DANIEL’S PROPHECY
OF SEVENTY WEEKS
Daniel 9:24-27 KJV 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.
(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. (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.
(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.
A specific interpretation of Daniel’s 70 weeks is an
important linchpin for the pre-tribulation rapture crowd. They even consider it
to be the most important prophecy in the Bible, particularly for their doctrine.
The Scofield-deluded, dispensational, pre-tribulation interpreters generally
devise a way to have the crucifixion of Jesus as the end of the 69th
week with the 70th week transform into a future tribulation era that
is usually correlated to the revelation. Since most commentators have a
different concept of the correlation of the 70th week to the
revelation, there are various understandings and interpretations of John’s
book.
For the record, it is my opinion, based on the work of
Dr. Steven Jones, that Jesus was born in 2 BC and was crucified on April 3, 33
A.D. the 69th week ended in April 26 AD with the Sabbath year
beginning a few months later in September. The crucifixion of Jesus was also
the preparation day for Passover where the sacrificial lambs were killed. This
would also include Jesus who was the sacrificial lamb for everyone who has ever
lived on planet Earth. The 70th week of Daniel spans from April 26
to April 33 A.D. as a point of reference Sabbath years actually began in
September for those years.
Putting the revelation argument aside for a moment let’s
look at the interpretations of Daniel’s 70 weeks. I have read several
interpretations but not all of them. Most of them have different and varied
dates for the birth and crucifixion of Jesus. Likewise these commentators give
several starting dates to begin the 70 weeks.
Gabriel told Daniel the start of the 70 weeks would be a
decree or permission to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. The original Cyrus decree was issued in 534
BC which was 566 years before 33 AD which would have been 76 years to early.
Almost a century ago some Bible scholars formed a theory claiming that Cyrus
actually lived in the 450’s BC rather than the 530’s. Their supposed proof
postulated that some of the kings in the Persian king list were actually the
same king going by different names or titles therefore moving history forward
almost 80 years. However, a recent archaeological discovery with complete names
of all the Persian kings has proven their theory to be false and that Cyrus
actually lived during the 530’s BC and his first decree was issued in 534 BC.
However, there was a 2nd decree issued 76 years
later than the decree of Cyrus and this is the actual decree that begins the 70
weeks or 490 years. This was issued by Artaxerxes in 458 BC and this date is
precisely 490 years prior to 33 A.D. which can be verified in the book of Ezra
7:11-13.
Ezra 7:6-7 KJV This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a
ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and
the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God
upon him. (7) And there went up some of the children of Israel, and
of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the
Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
Ezra 7:11-13 KJV Now this is the copy of the letter that the
king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the
words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel.
(12) Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of
the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time.
(13) I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of
his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to
go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.
Two Kings Named
Cyrus
Xerxes died in 465 BC in the first year of his successor Artaxerxes was
the year 464 BC. Josephus tells us in his writings that Artaxerxes had another
name. This name was Cyrus but the Greeks called him Artaxerxes. This dual name
could be prophetic. The original Cyrus issued the first decree allowing the
Jews to return to Jerusalem and build the second Temple. 76 years later
Artaxerxes basically did the same thing. This may be the reason past historians
consider them to be the same person.
Other Aspects
Since the pre-tribulation rapture group insists that the
70th week is a future occurrence during which the events of the
revelation are fulfilled, they also insist that their preconceived
interpretations of the revelation are revealed in the 70 week prophecy. Daniel
9:26 which speaks about ”the people of the prince that shall come” is transform
into the so-called antichrist or beast who is not a future event but is the
papacy of the Roman church.
Daniel 9:27 speaks of the covenant being confirmed for
one week. In the middle of the week He i.e. God will cause the sacrifice and
the oblation to stop. This did not actually happen in the temple in Jerusalem
but was a decree issued by God. This was the date that Jesus was baptized by
John the Baptist and was named the Lamb of God taking away the sins of the
world. At that point, from God’s
perspective, sacrifices were no longer necessary because the New Covenant had
been instituted.
Judah had failed to enact 70 rest years which is the
reason God sent them into captivity for 70 consecutive years. This can be seen
in 2 Chronicles 36:20-21.
2 Chronicles 36:20-21 KJV And them that had escaped from the
sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons
until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: (21) To fulfil the word
of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept
sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
This judgment was specified in Leviticus 26:34-35 where
God said he would exile them from the land for the sin of not respecting the
sabbatical years. During the period of “threescore
and two years” (62 years) as written in Daniel 9:26, Judah kept the majority of
the rest years but never even one Jubilee was honored, which meant their debt
to the law of God continued to add up. It has been said that God’s solution for
this particular issue (and many others) was to send the Messiah to pay the debt
by sacrificing his own blood at the end of the final week. Jesus was sent as the mediator of the new
covenant. One of the missions of Jesus,
as the Messiah, was to teach mankind how to enter into God’s Jubilee rest. The coming Millennium will be the seventh “thousand
year era” of creation and will be God’s Jubilee rest.
A reading the KJV version of Daniel 9:26 appears to
indicate the Messiah would arrive after 69 years, Jerusalem would then be
destroyed seven years later with the Messiah being killed as well. An army of
the prince would destroy the temple and the city and the Messiah would be left
with nothing at all. It is possible Daniel could have understood the prophecy
in this manner, but history paints a different picture in the above description
did not happen.
Daniel 9:26 KJV 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 9:26 Brenton Septuagint
And after the sixty-two weeks, the anointed one shall be destroyed, and
there is no judgment in him: and he shall destroy the city and the sanctuary
with the prince that is coming: they shall be cut off with a flood, and to the
end of the war which is rapidly completed he shall appoint the city to
desolations.
The Septuagint translation gives a slightly different
version than the KJV. The “anointed one
shall be destroyed” rather than “Messiah
shall be cut off” ending with “there
is no judgment in him” versus “but
not for himself”. In other words,
the Septuagint understands this to mean that the coming Messiah would be mistreated
and judged falsely, which we know to be true.
The Septuagint translation also makes Daniel 9:27 much
clearer and understandable. The KJV
appears to make the Messiah responsible for the stopping of the sacrifice and
the oblation along with the overspreading of abominations and making a desolation.
The Septuagint simply says the sacrifice and drink offering will be taken away
and the temple itself will be made desolate.
To be desolate needs to be deserted or absent of something. It can also
mean to be astonished, appalled, astounded, or awestruck. Many people indeed
were astonished at the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
Daniel 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.
Daniel 9:27 Brenton Septuagint And one week shall establish the covenant with
many: and in the midst of the week my sacrifice and drink-offering shall be
taken away: and on the temple shall be the abomination of desolations; and at
the end of time an end shall be put to the desolation.
The “many” does
not refer to a handful or even a large group of people but is to be contrasted with
“the one person” or one individual. In Romans 5:16-18, Paul shows that one man’s
sin (Adam) affected the many and one Man’s righteous act (Jesus) also affected
the many. Therefore the many is everyone except the one.
The flood is not a literal flood but a metaphor as in
Proverbs 27:4. It is similar to saying
Jerusalem was conquered by a flood of soldiers.
Proverbs 27:4 NLT Anger is
cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.
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