Seventy Sevens in the Prophecy of Daniel 9: Part 3a
Part 3a The final terminal of the prophecy of the 63 sevens
GOD ANOINTED OUR LORD AS MESSIAH AT HIS BAPTISM
Dispensationalists have both the beginning of the 483-year prophecy and its end incorrect in their timeline.
For the airtight starting time for the prophetic clock please follow our link below:
https://www.williamrandolphpublishing.com/prophecy/seventy-weeks-in-the-prophecy-of-daniel9-part1
Now we prove that the phrase “unto Messiah the Prince” in Daniel 9:25 is not at our Lord’s virgin conception, birth, or ascension but at His Baptism.
In the Old Testament, God first anointed His prophets, priests, and kings with oil and then sent them on their missions.
But God anointed our Lord Jesus, not with oil, but with what the oil represented, which was the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:18).
It was the real anointing, fulfilling all the Old Testament anointings, which were by oil.
Luke 4:18 says, “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed.”
Also, we know that it was at our Lord’s baptism that God declared Him to be the Messiah, the Son of God.
We know that Jesus was eternally the Son of God. He did not become the Son of God at His baptism.
But we believe that it was at His baptism that God personally announced that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, fulfilling Psalm 2:2.
ACTS 4:25-26 IDENTIFIES JESUS AS GOD’S ANOINTED ONE OF PSALM 2:2
Psalm 2:2 says, “The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, against the LORD and against His Anointed One.”
God’s anointed one of Psalm 2:2 is our Lord Jesus, whom the Holy Spirit anointed with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:25-26).
The “kings of the earth and our rulers” who gather themselves against God’s anointed one (Psalm 2:2,) are King Herod, Caesar, Pilate, and the Sanhedrin Court who conspired against Jesus the Messiah [Anointed One] to crucify Him according to Acts 4:25-26.
TABULAR VIEW OF THE FULFILLMENT OF PSALM 2:2 IN ACTS 4:25-26
|
THE PROPHECY OF PSALM 2:2 |
PETER QUOTES PSALM 2:1-2 IN ACTS 4:25-26 AS BELOW: |
|
Psalm 2:1 “Why do the nations [Gentiles] rage and the peoples plot in vain? |
Acts 4:25 “You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?’” |
|
Psalm 2:2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against His Anointed One: |
Acts 4:26 “The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One [Christ].” |
Acts 4:27 goes on to identify the “kings of the earth” and “our rulers” as below:
Acts 4:27 says, “In fact, this is the very city [Jerusalem] where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles [Romans] and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.”
GOD ANOINTED JESUS AS MESSIAH AT HIS BAPTISM
God anointed our Lord with the Holy Spirit at His baptism (Matthew 3:16-17).
It was at the time in which God manifested our Lord among the believers whom John was baptizing (Matthew 3:16-17).
Mattthew 3:16 says, “As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him.”
Matthew 3:17 says, “And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!’”
As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him as Son of God.
So, the time of our Lord’s baptism was the time that God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit for the work of Messiah. It was not at the time of His birth.
And we know that after His baptism our Lord Messiah went to the synagogue in Nazareth and declared that God had [now] fulfilled Isaiah 61:1.
THE BEGINNING AND END OF THE PROPHECY OF DANIEL 9:25
God expresses the beginning and the end of the prophecy of 483 sevens in Daniel 9:25b as follows:
“…From the issuance of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah…”
And the word “Messiah is interchangeable with the word Anointed One.
So, we know that the Dispensational numbers begin with the wrong date (444 BC) and end with the wrong event (the birth of Christ).
We cannot say, as Dispensationalists do (1), that God fulfilled the phrase, “unto Messiah the Prince” of Daniel 9:25 at His birth.
God anointed Jesus as Messiah by the Holy Spirit, not at His birth, but at His baptism.
GOD CHANGED THE LENGTHS OF SOME OF THE TIMES OF DANIEL 9:24-27
If God originally intended all the “times” of Daniel 9:25 to be years, he later changed the lengths of some of the times.
If so, God increased the lengths of some of the “sevens” of Daniel’s 490-times prophecy.
This would have been because Yahweh was giving Israel more time in which to abandon sin and come to Him.
God treated some of the “sevens” of the prophecy as literal years and yet others as symbolic or figurative.
HOW GOD MYSTICALLY DEALT WITH KING CYRUS
It is noticeable that God set the starting point of His prophetic clock of Daniel 9:25 as the decree of Cyrus.
And God called Cyrus His anointed, even though Cyrus was not a believer in Yahweh. But God mystically put it in Cyrus’ heart to do His will (Isaiah 45:1).
Isaiah 45:1 “This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut:”
In Hebrew the word “anointed” means the same as the English word “Messiah,” and in Greek it is “Christ.”
God called Cyrus His anointed because he was a picture, shadow, or type of Christ.
So, God raised up Cyrus as a type of Christ. Cyrus was not the ultimate Christ. Cyrus was not God’s Anointed One of which Psalm 2:2 spoke.
The Hebrew word “anointed,” is “Christ,” Christos, in the Greek New Testament.
So, God made Cyrus a king and made him [mystically] (2) do exactly what God providentially caused Cyrus to do (Isaiah 45:13).
Isaiah 45:13 says, “I will raise up Cyrus in righteousness, and I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild My city and set My exiles free, but not for payment or reward, says the LORD of Hosts.”
Since some prophetic matters are true in those who are shadows of Christ,
And since Cyrus is a shadow of Christ, in that God even calls him His anointed,
We conclude that Cyrus did some righteous things, but our Lord Jesus did everything righteously,
And we conclude that God made some of Cyrus’ ways straight, but all of His eternal Son’s ways were straight,
And since Cyrus decreed the building of God’s city of Jerusalem,
We conclude that our Lord is the one who built the true Jerusalem above (John 14:1-2; Hebrews 12:22a).
Hebrews 12:22a says, “Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem…”
Also lucid is that Cyrus’ decree was between 538 and 535 BC. No other king’s decree fulfills Daniel 9:25.
We also know that the prophecy of Daniel 9:25 foretells time until “Messiah the Prince [Ruler].” Brackets mine.
And, again, we know that Isaiah 45:13, written in 690 BC, 152 years prior to Cyrus’ decree, says,
“I will raise up [Cyrus] in righteousness, and I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild My city and set My exiles free, but not for payment or reward, says the LORD of Hosts."
So, we know that God prophesied that Cyrus (a king not yet born at the time of Isaiah’s prophecy) would decree the rebuilding of His City of Jerusalem.
Isaiah 44:28 says, “who [God] says of Cyrus, 'My shepherd will fulfill all that I desire,' who [Cyrus] says of Jerusalem, 'She will be rebuilt,' and of the temple, 'Let its foundation be laid.'" [Brackets mine.]
We know that Isaiah 44:28 proves that it was Cyrus’ decree that ended the 70-year Babylonian Captivity and began Daniel’s seventy-sevens prophecy.
We know that God predestined Cyrus to do his will and gave him a heart to do it as well. God even named Cyrus in the prophecy of Isaiah in 690 BC.
We know that 2 Chronicles 36:22 says, “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:”
So, we know by literal Scripture that the time of Cyrus’ decree was the date of the beginning tick of the prophetic clock of Daniel 9:24-27.
We therefore conclude that the number “7” is both a literal number and a symbolic number in the Bible.
Thus, it is not surprising that some of the seventy sevens of Daniel 9:24-27 are literal sevens of years, but others also signify “completion” or “severely.” We must interpret the Bible in the light of the time, customs, and language in which God inspired it.
GOD’S PATTERN OF CHANGING PROPHESIED TIMES
Just as God changed the prophecy of Jonah from 40 days to 148 years, He can and does change prophetic times.
And we conclude that God did change the times of the prophecy that He gave to Daniel through the angel Gabriel.
DUE EITHER TO GOD’S COMPASSION OR TO HIS STRICT JUSTICE, HE CAN AND DOES CHANGE THE DURATION OF PROPHETIC TIMES.
God prophesied through Jonah that in 40 days He would destroy Nineveh. But when Nineveh repented, God spared the city. God gave Nineveh another 148 years of national life on this earth.
Nineveh, which Jonah foretold would last only 40 days, continued 148 years longer (Isaiah 10:5, 12; Zephaniah 2:13-15; Isaiah 37:36).
So, due to God’s compassion He can and does change prophetic times.
JUDAH DID NOT REPENT DURING THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY
On the other hand, most of Judah and Benjamin of the Babylonian Captivity did not repent at the preaching of Ezekiel and Jeremiah (Daniel 9:13).
Daniel 9:13 says, “Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquities and giving attention to Your truth.”
Perhaps this was why God turned the 483 years into 560 years until the anointing of Messiah.
God is longsuffering and gives people extra time in which to repent (Matthew 23:37).
And when we do turn to Him, believe in Him, and change our lives, He sometimes gives more time on this earth.
We know that Matthew 23:37 says, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!”
It was 560 years from Cyrus’ Decree until the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We know that our Lord’s baptism was when God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit as Messiah (Matthew 3:16-17).
We trust God’s Word that this began the seventieth week of Daniel.
During the time of the entire prophecy, our Lord was waiting patiently for Israel to repent.
And we know that our Lord Jesus came to bring, not only grace, but also judgment (John 8:39).
Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world…” (John 9:39).
GOD’S WAY OF STORING UP WRATH
We know that there was not a “gap” in the prophecy. The lengthening of time was a delay due to God’s patience and longsuffering (Daniel 9:13).
Daniel 9:13a says, “Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it upon us.”
And we know that God has stored up wrath during New Testament times to reveal it at His final judgment (Romans 2:4-5).
Romans 2:4 says, “Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
Romans 2:5 says, “But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”
We know that the masses of Israel did not repent during the Babylonian Captivity (Daniel 9:13).
And we know that unsaved Israelites completely oppose our Lord Jesus Christ.
And we know that God is being patient, waiting for all Jews and Gentiles to turn to Him.
And we know that there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile since all are alike in sin (Romans 3:22-23).
And we know that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile since God is calling both to turn to Him individually (Romans 10:9-11).
THE TRUE ISRAEL
We know that the Israelites of faith, known as the remnant of Israel, were always the true Israel (Romans 11:2-5). (3)
We know that a sizable percentage of those Jews who returned to the land under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah were believers in Yahweh.
They returned as a remnant and as individuals due to their faith in God and His Messiah.
Thus, God could easily change 483 years into 580 years without breaking any of His own laws. That is His way.
IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FINAL WEEK OF DANIEL’S PROPHECY
So, it makes sense that God also changed the duration of the prophecy that He gave to Daniel about the last 3½ times of Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy sevens.
And since when Yahweh sees a great revival, joy fills His heart, and He prolongs His prophetic times,
And since in English we also have word pictures. For example, “Mayday” does not always mean the literal first day of May. Mayday can be both a literal number and a distress call,
And since the Apostles of the New Testament believed that the second coming of Christ was near at hand,
And since God was rejoicing in the salvation of so many people,
And since the first 3½ years of the final week of Daniel’s prophecy was our Lord Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry,
And since the final 3½ times symbolize the entire Church Age, it being our Lord’s Heavenly ministry,
And since “one day is, with the Lord, as a thousand years,”
And since only God the Father knows the times and seasons,
And since Jesus Christ is ruling from Heaven during the final 3½ times,
And since, when Simon Peter wrote his second Epistle, he knew that some were believing that Jesus’ coming was overdue (2 Peter 3:9),
And since Peter attributed the seeming delay in our Lord’s coming, to a lack of understanding that God is patient (2 Peter 3:9),
And since 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance,”
And since the Apostle Peter believed that God delayed the second coming of Christ, giving time for some to turn to God in repentance and faith,
And since before our Lord ascended, the disciples asked Him the following question in Acts 1:6: “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
And since they may have known that our Lord fulfilled the first 3½ times of Daniel’s seventieth week in His public ministry,
And since they asked our Lord if He was going to restore the Kingdom to [believing] Israel at that time (Acts 1:6),
And since Jesus replied in Acts 1:7, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority,”
And since God tells us that the fullness of Israel is a set figure, (4)
https://www.williamrandolphpublishing.com/prophecy/the-fullness-of-israel-and-the-gentiles
And since our Lord Jesus had already revealed to His disciples that the new Kingdom consists of only born-again people (Matthew 5:3-12),
Note: For this please see our post as follows:
https://www.williamrandolphpublishing.com/matthew5/jesus-says-his-kingdom-fulfills-daniels-kingdom-promise
And since His disciples had been learning from our Lord for 40 days since His resurrection,
And since Old Testament national Israel did not have many born-again people. It had some, but most were only born once as descendants of Jacob (Israel),
And since God only allowed the regenerate descendants of Abraham to live in the land during the time of the Patriarchs, showing that only believers belong in the promised land,
And since our Lord Jesus could not tell His disciples that it would be ten days before Pentecost because His Father had not yet revealed that to Him (Acts 1:7-8).
And since He said to them that they will receive power to witness to Jews, Samaritans, and the entire world when the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:8),
And since they might deduce from this that the new Israel would consist only of born-again people,
And since the prophets of the Old Testament foretold the ministry of Messiah Jesus to both Jews and Gentiles,
Therefore, we conclude that Pentecost was the time that God revealed the born-again new Israel, as led by Christ and His Apostles.
And we conclude that the new Israel includes people who all have the Holy Spirit. It is Spiritual Israel. It has both Jews and Gentiles equally in Christ.
And we conclude that the enthronement of Christ over the New Israel is what Acts 2:34-35 describes,
Acts 2:34-35 says, “For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand 35until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’”
And since God’s enemies now openly are those Jews and Gentiles who crucified His Only Begotten Son,
We also conclude that Acts 2:36 celebrates our Lord Jesus’ ascension to the position of the ultimate Messiah (anointed King of the true Israel).
And since in Acts 2:36 our Lord via the Holy Spirit and Simon Peter is evangelizing national Israel,
Acts 2:36 says, “Therefore let all Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ [Messiah]!”
And since Simon Peter was inviting national Israel to turn away from their sin of crucifying Messiah and become part of [true] Israel,
We also conclude that the evidence that our Lord was now the king of the New Spiritual Israel was that the Holy Spirit had come and internationalized the Kingdom.
GENTILE PROSELYTES HEARING GOD’S WORD IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGES AT PENTECOST
There were Gentile proselytes of the Jews hearing the wonderful works of God in their own languages at Pentecost. (Acts 2:7).
“The stone [Jesus] became a mountain [kingdom] and filled the whole earth” (Daniel 2:35).
REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY
And we confess that this is not replacement theology since the Church is the Israel of prophecy. It is the same Israel that the Law and the Prophets foretold.
We also confess that the multi-national Church did not replace national Israel any more than national Israel replaced the Patriarchal faith at the time of Moses.
It is the same Israel as in Patriarchal times when God only allowed the born-again seed of Abraham to live in the land.
Rather, the Church is the true Israel. (John 8:37, 39, 44; Romans 2:28-29; 9:6-10; 9:22-32; 11:1-32; Galatians 3:29; 6:16; Revelation 2:9; 3:9).
We confess that the Israel of the Old Covenant dispensation of national Israel was like a nut. The true coconut was inside, while the outer husk was coarse and uninviting (Romans 2:28-29).
We believe the new dispensation words of Romans 2:28-29 which says,
“A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. 29 No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God” (Romans 2:28-29).
And we believe Galatians 3:29 which says, “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.”
NOTES:
(1) Dispensationalists say that the phrase in Daniel 9:25 “unto Messiah the Prince…” finds its fulfillment at Jesus’ birth. But God set Him apart as Messiah the Prince at His baptism when He anointed Jesus for His ministry. From that time the Spirit of God was upon our Lord without measure.
(2) To us, God’s way of raising up King Cyrus is a mystery. Cyrus had free will to do whatever he wanted in life. But God caused him to do His will. Part of believing in God is believing that He can and does cause activity in man that only God can cause. God’s ways are higher than our ways.
(3) Romans 11:2-5 says, “God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel: 3“Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well”? 4And what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5In the same way, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.”
(4) There are two truths that co-exist with one-another like the Deity and humanity of our Lord Jesus co-exist in Him. One is the sovereignty of God, in which He plans to save His elect. The other is that God changes the number of the believers based upon whether they trust and obey or not. Both are true. Those who repent and believe are God’s people. But the Spirit of God makes it so. We do not know how He does it. So, we use the word “mystical” for acts of God. We believe in both the real responsibility of man and in the mystical act of the Spirit. We thus confess that God has a “fullness” figure for the number of the elect. But He also saves those who will repent and believe.
