The Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9
Part II

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(continued from Part I)

Verse 27

"And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate."

1. "And he will make a firm covenant" is probably better, "And he will confirm a covenant" (NIV), except that "a covenant" is definite and should thus read "the covenant." "He" should be understood as referring to the Messiah because:

a. The Messiah is the antecedent subject of verses 25-26. Some see "prince who is to come" as the antecedent of "he," understanding both as referring to the little horn or beast^[1]. But "prince who is to come" was used in verse 26 to define the people who would destroy the city and sanctuary, and did not form the subject of any part of the preceding verse. Some reject the Messiah as the antecedent of "he" because they are not certain that Jesus made or confirmed any covenants. However, the little horn and beast could be rejected on the same basis since only this verse is used to hypothesize that the little horn or beast will make a covenant. In fact, when Jesus was baptized and began to proclaim that the kingdom was at hand, he was causing to be realized a promised, prophesied and covenanted event (cf. Isa. 11:1-5, 9:6, 52:13, 53:1-12; Jer. 23:5; Zech. 11:10-12).

b. In the above Zechariah reference there is no doubt that the Messiah in His first advent is in view, and that the Messiah "breaks" a covenant because of the behavior of the "sheep." In that passage the Messiah is betrayed for 30 pieces of silver and killed.

c. "Covenant" here (Daniel 9:27) is not some new covenant referred to here for the first time, but "the covenant" (KJV). The fact that the covenant is "confirmed" is further notice that this is a covenant spoken of elsewhere in Scriptures. The proposal, that the covenant mentioned here is a covenant made with Israel by the antichrist, is a hypothesis, and is not presented or supported in any Scriptures.

2. "In the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering" refers specifically to the fact that the Messiah would put a stop to all sacrifice when He voluntarily gave himself as a sacrifice for sin. Verse 26 views the Messiah's death from man's point of view, portraying it as murder. Verse 27 views the same event from the Messiah's perspective, an act of His will as He gave his life, putting the legal end to the sacrificial system. The sacrifice of God's lamb, the Messiah, occurred 3½ years after His baptism, bringing the 70 week prophetic clock to the middle of the 70^th week. The fact that the nation Israel continued to sacrifice after the death of Christ and until the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70 in no way argues against the finality of Christ's sacrifice or that He put an end to sacrifice. (By using the same absurd "logic" one may propose that the Church was not the temple of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts because the temple was not destroyed in Jerusalem until A.D. 70.)

3. In the middle of the 70^th week when Messiah is cut off, the advance of the 70 week clock is stopped. This is apparent because:

a. The advance of the prophetic clock relates specifically to the nation Israel and objectives accomplished for her through her Messiah. The death of the Messiah and the cessation of his earthly messianic role effectively stops the advance of further events.

b. The middle of the 70^th week is raised to the focal point of our attention unlike any other point in the prophecy. The event which began the 70^th week, confirming the covenant, coincides with the beginning of Jesus' messianic ministry covenanted by God to Israel. The event which marks mid-week, the stopping of sacrifice and grain offering, coincides with the crucifixion of Jesus, the Lamb of God, and ultimate end toward which all other sacrifice pointed.

c. There is repeated reference in Scripture to a 3½ year period of time, yet future, during which the events of the end-times will take place^[2]. On the other hand there is an absolute lack of any prophetic discussion which points to a seven year period of time or any signal of its beginning.

4. "And on the wing of abominations" begins to describe the last half of the 70^th week. When the Lord Jesus answered His disciples' questions regarding His coming, He pointed to "the abomination of desolation...spoken of through Daniel the prophet" (Matt. 24:15). Conservative scholars generally agree that the appearance of the abomination of desolation marks the beginning of the last half of the 70^th week. But, it is instructive to note (Matt. 24) that the Lord Jesus pointed to this because the first half of the 70^th week, fulfilled during the 3½ years of His earthly ministry, was about to end with His impending crucifixion.

If, as some have asserted, the crucifixion marked the end of the 69^th week, leaving the entire 70^th week in the future, and, if verse 27 describes activities of the antichrist (i.e. making a covenant with Israel and then breaking it in the middle of the week), then we would expect the Lord Jesus to point to unfulfilled events in the first half of the 70^th week when He was asked by His disciples for "the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age" (Matt. 24:3); He did not.

5. "One who makes desolate" appears to be a reference to the "little horn" of Daniel and "beast" of Revelation, and "abomination of desolation" referenced by Jesus in Matt. 24:15. It is when the "abomination of desolation" stands in the "holy place," God's place, that disciples are to recognize the beginning of the end. The apostle Paul refers to the same individual in II Thess. 2:3, calling him "man of lawlessness," "son of destruction," "... who exalts himself...so as to seat himself in the temple of God, displaying himself that he is God" (lit. Gk. II Thess. 2:4).

Summary and Conclusion

We should come away from our study of Daniel chapter nine understanding that (1) the Messiah would appear at the beginning of the 70^th week, (2) the Messiah would be cut-off in the middle of the 70^th week after a 3½ year ministry, (3) the prophetic clock would stop at the death of the Messiah leaving 3½ years future, and (4) the last half of the 70^th week would be marked by the activities of one who causes desolation.

In 26 A.D., 483 years after the decree of Artaxerxes in 458 B.C., the Lord Jesus was baptized and began to proclaim that "the time was fulfilled" and the "kingdom of God was at hand." Three and one-half years into His ministry, Jesus, the ultimate Lamb of God was crucified, bringing an end to sacrifice. Nearing the day of his execution He notified His disciples that the appearance of the "abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet" would signal his return in glory.

As a disciple of the Lord Jesus what sign(s) are you expecting to signal the coming of the King? A host of so-called "signs"^[3] never taught by the Lord are expected by many Christians, but the Word of the Lord should be our authority on this subject.

Footnotes

1. The "little horn" is mentioned in Daniel 7:8 and 8:9. The "beast" is mentioned in Rev. 13:1 ff.
2. Dan. 7:25; 8:14; 12:7; 12:11; 12:13; Rev. 11:2,3; 12:6; 14; 13:5.
3. A few "signs" found in the popular evangelical press but unknown to the Bible or early church are: (1) the making of a covenant between the antichrist and the nation of Israel, (2) reconstruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, (3) renewal of the sacrificial system in the Jewish temple, (4) cessation of the sacrificial system due to the antichrist breaking a covenant with Israel, (5) a seven year tribulation period, and (6) the rapture of the Church before the beginning of the Great Tribulation.

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