Daniel 9, during the last 7 years, who makes what covenant?

Purpose

The “he” of verse 27

In Daniel 9:27, “he” shall confirm the covenant with the many for one week, and “he” causes the sacrifice to cease in the midst of the week. The purpose of this article is to determine who “he” is.

The “one week” in verse 27 is the last of the 70 weeks, symbolizing the last seven years. The “he” must be somebody mentioned in the previous verse (Dan 9:26). That verse mentions the following persons:

- - The Messiah, who is “cut off” (killed) and
  - “The prince who is to come.”

Which one is “he?”

Dispensational View

In this view, the “he” is the “prince” of verse 26. In verse 26, the people of the prince will destroy the city. That refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 by the Romans. The prince, therefore, may be understood as the Roman Emperor, 2000 years ago, who destroyed Jerusalem. However, in Dispensationalism, the prince in verse 27 will be the emperor of an end-time revived Roman Empire, who will reign during the last seven years before Christ returns. The covenant, which “he” confirms during the last week, is then understood as some pact into which this Roman prince will enter at the beginning of the last seven years. However, in the middle of the last seven years, he will break his own covenant, destroy the sanctuary and its services, and bring great tribulation on the world.

Traditional View

In contrast, in the traditional Historical-Messianic view, the “he” is the Messiah of verse 26, namely, Jesus Christ, 2000 years ago. In this view, it is God’s covenant with Israel that He will confirm.

“He” is not an end-time Antichrist.

In the Dispensational view, the “he” is an end-time Antichrist. We argue as follows against this view:

(1) The prince lived 2000 years ago.

The people, who destroyed Jerusalem (v26), symbolize the Roman Empire, 2000 years ago. Their prince, naturally, also existed 2000 years ago. Therefore, the “he” of verse 27 cannot refer to that prince. Otherwise, the prince and his people live 2000 years apart.

(2) The prophecy does not indicate a gap.

The wording of the text of Daniel in no way suggests that the 490 years will be interrupted by an indefinite period. There is no valid reason for assuming a gap between the 70th week and the previous 69 weeks. On the contrary, the purpose of the first 483 years seems to be to explain when the last seven years will begin.

(3) It divides the prophecy into two.

To postpone the last seven years to the end of the age divides the prophecy into two separate and unrelated prophecies: one about Christ 2000 years ago, and one about an end-time Antichrist. That destroys the simple unity of the prophecy. Why would God combine two such unrelated events in one prophecy?

(4) There is no indication of Christ’s return.

If the last “week” is the seven years before Christ returns, then it ends with Christ’s return. Then we would expect a description of His return, as we find in the other prophecies in Daniel. For example, in Daniel 2, a rock strikes the image at its feet. In Daniel 12, we even read about the resurrection from the dead. But in Daniel 9, there is no indication of His return. On the contrary, the vision ends in the accumulation of desolation and chaos.

(5) Daniel 9 does not describe the same crisis?

Dispensationalism is correct to identify the Antichrist in Daniel, the 11th horn in Daniel 7, as of Roman origin. But it then incorrectly assumes that the “he” in verse 27 is the same as that Roman Antichrist. As discussed, while Daniel 9 focuses on Israel and the 490 years allocated to her, the other prophecies in Daniel cover all nations and all time. These visions do not describe the same crisis.

(6) How could the Roman Empire be revived?

Furthermore, how can the Roman Empire be revived 1500 years after it had ceased to exist?

(7) No second rebuilding of the temple

As Daniel 9 prophesied, the temple was rebuilt a few hundred years before Christ and destroyed again in 70 AD (Dan 9:25-26). In Dispensationalism, however, the temple will be rebuilt a second time at the end of the age, after which sacrifices will resume. In contrast, the prophecy promises only one rebuilding of the city and the sanctuary. If the temple was to be rebuilt a second time, the prophecy would have stated that explicitly, given that it is so clear about the rebuilding in verse 25.

(8) Jewish sacrifices cannot be resumed.

After Jesus’s death abolished the sacrificial system 2000 years ago, there can never be a valid return to the old covenant and its earthly temple worship. Christ, the antitype, has terminated once for all the “shadow” and inaugurated a “better covenant” that offers His righteousness as the everlasting righteousness (Heb 7:22; 10:12; Rom 3:22, 25).

“He” confirms God’s covenant.

As the second main point in this article, for the following reasons, the covenant, which “he” confirms during the 70th week, is God’s covenant with Israel:

(1) The 490 years extend Israel’s covenant.

As discussed, the full 490 years were a renewal of God’s covenant with Israel. Therefore, the covenant in 9:27 is the last seven years of God’s covenant.

(2) God’s covenant unites prayer and prophecy.

As also discussed in that same article, God’s covenant is the theme that binds together the entire Daniel 9:

In God’s covenant with Israel, He said that, if Israel becomes unfaithful, He would exile them. At the time of Daniel, Israel was in exile due to unfaithfulness.

In His covenant, God also said that if Israel, in exile, would confess their guilt, He would restore them. In Daniel 9, the prophet Daniel, in prayer, confessed Israel’s sin, and God, through the 70-week prophecy, promised to restore them.

This covenant theme speaks against the supposition that an altogether different covenant is abruptly introduced in the last 7 of the 490 years.

(3) Elsewhere in Daniel, it is God’s covenant.

Of the six times that the word “covenant” appears in the Book of Daniel, four times it is explicitly God’s covenant with Israel (Dan 9:4; 11:28, 30, 32). Some propose that the covenant in 9:27 is not God’s covenant with Israel because of the absence of the definite article “the.” However, Daniel 11:28, 30, and 32 also use “covenant” without the article, but refer explicitly to the “holy covenant.”

(4) The covenant is confirmed, not made.

In verse 27, the verb, which the NASB translates as “make a firm” (covenant), is “gâbar:”

Strong’s short definition of this word is “prevailed.”

Of the 25 times that this word appears in the Old Testament, the NASB translates it 14 times as “prevail.”

Meredith G. Kline, in The Covenant of the Seventieth Week, states that the evidence of the usage of gâbar in the Bible indicates that verse 27 has in view the enforcement of an existing covenant, not making a new covenant.

Among the literal translations, the KJV translates it as “confirm the covenant,” and Young’s Literal Translation reads “strengthening a covenant.”

In other words, gâbar does not mean to make a new covenant. It means to uphold an existing covenant. Then it can only be God’s covenant with Israel.

(5) ‘The many’ are God’s people.

“The many,” with whom “he” confirms the covenant, most often refer to God’s people. For instance:

“The Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities“ (Isa 53:11).

“Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame” (Dan 11:33; See also Dan 11:39; 12:3; Matt 26:28; Heb 9:26-28; Rom 5:15, 19; 1 Cor 10:33).

If “the many,” with whom the covenant is confirmed, are God’s people, then it must be God’s covenant. Show More

“He” is the Messiah.

As the third main point in this article, this section shows that the “he,” who confirms the covenant for the seven last years, is the “Messiah” of verse 26, namely, Jesus Christ, 2000 years ago, and not an end-time Antichrist:

(1) In the Poetic Pattern, “he” is the Messiah.

As discussed, the prophecy has a poetic pattern that alternates between Jerusalem and the Messiah:

JERUSALEM	MESSIAH
v25 from the decree to rebuild	until Messiah the Prince
will be 7 weeks	and 62 weeks.
It will be built again.	v26 The Messiah will be cut off
It will again be destroyed.	v27 He will confirm the covenant for one week.

This table reveals the two foci. It shows that the “he,” who confirms the covenant in verse 27, in this pattern, falls on the Messiah side.

(2) The main person in verse 26 is the Messiah.

It is a Messianic prophecy. The following shows that the Messiah is the main person in the entire prophecy, and in verse 26:

Verse 24 gives goals that only the Messiah could fulfill, including making atonement for iniquity. Jesus made “atonement for iniquity” (John 1:29; Matt 26:28; Heb 7:27, 9:26-28; Heb 9:12; 10:10, 12, 14) and brought in “everlasting righteousness” (Heb 9:12; Rom 5:10, 11; Col 1:20; 2 Cor 5:19; Col 1:22; Rom 5:18; John 3:17; Col 1:19-20).

Verse 25 explains when the Messiah would appear.

Verse 26 says that he was cut off (killed). We know that Jesus died for our sins. The destruction of the city by the “people” in verse 26 is merely a consequence of His death.

Verse 26 further refers to “the people of the prince who is to come.” The prince is not the subject of this phrase; the people are. Therefore, it is unlikely that the “he” in verse 27 refers to the prince.

In chiasms, the main point is in the middle. As discussed, 9:25-27 forms a chiasm, and the death of the Messiah is the core issue.

Since the main person in the prophecy and in verse 26 is the “Messiah,” He is the appropriate antecedent for “he” in verse 27. To assign verse 27 to an end-time Antichrist, or to king Antiochus IV in the second century BC, converts this prophecy about Christ into a prophecy about the Antichrist.

(3) The prince is a supernatural being.

The prince of Rome in verse 26 is described as “to come.” A few verses later, we read of three other princes, namely, the princes of Persia, Greece, and Michael, Israel’s prince. Like the prince of Rome, the prince of Greece is also “to come” (Dan 10:20, 21; see also Dan 12:1).

These princes are not human. They are supernatural beings representing nations (Dan 10:16, 18). This implies that the prince of Rome in 9:26 is also a supernatural being, not human. Therefore, since the “he” of verse 27 is a human being, he cannot be the supernatural prince in verse 26.

(4) Jesus died during the last seven years.

In verse 25, the Messiah appears at the end of the 483 years. Therefore, He will not work during the 483 years, but AFTER the end of that period. Similarly, in verse 26, He is killed some time AFTER the 483 years. He was not killed during the 483 years.

The purpose of the 490 years includes “to make atonement for iniquity” and “to bring in everlasting righteousness” (v24). This is what Jesus Christ did for us. He died for our sins. Since He did not die during the first 483 years, He did not fulfill these goals during that period. But the prophecy says He would fulfill these goals during the 490 years. It follows that He died and fulfilled these goals during the last seven years.

(5) Jesus put an end to the Sacrificial system.

Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God, the ultimate sacrifice that ended all sacrifices. The Jewish sacrifices continued until the destruction of Jerusalem forty years later. But these sacrifices pointed forward to the ultimate sacrifice. After He had died, the Jewish sacrifices had no further significance.

The letter to the Hebrews states this explicitly. When Jesus ascended to heaven and became High Priest (Heb 6:20), the law changed (Heb 7:12), including the sacrificial system (Heb 7:19; 8:4; 9:22). Jesus set “aside the first [sacrifices and offerings] to establish the second” (Heb 10:9; cf. Heb 8:13; Eph 2:15).

Therefore, the statement in verse 27, that “he” will put a stop to sacrifice, confirms that the “he” is Jesus Christ.

Conclusions

In verse 27, during the 70th week, the final seven years, it is Jesus Christ who confirms God’s covenant with Israel. As discussed, during those seven years, before His death, Christ served personally for 3½ years, and, after His death, He ministered to Israel through the Holy Spirit for another 3½ years. In this way, Jesus confirmed God’s covenant with Israel for a full seven years. Never before or after in human history has God appealed so strongly for the heart of any nation as He did during those seven years.

Daniel 9 does not specify a specific event for the end of the seventy weeks. However, as discussed, the seventy weeks were a renewal of God’s covenant with Israel. For example, it says, “seventy weeks are cut off for your people and your holy city” (Dan 9:24). The seventy weeks, therefore, end when God’s covenant with Israel ends.