Everlasting Righteousness Brought In

“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.” (Daniel 9:24)

In Hebrew, the original word for ‘seventy weeks’ means “a period of seven” and can apply to days or years. A more literal translation of Daniel 9:24 would be “seventy sevens are determined.” The “seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’” are (7 X 7) + (62 X 7) or 483 years, Daniel 9:25. The 483 years in this verse are Jewish solar years (originally Egyptian and Babylonian solar years) each with 360 days. When you convert the Jewish solar calendar into modern years:

The countdown to the year of Christ’s death started at the order to rebuild Jerusalem, Daniel 9:25. This decree was issued by Artaxerxes in 444 B.C. Therefore the Messiah would be killed 476 years after the decree of Artaxerxes. 476 years – 444 B.C. = A.D. 32. Since there is no year zero, one year must be added to the date above: A.D. 32 + 1 year = A.D. 33. It is clear that this prophecy given to Daniel over 500 years before its complete fulfillment, came to pass in the person and work of the LORD Jesus Christ. The ‘seventy sevens’ were appointed for the accomplishment of the predetermined events for the temporal good of the city and people of the Jews, from the rebuilding of their city and temple after the Babylonian captivity and their assured preservation as a people and of their city until Christ would come. Then the vision and the prophecy were sealed up, with His coming as the Holy Anointed One of God, which is what the word ‘Messiah’ means. After that, both the city and the temple would be destroyed in AD 70, by the Romans, as described in Matthew 24.