🕒 9 min read · 📝 1634 words
Daniels Seventieth Week
This symbolic “week” represents the span of a Christian’s life—from conversion to physical death—viewed through the lens of covenant relationship.
The following is a hyper‑literal rendering of the Hebrew text of Daniel 9:26–27, accompanied by brief explanations of key Hebrew phrases. These explanations appear in parentheses to help the reader follow the symbolic pattern.
Daniel 9:26 — Hyper‑literal rendering with explanatory notes
“And after the sixty‑two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off, but not for Himself.”
(Jesus gives His life for others, not for Himself.)
“And the city and the sanctuary—the people of a coming ruler shall destroy.”
(The enemies of God bring destruction upon the people of God.)
“And its end shall be with a flood.” here “its end” refers to the outcome of the destruction of the city and sanctuary;
their destructive work reaches an overwhelming, flood‑like conclusion.)
“And until the end, there shall be war; desolations are decreed.”
(This process of judgment continues in the believer’s life until the “uttermost farthing” is repaid and the sinful condition is recognized and confessed — Matt 5:26.)
Daniel 9:27 — Hyper‑literal rendering with explanatory notes
“And he shall make firm a covenant with the many for one week.”
(Christ establishes and strengthens the covenant with His followers.)
“And in the middle of the week he shall cause sacrifice and offering to cease.”
(If the Believer persists in willful sin Jesus sends them delusion, and the believer’s confession of willful sin stops at this point.)
“And on the wing of abominations comes one who makes desolate.”
(In response to the believer’s willful sin, the enemies of God gain access and exert destructive influence.)
And until the complete end—what has been decreed is poured out upon the desolator.”
Here “end” refers to the termination of the desolator’s influence; judgment falls upon the one bringing desolation, rendering the desolator’s power inoperative (Hebrews 2:14).
Daniel 9:26 uses “flood” imagery for the overwhelming end of the city’s destruction. Daniel 9:27 uses “poured‑out decree” imagery for the end of the desolator, the decisive disabling of destructive authority.
The Pattern Illustrated in Job and the Prophets:
God confronted Job’s hidden self‑righteousness by permitting the adversary to apply controlled pressure (Job 41:34), exposing a condition Job could not see on his own. Through this measured judgment (Joel 1:15), the Messiah limited the devil’s authority and brought Job to recognize and repent of the ungodly behavior.
This same pattern appears in Daniel 9:27.
The Messiah pours out the decreed end upon the desolator, removing the enemy’s influence from the believer (2 Thessalonians 2:8). This is the grace of God actively teaching His people to deny ungodliness (Titus 2:11–12).
In this way, Jesus continually confirms His covenant with every believer, guiding them back into obedience and restoring fellowship.
Da 9:26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war; desolations are decreed. (RSV)
27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week; and for half of the week he shall cause sacrifice and offering to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” (RSV)
This translation highlights the same pattern seen in the hyper‑literal rendering.
The Messiah confirms the covenant with His followers, and He is the one who ultimately brings the decreed end upon both the Believers (repentance) and the desolator (rendering the devil’s power inoperative.) — an overwhelming and decisive judgment.
This aligns with the pattern described in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, where the Lord removes the influence of wickedness from the believer’s life. The believer is not destroyed; rather, the destructive influence is consumed and taken away.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
The believer isn’t destroyed; instead, the wickedness is removed from their life.
Between the two halves of Daniel’s 70th week, what Scripture calls the “sacrifice” comes to an end. This refers to the confession of sin that leads to forgiveness, the offering of our lips that ceases in a person’s life (Hosea 14:2; Hebrews 10:26-27 and Hebrews 13:15). It signifies the stopping of the confession that brings about forgiveness.
This is the “Sacrifice ceasing”.
In Daniel 9:27 The Messiah/Jesus brings an end to these sacrifices offered by His followers (they stop asking for forgiveness for their willful sins)— This means that when Jesus sees willful sin in one of His followers’ lives, He sets about to help them remove it by initiating delusion and judgment.
When willful sin occurs in a believer’s life, God sends the person delusion.
This delusion is caused by the devil who is sent by God as described in 2 Thessalonians 2:11. This delusion causes the Christian person to stop confessing willful sin and requesting to be forgiven for it.
Because the persons confession ceases, their forgiveness does not occur, and their judgment begins, Heb 10:26-27 and 1 Jn 1:9.
This judgment is incorrectly referred to as “damnation” in 2 Thess 2:12, KJV.
The Christian’s delusion signals the start of the “Day of the Lord”, the time of Gods judgment per Joel 1:15 and 1 Cor 11:32.
The Day of the Lords Judgment comes as a thief and the elemental behaviors melt, 2 Peter 3:10.
This illustrates how Jesus uses the Devil to motivate a Christian to deny ungodliness.
2 Peter 3:10 KJV — But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
This is the judgment referred to in 1 Thess 4:13-5:8 and 2 Thess 2:1-12.
The willfully sinful/sleeping/deluded believer no longer recognizes the sinful behavior as being sin.
God has sent this state of delusion to the person, and they do not confess the sin, and God’s judgment progresses in the believer’s life, per Heb 10:26-27.
Faithful believers are told not to share a meal with or “Prevent/precede, (go before)” willfully sinful brothers, as referenced in Matt. 24:16 and 28, 1 Thess. 4:13 and 15, and 1 Cor. 5:1-11. We are not to interact with willfully sinful believers until the delusion and judgment bring about their repentance.
This is similar to when Job repented in dust and ashes – having become aware of and requested deliverance from (repented) His pride and self-righteousness, Job 32:1.
During this time of judgment the devil is permitted to deceive the person. This deception is limited and controlled by Jesus, Eze 20:37, Hosea 5:12 and 14.
God’s discipline proceeds and ultimately removes the willful sin from a Christian’s life.
When the Believer has been cleansed of the willful sin the obedient believers are then permitted to resume fellowship with the formerly sleeping Christians in 1 Thess 4:17.
First Half of the Week
Sacrifice Ceases
Second Half of the Week
The First Symbolic 3.5 Days – This section represents the times in a persons life when the Covenant between God and Man is respected and the person is obedient. These time are symbolically referred to as the Millennium (Rev 20:2) or First Resurrection (Col 3:1) when the believer rules and reigns in life.
The “Sacrifice ceasing” means that the person has sinned willfully as seen in Heb 10:26. This concept divides the two halves of the week. The Judgment for willful sin (The Day of the Lord Joel 1:15) follows in the next 3.5 day phase per Heb 10:26.
The Second Symbolic 3.5 Days – This phase represents the times of Judgment in a Christians life, In this phase the Believer has willfully fallen and broken the Covenant with God, 2 Thess 2:3. It is called the Day of The Lord per Joel 1:15. The Discipline begins as God sends delusion to the Christian Man who sins (2 Thess 2:11). This happens so the discipline can begin. This is the Day of the Lord coming as a thief (2 Pet 3:10), wherein exposure to the devils wicked presence is used to bring about the believer’s correction. The Judgment during this phase is designed to bring a person back into obedience and the Bond of the Covenant per Ezekiel 20:37 and 1 Cor 11:32. Upon Repentance the believer is released from the prison of the Devils presence, Matt 5:26 and Luke 12:59.
This entire process—confession ceasing, delusion beginning, and judgment unfolding—forms the internal structure of Daniel’s symbolic “week.” The first half reflects obedience and fellowship, while the second half reflects the discipline that restores the believer to covenant faithfulness.
The table that follows illustrates this pattern, which is in stark contrast to the commonly assumed end‑time charts.
Instead of a future geopolitical timeline, this process illustrates the believer’s spiritual progression within the covenant.
| First symbolic 3.5 Day periods Obedient phases recurring throughout a Believers lifetime Abiding in Jesus Second Presence/Coming This is the First Resurrection Col 3:1 This is the “Millenium” The devil is bound during Obedience Revelation 20:2 Proverbs 16:7 – Pleasing to God Covenant Obedience 1 John 1:9 Known Sins are confessed and Forgiven Rule and reign in Life Rm 5:17 and 5:21 | Sacrifice Ceases Willful Sin Heb10:26 Break in Covenant Fellowship Sacrifice Ceases Heb 10:27 Proverbs 28:13 Sin not confessed | Second symbolic 3.5 Day periods Disobedient phases recurring throughout a Believers lifetime. This is the “Tribulation” when a believer dwells in carnality per John 16:33. This is the “Day of the Lord” Behavior Meriting Judgment Joel – 1:15 Addressed in the Day of The Lord Exposure to devils Presence, as judicial discipline Matt 25:41 Discipline for correction 1 Cor 5:5 and 1 Cor 11:32 Jesus Reveals and Consumes the wickedness out of their Life 2 Thess 2:8 The person comes out of Hell Matt 5:26 |
This covenant pattern appears throughout Scripture in many symbolic forms, but the underlying structure remains the same.