1. To finish the transgression.
The "transgression" of Israel had long been the burden of the messages of God’s prophets. It was for their "transgression" that they had been sent into captivity, and that their land and city had been made a "desolation" for seventy years.
Daniel himself had confessed this, saying, "Yea, all Israel have transgressed Thy law, even by departing that they might not obey Thy voice. Therefore the curse is poured upon us" (Da 9: 11). But the angel revealed to him the distressing news that the full measure of Israel’s "transgression" was yet to be completed; that the children were yet to fill up the iniquity of their fathers; and that, as a consequence, God would bring upon them a far greater "desolation" than that which had been wrought by Nebuchadnezzar. For "to finish the transgression" could mean nothing less or other than the betrayal and crucifixion of their promised and expected Messiah.
We would call particular attention at this point to the words of the Lord Jesus spoken to the leaders of the people shortly before His betrayal; for there is in them a striking similarity to the words of the prophecy of Gabriel. He said: "Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers … that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth" (Mt 23: 32). In these words of Christ we find first, a declaration that the hour had come for them "to finish the transgression"; and second, a strong intimation that the predicted desolations were to come, as a judgment, upon that generation, as appears by the words "that upon you may come."
Our Lord’s concluding words at that time have great significance when considered in the light of this prophecy. He said, "Verily I sayunto you, all these things shall come upon this generation"; and then, as the awful doom of the beloved city pressed upon His heart, He burst into the lamentation, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem—" ending with the significant words, "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate."
The terrible and unparalleled character of the judgments which were poured out upon Jerusalem at the time of its destruction in A.D. 70 has been lost sight of in our day. But if we would learn how great an event it was in the eyes of God, we have only to consider our Lord’s anguish of soul as He thought upon it. Even when on the way to the Cross it was more to Him than His own approaching sufferings (Lu 23: 28-30).
The apostle Paul also speaks in similar terms of the transgressions of that generation of Jews, who not only crucified the Lord Jesus, and then rejected the gospel preached to them in His Name, but also forbade that He be preached to the Gentiles. Wherefore the apostle said that they "fill up their sins always; for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost" (1Th 2: 15,16). For they were indeed about to undergo God’s wrath "to the uttermost" in the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, and in the scattering of the people among all the nations of the world, to suffer extreme miseries at their hands. These Scriptures are of much importance in connection with our present study, and we shall have occasion to refer to them again.
It is not difficult to discern why the list of the six great things comprised in this prophecy was headed by the finishing of the transgression; for the same act, which constituted the crowning sin of Israel, also served for the putting away of sin (Heb 9: 26), and the unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation"; and then, as the awful doom of the beloved city pressed upon His heart, He burst into the lamentation, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem—" ending with the significant words, "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." The terrible and unparalleled character of the judgments which were poured out upon Jerusalem at the time of its destruction in A.D. 70 has been lost sight of in our day. But if we would learn how great an event it was in the eyes of God, we have only to consider our Lord’s anguish of soul as He thought upon it. Even when on the way to the Cross it was more to Him than His own approaching sufferings (Lu 23: 28-30). The apostle Paul also speaks in similar terms of the transgressions of that generation of Jews, who not only crucified the Lord Jesus, and then rejected the gospel preached to them in His Name, but also forbade that He be preached to the Gentiles. Wherefore the apostle said that they "fill up their sins always; for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost" (1Th 2: 15,16). For they were indeed about to undergo God’s wrath "to the uttermost" in the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, and in the scattering of the people among all the nations of the world, to suffer extreme miseries at their hands. These Scriptures are of much importance in connection with our present study, and we shall have occasion to refer to them again. It is not difficult to discern why the list of the six great things comprised in this prophecy was headed by the finishing of the transgression; for the same act, which constituted the crowning sin of Israel, also served for the putting away of sin (Heb 9: 26), and the accomplishing of eternal redemption (Heb 9: 12). They did indeed take Him, and with wicked hands crucified and slew Him; but it was done "by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God" (Ac 2: 23). The powers and authorities of Judea and of Rome, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were indeed gathered together against Him; but it was to do what God’s own hand and counsel had determined before to be done (Ac 4: 26-28). There is nothing more wonderful in all that has been made known to us, than that the people and their rulers, because they knew Him not, nor the voices of their own prophets, which were read every Sabbath day, should have fulfilled them in condemning Him (Ac 13: 27). Therefore, among the many prophecies that were then "fulfilled, " a prominent place must be given to that which forms the subject of our present study.