Has Daniel's "End of Sins" been fulfilled? response by Brian Maxwell Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. In examining Daniel’s prophecy “to make an end of sins,” may we conclude the bible teaches there has been an “end of sins” for God's people? Remember that the prophecy is to "thy people" (Daniel's people, covenant Israel). This prophecy from the LORD through Gabriel is an answer to all of Daniel's prayers and supplications concerning Israel's sins. He understands that the curse of which Moses spoke has come to pass: Deut 11:26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. Dan 9:11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. Now God comes to comfort Daniel with the prophecy of the seventy weeks, in which He promises to make an "end of sins." Did God truly make an end of sins during this seventy week time period? When Jesus arrives on the scene, we have the testimony of the angel to Joseph concerning Christ's birth: Matt 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. As the time neared when Jesus would be revealed to Israel, we have the testimony of John the Baptist: John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And we have a multitude of testimony from Christ's Spirit-filled apostles and prophets. Did the early church teach that the work of Christ had made an "end of sins"? Acts 5:31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. Romans 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Paul taught that for those who were walking after the Spirit, sin had been condemned in the flesh. Walking in the Spirit meant that they were trusting in Christ by faith to be made right before God, and not trusting in law. Whenever Paul speaks about walking after the flesh, it is in the context of trying to be made right before God by law (which is equivalent to self-righteousness). This was the sin that caused the death (sin death, or covenant death). It was the same sin that separated Adam and Eve from God in the garden. This was also the death that Christ came to defeat by putting away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Heb 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Heb 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; 1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. 6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Notice how John states that if they had sin, then they had no part with God. Why is this? He defines sin in the previous verse: 1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. In other words, John was telling them that if they still had sin, they were still under law. They could not be both under law and forgiven of their sins, because the law is what condemned them of sin. The only way sin could be removed was by trusting in Christ apart from the deeds of the law (Romans 3:20,28).This would put an end to sin, because Christ was the end of the law for all who believed (Romans 10:4). Remember that both John and Paul were speaking in a covenant context to a covenant people. They were the people who were under the law of sin and death. But in Christ they were set free: Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Jesus Christ, through His cross and presence with His people, has made an end of sins. He became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God IN HIM! I believe the prophecy in Daniel 9:24 that God would "make an end of sins" is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. And if we are in Jesus Christ, it is fulfilled for us. Praise God that Christ made an end of sins! Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Blessings, Brian Printable PDF file of this article:
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Brian Maxwell Brian Maxwell is a long-time friend of our ministry. He contributed to our first conference, Lake Powell 2006: The New Creation. Brian has written several articles for NCMI and participated as both a guest and a guest host on our podcast. His passion as a Christian is understanding the true nature of the Biblical Creation from Genesis to Revelation and how that understanding helps develop our world view. Brian works as a software tester and his hobbies include cycling, basketball, Bible study, world events, and Sierra Nevada Ales. Brian and his wife of seventeen years, Christine, reside in California with their three children.
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