The 7 Times of Moses

The Law of Moses includes a prophecy about four periods of "7 times." Together these four periods span the entire period since the Babylonian captivity. They provide a framework for relating Jeremiah's prophecy of 70 years captivity and the three parts of Daniel's 70 weeks. The chart below illustrates the relationship between these three important prophecies.

When ancient Babylon fell, Daniel realized that the time of 70 years captivity that Jeremiah had foretold was about to end.

(Daniel 9:1):
In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;
In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

The prophecy Daniel refers to above was:

Jeremiah 25:11- 12
And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

A separate prophecy says the Jewish captives will return from the exile in Babylon.

Jeremiah 29:10
For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

In his prayer of confession which is the setting to the prophecy of the 70 weeks, Daniel also refers to the curse in the law of Moses, which he says has been poured out on God's people because they had not obeyed God, and had transgressed the law.

Daniel 9:11-14
Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.
Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.

The Old Covenant between God and Israel, made when he gave them the law through Moses, promised blessings, if they followed God's commandments, and a curse if they did not. The curse specified an initial period of punishment, followed by four periods of "7 times" in which various plagues and punishments would come upon them. These four parts of the curse, described in Leviticus 26, may be correlated with the 70 years of Jeremiah's prophecy, together with the three main sections of the 70 weeks of Daniel 9. The chart below shows this relationship between the "7 times" periods of the curse mentioned in the Law of Moses, Jeremiah's prophecy of 70 years captivity, and the 70 weeks of Daniel 9. The four periods of 7 times in the left hand column correspond to the time periods in the prophecies of Jeremiah and of Daniel.

7 times Lev 26:18	The exile in Babylon Jer 25:11-12 Jer 29:10
7 times Lev 26:21	7 weeks Daniel 9:24-27	7 x 7 leap years = 133 years (1 leap year = 13 months)	538 BC - 405 BC
7 times Lev 26:24	62 weeks Daniel 9:24-27	62 x 7 years = 434 years	405 BC - 28 AD
7 times Lev 26:28	1 week Daniel 9:24-27 Christ confirms the covenant for 1 week	3.5 year ministry of Jesus	28 AD - 30 AD
		A symbolic half-week of 3.5 years time, times, and a half, Revelation 12:14 42 months, Revelation 11:2, 13:5 1,290 days, Daniel 12:11 1,335 days, Daniel 12:12 1,260 days, Revelation 11:3, 12:6 These all represent the remaining time of the Church. The "holy city" is the Church.	30 AD - ?