Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
Understanding Daniel's 70 Weeks Prophecy
If you read the first 23 verses of Daniel, this is basically what happens...
Daniel finds in his books (in all likeliness these were scrolls), that the 70 years of captivity to Babylon is nearing an end. So he goes into prayer, repenting of his own sins and of those of the Jews as well, asking God to forgive them all and bring an end to their punishment. The problem is that even though Daniel is repenting, there is no mention of how the Jews as a people have repented. So God sends Gabriel to Daniel with a message. This message is a prophetic message that we now call the 70 Weeks Prophecy.
The first thing you need to know is that there is a bad translation in this prophecy. The Hebrew word that is translated to 'week' is 'sabuim'. A sabuim is a period of time that comes in seven. One sabuim can be seven days, seven months, or even seven years. The problem is there is only one word in the English language that is a time period that comes in seven. That word is 'week'. Unfortunately this translation has caused penty of confusion because it turns out that Daniel was not using sabuim in reference to 7 days, but instead was referring to 7 years.
One sabuim = 7 years. So 70 sabuim would be 490 years.
With this understanding, lets get into the scriptures of the prophecy....
Daniel finds in his books (in all likeliness these were scrolls), that the 70 years of captivity to Babylon is nearing an end. So he goes into prayer, repenting of his own sins and of those of the Jews as well, asking God to forgive them all and bring an end to their punishment. The problem is that even though Daniel is repenting, there is no mention of how the Jews as a people have repented. So God sends Gabriel to Daniel with a message. This message is a prophetic message that we now call the 70 Weeks Prophecy.
The first thing you need to know is that there is a bad translation in this prophecy. The Hebrew word that is translated to 'week' is 'sabuim'. A sabuim is a period of time that comes in seven. One sabuim can be seven days, seven months, or even seven years. The problem is there is only one word in the English language that is a time period that comes in seven. That word is 'week'. Unfortunately this translation has caused penty of confusion because it turns out that Daniel was not using sabuim in reference to 7 days, but instead was referring to 7 years.
One sabuim = 7 years. So 70 sabuim would be 490 years.
With this understanding, lets get into the scriptures of the prophecy....
Daniel 9:24 (NASB)
24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the wrongdoing, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
Seventy sabuim (490 years) have been decreed for the people and the city to accomplish these things...
1) To finsih the wrongding.
2) To make an end to sin.
3) To make atonement for guilt.
4) To bring in everlasting righteousness.
5) To seal up vision and prophecy.
6) To anoint the Most Holy Place.
When you really look at what these things are, you realize they are the Second Coming of the Lord. Only upon the Lords return will sin be done away with. Only upon His return will vision and prophecy be sealed up. Only then will we have everlasting righteousness. So God is saying that it is decreed there will be 490 years until the Lords return.
Now we know there has been well over 490 years since Daniel had this prophecy right? That is what needs to be understood in the next verses.
Daniel 9:25 (NASB)
25 So you are to know and understand that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with streets and moat, even in times of distress.
From the issuing of a decree to rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah comes will be 7 sabuim (49 years) and 62 sabuim (434 years). This is a total of 69 sabuim (483 years).
Scholars and much smarter people than I have broken it all down and proved out the years add up. In Ezra there is a decree from Artaxes to rebuild Jerusalem. There is an earlier decree from Cyrus, but that was only for the rebuilding of the temple and not the city. Daniel's prophecy is about the rebuilding of the city. From the decree by Artaxerxes to the completion of Jerusalem was 49 years (7 sabuim). From then to Jesus entering Jerusalem using prophetic years (360 day years), it was 62 sabuim (434 years). A total of 69 sabuim (483 years).
Daniel 9:26 (NASB)
26 Then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
Then after the 62 sabuim, the Messiah is killed. Remember, the 7 sabuim came first. Then the 62 sabuim. So this is clearly telling us that the death of Jesus comes 'after' the first total of 69 sabuim (483 years). So the city is rebuilt in 7 sabuim, then 62 sabuim later the Messiah will come. After that, the Messiah is killed, but thats not all that happens after the first 483 years of this prophecy. It also tells us that the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city.
This is key because this part of the prophecy was clearly filled in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the city. There are a couple things to note here. The people of the prince who is to come is the romans, not the Jews or the Christians. It says very clearly that it was the people of the prince who is to come would destroy the city. It was in fact the Romans who destroyed the city. Since the people of the Messiah is either the Jews or the Christians and not the Romans, it means the "prince who is to come" is not the Messiah. Second is that the death of the Messiah and the destruction of the city both happens 'after' the first 69 sabuim. Just keep those two points in mind.
Daniel 9:27 (NASB)
27 And he will confirm a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come the one who makes desolate, until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, gushes forth on the one who makes desolate.”
He will confirm a covenant for one sabuim. We have seen the first 69 sabuim. That left one sabuim of this prophecy left to be fulfilled. Now we have the 70th sabuim.
What is important to note here is that it does not mention the death of the Messiah or the destruction of Jerusalem in the 70th Sabuim. It mentioned those 'before' it mentions this final sabuim. So they are not part of the 70th week (sabuim) but happen between the first 69 sabuim and the 70th sabuim. Some will try to argue that there is no pause between the first 69 weeks and the 70th week, but here it is plainly calling for a pause.
Jesus died around 30 AD. The city was destroyed in 70 AD. That is 40 years difference and the last sabuim was a time period of 7 years. So there is without a doubt a pause between the first 69 sabuim and the 70th sabuim. Lets take a look at what happens in the 70th sabuim.
He confirms a covenant for one sabuim. WHo is "he"? In the English language, when the word "he" is used, it always refers to the last one mentioned specifically. In this case it is the prince who is to come. I already showed that the prince who is to come is not the Messiah. So who is he? Well we know he will put an end to grain offerings and sacrifices. What can that tell us?
In Matthew 24, Jesus tells us this....
Matthew 24:15 (NASB)
15 “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place—let the reader understand--
Jesus specifically clarifies this as the one mentioned in Daniel. He uses similar language in calling him the abomination of desolation. Paul also mentions him...
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 (NASB)
3 No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
There is no doubt that this man is not the Messiah but is the Man of Lawlessness mentions by Paul.
A little history lesson.
In 167 BC, a Greek ruler, Antiochus IV desecrated the Jewish Holy Temple when he walked into the Holy place and set up a statue of Zeus to be worshiped and sacrificed a pig on it. This has always been recognized as the "abomination of desolation" to the Jews. I believe this will be repeated.
Though the destruction of the city in 70 AD clearly fulfilled part of this prophecy, it is equally as clear that was not part of the 70th week (sabuim). The man of lawlessness, whom Christianity today calls the "antichrist", is who the 70th Sabuim is about. He will confirm a covenant with many. This will start the 70th week. In the midst of the week, he will put an end to grain offerings and sacrifices. I believe the connection to the abomination of desolation means a similar act will occur. He will desecrate the Temple by slaughtering a pick in it and take a seat and claim to be God himself.
There will be some who will say it is only my own interpretation that there is a pause between the 69th and 70th week. If you read it, as I have pointed out, there is without a doubt a pause. It takes twisting of scripture to assume there is no pause. It takes twisting grammar and ignoring who destroyed the city to say it is the Messiah who makes the covenant.
The first 69 weeks were completed when Jesus entered Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago. The 70th week has not happened yet but is soon to happen. Why such a long pause? Read this article...
The Reason for the Rapture.