The timing of Daniel's seventieth weekPDFPrintE-mail
Prophecy
Written by Chris Perver  
Friday, 08 February 2008 16:50

 Daniel's 70th week

Please note, I have designed this chart based on my own thoughts on the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation.
It could be wrong!

Click here to view a larger version of the chart.
Download an Access 2000 database to calculate Daniel's timeline for yourself. 

A few days ago I published an article in which I tried to explain my thoughts on the timing of the tribulation period, and how the dates for the beginning, middle and end of the seven year period may well fit in with the remaining unfulfilled Jewish feasts. Namely Rosh HaShanah - the Feast of Trumpets,  Yom Kippur - the Day of Atonement and Sukkot - the Feast of Tabernacles. I believe that there is a good possibility that the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to the air for His Bride the Church (1st Thessalonians 4:16) may well be fulfilled on Rosh HaShanah, and the Second Coming of Christ to the earth (Zechariah 14:4) could be fulfilled on Yom Kippur. I also noticed that the Feast of Passover falls in the middle of the seven year period, which could be used by the Antichrist to stage a false resurrection (Revelation 13:3), giving credibility to his claim to be God (2nd Thessalonians 2:4). In the first article I made a mistake in working out the date for Rosh HaShanah, as I took it that the seven year period is split evenly into two halves of 1260 days each. I made this mistake because the Bible seems to indicate that the last half of the tribulation period will be exactly 1260 days long (Revelation 12:6). While a seven year period of 2520 days may divide equally into months of 30 days each, this is not the way the Jewish calendar works. I have spent the last two days studying the Jewish calendar dates from 2008 to 2020. Most Jewish months have either 29 or 30 days each. A Jewish year usually has a total of 354 or 355 days. This is a lot less than the actual solar year, which is around 365.25 days long. In order to stop the seasons from drifting and ensure Jewish holidays are celebrated at the correct time of year, the Jewish calendar has a system of leap years, similar to our own Gregorian system. The Jewish calendar runs on a cycle of nineteen years, seven of which are leap years. A Jewish leap year has an extra 30 day month inserted into it, named Adar Rishon. In addition to this, some Jewish months may also have individual days added or removed, in order to ensure the calendar stays as accurate as possible. We are now entering the month of Adar Rishon. I received this from the Temple Institute several days ago.

Quote: "For what reasons do we invoke the thirteenth month? Today it is for the purpose of ensuring that the Passover commemoration of our miraculous emergence from Egypt is observed in its appointed season: the time of Aviv (ibid 13:4), when the flax and barley are ripening (ibid 9:31), after the vernal equinox. During the days of the Holy Temple the Sanhedrin could declare an Adar Rishon when it was clear that the winter rains had caused damage to the roads and bridges, or erased traces of burial sites. In order to ensure that every Jew could complete his pilgrimage to the Holy Temple and participate in the Passover offering, the extra month was declared, granting extra time for the roads and bridges to be repaired and the graveyards to be clearly marked so that travelers would not inadvertently tread over them. To repair the broken paths and bridges that separate us from G-d - this is the proper way to spend this timeless month of Adar Rishon! To use this time to reflect on those who came before us, and to honor them as we mark our own path to the Holy One, Blessed be He - this is a fitting way to engage in G-d's creation and to bring it to a purposeful conclusion!

In my previous article I had postulated what the Gregorian dates would be for the beginning, middle and ending of the tribulation period, were it to begin in the next Jewish year. On the Jewish calendar the feast days are fixed, so no matter what year the tribulation period actually begins, the theory that Daniel's seventieth week could fulfill these Jewish feasts is still credible. But from studying the Jewish calendar dates, I did notice that depending on the way the leap years fall, the length of the seventieth week can be different. A seven year period can cover either two or three leap years. If the tribulation period began in 2009 instead of 2008, it would cover three leap years and last for thirty days longer. Each half of the tribulation period would be 1290 days and not 1260. This is important to note, because the Bible seems to mention two conflicting periods of time in regard to the length of the tribulation period.

Daniel 12:11
And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

Revelation 12:6
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Why the difference? We're not told in Scripture. I started to draw a chart for the period 2009-2016, which had 1290 days for each half of the seven year period. This seemed to match in with this verse in Daniel quite well. But when I looked at the passages in Revelation concerning the 1260 days, I had a problem. The 1290 day version also has a problem with the prophecy concerning the 1335 days (Daniel 12:12). For if you count 1335 days from the Feast of Passover, you no longer come to Chanukkah, but fall 30 days short of it. So I opted for drawing a chart based on the traditional 1260 day period of Jacob's trouble, with 1290 days for the first half of the seven year period. Why 1290 days? According to the Jewish calendar, it is not possible to have a seven year period with just 2520 days in it. And in this version of the chart, the Feast of Passover does not fall exactly in the middle of the seven year period. I must admit that is another problem I haven't found a solution to. So according to this version of the chart, the abomination of desolation is placed in the Temple by the False Prophet, and remains in the Temple for an extra 30 days after Christ returns. I don't know why this is. My friend Jim Clint suggested that perhaps it takes time for the Temple to be cleansed after it has been defiled. Another possible reason for this may be, that the house of Israel could be in mourning for the fact that they crucified their Messiah at His First Coming, and so perhaps the Temple wouldn't be cleansed until the period of mourning had ended (Zechariah 12:10). Unfortunately we are not told in Daniel the reason for the 1290 day period. So the Temple is defiled for 1290 days, and according to this chart, the first half of the seven year period also lasts for 1290 days. Here we have another problem. Some prophecy scholars assume that because the two witnesses prophesy for 1260 days, that this must be happening simultaneously with Israel's exile in the wilderness. But a problem I have with this is, after the two witnesses are killed by the Antichrist, their bodies lie in the streets of Jerusalem for three and a half days. And Revelation makes clear that Christ has not returned by the time they finish their testimony (Revelation 11:3-14). We are not specifically told when the two witnesses begin their testimony, but perhaps it may occur in the first half of the tribulation period. In any case, 1290 days is plenty of time for them to prophesy, be killed, and be raised again from the dead. We are told in Scripture that they prophesy for a period of 1260 days. This would leave 30 days free at the beginning of the seven year period, if the first half of the tribulation period lasts 1290 days long. I don't know what the reason for this is. There is the possibility that this period could be taken up with sealing the 144,000 Jewish believers (Revelation 7:2-3). 

Now I'm not saying this is how it will actually happen, I am just trying to understand in my mind how everything will come together when the tribulation period begins. I don't know if this theory is right or not. I have created a chart to explain my thoughts. If anyone has a solution to the 1260/1290 day issue, please let me know.

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