Confirming The Covenant

Confirming The Covenant

“Dan. 9:27a And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week”

Here we have the first mention of the Seventieth and final week of Daniel’s prophecy. Do not be deceived by those who tell you that there is a gap between the Sixty-ninth and Seventieth weeks. There is nothing in the prophecy that hints at such a gap. We have all been told a lot of things over the years; things that come from the minds and imaginations of men, and not from the mind of God.

If you've been taught there's a gap between the 69th and 70th week, someone has played a trick on you. "No! There's a gap, there's got to be a gap! What have you done with my gap?"

To be honest, I didn't do anything with it, because it never existed in the first place. It only exists in the minds of men who have an agenda to propagate, whereby they deceive many. You see, without the gap between the Sixty-ninth and Seventieth weeks of Daniel’s prophecy, Dispensationalism as a system comes crashing down, like the proverbial house of cards. If there is no gap, there can be no third temple. If there is no third temple, their antichrist can't sit in it. If their antichrist can't sit in this third temple, then he can't make the sacrifice and offerings to cease. If there is no gap, there can be no 7 year tribulation period. So, as you see, the gap is crucial to making their system work. I know all this because I once was held under its spell also.

There is nothing in this prophecy of Daniel that hints at a gap between any of the three time periods mentioned (Seven sevens, Sixty-two sevens, and One seven). I'm sorry, but it is just not there. If you can be honest with yourself and the text in question, you will see that it just doesn't exist. If you see it, then you are doing some creative eisegesis (reading into the text what is not there), instead of what you should be doing, which is Biblical exegesis (reading out of the text what is actually there). Enough said, so let's continue, shall we?

Who is "He" that confirms?

Who is the “he” that shall confirm the covenant with many? It can only be the Messiah Prince, Jesus the Christ. What covenant did He confirm? The Hebrew word translated, “confirm” is the word, “gabar," which means, to prevail, have strength, be strong, be powerful, be mighty, be great. In this case, it means to “confirm, to give strength in covenant.”

What covenant did Jesus confirm and give strength to? It could be argued that the covenant He confirmed, or made strong was the covenant under which the Jewish nation operated, i.e., the Sinai Covenant. Jesus told His people, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” To ‘fulfill’ is to render complete, to fill up what is lacking to its fullest. Hence, if you fill up what is lacking, you are making it strong. By His own mouth, Jesus states that He came to "fulfill" the law and the prophets. He was the Perfectly Obedient and Righteous Israelite.

However, we cannot relegate this to just "confirming" the Old Mosaic covenant. Contained within the promises of the Old, is a new and better covenant. This New Covenant would be represented by, and confirmed in the person of the Messiah Himself, the Servant of the Lord.

Isaiah 42:6
“I the LORD 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;”
Malachi 3:1
“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.”

The messenger who is sent to prepare the way, was John the Baptist [Mark 1:2]. Here, the Lord is telling Israel, that there will be a messenger who goes before Him, preparing His way. The One whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple. This One, the Lord, is even the messenger of the covenant. In this prophecy, Israel is told that the One they seek, the One they delight in, being the Anointed of God, the Messiah, is none other than the Lord Himself.

Hebrews 7:22
“By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.”

What does it mean that Jesus is “made a surety” of a better covenant?

The word surety (engous) is a legal term used in contracts. It means guarantee. It points to one who accepts the legal obligation for the performance or payment of a legal action, on the behalf of another. Jesus, as the Guarantee, takes upon himself the performance and payment of the legal obligation required by the covenant.

It is in this sense that He makes or confirms the New Covenant, by being the guarantee of a better, a “stronger” covenant, based upon better blood. We have here the witness of Scripture, that Jesus, the Messiah Prince, is made “a covenant for the people” (Isa. 42:6). He is the “messenger of the covenant” (Malachi 3:1, messenger here means representative), who is the Lord Himself.

He is the One who comes to fill up what is lacking in the Law and the Prophets. What was lacking, but Israel’s obedience? He fulfilled the Law by being the perfectly obedient Israelite. Because of His obedience and sacrifice, He has become the guarantor of a better and stronger covenant, the eternal covenant in His Blood.

Notice, the text of Daniel states that He would confirm the covenant with many for one week or seven years. The prophecy does not say that the covenant would last for only seven years, but the confirming of the covenant was for seven years.

The "Messenger of the covenant" appeared at the beginning of the final week, and was cut off in the midst of it. It was also in the midst of this final week, that He was to cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease. Is there a connection between His being cut off in the midst of the final week, and the sacrifice and oblations ceasing? Indeed, there is. I point out these signs in the study, Fearful Sights and Great Signs.

There is no event given that marks the end of this seven year period. However, when we look at the record given in Acts, it would appear that Peter going to the house of the Roman centurion, Cornelius, to preach the gospel, occurred about three years after the Passion Event. This would signal that the New Covenant was to include gentiles, as well as Jews, in the many for whom the covenant was made.

In this context, the term many refers to those for whom the covenant had become effective, on account of faith. Those who rejected the work and ministry of the Messiah Jesus, received no benefit from it. Therefore, the covenant was only effective for those who received Him, when He came.

Jn. 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

The Many are those for whom there is no condemnation [Rom. 8:1-3]. Those who do not believe, are judged already [Jn. 3:18].