Non-Traditional Look at Daniel 9:27

New King James Version

Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;But in the middle of the weekHe shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,Even until the consummation, which is determined,Is poured out on the desolate.”

Many believe this verse describes the antichrist and a seven year treaty. Just to be clear, the verses are accepted by commentators on the whole as ambiguous, but here's why I believe that this Scripture does not support that view. 

Please consider the following:

Daniel wanted to know about the end of the exile in Babylon. He was asking God to forgive, cleanse, and remove the desolations from Jerusalem. We should read Daniel 9 with this in mind, that our focus should be upon God's answer of completion, wholeness, and restoration.

Here is God's answer in Daniel 9:24:
24 

“Seventy weeks[a] are determinedFor your people and for your holy city,To finish the transgression,To make an end of[b] sins,To make reconciliation for iniquity,To bring in everlasting righteousness,To seal up vision and prophecy,And to anoint the Most Holy.

God uses the seventy weeks to redeem those in exile and us. The seventy weeks speaks of completion, the time it takes to divide and determine the people of God and make sacred, or consecrate, the city. What is at stake here is complete restoration of the people of God, for them to know eternal righteousness, “the righteousness of the ages”.  Hebrews 12:14 speaks of this righteousness as, "the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." 

Daniel 9:24 refers to the Messiah's work of redemption completed on the cross as well as the restoration for His people at the end of the age. 

Daniel 9:25 goes on:

25 Know therefore and understand: From the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah, the Prince, are seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks. The street and the moat shall be built again, even in troublous times.

The seventy and sixty-two weeks of verse 25 appears to be explained in the very next sentence: "The street[c] shall be built again, and the wall,[d]Even in troublesome times."

The contrast between building and troublous times is expanded in the verses which follow. 

Messiah confirms His covenant with many for a week (one seven), implying protection and perfection, but He is crucified. The confirming or strengthening of the covenant is the covenant between God and His people. The word for covenant in Hebrew is used exclusively to describe the relationship between God and people and not of an agreement or a treaty between any other parties. 

It appears that we who are experiencing the victory of Christ are reaping the benefits of the fullness of time of the seventieth week.

A desolator arises in connection with abominations in the midst of the week, and he goes to destruction.

Seven days are the days of creation, God’s perfect plan, and through Christ we enter into Sabbath rest from all our works. Many accepted Christ, but those to whom He was sent, and ultimately the world, rejected Him, so much so that three and a half years into His ministry, they crucified Jesus. With Christ's death on the cross, He both fulfilled and ended the sacrificial system. Jesus told us what was going to happen, so we shouldn’t have been surprised at the destruction of the temple, its trampling by the Gentiles, and the abominations of desolation which continue until God pours out His wrath.

I realize this brief look at Daniel 9 may not answer or even address all questions about the chapter, but I am confident that Christ's victory over death means our everlasting relationship with Him and our being declared righteous before Him not because of anything we do but because of His blood that cleanses us and His grace that leads us. 

All praise to God who leads us in all victory through His one and only holy Son Jesus Christ.

One day, Christ Himself shall return with power riding on the clouds, we shall be revealed with Him in glory, and we shall be with Him and each other forever.