Daniel's 70th week

This page/article is a collection of views and resources on how we might understand Daniel 9:24 - 27

 
THE BIG QUESTION: The core issue in the following verses is the identity of the 'he' in first sentence of verse 27. Is 'he' a 2nd century BC Jewish priest who was assassinated? Or is 'he' Christ in the 3.5 years of his ministry on earth and the 3.5 years following? Or is 'he' a future antichrist who will make an initial pact with Israel and then reveal his true colours?

How the Christian believer interprets the passage and answers the question will profoundly influence what they will expect to see as we draw ever-nearer to the second coming of Christ.

Daniels 70the weekDaniel 9:24-27 (ANIV)
24  "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city 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.
25  "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens', and sixty-two 'sevens'. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
26  After the sixty-two 'sevens', the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.
27  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."

 
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Note: The form of the information on this page will be lacking in structure. Information will be presented in the form it arrives. The reader is invited to scroll down, check the left-hand margin (at the top of the page) and contribute to the discussion in the 'Response facility at the foot of the page. (Pseudonyms can be used if so desired.)
 
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Timeline from James Dager book 'The Day of Yahweh' (a variation on the preterist/futurist positions relating to the 70th week).

Philip Wren has kindly supplied this article which can also be accessed on his website. See also 'Response' from Philip.
See also comments from Nick Thompson in the Response section.

Geoff Barnard can be found here giving his view. And Herman Goldwag has produced a very interesting booklet on the subject to which Hugh Kitson refers.

What follows is a random selection of article from the Prophecy Today website containing different views from a number of authors.

Understanding the Times, Recognising the Signs (26 Aug 2021)
Understanding Daniel’s Prophecy (21 July 2022)
The 70 Weeks of Daniel (14 July 2022)
Israel as the 70 weeks Nation (8 July 2022)
Understanding Daniel’s Prophecy (28 June 2022)


NOTE: Christian Widener has just published a new book on the subject entitled 'Witnessing the End'. It is available as a PDF file. See here for video.
 
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Notes:
1.
The inclusion of any/all material on this page does not signify endorsement of any view(s) expressed therein.
2. Any additional material will be added  as/if/when it becomes available.
3. See additional information links in left-hand column.

 
Feedback:
Editor 21/07/2024 20:25
From Philip Wren -
>>>>>
The Prince who is to come is Jesus as in Matthew 22:7. In that verse it is the Father who sends His armies to destroy the city. In Daniel it refers to the gentiles.

Verse 26 refers to the desolations which will continue from the destruction of Jerusalem until the end. In verse 27 after the covenant which Jesus strengthens and His rejection desolations continue until the consummation when Jesus returns.

To look for the abomination of desolation in verse 27 is to read into it that which is not there. The references to the abomination of desolation in Daniel are found in 11: 31 and 12: 11.

The translation of this prophecy is heavily influenced by the translators preconceived interpretation. I have just looked at an older version of the NIV. The translation it adopts is an extraordinary flight of fancy. I have based my understanding on more literal translations such as Hermon Goldwags 'Daniel's Seventy Weeks Prophecy.
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Editor 21/07/2024 20:27
From Nick Thompson (responding to https://www.christianstogether.net/Publisher/file.aspx?id=357377)
>>>>>
I guess where I come from is as follows, I have written in bullet points for easy digestion.

1. I suspect that in common with a lot of prophecy there may be multiple realisations.
2. I lean towards the primary fulfilment being in respect of Israel.
3. There is a decree from Cyrus, which I would date to 551BC and his victory over Babylon, for the Return.
4. Nehemiah's return to the emperor, he was cupbearer and therefore chief spy, can be dated to 502BC and the Ionian revolt. 49 years on
5. John Hyrcanus and Alexander Jannus of the Maccabean royal family fell out in 68 BC (483 years on) and sought Roman help. 483 years on
6. Pompey entered the Temple in the middle of the afternoon sacrifice, slaughtering the priests in 61BC, effectively annexing Israel and finishing her indepedence. 490 years on and possibly the abomination of desolation.
7. Having said that the timeline set out in the chart and running to Vespasian also works.
8. However, Daniel 9:24 aligns six criteria to the completion - An end to transgression, an end of sin, forgiving iniquity, bringing in everlasting justice, Setting the seal on vision and prophet and anointing the especially Holy place.
9. Jesus' death, burial and resurrection categorically delivered the first three, but the second three are more difficult.
10. Isaiah 60 says 'foreigners will rebuild your walls'.
11. In 1537 Sultan Suleiman issued a decree to rebuild Jerusalem, its walls and squares (plaza's).
12. Could this be a further fulfilment?
13. In 1582 the Julian calendar was introduced. 49 years on. Could this be significant?
14, In 2020 the world changed completely. 483 years on.
15. On October 7th, 3 years and 6 months from lockdown - Pope addressing an empty Vatican Square - Hamas committed their atrocity. Could this be the abomination of desolation. Certainly the site of the main attack is on the borders of Israel which is an acceptable translation of 'Kanaph'. It also coincided with an Adar II year which I wrote about for Prophecy Today and remarkably got published.
16. Hamas cited the Red Cow as a big reason and it prevented or delayed the Red Heifer sacrifice happening
17. If there is something in this then Passover 2027 could be interesting.
18. I would lean towards 1967, 2300 (Daniel 8) years after Alexander defeated the Persian Empire and ushered in the Time of the Gentiles, with its liberation of Jerusalem and military coup that removed the Greek Royal Family as the end of the times of the gentiles.
19. 1967 was 70 years after the first Zionist Congress organised by Herzl
20. The run of blood moon tetrads in the run-up to 2020 could be seen as significant

'In summary, I see the 490 year phase as significant to Israel and the Church. Could your author have it right? Possibly.
I am happy to hold these things in tension.
I hope this helps.

Editor 20/08/2024 13:22
Ed note:The following has been sent to me in an e-mail -
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Daniel's 70th week is a subject which I have ministered on at various times over the years and it has enabled me, in this instance, to listen to Geoff Barnard and swiftly make comment on it.

A couple of initial comments. Although I have various books by Sir Robert Anderson, including The Coming Prince, I have never read it from beginning to end, though I tried. I find the style of those older books quite difficult as they seem to compete to write the longest possible sentence using every available punctuation mark except a full stop. I find Darby and Wesley the same.

I accept the so-called 'prophetic year' is 360 days as this was the original Sumarian 'base 60' method of counting which pre-dated the Babylonian system. The Jewish year was also 360 days.

Geoff says that Sir Robert has taken the start to be from Cyrus' decree to Ezra. I can't find that in The Coming Prince but in Appendix 2 he speaks about Artaxerxes and identifies the date of the 20th year as 445BC. I believe this to be the start of the prophetic clock for the 70 weeks, Nehemiah 2. It is from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem (Nehemiah), not the Temple (Ezra). The 483 years takes us to AD38 and the correction for the 4 year error (corrected in each page of the Newberry Bible) in the calendar makes it AD34.

I am not going to dispute what Geoff has said because he is obviously sincere in his belief and has done his research and enjoyed what he has found. However, there are many parallel things in the Bible and many 'wheels within wheels'. The important thing is that it doesn't take away from the accepted interpretation of the passage, it just gives another nugget to meditate upon.
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Editor 20/08/2024 15:51
Philip Wren has published two booklets (Pts. 1 & 2) on the book of Daniel. (See links below.)
In the second book he comments (below) on the following verse:

And He will confirm a firm covenant with the many for one week,
and in the middle of the week he will cause sacrifice and offering to
cease; 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." Daniel 9:27

>>>>>
Who is the ‘He’, at the beginning of this verse? How you answer
that question determines the interpretation of this passage. Many say
that ‘he’ refers to the one who makes desolate. On this basis they
teach that the one who makes desolate will make a covenant with
Israel for seven years. In that time the Temple will be rebuilt and the
sacrificial system reintroduced. At the end of the three and a half
years he will break his covenant and turn against the Jews. The he is
the same as the little horn of Daniel chapter 7. I am fully aware of this
school of interpretation and once went along with it. I now believe
that to interpret the ‘he’ as the little horn is a mistake.
In terms of grammar it makes more sense if the ‘he’ as the subject
of this sentence relates to the Messiah, the subject of the pair of
sentences before. Jesus came to Israel not to the Gentiles. His
presence confirmed the covenant that God had made with them. They
were His people to whom He sent the Messiah. After three and a half
years of ministry Jesus was rejected and crucified. His death was a
sacrifice made once for all. Therefore he put a stop to the need for
sacrifice and grain offering in fulfilment of this verse.
This verse intentionally presents a stark contrast. The first half is
about the true Messiah who willingly gives His life as a sacrifice for the
sins of Israel and the whole world. The second part speaks of one who
makes desolate and destroys. Jesus said; “I have come in My Father’s
name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name
you will receive him,” John 5:43. Jesus knew that rejection of Himself
would one day inevitably lead to Israel accepting Satan as their
saviour.
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Daniel Part 1 - https://www.trumpetsounds.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Daniel-Part-1.pdf
Daniel Part 2 - https://www.trumpetsounds.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Daniel-Part-2.pdf

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