Daniel 9:12

"And he has confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil; for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us; yet have we not entreated the favor of Jehovah our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in thy truth. Therefore hath Jehovah watched over the evil, and brought it upon us; for Jehovah our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth, and we have not obeyed his voice."

JERUSALEM IN RUINS

Even the most casual attention to this prayer reveals that Daniel's concern was centered upon the devastated state of the city of Jerusalem. Here in the prayer, Daniel said, "Under the whole heaven" there does not exist another example of the kind of ruthless destruction that had been poured out upon Jerusalem. Not merely here, but a second time afterward in this prayer we have reference to the ruins of Jerusalem and to "thy holy mountain," a Jewish designation of the destroyed temple (Daniel 9:16). Also, "sanctuary" (Daniel 9:17) carries the same meaning.

Let the Bible student note the significance of this. Is the situation that was extant when Daniel uttered this prayer to be identified with the days of Antiochus Epiphanes and the Maccabean wars? Indeed no! Antiochus did not destroy the city of Jerusalem; and, although he desecrated the temple, he did not destroy it; and therefore, we have here another proof of the utter absurdity of the impossible theory that this prophecy was written in the Maccabean period. Even a novice in Bible study should know better. If the writer of Daniel had lived in the days of Antiochus, it would have been impossible for him to have regarded the mined state of Jerusalem and the temple as being "unique under heaven."[5]