Daniel 9 | Partial Preterist Eschatology | Christ or Antichrist?

If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Matthew chapter 24. You might be wondering why we're going to Matthew chapter 24, and I will explain it. Matthew 24, verses 32 through 34. Matthew 24, 32 through 34.

Pray with me. Father, it is indeed a great joy to be standing before your people today. Lord, I pray I have done my due diligence. I pray that I have accurately interpreted the text. Lord, I pray that you will use me this day to feed your people, and in the process, feast myself.

Lord, I love you, and I thank you for your word. I thank you for Jesus, and I pray that you are glorified today as we worship you. And at this moment, I use the teachings of the Apostle to exposition your word.

So please be with us, I pray, in the name of Christ. Amen. So last week, we looked at Hebrews chapter 2. We start at Hebrews chapter 2. This was our, I believe, our sixth message in Hebrews. And we came to a verse, chapter 2, 3a, which reads,.

And how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? And last week, I showed you how, as I was reading this, it kind of interrupted my flow. For the last year, well, almost a year, I have been reading a chapter of Hebrews every day.

Because I knew that this was going to be my next book as I was going through Galatians. And so I wanted to understand the text more clearly. What is the writer of Hebrews speaking of? And we come to the conclusion that this is not just a letter.

This is either one expositional sermon, or this is many expositional sermons. And in chapter 1, he says that in times past, he spoke to our fathers through the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us through his son, Jesus Christ.

Pointing to the last days was being the time of how the old covenant age, the age of the sacrificial system was on the earth, the Judaic age. And how when Christ came, he ushered in what's called the age of the Messiah.

And so when he's talking about the last days, I believe he's speaking of the last days of the sacrificial system, the age of the covenant system, the age that Moses, the law of Moses, where it says, do this and live, keep these laws and you will live in the land.

And we know that now under Christ, it's not keep this and live, it's believe in Christ and live. Now does that mean that we do not keep the commandments? Well, 1 John 2, verse 3 says that this is how we know that we have come to know him.

That if we keep his commandments, whoever says that I know him, speaking of Christ, but does not keep his commandments, he is a liar and the truth is not in him. But then we go to chapter 3, verse 23, it says, now this is his commandments.

It tells you what his commandments is. It says that we believe in the name of the son, Jesus Christ, and we love our neighbors as ourself. That these things fulfills the Decalogue, the 10 words, the 10 commandments, the moral law.

That by believing in the name of the son, you fulfill the first four commandments, where it says to love the great commandment, love the Lord your God with all your mind, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.

In order to fulfill that law, the ceremonial law, you have to believe in the name of the son. We are to love our neighbors, those who are filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that my people will be known by their love for one another.

We don't have to wear yarmulkes, we don't have to wear turbans, we don't have to have some kind of special dress on for people to know that we're Christian. We're supposed to be known that we're Christian by our love for one another.

And so, this do this and live, is speaking of living in that land, Palestine. The land of Canaan, the land of Jerusalem. And when we walked through, we showed last week that if you break this law, you will be removed from the land, the land of Israel.

And so, I figured before we walk any further through Hebrews, we needed to lay a foundation. We needed to lay a foundation. And I spoke to you how what it's teaching is a preterist teaching. Now, I know the word preterist can kind of scare some people off, but every Orthodox Christian is both preterist and a futurist.

If you believe that Jesus Christ came into the flesh at the incarnation, you are a preterist. That was a prophecy given in the Old Testament that has been fulfilled. So, you're a preterist. The word preter is the Latin word for past.

This has already happened. If you believe that Jesus Christ is coming again to judge both the living and the dead,.

You are a futurist.

I am a futurist because I believe that Jesus Christ is coming again. But I'm also a preterist. Now, I'm more so a preterist than most Christians because I believe that this judgment that's spoken of in Matthew 24 that we're seeing is about to occur in the time of Hebrews has already taken place.

It's already taken place. Now, I want to read to you, you can turn there if you will, Revelation chapter 1. Just look at verse 1 and verse 3 for a second. This is time indicators. The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him to show His servants the things that must soon take place.

He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John.

Verse 3.

Blessed is the one who reads out loud the words of this prophecy and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it for the time is near.

Soon to happen.

The time is near. Go to Revelation chapter 22. Chapter 22 verse 10. Again, we're just looking at time indicators. 22, 10. And He said to me, do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book for the time is near.

Go to Daniel. Sorry for having you turn so many places. Go to Daniel chapter 12. Daniel chapter 12 verse 4. Listen to this. Daniel 12, 4. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end.

Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase. So he tells Daniel that this prophecy of Daniel, he says, seal the book, shut it up for the time is not near. We're not near the time for this prophecy to be fulfilled.

But in Revelation chapter 22, 10, he says, Do not seal up these words of the prophecy of this book for the time is not near. So you're looking at about 500 years from Daniel to Christ. And I believe he's saying that it's not near.

500 years away, that's not near.

Okay.

It has been close to 2000 years since Christ now. And still people are saying that this soon here has not come. And so I'm arguing for a past fulfillment of this destruction that the Bible is speaking about.

But I also argue as a futurist saying that Jesus Christ is going to come one day again. His feet are going to touch the earth. And he is going to judge the living and the dead. And I'm going to, within the next few weeks, lay this foundation so thick that if you deny this interpretation, you're going to have a hard time reading the Bible.

That's my plan. Are y 'all with me?

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. All right.

So our theme today in Matthew 24, our theme is learn a lesson from the fig tree. Learn a lesson from the fig tree. My proposition is this. Jesus either came in that generation like he said he was or he didn't.

If he didn't, he is a liar. If he did, if he did come in that time, his coming was a coming and judgment against Jerusalem, against the old covenant people who did not receive him. So why should you, why should you care about eschatology?

Why should you care about eschatology? Why should you care about the subject of eschatology? Answer is this. Because it deals with death, judgment, final destiny of the soul, of humankind, and the last things.

So when I'm saying right here that it's dealing with last things, I'm saying that it's dealing with the rappening up of the old covenant and it's unwrapping the new covenant of Jesus Christ.

Okay?

So eschatology, and it's still dealing with the last things. So it's dealing with the last things. I'm going to be dealing with the last things of the old covenant. Now I know I get a lot of people asking me my position on this, and so we're going to lay it down, we're going to put it on film, and we're going to get it out there.

I've been on a few prophecy conferences. I'm part of a documentary that's being made, and they're asking my opinion on this stuff, and so I figure we cannot go any further in Hebrews without actually putting it down to paper.

So it's going to be an overload of information, but please bear with me. So the fig tree, if you look in Matthew 24, 32 through 34, read with me. Matthew 24, 32 through 34. This is the main text that we're going to be focusing on for a few weeks.

From the fig tree learn its lesson. As soon as its branches are tender and it puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also when you see all these things, you know that he is near at the very gate.

Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. So this is what prophecy writers today, those who are dispensational, will call the fig tree generation.

They say that we are the fig tree generation, that when Jerusalem was recognized as a nation in 1948, that that's when the fig tree started to bloom, and that summer is near. A prophecy writer wrote a book saying that it was going to end, the world would end in 1988.

A generation, he said, is 40 years, 1948 to 1988, that the world is going to end in 1988. Well, it's 2001. I mean, it's 2021. 2001 is when I started reading the Bible. It's 2021, and the world has not ended.

Well, they're coming out now saying that a generation can also be 80 years, according to Psalm 90 verse 10, and that 2028 is when the world is going to end. And so this year marks seven years until then.

So if you're a pre-tribulationist, that the rapture is going to happen this May. We need some biblical teaching on this subject, and that's what I hope to do today, within the next few weeks also. So instead of breaking down Matthew 24 today, because it is going to be the text that we're going to look at, I want to look at a supporting text for today.

We're going to go back to the book of Daniel. Daniel chapter 9. This is where it all comes down to. It comes down to Daniel 2 and Daniel 9. This is where everyone gets their eschatology. This is where you put the boxing gloves on, and you're ready to fight another Christian because they disagree with you, right?

This is where if you don't agree with me, you're a heretic, right? Yeah, I hear it all the time. Daniel 9, 24 through 27. This is the angel, an angel speaking to Daniel. The angel Gabriel, which in the text is called the man Gabriel.

Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city to finish the transgressions, to put an end to sin, to atone for iniquity, to bring about everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.

Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem and to the coming of the anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. And for forty-two weeks it shall be built again with square moat, but in troubled times.

And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war.

Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for a half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offerings, and on the wings of an abomination shall come one who makes desolate, until the decree end is poured out on the desolator.

In our outline we see when the Jewish Messiah is to come by using time indicators. Remember in Revelation we used time indicators. In this text our outline is going to be measured by time indicators. One is the time of the Messiah.

Two is the rejection of the Messiah. Three will be the covenant of the Messiah. And four will be the purpose of the Messiah. Now in transitioning I want to explain to you Daniel 2 real quick. So in Daniel chapter 2, I've done this before, Nebuchadnezzar has a dream, and in his dream he sees an image.

And in this image he sees a head of gold, which represents Babylon, a chest and arms of silver, which represents the Medo-Persians, and then it's middle and thighs of bronze, which represents Grisha, and it's feet of iron mixed with clay, which represents, I mean, it's legs of iron.

So Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that this head of gold represents him. He says, You, Nebuchadnezzar, you are the head of gold. So you, Nebuchadnezzar, you are the head of gold. But not only does this head of gold represent Nebuchadnezzar, it represents Babylon, and that's going to be key to remember in just a second.

So Nebuchadnezzar represents the head of gold, and that one would come after him who would take over the kingdom, and this would be the Medes and Persians. And then one would come after the Medes and Persians, and would take over them, and this would be Greece.

And then one would come after Greece, and this would be Rome. This would be the legs of iron. But then it says that its feet is iron mingled with clay. So this is where the dispensationals will come in and say, right where the ankle is of the feet of the statue, there is a 2 ,000-year-so-far separation.

For 2 ,000 years, where the ankle is and the feet and the legs have been separated. The time from the head to the chest isn't separated. The time from the chest to the thigh isn't separated. The time from the thighs to the legs isn't separated.

When it comes to the feet, they separate. They put a gap, a parenthesis, because they believe that during this seven-year tribulation, that's when the Roman Empire will start back up, the Antichrist will appear, and will rule the world.

That hasn't happened yet, so the iron mingled with clay cannot have happened yet. I believe that the same iron that's in the feet is the same iron that's in the legs of that time. I do not believe there is a separation.

So it says that the feet is iron mixed with clay. So the question is, what is the clay? What does the clay represent? And I believe the scripture answers that for us. And when I say this, you're going to be like, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and even the dreaded chapter to interpret, Romans chapter 9, tells us.

It says, pointing to God, You are the potter. We are the clay. Who's speaking? Jews. Jews are the clay. There's only one time in history where the iron and the clay were mixed together, and that was during the Roman peace.

The Roman peace, the iron and the clay was mixed together, first century Jerusalem. First century Jerusalem, the iron and the clay were mixed together. And then in the dream it says that there was a stone that's carved out by no human hand, and it comes down and it strikes the statue on the feet.

And as you read scripture, you understand that Jesus is the stone. Jesus is the stumbling stone that people stumble over. He is the cornerstone of the church. He says that the church is built on the foundations of the apostles and the prophets, with Jesus Christ being the cornerstone.

And so this stone is cut out by no human hands. It's speaking of the incarnation of Christ. Jesus Christ had no earthly father. This stone, carved out by no human hands, comes at the time when the iron was mingled with the clay.

First century Jerusalem.

This is speaking of the incarnation. And it says that this stone that hits that statue, it crushes, it hits the statue and the statue, like all those kingdoms will fall. And that stone that he is represents him and his kingdom.

Just like the head of goat represented Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, that stone represents Jesus and the kingdom. Because it says that that stone, once it hits that statue on the feet of iron mingled with clay, that that stone grows into a mountain, and it will eventually cover the whole earth.

So every time someone becomes a Christian, that's another piece of material, dirt, rock, whatever you want to call it, that's added to that mountain. But in the New Testament, it calls it a temple. Every time a person becomes a Christian, that's another block, another brick added to the temple.

Or it's called the body, the body of Christ. And one day, the kingdom of God will cover the whole earth. That's just in short. Point number one, the time of the Messiah. Daniel chapter 9, 24 through 25.

Daniel 9, 24 through 25.

It reads,.

70 weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city to finish the transgressions, to put an end to sin, to atone for iniquity, and to bring about everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to atone a most holy place.

Note for certain and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem and to the coming of the anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. And for 62 weeks there shall be built again with square moat, but in times of trouble.

So here I see four things that this verse is bringing to our attention. Four things in verse 25. The word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Number two, the coming of the anointed one, a prince. Number three, you have seven weeks.

And then number four, you have 62 weeks in troubled times. So the word to rebuild and to restore Jerusalem, I believe, is given by King Artaxerxes. Go home, Google this. King Artaxerxes. And the time of King Artaxerxes would have been in 457 BC.

When King Artaxerxes gave this decree, it was 457 BC. I believe the seven weeks, although separate in language, they are not separate in time. Seven weeks plus 62 weeks comes to 69 weeks, or 483 years.

Then it says in times of trouble. So if you go and you read Ezra and Nehemiah at the time whenever they were sent out to rebuild Jerusalem, Ezra and Nehemiah is what you need to read to understand this.

So I pray that you take the time, go read Ezra and Nehemiah. But it shows, that's where the sword and the trowel. So as they were building the temple, they had a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other.

Because people were coming against them as they were building the temple. So when it says, but it was in times of trouble, it's speaking of the time. If you want to read about that, go read Ezra and Nehemiah.

We don't have time to kind of walk through the whole books right now. So please go do that. 483 years from 457 BC comes to 27 AD. 27 AD, where the coming of the anointed one, a prince, started his ministry.

I believe this prince to be none other than Jesus Christ. So I believe that Jesus Christ was born at 3 BC. Okay, 3 BC. That would have been the time when that rock cut out by no human hand came and hit the statue on the feet.

3 BC. 27 AD, Jesus Christ is baptized and he starts his earthly ministry. So I believe right here where it says, An anointed one, a prince, that is speaking of Jesus Christ. And this would have been at 27 AD.

Where the coming one, the anointed one, a prince. Second point. I'll try to go through this as fast as I can. The rejection of the Messiah. Daniel chapter 9 verse 26. The rejection of the Messiah. And after 62 weeks, an anointed one shall come.

I mean, an anointed one shall be cut off and have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end shall come with a flood. And to its end there shall be war.

Desolation is decreed. Here I see four things that stick out. I'm not trying to make everything four. It's just what's sticking out, okay? If you find five, we can have a debate. So I see four things.

One, 62 weeks. Two, an anointed one comes who is cut off and has nothing. Three, the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city. And four, its end comes with a flood. War and desolation is decreed.

Now, bear with me. This is a lot of information. Like I said at the beginning, this is a fire hose. I'm hitting you with a fire hose. There's no other way to do it. If you're taking notes, I'm sorry. This is not going to be good for you.

62 weeks plus seven weeks equals 69 weeks where the anointed one comes and is cut off. Now here, this anointed one that is cut off is the anointed prince from verse 25. Now if you look for the antecedent, what is the antecedent to the verse of the one who is to be cut off?

It says in the prince, and it says in the people of the prince who shall come, hold on, it says an anointed one shall be cut off and have nothing. So if you look at the anointed one who is to be cut off, the only anointed one, the only antecedent to the anointed one is the anointed prince who is to come in verse 25.

Are you following me? So this one that's going to be cut off is the anointed prince who is to come. The words cut off in verse 26 throughout all church history has always been interpreted as crucifixion.

So they'll look at this verse and they'll say, look, this is Jesus Christ because it's speaking of the crucifixion. I do not take that interpretation. I believe that is a false interpretation, and here's why.

I do not take that position, and here's my reasons. It gives time indicators. It says 70 weeks, which is 490 years. 490 years from 457 B .C. comes to 34 A .D. Minus one week is 483 years or A .D. 27. Remember what I said happened in A .D. 27?

The baptism of Jesus. A .D. 27, the position of, hold on. I take the position that at that time of A .D. 27 is when the anointed one, the prince, who is to come, which is Jesus, which is at his baptism, he started his earthly ministry.

I have Jesus being crucified in A .D., in 30 A .D., not in 27 A .D., during the 69 weeks. So the only way that time indicators make any sense from the time of our exertions, 457 B .C., all you gotta do is you add 490 years, it takes you to 34 A .D.

Jesus started his earthly ministry. There's a period of seven years. You have to go to 27 A .D. That's the 69th week. He didn't get crucified when he started his earthly ministry. Are you following me?

So just by time indicator, him being crucified, cut off, does not add up. The way my brain works, I don't care what you think it is, the text has to make it clear. So by time indicators alone, I disagree with it.

And the words cut off does not mean kill, to be killed, or to be crucified. So when you read the Bible, the words cut off does not mean to kill, to kill, to be killed, or to be crucified. It does mean to be rejected by your people, to be cut off from his people.

Here's two verses. I could give more, but we just do not have the time. Leviticus 7. Leviticus 7, verse 20. Leviticus 7, verse 20. But the person who eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of the Lord's peace offering, while an uncleanness is on him, that person shall be cut off from his people.

Genesis 17, 14. Genesis 17 is dealing with the covenant to Abraham. 17, 14, this is speaking of circumcision. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people.

He has broken my covenant. Nowhere does it say that being cut off is to be crucified. So that's my argument. Time indicators and the fact that it doesn't make sense according to the wording. But it does make sense if you look at it as in John 1, verse 11.

Jesus, speaking of Jesus, he came to his own and his own people did not receive him.

All right?

And also Jesus says of himself in Luke chapter 9, he says, foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. He has been rejected by his people. He does not have anything.

This was during his earthly ministry. The Lord Jesus himself was rejected by his own people, the Jews, and he had nothing. So just to be clear, I take the position that the anointed one being cut off means that he was rejected by his people at the time of his earthly ministry in A .D. 27.

The next two points here in this verse, I believe jumps us beyond the 70 weeks and it takes place at the first Jewish and Roman war which took place in 66 A .D. all the way to 70 A .D. The antecedent to the people of the prince found in verse 24 where it says 70 weeks are declared about your people in your holy city.

When it says your people, he's speaking to Daniel. So this is Daniel, your people, the Jews, the holy city, Jerusalem. Like we ain't got to make anything up, right? Like it's clear in the text. So the antecedent to the people of the prince and the anointed, the antecedent to the prince over the people is the anointed prince which is found in, which is Jesus in verse 25 and 26.

I mean like it says in the people of the prince, so the only prince mentioned is the anointed prince who is to come, shall destroy the city and its sanctuary. So it's saying that the people of the prince, that's the Jews, they shall destroy the sanctuary and its end shall come with a flood.

And we'll touch on that again here in a minute. So the people, the Jews, will destroy Jerusalem and it seems to be very clear that this destruction is decreed by God. Third point, the covenant of the Messiah.

The covenant of the Messiah, verse 27, excuse me, verse 27, and he, now who's the he?

What's the antecedent to the he?

The one that's cut off, the prince who is to come is still speaking about the same person which I believe is Jesus. A dispensational interpretation would say that this is the antichrist. Have y 'all seen any mention of an antichrist?

If you just follow the wording, the he here is Christ and he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week. Remember, he came in 27 AD. One week would be 34 AD. Just have that in your mind. For one week and for half of a week, he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering.

And on the wings of an abomination shall come one he makes desolate until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. So here, again, I see the text giving us four things. One, he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week.

Two, halfway through the week, he shall put an end to sacrifice and offerings. And three, on the wing of abomination shall come one he makes desolate. And four, the decreed end is poured out on the desolation.

So again, the antecedent to the word he has to be, listen, it cannot be anything else. It has to be the anointed prince. The he has to be the anointed prince. It has to be the one who was rejected by his people because of the context.

We talked earlier in Sunday school, we cannot be proof texting stuff. If we proof text, we need context. We're not Jehovah's Witnesses. Do not remember just verses. Remember the context. It's okay if you remember one verse, like verbatim, word for word, but also have the context in mind.

Understand the text. Because of the context, we have to take the he to be Jesus Christ. Jesus started his ministry in the 69th week. It's clear from the text. 27 AD, at this time, he was rejected by his own.

I'm sorry I keep repeating it. I need you to get this. And at this time, the Jews rejected him. And at this time, he made a covenant with the many. Who are the many? Who are the many?

It started with the disciples,.

Those who did not reject him. He made a covenant with the many. Not with everyone, with the many. A certain amount, a certain few. The covenant was to be for one week, seven years. Seven years would put us at the end of the 70 weeks, 490 years, the prophecy of the 490 years, which ended at 34 AD.

This is where the gospel goes out to all nations. This is where Stephen is stoned. This is where Paul is made an apostle. Paul is said to go to the Gentiles, to preach to the Gentiles. This is where Peter sees a vision of a sheep coming down and it has animals on it that they were not allowed to eat.

And he was told to take and eat. He says, I do not eat of things that are unclean. He says, do not call unclean what I have made clean. And what does he do? He gets a call from the God-fearers, the Gentiles who are God-fearers, and he goes and he preaches the gospel to them.

And what happens? They believe, they receive the Holy Spirit.

This was AD 34.

He was dealing with his people, the Jews, for 70 weeks. And we'll get into that in just a second. In the middle of one week, which was three and a half years, Jesus would put an end to sacrifice and offerings.

He says, he shall put an end to sacrifice and offerings. How did he put an end to sacrifice and offerings? The crucifixion. He became our sacrifice. He stood in our stead. Remember the ceremonial law.

How did Jesus fulfill the ceremonial law? By being our sacrifice. How did he fulfill the civil law? By standing in our stead. How did he fulfill the moral law? By living the life that we could not live.

And dying the death that we deserve to die. It's all fulfilled in him. It's the crucifixion. He puts an end to sin by his life, death, and resurrection. There is no more need for a sacrificial system.

That's why the temple has to come down. You and I are the temple of God. It's stated in the text that Jesus is the temple. It's stated in the text that you and I are the temple if we're the body of Christ.

If we're in Christ, there's no need for another temple. So after the one-week covenant is made, after the one-week covenant is over, in 34 AD, the gospel can go to the Gentiles. Okay, the two other things given to us in this verse is like the previous verse that we looked at.

It jumps us beyond the 70 weeks. It says on the wing of an abomination shall come one who makes desolate. Now this is going to be good. If you're a dispensationalist and you're listening, pay attention to this.

And number two is until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. I'm going to give you some context. Now, I'm not going to read all of it, but I challenge you to go back and read all of chapter 9.

I'm only going to read two verses. I'm going to read verse 1 and I'm going to read verse 17. Verse 1 and 17 of chapter 9 of Daniel.

It says,.

In the first year of Darius, the son of Asherah by descent Amin, who was made king over the rim of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the book the number of years that according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet must pass before the end of the desolation of Jerusalem, namely 70 weeks.

So what's the desolation of Jerusalem? Jerusalem was taken captive and that first temple was destroyed. What was the desolation? Jerusalem taken captive out of their land and the first temple destroyed.

Verse 17, listen to this. So in verse 17, beginning at verse 3, he starts reading. If you read it, Daniel begins to pray. So verse 17 is coming towards the end of his prayer. He says this,. Now therefore, O God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to the plea for mercy and for your own sake.

O Lord, make your face shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate, destroyed. So the first temple was destroyed. This was called a desolation.

Okay?

And in verse 9, it says, And on the wing of an abomination shall come one who makes desolate. This is dealing with the 70 weeks. Jesus says in Matthew 24, verse 15 through 16, he says, So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, this is the sanctuary, let the reader understand.

Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Here in verse 24, Jesus is pointing. He's pointing. Look to Daniel chapter 9.

Look there.

He's pointing us to Daniel chapter 9. And in Luke, and in Luke's gospel, speaking of the same event, Jesus is telling us what the abomination of desolation is.

Real quick.

The abomination of desolation is this. But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, what's the abomination of desolation? But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its desolation has come near.

Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let those who are in the city depart. Let not those who are out of the city of the country enter it. I say, man, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies.

And you're a Christian, you better flee. You better leave.

Why?

Because it's about to be destroyed.

So what's the desolation? What's the decree?

The desolation is that the Jews are taken from their land and their temple destroyed.

That's what it is.

This is not a worldwide judgment. How do I know? It says that you flee to the mountains of Jerusalem. If we saw the abomination of desolation take place today, which there's no temple, are we to flee to the mountains of Jerusalem?