The Seventy Weeks of Daniel

Thesis:
“The seventy weeks prophecy is conclusive proof that Jesus was the promised Messiah.”

 
Introduction:


Over the centuries in which man has looked for the promised Messiah, there have been literally dozens of claimants who sought for themselves, or others have sought for them, such recognition. This short paper is to demonstrate that only Jesus fits the requirements necessary to be recognized as the promised Messiah. Our argument will be based on the seventy weeks of Daniel found in the ninth chapter of that book.

 
Scripture: Daniel 9:24-27

“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. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”

Initial Considerations:


Sometimes things are not as neatly packaged as we would like. Such is often true when we try to demonstrate a precise fulfillment to the year of such a prophesy as the one under consideration. This demonstration is not possible, not because of a problem with the Scriptures, but because of the careless keeping of time and records by the ancients. However, the records are certainly accurate enough that one can demonstrate conclusively to the honest of heart that only Jesus could be the fulfillment of this prophecy and, therefore, is the only true claimant to the Messiahship.

It should also be recognized that such prophesies are not necessarily meant to be an exact count but merely an approximate count. In Genesis 15:13-14 we find God telling Abram that his descendants will be in bondage 400 years. In the actual fulfillment of that bondage we find in Exodus 12:40 that it lasted 430 years. The event was precise, the numbers were approximate.

The Prophecy – What it Predicts:


The seventy weeks of Daniel are designed to give us a way to recognize the Messiah. It is a time-line prophecy which gives us a particular point of reference in time to look for the arrival of the Messiah. By carefully studying this prophecy, we can ascertain the approximate time when the Messiah was to arrive and thereby identify Him.

The Prophecy – Where to start the count:


We are told to start our count when the decree goes out to restore and build Jerusalem (verse 25). We are told this rebuilding will include the streets and wall, indicating clearly that this decree will include a complete restoration of the city and its inhabitants. There are three decrees that we will look at briefly.

1. The decree of Cyrus:


This is found in II Chronicles 36:22-23 and Ezra 1:1-2. It is a decree to go and rebuild the temple of God. But in this decree there is nothing said in reference to rebuilding Jerusalem, the streets, the wall, etc. Therefore this decree is not sufficient to have been the one under consideration in Daniel.

2. The decree of Artaxerxes:


This decree is recorded beginning in Ezra 7:11 and continuing and again addresses mainly the rebuilding of the temple. It is, therefore, lacking in some parts of the necessary decree to be what is spoken of in Daniel.

3. The second decree of Artaxerxes:


This decree is recorded in Nehemiah 2:1-8 and contains all the elements necessary to be the fulfillment of the prophesy in Daniel. Therefore, our count will start at this decree.

The Prophecy – How to follow the Count:


The prophetic count from the decree to the Messiah is seventy weeks, or, in prophetic semblance, 490 years. It is broken into three distinct groupings. Seven weeks (forty-nine years), sixty-two weeks (434 years), and one week (seven years). The first seven weeks probably refers to the time it took to return to a normal lifestyle. Although much of the initial construction was completed in only a few years, it took much longer to really become again a community that functioned properly and fully. The sixty-two weeks simply completes the count to the Messiah and the final week relates to His work and His fulfillment of the prophecy of Daniel. Since the count from the decree to the Messiah is sixty-nine weeks (483 years) we will simply deal with this number.

 
The Prophecy – Where the count leads:


Since our count starts with the second decree of Artaxerxes, we must determine when this event took place. Nehemiah 2:1 tells us that it was in the king’s twentieth year. History tells us this was approximately 450 years before Christ. The time presented by different sources varies, depending on the source, from around 444 BC to 455 BC.

Beginning our count at 453 BC, if we count the sixty-nine weeks (483 years) we arrive at AD 30 or there about. This coincides perfectly with the beginning of the ministry of Christ. Since there is absolutely no other historical figure within a century of Christ that has made any real or defendable claim to the Messiahship, our only conclusion based on the prophesy of Daniel is that Jesus was the Messiah.

The Prophesy in its fulfillment:


There were six original items that were to be fulfilled in or at the end of this seventy weeks. We will briefly list them and point out their fulfillment in Christ.

  • Finish the transgression: Galatians 3:19-29, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 8:8-13, Hebrews 10:9-18, Titus 2:11-14.

  • To make an end of sin: I John 1:7, John 1:29.

  • To make reconciliation for iniquity: Ephesians 2:15-22, Romans 5:11.

  • To bring in everlasting righteousness: Psalm 45:6-7, Hebrews 1:8-9.

  • Seal up vision and prophesy: Matthew 5:17-18, Romans 10:1-4, Galatians 3:24.

  • Anoint the most Holy: Matthew 3:13-17, Acts 2:36.

There is one other important aspect to this prophesy and that is the final week. In the final week He (Messiah) was to confirm the covenant. In the midst of this week He was to cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease. This fits perfectly the life story of Christ. In the middle of the final week, three and a half years after He had begun His ministry, He was killed or cut off. His death on the cross caused the sacrifice and oblation of the Jewish system to come to an end (Colossians 2:14-15). While it still continued physically until AD 70, it ended in the mind of God, i.e., He no longer recognized or accepted the Jewish sacrifices.

Conclusion:


From this brief study I believe that our thesis has been defended and proven. There is one last passage we will look at in closing. It is in Matthew 1:17. Here we find that from the carrying away (586 BC) until the birth of Christ there were fourteen generations. A generation was normally counted as forty years, although specific generations might be a little more or less. Using forty years as a basis for figuring, fourteen generations would be around 560 years. This number coincides almost perfectly with the prophecy of Daniel, and, in fact, giving credence to the fact that real generations contain some variation in length, this statement and historical record are in complete accord. Truly Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah spoken of by the prophets of God.