Right on Time
Daniel: A Call to Worship--Part 30
But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law (Galatians 4:4).
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead (Acts 17:30,31).
The Book of Daniel is filled with prophetic timelines. We can go through the metals in Daniel 2 or the beasts in Daniel 7 and Daniel 8 and see the clear stream of history through the milestones in the prophecies.
Jesus made it clear that there is no prophecy in the Bible that will tell us exactly when He will return.
But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only (Matthew 24:36).
In fact, as Christians we are called to be about our Father’s business in order to actually speed up the arrival of His return.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God (2 Peter 3:10-12).
But the passages that headlined this presentation describe specific prophecies that tell us exact times when momentous events would occur. The Messiah was prophesied to arrive at a certain time in history. The judgment day was set at an appointed time. No need to wait for centuries wondering when the next kingdom would fall. No mention of “you can know that it is near.” These specific prophecies would give the time with precision. And both of them are revealed in the two-fold prophecy of Daniel 8 and Daniel 9.
And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land. 10 And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. 11 He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. 12 Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered (Daniel 8:9-12).
I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom (Daniel 7:21,22).
The judgment presented in Daniel 7 and the Heavenly Day of Atonement presented in Daniel 8, were two descriptions of the same event. The judgment would set right every wrong in the struggle for the Throne. Satan’s attack on the Heavenly Sanctuary would be finally rebuffed. God’s character would be exonerated. Christ would be given the Kingdom. After years of God’s people being apparently overcome by the little horn power, judgment would be made in favor of the saints of Almighty God.
Daniel was so overcome by the awful scene of the attack on the Sanctuary that heavenly beings in vision were calling out the questions of his heart.
Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, “How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?”
14 And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed” (Daniel 8:13,14).
Two thousand three hundred days. Almost 6 1/2 years. Or was it that simple? If it was truly that short of a timeframe, why was Daniel so worried about it? At the time the vision of Daniel 8 was given to him, Judah still had more than ten years of captivity remaining from the seventy years prophesied by Jeremiah. Six and a half years should seem like a reason to rejoice rather than despair.
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 end” (Daniel 8:17).
How could a 6 1/2 year prophecy given to Daniel during the 500s BC extend until “the time of the end”? That’s what caused Daniel such anguish. We too must honestly ask, “was the Bible prophecy wrong? Or do we just not understand it correctly?”
Daniel was convinced that if there wouldn’t be a Day of Atonement celebrated until the time of the end, that must have meant God had finally gotten so fed up with His people that He had decided not to let them go back to Jerusalem. Daniel searched the prophecies of Jeremiah to confirm what he knew he had read: that the captivity of the nation of Judah would end after seventy years.
in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem (Daniel 9:2).
For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place (Jeremiah 29:10).
Daniel hadn’t misread Jeremiah. Seventy years until Judah’s deliverance had indeed been the promise of Almighty God to His people. Daniel was totally confused. The answer would not be revealed to Daniel for over a decade!
Soon after the fall of Babylon, Daniel knelt and offered one of the most beautiful prayers recorded in the Bible (Daniel 9:3-19). Daniel was greatly beloved of Heaven. Unlike most Bible characters, his life in the Bible record is devoid of specific spiritual failures. Few in human history have walked closer to Jesus than did Daniel. Yet in his prayer he numbered himself as among the transgressors of Judah. Like Moses of old, Daniel pled with Christ to restore His people for the glory of God’s Name, not for any attainments of their own.
O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name” (Daniel 9:18,19).
By late afternoon, the angel Gabriel appeared with a message from the Eternal Throne.
And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. 23 At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision: (Daniel 9:22,23).
It is key to note that Gabriel appeared in Daniel 9 specifically to unveil what had yet to be revealed about the vision of Daniel 8. The angel in Daniel 8 had revealed the sequence of kingdoms, even specifying Medo-Persia and Greece by name. The angel had described the little horn power that would follow the Empire of Greece. What Daniel wanted to know about the vision was:
Did the delay in the Day of Atonement mean a delay in the end of the captivity and return to Jerusalem?
What was the starting point of the 2300 day prophecy that would end with the Day of Atonement?
“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 vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.
25 “Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem
Until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The street shall be built again, and the wall,
Even in troublesome times.
26 “And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate” (Daniel 9:24-27).
Wow! The vision sent by God to explain the vision of Daniel 8 had no obvious reference to the ram, the goat, the little horn, the 2300 day prophecy or the time of the end. But if we study it carefully, we will learn the answers to Daniel’s questions about Jerusalem, the temple, and the Day of Atonement.
These prophecies are so crucial in the eyes of Jesus, that He called on His disciples and believers to study and understand the Book of Daniel, especially the prophecies we are studying in this very presentation.
“So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains (Mark 13:14).
Gabriel assured Daniel that the Jews would indeed be freed from Babylon after seventy literal years as prophesied by Jeremiah. Times would be tough, but the city and the temple would be rebuilt.
The street shall be built again, and the wall,
Even in troublesome times (Daniel 9:25).
Gabriel went on to tell Daniel that God was giving the Jewish nation a period of seventy weeks to turn to Him and prepare to receive the Messiah and to present Him to the world.
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 vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy (Daniel 9:24).
If they refused to repent and then rejected the Messiah, the “abomination that causes desolation” would result in the destruction of the rebuilt city and temple.
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate” (Daniel 9:26b,27b).
But seventy weeks is less than 1 1/2 years. Depending on when this prophetic time period would begin, a year and a half would be a very short time to prepare to receive the Messiah.
Gabriel told Daniel that the 70 week prophetic time period would begin with a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.
Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem
Until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks (Daniel 9:25).
The Bible records four such decrees in Ezra and Nehemiah. Historically, the decrees were all issued from the 530s BC through 440s BC.
Cyrus the Great: Ezra 1:2-4
King Darius: Ezra 6:3-12
Artaxerxes (7th year): Ezra 7:12-26
Artaxerxes (20th year): Nehemiah 2:5-8
As Christians, this conundrum should give us great pause. The Messiah was prophesied to arrive in under 18 months from one of these decrees. Whatever decree we want to use, we miss Christ’s arrival by over 400 years. If the prophecy is correct and the time is literal, then Jesus isn’t the Messiah, and Christianity is a fraudulent religion.
There are, however, references in the Bible that indicate a day in Bible prophecy can sometimes refer to a year of literal time.
According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection (Numbers 14:34).
And when you have completed them, lie again on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year (Ezekiel 4:6).
If we use the year for a day method of interpretation and apply it to the starting points of the four decrees, what we find is stunning.
The third decree, found in Ezra 7, fits the prophecy perfectly! It was issued by Artaxerxes in the autumn of 457 BC. Sixty-nine weeks were to extend “to Messiah the Prince.” Noting that there is no year zero, 69 weeks or 483 years beginning in the autumn of 457 BC extends to the autumn of 27 AD.
But that misses the birth of Jesus by 27 years, right? Actually, it misses the birth of Jesus by closer to 30 years. Herod the Great died sometime before 1 AD. Based on his instructions to kill all boy babies two years old and under in Bethlehem, it’s likely that the wise men had seen the star for up to two years prior to meeting with Herod in Jerusalem.
The words “Messiah” in Hebrew and “Christ” in Greek mean “The Anointed One.”
When was Jesus anointed as the Messiah?
began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power (Acts 10:37,38).
Luke records various territorial rulers who were holding their positions at the time of Jesus baptism, the year He was “anointed.”
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness (Luke 3:1,2).
The first year that Tiberius Caesar became co-emperor with Augustas was 13 AD. Fourteen years later, his fifteenth year, would have been 27 AD. The other rulers listed also held their positions during 27 AD.
Jesus was baptized right on time!
When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. 22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased” (Luke 3:21,22).
What about the rest of the prophecy regarding the Messiah?
And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering (Daniel 9:26a,27a).
The first half of verses 26 and 27 refer to Christ. The last half of both verses (Daniel 9:26,27) refer to the prophesied destruction of the temple and Jerusalem if God’s people chose to reject the Messiah.
This passage prophesied that sometime after the end of the 69 weeks, essentially sometime after Jesus’ baptism, Jesus would be killed for our sakes and not for something He had done wrong. Praise God that He chose to die to save us!
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).
Daniel 9:27 states the same glorious truth, just more specifically. Instead of saying Jesus would die sometime after the 69th week, this verse states that Jesus would die “in the middle of the (70th) week.” Based on the number of feasts that John recorded during Jesus’ ministry, we can see that Christ’s ministry from baptism to the cross was 3 1/2 years, exactly half of seven.
Do not miss this point! Daniel 9 exactly predicted the year Jesus would die for our sins. The Passover feast accurately pinpointed which day of the year Jesus was to die so that we could be spared from death through the blood of the Lamb. The very day of Jesus death was foretold by prophecies, some of which were written 1500 years before the event!
Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight (Exodus 12:6).
For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7).
Jesus died right on time!
How did His death “bring an end to sacrifice and offering”? Jesus was the true Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). After His sacrifice on Calvary, all further animal sacrifices were meaningless. If anything, continued sacrifices would openly deny the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice for us rather than any longer be a statement of faith in His sacrifice.
What does it mean that Christ would “confirm a covenant with many for one week”? Since Adam and Eve sinned, humanity had been trusting our salvation to the promise that Christ would one day sacrifice Himself to pay for our sins. In the middle of the 70th week, Christ “confirmed” the New Covenant by fulfilling the promise to die in our place.
For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:28).
For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives (Hebrews 9:16,17).
And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts (2 Peter 1:19).
Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. 16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect (Galatians 3:15-17).
Why does the verse say the covenant would be confirmed for an entire 7 years as opposed to just the moment of Christ’s death? For 3 1/2 additional years the apostles would continue to present the Gospel to the Jewish nation, giving the Jews as a nation one more chance to repent for the sin of rejecting and crucifying Christ. Sadly, Jesus knew they would refuse the offer of mercy and forgiveness.
how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him (Hebrews 2:3).
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’
31 “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt.33 Serpents, brood[n] of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? 34 Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left to you desolate; 39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Matthew 23:29-38).
In the Book of Acts, Luke did not specify with contemporary historical data the closing date of 34 AD as he did 27 AD at Christ’s baptism. But he included the historical activity that would be entirely consistent with the final rejection of the Gospel by the Jewish nation as a whole.
Stephen had been imprisoned for embarrassing the religious leadership. He had proven in public that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah. The leaders couldn’t refute his arguments using the Bible, so they threw him in prison and charged him with the capital crime of blasphemy.
During his trial, Stephen rehearesed the history of Israel and connected Christ to the prophecies and the sanctuary services. In response, the leaders determined to silence his voice forever. Seeing their apparent decision, Stephen could have become fearful and timid. Instead, he boldly gave the nation its final denunciation as the professed people of God.
“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53 who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”
54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” (Acts 7:51-58).
The vision of Christ the authorities could not tolerate. They shut their ears to the final warning and stoned Stephen to death. Saul of Tarsus began persecuting the believers in Jerusalem with relentless determination, and the believers spread all over, taking the Gospel to the world.
The Gospel was preached to the Jews until the 70 weeks were complete. Then the Gospel went to the world right on time!
At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. 4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word (Acts 8:1-4).
Jesus had predicted that the same generation that would kill Him would receive their recompense in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Thirty-nine years after Christ’s prediction, it all came to pass. The Roman General and soon to be Emperor Titus sieged and starved the city, surrounded it with crosses so thick it was reportedly hard to walk through, and finally proceeded into the city with the carnage of warfare. No wonder the heart of God ached to let Israel go.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing (Matthew 23:37).
Summary Timeline of Daniel 9:24-27:
Autumn 457 BC: Decree of Artaxerxes begins the timeline.
457 BC-27 AD: Jerusalem and the temple rebuilt. Jews given time to prepare to receive the Messiah and present Him to the world.
Autumn 27 AD: Jesus “anointed” at His baptism.
Spring 31 AD: Jesus crucified for us, ending any need for future sacrifices for sin.
27 AD-34 AD: The New Covenant was confirmed by the death of Christ and the Gospel was preached to the Jews by Christ for 3 1/2 years followed by His apostles for 3 1/2 years.
Autumn 34 AD: Stephen stoned. 70 weeks completed. Jews have rejected the Gospel. Gospel spreads throughout the world.
70 AD: Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. Not one stone left on another. All occurring within the timeframe of one generation as prophesied by Jesus.
What does any of that have to do with a ram, a goat, a little horn, an attack on the Heavenly Sanctuary, the Day of Atonement and the time of the end?
God had sent this 70 week message to Daniel to explain the previous vision of the 2300 days. The angel in Daniel 8 had explained the ram, the goat and the little horn. Yet Daniel was blown away by the time frame. The vision of the 70 weeks gave Daniel the starting point for the 2300 day prophecy. The precision of the seventy week prophecy gives us today the assurance that the 2300 day prophecy is correct.
“Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city (Daniel 9:24).
I do not claim any special knowledge of Hebrew, but it’s my understanding that the Hebrew word translated “determined,” actually means “cut off.” The 490 years cut off for the Jews were cut off of the much longer 2300 day (year) prophecy.
The 70 week prophecy gives us landmarks in time to know that the interpretation of the 2300 year prophecy is just as reliable, even if the events are in the Heavenly Sanctuary and thus invisible to the human eye. The fact that the landmarks Christ gave us to look for are some of the most compelling proofs that only He could possibly have fulfilled the Messianic prophecies just adds exponentially to the beauty and wisdom of His Word.
Basic math will tell us that adding 1810 years to the end of the 490 years will take us to the close of the 2300 day prophecy. The Heavenly Day of Atonement which is the Heavenly Judgment that precedes Christ’s return, was scheduled by Christ Himself to begin at the end of the 2300 days.
34 + 1810 = 1844
If we believe the prophecy of Daniel 8:14, the Heavenly judgment day has already begun, initiated in 1844.
The Heavenly Day of Atonement began right on time!
The closing messages of mercy from Christ to planet earth begin with this proclamation:
Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— 7 saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water” (Revelation 14:6,7).
God has a warning message for His end time people that the judgment is no longer a future event. As of 1844, the judgment day has since been a present reality.
How are God’s people called to live in this solemn time?
Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God (2 Peter 3:11,12).
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).
Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls (Leviticus 23:27).
The Day of Atonement was the final call for God’s people to confess and turn from their sins and give them to Jesus. If even one sin is held onto instead of us allowing Christ access to cleanse us, we show the entire universe that we love something else more than we love Jesus. We show that our hearts are ultimately in rebellion against God. Our own decision has rendered us unfit to enter heaven. Sin cannot exist in God’s presence. If we are unwilling to allow Jesus to save us from sin, we will be destroyed with the sins that we cherish.
What a terrible mistake!
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world (1 John 2:1,2).
There is another event that will happen right on time. When that time is hasn’t been revealed, but we can know it is very very close. Throughout Bible prophecy, the return of Christ is portrayed as immediately following the judgment in Heaven.
For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry (Hebrews 10:37).
Time is too short to live on the edge!
Eternity with Christ is too precious!
Let us allow Him to write His law in our hearts and minds today!
Jesus will return right on time, even if we don’t know what exact time that will be.