Last Things 6 - 3. The Great Revelation - Daniel 9v24-27

11 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me! 12 For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.

Daniel 9:24–27 ESV

24 “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. 25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. 27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

Introduction

Last time we considered the context of this prophecy. The promise in Jeremiah, Daniel’s Prayer [Question - What makes a good prayer?; What is importunity?] the appearance of Gabriel [Question - Who had a vision Mary or Joseph or both?]

The answer that Gabriel gave shows the total control that God has over all things [Question - Why God decided evil? Why do false pages proclaim Jesus married Mary Magdalene? Why isn’t all Daniel’s put in a book of Daniel?]

Coming to Gabriel’s message we come to one of the most glorious prophecies of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and the work he was to do.

1. Seventy Weeks v24

2. God’s Decree v24

3. Six Results v24

4. Jerusalem Rebuilt v25

5. After Sixty Two Weeks v26

6. Covenant v27

Slide

1. Seventy Weeks v24

Slide

Daniel 9:24 ESV

Seventy weeks = Seventy periods of Seven.

I suggest to you, therefore, that a good way of understanding these numbers ‘seventy’ and ‘seven’ is this: in biblical symbolism seven is always a perfect number, as is the number ten. So seven times ten, which is seventy, suggests the complete era, the complete period, divided again into perfect periods suggested by the figure seven. And I do suggest to you that the more you take hold of the idea that you must not press these figures too far but regard them symbolically, the happier you will be in your reading of the Scriptures and the less liable to fall into error and bring the whole of prophecy into disrepute. Lloyd-Jones, D. M. (n.d.). The Church and the Last Things (electronic ed., Da 9:24).

Slide

2. God’s Decree v24

Daniel 9:24 (ESV)

24 “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city,

Is decreed]—i.e., by judicial decision, hence the AV “determined” is a good rendering. It is God who has decreed this period of time for the accomplishment of His redemptive purposes. Young, E. J. (1980). The Prophecy of Daniel: A Commentary (p. 197). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

It is true that the primary reference is to Israel after the flesh, and the historical Jerusalem, but since this very vs. describes the Messianic work, it also refers to the true people of God, those who will benefit because of the things herein described. Young, E. J. (1980). The Prophecy of Daniel: A Commentary (p. 197). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

As is often the case the prophecy has more than one fulfilment. It is about the rebuilding of Jerusalem but it is much more so as it points to Jesus Christ and his redemptive work.

Dispensationalists and Pre-Millennianists teach that this verse refers to Christ’s coming known as the Rapture. What it prophecies is the 1000 reign of Christ on earth. [Question- When are we supposed to know and how are we supposed to know when Jesus comes back to earth and when he comes back, how do we react? ]

mat24 36 “36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”

Slide

3. Six Results v24

The Prophecy of Daniel: A Commentary (The Announcement of the Seventy Sevens (vs. 24))

The 70 sevens are decreed for the purpose of accomplishing six results, and these six results comprise two groups of three members each, thus:

Negative

To finish the transgression

To put an end to sin

To atone for iniquity

Positive

To bring in everlasting righteousness

To seal both vision and prophet

To anoint a most holy place

a. To Finish the Transgression

Transgression is nothing less than rebellion

Slide

Colossians 2:13–14 ESV

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

b. To Put an End to Sin

Sin implies that the divinely appointed goal that has been set for us has been completely missed.

Slide

Romans 5:10–11 ESV

10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

c. To Atone for Iniquity

Iniquity connotes perversion and twisting of moral standards.

Slide

Hebrews 9:13–14 ESV

13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Psalm 51:1–2 (ESV)

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

d. To Bring in Everlasting Righteousness

Romans 1:16–17 (ESV)

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Slide

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

e. To Seal Both Vision and Prophet

The two words, vision and prophet, therefore, serve to designate the prophetic revelation of the OT period. This revelation was of a temporary, preparatory, typical nature. It pointed forward to the coming of Him who was the great Prophet (Deut. 18:15). When Christ came, there was no further need of prophetic revelation in the OT sense. Young, E. J. (1980). The Prophecy of Daniel: A Commentary (p. 200). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

And because of the righteousness brought in by our Lord, He will ‘seal up the vision and prophecy’. Christ is the fulfilment of the prophecies. ‘Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil’ (Matt. 5:17). So the prophecy and the vision are sealed up, naturally, because our Lord is the One to whom they all point. Lloyd-Jones, D. M. (n.d.). The Church and the Last Things (electronic ed., Da 9:1).

Slide

Matthew 5:17 ESV

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

f. To anoint a Most Holy Place

Slide

Daniel 9:24 (NKJV) — 24 “Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.

Hence, it may be concluded with H, “—the anointing of a Holy of Holies can only denote the communication of the Spirit to Christ, to which prominence is given in other prophecies of the Old Testament, as a distinguishing characteristic of the Messiah.” Young, E. J. (1980). The Prophecy of Daniel: A Commentary (p. 201). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Isaiah 61:1 (ESV)

1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

Slide

Luke 4:18–19 (ESV)

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

So I suggest to you that verse 24 is entirely messianic. It is a prophecy of what would happen when Christ came to do His perfect work. Lloyd-Jones, D. M. (n.d.). The Church and the Last Things (electronic ed., Da 9:1).

Slide

4. Jerusalem Rebuilt v25

Daniel 9:25 (ESV)

25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time.

Slide

Daniel 9:25 (NKJV) — 25 “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times.

a. Seven Weeks

Ezra 1:1–2 (ESV)

1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: 2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

The book of Ezra begins where 2 Chronicles ends. As prophesied by Isaiah (Isa. 44:28), the Persian King Cyrus had sent exiles led by Zerubbabel back to Jerusalem in 538 B.C. (Persia had defeated Babylon in 539.) Despite opposition from the non-Jewish inhabitants of Judea, and after encouragement by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the temple was rebuilt (515). Then in 458, Ezra led the second of three waves of returning exiles. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Ezr). (2016). Crossway Bibles.

Slide

Isaiah 44:28 (ESV)

28 who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’ ”

Isaiah prophesied from c.736-697BC

Chaps 1-39 Prophecies to Judah

Chaps 40 on to The exiles in Babylon - 605BC

445BC Nehemiah returns to rebuild

Nehemiah 2:1–8 ESV

1 In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. 2 And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” 6 And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. 7 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.

b. Anointed One

The Prophecy of Daniel: A Commentary The Three Divisions of the 70 Sevens (vv. 25–27)

The fact is that there is only One in history who fully satisfies the two essential requisites of the theocratic king, Jesus who is the Messiah (see Zech. 6:13; Ps. 110:4; John 4:25). He was anointed and appointed a Prince as was required and this in a most perfect manner.

c. Sixty Two weeks v25

483 years = about the time of Jesus' ministry

Slide

5. After Sixty Two Weeks v26

Slide

Daniel 9:26 (NKJV) — 26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.

After the 69 weeks there is 1 week left. Two things will happen

a. Cut Off

The Prophecy of Daniel: A Commentary The Three Divisions of the 70 Sevens (vv. 25–27)

The old evangelical interpretation is that which alone satisfies the requirements of the case. The “anointed one” is Jesus Christ, who is cut off by His death upon the Cross of Calvary.

Isaiah 53:8 (ESV)

8 By oppression and judgement he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?

The Prophecy of Daniel: A Commentary (The Three Divisions of the 70 Sevens (vv. 25–27))

This is a very forceful way of setting forth His utter rejection, both by God and man. “We have no king but Cæsar,” cried the Jews. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” were the words from the Cross. In that hour of darkness He had nothing, nothing but the guilt of sin of all those for whom He died. Utterly forsaken, He was cut off.

b. The Destruction of Jerusalem v26

The outcome of Messiah’s being cut off is predicted in verse 26: ‘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.’ This is an obvious prophecy that Jerusalem and its temple will be destroyed as foreign armies come in like a flood and wreak havoc and destruction. Daniel is seeing this in the sixth century B.C., but it did not happen until A.D. 70, when Titus and his Roman legions fulfilled this prophecy exactly. The destruction of Jerusalem did not immediately follow Calvary, but it was an event which was determined by the fact that the Jews rejected Christ. It did not happen in the seventieth ‘week’, but was determined in the seventieth ‘week’. Our Lord made it clear, both in His Olivet discourse and as He walked to the cross, that His rejection by the Jews would mean the destruction of their city and temple (Matthew 23:34–24:38; Luke 23:27–31). Olyott, S. (1982). Dare to Stand Alone: Daniel Simply Explained (p. 125). Evangelical Press.

Matthew 24:1–2 (ESV)

1 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Slide

6. Covenant v27

Slide

Daniel 9:27 (NKJV) — 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”

a. Confirmed

Matthew 26:26–28 ESV

26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

b. Sacrifice Ended

Hebrews 7:27 ESV

27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

John 19:30 ESV

30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

c. Destruction of the Temple

After Christ’s death the sacrifices continued for a time, until the destruction of the city by Titus. However, this actual cessation was in reality but the outward manifestation of that which had already been put into effect by our Lord’s death. Young, E. J. (1980). The Prophecy of Daniel: A Commentary (p. 218). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Matthew 27:51 ESV

51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

Calvin says, “Without the slightest doubt, this prophecy was fulfilled when the city was captured and overthrown, and the temple utterly destroyed by Titus the son of Vespasian. This satisfactorily explains the events here predicted.” Young, E. J. (1980). The Prophecy of Daniel: A Commentary (p. 216). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

d. Wing of Abominations

The wing of the temple (Matt. 4:5; Luke 4:9) is the summit of the temple itself. By the phrase wing of abominations, therefore, reference is made, it would seem, to the pinnacle of the temple. Young, E. J. (1980). The Prophecy of Daniel: A Commentary (p. 218). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Slide

Matthew 4:5 ESV

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple

In what sense, however, may the temple be described as abominations? The word has a primary reference to idols. Now, at the time of Titus, actual idols were not erected in the Temple. Therefore, the word must be used figuratively to describe the worship of the Temple after the veil had been rent in twain. No longer was this the house of the Lord, but a house of abominations, for the true worship of Jehovah had ceased Young, E. J. (1980). The Prophecy of Daniel: A Commentary (p. 218). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

The desolate is not Titus, i.e., one who is made desolate, but rather is impersonal, that which is desolate, i.e., the ruins of the Temple and city. (See H for the philological discussion). Thus, since the Messiah has caused sacrifices and oblation to cease, there comes a desolator over the temple, and devastation continues until a full, determined end pours forth upon the desolation. Young, E. J. (1980). The Prophecy of Daniel: A Commentary (p. 219). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

[Question - What’s desolate/desolater?]

For that matter, the text is somewhat vague about the terminus a quo of the 70 sevens. It speaks merely of the going forth of a word. It appears that the principal emphasis is not upon the beginning and ending of this remarkable period but upon the mighty events which were to transpire therein, events which have wrought our peace with God. The passage is Messianic through and through. Well will it be for us, if we too, in our study of this supremely important prophecy, place our emphasis, not upon dates and mathematical calculations, but upon that central Figure who was both anointed and a prince, who by being cut off has made reconciliation for iniquity and brought in the only righteousness that is acceptable with God, even His own eternal righteousness. Young, E. J. (1980). The Prophecy of Daniel: A Commentary (p. 221). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Conclusion

Psalm 2:1–6 (ESV) — 1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

Related Media

Related Sermons