The Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks--9:1-27, Part 3

II. DANIEL THE PROPHET--Chapters 7-12
C. The Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks--9:1-27
2. The pronouncement of the prophecy--vv. 24-27
c. Events after the 69 weeks--v. 26
(I) The death of Messiah
(A) After the 62 weeks
(1) The phrase is clear--"Now Daniel 9:26 proceeds to declare that 'after' the expiration of this
period, Messiah, the Anointed One, was to be 'cut off, but not for himself.'" (Newell 147; italics are
his.)
(2) "The natural interpretation of verse 26 is that it refers to the death of Jesus Christ upon the cross.
As this relates to the chronology of the prophecy, it makes plain that the Messiah will be living at
the end of the sixty-ninth seventh and will be cut off, or die, soon after the end of it." (Walvoord,
229)
(3) "It is not 'after threescore and two weeks' but 'after the threescore and two weeks' that Messiah is
'cut off.' That is, He is cut off after 'the' Sixty-two Weeks which follow the first seven weeks,' or a
total of Sixty-nine Weeks." (McClain, 34, footnote)
(B) Messiah cut off
(1) "The prominence of the Messiah in Old Testament prophecy and the mention of Him in both
verses 25 and 26, makes the cutting off of the Messiah one of the important events in the
prophetic unfoldment of God's plan for Israel and the world. How tragic that, when the promised
King came, He was 'cut off.' The adulation of the crowd at the triumphal entry and the devotion of
those who touched by His previous ministry were all to no avail. The unbelief of Israel and the
calloused indifference of religious leaders when confronted with the claims of Christ combined with
the hardness of heart of Gentile rulers to make this the greatest of tragedies." (Walvoord, 229)
(2) "Messiah was 'cut off,' indeed, at the height of His adult manhood, and the Cross effectually
prevented any fulfillment at that time of all of the Old Testament promises concerning the glories
which were to accompany His restoration of all things, particularly with respect to the nation of
Israel. Less than four days after the expiration of the 69 sevens, our Lord was crucified, on the
14th day of the Passover month Nisan, in marvelously accurate fulfillment of the type of the
Passover lamb, instituted so long before." (Newell, 147-8)
(C) "But not for Himself"
(1) Some would render this: "And shall have nothing." (R.V.); here again is a much ado about nothing.
(2) Walvoord--"Nothing that rightly belonged to Him as Messiah the Prince was given to Him at that
time. He had not come into His full reward nor the exercise of His regal authority. He was the
sacrificial lamb of God sent to take away the sins of the world. Outwardly it appeared that evil
had triumphed." (Walvoord, 230)
(3) But, He did not die for Himself.
(a) He died for you and me.
(b) Isaiah 53:4-6 ,8, 12
(II) The destruction of Jerusalem
(A) When it took place
(1) After the 69 weeks
(2) After the crucifixion--Messiah cut for
(3) 70 A. D.--City and sanctuary destroyed
(B) Who did it
(1) Note carefully what this phrase says.
(a) It does not say, "The prince that is to come."
(b) It says, "the people of the prince that is to come."
(2) The people who destroyed Jerusalem were the Romans under the generalship of Titus.
(C) What took place
(1) Destruction of the city
(2) Destruction of the sanctuary
(3) The cessation of the sacrifices
(III) The closing portion
(A) The phrase "The end thereof shall be with a flood"
(1) The term is used to indicate a warlike people.
(a) Daniel 11:10, 22, 26, 40
(b) Isaiah 8:8
(2) Isaiah 28:2 (Cf. vv. 17, 18)
(3) "This seems to be a general reference to the fact that from the time of the destruction of the city of
Jerusalem, trouble, war, and desolation will be the normal experience of the people of Israel and
will end only at 'the consummation' mentioned in verse 27, that is, the end of the seventieth seven."
(op. cit., 231)
(B) The phrase "And unto the end of the war desolations are determined"
(1) "Because of the reference to 'the end' twice in verse 26, it would be contextually possible to refer
this to the end of the age and to a future destruction of Jerusalem." (Ibid.)
(2) Cf. the Lord's prophecy
(a) Matthew 24:6, 7
(b) Mark 13:7, 8
(c) Luke 21:10
(3) Many including Walvoord state that the entire verse has been fulfilled historically.
(4) Though this writer basically agrees with this position, it may well be that these last two phrases are
transitional to verse 27 and thus covers the entire church age.
(IV) The two approaches to verses 26 and 27
(A) Continuous interpretation
(1) "If fulfillment is continuous, then the seventieth week is already history." (Walvoord, 230)
(2) According to the Continuous view the whole period of the Seventy Weeks is continuous and
unbroken. There is no break anywhere. The Seventieth Week follows the Sixty-ninth without any
gap in time. Obviously, if this theory be correct, the Seventieth Week is past, having come to an
end somewhere early in the Book of Acts. Adherents to the theory are not wholly agreed as to
details, but the most important group believe that Christ died in the middle of the Seventieth Week
and therefore this last Week must have ended three and one-half years after the cross." (McClain,
32; italics are his.)
(3) If one takes the seventieth week to follow immediately, then it ended approximately 39 A. D.
(4) "Regardless of minor differences, therefore, it should be clear that according to the Continuous
view the whole prophecy of the Seventy Weeks has been fulfilled for over nineteen hundred years,
and the future contains nothing comprehended within the scope of this prophecy." (Ibid.)
(5) "Young holds that the sacrifices are caused to cease by Christ in His death which they consider
fulfilled in the middle of the last seven years." (Walvoord, 230)
(6) However, the sacrifices did not cease until the destruction of the sanctuary in 70 A. D.--some 38
years later.
(7) "Young and others who follow the continuous fulfillment theory are left without any explanation
adequate for interposing an event as occurring after the sixty-ninth seven by some thirty-eight
years--which, in their thinking, would actually occur after the seventieth week. In a word, their
theory does not provide any normal or literal interpretation of the text and its chronology." (Ibid.)
(B) The gap interpretation
(1) This view--"The Seventieth Week does not immediately follow the Sixty-ninth Week, but there is a
great parenthesis of time between these two which has already lasted for over nineteen hundred
years, and therefore the Seventieth Week still lies in the future." (McClain, 32-33)
(2) The reasons for this view
(a) The most natural reading of this prophecy
((I)) Westerners have a passion for continuousness in chronology.
((II)) Orientals do not.
((III)) Verse 24 is what seems to lead to a continuous idea--70 weeks.
((IV)) But notice--"First, in verse 25 we have a period of Sixty-nine Weeks ending with a
definite historical event, the appearance of Messiah the Prince. Then, after these Sixty-nine
Weeks come two other events, the death of Messiah and the destruction of the city. And
after these two events, we come to the final one week in verse 27. If we follow the order
of the record strictly both the death of Messiah and the destruction of Jerusalem are
placed between the Sixty-ninth and Seventieth Weeks of prophecy." (op. cit., 34; italics are
his.)
(b) The historical fulfillment of the two predicted events in verse 26
((I)) The death of Messiah--32 A. D.
((II)) The destruction of Jerusalem--70 A. D.
((III)) Both took place after the end of the 69 weeks.
((IV)) There is thus a gap of at least 38 years.
((V)) "For, if even so much as one year is allowed between the last two weeks, the principle of
the 'gap interpretation' is admitted. And if, as we seen, there must be at least thirty-eight
years, we have no prior reason for denying that there may be nineteen hundred. This
argument is based squarely on the rock of prophecy already fulfilled, than which there is no
safer guide as to what we may expect from prophecy which is yet unfulfilled." (op. cit., 35;
italics are his.)
(c) The tremendous events of verse 29 can't be found anywhere in known history.
((I)) We have already dealt with a partial fulfillment at he cross.
((II)) "All these great events have to do with the Jewish people; and, . . ., they are included
within the reach of the Seventy Weeks' prophecy. " (op. cit., 35; italics are his.)
((III)) Where in the Book of Acts do you find any fulfillment of these things?
((A)) "The transgression of the chosen nation increases by leaps and bounds until the crisis
comes in the twenty-eighth chapter, where the Apostle Paul turns definitely to the
   Gentles." (op. cit., 36)
((B)) "It is during this very period and beyond that we find the greatest loosing of vision and
prophecy in all the history of revelation." (Ibid.)
(d) The gap phenomenon is not unusual in Old Testament prophecy.
((I)) Isaiah 9:6
((A)) First part--the birth of Christ
((B)) Second part--"Here we have something still future. Between these two clauses of the
same prophecy separated only by a colon in the English translation, there is a break in
time which has already extended nineteen hundred years." (op. cit., 36-37)
((II)) Zechariah 9:9, 10
((A)) Verse 9--fulfilled on first Palm Sunday
((B)) Verse 10--This verse has, in no way fulfillment which must wait until the second
coming.
((III)) Isaiah 61:1, 2
((A)) Compare with Luke 16:21
((B)) Notice that our Lord stopped in the middle of the sentence.
((C)) Why? Because only that part was fulfilled at His first coming.
((D)) The rest has already waited more than 1,900 years.
(e) The testimony of our Lord Himself
((I)) Our Lord speaks of the abomination of desolation.
((II)) Daniel speaks of this abomination.
((A)) Verse 27
((B)) Daniel 12:11
((C)) Daniel connects this abomination with the stopping sacrifices offered daily.
((III)) Matthew 24:15ff.
((A)) Shows that it was still future.
((B)) He does not connect it with His pending death.
((C)) This event was to occur in the middle of the 70th week--"Whatever the 'abomination
of desolation' may be, there can be no doubt that Daniel put it exactly in the middle of
  the Seventieth Week, while our Lord placed it a 'the end' just before His second coming
in glory. Therefore, the Seventieth Week must also come at the end of the present age
just prior to Christ's coming in glory. This is the interpretation of Christ Himself, and it
should settle the matter. Our Lord has not yet come in glory; the Seventieth Week is still
   future; and there is a great parenthesis of time between the Sixty-ninth and Seventieth
Weeks of the prophecy." (op. cit., 40)
(3) Dangers avoided by this interpretation
(a) Avoids the confusion and despair that is common in approaching the 70th week.
((I)) "The effort to connect it (the Seventieth Week) immediately with the Sixty-ninth has led to
results in exegesis both amazing and amusing. Never was the hopelessness of any task more
thoroughly evinced than here." (op. cit., 41; quoting Nathaniel West)
((II)) "So completely did many of the greatest Biblical scholars loss their way in utter
disagreement that Bosanquet rightly observed: 'Every fresh interpretation only adds to the
force of our conviction that some radical error lies at the foundation of all our Christian
interpretations, and, till it is discovered, the Seventy Week of Daniel will remain unexplained
and inexplicable to the comprehension of every unprejudiced inquirer.'" (op. cit., 41; italics
are his [Italics missing].)
((III)) The error is obviously, the failure to see the gap of time between the 69th and 70th
weeks.
(b) Explains why this present church age is passed over most completely by the prophets--"It
constantly keeps us on our guard against attempting to find things in Old Testament prophecy
which are not there." (op. cit., 42)
(c) Avoids the popular, but erroneous idea that God is through with the nation of Israel--"The
error of putting the Seventieth Week in immediate connection with the Sixty-ninth has
undoubtedly made no small contribution to the erroneous theories of both Postmillennialism and
Amillennialism." (Ibid.)
(d) Avoids the date-setting schemes for the end of this present age and the Second Coming--
"Every scheme of date-setting requires for its basis a continuous prophetic chronology covering
the present age. Without this, the date-setters are helpless. And according to the Gap principle,
there can be no such chronology." (op. cit., 42-43)
(4) The conclusion
(a) Does this prophecy say anything about the present age.
((I)) "The rather amazing thing is that in all this vast charm of over nineteen centuries, Daniel
identifies clearly only two events: the death of Messiah and the destruction of Jerusalem.
Outside and beyond these two events, he mentions nothing. All the pomp and glory and
boasted achievements of the so-called Christian era are passed over with complete silence."
(op. cit., 43)
((II)) "During the course of this great interval, the Church, the Body of Christ, as set forth in
Paul's epistles, is the object of God's direct attention and purposes. This was clearly stated
by James at the great convocation in Jerusalem: 'God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take
out of them a people for his name' (Acts 15:14). When that people, comprising the Body of
Christ (most of whom have already lived upon earth and gone to be with Christ) are
completed in God's omniscient foreknowledge, the interval will end with the glorious
fulfillment of I Thessalonians 4:13-17, and following this, as James further indicates (Acts
15:16, 17), the Lord Himself will return in glory as the Consummation of His final dealings
with Israel, which apparently are to be resumed after the Church has been caught up to meet
the Lord in the air." (Newell, 150)
(b) Two things declared about this present age.
((I)) "Unto the end shall be war"--"As a prophet," Daniel "has an established reputation. Over
two thousand years ago Daniel said that 'unto the end shall be war,' and no one can deny the
accuracy of his prediction this far. Any prophet who has been two thousand years is
worth listening to." (McClain, 44; italics are his.)
((II)) "Desolations are determined"--"The other lesson is still more important! The God of
heaven is in control over the events of this sinful age of ours. If war continues to the end,
bringing destruction and desolation, we are not to forget that these 'desolations are
determined.' Man is responsible for his failure, but man's failure never takes God by surprise.
What man does, God has determined." (op. cit., 45; italics are his.)
((III)) It is true that God is in control of all things. On the other hand, He has not
predetermined every action of man.
((A)) McClain seems to imply this. If so, this writer disagrees. God in His omniscience
knows every action that a man may take, but that does not mean He determined that
action.
((B)) Example: if this writer came to a fork in the road, the Lord of Glory knows which
fork this writer will take; but He does not determine which fork this writer will take
((C)) Otherwise, there would no free will (which the Bible teaches) on man's part; thus, man
would not be responsible for his actions.
((D)) Man is responsible for his actions because he does have freedom to act.
d. The Seventieth Week--v. 27
(I) General considerations
(A) Views of interpretations
(1) Verses 24-26
(a) Liberal--non-Christological
(b) Conservative--Christological
((I)) Amillennial
((II)) Premillennial
(2) Verse 27
(a) Diversity of interpretation
(b) "Here the choice is clearly between literal fulfillment, which requires a futuristic interpretation
with a gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth week, or several other options which
admittedly do not provide any clear fulfillment of verse 27." (Walvoord, 232)
(B) Views of the 70th week in opposition to the literal and futuristic interpretation
(1) The views themselves
(a) Liberal view--finds fulfillment in events following Maccabean persecutions; this is because in part
of their holding to a late date for Daniel.
(b) Jewish view--finds fulfillment in destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A. D.
(c) Amillennial view--an indefinite period of time beginning with Christ and extending to the end.
   (d) The view that the 70th week is literal beginning with Christ's public ministry and concluding
about 3 1/2 years after His death.
(2) The refutation
(a) General--"Each of the four views which claim fulfillment largely in the past have their supporting
argument, sometimes presented at length. But they have one common failure, which is the
Achilles' heel of their interpretation: none of them provides literal fulfillment of the prophecy."
(Ibid.)
(b) Specific
((I)) First view--"The first view, the Maccabean fulfillment, is built on the premise that Daniel is a
forgery and prophecy is impossible." (Ibid.)
((II)) The second and third views
((A)) "The second and third views explain away problems by spiritualization [allegorizing]
and have no specific chronology. The numerical system of the seventy sevens becomes
merely symbolic." (Ibid.)
((B)) "Even Leupold, an amillennarian who considers the seventy sevens extending to the
second coming of Christ (third view), objects to the historic fulfillment of the seventy
sevens. He writes, 'All they have left for the last week and the consummation of the
seventy year-weeks is an unimportant date seven years after Christ's death, when
something so unimportant happened that the commentators are at a loss as to what they
should point to. That interpretation runs out into sand. No one has yet advanced a
halfway satisfactory answer as to why such a termination of glorious work should be
selected to close at the computation.'" (Leupold, 436-7; quoted in Walvoord, 232)
((III)) The fourth view--"The fourth view, that of Philip Mauro, finds literal fulfillment of the first
sixty-nine and one-half sevens, but no fulfillment of the climax." (Walvoord, 232)
(3) Some amillenniallists do admit some of the literal, futuristic views.
(a) Leupold identifies the "prince that shall come" as the antichrist.
(b) Keil presents a similar view and concludes--"Therefore the thought is this: That ungodly prince
shall impose on the mass of the people a strong covenant that they should follow him and give
themselves to him as their God." (Keil, 367)
(II) The verse itself
(A) "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week"
(I) The word He
(a) “The determination of the antecedent of he in verse 27 is the key to the interpretation of the
passage." (Walvoord, 233; italics are his.)
(b) Other views
((I)) Antiochus Epiphanes
((A)) Montgomery
((B)) "In keeping with his interpretation that the prophecy was fulfilled in the second century
B. C." (op. cit., 233)
  ((II)) Christ
((A)) Supported by Young and Mauro
((B)) "Mauro states, 'If we take the pronoun "He" as relating to the Messiah mentioned in
the preceding verse, then we find in the New Testament Scripture a perfect fulfillment of
the passage, and a fulfillment, moreover, which is set forth in the most conspicuous way.
That the pronoun must, in our opinion, be taken as referring to Christ, because (a) the
prophecy is all about Christ, and this is the climax of it; (b) Titus did not make any
covenant with the Jews; (c) there is not a word in Scripture about any future "prince"
making a covenant with them." (Mauro, Phillip, The Seventy Weeks and the Great
Tribulation. Boston: Scripture Truth Depot, 1923, 81; quoted in Walvoord, 233)
((C)) Walvoord replies--"Mauro, of course, begs the question, for this is the only passage
on the seventy sevens of Israel. The question being debated is whether or not verse 27
deals with Christ; and to state dogmatically that 'the prophecy is all about Christ' is
precisely the matter in question. Nor is it unthinkable that a future ruler would make a
covenant with Israel." (Ibid.)
((D)) The actual fact of the matter is that the prophecy is not about Christ as such but about
Israel.
((III)) An unusual rendering
((A)) "One week shall confirm the covenant to many."
((B)) "The confirming of the covenant is not the work of time, but the deed of a definite
person." (op. cit., 234)
((IV)) Walvoord's conclusion--"Ultimately, the question facing every expositor is what
interpretation gives the most natural and intelligent exposition of the text. If it is not
necessary to consider this literal prophecy, and the times units are not literal, a variety of
interpretation immediately becomes possible. If the expositor desires to follow the text
meticulously, however, there is really no alternative but to declare the entire seventieth seven
future, for there has been no seven-year period fulfilling the events of prophecy, however
labored the interpretation. This is usually conceded by those who make the last seven years
an indefinite period which allows for still future interpretation." (Ibid.)
(c) The correct antecedent
((I)) The different princes
((A)) Messiah the Prince
((B)) The prince that shall come
((II)) "The expression 'prince that shall come' cannot possibly refer 'Messiah the Prince' for the
simple reason that it is 'the people of the prince that shall come' who are to destroy
Jerusalem after the death of Messiah. And since it is now a matter of history that Jerusalem
was destroyed in A. D. 70 by the Roman people, not by the Jewish people, it follows that
'the prince that shall come' cannot be the Jewish Messiah but is some great prince who will
arise out of the Roman Empire." (McClain, 50; italics are his.)
((III)) The pronoun could refer to either grammatically, the closest one is to be preferred in the
absence of other factors. Since there are no other factors, it must , therefore, be the prince
that shall come.
((IV)) Confirmed by the fact that it can not be Messiah the Prince
((A)) "First, we are told that 'he' will make a firm covenant with the Jewish nation for a
period of one week, or seven years. Now, there is absolutely nothing recorded in th
earthly ministry of our Lord which even remotely resembles such a covenant. Those who
hold that Messiah is the maker of this seven-year covenant have never been able to
produce the evidence to show the existence of such a covenant between our Lord and
the Jews. They cannot point to the place in history where it began nor where it has
ended." (op. cit., 51-52; italics are his.)
((B)) "Second, the theory that this covenant was made by our Lord when He began His
earthly ministry and that by His death He caused the Jewish sacrifices to cease, breaks
down because there is no reference to such a covenant in the Gospel records and also
because the death of Christ did not cause the Jewish sacrifices to cease. They continued,
in fact, until the destruction of Jerusalem nearly forty years later. And, since according to
this theory Christ died in the midst of the week, the sacrifices should have ceased
immediately. But they did not." (op. cit., 52)
         ((C)) "In the third place, to insist that Messiah was the maker of this seven-year covenant
necessarily puts the entire Seventieth Week in the past, immediately following the
Sixty-ninth Week. But this is impossible, as we have seen already from arguments set
forth previously [chiefly the gaps and events between 69th and 70th weeks]." (Ibid.)
(d) He is a Roman prince
((I)) The 'little horn' of chapter 7
((II)) The Antichrist
((III)) "For those who had read the great vision of chapter seven, no further identification would
be needed. This same prince is, in my judgment, also the 'king of fierce [strong]
   countenance' of chapter eight, the Willful King of chapter eleven, the 'man of sin' of 2
Thessalonians 2:3, the beast 'out of the sea' of Revelation 13:1; the last great persecutor of
Israel, Satan's false Christ, before whom all the world shall do homage whose names are not
written in the Lamb's book of life. A dark and sinister figure he is, whose ominous shadow
   falls constantly upon the pages of divine prophecy, until he come to his fearful doom in the
lake of fire (Rev. 20:20)." (op. cit. 51)
(2) The confirmed covenant
(a) The precise prophecy of verse 27 indicates that the personage in view enters into a covenant
    relationship with many, literally, 'with the many,' (cf. many, literally, 'the many,' Dan 11:39;12:2)
This is a clear reference to unbelieving Jews who will enter into alliance with the prince that shall
come. That they are Jews is indicated by thy people in verse 24." (Walvoord, 234; italics are
his.)
(b) "The precise nature of this 'firm covenant,' league, or treaty, between the Roman prince and the
Jewish people is not revealed fully in Dan. 9:27. But there is at least an intimation in the verse.
The fact that, following the establishment of the treaty, the Roman prince only three and one-half
years later puts a stop to the Jewish sacrifices, certainly suggests that one thing involved in the
treaty will be the reestablishment of the Jewish Temple sacrificial system." (McClain, 58)
(3) The one week
(a) A definite period of 7 years
((I)) It occurs between the rapture and the return of Christ.
((II)) After the rapture
((A)) 2 Thessalonians 2:1-9
((B)) "Now, since the restraining power mentioned in this remarkable passage can be nothing
else but the true church indwelt by the Holy Spirit [This writer would say the Holy
Spirit Himself, not the church as such.], it is clear that the coming Roman prince cannot be
revealed as the 'man of sin' as long as this restraining power is operative on earth. But
when this 'one that restraineth' shall be 'taken out of the way' (as the church shall be
taken one of these days according to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), 'then shall be revealed
the lawless one.' The language is unmistakable and indicates two important facts: first,
the coming prince cannot be revealed until after the removal of the true church from the
earth; and, second, his revelation must follow the translation of the church very speedily,
   if not immediately. Therefore, since the identity of the Roman prince will be clearly
revealed the moment he makes his seven-year covenant with the Jewish people, and since
the making of this covenant will mark the beginning of the Seventieth Week, it follows
logically that the Seventieth Week cannot begin until after the removal of the true church
from the earth." (op. cit., 53-54; italics are his.)
((III)) Prior to Christ's return in glory
((A)) "Daniel 9:24 names certain great blessings which will come to Israel when the whole
period of the Seventy Weeks have run their course, and a study of these blessings
shows that they are the very ones which are to be brought by Messiah at His second
coming from heaven in great power and glory." (op. cit., 54)
((B)) "Since the awful power of the Roman prince continues to the full end of the seventieth
Week (Dan. 7:25-27; 9:27), and since he is to be 'destroyed' by the manifestation of our
  Lord's coming (2 Thess. 2:8), it follows that this glorious coming of our Lord will take
place at the end of the Seventieth Week. In fact, it will be the glorious second coming of
Messiah which will terminate the entire period of the Seventy Weeks and usher in the
covenant blessings to Israel." (Ibid.)
(b) It provides the chronological framework for Revelation 6-19.
((I)) Based on the single measure of time set forth in both books
((A)) 1/2 of a seven or 3 1/2 years--Daniel 9:27
((B)) Time, times and half time
((1)) Daniel 7:25
((2)) Revelation 12:1, 16
((C)) 42 months
((1)) Revelation 11:2
((2)) Revelation 13:5
((D))1,260 days
((1)) Revelation 11:3
((2)) Revelation 12:4
((II)) Three views
((A)) "One school regards all prophetic numbers as merely symbolic and therefore
meaningless from the standpoint of chronology." (op. cit., 55)
((B)) "A second school [chiefly Seventh Day Adventists], holding to the unscriptural
'year-day' theory of prophetic interpretation, has proceeded to erect all kinds of fantastic
chronological schemes covering the present age, even to the extent of setting dates for
the coming of the Lord." (Ibid.)
((C)) "A third school, noting that the three and a half years of Revelation are exactly one-half
of seven years, and remembering that Daniel's prophecy divides the Seventieth Week
into two halves, has used Daniel's prophecy of the Seventy Weeks as a point of
departure and the inspired key to the interpretation of the Book of Revelation, which was
the obvious and sensible thing to do." (op. cit., 55-56)
((III)) The book of Revelation covers the entire 70th week.
((A)) Revelation 11:2, 3 is key passage.
((B)) "Now, since the 'forty and two months' of verse 2 constitute a three and a half year
period during which Gentile powers shall 'tread under foot' the Holy City, this must refer
to the last half of Daniel's Seventieth Week, because it is in the middle of the Seventieth
Week that the Roman prince stops the Jewish sacrifice and becomes their persecutor
(Dan. 9:27)." (op. cit., 56 ; italics are his.)
((C)) "It is likewise apparent that the 'thousand two hundred and three-score days' of verse
3 must refer to the first half of the Seventieth Week, because the two witnesses bear their
testimony during this period, and they cannot be slain until the Roman beast comes to the
height of his power when it is 'given unto him to make war with the saints, and to
overcome them' (Rev. 11:7; 13:7)." (Ibid.; italics are his.)
((D)) "Thus we have here clearly the entire Seventieth Week: the first half as the period of
the rising power of the Roman prince and the testimony of the Two Witnesses; while the
second half is the period of the beast's absolute dominion over the world and his terrible
persecution of Israel. The exact middle of the Seventieth Week is marked by the killing
of the Witnesses and the sounding of the 'seventh angel' (Rev. 11:1-15)." (op. cit., 56-
57)
((IV)) The end of the Seventieth Week--"Since we already know that the week will end with
the glorious appearing of the true Christ from heaven, it is clear that the seven-year period
must end in chapter 19, verses 11 to 21." (op. cit., 57)
((V)) The beginning of the 70th week
((A)) "Since the period begins with the revelation of the false Christ, as we have seen above,
the Seventieth Week must begin in Rev. 6:1-2, where the Roman beast begins his ruthless
ride to world power." (Ibid.)
((B)) The firm Covenant begins the 70th week.
(B) In the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease
(1) Middle of the week--at the 3 1/2-year mark
(2) Causes sacrifices and oblation to cease
(a) "According to the prophecy, in the middle of the seven-year period the one who confirms the
covenant 'shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease.' that is, all the bloody and non-bloody
sacrifices." (Walvoord, 235)
(b) "This could not refer to Jesus Christ as His death on the cross as Philip Mauro insists, because,
as a matter of fact, the sacrifices did not cease until A. D. 70, some forty years later. The
sacrifices were not stopped by Christ but by the Roman soldiers who destroyed the temple."
(Ibid.)
(c) "Quite evidently after the seven-year treaty has run for only three and one-half years, the Roman
prince tears up his agreement as a mere scrap of paper. In this violent and faithless procedure,
he manifests the spirit of present-day trends, which are already distressingly clear. There was a
time when nations had some regard for their solemn agreements, but covenant-breaking seems
to have become the fashion of the age." (McClain, 60)
(3) The reason
(a) Not stated in the prophecy itself
(b) "No one could hate our Lord Jesus Christ and at the same time really love the chosen people
   from which He came according to the flesh. By his very nature, the Man of Sin will be violently
anti-Semitic. His treaty with the Jews will be based wholly on political expediency. Therefore,
once he has reached the pinnacle of world power aided by their great wealth and influence, he
will have no further use for them. Like certain rulers today, he keeps his treaties only as long as
it is profitable to do so. And as he will break with the Jewish people in the middle of the
Seventieth Week, even so he will break with the apostate church which he has supported as
long as he needed her influence in his rise to world power" (op. cit., 61)
(c) "From 2 Thessalonians 2:4 and Revelation l3:8-15 we learn that, intoxicated with his great
power, he will actually take his seat in the temple of God and demand the honors and worship
of God Himself. This to the sternly monotheistic Jew will certainly be the very 'abomination of
desolation,' and many will refuse to bow the knee, in spite of the fact that this idolatrous worship
will become almost universal (Rev. 13:8). This refusal on the part of godly Jews will furnish the
Roman beast with the necessary pretext for the breaking of his treaty and the forcible cessation
of the Jewish Temple sacrifice." (op. cit., 62)
(d) Antichrist's theological system stated in three propositions
((I)) "1. There is no personal God without and above the universe." (op. cit., 63)
((II)) "2. Man is himself his own god--the god of this world." (Ibid.)
((III)) "3. I am the representative of humanity; by worshiping me, humanity worships itself."
(Ibid.)
((IV)) Conclusion: This is nothing more than today's humanism.
(C) "For the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate"
(1) The phrase overspreading of abomination
(a) It might be rendered upon the wing of abomination.
(b) Leupold rendering The wings of abominable idols
(c) AV rendering of abomination of desolation
((I)) Matthew 24:15
((II)) Mark 13:14
(2) It involves persecution of the saints.
(a) "Since this period of 'desolations' begins in the middle of the last week and lasts 'even unto the
full end' (9:27), obviously it will continue for three and a half years. This is exactly the time
specified in Dan. 7:25 during which the Roman beast 'shall wear out the saints of the Most
High'; the same measure of time of given in Rev. 13:5-7 when this beast 'shall make war with
the saints and . . . overcome them.'" (Ibid.)
(b) "According to Rev. 13, the future world ruler of the time of the great tribulation will not only
take to himself absolute political power but will demand the worship of the entire world, will
blaspheme the true God, and persecute the saints (Rev. 13:4-7)." (Walvoord, 236)
(c) "This is the 'time of Jacob's trouble' (Jer. 30:7) so fully discussed by the Old Testament
prophets. As a divinely inspired prediction, it was an old story in the days of Daniel. Daniel's
contribution to the prophecy was to provide the chronology of the period of persecution. Our
Lord paid special attention to this period in the future history of Israel, warning them solemnly."
(McClain, 64)
(d) Matthew 24:15-21
(e) Begins at the setting up of the abomination of desolation, i. e., in the middle of the week.
(f) Today--"The outbreak and almost universal spread of anti-Semitism today, incredible as it may
seem, is only the preliminary blast of the storm which is yet to come. There will be a false calm
during the first three and one-half years of the Seventieth Week under the treaty with the Roman
beast." (op. cit., 65)
(D) "Unto the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."
(1) "His period of great power will terminate at the second advent of Christ. Like the desolation of
Daniel 9:27, which is going to continue until the consummation, the desolation according to this
passage will continue until the consummation pictured dramatically in Revelation 19 when the beast
and false prophet are cast into the lake of fire." (Walvoord, 236)
(2) "The culmination of the entire prophecy of the seventy weeks is the second advent of Jesus Christ
which closes the seventieth seventh of Israel as well as the times of the Gentiles pictured in Daniel's
prophecies of the four great world empires. For most of the period, the two great lines of
prophecy relating to the Gentiles and Israel run concurrently, and both end with the same major
event--the second advent of Jesus Christ, when oppressed Israel is delivered and the oppressor,
the Gentile, is judged. With Israel today back in the land, the fulfillment of these prophecies may
not be too long distant." (op. cit., 237)
(III) The conclusion
(A) "The final period of seven years begins with the introduction of a covenant relationship between the
future 'prince that shall come' and 'the many,' the people of Israel. This covenant is observed for the
first half of the future seven-year period; then the special liberties and protections granted Israel are
taken away; and Israel becomes persecuted in their time of great tribulation. . . . . It is this period
referred to by Christ in the great tribulation in Matthew 24:15-26." (op. cit., 236-37)
(B) The end of the 70th week will usher in the great blessing promised Israel.
(1) Cf. verse 24
(2) Some points to notice
(a) "First, all these great blessings have to do with certain people and a certain city--the Jewish
people and the city of Jerusalem. It is Jewish transgression and sin that is to be brought to an
end. No more, after the close of the Seventieth Week, will this people be found in rebellion
against their own God and Messiah." (McClain, 65-66)
  (b) "Second, the phrase 'to make reconciliation for iniquity' does not here refer to the death of
Christ. As the late Sir Robert Anderson has already pointed out, the sacrifice itself was not the
reconciliation, but rather the means by which the reconciliation was made. At His glorious
appearing, which will close the Seventieth Week, our Lord on the basis of His sacrifice at
Calvary will 'reconcile' the chosen people unto Himself.” (op. cit., 66)
(c) "Third, 'to seal up vision and prophecy' is generally taken to mean that prophecy is to be brought
to an end by its fulfillment, but there may also be the further idea that the very fountain of
prophecy will be sealed because the Son of God personally on earth His word will go forth
directly no longer through the medium of the prophet." (Ibid.)
(d) "Fourth, "to anoint a most holy place' (A. R. V. margin) is undoubtedly the correct reading and
translation [This writer sees no real difference from the Authorized Version; the word place has
   always been understood.]. The reference is to the great millennial Temple which will be
consecrated as a place of worship and prayer for all nations at the beginning of Messiah's
kingdom (Ibid.)
(C) Our heart's cry should be that of John, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (Revelation 22:20)

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