Before I give an outline with brief comments on this passage, I want to say how important it is. If you read verses 1-19 you will see that Daniel prayed to the Lord confessing the sins of the nation of Israel. He knew, through studying Jeremiah 25:11-12, that the Lord was going to allow them to return to their homeland after being in captivity for 70 years. In verses 20-23 the angel Gabriel appeared to him to give him the vision recorded in verses 24-27, telling him that “I have now come forth to give you skill to understand.” The understanding he would receive concerned not only their immediate return to Jerusalem, but also a prophetic forecast outlining events that would lead ultimately to the Second Coming of Christ in power and glory, resulting in the forgiveness of Israel’s sins and the establishment of His kingdom. Many books have been written on this passage because of its importance in understanding God’s purposes for Israel. One such book is “The Coming Prince” by Sir Robert Anderson, which is 300 pages long! Obviously my short 1-2 page answer will not do justice to this all-important prophecy.

Verse 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 the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.” Daniel is told that in 70 WEEKS (literally “SEVENS”) or 70 x 7 (490 years) six things would be accomplished.

1. “Finish the transgression”…An end of Israel’s transgression of rejecting their Messiah (see Zechariah 12:10).

2. “Make an end of sins”…God will restrain sin by giving Israel a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26-27; 37:23).

3. “Make reconciliation for iniquity…Israel will be forgiven of their sins (Isaiah 53:5).

4. “Bring in everlasting righteousness”…Christ will reign in righteousness (Psalm 96:13; Isaiah 32:17).

5. “Seal up vision and prophecy”…Prophets and prophecies shall cease (Zechariah 13:2-5).

6. “Anoint the Most Holy”…A new temple will be anointed in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 41:1-42:20).

Verse 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.”    Here we see the first 69 WEEKS and they are divided up into TWO PERIODS:

1. 7 WEEKS (49 years)…Rebuilding of Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 2:1-8).

2. 62 WEEKS (434 years)…After Jerusalem was built it was exactly 434 years later that Christ rode into Jerusalem on an ass and presented Himself as Israel’s Messiah (see Matthew 21:1-11)

Verse 26: “And after 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.” We will make 3 observations here:

1. The Lord Jesus presented Himself to Israel as their long-awaited Messiah but He was CUT OFF; that is, He was rejected and “cut off” in death by crucifixion.

2. Because of Israel’s sin of having their Messiah crucified God judged them by destroying their city and temple in 70 A.D. when the Romans invaded them and ever since they have been reaping the consequences of their sin of rejecting Christ.

3. Immediately after the crucifixion of Christ, Israel was set aside, thus the “prophetic time clock” of Daniel’s 70 WEEKS stopped ticking. The Church Age fills in the gap between the 69th and 70th week.

Verse 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.” We will break this verse down into TWO PERIODS.

1. After the Church Age ends (at the Rapture), the “prophetic time clock” will begin ticking once again and God will resume His dealings with Israel. The 70th and final week of Daniel’s great prophecy begins with a 7-year treaty being signed between THE ROMAN PRINCE and THE APOSTATE JEWS who are living in the land of Palestine. The “Roman Prince” is the one referred to in verse 26, “the people of THE PRINCE WHO IS TO COME.” We saw that the Roman people destroyed the city of Jerusalem but here we see a Roman Leader mediating a peace treaty between Israel and their Arab neighbors. I believe the Roman Prince will guarantee Israel protection in this treaty, allow the Arabs living in Palestine to regain possession of part of the land, and then allow Israel to resume their sacrificial system in a rebuilt temple.

2. In the “middle of the week” (3 ½ years later) the Roman Prince put an end to the sacrifices by having an image of himself set up in the temple and demanding worship (see Daniel 12:11; Matthew 24:15; and Revelation 13:14-18). Jesus called it “the abomination of desolation” (in Matthew 24:15) because it will be so hateful to God that He will send a “desolator” to punish Israel for allowing this and for worshipping the image of the Beast (the “Roman Prince”). The desolator will be the “King of the North,” an Arab leader who will form an army to invade Israel (see Daniel 8:23-24 and 11:40-41). The Lord Jesus Christ will destroy the desolator when He returns in power and glory to deliver Israel from their enemies (see Daniel 8:25 and 11:44-45).

In closing, let me add that the last 3 ½ years are known as the “Great Tribulation” (see Matthew 24:21 with Daniel 12:1) and it will include the final judgments recorded in the book of Revelation. After these judgments the Lord will return as “King of kings, and Lord of lords” to subdue His enemies and to establish His Millennial Kingdom (see Matthew 24:29-30 and Revelation 19:11-20:1-6). It is at His Second Coming that the SIX THINGS mentioned in verse 24 (which we began with) shall be fulfilled.  (427.3)  (DO)