In a previous entry
Daniel 9:24-27 – Derek’s Shifting Shadows
I mentioned the importance of Daniel 9:24-27 and explained why, in my view, it is such an important series of verses as it relates to Biblical prophecy. In this entry I will broadly cover this text. I plan to delve more into what I think it specifically says and why I think it is saying what it is saying in future installments.
The Angel, Gabriel, here is telling the prophet Daniel what is to come concerning his fellow Jewish people and its capital city, Jerusalem, as it relates to their relationship with God. You can read the full chapter for backstory
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+9&version=NASB
There is almost an infinite amount of information about the context that Daniel finds himself in. I invite the reader to look elsewhere for that if there are gaps or one needs refreshing. I am keeping the scope of this study as focused as I know how. However, I will circle back more into the context in later posts.
I am also going to assume the reader knows about the covenant God made with Abraham and how it spawned the Jewish nation and about how the Law of Moses came to pass. If not, you may be reading the wrong blog….
“24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.”
The term “weeks” is also understood to be “sevens.” The Hebrew word is literally, “sevens.” In other words, seventy sets of seven. Gabriel is telling Daniel that seventy sets of seven is an appointed time for Daniel’s people to stop sinning against God, to reconcile for those sins, and to bring in eternal righteousness (which is to say, a new order of life without sin), to conclude or complete the Law of Moses and the Prophets, and to anoint the most Holy. Holy could be in reference to the Jewish Temple, the Jewish capital of Jerusalem, or even the most Holy “being” or “person.” I think it likely it is referring to anointing the most Holy person or being that is in the context of the text in Daniel that follows.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem unto Messiah The Prince (shall be) seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
There is an apparent commandment to both restore and rebuild Jerusalem that will mark the beginning of the counting of the seventy sevens. It doesn’t necessarily say the decree is one singular decree. It could be a series of decrees, all of which did occur in various places in relation to the rebuilding of Jerusalem after Babylonian captivity. There were multiple decrees that related to either the restoration of of Jerusalem or the rebuilding of Jerusalem. However, one of the decrees will complete the overarching narrative to both rebuild and restore Jerusalem and it will mark the beginning of the counting of the seventy sevens.
The rebuilding concerns the physical structure, the walls, the buildings, the streets, etc. of Jerusalem. They will be built in troubled times. In other words, there will be stress in the land during this construction.
The restoration concerns returning Jerusalem and its people to their religious and governing autonomy. In other words, Persia, the kingdom that was ruling the land of Israel at the time, will allow the Jewish people to largely govern themselves and live according to their religious laws and beliefs in Jerusalem, Israel–their homeland where they were exiled from.
Two distinctions of the seventy sevens are here introduced. First, there will be one counting of a period of seven. Then, there will be a period of sixty two consecutive sevens. Immediately concluding the combination of one seven and sixty two sevens, the Messiah Prince will appear. When added, the seven and sixty two sevens will total sixty nine sevens.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off but not for himself: 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.
After the sixty nine weeks are over, the Messiah will be killed, but not because of anything the Messiah has done or will do. The prince to come is uncertain, but could refer either to a prince that will come after the Messiah, or it could even be the same Messiah being referred to as the prince.
It is important to note punctuation and capital letters in nouns in the Bible. Some of the language conventions we use in English are not in the actual ancient texts in their original language. The reasoning for that is that those conventions did not always exist in those languages. For example, the translators may insert either the word, prince or Prince, depending on the what they view the context to be. Even using the words “Messiah Prince” instead of “anointed one,” or “Anointed One” implies a rendering based on the perceived context of a passage. Another example, and found in these passages in parenthesis, are the words “shall be.” That type of language did not exist in ancient Hebrew. Those are English words and are inserted for context as those are English conventions that bridge thoughts or ideas or events. Sometimes, translators place a comma or semi colon or some kind of punctual convention that does not exist in the original language or in an early original language manuscript. It isn’t that the original author forgot, its that those conventions do not exist or are not used in the same way in the original language as we use in English.
One example of this is “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” This can just as easily read, “Truly I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.” The placement of that comma makes a substantial difference in how a person reads that passage. In fact, different manuscripts have different instances of where that comma break occurs. Some don’t have one at all, one or some have a dot after “today” to indicate a break. Our translations have the comma before “today” and we read that verse as Jesus telling the thief on the other cross he will be in Paradise that very day with Jesus. But, Jesus was not in Paradise that very day, unless he meant in some kind of quantum superposition where Jesus is both in Hades and Paradise at the same time. Or, it could be that Jesus was saying something like, “Bank it. You’ll be in Paradise with me.” But I tend to think we just have the comma in the wrong place. That is the simplest answer.
In any case, whether it is the Messiah Prince, or the prince to come, this person’s people will destroy the city of Jerusalem and the sanctuary of the Jewish Temple. The end of the city and the temple will be like a flood, not literally an actual flood. There is mentioned a war that will occur and desolations, or destructions, are determined until the end of that war. As I will write about in further installments, the responsibility for the future destruction (according to Daniel’s time) of Jerusalem and it’s Temple is blurred and, frankly, shared.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make (it) desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Again, we encounter a bit of a mystery concerning the identity of “he.” This is hotly debated in religious scholarship. There are a number of views about who this “he” could be. Whomever this “he” is, he will either make a new covenant with many people or he will strengthen or reaffirm a covenant with many–or both. This covenant is to represent the last counting of seven, but in the middle of that seven he will cause the Jewish sacrifice of animals and grains to God for their sins to stop. The demarcation or ending event of the last seven is not explicitly stated.
“For the overspreading of abominations” is seemingly referring to some kind of disgusting and or hateful thing, perhaps a perverse and blasphemous thing that directly offends God. It could be a series of perverse things or actions. It could be over a long course of time where even God’s own people are overspreading abominations–perhaps on an altar. This may be a referendum on God’s own people misusing or misapplying the Jewish law and rendering the sacrifice in the Jewish Temple as blasphemous. I will add to this idea further into this blog.
The mysterious “he” appears again and he will make something (“it”) desolate as a result of the abomination, even until the time that some consummating future (according to Daniel’s time) event occurs. Making “it” desolate seems to refer to some kind of punishment for the overspreading of abominations. “It,” appears to refer to an object, maybe a building or Holy place.
After reading this passage over and over and pondering a more extensive context (which will be discussed in later installments), I believe the “he” and the “Messiah” and the “prince that is to come” are all referring to the same person.
It may be saying something to the effect, “The Messiah will confirm a covenant with many for one week; in the middle of that week the Messiah will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease (a seemingly obvious allusion to the Jewish Law of Sacrifice in the Temple). As a result of some kind of abomination that occurs, the Messiah will make the Temple desolate all the way until the end of time. What judgement is coming is predetermined and it shall be poured out upon the Temple.”
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off but not for himself: 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. 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make (it) desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
It is important that one should not necessarily correlate each event in a sequence, line by line, with one event following the next. The Bible often seems to contrast ideas and events in a kind of poetic fashion. It is a convention of Hebrew literature. The ancient world at large did this as well. We will see it again in the New Testament, which is written in Greek. For example, a block of text will be ordered as “A” then “B” and then “A” again and then “B” again. The context of the writing determines the sequence in which the idea or event is to be understood. According to modern, Western conventional thinking, we would order the events in perfect sequence and there would be no ambiguity. But that wasn’t always the goal with the writers in the Bible. Their goal was often focused on the idea itself and how to emphasize the idea by comparison and contrast rather than a simple retelling of the events as though it were a history book or a testimony in a court case.
The events of verse twenty six and verse twenty seven do not appear to be in chronological order. Given the full context that will be addressed in further entries, the events in the verses appear to jump back and forth…kind of like two different camera angles showing different aspects of the same series of events. In order, it looks like the Messiah will appear after threescore and two weeks (the sixty two weeks). At that time, the Messiah will confirm a covenant with many for one week–the seventieth week. In the middle of the seventieth week, he will be cut off. When he is cut off, he will make the sacrifice and oblation system cease. Because of abominations, I believe the abominations are that the Jews continued to offer animal and grain sacrifice on the altar, and the High Priest continued to sprinkle the blood and offer incense in the Holy of Holies (the wing, or corner, in some translations), the Messiah will destroy (make desolate) “it,” which appears to be the Jewish Temple (The center and symbol of the entire Jewish Law). The Temple will not be rebuilt, ever (even until the consummation, i.e. the end). This judgement is determined.
That being said, I do believe the overall context of this passage suggests Gabriel is telling Daniel about a block of connected events that are grouped by the distinct subsets of sevens. In other words, the seventy sevens are a consecutive convention of counting or marking time. There is one seven that symbolizes some event or time frame (that is not directly alluded to), a sixty two sevens time frame or event (also not directly alluded to), and then one seven (that is specific in nature) for a total of seventy sevens. It is important to note that the language suggests that even though the first seven and the next sixty two sevens are separate demarcations, they are still to be understood as being connected in some way and are forming a relevant sixty nine weeks. Verses 26 and 27 have events contained within that counting convention. However, there are also events in those two verses that will occur after the sevens are completed, but they will be in context and directly related to the events that are in the final seven.
Consider this illustration:
(The events of) –> ((7 + 62 = 69) + 7 = 70) –> (directly leads to) the city and the sanctuary being destroyed at some point. “It” has its fate determined already and it will be desolate for the remaining time. After the destruction, the totality of the prophecy of the seventy sevens is fulfilled. The “what” occurs within the seventy sevens, the result of the “what” probably is fully realized after the seventy sevens are completed.
In future installments, we will see this symbolic prophecy illustrated with real events that have happened in recorded history.