Read Daniel 9 at Bible Gateway.
We are continuing with Mark 13. In Mark 13, Jesus begins explaining the time of His coming, in which He mentions the prophecies given to Daniel. So we must go back to Daniel and understand what it being referred to, to understand Jesus in Mark 13.
“So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” Mar 13:14
So let's look at what Daniel the prophet had to say about the abomination of desolation, one passage at a time:
vs. 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.”
vs. 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.”
vs. 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.”
vs. 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.” Dan 9:24-27
This is the most important reference in Daniel to the abomination of desolation, because while other passages in Daniel give further details about it, this passage places the event in the context of the big picture. And this passage does not even make it into the cross references in Mark 13! People, you do need to read and know your whole Bible! We should therefore understand this passage, before we go on to the next passages.
“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.” Dan 9:24
Seventy weeks are determined for Daniel's people: Jews, and for Daniel's holy city: Jerusalem. When Christians apply this passage to the Church, they have already made a mistake. The angel tells what will be accomplished at the end of seventy weeks: transgression will be finished, sins will be brought to an end, reconciliation will be made for iniquity, and everlasting righteousness will be brought in. Also, vision and prophecy will be confirmed (the meaning of the Hebrew), and the Holy of Holies will be anointed.
So when was reconciliation made for iniquity? When Jesus was crucified on the cross.
When was transgression finished and everlasting righteousness brought in? When Jesus was crucified on the cross.
When were the visions and the prophecies comfirmed? We must understand, that all the prophecies recorded in the Hebrew Bible have to do with the coming and ministry of Messiah, in one way or another! He is the One who fulfills the Law and the Prophets (Mat 5:17), for all of Torah is also prophectic concerning Him!
When were the visions and prophecies confirmed? When Jesus came and fulfilled His ministry!
When was the Holy of Holies in the heavenlies anointed with His blood to make an end of transgression and sin? When He Himself took it there and presented it on the altar! (Heb 9:12).
All of these phrases in Dan 9:24 are describing the same event, which took place at the first coming of Messiah - this event which was prophesied of by Jeremiah and Ezekiel:
“Behold, the days are coming, says 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 that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Jer 31:31-34
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” Eze 36:25-27
Sin is lawlessness, John tells us (1 Joh 3:4). To which law is John referring? Man's law, or God's Law, which is recorded in Torah? To God's Law, for Torah provides God's definition of sin and righteousness. An end of sin is made, because by the Spirit of the Lord now indwelling us, an end has been made of lawlessness, torah- lessness, as Paul explains in Gal 5:18-24. (We have discussed before, that to be under the Law, as Paul uses the phrase, means to be under the indictment of the Law which requires the penalty of death for transgression. It does not mean to be obedient to the Law, or the will of God. By no means, for even Paul obeyed the Law (Act 21:24)!)
Back to Daniel. If this understanding is correct, then seventy weeks were determined for Daniel's people, until the end would be made for sin. And we are assuming at this point that the end the angel is speaking of refers to the death and resurrection of Jesus, which took place at His first coming. So tomorrow we will continue to verse 25 and see.
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