stay on a schedule and you say, we, I'm not preaching, I know, this is really for me. There are two other copies of these notes online. If you go to bibleandministries.org and you go to Jesse Martinez articles, you'll see that I've posted part one and part two of this series. But for today, since there's a lot to cut through, I wanted to make sure that you were able to follow along with me. Normally, I would expect you to have this style and quality of notes on the back of every bulletin that you possess on Sunday mornings. Just kidding. Let's start in the book of Daniel in chapter 9. Well, the Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah, has come and gone, but we continue to look for the Lord, amen? I want to share something with you that was given to me by David Bauer, a little nugget of wisdom. There's an event that is described in Jewish rabbinical culture, and it has a specific name. I'll tell you that in a moment. But the event is, once the sun goes down, there's a method of determining when dusk ends and when the night begins. And the practice is to look into the sky and you see the first star, you see the second star, and the time between the second star appearing and the third star appearing is when it officially becomes night. And what's difficult is once that second star illuminates and you can see it, the time between that second and third star, it happens so quickly. And it's hard to determine when it happens because at that point, many, many stars come into illumination. And that is when the night begins, when that third star or more is seen, that's when the night begins. I'm going to tell you something about the Apostle Paul that you probably already know. Paul was a Pharisee before he was one of the Apostles, before he went out there and started doing the work for the Lord. He would have known 100% this term I'm about to tell you, which distinguishes between the dusk and the night. That time between the second star appearing and the third star appearing is called the twinkling of an eye. Isn't that interesting? I thought that was amazing, because I always thought a twinkling of an eye was just an expression for how fast something happens in real time. But really what it means is, it is about the speed in which something happens, but it's more about how unpredictable that event is. It's so hard to determine to the eye when the second star is done and the third star comes in because everything comes in at once. And here's another thing too. That event called the twinkling of an eye is how Paul describes the rapture in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Now remember, the way the Jews use that word, that phrase, the twinkling of an eye, distinguishes between dusk and night. When you compare that to what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5, that we are not children of the night, we're children of the day, to me, that's a really interesting cultural sign that the rapture will happen before the tribulation period. And that nobody knows the time, hence the imminency of the return of Christ. So yes, this week we were all a little heightened at the possibility of something happening. But the twinkling of an eye is not necessarily about how fast something will occur, but how it is unknowable as to when it will occur. I think that's a good little nugget of wisdom that you should just tuck away, and maybe you're at Bible trivia or something, and you can whip that out. And someone will be like, wow. But I thought it was amazing. And David Bauer had shared this with me. And we tried to go through a lot of different teachings and a lot of people hadn't come upon that, but I think it's amazing to see that Paul used that phrase to describe the rapture. It's going to happen before the tribulation period, which is the point of our study today. Everything that we're gonna discuss today, most of it, will not involve you and me. We are a new thing. If you have a pencil, write down this cross-reference. Ephesians chapter three, verses one through six. Paul describes in those six verses the significance of the Jew and Gentile being in one body. When you write down that cross-reference, that cross-reference should be tied to this period of time that we are in right now. Daniel 9 gives a specific timeline as to when prophecies will be fulfilled, and most of Daniel 9 in verses 24-27 are already fulfilled. That is why I take the stance that this is a literal prophecy. There are others who look at this as an allegory, or they look at this as a liberal view, would look at this passage as something that are allusions to Christ or allusions to characteristics of Christ, but there are actual, proven, historical numbers and figures behind this prophecy that should embolden you to take advantage of the time that you have now while we are alive to share the gospel with as many people as we can. That tribulation period is coming. There's no doubt about it. We don't know when it's going to occur, but we know that the rapture will happen first, in the twinkling of an eye, before the night that will occur. We're gonna break down this prophecy verse by verse. If you have your notes here, you'll see that there's the purpose of the tribulation, and then I've got the verse, the main text typed out for you, and then we go into some details. The largest portion of our study this morning will be on that verse 24. There's just a lot to go through there. Let's start with Daniel 9, 24. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. That small letter A there is very important. Seventy weeks is seventy groups of seven. And I've had somebody else do the math there, and then I put their notes inside my notes. 70 times 7, 490. So that's 490 literal years. This is what is being communicated to Daniel from, I believe it's from Michael. And he says here, it's for thy people and for thy city. You see the next two parts there. Thy people, Israel. Who is being addressed in Daniel chapter 9? Daniel, you're gonna see, we're gonna read verses one through 19 in a moment of Daniel, and you'll see he is making intercession for Israel's disobedience and rebellion specifically to let the land rest every seven years. Thy people cannot, will not, and never will it equal the church. That requirement to let the land rest was not given to you and me. I've seen some kids books that get patriotic and they try to apply verses for Israel to the United States. We are not the new Israel. Israel is the one who was given the instruction. Israel is the one who entered into an agreement by saying, yes, Lord, whatever you want to do, we will do. And they're the ones who disobeyed and broke that. So the prophecy here is saying, there's gonna be a period of time for what Israel has done and what the Holy City has done so that we can restore it properly, so that God will restore it properly. Thy holy city. can really only refer to Jerusalem. I don't see any other city within Israel's structure that would meet this requirement. Jerusalem is actually very unique in that it is elevated above all the rest of the land. If you're going somewhere in Israel, at some point when you make your excursion to Jerusalem, you will literally be going up. And if you pay attention to the language in the Gospels, whenever it's described of Jesus or the disciples going to Jerusalem, it says they went up to Jerusalem. I don't think that's a proof for Jerusalem being a holy city, but the fact that it's the capital and it's what's referred to a lot by the prophets when it's used interchangeably for Israel and Jerusalem seems to signify that it's speaking of that city. That is very important for another part of the prophecy. Note, under that small letter C there, there is no city assigned to the body of Christ, i.e. the church. The church is not in Jerusalem. Now there is one common and very popular religious system that seeks to place churches in each one of these historical locations, and that is the Catholic Church. If you've been to Israel, there's really two kinds of tours you can go on, the right one and the wrong one. And I say that a little tongue in cheek, but it's also serious. There are some tours who will take you to the traditional holy sites. When you hear traditional holy sites, you can interchange that with two words, the Catholic sites or the Orthodox sites. As a matter of fact, when you go to Galilee and you walk around these different areas, there are some of the ruins where the rocks are different colors to signify this is what the Catholic Church believes is a location and this is what the Orthodox Church believes is a location. The Catholic Church is far spreading throughout this world. I would say it's probably when people think, here you say I'm a Christian, they probably think you're some type of Catholic. In this area, Catholicism is the rule. But there is no city assigned to the body of Christ. As a matter of fact, we are clearly instructed in the New Testament to follow the instructions of the head of the body, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are also told, where two or three are gathered in my name, there will I be also. So you here today, you're at church, not because you're at a place called a church, but because there are other brothers and sisters in Christ here with you today. Boy, that'll radically change the way you attend church. We can have church every day. We can have church every single day. Somebody asked me the other day, they said, is church important? I said, depends on what you mean by church. Is it important to come to a building three times a week to merely say that you've filled your obligation? I'd rather you stay home. Is it important to minister and encourage, rebuke when necessary? Brothers and sisters in Christ, yes, I say it's vital. As a matter of fact, I believe the Christian who neglects fellowship is the one who will fall away into carnality. James says, the one who is a hearer and a doer, he'll be blessed in his deed. You can hear just fine. How you doing? That's the difference. Letter D, little letter D. Finish the transgression. Now we're gonna go through what I think is some really good Bible study. What transgression is being finished? We read that and we say, okay, somebody did something wrong and there's severe earthly consequences for that wrong. What did I do, husbands? We know that phrase. We look at our wife, we see the tight lip, we say, honey, what did I do? She says there will be a determined period of time, 490 years to finish the transgression. If your wife is saying that, please come see me for counseling. I'd love to have a conversation with both of you. But obviously, there's something that happened here. And let me just say this, this is Bible study. Finding out what terms are, and this is where people start getting in trouble. We're gonna look at what that transgression is, but finish a transgression equals end the rebellion and apostasy, the falling away from the truth of Israel to God's commands. And I've got two passages there for you. And then universally and mankind's rebellion, I have a New Testament passage there as well. We're gonna look at both of these. I want you to start in Daniel chapter nine, verse one. That's gonna start in verse three. Verses one and two give you a timeline as to when this was written. You can look at the end of verse two where it says, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. This is a prayer of confession. The fasting, the sackcloth, and the ashes are all signs of mourning, signs of regret. There is an evident change of behavior here from Israel to God. What we were doing before, it was wrong, Lord. We're coming to you now to confess. Now, Daniel is the mouthpiece corporately. Think of how we would have an ambassador go before the United States and speak for us. So is Daniel in this situation. So he's in captivity. He's going through what he's going through. And he gives this prayer on behalf of Israel. And I prayed, verse four, unto the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his commandments, we have sinned. Now, if you read Eternal Security into this verse, you can't do it. This is not talking about the ones who are getting to heaven are the ones who keep His commandments and do all His things. God made a covenant with Israel, and He set up requirements, and they said yes, and then they broke it. That is what Daniel is admitting to here. We sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments. Neither have we hearkened, listened, or obeyed unto thy servants and prophets. What did they do with the servants and prophets? They killed them. And actually sent false prophets out to combat what was being said of the truth. which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belonging unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces. What does that mean? That literally means the look of confusion upon the faces. You ever seen someone look at you confused? You can have a wide range of faces that can come out of that. Why is there confusion of faces? Because of all that was listed in verse five and verse six. but unto us confusion of faces. There were people in captivity who heard Jeremiah's prophecy and still didn't understand why they were there. You want to talk about stiff-necked, stubborn? We see it in our culture today. No matter how many times people see the facts, they continue to do the opposite. It's not a new thing. The cell phones didn't produce this. You know what I'm saying? This is just who we are as human beings. Difficult. to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel that are near and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespasses that they have trespassed against thee." There is no denying he's taking ownership for this. "'O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. So here we go. Here's where Daniel is admitting I know what we did wrong, here's what we should have done. And parents, if you're raising children, this is very important in your disciplinary process. Do not yell at your kids because they've annoyed you or disobeyed you. Get on their level. I've been doing this with Remy. I stoop down to her little level and I make sure, I know she's only two years old, almost two years old. As Kyla says, she's the most two-year-old, one-year-old she's ever met. And I make sure, to the best of my ability, that I explain and try to get her to see, this is what I said, this is what you did, what should you have done? This is how we should raise our kids. If you're just going around smacking your kids because they bother you, that's how they're gonna solve problems. And I thank God that he does not do that to us. You realize that? That's why it says our fathers punished us after their own desires, but God disciplines out of love. And you say, well, when has God come into my life and told me what's right and wrong? Here's the standard. This is the standard. And Israel had this without the New Testament there. They had the law. They rejoiced when they found it. And they heard the reading of it all the time. But they disobeyed. So here's what he says. We have not walked in your laws, verse 10, which he set before us by his servants and prophets. Yea, all Israel have trespassed thy law. even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice. Therefore the curse is poured upon us." Tie that to finish the transgression in verse 24. This is why God's not bored. He's not vindictive and just chose Israel as a vessel of wrath. There's a purpose here. We disobeyed, this is why this is happening. Therefore the curse is poured upon us and the oath that is written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. We have another context clue here. What's the context clue? Moses wrote about this too. Okay, let's look at that. Hold your spot and go to Leviticus chapter 26. So Daniel brings in the writings of Moses. And he uses that as a proof text for why this is happening to Israel. It wasn't just that Israel was sinful in general. It was that they sinned against specific requirements that God had set up. Leviticus chapter 26. This is also in your notes. We're going to start in verse number 14, which is on page number 162. Verses one through three are all the available blessings to Israel, and it's really good. And a lot of those are gonna be seen in the tribulation period and into the new heaven and the new earth. Verses 14 through 34 are all of the bad things that are going to happen if and when Israel chooses to disobey. But, verse 14, if ye will not hearken, obey unto me, I will not do all these commandments. Salvation is not like this. You do not see any kind of language like this concerning eternal life. What does Jesus say about eternal life? Whosoever believeth. What is the message of the church in Revelation 22? Whoever's thirsty, let him come and drink freely. Amen? This is covenant language, this is not. This is not the language of salvation. And we error, excuse me, we make a major mistake when we take this kind of language and put it on salvation. Salvation is not about any works. The only work salvation is about is about the work that Jesus did, amen? And he did it, it's done. And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant, I will do this unto you. I will even appoint you over terror, consumption, and the burning og, that shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. You shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it." That's significant. What does that mean? It literally means, look up here, they will put seed into the ground that God gave them, it will germinate, It will produce crop, but they will be in captivity by the time it does, and somebody else will benefit from that. That's a context clue. 17, I will set my face against you, and you shall be slain before your enemies. They that hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when none pursueth you. And if you will not for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. Now we have a number introduced. For every transgression, specifically of not letting the land rest, there will be a seven-year consequence as a result. And I will break the pride of your power. I will make your heaven as iron. What does that mean? Drought. Imagine an iron dome over you. It rains, it falls on the top of it and never touches your ground. The heaven will be as sealed with iron. Did that happen in Israel? Absolutely. They went through many famines and many droughts. Your strength shall be spent in vain. Your land shall not yield her increase. Second reference to the land. You could even say it's a third reference because of the water not being there. You can have all the land in the world, no water ain't gonna grow, none's gonna grow. Neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits. And if you'll walk contrary unto me and will not hearken unto me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children and destroy your cattle and make you few in number and your highways shall be desolate. And if you will not be reformed by me, by these things, but will walk contrary unto me, then I will also walk contrary unto you and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. Look at verse 28. Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury, and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. Do you see a pattern? The pattern here is that there was always going to be some type of 70-year captivity that was going to come upon Israel because of their iniquity. That's what Daniel's referring to. So Daniel knows, buddy, he knows exactly what's going on. When he said we transgressed, he's not saying in general, he's saying we didn't let the land rest like you said. So those promises in verses one through 13 of Moses' law, they're not coming on us yet. Go back to Daniel chapter 9. Now we're on page 914. We ended in verse 11, let's pick up in verse 12. And he hath confirmed his words, and he spake against us, and against our judges that judged by us, by bringing upon us a great evil, for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. Jerusalem's captivity was, I mean, I told you to read Jeremiah. Read Lamentations, it's horrible. It is terrible what happened to Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us, yet we made not our prayer before the Lord our God that we might turn from our iniquities and understand thy truth. Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil and brought it upon us. For the Lord our God is righteous in all his works, which he doeth, for we obeyed not his voice. And now, O Lord our God, that has brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and has gotten thee renowned at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, So now he's recapped the Lord's goodness, Israel's shortcomings, specifically their shortcomings. He repeats the law and now he asks a petition. He's made the confession and now he begs the Lord, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city, Jerusalem. They're in captivity at this moment of the writing, thy holy mountain, because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O Lord, our God, hear the prayer of thy servant and his supplications and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate for the Lord's sake. Pay attention. The first prayer is, Lord, make sure that we can go back. Bring us back into that place. The second thing is, let that place be brought back to its former glory. Look at the next one here in verse 18. Incline thine ear, and hear, open thine eyes, and behold our desolations in the city, which is called by thy name. For we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great mercies. The third one is that grace would be shown even in Israel's rebellion. Bring us back, set it up to its former glory, show us grace. That's why Daniel 9, 24 through 27 is about Israel's ultimate restoration, not involving the church. That last period of years that we're gonna study in a moment here is for this prayer to be answered. It's how God is gonna answer prayer. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hearken and do! Defer not for Thine own sake. O my God, for Thy city and Thy people are called by Thy name. Then he gets from, it's not from Michael here, excuse me, it was from Gabriel. Then he gets in verse 20 and 21 information from Gabriel about a specific timeline. So basically Daniel makes national confession while they are in captivity. God hears it and reveals the plan that's been set up from the foundation of the world. This is why this prophecy is of utmost importance and why we must take it literally. Was anything that Daniel said here an allegory? Was any of it a reference to something figuratively? No, it was all literal. And we saw that in the scripture. So then it makes sense that what Daniel says, that what Gabriel says to Daniel also should be taken what? Literally. Now, finish the transgression, that's what's being accomplished here. That 490 years, that's where the sevens come in. Now I want you to hold your spot here and go to 1 John 3 in verse 8. Universally, for all the sins outside of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ is also sufficient to take care of those. Page 1323. 1 John 3, verse 8. He that committed sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. That's why Jesus came and did what he did. On a universal, worldwide scale, he's going to take care of specifically destroying the works of the devil. The works of the devil, sin. Can Israel be involved in that? Yes, I want you to imagine for a moment a circle, and a part of that circle has a little slice. The little slice represents Israel. The whole circle is sin in general. Israel has sin, but there's a specific little slice that represents Israel where God has a plan that he's promised, and he's got to bring that to pass. That's why we keep Israel and the church separate. As a whole, what Jesus did on the cross was good enough for the sins of Israel, for the sins of Canaan, for all of it, all the sins of all the world. You can reference that in chapter two, in verse two of 1 John. However, Israel is not yet in the position of accepting their Messiah, correct? So there's a plan that's going to bring that to pass. Now go back. Well, let's look at our notes, because we're in the scripture quite a bit. Finish the transgression, equals, end the rebellion and apostasy of Israel to God's commandments. Daniel 9, 1-19, Leviticus 26, 14-34, and mankind's rebellion, as we see in 1 John 3, 8. This is yet to be fulfilled. Why is it yet to be fulfilled? Because portions of Daniel's prophecy that were given to him have not come to pass. A lot of people are gonna say AD 70, but I'm gonna show you how AD 70 can't be it. Titus' destruction of the Temple of Israel cannot be the fulfillment of Daniel 9, 25 and 26. We'll see that in a moment. It's yet to be fulfilled, although it is partially fulfilled in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. 1 John 2.2 and 3.8. Now let's go back to Daniel 9. There's a second phrase here, make an end of sins, end human failure to obey God. The cross-reference there is Hebrews 9.26. To an extent, this has been accomplished in the new birth of the believer. You can cross-reference that with Hebrews 10.14. Those who believed are forever sanctified. But it has yet to be accomplished for the nation of Israel. I want you to go to Romans 11. Romans chapter 11, in verses 25 through 27. So it hasn't happened yet. The make and end of sins there has not happened yet regarding the nation of Israel of which the prophecy was given. It's on page 1205 and the rest of it on 1206. Paul says this, for I would not brethren that ye should be ignorant of this mystery lest ye should be wise in your own conceits. That blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And that's also covered in Daniel chapter two and chapter six and chapter seven as well. And so all Israel shall be saved. How will Israel be delivered? The same way you and I are delivered. Belief on the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's where we can see the difference between Israel corporately and the church corporately. Are there Jewish people who are saved? Yes. Yes, 100%, there's no doubt about that. Is the nation of Israel as a nation of the position that Jesus is the Messiah. No. This is yet to come. And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, capital D, this is a reference to Jesus Christ, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. What's the ungodliness? The finishing of the transgression. How is that turned away? The completion of the tribulation period. What's the completion? The second coming of Jesus Christ. For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. Where nationally, they'll be set up, and it will be that way for all of eternity. Back in your notes here. That next phrase, make reconciliation for iniquity equals provide time for a satisfactory atonement for sins. This is accomplished at the cross of Calvary in the body and shed blood of Jesus Christ. Let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter five. verses 18 through 20. I like this passage because it specifically uses that same word, reconciliation, which means to remove that which was in the way. So look up here for a moment. This is reconciliation. The clicker here is removing my two hands from having contact. So reconciliation is removing that which is in the way. This now will represent sin. I mean, I do this every week. The ministry of reconciliation is giving the gospel so that people, this thing that separates them from the Lord, will be removed by faith in Jesus Christ. Look at verse 18. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. If you remember, Calvary, we made a little plaque for Freddie Coyle. It was back in like 2014 at a missions conference. And we gave him a little plaque that said, Freddie Coyle, Minister of Reconciliation. That wasn't just a little hee hee ha ha inside joke. That's your title too. How do we, what does that title look like? Giving the gospel message. Look at verse 19, to witness that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation, which is the gospel. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. So the prayer for the church to the lost is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, be ye reconciled to God, not Finish the transgression. Not set up the temple. Not bring Israel back to its former glory. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's our message. You see how that's different from Daniel's plea? Because Daniel has an agenda with Israel in which God will fulfill. In your notes again, bring in everlasting righteousness. This is most likely a new heaven and a new earth, completely free of sin, everlasting righteousness. For the sake of time, we're not going to read Revelation 21, 1 through 8, but you can read that. 2 Peter 3, 13 says we're looking for that. Seal up the vision and prophecy is the fulfillment, the completion of this prophecy that was going to be given. And anoint the most holy can only be a reference to Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords. So now let's go back to Daniel 9, 25. Now you'll have to forgive me, I'm just not that good at doing this type of message in a preaching style, so I'm going to go to kind of like a classroom mode here, because it's easier for me to communicate it. But Daniel 9.25, 9.26, and 9.27, there are not many things that we can cross-reference like we did with verse 24. So what you do in this situation is you take the theories, the different theologies, and you compare them with what makes sense with what is already revealed. We learned this principle in Bible college. It's a hermeneutical approach. Let the simple passages remain simple, amen? The unclear or difficult passages must be filtered through anything that is already clearly known. When we start saying things, that are unclear to determine the clarity of something that is difficult is when you get into a problem. Because there may be a simpler verse that discredits this theology. There's two main thinkings about end times events, covenant theology and dispensationalism. I am firmly in the dispensationalist camp because it makes the most sense with clear scripture. Covenant theology gets you to the conclusion that the church is Israel. We already know that can't be the, we know by what we're studying here, that can't be the case. So now let's dive into this verse 25. Know ye therefore, know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah Prince shall be, and we've got real figures here, seven weeks, and three score and two weeks, the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troubleless times." Why is that significant for Daniel? That's exactly what he asked for, is it not? That Jerusalem be rebuilt, that it be brought back to its former glory. You can tie that with verse 15 through 17. And ultimately he asked for the Lord's grace. So Gabriel tells him, here's the time in which that will happen. Now, let's take a look at notes. There are four separate decrees that were given for Israel to go back, but there's only one that involves both of those descriptions, to go back and to build the wall. And that is Artaxerxes decree, we're on the second page here, authorizing Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem in 444 BC. The reference for that, it's highlighted, it's not highlighted because We're not gonna go to it, but you can go to it. Nehemiah 2, one through eight. Seven weeks, a week is seven years, and three score in two weeks equals 49 years plus 434 years, totaling 483 years. What is significant about that? We're missing seven years. There's a seven year gap there. Some would say, well, wouldn't you start the timeline directly from when Gabriel gave the vision to Daniel? No. This is why I believe that this prophecy, there's lapses in it. There's timeframes where it changes. Think about the time from when Jesus ascended to the time when Israel was, the destruction happened. There's 37, 39 years in between that. I'm not saying this is fluid and that it can be fit to the way we want it, but it's very clear it's not something that's going to happen on a linear line. except for this right here. And I want you to take a look at letter C there, and then we'll continue. The street shall be built again, and the wall even in troubleless time. 49 years from Artaxerxes instruction to Nehemiah for Jerusalem to be rebuilt, which was completed. It took 49 years. That's the first part. The seven weeks, the seven sevens, 49. So from that point all the way to the Messiah's gonna be cut off, look at letter B there, Daniel 9 26. After three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off but not for himself. We've already had the 49 fulfilled. There's 434 remaining. that came to pass exactly, if you look at the calendar year, as 360 as it is in the Jewish calendar, that timeline was fulfilled and completed in 33 AD, which would have been exactly when Jesus made his journey to Jerusalem and was crucified outside the city. This is an exact prophecy about Christ. This is why we don't read, you and I, as dispensationalists, do not look at the Messiah there as some reference to Cyrus or some reference to Titus. This is talking about Jesus Christ. But not for himself means that he's not cut off of anything that he did. There's no actual credible crime against him where it would have been his own doing that he was on the cross. Look at that whole passage there, Daniel 9.29. After three score and two weeks, shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself. And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, and the end thereof shall be with the flood. And unto the end of the war, desolations are determined. After three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off. That's equal to, after the 49 years to rebuild Jerusalem and the wall, another 434 years will pass, which will include the arrival of the Messiah, Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, through his adult life, and conclude with his death. Why his death? The Messiah shall be cut off. Jewish calendar is 360 days to a year, which would put the end of that 483 years, including the 493 from Artaxerxes, or the 49 from Artaxerxes and the 434 to at about 33 AD. This is when Jesus was crucified on the cross. That is a historical record backed up. Well, I would say the historical record, yes, is backed up by the scripture. The people of the prince shall come, new character, Covenant theologians think this is some type of allusion to Christ. This is the Antichrist, not Titus, because Titus did not make a covenant with Israel. That's the specific difference between Titus and this other prince of the people, which in other translations can be called the ruler of the people. This is that little horn of Daniel chapter seven in verse eight, and is talked about in Revelation as well. shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Now this is Titus' destruction of the temple and of Israel, which was under Roman control, which is why a lot of people conclude that the Roman Empire will be revived to some degree, and the Antichrist will come out of that system. There's one world religion that is very tied and invested in Rome, and it's the Catholic Church. I am not sitting here saying that the Catholic Church will be the woman who rides the beast. It could. All I know is I'm not gonna be here to find out, and I wanna make sure I bring as many people with me so that they don't have to figure it out either. But this is incredibly interesting. And you study what goes on in the Vatican. You don't find a lot, because it's shrouded in mystery. Some people only heard one part of that, and that's okay. Play back the tape. All right, Jesus spoke of this destruction in Matthew 24, one through two. We talked about that last week. This temple's gonna be destroyed. There will not be one stone laid upon another. Daniel 9, 27. He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week, and in the midst of the week, he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease. This means there's a third temple that's rebuilt. And I personally believe it's gotta be on Mount Moriah. It can't be anywhere else. There was that Saudi Arabian prince that was getting real comfortable with the idea of letting the Dome of the Rock go and keeping the mosque there. I haven't heard much from that guy since, but I believe that third temple will be constructed on Mount Moriah. I don't think there's any other place for it. It's got to be there. You say, Pastor, how will that come to pass? God knows what he's doing, amen? He's going to bring it to pass. Look at all the stuff that has already come. And for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate. That's a key. Even unto the consummation. The consummation I would contend is when the Lord comes back. And that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. Shall confirm the covenant with many for one week is the Antichrist one week. That's one set of seven. Seven-year covenant with Israel, which is where the tribulation period begins. Now there's some who think after the rapture, there'll be a period of time before that covenant is established, and then that's when the timeline starts. Because even in Revelation, it gets real specific. Three and a half years, 42 months, I think it says, and it splits those things. I don't know how true that is, that there'll be a period of time, but you need to pay attention to what's happening in the Middle East. If there's severe, Catastrophic damage as a result of this war with Israel and Hamas and these neighboring countries here. If it gets to the point where peace cannot be attained, you need to be paying attention to the people who say they can establish it. I remember I was at Walmart looking for toothpaste when I heard about those Abraham Accords that Trump set up. And I was like, that's interesting. to restore peace in the Middle East, to bring about world peace. I don't think we're gonna find out who the Antichrist is. I think when the rapture happens is when he will be revealed. But you can start getting some key players together. Paying attention to the people who say peace and safety, trying to set up peace agreements, that's all, those should be red flags for a one world government. And we're kind of already there. There's already medical things that are going out to control the whole world should there be another COVID-19 type thing. It's very interesting. Everybody's connected right now with cell devices. That last note there, let's go to Matthew 24, please. This is where we'll close. I'm a little behind schedule, but I don't want to get more into this next week. I want to study the second coming of the Lord next week. Matthew chapter 24. When you're there, look at that last note that I gave to you. This is on page 1032. Yes, that's correct. 1033, we'll start in verse 15 of Matthew 24. In your notes, in the midst or the middle of the week, the middle of seven is three and a half. That matches up directly with what John says in Revelation. shall he cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease. The last three and a half years of the tribulation period is marked by the Antichrist breaking his covenant with Israel, and he will further the desolation until the time has come. And that time is 42 months from that period. the end of the three and a half years, that's when the Lord Jesus is going to come back. Now let's look at Jesus's words in Matthew 24 and verse 15. Here is everything that we've studied today. These notes, which I think are of high value, not because I constructed them, but because they contain the word of God. This is where we hitch it to truth. If Jesus was perfect, and he is perfect, then his use of Daniel 9 here in Matthew 24, 15 has to be tied to a literal translation. It has to be. Look what he says. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, that is a direct quote spoken of by Daniel the prophet, That's Daniel 9, 26 and 27. Stand in the holy place, whoso readeth, let him understand. This is to the tribulation believer. When you're seeing that covenant broken, the time is real close. Stand in the place that is set apart. Now he speaks to the Jews. Let them which be in Jerusalem flee unto the mountains. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house. Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. Don't pack, go. There's gonna be bloodshed and it will be destructive. and woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days to nursing mothers. But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. There are one, two, three, four events that this could be compared to. The flood, it's worse than that. It's worse than the captivity into Babylon that Jeremiah described. It's worse than the Holocaust, the millions of Jews that were killed as a result of that. And it's worse than the first five seals that we studied last week. And that was bad enough. This last three and a half years is the difference between the tribulation period as a whole, seven years, and this last three and a half is the Great Tribulation. 22, and except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved, delivered. What is that a reference to? If these days continue, humanity would end as you know it. There's a way to do that. There's really two ways to do that. The inability to produce crops, you'll die of starvation, or a nuclear attack. Do we see that? That's one of the biggest things right now between Iran and Israel. There's a threat of ballistics. I think they say there's like three missiles that carry nuclear capacity right now. You drop that, you end life. Things just stop. But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. We believe the shortening of that is the return of Christ. There if any man say unto you in that last three and a half years, lo, here is Christ, he came, come with us. Or there, believe it not, for there shall arise false Christs, false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders. They're gonna be able to do miracles, folks. Miracles rivaling what Jesus did, anti-Christ, he's the opposite of it. they shall deceive the very elect, insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before, wherefore, if they shall say unto you, behold, he, Christ, is in the desert, go not forth. Behold, he is in the secret chambers. Believe it not, for as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also be the coming of the Son of Man. You will not have to worry about a secret cave or a random desert. Everyone's gonna see. Everybody's gonna know. He's gonna come back and the whole world is gonna go, there he is. There'll be no doubt. And you say, where am I? Right behind him. We're not waiting down here for that. Verse 28, for wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. That's Armageddon. That's the call the angel says in Revelation 19. All ye fowls of the air, come and feast on the carcasses of man. Wow. Some people would say exciting. I think terrifying. The only comfort I have is that I will not be here for that. You can close your Bibles. Look up here for a moment. I'm gonna ask the gentlemen who are gonna be administering communion to take their positions in the back. If you're here today and you wanna make sure that you're not a part of Daniel 9's prophecy, you need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Be found in him, not having your own righteousness, which is just the works of the law, but being given the righteousness that is only found in Christ. Look up here for a moment. If this hand represents you and me, let's have this block of sin represent sin. I put this on top of my hand because the Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God loves us very much, but he hates sin, and this sin must be paid for. This sin is in the way between us and God. We cannot have proper fellowship with Him. We cannot be called a child of God because This is in the way. This has got to be paid for and removed. The wages of sin is death. It's not good works. Listen, if you're here this morning and you're trusting in some type of religious system or some type of works-based system that you can do to bring about your righteousness, the Bible says we are not saved by works lest any man should boast. The wages of sin is death. You cannot be good enough, be clean enough, be repentant enough. to pay for your sin. The wages of sin is death. Somebody has to die and shed their blood for sin, and I can't do that for you, and you can't do that for me. We can't do it for ourselves. Someone's got to intervene. God loved us. This sin, separation, wages of sin, death. If anybody could pay their own sin, they'd be able to stand next to the Lord Jesus Christ and say, I achieved my own salvation by my good works. The prophets describe our good works as filthy rags, not worthy to be compared to anything that could be done by God. We need a Savior, and that Savior is Jesus Christ. This hand represents Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, fully God and fully man. And what Jesus did is he came down to the earth, he lived that perfect life, he was and is the Messiah, amen? He went to the cross and he was cut off, but not for himself. He shed his blood and offered his body and he said, after that agonizing hours on the cross, he says, it is finished. For God so loved the world, that's you and me, that he gave his only begotten son, that's Jesus Christ. Here's salvation, here it is. Whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. You wanna know for sure, you're not gonna have to worry about the tribulation or the great tribulation. Right where you are today, do not wait. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice I didn't say confess your sins. Notice I did not say be willing to turn from sin. All of those things are good for the Christian life, but they don't result in your new birth. They do not result in the righteousness which only comes from God. Salvation is not an if-then agreement. Salvation is, Jesus Christ died, whosoever believeth receives everlasting life. And once you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are born again. You're a part of this new thing called the church, and you are eternally secured in Christ. If that made sense to you today and you put your trust in Jesus Christ, I'm going to continue to pray for you. For everybody else that's here, if you've already put your trust in Christ, we now observe the Lord's Supper, Believer's Communion. This is important because we are supposed to be reminded...