Daniel 9:24-27

I.  Daniel’s confession and prayer to the Lord (9:1-19)

II.  Gabriel appears to present the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks (9:20-27)

-Luke 1:19, 26

Dan 9:24 "Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.

-Seventy Weeks: Week in Scripture can be used to denote 7 years (Genesis 29:18-28)

*70 weeks or 70 * 7 years = 490 years

-week: seven, seven days, seven years

-determined: decreed or marked out

-your people: Israel

-your holy city: Jerusalem

-To:

-finish the transgression: to complete the rebellion (Israel’s)

-make an end of sins: seal up Israel’s sin (remove it)

-make reconciliation for iniquity: make propitiation for Israel’s guilt

-To:

-bring in everlasting righteousness: to cause to bring in an age, time of righteousness

-Isaiah 60:12; Jeremiah 23:5-6

-seal up vision and prophecy: fulfill vision and prophecy

-anoint the Most Holy: reference to either the Millennial Temple or Christ Himself

Dan 9:25 "Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times.

-Command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem:

-Decree from Artaxerxes in 445 BC (Nehemiah 2:1-8)

This decree was the fourth of four decrees made by Persian rulers in reference to the Jews. The first was Cyrus’ decree in 538 b.c. (2Ch_36:22-23; Ezr_1:1-4; Ezr_5:13). The second was the decree of Darius I (522-486) in 520 b.c. (Ezr_6:1, Ezr_6:6-12). This decree actually was a confirmation of the first decree. The third was the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus (464-424) in 458 b.c. (Ezr_7:11-26). The first two decrees pertain to the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem and the third relates to finances for animal sacrifices at the temple. These three say nothing about the rebuilding of the city itself. Since an unwalled city was no threat to a military power, a religious temple could be rebuilt without jeopardizing the military authority of those granting permission to rebuild it. No one of these three decrees, then, was the decree that formed the beginning of the 70 sevens.

The fourth decree was also by Artaxerxes Longimanus, issued on March 5, 444 b.c. (Neh_2:1-8). On that occasion Artaxerxes granted the Jews permission to rebuild Jerusalem’s city walls. This decree is the one referred to in Dan_9:25 (Bible Knowledge Commentary).

-Until the Messiah the Prince: Jesus Christ

-Seven weeks: 49 years (possible reference to the completion of the work on Jerusalem)

-Sixty two weeks: 434 years (49 + 434 = 483 years in the Jewish calendar)

The 483 Years in the Jewish and Gregorian Calendar
Jewish Calendar
(360 days per year)* / Gregorian Calendar
(365 days a year)
(7 x 7) + (62 x 7) years = 483 years / 444 b.c. to a.d. 33 = 476 years†
483
x 360 / years
years / 476
x 365 / years
days
173,880 / days / 173,740
+ 116
+ 24
173,880 / days
days in leap years†¡
March 5-March 30
days
*See comments on Dan_9:27 for confirmation of this 360-day year.
†Since only one year expired between 1 b.c. and a.d. 1, the total is 476, not 477.
†¡A total of 476 years divided by four (a leap year every four years) gives 119 additional days. But three days must be subtracted from 119 because centennial years are not leap years, though every 400th year is a leap year.

Dan 9:26 "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.

-Messiah: Jesus Christ

-shall be cut off: His crucifixion

-but not for Himself: shall have nothing

-people of the prince who is come: Rome

-Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary: reference to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Roman Titus in A.D. 70)

Dan 9:27 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."

-he: antichrist

-shall confirm a covenant with many for one week: the antichrist shall make an agreement for seven years (possible reference to the temporary peace that will occur allowing for the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem)

-middle of the week: 3 ½ year point (42 months or 1260 days)

-he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering: he shall bring a stop to Israel’s use of the temple

-he is called the abomination of desolation (Matt. 24:15)

This abomination was spoken of by Daniel (Dan_9:27). It referred to the disruption of the Jewish worship which will be reinstituted in the Tribulation temple (Dan_12:11) and the establishment of the worship of the world dictator, the Antichrist, in the temple. He will make the temple abominable (and therefore desolate) by setting up in the temple an image of himself to be worshiped (2Th_2:4; Rev_13:14-15) (BKC).