I have found an interpretation of the prophecy of Daniel's Seventy Sevens that I want to share with you. Back in 2001, I had been engaged in a study of eschatology and I had realized that some of the things I believed were incorrect. This sent me to scripture to see if I could find something to illuminate my search for sound, Biblical answers to the questions of the timing of the end times. I was not very well versed in the history of the passage in Daniel 9 that tells of a prophecy with a starting and ending point and the coming of the Messiah. I prayed to God to open my eyes and see what he wanted me to see. When I read through it, I became aware of the answer that I am writing this to convey. The vast majority of modern Christians see the prophecy as pertaining to the crucifixion of Jesus after a period of 69 ”sevens” have elapsed from a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. I wish there was another way to say it, but I don’t think that is correct.
Daniel 9:24 “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place. 25 “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.
Verse 25 tells us that this is a prophetic timeline. We have a starting point, the decree, and a period of time that culminates with a coming. Gabriel tells Daniel about two different people in this prophecy. The ruler is the antichrist and the Anointed One is Jesus. He also tells us what the outcome of their comings will be. The coming of Jesus will be after 62 sevens and then, after he comes, he will be cutoff. That’s the outcome of the coming of Jesus. The coming of the ruler will be after seven sevens and will result in the confirmation of the covenant, starting the final seven years. He will then enter the temple in Jerusalem at the midpoint of that final seven and set up the abomination that causes desolation. That is the outcome of the coming of the antichrist. The Anointed One in verse 25 and 26 is the same person, Jesus. The ruler is the same person in verse 25 and 26 and is the AntiChrist. Notice that it does not say that Jesus is crucified at the end of the 62 sevens. It says that it’s after the 62 sevens. Gabriel has already stated this is a prophecy to the comings. He did not turn right around and change it to a prophecy of 62 sevens to the crucifixion. In verse 26, I added the all caps part for clarity. I believe that's the message that God is conveying. He could have just come out and said it more clearly but then everyone throughout history would have known what was happening. This prophecy is presented in an arcane way so that it would not impact the 2000 years of the Church in a way that God had not intended.
The Time Between the Testaments
I believe we are being given warning in advance of exactly when these things will come to pass. We just need to check our interpretation against what history and scripture tell us actually happened.
If we are going to check our timing against history, we need to know what amount of time we are talking about. Is a “seven” just seven years? If it is, why not just say years? The ninth chapter of Daniel refers to years over and over, yet when the predicted time periods were given for the seventy sevens, Gabriel used a different term than year. Most Bible scholars who don’t believe that a “seven” is seven years would argue that it represents seven periods of 360 days. That is largely due to the biblical prophetic equivalence of 3 ½ years, 42 months and 1260 days, all of which are half of the final “seven”. Each “seven” contains 2520 days. When you multiply 7x62x360 you get 156,240 days. 156,240/365 equals roughly 428 years. This corresponds to the time between the Testaments.
Nehemiah was among the final books of the OT. He was the rebuilder of Jerusalem and it’s walls. Now keep in mind, we don’t know the exact dates of the dedication of the wall nor Nehemiah's reforms nor the birth of Jesus, but we know they were 428 years apart because we know what year they likely occurred.
Go to logicalpaladin.net for the rest of this. It’s too long for this format.
Daniel 9:24 “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place. 25 “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.
Verse 25 tells us that this is a prophetic timeline. We have a starting point, the decree, and a period of time that culminates with a coming. Gabriel tells Daniel about two different people in this prophecy. The ruler is the antichrist and the Anointed One is Jesus. He also tells us what the outcome of their comings will be. The coming of Jesus will be after 62 sevens and then, after he comes, he will be cutoff. That’s the outcome of the coming of Jesus. The coming of the ruler will be after seven sevens and will result in the confirmation of the covenant, starting the final seven years. He will then enter the temple in Jerusalem at the midpoint of that final seven and set up the abomination that causes desolation. That is the outcome of the coming of the antichrist. The Anointed One in verse 25 and 26 is the same person, Jesus. The ruler is the same person in verse 25 and 26 and is the AntiChrist. Notice that it does not say that Jesus is crucified at the end of the 62 sevens. It says that it’s after the 62 sevens. Gabriel has already stated this is a prophecy to the comings. He did not turn right around and change it to a prophecy of 62 sevens to the crucifixion. In verse 26, I added the all caps part for clarity. I believe that's the message that God is conveying. He could have just come out and said it more clearly but then everyone throughout history would have known what was happening. This prophecy is presented in an arcane way so that it would not impact the 2000 years of the Church in a way that God had not intended.
The Time Between the Testaments
I believe we are being given warning in advance of exactly when these things will come to pass. We just need to check our interpretation against what history and scripture tell us actually happened.
If we are going to check our timing against history, we need to know what amount of time we are talking about. Is a “seven” just seven years? If it is, why not just say years? The ninth chapter of Daniel refers to years over and over, yet when the predicted time periods were given for the seventy sevens, Gabriel used a different term than year. Most Bible scholars who don’t believe that a “seven” is seven years would argue that it represents seven periods of 360 days. That is largely due to the biblical prophetic equivalence of 3 ½ years, 42 months and 1260 days, all of which are half of the final “seven”. Each “seven” contains 2520 days. When you multiply 7x62x360 you get 156,240 days. 156,240/365 equals roughly 428 years. This corresponds to the time between the Testaments.
Nehemiah was among the final books of the OT. He was the rebuilder of Jerusalem and it’s walls. Now keep in mind, we don’t know the exact dates of the dedication of the wall nor Nehemiah's reforms nor the birth of Jesus, but we know they were 428 years apart because we know what year they likely occurred.
Go to logicalpaladin.net for the rest of this. It’s too long for this format.