Daniel 9c:

Reading #410 The explanation – part two

Gabriel had said:

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Daniel 9:

23  “Therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. 24 “Seventy weeks [of prophetic time] are determined [cut off from the 2,300] upon your people and upon your holy city, 

 

[1] to finish the transgression,

and    [2] to make an end of sins,

 

and    [3] to make reconciliation for iniquity,

and    [4] to bring in everlasting righteousness,

 

and    [5] to seal up the vision and prophecy,

and    [6] to anoint the Most Holy”. 

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We saw last week that the Jews did not take any of the opportunities during their 490 years to make an end of sins.  How did they miss them?

It is one thing to repent and confess AFTER committing a sin – it is quite another to take the power of Christ’s righteousness and NOT GIVE IN to the temptation – to be saved FROM sin, which is what His name implies. “And she shall bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people FROM their sins”. Matthew 1:21.  It was this aspect that they missed, and what every genuine Christian in each generation since then seems also to have missed to some degree. 

Maybe we listen too much to those who say we can never expect to become perfect, and not enough to God!  Maybe we just like to sin too much?  Maybe we have been taught that we can expect to sin, and that God knows that and will take it into account.

Lateral thought:

The Israelites were to come back from the Babylonian exile without a king.  The Son of God had been their nominal King for the five hundred years from Joshua to Saul, although they had really done their own thing as individuals.  Judges 17:6.  Then they had a period when men controlled them, from Saul to Zedekiah.  Now they were supposed to reinstate the Son of God after that five hundred years of man’s rule.  But they went the other way and allowed religious people to rule over them for the next five hundred years!  Priests, Pharisees etc. with governors the opposite of Nehemiah who would not take any pay for his service.  Nehemiah 5:14-15. 

Of that 490 year period, God says:

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Malachi 1:

6 A son honours his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a Father, where is My honour?  And if I be a master, where is My fear [respect]? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, that despise My name. 

And you say, “Wherein have we despised Your name?” 

7 You offer polluted bread upon My altar;

and you say, “Wherein have we polluted You?”

In that you say, “The table [altar] of the LORD is contemptible” [it’s not important any more, it’s just a job].

8 And if you offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil?  And if you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil?  Offer it now to your governor; will he be pleased with you, or accept your person? says the LORD of hosts.

9 And now, I pray you, beseech God that He will be gracious to us: this has been by your means: will He regard your persons? says the LORD of hosts.

10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought?  Neither do you kindle fire on My altar for nought.  I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.

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Here’s another translation:

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Mal 1:6-10 (MSG)

⁶ “Isn't it true that a son honors his father and a worker his master? So if I'm your Father, where's the honor? If I'm your Master, where's the respect?” God-of-the-Angel-Armies is calling you on the carpet: “You priests despise me!

“You say, 'Not so! How do we despise you?'

“By your shoddy, sloppy, defiling worship.

“You ask, 'What do you mean, “defiling”? What's defiling about it?'

⁷ “When you say, 'The altar of God is not important anymore; worship of God is no longer a priority,' that's defiling. ⁸ And when you offer worthless animals for sacrifices in worship, animals that you're trying to get rid of—blind and sick and crippled animals—isn't that defiling? Try a trick like that with your banker or your senator—how far do you think it will get you?” God-of-the-Angel-Armies asks you.

⁹ “Get on your knees and pray that I will be gracious to you. You priests have gotten everyone in trouble. With this kind of conduct, do you think I'll pay attention to you?” God-of-the-Angel-Armies asks you. ¹⁰ ”Why doesn't one of you just shut the Temple doors and lock them? Then none of you can get in and play at religion with this silly, empty-headed worship. I am not pleased. The God-of-the-Angel-Armies is not pleased. And I don't want any more of this so-called worship!”

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The problem was that they did not know that they were “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”, but thought that they were “rich and increased with goods” and needed nothing.  They kept up all the ceremonies etc., but did not have any power in their religion to stop sinning.  But they were the last of their line.  Compare Revelation 3:17. 

Because of this Jesus called down the “woes” upon them in a vain attempt to change it.  With tears running down His cheeks, on the day before they tried to kill Him, He said:

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Matthew 23:

11 But he that is great among you shall be your servant.  12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. 

13 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in. 

14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore you shall receive the greater damnation.   

15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you compass [go round] sea and land to make one proselyte [convert], and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell [subject to death] than yourselves. 

16 Woe to you, you blind guides, which say, “Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!” 17 You fools and blind: for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?

18 And, “Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever swears by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty”. 19 You fools and blind: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? 

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After the return from exile the people of God were known as “Jews” rather than “Hebrews” because the vast majority of the returnees came from the tribe of Judah, the faithful tribe.  There were representatives of all the other tribes amongst them, of course, but they were relatively few in number.  The promise to Judah was, “Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise: your hand shall be in the neck of your enemies; your father's children shall bow down before you . . .  The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh [Christ] come; and to Him shall the gathering of the people be”. Genesis 49:8-10.

When Christ was born of Mary the Son of God had done His part of the day’s work, “all things” were ready (Matthew 22:4) for it was near the end of their “day”.  Now was their final chance.  He had fulfilled the spring types of Passover, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and was soon to give them the blessing of the Feast of Pentecost.  It was up to them to gather in the summer “harvests” from Pentecost to the Feast of Trumpets, when He would return and complete the autumn types (The Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles) of the “acceptable year of the LORD”. Isaiah 61:2; Luke 4:19.

3.  So the next step in the proposed schedule was “to make reconciliation for iniquity” and “bring in everlasting righteousness”.  These the Son of God would do in His position as the High Priest.  If the disciples, who were all Jews, had done their work of ingathering truly, then He would have been able to cease offering for sins continually, and move on into the atonement of the second apartment of the sanctuary principle, which was to present the “deaths” caused by the actions of His people to God the Father for examination and reconciliation.  This would have been the first judgment.  But as we have seen in the 2, 300 year pronouncement, this would not be able to happen for quite a while.

It was shadowed forth in the Day of Atonement ceremonies which we won’t go into in any depth here because we have already covered them in previous readings. (April 2004)  But basically what was pictured in the type was that once the flow of confessions ceased, the high priest would take the blood of a bullock into the throne room, and by this show the “deaths” associated with all the sins of all his people to God, in order to make the reconciliation.  Then he would use the blood (death) of a special goat to remove them forever, and place them on their rightful instigator, the scapegoat.  Leviticus 16.

This is what the Son of God wanted to do in reality!  This was what was lost when His people failed to realise their “high calling”!  See the letter to the Hebrews, chapter 3:1-8.

4.  If that work had been done then He would have been able to bring in “everlasting” righteousness, the final wedding gown, and the “wedding” would have taken place.  The temporary covering would have been replaced with the “best robe”.  Then would have been fulfilled the parable of the prodigal son which Christ had told them. “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight, and am no more worthy to be called your son’. But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found’.  And they began to be merry”. Luke 15:21-24. This personal experience would have become a group one.

But what happened?  Another parable was fulfilled instead.

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Matthew 22:

1 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables, and said, 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like to a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 3 and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. 

4 “Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage.

5 “But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise [they were busy living in the world]: 6 and the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. 7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. [After the Son of God had to withdraw His protection from it the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in the year 70AD.]  

[What follows is the sad part, for it is not yet complete, even after four more “days” of opportunity.  After each 490 year period ended a new group of people had the privilege of completing the work.]

8  “Then says he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. 9 Go you therefore into the highways, and as many as you shall find, bid to the marriage. 10  So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.

[The wedding is still ready, but the guests have not yet arrived,

for the “servants” of today have not yet done their “gathering”!]

11 “And when the king came in to see the guests [which is the Day of Atonement], he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how came you in hither not having a wedding garment? [It is supplied with the invitation]’ And he was speechless [he had no excuse].

13 Then said the king to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness’; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14 For many are called, but few are chosen [only those who are actually wearing the gift].  

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Not until we do our part can the great controversy reach its final conclusion.  It has come close in some generations, but never quite enough.  Regardless of the conditions prevailing in the world, (there are four angels holding them back so we need not worry about them, Revelation 7:1) nothing more can happen in God’s kingdom till we stop committing actions of sins.  Individuals must do this before it can become a group situation.

5-6.  When it does occur (and it will for God has said so), then the last two of the possibilities will come about, as well as the first four.  The vision will be “sealed up” through its fulfilment by those who follow Christ “wherever He goes”, including into the second apartment into the awesome presence of God in judgment.  Of course, they can only do this “by faith” while here on earth, but their prayers and concentration will be on Him who is handling the atonement in heaven, and they will experience a great deal of His power here on earth.  

Then the work in the Most Holy will end with the anointing of the Son of God, the true MOST HOLY.

Bye for now,

Ron

P. S.

Daniel in the lions’ den, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fire, all showed that they could trust the Son of God to protect and save them from those deaths.  Yet they all died later in the “normal” manner.  Why?  Is God limited?  Or do we not trust Him in every circumstance?  If death is the “last enemy” and will be defeated one day, why does the Son of God have to wait before He can give the kingdom back to His Father? “For He must reign, till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death”. 1 Corinthians 15:25-26. 

Some of the comments in these readings are adapted from books in my library.  No recognition is given because they are not intended as authorities, but are used because they express my understanding clearly. All the ideas expressed in these readings, right or wrong, are my own.

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Judges 17:6

In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.  Back

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Nehemiah 5:

14 Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brothers [my officials] have not eaten the bread of the governor. 15 But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable to the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.  Back

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Hebrews 3:

1 Wherefore, holy brothers [and sisters], partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; 2 who was faithful to Him that appointed Him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. 3 For this Man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who has built the house has more honour than the house. 4 For every house is built by some man; but He that built all things is God.

5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house [the exodus people], as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; 6 but Christ as a Son over His own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost says, “Today”, if you will hear His voice,

8 harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness . . . )

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John 10:

And when He puts forth His own sheep, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice.

Revelation 14:

4  These are they which were not defiled with women [churches]; for they are virgins [promised only to the LORD].  These are they which follow the Lamb [not the priest or pastor] wheresoever He goes.  These were redeemed from among men [not from the grave], being the firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.

5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

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Hebrews 3:

1 Wherefore, holy brothers [and sisters], partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; 2 Who was faithful to Him that appointed Him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.

3 For this Man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who has built the house has more honour than the house. 4 For every house is built by some man; but He that built all things is God. 

5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; 6 but Christ as a Son over His own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost says, “Today” if you will hear His voice, 8 “Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness”.

The other translation:

Heb 3:1-9 (MSG)

Chapter 3

The Centerpiece of All We Believe

¹ So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He's the centerpiece of everything we believe, ² faithful in everything God gave him to do. Moses was also faithful, ³ but Jesus gets far more honor. A builder is more valuable than a building any day. ⁴ Every house has a builder, but the Builder behind them all is God. ⁵ Moses did a good job in God's house, but it was all servant work, getting things ready for what was to come. ⁶ Christ as Son is in charge of the house. Now, if we can only keep a firm grip on this bold confidence, we're the house! ⁷ That's why the Holy Spirit says,

Today, please listen; ⁸ don't turn a deaf ear as in "the bitter uprising," that time of wilderness testing! ⁹ Even though they watched me at work for forty years, your ancestors refused to let me do it my way; over and over they tried my patience. Back

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