The Messianic Meta-Timeline | Sunday, August 6, 2023

If you turn to about the center of your Bible and then turn to the right, you'll find the Book of Daniel. Daniel chapter 9 is where we are today. We have been studying through this book this summer, looking at all the strange occurrences and happenings in the Book of Daniel. We have come to what may be the strangest of them all here in Daniel chapter 9.

It was in October of 539 BC, in the middle of the 6th century BC, that the armies of Cyrus the Great, the king of the Persian Empire, marched into Babylon with little to no resistance. They were able to take the city really without a fight. At that time, the king ruling over Babylon was a man by the name of Nabonidus, but he had left the city to be run, for all intents and purposes, by his son Belshazzar. If you were here with us earlier this summer, we were introduced to Belshazzar back in chapter 5.

When Cyrus's armies came into Babylon, Nabonidus was deposed as the king of the empire, and Belshazzar was killed. Cyrus placed in authority there in the city of Babylon, or over that region, a man we know from the Scriptures as Darius the Mede. In history, it is believed that this was a king by the name of Cyaxares II, who became ruler over Babylon at that point in time.

Now, what's interesting about that is that the night before Cyrus came into Babylon and took control of the kingdom, Belshazzar, who was the ruler over Babylon, was having a party. Again, if you were here in Daniel chapter 5 when Pastor Garrett taught through it, you were able to see that party he was having in the palace in Babylon. While he and all of his guests were basically drunk to the full, they saw an amazing thing happen: a hand appeared and wrote on the wall, "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin." They couldn't understand what this meant, and Daniel, who had been in the region during the time of the Babylonians, had been the interpreter of dreams and all kinds of visions. He was called in to interpret what just happened. He said to Belshazzar, "You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. This night your kingdom is going to be taken from you."

Just as Daniel said, the next day the kingdom was taken from Belshazzar, and he was killed. Not only did Daniel receive some advance warning about what was coming the night before it happened, but about 15 years prior to Cyrus coming and taking over the Babylonian Kingdom, Daniel had a dream, which we studied through and read about in Daniel chapter 7 a couple of weeks ago. If you weren't here, you can find it on our YouTube channel; go and watch the message from Daniel chapter 7.

In that vision, Daniel was given advanced information about what was going to come and what was going to happen. The Babylonians, pictured as a lion with wings, were going to be overcome by a bear that represented or symbolized the kingdom of the Medo-Persians. So, 15 years before Cyrus, King of Persia, came and took Babylon, Daniel was given advanced intel about what was coming.

But it wasn't just that dream 15 years prior. About five decades before Cyrus came and overtook that area, the teenager Daniel, when he was just a very young man—maybe 15 years old—had an encounter in Daniel chapter 2. In that chapter, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had a dream. In the dream, he saw a vision of what was going to come: these four kingdoms that would arise—the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greek Empire, and then ultimately the Roman Empire. Daniel had advanced knowledge, or advanced intel, if you will, about what was going to come to pass. He knew before Cyrus came that this is what was going to happen.

The awesome thing we find in the Scriptures is that it was not only Daniel who had advanced intel about what was going to come. More than 160 years prior to Cyrus entering the city of Babylon, deposing Belshazzar, killing him, and taking the city, the prophet Isaiah spoke to King Hezekiah, who at that time was the king of Judah and Jerusalem. He told him exactly what was going to come to pass. He informed him how his people in Judah and Jerusalem were going to be exiled to Babylon, which would literally be fulfilled in 605 BC under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Isaiah told Hezekiah that not only would the Babylonians come and destroy Jerusalem and the temple, but he also specified exactly how the children of Israel would be affected.

Come back to the land. He announces to King Hezekiah more than 160 years before Cyrus would do this. He announces the means and the man through which God would deliver the children of Israel from Babylon to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild. You can find it in the book of Isaiah. If you're in Daniel chapter 9, turn to the left just a few books to Isaiah chapter 44.

In Isaiah chapter 44, the prophet Isaiah gives the means and the individual, the man through whom God is going to bring about deliverance for the children of Israel after they would be exiled to Babylon. We read it in Isaiah chapter 44, beginning at verse 24. Isaiah says, "Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb: I am the Lord, who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the Earth by myself. I frustrate the signs of the babblers and drive the diviners mad. I like this God who turns wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolish. I confirm the word of my servant and perform the counsel of my messengers."

God says to Jerusalem, "You shall be inhabited; to the cities of Judah, you shall be built, and I will raise up her waste places. I say to the deep, 'Be dry,' and I will dry up your rivers." Note this: Cyrus is my shepherd and shall perform all of my pleasure, saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built, and to the temple, your foundation shall be laid."

Now, when Isaiah said this in about 700 or 701 BC, the city of Jerusalem was not in ruins; the temple was still standing. But God had told Hezekiah through Isaiah that the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed and the temple would also be in ruins. Now He says there is going to come one whose name is Cyrus, who is going to say to Jerusalem, "Be rebuilt," and to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid."

It continues in chapter 45, verse 1. Look at this: "Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus." God calls this pagan king Cyrus his anointed. The word "anointed" there is the Hebrew word "mashiach."

Not the Messiah, but an anointed one would come from God. A pagan king named Cyrus is referred to in the Scriptures. The Lord says to His anointed, to Cyrus, "Whose right hand I have held to subdue nations before him and to loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors so that the gates will not be shut. I will go before you, Cyrus," God says, "and make the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron."

Why was it that Cyrus was able to enter into Babylon in 539 BC with very little, if any, resistance? Because God went before him. "I will go before you and make the crooked places straight." Verse 2 continues, "I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hidden riches of the secret place so that you may know that I am the Lord. I, the Lord, who call you by name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob, My servant's sake, and for Israel, My elect, I have called you by your name, Cyrus. I have named you, though you have not known Me."

"I am the Lord; there is no other. There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, that they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting, from the east to the west, that there is none besides Me," says the Lord. "I am the Lord; there is no other."

To put this in context, that prophecy was given by Isaiah to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem before the city was destroyed by the Babylonians, while the temple still stood, around 700 or 701 BC. Cyrus was not even a thought in his grandparents' minds. Yet, 160 plus years later, Cyrus leads the Medo-Persian Empire into Babylon, destroying the Babylonian Empire, taking it over, and releasing the children of Israel to go back to the Promised Land.

Some people may ask, "What evidence do you have that there is a God?" Well, Isaiah chapter 44 provides an answer. Look at verse 6: "This is what the Lord, the King of Israel and its Redeemer, the Lord of armies, says: I am the first and I am the last; there is no God but Me. Who, like Me, can announce the future?" Down in verse 8, it says, "You are My witnesses. Is there any God but Me? There is no Rock; I do not know any."

Point number one, if you're taking notes this morning: God reveals Himself.

By disclosing mysteries, God reveals Himself in important ways. The great Francis Schaeffer, often referred to as the Godfather of Christian apologetics, used to say, "He is there, God is there, and He is not silent." I have said for many years that one of the ways God reveals to us that He is, is by leaving His fingerprints, if you will, on the crime scene through predictive prophecy. He tells us what is going to happen before it happens.

For instance, 161 years before Cyrus would come and deliver the children of Israel to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and the Temple, God announced through Isaiah, "Cyrus, you are my anointed one, though you have not known me. You're a pagan king, and I am going to cause you to move into Babylon to be able to release them." From eternity, God speaks, revealing eternal truths of future realities.

The prophet Amos, in Amos chapter 3, says, "Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets." Throughout history, God has done this. It was nearly 200 years before it would come to pass that God revealed His plan and purpose to Isaiah for the children of Israel. But not only did God reveal His plan and purpose to Isaiah, He also revealed it to Jeremiah at the time that Nebuchadnezzar would come in and begin to take exiles out of Jerusalem back to Babylon, around 605 BC.

If you're in Isaiah, you can turn to the right to the Book of Jeremiah. In Jeremiah chapter 25, we read in verse 1, "The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim." What Jeremiah is doing here is providing a temporal marker, giving us a little blip on the timeline of when this took place. The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, who was the king of Judah at that time, the son of Josiah, during the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

So, Jeremiah is saying, "This is when this happened; it was in 605 BC." In verse 2, we see that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. What does he tell them? Well, in the passage, I don't have time to get into all of it today, but you can read it later. He says...

The people are going to Babylon as exiles because they have broken God's commandments. They have been disobedient to the Lord and have not heeded His voice. Therefore, God is going to punish them. They are going to go to Babylon as exiles, and basically, He tells the children of Israel not to fight it. God is the one doing this; it is a punishment from the hand of the Lord. So, they should go to Babylon, build houses, and prepare to be there for a while.

How long are they going to be there? Look at verse 11 of Jeremiah chapter 25. "And this whole land, the land of Judah and Jerusalem, shall be desolate and in astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon for seventy years." Verse 12 continues, "Then it will come to pass, when the seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation and the land of the Chaldeans for their iniquity," says the Lord. "I will make it a perpetual desolation."

According to God's word through Jeremiah to the people of Judah in 605 BC, He says they are going to be exiled to Babylon for seventy years. This judgment will begin when they start going into captivity in 605 BC. So, literally, if you wanted to, you could begin a clock counting down from roughly seventy years from 605 BC and know when God is going to call His people to come back to the land. This is what you could determine from the Prophet Jeremiah during the time that Daniel was in the city.

Now, the question arises: why seventy years? What is this all about? Why would God say to them that they are going to go into this captivity for seventy years? As you begin to study the Scriptures from Jeremiah, Daniel, and other historical books in the Bible, you will find that the Bible is a book of books—66 books in total. In the Old Testament, the history books provide a timeline of what is happening, including the books of First and Second Samuel, First and Second Kings, and First and Second Chronicles.

If you look at the books of Kings and Chronicles, along with Jeremiah and Isaiah, and piece everything together, the tapestry begins to become clear. You start to see what is going on here. Why would they be there for seventy years? What you begin to discover is that they are going to be in Babylon for seventy years as a judgment for their sins, specifically the sins of idolatry and, very specifically, their...

Unfaithfulness to God's Sabbath commands raises an important question: What is the Sabbath? When the children of Israel were given the law in the Book of Exodus, and then reiterated again in Deuteronomy, it was also expanded in Leviticus. God said to the people that the fourth of the Ten Commandments was to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. The Sabbath was one day in seven, specifically the seventh day, which we know as Saturday.

The Sabbath was a day that the children of Israel were to honor God by not working. They were to take a day of rest. However, the Sabbath was not only for one day in seven. If you read Exodus chapter 23 and Leviticus chapter 25, you discover that the children of Israel were also to observe a Sabbath every seventh year. How many of you like the sound of this? Every seventh year, you get a year off! Are you ready to vote yes on that one?

Yes! Six years shall you work the land. Most of them were farmers, so for six years, they would work the land, but in the seventh year, they were not to plow the land, plant seeds, weed, water, or harvest. The seventh year was to be a Sabbath. During that year, they were to honor the Lord and trust that He would provide for them. They were not to farm; they were just to reap whatever came up off the ground naturally, apart from their farming efforts.

Historically, the children of Israel did not observe this command. Some of us might think that if we were given the opportunity to take one year off every six years, we would take full advantage of it. However, in that seventh year, not only were they to honor the Lord, but they also had to fully trust that He would provide for all their needs. Let me tell you, trusting God to take care of all your needs is challenging. Have you tried it? It is indeed challenging.

The children of Israel did not observe the Sabbath year for the entire period of time. If you take 490 years of not observing the Sabbath and divide 490 by seven, you get 70 years. In Second Chronicles chapter 36, verse 20, it states, "Those who escaped when the Babylonians came and destroyed Jerusalem..."

Escape from the sword. The king of Babylon will carry away to Babylon those who will become servants to the king of Babylon and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia.

Why? Verse 21 of Second Chronicles 36 states that this is to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah. Until the land enjoyed her Sabbaths, as long as she lay desolate, she kept Sabbath to fulfill seventy years.

Why did the children of Israel go to Babylon for seventy years? Because for nearly five hundred years, they did not observe God's command to honor the Sabbath year. God said, "Well, the land is going to get its rest one way or another," and so they went into exile for seventy years, allowing the land to rest during that time.

Daniel, as we discovered in the very opening chapters of this book, was among the very first exiles who ended up going to Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar came and laid siege to the city of Jerusalem in about 605 BC. He, along with his three friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and many others from the land of Judah, were taken captive to Babylon and given new names.

When they arrived in that land, they were quite young. Daniel was probably about fifteen years old when he came to Babylon. Now, decades have passed. He has been there for at least sixty-six or sixty-seven years. He arrived in what we know as about 605 BC, and we know that Cyrus came in and took over the city of Babylon in 539 BC.

Now, Cyrus has come, and the armies of the Persians have overtaken Babylon. Darius has been set up as regent or ruler over that region called Chaldea. We read this in Daniel chapter 9.

In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made ruler or king over the realm of the Chaldeans, I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

Daniel is now more than eighty years old. When he came to Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, he was about fifteen years old; now he is over eighty.

He was reading through Chronicles, Deuteronomy, Exodus, and Leviticus. He was reading through the Torah, the history, and the prophets. He was reading through Jeremiah in the Bible that he had during that time. As he looked at this, he started to put some puzzle pieces together in his mind.

"Wait a minute," he thought. "I was about 15 years old when we got here, and now I'm over 80 years old. It's been like 66 years. I'm an old man. God said through Jeremiah that we would be here for 70 years, and then God would allow us to go back to the land to rebuild it."

Could you imagine the anticipation, expectation, and joy that filled the heart of Daniel after all those years? I wonder if he read the words of Isaiah the prophet: "Cyrus will say to Jerusalem, 'Be rebuilt.'" He was putting all the pieces together, realizing that Cyrus had just come and liberated him and his people from Babylonian oppression after decades in the land.

How do you respond when you are the old man Daniel and you see the word of the Lord coming together, fulfilled right before your eyes? Look at how he responded in verse 3: "Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make requests by prayer and supplications."

Take note of that response. He set his face toward the Lord God to make requests by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. Sackcloth is where you take off your normal clothing and put on very uncomfortable clothing—think of a burlap sack. It is a sign of repentance, remorse, and contrition. He put ashes upon his head, which is akin to mourning and lamenting.

In verse 4, he prayed to the Lord his God and made confession. He said, "Oh Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenants and mercy with those who love Him and those who keep His commandments. We have sinned and committed iniquity. We have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants, the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and all the people of the land.

O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those near and those far off in all countries to which You have driven us."

Daniel bows before the Lord in prayer when he sees the word of God coming together from Jeremiah, from Isaiah, and from the Chronicles. He is witnessing all this come together, and he bows before God in humble repentance, confession, and prayer.

"O Lord, to us belong shame of face," he says in verse 8, "to our kings, our princes, and our fathers because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in His laws which He set before us by His servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law and has departed so as not to obey Your voice. Therefore, because of this, the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us because we have sinned against Him."

If you've been with us here at Cross Connection for the last several years, we have been going through the book of Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy chapter 28, as Moses is wrapping up this declaration of the law to the children of Israel, he says, "Listen, if you obey God's voice and heed His command, and you do what He has called you to do, you will have long life in the land, and you will be blessed. But if you disobey and rebel, you will be cursed." One of the curses is that you will be exiled from the land that you love to another nation.

Moses states that the curse of the oath written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out on us in verse 11 because we have sinned against Him. In verse 12, he confirms that God has brought upon us a great disaster, for under the whole of heaven, such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem, as it is written in the law of Moses.

In verse 13, Daniel acknowledges, "All this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth." Therefore, the Lord has kept the disaster in mind and brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice.

Now, O Lord God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and made Yourself a name as it is this day, we have sinned and we have done wickedly. In verse 16, he prays, "According to all of Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city, Jerusalem, Your holy mountain, because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us."

Our God, hear the prayer of your servant and his supplications. For the Lord's sake, cause your face to shine on your sanctuary, which is desolate. Oh my God, incline your ear and hear; open your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by your name. For we do not present our supplications before you because of our righteous deeds, but because of your great mercies. Oh Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for your sake, my God, for your city and your people are called by your name.

Point number two this morning: when God reveals His plan, the best response is prayer. This is one of the great prayers of the Bible—Daniel's great prayer. It reveals an extensive knowledge of the Word and law of God. He directly quotes over and over again from the Torah, from the history or the Chronicles of Israel, and from the prophets. He quotes from Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Exodus, First Kings, Second Kings, and Jeremiah chapters 16, 23, 25, and 32. He just goes through the Scriptures. His prayer shows how much he knows the Word of God, and it is the Word of God that compels him to cry out to God, the God of mercy, and say, "We have sinned, but would you please forgive us and restore our land?"

Daniel's great prayer also reveals a heart of contrition and repentance. He takes the sin of his people—the kings, the elders, the priests, the fathers—upon himself and says, "We are shamefaced and sinful. We have sinned and transgressed your law. We have not obeyed your voice; we have rebelled and done wickedly. We have done all these things. God, would you forgive us?"

Daniel's great prayer reveals a deep desire for God's will and action. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! So do you think God responded? Look at verse 20. Now, while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord...

Lord my God, for the Holy Mountain of my God. Yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, the one we were introduced to previously in the text of Daniel, the man Gabriel whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning—note the words "in the vision at the beginning"—being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering.

He, Gabriel, informed me and talked with me and said, "Oh Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. At the beginning of your supplication, when you began to pray, the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved. Therefore, consider the matter and understand the vision."

Frankly, there's so much in these verses that I would like to unpack, but I will resist the temptation to do so because there's a lot more in this text that we need to get to. Even though I'm not going to dig deeply into everything that is here in this text, there are some things that are worth noting.

Note first Daniel's prayer and his attitude in prayer. His humble confession in sackcloth and ashes, with fasting, crying out to God in brokenness, invited the swift presence of God. God draws near to the brokenhearted, and here Daniel is brokenhearted when he sees the condition of his people, the condition of his homeland. He sees that it all has to do with their action or inaction as it relates to God's law. He humbly comes before God, and his position and attitude in prayer invited God's swift presence.

In the New Testament, the Apostle James says, "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." I've met many people over the years, sometimes standing right up here after service, talking with some of you who have said, "I just don't feel God's presence. I don't feel like He answers my prayer when I call." I'm certain that there are more than a few of you this morning who have felt like that before.

One of the convicting things I ask when someone says something like that to me is, "Listen, you don't need to answer my question to impress me, but you need to ask yourself this very important question: How much time do you actually...?"

Pray, because if I'm honest, I don't pray nearly as much as I ought to. But here's the amazing thing that I've observed, and maybe you've seen it as well: when I set myself in a humble attitude to seek God in prayer, without a doubt, He answers. As James said, if you draw near to God, He will draw near to you. That is certain.

Daniel positioned himself in an attitude and position of prayer and brokenness, saying, "God, please move quickly," and God came quickly. The second thing to note in this passage is that Daniel's heart was oriented toward God. But not only was Daniel's heart oriented toward God; God's heart was oriented toward Daniel. Did you notice what Gabriel said to Daniel? "I have come to you to give you a message because you are greatly beloved."

My friend John normally sits over here; he must be absent today. You can all tell him that I mentioned him. He likes to say, "Jesus loves you, but I'm His favorite." Now, some of you may sometimes question whether or not you're actually beloved of God, but I want to remind you that you are. Daniel's not unique in this. The only reason that John thinks that he's God's favorite is that God has to keep John really close to keep an eye on him. Don't tell him; that'll just be our little secret since he skipped out on church this week. He has a good reason, though.

God greatly loves you. Colossians chapter 3, verse 12 says, "You are chosen of God and beloved." Now, sometimes we have a hard time believing that, but that's what the Scriptures say. Unfortunately, we are seduced very quickly to believe in ourselves because our culture tells us that we ought to believe in ourselves, trust our gut, and trust our heart. Listen, your heart is deceitfully wicked.

I don't think you should trust that sucker. Trust in the Lord. He says you are chosen of God and loved by God. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God desires to spend time with you, to commune with you.

One of the most well-known atheists of our day is a man by the name of Richard Dawkins. Richard Dawkins recently tweeted—although they changed his name—he recently posted something on X. He stated that the God of the Old Testament is the most unpleasant character in all of fiction. These are the opening words of the second chapter of his best-selling book, The God Delusion. In Chapter 2, he claims that the God of the Old Testament is the most unpleasant character in all of fiction, and then he gives his reasons. The first reason he provides is that the God of the Old Testament is jealous, and he argues that this is one of the reasons he is the most unpleasant person you could ever imagine.

How many of you have heard of Oprah Winfrey? Oprah told a story a number of years ago about her upbringing in a Baptist church. She grew up going to a Christian church, and she describes the moment when she first started to feel uncertain about believing in the God of the Bible. She said that while she was in church, the preacher was teaching about God being holy, righteous, and good. She was with everyone in that church, saying, "Amen, amen, amen." Then he said, "And God is jealous." She stopped right there and thought to herself, "That's just weird. That just doesn't seem right that God is jealous of me."

You know what? On this point, I agree with Oprah Winfrey 100%. If God were jealous of Oprah Winfrey, that would be terrible. But He is not jealous of us or her; He is jealous for our affection. He is jealous for our time spent with Him. When you draw near to God, He will draw near to you. Daniel learned that here. Daniel's heart was oriented towards God, and he took the steps to spend time in dedicated prayer with fasting.

Confession with repentance and God's heart was oriented toward Daniel. The third noteworthy thing in this passage, which is point number three on your outline, is that some mysteries are only understood by divine revelation. Gabriel came to Daniel and said, "I have come to you to reveal to you understanding of the vision."

Now, what vision is Gabriel talking about? When Daniel met Gabriel in the previous chapters, we saw Daniel's vision. He had a dream in chapter seven and a vision in chapter eight, which we looked at last week. Gabriel came to him to give him understanding of the vision and provided an interpretation of what he had seen. Daniel had a strange vision of a ram that was overcome by a goat, and he did not fully understand it. So, Gabriel came to explain or give an interpretation of the vision.

However, even after the angelic interpretation, if you are in Daniel chapter eight, just skip to the very last words of Daniel. If you are in Daniel nine, skip to the last words of Daniel chapter eight. Daniel said, "I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it." Daniel did not understand the vision, but now Gabriel came and said, "The vision that you have seen at the beginning, I have come to give you understanding of the vision."

It is very important, as we get into the next verses of chapter nine, which have caused many Bible scholars, teachers, and interpreters of Scripture to scratch their heads for centuries, to recognize that the context of these words is an explanation of the vision that Daniel received in chapter eight and the dream that he had in chapter nine. It is meant to provide a timeline of the vision. More than twelve years have passed since Daniel received the vision of chapter eight. For twelve years, he has probably been puzzling over this whole thing. In the vision of chapter eight, he saw a ram, which he was told represented the kingdom of Medo-Persia, and he saw a goat, which was symbolic of the Greek Empire. Now, twelve years after he had that vision...

Vision. He has seen the ram show up. The Medo-Persian Empire has destroyed the Babylonian Kingdom. Cyrus, fulfilling the prophecy of the book of Isaiah, has come to liberate the children of Israel. He has watched all of this come to pass. No doubt Daniel's mind is exploding, like the emoji. He is thinking, "What? This is all happening just like I saw in the vision, but I don't get it. I don't understand it."

With all that in mind, verse 24 states that Gabriel comes to give understanding and clarity to the vision. Gabriel says, "Daniel, seventy weeks are determined for your people and for the holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy."

Seventy weeks are determined. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince comes, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. Seven plus sixty-two is what? This is not a trick question. Seven plus sixty-two is sixty-nine. Yes, we all failed that one. Moving on.

There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. After sixty-two weeks, Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself. The people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end shall be with a flood, and until the end, wars and desolations are determined.

Then he shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week, he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. On the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation which is determined is poured out on the desolate.

I am so glad that Gabriel gave such great clarity on that whole thing. You all got it perfectly right; you totally understand this one. Before I say anything about Gabriel's message to try to unpack any of it, I want to make something very clear: Gabriel's message of the seventy weeks here was intended to bring clarity to Daniel's previous vision in chapter eight.

His explanation is still cryptic and strange, and Bible scholars, Bible commentators, and Bible teachers pretty much hands down agree that this is one of the most confusing passages in all of Scripture, especially in the Book of Daniel. So, if you think this morning that you have this perfectly figured out, with charts and everything, you are smarter than pretty much every Bible scholar, commentator, and Bible teacher that I know. You're certainly smarter than me, which is much easier to do.

When we come to passages like this, we need to approach them, as I've said many times before, with humility. What I would call prophetic epistemic humility—what does that mean? It's just a big way of saying you need to humbly acknowledge that what you think you know and how you think you know it about these things is probably wrong, or at least might be wrong. So, you must approach it with humility as you come to a passage like this.

I have looked at just about every single text I can get my hands on regarding this passage, both recently and in times past. I have read hundreds of pages on these four verses, and here's one of the amazing things you discover: pretty much nobody agrees with one another. Even great commentators, people who are well-versed in the Scriptures, often have differing opinions. I was talking with someone in the first service who said, "I read what this commentator said, who is a great commentator. I'm not going to tell you who it was. Then I read what another commentator said, who happens to be a friend of mine, and they totally didn't agree." So, which one is right? I said, "I have no idea."

As much as we want this to be perfectly clear, it's just not perfectly clear. Here is where I think we get in trouble: we Westerners in the 21st century like exactness and specificity. It's a part of our culture. We try to take our desire for exactness and specificity and apply it to something that is not exactly specific. What I recommend when you look at a passage like this is to step back or zoom out and look at the general versus the specific. Focus on the general outline over the specifics, because what we are trying to do is force specifics on...

The text that was written 2,500 years ago by a group of people who normally did not write with great specificity or exactness presents a challenge. We try to apply our worldview of specificity and exactness to something that is not specifically exact, reflecting a culture that did not highly value these traits. When we zoom out and look at the general themes over the specifics, we can identify what I call a meta timeline for God's plan.

This meta timeline breaks down in a very interesting way. As I already explained, the children of Israel were in Babylon as exiles for 70 years following 490 years of unfaithfulness. For 490 years, they were unfaithful, which brought about a 70-year punishment or exile in Babylon. Now, Daniel is told that there is going to be a period of 490 years. Most commentators agree that the 70 weeks mentioned here are not weeks of days but weeks of years. If you take 77s, you arrive at 490.

What you find here is that Daniel and the children of Israel, as they are exiled in Babylon, are in a 70-year parentheses between two sets of 490 years. When you zoom out and observe the general pattern, it becomes quite interesting: 490, 70, 490. What is happening here in this passage?

Again, if we zoom out, we can see that roughly 490 years before the children of Israel were exiled in Babylon, they began to have a king. Exactly 445 years before their exile, they called Saul to be their king. They wanted an individual, a king to rule over them, even when God had said, "I will be your ruler." They sought a king, and Saul became their king. Unfortunately, their kings were unrighteous and led them into unrighteousness for the next five centuries, roughly 490 years.

Leading to a 70-year punishment for their unrighteousness and unfaithfulness, God says that from the going forth of the decree to restore and rebuild the Temple, which Isaiah the prophet told us in 701 BC would come by Cyrus, there will be a period of 77s until Messiah, the true King, shall come.

When you zoom out and break it down, this becomes incredibly clear. However, when you try to get into the specifics, we look like idiots. I hate to say that, but it's really true. I have read all of the different interpretations regarding this, and as much as we would like it to calculate out and terminate specifically on a certain day, it does not. There are some books that discuss this. If you take the 62 sevens and the seven sevens, that totals 69 weeks of years, which is 483 years.

If you multiply that by a Biblical year, which is not 365 days but 360 days, you get 173,880 days. If you use the terminating date of the time when Artaxerxes told the children of Israel to rebuild Jerusalem during the time of Nehemiah and calculate 173,880 days, you come right down to the very day that Jesus came into Jerusalem on His triumphal entry.

However, I urge you not to clap, as I’m sure some of you have heard this and how exact it seems. The problem is that it is not as precise as we would like it to be. Some people say that the decree came from Artaxerxes in 445 BC, while others claim it was in 444 BC. They all choose their dates to fit a certain pattern. When you get right down to it, we are trying to force a specific interpretation on something that does not have a specific interpretation.

Nevertheless, the general picture is incredibly awesome. The children of Israel were unfaithful for nearly five centuries, leading to nearly 70 years of God's judgment in Babylon. This was triggered at the time that Cyrus gave the decree to restore and rebuild, leading to a series of 77s culminating in the time of Messiah, the Prince, when He would come and be cut off or die, but not for Himself, but for you. Shortly after that, the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed.

The temple again. When we look at the general, it becomes much more clear and powerful what happens when we try to apply an overly specific view on this. Sadly, as I said, we end up with a little, shall we say, egg on our face because the numbers don't calculate out quite as we would like them to.

Probably the best-known skeptic of biblical things today is a man by the name of Bart Ehrman. His most recent book came out in March of this year, and it is called "Armageddon." The entire book is designed to make you, the Evangelical Bible believer, look like an idiot because you believe in all these very specific things that don't calculate out. He is the cause of many young people—maybe some of your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, or friends—who have rejected their faith in Christianity because they read Bart Ehrman in college, and he says this stuff doesn't add up.

We need to be careful when we try to get all specific on this because there have been many Christians who have tried to take a very specific lens on these passages. They make bold claims, like the one I don't remember the name of, but there was a claim that Jesus, based on the prophecies, was going to return in 1844. Well, if he did come back in 1844 and we are living in his Millennial Kingdom, this Millennial Kingdom is not what we expected.

So, we have to be very careful, and we need to look at this in the general and not the specific. The decree went forward from Cyrus in about 539 or 538 BC to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Roughly 77s, or 490 years, or however you calculate it—483 years or whatever it may be—brings us to the first century when the Messiah came. What did he come to do? To finish transgression, to make an end of sins, to reconcile for iniquity, and to bring everlasting righteousness. That's what the text says. Then he was cut off and killed, but not for himself. Within four decades after his resurrection, the city of Jerusalem was destroyed, just as the Scriptures say.

Now, this brings up the question: What about the 70th week of Daniel? That's the question that a lot of people from Calvary chapels will ask. Doesn't this have something to do with us today?

Isn't there more to this? If you want to know that, you have to come back next week because I'm totally out of time. But let me close with this point: some divine revelations are still quite mysterious. Let's just be honest about it; we don't have this all figured out. However, what we do know is pretty awesome. If you just look at what we do see with clarity, it's phenomenal.

The children of Israel said, "We want a king to rule over us," and they had a king. Those kings led them into unfaithful idolatry for centuries—nearly 500 years. As a result, they were exiled to Babylon. You know what they lost in Babylon? Their idolatry. Then they came back to the land to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. It took about 490 years until the Messiah came to do away with sin. He died not for Himself, but for you, and He rose again. Jerusalem and its Temple were destroyed; you can go see the ruins; they're there.

Does this have something to do with today? It very possibly could, and I would say that it probably does. Jesus would say to you and to me the same thing that He said to His early disciples back in Acts chapter one: "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you to be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts."

The last book of the Bible, the last chapter of the last book of the Bible, the church says, "Lord Jesus, come." For the last 2,000 years, we've been saying, "Lord Jesus, come," and He keeps saying to us, "Yes, I'm coming, and you've got some work to do. I gave you a commission. I gave you a call. I gave you My Holy Spirit to give you the power. Now go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things. And lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age."

So you have the Spirit, and the clock is flashing at me, which means it's time to go to our mission field. Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Father God, we thank You for Your Word. It is living and powerful. It is awesome to see what is revealed to us.

Us here in the pages of Scripture, this meta timeline for Your plan and for Jesus, Your coming always throughout history. We look for a King, a Messiah, someone to deliver. Every time we select the person, we have this terrible way of selecting wrong, thinking that we're right. But God, You have a plan that You are fulfilling. It's not completely wrapped up, but You have hit all the marks on the bullseye so far.

So we say, Lord Jesus, come. May Your kingdom come. May Your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. But until You come, would You empower us and embolden us to share the good news of Your glory and grace with everyone we come in contact with? There are so many people that we know who have no hope.

So God, would You compel us to share the good news of Your grace with them? For we ask it in Jesus' name.

And now, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.