A Loving Call to See Yeshua in Daniel 9
Humbleberger Ministries
"Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city—to bring the rebellion to an end, to put a stop to sin, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an Anointed One, the ruler, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat, but in difficult times. After those sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the coming ruler will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come with a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations are decreed. 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 until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator." (Daniel 9:24-27)
Shalom, beloved brothers and sisters,
The heart of our Jewish people has always yearned for the Messiah—the Anointed One promised to redeem Israel, bring peace to the world, and establish righteousness forever. The Hebrew Scriptures (Tanakh) shine with this hope, and one prophecy stands as a blazing beacon of God’s perfect plan: the "Seventy Weeks" of Daniel 9. With love and unwavering confidence, I invite you to see how this passage points unmistakably to Yeshua of Nazareth, the Messiah who has come and will come again.
Daniel’s Prayer and God’s Faithful Answer
In Daniel 9, we find Daniel, exiled in Babylon, pouring out his heart in prayer for Israel’s forgiveness and restoration. Moved by Jeremiah’s prophecy of seventy years of exile, he seeks God’s mercy. The Lord responds with breathtaking clarity through the angel Gabriel, revealing not just the end of captivity but a divine timetable for the Messiah’s arrival—a plan spanning seventy "weeks." Dear friend, this is no vague promise; it is God’s precise roadmap to redemption through Yeshua.
The Seventy Weeks: God’s Timetable for Redemption
Gabriel declares, “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city” (Daniel 9:24). In Hebrew, "weeks" (shavuim) means "sevens"—here, seventy sets of seven years, totaling 490 years. This period fulfills six glorious purposes: to finish transgression, end sin, atone for iniquity, bring everlasting righteousness, seal up vision and prophecy, and anoint the Most Holy. These are the very works of the Messiah, and they find their fulfillment in Yeshua alone, who atoned for our sins and will bring eternal righteousness at His return.
The Messiah’s Arrival: A Precise Prophecy
Gabriel continues: “From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an Anointed One, the ruler, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks” (Daniel 9:25). That’s 69 weeks, or 483 years, from the decree to the Messiah’s arrival. The decree of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah in 445 BCE, authorizing the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls, sets the clock ticking. Counting forward 483 years lands us in 30–33 CE—the very years when Yeshua ministered, was crucified, and rose from the dead. Alternatively, Artaxerxes’ earlier decree to Ezra in 457 BCE points to 27 CE, when Yeshua began His public ministry. Both timelines converge on the early first century, before the Second Temple’s destruction in 70 CE. This is no coincidence—it is God’s truth, fulfilled in Yeshua.
The Messiah Cut Off: Yeshua’s Atoning Sacrifice
Daniel 9:26 proclaims, “After those sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.” The Hebrew word for “cut off” (yikkaret) signifies a violent, sacrificial death. This is Yeshua, crucified not for His own sin but as the perfect atonement for ours, fulfilling Isaiah 53’s suffering servant. Following this, Daniel foretells the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple: “The people of the coming ruler will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” This was fulfilled in 70 CE when the Romans razed Jerusalem, just as God’s Word declared. The precision of this prophecy points unerringly to Yeshua as the Messiah.
The Final Week: Yeshua’s New Covenant
Daniel 9:27 describes a final “week” (seven years), during which a covenant is confirmed, and sacrifice ceases. Yeshua, through His three-and-a-half-year ministry, confirmed the New Covenant promised in Jeremiah 31:31–34. By offering Himself as the final, perfect sacrifice, He rendered the Temple’s offerings obsolete, fulfilling Daniel’s prophecy. Some see this final week as pointing to future events, but even these await Yeshua’s return as the glorious King. Every detail of Daniel 9 finds its anchor in Him.
Addressing Other Interpretations
Some Jewish sages, like Rashi, have suggested the “anointed one” refers to Cyrus or other figures like Agrippa. With respect, these interpretations fall short. Daniel 9’s scope is not merely political but redemptive, pointing to the Messiah who atones for sin and brings everlasting righteousness. Only Yeshua fulfills this divine mission, aligning perfectly with the prophecy’s timeline and purpose. God’s Word is clear, and we proclaim it with love: Yeshua is the Messiah foretold.
Yeshua: The Messiah Who Has Come
Beloved, Daniel 9 is God’s unmistakable timetable, fulfilled in Yeshua’s life, death, and resurrection. The 483 years pinpoint His first-century ministry, His atoning death fulfilled the promise to “make an end of sin,” and the Temple’s destruction confirmed the prophecy’s truth. Yeshua came first as the suffering servant (Isaiah 53) to deal with sin, and He will return as the King of glory (Isaiah 11, Micah 4) to establish His everlasting kingdom.
A Loving and Urgent Call
Dear friend, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is faithful, and His Word is true. Daniel 9 reveals that the Messiah has come—Yeshua, who bore our sins and offers salvation to all who turn to Him. As Zechariah 12:10 promises, a day will come when “they will look on Me whom they have pierced and mourn,” but that mourning will lead to healing and joy in His redemption. The time to recognize Yeshua is now, for the prophecy has been fulfilled, and His return draws near.
With all my heart, I urge you to look to Yeshua, the Messiah who loves you and gave Himself for you. Read Daniel 9, seek the Lord, and ask Him to reveal His truth. The invitation is open, and His grace is boundless.
In the love and truth of Yeshua,
A fellow servant of Israel’s Messiah.