All Eyes on Israel
Chapter 2 - Is Modern Israel the Israel of Promise?
Page 6 - Daniel's Prophecies
(Go Back to Page 5 - The Babylonian Captivity)

Daniel's Prophecies are critical to a correct understanding of the role of Israel in prophecy. The word "weeks" in Daniel 9:24 (referred to on the previous page) is from the original word "shabuwa" (Strong's 07620) and has the meanings:

1. 1) seven, period of seven (days or years), heptad, week
2. 1a) period of seven days, a week
3. 1a1) Feast of Weeks
4. 1b) heptad, seven (of years)

So, it can mean weeks of years without even requiring the application of a day-year principle. Seventy weeks of years would be 490 years. That was to be the duration of the probationary period for Israel. The next verse gives more details of the timing:

"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." (Dan 9:25)

Daniel was given a starting point for this time period - "from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem." Historically, there is evidence for the date 457 BC for that point, which, if we go forward from it 490 years, brings us to 34 AD.

The time period in verse 25 can be understood as:

Start: "from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem" (457 BC, a well-established historical date)
Duration: "seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks" = 7 + 62 = 69 weeks of years = 483 years
End: "unto the Messiah (anointed one) the Prince" (Jesus was anointed at His baptism by John)

Start:            457 BC
Duration: + 483 years
                     = 26 AD
                       + 1 year (to account for no year 0)
End:           = 27 AD

For this period of probation, this second chance, God, as we will see in the next page, was going to pull out all the stops to get through to His people.