Things Concerning Himself
When our risen
Lord, on the road to Emmaus, met those two sorrowing, disappointed and
dejected disciples, probably Cleopas and his wife, Mary, He dispelled their
gloom and brought comfort and joy to their hearts by explaining to them the Old
Testament scriptures. 'Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to
them in all the scriptures, the things concerning Himself.' (Lk. 24:27). Later,
when meeting with the eleven in Jerusalem, He 'opened their understanding
that they might understand the scriptures.' (vs. 45).
No doubt, one of the scriptures He
expounded was the great time prophecy of Daniel 9, the 70 weeks (heptads or
sevens), understood by nearly all commentators to be weeks of years. This
prophecy pinpoints the TIME of and the EVENTS which had just taken place and
which had so grieved and perplexed them.
Had they understood it, much of their
stress of mind and heart would have been avoided, as they would have realized that
in these very things, God was working out his eternal purpose for man's
redemption. So it was, that on that Emmaus road, He exclaimed '0 fools and slow
of heart to BELIEVE all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ
to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?" (Lk.
24:26).
In this same concept, hear Paul speaking
in Ac. 13:27: 'They who dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they knew
Him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets, which are read every sabbath day,
have fulfilled them in condemning Him!' A great blindness had fallen upon
Israel because 'they knew Him not!' Only a very small remnant of faithful ones
had 'eyes to see', and understood from OT scriptures Christ's place in the
plans of God for man's salvation. Peter, speaking at Pentecost, said 'You men
of Israel, hear these words — Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among
you, by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of
you, as you yourselves also know,' Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God you have taken and by wicked hands, have
crucified and slain: whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of
death:
because it was not possible that He should be holden of it.' (Ac.
2:22-24).
It was probably this time prophecy of
Daniel 9, which caused Simeon, who was 'waiting for the consolation of Israel'
and Anna, the aged prophetess, in the temple at the dedication of Jesus, to recognize
and bless Him as the promised Messiah for whom they had been so long
waiting. (Lk. 2:25-33).
Several scriptures in the New Testament
mention TIME in connection with the first advent of Christ. We read in Gal.
4:3-5: 'When the FULLNESS OF THE TIME had come. God sent forth his son, made of
a woman, made under the law, to redeem them who were under the law, that we
might receive the adoption of sons.' Then in Mark 1:15, we hear Jesus Himself
preaching: 'The TIME IS FULFILLED, and the kingdom of God is at hand! Repent
and believe the gospel!'
Yet again, in Lk. 19:41-44, we find Jesus
weeping over the city of Jerusalem, bemoaning its approaching destruction,
because He said: 'You know not the TIME OF YOUR VISITATION!' They could
have known the time of their visitation from the prophecy of Daniel 9 which
deals among other things with the downfall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Looking now
at this prophecy for ourselves, we find it was given to the prophet Daniel,
while he was still a captive in Babylon, near the end of the 70 years'
Captivity which had been foretold by Jeremiah as God's judgement upon Israel
for her sins. Verse 2 says Daniel 'understood by books, the number of the
years, where the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would
accomplish 70 years in the desolation of Jerusalem' (cf. Jer. 25:11). The 70
years were now almost 'accomplished' and Daniel was looking to God for the
fulfillment of the promise of return to their own land, as found in Jer.
29:10-11, 'for thus says the Lord, that after 70 years are accomplished at
Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you in causing you to
return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the
Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.'
So Daniel, with this promise in mind
prayed '0 Lord, according to all your righteousness, I beseech you, let your
anger and your fury be turned away from your city Jerusalem . . . hear the
prayer of your servant. . . cause your face to shine upon your sanctuary that
is desolate for the Lord's sake ... 0 Lord forgive, 0 Lord hearken and do,
defer not!' God's answer to that prayer was to send the angel Gabriel with "the
70 weeks' prophecy." He said 'Seventy weeks are determined upon your
people and upon your holy city to finish the transgression and to make an end
of sins and to make reconciliation to iniquity and to bring in
everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint
the most holy (One).' (vs. 24).
The expression: 'to finish the
transgression’ most evidently refers to the crowning act of Israel's
transgressions, the rejection and crucifixion of Messiah, for this prophecy
takes us right up to that time and deals with that very subject. The Israelites
were just near the end of their 70 years' punishment in Babylonian Captivity
and the very event which marked the close of that period, was the starting
point of this new period of 70 weeks as we shall see presently in vs. 25-27.
What a shock it must have been to Daniel
to learn of a much greater transgression his people would commit in the future,
which would merit a much sorer punishment! A quote from G.L. Murray's
'Millennial Studies' will be apt here. He says (pp. 97-98) 'The transgression
of Israel as a nation was the constant burden and heartache of the prophets of
Israel. ... In this instance, the angel Gabriel reveals to Daniel that Israel's
crowning transgression would be the rejection and death of Israel's Messiah . .
. this would mark the end of national transgressions and the final rejection of
God by the nation.
Remarkably we read of God's appointment
of Cyrus to do this work, nearly 200 years before this time, long before Cyrus
was born. Read of this in Isa. 44:28 and Isa. 45:1-5. As Murray writes, 'It
must have thrilled Daniel's heart to see Cyrus come to power, because
Daniel knew the word of God should be fulfilled ... It is clear then that Jesus
Christ began his ministry at the end of the 69th week and at the beginning of
the 70th week of Daniel's prophecy. During the first half of the 70th week
He confirmed the covenant to as many as received Him. While instituting the
Lord's Supper at the close of that period, He spoke these unforgettable words 'This
is my blood of the New Covenant which is shed/or the remission of sins.'
(Ma.
26:28). This is
not broken and never shall be, for it is ratified and sealed by his blood. In
like manner. He caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease by offering Himself
as a sacrifice, which fulfilled every shadow, sign and symbol of the OT ritual
. . . In the midst of the week, our Lord, by his death, abolished the necessity
for further sacrifice. During the remainder of the 70th week, the gospel
continued to be preached to the Jews, whose hearts were being constantly
hardened in consequence of their rejection of the Messiah, and whose
desolations were now hastening on, as determined.'
So eventually, the 'time was
fulfilled', and a faithful few were expecting Messiah at the time He
actually came. Only a very small remnant however recognized Him in the meek and
lowly Jesus.
They had expected a great earthly king
who would overthrow the Romans and reestablish Israel's sovereignty.
Jesus dispelled that idea, as far as He
was concerned, when accused by the Jews before Pilate of wanting to make
Himself a king (the very thing the Jews had tried to make Him do.)
He said 'My kingdom is NOT of this
world!' (Jo. 18:36) Pilate believed Him so absolutely that he announced to
the assembled mob: 'I find no fault in Him at all!' (Jo. 18:38).
Consider again that while Jesus had been with
his disciples before Calvary, he had said to them 'Behold, we go up to
Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto
the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the
gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify Him, and the third day. He shall
rise again.' (Ma. 20:18-19).
How blind can people be when they don't
want to believe a certain truth! So confusion and sorrow and disappointment
came upon his followers, because they did not 'understand' the scriptures and
the word of the Lord.
Israel's diabolical act, in taking their
Messiah with wicked hands and having Him crucified and slain was the very act
that opened the way of salvation to mankind. This final national transgression,
having its climax at the place called Calvary, was the act divinely designed to
make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in
everlasting righteousness. ... In addition to the foregoing, the period of the
seventy weeks was to include the sealing up of prophecy which was fulfilled by
the closing of the OT prophetic system. The anointing of Him who declared
publicly 'The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me because He has anointed Me
to preach the gospel to the poor.' (Lk. 4:18).
In Dan. 9:25 Gabriel continues 'Know
therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to
restore and to build Jerusalem, unto Messiah the Prince shall be 7 weeks and 62
weeks: the street shall be built again and the wall even in troublous times,'
and quoting Sir Isaac Newton (26) "after 62 weeks shall Messiah cut off so
that they shall be no more his both the city and the Sanctuary," . . .
'the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the
sanctuary. And the end thereof shall be with a flood (invasion) and until the
end of the war, desolations are determined. And He shall confirm the covenant
with many one week'.
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell us of
the troublous times the returning Jews had to endure while rebuilding Jerusalem,
but this prophecy tells us of another prince who would come to destroy it
again. The wars of the Jews climaxed in Great Tribulation when Titus, a Roman
general, took their city in A.D. 70, sending into worldwide
captivity those
who had survived the terrible ordeal of famine and seige during that time.
during that time.
Quoting again from Murray (p 99) 'The 70
weeks were to be divided into three periods. The first consisted of 7 weeks or
49 years, during which the city of Jerusalem was to be rebuilt. From the time
that the city should be rebuilt, until the coming of Messiah should be 62
weeks. The 7 weeks of years required for the building of the city, and 62 weeks
of years extending from that time until the day of Christ, account for 69
prophetic weeks.' After 62 weeks (in addition to the first 7) shall Messiah cut
off so as to be no longer his, both the city and the sanctuary! We all know
that Messiah also was cut off, temporarily.
Expositors differ as to the actual date
of the above mentioned commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. This is due
largely to the fact that there is a chronological uncertainty of the calendar
involved. The Bible itself however is very precise as to who gave that
commandment. In Ezra 1:1-3 we find this record: 'Now in the first year of
Cyrus, King of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah the
prophet might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, King of
Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it in
writing 'Thus says Cyrus King of Persia, The Lord God of heaven has given me
all the kingdoms of the earth: and He has charged me to build Him a house at
Jerusalem . . . Who is there among you of all his people? ... let him go up to
Jerusalem . . . and build the house of the Lord God of Israel . . . which is in
Jerusalem!'
No wonder the disciples exclaimed after
talking with the stranger on the Emmaus road: 'Did not our hearts burn
within us as He talked with us by the way and while He opened to us the
scriptures!'
Even the prophets, by whom the messages
of God came, did not always fully understand the message given. We read of this
in 1 Pet. 1:10-12 'Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched
diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching
what, or what manner of TIME the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify
when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory
that should follow.
'Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto
themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported to
you by them who have preached the gospel to you with the Holy Ghost sent down
from heaven.'
How blessed are we then who have come to
the clear light of fulfilled prophecy in the gospel and to the time of the Holy
Spirit's presence in individual believers' hearts. For He will 'lead us into
all truth.' (Jo. 16:13).
With increased knowledge however, there
comes the responsibility to pass on that knowledge to others, for we read in
Ma. 28:18-20:
Jesus came and spoke to them saying: 'All
power is given to Me in heaven
and in earth. Go therefore and teach
all nations, baptising them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
and lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world!'
So now it is our duty as the church of
God, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to explain to the world 'the things
concerning Himself.'
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