FROM DANIEL’S SEVENTY WEEKS TO MESSIAH THE PRINCE

FROM DANIEL’S SEVENTY WEEKS TO MESSIAH THE PRINCE

Daniel 8:1-14; 9:24-27; 11:3-4; Isa.9:6-7; Luke 2:1-14

All history is “Godstory”. All history is indeed “Christory”. God unfolds history as the centuries roll by. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He created man in his own image. The pollution of this image started in the Garden of Eden, when the serpent bust into the seen and deceived Eve. But God promised deliverance. Latter God chose Abraham to form a great nation and promised to bless the whole humanity through his offspring. Abraham’s grandson, Jacob had twelve sons. Jacob and his sons went to Egypt to escape famine in Canaan. There the great nation of Israel was formed. 450 years later, God called them out with a strong hand and sent them to the Promised Land. In the Promised Land they grew and multiplied. Great Kings like David and Solomon ruled over them. They built a magnificent Temple for the worship of God.  But soon they sinned against God and the Covenant and He allowed king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to defeat them and carry them into captivity. They were to spend seventy years in Babylon. After that, God would bring them back and unfold the rest of history.

Today we are going to meet them in Babylon, with Daniel crying to God, reminding Him it was time to release them from captivity. Then God unfolds to him the rest of human history.

Today we travel from Daniel’s Seventy Weeks (or Seventy Heptads) to Messiah the Prince. That is a time span of about 490 years (Jewish years are 360 days long, with some compensation here and there). All this while, political forces were at work in Palestine (like the four winds striving upon the sea) to control the Jewish state. Jerusalem was rebuilt and a state of Israel was established but remained under foreign control. This was the condition into which Jesus Christ was born.

Daniel’s Impassioned Plea For Deliverance From Captivity

Dan.9:1-23; Jer.25:9-12; 2Kings 17:9-20; Prov.29:1; 2Pet.2:1-9; Ezra 1:1-4

Before Israel settled in the Promised Land God warned them not to meddle with the idols and abominations of the surrounding nations. Israel was a Covenant Nation, just as Christians today are a people of Covenant. We are God’s covenant people. If the Church leaves the part of truth and begin to walk in error, if God did not spare Israel, then the Church should not expect to be spared (2Pet.2:1-9).

Daniel pleaded with God to consider allowing them to go back to their home land. He fasted and prayed. What a passionate plea.

(1)            He acknowledged God’s greatness and mercy.

(2)            He confessed his sins to God. “We have sinned. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly. We have rebelled. We have departed from your precepts and judgements. We have not harkened to your prophets.

(3)            He pleaded God’s righteousness as opposed to their shameful failure.

(4)            He pleaded the forgiveness of God.

(5)            He acknowledged that God was justified to punish them.

(6)            He pleaded with God to bow down and look at their desolation.

(7)            He urged the Lord to turn away His anger from Jerusalem.

Much of our prayers today are too self-centred – how I may succeed; how may get married and have children; how may get a job and get money. These are all legitimate needs but the four areas of priority in prayer are (i) God, (ii) His Holy Name, (iii) His Kingdom and (iv) His Holy Will. These are priorities prescribed by our Saviour Jesus Christ. We must pray that God’s Name be honoured and His Kingdom to increase and His will to be done in a world that is increasingly out of sync with God. Daniels prayer was answered. God unfolded the remaining history of the world as it affected Israel.

The Decrees of Kings Cyrus and Artaxerxes (445 Bc) (Dan. 9:25; Ezra 1:1-4; Neh.2:1-8).

King Cyrus permitted the Jews to return and rebuild the Temple of God in Jerusalem. But the 490 year prophetic clock would start ticking when the decree to rebuild Jerusalem was given in 445 BC by King Artaxerxes of Persia, brother of Cyrus. Bible scholars have use the Jewish calendar (360 day-year) to calculate this. The first “seven weeks” is 49 years (seven sevens”). The next 62 “sevens” are 434 years. The final one week is 7 years. The total is 490 years. The first 49 years was the time it took to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. Then we have what is known as the 400 silent years. These are called “400 silent years” not because there were no political or religious activities, but because from the time the city was rebuilt, there were no more prophecies, and no word from the Lord. But the four winds of heaven were still striving upon the sea. It was as if Daniel’s prophecy was God’s final prophecy to mankind. Then after 483 years, in the year AD 30, Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Luke 19:28-44). The rest is His Story. We are still expecting the events that will take place in final 7 years to complete the 490 prophetic time.

Within the first seven heptads (49 yrs.) the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt with streets opened. But the work was done in troubled times (Neh.4:1-9).

The work of God still thrives even in the times of trouble, times of persecution, yes and, times of famine and war. God will always carry on with His work. The work of evangelisation will continue, the work of discipleship will continue, the work of helping the week and the oppressed will continue regardless of prevailing situations in the world (Acts 5:16-20).

Alexander the Great’s Empire (Dan.8:5-14)

We will briefly mention the conquest of Alexander the Great. His Kingdom was the rough he goat of (Daniel 8:5-14). He was son of Philip, king of Macedonia. He was tutored till age 16 by Aristotle the philosopher. He was crowned King when his father Philip was assassinated in 336 BC. He defeated the Medo-Persian Empire. At his death, Alexander was said to have carved out an Empire of about 5.5 million square miles. But he did not last long (Dan.8:8). He died at the age of 33 and the Empire was split into four between his four generals (Dan.11:3-4).

The confederate generals (who succeeded Alexander the Great), who had previously borne the titles of governors or satraps, now partitioned the empire, Cassander becoming king of Greece; Lysimachus of Thrace, or Armenia; Seleucus (Kings of the North were the Seleucid kings), of Syria and the adjacent regions; and Ptolemy (King of the South were the Ptolemaic kings) of Egypt, Palestine, Libya and Arabia. It was the four-fold division of the Grecian empire pictured in the four horns of the rough goat seen in the vision by Daniel, and so plainly predicted in the “writing of truth.” In fact, the eleventh chapter of Daniel gives a summary of the conflicts of the Seleucidæ (as the successors of Seleucus were called) and the Ptolemais (the Egyptian rulers) for a century and a half after the battle of Ipsus.^[1]

Antiochus Epiphanes Reign Of Terror (175-164 BC) (Dan.11:3-4)

There were many battles for supremacy between the Ptolemais of Egypt and the Selucidae of Syria. The Syrians at one point annexed Palestine. It was at this time that the area now called Palestine was sectionalized into Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Peraea and Trachonitis (Luke 3:1).  When Antiochus Epiphanes acceded to the throne in 170 BC, he wreaked havoc on the Jews. (i) He pulled down the walls of Jerusalem; (ii) he desecrated the Temple; (iii) massacred thousands of Jews; (iv) Women and children were sold into slavery (same as ISIS and Boko Haram are doing today); (v) He forcefully entered the Holy of Holies and took away all the costly furniture of it; (vi) He banned the Jewish religion; (vii) He prohibited circumcision; (viii) He imposed paganism on the Jews; (ix) He appointed a commissioner to pollute the Temple and dedicate it to Jupiter. (x) In 168 BC he caused a Pig to be offered on the altar of sacrifice. (xi) He finally erected a statue in honour of Jupiter at the altar (Dan.11:31; 12:11).

Because of the severe persecution many of the Jews apostatized. It was a time of darkness for the Jews. But God always leaves Himself a godly remnant. Matthias Maccabee, an old priest defied the orders of Antiochus’s commissioner, sent to every quarter in Israel to obliterate the Jewish religion and replace it with idolatrous paganism. He slew the commissioner and the apostate Jews that came with them. Then they withdrew to the hills. That was the beginning of the Maccabean revolt. By 165 BC, Judah Maccabee captured Jerusalem, cleansed the Temple and dedicated it on 25^th December (Dan.11:32; John 10:22).

The Maccabees restored the Jewish Kingdom for a little while (from 165 BC – 63 BC) albeit with so much pain (Dan.11:32-35). By 63 BC the Romans invaded Palestine and brought the fledgling Jewish State under their rule. The Stage has now been set for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Birth Of Messiah The Prince (Dan.9:24-27; Isa.9:6; 53:1-12)

Verse 24 of Daniel 9 details the reasons why these seventy sevens were determined upon the Jewish people:

(1) To Finish transgression; (2) To Make an end of sins; (3) To Make reconciliation for iniquity; (4) To Bring in everlasting righteousness; (5) To Seal the vision and prophecy; (6) To Anoint the most Holy.

The six things listed in this prophecy were the same work which Jesus Christ the Messiah came to do. He is the Lamb of God who atoned for the sin of the world (John 1:29; Rom.3:25). Nine times in the book of revelation Jesus was called the Lamb. 

Jesus Christ inaugurated the Kingdom of Heaven (Mat.4:17; Mark 1:15).

What are the qualities of this Kingdom?
(i) The Kingdom of Heaven is so precious that it is better to lose your sight or your limbs in order to enter into it (Mat.18:8-9). (ii) The Kingdom of Heaven is so important to enter that you will need to be changed and have a heart as a little child to be able to enter (Mat.18:1-4).

(iii) The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure in the field (Mat.13:44-45). (iv) The Kingdom of Heaven is so important that you need to sell all that you have to obtain it (Mat.19:16-21). There is no half and half commitment to the Kingdom of Heaven. (v) The Kingdom of Heaven is to be sought first before any other thing (Mat.6:33).

Christ’s work of salvation lasted for three and half years (John 3:11-18). By AD 30 Jesus Christ was crucified, rose again after three days and ascended into heaven, leaving us with the Commission.

And when the Master considers our job done, He will come back to gather his Church to Himself and set up the Millennial Kingdom

Then the Stone which was cut out without hands shall truly fill the whole earth (Dan.2:34-35; 7:13-14, 27; Rev.11:15). How will this happen? Jesus appointed twelve apostles and commissioned them to carry the Message to the world (Mat.24:14; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 1:8).

The Church is to continue to preach the Kingdom of Heaven till Jesus comes back (Mat.28:18-20). The early apostles and believers took the work very seriously (Acts 8:4; 11:19). When believers scatter into many cities, they carry the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven with them. Those early believers preached both by their lives as well as by their precepts.

Many of the apostles and believers were not known as highly educated people, but they preached the word faithfully, powerfully and with signs following. And people took note of them (Acts 4:13).

We are fortunate to be part of the Kingdom of Heaven. We today must follow the footsteps of our Saviour and of those of the early believers. The whole world must receive the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven. There are still some beasts (Kingdoms) waiting to come out of the sea (of humanity). The antichrist kingdom is still preparing with his false prophet. They shall soon bust into the open! Many people will yet be deceived (2Thes.2:1-12).

Then our Lord shall come! Are you ready for the return of the King of Kings (Mat.24:42-51; Luke 12:31-40)?

The coming of Jesus is imminent, is about to happen. We say this so often when we preach that it has become trite, hackneyed and common place. While people are thinking about the coming of Christ this way, it will come upon them suddenly!

Soon, and, very soon the kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. And He shall reign forever and ever. Amen.

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^[1] Ironside, H. A. (1914). The four hundred silent years (from Malachi to Matthew) (pp. 19–20). New York: Loizeaux Brothers.