Daniel’s 70th Week and The Great Tribulation Explained (Daniel 9:27)

Daniel 9:27 says,"[the Antichrist] shall make a strong covenant with many for one week." The “week” refers to the 70th of the seventy weeks. It’s a week of years, so it’s 7 years long. It’s the last seven years of the 490 years. Daniel's 70th Week has many names, such as the Great Tribulation, "the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world” (Revelation 3:10), and "the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7). Table of contentsGod Uses Daniel's 70th Week to Draw the Jews to HimselfGod Uses Daniel's 70th Week to Draw Gentiles to HimselfEvangelism During Daniel's 70th WeekThe Covenant the Antichrist Makes with the JewsTwo Things Accomplished by the Antichrist's CovenantThe Jews' Savior or Prince Daniel 9:27a And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, The “he” is the prince of the people to come in verse 26, or the antichrist. The “week” refers to the 70th of the seventy weeks. It’s a week of years so it’s 7 years in length. It’s the last seven years of the 490 years.These 7 years have many names and here are a few of them: Most commonly they’re called the Tribulation or Great Tribulation; if you wonder which name is correct, both are correct because the first 3.5 years are the Tribulation, but at the midpoint, at the 3.5 year mark, things get way worse and the Great Tribulation begins. Revelation 3:10 calls them “the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world” Joel 1:15, 2:1 and 1 Thessalonians 5:2 call them “the day of the Lord” Jeremiah 30:7 calls them “the time of Jacob’s trouble,” which is my favorite title because it emphasizes the 7 years are about Jacob, or Israel, or the Jews.Remember verse 24 said 70 weeks (or 70 sevens or 490 years) are determined for YOUR PEOPLE that’s the Jews…this is about them. Revelation 6 through 19 contains the most extended description of these seven years or the Tribulation. God Uses Daniel's 70th Week to Draw the Jews to Himself Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. The house of David refers to the Jews because David was from the tribe of Judah, and the Jews are the people from the tribe of Judah. They, the Jews, crucified Christ, but they’ll look on Him and mourn over what they did when they realize He’s their Messiah. The question is: what’s going to bring that about? The answer is Daniel’s 70th Week. It will serve as the furnace to prepare the Jews to receive their Messiah. Consider Romans 11:25. The context is the Jews being broken off the tree, and the Gentiles being grafted in: Romans 11:25a Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: The mystery is the mystery of the Church Age or the Time of the Gentiles, or the ‘gap’ between the 69th and 70th week. Romans 11:26b a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. The hardening is the Jews’ hardness, or some Bible say blindness, to Jesus being their Messiah. When “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in,” or all the Gentiles have been saved, the Church Age or times of the Gentiles is over. Then, the Church will be removed in the event we call the Rapture (because the church mostly consists of Gentiles), and God will put His focus back on the Jews for their 70th Week, as Paul goes on to say: Romans 11:26c And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; This is reminiscent of Daniel 9:24. In particular: “to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity.” Romans 11:27 “And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” This refers to the New Covenant: Jeremiah 31:31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” God Uses Daniel's 70th Week to Draw Gentiles to Himself Even though Daniel's 70th Week Week is for the Jews, it’s not ONLY about them. Gentiles will suffer during the tribulation, too, and many will come to salvation: Matthew 24:30 Jesus said, “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Just like the Jews mourned over Jesus in Zechariah 12:10, the Gentiles will mourn over Him, too. Sometimes, when people read Revelation and see how terrible these seven years are, they say, “How could God do something like this? He’s so unloving?” It’s the opposite. God is willing to submit people to some hell on earth so they don’t have to experience hell for eternity. This is also part of the reason we believe in a pre-trib rapture. The 70th Week refines people for Christ, but the church has already come to Christ. Evangelism During Daniel's 70th Week How does this evangelism occur during the Great Tribulation to bring people to Christ? Primarily three ways: Revelation 11 describes two witnesses that prophesy for 1,260 days. Revelation 14 describes three angels that fly around, and verse 6 says they have the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth. Revelation 7 and 14 discuss 144,000 followers of Christ, 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, and their mission seems to be evangelism during these 7 years. The Covenant the Antichrist Makes with the Jews Daniel 9:27 And he (the antichrist) shall make a strong covenant with many (the Jews) for one week (Daniel’s 70th week, the tribulation), and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” Some people think of Daniel’s 70th week or the Tribulation beginning with the Rapture, which might be close to the beginning of the Tribulation, but it begins with the antichrist entering into a covenant with Israel. The Hebrew word for covenant, bᵊrîṯ, is the same word used 13 times in Genesis 17 when God established His covenant with Abraham and it’s the word used in these verses: Genesis 6:18 [God told Noah], “I will establish My covenant (bᵊrîṯ) with you.” Jeremiah 31:31 God says, “Behold the days are coming…when I will make a new covenant (bᵊrîṯ) with the house of Israel…” Just like God made covenants with Noah, Abraham, and Israel, the Antichrist will also make a covenant with Israel. Two Things Accomplished by the Antichrist's Covenant The covenant involves Israel embracing the Antichrist as their messiah or Christ, and it accomplishes two things. First, this covenant will bring peace to the Middle East, so it can also be considered a peace treaty. Everything is about the Middle East. It has been the focal point of human history and will stay that way. Second, the covenant will allow the Jews to rebuild their temple and reinstitute temple worship. That’s an impossibility because of the Muslim presence, especially the Dome of the Rock’s location on the Temple Mount. If you ask many orthodox Jews how they’ll recognize their Messiah, they’ll tell you he’ll do these two things: bring peace to the Middle East and allow them to rebuild their temple. The Jews' Savior or Prince Consider the contrast between princes in Daniel 9:25 and 26. You’ve got the uppercase Prince, Jesus, in Daniel 9:25: “Messiah the Prince.” In Daniel 9:26, the Antichrist is also called a prince, but lowercase. He’s the replacement, or fake, or “instead of prince.” Israel has been craving a prince or ruler since Joshua died. In 1 Samuel 8, they say, “We want a king to rule over us!” They have wanted a king, and that king will be the Antichrist. Let’s see what happens when they embrace him: Daniel 9:27b and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering I don’t want to sound too simple when I say this, but before sacrifices and offerings can be brought to an end, they must be taking place. Currently, there aren’t any because the Jews don’t have a temple, but when the Antichrist allows them to rebuild their temple, their sacrifices and offerings will resume. "Half of the week" is the 3.5-year mark. The Jews followed a calendar with 12 months, which had exactly 30 days each month for 360 days each year. Therefore, 3.5 years would be 42 months or 1,260 days. Revelation 11:2-3 says the Gentiles will tread Jerusalem underfoot for 42 months, or 3.5 years Revelation 11:3 says God will empower the two witnesses for 1,260 days, or 3.5 years Revelation 12:6 says Israel will flee into the wilderness (away from the Antichrist) for 1,260 days or 3.5 years Revelation 13:5 says the Antichrist will have authority for 42 months or 3.5 years There’s a real emphasis on splitting the 7 years into two halves of 3.5 years because something dramatic happens in the middle of them: the abomination of desolation is committed!