The Seventy Weeks of Daniel Prophecy

The Seventy weeks of Daniel study is based upon some scriptures in the book of Daniel the ninth chapter. During this time Daniel and the Israelites had been held captive in Babylon. Because of the transgression of Israel’s kings, God allowed Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon to invade the land of Israel and carry off to Babylon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the surrounding cities. After the Israelites had left Egypt and had been settled in their promised land for some 880 years, Nebuchadnezzar in the year of 605 bc came and took them captive.

While Daniel was in Babylon the angel Gabriel appeared to him and informed him about what was to become of his people in the following years up until the time after Christ. In this message the angel spoke of seventy weeks and what would occur during those weeks. The description of the events that were to occur was of such a nature that it was obvious that it covered more time than seventy weeks. As all bible teachers in the past have concurred with me included, these seventy weeks had to mean seventy weeks of years. That is, one week referred to seven years, so seventy weeks meant 490 years.

In summary, the scriptures of Daniel 9:24 thru 27 say the following. Starting from the commandment to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the city up until the Messiah would be sixty nine weeks, meaning 483 years. The prophecy also said that after sixty two weeks, from the time the walls of Jerusalem were restored or 434 years, the Messiah would be cut off, or killed.

The Israelites were in captivity in Babylon for 70 years. This period ended in the 1st year of Cyrus, king of Persia in 535Bc, when he released them to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.

Daniel 9:25 says; From the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem  unto the Messiah the Prince shall be 7 weeks, and 62 weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

So it says from the time of the commandment to the time of Jesus will be 69 weeks or 483 bible years or 476 Julian years. The commandment to rebuild the city was given by Artaxerxes to Nehemiah in 445BC. Cyrus' commandment was to restore the temple and not the city.

The commandment to rebuild the city was given by Artaxerxes in 445 BC. From 445 BC to 32 AD is exactly 476 Julian years or 483 bible years. Jesus entered Jerusalem for his crucifixion in 32 AD.

Then it says after this, the city and the temple will be destroyed again. This must be pointing to the destruction of the city by Titus in 70AD.

Then it says that he shall confirm the covenant with many for 1 week, and in the midst of the week, he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.

I believe this means that after the crucifixion, and after the destruction of the city, the Lord will confirm the covenant with many people for 1 week being 7 years.

Daniel 8:11 tells of a ruler that caused the daily sacrifice to be taken away and the sanctuary was cast down. This must be talking of the time when Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD.

The Prophet Daniel, while he was still in captivity in Babylon, and in the third year of the reign of Cyrus, King of Persia, had a vision from the Lord that informed him about the fate of his people. The Lord told Daniel about a number of things that would happen to his people, the Israelites, from the present time, which was about 533 BC, until the time of their redemption.

Some of what Daniel was told was when they would return to Jerusalem and set up the Temple again; when the Messiah could be expected to be in Jerusalem, when the Messiah would be killed, that in the future Jerusalem would again be destroyed and the amount of time that God was going to spend trying to get his people to obey Him.

The main point of Daniel's prophecy was the time element of seventy weeks. Of course this was not literally seventy weeks, but was seventy weeks of years, where each one of the weeks represented seven years of time.

The Lord told Daniel that from the commandment to go forth and rebuild the City of Jerusalem, to the day when the Messiah would be killed, would be sixty-nine weeks, which represented 483 years. These 483 years of course represented Bible years, which are 360 days long. But in secular years, which are what we use in our calendar, it would be 476 years. Since the commandment was given in the year of 445 BC to go and rebuild Jerusalem, 476 years later, when the Messiah would be killed would have been in the year of 32 AD. So this period of time consumed the first sixty-nine weeks of years of Daniel's prophecy of seventy weeks of years.

What we are going to cover here is what the Bible says will happen in Daniel's 70th prophetic week, which is the last seven years of God's dealing with the Israelites. But what is different about this 70th week is that it is far removed in the future from the first sixty-nine weeks. Where the first sixty-nine weeks, or 476 years, were successive years, there will be a lapse of about three thousand years before Daniel's 70th week comes into play. The first sixty-nine weeks of Daniel's prophecy ended in the year of 32 AD, but the 70th week will not begin until about the year of three thousand AD.

The book of Daniel briefly mentions this last seven years of Daniel's prophecy, but the most of it is described in the book of Revelations. The verse that follows is what Daniel had to say about this last seven years.

Dan 9:27 (KJV)  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.

So this verse of Daniel tells us that God is going to confirm His covenant with the Nation of Israel for one more week, the last seven years of Daniel's prophecy, but in the middle of that week, after three and one-half years, the daily sacrifice and the offerings will cease. One additional thing that Daniel tells us is that during this last seven years an army will invade the land of Israel ( Dan 11:40-45 ).

So now let’s take a look into the future and watch how these events unfold. To do this we must now go to the book of Revelations and first see if we can tell about when this last seven years for the Israelites begins. The first thing we will look at is in the 20th chapter of Revelations. In verse two, it says that the Devil is to be bound and shut up in a pit for one thousand years and in verse three it says that when the thousand years are over, he will be released. This one thousand year period is the Millennium, the same one thousand year period that those who are in Christ will spend with Him after the rapture and first resurrection. So we see that the 70th week of Daniel's prophecy does not take place until after the rapture of the body of Christ, and after the Millennium.

Two distinct things occur right when the Millennium is over. First Satan is released from his prison (Rev 20:7), and the two Prophets of Revelations chapter eleven start their preaching to the Jews in Jerusalem. These two Prophets preach for the first three and one-half years of the last seven years of Daniel's prophecy (Rev 11:3). Because of the plagues that these Prophets bring upon the people of the World (Rev 11:6), Satan is able to cause the Nations to assemble together to invade Jerusalem, in an attempt to put an end to the torment these Prophets are bringing on them (Rev 20:8, 11:10).

The first armies that arrive at Jerusalem are from the nations north and south of the country (Dan 11:40-45). These first armies are the ones responsible for killing the two Prophets at the end of the first three and one-half years (Rev 11:7). But before the Prophets are killed, they are effective in converting 144,000 of the Jews over to believing in Christ. After the Prophets are killed, and their bodies have lain in the street for three days, God resurrects them and takes them up into Heaven (Rev 11:11-12). Then God causes a great earthquake to occur which kills many of the invading soldiers and causes the leaders of the armies to flee the city and set up their camp between Jerusalem and the Sea (Dan 11:45), (Rev 11:13).

For the first half of this seven year period, while the Prophets are preaching to the Jews, they are able to perform their daily sacrifices and offer their gifts in the Temple, but when the Nations invade the city, the sacrifices and oblations are stopped (Dan 9:27). Then news is delivered that a large army is coming into the area from the East (Rev 16:12). This great military force which comes from the East surrounds the city of Jerusalem and prepares to attack and destroy it (Rev 20:9).

Then the events covered by the opening of the sixth seal of Revelations 6:12-17 occur, when the Lord prepares to return to the Earth to bring His judgment on the ungodly. The first thing that God does is to destroy the armies which have encompassed Jerusalem (Rev 20:9). Then before the final tribulations are released, the 144,000 Jews are sealed with the Holy Spirit and Christ returns to take them out of the way before judgment is started on the ungodly inhabitants of the Earth (Rev 14:1-5).

There we have the picture of what occurs during Daniel's 70th week, the last seven years of God's plan for the Nation of Israel.

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