Posts tagged ‘70 weeks’
No, the Tribulation Has Not Yet Begun, Period
As he prayed and even before he had concluded his prayer, the angelic messenger Gabriel came to him to explain some things to Daniel (cf. Daniel 9:20-23). Gabriel essentially told Daniel that yes, the 70 year captivity was nearly over and the Jewish people would be released from that captivity and allowed to return to Jerusalem. However – and Gabriel made this clear – that another form of captivity would affect the Jewish people, the state of Israel, and the Temple Mount for not 70 years, but 70 “sevens,” (that is the English word of the original word that was used in the text, though most translators translated the word not to “sevens” but to “weeks.”)
What Gabriel was saying was that there would be 70 sevens (or 70 groupings of seven) in which the Temple Mount would be trod underfoot and controlled by Gentiles. This became known as the “times of the Gentiles” and began with the Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel’s 70 Weeks is NOT 70 Years!
It is the same thing here in Daniel 9. Gabriel is really giving a bit of a play on words. In essence, as Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum points out (“Footsteps of the Messiah”), Gabriel is essentially saying, “Daniel, it’s not 70 years, but 70 SEVENS of years.”
Seven Years of God’s Wrath Coming We Call the Tribulation
So we know Daniel was thinking in terms of years. That is clear from the text and indisputable. When Gabriel arrives, he clarifies for Daniel that it is not seventy years, but in reality it will wind up being seventy sevens of years. Seventy sevens of years equal a total of 490 years (70 x 7). This is where the 490 years come from and provides the total number of prophetic years in which God has decreed for Israel and the Holy City. This then, is God’s timeframe; 490 years.
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