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Prophecy Outline 6
The Times of the Gentiles and Daniel's Seventy Weeks


The book of Daniel outlines the future of Gentile world rule (which the Scriptures refer to as "the Times of the Gentiles") as well as the future of the nation of Israel (seen in the 70 weeks of Daniel 9).

The Times of the Gentiles
  • Dan 2 outlines the period of Gentile rule beginning with the Babylonian exile and culminating in the coming of Christ to set up His kingdom - seen as a beautiful statue (man's point of view)
  • Dan 7,8 outlines the same period from God's point of view and therefore the kingdoms aren't seen as parts of a magnificent statue, they're seen as beasts
  • Lk 21:20-24 describes the period of Gentile world rule as "the times of the Gentiles" and says that Jerusalem will be trodden under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are completed (which Daniel tells us will happen when Messiah sets up His kingdom on the earth)

Daniel's Seventy Weeks
  • What are the seventy "sevens"?
    • Seventy groups of seven years - 490 years altogether - Daniel 9:1f has in mind the 490 years that Israel didn't give the land its rest - now another 490 years are prophesied for Israel
    • 7 weeks (7 x 7 = 49 years) - to rebuild Jerusalem
    • 62 weeks (62 x 7 = 434 years) - until Messiah is cut off
    • 1 week (1 x 7 = 7 years) - relating to the coming prince
  • What is the subject of the seventy weeks?
    • Israel & Jerusalem - "your people and your holy city" (v.24)
  • When did the seventy weeks start?
    • "the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem" (v.25) (cf. Neh 2:1-9)
  • What happens in the first sixty-nine weeks?
    • Jerusalem rebuilt in the first 7 weeks "even in times of distress" (cf. Neh)
    • Messiah comes at the end of the 69th week
      • The Triumphal Entry (Lk 19:28-40) was 483 years to the day after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem
        • Lk 19:41-44 - At the Triumphal Entry Christ speaks of "this day" being the day of visitation - the day Messiah was to come
        • He also says that because they rejected Him, Jerusalem was going to be levelled (cf. Dan 9:26)
  • What happens between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks?
    • The Great Parenthesis (see below)
  • What happens during the seventieth week?
    • The coming prince makes a covenant with Israel
    • Halfway through the seventieth week the coming prince breaks his covenant with Israel and sets up "the abomination of desolation" in the temple (v.27) (cf. Mt 24:15ff)
      • This last 3 ½ years (= 42 months = 1260 days) is the Great Tribulation (Mt 24:21ff; Dan 7:25; 12:7; Rev 11:2f; 12:6,14)
  • What happens at the end of the seventy weeks?
    • Messiah returns to destroy the coming prince and set up His kingdom (Dan 9:24,27)

The Great Parenthesis (v.26)
  • Clearly v.26 occurs after the sixty-nine weeks but it also occurs before the 70th week (v.27)
    • Therefore the events of v.26 take place between the 69th and 70th weeks
  • This is the Great Parenthesis that OT believers couldn't see but we can see in retrospect
    • Isa 9:6f
    • Zec 9:10f
    • Isa 61:1f & Lk 4:16ff
    • Rom 11:25 - God has temporarily laid aside Israel (cf. Dt 28,30,32; Lev 26) until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in
  • Lk 20:9-16 - God will give the vineyard to "others" (= "allos", not "heteros" - to another generation of Jews, not to Gentiles)
    • The Lord sincerely offered the Kingdom to that generation of Israel (Mk 1:15; etc.) but when they rejected Him He said the Kingdom would go to a future generation of Israel - the clock of Daniel's 70 weeks stopped here on the day the 69th week was completed
  • Remember, the church is a mystery (Eph 3) - not revealed in OT times and therefore we can't expect to find detailed prophetic descriptions of its time on the earth
  • The events of the parenthesis
    • "Messiah will be cut off" - "cut off" means "slain" (Lev 7:20; Ps 37:9; Isa 53:8)
    • "and have nothing" - Jn 1:11
    • "the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary"
      • this occurred in AD 70 when the 3rd Roman Legion, under Titus destroyed Jerusalem - Isa 61:4; Lk 21:22
  • We also learn that the coming prince will be a Roman (since it was the Romans who sacked Jerusalem in AD 70)
  • "Even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined" - Jerusalem will be trodden under foot by the Gentiles

Conclusion
  • God has three distinct programs:
  1.     Gentiles - The Times of the Gentiles - 560 years + parenthesis
  2.     Israel - Daniel's Seventy Weeks - 490 years + parenthesis
  3.     The Church - The Great Parenthesis - so far about 2000 years
  • The Times of the Gentiles and Daniel's Seventy Weeks both end with
    • The destruction of the coming prince
    • The Second Coming of Christ to set up His kingdom
  • As surely as the first 69 weeks were accurately and literally fulfilled, someday the church will be removed and the 70th week can begin
  • Understanding these programs gives us a framework for interpreting prophecy
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