Daniel's
70th Week
by
Gary J. Hall
The
Date of Christ’s Crucifixion
Photo
to Right: A woman riding a beast is displayed outside the headquarters of the European Union
(Revelation 17:3).
Daniel
gives us two sets of “weeks” in verses 25-26 that total sixty-nine weeks, “Know
therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to
restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven
weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the
wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah
be cut off, but not for Himself.”
“Week”
means a unit of seven in prophetic language, therefore sixty-nine weeks becomes
483 years. Daniel is indicating that there would be 483 years between the
commandment to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the crucifixion of Christ.
In 446
B.C. Artaxerxes decreed that Nehemiah should go and restore Jerusalem. Simply
adding 483 years to 446 B.C. brings up a problem since it would mean that the
Lord Jesus Christ was crucified in 37 A.D., four years after the actual date.
Two factors have to be taken into consideration when determining the
significance of Daniel’s 483 years. [1]... The change in calendar; Christ’s
birth is recorded as 4 B.C. because of this. [2]... The Hebrew calendar was
based upon a 360 day year rather than the Roman 365¼ day year. In view of these
facts the problem regarding Daniel’s prophetic timetable is solved and we come
to the exact date of the crucifixion, 33 A.D.
The
Evil Prince
“...and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the
city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the
end of the war desolations are determined” (Daniel 9:26).
This
verse refers to Titus, the Roman General, later Emperor, who destroyed
Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Verse 27 appears to be speaking about the same person,
“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of
the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the
overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the
consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate”, but it is
not possible to be the same person. Titus did not fulfill all aspects of this
prophecy. What Daniel is revealing to us is that the same type of “prince” will
arise in the Last Days who will determine to destroy Israel as did Titus -
therefore the “evil prince” would be a Roman also.
Jesus
made use of verse 27 when explaining the coming events leading up to the End,
“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel
the prophet, stand in the holy place...” (Matthew 24:15). Though this verse
also speaks directly of Titus’ destruction of Jerusalem and its temple we know
that there was not a complete fulfillment. These verses may have been in Paul’s
mind when he wrote, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall
not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all
that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the
temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2nd Thessalonians 2:3-4). Also
Revelation 13:14-15 tells us that the Antichrist will place his image in the
temple, “And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those
miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them
that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had
the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the
image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause
that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”
We
learn from Daniel that the Last Days “evil prince” will be of the same stock as
Titus, for he speaks of them both as though describing one person. Elsewhere
Daniel reveals that the last great world empire will be a restored Roman
Empire, therefore it is little wonder that the “prince” must be Roman also.
The
Final Week
The
“one week” of Daniel 9:27 must be part of the “seventy weeks” (9:24). We know
that the sixty-nine weeks (483 years) were fulfilled at the crucifixion of the
Lord Jesus Christ, so there is an outstanding “week” to account for to make up
the Daniel’s Seventy Weeks (490 years).
The
seventieth week begins when the Antichrist (Beast, Man of Sin) establishes a
peace treaty with Israel for seven years. Either before this or because of it a
new temple will be built by the Jews in Jerusalem upon Temple Mount. Both
Daniel and John speak of two periods of 3½ years that make up the last seven
years prior to the Millennial Reign of Christ on earth.
It is
likely that at the dedication of the temple, 3½ years into Antichrist’s reign,
that he will be asked to officially open the building. This may be the reason
why he is able to deceive the Jews by erecting his image there. He will be
“revealed” for who he really is (2nd Thessalonians 2:3-4). The Jews will
realize that this is not their Messiah, for the true Messiah would have nothing
to do with idolatry. This temple will not be used for the worship of God but of
Satan for the Beast will “in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice
and the oblation to cease” (Daniel 9:27).
As the
Roman Antichrist does this so will God begin to pour out His wrath for the
final 3½ years. From the unveiling of the man of sin there will only be “a
time, times, and half a time” (12:7) or a “thousand two hundred and ninety
days” (12:11). John in Revelation 11:2 tells us that Jerusalem will be in the
Antichrist’s hands for 42 months. Since the book of Revelation used the same
two 3½ year periods during which the Antichrist reigns over the earth, the
prophecy of Daniel must be interpreted in exactly the same way. The Seventieth
Week of Daniel is the final seven years before the Second Coming of Christ to
earth and cannot find fulfillment until that time.
God Bless You sir.
ReplyDeleteShalom