Daniel 9:20-27
Here we’re going to read just a couple verses out of Daniel chapter 9 and then we’re going to jump into this this morning, so Here’s the angel Gabriel interpreting a vision that Daniel had and we’re going to try to unpack this in a little bit, but Here’s the vision.
No one understand this from the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem Until the anointed one the ruler Comes that’s Jesus. There will be seven sevens and 62 sevens It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench but in times of trouble.
After the 62 sevens the anointed one will be put to death and we’ll have nothing The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary The end will come like a flood war will continue until the end and desolations have been decreed He will confirm a covenant with many for one seven in The middle of the seven he will put an end to sacrifice an offering and at the temple.
He will set up an abomination That causes desolation Until the end that is decreed is poured out on him Now if that sounds confusing to you it is but we’re going to ask God’s Spirit to help us Understand what all that means and that’ll be our prayer this morning.
All right we’re in the book of Daniel and the first six chapters of Daniel have been kind of easy because there are these stories that are great stories that we’re all familiar with.
I mean Daniel chapter 1 where these young men are taking captive the new world powers the Babylonian Empire at 605 BC and King Nebuchadnezzar takes the best and brightest Jewish young people and he takes them 900 miles away and his goal is to indoctrinate them in Babylonian language and Babylonian culture.
And he even takes their names and he gives them Babylonian names and one of those young men was Daniel He was probably 15 years old when that happened.
And So Daniel chapter 1 we know that Daniel took a stand because he was to eat at the king’s table and there was some food there that didn’t go along with the kosher Jewish diet and we know that that story Daniel chapter 2 King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream and he needs someone to interpret it.
And it’s a dream of a statue and Daniel is able to interpret the dream for him and pictures four coming world powers really pictures the end of human history in Daniel chapter 3 we discover that King Nebuchadnezzar builds a 90-foot golden statue.
And every day when the trumpets sound the people are to bow down and to worship that statue and there’s three young Jewish men that refuse to do it Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
And they’re thrown into the fiery furnace, and God delivers them, and they make this great faith statement right before they’re about to be thrown into the fiery furnace Daniel 3:17 if we are thrown into the blazing furnace the God we serve is able to deliver us from it.
And He will deliver us But even if he does not we want you to know your majesty we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you set up. Now talk about some young men with conviction.
That was Daniel chapter 3 the fiery furnace and deliverance Daniel chapter 4 There’s King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream of a tree and Daniel interprets that Daniel 5 King Belshazzar sees the handwriting on the wall and there’s a transfer of world power From Babylon to now the Medo-Persian Empire.
Daniel interprets the handwriting on the wall, Daniel 6 Daniel’s in the lion’s den, Daniel 7 he has a dream of seven beasts seven World powers very similar to the dream, parallel to the dream in Daniel chapter two.
And that brings us to Daniel chapter 9 Daniel chapter 9 so we looked at this two weeks ago Daniel chapter 9 what’s Daniel doing? He he’s studying the scriptures.
He’s reading the Old Testament the book of Jeremiah and he discovers that the Babylonian captivity that they were in is going to last for 70 years Daniel at this point in time is old Daniel he’s late 70s, maybe 80 begins to do the calculation his mind and he realizes that the Babylonian captivity is almost over.
What does Daniel do Daniel prays and We looked at this wonderful prayer in Daniel chapter 9 and beginning in chapter verse 4 it’s a prayer of confession of personal confession and national confession of sins.
And while he’s praying God begins to act and that’s where we’re going to pick it up here in Daniel chapter 9 beginning in verse 20. Daniel 9 the last few chapters or verses rather is one of the challenging portions of Scripture in the Bible.
What we’re going to discover and what happens here and let me just begin reading in verse 20 while I was speaking and praying. This is Daniel Confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill while I was still in prayer Gabriel the man I had seen in an earlier vision. That’s Daniel 8 came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.
The time of the evening sacrifice is 3 p.m. Daniel’s at the end of his prayer and the angel Gabriel shows up now this is the same angel Gabriel who 500 years from this point in time in history would appear to Zechariah and Tell Zechariah and his wife you’re going to have a son that’s John the Baptist the same Gabriel that showed up and talked to Mary and said you’re going to be the mother of the Messiah.
And here he is showing up and talking to Daniel this says in verse 22. He instructed me and said Daniel. I have now come to give you insight and understanding As soon as you began to pray a word went out which I’ve come to tell you for you are highly esteemed.
Some versions say you’re deeply loved therefore consider the word and understand the vision. All right, so now the angel Gabriel, this is interesting. Daniel was able to interpret the dreams and visions of other people.
He’s having a little trouble with this one. And so the angel Gabriel comes this is let me explain this to you now in order to understand this we’re going to set the table here and ask an answer four key questions.
And you’re going to have to stay with me here mentally to understand this passage and so here are the four keys to understanding Daniel 9, 20 through 27 and I have to tell you this morning this is really true every week. I’m relying on people who are much smarter than I am and spent a lot of time looking at Dr. Michael Rydelnik.
He is the professor of Jewish studies at Moody Bible Institute, He’s the son of Holocaust survivors and one of the most brilliant men that I know And so I’ve relied on him his understanding of this passage quite a bit this morning.
But here we are four keys to understanding the passage, one What is the meaning of the Hebrew word used six times in verses 24 through 27 So the Hebrew word there 70 weeks some of your translations might say some of your other translations might say 77 so why is there a little confusion about that? Well, it’s the Hebrew word. It’s the plural of the Hebrew word, Shavua.
It’s translated weeks or translated sevens and that we need to understand what the meaning of that word is and we’ll look at that.
The second question we need to figure out here is how many days are in a biblical year? Our calendar has 365 and one fourth days and every four years we have leap year but the Hebrew biblical calendar is a little bit different and So that’s going to be important to understand.
How many days are in a biblical year All right. Number three, here’s the third question. We need to understand and ask and answer So we read verse 25 no one understand this from the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.
The Hebrew word there means like an edict from a king or a ruler and so there’s a timetable that we’re going to look at here and the starting of the timetable is an edict given by a king.
And we need to understand what, which edict is that? What is the date of that edict? And we’ll try to look at that. Here’s the here’s the fourth thing. We need to understand from verses 25 and 26 who are the rulers or the princes referred to in verse 25 and 26 of Daniel 9? Daniel 9:25 until the anointed one the ruler comes.
Verse 26 talks about the people of the ruler who will come to destroy the city and the sanctuary so who are the who are these individuals that the angel Gabriel is talking about. All right, so that’s the four things. We’re going try to answer. And hopefully it unlocks the meaning of the text for us this morning. So, here’s the first one.
1. What is the meaning of the word translated “weeks” or “sevens”?
What is the meaning of this Hebrew word? Translated weeks or sevens and here’s what I discovered the Hebrew word refers to a unit of seven without specifying a category and so this Hebrew word means a unit of seven.
So, we have to ask. Well, is this seven days? Is this seven weeks? Is it seven months? Is it seven years? And the way you determine that is by partially is by looking at the context and the commentators and interpreters almost unanimously say that this word, weeks or sevens refers to years.
So, when we read in verse 24 77s are declared for your people 77 Years of seven periods of years. That’s 490 years so what we’re looking at is a picture of 490 years because the word here means years.
2. How many days are in the Biblical year?
All right number two. How many days are in a biblical year? And that’s important because we’re going do some math calculations here in a little bit but We won’t get down into the weeds here, but it’s 360 days And so how do you know that? Well, we could go to Genesis and we won’t take time to turn there.
Genesis 7:11 talks about the 17th day of the second month when the flood begins Genesis 8: 2 through 4 talks about when the ark rests on Mount Ararat and it says it’s a hundred and fifty days and the Dates they give is five months Okay, so 150 days five months that’s means there’s 30 days in a month.
If you go to the book of Revelation in Revelation 12:6 and it’s talking about That the tribulation period which is a period of seven years and it’s talking about three and a half years. It says also, its 1,260 days. So, 1,260 days of three and a half years. Its thirty days in a month. So, in the Hebrew calendar they have 360 days as opposed to our measure of time.
3. What is the date of the decree that is referred to in Daniel 9:25?
All right key number three what is the date of the decree that is referred to in Daniel 9:25? No one understand this from the time the word or the edict goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the anointed one the ruler comes there will be seven sevens and sixty-two sevens or 483 years.
So scholars say there’s four possible edicts that were given that might be close to this there was a decree by King Cyrus to allow the Jewish exiles to return a decree by King Darius and two decrees by King Artaxerxes and The one that most closely fits this decree to what go back and restore and rebuild Jerusalem is a decree given by King Artaxerxes and It’s his second decree.
It’s described in Ezra chapter 7 and those that have done the calculations say that decree was given March 5th 444 BC. March 5th 444 BC So that’s the date That we’re going start calculating time from when in here in Daniel chapter 9. All right here’s the last one and then we’ll look at this.
4. Who are the rulers/princes referred to in Daniel 9:25, 26?
Who are the rulers and princes referred to in Daniel 9:25 and 26? Well already hinted at when we read the passage the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the anointed one comes and that’s capitalized in my Bible that’s Jesus. That’s the Messiah.
And So the first ruler that’s referred to is Jesus the Messiah The second Prince or ruler verse 26 the last part the people of the ruler who will come destroy the city and the sanctuary that is referring to the false Messiah or the Antichrist So the first Prince is Jesus, the second one is the Antichrist, okay. So those are the two rulers and princes that are mentioned.
All right, so Let’s jump into this then with that as a background verse 25 no one understand this from the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem an Edict given by King Artaxerxes his second edict March 5th 444 BC From That time until the anointed one this is Jesus the Messiah The ruler comes there will be seven sevens and 62 sevens There are two periods that are referred to there, but in our calculation because the word means years 483 years.
So from the time that King Artaxerxes gives us edict to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the time the Messiah comes There’s going to be 483 years That’s a total according to the Hebrew calendar of 173,880 days and When you do that calculation, and I relied on Dr. Rydelnik to do it you come up with March 30th 33 AD.
You know what March 30th 33 AD was? The triumphal entry of Jesus Palm Sunday when he’s on a donkey, and he’s riding into Jerusalem, and he’s presenting himself as the Messiah to his people and so in this vision God lays out and Gabriel lays out from King Artaxerxes edict to rebuild Jerusalem until the anointed one the ruler Jesus comes 483 years and On that exact day When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on that donkey this prediction and prophecy was fulfilled.
Now look at verse 26 two significant events after the 62 sevens the anointed one will be put to death the crucifixion.
That the anointed one the Messiah is going to be crucified last part of verse 26 the people of the ruler who will come destroy the city in the Sanctuary the end will come like a flood war will continue until the end and desolations have been decreed.
The people of the ruler that’s the Antichrist if you remember in the book of Daniel that the Antichrist was going to come from the 10 toes and the vision of that statue or in Daniel chapter 7 the four visions of the beast and the last one had ten horns and another horn came out a little horn that became very prominent.
And he’s coming from the revived Roman Empire and so the people of the ruler who will come to destroy the city in the sanctuary Refers to an event that happened about 35 years after Jesus was crucified. You know your history what happened the Romans came in and destroyed Jerusalem and they devastated Jerusalem and they devastated the temple.
In fact Jesus talks about this to his disciples in Matthew chapter 24 and here they are standing before that great temple in Jerusalem and Jesus Says to his disciples you see all these things Truly I tell you not one stone here will be left on another until everyone will be thrown down See this huge great temple that was built It’s going to be flattened.
Of course the disciples begin to say well, when’s that going happen and Jesus? Explains it in the rest of Matthew chapter 24 Now that leaves one more week of years so there’s 483 years From Artaxerxes decree until Jesus comes on a donkey in Jerusalem.
And then there’s a gap There’s a there’s a time period and if you’ll see the chart here that is hopefully a little bit helpful That’s the time of the Gentiles the Church Age.
So there’s a pause and sometimes the in some of the prophetic writings of the Old Testament prophets they didn’t they didn’t see the whole the whole picture, but there’s a pause and There’s one more week That is still future to come and this is what? Daniel 9:27 then refers to.
The end will come like a flood war will continue until the end and desolations have been decreed He will confirm a covenant with many for one seven said he the Antichrist.
And he’s going to make a covenant a Peace treaty with the many this this was given to Jewish people this this vision Daniel chapter 9 77s are just decreed for your people Daniel.
So he’s talking to Jewish people and So he the Antichrist will confirm a covenant with the many or one seven So this Antichrist this false Messiah He’s called the man of lawlessness in Thessalonians 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 Revelation 13 refers to him as the beast they’re all referring to the same person the Antichrist Let me just give you a little Overview of the characteristic of what this person will be like because this is yet to come.
For Daniel, this vision was all future for us It’s 483 years have already happened one Seven year period that is yet to come.
So here are the characteristics of the Antichrist from Daniel 9 and 11 He’s arrogant and self-willed. He never stops talking and boasting about himself.
He’s a blasphemer he’s deceptive ruthless utterly devoid of integrity he’s outspoken in his public opposition to God, Initially will be very successful.
His reign will be limited by God. He opposes all organized religion, he will set himself up as a god to be worshipped This is the abomination of desolation that takes place at the midpoint of the tribulation When he will stop the sacrifices in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and will proclaim himself to be to be God That’s that second Thessalonians chapter 2 Verse 4 he will oppose and Will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is to be worshipped So that he sets himself up in God’s temple proclaiming himself to be God.
And so in this one future week there is a person by the name of the Antichrist that’s going to come He’s going to have a peace treaty with Israel. The world’s going to look at him as the Savior.
I’m kind of a news junkie and about 10 days ago. I was watching the final press conference of Antony Blinken, Antony Blinken is now the former Secretary of State that has served He was giving his final press conference and a lot of reporters were asking him questions.
Most of those questions had to do with the Middle East and what’s going on in the Middle East and Middle East has been prominent in the news for decades and decades now and at the end of that news conference one of the reporters asked the question.
And he said this I’ve been here a long time. 16 years ago, I was here for Condoleezza Rice’s last press conference and they were asking the same questions that we’re asking now and wondering about the same issue. When is there going to be a resolution to the Middle East crisis? Because we’re asking the same questions that were asked 16 years ago. Has any progress been made now that there’s been a couple of Kind of peace treaties President Carter brokered one a long time ago.
Apparently President Trump’s son did the Abraham Accord recently. There is not any peace in the Middle East But there’s going to come a charismatic person who will make a peace treaty in the Middle East and everybody’s going to look at him as the Savior and Then halfway through he’s going to break his promise and that’s when basically all hell breaks loose.
Now the good news is we look at verse 27 is that he confirms this covenant for with many for one seven in the middle. He’ll put an end to the sacrifice and offering at the temple He will set up an abomination that causes desolation until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.
And So there’s the good news that ultimately the Antichrist end is already sealed and He is doomed And as we’re going to look at a little bit Christ is going to come back and conquer the Antichrist and His future is sealed and doomed Well, that’s just a little bit of Daniel chapter 9 verses 20 through 27 There are many others good Christian believers have a little different interpretation of Daniel 9 20 through 27 But that’s God’s timetable For the future.
Life Lessons from Daniel 9…
So this morning just in our last 10 minutes or so 15 minutes let’s think about some life lessons from the book of Daniel and Daniel chapter 9 here. Here’s the first one the first one is Dare to be a Daniel.
That’s the song that many people are familiar with if you’ve grown up in the church dare to be a Daniel dare to stand alone and Part of the study the book of Daniel is to encourage us to what have the courage of Daniel Have the courage of young Daniel who at 15 years old and Daniel chapter 1 stood up for his convictions along with some of his other friends.
Not only the courage of young Daniel, but for those of us that are all further down the pathway of life We need to model Daniel’s life in the area of prayer When you look at the book of Daniel we see Daniel was a man of prayer See in Daniel chapter 2 and none of King Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men Could interpret the dream that he had He put out an edict that said all the wise men in the Empire are going to be killed Including Daniel.
So what does Daniel do when? His life is on the line He’s in crisis Daniel 2:17 Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that he and his friends might not be executed we need to pray because if God doesn’t give us the answer to this dream of King Nebuchadnezzar’s, we’re all going to die.
And there’s nothing like having your life on the line that will improve your prayer life. Daniel chapter 6 verse 10, when they pass a law that says for a period of time you can’t pray to anybody else except the king. Daniel says when Daniel learned that the decree had been published he went to his home upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem and three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed giving thanks to God just as he had done before.
He didn’t back down. I might have said, well, I’ll just pray in private. I’ll just go into my little closet and pray silently and then they won’t see me.
And that’s how Daniel got thrown into the lion’s den. He was a man of conviction and courage and he was a man of prayer. And what do we see him doing in Daniel chapter 9? He’s praying.
And so dare to be a Daniel man of conviction. He was a man of prayer. He’s a man of courage.
He was a man that read his Bible because Daniel chapter 9 starts out by saying in the first year of Darius reign, I, Daniel, understood from the scriptures according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet. What was Daniel doing? He’s reading the Old Testament.
He’s reading the book of Jeremiah. And so those are three great characteristics to model after Daniel to be a person of conviction, a biblical conviction, to be a person of prayer, to be a person of God’s book. Secondly, let’s think about life lesson number two, the accuracy and trustworthiness of the scriptures.
The accuracy and trustworthiness of the scriptures. This vision is incredible, isn’t it? From the decree of King Artaxerxes until the Messiah is presented 483 years or 173,880 days. And on March 30th, 33 AD, Jesus comes on the donkey just as it was predicted.
What does Jesus say in his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5, verse 18? In his Sermon on the Mount, he says these familiar words, for truly I tell you until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter nor the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished. Jesus is saying everything in God’s Word will come true down to the dotted I and the cross T. It’s all going to be fulfilled. And so in this day and age of like, where’s truth? And what do we believe? And we listen to one news station and they say one thing about the same incident that’s happening.
You would turn the channel to another news station and they’re saying just the opposite. And like, are they talking about the same thing? And what is true and reliable and trustworthy is the Scriptures. The Bible says there’s eight times as many verses talking about Jesus’ second coming as his first coming.
The good news is he’s coming again someday and we need to be ready for that. Here’s the last one as we think about life lessons from Daniel chapter 9. And it’s this, always remember that our ultimate victory has already been won or secured. And so one of the encouraging things that we can take from Daniel chapter 9 is that last part of the chapter talking about the Antichrist, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.
Or as the New Living Translation says, until the fate decreed for this defiler is finally poured out on him. And so when you step back and look at the big picture, yes, there’s a rule of this going to come. And yes, there’s a tribulation period.
And yes, there’s some horrific things that happen on planet earth. But only because God’s decreed it and God’s allowed it and then what’s going to happen? Then the end’s going to come. What’s the end? Jesus comes back.
Revelation chapter 19 let me read just a couple of verses from the last book of the Bible and it’s talking about the return of Christ.
He comes on a white horse. There’s a description of him. And then in Revelation 19 beginning in verse 19, then I saw the beast, it’s the Antichrist, and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army.
That’s Jesus. But the beast was captured and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The Antichrist is defeated. Christ comes back and wins the final battle.
And the Antichrist and the false prophet are thrown into hell. And what’s next? Then Jesus reigns forever and ever and ever. We’re in the rule and reign of Christ.
New President Trump has used a new phrase about we’re in the golden age of America. This is the real golden age when the Messiah comes back and the Messiah sits on the throne and there’s no more curse. The curse has been reversed and the lion lays down with the lamb and there’s no more sin, there’s no more sorrow, there’s no more death, there’s no more suffering.
He will reign forever and ever and ever. And I want everybody here and I want all of our friends and all of our neighbors and all of our acquaintances to make sure you’re a part of that. You can be a part of that.
If you receive Christ as your Savior, realize that He is the only one that can pay for our sin debt and when we confess our sin and turn from our sin and put our trust in Him and Him alone, we become a child of God. And the ultimate victory is secured. There’s three tenses of our salvation.
Justification if you put Christ as your Savior, you can say, I have been saved. In other words, positionally when God looks at you, He sees you in Christ and He sees you as perfect.
Why? Because 2nd Corinthians 5:21, when we put our faith in Jesus, the righteousness of Christ, His perfection gets credited to our account and we’re perfect in God’s eyes. Our sins have been forgiven. But we can also say, I am being saved.
That’s sanctification. That’s what Peter means when he writes in 2nd Peter, grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so it used to be these t-shirts, be patient with me, God’s not finished with me yet.
And we’re all kind of this work in progress, but we need to be growing in our walk with God. And it’s a lifelong process. Will we ever reach perfection on this planet? No.
But we should be growing in grace. We should be more mature spiritually than we were a year ago. And that’s sanctification.
So I have been saved, justification, I am being saved.
Sanctification. But then we can also say, I will be saved because there’s a part of our salvation that’s yet future and that’s called glorification.
That’s when Christ returns. We sang about it in one of our songs this morning that our bodies are going to be resurrected. We have a body like His body and our salvation will be complete and we’ll be in His presence forever and ever and ever.
And that should give us confidence and courage in the midst of a chaotic world in which we live. Dare to be a Daniel. You can trust God’s Word.
Be confident if you know Jesus. The ultimate victory has already been won.