God’s Word for You
Daniel 9:24 Part 5 The Most Holy One
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Thursday, December 25, 2025
24 “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city: to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophecy, and to anoint a most holy one.
The final two gospel promises that Gabriel makes to Daniel are that Christ would come “to seal both vision and prophecy, and to anoint a most holy one.”
What does it mean to seal up a thing? To seal something is to bring it to some sort of conclusion, or to give something a mark of proof. When Christ’s tomb was sealed, it was to be certain that it could not be tampered with; the hope of the priests of Israel was that the disciples would not be able to come and steal the Lord’s body (Matthew 27:66). When John heard the seven thunders speak during his revelation, he was told to “seal up what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down” (Revelation 10:4). Here, the sealing of vision and of prophecy (or “the vision of the prophet” by hendiadys) means that when Christ would arrive on earth, he would speak the Word of God directly to people; there would be no further need for prophecy, because all of the prophecies pointed to him.
Not that the prophecies of the Old Testament should be ignored. There is a lot to learn from the words of Moses and the prophets, sometimes helping us to better understand the law, and sometimes helping us to better understand the gospel. They are the Word of God just the same as the letters of Peter and Paul, and just the same as the Gospels.
The final Gospel promise is the anointing of the Most Holy, or “a Most Holy One.” To anoint is to consecrate someone or something. Priests such as Aaron were anointed by pouring oil on their head (Exodus 29:7). The altar was also anointed (Exodus 29:36). Anointing is the whole idea behind the title “Messiah” or “Christ,” both of which mean “the Anointed One.” Since Gabriel uses the superlative, “Holy of Holies” or “Most Holy,” many readers and commentators think this must refer to the location in the Temple, the Most Holy Place. But there was no longer a “Most Holy Place” in the temple, and there wasn’t one that was occupied by an Ark ever again. If some other thing were to be anointed, such as the altar, or one of the sacred vessels or utensils, then which one is being referred to here? Not one Old Testament prophecy points ahead with words, delight, joy, or promise, to any inanimate object. Everything looks ahead rather to the one individual who was on his way, the Seed of Eve, the Savior. “The Most Holy” was used for Aaron (1 Chronicles 23:13), and therefore there is no objection to “the Most Holy” being used for the Messiah. And since the Temple must finally disappear (Revelation 21:22), “the Most Holy One” could surely be Christ Jesus our Lord.
Professor Jeske offers another suggestion without insisting that it is the only correct explanation for “the Most Holy.” Peter writes, “You, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5). “It is not unreasonable to conclude that the founding of the Holy Christian Church is envisioned in this final objective.”
These Gospel promises from Gabriel put together an impressive list of all of the blessings, the good things, that God promised to mankind and that were brought about so perfectly by Jesus Christ. In the Large Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther, there is a simple exchange that he presents. “If you are asked, ‘What do you believe in the Second Article, concerning Jesus Christ?’ answer briefly, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ, true Son of God, has become my Lord.’ What is it to ‘become a Lord’? It means that he has redeemed me from sin, from the devil, from death, and from all evil. Before this I had no Lord and King but was captive under the power of the devil. I was condemned to death and entangled in sin and blindness” (II:22).
This is what Christ was anointed to do, and this is precisely what he has done for us. So we can set aside doubt and questions, and just put our faith in our Lord Jesus. “The six terms (Gospel promises) all point to the work the promised Savior will do. This fact lends support to the view that the seventy ‘sevens’ terminate not at the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, and not at our Lord’s second coming, but at his first coming. When Christ left this earth after completing his work here, not one of these six items prophesied by Gabriel was left undone.”
And we who remain here, waiting for his return, do so with confidence and peaceful joy. He came to make us ready, to make us righteous, to remove sin. He left so that the full measure of the kingdom could be brought it through the Means of Grace. And when the last of us has been brought to faith, the harvest will come, and Christ will return. He said many things to comfort us in the meantime, and this one happens to come to mind today: “I will leave within you the meek and humble, who trust in the name of the Lord” (Zephaniah 3:12). And in Acts, the angel said to the Apostles who stood looking up as he ascended: “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go.”
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.