"Seventy Sevens"

Daniel 9:25a  Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks.

Isaiah 44:

24  Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: "I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,

25  who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish,

26  who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, 'She shall be inhabited,' and of the cities of Judah, 'They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins';

27  who says to the deep, 'Be dry; I will dry up your rivers';

28  who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose'; saying of Jerusalem, 'She shall be built,' and of the temple, 'Your foundation shall be laid.'"

Isaiah 45:

1  Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed:

2  "I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron,

3  I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.

4  For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me.

5  I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me,

6  that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.

7  I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.

Ezra 1:

1  In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

2  "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

3  Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel--he is the God who is in Jerusalem.

4  And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem."

5  Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem.

6  And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered.

7  Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods.

Note that the first seven weeks starts with the going out of the word re:Cyrus, and the rebuilding of the temple and city (Isaiah’s prophecy), and ends with Cyrus’ ascendancy as king. It does not start with Cyrus coming on the scene. Seventy sevens or 490 is a symbolic prophetic number, not literal. Today’s hyper dispensationalists are dancing on the head of a pin “trying to make the numbers work”

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Daniel 9:25b Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time.

538 BC (about 2500 years ago)
Cyrus releases Jews from Babylonian Captivity
After conquering Babylon, Cyrus offers the Jews their freedom to leave Babylon and to return to Judah. Cyrus' kingdom rules over Judah and many other parts of the Middle East, but Cyrus allows people more cultural and religious freedom than did the neo-Babylonian Empire.
536 BC (about 2500 years ago)
Work begins to rebuild Temple
Some of the Jews in Babylon return to Judah and begin work in about 536 BC to rebuild the Temple, which had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC.
516 BC (about 2500 years ago)
Second Temple is dedicated
The Temple is consecrated for worship, 70 years after the Babylonians had destroyed it in 586 BC.
333 BC (about 2300 years ago)
Greeks begin rule over land of Israel
The Greeks, under the leadership of Alexander the Great, defeat Persian armies in Macedonia in 333 BC. This marks the fall of the Medo-Persian Empire and the rise of the Grecian Empire.
332 BC (about 2300 years ago)
Alexander conquers Tyre (Phoenician Empire)
Alexander wars against the island fortress of the Phoenician city of Tyre. He takes rubble from the mainland of Tyre and builds a walkway to the island. Alexander's forces then conquer the island fortress, bringing an end to the Phoenician Empire.
250 BC (about 2300 years ago)
The Old Testament is translated into Greek
A Greek ruler asks the Jews to translate all or part of the Old Testament into the Greek language. The translation is called the Septuagint.
175 BC (about 2200 years ago)
Greek ruler Antiochus Epiphanes torments the Jews
Greek ruler Antiochus Epiphanes rules Syria from about 175 BC to about 164 BC. He reigns over Judah and tries to destroy the Jewish religion. He also defiles the Temple.
164 BC to 63 BC (about 2200 years ago)
Jews have independence
The Maccabees, a group that fought for Jewish independence, stage a revolt against the Greeks and establish the Hasmonean royal dynasty, as well as sovereignty over all or part of the land of Israel for about 100 years, from about 164 BC to 63 BC.
63 BC (about 2100 years ago)
The Romans take over land of Israel
After the death of Alexander the Great, the empire of the Greeks is divided up and becomes weaker. During this time, the Roman Empire becomes increasingly powerful. The Roman general named Pompey seizes control over the land of Israel.
About 5 BC (about 2000 years ago)
Jesus is born in Bethlehem
Jesus is born in the town of Bethlehem. The Apostle Matthew later points out that Jesus' birth in Bethlehem fulfilled a prophecy delivered by the prophet Micah, about 700 years beforehand. (See Micah 5:2).     
Source:http://www.konig.org/timeline.htm

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Daniel 9:26a  And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing.

Luke 2:

10  And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

11  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

John 19:30  When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Luke 24:

44  Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."

45  Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

46  and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,

47  and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

48  You are witnesses of these things.

49  And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."

50  Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.

51  While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

52  And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,

53  and were continually in the temple blessing God.

The incarnation/birth,life and death of Christ mark the beginning of the 63^rd (last) week.
Cyrus was called an anointed one (mashiach), a prince (nawgheed) a civil or military commander; a governor. Jesus is simply the anointed one, i.e. the Christ.

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Daniel 9:26b 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 decreed.

Titus conquers Jerusalem and destroys the temple in 70 AD

Matthew 24:

1  Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.

2  But he answered them, "You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down."

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Daniel 9:27  And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, 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."

Luke22:

19  And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

20  And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Hebrews 9:

15  Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

16  For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established.

17  For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.

Hebrews 9:

24  For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

25  Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own,

26  for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Hebrews 10:

11  And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

12  But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

13  waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.

14  For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

15  And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,

16  "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,"

17  then he adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more."

18  Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Titus, and Rome are one of many historical manifestations of Babylon, and so they symbolically represent the presence of Babylon in the earth until its’ destruction. (Rev 17 and 18)
Christ seated at the right hand of the Father, until the decreed end of Babylon comes. (Mark 13:32)

Daniel 2:31-35; the king of Babylon is always the head 

See also Genesis 11:5-9

Christ by His death which occurs in the middle of the last seven or week, effectively put an end to the temple sacrifices. The ceremonial law and the need for the temple are fulfilled. Titus, (ordained and used of God, like Cyrus), by his “mid-week” destruction of the city effectively put an end to any chance that the temple sacrifices would continue.

The scripture does not support any view that says a man, i.e. antichrist, will make a covenant with the jews and subsequently enter a rebuilt (third) temple and end the sacrifices which had been re-established just prior to his manifestation. Christ put an end to the temple sacrifices once for all. ALL of the first covenant (that is the law and the prophets John 5:37-47; Luke 24:27;Matthew 5:17-18; John 19:30), which ended at His death, is currently fulfilled in Him for all time. Putting an end to the sacrifices and offerings is reserved for Christ alone.

The term antichrist appears only 4 times in scripture, 1 John 2: 18 and 22; 1 John 4:3; 2 John 1:7. It is not used in referring to any one man, or any one historical age. Antichrist indeed has been with us since Christ’s initial coming. Antichrist will not organize and lead a “one world government”. That also, is reserved for Christ alone. 

Rev 11:

15  Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever."

16  And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God,

17  saying, "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.

18  The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth."

We (the church) are and have been living in the “last half of the last week” which began at his death.

Rev21:                                                                                                                                                       1Then 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.  2  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." 5  And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." 

 

The Book of Revelation is truly the tale of two cities; Babylon, the whore, the Kingdom of men, (Genesis 11), and the New Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God/Heaven, the Bride.
The Book of Revelation, and indeed all biblical prophecy, is not to be interpreted through a  “futurist/literalist” hermeneutic.
The language of biblical prophecy utilizes symbolism, allegory, and metaphor, as well as the literal.
Those who claim to be Christ’s need to stop using  Fox News as their means of  interpreting scripture.   

Solus Christus

Sola Scriptura

Soli Deo Gloria