DANIEL 9: THE ARRIVAL OF THE KING

DANIEL 9: THE ARRIVAL OF THE KING Daniel 9 contains one of the most precise prophecies in the entire Bible. God didn’t merely promise that the Messiah would come someday. He gave Israel a prophetic countdown leading directly to the arrival of her King. The chapter begins with Daniel studying the book of Jeremiah. Babylon had destroyed Jerusalem, burned the temple and carried Judah into captivity, but Jeremiah had prophesied that the desolation would last seventy years. “In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.” Daniel 9:2 KJV Daniel realized the seventy years were nearly complete. He didn’t respond by making charts or congratulating himself for understanding prophecy. He fasted, put on sackcloth and ashes, confessed Israel’s sins and begged God to restore Jerusalem. Daniel understood something the modern Church often forgets. Prophecy should never make us proud. When we understand how close we are to the fulfillment of God’s Word, it should drive us toward repentance, prayer and obedience. While Daniel was still praying, the angel Gabriel arrived with an answer extending far beyond the end of the Babylonian captivity. “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city.” Daniel 9:24 KJV THE SEVENTY WEEKS The Hebrew word translated “weeks” is shavuim, meaning sevens. Gabriel was describing seventy groups of seven years, giving us a total of 490 years. These years were specifically determined upon Daniel’s people and Daniel’s holy city. Daniel’s people were Israel, and his holy city was Jerusalem. This prophecy concerns God’s prophetic program for Israel. Gabriel then listed six things that would be accomplished through this period: “To finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.” Daniel 9:24 KJV Jesus made reconciliation for iniquity through His death on the cross, but Israel’s national restoration and the establishment of everlasting righteousness await His return and Kingdom. The prophecy reaches from the rebuilding of Jerusalem to the Messiah, then continues through the final seven years and the completion of God’s plan for Israel. THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS Gabriel told Daniel exactly when the prophetic clock would start. “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks.” Daniel 9:25 KJV There were several Persian decrees connected with the Jewish people returning to their land, but the prophecy didn’t merely say the temple would be rebuilt. It specifically mentioned the restoration of Jerusalem, including its streets and defensive structures. That points us to the command given to Nehemiah by King Artaxerxes. Nehemiah had learned that Jerusalem’s walls were broken down and its gates had been burned. He asked the king for permission to return and rebuild the city. Artaxerxes granted his request in the month of Nisan during the twentieth year of his reign. The prophetic countdown had begun. The first seven weeks equal forty-nine years. The following sixty-two weeks equal 434 years. Together they form sixty-nine weeks, or 483 prophetic years. 483 × 360 = 173,880 days. The Bible’s prophetic calendar uses a 360-day year. We see the same pattern in Genesis, Daniel and Revelation. Revelation describes forty-two months as 1,260 days, confirming months of thirty days and years of 360 days. Using this biblical calendar, the sixty-nine weeks equal 173,880 days. THE KING ARRIVES One well-known calculation, developed by Sir Robert Anderson and refined by later Bible scholars, begins with the decree of Artaxerxes in 445 B.C. and ends at the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem in A.D. 32. The destination of the prophecy wasn’t merely the birth of Jesus. Gabriel said the countdown would reach “Messiah the Prince,” the public presentation of Israel’s King. Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey, deliberately fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass.” Zechariah 9:9 KJV The crowd spread garments and palm branches before Him and cried: “Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord.” Luke 19:38 KJV The Pharisees demanded that Jesus rebuke His disciples. Jesus answered that if they remained silent, the stones would immediately cry out. This moment had been appointed by God. Israel’s King had arrived exactly when Daniel said He would. Jesus then looked over Jerusalem and wept. “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!” Luke 19:42 KJV Notice His wording: “this thy day.” Jesus held Jerusalem accountable for recognizing the time of her visitation. The religious leaders knew the Scriptures, copied the prophets and debated the smallest details of the Law, yet they failed to recognize the Messiah standing directly in front of them. The King had arrived on schedule, but the nation rejected Him. MESSIAH CUT OFF Gabriel revealed what would happen after the sixty-nine weeks. “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.” Daniel 9:26 KJV The Messiah wouldn’t immediately receive His earthly Kingdom. He would be cut off. The Hebrew carries the idea of being killed or violently removed. Jesus wasn’t crucified for His own sins because He had none. He was cut off for us. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.” Isaiah 53:5 KJV Daniel wrote this centuries before the crucifixion. The prophecy said the Messiah would arrive, be rejected and die before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. That creates a serious problem for anyone still waiting for the Messiah’s first appearance. The Messiah had to come before the second temple was destroyed. Jesus came at the appointed time, presented Himself as King and was cut off exactly as Daniel foretold. JERUSALEM DESTROYED Gabriel continued: “And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” Daniel 9:26 KJV In A.D. 70, Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem and burned the temple. The prophecy doesn’t call the Roman commander the coming prince. It says the people of the coming prince would destroy the city. The people were Roman. The prince is still future. This coming prince is the ruler later identified as the Antichrist. He will arise from the final form of the same imperial system whose people destroyed Jerusalem. THE GAP BETWEEN THE WEEKS The text places the death of the Messiah and the destruction of Jerusalem after the sixty-ninth week, yet the seventieth week doesn’t begin until the covenant of verse 27. This means there is an interval between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks. We’re living in that interval now. During this period, God is calling out a people from every nation to form the Body of Christ. The Church wasn’t revealed in Daniel because the Church was a mystery later revealed through the apostle Paul. Israel’s prophetic clock hasn’t been erased. It has been paused while God completes His present work through the Church. Once the Church is removed, God will resume His prophetic program for Israel and Jerusalem. THE FINAL SEVEN YEARS Daniel’s seventieth week begins when the coming prince confirms a covenant with many. “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week.” Daniel 9:27 KJV The rapture doesn’t begin the Tribulation. The confirmation of this covenant begins Daniel’s final seven-year period. The ruler will appear to bring stability and peace, but halfway through the seven years, he will break the covenant, stop the sacrifices and commit the abomination of desolation. “And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” Daniel 9:27 KJV Jesus referred directly to this prophecy in Matthew 24: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place.” Matthew 24:15 KJV Jesus spoke of Daniel’s abomination as a future event. Antiochus Epiphanes foreshadowed it centuries earlier, but Christ confirmed that Daniel’s ultimate fulfillment was still ahead. The final half of the week lasts forty-two months, 1,260 days or “a time, times, and an half.” During this period, the Antichrist will unleash terrible persecution while God prepares Israel to recognize the One she once rejected. THE KING WILL RETURN Daniel 9 isn’t only about Christ’s first arrival. The prophecy moves toward His return, the destruction of the final wicked ruler and the establishment of everlasting righteousness. Jesus entered Jerusalem the first time riding on a donkey. He will return riding a white horse. The first time, He wore a crown of thorns. When He returns, He will wear many crowns. The first time, He stood before earthly rulers and allowed Himself to be condemned. At His return, every ruler and nation will stand before Him. Israel rejected her King, but God’s plan didn’t fail. The cross was already written into the prophecy. The destruction of Jerusalem was foretold, the present interval was accounted for, and the final seven years remain exactly where Gabriel placed them. Daniel was given the timetable. Zechariah described the entrance. Jesus arrived on schedule, was cut off for our sins and rose from the dead. The King came once to purchase salvation. He’s coming again to take His throne. #MoreJoyMinistries