Wednesday 10/19/22
Series: Thru the Bible
Message: The final week of Daniel’s prophecy
Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:12:13 — 128.1MB)
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The final week of Daniel’s prophecy
The last time we met, we got two-thirds of the way through the 70 years of Daniel. By 2/3rd I mean, that Gabriel divided up the 70 sets of seven years into three specific events. The first was to rebuild and restore Jerusalem which we determined would include the proper restoration of the priesthood and temple worship. This was to take place or be completed in troubled times. So applying the 49 years which included sabbatical years and such we came to the date of 396B.C. which just happened to be the beginning of the 400 years of silence – thus, troublesome times.
This began the second countdown of 62 sets of seven years which was 434 years.
We reduced the years to days and made adjustments for all the special conditions such as the Jewish year being about 11 days shorter than a solar year, the addition of an intercalary month every two or three years and that every 216 years the Hebrew calendar falls behind a day, plus sabbatical years…etc.
We came to the conclusion that the 434 years would amount to 173,740 days until just before Messiah was cut off, because the prophecy said that AFTER this the anointed one would be cut off. This countdown ended at Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on April 6, 32A.D.
So now we have the last part of the puzzle. Out of the 490 years we have covered 483 leaving only the last and final week or 7 years.
Let’s read the passage again in review…
Daniel 9:25-27,
“(25) So know and understand: From the issuing of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an anointed one, a prince arrives, there will be a period of seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will again be built, with plaza and moat, but in distressful times.
(26) Now after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing.
As for the city and the sanctuary, the people of the coming prince will destroy them. But his end will come speedily like a flood. Until the end of the war that has been decreed there will be destruction. (27) He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of that week he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt. On the wing of abominations will come one who destroys, until the decreed end is poured out on the one who destroys.”
Now as I have told you already, Daniel does not see the time of the Gentiles in these visions. This is because God is not addressing the world to Daniel, for the world was not who Daniel was fasting and praying over – but the sins of his people. What God is addressing in this vision and divine math problem is His plans for Israel, which looks past the time of the Gentiles.
So whatever this last week of 7 years represents, it is AFTER the time of the Gentiles.
You see, God wanted to bless the world through the Jews, not only by their issuing in Messiah, but by their being the ones who accepted Him and thereby evangelized the world. As it turned out however, the greatest majority of the Jews refused and rejected their Messiah – beginning with their leaders.
Jesus addressed this and it is recorded in Matthew 21:33-43.
Matt. 21:33-43,
“(33) Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went on a journey. (34) When the harvest time was near, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop. (35) But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
(36) Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them the same way.
(37) Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
(38) But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’ (39) So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
(40) Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” (41) They said to him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest.” (42) Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone . This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? (43) For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”
Peter addressing the same passage said,
1Peter 2:1-10, “(1) So get rid of all evil and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. (2) And yearn like newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation, (3) if you have experienced the Lord’s kindness. (4) So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight, (5) you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (6) For it says in scripture, “Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and whoever believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
(7) So you who believe see His value, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone , (8) and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over.
THEY stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
(9) But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (10) You once were not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
Paul covers the whole issue in Romans 11. We will read this and then move on with our proof of the time of the Gentiles being overlooked in this prophecy being complete.
Romans 11:13-36, “(1) Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Seeing that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, (14) if somehow I could provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them. (15) For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (16) If the first portion of the dough offered is holy, then the whole batch is holy, and if the root is holy, so too are the branches.
(17) Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and participated in the richness of the olive root, (18) do not boast over the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
(19) Then you will say, “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.”
(20) Granted! They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear!
(21) For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you.
(22) Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God – harshness toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
(23) And even they – if they do not continue in their unbelief – will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
(24) For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree?
(25) For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
(26) And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob. (27) And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”
(28) In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers.
(29) For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.
(30) Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, (31) so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy.
(32) For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.
(33) Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how unfathomable his ways!
(34) For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?
(35) Or who has first given to God, that God needs to repay him? (36) For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever! Amen.”
Now again, Daniel saw NONE of this! So from his perspective, the coming of Messiah and the rest of the prophecy would have appeared seamless, when in reality thousands of years will pass during which the fulness of the Gentiles will come in.
Who can tell me what happens at the end of the time of the Gentiles?
The rapture!
Now not all Christians believe in the rapture. Some believe the earth will just continue until the kingdom of God is perfectly established here on earth, but that is NOT what the scriptures teach.
I have taught you several times regarding the basics of a teaching called Preterism and it is NOT without its merits. I believe however, they have overlooked some impassable issues which can have no fulfillment in the events of history up until present. They believe that by and with the destruction of the temple by Rome in 70AD the fulfillment of all apocalyptic, prophetic statements in the book of Revelation were complete. I believe this is of course false, but it is not without some interesting parallels.
First off, Revelation is overwhelmingly dated by authorities as being written AFTER 70AD so that is a problem. This dating is not out of convenience, but due to some very strong literary and historical data. Furthermore, and perhaps even more importantly, the events written about in Revelation are said to be the worst anyone would ever see in all of human history. NOTHING coming in the future would even be able to hold a candle to those events.
Yet, by anyone’s account, the Holocost alone was infinitely worse than the atrocities of 70AD. So it just doesn’t fit the scriptural, prophetic profile.
So we believe that Paul referenced an event we have come to call the rapture and it is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15. Let’s read it…
1Cor. 15:12-58, “(12) Now if Christ is being preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
(13) But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. (14) And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is futile and your faith is empty.
(15) Also, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified against God that He raised Christ from the dead, when in reality He did not raise Him, if indeed the dead are not raised.(16) For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. (17) And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless; you are still in your sins.
(18) Furthermore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. (19) For if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than anyone.
(20) But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
(21) For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man.
(22) For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. (23) But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; then when Christ comes, those who belong to Him.
(24) Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when He has brought to an end all rule and all authority and power.(25) For He must reign until He has put all his enemies under His feet. (26) The last enemy to be eliminated is death.”
Now notice – FIRST is the resurrection of the dead when Christ returns.
AFTER THAT the end comes WHEN He hands the kingdom to God the Father AFTER He puts an end to ALL RULE and Authority.
So after the rapture, there will obviously be a time when Jesus establishes His kingdom and puts an end to all earthly authority. Once even death has been placed under Him – THEN the end will come!
So something has to happen between the rapture of the church and the establishment of His earthly kingdom.
Let’s keep reading…
“(27) For He has put everything in subjection under His feet. But when it says “everything” has been put in subjection, it is clear that this does not include the One Who put everything in subjection to Him.
(28) And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will be subjected to the One Who subjected everything to Him, so that God may be all in all.”… “(41) There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory. (42) It is the same with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. (43) It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; (44) it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
(45) So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living person”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
(46) However, the spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and then the spiritual.
(47) The first man is from the earth, made of dust;
the second man is from heaven.
(48) Like the one made of dust, so too are those made of dust, and like the one from heaven, so too those who are heavenly.
(49) And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear the image of the man of heaven.
(50) Now this is what I am saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
(51) Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – (52) in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
(53) For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. (54) Now when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will happen, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
(55) “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (56) The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
(57) But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
(58) So then, dear brothers and sisters, be firm. Do not be moved! Always be outstanding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
1Thess 4:13-18,
“(13) Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope.
(14) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep as Christians.
(15) For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep.
(16) For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
(17) Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. (18) Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
So this coming has Jesus appearing even as He left – in the clouds and we will go to Him, but He will not come to earth. The next return, which is following the Wedding Feast of the Lamb and the Great Tribulation, Jesus will return and set His feet on the Mount of Olives according to Zechariah which we will read in just a while.
Acts 1:9-11, “(9) Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. (10) And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, (11) who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
So the 7 year period is that period following the time of the Gentiles which ends with the rapture and culminates with the return of Christ in His 1,000 year reign.
Let’s read the passage in Daniel again…
“As for the city and the sanctuary, the people of the coming prince will destroy them. But his end will come speedily like a flood.
Until the end of the war that has been decreed there will be destruction.
(27) He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of that week he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt. On the wing of abominations will come one who destroys, until the decreed end is poured out on the one who destroys.”
This 7 year period begins with 3.5 years of a false peace – not the least of which will be between Israel and the Arab nation or said another way – between the descendants of Isaac and the descendants of Ishmael. However, half way through this “time of peace” the antichrist will break covenant and wage war against Israel, Jerusalem and set himself up in the temple as god.
You may have noticed that the passage in Daniel says, “the people of the coming prince will destroy them. But his end will come speedily like a flood … and, He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of that week he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt. On the wing of abominations will come one who destroys”
So I believe both the antichrist AND “his people” are the descendants of Ishmael which would be JUST like satan! To attempt to make the one who God said would not be heir with the son of promise – to be the one who rules the world and conquers the Son of God in His kingdom. Of course he will fail epically, but he will try!
Matt. 24:14-28, “(14) And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
(15) “So when you see the abomination of desolation – spoken about by Daniel the prophet – standing in the holy place” (let the reader understand), (16) “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. (17) The one on the roof must not come down to take anything out of his house, (18) and the one in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. (19) Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! (20) Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. (21) For then there will be great suffering unlike anything that has happened from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen. (22) And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.(23) Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe him. (24) For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
(25) Remember, I have told you ahead of time. (26) So then, if someone says to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe him. (27) For just like the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. (28) Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
Zech. 14:1-4,
“(1) A day of the LORD is about to come when your possessions will be divided as plunder in your midst. (2) For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away. (3) Then the LORD will go to battle and fight against those nations, just as he fought battles in ancient days. (4) On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which lies to the east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, leaving a great valley. Half the mountain will move northward and the other half southward.”
Rev. 19:11-21,
“(11) Then I saw heaven opened and here came a white horse! The one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice He judges and goes to war.
(12) His eyes are like a fiery flame and there are many diadem crowns on his head. He has a name written that no one knows except himself. (13) He is dressed in clothing dipped in blood, and he is called the Word of God.
(14) The armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean, fine linen, were following Him on white horses.
(15) From His mouth extends a sharp sword, so that with it He can strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and He stomps the winepress of the furious wrath of God, the All-Powerful.
(16) He has a name written on his clothing and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
(17) Then I saw one angel standing in the sun, and he shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying high in the sky: “Come, gather around for the great banquet of God, (18) to eat your fill of the flesh of kings, the flesh of generals, the flesh of powerful people, the flesh of horses and those who ride them, and the flesh of all people, both free and slave, and small and great!”
(19) Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to do battle with the One Who rode the horse and with His army.
(20) Now the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf – signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. (21) The others were killed by the sword that extended from the mouth of the one who rode the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh.”
Revelation chapter 20 starts talking about the 1,000 year reign of Christ at the end of which satan is released from the abyss. Satan gathers an army to attack Jesus, King of the earth which ends quickly by the Father destroying them with the breath of His mouth. Then death is destroyed and made subject to Christ and the end comes.
Blessings!
