In this sermon, the speaker discusses the prophecy of the 70 weeks in the book of Daniel. He explains that God had a specific plan and timeline for the redemption of Israel. The speaker highlights the fulfillment of the first 483 years of the prophecy, which led up to the coming of Jesus as the Messiah. However, the people, especially the leaders, did not receive Jesus, causing God to pause the timeline and leave seven years remaining. The speaker also mentions the six things that will be accomplished within the 70 weeks, including the finishing of transgression and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness.

Last week we considered the first part of Daniel chapter 9, where we have one of the most spectacular prayers of the Bible. But as we might expect, to this spectacular prayer, in Daniel chapter 9, verses 1-19, we have a spectacular answer to prayer in the prophecy that's revealed to Daniel by the angel Gabriel. Let's just jump right into it. Verse 20 of Daniel chapter 9. Now, while I was speaking, praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people, Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord, my God, for the holy mountain of my God. Yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. It's fascinating that this dramatic answer to prayer, and we'd have to admit it's a pretty dramatic answer to prayer when angels are flying from heaven to bring you the answer. By the way, don't let anybody get confused where it says the man Gabriel. We know this to be the angel Gabriel because Daniel identifies him with the same Gabriel that he saw before. What he means by the man is this is how Gabriel appeared. If you would have looked at Gabriel, he would have been in the form and in the visage of a man. In any regard, he has a direct angelic answer, and the answer came, if you'll notice what it says there in verse 20, while I was speaking in prayer. You know, God is fully capable of answering our prayers, not only while we're praying them, as was the case with Daniel. The Bible even says that God can answer our prayers before we even pray them. Isaiah, chapter 65, says in verse 24, it shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer and while they are still speaking, I will hear. Now, that's answer to prayer before it even comes out of your mouth. God knows what you were going to pray. And then you start thinking, well, then why pray if God knows what I was going to pray and he can answer ahead of time and he knew whether or not I would pray or not like your head just gets all confused when you start thinking that way you pray and you pray in great faith and in great trust in God. And we understand that God is fully able to answer prayer immediately. Now, what this teaches us. Is when prayer is not answered immediately, there's a reason. Maybe the reason is bound up in the loving and perfect purpose of God. We're going to see Daniel pray a prayer next week that was not answered immediately. It was 21 days from the time Daniel started praying to when the answer came, there was a reason for that, though, we just shouldn't think that heaven's backlogged in your prayers and on back order or something and, you know, it's just taking time or, you know, these things take time with God. No. The reason for the delay may be some problem in you. God's waiting for you to get your heart in the right place. Your mind, your thinking. Maybe it's just bound up in the unfolding plan and purpose of God. But we know that when the answer to prayer is delayed, there's a reason for it. I think it's also interesting in verse 21, where it says that Gabriel was being caused to fly swiftly. This is one of the few places in the Bible where we're told that angels fly. You know, nowhere are we told that they have wings. We especially know that they're not little, you know, cherubs, the little fat babies with wings, you know, that's a strange medieval conception of babies or excuse me, of babies, of angels having nothing to do with the angels of the Bible. But we are told that angels can fly. And the idea is that Gabriel. Traveled this distance between heaven and earth immediately, he flew swiftly. This brings people to wonder, and, you know, you should read some of the commentators, in particular, some of the older ones that wonder about the question, how far is heaven from earth? You know, they think of heaven being identified with some spot out in the galaxy somewhere, you know, in the nebula galaxy, fourth quadrant, you know, something like that, something you'd hear from a science fiction movie. You know, I don't know that heaven is all that far away. I don't know if heaven doesn't belong to just some different dimension. Some some different reality that we can't touch or taste, but is actually very close. I wouldn't be surprised that if heaven could become visible to us right now. If if it wouldn't be part just almost right off of earth. I mean, it's not necessary for it to be distant geographically. Because in any regard, Gabriel came very quickly, you notice there's something else very interesting about this, it says here in verse twenty one that he came about the time of the evening offering. What's interesting about that is that there had not been an evening offering made by the Jewish people unto God for some 60 years. You know, the temple was destroyed, the Babylonians wrecked it, the evening offering was something that was done at the temple in Jerusalem every morning and every evening, they would offer an oblation to God, a sacrifice to begin the day and to end the day. Yet Daniel's memory of this when he was just a boy. When he was just a boy, he could set his watch by it, so to speak, every morning and every evening, you could smell the smell of the sacrifice being offered from the temple there in Jerusalem. And this was such a vivid memory to Daniel that even at this point, the 50, 60 years later, he's still thinking, oh, yeah, that was about the time of the evening sacrifice, even though evening sacrifice had not been offered for many, many years. Well, that's introductory, let's look at the answer here, verse twenty two, and he informed me and talked with me and said, oh, Daniel, I have now come forward to give you skill to understand at the beginning of your supplication, the command went out and I come. I've come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved. Therefore, consider the matter and understand the vision. I want you to pause right here and consider carefully. If you remember from last week, what did Daniel pray for? Did he say, Lord God, I've been reading in the book of Jeremiah. And I see how you have appointed 70 years of captivity for Israel. That's how the prayer basically started, if you remember from last week. And then Daniel pleaded with God to be merciful to his people and to take the earliest starting point possible for the measuring of the 70 year captivity, 70 years of captivity. Nowhere in Daniel's prayer in the first part of Daniel, chapter nine, does he pray for understanding? God, I just can't figure this one out. God, won't you show me your great plan for the future? Lord, I want to know revealed to me the deepest secret mysteries. There's none of that. He is seeking God passionately on behalf of God's people. He wants to see great mercy and a great outpouring of the spirit of God upon the people of God. And in the midst of this heartfelt confession of sin and crying out to God, the answer comes. And we would expect that the answer from the angel Gabriel would be something along these lines. It would be something like, Daniel, your prayer has been heard. God will take the earliest starting point for the captivity. God will show mercy to your people. God has forgiven the sin of Israel. God has shined mercy upon your people because of your prayer. It's none of that. It's almost as if that's a given, because, in fact, it was. I mean, Daniel's prayer was answered, but Gabriel doesn't come to give him any specific answer to what he asked for in the beginning of the chapter. Instead, he he blows his mind. With an unfolding prophecy that Daniel didn't even ask for. I think that there's a great principle here. Principles simply this. It's that when we seek God diligently, we often receive more than we ask for. Here was Daniel not asking for insight and understanding into great mysteries. He was seeking God for mercy on behalf of his people. And God smiled from heaven and said, Daniel, that's sure that that's yours. But let me give you more. Let me unfold a significant aspect of my great plan of the ages unto you. Now, it's interesting because what started Daniel in this prayer in chapter nine was the consideration that the prophet Jeremiah had announced that the length of the captivity of the people of God in Babylon would be 70 years. Seventy is, of course, seven, ten units, I should say, of seven years. And the reason why God said that it was 70 years that they would be captive was that for a period of four hundred and ninety years, Israel had ignored the Sabbaths that the land was supposed to receive. And so they stored up 70 years worth of Sabbaths. Maybe I should go back and explain that just for a little bit. In the law of Moses, one of the things that God it sounds silly for me to say is that God is so smart. Now, God understood crop rotation and sophisticated agricultural principles before man ever did. And one of the commands that he gave the land of Israel, the people of Israel, was he said, every seven years, give your field a rest. You know, plant till it, cultivate it for six years, the seventh year, give it a rest. That was called the Sabbath for the land. Now, there was a period of four hundred and ninety years where the people of Israel did not give the land its Sabbaths. And do you think God ignored that? Do you think I said, well, let's let bygones know? God said one, two, Naomi, three, Naomi, four, all the way up to 70 Sabbaths for the land. And one day God, because of the other great wickedness of the people of God, said, now it's time to cash in those Sabbaths that the land is owed. I'm going to send you out of the land for 70 years. So what got Daniel praying about this all to begin with was considering the 70 years of exile. That's 10 units of seven that was occasioned by four hundred and ninety years. Now, God is going to reveal to Daniel another significant four hundred and ninety year period. Look at it right here, verse 24, I'm going to read 24 to the end of the chapter, and then we'll go back and take a look at it piece by piece. We read 70 weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. No, therefore, and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah, the prince, there shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks. The streets shall be built again and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the 62 weeks, Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood and the end until the end of the war. Desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of the week, he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering and on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate. You know, it's only four verses, but it's four spectacular verses of prophecy. Let's take a look at it phrase by phrase, going back to verse 24. First of all, Gabriel tells Daniel 70 weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city. Now, I know what some of you might be saying right now. You might say, well, David, you were talking about 490 years. This seems to indicate 490 days, 70 weeks is 490 days. No. The Hebrew understanding of this word for weeks is actually broader than just saying a seven day week. It's a word for seven. It's like saying 70 dozens are determined for your people and for your holy city. Well, a dozen what we know a dozen means 12, but 12, what 12 days, 12 months, 12 years. Your context determines what the rest of it means. We can go to passages in the Old Testament where oftentimes this Hebrew word is used to refer to seven days as in a seven day week. But there's other times where it's very specifically referring to seven years, as in that unit of a week of years ending with the Sabbath year. In all the context, and might I say most all Bible scholars and commentators look at this and agree that what the angel Gabriel means here is 70 units of seven years. Let's remember, that's just what Daniel was considering in his prayer. He was praying for the conclusion of this unit of 70 because it was connected with a period of 490 years that had put Israel into exile. So we know the time period that it speaks about in verse 24. It speaks of 490 years. Well, what's relevant about these 490 years? Well, the relevant look at the at the verse 24 there for your people in your holy city, these 70 weeks, this 490 year period has a focus and the focus is upon the Babylonian people, the Greek people, the Roman people, the Gentile, no, the Jewish people. Those are the people of Daniel, the prophet. So it's focused upon Daniel's people and Daniel's holy city, which was what Babylon, you know, Mecca, Las Vegas. No, it was Jerusalem. So this 490 year period has a focus, a focus on a particular people and a focus upon a particular place, Jerusalem. I mean, you don't have to be some brilliant Bible scholar to figure this out so far. Right. Right. Let's go on now. Next. In the second part of verse 24, he tells us what will be accomplished in the 70 weeks. Count them with me to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity. To bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, to anoint the most holy. Six items, it's almost as if he's given a checklist. Daniel, in these 490 years that are relevant to the Jewish people and the Jewish capital, Jerusalem, these six things will be accomplished within this period. Well, what are those six things? Well, the first one is to finish the transgression. This means that transgression itself will be finished. As you know what transgression is. Transgression is stepping over a line. God draws a line in the sand and he says, don't cross this line. And as soon as God sort of leaves his immediate presence there, so to speak, what do you want to do? You want to immediately cross the line. That's transgression. God says he's going to finish transgression. That's a tall order, don't you think? This really looks forward to establishing an entirely new order on Earth. And I want you to know, it doesn't say finish the guilt of transgression. It doesn't say finish the penalty of transgression. It doesn't say finish, you know, the ill effects of transgression. It says to finish transgression. This is talking about a righteousness that's enforced upon the Earth. This is nothing less than the ushering in of an entirely new order on Earth. And an end to man's rebellion against God, at least as we currently know it. To finish transgression. It'll happen in these 490 years. Next, to make an end of sins. Now, again, we're confronted with a passage like this with a choice. Do you let the words mean what they say or do you try to, you know, soften them? To ratchet down the sin meter a little bit. Is that what it says? To, you know, back off. Not so much sinning. It says to make an end of sins. And this means not only an end of the guilt of sin, but an end of sin itself. It means to seal up sin, to restrain sins. This refers to a new world, a redeemed world. Then there's making reconciliation for iniquity. Now, man's iniquity must be reconciled to God's justice and holiness. Next, to bring in everlasting righteousness. Now, we wonder if this is meant on an individual sense. Today, when a person is converted by the spirit of God and born again by the spirit of God. Everlasting righteousness is brought into their life. But I don't think this is talking about righteous individuals. There's always been righteous individuals, always. Taking the statement at face value. This means a new order of society brought in by the Messiah. Then it says to seal up vision of prophecy. This means ending vision and prophecy, but then also the fulfillment of all vision and prophecy. It's all done. It's all culminated. The package is all wrapped up. It's all finished. Everything's cleaned up. And finally, the end of verse 24 to anoint the most holy now taken at a simple literal meeting. This refers to a place, not a person. The most holy refers to the most holy place of the Jewish temple that stood in Jerusalem. And that will be anointed and blessed. Now, take it as a whole. Gabriel made this absolutely remarkable announcement to Daniel. He told him that each of these amazing things would happen within this period of 490 years. Now, there's a couple of different ways you can look at this. You could say, OK, well, when did the 490 years start? Let's backtrack just a little bit. Let's ask ourselves right now, are these things fulfilled? Well, just go back a little bit. Number one, is transgression finished? I don't think so. Is there an end of sins? Not as far as I can see. Has there been made reconciliation for iniquity? Yes, I can say that reconciliation for iniquity was offered at the cross. That's where that was established. I would say number three on the list that has been fulfilled by the work of Jesus at the cross to bring in everlasting righteousness. Well, to tell you the truth, I can't really say. It just depends on what sense is meant by brought in, just brought in to bring in everlasting righteousness. Does that mean to introduce the principle of righteousness? Or does it mean to, you know, dominate with righteousness? The principle of everlasting righteousness has been introduced by the work of Jesus on the cross. But has it overwhelmed the earth yet? No. And so we'll say number four, maybe yes, maybe no. It just depends on how you grasp it. So number one, no. Number two, no. Number three, yes. Number four, maybe it could go either way. Number five, to seal up vision and prophecy. Is there still unfulfilled prophecy out there? Well, most certainly so. Well, that hasn't happened yet then. Then finally, to anoint the most holy. Well, there doesn't stand a Jewish temple today. Maybe it refers to a historical anointing, but probably not. Let's be generous and say maybe. So number one, no. Number two, no. Number three, yes. Number four, maybe. Number five, no. Number six, maybe. So what does that leave us with? Two, three no's, two maybes and one yes. I think any honest reading of the text leads us to that conclusion. Well, let's figure out then when the 490 years started. Because look, if that 490 years started more than 490 years ago, you got some explaining to do. You know what I mean? There's a little bit of a trouble here, right? Well, look at here, verse 25. No, therefore, and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah, the prince, there shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks. The street shall be built again in the wall, even in troublesome times. Well, that's good right there. We're told when the clock begins and we're told what happens after 69 of the 70 weeks. All right. Are we clear on that? Yes. Look, verse 25 from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem. That's when the clock starts. Well, when was the command to restore and build Jerusalem? Can you look in your Bible and find any such command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem? Well, the problem is that Bible scholars come up with four different possible commands to restore and build Jerusalem. Cyrus made a decree giving Ezra and the Babylonian captives the right to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple in 538 BC. You'll find that in Ezra chapter one. Then Darius made a decree giving Ezra the right to rebuild the temple in 517 BC. Then Artaxerxes made a decree giving Ezra permission, safe passage and supplies to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple in five, excuse me, in 458. So basically what you have is at 538, you have a decree by a guy named Cyrus. Then about 20 years later, you have a decree by a guy named Ezra. Then about 60 years later, you have Artaxerxes making another degree, giving Ezra the permission to rebuild the temple. Then finally, you have the same fellow Artaxerxes making a decree, giving Nehemiah permission, safe passage and supplies to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and the walls in 445 BC. Now, which one of these four decrees is the correct one? Should we just start flipping coins? No, look at it plainly here. It says in verse 25. No, therefore, and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build the temple. Does it say that? No, to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. You say, well, no, but you see, the most important part of Jerusalem isn't the walls, isn't the streets. It's the temple. What it really means here is rebuilding the temple. No, God knew we might fudge it on that. So look, it says at the end of verse 25, there should be seven weeks and 62 weeks. The street shall be built again and the wall even in troublesome times. We know that when it says Jerusalem, it means the city of Jerusalem. Now of the four possible decrees, the first one by Cyrus, the second one by Darius, the third one by Artaxerxes, and then the fourth one, another one by Artaxerxes of those four potential decrees, three of them, the first three, each regard rebuilding the temple. Only the fourth one in the days of Nehemiah regard rebuilding the city and its walls and its streets. Now, you know, what's great about that? Nehemiah chapter two, verse one is not only are we given a year for that, but we're given the month and by strong implication, we're given the day because no specific day is mentioned. And by ancient tradition, that would mean it was the first of the month. Actually, this decree was made on the first, I believe, of Nisan 445 BC, according to the Jewish calendar. There you have it. We know when the starting point of this prophecy is now. It's not exciting. We know when it was 445 BC. So you just count off 490 years later and all this. Well, now that's a bit of a problem there, isn't it? Because we went through this list, didn't we? We had three no ways, two maybes and one yes. And we say, wait, this these 490 years seem to have been fulfilled some 2000 years ago. What's going on here? Well, let's keep going. Verse 25. No, therefore, and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah, the prince, there shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks. And in other words, Gabriel's message to Daniel is simple and it's striking. 483 years, 69 times seven, 483 years would elapse from the time the command is given. And we know the exact date from that, from Nehemiah chapter two, verse one, from the time that command is given to the time of the appearance of Messiah, the prince would be 483 years. Now, Bible commentators and scholars look at this and they start licking their chops and they get out the chronology, you know, they get out the calendar and the farmer's almanac and all the different things. And, you know, they start figuring it all out. And some people say that those 483 years were completed at the birth of Jesus. There's very little chronological support for that. And some people say that the 483 years were completed at his baptism. But I don't believe that taking a look at the chronology, that would only make sense if you take the earlier decree to rebuild the temple and not the later decree to rebuild Jerusalem. But the text here in Daniel seems very specific that it's speaking about the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, not the temple itself. You also have to do some funky things with the years to make it fit in with even this alternative date for the start and to finish it, Jesus's baptism. But some and I would put myself in this camp. Some say that the 483 years were completed at the triumphal entry of Jesus. If you date the triumphal entry of Jesus in the year 32 A.D., then this is entirely possible. There's a great British scholar who passed away many, many years ago named Sir Robert Anderson, and he wrote a very significant work titled The Coming Prince. And he followed this argument in great detail. You see, Anderson, first of all, said, OK, we're talking about years, 483 years. When Daniel said a year, what did he mean? We know what we mean when we mean when we say a year, right? Three hundred and sixty five and one quarter days. That's what we mean by a year. Not Daniel. The Jewish people use a three hundred and sixty day calendar. When Daniel said four hundred and eighty three years, he meant one hundred and seventy three thousand eight hundred and eighty days because that's three hundred and sixty times four. Don't think I figured that out my head. It's right here in my notes. I'm not that good in the math department. Trust me. Now, you might say, how could it work for the Jewish people to use a three hundred and sixty day calendar? Wouldn't it get screwed up because there's actually three hundred and sixty five and a quarter days? Actually, it's a little bit different than that. What is it? Once every century we skip a leap year or something like that. Well, it's very simple. The Jews based their calendar on a lunar calendar, not a solar calendar. And when it started getting too far out of whack, they would insert an additional month. We would have a leap day every four years. They use the leap month, so to speak, every so often. It wasn't every four years or so, but every so often they would insert in an extra month in their calendar and get their calendar sort of back on track. So we say, is it possible that Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem in the year 32 AD? Let me say a few words about biblical chronology and trying to nail down specific biblical events to specific times of chronology in history. It can be dicey and you can get a lot of controversy. It's one of those things where if you get four different scholars in a room, you'll get six different opinions because, you know, oh, well, what about this? What about that? What about the other thing? And so I don't want to present this to you this evening as if it's some slam dunk case with no controversy behind it. But nevertheless, I believe it's entirely plausible and I don't believe there's ever been a serious refutation of Sir Robert Anderson's work. But if you take the year 32 AD for Jesus's crucifixion and therefore his triumphal entry. Then you have a remarkable prophecy. Because the bottom line is that when you do all the calculations, I said, what was it that 360 day years, 483 of them is 173,880 days. If you take the units of measurement from when the number of days from when Artaxerxes made his decree from the day that Jesus entered in the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, it comes down that Jesus entered in 483 years later to the day into Jerusalem. You know, it's remarkable. A Gentile king makes a decree and 483 years later to the day, Jesus presents himself to Israel as Messiah, the prince. And I want you to think of what a significant thing that was. You know, when Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on that donkey in that great procession with all the hosannas, with all the praises, that was the only occasion in our Lord's earthly ministry when he openly presented himself to Israel and said, Here I am. I'm your Messiah. Do you realize that on that day, Jesus very deliberately arranged the event? We usually don't have the revelation of that kind of planning on Jesus part. But do you remember that? It's all cycles. You go and get this donkey and this guy will have it for you. And let's get it all set up. And there's a degree of planning in those events that we don't see in the other aspects of Jesus's ministry. And on that day, Jesus welcomed the praise. He absolutely welcomed it. Matter of fact, when everybody was praying, Hail Hosanna, Messiah, King of the Jews, we welcome you. Now, previously in his ministry. When Jesus healed a person and they said, You are the Messiah, you're the son of God. What would Jesus commonly say to that person? Tell it to no one. Go your way. Did you send that for most of Jesus's ministry? Crowds were a hindrance. Crowds were a hazard. It made it difficult for him to do ministry. Not impossible, but difficult. Most of the time, he's trying to keep it under wraps. Not on this day. On this day, he said, Here I am. I'm the Messiah, Jerusalem. I'm the one here for you. Matter of fact, keep your finger here in Daniel chapter nine. Turn to Luke chapter 19. Look at what he says. Luke chapter 19. We'll take a look, starting at verse 38. Well, that wasn't making any sense because I was looking at John 19. And that puts us in a completely wrong place. Luke chapter 30, chapter 19, verse 38. We'll start at verse 37. Then, as he was drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees called to him from the crowd. Teacher, rebuke your disciples. This kind of thing that Jesus would be quieting people down about before. But look at what he says on this day. But he answers him. I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out. I have to be praised on this day. I will be praised on this day. There's no two ways about it. If the people were to be quiet, the rocks and the trees and the hills would break forth into singing. And so we see this was a different day. Matter of fact, as long as you're in Luke, chapter 19, take a look at verse forty one. Now, as he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying. If you had known even you, especially. In this your day. And he said, this is the day, the things that make for your peace, that now they're hidden from your eyes. See, Jesus realized that his triumphal entry that, yeah, there was a nice, enthusiastic crowd welcoming him in, but he was rejected, especially by the religious leaders. And he said, this is the day, guys. This is it. And you missed it. Here it was one hundred and seventy three thousand eight hundred and eighty eight hundred and eighty days before this, a Gentile king made a decree. And I am here in fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy to the day. And you've missed it. You haven't received me as you should. This prophecy is so specifically fulfilled that it's been a significant testimony to many. One old commentator says others of the Jewish scholars, by the evidence of these words, have been compelled to confess that the Messiah has already come and that he was Jesus, whom their forefathers crucified. It's a remarkable prophecy. Well, back to Daniel chapter nine. That pretty much takes care of the first sixty nine weeks, right? Four hundred and eighty three years. We still have one seven year period left over. Where did that go? Well, take a look here. Verse twenty six and after the sixty two weeks. Now, don't get this confused. It's not after sixty two, it's after sixty nine weeks. Look at how he orders it at the end of verse twenty five. There shall be seven weeks. So there's an initial forty nine year period. Apparently in that the streets and the walls were rebuilt. Then there's an additional sixty two weeks beyond that for a total of sixty nine weeks. And so you have a unit of seven, a unit of sixty two. And after the sixty two weeks, verse twenty six, which is really at the end of a total of sixty nine. Is everybody with me on that? After four hundred and eighty three years, what's going to happen? Messiah shall be cut off. But not for himself. That's staggering. Oh, wait a minute. Messiah is going to come and what are they going to do? They're going to cut him off. That is a biblical phrase that often refers to judicial execution. They're going to execute him by legal proceedings. You know, not like you'll be killed by accident or in a field or something like that. But in a court of law, he's going to be executed. Messiah will be cut off. But not for him self. Not for his own sin, not for his own guilt, not for his own penalty. Absolutely amazing. And this happened when? After the sixty ninth week was completed. Well, this indeed did happen after the sixty ninth week was completed, about a week after it was finished. Now, what happens after that middle of verse twenty six? And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city in the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with the flood until the end of the war. Desolations are determined. OK, verse twenty six tells us what happened after the sixty ninth week. First of all, Messiah is cut off. Second of all, a people come and destroy. What did they destroy? Look at it there in verse twenty six. The city in the sanctuary. They destroyed Jerusalem and they destroyed the temple. Now, do we have any reference in history for this? Of course we do. The Jewish revolt against the Roman occupation in the year 70 A.D. This is actually a very vivid description of it shall destroy the city and the sanctuary and the end of it shall be a flood until the end of the war. Desolations are determined. This was an absolutely brutal war that left the land and the Jewish people desolate. Desolate. Did you see this is incredibly fulfilled? Friends, this is 500 years before these things happened. Daniel says, OK, it's going to start with a decree. Then you're going to have four and eighty three years. Then Messiah is going to present himself. Then he's going to be cut off. He's going to be executed, Messiah. And then after that, an army is going to come in and he's going to crush Jerusalem and the temple. All of that has been staggeringly, specifically fulfilled. We should stand back and sort of wipe the fog. This is absolutely amazing. God knew this before whatever happened. This is how in control of things God is. This is how God knows I can trust him tomorrow because he knew it was going to happen 500 years before it happened. This is how great God is that he knows these things. What a rebuke to our worry, to our fear. Oh, you're just not up inside about this or that or the other thing about your own problems or somebody else's problems or the difficulties of somebody you love. You just think about this. You think what Jesus said is a sermon on the Mount. Look what God does for the birds of the air, the flowers of the field. He cares for them. What? He's not going to care for you. What are you wasting your anxieties on those things for? This really shows us the power and the majesty and the greatness of God. Now, it seems to me that we have a seven-year period left over, don't we? We've been told a lot about the first 69. We've been told what's going to happen after the 69th. Pick it up in verse 27 and you'll see what happens for the 70th week. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week. OK, what will we guess up? We have a week. Great. Here's our 70th week. We had the first 69. Now here's our 70th. Oh, this is great. Yes, here's the 70th week, the missing week. But we're told that he confirms a covenant with many for one week. Well, first of all, who's the he? And second of all, who's the many? Well, the many part is easy because actually in the ancient Hebrew, it doesn't say he shall confirm a covenant with many. It says he shall confirm a covenant with the many. And it's a reference to Israel. It's talking about the Jewish people as a whole. OK, great. We know who the covenant gets confirmed with. With Israel. Well, who confirms it? He. Well, who's the he? Look at verse 26. Messiah shall be cut off. Do you think that's who the he is? No. Look at the next line. And the people of the prince who is to come. The prince who is to come wasn't around when Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD. But his people were. He was still to come. But his people were there in 70 AD. And this prince who is to come, the he of verse 27. He shall confirm a covenant. He'll make a treaty, an agreement, a binding pact with the Jewish people, with Israel for seven years. Now, do we know who this prince who is to come is? Well, we know who his people are. His people were the people of the Roman Empire. You might say, oh, well, that means they were Italians. You know, Romans. You know, and so it's going to be, you know, this prince who is to come is some Italian guy. No, not necessarily. Because did you know that the Roman legions were staggeringly diverse ethnically? Every place that the Roman legions conquered, when they conquered the people, they basically said, who wants to join the legion? And let me tell you, that was good work if you could get it. I mean, that was a very attractive career option for a lot of men. And so the army, for example, that conquered Jerusalem, it was a Roman army, but it was a Roman Empire army. If I were to identify it with any national or regional group today, it would be fair to say that it was a European army. That's where the majority of the troops came from. Now, the people of the prince who is to come gives us an indication that this prince is going to come from the legacy or the ruins or the geography or the heritage of the Roman Empire. I would say it's not a stretch at all to say that this prince who is to come comes from Europe. You might try to specify it to Southern Europe. I don't know if that's being too precise and trying to pick it down too much, but at least Europe in general. So what does he do? The prince who is to come makes a covenant with the Jewish people for one week, for seven years. Let's just put Daniel 9.27 on pause just for a moment. Isn't the world looking for somebody to bring a peace treaty to the Middle East right now? Isn't the world looking for somebody who cannot just stop the fighting, but make peace? And friends, you and I know that by all appearances, this is an impossible problem. There is no way around it. If you watch the news, you just go, I give up. Another suicide bomb, another incursion into the Palestinian territory, another this, that, the other thing. I give up. I just heard about an opinion poll done among Palestinian people. Which, by the way, just to give you a little clue, you always have to be very, very suspicious of opinion polls done among people who live in police states. And the Palestinian people live under a police state. There's no doubt about it. They're not a free people. They don't have a free press. They don't have a free political opposition. And you can discuss all sorts of reasons why some people blame it on the Israelis. I mean, I'm not here to discuss the reason why. I'm just stating the fact. They don't have a free press. They don't have free political opposition. They don't have free... What happens to Palestinian political people who stand up and say, I think we should make peace with Israel? They're killed. So you always have to be very suspicious of opinion polls done among people who live in a police state. Nevertheless, I'll tell you the results of this opinion poll. They asked Palestinian people, do you think that you should try to make peace with Israel? Or should you continue on the course of action? They said, we should have more suicide bombings. That was the response. We should have more and more of them. You look at that and you go, how is this ever, ever going to get fixed? There was a guy who could come from Europe and solve this problem. And friends, I'm not talking about just solving it. I'm not just talking about ending the hostility. I'm talking about in almost magical political moves, solve this crisis and bring real peace and brotherhood among the Jewish people and the Arab people in the Middle East. That would be a Messiah. I'll tell you what. And as a great monument to his ability to bring peace among Jews and Palestinians, he takes a look at Jerusalem, which is the most hotly contested piece of real estate on planet Earth right now. And to the Temple Mount, which is the piece of real estate within the piece of real estate that's the most hotly contested. And he says, you know what, as a testimony to peace, why don't we build a Jewish temple right next to the Dome of the Rock Shrine? What a testimony to peace. Jew and Arab worshiping side by side, each according to the dictates of their own conscience, but respectful of the other. This is a new day. You make that kind of deal. People regard you as a messiah. Verse 27. He shall confirm a covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of the week, three and a half years into the final seven year period. He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. Now, that means that sacrifice and offering are going on, right? That means that a temple is going. That's why I brought up that reference to the temple. 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 desk. That idea of abominations and desolation. The idea there is an abomination in Old Testament vocabulary is a horrific idolatry. Idolatry. I could quote you passage after passage, but that's the idea behind that word. A horrific idolatry. And what this prince who is to come is going to do is he's going to come and he's going to make this absolutely messianic covenant. But halfway through it, he's going to change the rules. He's going to put an end to sacrifice in the temple. And he's going to set up an idolatry in that temple so horrific that God is going to pour out desolation upon the earth until the whole thing is finished. And everything that was promised back in verse 24, those six items we took a look at until it's all fulfilled. Now, what I'm saying here might sound fairly plausible to you. Except you say you don't get it, David. You said 490 years and that 490 years finished seven years after Jesus entered in his triumphal entry to Jerusalem. Right. What are you saying? That at the end of that 483rd year, when that day was completed, God hit the pause button on the 70 weeks of Daniel. And he's waiting to hit it again and let it start again. For the final seven year period. Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. And you might say, no, you're stretching it. I don't think so. First of all, is there any doubt that there is a clear delineation between the 69 weeks and the 70th week? The text itself spells that out. That's no stretch. Nobody can say that I'm making something up to say that there's a clear delineation between what happens at the end of the first 69 and what happens in the 70th week. There's a very clear demarcation there. The second principle to consider is that these pauses or gaps in prophecy may seem very, very strange to us, but they're not strange to God or to prophecy at all. Let me put it to you this way. One day, Jesus got up in the temple at Nazareth and he started reading from the text and he says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me. And he starts describing these things from the passage of Isaiah that described the ministry of the Messiah. And he ends with to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And then he rolls up the scroll and he says, today, this is fulfilled in your midst. Whoa, guys saying he's the Messiah. The very next line in Isaiah, where Jesus was quoting from, says, and to proclaim the year of his judgment and vengeance. Jesus didn't read that because that belongs to his second coming, not his first coming. Are you saying, wait, are you telling me that in the middle of one verse of Isaiah, you have both comings of Christ in view and there's a pause button hit between the first half of the verse and the second half of the verse, a pause button that lasts at least 2000 years? Yes, that's exactly correct. And you can find the same example replicated time and time again in biblical prophecy. Think of it this way. Gabriel told Daniel that there's a stopwatch in heaven with 490 years on it. And when Artaxerxes made that decree recorded in Nehemiah chapter two, God hit the stopwatch and then 483 years ran off the stopwatch until the time when Jesus came in glory as a triumphant Messiah into Jerusalem. And the people as a whole did not receive him. I don't want to imply that there wasn't a lot of excitement and a lot of praise to Jesus when he came in. But especially the leaders of the people did not receive Jesus. And when that happened, God stopped the stopwatch and there's seven years left on it. And God says, well, this stopwatch is running. My special redemptive focus is upon Israel. When it's not running, my focus is on the whole world. I have no special redemptive focus. Doesn't mean Jewish people cannot be said, no, no, not at all. I'm just saying that there's not a special redemptive focus in God's unfolding plan. There will be. When the prince who is to come signs that covenant, God hits the stopwatch on the final seven years of human history. You know, the Bible tells us, especially in the book of Revelation, an awful lot about those final seven years. It says there's going to be a one world government dominated by this prince who is to come. It says that he's going to demand worship. It says that he's going to distribute a mark either on the forehead or on the wrist to all the earth, and nobody's going to be able to buy or sell unless they have that mark. Perhaps implanted with a chip. As is being done right now, today. The Bible says that there will be a couple great prophets that God sends down to the earth and those prophets will be martyred in the streets of Jerusalem and God will miraculously raise him from the dead and the whole world will see them rise from the dead. I don't know how that could have been fulfilled even 30 years ago. But now it's on CNN and live Internet webcams. The more we learn about this final seven year period, this 70th week of Daniel, the more we see that the stage is set. Now, friends, please, I am not here to make a prediction to say, well, one year, five years, 10 years, on and on. No. I'm here to tell you without reservation, the stage is set for the fulfillment of these things. That the Bible describes a particular kind of political condition in these seven last years, a particular economic condition, a spiritual condition, a cultural condition, a governmental condition, a ecological condition, an economic condition. The stage is set for all of those things to be fulfilled. Without making predictions about a time and a day, I would say that if you are not living as if Jesus Christ is coming very soon, then you're not paying attention. The remarkable specific way in which the first 69 weeks were fulfilled shows us that the 70th week will be fulfilled in just a remarkable specific way. This is surely one of the most amazing chapters in the Bible. Let's pray and thank the Lord for it. Father, give us greater confidence in you. We see your wonder and your glory, your power in moving these things through history and establishing your great eternal plan. And Lord, it makes us feel silly about the times when we've been afraid or distrustful. Towards you. You such a great God who can engineer things over centuries to happen on the exact day of fulfillment. Lord, you told us to pray that we would be found worthy to escape all these things. And Lord, I know that your word says that you will come for your church. And we believe, Lord, that your people, your faithful will not even be on the earth during this last seven years. We anticipate that, Lord, with great readiness. We ask God that you would count us worthy to escape all these things, even as Jesus told us to pray. We love you and we thank you. Give us great wisdom by your word. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.