The Good News (Daniel 9:20–27)

You may be familiar with good news, bad news comedy sketches in which the comedian or comedic cast deliver a series of alternating good news, bad news scenarios for comedic effect. I recall one such sketch in which a man and a woman dressed in full hazmat suits woke a homeowner sleeping on his couch. Confused, the drowsy homeowner asked what was going on. The woman replied that they were from a health and safety agency and the good news was that they were there. The man added that the bad news was that the homeowner was also there. The good news, said the woman, is that they had discovered why the homeowner’s house was so cheap—and it was not because of structural issues with the house. The bad news, added the man, is that it was so cheap because the house had been built atop an old chemical facility. The good news, continued the woman, was that she and the man were wearing hazmat suits. The bad news, added the man, was that the homeowner was not. The good news was that the company they represented specialised in the chemical under the house. The bad news was that that meant they knew exactly how it would kill the homeowner. The good news was that they had brought a free cup of cocoa for the homeowner. When the homeowner sipped it and complained that it was tasteless, they added that the bad news was that the first sign of chemical poisoning was loss of taste.

The sketch continued with the cycle of good news, bad news for about five minutes and was played to comedic effect. The prophecy of Daniel 9:24–27 follows a similar good news, bad news pattern, though not for comedic purposes.

In the text before us, the good news is that Jerusalem and its temple will be rebuilt. The bad news is that that will happen in a time of turmoil. The good news is that Messiah will come. The bad news is Messiah will be killed. The good news is that his death will put an end to sacrifices and accomplish eternal salvation and righteousness. The bad news is that many will reject his sacrifice and, as a result, the temple will be destroyed again. In it all, this prophecy points us to the best news of all: the good news of what God has done for believing sinners in Jesus Christ.

As we consider the text together, we want to talk about the good news, and the bad news, with a view to embracing the best news.

Broadly speaking, the text is divided into two main sections (vv. 20–23 and vv. 24–27). There are some sub-sections, which help us understand the prophecy more fully.

The Context of the Good News

Previously, we considered Daniel’s prayer of confession in vv. 1–19, which arose from his reading of Jeremiah’s prophecy. We also touched on the Lord’s answer to his prayer in vv. 20–23, but we must return briefly to these verses here. It is important to note that the prophecy of vv. 24–27 comes in the context of—and, indeed, as the answer to—Daniel’s prayer of confession.

While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the LORD my God for the holy hill of my God, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.”

(Daniel 9:20–23)

The connection of Daniel’s prayer to the book of Jeremiah is important because, while he did prophesy a return to Jerusalem after seventy years in Babylon (Jeremiah 25:8–13; 29:10–14), Jeremiah’s prophecy was far more expansive than that. As you read Jeremiah’s promises of restoration for Israel and Judah, he frequently mixes them with promises of the establishment of a new covenant through Messiah. God’s people were in exile because they had broken covenant with God, but the promise was that a new covenant would be established.

As you read Jeremiah, you can see how Daniel might have misunderstood God’s timeline. He likely thought that, when Jerusalem was restored, God would inaugurate the new covenant, writing his law on the people’s heart and dealing decisively with their sin (see Jeremiah 31:31–40; 33:14–26; etc.). In his mind, the establishment of the new covenant and the restoration to the land, with the rebuilding of the temple, was a single event. When he prayed, therefore, about the restoration to the land and the rebuilding of the temple, he no doubt had hopes of the arrival of Messiah and, with that, the establishment of the new covenant.

When he brought the Lord’s answer to Daniel’s prayer, Gabriel showed that these events would not all happen at the same time. While his answer included all these elements—the rebuilding of the temple and the city, the arrival of Messiah, and the establishment of the new covenant—Daniel needed to understand that these events would be spread over a much longer period of time. God’s timeline was far more comprehensive than he imagined. But God’s promise was also far more wonderful than he imagined.

Gabriel revealed that, when God’s answer to Daniel’s prayer was fully complete, the temple and its sacrificial system would be irrelevant. Eternal justice and righteousness would be secured as sin was forever dealt with—once and for all. Though he had “perceived” something of God’s promise (v. 2), he needed “insight and understanding” (v. 22) because God’s answer was far greater than he could possibly imagine.

Sometimes, God’s answers to our prayers far outstrip our expectations. Sometimes, he has something even better than we ask for. He is, indeed, “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).

The Content of the Good News

The prophecy itself, recorded in vv. 24–27, is good news (though mixed with bad) but has caused some of the most heated debate in all of Scripture. James Montgomery has called this text “the dismal swamp of Old Testament criticism.”

“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

(Daniel 9:24–27)

The text is difficult because Gabriel jumps around a little, rather than simply giving a chronological ordering of events. It is also difficult, as we will see, because there are some translation issues, particularly in the ESV. But, though it is difficult, it is possible to make sense of it by thoughtful consideration. We need to first understand the prophecy as it was given before we consider what it means for us today.

The prophecy concerns “seventy weeks” (v. 24). This phrase literally translates “seventy sevens”—or, more literally, “sevens—seventy of them.” “Weeks,” in other words, translates a Hebrew word meaning “sevens.” The word itself does not state seven whats. It could be seven anythings. Most English translations translate it as “weeks,” but “weeks” is used metaphorically.

Broadly speaking, there are two ways in which interpreters have understood the phrase “seventy weeks.”

First, some interpreters think that the term is generic and describes an indefinite period of time. They observe that the numbers seven and ten are sometimes used in Scripture to symbolise completeness. They argue, therefore, that we should understand “seventy weeks” as a number indicating completeness. For them, the prophecy has no specific time period attached to it but will be fulfilled in God’s perfect timing.

Second, some interpreters believe that the term “seventy weeks” describes a definite period of time. These interpreters see the “weeks” as weeks of years. Each “week,” in other words, is seven years. The prophecy, therefore, would be fulfilled within 490 years.

I believe that the second option is correct. Biblical prophecy must be verifiable (Deuteronomy 18:21–22), and the best way to verify this prophecy is to give it a specified time period in which its events must be fulfilled. Assigning a generic time period to it makes it more difficult to definitively verify the accuracy of the prophecy. In the remainder of the study, therefore, I will assume that the seventy “weeks” equal 490 years.

Within this school of thought, however, there are three further interpretations.

First, there is the Antiochus Epiphanes school of thought, which appears to be favoured, for the most part, by scholars critical of biblical authority. These scholars believe that the prophecy was fulfilled in its entirety in the period between the Old and the New Testament.

Second, there is what we might call the gap theory school of thought. These interpreters believe that the first 69 “weeks” were fulfilled in the centuries between Daniel and the coming of Christ but that the final “week” is a seven-year period in our future in which an antichrist figure will establish a covenant with Israel, which he will break before he openly persecutes the people of God.

Third, there is the messianic school of thought, which asserts that the prophecy presents the history of events from (roughly) Daniel’s time until the coming of Christ, with no part of the prophecy remaining to be fulfilled in our future. This is the interpretation that I take, which I will try to explain below.

The Purpose of the Good News

The overriding purpose of the good news is explained in v. 24: “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place” (Daniel 9:24). The prophecy was given to show six things that would happen to God’s people and city within the specified time frame (“seventy weeks”).

Within 490 years from the beginning of the prophecy, six things would happen: transgression would be finished; sin would be ended; iniquity would be atoned for; everlasting righteousness would be brought in; the vision and prophet would be sealed; and a most holy place would be anointed. It will help to briefly consider these six things to see where the prophecy is headed. If we understand the prophecy’s purpose, its particulars become much clearer.

These six things can be divided into two sets of three, the first three described negatively (i.e. three things that would be ended) and the second three described positively (i.e. three things that would be established).

Three Things Ended

By the end of the “seventy weeks,” three things would be ended. The ending of these three things is described in language of termination: “finish,” “put an end to,” and “atone.” The things that were to be ended were “transgression,” “sin,” and “iniquity.” These three words describe the same thing—what we generally call “sin”—though in slightly different ways. “Transgression” implies that there is a line that has been overstepped. “Sin” means to miss the mark, which implies that there is a target that has not been hit. “Iniquity” speaks of open and blatant rebellion or wickedness.

Together with Daniel’s prayer of confession, these categories leave us no doubt as to the nature of sin. In confessing, he prayed, “We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules” (v. 5). To transgress is to overstep the line that God has drawn in the sand. To sin is to miss the mark of perfect righteousness that God has stated in his word. To commit iniquity is to blatantly ignore or rebel against God’s commands. Simply stated, sin is failure to do what God requires or to do what God forbids. For us to understand sin, we must first understand what God commands and then ask whether we have perfectly obeyed.

For generations, the Jews in Jerusalem had transgressed, sinned, and committed iniquity. They had heard what God had commanded but had ignored it. (For example, they had ignored his command to let the land have its Sabbath rest every seven years.) They had heard what God had forbidden but had done it. (For example, they had worshipped false gods.) In short, they had failed to do what he commanded and had done what he forbade. This pattern had been repeated generation after generation, with each generation learning from the preceding generation and teaching the succeeding generation. The people seemed to be caught in a deadly cycle, with no end in sight. But the good news was that something would happen, within “seventy weeks,” that would “finish the transgression” and “put an end to sin” and “atone for iniquity.” God would implement decisive action to deal with sin.

Daniel needed to understand, however, that this would not happen tomorrow. It would not happen with the initial return to Jerusalem or the rebuilding of the temple. It would take another half a century for the good news of the prophecy to be fully realised.

Let me pause briefly to make a significant observation: God is serious about sin. God’s people had ended up in exile because, for generations, they had ignored God’s covenant stipulations. God is serious about obedience. There are obligations to grace, and God expects those who profess to be in covenant relationship with him to obey his covenant stipulations. We don’t obey to earn God’s favour, but we do obey as those who have been lavished with God’s favour. To live in covenant relationship with God is to submit to his covenant stipulations. It is to avoid that which he forbids while doing that which he commands.

Three Things Established

The seventy “weeks” would in some way end transgression, sin, and iniquity but would also establish three things. “Everlasting righteousness” would be brought in, “vision and prophet” would be “seal[ed],” and “a most holy place” would be “anoint[ed].”

The first of the three things established is quite straightforward. Almost every translation renders the English the same way: “to bring in everlasting righteousness.” The idea is simple: Something would happen within those 490 years that would result in the establishment of eternal righteousness, even as transgression, iniquity, and sin were dealt with. God would do something not only to deal with sin but also to enable his people to faithfully obey his law, which they could not do in their own strength.

The second of the three things involved sealing. In ancient times, a seal either closed or authenticated—or sometimes both.

The word is used in the sense of closing in 12:4, where Daniel was told to “seal the book until the time of the end” because so much of what he had written was about the future. In other words, he was to close it up because its fulfilment lay in the distant future. It would be opened for the generation who saw its fulfilment.

The word is used in the sense of authenticating in 6:16–17 when the stone at the mouth of the lion’s den was sealed with the king’s seal. In that context, the seal did not physically prevent the den from being opened but it authenticated that the stone was there by the king’s authority.

Sometimes, the word can be used in both senses. For example, 1 Kings 21:8 tells us that Jezebel “wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal.” The seal both closed and authenticated the letters she had written.

The question is, in what sense is the “seal” being used in v. 24? It is the “vision and prophet” that would be sealed. “Vision and prophet” refer to this very prophecy as it was given to Daniel. When the “seventy weeks” were finished, the prophecy would be complete so that it would be obvious to anyone that Daniel and his “vision” carried the seal of God’s authority. The NLT gives the sense when it says that “a period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed … to confirm the prophetic vision.”

The last of the three things established would be the “anoint[ing]” of “a most holy place.” The temple would be rebuilt and the sacrifices reinstated—though, as we will see, only temporarily.

Six Things Summarised

Simply put, God had a purpose in the good news of this prophecy. Within a period of “seventy weeks” (490 years), he would do everything that he had promised through Jeremiah—including the return to Jerusalem, the rebuilding of the temple and the city, the arrival of Messiah with the new covenant, and, through him, the purchase of eternal salvation as sin was ended and righteousness forever established.

In vv. 25–27, Gabriel offers more detail on when and how all this would happen.

The Particulars of the Good News

As we consider the particulars of the good news, we must remember that it covers a period of “seventy weeks” or 490 years. The “weeks” are divided into three sections—seven “weeks” (49 years); 62 “weeks” (434 years); and one “week” (seven years). While the “weeks” would all follow each other, something significant would happen at each of those points.

The ESV, unfortunately, opts for a strange translation in v. 25: “Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time.” This translation gives the impression that the “anointed one” will arrive after seven “weeks” (49 years), which will be followed by a further 62 “weeks” (434 years). It will be helpful to consider how this verse is translated in other English translations as we seek to understand the prophecy.

The Christian Standard Bible reads, “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an Anointed One, the ruler, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat, but in difficult times.”

The King James Version reads, “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.”

The New King James Version reads, “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.”

The New International Version reads, “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.”

The New Living Translation reads, “Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler—the Anointed One—comes. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defences, despite the perilous times.”

The New American Standard Bible reads, “So you are to know and understand 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 streets and moat, even in times of distress.”

Finally, the Legacy Standard Bible reads, “So you are to know and have insight that from the going out of a word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be restored and rebuilt, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.”

Notice carefully the difference: Where every other major translation combines the first two sets of “weeks” (seven “weeks” and 62 “weeks”) for a total of 69 “weeks,” the ESV gives the impression that the “anointed one, a prince” will come after seven “weeks” (49 years), which will then be followed by 62 “weeks,” during which the city will be built. The ESV then says that the “anointed one” will be “cut off” after another 62 “weeks” (434 years) (v. 26). If the ESV translation is correct, then anointed one would come 49 years after the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem and then apparently live another 434 years only to be “cut off” after the additional 62 “weeks.”

If the other translations are to be preferred, the “anointed one” will come after 69 “weeks” (483 years) and will soon be “cut off.” This seems to be the better translation. (Although note that the footnote in the ESV does offer an alternate translation.)

If that is the case, why separate the first seven “weeks” from the next 62 “weeks”? It is because something significant would happen to mark the end of the first seven “weeks.” By the end of the first seven “weeks” Jerusalem would be “built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time.” By the end of the first 49 years, the temple and the city would be rebuilt, though much trouble would surround its rebuilding. We read all about this “troubled time” in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. But it would be another 434 years after the completion of the temple and the city before the “anointed one, a prince” would arrive.

With that in mind, there are a few questions that remain. Who is the “anointed one, a prince” (v. 25)? What does it mean that “he shall be cut off and shall have nothing” (v. 26)? What is meant by the destruction of “the city and the sanctuary” with a “flood” and a “war” (v. 26)? And then what do we make of the final “week” (v. 27)? Let’s address these questions one at a time.

First, can we identify the “anointed one, a prince”? He is the central figure of the prophecy. His identity is not hard to discern because he is the one who would accomplish the sixfold purpose of the prophecy. The Prince would be anointed to end sin and establish righteousness. In him, the vision and prophet would be sealed with divine authority, and by his authority the temple would be re-established (and, eventually, re-destroyed). This can be none other than Jesus Christ himself. Unsurprisingly, the prophecy was, indeed, fulfilled in him.

The beginning point of the good news is “the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem.” As you read the Old Testament, you find at least four decrees for the Jews to return to their land. As you consider them carefully, however, you discover that there were really two decrees, with a reiteration of each. But which decree should be considered the starting point? The key detail is that it was the decree “to restore and build Jerusalem.”

The first decree for the Jews to return to the Promised Land was given by King Cyrus (2 Chronicles 36:23; Ezra 1:2–4) in 538 BC. His decree was later reaffirmed by Darius (Ezra 6:1–12) in about 519 BC. This decree, however, was to rebuild the temple, not the city, whereas Gabriel specified “the word to restore and build Jerusalem.”

The second decree was given by King Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:11–26) in 457 BC and reiterated by the same king (Nehemiah 2:7–8) in 444 BC. While the emphasis of this decree was to finish the temple, Ezra 9:9 reveals that it also included the rebuilding of the wall, which was necessary to rebuild the city. This decree, then, seems to be the decree that Gabriel had in mind.

If Artaxerxes’s decree is the starting point of the good news, we can begin to do some maths. Beginning in 457 BC (when Artaxerxes issued his decree), we add 483 years (69 “weeks”) to arrive at AD 27 (since there was no year 0). Jesus was born around 4 BC, which means he was around thirty in AD 27. What happened when he was about thirty years old? “Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age” (Luke 3:23).

At about age 30, Jesus was baptised. When he was baptised, “the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove” (Luke 3:22). In the Old Testament, the Spirit anointed people for particular tasks. The Spirit descending on Jesus like a dove was, therefore, an act of anointing—anointing him for his public ministry. He was, indeed, “an anointed one.” In fact, the Hebrew word translated “anointed” is mâšiyaḥ, from which we derive the English word “Messiah.” Jesus is the Messiah—the Anointed One—and is Son of the King and therefore a Prince—the Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6).

Second, what does it mean that “he shall be cut off and shall have nothing” (v. 26)? “Cut off” is language that, in the Old Testament, frequently refers to death. For example, God promised, after the flood, that “never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood” (Genesis 9:11). In one confrontation with Pharaoh, Moses said to him, “I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth” (Exodus 9:15). For the “anointed one,” therefore, to be “cut off” meant that he would die. And when he died, “he shall have nothing.” This was remarkably fulfilled in Christ. When Jesus died (was “cut off”), he had—literally—nothing. The very clothes on his back were gambled away at the foot of the cross as he died naked at Calvary.

Third, what is meant by the “the city and the sanctuary” being “destroyed” with a “flood” and a “war”? The Lord was telling Daniel that the rebuilt temple and city would not stand forever. A time would come when the city and its temple would again be destroyed by “the people of the prince.” Since the “prince” has already been defined as Messiah, this means that the city would again be destroyed by his authority. Jesus indeed predicted the destruction of Jerusalem in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24–25; Mark 13; Luke 21) and this happened, by his authority, in AD 70 when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem. It was destroyed by “war” (rather than natural disaster) when Rome came against the city like a destroying “flood.” The future desolation of the city had been “decreed.” It was going to happen.

Fourth, and finally, what do we make of the final “week”? “And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator” (v. 27).

The first thing to be said about the final “week” is that there is no textual basis to insert a gap between it and the 69th “week.” As the second set of “weeks” followed directly on the heels of the first, so the final “week” follows directly on the heels of the second.

The final week begins with a “he.” The “he” refers to the “anointed one” or the “prince” who has been spoken of throughout the prophecy. He “shall make a strong covenant with many for one week.” After being anointed at the end of the 69th week, Messiah “make a strong covenant with many” during the last week (cf. Mark 14:24). Jeremiah had prophesied this new covenant. Daniel had assumed it would happen almost immediately. Gabriel revealed that it would only happen after 69 “weeks.” But something would happen in the middle of that last week. “For half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering.” Once again, the translation is slightly awkward here. The CSB captures the sense better: “He will make a firm covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering.” Something would happen in the middle of the final “week” that would “put a stop to sacrifice and offering” (CSB).

What happened halfway through that last week, which resulted in the end of “sacrifice and offering” (CSB)? Messiah was “cut off” (v. 26)! With the benefit of hindsight, we know that Christ’s ministry lasted about three-and-a-half years (half a “week”) before he was “cut off.” And when he was “cut off”—when he died—he “put a stop to sacrifice and offering” (CSB)—because, when he died, he became the final, once-for-all offering that rendered the entire sacrificial system moot.

What do we make of the last half a “week”? Nothing. The point is that that last week was interrupted by the death of Messiah and the cessation of temple and sacrifice. But one final sentence is added to the prophecy: “And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator” (v. 27). Let me again read the CSB as an alternate translation: “And the abomination of desolation will be on a wing of the temple until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.” This may seem obscure but, happily, Jesus clarified this for us in the Olivet Discourse.

In Matthew’s account of the Discourse, Jesus said, “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (24:15). Luke’s account clarifies a little more: “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (21:20–21). Gabriel’s final sentence, then, which speaks of “the abomination of desolation” (CSB) is a reference to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and its temple. By his death, Christ rendered temple and sacrificial system obsolete. For a full generation, however, the Jews, rejecting Christ’s sacrifice, continued with the temple sacrifices. This needed to be ended and so, by Christ’s authority, the Romans entered Jerusalem and destroyed the temple and ended the sacrificial system, which will never be restored again.

The Crux of the Good News

The good news presented in this text can be confusing, partly because Gabriel jumps back and forth and partly because we are dealing with difficult and questionable translations. Let me summarise the prophecy as we seek to understand its heart.

Daniel, having read Jeremiah’s prophecy of a restored temple and a new covenant, turned to God in prayer. From his perspective, he thought that the temple would be restored and the new covenant established at the same time. He believed that all of this would happen within three years—at the end of the seventy years of exile.

God sent Gabriel to “give [him] insight and understanding” (v. 22). He needed to understand that there was good news. The good news was that the temple would be restored, the city rebuilt, and the new covenant established with the arrival of Messiah. This would result in the end of sin and the establishment of righteousness. But it would not all happen within three years. “Seventy weeks” or 490 years had been “decreed” for all this to happen.

It would begin with Artaxerxes’s decree to rebuild the city, which would take seven “weeks” (49 years). It would take a further 434 years (62 “weeks”) for Messiah to arrive and be anointed for public ministry, when he would establish a new covenant with many. Messiah would be appointed one “week” (seven years) to establish this new covenant, but he would be killed halfway through that week, rendering void the temple and its sacrificial system. By his death, he would put an end to sin and bring in everlasting righteousness. And the rebuilt temple would once again be destroyed—this time permanently.

That’s the good news. But it’s fair to ask at this point, is this still good news? It was good news for Daniel, but does it remain good news for us? I want to suggest it does, for at least four reasons.

First, it is good news because the Anointed One came, which shows that God keeps his promises. God promised that the Anointed One would come after 69 “weeks” and he came precisely on schedule. God’s promise to Daniel was precisely fulfilled. We can be encouraged by this that God always keeps his promises.

Believer, you can trust God’s promise of providing grace to meet your basic needs. You can trust God’s promise of sanctifying grace to overcome sin. You can trust God’s promise of forgiving grace to forgive and cleanse you from your sin. You can trust God’s promise of revealing grace to help you understand and apply his word. Indeed, “all the promises of God find their Yes in him” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Second, it is good news because the Anointed One confirmed a (new) covenant, which shows that we can be right with God. Under the old covenant, God’s people time and again found themselves in trouble. Indeed, the covenant was the very reason that they were in Babylon to begin with. Because of their disobedience, the covenant seemed to create more problems for them than it solved.

The new covenant promised something different. The new covenant was that God would put his law within his people, writing it on their hearts. He would work in their lives, through his Spirit, to produce obedience. All his people would know him, from least to greatest (Jeremiah 31:31–34). The new covenant would enable people to be right with God.

Judah’s sin invited God’s displeasure. Our sin likewise invites God’s displeasure. We are all sinners by nature, doing what God forbids and neglecting what he commands. And we face his displeasure—and the threat of his eternal displeasure—because of our sin. But the new covenant, instituted by Christ, the Anointed One, makes a way for us to be right with God, which leads us to the third reason that this prophecy is good news for us.

Third, it is good because the Anointed One was cut off, which shows that transgression, sin, and iniquity have been ended. The purpose of the prophecy, as we have seen, was to bring an end to sin, which is what Jesus did by his death on the cross. “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13–14).

Though we still sin as believers, Christ has ended the power that sin holds over his people. Because he was cut off—because he experienced the death that we deserved—we can be set free from the power and penalty of sin. As we confess and repent of our sins, we receive forgiveness and life in Christ and are enabled to walk in obedience, which brings us to the fourth reason that the prophecy is still good news for us today.

Fourth, it is good news because the Anointed One crushed Jerusalem and its temple, which shows that righteousness has been eternally secured. For centuries, righteousness was displayed by obedience to the sacrificial system. But when Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70, God openly declared that the sacrificial system was irrelevant, because Christ had done everything necessary to secure eternal righteousness for his people. He lived a sinless life so that we can be counted righteous in him. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). And he now empowers us to live lives of righteousness, doing what he commands and abstaining from what he forbids.

Conclusion

This text, which James Montgomery described as “the dismal swamp of Old Testament criticism,” is, in fact, a gloriously clear well of living water, springing up to eternal life. In this text we find every promise that we need to be done with sin and to embrace the righteousness of Jesus Christ. May we believe the gospel. May we drink deeply from its life-giving waters as we embrace the forgiveness and righteousness offered to us by Jesus Christ.

AMEN