Seventy Sevens in the Prophecy of Daniel 9: Part 3b
Part 3B the Seventieth Week of Daniel
THE SEVENTIETH WEEK OF DANIEL CHAPTER 9:24-27
INTRODUCTION
The founder (1) of the Dispensational movement, John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) believed that the fulfiller of Daniel’s prophecy in Daniel 9:25-27 was national Israel.
However, he simply did not understand the prophecy.
Dispensationalism removes our Lord Jesus from parts of Daniel 9:25-27 and replaces Him with national Israel.
It may shock you to know that Dispensationalism is crowding out our Savior whom you know and love from one of Scripture’s most precious prophecies.
You may grieve that you ever studied at the feet of Brother Darby.
He was a brother in the Lord, but he butchered this prophecy.
In this post we show that the real Celebrity of Daniel 9:24-27 is our Lord Jesus Christ. He is in every verse of Daniel 9:24-27.
We believe that national Israel was in Daniel 9:25-27, but only as the nation that God cursed due to her sins.
God refused to continue with the nation after it worshipped other gods throughout the Old Testament times (2) and insisted that the Romans crucify His Only Begotten Son.
But God continued to bless the Israelites who trusted Him. And that proved that God had not cast away His people of Israel. (3)
In Daniel 9:26-27 God explains His two purposes for Israel, which were to identify and bless the Israelites who would receive Messiah and curse the Israelites who refused to believe in Him.
Historically, the nations of Israel and Judah had sinned egregiously against God. For this please see our post below:
https://www.williamrandolphpublishing.com/prophecy/yahweh-righteously-divorced-israel
In his prayer in Daniel 9:4-19, Daniel prayed as an Israelite.
He acknowledged his and Israel’s sins. He admitted Israel’s shame and pleaded with God for mercy.
The mercy with which God answered Daniel’s prayer was not more of the same for Israel. It was a far greater blessing than restoring Israel to her former glory.
Note: It may well be that God will, in the future, so bless Israel through our Lord Jesus Christ that they will become a Christian nation, consisting of both Jews and Gentiles.
But the heart of their nation of Israel, with her Temple worship, Levitical priests, kings, and Old Testament prophets is gone.
The unbelieving nation may even worship itself, like they worshipped the brass serpent that God, through Moses gave to them to cure snakebite (2 Kings 18:4.) (4)
The mercy that God gave to Israel was blessing in Messiah Jesus for believing Israelites and cursing for unbelieving Israelites.
God purposed the followings:
Purpose #1: Blessing the true Israel, the Israel that obeys God (John 1:11-13). (5)
Purpose #2: Cursing the Israelites that do not obey (6) God (John 3:16-19).
TABULAR VIEW OF GOD’S TWO PURPOSES FOR THE TWO PARTS OF ISRAEL
|
GOD’S PLAN |
TO BLESS BELIEVING ISRAEL AND TO CURSE UNBELIEVING ISRAEL |
|
PURPOSE ONE |
Blessing the believing Israel along with the world that worships the true God and receives Jesus the Messiah (Daniel 9:24-27; John 1:11-13; 1 John 5:20d). |
|
PURPOSE TWO |
Cursing the Israelites that refused to worship the true God (Daniel 9:25-27; John 3:15-19; 1 John 5:20). |
Note that if a Jew received our Lord Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior he was, by doing that, abandoning idolatry, and worshipping the true God.
That was because our Lord Jesus “is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20d).
The last sentence of 1 John 5:20 says, “He [Jesus] is the true God and eternal life.”
When a Jew believed in our Lord Jesus, he had eternal life. When he rejected Jesus, he was under God’s curse with which He cursed the entire world. (John 3:17-18).
John 3:17 “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”
John 3:18 “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s only Begotten Son.”
Notice that John 3:18 uses the word “whoever.” It means that being a Jew does not mean that a Jew is a person whom God has only halfway saved.
Before God we are all lost prior to salvation in Christ whether we are Jews or Gentiles (Romans 3:22-23).
So, when we say that God purposes to curse those Jews who reject our Lord Jesus, we do not mean to imply that He was picking on Israel.
God does, however, discipline nations as well as individuals. And in Daniel 9:26-27 God is showing that He blesses those Jews who believe in Him with salvation in Christ.
But the Jews who remain hard-hearted toward God receive from Him an even harder heart than they previously had.
God does not do that by injecting them with a hardener. Rather, He moves away from them, allowing them to harden themselves. It is like paint. When we do not stir it, hardening sets in.
And the Nation of Israel, from the time of Daniel’s prophecy, had a date with the Roman Army in 70 AD.
God treated national Israel like He treated the Amorites whom He dispossessed. He gave their land to another nation: Israel (Genesis 15:6).
Another example was the Amalekite nation, which became so wicked that God told King Saul not even to let their animals survive the coming destruction (1 Samuel 15:3).
In 1 Samuel 15:3 God says, “Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
And God punishes sin by allowing more sin (Romans 1:23-24).
Romans 1:23-24 “And exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.”
God restrains all sin. None of us act as bad as we are in our hearts. God punishes sin by turning us over from one stage of depravity to the next.
And, nationally speaking, God punished Israel’s sin by allowing their hard hearts to take over their lives (2 Corinthians 3:14).
2 Corinthians 3:14 “But their [Jews] minds were closed. For, to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the Old Covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed.” Brackets mine.
That divinely imposed veil can come to Gentiles as well as Jews. A word to the wise should be enough.
HOW GOD CONSTRUCTED DANIEL 9:26-27 (7)
First, notice that the text of Daniel 9:26-27 does not seem to flow smoothly in the manner which we usually find in Bible verses. This is because each verse has both a blessing section and a cursing section. See the Tabular View below:
TABULAR VIEW OF DANIEL 9:26-27
|
VERSE |
NATURE |
THE BLESSING AND CURSING SECTIONS OF DANIEL 9:26-27 |
|
Daniel 9:26 |
Blessing believers |
“Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing” (Daniel 9:26a). Note: The death of Christ for us was a great blessing. |
|
Cursing unbelievers |
“Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed (Daniel 9:26b).” |
|
|
Daniel 9:27 |
Blessing believers |
“And he will confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering” (Daniel 9:27a) |
|
Cursing unbelievers |
“And on the wing of the temple will come the abomination that causes desolation, until the decreed destruction is poured out upon him [Hebrew is “upon the desolate].” |
Daniel 9:26 and 9:27 have inside them both a blessing statement and a cursing statement.
In each of the two verses, the blessing precedes the cursing.
When we read the “a” or “blessing” sections of the two verses together, the meaning becomes clear.
One reason for this is that, in the Mosaic Covenant, the blessing sections usually precede the cursing sections.
A second reason is that God prefers to bless rather than to curse.
Note: See, for example Deuteronomy chapter 28 where the first fourteen verses are blessings for obedience, while the rest of chapter 28 is curses for disobedience. (8)
A third reason that blessing precedes cursing is that our Lord Jesus preceded His cursing statements with blessing statements in John 3:15-19.
TABULAR VIEW OF JESUS’ BLESSING AND CURSING STATEMENT
|
VERSE |
QUOTATION |
|
John 3:18a |
“Whoever believes in Him is not condemned” |
|
John 3:18b |
“He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. KJV |
TABULAR VIEW OF BLESSINGS AND CURSINGS IN JOHN 1:11-13
|
VERSE |
STATUS |
QUOTATION |
EXPLANATION |
|
John 1:11 |
Cursing |
“He came to his own, and his own people [Jews] did not receive him. Brackets mine. |
Jesus came to the Jews, but they demanded His crucifixion. |
|
John 1:12 |
Blessing |
“But to all [Jews and Gentiles] who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—" ESV Brackets mine. |
Some Jews and Gentiles did receive Him. God adopted them into His believing family. |
|
John 1:13 |
Blessing |
“Children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.” |
Not of blood: Being of Jewish or Gentile blood did not matter in the new birth. |
TABULAR VIEW OF THE BLESSINGS OF DANIEL 9:26a AND 9:27a WHEN COMBINED
|
Blessing: Daniel 9:26a |
“Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing.” |
|
Blessing: Daniel 9:27a |
“And he will confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering.” |
Now read the blessing sections in the tabular view [above] together. Notice that the thought of Daniel 9:26a and 9:27a flows logically when reading the two blessing sections together. This is because each verse has a blessing section at its start.
Now look at the Tabular View below and read the cursing sections of Daniel 9:26b and 9:27b together.
TABULAR VIEW OF GOD’S CURSINGS UPON THE DISOBEDIENT PORTION OF ISRAEL WHEN COMBINED
|
Cursing: Daniel 9:26b |
“Then the people of the prince who is to come [Jesus](9) will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed.” |
|
Cursing: Daniel 9:27b |
Cursing: “And on the wing of the temple will come the abomination that causes desolation, until the decreed destruction is poured out upon him. The Hebrew for “upon him” is literally ‘upon the desolate.’” |
TABULAR VIEW OF THE FINAL WEEK OF DANIEL CHAPTER 9
|
First 3½ Times |
Second 3½ Times |
|
They are 3½ years of our Lord’s earthly ministry. |
They are figurative due to God’s mercy, compassion, joy, longsuffering, patience, judgment, kindness, storing up wrath, exclusive knowledge of times and seasons, foreknowledge of the exact number of Jews & Gentiles who will believe (10), knowledge of eternal times as well as temporal times(11) in which He changed prophetic times. |
|
They are the earthly ministry of Christ beginning at His anointing as Messiah. |
They are the Heavenly Ministry of Christ through the Church. They begin with the resurrection and ascension of our Lord. |
TABULAR VIEW OF THE CONTINUITY OF BLESSING AND CURSING STATEMENTS FROM THE LAW TO THE PROPHET DANIEL, AND THEN TO OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
|
FROM THE LAW |
TO THE PROPHET DANIEL |
THEN TO OUR LORD JESUS |
|
BLESSING AND CURSING IN DEUTERONOMY 28 |
BLESSING & CURSING IN DANIEL 9:26-27 |
BLESSING AND CURSING IN JESUS’ MINISTRY (JOHN 3:17-18) |
|
Blessing for obedience Deuteronomy 28:1-14 |
Blessing for obedience(12) Daniel 9:26a & 9:27a |
Blessing for obeying by believing the Gospel (John 3 17-18) |
|
Cursing for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:15-68) |
Cursing for disobedience (Daniel 9:26b & 9:27b) |
Cursing by disobeying by refusing to believe in God’s Son Jesus (John 3:18.) |
|
Of all Jews the only one who entirely obeyed the Law was our Lord Jesus. He acted for believers. |
Daniel 9:24-27 tells how Jesus turned cursing into blessing for believers in Israel. |
Jesus shows God’s blessing of eternal life for believers and cursing for unbelievers (John 3:15-19). |
OUR LORD JESUS IS THE STAR OF EVERY VERSE OF DANIEL 9:24-27.
Jesus is the only Person who ever fulfilled the entire Law of Moses.
And He fulfilled the Law as God’s designated Priest (Psalm 110:4). God authorized our Lord Jesus to do this in Psalm 110:4:
Psalm 110:4 “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
Commenting on this is Hebrews 7:11 as follows:
Hebrews 7:11 “Now if perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on this basis the people received the law), why was there still need for another priest to appear—one in the order of Melchizedek and not in the order of Aaron?”
Priests act on behalf of their people. And Jesus acted for all Jews and Gentiles who died with Him at His cross.
By Jesus’ obedience to God, He fulfilled the Law, ended transgressions, sin, and iniquity, brought in righteousness, fulfilled all Old Testament prophetic visions, and received anointing from God by the Holy Spirit (Daniel 9:24).
Our Lord Jesus established blessings for [true] Israel (Hebrews 9:26b).
Hebrews 9:26b “But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
He, as the Priest for believers, caused the blessings of Daniel 9:24-27.
Jesus is God’s Prince, namely the Ruler. By His obedience Jesus came after 69 sevens of times (Daniel 9:25).
Jesus is God’s “Anointed One,” namely the Messiah who came after 69 sevens (Daniel 9:25).
Daniel 9:25 “Know and understand this: From the issuance of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah, the Prince [Ruler], there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks [totaling 69 weeks or 483 times.”
So, our Lord came after 69 weeks [sevens] of times, after Cyrus’ decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.(13)
Jesus, by His obedience removed the curse from believing Israel and caused the blessings of Daniel 9:26.
Jesus is God’s anointed One whom men put to death and who had nothing at His death.
Men crucified our Lord Jesus and then gambled for His clothing. He died and had nothing, fulfilling Daniel 9:25.
Jesus, by His obedience to the Law, enacted the blessings of Daniel 9:26-27.
Jesus is the One who “confirmed the new covenant with many [all who died with Him(14) at His cross] during Daniel’s final seven times (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 26:28; Romans 5:19).
Matthew 26:28 “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Jesus is the One who, in the middle of the week “put an end to sacrifice and offering.” By fulfilling all prophecy, He perfected His people by one sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:14).
Daniel 9:26a “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing.”
Daniel 9:27a “And he will confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering.”
The covenant is the New Covenant which our Lord ratified by His blood (Jeremiah 31:31-34) as God explained in Hebrews 8:6-13.
The “many” are those who believed in our Lord and died with Jesus at His cross.
The final “seven” stands for the entire ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The “middle of the week” is the middle of His ministry. His public ministry is 3½ literal years. The final 3½ times symbolize Jesus’ Heavenly ministry, the duration of which only God the Father knows (Acts 1:7).
Acts 1:7 “Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.”
So, the main reason that the final half of the final week [Christ’s Heavenly ministry] in Daniel’s prophecy is only 3½ times is that God the Father is the only one who knows the length of the Church Age. He does not tell us its duration because, if He did, He would be giving a date for the second coming of Christ.
TABULAR VIEW OF OUR LORD’S FULFILLMENT OF DANIEL 9:24-27
|
VERSE |
THE BLESSING SECTIONS OF DANIEL 9:24-27 |
|
Jesus fulfilled Daniel 9:24 |
By one offering Jesus fulfilled the Law and ended sin (Daniel 9:24; Hebrews 10:14). |
|
By His obedience Jesus brought in righteousness (Daniel 9:24; Romans 10:1-13). |
|
|
By His obedience Jesus sealed up all Old Testament visions (Daniel 9:24). |
|
|
By receiving God’s anointing by the Holy Spirit, Jesus fulfilled Daniel 9:24 and Isaiah 61:1). |
|
|
Jesus fulfilled Daniel 9:25 |
Our Lord Jesus came after 69 sevens of times, also known as 483 times, to do His Father’s will in saving His people from their sins (Mattthew 1:21). Matthew 1:21 says, “He will save His people from their sins.” |
|
Jesus fulfilled Daniel 9:26 |
Our Lord the Messiah was cut off and had nothing. His death brought the blessing of salvation to multitudes of believers. |
|
Jesus fulfilled Daniel 9:27 |
Our Lord confirmed and is confirming the New Covenant with His people during His entire earthly and Heavenly ministries of seven times. |
|
Our Lord put an end to sacrifice and offering (Hebrews 10:19-20; Matthew 27:51), replacing them with His sacrifice as confirmed by the tearing of the curtain from top to bottom. He did this after His 3½ year public ministry, in the middle of His ministry of seven times. |
TABULAR VIEW OF JESUS’ INVOLVEMENT IN THE CURSING OF ISRAEL
|
VERSE |
OUR LORD IS THE COMING PRINCE OF DANIEL 9:26b |
|
Daniel 9:26b |
“Then the people of the Prince who is to come [Jesus](15) will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” (16) |
EXPLANATION OF OUR LORD’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE CURSING OF ISRAEL
All the Empires that ruled Judah after the Babylonian Captivity, namely Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome were God’s shepherds(17) of Israel (Isaiah 45:1). After them, our Lord Jesus came. He, in prophecy, was the stone cut out of a mountain with no human hand. See the interpretation of that stone in Daniel 2:44.
Daniel 2:44 “In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end but will itself stand forever.”
Jesus ascended into Heaven as “the stone” and filled the entire world. He ruled Israel through the Romans like He ruled Israel through Persia in Isaiah 45:1. See also Matthew 21:41.
Jesus shattered and fragmented those kingdoms by saving believers out of them. The split nations became believers and unbelievers. They had some who owed ultimate allegiance to God and others who hated those who believed in our Lord.
Matthew 21:41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”
TABULAR VIEW OF THE TIMELINE OF DANIEL’S FINAL SEVEN TIMES
|
FIRST 3½ TIMES |
MIDDLE OF THE SEVEN TIMES |
FINAL 3½ TIMES |
2ND COMING OF CHRIST |
|
Jesus’ earthly ministry |
Jesus’ death on the cross |
Jesus’ heavenly ministry |
Jesus comes to judge the living and the dead. |
|
Time of Jesus’ perfect obedience to the Law |
Jesus ended the animal sacrifices and paid our sin debt. |
Church Age (Only God the Father knows its length Acts 1:7.) |
New Heaven & New Earth(18) (2 Peter 3:10-13) |
|
Jesus obeys & fulfills God’s Law |
Curtain ripped from top to bottom. |
Times of Gospel preaching. |
Time of rapture and the resurrection of saints. |
|
Same timeline as all New Testament timelines.(19) |
Same timeline as all New Testament timelines |
Same timeline as all New Testament timelines |
Same timeline as in all New Testament timelines(20) |
That stone symbolized our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and His spiritual Kingdom (Acts 28:30-31).
Acts 28:30-31 says, “Paul stayed there two full years in his own rented house, welcoming all who came to visit him. 31 Boldly and freely he proclaimed the kingdom of God(21) and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.”
He and His Kingdom did fill the earth (Colossians 1:6), is filling the earth, and will yet fill the new earth.
Colossians 1:6 “That [Gospel] has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the entire world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.” Brackets mine.
His kingdom consists of individuals who do and will worship Yahweh and only Him. Our Lord Jesus is the King.
The New Testament calls these people “Israelites indeed,” “[real] sons of Abraham,” “inward Jews” [actual] Israel (John 1:47; 8:44; Romans 2:29; 9:6).(22)
It is to these people that God directs His blessings of Daniel 9:24-27.
It is a prophecy of “times,” which are only in God’s mind.
CONCLUSION
In the message from God to the Israelites via the Angel Gabriel and Daniel, God says He will bring the followings to pass during seventy sevens of times:
He will destroy all trespasses, sins, and iniquities from [the true Israel] (Daniel 9:24).
He will bring righteousness into the true Israel [also known as Israelites indeed] (John 1:47).
He will fulfill all visions and prophecies [in Jesus the Messiah] (Daniel 9:24).
And God will anoint the most holy [Person] with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16).
God says this will involve the Messiah being “cut off,” or crucified (Daniel 9:25).
Then God says that He will bring about His two purposes for Israel. They are:
Purpose #1: Blessing the true Israel in Christ along with the world that worships the true God, receiving Jesus the Messiah (John 1:11-13).
Purpose #2: Cursing the Israelites and the world that worships other gods.
These are by the terms of His covenant with the nation of Israel that He gave them through Moses.
The terms are: Obey for your entire life and receive eternal life at death. Disobey even once and perish (Galatians 3:10 quoting Deuteronomy 27:26).
Galatians 3:10 “All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
Only one Person ever obeyed perfectly. He is our Lord Jesus the Messiah. God had appointed Him as our High Priest.
God saves those who trust our Lord and His salvation.
Note: For this please see our posts below:
https://www.williamrandolphpublishing.com/prophecy/new-testament-explanation-deut30-part1
https://www.williamrandolphpublishing.com/prophecy/new-testament-explanation-deut30-part2
https://www.williamrandolphpublishing.com/prophecy/new-testament-explanation-deut30-part5
Big issue: The prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 is about the curse upon national Israel and the blessing upon believing Israel.
Note: For the details of the two Israels please follow the link below:
https://www.williamrandolphpublishing.com/prophecy/the-fullness-of-israel-and-the-gentiles
The future cursing of national Israel is in the second part of Daniel 9:26 and 27. It is the destruction of Judea and Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D. (Matthew 26:64; Luke 23:30-31).
God’s blessing upon believing Israel is salvation in Christ.
Note: For God’s blessing upon remnant Israel please follow the link below:
It is not a prophecy about how God will be faithful to Israel regardless of their sin, as dispensationalists teach.
Each verse of Daniel 9:24-27 features our Lord Jesus the Messiah, who is the fulfiller of the Law of Moses and the Blesser of the believing Jews.
NOTES:
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nelson_Darby
(2) https://www.williamrandolphpublishing.com/prophecy/the-return-of-israel
(3) See Romans 11:1-5.
(4) He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.”
(5) For the two parts of Israel, please click the following link: https://www.williamrandolphpublishing.com/prophecy/the-new-testament-teaches-two-kinds-of-israels-seed
(6) Note that it is impossible to believe God in one’s heart without also obeying Him. Faith is the basis of growth as Christians (2 Peter 1:2-7).
(7) For this construction we wish to acknowledge Maxcey, Zachary S. “A CHRISTOTELIC VIEW OF DANIEL 9:24-27” Providence Theological Seminary Blog URL: http://nct-blog.ptsco.org/
(8) https://www.williamrandolphpublishing.com/prophecy/new-testament-explanation-deut30-part1
(9) There can be no doubt that our Lord Jesus is the prophesied Prince of Peace of Isaiah 9:6. The Romans were the people of the coming prince. Jesus is ruling the world, including Israel, from His position at the right hand of God the Father. Acts 2:34-35 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says: 'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, 35 until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
(10) Please see our following post https://www.williamrandolphpublishing.com/prophecy/the-fullness-of-israel-and-the-gentiles
(11) God has knowledge of eternal times and events in time. They never change. But He also condescendingly knows temporal times. His knowledge of temporal times is like “baby talk,” in which He speaks to us in the Bible as one of us, as if He has time. That is why in some verses He is above time, and in others, He is subject to time.
(12) Since obedience is always the coefficient of believing, Scripture here refers to obedience as the whole relationship between the sinner and God. It is impossible to believe with saving faith without obeying.
(13) https://www.williamrandolphpublishing.com/prophecy/seventy-weeks-in-the-prophecy-of-daniel9-part1
(14) Romans 5:19 “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”
(15) There can be no doubt that our Lord Jesus is the prophesied Prince of Peace of Isaiah 9:6. The Romans were the people of the coming prince [Jesus]. Jesus, having ascended to the throne of Heaven, providentially directed the Romans to destroy Jerusalem and scatter the Jews. But He still holds out His welcoming hands to all individual Jews who will believe in Him (Romans 9:25f; 11:1-26).
(16) The Romans are the people of Christ [the Prince or ruler] in that they were God’s servant nation that God used to destroy Jerusalem in 70 A.D. See Jeremiah 27:6. Rome had the same status as Babylon, being in the same prophecy of Daniel chapter 2.
(17) Shepherds or servants. Nebuchadnezzar is a servant of God in His disciplining of Israel. The Romans had the same status as the Babylonians.
(18) For the New Testament timelines please see https://www.williamrandolphpublishing.com/prophecy/new-testament-timelines
(19) https://www.williamrandolphpublishing.com/prophecy/new-testament-timelines
(20) https://www.williamrandolphpublishing.com/prophecy/new-testament-timelines
(21) Note that the Kingdom of God is another way of saying, the Kingdom of Heaven. Scripture interchanges the two terms in the following verses (Matthew 13:31 and Luke 13:18) (Matthew 13:33 and Luke 13:20) (Matthew 5:3 and Luke 6:20). And the Kingdom of Heaven is also called Christ’s kingdom in Matthew 13:24 and Matthew 13:41.
