Introduction These transcripts are from Kay Arthur's lectures on the old course on Daniel and not the new lecture series circa 2006. They are provided as a service to the body of Christ with the written permission of Precept Ministries International. This material is the property of Precept Ministries International and all rights are reserved.
The transcripts are for the most part verbatim with deletions identified by the characters (...). The utilization of italics, bolding, hyperlinks and pop up notes represent editorial additions. Any written additions are identified by the designation "Ed note". All references are the NASB unless otherwise indicated.
Please note that these lectures by Kay Arthur supplement the excellent Precept Upon Precept inductive Bible study on the Daniel. Click on the link below and note that you can download lesson 1 free of charge.
Below are links to the excellent Precept study of the Revelation. If you are planning on doing this four part study, I would strongly encourage you to first complete the Daniel study, as knowledge of the prophecies in Daniel is critical to a full understanding of the prophecies in the Revelation. Note that for each part, you may download a PDF of lesson one at no charge.
If you can find a local Precept class studying Revelation, I would strongly encourage you to join the class, as I know of no other study available anywhere in the world that will equip you so thoroughly to discern the signs of the times and cause you to live expectantly as you look for Christ's Return!
Related Resources:
- Daniel Resources from literal perspective
- Revelation Resources from a literal perspective
- Great Tribulation
- Day of the Lord
- Daniel's Seventieth Week - chart
- Daniel's Seventieth Week Charted Parallel with other Daniel prophecies
- Millennium 1 - Early Church drift from literal interpretation of Rev 20
- Millennium 2 - Context & events leading up to Millennium
- Millennium 3 - How OT describes Millennial Messianic Age
- Daniel 1 Commentary
- Daniel 2 Commentary -- Da 2:1-23
- Daniel 2 Commentary(2) -- Da 2:24-49
- Daniel 3 Commentary
- Daniel 4 Commentary
- Daniel 5 Commentary
- Daniel 6 Commentary
- Daniel 7 Commentary(1) -- Da 7:1-6
- Daniel 7 Commentary(2) -- Da 7:7-14
- Daniel 7 Commentary(3) -- Da 7:15-28
- Daniel 8 Commentary
- Daniel 9 Commentary(1)
- Daniel 9:24 Commentary
- Daniel 9:25 Commentary
- Daniel 9:26 Commentary
- Daniel 9:27 Commentary
- Daniel 10 Commentary
- Daniel 11 Commentary(1) -- Da 11:1-19
- Daniel 11 Commentary(2) -- Da 11:20-45
- Daniel 12 Commentary
Will Jesus weep because you
did not recognize the time of His second coming?
In the gospel of Luke we read that when Jesus approached Jerusalem on the Monday preceding His crucifixion,
"He saw the city and wept over it." (Lu 19:41)
He knew that the Jews could have and should have known the time of His visitation, if only they had read and understood the prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27.
Daniel records
"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 of my God, 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. And he gave me instruction and talked with me, and said, "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. 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." (Daniel 9:20-23)
In Daniel 9, the prophet was so earnestly seeking Jehovah that he was wearing himself out. The angel Gabriel then brings him the message from God that Daniel is ''highly esteemed''! Daniel was to know and discern (think it through).
Mark ''After'' in Dan 9:26.
Daniel 9:24 "Seventy (shibiym) weeks (shabuwa' - literally "sevens") have been decreed (determined) for your people (Jews) and your holy city (Jerusalem), to finish (kala' - the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy [place.]
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] seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
26 "Then AFTER the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end [will come] with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
27 "And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations [will come] one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate."
SIX THINGS MUST BE COMPLETED
IN DANIEL'S 70 WEEKS
The Hebrew word for "weeks" in Daniel 9:24 is shabuim (plural of shabua) which literally means "sevens". So Daniel's mathematics is more literally "seventy sevens" or "seven" times "seventy" which is 490.
The question then is "490" what? … days, weeks, months or years? It can be readily shown that none of the six predictions in Daniel 9:24 were completed in 490 days, weeks or months. The only interpretation that makes any sense is to interpret the "490" in terms of years. And so Daniel 9:24 predicts that over a period of 490 years, 6 things will be accomplished. (Ed note: Click here for additional support for "years" as the unit of time)
Note that the first 3 predictions have to do with sin. Note also that all six prophecies are specifically addressed to the Jews ("your people") and Jerusalem (their "holy city"). So now let's begin to look at these prophecies individually.
1). To finish transgression (Ed: Click for more discussion)
The Hebrew verb means to bring to an end. This is not yet fulfilled for the Jews were not even obedient to God through the 70 years of captivity. The transgression of the Jews did not come to an end after 70 years of captivity.
2). To make an end of sin (Ed: Click for more discussion) = to bring sin to a halt
3). To make atonement for iniquity (Ed: Click for more discussion)
Some translations have to make reconciliation for iniquity
4). To bring in everlasting righteousness (Ed: Click for more discussion)
5). To seal up the vision and the prophecy (Ed: Click for more discussion)
Seal up means to close up, securely enclosed, complete) so Daniel is saying that all prophecy that has to do with Jerusalem and the Jews will be completed in 490yrs
6). To anoint the most holy place (Ed : Click for more discussion)
This refers to anointing the holy place in the Temple where the Jews are to worship.
THE SIX PROPHECIES OF DANIEL 9:24
OT SCRIPTURES ADDING DETAIL
JEREMIAH 31:
A NEW COVENANT
Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, "declares the Lord. 33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel (REFERS TO BOTH ISRAEL & JUDAH) after those days," declares the Lord, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 "And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the Lord, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jer 31:31, 32, 33, 34)
EZEKIEL 36:26-27
ALSO A COMPONENT OF THE NEW COVENANT
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances." (Ezek 36:26, 27)
The passages from both Jeremiah and Ezekiel refer to the same covenant, a covenant based upon grace.
The Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).
So both Jeremiah and Ezekiel are describing a new covenant that will brings forgiveness of sins for many. The new covenant was made possible because Jesus (Who knew no sin) on the Cross was made sin for all of mankind. Mankind in turn through faith in Christ's sacrifice could become the righteousness of God in Christ. (2Cor 5:21). These OT prophets were saying in essence that when He, Jesus Christ, came, He was going to atone for sin ("to make atonement for iniquity,"), which will come about during the 490 year period.
Hebrews 10:4 teaches that
"it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, "SACRIFICE AND OFFERING THOU HAST NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY THOU HAST PREPARED FOR ME; … 7 "THEN I SAID, 'BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE ROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO THY WILL, O GOD.'"… 9 then He said, "BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO THY WILL." He takes away the first in order to establish the second… 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. HE MADE ATONEMENT FOR INIQUITY ONCE FOR ALL PEOPLES & ALL TIMES."
IF THE JEWS HAD ACCEPTED THIS NEW COVENANT THEN THEIR TRANSGRESSION WOULD HAVE COME TO AN END… THERE IS AN END TO SIN IF THEY WALK IN HIS WAY.
EZEKIEL 37
Remember that Ezekiel was a contemporary of both Daniel and Jeremiah.
Ezekiel 37:20 "And the sticks (symbolizing Israel & Judah) on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.21 "And say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations, and they will no longer be divided into two kingdoms. 23 "And THEY WILL NO LONGER DEFILE THEMSELVES with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God. 24 "And My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances, and keep My statutes, and observe them. 25 "And they shall live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons, and their sons' sons, FOREVER; and David (DAVID WAS DEAD WHEN THIS WAS WRITTEN SO THIS PASSAGE REFERS TO A TIME WHEN ISRAEL & JUDAH WILL BE BACK TOGETHER AGAIN AS ONE, IN THE LAND, FOREVER. THE FIRST POSSIBILITY IN THE 490 YRS FOR ISRAEL TO OCCUPY THE LAND FOREVER WAS IN MAY, 1948) My servant shall be their prince forever. 26 "And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set MY SANCTUARY IN THEIR MIDST FOREVER. (COMPARE W/ DANIEL 9:24-27) 27 "My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies (SETS THEM APART, MAKES THEM RIGHTEOUS) Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever."' (Ezek 37:20-28)
TO ANOINT THE MOST HOLY PLACE, THERE HAS TO BE ONE IN EXISTENCE TO ANOINT!
EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS…
SEAL UP THE VISION & PROPHECY
When Christ returns He brings in everlasting righteousness - so much so that everything is honoring Him, everything is sanctified to Him (even the cooking pots), as described in Zechariah's prophecy, (Zechariah 14: God is speaking in this post-exilic book) which records
"Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished,… 3 Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. 4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of… 9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be [the only] one, and His name [the only] one… 20 In that day there will [be inscribed] on the bells of the horses, "HOLY TO THE LORD." And the cooking pots in the Lord's house will be like the bowls before the altar. 21 And every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts; and all who sacrifice [THERE ARE GOING TO BE SACRIFICES AGAIN!] will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts in that day." (Zech 14:1-21)
BACK TO Zechariah 14:16:
"Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. 18 And if the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no [rain will fall] on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. "
When Jesus Christ returns and is King over all the earth from that day forth He brings in EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS… so much so that even the cooking pots are set aside to honor Him. These are prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled.
JEREMIAH 33:14-16:
PROPHECY CONCERNING '
'EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS''
Jeremiah 33:14
'Behold, days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. [SO HE IS SHOWING A REUNITED KINGDOM] 15 'In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. 16 'In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell in safety; and this is [the name] by which she shall be called: the Lord is our righteousness.'
IN 490 YEARS GOD IS GOING TO FULFILL
ALL SIX PROPHECIES IN Daniel 9:24
Ezekiel 37:24, 25, 26, 27, 28: THE PROPHECY TO ''ANOINT THE MOST HOLY PLACE'':
Shows the SANCTUARY in the midst of Jerusalem and Jesus Christ is there so it is an anointed holy place.
Ezekiel 37:24
"And My servant David servant will be KING over them… 25 … David My shall be their prince forever. 26 "And I… will set MY SANCTUARY in their midst forever… 28 … MY SANCTUARY is in their midst forever."
WHEN DOES THE 490 YEAR COUNTDOWN BEGIN?
WHEN DOES THE "70TH WEEK" OCCUR?
(Click for additional note)
Daniel 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] seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 "Then AFTER the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end [will come] with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined."
So in Daniel 9:25 we see the beginning of the 70 weeks or 490 years, which ends in Daniel 9:27. The phrase "until Messiah the Prince" refers to Jesus entering Jerusalem riding on a donkey. From a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah will be a total of 69 Weeks. Jerusalem (not the Temple) will be re-built with plaza and moat. After the seven weeks (49 years) plus 62 weeks (434 years) Messiah would cut off which is a description of His crucifixion. In addition after the 62 weeks, the city of Jerusalem will be destroyed, which describes the destruction by Titus in 70AD.
These historical events explain the 69 weeks but there is still one more week, the seventieth week, which does not come immediately at the end of the first 69 weeks. Why? Because in 490 years Messiah has to come and remain. He did not stay the first time. He has to bring in everlasting righteousness as far as Israel is concerned. Atonement for iniquity has to be made in that 490 year period.
DECREE TO RESTORE AND REBUILD JERUSALEM
THERE ARE THREE POSSIBLE DATES
1). 538BC-Ezra 1:1-2:
"Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also [put it] in writing, saying, 2 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 'Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and REBUILD THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, the God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem." (Ezra 1:1-3)
Cyrus' decree is for rebuilding of the house of the Lord, not specifically the city, Jerusalem. So the date of this decree is not the one to use to begin counting down Daniel's 70 weeks.
2). 458BC-Ezra 7:11-13
"Now this is the copy of the decree which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, learned in the words of the commandments of the Lord and His statutes to Israel: "Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace. And now I have issued a decree that any of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem, may go with you." (Ezra 7:11-13)
There is no decree about them rebuilding Jerusalem. This decree is simply for the Jews to be allowed to go to Jerusalem.
3). 445BC-Neh 1 & 2
Ezra and Nehemiah were contemporaries. Ezra returned to the land of Israel before Nehemiah, who was a servant of King Artaxerxes, the Persian king.
Nehemiah 1:3 And they said to me, "The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down [IN THOSE DAYS WHEN THE WALL WAS DOWN, THERE WAS NO DEFENSE] and its gates are burned with fire." [NEHEMIAH BEGINS TO WEEP, FAST, CRY OUT TO GOD, CONFESSING SIN ]
Then in chapter 2 Nehemiah recorded that
"it came about in the month Nisan, [NISAN WAS THE FIRST MONTH OF THE JEWISH CALENDAR, THE MONTH THEY CELEBRATED PASSOVER] in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes [March-April, 444 BC], that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. 2 So the king said to me, "Why is your face sad though you are not sick?… 3 And I said to the king,… the place of my fathers' tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?" 4 Then the king said to me, "What would you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, "If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuilt it [THE DECREE TO REBUILD THE CITY]." 6 Then the king [ARTAXERXES] said to me, the queen sitting beside him, "How long will your journey be, and when will you return?" So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time. 7 And I said to the king, "If it please the king, let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house to which I will go." And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me." (Neh 2:1-6)
In summary, the decree by King Artaxerxes ("king granted them to me") most clearly fulfills the prophecy in Daniel 9:25 ("from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem").
THE 69 WEEKS <> 483 YEARS
and
THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY OF THE KING
Sir Robert Anderson (1841-1918, who was converted at age19 and later became an investigator for Scotland Yard) wrote the famous book "Daniel in the Critic's Den" (Ed note: see his other similar work which is available online "The Coming Prince") in which he presented his rationale for a detailed calculation of how many days passed from the decree in 445BC until the coming of Messiah the Prince (using the Hebrew Calendar where one year consists of 360days). Anderson arrived at the number of 173,880 days (see chart below).
How Many Days in Seven weeks + sixty two weeks?
Using the Jewish calendar (360 days per year)
(7 x 7) + (62 x 7) years = 483 years
483 years x 360 days/year = 173,880 days
According to Anderson's calculations and taking March-April, 444 BC as the starting time for the countdown, "Messiah the Prince" would enter Jerusalem on a donkey, on 10th of Nisan, the 18th year of Tiberius Caesar = April 6, 32/33AD. The Jews could have known not the day of Messiah's birth, but the day He would be declared ''Messiah the Prince''. (The Hebrew word for "prince' is nagid and means ruler or king) (Ed note: "nagid" was initially used in Scripture to describe Israel's first king, Saul, God declaring "I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin (Saul), and you shall anoint him to be prince (nagid) over My people Israel." 1 Samuel 9:16).
If Sir Robert Anderson's calculation is correct, Daniel's prophecy appears to describe the day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.
LUKE 19
"THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY"
In Luke19 Jesus knows that the time of His crucifixion is coming. Luke records that
it came about that when He approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples, saying, "Go into the village opposite you, in which as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it, and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' thus shall you speak, 'The Lord has need of it.'" [JESUS GETS ON THE COLT NEVER BEFORE RIDDEN]… 36 And as He was going [INTO JERUSALEM], they were spreading their garments in the road. 37 And as He was now approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, 38 saying, "Blessed is the King [In the phrase "Messiah the prince", the Hebrew for "prince" is "nagid" which means "ruler" or "king". NEVER BEFORE IN JESUS' MINISTRY HAS THERE BEEN A PUBLIC PROCLAMATION OF JESUS AS "KING"] Who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" 39 And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to Him, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." [WHY? BECAUSE THEY WERE DECLARING JESUS THE KING, THE ONE THAT WAS TO BRING PEACE] 40 And He answered and said, "I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!" [WHY? BECAUSE THIS IS THE PROCLAMATION THAT DANIEL WAS TALKING ABOUT! THIS IS THE PROCLAMATION THAT ZECHARIAH WAS TALKING ABOUT! THIS WAS HOW THE JEWS COULD KNOW THAT MESSIAH HAD ARRIVED!] (Luke 19:29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40) (Ed note: Click here for additional discussion)
ZECHARIAH 9
Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout [in triumph,] O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and MOUNTED ON A DONKEY, EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A DONKEY.
THIS IS THE WAY THE JEWS SHOULD HAVE
BEEN ABLE TO RECOGNIZE THEIR KING
In the ancient world, when a conqueror cam into a city, if he came to make peace, he road on a donkey, but if came to make war, he rode on a white horse (cf John describing Jesus' second coming declared
"and I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war." Rev 19:11!)
If the Jews had known and discerned from the issuing of the decree… until Messiah the Prince would be exactly 483 years, they would have recognized Who it was they were calling "the King" in Lu19:38.
Luke goes on to record that
"when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known in this day (Ed note: Greek has the definite article which indicates a specific day, not just any day!), even you, the things which make for peace! But now THEY HAVE BEEN HIDDEN FROM YOUR EYES. For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and will level you to the ground [JERUSALEM] and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, BECAUSE YOU DID NOT RECOGNIZE THE TIME OF YOUR VISITATION. " (Lu19:41-44)
When was Jerusalem surrounded and leveled "to the ground"? Jesus' prophecy was fulfilled in 70A.D., when the Roman general Titus sacked Jerusalem and burned the Temple, to the point that literally not "one stone" was left upon another! Jerusalem was desolated in perfect fulfillment (including the timing) Daniel's prophecy that "the people (Rome) of the prince who is to come (the little horn or antichrist) will destroy the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (The Jewish Temple)." Jesus wept over Jerusalem crying out ''If only you had known!''
His SECOND COMING is going to be the same way… like in the days of Noah, eating, drinking, giving in marriage but they did not know until it came. Luke records Jesus' warning to the Jews that
"when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand." (Luke 21:20)
In Daniel 9:27, where does the 70th Week fit into history? There is a "TIME GAP" just like the gap between the time of the ten toes and appearance of the Stone (Da2:31-45). Just as there is a gap in Daniel 7 between the "dreadful and terrifying" fourth beast and the ten horns ( Da7:7-14, 23-27), there will be a gap between the 69th and 70th weeks. (Ed note: click for list of reasons there has to be a "time gap") We have seen the prophecy of the Messiah being cut off and the city and temple destroyed just as God predicted in Daniel. And the events of the 70th Week will also come to pass just as God foretold!
Atonement for iniquity has been made, but most of the Jews refuse to receive this truth, and so the complete fulfillment of this prophecy speaks of a future time just before the King returns.
25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB." 27 "AND THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS." 28 From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
IT'S ALMOST THE DAY OF HIS VISITATION--
LIVE FOR HIM TODAY
BECAUSE WHEN HE COMES HIS REWARD IS WITH HIM…
HE IS A JUST AND RIGHTEOUS GOD
WHO WILL GIVE TO EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS…
RECOGNIZE THE DAY OF HIS VISITATION!