DANIEL’S PROPHECY OF 70 WEEKS AND
THE COVENANT – PART VI
Previous postings
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/may2006/ear515.htm
PART I
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/may2006/ear516.htm
PART II
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/may2006/ear517.htm
PART III
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/may2006/ear518.htm
PART IV
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/may2006/ear519.htm
PART V
THE COVENANT AND THE DENOUEMENT
Daniel 9: KJV
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.
25
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment
to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the 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.
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.
I guess the big question is – WHAT COVENANT?
I know this might be a surprise to those
who are reading these articles, but we have actually been looking at THE
COVENANT all week!!!!! Just to keep you in the dark until the end, I
have been calling it the Messiah’s Salvation. Here it is –
“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.”
It has simply been a case of “not being
able to see the wood for the trees….”
Because “traditions” have stated that
it is a Roman Prince (like Titus, who destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple
in 70 A.D.); who will confirm the covenant prior to a 7 year tribulation,
many people have been looking to the European Common Market – European community
– Western European Union – etc. etc. for someone to make a 7 year peace
agreement with Israel, which will then be broken after 3 ½ years.
The fact that the covenant is to be
“confirmed” also caused people to look at the Oslo accords, and all the
other useless modern “peace agreements” for Israel that have been made recently,
that no one has “lived up to”, or put into practice. Oh yes, there were
even a few Nobel Peace prizes given out for their efforts on paper and subsequent
handshakes on the “front lawn”!
I ask the question – why would Gabriel
talk about “the covenant” with Daniel in such a familiar way, if Daniel
had no idea which, when, or what Covenant he was talking about?
THE JEREMIAH CODE
If we can go back to Daniel 9:1-2
we read “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the
seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;
In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number
of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet,
that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
“Hmmmm…” As Yoda would say) “Reading
books? – has Daniel been?”
And whose book had he been reading?
Why! He had been reading the book of Jeremiah, where it talks about the
70 years of captivity and desolation of Jerusalem –
Jeremiah 25:8-12 “Therefore thus
saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, Behold, I
will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar
the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land,
and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round
about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and
an hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them
the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom,
and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of
the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment;
and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon
seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished,
that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD,
for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual
desolations.
Skip over a few pages to Jeremiah chapter
29 -
Jeremiah 29:10-14 “For thus saith
the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will
visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to
return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,
saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected
end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go
and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and
find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be
found of you, saith the LORD, and I will turn away your captivity, and I
will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I
have driven you, saith the LORD, and I will bring you again into the place
whence I caused you to be carried away captive.”
As Daniel read from the book of Jeremiah,
he obviously took all this bad news, good news, and instruction to heart.
Since the 70 years was coming to an end, he did as instructed and he prayed
about it, and just as he did a “word came forth” (Dan. 9:23)
instructing Gabriel to tell Daniel about the future. Amos 3:7 “Surely
the LORD God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants
the prophets.”
Well, we might also ask, what else did
Daniel read while he was poring through the Book of Jeremiah?
Since he only had his memory to go by,
and didn’t have the luxury of the KJV, Thompson Chain Reference Bible and
Strong’s Concordance, I expect he read all of Jeremiah that he could, to
find out how, and when, God was going to restore the captives to Jerusalem.
I expect while he was reading he came across
something that intrigued him greatly – it was just over a page or two (or
a wind of the scroll) from where he had been reading – Jeremiah described
it as a “New Covenant”.
It is found in Jeremiah 31:31-34
“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to
the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them
by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they
brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD. But this shall
be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel;
After those days, saith the Lord, I will
put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their
hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they
shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother,
saying, Know the LORD, but they shall all know me, from the least of them
unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin
no more.”
This covenant would be based on “mercy”
and “grace”, and not based on keeping the law which they received as they
came out of Egypt.
It would encompass two specific areas –
the inner “spiritual life” and “take their sin away”.
Did you realize that Gabriel and Daniel
actually had a conversation when Gabriel delivered the 70 Weeks prophecy
to him? Daniel 9:21 “Whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the
man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused
to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And
he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now
come forth to give thee skill and understanding….therefore understand
the matter, and consider the vision”.
I have no doubt at all what one of the
topics of conversation was – I can almost hear Daniel asking the question
- WHAT IS THIS NEW COVENANT THAT JEREMIAH IS WRITING ABOUT?
Gabriel gave him an expanded answer in
verse 24 - The new Covenant is -
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.”
These words expand or make stronger the
two basic promises contained in Jeremiah’s words – “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their
sin no more”.
In Dan. 9:25 Gabriel explained that the
“vehicle” for this Covenant would be the Messiah.
Both the Epistle to the Romans and the
Epistle to the Hebrews in the New Testament recognize that this prophecy
was fulfilled by Jesus – refer Romans 11:27 “And so all Israel shall
be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer,
and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is my covenant
unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”
And Hebrews 8:6-13 argues
the point from the supremacy of Jesus, the Great High Priest “But
now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the
mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better
promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no
place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he
saith”….
(And this passage concludes with a direct
quote from Jeremiah 31 above -) “…Behold, the days
come, saith the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel and with the house of Judah; Not according to the covenant that
I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead
them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant,
and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
For
this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind,
and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and
they shall be to me a people; And they shall not teach every man his
neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all
shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful
to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more.
In that he said, A new covenant,
he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is
ready to vanish away,”
Hebrews chapters eight, nine and
ten deal thoroughly with the disadvantages
of the old covenant of Temple sacrifices and the ritual of animal’s blood
to “cover” their sins, compared with the blood of Christ which would take
their sins “away”.
Hebrews 9:14-15 KJV “How much more
shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament
that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that
were under the first testament, they which are called might receive
the promise of eternal inheritance.”
Hebrews 9:14-15 New RSV “How much
more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship
the living God! For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant,
so that those who are called may receive the promised
eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them
from the transgressions under the first covenant.”
Hebrews 12:24 also describes Jesus the mediator of the new covenant….”
He is the one who came to confirm
the New Covenant outlined by Jeremiah. Once it had been confirmed by
his death, the temple and sacrifices were obsolete from that moment on,
and in time (a generation later) they were destroyed and done away with.
A new way had been opened into the “Holy Place” through the blood of Jesus.
Jesus knew all about this New Covenant
and He knew what was required to confirm it – it was confirmed by Him being
“cut off” and in the shedding of His blood, and the releasing of His Holy
Spirit into the world. This is the ONLY SCENARIO possible by which the
two parts of Jeremiah’s covenant could be fulfilled. (i.e. His blood dealt
with the sin problem – His Holy Spirit dealt with the inner “spiritual laws
being written in our hearts and minds”.
All of this was dealt with in PART IV of
this series.
Just to make sure that I have made it quite
clear, I want to look at the words – “confirm the covenant” and see what
they mean.
The Covenant was Promised through
the Prophet Jeremiah 31:31 (see above)
The execution of the prophecy’s requirements would be carried out by
Messiah the Prince.
Daniel 9:27 “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.”
I believe the Messiah came right at the
end of the 69th week of the Prophecy of 70 Weeks, and at the
beginning of the 70th week to confirm the NEW COVENANT with
many for the final week, which God promised Israel through the mouth
and pen of Jeremiah.
The Hebrew word used for “confirm”
is Strong’s No. 1396 “gabar” It means - to rise, flood, to
be greater, stronger, to prevail, overwhelm. It is used in various places
as “to strengthen” - “to cause to triumph”, or “confirm a covenant” (as
here).
The Hebrew word for “covenant” is
Strong’s No. 1285 “brit” - translated as – covenant, treaty,
compact, agreement, an association between two parties with various responsibilities,
benefits, and penalties; “to cut a covenant” is to “make a covenant” a
figure of the act of ceremonially cutting an animal
into two parts, with an implication of serious consequences for
not fulfilling the covenant.
There is an implication of this aspect
of the covenant in the phrase in Dan 9:26 “And after
threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself…”
Just as I have mentioned earlier in the series – there is this
dividing of the Messianic Ministry both in word, and in deed.
WHO WAS THE COVENANT FOR?
The next question we need to ask – who
benefited from his cutting off? If it wasn’t for himself then who was
it with? Who was the 2nd Party to this Covenant given by God.
The answer is – with MANY….. You, me and whosoever will come…John 3:16.
This Covenant was bigger, greater, wider
and more encompassing than any previous covenant that God had made with
the Israelites, because it included the Gentiles as well. We are the
MANY. Praise God! Prior to the NEW COVENANT, God’s relationship had
only been with the FEW – those of Abraham’s human seed. In a sense, it
also confirmed or strengthened the previous Covenants made with Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David, for it moved all these covenants on to a
“higher” level – one where the Spirit of God would dwell (not in a house
made with human hands) but “within” the Spiritual Temple of man himself.
1 Cor 3:16 “Know ye not that ye
are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any
man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God
is holy, which temple ye are.”
The position with the Covenant, as promised
by Jeremiah, was described as benefiting the House of Israel. If we use
the word “gabar” (confirm) in the sense of making the covenant,
greater and stronger, then that is EXACTLY what Jesus did, because his death
opened the covenant to all mankind.
Jeremiah’s NEW COVENANT was confirmed in
all aspects by Jesus, the Christ, the anointed Messiah. He was “cut off”
to confirm it and strengthen it to serve all mankind. What did Jesus say
about this Covenant?
Matt. 26:28 KJV “For this is my
blood of the new testament, which is shed FOR MANY
for the remission of sins.”
Matt 26:28-29 New RSV “For this
is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out FOR MANY
for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will never again drink of this
fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s
Kingdom.”
The Purpose of the New Covenant
This covenant had a distinct and very different
purpose to those given previously by God.
- I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts-
Jer. 31:33
- It will be an everlasting covenant. Jer.32:40
- God’s law is now written in our fleshly hearts by the Holy Spirit
and read by all men
as they view our lives – 2 Cor. 3:2-3
·
We are to have the mind of Christ – 1 Cor. 2:16 and Phil. 2:5
Previously the People of Israel had been
commanded to keep the law, but in all points they failed. It was necessary
for God to do something extraordinary, and it transpired that after Jesus’
death, the Holy Spirit was released in power into the lives of his followers.
The “spiritual” law now resides within those who have put their faith in
his redemptive work.
The Vehicle of its exercise – The
Holy Spirit
John the Baptist said of Jesus – “There
cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not
worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water;
but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. - Mark 1:7-8.
Jesus said of the Holy Spirit - “But
the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my
name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26.
Paul said in 1 Cor. 2:14-15 “But
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they
are foolishness unto him; neither can he know then, because they are spiritually
discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself
is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he
may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
Is There Anything Yet to be Fulfilled
regarding Daniel’s 70 weeks ?
I have already discussed in several places
the fact that the Messiah’s Salvation was completely fulfilled by Jesus
in the first half of the 70th Week prophecy.
As outlined in PART III, page 3, the other
half of the Messiah’s mandate (Isaiah 61:1-3) called The Days of Vengeance,
was announced by Jesus just prior to his death. A “type” or precursor
of this judgement occurred at the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD until Masada
73 AD.
Gabriel informed Daniel in Dan. 9:27 that
for the overspreading of abominations he (The Messiah) shall make IT (the
old sanctuary) desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined
shall be poured upon the desolate.
The Hebrew word for “consummation” is “kala”
Strong’s No. 3617. It means complete destruction, and is used in
the sense of “full end”, or fulfilment or completion.
Today in 2006, as I read these scriptures,
a foreign “temple” still resides upon the site of the Jerusalem sanctuary.
The Dome of the Rock is continuing to make the site of the sanctuary desolate
to all Jews. The age of the Gentiles is therefore not completed yet.
Romans 11:25-26 “For I would not,
brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be
wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel,
until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written. There shall come out of Sion the
Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is my
covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”;
Israel is yet to experience a Spiritual revival as outlined in Ezekiel 37
and Joel 2 and Zechariah 12.
Zechariah 12:9-10 “And it shall come
to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come
against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David and upon
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications;
and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn
for him, and one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for
him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
Joel 2:32 “And it shall come to
pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered;
for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath
said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.”
God has promised in Rev. 11 that he will
send two witnesses to prophesy for 1260 days clothed in sackcloth during
the Tribulation period. The events in the Book of Revelation also indicate
that the Days of Vengeance or the Wrath of God have not been fully experienced
yet. The “consummation” is still in the future.
When the Jews turn their attention to the
one whom they crucified, God will hear and answer their prayers. In the
full day of vengeance yet to be experienced by Israel and the godless nations, He will be available – to
comfort all that mourn in Zion,
to give unto them beauty for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness;
that they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD,
that he might be glorified.”
Acts 3:19-26 “Repent ye therefore,
and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing
shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ,
which before was preached unto you; Whom the heaven must receive until
the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth
of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said unto
the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your
brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall
say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will
not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many
as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the children
of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers,
saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth
be blessed. Unto you first, God having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him
to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.”
Hebrews 9:28 “So Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
This is our Blessed Hope, because Jesus
fulfilled, strengthened, and confirmed the Covenant contained within the
Jeremiah Code.
HOWEVER, the consummation is yet to be….
Jeremiah 30:7-24 “Alas, for that
day is great, so that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;
but he shall be saved out of it. For it shall come to pass in that day,
saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and
will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him;
But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will
raise up unto them. Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith
the LORD, neither be dismayed, O Israel; for, lo, I will save thee from
afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return,
and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and one shall make him afraid…. v.
23 Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing
whirlwind; it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. The fierce
anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done it, and until he
have performed the intents of his heart; in the latter days ye shall
consider it.”
CONCLUSION
If you have got this far through this 6
part series, you will see that I have pulled this scriptural passage about
the 70 weeks prophecy to bits; I have looked at its parts, examined its
words, meaning and intent.
My conclusions
are as follows from a literary point of view. This 70 weeks prophecy is
a précis of the conversation Gabriel had with Daniel. Gabriel introduced
the subject of a covenant, for which there appeared to be no definition
or description – it could only refer to something earlier in the passage.
Since the phrase “the people of the prince
that shall come” is in a subordinate position in the sentence, the 3 “he’s”
in the multi-pronoun sentence (verse 27) could only refer to the Messiah
and the Covenant displayed earlier, but which we did not recognise as such.
The Time Frame
- Gabriel informed Daniel it would take a time period of 70 weeks/of years
= 490 years, to complete all the things mentioned within the prophecy.
This is a general time period.
The Focus or subject matter
is the timing for the fulfilment of THE NEW COVENANT first written down
by Jeremiah. Tracing its origin is the process I have called The Jeremiah
Code. Gabriel expanded this Covenant into 6 clear requirements necessary
for the Messiah to accomplish Salvation for many.
The Timing
- The period would begin with a “WORD” commandment from God, subsequently
decreed by the Kings of Persia, regarding the end of the captivity and return
of the exiles to Jerusalem to rebuild it. The whole period is divided
into three sections -
7
weeks = 49 years)
62
weeks = 434 years) = 490 years
1
week = 7 years)
It would appear that the rebuilding of
Jerusalem’s walls and streets would take place during a time of intense
trouble – spanning the first period of 49 years, (7 weeks).
Following that time there would be a 434
period, (62 weeks) AFTER which the Messiah would come.
He would confirm, expand, or strengthen
the covenant outlined in verse 24 to MANY people during the final 7 year
period, (1 week). However, in the middle of that period the Messiah would
be cut off at the same time, from God’s point of view, that the sacrifice
and the oblation ceased. There is clearly a division of the prophecy
at this point of time. – i.e. “cut off” referring to Messiah, and “in the
midst of the week…..cause….to cease”, referring to the sacrifice and oblation.
After Messiah had been cut off – there
appears to be a gap of approximately 40 years (described by Jesus as “a
generation” who would see the further fulfilment of his own prophecy about
the destruction of the Temple sanctuary. A prince and his people (troops),
in responding to the Jewish revolt, would deliver the “coup de grace” by
destroying the City and the Sanctuary. This “prince and his people” phrase,
is in a subordinate place within the prophecy, and the important thing is
not the prince, but what he does. With the Temple destroyed, the way was
open for the MANY to find God via Jesus Christ – The Way, The Truth and
The Life.
The prophecy concludes with the fact that
with the Temple removed, the “holy mountain” will be made desolate by overspreading
abominations, which will remain until the consummation when the judgements
held in reserve will be poured on the desolator. A “prequel” to this consummation
was experienced in the fall of Jerusalem and the events following until
Masada – 70 – 73 AD.
There are four main subjects in this prophecy
of the 70 Weeks –
The Covenant, and its 6 requirements.
The Salvation of the Messiah who be cut off and thus confirm the covenant
with many.
The Destruction of the City and Sanctuary by a prince and his people
The Abominations that will be poured out until the consummation.