It really frustrating that the dispensationalist view is almost universally adopted by every pastor in every church - when it comes to Daniel's 70 weeks and other prophecies in Daniel. Although there's a consensus that those 70 weeks are 490 years, and Jesus was the "Messiah the Prince" who appeared after the first 69 weeks, somehow the Antichrist is shoehorned in to fulfill the final week, and that is where the idea of 7 year tribulation comes from, despite the numerous other verses in Daniel and Revelation which indicate that it will only last for three and a half years. If anyone reads this passage of 9:24-27 FOR THE FIRST TIME without any presumption or such influence, is it crazy to have a natural impression, that these are 70 CONTINUOUS weeks, and all "he" is referring to the same Messiah?
Actually, that had always been the historic view of this prophecy that Jesus had fulfilled all 70 weeks until the popularization of dispensationalism in late 1800s!
Now allow me to elaborate a bit. I'm not a KJV only person, KJV is not perfect, but for this specific prophecy, you must use KJV 'cuz this part is subtlely corrupted in modern versions. In KJV, Daniel 9:27 reads:
"And he shall CONFIRM the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and FOR the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."
First of all, in 9:25, notice that the first 7 and 62 weeks are deliberately separated, this implies that these are not only 70 x 7 years, but also 10 x 49 jubilee cycles. Jews returned to their homeland and rebuild Jerusalem, that perfectly fulfilled the description of jubilee in Lev. 25. Therefore the 70th week is a part of last jubilee cycle, it shouldn't be separated from the 64th-69th weeks.
I'm not gonna dive in to the nitty gritties of the six goals in 9:24, you can read the links below for that. Here I just wanna point out two words in 9:27 - CONFIRM and FOR. Although Jesus did make a new covenant, He FULFILLED the old covenant of salvation by offering Himself as the ultimate sacrifice, that's why He legally caused "sacrifice and the oblation to cease". See Heb. 9b and 10a for a better understanding.
https://christianitybeliefs.org/end...ed-daniel-924-during-the-70th-week-of-daniel/
https://age2come.com/why-daniels-70-weeks-are-fulfilled/
https://www.mikeblume.com/nogap.htm
Then notice the wording in the next sentence: FOR the overspreading of abominations. This indicates that He didn't cause any abomination, the abomination is ALREADY in there, and FOR that He shall make it desolate as a punishment. This was fulfilled when He cleansed the temple and declared that "Your house shall be left DESOLATE." The sacking of Jerusalem in 70AD was the final "consummation" of that judgement.
On top of all these, this interpretation will reveal to you some crucial information:
- Jesus's ministry lasted exactly 3.5 years;
- Since He was crucified on Passover, dial back 3.5 years is the Feast of Tabernacle, that's when He was really born;
- Dial back 9 months further, you get Hanukkah, that's when He was conceived;
- The Great Tribulation only lasts 3.5 years as Antichrist's "ministry", which is the antithesis of Jesus's
Now what about the second half of the 70th week? Although there's no solid proof in the Scripture, it is reasonable to assume that the stoning of Stephen marked the end. That was a turning point. They were given 3.5 years to repent, and many did at the Pentecost (Acts 2:37-38), but apparently the Pharisees didn't. When Stephen was stoned, that sealed their fate, from there on the gospel was shifted to the Gentiles.
And by the way, just to be clear, I'm no preterist or idealist. There will an Antichrist, which was described in bloody details in 11:36-45 and the entire chapter 12, that's what "abomination of desolation" is really referring to in the Olivet Discourse.
