When Time Runs Out | Part 1

God has a plan. When God said it, that settles it.

I hope you believe it. We'll begin in verse 20 as Adrian Rogers shares more about when time runs out. So, you have to take time and break it down bit by bit. You'll understand why I say it's difficult when you look at it on the surface because we're going to begin reading now in verse 24. Daniel has been praying for understanding.

Now, I want to say by way of introduction that an understanding man prays and a praying man gets understanding. And so, Daniel has been praying and God now is going to speak one great prophetic passage to the servant Daniel. Now, prophecy is history pre-written. Only God can give true prophecy. Listen to this passage.

Beginning in verse 24, here's what God said to Daniel. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins and 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. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks.

The streets shall be built again and the wall even in troubulous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself. And the people of the Prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary and the end thereof shall be with a flood and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week. And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. And for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate until the consummation and that determined shall be poured out upon the desolate. Well, I just feel like saying amen because that's so abundantly clear that there's no need to spend much time talking about something that is so crystal clear. Actually, it does seem very convoluted, enigmatic, but as we look at it a little bit at a time, it's going to break open before us and be an incredible blessing as we think of this outline of things to come.

First point, the period designated. Look, if you will, in verse 24. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people. Now, right away, if you're using the King James as I'm using, you may be thrown off track just a little bit because this does not mean 70 weeks as we know a week. It literally means 70 groups of seven years.

Actually, it means 490 years. Now, you need to understand that the Jews had weeks of years just as they had weeks of days. When we say a week, we think of seven days. They may just as well have thought of seven years.

For example, Leviticus chapter 25 and verse 8. Thou shalt number seven Sabbaths of years unto thee. Seven times seven years. And so don't assume that when it says 70 weeks, it is talking about 70 days. Actually, it is talking about 490 years. So we're talking about a period of time that spans 490 years.

That's the period designated. Number two, let's think a little bit about the people described. To whom does this prophecy apply? Look again in verse 24.

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city. Now, to whom was God speaking? To Daniel. Who was Daniel? He was a Hebrew.

What was his city? Jerusalem. So this is a prophecy that deals primarily with the Jewish people. The Jews are the people of destiny. They're God's outline. They're God's yardstick.

They're God's blueprint. If you want to know what God is doing in the world, study the Jew. And this tells us that God has a plan for the Jew and God is not finished with the Jew.

The Jew is indestructible. Put down this verse, Jeremiah chapter 31, verses 35 through 36. Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and the stars for light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar. The Lord of hosts is his name if those ordinances depart from before me.

What ordinances? The sun, the moon, and the stars, saith the Lord. Then the seed of Israel shall cease from being a nation before me forever.

In order to destroy Israel, you'd have to reach up into the sky and pull down the stars, the moon, and the sun. God says, I am going to watch over this nation. Now, right away, we're getting a blessing because we're finding out that God has not turned history loose upon itself and that God is keeping his promise. And prophecy has a way of settling the soul and giving you a great, great assurance.

Now, here's the third thing. We've talked about the period and the people. Let's talk about the place destined. He's talking about a place also.

Look again in verse 24. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city. Now, the holy city is what? Jerusalem. There is no more important city upon the face of this earth than Jerusalem. Not Washington, not Moscow, not Paris, not Tokyo, but Jerusalem. And the Bible prophesies exactly as is happening today that Jerusalem will be the international hotspot in the last days.

And anybody who can read a newspaper, anybody who knows the political situation, anybody who has a modicum of understanding knows that that is true. The Bible has prophesied that for centuries. Put down Zechariah 12, verses 2 and 3. God says, Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. In that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people. All that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. There is coming a time when Antichrist is going to bring the nations of the world against Jerusalem. But Jerusalem is destined to be the capital city of the world during the reign of Christ.

One of these days, folks, you'll take a Holy Land tour and you'll go to Jerusalem and the king will be on the throne there in Jerusalem. So what have we talked about? A period, 490 years. What have we talked about? A people, God's chosen people.

What have we talked about? A place, the holy city. Now, think about the purpose determined. Here God delineates his purpose in this prophecy, beginning in verse 24, and read with me. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal up the vision and the prophecy and to anoint the most holy.

Now, let's just take these purposes one at a time. Here's what God is going to do. Number one, he is going to finish the transgression, not a transgression, but the transgression.

To whom is he speaking? Israel. What is the transgression of Israel? They're forsaking. They're turning their back on their Messiah. The rejection of Israel's Messiah.

But one day, thank God, that rejection will be over. That transgression will be in the past. Number two, he's going to make an end of sins because there can be no end of sins without Messiah. There's no forgiveness of sin apart from the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. And so there's coming a time when the Jews shall turn in faith to Jesus Christ and trust him. Romans 11, verses 26 and 27, And so all Israel shall be saved. Now, that's the spiritual name for the Jews. As is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, of course, that's talking about Messiah, and shall turn away ungodliness from, now listen to this, Jacob. Jacob is the name always for fleshly Jews.

There's no way you can spiritualize this. For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. Now, Daniel also said, he's coming to make reconciliation for iniquity. These who were enemies are now going to be reconciled.

The great need for all of us to understand, both Jew and Gentile is without Christ, we are alienated from God. Romans 5, 10, For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. So Jesus is going in this prophecy to make reconciliation for iniquity.

And thank God for that. And then to bring in everlasting righteousness. Now, there is no righteousness either, without Messiah, without the Lord Jesus Christ. And Daniel says there's coming a time when he's going to bring in this everlasting righteousness.

Now, remember, he's talking about Israel. Put down Romans 10, verses 1 through 4. Paul says, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.

By the way, some people just believe everybody's going to be saved automatically who's going to be saved, and that it's already cut and dried. Paul said, My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ, Messiah, is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. And so, he's going to bring in this everlasting righteousness. And even the great prophet Jeremiah prophesied this. Jeremiah 23, verses 5 and 6, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch. That's just a description of Jesus, a house and lineage of David, a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper.

That's King Jesus. And shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely.

And this is his name whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. The Jews are going to say, Messiah now is our righteousness. Now, the next of these purposes is to seal up the vision and the prophecy.

That means that God has a plan and in 490 years he's going to finish that plan. He's going to put the last period upon the last paragraph, upon the last page, upon the last chapter, upon the last book of history. He is going to seal it up. He is going to finish it.

Nothing has gotten out of hand. Not a jot or a tittle will fail from the law till all has been fulfilled. People say, God said it. I believe it and that settles it. No, God said it. That settles it. I hope you believe it. Friend, it is there.

It is there. He's going to seal up the vision and the prophecy and then the last of all of these purposes is to anoint the most holy. Now, there is a debate among theologians whether this means the holy place in the temple, the millennial temple that will be built, or whether that means the most holy one, the Lord Jesus himself.

I prefer the latter. I believe he will be anointed as Israel's king and I think that's what this refers to. Either way, it's going to be a blessing and Jesus shall reign where the sun doth his successive journeys run. And so that is the purpose now delineated.

Now, here is the program deployed. Beginning now in verses 25 through 27, you're going to see how this program works out. And so God is telling Daniel to know and understand and now I am trying to share with you so you can know and understand. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and threescore in two weeks. The street shall be built again and the wall even in troublous times. Now, 490 years is going to take. Well, you have to understand when the countdown begins and when it ends. And God tells us when this count will begin, when you can start counting off these 490 years. It begins with the command to restore and build Jerusalem.

That's the commencement of the count. Now, when was the command to restore and build Jerusalem? Well, that command was given in the book of Nehemiah, chapter 2 and verse 1.

And here's what the Bible describes. And of course, Daniel was familiar with this. And it came to pass in the month of Nisan in the 20th year of Artaxerxes the king that wine was before him. And I took up the wine, that is, Nehemiah did, and gave it unto the king.

Now, I had not been before time sad in his presence. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou would ascend me unto Judah, unto the city of my father's sepulchres, that I may build it. Nehemiah says, King Artaxerxes, please, don't be angry with me. If I look sad, it's only because I'm heartbroken for my city. The walls are in ruins. The city is in disgrace.

Please, give me what it takes to go back and restore and rebuild Jerusalem. And Artaxerxes told him to do that. Now, when was that? What was the date? It was 445 B.C. The Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 2, page 660, tells us that also. Now, it was done in the month of Nisan. That's what Nehemiah 2, 1 tells us. Now, the month of Nisan is the first month of the Jewish year. And the first month of the Jewish year is always determined not by a calendar as such, but by the Paschal moon. So, if you are an astronomer and a study of Scripture, you can find out when this date was exactly.

You don't have to guess about it. It was March the 14th, 445 B.C. March the 14th, 445 B.C., the command was given to restore and build Jerusalem. And that's when God's clock started ticking according to this marvelous prophecy in Daniel 9. And so that is the commencement of the count.

Now, notice what he says here, if you will, in this verse. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth that the command to restore and build Jerusalem under the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks. That's 49 years. It took 49 years to restore and to build Jerusalem. It happened just as God said it would.

God gave the ability through Artaxerxes and God used Nehemiah to do it. And in these 49 years, it was done exactly. And it was, this first section now is completed. But now that's the commencement of the count. Now let's look at the continuation of the count in verse 25. And he says unto Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks.

Now, he's saying I'm going to expand the prophecy just a little bit. You have 49 weeks. Add to that 49, 434 weeks. And put all of these together and you have 483 years from the time the command was given to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah would come, Messiah the Prince. Messiah came right on time. How do you figure this?

Sir Robert Anderson has done a wonderful study on this and I am indebted to him for this wonderful study, but what a blessing it is to me. You need to understand that a year in Bible prophecy is 360 days. Our years are 365 days, but they would just add a few days to make up for the missing days. They had 360 days. A half, three and a half years is 1260 days in the book of the Revelation, which is one half of 360. And they put their years just like we do a circle with 360 degrees in a circle.

Now, here's the point. From the command to restore and build Jerusalem to Messiah the Prince is going to be 49 years and then 434 years, which is going to make a total of 483 years. The point that you need to understand is this, that Daniel pinpointed the coming of Messiah down to the very day. Take 360 days in a prophetic year and remember that Jesus began His public ministry in AD 29. Well, how do you know that Jesus began His public ministry in AD 29?

Well, the Bible tells us. Luke 3, verse 1, Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being the governor of Judea, and Herod being the tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip, tetrarch of Iduria, and of the region of Traconitis, and Lysanias, the tetrarch of Abilene. God says, just go to the history books and find out exactly when the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar was. Those dates are written and the record is clear, so we know exactly when Jesus began His public ministry.

The Bible makes it very clear. And then the Bible teaches us that three Passovers later, Jesus as Messiah made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem after three years of public ministry. Well, when did He make His triumphant entry into Jerusalem three years later? Well, we don't have to guess at that because we know it was the week of the Passover. And we don't have to guess when Passover was because Passover is set by the Paschal moon. We can just put those things together and people who study these things can tell us exactly when Jesus Christ got on that donkey and rode into Jerusalem through that eastern gate. The date was April the 6th, A.D. 32. Now, here's the interesting thing. If you put this together, you're going to find out that Jesus Christ, Messiah the Prince, came exactly precisely on time because if you multiply this together, if you take these years and put them together, the 434 years plus the 49 years, you have 483 years, multiply that by 360, you have 173,880 days from March the 14th, 445 B.C.

Now, don't skip out on me. That's exactly the day when Jesus was riding into Jerusalem. 173,880 days from March the 14th, 445 B.C., Jesus was riding into Jerusalem. Remember when I preached about the tears of Jesus? Jesus on the Mount of Olives wept, and I preached from Luke 19. Do you know why Jesus wept? Listen to it again, Luke 19, beginning in verse 41. And when he was come near, that is, when he was come near to the city, he beheld the city and wept over it, saying, If thou hast known even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace, but now they hid from thine eyes.

No wonder Jesus wept. The precise day was given by Daniel the prophet, and he said, If you'd only known the things that belong to you on this your day. And coming up tomorrow, we'll hear part two of this moving message, but maybe today you have questions about who Jesus is or how to place your faith fully in what he accomplished for you on the cross. Go to our Find God's Love page at lwf.org slash radio.

There are resources and materials there that will answer questions you may have about your faith. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message, you can call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD. Request the title When Time Runs Out. This lesson's also part of the insightful series The Edge of Eternity. For that complete collection, all six powerful messages, call 877-LOVEGOD or go online to lwf.org slash radio.

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