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We're going to be looking at
Daniel's 70 weeks in Daniel chapter 9, verses 20 through 27. This
is one of the most important passages of scripture. It is
a time passage. There's only two time passages
in the Bible. Because people did not have calendars,
as we know. They didn't have a calendar on
their kitchen wall. Calendars were only developed around the
12th, 13th century, whereby scholars went back and looked at events
that happened in history past and they created calendars. What
they did in biblical days is they calculated from generally
the length of a country or especially the length of a king. A king
lived 40 years. He reigned for 40 years or whatever.
And then the next king, he reigned for 50 years. The next king,
this is how they calculated time in their calendar. So we had
to, our scholars I should say, certainly not me, but scholars
had to spend a lot of time in trying to come up with what we
now have or know as ancient calendars. But this is one of the calendars,
and we have another one on the 70-week captivity. That is, the
Jews were told, you're going to go into Babylon for 70 years.
At the end of 70 years, you will come out of the Babylonian captivity.
So I would call that a time prophecy. And this Daniel chapter 9 is
a time prophecy. Now let's first look at the chart,
and then we'll come back and analyze it as we go along. And
I'm not good at math, so this is a math issue. And I had to
go through Daniel 70 weeks several times personally with some good
teachers, outstanding scholars. Before I finally started, OK,
now I think I get Daniel 70 weeks and understand it. But start
on the left. We're going to have a proclamation
or a declaration of when this time prophecy begins. And if you go to the left, and
we'll tell you why later, just kind of hold on to your chair.
The prophecy begins March 5, 444 B.C. How in the world can
they be so accurate to say March 5, 444 B.C.? It just happens
to be that the Persian king, Artaxerxes I, we know more about
him than many, many other kings of ancient history. And so his
proclamation that starts this calendar, or his decree, his
decree that starts this calendar is one of the most well-known
decrees or statements made in ancient history. And so the scholars
know almost to the T that this Daniel 70 weeks begins March
5th 444 BC by Arctic Xerxes. Now if you really really really
really want to get into this and like I say I don't enjoy
math but Dr. Harold Hohner wrote the outstanding
book on the dates of the life of Christ and this dating of
Daniel 70 weeks in a little book called The Chronological Aspects
of the Life of Christ. It's a little bitty book, but
it's probably one of the most valuable books ever written.
Dr. Harold Horner, the subject of the title is The Chronological
Aspects of the Life of Christ. He deals with Daniel 70 weeks.
Now that book costs a fortune. Now look, it's so thin, if I
hold up the light, I'd almost see through it. But Zondervan
publishers know what they've got. And so this little thin
book, they charge about 50 bucks to get it. Because there's nothing
like it. There's nothing like it. The
chronological aspects of the life of Christ. Dr. Hohner was
in Dallas Seminary when I was there. He ended up with two doctor
degrees, one from Oxford and, excuse me, from Cambridge. Cambridge
and one from Dallas Seminary. And he just died last year. He
was in good shape, healthy, 75, went jogging about this time
last year, came home, went upstairs to take a shower and dropped
dead. And Dr. Hohner was an outstanding guy.
He was a friend of mine years ago, and he really will be missed. He did a great job. And his book
on Ephesians took him 20 years. And that book on Ephesians that
Dr. Hohner wrote, is this size. That's his book on Ephesians.
Just the book of Ephesians. Six chapters. So he was a great
scholar and a nice guy and what he's missed. But his book that
deals with this chart is awesome. Probably you don't want to get
it because it costs too much. But it's the definitive work on Daniel's
seven to eight weeks. Alright, now go to the right.
You'll find that the Daniel 70 week prophecy ends in the tribulation. Far, far right. The 70th week,
which is actually a seven year period. The word heptad in Hebrew
means sevens. which is seven years, ends at
the far right in the tribulation. And the tribulation is divided
in half. The first half week, three and
a half years. Second week, another three and a half years. And that's
mentioned in the book of Revelation about six or eight times. where
this last section is proclaimed or prophesied and comes to pass
the book of Revelation. Now, let me tell you what we
mean by 70 weeks and then we're going to go to the passage of
scripture and kind of back into this. This is actually, in fact,
look at verse 24, Daniel 9, 24. Flip over to Daniel 9, 24. And
when we say, 70 weeks, we're saying 70 sevens. 70 sevens, which is 490 years. So this is a 490 year prophecy. Now it was made under the lunar
calendar. And a lunar calendar is 21 days. A sun calendar is longer. And so Dr. Hohner has calculated
this into a sun calendar. where it was actually based on
a lunar calendar. And don't get me into that because,
like I say, math is not my thing. You need to get Dr. Hohner's
book if you really want to challenge this whole issue. But in fact,
Dr. Hohner told me the story that
he had lunch after he got his doctorate from Cambridge with
some of his professors, liberal professors at Cambridge. And
over the lunch, when he got through, he convinced them of his scholarship
on this Daniel 70 weeks. So we're dealing with a lunar
calendar that has been transposed into a sun calendar. And so we're
looking at 70 times 7, which comes out 490. years in a sun
calendar. That's the way we're calculating
this. Don't ask me anything else about
this, but if you're really interested, you could look at that. This is where we're going. Keep
this little chart in front of you. You'll see it as we march
along. Alright, let's look at some verses
and then look at the outline of verses that I have also given
you. Let's start at Daniel chapter
9. Daniel is in Babylon. He's in captivity. He went with
the first deportation. Poor Daniel was turned into a
eunuch and became actually he became a governor in Babylon
He became one of the governors Daniel is one of the most and
he lived through about four dynasties Survived the kingship of about
four different dynasties. He was greatly respected very
godly and Never married and Daniel is one of the most Outstanding
men of our Old Testament, but he's praying for his people Israel
and for the city of Jerusalem let's start with verse 15 of
chapter 9 and Now on Lord our God who has brought your people
out of the land of Egypt and with a mighty hand and Have made
a name for yourself As it is this day, we have sinned. We
have been wicked. Notice he includes himself, we. There is a collective in terms
of a nation. You and I have to admit, we as
Americans have sinned. Even though personally, we may
not be doing the sins that we see around us all the time. And
yet there's a collectiveness about a people. We sin personally,
and we can sin collectively. And Daniel includes himself,
we have sinned. Verse 16, O Lord, in accordance
with all your righteous acts, let now your anger and your wrath
turn away from your city, Jerusalem, your holy mountain. For because
of our sins and iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your
people have become a reproach to all those around us remember
the city of Jerusalem was a ruins the temple had been destroyed
and Daniel's in captivity and Here he's praying for the city
of Jerusalem and for his people verse 17 so now our God listen
to the prayer of your servant and and to his supplications
and for your sake oh lord let your face shine on your desolate
sanctuary on the temple oh my god incline your ear and heart
open your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called
by your name For we are not presenting our supplications before you
on account of any merits of our own. Look at that. It's not because
of us, but on account of your great compassion. Oh, Lord, hear. Oh, Lord, forgive. Oh, Lord, listen and take action
for thy own sake. Oh, my God. You can hear this
man's emotion as he's praying for the Lord, to the Lord, for
the Lord concerning Israel and the city of Jerusalem. Do not
delay because your city and your people are called by your name. I made a documentary film about
prophecy and don't have a copy of it anymore. It's long gone
and disappeared, but we closed that documentary film with verse
19. Do not delay because your city and your people are called
by your name. Now while I was speaking Daniel
was speaking and praying and confessing my sin Daniel a sinner
goodness gracious as you as you as you list of it. This is Daniel.
It's concerned about Daniel Daniel a sinner come on in come on in
good. See you now while I was speaking and praying and confessing
my sin and the sin of my people Israel and Presenting my supplication
before the Lord my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God
While I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel,
whom I had seen in division previously, came to me in my extreme weariness
about the time of the evening offering. Daniel kept up with
when the offerings would be back in Jerusalem. About 600 miles
as the crow would fly from Babylon to Jerusalem. He knew the time
when there would have been prayer and offerings in the temple. About the time of the evening
offering back there in Jerusalem. And he gave me instructions.
This is, of course, the angel Gabriel, but he appears as a
man to Daniel. He gave me instructions and talked
with me and said, O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight
with understanding. Look at that. Insight with understanding. Daniel is going to receive an
understanding of one of the greatest prophecies in the Bible. He will
be given the details of this awesome, awesome prophecy. At the beginning of your supplications,
the command was issued. This is Gabriel speaking. At
the beginning of your supplications, Daniel, The commandment was issued,
and I, Gabriel, come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed
by the Lord. You are highly esteemed. So give
heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.
All right, here it comes. Now let's go slow, then we'll
come back and tear these verses apart line by line. 70 weeks,
or 77s, The word week is the Hebrew word
heptad. 77 heptads, 490 years by sun
calendar, have been decreed for your people and your holy city. All right, stop right there.
God has a decree that has to do with the Jewish people and
the city of Jerusalem. God has a decree that's 490 years. Now, look up here a second. Let
me show you what's going to happen. This chronology is going to start
444 BC. It's going to run along until
483 years. 483 years. That leaves seven more
years to finish. Now watch. It's going to run
along and boing. It's going to stop. I always
picture God putting his finger on the hands of a clock. The
clock is ticking. He stops the hands. God stops
the hands 483 years when this clock starts. And that week when
God stops the clock is the week when Christ enters the city of
Jerusalem to be crucified. And it's all been calculated
out. And by the way, the Jewish rabbis know this. They know this,
and years ago, I don't think so much today because I have
some of the Jewish commentaries, but they would not let young
rabbinical students calculate Daniel's 70 weeks. They would
throw them out of the rabbinical schools because they realized
where it was going to stop. It was going to stop at the coming
of Christ when He entered what we call the triumphal entry into
Jerusalem, in which He would be crucified during that week.
So the clock is going to start. God turns the clock on. 444 B.C. He's going to click, click, click,
click, click, click. God is going to put His finger
in the hands of the clock and stop it the week Christ entered
Jerusalem to be crucified. So watch, there are seven more
years than to finish. Now watch, it stops with Christ
entering Jerusalem to be crucified. And then guess what fills up
this time is the church age. And then in the tribulation,
God's going to start the clock again. In fact, the tribulation
is seven years. It's the last seven years of
this calculation. So we're going to have 483 years
from 440 BC up to the time of Christ entering Jerusalem. Now
watch, the clock stops. The church comes along, because
the church is not Israel. And then God will start the clock
again on the tribulation, which lasts seven years. And God is
about to remove his finger. or the clock will start again.
Now, two things have to happen before he moves his finger. Two
things have to happen. The apostasy of the church. We're
galloping into the apostasy of the church. Churches, seminaries
are turning away from the truth like crazy. In fact, Paul says
they will apostatize, that people will be religious and they will
step away from. That's what the word apostasy
means, step away from. They will step away from the
truth, and they will step away from the faith. So that's one
thing that must happen, and I believe we're already into that. We're
going into the apostasy now, we're already into the apostasy.
Number two, the rapture of the church. Why the rapture of the
church? To get us, the believers today, out of the way, so this
last seven years can take place. And the whole issue has to do
not with the church. The whole issue has to do with
the Jews and the city of Jerusalem. Now remember, the city of Jerusalem
was a wreck and a ruin until fairly recently, if you will.
The city of Jerusalem was occupied by the Arabs. The six-day war,
within six-day war, the Jews drove the Arabs out of the city
of Jerusalem. For the first time, the Jews,
in 2,000 years, the Jews had control of the city of Jerusalem
in 1967. Now think about that, 2,000 years. The city of Jerusalem was cut
in half before that. The Jews had half the city and
the Arabs had the other half the city until 1967, June of
67. And that's when the Arabs jumped
on the Jews. And they conquered the city of
Jerusalem completely. And they conquered the Temple
Mount. In June of 67. We call that the
Six Day War. It was actually the Six Hour
War. It only lasted six hours. Because
in six hours... The Israeli Air Force destroyed
all the planes of the Arabs. Destroyed all the air forces
of the Arabs. I went three years later, 1970,
and there were still tanks turned over on the roads. There were
trucks still left because the war had just ended three years
before. There was a wall still left with barbed wire. that divided
the city of Jerusalem. They hadn't removed that wall
yet. And you could go on both sides of that wall, and the Jews
had complete control of the city of Jerusalem in 78 and 70. That's
when I visited for the first time the city of Jerusalem and
Israel. All right, now let's read 24
through 27 slowly, then we're gonna come back and analyze it. 70 times seven, 490 years. have
been decreed for your people and your holy city to do something,
to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make
atonement for iniquity. By the way, there's six points
here. There's six points. We'll go back and look at them carefully.
To bring in eternal righteousness, to seal up the vision and prophecy,
and to anoint the most holy place. So you, Daniel, are to know and
discern that here comes from the issuing of a decree, the
issuing of a decree to do what? To restore and rebuild Jerusalem
until the Messiah, the Prince. There will be 70 sevens and 62
sevens. Together, that totals 483 years. Why is it divided up? Well, very
often when you had a large number to people in the ancient world,
they divided it up, like they would say 10 times 6 and 4 times
9 or something. They would divide that, but it
totals, what you're looking at is the total. The total is 483
years. It will be built again with plaza
and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the 62 weeks, 62 sevens,
and he just doesn't add, he just doesn't mention the other seven,
because he's simply mentioning the last calculation, which was
62 weeks. Then after the 62 weeks, the
Messiah will be cut off, or he will be killed, and he will have
nothing. He will not be given what he's
due. and the people of the prince the prince who is to come the
people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and
the sanctuary who are the people of the prince the prince is the
antichrist And the Antichrist comes out of Rome. So the Romans
will come and destroy the city and the sanctuary. When did that happen? 70 A.D.
70 A.D. is when the Romans came and destroyed
Jerusalem and the temple. And its end will come like a
flood. It'll happen quickly. Even to
the end there will be war, desolations are determined. And he, now your
antecedent goes back to the prince of the people, the antichrist. He will make a firm covenant
and with the many for one week, for seven years, for seven years. But in the middle of the seven,
the week, he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering
And now the last part of 27, it's just a bunch of jumbles
of sentences. Daniel's emotions are really
pouring forth in the last part of verse 27. It's like he can't
sit still as the angel actually gives this to Daniel, but it's
just almost staccato-like. On the wing of abominations will
come one who makes desolate even unto the complete destruction
One that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate
goodness gracious. What does that mean? We're gonna
try to look at and try to analyze that All right. Now, let's go
back and take a look at all this Go back get your get your sheet
down and your head is swimming because this is not easy stuff
and Let's go back to the sheet we've given you. And let's look
at verse 24. In verse 24, notice the sheet,
we have six points, six things that are listed. 70 times seven
have been decreed 490 years for the Jewish people and for your
holy city, Jerusalem. All right, look at the top of
the sheet. to finish the transgression. It's number one. What in the
world does he mean by to finish the transgression? I'm going
to give you a lot of good quotes from Dr. Unger because he's done
an excellent job on this. And he puts it this way, to finish
the rebellion of the scattered Jews. To stop and finish the
rebellion of the scattered Jews. Now notice that this will take
place, or this is part of the things that will take place within
that 483 years. In that 483 years, God will finish
the Jews' rebellion of the scattered Jews. All right, that's one thing,
to finish their transgressions, to complete their transgression.
All right, number two, it says to make an end of sin, to make
an end of sin. Hunger puts it this way, to take
away sin, to bring sin to final judgment. The Jews are in unbelief
right now. As I speak, the Jews are in unbelief
except, and you've heard this over and over again in this building,
in this room right here. God has begun to work with the
Jewish people as never, ever, ever before in the last 2,000
years. And we sent Jeff over to Israel
about a year or so ago. He saw it for himself. He saw
his Jewish friends coming to Christ in buckets full. I went the first time in 1970.
Now look, watch my hand. I could only count about five
possibility of five or six Jews in the Holy Land who were believers
in Christ. And I only knew one. And then
he told me, well, I know five others. OK. And he was a Jew
who came to the Lord. He was born and raised in Austria. His parents put him on one of
the first trains to leave Austria to get out of the way of Hitler,
who was taking over Austria. Never saw his parents again.
He was put in a kibbutz, which is a kind of communal farm. The
letters from his parents got less and less and finally they
disappeared. His family was destroyed and
killed in the Auschwitz concentration camp. He remembers as a little
boy seeing Hitler in his convertible coming down the streets of Vienna,
Austria. He remembers that and they put
him on the trains, getting you out of here to go into Palestine.
And he became a believer. And he told me, well, I think
all through the land, from north to south, I can count another
four or five believers in Christ. That was it. Now, there may have
been a few more, but he would have known. His name was Richard
Sturr. And Richard was a guide with the Jewish people and an
official guide. And he would have known because
he took people from north to south and took tour groups. And
I had him come to Dallas many times. And poor Richard, I'm pretty sure he's gone now.
But what a pathetic, what a pathetic man. He was so pathetic. He was a nervous wreck. His wife couldn't stand him.
She divorced him because he became a believer. His son did become
a believer. And Richard just had all kinds
of emotional problems. He was very hard to deal with.
He had so many emotional problems. And our heart bled for him. No
one liked him. When we would hire him to take
tour groups, people ended up just despising him. I felt so
sorry for him because he was so emotionally torn up. But he
was a believer and the Lord blessed him because he came to Christ. Anyway, go back to this point. God will make an end to their
sin, to take away their sin, to bring sin to final judgment
is the way Younger puts it. To remove sin from God's sight. the nation's conversion at the
second advent. Unger puts Isaiah 53 down and
says, the Jews will be converted to Christ. They'll come to the
Lord. Isaiah 53 is a great passage about the substitutionary death
of the Messiah for his people. Isaiah 53. Alright, so God's
going to do two things in 483 years. He's going to make an
end to sin. He's going to finish the transgression,
finish the rebellion of the Jews. He's going to make an end to
their sin. Number three, to make an atonement for iniquity. To
make atonement for iniquity. And here's the way Unger puts
it, to make a reconciliation. between the Jews and their God,
to make a reconciliation, to reconcile the Jews back to their
God. In deep repentance, believing
in Him, Unger writes, to have their iniquity purged away, he
writes. Notice that what God is going
to do, all this is very similar language. I mean, it's the same
description almost over and over again with different language,
I should say. Different ways of stating it, but it's repetitive
over and over again. I'm going to take away their
sin. I'm going to finish their rebellion. I'm going to make
a reconciliation. I'm going to have their iniquity
purged away for the Jews. Look at number four. To bring
in eternal righteousness. This would be Christ's righteousness. His righteousness will cover
forever all sin. It'll take the Messiah to do
this. It'll take the Lord Jesus to
do this. Now the cross isn't mentioned in verse 24, but that's
where this is going. That's what's being laid out
here. And then point number five, to
seal up the vision and prophecy, if you will, given by Gabriel,
the angel. To seal it up. That is, notice
my explanation that actually this is from under, to confirm
and to ratify the prophecy to finish it. It'll be 483 years
for God to confirm, to ratify the prophecy and the vision,
and to finish it. To finish the issue of the prophecy
of the salvation found in the Messiah. Look at that again.
To finish the issue of the prophecy of the salvation found in the
Messiah. Point number six in verse 24. To anoint the most
holy place. To consecrate, here's what Unger
writes, to consecrate the holy of holies in the millennial temple. Do you realize there's going
to be a temple rebuilt in the millennium in the kingdom? There
will be a new temple built. Now people say, wait a minute,
I thought that with Christ he finished the sacrifice and there
would be no more temple sacrifices. Well, write this down. The sacrifices,
or the new temple, the new temple is described in Ezekiel chapters
40-48. Ezekiel 40-48, the new temple
is described. And people who are amillennial,
remember they don't believe in a kingdom. People who are amillennial,
most pastors in Clifton are amillennial, they don't believe in a kingdom.
they would say, well, Ezekiel 40 through 40, that's not a literal
new temple. As you read it, it is a literal
new temple. It is. Otherwise, language We miss language because it's
very literal, it's very actual. There will be a new temple. Now
the question, I thought Christ finished the sacrifice. So why
would there be new sacrifices in a millennial kingdom temple? Why? As a memorial, a remembrance. Why do we take communion as a
remembrance? Communion is Passover abbreviated. When we have communion, we're
doing Passover. Abbreviated. So, and there will
be a new temple built during the kingdom. There will be sacrifice. Are those sacrifices, do they
take away sin? No, they do not take away sin.
Only Christ's sacrifice takes away sin. But those sacrifices
are then what? A memorial. A reminder of the
Jews, to the Jews, of the sacrifice that Christ made. And so there's
going to be a memorial temple built in the kingdom period,
just as there is a memorial Passover that we take. We do a memorial
Passover. We abbreviate Passover when we
have communion. That's what communion is, it's
Passover. And so, look at the last part
of verse 25 again. To anoint the most holy place,
and Unger says that is in the kingdom, to anoint the rebuilt
temple in the kingdom. By the way, on one of my trips
to Israel, and I mean 23 trips to Israel, one of those trips,
We went into the east gate where the Messiah will enter, where
he will enter in the city of Jerusalem. And saw the area where
they will probably and possibly rebuild a temple. Well, we were
run out by Arab guards with their pistols on their hips. A friend
of mine, Bobby Bounds, and I, we snuck into that temple area,
and here came the Arab guards. Get out of here, we're gonna
arrest you. And we went running to get out of there. Someone
was telling me, it might have been Jeff, They went to that
same area, and now there's no more Arab guards there. You go
right into the area where the temple will probably be rebuilt,
and the Arab guards are leaving people alone. They're not bothering
them anymore. All right, let's review this.
Let's review verse 24. Look at the sheet. Look at the
sheet. Number one, all this is in verse
24. To finish the transgression, to finish the rebellion of the
scattered Jews. Number two, to make an end to
sin, to take away sin. are to bring sin to final judgment,
to remove sin from God's sight, the nation's conversion at the
second advent. Number three, make an atonement
for iniquity, to make a reconciliation in deep repentance, believing
in Him, this is when the Jews will be believing in Him, to
have their iniquity purged away. Fourth point, to bring in eternal
righteousness, and that'll be Christ's righteousness, will
cover forever all sin. Number five, to seal up the vision
and prophecy, to confirm, to ratify the vision and prophecy,
to finish it, to finish the issue of the prophecy of the salvation
found in the Messiah. Number six, to anoint the most
holy place, that is to consecrate the holy of holies in the millennial
temple. All right, now let's go to 25.
So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree
to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah, The prince,
until the Messiah, the prince, there will be seven sevens and
62 sevens. That totals 483 years. It will be built again with plaza
and moat, even in times of distress. And we'll explain that here in
just a moment. Now look at the middle of your sheet. Verse 25, the decree will
be given to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. to restore and rebuild
Jerusalem. That decree starts this, well, this decree starts the
process, starts the clock, if you will. The decree starts the
clock. Now look at my sheet, the middle
of the sheet. The decree is given by Artaxerxes, his decree that
was given in March 5th, 444 BC. until the Messiah comes as a
sacrifice, that the 433 years will go all the way down to the
week of the triumphal entry, March 30th, AD 33. So if you look at your sheet,
you can see when this takes place. Now take your Bible and go to
Nehemiah chapter 2. Nehemiah chapter 2. And here in chapter 2, verses 1 through 8, we have this
decree. Nehemiah chapter 2. Verse 1, it came about in the
month Nisan, and look at your sheet, Nisan would be March in
our calendar. It came about in the month Nisan
in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes that wine was before him, and
I took up the wine and gave it to the king, and now I had not
been sad in his presence. Nehemiah is the wine keeper for
the king. Takes the wine up to the king.
Verse two, so the king said to me, why is your face sad? In
fact, the Hebrew word is bad. Why is your face bad, literally? Why do you have a bad face? Though
you're not sick. Nehemiah, what's wrong with you?
This is nothing but sadness of heart. Then I was very much afraid,
because you're not supposed to do anything different from the
king. The king could snap a finger and have you killed. 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? is the city of Jerusalem. And here Nehemiah is thinking
about the city of Jerusalem. By the way, notice the last of
verse three, its gates have been eaten by fire. That's what the
Hebrew says, eaten by fire. Then the king said to me, what
would you request? As the winekeeper, this man,
Nehemiah, was very close to the king. And so the king says, I
favor you, so what can I do? Can I help you? What is your
request of me? So I prayed to the God of heaven. Notice that, Nehemiah stops,
he goes, ooh, I need to pray real quick before I get on with
this. 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. Now, how
did Nehemiah get that, and it's hard to say that, from God? He
prayed. God, what should I say? And he just let it all out. He flat just let it all out.
And the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, how
long will your journey be and when will you return? And I noticed
instantly, instantly the heart is touched of the king to let
him go, to go back and to rebuild the city. So it pleased the king
to send me and I gave him a definite time. And I said to the king,
if it pleased the king, let letters be given me. for the governors
of the provinces beyond the river, beyond the river Euphrates, the
rivers of the river Euphrates, and there were governors in Judah.
Now look up here a second. There were Babylonian governors
who were over the city of Jerusalem, which was a ruin and a wreck,
okay? The temple was destroyed. But there were Persian governors.
So he said, give me letters for the governors there in Jerusalem,
beyond the Euphrates River, that they may allow me to pass through
until I come to Judah. And a letter to Asaph, the keeper
of the king's forest, that he might give me timber to make
beams for the gates of the fortress, which is by the temple for the
wall of the city, and for the house to which I will go. And
the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on
me. That's awesome. God was with
me. And the heart of the king was
touched. And he said, go. I'm going to let you go. Now
this is awesome. Because first of all, he was
favored to be the winekeeper. And he was trusted. And here
the king says, let him go. I think it's interesting that
the king said, how long will you be gone? Because he would miss him. Nehemiah
is favored by Artaxerxes. And so we put the date for this
at March, on March the 5th, 444 B.C. This is one of the most
well-known passages of Scripture and dating,
if you will, known in the Old Testament. This is it. and known
in history. Historians know of the time frame
of King Artaxerxes. Alright, so this starts the clock.
This is when the decree is given. So go back to chapter 9 of Daniel
and verse 25 again. So you will know, this is Gabriel
speaking to Daniel. I'm looking at chapter 9 verse
25. so that you will know and discern that from the issuing
of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah,
until the Messiah, the Prince, there will be 7 sevens and 62
sevens are 483 years. So the clock has started with
this decree of Artaxerxes. Now, look at the last part of
verse 25. It's actually out of order, as the way it's written
in Hebrew, the last part of verse 25. Notice my note about the
middle of this sheet. With Plaza and Mot, even in times
of distress, This actually goes along with the part of the verse
that speaks of the restoring and rebuilding Jerusalem. Now
you have to skip down to the last part of verse 25. And that
is the city will be rebuilt again with plaza and moat. And this
will happen even in times of distress. Because, now watch,
while the city was being rebuilt, Boy, the Babylonians who were
there, the governors who were there, they hated the Jews. They
didn't want this project to go through. And so not only will
the city be rebuilt, but the moat and the plaza will also
be rebuilt. And it'll be a time of distress.
The Jews will be under terrible persecution as they're rebuilding.
Because the Babylonians don't like it. They don't want the
Jews to rebuild as they were doing. All right, come to verse
26. Then after 62 sevens, actually after the whole time frame, the
Messiah will be cut off. And Unger says he will be killed.
He will be killed. And he will have nothing. That
is, he will receive nothing as do a king. Nothing will be left
to him. That happened to Christ. Nothing
was left for him. Now, look carefully at the middle of verse 26. This
is very important. Stay awake here now. The people
of the Prince. Who is to come? The Prince is
the Antichrist. Where does he come from? From
the Roman people. So the people, the Romans. The Romans. The Romans
will come and destroy the city and the sanctuary. That happens
in 70 AD. Something like 40 years after
the time of Christ. Okay, 70 A.D. The city of Jerusalem
is destroyed and the temple is destroyed as well. Its end will
come with a flood. That is, it will be like a torrent. And that's exactly what happened.
General Titus came from Rome and he circled the city of Jerusalem. He besieged it for one year and
then he broke through the walls And he tore down the walls, tore
up the city of Jerusalem, tore the temple down, and the description
at the end of verse 26 is right on. Even at the end there will
be war, desolations, and are determined. Look at my note on
verse 26. Even until the end, the Jews
will be under terrible persecution until they are restored. Do you realize from 70 AD, the
destruction of the city of Jerusalem, the temple, that the Jews almost
continually, for 2,000 years, for 2,000 years, have been under
persecution. The largest number of books in
my library at home have to do with persecution of the Jews.
The terrible, terrible, awesome mistreatment of the Jewish people. Most of my books deal with that
subject. And when did the Spanish drive the Jews out of Spain?
Just as Columbus discovered America in 1492. Columbus sailed the
ocean blue, okay? That's when Queen Isabella and
King Ferdinand drove the Jews out of Spain that same year.
That same year. They couldn't take their property.
They couldn't take most of their money. Only what they could put
on their back. And they were driven out of Spain
and they went from city to city, country to country. It was only
about 300 years ago or 250 years ago that the Jews were not under
persecution by the English. In fact, in the 12th century,
King James said, I will drive all the Jews out of England.
All the Jews out of England. And then slowly they allowed
them to start coming back again. All right. Are there any questions? We'll take a break, and then
we're going to finish it up. We're getting close. Any questions to this point? Anything? Your head ought to
be swimming. This ain't easy stuff. This is not devotional,
okay? Okay? Yeah, right. It's kind of city
center, if you will. Yeah. Anything else? All right, let's take a 10 minute
break and we'll come back and finish it up. Let's take a break.
Daniel 9 part 1
Series Daniel
Originally recorded in 2010
| Sermon ID | 2182543264675 |
| Duration | 47:50 |
| Date | |
| Category | Bible Study |
| Language | English |
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