How God Tells Time – Daniels’s 70 Weeks - Part B

Daniel was told to understand.

He did not have the benefit of the fulfillment of prophecy in history like you and I have. How much more should we understand, comprehend, and anticipate that Jesus Christ is coming to take us away. Today on Connect with Skip Heitziger, Pastor Skip examines what the book of Daniel says about the second coming of Christ and why you must be watchful and ready. But first, here's a resource to give you a deeper appreciation for Scripture's teaching on the end times. Here are some of the titles in the End is Near series by Pastor Skip Heitzig. Israel Must Survive, Rapture Ready, and Russia's Coming Invasion. Surely the Lord God does nothing unless he reveals his secret to his servants, the prophets.

So when God is going to do something, he warns his people, he sends a sign so his people will know that he's going to do something. Skip Heitzig's teaching series now has a companion study guide available to you. The End is Near guide covers all 26 messages that Skip recently presented. We can just look at the chessboard.

The pieces are all lining up in interesting fashion. The End is Near study guide includes notes, summaries, and questions for group or personal study. We need to understand the times, and this study guide will aid in this effort. With your gift of $50 or more to Connect with Skip Heitzig, you will receive a copy of the End is Near study guide from Skip's in-depth 26-part series. Your gift will support the production and expansion of the Connect with Skip broadcast. Call 1-800-922-1888 or go online to connectwithskip.com.

That's 1-800-922-1888 or connectwithskip.com. Okay, we're in Daniel 9 as Skip begins his teaching today. Jewish people thought in units of 7. Most of you knew that. We in the West think in units of 10. We talk about the 60s, the 70s, the 80s. We think in units of 10. Whether it's a metric system or our system, we think in units of 10. The Jewish world thought in units of 7. Now, let's say that I announce to you that I am leaving Albuquerque, and I'll be back in a decade.

You expect me when? Ten years, even though I didn't say years. I used decade, which means 10 of anything.

But we assume that when you say decade, you mean years, because that's how we think. When you say 77s, or we would say heptads, a Jewish person would think of that in terms of not just days, because in the Bible you have a week of days, you have a week of months, I could show you in the Old Testament, and there are weeks of years. And most scholars believe, and commentators believe, and Bible translators believe it should be weeks of years. The Jewish commentary that I consulted this week, and I have a set of Jewish commentaries written in English and Hebrew.

They don't believe in Jesus at all as the Messiah. Even they said it should be translated seven times 70 years, and they quoted the source of the Mishnah, ancient Jewish commentary, which says 70 weeks of years. So again, here's Daniel, having quiet time, reading Jeremiah 25 and 29, and he goes, I'm reading about 70 years captivity based on 490 years of disobedience, and that time is about up.

And so while he's contemplating that, Gabriel shows up and goes, hey Daniel, I'm going to give you TMI. I'm going to give you too much information. I'm going to tell you something you're not even thinking about, 490 years for something else to take place, including the coming of Messiah. So we're dealing with 490 years. If you happen to have a Revised Standard Version of the Bible today, I won't take a show of hands, your version says 70 weeks of years are determined, it spells it out. If you happen to have a New Century Version of the Bible, it says God has ordered 490 years for your people. Okay, let me sum it up. Generally speaking, we're dealing with a 490-year time period God has marked off to accomplish certain things. What are those things?

I'm so glad you asked. That takes us to the third feature of this time clock, the time clock specifically. Go back to verse 24, notice there are six things specified that will be completed in this time period. Seventy weeks are determined for your people and your holy city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. Even though it doesn't say place, some translations do.

Kodesh HaKodeshim is Hebrew for, always referring to the temple, the holy place. Now some will argue, and let me just go this briefly. Some will argue that of these six things God said He will do in the 70 weeks period, three have been accomplished, three have yet to be accomplished. Others will argue that none of them have been accomplished. I think, and I'm going to go into more detail about these next week, but I think it's safe to say we are not right now experiencing everlasting righteousness. Anybody with me on that?

Last time I read the newspaper, I didn't see that headline. We're not in everlasting righteousness. There is no end of sin right now. Last time I checked, that sin is really big in people's lives, and there is no everlasting righteousness. I think it's safe to say prophecy has not yet been completed, and the most holy place, the temple, has not been anointed because there is no temple standing in Jerusalem yet. So no, no, no, no. It hadn't been accomplished. I think we could argue, however, that one of these things has happened.

Reconciliation for iniquity, we could argue, was made at the cross. Best news ever, by the way. Best news ever. God invaded history, took care of our biggest problem, sin. That's good news.

It's great news. I love the Christmas card that said, if our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent a scientist. If our greatest need would have been money, God would have sent an economist.

If our greatest need was pleasure, God would have sent an entertainer. But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent a Savior. Reconciliation for iniquity. And we're even going to see that in the coming prophecies coming up in a few moments.

So now, let me take you to the fourth and final feature of the time clock today, the time clock messianically. Who's going to do all this? Who's going to bring reconciliation for iniquity? Who's going to bring in everlasting righteousness, seal up vision and prophecy, anoint them? Who's going to do all that? Well, we're introduced to who that is in verse 25.

This is where you need to buckle your seatbelts and give full attention. Know therefore, verse 25, know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks. The street will be built again and the wall even in troublesome times. And after the 62 weeks, Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself. And the people of the Prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with the flood until the end of the war, desolations are determined. Then He shall confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week, He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.

And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation which is determined is poured out on the desolate. Amazing prophecy. Now we have a chart. Have we put that up yet? We're going to put this chart up so it's up here. It's going to be on our website so you can download it and keep it on your devices so you can get it any time, but we'll keep it up so you can see it here.

So who's going to do all this? It says Messiah the Prince. To me, verse 25 and 26 happen to be the pinnacle of the book of Daniel. It's one of the most amazing evidences of the accuracy of Scripture because we are told the very arrival date of the Messiah. He's going to come after the 69th week, right? There's going to be seven sevens and 62 sevens. Last time I checked, that's 69 sevens, 69 weeks. At the end of that, Messiah is going to show up.

So understand what he's saying. Daniel, there's going to be a command given to restore and build Jerusalem, and 69 periods of seven after that, or 483 years after that, Messiah is going to show up. By the way, anybody here of the Qumran community? Ever heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls?

Okay. The Dead Sea Scrolls is written by a group called the Qumran community. People lived in an area called Qumran. The Qumran community who gave us the Dead Sea Scrolls and studied Scripture daily constantly believed that Daniel's 70 weeks pinpointed Messiah's arrival and that he would come in their generation, and he did. Now there's three distinct periods that you will notice. There's seven sevens, or 49 years, and then 62 sevens, or 434 years, and one seven, which is seven years. One seven, a week of years, seven years. So the first period, 49 years, the city of Jerusalem says will be rebuilt, streets and walls. The second period goes up to the time of Messiah, and when he comes, verse 26 says he'll be cut off.

I'll get to that in just a second. The third period is a seven-year pact mentioned in verse 27. In the middle of that period of seven years, that pact or that covenant will be broken.

What's the starting point? That's important because once we know the starting point, we can then come to the end and safely say, okay, if the starting point's here, we know when to expect Messiah. Well, the starting point is the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. Okay, the problem we face with that, I want to be fair here, is there are four such edicts in history given, but three of them, a couple of them given by Cyrus, one given by Artaxerxes, three of them gave the Jews permission to build the temple, which really wasn't good enough because they weren't safe or secure. Nehemiah learned that the gates were burned with fire.

Jerusalem was in trouble. There is a date given by Artaxerxes, Longemannus, and we know the date of that, March 14th, 445 B.C. March 14th, 445 B.C., that's when, you can read about it in Nehemiah chapter 2, verses 1 through 8, that's when the Jews were allowed to go back and rebuild their city, the walls, the streets, and so Nehemiah went back to build the city, to make it secure in order to build the temple.

So that really would be the date that fits this, and the Holy Spirit does not waste ink. That's why he included the street and the wall will be built even in troubleless times. If you know the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah built the city, but it wasn't easy.

He faced difficulties, he faced enemies, he faced discouragement, he built in troublesome times. Guess how long it took him to build the city of Jerusalem? About 49 years. 49 years, after that, 49 years, it was the end of Nehemiah's ministry, it was the end of the ministry of Malachi, it was effectively the close of the Old Testament. So that's the first division. But then, the second division is there's another 62 weeks.

62 weeks, 434 years. So you add the 434 years to the 49 years, you come up with 483 years, the Messiah should show up, right? That's what it says. That's what it means.

You should be able to count from March 14th, 445 BC, something should happen significant. Okay, before we get to that, it says, look at verse 26, after 62 weeks, Messiah shall be, what does it say? Cut off, cut off. What does that mean? The word is karat in Hebrew. It means to kill, to execute. It is used three times in the Old Testament to administer capital punishment, to exterminate or to cut one's flesh by piercing. So Messiah's gonna come, he will arrive, he will then receive the death penalty, be executed, be pierced.

But, look what it says, but not for himself. Boy, that to me brings in shades of Isaiah chapter 53. He was wounded for our transgression, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement, for our peace was upon him. By his stripes, we are healed. And by the way, he was cut off at the time of the evening sacrifice, 3 p.m. We're even told who would do this. It says the people of the prince who will come. Who are the people of the prince who will come?

Who's that? The same ones that destroy the city and the sanctuary, it says. Who did that? The Romans did that.

Now, this is where it gets a little fun. If you count 434 years from March 14th, 445 B.C., Artaxerxes given the command, you indeed do arrive at the time of Messiah. But, there was a guy, and we're indebted to him for his work. His name was Sir Robert Anderson. He wrote a book called The Coming Prince. If you want a cure for insomnia, read that book in bed at night.

You will fall asleep. Sir Robert Anderson was the head of Scotland Yard criminal investigation wing, head of Scotland Yard at the time. He was so amazed by Daniel's prophecy, he went back, got historical records, and did the work, did the yeoman's work of mathematical computation, and was able to say, these 483 years translated exactly into 173,880 days. And he shows you his work, because he has to, first of all, not use our calendar. He has to use a 360-day, not solar, but lunar calendar. The ancient calendars of Babylon and the Jews were 360-day calendars, 30-day months, 12 of them, or 28-day months. He then, or I'm sorry, 12 months, that totaled 360 days. He went back in history, made adjustments for leap years even, and came up with 173,880 days. So listen to what Sir Robert Anderson brought forth.

Whether you buy this or not is up to you. He said, if you start at the starting date of March 14th, 445 BC, the command to restore and build Jerusalem, and you were to count 173,880 days, you come to a very specific date. It's April 6th, 32 AD. On April 6th, 32 AD, that happened to be the 10th of Nisan in the Jewish corresponding calendar. If you know anything about Judaism, you know the 10th of Nisan is a very special day. That's the day the people would select the lamb for the Passover that would be killed a few days afterwards. On the 10th of Nisan, April 6th, 32 AD, it happened to be that Jesus was cresting, walking up on top of the Mount of Olives, and said to his disciples, bring me a donkey.

He had never asked for this before. But he allowed himself for the first and only time to be received by the nation as their king. And as he was walking down the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem, they were shouting, Hosanna, Hosanna, to the king. From the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the prince, Mashiach Nagid, means Messiah the king, Messiah the ruler.

William Barclay said, when Jesus came into Jerusalem on that donkey, it was his deliberate claim to be the Jewish king fulfilling prophecy. When? 483 years later. When?

If you believe Sir Robert Anderson, 173,880 days after March 14th, 445 BC, on April 6th, 32 AD. You're telling me God is not precise? God is precise.

Now, giving you that, hopefully this will make a little more sense to you. Are you familiar with this passage? This is April 6th, 32 AD. This is the 10th of Nisan. This is the day he's on the Mount of Olives. As he drew near, he saw the city, he wept over it, saying, if you had known even you, listen to the language, especially in this your day, the things which make for your peace, but they're hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you, and close you in on every side, and level you and your children within you to the ground, predicting the Roman occupation and destruction, and will not leave in you one stone upon another. Listen to this. Listen to this.

Because you did not know the time of your visitation. You see, it sounds like Jesus is holding the nation accountable to have known that. You should have known this.

We gave Daniel the date from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Mashiach Nagid, until Messiah the Prince, 483 years. You should have known it. Here I am. I showed up. You didn't know it's hidden from your eyes. Amazing. So how does God tell time?

Let me answer the question. With a 360-day Jewish calendar that centers around his coming and the death of his son. Now can you see why the angel thought it was important for Daniel to understand all this so he would know when the Messiah would show up? Also, this timetable should help you appreciate and understand Christmas a little bit better. I know you're looking at me going, huh, Christmas? What does that have to do with Christmas?

Well, think of it this way. How in the world could Babylonian magi have known to look for a Jewish king? What were they doing? 500 miles away from home saying, we're looking for the one born king of the Jews. Why?

You're a magi. Well, now we know why. Daniel told them why. Daniel told them when.

And by the way, Daniel was the king, was the prince, was the ruler over the magi, we're told in Daniel chapter two. So this is how God tells time. And during this time period when the 70 weeks are completed, all of these things listed in verse 24 will be accomplished. We're still missing a week. We're missing the 70th week.

We'll get to that next time. But here's a thought. You know, here's Daniel the prophet in his little room. He's reading the Bible. And he's discovering, wow, the 70 years are almost up.

We're going to go back to Israel very soon, like within three years. I wonder how many people right before the time of Jesus or at the time of Jesus were reading the book of Daniel and thinking, I think the time is about up. Do you ever think about that? I'm guessing that a few of them did. I'm guessing Simeon did. Simeon was in the temple when Jesus came to be dedicated. It says he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. And when he saw that baby, he said, my eyes have seen your salvation, the one who's going to be a light to the Gentiles and the ruler of Israel. I'm believing Anna probably knew of this and anticipated it. It says she was waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

I'm guessing some of the disciples may have who followed John the Baptist and later Jesus. Which brings all of this to us. Daniel was told to understand. He did not have the benefit of the fulfillment of prophecy in history like you and I have. How much more should we understand, comprehend, and anticipate that Jesus Christ is coming to take us away, to take us away. He said, be ready, watch, for your redemption draws near.

That's Skip Heitig. With a message from the series, The End is Near, find the full message, as well as books, booklets, and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com. God's desire is for all humanity to know him intimately and personally, and he's revealed himself in the pages of Scripture so we can do that. That's why we share these messages, to help you connect to God through his word and grow in your relationship with Jesus. And when you give to support this ministry, you keep these teachings you love available to you and so many others around the world, helping others grow and connect with God. Just call 800-922-1888 to give a gift today. That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate.

That's connectwithskip.com slash donate. Thank you. Be sure to listen tomorrow as Pastor Skip looks at what will happen when Jesus Christ returns in glory to establish his kingdom. When Jesus comes back, and he will come back at the end of the 70th week of Daniel, when he comes back, he's gonna set up a millennial kingdom. We covered the millennium some weeks ago. He is gonna have a temple in the millennial kingdom where he will dwell. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on his word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Hyten is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.