John the Revelator saw the Last Seven Years of Daniel's Seventy Weeks of Years - Part 2

John the Revelator saw the Last Seven Years of Daniel's Seventy Weeks of Years - Part 2
By Joseph Chambers

As Israel was completing these 70 years of judgment, Daniel receives this picture of the future. They were finishing a 70-year period. The Holy Spirit gave Daniel a 7 X 70 year view to bring Israel's history (in advance) to the end of sin and the beginning of everlasting righteousness for His chosen people. The first verse places the entire 70 years in a panoramic view. This verse shows no mention of a period between the 69th week and the 70th week. Israel would be cut off and there is no Biblical length stated of this indefinite period we know as the Church Dispensation.

Notice the promises contained in these verses as stated in part one:

- To finish the transgression
- To make an end of sin
- To make reconciliation for iniquity
- To bring in everlasting righteousness
- To seal up (finish) the vision and prophecy
- To anoint the most Holy

There is no question but that this shows God's final plan for His stubborn chosen family. The business of a redemptive sacrifice was Jewish as well as the final act of anointing Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In spite of Israel's rocky history and equally rocky future (as seen by Daniel) God was not abandoning His people. He would accomplish His purpose in them and bless the world with the fruit of their loins. Just as they provided the skin-tent for the first tabernacle and built the elaborate temple for His shekinah in Jerusalem, so Mary, a Jewish maiden, would provide a flesh body for the Eternal "Word." Nothing can destroy God's final plan.

The First Sixty-Nine Weeks of Years

The first period is divided by adding 7 weeks of years to 62 weeks of years or 62 and 7 X 7. This identifies the first period of 483 years. The period will begin with a decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Such a decree was made at the request of Nehemiah, who was the cupbearer of King Artaxerxes. The request is stated as following, "Then the king said unto me, for what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchers, that I may build it. 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. 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; 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" (Nehemiah 2:4-8).

Earlier decrees were made. They were to build the temple, but not the walls of the city Jerusalem. The length of a year as calculated by the Jews was 360 days. That made the actual period between the decree and the end of 69 weeks of years a total of 173,880 days. History states that the decree of Artaxerxes was made on March 14, 445 B.C.

Zechariah prophesied of a certain sign that would fix the exact occasion that the 69 X 7 years would be finished. He declared, "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 ***, and upon a colt the foal of an ***." (Zechariah 9:9)

Jesus would be declared the King of the Jews. That event occurred on Nisan the 10th, four days before He was crucified. Chuck Missler stated, "On several occasions in the New Testament when they attempted to take Jesus as a king, He invariably declined, 'Mine hour is not yet come.' Then one day He arranged it." (Chuck Missler, The Seventy Weeks of Daniel, p.5.) That very day thousands of His followers cried, "Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest." (Luke 19:38) 173,880 days were fulfilled. The prophecy was exact. Sixty-nine weeks of years were completed. One 7 weeks of years was yet future.

Please notice one important fact that would accompany this entire spectacular fulfillment. The rebuilding of these walls would be accomplished, but it would not be easy. Troublesome times would be the lot of those given this task. History certainly proves the correctness of that revelation by Daniel. Nehemiah's account of the period gives an excellent picture.

Two Messiahs, the True And The False

The third verse in the revelation by the Holy Spirit documents the struggle that would follow the crucifixion of the true Messiah. After the 69 (62+7) weeks of years were finished, the Messiah would be cut-off (crucified). Notice, this occurred not on the exact day, but after the period so designed. He was declared the king on the designated day, but crucified (cut-off) four days later. God's Word cannot be altered, not even a part of a letter. His death was not an act for Himself, but a sacrificial act on behalf of others. Daniel probably did not understand this concept of a vicarious death by the Messiah. That idea was foreign to the Jewish mind and still is to this day. The Holy Spirit spoke the perfect words to convey the truth. Such Messianic revelations being spoken in this totally Jewish book only serve to show its perfection. They were looking for a king to conquer and establish a kingdom, but God sent His Son to die or to be "cut off."

A very interesting part of this verse is the picture of the future Antichrist or Anti-Messiah. The Romans who came to Jerusalem approximately 38 years after the crucifixion were identified as the people of the "Prince that should come." Without doubt this vast Roman Empire, which ruled the world, would at some future date produce the anti-Messiah. He is also called the Assyrian in numerous locations. One of the next events to watch for is the unity that will develop between the European super-state and the country of Iraq. This unity would be one of the most incredible moves toward the future formation of a true Roman Empire. The Roman Army, as it existed in 70 A.D., ravaged the City of Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. As Jesus had told His disciples, "not one stone was left upon another." This verse indicates that the destruction would last right down until the end. The Jewish people have endured a perpetual flood of sorrow for over 19 hundred years. A true Christian should weep over these sorrows and pray for the great day of peace to come.