Whose covenant is confirmed in Daniel 9:27: God’s or Satan’s?

EXCERPT: Daniel 9 follows the covenant pattern (disobey – exile – repent – covenant renewal). For this and other reasons, the 490 years, including the last seven are a renewal of God’s covenant with Israel. 

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CENTRAL THEME

Summary: God’s covenant with Israel is the backbone of the entire Daniel 9.  The covenant in 9:27 must therefore also be God’s covenant with Israel.

Dispensationalism interprets the covenant in Daniel 9:27 as a covenant of an end-time Antichrist, but it is proposed here that it is God’s covenant with Israel because God’s covenant with Israel is the central theme throughout the entire Daniel 9.  This is explained in ‘The Covenant in Daniel 9‘, as well as in the previous article under the heading Prophetic Years, but this matter is critical for understanding Daniel 9.

COVENANT WITH ISRAEL – OVERVIEW

God commanded Israel to allow the land to rest every seventh year (Leviticus 25:1-2).  Israel was to work the land for six years (Lev 25:3), but not on the seventh (Lev 25:4).

God made this seven-year cycle part of the covenant by using it to count the number of years of exile (Lev 26:35, 43).  Should Israel become unfaithful (Lev 26:14-39), God will scatter them among the nations (Lev 26:33) to allow the land to have its rest (Lev 26:34, 43).  The period of exile would be equal to the number of years during which the land did not have its rest (Lev 26:35, 43).

But if Israel confesses their sin (Lev 26:40), God would renew His covenant with them (Lev 26:42), that He might be their God (Lev 26:45).

DANIEL 9 FOLLOWS THIS PATTERN.

(1) The prophecy of Daniel 9 was received at the end of Israel’s exile of 70 years (Dan 9:2).  The exile was the covenant penalty for unfaithfulness: Israel was scattered to allow the land to have its rest (2 Chron 36:21; Dan 9:11-13; cf. Lev 25:2).

(2) In his prayer (9:4-19) Daniel confessed the justice of the sentence, Yahweh’s righteousness (Dan 9:7) and Israel’s guilt (9:5-11).  In this way, Daniel fulfilled the condition for covenant renewal after the exile (Lev 26:40-41).  On behalf of Israel, he prayed for the renewal of Israel’s covenant privileges.

(3) The announcement “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city” (Dan 9:24) renewed God’s covenant with Israel in terms of Leviticus 26:42, 45, but limited to 490 years.

CONCLUSION

God’s covenant with Israel is, therefore, the central theme in the entire Daniel 9.  This implies that the promised 490 years is an extension of God’s covenant with Israel, and therefore that the last “one week” (Dan 9:27) is the final seven years of that time-limited renewed covenant.

CONFIRM THE COVENANT

Summary: The phrase “confirm the covenant” (Dan 9:27) means that this covenant existed prior to the 70^th week.  Then it can only be God’s covenant with Israel.

The verb translated “make a firm” in the NASB is “gâbar”.  Strong’s short definition of this word is “prevailed”.  Of the 25 times, this word appears in the OT, it is 14 times translated as “prevail.” The evidence of the usage of gâbar in the Bible (“The covenant of the Seventieth Week” by Meredith G. Kline) indicates that verse 27 has in view the enforcing of a covenant previously granted.  It is not a verb for the initial making of a covenant.  It should, therefore, be translated as “make firm a covenant”, and not as “make a firm covenant”.  The KJV translates it as “confirm the covenant” and Young’s Literal Translation reads “strengthening a covenant”.  “Confirm” and “strengthen” imply a covenant that existed prior to the last seven years.  If so, it can only refer to God’s faithful fulfillment of the covenant He has given to His people.

THE MANY

“The many”, with whom the covenant is confirmed, most often refers to God’s people.  For instance:

“The Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities“ (Isa 53:11)

“Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days” (Dan 11:33; See also Dan 11:39; 12:3; Matt 26:28; Heb 9:26-28; Rom 5:15, 19; 1 Cor 10:33).

The covenant in 9:27 is, therefore, God’s covenant with Israel.

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SUMMARY

Dispensationalism argues that the covenant in verse 27 is a new covenant made by an end-time Antichrist.  But it is God’s covenant with Israel, for the following reasons:

Central Theme – An analysis of the covenant in Leviticus 25-26 and of Daniel 9 shows that Daniel 9 follows the covenant pattern of disobedience – repentance – covenant renewal, and that the 490 years are a renewal of God’s covenant with Israel.

Confirm the Covenant – The phrase “confirm the covenant” (9:27 KJC) reflects the meaning of the verb gâbar.  It means that this covenant existed prior to the 70th week.

The many – “The many”, with whom the covenant is confirmed, most often refers to God’s people.

Of the six times that the word “covenant” appears in Daniel, it is four times explicitly God’s covenant with Israel.

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DISPENSATIONAL VIEW OF DANIEL 9
– LIST OF ARTICLES

1. 1. 1. Overview of the Dispensational view
      2. When did the 490 years begin?
      3. Whose covenant confirmed; God’s or Satan’s?
      4. Who confirms that covenant; Christ or Antichrist?
      5. When are the last seven years?
      6. Inconsistencies in the Dispensational View
         
      7. When will Christ fulfill the goals in Daniel 9:24?
      8. Pre-Wrath Dispensationalism – the church will suffer.

OTHER AVAILABLE ARTICLES

• • • • Daniel 9 – List of Articles
      • Summary of all Daniel 9-articles
      • The Antichrist in Daniel – List of articles
      • All articles on this website – List of all article series