Daniel's Great Prophecy, Part 1

Father, thank you for tonight. Thank you for the things you teach us. Thank you for the way you have led us. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to study your word. It is a great joy, and we are so blessed to be able to look at your word tonight and examine it and see how it is you're in charge.

We are so grateful for that, Lord, and we give you all the praise and glory and honor. In Jesus' name, amen. Daniel chapter nine. Daniel chapter nine is where we're at. We will be here this week and next week in verses 24 to 27. Now, you know, the theme of Daniel is the magnificence of the most high God, for he truly is magnificent. And tonight, you will see it even more so. We've already seen it in the text. We've already seen what God has done in Daniel's life and how God has predetermined all things from eternity past, and we were able to see the magnificence of the most high God on every page of Daniel's book.

And so tonight, we're gonna see it in a unique and special way as we look at prophecy. We've covered Daniel's great prayer already, and now we're gonna cover Daniel's great prophecy, because what it does is it unveils to us the future, and we'll be able to see it from a perspective that God gives to Daniel. Now, if you haven't been with us, let me just say it to you this way.

You know, in 722 BC, the Assyrians came and took the northern kingdom into captivity. It would be over 100 years later where the Babylonians would come and they would take the southern kingdom into captivity. And in that southern kingdom was Daniel and his three friends and we've studied them in our study of the Book of Daniel. And they were taken into captivity around 605 BC by Nebuchadnezzar, and he was the leader of the Babylonian Empire. And in that study, we've come to help you understand that throughout the Book of Daniel, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome are the subject of the prophecies when it comes to the future.

They were real empires ran by real people, and they had real literal kingdoms on the earth. Why is that important? Because it leads you to the final kingdom. It leads you to a final literal kingdom. There's a reason why these empires are given to us and explained to us because there's coming the ultimate king who is a righteous king who will have a literal kingdom and rule so completely different than the other world empires. And so it's led us to that. So when you come to Daniel chapter nine, Daniel has already seen the fulfillment of prophecy.

He has seen the Babylonian regime go off the scene, right? Because the Medo-Persians came in and conquered Babylon. And that was all a part of Nebuchadnezzar's colossal image in Daniel chapter two, as well as Daniel's vision of understanding the four beasts as he was able to get those in a vision. And so now that the Babylonian Empire is off the scene and the Medo-Persian Empire has come to be, Daniel who led in the Babylonian Empire is now leading in the Persian Empire because of his integrity, because of his holiness, because God's sovereignty put him into a position of leadership.

So now he's leading. And as he's leading, he is reading the book of Jeremiah. That's what it says in Daniel chapter nine, verses one and two. I was reading the scrolls of Jeremiah. And what was he reading? Jeremiah chapter 25, Jeremiah chapter 29, because in there it tells exactly how long the captivity will be. Well, Daniel is now in his eighties and he realizes that he has been there just about 70 years into captivity. So now he knows that what Jeremiah had prophesied on the cusp of their captivity, because that's when Jeremiah would prophesy about what was gonna happen to Judah had they not repented and they didn't repent.

And that they were going to captivity for 70 years. So he reads this and he's thinking, wait a minute, time's almost up. So it drives into prayer. Why? Because prayer was aligning my will with God's will, right? And so he's aligning his will with God's will. Lord, you said 70 years captivity, we're getting to that point. He confesses his sins, he confesses the nation's sins, he's in prayer, he wants to do the right thing. He's asking God to act righteously. He appeals to the attributes of God. He appeals to the majesty of God.

He ends up concluding by saying these words in verse number 19 of Daniel chapter nine. Oh Lord, hear. Oh Lord, forgive. Oh Lord, listen and take action for your own sake. Oh my God, do not delay because your city and your people are called by your name. So he appeals to God based on his sake, not Daniel's sake, but God's sake. He appeals to God based on his glory, based on his honor, like all prayers should be based, right? We are praying because we want your name, your namesake to be put on display, Lord.

We want you to be seen. And so he appeals to him based on the fact that you are our God, these are your people, and for your namesake, forgive us. And as he's praying, God has already dispatched an angel. And the angel is Gabriel. So as he's praying, God knows this, he has already dispatched Gabriel to come and give him the answer to his prayer. Don't you wish that when you prayed, you'd have an answer just like that? Well, Daniel does. He gets an answer. And it says in verse number 20, now while I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sins of my people Israel and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God on behalf of the holy mountain of my God, while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel whom I had seen in the vision previously came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering.

Okay, so it's at the time of the evening offering. This is after three o'clock in the afternoon. It's the offering which they would use the offer up as a sacrifice, a sacrificial lamb, but because there is no temple, there is no sacrificial system, it's the meal offering, it's the offering of consecration. He's consecrating his life and as he's doing this and praying, Gabriel shows up and says this. He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, oh, Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight and understanding.

Isn't that great? Here is Daniel praying, asking God to do his will. And all of a sudden Gabriel says, hey, you know what? I'm gonna give you some insight. I'm gonna give you some understanding. I'm gonna help you come to grips with what really is happening. So he says, he gave me instruction and talked with me and said, oh, Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your supplications, the command was issued and I've come to tell you for you are highly esteemed.

Isn't that so neat? Here Gabriel comes and says, I will let you know that while you were praying, I was dispatched. I was told to come. Now, how quick does it take an angel, Gabriel, to get from glory to Babylon? My guess is in a matter of nanoseconds, right? But he's dispatched and he comes and he says, I'm coming because Daniel, you are highly esteemed. You are greatly loved. You are precious in the sight of God. Wouldn't you like to know that you're precious in the sight of God? Wouldn't you like to know that this is heaven's view of you?

Gabriel comes and says, let me give you heaven's perspective on you, Daniel. You are highly esteemed. You are precious when it comes to glory. What a tremendous testimony. Isn't it interesting, interesting, that the two men in the scriptures that are majestically loved by God receive the greatest revelations about God in the future? John and Daniel. Daniel's, I mean, John's a disciple whom Jesus loved. That's how he talks about himself in John's gospel. He was so overwhelmed with God's love. In fact, in 1 John 3, he says, oh, what manner of love is this that the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God?

He's overwhelmed with God's love, but he who loves me keeps my commandments. Daniel and John kept the commandments of God. And these two men, highly esteemed, both loved by God in a unique and special way, received the greatest revelations about the future. They received the visions about the future. And God grants them that opportunity. What a blessing it was for him to realize that he was highly esteemed. And now he's gonna get an insight and understanding to his prayer. And what God's plan is.

So it says, so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision. Other words, he says, look, you need to get this. Need to understand this. Need to grasp this. If you haven't paid attention up to now, Daniel, pay attention. If you haven't gotten anything I've said up to now, Daniel, get this, you need to understand this. If you miss everything from the first eight and a half chapters, that's okay, but you can't miss this.

Same is true for you and me. You can't miss this. You have to get this. Why? Because this is so pivotal to the history of Judaism, the history of the Jewish nation, and what God is going to do with the Jewish people. Your understanding of Daniel 9, 24, 27 helps you understand the prophetic literature as it's outlined in scripture. It hinges on how you understand this set of verses. If you mess these up, there's a good chance you're gonna mess up the other portions of prophetic scripture. So don't mess these up.

That's why Gabriel says, you gotta get this. I'm gonna give you insight. I'm gonna give you understanding, but you gotta understand this, Daniel. You have to grapple with it. So he gives the prophecy. Here it is. 70 weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, to anoint the most holy place. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and 62 weeks.

It will be built again with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the 62 weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing. And the people of the Prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary and its end will come with a flood. Even to the end, there will be war. Desolations are determined. He will make a firm covenant with the many for one week. But in the middle of the week, he will put a stop to sacrifice and great offering. And on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction.

One that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate. Now, if you've never read that before, you're probably grappling with, what's all the week stuff? What's with the 70 weeks? What's with the 62 weeks? What's with the seven weeks? What does all that mean? This is a prophecy that you need to understand that deals only, that deals only let me say it again, it deals only with the nation of Israel and the holy city, Jerusalem.

Okay, that's it. Nobody else, not the Gentiles, not you, not me. Okay, only the Jews and the holy city. That's what it says. 70 weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, that's it. Now you understand that, right? That makes sense. You get that. And so this prophecy deals with the nation of Israel and their city. It deals with two princesses, okay? One who's the Messiah and one who is the anti-Messiah. On top of that, it tells us the period of time. The period of time that God's gonna deal with them is 70 weeks.

That 70 weeks is divided into three periods. It's divided into seven weeks, 62 weeks, which is 69 weeks, and then one week. So that period of time is 70 weeks. It's divided into three periods, seven weeks, 62 weeks, one week. You with me so far? That's what the prophecy is. And 70 weeks begins at the giving of a decree. That's what the prophecy is. So we know when the prophecy is going to begin because there's gonna be a decree. We know when it's going to end because it's 70 weeks. It's divided up into three periods, and we'll explain those periods to you.

And we know it's for the Jewish people and the holy city. And it includes the arrival of the Messiah, the death of the Messiah, and the rise of the anti-Messiah. Now you stay with me. I'm gonna explain it all to you. It's gonna be so simple. You're gonna leave here thinking, oh, that's so easy to understand because we're gonna make it so simple for you to see it. So let me begin by giving you, number one, the cause for the prophecy.

Okay, take good notes. It will help you. The cause for the prophecy. The cause fall into three categories. All right, are you ready? The sovereignty of God, the sins of God's people, and the setting up of God's kingdom. There's a reason why this prophecy is given. Daniel's in prayer, right? He's asking God to forgive the sins of his people. He's asking God, look, 70 weeks is almost done. Now we can go back, and we can go back to Jerusalem, and we can go back and live our lives, and the people go back to the holy city, and this is great.

I'm gonna confess the sins of my people and my sins. And so Gabriel comes and says, here's the cause for the prophecy. Sovereignty of God, number one, okay?

Listen to what it says. 70 weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city. Now stop right there. 70 weeks have been decreed, have been determined. It's a Hebrew word that means to cut off. So what God has done from eternity past is cut off a period of time by which he's going to deal with Israel and their holy city. That makes sense, right? This time, this 70 weeks have been decreed. They've been cut off. They've been cut out. They've been set apart. Because they're only gonna deal with you, your people, and your holy city in a time period 70 weeks.

Now, what does that mean? What is 70 weeks? Well, literally it reads 70 sevens, or 70 units of seven. That's the literal translation. We think of 70 weeks as 70 weeks, a little over a year, right? Got 52 weeks in a year. 70 weeks takes us into the new year. It's not 70 weeks, okay? Because the word is determined by the context in which it exists. So it's 70 sevens, or 70 units of seven. That's the best way to translate it. So what God has done is taken 70 units of seven, 70 weeks, and decreed them for Israel, the Jewish nation, and their holy city.

So the question comes, how long is 70 weeks, or 70 sevens? Well, 70 times seven is 490, right? You understand that you can do math and you can multiply, right? 70 times seven is 490. So is it 490 days, 490 weeks? 490 months, or 490 years? It's gotta be one of those. That's a timeframe. Well, within that timeframe, the Messiah has to come. So it can't be 490 days, or weeks, or months, because that would be way before Jesus arrived. So the context demands it be years. 70 weeks of seven years, 490 years.

Now, why does he say that? How come he doesn't say 490 years? Well, it's kind of like a, almost like a play on words. Let me explain to you.

Israel was in bondage for 70 years, right? And Daniel's asking, as he confesses his sin, Lord, 70 years is up. Now the people can go back to Jerusalem. Now they can go back to their holy city. Now, this can happen now.

So we wanna confess our sins. And the answer comes this way. If you thought 70 years were long, think about 70 times seven years. Because in answer to your prayer about Israel's repentance, it's gonna be 70 times seven, 490 years for that to take place. Because I have decreed that to happen. And why does he do it that way? Now remember, Israel went into bondage for 70 years because every seven years, they were to use one year as a sabbatical year and not deal with the land. Every year, or every seven years, okay?

So, or the seventh year. Every six years on the seventh year, they were not to do anything with the land. So for, listen, for 490 years, they didn't do that. They've been in existence for 800 years. And 490 of those years, they did not do that. So 2 Chronicles 36, verse number 21 says, we've already read this to you, that you're going into captivity one year okay, for every seven years, you did not keep a sabbatical year for the land, which equals 70 years. So they went into captivity for 70 years because there were 70 land Sabbaths, they did not keep in that 490 year timeframe.

You with me so far, you get this, right? And so now you're going into captivity for 70 years. So now Daniel's all excited because 70 years is coming up. It's almost over. And God says, hey man, you know what?

You think that's bad? It's gonna be 70 times seven that I've cut out this time for your people Israel because it's all been predetermined by God. And so that's exactly what's going to happen. So for the 490 years that they didn't keep a Sabbath every seven years, he's taken that 490 and now made it one lump sum in which he will deal with Israel and the Holy city. Does that make sense? It's exactly what he's doing. And so the cause for the prophecy is number one, the sovereignty of God and the plan he has for his nation Israel.

The second is the sins of God's people, the sins of God's people. And they're in six categories. Now I'm gonna be honest with you. When I taught this before, I didn't teach it right. So I've kind of changed my view a little bit. You got to give me some leeway here. Okay, I'm learning as I go. So when I taught this 10 years ago, I taught it one way. I taught that the first three sins were dealt with at the first coming and the second three sins were dealt with at the second coming.

Okay, so I would teach it this way, that to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make an atonement for iniquity, that happened at the first coming of the Messiah.

And then to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place, that would be the second coming of the Messiah.

I think I was wrong. In fact, I'm pretty sure I was wrong. Why? Because whatever happens, okay, has to happen within a specific time period. God's gonna deal with his people. It's gonna deal in a 70-week time period. So if that's the case, and there are seven weeks and 62 weeks or 69 years when Messiah arrives, then the 69 years ends at the arrival of the Messiah. So whatever happens at the arrival of the Messiah, which is the triumphal entry, we'll talk about that in a minute, whatever happens after that is not part of 70 weeks because you have 69 weeks and you have one week left.

So the first three couldn't have been dealt with in Israel's life with the death of the Messiah because that death of the Messiah takes place in the gap between the 69th week and the 70th week.

Let me explain it to you. You with me so far? Some of you guys are out there, well, I didn't eat enough dinner. I gotta have more coffee. I gotta stay awake. I mean, this is so exciting. This is so marvelous how God does this. Okay, so listen.

It says, remember, the cause of the prophecy, number one, the solemnity of God. Number two, the sins of God's people.

So he says, so what's gonna happen in 70 weeks? Whatever happens is gonna take place in the timeframe that God has allotted. And that timeframe is in three categories. Seven weeks, right? 49 years, right? 62 weeks, 434 years. One week, seven years. So whatever happens with the sins of God's people, it's not gonna be taken care of if in that timeframe. Not in between the 69th and 70th week, but in the first 69 weeks or the 70th week, but not in between.

You with me so far? So he says these. He's gonna finish the transgression, okay? So within the 70-week timeframe, there needs to be a finishing of Israel's transgression. It has a definite article there, so it's the transgression. Literally, it's the rebellion. In other words, it is the one sin that Israel is constantly committed. It is Israel's apostasy. So whatever happens in those 70 weeks, Israel's apostasy will be dealt with. Israel's sin of rebellion against Almighty God will be dealt with.

I know, Daniel, you're praying. I know they've been in captivity for 70 years. And yes, they're gonna go back to Jerusalem, yes. But the rebellion's going to continue. It's gonna keep on keeping on because in that 70-week timeframe, I have to deal with this transgression of apostasy committed by the people of Israel. And when will that happen? It doesn't happen until the end of the 70th week. How do we know that? Good question. Book of Zechariah, 12th chapter says, I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication so that they will look on me whom they have pierced and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son and they will weep bitterly over him like a bitter weeping over a firstborn.

In that day, there will be great mourning in Jerusalem like in the morning of Hadad Driman in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn every family by itself, the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves, the family of the Shemites by itself and the wives by themselves. All the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves.

In that day, chapter 13, verse number one, a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for impurity.

On that day, this is what happens. When they see me and they see me as the one that they have pierced, when they see me and mourn for me as one would mourn for an only child, on that day, a fountain of grace will be poured out for my people Israel. In other words, that will finish the transgression. That will finish the rebellion. Israel's rebellion will be done because they're gonna rebel up to that point. Now, Bible says in Romans 11, verse number one, I see then God has not rejected his people, has he?

May it never be, for I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew, right? So Paul says, listen, Israel has not been rejected. There's gonna be a salvation of Israel. Verse 25, chapter 11, for I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, okay? So this is a mystery. This is something concealed in the old, revealed in the new, right? That's what a mystery is. In other words, it wasn't revealed in the Old Testament, but now it's been clearly revealed.

Here is the mystery. I don't want you to be uninformed. It's where that phrase, it says, I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren. So don't be ignorant about this mystery concerning Israel. You know what? Most people are ignorant concerning the mystery surrounding Israel. You can't afford to do that, why? Because way back in Daniel chapter nine, Daniel said to Daniel, listen to me, you need to get this. You need to understand this because it deals with you, your people, and the holy city, Jerusalem.

So he says, for I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery so that you will not be wise in your own estimation that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved. Just as it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion. He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. In other words, God's gonna finally take away their sins.

He hasn't done it yet, but he's going to do that. All Israel will be saved. Does that mean that every Jew living is gonna be saved? No, I'll answer that in a moment. I'll show you exactly who all Israel is, but there's gonna be a salvation of the nation. In Zechariah 12, it says every family, every father, every wife, the tribe of Levi, of Nathan, of David. He just goes back and says, look, all these people are gonna see me, they're gonna mourn for me, and a fountain of grace will be poured out upon them, and they will be forgiven of their sins and impurity.

Why? Paul tells us all Israel will be saved. When? When would that happen? When the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. What's that? That's the salvation of the Gentile people. That is Gentiles are being saved. When Israel rejected their Messiah, the church was born and accepted too. When the church was born, the church was made up of converted Jews, but there was a big push to go into all the world and make disciples, right? And that would be the conversion of Gentile nations. Were there Gentiles in the Old Testament saved?

Of course there were. Was Rahab saved? She was a Gentile. Of course she was. And so there are Old Testament individuals that were Gentiles that were saved, but there's gonna be a fullness of the Gentiles that's gonna take place in the church age. And then we'll continue on until Jesus comes again. And when that fullness of the Gentiles has come in, all Israel will be saved. When is that? The verse we read earlier, Zechariah 12 verses 10 and following. So the reason for the prophecy is simply because of the sins of God's people and the sovereignty of God.

Sins of God people, he has to finish their rebellion. He has to bring an end to their apostasy. When does that happen? That doesn't happen to the end of the 70th week when the Lord Jesus Christ returns. Now stay with me. You're gonna get it all very easily. So it says, number two, it says to make an end of sin.

Somehow God is gonna make an end of sin. Now listen carefully. To make an end is translated to seal up, to seal up sin. The phrase to seal up is used in the Old Testament as divine judgment. So there's gonna be a divine judgment on Israel's sin. God is gonna pass judgment on their sin. In other words, God is going to judge Israel. When does he do that? At the end of the 70th week. It says in Zachariah chapter 13, these words, verse number eight, "'It will come about in all the land,' declares the Lord, "'that two parts in it will be cut off and perish, "'but the third will be left in it.'" Third of what?

A third of a Jewish nation. In other words, two parts will be cut off and a third will be brought through, will be purged.

It says, "'And I will bring the third part through the fire, "'refine them as silver as you find, "'and test them as gold as tested.

"'They will call on my name and I will answer them. "'I will say, they are my people, "'and they will say, the Lord is my God.'" So a third will be brought through the fire.

Two thirds will perish. In other words, two thirds of the Jewish nation will perish, leaving one third.

That one third is the all of Romans 11 when Paul says, all Israel will be saved. The all are the ones that God brings to the fire, refines, they will call upon me, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. That make sense? So there's gonna be a judgment. He's gotta seal up the sins. He's gotta seal up the transgressions. He's gotta bring it into them. He's gotta judge them. Well, the book of Ezekiel talks to us about that. The judgment of Israel at the end of the tribulation or at the end of the 70th week.

Verse 33, Ezekiel 20. "'As I live,' declares the Lord God, "'surely with a mighty hand.'" Remember that phrase, mighty hand? Remember Peter, 1 Peter 5? Submit yourselves under the mighty hand of God. It's a phrase used of the discipline and destiny and deliverance of Israel. So God says, "'Surely with a mighty hand "'and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, "'I shall be king over you.

"'I will bring you out from the people "'and gather you from the lands where you have scattered. "'With a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm "'and with wrath poured out, "'and I will bring you into the wilderness "'of the peoples there, "'and I will enter into judgment with you face to face, "'as I entered into judgment with your fathers "'in the wilderness of the land of Egypt.'" When God entered into judgment with them, the only ones who came out were Joshua and Caleb and those under the age of 20.

But everybody else died in the wilderness. "'So I will enter into judgment with you,' "'declares the Lord God, "'and I will make you pass under the rod, "'and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant, "'and I will purge from you the rebels "'and those who transgress against me. "'I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, "'but they will not enter the land of Israel. "'Thus you will know that I am the Lord.'" How are you gonna know that I am the Lord? When God judges Israel. God's gonna judge Israel by two thirds of them perishing and one third entering in, which is the all of Romans chapter 11.

Ezekiel 33 tells us about that judgment that's gonna happen upon the nation of Israel. He says in verse 39, "'As for you, O house of Israel,' "'thus says the Lord God, "'go serve everyone his idols, "'but later you will surely listen to me and my holy name, "'and you will profane no longer with your gifts "'and with your idols, "'for on my holy mountain, "'on the high mountain of Israel,' "'declares the Lord God, "'there the whole house of Israel, "'all of them will serve me in the land "'where I will accept them, "'and there I will seek your contributions "'and the choices of your gifts with all your holy things.'" In other words, God says, you will serve me.

Where will you serve me? You will serve me in the holy land and you will come to me and I will be your people. So the cause of the prophecy, sovereignty of God, the sins of God's people, they must be dealt with. And they're gonna happen within the 70-week timeframe, okay? He has to deal with them. So he says, we're gonna finish the transgression, the rebellion, the apostasy. The apostasy of Israel will be finished. It will be over. When does that happen? When they look on him whom they have pierced at the end of the tribulation, at the end of the 70th week.

Then it says, make an end of sin, seal up sin, judge sin. You can say it that way. There's gonna be a judgment, a divine judgment against Israel's sin. When does that happen? At the end of the 70 weeks, at the end of the tribulation, when God comes back and judges Israel, purges them, two-thirds die, one-third goes to the fire.

They enter into the land of promise. Then he says these words, to make an atonement for iniquity. God is gonna make an atonement for iniquity, okay? Now we know he does this, where? At Calvary. But the atonement applied to the nation doesn't happen until they repent at the end. It's not applied to them yet. Individual Jews are saved. Individual Jews give their life to Christ. They enter into, in the church age, they enter into the family of God. They are converted Jews, right? But for the nation to be saved, there has to be an atonement made.

When was the atonement made? It was made between the 69th week and the 70th week. But it's not applied to Israel until the end of the 70th week. Does that make sense? Because they haven't embraced Christ. There's not an end to their apostasy. There's not an end to their sin. That doesn't happen till they look on the one whom they have pierced and they begin to mourn for him. That's when they are saved. That's when the atonement is applied to the nation of Israel and one third of them will enter into the kingdom.

That is the all of Romans 11 in Paul's mystery. So we begin to understand that as it begins to unfold. Then he says this, not only the sins of God's people, but the setting up of God's kingdom. The setting up of God's kingdom, three things, to bring in everlasting righteousness, the seal of a vision of prophecy and to anoint the most holy place, okay? So within the 70 week timeframe, this has to happen. He has to bring an end or bring in everlasting righteousness. Who's gonna do that except the Messiah.

He has to usher in eternal righteousness, everlasting righteousness for the people of God. And the Bible says these words in Jeremiah 23, verse number five, these words.

Jeremiah 23, verse number five, behold, the days are coming declares the Lord when I will raise up for David a righteous branch. Who's the branch? Messiah, the Nazir, a name for the Messiah, Jesus Christ himself. And he will reign as king and act wisely. So when the Lord raises up the righteous branch, he's gonna act wisely, he's gonna reign as king, he will do justice and righteousness in the land. What land? It's not figurative, it's not symbolic. He's gonna raise up a king who's gonna do righteousness in the land.

Well, in order for the Daniel 9 prophecy to come to be, there has to be the ushering in of eternal righteousness or the era of everlasting righteousness. Well, when does that happen? It doesn't happen till the Messiah arrives who is a righteous king who rules in the land with a rod of iron and he rules righteously. It says over in Isaiah chapter 11, Isaiah 11, verse number one, that a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

That's the Messiah again. The spirit of the Lord will rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. And he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what his eyes see, nor make a decision by what his ears hear. But with righteousness, he will judge the poor and decide with fairness for the effect of the earth. And he will strike the earth with a rod of his mouth. And with the breath of his lips, he will slay the wicked.

That's Revelation 19, that's when he comes back again. Also righteousness will be the belt about his loins and faithfulness, the belt about his waist. In other words, righteousness is what ties everything together. And the wolf would dwell with the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the young goat and the calf of the young lion and the fat lean together and a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra and the weaning child will put his hand on the viper's den. They will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Then in that day, the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Messiah, who will stand as a signal for the peoples. There's resting place will be glorious. None of that's taking place. None of this happened, but it will when the King ushers in everlasting righteousness.

There's gonna be a setting up of God's kingdom. This prophecy deals with the sovereignty of God, the sins of God's people and the setting up of God's kingdom. Notice what it says.

It says, to seal up vision and prophecy, okay? Same word used earlier, okay? It deals with judgment. There's gonna be a sealing up of vision and prophecy. That does not mean there will be no more visions or prophecy because you know from Joel chapter two that at the inauguration of the kingdom, there are visions and there are revelations. So what does it mean? God is going to seal up all prophecy and judgment. He's gonna bring an end to it. Why? Because you don't need it anymore because the prophecy and judgment deals specifically with Israel and their holy city.

Because he uses the same phrase as he uses about up earlier in chapter nine, when he says this, to seal up an end or to seal up their sin. He uses the phrase now to seal up the visions of prophecy. What are the visions of prophecy? They are the ones that deal with the sins of God's people and the repercussions of those sins. When the Messiah comes again at the end of the 70 weeks, what happens is that when they look upon him and they repent and they mourn as one would mourn for an only child, all the visions and all the revelations and all the prophecy that dealt with Israel's judgment is now sealed up and done.

That makes sense? Of course it does. And then it says this, it says very simply these words. Not only will he bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision of prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. What is that? So when he comes, he's gonna usher in everlasting righteousness. When he comes, okay, he's gonna set up his kingdom. He's gonna bring to end all prophecy and all vision that deals with the judgment of Israel because all that's done now.

We're gonna enter into the millennial age, the age that ushers in eternal righteousness. That's what it says. And as he does this, it says he's going to anoint the most holy place. Now, the most holy place, phrase used 39 times in the Old Testament, always in reference to the tabernacle and the temple, okay? So there's a tabernacle first and there was a temple.

So the most holy place is the temple. That means, listen, there's going to be another temple. Now we know Solomon built the first temple, right?

It was destroyed in 586 by the Babylonians, okay? Then there was the second temple and that was destroyed, Herod's temple.

It was destroyed in 70 AD. There's gonna be a third temple, but the Jews will build that for the anti-messiah according to Revelation chapter 11.

That temple will be desecrated by the anti-messiah. That's called the abomination of desolation. That's in the text. Jesus refers to that in Matthew 24 when he says, when you see the abomination of desolation as was spoken by Daniel the prophet, you gotta go. You gotta run. Why? Because that's the middle of the tribulation that ushers in the great and terrible day of the Lord. You gotta go. It refers back to Daniel chapter nine. And so they're gonna build a temple. It's gonna be desecrated by the anti-messiah.

But when Jesus comes back again, there's gonna be a new temple that has to be anointed. He's gonna build that one. The messiah's gonna build it. It's gonna be a glorious temple. It's gonna be in Jerusalem. It's gonna be on top of Mount Moriah. And there all the nations of the world will come to the messiah because he will rule with a rod of iron. And so all this has to happen within the 70 week timeframe because it's a period cut out for Israel and its holy people. So the atonement for iniquity, yes, there's atonement made for the sins of Gentiles, right?

But specifically in this passage, it's for the salvation of Israel. They can't get saved unless their sins have been atoned for, right? So once those sins are atoned for, they can get saved now at the end of the 70 weeks because they're gonna look on the one they crucified. They're gonna look at the one that died in their place and they'll mourn for him as one mourns for an only child.

So the cause of the prophecy, the sovereignty of God, the sins of God's people and the setting up of God's kingdom. And so Gabriel says, listen carefully, you have to understand this, 70 weeks had been cut off, cut out, set aside. And during that time, this is what's gonna happen. The sins of God's people will be dealt with and the setting up of God's kingdom will take place all within the 70 weeks. Which leads us to point number two.

And that is the command that begins the prophecy. When does this start? Well, he tells us. He says, so you ought to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and 62 weeks. It will be built again with the plaza and moat, even in times of distress. So Gabriel says, I'm gonna tell you when it begins. It's gonna begin when Israel goes back to build the walls, the streets and moat, the walls and defense mechanisms around the city.

Now, there are three times the book of Ezra where there's a command giving to go back to Jerusalem. None of those work. There's only one that does. And that's Nehemiah two verses one to eight. When Nehemiah is torn up over the fact that his people or the walls of the city have been torn down. It says that it came about in the month of Nisan. Now, when there's no date given, it's always the 14th of Nisan. Okay, that's congruent all throughout the Old Testament. So if there's not a specific time period in Nisan, it is the 14th of Nisan.

And it came about in the month of Nisan in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes. He began reigning in 465 BC. So in the 20th year, it's 445 BC. He's been reigning for 20 years. So the wine was before him and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. So the king said to me, why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart that I was very much afraid. I said to the king, let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my father's tombs lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?

Then the king said to me, what would you request? So I prayed to the God of heaven and I said to the king, if it pleased the king and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my father's tombs that I may rebuild it. Then the king said to me, the queen is sitting beside him. How long will your journey be? And when will you return? So it pleased the king to send me and I gave him a definite time. So from the ushering in, it says the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the prince, there will be seven weeks and 62 weeks.

That happens on March 14th, 445 BC, according to Nehemiah chapter two, verses one to eight. That's when it happens. So if that's the case, why is there a division between seven weeks, 49 years and 62 weeks? Why not just say 69 weeks? Well, because it took 49 years, it took 52 days to rebuild the wall. But it took 49 years to complete and restore and refurbish Jerusalem, it took 49 years. For them to rebuild the foundations, for them to restore that which had been destroyed, it took them that long.

So he says, from the decree given, the decree was given by Artaxerxes, Nisan 14, 445 BC. From that time, it took him 52 days to build the wall, but it took him 49 years to finish everything. At the end of that time, you come to the end of the Old Testament, right? And there are 400 silent years where there's no prophet, no one speaks until John the Baptist. So he divides it up between seven weeks, 49 years, and now 62 weeks, because there are 62 weeks, 434 years from the time of that ending in the rebuilding of Jerusalem till Messiah the Prince arrives.

Not Messiah the child, not Messiah the preacher, not Messiah the baby, not Messiah the miracle worker, Messiah the Prince. Why is that so important? Because he is Israel's Messiah. He arrives at a specific time. And how on earth would you ever know this specific time unless you did all the mathematical gyrations to get you there? So you have to know when it began. It began on March 14th, 445 BC. And the 69 weeks, okay, 480 years, or 83 years, okay, it ends, it ends when? When Messiah the Prince arrives.

So what you have very simply is 70 or 49 weeks, 434 weeks equals 483 years, and 483 years times 360, not 365, why? Because that's the calendar Israel went by, 360 days a year, not 365 days a year. How do we know that? Book of Genesis, Book of Revelation. Book of Genesis, the flood lasted for 150 days or five months. That's 30 days per month. Then you have what? You have the Book of Revelation. How long is the tribulation? It's seven years. What's half of that? Three and a half years, or 42 months, or 1260 days.

All three of those numbers are used in the Book of Revelation. So the calendar is based on 360 day years, not 365 day years. If you wanna do a great study on this, you have to look at Sir Robert Anderson, who in 1954 wrote a book called The Coming Prince.

He was from Scotland Yard. He did all the mathematical equations and came up on the day that Christ would arrive in Jerusalem. In 1977, Harold Horner from Dallas Seminary wrote a book entitled The Characteristics or The Chronological Aspects, excuse me, of the Life of Christ. And both came to the same conclusion, that 173,880 days for the time that our exerxes gave the command to go back to Jerusalem, to Nehemiah, in Nehemiah chapter two, verses one to eight, it ended on A.D.6, April 6th, A.D.6. 32, that was a day that Messiah wrote in Jerusalem.

173,880 days, that concluded the 69 weeks prophecy. You have one week left, right? 69 weeks, and that's why it says in the Book of Luke, these words, when they hailed him for all of his miracles, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest, some of the Pharisees in the crowds said to him, teach a rebuke of disciples, but Jesus answered, I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out. When he approached Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, if you had known in this day, what day?

The day it was prophesied. If you'd known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace, the Messiah, the Prince, the Anointed One, the Ruler, if you had known in this day, why that day? Because it was a day prophesied by Daniel in Daniel 9.24 and 25, but now they have been hidden from your eyes, for the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another.

When did that happen? 40 years later, 70 AD, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation. You did not recognize the time. You should have recognized the time. You should have known this. You pride yourself on knowing the Old Testament. You pride yourself on being members of the synagogue. You pride yourself on reading the Old Testament. You pride yourself on knowing what the Bible says concerning the Messiah, but you missed this day, the most important day where Messiah the Prince will ride into Jerusalem 173,880 days from Nisan 14, 445 BC.

You missed it, and there's no excuse. So that was the day that ended the 69 weeks. There's one week left, okay? There's already a gap. Why? Because the Bible says this.

Go back to Daniel 9. It says these words, then after the 62 weeks, okay, the 62 weeks plus the seven weeks, 69 weeks, Messiah will be cut off. Messiah will be died. So after the 69 weeks, not included in the 69 weeks, not included in the 70th week, after 62 weeks, adding the seven because there's 69 altogether, Messiah will die. So the death of Messiah is not included in the 69 weeks or the 70th week, but the death of the Messiah is the only thing that atones for Israel's sin. But that doesn't happen until the end of the 70th week, when they look on him and they begin to mourn for their, as if one would mourn for their only son.

So you understand Daniel 9, and Gabriel says, you need to get this. But yet there's still so much more. We've only scratched the surface in terms of the prophecy. This is just the beginning. What do you need to know? You need to know the cause behind the prophecy. One, 70, sovereignty of God. Two, the sins of God's people. Three, the setting up of God's kingdom. All that happens within 70 weeks. But yet, yet, it begins in Nehemiah chapter two, verses one to eight, with the decree from Artaxerxes for Nehemiah to go back and to build the moat and to build the streets, the defense mechanisms around the city.

That's when it begins. And with that comes a reestablishment and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. It takes 49 years. That's the first seven weeks.

And then begins the next 62 weeks. At the end of that 62 weeks, Messiah shows up. So when the day begins, the decree from Artaxerxes, 173,880 days later, 69 weeks later, Messiah shows up. April 6th, AD 32 in Jerusalem, just like it was prophesied. And that's why Jesus says, if you had known for this day, let me tell you something, God is precise.

He's specific. He makes it very clear. That's why he says to them, there's no excuse for you guys. You should have known this. Which tells us, you know what? When you know the truth, there's no excuse. You respond to the truth. You believe the truth, obey the truth. But yet, that's just one prince. That prince dies. Messiah dies. And there's coming another prince. And that prince doesn't come until the 70th week. Because there's one week left that needs to be dealt with. Before the setting up of God's kingdom and all of Israel's sin is finally finished and done with because they've repented of their apostasy.

Their sins have been atoned for. And the vision and the prophecies all surrounding the judgment that will come upon them because of their sins will be finished. Why? Because the king has arrived. They've recognized their king. He's established his kingdom. And they will rule and reign with him in the land of Israel, as Revelation 20 tells us, for a thousand years. This is a literal kingdom with a literal king on a literal throne, the throne of David, in the city of Jerusalem. This is going to happen.

Why? Because all the world empires in Daniel chapter two, all the world empires in Daniel's vision of the beast were all literal kings and kingdoms that all are precursors to the one king that's going to come with his kingdom, which is not mythical. It's not symbolic, but it's literal. There will be a literal reign of the king on the throne of his father David in Jerusalem and all will come to him. That's what the Bible says.

That's what the Bible teaches. That's what we believe. Let's pray. Father, thank you for tonight, the opportunity we have to study your word. It truly is a blessing. Please, Lord, go before us. Teach us much that we might grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, our Lord. We pray in your name, amen.