Part 11: Times of the Kingdom
Bible prophecy does not often include precise dates for the events that it foretells. Future events are sometimes intermingled with near or contemporary happenings, and many times the prophet’s vision moves suddenly from the present to the end of time, without providing absolute time indicators. However, at strategic points in history, the Holy Spirit revealed detailed chronology to the prophetic writers, which serve to validate the accuracy of the prophet’s predictions, as well as demonstrate God’s sovereign hand over the wheel of time, as well as the hearts of men.
The Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks is one of the most critical prophetic chronologies in the entire Bible. Its framework for history extends from the post-exilic rebuilding of Jerusalem through the coming of Messiah, and on to the culmination of the Messianic kingdom, with its reign of “everlasting righteousness” and the promise of resurrection to “everlasting life” for God’s saints. The chronology and associated events of the Seventy Weeks, especially the final Seventieth Week, are referenced in the New Testament by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse, by the apostle Paul in his Thessalonians epistles, and by the apostle John in his climactic book of Revelation.
This prophecy, delivered not by Daniel but by an angelic messenger (and transcribed by Daniel), has proven to be one of the most critiqued and misunderstood passages in all the Old Testament, with divergent interpretations being offered from liberal and conservative scholars and commentators. Despite this confusion, the general sequence of the prophecy should not be unclear to a careful reader who is familiar with the expectation of the Old Testament prophets. In fact, the Seventy Weeks tie together many strands of previous prophetic revelation, anchoring them to known historical events and dates, while strategically leaving the ultimate fulfillment of the Messianic kingdom an undated, and undateable, finale.
The Seventy Sevens
Daniel 9
LSB
In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, from the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans—
in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, discerned in the books the number of the years concerning which the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet for the fulfillment of the laying waste of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.
So I gave my face to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
And I prayed to Yahweh my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,
we have sinned and committed iniquity and acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and judgments.
“Moreover, we have not listened to Your slaves the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and all the people of the land.
“To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have banished them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You.
“O Yahweh, to us belongs open shame, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.
“To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him;
nor have we listened to the voice of Yahweh our God, to walk in His laws which He put before us through His slaves the prophets.
“Indeed all Israel has trespassed against Your law, even turning aside, not listening to Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him.
“Thus He has established His words which He had spoken against us and against our judges who judged us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem.
“As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not entreated the favor of Yahweh our God by turning from our iniquity and acting wisely in Your truth.
“Therefore Yahweh has watched over the calamity and brought it on us; for Yahweh our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not listened to His voice.
“So now, O Lord our God, who have brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand and have made a name for Yourself, as it is this day—we have sinned; we have acted wickedly.
“O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteousness, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us.
“So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your slave and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary.
“O my God, incline Your ear and listen! 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 righteousness of our own, but on account of Your abundant compassion.
“O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, give heed and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God,
and while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, touched me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering.
Then he made me understand and spoke with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding.
“At the beginning of your supplications the word was issued, so I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so understand the message and gain understanding in what has appeared.
“Seventy weeks have been determined for your people and for 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 Holy of Holies.
“So you are to know and have insight that from the going out of a word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be restored and rebuilt, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
“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 decreed.
“And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will make sacrifice and grain offering cease; 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.”
The Purposes of the Seventy Sevens
“Determined for your people and for your holy city…”
- Finish the transgression
- Make an end of sin
- Make atonement for iniquity
- Bring in everlasting righteousness
- Seal up vision and prophecy
- Anoint the Holy of Holies
Defining the Sevens
Hebrew word for “weeks” is שָׁבוּעַ - literally, “seven”
When used to describe a week (in the book of Daniel), it is disambiguated as “seven of days” (שָׁבֻעִ֖ים יָמִֽים)
Context of Daniels’ prayer (Dan 9:2) indicates that “years” are in view, not days
The Question of Prophetic Gaps
Prophetic gaps are well-known from the prophetic Scripture. Under the inspiration of the Spirit, the Old Testament prophets regularly perceive distant future events as coalescing, especially when the ultimate eschatological “end” is in view. This is especially the case with prophecies relating to the coming of the Messiah and the circumstances surrounding it.
One of the most clear examples of a prophetic gap can be found in the messianic prophecy of Isaiah 61:
Isaiah 61:1–2 (LSB)
The Spirit of Lord Yahweh is upon me
Because Yahweh has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim release to captives
And freedom to prisoners,
To proclaim the favorable year of Yahweh
And the day of vengeance of our God,
During Jesus’ earthly ministry, he called attention to this prophecy and it’s fulfillment in his lifetime.
Luke 4:17–21 (LSB)
And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the scroll and found the place where it was written,
“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,
BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.
HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES,
AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,
TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,
TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”
And He closed the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Note that Jesus abruptly halted the reading (“closed the scroll”) only partway through verse 2 - quite literally interrupting the prophet’s sentence! His declaration of fulfillment (“today this Scripture has been fulfilled”) was thus constrained only to the first one and half clauses of Isaiah 61 - Christ could not have made that statement had he continued the reading to include the “day of vengeance” of which Isaiah (and most of the prophets) had forewarned.
Importantly, while we have unambiguous evidence of this “gap” in the middle of Isaiah 61:2 through Jesus’ selective reading, it is arguable that the discerning and attentive reader of Isaiah 61 could detect this gap even without the gospel account. The theme of Isaiah 61 is the restoration and healing of the Messiah’s ministry, especially as seen in his kingdom reign. However, the “day of vengeance” in verse 2 is a clear reference to the apocalyptic “day of Yahweh” (Joel 3, Isaiah 24-25, etc) that would lead to widespread destruction and judgement upon the nations (and great persecution of Israel, prior to her rescue and salvation - Zechariah 12-14). The “day of vengeance” clause in verse 2 therefore is in tension with the surrounding context, and it is exactly at these points of tension where we most often find prophetic gaps, as the prophetic vision collapses the passing of centuries into a single proclamation.
With this in mind, we should pay special attention to the presence of tension in Daniel’s Seventy Week prophecy - the “cutting off” of the Messiah, the destruction of the city and sanctuary prior to its desecration by the “prince who is to come”, and the inauguration of the final “week” by the prince after the arrival of his “people”. A discerning and honest reader will find this sequence of events confusing (as Daniel did), and only reconcilable when the existence of an indeterminate period of time between verse 26a and verse 27 is recognized.
The Rise of the Willful King
Daniel 11:36–45
LSB
“Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak astonishing things against the God of gods; and he will succeed until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done.
“He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all.
“But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones, and desirable things.
“And he will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who recognize him and will cause them to rule over the many and will apportion land for a price.
“And at the time of the end, the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen, and with many ships; and he will enter lands, overflow them, and pass through.
“And he will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab, and the foremost of the sons of Ammon.
“Then he will send forth his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape.
“But he will rule over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the desirable things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels.
“But reports from the East and from the North will dismay him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and devote many to destruction.
“And he will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.
The Time of the End
Daniel 12
LSB
“Now at that time, Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will stand. And there will be a time of distress such as never happened since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.
“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to reproach and everlasting contempt.
“And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
“But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the time of the end; many will go to and fro, and knowledge will increase.”
Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the river and the other on that bank of the river.
And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be until the end of these wonders?”
And I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they complete shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed.
As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?”
Then he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the time of the end.
“Many will be purged, purified, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.
“But from the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
“How blessed is he who keeps waiting and reaches the 1,335 days!
“But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and stand again for your allotted portion at the end of the days.”