Saturday, August 8, 2020

Verse of the Week: Daniel 9:27


“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.” Daniel 9:27

(The majority of the footnotes are from the Ryrie Study Bible. Their purpose is to clarify Bible verses used in reference to our study. All Bible quotations are from the New American Standard Bible.)



This is the closing verse of one of the most important prophetic portions of the entire Old and New Testament. I would urge you to master Daniel 9:24-27 to deepen your understanding of Bible prophecy and to give you a firmer foundation for future prophecy studies.


“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.” Daniel 9:27

                He will make- This has only been possible since May 14, 1948 with the founding of the modern state of Israel. Before this Israel did not exist as a nation, so therefore this prophecy could not be fulfilled. Today Israel is in the proper place to enter the covenant predicted in this passage. Since 1948, there have been numerous attempts at Geneva, the United Nations, Camp David, and in unilateral agreements to bring peace between Israel and the surrounding Arab nations. But to date, all such attempts have failed. 



The “He” is the Antichrist who was previously introduced in 7:8, 24-26. “He” will be a Roman king, since the immediate context is the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. This fits the description of the antichrist, who will rise out of the Roman Empire. He is so well known in the Old Testament prophecy that Daniel simply referred to him as “the prince that is to come” (v. 26).

                A firm covenant- The antichrist will make an agreement wit the Jewish people and their enemies. Among its features will be the reestablishment of temple sacrifices. Under the auspices of the antichrist, the Arabs will allow the Jerusalem temple to be rebuilt and the sacrifices celebrated.

                With the many- Many of the Jews will be deceived, but not all. Some will oppose the rebuilt temple aware that the next temple is to be built by Messiah. Other Jews have become believers under the ministry of the two witnesses.  They are aware that this fits the prophetic scenario and the reason to oppose this temple. The many refers to those unbelieving Jews who enter into an alliance with the prince that shall come, the antichrist. Such an alliance will obviously be an unholy relationship and ultimately to the detriment of the people of Israel, however promising it may be at its inception.

                This covenant, when ratified, begins the 7-year tribulation.

                One week- The agreement is to last 7 years. This is “DANIEL’S SEVENTIETH WEEK.”

                Middle of the week- After 3 ½ years the antichrist will break his covenant with Israel and desecrate the Temple by demanding worship of himself in it:

“Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION[1] which was spoken through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), Matthew 24:15

who opposes and exalts himself [Antichrist] above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 2 Thessalonians 2:4

                At the midpoint of the Tribulation, after his apparent “resurrection” from the dead, the antichrist will desecrate the rebuilt Jewish Temple in Jerusalem by placing himself there to be worshiped, not only by the Jews, but by all the world. He will demand worship of everyone. This will be the climax of man’s great sin of self-deification, in open defiance of God.  

                The Bible speaks of two Temple’s in Israel’s future. The first two temples have come and gone, while the final two have yet to appear. The Tribulation temple (the third temple) will be next, while the Millennial Temple (the fourth temple) will appear after Jesus the Messiah returns to planet Earth and builds it to use during His messianic kingdom.

                THE TRIBULATION TEMPLE

                It will be a look in vain to find a scripture that says, “There is going to be a third Temple.” But the fact that there will be a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem at least by the midpoint of the seven-year tribulation period is supported by at least four scriptures:

                Daniel 9:27 (the verse we are currently examining)

                Matthew 24:15, 16
16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; Matthew 24:15, 16

                When Jesus spoke of the “abomination of desolation…standing in the holy place,” He is referring to the same event that Daniel refers to in Daniel 9:27. The “holy place” is reference to the most sacred room within Israel’s Temple. What Temple? There is no Temple now. How can this be fulfilled since there is not a Jewish Temple standing. The third temple must be seen as a future event. Dr. Tim LaHaye tells us that “Matthew 24:15 portrays the ‘abomination of desolation,’ when the Antichrist desecrates the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem.” He then adds, “Obviously it has to be rebuilt in order to be desecrated.”

                2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4
3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy[2] comes first, and the man of lawlessness[3] is revealed, the son of destruction,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so called-god or object of worship; so that he takes his seat in the temple of God,[4] displaying himself as being God. 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4

                In this passage we see, for the third time, a description of “the abomination of desolation.” This time it is referred to a as the event in which the antichrist “takes his seat in the temple of God.”  Once e again, which Temple?   The clear answer is the future third temple. Dr. Charles Ryrie tells us that at “the midpoint of the tribulation period the Antichrist will desecrate the rebuilt Jewish temple in Jerusalem by placing himself there to be worshiped.” This act of self-deification is the “abomination of desolation.

                Revelation 11:1, 2
1 And there was given to me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “Rise and measure the temple of God,[5] and the altar, and those who worship in it.
2 And leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.[6] Revelation 11:1, 2

                Since this section of Revelation in which this passage appears takes place during the tribulation period, this is a reference to Israel’s third Temple in Jerusalem.

                THE MILLENNIAL TEMPLE

            The Bible teaches in Ezekiel 40-48 that there will be a fourth Temple. This final temple will be the center from which worship of Jesus Christ during the Millennium will be focused:

And He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My name, neither they nor their kings, by their harlotry,[7] and by corpses of their kings when they die, Ezekiel 43:7

As for you son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the plan. Ezekiel 43:10

                The Old Testament refers to the sacrifices that will take place in the Millennial Temple in the following passages: Isaiah 56:7; 60:7, 13; 66:20-23; Jeremiah 33:15-22; Zechariah 14:16-21. 

       These sacrifices are not for the expiation of sin but as a memorial, a remembrance, of what Christ did for us.

                Put to a stop sacrifice and grain offering- When these are stopped is the time for the Jews to flee to the mountains:

15 “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; Matthew 24:15, 16

Many believe the place that they will flee to will be the mountains of Petra.

Some have postulated that this verse refers to Christ and His death on the cross. However, they forget that the Jews continued to carry out the sacrifices until the Roman army came and defeated them in 70 AD. It was the Romans who stopped the sacrifices then, it will be a Roman who will stop the sacrifices during the Tribulation.

                Sacrifice- A reference to offerings that would cover their sins. This relates to the bloody offerings. Unfortunately for them since the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, their offerings are worthless.

                Grain offering- This refers to non-bloody offerings that were an expression of thanksgiving and dedication to God.

                On the wing- This involves some symbolism familiar to the author and his readers. This should be a lesson to all Bible students that not everything is plainly explained to us. There will be things we read and study that we just don’t know what it means.

                This could refer to the outstretched wings of some bird to which the ruler is tacitly compared or else the hawk like wings that adorned the royal insignia of the kings of Egypt, Assyria, and Rome.



                Who makes desolate- This is the ushering in of the last three and a half years of the Great Tribulation. The final horrors of the Tribulation.

                A complete desolation- The dictator will hold sway until the wrath of God is poured out in fury on the God-defying world of the Beast.

                One that is decreed- In summary, it may be concluded that Daniel’s great prophecy of the seventy sevens comprehends the total history of Israel from the time of Nehemiah in 445 BC, until the second coming of Jesus Christ. In the first period of seven sevens, the city and streets are rebuilt. In the second period of sixty-two sevens which follows, the Messiah appears and is living at the conclusion of that period. In the parenthesis between he sixty-ninth and seventieth seven, at least two major events take place:

1.       The cutting off of the Messiah (the death of Christ)
2.       The destruction of Jerusalem in 70
Though the church is founded during the time there is no mention of the church anywhere in the Old Testament.

                The final period of seven years begins with the introduction of a covenant relationship between the future “prince that shall come” and “the many,” the people of Israel. This covenant is observed for the first half of the future seven-year period, then the special liberties and protections granted Israel are taken away; and Israel becomes persecuted in their time of great tribulation. The beginning of the last three and one-half years of the seventy sevens of Daniel, is marked by the desecration of the future temple, the stopping of the sacrifices, and the desolation of the Jewish religion. It is this period referred to by Christ as the great tribulation in Matthew 24:15-26.

                The culmination of the entire prophecy of the seventy weeks is the second advent of Jesus Christ which closes the seventieth seven of Israel as well as the time 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 with the same major event- the second advent of Jesus Christ.  At this point, the oppressed Israel is delivered, and the oppressor, the Gentiles, are judged. With Israel back in the land, the fulfillment of these prophecies may not be too long distant.




[1] Abomination of desolation. This is the man of sin (2 Thessalonians 2:4), the Antichrist, who at this midpoint in the tribulation breaks his covenant which he made at the beginning of the tribulation with the Jewish people (Daniel 9:24), and demands that they and the world worship him. Those who resist will be martyred; that is the reason for he urgency of the instructions in Matthew 24:16-22). The antichrist will make his center of worship in Jerusalem.
[2] Two trains of thought have come to light on what is meant by the apostasy. An aggressive and climatic revolt against God which will prepare the way of the appearance of the man of sin. Another, more recent line of translation, is that this is an actual reference to the Rapture.
[3] Man of lawlessness. While it is true that the forces of lawlessness were at work in Paul’s time and are at word today, the man of lawlessness is an individual of the future who will come to power during the tribulation days. John also recognized the presence of many antichrists in his time (1 John 2:18) as well as the coming of one great Antichrist in the future (Revelation 11:7; 13:1-10).
[4] takes his seat in the temple of God. At the midpoint of the tribulation period the Antichrist will desecrate the rebuilt Jewish temple in Jerusalem by placing himself there to be worshiped (see notes on Matthew 24:15). This will be the climax of man’s great sin of self-deification, in open defiance of God.
[5] The temple of God. Apparently the temple which will be rebuilt during the tribulation days, in which Jewish worship will be carried on during the first part of that period and in which, at the mid-point of the seven year period, the man of sin will exalt himself to be worshiped (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
[6] Forty-two months. This equals three and one-half years and probably refers to the last half of the tribulation period.
[7] Harlotry. Temple prostitution.

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