Confirming A Covenant With Many For Seven Years

This 70th week of Daniel Bible study shows how Messiah the Prince confirmed/ratified the everlasting covenant in the seven years of the 70th week of Daniel 9.

Daniel 9:27 is not saying that the covenant only lasts for seven years, as so many people proclaim about a supposed antichrist 7-year peace treaty.

And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.

The word ‘for’ was added by the translators. It’s simply saying that the covenant is confirmed in the seven years of the 70th week. And then it tells us when, in the middle of seven years, as Messiah’s blood sacrifice ended the need for temple animal sacrifices.

Confirming the covenant was a one-time event.

The Old Testament is full of prophecies which point to the Messiah confirming the covenant that was made to Abraham. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and the remnant, were saved by faith in the coming Messiah, who would fulfill the covenant to atone for their sins. The rest of the Israelites tried to earn salvation by their works, by the Law, and they were condemned for it.

Isaiah 49:8 foretold that the Messiah would be a covenant to His people,

“Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages.”

Malachi 3:1 foretold that the Messenger of the covenant would appear.

“Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the LORD of hosts.

Messiah co-authored the Abrahamic Covenant, to redeem Abraham’s spiritual seed, those of all races who believe in the Father, by faith.

Hebrews 12:2, “looking unto Jesus, the author(originator) and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:24, “Jesus the Mediator of the renewed covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.”

Hebrews 13:20, “Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.”

Paul told us that Messiah came to confirm the promised covenant.

Romans 15:8 says, “Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers.“

Galatians 3:17 says, “And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.”

What’s called the New Covenant is really an old covenant, that was ratified by the blood of Christ, thereby putting it into full effect. It was new since it was ratified after the Mosaic Covenant, which it rendered null and void.

“But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises” Hebrews 8:6

Here’s a timeline of the seven years of the 70th week of Daniel, which shows how it was about the Jews being given the opportunity to accept their promised Messiah.

Messiah proclaimed that He was the promised Messiah when He read the passage from Isaiah at the beginning of His ministry.

So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:16-21

Messiah validated that it was He who was sent to be a covenant for the Jews by:

His wisdom and knowledge of the Word of Elohim…

“And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching,” Matthew 7:28

His miracles…

“When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.” Matthew 8:16

His shed blood as the spotless Lamb of Elohim…

“For this is My blood, that of the renewed covenant, which is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28

His resurrection…

“And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.” Acts 4:33

And by His fulfilling Elohim’s Holy Feast days, which the Jews would have known.

Passover pointed to the Messiah as our Passover lamb whose blood was shed for our sins. 1 Corinthians 5:7

Unleavened Bread pointed to the Messiah’s sinless life (as leaven is a picture of sin in the Bible).

First Fruits pointed to the Messiah’s resurrection as the first fruits of the righteous. (1 Cor. 15:20)

Pentecost represented the Father pouring out His Holy Spirit on Messiah’s disciples.

Messiah fulfilled Daniel’s prophecy about the 70th week, that said that Messiah the Prince would be cut off midway through the seven years, meaning after 3 1/2 years. John’s Gospel collaborates this by recording the number of Passover feasts that occurred during Messiah’s ministry.

Daniel 9:26 “Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;“ fulfills the prophecy about the promised Messiah in Isaiah 53:4-8

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.“

So we clearly see that Messiah the Prince of Daniel 9:25, ministered to the Jews for 3 1/2 years, offering them proofs that He was the Promised One, their Messiah. And we clearly see that his blood sacrifice confirmed the covenant that was made before Abraham.

After Messiah ascended, the Apostles preached the Gospel to the Jews for 3 1/2 years.

Messiah commanded them to be witnesses to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

“and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:47

The Gospel was offered to the Jews first, then to the Gentiles.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” Romans 1:16

They were validated by their signs.

“And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. ” Mark 16:20

Acts tells us that on the day of Pentecost, the disciples confirmed the New Covenant to Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.

“Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs–we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” Acts 2:7-11

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:36-39

3,000 of these Jews accepted Him as their promised Messiah and were saved; and no doubt they returned home to spread the Gospel to other Jews.

“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” Acts 2:41

The Apostles continued preaching the Gospel daily in the temple area.

“So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” Acts 2:46-47

Peter proclaimed Messiah to the Jews after healing a lame man.

“The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.” Acts 3:13-15

Peter preached the Gospel to the Jews, telling them that those who believe by faith in Messiah’s New Covenant are the seed of Abraham.

“You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.‘” Acts 3:25

“Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “and to your Seed,” who is Christ.” Galatians 3:16

Peter proclaimed that the Gospel was given to Jews first.

“To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.” Acts 3:26

They preached to the Jews, though the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, tried to stop them.

“many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.” Acts 4:4

Peter preached the Gospel to the Jewish rulers, elders, and scribes, as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest.”

“let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”Acts 4:10-12

Acts 5:12-16 tells us the Apostles healed the sick and cast out demons, which resulted in more Jews believing in Him as their Messiah.

“And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number.” Acts 5:14

Peter and the Apostles preached again to the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests

“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross . “He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. “And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” Acts 5:30-32

Despite the Jewish leaders having them beaten and commanded that they should not speak in the name of Messiah, they continued to preach the Gospel in the Jewish temple.

“And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.” Acts 5:42

Even Jewish priests came to accept Him as their Messiah.

“The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.” Acts 6:7

Then the Jewish leader stoned Stephen the Apostle to death, thereby finalizing their rejection of Messiah.

At this point a shift occurred, where the Apostles and Early Church began preaching the Gospel to Gentiles too, which no doubt marks the end of the 7-year period or preaching only to the Jews.

Many in the Early Church fled Jerusalem after Stephen’s stoning, and began preaching the Gospel in the regions of Judea and Samaria.

“Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” Acts 8:1

Peter was called to proclaim the Gospel to the Samaritans.

“Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them.” Acts 8:4-5

Peter and John went to minister to the Samaritans, where they received the Holy Spirit.

“Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.” Acts 8:14-15

Philip was directed to preach the Gospel to the Ethiopian Eunuch, which lead to his profession of faith and baptism.

“And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Acts 8:37

The Ethiopian Eunich no doubt preached the Gospel in Ethiopia, causing more people to be saved.

Philip then preached in all the cities unto Caesarea.

“Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.” Acts 8:40

Acts 9 describes Saul’s conversion, to become the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Acts 10 describes Peter’s vision about preaching to the Gentiles in Caesarea, where they received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 11:18 speaks of the transition, where the Apostles realized that the Gentiles were being given the Holy Spirit too.

“When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”

And those who had spread far away to preach the Gospel to the Jews, also began to preach to Gentiles.

“Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus.” Acts 11:19-20

Acts 13 describes Paul’s first missionary journey where he preached the Gospel and established Churches in Gentile countries. Paul preached the Gospel to the Jews in Antioch, who rejected it.

“Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.” Acts 13:46

The Word says that Messiah made both – Jews and gentiles, one church.

Ephesians 2:14-22 “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both (Jew and Gentile) one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

Galatians 3:28-29 tells us that followers of Messiah (Jew and Gentile) are Abraham’s seed who receive the promises made to Abraham.

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Paul is clearly telling us that true Israel, true Jews, believe by faith, and so inherit the promises made to father Abraham.

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9

Everyone who believes in Messiah by faith, are the Chosen People of God. They will inherit Holy Jerusalem when Messiah returns.

Proving out that Stephen was stoned in 34 A.D.

The estimated date for Stephen’s martyrdom can be based on the ministry of the apostle Paul, who stood by and held the coats of those who stoned Stephen to death. (see Acts 7:58).

A short time later, Saul left for Damascus to persecute the saints; and on the way to Damascus he was converted from Saul the Pharisee to Paul the apostle to the Gentiles. (see Acts 9:1-9).

If Paul’s conversion can be dated, the stoning of Stephen can also be placed within narrow limits.

In Galatians 1, Paul gives some biographical details about his career as an apostle, referring especially to his visits to Jerusalem. He made only brief and infrequent visits to Jerusalem  and he gives us some chronological information about them.

He says the first visit came three years after his conversion (see verse 18); the second occurred Fourteen years after the first (see Galatians 2:1). Then shortly after his second visit to Jerusalem, Paul left on his second missionary journey which took him to Corinth (see Acts 18).

While at Corinth, Paul appeared before the proconsul Gallio (see verse 12). So Paul would have stood before Gallic seventeen years following his conversion (fourteen years between his second and first visit to Jerusalem added to the three years between his first Jerusalem visit and his conversion). From an inscription found in Corinth, we know that Gallia’s one-year proconsulship in Corinth occurred in A.D. 51.

If the seventeen years for Paul’s two visits to Jerusalem are subtracted from the date of Paul’s appearance before Gallia, then his conversion and Stephen’s stoning should be dated to A.D. 34.

This date,  AD. 34, is the one New Testament scholars commonly favor for Stephen’s death and Paul’s conversion.

Source: Daniel: A Reader’s Guide by William H. Shea

Stephen was the last prophet to confront the Jewish leaders. 

Messiah berated the Jewish Sanhedrin shortly before they delivered Him up to be killed; and He said that they would persecute and kill the prophets who He would send to them.

The Apostles were brought before the Sanhedrin when they were proclaiming the Gospel, and they were flogged.

The last prophet who was sent to witness to them was Stephen.  He spoke before the Sanhedrin and recalled their history, and then accused them of killing the promised Messiah. Then they stoned him to death, just like Messiah had foretold.

No other prophet was sent to them before the desolation of the temple, city and Jews, in 70 A.D.; by the ‘people of the prince’, the Roman army of Titus.

Messiah appeared in 27 AD, so the 70th week of Daniel would have ended in 34 AD.

Wikipedia shows that Stephen was stoned to death in 34 AD, which matches. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Stephen

Here’s an article called The 490 years, promised to Israel, ended at the stoning of Stephen, that confirms the 34 AD death of Stephen.

David Nikao Wilcoxson

Next 70th Week Of Daniel Study: Messiah Fulfilled Purposes Of Daniel 9:24