Two prevailing interpretations of the 70 Week prophecy exist today.  First, the “historicist” view. It was introduced many centuries ago, likely in an attempt to make sense of the long delay in Messiah’s return.  Its primary component, the day-for-a-year measurement of prophetic time, gained prominence in Christianity when the hypothesis was promoted by the Medieval Catholic, Cardinal Nicholas Krebs (c. 1400-1464).  However, the historical view forces a figurative interpretation upon Daniel’s literal time periods, and turns his prophetic “days” into hundreds and thousands of “years.”  For example, the 490 days of Daniel 9 are turned into 490 years, and are thought to represent historical events that began with a decree to rebuild Jerusalem in the 5^th century B.C., which ended around the time of the crucifixion.

The day-for-a-year principle was formulated from two Hebrew passages and then artificially applied to Daniel’s timelines.  Ezekiel, a contemporary prophet to Daniel, was instructed to lie down on his right side for 40 days, “a day for each year,” (4:6) to teach Israel a spiritual lesson.  However, it is inconsistent to impose Ezekiel’s “day for each year” penalty upon the 70 Weeks of Daniel 9.  First, because there is no contextual support for doing so; and second, applying this passage to Daniel’s 490 days actually causes the opposite effect.  Ezekiel’s prophecy reduces the 40 years down to 40 days of punishment, instead of enlarging the time frame.

The second reference to the day-for-a-year principle is found in the book of Numbers.  Punishment would be administered for the Israelites’ unbelief lasting 40 years, “one year for each of the forty days” the spies explored the land (Numbers 14:34). “The LORD’s anger was aroused that day and He swore this oath:  ‘Because they have not followed Me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—not one except Caleb… and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the LORD wholeheartedly.’  The LORD’s anger burned against Israel and He made them wander in the desert forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in His sight was gone,” (Numbers 32:10-13).

This day-for-a-year penalty, specific to Israel’s lack of faith just after the Exodus hundreds of years earlier, has been superimposed upon Daniel’s prophecies, overriding the clear Hebrew meaning and converting the timelines to lengths of years way beyond their original intent.  The historicist view gradually gained acceptance by mainstream Christianity through commentaries espousing the notion, and was widely promoted in the 1800’s.  Sadly, today’s historicists (and preterits) have lost sight of the life-altering “end-of-the-world” predictions of the prophecies.  Much to their surprise, the visions in Daniel and Revelation will prove relevant to our modern world as tragic events unfold. 

The second commonly held eschatological perspective is called the “futurist” view, as taught by Evangelical Christians, with origins that can be traced back to the year 1830 and the Plymouth Brethren; it also borrows the historicist’s 490 year concept but with a different slant.  Modern day futurists teach that 69 of the 70 weeks were fulfilled by historical events leading up to the death of Jesus; however, they claim the 70^th week is yet future.  The futurist acknowledges, and rightfully so, the predictions of Daniel 9:24 can only be fulfilled at the end of the age.  Therefore, a 2,000 year gap of time is invented, splitting off the 70^th week from the previous 69 weeks.  When Israel reaches the end of time, it is taught, the 70^th week of years will restart; hence, the seven years of tribulation.  Again, there is no contextual support for a two millennial year gap of time or a seven year tribulation, which is based primarily on human construct and speculation.

Michael promises, even swears, that final events must be finished within a three to four year period.  He says, “it would be a time [one year], times [two years] and half a time [half a year], when the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things [the vision of Daniel 10-12] will be completed,” (Daniel 12:7).  The original language could also portray three and a “part” years, which allows up to nearly four years for last-day events to transpire.  Consequently, we can conclude that Daniel’s 70 Weeks (490 days) fall within this framework of time. 

The Purpose of the Seventy ‘Sevens’

Daniel 9:24 relates that these six predictions are to be fulfilled during the seventy ‘sevens’—this 490 day period that God has decreed upon His people.  The first purpose is to finish transgression.  The Hebrew word translated to finish means “to restrain firmly,” “to restrain completely,” and “to bring to completion.”  The word transgression is a very stark word for “sin.” It is a word that literally means “to rebel.”   It is not merely to finish transgression, but to finish the transgression—the final rebellion.  The Hebrew refers to the specific act of revolt in which Antichrist and Jerusalem participate.  The great rebellion is to come under divine control so that it will no longer flourish. 

The third prediction of the seventy ‘sevens’ is to make reconciliation for iniquity.  The Hebrew word for reconciliation means “to make atonement.”  The program of the seventy sevens is a cleansing of Israel that will include the removal of all three things: first, the national sin of rejecting the Messiah; second, daily sins; and third, the sin nature itself at the day of redemption—a Day of Atonement event.

The fourth prediction of the seventy ‘sevens’ is for Messiah to usher in everlasting righteousness, or more literally, to bring in an age of righteousness, which is what the Hebrew word for everlasting really means.  This age of righteousness is referred to in Jeremiah 23:5-6: “The days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In His days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which He will be called: The LORD our Righteousness.”

The fifth prediction of the seventy ‘sevens’ is to seal up the vision and prophecy.  The word means “to seal” or “to shut up.”   The 490 days will bring about the fulfillment of Israel’s end-time predictions and signals the Age to Come. 

The sixth and final prediction of these seventy ‘sevens’ is to anoint the most holy.  From the Hebrew it reads “to anoint a most holy place.”  The High Priest, dressed in white garments, would enter only once a year to anoint the Most Holy, on the Day of Atonement—Yom Kippur.

The 1967 Six-Day War

Jerusalem is the center of Jewish thought and religion. Its development over the years—culturally, socially, archaeologically—is a marvel to behold. More importantly, it is the city in which Messiah walked and taught during His visitation to earth, and it remains the central focus of prophecy and final events.

After many centuries of Jewish struggle with no place to call home since the dispersion in 70 A.D., in May, 1948, Israel became a nation once again.  However, for nineteen years, from 1948 to 1967, Jerusalem was a divided city.  East Jerusalem, including the Old City, had been occupied by the Arab Legion of Jordan since the War of Independence. The Jordanian troops had decimated the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, blowing up its synagogues and destroying every vestige of Jewish life there. Jewish gravestones on the Mount of Olives had been used to pave roads and build latrines.  Although they promised access to the Western Wall, Jordan had not allowed any Jews to pray at this remnant of the wall that had once surrounded the ancient Temple. Western Jerusalem, on the other hand, was controlled by Israel and had greatly expanded during this period.  Barbed wire, minefields, and concrete walls protecting Jews from Jordanian snipers cut through the heart of Jerusalem from north to south.

The Six-Day War would end all of that, reuniting the Holy City once again.  On June 5, 1967, the Six-Day War began, and through God’s miraculous intervention, by the end of the third day on June 7, 1967, the Western Wall was recaptured.  Israeli troops stood gazing at the Western Wall, wondering if they should dance, pray, or cry.  They did all three!

The Jerusalem Post headline on June 6, 1967, during the Six-Day War read, AIR FORCE WINS SUPREMACY AS ARMY DRIVES EGYPTIANS BACK INTO SINAI AND GAZA.  There is no doubt the Holy One of Israel intervened to push back the powerful Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian forces.  Israel’s victory was extremely devastating to the Arabs, who expected victory.  In six days the Arab forces lost almost their entire air forces and much of their armed weaponry.  In all, 11,000 Egyptians were killed, Jordan lost about 6,000, and Syria lost about 1,000.  Israel, on the other hand, lost only about 700 fighters.

Although Jerusalem with her holy sites was the central prize, Israel also captured in those six miraculous days of 1967 the Golan Heights, Sinai, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank.  The ancient towns of Shechem, Shiloh, Bethel, Bethlehem, and Hebron were now within Israel’s borders.  By June 11, 1967, the Jerusalem Post headline read—200,000 AT WESTERN WALL IN FIRST PILGRIMAGE SINCE DISPERSION. 

In 1967, the fortunes of Jerusalem were restored as prophesied by the prophet Joel.  He wrote, “In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning My inheritance, My people Israel, for they scattered My people among the nations and divided up My land,” (Joel 3:1-2).  The first part of Joel’s prediction became reality during the Six-Day War, when Elohim restored many cities and holy sites in Jerusalem to the Jews. The once divided city was reunited, and the Western Wall was once again under Jewish control.  Forty years later, the gathering of all nations is gaining momentum, when the magnificent work of God will be displayed with speed and finality.

Almighty God designed His final work on Planet Earth to include divine dates of disaster and deliverance, connected in time and place to His annual Festivals.  The Appointed Times & Seasons Calendar shows this correlation in very clear lines.  This important historical victory signals that the end of time is quickly approaching, when God would gather the enemies of Israel down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, just outside of Jerusalem, for His decisive retribution.

Silently and mysteriously since 1967, prophetic time has been on the march.  The world is headed unknowingly and recklessly towards the last great conflict of the ages between the forces of good and evil.  We find ourselves on the doorstep of God’s Appointed Times & Seasons Calendar.  It is time to wake up from our lethargy and into the reality of the day!

We are advised to study Jerusalem’s final time prophecy related to the three and one-half years. “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem [Point 13] until the anointed one, the ruler [Elijah], comes [Point 16], there will be seven ‘sevens’ [49 days], and sixty-two ‘sevens’ [434 days].  It [Jerusalem] will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in [the appointed] times of trouble,” (Daniel 9:25). 

Almighty God has revealed His omniscient power time and again by predicting future rulers, decrees and dates.  Only the Holy One of Israel could have designed the numbered days thousands of years in advance, and set into motion His redemptive plan.  The Appointed Times & Seasons Calendar, illuminating God’s remarkable alignment of timelines and God’s Festival dates, proves that we are nearing final events.  The great prophet Isaiah was instructed to go and warn stubborn Israel, “Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving. Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed,” (Isaiah 6:9-10).  This warning applies today to Jew and Gentile alike.  May YHVH open our eyes and minds to the lessons of history, which are examples of things to come!

The 70 Week prophecy represents God’s last days of mercy towards Israel and the city of Jerusalem.  Yeshua warned the generation of His day, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!… you say, If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets… Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town… O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.  Look, your house is left to you desolate.  For I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD,” (Matthew 23:29-39).  Within 40 years, Jerusalem was ransacked and burned, and the Jews scattered across the globe.

During the many centuries that followed in the Diaspora, Jews had no country to call their own; nevertheless, Hashem heard their many cries.  “Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD; The LORD looked down from His sanctuary on high, from Heaven He viewed the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death,” (Psalm 102:19-20).  El Shaddai heard the cries of Jacob from Hitler’s prisons and gas chambers, and out of the holocaust He gave birth to the final generation.

Seven is the number of perfection and completion, and themes of sevens are found throughout the Scriptures.  Peter asked Jesus (Matthew 18:21), “how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”  The Messiah enlarged Peter’s thinking when He responded that the brethren be forgiven “seventy times seven” [490 times] (Matthew 18:22, KJV).  Jesus likely had the “seventy ‘sevens’ [490 days]” prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 in mind.  During the last 490 days of Israel’s history as a nation, God’s mercy will continue day after day even while Judaism is compromising with Antichrist and his spurious religion.  For many years, the Vatican has called for Jerusalem to become a “corpus separatum,” or “internationalized city,” open to people of all faiths, in order to remove it as a political capital for any nation.  One day Antichrist will walk onto the Temple Mount for his own glory, while the prophecies warn and God’s prophets condemn his detestable act. 

We convince ourselves that, had we been alive in times past, we would not have persecuted God’s prophets, nor would we have joined the mob in condemning Christ.  We would have listened to their words of life, even if our family, friends and religious leaders did not.  Today, that test of faith lies just before us.  “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it,” (Matthew 7:13-14).  May the people of God respond to the events of the last 70 Weeks with wisdom and prayer, knowing that time is short.