Why Believe in Jesus?

Frederick the Great did not believe in Jesus Christ but Count von Zinzendorf , a great Christian and father of the Moravian movement did believe. One day Frederick asked the Count to give him just one reason he should believe in Jesus Christ. The Count answered ‘The Jew’. The Jew is the key to unlocking prophecy. The Word of God centers around the Jew…it begins with the Jew and it ends with the Jew. The church is there, Jew and Gentile in one body. Sometimes we tend to forget how Jewish the Bible really is. If you look at the Word of God, you see that the Jew is on center stage and the history of Israel is one long confirmation of the accuracy of the Bible. Sometimes we think that the Old Testament belongs to the Jews and the New Testament belongs to the church and that from the NT on God is finished with the Jew. In fact you may have been taught this, but examine what the NT teaches about the Jew.

In Romans Paul notes the gospel is to the Jew first and then to the Greek (Gentile) (Ro 1:16). In Romans 9-11, Paul explains why the Jew for now has not believed in Jesus Christ and yet Paul goes on to say that ‘the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.’ (Ro 11:29). In other words, there are many OT prophecies regarding the Jews that are still unfulfilled. The promises of God are yea and amen (2Co1:20) and every word of God must be fulfilled so you can know for certain that God is not finished with the Jew. In fact if you want to really understand the Bible then you have to understand the Jew.

 2090BC  Abram (later renamed Abraham) was called by God to leave Ur of the Chaldees (Gen 12). God told Abram ‘And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing’ (Gen 12:2) God also promised him a land and that this land would belong to them for an EVERLASTING possession. Where people get confused is by thinking that since Israel has rejected Jesus Christ, that God’s promise to Abram is no longer valid. If you believe this way, then you will have considerable difficulty interpreting prophecy. Take the word of God in its LITERAL, NATURAL sense, and allow scripture interpret scripture (refrain from imposing your brand of theology on that interpretation), then you will see clearly that God is not finished with the Jews.

1445BC The Exodus: Israel was in Egypt for 430 years (Ex 12:40, Gal 3:17) and 400 of those years they were slaves  (Acts 7:6). God brought them out ‘with a mighty hand’ (Ex 32:11) under Moses as their deliverer.

1405BC Entered the Promised Land under Joshua and remained there until 586BC. During this time Israel had 3 Kings (after Joshua and Judges): Saul, David, Solomon.

931BC Kingdom of Israel divided into northern and southern kingdoms after King Solomon died.

722BC Northern Kingdom went into captivity to Assyria, leaving only the Southern Kingdom, which was besieged by Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar in 3 separate sieges.

605BC 1^st siege, when Daniel was taken captive.

597BC 2^nd siege when Ezekiel and 10,000 were taken captive.

586BC 3^rd siege at which time the city of Jerusalem was totally destroyed, including the city walls and Solomon’s Temple. The Southern Kingdom went into Babylonian captivity for SEVENTY YEARS (beginning in 605BC).

 Why 70 Years of Captivity?

In Leviticus 25 God had laid down the following statute for Israel:

Lev 25:1 The LORD then spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, (before Israel went into the Promised Land) saying,2  "Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, 'When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a Sabbath to the LORD. 3  'Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop,4  but during the seventh year the land shall have a Sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard.’

For 490 years the Jews had not given their land a Sabbath Rest (and 490/7=70). Israel owed God 70 Sabbaths and so God would see that the Promised Land lay dormant for 70 years while the Jews were in Babylon.

539BC: Darius the Mede was ruling over the Medo-Persian Empire along with Cyrus and this gives us the approximate date of the events in Daniel 9:1.

Da 9:1  In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans—(Babylonians) 2  in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, 70 years.

So Daniel is studying Jer 29:10:  "For thus says the LORD, 'When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you (Israel in Babylonian captivity) and fulfill My good word to you (cp Ro11:29) to bring you back to this place. (back to Israel) 11  'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.12  'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.13  'And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.14  'And I will be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.'

Although Jeremiah 29 is speaking to the return of the Jews from Babylon, this prophecy goes way beyond their return to the land after 70 years.

2Chr 36:19-21: (historical account describing the destruction of Jerusalem): Then they (the Babylonians) burned the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its fortified buildings with fire, and destroyed all its valuable articles.20  And those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia,21  to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept Sabbath until 70 years were complete.

Why did God allow this destruction of His holy Temple? BECAUSE GOD FULFILLS HIS WORD! He stands by His Word to fulfill it.

Da 9:3  So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

As Daniel seeks God we see him confessing the sins of his people (e.g. Da 9:8 ‘We have sinned against Thee.’), acknowledging God’s righteousness and holiness, and beseeching Him to forgive their sins.

Da 9:20  Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain (THE CITY, THE KINGDOM) of my God, 21  while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering.22  And he gave me instruction and talked with me, and said, "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. 23  "At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.

Many believe that the 70^th Week of Daniel is synonymous with what is commonly referred to as ‘the tribulation’. Many commentators have written that ‘the tribulation’ begins at the outset of this seventieth period of 7 years and extends through the end of the 7 years. They subdivide ‘the tribulation’ into 2 periods of 3.5 years and the designate the second half as the ‘Great Tribulation’. The question however must be asked: "Is that what the Scripture says?"

Da 9:24 "70 weeks (70 ‘sevens’ = 490 years) have been decreed for your people (Jew) and your holy city...

(1) to finish the transgression...

the Jews had transgressed against God, against His holy covenant, Jer 11:10 and in Jer 31:31 God declared that He would make a ‘NEW COVENANT’ of grace
 

(2) to make an end of sin...

they were sinning against God with their idolatry and false worship, etc

(3) to make atonement for iniquity...

every year the Jews had a day of atonement or ‘covering’ for sin, but in 70 sevens ALL atonement for iniquity would be made by the Messiah…Heb 10:14 ‘For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified’ so this is a prophecy of the Lamb Who would take away the sin of the world

(4) to bring in everlasting righteousness...

from that time on, Israel would be righteous and not continue to sin 

(5) to seal up vision and prophecy...

to fulfill all that God has written in regard to Israel

(6) and to anoint the most holy place...

586BC the Temple had been destroyed so God told Daniel that the Jews would have a Temple again, but even beyond the Temple of Ezra and Haggai’s day pointing to a future ‘most holy place’

Has Israel ceased to transgress? No.

Has atonement for iniquity been made? Yes, but it hasn’t brought them to an end of sin because they did not believe in Him.

Is there a holy place for the Jews? No.

So during this 490 years prophesied in Daniel 9:24 the ‘holy place’ has to be anointed.

Da 9:25 "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be 7 weeks and 62 weeks; (483 years after the decree Messiah would enter Jerusalem on a donkey as described in Luke 19:37-38 where the Jews begin to proclaim that the King had come) it (Jerusalem) will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.

445BC: Decree by Artaxerxes to give Nehemiah (Neh 2:1ff) permission to return to RESTORE & REBUILD Jerusalem (plaza and moat). Nehemiah is upset because there are no defenses around the city and a city without walls was defenseless in ancient times. The king grants Nehemiah permission to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls of the city and this decree marks the beginning of the "countdown" of Daniel's "Seventy Weeks" (more literally "seventy sevens")

Da 9:26  "Then after the 62 weeks (or 483 years after the Decree in Da 9:25) the Messiah will be cut off (any Jew who read this could have known the time of Messiah or Christ’s visitation, Palm Sunday, the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and they cried out Hosanna in the highest and blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord and the King is coming just like Zechariah prophesied…but they did not recognize the time of their visitation) (cut off = crucifixion) and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. (The Temple…so Daniel knows that the Temple has to be rebuilt.) And its end (Jerusalem’s end) will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
 

 AD 29-32/33  Jesus Christ is crucified ("cut off")              

 AD70  Jerusalem destroyed by the Romans under General Titus.

Da 9:27  "And he (the prince who is to come) will make a firm covenant with the many (not with ALL but with ‘the many’) for one week (7 Years) , but in the middle of the week (3 ½ Years) he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; (there has to be a Temple) and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate (one who destroys), even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate."

So this one will only continue until what has been decreed has come to pass and what has been decreed against him is that HE WILL BE DESTROYED. So he will operate for a certain period of time, a period of time referred to as the 70^th Week of Daniel, a week that has never been fulfilled in history. The Jews are currently preparing to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.

In Luke 19: Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, weeping over Jerusalem & he says…

How could they have recognized the TIME OF MESSIAH’S VISITATION? By reading and understanding Daniel the prophet. But they did not listen, so Jesus weeps over them because He knows that their city is going to be destroyed. This had all been clearly prophesied in Da 9:24-27.

Luke 21 Jesus Talking to His Disciples
about the destruction of the Temple
 

Luke 21:7-11: Jesus gives a broad, sweeping picture of how these times will end, but He does not mention the 70^th Week of Daniel.

So Jesus begins Luke 21 describing the END TIMES, then digresses to predict and warn about the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70 (which Daniel 9:26 had also warned about), after which He returns to the description of the END TIMES. So in Luke 21 Jesus is pointing back to something that was prophesied in Da 9:24-27.

Mt 24:15  "Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),16  then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; (Click here for Kay's Lecture on Matthew 24)

When does the ABOMINATION of DESOLATION stand in the Holy Place? When are the Jews to flee Jerusalem?

This appears to be in the MIDDLE OF DANIEL’S 70^TH WEEK, when the one who makes desolate (‘the abomination of desolation’) walks into the Holy Place and puts a stop to sacrifice and grain offering.

2 Thes 2: The Believers in Thessalonica thought that they were already in the DAY of the LORD, so Paul writes to comfort them, telling them to "Let no one in any way deceive you, for it (the Day of the Lord) will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,4  who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God (the Holy of Holies), displaying himself as being God." (2 Thes 2:3 )

If the MAN of LAWLESSNESS is ‘god’ then the Jews should not be sacrificing to another god. Therefore he puts a sacrifice & offering, stands in the Holy Place and proclaims himself as god, saying that there is no other god.

Mt 24:21  for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall.

So when does the Great Tribulation begin? When the Man of Lawlessness stands in the Holy Place. If he stood in the Holy Place at the beginning of the 70^th week and declared himself as being god, the Jews would never have gone in to offer sacrifices because he would have desecrated it just as Antiochus Epiphanes had done in 164 BC .

So from this time which is described in  (Mt 24:15, 2 Thes 2:3-4) we see TRIBULATION for the Jews.

Mt 24:29  "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, 30  and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. (Click here for more of Kay's Lecture notes on Matthew 24)

So you have the 70^th Week of Daniel ending with Jesus Christ coming to earth…after THE TRIBULATION of those days. Here is Kay’s challenge: Is there any place in Scripture where THE TRIBULATION is referred to as a ‘7 year’ period? One cannot find it such a reference and the only place specifically referred to as "tribulation" is the last 3 ½ years of the 70^th Week ("great tribulation").
 

Click following links for Kay's Lectures on Daniel 7: LEC9: LIONS, LEOPARDS, AND BEARS, Lec10: A WOMAN, A CHILD AND A BEAST With 10 HORNS,  LEC11: ANY CONNECTION BETWEEN EUROPEAN COMMON MARKET & LITTLE HORN?, LEC12: WHAT LEADS UP TO LORD'S RETURN?

Da 7:7  "After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and trampled down the remainder (the other 3 beasts or kingdoms) with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had 10 horns. 8  "While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth uttering great boasts….11 "Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire."

Daniel's description parallel's John's in Rev 19:20 "And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone where the beast & false prophet are thrown into the Lake of Fire."

So in Daniel 7 we see that although there is a prophecy describing 4 beasts, the emphasis is on the FOURTH BEAST and Daniel asks questions specifically about that beast.

Da 7:17  'These great beasts, which are 4 in number, are 4 kings who will arise from the earth. 'But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come.' (This has not yet happened to the Jews…so there is more to come for Israel) 19  "Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the 4^th  beast, …20  and the meaning of the 10 horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts, and which was larger in appearance than its associates.21  "I kept looking, and that horn (one that comes out of the 10 horns of the 4^th Beast) was waging war with the saints (Note: the saints here does not describe the church…this is written to the Jews so ‘saints’ is a reference to Israel) and overpowering them (for how long?) 22  until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom. 23  "Thus he said: 'The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. (cf Rev 13:7-8 "it was given to him ["the beast"] to make war with the saints and to overcome them and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.") 24  'As for the 10 horns, out of this kingdom 10 kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue 3 kings. 25  'And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they (saints of the Holy One = the Jews) will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. (3 ½ YEARS).

So right here in the last 3 ½ Years of Daniel’s 70^th Week, the prince that breaks the covenant & starts the prophetic ball ‘rolling’ by walking into the Holy Place, declaring himself to be god, ruling over the Jews (explaining why the Jews in Judea are to flee to the mountains), taking his authority which he is given over the whole earth and he wears down Jews and the offspring of the Jews (cp, Rev 12:17) for 3 ½ years (time, times and half a time) UNTIL the Ancient of Days comes and sets up His Kingdom.

Da 7:21,25 parallel Rev 13:5-7, which parallels Mt 24:15-21 and 2 Thes 2:3-4. So it all begins with Israel and it ends with Israel. How do you know the Bible is the Word of God? The Jew. The History of the Jews. The Prophecy. The Future of the Jews. These all point to the fact that this is the Word of God and that He is watching over His Word to perform it.

Da 12:1 Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress (Greek word = tribulation) such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued." (For more of Kay's lecture notes on this chapter click LECTURE 19: WHEN IS JESUS COMING? WATCH ISRAEL)
 

This description of the the time of distress  ("time of distress such as never occurred") is how he describes the Tribulation in Mt 24:21 ("such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall") and Mk 13:19, ("For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created, until now, and never shall") a time of distress such as has never occurred.

Da 12:6  And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, "How long will it be until the end of these wonders?" 7 …it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people (the Jews), all these events will be completed.’

Daniel’s prophecy of 70 Weeks will have been completed and then THE MOST HOLY PLACE WILL BE ANOINTED because Jesus Christ will come to reign as King of kings.

Da 12:11  "And from the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished (Da 9:27), and the abomination of desolation is set up (Mt 24:15), there will be 1,290 days.

Where do we get the extra 30 days? Stay tuned…don’t switch that dial. We will find out as we continue to look at