There are a couple of different approaches to this. One is that the covenant was the covenant of Law that Christ came to confirm in his ministry. He confirmed the Law by fulfilling everything he tried and failed to do--everything that it promised Christ himself would be able to do. This is the view I've traditionally held to.
The other view, which I'm considering now, is that the Roman government somehow confirmed the covenant of God to offer his Son by committing him to death. The death was to complete the Week--not to last for the whole Week. It was to complete the final period of the 70 Weeks by finishing Christ's 3.5 year ministry by putting him to death.
The 6 things this prophecy was designed to do was basically the same thing Jesus did in his Olivet Discourse. Just when the Disciples thought Herod's refurbished temple was the glory of God Jesus said it would be destroyed. Similarly, just when Daniel heard that the temple and the city would be restored he was told that 70 Weeks of years later it would all be destroyed again.
This is because God was showing Daniel that Israel's sins would not go away with time. The whole process of restoration and a return to sin would be shown to be repeated in history. The restoration of the temple did not mean the final repentance of Israel--it was just a moment in time. Sin in Israel would soon return, and get worse.
The Messiah would come not to bring in the Kingdom of God, but rather, to prepare for the destruction of Jerusalem as a final cleansing of the Jewish People. Their worship would be taken away, and the Roman nation would receive their own opportunity to be the "Chosen Nation."
The 6 things Jesus oversaw was...
...to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
Messiah would prepare for the end of sin in Israel by demolishing them and their city. He would atone for wickedness by dying in the midst of Israel's sin, bringing forgiveness for the repentant. He would bring in everlasting righteousness by disposing of the need for temporary atonement under the Law--he would rise from the dead to intercede for his people forever. He would seal up vision and prophecy at the Cross when he said, "It is finished." And he anointed the Most Holy Place by becoming the Holy One in God's heavenly temple.
there is on thing you need to take into consideration.
Dan 9: 24 - “Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
I worry that people look at the what, but fail to look at the who. And in doing so. mistranslate the prophecy
The prophecy concerns the nation of Israel, and the city of Jerusalem.
some things to concider
1. Israel was in sin, and the city laid in ruins at this time according to lev 26
Daniels prayer -
5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, righteousness
belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as
it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries
to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.
8 “O Lord, to us
belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord our God
belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11
Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. 12 And
He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.
13 “
As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us;
Here is what the law of moses says in Lev 26:
27 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me, 28 then I also will walk contrary to you in fury;
and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. 29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30
I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you. 31
I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas. 32
I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. 33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.
if we look at history. This has happened three times
1. Northern kingdom of Israel - Assyria
2. Southern kingdom of Judah - Babylon. At time of this writing in daniel 9. Judah is still in this stae
3. ad 70. when rome layed waste to jerusalem, and destroyed the temple. leaving it in desolation. Whivh has been active right up to this day.
2. Daniel prayed for his people and confessed their sin in accordance with the lev 26 guidelines.
Lev 26:
40 ‘
But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, 41 and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if
their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt—42 then
I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember;
I will remember the land.
which is exactly what Daniel was doing as you saw above, he was confessing his sins and those of his peoples. According to the law of moses.
He ended with calling out for Gods mercy. Based not on Israel being good. But because of Gods promises
16 “O Lord,
according to all Your righteousness, I pray,
let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and
for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. 17 Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake
cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear;
open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God,
for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
then we have gabriel answer this pray of Daniel
Notice again, It concernes Daniels people (Israel or Judah) and city (Jerusalem)
what would happen to these things..
To finish the transgression,
Israel is still in sin. It is why 70 AD occurred once again and Jerusalem was destroyed and layed waste.
To make an end of sins,
Again, Still in sin, they have yet to repent according to lev 26.
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
fulfilled with Christ
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
This is a sign of how the earth will be in the millenial reign
To seal up vision and prophecy,
There is still prophecy that needs to be fulfilled. Including the return of Christ. which is to occur at the end of the 70th week
And to anoint the Most Holy.
This is talking about anointing the king. Which is done when a king takes the throne. This has not yet happened.
The issue many take is the take Israel and jerusalem out of the equation. This is why so many fail to see what is really going on here