Seventy-Weeks Prophecy of Daniel 9 - Part 4

Blessings to Israel presents Discerning the Times, a program committed to encouraging you to view current events through the lens of the Bible. Now in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, please join us for today's program. Welcome to Discerning the Times.

My name is Brian Thomas. So great to be with you as always alongside cohost, Dr. Bruce Logan, and it is a blessing to come to you once again this week as we're continuing our series in the book of Daniel. Daniel chapter nine, looking at the 77's prophecy.

So this is week three, I believe. Part three of us going through this great prophecy that God has shown us through his divine holy word. And it's just great things that we're seeing as we are walking through the scripture. So I want to bring in my cohost shortly, but before we get into it, I want to remind you as we always do that your eternal state is far more important than your current state. And that is not to dismiss or to minimize your current state because what we do on this side of life determines our eternal state. And so we encourage you to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and savior if you never have received him.

So we urge you, will you receive the free gift of salvation that comes only through our great Lord and savior? So once again, folks, it is great to be with you, doc. We're going to day today, dive even deeper into the 77's prophecy. And I've been looking forward to it since we got together last week.

And I know you are as well. Yes. This has been such a, uh, an enjoyable series for to get into. And, uh, and I'm just hoping that the listeners have been, uh, or gleaned something from this and I just can't wait to get into, uh, to begin unpacking today's episode.

Yeah. So we've covered so far versus 20 through 25 of Daniel chapter nine. So to our audience, we want you to grab a writing utensil and something you can take notes with because we want you to be able to follow along. And to be able to go back and review what is going to be presented to you through this great prophecy.

And I do think I misspoke. I believe we are actually part four today is where we are as we are again, going through this great prophecy. So Daniel chapter nine, verse 26 reads as follows. 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 a flood and till 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. Now that's verses 26 and 27. And that's a mouthful.

That is a lot there. And as we've told you, the audience in previous weeks to again, take notes and, and don't feel overwhelmed as we're going through this. If this is new to you, because there is a lot here, but we're, we're going to break it down slowly as we continue to proceed. So when we look at verse 26, it states that after the 62 sevens, which is a total of 483 years would have passed at that point in the prophecy, the anointed one would be cut off.

So, Doc, what is it speaking of here? Well, it says here that after the 62 sevens, and of course, as you mentioned, it was, that will come, if you do the math, it comes out to 483 years. And this 483 years represents God's prophetic time clock that began to click off once the decree was signed by King Artaxerxes to allow the Jews to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. Now, this is where a lot of confusion gets here because there were actually two decrees made over about a hundred year period. The first one was by Cyrus, and a lot of confusion comes in because people think that it was Cyrus' decree that was the beginning of God's prophetic clock. But actually, Cyrus' decree was primarily for them to go back and rebuild the temple.

But the prophecy in Daniel says once the decree to go back and rebuild Jerusalem, and that decree was given by Xerxes about a hundred years after Cyrus decrees. And so beginning there, there was a 483 year period from that moment up until the time the Messiah was cut off, which also represents when Jesus was crucified. And when we do the math and follow the history, you can see that everything happened meticulously as the angel Gabriel had predicted. Yeah, and it is something, and when you look at it as to how with the timing and the dates, you know, God, it's not just a proximity kind of thing. It lines up perfectly when Jesus Christ came and when he was crucified on the cross. So, so again, it's just really an amazing prophecy when you really look through it and you go through all the dates and the calculations is really truly amazing. And the verse also states that the city and the sanctuary would be destroyed. And we know by history that the Romans invaded and destroyed the newly reconstructed Jerusalem in 70 AD as fulfillment of this prophecy.

But, Doc, do you have anything to add to that? Yeah, now, this is another important point that we need to maybe take a moment to unpack just a little bit, because there is, again, kind of clear up a little bit of confusion that a lot of people have. Because I mentioned earlier that there is a principle in biblical interpretation, actually there are two, but I'm going to refer to the one in particular called the law of double reference.

Meaning that it'll be referring to one incident or one account or one individual, whatever the case may be, in the short term. And then there's also a long term implication where the same analogy is used, and we'll see that later on when we talk about the abomination of desolation. You'll see that picture painted very clearly because there was one abomination of desolation that had already occurred by Antikius Epiphanes prior to the birth of Christ. But then there's going to be another abomination of desecration that's going to happen almost exactly as Antikius, but only it's yet to be fulfilled at some point in the future.

And the temple that Antikius desecrated, that temple, as you said, was destroyed in 70 AD. But when we fast forward to the book of Revelation, we can see that there's going to be another temple that's going to be constructed in which the Antichrist is going to desecrate. So that kind of lets you know that there's still fulfillment of this prophecy yet to occur at some point in the future. But yes, it's amazing to follow along historically because one of the ways for those who's interested in getting into the in-depth study of Bible prophecy, if you can trace and correlate fulfilled history with fulfilled prophecy, that gives you a clear understanding.

Just kind of a quick example. Let's say, for example, if you did a study of Daniel chapter 11, there's over 40 prophecies in that one chapter alone that will fulfill exactly to the letter and the timeframe into the letter. So that kind of gives you an understanding of just how awesome God is and how specific and how meticulous God is able to look down and see the end from the beginning and to be able to predict events hundreds and sometimes thousands of years before the events take place. And that just goes to show you that we serve a mighty and all-powerful and all-knowing God.

That's truly amazing. I mean, it just brings a smile to your face because when you think about how God is in control and everything is working in accordance to his plan, we look at society today. We talk a lot about the ills of society and morality and how it's just tanking and it can be frustrating.

It can be discouraging. I will admit that. But when you stop and step back and look at the big picture and say, well, God is in control. None of this is catching him by surprise.

We may get alarmed or seem shocked when we see vowel behavior going on at these pride parades and and just so much wickedness with murders and all of that. And we just say, my God, why, how and why is all this stuff happening? But then when you think about God is in control and none of this is catching him by surprise, he already told us that this is what would happen. Then we can have that assurance and trust and know and again, smile when we see things taking place, because as you said, we serve a mighty God who is in control of all things. This text also Daniel nine twenty six, it gives insight to the origin of the Antichrist because it reads the people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.

So again, you have to look at that carefully. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And we know, as we already stated, that Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. by who the Romans. So this is letting us know that the Antichrist is going to rise from that same group of people, namely the Roman Roman Empire.

Right now, of course, we know the Roman Empire no longer exists, at least not by that name. But we're going to explain that as we go forward. So we're going to pause now for a brief announcement. But on the other side, please come back. We'll talk about that more and continue with this great prophecy of the Book of Daniel. Daniel seventy seven.

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Lessons to Israel dot com or write to us and lessons to Israel to box two sixty six ninety on North Carolina two seven five four five. Now let's return to the conclusion of today's program. Welcome back to discerning the times.

My name is Brian Thomas, alongside co-host Dr. Bruce Logan. Going through today, the seventy seven's prophecy of the Book of Daniel. And before the break, I mentioned that the scripture here tells us the origin. What would be the origin of the future antichrist?

Because it says he will come from the people who would destroy Jerusalem. And we know that happened in 70 AD. That happened at the hands of the Romans, the Roman Empire. But again, the Roman Empire today, it doesn't exist. So you may ask the question, well, how does that play out? How how does that make sense? So if we fast forward to present day, the Roman Empire, in a sense, is being revived, but under the new name of the European Union. Now, that is one theory that I want to put out there. But before I go forward, Doc, what are your thoughts concerning this this origin of the people of the ruler who will come?

Well, you said it perfectly, but I wanted to go back in because something slipped my mind that I would be remiss if I didn't go back and point this out. Because if we go back and look at the beginning of verse twenty six and it says after the sixty two seven or four hundred and eighty three years, the Messiah will be cut off. And there is something amazing that you'll discover, especially if you examine or reference that verse with the New Testament and the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. Because something amazing happened at the beginning of Christ's ministry, because when Jesus came on the scene, there was a tremendous amount. And I believe what I'm about to say is directly related to this verse, and there was a tremendous amount of expectation to the future or coming Messiah. And I mean, I'm talking about specifically at the time that Christ was ministering here on Earth. One of the key and important verses that kind of bears this out is Luke chapter three and verse fifteen.

I'll just want to read this really quick. And as the people were in expectation and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he was the Christ or not. Now, of course, many people were coming to see John the Baptist to see whether or not he was the Messiah. And of course, he was not the Messiah.

He was just a forerunner. But just the fact that there was so much or such a high level of anticipation of expectation of a Messiah that was coming around this time frame. Now, this is what you got the connection that I want the listeners to make. It was the fact what makes this so exciting is the fact that the time frame in which the people had this level of expectation. And I firmly believe that a lot of people were familiar with this 70 weeks prophecy and they knew that they were living somewhere in proximity of that time frame. And they were expecting the Messiah to come. But it was not just the people who were expecting the Messiah, but also the Bible tells us in the New Testament. And we're all familiar about the kings of the East or the three magi who saw his star in the East and came to worship him. And one of the things that's interesting is because this same individual that we're reading about, we're studying the prophecy from Daniel, who Gabriel gave this message to directly. Daniel 2 and verse 48, after he had given King Nebuchadnezzar the answer and the revelation to his dream, the Bible says in Daniel chapter 2 and verse 48 that Nebuchadnezzar made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon and the chief governor and over all the wise men of Babylon. Now, if you think for a moment, now this same Daniel who gave this 70 weeks prophecy, no doubt, shared this. And this became common knowledge over the generations.

As a matter of fact, in training, I like to call it like wise men training. Like if we go to theological training, I would imagine that studying these prophecies of Daniel may have been a requirement of the curriculum. I kind of might have maybe made that up, but you can kind of get an idea of what I'm saying because we're looking at nearly 300 years later and actually over 400 years later, that these wise men or this knowledge of Daniel's prophecy apparently was a part of the understanding of these wise men who came from the East. And if you'll notice, and I'll say this real quick, that when they came, you recall, they were inquiring about the Messiah, this baby that was going to be born. And you notice that if you go back and read the text, they never asked when the Messiah would be born. All they wanted to know is where he was, where he was going to be born.

That's all they wanted to know. And that's also a clue letting us know that this prophecy in Daniel occurred and was fulfilled as Gabriel had presented it to Daniel, because we can see the New Testament evidence who those in the New Testament, whether they were the kings of the East or whether they were Jews who were awaiting an expectation, all converged around this same timeframe because they just did the math and they knew that they were living in the time that the Messiah was going to be coming. So I just thought that was very, very interesting. And I just wanted to point that out to kind of validate the validity and the awesomeness of this 70 weeks prophecy. Yeah, that's good stuff.

That's definitely good stuff. And when we look at this verse, verse 26 here, again, people are looking to the European Union, and it very well may be that a charismatic leader is going to rise there at some point in the future and we'll take on that role of the Antichrist. That is the position that I hold. But I do want to share another theory out there because some, some believe that the Antichrist will come from the Babylonian, the ancient Babylonian territory, which is present day, the area that centers around Iraq and Iran. And the reason that some hold that theory is because they say, well, the Roman Empire, it covered areas that are even outside of what is today currently the European Union.

So when you get into the Arab nations, that also is part of the Roman Empire. So some some look at it and say, well, you know, you may be an Arab and that is possible. People have different theories. Your only time will tell.

None of us can know for sure. And the thing is that I, you know, we study these things because it is in the Bible. But I try to caution Christians don't get really hung up on who the Antichrist is or is going to be, because by the time he's revealed, we're gone. We're out of here. We've been taken away in the rapture. So if you're around and you see the revealing of the Antichrist, that means you've missed the rapture. But what's your thought?

Amen. Well, first of all, I just want to say to that because you're 100 percent right. There are a lot of different theories out there. Some of the theories are I mean, we can just mix, you know, right away because there are people who had Hitler as the Antichrist. Obama was the Antichrist. Trump was the Antichrist. I mean, the list goes on and on.

I mean, it's just some of the stuff that goes out there just borders on the ridiculous. But we can know that there are some clues given in the Book of Daniel. Clue number one is that the Antichrist will come from one of the ten horns that in Daniel Chapter 7, if you go back and study that, we won't take time to unpack that here. But the Antichrist is absolutely going to come from one of the ten horns that rose out of the old Roman Empire.

So as you stated earlier, that that is for sure. And but the other component as to what his nationality would be. Now, my personal perspective is that I believe he's going to have to be a Jew.

And the only reason why, I mean, not necessarily have to be, but it would seem logical because it would seem unlikely that the Jew would accept a non-Jew as their Messiah. And the reason why I say that is because when you study the Book of Matthew, for an example, the Book of Matthew opens up with a genealogy. And the reason why Matthew opens his book up with a genealogy, because he had to demonstrate to his audience that Jesus was indeed directly from the line of David and from the line of Abraham. So he had to demonstrate that.

So that's the reason why you read all that and so and so begat so and so. That's really why you read that because his audience had to be convinced that they were not convinced that Jesus was directly descended from David and from Abraham. Then, you know, they were going to reject it outright.

So nothing else he would say after that would even matter. So and I kind of would think that that same mentality will exist when the Antichrist is presented. And of course, we can't say that definitively, but the dots would seem to connect between the reason why Matthew, for an example, had to list that genealogy.

And that's clearly the reason why he had to do that. And so it would seem to believe that those who would accept and acknowledge the Antichrist as their Messiah, which is going to happen at some point in the future, that somehow or another he would have to demonstrate that he is of the line of or from the seed of Abraham and the seed of David, because he's referred to often as the son of David, meaning he's from the lineage of David. So I would think that that would have to be a significant point.

Yeah, those are valid points, most definitely. And I was thinking, as you were talking about all the different theories and stuff out there that people have had over the years for Antichrist, I thought about, you know, Ronald Reagan was one Ronald Wilson Reagan. So people were saying, oh, yeah, he has six letters in his three names. So 666 Antichrist, and then Miguel Gorbachev, some of the younger people may not remember him, but you know, the leader of the Soviet Union, because he had a birthmark in his forehead. People said, oh, that's the mark of the beast. And that's Antichrist. So, folks, you're not going to hear that kind of speculation out of us. We don't we don't do that type of thing.

We can look at certain individuals and say, okay, this person may fit the bill. It seems like they are possessing some of the characteristics, but again, we're not concerned because, well, we're gone as Christians. We're going to be raptured by the time the Antichrist is revealed. So to wrap things up for this week and verse 26, it goes on to mention in the verse that the end will come like a flood with war continuing until the end. And all we have to do is turn on the world news today and we see the reports of tension around Israel. I mean, it's just ongoing where it's always something this tiny little nation. And that's the thing, folks, when you stop and look at Israel and say the size of Israel compared to all the rest of the world in this tiny little nation, how much is it always in the news is always in the headlines because the nation has been under attack for thousands of years. And that is because of what it represents, that it is the Holy Land. It is the land where Jesus is going to return. And so I think this verse is telling us that as we come nearer and nearer to the end, the intensity and the frequency of wars around Israel are going to increase and it's going to increase just like a flood of water. They get stronger and stronger as is rushing downhill. And I think that we're seeing this taking place throughout our lives and is going to continue into the tribulation.

Yes, sir. And I wanted to mention, too, also that for those that want, because we weren't able to really unpack the timeframe and to get the dates because a lot of, there's another piece of controversy as it relates to the time and how the dates will connect. And because we're talking 483 years from the decree given. And one of the things that people have to keep in mind that what we think in a different term, sometimes we've got to get out of our Western thought in order to understand and write it by scripture, because the Jewish, everything was not written on our calendar, but on the Jewish calendar. We have a 365 day calendar. And the 365 days, you know, just for reference, it involves the time that it takes for the earth to revolve around the sun. We call the solar calendar, but the Jews have never been on the solar calendar. They've been on what we refer to as the lunar calendar or the number of days it takes for the moon to revolve around the earth, which is 360 days. And so all of these calculations have been based on a 360 day calendar. And I think I needed to point that out. And also the first 49 years, and we talk about the fact that it took 49 years to rebuild Jerusalem, but that was not a continuous 49 years.

And so it was at the conclusion of the 49 years where the other years clicked off. But, you know, as the scripture says, is that this all took place in quote unquote troubling times. And all you have to do is read the book of Nehemiah, and you'll remember that there was a lot of controversy, there was a lot of trouble that surrounded the building of the city of Jerusalem and the walls around the city. And so, you know, most of us are familiar with the story of Nehemiah on the wall, very familiar story from Sunday school days.

But the fact of the matter is that there was a lot of stoppage in the construction period because, you know, different hate and letters were sent back to the king and so all these different types of things were happening. So most of us are familiar with the story, but when you do the calculations, and I said all that to say, oh, by the way, that there's a book that those who want to really do some scholarly investigation into the timing of everything, there's a book that a lot of scholars I hear and that I follow, they all refer to this one book, and it's called The Coming Prince by Sir Robert Anderson. And amazingly, this book was published way back in 1894, and I actually looked it up not long ago, and it's still in print.

And it's called The Coming Prince by Sir Robert Anderson. So if anyone wants to get more detailed about the timing, and Robert Anderson meticulously examined historical records to get the timing of when the decree was exactly. And he came to the point that it was in 444 BC with that Artaxerxes signed a decree, and the crucifixion of Jesus was 33 AD.

So he did the math based on a lunar calendar. And it's just very, very, very amazing when you read that and study that, giving us a without a doubt clue that Jesus died when he said he was who he said he was, and that the God of the Bible is a God that's able to see the end from the beginning. Yeah, and to your point, yeah, I like to stress to people when you read the Bible, as you said, we have to look at it through the eyes of the fact that it is a Jewish-Israeli centric book.

It's not in the terms of our Western culture. And when you really start to look at it from that standpoint, things are a lot more clearer. It makes a lot more sense. So that's going to wrap it for this week. We encourage you to come back as we're going to wrap things up next week with verse 27 in this great 77 prophecy in the Book of Daniel. So looking forward to having you. Thank you for joining us. And please come back and join us next week as we continue to encourage you to discern the times by viewing life through the window of the Bible. Until then, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Bless God's great nation of Israel. And to the only wise God, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.

Thank you for tuning in to Discerning the Times. Please come back and join us next week as we continue to encourage you to view current events through the lens of the Bible. Until next time, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Bless God's great nation of Israel. And seek first the kingdom of God.