A Commentary on Daniel 9:24-27
By Adam Lloyd Johnson, Ph.D.
Translation of Daniel 9:24-27
24 Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.
25 So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.
Introduction
We find Daniel at the beginning of chapter nine reading from the book of Jeremiah. Before the Babylonian captivity Jeremiah wrote “this whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the LORD, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation”1 (Jer. 25:11-12). From this Daniel was aware that God’s punishment of Israel through the Babylonians would soon be over.
Daniel said he experienced this during “the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus” (Dan. 9:1) and so there were not many years left before the punishment would be complete. Walvoord writes “the time of the vision recorded in Daniel 9 was 538 B.C., about 67 years after Jerusalem had first been captured and Daniel carried off to Babylon (605 B.C.).”2
Jeremiah 29:10-14 more fully explains how God would restore His people back to the land.
‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’
God promised that when His people call upon Him and seek Him with all their heart, He will listen, gather them back from all the nations He had driven them to, and bring them back home. Reading these promises caused Daniel to realize “that the time was approaching when the children of Israel could return…the seventy years of the captivity were about ended.”3 He then set out to do this very thing and called out to God in prayer trusting that He would rescue them from Babylon as He had promised.
Daniel gave his “attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes” (Dan. 9:3). Walvoord summarizes “in a word, Daniel left nothing undone that might possibly make his prayer more effective or more persuasive…effective prayer requires faith in the Word of God, proper attitude of mind and heart, privacy, and unhurried confession and petition.”4 The content of his prayer is a wonderful example of how to correctly make requests of God.
First he exalts the Lord for keeping His promises to those that love and obey Him. He confesses the sins of his people, always using the word ‘we’ so as to include himself in the category of those who have turned “aside from Your commandments and ordinances” (Dan. 9:5). He admits that they had not listened to the prophets He sent to warn them of this judgment. Therefore God was fully just in His decision to punish them by driving them far away to other countries (cf. Dan. 9:7). God had only done what He promised to do in the law of Moses if His people would not turn from their iniquity and give attention to His truth (cf. Dan. 9:13).
Thankfully God is also a God of “compassion and forgiveness” (Dan. 9:9) and it is upon these attributes Daniel makes his appeal. He mentions God’s amazing deliverance of the Jews from Egypt many centuries ago (cf. Dan. 9:15) and then asks that God would rescue them from Babylon in a similar way, not on account of their merits “but on account of Your great compassion” (Dan. 9:18). As God had proclaimed His power to the world during the exodus from Egypt and the establishing of His people in the promised land, Daniel was now requesting the restoration of Israel for the sake of His reputation because “Your city and Your people are called by your name” (Dan. 9:19). Walvoord says “the appeal is to the fact that restoration will not only be an act of mercy but also that which will bring honor and glory to God and a testimony to the nations before whom Israel now is ‘a reproach.’”5
While Daniel was still praying, the angel Gabriel suddenly arrived to give Daniel more instruction. Gabriel tells him that he was sent to Daniel “at the beginning of your supplications” (Dan. 9:23) but arrived at the time when the evening offering would have normally been carried out. Gabriel explains the purpose for his appearance was to give Daniel “insight with understanding” (Dan. 9:22) because Daniel was highly esteemed. Walvoord explains that “although Daniel’s prayer was not directed to his own need of understanding God’s dealings with the people of Israel, this is the underlying assumption of his entire prayer. God, in a word, wants to assure Daniel of His unswerving purpose to fulfill all His commitments to Israel, including their ultimate restoration.”6 Not only did Gabriel explain details surrounding the end of the seventy years of Babylon exile but he also laid out God’s entire plan for the future of His people.
Commentary
I. Seventy weeks have been decreed for God’s people (Dan. 9:24)
A. To finish the transgression
As is so often the case with God answering our prayers, Daniel got more than he asked for. He asked God to fulfill His promise and end the Babylonian captivity that was to last seventy years and for wisdom to know when it would be over. Gabriel went beyond the close of one era and explained the entire future God had in store for His people the nation Israel. There is no misunderstanding who God is talking about here. These seventy weeks are about “your people and your holy city” (Dan. 9:24), i.e. the Jews and their city of Jerusalem. There is no reason to think we should find fulfillment of these prophecies in anything or anyone but the nation Israel; the church is not in view here. Walvoord summarizes well that “to make this equivalent to the church composed of both Jews and Gentiles is to read into the passage something foreign to the whole thinking of Daniel. The church as such has no relation to the city nor to the promises given specifically to Israel relating to their restoration and repossession of the land.”7
The plan God has decreed for them will be completely played out over 70 weeks, literally seventy sevens. The term week is a way to describe a week of years, so this is actually a period of 490 years. Walvoord writes “most commentators agree that the time unit is not days. Further, the fact that there were seventy years of captivity, discussed earlier in the chapter, would seem to imply that years were also here in view.”8 Another reason we know he meant weeks of years instead of weeks of days is that the parallel discussion of the final half of the last week in Dan. 12:11-12 is specifically said to last 1,290 days, a period of three and a half years.
God has decreed these 490 years for the purpose of accomplishing six things. The first on the list is “to finish the transgression” (Dan. 9:24). Transgression is to be completed or to be brought to an end. Israel’s transgressions will finally be over. The cycle of sin, repent, restore that has characterized the nation for so long will be done. It could instead be a reference to the ultimate transgression the Jews will commit: the rejection of their Messiah. And so it may be a prophecy of the Jews completing their transgressions to the fullest extent, what Jesus calls filling up the guilt of their fathers (cf. Matt. 23:32).
B. To make an end of sin
The second thing to be accomplished during the seventy weeks is “to make an end of sin” (Dan. 9:24). While it may seem similar to the first, it could carry the connotation of actually removing the sin, possibly introducing the topic of forgiveness found in the next task.
C. To make atonement for iniquity
The third accomplishment is “to make atonement for iniquity” (Dan. 9:24). Atonement means to cover, wipe out, or appease. It stems from the idea of sins being forgiven because they were covered by the blood of animal sacrifices. See how Moses uses it when he described the duties of the priest.
Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins. (Lev. 16:15-16)
This task definitely carries the idea of forgiveness. Gabriel says something is going to happen, alluded to here in terms used to describe a substitutionary sacrifice, that will provide ultimate atonement for their sins. This must be a reference to Jesus death on the cross which not only paid for the sins of Israel but for the entire world.
D. To bring in everlasting righteousness
The fourth thing that will be accomplished is the bringing in of “everlasting righteousness” (Dan. 9:24). The term everlasting could also be translated ages so an alternate reading could be “righteousness of the ages”. Thus this could be a reference to the millennial kingdom. Howe says “in the prophetic literature of the OT, the establishing of righteousness is frequently associated with the establishing of the Messianic kingdom (Isa. 11: 2-5; Jer. 2:3:5-6).”9
Whether it refers precisely to the first advent of Christ or the second is unclear. Walvoord seems satisfied with either when he says “there is a sense in which this also is accomplished by Christ in His first coming in that He provided a righteous ground for God’s justification of the sinner. The many Messianic passages, however, which view righteousness as being applied to the earth at the time of the second coming of Christ may be the ultimate explanation.”10
E. To seal up vision and prophecy
The fifth thing God has decreed is “to seal up vision and prophecy” (Dan. 9:24). There are two possible meanings for this. The first is that this form of direct revelation from God will cease. In support of this meaning it is appropriate to look at how the prophet Isaiah uses it in a similar fashion. He wrote “For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, the seers. The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, ‘Please read this,’ he will say, ‘I cannot, for it is sealed’” (Isa. 29:10-11). Gabriel, through Daniel, could be saying that vision and prophecy will either completely cease or that people will be unable to understand it.
The other possible meaning is that all previous visions and prophecies that were made will ultimately be fulfilled during these seventy weeks. The seal referred to would then be God’s seal of authenticity that the previous revelation was genuinely from Him. This would finally be proven beyond any doubt by the prophecies finally all coming true. In fact both aspects could be communicated in this short phrase in that it “indicates that no more is to be added and that what has been predicted will receive divine confirmation and recognition in the form of actual fulfillment.”11
F. To anoint the most holy place
This final task on God’s “to do” list is the most difficult to understand. It could be yet another reference to the anointing of Jesus as the Messiah king. Another potential meaning is that it is speaking of the new holy of holies in the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:1-3). After listing several possibilities Walvoord says “There is really no ground for dogmatism here as there is a possibility that any of these views might be correct.”12
II. The beginning of the seventy weeks (Dan. 9:25)
A. It begins when there is a decree issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem
These six tasks are to be accomplished during the seventy weeks which God has decreed for His people. The next obvious point to determine is when this seventy week period began for as Walvoord says “the date on which the seventy sevens begins, is obviously most important both in interpreting the prophecy and in finding suitable fulfillment.”13 He then lists four such possible decrees found in the Bible: “(1) the decree of Cyrus to rebuild the temple (2 Ch 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4; 6:1-5); (2) the decree of Darius confirming the decree of Cyrus (Ezra 6:6-12); (3) the decree of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:11-26); (4) the decree of Artaxerxes given to Nehemiah authorizing the rebuilding of the city (Neh. 2:1-8).”
Isaiah does record God saying “it is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire. And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid’” (Isa. 44:28). Upon close inspection of Cyrus’ decree, given in 538 B.C. and found in 2 Chronicles and Ezra, we find that it is not a decree to rebuild the city but only the temple. There is no doubt that rebuilding the temple was the first step in restoring Jerusalem, but the decree to actually rebuild the city was given later by Artaxerxes (Neh. 2:1-8). Thus Howe concludes “the command to return and build Jerusalem was given by Artaxerxes in 445 B.C. This is the starting point of the seventy sevens.”14
B. From then until Messiah there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks
After the beginning of the seventy weeks is established, we can dial the clock forward from there to discover precisely when the time of Messiah will take place. From Daniel’s perspective this was obviously a prophecy of coming events but for us, we can look back in history and see its fulfillment. After the decree is issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem there will be seven weeks, which is forty-nine years, and then sixty-two weeks, which is 434 more years, for a total of 483 years until Messiah. The reason this long time period is broken into two sections is not fully explained but it could be that it took the first forty-nine years after the decree to “clear out all the debris in Jerusalem and restore it as a thriving city.”15 This may be indicated by the following phrase that “it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress” (Dan. 9:25).
The term Messiah is an adjective that means anointed. Specifically Daniel refers to Him as Messiah the Prince. This is not a fairy tale prince as we think of it but instead is the ruler or leader of a people like a king. It is at Jesus’ triumphal entry when He, in fulfillment of Zech. 9:9, is presented to the nation Israel as their anointed King (cf. Matt. 21:1-11). Since we began our starting point at 445 B.C., it would at first seem the only thing left to do is to come forward 483 years. Doing so brings us to A.D. 38, but unfortunately this is clearly after the crucifixion of Christ.
A potential solution comes forth in how the Jews calculated their calendar years. Walvoord explains “it is customary for the Jews to have twelve months of 360 days each and then to insert a thirteenth month occasionally when necessary to correct the calendar. The use of the 360-day year is confirmed by the forty-two months of the great tribulation (Rev. 11:2; 13:5) being equated with 1,260 days (Rev. 12:6; 11:3).”16 Sir Robert Anderson has used such a methodology to determine that the 483 years culminated “in A.D. 32 on the very day of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem shortly before His crucifixion.”17 There is some controversy over Anderson’s calculations, but “the plausibility of a literal interpretation, which begins the period in 445 B.C and culminates just before the death of Christ, makes this view very attractive.”18
C. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with plaza and moat in times of distress
The fact that Jerusalem is said to be rebuilt with plaza and moat means that the work will be a complete restoration. The moat described here is not a body of water that surrounds the city but probably a reference to a ditch dug around the outer wall to make it more difficult to scale. Not only will the city be rebuilt but it will be strong and defensible against any potential enemies. A strong city will be needed as it will be rebuilt in times of distress as chronicled in the book of Nehemiah.
III. After the sixty-two weeks (Dan. 9:26)
A. The Messiah will be cut off and have nothing
After the second of the first two periods are over with, so after 483 from when the seventy weeks begins, the Messiah just introduced in vs. 25 will be cut off. This term is most often used to refer to cutting something down but is also used to mean killed in the Old Testament. Walvoord says the “natural interpretation of verse 26 is that it refers to the death of Jesus Christ upon the cross.”19 It also says he will “have nothing” (Dan 9:26), possibly in the sense that what was entitled to him as Messiah he will in fact not receive. We cannot be absolute here because this is a difficult phrase to interpret and fully understand.
It is clear though that this cutting off of the Messiah will occur after the initial sixty-nine weeks. There is much discussion among conservative evangelical scholars whether it occurs before or during the final seventieth week. The point of contention is whether or not the last week follows consecutively after the first sixty-nine or if there is a period of time between. If there is a gap then this last and final week could be yet future even to us.
It is conceded that the natural reading indicates that the weeks are continuous. At first reading it seems that the cutting off of the Messiah and the destruction of the city take place at the same time and precisely at the end of the sixty-ninth week. Then immediately the seventieth week begins with the making of a firm covenant with the many. Reading it as such results in the following chronology of events: (1) the sixty-ninth week comes to an end at which time; (2) the Messiah is cut off and; (3) the city is destroyed. Immediately then (4) the seventieth week begins with a firm covenant being made with the many. Although this may seem like the natural reading, we know it is incorrect because from history we know there is a gap of time almost forty years long between (2) the cross and (3) the destruction of Jerusalem. Thus we can deduce that there must also be a gap between (1) the end of sixty-ninth week and (4) the beginning of the seventieth week. In other words, since we know there is a gap of almost forty years between (2) and (3) it would seem reasonable to conclude there is also a time gap between (1) and (4).
A critical question in this discussion is if there is any precedent in Old Testament prophecy for two events being described as seemingly taking place simultaneously or continuously but that we know from its fulfillment that they actually occur at different times with a chronological gap in between. In fact we see the Old Testament prophets often doing this when they describe the first and second comings of Jesus Christ, sometimes even in the same sentence. See Isa. 61:1-3 where the first half concerns the first coming and the last half concerns the second coming. Jesus read the first half of this section as being fulfilled in His first coming (cf. Luke 4:18-19) but ended the quote before it talked about His second coming.
B. The people of the prince to come will destroy the city and sanctuary
Although the same word prince is used here as was used to describe Messiah, this clearly is not the same person for never have the followers of Christ destroyed Jerusalem. Since the ones who destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70 were Romans we can assume that this prince is also a Roman. It is unclear in Daniel’s verses whether or not the prince is yet to come only for Daniel or for the people who do the destroying as well. From historical analysis however it would seem he was even yet to come for the people who destroyed the city and in fact even today we may still be looking ahead to this coming prince. A reason to believe this is that no Roman leader in history has ever fulfilled the prophecies of 9:27. Walvoord writes “in contrast to the rather clear fulfillment of verses 25-26, verse 27 is an enigma as far as history is concerned; and only futuristic interpretation allows any literal fulfillment.”20
C. Its end will come with a flood, to the end there will be war, desolations are determined
This is probably not a literal flood but only a way to describe the complete destruction that will be wrought upon Jerusalem. The damage that will be done is likened to what a massive flood can do. The phrase “to the end there will be war; desolations are determined” could be a description of what times will be like for Jerusalem after the destruction in A.D. 70 until the final tribulation. Walvoord observes that:
This seems to be a general reference to the fact that from the time of the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, trouble, war, and desolation will be the normal experience of the people of Israel and will end only a the “consummation” mentioned in verse 27, that is, the end of the seventieth seven. History has certainly corroborated this prophecy, for not only was Jerusalem destroyed but the entire civilization of the Jews in Palestine ceased to exist soon after the end of the sixty-ninth seven, and that desolation continued until recent times.21
IV. The final week (Dan. 9:27)
A. He will make a firm covenant with the many for one week
This is the final week in God’s program for Israel. Notice that this verse seems to indicate that it begins chronologically after the Messiah is cut off and the prince who is to come destroys the city, both of which are said to take place after the sixty-two weeks. Hence these two events take place after the completion of the sixty-two weeks but before the beginning of this final seventieth week. This indicates that there is a time gap or a break in God’s plan between the first 483 years and the final seven years, at least enough time for the Messiah to be cut off and the city to be destroyed, which we know took place in A.D. 70.
This means God’s prophetic clock of seventy weeks will literally be stopped after the first 483 years. God’s program for His people will be put on hold while salvation is offered to the Gentiles (cf. Rom. 11:11). This pause in the prophetic timetable was caused by Israel’s rejection of their Messiah; the act of cutting Him off described in vs. 26. But this does not mean God is done with His chosen nation Israel for He will resume the prophetic clock someday when “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Rom. 11:25). The interval between is known as the church age and is when we now live in.
Just like the beginning of the entire seventy weeks was marked by a beginning point, so will this last week be. It will begin when someone makes a firm covenant with the many for a seven-year period. The pronoun he which begins this phrase refers back to the prince to come in Dan. 9:26 whose people destroyed the city. It must then refer to a future Roman political leader. The term many is a reference to God’s people the Israelites. Thus this final seventieth week will begin when the coming prince makes a covenant with Israel.
B. In the middle of the week he will stop sacrifice and grain offering
Considering that the sanctuary was described as destroyed in the previous verse, it must be the case that it is rebuilt at least by the time we get to the middle of this final week since sacrifices will be stopped at that time. It is important to note that the verse does not say sacrifice and grain offerings will become useless but that he will stop them all together. The fact that Christ has never done this is another reason to believe the he being spoken of here is someone else. Continuing with the understanding that this person is the coming prince, it is then he who will stop the Jewish sacrificial system halfway through his seven-year covenant with them.
The only other possible literal fulfillment offered by conservative evangelicals is that this last week is in fact immediately consecutive with the sixty-ninth and thus refers to Jesus making instituting the New Covenant with His death on the cross. Besides other difficulties this results in, the major problem with this explanation is that it does not provide any literal fulfillment of the rest of verse 27 which describes the final three and a half years of the last week.
C. On the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate
At this time, in the middle of the final week, the coming prince will stop the sacrifice and grain offerings. He will also terribly desolate the temple in some way. “The abomination seems to be designed to cover the entire institution of the worship of Israel.”22 Jesus refers to this in Matt. 24:15 when He calls it the “abomination of desolation”. Daniel gives more details about it in Dan. 12:11: “From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.” To understand what this may involve we can look at what Antiochus Epiphanes did to desecrate the temple in Dan. 11:21-35 since he stands as a type of this ultimate prince to come. He desecrated the temple by offering a pig on the altar and erecting an idol in the temple. Thus we can conclude that the coming prince will defile the temple in a similar way.
D. Until a complete destruction is poured out on the one who makes desolate
What the “one who makes desolate” had planned to do against God’s people, God will instead bring upon him, i.e. a “complete destruction”. This is the period referred to by Jesus as the Great Tribulation (Matt. 24:15-26).
Conclusion
As a result of his faithful obedience and fervent prayer, Daniel received a most amazing prophecy. God did not give him only a fleeting glimpse into the future but a full panorama view of His plan for the nation Israel. Everything God had promised for His people will play out in these 490 years. Included in this prophecy is even the mystery of how God would bless “all the families of the earth” through the descendants of Abraham (Gen. 12:3). Although it is not possible to know how fully developed Daniel’s understanding of the Messianic hope was, we have to at least imagine that he grasped the eternal importance of what he was given. We do know that the Old Testament prophets struggled with the idea of a suffering Messiah King (1 Pet. 1:10-12). They were not sure how all the pieces fit together. The inspired Word of God that came to them at times included both ideas in the very same breath. It is only after the cross and the completion of the New Testament that we can see how masterfully God has ordained history to play out.
God foretold hundreds of years in advance exactly when the Messiah would arrive on the scene of history. He gave Daniel a surefire way to know precisely when the prophetic clock would start: when the decree was issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. From Artaxerxes’ decree in 445 B.C. until Jesus’ presentation to Israel as their king was 483 years. Considering the preciseness of this prophecy, there should be no longer any doubt that Jesus is the Messiah. Yes, God’s very own people made a horrendous mistake in rejecting and cutting off their own King who was actually God in the flesh. But the Lord used even this crime above all crimes to unleash upon the world His ultimate love, grace, and mercy.
We propose that there was a pause in the prophetic clock caused by Messiah being cut off. This can be most clearly seen by the fact that the destruction of Jerusalem took place in A.D. 70, nearly forty years after the crucifixion. Since this destruction is said to come after the sixty-nine weeks but before the seventieth week, we know there is a gap of at least almost forty years. The reason we conclude it is even longer is because the events that are to take place during the final seventieth week have yet to be completed. We are still awaiting a literal ruler to come from the people that destroyed Jerusalem who will make a covenant with Israel for seven years. Then in the middle of the week we know he will stop the Jewish sacrifices by setting up the abomination of desolation. Though not mentioned explicitly in these verses, we know from other scriptures that Jesus will return at the end of this seventieth week (cf. Matt. 24:29-31). Thus Walvoord concludes:
The culmination of the entire prophecy of the seventy weeks is the second advent of Jesus Christ which closes the seventieth seventh of Israel as well as the times of the Gentiles pictured in Daniel’s prophecies of the four great world empires. For most of the period, the two great lines of prophecy relating to the Gentiles and Israel run concurrently, and both end with the same major event – the second advent of Jesus Christ, when oppressed Israel is delivered and the oppressor, the Gentile, is judged.23
Application
God has made unconditional promises to His chosen people, the physical descendants of Abraham, that have yet to be fulfilled literally (cf. Gen. 12). If He is completely through with the nation of Israel, then we must conclude that He has broken these promises. The only other possibility is that they are yet to be fulfilled. This is exactly the conclusion we arrived at by studying Daniel chapter nine. There is still a time in the future, after “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Rom. 11:25), when God will turn His attention back to His chosen nation and accomplish all that has He promised for them. God has history under control and will bring about the completion of His masterful plan in His time. We can trust that this is the case because God has a proven track record of keeping His promises.
There is nothing Israel could ever do to invalidate these promises because “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29). Yes, the Jews were “broken off for their unbelief” (Rom. 11:20), for “cutting off” (Dan. 9:26) their Messiah, but God has not ultimately “rejected His people whom He foreknew” (Rom. 11:2). He has a future for them, and Daniel chapter nine explains exactly how He will bring this about. The fact that God will still fulfill His promises to Israel despite their shortcomings is an encouragement to us today. This should give us a tremendous amount of confidence in our God. We can rest assured that by trusting in Him and His Son Jesus our future will also be secure. In spite of our unfaithfulness God is always faithful (2 Tim. 2:13).
Footnotes
[1] All scriptural references are taken from the NASB 1995 version unless otherwise noted.
[2] John F. Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1989), 202.
[3] Ibid., 204.
[4] Ibid., 206.
[5] Ibid., 212.
[6] Ibid., 215.
[7] Ibid., 220.
[8] Ibid., 218.
[9] Thomas A. Howe, Daniel Notes (Matthews, NC: Southern Evangelical Seminary, 2008), 942.
[10] Walvoord, 222.
[11] Ibid., 222.
[12] Ibid., 223.
[13] Ibid., 224.
[14] Howe, 942.
[15] Walvoord, 227.
[16] Ibid., 228.
[17] Ibid., 228.
[18] Ibid., 228.
[19] Ibid., 229.
[20] Ibid., 231.
[21] Ibid., 231.
[22] Howe, 940.
[23] Walvoord, 237.
Bibliography
Howe, Thomas A. Daniel Notes. Matthews, NC: Southern Evangelical Seminary, 2008.
Pfeiffer, Charles F., ed. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary: The Old Testament. Chicago: Moody Press, 1962.
Walvoord, John F. Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1989.
Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., and Dallas Theological Seminary. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983-c1985.
Willmington, Harold L. Willmington’s Bible Handbook. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1997.
© Adam Lloyd Johnson and Convincing Proof.