In Daniel chapter 9, the angel Gabriel appears in answer to Daniel’s prayer and gives him an astounding answer about the future of Israel.
Wes
Welcome to the two Journeys Bible Study podcast. This podcast is just one of the many resources available to you for free from Two Journeys Ministry. If you’re interested in learning more, just head over to twojourneys.org. Now on to today’s episode. This is episode 11 in our Daniel Bible study podcast. This episode is entitled The 70 Weeks of Daniel, where we’ll discuss Daniel 9:20-27. I’m Wes Treadway, and I’m here with Pastor Andy Davis. Andy, what are we going to see in these amazing verses we’re looking at today?
Andy
Well, they really are amazing, one of the most remarkable prophecies about Christ in the Old Testament. In 1 Peter 1:10-12 we’re told that the prophets who spoke of the salvation that was to come searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and person that the Spirit was indicating. The person we know is Christ, the timing of his coming, if it’s anywhere in the Old Testament, it’s probably in this 70-week prediction. Many scholars believe that, and I believe it myself. I think it’s a meticulous unfolding ahead of time, centuries ahead of time, of a timetable leading to the coming of Christ and, frankly, even beyond. Events surrounding not just Jesus’ first coming when he’s cut off according to this prophecy, but his second coming as well, when the Antichrist is the very one that Jesus will come to destroy with the splendor of his coming, with the breath of His mouth.
Wes
Well, let me go ahead and read verses 20 through 27 in Daniel 9:
While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the LORD my God for the holy hill of my God, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision. Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
“Know, therefore, and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then, for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. After the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week, he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
Andy, how does verse 20 summarize Daniel’s prayer of verses four through 19, and how does it help interpret Gabriel’s answer?
Andy
Well, we went through this in our last podcast in Daniel’s model prayer in which he’s pouring out his heart and interceding for his own people and specifically for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and most especially for the rebuilding of the temple. He was yearning for the re-establishment of the Jewish religion based on the laws of Moses because the whole destruction of his people was decreed by God to last 70 years as he understood from the scroll of Jeremiah the prophet. And so, he thinks the timetable is there, it’s time to rebuild. And so, he’s interceding for that. We learned from Daniel 6, three times a day he prayed toward Jerusalem, facing toward Jerusalem. And so that’s the direction that his heart was constantly. He wanted God’s name and reputation to be reestablished and exalted because of a fulfillment of that promise.
And so, he summarizes prayer. He was speaking, praying, confessing his sins and the sins of his people. And that was the reason for the desolation, the destruction of the city of Jerusalem. And so, he was also making his request for God’s holy hill. And so, I think that refers to the city of Jerusalem and especially for the Temple Mount where the temple would be rebuilt.
Wes
What does this section teach us about angels?
Andy
Well, first of all, this angel, Gabriel, has a name, so they have personalities, they have identities. Because that same angel appears in Luke to make announcement concerning the birth of John the Baptist and then of Jesus himself, they’re immortal. So same angel. And also, he says he comes to him in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. So, there’s a sense of flying. We get this also in Isaiah 6 where the seraphim have wings, and so they’re often depicted as messengers with wings. Specifically, though, the word angelos, the Greek word on which it’s based, means messenger. And so, they’re often sent with messages. And Gabriel was sent here with a message, a great message which he’s going to give to Daniel.
Wes
What reason does Gabriel give to Daniel for his visit, and why do you think God chose to send an angel rather than just speak directly to Daniel as He does at other times and with other prophets?
Andy
Yeah, the latter part of your question I don’t know. It’s just he chooses to use angels. He doesn’t need them, but he uses them, and he wants them to have a role. Just like he doesn’t need us, he doesn’t need to give us spiritual gifts or a role, but for his goodness and his kindness he wants each being to have its scope and its range and its gifting and its positioning to do work for him. And so that includes angels who are called in Hebrews 1 God’s servants, who are serving those who will inherit salvation. And so, they’re serving. And so, he comes to give an answer, to give insight, to give understanding, and he does that by speaking a message.
He also says in that verse that he has come to Daniel because Daniel is highly esteemed, and that should create a sense of yearning within any true child of God. It’s like, “Oh, how I’d love to be spoken of that way.” But Daniel certainly earned it by his piety, his godliness, his holiness, his focus on the glory of God, his fastings, and his prayers, and his humility. He was truly worthy of being highly esteemed.
Wes
What’s the significance of the statement, “As soon as you began to pray”?
Andy
Well, God doesn’t make us wait, he gives us answers. We find out in chapter 10 when the angel comes to give Daniel more specific details about wars that are going to be fought after the fall of Alexander the Great, and there’s this meticulous prophecy about the northern and southern Greek kingdoms. He had to fight his way past the Prince of Persia, he’s told. And so, the fact is that angels come, and they’re sent, but they’re frequently hindered. But in this case, we don’t have any sense of hindrance, we just have a sense that as soon as Daniel began to pray, God gave an answer.
Wes
Now, what thinking will Daniel have to do to understand this message that Gabriel is bringing?
Andy
Well, he has to ponder it, he has to weigh it, he has to understand it. It’s the very thing Jesus calls on us to do in Matthew 24, also in Mark 13. He says, “When you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, let the reader understand.” So, it’s about the same thing that Gabriel says, “Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision.” So, you’re seeking insight. But then what follows is one of the most complex and detailed prophecies in the entire Old Testament. So, it takes a great deal of pondering, skill and, frankly, I think, humble prayer for insight in order to fully understand this prophecy.
Wes
Verse 24 brings us to these 70 weeks for which this episode is titled. What do the 70 Weeks or sevens mean in this passage, and what’s the significance of the word decreed?
Andy
Okay, so 70 sevens are decreed. The sevens or weeks must be years. Every interpreter looks on them as blocks of seven-year periods. The sevens are always a seven-year span, so we’re going to get seven of them first and then 62, and you just do the math, and you multiply it out. So, the overall total is 70 right from the top in verse 24. So, the total thing will be 70 of these blocks of seven. You multiply it out, it’s a total of 490 years, but it doesn’t quite go that way. The next part of your question was it says decreed. We believe that everything connected with redemptive history has been worked out in the mind of God and decreed by the sovereign purpose of God. It says in Ephesians 1, “In Him you are also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything after the counsel of His will.” So, everything has been meticulously planned out. Our God is a meticulous and careful God, and this is a timetable that He follows down to the meticulous detail here, a timing of the work of Christ.
Wes
For whom then are these 70 weeks decreed, and what six purposes are given for the 70 weeks?
Andy
All right, so let’s keep in mind the context. He’s praying toward Jerusalem. Daniel is praying toward Jerusalem. He’s praying in reference to the Jewish people and the shame and humiliation that they’re in is greatly highlighted in the book of Nehemiah. As he hears about the disheveled state of those that are dwelling in the unwalled city of Jerusalem there’s a sense of a shame factor here. These are the Jewish people, the people of God, and yet they’re living in such a disheveled and dishonored state. And so, the focus is the Jewish people scattered throughout the world, but specifically in terms of the promised land and the city of Jerusalem, the holy city. And so, the focus is on the Jewish people and Jerusalem the holy city.
The six things that are decreed here are listed one after the other. Different translations, but mine says, “To finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy or a holy place, a most holy place.” There are different translations. The Hebrew is difficult here. But at any rate, these are the six things, three of them negative, having to do with sin and wickedness, and three of them positive, having to do with righteousness and anointing and that kind of thing. So those are the six things.
Wes
So those six purposes are outlined here. What do each of them refer to or how might we best understand each of these six in turn, as you said, three negative and three positive?
Andy
Well, I’m going to sum them all up saying all of them are focused on the work of Christ. Christ came to achieve these six purposes. The first three negative, to finish transgression, make an end of sin, and to make atonement for iniquity, I think if we look at the word atonement, we realize, though the Jews were offering animal sacrifice, and the purpose of the temple was that, we know that the blood of bulls and goats can’t really take away sin. It doesn’t finish transgression. It doesn’t make an end of sin, et cetera. It certainly doesn’t make any atonement. It’s fundamentally a symbol of the real atonement, and the real atonement is through Jesus Christ. As the hymn writer put it, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
So, though the temple would be rebuilt, and the Jews would cling to it, it was not God’s final answer to the problem of sin. But only in Jesus is the sin problem finally, totally, and completely addressed. When he died, he spoke these words, “It is finished.” And when he comes again and establishes everlasting righteousness, a kingdom of perfection and righteousness, then sin will truly be at an end. So, all of this is to work that, to work the work of Christ. Those are the negative parts, so speaking positively, to bring in everlasting righteousness. There is nothing in the old covenant that’s going to do that. Old covenant didn’t bring in everlasting righteousness, but the gospel does.
“When he died, he spoke these words, “It is finished.” And when he comes again and establishes everlasting righteousness, a kingdom of perfection and righteousness, then sin will truly be at an end.”
Paul says, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel, a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is from faith, for faith. As it is written, ‘The righteous who live by faith.'” Righteousness comes by the gospel and, more specifically, righteousness comes by Christ. Because it says in Romans 3:22, “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” That’s everlasting righteousness. The moment you come to faith in Christ, you receive the gift of everlasting righteousness. So, this phrase points to Christ. Indeed, all these six purposes point toward Christ. To seal up vision and prophecy, or the work of the prophet, seal it up means to finish it, to put an end to it, to consummate it. All prophetic roads ultimately lead to Jesus. The spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Christ, and it points to Christ.
And then the last one, to anoint a most holy place or to anoint the holy one are very different things. The most holy place would be the temple, and that would be the rebuilding of the temple. But ultimately, we believe that all of this points toward Christ. The word Christ, the Jewish term is Messiah, means anointed one. That’s literally what it means. And so, we’re pointing toward the anointing of Jesus ultimately as the Messiah. Or it could refer to the perfection of the true tabernacle, the true temple, which is in heaven, of which the earthly was just a type and a shadow. So, the author of the Hebrews says, “When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here he went through,” listen, “the greater and more perfect tabernacle that’s not manmade, that is to say not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but he entered the most holy place up in heaven once for all by his own blood having obtained eternal redemption.”
It sounds a lot like the language of eternal righteousness. So it could be that that’s what it’s talking about there, to anoint the holy one. So, to sum up, 70 sevens are decreed to accomplish effectively the complete work of God’s answer to the sin problem through Jesus Christ.
Wes
How does verse 25 serve to identify the coming of Christ, and what’s the challenge for interpreters here?
Andy
Okay, so a timetable is set from the beginning, the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one. Boy, that’s pretty awesome. The problem is which decree? There wasn’t just one decree, there are actually many decrees. It came in a series, one after the other. So generally, evangelical scholars that strongly believe in prophecy reverse-engineer the thing. They figure out when Jesus came, they go back the number of weeks from this prophecy in Daniel, and they find a decree. There’s probably one in there somewhere.
What I would say is this, it’s hard to know exactly what decree God had in mind. And unless you’re going to do that reverse engineering work, I want to say, look, somewhere around the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, a decree was issued by a Gentile ruler to rebuild the city of Jerusalem that this prophecy is talking about. We have a general sense of that being sometime in the high 400s, 450, 475, 500, 425, somewhere in there. And then if we look at the seven plus 62 being 69, if we think it’s seven years, so it’s 490 minus seven would be 483 years, so roughly half a millennium. So anytime from around 450 to around half a millennium later, was there a significant figure that we are interested in 2,000 years later? Yes, there was. His name is Jesus. Done deal. That’s good enough for me.
Then we’ll find out in heaven exactly what decree he had in mind and exactly how precisely this whole thing worked out. Other than that, skeptics are not going to buy this because they say, “What about this decree? What about that one? What about the other?” But there was a decree in particular. When I wrote sermons on this and looked at it, I was able to identify a specific decree. And so, 457 B.C. a decree was given by one of the Persian Artaxerxes who was ruling the Persian Empire at the time, and then you can measure it out. So, from 49 years to do the rebuilding and then 434 years after that to the Christ, and it works out exactly. It brings us to the year A.D. 27, which is the year that Jesus began His public ministry. And so, it really does work out pretty precisely and accurately.
Wes
What additional details does verse 25 give, and what’s being referred to?
Andy
No one understand this. From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Christ comes, the ruler, calls Him the ruler comes, there’ll be seven sevens and 62 sevens. So, the splitting up of it is odd, but I think one interpreter said it’s that length of time to rebuild the city, about 50 years, 49 years, seven times seven is 49, and then another 434 years, as I mentioned a moment ago, until the Christ the ruler comes. So that’s why it’s split up. Then there’s this detail of it’s going to be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. You read Ezra and Nehemiah, you got the sword and the trowel, they’re building the wall, but they’ve got enemies that want to swoop down and attack them. Difficult trouble. I had heard something from a sermon about the demoniac of the Gadarenes from R.C. Sproul, and he was talking about how one of the reasons the Jews hated the Samaritans is that during the time when the city of Jerusalem was being rebuilt, the Samaritans, knowing how the Jews were and how they looked on pigs as unclean, would come in at night and slaughter pigs and throw them all over the work that they were doing. The Jews were utterly disgusted and had to have seven days to purify the work site.
And so, they were thrown back, the whole schedule was thrown back by this. And they would do this again and again. And so, they just hated the Samaritans for this whole pig thing. I’d never heard that before. That came from R.C. Sproul, and probably good story. So, whether that’s true or not, probably it is, but times of trouble means it was a difficult time for the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem.
Wes
What shocking thing does verse 26 teach us about the Messiah, and why were the Jews so unprepared to hear this?
Andy
Okay, so we’ve got seven plus 62, you add it up, and I already said it lines up perfectly with the year AD 27, the year that Jesus began His public ministry. So along comes the Christ, the ruler, the anointed one, the one they’re all waiting for. They thought he would bring in a kingdom of everlasting righteousness, and he will. And there are many prophetic Psalms and other things that talk about his glory spreading from sea to the ends of the earth. And from one end of the world to the other and that the desert tribes would come and lick His shoes and all this kind of thing. These are clear prophecies. So, they expected a kingdom of glory, basically David only more so, Davidic king only more so, that’s what they expected. They didn’t expect him to be cut off and have nothing.
Well, what does that mean? After the 62 sevens, the anointed will be cut off and we’ll have nothing. So, they don’t expect that and it’s shocking. But we know what it means as Christians, cut off from the land of the living. As it says very plainly in the prophecies, “He was cut off from the land of the living, and who can speak of His descendants?” That’s Isaiah 53. So, we expect a suffering servant, but the Jews did not expect the Messiah to be cut off.
Wes
What other troubling news does verse 26 give to the Jews, and what does this refer to?
Andy
Well, it also speaks of the destruction of the city again. Picture Daniel now. He’s on his knees, he’s praying three times a day toward the ruins of Jerusalem, and he wants what? City to be rebuilt. Okay, Daniel, it’ll be rebuilt. It’s going to be destroyed again. And it’s like, “Wow.” And just having the realism to know that this is a cyclical pattern, and it doesn’t end things. The ultimate end is not the physical city of Jerusalem and the physical temple in that location. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman in John 4, “Woman, believe me, the time is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.” God is Spirit, and so there’s not going to be this locality, this one place. And ultimately, we know the fulfillment of all of this is the new heaven and new earth and the new Jerusalem, the heavenly Zion, which is going to descend beautifully from heaven to earth.
And so, they don’t expect that, but it says plainly, “The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” So, this very thing that was rebuilt, that Daniel’s praying will be rebuilt, it’s going to be destroyed again. Now, who are they, the people who will come? Jesus predicted it’s the Romans. The Romans will definitely come, the ruler to come, and they’re going to destroy the city. And the story is told by Josephus, predicted by Jesus, “Not one stone here will be left on another, everyone will be thrown down.” Predicted clearly by Jesus, predicted here clearly by Daniel, but that is the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem.
Wes
Why do you think God decrees desolations and war right to the end of Israel’s history?
Andy
Okay, this is very important, and we need to understand the word desolation. This is something I preached a whole sermon on- the abomination desolation. We don’t have time to go into all that, but the word desolate means empty. And so, the fundamental emptiness of the city of Jerusalem is empty of God, empty of the special presence of God. Now, I talked about this with the abomination and desolation sermon, and it’s foundational to our understanding. What is a holy place? What is holy ground? And especially, what does that mean in a universe completely filled by an omnipresent God in which there is no one place where God is more than any other place? That’s what omnipresence means. But then what does it mean when he says to Moses, “Take off your sandals for the ground on which you’re standing is holy ground.”? What does that mean? Well, that’s where the burning bush was.
So, you begin to put it together and say holy ground is a place where God chooses to reveal Himself in a very special way to His people, though He is omnipresent. And so, there’s a sense that God is more in Israel than any other nation on earth, and God is more in Jerusalem than he is any other place in the holy land. He’s more in the temple than he is any other place in the city, and he’s more in the holy of holies or the most holy place than any other place in the temple. And he’s more above the Ark of the Covenant where he would speak to the Jews in the mercy seat than he was any other place in the most holy place. So, there’s a locality of focus, and that was depicted by a glory cloud which entered the tabernacle when Moses had finished building it and entered the temple when Solomon finished dedicating it, meaning God is there.
By the way, those are the final words of Ezekiel, “The Lord is there.” That’s what it means. So, there’s that sense of God is there in a glory cloud. But then sadly, because of the wickedness of the Jewish nation, Ezekiel clearly depicted the glory cloud leaving the temple and the city. God isn’t there, not in any special way. He is omnipresent, but the wicked He knows from afar. What does that mean? Relationally, God is omnipresent, he knows everything about the wicked. But when he says, “I never knew you,” it means we’re not close, we don’t have a relationship. This is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God. And so that’s the whole key here. Jerusalem was special and the holy place was special because God made it so by his glory cloud and His presence. When God leaves, he leaves it empty, and another word for empty is desolate. That’s the nature of the desolation.
“Jerusalem was special and the holy place was special because God made it so by his glory cloud and His presence. When God leaves, he leaves it empty, and another word for empty is desolate.”
And so, Ezekiel saw it, but then how much more when Jesus came to the temple and the people would not believe in him. They would not accept him, they rejected him. Talking about the Jewish leaders Jesus said, “Behold, your house is left to you desolate, for you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'” Then he left. “Jesus is the glory of Israel,” as Simeon said when he was dedicated, when he was circumcised, “He is the glory of your people Israel, and he is the glory of God.” He’s the radiance of God’s glory, and he left. He left the place empty. All right, so desolations would continue as long as the nation of Israel does not recognize their true king. As long as they have not yet said, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” the nation as a whole as such is desolate and empty. So, desolations are going to continue until the end, and so will wars and all kinds of troubles.
Wes
What does verse 27 speak of, and why do some believe this refers to the final seven years of human history?
Andy
Again, we’ve got three divisions of the 70 weeks. You got the first seven, then 62, and then you got one left. So, you get up to 69, you get one left, and why? Why the gap, that kind of break? After the 62 sevens, the anointed one will be cut off, and we’ll have nothing. So, it’s like the whole thing stops at that point. And so, I think that’s the idea of the times of the Gentiles having come in and the fact that Israel is experiencing a hardening in part at this time until the fullness or the full number of Gentiles comes in. And so, I believe that it’s reasonable to look on this as a pause or an interruption between the 69th and the 70th week, leaving one last seven-year period yet to come.
I think Daniel 9:27 should be understood best that way. If we look at the words it says, “He will confirm a covenant with many.” We don’t know who the he is, but I think it’s like the ruler who will come. If you look at verse 26, “The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” Now, that was the emperor Vespasian I guess, and then his son Titus who came and destroyed Jerusalem. But I believe we’re ultimately talking about the Antichrist, and we’re going to talk much more about him in chapter 11. We’ll get into the whole Antichrist. The little horn, we’ve already talked about it earlier, the one who speaks blasphemies and makes blasphemous claims. I think ultimately this is who we’re talking about. “He will confirm a covenant with many for one seven.” What is a covenant? It’s an agreement, a binding agreement.
But then in the middle of the seven, he’ll put an end to sacrifice and offering. So that implies an up-and-running temple that he, whoever the he is, the ruler, puts an end to. So that implies a temple, doesn’t it? And so that’s where 2 Thessalonians 2 comes in where the apostle Paul, effectively quoting Daniel 11, we’ll get to all that, says, “The Antichrist, the man of sin, will set himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” So, the way I put it all together is the Antichrist allows the Jews to rebuild the temple and allows them to reestablish the animal sacrificial system. And then halfway through this final seven-year period, he shuts it down. The interesting part about half of seven, it’s three and a half, but that span, a three-and-a-half-year span is spoken of three different ways prophetically. Such as in Daniel, a time times and half a time, three and a half years, or in Revelation 1,260 days. So, the Jews operate on a lunar calendar of 30-day months. So, 1,260 days is 42 months. He also says 42 months. That’s three and a half years.
That’s three different ways of saying three and a half years. And by the way, three and a half years is an odd span of time. So, when you get that specific and do it three times, I think there’s something there. So halfway through the seven, half of seven, three and a half, 42 months, 1,260 days, all of these things point toward a period which many people call the seven-year tribulation, the final tribulation. Halfway through that, he’s going to put an end to sacrifice and offering. And somewhere in the temple complex or in the temple or there’s this word wing, which most translations have that, the word wing, my translation puts on a wing of the temple, wing being an architectural feature. What does your translation say?
Wes
On the wing of abominations.
Andy
Okay, well, it’s apparently very difficult to translate. But at any rate, he’s going to put up the abomination that causes desolation that Jesus speaks of. That is perhaps an idol or maybe his own throne and he sits on it, declaring himself to be God. It’s a bad thing. It says in 2 Thessalonians 2, when he does that, “Jesus is coming back and he’s going to destroy him with the breath of His mouth and splendor of His coming.” So, he’s going to set up this abomination of desolation until, Daniel says, “The end that is decreed is poured out on him.” I just told you what it was. Jesus is coming back and will destroy him with the breath of His mouth and the splendor of His coming. That’s the end decreed on him.
Wes
Incredible details that we get in this explanation here. How does verse 27 serve as a comfort to us, and what final thoughts do you have on this passage we’ve looked at today?
Andy
All right, difficulties are decreed, but final victory is decreed as well. We’re going to win. God’s people are going to win. God is going to win. The meek will inherit the earth. Think about that. Jesus said that in the Sermon in the Mount. Daniel said it back in chapter seven, “The saints will inherit the kingdom and will rule forever under the king of kings, Jesus.” So, everything’s decreed. Difficulties are decreed, great sufferings are decreed, but also a glorious end is decreed. We look at the six things that are promised here at the beginning, how sweet are these things? Finish transgression, amen. Let transgression be finished. I don’t want it anymore. I don’t want the Jews to sin anymore. I want sin to be done. I want an end to sin. I want all wickedness atoned for. All of my wickedness and the wickedness of God’s people atoned for. I want everlasting righteousness brought in. How about that? I’d love a vision and prophecy to be completed and perfected and fulfilled so that all prophecies will have been fulfilled. And then I want the most holy Jesus to be established in our hearts, so we see the finished work of the Messiah accomplished. So those are great things. I’m looking forward to it.
Wes
Well, this has been episode 11 in our Daniel Bible Study podcast. We want to invite you to join us next time for episode 12 entitled Daniel’s Overwhelming Vision of a Man from Heaven, where we’ll discuss Daniel 10:1-21. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys podcast and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Wes
Welcome to the two Journeys Bible Study podcast. This podcast is just one of the many resources available to you for free from Two Journeys Ministry. If you’re interested in learning more, just head over to twojourneys.org. Now on to today’s episode. This is episode 11 in our Daniel Bible study podcast. This episode is entitled The 70 Weeks of Daniel, where we’ll discuss Daniel 9:20-27. I’m Wes Treadway, and I’m here with Pastor Andy Davis. Andy, what are we going to see in these amazing verses we’re looking at today?
Andy
Well, they really are amazing, one of the most remarkable prophecies about Christ in the Old Testament. In 1 Peter 1:10-12 we’re told that the prophets who spoke of the salvation that was to come searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and person that the Spirit was indicating. The person we know is Christ, the timing of his coming, if it’s anywhere in the Old Testament, it’s probably in this 70-week prediction. Many scholars believe that, and I believe it myself. I think it’s a meticulous unfolding ahead of time, centuries ahead of time, of a timetable leading to the coming of Christ and, frankly, even beyond. Events surrounding not just Jesus’ first coming when he’s cut off according to this prophecy, but his second coming as well, when the Antichrist is the very one that Jesus will come to destroy with the splendor of his coming, with the breath of His mouth.
Wes
Well, let me go ahead and read verses 20 through 27 in Daniel 9:
While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the LORD my God for the holy hill of my God, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision. Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
“Know, therefore, and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then, for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. After the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week, he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
Andy, how does verse 20 summarize Daniel’s prayer of verses four through 19, and how does it help interpret Gabriel’s answer?
Andy
Well, we went through this in our last podcast in Daniel’s model prayer in which he’s pouring out his heart and interceding for his own people and specifically for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and most especially for the rebuilding of the temple. He was yearning for the re-establishment of the Jewish religion based on the laws of Moses because the whole destruction of his people was decreed by God to last 70 years as he understood from the scroll of Jeremiah the prophet. And so, he thinks the timetable is there, it’s time to rebuild. And so, he’s interceding for that. We learned from Daniel 6, three times a day he prayed toward Jerusalem, facing toward Jerusalem. And so that’s the direction that his heart was constantly. He wanted God’s name and reputation to be reestablished and exalted because of a fulfillment of that promise.
And so, he summarizes prayer. He was speaking, praying, confessing his sins and the sins of his people. And that was the reason for the desolation, the destruction of the city of Jerusalem. And so, he was also making his request for God’s holy hill. And so, I think that refers to the city of Jerusalem and especially for the Temple Mount where the temple would be rebuilt.
Wes
What does this section teach us about angels?
Andy
Well, first of all, this angel, Gabriel, has a name, so they have personalities, they have identities. Because that same angel appears in Luke to make announcement concerning the birth of John the Baptist and then of Jesus himself, they’re immortal. So same angel. And also, he says he comes to him in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. So, there’s a sense of flying. We get this also in Isaiah 6 where the seraphim have wings, and so they’re often depicted as messengers with wings. Specifically, though, the word angelos, the Greek word on which it’s based, means messenger. And so, they’re often sent with messages. And Gabriel was sent here with a message, a great message which he’s going to give to Daniel.
Wes
What reason does Gabriel give to Daniel for his visit, and why do you think God chose to send an angel rather than just speak directly to Daniel as He does at other times and with other prophets?
Andy
Yeah, the latter part of your question I don’t know. It’s just he chooses to use angels. He doesn’t need them, but he uses them, and he wants them to have a role. Just like he doesn’t need us, he doesn’t need to give us spiritual gifts or a role, but for his goodness and his kindness he wants each being to have its scope and its range and its gifting and its positioning to do work for him. And so that includes angels who are called in Hebrews 1 God’s servants, who are serving those who will inherit salvation. And so, they’re serving. And so, he comes to give an answer, to give insight, to give understanding, and he does that by speaking a message.
He also says in that verse that he has come to Daniel because Daniel is highly esteemed, and that should create a sense of yearning within any true child of God. It’s like, “Oh, how I’d love to be spoken of that way.” But Daniel certainly earned it by his piety, his godliness, his holiness, his focus on the glory of God, his fastings, and his prayers, and his humility. He was truly worthy of being highly esteemed.
Wes
What’s the significance of the statement, “As soon as you began to pray”?
Andy
Well, God doesn’t make us wait, he gives us answers. We find out in chapter 10 when the angel comes to give Daniel more specific details about wars that are going to be fought after the fall of Alexander the Great, and there’s this meticulous prophecy about the northern and southern Greek kingdoms. He had to fight his way past the Prince of Persia, he’s told. And so, the fact is that angels come, and they’re sent, but they’re frequently hindered. But in this case, we don’t have any sense of hindrance, we just have a sense that as soon as Daniel began to pray, God gave an answer.
Wes
Now, what thinking will Daniel have to do to understand this message that Gabriel is bringing?
Andy
Well, he has to ponder it, he has to weigh it, he has to understand it. It’s the very thing Jesus calls on us to do in Matthew 24, also in Mark 13. He says, “When you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, let the reader understand.” So, it’s about the same thing that Gabriel says, “Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision.” So, you’re seeking insight. But then what follows is one of the most complex and detailed prophecies in the entire Old Testament. So, it takes a great deal of pondering, skill and, frankly, I think, humble prayer for insight in order to fully understand this prophecy.
Wes
Verse 24 brings us to these 70 weeks for which this episode is titled. What do the 70 Weeks or sevens mean in this passage, and what’s the significance of the word decreed?
Andy
Okay, so 70 sevens are decreed. The sevens or weeks must be years. Every interpreter looks on them as blocks of seven-year periods. The sevens are always a seven-year span, so we’re going to get seven of them first and then 62, and you just do the math, and you multiply it out. So, the overall total is 70 right from the top in verse 24. So, the total thing will be 70 of these blocks of seven. You multiply it out, it’s a total of 490 years, but it doesn’t quite go that way. The next part of your question was it says decreed. We believe that everything connected with redemptive history has been worked out in the mind of God and decreed by the sovereign purpose of God. It says in Ephesians 1, “In Him you are also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything after the counsel of His will.” So, everything has been meticulously planned out. Our God is a meticulous and careful God, and this is a timetable that He follows down to the meticulous detail here, a timing of the work of Christ.
Wes
For whom then are these 70 weeks decreed, and what six purposes are given for the 70 weeks?
Andy
All right, so let’s keep in mind the context. He’s praying toward Jerusalem. Daniel is praying toward Jerusalem. He’s praying in reference to the Jewish people and the shame and humiliation that they’re in is greatly highlighted in the book of Nehemiah. As he hears about the disheveled state of those that are dwelling in the unwalled city of Jerusalem there’s a sense of a shame factor here. These are the Jewish people, the people of God, and yet they’re living in such a disheveled and dishonored state. And so, the focus is the Jewish people scattered throughout the world, but specifically in terms of the promised land and the city of Jerusalem, the holy city. And so, the focus is on the Jewish people and Jerusalem the holy city.
The six things that are decreed here are listed one after the other. Different translations, but mine says, “To finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy or a holy place, a most holy place.” There are different translations. The Hebrew is difficult here. But at any rate, these are the six things, three of them negative, having to do with sin and wickedness, and three of them positive, having to do with righteousness and anointing and that kind of thing. So those are the six things.
Wes
So those six purposes are outlined here. What do each of them refer to or how might we best understand each of these six in turn, as you said, three negative and three positive?
Andy
Well, I’m going to sum them all up saying all of them are focused on the work of Christ. Christ came to achieve these six purposes. The first three negative, to finish transgression, make an end of sin, and to make atonement for iniquity, I think if we look at the word atonement, we realize, though the Jews were offering animal sacrifice, and the purpose of the temple was that, we know that the blood of bulls and goats can’t really take away sin. It doesn’t finish transgression. It doesn’t make an end of sin, et cetera. It certainly doesn’t make any atonement. It’s fundamentally a symbol of the real atonement, and the real atonement is through Jesus Christ. As the hymn writer put it, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
So, though the temple would be rebuilt, and the Jews would cling to it, it was not God’s final answer to the problem of sin. But only in Jesus is the sin problem finally, totally, and completely addressed. When he died, he spoke these words, “It is finished.” And when he comes again and establishes everlasting righteousness, a kingdom of perfection and righteousness, then sin will truly be at an end. So, all of this is to work that, to work the work of Christ. Those are the negative parts, so speaking positively, to bring in everlasting righteousness. There is nothing in the old covenant that’s going to do that. Old covenant didn’t bring in everlasting righteousness, but the gospel does.
“When he died, he spoke these words, “It is finished.” And when he comes again and establishes everlasting righteousness, a kingdom of perfection and righteousness, then sin will truly be at an end.”
Paul says, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel, a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is from faith, for faith. As it is written, ‘The righteous who live by faith.'” Righteousness comes by the gospel and, more specifically, righteousness comes by Christ. Because it says in Romans 3:22, “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” That’s everlasting righteousness. The moment you come to faith in Christ, you receive the gift of everlasting righteousness. So, this phrase points to Christ. Indeed, all these six purposes point toward Christ. To seal up vision and prophecy, or the work of the prophet, seal it up means to finish it, to put an end to it, to consummate it. All prophetic roads ultimately lead to Jesus. The spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Christ, and it points to Christ.
And then the last one, to anoint a most holy place or to anoint the holy one are very different things. The most holy place would be the temple, and that would be the rebuilding of the temple. But ultimately, we believe that all of this points toward Christ. The word Christ, the Jewish term is Messiah, means anointed one. That’s literally what it means. And so, we’re pointing toward the anointing of Jesus ultimately as the Messiah. Or it could refer to the perfection of the true tabernacle, the true temple, which is in heaven, of which the earthly was just a type and a shadow. So, the author of the Hebrews says, “When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here he went through,” listen, “the greater and more perfect tabernacle that’s not manmade, that is to say not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but he entered the most holy place up in heaven once for all by his own blood having obtained eternal redemption.”
It sounds a lot like the language of eternal righteousness. So it could be that that’s what it’s talking about there, to anoint the holy one. So, to sum up, 70 sevens are decreed to accomplish effectively the complete work of God’s answer to the sin problem through Jesus Christ.
Wes
How does verse 25 serve to identify the coming of Christ, and what’s the challenge for interpreters here?
Andy
Okay, so a timetable is set from the beginning, the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one. Boy, that’s pretty awesome. The problem is which decree? There wasn’t just one decree, there are actually many decrees. It came in a series, one after the other. So generally, evangelical scholars that strongly believe in prophecy reverse-engineer the thing. They figure out when Jesus came, they go back the number of weeks from this prophecy in Daniel, and they find a decree. There’s probably one in there somewhere.
What I would say is this, it’s hard to know exactly what decree God had in mind. And unless you’re going to do that reverse engineering work, I want to say, look, somewhere around the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, a decree was issued by a Gentile ruler to rebuild the city of Jerusalem that this prophecy is talking about. We have a general sense of that being sometime in the high 400s, 450, 475, 500, 425, somewhere in there. And then if we look at the seven plus 62 being 69, if we think it’s seven years, so it’s 490 minus seven would be 483 years, so roughly half a millennium. So anytime from around 450 to around half a millennium later, was there a significant figure that we are interested in 2,000 years later? Yes, there was. His name is Jesus. Done deal. That’s good enough for me.
Then we’ll find out in heaven exactly what decree he had in mind and exactly how precisely this whole thing worked out. Other than that, skeptics are not going to buy this because they say, “What about this decree? What about that one? What about the other?” But there was a decree in particular. When I wrote sermons on this and looked at it, I was able to identify a specific decree. And so, 457 B.C. a decree was given by one of the Persian Artaxerxes who was ruling the Persian Empire at the time, and then you can measure it out. So, from 49 years to do the rebuilding and then 434 years after that to the Christ, and it works out exactly. It brings us to the year A.D. 27, which is the year that Jesus began His public ministry. And so, it really does work out pretty precisely and accurately.
Wes
What additional details does verse 25 give, and what’s being referred to?
Andy
No one understand this. From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Christ comes, the ruler, calls Him the ruler comes, there’ll be seven sevens and 62 sevens. So, the splitting up of it is odd, but I think one interpreter said it’s that length of time to rebuild the city, about 50 years, 49 years, seven times seven is 49, and then another 434 years, as I mentioned a moment ago, until the Christ the ruler comes. So that’s why it’s split up. Then there’s this detail of it’s going to be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. You read Ezra and Nehemiah, you got the sword and the trowel, they’re building the wall, but they’ve got enemies that want to swoop down and attack them. Difficult trouble. I had heard something from a sermon about the demoniac of the Gadarenes from R.C. Sproul, and he was talking about how one of the reasons the Jews hated the Samaritans is that during the time when the city of Jerusalem was being rebuilt, the Samaritans, knowing how the Jews were and how they looked on pigs as unclean, would come in at night and slaughter pigs and throw them all over the work that they were doing. The Jews were utterly disgusted and had to have seven days to purify the work site.
And so, they were thrown back, the whole schedule was thrown back by this. And they would do this again and again. And so, they just hated the Samaritans for this whole pig thing. I’d never heard that before. That came from R.C. Sproul, and probably good story. So, whether that’s true or not, probably it is, but times of trouble means it was a difficult time for the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem.
Wes
What shocking thing does verse 26 teach us about the Messiah, and why were the Jews so unprepared to hear this?
Andy
Okay, so we’ve got seven plus 62, you add it up, and I already said it lines up perfectly with the year AD 27, the year that Jesus began His public ministry. So along comes the Christ, the ruler, the anointed one, the one they’re all waiting for. They thought he would bring in a kingdom of everlasting righteousness, and he will. And there are many prophetic Psalms and other things that talk about his glory spreading from sea to the ends of the earth. And from one end of the world to the other and that the desert tribes would come and lick His shoes and all this kind of thing. These are clear prophecies. So, they expected a kingdom of glory, basically David only more so, Davidic king only more so, that’s what they expected. They didn’t expect him to be cut off and have nothing.
Well, what does that mean? After the 62 sevens, the anointed will be cut off and we’ll have nothing. So, they don’t expect that and it’s shocking. But we know what it means as Christians, cut off from the land of the living. As it says very plainly in the prophecies, “He was cut off from the land of the living, and who can speak of His descendants?” That’s Isaiah 53. So, we expect a suffering servant, but the Jews did not expect the Messiah to be cut off.
Wes
What other troubling news does verse 26 give to the Jews, and what does this refer to?
Andy
Well, it also speaks of the destruction of the city again. Picture Daniel now. He’s on his knees, he’s praying three times a day toward the ruins of Jerusalem, and he wants what? City to be rebuilt. Okay, Daniel, it’ll be rebuilt. It’s going to be destroyed again. And it’s like, “Wow.” And just having the realism to know that this is a cyclical pattern, and it doesn’t end things. The ultimate end is not the physical city of Jerusalem and the physical temple in that location. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman in John 4, “Woman, believe me, the time is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.” God is Spirit, and so there’s not going to be this locality, this one place. And ultimately, we know the fulfillment of all of this is the new heaven and new earth and the new Jerusalem, the heavenly Zion, which is going to descend beautifully from heaven to earth.
And so, they don’t expect that, but it says plainly, “The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” So, this very thing that was rebuilt, that Daniel’s praying will be rebuilt, it’s going to be destroyed again. Now, who are they, the people who will come? Jesus predicted it’s the Romans. The Romans will definitely come, the ruler to come, and they’re going to destroy the city. And the story is told by Josephus, predicted by Jesus, “Not one stone here will be left on another, everyone will be thrown down.” Predicted clearly by Jesus, predicted here clearly by Daniel, but that is the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem.
Wes
Why do you think God decrees desolations and war right to the end of Israel’s history?
Andy
Okay, this is very important, and we need to understand the word desolation. This is something I preached a whole sermon on- the abomination desolation. We don’t have time to go into all that, but the word desolate means empty. And so, the fundamental emptiness of the city of Jerusalem is empty of God, empty of the special presence of God. Now, I talked about this with the abomination and desolation sermon, and it’s foundational to our understanding. What is a holy place? What is holy ground? And especially, what does that mean in a universe completely filled by an omnipresent God in which there is no one place where God is more than any other place? That’s what omnipresence means. But then what does it mean when he says to Moses, “Take off your sandals for the ground on which you’re standing is holy ground.”? What does that mean? Well, that’s where the burning bush was.
So, you begin to put it together and say holy ground is a place where God chooses to reveal Himself in a very special way to His people, though He is omnipresent. And so, there’s a sense that God is more in Israel than any other nation on earth, and God is more in Jerusalem than he is any other place in the holy land. He’s more in the temple than he is any other place in the city, and he’s more in the holy of holies or the most holy place than any other place in the temple. And he’s more above the Ark of the Covenant where he would speak to the Jews in the mercy seat than he was any other place in the most holy place. So, there’s a locality of focus, and that was depicted by a glory cloud which entered the tabernacle when Moses had finished building it and entered the temple when Solomon finished dedicating it, meaning God is there.
By the way, those are the final words of Ezekiel, “The Lord is there.” That’s what it means. So, there’s that sense of God is there in a glory cloud. But then sadly, because of the wickedness of the Jewish nation, Ezekiel clearly depicted the glory cloud leaving the temple and the city. God isn’t there, not in any special way. He is omnipresent, but the wicked He knows from afar. What does that mean? Relationally, God is omnipresent, he knows everything about the wicked. But when he says, “I never knew you,” it means we’re not close, we don’t have a relationship. This is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God. And so that’s the whole key here. Jerusalem was special and the holy place was special because God made it so by his glory cloud and His presence. When God leaves, he leaves it empty, and another word for empty is desolate. That’s the nature of the desolation.
“Jerusalem was special and the holy place was special because God made it so by his glory cloud and His presence. When God leaves, he leaves it empty, and another word for empty is desolate.”
And so, Ezekiel saw it, but then how much more when Jesus came to the temple and the people would not believe in him. They would not accept him, they rejected him. Talking about the Jewish leaders Jesus said, “Behold, your house is left to you desolate, for you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'” Then he left. “Jesus is the glory of Israel,” as Simeon said when he was dedicated, when he was circumcised, “He is the glory of your people Israel, and he is the glory of God.” He’s the radiance of God’s glory, and he left. He left the place empty. All right, so desolations would continue as long as the nation of Israel does not recognize their true king. As long as they have not yet said, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” the nation as a whole as such is desolate and empty. So, desolations are going to continue until the end, and so will wars and all kinds of troubles.
Wes
What does verse 27 speak of, and why do some believe this refers to the final seven years of human history?
Andy
Again, we’ve got three divisions of the 70 weeks. You got the first seven, then 62, and then you got one left. So, you get up to 69, you get one left, and why? Why the gap, that kind of break? After the 62 sevens, the anointed one will be cut off, and we’ll have nothing. So, it’s like the whole thing stops at that point. And so, I think that’s the idea of the times of the Gentiles having come in and the fact that Israel is experiencing a hardening in part at this time until the fullness or the full number of Gentiles comes in. And so, I believe that it’s reasonable to look on this as a pause or an interruption between the 69th and the 70th week, leaving one last seven-year period yet to come.
I think Daniel 9:27 should be understood best that way. If we look at the words it says, “He will confirm a covenant with many.” We don’t know who the he is, but I think it’s like the ruler who will come. If you look at verse 26, “The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” Now, that was the emperor Vespasian I guess, and then his son Titus who came and destroyed Jerusalem. But I believe we’re ultimately talking about the Antichrist, and we’re going to talk much more about him in chapter 11. We’ll get into the whole Antichrist. The little horn, we’ve already talked about it earlier, the one who speaks blasphemies and makes blasphemous claims. I think ultimately this is who we’re talking about. “He will confirm a covenant with many for one seven.” What is a covenant? It’s an agreement, a binding agreement.
But then in the middle of the seven, he’ll put an end to sacrifice and offering. So that implies an up-and-running temple that he, whoever the he is, the ruler, puts an end to. So that implies a temple, doesn’t it? And so that’s where 2 Thessalonians 2 comes in where the apostle Paul, effectively quoting Daniel 11, we’ll get to all that, says, “The Antichrist, the man of sin, will set himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” So, the way I put it all together is the Antichrist allows the Jews to rebuild the temple and allows them to reestablish the animal sacrificial system. And then halfway through this final seven-year period, he shuts it down. The interesting part about half of seven, it’s three and a half, but that span, a three-and-a-half-year span is spoken of three different ways prophetically. Such as in Daniel, a time times and half a time, three and a half years, or in Revelation 1,260 days. So, the Jews operate on a lunar calendar of 30-day months. So, 1,260 days is 42 months. He also says 42 months. That’s three and a half years.
That’s three different ways of saying three and a half years. And by the way, three and a half years is an odd span of time. So, when you get that specific and do it three times, I think there’s something there. So halfway through the seven, half of seven, three and a half, 42 months, 1,260 days, all of these things point toward a period which many people call the seven-year tribulation, the final tribulation. Halfway through that, he’s going to put an end to sacrifice and offering. And somewhere in the temple complex or in the temple or there’s this word wing, which most translations have that, the word wing, my translation puts on a wing of the temple, wing being an architectural feature. What does your translation say?
Wes
On the wing of abominations.
Andy
Okay, well, it’s apparently very difficult to translate. But at any rate, he’s going to put up the abomination that causes desolation that Jesus speaks of. That is perhaps an idol or maybe his own throne and he sits on it, declaring himself to be God. It’s a bad thing. It says in 2 Thessalonians 2, when he does that, “Jesus is coming back and he’s going to destroy him with the breath of His mouth and splendor of His coming.” So, he’s going to set up this abomination of desolation until, Daniel says, “The end that is decreed is poured out on him.” I just told you what it was. Jesus is coming back and will destroy him with the breath of His mouth and the splendor of His coming. That’s the end decreed on him.
Wes
Incredible details that we get in this explanation here. How does verse 27 serve as a comfort to us, and what final thoughts do you have on this passage we’ve looked at today?
Andy
All right, difficulties are decreed, but final victory is decreed as well. We’re going to win. God’s people are going to win. God is going to win. The meek will inherit the earth. Think about that. Jesus said that in the Sermon in the Mount. Daniel said it back in chapter seven, “The saints will inherit the kingdom and will rule forever under the king of kings, Jesus.” So, everything’s decreed. Difficulties are decreed, great sufferings are decreed, but also a glorious end is decreed. We look at the six things that are promised here at the beginning, how sweet are these things? Finish transgression, amen. Let transgression be finished. I don’t want it anymore. I don’t want the Jews to sin anymore. I want sin to be done. I want an end to sin. I want all wickedness atoned for. All of my wickedness and the wickedness of God’s people atoned for. I want everlasting righteousness brought in. How about that? I’d love a vision and prophecy to be completed and perfected and fulfilled so that all prophecies will have been fulfilled. And then I want the most holy Jesus to be established in our hearts, so we see the finished work of the Messiah accomplished. So those are great things. I’m looking forward to it.
Wes
Well, this has been episode 11 in our Daniel Bible Study podcast. We want to invite you to join us next time for episode 12 entitled Daniel’s Overwhelming Vision of a Man from Heaven, where we’ll discuss Daniel 10:1-21. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys podcast and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
