D a n i e l’ s P r o p h e c y
of
70 W e e k s
Daniels’ Prophecy of “70 Weeks” is key to endtime
prophecies. For knowledge of this prophecy, teachers of prophetic studies,
Bible scholars, students of eschatology, and endtime ministers, all give due
diligence to study and learn it—for in this prophecy, almost all prophecies
related to ‘the endtime’ have their final destination.
Proper understanding of this prophecy makes other
prophetic studies easier to comprehend.
And so what is this “70 Weeks” of Daniel’s Prophecy
all about?
It is God’s ‘final timetable’ for Israel, within
which, the Salvation and final Redemption of the Gentile Christians also takes
place in the earth.
It all started with “the Exodus” of the children of
Israel from Egypt to “the Promised Land.” When the children of Israel got to
the Promised Land, God told them to observe “the Sabbath years;” as was
commanded them in Leviticus 25:1-5. They lived a total of 490 years in “the
Promised Land” in disobedience to this Command. They were to cultivate the land
for 6 years, and should be allowed to have its rest on the seventh year. By
God’s design, the harvest of the 6th year would be enough to cover
the 7th year. Just like when He commanded them to work for six days
and rest on the seventh.
God finished His work of Creation on the sixth day
and rested on the seventh day, and so He wanted His people—the nation of Israel
to do the same; which points to the divine Rest for saints of all ages in
Christ—as we later discovered in the New Covenant. But the people of Israel
would not obey.
Six days you are to
gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any."
Nevertheless, some of
the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. Then
the Lord said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and
my instructions? Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is
why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where
he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out." So the people rested on
the seventh day.
Exodus
16:26-29 NIV
Israel did not thoroughly observe “the Sabbath
years” in “the Promised Land” throughout the 490 years they stayed in the Land.
And the number of Sabbath years in 490 years will be 70 years. So what God did was
to use Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon to invade the Promised Land and take the
people captive, after killing many of them.
The Lord, the God of
their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again,
because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked
God's messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the
wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. He
brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men
with the sword in the sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor young woman,
old man or aged. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. He carried to
Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the
treasures of the Lord's temple and the treasures of the king and his officials.
They set fire to God's temple and broke
down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed
everything of value there.
He carried into exile
to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to
him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. The land enjoyed
its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy
years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.
II
Chronicles 36:15-21 NIV
This
is what the Lord says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I
will come to you and fulfill My gracious promise to bring you back to this
place.
Jer
29:10 NIV
God did this so that the land would have its rest or
Sabbath for the 70 years which the people failed to observe. So, while Israel
was in captivity in Babylon, Daniel, God’s faithful servant knew they would be
under Babylonian captivity for 70 years.
How did he know this, while others were ignorant?
God gave him an understanding heart concerning
prophecies. Daniel has an excellent spirit.
In the first year of
his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of
the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would
last seventy years.
Daniel
9:2 NIV
Prophet Jeremiah prophesied concerning the
Babylonian captivity which would last for 70 years.
This whole country
will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of
Babylon seventy years.
Jer
25:11 NIV
At the end of the 70 years of captivity, Medo-Persia
empire defeated Babylon and took over the regime. Immediately this happened,
Daniel went on his knees to remind God of His promise to take the people of
Israel back to Jerusalem. Little did Daniel know that taking them back to their
homeland and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem would be done by only a
few people and not the entire tribes.
In the first year of
Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by
Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a
proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:
"This is what
Cyrus king of Persia says:
"'The Lord, the
God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed
me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among
you — may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and
build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. And
the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him
with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for
the temple of God in Jerusalem.'"
Ezra
1:1-4 NIV
However, as he was praying, God sent Archangel
Gabriel to give him understanding; to acquaint him with God’s ‘final timetable’
for Israel, otherwise known as “the 70 Weeks of Daniel’s Prophecy.”
"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.
"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. 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. 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."
Daniel
9:24-27 NIV
“The 70 Weeks of Daniel’s prophecy” refers to 70
sevens of years, i.e. 70 x 7 years which is a total of 490 years.
In Matthew 18:21-22 Jesus made it clear that 70 x 7
is the number of forgiveness. When He said this, He had in mind, God’s program
for Israel’s Redemption—that’s “the Israel that is by faith.” This God’s
arithmetic guarantee final forgiveness for Israel and her restoration once
fulfilled. And so God’s Elect which is “the Israel that is by faith” will
receive ‘forgiveness’ and ‘redemption’ after 490 years of further oppressions
by the gentile world powers. The oppressions by Egypt, Assyria and Babylon are
not part of this. It is from the rise to power of Medo Persia to the final onslaught
by “the Revised Rome” (last resurrection of The Holy Roman Empire) with “the
antichrist” at the helm of affairs.
However, one thing is interesting about these 490
years. It corresponds with the number of years the Hebrews lived in “the
Promised Land” in disobedience to God’s Command.
The 70 Weeks of Daniel’s prophecy are divided into 3
segments or sections. Segments 1 and 2 run consecutively while segment 3 will
run its course after a certain gap.
Segment
1 is
a period of 7 weeks, i.e., 7 x 7 years= 49 years. This period covered the
building of the walls of Jerusalem, championed by Nehemiah in troublous times.
In Bible history, the building of the walls of Jerusalem took 49 years. In fact
that is how we know that “the 70 weeks” of Daniel’s prophecy does not represent
70 sevens of days, weeks or months, but of years. This prophecy is accurately
in line with historical accounts.
Section
2
is a period of 62 weeks, i.e., 62 x 7 years=434 years. This period was marked
by the crucifixion of Christ by the Roman Empire in A.D.33
If you add up segments 1and 2 you get 483 years,
which is prophetic “69 weeks.” Remember, that in this prophecy, ‘1 week’ stands
for 7 years.
At this point, God temporarily abandoned His program
with Israel and the gap ensued. The very week on Hebrew Calendar, when the Jews
were to crucify Christ, He told them that they failed to know the time of their
visitation by rejecting Him as their Messiah.
The Scriptures make it clear that temporal or partial
blindness has happened to the Jews until “the fullness of times of the
Gentiles.” Let’s take a look at these two passages of Scripture on this.
And when he was come
near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even
thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now
they are hid from thine eyes.
For the days shall
come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass
thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
And shall lay thee
even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in
thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy
visitation.
Luke
19:41-44 KJV
For I would not,
brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in
your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the
fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Romans
11:25 KJV
When God temporarily abandoned His program for the
nation of Israel, the gap which ensued is “the Church Age” which is still
present. Since A.D. 33 when Christ, the Messiah was crucified, we entered the
Church Age (the gap) or what Isaiah called “the time of Jehovah’s Favor.”
Definitely, it is the event of “the Rapture” that will terminate this “gap,”
and God’s clock for Israel will start ticking again. God will take up His
original program with His people—“the Elect” which He ‘stopped on the way with
Israel, when the Jews crucified Christ.’
The Jews handed Jesus over to the Romans to be
crucified during “the great exchange”—and they requested that Barabbas, a
criminal; an insurrectionist be released to them instead (Matthew 27), the
Romans crucified Jesus, and the Bible records that the curtain of the temple
tore from the top to the bottom.
From the sixth hour
until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour
Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-which means, "My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
When some of those
standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah."
Immediately one of
them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick,
and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, "Now leave him alone.
Let's see if Elijah comes to save him."
And when Jesus had
cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
At that moment the
curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and
the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who
had died were raised to life.
Matt
27:45-53 NIV
This signified that God abandoned His program with
the nation of Israel—which is “the Old Covenant,” and began a “New Covenant”
with all who come to Christ Jesus, from every nation, for Salvation and Rest.
Now, here is Section
3:
“The 70th Week” does not begin until the
antichrist makes his peace pact with Israel.
And he shall confirm
the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall
cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of
abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that
determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Daniel
9:27 KJV
And so, whenever the antichrist signs this peace
treaty with Israel and several Arab states, it means that “the 70th
Week” of Daniel’s prophecy of “Seventy Sevens,” which is the last 7 years that
will complete the 490 years has begun. And it is going to be the last 7 years
of human government on earth.
The antichrist ‘will confirm a covenant with many’
within the closing of the Church Age.
The 7 years of the antichrist’s reign on the earth
are divided into two parts: the first will be a 3 ½ years of peace and security
(safety) in “the New World Order,” known as “the lesser (or minor) tribulation.”
But, the second-half will be the time of “the Great Tribulation.”
Jeremiah 30:7 refers to this period as “the time of
Jacob’s trouble.”
For then there will be
great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now — and never
to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would
survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
Matthew
24:21-22 NIV
Thank God that “the Church Age” will elapse before
“the Great Tribulation.” There shall be an evacuation of God’s saints from this
planet before the worst of hell will break loose on the earth.
Israel will have to undergo great perilous times
during the regime and control of the last Gentile world empire; the Revised
Rome [a 10 nation European confederacy] that will be on the world stage as they
attain their political unification.
Israel with the Arabs will enter into a 7 year peace
treaty with the leader of “Fortress Europe” and about the end of the first
“three and half years,” within the time of the ‘accord,’ the Jews will break
this ‘accord’ because the antichrist will try to stop them from offering
sacrifices to the God of Heaven (see Daniel 9:27).
As a result of this disagreement, the antichrist
will persecute the Jews terribly and would have nearly totally annihilated them
before “The Second Coming Of Christ” to deliver “Israel” in “the War of
Armageddon” –the battle between God and the nations which are under the beast’s
government (read Zechariah 14).
John also records the visions and prophecies he saw
concerning this:
The sixth angel poured
out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to
prepare the way for the kings from the East. Then I saw three evil spirits that
looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth
of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are spirits of
demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole
world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
"Behold, I come
like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so
that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."
Then they gathered the
kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
The seventh angel
poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from
the throne, saying, "It is done!"
Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a
severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been
on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts,
and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and
gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. Every island
fled away and the mountains could not be found. From the sky huge hailstones of
about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of
the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
Rev
16:12-21 NIV
I saw heaven standing
open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and
True. With justice he judges and makes war.
His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has
a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe
dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were
following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and
clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the
nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the
winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his
thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD
OF LORDS.
And I saw an angel
standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in
midair, "Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you
may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their
riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great."
Then I saw the beast
and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war
against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and
with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his
behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the
beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery
lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came
out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves
on their flesh.
Rev
19:11-21 NIV
In this battle, Jesus Christ, the “King of kings”
and “Lord of lords” will vanquish this conclave of the dragon, the beast, and
the false prophet who deceives the nations.
Christ will win, and He “will rule the nations with
a rod of iron.”
He will judge the nations, and Israel’s spiritual
restoration will take place during “the Millennial Reign Of Christ” upon the
earth.