Explain the Meaning of Daniel 9:27?
1) Direct Answer
Daniel 9:27 speaks of Jesus the Messiah confirming God’s covenant, not an antichrist making a treaty. He confirmed the New Covenant with many; in the middle of that prophetic week He was cut off by crucifixion, which caused the temple sacrifices to cease in God’s sight; and the determined desolations fell on Jerusalem until its destruction.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: The “he” is the Messiah of verses 25–26. Jesus said, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is shed for many” (Matthew 26:28). He came “to confirm the promises made unto the fathers” (Romans 15:8). Isaiah said Messiah would be given “for a covenant of the people” (Isaiah 42:6). So the covenant in view is God’s covenant, confirmed by Christ.
- In the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease: After about three and a half years of ministry, He was “cut off, but not for Himself” (Daniel 9:26). By His once-for-all offering, the Levitical sacrifices lost all standing before God: “By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:12–14). The veil of the temple was torn (Matthew 27:51). Even though animals were offered until A.D. 70, God no longer recognized them (Hebrews 10:8–10; Colossians 2:14–17).
- For the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation: Because of abominations and rejection of Messiah, desolation was decreed. Jesus linked Daniel’s word to Jerusalem’s fall (Matthew 24:15; Luke 21:20–24). That judgment ran its course “until the consummation,” exactly as “the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined” (Daniel 9:26).
How the “one week” is fulfilled:
- The first half (about 3½ years): Jesus’ public ministry confirming the covenant to Israel with Word and signs (Acts 2:22).
- The midst of the week: the Cross—sacrifice and oblation ceased in God’s reckoning (Hebrews 9:26–28; 10:10).
- The remaining half (about 3½ years): is concluded by the two prophets of Revelations 11:3 who prophesy for one thousand two hundred and threescore days (3 1/2 years).
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- The passage names “Messiah the Prince” (v.25–26). He alone in Scripture is said to confirm God’s covenant by His blood (Matthew 26:28; Isaiah 42:6). Scripture never says a man of sin confirms God’s covenant.
- “Cause the sacrifice to cease” fits Christ’s once-for-all atonement (Hebrews 10:1–14), not a wicked ruler. God ended sacrifice by accepting the perfect Lamb; the later ruin of the temple only manifested what the Cross had already finished.
- The desolations fall because of abominations and rejection of Messiah (Matthew 23:37–38), fulfilled historically in Jerusalem’s destruction, as Jesus foretold (Luke 21:20–24).
4) Reinforcing statement
Now notice, Daniel 9:27 is the Messiah’s week, the Messiah’s covenant, and the Messiah’s sacrifice. The Bible says He confirmed it to many, He ended the offerings by His own blood, and the determined desolation followed. That’s the plain sense of the text.
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