The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 327

“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy Holy
City.... 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. And after
threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself....
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.”
The angel had been sent to Daniel for the express purpose of
explaining to him the point which he had failed to understand in the
vision of the eighth chapter, the statement relative to time—“unto two
thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”
After bidding Daniel “understand the matter, and consider the vision,”
the very first words of the angel are: “Seventy weeks are determined
upon thy people and upon thy Holy City.” The word here translated
“determined” literally signifies “cut off.” Seventy weeks, representing
490 years, are declared by the angel to be cut off, as specially pertaining
to the Jews. But from what were they cut off? As the 2300 days was the
only period of time mentioned in chapter 8, it must be the period from
which the seventy weeks were cut off; the seventy weeks must therefore
be a part of the 2300 days, and the two periods must begin together.
The seventy weeks were declared by the angel to date from the going
forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. If the date of
this commandment could be found, then the starting point for the great
period of the 2300 days would be ascertained.
In the seventh chapter of Ezra the decree is found. Verses 12-26. In
its completest form it was issued by Artaxerxes, king of Persia, 457 B.C.
But in Ezra 6:14 the house of the Lord at Jerusalem is said to have been
built “according to the commandment [“decree,” margin] of Cyrus, and
Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.” These three kings, in

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