7-16-10, DANIEL 9, Part 2

DANIEL 9 (verses 20-27)

Gabriel has been sent by God when Daniel began his prayer, so we are told in verse 23. Even from this we cannot tell how long it took Gabriel to get there, and it makes me wonder how God communicates with the angels. Nothing to develop here, just curious to wonder. Gabriel brings insight and understanding to Daniel, direct from God. And God calls Daniel “highly esteemed.” Wow!

Basically, Daniel is going to receive a timeline for what will unfold for Israel/Judah, God’s covenant people. The timeline is to start with the issuing of a decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Once that decree is given, then 70 “weeks” remain for this people. Each “week” is a 7-year period, as agreed upon by most scholars. So this is a 490-year period for God to deal with Israel as His chosen people. 70 weeks, and then God will usher in everlasting righteousness, among all the other aspects mentioned in verse 24.

So, we start with the issuing of a decree to rebuild Jerusalem, and then the time until Messiah is 7 weeks and 62 weeks, or 69 weeks (483 years). After the 62 weeks, then Messiah will be “cut off”. We understand this to be the crucifixion of the Messiah. What we do not fully understand, is how much time passes during this “after”. We know the 7 and 62 weeks have passed, and we know when Jesus was crucified. So there remains 1 week, a 7-year period for God to finish dealing with Israel. This remains an un-fulfilled prophecy to this day. Developing the thoughts further, and comparing with other Scripture, this 7-year period will be what we collectively call the Tribulation, and verses 26 and 27 deal with this time period, at least in an overview manner.

The prince in verse 26 is the anti-Christ, to rule during that period. He makes a covenant, a treaty of sorts, with “the many”, with those God is dealing with during this time, Israel, but he breaks it in the middle of that week, or 3-and-a-half years into the 7 years. He carries out an abomination against God, and is destroyed as a result.

Assumptions we can make from this chapter include a fully-functioning Jewish temple in existence during the Tribulation period. There will also be a world leader present who is actually anti-Christ. Also, while not discussed here, a pre-Tribulational rapture of the church leaves this period of time for God to reclaim Israel, and for Israel as a people to repent and believe the Gospel.

SO WHAT…?

So, sorry for the heavy prophecy; I, for one, am very thankful for this piece of the end times picture, being part of the “church” that nobody in the Old Testament could foresee, the great “mystery” of the church age. Read the middle chapters of Revelation sometime, and see all that occurs to those here during the Tribulation. God reclaims Israel, and pours our His just wrath on those who oppose Him.

So, there remains nothing to occur before the final week of God dealing with Israel, meaning the Rapture could occur at any moment. Are you ready?