Transcript

ANNOUNCER: If you like Bible prophecy, then of course you know about Daniel’s prophecy in chapter 9, of the seventy weeks. What do these weeks represent? And why is it that the seventy weeks prophecy opens all the rest of end time prophecy so much? Well, hello, friend. We’re glad you’re joining us today. This is Grace in Focus. We are a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. Our website, faithalone.org, and you can also find our YouTube channel. It is Grace Evangelical Society. We do release new videos each week, and we invite you to view them. YouTube, Grace Evangelical Society. We also invite you to our National Conference 2026, May 18th through 21st. We’ll be saying more about this. Stay tuned, or find the details at faithalone.org. 

And now with our very interesting discussion today, here is Bob Wilkin, along with Philippe Sterling. 

BOB: Okay, I’m here with Philippe Sterling and Philippe, we’re continuing a discussion we started before about eschatology from the Greek word eschatos, meaning last. In fact, quick, quick funny story, Philippe. I taught for one year at Multnomah School of the Bible, and I was supposed to teach the second year Greek class, which at Multnomah was translating large sections of the New Testament. And so the person that was the head of the department, the Greek department, and had taught it before, told me you’re to assign each student a Greek name. And so I said, okay, and he expected that what I would do would be to try to find a Greek name that corresponded with the person’s English name, like I had a guy in the class name, Tim or Timothy. So it would be Timotheo, right? But this one guy kept coming in late every class. He was, you know, always a minute or two late or whatever. And I didn’t assign him a name yet. And his name was Tim. And so I named him eschatos. Because he was always last. 

PHILIPPE: A descriptive name. On the matter of name, I’m Philippe, which is, of course, just Philippi and Brenda, when we just have started dating, was on the summer project with campus crusade, with Cru. And one of the teachers, they are for the initial part of the summer project, taught on the book of Philippians. And so all of Brenda’s buddies, they all started to tease her every time she got a letter from me. I will send her typically two or three letters a week you know, while she was there. And so they were always saying, did you get a letter from your Philippian? 

BOB: That’s good. Well, so what does Philippe mean in French? Is there some meaning for that? Or is it just Philip? 

PHILIPPE: I never really looked into the etymology of my name in the French. Yeah, I don’t know a particular meaning to it, actually. I guess not that I’m 71 years old. I better look into that. 

BOB: Next time we get together, I want to report on what the etymology is of Philippe in French or any language. It’s probably might not be for French. Well, today we’re going to be looking at our next step on this journey through eschatology is Daniel 9:24-27. And it’s a real interesting section in which Daniel talks about weeks and dispensationalist believe, and I’m convinced this is the only way to understand Daniel 9:27, is that each of these weeks represents seven years, so that seventy weeks represents 490 years. 

And what’s amazing is Harold Hoehner worked out the chronology when he was doing his doctoral dissertation from the point spoken of in Daniel 9:24-27 to Jesus’ triumphal entry. And it comes out exactly 483 years because it leaves off the seventyth, seven is 69 weeks. So let’s read Daniel 9:24-27. And if you have your Bibles and you’re not driving, turn there and look with us. 

PHILIPPE: All right, I’ll read it. Verse 24, Daniel 9, “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.” 

BOB: Okay, now hang on. Notice we’re bringing in everlasting righteousness. This is a reference, right, to the coming kingdom. It’s going to be a righteous kingdom. Jesus’ kingdom is righteous. It will begin in the Millennium and it will be a righteous kingdom then and it’ll be everlasting. In fact, Peter even calls the Millennium part of the everlasting kingdom. Anyway, go ahead, verse 25. 

PHILIPPE: “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.”

BOB: Okay, hang on there. What does he mean “the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem?” 

PHILIPPE: Well, you referred to Dr. Hoehner, and he maintains, and I think that’s the best decree that i think we have, which will be the decree of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah to allow him to return and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and basically establish it as a fully functioning city, protected and all, and that would have been in 444 BC, and that’s where Dr. Hoehner then takes the chronology from 444 to 33 AD. 

BOB: Which is until Messiah the Prince. Now, it’s not just the birth of Messiah the Prince, right? This would be to the triumphal entry. 

PHILIPPE: Yes, He is basically entering into Jerusalem and the offer of Himself as a promised, you know, Messiah. 

BOB: Okay, let’s keep going here then. 

PHILIPPE: “And after the sixty-two weeks, Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the Prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.” 

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BOB: Okay, so in 27, it’s after the sixty-two weeks, and if you go back to 25, it’s seven weeks plus sixty-two weeks, and actually, in Hebrew doesn’t it say seven, sevens? 

PHILIPPE: Yes. 

BOB: And so we call it weeks, but you could just say, you know, we’ve got seven sevens and sixty-two sevens to equal 69, and Messiah himself shall be cut off. What does that refer to? 

PHILIPPE: So that would be the Messiah comes and enters in 33 AD, and is killed—that cut off. 

BOB: That would be at Calvary. 

PHILIPPE: At Calvary, the crucifixion, 

BOB: And but He’s not cut off for himself. Now this would allude to Isaiah 52 and 53 with the suffering servant. So this is a prophecy ultimately about His crucifixion, right? And then it says, and the people of the prince who has to come, who is that? 

PHILIPPE: Okay, so the people of the prince to come, the prince to come, it’s going to be dealing with the seventieth week. And that would be the one we understand from Revelation as the beast. 

BOB: Also called the man of sin. But he’s this world ruler during the seventieth, seven. And who are the people of the prince to come? 

PHILIPPE: So ultimately, this man who will come from the remnants of the Roman empire, that’s reconstituted perhaps in some facets in the seventieth week. But the people of the prince to come shall destroy the city. And that would be—

BOB: The Romans destroy—

PHILIPPE: The Romans who destroyed the city in 70 AD, Titus and the Roman legion. He was a general at the time. Eventually, he will become the one of the emperors of Rome as well. But in 70 AD, the Roman legions led by Titus destroyed the temple, the city, and dispersed the Jewish people for the most part. And so out of that, in the seventieth week, there will be a prince to come. 

BOB: And that’s a direct fulfillment of this, “people shall destroy the city.” And they’ll destroy the sanctuary, a reference to the temple. And the end of it shall be with a flood until the end of the war desolations are determined. What is the end of the war? Is this the war between the Gentiles and the Jewish people? 

PHILIPPE: This would be probably the time, that’s referred to generally as “the time of the Gentiles,” I think.

BOB: Luke 21:24. And by the way, that’s a controversial verse. Zane Hodges understood that that occurred in 1967 and that the time of the Gentiles ended in 1967 when Israel took control of Jerusalem. Not all of it, of course, they didn’t get the Temple Mount, not all of the Temple Mount, because there’s the Dome of the Rock still there. But that is the view of many people. However, I hold the view and I don’t know about you Philippe, that I think we’re still in the time of the Gentiles and it won’t end until the end of Daniel’s seventieth week when Jerusalem is surrounded by Gentile armies, and Jesus sets foot on the Mount of Olives and destroys the Gentile armies. And now the time of the of the Jews begins, which is the Millennium and the new earth. 

PHILIPPE: Right. And that will be my view as well, because Jerusalem is trampled by this Prince who will come, the abomination of desolation is there. 

BOB: Okay. And what’s the abomination of desolation? 

PHILIPPE: Well, if we go to—Jesus, of course, talked about it a little bit and we’re throwing it back to Daniel. So midweek of this final seventieth week of Daniel, two and a half years, the man of sin, the beast, with the encouragement of the false prophet, that is there, sets up an image of the beast in the temple, the rebuilt Tribulation temple that is there and desecrates it, in essence, proclaims himself to be God and to be worshipped as God. 

BOB: Yeah, because they’re not supposed to be any images in the temple other than the ones that God has ordained. And certainly He wouldn’t have an image of some Gentile ruler. And by the way, that’s in the Olivet Discourse where Jesus talks about this.

PHILIPPE: Yes, in Matthew 24, He specifically refers to Daniel and to this passage in Daniel 9. 

BOB: Okay. So we’re going to have to pick up on this the next time and finish this discussion, because we haven’t really gotten to the meatiest verse, which is Daniel 9:27. But I hope you all can see that the dispensational understanding of Daniel 9:24-27 really opens up prophecy like a flower. I mean, there are so many prophecies fulfilled in this passage and some which are yet future, Daniel seventieth week. 

So until next time, let’s keep grace in focus. 

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And on our next episode: more discussion about Daniel’s seventy weeks prophecy. Please join us. And in the meantime, let’s keep grace in focus.