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Daniel 9:24-27 - The
Prophecy of Daniel’s 70 Weeks
Sam A. Smith
Overview
The prophecy of the 70
weeks of Israel was given in answer to Daniel’s prayer recorded in Daniel
9:3-19. In this prophecy Gabriel revealed God’s program for Israel’s future.
Jesus referred to the prophecy in Matthew 24:15 and indicated that
understanding this prophecy is essential to understanding his Olivet Discourse.
Since the 70 weeks prophecy reveals the key chronological features of Israel’s
history from the decree to restore Jerusalem, up to the establishment of the
millennial kingdom, it is the key to understanding events leading up to the
second coming of Christ, most particularly the events of the tribulation
period. Thus the 70 weeks prophecy provides the chronological structure for
understanding both Jesus’ Olivet Discourse and much of the book of Revelation.
The prophecy reads as follows:
24“Seventy
weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the
transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring
in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the
most holy place.
25“So
you are to know and discern 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 plaza and moat, even in times of
distress.
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.
27“And
he will make a firm 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 one who makes desolate, even until a complete
destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”
(Dan. 9:24-27, NASB)
The
particulars of the prophecy
We should note that
the Hebrew term shabũa᾿ (translated
“week”) simply means “seven.” We could refer to this as the prophecy of the 70
“sevens,” but the term “week” is so widely used that it seems best to retain
the familiar terminology. Of course, the prophecy could not refer to
normal weeks of days, since the events of the prophecy could not fit into such
a short span of time. While premillennialists and amillennialists disagree on
the interpretation of the prophecy, there is general agreement that the first
69 weeks refer to weeks of years, at least approximately.[1]
It is
helpful to identify the particulars before trying to decipher the chronology of
the prophecy. Both Daniel’s prayer and the prophetic answer brought by Gabriel
are dated in first year of the reign of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus (538
B.C.), approximately three years before the end of the 70 years of Israel’s
captivity (Dan.9:1).[2]
The phrase, “your people” refers to Israel, and “your holy city” refers to
Jerusalem. The statement, “to make an end of sin, to make atonement for
iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy
and to anoint the most holy place,” refers to a historical progression of
events leading up to the establishment of the visible, earthly kingdom that had
been promised. Messiah being “cut off” is a reference to Messiah’s death. The
destruction of the city and the sanctuary refers to the destruction of
Jerusalem and the temple (fulfilled in A.D. 70), after Christ’s death
(fulfilled in A.D. 33). The “prince who is to come” is a reference to the
Antichrist who will come to power during the tribulation period (cf. Matt.
24:15-22; 2 Thess. 2:3-4; Rev. 13:19).[3]
He is the same individual referred to by Paul in 2 Thessalonians as “the Man of
lawlessness,” and by John in Revelation as the first “beast.” The “covenant”
(v.27) is a treaty made between Israel (the many) and the Roman Prince (the
Antichrist). The last, or seventieth week (v.27) represents the tribulation
period. “Desolations” refers to the horrible and destructive events to take
place during the period of the prophecy. The phrase, “on the wing of
abominations” is a reference to the Roman Prince seating himself in the temple
and claiming to be God (2 Thess 2:3-4; Rev. 13:1-9), and likely to the setting
up of an image to the Antichrist in the temple (Rev. 13:14-15). The “complete
destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate”
is a reference to the destruction of the Roman Prince at Christ’s return, when
Christ will crush the Antichrist’s kingdom and establish God’s kingdom on earth
(cf. Dan. 2:44-45; 7:1-27; Rev. 19:19-20).
Structure
and chronology
Premillennialists
interpret the prophecy of the 70 weeks as a literal chronology leading up to
the second coming, at which time Christ will establish the visible aspect of
the kingdom of God on earth, the first phase of which is the millennium. They
also regard the 70th week as the future time of tribulation
described by Christ in the first half of the Olivet Discourse, and by John in
Revelation (chaps. 6:1-20:3). Dispensational premillennialists view the
prophecy as pertaining to Israel, not the Church, in accordance with the
opening statement of the prophecy (cf. v.24, “Seventy weeks have been decreed
for your people and your holy city”). Accordingly, they view the
present Church age as falling parenthetically between the 69th and
70th weeks—a mystery hidden in ages past (Eph. 3:1-10)[4]
Amillennialists
generally view the 70 weeks as a symbolic chronology in which the chronology
can be viewed somewhat elastically. Accordingly, they view the first 69 weeks
as the time from the starting decree (typically identified with the decree of
Cyrus in 539-538 B.C.) to Messiah, and the 70th week as encompassing
the death of Messiah, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, and the
entire Church age (and millennium) up to the time of the second coming.[5]
While it seems likely
that the structure of the 70 weeks has some symbolic significance, it cannot be
denied that it is also a chronology. Israel’s 70 years of captivity also likely
had symbolic meaning; nevertheless, the chronology was still literal. It simply
does not follow that because a particular number, or numeric structure was
chosen for its symbolism that the number is merely allegorical. In the case of
the prophecy of the 70 weeks, it is clear that the structure was intended to
serve as a chronology (cf. 9:25, note the “from” / “to” expression). There are
several observations that lead to the conclusion that the prophecy must be
understood as a chronology. First is the enumerative structure: the prophecy is
clearly built on the structure of 70 x 7, and even if that structure
is symbolic, the symbolism is dependant upon understanding the structure
itself. To illustrate this, suppose the prophecy had been the prophecy of the
40 “sixes,” would the interpretations given still be the same? Probably not.
Thus, whether there is symbolism or not, it ought to be clear that a literal understanding
of the structure is prerequisite to understanding the prophecy. Second, the enumerative structure is
sequential, i.e., linear. In this prophecy the first group of 7 weeks
precedes the second group of 62 weeks, which precedes the 70th week.
Thus, the prophecy is not simply about 70 weeks—it is about 70 sequential
weeks. Third, specific historical events, e.g., the death of the
Messiah, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, the making of a covenant,
the cessation of daily sacrifices at the temple, the abomination that will make
the temple desolate, and the final destruction of the one who makes the temple
desolate, are all linked to the sequence of the 70 weeks. This evidences an
underlying chronological structure. Fourth, there are good reasons to believe
that the weeks are units of time. In comparing Daniel 9:27 with Matthew
24:15-22 and Revelation 12:6,14, it appears that the 70th week is
2520 days long.[6]
Of course, if the length of the 70th week is 2520 days, then no
amillennial interpretation thus offered could be correct, for they all require
the 70th week to be much longer. Fifth, a purely symbolic
interpretation of the 70 weeks lacks explanatory power. If the 70 weeks
structure is not a chronology, then what is the symbolic significance of the
fact that Messiah is said to be “cut off” and the city and the sanctuary
destroyed after the 69th week, or that certain events, such as the
making of a covenant and the cessation of the daily sacrifices in the temple are
said to occur at specific points during the 70th week? Sixth, when
the prophecy is understood as chronological, the portions of the prophecy that
have already been fulfilled coincide with history.
The chronology is the
most challenging aspect of the prophecy. Assuming that the prophecy is
chronological, the first task is to determine the starting and ending points of
the first 69 weeks.[7]
The prophecy specifies the staring point as “the issuing of a decree to restore
and rebuild Jerusalem” (Dan. 9:24), and the end point is “until Messiah the
Prince.” This leaves us with two challenges: determining which of the various
decrees to use as the starting point, and what point in the life of the Messiah
is the correct end point of the 69th week. Of the decrees that have
been suggested as the starting point, only one matches the criteria of the
prophecy: the 444 B.C. decree of Artaxerxes issued at the behest of Nehemiah,
since it alone allowed for the rebuilding of the fortifications (walls, gates,
and fortress) necessary to the eventual restoration of the city as implied in
Daniel 9:25, “with plaza and moat.”[8]
Also, the conditions under which the restoration began, described in Nehemiah
4:1-23 and 6:1-14, match the conditions stated in the prophecy (Dan. 9:25).[9]
The other decrees to which interpreters have pointed are concerned mainly with
the return of the Jews and the minimal reoccupation of Jerusalem and the
rebuilding of the temple, not the restoration of the city. Due to the
importance of this prophecy, one would expect that the implementation of such a
decree would be well documented. And in fact, the book of Nehemiah, recorded a
little over a hundred and thirty years after the prophecy, does just that,
documenting the beginning of the restoration of Jerusalem pursuant to
Artaxerxes’ 444 B.C. decree, and the circumstances surrounding the initial work
of restoration (Neh. 4:1-23; 6:1-14, cf. Dan. 9:25). Therefore a strong case
can be made for viewing Artaxerxes’ 444 B.C. decree as the starting point for
the prophecy. As to what event in the life of Messiah serves as the end point
of the 69 weeks, the prophecy does not specify.[10]
Early in the twentieth century, Sir Robert Anderson
attempted to calculate the time from Artaxerxes’ decree to the triumphal entry
of Christ using the
start date of Nisan 1, 445 B.C. and the year of Christ’s crucifixion as A.D.
32.[11]
Anderson used a 360-day year in his calculations and made adjustments for
converting from the Hebrew calendar to the Julian calendar. However, there were
numerous problems with Anderson’s calculation, including both the year of
Artaxerxes’ decree (445 B.C.) and the year of Christ’s crucifixion (A.D. 32).
Both of these dates are now known to be untenable.[12]
More recently, Harold Hoehner provided calculations from the decree of
Artaxerxes to the triumphal entry using Nisan 1, 444 B.C. as the start
date and A.D. 33 as the year for the crucifixion.[13]
The calculations involve the conversion of dates from the Hebrew lunisolar
calendar, and there are unresolved questions as to how the calculation should
be done. However, if one uses a date prior to the 5th day (i.e.,
days 1-4) of Nisan, 444 B.C. as the start date, the 69th week
terminates anywhere from March 29th (Sunday) A.D. 33, to April 2,
A.D. 33.[14]
Assuming a crucifixion year of A.D. 33, Jesus was crucified April 3 (Friday),
A.D. 33.
One possible
calculation of the 70 weeks prophecy is as follows: (The intermediate result
must be rounded to a integer since the least significant figure in the prophecy
is an integer.) The last half of the 70th week is 1260 days; the 70th
week is 2520 days; thus there are 476 solar years in the first 69 weeks
(calculated as the integer result of 69x2520/365.24219). 476 solar years is
173,855 days. When 173,855 days are added to the start date (Nisan 1, 444
B.C.), the result is March 29 (Sunday), A.D. 33, which would have been the date
of the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem four days before his
crucifixion. Jesus was likely crucified on Friday, Nisan 14, A.D. 33 (April 3,
A.D. 33 by the Julian calendar).[15]
The
importance of Daniel 9:24-27 in the study of future prophecy
Jesus in Matthew 24,
and Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2, associated the abomination in Daniel’s 70th
week with the future time of tribulation just prior to the establishment of the
millennial aspect of the kingdom of God. It has been established from a
comparison of Daniel 9:27 with Revelation 12:6,14 that the length of the 70th
week is 2520 days. It is apparent from Daniel 9:27 that the 70th
week begins with the making of a covenant between the Roman Prince whose people
destroyed the city and the sanctuary, and that this last week is divided into
two equal parts, with the abomination in the temple occurring at the midpoint
and the destruction of the Roman Prince (the Antichrist) occurring at the
conclusion of the 70th week. This serves as the basic chronology of
the tribulation period and is therefore essential in understanding both Jesus’
teaching in the first half of the Olivet Discourse and the book of Revelation
from 6:1 to 20:3. While Revelation presents a sequence of events that will
occur during the tribulation, it nowhere presents a chronology anchored to a
timeline as found in the prophecy of the 70 weeks. Thus, understanding of the
prophecy of the 70 weeks is essential to understanding the chronology of the
tribulation events discussed in Matthew 24-25 and Revelation 6:1-20:3.
One of the key
contributions of this prophecy is that it allows us to determine the length of
the tribulation period and the event that makes the midpoint. It is only by a
comparison of Revelation with Daniel 9:24-27 and Matthew 24 that the length of
the tribulation can be deduced. We learn from Daniel 9:27 that the abomination
in the temple marks the midpoint of Daniel’s 70th week (the
tribulation period). In Matthew 24:15 Jesus linked Israel’s flight into the
wilderness as occurring at the time of the abomination referred to in Daniel
9:27; and in Revelation 12:6 (cf. vv.13-17) John recorded that the “woman who
gave birth to the male child” (Israel) will be nourished (provided for)
in the wilderness for 1260 days (3 ½ years, cf. Rev. 12:14 and Dan. 7:25). From
this information is it possible to infer that the second half of the
tribulation (from the abomination to the end) is 1260 days and that the total
length of the period is approximately 7 years (2520 days). Thus, without the
information from the seventy weeks prophecy it would not be possible to
determine the length of the tribulation period. Also the fact that the abomination
marks the precise midpoint of the period (which is nowhere else revealed in
scripture) makes an approximate chronology of the tribulation period possible.
A comparison of Daniel 9:27 with Matthew 24 and Revelation 6:1-20:3
reveals that the first four seals of Revelation occur in the first half of the
period, and that the last three seals fall into the last half of the period.[16]
We should also add that the 70 weeks prophecy is the only biblical passage to
mention the covenant that begins the tribulation period (Dan. 9:27).
The 70 Weeks of Daniel
