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Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Jul. 5, 2025
Update	: Jul. 5, 2025
Parts	: 13

Synopsis:



Many Christians today believe that Daniel 9:24-27 is one of the most important passages of prophecy in all of Scripture. Commonly known as Daniel's Seventy Weeks Prophecy, the real meaning of this tightly-woven group of verses has been the source of debate for literally centuries. In fact, over the years, almost every single mistake I have run across where Bible prophecy is the topic of discussion, can be traced to a gross misunderstanding of these particular Bible verses.

But before we plow into the actual verses themselves, let's back up a little and review the context surrounding these verses. By the time he received this particular prophecy, the Prophet Daniel was an old man, probably in his eighties. He had been a captive in Babylon for nearly seventy years, having been taken there in his youth when Nebuchadnezzar II -- the king of Babylon -- first laid siege to Jerusalem. He in fact remained in Babylon during the reigns of several of the Babylonian, Mede and Persian -- or Achaemenian -- kings, as we can determine by the following group of Bible verses:

"In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god. And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the kings seed, and of the princes; Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the kings palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego."


"And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus."


"So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian."


As he tells us in his own words, from reading the writings of the Prophet Jeremiah, Daniel came to understand that the seventy-year period of captivity which God had ordained for Israel due to their stiff rebellion and deep apostasy was just about over. I discuss this apostasy in great detail in such articles as the seven-part series entitled "The Fruits of Disobedience". Consider the following group of verses where Jeremiah pronounces God's judgment against Israel:

"Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years."


Regarding Daniel's discovery in the writings of the Prophet Jeremiah, we also find the following two verses in Daniel chapter nine:

"In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; 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."


As I mentioned a moment ago, the reason for the captivity in the first place had been Israel's insistence upon worshiping the many false gods of their pagan neighbors. Regarding the length of God's chastisement being seventy years, it came from the fact that for 490 years, the Israelites had failed to let their farmland lie fallow one year out of every seven as God had commanded them to do in Leviticus 25:1-7, as we see by the group of Bible verses below:

"And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee, And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat."


As I explain in "The Fruits of Disobedience", the Lord had been very patient during all of that time. However, their rebellion, defiance and apostasy had become so great, that He finally lowered the axe of His judgment when He ordained Nebuchadnezzar II to lay a siege against Jerusalem on three different occasions, with the final siege actually leading to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple compound itself. This would result in the second Jewish diaspora, in which many thousands of Jews were carried off as slaves to Babylon. The first diaspora -- or dispersion -- had been carried out by the Assyrians over a century earlier. Thus, in this way, the land was finally given the seventy years of rest that it required. Consider the following Bible verses which verify these points:

"Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD. And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel. Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand. And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years."


To continue then, as we begin reading Daniel chapter nine, we discover that in the first nineteen verses, the Prophet Daniel is offering a sincere prayer up to God, in which he humbly acknowledges the sins of his people, recognizes God's judgments upon Israel as being righteous, and also begs God to withdraw His wrath from the Jews. Before he could finish his prayer, the Angel Gabriel appears to Daniel, and speaks the words that we know today as Daniel 9:24-27. Let's read the whole thing to get the overview and then take it apart verse by verse and phrase by phrase.

"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. 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. 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."


As I mentioned earlier, quite a few Christians recognize the critical importance of understanding this group of verses as they pertain to Bible prophecy. Sadly, as I amply explain in a number of other articles such as "Fight Against Futurism" and "The Last Seven Years", the problem is that because they have been deceived by the doctrines of Futurism, they have misinterpreted what the previous verses actually mean. For those of my readers who may not be familiar with Futurism, in the simplest of terms, it is a belief system which takes ancient, already-fulfilled prophecies, and places them in our current time, or in the near future, as if they have not been fulfilled yet. Doing this is a tragic mistake.

It is in fact because so many modern Christians now approach Bible prophecy from this false base, and this very misguided understanding -- meaning Futurism -- that they have become so terribly confused. You see, if you start off on a false premise, and a false assumption, then everything you believe after that is false as well. It is just one lie built upon another, and one deception built upon another. That is just the way it works. As I said, these Daniel verses have fallen victim to the very same thing, and there are many Christians who are now convinced that Daniel's amazing prophecy has not yet been completely fulfilled, but will be fulfilled in the very near future. That is to say, during the twenty-first century.

My dear friends, if you doubt that this is so, simply visit some of the many popular social networks and see what some of those Christians are saying and teaching, and you will be convinced. There is now so much doctrinal confusion out there, that it is mind-boggling. But the real tragedy is that while many of said Christians may be very sincere and well-meaning with regard to their beliefs, nevertheless, they don't even realize that they've become deceived, and that through their actions of sharing their false beliefs, they are unknowingly spreading the deception even further.

So if Daniel's Seventy Weeks Prophecy isn't really about the near future -- meaning in our current century -- as so many Futurists erroneously believe, then exactly what is it really about? In the remainder of this article, I will be sharing my personal thoughts with you regarding this important matter. You can then decide for yourself whether or not you believe that I am correct, based on the Scriptural and the historical information I have shared with you.

The very first thing you need to understand is that not only does Daniel's prophecy have absolutely nothing to do with our current time, but contrary to what so many Futurist-leaning Christians believe, it is NOT about the world as a whole. As I have explained a number of times before, this prophecy is about Israel and the Jewish people. In fact, most of Bible prophecy centers on Israel and the Jews, although God does pronounce judgments against certain other nations as well in the pages of the Bible. Nevertheless, Israel still remains the primary focus of Bible prophecy. To reiterate, this, and many other prophecies, is most certainly NOT about America, or American Christians, or anything similar.

In fact, if you are observant, you will notice that not only is Daniel specifically praying for his Jewish countrymen in the opening verses of Daniel chapter nine, but the very first verse in the prophecy clearly states "thy people", meaning of course, the Jews. Furthermore, there are a few other verses in the Book of Daniel which clearly reveal that all of these prophecies revolve around the fate of Israel and the Jewish people. Please consider the following three verses:

"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."


"Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall THY PEOPLE in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days."


"And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of THY PEOPLE: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time THY PEOPLE shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book."


So tell me, my friend, are you convinced now that this is truly the case? Or do you still think that we can somehow manage to squeeze the whole world -- or at the very least America and American Christians -- into this prophecy as some Christians try to do? Okay, then. So let's start to take apart these verses and analyze them phrase by phrase and see what is revealed.

Phrase:

"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city"

Explanation:

The next point that you need to understand is that in these verses, the word "weeks" does NOT literally mean a seven-day period as we understand it today. In fact, the word "weeks" is translated from the Hebrew word "shabua" -- or "shabuwa" -- which literally means "seven". Thus, we could translate the phrase as "seventy sevens" instead of as "seventy weeks". It is obvious from the nature and contents of the prophecy itself, as well as the time in history when the prophecy was given to Daniel, that it actually signifies a total number of years, and NOT just a total number of literal weeks. In other words, each "week" is actually a period of seven years. It is similar to the way that a decade corresponds to ten years. So now it is just a matter of performing a simple math operation like the following:

70 x 7 = 490 years.

As we have already seen, the phrase "thy people" obviously means the Jews themselves, and the phrase "thy holy city" is obviously referring to Jerusalem. Next we are informed that during this 490-year period, the omnipotent God who reigns from Heaven as He sits upon His eternal throne has decreed that six things will be accomplished for, through and to Daniel's people. These six things are the following:

1. to finish the transgression.

2. to make and end of sins.

3. to make reconciliation for iniquity.

4. to bring in everlasting righteousness.

5. to seal up the vision and prophecy.

6. to anoint the most Holy.

As all Christians should already know, the almighty God is indeed more than capable of accomplishing all that He sets out to do. Why is that? Because there is no God like unto Him. That's why. Some of my favorite Bible verses regarding this particular subject are the following:

"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?"


"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:"


Regarding the aforementioned six points, we will come back to them in just a minute. Before getting into the meanings of the different phrases which are found in Daniel's amazing prophecy, let us first establish that the 490-year prophecy is divided into three distinct sections. Furthermore, what I have discovered is that these sections do NOT appear to be contiguous in nature. In other words, they don't happen one after the other. I have become convinced that there are gaps between each of the three sections. Lastly, God has ordained for some significant event to occur during each of the three time sections. Thus, the prophecy is divided up as follows:

07 weeks	= 049 years
62 weeks	= 434 years
01 week	= 007 years
Total	= 490 years

The next point we need to discuss is that as the Jews neared the end of their Seventy Years of Captivity in Babylon, God Almighty had already been working behind the scenes to raise up someone who would serve as their liberator from Babylon. In fact, this individual was none other than Persian king, Cyrus -- who is also known as Cyrus II or Cyrus the Great -- who had been prophesied to come by the Prophet Isaiah in the following group of Bible verses:

"Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers: 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. Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me."


What is interesting about this is the fact that as we have seen before in the Scriptures, God is NOT limited to just using those people who are believers to perform His Will. If it suits His divine purposes, He can even use the heathen to carry out His Will. This prophecy is direct proof that this is so. After all, the reason why it became necessary in the first place, is because as I mentioned earlier, God had used heathen king Nebuchadnezzar II as His tool of chastisement to punish the Jews for their ongoing rebellion and apostasy. Furthermore, as I have mentioned before, even though he was a heathen king, God referred to Nebuchadnezzar as His servant on three occasions, as we see by the following group of Bible verses:

"Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, MY SERVANT, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations."


"And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, MY SERVANT; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him."


"Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah; And say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, MY SERVANT, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them. And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword."


As we saw a minute ago, God said the very same thing when He called Cyrus to perform His divine will. You will notice at the end of the verses we just read in Isaiah 44, God clearly said to Cyrus "though thou hast not known me." So again, God will use whomsoever He will in order to carry out His divine plans.

Even today in our modern world, while people may think that who becomes the next leader of their country is based on an agreed upon popular voting system, this isn't really so. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule in the case of the dictators, authoritarian rulers, and others who are placed into power, or who grab the power, through very intentional manipulation of the voting system. Yet regardless of how a national leader comes to power, according to the Scriptures, we need to recognize that whether for good or for evil, it is God who has allowed that particular individual to rise to power, as becomes evident by the following group of verses:

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. FOR THERE IS NO POWER BUT OF GOD: THE POWERS THAT BE ARE ORDAINED OF GOD. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake."


"Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck. For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But GOD IS THE JUDGE: HE PUTTETH DOWN ONE, AND SETTETH UP ANOTHER."


"BY ME KINGS REIGN, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth."


"Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: HE REMOVETH KINGS, AND SETTETH UP KINGS: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:"


"This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that THE MOST HIGH RULETH IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN, AND GIVETH IT TO WHOMSOEVER HE WILL, AND SETTETH UP OVER IT THE BASEST OF MEN."


"I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, AND HAVE GIVEN IT UNTO WHOM IT SEEMED MEET UNTO ME."


"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will."


"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD. And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel."


"And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost."


As you can see by the previous set of verses, not only does the eternal God raise up national leaders, but neither will He hesitate to demote them and remove them from power when they no longer serve His purposes, or become displeasing in His sight. So as we have seen, as the time of liberation approached for the Jews in Babylon, God was working behind the scenes to raise up Persian king Cyrus, or Koresh, as he is known in Hebrew. As I mention in other articles, Cyrus in fact founded what would later become known as the Achaemenid Empire, thus becoming its very first "King of Kings". Being of Persian descent, he rose to power by defeating the empire of the Medes.

In fact, we see this political development being symbolized in King Nebuchadnezzar II's dream image -- which is found in the second chapter of the Book of Daniel -- by the arms and breast of silver which are located directly below the head of gold -- symbolizing Babylon -- in the statue. Just as one arm is usually stronger in the human body, Persia was also stronger than Media in the Medo-Persian Empire, and thus it eventually came to dominate.

Now that we have established all of these various Scriptural and historical points, as we continue this discussion in the second part of this series, we will continue to analyze the rest of the amazing prophecy which was given to Daniel by the Angel Gabriel.

Please go to part two for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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