It Shall be Built in Troublous Times

Q: What does the Bible say about suffering and tribulation for Christians?

The Bible teaches that suffering is an inherent part of the Christian life, as evident in John 16:33, where Jesus states, 'In the world, you will have tribulation.' The Scriptures clearly indicate that suffering and tribulation are integral aspects of the Christian experience. In John 16:33, our Lord Jesus warns His disciples that they will face difficulties in the world, affirming that tribulation is expected for those who follow Him. Throughout the history of God's people, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, we observe that suffering is often a means through which God manifests His glory and strengthens His children. The apostle Paul echoes this in Romans 5:3-5, where he suggests that tribulation produces perseverance, character, and hope. This hope does not disappoint because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

Q: How do we know the sovereignty of God during difficult times?

God's sovereignty assures believers that He is in control of all circumstances, even during tribulation, as evidenced in Romans 8:28. The sovereignty of God is a cornerstone of Reformed theology, providing deep comfort to Christians, especially during trials and tribulations. Romans 8:28 affirms that 'all things work together for good to those who love God,' indicating that even amid suffering, God has a divine purpose and plan that transcends our understanding. Historical accounts in Scripture show that God has consistently used moments of hardship to fulfill His redemptive purposes. For instance, God's people have often thrived spiritually in adversity, illustrating that trials can lead to growth and increased reliance on Him. This sovereignty reassures us that God is not passive or aloof; instead, He actively orchestrates events for His glory and our ultimate good.

Q: Why is suffering important for Christians?

Suffering refines and strengthens Christians' faith, making it crucial for spiritual growth and deeper dependence on God. Suffering plays an essential role in the spiritual development of Christians, acting as a crucible for refining faith. In 1 Peter 1:6-7, believers are reminded that trials test the genuineness of their faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes. Just as gold is refined by fire, so too are believers' hearts and minds shaped through trials. This suffering produces endurance, deeper reliance on God, and a greater appreciation for His grace. It also aids in conforming believers to the image of Christ, as they learn to find joy and purpose even amidst their hardships. Ultimately, suffering positions Christians to share in Christ's sufferings, creating a profound fellowship with Him and a stronger testimony to the world.

Q: What is the significance of Daniel 9 in relation to suffering?

Daniel 9 underscores God's plan of redemption and the inevitability of suffering as part of His sovereign will for His people. In Daniel 9, the angel Gabriel reveals God's prophetic timeline concerning Israel, emphasizing both discipline and hope. The '70 sevens' mentioned reflect God's sovereign assurance that despite Israel's suffering and exile, He would ultimately bring about restoration and redemption. This passage reminds us that suffering often serves as a divine discipline but also a precursor to God’s gracious promises, such as the coming of the Messiah. Furthermore, as God's people faced trials, they were called to remember His covenant faithfulness. The suffering depicted through Daniel's prophecy not only pertains to national Israel but points towards the greater suffering of Christ, reflecting His ultimate redemptive mission. Therefore, understanding Daniel 9 provides believers with the assurance that suffering is part of God's grand narrative leading to salvation.

Q: How should Christians respond to tribulation according to the Bible?

Christians are called to remain steadfast and focus on God's glory amid tribulation, as seen in James 1:2-4. The Bible provides clear guidance on how Christians should respond to tribulation. In James 1:2-4, believers are encouraged to consider it pure joy whenever they face trials, knowing that the testing of their faith produces perseverance. This perspective shifts the focus from the immediate pain of suffering to the ultimate growth and maturity that can arise from it. Moreover, within tribulation, Christians are prompted to seek God's wisdom and grace, believing that He is developing character and hope through their struggles. Jesus’ example serves as the ultimate model; He faced betrayal, suffering, and even death, all while glorifying God through obedience. By leaning on God's promises and relying on the Holy Spirit, believers can manifest faith and gratitude in adversity, ultimately bearing witness to the transforming power of Christ.

The book of Luke Chapter 21. We will be definitely making
our way back to Daniel Chapter 9 today. I want you to see a few things
in Luke Chapter 21. If you were listening to the
language of our Savior as He was instructing His disciples,
about those things that would shortly come to pass in their
own lives. And you had just a remote understanding
of the life of the Christian over these last 2,000 years.
What you can be sure of is that somewhere in the world, At any time, you can imagine
God's people are suffering. That's why the title of our message
is very apropos. It shall be built in troubleless
times. It shall be built, but in troubleless
times. That's the promise of the angel
to Daniel. We'll be dealing with some of the difficult language
there. But is this not also the tenor
in the context in which the Lord Jesus is addressing the disciples
in Luke chapter 21 as well? Is He not making it very plain
to His people that they weren't going to be living in a world
that was favorable towards them and that life was going to be
peaceful and prosperous and without any kind of difficulty? The language
of Luke 21 suggests severe troubles, severe difficulties. And yet
our Lord tells his disciples that it's in the midst of this
kind of adversity and difficulty that the Spirit of God would
work in their life to turn to them a testimony of God's mercy
and grace to sinners. I don't know if you caught that.
Verse 14 of chapter 21 says, Settle it. Settle it, therefore,
in your hearts, not to meditate beforehand what you shall answer,
for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries
shall not be able to gain, say, nor resist. He said, settle,
settle the fact that you're going to go through difficulty and
settle the fact that you're going to experience tribulation. But
be very sure about this, in the midst of that, I'm going to get
glory to myself through you. Because you settle this matter
of in the world, you shall have tribulation. Once you settle
that matter, now you can get about the business of living
for God's glory. You don't have to spend the preponderance
of your time trying to work your way around tribulation. It's
in the midst of tribulation that Christ is glorified. We've talked
about that before, haven't we? And I've said this so many times
as I lay this foundation, only the Christian gospel has an answer
to suffering. Only the Christian gospel can
speak to the issue of trials and difficulty. Only the gospel
of Jesus Christ has a theology that is able to redeem suffering. Christ has taught us that suffering
is part of the Christian life. And when the child of God can
embrace suffering, then we begin to understand something about
the cross centered life. Otherwise, by nature, because
we are so adverse to suffering, we will run from it and miss
the blessing. And yet, The whole of the gospel
scheme is all about God entering smack dab in the middle of suffering
to redeem a people for himself. It is therefore inconsistent
for God's people to try to develop a theology and a lifestyle that
seeks to avert suffering when suffering is given both to the
just and the unjust, to the wise and the unwise, to the wealthy
and the poor alike, to the saved and the unsaved. We all share
in a portion of suffering, don't we? But it's the Christian that
has to learn how to operate in the realm of his calling in the
context of suffering so that God can be glorified. I'm laying
that foundation because as we deal with this issue of Daniel
9, I want it to be very clear for you and I who are believers
and understand the gospel that Daniel 9 is not dealing with
some unique particular period in time, different than what
God's people experience all the time. And that's what our Lord
is saying in part in Luke chapter 21. Again, imagine you are with
the Lord. You have had the blessing of
being with God in the flesh. And for three and a half years,
God has taught you his glorious purpose of redemption. You've
heard his voice. You've seen his face. You smelt
his breath. You've sensed his heartbeat.
You know what he rejoices in. You know what he is grieved over.
You've come to know God intimately. You've beheld his glory. And
he tells you, this is going to be the course of all my people's
life. It's gonna be a life of difficulty
because through it, I'm gonna get glory to myself. And he himself
was not exempt from this, was he? So the foundation for the
people of God is that in the world, you shall have what? Tribulation,
but the Lord Jesus is doing something far more important than that
in the opening verses of Luke chapter 21 Underscore this and
I want to make sure that you grasp this. This is over in verses
5 through 7 Notice what it says and as some spake of the temple
the temple In other portions of the gospel, Matthew, Mark,
Matthew, Mark, you would know that the some that spoke were
Peter, James and John and all the disciples. As some spoke
of the temple, you know, in religion today, you hear a lot about the
temple, particularly in American Christianity. You hear a lot
about the temple, but there is no temple. You hear a lot about
it, but there is no temple. Is there a temple? The answer
is no, there is no physical temple. And yet in Christianity today,
you hear a lot about it, particularly in the context of this segment
of theology that we are beginning to discuss, which is eschatology.
And so we are at that point in time, a very germane point in
time in which the Lord Jesus has to teach his disciples a
critical lesson, a lesson that you and I must learn as well.
The Lord Jesus is here occupying the office of prophet. He is
speaking to his disciples in person about the very things
by which he spoke to the prophets of old in spirit. He is the spirit
of prophecy and the spirit of Christ spoke to the prophets
and through the prophets about the very things that Jesus here
is speaking to his disciples. He is confirming what has been
argued concerning Daniel's prophecy and listen to what our Lord says
to the disciples when they say, over in verse five again, notice
how it was adorned with goodly stones and with gifts. They said,
Lord, look at all these temple buildings, look at the stones
and look at the way they were put together and look at how
it was adorned. The disciples were enamored with
the physical beauty of what was called the Herodian temple. The
Herodian temple was the third temple built. Solomon's was first
and then the temple was rebuilt again in the days of Ezra and
Nehemiah, restored and rebuilt, destroyed again over the period
of time during the Maccabean period. We'll be dealing with
that in chapters 10 and 11. And then it was rebuilt fabulously
by Herod. In fact, this temple was said
to be more gaudy and more glorious and more expensive than even
Solomon's temple. That's hard to imagine. But couldn't
you imagine the pride of the brethren as they walked past
that temple? Lord, look at this temple. Look
at the gold and the silver. They say Herod put so much gold
and silver and precious stones everywhere you look. Every corner
had gold lacing and trimming. They were proud of that temple. proud of that temple. It was
the center of the worship of Israel and it was the pride and
joy of all of Jerusalem. It was a wonder in the world. And they are just enamored and
they thought that they were about to impress the Lord like the
Lord wasn't paying attention to the temple. Lord, look at
the temple. But because the apostles, ladies
and gentlemen, were chosen by God and designated to become,
listen to me, the representative foundation of that eternal Jerusalem. That Jerusalem which is above,
according to Galatians 4, who is the mother of all of God's
people from every nation, kindred, tribe and tongue. Because they
were destined to be the foundation of a temple far more glorious
than this physical building. They didn't know it. The Lord
had to correct them and admonish them for something that is very
prominent in all of us. The great fallacy of all men,
including the disciples, is that we are enamored. We are spellbound. We are taken in by temples made
with hands. That's how we are. Look how big
that building is. Look how fabulous that edifice
is. Look how wonderful the accoutrements
are. We're all caught up in the things
seen. We're all trapped by physicality. The disciples were no different.
They were men just like you and I. They were very much caught
up in nationalism. They loved their heritage. They
loved their ethnos. They loved their background.
They loved the fact that they were Jews on the move. This was
true of the disciples too. And the Lord Jesus, very clear
that he had a much grander and more profound and more eternally
universal scheme had to right now arrest this flawed thinking
and this wrong ideology in the minds of his disciples who would
be the foundation of the church. That's Ephesians chapter two,
verse 20. The Lord established the church on the foundation
of the apostles and the prophets and Jesus Christ as the chief
cornerstone. He was talking about a building
not made with hands. It was rooted in God and it was
made of living stones, men and women born of God out of every
nation, kindred, tribe and tongue. They would be the temple of the
living God. Do you know what I'm talking
about? And so the Lord Jesus is addressing the disciples on
this regard. They said, master, do you see
all these great buildings? And he said in the next verse,
verse six, Do you understand what you see? See, it's one thing
to see the building physically. It's another thing to see that
same building prophetically. It's one thing to be enamored
by the glitter and the shine and the attractiveness of the
building. But would you be caught up in a building that you knew
had dynamite on every corner of the building, laced all through
it, and it was about to be blown up in a few weeks? They said,
Lord, Look at these buildings. Do you see it? He said, disciples,
I want you to understand exactly what you see. Look with me again
at verse six. This is so critical in terms
of what I just want to lay down today. Here's what our master
said. As for these things which you
behold, do you see it? The days will come in the which
there shall not be left one stone upon another. shall not be thrown
down on the one hand this blew the disciples away they couldn't
imagine they couldn't imagine that that building was going
to be demolished for two reasons one it just seems so stately
it seems so permanent It seems so immovable. It seems so fixed
as a major part of their Jewish identity and God's favored endorsement
upon it. And secondly, it was accepted
by the greatest nation in the world, the Roman empire. Israel
was in cahoots with Rome and they felt like there was no reason
for them to be insecure about anything. And yet the son of
God said, all this stuff is coming down. All this says this is a
grand theological concept that needs to be comprehended by God's
people. The Lord Jesus is teaching his disciple that these things,
this building is coming down. This building which you see,
this building which served as a great, great type and shadow
and symbol of all the scheme of redemption, this building
is coming down. As our Lord explained to the
disciples the significance of this building coming down, he
was also inculcating into their understanding how they must communicate
the gospel when it's their turn. In other words, he wanted to
make sure that the disciples didn't fall prey to what we fall
prey to in this generation, the exaltation of external buildings. He wanted to teach his disciples
in such a way that when they went forth preaching the gospel,
that those men didn't point to a building in Jerusalem, but
to a person in glory. And that man was Jesus Christ.
Are you guys hearing what I'm saying? And when you read all
of the New Testament writings, no time anywhere does it even
hit in their theology and doctrine, the restoration of a physical
temple. the restoration of the nation of Israel, and the restoration
of the ceremonial Levitical Aaronic priesthood. Nowhere, Paul doesn't
hint about it. If anything, we find in the book
of Hebrews, by the writer of the Hebrews, the warning is to
the Jews who have heard the gospel, seen the perfection that's in
Christ, the warning is, please do not return to that building
that's about to collapse. Why would you run into a building
that you've been told was about to collapse? That's what the
book of Hebrews is all about. The book of Hebrews is all about
us understanding that Jesus is the fulfillment of everything
typified in the whole Old Testament scheme. Whether that be the prophets,
Whether that be the priesthood, whether that be Moses, whether
that be the temple, whether that be the covenants, all of it was
fulfilled in Jesus. Can you wrap your head around
that truth, child of God? Turn with me in your Bibles to
Hebrews chapter 8. I want you to see it before we go back to
Daniel 9. I want you to see it because as we are dealing with
the implications of Daniel 9, I want to make sure that you
understand that the writer of the New Testament, the writers
of the New Testament, They listened to the Lord when He said, do
you see all these things? They're all coming down, all
of them. I'm in chapter eight. The Lord
Jesus Christ is laying down before the disciples in His language.
Be very clear, be very clear that you are to have no confidence
in this temple. Be very clear that your theology
and doctrine is not to be connected with anything that has to do
with this temple. Be very clear to know that we
are about to usher in the reality and the fullness and the completion
of everything that the temple signified. Am I making some sense
so far? Now watch what the Bible says
in Hebrews chapter 8. I'm reading in Hebrews chapter
8 where the writer has said over in verse 7, for if that first
covenant had been faultless, that is perfect, then should
there be no place of salt for the second. The writer is talking
about two covenants, folks. We understand those two covenants
to be the Old Testament and the what? New Testament. The Old
Covenant and the what? New Covenant. The writer is about
to explain to us what I have shared with you many times. And
this is replete through your Bible. There is such thing as
an old man, isn't there? And there's such thing as a what?
New man. There is such thing as an old covenant and there's
such thing as a what? New covenant. There's such thing
as old wine and there's such thing as what? New wine. There's
such thing as old wine skins and there's such thing as what?
New wine skins. And what the Bible teaches us
is that God has operated throughout history in two primary dispensations,
the Old Testament period, and now that which we are in, which
is called what? The New Testament period. That
being true, whenever we talk about the word new, if any man
be in Christ Jesus, he's what? New. That means all things must
what? Pass away. They must pass away. You can't hold to the old and
embrace the new. You've got to let one or the
other go. This is the conflict between Judaism and Christianity,
between works and grace, between law and faith, between the gospel
of God's glory and everyone trying to get in heaven by legalism
and good works. Are you guys hearing me? Now
listen to the language again. He says, if the old was adequate,
we wouldn't have found need for a second. For finding fault with
them, he said, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that 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 disregarded them, 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
in their mind. That was a new thing. And I will
write them in their hearts. That was a new thing too. And
I will be to them a God. That was a new thing too. And
they shall be my people. I've been talking to you in the
Friday night study. Whenever you read in the Bible, my people
is always connected to the true Jew. the true Israelite, the
one that's born of God, the one whom God calls his people because
they are, he is their God. And so when he talks about my
people and my, me being their God, he's talking about that
work of grace where he takes the covenant and places it in
the hearts of sinners rather than on two tables of stone.
He places it in the spirit of sinners so that they become living
epistles written and known on the hearts of all men, rather
than just being, as it were, a people of the book. Because
that was the condition of national Israel. And I've said it time
and again, what good does 10 commandments do on stone when
I'm dead in trespasses and sins? But God wrote them on two tables
of stone to teach us prophetically that while as yet we are under
that old covenant, we're still lost. Israel had stony hearts
and a law written on a stony heart can't save it can't convert
it can't sanctify It can't move in obedience until the stony
heart is taken out and a heart of flesh is put in and then the
law Written on that heart of flesh that new heart and a new
law by a new spirit. There is no obedience to God
There's no obedience to God and so God is talking about doing
an effectual work of grace and Which would be a consequence
of christ accomplished redemption at calvary And the net effect
would be this in verses 11 through 13 Notice what it says and they
shall not teach every man his neighbor. Do you see that? Can
I tell you something as I make my way when you come to know
god by faith through grace in christ? You don't have to ask
anybody what it means to know the lord Regeneration is the
work of the Holy Ghost by which he confirms in the life of a
redeemed sinner that he is God's and God is theirs. No one can
teach a soul what it means to be born again. No one can teach
a soul what it means to be redeemed. No one can teach a soul what
it means to be clothed in Christ's righteousness. I can talk to
you forever and a day, but unless God teaches you You can't know
these things. This is what it's talking about.
It's not not talking about having leadership and rulers over us
and people guiding us in the work. It's talking about the
effectual work of the great power, clearly the teacher and redeemer
of God's people. And that's the spirit of God.
The spirit of God has to teach you the things that Christ has
accomplished for you at Calvary. Am I telling the truth? And so
here's what he said. This is gonna be part of the
great and grand covenant scheme, the work of the third person
of the triune God. And they shall not teach every
man his neighbor, 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. Isn't that glorious? And their
sins and their iniquities, I will remember no more. That's the
covenant that saves a sinner. That's what the angel Gabriel
opened up with in Daniel chapter 9 verse 24. And when he comes,
he will make an end of sin. He will finish transgression
and he will establish everlasting righteousness. He will bring
about perfect reconciliation, seal up the property and the
covenant covenant and anoint the most holy. He's talking about
this very language right here, all accomplished in the person
of Christ. Now, here's the verse I want you to see. Verse 13,
in that he saith anew, that is a new covenant. By the way, a
new covenant for us is the same as the word, the gospel. In that
he saith the gospel, he hath made the first old. What is the
old? That old covenant, the covenant
of words, the covenant of law, the temple ceremonies, the exterior
symbolism and ritual of that old Jewish system. Are you guys
with me so far? God has made it old. Now watch
what he says, I want you to see how this corresponds with what
Jesus said. Now that which is old, now the
new covenant he had made first, in that he said a new covenant
he had made the first old, now that which is decaying, that's
the verb form, and waxing old is ready to vanish away. Do you
see that? Go back to Luke chapter 21, I
want you to see this. Now the writer of the Hebrews was writing
in the middle of the first century around 50 AD, 51 AD, 52 AD, maybe
as late as 60 AD. And the writer of the Hebrews
was saying to the Jewish brethren who were tempted to return again
into that temple, that temple was fading away. I want you to
see it for its true nature. It's fading away. I know it looks
good on the outside, but it's fading away and it's about to
perish. He's warning them. There's no
promise of eternality in that temple. And this is what Jesus
is saying himself over in chapter 21 of Luke over in verse 20. Look at what it says. And when
you shall see Jerusalem, what? Coppiced with armies, then know
that the desolation thereof is what? Near. The Lord Jesus plainly
told his disciples that they are not to be enamored by the
physical temple since he has a grander scheme for them. But
more than that, that physical temple will come under the destruction
process using a term that Daniel used in the book of Daniel more
than seven times. And it's the word desolation.
Do you guys see it? Our Lord speaking by the Spirit,
prophetically utilizing the same Old Testament genre to confirm
the prophets, Daniel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, the book of Deuteronomy.
Time and again the prophecy was because of Israel's disobedience,
desolation, desolation. Desolation desolation desolation
and our Lord said in the gospel of Matthew's concerning desolation
Matthew's chapter 23 verse 38. He told Israel your house is
going to be left to you Desolate for this one reason You have
once again and we're getting ready to go back to our text
violated the Sabbath You remember what we were talking about last
week concerning the Sabbath? Go back with me to your text now,
because I want to rehearse that as we understand Daniel chapter
9. Daniel chapter 9. You guys remember me talking
about the sevens last week? I talked to you about the sevens
because in Daniel chapter 9 verse 24, the angel Gabriel was speaking
to Daniel concerning what we have come to understand was sabbatical
language. He told Daniel in chapter 9 verse
24, these words, 70 weeks are determined upon your people.
Isn't that what he said? And what I shared with you more
distinctly was that the word weeks was a translation that
should have been rendered sevens, 70 sevens, because there's literally
no word week in the Hebrew language. We learned last week, there are
no such thing as Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
Saturday, Sunday in the Hebrew culture. The Hebrew Bible did
not designate days by nominations like that. Every day was a number. Day one, day two, day three,
day four, day five, day six, day seven. This is why we got
after those who were legalists trying to suggest or imply that
the Sabbath is observed by a literal day. And then they suggest that
we are to confine that to Saturday. These are called Sabbatarians.
And I asked the question, I didn't ask it, I'm asking it now. What
day did the Lord start to create the heavens and the earth? Was
it Tuesday? Was it Wednesday? Was it Monday? Was it Sunday? Did God begin
to create the heavens and the earth on Sunday, rested on the
next Saturday? The answer is that's preponderance
because that's not what God is calling us to. God is calling
us to a principle of sevens. Isn't that what he's calling
us to? That's what we learned in Genesis chapter two, verses
one through three. In six days did the Lord create heaven and
earth. And on the seventh day, he rested from all his works,
which he had done. And he's blessed and sanctified
the Sabbath day, which was the seventh day. It wasn't Saturday. It wasn't Monday. And it wasn't
what folks call the New Testament Sabbath, which is Sunday. And
so I began to develop for you last week, the significance of
the number seven, because God owns the number seven, doesn't
he? And we understood that the number seven denotes perfection.
It denotes fullness. It's a word that is understood
by the theologians as sacred, sacred fullness. This is critical
because sacred fullness simply means that God knows the content. Sacred fullness. When something
is designated as full, it's complete. There's no more room to add to
it. And when it's designated as sacred, it means it's God's
own divine fullness. What that means is, is we need
to be very careful not to relegate the number seven to physical
chronology or physical dimensions. The number seven connotes God's
sacred fullness. and Israel was brought into the
number seven cycle as a covenant, weren't they? They were brought
into the number seven cycle as a covenant. Let me develop this
again, because you'll have it in your outline. You can follow
me in your outline. I wanna run through this to make sure we
understand the blessing of God's resting. Now, I wanna drive this
home so clearly. God is an awesome God. God is a marvelous God. God is
stupendous in his glory. God is profound in his essence.
God is so unique. and so effulgent and so transcendent. Every time God reveals himself
in his person and his work, you and I ought to just marvel at
God. Marvel at God, why? Because the
true and the living God has revealed himself to us in his work and
in his person. I told you last week, the only
problem is we're too dumb to see it, but God has revealed
himself. God has revealed himself. This
is what we're learning in systematic theology. God has revealed himself.
True theology is God talking about God and letting us in on
the conversation. Got it? That's what true theology
is. And so God opens up the Bible
saying, I created all this. Everything you can see and everything
you can imagine and everything you want to imagine, I created
it in order that you might marvel at me. So I said, I created it
and I finished it on the sixth day. And I asked you the question,
have you finished anything? I told you, I didn't say, do
you stop doing some things? I said, have you finished anything?
Have you completed it? Have you perfected it? Have you
been able to say, I can walk away from it now because it's
perfectly completed? And the answer is obviously what?
No, you haven't stopped living and you haven't stopped sinning.
Have you stopped sinning yet? And therefore the concept of
completion or perfection in its quintessential meaning only applies
to God. God is perfect. The rest of us
are totally imperfect. And what the Sabbath does are
the seven, Sebuim, Sebuah, and Sabbat. The Sabbat is connected
to the Sabbath. What the Sabbath does is it calls
sinners like you and me into a place of resting where we can
behold God. The six-day work, seven-day rest
cycle allows the creature, to stop and pause like we're doing
right now and think about God. God knows that it's necessary
for the creature to do that. God knows that it's necessary
for you and I to stop and think about God so we can learn something
about life. Let me explain. We are busy. From the time we come out of
the womb, we're busy. Isn't that right? Just busy. And we might
think in the back of our minds about God, but until God sets
us down, and begins to show us himself. We don't have an adequate
comprehension of him. Therefore, the call to rest,
the call to Sabbath, the call to enter into a contemplation
of God and his glory is something essential for our salvation and
our welfare. Did you know the statistics were
that the man or the woman that worshiped God consistently lives
longer and a healthier life? Did you know that was the statistic?
It didn't faze me. See, you're going to die running
in that hamster wheel, on that wheel, going nowhere, thinking
you're accomplishing something, stressing, getting anxious, getting
wired up. Now you got to drink some coffee.
Now you got to take this. Now you got to get all these
drugs and you're depleting yourself because you haven't entered into
that cycle of rest. Isn't that right? Which God calls
his people into. Now true rest is God calling
us to be able to behold his glory and in his glory three things
are accomplished. God is working. God is finishing
his work and God is calling us to see the work which he finished. I'm not talking about creation.
I'm talking about Christ. It was one other man in the whole
world that was able to say it is what finished and that was
Jesus. It is finished. And this is why
I said, as we talk about the Sabbath, I wanna lay the foundation.
The Sabbath was what Israel broke in AD 33, when Jesus said to
the whole nation, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will rest you, but they would not. And so he said,
because you would not enter into my rest, I swear that you'll
perish. See Jesus, is the Sabbath. You guys got that? And so as
we were dealing with the Scriptures, we were dealing with the concept
of the Sabbath, and I want you to see it in your outline, a
recap briefly. The concept of the Sabbath is to teach us God's
faithfulness, is to teach us God's workings, and it's to teach
us God's accomplishments. The Sabbath also set forth four
principles. The first is the principle of
work six days, rest on the seventh, But God also set it up as a pattern
of which he employed it in the life of the nation of Israel.
And we talked about that at length last week, didn't we? He made
them to worship on the seventh day, but they were also to enter
into the seventh principle by laboring six years, sowing in
their field. And on that seventh year, let
that field rest. God would bless it the year before
and the year after so that you can eat because the land that
God owned, did we say God owned the land, not Israel? God owned
that land, not Israel. Israel were stewards in the land.
Talking about they owned the land, that's the land of the
Jews. That's God's land. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. The sea and all that be in them.
God owns the land. We're landlords down there, did
you know that? We're landlords down here. They
were landlords down there and God stipulated in his covenant.
If you obey me, you can hang out in here. If you disobey me,
I'm going to remove you from the land. But here is my Arcanumos. Here is my household rule. You
got to follow the seven principles because the seven principles
allow me to be glorified in your life. You are my coveted people. Exodus 31. Didn't we learn the
Sabbath is a sign between me and you. that I set you apart
and I sanctified you. And I want the world to see your
beauty and your uniqueness in your relationship with me. The
Sabbath is not for the world. The Sabbath is for God's people.
You guys got that? Let the world work 24 seven.
Let them work $500 a week. They don't have a God to go home
to. And the Bible says the wicked are tossed to and fro like the
waves of the sea. And they have no rest. There
is no rest for the wicked, saith my God. That's the state that
we're in when we're outside of Christ. We're working, working,
working, working, working day and night. Isn't that what he
says? He's telling the truth. I like
it when they tell the truth. Just tell the truth. I can listen
to that song and I say, yeah, Michael, boy, you telling the
truth. There is no rest, saith my God
to the wicked. While as yet we're outside of
Christ, we can't know anything about rest. But the people of
God were called to it in covenant. Exodus 31, they were called to
it. They were called to it in terms of the agricultural system.
They were called to it in terms of their worship. And what I
said last week in terms of the concept of the Sabbath is that
it denoted three things. One is worship. The other is
celebration because remember throughout the year they were
to come to God in feast celebrations because God had blessed their
land. Those of us who have been calling to the rest which we
find in Jesus Christ have been called to worship him. We worship
God in spirit and in truth. We are the circumcision which
rejoice in Christ Jesus. We worship God and have no confidence
in the flesh. That's the rest worship that
God has called us to. Let me say this, by the way,
until you rest in Christ, you can't worship God. There's no
worshiping God until God has demonstrated and shown you and
convinced you that Christ has redeemed you from all iniquity.
How can you worship a God that's holy and just and righteous and
deserves to punish you and you don't even know whether or not
you have a right to come into his presence? You can't. But
when the Spirit of God speaks peace to your soul and say you
are forgiven, through the meritorious work of my son Jesus Christ on
Calvary Street. Now you can come into my presence
joyfully, thankfully, confidently, and enter into that rest. Am
I making some sense? So worship is what we've been
called to in Christ. Celebration is what we've been
called to in Christ. I've said that before. The fruit of the
spirit, the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness. peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. One of the evidences that you're
born of God is you have the testimony of Christ in your lips and you've
got the joy of the Holy Ghost in your heart. Am I making some
sense? And in the midst of tribulation, God's people can rejoice. In
the midst of trouble, God's people have a river that flows deep
down in the soul. It's a river of peace and joy
and thankfulness and gratitude for who Christ is and what he
did for them. It's a mystery, but the saints
know what it's about. It's a joy that folks who know
the Lord in hospitals, on the brink of death, with that serenity
and that peace and that calm, saying, I'm just waiting on the
master. I'm about to cross Jordan. That's why we sing the song near
the cross, near the cross, near the cross, in the cross, be my
glory ever. Keep me near the cross. Keep me near the cross. I can
handle anything as long as I'm aware that Christ has finished
the work for me. See, that's what we call the
sabbaton, the rests, which is in Jesus Christ. Am I making
some sense? So we worship and we celebrate and the Sabbath
is also what we learned was a time of liberation. Isn't that right?
The Jews were taught that you work seven years. And on that
six years and on that seventh year, you let the land rest and
you go through seven sets of those seven years, which would
be 49 years. And in the 50th year was a Jubilee. And in the Jubilee, all you broke
and indebted people, All you people that got all those thousands
and thousands of dollars of credit debt, you're slaves now to the
system. There was a horn that blew and
it said, it had a strange, ugly noise, but it sounded good to
the broke indebted person. It sounded good. He could just
take the shackles off, just walk out of the slave house. He's
no more in bondage to his master because he was in debt. He's
free to go back to his inheritance. And that's what Christ did for
guilty sinners on Calvary street. Every time the gospel comes in
power and liberates a sinner, he hears the Jubilee. Are you
hearing me? He hears the Jubilee. He can't believe it. It's amazing.
It's so sweet. It's so strange. It's so profound. But God set him free. So we read
in Isaiah chapter 61 that the Lord came to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord to set the captives free. And whomsoever the Son
shall set free shall be what? Free indeed. Free indeed. That's the connotation of the
Sabbath. That's the connotation of the
Sabbath. Let's go to work a little bit now, just a little bit. Because
when the angel Gabriel talked to Daniel about the 70 years,
he said, 70 sevens are determined upon your people. Isn't that
what he said? Now, what Daniel was doing, and it's in your outline
under the second point, the connection with the 70, I want you to see
this. Daniel is responding to chapter 9 verse 1 and 2 remember
it in the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus the seed
of the Medes which was king over the realm of the Chaldeans in
the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by the books the number
of the years where of the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah
the prophet that would be accomplished how many years 70 in the wet
desolations of Jerusalem now here's what's going on Daniel
calculated because Jeremiah had told him that God had said, as
he did in Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26, if Israel disobeys
me, I'm going to send them into captivity for 70 years. Now they're
going to be in there 70 years, which is 10 times what? Seven. Because they violated my what? Sabbath. The reason they're there
is because they violated the Sabbath. Isn't that what we learned?
Second Chronicles 36, Ezra chapter one, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel
said, you're violating God's Sabbath. You've been called to
rest. You don't get to try to make billions of dollars. That's
what they were doing. They were still working on the
Sabbath day, sneaking out, trying to do some work. Didn't they
learn anything about that boy that got killed picking up sticks?
They didn't learn. And God says, okay, I got to
remove you because you're violating my sign. You're violating my sign. I'm calling sinners to rest.
I'm not calling sinners to a note, a promissory note of redemption
while you continue working, working, working. That contradicts the
gospel. The gospel is rest. The gospel is not toil. The gospel
is not get ahead. The gospel is not work to make
yourself wealthy. The gospel is rest. And so Israel
was told to do that. They didn't. And so they were
in captivity for 70 years. And this is what Daniel understood.
And he knew that the 70 years was up and it was time for them
to go back. He prayed because they didn't
have any interest in going back to Jerusalem. Is that what we
learned? They had become Babylonians. The Jubilee trumpet was sounding.
Daniel understood it, stood it, but nobody was moving. See, they
loved their jobs. They loved their businesses.
They loved their positions. They were making tons of money
in Babylon. When they looked over the hill 800 miles away
and looked at Jerusalem, it was tore up. It was desolate. It
was mangled. For them, it was a step down. They said, we don't want to go.
Daniel began to pray and the angel Gabriel said, don't worry,
Daniel, your people, not these Babylonians will go back because
they see something in Jerusalem that the rest of these Babylonians
don't see. And you see, this is what the
Bible meant when it says, and there was no beauty in him that
we should desire him. We all hid, as it were, our faces
from him. His message was so more, more than any man. No one
really wanted the Messiah. But I'm going to tell you, when
you become a sinner, the Savior starts to look beautiful to you.
When you're in need of a redeemer, Christ crucified starts to look
beautiful to you. when you realize you're separated
from God and under his wrath the appeal by the cross crucified
Savior to come unto me sounds good to you am I making some
sense and so for true believers going back to Jerusalem was a
good thing it was good news what Daniel was being taught now was
a cycle of sevens that would ultimately encompass 490 years. I want you to bear with me just
a little bit as we lay this foundation. I promise I won't be lengthy,
I won't be too technical, but I do want us to understand what
the angel Gabriel said to Daniel in regards to this. Daniel understood
the 70 years. He didn't understand the process
of returning back to the land. He didn't understand his larger
implication, but I want you to understand it. The Gabriel, the
angel says to Daniel, let's deal with not only this 70 years that
God has already accomplished in the discipline of Israel,
but let's multiply this now by another set of sevens. So that
we're going to be dealing with 490 years. Okay. Is that okay? 70 times seven. So let me just
talk a little bit about that because that's so important.
What needs to be understood is what we call in our outline the
day year principle, the week year principle, the day year
principle, the week year principle. This is in order to establish
a principle for what the Old Testament saints called a prophetic
calendar. This is a timetable that God uses, which constitutes
a sacred fullness, a principle of perfection, and it's designed
for his covenant people to be aware of his operating according
to a covenant scheme and not simply a chronological calendar. Now, I know that probably didn't
make any sense, but I wanna say this about it. When you deal
with Daniel 9, verse 24 through 27, while they are strict parameters
between the time that Israel was called out of Babylon to
go back to Israel, to Palestine, and the coming of our master,
the Lord Jesus was about 490 years. The message is not really
for you to get caught up in the chronological numbers. Are you
hearing me? How can I make this plain? It's
still about recognizing God's faithfulness and dealing with
his people. and that God operates on a time
schedule that's perfectly consistent with his word, but is bound up
in his own eternal decree. I can see it like this. When
the 490 years are done, Jesus comes into this world according
to what the Bible says is the fullness of time. Born of a woman
made under the law to redeem those that were under the curse
of the law Are you guys hearing me? So I want to say this once
more Daniel chapter 9 verses 24 through 27 is about Jesus
Christ and him crucified The message of Daniel 9 verses 24
through 27 is about Christ and his redemptive work on Calvary
and and the struggle of God's elect people who have been brought
out of Babylon to prepare the way for His coming. Are you guys
hearing me? To prepare the way of His coming.
So that that is the essence of the message. I say that for those
of you who are more aware of the argumentations that go on
in religious circles about the tribulation period. and the anti-Christ,
and whether he's going to be some political figure that rises
up on the scene and tricks people into buying into covenants, and
the establishment of Israel back in Palestine, and the reestablishment
of a temple, and the reestablishment of a priesthood system, and the
purchasing of a perfectly red heifer, and the reenactment of
the whole legal law system, and the bringing people back up under
works again, and the denial that all those things that were done
in the old covenant were fulfilled in Christ. So that people start
taking their eyes off the once for all finished work of Christ
on Calvary and get caught up in temples again and land again
and ceremonies again and works again and start focusing more
on a people called the Jews than on a person called Jesus. See,
I can stop right there, can't I? I can stop right there. If
I knew that you would get it without the devil being able
to come in and discombobulate you all again with highfalutin
liberal theologians who have been conned in seminary and in
Bible college to look for some type of utopian world on this
earth, And this stuff is being propagated and forced into your
thinking constantly in the theological world so that many of you still
hold to the idea that the literal Jewish people are some kind of
special people of God. And you have no Bible basis for
it. I know I make people mad when I talk like that, but I
don't have any other way to do it. Is there any other way I
can talk to you to get you to understand that God has a people
in Christ and they're called as elect and they have incorporated
all of those things that were typified in that old system.
We who believe Jesus are Abraham's seed and God has a greater world
and a greater Jerusalem than a physical piece of land that
they're killing each other over right now. Am I making some sense? If I can just set a couple of
people free, Lord, set a couple of people free from this delusion.
I have some other bad thinking going on in my mind about this
whole hermeneutic that ultimately gives glory to the flesh. But
I'm not going to use that terminology because it's bad. So here's what I'm going to say
as we look at our text. Verse 25, no, therefore, and
understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore
and rebuild Jerusalem, unto the Messiah, the Prince shall be
seven weeks and three scoring two weeks. Do you guys see that? So here's what I want us to do
as Daniel is called to do it, is to know and understand. Know
and understand that there shall be seven weeks. Now the word
weeks correspond to seven years. Can you guys see that? Okay,
I'm gonna show you in your Bible because I want you to be able
to do that. He's not talking about seven literal weeks, like
49 days. He's talking about seven weeks
of what? Years. All right, let's learn something.
Go with me in your Bible to Genesis 29. Let's do a little Bible study
so that you can know how God taught his people. The term weeks
is a prophetic terminology used to connote years. So we're dealing
with what is called the day year principle, Genesis 29. Do you
know, do you remember that lovely story concerning Jacob? Running
from his brother Esau because he ripped him off Esau was the
good one Jacob was the wicked one Esau was the one that you
would want to have marry your daughter and Jacob would have
been the one that you wouldn't have wanted to live in the same
city with your daughter You would have said Jacob is the most unlikely
to succeed Esau would have been able to run meat factories. He
would have been able to run the Olympics because he was a man
that could hunt. He could run. He was probably
tall and muscular. Esau had it going on. Jacob was
a little sissy. I know I shouldn't be using that
term. That's not politically correct. But he stayed at home
and he learned how to cook. I think a brother really do needs
to learn how to cook. I really do. I got two sons and
I'm glad that they're learning how to cook. Because sometimes,
you know, your husband, they need to be the ones cooking.
That's true. Don't get a husband that can't cook because sometimes
you're going to be down. You know, you need a husband
that can cook. But all Jacob did was cook. There's something
wrong with that. Even in the hood, there's something
wrong with that. Jacob, come on, man. You got to do more than
be able to cook. But for his credit, he cooked
good. He cooked so good that his brother Esau sold his birthright
and his blessing for a pot of gumbo. I know it doesn't say
gumbo. I know that. But Jacob was a supplanter. That's what the Hebrew word Jacob
means. He was tricky and he stole his brother's birthright Because
there was a great redemptive truth in it, which we won't deal
with he found himself running Because his brother said you
done as soon as daddy died. I'm taking you out So his mama
said get down the road to uncle Abraham's house So he goes down
to uncle Abraham's house, which is Syria Because his mama was
a Syrian and he sees Rachel Rachel's a hottie. That's not what the
text says, but that's what Jacob says. I soon as he sees Rachel
he's done it's just true I know the feeling as soon as I saw
my wife I was done too I was saying a couple ways but
she might get mad at me but the text tells us in Genesis 29 18
these words are you there Genesis 29 these words I want you to
hear this now Genesis 29, 18. This is Laban talking about,
uh, talking to Jacob about Rachel and Jacob loved him some Rachel. And here's what he said. I will
serve you Laban. How many years? Seven years for
Rachel, your younger daughter. Now see fellas, I've got six
daughters and two sons. When a brother is willing to
work first for seven years, He might fit the resume for your
daughter. You have to work first for seven
years. You guys got that? And the text
said, and Jacob loved Rachel and said, I will serve her seven
years. And Laban said, is it better that I give her to thee
than that I should give it to somebody else? Jacob didn't care,
Laban didn't care. So the text tells us in verse
20, and Jacob served seven years for Rachel. And they seemed to
him but a few days. See, that's when you love somebody.
For the love he had for her, it was a small thing. Jacob is
a great type of Jesus. Rachel is a great type of the
elect. Jacob is a type of Christ serving
under the wrath of God for seven years. For him, the wrath of
God was an eternal punishment. which only lasted a few hours
because of who he was, God almighty, able to encompass the whole of
the wrath of God, which would be equal to an eternity for every
individual for whom he would regain. And yet he was able to
suck up all of that wrath in just a few hours. And after those
few hours, he was able to say, Father, I'm done. Father, I'm
done. This is Jacob in relationship
to Rachel. But now notice what the text
tells us over in verse 21, verse 27. Are we there? It goes on to tell us, fulfill
her week and we will give thee this also service for which you
shall yet serve another seven years. Now notice what he said
in verse 27, fulfill her week. Do you see that? And we will
give this also for the service with which you shall serve with
me yet seven years. So saints, the word weak corresponds
to what? Seven years. Do you see that? The word weak corresponds to
seven years. So what we are dealing with is
a day year principle and a week years principle. Verse 18, verse
27 and verse 28 teaches us this with regards to Jacob and Rachel. It also has taught us this in
the book of Leviticus as well. A week of years. We won't go
there. The next place I want you to go to now is numbers 14
in numbers 14. I want to simply deal with the
day year principle in order for us to see that when God uses
the term weeks and sometimes the term year days, he is really
referring to years and only the context can determine this. So
we are in numbers chapter 14. Are we there? Numbers 14, I want
you to notice verse 33 and 34. Do you remember that time that
Israel was told to go into the promised land? They had circled
the wilderness for just a couple of months and God prepared them
to go into the land. It was just a couple of years.
They could have been went into the promised land way earlier
than 40 years. But when they sit in excavation
team, a surveillance team to go into the land, to spy out
the land, which was their own suggestion. God didn't need for
them to go in and do a reconnaissance mission. But before I send you
in, I want three of y'all to go this way, three of you to
go this way, three of you to go, and take a look and see how
we can strategically take the land. That very suggestion implied
unbelief. When God tells you to do something,
you don't go on a reconnaissance mission, You just do it. Am I making some sense? So God
let him go into reconnaissance mission, and they came back with
an evil report. Why? Because they were walking
by sight instead of what? By faith. When God says go, you
just go. You don't ask why, you don't
ask how, you just go. Am I making some sense? And so
now notice what God says, because they came back with an evil report,
verse 34. Notice what it says, I'll start
at verse 32. But as for you, Your carcasses, they shall fall
in the wilderness. Do you see that? I'm gonna refer
to this back again in our Friday study when we talk about did
Israel fall or did Israel fail? We'll talk about that. And your
children shall wander in the wilderness, how long? And bear
your whoredoms until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness.
What a judgment. You who were walking in unbelief
will perish your children will have to hang out until you die
before they go into the promised land and then this is what he
says verse 33 verse 34 I'm sorry after the number of the what
days in which you search the land even 40 days each day for
a year shall you bear your iniquities even 40 years in And you shall
know my breach of promise. You know what God is doing? He's
being faithful to himself. When God punished Israel, he
was simply being faithful to the covenant because he told
Israel to believe him and they would inherit the land. But you
see how God is still operating out of covenant principles. He's
operating out of a day year principle, a day year principle. And what
this means, Saints, is this. When we sin against God, our
sin is so egregious. that the punishment that he had
to meet on Israel was necessarily severe in order that they might
know how sinful their sin was. Are you hearing me? So while
it was only 40 days that they were operating in unbelief, it
would be 40 years that they would wander in the wilderness. Now,
go with me to your Bible, in your Bible to Ezekiel chapter
4. I want to show you a couple more places. I'm laying a foundation
so when we come back to this concept, not this portion of
scripture, to this concept, next week we will already have this
in mind. In Ezekiel chapter 4. You guys know Ezekiel? He was
what we call an exile prophet. What that means was he was a
prophet in prison. He was a prophet in the captivity of Babylon.
He was in the midst of the Babylonian captivity and God was speaking
to him and revealing today to Ezekiel, who was a contemporary
of Daniel. He was revealing to Ezekiel what
God was doing to Israel. A lot of wonderful prophetic
truth in that book. But here's what I want to say as we look
at Ezekiel chapter four. I've said this before. I'll say it
again. It's a good thing you and I live in the New Testament.
Because if you lived in the Old Testament period, And you were
one of God's servant or just one of his people. He might just
drag you out and use you any kind of way he wants to, to teach
the people a lesson. Now let's learn what he did.
This is only one of a number of unique and bizarre parabolic
excursions or assignments that Ezekiel had to follow. Ezekiel
chapter four verses one through six. Then also son of man, thou
also son of man, take thee a little and lay a, a tile and lay it
before thee and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem and
lay siege against it and build a fort against it and cast the
mound against it and set the camp also against it and set
battering rams against it roundabout. Do you know what he just did?
He built a little model city, a little model city, and he built
all of these rams and bulwarks and enemies around it. So when
the Israelites came to the marketplace, they looked at what Ezekiel was
doing. So what you doing? Well, God told me to do this.
What's this all about? This is about you. Take a good look and
get the details. See the little man over here?
That Nebuchadnezzar. See the other little man over
there? That's Darius. See the other little man over there?
That's out of Xerxes. Oh, see this little man over here? That's
Antiochus Epiphanes. And you see all these armies?
That's the nation surrounding you. That's what Jesus said when
you see Jerusalem compassed about. You guys got it? Isn't that what
I just said? Isn't that what we just quoted?
When you see Jerusalem, but this is a little model. So they all
going to buy their hot dogs, their kosher hot dogs and their
cokes and they're passing by the weird prophet and he's building
this image. And they said, what's this about?
Because the prophets spoke in parables. You guys got that? They spoke in parables and they
had an understanding of what was going on now Here's what
he was also told watch this verse 3 moreover. You shall take unto
thee an iron pan And set it up for a while a wall of iron between
you and the city and set your face against it and it shall
be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall
be assigned to the house of Israel. You guys got that? So he gets
a big iron skillet. You guys know the iron skillet
that's in your house? The big iron skillet. The one you cook
with and you can hit the thief over the head with? The big iron
skillet. The one the little kids can't
pick up? The big one. It smells bad when it's burning.
That's the one he said, put that one up against the little model
city. and you put your face up toward the pan because you represent
God. And God's wrath is against Israel. You guys see that? And the variance
or the hostility, the hostility is so firm or formidable. It's like that skillet is impenetrable. Now Israel knows God's mad at
him. Now, here's the verses I want
you to see. Now, when you put this on the ground, lie thou
also upon your left side. You know how in the gym, you
guys are told to lay on your right side or on your left side?
You know how you ladies lay on your left side and get that leg
going? I'm messing with you. All right,
girls, get that left side. We got to build up our left side.
Get that ball going. Ezekiel is told to lay on his
left side. Now that's funny, but this part
is not funny. Watch what it says. You are to
lie down on your 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 a lie upon it. It shall bear their iniquity
for I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity according
to the number of the days three hundred and ninety Do you see
that? 390 days. So shall thou bear
the iniquity of the house of Israel. Do you know what that
means? Every day for 390 days, Ezekiel
had to go out there in the middle of the marketplace, set up his
model and lay down on his left side for 390 days so that they
could see the parable. And it was to teach them that
for 390 years, God was gonna be against them. That's for the
house of Israel. We haven't even gotten to Judah
yet. Judah is the next one. Look at it. Then he says over
in verse five, verse six, and when you have accomplished them,
lie again on your right side, and you shall bear the iniquity
of the house of Judah 40 days. I have appointed thee each day
for a year. Do you know the total of that
number? 390 plus 40. If you go to public school, you
probably don't know how to add that up. I'm messing with you
again. How many, how much is that? Hold
on, hold on. I got some, I got some college
students here. I got some college students here.
I want a college student to tell me how you add 390 plus 40. Give me a college student. Okay.
You guys got it right. 430. I'm messing with you, but I'm
not far from messing with you. I'm telling you, California is
the last on the list and math is not one of our strong points. 430 days that Ezekiel, the prophet
had to prophesy in the parable and it connoted 430 years. What
was God doing? See, this is why you gotta know
your Bible. I'll tell you what God was doing. God was saying
to the children of Israel, since the day I brought you out of
Egypt, you have been rebelling against me. Since the time I
redeemed you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, all I
see is a people who wanna head back to Egypt. Are you hearing
me? So I'm gonna help you with this.
The 430 years correspond to the 430 years precisely the time
that Israel was in Egypt. Go with me in your Bible to Exodus
chapter 12 verse 40. I want you to see it. I'm simply
laying the foundation. In Exodus chapter 12 verse 40.
In Exodus 12 Israel is about to come out. This here is the
period of what we call the Passover. In Exodus 12, God's telling Israel,
tonight I'm going to destroy Pharaoh and his firstborn. You guys are about to be liberated.
And the Bible tells us in Exodus chapter 12, these words. I'm over at verse 37 through
40. And the children of Israel journeyed from Ramses to Succoth,
about 600,000 on foot that were men besides children and women. And a mixed multitude went up
with them also, and flocks and herds and very much cattle, anywhere
from 1.3 to 2 million people. Verse 39. And they baked unleavened
cakes of the dough which they had brought forth out of Egypt,
for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt.
could not tarry neither had they prepared themselves any victuals
they had a run right now look what verse 46 now the sojourning
of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was four hundred
and thirty years got it this is what we call precept upon
precept line upon line that's the only way you're gonna understand
prophecy it amazes me I've only got one more thing to say to
you. I'm going to leave the rest of it for next time. It amazes
me when, go back to your text now so I can make some commentary.
It amazes me when theologians, and particularly scholars, are
expounding scripture, either exegetical scholars or just what
we call devotional scholars. And they are trying to figure
out what passages of scripture mean. And they do a process of
deduction and inductive reasoning. And they say, it could mean this,
it could mean that, but in all likelihood, it means the other
thing. And when I refer to this theologian and other theologian,
they say it means this, but the other guy said it means that.
And I'm saying to myself, why don't you read this other portion
of scripture? Because that other portion of scripture will help
you understand this portion of scripture. You see what I'm getting
at? As you read your Bible, and for
those of you who are studying systematic theology with me,
don't fall prey to the method of hermeneutic. that the commentaries
use because they refuse to use the fundamental hermeneutic of
scripture interprets scripture, which means you go wherever else
the scriptures are addressing that subject, listen to what
it says, see how it relates to the subject in the text that
you're dealing with before you begin to consider other alternative
modes of interpretation. God is his own interpreter. He will make it plain. You guys
got it? Which means this, if you're gonna
be really sound in your knowledge of the Bible, you gotta read
your Bible. And you gotta know how to find
your way through the Bible. Because God is giving the answer
of the text somewhere else in the scriptures. And for you to
be able to be sure that God is giving you the truth, you got
to hear God talking about God. This goes back to theology again.
God is talking about God and he's letting us in on it. Am
I making some sense? He's the only person that gets
to talk to himself and not be crazy. See the father talks to
the son and the son talks to the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost
talks to the father and the son and all three talk to each other
and they're all one and we get to listen to the conversation.
Are you hearing me? So as we are dealing with Daniel
chapter nine, the language in verse 25 says this, and I'm just
going to call your attention to the segments and then make
reference to the challenges that are going on. And we'll take
this up next time. In verse 25, he says, from the going forth
of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem unto Messiah,
the prince shall be seven weeks. That's one set of seven saints
and three score in two weeks. We call that 62 sets of sevens. Now don't let that blow any synapses
and fuses. Just think about it with me for
a moment. Seven times seven is how much? All right, we're doing
good. We're doing, at least we can
catch the bus. Now 62 times seven is what? 434. So one set is 49, the other set
is 434. These are years. These are years. When you combine them together,
it's 400 and how many years? 83. You guys got that? So something happens within the
framework of 483 years. Verse 25 says there's a commandment
that goes forth and then the Messiah comes. So from the time
that Daniel receives the revelation from the angel, Daniel is told
there's going to be 483 years from the time that the commandment
goes forth until the Lord Jesus shows up. We know verse 25 is
talking about Messiah, the prince, the only Messiah, the prince
we know is Jesus, right? So the challenge has been for
theologians and scholars and Bible teachers is to know where
the 483 start. where the 483 end. If you don't
know where it starts you can't know where it ends. Isn't that
right? That's the challenge that goes on. When does it start?
When did that start? When did the commandment go forth?
Did the commandment go forth in 609 BC? Did the commandment
go forth in 587 BC? Did the commandment go forth
in 458 BC. Did the commandment go forth
in 445 BC? All of the people who study eschatology
will know these numbers. I'm just tossing them out to
you for time sake. Who knows when the commandment goes forth?
Well, maybe we can, maybe we can't know exactly. What we know is when it's done,
Jesus shows up. You guys got that? When it's
done, Jesus shows up. Now, there have been four views
and they're in your outline. I'm just going to call your attention
to them in your outline. Point number four. I'm not going
to develop it. I just want you to see this. There have been
four views that are that are held concerning this portion
of scripture, which we call the 70 weeks of Daniel. The four
views, the first of the four views is what we call a Jewish
view. That is, the Jews are looking
for the Messiah, too. They just missed him. He came
and they missed him. So they're still looking. So
that's a view. And that view holds that the
information contained within verses 24 through 27 took place
around the time that Nebuchadnezzar took Babylon unto a period of
time when Antiochus Epiphanes came in to destroy Israel again
somewhere around 163 BC. The problem is The numbers don't even remotely
add up. That's a Jewish view. So I want
you to know this. There is what we call a Jewish interpretation
of scripture. A Jewish interpretation of scripture primarily focuses
on Israel. This is what I call the premillennial
dispensational hermeneutic of eschatology. It's a Jewish interpretation. It does not exalt Christ. I'll
leave that alone for later. So there's a Jewish interpretation
of scripture that only looks to Israel. Then there's a second
view. The second view is what we call
a historic view. The historic view confines the
language merely to that period of time between Daniel's time
and the coming of Christ, so that when Christ comes, the whole
of Daniel 9, 24 through 27 is done. It has no application after
Jesus' day to the time of which Jesus says, when you see Jerusalem
come passed about, you know its desolation is not. The historic
view has a lot of flaws in it, because the historic view basically
tells us we don't have to pay any attention to most of what
the New Testament says. That's a bad hermeneutic. That's
called a preterist interpretation of the scripture, okay? A past
historic interpretation. The next view is the view that
I hold. It's not necessarily the true
view, but it's the view I hold. It's called a Christocentric
view. At least it sounds good, doesn't
it? Now a Christocentric view is the view that everything in
scripture hovers around and has its culmination in the person
and work of Jesus Christ. I can make that good by 10 passages
of scripture. I won't. Here's what I say to
the Christian church. It's oxymoronic for the Christian
church to look for any other interpretation of the scripture
than that which brings glory to Christ alone. The problem
with the Christian church and paganism and existentialism and
emotionalism and mysticism and new ageism is that it's missed
Jesus. Are you hearing me? It's hermeneutic,
it's a Christless hermeneutic. When you understand what I've
been teaching us in our systematic theology class, the centripetal
hermeneutic of scripture, that everything revolves and lands
on Christ as everything in the galaxy, or at least in our galaxy,
revolves around what? The sun. And if it were to collapse,
everything would collapse into the sun. Why? Because God made
this universe, at least our galaxy where we live, to be centered
around the sun because the sun points to Christ. And when our
hermeneutics sends us borrowing in a centrifugal way away from
Christ, you can be sure it's not a gospel hermeneutic. Am
I making some sense? And so that's what we are dealing
with in terms of the struggle of the interpretation of these
passages. And so there are three prominent, four prominent views
there. The fourth point of consideration
is what they call the premillennial dispensational view. You have
it in your outline. Here's my argument for the premillennial
dispensational view. They have the burden of proof
for this wild, fangled theology that they assert that there is
a gap between the 69th year and the 70th year. They assert that the 483 years
is the period in which Christ came and died and rose again.
But the last year, remember this 490 years, 483 years leaves one
set of sevens. Isn't that right? That that last
set of sevens is somewhere mysteriously hanging out in the future. It's
out there. It's been out there since the
17th century. And one day the Antichrist It's
going to rise up, and that seventh year is going to start again.
So we've been trying to pin the tail on the Antichrist donkey
for the longest. Was it Bush? Was it Clinton? Was it Hitler? Was it Mussolini? Was it Stalin? Was it the Russian? Czars and
we've been missing the point up to this day. Why? because
they completely Disregard a crystal centric hermeneutic the dispensationalists
have a burden they have to prove That we are still dealing with
a seven-year cycle. They haven't been able to prove
it yet. The Bible doesn't even talk about it You guys are buying
into there's going to be a seven year tribulation. And in the
midst of the seven year tribulation, then the Antichrist is going
to break covenant and all hell is going to break loose. That's
what you hear. Ask one of those guys to prove
that there's a seven year tribulation period first, then I'll talk
to you. The Bible doesn't doesn't even talk about it in the New
Testament, but what it does talk about is a three and a half year
period. And that's what we'll deal with
next time, because The language of Daniel seven and eight and
Daniel 10 and 11 is about that. It's about that. What faithful
theologians have argued is that verse 27 of Daniel chapter nine
is not about an antichrist coming in and breaking covenant. It's
about the true Christ who finished the work on Calvary's tree and
finished the old ceremonial system and therefore sacrifices and
offerings ceased because he was the sacrifice that finished the
work. Are you guys hearing me? So you
have a choice. to look to Antichrist or to Jesus
and realize that Jesus has ended all sacrifices forever. Him being the Lamb of God from
the foundation of the world who accomplished eternal redemption
for sinners who look for him. And the only thing that we really
are dealing with is a time, a times and a half a time, which we'll
talk about later. Let's pray. Father, we thank
you for this time. We thank you for your word. Thank you for
patience to be able to study the scriptures. and to consider
them in their brevity. As we go our way, Lord, and as
we think about the difficulty of our times, Lord, help us not
to be caught up in our troubles, in our difficulties, our economy,
our finances, all of these things which you said can come and go.
You said, do not set your heart upon treasures where the thief
can break in and steal, where he's breaking in and stealing
them now. Help us to keep our minds on Christ. Lord, perfect
peace, you said, have all they who keep their minds stayed on
you. Help us to see Jesus as we go through this storm, we
pray in Jesus' name, amen.

It Shall be Built in Troublous Times

What does the Bible say about suffering and tribulation for Christians?

How do we know the sovereignty of God during difficult times?

Why is suffering important for Christians?

What is the significance of Daniel 9 in relation to suffering?

How should Christians respond to tribulation according to the Bible?

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It Shall be Built in Troublous Times

What does the Bible say about suffering and tribulation for Christians?

How do we know the sovereignty of God during difficult times?

Why is suffering important for Christians?

What is the significance of Daniel 9 in relation to suffering?

How should Christians respond to tribulation according to the Bible?

Sermon Transcript

About Jesse Gistand

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