So, please turn once again in your Bibles. This is the third and, I believe, final message from Daniel chapter 9 in this passage of verses 20 through 27. I'm reading from the ESV this time. Daniel 9, beginning at verse 20, we read, while I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before Yahweh, Jehovah God, for the holy hill of my God, meaning Jerusalem. While I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. He made me understand, speaking to me and saying, O Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision. 70 weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for 62 weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. After the 62 weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing, or shall be put to death, but not for himself, is the way the New King James reads it. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city of the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed, and he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week, He shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abomination shall come one who makes desolate until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator." Therein's God's infallible word. So now to ensure that we understand what we're dealing with here, let's once again be reminded of a few things. We found that Daniel, as he is contemplating the sins of his people Israel and God's punishment for those sins, he learns that the Lord has promised that the captivity would end after 70 years. And he realizes that 70 year period is coming to an end. And so he's hopeful that he might be released from bondage. And Daniel and the fateful remnant in Israel are eager to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and the temple. And in the middle of all that, the angel Gabriel comes to Daniel. He's sent by God to tell him of a much greater restoration that God has in store for all the world. You know, it's all well and good that people who are in prison or enslaved would want to be freed and return home. But of far greater importance, you see, is our need to be freed from sin and released from that bondage, a bondage only God could deliver them or us from. So using the cryptic, hard to understand language that we've read, Gabriel informs Daniel of great changes. and happenings that lie ahead. And he draws on the imagery, we talked about this last time, from Leviticus 25 concerning the celebration of the Jubilee year, the cycle of seven year time periods. And he uses that to convey to Daniel the great hope of the Messiah who was yet to come. And from the day that Daniel received the vision from the Lord to the time of the Messiah and the closing out of the Old Covenant age, That is a period of 70, seven zero, and then seven time periods would follow, and thus a total of 490 years. So you've got 70 seven-year time periods, 490 years. And that time period is divided into three phases. The first period is seven seven-year time periods. The second phase is 62 seven-year time periods, and there was to be a final seven-year time period at the end of the Old Covenant era. That is to say, at the time that the Messiah would be born and establish the kingdom of God. Let me put it maybe a little differently so that we will not be confused as to what Daniel is being told here. This is a declaration from Almighty God to his faithful servant Daniel that even though he has his sights set on liberation from Babylon and deliverance from slavery, God has a much bigger plan worked out, and that plan involves the sending of his only begotten son Jesus into the world to die an atoning death for the sins of all who would believe on his name. And so a much greater deliverance, a liberation of world historical proportions is in the works. God further revealed to Daniel that this whole plan was going to unfold over that 490-year time period. and it would be divided up as follows. Look again at verse 25, 925, I'm reading it from the New King James this time. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks, the street shall be built again and the wall even in troublesome times. So then during the first phase, which encompasses 49 years, the command will be issued to rebuild the city. And if you'll take the time to read through the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, you will see that, in fact, that did happen. It came to pass. Under the Persians, the Israelites returned to Jerusalem, and they rebuilt the city and the temple, exactly as the Lord told Daniel it would happen, and it occurred during that same time span. But then the second phase, the 490-year span, encompasses a long stretch of 434 years. And during that time, God's faithful remnant in Israel were looking forward to, hoping for the coming of the Messiah, even as the Lord here promised today. Look again at verse 26, and after the 62 weeks, Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself. and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and sanctuary, and the end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war, the desolations are determined. So Daniel is told that after the expiration of the second time period, there's a total of 483 years that the Messiah will be cut off, but not for himself. He will be put to death, in other words. Let me give you another translation of verse 26. Now, I don't like paraphrased translations. I don't recommend them as a first line of understanding, but sometimes they can put things in a little more understandable way. This one says it this way, verse 26. The anointed one will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing, and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the temple. The end will come with a flood and war, and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end. You note that the cutting off of the Messiah takes place in the 70th week or in that final seven year period of the 490 years. So the scriptures plainly teach that during the 70th week, Messiah will be cut off. All right, look, as I've said before, I realize that this can be confusing and hard to grasp, whether you're hearing me read it and say it or whether you're reading it yourself. But because there is a large body of evangelical Bible-believing Christians who teach that this 70 week of Daniel chapter nine has actually been postponed until the end at the second coming of Christ, We really need to understand this because that's not at all what the text is saying. And if you need a name for it, it's called dispensationalism. These are the people who promoted this for well over 200 years. And I want you to see for yourself why it is an impossible claim. Gabriel tells Daniel that the cutting of the Messiah takes place during that 70th week. Well, what does he mean by that? That language is grounded in Old Testament Hebraic terms. The idea of something being cut off or the cutting off here refers to the same language used in Exodus and Numbers and Leviticus to describe the violent application of the death penalty for a capital crime. This then is a clear reference to the crucifixion of our Lord. And the text says he'll be put to death but not for himself. Well, why won't he be put to death for himself? I'm sure every one of you in here could answer that question. He was sinless. He didn't need to die for himself. He needed to die for those who needed to be delivered from their sins. This is what the prophet Isaiah foretold, the same atoning death that Christ would make on behalf of others, but not for himself. So you see, friends, the 70th week of Daniel is intimately tied to the death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. And if, as some Bible teachers claim, that 70th week has been postponed, well, we have a major problem. Before I tell you what that major problem is, let me tell you why, in case you're wondering, well, why do they think it's been postponed? Let me give you a less than five minute crash course in the errors of dispensational theology. Some of you longtime members here know these things, some of you may not, but in their scheme of things, the people who teach this, they say the Lord has divided up history into these seven dispensations. And when they get to the dispensation that includes the coming of Christ, whoops, something happened. The Jews rejected Jesus. That wasn't supposed to happen. So everything had to come to a stop in God's plan, so they say. And this all tracks with what Daniel is being shown here in Daniel chapter nine. And so there has to be this postponement of the end of that 70th week because Jesus was supposed to be accepted and inaugurated as king and reign from Jerusalem. And so they have to factor in something to account for that. It doesn't fit into their scheme. And so they insert the idea that there's a gap between the 69th and 70th weeks of Daniel and God's rolling out his plan for history. Of course, the text doesn't say anything anywhere about that, but here's the problem if they happen to be correct. And it's a problem for them too. If they are right, We are still in our sins. If that week has been put off, no savior has died for us. And I hope you see how contrary this is to the plain teachings of God's word. There is no gap between the 69th and 70th weeks. It simply isn't there. What is there is the obvious teaching that following the 69th week, these events were and did take place. And also keep in mind, that during Daniel's time, Israel was being punished, punished because they broke covenant with God Almighty. His judgment came upon them, how? In the form of a foreign army. Now, I mentioned last week that among other reasons the Lord brought His covenantal judgment against Israel was because they continually ignored the Jubilee year. But that was not all they did. They repeatedly followed other gods and worshiped idols. Daniel is told of what the outcome would be of the Messiah's being cut off. And we see here in verse 26 once more, the city of Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed. A flood of foreign armies would come in at the Lord's command and wreak havoc and destruction such had never been seen before. What was coming upon Jerusalem at the end of that 70th week was a calamity and a disaster that made the Babylonian invasion pale by comparison. And it was going to come because Israel in crucifying the Messiah had finally and forever broken covenant with God. The end had come or would come. The curtain came down. That's the end of old covenant Israel. Now, Daniel is seeing this vision in the 6th century BC. But let me tell you, although I know many of you know, but to be reminded what happened in AD 70, a generation after the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, the Roman General Titus laid siege to the city of Jerusalem and he proceeded to fulfill Daniel's prophecy to the letter. That's why I'm mentioning this. The city and the temple were destroyed. That was an event determined by the fact that Jesus was rejected by the Jews in that 70th week time period. But look at what else we're told here in verse 27. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week, a strong covenant. And here let's remember the words that we say or hear every Lord's day as we come to the table. Jesus says in Matthew 26, this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. And then again in verse 27 of Daniel 9, it talks about the middle of the week, he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abomination shall be one who makes desolate even until the consummation which is determined is poured out on the desolate. So in the middle of that final seven-year period, the Lord would bring an end to the Old Testament sacrificial system. This is mentioned in 1 Peter 4, verse 7, where Peter says to them, the culmination of all things is at hand. We are on the verge of a new era, a new covenant being set in place. The old is going away. And that's precisely what the Lord did in the book of Hebrews. We are reminded in chapter seven, for it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, meaning Jesus, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily for his own sins and then for those of the people. He did this once for all when he offered himself up. The followers of Jesus understood that. Too bad the Roman Catholic Church doesn't understand that. They would do well to read this several times over. But the point is, the end of the old covenant era had come. There was no more need for a temple or sacrifices. And do you recall one of the many telling signs that occurred immediately following the death of our Lord? In Matthew 27, verse 50, Jesus cries out with a loud voice. He gives up His spirit. Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Another sign of the ending of all of that. Do you now understand? what is meant in the New Testament when that phrase last days is used and read. Those people were living in the last days, the last days of the old covenant, the final hours of the former way that God dealt with humanity. A change was coming, something new and long awaited was about to happen. over that time period. And then the final curtain came down in AD 70 when the risen triumphant Christ sent the Roman legions to bring judgment upon the city and the temple. That city, that temple had become idols fit for nothing but destruction. And on the wing of abomination shall be one who makes desolate even until the consummation. I think that we can accurately understand this to be referring to the Roman destruction of the temple and the city. Now, there was an earlier manifestation of it because the temple in the city that were destroyed in AD 70 had been the one that was rebuilt. But one reason it had been rebuilt was because of one of Alexander the Great's descendants, Antiochus Epiphanes, who much earlier, many, many centuries earlier, had attacked the temple. He had slain thousands and thousands of Israelites, but the temple was not destroyed. But some of you who know the story, you know what he did. Antiochus Epiphanes went into the temple and he sacrificed a pig on the altar. And then later, he would erect a statue of the Greek god Zeus in the Holy of Holies. Daniel is forewarned that there's another desolation that's awaiting the temple because of the Messiah's rejection. And that too happened with the Roman armies in Jerusalem in AD 70. History records for us that when the Romans sacked the city of Jerusalem, the legions took their banners and their insignias, and those things are bearing images of eagles and the emperor Titus, and they offered sacrifices to them in the temple. And so the Lord wanted Daniel to understand that while it was right that he wanted to see Jerusalem rebuilt and the temple worship restored, but he was told of what those things foreshadowed and what would be happening, how painful it might be for him to know that. And you see here at the end of this chapter that unlike the others where Daniel has been shown certain things, you notice something is missing here. There's no clue as to what he thought of it and how this affected him. Previous times he said, and I was concerned about this or I was praying about this, I'm thinking about this, but there's nothing here. We are left only to guess what reaction he might have had when he learned this information. So we can think of it this way perhaps. He has climbed up one mountain peak only to see another in a far distant horizon. And in that distance, he might have seen the outline of the cross of our Lord Jesus, who would suffer death, but not for himself. And beyond that, Daniel must have seen the storm clouds gathering, the storm clouds of the judgment of God on the city of Jerusalem. And maybe, just maybe at that moment, Daniel might have remembered something else. He might have remembered something that happened to him much earlier in his life. when he was given the knowledge to interpret the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar of that giant metallic image. And he might have remembered at that moment the little stone that came out of nowhere and crushed the kingdoms built by man, and that stone grew into a giant mountain until it filled the whole earth. And perhaps he might have recalled the vision that we read earlier in this chapter of the ascension of the son of man into heaven and ascension to receive the kingdom from the ancient of days and to take dominion over the earth. And maybe, maybe Daniel was left as speechless as we are at the awful judgment that God brings on his enemies, but also the unspeakable joy and blessing that he brings upon his children. Let us pray.