Aug. 14, 2022

Daniel’s Prophecy of the 70 Weeks (14 Aug 2022)

Introduction - In the last three lessons I have shared an overview of an important prophecy, the book of the Revelation, with you.  Today’s lesson involves another important building block for understanding Bible prophecy, namely Daniel’s prophecy of the 70 Weeks.  The Revelation was important to understand because it is our God-given sketch of the events and persons involved in one climactic 7-year period  yet to come called the tribulation.  The prophet Daniel’s prophecy serves as a key timeline listing the purposes of God and major events, including those described in the Revelation, concerning prophecies which affect the Jews and Christians living in the church age.  Let’s start by examining the key verses found in Daniel 9:

Daniel 9:18-27 ”O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. 19"O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” 20 Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21 while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. 22 He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. 23 "At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision. 24 "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. 25 "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two * weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 "Then after the sixty-two * weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27"And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” NASB

Verses 18-24 - These verses show the extreme humility Daniel showed in prayer before the angel Gabriel spoke to him.  He was confessing his own sin and the sins of hie fellow Israelites.  Gabriel told him that from the beginning of his supplications the command came forth from God to inform Daniel of God’s intent to relieve the Jews and Jerusalem of their suffering and to bring them into a time of untold blessings.  We Christians would do well to have the same contrition as we pray for our country and community.  

Verse 24 - 

24 "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

The term “weeks” is important to our understanding of this prophecy.  The Hebrew word for weeks is shabua, which means a group of seven of something.  In this case, it refers to years.  In another example, Jacob served a period of 7 years as a herder to win Rachel’s hand in marriage (Genesis 29:27-28).  This period was called a week.  Why is this period of God’s dealing with Israel 70 weeks of years long you might ask?  If multiplied out, 70 weeks x 7 years = 490 years.  Generally, 70 years is the accepted period of the duration of the Captivity of the Jews in Babylon.  The Jew was free to till and sow his land for six years, but had to let the land rest in the seventh year, not reaping any crops from it.  The Jews routinely violated this law, so God took the people off the land and forced it to rest for a period of time equivalent to all the sabbaths which they had ignored in the 490 years.  It is also necessary to understand the length of a biblical year in  prophecy.  A simple measure is found in Genesis 7:11 and 8:4 where the flood of Noah’s time started on the 17th of the 2nd month and ended on the 17th of the seventh month, a period of exactly 5 months.  We are also told that this period was “an hundred and fifty days” (Genesis 7:24 and 8:3).  The earliest known measurement of a month used in Bible history was, therefore, 30 days.  This makes the number of days in a Biblical year 360 days, not 365 as we are used to on our present day calendars.  Notice that this prophecy concerns Daniel’s people (Israel) and their holy City (Jerusalem).  It does not concern the church in any way. This means that the church will not be involved in any of the events described in the prophecy, so it cannot be in the tribulation.  This is good news because many Christians fear that coming calamity!

God’s objectives for Israel during this time are these:  1) to finish up the transgression, i.e., to end the ages-long rejection of Messiah, 2) make an end of sin, i.e., to finally solve the ages old problem of mankind’s inborn tendency to sin, 3) to make reconciliation for iniquity, i.e., to provide a permanent remedy for mankind’s record of sin, uniting God and man once again, 4) to bring in everlasting righteousness, i.e., a place and people where and in whom sin does not prevail, or even exist.  5) seal up the vision and prophecy, i.e., to complete the prophetic visions and promises made to Israel in the great covenants: Abrahamic, Davidic, Palestinian, and New Covenants, and 6) to anoint the most holy, i.e., the millennial temple will be anointed as the Shekinah glory of God inhabits it in its place on the temple mountain.  So, the prophecy addresses the entire work of Jesus in behalf of Israel, both taking care of its sin and reigning as its king.  

Verse 25 - 

25 "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two * weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.

The prophecy starts with the decree to rebuild Jerusalem.  There were several decrees around this time which involved rebuilding the Temple. In Nehemiah 2:1-8, By contrast, King Artaxerxes for the first time commanded that the city of Jerusalem be rebuilt.  This date is pretty widely agreed upon as the first of Nisan, 445 BC (March 14, 445 B. C.)  This prophetic period would last for two smaller sub periods (7 weeks + 62 weeks = 69 weeks), or 483 biblical years, spanning the time just mentioned, until Messiah was revealed as the Prince of Israel on his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt.  This took place on an easily reckoned date, as Jews had kept their calendars the same from the date of the first sacrifice applied to the door frames in the days of Moses until the time of Jesus.  The date of his triumphal; entry was April 6, AD 33.  THE INTERVAL CONTAINED EXACTLY AND TO THE VERY DAY 173,880 DAYS OR SEVEN TIMES 69 PROPHETIC YEARS OF 360 DAYS, the first 69 weeks of Gabriel’s prophecy!  

Verse 26 - 

26 "Then after the sixty-two * weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.

After the second of the two sub-periods, the 62 weeks, Messiah is cut off (crucified) and appears to go to annihilation.  The people of the prince who is to come (The revived Roman Empire and the Antichrist, or Beast) destroy the city and temple.  This didn’t occur immediately, but actually did occur 37 years after Jesus was crucified, in 70 AD when the Roman commander Titus leveled Jerusalem.  This shows that there is a gap between the 69th prophetic week and the 70th prophetic week.  Jesus was crucified within a few days after the end of the 69th week, but it was almost 40 years later that the city was destroyed.  So, we have a gap of a few days until Jesus is actually killed, then a gap of 37 years until Jerusalem is destroyed.  We are currently living in a much larger gap called the church age, which sits between the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus and the start of the tribulation.  It was a period not seen by prophets.  It was, in Bible terms, a mystery.  Using the Bible to interpret itself, the flood probably refers to some direct Satanic assault, as Revelation 12:15 speaks about, as Jerusalem is nowhere near to a large body of water:

Revelation 12:15-16 And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. NASB

This probably represents some kind of deliberate program of lying, which will be a prominent part of the Beast’s method of controlling people, as it is Satan’s program today.  The gap concept in biblical prophecy is a true and viable concept, therefore the flood is probably the flood of propaganda which will be part of the release of John’s white horse (Revelation 6:2), in which a political leader goes out making people believe that he can solve their problems, likely making covenants, especially with Israel, insuring their peace and safety.  His ministry is a flood of lies, coming from his mouth, which leads ultimately to the war to end all wars:

Verse 27 - 

27"And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

After the church is raptured, the world will be all stirred up in confusion.  This could happen at any time, right now, in the living circumstances we are all currently used to.  Nothing is yet to be fulfilled.  After the rapture, the Antichrist becomes visible on the world stage and makes a firm covenant with Israel guaranteeing their safety and sovereignty, putting an end to the constant fighting over Israel’s right to exist as a nation and the jockeying for position which other countries seem to do as they try to control or annihilate the Jewish state. This covenant is a fake version of the true Abrahamic covenant giving the promise of a national land, a national redemption, and a large number of people to Israel.  Wouldn’t it be great if the US had such a covenant with God? We do not, however.  Israel is, and will be God’s chosen people.  Doesn’t this make you think about the political situation in the middle east today? All guns are trained on Israel and its allies.  There isn’t a collusion of nations trying to overthrow Canada or Argentina, is there? It is very interesting how all this attention is focused right where the Bible says it will be at the end of time: Israel.  Verse 27 marks the official start of the tribulation, the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy.  

In the middle of the 7years which comprise the tribulation, the Antichrist defaults on his covenant with Israel.  Motivated by Satan himself, the Antichrist destroys the existing false religious system and sets himself up as God, even using false miracles to deceive the people on the earth.  His False Prophet, who is probably a Jew because he arises out of the land which is Palestine, forces people to worship the Antichrist and his image.  This is the point in time when Satan is cast to earth as described in Revelation 12:9.  He comes with great wrath and inflicts on everyone as much pain and sorrow as he can.  Remember, the church is not on the earth at this time! It is in heaven, enjoying the benefits of the “reward-seat” or bema seat of Christ.  This is a place where Jesus gives commendations to all who have believed in Him.  The church is being prepared for presentation to Jesus as His bride and the subsequent Marriage of the Lamb, which takes place in heaven.  The church is already perfected at that point.  It does not need rebuked, chastened, punished, or any such thing.  

Let’s learn a bit about the Antichrist:

• He is a man, a Gentile, because he comes from the sea, and the sea represents all the non-Jewish people of the earth (Revelation. 17:15)
• He will appear in the latter times in Israel’s history (Dan 8:23)
• He will not appear until the Day of the Lord has begun 2 Thess 2:2)
• His manifestation is being hindered by the Restrainer ((2 Thess 2:6-7)
• This appearance will be preceded by a departure (2 Thess 2:3) which may mean a departure from the faith or the departure of the saints to be with the Lord (2 Thess 2:1)
• He rises from the Roman Empire, since he is a ruler os the people who destroyed Jerusalem (Dan 9:26)
• He is the head of the last form of Gentile world dominion for he is like a lion, a bear, and a leopard (Rev 13:1) 
• He is a political leader.  The seven heads and ten horns (Rev 13:1, 17:12) are in a federation under him.  
• He rules over all the nations (Rev 13:8)
• His rise comes through his peace program; he creates an alliance with other nations (Dan 8;24)
• He has eliminated three rulers in his rise to power ((Dan 7:8, 24)
• He is noted for his subtlety and intelligence (Ezek 28:6) so that his position over the nations is by their own consent (Rev 17:13)
• He rules with absolute authority, changing laws and customs to suit his own will (Dan 11:36, Dan 7:25)
• His chief interest is might and power (Dan 11:38)
• He sets up a 7 year covenant with Israel (Daniel 9:27) which breaks after 3 1/2 years.  
• He introduces idolatrous worship in which he sets himself as up god (Dan 11:36-37, 2 Thess 2:4, Rev 13:5)
• He is a blasphemer because of his assumption of deity (Ezek 28:2, Dan 7:25, Rev 13:1, 5-6)
• He is energized by Satan (Ezek  28:9-12, Rev 13:4)
• He receives his authority from Satan and is the head of Satan’s lawless system ((2Thess 2:3)
• He does works by satanic power (2 Thess 2:9-19)
• He is received as God and as a ruler because of the blindness of the people (2 Thess 2:11)
• He becomes the great adversary of Israel (Dan 7:21,25, 8:24, rev 13:7)
• An alliance forms against him (Eek 28:7, Dan 11:40, 42) which contests his authority
• A conflict follows in which he gains control of Palestine and nearby territory; he makes his headquarters in Jerusalem Dan 11:45)
• He is elevated by the false religious system, which helps him gain power, but seeks to dominate him (Rev 17:3)
• He destroys the religious system so he can rule unhindered (Rev 17:16-17)
• He becomes the pointed adversary of the Prince of Princes, his programs and his people.  ( Dan 8:25, 7:21)
• His reign spans the entire 7 years of the 70th week, but his satanic activity happens in the second half (Dan 7:25, 9:27, Dan 11:36, Rev 13:5)
• His rule will be terminated by direct judgment from God.  (Eek 28:6, Dan 7:22,26, 8:25, 9:27,11:45, Rev 19:19-20)
• This will take place as he is engaged in a military campaign in Palestine28:10. Eek 28:8-9, Rev 19:9)
• He will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev 19:20, Ezek 28:10)
• This judgment will take place at the 2nd Coming of Christ (2 Thess 2:8)
• The kingdom over which he ruled will pass to the Messiah and will be the kingdom of the saints (Dan 7:27)

The Antichrist is probably alive today, since he is a political ruler who must step in pretty soon after the church is raptured.  Events leading up to the start of the tribulation are lining up more accurately than they ever have.  We will not see the Antichrist because the church will not be on the earth when he appears.  His rule will at first seem mostly normal and peaceful.  Then, at the 3 1/2 year point in his reign he will unleash Satan’s wrath on the dwellers of the earth.  The period of the tribulation from the 3 1/2 year point forward is called the Great Tribulation.  The terror of that time will be so great that the world has never, nor will it ever see again, a time so horrific.  The Antichrist will deserve a very great punishment, which He will receive directly from Jesus, In Exodus 33:22, Moses was summoned by God for a private meeting.  As God passed by, He told Moses that He would protect him by placing him in a crack in a rock.  Moses face later “shone,” probably glowing from some type of radiation.  The Scriptures record the deaths of a number of despicable tyrants and despots, including those who drowned, were crushed by the earth, hanged, eaten by dogs, stricken by loathsome disease, eaten by worms, burned, etc.  The Antichrist alone has the distinction of dying by the “brightness of his coming.” (2 Thess 2:8) We can only imagine what this type of passing would entail.  Probably, the Antichrist (who is only a human) would experience a type of irradiation which would cause every cell in his body to be raised in temperature where the whole body would be superheated, but would never oxidize. His body would remain intact and alive.  None of the organs would work, so he could not protest or get away.  God would see that he remains alive.  There would be no anesthetic or cooling. It would not be like getting a part of our bodies burned, and having the wound heal over time.  It is not even like death, where we all simply “go to sleep,” awakening to a new painless world.  The Antichrist will experience inconceivable torment, justly and expertly and personally ministered by God himself, forever and ever.  

Some questions people have about this prophecy:

1.  Where does the Book of the Revelation fit on Daniel’s timeline?  

Most of the Book of the Revelation (Chapters 4-11 and 12-22) fit into the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy. Chapters 1-3 are things which the apostle John was seeing at the time he lived.   

2.  Where does the end of the world fit in relation to Daniel’s prophetic timeline?

The end of the world, in which God destroys the present earth and heavens (2 Peter 3:10-13) occurs at the end of the 1,000 year millennial reign of Christ, after the Great White Throne Judgment.  This reign starts at the 2nd Coming of Christ, which abruptly brings to a close the 70th week, or the final 7-year period, of Daniel’s prophecy.  

The New Jerusalem, our heavenly home, which descends from its location in the universe into its place somewhere close to the earth at the 2nd Coming of Jesus, will be pulled back away from the earth as this reconstructive convulsion takes place. Once the old earth and heavens are burned up, God makes a New Heaven  and New Earth “wherein righteousness dwells.”  The New Jerusalem then descends back to its position either on or in proximity to the New Earth.  At this time, God will have fulfilled all of the great blessings listed in the early parts of Daniel’s prophecy, creating a people who are sin-free and a place which reflects all the blessings God had always had in mind for man before sin clouded the picture.  

3.  Where do the prophecies spoken by Old Testament prophets fit in to Daniel’s prophecy?

Many of the prophets in the Bible refer in some way to the events of Daniel’s 70th week and to the 1,000 year millennium to follow.  Another prophetically well-addressed age was the historic period of the development of the nation of Israel up through the time of Malachi.  After Malachi, extending up through the time of John the Baptist, there was a scarcity of the fresh word of God.  Daniel’s prophecy begins with the command to restore Jerusalem (445 BC) and ends with the 2nd Coming of Christ (date ???),  with the intervening gap from Jesus’ crucifixion until the start of the tribulation considered an unprophesied mystery known as the Church Age.   

Conclusion - What a wonderful thing God has done by telling us what is to come in the future.  Its designed effect is not just to satisfy our curiosity, but to motivate us and remove our fear.  After gaining an understanding of this privileged information which Satan probably can’t understand, we should be very grateful for the amazing time in which we live.  It should impel us toward becoming passionately expert at our one job: Making disciples!