DANIEL'S 70 WEEKS
In this article on Daniel's 70 Weeks, "A Personal Revelation" author, Eric Fugett, gives possible explanations for Daniel's 70 Weeks.
In Daniel 9:20-27, the angel Gabriel comes to give Daniel insight & understanding about the future of his people and Jerusalem. It is in this passage of Scripture that we are introduced to the "Seventy Sevens" or Daniel's 70 Weeks.
According to Daniel 9:25-26, some decree will be issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Exactly sixty-nine "sevens" (69x7) or 483 years after this occurs, the Anointed One will come. The decree in question is the one issued by King Artaxerxes in 458 BCE (Ezra 7:11-26). Ezra left Jerusalem in April and arrived in Jerusalem in August of that same year (Ezra 7:8-9).
Originally, I believed that Ezra read the decree to the Israelites on or near the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), which fell on September 11, in 458 BCE. He may have actually read it on The Feast of Trumpets, which fell on September 2, 458 BCE. If Ezra is truly when we should start counting, then "seven sevens" (the first seven weeks of Daniel's 70 Weeks) or 49 years later, the restoring and rebuilding of Jerusalem should have been completed. Both Ezra & Nehemiah were instrumental in rebuilding Jerusalem. We also know of the trouble they experienced with Sanaballat & Tobiah in rebuilding Jerusalem, which is what Daniel had predicted would happen. I discovered that there is an Elephantine Papyri which mentions Sanballat & Jehohanan (Nehemiah 6:18) that dates Nehemiah's governorship to around 409 BCE. That explains the "seven sevens" of Daniel's 70 Weeks in Daniel chapter 9 and what was to occur during that time.
If we add the "sixty sevens" (the next 62 weeks of Daniel's 70 Weeks) or 434 years to the 49 years already discussed, then our total becomes 483 years before the Anointed One was to come. Exactly 483 years from 458 BCE brings us to 26 CE (year 0 does not exist). This is the year that Jesus turned 30, was baptized, and began his ministry.
FYI, the Greek words used in Luke 3:23, which tell us that "Jesus was about 30 years of age when he began his ministry," should be translated, Jesus began (commenced) to be or just turned 30 years of age when he began his ministry. Also, in John 2:13-20, when it was almost time for the Passover, the Jews told Jesus it had taken 46 years to build the temple up to its current state. The work on the Jewish temple began in 20 BCE, so 46 years from that time brings us to 27 CE (year 0 does not exist). Since this is the Passover that occurred just after Jesus’ baptism, we now have further assurance that it was in 26 CE that Jesus was baptized and began his ministry.
This explains the first sixty-nine weeks of Daniel's 70 Weeks, but what about the 70th week? I believe that there are three possible explanations for the 70th week.
In the first explanation, the 70th week is a split week. The first 3 1/2 years was the life or ministry of Jesus, from his baptism until his death on the cross in 30 CE. This is also Jesus' 1st Coming. Jesus' death on the cross would be the middle of the seven that is referred to in Daniel 9:27. (For more information on the death of Jesus, see my article entitled, "The Crucifixion of Jesus.")
The second 3 1/2 year period was the first 3 1/2 years of the Jewish War. It began when Vespasian came to Jerusalem around Passover of 67 CE and ended with the destruction of Jerusalem on September 2, 70 CE. Vespasian's son Titus was the prince who was to come and destroy Jerusalem (Daniel 9:26b, 9:27c). This 3 1/2 year period is also the 2nd Coming of Jesus. (For more information on this, see my article entitled, "The 1st & 2nd Coming of Jesus.")
The second explanation of the 70th week is that it was from 63 CE to 70 CE. The beginning would be either Passover of 63 CE (Josephus records strange events beginning with that Passover) or The Feast of Trumpets of 63 CE (For more information on this, see my article entitled, "Dating the book of Revelation").
The sacrifice ending at the midway point (Daniel 9:27b) would be when Eleazer, the governor of the temple, decided that Gentiles should no longer be allowed to make sacrifices in the Temple. This came to pass in Elul (Aug-Sept) of 66 CE (Josephus, The Wars, Book II, Chapter 17, Section 2 & Section 8). The end of the 70th week would be the destruction of Jerusalem, which as stated above, occurred on Sept. 2, 70 CE.
The third and final explanation of the 70th week would be that it was the Jewish War. It lasted from 67 CE to 74 CE. The "middle of the seven" would be the destruction of the temple/Jerusalem in 70 CE, & the end would be the end of the Jewish War in 74 CE.
In all of the explanations above, there is a 40 year gap involved in the explanation of the 70th week. This 40 year gap is reminiscent of the 40 years that the Israelites spent wandering through the desert before entering the Promised Land.
Information about Daniel's 70 Weeks is just one of the many topics you can read about in "A Personal Revelation."
