Seventy Weeks Are Determined Upon Thy People

2013-03-24

Revelation 4-18 deal with what is called the seventieth week of Daniel. A bit of explanation is necessary to redefine terms that have been misused by many of our contemporaries. I will also explain how the chronology of Revelation should be understood. I may not have all the answers, but I believe that we can understand the end times chronology far more easily that many say we can.

While the prophet Daniel was confessing his sins, knowing that the seventy years of Jewish captivity was about to expire, the man Gabriel came to him to explain a bit more how God’s plan of redemption was going to unfold:

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. (Daniel 9:24-27)

Seventy weeks of years were going to transpire before the complete restoration of God’s people was to take place. Sixty-nine of these would span the decree to rebuild Jerusalem to the crucifixion of Christ, referred to as Messiah the Prince. This is a notable prophecy of Jesus dying for humanity (“not for himself”) in 9:26. Even informed unbelievers know that this was written centuries before Jesus’ death and resurrection, which truly validates this prophecy. The destruction of Jerusalem is after these 69 weeks, but before the 70th week in 9:27, and this was fulfilled in A.D. 70. “Desolations are determined” after that; we know Israel was not a nation for centuries, until 1948. Sometime after that, we do not know when for certain, the 70th week will commence with another prince. The antecedent for the pronoun “he,” the subject of the sentence in 9:27, is this other prince, because “the people of the prince” is the last group of people mentioned. This Antichrist will make a covenant with the world, but will break it, setting up the abomination of desolation.

We will examine this chronology in the coming weeks within Revelation and also include appropriate parallel passages.

Synopsis of Revelation Chronology

Often people believe that Revelation is not a chronological work. However, it very much is chronological in nature. A key to understanding Revelation is that the events are recounted twice. There is some good evidence for this. First, as we read to the end of Revelation 11, we are about to climax with the return of Christ to destroy his enemies and set up his kingdom. However, there is an abrupt halt in Revelation 12, when we see the birth of Christ, his devouring by the devil, and his resurrection. These “signs” are there as a device to tell us that we are going back to the beginning of the story. We revisit the Antichrist’s rise, the wrath of God poured out again, the gathering of the saints and the 144,000 Jews. We will look at these comparisons in the coming sections.

What is more convincing is that this type of device was used before. God, in the dreams of Pharaoh, repeated a vision in Genesis 41. To summarize, Pharaoh had a vision of seven sickly kine devouring seven well-favored kine, and then a second vision of seven withered ears of corn devouring seven good ears of corn. First, Joseph tells him that “the dream is one” in Genesis 41:26. But this is not what connects this vision with Revelation. Joseph gives us the reason why the vision was repeated in 41:32:

And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

Consider the first verse in Revelation 1:

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

The vision in Revelation 4-18 is repeated because it will shortly come to pass, just as the famine in Egypt did. It is brought about by God, and he will bring it to pass.

The Rest of This Study

We will look at the first recording of the vision, in Revelation 4-11, comparing the events with the parallel passages, such the Olivet discourse, Daniel, 1 Thessalonians, and other pertinent scriptures. The second recording of the vision, Revelation 12-18, will be compared with the first recording of the vision. There will likely be exceptions. Revelation 19-22, which is some more difficult literature, will be dealt with last.

As a warning, I do depart from most of our contemporaries concerning the timing of the gathering of the saints, commonly known as the rapture. I do affirm premillennialism, as it is clear from Scripture that Jesus physically returns to the earth before his Millennial reign.

I want to make sure that we examine some terms, because the confusion lies in how we define certain things. The seventieth week of Daniel is not equivalent to the tribulation period. The tribulation is a period of time where Christians will be present on the earth. After the tribulation, there will be a time where God pours out his wrath on humankind. God will gather his people immediately after the tribulation but before he pours out his wrath. I will make the case for this later, in Revelation 7, but for now I want it to be clear that tribulation and wrath are not the same thing. Christians are appointed to tribulation; they are not appointed to wrath. Here are some examples of Christians going through tribulation:

John 16:33: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Acts 14:22: “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

1 Thessalonians 3:3-4: “That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.”

2 Timothy 3:12: “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”

Here are some examples of Christians not going through God’s wrath:

John 3:36: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

Romans 5:9: “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

1 Thessalonians 5:9: “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.”

One may argue that going through tribulation in general is not the same as going through the great tribulation. If this is the case, why are Christians exempt from the great tribulation when they are not exempt to other trials and tribulations? We suffer tribulation because we serve Christ. God only pours out his wrath on his enemies.

For the purpose of this study, we will define the great tribulation as being the first part of the seventieth week of Daniel, and the wrath of God as the second part.