The Seventy Sevens
Dani’el 9:24-27 and Isaiah 28:14-22
The seventy sevens DIG: What do the 7 sevens, the 62 sevens and the 1 seven mean? What is the abomination that causes desolation (see Mattityahu 24:15)? What is the covenant of death? In contrast to lies and falsehood, what is the sure foundation of God’s Kingdom? What promise is given to those who will trust in that chief cornerstone? What is the warning given to those who do not?
REFLECT: In a number from one to ten, what difference do these verses make in your life? For Dani’el and Yeshua, what is the emphasis on what the future holds? Or on who holds the future? In what things (money, relationships, power, and so on) do people try to find refuge today? In your opinion, what is the Gospel in these passages? Do these passages give you hope or despair? Why?
Four Gentile Empires will control the times of the Gentiles before it is succeeded by God’s Kingdom.
Dani’el 9:1-23 provides the introduction to the Seventy Sevens prophecy found here in verses 24-27. The background is given in verses 1-2. Dani’el had been studying Jeremiah as well as other prophets, such as Isaiah. He realized that the seventy-years of Babylonian Captivity was nearly finished (see my commentary on Jeremiah, to see link click Gu – Seventy Years of Imperial Babylonian Rule). That much of the prophecy he clearly understood. But what he misunderstood about the prophecies was that he thought the Messianic Kingdom would be set up following the seventy-years of captivity. He also knew from the prophets that the prerequisite for setting up the Messianic Kingdom would be the nation of Isra’el confessing her sins. Assuming that the Babylonian Captivity would be immediately followed by the Messianic Kingdom, Dani’el prayed a prayer of confession for Isra’el’s sins (see Cx – Dani’el’s Prayer). So the angel Gabri’el was sent to correct Dani’el’s misunderstanding about the Kingdom’s being set up at the end of the Babylonian Captivity. He informed Dani’el that it was not going to be seventy years, but Seventy Sevens of years before the Messianic Kingdom would be established (see Cy – Gabri’el’s Intervention).301
The Decree of the Seventy Sevens (9:24a): Seventy Sevens are decreed for your people and your holy City. The Hebrew word for sevens is shavuim and could refer to “seven” of anything, just like the English word “dozen” simply means “twelve” and could be twelve of anything. In this context it meant sevens of years because Dani’el had been calculating the seventy years of the Babylonian Captivity. Are decreed for your people and your holy City. Dani’el was told that it was not seventy years that needed to pass before the Messianic Kingdom would be set up, but Seventy Sevens of years, or a period of 490 years had been decreed. Throughout his book, Dani’el had been dealing with the Times of the Gentiles (see Ao – The Times of the Gentiles). It began with the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC and will end with the Second Coming of Messiah. This period of Seventy Sevens would concern the Jewish people and the holy city of Zion during that time. It would have nothing to do with the Church.302 The 490-year period that YHVH has decreed on the Jewish people is meant to accomplish six things. The first group of three are negative aspects of this period, while the second group of three are positive.
The Purposes: To finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. The purposes listed by Gabri’el can be divided into two categories. The initial three components are all negative. According to the prophecy, the Seventy Sevens would eliminate these undesirable elements. The second group consists of three positive objectives. These elements are desirable, and Gabri’el prophesied that the Seventy Sevens would bring them to fulfilment.
1. To finish the transgression (9:24b): The Hebrew word for finish means restrain completely or bring to an end. Transgression is a very strong word for sin coming from the Hebrew avar. It literally means to rebel or to go beyond a set limit. In the Hebrew text, it has the definite article. So it does not mean merely to finish rebellion, but to finish the rebellion. It refers to one specific act of rebellion and to bring it to an end. In this context, the one specific sin is the rejection of Messiah. In the last three days of the Great Tribulation (Hosea 6:1-3), Isra’el will pray a national prayer of confession (see the commentary on Revelation Ev – The Basis of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ). This will mark the end of the transgression mentioned in 9:24b. Isra’el will repent of her rejection of Yeshua’s Messiahship, and when the nation does, the transgression will be permanently abolished (Isaiah 59:20; Romans 11:26).
2. To put an end to sin (9:24c): The Hebrew word for to put an end, chatam, means to seal up or to be locked up. It derives from a root that means to shut up or to restrain. It refers to the act of locking someone up securely with the result that the person is not permitted to roam at will. The modern Hebrew word for “prison” or “jail” comes from this old Hebrew term. To put an end to sin. Hence, Gabri’el used a strong word to describe the decisive restraining of sin that the Seventy Sevens would accomplish. The Hebrew word for sin here means to miss the mark of a set standard. The unsaved Gentiles who survive the Great Tribulation will continue to sin during the Messianic Kingdom. But the daily sins of Isra’el will be put to an end at Messiah’s Second Coming (Isaiah 27:9; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezeki’el 36:25-27, 37:23; and Romans 11:20-27). It will not be necessary in the Kingdom for one Jew to say to another Jew, “Know ADONAI,” for they will all know Him, from the least to the greatest. In summary, the first two purposes of the Seventy Sevens will result in the abolition of a specific Jewish national transgression as well as the cessation of the sins of daily life.303
3. To make atonement for iniquity (9:24d): The verb to atone, the Hebrew word kapar, means to cover. The word for iniquity, from the Hebrew awal, means failure to fulfill the standard of righteousness or lack of integrity. Kapar is the main word for atonement in the TaNaKh. Yom Kippur is in view here (see my commentary on Exodus Go – The Day of Atonement). On that day ADONAI provided a just basis on which He could deal with guilty people. The mercy seat was the place of propitiation. The word propitiation means to satisfy. And it was at the mercy seat that God’s wrath against sin was atoned for, or satisfied. At that time the high priest would sprinkle the blood of a goat over the mercy seat, when this was done then ADONAI’s wrath against the iniquity of the nation was satisfied. The means by which Isra’el’s national and daily sins of rejecting the Messiah will be removed is by the atonement. The word iniquity refers to the sin nature. Therefore, the program of the Seventy Sevens is a cleansing of Isra’el that will include the removal of three things: first, the national sin of rejecting Yeshua’s Messiahship; second, daily sins; and third, dealing with the sin nature itself.304
4. To bring in everlasting righteousness (9:24e): The next three accomplishments deal with the positive aspects of God’s program as a result of the Great Tribulation. Being satisfied with the atoning death of Messiah, ADONAI will bring in everlasting righteousness. The Hebrew term for everlasting, olam, means long duration. The English translation implies the sense of eternity, but that’s not what the Hebrew term means. Rather, olam refers to an age. So, the purpose of the Seventy Sevens is to bring in an age of righteousness. This is a prophecy that the Lord will establish an age characterized by righteousness. Several passages in Isaiah and Jeremiah show this age of righteousness in the Messianic Kingdom (Isaiah 1:26, 11:2-5, 32:17; Jeremiah 23:5-6, 33:15-18). Dani’el thought the Kingdom would be set up immediately after the seventy-years of captivity; now he is told that this will not occur after seventy-years, but after Seventy Sevens, or 490 years.305
5. To seal up vision and prophecy (9:24f): All that YHVH said through the prophets about what He would do in fulfilling His covenant with Isra’el will be fully realized in the Messianic Kingdom. The Hebrew word to seal up, chatam, means to enclose something authoritatively, hiding it from view and showing that its functions are completed.306 It is used to show that both the vision and the prophecy will completely cease. The Hebrew term for vision, chazon, refers to divine communication in a vision or through an oracle. In other words, it refers to an oral prophecy. The Hebrew term for prophecy, navi, means spokesman, speaker, or prophet. In other words, it refers to written prophecy. Gabri’el declared that there would be an end to both oral and written prophecy. When the Messianic Kingdom comes, then all the prophecies concerning the nation of Isra’el will be completed.307
6. And to anoint the most holy (9:24g): The Hebrew actually reads: And to anoint the most holy place. It does not point to a most holy Person, Messiah, but a most (kodesh, singular) holy (kadashim, plural) place. In Hebrew, there is a repetition for the term kodesh, meaning apartness or sacredness. Thus, the phrase reads holy holies. Yet this is not a reference to the Most Holy place of the Temple, where the phrase is slightly different. There it is written as kodesh ha’kodashim, as seen in Exodus 26:33. Therefore, the most holy mentioned by Gabri’el does not refer to the Most Holy Place, but more generally to a holy place, namely, the Temple. We must remember that the context of Dani’el’s prophecy is the Messianic Kingdom. So this Temple would not be the First Temple of Solomon, nor the Second Temple of Zerubbabel, and surely not the Third Temple of the Tribulation (see the commentary on Revelation Bx – The Tribulation Temple). More specifically, it is the Fourth Temple, the Messianic Kingdom Temple, built by the Lord Himself (see the commentary on Jeremiah Gs – God Shows a Vision of the Messianic Temple). At the return of Messiah and the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom, all six purposes of the Seventy Sevens will have been accomplished.308
The starting point of the Seventy Sevens (9:25): Know and understand that from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One (Hebrew: mashiach), the ruler (Hebrew: nagid), comes, there will be 7 sevens, and 62 sevens. The Messiah is the One who is expected to come in fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant (see the commentary on the Life of David Ct – The LORD’s Covenant with David), which guaranteed this ruler an eternal Kingdom to David through a Seed who Himself would be eternal. This promise was confirmed by Dani’el 7:13-14. Therefore, the 490-year period, or Seventy Sevens, is then divided into three units: 7 sevens, 62 sevens, which run concurrently and make up the first 69 sevens (or 483 years), and then, finally, 1 seven (for a total of 490 years), leading up to the coming of Messiah.
The first 69 sevens: Know and understand that from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (9:25a): This begins the starting point to the Seventy Sevens period. The first unit, the 7 sevens, a total of 49 years, refers to the time it took to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. On March 14, 445 BC King Artakh’shasta gave permission to Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, which restored the Holy City (see the commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah Bw – The Decree to Rebuild Jerusalem). As far as the coming of the Messiah, the Julian date of the tenth of Nisan was Sunday April 6th, 32 AD (see the commentary on The Life of Christ It – Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem as the Passover Lamb). The interval between the decree of King Artakh’shasta and Palm Sunday contained exactly, to the very day, 173,880 days, or 7 times 69 prophetic years of 360 days, the first 69 sevens, or 483 years of Dani’el’s prophecy.309
Until the Anointed One, the Ruler, comes there will be 7 sevens and 62 sevens for a total of 70 Sevens (9:25b): The end or goal of the prophecy was the appearance of the Anointed One, the Ruler. Yeshua Messiah will be anointed as Ruler of His Messianic Kingdom (see the commentary on Revelation Fi – The Government of the Messianic Kingdom). The prophecy of the Seventy Sevens does not end with Yeshua’s First Coming, but with His Second Coming and the establishment of His thousand-year Messianic Kingdom.
It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench (9:25c): Though Nehemiah’s wall construction project took only 52 days, many years may have been needed to remove the City’s debris after being left desolate for so many decades. They needed to rebuild adequate housing, and rebuild the streets and a trench, probably for Yerushalayim’s fortification.
But in times of trouble (9:25d): This continued construction was carried out in the face of trouble and opposition. Ezra’s trouble in building holiness in the people are seen in Ezra 9 and 10, and Nehemiah’s opposition to building the walls is presented in Nehemiah 4:1-23, 6:1-14, 9:36-37. Nehemiah also experienced trouble in building up the people spiritually in Nehemiah 13.310
After saying exactly how many years would transpire before the Messiah’s First Coming in Verse 25, Dani’el now told of the events coming between His First Coming (the 69th Seven), and His Second Coming (the 70th Seven) in verse 26. During this gap of time, three events will take place.
First, The Anointed One will be cut off (9:26a): According to Gabri’el, the first event in the time gap between the 69th and 70th seven would be the murder of the Messiah. The Hebrew term for be cut off, karat, means to cut down. It is used in Genesis 15:18 to describe the formation of a covenant. The sacrificed animals were cut into pieces, and the parties of the covenant walked between them. As a result of this action, the covenant was signed. The word karat is used for the death penalty in Leviticus 7:20. In passages such as Psalm 109:13 and Nahum 3:15, the term has the connotation of a violent death. This is also the meaning here in Dani’el, where the term refers to the murder of Yeshua. Next, Gabri’el stated that the Messiah would have nothing. The Hebrew term for nothing, ayin, means nothingness, which highlights Messiah’s condition. After His death, He had no earthly kingdom or a throne. He had nothing. The significance of Gabri’el’s first point here should not be missed. The book of Dani’el was written in the sixth century BC, and predicted not only the exact time of Messiah’s First Coming, but also the nature of His death.311
Second, The people of the ruler, the antichrist, will come and destroy the City and the Sanctuary (9:26b). The word people in the Hebrew text has the definite article. It is the people, the specific people, who are the subject of the action. In other words, it is not the ruler who will destroy the city and the sanctuary, but rather the people of the ruler. The point here is that the nationality of the people and the ruler are the same. The ruler who will come, in this context is the antichrist of whom Dani’el has already spoken of in Chapters 7 and 8. After Messiah was cut off the Romans destroyed the city and the sanctuary in AD 70. Since the antichrist must be of the same nationality as the people who destroyed the city and the people, the Bible teaches that the antichrist will be a Gentile. The people of the ruler were not all Romans. Certainly in the years of the Roman Republic and the early years of the Roman Empire, most of the officers and soldiers in the Roman army were Romans, if not Roman citizens. But as the Empire grew in size, the city of Rome and its citizenry could not supply enough men to make up the whole of the Roman army. Rome would allow citizens of conquered nations to join the Roman army, but simply being in the Roman army did not make one a Roman. Then Dani’el states that the end will come like a flood (9:26c). When the figure of a flood is used symbolically in the Bible, it always is a symbol of a military invasion. Jerusalem was destroyed by a Roman military invasion, first under Vespasian and then under Titus.312
And third, War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed (9:26d): For the remainder of the gap of time between the 69th seven and the 70th seven, the Land will be characterized by war. This prophecy has certainly been true throughout the history of the Middle East. As a result of these wars, desolations have occurred as decreed, or determined, by YHVH. The third unit of the 70 sevens will be the last seven-year period, the Great Tribulation, or the end.
And the antichrist will confirm a covenant with many for 1 seven. The signing of the seven-year covenant between the antichrist and the nation of Isra’el will start the Great Tribulation. In the middle of that 1 seven he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wings he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him (9:27). The 70th seven is the seven years of the Great Tribulation. In verse 27 these seven years are subdivided into two equal halves of three-and-a-half years. They are described differently in the books of Dani’el and Revelation. Sometimes each half is referred to as 1,260 days (Revelation 12:6); sometimes as 42 months (Revelation 11:2); and also a time, times and half a time (Dani’el 7:25). Since there will be a period of time between the 69th seven and the 70th seven, what will be the sign that will begin the last seven-year period?
And he (9:27a): The pronoun he goes back to its nearest antecedent, or the ruler who will come, in verse 26. He is the antichrist, who was identified as the little horn (Dani’el 7:8, 19-25, 8:23-25). Since Dani’el has described the antichrist twice before and will again (Dani’el 11:36-45), it is not surprising that he would be brought back into the picture here.189 The antichrist will confirm a covenant with many for 1 seven (9:27b): This will be the sign that the Great Tribulation has begun. The ruler who will come will confirm a covenant with many. The Hebrew word confirm does not mean to renew an existing covenant, but to make a new agreement with firm guarantees. It will be a firm commitment. The Hebrew word many has a definite article, meaning the many. The specific many, the Jews who will enter into a firm covenant with the antichrist that will begin the last seven years of Dani’el’s 70th seven. Two-thirds of the nation of Isra’el will die in the worldwide persecution during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble.190 The Bible teaches that the Rapture will happen before the Great Tribulation, but it never teaches that the Rapture starts it.
In the middle of the seven he will put an end to sacrifice and offering (9:27c): After the first three-and-a-half years the antichrist will break his covenant with Isra’el. He will forcibly put an end to the ongoing sacrificial system in the Tribulation Temple (Revelation 11:1-2).
And on the wings he will set up an abomination that causes desolation (9:27d, also see 11:31b): The phrase on the wings is taken from the Hebrew root word kanap, which means to cover over, and as in Isaiah 8:8 definitely has the idea of overspreading in a destructive sense. Therefore, in the middle of the Great Tribulation, the false prophet will set up an image of the antichrist (Revelation 13:14b). The false prophet will be given power by Satan to give apparent life to the image of the antichrist, so that it could speak, deceiving many. Where the One True God dwelt between the overspreading wings of the cherubim on the mercy seat, Satan will foolishly try to take His place. The antichrist will cause desolation because for the next 42 months he will attempt to destroy the Jews. He will attempt to finish what Hitler could not accomplish: genocide of the nation of Isra’el. It will be his final solution to the thorn that has always been on the side of the Adversary, the Jewish people.
Until the end that is decreed is poured out on him (9:27e): God has determined that these things will come about long ago (Isaiah 10:23 and 28:22). The end of the 70th seven will not go one single day beyond its predetermined duration (Mattityahu 24:22). At the end of the Great Tribulation, on the last day of the campaign of Armageddon, Yeshua Himself will kill the antichrist (Habakkuk 3:13b; Second Thessalonians 2:8). The judgment that has been decreed upon him will be poured out on that day.
While Dani’el 9:27 presents the covenant that begins the Great Tribulation from man’s perspective, Isaiah 28:14-22 presents the same covenant from God’s perspective. So, hear the word of ADONAI, you scoffers who rule these people in Jerusalem (Isaiah 28:14). Ha’Shem calls the Jewish leadership scoffers and considers them mockers rather than godly leaders. The next verse explains why.
You boast mightily: We have entered into a covenant with death, with the grave we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place (Isaiah 28:15). The leaders of Isra’el think that by entering into this agreement with the antichrist they will escape the coming overwhelming scourge. Whenever used symbolically, the figure of a flood is always a symbol of a military invasion. So they think by entering into this covenant, they will be free from any further military invasions. But YHVH states that it will not be a covenant of life, but a covenant of death. It will not be a covenant from heaven, but a covenant from sh’ol. Rather than obtaining security, they will only gain insecurity. There is a common misconception that Isra’el will accept the antichrist as Messiah. The Bible does not teach that. Instead, Isra’el will make a covenant with him and place their security in that agreement. But there will be a believing remnant, faithful Isra’el, that will refuse to place their security anywhere but in ADONAI. But Isra’el will never accept him as the Messiah.
So this is what Adonai ELOHIM says: I am laying in Zion a tested stone, a costly cornerstone, a firm foundation-stone; the one who trusts will never be dismayed (Isaiah 28:16). This verse assures us that there will be a believing remnant of Jews who refuse to have anything to do with the covenant of death. This remnant’s security is not in a covenant, but its security is in a costly cornerstone for a sure foundation. According to Romans 9:33 and First Peter 2:6-8, this stone is Christ. Jesus states that He is the costly cornerstone that the Church would be built upon (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Fx – On This Rock I Will Build My Church). And the gates of Sh’ol, the Jewish expression for death, could not overcome it. If you put your faith in Yeshua, you will never be disappointed.
Then in Isaiah 28:17-22, the same three results are found as in Dani’el 9:27. The first result will be the breaking of the covenant by the antichrist in Isaiah, followed by the military invasions they had hoped to escape. I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, and water will overflow your hiding place. Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the grave will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it (Isaiah 28:17-18).
In the second result, sheer terror will fall upon the Jewish people. Isaiah 28:15 teaches that they entered the covenant because of security, but in Isaiah 28:19, there will be invasion, and in Isaiah 28:20, there will be a lack of preparedness both militarily and spiritually. As often as it comes it will carry you away; morning after morning, by day and by night, it will sweep through. The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror. The bed is too short to stretch out on, the blanket too narrow to wrap around you (Isaiah 28:19-20). Instead of security, they will have insecurity.
The third result is the wrath of Ha’Shem. ADONAI will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim, He will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon – to do His work, His strange work, and perform His task, His alien task. Now stop your mocking, or your chains will become heavier; for I have heard from Adonai ELOHIM-Tzvaot that destruction is decreed for the whole land (Isaiah 28:21-22). Of the many names that we have in Scripture for the Great Tribulation, Isaiah gives us two of them in Isaiah 28:21. They are ADONAI’s strange work, and ADONAI’s strange act (KJV). The reason it is a strange work and a strange act is seen in Isaiah 28:22; it is a decree of destruction against the whole world. As a result, of the making of the covenant back in Isaiah 14-15, as in Dani’el 9:27, an announcement of destruction is contained in the sealed scroll of Revelation (see Revelation Ck – The Seven Seals of the Lamb). Once those seven seals are broken, one by one, the judgment of the earth begins. By the time the Great Tribulation ends, the earth will be in total chaos and despair. Therefore, once the covenant is signed, the Great Tribulation and the destruction will begin.313
Dear heavenly Father, all praise and honor belong to You, loving and wise almighty Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, who so graciously paid by Messiah’s blood, the great price to redeem the earth back from under Satan’s control. Thank You for the mercy shown in the Great Tribulation; for even in the midst of the trials, You are always there and You never leave people without a witness that calls people to trust in You: 144,000 sealed servants from every tribe, the Two Witnesses, and the messages of the three angels. Repentance is what You look for in each heart. Even in the midst of the Great Tribulation You hold open the door of repentance to all who will choose to follow You as their Lord and Savior.
Thank You so much for paying the price to redeem earth thru Messiah’s blood. Thank you also for your purifying work during the Tribulation. Messiah will open the seals of the scroll of redemption to purify the earth, reign for 1,000 years, and then create a fantastic new heaven and earth. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. “Behold, the dwelling of God is among men, and He shall tabernacle among them. They shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them and be their God. He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Nor shall there be mourning or crying or pain any longer, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:1, 3b-4). You are such a wise and loving heavenly Father! In Messiah’s holy Name and the power of His resurrection. Amen
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