What Do You Believe About the End: Part 1 Daniel's Prophecy of Weeks
/Purpose of this series
A challenge to the heart’s of believers to be awakened out of sleep and shaken out of complacency. Paul’s letters to Timothy (1 and 2 Timothy) repeatedly warn that the last days will be filled with deception. Also, believers are charged to study God’s word like a workman so that that they will not be ashamed. This passage also describes a workman as one who is approved by God (2 Timothy 2:15). My prayer is that this series will challenge believers to study the scriptures for themselves and not just believe what they may have been told in the past while never rightly dividing the word themselves.
Workman— one who toils, a laborer, a teacher
Approved— tried, put to the test and examined
Objectives
To help people be ready
To help people be not deceived
To challenge people to know what they believe
To challenge people to study the scriptures themselves
To teach what the scriptures say about the end? More specifically the rapture.
Don’t be deceived!
2 Thessalonians 2:3 (ESV)
3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
Ephesians 5:6 (ESV)
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Matthew 24:4 (KJV)
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
As a side note, before we dig into today’s main topic, consideration of the Millennial Reign of Christ is important (Revelation 20). Whether a person realizes it or not, views related to the 1,000 year period known as the Millennial Reign of Christ have an impact on last days belief in several ways. My point right here, for the purpose of this series, is very brief. Some people believe in an amillennial view. Meaning, there is no literal 1,000 year reign of Jesus on earth.
The way they would describe this is by saying that 1,000 years isn’t a literal 1,000 year period. Rather, it is symbolic terminology describing a long period of time where God is working on earth. Specifically, it would describe the time that we are in now. The way this would be viewed is that Satan is bound to some extent now because he cannot stop the preaching of the gospel.
One of the main co-texts they would use is Colossians 2:15, which explains in the KJV that Jesus defeated the powers of darkness through His cross [it], and the powers of darkness are currently bound in the sense that they cannot stop the kingdom from advancing. This is a common last days interpretation held by many denominations including: Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Presbyterianism, Lutheranism and some Baptists.
Most people that attend churches like ours: Bible studying, Spirit filled churches believe in a premillennial view. This means that we believe in a literal interpretation of Revelation 20. And that the current age we are living in now (the church age) will end with the rapture of the church. Afterwards, the Lord will return to finalize the wrath of God against unrepentant humanity through the Battle of Armageddon. Once this is completed, Jesus will rule on earth in His glorified body. All the nations will bring their glory to Him, and those who served Him on earth, will rule and reign with Him then. This timeframe is a time of peace on earth that is described by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 11:1-12).
Information about the Millennial Reign was a side note. Daniel chapter 9 is our true starting point today. The main emphasis of this first concept is to introduce the learner to the prophecy of weeks that was given to Daniel through an angel. A very important thought related to this prophecy and end times understanding is the fact that this is the only place in scripture where a 7 year last days timeframe is mentioned. To explain more thoroughly, there are multiple places in scripture that speak of a 3.5 year period. The terminology of: 42 months, 1260 days, 3.5 years and “time, times and half a time” are all used to describe a last days 3.5 year period according to a Jewish reckoning of time based on a lunar calendar. But only Daniel 9 points to a last days period totaling 7 years.
Read Daniel 9 while considering the context. He is in prayer remembering Jeremiah’s prophecy of 70 years of captivity. The prophecy of these 70 years given to Jeremiah by God was related to their rebellion against Him (Jeremiah 25:1-12). This is very significant in many ways. Here are just a couple considerations:
Daniel is very concerned about this timing because all of these things are happening in his lifetime. The prophecy given to Jeremiah occurred in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, which coincides with Daniel being taken captive as a teenage boy. Now the predicted 70 years is coming to an end, so he cries out, as an old man, asking God for understanding.
What we can learn from Daniel’s prayer:
he discerned the times and realized that something very serious was on the horizon. We must do the same.
The content in his prayer is very sobering and reveals that he realizes that God has been transgressed by His own people. This transgression goes all the way back to the blessings and curses commanded by God for Israel to speak from Ebal and Gerizim in Deuteronomy 28 before they entered the Promised Land after the Exodus.
Furthermore, Daniel uses the plural pronoun [we] when he addresses God. This means that he includes himself in the failures of God’s people to live properly before Him, and he is aware that the captivity was directly related to their rebellion (their) meaning God’s people— not the world.
It seems to me that if we did a better job discerning the times we live in, like Daniel discerned the times that he lived in, that we would also realize that we have all transgressed the Lord and have treated His word at times with negligence. A proper understanding of this should result in a brokenhearted posture that results in a cry of repentance and asks for revelation from God to understand the times, so we could be better prepared.
I say all this to make a specific point. Many adherents (those that believe) in a pre-tribulation rapture make the point from Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people…” to mean the last 7 years spoken of in this passage proves that this doesn’t refer to the church, only Israel. Two concerns with this thought: a) the rebellious condition of much of the church today is very similar to that of Israel then. God’s allowing Israel’s captivity can be seen as chastisement, mercy and kindness in His correction towards a rebellious people. Therefore, why couldn’t trial and tribulation be seen as chastisement, mercy and kindness towards a rebellious, unprepared church? b) the church age is not mentioned in Daniel’s prophecy. There are many times the Bible is silent on a topic. It is important to understand that silence does not bring finality to a point it just means silence. God’s word to Daniel did not directly relate to the church, but Israel; however, that doesn’t automatically exclude the church from the entirety of this last 7 year period. While I do believe that his references to the saints, scattered within the book of Daniel refer to New Testament believers and not Jews (as the pre-trib position would take), the mention of saints does not reflect the whole body of Christ, instead, it describes individual believers. This will be an important point later in this series with reference to the thought that the church isn’t mentioned in the book of Revelation after chapter 4; however, the word saints is used repeatedly. This should be expected. I would expect that after the first seal is opened, there would be widespread persecution towards the church, causing it to go underground again. Therefore, the absence/ silence of the word church is not surprising and the repeated presence of the word saints is sobering.
2. Daniel is informed that it’s not just 70 years but 70 x 7 years. Interpretation of Daniel 9:24-27 requires an understanding of the translation of the Hebrew word sabua or shabuan. This word is closely related to the word shabbat which describes the end of a 7 day week. All this is extremely important when considering this prophecy because to seventh something describes completion. God “seventhed” creation. When He was done, it was complete. The word weeks translated in this prophecy in the original language can mean a week of days or a week of years. A week of years would be known as a heptad. We use deca [10] to group years as a decade. They used heptad [7].
So this prophecy describes 7 units of 70 years. 70x7=490. This 490 year prophecy is not only related to God’s people Israel, these 490 years are the prophetic time clock of the last days, and he who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Now, that we have established a critical point related to interpreting this passage, let’s approach it verse by verse.
Daniel 9:24 (NASB)
24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.
Daniel 9:24 (KJV)
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
Daniel 9:24 (NIV 1984)
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.
Daniel 9:24 (NLT)
24 “A period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish their rebellion, to put an end to their sin, to atone for their guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to confirm the prophetic vision, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
A few points to make regarding this verse:
There obviously seems to be references specifically towards Israel, but there are others that can only relate to the closing of this age and moving to the next.
The NLT seems to do a great job of delineating the thoughts that refer specifically to Israel versus those that relate to the change of the age. Some of these spots are: a) the pronoun their is used to describe Israel’s rebellion (transgression), sin and an atonement for their guilt. What this would refer to is that a part of this prophecy is related to God finalizing His chastisement towards Israel for their rebellion against Him. Also, the thoughts surrounding prophecy being sealed, The word sealed would mean closed up or brought to an end. There is coming a day when prophecy will cease and when the perfect completion comes, we will see clearly (1 Corinthians 13:8) and there will be no more need for prophecy. Or as the NLT says confirmed. All this prophecy will be confirmed in the very end when the last 7 years is finalized because the remnant of Israel will have recognized Messiah (Zechariah 12) and the dragon will be placed in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years.
However, the thoughts about bringing in everlasting righteousness and anointing a most Holy or most holy place cannot refer solely to Israel. Here is the reasoning:
A. Everlasting righteousness is Jesus and His kingdom to come
B. Anointing a most Holy (KJV) or most holy place cannot be directly related to Israel.
The word holy in the Hebrew is qodes a holy place or thing. The KJV and NIV do not add the word place. Whereas, the NASB, ESV and NLT do. I say add because the word place is obviously not in the manuscript because the NASB The options, in my opinion are: 1) At the end of the age, the most Holy, refers to Jesus being anointed as the KING of glory when He finally receives His Kingdom or 2) if the proper interpretation is most holy place, it refers to the anointing of a millennial temple. It cannot refer to the next temple to come because, as we will soon see, the next temple will be used by the antichrist to exalt himself and demand to be worshipped as God and that is the true abomination that causes desolation, and it’s far from holy or anointed.
Daniel 9:25 (NASB)
25 So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
This is prophecy has an internal prophetic stopwatch. The decree to rebuild started it, Messiah crucified stopped it, the church age isn’t seen in this prophecy.
This verse divides the 490 years into 2 increments: a 7 week period and a 62 week period, which results in 69 weeks. 69 x 7=483 years. At this point in the prophecy, there remains a 7 year period left. It says that after a decree to restore Jerusalem, there will be a 483 year period until Messiah the prince.
There were many decrees given by Persian kings while Israel was in captivity. However, most conservative Christian scholars believe that the decree spoken of here refers to the decree by Artaxerxes to Nehemiah which occurred Nisan 444/445 BC
Also, they believe that March 30 AD 33 OR Nissan 10 (Jewish calendar) AD 33 was the day of the Lord’s triumphal entry.
483 years x 360 days (the amount of days in a lunar year, which is most consistent with a prophetic Jewish calendar as opposed to a solar calendar) = 173,880 days. If Artaxerxe’s decree to Nehemiah is dated Nisan 1, 445 BC, which would also be March 14th, 445 BC according to the Gregorian calendar and 173,880 days are counted from there, it perfectly lands on March 30, AD 33 the date that many believe was the triumphal entry.
The main point to this verse related to our understanding the prophecy is that: 1) a decree went forth and it was prophetically predicted that 483 years after this, Messiah would arrive.
Daniel 9:26 (NASB)
26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
There are several important parts to this verse:
I. In the previous verse, the first 483 years were divided into first (7 weeks) and then (62 weeks). This verse says that after the second part, the 62 weeks, Messiah would be cut off. One week after Jesus’ Triumphal Entry, He was crucified [ie cutoff].
II. … the people of the prince who is to come… This is a crucial point to this verse and the most crucial point to this prophecy. This part of the verse is introducing several thoughts. The most important thought is the introduction of a different Prince.
A. He is a Prince who is to come…
B. He is a Prince of a people who will come
C. The people that are His, will destroy the city (Jerusalem) and the temple.
There are varying opinions regarding this prince. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that this prince refers to Jesus. I have recently watched at least two different evangelical preachers that have also claimed that this prince is Jesus.
Most conservative scholars would not agree with that interpretation. To the contrary, most would interpret the introduction of this prince as describing the opposite of Jesus. The person introduced is the antichrist. And one big clue would be the destruction of the city and the sanctuary. Jesus’ people did not destroy the city of Jerusalem or the temple.
The temple was destroyed in AD 70 by General Titus of the Roman Empire. Another interesting caveat is that there were specific Roman legions that were responsible for the destruction of the city and the temple under Titus’ command. Some of these legions came from areas like Macedonia and Cappadocia, but several of them came from the area of Syria. This is interesting for people who like this kind of information because this could theoretically narrow down the location from which the antichrist would arise even more than just the Roman Empire.
So the main thoughts of verse 26 are that after the 483 years, Messiah would be cut off (crucified) and in the future another Prince would arise who is connected to the people that would one day destroy the city and temple. Within all of this, the verse also speaks of wars and desolations that are occurring.
Daniel 9:27 (NASB)
27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”
Lastly, I need you to understand that it’s not the rapture that restarts the stopwatch. The restart button is hit when the agreement is signed.
This verse picks up the last week or 7 year period that was left unmentioned by verses 25 and 26. This last period is believed to be the last 7 years before the battle of Armageddon and the ushering in of the Millennial Reign of Christ. This is the period known by many as the Great Tribulation. At some point in this series, we will make a hard dissection between what is tribulation and what is wrath to distinguish the important reality that there is a difference. But for now, let it be known that after all of this information, you have now been introduced to the one place in the Bible that speaks of a last days 7 year period.
The verse says that the antichrist prince makes a covenant with many. The thought is that this is a peace treaty that is brokered between him and Israel and includes many other nations. The idea of peace comes from the word related to covenant, which means agreement, but can also be defined as an alliance or confederacy. In addition, this thought is introduced directly after the words of the previous verse related to wars and desolations.
The text says that the covenant is made for a 7 year period and in the middle of the 7 year period he breaks it by causing sacrifices and grain offerings to cease. It should be noted that while the NASB says a firm covenant, other translations say a strong covenant and the KJV says that he will confirm a covenant. All these thoughts are in the Strong’s definition. The thoughts of a firm/ strong covenant or he will confirm a covenant, meaning, he will make stronger a covenant that was already in place.
It would be negligent not to point out that when Israel was made a nation in 1948, a covenant between Lord Balfour and Lord deRothschild was signed in 1917. Through the years, there have been many attempts to strengthen this agreement. But what is most intriguing is the recent developments that have transpired during the Trump administrations. First, Jerusalem was made the capitol city of Israel. Then the Abrahamic accords were arranged by his son in law Jared Kushner, who is a Jew. These two occurrences took place during his first administration.
More recently, Kushner has been negotiating with other Arab nations in an attempt to strengthen or what could be considered confirming a preexisting agreement. This is important because last October I did a teaching where I showed you a CBS news clip of an interview of a Hamas leader who claimed that one of the main reasons for the October 7th massacre was related to the red cows.
What these red cows from Texas have to do with war and peace in the Middle East
By Chris Livesay
March 5, 2024 / 10:48 AM EST / CBS News
Jerusalem — When Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida began a speech marking the 100th day of the war in Gaza, one confounding yet eye-opening proclamation escaped the headlines. Listing the motives for the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, he accused Jews of "bringing red cows" to the Holy Land.
This is so significant because the verse that we are studying says that [he] the prince that makes a 7 year covenant and he will break it in the middle by stopping the sacrifices and also by causing an abomination on the wing. The word wing here could be referring to a bird’s wing, but it can also be used to describe an edge of a place. In a moment, we will try to make some scriptural connections, but let’s review what we have so far:
This prince who we believe to be the antichrist has made a 7 year covenant between Israel and other nations.
This covenant has obviously allowed another temple to be built because the temple has been destroyed and in this futuristic prophecy, sacrifices are resumed, so at the very least, there is a rebuilt altar and sacrifices are resumed.
The sacrifices are stopped and then the word abominations is used in connection with the word wing: …and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate…
Actually the word abominations is used several times throughout Daniel chapter 9.
Ultimately, the verse tells us that the one who caused the desolation, will be made desolate… even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” And ultimately, antichrist will be destroyed.
In reference to the use of the specific word desolate, there was an occurrence that took place in 167 BC. After Alexander the Great died, his kingdom was split into 4 parts under the leadership of four of his generals and one the four dynasties was known as the Seleucids.
Through the years, an offspring of the Seleucid dynasty, one of the four, named Antiochus IV Epiphanes put a statue of Zeus that looked like him in the Jewish temple and sacrificed swine flesh on the altar of God. This became known by the Jews as “The abomination of desolation.” Furthermore, this led to the Maccabean Revolt and the Feast of Hanukkah, which celebrates the defeat of the Seleucids by the Maccabees.
All this is very important because Jesus was aware of the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel. He was aware of what Antiochus did because there is evidence in scripture that He went to the Feast of Hanukkah, also known as the Feast of Dedication:
John 10:22-23 (NASB)
22 At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; 23 it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon.
With all that said, Jesus makes an amazing statement in Matthew 24:
Matthew 24:15 (NASB)
15 “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
Are you catching this? Jesus knew Daniel prophesied about an abomination that would cause desolation. Jesus knew that His Jewish forefathers equated the atrocity of Antiochus to the fulfillment of that prophecy, but Jesus says, “…when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place, let the reader understand…” That means Jesus is saying what you thought was it, wasn’t it. There is more to come.
We can infer that the fulfillment of the antichrist’s breaking of the covenant in Daniel 9:27 will be similar to what Antiochus did. He will create a seven year agreement that will permit the Jews to rebuild the temple, allowing them to resume animal sacrifices. In the middle of the 7 years, he will break the covenant by stopping the sacrifices and demanding that he alone be worshipped as he both stands (Matt 24:15) and seats himself in the temple displaying himself as God (2 Thessalonians 2:3,4).
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 (NASB)
3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 (NASB)
9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
This man of sin will be allowed to perform miracles that will defy anything anyone has ever seen. In addition to that, God will send upon people a deluding influence that will cause them to believe his lies. Why God, why would you do that? It’s because He sent truth, they refused to believe His truth and instead took pleasure in wickedness.
Now, more than ever before, we must cling to the truth!
Ephesians 6:14 (NASB)
14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH…
John 16:13
But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
John 8:32
and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
John 17:17
Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
1 John 1:6
If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;