Daniel 9:25-The Beginning of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel and the End of the Sixty-Ninth Week (Doctrinal Bible Church in Huntsville, Alabama)

Doctrinal Bible Church

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Wednesday January 10, 2024

Day of the Lord Series: The Beginning of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel and the End of the Sixty-Ninth Week

Lesson # 6

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)

Daniel 9:24 “Seventy units of seven years have been decreed for the benefit of your people as well as for the benefit of your holy city in order to put an end to the rebellion and in addition to bring sin to an end as well as to atone for iniquity likewise to bring about everlasting righteousness as well as to seal up prophetic vision and in addition to anoint the most holy place. 25 Therefore, please know, yes please carefully consider: From the issuing of the command to restore, yes to rebuild Jerusalem until an anointed one, a prince, there will be seven units of seven years and sixty-two units of seven years. It will be restored, yes it will be rebuilt with a public square as well as a defensive trench even during distressful times.” (Pastor’s translation)

Gabriel desires that Daniel know and carefully consider the exact time when these seventy units of seven years or 490 prophetic years would begin and when the sixty-ninth week would end as a result of these seventy units of seven years being decreed for Israel and Jerusalem.

“From the issuing of the command to restore, yes to rebuild Jerusalem” was the fourth of four decrees made by Persian rulers in reference to the Jews: (1) Cyrus’ decree in 538 B.C. (2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4; 5:13). (2) Darius’ I decree in 520 B.C. (Ezra 6:1; 6-12). (3) Artaxerxes Longimanus’ decree in 458 B.C. (Ezra 7:11-26). (4) Artaxerxes Longimanus’ decree in 444 B.C. (Nehemiah 2:1-8).

The first three decrees say nothing about the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem itself since the first two decrees pertain to the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem and the third relates to finances for animal sacrifices at the temple but the fourth decree granted the Jews permission to rebuild Jerusalem’s city walls.

“From the issuing of the command to restore, yes to rebuild Jerusalem” informs Daniel as to when the seventy weeks or seventy units of seven years (490 prophetic years) begin and it will begin with the restoration and rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem.

The decree of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah in 444 B.C. to rebuild the city of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:1-8) is the decree being referred to in Daniel 9:25, which marks the beginning of the seventy weeks or the seventy units of seven years (490 prophetic years).

This is indicated by the fact that this decree makes a direct reference to the restoration of the city of Jerusalem (2:3, 5) and of the city gates and walls (2:3, 8).

Also, Artaxerxes wrote a letter to Asaph to give materials to be used specifically for the walls (2:8).

Furthermore, the book of Nehemiah and Ezra 4:7-23 indicate that the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem was done during tremendous adversity just as Gabriel predicted to Daniel here in Daniel 9:25.

Therefore, the only decree that adequately fits the criteria listed in Daniel 9:25 is the decree of Artaxerxes in 444 B.C. which is mentioned in the book of Nehemiah.

This decree marks the beginning of the seventy weeks.

“It will be restored, yes it will be rebuilt with a public square as well as a defensive trench even during distressful times” tells Daniel that Jerusalem will be built during times of great adversity.

This was fulfilled during the days of Nehemiah as recorded in the book which bears his name.

“Until an anointed one, a prince, there will be seven units of seven years and sixty-two units of seven years” marks the end of sixty-nine units of seven years or sixty-nine weeks which is 483 prophetic years and was fulfilled in history when the Lord Jesus Christ presented Himself to Israel as her Messiah (Luke 19:28-44).

The “anointed one, a prince” is reference to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The “seven units of seven years” or “seven weeks” is 49 years, which refers to the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:12-15).

The “sixty-two weeks” or “sixty-two units of seven years” is 434 years.

The “seven weeks” is to be added to the “sixty-two weeks,” which equals 483 years.

So we can see that the first seven weeks and the sixty-two weeks that followed it ran consecutively with no time between them and totaled 483 years and this has been fulfilled in history in that it extended from March 5, 444 B.C to March 30, 33 A.D.

This would be 173,800 days and remember a year is 360 days.

In order to understand how 444 B.C. to A.D. 33 can equal 483 years, we must understand that the Jewish calendar had 360 days per year, thus 483 years times 360 days equals 173,880 days.

The Gregorian Calendar contains 365 days a year and under this 444 B.C. to A.D. 33 would be 476 years since only one year expired between 1 B.C. and A.D. 1.

A total of 476 years divided by four (a leap year every four years) gives 119 additional days but three days must be subtracted from 119 because centennial years are not leap years, though every 400 years is a leap year.

Thus, 476 years times 365 days equals 173,740 days and if we add 116 days in leap years and 24 days (March 5-30), we have 173,880 days.

If we multiply the sixty-nine weeks by seven years for each week by 360 days, would give us a total of 173,800 days.

There are 476 solar years between 444 B.C. and 33 A.D.

Now, if we multiply 476 by 365.24219879 or by 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45.975 seconds as Hoehner suggests one arrives at the number 173,855 days, 6 hours, 52 minutes, 44 seconds or 173,855 days.

There are 25 days to be accounted for between 444 B.C. and 33 A.D.

If we add 25 days to March 5, 444 B.C., we arrive at March 30, 33 A.D., which was amazingly Nisan 10, 33 A.D.

This was the day of the Lord Jesus’ triumphal or tearful entry into Jerusalem to present Himself to Israel as her king.

Luke 19:44 records the Lord Jesus Christ telling the Jews in His day that the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed because they did not recognize the day of their visitation meaning they did not recognize Him as their Messiah on the day He presented Himself as Israel’s king.

If the Jews studied the prophecy in Daniel 9:25, they would have been able to calculate the exact day when their Messiah would arrive.

Thus, they would have recognized Jesus of Nazareth as their king since He presented Himself on the last day of the 483 year!

From a literal understanding of this prophecy in Daniel 9:25, they would have seen that Jesus fulfilled this prophecy to the exact day.