Transcript Slide 1
A Prophecy of Vital Importance. The Sixfold Messianic Mandate of Daniel 9 God will have completed six things for Israel. A. The first three have to do with sin, B. The second three with the kingdom. C. The basis for the first three was provided in the work of Christ on the cross, but all six will be realized by Israel at the Second Advent of Christ. "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." Daniel 9:24-27. 1. Daniel’s prophecy of the 70 weeks is one of the most significant prophecies in the Bible, and one of the most misunderstood. 2. In this prophecy, the Jews were given the approximate time of the arrival of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. For this reason, there was a great air of expectancy among the Jews 483 years after the order by the Persian King Artaxerxes for the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem in 445 BC (see Nehemiah 2:4-8). 4. It is generally accepted that the weeks in Daniel 9:24 are weeks of years, or periods of 7 years. The coming of Christ after 483 years (69 times 7), thus fulfilling this prophecy, is one of the greatest proofs of the divine inspiration of the Bible. 2520 years from the image of Nebuchadnezzar’s image til 1914 and the beginning of Israel’s restoration. A. Jesus fulfilled the Prophecy---When Christ came, He told the people The time that had been fulfilled was the chronology that had been given by Daniel. 1. God had an appointment with Mankind. Mark 1.15—The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel," 2. Appointment Fulfilled. Daniel 9:24 gives us specific prophecies that would be fulfilled by Christ during the 70 weeks or 490 years. To Restore the Glory • Exodus 34:6-7— Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness and truth; who keeps loving-kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations." Hebrew Meaning of Sin • 1) Slipping away from where you should be. • 2) Unbelief. Erring from the path on which God’s put you. • 3) You are not achieving a standard that God has set. • 4) Missing the mark or the path. Hebrew Meaning of Transgression • 1) A willful deviation from, and therefore rebellion against, the path of Godly living. • 2)Greek meaning of Transgression: To go beyond Overstepping the limits. Hebrew Meaning of Iniquity • 1) Perverseness, bowed down, twisted, to be bent or crooked, to be wrung out of course. It signifies not merely that which is wrong, but the tendency to do wrong. • 2) Iniquities are second nature sins, which drive us to repeatedly, continually commit wrong. • 3) A perversion of the truth, which leads to error. • 4) A perversion of intents, which affects our will. Sin and Transgression are Verbs and things we do: • 5) Iniquity is the bent condition of what we are. Iniquity revolves more about the underlying attitudes: Idolatry, Racism, Gluttony, Covetousness, Unrighteousness, wickedness, lawlessness. It defiles our character. A. “Finish the transgression," 1. Matthew 27:25—All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" 2. Romans 11:21-25. Israel was blinded for our sake. That rejection of the Messiah's was the final transgression of Israel until the blinders are removed and all Israel shall be saved. • 3. Acts 4:11—He is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.' • 4. Hebrews 3:12 –beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily while it is called today lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 3. John 19:30—Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. 4. Hebrews 9:15—For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. B. He would "make an end of sins," which can be understood as making an end of the sacrifice for sins. Christ did this when He offered Himself for our sins once and forever on the cross. 1. Hebrews 9:26—Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 2. Hebrews 10:12—But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, 3. John 1:29—The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 4. 1 John 3:5—You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. C. He would "make reconciliation for iniquity." Christ made reconciliation for the sins of the people on the Cross. 1. Ephesians 2:15-17—By abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. 2. Hebrews 2:17—Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 3. 2 Corinthians 5:18—Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation D. He would "bring in everlasting righteousness." Christ has been made unto us righteousness. 1. Romans 5:18—So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. 2. 1 Corinthians 1:30—But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 3. 2 Corinthians 5:21—He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. E. He would "seal up the vision and prophecy." Christ fulfilled the law and the prophets. 1. In the last 24 hour of His life Christ fulfilled 25 Old Testament prophecies that identified the Messiah. 1. Matt 5:17-18—Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen; will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 2. Acts 3:18-19—But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 3. Romans 3:21-23—But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 4. Rev 10:6-7—and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, WHO CREATED HEAVEN AND THE THINGS IN IT, AND THE EARTH AND THE THINGS IN IT, AND THE SEA AND THE THINGS IN IT, that there will be delay no longer, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets. F . The Most Holy would be anointed; this was fulfilled when Christ was anointed to be our Savior. 1. Luke 4:17-19—and the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD." 2. John 2:19—Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 3. Quote from Modern Day Rabbi The first thing we need to consider is 1 Corinthians 6:19 which to teaches that the individual believer in Messiah is a “temple of the Holy Spirit”. The word for temple in this verse was a common Greek word used to refer to the Holy of Holies. The thrust appears to be that since the body of Messiah is universal and diverse, there can be no possibility of a central place of worship. Instead, God made each individual believer a kind of a mini, portable temple. The historical reality of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and its lack of replacement for nearly 1900 years may serve to reinforce that viewpoint. However, there is also a second factor to consider. The Temple/Mishkan served as a unifying point for a specific political nation, the nation of Israel. Jewish people have been wandering around the globe since 722 BCE. One of the few national rallying points we have had over the thousands of years was the Jerusalem Temple. In essence, when the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed in 70 CE to all intents and purposes, the nation was also destroyed. We do not mean that the people were destroyed. We are just speaking about the geo-political entity. There had not been a piece of real estate in which the Jewish people were permitted to build a Temple since 70 CE, but things changed in 1948. In fulfillment of Biblical prophecy, the Nation of Israel was re-born into a geo-political nation. Since 1967 we have had a united capital city — Jerusalem. G. Daniel 9:26 we are told that Christ would be cut off, but not for Himself - He died for us. H. The next event after that on the prophetic calendar would be the arrival of the "prince that shall come" to destroy the city of Jerusalem and the Temple. This was fulfilled in 70 AD when the Roman general Titus came, within one generation of the time of Christ, as predicted (Matthew 23:35-36, 24:34) and destroyed Jerusalem. 1. Matt 23:35-36—so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 "Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. 2. Matt 24:34—Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. I. Christ would confirm the covenant with many (not all) for one week (Daniel’s 70th week). II. We are told in Hebrews 12:24 that Christ was the mediator of the new covenant. 1. Hebrews 12:24—and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. 2. Hebrews 9:15—for this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. J. In the middle of the week Christ caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease, when He died on the cross for our sins - at that moment when He was on the cross, the veil of the temple was torn in half. 1. Matt 27:51-54—and behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. 2. Hebrews 10:18—Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. K. This disruption of the temple sacrifices was a sign that Christ had opened for us the way into the heavenly sanctuary, so that the animal sacrifices in the Temple were no longer necessary. (Based on this reference to Messiah’s ministry culminating "in the midst of the week" it has been believed that His earthly ministry lasted for 3 1/2 years). 1. However, there is also a second factor to consider. The Temple/Mishkan served as a unifying point for a specific political nation, the nation of Israel. Jewish people have been wandering around the globe since 722 BCE. One of the few national rallying points we have had over the thousands of years was the Jerusalem Temple. In essence, when the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed in 70 CE to all intents and purposes, the nation was also destroyed. We do not mean that the people were destroyed. We are just speaking about the geo-political entity. 2. There had not been a piece of real estate in which the Jewish people were permitted to build a Temple since 70 CE, but things changed in 1948. In fulfilment of Biblical prophecy, the Nation of Israel was re-born into a geo-political nation. Since 1967 we have had a united capital city — Jerusalem L. Over the centuries, the great commentators have agreed that Christ is the One who confirmed the covenant with many including: Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, Adam Clarke, Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Edward Young, John Calvin, John Wesley, Geneva Study Bible, etc). The Church Fathers such as Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Athanasius, Augustine and Eusebius regarded the 70th week of Daniel as having already been fulfilled by Christ’s earthly ministry, as did the Venerable Bede, John Wycliffe, Luther, Melancthon, John Gill, etc. Church Fathers such as Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Athanasius, Augustine and Eusebius regarded the 70th week of Daniel as fulfilled by Christ’s earthly ministry, as did the Venerable Bede, John Wycliffe, Luther, Melancthon, John Gill, etc. M. This is a Messianic Passage Daniel 9:24. 1. This verse clearly describes Christ’s earthly ministry, and tells us that all these things, including His making reconciliation for iniquity by dying on the Cross. N. Midst of the Week Clearly leaves 3.5 years or 42 Prophetic Months decreed for Israel. 1. That would be the ministry of the Two Witnesses. It’s focus is Israel. 1. Revelation 11:3-4—and I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. O. No mention of anyone breaking a Covenant. Not Biblical. 1. Edward Young explains the correct meaning of this confirmation of the covenant by the Messiah: 1. "The Hebrew words are unusual. They are sometimes interpreted as though they meant simply ‘to make a covenant.’ Such an interpretation, however, is incorrect, for it does not do justice to the original which can only mean to cause a covenant ‘to prevail,’ or ‘to make a covenant firm.’ The implication is that the covenant is already in existence and that its terms and conditions are now to be made effective and confirmed. P. It is better to regard the subject of this passage as the Messiah; Clearly He has been the most prominent Person in this passage. The covenant which is to prevail is the covenant of grace wherein the Messiah, by His life and death, purchased for God men and women from all nations. Q. Fallacies of Applying this Passage to anti-christ. Many say that the "prince that shall come" in verse 26 is the Antichrist, and that the Antichrist will make a seven-year treaty with the Jews in Israel at some point yet in the future. Some have identified this as any treaty that may be made between modern Israel and the Palestinians. They say that whenever we see such a treaty enacted, that will signal the start of a 7-year period of tribulation. There are a lot of mistaken consequences that naturally arise from this incorrect interpretation of Daniel’s prophecy. 1. This type of thinking results in an irrational, morbid fear of and inappropriate application of it purpose. 2. How is it possible that these events in Daniel’s prophecy, which were so clearly fulfilled in the First Century AD just as Daniel said they would be, can be projected 2000 years in the future? 3. Those who insist that the 70th week is in the antichrist say that there must be a great slaughter of the Jews when the Antichrist breaks the peace treaty with them. However, there is absolutely no mention in Daniel’s prophecy of anyone breaking any peace treaty or any covenant with anyone. 4. We are told that He, the Messiah, will confirm the covenant, but there is absolutely nothing about anyone breaking or abrogating any covenant or treaty. 5. In fact, there is nothing in Daniel 9:27 about making any covenant or treaty. "He," that is, the Messiah, will confirm the covenant in His blood that was God and His people that He foreknew before the foundation of the world. As far as God was concerned the Lord was slain before the foundation of the world. It was always His plan to confirm this covenant with mankind. • Ephesians 1:4-6—Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, • Revelation 13:8-10—All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 If anyoneis destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints. We have seen that the prophecy of Daniel 9:27 was fulfilled 19 centuries ago, within the time-frame predicted by Daniel and the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we should stop applying it as a text speculative notions about "things to come" in the Middle East in the near future involving the anti-christ. Tertullian, the famous Latin theologian of Carthage, wrote many works, including Contra Judaeos (“Against the Jews”). 1. In chapter 8 of that work he used the seventy-weeks prophecy to argue against the Jews that Jesus fulfilled this prophecy in His first advent (including the Roman capture of Jerusalem in A.D. 70) and that the Old Covenant had been replaced by the New. Irenaeus wrote this long before the Roman Empire had fallen. "John and Daniel have predicted the dissolution and desolation of the Roman Empire, which shall precede the end of the age and the millenial Kingdom of Christ. St. Athanasius (296-372) , "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand); then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes" [Matt. 24:15]. Knowing these things, the Saints regulated their conduct accordingly." (Defense of His Flight [11]) Chrysostom "Or because he who had desolated the city and the temple, placed his statue within the temple." (The AnteNicene Fathers) For He brought in also a prophecy, to confirm their desolation, saying, "But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation,spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, let him that readeth understand."(12) He referred them to Daniel. And by "abomination" He meaneth the statue of him who then took the city, which he who desolated the city and the temple placed within the temple, wherefore Christ calleth it, "of desolation." Moreover, in order that they might learn that these things will be while some of them are alive, therefore He said, "When ye see the abomination of desolation." (Of Matthew 24:1,2) From all accounts Jerusalem was certainly devastated and perhaps a million Jews were killed. But the "times of the Gentiles" in Jerusalem continued. the Romans came back to kill another 1/2 to 3/4 of a million Jews less than 70 years later. And Jerusalem was compassed with armies not only in 70 AD but in 132, 639, 1099, 1187, 1948, 1967 and today. And those armies are sworn to the destruction of Israel and killing and "driving the Jews into the sea". Our early church fathers could never have imagined, what we can see looking back through history, after 1200 years of Islamization of Jerusalem rendered the city so physically and spiritually desolate by the beginning of the 19th century, as the accounts of those how visited Jerusalem in the 19th century attest: In "A History of the Jews" Paul Johnson writes on page 321: "Between 1827 and 1839, largely through British efforts, the population of Jerusalem rose from 550 to 5,500 and in all Palestine it topped 10,000 the real beginning of the Jewish return to the Promised Land. In 1838 Palmerston appointed the first western vice-consul in Jerusalem, W.T. Young, and told him 'to afford protection to the Jews generally'. " In 1835 Alphonse de Lamartine wrote: “Outside the city of Jerusalem, we saw no living object, heard no living sound. . .a complete eternal silence reigns in the town, in the highways, in the country.” In 1844, William Thackeray writes about the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem: “Now the district is quite deserted, and you ride among what seem to be so many petrified waterfalls. We saw no animals moving among the stony brakes; scarcely even a dozen little birds in the whole course of the ride.” In 1857, the British consul in Palestine, James Finn, reported: “The country is in a considerable degree empty of inhabitants and therefore its greatest need is that of a body of population.” In 1866, W.M. Thomson writes: “How melancholy is this utter desolation. Not a house, not a trace of inhabitants, not even shepherds, to relieve the dull monotony … Much of the country through which we have been rambling for a week appears never to have been inhabited, or even cultivated; and there are other parts, you say, still more barren.” In 1867, Mark Twain – Samuel Clemens, the famous author of “Huckleberry Finn” and “Tom Sawyer”, toured the Holy Land. This is how he described the land: “There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent; not for thirty miles in either direction… One may ride ten miles hereabouts and not see ten human beings … Nazareth is forlorn… Jericho lies a mouldering ruin… … Bethlehem and Bethany, in their poverty and humiliation… untenanted by any living creature… A desolate country whose soil is rich enough but is given over wholly to weeds. A silent, mournful expanse. We never saw a human being on the whole route. There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.”[11] In 1874, Reverend Samuel Manning wrote: “But where were the inhabitants? This fertile plain, which might support an immense population, is almost a solitude…. Day by day we were to learn afresh the lesson now forced upon us, that the denunciations of ancient prophecy have been fulfilled to the very letter — “the land is left void and desolate and without inhabitants.” In 1892, B. W. Johnson writes: “In the portion of the plain between Mount Carmel and Jaffa one sees but rarely a village or other sights of human life… A ride of half an hour more brought us to the ruins of the ancient city of Cæsarea, once a city of two hundred thousand inhabitants, and the Roman capital of Palestine, but now entirely deserted… I laid upon my couch at night, to listen to the moaning of the waves and to think of the desolation around us.” Today Jerusalem and Israel is fully inhabited and flourishes just as the Bible predicted to indicate we are living in the very last days. God took that barren, forsaken land and caused it to become a flourishing garden with streams and rivers and a beautiful habitation in fulfillment of last day prophecy.