164 | TE008 | Transcending Eschatology | Part 8 | Daniel's 70 Weeks
Date: July 24, 2023
Welcome back to our series on Eschatology - the study of End Time events.
So let's review where we've been:
Episode 1: The Doomsday Clock - We discussed our social and cultural beliefs about the End of Time. Typically based on science and entertainment.
Episode 2: The Flip Side - We dove into End Time beliefs that are based on spiritual or religious belief systems. And we looked at some of the major world religions.
Episode 3: Carrying the Torch - We discussed the history and origins of Christian Eschatology - and how it can be traced all the way from Adam and Eve to us today.
Episode 4: Choosing Sides - We discussed the high level categories most Christians fall into when it comes to eschatology.
Episode 5: Making It Plain - We jumped in to Bible passages that talk about the End of Time. Plain language that makes it easy to understand.
Episode 6: The Left Bookend - We moved into the adult pool and walked through seven stories in the Book of Daniel. We then walked through the first piece of Apocalyptic Prophecy.
Episode 7: Expanding on the Statue - We looked at Daniel's 2nd and 3rd dreams and how they simply build on the first one. We also introduced prophetic math, and we discussed the 1,260 Day Prophecy and the 2,300 Day Prophecy.
Today, we talk about Daniel's most debated time prophecy - the 70 Weeks Prophecy. Historicists and Futurists diverge here big time. Which leads to two very different explanations on how the End Times play out.
Today's Topic: Transcending Eschatology | Part 8 | Daniel's 70 Weeks
Reading Jeremiah
Gabriel and the 70 Weeks
The 70 Weeks Debate
// CHAPTER 1: READING JEREMIAH
So in our last episode we left Daniel right after he had his third dream.
Dream 1 (in Daniel 2) was in response to King Nebuchadnezzar's dream about the giant statue.
Dream 2 (in Daniel 7) was in the first year of the reign of Belshazzar in Babylon. It was the dream with the 4 Beasts and the Little Horn.
Dream 3 (in Daniel 8) was in the third year of the reign of Belshazzar in Babylon. It was the dream with the Ram, the Goat, and the Little Horn.
In Dream 2 - during the interpretation of the dream - the Being near the throne in Heaven told Daniel about the 1,260 Days.
In Dream 3 - during the interpretation of the dream - Gabriel brings up the 2,300 Days.
Then there is a break - historically. Because as we enter Daniel 9 it is years later.
No longer is Babylon the ruling civilization.
Instead, Daniel 9 starts by explaining that Daniel's next dream occurred in the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede.
So Babylon had been overthrown - and the Medes and the Persians were now in power.
The chest and arms of silver, the Bear and the Ram in previous dreams.
Now Daniel 9 isn't really a dream - even though I called it one.
The chapter explains that Daniel was studying the Book of Jeremiah - and had come to an understanding that God was going to allow Israel to become desolate for 70 years. Basically a period of punishment for the wicked things Israel had begun to do. And the reason why Daniel was so interested in this 70 year time period is because he was living in it. Israel had been conquered by Babylon - and the Israelite people had been moved out of their homeland. Daniel, his friends and many otehr families were in exile - wondering what it might take to be able to return home someday.
And so Daniel goes into a whole dialogue with God - praying that He not forget His people. And that he listen to the prophets who had prayed on behalf of the people.
He reminds God that He had a covenant with Israel - and that He had said Israel was His chosen people.
// CHAPTER 2: GABRIEL AND THE 70 WEEKS
So at some point during this prayer, Daniel was getting pretty worked up - and was begging God to hear him and not punish Israel any longer.
When who shows up? That's right - Gabriel.
Who explains that the minute Daniel started praying - he was sent to comfort him, and to explain some more things...
Gabriel says that he was sent to give Daniel the "skill to understand."
I love that part!
I can't tell you how many times I've read parts of the Bible and felt like I was almost able to understand it - but not quite.
And like Daniel - all I needed was someone like Gabriel to show up and give me that extra ounce of skill.
That little boost in order to fully comprehend what I was reading.
And that's what he did for Daniel.
Gabriel dives right in, to one of the most important time prophecies Daniel will be presented - the prophecy of the 70 Weeks.
We refer to this as the 70 Weeks of Daniel. And it is one of the core time prophecies presented in the Left Bookend.
So let's read it word for word and then discuss the interpretation after.
Daniel 9:24-27:
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.
25: Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler—the Anointed One—comes. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times.
26: “After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing, and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple. The end will come with a flood, and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end.
27: The ruler will make a treaty with the people for a period of one set of seven, but after half this time, he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings. And as a climax to all his terrible deeds, he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration, until the fate decreed for this defiler is finally poured out on him.”
Now, I know. It doesn't get much more cryptic than that right? I mean that's a lot of numbers, symbols, vague references to people and words that probably have other meanings.
And this time - there is no interpretation. What we know is that this wasn't a dream. Gabriel himself was there giving Daniel this information.
So there's a chance Gabriel clarified some things, told Daniel the information more than once and even answered questions he might have had.
But at the end of the day - I think Gabriel told him to write it down just like this.
My guess is it frustrated Daniel - because it still seemed so vague. He couldn't fully understand what it meant.
But then you see something interesting. In multiple places in the book of Daniel the Beings explaining things to him say this:
Daniel - don't worry, for these things are a long way off.
Daniel, the vision refers to many days yet to come.
Or this one: Seal up the vision. For it refers to many days in the future...
Which I find interesting because it actually makes logical sense.
Many people look at Bible prophecy as fun stories writers made up to offer hope to their people. Tales of peril and persecution - ending with victory and freedom.
But what I see is a loving God working with writers to document a future that would be. To predict things coming in terms that wouldn't make sense at the time.
In Daniel 9 and 10 we start to see Daniel's personality come out a bit.
As he read the 70 year prophecy in Jeremiah he became distraught - and pleaded with God to spare his people.
Then in Chapter 10 he falls further into a dark place. He explains that he mourned for three straight weeks and didn't eat well during that time.
Then he was visited by a Heavenly Messenger - and that troubled him even more. He was weak, and couldn't even stand. He explained that due to the dreams he was having - he was sad - to the point of being overwhelmed.
But the Messenger strengthened him, helped him up and told him he would be ok.
// CHAPTER 3: THE 70 WEEKS DEBATE
Now - we discussed the fact that the Bible didn't really interpret this one for us. Gabriel may have provided Daniel a bit more context - but we aren't the beneficiaries of that information.
And so we're left to decode it ourselves. And any time it's left up to us - there will be arguments, debates and division.
Because people are more interested in being right than they are in being correct.
This is why there are so many interpretations of Bible prophecy. It's why there are so many conspiracy theories. Because people want to believe that they know things.
As humans - we love to have knowledge. Especially knowledge that other people don't have. It makes us feel special - valuable on some level.
And so it is with Daniel's 70 Weeks.
There are multiple interpretations and each are influenced by these three things:
The Start
The End
The Continuity
First off - it's interesting that most views agree on one thing. That the time prophecy is a period of years and not days.
Back to prophetic math - most follow the Day-year Principle when it comes to Daniel's 70 Weeks.
Why? Probably because it doesn't make sense without it. 70 literal weeks is only 490 days - which is a very short period of time. Most Bible scholars aren't able to find a period of time in history where the things Gabriel described fit into a 490 day period of time.
Again - the Day-year Principle is the key to Bible Prophecy.
But back to our list.
First is The Start of the prophecy:
Gabriel explains that it starts: "From the going forth of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem..."
Now you would think this would be a pretty simple task right?
Look back through history and find where Israel was given the ability to return to Jerusalem and rebuild it
But that was a long time ago - and there appears to be multiple times when they were given this opportunity:
Cyrus issued a decree in 438 BC
Darius I issued a decree in 520 BC
Artexerxes I issued a decree in 457 BC
Each of these decrees can be found in the Bible - mostly in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah
So there you go - you have three options - pick your poison
Next, you have The End of the prophecy:
Gabriel explains the end in the same verse he describes the start: "From the going forth of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, Until Messiah the Prince, there shall be 7 weeks and 62 weeks."
So 7 Weeks + 62 Weeks = 69 Weeks (or 483 days)
And using the Day-year Principle that works out to 483 literal years
So if you can figure out The Start - you will know that 483 years later you should wind up around the time of Jesus (or what the prophecy refers to as Messiah the Prince)
And finally we have The Continuity of the prophecy:
Some believe the 70 Weeks are all part of one large block of time
Others believe that because the time period was presented in chunks - it wasn't meant to be one connected time period
And these two beliefs led to the two most popular interpretations:
490 years in a row - start to finish
483 years in a row - and 7 additional years cut off of the 70 Weeks and moved to the End of Time
Now, I'm sure there are other interpretations - but these are two of the most popular.
So who believes what about The Start?
Well, it's fascinating to me how the Bible allows for multiple interpretations
It's as if God said, "I'm not going to give them the answer. Instead I'm going to provide a variety of answers."
Otherwise why are there multiple decrees to restore and rebuild Jerusalem?
Anyway - that's a rabbit trail...
Back to the way people interpret The Start:
From where I stand - it appears that people pick the start date based on what they believe about The Continuity of the prophecy...
Basically the whole chicken or egg problem - which came first?
Because it seems like people have ideas about things like the tribulation, the Anti-Christ and stuff like that - and they're applying those beliefs to Daniel's 70 Weeks rather than allowing the 70 Weeks to define the other stuff
Historicists typically view the 490 years as consecutive:
The Start is the Artexerxes I decree in 457 BC
69 Weeks leads up to the baptism of Jesus - when He started His ministry on earth
That started the 70th Week (or 7 years)
3 1/2 years later Jesus died on the cross
3 1/2 years after that (7 in total) came The End of the prophecy in 34 AD. This ending occurred when Stephen was stoned to death. This was a significant event as he preached that the covenant between God and Israel was no longer valid. Because Israel had rejected Jesus, the gospel was now open for business so to speak. It would be available to everyone - the gentiles that Israel believed to be unclean
Futurists have a slightly different take on the 490 years:
They view The Start as happening with the Artexerxes I decree
But they don't believe it happened in 457 BC
Instead they have dated the decree to have happened in 444 or 445 BC
Using this date - they take the 69 Week block (or the 483 year period) and say it takes you to the death of Jesus
Now technically - that isn't possible - because adding 483 years to 445 BC brings you to 37 AD
However, they explain that you need to adjust your time for some reason because the Jewish calendar has 360 days in a year vs. the 365 days we now use
And somehow in adding in this adjustment it takes us to the death of Jesus in 33 AD
Then - the final Week (or 7 literal years) are cut off from the 69 and moved to the End of Time
They begin when the church is raptured off the Earth
Then there will be problems for 3 1/2 years
Then the Anti-Christ will rise to power and for 3 1/2 years cause there to be a Great Tribulation
And then Jesus will return at the end of the 7 years
So there you go.
Like I said - Daniel's 70 Weeks prophecy is a very important one. Because depending on how it is interpreted - it either describes a time period in the past - or it describes the way things will be at the end of time.
But it can't do both. It's important that we pick our poison right here and now.
As this prophecy creates a crossroads of sorts for the Christian.
Based on which way you go - you'll need to re-interpret the rest of Bible Prophecy - using this as your filter.
Let's Land the Plane:
Thanks again for choosing to be here! I hope you found this interesting if not entertaining 🙂
This is the deep end of the pool - and next week it's going to get even deeper as we finish up our look at the Left Bookend.
Next week we look at the final 3 Chapters of Daniel and prepare for the Right Bookend - the Book of Revelation.
Have a great week friends, and until next time, keep Transcending Human!