We left off yesterday saying Daniel 9:24 had three negatives and three positives:
Da 9:24 “to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.”
We dealt with the three negatives …
(a) to finish transgression;
(b) to put an end to sin and
(c) to atone for wickedness.
Once the negatives are understood, all relating to sin … not just Israel’s sin but ours too, we are able to consider the three positives … or if you like, the blessings or fruits once sin is removed … salvation! Once the sin nature is removed another nature needs to be installed to prevent a return to the old sinful nature. It is radical because a new culture begins.
(d) To bring in everlasting righteousness. This righteousness does not come from within a person. Its source is external. God is that source and the means is Messiah. An example is
Isa 51:5 My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations. The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm. 6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail. 7 “Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults. 8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment; the worm will devour them like wool. But my righteousness will last forever, my salvation through all generations.”
(1) Firstly this righteousness means being right with God. It means being in a right standing with God. That is the first blessing of salvation through Jesus Christ. You are right with God and condemnation for all sin, passed, present and future has been removed.
Ro 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
(2) Secondly righteousness is credited from God to the saved sinner.
Gal 3:6 Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
(3) Righteousness becomes the desire of the saved sinner because the Holy Spirit living within provides the desire and the means to seek practical righteousness.
(4) This standing and accreditation of righteousness is positional in Jesus, developing in practice by the Spirit’s enabling with death being the instrument of practice becoming equal to position and is eternal.
(e) To seal up vision and prophecy. As with much of Daniel, commentators tend to have a field day to promote their beliefs. Yet we need to use Biblical keys to interpret passages, phrases or concepts that seem difficult. A vision was a technical process in the Old Testament for the concept of “revelation”. “To seal up” means that it no longer appears. Its functions are complete. It is finished and now no longer needed. The Old Testament prophet was the agency through which the vision came revealing God’s will and Word to the people. Vision and prophet together meant prophetic revelation from God to His people. This was a temporary and preparatory mechanism, always pointing to the Great Prophet who was promised.
Duet 18:15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”
This is Messianic and refers to the Lord Jesus. Once He came prophetic revelation as in the Old Testament would no longer be needed. It would cease. It was finished. It seems as this positive could be linked to the second negative. Once sin was dealt with through the Messiah’s Sacrifice at Calvary, prophecy that predicted His coming was no longer needed. Its task was completed and now sealed up.
(f) To anoint the most holy. This phrase does not refer to the temple that Zerubbabel built being dedicated, nor would it refer to the altar being consecrated after its desecration. Rather these words refer to the Messiah being anointed … and in the original it means “anointing a most holy thing”. There are numerous references in the Old Testament to the Spirit anointing the Messiah … take as an example
Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor
Compare this to Luke 4:
Lk 4:16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Looking at these three negatives and three positives that refer to Messiah, we have to conclude that the time frame of the “Seventy Sevens” ends with Jesus’ ascension and the Spirit’s coming at Pentecost. “When our Lord ascended into heaven and the Holy Spirit descended, there remained not one of the six items of Daniel 9v24 that was not fully accomplished.” (Mauro). I would like to leave you with this thought about verse 24 … “Interpreting God’s Word has nothing to do with way out weird and wonderful ideas, concept and meanings. The use of history and Scriptures provides practical answers to difficult passages. If we do not do the hard work of interpretation we muddy to waters and land up with error.”
Lord, help us to use the Bible right. Amen.