The Book of Daniel, as part of the Old Testament, was translated into Greek prior to 270 B.C., almost three centuries before Christ was born. This is a well-established fact of secular history. Daniel was a prophet in the sixth century before Christ, yet by the Spirit of Yahweh, he foretold exactly the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem and about the Tribulation period of seven years that is soon to unfold on this earth.
When Alexander the Great conquered the Babylonian Empire, he promoted Greek for his world. The Jews had to learn Greek, and thus Hebrew fell into disuse, except for their religious ceremonies. This is similar to the Catholic church using Latin in their ceremonies, but it is not used elsewhere.
This required that the Old Testament, or the Jewish Scriptures, be translated into Greek, known as the Septuagint. The Book of Daniel was in existence before Jesus was born and was well-known by the Jews.
Daniel had been taken into captivity and was reading in the book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:9-12) about the seventy years of servitude; and he began to pray for his people.
The Angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel and gave him a four-verse prophecy. Daniel 9:24-27. This prophecy involved 69 weeks, then an interval, and then a final 70th week.
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 Place. Daniel 9:24
The word ‘week’ in Hebrew is ‘Shabuim’ meaning ‘sevens’. It is strongly suggestive of the idea “heptad” or a series or combination of seven.
Israel was to allow her land to rest every seventh year, as a “sabbath for the land”. They failed to obey this law and God sent them into captivity under the Babylonians.
The focus of this passage is upon “thy people and upon thy holy city,” that is, upon Israel and Jerusalem.
Daniel 9:25 is about the first 69 weeks.
“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.”
This is a mathematical prophecy. The Jewish and Babylonian calendars used a 360-day year. 69 weeks of 360-day years totals 173,880 days. In effect, Gabriel told Daniel that the interval between the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem until the presentation of the Messiah as King would be 173,880 days.
The “Messiah the Prince” in the King James translation is actually the Meshiach Nagid, or ‘The Messiah the King’. ‘Nagid’ is first used about King Saul.
The commandment to restore and build Jerusalem was given by Artaxerxes Longimanus on March 14, 445 B.C.
During the ministry of Jesus Christ there were several occasions in which the people attempted to promote Him as king, but He carefully avoided it, saying, “Mine hour is not yet come”.
The Triumphal Entry:
As Daniel prophesied, Jesus Christ rode into the city of Jerusalem riding on a donkey exactly 173,880 days from the giving of the command to rebuild Jerusalem, deliberately fulfilling a prophecy by Zechariah that the Messiah would present Himself as king in just that way:
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” Zechariah 9:9
The Pharisees felt that the overzealous crowd was blaspheming in proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah the King. However, Jesus endorsed it! “I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” Luke 19:40
This is the only occasion that Jesus presented Himself as King. It occurred on April 6, 32 A.D.
When we examine the period between March 14, 445 B.C. and April 6, 32 A.D., and correct for leap years, we discover that it is 173,880 days exactly, to the very day!
There is a gap between the 69th week (verse 25) and the 70th week (verse 27): “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.” Daniel 9:26
These events include the Messiah being killed and the city and sanctuary being destroyed. As Jesus approached the city on the donkey, He also predicted the destruction of Jerusalem:
“For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” Luke 19:43-44
The Messiah was executed at the Crucifixion…”but not for Himself.”
The city and the sanctuary were destroyed 38 years later when the Roman legions under Titus Vespasian leveled the city of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, precisely as Daniel and Jesus had predicted. In fact, it appears that Jesus held the Jews accountable to know this astonishing prophecy in Daniel 9 with these words; “Because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.”
There is a remaining seven-year period to be fulfilled. The Book of Revelation, Chapters 6 through 19, describes this climactic period.
The interval between the 69th and 70th week continues, but from the Signs of the Times given by Jesus and the Apostles, we are fast approaching the beginning of the Seventieth Week of Daniel’s prophecy! The Tribulation that is to try the faith and endurance of the whole earth.
Seventieth Week:
“And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” Daniel 9:27
Daniel says there will appear a man who makes a covenant or peace treaty with Israel for seven years, and then he will break the covenant in the middle or after 3 1/2 years, by setting up an image of himself in the newly rebuilt temple, and demanding that the world worship him as God. This image is the Abomination of Desolation, that Jesus spoke about to His disciples.
“Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)..Matthew 24:15 (let the reader understand means that we need to know what the Bible says about this image and this is found in Daniel and the book of Revelation 13:14-15.
“And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.”
Paul said in I Thessalonians 5:3, “While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”
Israel is the focal point of the world leaders. Everyone is calling for a Peace Treaty. Everyone wants the Arabs and the Jews to get along with one another. But the problem goes deeper than just tolerance of each other’s beliefs. Both Jews and Arabs want total control of the land of Israel and especially of the City of Jerusalem. They both believe it belongs to them through their father Abraham. The Jews through Isaac and the Arabs through Ishmael.
Only Jesus Christ as the coming Prince of Peace and King of kings will be able to establish lasting peace in Jerusalem. Until Christ’s Millennial Reign of 1000 years as Lord and King of all nations, the devil has attempted world rulership through various evil men, and he will successfully do so once again in the very near future, via the Antichrist.
Jesus teaches us that when we see all these things, then we know that His Second Coming is near. His covenant with Abraham will be fulfilled when He returns on Mt. Moriah at the end of Daniel’s Seventieth Week or at the end of the Great Tribulation. Israel will once again be a Nation where the Law of the Lord will go forth from Jerusalem and all nations of the earth shall come to Israel to worship their King, Jesus Christ.
Paul teaches us that the Gentile believers in Christ will not suffer this wrath or destruction that is coming on this world full of idolatry and rebellion. This is known as the Rapture of the church. The angels that were with Jesus when He ascended into the clouds to His Father in Acts 1:11, said that Jesus would return in like manner. The believers in Jesus are looking for His coming in the clouds to snatch them out of this world before the wrath of God is poured out onto the kingdom of the Antichrist. (I Thessalonians 4:17.)
Jesus has given us His Word, the Bible, to warn us of what is coming to this world. We are seeing the Scriptures being fulfilled before our eyes daily in the news. It is our responsibility to cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles our spiritual man, so that we may be able to hear His voice and be able to stand before Him without shame.
II Corinthians 7:1, “Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.”
Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
Father forgive us all of our sins and allow your will and kingdom to come into our hearts as it is in heaven. In Jesus Name. Amen.