Can you explain what Daniel 9:27 is about. Also what are the seven sevens and how do they relate to the sixty-two sevens in Daniel 9:25?

Answer:

You should consider getting a copy of my book, "Daniel, Prophet to the Nations." (www.ipibooks.com) It goes into this particular prophecy in great detail. Let me give the short version. Daniel 9:27 is a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman general Titus which happened in AD 70. He will make a firm covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering. And the abomination of desolation will be on a wing of the temple. Immediately after he took Jerusalem, Titus burned the temple to the ground (putting an end to sacrifice) and offered pagan sacrifice on the site of the temple. This is the "abomination of desolation." Jesus confirmed this prophecy of Daniel refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in Matthew 24:15. As for the week in which the destruction takes place, I refer you to my book on Daniel.

The seven sevens (weeks) and sixty two sevens in Daniel 9:25 these are 69 of the 70 sevens (weeks) mentioned in Daniel 9:24. What is going on here is that the coming of the Messiah to Jerusalem occurs after the sixty-nine weeks are complete and before seventy "weeks" are completed. In other words, the putting to an end to sin, done by the Messiah, will happen somewhere between 483 and 490 years after the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (Daniel 9:25). It just so happens that this is exactly what happened. Artaxerxes issued a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem in the year 458 BC (see Ezra chapter seven). If we count from there, 483 years puts us at 26 AD and 490 years reaches 33 AD. It just so happens that Jesus came to Jerusalem and was killed to bring in everlasting righteousness in AD 30–in the middle of the seventieth "seven." Daniel 9:24-27 is a prophecy of the death of Jesus for the sins of all men and of the ultimate end of the Jewish sacrificial system in AD 70.

John Oakes