In Daniel's Seventy Weeks Prophecy found in Daniel 9:24-27, the first 7 weeks of 49 years coincide with the rebuilding of Jerusalem from about 445 to 396 BC.¹ The second period of 62 weeks (434 years) coincide with the intertestamental period of the Bible when there were no prophets among the Jews.² The empires of Medo-Persia (from 538-330 BC) and Greece (from 330-160 BC) were in power during most of these 434 years.³ However, the Roman Empire rose to power in 160 BC and took control of Judea in 63 BC.⁴ The Roman Empire was still in power when the 434 years ended with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.⁵

During the second period of 434 years, Antiochus (IV) Epiphanes⁶ subjected the Jews to an Abomination of Desolation that profaned the Jewish temple at Jerusalem in 168 BC.⁷ He killed many Jews⁸ and defiled the temple by erecting an idol to Jupiter Olympias (Zeus) on the temple altar.⁹ The actions of Antiochus sparked a Jewish rebellion¹⁰ led by a patriotic family called the Maccabees.¹¹ Daniel 11:32-35 describes the rebellion¹² that began with Mattathias, a Jewish priest at Modin in Judea.¹³ Mattathias was killed shortly after his revolt began, but the Jewish war for independence continued under the brilliant leadership of his son Judas.¹⁴ After 3½ years of fighting, the Maccabees drove Antiochus from Jerusalem,¹⁵ and the temple was rededicated in 164 BC.¹⁶ Hanukkah, called the Feast of Lights, was established to celebrate that event.¹⁷ Further military victories led to a free and independent Jewish nation,¹⁸ which continued for 80 years under a Hasmonaean monarchy,¹⁹ beginning in 142 BC.²⁰

Jewish independence ended when the Romans conquered Judea in 63 BC.²¹ Pompey, the Roman general who overthrew Jerusalem, did so with very little resistance from the Jews because of political infighting between rival leaders within the Hasmonaean family.²² Pompey's victory over the Jews was just one of many for the Roman Empire that achieved empire status at about the same time that Antiochus defiled the Jerusalem temple in 168 BC.²³

Some scholars believe that Daniel 11:31-45 describes the Roman conquest of the Jews in 63 BC²⁴ and the Roman Abomination of Desolation against Jerusalem in 70 AD.²⁵ That is not the case. As noted above, Daniel 11:32-35 describes the Jewish war for independence. These verses also describe the Antiochus abomination in 168 AD as a type for the future and final Abomination of Desolation at Jerusalem during the time of the end.²⁶

The time of the end in Daniel 11:35, 40 refers to the end of the 70th week of 7 years in Daniel's Seventy Weeks Prophecy.²⁷ To be more precise, the time of the end describes the last 3½ days before Christ's Second Coming when he will step foot on the mount of Olives and destroy the gentile armies of Armageddon that desolate Jerusalem²⁸ and the Jewish Third Temple.²⁹ The gentile desolators of the Third Temple will be defeated in the time of the end as the Maccabees defeated Antiochus after he desolated the Second Temple of Zerubbabel in 168 BC.³⁰ Similarly, the Jewish remnant that survives the final abomination at the Second Coming will then enjoy temporal and spiritual freedoms for the first time since the Jews prevailed in the Maccabean war for independence in 142 BC.³¹