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Daniel 9:24-27, Daniel's 70 Weeks

Daniel 9:24-27 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. [25] Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. [26] And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. [27] And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (KJV)

The Hebrew word for “seven” is shabua, meaning “a unit of measure.” It compares to our word dozen. It could be a dozen of anything . . . a dozen eggs, a dozen bananas. Here, Seventy Weeks means 70 sevens. Daniel must have been reading in Jeremiah about years, 70 years. Jeremiah had been preaching and writing that the captivity would be for 70 years. The 70 years of captivity was the specific penalty for violating 70 sabbatic years. That would be 70 sevens, a total of 490 years. In those 490 years, Israel had violated exactly 70 sabbatic years; so they would go into captivity for 70 years.

2 Chron. 36:21 To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. (KJV) See: Lev.26:27-45 for the remarkable prophesy of the captivity of Israel.

1 week = 7 years . . . 70 weeks = 490 years
Daniel's 70 weeks divided into 3 periods: 7 weeks—62 weeks—1 week

Daniel was puzzled as to how the end of the 70 years of captivity would fit into the long period of Gentile world dominion which the visions in chapters 7 and 8 had so clearly indicated. He probably thought that at the end of the 70 years his people would be returned to the land, the promised Messiah would come, and the kingdom which had been promised to David would be established. How could both be true? It seemed to be an irreconcilable situation created by these seemingly contradictory prophecies.

The Seventy Weeks, or the 70 sevens, answer two questions. Israel’s kingdom will NOT come immediately. The 70 sevens must run their course. These 70 sevens fit into the Times of the Gentiles and run at the same time with them. God broke them up to fit into Gentile times.

The word for determined in Dan.9:24 literally means “cutting off.” These 70 sevens are to be cut off, as the following verses will indicate. The 70 sevens for Israel and the Times of the Gentiles will both come to an end at the same time, that is, at the Second Coming of Christ. This is important to know in the correct understanding of the prophecy.
The Seventy Weeks concern “thy people,” meaning the people of Daniel (Israel). And they concern “thy holy city,” which is absolutely Jerusalem. Six things are to be accomplished in those Seventy Weeks or 490 years. Sixty-nine of those 70 “weeks” have already passed. Only one “week” waits to be fulfilled.

Six things to be accomplished:

Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. (KJV)

1. “To finish the transgression” refers to the transgression of Israel. The cross provided the redemption for sin . . . for the sin of the nation, but not all accepted it. Today the Word has gone out to the ends of the Earth that there is a redemption for mankind. But in that last “week” we are told that God says, “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications …” (Zech. 12:10). And in Zech.13:1: “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” This has not been opened yet. All you have to do is to look at the land of Israel and you will know this has not been fulfilled.

2. “To make an end of sins.” The national sins of Israel will come to an end at the Second Coming of Christ. They are just like any other people or any other nation. They are sinners as individuals and as a nation. They have made many mistakes as a nation (so have we), but God will make an end to that.

3. “To make reconciliation for iniquity.” During this period of Seventy Weeks, God has provided a redemption through the death and resurrection of Christ. This redemption is for BOTH Jews and Gentiles . . . ALL people, no matter WHO or WHERE!

4. “And to bring in everlasting righteousness” refers to the return of Christ at the end of the 490 years to establish the kingdom.

5. “To seal up the vision and prophecy” means that ALL prophecies shall be fulfilled, which will defend and justify this prophecy as well as ALL other prophecies in Scripture.

6. “To anoint the most Holy” probably refers to the anointment of the holy of holies in the millennial temple about which Ezekiel spoke (Eze. 41–46).

Daniel 9:25-27 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. [26] And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. [27] And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (KJV)

The starting point of this 490 years is necessary to correctly understand the prophecy. Since this period is planned into the Times of the Gentiles, it must fit into worldly history and originate from some date connected with the Times of the Gentiles. There have been many suggestions for a starting point: the decree of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1-4); the decree of Darius (Ezra 6:1-12); the decree of Artaxerxes (at the seventh year of his reign . . . Ezra 7:11-26); and the decree of Artaxerxes in the twentieth year of his reign (Neh. 2:1-8).

It seems that the last one meets the requirements of verse 25. The commandment to rebuild the city of Jerusalem was issued in the month Nisan 445 B.C. That will be our starting point. The first seven weeks of 49 years bring us to 397 B.C. and to Malachi and the end of the Old Testament . . . “troublous times,” (verse 25) as stated by both Nehemiah and Malachi.

62 weeks, or 434 years, bring us to the Messiah. From the first of the month Nisan to the tenth of Nisan (April 6) a.d. 32, are 173,880 days. Dividing them according to the Jewish year of 360 days, Christ Jesus arrives at 483 years (69 sevens). On that particular day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on an donkey colt, offering Himself for the first time, publicly and officially, as the Messiah.

After the 69 weeks, or 483 years, there is a time break. Between the sixty-ninth and Seventieth Week two very important events are to take place:

1. Messiah will be cut off. Christ was crucified. Christ, the Great Mystery and Truth of the Gospel. Matthew 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. (KJV)

John 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (KJV)

2. Destruction of Jerusalem, which took place in a.d. 70, when Titus the Roman was the instrument.

The final “week” (the 70th week), a period of seven years, is programmed into the future and does NOT follow chronologically the other 69 weeks. The time gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks is the age of grace . . . unknown to the prophets (Eph. 3:1-12; 1 Pet. 1:10-12). The Seventieth Week is the final period and has yet to be fulfilled.

Some think that “the prince” is a Roman, some a Syrian Jew; whatever his nationality, he is the “little horn” of Daniel 7; he is “the beast” of Revelation 13 . . . the Antichrist!

After the church is removed from the Earth at the Rapture (1 Thes.4:13-18), Antichrist will make a covenant, peace treaty with Israel. Israel will accept him as her Messiah . . . but in the midst of the “week” (3 1/2 years) he will break his covenant by placing an image in the temple (Rev. 13). This is the abomination of desolation. What Israel thinks is the Millennium, will instead be the horrific Great Tribulation (Mat. 24:15-26). Only the coming of Christ can end this frightful period (Mat. 24:27-31).

My friend, we, today are living in the age of grace, and the Seventieth Week of Daniel, the Great Tribulation, as the Lord Jesus called it, is yet to come. BEWARE! Will you be taken at the Rapture? Beware my friend. Stay close to Jesus. Watch! Live as He wants you to live, so that when He comes in the clouds, you will be called and not left behind!
Matthew 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. (KJV)

Some Passages mentioned above.

Nehemiah 2:1-8 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. [2] Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, [3] And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? [4]Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. [5] And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it. [6] And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. [7] Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; [8] And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. (KJV)

John 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (KJV)

Ephesians 3:1-12 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, [2] If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: [3] How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, [4[ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) [5] Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; [6] That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: [7] Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. [8] Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; [9] And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: [10] To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, [11] According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: [12] In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. (KJV)

1 Peter 1:10-12 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: [11] Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. [12] Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (KJV)

1 Thes. 4:13-18 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. [14] For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. [15] For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. [16] For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: [17] Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.[18] Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (KJV) The RAPTURE.

Matthew 24:15-26 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) [16] Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: [17] Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: [18] Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. [19] And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! [20] But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: [21] For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. [22] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. [23] Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. [24][ For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. [25] Behold, I have told you before. [26] Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. (KJV)

Matthew 24:27-31 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. [28] For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. [29] Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: [30] And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. [31] And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (KJV)

Difficult or Confusing Bible Verses

1 Cor.3:13-15, What Motivates Us?

1 Cor.chapter 5, Should the Church Judge?

1 John 3:9, God's Child Cannot Sin . . . ???

1 John 5:4-5, Overcoming By Faith

1 John 5:16 . . . A Sin Unto Death???

1 John 5:18-20, Those Born of God Sinneth Not

1 Thes.5:23, Man's Trinity

2 Cor.2:14-17, Savour of Death, Savour of Life?

2 Thes.2:10-12, Those Left Behind

Col.3:12-17, How Believers Are To Live

Daniel 7:13-14, Christ in His Glory