“And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” Daniel 9:27

We saw in our previous blog that the prophecy of seventy weeks is broken into three sections: seven weeks (49 years), 62 weeks (434 years), and a final week (7 years).  In this blog, we will look at the final week of seven years. This period is critical to understanding the prophecy, especially because most people have accepted an unbiblical view of the last week. This view, known mostly as futurism, pushes that last week into the distant future. But as we shall see, nothing in the text itself demands such a handling of the text.

To establish that view, it is necessary to insert a two-thousand-year gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks. The question we must ask though is, does the text support such a view? In other words, is there anything in the text itself that even implies such an interpretation? Our conclusion is absolutely not. There is nothing in the words themselves that indicates the text should be interpreted in this matter. Rather, there is every indication that the count of years should continue from the sixty-ninth right into the seventieth week.

Why then do those who hold the futurist view insert a two-thousand-year gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks? It is obvious that it’s not the text itself that warrants such an interpretation but a predetermined theological view which is hoisted on the text. But such a view is absurd. Imagine if such a view was made of the prophecy of Jeremiah 25:12; that Judah would only remain in Babylon for seventy years. Imagine as you approach the sixty-ninth year, you learn that there is actually a period of two thousand years between the sixty-ninth and seventieth year. Wouldn’t you be greatly disappointed?

The prophecy of the seventieth week starts with the statement that “he (Messiah) shall make a strong covenant with many for one week.” Futurism posits the notion that the he in that statement is the anti-Christ who makes a covenant with Israel which he breaks after three and a half years. But such an interpretation is unwarranted. This is a prophecy of Messiah’s earthly ministry culminating in his death in the middle of the week. Let’s review how we come to this conclusion.

As we have seen, the final week is a period of seven years. Messiah made his appearance at the end of the sixty-ninth week (483 years from the commandment given by Cyrus to restore and rebuild Jerusalem). We saw that that occurred at the baptism by John at the Jordan. The final seven years is broken into two periods, each lasting three and a half years. The first half covers the earthly ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. John’s Gospel clearly teaches that the ministry of Jesus while on earth lasted three and a half years. But then Daniel says, “for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering” (vs.27). If the ministry of Jesus lasted three and a half years what happened at the end of that period to “put an end to sacrifice and offering?” It was the sacrificial death of the Lamb of God at Calvary that put an end to the sacrificial system which is clearly what the prophecy is pointing to. Even though these sacrifices continued to be offered after Messiah died, they essentially were meaningless.

God gave a forty-year grace period before the temple was destroyed. The temple was destroyed in 70 AD. The book of Hebrews was written before 70 AD, preparing the people for the end of the sacrificial system. A major portion of the Epistle to the Hebrews (chapters 9 & 10), deals with the end of the sacrificial system under the inauguration of the new covenant. Now that the new covenant was fully in place, there is no need for the Old Testament sacrificial system.

What an amazing prophecy predicting the end of the Old Testament sacrificial system. So there is no need to insert a two-thousand-year gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks. But that leaves a three-and-a-half-year period that must be accounted for. How do we account for it? We will take that up in our next blog.