Daniel's Seventy Week Prophecy

 “ 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 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,  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. 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.”--Daniel 9:24-27


Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna, and Mikayla,


We are in the first chapter of Ezra and looking at prophecy.  Yes, I know the verses above are from Daniel 9. My previous study looked at two fulfilled within the first four verses of Ezra chapter 1. As I wrote that last study my mind went to Daniel's 70 week prophecy.  Why? Because Cyrus' decree given in 538 B.C. was the first of three and brought it to mind. The third decree by Artaxerxes to Nehemiah to allow the rebuilding of the walls of the City of Jerusalem is the one that Daniel spoke of, and is the one that begins the countdown to Messiah the Prince.  It is, in my opinion, one of the most amazing prophecies in Scripture because of its mathematical precision.

Artaxerxes decree was given on March 14, 445 B.C.and it ordered the restoration of the city of Jerusalem and its walls.  This decree is the starting point for Daniel's 70 week prophecy...it is where the mathematics begin and ends (for our purposes)  with Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  EXCITING STUFF!! (Go here for more info: http://endtimepilgrim.org/70wks3.htm)


Daniel was a prophecy buff...Yup...the prophet loved prophecy.  Okay, now that I am thinking about that I guess that is not much of a surprise. Anyway, Chapter 9 verses 1-19 find him praying. The first few verses tell us why.

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.--Daniel 9:1-3

Daniel believed God...He knew what God had prophesied through Jeremiah and understood that the seventy years of captivity were nearing an end.  He knew His God was about to do something really great and it led him to prayer.  Daniel prayed for repentance on the people's behalf as well as for the promise God made to be fulfilled.  The prophet Daniel is one of the most outstanding examples of a life lived unto the Lord in the Bible. God answered Daniel's prayer immediately....

Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God,  yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand.  At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:--Daniel 9:20-23

Verse 24 of Daniel 9 begins the seventy week prophecy I have posted at the beginning of this study. 


Daniel outlined seventy weeks of years.  What is that you ask? Literally seventy sevens or 490 years that were coming prophetically. These begin with  Artaxerxes declaration to restore and rebuild Jerusalem which was occurred on March 14, 445 B.C.  After this he said there would be 69 weeks of years, which translates into 173,880 days to the coming of Messiah, the Prince.  There are six messianic tasks that need to be accomplished according to Daniel 9:24:


   1. to finish the transgression
   2. to make an end of sins
   3. to make reconciliation for iniquity
   4. to bring in everlasting righteousness
   5. to seal up vision and prophecy
   6. to anoint the most Holy

These were fulfilled in Jesus. This prophecy is perhaps the greatest proof for Jesus as the Messiah.


Let's look at the math in those verses, also. There are many who have done the calculations.  Sir Robert Anderson was one of them.  He took into account the different calendars and discovered that 173,880 brings you to April 6, 32 A.D...which you know is the first Palm Sunday!  This is the day that it is believed that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey offering Himself as the long awaited Jewish Messiah. Wow! Wow! Wow!  After this, Daniel said the Messiah would be cut-off but not for Himself.  This was the crucifixion where He was cut-off for our sins. 

Daniel goes on from the middle of verse 26 to the end of the chapter and details the time of what is called Jacob's trouble. The Great Tribulation. He treated this as a separate time when God would judge the earth.  Right now we are in the church age...the age of grace.  The end is coming...the stage is already being set for the week that Daniel spoke of that would come upon the whole earth.  Are you ready?


There are many websites out there that delve into this in detail.  Here is one I like in addition to the one given above.

http://www.khouse.org/articles/2004/552/


Love 

Mom