Daniel 9e:

Reading #412  The Messiah

Now we come to the seventieth “week” which gives us details of the first advent of the Son of man, and some of His activities.

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Daniel 9:

26 “And after threescore and two [62] weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself”.

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Here Gabriel tells Daniel that after the end of the 434 years, during the last “week” (from 27AD to 34AD), the Son of man will be “cut off, but not for Himself”, meaning that He will die, not for His own failings, but for others.  This was an important point, because the whole basis of Christianity is doing good for others, for it is the foundation principle of God Himself. Paul wrote, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures”. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4.

This death occurred in the year 31AD at the Passover held in March/April of that year, just three and a half years after His baptism.  The “scriptures” Paul is referring to were the ones which showed there would be a “wave sheaf” of barley offered on the third day of the Passover/Unleavened Bread Feast. 

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Leviticus 23:

5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover [the day of the crucifixion, 1 Corinthians 5:7].

6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the [beginning of the] Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD: seven days you must eat unleavened bread.

7 In the first day you shall have a holy convocation [a ceremonial sabbath day]: you shall do no servile [ordinary] work therein. [This was to illustrate the day He would rest in the grave.  See also Luke 24:55-56.]

8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD seven days [a special burnt offering of dedication each day, as well as the daily offering].

In the seventh day is a holy convocation: you shall do no servile work therein [this was another ceremonial sabbath day at the end of the period].  

9 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you be come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest: 11 and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the [first ceremonial] sabbath [the 16^th day of the month] the priest shall wave it [this was a picture of the resurrection, waved above the priest’s head for all to see]. 

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These days could fall on any day of the week for they were based on the monthly cycle, but that particular year they were Friday 14^th, Sabbath 15^th and Sunday 16^th.  The harvest from which the sheaf was gathered was the first for the year, and was followed by others during the growing season, with the main ones all together just before winter.  Thus it is written:

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1 Corinthians 15:

20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming.

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Then Gabriel had to tell Daniel the sad part.

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Daniel 9:

“And the people of the prince that shall come [the Romans] shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and to the end of the war desolations are determined [on your people]”.

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So Daniel learnt that literal Jerusalem and the literal temple would again be destroyed, this time with even greater ferocity than the last! We cannot imagine what this news would have done to his mind.  But to make it even worse, was the knowledge that after that his people would be “desolate” till the end of the great controversy.  Never again would they be able to participate as a nation or religion in helping the Son of God to finish His work.  From that moment on that responsibility would be offered to others in 490 year periods. 

Isaiah wrote about the final event for the Jews, using Jerusalem as the symbol of the whole nation. “Your men shall fall by the sword, and your mighty in THE war. And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground”.  Isaiah 3:25-26. 

But there is hope for some of them, because it is written,

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Romans 11:

17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree [Christ]; 18 boast not against the branches.  But if you boast, [remember that] you bear not the Root, but the Root you.

19 You will say then, “The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in”. 20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith.  Be not highminded [proud], but fear: 21 for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not you . . . 23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted [back] in: for God is able to graft them in again . . .  25 For I would not, brothers [and sisters], that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And so all [believing] Israel [Jew and Gentile] shall be saved: as it is written, “There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 for this is My covenant to them, when I shall take away their sins” . . . 33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and [all] His ways past finding out! [But we know some now!]

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In the meantime, Gabriel continued:

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Daniel 9:

27 “And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations He shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

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Daniel’s next thought was probably regarding the Messiah, for Gabriel told him that during the last seven “days” (the last seven years) allotted to the Jews, Christ would be demonstrating the agreement He had made with them after their return from the Babylonian exile. 

Then came the crunch point – Gabriel mentioned that the “cut off” for the Messiah would be in the middle of the week, meaning that He would die at the end of three and a half years of ministry.  We now know that the Son of man began His tour of duty in October of 27AD when He was baptised by John, and finished it in April of 31AD, just three and one half years later.  At the very moment of His death on the cross at Calvary when the priest on duty was reaching out for the lamb which was to be killed for that afternoon’s burnt offering, a violent earthquake occurred, and the lamb escaped in the ensuing confusion, and the real Lamb of God took its place.

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Matthew 27:50-51.

“Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the Ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent . . .”

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At that point the need for animal offerings ceased, but the Jews, not realising this, carried on with their now useless sacrifices until the temple was burnt down and they were forcibly removed from the area about 40 years later.  After Christ’s ascension the Holy Spirit took over on the day of Pentecost, and all the literal promises and prophecies in the Old Testament now have a spiritual application to New Testament believers.

Gabriel does say that the Messiah would confirm the covenant for the whole seven years, but the latter part of the time it was to be fulfilled by the apostles acting in His name.  So not until the Jews stoned Stephen in 34AD did their 490-year period officially finish.  That execution was the picture of their final rejection of God’s offer, and signified their acceptance of the rule of the god of force.  After that their oath was terribly fulfilled to them – “His blood be on us, and on our children”. Matthew 27:25.  

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Acts 7:

55 But he [Stephen], being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God”.  57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58 and cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen [while he was] calling upon God, and saying, “LORD Jesus, receive my spirit”. 60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, “LORD, lay not this sin to their charge”.  And when he had said this, he fell asleep [he died].

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So there we have it – one of the many 490 year periods of God’s mercy was over.  But what said the original prophecy? 

Remember these words?

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Daniel 8:

13 Then I heard one Saint speaking, and another saint said to that certain Saint which spoke, “How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?” 14 And He said to me, “To two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed”.

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All that we have been reading about these last few weeks is just a portion of those 2,300 years.

To make absolutely sure that we do not miss the importance of this time prophecy, the LORD was willing to have His crucifixion used as a small part of it!  Because of this, we have an accurate backup for our starting date.  We know when Jesus was crucified – so we know when the decree of Artaxerxes was issued.  And what we also know is the end date of the 2,300 years! If we take 490 years from the 2,300 we end up with a balance of 1810 years.  The seventy weeks ended in 34AD, so all we need do is add 1810 and we end up with 1844.  That was when the LORD told Daniel that the “sanctuary would be cleansed” or as the margin has it, “restored to its rightful place”. 

The decree went out in the northern hemisphere autumn of 457BC, therefore we should look for its fulfilment at the same season. In a very brief history lesson we can learn that around July of 1844 understanding came to many Christians that the actions of the Hebrew high priest on the Day of Atonement in October involved a ritual cleansing of the earthly sanctuary, and that this prefigured the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary.  They responded as did the ten virgins in the parable Jesus told of the church in the last days.  “ . . . at midnight there was a cry made, “Behold, the Bridegroom comes; go you out to meet Him”. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed [refilled] their lamps . . . the Bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with Him to the marriage . . .”  Matthew 25:5-10.  They went all over the world teaching that Christ would come on October 22, the Day of Atonement for that year, believing that it would be the second advent, but it was really the wedding in heaven that He came to, for it was the heavenly sanctuary which was to be cleansed (restored). An earthly one did not exist in 1844, therefore the event was a spiritual one in line with the New Testament understanding of prophecies.

It was special day.

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Leviticus 23:

26 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a Day of Atonement: it shall be a holy convocation to you [a ceremonial sabbath]; and you shall afflict your souls [search your life for sins to confess], and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD [re-dedicate your life to Him]. 28 And you shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.  

29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. 30 And whatsoever soul it be that does any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people [it’s a serious and solemn occasion]. 31 You shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be to you a sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even to even, shall you celebrate your [ceremonial] sabbath.

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(You can read all about it in detail in Leviticus chapter 16, which we’ll look at soon.)

Here’s a very brief picture of what occurred on that day in the earthly sanctuary:

After all the congregation had had an opportunity to confess their sins in the normal manner, and no more desired to do so, the high priest officiated at the presentation of a bullock, over which he ritually confessed ALL the sins of ALL the people for the whole year.  He did this dressed in his normal uniform of the coloured clothes of mercy, with the names of the tribes of Israel over his heart and on his shoulders.  Then he took the bull’s blood (the evidence of death) into the throne room of God and sprinkled it on the Mercy Seat and other places, in figure transferring the result of ALL the sins into the presence of God. 

After that he changed his clothes.

A set of the white clothes of justice was kept in the first apartment, and he now removed the clothes of mercy and put the others on, proceeding from then on only in strict justice.  Out in the courtyard he killed a pre-selected goat (without confessing any sins onto it), and took its blood also into the second apartment of the sanctuary.  This goat represented the Son of God in His atoning death, and its blood was ritually used to “pick up” the records of death previously placed through the bull’s blood.  This action “cleansed” the sanctuary of “death”.

In this earthly service the high priest now came to the front entrance of the tabernacle, and placed the records of death on the other goat, the scapegoat, which was then led away into the wilderness by a special man.  Here the goat was released to follow its own choices.  After that the priest changed back into his priestly robes and reappeared to the people to celebrate a brand new year (that’s the picture of the second coming).

That’s a brief overview of what happened on earth.  But, just as we pray, “Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10), so we should understand that what happens in the heavenly sanctuary is shown to us by what happens here in the earthly sanctuary. It is written, “Then verily the first covenant had ALSO ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary”. Hebrews 9:1.  There is a sanctuary in heaven and we have a High Priest working in it.

Put simply:  All the animals in the earthly service represent the Son of God at various times and in various ways.  He “died” from the foundation of the world we are told (Revelation 13:8), and we were shown that fact by the burnt offerings made by Adam and his descendants.  It is He who removes our “stony heart” at our conversion and places it upon Himself, replacing it with a portion of His life.  It is He who accepts our confessions of transgression AFTER that, and forgives and cleanses us individually of the results of them.  They are taken into His life and contained there temporarily. But on the Day of Atonement in heaven what He does is take ALL of those “records” into His Father and receive HIS agreement and recognition as He presents His “death” as a permanent cleansing in our place.  Then He is able to take those “records” and place them where they really belong – on the chief rebel. 

Unfortunately, not many who lived through that historic experience in the mid 1800’s saw all this.  Their minds were cluttered with the thought of the second coming, and that’s what they expected on October 22.  When it didn’t happen they didn’t know what to do, and many gave up, considering their experience to have been a delusion. But He had come to the wedding in heaven, and they could have entered with Him – by faith!

Just as the Jews did not see the real meaning of Calvary, so most of the midnight callers and the other Protestants of the United States of America did not see any significance in the religious events of October 1844 after the disappointment.  And not many do today!  It’s the longest time prophecy in the Bible, it’s certified by our Saviour’s death at Calvary, and it teaches us something of what He has done and plans to do in heaven, and yet the majority of professed Christians are ignorant of it!

As we have seen in another place, there are three judgments depicted in the Bible.  The first is by the Father in which He agrees with Christ’s list of those to be redeemed.  (Daniel 7:9-10.) The second is by the redeemed under the guidance of the Son of God and allows them to see why their friends are not in heaven with them.  (Revelation 20:4.)  The third and final one is by Christ alone, in which He shows every one to their face what they have chosen and why. (Matthew 25:31-46.)

The Day of Atonement ceremony presents to us the first judgment (which is also the legal part of the wedding), and this prophecy tells us that it has been proceeding since October 22, 1844.  One by one the record of those dead whose names have been entered in the “Book of Life” are being examined.  Jesus says of them, “He that overcomes [himself], the same shall be clothed in white raiment [the wedding garment of righteousness]; and I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels. [The names of those who have NOT overcome will be blotted out.]  He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”.  Revelation 3:5-6.

In the book are the names of those who have professed to be followers of Christ.  Since the judgment began, only the names of those who have died are being investigated.  But one day the names of the living will have to come up for review – we will not need to be there when this happens, for Christ is standing in for us in all the sins we have confessed and forsaken – we just need to be clean in His sight.  Thus the sanctuary is being, and will be, cleansed (restored), for that is the Son of God’s work– but what of the restoration of the host – God’s people?  That’s up to us!  Maybe we can look at that next week.

Bye for now, 

Ron

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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