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20c What is Daniel's Seventieth Week?

Copyright © 2024 Michael A. Brown

Part C: The first half of Daniel’s seventieth week

Reading: Revelation 11:1-14

      This is the third distinct part of the second woe.

What is Daniel’s seventieth week?

Reading: Daniel ch.9

      When the prophet Daniel was interceding before God for the return of the Jews to Judea at the end of the Babylonian captivity, the angel Gabriel came to give him a prophetic revelation (Dan. 9:20f).  It is important to note that this revelation concerns specifically the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem:

‘Seventy “sevens” are decreed for your people and your holy city…’ (Dan. 9:24)

      So this prophecy does not concern the Gentiles at all, neither the Church nor the redemption of the Gentiles, but specifically the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem.  The angel Gabriel was clear about this, and he also encouraged Daniel that the prophecy was not beyond his understanding (Dan. 9:23,25).

    Commentators agree that in this revelation the word ‘seven’ is used in a prophetic sense to mean ‘a week of years,’ i.e. seven years.  Therefore, the prophecy as a whole concerns a period of seventy weeks of years, i.e. a total of 490 years.  Hence it is often called the prophecy of the seventy weeks, or the prophecy of Daniel’s seventy weeks.

   The Hebrew word rendered as ‘determined’ or ‘decreed’ in v.25 means to ‘cut off,’ much as a carpenter would measure out and cut off a piece of wood.  So a period of 490 years has been marked off by God as a specific and definite span of time, during and by the end of which certain things will have been fulfilled for the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem (see below).

      In Scripture, the number 490 represents full and complete forgiveness.  Jesus taught that, to reflect his grace, we ought to forgive our brother seventy times seven times, i.e. 490 times (Matt. 18:21-22 AV).

      The number 490 is also the same as 49 x 10.  In Scripture, 49 years was a jubilee period or cycle, at the end of which debts would be forgiven and land restored to its original owner (Lev. 25:8-55).  Also, the number 10 represents completeness.  So the Jewish people call 490 years, i.e. ten jubilee cycles, a Great Jubilee Cycle or a Great Forgiveness Cycle.

     Therefore these 490 years are a specific period of time marked out by God by the end of which the Jewish people will have experienced his complete forgiveness, and the whole of their land will have been restored to them (including therefore the city of Jerusalem).

The six elements of this prophecy

      This revelation outlines six prophetic elements which are to be accomplished within the span of these seventy weeks or 490 years, in the context of the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem.  These six elements are: to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy (Dan. 9:24).

      The decree to restore and re-build Jerusalem was proclaimed on Nisan 1 548 BC (or 3rd April 548 BC using our Gregorian calendar).  Again using our Gregorian calendar and going forward 490 years from this date takes us exactly to 3rd April 33 AD (because there is no year ‘0’).  It is a matter of historical fact that this was the precise day on which Jesus was resurrected, Easter Sunday 33 AD as we know it, having been crucified on Good Friday, 1st April.[1]

      So we can immediately see that the first three elements of this prophecy were indeed accomplished and fulfilled for the Jewish people by the end of these 490 years, at the time of and through Christ’s cross-resurrection event.  These three elements are: to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for wickedness.  This is indeed a wonderful prophecy, fulfilled to the very day in history!

      However, in the specific context of the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem, it is also clear that the other three elements were not fulfilled at that time, even though they are part of the messianic hope.  Furthermore, although commentators agree that the events of the first sixty-nine weeks were all fulfilled by 33 AD, yet the events described in the final week of seven years in this prophecy clearly remained unfulfilled through the time of Christ’s earthly ministry (see Dan. 9:27).

      This therefore implies that the last week of this prophecy, the final seven-year period, has a dual prophetic fulfilment.  It was fulfilled in history as the last of the seventy weeks, i.e. as the seven years leading up to 33 AD during the time of the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus himself, but many commentators agree that these seven years will also be fulfilled eschatologically in the end-times immediately prior to Christ’s Second Advent, and in this way bring about the complete fulfilment of all the elements of this prophecy.  This is illustrated in Figure 20.1 below:

Figure 20.1 The dual prophetic fulfilment of the seventieth week

      The phrase ‘everlasting righteousness’ in v.24 really means ‘age of righteousness.’  So it is not referring to the imputed righteousness that we have in Christ as believers.  Rather it is referring to the future millennial reign of Christ consequent to his Second Advent, which will be the age of righteousness in this world when Jesus reigns in and from Jerusalem.

      Also, the phrase ‘to anoint the most holy’ in v.24 refers to a place, rather than to a person.  So it is referring in particular to the Jewish temple in Jerusalem which will be built and used during Christ’s millennial reign (Ezek. 40:1 – 44:31).  Daniel’s prayer was also for the temple in Jerusalem, and reference to the temple is made in the angel Gabriel’s message (Dan. 9:17,27).

      Everlasting righteousness will only be brought in for the Jewish people when they have embraced Jesus as their Messiah and he sets up his millennial kingdom on earth.  Many Jews will accept Jesus as their Messiah during the seven years prior to the Second Advent (see further below in this chapter).  The visions and prophecies of the word of God regarding the Jewish people and Jerusalem will only therefore be sealed up and fulfilled as Jesus returns and sets up his millennial kingdom at the end of those seven years.  Many prophecies regarding the Jewish people and Jerusalem are fulfilled during the seven years before Christ returns, as both this and the following chapter make clear.  Similarly, the most holy place will be anointed when the temple referred to by Ezekiel the prophet will be built in Jerusalem and consecrated for use when Jesus sets up his millennial kingdom and begins to reign from Jerusalem after his Second Advent (see chapter 24).

      The underlying cause and reason for all this was the rejection by the Jews of Jesus as their Messiah.  Although God’s desire was to bring his kingdom to the Jewish people at the time of Christ’s First Advent, yet, in his sovereign purpose to bring the Gentiles into faith, because the Jews rejected and crucified their Messiah, he ‘postponed,’ if you will, the time of the coming of his earthly kingdom to Israel and the Jewish people until the end of the Church Age when the fulness of the Gentiles has come in (Rom. 11:25-32, cf. Acts 1:6-7).  So the final seven years before this kingdom is established at the Second Advent, will be an eschatological fulfilment of the seventieth week: a period of seven years by the end of which, and going on into the beginning of the millennial kingdom soon afterwards, the words of Daniel 9:27 and all the elements of this prophecy will have been fulfilled.

      The fulfilment of these six prophetic elements is summed up in Table 20.3 below:

 

Fulfilment of the elements of the prophecy

 

 

Through the cross-resurrection event

 

By the end of the eschatological seventieth week and the setting up of the millennial kingdom

 

 

to finish transgression

to put an end to sin

to atone for wickedness

 

 

to bring in everlasting righteousness

to seal up vision and prophecy

to anoint the most holy

 

Table 20.3 The fulfilment of the six elements of the prophecy

So what are the main end-time purposes of Daniel’s seventieth week?

      The seven-year period immediately preceding the Second Advent is therefore often called Daniel’s seventieth week.[2]  It is described in Daniel 9:27 below:

‘He will confirm a covenant with many for one “seven.”  In the middle of the “seven” he will put an end to sacrifice and offering.  And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.’ (Dan. 9:27)

      In the rest of this chapter, I use the phrases ‘Daniel’s seventieth week,’ ‘the seventieth week,’ ‘the seven years,’ and ‘the seven-year period’ interchangeably to refer to this seven-year period of time which immediately precedes the Second Advent of Christ.

      The fact that this seventieth week is fulfilled eschatologically in the end-times is affirmed and strongly implied by Jesus’ reference in Matthew 24:15-16 below to the ‘abomination that causes desolation’ which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet.  Jesus was clearly referring to Daniel 9:27 which describes the seventieth week, and Matthew says that he expects his readers to understand this:

‘In the middle of the “seven” he will put an end to sacrifice and offering.  And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation…’ (Dan. 9:27)

‘So when you see standing in the holy place “the abomination that causes desolation”, spoken of through Daniel the prophet – let the reader understand – then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains…’ (Matt. 24:15-16)

      So this seventieth week must therefore have a specific end-times purpose.  As I stated above, the focus of this purpose is found in the angel Gabriel’s words to Daniel, in that it has to do specifically with the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem.  And the outworking of this purpose is to accomplish and fulfil the three elements listed in the right-hand column of Table 20.3 above, i.e. to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up and fulfil vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place, and to do these in the specific context of the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem.

      This end-time purpose therefore has a specific redemptive purpose for the Jewish people.  As we shall see, the period of the seventieth week is a time when many Jewish people will come to faith in and embrace Jesus as their Messiah, especially in the first half of these seven years.  They will come to faith as never before, bringing in everlasting righteousness to the Jewish people.  This redemptive focus also pertains to the city of Jerusalem, the place where Yahweh has placed his name.  It has to be completely freed from the oppression of Gentile powers, in order for it to become the place from which the Lord Jesus will reign in the millennium.  It is interesting that even in the time of the First Advent of Christ, many devout Jewish believers understood this prophetic purpose of God for the city of Jerusalem.  For example, Luke tells us that Anna the prophetess spoke about the newborn child to everyone who was looking for the redemption of Jerusalem (Luke 2:38).  Many prophetic words concerning the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem which still remain to be fulfilled, will be fulfilled during this seventieth week leading up to the Second Advent of Christ and his millennial reign.

      So by the end of this seventieth week, together with the Second Advent which immediately follows it and then the setting up of Christ’s millennial reign, the remaining three elements of the prophecy of the seventy weeks will have been fulfilled.

      In the light of this, is it any wonder then that, not only is God’s own redemptive focus very much on the Jewish people in this seventieth week, the focus of Antichrist is also on the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem, as both this and the following chapter show.  But in Antichrist’s case, as we shall see, his intentions are to usurp the city and the temple for his own reign and self-worship, and to destroy as many of the Jewish people as he can.  So we will see clearly in what follows how Antichrist’s own evil and diabolical intentions towards the Jewish people and Jerusalem develop as the seventieth week progresses.  He wants to occupy and claim Jerusalem for himself, and to be the king who is enthroned and worshipped there, and, because of his antipathy and hatred towards the Jewish people, he wants to annihilate them, if possible, and then Jesus will no longer have a people of his own to come back to.

      So it is very interesting that we can see a definite spiritual parallel between the eschatological fulfilment of the seventieth week, and the historical events around Jesus’ earthly ministry to the Jewish people.  Firstly, John the Baptist’s prophetic ministry brought many Jewish people to repentance and prepared them for Christ’s ministry which followed.  As I said above, although God’s desire was to bring his kingdom to the Jewish people at that time, yet, in his sovereign purpose to bring the Gentiles into faith, because the Jews rejected and crucified their Messiah, he ‘postponed’ the time of the coming of his earthly kingdom to Israel and the Jewish people until the end of the Church Age when the fulness of the Gentiles has come in (Rom. 11:25-32, cf. Acts 1:6-7).  In order to bring the Jewish people into faith in Jesus as their Messiah, they will experience an end-times parallel of John the Baptist’s and Christ’s ministries.  During the seventieth week, God will send them powerful prophetic ministry for 3½ years through which many of them will come to faith, but then, because the Jewish people rejected Christ when he first came to them, they will experience what it is to be under the heel of Antichrist for the next 3½ years.  This will be God’s last and final call to the Jewish people to repentance and faith.  The faith of believing Jews will be tested, refined, and purified under Antichrist’s brief reign in the Great Tribulation (Dan. 12:3, Zech. 13:8-9).  This is all shown in more detail below and in the following chapter.

The seventieth week has two halves which each last for 3½ years

      There are two distinct parts or halves to Daniel’s seventieth week, and these two halves are of equal length, each lasting for 3½ years.  The events associated with them are presented to us separately and chronologically in the descriptions of the sixth and then the seventh trumpet (see below and in the following chapter).  So the seventieth week straddles the end of the sixth trumpet and the whole of the seventh trumpet.

      The historical marker which separates these two halves of the seven years is the betrayal of the covenant by Antichrist, his putting an end to sacrifices and offerings in the temple in Jerusalem, and his setting up of the abomination of desolation.  These are described in more detail in the sections which follow.

‘He will confirm a covenant with many for one “seven.”  In the middle of the “seven” he will put an end to sacrifice and offering.  And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation…’ (Dan. 9:27 and cf. Matt. 24:15)

      This is illustrated in Figure 20.2 below:

Figure 20.2 The two halves of the seventieth week

      So the first half of Daniel’s seventieth week plays out in history as the third part (Part C) of the sixth trumpet, and the events associated with it are described in Revelation 11:1-14.  This is illustrated in Figure 20.3 below: 

 

N.B. Part C consists of the first half of the seventieth week plus a short period of three and a half days at the end (see below)

Figure 20.3 The sixth trumpet and the first half of Daniel’s seventieth week


a.     Days, months, years and times

      We are told that the first half of Daniel’s seventieth week lasts for 1,260 days.  This is clear from Revelation 11:3 below:

‘And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.’ (Rev. 11:3)

      And in the previous verse we are told that the second half of Daniel’s seventieth week, the Great Tribulation, lasts for 42 months:

‘[The Gentiles] will trample on the holy city for 42 months.’ (Rev. 11:2)

      That this period of 42 months is the equivalent of 1,260 days is clear from Revelation 12:6 and 13:5, both of which refer to the second half of the seventieth week:

‘The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.’ (Rev. 13:5)

‘The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.’ (Rev. 12:6)

      So if 1,260 days is the same as 42 months, then this means that each month is measured as 30 days.  Furthermore, 42 months is 3½ years, so this makes 1,260 days the equivalent of 3½ years, with each year being made up of 360 days.  Evidently, this is neither the solar (365 days) nor the lunar (354 days) calendar, but it is the way in which God will measure time when he brings judgement onto the world in the end-times.[3]  Some commentators refer to God’s use of a 360-day year in this way as ‘a prophetic year.’

      Another relevant point here is that when God brought judgement personally on Nebuchadnezzar, he told him that his period of judgement would last for ‘seven times’:

‘Seven times will pass by for you…’ (Dan. 4:16,23,25,32)

      All commentators agree that this means ‘seven years.’  Therefore, when the angel told Daniel that the end-times Great Tribulation would last for ‘a time, times, and half a time,’ he meant that it would last for 3½ years:

‘It will be for a time, times, and half a time.’ (Dan. 7:25, 12:7)

      So, the time-lengths of 1,260 days, 42 months, 3½ years, and ‘a time, times, and half a time’ are interchangeable.  The two halves of Daniel’s seventieth week will each last for the same length of time, and, in total therefore, the seventieth week will last for seven such years.

How does the rapture relate to Daniel’s seventieth week?

      The interpretation that I am presenting in this book clearly implies that the rapture happens well before the beginning of the seven-year period of Daniel’s seventieth week.  However, a traditional presentation that many pre-tribulation Bible teachers have given for many years, has the seven-year period starting immediately after the rapture happens.  They believe that the rapture is the event which initiates the seven years, and they therefore identify the sunteleia, the tribulation, and Daniel’s seventieth week as the same period of time, lasting for seven years.  This is illustrated in Figure 20.4 below: 


Figure 20.4 A traditional view of the relation of the rapture to the seventieth week

      However, the sunteleia, the tribulation and Daniel’s seventieth week are not the same period of time.  In actual fact, they refer to different things.  As we have seen in previous chapters, the rapture triggers the sunteleia, the end-times consummation or wrapping-up of this age, and it then leads soon afterwards into the rise of Antichrist.  However, it is clear from Daniel 9:27 below that the trigger for the start of the seven years of Daniel’s seventieth week is the confirmation by Antichrist of a covenant with Israel:

‘And he will confirm a covenant with many for one “seven.”’ (Dan. 9:27)

      So the seven-year period begins well after the rapture event, and it is the last part of the sunteleia.  Put another way and very simply, the rapture does not happen at the beginning of the seven years, but prior to them.  This is summed up in Figure 20.5 below:

Figure 20.5 The relation of the rapture to the beginning of the seven-year period

 

 

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THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

 



[1] See Derek Walker’s excellent treatment of this subject in his book Daniel’s Seventy Weeks, available from Oxford Bible Church, UK.

[2] Readers may wish to watch my more detailed exposition of this prophecy recorded in three sessions which are available on our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/mikesuelabrown.  Alternatively, readers who wish to study this prophecy in great depth would do well to consult Derek Walker’s book Daniel’s Seventy Weeks referenced in a previous footnote.

[3] It is based on the ancient Babylonian administrative calendar which had 12 months of 30 days each in a year, so a year consisted of 360 days.

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