What is happening when Gabriel comes to Daniel in this passage?

Gabriel arrives while Daniel is in the middle of an intense time of prayer. Daniel is confessing his own sin and the sins of Israel, and he is pleading with God for mercy on Jerusalem and the holy mountain. Before Daniel even finishes, God sends Gabriel quickly to touch him and speak with him. Gabriel explains that at the very beginning of Daniel’s prayer, a command went out from God, and Gabriel has come to give Daniel insight and understanding. This shows that God hears and answers sincere, humble prayer.

What are the “seventy weeks” that are determined for Daniel’s people and city?

The “seventy weeks” are best understood as seventy weeks of years, so seventy times seven years, which is 490 years. God has set this period for Daniel’s people and Jerusalem. During this time God will finish transgression, make an end of sins, make reconciliation for iniquity, bring in everlasting righteousness, seal up vision and prophecy, and anoint the most holy. It is a set time in which God’s plan to deal with sin and to bring lasting righteousness through the Messiah will unfold in history.

Who is “Messiah the Prince” mentioned in this prophecy?

“Messiah the Prince” is the promised anointed ruler God would send. The prophecy ties his coming to a command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. The timeline points to the coming of Jesus Christ, who is the anointed one. He is cut off, not for himself, which fits his death for others’ sins. Through his death he makes reconciliation for iniquity and brings in everlasting righteousness. He also confirms the covenant with many and causes the temple sacrifices to lose their purpose by his once-for-all sacrifice.

What does it mean that the Messiah will be “cut off, but not for himself”?

When the passage says the Messiah will be “cut off, but not for himself,” it points to the Messiah’s death, not for his own sins but for others. He is innocent, yet he dies as a sacrifice. This fits with the idea in the same passage that he will make an end of sins and make reconciliation for iniquity. His being “cut off” is how God deals with sin and brings forgiveness. It shows a suffering, rejected Messiah whose death has saving purpose for many, not a failure of his mission.

Who are “the people of the prince that shall come” who destroy the city and sanctuary?

The passage says that after the Messiah is cut off, “the people of the prince that shall come” will destroy the city and the sanctuary. This points to a later ruler whose army would ruin Jerusalem and its temple. Many understand this as the Roman forces that came after the time of Christ and destroyed the city and the sanctuary with great desolation. The text stresses that this devastation is determined by God and that it will last until the end of the war and the completion of his purposes.

What does it mean that he will “confirm the covenant with many for one week”?

The “he” in this verse is best understood as the Messiah. To “confirm the covenant with many for one week” means that during this final period of the seventy weeks, he will establish and make firm God’s covenant promises with many people. This happens through his preaching, his ministry, and especially his death and resurrection. He brings the promised grace of God to both Jews and, later, Gentiles. Many are brought into a real, lasting relationship with God through this confirmed covenant.

How does the Messiah cause sacrifice and offering to cease in the middle of the week?

The passage says that in the middle of the last week he will cause sacrifice and offering to cease. This does not mean that the temple services stopped that very day, but that his death makes them no longer needed. By his one sacrifice for sins, he fulfills what the temple sacrifices pointed to. From God’s point of view, the old offerings lose their purpose because the true sacrifice for sin has been made. Later, when the temple is destroyed, the outward sacrifices also literally come to an end.

Why does this prophecy talk about abominations and desolation of the sanctuary?

The text speaks of abominations and a desolation that spreads, lasting until the completion of what God has determined. This points to terrible sins, idolatries, and defilements that would mark the city and temple, and to the severe judgment that follows. The sanctuary becomes desolate because of rebellion and rejection of God’s ways, including rejection of the Messiah. The wording is strong to show how serious sin is and how real God’s judgment is, yet it is still under God’s control and limited by his set purposes.

What does this passage teach about God’s character and his response to prayer?

This passage shows that God listens closely to humble, honest prayer. Daniel confesses sin and seeks God’s mercy, and God answers quickly by sending Gabriel. It shows that God is ready to give wisdom and understanding to those who seek him with a sincere heart. At the same time, the detailed prophecy of the seventy weeks shows that God rules over history. He sets times and seasons, deals with sin, sends the Messiah, and even controls times of judgment. God is merciful, just, and fully in charge.

Why is this prophecy about the seventy weeks sometimes hard to understand?

This passage is hard to understand because it uses symbolic language, like “weeks” of years, and it covers a long stretch of history in a few verses. The numbers, the different “weeks,” and who “he” refers to in each phrase can be read in more than one way by faithful readers. Some details, especially in verse 27, have been taken in different senses. Still, the main message is clear: God has a set plan, the Messiah will come, deal with sin, confirm God’s covenant, and there will be both salvation and judgment in God’s time.

Dan.9.20

Daniel 9:20

KJV

¶ And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God;

Gabriel’s Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks

¶ And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God;

Yea, 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.

At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Cross References

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