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Book of Daniel |
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Daniel Chapter 9 Commentary by Ron Beckham V erse 1. "In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasurerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans,""Darius" is an official title, like "King" or "Caesar" and he was actually Darius Cyaxares II. The date here is either 538, 537 or 536 BC, depending on which commentator you accept. Cyrus was truly the leader of all these peoples, and his uncle Darius was "made" king over the area of the Chaldeans. This was the former area of Babylon, though the boundaries he ruled as sub-regent, aren't perfectly clear to the historians. Verse 2. "in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years." Daniel was doing what we are doing - studying Scripture. Obviously, he did not have all the writings that we have, but he faithfully and diligently studied that which the Lord had allowed to him. We should do the same. Daniel had been a captive in this place, by the way, since roughly 606 BC, when he was about 17 years old. Simple math (606-537+17) gives him a current age between 85 and 90 years of age. This was a man who really cared about his people and his God, and he must have been shaken by the "little horn" (who was to be Antiochus Epiphanes) of chapter 8. This "horn" would harm the people greatly and desecrate God's temple. Daniel also had been studying and praying about Jeremiah's prophesies for a long time, and verses such as II Chronicles 36:21, would have been of compelling interest: His land would "lay desolate seventy years." The seventy years were just about over. They would return to the land. Verse 3. "So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes." Daniel literally poured himself out before the Lord in prayer. God loves us with a love that can be called "passionate" in its intensity, and He expects that kind of devotion in return. After all, he has given you everything this universe can offer, and more. If you have ever fantasized that somehow you are actually a missing heir of royalty, your fantasy has literally come true in Christ Jesus. He is the Son of God, the Son of the King, Who Himself is King and God, and He invites you to join Him, to be, from one perspective, His brother by full, legal adoption, and from another, a son, who inherits all that God offers. What will you do with such an offer? Why, if you are intelligent, you will accept His offer and then serve such a One with everything you have. He HAS done this for you. Daniel, in prayer, exhibits the kind of fervor we often lack. Why don't WE pray like Daniel, who knew far less of the Scriptural promises of God, than we do? If your Father was the King (and He is), and you noted He was intelligent and attractive (and He is), you would want to talk with Him a lot. God gives us a true inheritance in His Son, and this is the offer extended to us by God. Daniel, who was smarter than we are but with much less Scriptural information, took Him up on His offer and sought God. Verse 4. "And I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, 'Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments," Daniel was fervent in prayer - he just loved to pray. Even when prayer carried a death penalty for him (Daniel 6:10 & context), he prayed. God had become very PERSONAL to Daniel - Not only does he pray "O God" but also "MY God." He approaches God with great awareness of His infinite holiness, but also knows Him as his Father, his Friend. To make confession is reasonable for us all, for implicit in Scripture is an understanding that we are all sinners. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). Verse 9 continues that we are to confess our sin, and He who is faithful will forgive and cleanse us. Note that he confessed not only his own sin but also the sins of his nation. Perhaps the condition of our nation would improve if more of us prayed this kind of intercessory confession. Notice Daniel's awareness that God utterly keeps His word, His covenant with us. Many times we seem to pray as though God has somehow forgotten His word to us. This NEVER is the case, for God has you completely in His thoughts, every moment (Psalm 139:17-18). Verse 5. "we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, and rebelled, even turning aside from Thy commandments and ordinances." The Lord's prayer (Matthew 5:9-13) has been called a "model" prayer. We can tell from the context that it was never intended to be merely recited by rote, because the Lord had just said in verse 7, "do not use vain repetitions, as the heathen do." The Lord's prayer includes confession and praise, perfectly expressed within this prayer of Daniel. He called God "awesome" in verse 4, and now he continues, "We have sinned." This is Daniel's prayer of confession for his nation. He is essentially performing the work of a priest (though he was not outwardly a priest), interceding as we should do, on behalf of our people. I would imagine that most of his people did not care that he prayed for them, just as most of our citizens will not interested that we pray for them. Lack of interest by the beneficiaries of prayer, should not effect our continuance in prayer for them. It is very important that we, here in this country, in this Church (whatever branch of The Church we are a part of), should come before the Lord, as the Spirit leads, and confess our many sins. Instead of just being angry and shouting "What has become of this country?", and throwing our newspaper across the room. Instead of mere political action, we need to pray for our people. Daniel confesses we (this speaks as much for us as it did for them) are sinners who have committed willful acts of sin. Our hearts have been wicked and we have sinned before a high and holy God. Our country is being judged by God, as these words are being written. We have not learned from these judgments, for still we persistently depart from the law and love of God. Verse 6. "Moreover, we have not listened to Thy servants the prophets, who spoke in Thy name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and all the people of the land." As Daniel continues, I am reminded again that true prayer includes confession. God is Holy, Great and Awesome. We are not. He is filled with love, whereas we are concerned with ourselves. When we pray for our children, our concern is far too often that we will not be embarrassed by their behavior, rather than a true concern for them. God keeps His Word, and we tend to not keep ours. There is a definite
quality of mourning in this prayer of Daniel. When we turn to God, we
turn away from this world, for the two are in opposition to one another.
Daniel temporarily gave up food and comfortable clothing, as we see
in verse 3. He was expressing not only his inward concern but also his
inward bankruptcy at bringing about the deliverance of his people. We
cannot deliver America, or any other country, by our own efforts. But
we can pray, and God can deliver a country and its people from sin. Verse 7. “Righteousness belongs to Thee, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day - to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which Thou hast driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against Thee.”
God is righteous. His dealings
with us have been fair and reasonable, unlike our dealings with one
another (and with Him). Daniel was correctly ashamed, and for
us to feel self-sufficient, to pat ourselves on the back as an expression
that “I’m OK” is to fail to understand our true condition. These
people were judged because they did not give themselves to the Holy
God who was continually reaching out to them.
We wonder, what is going on in our
country? Why are our children shooting at each other? Have
you noticed Romans chapter 1? The horrifying headlines, the articles
we read in our newspapers that are so disturbing, are evidence that
God is judging this country. In Romans 1, God presents evidence
that we can identify as indicators of His judgment on a people.
A big indicator of His displeasure is sexual promiscuity, which will
become open and common in the country that is being judged by God.
Idolatry (do we like our TV set more than we love God?) will fill that
land. Immorality, envy, covetousness, deceit, and murder will
become commonplace. Sound like our daily newspaper? It sure
does.
God is judging America, and it is
because of our unfaithfulness that we have committed against Him. Verse 8. “Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against Thee.”
Daniel again reveals his shame at
what they had done, and we should be reminded that we are all sinners
(Romans 3:23). It is not just that we err sometimes - we are more
like a cancer within the body of humanity. There is no good thing about
us (remember, we are being compared with God; not with each other).
This is not only true of you and me, but Verse 9. “To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him.”
Notice the sharp contrast found
within this little verse. The one part throws understanding on
the other. You may think about yourself, “Why, the “rebelled”
part doesn’t apply to me; I’m a nice person!” And well you might
be, but from God’s perspective, you are a rebel to the core. Those that
think Romans 7 was somehow Paul before he was saved by God, and Romans
8 was Paul after salvation, just have not read those chapters.
Paul’s last verses in the Romans 7 section deals with Paul in the present
tense, as in “O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this
body of sin!” Romans 8 was real and alive for him as well, for there
was “no condemnation” for this man who had received our Lord.
Paul knew the grace of God, and
Daniel here in this verse understood it, as well. We are not necessarily
“rebels” in comparison with one another, but we are, in comparison with
God. We tend to love with conditions, with “ifs.” (If they
behave a certain way, I will love them; if they like me, I will like
them, etc.). We are rebels and do not deserve His compassion and
forgiveness, but we are given that and more, in Christ Jesus. Verse 10. “nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets.”
We have the Bible, given to us by
the Holy Spirit of God. We have ministers, sent to us by God,
to tell us what the Bible means. We are given the Holy Spirit
Himself, Who comes right inside of us (if we allow Him – isn’t that
amazing?), and opens the Bible to our understanding. He has given
us prayer, and if we don’t understand something in His
I have been praying about the Bible
for 25-years, and He continually answers those prayers for understanding.
In some areas, it has taken years, in others the understanding would
come immediately, and in a few, I am still waiting. But I have
learned that He will give you what you need.
In that context, when we are given
so much; when He waits expectantly for you to ask for more, it is incredible
that we so often neither hear nor obey His prophets – those who were
called to utter His Word. As Peter said (2 Peter 3:15-16), sometimes
God’s Word is obscure, but the Holy Spirit will reveal it all – Ask
Him, my brother, my sister, ask
Verse 11.
“Indeed all Israel has transgressed Thy law and turned aside, not obeying
Thy voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath
which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have
sinned against Him.”
“All Israel has transgressed Thy
law.” Jesus gave us the true basis of the law, in that we are
above all to love God and love one another (Matthew 22:37-40).
You only have to look around to know that we do not love one another,
here in America. The other day, I was surprised when a man volunteered
his place for me in a grocery line, and then did the
The problem for America and all
other nations, is that if we do not capture, or receive if you will,
His love, then the curse of God is eventually poured out upon us, as
written in this verse. To merely conform to outward law, whether
Jewish, or Muslim, Christian or whatever, is to fail to grasp that God
wants to change us inside; He wants to make us new. He longs to
give us new life in His Son. Don’t you get tired of the effort
in religion? Jesus said “Come unto Me, all you who labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Let your burdens go to Him, for
He says, “you will find rest for your souls.” He continues, “For
My yoke is easy and my burden is light. He loves you and longs
for you to receive His peace.
Verse 12.
“Thus He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and
against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity; for
under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was
done to Jerusalem.”
In the events of Littleton, Colorado
(the murders of children), there is a message to us: To prevent
the ongoing calamity in our land that has been brought about by selfishness,
we must repent; we must turn to the God who made us. The disaster
that was done to Jerusalem was because of their sins. Much had
been given to them, including the law and the prophets. He had
given them prophets who were Godly men. They had to literally
refuse to listen, in order to turn their backs on the good things of
God.
So it is with America – and more!
We have been given the whole Bible, and for many years, it was the best
selling book in the country. We have been given evangelists, teachers;
everything we need. We have been given prayer, as a free gift
from God. All we have to do is kneel down, and our petitions are
at the very throne of God. We should not be surprised at the Judgment
which is on America, for we have chosen to refuse to listen; to turn
our backs upon God. He reaches out patiently in love, and then
He will judge the nation that does not turn to Him. As our Creator,
He has that right. As a Holy God, He has the duty. As our
Savior, He will still turn to us, if we will turn to Him.
Verse 13.
“As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on
us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning
from our iniquity and giving attention to Thy truth.”
In the book of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ, it is clear that the world system as we know it, will
soon be destroyed. As the angel cries to us in Revelation 14:7,
“Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come;
and worship Him who made heaven and earth…” This is precisely the message
of Billy Graham, J. Vernon McGee, and all the many prophets and teachers
God has sent to our generation. Yet our people have not yet turned,
and the ghastly promise (Rev. 14:11) is that “the smoke of their torment
ascends forever and ever…”
You may, I pray, be drawn to open His
word. When you do, open with prayer to God, in the Name of Jesus
Christ. Receive our Lord, receive His Word, repent, and then tell
a friend. He may yet spare this land, if we become faithful to
Him.
Verse 14.
“Therefore, the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought
it on us; for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His
deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice.”
Why has He not come and judged us
already? - Because He loves us. “The Lord is not slack (slow)
concerning His promise (His judgment), as some count slackness, but
is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that
all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9). He is holding out His
hand of love in Christ Jesus, patiently waiting for us to turn.
If there is even one who will choose Him, He will wait 30-years for
that one. But if all are come to Him and there are no more, not
30-seconds will elapse before the judgment falls.
Judgment is an act of final mercy
upon a land, a people. To know God is to find peace, and to refuse
Him is to be in torment. In a time when cars were rare and horses
common, it was the custom to shoot the horse that was ruined by colliding
with a car. The phrase was to “put it out of its misery.”
God will end the misery of a land that will not turn to
Verse 15.
“And now, O Lord our God, who hast brought Thy people out of the land
of Egypt with a mighty hand and hast made a name for Thyself, as it
is this day - we have sinned, we have been wicked.”
In Psalm 77:19-20 and in Isaiah
43:16-17, God reminds us of the deliverance of the nation Israel, when
He gave them great miracles and took them through the Red Sea.
In the delightful imagery of God, He refers to the way through those
waters as a pathway, previously known to Him alone.
I know what it is to be delivered
by God. And He has chosen a Pathway I did not expect or even know
about. I thought Christianity was just a religion, like all the
others, but “narrow”, because it allowed the ideas of some people, but
not everyone’s. I was wrong. This is not merely religion
at all; this is a Person, in Whom we are rescued from sin, delivered
to God. The mighty hand of God has rescued us from the waters,
out of our land of slavery, through the Person of Jesus Christ. All
we have to do is say “yes” to Him, and He will deliver you and me.
Verse 16.
“O Lord, in accordance with all Thy righteous acts, let now Thine anger
and Thy wrath turn away from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mountain;
for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem
and Thy people have become a reproach to all those around us.”
People say they don’t want to go
to church because it is “full of hypocrites and sinners,” and they have
a point. Just like a hospital is the correct place for sick people,
the Church is a valid place for sinners and hypocrites who know their
need of God. And don’t be
But you who reject the Lord should
not find comfort that you have discovered sinners in the Church, for
Peter continues (4:17), “and if it (judgment) first begins with us,
what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?”
God’s judgment on Jerusalem was designed to return the people to the
road of faith they were created to walk on, just as trouble in the Church
will bring us back to the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.
Verse 17.
“So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Thy servant and to his supplications,
and for Thy sake, O Lord, let Thy face shine on Thy desolate sanctuary.”
God, who directed and led the building
of the temple, had a vested interest in preserving it, and once it was
destroyed at His command, there was a time to build it up again.
The temple was designed to show, in parable form, God’s expectations
for His people; His intent in relationship with Him. For them
to fill Jerusalem and the temple with sin and sinful attitudes, was
to send precisely the wrong message to the world. They must be
judged, lest the world think God endorses such behavior.
The Church is the temple of God
(1 Corinthians 3:16). That’s wonderful, and we should indeed be
comforted by this information. However, it is both a comfort and
a challenge for us, for not only are we protected by God from anyone
who would harm us, but as Paul continues in 3:17, we, the temple, are
holy, because of the presence of God. The one who would defile
that temple is warned - “God will destroy him.”
The extremely good news is that
ultimately, our preservation is not based solely on our good works,
but on the grace of God. As Daniel prays, “for Thy sake, O Lord,
let Thy face shine on Thy desolate sanctuary.” - The basis of our salvation
is not in ourselves but in Him who loves us.
Verse 18.
“O my God, incline Thine ear and hear! Open Thine eyes and see
our desolations and the city which is called by Thy name; for we are
not presenting our supplications before Thee on account of any merits
of our own, but on account of Thy great compassion.”
Daniel continues, drawing on the
grace of God, with the sure faith of a worker who draws on the bank
account of his beloved employer. It is not on our merits that
we have standing with God. To be (as compared with other persons)
a nice person, is not enough. To become a philanthropist after
years of clawing your way to the top, will not get you through. We should
only see our desolations and understand that we are not saved
The word “compassion” (mercies)
(Hebrew “racham”) applied here to God, is a word reflecting His great,
tender love for us. It expresses that the basis of His mercy upon
us stems from the very center of His being, from His heart of love.
The word was used for the love a young mother should have for her unborn
child. Such is the love of God for us.
Verse 19.
“O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take
action! For Thine own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Thy
city and Thy people are called by Thy name.”
Before the Lord will call us His
child, He must forgive us. Daniel uses the word “calach” which
is not only “forgive” as we understand it in English, but also “pardon.”
If we are to be His people, called by His name, then we must first be
pardoned, just as surely as the hardened criminal must be pardoned for
his crime, before his civil rights can be
It is not only, however, that we
are “pardoned” in Christ Jesus, though that is certainly an aspect of
what He has done for us. He paid the price that we should have
paid; the one that we could not afford to pay. The imagery in
1 Corinthians 6:20, is that we were bought, just as surely as someone
of that time (who had been sold as a debtor) was It is not on the basis of our reputation that we are bought, as Daniel indicates, for there is nothing in us worthy of His action on our behalf. The ground of His effort for Israel and for the Church, is for His “own sake.” We are saved because of Him and His Holy Name.
Verse 20.
“Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the
sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord
my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God,”
It is good to recall, as we have
been seeing in the previous verses, that in prayer, we do not deserve
what we seek. No matter how “good” we think we might be, our “goodness”
is only in comparison with other people. Daniel was beholding
the Holiness, the Glory of Almighty God. He, this Holy One, Creator
of heaven and of earth, was the One sought;
Verse 21.
“while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I
had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness
about the time of the evening offering.”
“This man” is the Gabriel who appeared
centuries later to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Zacharias, father
of John the Baptist, as discussed in chapter 8. Who this angelic
person is, and what he may be, is interesting, but more important here
for our understanding, is the responsiveness of God. The Lord
sent Gabriel, in response to Daniel’s prayer. It makes you wonder,
if YOU are tired, will God sent an angel to you? The answer is
yes. Emphatically yes.
It has occurred to me that we spend
a lot of time remembering what went wrong in our lives, but we give
very little thought about what went right. How many times have
we almost been asleep at the wheel, when we were awakened by an angel
sent by God? Probably quite a lot of times. And if you don’t drive,
He has watched out for you in countless other ways. Let’s thank
Him often.
Verse 22.
“And he gave me instruction and talked with me, and said, ‘O Daniel,
I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding.”
Sometimes (often?), we have thought
we don’t know what is going on, and don’t think we ever will!
Think about these words: “I have now come forth to give you insight
with understanding.” God wants you, just like Daniel, to understand,
and He is dispatching angels to aid you in that process. More
than anyone else He might send, He has given you His Holy Spirit, Who
is with you right now, patiently responding with what is needed.
God loves you.
By the way, notice that God sends
His best to meet out needs. We are told in Luke 1:19, that this
Gabriel stands in the Presence of God. That’s what we need, is someone
from there, to tell us what to do. Jesus, Himself God, came from there
– for you. He then sent His Holy Spirit – for you. Are you
loved? You certainly are. Does He want to give you insight
and understanding? Yes He does.
Verse 23.
“At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued,
and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed
to the message and gain understanding of the vision.”
You may not think you are “highly
esteemed” (or “greatly beloved” as in some translations), so you decide
none of this applies to you. Here’s the solution to that problem:
Jesus Christ. We know that God the Father loves God the Son.
This is seen in Matthew 3:17, where John the Baptist witnessed a voice
from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.”
And you say, “What has this got
to do with me?” – Everything! When you give yourself to God in
Christ, you are IN Christ (II Corinthians 4:17). The way you were
is passed away and you are made new (in the Son). When God the
Father looks at you, He sees His Son, and you are greatly beloved, just
like Daniel the prophet.
Verse 24.
“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city,
to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement
for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision
and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place.”
The phrase is “seventy sevens”,
so indicates Dr. Lehman Strauss. And we wonder, seventy sevens
of what? It does seem obvious, in the context, that we are dealing
with TIME – a certain period of time must occur before these certain
things will happen.
Genesis 29:27 is in the context
of a discussion about seven years, which Jacob was to work, in order
to earn the right to marry. Laban said to Jacob “fulfill her week,”
which both men understood to be a term of 7-years. Jacob certainly
got the message, for in Genesis 29:28, it says Jacob “fulfilled her
week.” He worked 7-years, which was described as a week of years.
In other words, a “week” was not only considered 7-days
In 400 AD, by the way, Jerome already
saw so many interpretations of this Scripture that he said “I shall
simply repeat the view of each (teacher) and leave it to the reader’s
judgment as to whose interpretation ought to be followed.” He
then cited nine of them. But we don’t need to be concerned, for
“weeks” so clearly refer to years in this context, and it is important
to keep this in context - the next few verses add to our understanding.
Verse 25.
“So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to
restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be
seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza
and moat, even in times of distress.”
There were three decrees.
The first was by Cyrus in 538 BC (Ezra 1:1-4, 5:13-17, Isaiah 44:28,
45:1-4). This was limited to rebuilding the Lord’s house (Ezra
6). The second was by Darius in 517 (Ezra 6:1-12), reaffirming
the proclamation of Cyrus, as to the temple. Like the previous
one, no mention was made of restoring the city and its walls.
The third one was by Artaxerxes, in 445 BC, allowing Nehemiah permission
to rebuild Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:8, 13-15), as in this verse.
From the time of this decree, to
the close of the prophesy of Malachi (the end of the Old Testament),
it would be seven sevens (49 years). From that point, there would be
62 7’s, or 434 years. 49 + 434 = 483 years. At that point,
Messiah would be cut off (as in the next verse). Utilizing Jewish 360
day years, 483 years brings us precisely to Palm
Verse 26.
“Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have
nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the
city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even
to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.”
Jesus Christ was crucified, cut
off, after 62 weeks of years, marking the end of the 7-weeks of years
(49 years) and 62 weeks (434 years) – the total of 483 years ran without
interruption. This “clock” of prophesied years stopped at the
point of His death, and will not begin again until after this time of
grace we are in, the time of the Gentiles. At that time, the “clock”
will start again, and one more week of years will be marked out for
mankind.
You will be interested that a similar
gap in prophesy is found in Luke 4:18-20, where Jesus read Isaiah 61:1-2,
and He closed the book after reciting the words “the acceptable year
of the Lord.” But the passage in Isaiah continues, “and the day
of vengeance of our God.” A great gap in time occurs in mid sentence
within the Isaiah passage, and it is in
This is when we receive the grace
of God, but it does include acts of Judgment, on earth, such as the
destruction of the city and sanctuary (by Titus in 70 AD). And
as we often see when we turn on the evening news, this is a period of
continuing and wearisome wars. The end of all this will come suddenly,
like a flood.
Verse 27.
“And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in
the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering;
and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even
until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on
the one who makes desolate.”
This “one week” does not follow the other
69 chronologically, and it was unknown to the prophets (Ephesians 3:1-12,
1 Peter 1:10-12). This is the week that is yet in the future,
and this man (who was described in Daniel 7) is alluded to in Revelation
13 as the “beast.” Israel incredibly will accept him as their
messiah, but in the middle of the “week” he will break his covenant,
stop the services of the rebuilt temple, and place an image in it (Revelation
13). Israel will suddenly realize this is not the millennium after
all – in fact it will be the great tribulation. Only the return
of Christ will stop this time of |
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