Welcome back! I hope you are enjoying your day so far. If you are joining us for the first time, welcome. We are looking at Bible prophecy, specifically what are to be end times events. Today our focus takes us to the book of Daniel, chapter 9. We will look at the 70th week from our prophecy given to Daniel in Chapter 9, verses 24 to 27.
Let’s look at our discussion passages again.
Daniel 9:24-27, “24 “Seventy weeks[a] are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.[b] 25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks.
Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again[c] with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its[d] end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.
27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week,[e] and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
Picking up where we left off.
The last time we were together, we did some math problems. Mainly, we looked at three numbers from the above text. Do you remember what they are?
- 70
- 7
- 62
We went into great detail about what each of those numbers represents. But, in our study of the passages, we determined that there was one week or 7 years unaccounted for. Today, we are looking into the 70th week of Daniel, or as we know it from our study, the last 7 years or the last week of the prophecy.
Many biblical scholars today feel the 69 of the 70 weeks have already been fulfilled. Scholars believe the final week, the 70th week, is yet to come and involves modern-day Israel.
There are seven years left, or one week of 7 left. Recall the word ‘weeks’ in Hebrew refers to a unit of seven, or a heptad, with its meaning determined by the context.
If we look at the passage, we see that God tells Daniel there will be 70 weeks, seven, and then 62 weeks. Add them together, and we get 69. So, where or what will happen in the last week?
What does the Bible say?
Verse 27 gives us a clue. Let’s refresh.
“27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week,[e] and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
We see our one week. What happens during that week or seven years?
He will make a strong covenant with many for seven years. Who is the “he” in this passage?
Many believe it is the antichrist. The antichrist will come and make a peace treaty with the Israeli leadership, and all will appear great, and there will be peace and safety. Everyone will be happy, and there will be celebrations abound.
This will mark the beginning of a time of oppression of the Jewish people known as Jacob’s trouble. This is also known as the tribulation period.
Jeremiah 30:7, “How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it!”
If you hold a pre-millennial view, the church will be raptured out before the tribulation begins. The seven-year tribulation starts after the rapture of the church. The antichrist will show up and make a peace treaty with Israel for seven years. The church doesn’t go through this trouble, according to Jeremiah 30. Jeremiah 30 addresses Israel, not the church. Jacob is Israel.
I will be addressing amillennial, premillennial, and postmillennial views in a separate blog.
At the three and half year mark, the antichrist breaks the treaty, and unprecedented persecution of the Jewish people starts as well as followers of Jesus that will last for another three and a half years.
Followers of Jesus?
“I thought you said the church was out of here?”
There will be people who come to believe in Jesus Christ during the tribulation. My first thought, of course, when I first learned this was, they will when they look around and see the church gone, and it wasn’t an alien abduction. But I would hope it would be a genuine belief in Christ. My bigger hope is they accept Jesus before the rapture.
The antichrist also puts an end to sacrifice and offering in the rebuilt temple.
There is no temple today. How could the antichrist put an end to offering and sacrifice if there is no temple today?
Folks, I am only halfway through verse 27. There is so much more to this verse that needs to be explained.
Let’s pick up again tomorrow with the second half of verse 27 and our look at the 70th week of Daniel.
I hope you are as excited as I am about this lesson. It’s one of my favorites of end-times events.
Blessings!
The Teaching Lady
End Times Events – What Does The Bible Say?
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