Dan.9: 23) �At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee: for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.�
The first thing I will say is that Daniel is told to understand this vision, and apparently he did, but we shall come back to this later. The clue that we are given is this: Gabriel was sent at the beginning of Daniel�s prayer. Why? How interesting it is that Daniel at the very beginning of his prayer mentions the Covenant that G-d keeps with his people. When G-d heard the beginning of Daniel�s prayer he dispatched Gabriel with the vision of the seventy weeks, and that vision contains the �confirmation� of the Covenant! Here is the beginning of Daniel�s prayer,
Dan.9: 4) �And I prayed unto the L-rd my G-d, and made my confession, and said, O L-rd, the great and dreadful G-d, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments.�
What other covenant can this be than the covenant that provided mercy in the Old Testament? Mercy was obtained through true repentance and the shedding of innocent blood, animal sacrifice, (the typeology of the final sacrifice: Christ). In fact the word testament means covenant, or �a will.� When you read scripture, you are reading the will of G-d. The Old Testament and the New Testament could have just as easily been called the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, and the meaning would not be changed! Daniel understood the covenant; it was the worship of the one true G-d and the mercy covenant that G-d promised Abraham, that through the seed of Abraham all the nations of the world would be blessed. This can mean nothing other than the work of Yeshua HaMashiach.
We know that Daniel had the books of Jeremiah because he told us in verse 2, and in one verse alone in Jeremiah we are told what the obligation was to this covenant. It is Jer. 22:9, I will quote verse eight with it.
Jer.22: 8-9,
v.8) �and many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, wherefore hath the L-rd done thus unto this great city?
v.9) Then they shall answer, because they have forsaken the covenant of the L-rd their G-d, and worshipped other gods, and served them.�
As we all know, Israel broke the covenant many times, so G-d promised he would provide them with a new covenant. This new covenant would not only fulfill the requirement of the Mosaic "Law Covenant," which Christ fulfilled, (He came to fulfill it not abolish it), but also the covenant with Abraham. Although this covenant is called �new,� (�new things do I declare�), it is actually the confirmation of the covenant with Abraham and his seed, and I praise the G-d of Israel who decided to include the Gentiles:
Isaiah, 42:1-9,
v.1) �Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the gentiles.
v.2) He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
v.3) A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
v.4) He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he hath set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
v.5) Thus saith G-d the L-rd, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out: he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it: he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
v.6) I the L-rd have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the gentiles.
v.7) To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
v.8) I am the L-rd: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
v.9) Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.�
Is there any doubt what this passage tells us? It screams in the face of the modern shepherds yet they do not hear! G-d refuses to share his praise and glory with idols or images, therefore he reveals a new covenant that will cause the former covenant to pass away! How was the new covenant given? G-d gives his servant, his elect, in whom his soul delighteth, his Son Jesus the Christ. This is why we are told at the baptism of Christ, that the voice of G-d in heaven was heard by the people, saying, �THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.� G-d wanted them to know that this man was his servant sent to do a great work: to provide the new covenant! And how do we know that Christ confirmed this covenant? At his death on the cross, G-d ripped the veil to the Holy of Holies in half! Just as G-d intervened at the beginning of Christ�s ministry to show that this was his Son, he also intervened at Christ�s death to show that the new covenant had been confirmed, and animal sacrifice had been abolished!
Behold, the former things have come to pass! And G-d let all of us know in advance. Is it any wonder that Daniel is told to understand the vision? He is not told to shut up the vision; he is not told that the vision is sealed. I believe he did understand this vision, for at the end of it he has no questions, he doesn�t say his thoughts trouble him, he doesn�t seek more information about the vision, he doesn�t keep the matter in his heart, he simply writes down the vision and has nothing to add at the end. He must have had the scrolls of Isaiah too. He knew about the new covenant! He knew this vision was about the Messiah�s covenant!
At this point it would be fitting to explore the �covenant with death� spoken of in the scripture. It is mentioned in only one place that I can find, yet the modern shepherds use this terminology to describe a peace treaty with the Antichrist, between Israel and the Antichrist. We shall see if this is the truth or not. The covenant with death is found in Isaiah 28.
Isaiah 28:9) �Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Weaned from the milk, drawn from the breasts.
v.10) For precept upon precept, precept upon precept: line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little:
v.11) for with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to his people.
v.12) To whom he said, this is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
v.13) But the word of the L-rd was unto them, precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
v.14) Wherefore hear the word of the L-rd, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
v.15) Because ye have said, we have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:�
Does this sound like a treaty with the Antichrist to you? It certainly does not to me! What G-d is saying here is that if they had understood sound doctrine, precept upon precept, line upon line, then they would understand the work of the Messiah. They would understand his �rest,� and his �refreshing,� the new life in Christ. But they would not hear the truth, so his words to them would be like stammering lips and of another tongue. Is this not exactly what happened with the spiritual leaders of the Jews?
Christ spoke in parables and to them it was like stammering lips and another tongue. They didn�t understand because they did not have sound doctrine, but taught the precepts of men! They only saw the physical side of the highly spiritual law. Their covenant with death was the old covenant. It became a covenant with death the day they rejected Jesus Christ the Messiah. If they refused to accept the blood of Christ, the lamb of G-d, slain for the sins of all mankind, once and for all time, but rather they trusted still in the old covenant of animal sacrifice, then their sins can not be forgiven. Thus the old covenant became a covenant with death for any who trusted in it for salvation. Now let us continue on:
Isaiah. 28:16) �Therefore thus saith the L-rd G-d, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
v.17) Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.
v.18) And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.�
So now, what does this tell us? The Messiah will come, and he is the foundation stone, the precious corner stone, the founding of the new covenant! G-d is telling us that the new covenant will also have a new temple, with Christ as it�s foundation stone, and corner stone. The scripture here pictures this new temple as similar to a pyramid being built.
Psalm 118:22) �The stone the builders refused is become the head of the corner (stone).�
Matt. 21:42) �Jesus saith unto them, did ye never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the L-rds doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?
v.43) Therefore I say unto you, the kingdom of G-d shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof,� (�Nation� obviously should read �people.�). This passage was spoken to the chief priests and Pharisees. Also, we read in Eph.2: 19-22,
v.19) �Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of G-d;
v.20) and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone;
v.21) in whom all the building fitly framed together, groweth unto an Holy temple in the L-rd: in whom ye also are builded together, for a habitation of G-d through the spirit.�
So then, what G-d is saying here is that the Jews had been building something all along. By the giving of the law, and the words of the prophets, a new temple was being built, precept upon precept, line upon line! That is why the glory of G-d left the old temple. It was to inhabit the new covenant temple! We who have the spirit of the Holy G-d of Abraham in us, and written on our hearts! So when it came time to place the precious corner-head-stone, the builders of this new temple rejected it! And because they continued to trust in the old covenant after Christ died for their sins, G-d told them a head of time, that he would sweep away their �refuge of lies,� and overflow their �hiding-place.� This is precisely what happened in 70 AD. Now we thank G-d for Daniel�s prayer mentioning the covenant, and we thank G-d for sending Daniel this vision of the seventy weeks we are about to study!