The Prophecy - Daniel 9:24-27 - Daniel's 70 Weeks |
Old Testament Prophecy |
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. |
During the seven year Tribulation Period we can expect for Judaism's animal blood sacrificial system described in the book of Leviticus to be re-instituted (or become active again). In order for the sacrificial system to come to an end it needs to already be in place and be functioning. This means there will be a Third Temple standing on or near where the Dome of the Rock is now, in Jerusalem. Other passages that speak of this Third Temple include Matthew 24:15; 2 Thess. 2:4 and Revelation 11:1-2.
Somewhere during this period, toward the middle, an event will occur that will cause the sacrificial system to be halted.
We do not know exactly what it will be, although the next verse in the prophecy may give us a clue.
Some versions may say to cause the sacrifices to rest. Does this tie into the re-establishment of millenarian sacrifices? Some bible scholars believe that during the Millennial Kingdom animal sacrifices will continue as a type of memorial the same way communion has continued as a type of memorial. For more on this please read Animal Sacrifices During The Millennial Kingdom.
The present-day re-established San Hedrin Court has purchased a herd of sheep for ritual sacrifice at the site of the Temple on the eve of Passover, when conditions on the Temple Mount permit.(1)
Cause sacrifice and offering to cease: both nouns are singular in form but have a collective meaning and should be translated by a plural in many languages. The term translated sacrifice involves the killing of animals in the worship of God, while the word for offering relates to giving of such things as grain, wine, and oil.(2)
The Hebrew word used here (heshibeet) does not properly mean to remove, but to make to rest, to make quiet, it is thus not conceivable why we should not be able to say: The sacrifice shall be made to rest, or made still, during half a week.(3)
Here are some links that have been created to help move around inside of the Daniel 9:24-27 prophecy.
Other links of interest include:
1). Haaretz-Israel News 2-28-2007.
2). Pter-Contesse, Ren. Ellington, John: A Handbook on the Book of Daniel. New York : United Bible Societies, 1993 (UBS Handbook Series; Helps for Translators), S. 257
3). Keil, Carl Friedrich ; Delitzsch, Franz: Commentary on the Old Testament. Peabody, MA : Hendrickson, 2002, S. 9:737
