Talk:70th week
When does the 70th week begin?
flee into the mountains Matthew 24
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off,
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the
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Israel’s future, Biblical Interpretation, the church,
Daniel’s 70th week
If you believe this seven year period is yet in the future you are a futurist
A proper view of the seven year tribulation begins with Israel.
These people are the people of God–
they are called God’s chosen people!
They were specifically chosen by God to be His nation.
The Old Testament details this great relationship.
The relationship was rocky for sure,
but Israel was always called back by God!
There is a perpetual relationship God has with Israel
that no other race of people on the earth can enjoy.
- 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day,
- that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land
- whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it;
- ye shall not prolong your days upon it,
- but shall utterly be destroyed.
- 27 And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations,
- and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen,
- whither the LORD shall lead you.
- 28 And there ye shall serve gods,
- the work of men’s hands,
- wood and stone,
- which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
- 29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God,
- thou shalt find him,
- if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
- 30 When thou art in tribulation,
- and all these things are come upon thee,
- even in the latter days,
- if thou turn to the LORD thy God,
- and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
- 31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;)
- he will not forsake thee,
- neither destroy thee,
- nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
- 32 For ask now of the days that are past,
- which were before thee,
- since the day that God created man upon the earth,
- and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other,
- whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is,
- or hath been heard like it?
- 33 Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire,
- as thou hast heard, and live?
- 34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation,
- by temptations, by signs, and by wonders,
- and by war, and by a mighty hand,
- and by a stretched out arm,
- and by great terrors,
- according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
- 35 Unto thee it was showed,
- that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God;
- there is none else beside him.
- 36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice,
- that he might instruct thee:
- and upon earth he showed thee his great fire;
- and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.
- 37 And because he loved thy fathers,
- therefore he chose their seed after them,
- and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;
- 38 To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art,
- to bring thee in,
- to give thee their land for an inheritance,
- as it is this day.
- 39 Know therefore this day,
- and consider it in thine heart,
- that the LORD he is God in heaven above,
- and upon the earth beneath:
- there is none else.
Please notice the promises of verses 30 and 31.
These are promises to an Israel that is in exile!
God promises to hear and not forget His people.
Notice He says "even in the latter days".
This promise extends to all Israelites today.
The future relationship with Israel
will be based on the same truth it always has: gospel truth.
All that stands between Israel and God today
is their refusal to "be obedient unto his voice"
and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible is clear on this too.
One day soon Israel will turn to the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Messiah!
The restoration of Israel will be a gospel restoration.
- 5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
- 6 And if by grace,
- then is it no more of works:
- otherwise grace is no more grace.
- But if it be of works,
- then is it no more grace:
- otherwise work is no more work.
Look at verse 37: "And because he loved thy fathers,
therefore he chose their seed after them."
It is true that Israel today is an enemy to the gospel of Jesus Christ,
but so is the rest of the world.
So were you, if you are a Christian, before God saved you!
What about their future?
How can a nation of people so tied to tradition and set against Jesus as the Messiah
ever turn to Him?
- 28 As concerning the gospel,
- they are enemies for your sakes:
- but as touching the election,
- they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
- 29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Israel has a definite future relationship with God.
We are told in Romans 11 that this will be a definite time period
marked as clearly as was the opening of the age of the Gentiles.
Paul is speaking of the Israelites as a race not some "spiritual Israel."
- 1 I say then,
- Hath God cast away his people?
- God forbid.
- For I also am an Israelite,
- of the seed of Abraham,
- of the tribe of Benjamin.
Furthermore, he speaks of two separate groups:
the Gentiles and the Jews.
The Gentiles he speaks of are saved Gentiles.
Rom. 11:11-13).
Paul cannot be speaking of anything other than a specific race of people.
A race to which he belonged!
"Hath God cast away his people?" (Rom. 11:1),
Rom. 11:11). He answers each of these with the strongest no there is: "God forbid."
He then declares "God is able to graft them in again" (
Rom. 11:23
Rom. 11:25). Note that God brings one period of time to a close and opens another.
Paul calls the future reconciliation of Israel a mystery.
Surely it is a great and glorious mystery.
The restoration of Israel will be established in a different time period.
A time after this present age!
In verse 25 he marks the end of this present age as the "fullness of the Gentiles."
Fullness means the completion of something.
[See Gal. 4:4, Eph. 1:10, Col. 1:19, 2:9 for other usage’s of the word fullness.]
The age of the Gentiles is defined as a period when God is still saving Gentiles,
and bringing them into His earthly government!
Jerusalem will be given back to Israel when this present period ends.
"And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations:
and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."
Luke 21:24
)The governmental seat of God’s earthly kingdom was at Jerusalem before the Church began.
Israel’s government must be nationalistic since it is based on race and geographic boundaries.
This makes Israel distinctly different from the Church
Does the Bible speak specifically of the duration of this future time period?
Daniel 9:24-27:
"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city,
to finish the transgression, and
to make an end of sins, and
to make reconciliation for iniquity, and
to bring in everlasting righteousness, and
to seal up the vision and prophecy,
and to anoint the most Holy.
Know therefore and understand,
that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem
unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks,
and threescore and two weeks:
the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off,
but not for himself:
and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;
and the end thereof shall be with a flood,
and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:
and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,
and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate,
even until the consummation,
and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."
Notice in verse 24 that this prophetic revelation concerns Israel and the holy city.
We are told this period is determined by God "to finish the transgression, and
to make an end of signs, and
to make reconciliation for iniquity, and
to bring in everlasting righteousness, and
to seal up the vision and prophecy, and
to anoint the most Holy."
Since Romans 11 teaches that God is not finished with Israel
and Jerusalem, these words become very important to us.
Has God finished the transgression of Israel?
Has God made an end of the sins of Israel?
Has God fully reconciled Israel if there are yet Israelites to be saved?
Has God brought everlasting righteousness to Jerusalem?
Has the preparation for and fullness of the Messiah’s rule over Israel come completely about yet?
Romans 11 does not speak of a symbolic restoration of Israel!
It is, without question, a literal restoration,
and therefore I can firmly answer each of these questions: NO!
Daniel is giving information about the past and future of Israel.
"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times." (
Dan 9:25).
Verse 25 clearly declares when the Messiah was to come.
He came right on time.
Notice this verse covers the first 69 of Daniel’s 70 weeks.
these weeks are to be interpreted as weeks of years.
from the date of the going forth of the commandment to the Messiah was 483 years.
"And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined." (
Dan. 9:26).
The age of the Gentiles began when Israel crucified their Messiah.
That is why the resurrections is not mentioned in verse 26.
The age of the Gentiles began!
Israel rejected the resurrected Messiah,
and Jerusalem and the temple (the city and the sanctuary) were destroyed in 70 A.D. by Titus.
Israel is still in the same evil unbelief they were then.
They are in the same rebellion that precipitated the destruction of the city and the sanctuary!
"That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word,
nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
Let no man deceive you by any means:
for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first,
and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped;
so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."
(2 Thess. 2:2-4).
Josephus says Titus was running around trying to get his men to stop destroying the temple.
He was not declaring himself to be God.
"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:
and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,
and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate,
even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."
(Dan. 9:27).
Daniel’s 70th week is not mentioned until after the events of verse 26.
These verses and events are clearly in chronological order.
The events of verse 26 are "after" the events of verse 25.
The events of verse 27 follow the events of verse 26.
The time period that dispensational premillennialists believe to be
between the 69th and 70th weeks of Daniel
is not only justified by rules of Biblical interpretation,
but it is required by those rules!
The contents of verse 27 require a restoration of Israel’s relationship with God
which has not taken place since the events of verse 26.
Since this restoration has not yet taken place,
the temple has not been rebuilt,
and the events of verse 24 are not yet completed,
we must believe that Daniel’s 70th week is yet in the future.
Since this prophecy deals specifically with Israel as a nation,
and Romans 11 speaks of a future restoration of Israel
we are left no choice but to believe that the future restoration of Israel
will occur in the 7 year period of God’s prophecy in Daniel verse 27.
Here is the Biblical evidence for a future period of 7 years when God shall save Israel.
The tribulation aspect of this seven year period is not difficult to establish
once the foundation of the future fulfillment of Daniel’s 70th week is established.
Daniel chapter 11, 12 then the Olivet Discourse, and the Revelation
all tie together with this 70th week to give us a clear view
of what will take place during this short period of time.
These verses also establish that the literal return of Jesus Christ to the earth
is immediately after Daniel’s 70th week.
the foundational principles of the seven year tribulation.
