In Jesus’ New Testament existence on this earth, the one time He appeared as a Prince and a Ruler was at His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. The Next 62 Weeks: Awaiting the MessiahĪfter the rebuilding of Jerusalem, Daniel’s prophecy anticipated “Messiah the Prince”-a Hebrew phrase associated with kingly authority. Following this decree, the Jewish people endured “troublesome times” as they rebuilt their homeland despite significant opposition from other groups in Judea, completing their project in 396 B.C. History has recorded four ancient decrees to restore the temple, but only one of them fulfills the requirement to rebuild the city as well-a proclamation by Artaxerxes that scholars have dated to March 14, 445 B.C. The First Seven Weeks: Rebuilding Jerusalemįrom the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.Īccording to verse 25, the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks would begin with a decree to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. In Revelation 11:3 and 12:6, the apostle John counts a three-and-a-half-year period as 1,260 days, indicating a 360-day year. A close examination of Genesis reveals that the earliest known month in Bible history was thirty days in length (Genesis 7:11, 24 8:3-4), and multiplying thirty days by twelve monthly periods produces a year of 360 days. This is consistent with many ancient calendars, including other biblical records. In verse 2, he references “seventy years,” so the “seventy sevens” in verse 24 are seventy groups of seven years.īefore we study the other details of Daniel’s prophecy, we also need to understand that his years consisted of 360 days, not 365. A more literal translation of Daniel 9:24 would be “Seventy sevens are determined.” History has proven that Daniel was referring to years rather than days, but we can also use context to determine his meaning. In Hebrew, the original word means “a period of seven” and can apply to days or years. The first step to decoding the Seventy Weeks is to understand the meaning of week. Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city.

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