The 70 “Weeks” prophecy in Daniel has been a much-discussed and much misunderstood prophecy ever since Daniel wrote the words.  He was visited by the angel Gabriel who provided the details of this End Times prophecy.  Immediately after writing down the words, as instructed by Gabriel, Daniel was confused and didn’t understand the meaning of this 70-weeks prophecy.  As I mentioned in a prior post, Gabriel told him not to ask because those words were “sealed” until a later time and were not for him to know.

But, prior to being given this 70 Weeks prophecy, we were given the impression that Daniel would fully understand this vision, as cited below:

Dan. 8:16-17–“And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.  ¹⁷ So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.”

Already, the English translation fails to convey exactly what the voice told Gabriel to do.  The word “understand” appears in both verses 16 and 17, so the reader is left with the impression that Gabriel’s job was to make sure that Daniel understood the words he’s about to hear.  As we know, Daniel did NOT understand the vision.  It remained SEALED until a later time.  Did Gabriel fail in his duty to “make the man understand the vision”, as written in verse 16 above?

No, not at all.  Gabriel did precisely what he was told to do, but that task cannot be seen in the modern English Bible.  Here’s what was told to Daniel in Hebrew, starting mid-verse: “…auli u-iqra u-iamr gbrial ebn l-elz ath-e-mrae”, literally meaning: “…Ulai and-he-is-calling and-he-is-saying Gabriel explain-you! to-this-one the-sight.” As you can see, in verse 16, Gabriel was not responsible for making sure Daniel “understood” this prophecy. To the contrary, he was only responsible to EXPLAIN it to him.  This clears up the ambiguity of verse 16.  What about verse 17?  Didn’t this also tell us that Daniel will “understand” what he was about to be told?

Again, no–that’s not what this verse says, and we don’t need to dissect it into its Hebrew origin to figure it out.  Our English Bibles do that perfectly well if we allow the meaning to be understood as written.

In verse 17, the angel did not tell Daniel to understand the vision itself.  He told him to understand the TIME FRAME in which this vision will take place.  He said, paraphrasing, “Understand, this vision is for the END TIMES .”  Gabriel was not required to help Daniel understand the vision.  He was only required to explain it to him and make sure he knew it was for a far-off future date.  With this in mind, Daniel records the 70-weeks prophecy, starting in chapter 9.

Dan. 9:24–“ 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.”

Wow!  This one verse is like a Cliff Notes version of the entire Bible!  What does he mean by 70 weeks?  What is the holy city?  And isn’t “finish the transgression, end of sins, reconciliation for iniquity and everlasting righteousness” all the things that Yahshua will do when he’s anointed the “Most Holy”?  This is a lot to digest.  How can it possibly be describing all of these events to occur in just 70 weeks?

It isn’t.  In this prophecy, a “week” is actually identifying a “week” of years.  Each “week” would be equal to 7 years.  So, we can correctly read this passage to mean that after a certain 70 “weeks”, or 490 years, the Most Holy [Yahshua] will finally sit on his throne.  And we know that his throne will be in the Temple in Jerusalem, so that pinpoints the “holy city”.  When are these “70 weeks”?

Dan. 9:25–“ 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.”

Okay, let’s do the math.  If a “week” is actually 7 years, then v. 25 has identified 49 years and threescore and two “weeks”, or another 434 years.  49 + 434 = 483 years [7 + 62 “weeks” = 69 “weeks”].  What happened to the 70th week which would have brought this vision to year 490?  We’re told what happens in v. 26.

Dan. 9:26–“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.”

In other words, after that already-identified 62 weeks [a part of the 7 + 62 formula above], the Messiah will be cut off!  Daniel did not know what moment this was referring to, but WE do.  In order for the Messiah to be “cut off”, he would have already been here!  So, the first 69 “weeks” of this 70-weeks prophecy are no longer prophecy.  They’re history.  Yahshua was here on earth and he has already died for our sins.  After he was resurrected from the dead, he returned to his father is heaven, effectively “cutting him off” from us.  When Daniel wrote this prophecy, none of these events had happened yet.

But there’s something more in verse 26 that reinforces this fact with even greater clarity.  After the Messiah is cut off, what happens next?  The prince that shall come and destroy the city [Jerusalem] AND the sanctuary [Temple] will bring a flood, war and desolations!  The expression “prince that shall come” is an obvious name for the anti-messiah who will take his fraudulent rule in the Temple in Jerusalem.  He is a different person than the Messiah the Prince, mentioned in the previous verse.  The prince that will come is NOT the Messiah.  It is he who will bring a flood, war and destruction to Jerusalem, not Yahshua.  The Messiah is cut off PRIOR to the arrival of the “prince that shall come”.

If you’re confused as to how a description of the anti-messiah can be incorporated into a 70-weeks prophecy, knowing full well that THAT event is to occur THOUSANDS of years after Yahshua’s first appearance on earth, keep in mind one thing.  In an earlier post, I explained a literary device that is commonly used tool in Hebrew writings where the author may be discussing one particular moment in time, then suddenly take the reader to a completely different time, then–just to add to the confusion–bring the reader BACK to the original moment.  The only way that the reader can “see” any such gap is to have an full understanding of all of scripture.  You can read that prior post here, if you wish:

The same thing that happened in Matt. 24 occurs here, in Daniel 9.  There is a HUGE gap of time that exists between verses 26 and 27.  THAT gap of time is over 2,000 years.  How do we know this?  Let’s summarize what Daniel has written thus far.

The first 69 weeks identified the time on earth that was completed when the Messiah was cut off.  This happened in the 1st century A.D.  Then, another person will arrive at some later date who will bring war and destruction.  Clearly, this is the anti-messiah.  THEN, Yahshua reappears on the world stage, and this moment is described in verse 27.

Dan. 9:27–“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (7 years): 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.”

The “he” that Daniel is referring to in verse 27 is NOT the same “prince that shall come” in verse 26.  They are two totally different people.  The “he” of verse 27 is the same “Messiah the Prince” from verse 25.  Verse 26 pertains to the anti-messiah while verse 27 brings us back to the actual Messiah, himself from verse 25.  This is absolutely clear, by the description of what each of these individuals do in each verse.  We already have seen that the anti-messiah brings destruction, but what does “he” bring in verse 27?

He arrives in the 70TH WEEK and in the MIDST of it, or after just 3 1/2 years, he CONFIRMS THE COVENANT!  Only Yahshua can do this.  This is the secret of the missing 70th week.  That particular week [7 years] is a period of time in which Yahshua returns to earth, defeats the anti-messiah, and causes the abominations that make desolate to cease.

And, to reinforce another point made in an earlier post, Yahshua’s arrival is in the midst of the final 7 years.  Therefore, that period of time will be cut short, and this is another example which proves what Mark wrote was true:

Mark 13:20–“And except that Yahweh had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.”  This prophecy and Daniel’s prophecy are describing the exact same moment in time.

Daniel’s 70-weeks prophecy was written for us today.  But the reason most people can’t see it is because they try to squeeze all 70 years into a concurrent time frame.  They don’t understand that 69 of the weeks in his vision are over.  They’re history and they ended around 31 A.D.  Nor do they understand how “gaps” of time, sometimes very large gaps, can exist in scripture.  So, even though this prophecy is for our time, the only part of it that matters is the still-future 70th week, or those final 7 years.  Those last 7 years will involve our Messiah returning to us after just 3 1/2 years have been completed.  Not only has he died to forgive all of our sins, his upcoming arrival will prevent mankind from wiping himself off the face of the earth.

This is another example of what we can learn from scripture if we just allow it to speak for itself instead of allowing someone else to do the talking.