Understanding Biblical Timelines, Part 4: Daniel's Seventy Weeks

Intro

Title - Understanding Biblical Timelines, Part 4: Daniel’s Seventy Weeks

Text -

Daniel 9:24–27 NKJV

24 “Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy. 25 “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. 26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”

Review

Part 1 - The Two Ages

Part 2 - The Times of the Gentiles, part 1

Part 3 - The Times of the Gentiles, part 2

Gabriel’s Message

[ILLUSTRATION NO.1 -]

Gabriel’s message to Daniel contains the following:

The Sixfold Purposes

Finish the transgression

make an end of sins

make reconciliation for iniquity

bring in everlasting righteousness

seal up vision and prophecy

anoint the most holy

Notes:

The Seventy Weeks

[ILLUSTRATION NO. 1 - THE SEVENTY WEEKS]

7 Weeks

begins with the command to restore and build Jerusalem

followed immediately by the next division, 62 weeks

62 Weeks

ends with the Messiah being “cut off”

followed by the destruction of the city and the sanctuary

Last Week

a covenant is confirmed for 1 week

sacrifice and offering are stopped in the middle of the week

the abomination of desolation appears on the scene

the abomination of desolation is consumed/destroyed

Key Events and Characters

The Key Events and Characters

The command to restore and build Jerusalem

The Bible gives 4 possible decrees related to Israel’s return from captivity :

- King Cyrus made a decree giving Ezra and the Babylonian captives the right to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple

- Darius made a decree giving Ezra the right to rebuild the temple

- Artaxerxes made a decree giving Ezra permission, safe passage, and supplies to return toJerusalem to rebuil the temple

- Artaxerxes made a decree giving Nehemiah permission, safe passage and supplies to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and the walls

The fourth decree fits the prophecy because:

it was the only decree to restore and build Jerusalem

its timing best fits the timeline of the prophecy

The Messiah is cut off

the vision predicts the coming of the Messiah

the vision connects with the coming of the Messiah

the vision predicts the death of the Messiah

The city and the sanctuary are destroyed

The destruction will be done by “the people of the prince who is to come”

the city and the sanctuary were destroyed by the Roman army in 70 A.D.

with a flood - an overwhelming army

The Messiah is cut off

His people was responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem

A covenant is confirmed

The Messiah is cut off

the vision predicts the coming of the Messiah

the vision connects with the coming of the Messiah

the vision predicts the death of the Messiah

A covenant is confirmed for 1 week

this covenant fulfills the remain 1 week to complete God’s timeline

the last week remains unfulfilled since the crucifixion of the Messiah because of the intervening work of God among the Gentiles which continues to the present time.

covenant with many - possibly a peace treaty among nations concerned with Israel’s existence and position in the Middle East

the covenant will be confirmed (make strong, sure) - it is possible this prince will not draft the bill, but help ensure it is enforced among involved nations

The prince who is to come

the covenant will be confirmed (make strong, sure)

An end of sacrifice and offering

His people was responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem

the same prince who confirmed the 1-week covenant causes the sacrifice to be stopped

the temple ritual of sacrifice and offering will be restored and stopped in the first half of the last week

The Timeline

[ILLUSTRATION NO. 2 - SEVENTY WEEKS TIMELINE]

454 B.C.

the command to restore and build Jerusalem was given

in the 20th year of Artexerxes

30 A.D.

the Messiah was crucified

70 A.D.

Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman legion

20??

the last week takes effect

half-way through, the antichrist appears and stops the treaty

God’s Purpose

Daniel 9:24 NKJV

24 “Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.

finish the transgression

God will finish Israel’s condition of being a transgressor of God’s law

make an end of sins

God put a stop to Israel’s sinning

make reconciliation for iniquity

“make atonement”

God will atone for the sins of His people

bring in everlasting righteousness

God will usher in true and lasting righteousness in Israel

seal up the vision and prophecy

fulfill all prophecies concerning Israel

anoint the most holy

God will establish His presence in the midst of Israel, making it the most holy place on earth

Summary

Why is this important to the church?

because the Seventy Weeks introduced the suffering Messiah

because the Gentile church age is divinely squeezed in the timeline

because the completion of the timeline marks the fulness of the Gentiles

Romans 11:25–33 NKJV

25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; 27 For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.” 28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. 33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

Romans 11.25-