By Charles Meek

The book of Daniel has two distinct sections. Chapters 1 through 6 are mostly historical narratives of the life and times of Daniel, but include some prophetic material found in Daniel’s interpretation of king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Chapters 7 through 12 delve deeply into Daniel’s prophetic visions about events to happen in his future. [This is a very long article so we just wanted the information on Daniel’s 70 weeks. https://prophecyquestions.com/introduction-to-the-book-of-daniel/]

The “seventy weeks” are usually understood to be seventy weeks of years, or 490 years. Why is that? The original Hebrew word for week means “a period of seven” and can apply to days or years. A more literal translation of Daniel 9:24 would be “seventy sevens are determined.” Importantly, the only way to get close to the events described in the passage is to understand it this way―70 times 7 or 490 years. It’s also noteworthy that “seven” is sometimes used figuratively in Scripture to depict fulfillment.

While there are different possibilities, most scholars think that the 70 weeks began in approximately 457 BC (give or take) when King Artaxerxes decreed that the Israelites who had not already done so could return to Jerusalem (Ezra 7:12-26).

Note that the “anointed one,” i.e. Jesus, was crucified (“cut off”) after the 69^th week (7 weeks plus 62 weeks equals 69 weeks). The 69^th week ended about AD 27 (483 years). The text does not clarify how long after the end of the 69^th week Jesus died. But AD 27-30 would fit the timeline. If Jesus’ ministry began in AD 27, He was crucified in AD 30. But then it gets more controversial with the final 70^th week.

Dispensationalists insist that there is a gap of thousands of years between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks. They think this must be finally fulfilled in our future. But this is preposterous. As confirmed by Daniel 12, Daniel 9 ends with the war, the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple (and thus the end of the temple ritual sacrifices): “shall put an end to sacrifice and offering”―which was clearly AD 70. Jesus affirmed the time-line in Matthew 24:15, tying Daniel’s abomination of desolation (9:27; 12:11) with the destruction of the temple (Matthew 24:1-2, 34). Speaking to his contemporaries, He declared, “When YOU see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel. . . .Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (24:15, 34).

The seventy weeks are a unit. While there was a 40-year “transition” period between the cross and Parousia, there is no indication of any greater gap in the seventy-week period. Daniel 7 implies that the cross and judgment upon Old Covenant Israel are two parts to the same event. This convergence is confirmed by several other passages in Scripture: Isaiah 61:2; Haggai 2:6-7 (ref. Hebrews 12:26, 37); Zechariah 12:10-11; 13:1, 6; 14:1-3; Malachi 3:1; 4:1,5; Hebrews 10:11-13.

Yet, the apparent 40-year gap between the 69^th and 70^th week suggests that the “seventy weeks” could not have been a strictly literal chronology, since 490 years from 457 BC ends in about AD 34. Thus, it was not precisely 490 years as some think. Some people think that the 490 years ended with the stoning of Stephen in c. AD 34, but that event does not fit the narrative of the destruction of the temple.

There are several dates that could be the beginning of the “seventy weeks,” and none of these dates encapsulate the prophecy into a literal 490 years ending in AD 70 without forcing the dates to fit. See the endnotes for possible beginnings of the prophecy as defined by various “decrees” in the Old Testament.[1]

To be more precise, however, the destruction of the temple in AD 70 happened, apparently, in the MIDDLE of the 70^th week. The first half of the 70^th week matches the period of the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman army under Vespasian and his son Titus―which was from February AD 67 to August AD 70. That’s 3 1/2 years. Interestingly, that matches the 42-month period―also 3 1/2 years―in Revelation 11:2 predicting that the holy city would be trampled.

What happened during the second half of the 70^th week? The text doesn’t say. But it hints that the end of the war was coming . The Jewish-Roman War finally ended at the close of AD 73 or early AD 74 when the Romans finally took the fortress of Masada. That was 3 1/2 years from the destruction of the temple in AD 70.

There is no 7-year tribulation found in Daniel 9:24-27, except the Jewish-Roman War. And indeed, that was a Great Tribulation for the Jews as, according to Josephus, over a million of them were killed and tens of thousands taken into slavery.

Who are the two “princes?” They may have been different people. The first prince (9:25) is the “anointed one” or the Messiah Jesus, who atoned for iniquities. The second prince (“who was to come” in 9:26) may also have been Jesus. Jesus had a hand in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 per Acts 6:14. But the second prince was conceivably a different prince―the Roman general Titus, the one who literally destroyed the city and sanctuary.

And, by the way, the text says nothing about the restoration of Israel to her land. Jesus’ kingdom is not a worldly kingdom (John 18:36). There is no justification for putting any of this beyond the first century except for a violently forced presupposition on the part of the interpreter. And, Jesus made it abundantly clear that all Old Testament prophecy would be fulfilled in his generation:

“These are the days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written.” (Luke 21:22)

We also reject any ideas of double fulfillment of the AD 70 time-line in Daniel. The idea of double fulfillment is that, yes, any given passage was fulfilled in AD 70, but it will be fulfilled again in the future. This view postulates that the temple will be rebuilt (again) in the future; there will be two Second Comings, two Great Tribulations, and so forth—one in AD 70 and one at the end of history. We argue that the Bible never contemplates the end of history (Ecclesiastes 1:4; Psalms 78:69; 104:5; 148:4-6) or the end of the Christian age (Daniel 2:44; 7:14; etc.)—only the end of the Old Covenant Age.

The double fulfillment idea is just not in the New Testament. It is true that there are “types and shadows” in the Old Testament. For example, the old covenant was a type or “shadow” of things to come—the new covenant. However, the new covenant is not a shadow of still newer things to come. The prophecies, types, and shadows of the Old Testament have been fulfilled once for all with Jesus’ completed work in the first century. Jesus clearly stated that all prophecy would be fulfilled in his generation (Luke 21:22, 32; etc.).

The first-century fulfillment expectations were the correct ones and things happened right on time—no gaps, no gimmicks, no double meanings, no interruptions, no postponements, no delays, no exegetical gymnastics, and no changing the meaning of commonly used and normally understood words. Such manipulative devices have only given liberals and skeptics a foothold to discredit Christ’s deity and the inspiration of Scripture. What needs adjusting is our understanding of both the timeand natureof fulfillment to comport with Holy Scripture, and not manipulation of the time factor to conform to our popular, futuristic, and delayed expectations.

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Charles Meek is the author of CHRISTIAN HOPE THROUGH FULFILLED PROPHECY: IS YOUR CHURCH TEACHING ERROR ABOUT THE LAST DAYS AND SECOND COMING? (An Exposition of Evangelical Preterism) The book is available at Amazon.

Mr. Meek is also the editor of FaithFacts.org, one of the oldest apologetics sites on the Internet.

 Truth Uncensored Afrika:  The following is a chart that supports the completion of the 70 weeks of Daniel. Most evangelical churches go along with false dispensational teachings that say the 70th week of Daniel isn’t completed.