5. SEAL UP VISION AND PROPHECY
These last two events (sealing up and anointing) are perhaps the most controversial of all, not only as to the timing but as to the respective meanings. But if we keep in mind that these events, like the previous four, must have been fulfilled within the "seventy weeks" we will already have eliminated many wrong interpretations. We will know, for instance, that sealing up the vision and prophecy can Not mean, like at least some dispensationalists insist, that the everything prophesied has to come to fulfillment. Yet we know of some predicted events that are clearly in the future (like 1st Cor. 15:28, when all things will be subject to the Son and, then, the Son will be subject to the Father, "that God may be all in all").

Understanding also that there should be no separation between the three components of the 70 weeks (7 + 42 + 1) directs us to find the fulfillment for this prophecy in the first century.

OK, so much for what the phrase does not mean. What Does it mean? First of all it should be mentioned that the actual phrase is "to seal up the vision and prophet". Let us take a look at this "seal up" ("chatam"), and how Scripture uses the term. Here is a representative sampling of the twenty plus uses of the Hebrew term:

"So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth." (1st Kings 21:8)

"And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it." (Neh. 9:38)

"Write also for the Jews, as it pleases you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring: for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse." (Esther 8:8)

"Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." (Isaiah 8:16. See also 29:9- 16 below)

"Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, says the LORD." (Jer. 32:44)

"But you, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." (Dan. 12:4. See also verse 9)

Even though Daniel uses this same term in the twelfth chapter it seems that the usage is not exactly parallel. The sealing of 12:4 is one that Daniel himself is able to do. And the sealing of 12:9 is already accomplished at the time of the writing of Daniel ("the words are - present tense - closed up and sealed till the time of the end.") Yet the "sealing up" (back to 9:24) of "vision and prophet" is clearly part of God's grand purpose for His people. As such, this sealing up is tied to the Messianic promise, in line with rest of this prophecy. It may, or may not, be significant that "seal" ("chatam") is similar in sound (and cognate to?) the "determine" ("chatach") of Dan. 9:24.

So what does "seal" mean here? It is one of Daniel 9's many covenant-related words (see Neh. 9:38) . It means also to shut up, to "seal up". Consequently, it has come to mean "to finish" (see Gesenius) It has to do with authority and ownership (1st Kings 21:8, Jer. 32:44). When God uses this word, however, we are speaking of His sovereignty and lordship over His own. I believe Paul had this in mind when her wrote 2nd Tim. 2:19 and Eph. 1:13. The NT word "seal" or "sealed" is related to "chatam" in its application. (This needs to be studied out more carefully). For the believer (whether true Israel or Christian of the NT or our time) the sealing is a sign of God's ownership of us, and of His protection of us (2nd Cor. 1:22, Eph. 4:30, Rev. 7:3: 9:4).

The sealing up of vision and prophet is both a blessing and a curse, depending on the recipient. Consider Isaiah 29:9- 16). I know this is a long passage, but it is very helpful in showing us what the "sealing up" means for those who do not "take care how they hear" the Word of God:

Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.

And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed "(chatam"), which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed ("chatam") :

And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?

Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

This is the sealing up. And an awesome, sobering truth it is too. We must all take care how we hear. There are many now, just as then, who thought they they were "standing on the promises" but who are merely "sitting in the premises". This sealing up turns out to be two-edged sword. Because all of the promises in the OT had to do with Christ, in some way or other, once Christ came All those who persistently reject - or put off - obedience to the Truth they know make themselves prone to the judicial hardness of that same Word that could save them. The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay. "Take heed how you hear". The overwhelming majority of Jews, when their promised Messiah came, didn't recognize Him because he didn't conform to their carnal and blind idea of what the Messiah should be like. So, by the 1st century, the vision and prophecy was sealed up. It had done its work. The "Annas" and "Simeons" - the receptive few - were benefited by promises. But "the rest were blinded". I believe also that, since prophecy in the OT was to point the way to Christ, the "sealing up" of "vision" and "prophet" means also that, since Christ, the Last Great Prophet, had come, there was no need for other prophecy. God spoke "in many portions and in many ways" through prophets in the past. But He now speaks to us through the Son (See Hebrews 1:1- 2). It may very well be that the "prophet" of Daniel 9:24 is the very same "Prophet" of Deuteronomy 18:18 and Heb. 1:2, namely Jesus Christ. The "sealing up" ("finish") of Christ, would then be the completion of His work on the cross, when He cried, "It is finished!".

6. ANOINT THE MOST HOLY
This anointing spoken of in Daniel 9:24 is the anointing of the Christ in the New Testament. Though there are references to His followers anointing Him, the primary application is to the Father ⁵. The physical temple ceased to be a factor in prophecy when Christ died on the Cross:

"Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom..." (Matt. 27:50)

God did here what we have all with items of lesser importance: When we are done with it, we tear it in half. But God's temple was replaced with a better one:

"...having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus. By a new and living way which He has consecrated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh." ! (Heb. 10:19).

Our Temple is Jesus. To be more precise, we who are in Christ Jesus are part of His temple, the body of Christ.

WHY IS ALL THIS IMPORTANT?
Hopefully I have shown, having gone through all of the six prophesied actions of the Messiah in Daniel 9:24, that these were all fulfilled in the time of Christ's first coming. To understand that these all relate to Calvary is to gain greater insight into what Christ has done for us, His elect. It actually magnifies Christ and encourages faith in Him. It not only proves that we will be, but that we already ARE overcomers through Him and in Him. The more these truths sink in, the more you will see the alternate view (a supposed future fulfillment of some or all of these events) as a cheat and a great devaluing of Messiah's redemption on the Cross.

The people that the writer of Hebrews speaks of are those same people of God that Daniel prays for in Dan. 9. The more we go over these verses in Daniel 9:24 ff., the more we will see how the New testament has the cross-references that enable us to make sense of them. We have no desire of, nor need for, "newspaper theology" when it comes to parsing out this passage. By nailing down the New Testament fulfillment, we make more sure the present application to us: We can rest that much more securely in our salvation in Christ.

::::::::::::::: Notes ::::::::::::::::::::

1. Suggested line of study: Consult a modern dispensational work, like Ryrie's or LaHaye's Study Bibles, or one of Lindsey's books, and find out which of these six prophesied events -they- say await fulfillment (or at least Full-fulfillment). It is interesting to see how they are quite willing to see some of these as having been fulfilled at the time of Christ's first coming and yet others still awaiting future fulfillment. But wouldn't it make more sense to see all of these as having been fulfilled at the same era - the time of Christ's earthly generation? I have often wondered which came first (like the chicken and egg conundrum), the need for a severed (still to come) seventieth week or the inability of recognizing the spiritual unity of the one people of God? See the separate article entitled "What is the Root Error of Modern Dispensationalism?" return to text

2. The Talmud, being more spiritually astute than many modern Christians - and definitely than most modern Jews - teaches that all the prophecies of the prophets related to the Messiah. The Talmud would agree here with Paul that "all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen" (1st Cor. 1:20). return to text

3. The best source for studying out the priesthood of Christ is the book of Hebrews. Every chapter from the 2nd to the 10th has at least one reference to the priesthood of Christ, and what this means for the believer. That would be a study in itself. Here are some verses from Hebrews that speak of Christ the High Priest: 2:17; 3:1; 4:14-15; :5:1, 5, 10; 6:20; 7:1, 26; 8:1-3; 9:7, 11, 25; 10:21; 13:11. return to text

4. This belief that the text refers to the Messiah, as opposed to His Temple, was shared, interestingly, by many Jews throughout history. Nachmanides wrote: "This holy of the holies is the Messiah, who is sanctified from among the sons of David." The irony is that modern dispensationalists are at odds with this understanding of Jewish scholars, even while at the same time underscoring their interpretation as being God's plan for the Jews. return to text

5. Anointing of Christ in the New Testament is primarily from God, secondarily from humans (Luke 7:38, 46; John 11:2; 12:3, etc.). See also these verses:

Lu 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Joh 1:41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. (= the Anointed One)

Ac 4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,

Ac 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Heb 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. return to text