Chapter nine of Daniel and the seventy weeks begins by focusing on the 70 weeks of years.

 Daniel 9:24 NASB "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.”

I have come to understand that the lead-in to the 70th year includes:

• The catching away of the bride.

• The introduction of the antichrist.

• The unleashing of God's wrath upon Israel and the nations.

• And, has to include the beginning of the millennial reign. 

All of which comprise that 70th year.

The problem with understanding lies in preachers who weakly try to explain what to do with this over 2000-year-old gap. Daniel 9:26 tells us that the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. This event, which happened once, is a definition of the event that is yet to come. Paul, writing to the church in Thessalonica, a place where he initially only spent three weeks, went deep rather quickly as he explained to them that the antichrist will not come on the scene until the church is removed. You have to go into the Literal Translation of the Holy Bible or the Geneva Bible to find this clearly laid out.

Since we will not witness the antichrist making his moves, then it would make sense that this transition to the 70th week brings about the removal of the church, the advent of the antichrist, and the unleashing of God's wrath.

Sir Robert Anderson tells us this about the 70^th week:

Seventy weeks. Note: “That is, seventy weeks of years, or 490 years, which, reckoned from the seventh year of Artaxerxes, coinciding with the 4256th year of the Julian period, and in the month Nisan, in which Ezra was commissioned to restore the Jewish state and polity (Ezr_7:9-26), will bring us to the month Nisan of the 4746th year of the same period, or A.D. 33, the very month and year in which our Lord suffered, and completed the work of our salvation. Sir Robert Anderson has since given a detailed calculation regarding the seventy weeks, a period which begins March 14, B.C. 445, and for the sixty-ninth week, ends Sunday, April 6, A.D. 32, the day of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem (Luke_19:28-40) in fulfillment of Zechariah_9:9” (Anderson, The Coming Prince, pp. vi., 128).

In spite of all this horror that precedes God's wrath, it is also a time of much healing and freedom.

Pay attention to the following assertions.

• To finish the transgression - If the wrath has to be poured out upon Israel, up to and including the time Jesus comes back on the white horse, then it is safe to say that the transgression is NOT over. Clearly, the war, which Jesus fights with the sword in His mouth, is an aspect of this transgression being finished.

• To make an end of sin - This, I conjecture, took place in that time between the cross, Jesus's death, His resurrection, and His placement upon the throne, where He now sits. Matthew 26 has Jesus telling the disciples that the wine was a symbol of His blood, which takes away the sin of the world. During the time between the cross and the throne, Jesus poured out His blood upon the mercy seat, in the heavenly temple, for all of us. (This one time act is the culmination of our salvation if we will accept that He came to earth and did all that for our benefit.) Now, if you are saying to yourself, but I keep on sinning, first off, you would be correct because that attraction to sin is part of your DNA, thanks to Adam, and it is one of the primary reasons that in the twinkling of an eye, we who arise to go with Christ to meet Him in the air will be changed from air breathers to spiritual beings made wholly in the image of God. I would not be too hard on Adam because God needed a pathway into the earth by which He could, once and for all, eliminate Satan and his cohorts; Adam's actions gave Him just that opportunity. Now God, knowing full well the tribulations that are a part of our daily lives, made a covering for us, and that was the cross.

• To make atonement for iniquity - There, once again, goes that cross; and God, in the form of Jesus, put Himself on that cross, paying the outlandish price, once and for all.

• To bring in everlasting righteousness - Every minute we spend on this earth is an opportunity to show God's grace and mercy to others. This grace, mercy, and justice is the essence of God's character, and we have the privilege of sharing that. Eventually, and by that I mean sooner than you think, we will partake in His everlasting righteousness.

• To seal up the vision and prophecy - Some translations add the word "the." I think it makes more sense as the vision and the prophecy are not in the control of any one human being; it belongs to all who believe, receive, and redistribute the vision to others.

• And to anoint the Most Holy Place - The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus did just that. Our struggle is to envision that this took place on His traverse from the cross to the throne.

Daniel 9:25 BSB  “Know and understand this: From the issuance of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until the Messiah, the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of distress.”

Trying to ascertain this particular moment in time (the decree to rebuild Jerusalem) has always been a cloudy issue for me. I can tell you that my personal cloud lay in my hesitation to look at the wording of the statement, "from the issuance of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem."

There were four decrees from the mouth of the kings, but three of them were specific to the temple alone. Finally, Artaxerxes I made his last decree in 445 BC and specified that Jerusalem be rebuilt. There the clarity was all along.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary informs us of this: “Artaxerxes’ permission to rebuild the city of Jerusalem is the decree Daniel had prophesied 95 years earlier in 539 b.c. This decree was issued on March 5, 444 b.c. (See comments on Daniel_9:25).

Daniel 9:25 goes on to say, "From the issuance of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until the Messiah, the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks." This is 69 weeks of years, or 490 years.

Do you realize that Jesus did not have to struggle to understand this bit of history and put Himself on that donkey's colt and rode through the Eastern Gate, the Sheep Gate, on that specific morning.

Why point out that it was the sheep gate?

Because the Lamb of God, the King of Kings, the Son of God, the son of man, and the savior of the world, the Messiah, rode into town that day. Jesus was not caught up in all the accolades because He knew their hearts. He also knew how much this was going to cost Him.

Here we are, once again, staring at those 69 weeks of years out of 70. Jesus died, rose again, and walked the earth for a short period of time after He rose, demonstrating that He is God. This gap between the 69th and the 70th week would require preparations and the hardening of hearts in order to bring everything into alignment. As I pointed out earlier, the church would have to be retrieved, battles would have to be prepared, the attempts to split Jerusalem would be made, and the world would have cried peace and security, while others screamed out, for no good reason, their hatred of the Jews and Israel.

Is that happening?

Oh, you bet it is.

Back to the Bible Knowledge Commentary:

“The divisions of the 70 “sevens” (Daniel_9:25-27) 

“Important revelation was then given to Daniel about the inception of this important time period and its divisions. The 70 “sevens” would begin, Gabriel said, with the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. This decree was the fourth of four decrees made by Persian rulers in reference to the Jews.”

“The fourth decree was also by Artaxerxes Longimanus, issued on March 5, 444 b.c. (Nehemiah_2:1-8). On that occasion Artaxerxes granted the Jews permission to rebuild Jerusalem’s city walls. This decree is the one referred to in Daniel_9:25.”

“This prophecy of the 70 sevens, then, ends not with the First Advent of Christ, as some suggest, but rather with the Second Advent and the establishing of the millennial kingdom.”

Daniel 9:26 BSB  Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed.

Once again, ignoring the seven weeks that initiated this course of action, we are told that AFTER the 62 weeks the Messiah will be cut off.

What does that mean?

That means Jesus would be falsely accused, beaten severely, and nailed to a cross; this was the price paid for all of our sins—past, present, and future.

Moving on.

Daniel, in the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's vision, which Daniel saw, is told that the people of the prince that is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.

The religious explanation of the prince, is to say that the revised Roman Empire will rise up and we should see someone from that region rise up. This also implies that we may see a pope take this role. Don't be so cloddish.

The Ultimate Cross-Reference Treasury also takes the safe, traditional path when giving an answer about whom they think will take the lead as the antichrist; they do this by pointing us, incorrectly, back to Rome.

The answer as to the nationality and region from which this "prince" will come is found in Daniel when he interprets the golden image for Nebuchadnezzar.

Historians such as Josephus and Tacitus recorded that Assyrians, as conscript troops who had an intense hatred of the Jews, waged a war against the Jews temple, in spite of orders from Titus.

“AI” informs me of this: "While Emperor Vespasian was the Roman Emperor during the time of the First Jewish-Roman War and the events leading to the siege of Jerusalem, his son Titus commanded the Roman legions that besieged and destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Temple in 70 AD." Josephus recorded that the Assyrian troops ignored the commands from Titus to cease and desist in their destruction.”

So, the people of the prince also included Assyrians, a fact that was documented by two historians. So when you generalize and say it will be a Roman that will return as the Antichrist, you are ignoring the obvious: Assyrians.

Back to Daniel and the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream statue.

One more piece of evidence about the people of the prince that is to come.

Micah 5:5 NASB This One will be our peace. When the Assyrian invades our land, When he tramples on our citadels, Then we will raise against him Seven shepherds and eight leaders of men.

You can make the broken assumption that the Assyrian is a generalized statement about anyone from the Middle East attacking Israel, an event we have been watching for several months. Micah speaks about the end of time.

Daniel's explanation to Nebuchadnezzar went as follows.

Daniel 2:31-35 BSB  As you, O king, were watching, a great statue appeared. A great and dazzling statue stood before you, and its form was awesome.  (32)  The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze,  (33)  its legs were iron, and its feet were part iron and part clay.  (34)  As you watched, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.  (35)  Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were shattered and became like chaff on the threshing floor in summer. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that had struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

The specifics about the first head read like this:

Daniel 2:38 BSB "Wherever the sons of men or beasts of the field or birds of the air dwell, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold."

The second kingdom is best defined in the Amplified Bible.

Daniel 2:39 AMP "And after you shall arise another kingdom [the Medo-Persian], inferior to you, ..."

The Amplified Bible continues to explain.

Daniel 2:39 AMP “…and still a third kingdom of bronze [Greece under Alexander the Great], which shall bear rule over all the earth.”

And though the AMP Bible declares that the Greeks “shall bear rule over all the earth,” we don't see that; and, like the Romans that are yet, in this narrative, to come, they, like the Greeks, will come to a crashing halt.

Now lets examine the Macedonians/Greeks for a moment.

They initiated their foray into world domination under a powerful man, Alexander, but he, like everyone else, eventually died. Upon his death four generals grabbed control. Even they collapsed down to two, Ptolemy 1 in the South, Egypt, and Seleucus in the North. In trying to find some depth to backup my assertions I found this https://biblehub.com/topical/t/the_four_successors_of_alexander.htm; there it says the “Seleucus' dynasty is noted for its attempts to integrate Greek and Eastern cultures.”

Eastern culture has effectively come to be known as Islam.

If you are struggling to understand the implications of an assertion such as this; then I suggest you consider what is happening to America where Muslims are concerned. Perhaps this website will open your eyes. https://www.theunitedwest.org/2017/06/27/islams-conquest-of-america-one-town-at-a-time/. Consider the opening statement from this website,

“Minneapolis (MN) to Hamtramck (MI) to Falls Church (VA) to Paterson (NJ) and many other towns and cities across the fifty states, the Islamic Movement is quietly conquering America (Just as they have done in the UK.)

The federal government sleeps, many state governments – including those controlled by Republicans – do their best to accommodate Muslims waging Civilization Jihad against America, and the hard-left Marxists – including nearly all of the local and national media – are collaborators in the enemy’s efforts.

Did you notice the phrase, “Republicans, do their best to accommodate Muslims waging … Jihad against America...” It should not surprise you to know that a powerful Imam from America, recently told the world, from his mosque, that soon, Muslims will have full control of our governmental systems, up to the White House. Let me remind you that the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, had a Muslim woman, Huma Abedin who as an American former political staffer, an intern in First Lady Hillary Clinton's office in 1996. Internet information shows that after four years in the White House, she moved on to the U.S. Senate as senior advisor to Senator Clinton and was traveling chief of staff for Clinton's 2008. She was also the vice chair of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign for President of the United States. During much of this time she was the wife of Anthony Wiener, who served on the New York city council. Mrs. Clinton allowed that woman to access and process state secrets. (This information can be freely accessed on the internet.)

So, the Seleucid empire had attempted to integrate into the Assyrian culture, a powerful and deadly culture, that affected “nations” such as the Ninevehites, whom Jonah was willing to commit suicide to prevent God showing these people, whom Jonah hated, mercy, which He did.

We are given NOTHING that indicates that the Assyrians ever extracted themselves from attempts at controlling this region of the world.

The fourth empire is a transition from the Grecian empire as it dissolved into the two legs and feet of iron. The iron shows the influence of Islam.

Daniel 2:41-43 AMP And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of [baked] clay [of the potter] and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be in it some of the firmness and strength of iron, just as you saw the iron mixed with miry [earthen] clay. (42) And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of [baked] clay [of the potter], so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle and broken. (43) And as you saw the iron mixed with miry and earthen clay, so they shall mingle themselves in the seed of men [in marriage bonds]; but they will not hold together [for two such elements or ideologies can never harmonize], even as iron does not mingle itself with clay.

A key word that many miss, simply because it is relatively common, is the word mixed. ‛^arab, is an Aramaic verb meaning to mix, to mingle, to join together. (Word Study Dictionary.)

When I, an American, see these letters I only think of two things, Middle Easterners and Muslims. You should know that Muslims and Islam did not come on the scene until some time after 600 AD.

Also consider what God had to say about Ishmael.

Genesis 16:11-12 NASB The angel of the LORD said to her further, "Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction. (12) "He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone's hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers."

So we already had a picture of what we are seeing now in the Middle East.

We are never given any information to define any furtherance in kingdoms beyond Alexander.

Since God never promoted the Roman Empire why do we?

I suppose the obvious, The Roman Empire ,did play a role in the rule and law of Israel; and, under the rule of Titus Vespacian, the temple was destroyed for the second time in 70 AD. This information still gives me no right to declare Rome to be the empire that will bring on the antichrist.

History and the writings etched into stone tell us that the Medes and Persians were the second kingdom. Here is an oddity that no one will tell you: the Babylonians, the Medes, and the Persians all had the Assyrians as their common ancestry, and they were descendants of Noah.

Take a read into Micah's writings where it informs us that one of the names of this "prince" is the Assyrian. (Note: Not Roman.)

Micah 5:5 KJV  “...when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, ...”

Consider that it would be rare if you found someone who agreed with the Word of God, that this man who destroyed the temple in 70AD is the Assyrian, nor will they agree that the “prince that is to come” will be the Assyrian.

Isaiah 31:8 NASB “And the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man, And a sword not of man will devour him. So he will not escape the sword, ...”

In Revelation 19 we see Jesus coming back to earth on a white horse, and He has a sword coming out of His mouth.

Revelation 19:11-15 KJV  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.  (12)  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.  (13)  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.  (14)  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.  (15)  And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

While many are killed, we are only told that He kills two people and throws them into the lake of fire; the antichrist and the false prophet.

“A sword not of man” is Jesus, and it is the antichrist that fits the description of the Assyrian.

So, there you are, stuck without a satisfying answer, while at the same time you have a somewhat vague answer that points to the vast Muslim community. We will not know who this man is, and he will not be released into public view until the Church has made their escape from this earth.

antecedent

The 483 Years in the Jewish and Gregorian Calendar
Jewish Calendar (360 days per year)*					Gregorian Calendar (365 days a year)
(7 x 7) + (62 x 7) years = 483 years					444 b.c. to a.d. 33 = 476 years†
		483 x 360	years years			476 x 365	years days
	173,880		days			173,740 + 116 + 24 173,880	days days in leap years†¡ March 5-March 30 days
*See comments on Dan_9:27 for confirmation of this 360-day year.
† Since only one year expired between 1 b.c. and a.d. 1, the total is 476, not 477.
†¡A total of 476 years divided by four (a leap year every four years) gives 119 additional days. But three days must be subtracted from 119 because centennial years are not leap years, though every 400th year is a leap year.