What is the meaning of The Seventy Weeks prophecy?
The seventy weeks prophecy is found in Daniel 9:24-27. Here it is in full.
Dan 9:24 “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 vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.
Dan 9:25 “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, and the wall, Even in troublesome times.
Dan 9:26 “And after the sixty-two weeks 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.
Dan 9:27 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.”
But what does it mean?
What is a Prophetic Week?
This prophecy gives 70 “weeks” from the command to restore Jerusalem until the birth of the Messiah. A “week” in this prophecy does not mean a period of seven 24-hour days. Such an interpretation does not fit with historical records. However, there is a principle known as “a day for a year”. This principle is established from the following two verses.
Num 14:34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection.
Eze 4:6 And when you have completed them, lie again on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year.
Applying this “day for a year” principle gives a “week” (seven days) as 7 years.
Divisions of the 70 Weeks
The prophecy divides the 70 weeks into 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and 1 week. 69 weeks (7 + 62) are given from the command to restore Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah. The final week is divided in half when the prophecy speaks of “the middle of the week”, Daniel 9:27.
Converting the weeks to years (using the “day for a year” principle) gives 483 years (69 x 7) from the command to restore Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah.
Purpose of the 70 Weeks Prophecy
The purpose is given in Daniel 9:24, which can be broken down into 6 statements.
- To finish the transgression,
- To make an end of sins,
- To make reconciliation for iniquity,
- To bring in everlasting righteousness,
- To seal up vision and prophecy,
- And to anoint the Most Holy.
Items 1 and 2 are similar and were fulfilled when Jesus Christ died for our sins.
Items 3 and 4 will ultimately be fulfilled when Jesus Christ returns to establish His kingdom on earth; however, Jesus Christ dying for our sins is an essential part of this. We will discuss this again later.
Item 5 seems to indicate that the meaning of this prophecy will be hidden until the time of the end.
Dan 12:4 “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
Item 6 was fulfilled at Jesus’s baptism when the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove. The following Scriptures in Luke support this.
Luk 3:21 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.
Luk 3:22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
What is the link between the Holy Spirit descending and anointing? Shortly after His baptism, one Sabbath in the synagogue, Jesus read from Isaiah.
Luk 4:16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
Luk 4:17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
He read the following.
Luk 4:18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE HAS ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR; HE HAS SENT ME TO HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET AT LIBERTY THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED;
Luk 4:19 TO PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”
This passage in Isaiah links the Holy Spirit coming upon someone with anointing.
Luk 4:20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
Luk 4:21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Jesus then stated that this passage in Isaiah referred to Him.
Fulfillment of the First 69 Weeks of the 70 Weeks
The start of the 70 weeks is “the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem”, Daniel 9:25.
Here is a timeline of decrees, from various Persian kings, for the captives to return to Judah. See “When did The Seventy Years prophecy start and end?”, Appendix 2, for details.
559-530 B.C. Cyrus the Great.
539 B.C. Cyrus conquers Babylon.
Decree of Cyrus, Ezra 1:1-4, to rebuild the temple.
1st year of Cyrus’s reign in Babylon.
530-522 B.C. Cambyses II. Died while enroute to put down a rebellion.
522 B.C. Gaumata. Murdered by Persian aristocrats.
522-486 B.C. Darius the Great. His reign started at the end of 522 B.C.
521-520 B.C. Decree of Darius, Ezra 6:1-23.
520 B.C. 2nd year of Darius’s reign in Babylon.
Work on the temple resumed.
516 B.C. 6th year of Darius’s reign in Babylon.
Temple was finished.
485-465 B.C. Xerxes the Great. Same as King Ahasuerus of the Book of Esther.
465-425 B.C. Artaxerxes I.
459-458 B.C. Decree of Artaxerxes I, Ezra 7:11-28.
7th year of Artaxerxes’s reign in Babylon.
446 B.C. Nehemiah goes to Jerusalem to repair its walls and gates, Nehemiah chapters 1-2.
20th year of Artaxerxes’s reign in Babylon.
Adding 69 prophetic “weeks”, which we earlier determined is 483 years, to 539 BC or 520 B.C. doesn’t yield a meaningful result. However, adding 483 years, to 459-458 BC, gives 25-26 AD. (There is no year zero so a one must be added to the calculation.)
The generally accepted date for the crucifixion of Jesus is the spring (April) 30 A.D. Assuming Jesus’s ministry lasted 3½ years, gives a date of autumn (October) 26 A.D. for the start of his ministry (when he was about thirty years old).
This is remarkable! Making a couple of reasonable assumptions, (i) Jesus was crucified in the spring of 30 A.D., and (ii) Jesus’s ministry lasted 3½ years, we arrive at the following result. The 69 prophetic “weeks” (485 years) starts at the Decree of Artaxerxes I in 458 B.C., “the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem”, and it ends at beginning of Jesus’s ministry in 26 A.D., “until Messiah the Prince.”
Jesus’s ministry ended with His crucifixion, fulfilling “after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself”, Daniel 9:26.
Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed 40 years later in 70 A.D. by a Roman army led by Titus, fulfilling “and the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary”, Daniel 9:26.
Thus the first 69 weeks of the 70 weeks prophecy seem to be understood quite well.
Why 7 weeks and 62 Weeks?
Why is the 69 weeks broken into 7 weeks and 62 weeks? Adding 7 prophetic “weeks” (49 years) to 458 B.C. gives 409 B.C. Is there anything of note that occurred in 409 B.C.? Possibly. The book of Malichi is dated to around this time. Of interest is Malachi 3:1.
Mal 3:1 “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the LORD of hosts.
This is quoted in the gospels, referring to John the Baptist who prepared the way for Jesus’s ministry.
Mat 11:10 For this is he of whom it is written: ‘BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER BEFORE YOUR FACE, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.’
Luk 7:27 This is he of whom it is written: ‘BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER BEFORE YOUR FACE, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.’
This prophecy was fulfilled in 26 A.D., the same year as the start of Jesus’s ministry. Could it be that Malachi gave this prophecy in 409 B.C.? If so, then there were 7 prophetic “weeks” (49 years) from Artaxerxes decree in 458 B.C. to Malachi’s prophecy (409 B.C.). Also, the end of the 69 prophetic “weeks” and the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy are the same point in history, the start of Jesus’s ministry in 26 A.D.
Fulfillment of the last week of the 70 Weeks
Here is a reminder of the last part of the 70 weeks prophecy.
Dan 9:26 “And after the sixty-two weeks 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.
Dan 9:27 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.”
We have already seen that “after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself” (verse 26) was fulfilled when Jesus was crucified in 30 A.D. and that “the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary” (verse 26) was fulfilled by a Roman army led by Titus in 70 A.D.
The Messiah was “cut off” after 69 (7 + 62) prophetic “weeks”. We understand this to be Jesus’s crucifixion 3½ years after the end of the 69 prophetic “weeks”. So, at this point in history, 69 weeks of the 70 weeks have passed, and the six-fold purpose of the 70 weeks prophecy seems to have been fulfilled. Here they are for a reminder.
- To finish the transgression,
- To make an end of sins,
- To make reconciliation for iniquity,
- To bring in everlasting righteousness,
- To seal up vision and prophecy,
- And to anoint the Most Holy.
Yet, there is one prophetic “week” left. Therefore, there must be a greater fulfillment of the above six-fold purpose remaining which will be fulfilled at the end of the last prophetic “week”.
When Jesus Christ returns to establish His kingdom on earth, one of the first things He does is reconcile mankind with God (purpose 3). See “What is the meaning of the Day of Atonement?”.
This is also the start of everlasting righteousness (purpose 4), where eventually the wicked are destroyed and the righteous live forever.
Dan 7:13 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him.
Dan 7:14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.
Dan 12:2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Dan 12:3 Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.
So this greater fulfillment of the six-fold purpose will be fulfilled with the return of Jesus Christ. Thus the end of the last prophetic “week” is the return of Jesus Christ. Daniel 9:27 gives some details about this last prophetic “week”, the seven years preceding the return of Jesus Christ.
Dan 9:27 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.”
It appears that 7 years before Jesus Christ returns a modern-day counterpart to Titus will craft some kind of peace deal in the middle east. Perhaps such a deal will allow the Jews to build a temple and start sacrifices and offerings in it. However 3½ into the deal he breaks it and stops the sacrifices and offerings.
“On the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate”, is probably a reference to the “abomination of desolation”, spoken of in the books of Daniel, Matthew, and Mark.
Conclusion
We have seen that the 70 weeks is broken into 69 continuous prophetic “weeks” (485 years), followed by a long gap before the last prophetic “week” (7 years) which immediately precedes the return of Jesus Christ.
The 69 weeks starts at the Decree of Artaxerxes I in 458 B.C., “the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem”, and it ends at beginning of Jesus’s ministry in 26 A.D., “until Messiah the Prince.”
The end of the first 7 weeks (of the 69) possibly marks Malichi’s prophecy regarding the coming of John the Baptist.