Caller:In Matthew 18:21, 22, Peter asks Jesus “How many times shall I forgive my brother? Seven times? “ And Jesus says, ‘not seven times but seventy times seven’. Now I realize Jesus is saying we should forgive our brother abundantly more than we could ever forgive on our own, but the question is Is Jesus in some way referring to the seventy weeks found in Daniel 9?
Pastor Doug: I think He is. Ten percent of everything Jesus says in the New Testament can somehow be connected with a statement or a scripture in the Old Testament. I’ve not done that—I think I’m quoting research that Dwight Moody did when I say that, but I believe it based on just reading the gospels.
I’ve seen many references of Christ from the Old Testament. In the seventy week prophecy, Daniel is praying—how much more mercy is God going to give the Jewish nation? He’s confessing his sin. And God said ‘I’m going to give them seventy times seven years’, which is 490 years. Jesus, when He said seventy times seven He is comparing the great patience and mercy that God has had with Israel with what He would have with us as individuals. Look at all the repetitive backsliding in the history of Israel. God is pointing back to that so I think there is a connection there of His mercy that endures forever.