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: 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.
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 [Dan.
9:25–27].
The starting point for this period of 490 years is essential to the correct
understanding of the prophecy. Since this period is projected into the Times of
the Gentiles, it must fit into secular history and originate from some date
connected with the Times of the Gentiles. Of course there have been many
suggestions for a starting point: the decree of Cyrus (see Ezra 1:1–4); the
decree of Darius (see Ezra 6:1–12); the decree of Artaxerxes—at the seventh year
of his reign (Ezra 7:11–26); but I feel that the decree of Artaxerxes in the
twentieth year of his reign (Neh. 2:1–8) meets the requirements of verse 25. The
commandment to rebuild the city of Jerusalem was issued in the month Nisan 445
B.C. That, then, will be our starting point.
The first seven weeks of forty–nine years bring us to 397 B.C. and to Malachi
and the end of the Old Testament. These were “troublous times,” as witnessed by
both Nehemiah and Malachi.
Sixty–two weeks, or 434 years, bring us to the Messiah. Sir Robert Anderson in
his book, The Coming Prince, has worked out the time schedule. From the first of
the month Nisan to the tenth of Nisan (April 6) B.C. 32, is 173,880 days.
Dividing them according to the Jewish year of 360 days, he arrives at 483 years
(69 sevens). On this day Jesus rode into Jerusalem, offering Himself for the
first time, publicly and officially, as the Messiah.
After the 69 weeks, or 483 years, there is a time break. Between the sixty–ninth
and Seventieth Week two events of utmost importance are to take place:
1. Messiah will be cut off. This was the crucifixion of Christ, the great
mystery and truth of the gospel: “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto
his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the
third day” (Matt. 16:21). “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have eternal life” (John 3:15).
2. Destruction of Jerusalem, which took place in B.C. 70, when Titus the Roman
was the instrument.
The final “week” (the seventieth), a period of seven years, is projected into
the future and does not follow chronologically the other sixty–nine. The time
gap between the sixty–ninth and seventieth weeks is the age of grace—unknown to
the prophets (Eph. 3:1–12; 1 Pet. 1:10–12). The Seventieth Week is
eschatological; it is the final period and is yet unfulfilled.
“The prince” is a Roman; he is the “little horn” of Daniel 7; he is “the beast”
of Revelation 13. After the church is removed from the earth, he will make a
covenant with Israel. Israel will accept him as her Messiah, but in the midst of
the “week” he will break his covenant by placing an image in the temple (Rev.
13). This is the abomination of desolation. What Israel thought to be the
Millennium will turn out to be the Great Tribulation (Matt. 24:15–26). Only the
coming of Christ can end this frightful period (Matt. 24:27–31).
My friend, you and I are living in the age of grace, and the Seventieth Week of
Daniel, the Great Tribulation, as the Lord Jesus called it, is yet to take
place.
McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Prophets (Daniel)
(electronic ed., Vol. 26, pp. 156–158). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.