After God's saving grace, Israel will be the most important factor during Daniel's Seventieth Week. Israel's role in this prophecy has already been center stage from the start and the prophecy will also end that way. The prophecy came from God through His angle Michael to Daniel for Israel and the rest of the world. The first 69 Weeks of the prophecy ended with the Triumphant Entry into Israel by Jesus Christ as Messiah. Then began an intermission period in this prophecy, kind of a Gap In Time between week 69 ending and week 70 starting. That period includes the death and resurrection of the Messiah and all things in history through today. Week 69 has fully ended, and we are currently living in the intermission period between week 69 and week 70.
Daniel's prophetic calendar starts ticking again with the Agreement Or Covenant that is spoken about in Daniel 9: 27. “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week. This will begin the final 7 year period (the 70th week) in Daniel's prophecy.
It looks like the nation of Israel will be entering into some type of treaty, agreement or covenant with many other nations. Even though prophecy predicts a time of unparalleled tribulation for Israel this paper agreement will looks like it provides Israel with safety and security.
In the middle (3 1/2 years) of this week the agreement mentioned above is broken. This becomes the beginning of a time for Israel of unparalleled distress often referred to as "The Time of Jacob's Trouble.
Israel has major losses of life as a result of wars and earthly plagues during this period. Many believe that in Zechariah 13:8, he is talking about 2 out of every 3 Jews being killed.
Sometime during this seven year period there will be a great revival that will involve many Jews coming to a spiritual awakening as to who the Messiah really is. It climaxes with the nation itself embracing Christ but before that happens on a national level it will happen on an individual level. There are 144,000 Jews, 12,000 from each tribe of Israel, that will be granted an understanding of their Messiah. These 144,000 Jews will then become witnesses not only to Israel but also to the rest of the world. (See Revelation Chapter 7).
At the end of the 70th week Israel's role in this prophecy is completed.
Both Moses and Zechariah saw the end of this period of time. Moses wrote "When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice" (Deut. 4:30).
Hundreds of years later, we find Zechariah writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit like all true prophets did, wrote about Israel's repentance national acceptance of their Messiah.
Israel will at this time be granted a spiritual understanding of who the Messiah really is. They will embrace the teachings of Jesus, as He returns to earth to set up His Millennial Kingdom. With the Second Coming of Christ, the war will end as the Messiah return to earth, punishes those who have come against Israel and then rules from the temple in Jerusalem as King of all Kings.
Therefore, all the Israelites who go into the full blessing of the kingdom age will be true believers, people whose names appear in the Book of Life. Then all the promises in Daniel 9:24 will be fulfilled.(1) Isaiah 2:2-4 describes what happens next.
Contrary to what some believe, God is not done with Israel.
Daniel 12:1-3 is often thought of as what will happen when to Israel as a nation.(1) It is also thought to be one of the strongest support passages from the Old Testament concerning resurrection.
The arch angel Michael who is often though of as Israel's guardian angel, will help to protect Israel.
Other pages of interest include:
1). RBC Ministries, Discovery Series, The Daniel Papers.
