Purpose: We will consider four points from Daniel 9:24-26 to see how it predicts Jesus as the Messiah so that we would submit to Him as Lord and worship Him today.
- Determining what is a ‘week”
- Prophecy 1: Rebuilding of Jerusalem
- Prophecy 2: Messiah cut-off
- Prophecy 3: Fulfilled before Temple Destruction
Passage: “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the wrongdoing, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. 25 So you are to know and understand that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with streets and moat, even in times of distress. 26 Then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27 And he will confirm a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come the one who makes desolate, until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, gushes forth on the one who makes desolate.”” (Daniel 9:24-27)
Determining what is a “week”
Summary of prophecy in verse 24: “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy ”
- Here a list of six things that will happen are listed.[1]
- Part of Daniel 9 has already been fulfilled and some are disputed whether it is already fulfilled: All interpreters agree though that the first sixty nine weeks are past and thus fulfilled.[2]
- Note the fulfillment of these points will be in phases seen in verses 25-27.
- Note this is in its context, promises to the Jews.
There’s instances in the Old Testament that a day is seen as a referent to a calendar year.
- “In accordance with the number of days that you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall suffer the punishment for your guilt a year, that is, forty years, and you will know My opposition” (Numbers 14:34)[3]
- Here there’s a number of years corresponding to days for punishment.
- This is the first time we see this day to year concept.
- “For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their wrongdoing, 390 days; so you shall bear the wrongdoing of the house of Israel. 6 When you have completed these days, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the wrongdoing of the house of Judah; I have assigned it to you for forty days, a day for each year.” (Ezekiel 4:5-6)[4]
- Here we see the use of the day and year theme in a context of prophecy.
- This prophetic use will be used by Daniel for day equaling year.
Literally weeks in the Hebrew are “sevens”
Seven years are important in the Old Testament
- Idea of Seven year cycles in Leviticus 25:3-4, 8-9
- And 2 Chronicles 36:21 shows us the thinking of “sevens” in terms of years in Jeremiah’s prophecy: “to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept the Sabbath until seventy years were complete.”
If a day is a year and there’s seven days in a week that means it is referring to seven years.
Prophecy 1: Rebuilding of Jerusalem
- Based upon verse 25= “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.” (25)
- Jerusalem will be rebuilt.
- It will be rebuilt despite “times of distress.”
- It will take seven weeks (7 “sevens [weeks]” X 7 Years= 49 Years)
- Beginning of when we start the prophetic timing: Commandment to rebuild city (25) can be gleamed from Nehemiah 1:1-4, 2:1-8, with the timing of 2:1 being in 445 B.C if Artaxerxes began his reign 465 B.C.[5]
Prophecy 2: Messiah cut-off
- Based upon verse 26a= “Then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing..” (26a)
- Description:
- “cut off”= Rejected by the people; see Exodus 12:15, 12:19, Leviticus 7:20.
- “have nothing”=
- Why are these negative things happening to the Messiah? Remember 24 the summary:
- “to make atonement for guilt”
- “to bring in everlasting righteousness”
- Takes place 62 weeks after completion of restored Jerusalem (26)
- But the “from the issuing of adecree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah thePrince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;” (25)
- Recall the beginning of the first period took place: 445 B.C.
- According to McClain, with a 360 days year, the duration of 69 “weeks” is 173,880 days and that lands on April 6th, 32 A.D, around the time of Christ entering Jerusalem.[6]
Prophecy 3: Fulfilled before Temple Destruction
- Based upon verse 26b= “and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.” (26b)
- There will be a destruction of Jerusalem: “will destroy the city”
- There will be a destruction of the Temple: “will destroy… the sanctuary”
[1] L.R. Shelton Jr., The Greatest Prophecy Ever Fulfilled (Pensacola, FL: Chapel Library, 2015), 31.
[2] Alva J. McClain, Daniel’s Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks (Grand Rapids: Zondervan’s Publishing House, 1969), 17.
[3] Jim Warner Wallace, Person of Interest (Grand Rapids: Zondervan’s Publishing House, 2021), 67.
[4] L.R. Shelton Jr., The Greatest Prophecy Ever Fulfilled (Pensacola, FL: Chapel Library, 2015), 5.
[5] Alva J. McClain, Daniel’s Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks (Grand Rapids: Zondervan’s Publishing House, 1969), 24.
[6] Alva J. McClain, Daniel’s Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks (Grand Rapids: Zondervan’s Publishing House, 1969), 25.
The Domain for Truth 
Excellent insight brother. Much appreciated. I struggle with interpreting Daniel but love to read it.
Shalom.
“Chapter 9, verse 25 of Daniel gives us the starting point of the seventy weeks: the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Scripture (II Chron. 36:22–23; Ezra 1:1–2) references this decree in marked detail: “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia … he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.”
Some say this is not the proper starting point because the king’s decree deals only with the temple. Furthermore, Cyrus’s command says nothing about the rebuilding of Jerusalem. It is true this portion of Scripture says nothing about rebuilding the city. However, in Ezra 4:12, the Jews were accused of rebuilding the city. “Be it known unto the king that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations.” Isaiah prophesied that Cyrus would be the one to command the city to be rebuilt: “That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid” (Isa. 44:28). Isaiah also foretold that Cyrus would “build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts” (Isa. 45:13).
MacArthur states, “The command to restore and build Jerusalem’ most likely refers to Artaxerxes’ decree recorded in Nehemiah 2:1–8, which occurred in the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes’ reign” (Neh. 2:1).4 The fact some authors use a different starting point really does not matter, as the Bible clearly says Cyrus would be the one to direct that Jerusalem and the temple be rebuilt. That is good enough for me. And it should be good enough for MacArthur.
From the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah would require sixty-nine weeks or 483 years. The sixty-nine weeks ended in AD 26—precisely when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and started his public ministry. John was “the voice of one crying in the wilderness,” saying, “Make straight the way of the Lord” (John 1:23). It was John who prepared the way for our Savior before He started His ministry…
Some believe Jesus’ triumphant arrival in Jerusalem on the first day of Passover was His coming. John MacArthur says, “So the sixty-nine prophetic weeks–483 years–may actually have been a precise figure that signified the exact day and year when Christ would enter Jerusalem in triumph.”6
Jesus spent three and a half years teaching; healing the blind, the dumb, the lame; raising the dead; feeding the multitudes; and casting out devils. Despite this, MacArthur claims the few days before Jesus’s crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension represent His true coming. However, five days after His triumphal entrance in Jerusalem, John says “Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world” (John 13:1). Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was not His coming; He was getting ready to leave. It was, in fact, the commencement of His going!”
Chapter 6: Daniel’s Seventy Weeks/ “Israel, Rapture, Tribulation” Michael Earl Riemer.
Wow Mike this is good stuff. Is this from a book you written??
Yes, it is. “Israel, Rapture, Tribulation” (2021) The book is about 330 pages. I spend one chapter going over this amazing prophecy in great detail. It is important background for Jesus’ Olivet Discourse.
You can buy a copy, hardcover, or paperback, or just email me and I will send you a PDF file for you to read. Email me at: eldermike547@yahoo.com
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Good summary with references for Daniel 9. It is a good start for studying this prophecy in more detail.
Thanks for commenting on this. Daniel can get so deep and this is just a starter guide. Hope your week is going well so far brother Frank
Nathan and I are reading Person of Interest based on your recommendation. He did a great job discussing Jesus and the prophetic fuse!
Thanks for this outline! Daniel is an amazing time-based prophecy of the coming Messiah. I wonder if the rabbis and pharisees of Jesus time correctly interpreted Daniel 9 were expecting the Messiah to appear? I have heard some pastors say that the Jewish religious leaders were fully aware of the time aspect of Daniel’s prophecy and that the Jews in general were in watch for the Messiah. We can assume the wise men of the east knew of Daniel 9 and there’s the “star prophecy” of Numbers 24:17.
Wow your comment makes me want to research what rabbis have to say and how they interpreted Daniel 9. I never get tired learning more about Messianic prophecies whether its exegetical details from the Hebrew, a passage connection with other passages, what the Rabbis think, how the New Testament use a passage, etc. They are so amazing! Good to see you know them too with reference to Numbers 24! Hope the weather is delightful for you today, can’t believe we are this deep in April already
We actually have LA beat today! Currently 79F in ROC, but it’s going back down to the 40s on Sunday. I raked more of the front lawn today and I’m bushed. Couch duty until lights out! Whoops! My wife wants me to sit outside on the patio with her. How’s your Wednesday starting out?
Reblogged this on My Logos Word.
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There is only one who fulfill the Prophecy: Jesus
How is your Easter week?
Been busy; how about you?
Super busy with Good Friday Service, Church Kids event Saturday, and 3 services on Sunday. Since I am part of church staff
The prophecy is so detailed. Atonement, death and imputed righteousness!
This might help a bit to understand.
“In Daniel 9:24–27, six events are mentioned that describe the incarnation of our Lord:
1. “To finish (to restrain) the transgression.” Jesus is the One who redeems us from our transgressions. “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance since a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant” (Heb. 9:15 R.S.V.).
2. “To make an end of sins (sin-offerings).” Jesus made an end of sins. “Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself” (Heb. 7:27). “[B]ut now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb. 9:26). “And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Heb. 10:11–12).
3. “To make reconciliation for iniquity.” Jesus made an atonement for our sins when he offered Himself up. “Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s for this he did once, when he offered up himself” (Heb. 7:27). “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself” (II Cor. 5:19). “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life” (Rom. 5:10). “And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby” (Isa. 53:12; Eph. 2:16).
4. “To bring in everlasting righteousness.” Jesus alone brought in everlasting righteousness. Jesus is the subject and object of faith of all the prophets through all the ages of the world (Gen. 49:10). “Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you” (I Peter 1:10). “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom. 10:4). “Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days” (Acts 3:24).
5. “To seal up the vision and prophecy.” Adam Clarke explicates: To seal up … “to finish or complete” the vision and prophecy; that is, to put an end to the necessity of any further revelations, by completing the canon of Scripture, and fulfilling the prophecies which related to his person, sacrifice, and the glory that should follow”3 (Matt. 11:13; Luke 24:25–26; John 19:28).
6. “To anoint the most Holy.” The most Holy was not the city of Jerusalem or the temple in Jerusalem. There was One who was more holy than both of those sites. “But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple” (Matt. 12:6). In the Book of Hebrews, the writer explains that the area behind the temple veil was called the Holiest of all. But it was just “a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect … until the time of reformation. But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands” (Heb. 9:9–11). “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body” (John 2:19–21). Jesus is the one who was anointed. “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power” (Acts 10:38). “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel” (Luke 4:18).
Marvelous
Thank you.
Elder Mike your commentary on the six predictions are helpful explanations
Thank you.
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