Matthew (24), Luke (21) and Daniel (7-12) are in agreement about the end of history:
Both say
1. There is coming to earth a horrible transgression and transgressor that will bring an unprecedented desolation.
2. This thing will be accompanied by the surrounding of Jerusalem.
3. It will happen at the "time of the end."
4. Following both prophecies were world events that seemed "close" to the fulfillment and were thus jumped on by students of the Word . Obviously both historical events must be canceled out since they are not in the end time, they did not lead to the return of Jesus, and they did not produce an evil man whose life is supernaturally powered.
Thus the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel is still in our future. Allow Daniel himself to speak of this event once more, in the famous "Seventy weeks" prophecy.
The message given in this ninth chapter was meant by the Spirit to shed light on the "when" of Messiah's coming along with more details about the man of sin that precedes Him. It was given in response to Daniel's discovery that the current time line on Jerusalem was about to be up. Daniel had discovered Jeremiah 25:11 which tells readers that God's people were to be in bondage to Babylon for seventy years. But that time was nearly passed, and it was the beginning of the Medo-Persian era. It would soon be announced by Cyrus the Emperor that the Jews could go back to their land.
Caught up in the joyful news he had discovered, Daniel begins to pray a prayer of repentance covering himself and his people (verses 1-19) . While he is praying (verse 20) Gabriel re-appears to him, letting him know how pleased Heaven is with his prayers, and revealing further plans for Israel. These plans involve, not "seventy" years, but seven times seventy. During these 490 years, all of God's dealings with Israel will be finished. And the looked-for announcement of Cyrus is to be the trigger that will "start the clock." So the final years of Israel's life will begin where Jeremiah leaves off and continue, with one major interruption, until the end of time.
Let us speak before we go on, of the concept of "interruptions" or "gaps" in Scripture. Daniel actually uses this pattern unknowingly throughout the book. He is unaware of the great period of time that will exist, for example, in his ram-goat prophecy, between the horn of Alexander and the horn of the final conqueror. Reading Daniel casually you might think they are side by side. He does it again in chapter eleven. He speaks of one who can only be identified as Antiochus Epiphanes, for the Spirit directs us to that interpretation. Then there occurs the "gap" again, and suddenly we are in the end time speaking of antichrist. Daniel had no clue.In an even greater way the prophecy of Nebuchadnezzar's statue and Daniel's animals do the same thing. There seems to be a quick resolution of world history after Rome. Though this is true in actual years spent, we are still living in the "gap" between early Rome and its final form.
Thus when the Spirit in Daniel 9 speaks of 490 years to be lived out for the Jewish people, it must be borne in mind that these years are not consecutive. Even the text divides these years into three groupings. Again, every word, every detail, must be taken into account when a mystery is before us.
Daniel is not the only prophet who unwittingly demonstrates the "gap" phenomenon. Isaiah, chapter 9, predicts the birth of a Child Who will sit upon the throne of David. True enough brother Isaiah, but the Child was born long ago and still we await the enthronement. Later, Isaiah laments the sorrowful plight of the sin-bearing Messiah in most of his chapter 53, but then rejoices that "(God) will divide Him a portion with the great..." a happening scheduled for the return of Christ to earth in our future. Zechariah touts the lowly Jesus "riding on a donkey..." then praises in the same breath the One Whose dominion shall be "from sea to sea." First and second comings of Jesus, thousands of years apart, spoken of in two consecutive verses, with no hint of a history between.
Is it any wonder that Jesus' disciples, schooled in the precise memorization and understanding of Scripture, would stumble a bit when they heard Him talking one moment of death and the next of victory? Is it any wonder that they expected the Kingdom to be set up immediately? It is this "gap" mechanism that is at the heart of the Judeo-Christian mystery. A Christ who was, and "is not" (on the earth) , but who will be. Antichrist, we now understand, will be able to use that same definition, by the secret workings of Satan who has been granted permission to bring it to pass and deceive the nations.
Armed with this principle we can approach the four verses (9:24-27) that spell out what is coming to Israel and when.
http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!
And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.
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