7 Years Tribulation In Daniel’s 70 Weeks End Time Prophecy

7 Years Tribulation in Daniel’s 70 Weeks End Time Prophecy

Seven years Tribulation is directly connected to Daniels 70 Weeks. This is the foundational and core passage why we know the Tribulation last for seven years. The Bible doesn’t contain a single verse that explicitly says, “Those left behind in the Rapture will enter a seven-year Tribulation.” However, this concept is derived from a synthesis of several prophetic passages. I will be explaining in this article how the view is constructed, how we arrived at the Tribulation lasting for seven years.

Daniel’s 70 Weeks is a foundational prophecy for understanding end-times. It was written in the Book of Daniel Chapter 9, Verses 24 to 27. The Bible passage is famous and notable that unpacks the seven years Tribulation that is associated with the reigning of the Antichrist. So let’s analyze it verse by verse in sequence:

(Verse 24) Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.

The word “week” means seven, it could be 7 days, 7 months, 7 years, but in this context, it is referring to years, and “seventy weeks” means seventy sets of seven or 70 X 7 = 490 years. The seven weeks (7 X 7 = 49 years) and sixty-two weeks (62 X 7 = 434 years) combine to form 483 years (434 + 49 = 483).

v24: Seventy weeks or 490 prophetical years are determined:

• For your people – people is referring to the Prophet Daniel’s people, the Jewish people, the nation of Israel

• For your holy city – holy city is Jerusalem

• To finish the transgression – When Israel recognizes Jesus as their Messiah, their rebellion against God will finish because Israel is God’s chosen people. When Jesus died and resurrected, He became savior and redeemer of the world, He became the Messiah; although even before the creation of the world, He was already the Messiah and will always be the Messiah, but His role as savior and redeemer of the world was fulfilled and confirmed through His death and resurrection.

• To make an end of sins – Christ’s death paid for sin’s presence; Jesus death atoned sins of humanity – sin ended temporarily, somehow sin is restrained. Sin’s presence will continue until the final judgment (Revelation 20:7-15). It will still exist even in Christ millennial reign, full eradication comes when God creates New Heaven and New Earth.

• To make reconciliation for iniquity – Christ death and resurrection reconciled humanity to God, it brings forth reconciliation for iniquity (2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Romans 5:10). Jesus atonement reconciles sinners to God. Reconciliation is spiritually complete in Christ, but iniquity still continues in the world until the final judgment.

• To bring in everlasting righteousness – Jesus death and resurrection brought everlasting righteousness to those who have faith and believe in His death and resurrection. To those who trust in Jesus, He imputes righteousness to believers eternally (Romans 3:21-26).

• To seal up vision and prophecy – Just like a letter is sealed up because its contents are finalized and completed ready for deliver, “to seal up vision and prophecy” means God’s entire redemptive plan that was revealed to the Prophet Daniel will reach its divinely appointed time for fulfillment and completion, nothing will be changed or added. This redemptive plan is especially for the nation of Israel as God’s chosen people, as well as for humanity (the world) in general.

• To anoint the Most Holy – Is referring to a person Jesus Christ when He is anointed at baptism by John the Baptist, initiating Jesus public ministry. It took place when He was “anointed” by the Holy Spirit” in the form of a dove” (Matthew 3:16). The whole context of the passage builds toward a personal Messiah. The succeeding verse 25 says: “until the Messiah the Prince”, directly identifies the personal Messiah, and the same verse identifies the countdown of 69 weeks (483 years) leads up to the public appearance of Jesus as Messiah. The anointing in verse 24 lines up perfectly as the anointing of personal Messiah. Surrounding verses so clearly speaks of a personal Messiah, His arrival, His anointing, His cut off. Furthermore, the six purposes mentioned earlier (to finish transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy) are all fulfilled by the work of the Messiah Jesus Christ. These points so clearly that the passage context “to anoint the Most Holy”, describes Lord Jesus Christ redemptive actions. The flow of prophecy, from the command to rebuild Jerusalem to the appearance of the Messiah, his anointing, His sacrificial death, and the subsequent destruction of Jerusalem, all points to a personal, Messianic fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ.