THE 70 WEEKS PROPHECY OF DANIEL 9 - And Stephen's Vision

Acts 7:55-57 ...'But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus STANDING on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man STANDING on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord.'

Do you realize the significance of Jesus STANDING on the right hand of God the Father in Stephen's vision? The Jewish leaders knew what it meant, which is why they stoned Stephen to death. This is tied in with the 70 week prophecy of Daniel.

The 70 weeks of Daniel 9 is an amazing prophecy that provides us with a number of important truths. This prophecy gives us an important starting date for the 2300 day (years) prophecy of Daniel 8 and it also gives us a definitive time frame that God gave to the Jews as a nation to turn to Him and accept Jesus. Most important of all it confirms Jesus Christ as the Messiah. In this amazing study we will find out exactly what happened to the Jewish nation when this time prophecy was fulfilled and came to an end, as confirmed above in Acts 7.

It is interesting that many orthodox Jews leave this prophecy well alone, because they believe it to be accursed. The tragic thing is, if they really studied and heeded what it said, then they would have realized exactly who Jesus Christ was. This is one reason why Bible prophecy is so important for us to study and find out the truth, because through it, God reveals vital information for us.

IS THERE A GAP BETWEEN THE 69th WEEK AND 70th WEEK?

Unfortunately today we have so many different interpretations of end times Bible prophecy. And this prophecy of the 70 weeks is no exception. One of the major errors concerning this prophecy is that people insert a 2000 year gap in between the 69th and 70th week - with no authority from the Word of God. So let me show you very simply why there is NO gap in this prophecy:

If you owed me money and I gave you 2 weeks from today to pay that money back, would I accept you placing a 5 year gap in between the 1st and 2nd week, and therefore you pay me back in 5 years time? Of course not. I have given you TWO WEEKS to pay it and I expect you to pay it in TWO WEEKS time. Plain and simple right? This is a plain and simple truth that many professed Christians miss regarding the 70 week prophecy of Daniel 9. God gave the Jews 70 weeks, which equates to a literal 490 years to accomplish certain things ...

Daniel 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.'

And God even gave the starting point, which we will confirm in more detail further in this study ... 'from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem' (Daniel 9:25). Everyone accepts that the starting point for the 490 years is during the time of Persian rule in the 5th century B.C. And if you study this properly, you will see the exact starting date is 457 B.C. Again, which we will confirm further down.

So clearly God gave the Jews 490 years TO ACCOMPLISH these things, starting from 457 B.C. Which means these things were to be FULLY ACCOMPLISHED 490 years from 457 B.C. Just like I expect you to fully accomplish paying back my money 2 weeks from today which I stated. Now what happens if we put a 2000 year gap in between the 69th and 70th week and the Jews don't fully accomplish these things until after the 2000 year gap? That means they would have needed 350+ weeks, or 2500 years to accomplish these things, not 70 weeks, or 490 years.

THEREFORE, God would have said ... "350 weeks are determined upon thy people and thy city TO ..." Do you see? God would HAVE to have said .. "350 weeks are determined."

But God DIDN'T say that. He said 70 weeks, or 490 years, are determined to accomplish these things. Just like I told you to pay your debt in 2 weeks, not 5 years. Do you see this simple truth? God said that from the command to restore Jerusalem, the Jews had 490 years to accomplish those things listed. Which means 490 years from the command to restore Jerusalem, this prophecy would be completely fulfilled. God DID NOT say these things would be accomplished in 2500 years (or 350 weeks). He said 70 weeks (490 years).

Nowhere in the prophecy or anywhere else does God tell us to insert 2000 years between the 69th and 70th week. This hasn't come from God. This has come from man, and it is a plain error that anyone with eyes to see can see. Sadly, many have been deceived by Roman Catholic Jesuit false teachings regarding Bible prophecy. The truth is, the seventy weeks of Daniel are seventy CONTINUOUS weeks of prophetic time. This is so important to grasp. There are no gaps in between this prophecy, but a continuous unbroken time line.

Let's now delve into this fascinating Bible prophecy from Daniel.

Daniel 9:2 ...'In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.' ... Daniel was a student of Jeremiah's prophecies, and understood that the 70 years of captivity for the Israelites had come to an end ..... Jeremiah 25:11-12 ...'And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.' ... The seventy years that Jeremiah had prophesied about had now come to an end with the fall of Babylon.

Daniel now comes before God in prayer, saying ... Daniel 9:5-6 ...'We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.' ... The Israelites kept falling into sin and disobeying God, and if you study through the Old Testament you will find that they kept falling into apostasy over and over again and that is why they were taken into captivity, because of their many sins, and constant turning from the LORD. So Daniel comes before God to confess their sins and ask for forgiveness. So this is a good lesson for us in that we should be asking for forgiveness for others we know, not just for ourselves. Daniel doesn't just pray for himself, he prays for ALL Israel.

Daniel 9:20-22 ...'And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God; Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.'

Daniel was given a vision in chapter 8, and now during his prayer the angel Gabriel was commanded by God to go and give Daniel understanding about the vision. We know that this was concerning the vision in chapter 8, because there is no other vision given to Daniel between that time and his prayer in chapter 9. And Daniel said that he saw Gabriel in that vision. The only time mentioned that Daniel saw Gabriel is in Daniel 8:16 concerning the 2300 day vision. So clearly, the vision Gabriel came to give Daniel understanding of is the vision of chapter 8. The vision is concerning the 2300 day prophecy, where at the end of the vision, if you read it, you will find that Daniel fainted and was sick and couldn't understand the vision (Daniel 8:27). Gabriel had now come to give Daniel 'skill and understanding' about the vision. We now delve into the actual 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel.

Daniel 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.'

Do you realise that ALL of the above ... "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," was FULFILLED by Jesus Christ when He first came to earth? Jesus said in Matthew 23:31-32 to the Jews that they were the "children of them which killed the prophets." And that the Jews were to "Fill ye up then the measure of their fathers," or FINISH the sins of your fathers. They were to "finish the transgression" by crucifying Jesus, which they called for in Luke 23:20-21. And in crucifying the Son of God, this made "an end of sins, and made reconciliation for iniquity, and brought in everlasting righteousness," as Hebrews 9:26, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, Romans 5:10, Isaiah 46:13, Romans 1:16-17 and Romans 5:17 confirm.

The 70 weeks was also to "seal up" the vision and prophecy of Daniel 8, the 2300 day prophecy. Showing that the 70 weeks and the 2300 'day' prophecy are closely connected. And also "the most holy" was to be anointed in the 70 weeks. Now whether this points to the anointing of Jesus during His baptism, or the anointing of the holy place in the heavenly sanctuary when Jesus went back to heaven and became our High Priest as Hebrews chapters 8 and 9 confirms, it was accomplished by Christ by A.D.34., which is the LATEST time at which the 70 weeks (490 year) prophecy can stretch, as you will see further in this study.

The point is, God gave the 70 weeks (490 years) to the Jews to fulfill these things, and they were all fulfilled at the first coming of Christ. Which proves the last week of the 70 weeks CANNOT be broken off and placed thousands of years later!

Are the 70 weeks of Daniel literal weeks? No, in bible prophecy a day equals a year. Note the following two scriptures:

Ezekiel 4:6 ...'And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.'

Numbers 14:34 ...'After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.'

One day in bible prophecy is one literal year. So let's calculate the 70 weeks. 70x7 = 490. So the 70 weeks = 490 prophetic days, but taking into account that a day = a year in bible prophecy, then this 70 weeks is actually 490 years. Most bible scholars are in agreement that this time period is actually 490 years, not days. But when did this 490 years start?

Daniel 9:25 ...'Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.'

The seventy weeks prophecy of Daniel was to begin, as said in Daniel 9:25, at the command to rebuild and restore Jerusalem. When was this? Well, there are four possible decrees. 1 - The decree of Cyrus in 536 BC (Ezra 1:1-4). 2 - The decree of Darius in 519 BC (Ezra 6:1-12). 3 - The first decree of Artaxerxes in 457 BC (Ezra 7). 4 - The second commission of Artaxerxes (not really an official decree) to Nehemiah in 444 BC (Nehemiah 2). So which one is the correct decree? There is a very sure way of knowing the correct decree and date for the starting of the 70 weeks prophecy.

Daniel 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.'

As you can see, from the start of the 70 weeks, going forward 69 weeks, we should reach to 'MESSIAH the prince.' Who is that? Obviously none other than Jesus Christ, the MESSIAH. And when was Jesus 'revealed' as the Messiah? At His baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ and God the Father spoke from heaven saying ... "this is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). And Jesus was "ANOINTED ... with the Holy Spirit and with power" (Acts 10:38).

So we just need to do some easy straightforward calculating to work this out. The seven weeks and threescore and two weeks in Daniel 9:25 is 69 weeks, which amounts to 483 days. Now as we know a day in bible prophecy = a year. So this 483 days is actually 483 years. So 483 years after the command to rebuild and restore Jerusalem, Jesus would be revealed as the Messiah. This is the important bit as to know which command to choose:

If you choose the first command by Cyrus in 536 BC and take away 483 years, we come to 56 BC - many years BEFORE Christ even came.

If you choose the command by Darius in 519 BC and take away the 483 years, we come to 36 BC - again BEFORE Christ came.

If you choose the first command by Artaxerxes in 457 BC and take away the 483 years, we come to 27 AD - The year Christ was baptized and confirmed as the MESSIAH.

If you choose the second commission by Artaxerxes in 444 BC and take away the 483 years, we come to 40 AD - a number of years AFTER Christ had gone back to heaven.

Can you see there is only one decree which can be used that takes us to 'Messiah the Prince'? It is the first decree by Artaxerxes in 457 BC.

So now you can see why the command by Artaxerxes in Ezra 7 HAS to be used, and even though we don't need any more confirmation that we are using the right starting point with this command, God's amazing truth gives us even more confirmation. You see, in Daniel 9:25, the angel Gabriel gives two time periods. One period of '7 weeks' and the other period of 'threescore and two weeks'. A little bit more calculating to do! Seven weeks = 49 years (don't forget the day to year rule). From 457 BC (the second command), 49 years would take us to 408 BC. Is this date significant? Yes it is!! It is the date that the restoration of the city finished! And that is an important point regarding the command by Artaxerxes. The other commands were regarding just the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Artaxerxes' command included restoration also of the people, services, judges, etc. Which is the command that the 70 weeks prophecy begins with ... to "RESTORE and to build Jerusalem."

Isaiah 1:26 [God's promise] ...'And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.'

Ezra 7:25 [command of Artaxerxes] ...'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.'

Do you see? This was an important part of restoring Jerusalem and is what was included in the command of Artaxerxes. To restore the judges over the people, so that the law of God could be taught again. The commands from the other kings did not include this. So this is more evidence that the command from Artaxerxes in 457 B.C. is the correct one to start the 70 weeks prophecy. We then have the threescore and two weeks which equates to 434 years. Now if we take 434 from 408 BC (when rebuilding and restoration had finished), we come to 27 AD - Jesus' baptism! Friend, that is the amazing truth of God right there! Praise God!!

Jesus confirms that this time period from Daniels 70 weeks prophecy had been fulfilled by Himself.

Mark 1:9-15 ...'And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him. Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, THE TIME IS FULFILLED, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.' ... The time of the 7 weeks and the threescore and two weeks had been fulfilled. The voice from Heaven was heard and Jesus Christ was revealed as the Messiah - THE SON OF GOD.

Now we still have one week left to account for in this 70 week prophecy. This is where a lot of Christians now cut off the last week of this prophecy and place it future to us at the very end times. But as we confirmed earlier, this prophecy is a continuous one. There is no scripture support to say we need to cut off the last week and place it somewhere in the future.

What many don't realize is that by cutting off the last "week" of the 70 and placing it in the future, they are attributing the work of Christ on the cross to ANTICHRIST! What abomination, thanks to the Roman Catholic Church and her Jesuits who invented the false futurist interpretation of this prophecy!

Daniel 9:26-27 ...'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. 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.'

Did you note the word 'after'? This is important to understand and we will discuss it further down, so make a mental note of it.

The confusion lies in the wording of the above verses. It starts with Christ being 'cut off' through His death on the cross. Then we see mention of the 'people of the prince to come' who would 'destroy the city and sanctuary.' This is a clear reference to the Romans who destroyed Jerusalem in AD70. Then it says .. 'he shall confirm the covenant for one week.' Now read carefully the above verses 26-27 again. You can see it starts with Christ. Then we get an 'interlude' with mention of the Roman army who would destroy the city, and then it goes back to Christ. HE is the one mentioned as 'confirming the covenant', not a 'future antichrist.' The 'people of the prince' is just an interlude. The verses do NOT carry on speaking of this 'prince', it goes back to Christ. This is the correct way to read the verses.

Notice that the verse says 'he' shall CONFIRM the covenant. It doesn't say that 'he' would MAKE a covenant. It says to 'confirm' THE covenant. Well, there is nothing in God's word that tells us that an antichrist has made any covenant that needs to be 'confirmed.' The word 'confirm' in the original means to 'prevail' or 'strengthen.' So this covenant in Daniel 9:27 was already in existence. This is key to understand the truth. Now what covenant was already in existence that needed to 'prevail' or be 'strengthened' or 'confirmed'? Luke 1:68-69,72, Acts 3:25, Hebrews 13:20-21 and many more verses say that the only covenant that was to be 'confirmed' or 'strengthened' is the new covenant of God!

Remember the word 'after'? Many wrongly believe that Jesus was 'cut off' on the cross at the end of the 69th week and then attribute the 70th week to antichrist. But if you read verse 26 you will see that it says Jesus was cut off AFTER the 69th week. This means the cutting off of Christ did not happen anytime during the 69th week, but AFTER it. Which means the cutting off of Christ happened DURING the 70th week, which is what verse 27 is talking about. Jesus is the one who confirmed the covenant and then in the 'middle' of the 70th week ('AFTER' the 69th) He was sacrificed for our sins and 'caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease.' This is all about Christ, NOT antichrist!

So after the baptism of Jesus (after the threescore and two weeks, which ended in 27 AD), it says that Messiah shall be 'cut off'. Now those words, cut off means to be killed. This can only point to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Notice in the verse it also says that it was NOT FOR HIMSELF that he was cut off (killed). As we know, Jesus died for us to bare our sins. Now if you take this last week of this 70 week prophecy and put it in the future, then you are denying that it is pointing to the cross of our Saviour, which it clearly is. So this last week of the 70 weeks prophecy starts at the baptism of Jesus, and in the middle of the week, He would cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease. At the cross, Jesus put an end to the priestly service, which included the sacrifice and offerings of animals for sins. The middle of 7 years is 3.5 years. If you add 3.5 years to 27 AD, you come to 31 AD. This is the exact year of Jesus sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. The great veil of the temple ripped in two, which symbolized the end of the sacrifice and oblation (offerings).

But Jesus only 'confirmed the covenant' for 3.5 years. There is 3.5 years left of this 70 weeks of Daniel. After they killed Jesus on the cross, the Jews were given another 3.5 years to end their sin and accept Jesus as their Saviour. What an awesome God we have, who is full of grace! Christ confirmed the covenant for the first 3.5 years, and after His death and resurrection, it was now the job of the apostles to continue preaching the gospel message to the Jews for the last 3.5 years.

Luke 24:46-47 ...'And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.'

Romans 1:16 ...'For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.'

Why to the Jews first? Why begin in Jerusalem? Because the Jews still had 3.5 years left to accept the truth of the gospel, which the apostles were now preaching. Beginning at Jerusalem, the apostles were to continue the work of Christ and confirm the new covenant. So when did the Jews finally reject the gospel message of Christ and when did this 3.5 years come to an end? Let us go back to Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin:

Acts 7:54-57 ...'When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus STANDING on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man STANDING on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord.'

Stephen had just given a speech about the gospel from the Old Testament scriptures to the Jewish leaders, and notice what happened. The Jewish leaders 'gnashed on him with their teeth.' The truth that Stephen shared to them 'cut to their hearts' and they shut their ears to the truth and were angry with Stephen for the truth he shared. What happened next? Stephen sees a vision of Christ STANDING at the right hand of God. Do you know what Jesus STANDING meant? Well, the Bible tells us that Jesus went back to heaven to 'SIT at the right hand of God.' (Psalm 110:1, Matthew 22:44, Mark 16:19) so why did Stephen see Christ STANDING? If you read Daniel 12:1, we see that 'standing' is a signal of the close of probation. So Christ, by standing in His vision to Stephen, was signalling the close of probation upon the Jewish nation. Not as individuals, but as a nation. The Jewish leaders were no longer the representatives of God.

The Jews as a nation finally rejected the new covenant message and thus rejected Jesus and this fulfilled the 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel. Paul himself, after becoming a follower of Christ, confirmed this ... Acts 13:46 ...'Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.'

The Jewish nation was no longer to be God's special light to the world. The gospel now goes to the Gentiles. The unfaithful Jews were cut off from the 'olive tree' and the Gentile believers were now 'grafted in.' But isn't it interesting that Jesus told Peter to forgive 'seventy times seven.' Matthew 18:21-22 ...'Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.' ... How amazing is the Word of God! Jesus confirmed the 70 weeks prophecy. Yes, individual Jews can still turn to Christ for salvation. But as a nation, the 70 weeks prophecy confirms they are no longer God's special chosen people. ALL who are in Christ are now God's special people.

Romans 2:28-29 ...'For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.'

Galatians 3:28-29 ...'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.'

The 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel confirms Christ as the Messiah and confirms the close of probation upon the Jewish nation. This means that all modern movements to 'restore' Israel as a nation and as God's people is NOT of God. We MUST also learn the truth that probation is soon to close for ALL of humanity. Meaning we MUST SEEK THE LORD WHILE HE MAY BE FOUND.

PROBATION IS SOON TO CLOSE - Please see our page SEEK THE LORD WHILE HE MAY BE FOUND

Also see our pages WHO IS TRUE ISRAEL TODAY? for more on Israel and our 2300 DAY PROPHECY OF DANIEL study in connection with the 70 weeks.