The LAST DAYS.

Advancing the Revelation of Truth

The interpretation of Daniel's record of the
Seventy Weeks of Years

This is the end of Daniel's prayer in verse 19 of chapter 9, when he was interrupted by the coming of the spirit being, the Chief Messenger, Gabriel:

O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God; Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said,

"O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

Seventy weeks are determined [1] upon thy people and [2] 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."

These are the circumstances in which the prophet Daniel received this message from God by Gabriel the Archangel. There are many, many interpretations of this message because we have difficulty in appreciating the circumstances in which it was given. We also have difficulty in 'rightly dividing' the message itself because of the juxtaposition of the various references to 'weeks'.

However, one statement is very clear:

'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'.

This is the purpose and basis of the whole prophesy. Understanding its message depends upon four points:

To recognise that the word 'week' refers to 'seven years', each 'day' being one year. Therefore 'seventy weeks' is 490 years.
To establish the year in which these prophetic weeks commence.
To recognise that the prophesy is twofold, firstly 'upon thy people'. Secondly 'upon thy holy city'.
The Holy City is Jerusalem,

1. Some may argue that the week could be 700years, as in the resolution of Enoch's Apocalypse of Weeks which spans 10weeks of 700years each, and points to the length of time occupied by the week of God's creative and forming activity upon the formless and void Earth. If this were so, the period in question would last, not 490years but 4900years. A study of Enoch's Apocalypse of Weeks however, indicates that this span of time cannot be fulfilled in the years between the point at which this prophecy begins and The Day of God. [See page: 'The Grand Plan']

2. When The Christ was in Nazareth at the beginning of His ministry, he attended the synagogue and stood up to read the Hebrew Scriptures. He was given the scroll of Isaiah and turned to the following verse:

"The Spirit of The Lord is upon me:

He has anointed Me
to preach the Gospel to the poor;
to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptable year of The Lord." [Luke 4:18-19]

After reading, The Christ said: 'This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears'. These six items are essentially the same as those with which Gabriel introduced his statement, highlighted in red above. This is described on page: 'The Seventy Weeks of Years'. The year in which this occurred was 27ad, the year of a Jubilee, the 30th in fact.

The Jubilee year is 'Holy unto Israel', when every man returns to his possession and his family and Liberty is proclaimed at the sound of the trumpet, to all the people throughout all the land.

In these six points is the work of Christ, which laid the foundation for the fulfilment of Gabriel's prophesy of the Seventy Weeks. This work of Christ continued throughout the Acts period [Christ working with the Apostles: Mark 16:20] and would have ended at the next Jubilee, the 31st in 76ad, when: at this point of time the first 7 weeks, 49 years, of Daniel's prophesy would have ended, as shown below:

But as we know, this was not to be. God intervened by introducing this present Administration of his Grace in 69ad. It is very probable that this work of God's Grace will end after 1960 years in 2029ad at the phanerOsis of The Lord Jesus Christ, seven years before the 70th Jubilee in 2036ad. At this point, the first 7 weeks, or 49 years, will have been completed, and the remaining 63 weeks will commence.

3. These 490years apply firstly to the people, the Jews, but the people were condemned to Spiritual blindness and deafness being cut off from God in 62ad by the words: 'Unto these people ye shall say.....Hearing ye shall hear and not understand, and seeing ye shall see and not perceive.......for the heart of this people is waxed gross.....'[Acts 28:26-27]. This is the state of this people to-day, in 2007ad. In 2022ad [1960 years from 62ad.....see below], this condition will be reversed: 'God shall come with a recompense, He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped' [Isaiah 35:4-5]

Therefore we can see that the period of the Work of Christ which commenced in 27ad and was postponed in 62ad [after 35yrs.], to recommence in 2022ad, and conclude in 2036ad[after 14yrs.] is 49 years in length. The last 14 years completing Christ's foundational work re-establishing and gathering The whole House of the True Israel.

4. Now we must consider the statement 'upon thy Holy city'. In ad 69/70 the city and temple were destroyed by the Romans. There was no longer a city which Israel could call its own. This period had lasted from the time of Christ's proclamation[27ad], to the time of its destruction, 42years. There will come a time in the future in 2029ad, when Jerusalem will again be the exclusive city of Israel, then 7 years remain to the 71st Jubilee in 2036ad, again making 49 years in length. After the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, a new Temple, defined by the prophet Ezekiel will be built. It is only in this condition that The Law can be adhered to.

Christians know that this present period of God's Grace fills the gap between 69ad and that time in the future when God chooses to manifest their Christ given life. This present Administration of God's Grace will have ended and Israel's Kingdom will be re-established.

Jerusalem was sanctified when the Holy Spirit was, and will be, present. Christ Himself, being in the city, was identified, i.e. baptised, with the Holy Spirit at the time of His immersion in the River Jordan by John the Baptiser. The Kingdom church of Christ was identified with The Holy Spirit, i.e. baptised in Jerusalem at the time of Pentecost and afterwards. Jerusalem was named 'the Holy city' when those resurrected at the time of Christ's resurrection appeared to many:

Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, dismissed His Spirit.....and the graves were opened. And many bodies of the Saints which slept, arose and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the Holy City, and appeared unto many.

Thus we can revise our CHART to show:

the time when the 70weeks began and
the time gap occupied by this present period of The Administration of God's Grace,
the ministry of Jesus Christ and His apostles occupy the first seven weeks, two of which are future.
the start of the remaining 63 weeks is postponed, until Israel is again given Spiritual sight and hearing.

As is stated on the CHART, we believe that this date upon which Israel regains Spiritual sense is 2022ad.

Having established the date upon which the 70week period will begin, we must now give reason for the timing of 1). The seven weeks, 2). the three score and two weeks, and 3). the one week. Herein lie the major differences of the interpreters. Our understanding of the relationship between these three periods is detailed below. Here is the statement as translated in the KJV Bible:

In the God breathed words, the Hebrew clearly distinguishes between 'seven weeks' and 'sixtytwo weeks'. It does not say 'sixtynine weeks', which would be no problem in the Hebrew because there is a clearly defined word for 'nine'. Why have the seven weeks been stated separately from the sixtytwo weeks? Why do the 'seven weeks' as stated, precede the 'sixtytwo weeks'? What meaning is this separation intended to imply.

It has become our firm understanding that this separation of the 7 from the 62 implies that the 7weeks must be a preliminary period before the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem at the beginning of the sixty two weeks.

In the English KJV translation of this passage there is the phrase 'from the issuing of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah (the) prince, seven weeks and sixtytwo weeks'. The word 'unto' [Strong: 5704] translates a Hebrew word ydu[ YDU ], the meaning of which varies according to its context. A study of its application in other Hebrew phrases, leads us to believe that in this context it would mean 'even', as in the examples:

'Behold, even the moon---and it is not bright' [Job 25:5] or

'Is still the seed in the barn? Even the vine........ have not brought forth' [Hag 2:19]

So: 'from the issuing of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem even Messiah (the) prince, seven weeks and sixtytwo weeks'.

This implies that 'issuing of the word' is directly related to 'Messiah (the) Prince', he being the issuer. Should this be so, it will clarify not only this passage but also the following verse as we shall see.

The separation of the seven weeks from the three score and two weeks indicates the time at which the commandment goes forth. This occurs at the end of the seventh week. Since the seven weeks began at the time when Christ quoted Isaiah in the Nazareth synagogue, the year of the 30th Jubilee, the first seven weeks or 49 years will bring us to the next Jubilee, the 31st[71st]. The 'separation' of this first seven weeks is therefore intended to indicate that seven weeks[49 years] would pass before the commandment would go forth, which would therefore have been during the 31st Jubilee Year in 76ad. It was on this occasion that God intended that the resurrected Messiah, The Prince, would have given the command. These seven weeks can therefore be indicated by a parenthesis.

The first part of this verse should therefore read:

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem even by The Messiah the Prince, shall be [seven weeks, and] threescore and two weeks:

Now, we must consider the meaning of the word 'The Messiah'[heb:MASHACH] and also its qualifying phrase 'The Prince'[heb:NAGID]. Who is this individual?

The title of the one named 'The Messiah' or 'The Christ' simply means 'the one who is anointed'. The Greek word for this title is applied to The Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 10:38) and the Hebrew word applies to both The Lord Jesus Christ and to David, The King [1Chron 11:3] amongst others. We know from many references by the prophets that David, when resurrected in the Last Days, will again ascend the throne of Israel during that period. This period of The Last Days is active during Gabriel's prophesy of the 70weeks of years which we are considering. One other fact is clear however; The Christ is not present on earth during this period [Isaiah 66:1] but rules through His subject David. We have therefore to conclude that The commandment goes forth on the authority of The Christ, by King David the anointed one.

'The Prince' is the title given to David in Ezekiel 34:24, 37:25. It is also found as 'leader' in Isaiah 55:4. Although we have searched diligently throughout the Old Testament, the word 'Prince' [heb:NAGID] cannot be found to refer to The Lord Jesus Christ. We recognise that His title is: 'Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace', but the Hebrew word for the title 'Prince' in this phrase, does not have the same meaning. This evidence again points to the fact that Gabriel intended that David should be understood as 'The Prince'.

the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

Although the words of Nehemiah tell us that this previously occurred in the fifth century bc, it was not initiated by Prince David as it will be when Israel is gathered and returned to The Land in the future.

Gabriel continues to tell Daniel that The Anointed one, David will reign for 62weeks [434years] after his commandment to restore Jerusalem. He will then be 'cut off'. This Hebrew word indicates a violent death. It should be noted here that those resurrected to occupy the Land during this pre-millennium Kingdom have not been 'changed', their bodies only resurrected, awaiting their change at the presence of The Lord Jesus Christ at His coming, His parousia.[1Thess.ch.4] This action of 'the prince that shall come', is described as follows:

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 desolator."

The context of all this period is given by Gabriel to Daniel [Daniel chapter11]. This prince is referred to again in verse 22. This week of seven years is the last week of the 70weeks [490years]. At the end of this week there is 'a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation'. By the actions of the Archangel Michael it will end when 'thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the Book' The last half of this week, and its time, is described in Dan 12:11-12.

Therefore the seventy weeks of years make up the prophesy of Gabriel: [ 7 ] + 62 + 1]. They can be shown thus:

It remains now, only to relate these periods to the details of the CHART, as we have shown in the Scripture statements concerning the '70 weeks'. Previous Scripture research has determined that the 30th Jubilee occurred in the year 27ad. The 71st Jubilee will therefore occur in the year 2036ad. It is on this basis that the dating of each stage is noted.

1. The first seven weeks covers the time of The Christ's commission.

2. This first part of the 70 weeks of years [490yrs], 7weeks [49years], is broken into by God after 5 weeks have passed. He has introduced a period of time[1960 years] during which the Jews will have been Spiritually blinded.

3. The remaining two weeks of the first 7 weeks of The Christ's ministry is concerned with the enlightening, resurrecting and gathering of The Whole House of Israel.

4. When the 62weeks begin, following the completion of the first 7weeks, 'the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem' is made by the resurrected Prince David at the 71st Jubilee [2036ad].

5. At the end of the following 62weeks [434years] David is 'cut off' in 2470ad.

6. At the end of the 70th week is the Consummation....'that determined shall be poured upon the desolator' [2477ad].

In that year of 2477ad, The Christ Himself, now by His personal presence [gk: parousia], will return to Earth and establish His rule over mankind. Thus will have begun The Day of The Lord.

END

NOTE

The discerning student will ask: 'How can a believer again die when the Scripture says....It is given unto man once to die and after that the judgement'? This is the outcome of the life of mankind in general, not the outcome of the life of The Children of God, nor of those who live in Christ.

Further, the student might again say 'If either of the latter are raised in resurrection, they have eonian life and cannot die'. This reveals a lack of understanding regarding resurrection. When those who obey God are resurrected, they do not necessarily have eonian life. This is given by God when they are 'changed' [ICor 15:51-53], at the last trumpet. Lazarus was raised from the dead not having eonian life. Also the Apostle Paul suffered many deaths, as he said: 'in deaths oft', but his eonian life remained in potential only.

The Christ Himself was first raised in resurrection before being 'changed' by the gift of eonian life, as indicated by the statement: 'the napkin which was about His head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself', which tells us that it was first removed from His head to enable Him to breath. The other statement 'saw the linen clothes lying' indicates that His body had 'changed' passing through the linen clothes. Thus it is apparent that The Children of God receive resurrection unto life[gk: yuch ....Ezekiel 37:5-6] and await the 'change' which gives them Life [gk: zwh] by God. The Christians of God's present Administration of Grace[Ephesians 3:2] await the appearing [gk: fanerwsis] of Christ who is their Life[Col 3:4] in 2029ad

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