End Times
This page talks about Daniel's 70 weeks and why it is important in these last days.

Quick summary:
Daniel in Dan 9:24-27 (NKJV) describes 70 weeks where a week is actually 7 years which works out to 490 years. Daniel breaks these 70 weeks into 3 groups: 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and a final 1 week. There are two ways to interpret this.
  1. some people believe that these 70 weeks have already happened in the past (go here to see a picture of this)
  2. others believe that the first 69 weeks have already happened in the past with a gap of approximately 2000 years before the last week occurs (go here to see a picture of this). I believe in this option since when you overlap Daniel's 70th week with other scripture (like in Revelation) it is hard to see how this final week has already happened.

NOTE: A challenge is how long is a "year"? Some say 365 days while others say 360 days. Those that say 360 days are forced to convert a "year" into days (so 69 weeks = 483 years = 173,880 days) and then convert those days back into "years" (using a 365 day year to align with our Gregorian calendar which results in fewer years than Daniel mentioned). See below for more details.

Details:
Different people have different time frames on when they believe things happened and I attempt to document them below along with provide what I believe.

The first question is when does Daniel's 70 weeks start? A web search results in the following possibilities:

  1. 539 BC (Edict of Cyrus): Issued by Cyrus the Great to allow the Jewish exiles to return and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, though it did not explicitly command the rebuilding of the city walls.
  2. 458/457 BC (Decree of Artaxerxes I): Often cited in the Adventist tradition as the starting point for the 490 years of Daniel 9, this decree authorized the religious and civil restoration of Jerusalem, allowing the Jews to rule themselves.
  3. 445/444 BC (Decree of Artaxerxes I): Specifically issued in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes (Nisan 445 BC), this command authorized Nehemiah to rebuild the city's walls and gates, directly fulfilling the prophecy of Daniel 9:25 regarding the rebuilding of the city.

Before taking the above and adding 483 years (69 weeks times 7), I need to mention a "complication".

  1. Some people assume a 360 biblical day year so 69 weeks (483 years) would be 173,880 days. They then overlap the number of days on top of the 365 day solar Gregorian calendar which results in the number of solar years being less than Daniel's biblical years. In this case, 173,880 days on a 365 day solar calendar would result in 476.4 solar years which means 7 solar years are lost.
  2. Others assume that a year in Daniel is a solar year that we are all familiar with so no complications.

The below table shows the above 3 starting dates along with a column for both of the above options (360 day year vs 365 day year) adding in 483 years or adding 173,880 days:

  Start of Daniel's
70 weeks 		365
day years 		360
day years 		Comments
1 539 BC 56 BC 63 BC Nothing biblically is known to have happend around either of these dates
2 457 BC 27 AD 20 AD 27 AD could be when Jesus' ministry started (when He was baptized)
3 444 BC 40 AD 33 AD 33 AD could be when Jesus was crucified

I've highlighted the years in #2 and #3 that are possibilities though I believe that #3, with the 360 day year, only exists to "force" a date to be around when many believe Jesus was crucified.

Regardless, this shows the accuracy of Daniel's 69 weeks pointing to a year that is ± 3-4 years of when many believe Jesus was crucified (30-33 AD). If 69 of Daniel's weeks is so accurate, we can expect the 70th and final week to also be accurate. It is assumed that since the end of the 69th week points to Jesus' crucification, then the end of the 70th week would point to the time Jesus's 2nd coming would happen.

This then leaves us with the question of when does the final week (Daniel's 70th week) start? Why is this important? Well, if you believe in a pre-trib rapture, then the rapture would occur at (or very near) the start of the 70th week. If you believe in mid-trib, then the rapture would happen in the middle of the 70th week. I don't beileve there is enough evidence of a post-trib rapture so I don't include in the below table.

Since there is some uncertainty on when Jesus was crucified, the below table shows possible options on the start and end of the 70th week assuming you add 2000 years to the crucification date. Note: The math used is inclusive math which means you have to include the starting year in the calculations. See InclusiveMath for more details. For example, if you were to add 2 years to year 30 AD, you do NOT get 32 AD, but rather you get 31 AD since you have to include 30 AD in the count. So the 2 years would be 30 and then 31 AD. So in the End column below, it is the crucification year plus 2000 minus 1. The same is true on the Start column using inclusive math so is the End date minus 7 + 1.

Jesus
Crucification 		Start of
70th week 		Mid weekSorted descending End of
70th week 		Comment
33 AD 2026 2028 2032 If pre-trib, then 33 AD is still an option since we are currently in 2026 as I write this
32 AD 2025 2027 2031 If pre-trib, then 32 AD doesn't work since 2025 has already past, but still possible that 2027 could be a mid-trib rapture
31 AD 2024 2026 2030 If pre-trib, then 31 AD doesn't work since 2024 has already past, but if mid-trib, then 2026 is still an option
30 AD 2023 2025 2029 Since both 2023 and 2025 have past, 30 AD as crucifiction isn't possible
29 AD 2022 2024 2028 Since both 2022 and 2024 have past, 29 AD as crucifiction isn't possible

End summary:
The problem is we have no definitive dates on which events happened. We only have good educated guesses. What is really important, though, is that even with rough dates, we are only talking a few years off not dozens of years. This means that the Bible, and in the case of this page Dan 9:24-27 (NKJV), is very accurate and believable.

-- Tait - 2026-04-14

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