He Will Make All Things Right!דוגמה

Daniel’s amazing 70-week prophecy

We have an entire lesson on this prophecy of Jesus Christ, because it is so unique!

Daniel 9:24-26:

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.

First, we need to understand that the ‘seventy sevens’ is talking about 490 years; 'seven sevens' is talking about 49 years, and the 'sixty-two sevens' is describing 434 years. Some translations say seventy weeks, but literally it is ‘seventy sevens’, which in prophecy can mean a literal 70 weeks, but in context we know he is talking about years.

Then, we need to remember that a Biblical year is 360 days, not 365. Biblical months were based on the lunar month – each 30 days, and 12x30=360.

Verse 25 talks about when the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. That command is in Nehemiah 2:1-8. The command was given by King Artaxerxes on March 14th, 445 B.C. It took 49 years (7 sevens) to rebuild the city, and the Jewish people endured much opposition during that time. Then 434 years later (62 sevens) – or 483 years from the time the command was given, Jesus the Messiah made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Luke 19:28-38). This was the only day in Jesus’ lifetime here on earth that He appeared as an anointed ruler. That date was April 6th, 32 A.D. Five days later, He was crucified. This is an amazingly accurate prophecy – exactly to the day, and with every detail fulfilled! Hundreds of years before Jesus the Messiah came on the scene, this prophecy was given to Daniel, and was fulfilled precisely. This should give us great confidence that Jesus will come back again just as He said, and as the Scriptures declare.

There is still one week left in the seventy-week prophecy (Daniel 9:27) that describes the 7-year Great Tribulation, which has not yet been fulfilled but is coming very soon.

Reflection: We can’t even begin to wrap our minds around a God who is this magnificent. But we certainly can find peace in Him, and rest in the plans He has for us, and indeed the whole world!