[0:00] How's everyone this morning? Boy, how's everyone this morning? Good, yeah, right? We had some sunshine this morning, kind of an early Sunday tease, all right?
[0:13] So in case you don't know, we are in Daniel chapter 9. Daniel chapter 9, Carl read it for us this morning. I know you might not know this, but we're actually in a series called The Life of Christ.
[0:28] The Life of Christ. And in this series, we are at the point where Jesus Christ is entering into Jerusalem for the last time.
[0:41] For the last time. It is now the Passion Week. And it kind of, when we start to try to understand how significant this triumphal entry is, or what is known as Palm Sunday, we'd be ignorant to ignore the words of Daniel chapter 9 about this event in time.
[1:05] In terms of its, how do I say this, the physical event when Jesus entered Jerusalem on that Sunday, there was no other event like it in history.
[1:17] Jesus came into it a shouting and adoring crowd. Jesus took the streets. Matthew actually says it almost shook as if there was an earthquake.
[1:28] Jesus was the subject on everyone's lips. They shouted from the rooftops, Hosanna, the son of David.
[1:39] Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. It was them, the Jewish people, welcoming their Messiah. We see in the words they spoke, they were fulfilling the prophecies of Psalm 118.
[1:57] However, as we know, the Jews were expecting a king that would throw off the Roman yoke of occupation. And instead of marching in with an army on a great white steed, he came in on the foal of a donkey.
[2:14] Complete humility to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah 9.9. It was an incredible day.
[2:26] And it is a significant day when it comes to us understanding world history. To fully comprehend the significance of this day, we need to understand Daniel chapter 9.
[2:42] Last Sunday, I was trying to come up with a word that would describe the significance of this day. The Presbyterian pastor, James Montgomery Boyce, who has since gone to be with the Father in heaven, stated that this is the backbone of prophecy.
[3:01] That Daniel 9 is the backbone of prophecy. For this is the chapter that gives us our framework to understand most other prophecies that we find in the Bible.
[3:14] I don't know if you knew that. So please turn with me in Daniel chapter 9 if you haven't already. If you were with us last week, I shared with you how Daniel chapter 9, it's kind of the pivotal verse.
[3:27] It's the hinge between the old and the new. It's the hinge that describes what happened in the past, living with the consequences of their sin and the hope that is to be tomorrow.
[3:41] That is this chapter. Understanding Daniel 9 helps us to understand God's plan going forward for God's people.
[3:54] Last Sunday, and I'd encourage you, if you weren't here, to go back and listen to last week's sermon because I kind of summarized the Old Testaments through three covenants that God gave God's people.
[4:08] Remember those covenants, right? The first covenant was the Abrahamic covenant, right? 2,000 years BC. That was when God called Abraham out of the land, of his land, which was in Mesopotamia, called him to Canaan and said, hey, this is going to be your land.
[4:26] You're going to be my people. And all people from this day forward are going to be blessed through you. Remember five years later, there was another covenant. You guys remember what that covenant was? The Mosaic covenant, great.
[4:37] That's when God called Moses and his people out of Egypt. And in Exodus 19 said, hey, there's going to be a covenant. Now, there was a little bit of a difference between the Mosaic and the Abrahamic covenant.
[4:50] And notice in Exodus 19, I'll read it to you. It says, you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.
[5:01] Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples.
[5:13] For all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.
[5:25] See, God's goal with Israel is that through their obedience and following of God's ways, that they would be an example to other nations. They would be a blessing, that they would be a light in the darkness.
[5:39] It was to demonstrate that their God was real, that their God was the covenant-making God, that in fact their God was noble. Remember that word Yahweh that we hear from the Hebrew?
[5:51] There's two words that we see in the Old Testament. One is Elohim, and the other one is Yahweh. Elohim speaks of God's transcendence, His glory in creation.
[6:04] He's the God above all gods. But there's this word Yahweh that God also uses, which is the covenant-keeping God, the personal God, the God that you can know.
[6:17] And if you think about this for any length of time, what would have been like to live in a foreign nation where you did not know about God? You would know that there is a God, right?
[6:29] Natural creation speaks out, declares that there is a God, but you do not know Him. You don't know how to please Him. Remember, even Paul talks about that.
[6:40] We know when we transgress God. Even if you've never heard of God, you know when you've sinned. You know when you've broken the law, the law that is written on any man's heart.
[6:53] And just think how horrible that would have been for those people to not know how to make amends. Right? It would have been a horrible, torturous life.
[7:06] You're fixated on creating these idols out of rocks and wood, and then you're trying to please them. You're trying to say, hey, I'm sorry. Because you know that you have offended this great and glorious God that you see throughout all creation that makes the rain fall and the sun come up.
[7:29] What a horrible plight that is. And by the way, that is still the plight of people today who reject God. Amen? That's why they are absolutely lost in trying to come up with some form of justice to demonstrate their righteousness before God, but yet they stumble around in the dark in absolute foolishness, dare I say stupidity.
[7:55] But this was God, the covenant-keeping God, who reveals Himself to Israel. This Mosaic covenant was never a means of salvation, but the intended way for Israel to show its love and commitment to God.
[8:11] Think of the Ten Commandments. We keep them, not because they earn us salvation, but we understand it's our demonstration of love and for other people.
[8:23] In fact, when Jesus Christ was asked what the most important commandment was in Matthew 22, he simply responded, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
[8:36] This is the great and first commandment, and a second is like it. You shall love the neighbor as yourself. That was everything that is included from the Mosaic covenant, but there was a condition on that.
[8:51] And then, of course, we have the Davidic covenant, which occurred around 1000 BC, and it was given to Israel's greatest king. 2 Samuel 7 summarizes it this way.
[9:03] It says, When your days are fulfilled, and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
[9:16] He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men.
[9:32] But my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.
[9:47] Your throne shall be established forever. So we have this group of people that God has called, and they're living in Israel, and they've been called to follow him. And we know the story, right?
[9:59] It's a sad story. It's a story of people who constantly turn their back from God. And finally, God finally says, after several thousand years, it's time to end.
[10:15] So when we read in 700 BC, the Assyrians come in and wipe out the northern part of Israel, Israel, and around 600 BC, God sends the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, who were a wicked people, to come in and punish God's people.
[10:33] And this is where the story of Daniel begins. He's in the first exile. He's removed from Jerusalem and taken to Babylon, where he will serve in the king's court from there going forward.
[10:45] There's three places where most Jews are at this point. They're either A, in captivity. Two, they're scattered to the four corners of the world.
[10:58] Or they're dead. Jerusalem is no more. The temple is no more. It seems to be the end of God's people.
[11:08] When the Babylonians came in and they removed the people, they did certain things. One of the things that they did is they removed them from their family. And they did that.
[11:18] And they only took people, kids to serve in the king's court that were young enough that they knew they could program to the Babylonian ways. You know, you with me on that one? Right?
[11:29] We old people, right, we're unprogrammable, right? But those younger ones, I know some of you guys are saying, hey, I'm still programmable at 72. God be praised. You know, but, so he's got these people.
[11:42] So what they would do is they'd strip you of your family. They'd strip you of your name. They'd even give you a whole new name to identify you. You'd have to speak their language. You no longer spoke your language.
[11:54] You were no longer able to practice your customs, your religion, or your heritage. But Daniel's got something that no one else has. He's got this faith, and he's got this faith in God.
[12:09] So the question that always comes up is why is Daniel in exile with Israel? And Jeremiah 29, 19 sums it up so perfectly.
[12:21] It's because you did not pay attention to my words, says God, that I persistently sent you by my servants, the prophets, but you would not listen.
[12:40] Over and over and over, God sent his personal representatives to his people. Please listen. Please listen.
[12:52] Please come back to the ways of the Lord. Simply put, Israel did not abide by the Mosaic Covenant. In fact, God uses the term adultery to define their spiritual condition.
[13:08] So here is Daniel. He's now been in exile for the majority of his life. We know that the exile of Jerusalem would be 70 years.
[13:19] And Daniel 9 occurs at the end of this time. Somewhere probably between 50 and 70. He's got about 20 years to go.
[13:32] And he begins this prayer. And this is Daniel 9, chapter 3. Daniel chapter 1 gives us the time frame. What's happened is Babylon Empire is no more.
[13:42] The Persians now rule. And if you remember last week, I ended the sermon off with Daniel 9, 3. When Daniel says, Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer, and pleased for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
[14:02] The prayer that Carl read, and I will not repeat it, but there's three phases to the prayer. And I don't want to spend too much time, but it's a sermon unto itself.
[14:13] The first phase, which occurs in verses 4 to 11, is a confession of Daniel and his people's sin. Daniel recognizes that he's wronged God, and the only way that he sees is to confess that sin.
[14:30] The second phase, which we find in verses 11 to 14, is the acknowledgement that it's because of this sin that the just judgments of God's have come upon them.
[14:42] What that means is, we're not in exile because of some wrong God did. We're not in exile because God didn't understand. We're not in exile because God was too cruel or too harsh.
[14:58] No, he's declaring that God had every right, and in his perfect justice, had every right to exile us, to destroy our city, and to destroy our temple.
[15:10] So, it's interesting. I remember, I don't know, it must have been at least 10 years ago, and you guys know who John Piper is? He's a pretty well-known Christian guy, and he was speaking.
[15:23] I was living in Chicago at the time, and I went to hear him speak at this university, and this woman started arguing with John Piper on theology, and the point that she was trying to argue is she couldn't believe a just God could send just people to hell.
[15:41] She really believed in her heart that there was people in hell by accident, without fully knowing that that was God's perfect justice, that there's no one in hell, the Bible teaches, that is there by accident.
[15:57] They're there because they have refused God, not just once, but even when we read and how he reads out to his people, but over and over and over again.
[16:09] It's usually not just a one-time rejection. It's usually a lifetime of rejection of God's word and God's truth that someone goes to hell. So she was here arguing without understanding that God is perfect, because God is perfect, his justice is perfect.
[16:33] And this is what Daniel is acknowledging. And then finally, the third phase of his prayer, which is in verse 15 and 19, Daniel simply pleads for God's mercy.
[16:47] He knows our sin deserves death, punishment, punishment rightly has been applied, how do I get out of it?
[17:00] There's only one way, people. And it's a simply, simple plead for God's mercy. In this prayer, there's an acknowledgement of sin, there's an understanding that sin brings God's righteous judgment.
[17:19] And the third truth is there is no righteousness that you or I or Israel or Daniel can claim. that the only thing man can do is plead for God's mercy.
[17:35] What's interesting about this prayer is Daniel counts himself amongst his people even though he was not the one who killed the prophets.
[17:46] He was not the one who denied the words. But he knows as part of God's people, he's a part of the human condition and understands that no one complete innocence.
[18:01] Notice he simply says in verse 4, I pray to the Lord my God, made confession O saying, O Lord, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant instead, vast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.
[18:16] Simply admits in verse 5, we have sinned and done wrong. We've acted wickedly and rebelled. Verse 6 says, we have not listened to the servants, your prophets. And verse 7, he says, to you, O Lord, we have open shame.
[18:32] Verse 8, to us, O Lord, belongs open shame again. Verse 9, we've rebelled. Verse 10, we've not obeyed. We've turned away.
[18:46] We've not obeyed your voice. And then finally, if you look at verse 16, he says, O Lord, according to your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill because of our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers.
[19:06] Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. Do you understand the significance? Israel was created to be the nation that reflected God's glory to the world.
[19:23] And now they were the joke. They were the butt end of the joke to the world. What does that say about God, their lives?
[19:35] Verse 17, now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary which is desolate.
[19:50] O my God, incline your ear in here. Open your eyes and see our desolations in the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.
[20:09] O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not for your own sake. O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.
[20:27] Is that not the prayer of all prayers? Is that true today just as it was 2,600 years ago? There's no blame shifting.
[20:39] There's no excuses. There's no we don't deserve this. But this is what sets up the next section of this chapter.
[20:59] We're supposed to be in that first event. We're supposed to relate to it. We get it. And then God answers, right? Let's take a look at verse 20. God responds to Daniel through an angel.
[21:15] It says, While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my plea before the God, the Lord, my God, for the holy hill of my God, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, who I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of evening sacrifice, he made me understand, speaking with me and saying, Oh, Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding.
[21:44] At the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved.
[21:58] You guys remember Ephesians 2? When God calls us, what's the reason why God calls us to him? Because of his great love for us.
[22:13] That if you are the redeemed, the covenant people of God, I'm not talking Jewish, I'm talking spiritual, you are loved. You are loved and you hear this plea.
[22:25] And now we get into the prophecy. Are you guys kind of with me at the flow of how important this chapter is? This chapter reflects all of humanity from the past to the present to today.
[22:41] There's no place for us to go but to plea to God. And so he gives us this prophecy, which I'm going to unpack for you, and I pray you'll just see the power in it, and just how amazing it is, and how everything that the people were waiting for, we see beginning in the triumphal entry of the Passion Week, which brings about the sacrifice that is offered for our sin.
[23:13] All right, let's take a look at verse 24. The angel tells them, 70 weeks are decreed about your people in your holy city to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
[23:42] This is the prophecy that is talking about the rest of our existence here on earth. And I know it doesn't seem like that when we read it, but this is what I want to do today. I want to unpack it so you can see this truth.
[23:56] So any interpretation of this passage needs to include a few different things. The first, notice it says your people. It's talking about God's people.
[24:07] But in this reference, he's talking to Daniel, and who's his people? The Jews, right? God's covenant people. Your holy city, Jerusalem, and there's a time to finish the transgression, the punishment that was given to them.
[24:23] And then he goes beyond it, and he says, any interpretation of this passage, we need to understand that there is going to be an end to sin. There is going to be an atonement for witness that is made, which we will finally undersee is the cross.
[24:38] There will be an everlasting righteousness be brought in, which is the eternal state. The vision and prophecy are to be sealed up. That means God is no longer going to be needing to speak to us.
[24:51] We're not going to need any more prophetic words because we're going to know all truth, and that most holy place will be finally anointed.
[25:03] So if you think about this, an end to transgression, there will be an end to sin, atonement will be made, everlasting righteousness, and God's peace forever will reign.
[25:15] You're Daniel, you're hearing this prophecy, right? This is great news. This is the greatest news I've been praying. What's the most obvious question he's going to ask?
[25:27] Exactly. When is this happening? When is this glorious state going to arrive? Who here wants to live without sin? Don't be shy, right? We don't want it.
[25:40] It crushes us, it kills us, it disturbs us, it breaks us. Who doesn't want to be outside of that? So here we go. The most obvious question, when does this begin?
[25:52] Now verse 24 it says, 70 weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city. So as we said, the people are Daniel's people, the Jews.
[26:03] The timeline, really? 70 weeks? Right? It's done. But we all know it's not done. So the length of this plan of God is to be 70 weeks.
[26:18] however, we know that it's been a lot longer than 70 weeks since this prophecy has been given and there has been no end of transgression. There is no everlasting righteousness has happened.
[26:31] So we know that the weeks must mean something else. Is anybody using an NIV here? Anybody? What's the word? What's the word that it uses there?
[26:42] Shout it out. 70 what? It says the word 77s. Okay? And this is a term and sometimes when we translate from the Hebrew there are certain terms that are used.
[26:54] But the Hebrew term actually means a group of seven. What's the most natural occurring group of seven in our world today? A week, right? So we just kind of translated that.
[27:06] But what he's saying is there's going to be seven units of seven that are going to occur. You with me on this? Okay? I grew up with all this kind of prophecy talk and remember the charts and the timelines?
[27:20] You guys got them in your bulletins? I swear I'd never do that but I did. All right? But I'm hoping to help you understand this. I'm going to tell you why. Because the prophecy we're going to see on this date is going to last.
[27:34] It's going to land on the exact day that Jesus enters Jerusalem. Okay? That's where we're going. I'm taking you from Daniel receiving a prophecy on a certain day.
[27:47] It's going to begin and the end of that first fulfillment of the prophecy is when Jesus himself enters Jerusalem which I will argue is March 30th, AD 33 to the exact day.
[28:02] All right? So he's telling there's 77s. We understand the context and I don't want to go into all this but it's actual years, units of years. And in case you didn't know, the reason why Israel, it's not like 70 years in exile was an arbitrary number that God thought up.
[28:25] You know what? They weren't so bad that we're going to make it 90 but they weren't so good we're going to make it 50. Let's just cut it in between and settle on 70. There was actually a command that God's people were given that every seven years they were supposed to make the land rest.
[28:44] It was a sabbatical year. And 70 of those had passed since Moses was given that command. And Israel never kept that sabbatical.
[28:58] So the text in 2nd Chronicles tells us that every year that they were in captivity was for every sabbatical year that they were away.
[29:10] Guess what? That was to allow the land to rest. What now? 70 years it took to come back. So they're thinking in terms of years.
[29:21] So 70 is because each year of captivity is equal to one seven-year cycle. So what he's talking about when it says 70 weeks he's actually talking about there's 490 years left.
[29:35] Alright? That's what it's saying. So Gabriel divides these 490 years into three periods. Let's take a look at verse 25.
[29:47] It says from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks.
[29:59] Then for 62 weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat but in troubled times. The vernacular is kind of awkward. So there's three periods he's talking about.
[30:10] He's talking about one period of seven which equals 49 years and what he's saying is there's going to be a word that's going to come out. So when does the clock start? So if you're thinking Daniel, when does the clock start for the rest of the world to begin?
[30:24] When is it going to begin? Right? The clock starts when Jerusalem is restored and he gives the conditions when we know Jerusalem is going to be restored.
[30:34] two things are going to have to happen. One, notice in verse 25 it says build Jerusalem to the coming of anointed one that shall be built.
[30:46] The squares and a moat. What does that mean? Squares is a plaza and the moat would be the defensive wall that goes around Jerusalem.
[30:57] So what he's basically saying, I'm going to break all the lingo down to you, for you. He says there's going to come a time there's going to be a leader who's going to say rebuild Jerusalem. Jerusalem needs to be rebuilt to a certain point.
[31:11] And you know when a city is? It's when it has commerce. And that plaza, that square, represents economic prosperity. That means there's trade going forth.
[31:22] And the second thing a city needs is a wall to protect themselves. You with me on that one? So he's essentially saying when that happens, that moment in time, 433 years, anointed one a prince shall appear.
[31:43] So this is the first stage of prophecy that people need to figure out. When does this, when does Jerusalem get to that point where it's fully restored?
[31:54] Well, history actually tells us. we know that the beginning happens, if you know the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, it tells us many stories of exiled Jews returning to Jerusalem.
[32:09] Okay, you with me on this? I'm trying to break this down and make it as simple as I can so you don't have to stress out about it for 50 years like I did in my head, okay?
[32:21] When I first heard this stuff. It's actually quite simple. So he says there's going to be a king who's going to make a command to restore Jerusalem. And that word restore means Jerusalem is not settled.
[32:33] It has to be representative of a real city like it used to be, right? You know when you restore a car, you're making it look like it used to be, not broken down in a shell.
[32:46] It needs to be a fully functional card like it existed. So he's saying when that city happens, when Jerusalem is fully on board, 62 weeks from that exact moment, there shall come a time.
[32:58] So if you look at the charts I put in the back of your, they're in your bulletin, you guys got them all there? Apparently I forgot mine.
[33:10] So there we go. So if you notice on March 5th, 444 BC, which happens in Nehemiah chapter 2, Artaxerxes says a decree and he says, guess what?
[33:23] I want you to return and restore Jerusalem. Jews go back, they start restoring Jerusalem. It takes them 49 years actually to get to that point of finally restoring Jerusalem.
[33:37] So the clock is ticking and there's these full 69 weeks. And that last week, guess what it ends on? The day Jesus Christ enters into Jerusalem.
[33:51] So if you're sitting there saying, BK, are you just telling me this because you got a bunch of made up numbers and it looks really cool? Yeah, it's true. It's true. No. It's kind of funny. I've actually read books all the last couple of weeks that actually do the math on this.
[34:06] And it's kind of funny. We think in terms of years of 365 days, but in the ancient world, a prophetic year was known as 360 days.
[34:16] So it's kind of interesting. People would do the days, hey, we're off by 25 years or 25 days or something like that. And then you'd go back after taking away all those days at 160.
[34:27] It landed on that exact day. So we actually know through history that Artaxerxes gave the command in Nisan, which is the month that they used, which is our March, April 4, 44 B.C.
[34:43] from that day, 49 years happened. Jerusalem was a full city. In 434 years, we had the triumphal entry on March 30, 33 A.D.
[34:57] I'm not telling you this to tell you that I'm really good with math, which I'm not, or that figuring out these numbers is really cool.
[35:13] Do you guys get how mind-blowing it is that it happens on the exact day? So when we go back to a couple of sermons that I was teaching you about why Jesus healed Lazarus, rose him from the dead on that very specific day to bring the crowd, and then after that he returns to Galilee and he brings all the people.
[35:36] this is supposed to be the biggest day in Jewish history. This was to be the day that the Messiah shows up for them and restores everything.
[35:48] Are you with me on this? Like this is supposed to be the day of all days. But they kill him four days later. It's horrible.
[36:03] Look at verse 26. And after the 62 weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing.
[36:22] Daniel's people in exile because they killed the prophets. The Messiah comes 489 years later.
[36:32] the ultimate Messiah. And what do they do? They kill him again. Can we really be that stupid?
[36:48] I think we all know the answer to that, right? And Jesus at the 20, 60 second week dies on a cross.
[37:06] Then the text continues and the people of the prince who is to come. Now this prince they're making reference to a second time is not Jesus. He's the anointed one.
[37:18] This is a prince. The people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. We know through history that this is in 70 AD. Its end shall come with the flood and to the end there will be a war.
[37:32] Desolations are decreed. Let's take a look at verse 27. Now if you understand your math, there's one week missing in here.
[37:46] When does that week occur? Verse 27 says, And he, that is the one who destroyed the sanctuary, shall make a strong covenant with many for one week.
[38:01] For half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abomination shall come one who will make desolate until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.
[38:14] Does that sound familiar to any of you guys? If any of you guys know your Bibles, you know he's talking about Revelation. Last year we talked about this.
[38:26] We read about this specifically in Revelations 12. It talks about this three and a half year period. We understand that Israel will return to the land and they will have their temple.
[38:40] And for three years with the enemy they shall make peace. peace. And then for the last three years there will be war. And this all occurs in that final week.
[38:53] And as we all know we teach a millennial kingdom which means at the end of that week that's when time finally comes to an end. Jesus Christ returns and his eternal kingdom is set up.
[39:07] So the biggest question is what happens in the meantime? Why is there a break between the 469th year and the 470th year?
[39:27] If you've been paying attention to the last couple of sermons you see Jesus getting more and more hostile towards the Jews. Right? Remember just all his teachings? Even the last one Zacchaeus the last time he eats with his tax collector and he says he's going to be a son of Abraham.
[39:44] And previous to that the Jews were all believing that salvation was going to come because they were the seed of Abraham. But Jesus is teaching that it is by faith a transformed heart that you become a seed of Abraham.
[39:58] Abraham. Now I know a lot of people I'm going to talk to you and you guys might disagree with this and that's all felt well and good but I believe that when Jesus Christ is killed a new timeline evolves which is the time of the Gentile.
[40:16] And that is where the gospel is preached to the Gentiles. Romans 11 talks about that we are now grafted on to the promises of Jesus.
[40:29] And we see this continually even in Acts 17 when Paul is preaching to the Gentiles he's saying there's a different accountability now because God is now revealing himself to you.
[40:42] And this is where a time where the church grows it encompasses peoples of every walks of life all races and all nations. And it says after the members of the church are fully gathered the prophecy will begin to unfold for that one final week which will mean acute suffering and persecution for the Jewish nation.
[41:08] So when we talk about this view that the last week of Daniel would coincide with a seven year period of great tribulation mentioned elsewhere. So none of this is all perfectly seen in Daniel chapter 9 but if you look at Daniel chapter 11 and chapter 12 you will see that this coincides with the end of the age.
[41:31] Alright. So what does this mean for us? The same hope that Daniel was given is the same hope he gives to us.
[41:44] Amen? That there is going to come a time where there is going to be transgressions have been paid for. There is going to come a time when there is going to be no more sin. There is going to come a time where there will be no more pain.
[41:59] And it explains to us why Jesus is making this very specific day a very big deal. Because not only is it a culmination of him entering into the city to be our ultimate sacrifice, it is actually the culmination of the Jewish people rejection of their Messiah.
[42:26] So the reason I wanted to take the time is I want you to be so amazed by the historical accuracy of this prophecy that happened 500 years before Jesus even walked into Jerusalem.
[42:39] So the events that we read in our Gospels are very significant events that mean something. It means something that Jesus went back to Galilee and preached what he did and healed the people that he did.
[42:54] There's a purposeful disdain for the Jewish religious elite. So we live in a time where we are actually the focal point of history.
[43:12] We are the church, amen? We are God's gathered people. We all were from different races, different peoples, different nations, all represented here. This wasn't always the way.
[43:25] But God has a purpose which will be eventually to demonstrate his great glory for the world that no one will ever be able to ignore who Jesus Christ is again.
[43:40] is that clear? Because I'm going back to Jesus next week. But I want you to understand, I know this might seem, I don't know, I'm amazed by this, I'm amazed by the dating, I'm amazed.
[43:55] So if you have any questions, please email them to me. I got all the readings that I could talk about this all day and bore you to death. But I don't want to do it here. So on that day after Daniel's prophecy in that week, Jesus institutes something for us, right?
[44:13] And if you guys are familiar in Matthew 26 on that last supper, they still don't really understand what's really going to happen.
[44:26] But he has this supper and he breaks bread and he breaks, has this drink, the wine with them. And he's telling them that these truths that we've been taught today that we hold to is significant because we believe he's coming again, right?
[44:43] He's coming not only to make right on what he spoke about in the Gospels, but what was also spoken in Daniel 500 years before that. That the prophecies that God gave, God's people are still going to exist.
[44:58] And that's why we come together, because we celebrate, we believe. Because if it wasn't true, how depressing is that we would be here together, you know that? If you don't believe this and this isn't true, we're the most depressing people in the world.
[45:14] Paul even talks about pity us. But we have a hope. We have a hope that God is going to make creation right again.
[45:24] And he started by the fulfillment of the first part of the prophecy of sending his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for us.
[45:36] So I'm just going to ask the worship leaders to come on up. So what we're going to do is we're going to partake of the elements this morning.
[45:48] If you can come down the middle aisles and kind of roll out, seems to be the best way. Now, remember, this is only for you if you have a hope in Jesus Christ.
[46:01] If you have no hope and you're one of the depressing people who don't care and are just coming because it's a religious thing, this isn't for you. But this is for us.
[46:12] We believe in what Daniel, the prophecy that Daniel was given. We believe in that first part of that prophecy. And we believe in that second part of the prophecy where all sin is going to end.
[46:23] Amen? There will be an end to transgressions that everything is paid. You know why? Because God heard our cries for mercy. Amen? There is no righteousness that we can offer of our own.
[46:34] We can only depend on God's great love that he has for us. Not because we are any great people, but that his love is incredible. And it's awesome. And it's great.
[46:45] That is why we come to this morning to celebrate. To celebrate what he's going to do in the coming of his word. Let me just pray. Dear Lord, Heavenly Father, I know sometimes we tend to, listen, I know I have skipped over some of the prophecy, not thinking or understanding the significance, but just even over the last couple of weeks, I'm just amazed at your incredible timelines that there is no accidents with you.
[47:14] And Father, none of our lives are accidents. things were meant to happen in such a way so that we would come to know and understand you as the Lord God that you are. That we were to understand your great love offered to us.
[47:30] That we are to understand that our only recourse from our sin is to plea for mercy. And you heard us.
[47:42] You heard us and you called us to you and we have become sons and daughters of you. We are no longer called sinners in the words of scripture. We are called saints.
[47:53] We are called redeemed ones. We are called the elect. We are part of your covenant promises. And Father, in your wisdom, you asked us to, commanded us, in fact, to institute this table where we come around.
[48:10] And it communicates that we are holding to all these promises. The ultimate promise of redemption. Where we get to live with one another without sin.
[48:22] We get to live with one another without shame. And we get to give you pure worship. So, Father, we confess our sins this day.
[48:36] Forgive us, Father, for ignoring your word. For disobeying your word. Father, forgive us for our sin. We make no excuses.
[48:48] It's not because how we grew up or what we were taught or whatever we happen to use that day. I'm only human. Forgive us, oh, Father. Father, we rightly admit this morning that we deserve your just penalty.
[49:06] but you heard our pleas of mercy and your son absorbed all the punishment for our sin on that cross over 2,000 years ago today.
[49:22] So we can be reminded of your goodness, your greatness, and your love that you have for us. So, Father, I pray if this is someone's first time where they're finally understanding this truth, pray that they will do indeed come and partake of this meal because they are holding to the promises that you first gave Daniel and that you continue to give to God's people.
[49:47] In your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.