| The Mystery of Daniel's 70 Weeks |  |  |  |
| Written by J.R.Hall |
| Thursday, 24 September 2009 19:33 |
 "I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them." - Isa 42:8-9 Introduction Several times throughout the Bible we see God declaring that He and only He is in control of all things. That he sets up kings and takes down kings, and that everything happens in accordance with his purposes. (Daniel 2:21, Isaiah 46:9-11) The book of Daniel is chalk full of prophecies that show this divine right and characteristic of God.  Daniel, was a Jewish captive in Babylon. He was of royal or princely descent (Dan 1:3). For his rank and comeliness he was trained for palace service. In the polluted atmosphere of a foreign court he lived a life of singular piety and usefulness. His long life extended from Nebuchadnezzar to Cyrus. He was a contemporary of Jeremiah, Ezekiel (Eze 14:20), Joshua, the high priest of the restoration, Ezra, and Zerubbabel.1Daniel is the indispensable introduction to New Testament prophecy. Within the pages of Daniel is the documented gentile history of the world (as it pertains to Israel), the coming of the Messiah, one commonly referred to as Antichrist and much more. We find themes of the apostasy of the Church, the manifestation of the man of sin, the great tribulation, the return of the Lord, the resurrections and the judgments. If I had to choose a favorite book of the bible, I would have to choose this one. Although we could spend hours and days sifting through the pages of Daniel, the passages I wish to talk about today are those as they pertain to Daniel's 70 week prophecy. Much discussion over the years has surrounded the passages we are going to look at, and I hope today to provide a realistic, biblical and intriguing answer to the Mystery of Daniel's 70 Weeks. Dan 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Dan 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. Dan 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. Dan 9:27 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. The first verse in the passage begins with the words, 'Seventy weeks'. When we look up the Hebrew for the word 'weeks' we find out that the word is Shabua.
So the word 'weeks' literally means sevened (specifically of years). However, for many people this evidence is not enough to suggest the weeks are in regard to years. So for us to be sure we need to remember something very important when interpreting passages of scripture; especially as they pertain to prophecy - context is everything. Context is Everything With this in mind, we need to go back to the beginning of Daniel 9 and see how the text sets up the context for the passages we find in verses 24 through 27. Dan 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— Dan 9:2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD throughJeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Notice the word books in Daniel 9:2. What books is Daniel referring to? Well it can be seen that Daniel was in fact reading scripture. Specifically he was reading the writings from Jeremiah the Prophet where Jeremiah speaks of the seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Firstly, let us take specific note of the words 'first year' in verse 1. Secular history tells us that the first year of Darius' reign was 539 BC. We will need this date in a minute, but first let us look at Jeremiah's topic of seventy years. To find out exactly what this refers to, let us have a look at the original text as Daniel would have read it from Jeremiah. Jer 25:9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,' says the LORD, 'and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations. Jer 25:10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. Jer 25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Here we see a promise (a bad promise) to Israel that He will bring the king of Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar) against Israel for their sins, and that Israel will be forced to serve this king of Babylon seventy years. We know from secular history that this prophecy was fulfilled, and Daniel was taken captive in 605 BC. So here we have Daniel reading from Jeremiah on the subject of 70 years of desolations of Jerusalem in the year 539 BC. He knows that the captivity began in 605 BC, and so he is thinking that he is getting close to the end of these promised desolations. 605 BC - 539 BC = 67 years At the time of 539 BC, Daniel was sitting at the location 67 years into the captivity. We do however have to add a +1 or +2 to our equation, because of how they considered the passing of year to year in that time. They would have considered any part of year - flowing to the next year as 1 year. Regardless of our exact value here, we can see that Daniel was most likely in expectation of the promises of Jeremiah being fulfilled, and the desolations of Jerusalem would soon be ending. Continuing on in Daniel 9 (to further our quest for context) we read about the reasons for Israel's captivity in the first place. Dan 9:11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. What sin was done? Notice that Daniel is considering something in the Law of Moses. I think we find our answer in Leviticus 26. "And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me... I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its Sabbaths." -Lev 26:27,33-34 The context set up for us here is what we might call 'Sabbath years'. God is saying in Leviticus 26 that if you do not allow your land to rest (enjoy its sabbaths), then I will force it to rest. Notice the words underlined, 'Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths'. Follow me now to Leviticus 25:2-7. "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land. And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you, for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food." - Lev 25:2-7 We see here that God Himself is implementing a "Summer Fallow" plan as we might call it here on the Canadian Prairies. Although we traditionally would see farmers implement Summer Fallow on the prairies to rejuvenate the soil, and allow the nutrients to replenish, I believe there was a little more to it for Israel in God's plan. I believe God was in essence telling Israel that for 6 years you shall toil, and then in the 7th year, you shall rest and completely trust in me for your provisions. I believe this was a faith issue, and God was allowing Israel to build their faith, by completely trusting Him in the years when they were not to grow crops So in context, we can see that the the 70 years of desolations for Jerusalem & Israel were because they had not let the land rest. And because they did not show proper faith and allow the land the sabbath rests that God instructed, they were taken from the land so the land could rest as God had commanded. We can also affirm this conclusion with the following documentation found in 2 Chronicles. 2Ch 36:20 And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 2Ch 36:21 to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. With this additional study under our belts, we can see that the context being set up for us in Daniel 9 is the concept of 'Sabbatical Years' or in other words, 'sevens' of years. This reaffirms our first discussions surrounding the word Shabua meaning 'sevened, specifically of years'. 70 Weeks of Years So let's now go back to Daniel 9:24 which is where we have an angel responding to Daniel's inquiry about these 70 years that Jeremiah mentioned as a result of breaking the Law of Moses regarding sabbath years of rest. Dan 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. "Seventy weeks (or Seventy sevens) are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city." Seventy sevens is: 70 x 7 = 490 We know that the context is 'sevens' of years from our previous exegesis of related passages, and so we can confidently relay the rendering of Daniel 9:24 as the following. 490 years are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Moving on now to verse 25 we read: Dan 9:25 "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." So we can see this prophecy is relaying that from the command to restore and build Jerusalem, until the Messiah would come, would be 7x7 (seven 'sevens') and 62x7 (sixty-two 'sevens') or: 7x7 + 62x7 = 483 years. However, we must make a conversion here. We have to make sure to use Hebrew Lunar years, and not our Solar years in order to provide accurate date setting for this Daniel prophecy. There is much historical evidence that would suggest that we are correct in assuming that the years referenced at the time of Daniel's writings, were based on a 360 day per year calender, and not the standard 365.25 day/year calendar that we use today. Our modern word calendar is based on the solar cycle, and consists of 365 ¼ days. The modern Jewish calendar is calculated according to both the lunar and solar cycles. Their twelve months are currently calculated as containing 354 days, which leaves their year eleven-and-one-fourth days short of the true solar year. This is corrected by adding a "leap month," known as Ve-Adar, seven times during a nineteen-year cycle. However, when we turn to the Scriptures we discover that the biblical-prophetic year consisted of 360 days. Abraham, the father of Israel, continued to use the 360-day year, which was known in his home in Ur of the Chaldees. For example, the Book of Genesis records that Noah endured the deluge for 150 days or exactly 5 months to the day (Genesis 7:11, 24; 8:3-4). 150 days divided by 30 days a month = 5 months, 30 days x 12 months = 360 days. Another example is found in the book of Esther. Esther 1:4 would seem to indicate a 360 day length of year by recording the six month long feast of Xerxes as continuing exactly 180 days. Daniel himself records that the time of absolute power of the Antichrist over the nations will last 3-1/2 years (Daniel 7:25). Revelation 13:5-7 attests that this same time period of 3-1/2 years consists of 42 months. 42 months of 30 days each which totals 1260 days (Revelation 11:2-3;12:6) From these examples from scripture, it becomes apparent that we are indeed accurate in utilizing a 360 day/year for any calculations of historical timelines in reference to the Daniel 9 prophecies that we are looking at. Ancient biblical writers clearly used a 360 day/year model in both the historical and predictive parts of scripture. Sir Isaac Newton, who is often called The Father of Modern Science also attests to this fact.
So now back to our calculated number of 483 years from Daniel 9:25. 483 years multiplied by the value of 360 days, gives us a value of 173,880 days. If we then take our standard solar years, we divide the value of 173,880 by 365.25, and get a value of 476.06 years (solar). So Daniel's 483 years equates to 476.06 of our years. Plugging this back into Daniel 9:25 we can then now render the text as: "Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be 476 years; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times." What this tells us is that from the issuing of the command to restore and build Jerusalem, until the Messiah, there will be 476 years. That's pretty exact. Let's see what history tells us of when the command to restore Jerusalem was. Dating the Decree to Rebuild Jerusalem Our answer again lies in the scriptures. Neh 2:1 And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. Neh 2:2 Therefore the king said to me, "Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart." So I became dreadfully afraid, We'll pause here for a moment for interest's sake. Notice here that Nehemiah's job was the wine taster. It was his job to test the king's wine to ensure it wasn't poisoned. If Nehemiah was to die, then the King would know the wine was poisoned and wouldn't drink it. It was probably a really good job to get in that day, as you got to live in the king's court and splendor, but a job that it might have been difficult to get life insurance for. With that in mind, notice here how Nehemiah is before the king, drank some wine and then looked very troubled - which he never was before. The king was undoubtedly worried and questioned whether or not he was sick. It was probably a very stressful moment for the king, as Nehemiah had already handed the cup back to the king (vs 1.) But I digress... Neh 2:3 and said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?" Neh 2:4 Then the king said to me, "What do you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven. Neh 2:5 And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it." Nehemiah 2 goes on to tell us that indeed the king does grant Nehemiah his wish to go and rebuild the city of my fathers' tombs [Jerusalem] as Nehemiah had asked. Looking back to Chapter 2 vs 1, when was the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes. Secular history tells us that Artaxerxes I began his reign in 465 B.C.2 (Encyclopedia Britannica). So the twentieth year of Artaxerxes reign would have been: -465 + 20 = 445 B.C. (notice the - sign because we are dealing with B.C. dates) Now we actually have to adjust this date a little, and here is why. Nehemiah 2:1 says that it was the month of Nisan that the decree went out. Well, the month of Nisan is in the spring, which to us in Modern culture would view as being at the beginning of the year. However, in the context of the historical era of Nehemiah (and Daniel), the new years began in the early fall (Tishri-Rosh Hashanah). Nisan is in the spring, so Nisan in the 20th year of Artexerxes was actually in the year 444 B.C. according to our modern calendars. Therefore the decree to rebuild the Jerusalem by Artexerxes was given in the month of Nisan of 444 B.C. Determining the Date of the Triumphal Entry So our passage from Daniel 9:25 can now be rewritten to read: "Know therefore and understand, That from Nisan, 444B.C. Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be 476 years; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times." -444 + 476 = 32 A.D. So from this prophecy of Daniel 9:25 we can predict that the Messiah the Prince would come in 32 A.D. However we have made one small mistake. If we look at a number line from grade school and overlay dates we end up with a chart that looks like this:  Notice how there is no year 0 B.C. or 0 A.D on the timeline of history. Therefore our previous calculation ending up at 32 A.D. is actually 1 number off. We have to add +1 to 32 A.D. in order to have the accurate date of 33 A.D. What this means to us today is that Daniel 9:24:25 delivers for us the best date of Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (The Messiah the Prince will Come) as being the spring of 33 A.D. As a double check to this date, we can find that Luke 3 tells us that Christ was baptized in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar. Again from our secular history we find that Tiberius began his reign on August 19th, A.D. 14. So the beginning of his 15th year of reign would have been the fall of A.D. 28, and therefore the end of his 15th year would be in A.D. 29. This would mean that the 15th year of Tiberius (the year in which Christ was baptized) was 28 or 29 A.D. If this is true, and we know that Christ's ministry was approximately 3-1/2 years, that would bring Jesus death somewhere in the spring of 33 A.D. Further study shows that the exact date of Artaxerxes command to repair Jerusalem (Neh 2:1) can also be found assuming 33A.D. as our date of Christ's entry. The Passover celebration for the Jews begins on the 14th day of Nissan and we know from the scriptures that Christ was crucified on this day (John 19:14, 1 Cor. 5:7). Astronomers show that in 33 A.D., Nisan 14 fell on Friday April 3rd. However, Christ entered Jerusalem on the donkey (Triumphal Entry) on Monday before and was publicly welcomed as King and Messiah by the crowd holding palm branches - "Hosanna! 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!' The King of Israel!"- John 12:13. In 33 A.D. this day (the Monday before) fell on March 30th. When one uses the exact solar year subtracted back through history, we find that the probable exact day of Artaxerxes decree falls on March 9th, 444 B.C. This fits with scripture (Neh 2:1) because we know that Artaxerxes issued his decree in the month of Nisan. Nisan begins on the first day of a full moon which falls between March-April on our calendar. Astronomical charts show that Nisan 1, would have been on March 5 in 444 B.C. Therefore Atexerxes command was issued on Nisan 5, 444 B.C. which incidentally was a Sunday by our Julian calendar. So what this means is that I believe we can be fairly confident that the Date of Christ's Triumphal entry into Jerusalem occurred on Monday, March 30th, 33 A.D. That also means that these passages in Daniel accurately predicted the coming of the Messiah 500 years before it happened. What a testimony to the reliability and assurance of Bible Prophecy. Where is the 70th Week? We have taken a look so far at 69 out of the 70 weeks of the Daniel 9:24-27 prophecy. As we know that we should be able to account for 70 weeks (sevens) of years then we must ask the question, "Where is the 70th Week?". We are missing one more 'seven'. Let's continue on in Daniel 9. Dan 9:26 "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." Now this is interesting, here we have a passage that says that after the sixty two weeks (7x7 and 62x7), or 483 years (lunar), the Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself. This clearly represents Christ, who was indeed cut off, but not for Himself. "so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. " - Heb 9:28 "and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. " - 2 Cor 5:15 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Rom 5:8 Now the next part of vs 26: "And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary." Notice here that it is not the prince who will destroy the city, but the people of "the prince who is to come." Notice also this is not Messiah the prince because He has been cut off, but it is the prince to come. What this means is that this passage tells us that the people of the prince to come will destroy the temple. Who destroyed the temple? Well, history attests to the fact that the Romans (Roman Empire) destroyed the temple in 70 A.D. Who is the prince to come? As we continue with the rest of Daniel 9, we will see that he is none other than the man called Antichrist. "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." - Dan 9:27 Notice that vs 27 goes on to tell us what the prince to come is going to do. He "shall confirm a covenant with many for one week" Our missing week! The Antichrist will confirm a covenant, not create a new one, but confirm an existing covenant for seven years. The end of those seven years, will be the end of the Daniel 70 week prophecy of Daniel chapter 9. "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." See here how the Antichrist (of the Roman Empire) will break the treaty in the middle of the week. So 3-1/2 years into Daniel's 70th week (commonly referred to as the Tribulation), the Antichrist will break the covenant and end the sacrifice and offering, and provide abominations of desolation. Daniel 7:25 also speaks of this event. "He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time. [3.5 years]" (See also Daniel 11:31; Matt 24:15; Mark 13:14.) This same point in history future is mentioned in Revelation Rev 13:5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Rev 13:6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. Rev 13:7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. Rev 13:8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Notice the parallels between Revelation 13 and the Daniel 9 and 7 verses.
There can be no question we are speaking of the same event in all these passages. I also believe we can say with authority that this last week of Daniel's prophecy has not yet come to pass. Click on the image below to download a pdf chart of the items discussed in this article.  The Preterist Argument Refuted Now there are some theologians out there who would argue with me and state that Daniel's 70th week has already come to pass. They would argue that many, if not all of the prophecies of the Bible have been completely fulfilled. Many of them culminating in A.D. 70 with the destruction of the temple. This view is called Preterism and comes in many flavours, however one basic premise in most of them is that they would see Daniels 70 weeks prophecy being completely fulfilled in A.D. 70. I will allow them to have their opinion, but I would suggest that scripture speaks loudly against such a premise. The answer lies in the opening words of the 70 weeks prophecy. Dan 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Notice firstly that this passage is for thy people and thy holy city. God is directly indicating to Daniel that the Jews (Daniel's people) and Jerusalem (Daniel's Holy city) are for whom the 70 weeks are determined. Also notice that this passage lists six things that must be accomplished at the culmination of the 70 weeks of years.
I believe we have thoroughly, through the examination of these 6 points, refuted the preterist position that Daniel's 70th week has already come to pass. I think we can be rest assured, that because of the precedence set by the accuracy of the 69 week prophecy fulfillment, we indeed live in expectation of the actual, literal and complete fulfillment of the 70th week sometime in the years to come. It is clearly as God has said, "Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them." - Isaiah 42:9 Maranatha! J.R. Hall For more on Daniel's 70 Weeks Click --> Here Footnotes: 1. "Introduction to Book of Daniel", Scofield Reference Notes, Old Scofield 1917 Edition. 2. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/36741/Artaxerxes-I |
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