Hey, you know, in my 30 years of ministry, I've never been booed during a sermon. Until last time we were in here.
Okay, that's two. But it's because it's because I teased you last time we were here because we were looking in Daniel, in Daniel 9, and I led you right up to the edge of a cliff on what probably the most mysterious vision in the entire Bible. And I said, Oh, we gotta wait until after Peach Days. And then I heard. See?
Okay, well here we are today, so hold it. Yeah, that's true. Yeah.
So we're gonna do it today. And I think so. This is probably one of the most mysterious passages in the Bible, but one of the most exciting.
So we're gonna get on this and we're gonna look at it closely. And this has been a debatable passage for millennia, for millennia. But in, I don't know, in the last, I don't know how long a time, there really has come to a consensus on what it means. And what it means is just. Astounding.
It's just astounding.
Okay, you ready? Was that enough buildup?
Okay, we're in Daniel 9. Let me do a recap for you so we remember what we were doing last time we did this, when I got booed last time. Uh, so here's the recap.
So, we're in Daniel 9 at the top of Daniel 9, Daniel reads the book of Jeremiah. He opens a scroll. And it says, you're only going to be in captivity in Babylon for 70 years. And it's really clear. It's in Jeremiah twice.
And in one part, Jeremiah explains why 70. And he says, well, it's because that deal where God said, Sabbath, you know, on the Sabbath, it's the seventh day after six days of not working.
Well, that also applied to years.
So God had said, work the fields for six years. And then on the seventh year, don't work the fields at all. And it turns out that Israel, at least in the time of the kings, starting in Saul and David, from that point on, they just never did it. They just never did it.
So they never, according to God's word, never let the land rest on that seventh year.
So God said, for every one of those years, you did not let the land rest since the kings started running the kingdom? You're going to be in captivity for each of those years.
So we can let the land finally rest for all of those seventh years.
Well, 70 years. Times seven in a week means 490 years.
So there were 490 years where they never did that.
So 70 years, Jeremiah says. Good news to Daniel. And you think that Daniel, who's been in captivity now as an old man, He started when he was a young man, now he's an old man. You'd think that he would hear that and read that in Jeremiah and have a celebration. And that makes a lot of sense.
But in Daniel 9, he does not have a celebration. Instead, what he does next, surprisingly, is he goes through an in-depth confession about the sins of Israel.
Well, if you're going to be sprung from prison at the end of 70 years, why do you have to appeal to God? Hasn't God made up his mind already? Do you have to ask again when it's going to happen? And we don't really have good figures on this, but it feels like Daniel's about 20 years short of this actually happening. He's about 50 years into the captivity.
So it's just uncharacteristic. Why plead for God for mercy? When God already decided, in a handful of years you're going to be sprung out of Babylon, which is now Persia. But he does. He goes into confession.
And we discussed that a lot last time we were here. Why go into confession when it's a done deal? It's a done deal.
Well, we're going to get more views on that today.
So he confesses the sins of Israel, and here's literal quotes from what he said at the top of Daniel 9: We've sinned, we've done wrong, we've acted wickedly, we've rebelled, and it gets worse. Treachery against God himself, refusing to obey.
So, I mean, it's really a very in-depth thing. And he's not confessing for his own sins, although he includes himself, he's confessing for the sins of Israel. The sins of Israel that got them put in captivity, he's sitting in right now.
Now you would think, see, the order of things usually is: here we are in captivity, we were here, who knows, about 50 years. I was a young man when I got captured by Nebuchadnezzar and taken to this place.
So, God, I guess if I pray long and hard enough today and confess the sins of Israel, you'll change your mind and you'll send us back home to Israel and away from this place of the Persians. And then God says, well, Okay, and he sends it back. But that's not what happens. He tells Daniel first you're going back. And then Daniel goes into confession.
Not to change God's mind, but because something has triggered a deep sense of of guilt and and he speaks out on behalf of the nation of Israel for its sins. Just incredible.
So this is still recap.
So he pleads with God. He pleads for mercy from God. But why plead for mercy? God already said you're going to be sprung out of this place after 70 years. God's mercy seems like it's already happened, right?
Not really. This is what's interesting today. And then, and then, while he's praying, an angel, most famous angel in the Bible, Gabriel, is immediately sent to him in prayer. And Gabriel actually says: as soon as you started your pleas for mercy, whew, the word went out. And I speedily came here.
So before he even finishes his sentence praying, Gabriel shows up.
Okay, now Gabriel. is an angel and angel in Hebrew is just the word for messenger. Angels are messengers.
So he comes to bring a message.
So, as a result of the confession for the nation of Israel, God says, let's bring Daniel a message through Gabriel. This is not the first time. We've seen Gabriel here before in Daniel.
So Gabriel comes with this message. And he says the purpose for him to give this message is to give insight and understanding, insight and understanding in response. to this profoundly broken confession of the sins of Israel. Insight. and understanding.
Well, you know, we don't need too much insight and understanding about the nature of sin. In fact, when you read the first half of Daniel 9, he's very complete. We've done everything wrong we can think of, and here we are in captivity. The insight and understanding is something about more than just the nature of the sin. It's about the nature of God's mercy.
Mercy. It's about God's mercy. And so Gabriel brings this message, which last time I said, not today, boo, but yes, today, we're going to do it today, okay? Yeah.
Oh, hey, there we go. Wow, that was nice.
Okay. I got goosebumps all, I feel motivated now.
So let's take a look at it. And remember this context, because this is really fascinating. You're going to be sprung from Babylon after 70 years, which is now Persia. 70 years, you're going to, that's all you're not 400 years, like when Egypt happened. And then he goes into a confession for the nation of Israel: the nation has really done wrong, and that's led to this captivity.
And he pleads for God's mercy. Gabriel shows up and says, Listen to this. Here we go. This is the vision itself from the messenger Gabriel.
Okay, we're in Daniel 9 verse 24. Um Are you ready? 70 sevens are decreed about your people and your holy city to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint the most holy place. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks, and for 62 sevens it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. And after the 62 sevens, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing.
What? And the people of the Prince who is to come? The prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.
And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one seven. And for half of the seven, he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of the water, Of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, ah, but until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. Yeah, except that I think it's a good idea.
Okay. This is why this passage has been debated for millennia. But there's some great clarity in it. It's not as crazy sounding as what you just listened to.
So let's just slow, slow down and go back and take a look again.
Okay, so let's look at the vision again. Again, slowed down.
Okay. We're back to verse 24. 77s or 70 weeks, that word there means is used either for weeks or for sevens. It's the same thing. But 77s I put in are decreed about your people and your holy city.
Your people Israel, your holy city, Jerusalem. Right? 70 weeks, 70 sevens.
Well, we need a timeline because this thing that he's numbering is actually years. No one debates that. We're not talking about literal weeks or days. We're talking about years counted in sevens of years. And so, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Wasn't wasn't at the beginning of this chapter chapter that Daniel found reading in Jeremiah. That they're going to be in captivity for every year that they did not let the land go fallow, every seven. Years? And for how many? For seventy.
seven Years.
So, this sounds familiar from the beginning of the chapter.
So, let me just look at that history.
So, this red box right here on the timeline, this is the timeline, it's the Babylonian captivity, it was 70 years long. And Daniel's waiting for that to finish. And he's living somewhere right about in there where that blinking yellow line is. We're not quite sure. And there's the future coming up.
So we're right here at this point in the timeline of the nation of Israel. That's 490 years because it takes 490 years to amass every seventh year not doing something. until you get 70 years. 40, 90 years before that. And so that's the 77s.
At least if I was Daniel, that's what I'd be thinking. That's what this is sounding like. This sounds very familiar. This is how we got here. For 70 weeks of years, we didn't let the land go fallow.
Okay, well that seems to match. Let me put some dates on this, and this is where it gets a little fuzzy. We know that the temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586, so a lot of historians date the beginning of that 70-year period to the destruction of the temple in 586. 586 is very sure. We have that figured out.
We have that figured out. So, 586.
So, 490 years before that, Would be there is no one who does math in the room.
Okay, it would be 1076. 1076.
Now why is that important? Do you know what years that King David was was king? And the the easy thumb of rule is 1000. BC. Just think 1,000.
It's plus or minus a couple of decades, but think 1,000. In fact, I had to look it up. The best guess of his, the guy who preceded him, King Saul.
Well, it ruled from 10.30 to 10.10. Most people agree.
So this timeline says that for 490 years, they did not do the seven-year fallow rule that they're supposed to do. And that preceded, it seems like, the first king of Israel. Just do the math. Which means that it started during the time of the judges.
Well, that makes a lot of sense if you read the book of Judges. It was a lawless kind of place, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes, and how'd that work out for you? Really bad.
So somewhere in there they dropped the whole idea that every seventh year you don't work the land. It's surprising to me that after Saul gets in as king, the first king, and then David comes after him as the second king, it's surprising to me they didn't go back and say, you know, weren't we supposed to do that seven year thing? But it seems like for that entire period of time they didn't do it.
So God kept counting. One seven-year thing didn't happen, another seven-year thing until he got up to 70, and then he let Nebuchadnezzar come in and conquer Jerusalem and destroy, utterly destroy the beautiful Solomon's Temple. Gone, right there. That's 586. That's 586.
So it seems like, as this starts out, it seems like that's a reference to this. I mean, it's just very clear. And you're probably thinking to yourself, But it's not, is it, Jim?
Well? Hold your horses. Seventy-sevens are decreed about your people and your holy city to what? To finish the transgression. There's a list here.
What's going to happen? To finish the transgression after the 77s. Finish the transgression to put an end to sin. To atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
Okay, now when you look at that list and you take a step back, you go, okay, wait a second. Especially what hops out to me an end to sin? An atonement? For sin? That's paying for the sin.
Right? Everlasting righteousness? Everlast, like it's never going to stop being righteousness?
So, when you read her, if you didn't know where this came from, what would you point to that list of things as happening where in all of history? But Jesus on the cross. Yeah.
I would. Which which at which now we're bringing a new dimension here? Because it seems like Daniel's not just praying about the return of Israel from the Persian captivity back home. I mean, he's praying for God's mercy. But in response, in response, we're starting to hit the tip of an iceberg of God's mercy.
on a global scale for all of humanity, not just his mercy for Israel right now in Persia. Like His mercy all of time which i think is why gabriel said so fast to come back Go, go give him some understanding because he's praying for God's mercy.
Well, guess what? Let me tell you what God's mercy really looks like. We have to ask you to go to the time of Christ. What? Look at that.
'Cause This did not happen in the history of Israel. Uh i I mean it didn't happen. Until you get to Jesus.
Okay, let's use that as our hypothesis right now because these are big falutin words. This is big time stuff that's happening. And he says, he says on some kind of timeline of years, 77s. 490 years This'll be completed.
Okay, hold that in your hip pocket. Let's move forward. It seems like a future reference rather than a past reference, like I just showed you. It seems like what he's saying. Was that just like in the last 490 years where sin happened in Israel and you got into captivity?
Another 490 years is coming. And that's going to be reversed. Oh, okay. Oh, hold on to that. This gets really fascinating.
So he says, here's the timeline. Here's the timeline. Know therefore and understand that That from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of the anointed one, a prince.
Now hold that for a second.
So he's giving us the beginning of the future timeline. Starting at some announcement right there. But before I tell you where that announcement started, he uses some words that are very important. See this one anointed one? Anointed one.
Oil, the high priest would take oil, pour it over the head of one shh. and anoint him King. That's how that's how Samuel anointed David. That's how all the kings are anointed. This is God's way of saying, this is my man.
And that happened on David when he was a youth. It took him some time before he became the king. But it's God's way of saying, I've put my hand on you, you're the one. You're the one.
So the Anointed One is someone who is positioned and stationed by God for an important purpose, Anointed One, and the word in Hebrew is Meshiach. Michiach. which is transliterated into English, Messiah. What? What?
Not only is he the Messiah. But he's a prince. Which, in a general sense, means he's a ruler, means he's got authority, means he's in charge.
Now why not king?
Well, there's some discussions about that, because there are words for king. That we could use, but he uses the word for prince, which actually emphasizes the fact that this is the power on the ground executing the king's commands. This is the authority vested in one who came to execute the king's commands. That's what the idea of the prince is.
So it's really not just a removed king on a throne, this is an active boots on the ground king. That's what Prince implies.
So After after these 490 years? A mashiach? With authority? Will come? No one disputes this.
And there shall be, now we'll just complete this, I'll come back to the timing story. There shall be seven sevens, and for 62 sevens, it shall be built again with squares and moats, but in a troubled time.
So, this is the rebuilding of Jerusalem. and Israel And he splits this time into a period of 7 and 62, which, by the way, if you are an astute mathematician, you know adds up to. Yeah.
creating some instant tension as we read the text. because we're missing a week. Yeah.
See, I told you this is mysterious.
Okay, so this is what's going to happen. The city will be rebuilt.
Now, that did happen in the time of Ezra. And Nehemiah. It did happen that they rebuilt the city and they rebuilt the temple. Oh, okay. Uh This is Jerusalem.
And I got to emphasize, when we talk about rebuilding the temple and God's city, it's rebuilding God's house where he dwells among men.
Now, many times we get a wrong idea about the temple during that time. What was the temple, you'd ask people?
Well, the place where he went and did sacrifices. And that's true. That's true. That's man's perspective, and the Jewish perspective on the temple was: this is where we went and paid for our sin. We'd have to, when we did something wrong, we'd take an ox, or we'd take a goat, or we'd take a dove, and we'd go sacrifice, or we'd take some grain.
It's a place of sacrifice. But we got to stand back for a second. The reason for that sacrifice isn't because God put a place for you to pay for your sins. He did put a place for you to be reminded of your sins. But it was on the way into the presence of where God symbolically lived in the temple.
This was God's house, literally. God's house, where He decided to make himself known and live among his people. That's, from the heavenly perspective, that's the temple. The temple was the fulfillment of God's desire to live among his people. He did this when they left Egypt.
Remember this? They're leaving Egypt. They're going out in tents into the wilderness. And God says, I need for you to make a tent for me because I want a tent with you as we go through the wilderness.
So he prescribed this tent in Exodus to great detail. Really, really cool. Read Exodus. The majority of Exodus is dedicated to describing this tent that God lives in.
So as they went across the desert, They could look in their campsites as they camped, over a million people, and in the center by prescription, God said, put my tent in the middle of all your campsites so you know that I'm at the center of the nation, and I will camp with you as you go into the wilderness and onto the promised land. It was God's desire to visibly tell the people, my desire is to live with you. Mm-hmm. live among you. And of course that was emphasized with that great pillar.
Pillar of cloud during day and the fire by night, you couldn't miss the fact that God's in the midst of his people. And that was always God's intention.
So, when you read this, the restoration of the city, the restoration of the temple, we're restoring the presence of God to live amongst his people. That's what we're talking about. That's what we're talking about. Now God did live in the presence of his people. But his people couldn't come very close to God's door.
Because if they did, they'd be toast. Why? Because of sin, the thing we talked about before.
So, as you approach where God lived in his tent or in his building the temple later on, you had to deal with the issue of sin. Sin was always in the forefront of your nearness to God. You could not come in. Sin was your problem.
Okay?
So that, I need to paint that because that's really the big picture about the temple and the city. was that, the place where God dwelt amongst his people.
Okay, so after the 62, so actually he's using the 7 plus the 62, the 69, after that's complete, when you get to the 69 number. An anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing.
So you're Hebrew scholars. What does anointed one mean? Right. The Messiah. Miss Yach.
The anointed one, Jesus, the Messiah.
So Isn't this weird? After 69 of those weeks, the Anointed One, the Messiah, will be cut off. which is ancient language. for its shortened version of Cut Off from the Land of the Living. and not just die a natural death.
But He'll be killed. To cut off from the land of the living So the Messiah will be cut off from the land of the, will be killed. Yeah, Wayne. Oh I'm always confused. The bra I'm doing this mathematically.
There was a seven week and there was a 62 week. And so he just talked about that.
So after the first section is 7, the second section is 62.
So after those two happen, after the 62nd week happens, this is what goes on. Yeah, that's how the language is moving right here.
So at the end of the 69. He'll be killed.
Well, that sounds familiar, right? It sounds very definitive, actually. But wait a second. I mean, wait a second. Joe would be reading this going.
But the Messiah, I know the promises about the Messiah. The Messiah, according to the prophets in the Old Testament, would be mighty and powerful, and there's no way sin can stand up against him, and he'll bring justice where there's always injustice. I mean, this guy is so powerful that the most wicked people on the earth who have power will not be able to resist him. That's the Messiah that I want. In fact, he'll be the prince that's talked about here.
Yes! And so now you're telling me He's gonna be killed? That does not fit the narrative. That does not fit the narrative. Why would an All Powerful irresistible justice from the Messiah.
Why? How who could hit who could kill him? Who's powerful enough to kill him? Unless. Unless he does it voluntarily.
Ah unless he allows the power of darkness. to take him over, which he doesn't have to allow, but he voluntarily allows it. That's really the only explanation for how the most powerful, all authority vested in him, king of kings, that's the only way that he could be killed is because he did not defend himself.
Well, that rings a bell too. Ah.
So he says in verse 25, from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem. I know you were working on this since it first came up.
Okay. Okay, so when was that?
Well, we've read Ezra and Nehemiah.
So go back to Nehemiah 2. Right there, right there. Nehemiah 2 verses 1 through 8. You go read that and you tell me what it says right there. Because it says It says the order to rebuild Jerusalem.
And we know this happened twice when you read Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra, amazing thing. Cyrus, the king of Persia, says, you know, in the first year that he takes over from Nebuchadnezzar, first year, he says to the Jews that are there as slaves, I think you guys need to go back and rebuild your temple. And everyone's gob-smacked. But then they start the whole process of going back and going back to Israel and rebuilding the temple.
And then when you get to Nehemiah, Nehemiah is very troubled as a Jewish leader, and he says, well, not only is the temple being rebuilt and probably finished. But the city is defenseless. When Nebuchadnezzar came in, he not only took down the temple, he took down the walls that defended the city. He destroyed the entirety of the city. We need to do something to restore that.
So, Nehemiah, who actually had a highly placed position with the king of Persia, you remember what he did with the king of Persia? He he was his food taster. He was his wine sipper. This is safe, King.
So while they're in this kind of nice time where they're sipping some wine, He says to the king, you know, I think we need to go back and rebuild the city. And the king says, okay. What? And so they go back and rebuild the city. Nehemiah 2, go back and remind yourself.
Well, we also, historically, have a very, very firm date about when that edict came out. No one debates this. That edict came out in 444 BC. It's no question. Just no question.
So, if you're mathematically inclined, you're doing some math already on me, aren't ya? No, you're not. I'm so disa I'm so disappointed. Let's do the timeline again. You'll figure this out.
So I y the the stuff I put up there before So Nehemiah 2 verses 1 through 8, I said 444 BC.
Well, remember, BC goes negative that direction, right? Because it's BC. 444 BC. And now, what we're going to add to it. after that announcement is made, right?
We're going to add to that 483 years. That's the 69 weeks of years plus the 7 weeks of years. It's the 69 times 7, 7 times 7. That's what he just said in Daniel 9.
So if we add 483 years, you know where that gets you to? thirty-three AD.
Now There's a little bit of mathematics, gymnastics here. Because if you're doing the math on that, you'll say, well, not exactly 33. But scholars all agree if you use the year as being a 360-day year, that was the symbolic length of a year, 360. If you use that, which was used typically for all these kind of reckonings, you get to 33 AD. You just do.
And that's the crucifixion of Jesus. And the resurrection of Jesus. We need a little excitement about this. You know, and there is some debate, plus or minus decades in this picture I've got in front of you. The lion's share of people who I read go with this, it makes a lot of sense.
But the debate is not about the issue about the general length of time. It's just quibbling about decades. But everyone has to agree, and this is true in the rabbinic Jewish world, everyone has to agree that somehow the promised Messiah from the entire Old Testament had to show up in the first century AD. Had to. Had to.
in the first century. and and depending on how you calculate it, exactly at the time of Jesus. Had to. I mean, it's just, there's no way out of it. You really have to kind of stand on your head to get away from the fact that the promised Messiah is not coming in 3000 AD.
He came at zero age. He had to. Or this is busted. It's busted.
Okay. Jesus is there, and it says in verse 26: the anointed one, the Messiah, will be cut off from the land of the living. Literally killed. Literally killed. The most powerful being on the planet ever.
will be killed, voluntarily allowed to.
So he says, 77s are decreed about your people and your holy city. to finish the transgression.
Now I bring this because We're only at 69 weeks of years. Sixty-nine weeks of years. What about the 70th week?
Well, that's That should be the curiosity at this point. It looks like that we have charted. The coming of the Messiah. And the death and the resurrection of the Messiah very clearly. I mean, without any questions at all.
I mean, very, very clearly. It's just there. But we're still missing a week. And it says 70 weeks, not 69, 70 weeks. And it will be the finish of transgression.
It'll be the end of sin.
Well, that did not happen. It sorta happened, the atonement happened. But not the end of sin sin still went on after that.
So finish the transgression?
So something is still, something's still hanging. We have a loose thread here. We gotta figure out this last week of years, this last seven years. We gotta figure out what happened.
Now, if you're thinking like me, you say, well, let's go from 33 AD.
So, you know, seven years after that, did something big happen in 40 AD? Fifty AD? No. 70 AD, the city was destroyed. But does that fit the seven weeks?
Well, no, because the counting to get us from the 444 BC announcement to the coming of Jesus is quite exact.
So we need to use that exact same counting for the seven.
So something, something is amiss here.
Something's weird. We don't know what happened to the seventh week, and we don't know what it means. But we do know, he says, right here in 24, after the 77s are decreed. Then amazing things happen. And we're not there yet.
We're just at 69. And if you're thinking That this has something to do with the second coming of Jesus, you'd be thinking, right. Let's just look for a second.
So that last week of years, that last seven years, that completes this statement in verse 24. That's what we got to noodle about. And from this point on, this is where almost all of the debate is about this passage in Daniel. The the the actual 69 weeks of years coming up to the the death and resurrection of Jesus. That's almost not debated at all.
But uh what happened in the seventh week, the the seven years at the end? That's where the debate is, and that's where it's kind of fun.
Well, let's get some clues because what comes up after this might give us a clue about those last seven years. The people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
Now this is not the, this is not the Men Shiach Nagid, the Messiah prince. This is the prince who is to come. He's still to come. Are we talking about Jesus the second time? No, we're talking about some other prince who has unparalleled power.
who will actually come and destroy Jerusalem again and the Temple again. What? What? Okay, this is where it gets debatable, but I'll I'll tell you where I fall on this. Anyway, that prince who is to come in popular lingo is who we call the Antichrist or the Beast.
There is a prince who is to come. And he will use power that is like the Messiah, but he's not. the Messiah. In fact, the word antichrist, the Greek anti-prefix, simultaneously means against and in place of.
So he will actually be one who is against Jesus as the true Messiah, but he'll try and take his place in terms of the popular notion of who this guy is.
Well, that must be the Messiah, because look at what he does.
So that's the Antichrist.
So that's what we're talking about. And it says that he's not going to destroy. the sanctuary and the city. But the people of him who is to come, who's not here yet, but the people of him are going to. And this is a connection that we have many times about the fact that the extended Roman Empire, the Roman Empire destroyed the temple in the city in 70 AD.
The Roman Empire, which extends now into the far future, somehow this powerful prince who's going to come will be the one who comes out of maybe the Roman Empire. And when I say Roman Empire, I'm talking about Western civilization. Because current day Western civilization is a long growth outgrowth of Rome. It just is. It just is.
And if you look at the previous visions Daniel has had in the earlier chapters of this, it sort of fits. It sort of fits. Anyway, the people of this coming prince, they'll destroy the city and the sanctuary. And indeed, that happened in 70 AD. The Romans came in, totally trashed not just the temple, but the city.
And if you go to Israel today, there's a marvelous place near the present place where the Dome of the Rock is. There's the western wall where the Jews pray at and stuff like that. But just right next to it, there's a wonderful archaeological thing that's there. They unearthed some of the large stones that went around the temple area of the second temple that Nehemiah built, the second temple. And when the Romans came, they took some of these big stones and pushed them off the edge of the wall that surrounds that big open area.
Push it off, fell like two or three stories down on the ground. Boom! It destroyed the street that was down there and all that stuff. When they excavated that, they took the dirt off the top of it. And there are these gigantic stones that look like they dropped from heaven.
Because they're kind of in the ground in an angle like this. They're the ones that the Romans pushed off the top onto the ground. when they did this. You can actually go and see that to this very day. And you can see the paved street.
They've uncovered the stones, the paved street. And where it hits those paved stones, they're all dented in like this. I mean, this sucker really hit. Really hit. And they didn't move those stones.
They just left them for you to go, wow. It's sitting there in the open in Jerusalem today. There's no debate about it. And this thing will come like a flood. In fact, many historians talk about the 70 AD Romans coming in.
It was a total overpowered too many soldiers, way powerful move. To just thwart all of Jerusalem. It was like a flood. It was like a flood of warriors. And that's how they call it today.
It shall come with a flood. And to that end, there shall be war.
So from that point on, there shall be war. And guess what? Desolations are decreed. It's just going to get worse and worse and worse. Wars and rumors of wars.
Wow. And we're still talking about this Antichrist, this antichrist. Messiah who is against the true Messiah and tries to take his place simultaneously. He shall make a strong covenant with many for one of the sevens. Ooh There's our last seven.
I think that's a good idea.
So what's going to happen? This anti-Messiah, this imposter Messiah. Who will actually people will think he is the true Messiah because he'll have power to do wonderful miracles. And those things, got to be the Messiah, got to be the Messiah. He will come in and make, what does it say?
A strong covenant.
Now that is a fascinating phrase. A strong covenant.
A covenant is a contractual promise. And every time that word is used in the Old Testament in relation to God, it's about God's promises to Israel, a covenant that cannot be broken. It's a covenant.
So this really strongly implies that this evil, wicked, powerful imposter of the Messiah will somehow make a godlike covenant with the nation of Israel.
Something, and we don't know what that means. But he'll make a covenant, like in the Old Testament, God made a covenant with Abraham and with Noah and with all these guys. But this evil one will make a covenant with the nation of Israel. What? And maybe that's the beginning of the lost seven-year period.
So he'll make a strong covenant with the many for one seven, one of these seven-year things, one of these weeks of sevens. And then, on top of that, for half of the seven, half of seven is. Wow, that was pretty fast. I see people pulling out the calculators.
Okay, now. Three and a half years.
So, for half of that seven-year period, which we lost, and now we found it, for half of that period, what will happen? For half of that period, he'll put an end to sacrifice and offering.
So the temple is there and they're doing sacrifices and offerings, a la Moses' commands, and he'll stop it.
Now we saw someone who did something like this about a century and a half before Jesus called Antiochus Epiphanes. We talked about him several weeks ago. And he did this very thing. It was kind of like the precursor to this action. Because he went in.
And he walked right into the temple in Jerusalem and he completely desecrated it. Completely desecrated it. Walked in and acted like he was God himself. and uh sacrifice pigs. even made some of the priests during that time, this is around 160, blah, blah, blah, blah, 65 I think it's BC, made some of the priests actually consume the pork.
It was pulled pork day on the temple. And that's a violation of God's word. Antiochus Epiphanes.
So he kind of acted like a type. a type, a model for this last one who will be the anti-Messiah, who will do exactly the same thing. and he'll shut down everything going on in the temple. All the sacrifices will stop, and he'll desecrate it. He'll desecrate it.
He goes on and says, And on the wing of abominations. shall come one who makes desolate. And there's a very famous phrase that shows up if you know eschatology and end time studies in the Bible. called the abomination of desolation. And it and it refers to What Antiochus Epiphanes did in 160-something BC, which is kind of to give you an idea of what that means, it means completely violates the temple.
And completely Spits in God's face.
Now, if you remember, at the beginning, I tried to tell you: don't think of the temple so much as a place for sacrifices, as it is a place where God dwells among his people, because that was always the original intent from God.
So when Antioch is Epiphanies, followed many years later by this anti-messiah. But they'll come in and they'll say, this isn't God's house. This is my house. It's like the most cosmic version of squatters. I can ever think of.
The powers of evil are actually going to have the audacity To come into God's house and say, God Himself, the creator of the universe, does not live here, I do. And let's see what He does about it. It's exact that's the abomination of desolation. That's what's gonna happen. If you know the history of Antiochus' epiphanies, and it's well documented.
We know exactly what's going to happen. This is what's going to happen. And this will go on until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. Whew, thank goodness. Thank God.
Okay, thank heaven.
So he'll go on, looks like he'll be completely unresisted. Until God says, Year five, year six, year seven, year out. And you'll stop it. It's decreed. It's decreed at the end of the seven years, the Desolator is going to be gone.
He's going to be gone. Seven years. What? Now, if you use a little speculative imagination, let's talk about the seven years again. How does the seven years start?
I think... Because There's some kind of very unholy covenant made be between this man who the Israelites think is the Messiah And the Israelites themselves. I think that's what? Restarts the time clock on the seven years. That's now kind of holding, and I'll show you that in a second.
I think that starts it. And then it seems like this three and a half year thing. It seems like this covenant that he makes with Israel, they'll be very willing to accept. There's something that's just wonderful about the message where he'll say, I'll be your leader because I'm the Messiah, and by the way, I will blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And the people will say, well, if you're going to do that, you're in.
Let's make a deal. Let's handshake. Let's have a covenant. You're the guy. Poof, perfect.
And what could be the nature of that kind of willing contractual arrangement with the anti-messiah.
Well, the easiest one to speculate, and this is speculation. Is that the the promised uh Anti-Messiah, who they think is the Messiah, will finally put an end to the violence in Israel. and he'll claim I can bring peace.
Now that's not that's not totally speculative. That's supported in what you read in the rest of the year. Apocryphal Literature about the end. Peace, peace. And he'll promise peace.
And he'll say, I'm the powerful Messiah, although he's not. And I'm the one who can finally bring peace to your existence here in the Middle East. And the people of Israel go. Ah, finally. The Messiah has come, the all-powerful, just Messiah.
And for about three and a half years, that will be the track record. And people say, what a good choice we made. No one's invaded us? No one's shot missiles at us? It's the best thing ever.
And then in the last three and a half years, he'll shut down temple sacrifices. He'll shut down the actual life of Israel in Jerusalem. And it'll actually go in and claim what people think is rightfully his as Messiah, he'll claim that this house is his house, not God's house. And then It'll all go to hell. Literally.
Literally. Read Revelation if you want a bigger picture. of how bad it can get.
So that's expected about the three and a half and three and a half. But that's the general concept of that. 77s are decreed about your people and your holy city to finish the transgression.
So see right there, the anti-Messiah was finished. That's the end of transgressions. That's no more no more baddies. When Jesus comes back and puts an end to that guy, That will be the end of sin. We're done.
And that's where God says, at the end of all time, I'm finally going to come back and bring ultimate justice. for both the living and the dead. for the greatest and the least. And sin will finally be dealt with? and sin will now be expunged from the experience of those on earth.
It's done. The transgressions will stop.
So let's uh let's expand this a little bit.
So when did those seven years happen? They didn't happen seven years after Jesus was crucified.
So, when will they?
Well, this again is speculation land, so hold on to your seats. If you've got a seatbelt, it's time to buckle up. It looks kind of like this. There is a gap. There's a gap in the timeline, the calendar of those.
70 weeks, those 49, there's a gap. Where the 69 weeks of years happens, Jesus comes, just like it predicted. The Messiah Prince, the Mashiach Nagid, will be cut off and killed. And then things go silent. Until What happens over here, like I speculated before, I think this is where he makes a covenant with Israel.
So there's a time period in here. And this time period is described actually by Paul when he writes Romans 11. He says in Romans 11, 25, a partial hardening has come upon Israel. Until The fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
So it seems as though This is what we call the times of the Gentiles.
Now that's not that God has forgotten the Jews. It's just that he's put the calendar on hold for a while.
Now Jesus himself Did this. He basically said, I'm turning the Gentiles. I go to the Jews first and then the Gentiles. Paul himself, twice in the book of Acts. In his frustrations with the Jews he's talking to, he says, Listen, if you guys don't think you really need salvation, I'm not going to talk to you Jews anymore.
I'm going to turn inside and talk to the Gentiles. And then Paul's ministry from that point on didn't ignore the Jews. But he went first to the Gentiles.
So it's a time period where God says, okay, my timeline about the progress of the nation of Israel goes on hold for a while. It was on hold for a while. And then it'll come back again when the nation of Israel is central in the timeline of the end. And I think it's when they accept the false Messiah. as the real Messiah.
But again. You can spend the rest of your life debating this with yourself. But this seems to be the case. Yeah, Wayne, more quizzical look on your face. Fast like in 2013.
Yes, we have to build a temple. We have to build a temple or else he can't stop the temple sacrifices. And you're the temple of God. How does that figure in? But he stops the temple sacrifices.
How does that figure in? Oh, this is great stuff to talk about over lunch today. This is really fun. I mean, this is really fun to talk about because you have all the raw material.
Well, read Revelation 2. It'll help some. But you have the raw material. This is kind of the thinking right now.
So uh Okay. Let me show you something, a pattern that doesn't really top out until you look really carefully here. Back here on the left side of the screen, remember I said who are the kings over there at the left side of the screen? We have Saul, first king of Israel, followed by David, the second king of Israel, and followed by Solomon. Who built the first temple?
Solomon did. David won and two. God said, Yeah, I'll let your son do it instead. There's good reasons for that.
So that's actually over here someplace. God's house is built for the first time. And God's house is not a place for sacrifice primarily. It's the fulfillment of God's desire to live amongst you. to live amongst you.
So that's a statement at this time right here. that they get into the nation of Israel after the time of the lawless judges. Everyone's got their land. Everyone's building permanent houses. They build a permanent house for God.
not the tent tabernacle, but a permanent house called the temple. And this is the presence of God in the midst of Israel. That's the first house for God that gets built. But then Then there's a lot of faithlessness that happens on the part of Israel. First, in the northern tribes of Israel, Who have a split after Solomon is dead, and there's a dispute about who's going to be the new king of Israel.
The guys in the north want someone, the guys in the south, Judah, maybe a little bit of Benjamin, maybe a little bit of Uh uh The Levites, but largely the guys in the north, the guys in the north, which is north of Jerusalem, say, we want to do it our own way. We don't want to have to come to Jerusalem anymore. We don't want to sacrifice in the temple.
So we're going to do it our own way. We're going to make our own little altars on the top of the high places in the north.
Well, that's really a bad deal. That's really they're living in God's land. The land is actually his backyard of his house. They're living in his land, And they decided to just completely blow off God in the north. And those ten tribes get taken over by the Assyrians who come in around 700 BC.
And woof, they're gone. They're gone.
So God says. If you don't want to live on my land according to my rules, I mean this is my place. Then you're out of here.
So he sends him off into captivity to the Assyrians. I think it's 723 B.C. And then the guys in the south, Judah, a little bit of Benjamin, a little bit of Levi. They're down there and they're saying, whoa. Good thing we.
didn't fall soy to that. But 150 years later, they've fallen faithless enough that God says, I'm going to do the same thing to you. And Nebuchadnezzar comes in and takes him over and hauls him away. Daniel, one of the youth that goes in that. And the temple is destroyed.
The house of God, where he decides to show himself dwelling amongst his people, he says, that's it. We're tearing the house down. That deal's done. and you guys are off my land.
So it reminds me of the old man in the movie that says, get off my lawn.
Well, it's sort of like that. God says, we had a contract, we had a covenant. Israel. We had a covenant. And the covenant was, I will dwell among you, but you have to live in my land according to my rules, and these will be good for you.
These will be good for you. The closest approximate we can think of that's kind of like that is if you raise kids when they're in your house, you say, Look, while you're in my house, you gotta live by my rules. And you know, if you're like me as an adolescent, you're going, whoa, this is horrible, you know, why do I have to live by these rules?
However, when you grow up you find out those rules actually were beneficial for me. They kept me from being so lawless that I hurt myself. And then by the time you get to be an adult, You know, your parents say, well, I think they've got ingrained how to live wisely. We don't have to impose on them anymore.
So you kick them out of the house. But the whole deal is as long as they're in the house, you have to live by the beneficial rules of the person who owns the house. And this is exactly God's relationship with Israel during this time. As long as I'm living in my house and you're living in my backyard. You live by my rules, and it'll be good for you.
Trust me, it'll be good for you. And what do they do? We're not going to do it.
Sounds familiar? If you were ever an adolescent, if you were ever an adolescent, you know what I'm talking about. This is an adolescent move on the nature of Israel.
So God says, well, that's it. You're out of here? Two captivities, you're out of here, and I'm taking my house away. Done. And next thing you know, Daniel's sitting in Babylon and then Persia.
He's going, oh, what happened? And then in Daniel 9, he realizes the sin of a nation. This is what we've done wrong. And I don't think it has anything to do in his prayer that we read early in the chapter about trying to convince God to have mercy and send them back to the land. I think he's actually praying for the sins of the nation from the very beginning.
And he sees a pattern starting to unfold, a pattern of faithlessness in Israel. And so he goes to God and says, God, I'm pleading for your mercy. How can we get out of this rut that we're in? Because look at the rut. Let me finish this pattern.
This is really something. God's house is there. It's then destroyed. because of their faithful faithlessness and they go they they go off into captivity there at the beginning of the Babylonian captivity. And then after that, God's house is rebuilt.
In 516. BC. The house is rebuilt.
So it's a way when Ezra goes back. It's a way of saying God. We want you to dwell in our midst again.
So we're going to build you a house, a second house. It's called by all Jews the second temple that Ezra builds. Builds that house. It's like a homecoming for God. Ezra and the people go back.
Read Ezra again. It's a homecoming for God. God, we want you to live in our midst again. and come live here.
So Deja vu? This is all going to happen all over again. The temple is built by Solomon, and now the temple is built again by Ezra. And then shortly thereafter, It's destroyed. Man.
Yeah, Nebuchadnezzar comes in. and he takes it down. And that leads to a whole period of Israel's faithlessness again. Uh So we mentioned the fact does the temple have to be rebuilt? I think it does, 'cause to c to continue this pattern God's house has to be rebuilt again before we have the abomination of desolation.
But before we have the next building of the temple, another fascinating God thing happens. It's not God's house gets built. But once God's house is built... By the time of Jesus God Himself comes and visits the house. And if you read Luke's Gospel about what Jesus does.
Near the end of his ministry, He weeps over Israel and why? because they missed the time of his visitation. They missed the time of his visitation.
So Israel rebuilt the temple. I said, God, here's your homecoming. Come back here. And unexpectedly, God Himself in Jesus shows up. And the people won't let him in.
The people won't recognize him as the God that they built the house for. And as they're leaving the temple that one day, the apostles say to Jesus offhanded, man, see the stones in this place? He says, well, listen. Not one of these stones is going to be left on top of another one. It's not about the house.
But this is my house. And I came back and visited.
So, what happens right after that? 788, the house is gone. And the people are dispersed again. You see a pattern here? See a pattern here?
So So I'm firmly convinced that the house needs to be rebuilt. But there is going to be a period of Israel's faithlessness in this period in between, and I think we're in that right now. If you know. He knows Jews that live in Israel. The nation was reinvigorated, came back to be in 1948.
That by itself is just a tremendous miracle. I mean, what nation has been dispersed across the entire world? and been reconstituted again as a nation someplace. That that's just an astonishing thing. But today Israel's Jews are largely secular, They are not God-fearing, largely.
Now, whenever Jews use the word Orthodox or ultra-Orthodox Jews, they're talking about religious Jews. When they just use the word Jews, they're talking about secular, ethnic. Jews. who don't even believe that God exists. And you know, that was one of the biggest fascinations to me when I first went to Israel.
I thought I'm coming back to a nation of people, the Jews that live here in Israel. That respect who God is and love him? No. The nation is secular. Atheist.
What but they're Jews That's this faithlessness I'm talking about. That exists to this very day. It exists to this very day, And I really don't know how they could ever expect that the Messiah would come back to them when they are living such faithless lives relative to God. That's the tension today when you see outreach from Christians or from Messianic Jews back into Israel. You've got to say, look, just because you're ethnically a Jew doesn't mean the Messiah is going to come and kick out all the bad guys.
I mean, where's your heart relative to who God is? You're not even religious.
So why are you waiting for a religious Messiah? That's the tension today that exists to this very day, to this very day. And I think that'll go on, and it'll go on and persist. until the day that they think the Messiah has come back. and then across secular Israel They'll go.
Can you believe it? The message is back. I'm getting back into religion again because the Messiah's back. All that stuff in the Old Testament that I didn't believe. It's true, the Messiah is back.
However, the big joke will be... It's not the Messiah, it's the anti-Messiah. And he'll make a covenant with the people, a strong covenant with the people. They will buy into it. They'll be deceived.
And then the and then the last calendar page will turn and the last seven years will start. I think that's what's going to happen. That's there is a lot of speculation what I just said.
So again, table talk for lunch and stuff like that. But God's house, I think, will be built because I don't know how you desecrate the temple. and stop the sacrifices. Unless it's there. It's a good discussion topic, and I've heard some pretty good arguments against what I just said, but you know, it's great to talk about.
Um He'll make a strong covenant with the many for the one. I think that's the restart of the timeline of Israel. I think that'll be the end of the time of the Gentiles. Just the semantics of it. And that'll go on.
Okay, let's wrap this up. We've had enough fun. Let's just ask a question. Why did God reply to Daniel's prayer this way? Remember, he's praying for God's mercy on the nation that's captive to Persia.
Well Let's do this. Let's look at his prayer. His pleas and see what he says.
So I'll just capsulize it for you really quick. Here were the pleas that he made with God at the beginning of this chapter. After he finished the national confession he does for Israel, this is what he asked for. This is what he asked for. It says it like this.
He asked for God to turn away his wrath from them.
Okay. Uh, he asked that God will just listen to them. Do you hear us, God? He'll ask that you make your face to shine upon your sanctuary. We'll come back to that.
And then he says, um... Hear and see what's going on, hear and see me in my prayer, my confession, and my plea for mercy, and finally forgive us.
Now I did that indentation because this This literary form is called a chiasmus. where it's symmetric. The first and last things match, the second and next and last things match, and it points to the thing in the middle. It's a way of drawing a target focus. And focuses on the middle.
So, this is what he's really asking in the center there. Say, God, listen, listen, listen. Will you do this? Will you make your face to shine upon your sanctuary? Will you make your face to shine upon your house?
Will you, in person, your face, show up in your house? That's what he's asking. Because remember, at the point that Daniel's praying this, The temple doesn't exist. Or maybe Could be well, you know, okay.
So so what he's saying is he's pleading with God. He's pleading with God. Come back and live amongst us. That's what that phrase is saying. We want you to come back and dwell among us.
Will you come back and dwell among us? And and in his confession, he says, I know we don't deserve it. We have been treacherous in our relationship with you. We have not obeyed what you've said. I understand all of that.
But God, I'm praying for your mercies so that your face will shine upon your sanctuary again, so that you in person will come in your presence and dwell amongst us. That's what he's asking. That's what he's asking. And so of course when he asks that, The answer isn't going to be, well, Daniel, in 20 years or so, you're going back to Israel. No, it's going to be well now that you ask about that Let's get the big picture.
Gabriel, go down there and give him insight and understanding. And woof, next thing you know, we have the Messiah, the Messiach Nagid, being killed and resurrected. And then after that, treachery and horrible nastiness and a false Messiah come. And at the end of his seven years, he'll be put down, and that'll be the end of transgression. How about that, Daniel?
Holy smokes. That's not what I was praying about, but oh okay.
Okay. Now you know an interesting thing. At the time of this captivity with Nebuchadnezzar, And then later when Cyrus, the king of Persia, says to them, you need to go back and rebuild the temple? A fascinating thing happens. One of the guys that's part of the Israelites that gets taken off to Persia, Babylon first, and then eventually Persia, one of the guys that goes, there's a handful of prophets, not just Daniel.
but an older guy named Zachariah. Who's Zachariah?
Well, he's got a whole book in our Bible.
So what in your Bible is what he prophesied during the time of that captivity going on? And do you know that in the whole narrative in Ezra and Nehemiah, when they talk to Zachariah, there's this impasse that happens, where it seems like the governor, the guy, the king in charge of Persia said we can go back and rebuild stuff, and then all of a sudden another king comes in. He says, no, I don't think so. You can't do that. That throws kind of the Israelites into a tissue.
Like, well, we started this work, and then we can't continue the work. Should we continue the work against what the king of the authority in Persia says? Or should we obey what he says? What are we supposed to do?
So what do they do? The Jews bring in their prophets. Who? Zachariah, one of them. And they asked Zachariah the very simple question.
We want you to go to God. This is documented. We read this. We want you to go to God and ask God whether we should obey what the kings of this land say, or should we just keep. Keep pushing on building what we're building.
So Zachariah goes off and he comes back and he says, Well, God says, Keep building. And then he writes the whole rest of the book of Zachariah. And you notice in the rest of the book of Zachariah? One of the most famous passages predicting the coming of Jesus to Jerusalem as the Mashiach Nagid, as the Prince Messiah, as he stands at the top of the Mount of Olives on this little, little colt. Remember that?
And he proceeds down, Hosanna is the son of David. Remember that? That's the entrance of the Meshiach Negid, the Messiah Prince. And Zachariah predicts it to the day. To the day.
Well, Zachariah, we're just asking if we should keep building. And suddenly you've expanded your horizon to when the Messiah comes in about five centuries. What the heck is going on here?
Well, it's the same thing that's happened to Daniel right here. They're praying in hearts that are pure for God to bring mercy. and a solution to the problem of sin so that God is not repelled by our sin and He can come in and His face can shine upon His sanctuary again and He can dwell amongst us.
So, watch out when you pray. You may get a lot more back than you expect. You may get a glimpse to the end of the age. Because that's what happened to Zachariah. And that's what happened to Daniel.
We need to wrap this up. At the end of Revelation, when everything's wrapped up, Now just read this. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, The dwelling place of God is with man. He'll dwell with them. They'll be his people.
and God Himself will be with them as their God. That has always been the end of the story. And what I just showed you on that entire timeline. was God's attempt to live in their midst, and the faithlessness of his bride Israel. And then try it again.
Take down the house, rebuild the house, try this again, boom, doesn't work again. And now we're in the period of time where the temple's been taken down. Brides been scattered? And then God says, well, if you guys won't go for this covenant, let's try it with the Gentiles. And so here we are.
Here we are.
Now, we have not taken the place of Israel. I think Israel is going to come back. Paul says that in Romans 11. We have not replaced them. But we've been included.
with them in this. And this period of time is how we get included with Israel. in terms of being people who can live in the presence of God, where God's in his temple, and he's in our presence, he dwells amongst us. We see this. But one last curious thing to note.
At the last words of the book of Matthew, We call it the Great Commission. Jesus tells the apostles you need to make disciples, you need to baptize, you need to do all this kind of stuff. And then at the very end of that phrase, Very last words of Jesus in Matthew as he's telling him this, this great commission. He says, He says And lo, I am with you always to the end of the age. Which one?
That dotted line. Lo, I'm with you always to the end of the age. I'm not going anywhere. Oh, I'm going anywhere, but I'm not going anywhere. And you know, I always looked at that and thought, Well that's kind of crazy because I don't see Jesus show up too much in the book of Acts.
But the Holy Spirit does. He's speaking in a Trinitarian kind of style. I'll be with you always to the end of the age.
So, this dotted line end of the age thing to the end of the age, Jesus hasn't left us alone. He's left us with him with us in his spirit. And Paul himself says: if you haven't caught this spirit thing, let me put it this way: Christ in you. the hope of glory. Christ in you.
Lo, I am with you always to the end of the age.
So that's the age we live in right now.
So let me wrap it up with this. The timeline of history of mankind is determined by God already. It's determined by God already. Many of us are terrified by the news we hear about the apocryphal end times. Will I have to suffer with the rest of the world?
This is going to be the most brutal time of suffering we've ever seen. There'll be wars and rumors of wars. I mean, it's just going to be horrible. And a lot of Christians say: will I be saved from that? Do I have to go through that?
And I and I I can't give you a definitive answer, but we could have a great lunchtime conversation about that. But just because we follow Jesus doesn't mean that we're not going to we're not going to experience hard times. We know that for sure.
So I'll you know, I'm open to that idea. And there's some good arguments for the fact that we may not be here. But the issue is not whether or not we'll go through those hard times. The issue is who will you go through it with. Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
So you don't have to fear what's happening. In the end, times, and whether I'll be alive when it happens, and whether all that violence is going to be visited on me. It could, it really, really could. But the issue is that we have this wonderful period of time. where the King of kings and Lord of Lords lives in you.
And Paul says, do not mistake that. Do not mistake that. He says in Galatians 2.20, He says, He says, I have been crucified with Christ. I have. Paul says, I've been created, I'm dead, and it's no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me.
And this life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. That's the life we live right now. Until we wait. For that last seven years. And until he comes, until he comes.
God's mercy will be visited upon Gentiles who turn and hear the message, whose eyes have been unblinded and God allows them to see the beauty of the God who loves man so much he died on their behalf. died on their behalf. Why? so that they can live in the city where God dwells. That brings me to tears.
You saw the whole picture today. The whole picture. I'm exhausted. Let's pray and then we'll eat. And then you can have those discussions around your table.
Father in heaven, I'm I'm flabbergasted. In so many ways I'm overwhelmed. I I look I look at these passages. You give us understanding. And I'm humbled by what I see.
But I'm also encouraged about the fact That although, in my experience, in our experience right now, everything looks haphazard, everything looks accidental, everything looks unplanned. that from your perspective of heaven, everything is going exactly according to plan. There's no surprises in heaven to what's happening right here. And so, Lord, although you're not... You're not.
Fully revealing to us what's going to happen in fullest detail, we do have enough idea to know. that you're still in control and that control never stops. and your spirit within us, Christ within us. reassures our hearts that we're cared for and that we're included in this grand scheme of things to be in this society in this community of the lovers of God who are loving his appearing and coming again. And in that end, like Revelation 21 says, God shall be our God, and we will be his people, and he will dwell in our midst.
forever. And we look forward to that day. Encourage us. Give us patience. in the midst of tribulation.
and give us an understanding. that the God who loved us suffered more than we ever will. in order that we might be with him forever.
So thanks in Jesus' name. Amen.
