The Seventy Weeks of Daniel
Daniel 9:24-27 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and 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 most holy place. “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, 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 determined. “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; 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.” (NASB)
“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city
In the Hebrew, the word for "weeks" is saba and simply means a "period of seven", It can seven days [Ezekiel 45:21], seven weeks [Deut. 16:9], or seven years. The immediate context of chapter 9 shows Daniel to be thinking in terms of years (vv. 1-2). They seventy years of captivity that Daniel and the other Judeans found themselves in was in response to their unwilingness ot observe the sabbath years (resting the land every seventh year) as God has decreed in the Mosaic law [Lev 25:1-7]. Thus the concept of years would be utmost on Daniel's mind. So what we have here is a period "seventy sevens" years or 70 x 7 or 490 years.
This prophecy is not to the church but to Israel, the Jewsih people. And involbves their holy city, Jerusalem.
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 most holy place.
God's purposes for this period of 490 years are six fold:
1. "finish the transgression" - bring Israel's rebellion to an end (the second coming of Christ)
2. "make an end of sin" - Israel will no longer be able to sin
3. "make atonement for iniquity" - the substitutionay death of Christ
4. "bring in everlasting righteousness" - the establishment of His new kingdom
5. "seal up vision and prophecy" - bringing to completion all that has been prophesied about Israel, her King, and His kingdom.
6. "anoint the most holy place" -the new Jerusalme will be the seat of His governance during the millenium
So the frist three purposes deal with God's provision of atonement (and Israel's acceptance of His gift)( and the second three deal wih the esatblishment of His kingdom. There will be 490 years in which God's focus will be on Israel until these things come to pass.
“So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
Between the issuing of a decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the presentation of the Messiah to Jerusalem there would 69 x 7 (483) years. There were four different decrees issued.
Year Issued by Decree
538 BC Cyrus Rebuild the temple in Jerusalem (II Chron 36:22-23)
512 BC Darius I Confirmation of Cyrus' decree (Ezra 6:1, 6-12)
457 BC Artaxerxes Financial support for the e-establishment of the priests and temple worship (Ezra 7:11-26)
444 BC Artaxerxes Rebuild the city walls of Jerusalem.
It is really this fourth decree that returns Jerusalem to her former state. Teh decree was given in the month of Nisan of hte Jewsih calendar in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes' reign. No day of htemonth id given and soem scholars suggest that this meant it was the first day of the month. A conversion between Nisan 1, 444 BC and the Gregorian calendar woudl put the date as March 5, 444 BC.
The period of 483 years is divided into a periof of 49 years and a period of 62 x 7 (434) years. The 49 years is thought to be how long it took to rebuild the city (the walls fook only 52 days). From theat point on,then there is 434 years of waiting for hte Messiah to be presented. So, here's the amizing part - let's do the math>
444 BC + 483 years = 40 AD (there being only 1 year between 1 BC and 1 AD) not 2 as there would be fromn -1 to +1.
But we beieve Christ was crucified in 33 AD (Harold Hoehner (Dallas Theological professor) who I beleive to be one of the foremost authorities on NT dating put the crucifixion on Friday, April 3, 33 AD). So what gives? Is the Bible wrong?
We need to remember that the Jewish calndar is differnet from our Gregorian calendar. The Jewish calendar has 360 days a year, as opposed ot our 365 days. So 483 years x 360 days yields a period of 173, 880 days. If we then divide that 365.25, we get 476.0575 years. 476 years from 444 BC is 33 years (remember we really adding 477 years beacse 1 BC to 1 AD is one year and not two). So we end up in the year that I beleive teh best scholars think Christ was crucified. Not only that, we have .0575 years, which if you mulitple that by 365 days, yields 20 days. Every hunnrede years, though, the leap year is skipped, so we need to add in an additional 4 days. 476 years and 24 days from March 5, 444 BC brings us to March 29, 33 A.D.
But Christ was crucified 5 days later. True, if the decree was on Nisan 6 instead of Nisan 1, the dates line up perfectly (remember we are not told what day of Nisan the decree was issued.). BUT WAIT. Let's assume that Nisan 1 was the date as scholars suggest. March 29, 33 A.D. was a Sunday. (make a calendar at http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/custommenu.html to verify this) This would be "palm Sunday" - the day that Messiah was presented to the city!
Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing
Jesus is cut off from the people of Israel when He is crucified.God's focus turns temporarily from teh nation of israel to the Gentiles. There is clearly a gap between the 69 weeks and the 70th week. This gap is the church age.
God is not done with Israel - her 70th week is coming . . .
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 determined.
Once again Jerusalem is destroyed - in 70 A.D. bya "flood" of Roman centurions.
And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; 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.”
Here, I believe, Daniel is looking ahead to the 70th week. I beleive the 70th week begins with the removal fo the Church (i.e. the Rapture). His focus is then back on the retoration of Israel. The AntiChrist will make a peace treatywith the Jewish people, whcih indicates taht Israel will first beco9me embroiled in war. (I believe the agrement will include the right for Jews to practice animal sacrifices again at the Temple site for a period of seven years. I wonder if the AnitChrist will be a Muslim leader - since Muslims currently control the temple mount). Regardless, three and half years into the agreement, the Antichrist will break the peace and desecrate the temple and its worship of God. Thsi will begin three and half years of utter desructions and chaos untilt he Lord returns to vanquish Satan and his forces a tthe battle of Armageddon.