Daniel's 70 Weeks

Daniels 70 Weeks

The Prophecy takes place in 539 B.C., in the First year of Darius the Mede.  Daniel is now between 81-84 years old. As a young boy, he was taken captive by the Babylonians in 605 B.C. In 586 B.C. The Babylonians destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the Temple.  Jeremiah foretold a 70-year period of desolation on the city for their sin.  Daniel had been praying for the city’s restoration and 67 years had since passed.

Gabriel the angel was dispatched to answer Daniel’s prayer for understanding and instruct him in God’s time plan for his city, Jerusalem and his people. 

Daniel 9:24 "Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.

In God’s mathematical calculation, one week = 7 years. Seventy weeks are determined (7 x70=490) This 490 year period of time is established on “Daniel’s city” Jerusalem and “Daniel’s People” the Jewish People.

Seven incredible events happen within these 490 years; 1. Finish Transgression, 2. Make an end of sins, 3. Make reconciliation for iniquity, 4. Bring in everlasting righteousness, 5. Seal up vision, and 6.  Prophecy, and 7. Anoint the Most Holy.

Daniel 9:25 "Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. 

The 490-year period begins with the command to “Restore” and “Build Jerusalem” including the walls and streets in the times of trouble.

The command to rebuild the walls and streets takes place in March/April 444 B.C. (Nehemiah 2:8)  King Artaxerxes (Husband of Esther) gives Nehemiah orders to build the walls of Jerusalem, and access to the King of Persia’s resources.

Gabriel tells Daniel from the command given (March/April 444 B.C.)  until Messiah the Prince will be 7-weeks (49 years) and 62-weeks (434-years) totaling 483-years. (7 Weeks + 62 Weeks=69 Weeks) (69 x 7=483)  From the Command given in March/April 444 B.C. to until Messiah the Prince is 483 Jewish years.  Our Gregorian calendar equivalent to Daniel’s calendar is 476 years and 24 days. The Command was given in March/April 444 B.C. 476 years and 24 days later is March 29^th 33 A.D. or the date Jesus Christ was “Cut off” by the Jewish Priesthood. (John 19:6)

The Exact month and Year of Messiah Death 500 years before his birth

Daniel 9:26 "And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And until the end of the war desolations are determined.

Gabriel tells Daniel after the 62 Week (434 year) Messiah the Prince is cut off. Not for Himself, Messiah dies for the sins of the world (Isaiah 53). Through Jesus death, burial and resurrection all 7 things previously mentioned were made complete, 1. He finished what Adam had failed, 2. By the sacrifice of His perfect blood, He made way for the end of sin, 3. By His death and by our faith, we are reconciled to God, 4. He made way for us and will usher in everlasting righteousness upon His soon return 5.&6. Vision and Prophecy are made complete in Him, and 7. Upon the cross, He was declared King of the Jews, and

He will rule and reign throughout the Millennial Kingdom from His Throne in Jerusalem!

Following Jesus death, Jerusalem and the Temple are destroyed again, after they were rebuilt, following Daniel’s prayer.  The people of a prince who is to come, will destroy Jerusalem and Temple 37 years after the death of Jesus Christ. Daniel foretold of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem almost 600 years before the event. 

Gabriel tells Daniel the desolations on Jerusalem and the Jewish people will continue until the end.

The Dome of The Rock, the third most site in Islam occupies the Temple-site.  The Temple-Mount is the center of world focus pitting the world of Islam and Judaism against each other.  There is a growing movement to rebuild the Temple. The problem is 1.3 billion Muslims hold the Dome of the Rock as their sacred site.

The 490-year clock stopped at the death of Messiah at the end of the 69^th Week, as desolations were determined till the 70^th week.

With the crucifixion of Jesus, and the spread of the Gospel to every nation through the Great Commission, a new nation was formed: neither Jew nor Gentile but one new man in Christ (Ephesians 2).  That gap will close as the time of grace to the Gentiles is completed.  From a Biblical view based on Biblical prophecy, that time is near.

The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple following the death of Christ confirm the continual desolations that befell the Jewish People after the Temple was destroyed.

After the destruction of the city and Temple by Rome, the city and territory were renamed by Hadrian to erase the Jewish memory.  Christianity continued to spread in the Roman empire.  In the early 4^th century, with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine Rome officially became a “Christian” Empire.  Two capitals were designated, Rome in the west and Byzantium in the East.

In the deserts of Arabia, in the city of Mecca, a new religion emerged, Islam, in 610 A.D.  Islam claimed to be the only true faith, the successor to both Christianity and Judaism.  The founder, Mohammed Ibn Abdallah, claimed to have traveled to Jerusalem in a night journey and from the top of Mt. Moriah ascend into heaven.

He said, in heaven, God gave Mohammed the requirements of the Islamic faith.  In 634, 2 years after the death of Mohammed the armies of Islam defeated Bzyantines for control of the land of Israel.  Over, Mt. Moriah, was built the Dome of the Rock, the third most holy spot for Islam, to commemorate Mohammad’s night journey, and to also demonstrate the truth of Islam as the final religion on earth.

Except for a short period of Crusader rule the Temple-Mount has been under the control of Islamic power.  This all changed after WWI when the Ottoman Empire lost to the Allies.  The Ottoman empire was divided, and a Palestine protectorate was established under British rule.  The British promised to establish a Jewish state if they defeated the Ottomans, after the war they failed to follow through on this promise.

Then after WWII - after half the world Jewish population was destroyed in the Holocaust, the nations of the world established the state of Israel in May 1948.  Jews from around the world began to return to the land their forefathers once occupied 2000 years ago.  The Arab nations waged war on the new Jewish state and lost, Jerusalem at first an international city became a city divided. 

West Jerusalem belonged to the Jews, and East Jerusalem with the Temple Mount was controlled by the Arabs.  Then following another war, the Six Day War in 1967, Israel defeated Jordan and Egypt and recovered East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.  A sovereign Israel again controlled the Temple Mount the first time since 63 B.C.

Daniel 9:27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate."

Gabriel tells Daniel about a future 7-year agreement will allow the Temple to be rebuilt. Sacrifice will once again be offered. This prince to come will be a descendent from the people who destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem, the Romans. 

With the recent move of the US Embassy to Jerusalem, the talk of rebuilding the Temple is a growing movement for several reasons.

ü  Growing religious movement, Jews are looking for the return of Messiah

ü  All Temple vessels, linens, furniture, and priestly identification and training has been completed. All that remains is the rebuilding of the Temple itself.

ü  Currently, both US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron are vying to be the negotiator of a peace agreement between the Arabs and Jews.

ü  Jews believe that rebuilding the Temple will void Muslim claims to Jerusalem.

ü  Establishment of spiritual and cultural identity

Gabriel tells Daniel, In the middle of this 7-year agreement, the Prince to come will break the agreement and stop sacrifice and offering, until the consummation, or destruction which falls on those destined for Judgment.

As the time of the Gentiles comes to an end, the 70^th week of Daniel will begin. This new nation, the Church is not mentioned again in the Bible after Revelation Chapter 4, until we see them coming with Christ as He returns to set up the Millennial Kingdom.  Many Bible students believe this is because believers will be Raptured prior to that last 7 year period because they are not appointed for God’s wrath.

There are many names for Daniel’s 70^th week to include the Great Tribulation, the Day of the Lord’s Wrath, and the day of Jacob’s (Israel’s) trouble. May I simply say … Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus Come!