Daniel 9:20-27:
20 Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21 while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. 22 And he gave me instruction and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. 23 “At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision. 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.” (
Daniel 9:20-27)
As you can see, this passage has much to do with the first coming of Jesus, and it is actually only verse 27 that has to do with the Second Coming of Christ. That verse is of extreme importance with regard to the events during the Tribulation period that will usher in Jesus’ return. However, the “seventy weeks” spoken of in verse 24 are controversial from the point of view of its historical context, versus a prophetic oversight that would transcend the historical perspective of Daniel’s time period.
From the prophetical perspective, there is a debate as to whether Daniel is really a prophecy, or rather a historical “retelling” of what occurred. The reason for that question is the specificity with which the book of Daniel lays out the prophetic future in such detail from Daniel’s time frame in the early 6th century BC up to and through the death of Antiochus Epiphanes in 164 BC, which is covered in chapter 11. Thus, the question arises as to whether or not this is prophecy or history because of the disbelief of some who say that NO PROPHECY could ever be that specifically correct, and the reason for their saying that is that they have a very limited view of God and His supernatural power and ability to give such a prophecy to a man, if they even believe in prophecy at all. Therefore, what is at issue for many scholars, teachers, and pastors is whether or not such specific prophecy could possibly be ascribed to God, and if they do not believe it can, then they see this as simply a “historical retelling” of events that occurred, and consequently, they view Daniel as having been written sometime in the late 2nd to perhaps the early 1st century BC.
However, setting aside the critical analysis for the sake of brevity, we are going to look at the Book of Daniel as an authentic, accurate, and divinely inspired account of the historic events that occurred in the life of Daniel from 605 BC to 538 BC, and of future, prophetic and authenticated historical events that would occur up through the death of Antiochus Epiphanes in 164 BC, and then to the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ in the first half of the 1st century BC, and finally, to the final seven year “tribulation” period, wherein we will see the Antichrist come and fulfill
II Thessalonians 2:1-10 and
Revelation 11 &
13. Therefore, with regard to verse 27, what we see being described is the peace treaty that the Antichrist will make with the Jews at the beginning of the Tribulation, but then in the middle of the Tribulation, he will break it off and seek to kill all of the Jews (see
Revelation 11:1-14 and
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12).