The 490 Years

RV111-02

So, we have looked back in history to observe the chain of events that have brought the Jewish people to where they are today. The nation of Israel, of course, was terminated, as we pointed out, in the year 605 B.C. by the gentile world ruler of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, who came and conquered the people. Over the centuries since then, three other gentile world empires have risen and fallen while the Jewish people remained dispersed among the nations of the world. The rise and fall of these nations was, of course, clearly predicted by the prophet Daniel. Following Babylon came MedoPersia; MedoPersia was replaced by Greece; and, Greece was replaced by Rome. Rome fractured into the nations that we have today. The final dispersion of the Jewish people came in 70 A.D. with the punitive action under the Roman General Titus for the rebellion of the Jews against Roman authority. At that time, they were scattered throughout the world; their temple was destroyed; and, their city was destroyed. Until 1948, the Jew did not have a homeland at all.

The domination of the Jews by the gentile world powers is described in the Bible by the term "the times of the gentiles." The Bible tells us that the times of the gentiles continues until Jerusalem is no longer under the domination of gentile world powers. That has actually not happened today. Although in the Six-Day War, Jerusalem was restored completely into the hands of the Jewish people, that is not a permanent restoration. Jerusalem will once more come under gentile domination in the tribulation period under the power of the world ruler the antichrist.

While the Jews today then rejoice in the homeland they have, terrible times yet ahead for them. The national dispersion to Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar was to last 70 years. Daniel was one of the captives which was taken by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon to be made a government administrator. He was one of the earliest of those captives. Near the end of the 70-year period, Daniel, who was now becoming quite an old man, asked God when the national discipline of 70 years of Babylonian captivity would end, and when the Jews would be permitted to return to Jerusalem and to their homeland. This prayer and its confession is recorded in Daniel chapter 9, and I'd like to read that, because this is the background of what Daniel was concerned about, and what was on his mind as he began studying the Word of God and discovered, from the writings of Jeremiah, that the 70 years must almost be at an end.

Daniel 9

Verse 3: "And I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession." Even Daniel understood 1 John 1:9 – that if you want something from God in prayer, you must establish temporal fellowship first on the basis of confession of known sins. You will see that Daniel makes the confession even broader than that. He not only confesses his personal sins, but he also assumes that what his nation has done is related to him personally as well. He is part of their divine good, or part of their divine evil, and he confesses national sins as well.

"And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments, we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and from Your ordinances. Neither have we hearkened until Your servants, the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongs unto You, but unto us, confusion of face, as at this day, to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel that are near and that are far off through all the countries to which has driven them because of their trespass that they have trespassed against You.

"O Lord, to us belongs confusion of face to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, as though we have rebelled against Him. Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in His laws which He set before us by His servants, the prophets. Yea, all Israel has transgressed Your law, even by departing, that they might not obey Your voice. Therefore, the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him. And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil. For under the whole heaven, it has not been done as has been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us, yet we did not make our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth.

"Therefore, the Lord has watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us. For the Lord our God is righteous in all His works which we does. For we did not obey His voice. And now, O Lord our God, who has brought Your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and has gotten You renown, as at this day; we have sinned; we have done wickedly.

"O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I beseech You. Let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city, Jerusalem, Your Holy Mountain, because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of Your servant and His supplications, and cause Your face to shine upon the sanctuary that is desolate for the Lord's sake. O my God, incline Your ear and hear. Open Your eyes and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name, for we do not present our supplications before You for our righteousnesses, but for Your great mercies. "O Lord, hear. Oh Lord, forgive. O Lord, hearken and do. Do not defer for Your Own sake, O my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name."

Daniel is very, very much aware of the fact that Jerusalem continues to be a very important place in the heart of God. Jerusalem is God's holy, favorite, special city, and he's well aware that the Jewish people hold a high place of esteem in the mind of God. So, Daniel makes his confession. It seems that he prayed until the time of the evening sacrifice – a sacrifice which no longer was being executed, because Jerusalem and the temple, and all that pertained to that worship, were in ruins. But as a boy, he remembered from 3:00 in the afternoon for the next two or three hours, the evening sacrifice and oblation. That was the time when all of Israel would see the smoke rising to be reminded that it is because of God's grace and His provision of sacrifice that they would, in time, be preserved in spite of their evil.

So, Daniel is in intense agony of prayer. He makes this confession, and he calls upon God now to execute the promise, that after 70 years, they would be permitted to go back. You must remember that Jerusalem is total ruins. The streets were so filled with debris that they couldn't even ride their animals through on their inspection tour. The place has been devastated. When the Babylonians got through with it, they took everything of value, and they left everything a shambles. There is nothing but a pile of rubble. Animals have taken the place over. A few people are scrounging around in the outer fringes of it. The foreign elements of the nations around have assumed part of the control over the territory. But Jerusalem is at a low ebb. It has really had the hand of divine judgment.

Again, I remind you that this was in spite of the fact that the prophet Jeremiah was warning them of their political activities, and of any number of other activities that they were engaged in, all of which violated the principles of divine nationalism (of divine national entity). And he warned them that they were violating the principles of God, and they were going to suffer national destruction.

Well, that's where the thing stands. So, Daniel, proceeds in his intense supplication to God to terminate the captivity, and to give some information about the future. So, beginning in verse 20, Daniel gets quite a surprise. He gets more than he bargained for. The God of grace says. "I'll give you the answer to what you're asking, Daniel, but I'm going to give you a lot more as well.

Verse 20: "And 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, for the holy mountain of my God; yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel." Gabriel, of course, is an angel. He's not a human being. But the term "the man Gabriel" refers to the fact that, previously in the book of Daniel, Gabriel has appeared as a man. So, this is a reference back to that: "Even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation." This is the sacrifice that used to take place when they were still a people in their own country and in their own city in Jerusalem. Daniel still thinks in terms of that time of the day:

He says, "About the time of the evening oblation." This was sometime after 3:00 P.M. in the afternoon, Daniel suddenly sees the angel Gabriel before him: "And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, "O, Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill and understanding." The angel Gabriel has come to explain something to Daniel relative to his prayer: "At the beginning of YOUR supplications, the commandment came forth, and I am come to show you, for you are greatly beloved. Therefore, understand the matter, and considered the vision."

When Daniel first began praying, Gabriel was directed (obviously by God) to move out of the angelic sphere in outer space, and to move toward the earth, and to bring the information to Daniel that God had now ordained that was to be revealed to this godly man in agonies over the condition of his people in their dispersion and in their discipline under God's hand. Daniel was going to receive information which is the chronological structure of all prophecy. You cannot understand the book of the Revelation until you understand this revelation made to Daniel. Gabriel's message was actually the timetable for the rest of Jewish history – from the time that they would be returned to the land to the Millennial Kingdom. That's why this is such an important bit of chronology.

About 538 B.C., Daniel, who was a captive in Babylon, prayed that God would fulfill His promise to end the nation's captivity in Babylon after 70 years. God had promised that they would be in that captivity for 70 years, and then He would return them. So, Daniel prays that God would fulfill that promise and return the Jews to their homeland and to the holy city of Jerusalem. That prayer in Daniel 9:16-19 gives us the specifics of what Daniel was asking God. In those verses, you will see that he asks that God's anger and fury be turned away from the city of Jerusalem, the Holy Mountain (Mount Zion, upon which the temple rests), because of their sins, iniquities, and so on.

In verse 17, he calls for God's face to shine upon the sanctuary that is desolate; that is, the temple which has been destroyed. Daniel had learned of this divine promise of the 70-year limit on this activity by reading the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 25:11-12 records this specifically. If you were to read through the book of Jeremiah, you would discover that he wrote this book (this prophecy), and it enraged the leaders of the nation, because in it he told of the destruction that was coming upon them, including the military destruction. It so enraged the leaders that they destroyed the book of Jeremiah. So, he rewrote it. It's amazing that somehow the thing traveled across the desert plains and got into the hands of Daniel in Babylon. It was the rewritten copy, replacing the first one that the leaders destroyed.

In Jeremiah 25:11-12, Daniel read this: "'And this whole land shall be a desolation and a horror, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 70 years. And it shall come to pass, when 70 years are accomplished, that I will punish the King of Babylon and that nation,' says the Lord, 'for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolation.'" God will terminate Babylon's hold upon the Jewish people by destroying the empire of Babylon.

In Jeremiah 29:10, Daniel also read: "For thus says the Lord, 'After 70 years are accomplish at Babylon, I will visit you, and perform My good work toward you in causing you to return even unto this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,' says the Lord;' thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then you shall call upon Me, and you shall go and pray into Me, and I will hearken unto you. And you shall see Me and find Me when you shall search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found by you,' said the Lord, 'and I will turn away your captivity, and gather you from all the nations, and from all the places to which I have driven you,' says the Lord, 'and I will bring you again into the place from which I caused you to be carried away captive.'"

Well then, when Daniel read this, his heart leaped with joy. He started counting up the years, and discovered that they were practically 70 years. And it suddenly hit him that this was the time to start praying. The text said, "If you'll pray, and you'll call upon me' (verse 12 said): "And you shall go and pray unto Me, and I will listen to you (I will hearken unto you)." So, this is exactly what Daniel did. Daniel's calculations then indicated that the time of 70 years of completion was near at an end. And he wanted to move God to fulfill that promise.

Literal Fulfillment of Prophecy

It is important to observe that with Daniel, prophecy is literal. And prophecy has always been literally fulfilled. The Bible is the only religious book in the world that does make predictions hundreds of years in the future, and has been proven exactly, precisely to-the-letter of its predictions. That's one of the evidences (a major evidence) that the Bible is a book which God produced through men – not just on their own.

Furthermore, Daniel knew that prayer was the technique for bringing about what God had sovereignly ordained. And that's exactly what he read in Ezekiel. God said, "I'm going to bring you back. I've already decided that. That's what's in the cards for you people. You're going to come back after 70 years, but you're going to execute My sovereign will by getting down and praying, and asking Me to do it."

You know the old question: Why pray to God? He knows what I need. If he knows what I need, and He is sovereign, and He executes, why do I have to ask Him. This is why. Because God says, "That's how I work. I know what I'm going to do. I know where the plan is going that I have for you. But your part is to intercede in behalf of every step of that plan. And I execute when you ask. The New Testament puts it this way: "You have not because you ask not." God is sitting up there tapping His foot, ready to pour out prosperity almost like you wouldn't dream. But most of us are too dumb to go to Him and ask, and pray step-by-step for the execution of that prosperity.

Daniel, fortunately, was not that stupid. When he read this, he understood that prophetic fulfillment is always literal. He knew that 70 years meant 70 years. He knew that the time was almost up. He knew that God had said, "You ask, and that's how you get it. That's how you execute my will." And he started asking. Furthermore, please observe that Daniel also knew that effective prayer must be preceded by confession of known sins. And in Daniel 9, you have that magnificent chapter expressing Daniel's confession, not only in his own behalf, but in behalf of his people who were guilty of terrible evils, and that's why they were in trouble.

The reason for 70 years is given to us in 2 Chronicles 36:21, where, we read, "To fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths, for as long as she lay desolate, she kept Sabbath, to fulfill 70 years. God said that the land would have 70 years of rest. And the reason for this was that for 490 years, the Jews had been skipping the seventh year when they were supposed to let the land lay fallow. They had been planting crops that seventh year instead of letting the land rest and to be restored. Now God says, "We're going to pick up all those years that you kept planting, and we're going to lump it all together, and the land is going to get 70 years of freedom from any human habitation. We're going to let the environment restore itself. So, that's the picture.

The divine answer to Daniel's concern begins in verse 24: "70 weeks are determined upon Your people and upon Your holy city to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy." God has ordained 70 weeks of earth history for the Jewish people before the establishment of the Messianic earthly Kingdom which has been promised to David.

Just to be sure that you're clear in your mind about that Messianic Kingdom ( what it is that we are talking about, and what was promised to the Jewish people), and so that you have clearly in mind that this Bunco squad out of the amillennial camp tries to tell us that the kingdom is the church. That is negative. The church is not the kingdom. The kingdom is on this earth; it is a Jewish kingdom; and, it has nothing to do with the body of Christ, the church, which you and I are a part of.

In 2 Samuel 7:13-16, you have the information. David is the king after God's own heart. He wanted to build a temple for God. David said, "I live in a magnificent palace. I look out my window here, and there is that old tabernacle that was put together in Moses' time, and which we dragged all over the wilderness. Here that tent is still all that we worship God in. The time has come to make a magnificent temple comparable to what I as the King live in." God said, "I agree, but not you. Your son Solomon is going to build it. But I'll tell you what, David. You wanted to build a house for Me, and I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do. I'm a God of grace, and I'm going to build a house for you. Here's the revelation of that house – an earthly kingdom descended from the line of David.

2 Samuel 7:13: "He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commit iniquity, I will chase him with a rod of men; with the stripes of the children of men. But My mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever you. Your throne shall be established forever." Verses 13 through 15 are dealing with God's promise to how He will deal with Solomon. Solomon is going to build a house, and God is going to recognize Solomon and honor him. And God's promises to Solomon through his father David, which God is about to make to David, will be inherited by Solomon and all the kings down the line. They will inherit them. They will never lose them. What God is going to say in 2 Samuel 7:16 is going to come to pass. Nothing will change it. It is inevitable. And even if the Jewish people, and the kings themselves, become disobedient to God, and even if they go out into enormous carnality, God says, "I won't break My Word. I'll punish you, I'll bring you under judgment. But what I am now about to tell you, David, you can count on being executed."

Verse 16: "Your house and your kingdom (that is, your dynasty and your earthly kingdom – your political, geographic government rule) shall be established forever." And folks, that's the word. Don't try to squeeze it around like the amillennials do. It says, "Forever, David will have a kingdom upon this earth over the Jewish people. Your throne shall be established forever. And his authority (his rule over that kingdom on this earth) will be forever." All of this is Jewish. All of this is earthly. All of this is to David. And it has nothing to do with the church. The amillennials are dead wrong. When I say that, you must understand that that means the majority of those folks out there who believe the Bible, in all these churches and all these great denominations, are dead wrong. They have made an enormous mistake. They have misled their people, and it has cost them, and will cost them, for all eternity because the people are out chasing rabbits, trying to bring in the kingdom, and to do things according to a lifestyle that's not applicable to them. They've lost the divine objectives.

When you know this passage in 2 Samuel, and what God made in terms of a promise of an earthly kingdom to David forever, you'll understand the record in Luke 1 that deals with the birth of Jesus when the angel comes to explain to Mary what is about to take place in the birth of this Son that she is going to bear. Here's the information that Gabriel brings to her. Luke 1:31-33: "And behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David."

What does that mean? Well, if you read 2 Samuel, you know exactly what it means. And Mary had read 2 Samuel. She knew exactly what it meant. That was a startling statement, for she realized that there had not been a king sitting upon the throne of David since Zedekiah had been blinded by Nebuchadnezzar and taken off into Babylon. And all of a sudden, here was the line. The line of David continued through the other family line. It continued. The legitimate heir was always there. Finally, she is told, "Your Son is going to be not only the legitimate heir." She knew that because she was in the line of David: "But it is this Boy who is going to sit upon His father David's throne to fulfill the Davidic covenant of an eternal reign."

Verse 33 says, "And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever. Of His kingdom there shall be no end." He shall reign over the house of Jacob. How in the world can you make that the church? Only by pretending that Jacob has no meaning. You know very well that, if you just take that word in its normal meaning, "Jacob" could only refer to Jews – not the gentiles; and, not to the body of Christ. It'll be over the Jewish people forever. And of His kingdom there shall be no end." All that Gabriel is doing is reminding Mary of what she already knew from 2 Samuel: "Your Son is going to rule over a kingdom on this earth forever, and that's why He's being born.

Well, I don't know what went through her mind, but she must have been enormously elated to realize that here was an angelic messenger from God that had announced to her that her Son was going to be the greater son of David, the one who would now set up the earthly Messianic Kingdom, and who would rule over the nations of the earth forever. That's why He came.

The church was a secret. Mary didn't know about it. The Old Testament saints didn't know about it. It was never revealed. It was something that finally was brought out, as we shall see, subsequently. So, Mary, thinking in terms of her Jewish heritage and her Jewish biblical revelation and expectations, knew exactly what the angel was saying. Fortunately, there were no amillennials standing there to confuse her.

490 Years of Jewish History

History and the Word of God indicate to us that the starting point of this 490 years was the year 445 B.C. The reason for that is that in that year, the Persian King Artaxerxes gave the order to go back and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Daniel 9:25: "Know, therefore, and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem onto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks," and then we'll go on with that later. But it was very clear to Daniel that there was a starting point for this 490 years. It was to be when finally the Persian king gave the order to go ahead and to order the rebuilding of Jerusalem. That was in the year 445 B.C.

I want to make clear that the things that we are going to read in this prophecy of Daniel 9 have nothing to do with future history of gentiles. Notice in Daniel 9:24 that it says, "These things are determined or decreed upon your people and upon your city." That is that what Daniel is being told here pertains to the Jewish people. It pertains to the city of Jerusalem, and it pertains to the Jewish nation. This does not pertain to the future history of gentiles.

Six Objectives will be Accomplished

1. To Finish the Transgressions

   First: "to finish the transgressions." That refers to the bringing to an end of Israel's violation of the Mosaic Law – Israel's rejection of the Law of Moses and of the lifestyle of morality (the code) that God had placed them under and which they rejected (that code of righteousness).

   In Ezekiel 39:24-25, we read concerning this: "According to their uncleanness, and according to their transgressions I have done unto them, and hidden my face from them. Therefore, thus that the Lord God: 'Now I will bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name." Ezekiel is pointing to this time with the Jew will no longer be rejected by God. Today the Jew is completely rejected by Almighty God because of his rebellion against the Mosaic Law.

   Isaiah 51:4 adds to this: "Hearken unto Me, my people, and give ear unto Me, O my nation. For a law shall proceed from Me, and I will make My justice to rest for a light of the people." So, the transgression means the crossing over and breaking the line of the rules. The Mosaic Law laid out the line of God's righteous conduct: What was fair; what was just; and, what was godly. And the Jews wouldn't listen. They crossed over. They transgressed the Law.

   So, one of the things is going to happen during the 490 years is that something is going to be done to the Jewish people such that they're going to quit transgressing the Law of Moses. It is obvious that that has not happened to this day.

2. To Make an End of Sins

   We are told that the second factor is to make an end of sins; that is, to terminate Israel's national rejection of its Messiah Jesus Christ. This sin has consequently, left them without a king. The great sin of the Jewish people was this rejection of their Messiah which was sent to them. So, we are told that during the 490 years, the Jewish people are going to change their minds. They are going to look to the Messiah which has been sent. And instead of rejecting Him as they do now, they are going to indeed say, "Our rabbis were wrong. Our forefathers were wrong. Jesus of Nazareth was the true Messiah of Israel. He was the King of Israel. They rejected Him. They were wrong. And we accept Him.

   This is what Zechariah 12:10 says: "I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced. And they shall mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." Zechariah is describing this making an end of sin which the Jewish people will be brought to. Well, that hasn't happened today either. They have not come to the point where nationally they accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah Savior.

3. To Make Reconciliation for Iniquity

   The third thing is to make reconciliation for iniquity. This has to do with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin guilt of the world – salvation by grace through faith in God's provision. This was the thought that Isaiah had in that famous chapter of Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53:4-6: "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem Him stricken: smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." This was to make reconciliation for iniquity; that is, to provide a ground by which the Jew can be saved. This deals with Israel: by which the Jewish people can be saved from the sin guilt that is upon them.

   That has taken place. That is exactly what Jesus Christ did as the result of their rejection of Him when they murdered Him.

   In Romans 11:26-27, the apostle Paul refers to this same reconciliation for iniquity. Please remember that the word "reconciliation" means "to bring into alignment with a standard." When you call the time and temperature number on your telephone to see what time it is, they give you the official time. You look at your watch, and then you set your watch to that official time. You have reconciled your watch with an official standard. Reconciliation means to reconcile (to adjust) the Jewish people to God's standard of absolute righteousness. This is what Paul is referring to in Romans 11:26-27: "And so all Israel shall be saved as it is written. There shall come out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. This is My covenant until them, and I will take away their sins." That is precisely what the Lord Jesus Christ made possible for the Jewish people – to have their sins taken away.

   Then 2 Corinthians 5:19 says, "To wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto him; and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation."

   So, Daniel is told that during the 490 years, there would be made a provision by which the Jewish sinner could secure the absolute righteousness of God. That has taken place.

4. To Bring in Everlasting Righteousness

   Then the fourth thing to be accomplished is to bring in everlasting righteousness. This is not only personal, imputed, absolute righteousness unto justification, but righteousness in terms of human culture and of human society on this earth. In Jeremiah 23:5-6, we have this described for us – that righteousness is going to be established on this planet: "Behold, the days come, said the Lord, that I will raise until David a righteous branch (that is, Jesus Christ) and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the earth." Do you know a king who is ruling over this world today that is executing justice and righteousness? A worldwide ruling king? A single authority? Do you know when there has ever been a single worldwide ruling king who has executed absolute justice and righteousness, where nobody was getting away with anything evil? Obviously this has never happened. But during the 490 years of Jewish history revealed to Daniel, he was told that that's exactly what is going to happen. There is going to be a ruler who is going to execute that kind of absolute righteousness.

   This is also referred to in Isaiah 11:2-5: "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding; the spirit of council and might; the spirit of knowledge; and, of the fear of the Lord. We studied these as they were represented by the seven flaming torches before the throne of God, representing the qualities of the Spirit of God upon the humanity of Christ.

   Verse 3: "And shall make Him a quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes; neither reprove after the hearing of His ears. But with righteousness He shall judge the poor and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. And He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips he shall slay the wicked."

   Verse 5: "And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His waist. This is a description of a world ruler who has brought in everlasting righteousness. He is not only going to bring justice and righteousness upon this earth, but it's going to be for good – it's everlasting. It's never going to be reversed. Obviously, this has not happened.

   However, Daniel was told that within the span of 490 years of Jewish history, this would happen.

5. To Seal up the Vision and Prophecy

   Point number 5 of what must come to pass in this period is to seal up the vision and prophecy. This refers to the termination of further direct revelation from God on the one hand; and, the precise fulfillment, on the other hand, of previous divine prophecy and promises to Israel; that is, no more communications from God, and then the completion of all that God has prophesied and promised to the Jewish people.

   In Daniel 12:4, we read, "But you, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book even to the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." There will come a time when all that God has prophesied would be sealed up. Daniel was told to seal up the information of this book. For a period of time, we didn't understand it because the book of the Revelation hadn't been written. There was a lot in here that we couldn't put together the way we're able to put it together today. Now the information has become known. It has been fulfilled. It has been sealed.

   The vision and prophecy are going to be fully executed. There's obviously a lot of prophecy that has not been executed. I need not remind you that the Jewish people are not in charge of their homeland. I need not remind you that Jerusalem is not the capital of the world. I need not remind you that the king of Jerusalem does not rule over the whole world. I need not remind you that the Jewish people do not even have in their possession all of the land promised to them forever through their King Solomon. Obviously, there are many things in the prophetic Scriptures which have not been executed, not the least of which is the arrival of a gentile political world ruler from the Roman Empire in its final stages of our era, who will be the world ruler, and who will be the primary opponent of Christ – the antichrist of the end times. That has not been fulfilled.

   So, there is a lot of vision and prophecy that has certainly not been executed. But Daniel was told that in 490 years from the year 445 B.C, the whole shebang will be fulfilled. Nothing will be left yet to be executed.

6. To Anoint the Most Holy

   Then the sixth thing that's going to take place is to anoint the most holy. That refers to the holy of holies in the Jerusalem temple, which is to be built in the millennium for the Messiah Jesus Christ. The idea here is the anointing of the holy of holies. Again, we find from the Word of God that that is to take place in a temple during the Millennial Kingdom from which the Messiah functions.

   Ezekiel 43:2 refers to that: "Behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the East, and His voice was like a noise of many waters, and the earth shined in His glory." Then verse 4 and 5: "And the glory of the Lord came into the house, by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the East. So, the Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court, and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house." At this point in the prophecy of Ezekiel, he's talking about the future Millennial Kingdom. He's not talking about the past. He's talking about a future return of God in glory to a temple.

   I need not remind you that today the Jews do not have a temple. I need not remind you that, certainly, whatever they have, God in His glory is not residing in their midst.

The 490 Years

Daniel 9:25: "Know, therefore, and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem (that was in 445 B.C.) unto the Messiah the prince (to the coming of Jesus Christ) will be two periods: a period of seven weeks; and, and 62 weeks." A period of seven weeks is 49 years; and, a period of 62 weeks is 434 years. These two periods combined are included in this period from 445 B.C. to the national rejection of Jesus Christ.

Then he gives us some further details as to what's going to happen during this period of time. He says, "The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times." He's describing this 49 year period. During the 49 year period, the debris is cleared from Jerusalem; and, the city is rebuilt with its wall' with its moat; and, with its street, under adverse conditions. This goes from the time of the decree of Artaxerxes in 445 B.C. It takes them 49 years to clear out the debris; to restore the city; to line up the streets; to start building the houses; and, to put the wall back up around the city again.

Previous to this (some 90 years before this) another group had already returned from Babylon to build the temple. They built the temple first, then they proceeded to restructure the city.

I want to take the trouble to call your attention to the specific places that we get all this from. A lot of Christians know about something called the tribulation period of seven years, but they don't have the foggiest notion where it comes from. They have an idea about a three-and-a-half year period at first, and another three-and-a-half year period called the great tribulation at the end, but they don't have the foggiest notion where it comes from. So, up comes some smooth-talking amillennial preacher from some great big denomination, who has never gone beyond the Reformation in their prophetic theology, and they can they can just puncture you full of holes with a few questions. And you stand there with your mouth hanging open, because you don't have the foggiest notion where from the Scriptures these ideas come from, and how firm they are. So, we're giving you the whole picture so that when we start into what happens in Revelation you'll know that this time frame is indeed a divine setup.

Nehemiah 2:1-8 is where the order to rebuild Jerusalem goes from: "And it came to pass in the month, Nisan, in the 20th year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him. And I took up the wine and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been sat in his presence. (This is Nehemiah speaking.) Wherefore the king said unto me, 'Why is you countenance sad, since I see that you are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart.' Then I was very much afraid." That was because, in those days, when you came into the presence of the king, it was happy time, especially when they were passing out the wine, and they didn't expect some guy to come in with a long face. Nehemiah has a long face. He's obviously sad. The king looks Artaxerxes looks at Nehemiah, says, "What's wrong? You're obviously not physically sick. This is something emotional with you. It's a matter of the heart. What's your problem?" Nehemiah is frightened because the king could kill him just like that, for bringing a depressive atmosphere into the king's presence.

"And he said unto the king, 'Let the King live forever. Why should not my countenance be sad when the city (the place of my father's sepulcher) lays waste, and its gates are consumed with fire?' Then the king said unto me, 'For what do you request?' So, I pray to the God of heaven." Nehemiah said, "Here is my opportunity. The king wants to know: what do I want? He sounds amenable, and Nehemiah is smart enough to stop for a moment and offer up a quick appeal to God for wisdom in what he should say.

"And I said unto the king, 'If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor in your site, that you should send me unto Judah, unto the city of my father's sepulcher, that I may rebuild it." Nehemiah says, "Here's what I want. I want permission to go back to Jerusalem. They built the temple, but the city is a shambles. The walls are down. There is no protection. Animals roam the street. The houses have not been erected. I want permission to go back and rebuild the city that was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and to put the walls back up."

"And the king said unto me (the queen also sitting by him), 'For how long shall your journey be?" I don't know why that slipped in: the queen also sitting by him," except for maybe to confirm that he wasn't going to have trouble when he got home about this decision that he makes, because he was about to let go one of the very important people of this court in Nehemiah: "For how long shall your journey be and will you return?" So, it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time. Moreover, I said under the king, 'If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river that they may let me pass through till I come into Judah; and a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which is near to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into.' And the king granted me according to the good hand of my God upon me."

So, here is King Artaxerxes in 645 B.C. He tells me Nehemiah, "Go. Rebuild it." The prophetic clock immediately starts ticking. The pendulum is moving. That was the starting point. And 490 years are now being ticked off one after another. 49 of those years go by, and finally they've got the city cleared; rebuilt; the walls up; and, the whole thing restructured. This restructuring of the city, 90 years after the first captives had returned to rebuild the temple.

The 434 year period then goes from the completion of the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and Jewish history keeps ticking along. For 434 years, the pendulum is swinging back and forth, and the clock is moving on. This takes us to the rejection of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, on Palm Sunday of crucifixion week.

Notice Daniel 9:26: "And after 62 weeks (this 434-year period) Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself. Messiah is cut off. If we combine 49 years and 434 years, we get, obviously, 483 years of Jewish history completed to the point of what we call Palm Sunday – the Sunday before Jesus was crucified, when he rode into the city on the donkey, and was received and praised by the people as the greater Son of David.

Now there was a man named Sir Robert Anderson, an English scholar, who had a capacity with chronology, who sat down and actually calculated the time period very explicitly so that he is the absolute authority to this very day. No one else can match up to what Sir Robert Anderson did. He put this in a book called The Coming Prince. In short, what he came up with was Palm Sunday in 32 A.D in the month of April, to that very explicit, specific day, the 483rd year came to an end. We are told that at that time the Messiah was cut off. He was officially rejected by the rulers of Israel at that point. When the rulers of Israel saw what was happening on Palm Sunday, they made their final decision: "We have to kill him. We have to remove him."

At that point, the prophetic clock stopped ticking. That is very important. That is the significance of the words "cut off." The term "cut off" means "to be killed." He was slaughtered. The first 69 weeks were completed during the lifetime of Jesus Christ. In Daniel 9:25, "Messiah the Prince" refers to Jesus Christ. His primary name in reference to Israel was "Messiah," or "the anointed One" – the One that came to fulfill the Davidic Covenant. The 69th week of years when Israel is presented with her Messiah on this official occasion. Jesus Christ came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel at His First Coming. He is Messiah, the ruler. He is the Messiah, the ruler to Israel, and not to the church.

So, the picture that you have here is Messiah, the ruler, coming and being cut off. It says, "But not for Himself," or more specifically: "He had nothing." This there was nothing to Himself of what he was entitled to as the Messiah. What he had come to receive, as the King of the Jews, He was completely removed from. It was denied Him completely. The occasion of the official public presentation of Jesus Christ to Israel as her Messiah was the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It was Palm Sunday of 32 A.D.

Matthew 21:1-11 describe that scene. Luke 19:28-44 describe it. And Luke ends with a very sad note indeed, because the outcome of that day is revealed to us in Luke 19:41. Jesus has just had the triumphal entry. People have thrown palm branches in His path. He has come through as had been predicted in the Old Testament – that He would come in one dramatic presentation riding upon the donkey. It was fulfilled. The people recognized it. They knew their Scriptures. They were elated. Jesus said that, "If these people didn't shout praise, the very stones along the pathway would shout out My praise: 'The Messiah King is here.'"

But before the day was over, the machinery had been set in motion to execute Him and to cut Him off from all that He was entitled to as the Messiah King. So, Luke 19:41 says, "And when He was come near, He held the city and wept over it (this is Jesus), saying, "If you had known, even you, at least, in this your day, the things which belong unto the peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the day shall come upon you, that your enemies shall cast a trench about you, and compass you round, and keep you in on every side, and shall lay you even with the ground, and your children within you; and they shall not leave in you one stone upon another; because you didn't know the time of the visitation."

This, of course, was fulfilled in 70 A.D when the Romans came in, and they just tore the city to shreds. So, they did leave a stone upon another. They just devastated it. Jesus sat there and wept at the end of that triumphal day. It was like a politician being welcomed in some great auditorium, with people cheering wildly beside themselves. But when the day is over, He sits, with tears running down his cheeks, as He realizes that the city and its leaders have rejected Him, and what is now in store for them. What Jesus was saying was that 483 years have passed, and the prophetic clock of Israel's 490 years had ceased ticking. All they had yet to go was seven years. All of those great six things that we looked at would have become reality. They were on the threshold of all of that being introduced, and they cut Him off, and they left Him with nothing. "Cut off" signifies a violent death.

You can find this same word used in Genesis 9:11; Deuteronomy 20:20; Jeremiah 11:19; and, Psalm 37:9. One good example of what "cut off" means here is in Isaiah 53:8: "He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who shall declare His generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living." You have the same Hebrew word as you have in Daniel: "He was cut off from the land of the living, for the transgression of the people would be stricken;" that is, He was executed.

It's obvious to all of you here that when that prophetic clock stopped ticking, there were seven years of the 490, which would terminate God's dealing with the Jewish people, which has never been executed. It has never been fulfilled. And that's exactly right. On Palm Sunday, the clock stopped, and it will not resume ticking until all of you are in heaven at the rapture of the church. Once we have been removed, that prophetic clock starts ticking again, and the last seven years of Israel's history will be executed. That's what is described in the Revelation beginning with chapter 6.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1982

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