Overview
Overall Picture of the Seven Year Prophecy
- Church Age Diagram
- Watch
Events Leading Up To and During the Seven Year Prophecy
- Watch
The Seven Year Prophecy - Daniel 9:24-27
- Breakdown Chart of Daniel 9:24-27
- Calculations of the Seven Year Prophecy
- Timeline of the 490 Years
The Six Objectives and You
The Purpose of this Website
Overall Picture of the Seven Year Prophecy
The Seven Year Prophecy, is a prophecy that occurs in the Old Testament book of Daniel which was written between 700-680 BC. It is the final segment of a 490 Prophecy. The fulfillment of the entire 490 Prophecy began with letters that the Persian King Artaxerxes Longimanus gave Nehemiah in 445 BC and continued into the time of Christ. Most of the prophecy, 483 Years, ended at the moment that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey at the Triumphal Entry, (the first Palm Sunday), nearly 2,000 years ago in 30 AD. The prophecy then says that Jesus, the Messiah, would suffer a violent murder, and a gap would occur in its completion. The final Seven Years remain to be fulfilled even to this day.
Jesus came as the King of the Jews, but also to be their Savior from their sins. But the Jews of the time in large part, along with their leadership, rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Instead He was crucified (Matthew 21-28). His murder was also prophesied in this same 490 Year Prophecy. This prophecy in Daniel contains Six Objectives for the Jewish nation that would be completed within the total 490 year time period. But because Jesus was rejected and killed, the progress of these Six Objectives was delayed, and the Final Seven Years were postponed far into the future. The Six Objectives will be completed by the end of the coming Seven Years.
A number of things have happened in the interim of the Prophecy. Three days after His death, Jesus rose again, spent 40 days teaching His followers and then ascended to heaven. Jesus had established His Church, a group of His followers that He commissioned to go into the world, and share the good news of Jesus Christ’s death, resurrection and forgiveness for humanity’s sins. This commission has existed for nearly 2,000 years. But this time frame will come to an end at a designated point, and the Final Seven Years of the 490 Year Prophecy will come to pass. Will the Seven Years resume in our lifetimes?
An astounding number of details of the Seven Years were spoken of by Jesus in the Bible in Matthew 24-25, Luke 21 and Revelation 4-19. They will begin with an evil world leader, (the Antichrist), who will rise to power and will confirm an agreement with Israel for the Seven Year Period - resuming the final stage of the prophecy. Then 3.5 years in, the evil leader will break the agreement and will set himself up to be worshiped as God in the re-built Jewish Temple. He will turn on the Jews, and they will see he is not on their side. Many Jews will come to realize that Jesus Christ was and is their true Messiah, King and Savior from their sins. At the end of the Seven Years, Jesus Christ will return to earth, defeat the Antichrist and will set up His Kingdom of Peace in Israel for 1,000 years.
In 95 AD, One of Jesus’ original followers, the Apostle John, recorded the greatest number of details about this time period in the book of Revelation. These prophecies include events that will finish the Six Objectives for Israel, and numerous events that will affect everyone in the entire world. To see lists and diagrams of the events discussed in Revelation and other books of the Bible, click here:
When Jesus was on earth 2,000 years ago, He described to His followers in great detail the many many events that will occur before His Second Coming for a very important reason. He did this, so that people, like you and I would read about these events, and be watching for the many signs alerting humanity that this period was about to take place. God has set times and seasons for the progress of history. We are not simply spinning through the universe on a ball that has no purpose or direction. He has a purpose for the earth, for history, for humanity and for you.
Jesus said to be watching for the signs of the times. When it comes to the prophecy of the Seven Years in Daniel 9, we should be watching for
the following things:
1) Watch Israel for Events and Alliances leading to a Seven Year Agreement.
2) Watch for a Specific Leader who will rise and could take the lead
in this coming Agreement.
3) Watch for the Rebuilding of the Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount
in Jerusalem in Israel.
The evil world leader has to desecrate the temple, so first, it has to be re-built. Currently,
the Al-Aqsa Mosque sits on top of the Jewish Temple Mount. Many wonder if the treaty
could include a provision for the rebuilding of the Temple in place of, or next to, the
Mosque. One way or another, it has to be built.
Events Leading up to and During
the Seven Year Prophecy
The Book of Daniel in the Bible contains several prophecies for Israel and the world from the viewpoint of the writer Daniel. Daniel and the nation of Israel were captured and exiled from their homeland and were taken to the country of Babylon in 586 BC. In chapters 2 and 7-12, the prophet Daniel explained dreams of the future of Israel from the perspective of his time, and into the future. From the outlook of a Jew in love with his homeland, Daniel told of all of the nations that would occupy the land of Israel. He spoke of the Babylonian Empire that took him and his neighbors away from their country. Then he told of the future successive occupying nations - that the Medo-Persians, Greeks and Romans would take over the land of Israel (Daniel 2:31-43; 7:1-7). He foretold many incredible prophecies hundreds of years in advance, including: the decree of the Persian King Artaxerxes (445 BC) (Dan. 9:25), the conquest of Alexander the Great (336 BC – 323 BC) and the dividing of his kingdom to his four generals (322 and 275 BC) (Dan. 8:21-22), the desecration of the land by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (168 BC) (Dan. 8:23-26), the death of Jesus Christ (30 AD) (Dan. 9:26), and the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple at the hands of Titus and his Roman armies (70 AD) (Dan. 9:26).
But Daniel also told of a time still in the future even today. It is a time when an evil world ruler will rise amongst 10 Kingdoms that are combined into a One-World Government. This One World Government will have some connection with the former Roman Empire and the other previous kingdoms. He will make a treaty with Israel and other nations (Dan. 9:26), the Jewish Temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem, and he will seem like the savior of the world. This agreement will be a Seven Year covenant that he will break three and a half years in, and he will be revealed to be the tyrant he really is (Daniel 9:27). During these Seven Years, the entire world will be in upheaval from wars, famines, disease, weather anomalies, geologic and cosmic disturbances all happening simultaneously (Matthew 24:1-28; Revelation 4-18). The Apostle John wrote the entire book of Revelation (95 AD), about this future time, but this time is also referenced in nearly every book in the Bible, where it is called tribulations, the Great Tribulation, the Day of the Lord and the time of Jacob’s Trouble (Revelation 4-19). It will be a time period so terrible that Jesus said, “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened (Matthew 24:22)”.
The evil world ruler, (that some also call the Antichrist), will also create some kind of a ‘mark’ that will go into the hand or forehead of everyone on earth (Revelation 13). This ‘mark’ will enable people to buy and sell - or in other words - to survive. Numerous people will have seen the powers of the Antichrist and his side-kick, the False Prophet, and will worship him. They will gladly take this mark to worship him, be in allegiance with him, and be able to do business and pay for their daily needs. But the Bible warns that those who give their allegiance to this man, and take his mark, will not be on God’s side. They will ultimately be pledging themselves to Satan, (the evil deceitful fallen angel who rules this world), and they will not be able to go to heaven after they die. Those who choose to follow God, and refuse to take the ‘mark’ will be persecuted and killed, but they will go to heaven and live for eternity in peace with God. To learn more about the Antichrist and the “mark of the Beast”, click here:
Signs to Watch for in Light of These Prophecies:
1) Watch for the World to move towards a Global Government with 10 Divisions
2) Watch for a simultaneous upheaval in the Natural, Supernatural,
National and International
3) Watch for the Development of a “Mark” to be Taken in the Hand or Forehead
- Enabling the Individual Banking, Employment, and Ability to Pay Bills
- It must be voluntary. The individual will be given the choice to take it,
though to refuse will mean death.
- The ‘mark’ will be taken in allegiance and worship of the evil world leader.
These Seven Years will come to an end when Jesus Christ returns to earth to fight against the evil world ruler and his followers and defeats him in the battle of Armageddon (Daniel 7:9-14; 9:27; Matthew 14:29-30, 25:31-46; Revelation 19:11-20). At this point, many will have accepted that Jesus Christ is the true Savior of the world, and the Bible talks about a beautiful kingdom that He will set up on earth. It will be a kingdom of light and love and peace (Revelation 19-20)!
The Seven Year Prophecy - Daniel 9:24-27 (LXX/NIV)
“Seventy ‘sevens’ have been determined for your people, and for your holy city, to set an end to sin, and to wipe out lawlessness, and to atone for wrongdoings, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. You shall know and understand, that from the going forth of the word to be answered and to build Jerusalem until Christ the Prince, there shall be seven ‘sevens’, and sixty-two ‘sevens’. Then time shall return, and the streets and the wall shall be built, and the times shall be exhausted. After the sixty-two ‘sevens’, the Anointed One shall be put to death, yet there shall be no upright judgment for him. And he shall destroy the city and the sanctuary with the prince who is coming: and they shall be cut off with a flood, and to the end of the war which will be cut short, he shall appoint the city to desolations. Then he shall confirm the covenant with many for one ‘seven’, and in the middle of the ‘seven’ My sacrifice and drink-offering will be taken away: and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolations; and at the end of time an end to the desolation shall be appointed.”
Phrase by Phrase Explanation of the Seven Year Prophecy
Calculations of the Seven Year Prophecy
Daniel, who was a Hebrew prophet, was exiled with the Jewish people from their homeland of Israel, and was taken into the country of Babylon in 586 BC. In Daniel Chapter 9, the angel Gabriel gave him a dream which contained the prophecy of the seventy ‘sevens’ (Hebrew shabua, Greek heptad - a period of seven). It is a prophecy of the future from Daniel’s perspective that contained divisions of time for the prophecy to be fulfilled. It is important to note that the word translated ‘sevens’, (or ‘weeks’ or ‘weeks of years’ in some English translations), is actually the word shebua that literally means ‘a period of seven’. But in Hebrew, the original language of the author Daniel, the word can mean seven days, weeks, months or years. In each individual case in the Bible, the time frame being discussed is determined from the context. Since this prophecy matches up so exactly with history, from Artaxerxes’ command until Jesus Christ presented himself as King, we know this shebua equals seven years.
Verse 24
Using this time frame for the shebua, (1 shebua/’seven’ = 7 years), and applying this math to the entire time period of the prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27, then seventy sevens, (or 70 x 7) equals 490 total years. Daniel 9:24 explains six things that must occur within the total time frame of the 490 years.
Verse 25
Verse 25 discusses seven ‘sevens’ (49 years) and sixty-two ‘sevens’ (434 years). These two time periods combined to equal sixty-nine ‘sevens’, (483 Hebrew calendar years of 360 days each). Historically, the 483 years began with the decree of the Persian King Artaxerxes in 445 BC for the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild. This started the clock on the 69 ‘sevens’ (483 years). This time period was completed in 30 AD when Jesus Christ (Messiah, Anointed One of the Jews) presented Himself as King when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. This is a sign the Jews were to look for of the arrival of their Messiah, which was prophesied in Zechariah 9:9. This was the first Palm Sunday.
This astounding part of the prophecy gives us an exact measurement of time. It shows us that the Book of Daniel is supernatural, came from a Divine Source that exists outside of time, and who knows what will happen in great detail before it occurs. If this is true, shouldn’t we also believe that the rest of the prophecy is true as well, and take to heart seriously what it is communicating to us about the future?
Using our current calendar calculations of 365.25 days per year, 483 years is 176,416 days. But because Daniel was a Hebrew, the prophecy God gave him was using a Hebrew calendar of 360 days per year. 483 years using a 360 day year is 173, 880 days. When subtracting the days Daniel was using from our current calendar the resulting difference is 2,536 days - or approximately 7 years. So we would expect the total time frame between Artaxerxes command to Jesus Entry to be 7 years less - or 476 years. Artaxerxes allowed Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild in 445 BC. 476 years later, we come to the year 31 AD. Based on the dates of the lives and reigns of rulers in Israel and the Roman Empire who are mentioned in the Bible, the most accepted dates for the Triumphal Entry of Jesus to Jerusalem, (and His death, resurrection and ascension), are between 30 and 33 AD!
Verse 26
This prophecy (Dan. 9:26) also predicted ahead of time that Christ the Prince would be violently murdered. This part of the prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus was crucified on a Roman cross. After He was crucified, the verse says there would be ‘no judgment in him’. Some translations render these words ‘but not for himself’. Because Jesus was not accepted as the King, but was wrongfully murdered without cause, He instead died for the sins of others (all of humanity), and He was left without a kingdom at that time.
There is a ‘gap’ between the 69th ‘seven’ and the 70th ‘seven’. The gap occurs because the Jewish people rejected Jesus as their Messiah and crucified Him. Forty years after the death of Jesus Christ, the Roman armies destroyed the Jewish temple, the sanctuary in 70 AD. For roughly 1,900 years, (until 1948), the land of Israel was left desolate and under the rule of different nations just as Daniel 9 had prophesied. This gap is a time period referred to as the “fulness or filling up of the Gentiles” when non-Jewish people rule the land of Israel (Luke 21:24, Romans 11:25), and during which God has been working to reach the world through the people of all nationalities.
Because Jesus was not accepted by the Jewish nation and their leadership as a whole, He was crucified, and the Six Objectives He came to fulfill for the Jewish nation were put on hold. In the intervening time, He set up His Church of all nations to reach the world with the good news of forgiveness for those who trust in Jesus to be their Savior from their sins.
Verse 27
Daniel then discussed the ruler who will come. This is not a reference to Jesus, but to an evil ruler who will oppose the Jewish people in the future. This man has previously been discussed in the book of Daniel, and was symbolized both by Antiochus IV Epiphanes and Titus the Roman Emperor. Antiochus was a Hellenistic king of the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. He ransacked Israel and sacrificed a pig in the Jewish Temple. This was definitely an abomination to the Jews. Later, Titus’ Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. But neither of these evil rulers or events fully fit the picture or time frame of Daniel’s prophecy here.
In 95 AD, the Apostle John wrote of the evil world ruler 25 years after Rome sacked Jerusalem. So even though previous evil rulers desecrated and destroyed Jerusalem, from John’s perspective, the evil Antichrist still hadn’t come. He also forecast this ruler and the future time of the end, right before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Throughout the book, John refered to this same final 3 1/2 years with other time descriptions - 1260 days (Rev. 12:6), 42 months (Rev. 11:2, 13:5) and time, times & half a time (Rev. 12:14, also Dan. 7:25-26; Dan. 12:7). Just as God was so precise with the first 483 years, He is precise with the final Seven Years to come, and even the 3.5 Years at the very end. God is so detailed and precise with the past, because He wants us to know that we can trust that what He says is coming for the future will absolutely happen too.
The Six Objectives and You
It was revealed to Daniel that there is a purpose for the 70 sevens, that will be completed within the total 490 years. Six Objectives are listed for Daniel’s people (Jews) and his holy city (Jerusalem): 1) to set an end to sin, 2) and to wipe out lawlessness, 3) and to atone for wrongdoings, 4) and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and 5) to seal the vision and prophecy, 6) and to anoint the Most Holy. These six goals cannot be completed for the Jews in Jerusalem, until Jesus Christ returns at His Second Coming and is accepted as their Messiah.
But Jesus fulfilled the first three on the list for all mankind, when He came the first time nearly 2,000 years ago. When He died on the cross, He atoned, or ‘paid the debt’, for every last person that has lived and ever will live. That includes you and me. Jesus paid the debt, He took the punishment, for the sins of everyone in the world. He offers the free gift of salvation to everyone who wants it!
What does all of this have to do with you and me?
The book of Daniel and the Seven Year Prophecy fit into a much bigger plan of God for the world. The Bible as a whole tells the history of humanity from our creation as a species, until God’s purposes, plans and restoration of everything, come to their final conclusion. You and I are part of that story! God created the first humans, Adam and Eve, perfect and without sin - without any wrong in them (Genesis 1-2). But Satan tempted them to defy God, and the sin they committed plunged their lives, the lives of all of their offspring (us included) and the earth itself, into darkness and struggle and pain (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12-21). This is not to say that everything we do or experience is evil. There is still great beauty in us and in the world. But every aspect of our lives and our environment has in some way been impacted by sin. We all experience broken relationships, sickness, pain and death, and these things are a result of a broken world. And we all can look inside ourselves and see the darkness within (Romans 3:23). We can all say we have at some point done something wrong in our lives, and if we’re honest with ourselves, a whole lot of things. This darkness and wrong and sin within us is what separates us from having a personal relationship with our good and loving Creator (Romans 5:8; 6:23).
And on top of our own sins and struggles, the Bible also says we have enemies who are against us.
Satan is an angel who decided to defy God because he wanted worship for himself (Isaiah 14:12-15). And he wanted to be the ruler of the earth. God had given that responsibility to humans, but Satan deceived Adam and Eve, stole it away, and he rules the earth today (Gen. 1:28-31; Ephesians 2:2). It is his goal to enslave humanity, for us to worship him and ultimately to destroy us. At the end of the age, Satan will raise up this evil ruler who will come on the scene to control the world (Revelation 13:1-10). The Bible says that Satan will possess this evil ruler and will try to bring all humanity into subjection during the Seven Years.
But this is not how God designed the world to be, and He will not let it end this way. Jesus, God’s Son came into the world as a human baby to set all of this right side up again. He died on a cross and took our punishment for us that we deserve for the wrongs we have done (John 3:16). He rose from the dead and conquered death itself so that He could offer eternal life to everyone who believes in Him and accepts His forgiveness and free gift of salvation and eternal life (I Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 6:23). All you have to do is pray and tell Him you would like this gift, and He will give it to you (Romans 10:9-10, 13). He will walk with you through whatever you face in life and when you die, you’ll get to be with Him in heaven. No one knows you like He does. And no one loves you like He does.
And He also is coming back to earth to set the world right again! When the Seven Years come, it will be the unraveling of everything that was broken with the first sins in the beginning. All the corruption in the world will get worse. All the unraveling of the environment will come to a head. And God will let it happen to wake people up so that humanity sees where all our sin leads. But He’s not just going to let us self-destruct. Jesus will come back at the end, defeat the evil ruler, defeat Satan and will set the world right again. Those who trust in Him and believe He is their Savior will get to be a part of the world set right again (Revelation 19-22).
The Purpose of this Website
The Bible is 25% prophetic material. Many prophecies came true at the first coming of Jesus Christ. This shows that the Bible can be trusted, and that it originates from a Source that both knows the future and guides what His good purposes to come to pass. The Bible was written by human authors who were inspired by God who knows what the future holds (II Timothy 3:16-17). He is not confined by our laws of time and space, so telling us what is to come is simple for Him. Because the prophecies concerning Jesus’ first coming came true with such accuracy, we can trust that the prophecies about His Second Coming will come true as well.
There is an end coming to this current age. This website is devoted to giving the details of the end of the age, so that you know what to watch for. God is trustworthy, and His purposes for the ages are to fix the things that have been broken in history, in the environment, in relationships with each other and our relationship with Him. The human race has enemies, and He has told us that he will defeat them too.
You need to know the signs, so that as you look at the world around you, you can determine if the picture is setting up to look like the Final Seven Years of the age, and you can be ready. Knowing what’s coming crystallizes our focus on the things that are important in life - our lives and the lives of our loved ones. Just imagine if you knew that soon there would be only seven more years of life on earth as we have always known it? How would it change your priorities and the ways that you live?
The Bible doesn’t give an exact date of when the Seven Years begins, but it gives many signposts. Do you know what they are? The signposts that we are to watch for are of unimaginable upheaval in every area of life and the earth and the cosmos. Like all tragedies, they snap us into reality, and force us to ask the big questions of life - Who am I? Why am I here? Does any of this have a point? What happens after I die? God gives lots and lots of signposts and events to shake people into the reality that our sins cause pain and separation in our relationships with others and with Him. In these Seven Years, He will judge evil, and He will shake people up so that they ask for forgiveness of sins before it’s too late.
But even if the time doesn’t come in our lifetime, hardships in life remind us that death comes to us all. There are timelines for our own lives too. The Bible says that God knows the number of our days. Any of us could be hit by a car as we go about our daily business. Have you settled the questions with God about where you will go after you die? He knows everything about you, He loves you and He wants to forgive you for whatever you’ve done wrong - if you just ask. Please read these verses that speak of how much God knows about you, thinks about you and loves you.
Psalm 139:1-18
"You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, You, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with You."
THE CHOICE FOR YOUR ETERNAL DESTINY
There is a pastor I know of who likes to explain how to accept this free gift of eternal life for yourself in a way that he calls the ABCs of salvation. Simply talk to God. He loves you, He’s listening and He can hear you anywhere.
A - Admit you are a sinner - that you’ve done things wrong.
B - Believe that Jesus died in your place and took the punishment
that you deserve. And He will forgive you for every sin right now
- past, present and future.
C - Confess with your mouth.
Just pray and tell Him you are accepting His free gift,
and He will give it to you. It’s that simple.
