Jean Ross: Good morning, friends, and welcome to "Sabbath School Study Hour" here at the Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church in Sacramento, California. We'd like to welcome those who are joining us across the country and around the world. And you notice we always mention where we are. We're in Sacramento, California. Sometimes we have those who are joining us and you might not know that we're right here in Sacramento. You might be in our backyard, so to speak. If you live in the area, we'd love you to come join us every Saturday morning at 9:30 right here at the Granite Bay Church. And you can get our information on line. Just take a look at the Granite Bay Church website and you can get the address.
We'd also like to welcome our regular Sabbath School members, and I know we have some who are visiting with us. And again, a very warm welcome to all of you. We've been studying through the lesson dealing with the book of Daniel in the Old Testament. We have a very important study today, an important chapter. It's lesson number 10 is our study for today and it's entitled, "From Confusion to Consolation." "From Confusion to Consolation." We'll be looking at Daniel chapter 9.
Now, we'd also like to tell those who are joining us online or on the various television networks, we do have the free offer and it's entitled, "The Final Judgment." We'll be happy to send this Amazing Facts study guide to anyone who calls and asks. If you'd like to receive it, the phone number is 866-788-3966, and just ask for offer number 132. Or you can text the code SH077 to the number 40544 and you'll be able to read this study guide online. Again, it's called from-- Oh, it's called "The Final Judgment" and it goes along with our study for today. Well, before we get to our Sabbath School lesson, I'd like to invite our song leaders to come forward and they'll lead us in our Sabbath School song.
Good morning. Happy Sabbath. Please join us in singing number 428, "Sweet By and By.
♪♪♪
♪ There's a land that is fairer than day, ♪
♪ and by faith we can see it afar; ♪
♪ for the Father waits over the way ♪
♪ to prepare us a dwelling place there. ♪
♪ In the sweet by and by, ♪
♪ we shall meet on that beautiful shore. ♪
♪ In the sweet by and by, ♪
♪ we shall meet on that beautiful shore. ♪
♪ We shall sing on that beautiful shore ♪
♪ the melodious songs of the blest, ♪
♪ and our spirits shall sorrow no more ♪
♪ not a sight for the blessing of rest. ♪
♪ In the sweet by and by, ♪
♪ we shall meet on that beautiful shore. ♪
♪ In the sweet by and by, ♪
♪ we shall meet on that beautiful shore. ♪
♪ To our bountiful Father above ♪
♪ we will offer our tribute of praise; ♪
♪ for the glorious gift of His love ♪
♪ and the blessings that hallow our days. ♪
♪ In the sweet by and by, ♪
♪ we shall meet on that beautiful shore. ♪
♪ In the sweet by and by, ♪
♪ we shall meet on that beautiful shore. ♪
Jean Ross: Let's bow our heads for prayer. Dear Father in heaven, we thank you that we have this wonderful opportunity on such a beautiful Sabbath that you have given us to gather together, to open up your Word, study a very important passage, a passage that was written long before the coming of Jesus and yet gives us the very time of the beginning of his ministry. Thank you, Lord, for this very important, fascinating chapter in the Bible, Daniel 9. Bless us, Lord. Give us understanding and impress upon us those things you want us to know. For we ask this in Jesus's name, amen. Our lesson today is going to be brought to us by Pastor Shawn Brummund, our family life here at Granite Bay. And as you can tell, all of us enjoy the book of Daniel and we almost had to flip a coin to figure out who's going to teach what chapter. But no, we're excited that he's going to be able to share with us Daniel chapter 9. Thank you Pastor Brummund.
Shawn Brummund: Good morning to everybody. It's good to be back here in the Granite Bay Church and to be able to study with you on this very important topic. One of my favorite chapters that we can find in all of Scripture is found in Daniel chapter 9 and the prophecy timeline that is found there. And so I found it a privilege to be able to be here. And as we looked at last week's subject, as we looked at that powerful vision and experience that Daniel had in Daniel chapter 8, as we came to the conclusion of that, we came to a very powerful and really packed statement that was made at the conclusion of the vision, and we find it on the screen here. Daniel 8, verse 14, "And he said unto me."
And we can turn there if you want to, and I invite you to do that. He said, "And he said unto me, 'For two thousand three hundred days, and then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.'" And so, Pastor Jean had done such a great job in unpacking a little bit about the what and the where. And so where do we find the sanctuary? For those of us who are in review, where do we find that sanctuary? We find it in heaven, don't we?
Okay, so we find a sanctuary in heaven. And so really, the Bible talks about two key sanctuaries, one reflecting the other. The first one is the Old Testament sanctuary, and that is the one which Moses had established with the old covenant and which he had established--God established a covenant with Israel. They had developed a tabernacle, a sanctuary, that eventually became a temple, and it was a two room temple. And then we also have the earthly priesthood that was permanently set there, a human priesthood. And then we also have the altar of sacrifices that took place there every day and throughout the year as they continued to worship the Lord in that--in that way, respect.
But as we looked at last week, and this is in review, there is a heavenly, even grander, much better, more important sanctuary than that of the one in Jerusalem on earth and that is the New Testament sanctuary. So we have the Old Testament sanctuary in earthly Jerusalem, but we have a heavenly New Testament sanctuary that is found in heaven. And the new--the Old Testament priesthood is replaced with a much better and perfect priesthood, which is found in the person of the Son of God, Jesus Christ Himself. And the earthly sacrificial system that surrounded the earthly temple and sanctuary was replaced with the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice, which is found on a hill called Calvary in which Jesus Christ Himself died for the sins of the world, and so we have a much better priesthood that is in heaven.
And I don't know about you, but I'm just glad to live in the New Testament era, because we can come to God, we can come through Jesus and to Jesus as our High Priest 24/7, and He is there to mediate for your sins and mine. And He'd be able to give us a continuing walk with Him as we grow into His holiness as He works in our hearts. And so that's a little bit of review of what we looked at last week in regards to Daniel chapter 8, and the reason I'm doing that is because we are going to discover now the when of this cleansing of the sanctuary.
Because again, last week we looked at the what and the where, but today we want to also unpack and look at where the when is. When does this 2,300 day, and of course, a day in prophetic prophecy always represents a literal year. And we find that principle, if you haven't studied it in the past, in Ezekiel chapter 4, and verse 6. God had very clearly started to establish in symbolic prophecy only that a prophetic symbolic day represents a literal year. And so is this a long prophecy, friends? It's a very long prophecy. In fact, it is the longest-reaching time prophecy in all of Scripture, and it is also one of the most important, and for our day and age also one of the most relevant. And so as, again, a review, when we come to the conclusion of the 2,300 year prophecy, when the sanctuary begins to be cleansed in the heavenly sanctuary. Indeed it marks the final work that Jesus would do in earth's history and in His plan of salvation, which He would move from the first room at the sanctuary into the second room, the most holy place, in which He would do that final work. And we'll talk about that more in detail as we come to this study a little bit later on.
But not only that, but as we come back to verses 16 and 17 in chapter 8, we discover there that indeed, the conclusion of this particular time prophecy also points us to the time of the end. Let's read it quickly. "And I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Ulai, who called and said, 'Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.' So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face, but he said to me, 'Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the-- to the time of the end.'"
And so this prophecy even becomes more important relevant because not only does it point to the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, Christ's final work in the plan of salvation, but it also points us to the beginning of what we can say-- the beginning of the end, the last phase of earth's history when God is wrapping things up in heaven that he might send His Son back to Earth as God and Jesus had promised to be able to take His people home and live eternally with Him.
So let's fast forward now to the last two verses of Daniel chapter 8, verses 26 and 27. And as we fast forward to that, of course this is review, Daniel has had this experience, not only in a prophetic vision, but also with the great Angel Gabriel, as Gabriel has been faithfully doing that which we had just read he was commissioned to do, and that is to unpack or to give the interpretation of the symbolic vision that Daniel had received.
Did Gabriel do a good job at that? Sure he did, didn't he? He did a very good job at unpacking it. In fact, he gives us some of the most detailed interpretations and understandings in regard to the symbolic vision that Daniel had received. But then as we come to verse 26, as he is continuing his job, Gabriel that is, it says, "In the visions of the evenings and the mornings, which we're told is true, therefore seal up the vision for it refers to many days in the future." Indeed, very many days, 2,300 years into the future.
Well, poor Gabriel, he probably was intending to continue to unpack that a little bit more and allow a little bit of interaction between him and Daniel in understanding that further, but his student passes out. Not only did he pass out, he had to take sick leave for several days, and we read that in the next verse. It says, "And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days. And afterward, I arose and went about the king's business and I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it."
And so here's Daniel. Gabriel has done a very good job in giving him understanding of the entire vision until he gets to the very last verse, where it is stated for under 2,300 days, then the sanctuary shall be cleansed. Well, Daniel so overwhelmed by this that he passes out and has to take sick leave for a time. And so was Gabriel able to finish his job? No, it's very hard to teach a student that's passed out, isn't it? And that's what we find in this particular case, and so Gabriel returns back to his Father in heaven. And as it turns out, when we come into chapter 9 we find that about ten years has passed since that experience. And so God lets Daniel sit on that for about ten years.
Now, friends, I want to ask you for us to be able to put ourselves in Daniel's shoes. Why was Daniel so overwhelmed? Well, we have to remember that Daniel had been in captivity in Babylon for about 60 years at this point in history when he received this vision, okay? Many of his fellow countrymen had been killed when the Babylonians came in and destroyed Jerusalem, level-led the temple, brought many of the--most of the Israelites back to Babylon, the ones that weren't killed, and they became slaves for many years to come. And Daniel was a slave for the rest of his life.
And so Daniel's totally blown away by this 2,300 year prophecy because his mind is on the earthly sanctuary. His mind is on reestablishing not only Jerusalem, but most importantly in his heart is to reestablish God's holy temple, that they begin the sacrificial system and to worship God through the plan of salvation that is spelled out there and played out there. And the most important, or one of the most important ceremonies that took place was Yom Kippur, as our Jewish friends call it today, which is the Day of Atonement, and that was the annual cleansing of the earthly Old Testament sanctuary.
So in Daniel's mind, almost for certain, he's thinking, "Now, wait a minute. I've got a major tension in my mind because we're 60 years into captivity. I've read Jeremiah's writings, and in Jeremiah chapter 29, in verse 10, it tells me very clearly amongst other places in that book that God says that our punishment in captivity in Babylon will last seven years." And so in Daniel's mind, he's thinking when he received the vision in Daniel 8 it should only be ten more years before the sanctuary starts to be cleansed again in the Day of Atonement.
But now God throws a curve ball and he says, Listen, actually it sounds like now that the sanctuary won't be cleansed for another 2,300 years and there'll be multiple world empires that will rise and fall in that part of the world and all these things will take place before the sanctuary will be cleansed. And so for ten years now, Daniel is sitting on this, until he comes to the conclusion of the 70-year period, and now he's really distressed because he's still wondering, "When is God going to fulfill the cleansing of the sanctuary?"
And so we find as we come to Daniel chapter 9 that he's on his knees, praying fervently. He's traded his clothes for sackcloth. He puts his food aside and begins fasting. And he starts to pray in intercession for Israel, claiming that promise that God had given in Jeremiah, that indeed the time had come in which His promise was to be fulfilled and the Jews were to be able to be free to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. And he claims that promise and he pleads with God, "Please help your earthly temple to be built once again in the Holy Jerusalem." Well, we don't have time to look at that actual prayer. If you've read your quarterly, that particular quarterly does just a wonderful job in being able to unpack that for us and give us some good insights, but because of limited time, I just want us to be able to fast forward to verse 21 as we come to the conclusion of that particular prayer. Because as Daniel is in the midst of this prayer for whatever hours that was, we find here in verse 21 that he's interrupted by no one else but the Angel Gabriel, who had an encounter with him in just the previous vision in chapter 8 itself.
So let's go to verse 21. Verse 21, it says, "Yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel whom I had seen in vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering." Now, isn't it wonderful to know that angels can be sent in just a moment's notice and arrive here all the way from heaven? Now, we know, just knowing the size of the universe and that our telescopes can't even come close to reaching where heaven, that it's multiple light-years away from this planet. And so for angels, the thought of traveling at the speed of light is very primitive, and they're thinking, "Man alive, that's really slow because I can go way faster than that. I can go millions of light-years or thousands of light-years, whatever it is, in just a moment's notice." And Gabriel shows up on the scene with Daniel. Verse 22, "And he informed me and talked with me and said, 'Oh Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand.'"
Well, that's what he was doing before Daniel passed out in the previous chapter. Verse 22, he says, "And at the beginning of your supplications, the command went out and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved, and therefore consider the matter and understand the vision."
Now, friends, I want to ask you a very important question in regards to this, because some people have a hard time seeing the connection, the inseparable connection, between what Gabriel is now about to start to unpack and give to Daniel in the last part of this chapter 9, and how it is inseparably connected to the last verse of the vision that he received in Daniel chapter 8. And this is the question that you need to ask yourselves now and in the future to be able to see this clearly.
How many visions did Daniel receive in the 9th chapter of the book of Daniel? How many visions did Daniel receive? Somebody said none. That's right, zero, okay? He received zero visions, alright? So if Daniel--Gabriel shows up and he says, "Listen, I have come to give you understanding of the vision," and there is no vision in Daniel chapter 9, we have to back up further before Daniel chapter 9, and that is Daniel chapter 8. The very last vision that Daniel received and the only vision that he received since he was with Gabriel previous to this, and now with his experience with Gabriel, is the vision that's recorded in Daniel chapter 8.
And so there's no other vision that Gabriel can be referring to because there is no other vision recorded in Daniel chapter 9. And so he has to, inevitably, be referring to the vision before. Now, did Gabriel do a good job at unpacking and giving understanding to Daniel to every different symbol in that vision until he got to the last verse? He did, didn't he?
Alright, so Gabriel did a very good job and that's why we enjoy studying it, because God just unpacks it so wonderfully through his angel. But then when we come to this particular verse, when we come to this particular statement, there is still more that God wants both Daniel, and you, and I to understand. And so now, Daniel of course has received his health, his strength. He's in a good state of mind. He's in deep prayer, claiming the promises of God.
And now, Gabriel gives us more information. So then we come to verse 24. In verse 24, it says, "Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your Holy City." Now, who would Daniel's people and city be? Okay, Daniel's a Jewish person, so his people would be the Jewish Israelites, alright? And his city would be none other than the Holy City and capital of Israel, which is Jerusalem itself. And so, "Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your Holy City to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy." And so here, we have Gabriel and he says, "Listen, I'm giving you an additional timeline. I'm giving you more information that is directly related to the last vision which I gave you," which is found in Daniel chapter 8, and verse 14.
Now, there's a couple of things that we need to understand. We already concluded very simply and easily that Daniel's people would be the Jewish people, but the term that is found in many translations "determined," some translations may say separated or cut off, and that's because they're all accurate and right. And so the original Jewish word is talking about being cut off or separated from something else other than itself. Now, because it's directly related to Daniel 8, verse 14 in the 2,300-year prophecy, we know that what Gabriel's now giving is also part of the same timeline. And so God essentially here is saying, "Listen, that 2,300-year prophecy that I gave you, I'm giving you a sub-timeline that is also directly related included in that time space." And this particular timeline is directly related to the Jewish people, and the Jewish nation, and the capital city of Jerusalem, and of course its temple that is included.
Alright, so there we have it, and so let's go back. In fact, I want to look at a bit of a time chart here. When we look at a time chart here, we find here that this is the start of the 2,300-year prophecy and this will be the conclusion of it when the sanctuary is cleansed at the end of the 2,300 years. Then we come to the 70-week period, and so God now is giving us a sub-timeline. The first 490 years, because of course 70 weeks, if you have 70 weeks times 7, that is how many days? Four hundred and ninety days. And in symbolic prophecy, a day represents a literal year, and so now we know that the first 490 years of this particular prophecy is determined, is cut off, is given to that of the purposes of the Jews, the Holy City of Jerusalem, and of course the nation of Israel. And then of course, there's 1,810 remaining days.
That brings us to the conclusion of the 2,300-year prophecy. And are you with me so far? All right, okay, so let's go to verse 25. Now, verse 25 is no small verse because how much is all these timelines and prophecies that God gave to us if he doesn't give us some indication and help in understanding when those particular timelines begin? It's not worth anything, is it? And so we need to be able to know what historical event or what year in earth's history is the beginning of this greatest and longest reaching and one of the most important timelines that we can find in all of Scripture? Indeed, we have verse 25, and that's what makes verse 25 absolutely priceless in concern to these two visions or in concern to these two chapters of Daniel.
So verse 25, it says, "Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince--" who do you suppose that is? None other than Jesus himself, okay? That's why many translations have it with a capital M. "There shall be 7 weeks and 62 weeks."
Now, let's do some quick math. What 7 weeks and 62 weeks later? That's 69 weeks, isn't it? Okay, so after 69 weeks, "The Messiah the Prince shall come 69 weeks after the command to go and restore and build Jerusalem. The street shall be built again and the wall, even in troublesome times." And indeed, as you read the book of Ezra and Nehemiah, as we have in just recent history here in Sabbath School, it was very troublesome times in which the Israelites that went back to Jerusalem found themselves rebuilding the wall, and the city, and the temple once again. And so verse 25 is absolutely critical and essential, why? Because it points us to the historical event that will mark the beginning of these particular timelines. And indeed, God even in verse 25 began to divide up this particular timeline of 490 years, and we're going to look at some of those details in a powerful way just shortly here in the future.
And so as it turns out, as we look at our history books, but not only our history books, but the most reliable history book in all of the world, which is the Holy Bible itself, we find in Ezra in the 7th chapter that God knew that this particular decree, and historically that was so important, understanding His prophecies in Daniel, that He saw to it that the very decree, word by word from the very hand of King Artaxerxes himself, was preserved for us to be able to read.
Now of course, we don't have time to read that here this morning, but in Ezra chapter 7, verse 7, he also tells us that that decree of Artaxerxes was given in the 50th year of the reign of King Artaxerxes himself. Now, if we look in the history books, the history books tells us that King Artaxerxes in the 7th--sorry, in the 15th year of his reign, that was the year 457 BC. Is that an important date, friends? It's a vital date. It's a priceless date. It's an essential date because it gives us the beginning point and year to be able to start to count down these particular timelines that God has given to you and me.
And so let's go ahead and do some math. If we start at the starting point now, because the command to go and rebuild Jerusalem takes place in 457 BC, and we want to find out when does the 490-year prophecy and time period that applies to the Jews in the city of Jerusalem take place, and conclude, friends, we have to go from 457 BC 483-- sorry, 490 years into the future, and where does that bring us? We have some mathematicians out there? 34 BC. Okay, so it brings us to the year 34. Sorry, 34 AD. And so as we come to the year 34 AD, we come to the conclusion of God's timeline and period in history that would bring us to the conclusion of God's purposes for the Jews and for the Holy City of Jerusalem here on earth.
Now, there's something very critical that's recorded in Acts chapter 7 that took place, and that is that the very--one of the first deacons by the way, his name was Stephen, was the first Christian martyr in Christian history. Now, Stephen was no small individual. He was a key individual in which God had called to be able to bring his last appeal to the nation of Israel. The Israelites in general as a nation, and its religious leaders, and political leaders had rejected Jesus. They had led Jesus to the cross. They had killed him and they had been denying him ever since. And they've been persecuting his people and his apostles.
Well, 3 1/2 years after Jesus resurrected, ascended back to His Father, the Christian church was going into its--into its evangelistic stage and was expanding and baptizing people on a daily basis, we find that God sends Stephen. Now, not only as a deacon, but also as a prophet before the Sanhedrin, which was the highest ruling body both religiously and politically in the nation of Israel in concern to the Jews. And so Stephen begins to give a speech as God inspired him to give this last appeal and speech that they might see and accept Jesus as the promised Messiah that they had rejected.
Sadly, he doesn't even get to the end of his speech. They are so enraged by this attempt of God and Stephen to be able to appeal to them that they drive him out of the Sanhedrin building, and they bring him over outside somewhere, and they pick up stones, and they throw rocks at him until he is dead.
And so friends, this is the final conclusion of the 490-year prophecy and period that brings us to the conclusion of God's use and purposes for the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel. You see, friends, one of the most tragic and hardest decisions that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ had to make in concern to the nation that God had loved, and nurtured, and patiently had guided as best as He possibly could for centuries, God and His Son Jesus Christ had determined at the end of the 490 years, when they completely and persistently rejected Jesus as the Messiah, God is going to have to look for another nation to be able to fulfill His purposes in bringing the gospel to the world.
And that's why when we come to Matthew chapter 21, and verse 43, when again He's in a tense conversation with the religious leaders of the Jewish nation and He says, "Listen, there is a time in which the nation and the kingdom will be taken from you, and given to another nation bearing the fruits thereof." This is why the Apostle Paul later on in Galatians chapter 3, and verse 29 made this statement in his letter. He says, "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise."
In other words, all of us here as believers are Jews. Did you know that? Okay, so in God's eyes according to the New Testament theology and revelation that God has, God's purposes for the Christian church, now there is a nation without borders. There is a nation without a civil body that rules it. It is the body of God's believers, the holy church of God. And so each of us, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, become a spiritual descendant of Abraham, a spiritual Jew. That's why Peter wrote in 1 Peter chapter 2, and verse 9, as he spoke to the church, he says, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people." And so Peter understood very clearly that the time prophecy of Daniel chapter 9, the 490-year period and probation for the Israelite nation to come to its conclusion, and indeed God now was giving and working through a different nation, the New Testament nation of the holy Christian church.
Alright, so that being said, let's return back to verse 25, because verse 25 reveals something for us in addition to the beginning point and the beginning year and historical event that begins this great timeline that we're looking at. It actually pinpoints when Jesus would arrive on the earth scene and Israel's scene as the true Messiah, the deliverer of sinful mankind. Let's read it again. It says, "Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be 7 weeks and 62 weeks."
Friends, how many weeks is that again? Sixty-nine weeks. Now I'm going to really test your math. What 69 times 7, if we want to convert this to days? It's 483 I heard. Okay, so somebody said 483 days, and in prophecy, symbolic prophecy only, a day represents a literal year, and so we're looking at 483 years. And so let's do some math. If we go at 457 BC, God is saying, "If you start at 457 BC and you make your way 483 years into the future, you will pinpoint the exact year in which My Son Jesus Christ will arrive on the earth scene as the Messiah." And so let's do some math. If we start in 457 BC and we go 483 years into the future, we come to the year 27 AD.
Now, there's something instrumental that took place in the year 27 AD. Jesus was baptized. He was approximately 30 years of age, okay? By the way, I'm not--some of you may be looking at the math and going 457 BC, 483 years into the future, and you're saying, "Wait a minute, I think Pastor Shawn has to go back and take grade three math again, because it really should be 26 AD." And trust me, I know my math and, you know, I still would pass math in grade three, but the fact of the matter is that there's a bit of a complication when you take a timeline that starts in BC and goes into an AD date, and that is the fact that there is no such thing as a 0 AD. You can't find 0 AD or BC in any history book. Why? Because as you come up to 1 BC, the very next year in history books is 1 AD. And so, but if you just kind of go from Old Testament times or pre-BC times to AD and you just do the math directly, you actually--when you do that, you actually lose a year because it's--your math is assuming there's a 0 year, a year 0, which there isn't. So if you don't get that, still trust me. I know what I'm doing when I say the date is 27 AD, okay?
So Jesus is baptized in 27 AD, okay? The Bible tells us some very powerful things in concern to his baptism. The Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him, okay, and a voice came down from the heavens, saying, "This is my Son in whom I'm well pleased." Now, as it turns out, the word "Messiah" means anointed one. This is a Hebrew title in terms that literally means the anointed one and it's equivalent to that of Christ. The Greek equivalent to the Hebrew term "Messiah" is "Christ," and both of them mean the anointed one. And as it turns out, at approximately 30 years of age when Jesus went into the River Jordan to be baptized by John the Baptist, indeed He was anointed.
Now, He wasn't anointed with oil as the other kings and prophets of the past and priests were anointed when they were receiving their particular ministry, but Jesus was anointed with a greater anointing and that is the anointing of the Holy Spirit. And indeed, Acts chapter 10, and verses 37 and 38 say, "That word, I say, you know. After the baptism which John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power."
You see, up until 30 years of age, Jesus was the Son of God from conception on, amen? But He didn't become the Messiah until He was about 30 years of age because Messiah literally means the anointed one, and He wasn't anointed until He was 30 years of age. Once He left the carpentry shop, once He left his hometown of Nazareth, walked into the River Jordan, baptized, afterward He was anointed with the Holy Spirit, from that point on He is now the Messiah.
And so the fascinating thing about verse 25 is not only does it give us the historical event that tells us the beginning date of this great time prophecy, but it also tells us the exact date 500 plus years before it actually took place in which His Son would be baptized and anointed as the Messiah of the entire planet. Powerful, powerful prophecies that we find here as we continue on.
All right, so let's continue on and do that as we go to verse 26 now, because God isn't finished pinpointing some of the key events surrounding the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ Himself. Verse 26, it says, "And after the 62 weeks, Messiah shall be cut off." Now, some of your margins may actually put there, as mine does, the translators tell me that particular "cut off" in the original Hebrew literally means to suffer the death penalty, to be killed, to be executed, okay? And after the 62 weeks--now, remember the 62 weeks comes after the first 6 weeks, and so we're really 69 weeks or 483 years into the 490-year prophecy period that God is revealing through his Angel Gabriel. So he says, "After the 62 weeks, sometime after Jesus of course is anointed as the Messiah, the Messiah shall be cut off. He shall suffer the death penalty, but not for Himself." And so here we find that the Messiah is cut off, but not for Himself.
Did Jesus deserve to die? No, okay? Why did Jesus die? He died for sinners, didn't he? That's why it says in Romans chapter 6 and verse 23, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." That's why it says in Romans chapter 3 and verse 23 that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Do we all need Messiah to die for us? There isn't a single human being that has ever lived that does not need the messiah to die for them, and that's why Jesus went to the cross of Calvary and died for the sins of the world, that you and I might have cleansing, and forgiveness, and hope of eternal life with our eternal Savior.
That's the good news that we find here in this particular chapter. And so, "After the 62 weeks, Messiah shall be cut off. He shall suffer the death penalty, but not for Himself, but for sinful humanity. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. And indeed, the people of the prince--" What prince was ruling when Jesus was on earth? Who is the prince of that part of the world, okay? Alright, somebody said Titus. Well, he was a general for Caesar, okay?
So the king of the empire in which Jesus actually lived when he actually was cut off and died for the sins of the world was the people of the prince none other than Caesar. So here when he says the people of the prince, God is referring to none other than the Romans, friends, the Roman Caesar as well as the Romans that made up the Roman Empire. "And indeed," it says, "shall destroy the city and the sanctuary." Yes, the sanctuary was eventually rebuilt just shortly after Daniel's time in the city of Jerusalem and then existed all the way until past Jesus's time, until 70 AD.
And so here, God is looking into the future and recognizing that, indeed, the final and complete destruction, not only of Jerusalem but also of the holy sanctuary on earth, would take place by the Romans and its prince in 70 AD. "And the end of it shall be with a flood until the end of the War of Desolations are determined." Horrible times when that took place. And so let's continue on, okay?
So we know that sometime after the first 69 weeks, after 27 AD, the Messiah would be cut off, but God now is going to pinpoint it for us in the very next verse. In verse 27, it says, "Then He shall confirm a covenant with many for one week." Okay, so He shall confirm a covenant. Now, when Jesus died on the cross, did He confirm a covenant? Sure he did, okay? Now, "covenant" is synonymous with "testament." Now, most of the time we refer to the era before Jesus and his death as the Old Testament, and rightly so, and we refer to the new era after Jesus died on the cross as the New Testament era, because Jesus sealed and confirmed that testament on the cross. Also, you'll refer--sometimes hear us refer to it as the old covenant and as the new covenant, okay? "Covenant" and "testament" are synonymous. It's important for us to understand. "Then He shall confirm a covenant," Jesus did that on the cross with His own blood, "with many for one week."
Well, what week is that? Well, there's only one week remaining in the timeline that is relating to the Jews. And now the ultimate Jew and the most important person in all of history, Jesus Christ Himself, has arrived as the Messiah. And indeed, as we come to verse 27, it's saying that He confirms it with His own blood in that final week of this great and powerful time prophecy that is relating to the Jewish nation, to the Israelite nation. It goes on and says, "But in the middle of the week, He shall bring an end to sacrifice and to offering." And so in the middle of the week, He brings an end to sacrifice and to offering.
Friends, exactly as God had prophesied it, in the middle of the week, we find that Jesus brings an end to sacrifice and to offerings. Why is that? Because when Jesus died on the cross, is the sacrifices that were offered on the earthly altar relevant anymore from that point on? No, why is that? "Because Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice," I hear some of you saying. That's right.
And so when Jesus died on the cross, every other single sacrifice of an animal that was related to the--or brought to the altar became completely irrelevant, because now the copy and the shadow which the sacrificial system on earth was at the temple now was fulfilled in the sacrifice which is Jesus Christ Himself.
And so when Jesus died on the cross, it confirmed that new covenant, that New Testament. In that final week of earth's-- of this great timeline prophecy related to Israel, Jesus indeed brought an end to sacrifice and to offerings on the altar. And so in verse 27, God here is revealing the exact time of God's crucifixion. That's why John the Baptist, when he saw Jesus coming into the Jordan to be baptized and to receive the anointing as the Messiah of the planet and of the nation of Israel, indeed he said, "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world." Why? Because John was starting to comprehend and starting to understand that indeed Jesus was the Lamb of God. All the lambs that had been sacrificed pointed up to this time was now to be fulfilled in the perfect Lamb of God, the final and last Lamb of God, which is the Son of God Himself.
And so if we go--if we come to the end of the 69 weeks and we come to that final one week in which versus 26 and verse 27 are referring to, we find that in the middle of the week, Jesus confirms that covenant, that new covenant with His own blood. He brings an end to sacrifice and offerings. Indeed, if we cut seven years in half, we have 3 1/2 years, don't we? And so if we go from 27 AD, and most scholars agree that Jesus actually was born in the fall, and so as we come to the middle of the final week of His life and also of this great timeline, we find that exactly on time during the Passover feast itself, the Passover Lamb dies in the middle of that week, which is the year 31 AD, the spring of 31 AD.
And so indeed, we have a very, very powerful prophecy that God gives to us. It is the only time prophecy in all of Scripture that was given over 500 years before Jesus ever came onto the scene, before these prophecies were ever fulfilled, and Jesus fulfilled them perfectly.
Now, if you've read your quarterly, it was pointing out very accurately that that is the reason why Jesus, as soon as He came out of the water of the River Jordan at His baptism, He's anointed with the Spirit. He spends 40 days fasting and praying with His Father in the desert, and when He comes out of that desert to begin His public ministry, the very first words that come out of His mouth is, "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand and the time is fulfilled," why? Because Jesus understood that He was fulfilling this powerful prophecy that He and His Father had determined over 500 years before. In fact, the Apostle Peter told us that He and His Father had determined this before the foundation of the world, but He chose not to reveal it to us in detail until He came to Daniel's time, approximately 500 BC.
Friends, this is powerful, powerful stuff that we're looking at here that God has given to us to build our faith, to understand that God is sovereign, He has a plan, and He is right on time. And some of us may say as Seventh-day Adventists, "Well, you know, Jesus is taking too long to come." It says that we are in the end time. We've looked at that again tonight, today, and He still hasn't come. And so some people get discouraged, but friends, God is on track and He is on time. He is not caught by surprise by any event that's taking place on this planet. He knows the exact day and hour in which He will return. And friends, He knows exactly what needs to take place before that comes. And I pray, Father, I pray, friends, that you will continue to have that faith in Jesus and have that faith in the promise that Jesus is coming soon. And so we come to the very last date.
Now, we've looked at some of the sub-dates that God had revealed through His Angel Gabriel in the 9th chapter of Daniel chapter 9, but of course this is all within the big picture that God had first revealed in the first vision or--well, the only vision in which Gabriel is referring to, which is Daniel chapter 8, and that is the 2,300-year prophecy. And of course, we have the same start date, and so we can do some quick math. And if we start at 457 BC and we go 2,300 years into the future, where does that bring us to? It brings us to the year 1844.
Now, friends, I'm going to ask you a very easy, easy question. Of course you're all going to get it. Has 1844 already come and passed? Okay, it already has, hasn't it? Okay, told you it was gonna be easy. And so 1844 has come and passed. What does that tell us, friends? It tells us that the time of the end has already begun. God has already wrapped-- started wrapping things up in heaven. As He stepped into that second stage of His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, He stepped into the most holy place, and He began to cleanse the sanctuary. It started in 1844. The 2,300 year prophecy, the last, and final, and longest-reaching prophecy in all of Scripture has now been fulfilled.
Friends, we are that close to the second coming of Jesus. We are literally in the final stage of the plan of salvation here upon this planet. The final stage that's leading up to Jesus coming in glory and in judgment to deliver his people for all of eternity. And so, friends, Daniel is telling us very clearly and very powerfully that ever since the year 1844, we have been living in what the Bible calls God's judgement hour.
Now, there's a parallel prophecy that's found in Revelation chapter 14, in verse 6 and 7. It's the first angel's message. Many of us are familiar with it. And that particular message is not relevant until the year 1844, the conclusion of the 2,300 prophecy-- 2,300-year prophecy in 1844. Why is that? Why is that? Because it tells us that there is a judgment hour that will finally come upon the planet. "I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to all those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come.'"
Now, friends, you cannot claim that His judgment has come until it has come, right? Okay, so in 1843, has His judgment come yet? In 1600, had His judgment come yet? No, His judgement hour doesn't arrive until the conclusion of the 2,300-year prophecy, which has already taken place. Friends, we can clearly and confidently know and proclaim before the world and to ourselves that the judgment hour has come. There is a judgment process that is taking place that is intricately involved in that of the judgment hour--I mean, that of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. This is the grand day of atonement.
Now, we have to remember the day of atonement that took place in the Old Testament earthly sanctuary was none but a copy and a shadow of a greater day of atonement that would take place in heaven. And that great day of atonement is taking place now. Now, the Jews understood very clearly in ancient times that the day of atonement was the great day of judgment and reckoning. It was the one day in which they were to search their souls more clearly and deeply than they ever have before. It was the one day in which all the records of the sins in the previous ceremonial year was to be washed away and cleansed. And they needed to make sure that every sin was confessed.
They needed to make sure that all their heart was given before their Lord so that when the high priest that one day, one day a year, walked into the most holy place, the only person that was allowed to come before the Shekinah glory and throne of God Himself, he was to take all the sins of Israel out of the sanctuary and to cleanse that sanctuary from all of the previous year's sins.
And friends, now on a grander scale, Jesus Christ Himself is the High Priest that is working for us. He is the Priest now that goes and has walked into the Holy place, and He is asking us and telling us that we need to confess every sin that we have ever committed that we are conscious of and pray that God will not only forgive us, but He will continue to give us more and more victory over that sin that we might be ready when Jesus comes back again. Daniel chapter 7, verse 9 and 10.
We're coming to the conclusion of our study here, but let's go to Daniel chapter 7 verse 9 and 10, because in that particular vision, Daniel was actually given a heavenly glimpse of what is taking place in the cleansing of this particular sanctuary. And by the way, Daniel chapter 7 is parallel with that of the vision of Daniel chapter 2, as well as the vision that we studied last week in Daniel chapter 8. These are all parallel visions that are looking at the same rise and fall of the different empires. And as we come to the conclusion of Daniel chapter 7, we find indeed that there is a judgment process that takes place at its conclusion just before Jesus comes.
In Daniel chapter 8 and 9, that particular judgment process is symbolized by the cleansing of the sanctuary. Verses 9 and 10, he says, "I watched while thrones were put in place and the Ancient of Days was seated, and His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame and its wheels a burning fire." This is none other than God the Father Himself on His judgment throne. "A fiery stream issued and came forth before Him and thousands thousands ministered to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him." These are millions and billions of angels that are making up the jury. "And the court was seated and the books were opened."
Does that sound like a judgment scene, friends? Sure it is. This is the literal judgment process that began its place and its work in 1844. In 1844, the entire population of heaven began to be involved not only in working in our salvation as they're coming back and forth between heaven and the earth, but they're also very busy looking at the records of every single human being that's ever lived and to see if their faith was sincere. Was their faith sincere? Did they truly confess all of their sin before the feet of Jesus? Have they truly found themselves cleansed by the blood of the Lamb? And for those who had a sincere faith and the records prove it beyond a doubt to every person in that jury, every angel, Jesus rises up with His nail-pierced hands and says, "I stand in place of this particular believer, of this human being, and his name continues to be written in the book of life."
Friends, this is the great news that this powerful prophecy is giving to you and I. This prophecy and process is taking place right now. And the Bible says there's only two sides that we can find ourselves in. We can be in the camp of Jesus. Jesus says, "Either you're with Me or you're against Me." Jesus made it very clear, there is no fence in between. Sometimes the devil convinces us that we can find a fence and we can kinda straddle between the two and sit on the top. No, there is no fence. Jesus says, "Either with Me or you're against Me."
There are only two camps Jesus says when He comes back in glory and in judgment. Because at the end of this process when Jesus comes, everybody's eternal fate has already been decided. When Jesus comes, there's no more opportunity to be able to confess our sins and find salvation in Jesus Christ. And that's why the Bible says, "Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, today is the day of salvation," because Jesus wants us to be able to be ready when He comes. He wants our name to be written in the Lamb's book of life before He comes because He knows when it comes it will be too late. "When Jesus comes, He will not come as a babe, but He will lay aside his priestly robe and He will put on the robes of the King of kings and Lord of lords. And he who is filthy, let him be filthy still," the last chapter of Revelation tells us. "But he who is just, let him be just still. He who is righteous, let him be righteous still." And when Jesus comes, He has a reward to give to everyone according to his work.
Is your heart with Jesus today? Before your case is decided, friends, I want to encourage you to make that decision for Him. So that concludes a very powerful truth and prophesy that God has given to us. I pray, God, that--to God that not only will you come to see it, but if you have not responded and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, that you will accept Him even right now and that you'll say, "Lord, I want You to be my Lord and my Savior. I want You in my heart. I want to confess all my sins before You, knowing that You are the only mediator between God and between man, and that it is only through the blood of Jesus Christ that we can be cleansed of all our sin." 1 John chapter 1, and verse 7 tells us that powerful gospel truth.
Have you accepted the blood of Jesus? Is Jesus your Lord and your Savior? That's the important conclusion. That's the most important message that comes from this powerful truth and prophecy line that we have looked at here today.
Let's pray. Father in heaven, I want to thank You for the opportunity to be able to look at Your Scriptures. And I want to pray for each and every person that is either watching or is here in the room here today, that if they haven't made a decision for You that they will make it for You even right now, that they will accept You as their Lord and as their Savior, the great High Priest in heaven that they can--You, Jesus, can stand up before the great angelic jury and before the Father and say, "My sacrifice is sufficient. This is My child, My son, My daughter," and that their name will be written in the Lamb's book of life. In Jesus's name do we pray these things, God, amen.
Well, for those of you who are watching, don't forget to take advantage of our free offer that we have. And the free offer is one of my favorite study guides. It's directly related to what we studied today. You can receive the charts and the different timelines that we've looked at. It's called, The Final Judgment. Please take advantage of that and call into the number, 1-866-788-3966, and you can receive that for free. And for those of you who have a smartphone and like get a digital copy, you can text it to SH077, or at least text that code, SH077, to the number 40544. Please take advantage of that if you haven't studied and read that and have the study guide. Until next week, God bless you and we look forward to seeing you again.
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Doug Batchelor: Have you ever worried that you don't have enough time in your days or you can add another day to your life? Well, perhaps there is a way for you to add a whole 'nother day to your existence. Watch how easy it is. I just stepped into yesterday. No, I'm not talking about going back to the future or back in history. I happen to be standing here in Taveuni, Fiji, one of the only places in the world where the international Meridian Dateline runs through a piece of land. People have not always been able to play with time this way.
Back in 1878, Sir Sanford Fleming, a Canadian, he recommended to the science community of the world that the globe be divided in 24 even segments, each separated by 15 degrees of longitude, that would establish the international time system. In 1884, there was a Prime Meridian conference held in Washington DC to standardize time and select the point for the Prime Meridian, which would be 0 degrees on the globe. It ended up being Greenwich, England, but that's not where we are. We are on the polar opposite side of the planet right now, but we're going to step into the future. Want to come? And look at that, the Lord is still with us even here. He'll continue to take care of you, friends, wherever you go.
Friends, do you sometimes worry about the future? What will you eat? Will you have a home? Are you going to still have your job? What will you wear? Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 6, verse 25 to 34, "Don't take thought for tomorrow, for tomorrow will take thought for the things of itself." He tells us that He feeds the birds and He clothes the flowers, He'll take care of us. We know that God will watch over us. He forgives the past, He promises to be with us in the present, and He will continue to lead us in the future. But you've just got to give yourself to Him. I invite you to do that right now.