CHAPTER NINE

TRIBULATIONISM AND THE SEVENTY WEEKS

The futuristic interpretation of the Seventy Weeks Prophecy will be discussed in this chapter along with an analysis of the many difficulties facing this view. Futurists appeal to Daniel 9:24-26 as a prediction of Christ's first advent. Daniel 9:27, known as Daniel's 70th week, is the text used to identify the tribulation's major events within a seven-year period. All other biblical texts applied to tribulationism, are done so by incorporation into the framework of Daniel's 70th week. However, when closely scrutinized, it may be determined that futurists' version of the 70 weeks is plagued with highly speculative reasoning, unwarranted assumptions, and untenable conclusions.

The Futuristic Position

Specifically, what role does the Seventy Weeks Prophecy play in the formation of dispensational tribulationism?

"Probably no single prophetic utterance is more crucial in the fields of Biblical Interpretation, Apologetics, and Eschatology ... with reference to its importance, I am convinced that in the predictions of the Seventy Weeks, we have the indispensable chronological key to all New Testament prophecy." [1]

"Because of the comprehensive and structural nature of Daniel's prophecies, both for the Gentiles and for Israel, the study of Daniel, and especially this chapter, is the key to understanding the prophetic Scriptures." [2]

[3]

"Sir Edward Denny, a noted prophetic student of the last century, used commonly to call this 'The backbone of prophecy;' and this title seems well given, for if the seventy weeks be misunderstood, then an effort will necessarily be made to bend all the other prophetic scriptures into accord with that misinterpretation. But if we have a correct understanding of the teaching of this chapter, we can then see readily how all prophecy, without any forcing, falls right into place, and is intimately linked up with this the greatest of all time-prophecies." [4]

The preceding quotes from prominent dispensationalists illustrates the significance role attributed the Seventy Weeks Prophecy. It is the very foundation of tribulationism. A basic futuristic interpretation of the 70 weeks is shared by all dispensationalists with only slight variations, such as the exact dates specified by the prophecy's time intervals. In the following discussion of the futuristic interpretation of the 70 weeks, specific dates are those of Sir Robert Anderson, whose calculations dispensationalists often refer. [5]

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1. Alva J. McClain, Daniel's Prophecy of the 70 Weeks, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1940), p. 9, 10. Return
2. John F. Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1974), p. 201. Return
3. Clarence Larkin, The Book of Daniel, (Philadelphia: Rev. Clarence Larkin Est., 1929), p. 176. Return
4. H.A. Ironside, Lectures on Daniel the Prophet, 11th Ed., (New York: Loizeaux Brothers, Bible Truth Depot, n.d.), p. 155. Return
5. Robert Anderson. The Coming Prince, 10th ed., (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1984). Return