“… even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate” (Daniel 9:27d).

Sequence of Daniel 9:26 and 27

The setting is 490 years of probation couched within seventy sevens. In sixty-nine weeks the Messiah would come. This is felt to be 27 A.D. at His baptism or anointing. Sometime after this sixty-nine weeks the Messiah is killed. That death causes the sacrifice and oblation to cease in the midst of the last week. This is when Jesus cried “It is finished,” coinciding with the curtain in the temple being torn in two (Matthew 27:51).

Outside of the declaration that the Prince will validate the covenant with many for a week, the end of the seventy weeks is not defined. The completion of the everlasting covenant (Daniel 9:24) never occurred in that immediate setting!

The last half of verse 27 is a commentary insert: “And for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate” (Daniel 9:27c,d).

We’ve seen the culmination of the messianic mission, now the end of all opposition. This important picture is developed to mesh with other abomination/transgression/desolation prophecies – especially in this book.

How? In verse 24 one of the covenant steps that had to occur was to “seal up the vision and prophecy.” That referred to the chazown vision. It was a prophetic sweep of opposing satanic agencies that would try to prevent the completion of the redemptive plan. Verse 27c declares that part of the agreement with “Israel” would occur after the cross. Then in 27d all opposition would cease.

Thus, associated with bringing in everlasting righteousness is the destruction of Satan’s host. Satan’s people (Babylon) nearly destroy the church and its form of worship, which leads us to the end of time, encompassing wrath and war. But desolation is promised (in prophecy) as the outcome. Because of those abominations it will become desolate, reaching to the great consummation (“even until the consummation”) – it is all decreed (prophesied).

Transgression

Abomination

Desolation

Consummation

Just as Jesus made the ties to Daniel in Matthew 24:15, the abomination leads to end-time devastation.

To further capture the exciting end-time meaning of Daniel’s prophecies, we must move forward in time to crucial points conveyed by Jesus. It was on the Mount of Olives that Jesus outlined the signs, events and prophetic links that would confirm the arrival of the last days. Within that awesome discourse were important sequences and, ignored by many, two ends of time.

“In his answer, Jesus did not take up separately the destruction of Jerusalem and the last great day of his coming. He mingled the description of these two events. When he spoke of the destruction of Jerusalem, his words referred also to the final destruction that will take place when the Lord rises out of his place to punish the world for its iniquity. The entire chapter [notice this insight] in which are recorded Christ’s words regarding this, is a warning to all who shall live during the last scenes of this earth’s history.”[1]

This is an important concept that should settle many theological debates. There are two end-time messages within Scripture (outside the Flood). Matthew 24 outlines both. Verse 15 is pivotal in guiding us to complementary information in Daniel regarding each.

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place … flee …” Matthew 24:15; cf. Mark 13:14.

Contextually, these thoughts are part of a sequence of events that introduces a terminus:

Jesus’ day:

Abomination

Flee destruction – Jerusalem

Tribulation

End

End of time:

Abomination

Flee destruction – Babylon

Tribulation

End

This abomination was to be a “sign” to God’s people to “flee” away from the “city.” As with most prophecy, Jesus inserted a useful timing element. When you see this abomination, flee so quickly you don’t go back to the house to retrieve any belongings, not even an outer garment (coat) left at the edge of a field. That’s urgent! The abomination is very bad and threatening – and a sign of the end! Daniel talks about the same abomination in several places!

Bdelugma is the Greek word used to express this abomination. Toebah is the Hebrew word Ezekiel chose (Ezekiel 8) to describe a similar abomination. Siqqus [shiqqowts] is the Hebrew rendition for abomination that Daniel used. The abomination will lead to desolation (utter destruction). Thus we now have this additional sequence:

Jesus’ Day:     Cross     Time gap     Abomination     Flee destruction – Jerusalem     Tribulation     Desolation – city          End		1260 Days
End of time:     Cross     Time gap     Abomination     Flee destruction – Babylon     Tribulation     Desolation – world     End		1260 Days

Where do the 1260-day periods come from? Daniel 12 and Revelation 11 together put the last-day events within a three and a half year time period. (There are others, but they are outside the scope of this chapter.)

The fall of Jerusalem was over a three and a half year period also. Both periods depict a final probation. The 70 A.D. desolation is a metaphor of the final period of mercy before the world becomes desolate.

What was so detestable to God that it was called an abomination? The chief mythical Greek god Zeus was called “Lord of Heaven.” The Jews developed a reactionary term against this designation – “an abomination that desolates.” The abomination related to some false worship standard that took either the place of God or what He wanted. It related to an idolatrous substitute. It was an abhorrent practice in God’s sight – something that took away honor from Him.

Jesus related this to a last-day sign of His nearness. He then specifically said that this abomination was the same one detailed by Daniel. That means whenever he used it he was describing an end-time prophecy. And that is exactly what Jesus wants us to conclude. He knew that rich and detailed information was already given to Daniel that would complement his end-time discourse. Thus he urged all – right in the middle of the chapter – to look at the signs that are also in Daniel. They would be transition signals, with warnings surrounding them, to know when the final end-time events would commence.

“Desolation” Adds Understanding to Christ’s Words

Eremos (desolate) means an “area uninhabited” or one that has been laid waste and depopulated. Jesus warns that some abomination will lay Jerusalem waste. In a greater application it refers to the world and what will happen when it is laid waste by the Trumpets, Armageddon and the Plagues.

“Christ, upon the Mount of Olives, rehearsed the fearful judgments that were to precede His second coming: … While these prophecies received a partial fulfillment at the destruction of Jerusalem, they have a more direct application to the last days.”[2]

Daniel refers to desolations several times in chapters 8–12. Except for Daniel lamenting Jerusalem’s desolation in his prayer (9:18), they all relate to the final outcome of an abominable act. Four times in Daniel 8–12 the verb tense related to this suggests that someone has caused the sanctuary or altar (God’s church and ministry) to be polluted, making it unfit for worship or the services to God. No wonder God permits the world to become desolate. Those texts relate to a power or being that sins unto desolation:

 8:13:

      Transgression

      Little Horn

      Desolation

 9:27:

      Abomination

      Prince

      Desolation

11:31:

      Abomination

      King of the North

      Desolation

12:11:

      Abomination

      Final timing event (of Babylon)       

      Desolation

Every one of these relates to either Jerusalem’s destruction or the final destruction of the world. Many expositors have tried to bring in diverse historic events to account for this prophetic desolation outlined to the disciples. We must revisit again and again the idea that Jesus defined two terminuses or end-time prophecies related to desolation – future to His time!

It is vital to grasp another amazing concept. Jerusalem was destroyed or desolated after the end of the 490-year period during a three and a half year siege. There was a delay or gap of 40 years – but within a generation. It is precision-clear that false standards will lay siege to the world at the very end for three and a half years just before the world is desolated, following a time delay or gap called a tarrying time.

When the gap ends, the final probation period to gather the remnant and prepare for the tribulation begins and lasts three and a half years.

What is happening to the 70-week prophecy?

Daniel 9 takes us to Christ’s death and the termination of the sacrifice and oblation. It does not tell us what happens at the end – at least in that chapter. The only thing it states is that the Messiah will confirm the covenant for one week. Does that mean Jesus ceased his mediatorial work in 34 A.D.? Hardly. We must see Daniel 8–12 as a unit. Each part complements the other. The war goes to the consummation (9:27)!

Did Daniel’s people reach perfection and bring in everlasting righteousness at the cross? Did Daniel’s people reach perfection and bring in everlasting righteousness by 34 A.D.? To draw such conclusions circumvents what is in the prophecy.

Let’s listen to what E. G. White resolves relative to this issue. The death knell of the Jewish nation sounds: “A divine voice had been appealing to them for three years and a half, but they hated it, and were plotting to silence it by death. ‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ But the Jewish nation refused to accept the offering; and Christ took up the lamentation of unrequited love: ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!’ You have perverted my words, and wrested my entreaties.”[3]

“The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matthew 21:43).

“Your house is left unto you desolate” (Matthew 23:38).

Probation for the Jewish people ended at the cross – the very time-period set aside for them to develop a holy character was never completed.

Branches Severed from the Vine

“What was Christ’s grief to see the Jews fixing their own destiny beyond redemption! He alone could comprehend the significance of their rejection, betrayal, and condemnation of the Son of God. His last hope for the Jewish nation was gone. Nothing could avert her doom. By the representatives of the nation God was denied as their Ruler. By worlds unfallen, by the whole heavenly universe, the blasphemous utterance was heard, ‘We have no king but Caesar.’ The God of heaven heard their choice. He had given them opportunity to repent, and they would not. Forty years afterward Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Roman power ruled over the people. Then they had no deliverer. They had no king but Caesar. Henceforth the Jewish nation, as a nation, was as a branch severed from the vine – a dead, fruitless branch, to be gathered up and burned – from land to land throughout the world, from century to century, dead – dead in trespasses and sins – without a Saviour (YI Feb. 1, 1900)!”[4]

“But Israel as a nation had divorced herself from God. The natural branches of the olive tree were broken off. Looking for the last time upon the interior of the temple, Jesus said with mournful pathos, ‘Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see Me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.’ Hitherto He had called the temple His Father’s house; but now, as the Son of God should pass out from those walls, God’s presence would be withdrawn forever from the temple built to His glory. Henceforth its ceremonies would be meaningless, its services a mockery.”[5]

The cross – “midst of the week” – ended the Jewish nation’s probation and favor.

“When Christ should hang upon the cross of Calvary, Israel’s day as a nation favored and blessed would be ended.”[6]

“When Christ upon the cross cried out, ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30), and the veil of the temple was rent in twain, the Holy watcher declared that the Jewish people had rejected Him who was the antitype of all their types, the substance of all their shadows. Israel was divorced from God.”[7]

Many will protest that the Jewish probation ended in 34 A.D. There are numerous statements and allusions to this because that would have ended the 490 years. But – the fulfillment of the 70-week prophecy has not yet occurred. Daniel 9:24 awaits completion! The last three and a half years still tarries for a people to finally meet the divine ordered objective. The everlasting covenant is ratified but not completed.

“That which God purposed to do for the world through Israel, the chosen nation, He will finally accomplish through His church on earth today. He has ‘let out His vineyard unto other husbandmen,’ even to His covenant-keeping people, who faithfully ‘render Him the fruits in their seasons.’ Never has the Lord been without true representatives on this earth who have made His interests their own. These witnesses for God are numbered among the spiritual Israel, and to them will be fulfilled all the covenant promises made by Jehovah to His ancient people.”[8]

That is plain and confirmatory. Spiritual Israel will be rewarded with the covenant promises. In the 144,000 will be seen the completion of 9:24.

What did happen between the cross and 34 A.D.?

“Jesus was sitting in the midst of priests, rulers, lawyers, and Pharisees,–in the midst of men who had long been favored with the heavenly invitation, and who claimed to be guests for the feast of the Lord. But when the time came when they should have entered into the spiritual kingdom of heaven, when by believing on Christ they should have been partakers of his flesh and blood, when they should have received him whom their sacrificial offerings typified, they all with one consent began to make excuse. Mercy was extended to them, and their probation was lengthened, until three years and a half after the death of Christ [If it was already part of the 70 weeks, why “lengthen it?”], when the apostles declared: ‘It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you; but seeing you put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.’ The Lord gave the commission to go out into the highways and the hedges of the cities and villages, to go to the poor, the halt, the lame, and the blind, to minister to those who felt that they had need of a physician. Jesus had declared, ‘I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’ The wandering sheep must be hunted up. The Jews refused to accept the flesh and blood of the Son of God; they would not listen to his word, which he declared is spirit and life, and rejected the invitation to the gospel feast. Through their impenitence and stubbornness of heart in refusing the heavenly invitation, they themselves were rejected. The solemn words were spoken by lips that cannot lie, saying, ‘None of those men that were bidden [and who have refused my invitation] shall taste of my supper.’”[9]

Once again the 1260-day prophecies of Daniel 12 and Revelation 11–13 unfold the time period of the last probation for God’s people and the time when the prince of this world (Satan, beast) will attempt to thwart the completion of the covenant – finishing the last half of the last week of the covenant.

It is a baseless reason to reject any break in the 70-week continuity simply because others have created or accepted a spurious seven-year Jesuit gap theory relative to the 70-week prophecy. In fact, it is amazing that a gap isn’t seen because of the 2300-year prophecy in 8:14! Before the 70 weeks began, God anticipated Israel’s failure by giving that 2300-year prophecy. That in itself shows that Daniel 9:24 would never be completed by Israel of old and a gap was going to occur! It’s incredible.

The seventy weeks of years has not been completed. Jesus said that would happen after the 2300 evenings and mornings (8:14). There would be a long tarrying time. “Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Habakkuk 2:3). At the “appointed time” the final three and a half years of earth’s history will resume. Then this great prophecy will see its termination at the deliverance of God’s people.

The future understanding of this prophecy was noted by E. G. White: “As Daniel’s prayer is going forth, the angel Gabriel comes sweeping down from the heavenly courts to tell him that his petitions are heard and answered. This mighty angel has been commissioned to give him skill and understanding – to open before him the mysteries of future ages. Thus, while earnestly seeking to know and understand the truth, Daniel was brought into communion with Heaven’s delegated messenger.

“In answer to his petition, Daniel received not only the light and truth which he and his people most needed, but a view of the great events of the future, even to the advent of the world’s Redeemer.”[10]