The following question is from one of our recent seminars on the Book of Revelation. The question assumes that the 70th week of Daniel 9:24-27 will take place in the future. This teaching is popular in conservative churches. This is, however, a relatively recent teaching, first appearing the 19th century. Before that, Christians taught that the 70th week of Daniel had already been fulfilled. And they had good evidence to back it up, as mentioned in the answer below. The original series of three questions and answers has been consolidated to make for easier reading.
Q: I heard the teacher say that Daniel’s seventy sevens [the seventy weeks in Dan. 9:24-27] have been completed. Could you please clarify the following questions:
1) Starting from 445 BC with Ezra, regardless of what major events followed, it doesn’t fit with the 490 years [the seventy weeks]. How is it calculated that it has already been completed?
2) Who is the person mentioned in Daniel 9:27 that makes a covenant with the many? Which covenant is this, and when was it signed? What does the last seven [the 70th week], which is divided into [two sections of] 3.5 years, refer to?
3) The purpose of these seventy sevens (Daniel 9:24) relates to Israel’s future, concerning the complete removal of sin, atonement for wickedness, the establishment of eternal righteousness, the sealing of vision and prophecy, and the events leading to Jesus’ establishment of His millennial kingdom. Early Jewish Christians were still expecting this day. Therefore, the last seven should refer to the final judgment at the second coming of the Lord, because the appearance of the righteous seven years after the Messiah’s death did not happen, and the destruction of Jerusalem also does not fit within the seven-year period (it happened 37 years later). Interpreting this allegorically seems far-fetched. So, should this refer to a future seven-year period, ending with the final judgment of sin and Christ’s reign of righteousness? I just can't agree that the purpose of the 70 sevens [the seventy weeks in Dan. 9] was achieved at that time; at least prophecy was not closed at that time. Isn’t the Book of Revelation a prophecy? Could the teacher comment and provide some references? Thank you. –Theresa
A: “And you will know and understand from the going out of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an anointed ruler [Messiah the prince] there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks” (Dan. 9:25).
1) The “word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem” (in Dan. 9:25) was issued in the seventh year of the Persian king Artaxerxes I (458-57 BC). This was in the time of Nehemiah, when Artaxerxes gave Nehemiah written permission to rebuild the city: “And I said to the king [Artaxerxes], ‘If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.’.... And I said to the king, ‘If it please the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah.’... And the king gave them to me” (Neh. 2:5-8).
Then there were sixty-nine weeks of years (483 years) “until Messiah the prince” (Dan. 9:25) in about AD 25-26. This is when Jesus was revealed at his baptism (John 1:31).
“And after the sixty-two weeks, Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing” refers to the crucifixion of Jesus in AD 30 (Dan. 9:26).
“The people of the coming ruler will destroy the city [Jerusalem] and the holy place [the Temple]” (in Dan. 9:26) was fulfilled when the Romans destroyed the city and the Temple in AD 70. This was also in fulfillment of many of the prophecies of Jesus: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem.... Look, your House [the Temple] is being left to you desolate” (Matt. 23:37-38). “For the days will come on you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and will level you to the ground...” (Luke 19:42-44, also Luke 21:20-24, etc.).
2) “And he will confirm a covenant for the many for one week, and for half the week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering; and on the pinnacle of abominations [the Temple according to the LXX] will be one that makes desolate, even until its destruction; and when it [the desolation] is cut off, it [destruction] will pour out on the one causing desolation” (Dan. 9:27)
Dan. 9:27 actually begins with “And he will confirm a covenant” (higbir in Hebrew). This is not the Hebrew word for making a covenant, which is to “cut” a covenant (karat in Hebrew). Instead, this refers to applying a covenant that is already in force.
So then what “covenant” is being confirmed here? The “covenant” (berit in Hebrew) mentioned here is a word used only of covenants with God. This means that the “he” who confirms the covenant in Dan. 9:27 is God.
So which of God’s covenants is he enforcing here, that brings the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Temple? It is God’s covenant with Israel—the Law of Moses—in which he warned over and over that they would be punished for disobedience. This punishment was prophesied by Moses himself (Deut. 28:49-68, 32:23-27). These prophecies don’t only concern the first time that Israel was exiled, by the Babylonians, but also a second time after that. This can be seen in Deut. 28:64: “The LORD will scatter you among all peoples.” During the Babylonian exile, they were scattered to only one or at most a couple of nations. Only after the wars with Rome were they scattered literally to all nations.
Isaiah also says clearly that they would be regathered a “second time” (Isa. 11:11). This means, of course, that they would be scattered a second time (Isa. 11:11). This happened as a result of the Roman destruction. This prophecy in Isaiah is directly connected with the Messiah both by Christians and by Jews: “Then it will come about in that day that the nations [i.e. the Gentiles] will resort to the root of Jesse [the Messiah], who will stand as a signal for the peoples” (Isa. 11:10). But during this same time of the salvation for the Gentiles, Paul says that a “partial hardening has happened to Israel,” a hardening that continues to our own day, but which one day will come to an end (Rom. 11:25-26).
This period in which the covenant is “confirmed” by God is one week, which in the context of Daniel’s prophecy implies seven years. This matches exactly the length of the Jewish Revolt against Rome (AD 67-73). God (“he”) is also the one who put an end to the sacrifices in the Temple “in the middle of the week” (Dan. 9:27). This is when the daily sacrifice (the perpetual sacrifice) in the Temple was discontinued. Josephus notes the exact day on which the daily sacrifices were stopped (the 17th of Tammuz), which is exactly three and a half years after the start of the war against Rome (Wars 6.2.1 sec. 94). These sacrifices have now been replaced by the blood of Jesus.
3) “Seventy weeks are determined concerning your people and concerning your holy city to fulfill the rebellion and to destroy sin and to atone for iniquity and to bring in eternal righteousness and to seal up vision and prophet and to anoint the Holy of Holies” (Dan. 9:24).
Dan. 9:24 begins by referring to the “rebellion” of Jerusalem (“your holy city”) that took place from Daniel’s time right up until the time of Jesus. This rebellion was most clearly manifested by the rejection and crucifixion of Jesus in that city. The destruction of “sin” and atonement “for iniquity” took place by the death of Messiah Jesus on the cross. This atonement has already taken place, and can only take place once. As Hebrews reminds us, Messiah died “once” for sin (Heb. 9:28). This is what brought in “eternal righteousness” for all those who believe in him. There is no mention here of ending vision and prophecy. It says only to “seal up vision and prophet,” that is, to confirm the visions and prophecies of the Old Testament by their fulfillment. God, in other words, has set his seal of approval on these prophecies by bringing them to pass.
Notice that the verse mentioned above in Hebrews (Heb. 9:28) also says that “he [Jesus] will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await him.” This contradicts the interpretation you mention (of Dan. 9:24) that Jesus will deal with sin at his return.
Yes, early Jewish Christians were expecting the Millennium, but they didn’t connect this passage in Daniel with that time, except for the last phrase in Dan. 9:27: “And when it [the desolation] is cut off” i.e. after Jerusalem has been restored, as is happening right now in the Middle East, “it [destruction] will pour out on the one causing desolation.” This refers to the destruction of the worldly political system descended from Rome (and tracing back to Babel) that will be destroyed by Jesus at his return (see Revelation 18).
The idea of putting the 70th week of Daniel far in the future from Jesus’ day is not indicated anywhere in these verses. It doesn’t say “and after many days” or anything like that. Rather it’s presented as being in close sequence with the preceding 69 weeks. This is how it was clearly understood by everyone in the early Church as well as by many among the Jewish people.
Josephus (1st cent. AD), the Jewish historian, who lived in the time of the apostles, said that the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans was the fulfillment of the prophecies of Daniel: “Daniel also wrote concerning the Roman government, and that our country should be made desolate by them” (Antiquities 10.11.7 sec. 276).
Tertullian (3rd cent. AD) gives a detailed computation of the fulfillment of the 70 weeks, which he says were completed when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem: “And thus, in the day of their [the Romans’] storming [of Jerusalem], the Jews fulfilled the 70 weeks predicted in Daniel” (An Answer to the Jews, chap. 8).
Clement of Alexandria (3rd cent. AD) agreed: “And Vespasian rose to the supreme power, and destroyed Jerusalem, and desolated the holy place. And that such are the facts of the case, is clear to him that is able to understand, as the prophet [Daniel] said” (speaking of the 70 weeks; Stromata 1.21).
Eusebius (4th cent.), the famous church historian, said that the desolation of the Temple is the abomination of desolation (mentioned in Dan. 11:31, 12:11, the “abomination of desolations” in the LXX of Dan. 9:27): “…and how at last the abomination of desolation, proclaimed by the prophets, stood in the very Temple of God, so celebrated of old…described in the history written by Josephus” (Church History 3.5)
In fact, Cyril of Jerusalem (4th cent.) said that those who say the abomination of desolation is still to come are among the false messiahs prophesied in the Bible (First Catechetical Lecture 4.15). In other words, he considered it a dangerous false teaching.
The idea of moving the 70th week far into the future as taught today only appeared with the Darbyites in the 19th century. This idea was widely rejected at first. But when teaching about the end times became less popular in other churches, this dispensational teaching continued to be promoted, primarily among the Baptists. As a result, most Christians today have never heard the traditional teaching of the Early Church. But this traditional teaching is a much better match to the Bible and to the events of history.
There are many other problems with dispensational teaching. These include the false idea that Jews and Gentiles have different plans of salvation. This directly contradicts the New Testament. As Peter put it, speaking to Jewish people, “And salvation is in no one else [other than Jesus], nor is there any other name given among men under heaven by which we must be saved.” Jesus is the only way to salvation for both Jews and Gentiles. I would advise doing a search on the internet for “problems with dispensationalism,” or “dangers of dispensationalism,” etc. to become more familiar with these concerns.
I hope this answers your questions.
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