← Prophecy Watchers
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We're going to study Daniel 9 today and go through really one of the greatest prophecies in the Bible. They're all fantastic and great, but this one especially is applicable to us because if you can fully understand the 70 weeks of Daniel from chapter nine, it'll unlock the rest of the end times biblical narrative of what we're marching toward in this day and age. So let's go to the Lord in prayer and we'll jump right in. Father, we thank you for this time together. And God, I just pray that you would endow each one of us with understanding from your Holy Spirit, God. Lord, give us understanding by, and only by the Spirit of the living God to understand your word, to study it, to search out the depths of, of the scriptures. God, we thank you from Proverbs 25:2 that it's the glory of the Lord to, to conceal a thing and the honor of kings to search out a matter. And so Lord, we are here to search out a matter this morning and we pray that you would teach us. And Lord, we thank you again for all of the families in this church and for any of those that need comfort or healing. We are praying that again over every one of them and just ask that you would give us discernment on how to be the body of Christ and how to help one another and to help meet a need and to be there with one another and to pray alongside one another. And we thank you for that opportunity, God, in Jesus's name, amen. Amen. Okay, so this is a, this is a great chapter in the Bible. You know, we are getting, there's only 12 chapters in the book of Daniel. So we're, we are getting close to the end. But Daniel 9 has this prophecy that was written thousands of years ago and it really was for the most part sealed up until a man named Sir Robert Anderson, who was the head of Scotland Yard back in the 1800s, wrote a book and, and he studied Daniel 9, taking into account that God's calendar always works on 360 day years. And through that he unlocked through the Holy Spirit giving him understanding. But he unlocked this prophecy in Daniel 9 and he wrote a book about it called the Coming Prince. And it's a, it's a great, it's a fantastic book. But he was an investigator at Scotland Yard and, and just had a deep love for the scripture. And so it's amazing how, you know, at the end of Daniel, God says, seal up the, the book until the time of the end. And it took thousands of years for this book to start becoming unsealed by the Holy Spirit, which is just incredible. And so the fact that you and I can sit here in 2026 and by the anointing from First John 2, 27 and 28, we can have understanding of the book of Daniel tells you where we are, that we're in the time of the end, we are coming towards. It's not to me, it's happening in our lifetime even, but for the last 150 plus years or so, this book has been for the most part unsealed. And so it just should give you a sense of urgency of where we are on God's. On God's clock. So if you remember, a lot of the Old Testament or most of the Old Testament focuses on Israel and the whole book of Daniel focuses on the Gentile powers that will rule the world from Nebuchadnezzar all the way until the antichrist and Daniel9, this prophecy shifts the focus for a chapter from these Gentile world rulers, which it is in the prophecy some, but puts the focus on the king of kings from Daniel 2, that stone cut without hands that's going to come back and destroy the Antichrist kingdom. Praise God for that. And so it's really neat how the Lord turns the focus on. Here's an issue of these Gentile wicked kings that will rule over the world all the way to the Antichrist. But there's one, the stone cut without hands, the stone the builders rejected, who's become the headstone of the corner that's going to come back and destroy the Antichrist kingdom and set up his kingdom that will last forever, forever and ever. And Daniel 9 is going to chronicle and prophesy the day he rides in on the donkey in the Gospels, all the way past that to the day that the Antichrist is put down. And it's really an amazing prophecy. So if you remember, we're through the first six chapters of the B of Daniel, which are mainly historical chapters with some visions. And then the back half of the book 7 through 12 are really kind of the deep prophetic chapters of the book. And so if you remember, chapter seven and eight went together in a lot of ways with the four beasts. And then we had the little horn in both chapters, the ram and the he goat had to do with Alexander the Great, but the little horn that would come up later out of the Roman Empire. And then now we're in chapter nine, the 70 weeks prophecy. And so in the chronology of the book, remember 1 through 4 are in order. Then it goes 7 and 8, then back to 5. That's the handwriting on the wall. And after the handwriting on the wall we have Daniel 9, which was in 538 BC. Then we have the lion's den that happened back in chapter six would be next in the, in the actual chronology of the book of Daniel. But the way the Lord organized it in the Bible is a little different. So the lion's den actually happens with Persia, actually happens after this chapter that we're studying today. Okay, on our timeline now, the 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel 9. Remember these, these three 70s in Daniel. So if you can keep these straight, this will help you a lot. There's the 70 years which is the servitude of the nation. There are the 70 years which are the desolations of Jerusalem. Then there are the 70 weeks of years which happen after that. So the first siege, which is where Daniel was taken with Nebuchadnezzar, that started the servitude of the nation all the way to the decree of Cyrus. Then there was a second siege. The third siege began when Jerusalem was destroyed and goes starts the 70 years of the desolations of Jerusalem. And that goes to the decree of Artaxerxes, which then begins the 70 weeks of years or 490 years. And in your Bible when you're reading it, Daniel, Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Nehemiah, Ezra, second Chronicles are all contemporaries and, and kind of COVID that time frame. Remember Daniel, Ezekiel and Jeremiah all prophesied at the same time. Jeremiah was towards the end of his life when the first siege began. And we're going to see here in Daniel 9 how Daniel was actually studying his Bible. He was reading the book of Jeremiah when he got understanding from the Lord in the prophecy of the 70 weeks for Israel, which is amazing. Okay, this picture, if you remember, we've been going through these, these kingdoms. Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and then the divided Roman Empire or the Antichrist kingdom. And the stone cut without hands coming to shatter those 10 toes at some point at the end of the tribulation. And those 10 toes being the 10 kings that set up that final world empire that the Antichrist will come up out of. He puts three of them down. The other seven consolidate power to him and he rules the world. And it's as Jesus declared in Matthew 24, it's a time of trouble, unlike the world has ever seen, nor will see again. And so praise God that you and I are not appointed to that time. Okay, the outline of Daniel 9, the first 19 verses are Daniel studying the word and his call to prayer. Verses 20 through 23 are Gabriel's visitation to Daniel and then 24 through 27, it. That's really the, the prophecy. The 70 weeks prophecy begins. It's the last four verses of Daniel nine. Okay, so in verse one, in the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans. So this is in Persia, has now conquered Babylon. When this is happening in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel understood by books the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Okay, so Daniel is reading the book of Jeremiah. He's reading his Bible at that time. So he's doing exactly what you and I should be doing today, reading our Bible, seeking understanding from the Lord. It's kind of like in the Old Testament, the children of Issachar who had understanding of the times and knew what they ought to do didn't say they all did what they ought to do, but they knew what they should do at least because they were reading the Bible and understanding it. Now Daniel's reading this, okay? He's reading God's Word no matter the circumstances. And this is important because he's a. He's essentially a captive in Babylon. The empire that that took him prisoner, that he rose to become prime minister of, is then conquered. He's put back down. He has to rise to power again. I mean, can you imagine the emotional roller coaster Daniel's been on and being taken from his homeland? But the whole time he is sticking with God's word and not allowing his circumstances to dictate the joy and his service with God. Which is important because it's really easy in our lives today to get sidetracked and for the enemy to take you off, off the road to get you sidetracked in some degree or for you to, to think if something bad happens in your life, my goodness, how can I go on? This is so horrible. Why would the Lord do this to me? But Daniel's the example. He didn't let any of that happen. Now he's reading in the book of Jeremiah and studying chapter 25 and chapter 29. So in verses 11 and 12 and chapter 25, this is what God says. And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment. And. And these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 70 years and it shall come to pass when 70 years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon. And that nation, saith the Lord, the nation that took over Babylon for their iniquity and the land of the Chaldeans and will make it a perpetual desolation, or perpetual desolations. Okay, so Daniel's reading this and understands we're going to be here 70 years now. He's an old man at this point. About 67 of the years or so had passed by at this point. So Daniel is taken as a young man. This is much later in his life. He's understanding the Word. Now think about studying the Bible for 67 years and finally getting this, that, wait, we're only going to be here 70, you know, I mean, just think about that. He's been reading this for a long time and he's finally getting the truth that, hey, we've only got a couple years left here, guys. Okay, so then in Jeremiah 29:10, he's reading this. For thus saith the lord that after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you in causing you to return to this place. So he's putting these passages together, going, okay, we've been here 67 years about. We've got a couple years left. The Lord has promised that he will send us back home after 70 years. And so this is very encouraging to him and kind of going off of Mondo's talk from a couple weeks ago about Israel and taking the word of God literally. Just notice that Daniel is taking the word of God literally here. 70 years means 70 years. It's not, you know, he's not trying to put it to some weird calendar and that if the sun sets at a certain time, then it's 70 times some number of stars he can see. Or there's nothing weird. He's not doing anything weird. And the tendency that a lot of people have is in, especially in the world today, is to do weird things with the word of God and to try to make it say something it doesn't say. In engineering and in computer science and math, there is a saying that if you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything. So you can. You can make it say whatever you want it to say, you know, and there's always. I mean, I remember as a kid in junior high that loved studying prophecy. We got together as a youth group and we watched an entire video on why Prince Charles was the Antichrist. And the whole video we watched as a youth group, took his name, convert to Greek. But you didn't use the full middle name. You took an initial, but no period. And then if you added the numbers, but then you had to subtract something, you know, it somehow would get to 666. And the guy in the video that was propagating this was all excited, and I think I was, I don't know, one of two or three in the group that was like, this is ridiculous. You know, and everyone's going, it's Prince Charles. It's him. And. But it was like, this is. You can make it say whatever you want it to say if you just put a weird lens on it. So just be careful with that. But Daniel's taking this literally. So why 70 years? So why did God punish them and cause them to leave the land for 70 years? Well, he told his people that every. Every six years they would till the land, and the seventh, they were to let it rest. So the land was supposed to have a Sabbath. Now, this is not the only reason. Okay, they'd fallen into idolatry and all kinds of things, but this is one reason of how God gets to the number 70. Leviticus 25:4. But in the seventh year shall be a Sabbath of rest unto the land, a Sabbath for the Lord. Thou shalt neither sow thy field nor prune thy vineyard. So they were supposed to till the land six years and let it rest an entire calendar year. And they didn't do this for 490 years. They did not do this. God was really patient. He gave them almost five centuries to get this right, and they didn't. And look at Exodus 23, 10, 11, and 6 years. Thou shalt sow thy land and shall gather in the fruits thereof. But the seventh year, thou shall let it rest and lie still that the poor of thy people may eat. So if you remember this from the Book of Ruth, remember what they were supposed to do when they. When they would harvest their crops in their field? They were supposed to leave the corners of their plot. And what that meant was the poor of the land, or the people that needed help and support would go out and that was free to them. They could go and harvest those corners of the field. It was God's service or system of what we would call today welfare. But the people had to go out and actually work for it and take it. It was there. It was free. But they had to go and gather that grain or whatever that crop was, and they could feed their families with it. So that's what they're supposed to do in Exodus 23. And what they leave. The beasts of the field shall eat in like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard and with my olive yard. So if you. Then if you go for 490 years, they didn't obey. And so God finally, when they're going in deep idolatry, they're supposed to by this point, have let the. The land rest for 70 total years. So if you take 490 divided by 7, you obviously get 70. Now, God was really patient, but he eventually said, okay, you owe me 70. My land needs 70 years of rest. And this is what he says in Leviticus 26, 33, 35, and I will scatter you among the heathen and will draw a sword after you. And your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths because they hadn't let it rest as long as it lieth desolate. And ye be in your enemy's land. Even then shall the land rest and enjoy her Sabbaths as long as it lieth desolate. It shall rest because it did not rest in your Sabbath when you dwelt upon it. So God's calling them out in Leviticus. This is per. This is prophecy. This is way before Daniel. He's writing this down in 2nd Chronicles 36:21. To fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbath for as long as she lay desolate, and she kept sabbath to fulfill three score and 10 years. So there's the 70. Now, ultimately, the failure to follow God's word led to the captivity. And that's the same issue you and I face today. There are a lot of Christians that walk around in bondage and walking around captive because they're not simply following God's word and his commandment to get something out of their lives or to do something that he asked them to do. And it's. It's heartbreaking. It's sad. There are a lot of Christians that, you know, they want. It's amazing how there's something about the flesh that wants works right and actions and things. But when it comes to holiness, we're going to talk about holiness in a minute. And just being obedient to the Spirit, it's really hard for a lot of Christians. It's really a fascinating thing to study. But in verse three, and I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my God and made my confession and said, o Lord the great and dreadful God keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his commandments. Now notice that Daniel starts his prayer out by acknowledging who God is, just like what Jesus did in the, what we call the Lord's Prayer, right? Our Lord, our Father who art in heaven. So who he is. Jesus started a prayer that way. And there's some structure there actually to the pray. The prayer life of great people in the Bible. If you watch how they prayed, a lot of them start with coming to the Lord in complete humility, acknowledging who he is, and then going from there. So Daniel, verse five, here we have sinned. So he's confessing the sin of his people and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments. Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants, the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and all the people of the land. So he's acknowledging the sin of his people, kind of like in the Lord's Prayer. Remember what Jesus said. Forgive us of our sins as we forgive those who. Okay, neither have we hearkened unto thy servants. So the prophets for 490 years and for even much further, going all the way back to Moses and before God, sent people and prophets to the nation to point out their sin, to get them to on the right path, to try to help them to understand. They've got to get focused back on the Lord. And instead remember in the New Testament what Jesus said, all they did were kill them. They just stoned them all and killed them. That's all. That's how they were received. Okay, we have sinned. So there's not a single bad thing about Daniel in the entire Bible. Obviously he sinned, but the Lord doesn't chronicle any of it now. But Daniel is petitioning on behalf of his people. He's confessing not only his sin, but the sin of, of the nation and the people. And he's getting that whole principle out of 2nd Chronicles 7:14, where God says, if my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. So there's four things we do as a people, as God's people, we have to. We have to humble ourselves. We pray, we seek his face, and we turn from our wicked ways. And God responds with three. He hears from heaven, forgives our sin, and heals our land. And if we will do that, that principle is not just for Israel. That holds true for. For us today in our land, for every nation out there. If, if we are contrite and if God's people notice that the onus is on his people, it's the blessing of the land is not determined on the heathen and those that are sinners and not born again to become saved. That's not what he's saying. This is to his people. When Christians are anemic and weak and they don't want to get on the word of God and they're not prayer warriors and they're living in sin and running away from the calling of God, the land is not blessed. And you see that throughout the entire Bible, that anytime there's wickedness in the land, there is a heaviness, there is a curse on the land. The Lord does not bless those people with rest and security. There's attacks all the time. So this is up to us. And even if it was just up to us in this room, the principle holds true. But it's up to God's people throughout the United States of America that we have to turn to him and get back to the word of God and not bowing the knee to the world. And if we all do that, our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren will have a land to grow up in that's blessed. Okay? Our Lord, righteousness belongeth unto Thee. But unto us confusion of faces as at this day, to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to all Israel there, there that are near and that are far off, though all the countries wither, Thou has driven them because of their trespass, that they have trespassed against thee. So because of their sin, they're driven out. Now, righteousness. Look what Daniel says in verse 7. Righteousness belongeth to you, God, to. Only to God. That is an attribute that only comes from the Lord. You and I have zero righteousness. Okay, we'll look at the verse in Isaiah in a minute that talks about our righteousness is but of filthy rags. But like holiness, you have to appropriate to yourself. Now, a lot of attributes in your life you emulate of God. Being loving, caring, generous, patient, kind, you know, these different things. Some of the most kind giving people in the world are not even born again. But they have those attributes. Righteousness is not one of them. That is an attribute that you only get from God. Look at Genesis 15, 6. And he believed in the Lord. This is speaking of Abraham. And he counted it to him for righteousness. See Belief came first, then righteousness was attributed to him. Righteousness is this unique attribute. He does allow you the opportunity to account it to your name, if you believe on him and trust in the Lord. So whose righteousness was required for Israel to obtain the land? Not theirs. Look at Deuteronomy 9:4 6. Speak not thou in mine heart. After that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, for my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess the land. Do you see how God is quoting them in sarcasm? He's saying, don't say for your righteousness is why you have this land. Because that's not true. But for the wickedness of these nations, the Lord doth drive them out from before thee. Not for thy righteousness or for the uprightness of thine heart dost thou go to possess their land. But for the wickedness of these nations, the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the Lord swear unto thy fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness. So don't be prideful here, for thou art a stiff necked people. So we can be clothed in righteousness. According to Job 29:14. I put on righteousness and it clothed me. My judgment was as a robe and a diadem or a crown. We should ascribe righteousness to the Holy One. According to Job 36:3, I will fetch my knowledge from afar and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker. God will judge the world in righteousness According to Psalms 9:8. And he shall judge the world in righteousness. He shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. Appropriating his righteousness is the only way to get into heaven and have eternal life. From Psalms 7:17, verse 15. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. Praise God for that. That's what Steve did that recently. Okay. In verse eight, here. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face to our kings, to our princes and to our fathers, because we have sinned against Thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses. Though we have rebelled against him, neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants, the prophets. Now how much more do we disobey God's voice in our own land? You know, in our own lives we do it all the time. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law even by departing, that thy might not obey the voice. Therefore the curse is poured upon us. That's a. That's a harsh punishment. And the oath that is written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us and against our judges that judged us by bringing upon us a great evil. For under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. I mean, Daniel is in deep, deep prayer right now and mourning. As it is written in the law of Moses. All this evil has come upon us, yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God. Daniel knows his Bible, and he's. He's quoting it and he's bringing that scripture to the Lord that we might turn from our iniquities and understand thy truth. Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil and brought it upon us. For the Lord our God is righteous. So again there is righteousness ascribed to God in all his works, which he do if for we obey not his voice. And there's the verse Isaiah 64, verse 6. But we are all as an. An unclean thing. In all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Filthy rags. That's. That's what you could bring to the Lord. That was it in verse 15. And now, O Lord our God, that has brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with the mighty hand, and has gotten thee renown, as at this day. Remember in Joshua, we were studying. Remember, Rahab knew the God of. Of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob because of Egypt and what he did at the Red Sea and all these plagues. So he's gotten thee renown, as at this day. We have sinned. We have done wickedly. Oh, Lord, according to all thy righteousnesses, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city, Jerusalem. So Daniel's reminding him, this is your city. Remember, Moses did something similar when he said, Lord, when God wanted to wipe out all the children of Israel. And. And Moses goes, but, Lord, what will all the heathen and the other nations say? You promised to bring them in the land. And they're just going to say, who is this God that would bring them out just to kill them in the wilderness? And so he's bringing that promise to God, thy holy mountain. Because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now, therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant and his supplications and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate. For the Lord's sake, oh my God, incline thine ears so you can see Daniel's. Really. He's now petitioning God to hear their prayers. So why they're in the position. Well, who God is, why they're in this position? They've sinned. Here's the. The promises from Deuteronomy and, and the other books of the Bible where God promised he would do this. Now he's asking for the reprieve and for God to hear their cry. God, incline thine ear and hear. Open thine eyes and behold our desolations and the city which is called by thy name. For we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, hearken and do defer not for thine own sake, O my God. For thy city and thy people are called by thy name. And while I was speaking, so now he's interrupted. So he's praying, and an angel comes to him. And while as I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplications before the Lord my God, for the holy mountain of my God, Yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning being caused to fly, swiftly touched me about the time of the evening oblation. Okay, we've talked about this in the past, but Gabriel and Michael are two main angels that show up a lot in the Bible. Gabriel always shows up to declare something about Jesus when he comes to Mary, remember, when she's pregnant with him, he says, your son will sit on the throne of David. And here he's coming to Daniel with this promise, and he's going to give him this incredible prophecy. Now from the Lord, Michael always is fighting and warring for Israel. He's. He's from all the way from the Old Testament in the New Testament, you see in Revelation 12, and Michael stood and his angels with him and went and made war in heaven with Satan. And then they're cast down to the earth and that whole thing. Now look at Daniel's perspective, though, because Jerusalem and the temple are destroyed at this point. But Daniel is saying. He's saying this is about the time of the evening oblation. So Daniel's perspective about what they should be celebrating right now is the evening Oblation. So he's remembering, no matter the circumstances, what God asked them to do. Okay, I, I think that is critical for us today. And he informed me and talked with me and said, oh, Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications, the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee. So as Daniel began his prayer, the command to Gabriel went forth for him to go and give him this prophecy. That's pretty cool. And, you know, a lot of times I'm wondering, I was asking the Lord in the PA a while back, but it's like, lord, how many times have I gotten distracted and stopped praying where I didn't get something from you, you know, because I just didn't go long enough or whatever the case was. But it's interesting. So Gabriel's coming to him from the moment he started beginning his prayer and supplications. Okay, came forth and I'm now come to show thee, for thou art greatly beloved, therefore, what an encouragement. You know, Daniel is a prisoner. His homeland is destroyed, and God's coming to him, and the angel's coming to him and say, calling him first with a word of encouragement, you know, thou art greatly beloved, therefore understand the matter and consider the vision. So biblically, throughout the Bible, there are different insights received by people based on your intimacy with the Lord. Abraham was called a friend of God. Now, don't, please don't get mixed up on the wording friend and beloved and love. God loves everyone. Okay? He first. God so loved the world, right, that he gave his only begotten Son. But what he's saying here, he's trying to give you some insight into the difference on how deep do you want to go in your relationship with the Lord and as a result, what God then trusts you with and gives you as insight into the word of God. There is a connection there. If, if you want to live a life of carnality, be born again, get your fire insurance, and then run away from God and do nothing with him and don't yield to him or allow him to do anything in your life, do not expect to have a lot of understanding from him on what his plan is moving forward, because you're turning your ears off to him, you're running the other way. So Abraham was called a friend of God. Daniel's the only one in the Old Testament called thou, who is greatly beloved, much like the inner disciples. So when Jesus walked the earth, this is always my favorite picture of this kind of whole concept in The Bible. But you had the multitudes, you had the 700, then you had the 70, then you had the 12. Then even within the 12, you had the inside three, Peter, James and John, who were there at really miraculous things that Jesus did in the flesh. The rising of Jairus's daughter, the transfiguration, where they get inside into the end times. But at the transfiguration Andrew made it in. So they. So you see some spots where there's these three insiders with, with the Lord, but then within that, John was the one, the disciple whom Jesus loved. And obviously he loved all of them. But John, like Daniel, gets the greatest vision of the end times of anyone in the New Testament where he gets Revelation and writes it just like Daniel. And I think that's really fascinating because it's all about relationship and how close are you to the Lord? And can he trust you with more? Can he, can he take you deeper? And it is a never ending journey until the day you go home. But Gabriel's telling this to Daniel. So then starts the last four verses of the. The, the chapter where he gives him this prophecy. Okay? He says, 70 weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. So pretty straightforward, right? He, God, lays out exactly the time and the purpose of the time. So in the Jewish culture we have the week of days, week of months and week of years. So 70 weeks, it's actually Sabuya or Shabuya in Hebrew, but it literally is a week of years. So there are 77 year periods determined for. Who are they? Determined for thy people. So who are Daniel's people? The Jews? Israel, thy holy city. This is not a prophecy about New York City or the European Union or Asia or, you know, Africa or anything else God is telling you. Exactly what is this prophecy about? It's about a 490 year period that has been determined to close all of gentile world history and to focus completely on Israel. That's what this is about. So if we could just take, take God exactly at his word, it makes a lot more sense. Now. What's the purpose of it? To finish the transgression. Isaiah 53:5. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed. So to finish the transgression, Jesus did that. He finished the, the need for payment and the. For the penalty of sin on the cross to make an end of sins. Okay, Is sin non existent yet? I'm sure someone was driving here this morning and probably sinned on the highway with some road rage or something. You probably, you and I have sinned. The second we woke up this morning, we did something. I mean, who knows. But your sin is not non existent. So if you think about this, this is, this part has not happened yet. So you've got to look at this prophecy and figure out there's a list of things that this prophecy is to set up and fulfill. Some have happened, some haven't, and those are what we have to look forward to in the millennium. Sin is judged immediately. So to make an end of lingering sins that are not dealt with. Okay, think about it that way. In the millennium, according to Jeremiah and Isaiah, there is sin, but Jesus deals with it immediately. There's no, there's no other court. You know, there's not, there's not waiting for a parole board or something. There's not. It's just dealt with, okay? To make a reconciliation for iniquity. Okay? Jesus did that on the cross. It is finished. To bring in everlasting righteousness. Obviously that's not happened yet. You know, we talked a couple weeks ago, Mono talked about the amillennial point of view on how all of this is spiritual and we're in the millennium now. And I don't know about you, but I think you can look around and especially the month that we're in right now in June, and see more unrighteousness, if that's a word, but more depraved things in our society and around the world than. I don't think it's brought in everlasting righteousness yet. But this prophecy will. It will start in the millennium and to complete the new heaven and the new earth. It'll be complete then to seal up the vision and prophecy. Daniel 12, 9 is where God said, go thy way, Daniel. For the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. So this is, that's the verse I talked about earlier. That's how we know we're in the time of the end. Because you and I can have understanding of this. And to anoint the Most Holy. Acts 10:38, How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with the power who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. For God was With him, Jesus is also anointed prior to being crucified in his burial too, by the way. Okay, so know therefore and understand. So Daniel 9, 25. So this is the first verse of the prophecy, is who it's for the time and what's it to, what is it going to accomplish in the end? So this is all in chronological order too, by the way, the four verses. So know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah, the prince shall be seven weeks and three score and two weeks, the street shall be built again, and the wall even in troublous times. So God is saying from the command to go forth and rebuild the wall in Jerusalem, to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Jesus, as we know the name above all names, the Messiah, it'll be seven weeks of years and then an extra 62 weeks of years. So a total of 69 weeks of years. Now he breaks it up into seven and 62. Because Jerusalem began to be rebuilt seven years after this prophecy was given. But then once that started, the Messiah came at 60 two weeks after that. Okay, so Jerusalem to be rebuilt, then the Messiah. Now one week, the last week after the 69, the last seven year period is to bring in everlasting righteousness. That final seven year period is the tribulation, what you and I know as the seven year tribulation, who according to Jeremiah, is the time of Jacob's trouble, because the focus is on Israel. And that's the last week of Daniel's 70 weeks prophecy. So 69 weeks of years between the command to restore and build Jerusalem to the Messiah, the prince. Okay, the command to restore and build Jerusalem, the street shall be built again. Okay? That's what God says. And the wall, the book of Ezra, if you remember, shortly after this, Ezra was all about rebuilding the temple. And they went back and they started rebuilding the temple, but they couldn't get very far because the wall was destroyed and they were being attacked a lot. So Nehemiah, who's the cup bearer to Artaxerxes, he has this, this deep conviction. And his book, Nehemiah is all about rebuilding the wall. So after the 62 weeks, or after the 69 total weeks in verse 26, here shall Messiah be cut off, but for who? Not for himself. And we know that for us and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. So that happened in 70 A.D. so after Jesus came, he died on the cross. He was crucified for you and I buried in the tomb three days and three nights resurrected. He then is on the earth in his resurrected body ascends to heaven. And then 50 days later, on Pentecost, the church is born. In Acts 2. Well, 38 years later, in 70 A.D. the Jerusalem is, is destroyed by the Romans, the temple's wiped out. And that's where the, a lot of the amillennialists believe, okay? That's where everything in the Bible was fulfilled. There's nothing else left to be fulfilled now. But let's take God at his word. So the people of the prince that shall come. So the prince that shall come, that is one of the titles of the Antichrist that we talked about a few weeks ago. The final Gentile, world ruled world ruler. So the his people, the people of the prince that shall come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Okay, it's not the prince that shall come, it's the people of him or his nationality, so to speak, or people that are against God. You could think about it that way, that are not worshiping the Lord. Now Jesus's death did establish an everlasting covenant and not for himself. Praise God for that. So then in verse 27, and he. So the prince that shall come, the he in the last verse or the he in verse 27 refers to the same person as the previous verse, the prince that shall come. He, the Antichrist shall confirm the covenant with many or for with Israel for one week or one seven year period. And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. Okay, so whatever this covenant is here, that that is the Antichrist is confirming, it has, it seems logical to think that it has something to do with allowing the Jewish people to begin sacrifices again. It doesn't say that necessarily, but it does say in the midst of the week. So immediately after he confirms the covenant, three and a half years later, he causes those sacrifices and oblations to cease. So to stop. And for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate. That is what Jesus refers to in Matthew 24 as the abomination of desolation, or the abomination that causes desolation, or you may hear sometimes referred to as the abomination that causes desolate. But that's what he's referring to. That is a term in the Bible referring to in the tribulation, when the Antichrist walks into the temple that is to be built in our future, still he walks into the holy of holies and declares himself to be God. And that is called the abomination of desolation. And that begins what Jesus referred to in Matthew 24 as the worst time in human history, the time of trouble, the great tribulation, as he calls, which is the back three and a half years of this final week. Okay, the word confirm here, it's gabar. It means to make strong, strengthen, or to act proudly toward God. It implies some form of existing covenant. But there's a lot of debate about an existing versus a new covenant. And you can find people hold different views on this all over the world. Is it the Antichrist establishing a new covenant with Israel, or is it re establishing a commitment of some kind? Or is it acknowledging an existing covenant, like maybe the Mosaic law to reinstitute sacrifices? That probably is more of what it's about because of the, the key there, that he's going to cause them to stop three and a half years later. But there is some debate on that. In the midst of the week, that word literally means half or middle. Okay, so in the middle part of the week. So at the midpoint of the final seven year period, the Antichrist will cause sacrifices and oblations in the temple to cease. Now we've, we've looked at this in the past, but a temple has to be standing during the final seven year period. Jesus talks about it. The Lord through Paul and Peter both talk about it. 2nd Thessalonians 2, 3, 4 is a great companion verse to Daniel 9. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first. And that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. So the Antichrist who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. So that's a reference to him doing that at the midpoint of the tribulation. The Temple Institute, if you remember those pictures we looked at a long time ago, they've got the building plans, they've, they have found descendants of Levi who, they're trained as priests. They have all the temple artifacts made. Again, they need, according to them, they need about three to four months to build the temple once they get the, the okay, so that'll be interesting to see how that unfolds. Now if they start to break ground on that, things will heat up a lot. Can you imagine, the, the Middle east would be, be in fire, it'd be in fuego all of a sudden. But so 70 weeks of years. 70 times 7. So 490 years. Now why did he pick that? That's just such an interesting time. But he says in Matthew 18:21, 22, then Peter came to him and said, lord, how often shall my brother sin against me? And I forgive him up to seven times. And Jesus said unto him, I do not say unto you up to seven, but up to 70 times seven. I think that is so fascinating that the Lord picked exact the exact time frame that he's dealing with Israel back from Daniel 9. That is very intentional. So the prophecy is triggered by a Command in verse 25. Know, therefore understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until the Messiah the Prince shall be 69 weeks of years. So that command Nehemiah was the cup bearer to the king of Persia. He was distressed for the condition of his people in their city. And he comes to the king in deep sadness. If you've read Nehemiah Chapter two, he had a great relationship with Artaxerxes. And the king doesn't understand why Nehemiah is so downtrodden and just sad. And he, he gives him in Nehemiah Chapter two, the Decree. Remember, Nehemiah petitions him. My people are trying to rebuild the temple and, and rebuild Jerusalem. And they can't get far. Can I please go rebuild the wall in the streets? And Artaxerxes of course gives that command. But that decree was given to rebuild Jerusalem. It's actually the fourth decree that really matters. So in that book I referenced earlier, the the Coming Prince. It was published in 1894 by Sir Robert Anderson. There's four decrees that are chronicled to re, but only one is to rebuild the street and the wall. So Cyrus gives the decree in 537 BC and that's in Ezra 1, Darius. That's about the temple. Darius gives a decree in Ezra 6:1 through 5 and verses 8 and 12. Artist Xerxes gives the decree in 458 BC in Ezra 7. But the one that matters to this prophecy was given on March 14 and 445 BC. So 13 years after the last one, Ezra 7. And that's the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus to rebuild the rockab or street and the charts or the wall or moat. And those, those are for the city, not the temple. And that's what God was determining in Daniel 9:25. So when he gives that decree, when you. And again, Sir Robert Anderson looked at this and figured out God's never changed What a concept. His calendar is the same 360 day years. Even in the Tribulation when he lays out that seven year period, remember it's two halves of three and a half years or 42 months or 1260 days. So 42 times 30. So God's calendar is 12, 30, 30 day months. And somehow in our calendar we've messed it up because of the sun standing still and the world being tilted on its axis and all kinds of weird things. But in any case, that decree was given March 14th of 445. When you take 69, 7, 360, you get 173,880 days. And that is if you account for the change in the calendar from 445 BC to 32 AD. Remember, there's no year zero, you get 173,740 days. Then from the date March 14 to April 6, you add 24 days. Then you account for leap years on our calendar of 116 days and you get exactly 173, 880 days. And that's when Jesus wrote in on the donkey to Jerusalem, presenting himself as the King of Kings to die for all of us. And that is absolutely incredible. It is one of the coolest prophecies. So there are the four verses lined out for you in your notes. So you can read them in order, but take them in chronological order. They mean exactly what they mean. And it's amazing. We've got one more seven year period to fulfill from Daniel 9. But praise God that that is for not for us. If you're in this room and you're born again, it's not about you. The church will be removed before that time. There's going to be some period of time, we don't know how long between the rapture of the church and the Antichrist being revealed. But once he's revealed and he makes that covenant with Israel or confirms the Mosaic Law or whatever he does there, then that triggers the start of that final seven year period in my reading. I'll close with this call to action for all of you. In my reading this week, I was in second chronicles, actually in chapter 28. And this struck me because this is such a contrast to Daniel. This is about ahaz. So in second chronicles 28, 22, 23, in the time of his distress, did he trespass yet more against the Lord? This is that king Ahaz, for he sacrificed unto the gods, plural. Notice that not the God, the gods of Damascus, which smote him. And he said, because the gods of the kings of Syria help them. Therefore will I sacrifice to them that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him and all of Israel. Do you see how when you study the Old Testament, there's so many of these kings and people of God who say, well it worked for them, so it must work for me. You know, he, he took the perspective of, well, my nation and my armies have been destroyed because of the kings of Syria are worshiping their God. So I need to worship their God. It didn't ever occur to him their they're being successful because I'm betraying my God, the real God. And there's a lot of times often in our lives that we do that where you know, people look to a lot of, a lot of things and they think it may be working for someone else. So maybe I need to try that. Daniel took the opposite approach. His approach was the right approach, which is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the true living God. And I'm sticking with him no matter what I'm going through through. And that's the, that's the truth of the matter for our lives today. So if you're here, if you're not born again, it's really simple. Romans 10, 9. If you and you will not be here then for the final seven year period of the of Daniel, chapter nine. So that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. So do that. Confess on the Lord, accept his payment to bring an end to your sin and to pay it once and for all and you'll be forever born again. Lord, we just come before you and we thank you again for this time together. And God, we are lifting up the entire Zable family again. Lord, as, as you have brought Steve home and welcomed him into your presence, we are praying comfort over them and that you'd anoint each one of them with the oil of gladness and God turn their grief and sorrow into joy and laughter of remembering Steve and how he finished well and what a testimony for each one of us to finish our lives well. So Lord, as we go about our week ahead, we just pray that you would give each one of us direction and discernment out of your word on how to live our lives of what you'd have for us exactly in these days. And we thank you God for this time together. So Lord, be with us as we continue to gather here around your word as a family. And we thank you so much for the book of Daniel, Lord. In Jesus name, amen.