THE MESSIANIC PROPHECY Scripture Reading: Daniel 9 Date: June 23, 2001 or upcoming Sabbath Memory Verse: Daniel 9:22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. 1. In what way did Daniel humble himself as he approached heaven in this prayer? Daniel 9:3 Daniel 9:3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: 2. Jerusalem had been destroyed and what was the burden of his prayer? Daniel 9:16 Daniel 9:16 O LORD, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. 3. What happened while he was praying? Daniel 9:20, 21 Daniel 9:20 And whiles 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; Daniel 9:21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, 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. 4. What was Gabriel’s message? How long was the time period, and to what point did it reach? Daniel 9:23, 24 Daniel 9:23 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy 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. 5. How was Daniel comforted by Gabriel regarding the desolation of Jerusalem? Daniel 9:25 Daniel 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 6. In what way was the rebuilding to be associated with the coming of the long promised Messiah? Daniel 9:25 Daniel 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 7. In regard to the siege and destruction of Jerusalem what information did Ezekiel give, regarding the calculation of this period? Ezekiel 4:1-6 Ezekiel 4:1 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem: Ezekiel 4:2 And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about. Ezekiel 4:3 Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel. Ezekiel 4:4 Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. Ezekiel 4:5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. Ezekiel 4:6 And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year. Note: This period of seventy weeks of days or 490 days, according to Ezekiel 4:6, would be equivalent to 490 years. Here we have a definite starting place, “ from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem.” This visit by angel Gabriel was in the year 538 B.C., and the commandment did not go forth to build Jerusalem until 81 years later in the year 457. This decree is found in Ezra 7, with the date given in some bibles, either in the margin or at the top of the page. As there were to be sixty nine weeks after this until the anointing of the Messiah, and reconciliation to be made for iniquity, or 483 years, this would reach exactly to the year 26 A.D. when Jesus was baptized and started to preach, and fulfills the prophecy by Gabriel exactly. One week of this prophecy still remained. 8. Do we find the death of the Messiah in this prophecy? Daniel 9:26 Daniel 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and 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. 9. What is also prophesied concerning a man that was to come after the messiah was cut off, and what was he to do? Daniel 9:26 Daniel 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and 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. Note: This is also an important prophecy which was definitely fulfilled in the Roman general Titus, who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Some historians claim that a million Jews perished in the siege and destruction of that city. 10. What was to happen in the midst of the seventieth week, or the last week of the period? Daniel 9:27 Daniel 9:27 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. Note: Jesus was crucified three and a half years later in the midst of the seventieth week, the last week of the prophecy. The apostles preached to the Jews for another three and a half years before taking the gospel to the Gentiles in Acts 10. Note: Causing the sacrifice to cease, refers to the end of the period when the blood of animals would atone for sinners, because the great sacrifice on Calvary had taken the place , in the midst of this last week. During the following three half years of this last week, thousands of Jews were converted and baptized. This vision and prophecy was accomplishing its intended mission, for which it was given. Three thousand converts on the day of Pentecost, and 5,000 soon after. 11. Following the crucifixion how long was the Holy land to be desolate? Daniel 9:27 Daniel 9:27 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.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 08:08:08 +0000