The Mystery of Daniel 9:24–27 Revealed

This prophecy of 70 'weeks' predicts the ministry and crucifixion of Christ over 500 years before it occurred. Unfortunately, the final 'week' is misinterpreted by Premillennial Dispensationalists to include a prediction about the Antichrist.

Here is the correct interpretation, for the first time:

• 
  Date Cumul.
  Durat.
  (years) Faithful
  Christian
  View Supporting Biblical References
  [scriptural prophecy]
  [scriptural fulfillment]
  
• 
  
  
  458 BC
  
  
  — King Artaxerxes of
  Medo–Persia issues a
  decree allowing post–
  exilic Jews to rebuild
  Jerusalem and restore
  order. …from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; [Daniel 9:25a, NASB]
  
  The king’s decrees were delivered to his highest officers… who then cooperated by supporting the people and the Temple of God. [Ezra 8:36, NLT]
  
• 
  
  
  409 BC
  
  
  49 years Reconstruction of
  Jerusalem is
  completed despite
  opposition from the
  surrounding Gentiles. …the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. [Daniel 9:25b, KJV]
  
  So the wall was finished… when all our enemies heard of it… they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God. [Nehemiah 6:15–16, NKJV]
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  AD 26
  
  
  
  
  
  
  483 years Jesus is baptized,
  and anointed by the
  Holy Spirit. The
  Heavenly Father
  testifies that He is the
  Son of God. Jesus is
  rejected in His
  hometown of
  Nazareth, and begins
  His three and a half
  year earthly ministry
  as an itinerant preacher. Seventy weeks are decreed… to anoint the most holy. [Daniel 9:24b, ASV]
  
  As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove… And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” [Matthew 3:16–17, NIV]
  
  …after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing… [Daniel 9:26a, NASB]
  
  And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage… they got up and drove Him out of the city…
  [Luke 4:28–29, NASB]
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  AD 30
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  486.5 years Jesus quickly gains a
  following. He
  institutes the New
  Covenant, takes upon
  Himself the sins of the
  world, and puts an
  end to Old Testament
  sacrificial system. He
  dies desolate, but is
  resurrected and
  ascends into Heaven.
  The early Church is
  begun at Pentecost
  and flourishes under
  Christ’s protection in
  Jerusalem for another
  three and a half years. …he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week… [Daniel 9:27a, KJV]
  
  Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him. [Matthew 4:25, NIV]
  
  This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. [Luke 22:20, NIV]
  
  So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly… [Acts 6:7, NIV]
  
  …for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. [Daniel 9:27c, KJV]
  
  Jesus cried out… “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” [Mark 15:34, NKJV]
  
  …in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. [Daniel 9:27b, NKJV]
  
  Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. [John 19:30, NIV]
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  AD 33
  
  
  
  490 years The Church of
  Pentecost is
  scattered to Judea
  and Samaria after the
  martyrdom of Deacon
  Stephen. The Gospel
  begins to be
  disseminated to all
  peoples. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression… and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy… [Daniel 9:24a, KJV]
  
  On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria… Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. [Acts 8:1,4, NIV]
  

Below is the incorrect interpretation, which has been rehashed by the Dispensationalists for the past 150 years:

• Date Cumul.
  Durat. Dispensational Premillennialist View
  
• 458 BC — Same as above.
  
• 409 BC 49 years Same as above.
  
• 
  AD 26
  483 years Same as above, except that they add in all the events of Christ’s earthly ministry here (not just His baptism and initial rejection)—thus making their timeline 3.5 years off.
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  AD 20xx
  
  
  
  
  ~2500 years They claim that there is a chronological break in the text, and the final ‘week’ refers to the very end of human history when a new Jewish temple will be constructed and consecrated on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Some of the modern Israeli Jews will then abandon Rabbinic Judaism and renew ancient Jewish animal sacrifice practices in the temple. The Rapture of Born Again Christians and young [supposedly sinless] children will take place seven years before Christ’s Second Coming. The disappearance of all the Christians will somehow result in a new Church, as previously unbelieving people around the world are converted en masse to Christianity. The seven year reign of the Antichrist despot will then begin. They call this the ‘beginning of sorrow.’ The Antichrist will have the power of persuasion and will make an insincere peace treaty with the modern State of Israel, and he will introduce a one-world currency.
  
• 
  
  AD 20xx ~2500
  plus
  3.5
  years Although popular for the first half of his reign, the Antichrist despot will then turn against the Jews of modern Israel, and defile their new temple in Jerusalem, and there proclaim himself to be God. This will result in a persecution of the post–Rapture Church. Things will get very bad on earth (politically, economically, climatically, etc.) during this three and a half year ‘Great Tribulation.’
  
• 
  
  AD 20xx
  ~2500
  plus
  7
  years The Battle of Armageddon will take place in modern Israel at the end of the three and a half year ‘Great Tribulation.’ The Antichrist and his forces will be defeated by Christ Himself when He returns to save the modern State of Israel and the post–Rapture Church. Then the devil will be thrown into a pit, and Jesus will rule from this earth’s Jerusalem (presumably with secretaries, chauffeurs, and butlers) for one thousand years.
  
• 
  AD 30xx ~3500
  years The devil is loosed from the pit and leads a revolt against Christ's government in Jerusalem. Fire comes down from Heaven to destroy the devil and his army. There is the final Judgment Day.