This article is contributed by Ray Konig, the author of Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Prophet, Jesus the Miracle Worker, and 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies.
By Ray Konig
Published: August 15, 2024
Question: A reader asks: "Why do Christians insist that Daniel 9:24-27 is a Messianic prophecy while others insist that it is not?"
Response: Daniel 9:24-27 speaks of bringing an end to the problem of sin and bringing in everlasting righteousness, and these are tasks that the Bible clearly defines as belonging to the Messiah. Therefore, Daniel 9:24-27 should be viewed as being a prophecy about the Messiah.
Daniel 9:24-27 is a densely packed prophecy that has been the subject of many commentaries for the past 2,000 years, since the dawn of Christianity. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of commentaries have been written about this prophecy, offering a wide variety of conflicting views.
For some commentators, including myself, this prophecy accurately predicted that the Messiah would appear 483 years after a call to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.
And, some commentators have the view that this is not a prophecy about the Messiah.
Let's take a look at reasons why Daniel 9:24-27 should be viewed as a Messianic prophecy, but first, here is the World English Bible (WEB) translation for these verses:
24 “Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
25 “Know therefore and discern that from the going out of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times.
26 After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off, and will have nothing. The people of the prince who come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end will be with a flood, and war will be even to the end. Desolations are determined.
27 He will make a firm covenant with many for one week. In the middle of the week he will cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. On the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate; and even to the full end, and that determined, wrath will be poured out on the desolate.” (Daniel 9:24-27, WEB)
This passage consists of about 200 words and it is predicting about 500 years of monumental historical and spiritual events. As mentioned above, you can find a detailed explanation of this prophecy online at http://aboutbibleprophecy.com/daniel_9_24c.htm. For now, though, let's focus on why this prophecy should be viewed as being a prophecy about the Messiah.
As you can see, verses 25 and 26 of the WEB translation use the term Anointed One for the underlying Hebrew word moshiach, which means anointed. The word Messiah comes from the Hebrew word moshiach, and the word Christ comes from the Greek word for anointed. The terms Anointed One, Messiah, and Christ mean the same thing and are interchangeable.
The Old Testament uses the word moshiach in relation to people being anointed as kings, priests and prophets. It also uses this word in relation to the Messiah, the one chosen by God to be anointed as the savior to the world.
So, with this background, let us remember that moshiach means anointed and can refer to a lowercase messiah, as in a regular person who is anointed to be king, or it can refer to the uppercase Messiah, as in the extraordinary person who is anointed as the savior of the world.
So how can we know whether the Anointed One in this prophecy is the Messiah or a lesser messiah?
Our answer is found in verse 24:
24 “Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. (Daniel 9:24, WEB)
In this verse, we see that the problem of sin is addressed three different times in a task oriented way:
1. to finish disobedience
2. to make an end of sins
3. to make reconciliation for iniquity
In fact, as explained in my book Jesus the Messiah, these three references speak of bringing a final and permanent end to the problem of sin, as in finish and make an end of.
And that is how we know that this is a prophecy about the Messiah, and not about a lesser messiah. In the Old Testament, the prophets reveal that the Messiah is assigned the task of bringing an end to the problem of sin. We see this is Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, and here in Daniel 9:24-27.
In fact, each of these three prophecies allow for the understanding that a singular individual (the Messiah) would be called upon to confront the problem of sin and suffer a fatal injury as a result of that confrontation. In other words, the promised Messiah would suffer and die for the sins of others. This is explained more in Jesus the Messiah, and you can read more about these prophecies online: Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Daniel 9:24-27.
Also, verse 24 offers another reason to conclude that Daniel 9:24-27 is a prophecy about the Messiah. It speaks of the task to bring in everlasting righteousness. That task, also, is defined by the prophets of the Old Testament as being a task that is solely and uniquely assigned to the promised Messiah.
We see an example of this with the prophet Jeremiah speaks of the promised Messiah:
"Behold, the days come," says Yahweh, "that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he will reign as king and deal wisely, and will execute justice and righteousness in the land. (Jeremiah 23:5, WEB)
We see another example when the prophet Daniel speaks of the promised Messiah:
13 "I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 Dominion was given him, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom one that which will not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14, WEB)
And we see yet another example when the prophet Isaiah speaks of the promised Messiah:
6 For a child is born to us. A son is given to us; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on David's throne, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from that time on, even forever. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this. (Isaiah 9:6-7, WEB)
Each of these prophecies from Jeremiah, Daniel and Isaiah associate the quality of being righteous, or the quality of being everlasting, or both, to the promised Messiah. In doing so, they make it clear that the task of bringing in everlasting righteousness is a task that belongs to the Messiah.
Even so, there are commentators who take a non-Messianic view of the prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27, despite the precedents set by the prophets Jeremiah, Daniel and Isaiah.
In fact, the commentators who take a non-Messianic view of Daniel 9:24-27 remarkably, consistently, and embarrassingly, overlook the key connections that this prophecy shares with other Messianic prophecies, including Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Jeremiah 23:5, and Daniel 7:13-14.
Another point that is embarrassingly overlooked by many commentators is that anointings in the Old Testament were carried out for a reason. People in the Old Testament were never anointed for no reason. And the only reasons for an anointing in Daniel 9:24-27 are the reasons listed in verse 24. Therefore, the Anointed One is to carry out the tasks in verse 24. And those tasks are defined as Messianic by the prophets of the Old Testament.
Daniel 9:24-27, in speaking for itself, presents a clear and Biblically defined Messianic context in speaking of someone who is anointed to carry out the clear and Biblically defined Messianic tasks of verse 24. Daniel 9:24-27 should be viewed as a prophecy about the Messiah.
© 2024 Ray Konig.
Ray Konig is the author of Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Prophet, Jesus the Miracle Worker, and 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies.
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