Daniel 9:22-27

Daniel 9:22

And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.

 

Gabriel then informs Daniel that he was dispatched by God for the purpose of giving him skill and understanding.  The word in the Hebrew behind “understanding” carries with it the meaning of “insight or discernment.”  The Hebrew words behind “skill” carry with them the meaning of “succeed, understand, and comprehension.”  Gabriel has been given the task to cause Daniel to understand the visions he had since they troubled him so much.

 

Daniel 9:23

At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

 

The sincerity of Daniel’s prayer had moved God to dispatch Gabriel to give him the understanding of the visions which he just had.  Gabriel also tells Daniel that he is greatly beloved by God and that relationship with God caused Him to answer Daniel’s prayer which was prayed in absolute earnest.  Daniel is then told by Gabriel to discern with understanding the meaning of the vision.  Daniel was heard right from the beginning of his prayer and he was granted instant response to that prayer by God.

 

Daniel 9:24

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

 

Now we begin one of the most written about sections of Scripture.  What many pre-millennial teachers do is take these verses and attempt to bring them into the future, that is, the times we are now living in because they believe that since 1948 when the modern nation of Israel was formed, that these verses are speaking about them.  However, when you read the language of these verses it has nothing whatsoever to do with the modern political nation of Israel.  They speak about the redemption of the believers in Christ.

 

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people - The first thing that comes into view is the time frame and if we were to literally look at this we could claim that it will be 490 years. 

 

Matthew 18:21-22 (KJV)   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.

 

In Matthew 18:21-22 we have a hint as to what the 70 weeks of seven days has to do with.  Peter asks the Lord if he should forgive someone seven times.  He thought that he was being very generous because general Jewish custom taught that you are to forgive someone three times.  The Lord then answers Peter and states not seven times but seventy times seven.  In other words, the Lord tells Peter that his life needs to be in a constant mode of forgiveness.  When we become saved, we are forgiven all our sins that we will ever commit in our whole life.  There is no such thing written in Scripture where a person only receives forgiveness of the sins they have already committed.  If that was the case, then the next sin I commit would cause me to lose my salvation and then I have to make reconciliation.  I would be doing that 100 times a day and that would lead to bondage and never getting passed initial salvation.  So the seventy weeks has to do with the forgiveness of the believers.  When the passage speaks about “thy people” it is not speaking of the Jews but those who would become saved out of Israel and those who would become saved up till the last day.  The people of Daniel are not the Jews but it is the body of believers which Daniel was a member of by means of imputed righteousness and salvation.

 

and upon thy holy city, - The holy city in Scripture where the believers are going to dwell eternally will not be an earthly Jerusalem but the New Jerusalem which is the body of believers as we read in Revelation 21:2

 

Revelation 21:2 (KJV)   And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

 

to finish the transgression, - The Scriptures teach that sin is the transgression of God’s law.  1 John 3:4 (KJV)   Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.  Christ came as the fulfillment of the law and as a result those who are born again in Christ no longer transgress the law of God but rather fulfill its holy requirements.

 

And to make an end of sins, - The flesh will always have a desire to sin because it has been corrupted and that is why it must go into the ground upon death.  However, when Christ went to the cross He made the soul completely sinless by taking to the cross every sin we would ever commit, past, present, and future.  So sin has ceased in the soul of every believer in Christ and made ready for Heaven on the moment of salvation.

 

Colossians 2:13-14 (KJV)   And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;  {14} Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

 

Here is an interesting verse which has many people baffled.

 

1 John 3:9 (KJV)   Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

 

What the majority of preachers and teachers do is attempt to apply this to the believer and then when the believer sins, they claim they are not saved.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  The reason the believer cannot sin is because every sin has been removed from the believer.  Psalm 103:12 (KJV) As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.  Psalm 103:12 states plainly that God has “removed” our transgressions, not from the flesh but from our souls which were made sinless and that is why the true believer cannot sin in their soul because it has been totally cleansed by Christ and all sins removed.

 

and to make reconciliation for iniquity, - The sacrifice of Christ has not only made the believer sinless in their soul but because of that cleansing, we are now reconciled unto God.  No longer are we enemies because of transgression of His law but are now reconciled unto Him for eternity.

 

Romans 5:10 (KJV)   For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

 

And to bring in everlasting righteousness, - Whenever we read in the bible about something being everlasting, it always has to do with the eternal gospel.  When a person is cleansed by the Gospel, they are considered to be a righteous person and that righteousness is eternal with the eternal gospel.

 

In Genesis 17:7-8, God told Abram that He would establish His covenant with him and that covenant would be everlasting. The land of Canaan mentioned in verse 8 is a prophecy of the New Heavens and New Earth where they will last forever.

 

Genesis 17:7-8 (KJV)   And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. {8} And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

 

and to seal up the vision and prophecy, - Daniel is now told to seal up the vision and prophecy because it will not be fulfilled in his lifetime.   The end times will not begin until after the resurrection of Christ.  We must look at the last days from God’s point of view and not ours according to the calendar.  According to Hebrews 1:2, the last days were already in place when Hebrews was penned.  Which would have been well over 500 years after Daniel.

 

Hebrews 1:2 (KJV)   Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

 

and to anoint the most Holy. – The most holy in this verse is referring to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Mark 1:24 (KJV)   Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.  We see this plainly in Mark 1:24 that Jesus is the Holy one of God. 

 

Hebrews 2:9 (KJV)   But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

 

Christ will be crowned with glory and honor because He had tasted death for every one of God’s Elect and now no longer would they die eternally, but now being in Christ they would live eternally under the everlasting covenant.

 

Daniel 9:25

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

 

In the previous verse we saw that Daniel was told about the seventy weeks but here in these verses Gabriel backtracks a little and fills in some details for Daniel.  Now Daniel is given information about the rebuilding of the physical Jerusalem.  Keep in mind that Jerusalem had been wrecked since the time of the 3 sieges.  What Daniel was given in the previous verse was the result of what was going to happen.  In these verses we are told how everlasting righteousness would be brought in.  Now if were to pin a time frame on this we would come up short.

 

Ezra – 458 B.C. - Ezra 6:3 (KJV)   In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits;  If we are to take these as literal years, then we would come up short.  458 – 483 years which would be the 7 weeks and 62 weeks would bring us to 26 A.D. and nothing happened in that particular year of significance.  No year zero.

 

Nehemiah – 445 B.C. - Nehemiah 2:5 (KJV)   And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.  This was not a decree but a request on the part of Nehemiah.  445 – 483 years would come out to 39 A.D. and nothing happened in that year that was significant.  No year zero.

 

Nehemiah and Ezra have been used by many theologians as the starting point of the command to go and rebuild Jerusalem.  The problem is that if we use them as literal years, we come up short, so when was the commandment given to go forth and rebuild Jerusalem? 

 

Ezra 6:14 (KJV)   And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

 

In Ezra 6:14, we have 4 commandments to go forth and finish the building project in Jerusalem.  The commandment came from God, Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes.  So now which one will give us the correct commandment?  Which one stands out among them all?

 

Daniel 9:23 (KJV)   At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

 

In Daniel 9:23 teaches us that as soon as Daniel began to pray, that the commandment came forth from God.  He is the source of the commandment to go forth and rebuild Jerusalem.  The commandment was not to Gabriel to tell Daniel but the commandment was to rebuild Jerusalem because God promised that the people would return after 70 years and they needed a place to return to.  Jerusalem had to be rebuilt because it was there where the Lord Jesus Christ would be crucified for His people.  The 62 weeks and the seven weeks are symbolic numbers and not literal just like we see so many times in the book of Revelation.  If we try to apply literal years to them, we come up short.  The commandment coming from God means that it was commanded out of time and in eternity where there is no such thing as time.  We must keep in mind that the Bible is a book based on eternal principles and teaching.

 

Daniel 9:26

And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

 

Now following the 62 weeks we are told that the Messiah will be cut off.  The words “cut off” are used quite copiously in the Old Testament and carries with it the meaning of “death.”  Numbers 15:31 (KJV)   Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.  Here we are told that the Messiah will be cut off which means He will be put to death.  “Not for himself” because He was absolutely sinless but He would be cut off for the sins of His people making substitutionary atonement for their sins.  Matthew 1:21 (KJV)   And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.   These would be known in the New Testament as the “Elect” of God.  Romans 8:33 (KJV) Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 

 

Then we are told that the people of the prince shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.  This is a prophecy looking forward to the time when General Titus and the Roman Army will destroy Jerusalem, the Temple, and Judah from 66 A.D. to about 74 A.D.  The other ten tribes when taken to Assyria in 721 B.C. never returned to the land because there was no need since Messiah came through the lineage of the tribe of Judah.  When it speaks about a flood, it describes the immensity of the final destruction of Judah by the Romans.  Within the time frame of the final siege of Judah by the Romans there would be mass executions.  They hung so many Jews on crosses that they actually ran out of wood plus there was no food or water and over one million Jews died.  Matthew 23:38 (KJV)   Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.  The Lord prophesied these desolations in Matthew 23 and 24.

 

Matthew 24:15-18 (KJV)   When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)  {16} Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:  {17} Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:  {18} Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

 

Matthew 24:15-18 prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem which is also called the holy place.  Psalm 46:4 (KJV)   There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.  The Roman army marched into Jerusalem or the holy place and made it desolate.  The Christians had fled Jerusalem because they heeded the Lord’s warning found in Matthew 24:15-18 and as a result, no Christians were killed in the siege of Jerusalem.  This was also a historically accurate event as historians of the first century noted that no Christians were killed but over one million Jews were killed by the Romans because they did not believe who Christ was and therefore did not heed His warning.

 

Daniel 9:27

And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

 

Now the seventieth week stands alone.  Now we have to ask which covenant is in view? Is it the covenant of law or the covenant of grace?   When we look at the term “many” it is associated with the covenant of grace.  Hebrews 9:28 (KJV)   So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.  The reason that this week stands out is because it covers the time of creation to the last day.  Seven is the number of completeness or fullness in the Bible.

Revelation 13:8 (KJV)   And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

 

Revelation 17:8 (KJV)   The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

 

Ephesians 1:4 (KJV)   According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

 

In Revelation 13:8 and 17:8 we are shown that the names of the Elect were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world.  Ephesians 1:4 confirms this by stating that the Elect were chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world. 

 

Next we are told that “and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,”  When Christ went to the cross it not only was the end for animal and temple sacrifices and offerings, but became a dividing line.  Christ fulfilled the law and all the sacrifices which were contained in the law were looking forward to Christ and His sacrifice.

 

Hebrews 10:9 (KJV)   Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

 

In Hebrews 10:9, we are told that Christ came to take away the first covenant and establish the second covenant.  No longer would animal sacrifices ever make a covering for sin.  Christ was the final sacrifice for sins and those who are born again in Him never have to worry about making sacrifices or celebrating feasts again.  The covenant of grace is without works.  Christ going to the cross brought in the period of the New Testament while removing the period of the Old Testament.  The midst of the final week represented that dividing line of covenants.

 

“and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”  Even after the crucifixion of Christ, the Jews remained in rank apostasy and were persecuting the followers of Christ.  70 A.D. brought in the determined end of God’s patience and He finally destroyed them fully until the nation of Judah was nothing but a desert plane.  This just didn’t happen but was planned by God because now that the covenant of grace is fully engaged in the world, He is no longer dealing with only one country but all the countries of the world.

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