whilst I was yet speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, flying swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
Daniel is still confessing the ruin of Jerusalem when the answer arrives. Three things stand out: who came, how fast he came, and at what hour.
The answer was on its way before Daniel finished. One writer sees here how short the distance is between a praying heart and God:
Heaven is not far away, for there is no space and no distance with God. When Daniel began his confession and humbling of himself, the Lord called Gabriel and told him what to say to the praying prophet. Then God sent Gabriel flying swiftly across that measureless space. Before Daniel ever reached the "Amen," the messenger stood in front of him and stopped his prayer. What blessed assurance! The moment we pray in the Spirit and in His Name, God in the highest heaven hears our voices.
Daniel names his visitor, and calls him a man — the same messenger he had already met in an earlier vision:
God sent this angel to Daniel to explain the vision he had seen of the ram and the goat, and to make known to him the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks. Daniel calls him "the man Gabriel," and one who had "the appearance of a man." Dan. 8:15; Dan. 9:21. God also sent him to Mary the mother of Jesus, and to Zacharias the father of John the Baptist, to foretell the birth of their sons. To Zacharias he said, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God." Luke 1:19, 26.
The temple lay in ruins, so no lamb was burning on any altar. Yet the hour still meant everything to Daniel:
Gabriel arrived and "touched" Daniel at the time of the evening offering. That evening offering was the burnt offering that never stopped — God had appointed it to be presented morning and evening without a break. The temple had been destroyed, so no one could offer it any more. But Daniel stood before God on the strength of it. In spirit he made all its sweet fragrance his own, as the ground of his acceptance and of the power of his prayers. It is the same with our prayers now, when by faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit we rest fully and completely on what Christ is, and on all the value of His sacrifice, before God.
Another writer names what that offering pointed to:
Turning to God in prayer and confession, Daniel receives light and understanding in the mind of God. It matters that the answer comes at the time of the evening offering. That timing shows that God answers his prayer on the ground of the burnt offering, which speaks to God of the value of the sacrifice of Christ.
One writer fixes the hour, and what was happening at the altar in Jerusalem at that moment:
It was 3 p.m., and the evening lamb was going onto the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, with its grain offering and drink offering. All of them spoke to God of Christ, whose death at Calvary took place at that hour (Ex. 29:41; Matt. 27:46). It was the hour of divine blessing: compare Ezra 9:5; Dan. 9:21.
Gabriel came to explain, and to tell Daniel how heaven regarded him:
God sent Gabriel, His angelic messenger, "to fly swiftly", with an answer that would give Daniel "skill and understanding" about events that lay ahead. With it came the assurance that in God's view he was a man "greatly beloved". What other believer was ever allowed to hear himself described like that? The Lord's words were, "whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (Matt. 23:12). Here we have an illustration of this. Daniel had humbled himself to an unusual degree, and so God lets him know that he is greatly beloved in Heaven. What an exaltation! If he had not been truly humbled, such an assurance might have puffed him up to his ruin.
What Daniel prayed about shapes what he is told, and the prophecy that follows keeps to that subject:
Observe, all his thoughts are about Israel and about Jerusalem. The prophecy is not about Christianity, but about Israel. There is no understanding it, unless we hold this fast. … Then, in verse 24, the prophecy begins. It has to do with Daniel's people — "your people." It speaks of a special period marked out in connection with Israel's full deliverance.
- Answered mid-sentence — Gabriel arrived before the "Amen." With God there is no distance for prayer to cross.
- Answered through sacrifice — Daniel's acceptance rested on the evening burnt offering, which speaks of the value of Christ's sacrifice.
- Answered at Calvary's hour — at 3 p.m. the lamb went on the altar and Christ died. Scripture marks it as the hour of blessing.
- Answered by a named servant — "the man Gabriel," who stands in God's presence. He later announced the births of John and of Jesus.
- Answered with understanding and love — God gives the humbled man skill to grasp what is coming, and tells him he is greatly beloved.
And he informed [me], and talked with me, and said, Daniel, I am now come forth to make thee skilful of understanding.
Gabriel came to Daniel while he was still praying, and he came with a stated errand: to make Daniel able to understand. Two questions follow: why did a praying man still need his understanding opened, and who does God trust with such light?
This was not Gabriel's only errand. The same messenger appears at other turning points in Scripture.
This is the angel sent to Daniel to explain the vision he had seen of the ram and the goat. He also came to reveal to him the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks. Daniel calls him "the man Gabriel," and one who had "the appearance of a man." He was also sent to Mary the mother of Jesus. And he was sent to Zacharias the father of John the Baptist, to foretell the birth of their sons. To Zacharias he said, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God."
Gabriel did not simply hand over facts. His commission reached Daniel's mind itself.
Gabriel's commission was to open Daniel's understanding, so that he could receive what God had to say. As he puts it, he came "to make you skilful of understanding." It was not enough for Daniel to receive revelations. He needed his understanding opened, so that he could profit by them. Later the Lord opened the Scriptures to the disciples. He also opened their understanding, so that they could understand the Scriptures. We too need the opened understanding as well as the opened Scriptures. The Apostle says the same to Timothy as he opens up the truth to him: "Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything."
That capacity had to come first, because of the size of what was coming next — the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks.
Gabriel came, first of all, to give Daniel "skill and understanding" (v. 22)... The revelation he was about to receive would need divine intelligence to grasp. That is what God first gave to His servant, through Gabriel.
Gabriel arrived while Daniel was still praying. The timing is part of the message.
The prayer was not ended. Heaven is not far away, for there is no space and no distance with God. When Daniel began his confession and humbling of himself, the Lord called Gabriel and told him what to say to the praying prophet. Then God sent Gabriel flying at speed through that measureless space. Before Daniel ever reached the "Amen," the messenger stood before him and stopped his prayer. What blessed assurance! The moment we pray in the Spirit and in His Name, God hears our voices in the highest heaven.
Gabriel came at the hour of the evening sacrifice — an hour that no longer existed in practice, since the temple lay in ruins.
Gabriel arrived and "touched" Daniel at the time of the evening offering. That evening offering was the burnt offering that never ceased — God appointed it to be presented every morning and every evening. Since the temple had been destroyed, no one could offer it any more. But Daniel stood before God in the value of it. That is, in spirit he made all its sweet fragrance his own, and this was what made him accepted. It is the same with our prayers now, when by faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit we rest completely on what Christ is, and on all the value of His sacrifice, before God.
The understanding in this verse came to a man who had first turned his attention away from everything else.
The Holy Scriptures are full of examples of men of God receiving spiritual light during moments of meditation. Led by the Spirit, they fixed their minds on the things of God and shut out the affairs of earth... Daniel did the same. He was ready to turn away from everything else on earth and set his "face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications." Gabriel then "informed," or enlightened, him, and gave him "skill and understanding" in the truth about God's future dealings with His people, as bound up with the Messiah.
Commentators draw a general rule from this.
It is always true that the nearer we are to the Lord, the more fully He can open out His mind to us.
- Errand. Gabriel came to give capacity, not just information. He came to make Daniel "skilful of understanding," so that Daniel could profit from what God was about to reveal.
- Cause. The light came to a man who turned away from everything else on earth to seek God in prayer.
- Speed. God gave the command at the start of the prayer; the messenger arrived before Daniel said "Amen."
- Ground. The answer came at the hour of the evening burnt offering. Daniel could no longer make that offering, yet he stood before God in its value.
- Nearness. The closer we are to the Lord, the more He can open His mind to us — we need the opened understanding as much as the opened Scriptures.
At the beginning of thy supplications the word went forth, and I am come to declare [it]; for thou art one greatly beloved. Therefore consider the word, and have understanding in the vision
Daniel was praying and confessing his people's sin when the angel Gabriel arrived with an answer. The verse tells him three things: God moved the moment he began to pray, heaven calls him greatly loved, and he is to understand the vision he is about to receive.
The command to send Gabriel did not wait for Daniel to make his case. One writer draws out what that says about how God listens:
At the beginning of Daniel's supplication, God had given commandment to Gabriel concerning Daniel. God did not wait for a lengthy prayer to hear all that Daniel would say. God knew the desires of his heart, and at the very start God heard and began to act. Gabriel's commission was to open Daniel's understanding to receive the communications of God... It was not enough for Daniel to receive revelations; he needed to have his understanding opened to profit by them.
This has a bearing on our own praying:
Too often we fail to notice God's answer to our own prayers. If we noticed, we would often find, to our glad surprise, that at the time of our prayer the command has already gone out to help us, as it did for Daniel. So we should always look on the call to prayer as an invitation to a privilege beyond words.
Daniel had prayed as one of the guilty. God's reply describes him very differently:
Such confession and prayer meets with an immediate answer. God sent Gabriel, His angelic messenger, 'to fly swiftly'... with the assurance that in God's estimation Daniel was a man 'greatly beloved'. What other believer ever heard himself described that way? Our Lord's words were, 'Whoever humbles himself will be exalted' (Matt. 23:12). Here we have an illustration of this. Daniel had humbled himself in an exceptional way, and so God lets him know that he is greatly beloved in Heaven. What an exaltation! If he had not been truly humbled, such an assurance might have puffed him up and ruined him.
Daniel had not stood apart from his nation's sin. That is where the answer meets him:
Daniel had joined himself to the failure of God's people and confessed, "We have sinned." Now he is assured that, despite all that failure, he is "greatly beloved."
The word "therefore" ties the love to the revelation. Being loved is not just a comfort here. It is why God hands Daniel His secrets:
God also wanted Daniel to know that He had read the desires of his heart. At the beginning of his prayers He had given the command for Gabriel's mission. In His precious grace, to encourage Daniel's heart, He wanted him told that he was greatly beloved. He was beloved like the disciple whom Jesus loved — close to the Lord's mind and affections, and so able to receive God's secrets. For it is always true that the nearer we are to the Lord, the more fully He can open out His mind to us.
Daniel is told to consider the word and understand the vision. An older translation reads "understand the matter, and consider the vision." That command rules out treating the vision as a puzzle no one can crack:
First of all, let me point out the mistake of treating the vision as something no one can understand. The word is, 'Understand the matter, and consider the vision.' Also, if it had been only for Daniel's own understanding, God would not have revealed it to us. The Holy Spirit inspired Daniel to reveal the Seventy Weeks so that we might not only read it, but read it with intelligence.
Daniel's prayer cost him fasting, sackcloth and ashes. One writer traces where that discipline led:
"Prayer," "supplication," "fasting," "sackcloth," "ashes" — what a chain of links, forged in the fires of discipline, to bind the man praying to the mercy seat of God! There he waited on Him until the answer came through "the man Gabriel," sent to "fly swiftly." Gabriel came to tell him God's gracious answer — not by the measure of his asking, but in keeping with God's ways of grace, "far more abundantly than all that we ask or think!" (Eph. 3:20).
- Begin — the command went out at the start of Daniel's prayer. God read the desire of his heart before Daniel finished speaking.
- Bow — Daniel humbled himself and confessed "we have sinned." Only a humbled man could hear that he was greatly loved without being puffed up.
- Beloved — love is the reason for the revelation. The nearer we are to the Lord, the more fully He opens His mind to us.
- Be taught — God gave the vision to be understood, and had it written down so that later readers could read it with intelligence.
- Beyond — God answered not by the measure of Daniel's asking, but in keeping with His ways of grace: "far more abundantly than all that we ask or think."
Seventy weeks are apportioned out upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to close the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make expiation for iniquity, and to bring in the righteousness of the ages, and to seal the vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies.
Daniel prayed about the seventy years of exile. Gabriel came back with an answer far bigger than the request: seventy sevens marked out for Daniel's nation and city, ending in six great results. Three questions follow. How long is a "week"? Who is it decreed about? How much of it has already happened?
The message came while Daniel was still praying about a seventy-year captivity that was nearly over. The number he was given multiplies the one he was thinking about.
Gabriel was commissioned to reveal to Daniel the prophecy of the "seventy weeks"; the word week here indicating a period of seven, it may be of days, or as here it clearly is, of years. We have just seen Daniel stirred to confession and prayer by the discovery that the seventy years of the desolations had nearly run their course; he is now to learn that seventy years, multiplied by seven, were to pass before, according to the divine reckoning, full release and blessing would be reached.
"Decreed" carries the idea of a portion cut off. It leaves one question open: do the seventy weeks run without a break?
First, notice that verse 24 gives you the whole period. "Seventy weeks are decreed" means that God chose to cut a certain portion out of the mass of time for one special purpose. But did the portions He cut out — the seventy weeks — all run in a row? Or was there a gap or break between them? That remains to be seen.
Daniel's own subject shows that these sevens are years, not days:
Daniel had been reading the books and praying about the seventy years of Babylonian captivity. Now Gabriel is going to show him something that will take place in "seventy sevens," which means seventy times seven years. Seventy sevens comes to 490 years.
The wording is "your people," not "My people." That one word settles who the prophecy is about.
So it is the Jews who are called, not "My people," but "your people" — Daniel's people. "Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city." Jerusalem is still called a holy city, true; but it is no longer God's own city. It is "your" — Daniel's — holy city. All this makes the aim of the seventy weeks plain. It is not Christianity or the Church that is in view, but Jerusalem — Daniel's holy city, and Daniel's people, the Jews.
The six clauses are not six separate topics. Together they describe one restored state for Daniel's people and city.
All these expressions look forward to the full restoration of Daniel's people and city in blessing. The transgression will end — the transgression they were scattered for — now that Jerusalem has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. God will pardon their iniquity (Isaiah 40:2). He will bring in everlasting righteousness, His own righteousness (Isaiah 51:4-8). Visions and prophecies will close for ever (see Zechariah 13). And the holy of holies will be set apart again, made holy to match the glory of Him who will dwell there once more (see Exodus 40:9).
One clause on its own might be argued over. Taken together, the words point one way.
For instance, "to finish the transgression" means, word for word, to restrain it. That phrase on its own might raise a small question. But he adds, "to put an end to sin" — word for word, to seal up sins — "and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness." These words make the sense plain… So we have both sides: with sins, to close them; with righteousness, to bring it in — and not only to bring it in, but to bring it in for ever. Righteousness is not only given but secured for ever.
Commentators differ on the last clause. Does "a most holy place" mean a place, or the Messiah? One writer weighs how the phrase is used elsewhere and what Daniel had prayed for.
I cannot find that any person in the Old Testament is called "holy of holies" (Daniel 9:24). Things are given that title. In Ezekiel 45:3 the sanctuary is called "holy of holies." So Ezekiel sets a precedent: Daniel is describing the sanctuary here. And since he prayed for the sanctuary (v. 17), the city and the people (vv. 18, 19), the angel's answer fits his prayer exactly.
What God has done and what the nation has received are two different things. The work is finished; the people it was decreed about have not yet taken it up.
In fact God has completed everything. He has sent the Messiah. He has presented Him to the people. The blood of the covenant has been shed, and propitiation made — the sacrifice that answers sin before God. But have these blessings taken effect for the Jews as a nation? The answer is that nothing has been done… We must not look at the satisfaction apart from its application. We must ask what it has done for the Jewish nation.
Believers today stand in a different position:
We do receive the blessing of the gospel now, while the Jews as a people are wrapped up in unbelief. We know that Christ suffered on the cross and has gone on high, so we do not wait until then for expiation… For them, everlasting righteousness will be brought in later, vision and prophet sealed up, and the holy of holies anointed. For us who walk by faith, not sight, God foresaw and gave "some better thing."
- Prayer — Daniel prayed about seventy years of exile; the answer measured out seventy times seven.
- Portion — God cut these weeks out of time for one purpose. Whether they run unbroken, the verses that follow must show.
- People — the clock is set over "your people" and "your holy city," Israel and Jerusalem, not the church.
- Promises — sin restrained, sealed and atoned for. Everlasting righteousness brought in. Prophecy closed. The sanctuary anointed.
- Pending — Christ paid the price at the cross, but the nation has not received it yet. Believers enjoy the blessing now; Israel's turn is still to come.
Know therefore and understand From the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah, the Prince, are seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks. The street and the moat shall be built again, even in troublous times.
Gabriel answers Daniel's prayer about a ruined city with a countdown. It has a fixed start, a fixed span of years, and a Person at the end of it. Three questions follow. Which order starts the clock? Why are the years split into two blocks? And who is the anointed prince?
The clock does not start with the temple. It starts with an order about the city itself.
The seventy weeks are divided into three parts: seven, sixty-two, and one. Weeks of years are clearly meant. These weeks do not date from the command to build the temple. That command came in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia (Ezra 1:1). They date from the command to restore and build the city of Jerusalem, which Artaxerxes gave in his twentieth year (Nehemiah 2:1).
Commentators differ here. Some date the order to the seventh year of Artaxerxes; others to his twentieth year.
The angel could have said sixty-nine. He did not.
Surely this is a remarkable way of expressing it. The natural way, we might think, would be to say sixty-nine. But no: it is "seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks." There is a design in this. God never says a word without a blessed reason — a wise and gracious motive. So there is one here… This is why the seven weeks are named. The rebuilding of Jerusalem, hindered though it was, mattered to God. His word both predicts and records it.
The two words name two parts of a working city.
The street is where the life of the city gathers. It is the meeting place, and the first part of the city to get houses. The moat is an extra defence to protect the city.
The trouble was not vague. One writer lists what stood against the builders, from outside the people and from inside.
In short, God singles out these seven weeks to give us not just a history but a prediction of the troubles. The derision, the hatred, the enmity, the attempts to destroy, the constant intrigues and plotting in and around the land, the carelessness of the people, the faults of the princes, the unfaithfulness of the priests — all these things worked against them. The bitterest and most humiliating of all their sorrows they found among themselves… So much does God think of His people in the day of small things.
The ESV calls Him "an anointed one, a prince"; older translations read "Messiah the Prince." One writer looks at the word behind "prince," then asks what moment the countdown reaches.
The Hebrew word "Nageed" means a "leader," a "prince."… If, then, the words "unto Messiah the Prince" refer to the Lord Jesus, what point in His life on earth does the word "unto" reach? There seems to be only one time in the Lord's ministry when the people owned and hailed Him as their King: His last entry into Jerusalem (John 12:12-15). He was born "King of the Jews," but only then did the people own Him as King in public… So we may safely conclude that the word "unto" points to a time six days before the Lord's death. The King was owned, and the sixty-nine weeks ended.
Read each day as a year, and the count reaches a datable day.
Counting a year for a day, 69 weeks = 483 years. The prophetic year has 360 days, so 483 years x 360 = 173,880 days. That brings us to the 10th day of the month Nisan in the 18th year of Tiberius Caesar, the Roman Emperor. It is the very day when our Lord rode into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9.
The verse counts only sixty-nine of the seventy weeks. That gap is the hinge of the prophecy.
The key comes in now. It explains the difficulty stated at the beginning: why the seventieth week is cut off from the sixty-nine. The death of Christ tore the chain, and broke off the relations of the people of Israel with God. So, the Jews having rejected their own Messiah, the last week is for a time set aside.
- Decree — the countdown starts with the order to rebuild the city, not the temple. Most place that order in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes.
- Division — seven weeks, then sixty-two, is by design, not clumsy arithmetic. God names the first block because rebuilding Jerusalem mattered to Him.
- Difficulty — the street and the moat are the city's life and its defence. Both would rise in a troubled time, and the prophecy names that trouble in advance.
- Destination — the years run to the anointed Prince. 483 prophetic years reach the day He rode into Jerusalem and the crowds owned Him as King.
- Deferral — the verse counts only sixty-nine of the seventy weeks. The rejection of Messiah breaks the chain, and the last week waits.
And after the sixty-two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with an overflow, and unto the end, war, -- the desolations determined.
Daniel's seventy weeks reach their turning point here: the Messiah is cut off instead of welcomed, and the city and its temple fall. Three questions follow — what "shall have nothing" means, who the coming prince is, and why the last week does not come at once.
An older English translation read "cut off, but not for himself." Commentators prefer the reading behind "shall have nothing." The verse is not weighing the worth of His death. It is showing what He lost.
I say then that the margin here gives the scope, in my opinion, more exactly. Our version — "but not for himself" — implies that He was cut off for other people... He was cut off for our sins. He suffered in atonement for our iniquities. So people saw the death of Christ only as expiation. But that is not the point here. The meaning is that Messiah should be cut off and have nothing. His inheritance is completely gone. His people refuse Him. His land is not His to hold. His kingdom is denied Him. Everything that belonged to Messiah is taken away from Him.
Why did He not take the kingdom that was His by right? The answer lies in the purpose of His first coming.
The correct translation is, "Messiah shall be cut off and have nothing." That is, the Messiah did not take the kingdom, though it was His by right. He was rejected and crucified, so He could only have taken it by judgment in power. But His mission then was not judgment; it was salvation (John 3:17). So He was "cut off," and went back to heaven with "nothing."
One consequence follows: ruin for the city and the sanctuary. The break went deeper than politics.
A new element of great importance is also introduced: the Messiah should be cut off. He would have nothing of what belonged to Him by right. The consequence of this would be the destruction of the city and of the sanctuary, desolation and war. It would be the prince of another empire, not yet in existence, who should destroy the city and the sanctuary. God's relations with the people were now completely broken off for the time — even with a believing remnant.
Sixty-nine of the seventy weeks had run out when Christ died. Verse 27 then speaks of the last one.
When Christ was cut off, sixty-nine weeks had run their course. There only remained one week — or seven years — before His kingdom would be set up. But the Jews rejected their Messiah; so the fulfilment of the prophecy is put off... During this time there is a great blank in the history of God's ancient people. God gives no account of how long it lasts... So there is a huge and important gap between verses 26 and 27, and the prophecy gives no details about it.
The verse separates the destroyers from the ruler they belong to. Many take that ruler to be Titus, the Roman commander. Grant gives reasons against it.
All agree that this is the destruction of the city by the Romans. Most therefore assume that Titus is the "prince who is to come," but there are many reasons against this. For why should the people be mentioned at all? Is it not plain that both the people and the prince are stressed here? Yet the people alone do this — and they are the people of the prince who is to come.
Hole ties this coming prince to a ruler Daniel saw earlier in the book. That ruler has still not appeared.
The more immediate result was to be the destruction of the city and the sanctuary by "the people of the prince who is to come." Now this prince is the "little horn" we read of in Daniel 7. He is the head of the Roman Empire in its revived and last stage, and we identified him with the first "beast" of Revelation 13. This Roman despot is still to come, but the Roman people were the dominant power in the time of our Lord, and they did destroy Jerusalem very thoroughly.
The verse does not stop with the city's fall. It runs on "to the end."
That destruction was only the beginning of God's disciplinary judgments upon them. So the prophecy moves on to "its end," which is to be "with a flood," or "an overflow." We judge this to mean that the sorrows and persecutions that have followed the Jews through all these centuries will rise to flood height just before the end.
- Cut off. Sixty-nine of the seventy weeks ran out, and then the nation rejected and killed its Messiah. The whole prophecy turns here.
- Nothing. The phrase points to His loss, not to His atonement. He lost kingdom, land and people, because His first coming brought salvation and not judgment.
- Broken. His death cut off God's open dealings with the nation, and the promised blessing had to wait.
- Blank. A gap of unknown length lies between verse 26 and verse 27. The prophecy says nothing about it.
- Unfinished. The Roman people destroyed city and sanctuary. Their prince is still to come, and desolations run on to the end.
And he shall confirm a covenant with the many [for] one week; and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and because of the protection of abominations [there shall be] a desolator, even until that the consumption and what is determined shall be poured out upon the desolate.
Daniel's last "week" of seven years fits into one verse. It holds a covenant, a betrayal halfway through, an idol, and judgment that runs to the end. Everything turns on one question — who is the "he" who makes this covenant?
Older English translations said "the covenant," and many readers took that to mean Christ. The length of the agreement rules that out.
Now I ask those who argue that Christ was meant, what sense does that give here? One week can mean nothing but a period of seven years. Was the new covenant ever made for seven years? ... For Christ's is an everlasting covenant — this is only made for seven years. When and how did Christ make a covenant for seven years?
The "he" points back to the prince of verse 26, whose people destroyed the city and the temple. The mention of sacrifice also shows what must be standing again when he acts.
So the claim is this. The future head of the revived Roman empire will make a covenant with "the many," that is, with most of the Jews, who by that time will be back in their own land. The mention of the sacrifice and the offering puts it beyond doubt that Jerusalem is in view, and that the temple has been rebuilt.
Sixty-nine weeks ran to the cutting off of the Messiah. The events of verse 26 — His death, then the ruin of the city — sit between the sixty-ninth week and this one.
These seventy weeks relate to Daniel's people and to Jerusalem. The church period, then, in which we now are, is no part of those weeks. As a matter of fact it is a gap between Daniel 9:26 and Daniel 9:27... So the whole present period is a gap. It runs from the cutting off of the Messiah to the appearance of the Roman prince who confirms a covenant with the many, and it forms no part of the seventy weeks.
The covenant is not with the whole nation. The wording itself draws a line through the people.
He makes this agreement, not with all the Jews, but with "the many," that is, with most of the people, in contrast with the few, the "little flock."
Commentators point to the motive behind the deal. The nation refused God's foundation, so it looks for shelter under the strongest power it can find.
They have refused the foundation God laid in Zion. So they will seek shelter under the wing of the one to whom Satan will then have given his seat, his authority, and his great power. (See Rev. 13:2.) But their covenant with death will be "annulled, and their agreement with hell will not stand." Daniel 9:27 refers to this.
Halfway through the seven years, the protector turns on the people he promised to protect.
The Jews will lean on this man for protection from other enemies. Then he himself becomes their great enemy. He breaks his own covenant. In the middle of the week, at the end of three and a half years, "he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease."
The next clause is hard, and translations differ. Several read "the wing of abominations" as the sheltering of idols, which then brings down a destroyer.
Matthew 24:15 calls this image "the abomination of desolation." It will "stand in the holy place," the Jewish temple, as a bold challenge to the authority of God. Daniel 9:27 calls this image "the wing of abominations." That phrase points to the sheltering of idols. Because of this God sends "a desolator," the King of the North, against Israel.
The verse closes with judgment poured out to the end. But the end of the seventieth week is not the end of the story.
That week still waits to be fulfilled in due time... the last week belongs to the Roman opponent of Christ. He is the future political head of the Roman empire, and he makes a covenant with the mass of Daniel's people, in Daniel's holy city. But that seventieth week ends with the Messiah coming in power and glory. Some will help and some will hinder, and Jerusalem will be full of wickedness. God will still keep every promise.
- Covenant — The deal lasts seven years, so it cannot be Christ's everlasting covenant. The maker is the coming prince of verse 26.
- Gap — The count stopped when the Messiah was cut off. The present period falls between verses 26 and 27, and no week covers it.
- Crowd — The deal is struck with "the many," the mass of the nation; a faithful minority stands outside it.
- Collapse — Halfway through, the protector breaks his word and stops the sacrifices. An idol then stands in the holy place.
- Consummation — Judgment runs to the end. Then the week closes with the Messiah coming in glory, and every promise kept.