The Six Conditions Of Daniel's Prophecy

The Six Conditions Of Daniel's Prophecy

Brian Culliton

Daniel 9:24: "70 weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy."

Finish the transgression:

Pre-tribulation apologist Thomas Ice, argues that the word "transgression" refers to a specific sin of the nation Israel. In an article on his website titled, "The Seventy Weeks Of Daniel," Thomas Ice wrote, "…the expression 'the transgression' seems to indicate some specific, outstanding, national sin of the Chosen People.' Since the emphasis in this phrase is upon the finishing of Israel's transgression, then this leads to the conclusion that it will occur at the second coming of Jesus, Israel's Messiah."

And what does Dr. Ice say the transgression is?

"The emphasis in this first goal is upon when Israel's national sin-rejection of her Messiah-will be brought to an end." (Emphasis mine)

Keep in mind that this prophecy was given to Daniel over 500 years before Christ came. How could the nation of Israel reject their Messiah before He ever came? Dr. Ice's reasoning is severely flawed.

Let's look at this from a biblical perspective. The prophet Isaiah prophesied of the coming of Messiah very plainly in Isaiah 53. This prophecy is so clear no believer could possibly mistake it for anything other than what it is - the suffering and crucifixion of our Lord and the unquestionable act of unconditional love that accompanied it. It's in this chapter that we find the answer to the question: how is the transgression finished? I strongly recommend reading the whole chapter, but to make my point quoting verse eight will suffice.

"He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living for the transgressions of my people He was stricken." (Isa. 53:8)

"The transgression" in Daniel's prophecy does not refer to the rejection of Messiah, but rather the Jews transgression of the Law. Those who faithfully believed God and tried to keep the law were not guiltless, but they are justified because of their faith and through the grace of God who gave His only begotten Son to die for them (and us who believe) at the cross.

To further debunk Dr. Ice's theory, Daniel's prayer specifically mentioned the transgression in verse five, "We have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments."

The transgression was finished in Christ's sacrifice at the cross, thereby "blotting out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." (Col. 2:14) The transgression was paid for, sealed, constrained, and whipped out at the cross - and guaranteed in the resurrection! To say the transgression has not been finished is to say Christ's sacrifice was incomplete. He was sacrificed once for all - and first of all for the nation of Israel.

To make an end of sins:

It saddens me to know that there are many Christians who cannot see Christ's sacrifice as fulfilling this condition. Quoting from Dr. Ice's article:

"'Since the cause of sin must be removed before the cure can be effected, this expression assumes that at the time here foreseen the nation will have turned to the Lord, and that by His Spirit a new heart and spirit will have been given to all the people.' Clearly the scene only after the second coming followed by the installation of the millennial reign of Jesus the Messiah."

Dr. Ice is quoting David Cooper who assumes the condition is yet future based on a logical argument of cause and effect. Dr. Ice then uses the assumption to make a definitive statement about the condition.

From a biblical perspective however, this condition cannot mean the conversion of the nation Israel at a future time. What it does mean is that righteous substitution for sin will be made and, from our perspective, has been made by Jesus Christ. Christ, the righteous One, became sin and was sacrificed for us. What happened to Him is what all of us deserved. Christ defeated sin at the cross and disarmed death in the resurrection. For all who believe, sin has been put to death!

Comparing Jesus our High Priest to the Levitical high priest, the writer of Hebrews said, "He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." (Heb. 9:26) (Emphasis added)

To make reconciliation for iniquity:

It is hard for me to imagine why people who profess to have faith in Christ cannot see the cross in this statement. This harmonized perfectly with the Gospel, which proclaims that this is exactly why Christ came: to reconcile us to God by paying the price for our sin. Concerning Israel the Apostle John said, "He came to His own and His own received Him not." (John 1:11) To the Gentile church the Apostle Paul said,"

"For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight." (Col. 1:19-22)

To bring in everlasting righteousness:

The righteousness of God has been revealed (brought in) through Jesus. God's righteousness is everlasting; but regardless of how clear the Gospel message is, some people can't seem to open their eyes to it. Thomas Ice had this to say concerning this condition:

"I believe that this clause is a prophecy concerning the future time we know as the kingdom or millennial reign of Christ (see Rev. 20:1-9). This means that it is yet future to our own day. In contrast to Israel's many failures of the past to live up to God's righteous standards (cf. Dan. 9:3-19), this time the Lord will provide everlasting righteousness for the nation."

Many who do not believe the six conditions have been fulfilled claim that the word everlasting means the prophecy must be fulfilled at the second coming when Christ sets up His kingdom on earth. But what they fail to see is that this speaks of Christ's righteousness not man's righteousness. His righteousness, which was witnessed by the law, is imputed to us when we believe. The Lord won't provide everlasting righteousness in the future; he did provide everlasting righteousness at the cross for both Jew and Gentile - there is no difference.

"But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law." (Rom. 3:21-31)

To seal up vision and prophecy:

From Dr. Ice's article: "This fifth prophetic declaration, like the previous can only refer to a future time when all prophecy will be fulfilled relating to Israel. There are yet hundreds of future prophecies relating to Israel and Jerusalem that await a future fulfillment."

If Dr. Ice is right, the 70 weeks won't be complete until after the millennium when Gog and Magog come against Israel. Maybe he didn't think that through. As with the previous conditions, Dr. Ice provides no Biblical support for his claim. So here are a few references to chew on.

To seal up means to fulfill:

"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." (Mat. 5:17)

The Old Testament testified of Christ:

"You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." (Jhn. 5:39)

"Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished." (Luk. 18:31)

"The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it." (Luk. 16:16)

"And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see. Then He said to them, 'O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?' And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." (Luk. 24:27)

And 18th century Bible commentator, Mathew Henry summed it up this way:

"He came to seal up the vision and prophecy, all the prophetical visions of the Old Testament, which had reference to the Messiah. He sealed them up, that is, he accomplished them, answered to them to a title; all things that were written in the law, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning the Messiah, were fulfilled in him. Thus he confirmed the truth of them as well as his own mission. He sealed them up, that is, he put an end to that method of God's discovering his mind and will, and took another course by completing the scripture-canon in the New Testament, which is the more sure word of prophecy than that by vision, (2 Pet. 1:19; Heb. 1:1)."

To anoint the Most Holy:

The literal translation is to anoint the Most Holy Place or Holy of Holies. This is a reference to the inner sanctuary of the Temple of God where the arc of the covenant was kept and the Spirit of God resided. Once a year, the high priest would enter the inner sanctuary to atone for his sins and the sins of the nation. Once in the Most Holy Place, the priest would sprinkle the blood from the sacrifice of the brazen alter onto the arc of the covenant and the mercy seat above it. "And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission." (Heb. 9:22)

Dr. Ice teaches that this prophecy alludes to Christ appearing at a third temple in Jerusalem which is yet to be built. But the New Testament tells a different story; and just as in the other five, this prophetic condition points to the cross.

It is difficult for some to see Jesus having already entered the Holy Place since He never entered the temple sanctuary. But nothing could be clearer than what the writer of Hebrews said contrary to that opinion.

The high priest anointed the Most Holy Place with the blood of animals for the sins of the people. The animal's blood foreshadowed Christ's sacrifice and had to be repeated every year. "But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption." (Heb. 9:11-12)

The temple and the inner sanctuary the high priest entered every year was a model of the "greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands." Christ entered not the temporal Holy Place, but the actual Holy Place in which the temporal was a model. He anointed the Holy place with His own blood, not the blood of animals. And He didn't have to do it over and over again for the sins of Israel; he did it once for all who would believe on Him.

In conclusion, the fulfillment of the six prophetic conditions is what the 70 weeks were determined for. Israel as a nation and the holy city Jerusalem is what the 70 weeks were determined upon. In other words, when Messiah came, the purpose of pre-Christian Israel was fulfilled. But the love of God did not pass from the nation; and if the nation would have recognized her Messiah, the gentile nations might not have had a chance. But herein lies the wisdom of God; the Jewish rejection of Messiah was the Gentile's saving grace.

If one chooses to listen to the teachings of Dr. Thomas Ice, I hope they take into consideration the absence of Biblical support. It doesn't take a doctor of theology to understand prophecy any more than it does to understand the Gospel. Know the Gospel first and let the Spirit be your guide and the Gospel your foundation.

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