Day of the Lord Series: The Importance of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel

As we have noted in our previous classes, there are many day of the Lord prophecies which will be fulfilled during the seventieth week of Daniel (Zeph. 1:14; Joel 2:1; 2:11, 31; 3:14; Zechariah 14:1-2; Is. 13:6-16; Acts 2:20; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Thess. 2:2).

Most students of the Bible and in particular biblical prophecy know, the prophecy of the seventieth week of Daniel helps to compose the prophecy of the seventy weeks which is recorded in Daniel 9:24-27.

Daniel 9:24 “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. 25 “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” (NIV 84)

The prophecy of the seventy weeks in Daniel 9:24-27 constitutes the key to all prophetic interpretation and thus is the backbone of biblical prophecy and outlines the future of the nation of Israel.

The prophecy of the seventy weeks is extremely important because it affirms the literal, grammatical, and historical method of interpreting of prophecy and also clearly demonstrates the truth of the Scriptures.

It also supports the idea that the church is a mystery meaning she was not known to Old Testament prophets like Daniel.

The prophecy makes clear that this prophecy is directly related to the nation of Israel and its future and it also makes clear that Israel has a future and refutes replacement theology which contends the church has replaced Israel.

Furthermore, the prophecy of the seventy weeks presents the chronology of prophecy.

The prophecy of the seventy weeks in Daniel 9:24-27 also refutes the attempt of liberal scholars to question the date of writing for Daniel’s prophecies.

Liberal scholars have assigned a second century B.C. date for the book of Daniel since they do not believe in predictive prophecy.

They say Daniel wrote after the events recorded in the book that bears his name.

The prophecy of the seventy weeks in Daniel 9:24-27 further supports the biblical doctrine that God is sovereign and that He is omnipotent in that He can bring to pass that which He declares will take place in history.

It also demonstrates the fact that He is omniscient and knows what will take place in history before it happens.

There are several important factors regarding this prophecy.

First of all, it is directly related to the nation of Israel and not the church and it also has to do with the city of Jerusalem.

Secondly, there are two different princes mentioned in the prophecy in that they are distinct from each other and should not be taken as referring to the same individual.

In verse 25, the first prince is mentioned who is called “Messiah the prince” and the second appears in verse 26 and he is called the “prince who is to come.”

Thirdly, the prophecy has a specific time period, namely 70 weeks or in other words 490 prophetic years.

Another important factor regarding the prophecy of the seventy weeks is that it is divided into three parts.

The first contains 7 weeks or 49 prophetic years and the second is 62 weeks or 434 prophetic years and the third is one week or 7 prophetic years.

The seventy weeks begins at a specific point in history, namely “from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem” (verse 25).

At the end of the 69 weeks or 483 prophetic years the Messiah is said to appear (verse 25).

After the 69th week, the Messiah is said to be “cut off’ and Jerusalem and the temple will once again be destroyed but this time by the people of the prince who is to come.

The seventieth week also has a fixed point because it begins with the prince who is to come forging a seven-year treaty with the nation of Israel and in the middle of this seven-year period, this prince of the people who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering in the temple.

There is disagreement among scholars as to whether or not there is a gap of an indefinite period of time between the completion of the sixty-ninth week and the seventieth.

Also, as we have pointed out, dispensationalism in contrast to other interpretive approaches views Israel’s rejection of her Messiah and His death as taking place after the sixty-ninth week and the completion of the six divine objectives mentioned in verse 24 are left for the seventieth week.

Those who argue that the seventieth week follows immediately after the sixty-ninth week historically apply the divine objectives in verse 24 to the church, which they then view as the new Israel.

However, adherents to dispensationalism which strictly adheres to the literal method of interpreting prophecy recognize a distinction between God’s program for the church and His program for Israel.

Thus, dispensationalists view the fulfillment of the seventieth week is yet future.

There are several major factors which support the view that there is a time gap between the fulfillment of the sixty-ninth week and the seventieth.

First, the six divine objectives which appear in Daniel 9:24 must be fulfilled within the seventy weeks, however, these have emphatically not been fulfilled historically.

For instance, the objective of anointing the most holy place has not taken place within the 490 years.

The holy place was destroyed in Daniel 9:26 but then in Daniel 9:27 we see it rebuilt since sacrifices were allowed under the “firm covenant,” however, this temple does not presently exist.

Therefore, one must see a future fulfillment during the seventieth week in Daniel 9:27, which thus necessitates a time gap, which corresponds to the church age as we noted.

A second major factor supporting a time gap is that Daniel 9:26 says that the Messiah will be cut off after the sixty-nine weeks and not during the seventieth week.

Thirdly, the “he” in Daniel 9:27 refers to “the prince who is to come” in Daniel 9:26, if one follows the rules of grammar which would support the view that the nearest antecedent for the “he” in verse 27 is “the prince who is to come” in Daniel 9:26.

Connected to this third point, is that if the “he” in Daniel 9:27 is the Messiah, then one cannot reconcile the fact that the temple sacrifices continued until 70 A.D. over thirty years after the crucifixion of Christ.

Furthermore, the “he” in Daniel 9:27 breaks the covenant.

At what point did Christ make a covenant with the Jews and then break it?

There is nothing in the New Testament which would even suggest this.

Another major factor which supports the time gap is that the events mentioned in the last three and a half years of Daniel 9:27 fit perfectly with the events described in the book of Revelation.

Furthermore, if the first sixty-nine weeks have been literally fulfilled in history, then we would expect the seventieth week to be as well and of course we have not seen a literal fulfillment in history of the seventieth week.

We have not seen a Roman dictator make a seven-year treaty with Israel and then break it in the middle of this seven-year period, nor, have we seen in history a Roman dictator put a stop to the sacrifices in the temple and in fact, no temple is standing in Israel today.

However, Christ’s first advent and presentation of Himself to the nation of Israel as her king has taken place literally in history as recorded in the gospels and thus fulfilling literally Daniel 9:25.

We have also seen the fulfillment of Daniel 9:26 and the cutting off of the Messiah after this presentation, which is recorded in the gospels. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Romans as predicted in Daniel 9:26.

Thus, it follows that if Daniel 9:25-26 were fulfilled literally in history, then we can expect the same for Daniel 9:27.