Why is there a gap from the 69th week to the 70th week?
According to some interpretations Jesus Christ was cut off at the end of the 69th week, that is when He was crucified. But the 70th week doesn't begin immediately, instead there is this long gap as the gospel goes to the nations, and then when the church age ends you get one more seven year period, the 70th week, where the Jews get saved. But Daniel does not mention a gap, so where is the Biblical basis for this gap?
First of all, 70 weeks = 70 x 7. According to Jesus that is the period of time for forgiveness of sins.
Matthew 18:21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
This explains why the Jews are saved as a nation during the 70th week. But this does not explain why there is a gap from when Jesus was crucified until the start of this 70th week. According to the documents that were kept by the temple and have since been found, people came to the Jewish leaders and asked if Jesus Christ was the Messiah. Their official response was no, even though He was doing the signs and miracles of the Messiah they said He wasn't doing that by the Holy Spirit but rather by Beelzebub, the prince of the demons. The gospels reference this:
Matthew 12:23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
Now this wasn't the first offense of the Jewish religious leaders. They had a covenant with God the Father, and they had a long history of disobedience. They had seen many miracles done by God up to this point and so this wasn't the first thing that they needed to be forgiven of. By this point they were in the sixty ninth week of their 70 X 7 = 490 times of forgiveness. However, here they were not simply sinning against God the Father, or even against God the Son. This time they also rejected the Holy Spirit. So there is no forgiveness for that. Jesus had healed a man on the sabbath and because of that they said it was by Beelzebub. Once you take that attitude then there is no more hope that you will repent.
30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. 31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. 33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
This is a warning to us. People who blaspheme Jesus or God the Father can be forgiven. But when you see someone healed or some other miracle by the Holy Spirit as an answer to prayer and you blaspheme that, there is no forgiveness. People will say "I"m only joking", but Jesus makes it clear you will be judged for every word. You don't get to show up in court and tell God those words were simply a joke. Instead those words reveal where your heart is and that you are a generation of vipers.
34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
The day of judgement is after this period of 490 "days" of forgiveness.
37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
This word was Jesus' response to them saying He was not the Messiah and that He had healed the man by Beelzebub. So the Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign that this was truly a judgement from God.
38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. 39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
What these Pharisees are saying is that they also are part of the tribunal that is making this decision, they have heard from those who say Jesus is healing by Beelzebub and they hear from Jesus saying if you look at miracles done by the Holy Spirit like that then there is no forgiveness. But they want to see a sign from God based on this word that the Pharisees had committed an unforgivable sin. This means they are still undecided even though this was an official proclamation. Just like the government, simply because a law is passed doesn't mean the vote was unanimous. Some may have abstained. So Jesus tells them they will see Him three days and three nights in the belly of the beast. So then, the resurrection from the dead is this great sign that punctuates the end of the 69th week. Temple records confirm what Jesus said. According to these records beginning in 30 AD for exactly 40 years the Atoning sacrifice on the Day of Atonement was not accepted. Because of this some people think Jesus was crucified in 30 AD. I disagree, instead I believe that Jesus spoke this word on the 9th of Av in 30 AD. The Pharisees saying that Jesus was not the Messiah was a fulfillment of the prophetic shadow of the spies giving an evil report on the 9th of Av. At that time ten out of 12 gave an evil report and two gave a good report. So it was not unanimous and apparently at this time it also was not unanimous. Because of this official rejection you get the gospel going to the Gentiles, and you also get this 40 year delay until 70 AD. This also fits the pattern. In Jonah he walks to and fro throughout the city for forty days telling them to repent. In the story of the spies giving an evil report God tells them they will wander in the wilderness for forty years until they all die, only then can they enter the good land.
So then, 70 AD was the scattering of the Jews to be punished because their leaders had officially rejected the Messiah. This is described in the law. Some people missed the first Passover because they were defiled with a dead body. These religious leaders caused many Jews to miss the first Passover when Jesus was crucified and resurrected because they were a "dead body", a "dead religion". They will get a second chance, that is called "Second Passover". However, in 70 AD the temple is destroyed, not one stone left upon another, that is how the age of grace with the gospel going to the nations will begin, and also how it will end. The things that happened to the Jews are a warning to us. Jesus tells us that 70x7 is the period of forgiveness. He also tells us the gospel will go to the four corners of the earth, that it will be published and preached in all nations. Therefore we should multiply 490 by 4 and get 1960. Only in the last one hundred years has the gospel been translated into over a thousand languages and published and preached in most nations. This gospel is on Youtube which is also available in most, but not all, nations. Sat 7 has also helped spread the gospel to those countries where Youtube is censored. However, Luke is the gospel to those who are raptured, it does not say that the gospel is preached or published in all nations, only that they go out to the nations with the gospel. After the rapture people will be taken from every single nation, everyone will want to know what has happened and their news agencies will publish the Christian explanation of the rapture. They may mock, they may ridicule, but it will be published. But even so it will be against the law to preach. Mark is the gospel to those who are left behind. However, after the two witnesses are taken up on the live stream (their bodies are left in the streets because of the debate over the rapture and the entire world sees them being taken up indicating their dead bodies were being live streamed to the whole world) then the Jews repent and are saved and the last nation that had prohibited the gospel to be preached will be breached. That live stream will be the preaching of the gospel to all nations.