Prophetic Terms: the Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9

Daniel learned from the book of Jeremiah that the captivity of the Jews in Babylon was to last only seventy years. Those years had about rolled away and as Daniel stood on the threshold of their return to their own land, he was led to confess their sin, for which they were sent into captivity, and to pray for their return and blessing. He claimed no merit in themselves but counted on God's mercy. God responded with a wonderful unfolding of a period of time concerning those same people - Daniel's people. This new disclosure covered not merely seventy years, as was their captivity in Babylon, but "seventy weeks." This is evidently a different length of time, but let us inquire what is meant by the word "weeks." In ordinary language a week is a period of time composed of seven days, but that certainly cannot be the meaning in this passage. Nothing like the things predicted in the prophecy came to pass within seventy actual weeks nor in many times that number of weeks.
In seeking the correct understanding of this prophecy we must first be clear about what the seventy weeks mean. We are told by Hebrew scholars that the word in the original is not literally "weeks" but merely "seventy sevens." It is a word that described something divided into seven parts. They are really weeks of years; that is, they are seventy periods of seven years. This was quite understandable to Daniel or to any Jew, as they were accustomed to think in terms of "sevens" when dealing with years. We, on the other hand, think of tens and speak of decades, but the Jews thought in terms of sevens. They were to let their land rest every seventh year (Exod. 23:11).
Now, on this basis we can proceed, knowing that "seventy sevens" or 490 years were determined on the Jewish people, in the counsels and purposes of God, to bring certain things to pass. What then is the conclusion of these 490 years to bring in? Let us read in the 24th verse.
"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."
Clearly then it has to do, in its final fulfillment, with the cleansing of the Jews from their sins and iniquity and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness - something neither they nor the world has yet seen. We who are saved know that our sins are forgiven in virtue of the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross, and we know that He is our righteousness; but no one would say that this prophecy is fulfilled yet. It further says that it will "seal up the vision and prophecy" concerning the Jews. Certainly much that has been spoken by God concerning this is yet unfulfilled. And the last statement, "to anoint the Most Holy," would be understood by any Jew to mean the "holy of holies" in the temple. All of these things remain unaccomplished and can only be expected when the Lord Jesus, as the true Messiah, comes to reign, bringing in the Millennium. Thus we see that all this blessing was to be ushered in at the end of 490 years, and it has not yet come. Let us keep this in mind and then we shall go on to see just how much has already taken place, what remains to be done, and what is causing the delay in final fulfillment.
"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." v. 25.
In this verse we have the starting point of the "seventy weeks," or 490 years - "the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem." It always makes things easier in studying prophecy when we know with certainty the starting point. In this case it is a certain governmental decree to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. In the first chapter of the book of Ezra there was a decree issued by Cyrus, king of Persia, to build the temple at Jerusalem, but nothing was said about the city itself. No doubt God ordered it that Cyrus should give the order to rebuild the temple; in fact, God had prophesied about Cyrus, even by name, more than 100 years before he was born (see Isa. 44:28; 45:1-4). But his decree is not the starting point of our prophecy.
In the seventh chapter of Ezra "Artaxerxes king of Persia" (known in history as Artaxerxes Longimanus) issued another decree, but it also concerned the temple at Jerusalem. It had to do with the carrying of the silver and gold and the vessels to Jerusalem for the house of God. So then neither is this the starting point of our prophecy.
Now let us go to the book of Nehemiah where we will find our starting point for the "seventy weeks." In chapter 2 the date is given as "the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king." This is the same king that issued the decree of Ezra 7, but in Ezra it was in the seventh year of his reign, and in Nehemiah in the twentieth year. In that year Nehemiah made a request of the king that he would send him into Judah and to the city of his father's sepulchers - Jerusalem - in order that he might build it. After that, Nehemiah asked for letters so that he could procure the needed materials for the palace and the wall of the city, etc. Then he said that the "king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me." This is very definitely the time referred to in Daniel 9. It is an official governmental order for the building of the city and wall, which according to scholars is in the year 445 B.C. Now bear in mind that Daniel received this vision in the "third year of Cyrus king of Persia," about 538 B.C. or 93 years before it came to pass. Attention is called to this fact because of the attempt of infidels to prove that Daniel wrote history and not prophecy. They certainly would like to think so because the very marked accuracy of their fulfillment stamps them with the finger of God and condemns themselves. Daniel certainly was a prophet; the Lord Himself called him that (Matt. 24:15).
From this starting point in 445 B.C. the "seventy weeks" are divided into three parts:
7 weeks or 49 years
62 weeks or 434 years
1 week or 7 years
70 weeks or 490 years
The first 49 years are separated from the others probably because of the special trials suffered by the Jewish remnant during those years in building the wall and the city. For information about the "troublous times" encountered in building the wall, read the book of Nehemiah which is the latest historical record in the Old Testament. God made special note of the hardships of the ones who labored in those days by making a special section of the prophecy for that time - "seven weeks."
From the end of those first "seven weeks," or forty-nine years, there were to be "threescore and two weeks," or 434 years more, "unto the Messiah the Prince." Here is a definite prophecy of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but the prophecy does not state the exact point in His pathway that is referred to. Some able scholars have thought that the 69 weeks go right up to the day when the Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the ass. At that time He was formally presented to Israel as their Messiah, and then rejected, and within a few days He was crucified. Some students of chronology have even calculated that from that day mentioned in Nehemiah 2, when the decree to build Jerusalem was given, unto the day the Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem as their Messiah was 483 years to the very day. That may be true. One thing is sure, God's Word will always be fulfilled to the very letter.
O if Jerusalem had only recognized their Messiah when He was presented to them! But they did not know the time of their visitation (Luke 19:44). On that day when He was presented to them, there lacked only seven years of the 490 for Him to bring in final blessing, but alas, they said, "Away with Him, crucify Him."
Prophetic Terms: the Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9
The Scriptures had foretold the coming of the Messiah and given many details concerning it. And when He came, He came at the specified time, in the designated place, and in the manner announced; the Word of God must be fulfilled. But they also foretold His rejection and described the hatred and enmity of men, which would go on until He was cast out. One of the prophecies concerning His rejection is brought before us in Daniel 9:
"And after [the] threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself" or, "and shall have nothing."
Their Messiah was to be cut off and have nothing of the glory and kingdom that belonged to Him. How accurately this was fulfilled! "He was cut off out of the land of the living" (Isa. 53:8).
When the Lord Jesus was here, His disciples were expecting that He would set up His kingdom and reign. They knew the prophecies concerning the Messiah reigning in His glory on earth, but they completely overlooked those that just as definitely spoke of His rejection and being "cut off" without receiving the glory. Even after the Lord died and rose, they were looking for the glory of the kingdom. On the road to Emmaus with the two disciples, He said to them,
"O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?" Luke 24:25, 26.
They were willing to believe part of what the prophets had spoken; that is, they were willing to believe in a Messiah coming to reign in glory. The Lord upbraids them for not believing all that had been spoken about Him and then went on to explain that His rejection must come before His glory. The Lord Jesus fulfilled every requirement of prophecy concerning His birth and life, and yet the eyes of the Jews were closed so that they did not discern Him or His glory. They did not know the time of their visitation (Luke 19:44). And lastly they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him." And when Pilate protested to them because of His innocence, they said, "His blood be on us, and on our children" (Matt. 27:25). 0 what a fateful choice was made that day! There they stood with their Messiah before them on the very threshold of their blessing, but they "cast Him out of the vineyard, and slew Him." With 69 out of 70 weeks (483 out of 490 years) already fulfilled, they crucified the "Lord of glory" and so postponed the blessing.
The last week (the 70th) which will immediately precede and usher in the glorious reign of the Messiah was separated from the other 69 weeks in the prophecy. That there is a break between the 69th and 70th weeks is plainly evident, but there is no indication in Daniel 9 as to how long the break would be. Israel's rejection of Christ brought an indefinite parenthesis into the ways of God with them.
It is not uncommon in the Old Testament prophecies regarding Israel to deal with the then-near distant events, after which they skip over to the time of the end and foretell the circumstances and happenings incident to the coming of Christ to execute judgment and reign. Christ is the object of prophecy and all prophecy leads to Him. This should be kept in mind by all who would inquire into prophecy. God did not give it to amuse us or to exercise our intellects but to lead us into His purposes concerning His Son. Unless this is seen, the study of prophecy will be cold and unfruitful. Now let us see what is said as to the interval between the 69th and 70th weeks.
"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." v. 26.
Jerusalem and the temple were to be destroyed in the time after their "Messiah and Prince" was cut off. It does not say just how soon after He was cut off that this would take place, but we know from history that it was about forty years later. The Lord Himself foretold that the murderers were to be destroyed and their city burned up (see Matt. 21:41 and 22:7). The Jews had sought to curry favor of the Roman government for they feared that the Romans would "take away both their place and nation." When their Messiah was on trial before Pilate, they said, "We have no king but Caesar." Nevertheless their city was to be destroyed, and they themselves to be scattered all over the earth, which was but one of the dire consequences of their rejection of Christ and of their saying "His blood be on us, and on our children." This destruction and the continued desolations were foretold in Luke 21:20-24.
"And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.... For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 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."
Another point to be noticed in this prophecy, which further emphasizes the accuracy of Scripture, is the designation of who would destroy the city of Jerusalem. It was not the Persians or the Grecians who followed them as a world power but another people designated here as "the people of the prince that shall come." This we know was the Romans - the very people whose favor they sought and who did take away both their place and nation. It does not say that "the prince that shall come" shall destroy the city but his people, leaving it for still a later date for the appearance of the prince himself. Now this prince plainly could not mean "the Messiah the Prince," for He was cut off. But some great personage is to come on the scene, at a later date, who is here called the prince. Now if the people who are called his people were clearly the Romans, then this great prince is to be a Roman, but we are not yet down to verse 27 to consider him. In verse 26 the destruction of the city is prophesied:
"And the end thereof shall be with an overflow, and unto the end, war" (J.N.D. Trans.).
But here in Luke 21 the continuous form of trouble for Jerusalem is indicated. And has it not been so? Many Jews have been scattered far and wide, and yet they remain a distinct people. The Moslem Mosque is on the very site of the temple. This then is what fills the gap in the prophecy as far as the Jews are concerned. Of course we know that God has used this interval by the operation of the Holy Spirit to gather out of the earth a people for heaven. It is now, while the Jews are cast off, that the Church is being built. We are living in the day of God's grace to this world. We are living in the day of Gentile privilege and preference. The Jews are judicially blinded because of their rejection of their Messiah; however, a remnant of them believe and become a part of the Church of God, with their portion in heaven and not on the earth.
It would be well for all of us to consider that this parenthesis in the ways of God with the earth has run on for almost 2000 years. This gap will soon run out, and God's ways of grace will change to acts of judgment for this Christ-rejecting earth, for the Gentiles have not continued in God's goodness either. We should be conscious that we are now down at the very end of the interval. In fact it may have closed before this paper goes to press - the Lord may have come.
Reader, are you saved? Have you accepted Christ as your personal Savior? Have you ever been before God about your sins and seen the Lord Jesus dying on the cross for those very sins? If not, remember that your time is running out. God has lingered all these centuries showing His grace to and forbearance with the world, but He has told us that the day of judgment is soon coming.
We have seen the awful calamities that have befallen the Jews for their rejection of Christ. Do you think that the Gentiles and the empty lifeless profession of Christianity will escape? No, no, no! The only way of escape from the coming wrath is through the blood of Christ. Are you under that shelter? Nothing else will matter.
Prophetic Terms: the Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9
Verse 26 of Daniel 9 introduces "the prince that shall come." He is to be the head of a revived Roman Empire. That the Roman Empire is to be revived does not hang on this prophecy alone. Revelation 13 and 17 both speak about this great power of a future day; 17:8 describes it as one that "was" and then ceased to exist - "is not" - and later "shall be present" (J.N.D. Trans.). It was the Roman Empire that destroyed Jerusalem in the days of Titus, about A.D. 70. Later it was broken up, and for centuries it ceased to exist as a unit. But in a day that is near at hand it will come up out of the turmoil of the nations in a new form. It will have ten confederated governments under a central head - described here as the "prince that shall come."
In Daniel 2 the course of Gentile world powers is described in the vision of the image of a man. The legs of iron represented the Roman Empire of the past, and then, looking on to the end of Gentile dominion over the Jews, the last state of the Roman Empire is depicted in the "ten toes" of the feet. Here again we have ten parts of this future power. There was nothing between the legs and feet, indicating that there would be no universal power between the days of Rome in the past and the Roman Empire of the future. Several have tried to achieve world power but never accomplished it.
Then in Daniel 7 the Roman Empire of the past is described as a "dreadful and terrible" beast; such we know Rome was. Then it pictures the future of the same power in these words: "and it had ten horns." Everywhere the testimony of Scripture is uniform as to the form of the future Roman Empire. There is also another "little horn" in Daniel 7 which describes this same "prince that shall come." The little horn comes up and dominates the whole beast. In fact in Revelation 13 this great prince is called "the beast" himself.
This Roman "prince" will make a league with the Jews for a period of seven years. Before this takes place we, Christians, are to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. He may come at any moment. After the Church is taken to heaven the ways of God with His earthly people will again begin to unfold. The interrupted "seventy weeks" will be resumed; the last "week" or seven years must be fulfilled. During these seven years the Roman Empire will assume protection of the Jews and give them Palestine as a home land, but still under their Gentile domination. The Arabs (who at present are vigorously protesting the admittance of more Jews to Palestine) will continue to be the enemies of the Jewish occupation of that land. They will probably perfect what they now seek - a federated Arab state - which is described in Isaiah as the "king of the north"; that is, north of Palestine. Daniel 8 and 11 also go on to develop the picture of this "king of the north" of the future, and Psalm 83 gives the list of his confederate peoples.
For fear of the Arab world the Jews, who will have gone back to Palestine in unbelief seeking a home land rather than their Messiah, will readily turn to the Roman Empire for protection and accept a contract with this "beast" for seven years. He will permit them to re-establish their Jewish ritual and rebuild their temple. This will stir the Arabs to great resentment, but the overwhelming strength of the Roman Empire will apparently guarantee safety to the Jews. Now the 27th verse should read,
"And he shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease."
Some have misinterpreted this "covenant" to mean the "new covenant" which the Messiah will make with Israel, but that plainly could not be the case for He will not make one for seven years nor will He break it. This is "a covenant" entered into by the Jews and their false Messiah - the antichrist - on the one hand, and the head of the Roman Empire on the other. It is also made with "the many" or the mass of the Jews. There will be a faithful remnant who will refuse this proffered aid and suffer for it, but the many will readily accept it.
This contract is also foretold in Isa. 28:14, 15:
"Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge [the `king of the north' or the 'Assyrian] shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves."
Then the prophet Isaiah goes on to tell that their agreement shall not stand and that the overflowing scourge will tread them down. God will see to it that judgment will overtake them; but He also gives a word of encouragement to the faithful few by telling them of Christ the "sure foundation" for them who trust in Him (v. 16).
After one half of the week - 31/2 years - has run its course, this "prince" will break his contract with the Jews to the extent that he will cause all their ritual and sacrifices to cease. As wicked as the Jewish leaders and most of the Jewish people will be, this "prince" will be worse. He will hate even the mention of. God and seek to obliterate all acknowledgment of Him in any way. He will substitute total idolatry for their reestablished religious services. The antichrist, the Jewish leader, will be his guilty coadjutor and tool.
That this "prince" will stop the Jews' religious services and institute his own schemes is foretold in Dan. 7:25:
"And he shall... think to change times and laws [Jewish ritual]; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time."
Here we get the specified time of enforced idolatry as "time" - one year; "times" - two years; "the dividing of time" - one half year; or three and one half years. This corresponds exactly to breaking his league with them and establishing idolatry in the "midst of the week"; that is, after the first 3 1/2 years, and with 31/2 years to go.
The Lord Jesus also foretold this terrible and gross idolatry in Matthew 12. The unclean spirit of idolatry had gone out of the Jews after their return from Babylon. They have not been idol worshipers since, but in that day the unclean spirit of idolatry will go back into them, with seven other wicked spirits, and their last state shall be worse than the first. And for this "protection of abominations" (J.N.D. Trans.) there is going to be a desolator. The "king of the north," whom they fear, will surely be a scourge in God's hand because of their return to idolatry. Their contract with the Roman prince shall not save them from the devastation which "shall be poured upon the desolate" - the Jews.
The Lord Jesus referred to this idolatry in Matthew 24 as the "abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel" in the 12th chapter. An idol will be placed in the temple according to Matthew 24 and will be the sign for the godly Jews to flee Jerusalem in great haste. The terrible times called "the great tribulation" will follow the institution of idolatry. It will last 31/2 years and be called "the time of Jacob's trouble" (Jer. 30:7). Of course it will be a time of trouble for the whole world also, but there will be special vengeance on the Jews for their return to idolatry and for their acceptance of a false Jew, called the "antichrist." The 31/2 years are also spoken of as 1260 days in Daniel 12, and in Revelation 13 as 42 months.
Dear fellow-Christian, we stand upon the very threshold of the coming of the Lord and of those awful events which will follow on this earth. We are not looking for the formation of the Roman Empire but rather for the Lord; that is, we should be. Some Christians have put events foremost and have lost in their souls by it. The Lord would have us watching for Himself and not waiting for some event that may not be seen before we leave this world. Things will happen very rapidly after we are gone. We see the coming events casting their shadows now, but we are not waiting for events. Let us keep in mind our Lord's own words:
"Surely I come quickly."
And may our response be,
"Even so, come, Lord Jesus."