I don't see the problem, since Matthew 18 has nothing to do with Daniel 9. And the idea that the 70th week is talking about the Jews doesn't violate the principle that every word is good for instruction. And it is true that some of the Bible doesn't apply to the Gentiles.
I still don't see the problem here.
70th week = 70x7.
Jesus defines what it is in Matthew, it is a time period for grace. When Israel was kicked off the land and taken away to Babylon it was for 70 years because of the 70 sabbath years they had not kept, which is also 70x7 (you have one sabbath year for every seven years). Jeremiah wasn't saying that they only sinned one seventh of the time, on the contrary he is using that as proof they did not obey the Lord's commands for the previous 70x7 years.
This is not something that Daniel invented, it is a principle that runs through the entire Bible on how God deals with people. Matthew 18 proves that this principle also applies to the church age.
The Four Stages of Judgment in
Leviticus 26
- Stage 1 (vv. 18-20): God promises to break their pride, causing agricultural failure by making the heavens like iron and the earth like bronze. [1]
- Stage 2 (vv. 21-22): Judgment escalates as God sends wild beasts to destroy livestock, kill children, and decimate the population. [1]
- Stage 3 (vv. 23-26): God brings the sword of war and pestilence, causing severe famine where food is strictly rationed. []
- Stage 4 (vv. 27-33): The final stage involves ultimate judgment, including extreme famine, the destruction of idols, and exile from the land. [1]
The Purpose of the Stages
These progressive stages are designed to compel repentance, with each step intensifying until God finally promises to remember His covenant and restore the people if they humble themselves and confess their sins.
So then, 4x70x7 = 1,960 years.
The Jews were given a 40 year sign from when they rejected Jesus Christ as the Messiah. The sign of Jonah is not simply rising from the dead, it also includes walking to and fro throughout the city for forty days (in this case 40 years) telling them to repent. Temple records show that the signs in the temple that the atonining sacrifice was not accepted by God as well as other issues began in 30 AD and in 70 AD the temple was detroyed. That was their 40 year period of testing given them to repent. Then they were scattered to the four corners of the earth and the four stages of God's judgment began on them. Add 1,960 years to 70 AD and you get 2030 AD. Subtract seven years and you get 2023, the year that Hamas invaded.
So yes, Matthew 18 has everything to do with Daniel 9 and with the seventieth week, and with the salvation.
When we are saved there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile. The reason we can see a distinction is because of those who have not yet repented and been saved. However, prior to 2030 there will be Christians who were left behind on earth, preaching the gospel. Someone needs to be there to preach to these unrepentant Jews that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. The two witnesses will be killed in 2030, they will be the last two Christians still alive during the tribulation and that is when the last holdouts among the Jews will repent and confess that "blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord". They will be repenting for rejecting the gospel for all these years.
