Well, many, many people have attempted to shoehorn very much theology and very many years into our passage today and from Daniel chapter nine. It’s theology and time that does not fit. This prophecy of 70 weeks, really weeks, the word is seven, 77s, is one of the most intriguing passages, one of the most argued about passages in scripture. And many commentators refer to this as the most difficult passage to interpret. And indeed, it is a difficult passage to interpret. Many in recent history see this passage as the key or the map to the end times, right, as they describe it. It’s my belief that this is a conclusion that’s been shoehorned into the text. It’s a difficult passage to map out to be sure. And I’m not saying that I have it all figured out with absolute certainty. But the position I’m going to lay out this week and the next is certainly not unique to me. I do strongly believe, though, that those views of this passage that shoehorn this stuff into it cannot be derived from a simple and plain reading of the text, especially in the context of the rest of God’s Word. These views, right, that Daniel 9’s prophecy of the 70 weeks is a map to the end times, the box top, as it were, to the puzzle, which are predominantly held by what our brothers and sisters in that tradition call premillennial dispensationalism, right, these words you probably heard. I would say this position is learned and not derived from the text. They are driven by prior theological commitments or teachings that force or shoehorn Scripture to fit a desired end that they come to it with. The technical term for this is eisegesis, right, eisegesis, reading into the text what you want rather than drawing out what is there, exegesis. Rather than being a map of the end times, I would say it makes much more sense and fits the rest of scripture better to understand this prophecy as a messianic prophecy telling of the coming of the Messiah. Christ, that’s Jesus, right? And you all know that the anointed one, the Messiah in Hebrew, Greek, it’s Christ, right? These are the same word. And I suppose you could say, broadly speaking, on a macrospective way that it is about the end times when we see the work of Christ bringing in these conditions that are given at the end of this prophecy that we read about today, right? And being fulfilled, right? And what do we see there? We see in verse 24, right, it talks about Yes, what will happen? And that’s the finishing of transgression, the putting an end to sin, the atoning for iniquity, the bringing in everlasting righteousness, the sealing both vision and profit, and the anointing of a most holy place, or a most holy, right? These things were in fact accomplished by Christ through the strong covenant that Jesus makes with many, right? The many are the people of God whom the Father chooses to save. And we’ll look at this more next week, this strong covenant that this was accomplished through. And we see that if Gabriel’s vision here, this revelation to Daniel speaks of end times, it does so in the form of a messianic prophecy, foretelling with incredible precision, the suffering and obedience of the one who fulfills it all, Christ the Lord. And it’s about what? It’s about the coming of Christ, the completion of his sacrificial work, and Jerusalem’s destruction after his rejection. We’ve noticed very often, if you’ve been with us for very long, that scripture will often give the conclusion up front, and then it will back up to fill in the details, right? Many examples of this can be given in scripture. This is kind of the norm of the way of doing things. We think of the creation narrative itself, right? There’s the big picture given up front, and then there’s an explanation of how that all unfolded in the remainder of those chapters. of Genesis. Well, we see this in Daniel as well, right? A developing and growing nature of the text, working from the general to the more specific details. And this is certainly true of verses 24 to 27, our focus this morning. The time that is in view is of the 70 weeks, or again, literally 77s, 77s. And again, it talks about these six things, that when this period is over, right? 77s are decreed about your people in your holy city. When this period is all over, these six things will happen. Transgression will be finished. Sins will be ended. Atonement will be made for iniquity. Everlasting righteousness will be brought. Vision and prophecy will be sealed or ended. And the most holy will be anointed. And for the New Testament believer, for Christians, it’s very reflexive for us, intuitive, to hear these statements and to hear a prophecy, the work of Jesus Christ. It’s our reflexive intuition. And of course, Romans 6 tells us that Christ came to what? To die for our sins, that through him we might die to sin and be raised to a life of righteousness. Those who placed their trust in Christ’s work and believed on him, Romans says, have been set free from sin and become no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness, slaves of righteousness. And because of these things have been accomplished by Christ, As Romans 5 tells us, that grace reigns through righteousness leading to eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. And Christ came to seal up vision and prophecy. right, and a word about this, to seal up vision and prophecy there in 24. The verb there, to seal up, is the same verb where it says to put an end to sin. To put an end to and to seal up are the same word, right? That’s what it means to put an end to, right? To seal up vision and prophecy is to put an end to vision and prophecy, or to confirm or finalize vision and prophecy, and they are ended, right? Visions and prophecy, are done away with. They’re completed. It’s a wrap. Hebrews 1 tells us so much, right? It says that Christ is the last word. In the past, the Lord spoke to us by these many ways, but in these last days, he’s spoken to us by his Son, the Word, Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 1 tells us that in him, all the promises of God received their yes and amen, right? And so in Christ, we see prophecy and prophet united, right? It’s in Christ alone that these two come together. In the last part of verse 24 there, it says, to anoint the most holy place, this is a reference to, of course, the holy of holies. And that was Jesus, it was that that Christ came to fulfill, right? It was a picture of God’s dwelling in the midst of his people, the Holy of Holies, of God tabernacling with them. And we know, of course, John tells us in John 1 that the word Christ became flesh and dwelt, the word is tabernacled, he tabernacled among us, and we beheld what? His glory, his glory. This too is a reference to the glory from the tabernacle, from the dwelling of God, right? It’s a reference to the Shekinah glory we read about that fills the temple, that filled the tabernacle that was displayed there. And Gabriel also explains the significance of these 77s, right? From the time when the decree or the word for the rebuilding of Jerusalem went out until the coming of Messiah, there would be 69 sevens, 69 sevens. Verse 25 in, The ESV is not the best. Most English versions follow the Hebrew and read something like this. There will be 77s and 62 7s, right? There will be seven 7s and 62 7s. You see the difference there between the English Standard Version. The ESV says, there shall be seven weeks, period, full stop, then for 62 weeks, and it goes on. The problem is, in the original language, what the ESV translates then for, in Hebrew, is simply the word and, right, and. And so the other modern translations, and even the old translation, the King James are better, when it says there will be 77s and 62 7s. See that, seven 7s and 62 7s. 62 7s and 7 together are 69 7s, right? And we must remember, One of the dictums that we started with that apocalyptic literature, right? These are not, this prophecy is not intended to confuse or make us more worried and lack understanding, but to clarify and to give us hope, right? So we need to not get lost in the math. These are to be thought of as two periods, right? One of seven sevens and the other of 62 sevens. And I contend that these numbers, at the end of the day, are symbolic, right? More on that next week. Stay tuned, come back to hear more about that. But notice that it says, it will be built again with plaza and moat, even in times of distress or in troubled times, right? And so this is encouragement for Daniel. It’s real encouragement. He longs for the restoration of Jerusalem, and he’s told that it will be rebuilt. despite troubling opposition, despite difficulty. And we read about this, of course, in the book of Nehemiah, about this difficulty and this opposition that they face when they go back to restore, to rebuild. And we read that this period of 62 sevens will be followed by the last week, when in verse 26 it says the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, right? The Messiah, the anointed one, the Christ. And Gabriel here is using language of a penal punishment, a violent punishment, like that we read about in Leviticus chapter 7. And we’ll look at this more next week. But there is very much correlation here from Leviticus to what this vision talks about. Remember the context of what’s going on with this vision. Daniel is reading Jeremiah, and he’s reading about the curses and the punishment for breaking the covenant, for disobedience to the covenant, and the sanctions that come. And so this is covenantally contextualized, if you will. And again, it says, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing. Leviticus 7.20. Says this, but the person who eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of the Lord’s peace offering, while an uncleanness is on him, that person shall be cut off from his people, cut off. And you’ll remember again that that is the word that is used in Scripture for the making of a covenant. When a covenant is made, the word is to cut a covenant, to cut a covenant. And so the person shall be cut off from his people, right? Just like verse 26, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing. It’s also the language of Isaiah’s vision in the prophecy of the well-known suffering servant in Isaiah 53 that says this, that the suffering servant would be, quote, cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for transgression of my people. And of course, this becomes clear in light of the Gospels, right? When we read the Gospels in the account of Christ, the Messiah would be crucified And during this same period of sevens, Jerusalem and the rebuilt temple would be what? Destroyed. Verse 26, desolations are decreed, it says. Verse 27 looks to the reference, the same final week, right? Who is it who will, it says, make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week, he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. Who is that? We have to be attentive to the construction of the text, the construction of the text, the way that these verses are built. And if we are, there’s some clarity that will come to the meaning of what it’s saying. And again, we have to remember that the style of Daniel’s vision, it’s the same throughout his other visions, this progressive unfolding of the future. Each verse in these verses, 24 to 27, is set in the same timeframe, right, of 70 sevens. Verse 24 covers the entire period, explaining what will happen. Verse 25 divides the first 69 sevens, right, into 62 and one. Verse 26 describes the final seven in an indefinite way, if you will. And verse 27 describes the final seven in more detail, more detailed manner. And if this construction is correct, which it appears to be, then the first half of verse 27 refers to Christ Jesus, and the second half to the destruction of the city and the abominations that came in history of Titus, right, of Titus in AD 70, when it was indeed destroyed, the temple. In the middle of this final week, Christ died for his people. He brought, what, all sacrifice to an end, right? How is that? Did sacrifices end with the coming of Christ and the work of Christ? Of course they did, why? Because no more sacrifice was needed. All previous sacrifices, the book of Hebrews tells us, did not take away sin. They did not truly remove the sin, but they pointed to the one day, the one sacrifice that truly would do so. Hebrews is amazing, incredible, it’s awesome on this in highlighting this point. And inside of 40 years from the time Christ was rejected, what happens? The ground, the soil underneath the temple, which Daniel loved and longed for, was again defiled by the pagans. Jerusalem was again desolate. And if this is the correct interpretation, and I think that it is, given the context, Daniel is living, right? His context, his environment, it’s in the soil again of the covenant and the covenant concepts. If correct, it’s easy to see why the Lord was, what he was giving his people through Daniel, right? He’s saying it’s right to long for and to see, to long to see the deliverance of the people from captivity back from exile. It’s right to long to see Jerusalem and the temple rebuilt. But the Lord wanted Daniel to look and to see beyond these things, beyond them, to what they pointed to, even if there was more pain and delay to come. And Gabriel was sent and he announced to Daniel that there was a more and deeper context than Jeremiah’s 70 weeks. It’s 70 times seven. In return from exile, right? That isn’t the end of the struggle. But there was hope for God’s people. That’s the message, God is still in control. There’s hope for God’s people who suffer away from their true homeland. And that, brothers and sisters, has implications for all of us until glory, who are away from our true homeland in this pilgrim land that we are, pilgrims in this land, right? There is hope for God’s people. God hears, God promises, and it is good news because he is a good God. He’s a promise-keeping God. And we know, brothers and sisters, that the Gabriel, the one who is sent with this word to announce to Daniel, is also the one sent to announce the good news of the coming of the anointed one, the Messiah, the Christ. He was the one sent, you recall, sent to this righteous couple, Elizabeth and Zechariah, in the first century. The couple was old, she was barren, they were longing for a child. And you remember in Luke chapter one, it says this, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord, and he must not drink of strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.’ And Zechariah said to the angel, How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.’ And the angel answered him, it says in verse 19, I am Gabriel, I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring this good news. And then later, Gabriel announces the greatest news, right? In verse 26, in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to the city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And it goes on, and he came to her and said, “‘Greetings, O favored one.'” Remember these words that he told to Daniel. You were greatly loved, you were greatly, highly esteemed. “‘Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you.’ But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. In verse 30, the angel said to her, “‘Do not be afraid, Mary. For you have found favor, it’s the word again, favor, grace with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and he will be called son of the most high and the Lord will give to him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom, of his kingdom, there shall be no end. And Mary said to the angel, how will this be since I’m a virgin? And the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God. The miracle for Elizabeth echoed the Old Testament, and the barren women who were given children by God. Think of Sarah, think of the mother of Samson. But the miracle of Mary, The miracle for her was greater, right? It is sui generis, it is supreme, it is one of a kind, it is final. And God’s ultimate purpose for his people, right, we have to remember, wasn’t a temple made with hands. It wasn’t a holy place entered into once each year. His son Jesus was the place by where men were to approach God He is the access to the Father, right? His sacrifice was the one that would bring forgiveness truly once and for all for all time for those it was given for, that love Him, that are united to Him. And in the same way that the ultimate purpose wasn’t a temple made with hands, in the same way Jesus will not restore the earthly city of Jerusalem. Why is that? Well, John writes in Revelation 21, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place, right, the tabernacling place, that’s the same word, The dwelling place of God is with man, and he will dwell, tabernacle with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. This is the awesome future that awaits God’s people, right? It’s heaven come down on earth, renewed, the new heavens and a new earth. But we’re still here in the old heaven, in the old earth. And when we see the continuing persecution of Christians in the world, it’s very easy for us to lose hope, for our focus to go away from the truths promised to the muck and mire of this world. This happened in the early churches as well. And we too may wonder, right, like we read about in the Apostle Peter, where is the promise of Jesus coming again? And even for all of us, personally, brothers and sisters, We struggle, right? Surely we struggle, and we have difficulty, and we have pain in our lives. But Daniel 9, again, comes and encourages us to take heart, to believe, to have hope. Our sovereign God is on the throne, and he’s in control of this world, regardless of how it looks from our perception. And he’s decreed a period of time in which to bring an end to sin, an end to evil, and to bring in everlasting righteousness. accomplished by Christ. And he promised Daniel that Jerusalem and the temple would be rebuilt, and they were. And he promised that for 62 weeks, Jerusalem would continue to exist, but in a time of trouble. And it was. And he promised that in the final week, the Messiah would come, would be killed, and Jerusalem would be destroyed. And it all happened exactly as God decreed. Jesus came, and with his death, he atoned for iniquity. But he also rose again and ascended into heaven, promising to come once more for the last time. And with these events, human history has reached the last days. 1 John tells us, brothers, we are in the last hour, and we are until he returns. Christ can return any day. Our God is the faithful covenant God we must remember. As he fulfilled his earlier promises, he will fulfill the promises for these last days. Again and again, as Christ will tell us to remember, remember the works of the Lord, remember his mighty deeds, his mighty acts. So take heart, brothers and sisters, take heart. Soon Jesus will come again to bring the holy city, the new Jerusalem, his perfected kingdom on earth. We never forget these things, dear Christian. Christ loves his people, he loves his people. Is that you today? Are you his people? If you are, you are his treasured, highly esteemed, beloved possession. And because he does love you, the Father in him loves you as well. And he sees you in the perfection and all the perfection of his son, pure and clean and beautiful. You know, we are sometimes overwhelmed by the struggles and pain in our lives. We are sometimes overwhelmed by the guilt and weakness to sin that we have remaining in our lives. But dear Christian, I pray that you would know the love and the cleansing and the renewal offered to you in Christ Jesus, moment by moment, again and again. And may you remember that in your pain, even in your brokenness, you can never out-dirty your pure Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And remember that His holiness is contagious, right? Our dirtiness does not defile Him. His holiness infects us. It cleanses us. It is ours in Him, His holiness. that never gives us license to sin, of course, but it drives us in gratitude to live out in ever increasingly way that reality of who we are in Him, overwhelmed with gratefulness for His sacrifice on our behalf. As we are sent back into the world soon after we partake of the supper and commune together, and we’re commissioned to go again after the table, may we go in the knowledge that the pattern of our life will culminate as Christ did. Yes, we struggle and we suffer here, but the glory that awaits us is far, far beyond our ability to comprehend. So go back, brothers and sisters, refreshed, assured with hope and with the love of Christ. The hope for sinners like us, saved by grace, living for Jesus, this anointed one, the Messiah, the Christ. Amen. Let’s pray. Our almighty and loving God, we come again before you. We thank you for this, your word. Lord, we pray that you would give us hearts to believe. Lord, increase our faith. Lord, help our unbelief. Help us to look and to see the plain things of Your sovereignty in the world, and that in redemptive history, You are the one in control, and that You have mapped it out, Lord, and that You’ll one day bring an end to sin, that You’ll bring in everlasting righteousness, that this has dawned in Jesus Christ, and His coming will be culminated, will be wrapped up, ultimately, fully at His second coming. Lord, give us faith as we live in this in-between time. Lord, we thank you for this. We thank you for his perfection given to us, those sinners, those rebels, that you sought us and that you saved us, securing our sure redemption. We pray, Heavenly Father, continue to draw us near through word, through sacrament, through prayer, Lord. Work upon us. Help us have a posture of reception and submission to the spirits working in our lives. Help us to long for and to love Jesus in new ways, Lord, for our good and for your glory. We do pray, Lord, for your word that has gone out in the world, even this Lord’s Day, and always that it would have its full effect, and that you indeed, Lord, thereby would bring your people in. We do pray that all the distractions and obstacles, all the temptations, all the things of this world, Lord, would grow dim in light of the reality of your love and your glory, and that we would see more and more clearly that glory, the glory of Christ and our union with him. Father, we pray, may we believe and live out of that reality, no matter what deters or challenges us. May this be our confession, Lord, we pray, and may we be assured of victory won by Christ for us who trust in him for our very lives, moment by moment, now and forever. Even this morning, Lord, as we partake of the supper, may we revere and know him who has made us partakers of his kingdom by faith. Lord, we praise you for that gift. We pray for us this morning, the congregation of your people, as we encounter the various pains and difficulties in this life. Lord, you know them all well. We pray that we may fight to live in such a way that matches the profession of our lips. May we pray, Lord, may we live our lives as who we are, united to Christ, saved by grace. We pray for those suffering this morning in various ways. Lord, whether it’s physical pain or relational pain or economic pain, whatever it may be, Lord, those who are suffering, we ask that you would grant relief and mercy and freedom if it is your will. Heal and restore us. Yet, Lord, we want to be submissive to whatever your perfect will is. Draw us close unto you, regardless of what you’ve decreed for our lives, and that we would abide our suffering well, and that we would know, dear Lord, that you, we have a perfect, loving, gentle Lord who cares for us beyond all comprehension, and that you are the God of the resurrection of the dead, and the certainty that we will be made new. Lord, help us to know this, sink this into our souls, that we would believe it, Grant us to know the blessing of following and loving Your law, Your way, Your will. And grant that we would be freed from the bondage of sin and death. Help us to know this truth that You’ve declared unto us, about us, and to keep, we’ve been freed to keep Your ways in love and in gratitude. We will live our life out of our newness in Christ. Lord, we pray for your people, whatever hardships we may be in in this life and enduring, that we would see you, our God, and our King, you are a faithful God, that you’re good and gracious to us, and that you love us with a perfect love. Lord, we pray for Providence that she would be merciful to us, provide for our physical needs, strengthen us spiritually, keep us from growing satisfied or fearful, but strengthen us and conform us evermore into the image of our glorious and tender and powerful King, your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Use us, we pray. our lives, and our lips to show the love and grace that we’ve been shown, and to invite people to come and to hear of your mercy and your holiness, and to hear the gospel and be confronted with Christ, the only hope for life. Lord, we praise you and we thank you that we can come boldly before you by virtue of the work of Christ and our union with him. And we ask all these things, dear Lord, In the name of this selfsame Christ, your son, our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Amen, let us now turn.