Daniel Lesson 19 - Fairhaven Baptist Church

Daniel

Lesson 19

Text: Daniel 9:20-27

Intro: Last week we saw Daniel repent, not just for himself, but for the entire nation. He was truly seeking the Lord in his life, and for his nation’s life. He acknowledged the sins of Israel, and cried for the mercy of God, understanding it was the nature of God to give forgiveness, not the right of man to receive it. Prayer was part of Daniels life, it was not something he only did now and then, it was a purposeful part of it. This chapter begins with telling us that it is in the first year of Darius, there was another event in the first year of Darius. You may remember that we are moving back in time with these verses. But in Ch.6 after Darius took Babylon, he set princes in charge, and Daniel was one of them. It was also the chapter where the others wanted to destroy Daniel by accusing him. And when they found him praying, they used it against him. And we cannot say wither this answered prayer was before or after the lion’s den experience, we do know they were close to one another. (In my personal experience, I would say it was directly before the lion’s den, it seems to be the case with me, after spiritual breakthrough, it is followed by a test.)

God’s Timetable, Vs.20-27,
1. Daniels Prayer,
  1. His Confession,
    1. not to re-hatch this, but notice Daniel was making confession for his sins as well as Israels,
    2. It was during his prayers that Gabriel touched him.
  2. The time of the day,
    1. we don’t know what time Daniel began this prayer session, but we do know that it was approximately 3 in the evening when Gabriel touched him.
      - He may have been in Babylon, but the time scheduled Daniel was using here was Jewish.
      - The evening oblation, or the evening offering was around 3
      - this was also one of the three times a day Jewish people would pray,
        
        Psalm 55:17 “As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. 17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.”
      - This was also the time that latter Ezra would pray for forgiveness for Israel
        
        See Ezra 9:5
    2. Spiritual sacrifice,
      - Psalm 141:1&2 “LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. 2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.”
  3. Gabriel,
    1. Daniel had seen him before, when he came to explain the ram and goat vision.
      - Ch.8:15
    2. It calls him “the man Gabriel”
      - First, this is no ordinary man, but had the appearance of a man.
      - Second, the name Gabriel translates to man (in the sence of warrior) of God,
    3. He flew swiftly, vs.21. This is a miss-conception. Some use this to say he/ all angels have wings. This is not the case. To fly swiftly simply means to come swiftly, IE.
      - I few in my car, a bullet flies, an arrow flies through the air…
Seventy Weeks,
1. What is a Week?
  1. Weeks= Seven Periods,
    1. specifically Gabriel was referring to seventy periods of 7 years,
    2. or 490 years.
      - We will look at the division of these years in a moment,
  2. Six Reasons: Vs.24,
    1. Finish the transgression,
    2. make an end of sin,
    3. make reconciliation for iniquities,
    4. bring everlasting righteousness,
    5. seal the prophecies and vision,
    6. anoint the most HOLY,
      - notice the first three have to do with sin,
      - the last three are about righteousness,
    7. to finish is to make an end of…
    8. How was God going to accomplish this?
      - This brings us to Messiah, Jesus Christ,
  3. Jesus Died for:
    1. the sins of the whole world
      - John 1:9 & I John 2:2 “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. ”
    2. He died for the Church,
      - Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; ”
    3. He died for Israel,
      - Isaiah 53:8 & John 11:44-52
    4. He died for all people
      - Revelation 5:9 & 7:9
    5. He also prepared to: Establish His righteous Kingdom,
      - Jeremiah 23 5-6 & 31:31-34
    6. Rule in Righteousness,
      - Isaiah 4:2-6
    7. To Anoint Messiah,
      - Ezekiel 40-48
    8. This is a basic answer to Daniels prayer to remove form Israel their sin, and establish righteousness,
2. The First Period of time, 49 years,
  1. first, the scripture divides this time into 3 periods, 49 years (7 Weeks), 434 (62 Weeks) years, and 7 (1 week) years Vs.25-27
  2. Rebuilding the temple,
    1. The date of the decree,
      - there was two decrees:
        
        Ezra 1:2-4 “Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem. 4 And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem. ”
        
        this decree came in 538 or 539 B.C.
      - The second decree comes form Artaxerxes in 445 B.C.
        
        This is a difference of about 82 years.
  3. OK, how exact is Prophecy?
    1. When taking the Artaxerxes decree, what we discover is this is the decree that most scholars rely on to do the math, so let’s see if we can do it/
      - I want to point out here, there are a couple of sources that mark the date a little different, and we will see one in a moment. I do not think the difference in dating is all that much, it is the exactness of prophecy that should amaze us.
    2. First, the decree for Artaxerxes that came in 457, so this means it was 457 years before O AD BC. Adding the 33 years of Christ life we come up with 490 years, this is a difference of 7 years using simple math,
      - 7 years plus 49 years (7 weeks) + 434 years (49 weeks) = 483 years
      - however, we have mentioned that the Jewish year is not the same as the years we use now, there are years with more days, and years with more months, and years with less.
        
        Sir Robert Anderson, the writer of “The Coming Prince” marked the date such as that the date Artaxerxes signed the decree and the date Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem matched up to the day.
        
        The thing that sets him apart from any other person, is he wan not only a theologian, but also Scotland Yards Assistant Commissioner to Crime. He lived 1841-1918.
  4. OK, Let’s simplify this,
    1. 7X7= 49
    2. 7X62= 434
    3. 49+434= 483
    4. counting 483 solar years from 445 brings us to the time of Christ’s Ministry,
    5. Going a step further Church Missler, takes lead form Sir Robert Anderson and counts the days,
      - going between the dates Mar 16^th 445 BC, and April 6, 32 AD.
      - Which, when broken into days, it comes up to 173, 880 days, (69X7X 360)
      - and this is the exact day according to Jewish calendar, and doing the math.
  5. Vs.26,
    1. so what happens here between the first 69 weeks and the last week.
      - This is a good point on per-tribulation rapture,
        
        this is after the 69 weeks, 3 score and two, which is after the 7,
        
        Messiah will be cut off??? What does this mean? The crucifixion of Jesus,
        
        Now this verse is a foot note of History form the time of Jesus to the Rapture.
        
        What took place after Jesus was crucified? It was the church age,
        
        see Daniel was writing from the aspects of the Jewish people, so there is little reason to go into great detail about this time, it is not the time of the Jews, it will be paused for a time.
        
        What brings an end to the age of the church? The rapture, and what does that begin?
    2. The final 7 weeks, (Years) (Divided into two halves)
    3. Vs.27 after the rapture what happens, The Jewish people eyes are open, they confirm Jesus was Messiah, in the mist of the week he will cause the sacrifice to cease, 3.5 years,
      - what happens then? Desolation of the temple “the abomination desolation’s”
      - this takes us through the tribulation, the great tribulation, up until the second coming of Christ,