In The Greatest Prophecy Ever Fulfilled

A Study of Daniel 9:20-27
Daniel’s 70 Weeks
By L.R. Shelton, Baptist Minister

(Revelation 20, also by L.R. Shelton)

In Let us today for our study look at the last of the six things which the angel Gabriel told Daniel would come to pass in the 70 weeks of years which were determined "upon Daniel's people, the Jews, and upon the holy city, Jerusalem." This sixth thing spoken of in Dan. 9:24 was—"TO ANOINT THE MOST HOLY."

Dear friend, in this expression: "to anoint the most Holy," we see again why this is the GREATEST PROPHECY EVER FULFILLED. It is because we have set before us the Holy One of God, the Messiah, the Anointed of God, the Christ who was appointed and anointed to accomplish the great work of redemption. This He did by the sacrifice of Himself. "For by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us" (Heb. 9:12).

But this was not all that He was anointed to do. He tells us Himself in Luke "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19). This He did in His 31 years of earthly ministry before He was "cut off for His people" according to Daniel 9:26. All of the four Gospels set this forth in detail—"How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him" (Acts 10:38)?

But this is not all this expression "to anoint the most Holy" means. It means also that by virtue of His resurrection, He was to be "anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows" (Heb. 1:9). That is, "God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:9-l l).
 

It means that when "God raised him from the dead, he set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that fIlleth all in all" (Eph. 1:20-23).

This expression also means that by virtue of the shedding of His blood and His resurrection, by virtue of His glorification at the right hand of the Father in heaven; He was to anoint the most holy place in heaven with His precious blood and turn the throne of judgment into a throne of grace for His people according to Heb. 9:22-28.

But this is not all this expression "to anoint the most Holy" means. It means also that by virtue of His resurrection, ascension and glorification at the right hand of God the Father, He has also been anointed to send the gift of the Holy Spirit, in anointing the "Holy Place" which is ALL of His blood-bought and blood-washed children. This is so clearly brought out in many Scriptures. In John 14:16-17 our Lord gave His disciples and us this promise, "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."
 

Peter in his message on the day of Pentecost said that this promise of Christ to His people was fulfilled and that He had sent the Holy Spirit in His anointing presence and power to fill His church. Listen to Acts 2:32-33, "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear."
You may ask the question, "What does this mean for the children of God?" Dear fellow believer, it means this: not only did Christ die for our sins and pay our sin debt in full, not only did He arise from the grave as our Justifier and Righteousness, not only did He ascend to the right hand of the Father as our interceding High Priest; but by virtue of all of this, He has given us of His Holy Spirit and we have been anointed as the holy temple of God by His Spirit. This right to bestow upon His people the Holy Spirit, and to anoint them with His own anointing, was His right by virtue of His condescension to become our Divine Substitute for sin.

I ask what greater blessing can God bestow upon us than this: that we as believers have an "anointing from the Holy One" indicating that this anointing renders us holy, separating us unto God as His very own? Listen to II Cor. 6:16, "For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." What greater words could be spoken than these in I John 2:27— "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him."

To the believer, all of this means that we have the Holy Spirit Himself who is our anointing, indwelling us and teaching us the things of Christ. Our Lord said in John 16:13-15 that this would tee the work which He would perform in us as we trust Him and look to Him to teach us of Christ. He will take the things of Christ and reveal them unto us; He will take of the riches of Christ and make them our's; He will show us the deep things of God. Listen to I Cor. 2:9-10, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."
 

The question is asked, "What are some of these riches of Christ and deep things of God which are revealed unto us by the Holy Spirit who is our anointing?" Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will open to us these precious things. In I Thess. 1:4 we read of one of these precious things, "Knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God." Knowing our election of God! Is this not precious? Elected, chosen by the Father is Christ to salvation, to deliverance from all our sins, and this before the very foundation of the world! (II Thess. 2:13-14 and Eph. 1:4). Another precious thing revealed to us is that we were "predestinated to be conformed to the image of God's dear Son" (Rom. 8:29). And this was done for us before we were ever born. Also we know that this work shall be perfected in us because we have received of His Spirit who indwells us and changes us from glory to glory into His likeness in sanctification (II Cor. 3:18). We also have the precious knowledge that we have been adopted into the family of God, and have therefore becoMe heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:16-17). Yes—.'We have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." Is not all of this precious to our hearts?
 

Again the Scriptures speak of the blessed work of the Holy Spirit in effectually calling us to Christ with that Holy calling of grace (IITim. 1:9), in convicting us of our need of Christ under Holy Spirit conviction (John 16:7-11), in His granting us repentance to the acknowledging of the truth (II Tim. 2:25, Acts 11 :18), in His giving us and working in us the faith of God's elect (Titus 1:1, Eph. 2:8-9, Acts 18 :27), in revealing to our hearts the suitableness of Christ for our sinful soul (Gal. 1: 15-16), and daily working in us "Both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).

Again, we have received of His divine nature (II Pet. 1:4), of His divine love (Rom. 5 :5), of His divine grace (Rom. 5 :2), of His divine mercy (Titus 3:5), of His divine presence (Heb. 13:5), of His divine unchangableness (Heb. 6:17-19), of His divine holiness (I Cor. 1:2, Eph. 1:4), of His divine faithfulness (I Thess. 5 :24), and even of His place of acceptance with the Father, because we read in Eph. 2:6-7 that God by His Spirit "hash raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."
 

The Holy Spirit also as our anointing reveals unto us the glorious things of Christ in that in the resurrection we shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, and we shall be given a new body for this vile body of our humiliation, a body fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body and we shall forever be with the Lord in the endless eternity of praise, love and holiness (Phil. 3:20-21; I Cor. 15:52-53).

But the greatest thing revealed unto us is the exalting of our Blessed Lord now and forever. In the Book of Revelation He is revealed as the Lamb of God whom we shall praise throughout eternity for His great work of redemption. Listen to Rev. 7:9-12! "I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen."

So we see then that the crowning thing spoken of in Dan. 9:24 that the Prince, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, would accomplish in the 70th week of Daniel, was that He would "ANOINT THE MOST HOLY." He Himself was the anointed of God, and by virtue of His work He has anointed His people with His Spirit.  I say again, no wonder Satan has deceived the minds of so many today in causing them to believe that the 70th week of Daniel is yet in the future, because this portion of Daniel 9 so glorifies and magnifies our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ in the work which He accomplished nearly 2000 years ago.

Message #6

As we continue our study in Daniel 9, let us go on to vv. 25-26 and see how the time-table of 70 weeks of years unfold before our eyes, and how all the things mentioned in v. 24 would be fulfilled in the earthly ministry of the Messiah, the Prince. All of this would be accomplished in the 70th week of Dan. 9, or during the 31 years of our Lord's ministry.
The thing we need to determine is: what was the event or occasion in the earthly lifetime of our Blessed Lord, the Messiah, the Prince, the Anointed, when the 69 h week or 483 years ended and the 70 h week or the last seven years of this prophecy began?  Now, we are told very definitely in v. 25 that all of this would and could be understood by us, and that there would not and should not be any confusion as to when this prophecy began, and when it ended. This was the reason why the angel Gabriel was sent by God to Daniel in answer to his prayer (v. 19); so that Daniel and all of God's people could understand God's mind and will in the matter.

The very words themselves in vv.25 -26 leave us in no doubt that the time of the beginning of this prophecy would be when the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem would go forth, and the children of Israel were allowed to go back to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity.  This commandment or decree is recorded both in II Chron. 36:22-23 and in Ezra 1:1-4. Listen to this decree "Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, [Jer. 29:10] the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 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." This was the commandment to rebuild the city of Jerusalem with its temple and wall.

We know that this took place, as v. 25 of Daniel 9 tells us, even "in troublous times" under Ezra the priest, as recorded in the Book of Ezra; under Nehemiah, the cup-bearer to the king, as recorded in the Book of Nehemiah; under Zerubbabel, God's anointed, as recorded in the book of Zechariah; and all of this work was urged on by the prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Dear friend, all of this is a matter of fulfilled Scripture in the Old Testament and took place in the first seven weeks or 49 years.  Then the next 62 weeks or 434 years are plainly shown in vv. 25-26 to be till the Messiah, the Prince, would come and this would take us to the end of 69 weeks or 483 years. To me there is nothing hard to understand about this if we will only let the Scriptures speak for themselves. And they do very plainly. Just as the starting point of this GREATEST PROPHECY EVER FULFILLED iS clearly defined, so is the ending of it: vv. 25-26 tell us that there would be 69 weeks or 483 years to the coming of the Messiah, the Prince.

The question is asked then: At just what point in our Lord's earthly life did this prophecy take place? Just where did the 69th week end and the 70th week begin? When was the Messiah, the Prince, revealed unto Israel?

We have the answer in His very name, MESSIAH! The word "Messiah" means "THE ANOINTED ONE." This is what the word means in the Hebrew. So in the Greek he was called "the Christ," which means the same thing—"the Anointed One." Therefore we have only to ask: Where was Jesus presented to Israel as the Anointed One? There is only one answer—AT HIS BAPTISM IN JORDAN. Yes, it was at His baptism by John the Baptist in the river Jordan that our Lord was "anointed" for His ministry; for it was then that the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily shape as a dove. Peter bears witness of this in Acts 10:38—"God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power."

When did this take place? Let us read Matt 3:13-17, "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  Here we have the Father bearing witness—"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;" and this was in fulfillment of Psalm 2:7 which reads, "I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou are my Son; this day have I begotten thee." Yes, the Father bore witness in His anointing at His baptism that—"This is my beloved Son [my only begotten Son] in whom I am well pleased." Also in Psalm 2:2, Christ is set forth as God's "anointed."
 

John the Baptist is also a witness to Christ's anointing. Listen to his words in John 1:29-34, "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not: but that he should be manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. [His anointing] And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Spirit. And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God."

Again, our Lord's own words bear witness of His anointing when He was presented to Israel at the waters of Jordan. After His baptism, upon His return to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and going into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, He read from the prophet Isaiah these striking words: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed n e to preach the gospel to the poor." And after he had closed the book, he said, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:18,21). There the Lord declared Himself to be, at that time, the "Anointed One," that is, the "Messiah."  Therefore with this witness of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and of John the Baptist as the human instrument used of the Lord for Christ's anointing, we are shut up to this event in our Lord's earthly ministry as the time when the prophecy of Dan. 9:25 was fulfilled. And what was the Prophecy? It was that Messiah, the Anointed, would be presented to Israel at the close of the 69th week or the termination of the 483 years.

It was when the Lord had been "anointed" with the Holy Spirit and had been "made manifest to Israel" by the testimony of John the Baptist, that the words of the prophecy unto "the Anointed One," the Messiah, were completely fulfilled. From that great and wonderful event down to the day of His death, He was constantly before the people in His Messianic character, fulfilling His Messianic mission, going about doing good, healing all that were oppressed of the devil, preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, manifesting the Father's name, speaking the words His Father gave Him to speak, and doing the works the Father gave Him to do.  Therefore with all this clear evidence of Scripture, we understand that the 483 years or 59 weeks "Unto the Messiah'' terminated at the Lord's baptism when His ministry as "the Messiah" began.

This brings us now in our study to the very important question: When did the 70th week or the last seven years of this prophecy begin? Are we to understand, like so many teach today, that these weeks are not consecutive and that the last seven years are yet to be fulfilled in the future tribulation period? If this is so, then where is the point of the prophecy? To whom does it apply, and why would God send the angel Gabriel to give such a prophecy if we could not understand it?  But, dear friend, our God is not the author of confusion, but the One who gives His people light, knowledge and understanding. And so He does in this GREATEST PROPHECY EVER FULFILLED. He tells us plainly in v. 26 that it was after the 69th week ended that the 700. week started and during this week, the 70th week, that Messiah was cut off, that is, He was slain as God's Substitute for His people at Calvary's cross.

You see, dear friend, our Lord's personal ministry lay entirely within the 70t h week and to deny this is to deny the cross of Christ, for this is the whole focal point of this prophecy: Christ and His substitutionary death for sinners. This feature stands out above all others when we understand that it was by the cuRing off of the Messiah that the six predicted things of v. 24 were to be accomplished; that it was by the cutting off of the Messiah that the covenant with many (v. 27) was to be confirmed and the sacrifice and the oblation caused to cease; and that it was because of the cutting off of the Messiah that the devastating judgments foretold in the prophecy were to fall upon the city, the temple, and the people.

To me, dear friend, the prophecy given here in Dan. 9 is one of marvelous unity. All its details CENTER AROUND THE CROSS.

Message #7

In our last message, the Lord was pleased to open up to our hearts the definite time in our Lord's earthly ministry when the 69th week or 483 years of the prophecy given in Daniel 9:24-27 was fulfilled. We saw from the Word of God that it was at His baptism by John the Baptist in the river Jordan that he was anointed and presented to Israel as their Messiah, the Prince of God.

This brings us now in our studies to the SEVENTIETH WEEK of Daniel 9, which was set off by itself, wherein the six things that were determined by God upon the Jews and their city, Jerusalem, would be performed. The 24 verse tells us that these six things were: to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. We are told also in v. 27 that it was during this 70th week, or last seven years, by the cutting off of the Messiah, that the covenant with many was to be confirmed and the sacrifice and oblation caused to cease; and that it was because of the cutting off of the Messiah that the devastating judgments foretold in this prophecy were to fall upon the city, the temple and the people.

Let us keep in mind that it was only during this 70th week, or the last seven years, that these things could be performed; and there was only One who could perform them—the Messiah, God's Anointed, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, to teach, as many do today, that all of this is to be fulfilled by some future prince, the antichrist, and to separate the 70th week from the 69th week by a period of 2000 years is to do violence to this prophecy and to lead us astray in all other prophecies. As I have stated before, this corrupted interpretation n bs God of his glory, the glory of His GOODNESS and SEVERITY; it robs Christ of His glory as the Messiah, the Prince, who came to perform the Father's will; it robs Christ of the glory of His cross, because it was by His being cut off at the cross that aU of this was performed; and it robs the Holy Spirit of His glory for He is the author of this prophecy—it makes Him say what He did not say. Remember the words of Isaiah 42:8, "I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."

Also, let us keep in mind that this prophecy, understood in its true light, sets aside the error that is taught today. The error that teaches that when Christ came the first time, His purpose was to set up an earthly kingdom among the Jews, yet they would not allow Him to set it up by their rejection of Him. Therefore, He turned to the cross as his alternate purpose. Dear friend, this is a lie out of hell! Why do I say that? Because this prophecy teaches, as well as the whole Bible, and especially the New Testament, that the purpose of Christ's coming into this world was to PUT AWAY OUR SINS BY THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF (I John 3:5; Heb. 9:26; John 12:27).  In Acts 2:23 we read, "Him [Christ], being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." And why was "he crucified and slain"? Heb. 2:9,14-15 tells us, "We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man...that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."
 

We repeat it again, the purpose of our Lord's coming into this world the first time was not to set up an earthly kingdom, but to be God's Substitute for sinners, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness and to anoint the most Holy. And all of this was done in His earthly ministry of 31 years during the 70th week of Daniel 9.  Now the next thing we need to look at in v. 26 of Daniel 9 is to identify "THE PEOPLE OF THE PRINCE" that should come to destroy the city and the sanctuary. If we would keep in mind, this prophecy has to do not only with the GOODNESS of God in sending His only begotten Son to die for the sins of His people, but also with his SEVERITY in bringing judgment upon the Jews for their crowning sin of crucifying the Lord of Glory; then we would understand that this prince and his people came shortly after our Lord pronounced the woe in Matt. 23. Listen to His words as he spoke to the rulers of the Jews! "Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. . .that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth. . . all these things shall come upon this generation. . . behold your house is left unto you desolate" (vv. 32,35,36,38).

Follow me now as we read v. 26 of Daniel 9 and see what was to take place under the prince and his people. "After. . . shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself," then, "the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined." If we would compare these words with our Lord's words in Luke 21, we would have before us a complete fulfillment of this prophecy; that the prince was a commander or leader of an army that brought utter desolation to Jerusalem, the temple and the Jews in A.D. 70. Listen to Luke 21 :21-24, "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter there into. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled . But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled ."
 

Notice v. 22, "For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled." This is that which was foretold in Dan. 9:26.
 

All of these Scriptures also correspond with our Lord's words of Luke 19 where we read—"And when Christ was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from shine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that shine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation" (Luke 19:41 44).
 

This destruction foretold by our Lord came upon the city of Jerusalem, the temple, and the people, in A.D. 70, when Titus, the roman general, the prince, mentioned in Dan. 9:26, led his people, the Romans, to lay siege to the city and conquer it. All of this also corresponds to Matt 23:32-36, already referred to in our message.  Now, if you will compare Matt 24:15 with Luke 21 :20, you will note that "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet," in Dan. 9:26-27, is nothing more than the Roman prince, Titus, and his armies that brought desolation to the city and people as set forth in Dan. 9:26.  Please let me go over this again so as to impress this upon our minds. Daniel 9:26 foretells the exterminating judgment of God which was executed by the Roman armies under Titus, the prince, the leader by whom the city of Jerusalem, in A.D. 70, was overwhelmed as "with a flood"—a figure often used for an invading army (Isa. 59: 191; and the city and the land were given over to the age-long "desolations" which had been "determined" in the counsels of God.

Listen now, to make the prince of Dan. 9:26 to mean an antichrist who is to come; something yet in the future; would be going against the complete fulfillment of this prophecy which took place over 1900 years ago. This is confirmed both by Scripture and history. Also, to try and read into these verses, as many do, of a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, sacrifices, an antichrist making a league with the Jewish nation in a so-called tribulation period, is to read into it something that is not there and something which cannot be proved by any passage of Scripture in the New Testament.

No, we cannot break up this prophecy by applying part of it to the 483 years before Christ, and then skip over 2000 years and apply the last part of it, seven years, to another period of time. You see, this prophecy is a unit; it rises or falls as one. It is a prophecy of the second period of the national existence of the Jewish people, reaching from the Babylonian captivity to the death of Messiah upon the cross, and then to the utter destruction of the Jewish nation in A.D.70. You see, the Jewish nation was to last as a nation only long enough to fulfill Scripture, and to accomplish the supreme purpose of God in bringing forth the Messiah, and putting Him to death. The time allotted for this, as we have stated throughout these messages was 490 years. When this had been accomplished God had no further use for Israel as a nation because their transgressions were finished. His dealings since then have been with another people, that "Holy nation" of I Peter 2:9, composed of all who believe the gospel, whether they be Jew or Gentile, who only make up the true Israel of God.

Let me add this in closing our message today and let us rejoice and praise the Lord for His longsuffering. The predicted judgment did NOT immediately follow, for Christ prayed for His murderers in His dying hour, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what | they do" (Luke 23:34). In answer to that prayer, the full time of probation, forty years, A.D. 30-70, was added to their national l existence, during which time repentance and remission of sins was I preached to them in the name of the crucified and risen Lord, and tens of thousands, yea, hundreds of thousands of Jews were saved.
Oh how precious is all of this to my soul, "that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation" (II Pet. 3: 15).

Message #8

We come now in our continued message on the general theme, THE GREATEST PROPHECY EVER FULFI LLED, to the last verse of Daniel 9. Listen to v. 27! "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." We have come now to see the fulfillment of the 70 h week of Daniel. We shall see the consummation of the purpose of God, the climax of all prophecy, the supreme event of all ages, which was the crucifixion of the Lord of Glory. You see it was by His accomplished eternal redemption that He opened a fountain for sin and for uncleanness, sealed the everlasting covenant, and set aside forever the sacrifices appointed by the law.
 

Also, in His atoning death upon the cross, by His resurrection and His ascension into heaven, our Blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ fulfilled the six things given in verse 24. He, and He alone, could accomplish these things: to finish the transgression, make an end of sins, make reconciliation for iniquity, bring in everlasting righteousness, seal up the vision and prophecy, and anoint the most Holy.  Oh, what a blessed climax is given us here in verse 27; a climax so great that the whole Bible speaks of it. We have here the eternal purpose of God: in giving His only begotten Son so that He might open the fountain of cleansing for His people, confirm the everlasting covenant with His people, and forever cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease by the sacrifice of Himself.

Listen now as we go into this verse! The first part reads, "AND HE SHALL CONFIRM THE COVENANT WITH MANY FOR ONE WEEK." Here we have the Messiah, the anointed One, opening up the everlasting covenant to many, to His people, during the 70th week, the one week left in this prophecy. The words "one week" do not refer to the duration of the covenant, but to the time when it was confirmed. You see, this covenant which He confirmed was an everlasting covenant, confirmed by the shedding of His own precious blood. Let me repeat it again, it was in the one week, the last of the seventy which had been determined, that our Lord "entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us" and thereby opened up the everlasting covenant of grace for His people.
 

Now, how do we determine that this is the correct interpretation of this expression "He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week"? Well, first of all, we can eliminate the false interpretation which says that the person spoken of here is the antichrist who is to come, who is supposed to make a seven-year covenant with the Jews which will allow them to rebuild their temple at Jerusalem and again offer animal sacrifices. What is not Scriptural must be discarded.  But, on the other hand, if you will apply the person "He" to the Messiah of v. 26, then you will have an abundance of New Testament Scriptures that will perfectly show the fulfillment of this 27th verse. Also, if you will keep in mind that this prophecy is all about Christ. and that this 27th verse is the climax of it, then you will have no trouble in understanding this expression.

Let us look now at the New Testament Scriptures that bear out this verse and this view. Our Lord Himself said that this expression "He shall confirm the covenant with many" was fulfilled on the night of THE LAST SUPPER. He said in Matt. 26:28 when He gave the cup to His disciples: "This is my blood of the New Covenant, shed for many for the remission of sins." If you will examine these words closely you will find four things which agree with the prophecy here in Dan. 9:27. First, the One who was to confirm the covenant was Christ Himself; second, He speaks of the "New Covenant;" third, this covenant was confirmed by His own precious blood; and fourth, those who were to receive the benefits of the covenant were "many." This to me is very plain and corresponds perfectly with the words of our prophecy—"He shall confirm the covenant with many."
 

Now, how do we know that our Lord brought in an everlasting covenant of grace which, here in Matt. 26:28, is called the "New Covenant"? The Book of Hebrews brings this out so beautifully in chapters 8 & 10. In Heb. 8:8-13; & 10:15-17, the writer quotes from Jeremiah 31:31-34 and shows that Messiah, the Christ, would by His death and resurrection bring to light God's everlasting covenant of grace and that the prominent feature of this covenant is the forgiveness of sins. You see, the most significant thing of our Lord's mission in coming into the world was to save His people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21), and this is the prominent feature of His gospel (Luke 24:47).
 

Here, in Heb. 8:8-13, we have the wording of the covenant confirmed with many, by His blood-shedding at Calvary. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people; and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away."
 

How do we know that this new covenant is the everlasting covenant of grace brought to light by our Blessed Lord at the last supper, confirmed in His blood-shedding, and is the same one spoken of in Jer. 31 and Heb. 8? Listen to Heb. 13:20! "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will." You see. God only had two covenants; the covenant of works, that He made with Adam; and the covenant of grace that the Lord Jesus Christ brought in when He came into the world to die for sinners. The covenant of works the children of Israel had broken, and so have you and I. If there had never been a new covenant, if it had not been an everlasting covenant, then you and I would have never been saved. But it is a covenant of grace, signed and sealed with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how blessed and precious this is to know that the great Shepherd of the sheep has made and confirmed this covenant with many, and that it is an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure.
 

Let us take this thought further. Although the promise which we read in Hebrews concerning the new covenant was made to the entire "house of Israel and house of Judah," not all of them entered into its benefits. Those who rejected Christ were "destroyed from among the people" (Acts 3:23). They were, as branches, "broken off" (Rom. 11:17). We see then the accuracy of Scripture in the Words of the prophecy that He would "confirm the covenant with many," and in the words of Jesus that "His blood was shed for many.''
 

Dear friend, this word "MANY", is used in quite a few places to show this same truth. In Isa. 53:11 we read, "My righteous servant shall justify many." Again, in Luke 1: 16, "And many of the children of Israel shall turn to the Lord their God." Also, in Luke 2:34 we hear Simeon saying when he saw the child Jesus, "This child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel." Again, our Lord Jesus said in Matt. 20:28, "For the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." Also, in Rom. 5: 19, where our blessed Lord Jesus is set forth as the Federal Head of the spiritual race, it is said of Him, "So by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." So we see that in each of these Scriptures the word "many" applies to those who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ and the benefits of the New Covenant which our Lord made sure by the shedding of His precious blood upon the cross.
 

With such an abundance of Scriptural proof, should we not praise the living God for His new covenant, the everlasting covenant of grace, and Him who came down from heaven's heights to earth's depths to confirm it unto our never-dying souls?  The next expression that we need to look at in this 27th verse of Daniel 9 is, "IN THE MIDST OF THE WEEK." Now, as we have seen in our past studies, the 69th week, or 483 years, brought us up to the anointing of our Lord Jesus as the Christ of God in the river Jordan at His baptism by John the Baptist when He began His earthly ministry. So we know from this that the 70th week began here and that our Lord's earthly ministry lasted 3 1/2 years. Therefore, it was in the midst of the week "that Messiah was cut off, but not for himself;" He was cut off, He was crucified, he was slain, for the sins of His people, for the "many" to whom the covenant was confirmed.

Oh how precious then is this prophecy, for in it we are told of the coming of Messiah, the glory He would get by the sacrifice of Himself for the sins of His people, and the everlasting covenant of grace which would be opened up to us, that covenant of grace ordered in all things and sure.  One other thing I would like to bring out before we close this message is this: the Jews of Christ's day were without excuse for not believing, trusting in, following and falling down before Him in obedience and praise, for this GREATEST PROPHECY EVER FULFILLED told them the very year He would come and what He would do. It even told them that He would be cut off, yet they believed Him not, but were the very instruments used to put Him to death. No wonder Paul told the crowd in his sermon at Antioch in Acts 13:27, "For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him."

So dear friend, you who have been brought up to hear and read the Word of God, and have heard over and over again the way of salvation, if you continue in your unbelief, shall have no excuse in the day of judgment for not closing with Christ and believing Him to the saving of your soul.  The woe pronounced upon Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, shall one day be pronounced upon every Christ rejecter: "And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee" (Matt. 11:23-24).

Message #9

We have come to our final message on Dan. 9:24-27, THE GREATEST PROPHECY EVER FULFILLED. In our previous message we began to look at v. 27 which sets before us the last week, the 70th week, of the seventy weeks which were determined upon the nation of Israel, the Jews, their temple and the city of Jerusalem. We have shown that the person "He" refers to the Messiah of v. 26, and that in the last week of this prophecy He would "confirm the covenant with many for one week," and in the midst of the week, or after 31/2 years of His earthly ministry, He would be cut off for His people.

Now we desire to look at the rest of v. 27 and show that the Messiah, the Christ of God, would by the sacrifice of Himself "CAUSE THE SACRIFICE AND THE OBLATION TO CEASE." That is, He would make an end to all the Old Testament sacrifices. Dear friend, no one will dispute that! When Christ suffered and died on the cross, thus offering "one sacrifice for sins forever," He, then and there, caused the sacrifices and oblations of the law to cease as a divine appointment.  In Hebrews 8,9 & 10, the Holy Spirit clearly sets before us in great detail, and with great emphasis, the setting aside of the Old Covenant, with all that related to it: the worldly sanctuary, the priesthood, the ordinances of divine service, and particularly those many sacrifices (by which a remembrance of sins was made every year); and He puts before us also the confirming of the New Covenant, with its heavenly sanctuary, its spiritual priesthood, its sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving—all based upon the atonement of Christ. The great subject of these chapters in Hebrews, as also the prophecy of the seventy weeks, is THE CROSS.

Dear friend, no where else in Scripture will you find a more complete fulfillment of this part of this blessed prophecy, "He will cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease," than here in Heb. 8,9 & 10. In chap. 8 we are told that "the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man" is now in heaven and no longer is needed upon earth (v. 2). In v. 1 we are told that our High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, ministers in heaven for us where He sits "on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens." In v. 4, it is declared that if Christ were on earth, He should not be a priest, for He was from the tribe of Judah, and not Levi, according to Hebrews 7:11,14. Therefore, the earthly priesthood is done away with forever, for there is no need of any more sacrifices, for Christ, "by his own blood entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us" (Heb. 9:12).
 

This also establishes the fact that there could never be a rebuilt temple and the offering of animal sacrifices again which would be pleasing to God. Nor will our Lord Jesus sit upon an earthly throne at Jerusalem in a so-called 1000-year kingdom, for if He were again to come back to earth to set up an earthly kingdom, He could not be an high priest. This could not be, for he is "made an high priest forever after the order of Melchisedec" (Heb. 6:20). So, I will let you decide if we are to believe God's Word or man's word.  Let us go further. In Heb. 8:6-13, we find it plainly written that the first covenant of works made with the Jewish nation under the Mosaic economy was set aside and the New Covenant of grace, the everlasting covenant, was established with the true Israel of Cod, the spiritual seed of Abraham in Christ (see Gal. 3:16,28-29). In v. 13, we read, "In that he saith, a new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now, that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." And it did vanish away, for our Lord by His one sacrifice for sin "caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease."

As we go into Heb. 9, we find the setting forth of the ordinances of the first covenant, the ministry of the high priest in the earthly sanctuary or tabernacle, pitched in the wilderness; and when we get to vv. 8-9, we find these words: "The Holy Spirit thus signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: which was a figure for the time then present." What this shows us is this: God had, under the Old Testament types and shadows, preached the gospel to the Jewish nation, but only until the coming of Christ, the Messiah, from whence He would "cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease."

If you will move on to vv. 11-17, you will find Christ being set forth as the Mediator of the New Testament, the New Covenant, and showing us that the sacrifices and oblations have ceased because the new has come in. Listen to God's Word in vv. 11-12: "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Oh, how precious this is to my soul, that I have not been redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, or by the blood of bulls and goats, or by the sacrifices which can never take away sin, but with the precious blood of Christ, the precious Lamb of God, slain for His people.
 

There is much more which could be shown from chap. 9 of Hebrews as to this precious prophecy of Dan. 9:27 having been fulfilled: that is, that our Lord by His death would "cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease." But let us move on to Hebrews 10 which shows in more graphic detail this most gracious truth.  I want you to follow now, for to me, these Scriptures are the greatest proof that the Old Testament sacrifices and oblations have ceased and that never again will animal sacrifices be accepted by God, not even as a memorial in a so-called 1000-year earthly kingdom of Christ upon earth. For, you see, this chapter gives the lie to that teaching today which declares that in a so-called 1000-year rule of Christ upon this earth the Old Testament animal sacrifices will be once again offered and that this will be pleasing to God.

In v. 1, we are told that the law of ordinances was only a shadow of good things that were to come in the one sacrifice of Christ. Verse 2 & 3 tells us that these offerings could not make the worshipper perfect—"For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin" (v. 4). Therefore, if we or they were ever to be saved, it had to be by the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ. This is the great truth brought out in vv. 5-10. In these verses, we find some very revealing truths.  Verse 6 says that God took no pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. He repeats the same thing for emphasis in v. 8. Why? "Because it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins." We know that before the death of Christ the sacrifices were appointed by God, but only as a type and shadow of the good things that were to come under the New Covenant, brought in by the death and resurrection of Christ.

The second thing noted in these verses is the willingness of our Blessed Lord Jesus to take upon Himself the body prepared by God the Father in which He was to make the one sacrifice for sins forever. Oh, the condescension of our Blessed Lord to take our place of sin and death and to bear the wrath of God due us! Listen to v. 7, which was Christ, the eternal Son, saying: "Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God." This prophecy was given in Psalm 40:6-8. Then, in v. 9, our Blessed Lord repeats the same words: "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God."
 

Dear friend, I ask the question, "If we reject this word of our Lord in Heb. 10:9 as being a fulfillment of the prophecy of Dan. 9:27, that he would "cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease," then where shall we look in the entire Bible for a fulfillment? Shall we take the false view that these words will be fulfilled in a yet future tribulation period by an antichrist who has made a covenant with apostate Jews for the bringing in again of animal sacrifices? This view has no Scriptural proof at all; but here in Heb. 10:9 we have all the Scriptural proof we need that our Blessed Lord by the sacrifice of Himself took away the first, to establish the second, and thereby caused the sacrifices and oblations to cease.
 

We need to look at Heb. 10:10 which I believe is one of the greatest verses in the Bible—for it tells us that what all the millions of animal sacrifices of the Old Testament could not do, the one great sacrifice of Christ has done. And what is that? Listen to it and rejoice! "We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Praise the Lord for such redemption; praise the Lord for such a sacrifice: that I, a poor, hell-deserving, guilty, condemned sinner could stand before God justified and sanctified forever in the righteousness and blood of Christ. This rejoices my soul and brings forth praise to Him forever and ever.

Therefore we conclude that the modern interpretation which takes Christ and the cross out of the last verse of Daniel 9, where it reaches its climax, and puts antichrist and imaginary doings into it, does violence to the Scripture and serious wrong to the people of God.

There remains yet one phrase in Dan. 9:27 for us to look at before we close this series of messages on THE GREATEST PROPHECY EVER FULFILLED, and it is the expression: "FOR THE OVERSPREADING OF ABOMINATIONS HE SHALL MAKE IT DESO LATE, EVEN UNTIL THE CONSUMMATION AND THAT DETERMINED SHALL BE POURED UPON THE DESOLATE.' Here we find, as already brought out in these messages, the SEVERITY of God against the Jewish nation, their temple, and the city of Jerusalem, for their rebellion, idolatry, unbelief and the crowning sin of them all, the crucifixion of the Lord of Glory. Yes, the abomination of desolation came upon them to the full in A.D. 70. This is expressed in Luke 21:22, "These be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled." As Luke 21:24 tells us: those who were not killed in this desolation of Jerusalem by Titus, the Roman prince, and his Roman amies, were "led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." The Word of God is very clear that the times of the Gentiles will be till the coming of our Lord in His glorious second coming (Rom. 11:25; Acts 3:20-21; ICor. 15:23-26).
 

To me, dear friend, this has been THE GREATEST PROPHECY EVER FULFILLED because it has for its center CHRIST AND HIS CROSS, and magnifies the sovereign grace of God and His eternal purpose in Christ Jesus our Lord. It shows forth the six links of the golden chain of His sovereignty in His eternal purpose, His eternal foreknowledge, His eternal predestination, His eternal effectual calling, His eternal justification and His eternal glorification as shown in Rom. S:28-30.  Also, it calls for our praise and adoration when we behold our Triune God in all His glory as He is set before us in His glorious attributes of love, grace, mercy, goodness, faithfulness, patience, longsuffering, holiness, immutability, power, sovereignty, and wrath. Let us hear the apostle Paul as he sums it all up for us in Rom. 11:33-36. "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. A-men."

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