Visual Theology – Bible Prophecy Charts ?

This chart shows the structure. What follows explains each part.

After sixty-nine of Daniel's seventy weeks are accounted for and Messiah is cut off, the text describes a sequence of events -- the destruction of the city and sanctuary, wars and desolations -- that do not fit neatly into the final remaining week. History confirms those events as real: Jerusalem fell in 70 AD, more than a generation after the crucifixion. And yet the events of the seventieth week, including the confirming of a covenant with many and the abomination of desolation, have not been fulfilled in history. The text demands a space between week sixty-nine and week seventy, even if it does not name or measure it -- and this article examines the evidence for that gap and asks what its existence requires us to believe.

The Prophetic Gap in Daniel's Seventy Weeks

One of the most significant features of Daniel's prophecy is the gap between the 69th and 70th weeks, a reality that is not explicitly stated in the text but is clearly implied by the sequence of events in Daniel 9:24-27. After the 69th week, Messiah is "cut off" and the city and sanctuary are destroyed—events that occurred in the first century AD. Yet the events of the 70th week, including the confirming of a covenant with many and the abomination of desolation, have not yet been fulfilled in history. This sequence demands a gap, even if Daniel himself may not have fully understood its length or purpose.

Some might claim that this gap is merely an interpretive device to explain unfulfilled prophecy, but the gap is a biblical reality confirmed by multiple witnesses throughout the prophetic Scriptures. The Old Testament prophets, though not always seeing the gap as clearly as we do in hindsight, provided evidence of its existence through prophecies that indicate extended periods between significant events.

Biblical Examples of the Prophetic Gap

A striking example is found in Isaiah 61:1-2. When Jesus read this passage in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:16-21), He stopped deliberately in the middle of verse 2, saying, "to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD," but omitting the phrase, "and the day of vengeance of our God." By this act, Jesus made clear that the first part of Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled in His first coming, while the day of vengeance awaited His second coming. In Isaiah's vision, these events appeared as a single prophecy, but Jesus revealed a gap between them—a gap that has now lasted nearly two thousand years.

Hosea offers further examples of prophetic gaps. Hosea 3:4-5 declares, "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days." This prophecy accurately describes Israel's long period without king or temple worship, followed by their eventual restoration—a gap that has spanned millennia. Hosea 5:15 records God's own words: "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence: in their affliction they will seek me early." The word "till" marks this as a temporary condition. During this period, Israel experiences affliction that will ultimately lead to repentance and restoration. Jesus echoed this reality in Matthew 23:39: "Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord," confirming that His departure and Israel's hardening were temporary and would end when they acknowledge Him as Messiah.

Zechariah's prophecies about the Messiah display the same pattern. Zechariah 9:9-10 moves seamlessly from describing the Messiah's humble entry into Jerusalem on a donkey—fulfilled at Jesus' first coming—to His worldwide dominion "from sea to sea," which still awaits fulfillment at His second coming. Similarly, Psalm 22 transitions from the suffering Messiah (verses 1-21) to the triumphant Messiah (verses 22-31) without indicating the time gap between these events.

The Gap Implied in Daniel 9

Even within Daniel 9 itself, the gap is implied by the prophecy's structure. After stating that Messiah would be "cut off" after threescore and two weeks (Daniel 9:26), the text immediately describes the destruction of the city and sanctuary, and then, "unto the end of the war desolations are determined." Only after these intervening events does the prophecy speak of the final week: "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week" (Daniel 9:27). The very structure of the passage suggests a period of desolation separating the 69th week from the 70th.

New Testament Confirmation

The New Testament confirms the reality of this gap. At the Jerusalem Council, James explained, "God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David" (Acts 15:14-16). The phrase "after this" indicates a sequence: first the calling out of the Church (during the gap), then the restoration of Israel's kingdom promises (in the 70th week).

Conclusion: A Structural Mechanism of Prophecy

The prophetic gap is not a mere interpretive convenience but a structural mechanism embedded in the very architecture of biblical prophecy. Its presence is confirmed by the testimony of Isaiah, Hosea, Zechariah, the Psalms, Daniel, and the apostolic witness in Acts. This gap demonstrates God's sovereign orchestration of history, allowing for the calling of a people for His name and reserving the fulfillment of Israel's national promises for their appointed time. Far from undermining the certainty of prophecy, the gap affirms God's faithfulness and the literal fulfillment of His word, as each sequence unfolds in its divinely appointed order.

The gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks is not a hole in the prophecy -- it is an interval with a purpose, one that Daniel himself could not have seen. But neither could any of the other Old Testament prophets who looked across the centuries toward the Messiah. Understanding why they could not see the valley between the peaks is not merely an interesting observation about prophetic perspective; it is the key to understanding why so many readers of the Old Testament -- and of Matthew 24 -- have consistently misread the timeline. That phenomenon is addressed next.