The "Seventy Weeks Prophecy" (Daniel 9:24-27)

A Roadmap to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ

Welcome to this first edition of the Unveiling Jesus Christ newsletter

If you've followed my weekly blog posts on UnveilingJesusChrist.com, you may already be familiar with my practice of providing concise summaries of, and latter-day insights into, gospel topics centered on Jesus Christ. Starting this week, I'm bringing these insights and summaries directly to your inbox in the form of a weekly newsletter.

Each weekly newsletter is correlated to, and provides an overview of, my twice-weekly podcasts where I take a deep dive into the scriptures that deal with the premortal, mortal, and postmortal ministries of Jesus Christ—including his Second Coming in our near future.

In my inaugural newsletter this week, I begin with an examination of the first 69 weeks in Daniel’s “Seventy Weeks Prophecy,” which span from the rebuilding of Jerusalem in 444 BC to the atonement of Jesus Christ in 34 AD. Daniel’s "Seventy Weeks Prophecy" is one of the most significant prophecies to be found anywhere in the scriptures about the timing of the Second Coming and events that must occur in advance of that much-anticipated event. I hope you enjoy and are edified by this newsletter and the other newsletters that will appear in your inbox in the weeks ahead.

The First 69 Weeks in the Seventy Week’s Prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27)

The Intertestamental Period

Daniel’s Seventy Weeks Prophecy (“SWP”) predicted that 69 weeks of seven years would elapse between the start of the SWP in 444 BC and the atonement of Jesus Christ in 34 BC. During the first seven weeks of seven years (49 years) in Daniel 9:25, the city and walls of Jerusalem were to be rebuilt as discussed in my podcast on → June 29, 2025.

The next 62 weeks of seven years (434 years) coincide with the intertestamental period when there were no prophets among the Jews between the time of Malachi as the last prophet of the Old Testament and John the Baptist as the first prophet of the New Testament. The intertestamental period falls in the period of the fourth seal from the Book of Revelation, represented by the fourth pale horse of the apocalypse (Rev 6:7-8), as discussed in my podcast on → June 23, 2024.

The Abomination of Desolation in 168 BC

In 168 BC, Antiochus IV Epiphanes profaned the temple in Jerusalem, described as “the abomination that make desolate” in Daniel 11:31. Antiochus also killed many Jews and ordered them—on penalty of death—to stop all sacrifices, all Sabbath-day worship, and all circumcision (1 Maccabees 1). Many Jews submitted to these decrees until the events at Modin.

“When, therefore, Apelles, the king's officer [Josephus, Ant. 12:6, 2], came to Modin to put in force the royal edict against the national religion, he made splendid offers to Mattathias if he would comply. The old man, however, not only refused, but publicly declared his determination to live and die in the religion of his fathers; and when a certain Jew came forward openly to sacrifice in obedience to the edict, he slew him upon the altar. He slew, moreover, the king's commissioner, and destroyed the altar. Then, offering himself as a rallying-point for all who were zealous for the law, he fled to the mountains.”
—McClintock & Strong, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, Vol. 1, 597-598

This began the Jewish rebellion known as the Maccabean revolt.

The Maccabean Revolt and Jewish Independence

The name “Maccabee” does not appear in scripture, but this name was given to the family that led the Jewish revolt. The name comes from the Hebrew word meaning “Hammer.” Not long after the events at Modin, Judas “the Hammer” engaged in guerilla-style attacks against the Greeks. After 3½ years, the Maccabean patriots retook Jerusalem as predicted in Daniel 11:32-35, and the temple was rededicated during a celebration called the Feast of Dedication—known today as the Feast of Lights (Hanukkah).

After rededication of the temple, further military victories led to a free and independent Jewish nation in 142 BC. The Abomination of Desolation in 168 BC, followed by the rededication of the temple in 164 BC, and freedom of the Jews in 142 BC, foreshadows the Second Coming when there shall be another Abomination of Desolation, followed by a rededication of the fourth millennial temple, and the physical and spiritual freedom of the Jewish nation.

Learn More

Learn more about these events and others from the 69 weeks of seven years in the SWP by checking out my podcasts from:

🎧 → June 29, 2025

🎧 → July 1, 2025

Also available wherever you get your podcasts.

John Cassinat