Seventy Sevens Daniel 9:20-26
There are many prophesies in the Old Testament that have to do with Jesus. I did a quick Google search and came up with 365. These include Isaiah 7:14, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son…” Psalm 22:16, “…they pierce my hands and feet.” And Isaiah 53:9, “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth.”
As you examine Jesus life you will find that he absolutely fulfills all the prophesies written about him. These prophesies were written over thousands of years by a variety of authors and yet he fulfills them all. This would not be possible if it wasn’t God who was involved from the very beginning. Paul wrote to the early Christian churches about what Jesus did for mankind, and particularly those who believe in him. Romans 3:24, “and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
So here we are. We’re told of Jesus. We believe in Jesus. We’ve been told since childhood in Sunday school how our sins are forgiven because Jesus went to the cross. How much do we think of that? There’s a lot involved in that simple statement, “Your sins are forgiven.” On the surface it’s, “OK, my sins are forgiven.” But when you really spend time on this statement you find it is deep and hard to contemplate, hard to fully comprehend all that’s in its words.
God told mankind, hundreds of years before his birth, what Jesus was going to do for us. Here Daniel gives us the depth of “Your sins are forgiven.” Verse 24, “Seventy sevens are decreed for your people…”
Seventy sevens has been looked at as a time reference. People have been trying to fit it into a timeline between Daniel and Jesus for 2000 years. The problem is there are different ways to interpret seventy sevens. Seven can refer to weeks, therefore, it comes out to 490 years. Verse 25, “The ruler comes, there will be seven sevens and sixty-two sevens…,” 483 years. Jewish years at the time were 360 days long, so adjusting for this we get 476 years. None of these completely satisfies the time span between Daniel and Jesus. So what if we look at this differently? What if instead of a time span, Gabriel was using seventy sevens as a reference to a person?
Genesis 2:2, “By the seventh day God finished the work he had been doing…” Seven refers to divine completion. Genesis 1:31, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” God completed creation but left it not quite perfect, he left room for mankind to work. Now we can see that Gabriel could be telling Daniel that completion is coming.
Now let’s look at Matthew 18, verses 21-22, “’Lord, how many times shall I forgive a brother or sister who sins against me?” Jesus replied, ‘I tell you not seven times, but seventy-seven times.’” Jesus was not giving a finite number; he means you forgive every time someone sins against you. So now we can read our readings seventy sevens as referring to the one who will come and complete God’s plan, and that through him you will be forgiven all your sins, every time: past, present, and future. Seventy sevens refers to the person of Jesus.
Now, looking at this passage from the point of view that Gabriel is talking about Jesus, what does Gabriel say Jesus will do? Jesus will “finish transgression.” Transgression is rebellion against God. Through faith in Jesus, we stop rebelling against God, and we embrace him through the cross. Will we still make mistakes, of course. But rather than our sin being the ruler of our lives, Paul writes in Romans 6:14, “For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” Jesus ends our transgression by ushering in God’s Covenant of Grace.
“Put an end to sin.” The original Hebrew word here means to lock up and put away. Jesus will lock away sin; not one sin, not some sin; by completing God’s plan, Jesus puts away from God’s sight, all sin of the believer. Hebrews 8:12, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
“Atone for wickedness.” Eziekiel 18:4, “The one who sins is the one who will die.” As perfect and holy, God must punish sin, there is no way around this. John 3:17-18, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned.” 1 Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.” God did punish your sins; God punished my sins; he punished Jesus in place of us. Jesus atoned for wickedness by taking our punishment for our transgressions.
“Bring in everlasting righteousness.” Luke 22:20, “After supper, he took the cup saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’” Jesus ushered in God’s Covenant of Grace. Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made him who had no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become righteous…” Jesus died a sinner’s death, so that through him we can live righteous in the presence of God.
“Seal up vision and prophesy.” Through his life, his teachings, his death, and his resurrection, Jesus completely fulfilled all the prophesies written about the Messiah and God’s plan for man’s sin.
“Anoint the most holy.” Anoint is to confer divine or holy office upon one. 1 John 2:20, “But you have an anointing from the Holy One.” Through your faith in Jesus, you have been made holy, and this holiness comes from God himself. You have been made holy, and anointed to proclaim Christ Jesus to the world.
Jesus came into the world on Christmas day according to God’s plan for man’s sin. Jesus was born in a manger to put an end to our transgressions. He came to earth to remove our sins from us. Jesus is the one who reconciles us with God the Father. Faith in Jesus and the cross makes us righteous in the eyes of God forever. Through his life, death, and resurrection, every prophecy given about the Messiah has been fulfilled, and completed. And through our faith in him, Jesus anoints us and equipes us to go out and proclaim him in the world.
As we celebrate Christmas, think about more than presents and trees and lights. Think about the Son of God being born in a manger in Bethlehem. And about the things he brought into the world with him.
Amen