Daniels Seventy Weeks
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Daniel’s Seventy Weeks
Daniel’s Seventy Weeks
Our Bible is made up of 66 books which were written by 40 different men over 1,500 plus years. These men lived in different locations and at different times however each of these book’s support the others.
We have the Old Testament and the New Testament, in the Old Testament the New Testament is concealed but in the New Testament the Old Testament is revealed.
Here I am a man from another country that can’t speak your language telling you what I believe about the Bible.
But what if the Bible in its own words can prove that it is the Word of God. The creator of all things, the ancient of time, the one who is outside of time space and matter.
If you’re not a believer, would that convince you, or if you’re not sure would it bring you to the point of confidence that these collections of writings are the word of God?
The scriptures were written by Gods chosen people the descendants of Abraham as the holy spirit instructed. We refer to these people as the Jews, but God refers to them as the apple of His eye(the people that he reveals Himself through to all the nations of the world).
The scriptures show how God loves these people and how He works with the Jews shepherding them through time to complete His plan of redemption for the world and all who would receive Him. There are times of obedience and times of disobedience, there times of blessing and times of correction and through these acts we can see how God is working with the Jewish nation Israel.
The prophet Isaiah was speaking to Israel when they had gone after other gods and worshipping idols made by hands, so God spoke through the prophet Isaiah in chapter 46:8-10.
8 “Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, 9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
God in these verses is challenging Israel to look at what they are doing. You make idols of silver, stone and wood with your hands, that can’t speak, and you lift them up carrying them around and bow down and worship them as if they are gods. You are worshipping the things that you created when you should be worshipping the creator of the heavens and the earth the God that carries you. The God that can tell you about the future things before they happen.
These verses bring me confidence that the God of the Bible is the true God and I can be sure His word is true.
Now as we open the Word of God and study a few prophecies (telling us about the future in advance) and how they were fulfilled and are being fulfilled even today, I pray that your confidence, and your faith will be strengthened so that you will stand and show yourselves to be men and women of courage and character.
We will look at the book of Daniel and a prophecy that Daniel was given at the end of Israels seventy years of captivity in Babylon.
Note: Israels captivity into Babylon was prophesied and the exact length of time until their release was also prophesied and fulfilled to the day.
The Babylonians took captives from Judah two separate times and Daniel was taken in the first group. The prophecy that we are going to review was given to Daniel while in Babylonian captivity and is found in Chapter 9 verses 24-27.
To set the scene; Daniel understands from the Prophecies written by Jeremiah that Israel is close to completing the seventy years of captivity that God had ordained. Daniel is now looking for additional understanding of how God is going to work with Israel.
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.
11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste.
10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.
Now Daniel realizes that the seventy years of captivity are almost complete, so he prays for himself and Israel.
Now jump forward to verses 20-23
20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for the holy hill of my God, 21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. 23 At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.
Now we get to the prophecy given to Daniel by Gabriel, who is Gabriel? The angle that announces Gods Word.
24 “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
To finish the transgression, (Satan’s twisted rule)
To make and end of sins, (people follow Gods commands)
To make reconciliation for iniquity, (all debts are paid)
To bring in everlasting righteousness, (all will be judged correctly)
To seal up vision and prophecy, (all prophecy will be fulfilled)
And to anoint the Most Holy. (to make Jerusalem the throne)
This verse is telling us that there is a time in which God is going to complete many things for Daniels people the Jews.
Let’s look at that list:
We could possibly say the reconciliation of sin has been fulfilled in our time by Jesus, but the remaining descriptions have not been completed, showing us that most of the prophecy yet to be fulfilled.
Now let’s look at the 70 weeks term, what does it mean.
We are familiar with a week of 7 days, but in the Hebrew culture there are also:
Weeks of 7 weeks or seven weeks as shown in Lev. 23:15,16
Weeks of months or seven months as shown in Ex. 12:2 and Lev 23:24
Weeks of years or 7 years also referred to as sabbatical years as shown in Lev. 25:1-22; 26:33-35; Deut. 15; Ex.23:10,11.
Israel is in Babylonian captivity for not observing the sabbatical years as specified in Leviticus chapter 25. They were required to work the land for six years and let it rest the seventh year. They had violated that covenant for 490 years which accumulated a debt of 70 years of Sabbath rest for the land. God takes Israel captive so that they cannot work the land.
1 The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.
Note: These verses show us a sabbath year “or week of years”.
21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
God is spelling out how He expects the land of Israel to be maintained, (His lease agreement).
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25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time.
The seven weeks and the sixty-two weeks add up to sixty-nine weeks.
The main idea of the verse is that from the command to restore Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah is 69 weeks of years, or 69 times 7 which equals 483 years.
Note: In English we use Decade in the same way, for example 69 decades would equal 690.
This verse also tells Daniel that Jerusalem is going to be rebuilt which is the prayer of the Jews. Remember Daniel has been in captivity for most of seventy years and Jerusalem has been in ruin that entire time.
Look at the last line which speaks of rebuilding the street and the wall. There were four decrees to rebuild Jerusalem, three of which are in Ezra 1:2-4; 6:1-5,8,12 and 7:11-26, but these three refer to the temple. In Nehemiah 2:5-8,17,18 king Artaxerxes on March 14, 445 B.C. writes a decree for Nehemiah to rebuild the walls and city of Jerusalem.
Now let’s look at what kind of year is being used? The bible uses 360-day years which can be seen in Revelation 11:2-3 and 13:5.
With this information we are ready to do some calculations. We now know that one year equals 360 days, and we have 69 sabbatical years or 69 x 7 which equals 483 years. 483 years times 360 days per years equals 173,880 days.
When did Jesus present Himself as King? There were several times in Jesus’s ministry that the people wanted to make Him King, but He said it wasn’t His time and slipped away. Jesus set the time and circumstances to present Himself as Messiah.
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
(These verses in Luke are from palms 118:26 which is declaring the King and Messiah and Jesus is riding the donkey as prophesied in Zechariah 9:9 These prophecies were first spoken hundreds of years prior to the birth of Jesus, and He is fulfilling them).
When did this happen? Christ started His ministry in the fall of 28 A.D. We can look at the rulers and priest listed in Luke 3:1 to get this date. With this date to the 4th Passover, we get a date of April 6, 32 AD for the triumphal entry of the Messiah and King.
# 3 Power point the chart.
Looking at the chart we see that from the decree of Artaxerxes on March 14, 445 BC. to the triumphal entry on April 6, 32 AD. is 173,880 days as prophesied. Not to the year or the month or the week but to the day.
41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Jesus held the Jewish people accountable for not knowing the prophecy of Daniel that told them when He would come. Will we be held accountable for not knowing the prophesies yet to be fulfill?
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26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.
Jesus the Messiah was cut off (crucified) a few days after presenting himself to Israel, and in 70 AD the city and the sanctuary were destroyed as Daniels and Jesus’s prophecies foretold.
The Jews were looking for a conquering world leader that would physically defeat their Roman rulers and make Israel a great nation as in the days of King David.
They missed the teachings of Jesus that said first you must repent and be born from above and be given a new heart one of flesh not of stone. The Jewish people are still the apple of Gods eye, and it is His desire to reveal Him shelf to the world through them, but He can’t in their current spiritual condition, so the 70-week prophecy was put on hold and the Jewish people are partly blinded.
Yes, Jesus was crucified in Israel but make no mistake by thinking that Israel is at fault for His death, it was God’s plan from the beginning that the entire world would be saved by the blood of Jesus the Christ!
While the nation of Israel is on hold, God starts working with the gentile nations by, the blood of Jesus the Holy Spirit and His Word to make Himself known to the world. This time is referred to as the church age, the age that we are currently in and is written about in the Book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3. Note: This group of prophecies concerning the church are being fulfilled even today.
In Daniels 70-week prophecy there remains one week of years to be fulfilled for the Jewish nation of Israel.
#5 PowerPoint Daniel 9:27
27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
The sign that this seven-year period has started is that there will be a covenant confirmed with Israel and many that is put forth by a world leader. This world leader that confirmed the covenant will break it mid-point or at 3-1/2 years, and at this mid-point He will cause sacrifices to end.
We have just made it to the important part of this prophecy as it relates to us, for this world leader to make a covenant with Israel, Israel would have to be a nation and in a dramatic way Israel became a nation again on May 14th 1948 after being exiled throughout the world for 1900 years.
There is another important part, for Israel to have sacrifices there needs to be a temple and to this day there isn’t one, but plans to build one have been drawn, temple implements are made, priestly lines have been searched out for service in the temple and the red heifers are being considered at this time to be used for the cleansing of the temple.
We see from history that the first sixty-nine weeks of Daniels prophecy were fulfilled exactly as written which gives us confidence that the final week will be fulfilled exactly as written.
The book of Revelation chapters 6-19 gives us a detailed description of what will happen to Israel and the world during that final week.
Jesus in Matthew 24:21-22 gives us a brief description of that final week.
21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.
This final week will be brought to an end ushering in the Davidic kingdom for a 1000 years, when Jesus comes to earth riding on a white horse with His saints behind Him as the lion of Judah, the Son of David , the King of Kings, The Alpha and Omega, The Almighty.
My question to you is, are you prepared to meet Him, is He your lord and savior?