Examining The Scripture CXXIV: The Seventy Sevens

--+Disclaimer+--
Yes, I am flirting with disaster here and possibly soliciting "friction" with those that hold future prophecy as essential to their salvation. I will say right in the beginning of this post that in the past I sat on the fence when it came to Amillinnial and Premillennial but now lean heavily towards Premillinnial. In addition to this I was raised in a dispensational household as a child so it often "colors" my take on current and future events. In relation to the tribulation: As described in the Bible I consider myself pretrib/pretribulation. As John MacArthur (i.e.: Johnny Mac) has once said of himself: I am a leaky dispensationalist. I will close this post with additional thoughts along these lines.


I've used Clarence Larkin's illustration as it is the most artistic and uncluttered. Also, it was in my parents library and frankly, I like the chart ;). If you are not dispensational or do not know what that means just ignore the word in the chart. The chart will still work for our purposes.

Interpretations of Daniel 9:24-27. This passage is likely one of the most disputed prophetic texts in the OT. Due to the difficulty of this passage I wanted the most literal English translation so I have used the NASB.

Daniel 9:24-27 and the seventy sevens were decreed to the people to finish transgression, put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.

(1) From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.'

(2) It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.

(3) The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolation has been decreed.

(4) He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.'
(4a) In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering.
(4b) On a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.

What we as readers are fairly certain of in this small passage is that it is a passage about six objectives that need completing (Longman, Garland 169).

(1) To “Finish Transgression”. A generalized understanding of this is rebellion against God based on a brief perusal of text.
(2) To put an end to sin
(3) To atone for wickedness
(4) To bring everlasting righteousness
(5) Seal up the vision and Prophecy
(6) Anoint the most holy

The the seventy sevens are weeks although unstated in the NASB passage. That being said there have been a lot of attempts at explanation of this prophecy. They usually divide into two camps Messianic (Christological) or Non-Messianic (Non-Christological). Conservative scholars such as Edward Young have ended up with no reasonably good explanation of this. So I guess that is the first interpretation: No interpretation. I will do the remainder in outline form and embellish.

The Messianic approach is to be fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus the Messiah (Christological). The other is the “Antiochene” approach which makes this passage pertain to only to known Hebrew history of the Babylonian captivity, restoration of Jerusalem and persecution by Antiochus Epiphanes. This approach emphasizes a lack of a Messianic figure or a Non-Messianic (Non-Christological) view.

Of course I will dwell mainly on the Messianic interpretation because it is along my beliefs and it has a long history of being interpreted this way in the Church. It is also encompasses the amillennial and premillennial views most prevalent (Longman, Garland 168-175)

(1) The weeks are actually viewed as years (amillenialists may not agree due to timescale).
(1a) The word “sevens” is in a masculine plural rather than feminine to indicate its oddity of use
(1b) The fact that there were 70 years of captivity would imply years/year.
(1c) Up to this point the context of Daniel’s writing has been in years
(1d) We often think of things in unit of tens today, in Daniels time that unit was sevens or groups of sevens(heptads).

(2) Seventy Sevens would equate to 490 years and are understood literally.
(2a) 490 years extend from the command to rebuild Jerusalem after Babylonian exile to the second advent of Jesus the Messiah or the second coming at the end of human history.
(2b) The command to rebuild is understood to be under Artaxerxes I (Ezra/Nehemiah)
(2c) The end of the 1st set of seven weeks or 49 years coincides with completion of of restoring Jerusalem
(2d) The 2nd set of sevens or 62 sevens or 434 years extends in a line from the end of the set of sevens until the first advent of Jesus Christ (baptism of triumphant entry around 25 AD.

Here we have further divergence of interpretation, this time it is between the Preterist, Amillennialist and the Premillenialist. The exact dividing line between these camps I have not yet determined. For some the final week of years or 70th week is fulfilled in the Jewish War (67-73AD) when Roman General Titus sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple “mid-week” in 70AD. For still others like the Premillennialists the final week is associated to the events of the End Times and the second coming of Christ. That means there is a great swath of time between the 69th and 70th week. Depending on the believer’s point of view this could be the Great Tribulation (or not). Therefore the final or 70th week will conclude with the second coming of Christ thereby bringing about the deliverance of modern-day Jews, destruction of the Antichrist and the beginning of the Kingdom in its entirety rather the “now and not yet”.


As for my own views, they lean towards Premillennial. For me post is too optimistic in light of the last few centuries and I cannot reconcile Revelation 20 and the Amillennial view at this point in my walk. Although this is an important topic to others (and myself), I do not believe it is a salvational issue as much as it is a future prophetic event. Regardless of whether it is Amill or Premill millennium

Addendum:

I would like to add a note about this post's topic. It was and is quite difficult to explain this scenario satisfactorily for a few different reasons. There are different ways to interpret and view these oracles, visions and prophecies. If they were clear-cut they would be no differences and consternation in the Church over their meanings. Such is not the case.

If you are decisive and pin down the angle that you want to hammer away to get an answer from the text you only open a can of worms somewhere else. The visions were often metaphorical or used imagery to parlay an idea and how you interpret whether it be literal or figurative directly affects what you come out of the text with.

What I found as I dug into this was that I am currently taking neutral positions on some and this has always been a pet peeve of mine, people not saying what they mean and meaning what they say. I use to be a lot more dogmatic in situations like this but I am finding now that I go where the spirit leads. This tact has brought me back to school to pursue my Master's in Theology. I need to resolve some of these topics and will more than likely end up taking specific classes to address my...hmmmm...indecisiveness.

What I am decisive about and sure of is that the Bible is inerrant. That being said some day the exact dates will be known and the truth of the oracles and visions will be also and we’ll all sit there and say, “Whhooooaaaa, I get it, that was a great plan God! I’d have never thought of that!”