Daniel’s 70 Weeks – Part 3

As you have seen, we’ve taken a while to lay some groundwork and historical background for this study in Parts 1 & 2 of this series. Now we are coming to the meat of the study.

In the final installments in this study, we will be looking more in depth into exactly what these “weeks” of years are, and how astoundingly accurate they have been. Bear in mind that the book of Daniel was written three centuries BEFORE Christ was incarnated into human flesh and came to earth as our Redeemer. Knowing this will prove beyond any doubt the absolute infallibility of scripture and its divine authorship.

The prophecies contained within this book are both historically and mathematically precise right down to the most minute detail.

Many people feel that the verity (truth) of the Bible cannot be known or proven. These assertions could not possibly be more wrong. Biblical prophecy is so detailed, so precise in its fulfillment, that anyone who takes the time to truly study it can come to no other conclusion than that the Bible is a supernatural book given to man from a supernatural being. That being is none other than Almighty God—the Ancient of Days—the Great I AM who “was and is and is to come”— the eternal and everlasting God.

Only a fool would choose (in the face of such overwhelming evidence) to deny the provable truth of Biblical prophecy.

The book of Daniel is the linchpin of all end-time prophecies. Without the book of Daniel (among other Old Testament books), the book of Revelation would make little to no sense at all. Revelation is the UNVEILING of that which was first given by God to the Prophet Daniel when he lived as a Hebrew captive in the pagan land of Babylon, and then sealed “until the time of the end.”

So, are you ready? Then grab a cup of coffee, your Bible, a notebook and pen and let’s begin. Prepare to have your mind blown by the indescribable prophecy of the 70 “weeks” of years appointed to Israel.

Part 3: The First 69 “Weeks” Of Years

[Daniel 9:25] In this one verse, an incredibly specific prediction occurs.

In this verse lies a mathematical prophecy so detailed and so incredible that atheists and haters of the Bible have tried for years to debunk, always unsuccessfully. This prophecy gives the exact timing when the coming Messiah (Jesus) would present Himself as the promised Messiah to the Jewish people.

Let me take a moment to credit the author of the information that follows. I am indebted to the late Sir Robert Anderson in his seminal work “The Coming Prince” for giving us the following mathematical calculations in regard to Daniel’s prophecies of the 70 weeks, detailed in Daniel chapter 9. It was Dr. Anderson who took the words of Daniel and did the calculation, along with the dates of history, and brought to light just how incredibly accurate God’s information to Daniel actually is.

Note that all of these prophecies are based on the Jewish and Babylonian calendars which followed a LUNAR month. Therefore, a year in biblical terms is counted as having 360 days and NOT the 365 days that make up the Julian calendar that we use today. Hence, 69 “weeks” of 360-day years totals 173,880 days – EXACTLY.

As we see in this verse, the angel Gabriel revealed to Daniel that the interval between the command to rebuild the CITY of Jerusalem until the PRESENTATION of Messiah the King would be 173,880 days, which equals to 69 “weeks” of years TO THE VERY DAY.

**Note: The beginning point of these 69 “weeks” of years was to be marked by the command to rebuild the CITY of Jerusalem, and NOT the command to rebuild the TEMPLE. Work on rebuilding the Temple had already begun BEFORE the command was given to rebuild Jerusalem. (See the books of Ezra and Nehemiah regarding the rebuilding of the Temple.) It was the command to rebuild JERUSALEM that was to be the starting point for the beginning of the 69 “weeks” countdown.

The command to rebuild Jerusalem was given by the Persian King, Artaxerxes Longimanus, on March 14, 445 BC. The very day that Jesus presented Himself to the Jews (Zechariah 9:9) on Palm Sunday was April 6, 32 AD. Adjusting for leap years, we find that it is 173,880 days to the VERY DAY that Jesus rode into Jerusalem presenting himself as Israel’s Messiah.

Again, these specific mathematical calculations were made and verified by the late Sir Robert Anderson in his groundbreaking work, “The Coming Prince.”

Thus the Bible divides THE 70 weeks or heptads as follows:
(1) 7 “weeks” = 49 years (During the 49 years or 7 “weeks”) Jerusalem was to be rebuilt in “troublous times.” This was fulfilled as Ezra and Nehemiah record in their respective books.

(2) 62 “weeks” = 434 years thereafter Messiah was to come. This was fulfilled in the eventual birth, manifestation, and the presentation of Jesus as Israel’s true Messiah whom they should have recognized from their own scriptures (Luke 19:40).

(3) The 69 “weeks” (7 + 62 = 69 “weeks”) end with the Messiah being “cut off but not for Himself.”

(4) The 62 “weeks” follow the initial 7, and so verse 26 of Daniel 9 deals with the events AFTER the 69th “week,” but BEFORE the 70th.

The events in Daniel 9:26 include the Messiah being killed, resurrected and ascended, and the Temple being destroyed. The destruction of the Temple occurred in 70 AD along with the subsequent worldwide diaspora, as foretold by Jesus Himself (Luke 19:43-44).

This worldwide dispersion of the Jews would last from the destruction of the Temple in AD 70 until May 14, 1948 when the modern nation of Israel was reborn and recognized as a free and independent nation by President Harry Truman. (Read Ezekiel 37 regarding the Prophecy of the “dry bones” that presage the eventual regathering of Israel as a nation.)

As stated above, Israel was indeed regathered from amongst the nations of the world into which she had been driven, and returned back to her own land – the land of Israel – when she regained her status as a nation reborn in May of 1948.

As history confirms, both the city of Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by the armies of the Roman Emperor Titus in 70 AD just as Jesus predicted they would be, and the Jews were again dispersed from their homeland, this time scattered “into ALL the earth ” just as it was foretold they would be.

Israel’s’ final diaspora lasted from 70 AD until May 14,1948 when the Jews were officially returned to their land and became a nation once again just as predicted by both the prophets Ezekiel and Daniel (see Ezekiel chapters 36–37).

Just as Daniel and Ezekiel predicted, the Jewish people returned to their homeland of Israel still in UNBELIEF of the Lord Jesus as their Messiah.

Also, just as predicted, the city of JERUSALEM is still being “trodden down by the Gentiles” and will continue to be so “until the TIMES of the Gentiles” are fulfilled, which will occur at the END of The Tribulation, just BEFORE Jesus establishes His millennial Kingdom (Luke 21:24).

As we have seen, 69 of the 70 weeks of years that God appointed to the Jewish people have already been fulfilled with the rejection of Jesus, who has always been Israel’s Messiah. With Israel’s rejection of Jesus’ offered Kingdom under His rulership as Messiah, the Messiah was indeed “cut off” by His crucifixion, and “not for Himself” – in other words, NOT because He was guilty of any offense Himself, but as the sacrificial Lamb of God to make atonement for the sins of the world, just as was prophesied in Daniel 9.

At the time of Israel’s rejection of Jesus as Messiah and their subsequent rejection of His offer of the kingdom, Jesus’ death stopped, halted – postponed the countdown and thus put on hold the continuance of the 69 “weeks” of years, 7 years short of the appointed 70 weeks. Israel still has 7 years left of her “appointed time.”

We in the Dispensation of Grace – the Church Age – are now living in what Hal Lindsay calls a “parenthesis of time” – an indeterminate period of time BETWEEN the already fulfilled 69 “weeks” of years and the yet to begin 70th “week” of years.

Israel’s last or 70th “week” will commence AFTER the ending of this current dispensation in which we are now living, which will end with the rapture of the Church (an event completely unknown to Daniel or any other Old Testament prophets).

The 70th “seven” appointed to the Jews will commence with the signing (actually the confirmation) of a “covenant” that will be made between Israel and many other nations, brokered by the coming Antichrist. It will be the CONFIRMATION of this covenant between Israel and “the many,” brokered by the one who will turn out to be the Antichrist, which will be the event that will begin the countdown of those final 7 years that are to be the fulfillment of the final 70th “week” of years allotted to Israel, the Jewish people.

Now that we understand the detailed prophecies inherent in the divisions of the 70 weeks of years, we will now be ready to study the prophecy in more depth. In our final study, we will look at both the interval between the 69th and 70th weeks – the interval in which the Church is now living called the Dispensation of Grace, or the Church Age; and we will look into what will be coming to ISRAEL and the rest of the lost world during that final 70th “week” that has been appointed by God.

Stay tuned.

Daniel’s 70 Weeks – Part 2
Bible Reference – Chapter 9

In Part 1 of this study, we learned why there are no 10 “lost” tribes of Israel. We saw from scripture that these tribes are not now, nor have they ever been “lost.” Every descendant of each of the 12 tribes of Israel has certainly never been lost to God. He knows the name and whereabouts of each and every one of them. This is very important since the descendants of each of the 12 tribes of Israel will play a vitally important role in the coming time of The Tribulation.

In Part 1, I only used Old Testament scripture references to demonstrate the truth that the so- called 10 “lost” tribes of Israel are not and never have been lost at all. One of the readers following this series, Karole Fedrick, being a good Berean as all ought to be, has correctly pointed out that there are references to all of the 12 tribes in the New Testament as well.

The New Testament passages of Acts 26:7 and James 1:1 demonstrate that all of the 12 tribes of what had been the united Kingdom of Israel were still in existence long after the Jews had returned to Israel, after the Babylonian captivity, when Israel as a nation was under the domination and protectorate of the Roman Empire. Most importantly, 144,000 young male virgins, who are direct descendants of each of these 12 tribes, will play a pivotal role during the coming Tribulation.

If you missed Part 1 of this study, go back and read it so that you will have some historical background and a frame of reference as we move on into Part 2 – The 70 “weeks” (or more accurately the 70 “sevens”) of the prophecy given to Daniel.

I. The Prophecy of the 70 Weeks of Years

This prophecy was given to Daniel by God in order to show Daniel three things God was going to do in relation to his (Daniel’s) people, the JEWS, during the final 7 years that will be The Time of Jacob’s Trouble, or as we call it, The Tribulation:

(1) The time God has ordained for the Jews
(2) The time God has ordained for God’s holy city Jerusalem
(3) The time ordained by God to:
(a) finish the transgressions (of Israel)
(b) make an end of their sins
(c) bring in everlasting righteousness (Daniel 9:24)

**Note: In chapter 2 of Daniel (and later on again in chapter 11), God had already given Daniel a detailed future history spanning the great Gentile world empires which were to, in one way or another, directly impact the nation of Israel from Daniel’s time right up to the time of the “revived” form of the Roman Empire that would be resurrected during the last days. This “revived Roman Empire” is what we are currently watching take shape today. This regrouping and re-forming entity is a whole other topic that will need to be addressed separately at a future time.

The formation of this new reviving form of what was once the old Roman Empire is rapidly nearing completion right now in real time, and all that is lacking is for a strong, decisive leader to arise and take the helm of leadership of it. The man who will rise to prominence and power after the rapture of the Church will come from somewhere within the confines of what was once the old Roman Empire. This man will be the one who will be THE ANTICHRIST.

His identity and his rise to power is for the moment being restrained (held in check) by The Restrainer, who is none other than the Holy Spirit acting in His FUNCTION as the supernatural Restrainer of Evil. It is He, the Holy Spirit, functioning through the corporate body of the Remnant Church whom He indwells, who is holding back the complete flood-tide of evil. His restraining function in the Church Age is keeping evil from completely overwhelming and destroying the Church during this Dispensation of Grace.

Jesus told Peter when He first mentioned this “called out body” that would (after Calvary) become the Church, Jesus said that HE would build (future tense) HIS Church against which the very gates of Hell would not prevail. At the time Jesus made this statement, the Church had not yet been born and Jesus’ reference to it was as yet future, hence His statement,

“I WILL BUILD my Church…” In addition, He promised that “the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2, in particular verse 7, also Matthew 16:18).

After Jesus’ death, burial, bodily resurrection, and His ascension back to Heaven, Jesus did indeed begin to “build His Church” (Acts chapter 2). The Church was birthed on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit – the promised Comforter – was actually sealed within (Ephesians 4:30) the newly birthed Church, thus enabling her to withstand the horrendous persecution that would relentlessly pursue the Church from her birth right up until her removal in the rapture.

The indwelling Holy Spirit, who is “sealed within” every believer, functions as the restraining power “letting” or preventing the full onslaught of evil from engulfing the world (as it will in the Tribulation) and preventing the Antichrist from being able to rise to power, until the restraint that holds him back is removed from the earth at “the day of redemption,” which is the rapture of the Church from this earth (Ephesians 4:30).

Again, it is the Holy Spirit (working through the Remnant Church whom He indwells), whose purpose and function as the Restrainer of Evil that will be removed from earth – at “the day of redemption,” which is the pre-tribulation rapture of the Church, and not the PERSON of the Holy Spirit who will be removed from the earth.

The Holy Spirit, being deity as the third Person of the Triune Godhead, is omnipresent, meaning that He in His PERSON is always present everywhere. It is only His FUNCTION as the Restrainer of Evil indwelling the Church during the Dispensation of Grace that will be removed from the earth with the Church in the rapture. The Person of Holy Spirit, after the rapture of the Church, will function on earth just as He did during Old Testament times in the other dispensations.

Once the living Remnant Church is taken out of the world in the rapture and the restraining INFLUENCE of the Holy Spirit is removed with the Church in which He is sealed, only then can the Antichrist be identified and rise to power in his appointed time.

This is why it is both pointless and foolish for anyone during the Church Age in which we are currently living to attempt to identify the Antichrist. His identity cannot be known, nor can he come to power and prominence on the world stage before God’s appointed time for him to be revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12).

Although it is without a doubt a virtual certainty that this “Man of Lawlessness” is already here working, biding his time behind the scenes; nevertheless, he cannot arise to power until after the rapture of the Church. We are told about this “coming prince” and his origins in Daniel chapter 9.

In Daniel chapters 9-11, God gives detailed prophecies concerning the Jews and the end times. The entire book of Daniel, including these verses in Daniel 9:20-27, are among the most astounding and most important verses in all scripture with regards to the revelation of future events. The book of Daniel is one of the most authenticated books of the entire Old Testament, both historically and archaeologically. It is vitally important for us to remember that the book of Daniel existed in documented form almost three centuries BEFORE Christ’s birth.

In Daniel chapter 9, the angel Gabriel interrupted Daniel’s prayer to give him a 4-verse prophecy which included the following:

(1) (Daniel 9:24) the scope of the entire prophecy
(2) (Daniel 9:25) the 69 “weeks” (or heptads) which is literally interpreted as groupings of 7’s, so that it really means 69 “weeks” (sevens) of years
(3) (Daniel 9:26) an unspecified interval of time between the 69th and 70th “week” of years
(4) (Daniel 9:27) the 70th “week” appointed to Israel

The analogy of a “week” of years was common in Israel as there was, according to the Law of God, supposed to be a “Sabbath for the land” during which time the land (of Israel) was to lie fallow every 7th year for the recovery of the earth.

It was in part the failure of the Jews to comply with these laws that led God to punish them by sending them into captivity into Babylon for 70 years, thus giving the land (of Israel) the times of rest that it was due because of the failure of the Israelite people to do as God had commanded.

Remember, the focus of this passage is upon Israel and Jerusalem, and not upon the Church. The Church had not yet come into existence. It was at that time still a “mystery hidden in God,” and the creation of such an entity (the Church) was never revealed to ANY of the Old Testament prophets.

The scope of this prophecy in Daniel includes a sweeping recounting of events that have yet to be completed, but that will be completed during that, as yet to be fulfilled, last 70th “week,“ or last 7 years. It will be these last 7 years that will be the completion of the Dispensation of Israel under the Law.

The word “dispensation” simply means an “economy” or an “administration.” Much like we have differing administrations in our government, so too God has divided the timeline of human history into different administrations, also called dispensations.

The Dispensation of Israel Under the Law lasted from the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai up to the time of Jesus’ death on the cross at Calvary. However, the Dispensation of Law was cut short, or postponed if you will, 7 years short of its completion because Israel rejected Jesus as her Messiah (the Messiah who was “cut off but not for Himself,” as it states in Daniel 9:26). Israel rejected her Messiah and crucified the Lord of Glory instead. Because of this, Israel’s 70 “weeks” was stopped after 69 of those prophesied “weeks” were finished, but BEFORE the 70th week was to commence.

Israel still has 7 years left to complete her 70 weeks of years that was appointed to her by God. The unfinished dispensation of Israel Under Law that preceded the Dispensation of Grace (also called the Church Age), in which we live, never really ended but was POSTPONED by God 7 years short of completion.

During the time between the ending of Israel’s already fulfilled 69 “weeks” of years of Israel under Law, there has been a great gap of time. During this gap, a new dispensation – the Church Age – has been in effect for over 2,000 years now. Once the rapture of the Church takes place, that event will close out the Church Age, and will end the Dispensation of Grace.

After the Church Age ends, Israel will once again take center stage in God’s Plan for the Ages in order to complete the last 7 years of the 70 “weeks” of years that God appointed to Israel. That is the focus of God’s prophecy given to Daniel in chapter 9.

In Part 3, we will look in depth into the first 69 weeks that have already been fulfilled, so that we can end this series with the last 7 years yet to be fulfilled, which will be the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble “(Jeremiah 30:7), best known as The Tribulation. So until next time, stay tuned.