Read Daniel 9:20-27.

Introduction⤒🔗

In Daniel 9:24-27 the LORD reveals to Daniel in broad outline form the future events that will bring about the perfect completion of the divine work, the work of redeeming His people and preparing His sanctuary.

In effect, the angel Gabriel is saying to Daniel, “Yes, the period of the Seventy-Year Babylonian Captivity, as prophesied by Jeremiah, is almost at its end. Now there is about to begin another period, a period of Seventy ‘Weeks.’ During this period of Seventy ‘Weeks’ the LORD will bring to a completion all His work of purification, cleansing, and redemption.”

The Six-Fold Purpose of this Period known as the Seventy “Weeks” (9:24)←⤒🔗

At the very outset, Daniel is informed that the six objectives listed in verse twenty-four pertain to the people of God, (these objectives have special relevance to them), and the holy city, (i.e. the kingdom of God): “seventy ‘weeks’ are decreed concerning your people and concerning your holy city.” These six objectives are listed in two sets of three, or, we might say, two trilogies.

The first trilogy presents the three remedial works to be accomplished during this Seventy “Week” Period, they are as follows: the restraining of the transgression; the sealing up of sin; and the covering of iniquity. What is being expressed here is the divine purpose to combat and to conquer all the consequences of Adam’s initial transgression, doing so by providing the means of atonement. Note: When the first phrase in the trilogy speaks of “the transgression” ( הַפּשֶׁעַ ), it is referring to Adam’s original sin, by which all mankind descending from Adam by natural generation were rendered spiritually dead in trespasses and sins (cf. Eph. 2:1).

The first two acts, (the combatting and conquering of the effects of the Fall), are accomplished by means of the third item in the sequence: the covering for sin. What is being spoken of here is the removal of sin from God’s sight, so that it is no longer a barrier between Himself and His people. With regard to the offense of sin, and hence its need for removal, note Isaiah 59:2, “your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have caused him to hide his face from you.” The ultimate covering for the sins of God’s people is the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, by which satisfactory payment for sin has been made once for all.

The second trilogy reveals the positive results to be realized by the accomplishment of the acts listed in the first trilogy. More precisely, these results will be manifested upon the completion of this Period known as the Seventy “Weeks.” They include: the ushering in of everlasting righteousness; the completion of vision and prophecy; and the anointing of the Most Holy (Place), literally, “the holy of holies” ( דק ֹ שֶׁ קָדשָׁ).

The first item in this second trilogy pertains to the bringing in of everlasting righteousness; in other words, replacing the reign of sin with the reign of righteousness. The Apostle Peter writes, “according to his promise, we are watching for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness resides” (2 Pet. 3:13).

The second item, (the completion of vision and prophecy), is a reference to the fulfillment of all prophecy and thereby causing it to be aside as finished and completed. With regard to the fulfillment of prophecy and thereby the doing away with any future need for prophesy, note 1 Corinthians 13:8b-10,

If there are prophecies, they will pass away. If there are [different] languages, they will cease. If there is knowledge, it will pass away, ⁹for at present our knowledge is partial and our prophesying is [only] a partial [communication of future things]. ¹⁰But when the perfect has come, the partial shall pass away.

The point being made in 1 Corinthians 13:8b-10 is that prophecy, especially in its predictive sense, belongs to the present age; but when the kingdom of God comes in its full and final manifestation, there will be no more need for prophecy, for there will be no more future events to foretell.

The third item in the trilogy refers to the anointing of the Most Holy Place. This final purpose is to consecrate, and thus to prepare, God’s sanctuary for His personal occupation. In the Old Testament, the anointing of the tabernacle was an act of hallowing it, preparing it for the LORD’s occupation: “Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy” (Ex. 40:9). The anointing oil represented the sanctifying presence and working of the Holy Spirit. When once the tabernacle had been anointed, the LORD Himself took up His residence in the Holy of holies: “Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle” (Ex. 40:34). At the end of the New Testament age, at the time of Christ’s return, the Holy Spirit’s work of consecrating the church will be completed, and the church, composed of all those who believe in Jesus the Messiah, will be ready to serve as the LORD’s eternal dwelling place, where He will dwell in all of His fullness and glory:

[You are] built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. ²¹In him the whole building is joined together and grows into a holy temple for the Lord. ²²In him you also are being built together with the saints to become the place where God dwells by the Spirit. Eph. 2:20-22

The Division of the Seventy “Weeks” (9:25-27)←⤒🔗

From the time of the decree until the coming of the Messiah shall be a period of Seven “weeks” (vs. 25a)←↰⤒🔗

Know and understand that from [the time] the decree is issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until [the coming of] the Anointed One, the Prince, there shall be [a period of] seven 'weeks.'vs. 25a

The “decree” is referring to the divine commandment of the LORD, issued through King Cyrus, to restore and rebuild the city of Jerusalem (cf. 2 Chron. 36:22-23). This becomes the starting point for the accomplishing of God’s final work of redemption. The coming of the “Anointed One” (i.e. the Messiah) is a reference to the first coming of Christ to accomplish the work of redemption at Calvary.

From the first coming of the Messiah until the appearance of the Anti-Christ shall be a period of Sixty-two “weeks” (vs. 25b)←↰⤒🔗

...and then there shall follow [a period of] sixty-two ['weeks.'] It shall be rebuilt extensively, but within limits, in distressful times. vs. 25b

Upon the completion of the Messiah’s work of redemption, there shall follow an extended period of time (sixty-two “weeks”) during which “Jerusalem” will be rebuilt. The rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem following the return from the Babylonian Captivity becomes a type (a living model) that prophetically depicts the “building” (i.e. the establishment and expansion) of the church of God in the New Testament age by means of the preaching of the gospel.

Note: It is a common practice for biblical prophecy to use Old Testament terminology in describing New Testament fulfillment. In conjunction with this, one may take note of Matthew 17:10-13,

And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? ¹¹Then Jesus answered and said to them, Elijah truly is coming first and will restore all things. ¹²But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they desired. Likewise, the Son of man is also about to suffer at their hands. ¹³Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them about John the Baptist.

In this passage the Lord Jesus describes John the Baptist and his ministry with the use of Old Testament terminology, (identifying John as “Elijah”), and as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (i.e. the one who would restore all things, or, prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah). Thus, the Lord Himself employs and confirms the hermeneutic by which N.T. fulfillment is described by means of O.T. terminology; the corollary of which is that N.T. fulfillment is foretold in terms of O.T. terminology, (Jesus interprets the O.T. promise of the appearance of Elijah in preparation for the coming of the Messiah as being fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist).

During this extended period of time, (i.e. the New Testament age), “Jerusalem” will be rebuilt “extensively, but within limits.” This seems to be the best translation of a Hebrew phrase that has puzzled commentators over the course of the history of biblical interpretation.

The King James Version gives the translation, “the street [ רְחוֹב ] shall be built again, and the wall [ çÈø åÌõ].” Other olderolder versions read, the city shall be built “with street and moat.” The New International Version says, “it will be rebuilt with streets and a trench.” None of these translations is satisfactory: it is redundant to describe the city as being re-built with “streets and walls;” and it is highly unusual for it to be described as being re-built with “streets and trench.”

The nineteenth-century O.T. commentator, C.F. Keil,¹ and the twentieth-century commentator, C.H. Leupold² concur that the Hebrew term רְחוֹב does not mean not mean “street,” but rather, “a wide-open space;” and the term חָר וּץ has the meaning, “to cut off,” or, “to be limited.” Thus, the two terms used together form a contrast: “Jerusalem” shall be built so as to expand over a wide space, but yet within limits.

The point being made in Daniel 9:25 seems best understood to mean that the "city," (representing the people of God in the form of the New Testament church), shall widely expand throughout this present New Testament age, a fact to which the Apostle Paul testifies in Colossians 1:6, “All over the world this gospel is producing fruit and growing.” However, the church and kingdom of God shall not yet appear in its full and glorious manifestation, it shall be limited. Its ultimate manifestation must await Christ's return, as the Apostle John informs us: “Beloved, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 Jn. 3:2).

Finally, the passage tells us that this building will be carried out “in distressful times.” Just as the re­building of Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah faced intense opposition from the surrounding peoples, so too does the building and advancement of the New Testament “city” of God encounter the hostility of the world. We may take note of such passages as John 15:18-20 and Acts 14:22,

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before you. ¹⁹If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰Remember what I told you, A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also.Jn. 15:18-20

...they returned to Lystra, and to Iconium, and to Antioch, ²²strengthening the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and [teaching] that we must enter into the kingdom of God through many tribulations. Acts 14:21-22

The reign of the anti-Christ at the end of history shall take place during that brief period of time designated as one “week” (vs. 26-27)←↰⤒🔗

At the end of the sixty-two 'weeks,' the Anointed One shall be cut off and have nothing: the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary (but [his] end shall come with a flood). War shall continue to the end; it has been decreed that there shall be desolation. ²⁷He will establish a covenant with many for one “week,” and in the middle of the 'week' he will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. This one who causes desolation will come at the pinnacle of abomination. But [he shall continue only] until the destruction that has been [divinely] decreed has been poured out upon the desolator. vs. 26-27

At the close of this period designated as “Sixty-two Weeks,” which we would interpret as being the present New Testament age, “the Anointed One [the Messiah] shall be cut off and have nothing” (vs. 26a). The meaning of this statement is explained in the following clause, where we are told, “the people of the prince who is to come [i.e. the anti-Christ] will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” Couched in Old Testament terminology (“the city and the sanctuary”), the fate of the people of God at the close of the New Testament age is foretold; namely, the complete prohibition of the public worship of God and the ruthless persecution of the Christian church.

Thus, the statement, “the Anointed One shall be cut off and have nothing,” we understand to be fulfilled in the mystical body of Christ, the church, which shall be ruthlessly persecuted from off the face of the earth. We may well consider Acts 9:4, a passage that indicates the sufferings of the church are actually a part of Christ’s own sufferings, because the church truly is Christ’s mystical body. When He appeared to Saul of Tarsus as the latter was persecuting the church, the Lord Jesus asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Consequently, verse 26a is foretelling the fact that Christ shall have no visible church left on earth.

Verse 26c is a parenthesis, immediately projecting us forward to the final day of history and reporting the final fate of the anti-Christ: “but his end shall come with a flood.” Upon introducing the anti-Christ and his terrible persecution of Christ’s church, the angel immediately reveals to Daniel his end and proclaims his final destruction, as a means of giving comfort and assurance to the people of God.

Returning now to a consideration of the reign of the anti-Christ, we are told, “war shall continue to the end” (vs. 26d). The empire of the anti-Christ shall be a kingdom of strife. The Golden Age of Peace envisioned by the world as attainable under its world ruler shall not materialize; on the contrary, it shall be an age of tyranny and strife: “It has been decreed [by God] that there shall be desolation.” That is to say, God shall give man over to the evil of his heart and shall withhold His blessing from man’s wicked ambition to create a world order of peace in isolation from God and in defiance of God; indeed, God will curse that blasphemous endeavor.

Verse 27a now informs us, “he [the anti-Christ] will establish a covenant with many for one ‘week.’” The anti-Christ’s rule shall be firmly established (literally, he will make “a firm covenant”). The masses shall be bound to him and held in subjection by his tyranny, as is pictured in Revelation 13,

He was given permission to wage war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. ⁸All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast: all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world... ¹⁶He also forced everyone, the insignificant and the prominent, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or forehead, ¹⁷so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number [representing] his name. Rev. 13:7-8,16-17

But that demonically inspired rule shall be for only a very limited time; it shall be for only “one ‘week.’”

Verse 27b goes on to say, “in the middle of the ‘week’ he will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” The events summarily related inverse twenty-six, (“the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary”), shall actually be carried out in the midst of this “one ‘week’” during which the anti-Christ shall exercise his rule. The anti-Christ shall rise to power, and once he is established in power, then he shall be in a position to launch this last devastating persecution of the church of Christ.

Verse 27c explains the conditions that will make possible the rise of the anti-Christ: “This one who causes desolation will come at the pinnacle of abomination.” The Hebrew term ( כָּנףָ ), often translated “the wing,” has the root meaning, “extremity,” “the extreme part.” Therefore, a more preferable rendering of the clause might be: “at the extremity [or, “at the pinnacle”] of abomination shall come this one who makes desolate.” This statement is informing us that the anti-Christ will ride the crest of the spirit of idolatry, (in the Old Testament idolatry is identified as an “abomination”).

The anti-Christ shall appear at the time when idolatry reaches its zenith, its utmost extremity. The ultimate form of idolatry is humanism, (idolizing and deifying man); and a chief characteristic of the anti-Christ is the fact that he becomes the epitome and the embodiment of humanistic idolatry. 2 Thessalonians 2:4 describes the anti-Christ in the following terms: “he opposes and exalts himself over everything that is called God or that is worshiped, and even sets himself up in God’s temple, presenting himself in the place of God.” With the support of this demonic spirit of the age that seeks to deify man, the anti-Christ shall execute his persecution of the church of Christ.

But the anti-Christ’s terrible dominion shall continue, “[only] until the destruction that has been [divinely] decreed has been poured out upon the desolator” (vs. 27d). It has been sovereignly decreed by God that wrath shall be poured out upon this “desolator,” (i.e. the anti-Christ who desolates the church of Jesus Christ). Note the assurance given by the Apostle Paul concerning the ultimate demise of the anti-Christ:

The mystery of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so until he is removed. [This appears to be a reference to the Holy Spirit.] ⁸Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 2 Thess. 2:7-8