Study of the Sanctuary - part 5

70 Weeks Prophecy

When we study the words of Scripture, we need to remember that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (2 Tim 3:16).” “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2 Peter 1:21)” These things help us to realize the credibility of the word of God, that He spoke or inspired it and thus it is truth.
            While we study Scripture, we need to keep in mind Isaiah 28:10. “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:” We will not find a more sure answer to things of scripture unless we let scripture be its own interpreter. Amen? Let the word of God prove itself and be the basis to compare all things upon.

Where is the 70 weeks prophecy found to be given? (Opening verse)

Daniel 9:24-27

            24 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.

25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

            A day for a year

Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6

And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.

            With this verse here, we can know that in this prophecy, where ever there is a day, it literally represents a literal year. Prophetic day = literal year.

Therefore, 70 weeks (7 Prophetic days in a week) would be 70x7=490 Prophetic days, or 490 literal years.

So, if we re-read verse 24 of the prophecy with what we understand, it means, “[Four hundred ninety literal years] 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.

            When did these 70 weeks (or 490 literal years) begin?

Daniel 9:25

25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

            When was this decree or commandment sent forth to restore Jerusalem? (Remember that Jerusalem had been destroyed when Israel was taken captive to Babylon for their prolonged disobedience to God)

The decree can be found in Ezra 7:12-26

12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time.

13 I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.

25 And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.

26 And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

In Its completest form it was issued by Artaxerxes, King of Persia, 457 B.C.

Note: In Ezra 6:14 the house of the Lord at Jerusalem is said to have been built “according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.” These three kings in originating, reaffirming, and completing the decree, brought it to the perfection required by the prophecy to mark the beginning of the 490 years. Taking 457 B.C., the time when the decree was completed, as the date of the commandment, every specification of the prophecy concerning the 70 weeks was seen to have been fulfilled.

“From the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks”—namely, sixty-nine weeks, or 483 years. The decree of Artaxerxes went into effect in the autumn of 457 B.C. From this date, 483 years extend to the autumn of A.D. 27. At that time this prophecy was fulfilled. The word “Messiah” signifies “the Anointed One.” In the autumn of A.D. 27 Christ was baptized by John and received the anointing of the Spirit. The apostle Peter testifies that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power.” Acts 10:38. And the Saviour Himself declared: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.” Luke 4:18. After His baptism He went into Galilee, “preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled.” Mark 1:14, 15. {GC 327.1}

            It was at the Baptism of Christ that He began his ministry of delivering the gospel to the Jews, as well as it marked the beginning of the last Prophetic week of the prophecy.

“And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week.” The “week” here brought to view is the last one of the seventy; it is the last seven years of the period allotted especially to the Jews. During this time, extending from A.D. 27 to A.D. 34, Christ, at first in person and afterward by His disciples, extended the gospel invitation especially to the Jews. As the apostles went forth with the good tidings of the kingdom, the Saviour’s direction was: “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Matthew 10:5, 6. {GC 327.2}
            Now, here is where this prophecy becomes connected to the Sanctuary:
“In the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” In A.D. 31, three and a half years after His baptism, our Lord was crucified. With the great sacrifice offered upon Calvary, ended that system of offerings which for four thousand years had pointed forward to the Lamb of God. Type had met antitype, and all the sacrifices and oblations of the ceremonial system were there to cease. {GC 327.3}  

This time here, the midst of the last week of the prophecy, When Christ was crucified, (A.D. 31) the ceremonies and feast days and things related to the tabernacle were fulfilled and finished. They had been accomplished and that is when they ended. We no longer keep them because Christ fulfilled them at the cross. The work of the Sanctuary was then shifted into Heaven and Christ became our High priest.

Amen?
Praise the Lord.

Though the laws of the tabernacle were fulfilled here, the ten commandment law was not done away with as it was separate from the ceremonial laws. It is a law that works love and thus it is still today. The Things of the moral law are good and pure and everlasting. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)”

“The seventy weeks, or 490 years, especially allotted to the Jews, ended, as we have seen, in A.D. 34. At that time, through the action of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the nation sealed its rejection of the gospel by the martyrdom of Stephen and the persecution of the followers of Christ. Then the message of salvation, no longer restricted to the chosen people, was given to the world. The disciples, forced by persecution to flee from Jerusalem, “went everywhere preaching the word.” “Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.” Peter, divinely guided, opened the gospel to the centurion of Caesarea, the God-fearing Cornelius; and the ardent Paul, won to the faith of Christ, was commissioned to carry the glad tidings “far hence unto the Gentiles.” Acts 8:4, 5; 22:21. {GC 328.1}

            This marked the end of the 70 week prophecy, the Gospel had been moved from the Jews (because they rejected it and Christ the Messiah), and had then been placed among the gentiles. The Plan of Salvation was made available to any and all who would receive it, and was no longer secluded to one nation of people. Christ labored diligently to save the Jewish people from the course they were traveling, but when they rejected Him and His truth, and began persecuting the church of Christ marked by the stoning of Steven, they had sealed their fate and the blessing of Eternal life was removed from them.

            Conclusion

So, the Seventy weeks prophetically represents 490 years. The 490 years began when Artaxerxes sent out the decree to rebuild Jerusalem (Ezra 7:12-26). The last week of the Prophetic 70 weeks (or the beginning of the last 7 years) was marked by the Anointing of Christ, the Messiah, at His baptism when the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove. It was at this Baptism that Jesus began His ministry.
            In the Midst of the last week of the prophecy, (A.D. 31) Christ was crucified, and the sacrifices and ordinances of the tabernacle were made to cease. That is when the ceremonial laws were fulfilled. The work of the tabernacle was then moved to the heavenly Sanctuary, Christ became our High Priest and now labors in the Heavenly as our Mediator to make atonement for our sins. No other mediator would I want other than Jesus Himself.
            The end of the 70 weeks was marked in A.D. 34, when the Jews began persecuting the true followers of Christ by the stoning of Steven. At this time the Gospel moved from the Jews and became available to the gentiles (all the earth), to any who would receive it.

            The 70 weeks prophecy may not be in our time today, but it applies to us to understand it for the credibility of Scripture by the fulfillment of Prophecy, and also of the ministry that Christ is engaged in for us in our current day.