The Seventieth Week
Daniel 9:24-27
Daniel 9:24-27 (NKJV) 24 “Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy. 25 “Know therefore and understand, [That] from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, [There shall be] seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. 26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it [shall be] with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”
We previously examined the significance of this prophecy regarding the Messiah being cut off and the completion of 69 weeks. This timeline aligns remarkably with historical records, affirming that Jesus, who fulfilled this prophecy, was crucified around 33 AD. The evidence is compelling and reinforces the extraordinary nature of this prophecy.
Now, consider verse 26. Two things stand out. First, “The people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” The prince who is to come is the Antichrist. However, be sure to note that it is the people of the prince and not the prince who destroy the city and the sanctuary. Second, war and desolations are determined until the end.
(The NKJV that I have quoted says it differently, but almost all translations have something more like what the NIV says, “The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.”)
The phrase “The people of the prince who is to come” points to the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD and Israel in 135 AD. And as for the statement, “War will continue until the end,” Throughout history, from the time of Christ to the present day, we have witnessed an unbroken chain of wars and desolation. Not a single year has been free from conflict. This is exactly as Gabriel’s words said it would be.
Having established this context, let’s focus on the word “then” that opens verse 27. The wars and desolations precede the events prophesied in verse 27. These desolations have filled the 2,000 year “gap” that we have been living in while the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy waits to be fulfilled. Theologians call this “gap” the Church Age, while the Bible calls it the time of the Gentiles (Gentiles means Nations so another way of saying it would be the times of the Nations).
Let’s revisit the insights from verse 27, specifically what follows the word “then.” Gabriel states, “Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week.” To clarify this, let’s examine how the New Living Translation (NLT) interprets verse 27.
Daniel 9:27 (NLT) The ruler will make a treaty with the people for a period of one set of seven, but after half this time, he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings. And as a climax to all his terrible deeds, he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration, until the fate decreed for this defiler is finally poured out on him.”
The ruler (prince) who is to come is the one the world knows as the beast or the antichrist. This person will make a seven-year treaty with Israel (the people). These seven years are the seventieth week of Daniel. The terrible deeds spoken of make up the Great Tribulation also known as “The Time of Jacob’s Trouble.”
Both the Old and New Testaments contain many details about these seven years. Chapters 4 through 19 of the book of Revelation are about these seven years. The signing of the treaty that Daniel speaks of will mark the beginning of the seventieth week and will also reveal the “Beast.”
Over the centuries, many people have panicked, thinking this period of time had already begun or that we were in it. This happened with the Church in Thessalonica. Paul wrote to them to address this issue and we find his words in 2 Thessalonians 2.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 (NKJV) 1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for [that Day will not come] unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains [will do so] until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
Let’s look more closely at verses 6 and 7. First, verse 6 says that we know what is restraining him. And then, verse 7 says “He who restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
Wait! How do we know? Think with me. Jesus told us that we are salt and light. The Bible tells us that the world hates us because we reveal that their deeds are evil. Now, combine this with what we know of the Christian life. Romans 8 tells us if we walk by the Spirit we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. Romans and Corinthians make it clear that we are made part of the Body of Christ by His Spirit. Combining these truths and others like them, it becomes crystal clear that the One who restrains is the Holy Spirit working in the Church.
Now consider another truth. Let’s review what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2 verses 2 and 3.
We ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for [that Day will not come] unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed,
This letter was addressed not only to the Church in Thessalonica but to all believers, including us today. Paul assures us that we can be confident the Tribulation, known as the Day of Christ, has not yet arrived. But how can he convey this certainty to future generations? The answer is clear: the Day cannot occur until the Holy Spirit withdraws, and the Holy Spirit will only depart when the Church is taken away. This assurance underscores the vital connection between the Church's presence and the unfolding of God's timeline. This is why in 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul says:
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NKJV) 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
This does not speak of Jesus coming down to earth to set up His kingdom. This speaks of Jesus coming to gather His Church, His Bride, to Himself. He meets them in the air, not on the ground. He meets them in the air and takes them to be with Him. Later, at the end of the Tribulation, He will come down, defeat the Beast and set up His kingdom.
A chart of the timeline goes something like this:
I got this image of the internet and then lost the information on where I got it from. If it is yours, I apologize for not giving credit, and would ask you to let me know if it is okay to continue using it.
This is why we know that if we are still here, Jesus has not returned yet.