Remarkable prophecy

Daniel 9:24-27 (NIV)

“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.  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. 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. 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.”

Daniel 9:24-27 is one of the most remarkable passages in the Bible.  It contains a key prophecy about the future of Israel that affects the entire world during the end times.  It is also controversial because of debates about interpretation of the time specifics.  I will not try to discuss all the possible interpretations, but will present what seems to be the most common and reasonable view of this prophecy. 

Daniel’s vision was given to him by Gabriel (9:21) after Daniel confessed his own sin and the sin of the Israeli people (9:20) and sought the Lord’s wisdom (9:3, 22). 

Let’s start with the term “seventy weeks”.   The Hebrew word for “weeks” is shabuwa` that can be translated as a period of seven, either days or weeks.  Since Daniel wrote earlier in this chapter about seventy years of captivity by the Babylonians (9:2), his use of “shabuwa” in 9:24 is seven years rather than seven weeks.  So seventy weeks means seventy times seven years or 490 years.  The NCV bible translation uses 490 years rather than seventy weeks. 

The prophecy is that God has allotted 490 years to Israel and Jerusalem (your people and your holy city) before there will be an end to sin, i.e. the return of Christ to reign on earth and fulfill all prophecy.  The start of this 490 year period occurred when a decree was issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. 

After 483 years (7 + 62 weeks of years), the time clock has temporarily stopped.  What caused God’s clock to stop?  The crucifixion of the Messiah.  This is the only Old Testament reference to Jesus as the Messiah.  He is called “Messiah the Prince” with the Hebrew word for “prince” meaning the same as the Greek word used for “king” in Matthew 21:5 when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey as prophesied in Zechariah 9:9.

The start and end to the 483 years are subject to several interpretations.  The issuance of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem by Artaxerxes I of Persia (modern day Iran) occurred sometime between 457 and 444 BC.  Jesus was crucified sometime between 30 and 33 AD.  So the years can be manipulated to add up to 483.  Someone has calculated that using the Jewish and Babylonian calendar of 360 days per year, 483 years x 360 days = 173,880 days.  Further assumptions indicate that the Artaxerxes decree was issued on March 14, 445 BC and Jesus was crucified on April 6, 32 AD.  The number of days between those two dates add up to 173,880.

There will always be debate about these exact times, but perhaps what is most important is Daniel’s prophecy in verse 27 about the 70^th week of years that still has not taken place, but someday will.  The “he” in verse 27 is universally viewed to be the “antichrist” (Revelation 13).  Therefore, the 70^th week of Israel will start when the antichrist is known and the “middle of the week” will be the start of the great tribulation described in Revelation 6-19.  Jesus referred to the abominations caused by the antichrist in Matthew 24:15.

We are waiting for the return of Jesus Christ to rule the earth (“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”) that will occur after this 70^th week of years takes place.  All biblical prophecy has and will come true.  Like all other spiritual truth, it takes strong faith to believe.