| |
THE COVENANT-EXPERIMENT of Daniel 9:27
For full context see commentary: Daniel 9
Daniel 9:27
Verse 27 - the 70th week
1. And he: refers to the most recently mentioned of the 2 princes.
This will actually be a leader who rises up among an international body of
nations that is trying to bring peace and stability in the world.
2. Will establish a covenant:
The verb is gAbhar. It means to be strong or mighty. It occurs in the hiphil
imperfect which means, "to cause" to be strong. Thus to make firm - not make
"a" firm, but to make "something" firm, ie, a covenant. To establish.
He will establish the covenant with the many. This refers to the vast
majority of the populous involved. In fact it would indicate all the nations
and their leadership as being in compliance with the covenant.
But it will specifically include the nation of Israel as the subject of the
phrase "for your people and your holy city," at verse 24.
The term one week refers to a specific 7-year period of time as the context
indicates (one week of the 70 weeks).
For details see commentary: Daniel 9
That specific length is inherent in the terms of the covenant.
And so it can be seen as a 7-year experiment to give peace a chance.
The covenant:
The covenant has something to do with the temple and the sacrifices since in
the middle of the week the sacrifices are prohibited.
At Dan. 9:26, the city and the temple are shown to be destroyed, so the
covenant must involve a restoration to temple activity.
That would include not only the building of a temple or sanctuary, but also
the freedom to conduct animal sacrifices.
The temple was destroyed and the sacrifices stopped in 70 AD and have not
been a reality for Israel since then.
The prince who is to come will make a covenant with Israel and the
surrounding nations, that will allow them to build a sanctuary and conduct
sacrifices.
This is indicated by the fact that when the covenant is broken 3 1/2 years
into the week, the sacrifices will be stopped by the "one" who made the
covenant. Actually, by the healed leader who will then become the beast.
Daniel 8:23 describes the benevolent leader.
He is "super confident" (strong of face) and skilled with words (political
genius).
Daniel 8:24-25 describes the healed leader after he is killed (Rev. 13:3) as
being empowered by another.
The establishment of the covenant experiment will require acceptance by the
Muslims and the 10 nation “revived Roman” confederacy, for otherwise they
would prevent it.
And it requires that this benevolent leader wield some MUSCLE to convince
the various nations involved to go along with it.
That is why he will subdue 3 of the 10 nations in the confederacy (Dan. 7:8,
20, 24).
But they are still TEN that will be used later when Satan empowers the
ruler.
The 3 are not destroyed – just used as an example to bring the others into
agreement.
This therefore qualifies as a time of religious toleration and peace. If one
wants to LIMIT this to the Middle East and Europe and Asia and North Africa
– the “bible” lands – then fine. The prophetic focus is never on the rest of
the world anyway until the midpoint of the week.
And Satan will not be advancing his “political” agenda during the first 3
1/2 years of the covenant.
Satan is not being allowed to interfere during the first half of the
covenant experiment.
He is being restrained by Michael as per Dan. 12:1 and 2Thes. 2:6-8.
See topic: restrainer
Now that does not mean that it will be a time of peace for Christians.
However, there have been many periods of no persecution for Christians in
various locations. For example, I know of no significant persecution
directed against the Christians in America – at least during my lifetime of
70 years. However no one has said anything about no more spiritual conflict
for the believers during this time. 1 Peter 5:8 will still be a problem. The
warfare with the sin nature will still be a problem. 1 Peter 2:11.
This is all about attempting a political solution to the middle east crisis
and completing God’s plan for Israel and the world. It has nothing to do
with the elimination of the spiritual conflict that believers face on a
daily basis.
It is at the midpoint of the week that there is war in heaven. Michael will
defeat Satan and kick him out of heaven, thus, removing the restraint so
that he can empower the man of lawlessness and begin his oppressive activity
against Israel and the believers.
Since it is at the midpoint that the “he” will interrupt the covenant
experiment by putting a stop to the sacrifice and offering, the clear
implication is that it will indeed be a time of religious toleration prior
to that – at least for Israel.
He puts a stop to Israel’s worship activity by placing the abomination in
the holy place.
Mat. 24:15, "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was
spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place—let the
reader understand— for then there will be a great tribulation."
This act is the revealing of himself as the man of lawlessness as per
2 Thes. 2:1-4.
"the man of lawlessness 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, displaying himself as being God."
PRIOR to this midpoint of the week, he is NOT the oppressor and Satan is NOT
involved with what is going on at that time because he is being restrained.
The covenant is an attempt at a political solution to the mess in the Middle
East. All the prophecies on this subject revolve around this geographical
area. There is not a world-wide focus until the midpoint when Satan empowers
the benevolent world ruler so that he becomes the man of lawlessness and the
beast. Rev. 13:3ff.
Rev. 17:11, he is one of the 7 (benevolent leader) and is also the 8th (man
of lawlessness).
And prior to that, there will be the “peace experiment” going on in that
geographical area and everyone will be getting along just fine.
Jesus warned the people in Judea to flee when they see the abomination – at
the midpoint of the week.
Why not before? Because everything is OK prior to the midpoint.
The 7-year covenant-experiment is mentioned directly only one time in the
Old Testament, and that is at Daniel 9:27.
And yet it refers to a very major point in the end-times events.
There is a general reference to it at Dan. 11:34.
"Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will join
with them in hypocrisy."
There is the viewpoint that "the covenant with death" at Isaiah 28:15 refers
to this end-times covenant.
But the context does not allow for that.
It clearly refers to the historical occasion when the king of Assyria
invaded Judah. The prophecy makes future application to the FIRST coming of
the Messiah, but not the time of the second coming.
The covenant at Isaiah 28:15 is a covenant with Egypt. It is an agreement
that depends on Egypt for help against the invasion of the Assyrians. Isaiah
30:1-2.
But Egypt will fail to help. Egypt will be defeated at the battle of Eltekah
in 711 BCE. Isaiah 30:3-7; 31:1-3.
The entire section, chapters 28-33 alternates between the events of 711 BCE;
the first advent of the Messiah; and events around the future day of the
Lord and the second coming of the Messiah. But the covenant with death needs
to be kept within the immediate context of Assyria's invasion.
See Commentary: Isaiah 28
Now one would think that such a major event as the covenant of Daniel 9:27
should certainly be mentioned somewhere in the NT.
But the ONLY place where it could be found, if it were mentioned, is within
the symbolism of the first seal.
THE FIRST SEAL
See Commentary: Revelation 6
Verse 6:1
And I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the
four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, Come. And I looked,
and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was
given to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer.
This world leader will be a very dynamic and persuasive political and
military FORCE or man who effectively “conquers,” that is, takes control of,
the dominant nations in the Middle East, if not Europe as well.
Will there be nations at that time that need to be “conquered?”
Yes. Even though there will be the 10-nation confederacy trying to "run" the
world, there will still be violence and oppression agaisnt Israel. There
needs to be some banging of heads together so that a covenant can be
arranged that will establish PEACE (THE peace of Rev. 6:2) in the Middle
East. As such, he will appear and function as a benevolent leader seeking
only what is best for the nations and peoples involved.
Daniel 7:24, And "he" will subdue three kings.
Dan. 7:25-26 then moves beyond the benevolent leader and sees him as the
beast of Rev. 13:3, after he is healed from his fatal wound.
Daniel 8:23
"And in the latter period of their rule (the 10 nations), When the
transgressors have run {their course,} A king will arise strong of face and
skilled in words."
When this man takes control, the 10-nation confederation will become the 7th
kingdom of the beast's historical pedigree. According to Rev. 17:10-11, when
he comes, he must remain a little while as 7th king or kingdom and then
become the 8th.
He will be a benevolent leader for the first 3 1/2 years of his reign. The
first thing on the agenda for the benevolent leader, is to resolve the
economic, social, religious, military and health problems of the world. This
will be initiated by the 7 year covenant-experiment that is made with "the
many," which term usually refers to Israel. However, the peace that is
procured by this covenant apparently extends throughout the whole world (or
AT LEAST, the European, Asian and Mediterranean areas). It is designed to
provide both economic security as well as physical security specifically the
the Israel and the Middle East.
This is indicated when we see at the 2nd seal that "THE peace" is taken from
the earth. In the Greek, the definite article (the) is present and should be
translated, since it draws attention to the special quality and time of
peace that had been procured through the conquering of the first seal.
Dan. 9:26-27,
". . .and the prince who is to come . . . will make a firm covenant with the
many for 1 week." (7 years)
This covenant-experiment will allow Israel to build a temple (or sanctuary)
on Mt. Moriah and begin worship through animal sacrifices. This is based on
Dan. 9:27, "put a stop to sacrifice," and based on 2 Thes. 2:4, take his
seat in the TEMPLE of God, and Mat. 24:15, "standing in the Holy Place." But
what it actually amounts to, is a human works endeavor which attempts to
realize Messianic promises through a human agency.
From this point we have no scriptural information about events until the
mid-point of the week when the world ruler breaks the covenant and begins
his oppressive reign over the whole world.
Does anything NEED to happen between the signing of the covenant and the
midpoint of the 70th week? NO.
DOES anything significant happen between the signing of the covenant and the
midpoint of the week? NO.
So, seal #2 is the NEXT major event to occur between the establishment of
the covenant and the midpoint of the week, when the covenant will be broken.
It is at this time that some force or person will take THE PEACE from the
earth
Accordingly, it is suggested that the first 3 1/2 years of the 70th week of
Daniel will be a time of general peace and religious toleration throughout
the world and will then be interrupted by the deceitful world ruler, who
through Satanic empowering, will become the oppressive man of lawlessness -
the beast.
|
|
