"Seventy
weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the
transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring
in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the
most holy place. (Dan 9:24 NASB)
Commenting on Dan 9:24, Reformed apologist
Jack Kettler wrote that:
The
terminus or completion of this prophecy is clearly in the First Century. Verses
in Daniel 9:25-27 make it clear that when the seventy-week period begins, it
will continue uninterrupted until the seventy-week period is over or complete. Christ’s death and
resurrection made an end to the sins of His people. He accomplished
reconciliation for His people. Christ’s people have experienced everlasting
righteousness because of the fact that we are clothed in Christ’s
righteousness, which is everlasting. The phrase “and to seal up the vision and
prophecy” clearly sets forth the closing of the canon of Scripture. (Jack
Kettler, The Five Points of Scriptural Authority: A Defense of Sola
Scriptura [2021], 65)
Elsewhere, Kettler addressed Dan 9:24-27
again, this time, condemning with anathema those who would reject the pre-70
dating of the book of Revelation (the majority view, even among Protestants,
historic and modern, is the traditional post-70 [mid-90s] dating):
The book
of Revelation, for good reasons, is believed to be the last book written. It
was completed prior to 70 A.D. The passages in Revelation 1:3 and 22:6, 12 are
time indicators that point to an early date to this book. Why? Someone may ask.
The wording in these texts such as “for the time is at hand” and “which must
shortly be done” provide convincing evidence for an early date prior to 80 A.D.
for John’s revelation. The First Century fulfillment of the prophecies within
the book is relevant to the dating of Revelation prior to 70 A.D. So, the
time-sensitive texts previously mentioned become important indicators pointing
towards dating the book in the First Century.
In
addition, the temple in chapter eleven is shown to still be in existence, also supporting
this early date prior to 70A.D. If an early date for the book of Revelation is
accurate (which it is), then it allows the book to fit into the time frame of
Daniel’s prophecy. Accordingly, the book of Revelation fits into the time frame
and purview of Daniel’s “seventy weeks.” Therefore, those who argue for
continued revelation do so at the peril of their souls since they are urging
men to violate this scriptural warning recorded in the last book of the canon. (Ibid.,
71, emphasis added)
Those who hold to a post-70 dating of the
book of Revelation (and any other book of the New Testament) are, according to
Kettler, putting their eternal salvation in jeopardy, believing public revelation was still a reality post-70 A.D.! What is also interesting is that the minority report about the book of Revelation's date (pre-70) is held largely by those Kettler would view as liberal Christians (e.g., Gregory Boyd; Margaret Barker; J.A.T. Robinson), and those who would be considered conservative/traditional in their view of Scripture who hold to the pre-70 date would be also dismissed by Kettler as they are Roman Catholic (Jimmy Akin; Scott Hahn; David B. Currie).
Further Reading
Not By Scripture Alone: A Latter-day Saint Refutation of Sola Scriptura
