Daniel 9:24-27 – Past, Present or Future: Answering the Symbolist

Bob Hunt of Zion’s Hope in Winter Garden, Florida concludes his five-part series “Past, Present or Future”. The goal of this series is to look at Daniel’s profound prophecy, found in Daniel 9:24-27, one verse at a time. This text is hotly debated and two positions appear to rise above the rest. The first view, which Bob labels the Symbolist view, determines that the events described by Daniel have substantially all occurred in the past. Also, any reference to years is not to be taken literally, but more symbolically with a theological point of view. In addition, Daniel’s 70th week began in the first century and continues until the return of Jesus Christ. The second view, labeled the Literalist view, considers Daniel’s 70 weeks to be literally understood. The events are real events in time and the passage of time can be reasonably calculated. The Literalist understands the events of the 70th week as not having taken place, thus a future fulfillment is necessary. In this last session Bob will conclude by answering the Symbolist question, “if this week is so important and future coming, then why is Daniel 9:27 the only Scripture text mentioning it?” The answer to this question will demonstrate a future fulfillment of this week and show how many other texts tie nicely into Daniel’s 70th week prophecy. Finally a conclusion will be made concerning Daniel’s prophecy. The Literalist point of view in these five sessions is more than reasonable. Careful consideration should be given when determining which viewpoint to hold. We need always to consider how the original audience would have interpreted this prophecy. It is highly unlikely that Daniel would have received this message in any other way other than literally.