THINGS TO BE FULFILLED DURING THE 70 WEEKS OF DANIEL

Grace be to you, and peace from God, our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. In continuation of the epistles on the 70 weeks of Daniel, we write to you having the hope that these words will be implanted in you, and illuminate your hearts and minds with knowledge to enable you walk uprightly before our Lord. It is written in Prov 25:2 “ It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings…to search out a matter . So again we tell you as the scriptures have said above that there are things that are concealed in the Word of God. Now, God, to be just cannot judge man for not knowing something that He Himself has hidden from him. For this reason, God reveals concealed matters in His Word when the time of their fulfillment is at hand. This he does to prove His righteousness and justice to all men equal so that men would not say they did not know. It is in this manner that we write to you today concerning what has been and what shall be.

Again it is written in Dan 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. 25 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. 26 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. 27 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 .”

What things are to be done and finished during the 70 weeks of Daniel? From the scriptures quoted above, six major things are to be accomplished: -

1. To finish the transgression. Heb. word for finish is pasha meaning to revolt, rebel, to commit sin. It is often translated as transgression (Psa 51:13, Isa 43:27, etc.). This transgression mentioned is referring to the sins of Israel at Jerusalem, the culmination of their sins, a time when they will be saved from all sins at the return of the Messiah at His second coming, who will turn all ungodliness from the house of Jacob and convert the whole nation of Israel to true believers in one day (Rom 11:25-29, Isa 66:7-10, Ezek 36:24-30).

2. To make an end of sins concerning Israel and Jerusalem. This has never been accomplished but will be at the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ezek 36:24-30, 37:24-27, 43:7, Zech 14). Many Jews in Israel today are still entangled with Judaism, denying Jesus Christ as their Messiah. The Spirit of repentance will be poured out upon Israel just before the second coming of the Lord and a fountain for sin and uncleanness will be opened to the whole nation at that time (Zech 12:10-13:1, Rom 11:25-29).

3. To make reconciliation (atonement) for Iniquity. The Heb. word for reconciliation is kaphar meaning atonement. This was already done for the whole world including Israel by our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of crucifixion (Isa 53, Col 1:20, 2:14-17, 1 Pet 2:24), but Israel as a nation has not yet experienced this atonement for their sins because they do not believe in the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. They will be fully reconciled to God at the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (Isa 1:18-20, 66:7-8, Matt 23:37-39).

4. To bring in everlasting righteousness. When transgression comes to an end, when an end of sins is made, and when full atonement for all sins is experienced by Israel, then everlasting righteousness concerning Israel and Jerusalem will be ushered in (Isa 9:6-7, 12:1-6, Dan 2:44-45, 7:13-14, 18, 27, Ezek 43:7, Zech 14, Luke 1:32-33, Rom 11:25-29, Rev 11:15, 19:11-20:10, 21:1-22:5).

5. To seal up the vision and prophecy. The prophecies concerning Israel and Jerusalem and their eternal restoration under the Messiah will be fulfilled at the end of the 70 weeks. At this time, there would be no need for God’s prophets (like Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Ezekiel) to rebuke Israel in an attempt to lead them to God and righteousness, for the Messiah himself will be in their midst. For as it is written in the scriptures, all of them shall know the Lord from the least unto the greatest of them (Isa 11:9, 66:7-10, Jer 31:31-40).

6. To anoint the most holy. This refers to the cleansing of the holy of holies of the Jewish temple that shall stand in Israel in the days to come, and the city of Jerusalem, from the abomination of desolation accomplished by the Antichrist in the temple. The millennial temple of Ezek 40-43 will also be built and anointed by our Lord himself in those days (Zech 6:12-13). The most holy is never used of a person in all scriptures. Anoint the most holy could never refer to Christ been anointed. Man is not to anoint and crown Christ. This has already been done by God, the Father (Luke 22:29, Acts 1:7, 2:36, Phil 2:9-11, Heb 1:1-3).

When do the 70 weeks of Daniel begin and were the things written literally fulfilled ? The 70 weeks began with the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem unto Messiah the prince (Dan 9:25), and some of the things written have been literally fulfilled in the past. This is the assurance that the rest of them will be fulfilled in the future. Now, the days of their fulfillment are here. How do we know these things have been fulfilled in the past? There have been 3 decrees for the restoration of Jerusalem: The first decree was given during the first year of the reign of Cyrus, king of Persia (the country of Iran) (between 539-537 B.C.) (Ezra 1:1-4, 3:8, Isa 44:28, 45:1-4, 46:11). Cyrus reigned 9 years, and then Cambyses, his son, reigned 7 years. During the reign of his son, the work on the temple ceased (Ezra 4:1-24). Thereafter, Darius 1 of profane history reigned 35 years. In the 2 nd year of his reign, he allowed the Jews to continue rebuilding the temple and the temple was finished in the 6 th year of his reign, but Jerusalem, the city, was not restored. This was the second decree. Xerxes became king of Persia after Darius 1 and reigned 21 years. He was succeeded by Artaxerxes on Dec 17, 465 B.C. In the 20 th year of the reign of Artaxerxes, about March 444 B.C., he gave Nehemiah the third decree to restore and build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince (Dan 9:25-26, Neh 2:1-6:19). This is the beginning of the 70 weeks of Daniel, the year 444 B.C. From this point and forward, the 70 weeks of Daniel (490 years) are counted. At this point, the first division of the 70 weeks (490 years) which is the first 7 weeks (49 years) for the restoration of Jerusalem with street and the wall, even in troublous times began (Dan 9:25). In the same 20 th year of the reign of Artaxerxes as mentioned above, Nehemiah was made governor of Judea (Neh 2:1-6:19). He restored the walls in 52 days after he reached Jerusalem, but this was by no means the full restoration. The fullrestoration took place during the next 49 years as Daniel the Prophet hath said (Dan 9:25-26). Thus, the third decree to restore Jerusalem was 92 years after the first one by Cyrus.

When was the Messiah (Christ) supposed to be cut off (crucified) ? This was to be after 62 weeks (434 years) (Dan 9:26), and was to immediately follow the first 49 years of the restoration of Jerusalem mentioned above (Dan 9:25-26). Christ was indeed crucified at the end of the 69 th week, between 30 and 33 A.D. Also as the scriptures hath said in Dan 9:26, that ‘the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the sanctuary’, the Romans fulfilled this prophecy of the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the temple and brought the great desolations prophesied in Dan 9:26. This was literally fulfilled in the year 70 A.D. when Titus, a Roman general with his 10 th legion battalion besieged Jerusalem, destroyed the city, and burnt down the Jewish temple (Herod’s temple) as written in Luke 19:41-44, 21:20-24, and Dan 9:26. The prince that shall come written in Dan 9:26 refers to the Antichrist who will arise from the Grecian portion of the old Roman Empire territory (the Seleucid Empire), from the people who destroyed the temple of Israel in 70 A.D. (Dan 9:26) as written in Dan 8:21-23. This is where the Antichrist will come from and it shall be so for the Lord Himself has revealed it to us and we know him. He will come from among the 10 kingdoms yet to be formed inside the old Roman Empire territory (Dan 7:23-24). The United States, unknowingly to her, is currently been used by the Lord to prepare the way for these 10 kingdoms that shall arise shortly.

How do all these concern the church ? The great interval between the 69 th week (already fulfilled) and 70 th week (yet unfulfilled) is the church age. This is the dispensation of the church and this is the time we are currently in. This period was not seen by the Old Testament prophets, for the church was a mystery to them. This mystery was unveiled by Apostle Paul in the New Testament (Eph 3:3-7). What is a mystery? A mystery is something that was originally concealed but is now revealed. Another mystery to the Old Testament prophets was the rapture of the church. This was also revealed in the New Testament by Apostle Paul (1 Corinth 15:51-58), for if they did not know about the church in detail, they would not know about its rapture also. From Dan 9:26-27, it is clear that certain things were to happen between the crucifixion of the Messiah and the rise of the Antichrist who makes a 7-year covenant with Israel in the latter days (Dan 9:27). It is written in Dan 9:27 that he (Antichrist) shall confirm (Heb word for confirm means to strengthen) the covenant with the Jews for 1 week (7 years) and shall break it in the middle of the week. He (Antichrist) does not make this covenant by himself; he only strengthens an existing covenant. Which covenant exists today between Israel and the Arabs? Is not this the Oslo Accord signed in Sep 13, 1993, which is a fallout of the 1949 armistice agreements between Israel and its 4 Arab neighbors namely Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon? A word is enough for the wise.

If any man has the Spirit of God in him in all fullness, he will testify that these words are true. And even if men refuse to acknowledge these words, there is still one that testifies on our behalf, our Lord Himself, by His Spirit, and we know that He will bear witness to his own that what we have said is true. Brethren, look up! Your redemption is near. The day is almost over and night is fast coming. Prepare for the Lord’s coming for it shall not be long. If you are in any form of sin, or perhaps you fall today and rise up tomorrow, you must put this off, and stand steadfast. Lean on the Holy Spirit and cry out to Him to help you live holy unto God. Our lord is coming for only His pure and obedient children. To be obedient is to obey the Lord in all things. Are you doing this today? If not, please repent, lest the lord comes and find you in your slothfulness and count you with the wicked. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.