Daniel's Prophecy For Today, Part 2

THE COVENANTS WITH ISRAEL

[Published 1977. By Brotherhood of Jesus, San Diego, California.]
It is generally taught that the 70th week of Daniel 9 is separated from the other 69 by a gap of 2,000 years. Is it? Or is this a product of man's interpretation of what "should have been" in God's mind?

God chose a people in the Old Testament times to become a key to open up and show what He would do on all the earth. These people were chosen because they best fit His requirements. God wished their lives to show a pattern of His entire plan, through what He would cause to happen to them. First He chose a man, and through that man He fathered a nation. God told Abram, the man of His choosing, that his seed would be as the dust of the earth (Gen. 13:16). God also told Abram to look at the stars; if he could number them, so he would know that progeny or seed which would come from him (Gen. 15:5). Through these two promises we may understand that the seed of Abraham was to be two-fold — a physical seed or offspring and a spiritual seed, the physical seed being typified by the dust of the earth and the spiritual seed on earth by the stars of heaven. They who began as the physical seed are to be paralleled by those who become the spiritual seed.

The physical seed came first, being known as the nation of ancient Israel. Through Abraham's grandson, Jacob, who fathered the twelve patriarchs, became the heads and progenitors of the twelve tribes of Israel. These twelve tribes constituted that nation of prophets and priests through whom God revealed Himself and to whom He chose to make known the detail of His plan. The complete history of the nation of Israel portrays, through living drama, the entirety of God's plan and purpose for the human race. The study of the sacred history from the time of Abram on, reveals numerous types and patterns depicting God's plan of the ages, as well as the nature of His dealings with human beings to bring them to Himself and into the stream of His divine purpose for them.

God made certain promises to the nation of Israel in the form of covenants or agreements, but since these promises were contingent upon obedience, God was in no way obligated to keep them when the nation defaulted. However, the covenant made with Abram was different. God swore by Himself that He would fulfill what He had spoken to Abram, because Abram believed God's promises and took action upon them, walking before Him with a perfect heart (Gen. 22:16-17, Heb. 6:13-18). Therefore, what God promised to do through Abram's offspring was not subject to change; however, since the promises were to Abram and to his seed, it was completely within God's prerogative to transfer the promises from the physical seed to the spiritual seed (Gal. 3:7, 29).

This was demonstrated by prophetic type in Jacob's experience at the river Jabbok (Gen. 32:22-32), where, as he wrestled with the angel, his name changed from Jacob to Israel. Jacob's wrestling with the angel symbolizes a spiritual experience in which the carnal gives way to the mind of the Spirit and an energizing is made available to do the will of God, a supernatural enabling to replace the "old nature" with the "new nature."

This is also signified by the name Jabbok, which means "outpouring. As in the type, God pours out His Spirit on all those who have clearly seen His provision for a walk of victory in the Spirit rather than struggling on in the flesh. The name Israel (meaning "prince with God") then comes into operation with the transfer to a more spiritual condition.

The principle of transference to the spiritual counterpart is also pictured by the fact that Jacob (meaning supplanter) replaced or supplanted his brother Esau as the birthright holder after Esau had "sold out" and despised his birthright. The name Esau means "hairy," indicating the earthly or carnal man, and that name was later changed to Edom (meaning "red") which links him to the earth from which physical man was formed. Thus Esau becomes a type of all the unregenerate human race, even those among the descendants of Abraham. Jacob-Israel is the type of the spirit-born man, the new creature who replaces the old man of sin. These prophetic events in type are designed to emphasize the truth that the physical seed of Abraham would eventually be replaced by the spiritual seed. Jesus made this a reality when He said to those who boasted of their descent from Abraham, "The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a gathering of people who will bring forth its fruits" (Matt. 21:43), to a Kingdom of priests (Rev. 1:5-6).

The natural or physical people of Israel have been preserved through the years, not by virtue of the covenant God made with them as a nation, but simply because of the word which He gave to Abram, confirmed by His oath. The covenant made at Sinai with the twelve tribes was broken and is no longer in force. Because they broke their agreement, God scattered the people of natural Israel among the nations about 720 B.C., causing them to be cut off and absorbed into the Gentile world - with one exception. That exception was the preserved remnant of the southern Kingdom of Judah which was reestablished in the Promised Land so that there might be a people to receive the Messiah and to fulfill all the things written in the Scriptures.
It was God's mercy and forgiveness that made possible their return from captivity to be preserved until the coming of the Messiah. The measure of this forgiveness and its prophetic equation was given to the Disciples in answer to Peter's question concerning forgiveness (Matt. 18:21-22). The answer expressed the essence of what God had been willing to do, even as He requested the same of the Disciples. He would not require of man what He would not be willing to fulfill Himself. Peter asked if seven times would be sufficient in forgiving his brother and Jesus told him that it should rather be seventy times seven. The number given conveyed the idea of completeness of forgiveness, with no animosity retained within the heart, and also conveyed the idea of complete or continuous forgiveness whenever true repentance (the act of turning to righteousness) is manifested, almost without limitation as to the number of times.

But also veiled in Jesus' answer was the declaration of God's grace toward an errant nation, showing the extent of His mercy to that remnant which was given permission to return to the Promised Land and later to rebuild the Temple. After numerous difficulties, the returned remnant finally began the reinstituted sacrifices on a regular and continuous basis. From the time that the sacrificial rights were reinstituted until the time that the Messiah was cut off was exactly 70 times 7, or 490 years. Thus did the Lord proclaim the extent of His grace and forgiveness after permitting the remnant to return. At the close of that 490 years, the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which provided the foundation for all grace and forgiveness, was offered once for all time. Beyond that 490 years there could be no forgiveness, except on the grounds of the perfect sacrifice of the promised Messiah, the giving of Himself as the all-sufficient expiation for the sins of the world. The continuance of the animal sacrifices by the unbelieving Jewish people beyond the stipulated time period, in complete rejection of the one all-sufficient sacrifice, constituted the abomination for which the nation and the Temple were made desolate (Dan. 9:27). From that time on, those who even with good intentions continued the animal sacrifices fulfilled the prophetic words of Isaiah to the effect that he who kills an ox will be guilty as if he killed a man for sacrifice; he who sacrifices a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he who presents an offering, as if it were swine's blood; he who burns incense, as if he blessed an idol. They have chosen their own ways and their soul delights in their abominations or despicable things. They did evil before My eyes and chose that in which I do not delight (Isa. 66:3-4). Because of their abominations, they were broken as a people and scattered, remaining in exile and unfruitful for an entire age. But again, because of God's oath to Abraham, He has preserved a remnant of the Jews throughout this age and will yet deal with them.

The 490 year period from the reestablishment of the sacrifices to the establishment of the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ is not the only use of 70 sevens in Scripture. The 490 year period is also a pattern which the Lord chooses to use again and again. Our Lord is the same in the past, the present and the future. There was a 490 year period from the time Joseph was sold into the land of Egypt to the time the Israelites were brought out of Egypt. There was a 490 year period from the time of the rule over the Israelites by the Pharaoh who did not know Joseph to the time of the rule of their next king, Saul. There was a 490 year period from the rule of the new king, Saul, to the rule of the new line of kings over the land of Palestine, starting with Nebuchadnezzar. There was also a 490 year period from the time of dedicating Solomon's Temple to the dedication of the rebuilt Temple after the remnant returned from Babylon. Note that in each of these 490 year periods there was a continuity of time right up to the completion of the period; in none of them is found a discontinuity or a portion of the period set apart for later fulfillment. Each of the periods began with the initiation of a new thing or a change bringing about a new phase, and each extended without interruption to its end and to a beginning of a new phase of the same subject matter. We need to note this typical characteristic, because of the 490 year period appearing in the prophecy of Daniel 9, which must be handled according to the other paralleling patterns given in Scripture.

DANIEL 9

In about 538 B.C., Daniel knew it was almost God's time for completion of the 70 year exile in Babylon, because Jeremiah had prophesied the exile would extend over a period of 70 years (Jer. 25:11-12, 29:10). The first attack on the city of Jerusalem and the deportation of many of its inhabitants was about 606 B.C., but the Temple was not destroyed until the second siege about 586 B.C. Therefore the release of the people of Judah to return to Jerusalem was due in about 536 B.C. and the rebuilt Temple was due to be completed about 516 B.C. There was a 70 year span (with a 20-year offset) to the completion of the Temple. Daniel also knew that his people had been cast out of their own land because they sinned against God prior to the exile period, and he knew they continued to displease Him during the exile period. As later became more evident, the people took up the patterns of the Babylonians and became comfortable there; there were but a few, a remnant, who desired to leave Babylon and return to Judah.

Because of their diffidence, Daniel was moved and inspired to intercede on the behalf of his nation. There had been no repentance by the nation, no turning from what displeased the Lord, and no turning to what would please Him. Daniel confessed this as a representative of and as an intercessor for the nation in exile, with prayer and supplications, with fasting, and with sackcloth and ashes (Dan. 9:3-4, I Jn. 1:9). Although Daniel had been walking in a way pleasing to God, his prayer of specific confession and request for forgiveness included himself, because he was a member of that body of Jews which was participating in sin. This is one of the several examples in Scripture of the effectiveness of a vicarious repentance by a person living a life "sold out" to Yahweh-Jesus, but he could only repent as one member of the nation. He rightly called attention to the fact that harm is permitted to come upon those who persist in turning away from God (I Cor. 5:1-5). His only basis for requesting forgiveness and grace is for “Your own sake, O my Elohim, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name" (Dan. 9:19). Here, a very useful pattern is presented for application today (II Tim. 3:16).

Daniel immediately received an answer to his effective praying, even while he was still speaking (Matt. 6:6-8). And according to Gabriel's revealing to Daniel, there was to be another period of 70 units connected with God's plan for Judah, though this one was to be a 70 times 7 period (Dan. 9:24). In effect, Daniel was told that the "Jeremiah 70 years" would be no great problem, but that they pointed toward a greater deliverance on a higher plane. This prophetic word was to be specifically tied to God's dealings with the Jewish people and with Jerusalem, during a period of 70 times 7, or 490 years. In Daniel 9:24, the words "determined or decreed" upon the people means "especially set aside or cut out" for your people. The offer being made was to bring a finishing (lit. restraining) of the transgression of His people so His plan could continue to develop (Isa. 53:5), to seal up and make full the measure of sin (Isa. 53:6,10), to purge away and make expiation and reconciliation for sin (the iniquity not covered by the Law), to bring in everlasting righteousness (the nucleus of it is the Seed of Christ - Isa. 54:17), and to seal up (fulfill) the vision and the prophet (what he reported), and to anoint a "most holy," the Holy of Holies (Jesus Christ, also the Christian Dispensation).

In other words, this offer was intended to bring into effect a new rule in the Cho­sen Land so it could then become a pattern and a living exhibit of the Lord's intent and objective for all lands. But it was to be presented as an offer (as is always God's way) and therefore was not automatically to come into effect independently of its acceptance or rejection. The offer, as was each of the offers to the Chosen Nation, was to be conditional and provisional. Here again we see the "two sides of the coin" - the promises but also the conditions; it would be presented as a contractual agreement, but would only become a firm contract when the Chosen People, or an adequate number of them accepted the terms of the offer. This same approach is consistent with every one of the offers previously made to this Chosen Nation. The 70 weeks in Daniel 9:24 were originally written as "70 sevens," not 70 weeks. The 70 times 7 would be 490, which is to be translated into prophetic time (Ezek. 4:6), and thereby we obtain the 490 years of which Gabriel spoke. This 490 year period, following the pattern of the previous 490 year parallels, would bring the reestablishment of Jerusalem and Palestine into God's plan and a release from the hindering of Satan and his agents. Initially, these developments were to be specifically tied to God's dealings with Jerusalem and the Jewish people, the nation of Israel - no others. The period was to start at the time of a commandment (Hebrew: "a word") to restore and reestablish Jerusalem, not just the Temple in this instance. It was to extend into the coming of the Anointed One and then through seven more years of His ministry (Dan. 9:25-27), thus completing the 490 year period. The decree or "word" was to bring about the building of Jerusalem with walls (Hebrew: ramparts) which provide protection, such a wall and moat, and streets (Hebrew: broad wide place) or square, in troublous times.

According to our records, these are the commandments and letters that were issued:
cyrus, about 536 B.C. (II Chron. 36:22-23, Ezra 1:1-2). A proclamation (Hebrew: a voice to go out over), and also writing, to rebuild the Temple.
the lord to Haggai, about 520 B.C. (Hag. 1). A prophetic command to resume building the Temple.

Xerxes I to Esther, about 473 B.C. (Esther 8:10). A written letter and command (a word) effecting deliverance for the Jews from Haman's intentions.
Artaxerxes to Ezra, about 460 B.C. (Ezra 7:13). An enabling for the second expedition to Jerusalem. It is said this was a written decree (Hebrew: discretion, taste) stating that all Israel may go, giving permission to exercise free will. Not all did go.

Artaxerxes to Nehemiah, about 445 B.C. (Neh. 2:8). Letters to provide beams for the gates of the fortress (in the wall) and material for the city's wall and for the house Nehemiah would enter or occupy. The builders had to work on the walls and gates with sword in hand (Neh. 4:18), for the building was done in troublous times. Which is the commandment prophesied in Daniel 9:25?

The time to the Anointed One was 7 sevens plus 62 sevens, which total 483 years, but first we must explore the kind of year which is used by the Lord in this prophecy. The year we use today is the earth's orbit around the sun in 365 1/4 days, but is that the same as God's year or that orbit time in effect before sin affected and infected our planet? There have always been 12 months, that number is one of God's numbers. But Revelation 11:2 and Revelation 13:5 speak of 42 months … a period in which Revelation 11:3 and Revelation 12:6 tell us there are precisely 1,260 days. In Revelation 12:14 and Daniel 7:25, this period of 42 months or 1,260 days is a period of 3 1/2 years. The numbering of 1,260 days and also 42 months in 3 1/2 years is particularly interesting, since within every three year period of the Hebrew calendar there is an extra month added to adjust the pattern of the months to the equator's declination relative to the sun. This is to keep the same months in the same seasons of every year. There is also reference to a period of five months containing 150 days in Genesis 7:11, 24 and 8:3-4, but this alone shows no special difference from the Hebrew calendar. However, these examples do indicate an even 360 days within what could be termed the sin-free orbit around the sun, and in many comparisons of Bible prophecy with archeological find­ings, the 360 day year appears to be the one used by the Lord in His plans.

If we are reading this rightly as indicating a very slight shift in earth's orbit when rebellion entered, because all of this portion of God's creation was affected (Rom. 8:19-22), the 7 sevens plus 62 sevens (483) years of the 360 day variety, concluding with the appearance of the Anointed One, would be 476 of our 3651/t day years. If Jesus Christ was born in about 1 A.D., as much evidence now seems to indicate, He was anointed for the beginning of His ministry near the end of 31 A.D. (Lk. 3:21-23). The date 476 years prior to His anointing would reach back to 445 B.C., which would be the date of the "word" or decree of Daniel 9:25, if there is no error in the observations. Historians have fixed the date on which the letters were given to Nehemiah by Artaxerxes as 445 B.C.; however, let it be noted that historical dates back to 1,500 B.C. are subject to a possible error of as much as 10 years.

After the 7 sevens plus 62 sevens of years, the Anointed One was to be cut off and have nothing to Him, having given up everything (including His close relationship with His Father) on the Cross. This timing was fulfilled early in 35 A.D., 3 1/2 years after the anointing. Also after the 7 sevens plus 62 sevens of years, a people following another leader who will come, will destroy the city and the sanctuary (Jn. 14:30). This portion of the prophecy foresaw the Anointed one being rejected and cut off (Jesus was also the "Temple"), and the outcome of the rejection - once it had been confirmed beyond recall - would afterwards result in the destruction of the City and the Sanctuary. The fulfillment of His being cut off came into effect with the nation of Israel rejecting the person of Jesus Christ and His being crucified, but the nation's opportunity to accept Him was continued through His Apostles and Disciples until about the time of Stephen's death. Beyond that time, late in 38 A.D., there was no longer any offering of that ministry to the nation through its leaders, but only to willing individuals in the nation (Acts 8:1). The opportunity presented to those individuals in natural Israel continued during a total of 40 years (a significant number in Scripture) from the beginning of Christ's ministry to its termination in 70 A.D., when the non-Christian army of pagan Rome surrounded Jerusalem, took and burned it on the Passover, including the Temple, killed tens of thousands and deported about 100,000 of its citizens (Lk. 21:20-24).

The initial fulfillment was for Israel. The final fulfillment is yet to take place for the nations of spiritual Israel. It will be associated with another surrounding and subsequent desolation of Jerusalem and Palestine by the armies of the anti-Christ, Satan incarnated in the human body of the ruler of the dreadful beast's worldwide empire now developing - a ruler who shall come. That latter desolation shall come with a flood of evil (harm) from Satan, the serpent (Rev. 12:15), and from that time to the end of the age will be continuous war and desolation for all the nations on earth (Lk. 21:22, Rev. 12:17, Matt. 24:22, Neh. 1:5-8). Obviously, the prophetic period of 70 sevens or 490 years for natural Israel and Jerusalem (483 years of the 360 day variety) would have terminated just before 38 A.D., which is consistent with the time when the New Testament or New Covenant ministry became no longer available to the nation of Israel through its leaders.

Now let us take a careful look at Daniel 9:27 solely on the basis of what we can discover in Scripture, for this verse is widely interpreted out of context. The first application of the prophecy is to the people of the Jewish nation and to Jerusalem (:24), though the final application includes spiritual Israel (the Kingdom on earth) and it’s "Jerusalem" (typing Christendom) by inescapable inference. The primary subject in the prophecy is the work and person of the Anointed One, Jesus Christ (:24-26), although a single reference is made to the people of another leader (:26). In verse 27, the prophecy continues, stating that He, the Messiah of verse 26, shall confirm (Hebrew: strengthen) a covenant or testament or agreement with many for one seven (seven years) -with the Jewish people (:24). Whatever covenant this was to be, was one which must already have been in existence with the Jewish people, for it was one which was to be strengthened. From the record of our New Testament, we know that Jesus, beginning with His Baptism by the Holy Spirit at the river Jordan (Matt. 3:16) and the anointing by His Father (Lk. 4:18; Jn. 17:3; 6:46, 62; 3:13), presented a strengthened Covenant entirely consistent with earlier covenants to that nation, which the nation was free to accept or reject.

The 69 "weeks" reached to the anointing, so the Messiah's ministry began at the initiation of the 70th "week." But the prophecy of verse 27 places a time limit on the offer of the strengthened Covenant to the Jewish nation, terminating seven years beyond its initial offering. All of God's previous covenants offered to this nation were contingent upon cooperation and all were defaulted by the nation's lack of response; yet the nation had been preserved, because of God’s unconditional promise to Abram confirmed by His oath (Heb. 6:13-18). Therefore, it was necessary that God again offer the nation an opportunity for accepting Yahweh-Jesus as its Messiah and for establishing His rule or Kingdom. Jeremiah was given prophecy on this necessity to the effect that, although old covenants had been broken by Israel, a New Covenant would be offered precisely like that of the New Testament ministry, and would be offered first to the Jewish nation - which was fulfilled during a period of seven years (Jer. 31:27-34, Heb. 8:6-13). This New Covenant was to result in a substantially strengthened relationship between the Jewish nation and God, if it was accepted; it was to terminate as did its predecessors, if it was not accepted (Zech. 11:10-14). The Messiah was to be cut off in death after the 69 "weeks," placing the crucifixion sometime during the 70th "week" (after the 70th week had been well started), making it impossible for the 70th "week" to be separated from the 69 "weeks" and placed at the end of the age.

See the bankruptcy of man's theology and interpretation. The first fulfillment of the 70th "week" has taken place, but it does not preclude some kind of parallel fulfillment in our time. In the early part of His ministry, Jesus Himself acted out the seven year pattern during the Festival of Tabernacles, especially for the benefit of the leaders of the nation who claimed to know the Scriptures so thoroughly (II Tim. 3:16). He presented the New Covenant and He warned them to accept it, or it would be withdrawn (Jn. 7:1, 10, 11, 14, 33, 34, 37). The Festival of Tabernacles celebrated the beginning of a new period, the civil new year, and this was so appropriate for the parable drama being presented. While present at the week-long Festival, He pictured His own ministry. During the first 3 1/2 days He worked among them almost incognito and veiled from the sight of most of the people. He was there for those who would search Him out (Isa. 42:1-9), Jer. 29:13), but it was as if He was not among the others. At mid-week He placed Himself boldly before them, rulers and all, and on the concluding day He completed the drama by a strong invitation to come to Him - the final invitation during the seven days (Isa. 42:4). A similar drama will again play out in our generation.

At another time, Jesus also pictured the limited time for the offer of His strengthened Covenant in the parable of the vineyard fig tree (a symbol of the nation of Israel) in which the owner of the fig tree had been looking for fruit from it for three years (Lk. 13:6-9). The tree deserved cutting down, but the vine dresser persuaded the owner to allow him to dig around it and fertilize it another season to see if subsequently it would bear fruit. If it did not bear fruit after the additional attention, then the fig tree would be cut down and taken out (Matt. 21:43). After His resurrection, when the Disciples asked Jesus if this was now the time at which He would reestablish the Kingdom and restore it to Israel (Acts 1:6-8), Jesus would not and could not give a direct answer, because the offer to the Jewish nation had not yet expired; it had 3 1/2 years yet to run before the nation finally rejected Him. Neither was it important or timely for them to know, in 35 A.D.

Jesus Himself was given to be that stronger Covenant to the people of Israel and through them to be a Light to the nations, but before the new things spring forth God tells of them (Isa. 42:6-3). Jesus was foretold to be the Messenger or Angel of the Covenant who was to suddenly come to His Temple (Mal. 3:1). Jesus Christ is the mediator of a new agreement (Heb. 9:14-15), and He came with the intention of carrying out His Holy Covenant which He sealed by oath to Abraham (Lk. 1:72-73). He ministered the truth of God to the Jews, to confirm and add to the promises made to the fathers (Rom. 15:8).

Jesus did away with the old order under a defaulted covenant, which involved symbolic sacrifices and offerings, so that He might inaugurate the new and establish the second order in which He Himself became the once-for-all sacrifice for atonement and for righteousness (II Cor. 3:14, Heb. 10:6-10). Gabriel prophesied that He would cause the sacrifice and the offering necessary for approaching God to cease (Dan. 9:27), which Jesus Christ did by the sacrifice of His own life at the midpoint of the final seven of the 70 sevens. He completed and fulfilled the meaning of all Old Testament symbolic sacrifices and washings, which pointed forward to Him and His enabling sacrifice to fill up their prophetic picture. He brought the reality into being in place of the acted out dramas in parable previews. Although Jesus knew the nation would reject Him and His astounding ministry, He did not once withdraw the confirming of this strengthened Covenant with the many of the Jewish nation during the whole seven year period. If no one else is faithful, God remains faithful and true, never reneging on His promises (Rom. 3:3-4).

Even after the Crucifixion, He continued to present the firm offer to the rulers of the nation by His Holy Spirit through the Apostles and Disciples - up to the murder of Stephen in 38 A.D. That brought the 490 year prophetic period to a close for Jerusalem and for the Jewish nation. After His resurrection, Jesus instructed the Apostles and Disciples to continue to present His strengthened Covenant to Jerusalem and Israel, beginning with the requirement of deep repentance so that all of sin could be forgiven and erased (Lk. 24:45-47). Subsequently and until the time of Stephen's death, the Jewish nation and its leaders heard the offer being proclaimed, but on that day a great and severe persecution broke out against the Church in Jerusalem which effectively scattered that group, forcing it out of contact with the government of the Jewish nation. The Apostles remained in Jerusalem to work with and encourage interested individuals in the region, but the period in which the nation as a nation could enter into the strengthened Contract offer had expired (Acts 7:57-60, 8:1).

To help in weighing and establishing the validity of the foregoing clarification of these Daniel 9 verses, let us quickly review their focus. The primary subject of 9:24 is the work of Jesus Christ; that of verse 25 is the person of Jesus Christ; and that of verse 26 is the crucifixion death of Jesus Christ after His anointing for ministry. Verse 27 gives a bold declaration of the vicarious atonement which would be accomplished by the promised Messiah. "In the midst or middle of the 70th week, He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation (of the Mosaic ordinance) to cease." Carefully note in verses 26-27, "the people of the prince" refers to many, but the "he" of verse 27 is singular, so the "he" has to refer to the "Anointed One" of verse 26. There was no further need for the animal sacrifices of the Law to continue after Jesus had appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself and was once offered to bear the sins of many (Heb. 9:26, 28).

The Messiah was to be cut off, but not for Himself; His atonement was for others. Its placement in time was at the middle of the final or 70th "week." Since 70 full "weeks" were set aside for the people (:24), the Jews had only 3 1/2 years after the crucifixion of Christ in which to repent and accept their Messiah, or once again be subject to the judgment of God and eventually suffer again being cast out of the Promised Land. Through the preaching of the Apostles, the Jews were clearly given an opportunity for national repentance, even though they had crucified their Messiah (Acts 3:12-26). Such repentance would have brought refreshing from the presence of the Lord and restitution to the nation (II Chron. 7:14). However, there was complete rejection of the Apostles' testimony by the Jewish rulers and elders. Stephen, under the power of the Holy Spirit, declared them to be stubborn and uncircumcised (unrighteous) and always resisting the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51).

The rejection of the Messiah by the Jews and their subsequent continuance of the animal sacrifices were an abomination in the sight of God, for which desolation was determined upon their land. Because of the overspreading (literally, extensions) of abominations, He (the Messiah) shall make desolate (the City and Sanctuary of verse 26), even until the full determined end shall be poured upon the desolate (land). It became impossible for God to "delight" in the continuance of animal sacrifices, once their function had been terminated by Christ's perfect sacrifice of Himself. Therefore, when the Jews continued them in rejection of Christ's sacrifice, they became that abomination in the sight of God of which Isaiah prophesied (Isa. 65:1-7, 66:1-4).

The 70 "weeks" allotted to the Jews were to run consecutively, without the final or 70th "week" being separated from the 69 and relegated exclusively to a future time. Daniel was shown that the allotted 70 "weeks" would see the fulfillment of certain things through the ministry of the promised Anointed One (Dan. 9:24). In that ministry during the 70th "week," six things were to take place:

1.To finish or fill up the transgression, i.e., expressed evil thoughts and emotions,etc. (literally, restrain transgression of the Law). This Jesus did, but the Jews filledup the transgression by crucifying Jesus and also by killing those He sent (Matt. 23:32-36).

2.To make an end of sins not covered specifically by the Law, i.e., unexpressedevil thoughts and emotions, uncleanness, etc. Jesus made an end of sins in dyingon the Cross (Heb. 9:26).

3.To make reconciliation for iniquity, i.e., perversions of truth in word and deed,willful wrongs, stubborn wrong. This was fulfilled by Jesus in reconciling the wholeworld to Himself (II Cor. 5:19).

4.To bring in everlasting righteousness. Through His death and resurrection,Jesus brought into being a reservoir of everlasting righteousness - each of Hisglorified seeds is a nucleus of His utter righteousness (Rom. 3:21-22, II Cor. 5:21, IPet. 1:23).

5.To seal up the vision and prophecy. To "seal up" means to finish or fulfill orfill up, and Jesus did so fulfill (Acts 3:18, Lk. 16:16).

6.To anoint the Most Holy; after His baptism in the Jordan, the Most Holy (Jesus) was anointed (fn. 1:32, Matt. 3:16, Lk. 3:22, 4:18-22).

All these things took place during the 70th "week."

It would have been strange, most strange, if this prophecy given to Daniel did not refer to the wonderful and exceedingly merciful New Covenant which Jesus would offer and make available for possession to Daniel's people during a seven year period. It would have been especially strange since so much of the Old Testament brings a focus on this specific objective of God in His Chosen People - for the Jewish people first, if they would, and then for the nations. Additionally, there is no paralleling precedent in other Scriptures to indicate a break in this particular 490 year period and a deferment of the 70th seven for 2,000 years, until the end of the Church Age. Nor do we dare propagate this teaching without a confirming word in Scripture, for every word of truth must be established by two or three testimonies or patterns in the Word of God (Jn. 8:17, II Cor. 13:1).

Thus, we can understand that the 490 years of God's extended grace to the Jews found its consummation in the ministry of the promised Messiah and those whom He commissioned and sent out (Jn. 20:21). Jesus was anointed for His ministry of 3 1/2 years at the beginning of the 70th and final "week" of seven years. The middle of that "week" saw the rejection of His personal ministry by the Jews. It is inconceivable that there would be a more embracing or more pointed abomination than that God's chosen nation, which He had continually blessed and disciplined in great patience and which He protected even through hateful rebellions, should absolutely refuse to accept the strengthened Covenant He offered - a covenant to enable the people of that nation to overcome all evil so they could become an example to show the way to the world. Instead they utterly rejected their Creator, and made Him a cursed sacrifice (Deut. 21:23). Even after He became the once-for-all sacrifice and propitiation for all the world, that nation completely ignored the great Gift of God, fought against Him and His followers, and smugly continued to offer animal sacrifices - ostensibly to the same God Whom they blasphemed.

The end of the "week" concluded with the Jews rejecting the witness of the Holy Spirit's testimony. Although the destruction and desolation of the nation did not come until 70 A.D., the end of their probation period of 490 years had come, and the age long judgment was certain. In 70 A.D., the people of the prince (the Roman armies) came and destroyed the city and the sanctuary (the Temple). The end was to come by being cut off by desolations (Lk. 21:20-21). In its preliminary application, the abomination of desolation standing in the Holy Place (Palestine) was the presence of the Roman armies in siege against Jerusalem (Matt. 24:15-16). Upon the extension of abomi­nations (despicable things) shall be desolation, until the full determined end is poured out on the desolated land (Dan. 9:27).

A great deal of other prophecy in Old and New Testaments tells in some detail that Satan, the desolator (Isa. 14:6, 17), and his active and passive followers will in turn see destruction poured out upon themselves (Ezek. 28:7-9, Isa. 13:9, Rev. 19:19-21). When the great abomination of continued symbolic sacrifice became fact, a succession of developments under the guidance of Satan swiftly began to envelop the Jewish nation, and then spread from that center to all nations (Lk. 18:8, Rev. 12:9). The one who makes desolate immediately came in to fill the vacuum left by the rejection of Christ, and that desolator is to stay until a full, determined end is also poured out on him.

By their unrelenting rejection of the Messiah, the Jewish nation placed itself in default and has thus received no replacement covenant or testament with the Lord to this date. The Jews then ceased to be a nation and even now, as a nation again, they have no national covenant with the Lord -just as none of the other "faiths" have any established relationship with God. But the natural sons of Abraham do have the unconditional promises given him in the Old Testament and repeated as the sure mercies to David (II Sam. 7:8-16, Ps. 89:20-37). Therefore, God will yet reinstate His contract offer, when the Jewish nation, the remnant that is then left, qualifies by specifically asking Jesus Christ to function as its Messiah (Matt. 23:38-39). This will come after almost 2,000 years of there being no contract with the people pictured as Abraham's seed which is as the dust of the earth (Gen. 13:16).

Although many words have been written here to show the continuity in fulfillment of the entire 70 "weeks" of Daniel, most Scriptures have more than one application and fulfillment. In about 445 B.C. Daniel's people heard a call to come out of Babylon and return to Jerusalem (the dwelling place of peace). A few responded - it was far from all. In this instance also, we may see an additional application and fulfillment during the final seven years of the present dispensation, but quite differently than the way traditionalists see it. In the first fulfillment, it was an act of God that caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease. Through the death of Jesus and His resurrection (His once-for-all-time sacrifice), all that was caused to cease. That was in the middle of the final "week" of seven years. If we are to see a fulfillment in the same pattern during the final seven years of the present dispensation, there should be an act of God in the middle of that final "week" which would signal right then the completion of a spiritual sacrifice and offering, and which would elevate those involved in that sacrifice, even as Jesus was elevated or glorified following the completion of His sacrifice.

The Psalmist gives us insight. "Gather My saints to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice" (Ps. 50:1-5). A Firstfruits to God and to the Lamb are now laying all upon the Altar as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1), following the Lamb wherever He goes -cooperating in carrying out His thoughts and His plan (Rev. 14:4). After their being called up higher, through translation and glorification just before the final 3 1/2 years of Great Tribulation, then it can be truly said that their sacrifice and offering to God will have ceased. They will then begin their service to the Lord on the higher plane of glorified life. When Jesus completed His earthly sacrifice and came forth from the grave to glorified life in the middle of Daniel's 70th "week," in the initial application, He was the Firstfruit of them that slept (I Cor. 15:20). Similarly, when the anointed 144,000 group is translated and glorified while living, in the middle of the pattern of the 70th "week" in its end-time final application, they will be the Firstfruits of the living (I Cor. 15:23). There is thus no conflict in perceiving that many prophetic Scriptures have more than one application and fulfillment.

There is still another sense in which sacrifice and offering will cease after the Firstfruits are translated. We read in Acts 17:30 that God overlooks times of ignorance. Peter, speaking to the Jews in the Temple, suggests, rightly or wrongly, that it was through ignorance of the common people that they crucified their Messiah (Acts 3:15-17). But after His resurrection, when there was incontrovertible evidence that He was alive and had triumphed over the grave, there was no further excuse for a claim of ignorance -and they were commanded to repent (Acts 3:19-21). It shall be much the same in the day when the Firstfruits are elevated in translation. The world will have been given concrete evidence of the truth of the Bible and of a living Christ. Ignorance, because of the apostasy of the church systems, will be utterly inexcusable - even if it might have been excusable before (Rom. 1:19-20). The Firstfruits translation will be God's signal to the church systems that their dead denominational and sectarian ways, as well as their man-made doctrines and traditions, are to Him as the "extension of abominations" for which judgment must come (Dan. 9:27, 1 Pet. 4:17). That which, in their ignorance and blindness, they thought was acceptable as a "sacrifice and offering" must cease. With the manifestation of the glorified Sons of God and the mighty outpouring of His Spirit which will shortly follow, the New Era will begin - an era of physical immortality on earth. Spiritual refreshing and restitution will come to all who will repent and humble themselves before the Lord, refusing to perpetuate previous church concepts and ways (Acts 3:19-21). Similarly, as the Jews had but 3 1/2 years remaining after the death and glorification of Jesus to accept Him as their promised Messiah and King, so will the world have just 3 1/2 years after the glorification of the Firstfruits to turn to the Lord Jesus as Savior and get ready for the returning King. Thank God, eyes are now beginning to be opened and some are beginning to enter into the new thing He is doing. As with Lazarus, the Lord is taking away the "napkin of blindness" which has been around our eyes, and we are being loosed from the "grave clothes" of our old ways of thinking and traditions (Jn. 11:43-45).

God's program of development was not stopped because of the refusal of the first Chosen People to participate in it. Because the Jewish nation would not prepare for bringing all nations into the strengthened Covenant, our Lord started a new thing specifically among individuals of the other nations willing to become spiritual sons of Abraham. God did not leave Himself without a witness in the world, neither can His purposes be frustrated. When there was contract default by the preserved remnant of Abraham's physical seed during the ministry of Jesus the Messiah, He brought His replacement factor into operation.

The Kingdom mantle was lifted from the Jews as a nation and given to the spiritual heirs of promise, fulfilling the declaration made by Jesus (Matt. 21:42-45). Then in accord with many prophecies, the Gentiles received the Gospel witness and began to bring forth fruit, while the national Jewish fig tree remnant remained cursed and unfruitful (Mk. 11:12-14,20-21). Throughout our present age, the Gentiles are having their opportunity, because the promises to Abraham's seed after the flesh have been transferred to Abraham's seed according to the Spirit. A new Israel is functioning in the dynamic of Abraham's faith (Rom. 4:16; Gal. 3:13-14,29), natural Israel having been temporarily shunted into the background until the close of the age, when once again that nation shall become prominent in God's work (Matt. 23:37-39).

Israel after the flesh consisted of twelve tribes, each of which had an inheritance in the Promised Land. The Levites made up a thirteenth tribe, having no inheritance in the land, but receiving a special place as God's servants among all the people. Joseph, the birthright holder, had a double inheritance through his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. After the reign of Solomon, the Kingdom was divided. Ten tribes followed Jeroboam; two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, remained loyal to Rehoboam, Solomon's son. Because of the defection of Jeroboam and because of the ten tribes taking on idolatry, the Levites migrated to Judah so that they might continue to minister as the custodians of the Law and the Temple. Remnants of most of the other tribes also migrated to the southern Kingdom of Judah so that they might remain true to the God of their fathers. Thus the spiritual elements were siphoned off from the ten tribes, making their plunge into apostasy even more rapid. Only the voices of certain prophets, raised up at times, momentarily stemmed the tide into complete idolatry.

Ten is the number of the Gentiles who stem from Noah, the 10th from Adam. By type and by historical pattern, the ten northern tribes became symbolic of Gentile Christendom which progressively also has become steeped in idolatry. In the spirit of prophecy, Isaiah spoke of the territory around the Sea of Galilee as "Galilee of the nations" (Isa. 9:1). After the deportation of the ten tribes into the land of Assyria, their territory became occupied by Gentile peoples and was never fully Israel territory again. Even after a later migration of many from the southern Kingdom of Judah (known as the Jews) to the northern area, it has never been free of Gentile influence and domination, except for the interlude beginning in 1948. Furthermore, after the ten tribes were deported to Assyria, they were eventually absorbed into the Gentile world and lost to history, as far as any separate identity is concerned. Restoration became impossible when Yahweh cast them off and gave them a bill of divorce (Jer. 3:6-8).

Since His own Law declared that a man could not remarry a woman whom he had divorced, it became impossible for Yahweh to receive them back into covenant relationship (Deut. 24:1-4). Not until the crucifixion of the man Jesus Christ could the conditions of banishment be reversed and reconciliation made possible through His death to the old and resurrection to the new (Rom. 7:1-4). The prophet Hosea testified to that "Instead of its being said to them, You are not My people, it shall be said to them, You are the children of the living God" (Hos. 1:10-11). This was a prophetic declaration that many of the descendants of the ten tribes, having lost their identity and living in the Gentile world, would receive the glad tidings of salvation through Jesus Christ and would be come the children of God through Him (Jn. 1:12), also becoming a part of the "new Israel" of the Spirit.

The history of the southern Kingdom of Judah was entirely different. Judah was not divorced and cut off, even though taken into captivity. A remnant was permitted to return in preparation for the Messiah. However, after Judah's rejection of the Messiah and their blatant denial of His vicarious atonement by continuing to sacrifice animals to God, they, too, were divorced and cut off, their land made desolate and they were scattered among the nations. Nevertheless, they were not absorbed into the Gentiles as were the northern tribes, but have retained their distinctive identity down through the years. For this reason, those of Judah are the only identifiable portion of the physical seed of Abraham and, even though there has been much intermarriage with other peoples among them, the Lord has promised to cleanse their blood (Joel 3:20-21).

When Judah turned down the strengthened Contract offered by Jesus Christ, He transferred the tendered contract terms to a people among the nations who would choose to become "replacement Israel." He did this so a Body of Christ could become fully prepared to enter into possession of all the terms of the strengthened Covenant. That Body would become the exemplary display of the truth of those provisions, thereby demonstrating to others how they, too, can take up the strengthened Covenant and move into the experiential possession of all that it offers. How much easier it will be for many to see clearly and begin fully to trust Jesus Christ in all He has already proclaimed, when it is visibly demonstrated at the blowing of the seventh Trumpet that even a few human "earthen vessels" have truly entered into a living of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. How encouraging it will be to know others have fully overcome all sins and everything the spiritual principalities and powers can bring against them (Eph. 6:12), actually shutting off the wages of sin - even death in the physical body (Matt. 16:28; Jn. 6:50,58, 8:51, 11:26; Rom. 8:23; I Cor. 15:51). God's program continues as planned, but with the people of other nations "grafted" into it (Rom. 11:13-29). It will be through the ministry of a faithful few that a true portion of the Church will become the Glorious Church during the Great Tribulation period. Then many of the natural sons of Abraham and many more sons from the nations will finally be joined to Jesus Christ in the strengthened Covenant.

God does not play favorites (Rom. 2:11). During the past almost 2,000 years vacated by natural Israel, He has made a period of training and preparation available to those of all nations who will choose to become the spiritual sons of Abraham (Gal. 3:7), whether of Gentile or Jewish origin. As a result of the Jewish nation's refusal to enter the provisions of His contract offer, the "Israel" now recognized by our Lord has expanded far beyond the physical boundaries of Palestine, even as was prophetically pictured in the Old Testament by the dispersion of the ten northern tribes of Israel among all nations. God has also provided almost 2,000 years of exposure to training and preparation to the Christian community. Again, the 2,000 years of training were for bringing this spiritual Israel to the level at which it could be presented with the opportunity for fulfilling the strengthened Covenant. Again, it would finish and put an end to transgression, seal up and make full the measure of sin, bring in everlasting righteousness in the millennial Kingdom, complete and fulfill the vision and the Prophet's disclosure, and anoint a most holy company on earth (Dan. 9:24). Refusal of the first offer to the Chosen People brought the same offer to the many peoples of all nations.

The same pattern Jesus employed with the two southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin is also to be employed with the expanded spiritual Israel. As there were about 2,000 years of training in natural Israel from the time of its father to prepare for the first coming of Jesus Christ, so there have been another almost 2,000 years of training available for spiritual Israel to prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. As there was then a voice ministry of John the Baptist for preparing the way (a people) for the First Coming, through repentance, so there is now a voice ministry going out to call for repentance in a people before His Second Coming. Just as Jesus then brought an offer of a strengthened Covenant, beginning with a personal ministry to His first Chosen People of natural Israel and extending through a period of 3 1/2 years, so will He yet fulfill the same pattern for spiritual Israel in a second 3 1/2 year period of personal ministry through the Manifested Sons (Rom. 8:18-24). They will then be functioning in His express image to fully and accurately reflect Him during the 3 1/2 years of Great Tribulation now soon to break upon a rebellious world (Rev. 11:3). The sons will perform the same function as the Son. However, unlike the earlier rejection by natural Israel of Jesus Christ and His strengthened Covenant, in this time there will be a prepared and matured portion of the Body of Christ ready to take up the strengthened Contract as the understanding of it is opened up the second time. In our time, the victory over sin and Satan and death will be proclaimed and demonstrated by many, as it was almost 2,000 years ago by One. In this end-time of the age, there will not be the blanket refusal of the Covenant offered to spiritual Israel, but there will be a terminating date on which the offering period will expire for those who continue in rebellion.