Destruction and Decree (Daniel 9: 27) | Adult Sunday School

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Good morning. Do we have contact?

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There we go. I think. Good morning. Welcome to Adult Sunday School, Kootenai Community Church.

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I have a bit of a cold, so I have a cough drop in, and it just occurred to me that on this microphone, it'll probably sound like a train going through a tunnel.

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So I'll be careful about that. Let's open in prayer.

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Father, we look into your all -sufficient word this morning with delight and anticipation.

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We know that you have communicated to us what it is that we need to know to live life in a godly manner for Christ Jesus.

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And so as we finish this chapter 9 of Daniel, Father, the most important thing is that we hear you, and we hear you speak to us through your word about how we can glorify the

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Lord Jesus Christ every day we live. We look forward to that, and we thank you for it.

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Thank you for what you're doing in this church today. In Jesus' name, amen. So to set the stage, a couple of things.

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One, you're not going to get your money's worth this morning, because we're going to finish, I think we're going to finish early. Sometimes I get on rabbit trails.

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But secondly, last time I was with you, I made mention of Daniel keeping notes so he would keep track of this, and it was brought up by one of the folks in this class that it's the

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Holy Spirit that kept Daniel on track, and that needs to be repeated. Daniel's notes, whatever, it is the

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Holy Spirit that makes sure his word is accurate. And so that reference that that fellow made was an excellent reference, and I apologize for not giving it more clarity, but that is true.

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Two, as I was studying this section, sometimes, have you ever tried to take a drink by opening up a fire hydrant fully and sticking your face down in the water, flow of the water there?

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That's kind of what happened this week when I was looking up some of this stuff on the two Messiahs. So I'm going to condense it down.

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But before we get to that, I would like to start this morning out by reading the entire chapter, chapter 9 of Daniel, since we're going to finish it today.

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This will be the most important word you hear all morning. Daniel chapter 9, and I've found the real

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Bible. And so we are back on page 1154, 1155, and 1156, where we belong.

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Daniel chapter 9, in the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the

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Chaldeans. In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books of the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the

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Lord to Jeremiah, the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely 70 years.

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So I gave my attention to the Lord to seek him by prayer and supplications with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

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And I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant and loving kindness for those who love him and keep his commandments.

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We have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from thy commandments and ordinances.

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Moreover, we have not listened to your servants, the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and all the people of the land.

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Righteousness belongs to you, O Lord, but to us open shame as it is this day. To the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all

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Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away, and all the countries to which you have driven them because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against you.

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Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against you.

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To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him, nor have we obeyed the voice of the

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Lord our God to walk in his teachings which he set before us through his servants, the prophets. Indeed, all

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Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, not obeying your voice. So the curse has been poured out on us along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, for we have sinned against him.

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Thus he has confirmed his words which he had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us to bring on us great calamity, for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem.

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As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity came on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the

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Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to your truth. Therefore the

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Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us, for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all his deeds which he has done, but we have not obeyed his voice.

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And now, O Lord our God, who has brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and has made a name for yourself, as it is this day we have sinned, we have been wicked.

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O Lord, in accordance with all your righteous acts, let now your anger and your wrath turn away from your city,

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Jerusalem, your holy mountain, for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers,

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Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all those around us. So now, our

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God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his supplications, and for your sake, O Lord, let your face shine on your desolate sanctuary.

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O my God, incline your ear in here, open your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by your name, for we are not presenting our supplications before you on account of any merits of our own, but on account of your great compassion.

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O Lord, hear, O Lord, forgive, O Lord, listen and take action for your own sake.

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O my God, do not delay because your city and your people are called by your name. Now while I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people

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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

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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,

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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.

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Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make an atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.

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So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the

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Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty -two weeks. It will be built again with plaza and moat even in times of distress.

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Then after the sixty -two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the

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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.

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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.

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And on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate even until a complete destruction. One that is discreet is poured out on the one who makes desolate.

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So remember Daniel spent eighteen verses praying and actually nineteen verses praying, confessing sin and then finally asking for insight, asking for God to come and to restore

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Jerusalem. And that's when Gabriel comes in and gives him this vision, this answer if you will.

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And so the prophets of old had, Daniel had many before him that he could read.

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And the prophets of old, they knew of a coming Messiah, but many of them misunderstood and it's talked about in the

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New Testament, they looked into these things so that they could understand them. And they didn't see the

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Messiah coming humbly and then in power. They saw, they weren't sure exactly what they saw in some cases.

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And so unfortunately because of that many strange philosophies sprang up.

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Today in modern Christendom it is well established biblically that there is one

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Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. He came in humility the first time, but he will come in power the second time.

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It was not so clear as I said in the ancient days. Many people concluded that there were two

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Messiahs. This is a, I'm going to kind of jump around, but sometimes when you go to the internet and you ask a question, you just go, oh boy, why did

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I ask it that way? You get, and that was just the images of one of the things I looked up.

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Okay, I'm going to go back now. Well, when I looked up this issue of the two

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Messiahs, there are several specific websites dedicated to it. There is still quite a following for this idea.

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One was named Messiah Ben -Joseph, the humble, the humble suffering

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Messiah, and the other one was named Messiah Ben -David, the powerful Messiah who would reign in the end.

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There are even some who posited more than two Messiahs. The Talmud posits a leprous

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Messiah. The Essenes believed in a priestly Messiah as well, Messiah Ben -Aaron.

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If I spent the time going into all of those, and I believe it's interesting, and one can study it and maybe receive some edification from it, but for our purposes, we want to illuminate, ask

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God to illuminate the book of Daniel. So I just wanted to give you kind of an overview. By the first century, it had been settled down to two

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Messiahs. The ones mentioned at the beginning of this discussion, Messiah Ben -Joseph and Messiah Ben -David.

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There are multiple, as I said, websites devoted to each of them. There are many scriptures describing the

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Messiah as humble and suffering, including Genesis 3 .15, Isaiah 53, 1 through 12,

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Psalm 22, Zechariah 12 .10, Zechariah 9 .9, Matthew in the

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New Testament 20 .28, and then right here in Daniel 9 .26. And there are equally numerous scriptures describing the

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Messiah as powerful, the one who will reign over all and set all things to right, including

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Micah 5 .2, Isaiah 9 .6 and 7, Psalm 110 .1 through 7,

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Jeremiah 23 .5, Psalm 2 .1 through 12, Isaiah 11 .1

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through 16, and many others. From the time of the Babylonian captivity, observant pious

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Israelites, after the captivity, would have been counting down the years to the coming of the

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Messiah. When Jesus appeared on the scene, the Jews were under the thumb of violent

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Rome. Messianic fervor was at a fever pitch.

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Based upon the scriptures describing Messiah as powerful, the coming

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Messiah would be expected to deliver Israel once and for all from Gentile dominion.

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The message of Zechariah regarding a humble Messiah, a humble king riding in on a donkey, was ignored or forgotten, while the message the prophets gave of the great

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Messiah that would reign over all was given center stage in many cases. When Jesus did not deliver

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Israel from Rome, many were confused. New Testament believers, of course, who studied the whole of scripture, including the growing

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New Testament of their day, understood from the words of Christ and from the apostles that there was one

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Messiah who would come in humility but was going to return in great power.

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The Lord Jesus Christ is the single Messiah spoken of throughout all of the Old Testament as coming and as coming again.

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It's spoken of in the Old Testament. And throughout the New Testament as having come and coming again.

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Thus, we understand that both Daniel 7 .13 and Zechariah 9 .9 are both true of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Daniel 7 .13 says, I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like the

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Son of Man was coming. And he came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. He came with great power.

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And Zechariah 9 says, verse 9 says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout in triumph,

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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.

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So we understand, and many pious Jews did then, understood that the

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Messiah was to come twice. And thus, we have the gap of time evident in Daniel between the first coming of the humble

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Messiah and the second coming of the powerful, world -conquering Messiah. So last week, we finished...no,

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last time we were together, a couple of weeks ago, we finished the phrase for one week talking about the covenant and that the end times ruler would make with the many,

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Israel. I want to point out another bit of information about that term, the many.

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There will be plenty in Israel who will know better, especially Messianic Jews, Jews who understand the

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New Testament and believe it and have trusted Christ for salvation. They will understand that Jesus isn't making this covenant.

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This is being made by an evil man. So we've already established, it says, the next phrase is, but in the middle of the week.

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We are in verse 27, and he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week.

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So we've already established grammatically that the he spoken of here is the prince who is to come, the

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Antichrist. We have also established that based on the fact that none of the actions of the one described here have ever been taken by Christ, this is yet future.

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Oh, by the way, Josh sent me something today. I did discover to my dismay that the Antichrist has already come.

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His name is Benjamin Netanyahu, I guess. And he's already made covenants, and you can't make some of this stuff up.

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I won't get off into the weeds here, but this was quite a long dissertation about some of what is going on today and how it is fulfilling this.

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I'm not saying that there aren't historical happenings that are part of fulfilling

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Scripture, but we aren't here yet. We're not in the middle of the week.

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This is yet future. The word for middle means half or midst. Without a preposition, the phrase could be translated for the half of the week.

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At any rate, what is in mind here is the beginning point of a new action that takes place in the middle of the seven -year period, that is halfway, which is three and a half years in.

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So in the middle of the week, something new happens. The next phrase is, he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering.

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The fact is that the Antichrist will put a stop to the activities.

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That implies that they had begun, that they had begun again, because they're not happening now.

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And the fact that they had begun implies a temple. The prince who is to come makes a political legal treaty with the

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Israelites, the Jews, that includes obviously their ability to sacrifice and to build their temple.

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Typical of demagogues, with this man being the worst demagogue ever in history, the treaty is summarily broken halfway through.

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This is typical of all heads of wicked states and will be most typical of the

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Antichrist. How many people in here trust politicians?

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Okay, then what we're reading here is probably accurate, huh? It's accurate because it's the word of God. But we all know where our trust lies.

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And this is the same kind of thing. He makes a treaty, and then when the treaty starts apparently to go wrong for him, he breaks the treaty.

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It is likely that at this period in time, anti -Semitism will cause the Gentile nations to likely applaud such a decision.

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Antiochus Epiphanes did the same thing, and he is considered typical of the Antichrist. So the temple sacrifices, the building of the temple and the temple sacrifices which had begun at the beginning of this treaty or were initiated when this treaty was started, are now stopped.

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And the next phrase, and on the wing of abomination. This is a difficult phrase to translate.

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The word translated as wing comes from a root which means to cover over. It is used in Isaiah 8 .8

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in a destructive sense as well. The word for abominations means things detestable, especially in the realm of religion or false worship.

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And it often refers to false idols. Dr. Leon Wood points out, two things must be kept in mind when working through this phrase.

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First, when Jesus referred to this phrase in Matthew 24, 15 and in Mark 13, 14, as just noted and spoke of the abomination of desolation as something standing in the holy place.

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In passing, it may be noted that his manner of reference makes likely the fact that desolation used by him in the genitive is to be taken in the sense of something desolating, rather than something desolated.

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Second, the meaning here must be parallel and to an activity of Antiochus Epiphanes, because in 11, boy,

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I can't bump things. Because in Daniel 11, 31, the same phrase, abomination of desolation is used in reference to something established by him.

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Significantly, in both passages, this one, in 11, 31, which comes from referring to chapter 12, verse 11, the mention of this abomination immediately follows a statement regarding the taking away of daily sacrifices, thus implying that in some way, it took their place.

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Since, remember, both Antiochus and the Antichrist will want the worship of the world to go to them.

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Antiochus wanted to be worshipped, and the Antichrist will want to be worshipped. This mention, as I said, immediately follows, so it implies that it took their place.

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Since Antiochus was typical of the Antichrist, the thought follows that Daniel's mention of this abomination in respect to the times of each was to show further parallel between them.

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In 1st Maccabees 1, 45 through 54, and that's up here on the right, an indication is given of the nature of the abomination in Antiochus' day.

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It states that what he did, following his order forbidding burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings in the temple, was to set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar and build the idol altars throughout the cities of Judah on every side.

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Then, in Maccabees 6, 2, which is second down on the left, because that's where it fit, it is indicated that in this way he polluted the temple in Jerusalem and called it the

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Temple of Jupiter Olympus, Olympias. Whether this abomination was actually a statue of Jupiter or only a substitute altar on which to worship him is not sure, but it is quite sure that it was one thing or the other.

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So Antiochus did this, and the Antichrist, of whom Antiochus was typical, will do something of the same nature.

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These two matters point to the overall thought as being that the Antichrist, like Antiochus, will set up in the holy place, in the restored temple, something detestable, like a false altar or a great statue, which will cause a desolate condition there, likely as the nature of worship's refusing to come to the temple under these conditions.

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Worshipful Jews will follow the law precisely in the restored temple.

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And when the Antichrist breaks the treaty in the middle of the seven years and sets up this abomination, they will not come to the temple to worship.

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They will stay away from it. Two words that form the most difficult part to translate in this are the

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Hebrew words translated, and on the wing, in the King James, and for the overspreading.

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Both translations are technically correct. This is a parallel thought to its use in Isaiah 8, speaking of the

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Euphrates jumping its banks and desolating its land, desolating the land around it.

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In Isaiah 8 .8, that word is used to describe the Euphrates River jumping its bank and desolating the land around it.

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The idea in either respect here, or as pointed out in Isaiah 8, is that the

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Antichrist, similar to what Antiochus did, will cause the sacrifice and offering to cease and bring it to being, causing a great influence of a detestable statue or altar in the temple that will have a desolating effect.

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As we would understand, we understand when people use our Lord's name in vain. That is detestable to us.

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When they blaspheme the Lord Jesus Christ, that is detestable to us. It actually, in some cases, it hurts to hear some of those things.

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This is what's going to happen in the temple and how it will feel to the pious Jew at the time. So that is on the wing of abominations.

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The next phrase is, even until a complete destruction. So the word translated destruction comes from a root which means an end or a completion, something finished.

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The idea is it refers to a length of time that considers an activity carried out within that time.

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You have 15 minutes to clean your room or you will be desolate. There's an act that will be carried out in that time.

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The word means finished, but it can mean destruction or desolation. So this is the 70th week and the activities carried out within that week are under contemplation here.

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Specifically, it is referring to the last half of the seven -year period in which the complete desolations occur there, talked about in reference to the

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Great Tribulation, Jacob's trouble. And those are detailed in Revelation, chapters actually 5 through 19, but primarily 6 through 18, if you look into that.

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Even until a complete destruction or a complete finishing and then destruction. So the next phrase is, one that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate.

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So this is the decree of Yahweh. It either refers, as the King James suggests, to the wrath in Jacob's trouble that is poured out on the

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Israelites, or it refers to the wrath poured out on the one who makes desolate, which would be the judgment of the

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Lord Jesus Christ on the Antichrist. Either way, the wrath will be poured out until God determines that it is finished, until the end, until the completion is done, until it is complete.

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If Gabriel is implying that the wrath will be poured out on the desolator, the Antichrist, then it is referring to the extreme divine judgment that the

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Antichrist will receive at the hand of God upon the consummation of the age. And do you realize that when the world sees this happen, they will raise their fists and call the rocks down on them?

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Still, unbelief is unbelievable. You can quote that. Amazing.

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But without the illumination, without the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, that is what they will do. They will see the

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Messiah and the beginning of the end, actually, the tail end of the end, the beginning of the tail end of the end, if you want to call it that, and they will still refuse to believe.

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If Gabriel is implying that the wrath will be poured out on the desolate, then it is referring to Yahweh's sovereign choice to judge

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Israel until the judgment is done. And as verse 24 says, to finish the transgression and to make an end of sin.

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If this is referring to the judgment on Israel, this will finish their transgression, make an end of their personal sin, and it will usher in the turning of Israel to Yahweh, to God.

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God knows just what kind of desolations are necessary to turn Israel back to him. In either respect, it will be that which precedes that.

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Reynolds showers, he does an excellent job of summarizing this verse, and indeed, this entire section.

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Here's what he said. He said, the new revelation, this new revelation delivered by Gabriel offered Daniel the twofold prospect of despair and hope.

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Let me jump away from that for a minute. Remember in Daniel's prayers, he's asking for a restoration of Jerusalem, and he's asking for the desolations to cease.

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And for a time, that happens. But what Daniel gets to see is that Yahweh is going to reintroduce,

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God is going to reintroduce those kinds of things until Israel truly turns to her savior, to her

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Messiah. And that will take a long time. That had to be a very difficult pill for Daniel to swallow, although as a man of God, he would have understood it was necessary.

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So it offers Daniel the twofold prospect of despair and hope. Jerusalem would be rebuilt with her defenses after the

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Babylonian captivity, but that would not be the end of Israel's troubles. In spite of the fact that this prophecy informed

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Israel of the exact time when Messiah would be present to present himself as a prince to the nation, the

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Jews would have him put to death. As a result of their rejection of the Messiah in his first coming,

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Israel would miss the opportunity of lasting peace at that time, and would bring upon itself many more desolations, including the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the

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Romans in AD 70. And the final but worst desolations by Antichrist, the last

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Roman ruler. Once all the chastening which God had decreed for Israel in Jerusalem had run its course, then

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Israel would return to God forever and experience blessing. Ultimately, there would be blessing, but Israel would have to experience a long time, including the 490 decreed years of chastening to reach that blessing.

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In light of the revelation in Daniel 9, it can be concluded that Israel's present independence and possession of Jerusalem is only a temporary low in what is to be the norm for that nation and city until the end of the decreed 490 years.

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In essence, it is a call before the worst storm that Israel will ever experience. Jesus said that Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the

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Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles will be fulfilled in Luke chapter 21 verse 24. Daniel 2 and Daniel chapter 7 indicated that those times will not be fulfilled until the second coming of Christ.

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Daniel had to...that had to be a struggle for him to see that his beloved people and his beloved city were going to continue to experience difficulties.

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But what did he do? He continued serving God with his whole heart. That should be a call to us, folks.

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So this incredible prophecy details just after Daniel's time, 49 years, to rebuild

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Jerusalem and the temple, followed by 434 years until Messiah comes for the first time as a humble, suffering servant who will hang on the cross as predicted in Isaiah and pay for the sins of the elect.

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Messiah will then be cut off. Jesus was cut off. He was killed and the church age will begin.

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None of the promises of Israel have been abrogated. None of the promises to Israel have been abrogated. Israel will be restored to the land that Abraham was promised at the second coming.

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But understanding the literal nature of this scripture, that in between the 69th and 70th week of the 483 years and the final seven years is a very large gap, something on the order of two millennia.

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The people of the prince that will come in the end times destroy the city of Jerusalem 37 years after the resurrection.

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That was Titus' destruction of Jerusalem. Israel must endure more wars and desolations until the time will come when they will turn back.

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They will turn to the Messiah, to Yahweh. Great desolations will occur in the final years of recorded history.

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At some point, the church will be taken to heaven to be with Christ. After this, the Antichrist will rise to power.

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Make a covenant with Israel for seven years, but break the covenant in three and a half years.

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He will then, as Jesus said, perpetuate the abomination of desolation, standing in the holy place.

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Once Yahweh has determined that Israel has had enough, and that the Antichrist has proceeded far enough, he will end things.

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And understand, this isn't like some of the science fiction we watched where it's a pitched battle back and forth and you don't really...

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There is no contest here. God is using this to stage a great event which will point to his glory, which we will be able to sing the praises of for millennia to come.

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There's not a chance that there's any possibility of the Antichrist winning, but nevertheless, there will be the look of that.

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Once Yahweh decides that Antichrist has proceeded far enough, he will end things. Jesus Messiah will return and sit on the throne of David.

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Of course, there is a great deal more to it than that, and it is fleshed out in Revelation 6 -18, as well as in many other places in Scripture.

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Daniel was given enough from Gabriel to understand that Israel would have a time of peace, followed by continued wars and desolations, followed by turning to their

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Messiah, receiving the promises that Yahweh gave them, and entering into their rest. But it occurs over a great period of time.

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When Jesus stood up in the temple in chapter 4 of Luke and quoted most of Isaiah 61, chapter 61, verses 1 and 2, of course, he knew exactly what he was doing.

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His understanding of the fact that there were still many long years before his triumphal return, coupled with his sovereignty in stating that he was the fulfillment of that entire

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Scripture, in their hearing that day, he was the fulfillment of the first part, which applied to his first coming.

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And that had quite an effect on the people in that day. Let's look at this again. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

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Jesus said, because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the

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Lord. And I forgot one important part, and I don't want to misquote it, so I'm going to look it up. You'll find out if I know where Luke is.

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Thank you for your patience. And he closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down, and all of the synagogue, the eyes of all the synagogue were fixed upon him.

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And he began to say to them, today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

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And all were speaking well of him and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from his lips. They knew what he was saying.

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He was claiming to be the Messiah. Look at the bold. That is what he left off.

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That refers to his second coming. That part of Isaiah 61, 1, and 2 was not fulfilled in that day in the temple, but will be fulfilled in the future.

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And so Jesus, in his own inimitable, wonderful way, gave credence to the gap as well, for our purposes, as we try to understand this.

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But for him, it's one picture, because he wrote the book. He wrote the book. He stopped short of repeating the entire quote.

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He did not mention the tribulation period, which was spoken of in the last phrase of Isaiah 61, 2, because he was introducing himself into the church age.

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The time of Jacob's trouble, also known as the day of vengeance, was yet to come. And this is what

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Daniel was speaking about in the end of verse 27. This is what is known as a double reference. This is not to be confused with what's called a double fulfillment.

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As one commentator said of the rule of double reference in his book regarding Messiah, he was commenting on Zechariah 9, 9, and 10.

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I think I brought that one, or not. Did I do that?

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Okay, I'm pretty handy with this thing. I think I just broke something. So, looking at Zechariah 9, 9, and 10, this is what this commentator said.

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This rule should not be confused with another rule often called double fulfillment. This author, speaking of himself, does not accept the validity of the principle of double fulfillment.

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This law states that the passage may have a near and a far view, hence, in a way, it may be fulfilled twice.

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This author does not believe that there is such a thing as double fulfillment. A single passage can refer to one thing only, and if it is prophecy, it can have only one fulfillment unless the text itself states that it may have many fulfillments.

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The law of double reference differs from the law of double fulfillment in that the former double reference states that while two events are blended into one picture, one part of the passage refers to one event, and the other part of the passage to the second event.

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This is the case in Zechariah 9, 9, and 10. Rejoice greatly, Zechariah 9, 9 says.

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Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you.

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He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

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The first coming. Verse 10. Remember, originally scripture didn't have verse assignments.

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This was one statement. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be cut off, and he will speak peace to the nations, and his dominion will be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the north.

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So the coming humbly was the first coming spoken of in verse 9. The coming in power was the second coming spoken in verse 10.

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A double reference, not a double fulfillment. In the same way, there is a gap between Daniel 9 .26

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and Daniel 9 .27. There is also a gap here in Zechariah, and thus the literal interpretation of this section bears the fruit of understanding that a long period ushered in after the death, burial, and resurrection of the

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Lord Jesus Christ came to pass. One of the things we treated earlier was a review of what the early church believed about Daniel, Daniel chapter 9.

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And I referenced some of the early church fathers and what their views were, that they were eschatological, that they were pre -tribulational, that they were millennial, if you will.

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Of course, our doctrine must be informed by scripture and scripture alone.

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But having demonstrable historical reference to the fact that the early church fathers envisioned the same gap we have been talking about adds some historical context to this view.

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Irenaeus, who lived from 130 to 200 AD, and his disciple Hippolytus, who lived from 170 to 236, were clearly in the eschatological group as opposed to the historical group regarding the discoveries or the prophecies of Daniel 9.

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So the eschatological group believed that it was future, that there was a millennium, that there was a gap, if you will, or a time period.

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The historical believed they had been fulfilled. Hippolytus said in his commentary, he said, for when the threescore and two weeks are fulfilled, and by the way, he was one of the first people to write a commentary on anything in the

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Bible. And guess which book he wrote a commentary on? Daniel. For when the threescore and two weeks are fulfilled and Christ has come and the gospel is preached in every place, the times being then accomplished, there will remain only one week, the last in which

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Elias will appear in Enoch in the midst of the abomination of desolation manifested by the

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Antichrist announcing desolation to the world. So admittedly, this is not as refined as the concept is today, but it was a reflection of the fact that the scholars in the early church believed in the gap between 69th and 70th weeks.

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Further, Jerome, commenting on the book of Daniel, would not set forth his own interpretation, so he simply records the views up to his time, which was 340 to 420.

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So if he was born in 340, this would have been like 360 and on, 370.

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I don't think he wrote when he was born. Sometimes we forget that. When we reference someone's period of living, we think, oh, he wrote that in 320.

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No, in 340, I mean. No, he was born in 340. He wrote it sometime later in his life. So he wouldn't set forth his own interpretation.

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He acknowledges that one named Africanus views the passages as eschatological. There were numerous comments in that era.

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Eusebius, considered the father of church history, although espousing a historical view, places a gap of time between the 69th and 70th weeks.

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There were other writers as well. I could name them. And Augustine later on commented that they had a different view than him, because he was one of the major proponents of some of the allegorical interpretations of Scripture that have yielded some of the things we read today that are inaccurate, that are not according to literal interpretation.

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So again, it must be remembered that these historical footnotes offer corroboration and context of the time gap, but only

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Scripture can be used to develop the doctrine itself. The fact is, and we just finished

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Daniel chapter 9, that this section, which is 24, 25, 26, and 27, the one that everybody focuses on, was preceded by 1 through 23.

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And in that, 19 verses were totally dedicated to prayer, supplication, and confession.

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And I believe that it is one of the reasons, if not the major reason, because that was the lifestyle

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Daniel had that God saw fit to give him this revelation. Now we'll see later on as we go through the last chapters of Daniel that he didn't understand everything he was given, but he faithfully recorded it.

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As was mentioned earlier, it was the Holy Spirit that brought that to his mind, and mentioned a couple weeks ago.

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So with that, do we have any questions? And you're going to need to study 1

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Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, Revelation, all of Revelation, but primarily 5 through 20, 5 through 19.

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And there may come a day when we will put some of this together in that way. Probably won't be me, because I'm too slow, but this has had a profound impact on the way

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I have viewed. I have not spent the time I needed in studying eschatological concepts, and I've been very grateful for this opportunity to do that.

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And I did ask if there were any questions. Did I see a hand start to go up? Yes. No.

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I know that's kind of a blatant statement, but I think that the question was, can you understand

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Revelation without understanding Daniel? I know this is going to sound pedantic, but David has said this,

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David Forsyth, which is where I first heard it, and it was like a light bulb went on. I think several people saw it. What happened above your head,

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Razor? You read the book left to right. You read the book left to right.

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And much of what takes place in those chapters in Revelation is based upon what

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Daniel had to say. In chapter 2, in chapter 7, in chapter 8, in chapter 9, and again, we'll see in 11, 12, and 13, 11 and 12.

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And so I think that if I was born in a place that only had the book of Revelation translated,

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I would be able to understand enough to be comforted, to understand that God is in charge, to understand that he has ordained history exactly as he designed it, to understand that his people have a place, the

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Israelites have a place, their promises will be exacted, that the Gentiles have been grafted in, although those are taught in the gospels, in the epistles.

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But if I just had Revelation, I could understand enough to be comforted about the end times. But to fully understand

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Revelation, I think humans, we need the whole book. We need the whole counsel of Scripture.

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Daniel is a major part of that. But also, Zechariah and Jeremiah and Micah, they add just, it's like, all of the books of the

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Bible are great, so this is going to be a poor comparison. But if Daniel was a diamond, then the rubies and sapphires gathered around it are the other prophets and judges, the history of Israel.

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Oh, so Israel is really bad? How do I know that? Read Judges. Read 1 and 2 Chronicles.

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And then you go, oh yeah, I'm sure glad I'm not like that. Except you won't say that if you're a born -again believer.

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You'll know you're like that. I'm sorry, that was a long -winded answer. But I think you need the book of Daniel to fully understand

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Revelation. That's my opinion. Yes. So the question is asked, where do

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I find comfort in Revelation? I find it because God said that prophecy is a comfort. And so I'm going to believe what he said first.

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And then I'm going to look at the book and say, okay, this is another confirmation that everything he said before, this is absolutely true.

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There's comfort for believers, but not comfort for unbelievers. So for believers, every word of prophecy, every word of scripture, even the words that say, when the

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Holy Spirit uses it in your heart to convict you of sin, righteousness, and judgment, that is a comfort because he is actively at work growing you into a genuine believer.

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An actual, genuine, walking -the -beat, walking -the -rubber -on -the -road

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Christianity believer. So there's comfort in every prophecy. It's to be found in the fact that God is sovereign.

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He is sovereign. Yes. So the gift of God is for us to understand.

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The natural man will not understand these. If you're born again, if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, he will give you the illumination you need to understand it.

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And that's a comfort too. It is comforting. But not to the unbeliever, not to the unbeliever.

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And so don't shy away from presenting the gospel in all of its difficult glory though, because the

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Holy Spirit is the one who opens the hearts and minds to understand the scripture. And if we're faithful to share it, all of it, the whole counsel of God, not that you're going to spend four hours on one little street corner, maybe you will, giving the gospel to one person, unless God calls you to do that.

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All of the scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction. All of it, every bit of it.

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So exciting. Daniel's the best book in the Bible right now, because that's the one we're in.

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Any other questions? I'm sorry, I ran long, like I usually do. Yes. Zechariah 9, 9 and 10.

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That prophecy presents the Messiah coming as a humble riding on a donkey, a colt.

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And then the next, very next verse presents him as imposing peace and encompassing the entire land from the river to the north and stopping wars.

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That comes in the end times. Humble Messiah came in Palestine.

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It was Jesus during 30 AD. He came in 4 BC, but I mean, his ministry was 30 to 33

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AD. Then he comes again and he hasn't come again yet. That's the second verse, Zechariah 9, 10.

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Okay, let's close in prayer. Father, it's your word and it's most important that we'd be studying it, reading it and listening to the rest of scripture to comment on it.

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You are your own best interpreter and we are so grateful for that. Thank you, Lord, this morning that this section of Daniel leaves us with hope, with comfort, with encouragement, but with a bit of consternation for those we know whom we love who do not believe.

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I pray that this would be a stirring to cause us to spread the gospel even more because only those who are the elect, only those who trust

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Christ will escape this kind of coming judgment. And we would have that for all those whom we love.

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Thank you, Lord, for your sovereignty. I know that sounds like a strange thank you, but thank you for your sovereignty.

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It is a blessing and an encouragement every day. Help us to go forward from this this morning and make great the name of the