Seventy years after the deportation of the Jews to Babylonia (605 B.C.), the prophecy of Jeremiah encouraged Jews in 535 B.C. to begin to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. “For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.” (Jer.29:10)

As that time drew near God revealed more details about His plan for those coming days, telling Daniel that "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.” (Daniel 9:24) The anointing of the Messiah as King over His everlasting kingdom would take place after a period of time referred to as “Seventy Weeks”

"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; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times.” (Dan 9:25)

In 445 B.C., Nehemiah, the cupbearer of King Artaxerxes, received word of the great distress and reproach the Jews in Jerusalem were experiencing because the walls were broken down and gates burned with fire. Nehemiah wept and prayed that God would give him favor with King Artaxerxes to go and rebuild Jerusalem. God answered! Nehemiah, in Nehemiah 2, gives the exact date on which the king’s command was issued. “And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. (Nehemiah 2:1)
The work took 49 years to complete, so the seven weeks means seven sevens of years. The coming of Messiah the Prince then would occur after an additional 62 weeks, or 62 times seven or 434 years, a total of 483 years after the command to rebuild Jerusalem, exactly to the year that God had told Daniel. God also told Daniel what would happen to Messiah when He came.

"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. (Dan 9:26)

Messiah would suffer, but not for any wrongdoing on His part. Jerusalem, including the Temple, would be destroyed by the people of the prince that is to come (Antichrist) and would be followed by a period of wars and desolations, leaving one week of the prophecy still unfulfilled to this day, awaiting the appearance of the Antichrist. Meanwhile Christ is building His Church, the Bride of Christ, consisting of both Jews and Gentiles who repent of their sins and receive Jesus as their personal Savior and are cleansed by His atoning blood. Satan will try to destroy the church, but Jesus will return to take His Bride to heaven to be with Him as He promised in 1Thessalonians 4:16-17: “ For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

Once all true believers are removed from the earth there will still remain a large number of false professing Christians who will have no problem uniting into one great apostate church. Rev.17:5 tells us: “On her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. With his united Gentile backing Antichrist now is able to proceed with his deceptive plan against Israel.

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." Dan 9:27 (NKJV)

After the period of wars and desolations during which time there is no temple in which to offer the commanded temple sacrifices, Antichrist will make a covenant with Israel permitting all of the temple sacrifices and offerings and promising his protection for one week (seven years). This then is the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy and Israel will be thrilled with the promise of protection from their enemies and freedom to institute Temple worship. Many Jews throughout the world will be drawn to visit or move to Israel. But after 3 ½ years Antichrist will break his covenant with the Jews and set out to accomplish their total destruction. If Satan could kill all Jews, God would not be able to fulfill His promises to Israel and would be found to be an unreliable source of help and therefore could not be trusted. Matthew 24:21 tells us what those last 3½ years will be like: “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Jews will flee for their lives from Jerusalem to hide wherever they can find refuge.