2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Today we are going to look at DN 9: 24, the first part of Daniel’s Vision of the Seventy Weeks. “Seven times seventy years is the length of time God has set for freeing your people and your hold city from sin and evil. Sin will forgiven and eternal justice established, so that the vision and the prophecy will come true and the Holy Temple will be rededicated.” On first inspection this verse may seem confusing, but there are some pieces of information that will help to clarify it. Some translations will use the term “seven times seventy weeks” instead of “seven times seventy years.” Bear in mind that seven is God’s number of completion and perfection. Often clarification comes from going back to the original language, in this case Hebrew. This can be done by looking up the word “week” in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance for its number and then looking up that number in the Hebrew section in the back of that same book for its explanation and definition. The word “shabuwa” (pronounced, shaw-boo-ah with the accent after boo) is the one used here. It means “seven” or “week.” From this, it is appropriate to assume that one week in God’s time as reckoned on the Jewish calendar is equal to seven years in our time as reckoned on the Gregorian calendar (the one we use). Therefore, “seven times seventy years “ is equal to 7years/week X 70 weeks = 490 years. That is the time God has set for freeing the people and the holy city from sin and evil.
DN 9: 24 actually speaks of six things that God will accomplish in that period of time. I will use the familiar words of the NIV here. The six accomplishments are: 1) “to finish transgression;” 2) “to put an end to sin;” 3) “to atone for wickedness;” 4) “to bring in everlasting righteousness;” 5) “to seal up vision and prophecy;” 6) “to anoint the Most Holy.” Most people believe that the first three accomplishments were done by Christ’s crucifixion and the last three await further action to be taken in our future. These are huge accomplishments that only God can bring about. What He has done is to make it possible by Christ’s death for us as a once-for-all, sufficient sin sacrifice is to give mankind the opportunity to have the choice of whether or not to sin [see RO 3: 24-25 & 6: 6]. Before Christ’s Atonement, we had no choice but to sin due to inheriting the original sin from Adam and Eve [see GN 3: 6]. “To seal up vision and prophecy” means for all the prophecies of the Scriptures to have become realities. That is in the process of happening but isn’t finished yet. We can take comfort in knowing that Daniel fits the requirements as laid down in DT 18: 21-22 for being a real prophet. “You may wonder how you can tell when a prophet’s message does not come from the Lord. If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord and what he says does not come true, then it is not the Lord’s message. That prophet has spoken on his own authority, and you are not to fear him.” We are living at a time when some of what Daniel said has already come true, and it is my belief that in God’s time, the rest will too. Daniel was a man who God held “in high esteem.” We know that from DN 10: 18 when Gabriel, who has come to Daniel to convey information about the future in response to Daniel’s enduring in intercessory prayer for himself and the Jewish people for 21 days, reveals God’s love for this prophet.
“To bring in everlasting righteousness” is a clear reference to the establishment of God’s Kingdom where there is no sin. For that to happen, the prophecy of REV 20: 10, 14 and 22: 5 would be accomplished. These, I believe, will happen in our future. REV 20: 10 is the adversary being thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur. REV 20: 14 is the dead and the world of the dead meeting the same fate. REV 22: 5, “There shall be no more night, and they [God’s faithful servants] will not need lamps or sunlight, because the Lord God will be their light, and they will rule as kings for ever and ever.” “To anoint the Most Holy” is a prophecy that is not only mentioned here, but is also described in DN 7: 13-14, “During this vision in the night, I [Daniel] saw what looked like a human being [Christ]. He was approaching me, surrounded by clouds, and He went to the One who had been living Forever [God] and was presented to Him. He was given authority, honor, and royal power, so that the people of all nations, races, and languages would serve Him. His authority would last forever, and His Kingdom would never end.”
No message of this kind would be complete without mentioning the crucial teaching of MT 25: 1-13, the Parable of the Ten Virgins (which I hope you will read today), and 1 THESS 5: 2. The latter reads, “ For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.” I truly believe we are in the latter days before Jacob’s “Time of Trouble,” the seven years of Tribulation, will come upon us. Those of you who know me well know that I believe the church [God’s faithful servants] will be taken up and out of the way to meet the Lord in the clouds [see 1 THESS 4: 16-17] just before the arrival on the scene of the antichrist marking the onset of the Tribulation. We are not to know the exact day, but the message is clear that we should not delay in preparing for it by getting our spiritual lives in order. We must know God’s standards which are revealed to us by studying the Scriptures and prayer. Then, we must make the changes necessary in our lives to conform to them, using Christ as our model. We can do this with the assurance that God must love us very much, since He gave us the same privilege He gave Daniel in allowing us to know what to expect in our future from Daniel’s prophecy.
PRAYER: O Lord, in Your compassion for those You created, You have allowed us to see both into our past and our future. Through his prophecies that have already come true, You reassure us that Daniel is a real prophet, who spoke Your words to us during his lifetime. Because You allow us to know that You held him in high esteem, You also allow us to understand how we might viewed by You the same way. The message of the Vision of the Seventy Weeks also lets us see the exercise of Your sovereignty in an orderly and compassionate fashion, giving us insight into how we should respond to it. The death of Christ on the cross makes it possible for us to respond to Your will in a way that not only insures our access to eternal life, but pleases You as well. It is up to us to make the choice to conform to Christ’s image or not. This vision also gives us the faith that through Christ, You will prevail against the adversary and once again hold dominion over the earth. We dedicate ourselves to understanding the urgency of expunging sin from our lives and serving You in enduring faith. We stand ready to withstand persecution or give our lives, if that is what You require, in that service, knowing full well that You are a just, merciful, loving, and caring God. We praise, honor, adore, thank, and worship You. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will look at the next section of Daniel’s prophecy, so that we can better understand what a privilege God has given us by revealing its content. Never feel that we go without the guidance, compassion, and protection of the Father Who loves us. Be blessed today and always in Christ’s name.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn