Prophecy 4
– The Seventy Weeks
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The Seventy
Weeks – Daniel 9:20-27
Beginning
Point in Time: 457 B.C.
Ending Point in Time: Second
Coming of Jesus
Summary:
The essence of this prophecy can be
summarized in a few sentences. While
they were exiles in Babylon, God
offered the trustees of His covenant
(the nation of Israel) a second
chance. He granted them 490 years
(seventy weeks) to overcome their
rebellion and fulfill the terms and
conditions of His covenant. If Israel
cooperated, the prophecies given in
the book of Daniel (Plan B) would be
sealed up forever (remain unknown)
and the promises and prophecies given
to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and
other Old Testament prophets (Plan A)
would be fulfilled. On the other
hand, if Israel failed, Israel would
be destroyed
Introduction:
Many scholars and pastors have
separated this prophecy from the
previous three prophecies in Daniel
and the result is a huge disaster.
Millions of people anticipate several
events that will not occur. For
example, it is commonly taught that
the sixty-nine weeks in Daniel
9 are in the distant past, but
the seventieth week is in the future!
This is impossible! Time is an
unbroken continuum. When one second
ends, a new second begins. There is
no room for additional time between
two seconds, minutes, hours, months,
days, years, or weeks of years! The
seventieth week began when the
sixty-ninth week ended. There cannot
be a gap of indefinite time between
the sixty-ninth and the seventieth
week. If additional time can be
inserted into a prophetic time
period, no one can know the length of
that prophetic time period. If a
yardstick does not have definite
length, it cannot be used for
measurement. If the seventieth week
did not follow the sixty-ninth week,
we cannot assign a number to the week
in history that immediately followed
the sixty-ninth week.
Thus far in
this book, we have observed that (a)
apocalyptic prophecy is additive in
nature; each prophecy builds upon
another, and (b) God uses a technique
called “repetition and
enlargement” to create a matrix
that expands our understanding of His
Word and plans. We will discover in
this study that Prophecy 4 builds
upon Prophecies 1 through 3 because
these four prophecies depend upon
each other to tell the whole story.
Look at Figure 4.1 (not drawn to
scale) and notice four elements.
First, at the top, notice that the
chart indicates that Jesus died in
A.D. 30,[1] which
is the middle year of the seventieth
week. Second, notice that 457 B.C. as
the starting date for the seventy
weeks (seven plus sixty-two plus one
week). Third, notice the line from
457 B.C. ending at 1844. Last, notice
that 1844 (the end of the 2,300
years) and 1798 (the end of the
little horn’s persecution for
1,260 years) have close proximity to
each other even though these dates
are derived from totally different
prophecies.
God's
Weekly Cycle
Since Jesus created the world,
the first day of
each week has aligned with the first
day of Creation and the seventh day
of each week has aligned with
God’s Sabbath rest. (Genesis 2:1-3) Even though
human beings may define a week as any
period of seven days, God defines a
week as a period of seven days that
aligns with Creation’s week. (Exodus 20:8-11) God’s
weekly cycle is important because the
middle day of every week is
Wednesday. Look again at Figure 4.1.
You will see that the middle year of
the seventieth week is a Wednesday
year. Since Jesus died in the middle
of the week, and since Jesus died in
A.D. 30,[2] we must
align A.D. 30 with a Wednesday year.
This alignment forces the first year
of the seventieth week (A.D. 27) to
be a Sunday year and the Sabbath year
of the seventieth week becomes A.D.
33. This information about the
seventy weeks is important for two
reasons:
First, the
seventy weeks in Daniel 9 can be
precisely identified because of
God’s weekly cycle of years. I
understand that God created a new
calendar for Israel at the time of
the Exodus. (Exodus 12:2) This
calendar is often called the Jubilee
Calendar and it is based on
God’s weekly cycle. God
established a cycle of seven years so
that each day of the week represented
a year. To ensure the integrity of
this cycle, God declared every
seventh year dating from the Exodus
was to be a Sabbath year of rest for
the land. Of course, Israel did not
observe Sabbath years in the desert. However,
Israel entered Canaan in a Friday
year (the 41st year since the Exodus)
and their first full year in the
Promised Land was a Sabbath year;
much like Adam and Eve’s first
full day of life was a Sabbath day. The
Jubilee Calendar measures time in
units of forty-nine year cycles
(seven weeks of years). When a
forty-nine year cycle expired, the
following year was declared a year of
Jubilee. The year of Jubilee was a
special year because debts were
cancelled, slaves were set free, and
all of the land was returned to the
original owners for free. The
year of Jubilee always fell on a
Sunday year. It was counted as the
fiftieth year of the outgoing Jubilee
cycle and simultaneously, it was
counted as the first year of the new
incoming Jubilee cycle.
These facts
about the Jubilee Calendar are
important because the seventy weeks
in Daniel 9 did not suddenly
appear with a decree to restore and
rebuild Jerusalem. Actually, the
seventy weeks mentioned in Daniel
9 align with ongoing weekly
cycles of years that began at the
time of the Exodus. God did not grant
490 random years to Israel, but
instead, God defined the 490 years as
seventy weeks so that He could draw
Israel’s attention back to the
weekly cycles of years that Israel
had long ignored. When Gabriel said
to Daniel, “Seventy sevens are
decreed for your people” his
language was designed to redirect
Israel’s attention to the
Jubilee Calendar which included the
release of slaves, Sabbath years of
rest for the land every seventh year,
and the restoration of the land to
its original owners at no
charge!
Consider the
way that Gabriel broke down the
seventy weeks in Daniel 9:25:
7
weeks + 62 weeks + 1 week = 70 weeks
49 years + 434 years + 7 years = 490
years
Gabriel
expressed the seventy weeks as three
segments of time because the first
segment of seven sevens is a Jubilee
cycle. This was a huge clue for the
nation of Israel. The all important
decree to rebuild and restore
Jerusalem would occur during a year
of Jubilee! God wanted His people to
anticipate that the land would be
returned to the Jews at no charge and
the decree to rebuild and restore
Jerusalem would occur during a year
of Jubilee. This alignment with the
Jubilee Calendar was not a casual
coincidence.[3] God had
exiled Israel to Babylon for seventy
years because it had refused to
observe the Jubilee Calendar![4]
Gabriel also
told Daniel that Messiah would appear
and begin His ministry exactly seven
weeks plus sixty-two weeks (483
years) after the decree was issued.
Then, in the middle of the following
week of seven years (the seventieth
week), Messiah would be “cut
off” (disinherited), but not for
Himself (Jesus would be cut off for
sinners). When this information is
properly assembled, perfect harmony
springs from the sum of all of the
parts! History says the all-important
decree was issued in a year of
Jubilee (457 B.C.) and exactly
sixty-nine weeks later (A.D. 27),
Jesus showed up on the banks of the
Jordan River and John baptized Him.
Jesus began his ministry in the fall
of A.D. 27 (a Sunday year) and was
crucified in the spring of A.D. 30,
(a Wednesday year, in the middle of
the seventieth week.)
Four decrees
were issued to rebuild and restore
Jerusalem and 457 B.C. is the only
one that occurred in a year of
Jubilee.[5]Working
backwards from the seventieth week
and the year of Christ’s death,
we find that Spring, 457 B.C. ties in
with the decree to restore and
rebuild Jerusalem. Do not forget,
this decree was issued during the
time of the ram (see Prophecy 3).
King Artaxerxes, a Persian king,
issued the all-important decree on or
about Nisan 1 and Ezra departed for
Jerusalem with decree in hand on the
12th day of Nisan.[6] Because
457 B.C. is an unimpeachable date,
the Thursday year of 1844 becomes
unimpeachable as well (see prophecy
3). In this study, we will discover
that the seventy weeks prophecy and
the 2,300 days prophecy share the
same starting date.
There is a
second reason for properly
positioning the seventy weeks. We
learned in Prophecy 2 that the
Ancient of Days took His seat in
1798. We also learned that in 1798,
the Father issued a restraining order
in Heaven and the result on Earth was
the termination of 1,260 years of
papal power over Europe. The pope was
taken prisoner during the French
Revolution (February 1798), and he
died in exile.
As we review the important dates of
1798 and 1844, consider Daniel 7:10: “. . .
.the court was seated and the books
were opened.” In Prophecy 3 we
learned about 1844. We discovered
that Jesus opened the books of record
and began to cleanse Heaven’s
temple of sin’s guilt when the
2,300 years ended. We also learned in
Prophecy 3 that near the end of
Christ’s judgment of mankind,[7] a horn
from the north (Lucifer, the
stern-faced king) will appear out of
nowhere and this horn will eventually
bring Jesus’ intercession in
Heaven’s temple to a close.
There is perfect harmony coming from
the sum of all of these prophetic
parts!
The
Setting:
Daniel 9:1-3
In
the first year of Darius the son of
Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes,
which was made king over the realm of
the Chaldeans; In the first year of
his reign I Daniel understood by
books the number of the years,
whereof the word of the LORD came to
Jeremiah the prophet, that he would
accomplish seventy years in the
desolations of Jerusalem.And I set my
face unto the Lord God, to seek by
prayer and supplications, with
fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:{1} During
the first year of King Darius (the
Mede), who became ruler over the
province of Babylon after it fell to
the Medes and Persians,
{2} I
understood from Jeremiah the prophet,
that the desolation of Jerusalem
would last seventy years because my
people had violated seventy
Sabbatical years.[8]Knowing the
seventy years would soon end,
{3} I turned to
my God and with fasting, prayer,
sackcloth, and ashes, pleaded with
Him to keep His promise and set my
people free.
The
Sequence:
Daniel
9:20-23
And
whiles I was speaking, and praying,
and confessing my sin and the sin of
my people Israel, and presenting my
supplication before the LORD my God
for the holy mountain of my God; Yea,
whiles I was speaking in prayer, even
the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in
the vision at the beginning, being
caused to fly swiftly, touched me
about the time of the evening
oblation. And he informed me, and
talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I
am now come forth to give thee skill
and understanding. At the beginning
of thy supplications the commandment
came forth, and I am come to show
thee; for thou art greatly beloved:
therefore understand the matter, and
consider the vision.{20} While
I was praying, confessing my sins and
the sins of my people, Israel, and
making my request to the Lord, my
God, for the restoration of my people
to Mt. Zion, His holy mountain
{21} while
still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I
had seen in the earlier vision
concerning the 2,300 days, came to me
in swift flight about the time of the
evening sacrifice.
{22} He said,
“Daniel, I have come to give you
insight and understanding about the
previous vision containing the 2,300
days.
{23} As soon as
you began to pray, your prayer was
heard, and I have been sent to help
you, for you are highly esteemed in
Heaven. Therefore, consider my words
and understand how your people and
the 2,300 days in Prophecy 3 are
intimately connected.
Bible history
indicates that Abraham’s
descendants did not make good
trustees. Israel was a rebellious and
obstinate nation in spite of
God’s many efforts to reform His
people. Finally, God did what He had
promised to do in the covenant.[9] He
punished His trustees for their
rebellion. He removed Israel from His
land and sent them to Babylon as
captives of Nebuchadnezzar. During
Israel’s captivity, God spoke to
three prophets: Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
and Daniel. God gave Jeremiah and
Ezekiel wonderful insight into His
future plans for Israel. (Plan A) God
wanted Israel to listen to His
prophets and understand what
wonderful plans He had for His people
if they would cooperate with Him. At
the same time, God also spoke to
Daniel, but He gave Daniel a very
different prophetic schematic which
is called “Plan B.” Plan B
is a prophetic schematic built on the
premise that if Israel failed to
fulfill their covenant with God, God
would abandon Israel as His trustees
and Jerusalem would be totally
destroyed. God gave conflicting
views of the future to these three
prophets for a reason; the future of
the world would be determined by
Israel’s behavior during the
seventy weeks. If Israel
cooperated with God during the
seventy weeks by meeting the terms
and conditions set before them, Plan
B would not occur. Daniel’s
visions and prophecies would be
forever sealed up (remain
meaningless). On the other hand, if
Israel continued to rebel against His
covenant during the seventy weeks,
God would abandon them. He would
start over by redefining the
offspring of Abraham[10] as
believers in Christ and Plan B would
proceed unconditionally.[11]
As we study
this prophecy, please keep three
matters in mind: First, Plan A (the
seventy weeks) and Plan B (the 2,300
days) start with the same date to
rebuild and restore Jerusalem. This
was necessary because only one plan
would be implemented. Gabriel told
Daniel, “Seventy weeks are
determined or decreed for your people
. . .” The Hebrew word for
determined or decreed is chathak and
it means to cut off; as in cutting
off a piece of ribbon or cloth from a
larger piece. In other words, the
seventy weeks, which equals 490
years, are cut off of a larger time
period – the 2,300 days. We know
that Gabriel is talking about the
2,300 days because Gabriel said to
Daniel in verse 23, “As soon as
you began to pray, an answer was
given, which I have come to tell you,
for you are highly esteemed.
Therefore, consider the message and
understand the vision.” Gabriel
is talking about the vision
previously given to Daniel recorded
in Daniel 8.
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