This study deals with an interesting aspect of Scripture prophecies, and that is the fact that the time from the resurrection of Jesus until the end times is all but invisible in the Bible. The time between Daniel's 69th week and his 70th week is essentially not mentioned.
If the 70 weeks of Daniel 9:24-27 were all continuous then the destruction of Jerusalem mentioned in Daniel 9:26 would have to have occurred within seven years of the resurrection, but it did not occur until forty years had passed.
When we read this prophecy we can see that the prophecy indirectly tells us that the 70th week is not continuous with the previous 69 weeks. The 69 weeks are continuous however.
It is important that you see that there are two "rulers" mentioned in this prophecy. The first is Jesus Christ, the Anointed One. He is mentioned in verse twenty-five. The second ruler is harder to see, but you can see him if you look carefully.
We see in verse twenty-six the statement: "The people of the "ruler" who will come will destroy the city..." This ruler is associated with the people that come and destroy the city. This is not Jesus, because his people did not destroy the city. This ruler who will come is of the people that destroyed the city and we know that the city was destroyed by the Roman army in 70 AD. Therefore, this ruler is from the Roman Empire, and at the end of the age he will come from the remnant of the Roman Empire and sign a seven year treaty with the people of Israel as this prophecy says.
Notice that the prophecy does not tell us when the second "ruler" will come; it is very vague. The prophecy tells us exactly when Jesus would come, but the second ruler, who is the Antichrist, will come when he comes.
Luke 4:16-21
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (NIV)
Now let us look a Isaiah 61, that which Jesus was reading.
Isaiah 61:1-2
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,... (NIV)
Jesus did not say that the day of vengeance of our God was to be fulfilled then. The day of vengeance of our God, is the time that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 24:15-22. This time is yet in our future. What we see, or do not see, is the Church Age. The Church Age is invisible in almost all of the Old Testament prophecies.
Malachi 4:1-3
"Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. 3 Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things," says the LORD Almighty. (NIV)
Notice again in this prophecy that the Church Age is invisible. Malachi starts out talking about John the Baptist and then the Second Coming of Jesus is mentioned.
This invisible nature of the church age in prophecy is the reason that there is a gap in between the sixty-ninth and seventieth week of the prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27.
The invisible nature of the church age must be always considered when reading any of the prophecies in the Old Testament. For example, when we read of the four kingdoms that will come in Daniel chapter two, we must understand that the church age is invisible, that is, any kingdoms that come during the church age must be ignored. After the Roman Empire fell many kingdoms came and occupied the land of Israel, but we ignore that fact because they are not mentioned in the prophecies because they happened during the hidden age.
We will enter Daniel's seventieth week when the man from the confederacy of European nations signs the seven-year treaty with the many of Israel. At that event everything written in Scripture regarding the end times will start to be fulfilled. Events once started will happen in a very short time.
