Eden to Eden: The Promised Messiah + 70th Week of Daniel

Today's blog is another excerpt out of our brand new study, Eden to Eden: A Journey Through God's Redemptive Story. The live study begins August 15, 2024. Learn more here. 

We are going to take a look at one of the greatest prophesies of Jesus’ ministry and it may not be what you think. We are going to look at the “70 Weeks of Daniel” and if you’ve done The Rooted Truth Daniel Study, then this may be a review for you as the majority of this section will be taken from that study—so let’s dig in!

Daniel chapter 9 is a very well-known chapter as it is where the theory of “the seventieth week of Daniel” comes from. If you haven’t heard of that phrase, don’t worry, we will dig in more in just a bit but before we do, let’s review who Daniel was. At this point in time, by chapter 9, Daniel has been in Babylon almost seventy years and is probably over eighty years old.

Daniel was a Hebrew boy taken in the first exile to Babylon in roughly 606/605 BC. He was of a royal lineage because he was placed in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar according to Daniel 1.

“Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king.” Daniel 1:3-5 

We see the Babylonians brought back Hebrew children of noble descent and when we look at Isaiah 39:5-7, we see that Daniel (who was believed to be in his teens) and his friends were from the line of Hezekiah, which made them of royal blood (which also repeats what is found in 2 Kings 20:16-18).

“Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord. ‘And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”” Isaiah 39:5-7

So Daniel lived his life in Babylon under the rule of various kings (beginning with King Nebuchadnezzar). His story is truly amazing and if you haven’t read the book of Daniel, it’s worth the read! Daniel was a man of God and did not alter in his ways. He kept true to the Lord’s commandments despite living in enemy territory and God even used him for great things in Babylon. But now we are going to narrow in on Daniel’s prayer for his people—the Jews—and the prophecy the angel Gabriel gave him!

Let’s start at the beginning of Daniel 9—Daniel’s prayer.

“In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.” Daniel 9:1-2

Daniel finds himself praying and asking the Lord for answers as to when the number of years specified by Jeremiah (seventy years) would be over for his people, the Jews—this was immediately preceding the decree of Cyrus to release the captives. Daniel must had been reading Jeremiah 25 and 29 (although it wasn’t split into chapters back then) so he knew that the Temple and city of Jerusalem would be in desolation and the people would be in exile for seventy years, but after that time, the Jews would return home. The first year of Darius was very close to seventy years after Daniel was taken into captivity although Daniel didn’t know what event would start the seventy-year clock. All Daniel knew is that the time was coming close for the captives to be released since the king of Babylon had been overthrown as stated in Jeremiah 25:

“And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ‘Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,’ says the Lord; ‘and I will make it a perpetual desolation.” Jeremiah 25:11-12

Daniel knew from the Law of Moses (Daniel 9:11-13) that they were enduring the consequence for their actions (as we previously discussed). But not only that, he knew from scripture (Jeremiah), that these seventy years of captivity would be coming to an end, so he finds himself in deep prayer and fasting about it. Daniel is a righteous man, yet he prays as a sinful man, one taking blame of what all the Israelites did as they transgressed against God. He’s interceding for his nation and standing in the gap. Let’s look at Daniel’s prayer.

“Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem. “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly! “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”” Daniel 9:3-19

Again, we know that Daniel read Jeremiah’s prophecies and he understood that they would be in captivity for seventy years, but he goes on to seek God through prayer and supplications (vs 3) as to what was to come for his people, the Jews—the people who had sinned, committed iniquity, done wickedly, rebelled and didn’t listen to the prophets (vs 5-6). Remember back to the Israelites serving the other gods (elohim) and transgressing the Mosaic Law? Well, that is what this was all about!

In Daniel 9:4, we see Daniel praise God saying, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments”. Before moving forward, we need to define what covenant Daniel was talking about. It’s important when reading the Bible to look at context—the where, when, why, and who the author is talking to and about. So, with that in mind, what covenant was he talking about in verse 4?

Daniel knew that his people had sinned against God and had not held to the commandments of God—as we see all throughout his prayer (vs 4-19). So if you put it in context as to why they were exiled, you know that Daniel was talking about the Mosaic Covenant when he refers to the “covenant” in verse 4. Remember, this was a conditional covenant—if the children of Israel obeyed God’s commands and laws, then He would bless them (Deuteronomy 28:3-14). But if they did not obey nor keep His commands, they would be cursed (Deuteronomy 28:16-48)—and that’s exactly what was happening. They were in Babylon because of their lack of follow through under the Mosaic Covenant which is confirmed in verses 11 and 13. 

However, we can also see throughout this prayer that Daniel could be referring a bit to the Abrahamic Covenant (the everlasting covenant); the promise God made to Abraham to make his name great and the father of many nations. The promise that all nations would be blessed through the seed of Abraham. Daniel knows that God is a God of mercy, and he knows that He holds to His promises and is a covenant keeping God. He knows that it’s not because of their righteousness but God’s great mercy that they would even have a chance at redemption, but he also knows that in order for the Abrahamic Covenant to be kept, there had to be a remnant left! He’s asking God to hear, forgive, listen and act! So, throughout this prayer, Daniel is seeking forgiveness for his sin and the sin of his people, Israel, under both the Abrahamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant.

Now it’s time to see how God answers Daniel’s prayer. As Daniel was still praying (in verse 20), he receives an immediate and unusual answer through the angel, Gabriel.

“Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God, yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:” Daniel 9:20-23

Picture this, Daniel is on his knees in his upper room. It’s evening—the time that the evening sacrifice would have been taking place in Jerusalem had they been there. There’s no sacrifice to give because the Temple is destroyed, and it’s been close to seventy years since Daniel was in his city. Yet he is still participating in the evening “offering” by offering himself through prayer. Daniel holds true to the commands of God despite being in Babylon and despite not having a temple to worship in. During this time, as he is deep in prayer and supplication, an angel shows up.

Gabriel goes on to give a 490-year prophecy:

“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. “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. “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. 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.”” Daniel 9:24-27

Before we break this prophecy down, let’s look at one of the biggest eschatological (end time) views of our modern day and what I believe this prophecy is not about.

One of the main eschatological views of the modern western church includes this prophecy from Daniel 9. It is known as the “70th week of Daniel” and is found in what’s called dispensationalism (more on that in The Rooted Truth Revelation Study). In short, this view states that this message of seventy weeks foretold the span of this age leading into the “Messianic Age” when Jesus returns once and for all. They believe that when Jesus (the Messiah) was “cut off” it closed out sixty-nine weeks or 483 years, leaving one more “week” or seven more years to be fulfilled in the future. This view states that the prophetic clock stopped after Jesus was killed  and that there is still this seven-year time period remaining at the end of all time—the seven-year tribulation I’m sure you’ve all heard about or grew up knowing.Furthermore, they hold to the belief that in verse 27, the “covenant” is a covenant that the Antichrist will make at the end of time standing in a future third temple, and this is what will start the last seven years of the world.

So essentially, most modern-day churches teach this belief system that at the end of all time there will be a seven-year period of tribulation which starts when the “Antichrist” confirms a peace agreement with Israel. At the halfway mark (3.5 years) this Antichrist will break the peace agreement which starts the “great tribulation” with the “abomination of desolation” in a third temple. However, I truly believe this doctrine was Satan’s plan to deceive believers because what we’ll see when we truly dig in, is that this paused prophecy, and future seven-year fulfillment isn’t the case at all.

Read back through Daniel 9. Does anywhere sound like he was praying or talking about the end of the world? No. As we discussed, he was praying for his people, the Jews, and what was to come after they were released from Babylon. Let’s break this down a bit and see how this is all pointing to when Jesus would start His ministry!

““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.” Daniel 9:24

Gabriel comes in and tells Daniel what is to come for his people, the Jews. He starts off saying the “seventy weeks are determined.” In Hebrew, the word weeks can be translated to sevens and many (if not all) scholars believe that these sevens are periods of seven years. So, we would have 490 years—or seventy-sevens. Likewise, the word determinedmeans to be decreed, be settled, be marked out. Meaning that we could read this as Gabriel saying that in seventy weeks (or 490 years) it would be settled!

490 years are determined for the Jew’s and for the holy city, Jerusalem. For what? “To finish the transgression, 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.” Daniel 9:24

This perfectly describes everything Isaiah prophesied of the coming Messiah in Isaiah 53!

“Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:1-12

In Daniel 9:24 alone, we know that 490 years after the order to restore and rebuild Jerusalem it would be finished—sin, transgression, and iniquity would all be settled—as everlasting righteousness would be brought in. But when does these 490 years start?

““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.” Daniel 9:25

Gabriel continues by saying, “that from the going froth of the command (or decree) to restore and build Jerusalem…”. This tells us that the 490-year timeline begins when there is a command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. This is what will start our timeline. The decree to RESTORE and BUILD the city. Not one or the other, but both. 

Restore and build seem like the same thing, right? But they’re not. It wasn’t just about restoring and rebuilding the Temple, or just the city, Jerusalem. It was about the people too! Restoring the people of Jerusalem. Restoring the leadership. Restoring the political and religious structures within the city. That’s when things are fully restored. Not just a physical rebuilding of the temple. But a restoring of the physical city, the structure of the city, and the people. The Jews were Jerusalem!

With that being said, in order to find the date this all started, we must find the right decree that was issued. Many people think the decree was when King Cyrus first released the captives—but that’s not a decree to restore and build Jerusalem, is it? We need a decree that tells the Jews to rebuild the city of Jerusalem but also to restore the leadership (politically, religiously etc).

In 538 BC, King Cyrus first issued a decree for the Jews to be able to return home and begin the process of rebuilding the “house of the Lord”—but was that what Daniel 9:25 was talking about? Did it cover both rebuilding and restoring? No. So that cannot be the start.

In 520 BC, Darius (a different Darius than the one before Cyrus) issued a decree to continue rebuilding the temple. But is that what Daniel 9:25 says? No. So that cannot be the start.

Moving on, in 457 BC, King Artaxerxes, who ruled the Persian empire, issued a decree to Ezra. This is the decree we unpacked in the Post-Exile chapter! This was the decree to restore and build the entire city of Jerusalem along with the political and religious leadership! This was it—you can read all about it in Ezra 7! King Artaxerxes not only says they can go, but he sends provisions of gold, silver, grains, and animals for offerings. He specifically tells him to set magistrates and judges which means the people themselves are being restored as their own religious and political system!

So, if the seventy-week prophecy started in 457 BC, we know that the seventieth week would start 483 years later which would be 27 AD (since there was no year zero), which is exactly where it needs to be for Jesus to fulfill it. The start of Jesus’ ministry was the start of the seventieth week!

Now let’s look at the phrase “Messiah the Prince” found in verse 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.” Daniel 9:25

Who is “Messiah the Prince” referring to? Most, if not all, theologians agree that “Messiah the Prince” (as well as “Messiah” in verse 26) is referring to Jesus. Looking back on verse 25, there would be 483 years from the decree to rebuild and restore Jerusalem until the Messiah, Jesus Christ, showed up. So, 483 years from the year 457 BC would bring us to 27 AD.

What happened in 27 AD that would affirm “Messiah the Prince” based on Daniel 9:25? Jesus began His ministry! We know that His ministry began at the age of thirty (Luke 2:23), and since He was born in 3 BC, this puts us precisely at 27 AD when He was baptized by John the Baptist. Jesus started His ministry after being baptized which started the seventieth week of Daniel! There wasn’t a pause at all! It went right into the fulfillment of the seventieth week! Why do you think Andrew was adamant that he had found the Messiah?

“One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).” John 1:40-42

Because Andrew knew Daniel’s timeline! He was actually looking for the Messiah. He knew it had been close to the sixty-nine weeks or 483 years since the decree to rebuild the city. These guys knew scripture and prophecy!

We can also look to Luke 3:1-3 to give us an exact date that the appeared!

“Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,” Luke 3:1-3

History tells us that Tiberius Caesar began to co-reign with Augustus Caesar in 12 AD making the fifteenth year of his reign 27 AD thus when the word of God came to John the Baptist to begin preaching in the wilderness. And Mark 1:9-11 tell us that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist while John was in the wilderness preaching. By this we know that Jesus began His ministry in 27 AD! It’s amazing how history literally proves this prophecy!

Now that we’ve established what decree needed to be issued to start the timeline and who Messiah the Prince was, it’s time to look at what was prophesied to happen once He was here.

Gabriel continues:

““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.” Daniel 9:26 

We know the seventieth week prophecy is broken into seven weeks, sixty-two weeks, and one week. So, Gabriel says after the sixty-two weeks (in all reality this is after sixty-nine weeks), Messiah shall be cut off. What happened three and a half years after Jesus appeared and began His ministry? He was cut off. He was crucified in 30 AD (when He was 33 years old). 

Continuing on in verse 26, who are “the people of the prince”? There are two ways to interpret this. First, if you understand prince in verse 26 as Messiah the Prince, then the people would need to be the Jews… or possibly even Christian Jews. In that case, the Jews would be the ones who would destroy the city and the sanctuary which came to pass in 70 AD with the complete destruction of the temple. Because of their transgressions, the Jews brought upon themselves the consequences and destruction of their own city and temple.

What does the word destroy mean in the ancient text? The Hebrew word for destroy is šāḥaṯ and it means to destroy, to corrupt, go to ruin, decay, corrupted, ruin, pervert. So, we could read that phrase as “the people [the Jews] of the coming prince [Jesus], shall corrupt the city.” What had the Jewish leaders done by the time Jesus came? They literally corrupted the city and temple. At that point in history, the high priests were all corrupted. Jesus threw over tables in the Temple because of this! The people, the priesthood, and the temple were all corrupted. 

Now, the other way to interpret “the people of the prince who is to come” is in the first century, General Titus led the Roman army into Jerusalem to destroy the city and the Temple. So the people of the prince who is to come could have been the Roman armies who would eventually destroy the city. Either way you interpret it, it still gets the same results. Jesus came at the start of the seventieth week that Daniel had prophesied. He was cut-off (crucified) halfway through the week which put an end to the animal sacrifices.

Verse 26 goes on to say, “And the end thereof shall be with a flood and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” The end of what? Gabriel is talking about the city Jerusalem and the Temple which would be desolated by a war.

It was the Jews that lived corruptly which brought on the desolation of the city. Gabriel told Daniel that the city would be utterly destroyed after the Messiah was cut off and Daniel was grieved because he knew his people would reject the Messiah thus causing the city and Temple to be destroyed—yet again! And this all came to pass forty years after Jesus ascended in 30 AD— in 70 AD, everything was utterly destroyed. The city. The people. The Temple. All of it (we will dive more into this in coming sections so sit tight)!

“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.”” Daniel 9:27 

Daniel 9:27 is the one verse that many say is the seven-year tribulation in the end times. The verse that says “one week” someone would be confirming a covenant. This is the very verse that brought upon the theology of the final week as being the last seven years of the entire word. Their argument is that the “covenant” as spoken about in verse 27 is an end-time covenant that an Antichrist would make with Israel (yet, we haven’t read about an Antichrist anywhere in this passage).And three and a half years later (the middle of the week/the middle of the seven years), he (the AC) would put an end to the animal sacrifice needed in the future third temple. This then leads to believing there must be a third temple in prophecy (since the second temple was destroyed in 70 AD and has not since been rebuilt). But nowhere in this entire passage does it speak of another person besides the Messiah so let’s break this down.

The phrase he shall confirm (vs 27) is the Hebrew word gābar which means “to prevail, have strength, be strong, be mighty”. Essentially it means “to strengthen.” However, if this was talking about a brand-new covenant that an Antichrist would make, why would it need to be strengthened? The fact is, it doesn’t, because this covenant has already been made and it’s talking about Someone coming in to strengthen or ratify it. He’s confirming what’s already been put in place.

Let’s now look back to the first time Daniel mentions a covenant in chapter 9. 

“And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments,” Daniel 9:4

Remember, the covenant Daniel is talking about in His prayer is that of the Mosaic and potentially the Abrahamic Covenant—he’s not addressing any other covenant. So, it would only make sense for the term “covenant” in verse 27 to be referring to the same covenant Daniel was already praying about since Gabriel came to bring him answers to his prayer. If Daniel is talking about either the Mosaic or the Abrahamic Covenant in verse 4, what would that mean in context of Gabriel answering the prayer in verse 27? It would mean that someone (Messiah) will come to confirm or strengthen the covenant that God had already made with His people. That Someone (Messiah) would come to ratify it!

There is no way the covenant in verse 27 is speaking of anything other than what Daniel was praying about. The passage is also not saying that it’s a covenant for seven years or even about a seven-year tribulation period. The word “for” in verse 27 is actually not found in the Hebrew text and was added after the fact. It should read “he will confirm the covenant in the last week and in the middle of the week there would be an end of the temple sacrifice”.

But who is “he” in this verse?

Scholars agree that in verse 25 and 26, the noun “Messiah” is referring to Jesus yet in the same breath they want to say the “he” in verse 27 is referencing the end time Antichrist. However, if people say the “he” in verse 27 is the antichrist, this breaks the rules of grammar because the “he” in verse 27 must point back to a noun. And what’s the most recent noun used? Messiah the Prince. Which is Jesus. There is no noun that points to the antichrist in the preceding verses (24-26). It’s all talking about Messiah (Jesus)!

Jesus and the people are the theme of Gabriel’s answer to Daniel. But who are “the people”? Verse 24 tells us that the “people” are Daniel’s people—the Jews. So let’s read verse 27 again in the context of Jesus:

“Then he [Jesus] shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He [Jesus] 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.”” Daniel 9:27

Gabriel came and answered Daniel’s prayer which all pointed back to “Messiah the Prince” coming to confirm the covenant (the covenant that Daniel prayed about in verse 4). He (Messiah) shall confirm a covenant with many but in the middle of the week (three-and-a-half years), He (Messiah) shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. When was Jesus killed? Three and a half years after His ministry started (in the middle of 30 AD)—in the middle of the last week of Daniel’s prophecy.

What happened when Jesus died? Sacrifice was no longer needed. The veil in the Holy of Holies was torn and for the first time, mankind didn’t have to go through a priest to get to God—they had direct access. They no longer needed to offer the blood of goats and bulls because Jesus’ blood covered all of it. He put an end to it because He was the ultimate and final sacrifice to atone for all of our sins.

As a review, here is the breakdown of dates:

457 BC — King Artaxerxes issued a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem which started the prophetic time clock.
27 AD — 483 years (or 69 weeks) after the decree Jesus’ ministry begins. This starts the 70^th week.
34 AD — The end of the 70^th week in which the Stephen was the first Christian martyr and opened the door to the gentiles.

As you can see, this prophecy of the coming Messiah is so important for us to understand! 

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