I. Message Text.
The Seventy Prophetic Weeks
Daniel 9:24-27 Updated American Standard Version
24 “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. 25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in times of distress. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are determined. 27 And he shall make a strong covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. And upon the wing of abominations shall come the one causing desolation, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one causing desolation.”
II. Subject Discussion.
A. Is there a gap between the 69th and 70th weeks? Let’s consider this question.
B. . The post-tribulation rapturist joins with the amillennialist in asserting that the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy was fulfilled historically in the years immediately following the death of Christ. Some hold that Christ was cut off at the end of the 69th week and that the 70th week followed immediately after the death of Christ. Others hold that Christ was cut off in the middle of the 70th week so that the last half of the week followed His death. Some go so far as to assert that the entire present age is the 70th week. The fallacy of this consecutive view is seen in the fact that only by spiritualizing the prophecy can the results of Messiah’s work, as outlined in Daniel 9:24, be said to have been fulfilled. The nation Israel, to whom the prophecy was addressed, simply has not experienced a single one of the prophesied benefits of Messiah’s coming as yet. Since this interpretation depends on a method of interpretation that is unacceptable, the view must be rejected.
C. Opposed to the view that the 70th week is to be viewed as chronologically consecutive is the view that that period is separated from the other 69 weeks by an indefinite period of time. If there can be no parenthesis in any revealed prophetic program, prophecy can not have a literal fulfillment, for in many major prophecies the events were not consecutive. The gap in Daniel’s prophecy is in accord with an established principle in the Word of God.
1. Dr. John Walvoord (Th. D.) asserts that such a gap is seen in many passages of scripture (Things To Come, p 247).
2. In the second place, the events of Daniel 9:26 require a gap. Two major events are said to take place after the 69th week, and before the 70th week: the cutting off of the Messiah and the destruction of the city and the temple in Jerusalem. These two events did not take place in the 70th week, for that is not introduced to us until verse 27, but in an interval between the 69th and 70th week. It will be observed that the cutting off of the Messiah took place only a few days after the 69th week terminated, but the destruction of the city and temple did not take place until 70 A.D., or about 40 years after the termination of the 69th week. If a few days gap be admitted, it is not difficult to concede the possibility of a gap of 40 years. If one of 40 years is admitted, it is not difficult to see that the gap may extend over the present age.
3. In the third place, the New Testament teaching that Israel has been set aside (Matt 23:37-39) until the restitution of God’s dealing with them demands a gap between the last two weeks. If the 70th week has been fulfilled, the six promised blessings must likewise have been fulfilled to Israel. None of these have been experienced by the nation. Since the church is not Israel, the church can not now be fulfilling them. In as much, as God will fulfill that which He promised literally, He must fulfill those things with the nation. It is seen, then, that there must be a gap between their rejection and the consummation of these promises.
4. In the fourth place, since all the promised blessings are associated with the second coming of Christ (Rom 11:25-27), if there were no gap, the Lord would have returned three and a half or seven years after His death to fulfill the promises. Since His coming is still anticipated there must be a gap between the last two weeks of the prophecy.
5. Finally, the Lord, in dealing with the prophecy, anticipates a gap. In Matthew 24:15, reference is made to the coming of the “abomination of desolation;” this is a sign to Israel that the Great Tribulation is approaching (Matt 24:21). But, even in this time there is hope, for “immediately after the tribulation of these days . . . they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory” (Matt 24:29-30). Thus, the Lord is placing the 70th week of Daniel at the end of the age, immediately before His second advent to the earth. Coupling this with Acts 1:6-8, we see that a whole age of undetermined duration is to intervene between the 69th and 70th weeks of the prophecy. The only conclusion must be that the events of the 70th week are as yet unfulfilled, and await a future literal fulfillment.
III. The Return Of Christ.
A. Prior To The 70th Week. Prior To The Tribulation. Christ Coming In The Air, Not To Stand On The Earth. For The Rapture Of The Church/The Catching Up Of The Saints. A Glorious Event. The Blessed Hope. Rapture, English; Harpazo, Greek; Raptura, Latin.
Jesus Is the Only Way to the Father
John 14:6 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (UASV)
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Corinthians 15:50-57 (UASV)
50 Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Look, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep in death, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Titus 2:13-14 (UASV)
13 Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds.
B. At The End Of The 70th Week. At The End Of The Tribulation. Christ Coming In The Air To Stand On The Earth. Christ Coming In Judgment.
The Coming of the Son of Man
The Lord’s Triumph and Reign
Zechariah 14:1-9 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
1 A day of the Lord is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence. 2 I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle. The city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city.
3 Then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations as He fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley, so that half the mountain will move to the north and half to the south. 5 You will flee by My mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with Him.
6 On that day there will be no light; the sunlight and moonlight will diminish. 7 It will be a day known only to Yahweh, without day or night, but there will be light at evening.
8 On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea, in summer and winter alike. 9 On that day Yahweh will become King over all the earth—Yahweh alone, and His name alone.
The Coming of the Son of Man
Matthew 24:29-30 (HCSB)
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days:
The sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not shed its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the celestial powers will be shaken.
30 “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth will mourn; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
The Coming of the Son of Man
Mark 13:24-26 (HCSB)
24 “But in those days, after that tribulation:
The sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not shed its light;
25 the stars will be falling from the sky,
and the celestial powers will be shaken.
26 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
The Coming of the Son of Man
Luke 21:25-27 (HCSB)
25 “Then there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and there will be anguish on the earth among nations bewildered by the roaring sea and waves. 26 People will faint from fear and expectation of the things that are coming on the world, because the celestial powers will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
The Rider on a White Horse
Revelation 19:11-16 (HCSB)
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and He judges and makes war in righteousness. 12 His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on His head. He had a name written that no one knows except Himself. 13 He wore a robe stained with blood, and His name is the Word of God. 14 The armies that were in heaven followed Him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. 15 A sharp sword came from His mouth, so that He might strike the nations with it. He will shepherd them with an iron scepter. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. 16 And He has a name written on His robe and on His thigh:
KING OF KINGS
AND LORD OF LORDS.
The Beast and His Armies Defeated
Revelation 19:17-21 (HCSB)
17 Then I saw an angel standing on the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice, saying to all the birds flying high overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of their riders, and the flesh of everyone, both free and slave, small and great.”
19 Then I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and against His army. 20 But the beast was taken prisoner, and along with him the false prophet, who had performed the signs in his presence. He deceived those who accepted the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image with these signs. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword that came from the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
Satan Bound
Revelation 20:1-3 (HCSB)
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for 1,000 years. 3 He threw him into the abyss, closed it, and put a seal on it so that he would no longer deceive the nations until the 1,000 years were completed. After that, he must be released for a short time.
IV. Rapture vs Second Coming.
A. At the time of the Rapture, Christ takes His born again believers (alive and deceased) to Heaven with Him, for the receiving of eternal gifts (2 Cor 5:10) and for the marriage of the Lamb (Rev 19:7-8). Eph 4:8 shows that Christ took the Old Testament saints with Him to Heaven, too. The rapture removes all born again believers in Christ from the earth, for the duration of the Tribulation. This event is glorious for those whom are taken from the earth. There is no Scripture evidence that this event will be seen by those who will be left behind on earth. John 14:6 tells of Christ taking His born again believers to Heaven at the time of the Rapture, and emphasizes the fact that He is the only means by which His born again believers will be literally taken to heaven.
B. At the time of the Second Coming of Christ, Christ brings with Him the saints of the New Testament from Heaven with Him to set up, and rule and reign with Christ, in His earthly Millennial Kingdom (1 Cor 6:2; Rom 16:20; Rev 2:26). In this event, all of the unbelievers of the earth, “those who were left behind from the rapture,” will see Christ returning with the raptured believers. This event is frightening for those unbelievers of the tribulation who see Christ and His following believers and angels descending to earth for Judgment.
C. At the time of the Second Coming, the bodies of the Old Testament saints will be resurrected and joined with their spirits which will be coming from Heaven, and they will rule and reign with Christ during the Millennium/Kingdom Age (Daniel 12:1-3; Matt 19:28).
D. At the time of the Second Coming, martyred Tribulation saints (those who come to belief in Christ during the Tribulation) will be resurrected and will rule and reign with Christ during the Millennium/Kingdom Age (Rev 20:4).
E. At the time of the Second Coming of Christ, everyone on earth will see the return of Christ (Zech 12:8-11; 12:9; Matt 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27; Rev 19:19). Consider how easy it will be for all of the world’s tribulation inhabitants to see the return of Christ, due to the technology advancements of today. Additionally, if God wants all of Earth’s inhabitants to see Christ coming in the air, we can rest assured that “all of Earth’s inhabitants will see Christ coming in the air.”
V. References.
1. Updated American Standard Version scriptures were cut and pasted from that Bible’s website. https://www.uasvbible.org/ .
2. Holman Christian Standard Bible scriptures were cut and pasted from Bible Gateway’s website. https://www.biblegateway.com/
3. All of the notes in paragraph II of this article, come from the book of Dr. J. Dwight Pentecost, Th.D., “Things To Come,” 1958, Zondervan, pp 246-249.
4. All remaining notes in this article come from this writer.
Eternity 