The prince who is to come is who confirms a covenant with the many. He will break it mid point. Daniel 9:26-27. He will take away the offering and sacrifices. Daniel 12.
From David Guzik's Enduring Word Commentary
4. (26) What happens after the first sixty-nine weeks.
“And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
a.
After the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off: The Biblical term
cut off is sometimes used to describe execution (see
Genesis 9:11 and
Exodus 31:14). Gabriel told Daniel that the Messiah will
be cut off for the sake of others,
not for Himself.
i. “Able chronologists have shown that the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ occurred immediately after the expiration of 483 prophetic years, of 360 days each, from the time of Artaxerxes’ order.” (Ironside)
ii. Strangely, many able commentators simply ignore these numbers. “The numbers are symbolic and not arithmetical.” (Baldwin)
iii.
Cut off is a poignant description of Jesus’ earthly life up to and including the cross. “Born in another man’s stable, cradled in another man’s manger with nowhere to lay his head during his life on earth, and buried in another man’s tomb after dying on a cursed cross, the Christ of God and the Friend of the friendless was indeed cut off and had nothing.” (Heslop)
b.
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary: After the Messiah was
cut off, Jerusalem and her temple would be destroyed
again by an overwhelming army (
with a flood). Most all Bible scholars and commentators agree that this was fulfilled in the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
c.
The people of the prince who is to come shall destroy: The destroying army is made up of the
people of the prince who is to come. This
coming prince is described more in
Daniel 9:27.
5. (27) The events of the seventieth week.
Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.”
a.
He shall confirm a covenant: The “
he” Gabriel described is the
prince who is to come mentioned in the previous verse. If we know that the prince’s
people destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70, then we know this coming prince has his ancestral roots in the soil of the ancient Roman Empire.
i. Therefore, the
prince who is to come will in some way be an heir to the Romans, even as the final world government is an heir to the Roman Empire (
Daniel 7).
b.
He shall confirm a covenant with many for one week: The coming prince will make a
covenant with Israel for the final unit of seven years, completing the seventy weeks prophesied for the Jewish people and Jerusalem.
i.
Covenant with many: The word
many here is a
specific reference to Israel, not a
general reference to a group. The ancient Hebrew says, “
covenant with the many.”
ii. With this
covenant Israel will embrace the Antichrist as a political messiah, if not the literal Messiah. Jesus predicted this in
John 5:43:
I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.
iii. Taking the description of what would be accomplished in the 70 Weeks from
Daniel 9:24, we know that the 70 Weeks are not yet complete. Yet the events promised in the first 69 weeks
are fulfilled, indicated that there is a lengthy “pause” in the 70 Weeks, between the 69th week and the 70th week. The 70th week will begin when the coming prince
shall confirm a covenant with the Jewish people. These gaps or pauses in prophecy may seem strange to us, but they are common. Comparing
Isaiah 9:6 and
Luke 1:31-33 shows another significant pause or gap in prophecy regarding the coming of the Messiah.
iv. We can think of it in this way: God appointed 490 years of special focus on Israel in His redemptive plan. The years were paused by Israel’s rejection of Jesus. Now there is no
special focus on Israel in God’s redemptive plan because this is the time of the church. God’s focus will return to Israel when the church is taken away (at the rapture) and the last seven years of man’s rule on this earth begin.
v. “The 70th week will begin when the Jewish people are restored in unbelief to their land and city; and among them will be found a faithful remnant, owning their sin, and seeking Jehovah’s face.” (Henry Ironside writing in 1911)
c.
In the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering: The coming prince will break the covenant with Israel in the
middle of the seven years, the final week (period of seven years).
i. The Book of Revelation sees this seven year period with both its halves as yet future (
Revelation 12:6,
13-14;
13:5-9,
14-15). The
middle of the week and the
end of sacrifice had not yet happened in 90 A.D.
d.
On the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate: The ending of sacrifice will come with
abominations, followed by tremendous
desolation.
i.
Abominations translates an ancient Hebrew word (
shiqquwts) that is connected to horrific idolatry (
Deuteronomy 29:17,
1 Kings 11:5-7,
2 Kings 23:13). The idea is that the coming prince breaks the covenant and brings an end to sacrifice and offering by desecrating the holy place of the temple with a horrific idolatry.
ii. Jesus called this the
abomination of desolation (
Matthew 24:15) and indicated that it would be a pivotal sign in the Great Tribulation. Paul referred to the idolatry of the coming prince in
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.
e.
Until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate: This breaking of the covenant and abomination of desolation has a promised
consummation. Before the 70th week is completed, each of the things described in
Daniel 9:24 will be accomplished and everlasting righteousness will reign.
The Seventy Weeks of Daniel
as Understood by Sir Robert Anderson in “The Coming Prince”
Daniel 9:24-25 says that from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah there will be 483 years.
7 + 62 “weeks” = 69 groups of seven years. 7 x 69 = 483 years
Anderson understood a prophetic year as 360 days. This is based both on ancient history and on
Revelation 11:2,
13:5,
11:3, and
12:6 which indicate that 42 months - 3 ½ years - are equal to 1,260 days.
Therefore, 483 years x 360 days = 173,880 days
Artaxerxes started his reign in 465 B.C. The decree to rebuild Jerusalem was given on the first day of Nisan, in the 20th year of Artaxerxes. In our calendar system (the Julian calendar) that date is March 14, 445 B.C. (
Nehemiah 2:1)
Jesus started His ministry in the 15th year of Tiberius (see
Luke 3:1). Tiberius started his reign in A.D. 14, so Jesus’ ministry started in A.D. 29. Anderson believed that Jesus celebrated four Passovers during His ministry, one each in A.D. 29, 30, 31. and His final Passover in A.D. 32. With the help of lunar charts, we can calculate the exact date of ancient Passovers, so it is possible to calculate the exact day of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem as April 6, A.D. 32.
From 445 B.C. to A.D. 32. there are 476 years on the Julian calendar
(not 477 years, because there is no year zero).
476 years x 365 days = 173,740 days.
Adjusting for the difference between March 14 and April 6 adds 24 days.
Adjusting for leap years over a period of 476 years adds 116 days.
The total number of days from March 14, 445 B.C. to April 6, A.D. 32.
173,740 + 24 + 116 = 173,880 days.
According to his calendar, Daniel told us there would be 173,880 days between the decree and the arrival of Messiah the Prince.
Jesus said to the Jews of this day:
If you had known, even you, especially IN THIS YOUR DAY, the things that make for your peace! (
Luke 19:42). David said of this day in
Psalm 118:24: THIS IS THE DAY
which the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
©2018 David Guzik – No distribution beyond personal use without permission
