Daniel 9:24
“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city 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.” (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Daniel 9:24
The seventy “sevens’ are decreed to seal up vision and prophecy. The NLT translates this event “to confirm the prophetic vision”. The Hebrew word for “seal up” is ḥātam which speaks to a royal seal that is put on a letter or edict so that its authority is not questioned. The king would have a signet ring and any decree sealed with the symbol of the king’s ring would be irrevocable.
In the same way God has sealed his decrees and they are irrevocable. They stand the test of time and at the right time, His decree will come to fruition. God’s seal is His guarantee. For example:
“You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the Lord your God, a covenant the Lord is making with you this day and sealing with an oath” (Deut 29:12).
“Bind up this testimony of warning
and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples” (Isa 8:16).
“The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given you is true, but seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future” (Dan 8:26).
Paul also wrote about God’s seal in his letters:
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph 4:30).
“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Cor 1:21-22).
We know that all of Daniel’s prophecies have yet to occur. Jesus will return a second time and fulfill the remaining prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled. God put his seal on them and they will happen. There is no doubt. When Jesus returns, he will break the seals on the scrolls of prophecies and bring them to fruition. The word “seal” is used in Revelation over 20 times such as:
“Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals” (Rev 5:1-5).
When these prophecies were sealed, they were sealed so that only the intended recipient could open them. Jesus is the intended recipient and he will open them when the time comes. However, those of us who believe in the saving grace of Jesus, can find comfort in the fact that we are also sealed. Just as Paul wrote, God has put His seal on us to claim us as His own. We are marked as children of God:
“Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God” (Rev 7:3).
“They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads” (Rev 9:4).
“Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’ and, ‘Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness’” (2 Tim 2:19).
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory” (Eph 1:13-14).
Christ in the Old Testament 
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