A. The cause/reasons behind the prophecy (verse 24). This answer the 5 questions: Who, What, Why, When and Where.

The question is how did the Angel come up with 70 weeks of 7? Is this mentioned anywhere else in scriptures?

 

I. The sovereignty of God: What

This was already determined by God before the foundation of the world for it was part of the foreknowledge of God. This work of God was settled within his counsel before anything ever came to be. In other words the methods and timetable was already determined according to Isaiah 46:9-10. His plan was already in action long before Israel rebelled against Him. This goes back to the Garden of Eden and the first family. Adam was on the 7^th day placed in the Garden and was given God’s Laws to obey in the Garden. He then was to take what was given into all the earth. Adam lived to be 930 years old just shy of the 1000 years for one day by 70 years. This same formula 7/70 is used by God in dealing with his chosen people who will one day be brought back by God to the place where Adam was driven from. So, we have the 7^th day and the 70 years that the chosen man (Adam) who represented all the believers to be in the earth falling short. The same way man fell will also be the same way God restores him. He was driven out of the Mountain of God and in the end will be driven back to the same place.

Many don’t see the very first verse of the bible written in a prophetic form where it’s coded in each of the first six letters of the first word is the entire gospel revealed with a timeline. This pattern is continued with the next six words used. The seven words are “In Beginning created God the Heavens and the Earth” in Genesis1:1. In Hebrew it says “Barashyth Bara Elohim ET Hashamayim VET Ha’arets. This verse in English have nine words but only seven in Hebrew. Hebrew is written in 3 ways: modern, paleo, ancient which all have a numerical value attached to each letter. This is the foundation of understanding the 70 weeks of Daniel beginning with the six days of creation and the seventh day Rest. The numbers that Gabriel used in the prophecy wasn’t a random number but prophesied in verse 1 of Genesis.

But before we go there let’s back up before the law and see if this pattern already existed. In Genesis 4:14-16, Cain saw the judgement of God coming being demonstrated 7 times on them than on himself and God then placed a mark on Cain. This mark at one level reveals how God would deal with the unrighteous acts of man in the earth. Then in chapter 4: 23-24, Cain great, great, great grandson Lamech killed a man and stated to his two wives that if Cain would be avenge 7 times by God then his should be 70 times 7 worst. So at this point these numbers are connected to some form of judgement from God to those who practiced unbelief but it was God formula to bring in forgiveness and restoration. Now moving back to the Garden, Adam was placed in the Garden, the mountain of God on the seventh day to fulfill the works appointed him to do for a thousand years. He didn’t fulfilled his task as the first believer called by God but died shy of the thousand years or 1 day by 70 years through rebellion. Therefore the 7day which was declared by God as a Holy Day of REST that included all creation and man, the70 years which was the shortage of Adam fulfilling that Day which would have placed humanity into an eternal state with God but this now has been coded to bring his people or (all creation) back not only to the place but also recovering the time he was short of the one day fulfillment and this will be used to restore all humanity back to Genesis being His people.

 

II. The sins of Gods people and the city: Who /Why

This is the nation of Israel directly and the city of Jerusalem which involves three things:      

* To finished the transgression (rebellion or apostasy) according to Zechariah 12:10-13:1 and Romans 11:1-26 which shows the end of Israel rebellion because of the hand of God and the fullness of the Gentiles has come which started on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Israel as a nation will turn back to God and no more rebellion.

* To make an end of sins. A refining process. Zechariah 13:8-9 and Ezekiel 20:33-37 shows how God will make an end of the sins of Israel which will be by judgement.

* To make reconciliation for iniquity: The word reconcile is atonement. How is God going to do this for his people in this 70 weeks of prophecy?

By the sending the same person they rejected years ago, Messiah the Prince. Isaiah 59:20, 53:2-6, 61:1-3 all prophesied of Jesus as the Messiah and is the one God sent. He also quoted in Luke 4:18-19 but he didn’t quote the entire second verse he stopped at “to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” He closed the book and said “this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears,” because the remainder of that prophecy was yet to come in the tribulation period the last 7 years of the 70 weeks of Daniel.

 

The setting up of God’s Kingdom   Where

This involved three things that reveals the hand of God and His purpose.

• To bring everlasting righteousness. This is the millennium reign of Christ on earth which will end the 70 weeks or the 490 years. Jeremiah 23:5 God’s kingdom is being established and in verse 6 says “in His day” Judah will be saved. Isaiah 11:1-5 says a rod will come forth of Jesse and judge with righteousness. Isaiah 9:6 shows how God will rule
• To seal up the vision and prophecy. The words seal up in Hebrew is (to make an end) Nothing else can be added. The direct revelation is sealed up within the 70 weeks of Daniel. Revelation 22:18 which quotes from the book of Daniel. All revelations and prophecy as it relates to Christ and prophecy will stop. Nothing else will be said and is irreversible and will happen. In Hebrew 1:1 the phase “has in these last days” in the Greek is the last of these days which is the days God spoke to the fathers by the prophets but in these last days was by His Son verse 2-4. The final message is the revelation of the Son but it’s the revelation after the gospels according to verse 3 he have already purged our sins and have already sat down in heaven. So now revelation about the Son is post death and post resurrection which is only found in Revelation 1:1 which is a picture of Christ that is totally different than from the gospel. This is what Daniel was foretelling that the direct speaking of God to man will come to an end and in Hebrew 1:1 tells you when and the fulfillment of this prophecy came when Revelation was wrote about 95 AD one of the last of the 5 books to be added to the New Testament writings and the last chapter says, “you can’t add to it or take it away.” All this is within the 70 weeks of Daniel prophecies.
• To anoint the most Holy. The last nine chapters in Ezekiel is about the temple. In Ezekiel 43:12 we see there will be a temple with sacrifices and offerings being done. Zechariah 14:16-19 also confirms the temple will be rebuilt to have feasts and sacrifices during the millennium reign of Christ.

 

B. The command that begins the prophecy verse 25.

• The restoration of Jerusalem When

Daniel was to know and understand so that he might have a peace of mind pertaining to God’s will for his people and Jerusalem. This involved several things.

1. A command and the Messiah Prince: Once the command or decree is given the clock for the 70 weeks starts up to the revealing of the Messiah Prince. There was somewhat 4 commands that scholars believed was spoken.

The fulfillment of the first 7 weeks started with the command given by the king to Ezra and then to Nehemiah that started on exactly the 7 year land Sabbath and the Jubilee year for the first 7 weeks which was completed. The next 62 weeks will bring about the finishing work for man through Christ who will free man from sin through the cross. So the land and the man “the first seven weeks focused on the land Sabbath for recovery and the next 62 weeks focused on the man Sabbath” total 69 weeks after the death of Christ.

 

• The first command was by King Cyrus in 538 BC in II Chronicles 36 and Ezra 1: 1:4, 4:3, 5:13, 6:1-5 but this did not include the walls.
• The second command was by King Darius in 519 BC in Ezra 6:6-12 but they was to finish that from King Cyrus decree.
• The third command was by King Artaxerxes in 458 BC in Ezra 6:14, 7:6-28. Many believe that the king only agreed with Ezra and not commanded them but Ezra 7:13-14 says otherwise. Again this did not include the walls.
• The fourth command was done again by Artaxerxes I in 445 BC with Nehemiah the governor in Nehemiah 2:1, which gives us a date, month and year.

Remember 70 weeks of 7 = 490 years is the entire prophecy but from the command to the revealing of the Messiah Prince will be 7 weeks and 62 weeks = 69 weeks or 483 years. So we had the first 7 weeks which is 49 years after the command was given in 458 BC and the temple was complete without the walls being done then the next 62 weeks is 434 years for a total of 483 years.  Artaxerxes commanded the first time to Ezra and then 13 years later Nehemiah started the rebuilding of the walls which took 52 days to complete. This 7 weeks happen to be on the exact start of the 7^th year land Sabbath and the start of the 49^th year of the Jubilee. In Daniel 9 verse 26 it says after the 62 weeks period seeing the first 7 weeks was already completed for the land which started when the command was given by King Artaxerxes in 458 B.C for the rebuilding of the temple. Then from that point of the command by the king, 62 weeks or 483 years will come that will reveal the Messiah Prince who will delivere man from the servitude of sin  and Christ will be cut off at the end of the 62 weeks which will total 69 weeks being fulfilled. The church age was born after the resurrection of Christ which stopped the clock in order that the Gentiles can get saved according to Romans 11. Then at the end of the church age another prince (the anti-christ) will come to the scene for 1 week which is 7 years according to Daniel 9:27 then in the middle of that week which is 3 1/2 years, he will break covenant and cause the abominations of desolation (Matthew 24) that is known as the end of the tribulation period that will completes the 70 weeks of Daniel.

There was four command given in scriptures however the time clock only began with one of them possibly stopped because the wall wasn’t done and started back up again with Nehemiah because the others timeline is entirely off. The most popular views is that of 445 BC because a date was given in Nehemiah 2:1 however I tend to lean more to 458 BC for the following reasons: The clock of God was not a continue running clock. Whenever the people was being judge by anyone else or enslaved for their rebellion and they not being in their own land the clock stop. The judgement of God has always included both, the land and the man together. There is another layer of why this is so which is connected to Genesis 1.

The illustration below shows all 4 commands given in scriptures and taken from Daniel chapter 9:25, “7 weeks and 62 weeks”. Although this 7 weeks or 49 years is connected to the practice of the land Sabbatical and the Jubilee which starts at the end of 49^th year going into the 50^th year. This first seven weeks is mainly focusing on the land and the temple. This of course came about through the Levitical law in chapter 25 as it relates to the land and the people but the concept of this was laid thousands of years before that. (Reference: the What)