006 The Seventy Weeks of Years of Daniel

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Posted on 2025-08-17 by Admin

The End Times According to the Bible
006 The Seventy Weeks of Years of Daniel

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All New Testament verses quoted in this article are from the English Majority Text Version, and Old Testament verses are from the King James Version, unless otherwise noted.

We are familiar with the term ″week,″ which is used as a unit for measuring time. A week consists of seven days, from the First Day to the Seventh Day (Sunday to Saturday in the English Calendar). The Seventh Day is the day that God blessed, set apart as holy, and called the Sabbath, meaning a day of rest from labor (Sabbath means rest).

We can understand a ″week″ as ″a cycle of God’s holy days,″ that is, after six days there is one day designated as God’s holy day. In the history of the world, across all ancient and modern cultures, there has never been any document that explains the origin of a seven-day week except the Bible. Likewise, there is no document anywhere in the world, outside the Bible, that explains a day as consisting of an evening and a morning, meaning the period from the absence of light to the presence of light. This is because the time of a day created by God began from the state of no light to the emergence of light.

Genesis 1:1-5

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Night begins immediately after sunset, marking the start of a new day. Daytime begins immediately after sunrise. A day has 24 hours, consisting of a night and a day period.

We are familiar with the terms ″decade,″ used to count a period of ten years; ″century,″ used to count a period of one hundred years; and ″millennium,″ used to count a period of one thousand years. But the Israelites also had a term called a ″week of years″ to count a period of seven years, meaning each ″week of years″ consisted of seven years.

The main reason is likely the law of the Sabbath year, which gave the Israelites the term ″week of years.″ According to the Bible, after every six years of planting and cultivation, the Israelites had to let the land rest in the seventh year. Leviticus 25:1-7 records the law of the Sabbath year as follows:

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD.

3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;

4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

5 That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.

6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,

7 And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

In the first year of the reign of Darius (539 BCE) over the Babylonian Empire, Daniel read the book of the Prophet Jeremiah and understood that the period God had decreed for the punishment of the Israelites in exile, seventy years, was nearly complete. He then fasted, humbled himself, confessed on behalf of the people of Israel, and earnestly pleaded with God to forgive and restore the Israelites. The chief angel Gabriel appeared and spoke to him as follows:

Daniel 9:24-27

24 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.

From the four Bible verses above, biblical scholars coined the term ″Seventy Weeks of Years of Daniel.″ The seventy weeks of years consist of 490 years. Before exploring the meaning of these prophecies, we need to understand the significance of the numbers seven and ten as used in the Bible.

In the Bible, the number seven symbolizes spiritual completeness; that is:

1. Completeness in the being and nature of God.

2. Completeness in the moral quality of God’s commandments and laws.

3. Completeness in the fellowship between humanity and God.

4. Completeness in God’s love for humanity.

5. Completeness in God’s work of redeeming humanity.

6. Completeness in the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of the God.

7. Completeness of the God’s Eternal Kingdom.

Meanwhile, the number ten symbolizes completeness in work, in action, completeness in quantity, and the fulfillment of a task. The term ″seventy times seven″ means that what is required to be complete (7) will be carried out to completion (10) and reach the intended fullness (7). The multiplication (7 × 10 × 7) represents ultimate development.

When the Apostle Peter asked the Lord Jesus, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” He answered, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy-seven times″ (Matthew 18:21-22).

Peter thought that forgiving up to seven times would make his forgiveness complete. However, the Lord was not only referring to the completeness of the heart in forgiving (7) but emphasized that the action of forgiveness must be complete (10) in order for forgiveness itself to be fully complete (7).

Thus, seventy weeks of years is the period the God had set for Israel and Jerusalem so that the complete works (7) He had ordained for them and for the city would be fully accomplished (10), resulting in total fulfillment (7).

Below are the meanings of the four Bible verses mentioned above.

Daniel 9:24

Each ″week of years″ has seven years, so seventy weeks of years equals 490 years. This is the period the God has set for Israel and Jerusalem so that what is complete that He has ordained for them will be fully accomplished, and so that Israel and Jerusalem may be made complete before Him. Within this 490-year period, the following complete works must be accomplished:

1. To bring an end to the violations of the God’s commandments. The term ″sin″ in the Bible is used to describe transgression against the God’s law: ″Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness″ (1 John 3:4). The God will repeatedly execute corrective measures upon Israel to reduce their transgressions of His law and ultimately bring an end to their lawlessness when they receive His salvation.

2. To bring an end to sin. This means executing judgment upon sin. Within the 490-year period that the God had appointed for Israel and the city of Jerusalem, there would come a time when the God would execute judgment for the sins of humanity on His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This moment occurs at the end of the 69th week of years, on the Passover of the year 27. If Israel accepts the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ, their sins will be brought to an end.

3. To make reconciliation for iniquity. This refers to the forgiveness of sins and the cleansing of those who truly repent and believe in the God’s salvation. This event is not limited to Israel alone but extends to anyone from any nation who genuinely repents and trusts in the God’s salvation. However, there will be a specific time when the whole nation of Israel will be redeemed.

4. To bring in everlasting righteousness. This means that those who are saved and keep the God’s law are declared righteous forever through the presence of God the Holy Spirit within them. At the same time, everlasting righteousness is brought into the holy city of Jerusalem, into the kingdom of Israel, and into the Kingdom of the God.

5. To bring visions and prophecies to an end. This means that visions and prophecies are fully fulfilled, and afterward, there is no longer a need for visions and prophecies.

6. To anoint the Most Holy. This refers to:

- The event in which God’s holy spirit is poured without limit into the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, since the body of the Lord Jesus Christ is likened to the Temple of God.

“Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.” (Luke 4:1)

“Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking about the temple of His body.″ (John 2:19-21)

- The holy spirit of God is poured into the Most Holy Place (the spirit) within the body of those who belong to the Lord, also called baptism with holy spirit.

“For John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the holy spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:5)

- The Temple of God in Jerusalem will be rebuilt in the last days. The Most Holy Place of the Temple will be consecrated as an Anointed Place, set apart for God.

Daniel 9:25

The Bible records four decrees concerning the city of Jerusalem after the Israelites completed their seventy-year exile in Babylon:

1. The decree of King Cyrus of the Persian Empire. In the first year of Cyrus’ reign over Babylon, which was 536 BCE, he issued a decree allowing the Israelites to return and rebuild the Temple of God in Jerusalem. This decree is recorded in Ezra 1:1-4 as follows:

1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.

4 And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.

2. The decree of King Darius I. This decree was issued in 520 BCE to encourage the completion of the construction of the Temple of God as soon as possible, and it is recorded in Ezra 6:3-12 as follows:

3 In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits;

4 With three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king’s house:

5 And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to his place, and place them in the house of God.

6 Now therefore, Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shetharboznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, which are beyond the river, be ye far from thence:

7 Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in his place.

8 Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered.

9 And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests which are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail:

10 That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.

11 Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this.

12 And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there destroy all kings and people, that shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with speed.

3. The decree of King Artaxerxes. This decree was issued in early spring of 457 BCE, granting Ezra full authority to establish governance in Jerusalem according to the laws of God, and it is recorded in Ezra 7:11-26 as follows:

11 Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel.

12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time.

13 I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.

14 Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to enquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand;

15 And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,

16 And all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem:

17 That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.

18 And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do after the will of your God.

19 The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, those deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem.

20 And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king’s treasure house.

21 And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,

22 Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.

23 Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?

24 Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them.

25 And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.

26 And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

4. The decree of King Artaxerxes. This decree was issued in 444 BCE, granting Nehemiah permission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and it is recorded in the book of Nehemiah 2:1-8 as follows:

1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.

2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,

3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?

4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.

6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;

8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

When we examine the content of the four decrees above and compare them with Daniel 9:24, we see that:

Only the third decree of King Artaxerxes, issued in 457 BCE, is related to the restoration and rebuilding of Jerusalem. In this decree, the king allowed Ezra to establish governance in Jerusalem: ″set magistrates and judges,″ meaning to set up officials to govern and adjudicate; at the same time, these officials were to govern Jerusalem according to the law of God.
The first and second decrees only pertained to rebuilding the Temple of God and did not mention the reconstruction of Jerusalem itself.
The fourth decree concerned only the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem at Nehemiah’s request and had nothing to do with reestablishing governance in Jerusalem, which Ezra had already accomplished 13 years earlier.

Thus, the third decree of King Artaxerxes, issued to Ezra in early spring of 457 BCE, is precisely the decree that had been prophesied 82 years earlier and recorded in Daniel 9:25, concerning the restoration of governance in Jerusalem. From the issuance of this decree to the coming of ″the Messiah the Prince,″ there are seven weeks of years plus sixty-two weeks of years.

The Messiah, the Prince, refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. Seven weeks of years plus sixty-two weeks of years equals sixty-nine weeks of years, which is 483 years. From 457 BCE to 27 CE is exactly 483 years. (Calculate 457 + 27 = 484, then subtract 1 because there is no year 0 between 1 BCE and 1 CE.)

The Lord Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem as a king in early spring of the year 27, exactly 483 years after King Artaxerxes issued the decree. This simultaneously fulfilled the prophecy that the angel Gabriel had conveyed to Daniel 565 years earlier, as well as the prophecy recorded by the Prophet Zechariah around 520 years earlier.

“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.” (Daniel 9:25)

“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)

Matthew 21:1-11

1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethsphage, towards the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,

2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied up, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me.

3 And if anyone asks you anything, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he sends them.”

4 Now all this took place so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, humble, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”

6 So the disciples went, and did just as Jesus ordered them.

7 They brought the donkey and the colt, and they laid their clothes on them, and they set Him on them.

8 And a very large crowd spread their clothes on the road; but others were cutting down branches from the trees and were spreading them on the road.

9 Then the crowds who went before, and those following were crying out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!”

10 And when He entered into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”

11 And the crowds were saying, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

In the year 27, the Lord Jesus Christ entered the city of Jerusalem as a king on the 10th day of Nisan (the first month), which fell on the Sabbath of that week, and was then put to death on Wednesday, the 14th day of Nisan, thus fulfilling the prophecy that He is ″the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.″

When we compare the prophecy of John the Baptist with God’s command concerning the lamb of the Passover, we can clearly see that the death of the Passover lamb was a foreshadowing of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ to take away the sins of mankind. At the same time, it confirmed that the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the Savior:

“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

Exodus 12:1-14

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:

4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.

5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.

10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.

11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover.

12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.

13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.

The time frame of 490 years appointed by the God for the people of Israel was divided into three periods: the period of ″seven weeks of years,″ the period of ″sixty-two weeks of years,″ and the period of ″the final week of years.″

The period of ″seven weeks of years,″ that is, 49 years, was the time when the people of Israel were self-governing, from 457 BCE to 408 BCE. During this period, the people of Israel established their own government and ruled according to the law of God: ″And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.″ (Ezra 7:25)
The period of ″sixty-two weeks of years,″ that is 434 years, was the time when the people of Israel were ruled by the officials and laws of the empires of Persia, Greece, and Rome, from 408 BCE to 27.
The period of ″the final week of years″ is the seven years of the End Time, also called the Great Tribulation. Between the period of ″sixty-two weeks of years″ and the period of ″the final week of years,″ there is an interval of about 2,000 years, which is the time when the God established and built His Church.

History and the Bible have shown us that two phases in the prophecy given by the angel Gabriel to Daniel were fulfilled with precision! It will not be long before the present generation of mankind will witness the precise fulfillment of the phase of the “final week of years!”

Daniel 9:26

It is also after the period when Jerusalem was ruled by the law of the Gentiles for 434 years that the Anointed One, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, would be cut off. Just a few days after entering Jerusalem in the capacity of a king, the Lord Jesus Christ was handed over by the people of Israel to the Romans, who crucified Him on the cross.

After the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, nothing happened to the people of Israel until the people of the coming king, that is, the people of the Antichrist, the Romans (the Italians of today), destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple of God in the year 70. The destruction of the Temple (which will be rebuilt in Jerusalem) will occur again during the Great Tribulation. The image “with a flood” symbolizes the event in which Jerusalem will be surrounded and attacked by the forces of the Antichrist in the last days. The city of Jerusalem and the land of Israel will be left desolate until the war is ended, for the God will bring the people of Israel into the wilderness for refuge (Revelation 12:6).

Daniel 9:27

The word “he” in this verse refers to the ″the prince that shall come″ of the world, the Antichrist. After rising to power in the United Nations, the Antichrist will reaffirm a covenant with Israel and the nations of the Middle East. Very likely, this will be the covenant established by the United Nations for the people of Israel and the Islamic nations of the Middle East, following the great war that will take place in the Middle East in the coming days, as prophesied in Psalm 83. We will go into the details of this prophecy in the article ″The Middle East War According to Psalm 83.″

However, after three and a half years of rule, when his power has become firmly established, the Antichrist will march his armies to attack Israel and capture Jerusalem. The Antichrist will enter into the Temple of God, proclaim himself to be the God, compel the people of Israel to worship him, and he will put an end to all sacrifices offered in the Temple of God.

The ″abominations″ refer to the military forces under the Antichrist that will devastate the city of Jerusalem, leaving it desolate until the end of the End Times, at which point the Lord Jesus Christ will return to earth and destroy the Antichrist and all ruling powers of the world.

″Until the consummation″ tells us this: everything in the world lies within the foreknowledge and permission of the God. He will bring to fulfillment His purpose and plan for mankind.

The Gap Between the 69th and 70th Weeks

Daniel 9:26 concludes the 69th week, and Daniel 9:27 begins the 70th week. However, there is a long gap of nearly 2,000 years between these two weeks. The 69th week ended in the year 27 with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. The 70th week will begin when the Antichrist reaffirms a covenant between Israel and the Islamic nations in the Middle East. The gap between the 69th and 70th weeks is known as the Church Age. Because the people of Israel rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, the God has been silent toward Israel, and He has used this nearly 2,000-year period to form and develop His Church.

The Church is a collective of those who genuinely repent of their sins, believe in the salvation of the God given to humanity through the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and wholeheartedly live according to God’s Word, the Bible. The Church is not the Catholic Church. The Church is also not any Protestant denomination. All religious organizations are established by humans according to their own will, worshiping God according to their own ways, not according to the truth of the Bible. Every one of them teaches things contrary to the Bible. The following words of God can be applied to these ″so-called churches″:

“Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.” (Isaiah 29:13)

The Church includes all nations, including Israel. If you truly repent of your sins, believe in the salvation of the God given to humanity through the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and wholeheartedly live according to God’s Word, the Bible, then you are naturally part of the Church. When you gather with fellow believers in a place, that is the gathering of the local Church. The gathering of those religious organizations that follow their own rules and rituals, which contradict the teachings of the Bible, especially the abolishment of God’s holy Sabbath or the unauthorized shift of the Sabbath to Sunday, are not gatherings of the Church according to God’s command.

When the number of non-Israelites in the Church reaches its fullness, the Lord Jesus Christ will come in the air to take the Church out of the world and begin the judgment over the entire world, especially upon the people of Israel. This period is called the End Times or the Great Tribulation, and its detailed progression is prophesied in the book of Revelation. During this time, the people of Israel will recognize that the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed God, and they will be fully restored to their position as God’s holy people.

Looking to the Past to Understand the Future

Through the prophecies in the book of Daniel regarding the rise and fall of empires connected to the people of Israel and the Church of God over the span of nearly 2,600 years, we can clearly see that the Bible truly is the Word of God, and the prophecies in the Bible will surely be completely fulfilled. Therefore, to know the signs of the End Times and what will happen during that period, we simply need to read the Bible and compare it with the current world events.

Apart from the Bible, there is no prophecy about the end times, or the future world, that has existed for long and is based on historical events that will take place. Because of this, when historical events occur exactly as prophesied in the Bible, we can be confident that the remaining one-fifth of these prophecies, concerning the end times and the world after the end times, will certainly be fulfilled.

The Call

If you believe the prophecies in the Bible, then you need to believe in the One who spoke those prophecies, that is, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. By believing and following what the Lord Jesus Christ has taught, as recorded in the Bible, you will experience the power of God manifested in your body, in your heart, and in your life; you will be resurrected and live forever in the Eternal Kingdom of the God.

The Lord Jesus Christ said:

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

“I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” (John 11:25)

We invite you to come to the redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ at the very moment you read or hear these words. You should say to the God:

“Dear God the Father, I know I am a sinner. I repent of my sins. I accept the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ rose again to give me resurrection and eternal life. Please accept me into Your kingdom. Amen!”

″Amen″ means “so be it.”

We pray that the Almighty God will keep you in His grace, help you stand firm in faith, and grow more in the knowledge of the Lord until the day you enter into eternity with Him. Amen!

May the Holy Spirit guide us into all the truths of God’s Word (John 16:13). May the Word of God sanctify us (John 17:17). May the Faithful *God of Peace Himself sanctify our spirit, soul, and body entirely, without blame (1 Thessalonians 5:23), at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Beloved Savior. Amen!

Timothy Christian Huynh
Priscilla Christian Huynh
04/13/2013

Note:

About Using “*God”, “the God” and “holy spirit”

Wherever the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts of the Bible use a definite article with a noun to denote GOD, we translate it into English as *God or “the God” to refer to God the Father. We understand that “God,” without a definite article, was used as a collective noun for all and any of the three Persons of the Godhead. And “God,” with a definite article, was used to refer to God the Father.

In the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, the term “holy spirit” (πνευματι αγιω) without the definite article “the” (το) is used to denote the power of God, which is given by God the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit” (το πνευματι το αγιω) is God, and “holy spirit” (πνευματι αγιω) is the power that comes from God.

Preaching from the Bible

https://preachingfromthebible.net

006 The Seventy Weeks of Years of Daniel

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