70 Weeks prophecy

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Daniel’s 70 Weeks Prophecy – The Coming of Israel’s Chosen King – Part 6

Conclusion

By GF Herrin

                Given the late dating of the book of Revelation, which correlates with prophecies in the book of Daniel, and also given that history lacks any single figure that has fulfilled the prophecies of Daniel 9:2-27, it is reasonable to expect a future fulfillment of Daniel’s predictions. Also, to fully understand the events of the Seventy Weeks revelation of Daniel, it must be fully understood for whom the prophecy was originally written: Daniel, his people, Israel, and their holy city, Jerusalem. The preterist view (which Mauro holds to) of the activities of God toward His covenant people, Israel, is one that is short sighted in scope. The preterist view seems to emphasize the judgment of Israel as the final decision of God, without any future chance for redemption or reconciliation for His chosen people. The preterists seem to underestimate God’s ability to forgive and woo Israel back to Him through the working of His ultimate plan for reconciliation.

Mauro claims:

The prophecy of the Seventy Weeks is manifestly an account, given beforehand of the second period of the national existence of the Jewish people. They were to last as a nation only long enough to fulfill the Scriptures, and to accomplish the supreme purpose of God, in bringing forth the Messiah, and putting Him to death. The time allotted for this was 490 years. This being accomplished, God had no further use for Israel (Mauro, 21).

Mauro’s statement is careless in that it seems to discard all of the promises of God that reveal His faithfulness to Israel and His intentions to deliver them for His name’s sake.

Ezekiel states the reason that God will deliver Israel from the enemy in the end times:

Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: I do not do this for your sake. O house of Israel, but for my holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when I am hallowed in you before their eyes (Ezek. 36:22-23).

Gabriel’s revelation to Daniel is given as an answer to his fervent, longing, and pleading prayer. God esteemed Daniel and in His grace revealed His plan for Israel’s reconciliation to Him. God has a covenant relationship with Israel that is not dependent on Israel’s faithfulness, but His own faithfulness. His sovereign power to bring forth Israel’s chosen King is the great Guiding force through the ages. To summarize, the seventy weeks are about God working through the age of the Gentiles to bring about His desired purpose: The end of the rebellion and transgression of the nation of Israel, the sealing up of sin, reconciliation to Yahweh, the fulfillment of prophecies, and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness to Israel when Jesus is anointed as King at the beginning of His millennial reign in Jerusalem. His program for accomplishing these things occur inside and outside of the seventy weeks. The decree to rebuild Jerusalem, given by King Artaxerxes in 445 B.C. to Nehemiah, marks the beginning of the Seventy Weeks. The finishing of the first seven weeks marks the restoral of Jerusalem as a re-built city.

The entrance into Jerusalem of Messiah, King Jesus, on April 6th, A.D. 32 marks 483 prophetic years (each consisting of 360 days), or sixty-nine weeks, after the decree is given (Anderson, 128). Then, outside of the sixty-nine weeks, but before the seventieth week begins, the Messiah is cut off, the people of the Roman prince who will come in the future, destroy Jerusalem, and the temple and the beautiful land lie desolate from the onslaught of war. Then, in the final week, the Roman prince, who is the antichrist, makes a covenant with Israel, but in the middle of the seven year period stops sacrifices and grain offerings from taking place at the third temple. Finally, after the antichrist commits abominations that desecrate the holy temple and offend God, the Lord pours out destruction on him. It is understood from the text of Daniel 12:3 and 12:12 that the millennial reign will begin shortly after.

Application

The truths of the Seventy Weeks prophecies of Daniel have a broad application today. They can be applied in leading a Bible study or delivered in a sermon to Christians anywhere. In knowing that many of the prophecies of Daniel 9:25-26 have been fulfilled as Gabriel’s message said they would be, we can stand firm on the promises of 9:27, which foretell the end of the Gentile age and the beginning of the Messianic kingdom. The message of Daniel focuses on the faithfulness and sovereign ability of God to work His plan and guide mankind to His desired conclusion. Specifically, God’s plan for Israel is in focus for the seventy weeks. The reader must remember that God’s promises remain in effect today. To conclude that God is finished with Israel and discard His covenant promises is to discard His sacred Word, itself.

Paul writes:

For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins” (Romans 11:25-27).

Christians everywhere should be encouraged by Daniel’s Seventy Weeks prophecy to live holy lives in anticipation of living one day under the rein of the Lord Jesus Chris. Ultimately, God’s purposes will be fulfilled and the Messiah will come again to restore Israel and usher them into the millennial age in righteousness and faithfulness.

 

 

 

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Daniel’s 70 Weeks Prophecy – The Coming of Israel’s Chosen King Part 5

Daniel 9:27 – Gabriel Reveals the Events of the Seventieth Week

By GF Herrin

                Daniel 9:27 is perhaps the key verse in properly understanding the entire seventy weeks revelation. Interpreting this verse correctly is also the key to understanding many of the other End Times prophetic passages in the Old and New Testaments. The passage begins with a confirmation of a covenant or agreement between “he” and the “many”. Since this revelation is given to Daniel in regard to his people and his holy city, it is logical to understand that “many” refers to the people of Israel. The question briefly touched upon earlier in regard to verse 27 is, “What is the identity of the person who is referenced to by the pronoun ‘he’?” Preterists, such as Mauro and Michael Blume, hold to the belief that “he” refers to the Messiah, Jesus, who is referenced early in verse 26 as the one “who shall be cut off, but not for Himself” (Michael F. Blume, “What Do Preterists Believe About “The Prince” in the 70 Weeks of Daniel?” http://www.preteristarchive.com/Modern/2001_blume_daniel-9.html 2001). Blume says that the Messiah, in verse 26, is the main subject of the passage while the prince is only a “sidenote”. He claims that to interpret the word, “he” in the verse as the antichrist is to employ bad grammar.

In reality, though, if one interprets the passage using the standard Hebrew grammar rules, it is apparent that the “he” in verse 27 is indeed the antichrist who is also referred to in Daniel 7:25 and 11:36-45. The interpretation of “the coming prince” in verse 26 as the antecedent for the pronoun, “he”, in verse 27, makes more sense because it is closer in proximity to the pronoun than the word “himself”. To argue that the “Messiah” is the subject of the sentence and therefore it must be the antecedent for “He” is to create Hebrew grammar rules that just do not exist (Thomas Howe, 9.113, see also, Daniel in the Preterists’ Den, 2008).

Mauro states: “(1) that it was by the cutting off of the Messiah that the six predicted things of verse 24 were to be accomplished; (2) that it was by the cutting off of the Messiah that the covenant with many (verse 27) was to be confirmed and the sacrifice and oblation caused to cease” (Mauro, 21). Most assuredly, the Messiah’s sacrifice for sins is the one single event that enables the six predicted things of verse 24 to be realized. But, to suggest that Jesus’ sacrifice at Calvary was an actual covenant that the nation of Israel literally entered into for a period of seven years is inaccurate. It is true that Jesus’ covenant sacrifice negated Israel’s necessity to perform any more sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins. However, it does not represent a literal covenant that has been accepted or entered into by the people of Israel at any time in their history.

The overarching problem in Mauro’s interpretation of the passage is his attempt to spiritualize the reference dealing with the entering of a literal covenant or agreement with many. Many scholars, such as Mauro, make the mistake of interpreting Scripture in a spiritual or metaphorical manner. That is, they discard the most literal type of interpretation to fit it into their own view. However, that system of interpretation is inconsistent and flawed. The more consistent manner of interpretation is the historical grammatical method. As Robert L. Thomas says, “When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths, indicate clearly otherwise” (Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 1-7: An Exegetical Commentary, vol. 1, 1992, 50).

In addition, to suggest that the Messiah, who is God, would make a covenant for a limited period of time (seven years) is inconsistent with God’s nature, which is eternal. God, being eternal, possesses a nature that is unchanging. So, any truth, acknowledgement, or agreement affirmed by Him would not be of a temporal or changing nature but of an eternal nature. Since He is eternal, His faithfulness or adherence to His covenants must be eternal as well. To suggest that God would make a covenant for a limited period of time is also inconsistent with the nature of His other covenants (see Gen. 13:15; Gen. 15:18; Gen. 17:7-8; Gen. 28:13; Gen. 35:12; 1 Chron. 16:17-18; 2 Chron. 20:7; Dan. 7:18; Jer. 7:7; Jer. 25:5; Jer. 31:35-37; Jer. 33:20-22) made with Israel. Regarding the nature of the covenant made in verse 27, Dwight Pentecost writes, “Inasmuch as all the covenants made by Messiah with Israel are eternal covenants, Messiah cannot be the one making the covenant, inasmuch as it will be temporary” (Pentecost, Things to Come, 250).

So, in interpreting verse 27, it can be determined that the ruler or the prince who is to come will confirm a literal covenant with the nation of Israel for a period of seven years (the final week). In the middle of the final week (or after three and a half years) he will put an end to the sacrifice and offerings. Verse 26 describes the destruction of the second temple which actually occurred in A.D. 70. So, it can be discerned that during the time of the seventieth week, there must be a third temple in existence since Israel is obviously making sacrifices again when “the prince who is to come” puts an end to them. Israel, traditionally, has offered their sacrifices and offerings to God in the temple. So, it makes sense to believe that they will offer them again if given the chance. Even now, there is an established Temple institute in place in Israel that has in place blueprints for the third temple, along with the vessels, menorah, pure olive oil to be burned in the menorah, priestly garments, a red heifer, and even priests from the tribe of Levi who are ready to begin the sacrifices whenever the temple is re-built.

The second part of verse 27 describes an event after the sacrifices and offerings are brought to an end in which the ruler will apparently do something that is so offensive to God that the Lord must intercede and pour out his wrath on the one who performed the desecration. The text “on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate” could be interpreted to mean that the Ruler’s desecrating actions to the temple will cause it to be unclean.

The actions of Antiochus Epiphanes (who set up an image of Zeus in his own likeness on the altar, and sacrificed a pig in the Temple), which are in fact foretold in Daniel 11:31, could be a typology of the nature of the desecrations performed by the future prince. Like Antiochus, the future ruler or prince will do something “abominable” in reference to the use of the temple and its holiness to God. But, Antiochus could not have been the ruler that Daniel was writing of in verse 27 because Jesus’ statement concerning the future desecration of the temple was made long after Antiochus desecrated the temple.

Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved (Matt. 24:15-22).

This future event of the “’abomination of desolation” is a more logical fit for the events describe in Daniel 9:27. According to 12:7, the time period during which the daily sacrifices and offerings are suspended matches the time period of verse 27, exactly. It is “time, times, and half a time” (Dan. 12:7) or three and a half years. Also, John’s Revelation describes a matching timeline in which the “beast” will exercise his authority over Israel as well: “And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven” (Rev. 13:5-6).

The prophecies in Revelation and Daniel regarding the forty-two months (three and a half prophetic years), during which Jews will be persecuted, correlate with each other and seem to be addressing the same event. In addition, there is substantial evidence to believe that John’s Revelation was written in the 90s A.D. (Norman L. Geisler, “A Friendly Response to Hank Hanegraaff’s book, “The Last Disciple” [online], Available: <http://normangeisler.net/articles/theology/Eschatology/FriendlyResponseToHHanegraffsBookLastDisciple.htm>). Since Revelation was written at the end of the first century, the destruction of the second temple and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. would have taken place prior to its composition. Given the late dating of the book, which contains the prophecy that details the anti-christ’s oppression of the people of Israel for a period of forty-two months (three and a half prophetic years), it is more reasonable to understand the event as futuristic and taking place at the same time as Daniel 9:27.

 

 

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Daniel’s 70 Weeks Prophecy – The Coming of Israel’s Chosen King Part 4

Daniel 9:26 – Gabriel Reveals Events in the Gap between Weeks Sixty-Nine and Seventy

By GF Herrin

Verse 26 describes some of the events that were to take place after the first sixty-nine weeks had been completed. It is commonly believed that the prophecy regarding the Messiah being cut off refers to the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice for sins on the cross at Calvary (Anderson, 125). So, “cut off” could be understood to mean “killed”. It is obvious from the wording of the text, “after the sixty-two weeks”, that the cutting off would take place after the second set of weeks had been complete. The phrase “cut off” is similar to the wording used by Isaiah: “He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of my people He was stricken” (Isa. 53:8). The interpretation of the verse in Daniel could also be that the Messiah would be cut off both from life and from having children. Jesus did not have any natural descendants so He was left with nothing and no one to survive Him. Also, the text states “but not for Himself.” This implies that the Messiah would die sacrificially, or for someone else. We know now that this refers to Christ who died as a ransom for our sins so that men could be reconciled to God through His Son’s shed blood on the cross. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

The second part of this verse introduces “the prince who is to come” as someone who is distinctly different from the Messiah. The passage states that it will be the people “of the prince who is to come” who will destroy the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (temple). The text states that the end would come like a flood. And until the war ended in Jerusalem and in Israel, desolations were determined that would occur. The understanding here is that a sudden attack or influx of a large army would cause the desolations to occur. We know from history that Jerusalem and the second temple were destroyed in A.D. 70 when the Romans laid siege to it.

Josephus describes the desolation of Israel after the war:

And truly, the very view itself was a melancholy thing, for those places which were adorned with trees and pleasant gardens, were now become desolate country every way, and its trees were all cut down. Nor could any foreigner that had formerly seen Judaea and the most beautiful suburbs of the city, and now saw it as a desert, but lament and mourn sadly at so great a change. For the war had laid all signs of beauty quite waste. Nor had anyone who had known the place before, had come on a sudden to it now, would he have known it again. But though he {a foreigner} were at the city itself, yet would he have inquired for it (Flavius Josephus, The Complete Works of Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, 1901, Chapter 1.1, 666).

Futurists, those who believe in a future fulfillment for certain prophetic Scripture, interpret “the prince who is to come” to be the same person who is the subject of verse 27 – “he”. This is the one who “shall confirm a covenant” and “bring an end to sacrifice and offering.” So, there is the understanding from verse 26 that the people who are of the same nationality as a future prince to come will be the ones who destroy Jerusalem and the temple. Since the destruction was in fact carried out by the people of Rome, or the Roman soldiers, we discern that future prince from verse 27 who confirms a covenant and stop the sacrifices and offerings made at the temple will in fact be a Roman or one of the people of the Roman Empire.

Preterists, those who believe that most of the prophetic Scripture of the Bible has been fulfilled, contend that this reference to the “prince who is to come” refers to Titus (Mauro, 26), who along with his soldiers besieged Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Mauro interprets this passage to say that the people under a contemporaneous ruler will destroy the city and temple rather than interpreting that the destruction will be accomplished by the people who are the same nationality as the ruler whose coming is yet future. Mauro seems to make this assertion because of his presupposition that “he” in verse 27 (see next section) refers to Christ, instead of the future ruler from the Roman Empire who many scholars believe is also referred to in Daniel 7:25 (Mauro, 29). Mauro, in essence, holds to the opinion that all of the prophecies of the seventy weeks were fulfilled by A.D. 70. Mauro writes, “Thus the entire prophecy of the Seventy Weeks encompasses in its scope the rebuilding of the city and the temple, and the final destruction of both. It covers the stretch of time from the restoration of the people to their land and the city in the first year of Cyrus, down to their dispersion by the Romans into all the nations of the world” (Mauro, 26).

But how is that possible? There is nothing in the text in verse 26 to cause someone to conclude that the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, along with the dispersion of God’s people, Israel, takes place within the seventy weeks. All that can be concluded is that the events in verse 26 take place after the first sixty-nine weeks. Since the Messiah’s death, the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem all occurred between the years of A.D. 2 and 70, well after the completion of the sixty-ninth week, this by necessity creates a gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks. Yet, Mauro insists that to suggest a gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks is to “destroy the prophecy as a whole” (Mauro, 37).

But Alva McClain suggests that Old Testament prophecy is not always given in a continuous chronology:

Although certain areas of the future are definitely clocked as to time sequence and extent, we shall find in Old Testament prophecy no absolutely continuous and unbroken chronology of the future. The prophets often saw together on the screen of revelation certain events which in their fulfillment would be greatly separated by centuries of time. This characteristic, so strange to western minds, was in perfect harmony with the oriental mind which was not greatly concerned with continuous chronology. And the Bible, humanly speaking, is an oriental book (Alva J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom, 1974, 137).

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Daniel’s 70 Weeks Prophecy – The Coming of Israel’s Chosen King Part 3

Daniel 9:25 – Gabriel Reveals the Events of the Sixty-Nine Weeks

By GF Herrin

            This passage references the period of the first sixty-nine weeks of Gabriel’s Seventy Week revelation. This period spans from the rebuilding of Jerusalem until Jesus Christ presented Himself as messiah to the people of Israel. In question is when the prophetic clock for the period of seventy weeks actually began ticking. Philip Mauro contends that the decree that Cyrus gives (2Chron. 36:22-23) and Ezra 1:1-3) marks the beginning of the seventy weeks (Mauro, 19). Others have believed that the period might be identified by Artaxerxes’ decree given to Ezra in 458 BC (Ezra 6:3-8). However, these decrees only refer to the re-building of the temple in Jerusalem., not the actual city or city walls. The only reference in Scripture in which an actual command is given to rebuild the city of Jerusalem is the one from Artaxerxes given to Nehemiah (Neh 2:1-8) (Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come, 1958, 244). The year it was given is widely believed to have been 445 BC (John Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation, 1971, 228). Certainly, the book of Nehemiah validates the “troublesome times” that the builders would experience in thethe city of Jerusalem as they strived to restore their city, as predicted in Daniel 9:25.

The first seven periods of weeks refer to the length of time required to re-build Jerusalem. That period seems to have begun in 445 and concluded a generation, or forty-nine years, after the debris of Jerusalem had all been cleared out and the city was re-stored (Walvoord, 227). The second set of weeks, the sixty-two, or 434 years, is generally believed to have been completed in Jesus’ time. But which event signifies the time of Messiah the Prince mentioned in verse 26? Mauro argues that the time of messiah the Prince must have been the event of Jesus’ baptism that would have been the time of His “anointing” by the Holy Spirit (Mauro, 19).

However, Robert Anderson, who thoroughly researched the chronology of the time period from 445 B.C. to the time of Christ, calculates that the time of Messiah the Prince would have been April 6th, A.D. 32, the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem and was worshipped as King (Robert Anderson, The Coming Prince, 1954, 126-27). This would have been 483 prophetic years, (360 days per year) or sixty-nine prophetic weeks, after the command to re-build Jerusalem was given, on March 14th, 445 B.C. According to Anderson (Anderson, 128), prophetic Scripture validates this event as a significant moment as well: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zech. 9:9).

This time of Christ’s presentation to Israel (Matthew 21:1-12) would have represented the arrival of the long awaited King come to His people. It was the manifestation of the God-man coming in peace and mercy. Also, this represented the time that Jesus accepted the title of King and welcomed the worshipful cries of “Hosanna” because He knew that it was His appointed time. It was the time of Messiah the Prince. Anderson writes, “The twofold ministry of His words and His works had been fully rendered, and His entry into the Holy City was to proclaim His Messiahship and to receive His doom” (Walvoord, 229).

That this day was knowable by the Jews of Jesus’ time is attested by Jesus’ haunting message delivered to Israel:

Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation. (Luke 19:41-44).

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Daniel’s 70 Weeks Prophecy – The Coming of Israel’s Chosen King – Part 2

By GF Herrin

Gabriel Reveals the Purpose of the Seventy Weeks – 9:24

In response to Daniel’s passionate prayer on behalf of his people, God sends Gabriel to reveal to Daniel that seventy weeks have been decreed for his people and their holy city of Jerusalem. The meaning of the word “weeks” in Hebrew is “hepthads”. A hepthad is a unit of measurement that is used to signify seven things are grouped together (Lehman Strauss, The Prophecies of Daniel, 1969, 267-68). This grouping of seven years together was not without precedent in the biblical text. Years were collected into groups of seven by God in His instruction to the Hebrews on the proper cultivation of the land of Israel.

Moses speaks of God’s land use instructions:

“Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land” (Lev. 25:3-5).

The Lord instructed the Israelites to carefully follow this mandate of observing the sabbatical year of rest for the land. Part of the reason for God’s removal of His people from their homeland was to provide a period of rest for it. “I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate it shall rest– for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it” (Lev. 26:33-35).

The timing of the revelation of the Seventy Weeks is subsequent to Daniel’s understanding of Jeremiah’s seventy years as a significant prophetic period. The revelation at such a time suggests that God has put equal emphasis on the seventy weeks of seven period in regard to His chosen people. So, Daniel would have been especially interested to hear of Gabriel’s revelation of the future events. Gabriel, in verse 24 revealed six reasons for the Seventy weeks which will be discussed here.

To Finish the Transgression

As a nation, Israel had transgressed against God by turning to false gods and idols and offering sacrifices and offerings at the high places beginning during the time of Solomon’s reign. They also had not followed God’s statues and the Law that Moses had handed down regarding how they should live as His separate, chosen people who were called out of Egypt.

Part of the purpose of the seventy week period, then, is to finish the transgression of the people of Israel. The Hebrew word for “transgression” that is used is “pasha”, which can be translated to mean “revolt” or “rebellion”. In addition to rebelling against God’s ordinances, Israel would later commit the ultimate rebellion by rejecting Christ, their Messiah (Strauss, 277). However, part of the function of the Seventy Weeks, especially the last week, is to end Israel’s rebellion by reconciling them to God. This reconciliation will reach its ultimate fulfillment when Israel comes to saving faith in Jesus as their Messiah and King in the seventieth week. Zechariah writes, “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn” (Zech. 12:10).

To Make an End of Sins

This speaks of the second advent of Christ in which he will come to rule as the God-man in His millennial kingdom on Earth. God will put in the hearts of his people, Israel a new nature to do His will and to follow His commandments and to avoid sin (Strauss, 278).

Ezekiel writes of this time, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God” (Ezek. 36:26-28).

To Make Reconciliation for Iniquity

In the latter days, Israel will mourn for their sins and come to understand that Jesus, the Messiah, has provided the sacrifice for them so that they can be reconciled to the Father. Israel will become God’s holy people again to live with him in the New Jerusalem. The veil will be lifted from their eyes. The partial hardening that Paul spoke of in Romans 11:25 will be removed. Their spiritual blindness will be no more. The will come to realize that only Jesus Christ can save them from their sins.

Jeremiah prophesies:

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more (Jer. 31:33-34).

Israel will come to know God intimately and be restored into a close relationship as His children.

To Bring in Everlasting Righteousness

The events of the Seventy Weeks will accomplish the tasks needed to be done to bring forth Jesus as Israel’s chosen king. With Jesus, the true Israel, established as king, the theocracy will be re-established. The Messiah will reign on his throne in Jerusalem and bring righteousness to all the land.

The Scriptures foretell the Messiah’s millennial reign as king:

Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel’ (Ps. 2:6-9).

Jeremiah writes specifically of the righteousness that will be characteristic of the Messiah’s millennium: “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Jer. 23:5-6).

To Seal Up Vision and Prophecy

Many interpreters hold the view that at the end of the Seventy Weeks all of the visions and predictions that the prophets made regarding the coming of Christ’s kingdom on Earth will be fulfilled. This includes the visions and interpretations of Daniel regarding the destruction of the Gentile kingdoms and establishment of God’s eternal, physical kingdom to come. Preterist Philip Mauro interprets this “sealing up” as an end to prophecy and vision given to the Jews as punishment to them for rejecting Christ (Philip Mauro, The Seventy Weeks and the Great Tribulation, 1998, 17). Certainly, sealing up could mean a stoppage of revelation given to the Jews. But, in the context with which this overall message is given (a response to Daniel after he prayed for his people and the city of Jerusalem), it makes more sense to understand this sealing up as a fulfillment of all prophecies given regarding Israel and their city.

In addition, the Hebrew word “nabiy” is more properly translated to mean “prophet”, not prophecy. Thus, the understanding is that a sealing up of the prophet or specific things spoken by the prophet will be accomplished (Thomas A. Howe, Daniel Notes, from Daniel class lectures, Southern Evangelical Seminary, 2008, 9.75). So, if we consider this, then it may be more accurate to interpret this passage as a statement that everything that Jeremiah spoke of including the reconciliation of Israel to God will take place at the consummation of the Seventy Weeks. This interpretation is consistent with God’s promises for Israel’s future redemption as well.

To Anoint the Most Holy

There are various interpretations regarding the anointing of the most holy. The text actually translates to “and anoint holy of holies”. This could refer to the anointing of the most Holy One, Jesus. E.B. Pusey seems to advocate that this prophecy referred to a spiritual fulfillment at Christ’s first advent (E.B. Pusey, Daniel the Prophet, Nine Lectures, 1885, 196). Mauro also spiritualizes the passage when he states that the anointing was accomplished at Pentecost (Mauro, 17). A preferred explanation would be a futuristic literal fulfillment. Given the fact that Saul, David, Solomon, and Jehu (1 Sam. 10:1; 16:13; 1 Kings 1:39; 2 Kings 9:6) were anointed with oil, wouldn’t it be expected that the King of kings, Jesus, would be formally anointed at the beginning of His millennial reign? After all, His reign will be the most anticipated event in the Scriptures. It is natural to expect that this coronation of Him will be marked by a formal anointing. It could also be interpreted that this prophecy foretells the anointing of the most Holy place of the future millennial temple. After all, in almost all of the places “holy of holies” appears in the Scriptures, it is used in reference to the altar, sacrifices, or priestly duties ministering in those areas (Howe, 9.76). Further, it is possible that this passage may be referring to both the literal anointing of our Lord Jesus Christ and the anointing of the Millennial temple. In the coming Kingdom, the man-God Jesus will dwell among men in His Holy place. So, it makes sense that the place of his dwelling will be anointed since He is holy.

Ezekiel prophesies of this incredible event:

Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore (Ezek. 37:26-28).

End of Part 2