Preached by Gregory W. Lee
27 August 2006
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Daniel 9
24. "Seventy `sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.
25. "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven `sevens,' and sixty-two `sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
26. After the sixty-two `sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.
-- this morning, we are continuing our series in eschatology -- in the study of end times prophecy -- just to refresh your memory from where we are, Daniel has been reading the Book of Jeremiah and has realized that the 70-year period of exile decreed for the nation of Israel was nearing an end
-- he was concerned over what was going to happen to the nation now that the exile was over and a new world government -- the Medo-Persians -- were on the scene -- would they be allowed to return to Jerusalem? -- would they be kept in captivity?
-- as he is pouring out his heart to God with this question -- confessing his sin and the sin of the nation as a whole -- God sends the angel Gabriel to Daniel with an answer -- and in verses 24-27 in this chapter, Gabriel outlines what will happen to the nation of Israel in the future
-- as you remember, Gabriel told Daniel in verse 24 that 490 years was decreed for the nation of Israel -- your Bible uses the term "seventy sevens" or "seventy weeks" in place of 490 years -- remember that the term "seven" or "weeks" in this context refers to a seven-year period -- so, in other words, Gabriel was telling Daniel that the nation of Israel was only going to exist for a total of 490 years
-- the 490 years would start when a decree was issued to rebuild Jerusalem -- and, as we learned last week, the decree went out from Artaxerxes to Nehemiah in 444 BC to rebuild the city -- not only to complete the temple, but to rebuild the walls, the gates, and the homes
-- Gabriel told Daniel in verse 25 that the rebuilding of Jerusalem would take 49 years -- seven sevens or seven weeks -- this marks the first division of the 490 years decreed for Israel
-- after Jerusalem is rebuilt, Gabriel told Daniel that another 434 years would pass until the Anointed One -- the Messiah -- comes to Jerusalem and is cut-off -- rejected by His people and crucified -- and, if you remember from last week, we talked about how Jesus rode into Jerusalem in 32 AD, exactly 483 years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, just as Daniel prophesied in this book
-- now, Gabriel said that 490 years were decreed for the nation of Israel, but only 483 years are accounted for -- 49 years to rebuild Jerusalem and 434 years from the rebuilding of Jerusalem until the death of Jesus on the cross
-- that leaves seven years unaccounted for -- and as we finished up last week, we discussed how there must be a gap in time between the death of Jesus and the start of this last seven-year period -- and we talked about how this seven-year period has not been completed yet because the six events in verse 24 that would be fulfilled before the end of the 490 years have not been fulfilled yet
-- so, this morning, we turn our attention to this last seven-year period -- called the "time of Jacob's Trouble" by the prophet Jeremiah and called the Great Tribulation or the "Time of Great Distress" by Jesus in Matthew 24
II. The Nation of Israel After Jesus' Death and Resurrection
-- look back at verse 26
26. After the sixty-two `sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.
27. He will confirm a covenant with many for one `seven.' In the middle of the `seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing [of the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him. "
-- when Jesus -- the Anointed One -- rode into Jerusalem, the nation of Israel rejected Him and were directly responsible for His death -- Gabriel says that He was "cut-off" by His people and had nothing
-- Christ came to establish His kingdom on earth -- His spiritual kingdom by making atonement for our sins through His death and resurrection -- and His earthly kingdom -- the Kingdom of Heaven
-- but, when the nation of Israel rejected Him and He was crucified by Pontius Pilate, His earthly kingdom was not established at that time -- we know that God turned His attention from the Jews to the Gentiles at this time and the church age was ushered in -- outside of the gospels, the entire New Testament deals with the establishment of Christ's church and the growth of the church of Christ amidst persecution from Jews and others
-- but, remember that this prophecy in Daniel 9 deals with the nation of Israel -- so, what happened to the nation of Israel after the death and resurrection of Jesus?
-- verse 26 tells us that after the Anointed One -- Jesus -- is cut off, the people of the ruler to come will destroy the city of Jerusalem and the sanctuary -- the temple
-- at the time of Jesus' death, religious and political power resided in the temple and was wielded by the three major Jewish sects -- the Pharisees -- the Saducees -- and the Zealots -- and even though they had authority among their own people, the Jews were still ruled by the Romans who had come in and taken over Palestine in 63 BC
-- the Zealots, in particular, were not happy at having Jersualem and the Holy Land under the authority of the Romans, and after the death of Jesus -- in 66 AD -- the Zealots inspired a mass revolt and turned against the Romans
-- the Roman emperor could not turn a blind eye to an armed revolt against his rule, so he mobilized his troops and attacked Jerusalem -- in 70 AD, the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem and burned the temple
-- from that time until now, the Jewish people have not had a central place of worship -- the temple that was destroyed in 70 AD has never been rebuilt and the Muslim mosque, the Dome of the Rock, sits on the site where most believe the temple used to stand
-- verse 26 continues to say that the time from the cutting off of the Anointed One until the last seven-year period is completed will be a time of trouble and tribulation -- there will be wars -- there will be desolations -- and it is obvious to even the most casual student of history that the nation of Israel has been right in the middle of some of the worst atrocities ever committed -- from the killing of Jews in France and Russia in historic times to the Holocaust in Germany in recent memory
III. The Ruler Who Will Come
-- but, this passage tells us that God is not through with the nation of Israel -- although He has turned His attention on the Gentiles for a time to build His church, He will once again turn His attention onto the nation of Israel as the last seven-year period is ushered in
-- before we talk in detail about this last seven years, let's look for a moment on the person identified in verse 26 as "the ruler who will come" -- this is none other than the infamous Antichrist -- the Beast from the Book of Revelation
-- there's a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation concerning this "ruler who will come" -- what do we actually know about the ruler to come?
-- first, we know that the Antichrist will be a man -- he is clearly identified in the Book of Daniel, in the letters of John, and in the Book of Revelation as a man -- Paul called him the "man of lawlessness, the man doomed to destruction" in 2 Thessalonians 2:3
-- secondly, we know that he will be a political leader -- he is called here the "ruler" who will come -- he will have authority on earth and will eventually become the world leader
-- third, we know that he will be a Gentile and will be descended from the people of Rome -- in verse 26, Gabriel tells Daniel that "the people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary" -- we know that this was referring to the Romans because they destroyed the city in 70 AD -- now, this does not mean that the Antichrist will be Roman or will be from Italy -- but he will be descended from the Roman people -- this could be anyone from an English or European descent, because these are the people who owe their heredity to the Romans
-- fourth, we know that he will set up a false religion that opposes Christ -- the word "antichrist" literally means "in place of" or "against" -- so he will set up a false religion that is offered in place of or against Christianity
-- in the letters of John -- 1 John and 2 John -- John tells us that there is a spirit of the antichrist that is alive and working in the world today -- anyone who opposes Christ -- who denies the deity of Jesus and who teaches that Jesus was not God incarnate -- is living in the spirit of the antichrist
-- and, finally, we know that the Antichrist is going to be influenced and empowered by Satan and that he will have the ability to do miracles and signs and wonders -- in Matthew 24, Jesus said that false Christs and false prophets would appear and perform "great signs and miracles" that are so realistic that they could deceive Christians, if that were possible -- in the Book of Revelation we read of the great miracles of the Beast, including his resurrection from the dead
-- so, this is the ruler to come, and he is important in understanding the timing of the final seven years decreed for the nation of Israel
IV. The Final Seven Years
-- look back at verse 27
27. He will confirm a covenant with many for one `seven.' In the middle of the `seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing [of the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him. "
-- "he" is the ruler who will come -- the Antichrist -- Daniel tells us that this great, charismatic leader is going to establish a covenant -- a peace treaty -- with the nation of Israel for a seven year period
-- the signing of this peace treaty with Israel will be the sign that the final seven-year period is at hand -- now, we don't know if the Antichrist is going to be the leader of a country that is at war with Israel or if he is merely going to be the diplomat that brokers an agreement between Israel and its enemies, but this will be the event that propels him into the attention of the world
-- this peace treaty is going to usher in a time of peace and restoration of the national religion of Judaism -- but, this peace won't last -- Daniel tells us here that in the middle of the seven-year period -- after 3-1/2 years of peace -- the Antichrist is going to break the peace treaty with Israel and do two things that will directly impact the Jewish people
-- first, Daniel tells us that the Antichrist will put an end to sacrifice and offering
-- and, secondly, he will go into the temple and set up an abomination that causes desolation -- most scholars agree that this is the moment in time that the Antichrist sets himself up in the temple as God and demands the worship of the Jewish people
-- now, there's something important to get out of these verses -- at some point in the future of Israel, the nation is going to rebuild the temple and is going to once again offer sacrifices and burnt offerings to God
-- we don't know how or when this is going to happen -- it may happen before the signing of the peace treaty with the Antichrist or it may happen within the first 3-1/2 years after the signing of the peace treaty -- but Daniel tells us here that the temple will be rebuilt -- the people cannot be offering sacrifices and burnt offerings to God without a temple
-- ever since the nation of Israel was founded in 1948, there have been Jews who have longed to rebuild the temple -- Daniel tells us that, eventually, there dream will be fulfilled
-- so, after 3-1/2 years of peace, the Antichrist is going to break the peace treaty, stop worship in the newly built temple, and establish himself as God
-- the next 3-1/2 years will be a time of great tribulation as the 490 years decreed for the nation of Israel come to an end -- and, at the end of this time, the Lord Jesus Christ will return, setting up a millenial kingdom on earth and ushering in the fulfillment of the six events decreed in verse 24 -- finishing the transgression, putting an end to sin, atoning for wickedness, bringing in everlasting righteousness, sealing up vision and prophecy, and anointing the most holy
V. Closing
-- so, what is the take-home message from this passage?
-- first, we have no idea when this last seven-year period will take place -- we know it will start with the Antichrist signs a peace treaty with Israel -- but we have no way of knowing the day, month, or even the year that this event will occur
-- Jesus told us to not be concerned with such things, but to go forth and fulfill the Great Commandment -- to love our neighbor as ourself -- and the Great Commission -- to go and make disciples of all the nations -- while we keep a watchful eye for His second coming
-- if it looks like we are entering the end times -- if it looks like the time is ripe for the Antichrist to sign this peace treaty, then this should cause us to seek to share our faith with all that we can because we know that the time is short
-- secondly, we should not get paranoid or get too worried about the coming of the Antichrist -- God tells us here that the Antichrist will come -- he must come -- so that God's purposes will be fulfilled
-- it is not our place to try to figure out who the Antichrist is -- we need to stop playing the favorite church game, "guess who the Antichrist is" -- instead, we need to focus on spreading the truth of the gospel to all we come into contact with -- letting the truth of God's word counteract the spirit of the antichrist which John told us was alive and well in our world today
-- let us pray
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