18. The 70 Years

Let's continue with our panoramic view of how God acts out His salvation plan in His time.

Daniel 9:2 "I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, 70 years.

Jeremiah prophesied that Judah's captivity in Babylon would last 70 years.

Jeremiah 29 contains the transcript of a letter which Jeremiah wrote to the captives in Babylon.  This letter was written possibly after the second captivity in 597 BC . It is probably from this letter that Daniel learned of the 70 year prophecy.

Jeremiah 29:10 

This is what Yahweh says: "When 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place."

Many people have wondered just exactly how those 70 years were to be counted.

There are many ways to count that "70 years".  For our present study, one of the "70 years" is to count from the time of the 1st Babylonian Exile 605 BC to 536 BC, Cyrus decree to return to Jerusalem. God worked in Cyrus' heart to fulfill His covenant promise to His people.  God is faithful to His covenant.  The question is whether God's people are faithful?  Will God's people respond to Yahweh God?  Will Yahweh's people respond faithfully to God?  Will they obey & return to Jerusalem?

Homework:

Take out your Timeline Graph and put in "70 years".