Octavian at that time) and Marc
Antony, which resulted in the death of Antony and the accession of
Octavian to the undisputed throne of all Rome. What I am not sure about is
your apparent interpretation of Daniel 11:45, “yet he will come to his
end, and no one will help him.” I am not sure if this is referring to the
“end” of Augustus or if it is referring to the eventual end of the Roman
power to persecute the Church of God. If so, then the clock has moved
forward to the fifth century AD. Also, when you move on to Daniel 12:1,
“Now at that time…” I believe the book of Daniel takes a very great leap
in time, looking forward to the end times. The book does something like
this in more than one place. There are over one hundred years between
Daniel 11:35 and 11:36. Other examples could be given. Adding to this, in
God’s eyes, time is not really a factor, so when he says “Now, at that
time” he may be referring to the next great event after the end of Rome,
which will be the end times. In either case, the events referred to in
Daniel 11:36-45 happened in the 30’s BC, before Jesus was born. In order
to know how to interpret Daniel 12, we need to let the context of the
chapter determine what it is talking about. Like I say in my book, I
believe that reading Daniel 12 will lead one to assume he is talking about
end times, not the time of the death and resurrection of Jesus. For
example, consider Daniel 12:2, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of
the ground will awake, some to everlasting live, but others to disgrace
and everlasting contempt. One will find reference to the end time more
than once in Daniel 12.

Please do not take my opinion as the end-all of the discussion. I think
you have some good insight here. May God bless your attempts to take it
higher studying his awesome word!

John Oakes, PhD