The Seventy Weeks in Daniel 9 Explained
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Daniel 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.
Daniel 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.
Daniel 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. (Daniel 9 24-26 KJV)
These Seventy Weeks (of years) are divided into three segments characterized by special events. In the first Jerusalem’s streets and wall are rebuilt in troublous times. The second counts down to the appearance of the Messiah. After those 69 weeks, the Messiah is crucified but His sacrifice accomplishes all six items listed in Daniel 9:24 . That ends the Seventy Weeks.
The Six Elements Christ Fulfilled at His first Advent
1) to finish the transgression
Neither transgression or sins literally cease within the Seventy weeks, both are seen after the 1,000 year reign of Christ (Rev. 20:7-10). Therefore, we must look for a “literal spiritual” meaning, a particular event Daniel had a mind when he used the definite form of pešaʿ (06588 פֶּשַׁע pesha`). Only one Transgression to end all transgression was committed by “Daniel’s people in their holy city Jerusalem during these seventy weeks,” that was when the “Messiah be cut off”, i.e., the crucifixion of Christ the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Christ’s murder was an abominable “transgression (06588 פֶּשַׁע pesha`) of desolation” (Compare Daniel 8:13) causing God “go far off from my sanctuary” (Compare Ezek. 8:6). His leaving rending the veil of the Sanctuary and breaking the rocks as He “passed by” (Mt. 27:51. Compare 1 Kings 19:11).
That sin merited the literal desolation of the Temple about 40 years later just as Gabriel said would happen in Daniel 9:26 (b). The people of the Beast Ruler (05057 נָגִיד nagiyd) to come (Dan. 9:27) destroys the city and the sanctuary. That is, the revived Roman Empire that rises from the sea in Revelation 13:1-2, their “ancestors” the Romans came and destroyed. In other words, the 1st century people of the Ruler who rises centuries later in the end time, destroys the city and temple. Then the “times of the Gentiles” begin, and that desolation continues “until the end of the war” when Christ destroys the Beast Adonikam at Armageddon.
2)to make an end of sins
20 Moreover the law entered (3922 παρεισέρχομαι), that the offence (3900 παράπτωμα) might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 5:20-21 KJV)
Romans 5:20-21 is exposition of Daniel 9:24, revealing its application:.
Paul says “the law slipped in that the Trespass abound to its greatest [completion], the crucifixion of the Incarnate Son of God. But that was so God’s grace could abound, bring in everlasting righteousness of the New Covenant in Christ’s blood bringing reconciliation to all in heaven and earth (Col 1:20).
So God did this not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him (John 3:15).
Where transgression abounded, God’s Grace abounded even more. Christ appeared to the condemned end of the world, to save them:
But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Heb. 9:26 KJV)
Jesus said “It is finished” (John 19:30). The “vision and the prophecy” of Lamb of God our Redeemer Lawmaker like unto Moses, had fulfilled the law (Mt. 5:18)
3)to make reconciliation for iniquity
20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: (Col. 1:20-22 KJV)
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. (Rom. 5:8-11 KJV)
4) to bring in everlasting righteousness
God alone is righteous, He alone is everlasting, therefore bringing in everlasting righteousness is bringing in “justification by faith” (Rom. 3:25-26), the righteousness that that is of God that was foretold in vision and prophecy of the New Covenant in Christ’s Blood:
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Rom. 3:24-26 KJV)
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Cor. 5:19-21 KJV)
5)to seal up the vision and prophecy
Christ’s fulfilling the other five elements of Daniel 9:24, vision and prophecy were authenticated, closed and sealed with God’s seal of truth.
6)to anoint the most Holy.
1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4 NKJ)
The Most Holy Temple of God the Church is anointed to be His Dwelling forever.
The Church is the Temple of God in the New Covenant, Paul transferred the imagery of the priesthood and Daily Sacrifice to the church even while the literal Temple in Jerusalem was still standing. The Church is “the Temple of God” (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; 2 Thess. 2:4; Eph. 2:21). Its members Temple priests (1 Pet. 2:5). Christians offer up “the Daily Sacrifice” (1 Pet. 2:5; Rom. 12:1; Lk. 9:23; Heb. 13:15).
Therefore, the Seventy Weeks were completed in the 1st century, when the cutting off of the Messiah fulfilled all the elements of Daniel 9:24. The destruction of the Temple that occurred about 40 years later, not part of the seventy weeks. That is confirmed by the complete absence of any mention of the Temple or Jerusalem’s destruction in Daniel 9:24.
But Gabriel continues to prophesy about events that occur AFTER the Seventy weeks are ended. Jerusalem’s Temple will be destroyed in A.D. 70, and Hadrian destroys the nation forbidding Jews live in the Holy Land leading them as captives into all the nations in A.D. 131. The “times of the Gentiles” persist until the coming of Jesus Christ.
Daniel 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. (Dan. 9:27 KJV)
When the “times of the Gentiles” are about to end, another week separated from the seventy by the “times of the Gentiles” appears, in which the Antichrist rises from the people who destroyed the Temple and Israel. After 3 ½ years of benign rule as the Man of Sin false Christ, Chancellor Adonikam morphs into the “Son of Perdition” Seed of Satan Emperor Beast 666 Adonikam of the tyrannical Babylonianish Roman Empire, the Ten Horn Version Daniel saw in his vision. Adonikam rules for 42 months until the times of the Gentiles are ended by the return of Christ, who rains down desolation upon the Antichrist Beast Desolator at Armageddon.
Considerations
Hundreds of weeks cannot be called “seventy weeks”
How can Gabriel call hundreds of weeks “seventy weeks”? If the 69th week is followed by a “gap hundreds of weeks long”, how can the last week be called “the 70th week”? Obviously, it cannot as the total is much greater than “Seventy Weeks”.
Destruction of Temple and holy city Jerusalem not among the six items listed in Daniel 9:24
It is fitting the 70th week end when the Messiah is cut off, for then is when all six items in Daniel 9:24 are fulfilled. The events that follow Messiah’s being cut off are not part of the seventieth week. How do we know this? See for yourself, reread Daniel 9:24 and find these events among the six items:
23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. (Luk 21:23-24 KJV)
Messiah appears at the end of the 69th week, then “after shall Messiah be cut off”. Therefore, it is in the 70th week Messiah is cut off. That’s where the verse should end, Daniel 9:26 (b) a new verse.
Daniel 9 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.
[All six items of Dan. 9:24 now fulfilled, so the verse should end here.]
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.
“The army of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the temple” (Dan. 9:26 NIRV), nothing is said when the Ruler himself will appear. The “Ruler” doesn’t appear until the end time, when the Roman Empire is revived and the Ten Horn (ten toed) version of it Daniel saw appear in the end time (Dan. 2:40-45; 7:7-10. Rev. 13:1-2). That is when the 666 Beast Ruler himself comes. This enigmatic wording is consistent with sealing up these prophecies until the end time (Dan. 12:9-10).
“That holy thing” the Son of God (Lk. 1:35) was put to death and this sealed up the vision of the prophets about the coming of the New Covenant in Christ’s blood which would reconcile all things in heaven and earth to God (Col. 1:20). The benefits of His sacrifice are now universal, bringing in everlasting righteousness making an end of sins to all who believe in His Name (John 3:15; 20:31).
END NOTES
The Temple’s destruction is a sign of the end times (Mk. 13:2-4)
Jesus did not say the destroyed Temple would be rebuilt, only that “there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Mt. 24:2). The “abomination of desolation” “Man of Sin” who rises in the end time shattering the power of the “holy people” (Dan. 12:11), appears to the Church the only “Sanctuary of God” (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21) existing in the end time. This changed reality of the end time explains how the words were “sealed” until the end time (Dan. 12:7-9). The New Testament changed the meaning of the “abomination of desolation”, in Daniel 12:11 it is completely unlike the image placed in the Temple by Antiochus (Daniel 11:31). This one can “standup” (Mk. 13:14) and be called “the Desolator” (Dan. 9:27).
The subtle difference in Hebrew explains why Jesus cautioned future readers of His prophecy (Mt. 24:15. Mk. 13:14) to think critically on the “abomination of desolation” in Daniel 12:11. The New Testament reality sealed the meaning of the words. In the “time of the end” Christians are the “holy people” and the Temple God” is the Church. The “Daily” is their taking up the cross of Christ. It is their apostasy accepting the “Man of Sin” as the Christ that takes away the Daily (08548 תָּמִיד tamiyd). Readers must deliberate carefully upon what they read, even Daniel expert interpreter of enigma (Dan. 5:12-16) was hopelessly confused (Dan. 12:8-9).
There are four possible “decrees” 1)Cyrus 538 B.C. (Ezra 1:1-4; 5:13-17); 2)Darius 517 B.C. (Ezra 6:6-12); 3)Artaxerxes 458 B.C. (Ezra 7:11-26); 4) Artaxerxes 458 B.C. (Neh. 2:1-8). Of these the most “scriptural” is by Cyrus (2Chron. 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4; Isa. 44:26-28):
26 That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:
27 That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:
28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. (Isa. 44:26-28 KJV)
Many reject Cyrus’ decree as the beginning of the Seventy Weeks. Ptolemy based Chronologies don’t have 483 years pointing to Christ’s appearance and the consensus accepts that construct. However, Philip Mauro (Seventy Weeks and the Great Tribulation, 1921) citing Rev. Martin Anstey (The Romance of Biblical Chronology, NY 1913) document the uncertainty surrounding some of Ptolemy’s assumptions. They have 483 years pointing to Jesus’ anointing at His baptism in 26 A.D. That is a very scriptural view given the pertinent verses cited and the fact His Baptism was meant to manifest the Messiah to Israel (John 1:31-34).
31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. (Jn. 1:31-34 KJV)
I agree with Philip Mauro, its unwise we interpret scripture according to secular theories of probability. Whether Anstey’s correction of Ptolemy’s work or J. D. Davis rejection of his argument (The Princeton Theological Review, 1915, XIII, 1-4, p. 106) is accepted, neither can achieve the certainty of John the Baptist’s declaration he came baptizing to manifest the Messiah to Israel.
“Confirmation bias” and “mass delusion” evident in the evolution consensus could be replicated in consensus accepting Ptolemy based chronologies, just as easily.
However, A.D. 26 still results if we count 483 years from 458 B.C. (Ezra 7:11-26) leaving undiminished the precision of this prophecy. That this “decree” didn’t command the restoration of Jerusalem isn’t a weighty objection because it is implied by the simple fact the Jews could never return from exile without restoring and rebuilding Jerusalem.
As for Gabriel using a 360-day year in his seventy weeks, nothing in the context or the rest of the OT suggests Israelites used it to count literal years.