The seventy weeks prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 already has happened, so how can you say it has anything to do with the end-of-the-age prophecies of Matthew 24?

Email Received:

The seventy weeks prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 certainly spelled the end of something, but has nothing whatever to do with the end-of-the-age prophecies of Matt 24 Mark 13 and Luke 21, as generally are applied to the end of the world/earth/heaven etc. It was the end of the age of Israel's earthly sojourn under the first covenant/testament. Covenant and temple-related sacrifices ended upon Jesus' death, as did the Law, which was "nailed to the cross." Christ Jesus died for and instead of Israel as their second Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7). It must also be noted that he also was their atonement sacrifice, with the two sacrifices coinciding on Passover 33 CE.

At Jesus' baptism, and precisely on time at the end of the 69th week, He came and became Israel's Messiah (anointed one). Half way through the 70th week, he died. With His death, Israel's covenant obligations also ceased. God graciously extended Israel's exclusive access to the fulfilment of the promises for the remaining half of the 70th week. The one causing desolation in Daniel 9:27 is the Roman army, with verses 26b and 27b referring to the same event. The standing in the Holy place were the Romans as the disgusting thing when they began to undermine the temple wall in 66 CE only to suddenly depart until 70 CE when they returned with a vengeance.

Ted's Response:

Evidently, you embrace a preterist viewpoint. Your connotation of the word "end" is an arbitrary designation by you and other preterists (assuming that you are one). According to Gabriel, by the end of 70 weeks of years,

  1. all transgression would be finished or restrained,
  2. all sin would be put to an end,
  3. atonement would be made for all wickedness,
  4. everlasting righteousness would begin,
  5. all vision and prophecy would be sealed up, and
  6. the most Holy One and most Holy Place would be anointed (Dan. 9:24).
Let's look at the third and sixth points. Many would insist that Jesus' blood sacrifice on the cross was the blood atonement made for all wickedness, including that of Israel. It could be argued, though, that the refusal of the vast majority of Israel to accept this blood atonement, on their behalf, has left them unredeemed.

We know that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" of sins (Hebrews 9:22). Because of the bloodbath that will take place when Jesus returns (on a future Yom Kippur, I am convinced), to trample the great winepress of God’s wrath (Revelation 14:19,20, 19:15), it also could be argued that final atonement will be made for the sins of the remnant of Israel at that time. That is, when the Great Trumpet of Yom Kippur is blown, God’s wrathful punishment will be deflected from them onto their enemies (Isaiah 27:7-9,12,13), who will shed enough blood to rise as high as the horse’s bridles.

Next, Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit at His baptism by John the Baptist. Also, not long before His crucifixion, Jesus was anointed by the woman in Bethany (Matthew 26:6,7). Symbolically, according to Jesus, this was a preparation for His burial (26:12). However one looks at it, unquestionably Jesus was the Anointed One. I do not believe that these were the only anointings of Jesus, though.

I believe it is highly probable that Jesus also will be anointed as King, once He returns again and sits on His throne in Jerusalem, just as David was anointed as king over Judah (2 Samuel 2:4) and over Israel (5:3), and Solomon was anointed king over Israel (1 Kings 1:39). Furthermore, presumably, the Millennial Temple (Holy Place), once it has been constructed, will be anointed as well.

As far as I can see, those are the only two of the six points in the list above that, conceivably, could have had to do with Jesus' first coming but can be argued, effectively I believe, very likely will be associated with His second coming instead. However, not until Jesus returns back to earth again—which I believe will take place when the seventy weeks of years are completed—will all transgression be finished, all of Israel’s sin be put to an end, everlasting righteousness begin, and all vision and prophecy be sealed up for the nation of Israel.

Many preterists also assert that there was little or no connection between the prophecy of the 70th week and Jesus' Olivet Discourse, recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. Let's look at the beginning of one account:

Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:1-3)
Those who believe that the Daniel 9:27 prophecy already has taken place will point to the destruction of the temple, described by Jesus in Matthew 24:2, as that of the second temple in 70 A.D. Yet, His disciples seemed to group together the following three concepts as occurring in a similar time frame: Jesus' next appearance, in the clouds, will be near the end of this age. The KJV reads "the end of the world." The word "world" is a mistranslation, but the concept is of an event far in the future, as compared to the first century. Now, the question is, why does the temple that Jesus had in mind have to have been the second temple? Why could He not have been referring to a third temple, at the end of the age? More about this can be found in another of my email responses: How do you know that the 'abomination that causes desolation,' to which Jesus referred in Matthew 24:15, will pertain to the third temple?

I believe that this is one of the things in the Bible that very well could have a multiple fulfillment. The first and second temples both were destroyed on the same date—in different years, of course: 586 B.C. and 70 A.D. That date was Av 9 (that is, the Ninth day of the month of Av). Many disasters have happened to Israel and the Jews on that date. Perhaps the third temple also will be destroyed on Av 9 of a year in the future.

Now, here are two critical verses, taken from both the KJV and the NIV:

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. 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. (Daniel 9:25,26: KJV)

Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven "sevens," and sixty-two "sevens." It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two "sevens," the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. (Daniel 9:25,26: NIV)
Presumably, there is no disagreement that the Anointed One or Messiah would come to His people after 7 + 62 = 69 of the 70 weeks of years. I believe what it means is that after 69 x 7 = 483 years (of lunar months, not calendar months) following the onset of the prophetic period, Jesus, the Messiah/God, came to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, a few days before He was crucified and cut off. Jesus even noted His "coming" to them here:
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you." (Luke 19:41-44)
A few days later, on Passover, Jesus the Anointed One was "cut off"—thus officially ending the 69 weeks of years. Yet, you have Jesus dying halfway through the 70th week, even though, at that point in the prophecy, nothing at all had yet been said about the 70th week. In the seventy weeks prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27), events about the 70th week are mentioned in the latter portion of verse 26; yet nothing is said about how the 70th week begins until verse 27.

Some preterists believe that the "prince that shall come" not only is Jesus but that this event occurred continuously, or within a short time after, Jesus was was cut off. In the KJV, the cutting off of the Messiah and the people of the "prince that shall come" are spoken about in the same sentence. It is understandable how a reader could connect the two as being an uninterrupted thought, with no break.

In the NIV, though, the cutting off of the Anointed One, who would have nothing at that point, ends the sentence. The next sentence begins the entirely new thought of the people of the prince who will come. It is much easier to see that a gap of unspecified time could be placed between the two events. In any case, it does not indicate when that "prince" would come, so it could have been anywhere from three days later to millennia later. Since God is timeless, His time scales can be anything He wants them to be (just as yom = "day" in Genesis 1 does not necessarily indicate a 24-hour day but can encompass an indeterminate amount of time).

Notice also, in the KJV, the capitalization of "Messiah the Prince." This clearly is Jesus. Yet, the "prince" who will come is uncapitalized. Likewise, in the NIV, the term "Anointed One" is capitalized. Yet the "ruler" who will come is uncapitalized. It is not at all apparent to me that the "prince" or "ruler" who would come, after that point, was Jesus, as some believe. Furthermore, it states that the people of this prince or ruler will destroy the city and the sanctuary. If Jesus were the prince or ruler to come, why would His own people have wanted to destroy Jerusalem and the sanctuary? I find that to be senseless.

Many preterists insist that the destruction of the temple and the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. ended the seventy weeks period and prophecy. However, that still would create a gap of several decades between the death of Jesus at the end of the 69th week (or mid-70th week, as you state, which I do not comprehend) and the end of the 70th week. Furthermore, the provisions of Daniel 9:24 had not been met in 70 A.D., nor at any time prior to that, nor at any point thus far in history. In fact, they will not be met, in completion, until Jesus returns.

It is interesting how preterists insist that there was no significant pause between the 69th and the 70th week. Yet, they assume that the ruined temple spoken about by Jesus (Matthew 24:2) was the second temple, destroyed in 70 A.D., with a huge gap of time until Jesus appears again at the end of the age. Jesus did not counter His disciples' supposition that the structure in question would be standing at the end of the age. They simply were unaware that it would not be the second temple.

The bottom line is that preterists, for whatever reason(s), do not want the 70th week to take place at the end of the age, since they adamantly want to hang onto their (faulty) theory, and they will grasp at any straw in an attempt to force it to be the way the want it to be. Frankly, I believe that preterism, in all of its variations, is an old, tired, inconsistent view that has illogical holes throughout it like a slice of Swiss cheese. That theory needs to be put out to pasture.

Israel should have recognized that their Messiah, Jesus, was coming to them, simply by counting 483 (lunar) years from the commencement of the seventy weeks prophecy (probably as recorded in Nehemiah 2:1-9 or, as others believe, in Ezra 1:1-11). Since they had not recognized Jesus by the time He came in humility on a donkey, on Palm Sunday, then the fact that He was their Messiah was hidden from their eyes, and peace would not be theirs (Luke 19:42). Soon, He would be anointed by the woman in Bethany, symbolically for burial, and then He would be crucified or cut off. Thus, at the end of the 69th week of years, when Jesus was cut off, the time count for Israel was stopped, as the timeless co-Creator of the universe had just been killed.

It is not until Daniel 9:27 that the final (70th) week of years is even mentioned. The ruler or prince who would come would be the one to confirm a covenant with many for one week of seven years. It does not say when this would happen, as the length of the gap between the 69th and 70th week of years was not included in the prophecy. Furthermore, there was no confirmation of a covenant, much less one for seven years, involving Israel and other nations, at that time.

Most Israelites failed to see their Messiah's first coming, even though it clearly was explained in Scripture. Likewise, I feel that most modern-day Christians will fail to understand when the final seven years of the age will begin, even though Daniel 9:27 gives all of the information required to see it. This is due to bogus, misleading, deceptive shams such as the notion of the pre-trib rapture and preterism. As such, many believers will fail to understand the timing of Jesus' next coming in the clouds and return to earth.

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