Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee. 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. 31 And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever and of his kingdom there shall be no end.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Of this man, the Holy Spirit, through Luke, tells us that he was \u201clooking for the consolation of Israel\u201d. What is the significance of this participial phrase? In the light of the teaching of the Old Testament, it can mean only one thing; namely, that he was looking forward to the coming of the Messiah who would bring consolation and deliverance to the people of Israel. This same thought was expressed by the apostle Paul in the phrase, \u201cthe hope of Israel\u201d (Acts 28:20). These expressions are without a doubt an echo of Isaiah’s prediction concerning Messiah: \u201cIncline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples\u201d (Isaiah 55:3,4). From this passage we see that God promised to make with Israel an everlasting covenant which would be the embodiment of the sure mercies vouchsafed to King David. The prophet personalized these mercies by showing that they were to be embodied in this Son of David, who is to be \u201ca witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.\u201d In view of the promises to David and the references to the same by Isaiah, good old Symeon, a student of the prophetic word, was expectantly waiting for the appearance of this one who would be a witness and a leader to the peoples.<\/p>\n
But, one gathers from Luke’s statement in the passage quoted above that Symeon was expecting in his own day and time the appearance of this one who was the hope of Israel. Why would he be setting a date and expecting the appearance of King Messiah at that time? The answer, doubtless, is this: He had read Daniel’s prophecy, which was discussed in the preceding chapter. He knew that Messiah would be cut off 483 years after the issuing of the decree for the exiles to return from Babylonian captivity. The Jews had counted the years, and those in Israel who, like Symeon, believed the prophecy knew that the time was at hand for Him to appear in order to be cut off at the expiration of the 483rd year after the return from captivity. Since he was living so very close to the Lord \u2014 he was a devout man \u2014 the Spirit revealed it unto him that he should have the opportunity of seeing Messiah before his death. Thus, from the Scriptures, he learned that the time was at hand for King Messiah to be born in Bethlehem. But by the Holy Spirit the revelation was made that he personally would have an opportunity to see the Christ-child. God gives special blessings and makes certain disclosures of truth to those who are walking closely by His side and are trusting Him.<\/p>\n
There was another outstanding person in Jerusalem who, likewise, was a student of the prophetic word. This one was Anna, a prophetess of the tribe of Asher. She was so very consecrated to the Lord that she spent her time at the sanctuary in worship and service. When Joseph and Mary brought the baby Jesus into the Temple, she came up at that very hour and gave thanks unto God \u201cand spake of him to all them that were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem\u201d (Luke 2:38). From this quotation, we see that there were those in Israel who were \u201clooking for the redemption of Jerusalem.\u201d This dear old saint of God was personally acquainted with those who were looking for the appearance of King Messiah. Figuratively speaking, one would say that they were upon the tiptoes of expectation, looking daily for His advent. Hence, when this aged prophetess came into the Temple at that very hour, she, by the Spirit, recognized the child Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament predictions and spoke to those who entertained the same hope.<\/p>\n
From the meager data that we have concerning Symeon and Anna, we see that there was a group of devout, loyal people, who knew the prophecies, who believed them, and who were in great expectation, awaiting Messiah’s appearance. The basis for their hope was founded upon the revelation of Daniel 9, which gives the date for Messiah’s execution. Of course, it is to be presumed that the faith and the hope of this little group of prophetic students was fired by the instructions given to them by the prophetess Anna. It is to be noted that they were expecting the Messiah and the redemption of Jerusalem, when the Holy Spirit, through Anna, made the revelation concerning the presence of the Christ-child in the Temple on this special occasion. This disclosure of truth to them was doubtless no great surprise, because they knew from the inspired record that the time was at hand for Him to appear. In our ordinary parlance today, they could have said to Anna when she made known to them by the Spirit that the baby Jesus was the Messiah: \u201cJust as we expected.\u201d<\/p>\n
About thirty years later, John the Baptist broke the prophetic silence that had settled down over the whole nation for practically four hundred years by crying in the wilderness, \u201cThe time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye and believe in the gospel\u201d (Mark 1:15). With such an announcement the nation was electrified and people from all parts of the country rushed out to hear him preach. The great masses of the people received baptism at his hands, being instructed that they should look to Him who was coming after John. Six months after the Baptist began his ministry, Jesus came and was baptized of John (Matthew 3:13-17). On that occasion, the Spirit like a dove descended upon Jesus, and the Father from heaven spoke saying, \u201cThis is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.\u201d Vast multitudes, doubtless were present on this most solemn occasion.<\/p>\n
Again let us bear in mind that the great majority of the nation, doubtless, was not aware that they were living in prophetic times. They did not realize that it was time for the Messiah to appear. That epoch slipped upon them unawares \u2014 all because they did not know the prophetic word. In contrast with them, as we have just seen, that little group of prophetic students, who believed and who studied these predictions, knew ahead of time that they were living in momentous days and that Messiah would soon appear.<\/p>\n
Not only from the sacred record do we learn this fact, but from an examination of the Jewish literature of the period, we see that in certain circles there was great expectation for the appearance of Messiah. This literature is known as Apocalyptic<\/em>. This word literally means to uncover. Thus there was great literary activity on the part of a certain group in Israel who endeavored to awaken the nation to the seriousness of the times and to call it back to God.<\/p>\n In our studying this literature, we see that those who produced it, while they were aware that they were living in the very time when Messiah would appear, yet made many hasty and false deductions. Nevertheless, they were striking at the truth. They knew from the study of the prophecies that the time was at hand, but they indulged in excesses and extravagant, fantastic interpretations of certain of the prophecies.<\/p>\n This first century situation should teach us a serious lesson. The group which clustered around such people as Symeon and the prophetess Anna seem to have been very cautious, taking only what the Word said and refusing to indulge in extravagant, sensational, fantastic interpretations of the Scriptures. On the other hand, there was another group of prophetic students, who produced the apocalyptic of the first century and who indulged in many wild and sensational theories. Of course, there were many people then, like the masses today, who simply lived upon the fantastic and extravagant theories of sensational teachers. This group doubtless brought the study of prophecy into disrepute. It takes no wide stretch of the imagination to believe that the Sadducean, materialistic party was driven into their cold, philosophical isolation by the effervescent, sensational, prophetic teaching of those indulging in this extreme fantastic interpretation of prophecy.<\/p>\n The prophetic word is given to us for a light by which we are to be guided. God said what He meant and meant what He said. The Lord fulfills His prophecies as written and not as interpreted by the speculations of men. My appeal to all lovers of truth is that we avoid all striving at sensationalism and that we seek to know only what is revealed unmistakably in the Word and give that to the hungry masses. God will bless our efforts along this line.<\/p>\n In our discussing the prophetic students of the first century, we cannot fail to note a man who was high in the counsels of the Jewish nation, Joseph of Arimathea. Concerning him we have this statement by Luke: \u201cAnd behold, a man named Joseph, who was a councillor, a good and righteous man (he had not consented to their counsel and deed), a man of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews, who was looking for the kingdom of God: this man went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus\u201d (Luke 23:50-52). Since it is said of Joseph that he was a councillor, it is altogether possible that he was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin. Only men of the very highest type of manhood, respectability, character, and accomplishments became members of this supreme court of the Hebrew race. He was a good and a righteous man and refused to consent to the execution of Jesus. He and Nicodemus were friends and seemed to have held aloof from the plottings of the Jews against Jesus. But of Joseph it is said that he was \u201clooking for the kingdom of God.\u201d He went about his regular duties performing his tasks honestly and conscientiously before God. At the same time he had an unfaltering, unswerving faith in the establishment of the kingdom of God. Why did he feel this way? Evidently, he was a student of the prophetic word, believing the Scriptures and accepting the preaching both of John the Baptist and of Jesus.<\/p>\n These prophetic students believed that the kingdom of God would be established in their day and time. Such is the inference that is to be drawn from the word rendered \u201clooking for\u201d in the phrase \u201clooking for the kingdom of God.\u201d John the Baptist said that the time was fulfilled and that the kingdom of God was at hand. It had drawn near. What is meant here by \u201cthe kingdom of God is at hand\u201d? Evidently that which is set forth in the parables of the kingdom recorded in Matthew 13; Mark 4; and Luke 8. Matthew, in his record, used the phrase \u201ckingdom of heaven\u201d, whereas Mark and Luke in recounting the same parables used the term \u201ckingdom of God\u201d. Thus it is certain from this fact that these two expressions have the same significance in these parables. Doubtless, Matthew used his expression \u201ckingdom of heaven\u201d, through respect to the Jewish peculiar ideas and aversion to using the sacred and memorial name of God, substituting in its place expressions like \u201cthe heavens\u201d, or \u201cthe reign of the heavens\u201d. That which is called the kingdom of heaven by Matthew and the kingdom of God by Mark and Luke is obviously what we speak of as Christendom, which historically began with the preaching of the Lord Jesus and the apostles, has continued through this Christian dispensation, and will remain until the Lord Jesus comes for His saints at the time of the Rapture of the church before the Tribulation. The kingdom of heaven did come close at hand and was established on Pentecost. Peoples in reality enter this by the new birth only (John 3:1-8).<\/p>\n As was indicated in these parables, soon there was injected into Christianity and its teachings corruption \u2014 the three measures of meal became entirely leaven. Nevertheless, it was still the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven in the broad sense as used by Jesus on this occasion.<\/p>\n At the end of this age, as we learn from the parable of the dragnet (Matthew 13:47-50), all evil and things that offend will be cast out of this kingdom. Only the pure and righteous will survive and enter into the glorious millennial reign of our Lord.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The students of prophecy frequently speak of the stopping of God’s clock when Israel is out of fellowship with Him. A great principle that dominates His dealing with Israel, His Chosen People, is expressed by this illustration. We must prove that the Lord actually ceases to reckon time (when viewed from a certain standpoint) during the periods when Israel is out of fellowship with Him. Students want evidence and not assertions. Evidence we shall have on this point.<\/p>\n In my volume Messiah: His First Coming Scheduled,<\/em> which is the fourth book of my Messianic Series,<\/em> I presented the chronological scheme that is found in the Old Testament. In chapter seven of that volume, I discussed the period of time, from a chronological standpoint, beginning with the Exodus from Egypt and ending with the establishment of the United Kingdom under Saul. By taking all the chronological data found in the Books of Joshua, Judges, and First Samuel, I showed that there were actually five hundred and ninety-four years from Israel’s leaving Egypt to the fourth year of Solomon when he began to build the temple. There were no more nor less years than these five hundred and ninety-four.<\/p>\n But in I Kings 6:1, we are told that the fourth year of Solomon’s reign was the four hundred and eightieth after Israel’s departure from Egypt. There is therefore a seeming discrepancy between this inspired statement by the writer of Kings and the conclusion based upon the actual chronological data found in the historical books just mentioned. In other words, the computation based upon all the data found in the records yields an excess of one hundred and fourteen years more than the blanket statement of I Kings 6:1. What shall we do about it? Shall we accept the calculation based upon the data in those books and reject the statement of I Kings 6:1, or vice versa? My answer is that we shall not reject either, but, on the other hand, we shall accept both. There are no contradictions between statements of truth. Sometimes there may appear to be one when we do not have all of the facts; but, when a full picture is presented, that which appears to be a contradiction becomes a sweet harmony, which proclaims the infallibility of the Word.<\/p>\n A close study of the data that is supplied by the Book of Judges shows that there were six periods of servitude during the lawless times prior to the establishment of the monarchy, when \u201cevery man did that which was right in his own eyes.\u201d During these times, God delivered His Chosen People into the hands of foreign powers. Different ones of the surrounding nations invaded the territory and reduced the country to slavery until the Hebrews repented of their sins and cried unto God for a deliverer. Then He raised up certain judges to save them and to administer a just government. The sum of the number of these servitudes, plus the three years of the illegal kingship of Abimelech, gives us a total of one hundred and fourteen years. During these periods, Israel was out of fellowship with her God. During the rest of the time from the Exodus to the fourth year of Solomon, she was in fellowship with Him. Those years are properly called theocratic. Thus we see that there were one hundred and fourteen years during which she was out of fellowship with Him and four hundred and eighty years during which the fellowship was maintained. When we look at these facts, we come to the conclusion, therefore, that the writer of Kings was speaking of theocratic years during which God was recognized as the lawful ruler of the people, and they were enjoying His favor. During the remaining one hundred and fourteen years of the five hundred, ninety four, God was not ruling, but Israel was doing that which was right in her own eyes. We can, upon the basis of these cold, hard facts, say that God’s clock stopped one hundred and fourteen years during this period.<\/p>\n It was God’s prophetic clock which stopped and not His universal chronometer. The earth continued to revolve upon its axis, which movement makes night and day. Thus the years came and went, but the time during which Israel was out of favor with God was not reckoned by the writer of the Book of Kings.<\/p>\n I might use a simple illustration to enforce this truth. All large firms have regular clocks that are controlled electrically and that strike off the hours, both day and night, for 365 days every year. Many of them also have a time clock for measuring, for instance, telephone calls. Just as soon as the connection is made by the operator, the subscriber starts it and can tell to the very second how long the conversation lasts. When he finishes he stops it. Hence this small desk clock simply measures off a special time for a definite purpose, whereas the regular one measures every hour. The years come and go regardless of whether or not Israel is in fellowship with God, and His great universal clock strikes off the hours. But, since He called her into a special relationship with Himself, He, figuratively speaking, has a time clock to measure the years when she is in fellowship with Him.<\/p>\n In chapter 2 we saw that the sixty-ninth week of Daniel’s prophecy ended with the year of the execution of Messiah. In other words, that tragedy occurred at the end of the four hundred and eighty-third year after the return of the Children of Israel from the Babylonian captivity.<\/p>\n But did the final week of this period of time follow the execution of King Messiah? To this question my answer is a most positive No. My reason for making this statement is that at the end of the seventieth week of this period, the six things mentioned in Daniel 9:24 will be accomplished. As we have already seen, when they are brought to pass, the millennial age will have begun. In other words, to accomplish the six things mentioned in the prophecy is to establish the glorious kingdom of Messiah upon the earth. No one would for one moment say that seven years after the execution of King Messiah the glorious millennial reign of our Lord was established upon the earth. Sin continued in the world from that day until the present. Conditions grew constantly worse, even among the believers, until the Lord, according to Revelation 2:1-8, told the Church at Ephesus that it had lost its first love. Complaints are registered against five of the other churches mentioned in Revelation two and three. There was a gradual drift from Christianity, which culminated in the Dark Ages. Sin, vice, evil, wars, and calamities have characterized the present age. We are therefore safe in saying that the Millennial Kingdom did not follow, or, I would say, was not established seven years after the crucifixion. Since it is to be brought into existence when the seventieth week of Daniel has run its course and since those glorious conditions have never been established upon the earth, we may be absolutely certain in saying that the seventieth week of Daniel did not follow the sixty-ninth. There is therefore a long gap, which separates the sixty-ninth week from the seventieth.<\/p>\n Further proof that the seventieth week of Daniel did not follow the sixty-ninth is found in the fact that in verse 26 the angel said, \u201cAnd the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.\u201d By unanimous consent, prophetic students see in the prediction regarding the destruction of the city and the sanctuary an oracle which was fulfilled in the overthrow of Jerusalem and the temple, which events we know occurred in the year 70 A.D., when Titus, the Roman general, finally took Jerusalem. This collapse of the Jewish nation and the destruction of its temple occurred 33 years after the end of the four hundred and ninety-year period, if the seventieth week followed immediately the sixty-ninth. But since the millennial age was not established in the year 37 A.D., as shown above, the seventieth week could not have followed the sixty-ninth.<\/p>\n What is meant by \u201cThe prince that shall come\u201d? The only way to identify this one is to recognize the people who destroyed the city of Jerusalem in fulfillment of this prediction. All historians say that the Romans did it and that Titus was the general who finally destroyed the city. Since the Romans were the ones who captured Jerusalem, we may be certain that the prince to whom reference is made is to be a Roman. Daniel assumed an acquaintance on the part of his readers with the one to whom reference is made. A glance at Chapter 7 of Daniel shows that it presents the grand march of empire. A vivid description of the four world empires under the symbolism of wild beasts is here found. In his speaking of the last ruler of the fourth empire, he gave us a detailed account of his defiance of God and of his persecution of His people Israel. Inasmuch as Daniel had acquainted his readers with this coming prince who stands head and shoulders above every one else thus far described in the book, it is natural for us to look instinctively to this same prince as the one to whom reference is made in chapter 9.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the end thereof shall be with a flood.\u201d The end to which reference here is made is the overthrow and the destruction of the city and the sanctuary. The word flood is to be understood literally unless the facts of the context indicate clearly otherwise. Since Gabriel was speaking of the literal siege, the capture, and the destruction of Jerusalem, it is hardly likely that the word \u201cflood\u201d is used literally. What is its significance when used figuratively? A glance at Isaiah 8:5-8 shows that the invasion of an army is compared to the flood waters of a river. Since Gabriel was talking about the invasion of Palestine by the Romans, it is quite obvious that the expression flood refers to the army of the conqueror.<\/p>\n Gabriel in his exposition of the future therefore leaped from the conclusion of the sixty-ninth week of Daniel, when God’s prophetic clock stopped, over a period of forty years to 70 A.D., when Jerusalem fell, and the Jews were dispersed among all nations. From that day until the present they likewise have been scattered throughout the world.<\/p>\n Using 70 A.D. and the calamity of that year as a springboard, figuratively speaking, Gabriel leaped across the centuries of Christian history to the end of this age \u2014 the conclusion of the seventieth week. In his declaration \u201cand even unto the end shall be war: desolations are determined,\u201d the word end can refer to nothing but the end of the period of time which he was discussing; namely, the seventy weeks of years. This prediction, therefore, put the seventieth week of Daniel far into the distant future from the standpoint of 70 A.D. During this Period \u2014 from the fall of Jerusalem to the end of the seventieth week \u2014 the time is to be characterized by wars and desolations upon the Jewish people, concerning whom the prophecy is made. A glance at Jewish history shows that this people has suffered as no other single race upon the face of the globe \u2014 even during the Christian era. The Jew, dispersed throughout the world, has been the football of the nations. He has been knocked from pillar to post. He has been robbed, plundered, and persecuted. Pogrom after pogrom has been launched against him. Notwithstanding these extremely difficult experiences through which the nation has passed, it has survived all of them, will continue to do so, and will emerge after its repudiation of the national sin at the end of the Tribulation into the glorious kingdom era of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n \u201cDesolations are determined,\u201d declared the Angel Gabriel. This statement, of course, has specific reference to Jerusalem and the land of the Jews and refers to the period from 70 A.D. to the end of the seventieth week.<\/p>\n From this prophecy and the discussion here presented, it becomes abundantly clear that Daniel foresaw the long gap which has intervened between the sixty-ninth and the seventieth week of years. As has just been shown, this Christian era divides into two parts: that from 30 A.D., the crucifixion, (the cutting off of Messiah), to 70 A.D., the destruction of Jerusalem; and second, from the destruction of Jerusalem to the end of the seventieth week.<\/p>\n When all the facts are taken into consideration, one sees unmistakably that the Angel Gabriel clearly outlined the Christian dispensation as coming between the sixty-ninth and the seventieth week of this vision. It is true that he did not give the information concerning the turn affairs would take after the Jews rejected their Messiah; but without a doubt he indicated that there would be a period of time intervening between the four hundred and eighty-third and the four hundred and eighty-fourth year of this prophecy.<\/p>\n The Psalmists and the prophets clearly set forth the propositions that Israel would reject her Messiah upon His first appearance and that He would be executed, buried, and be raised from the dead. Furthermore, they showed that, after His resurrection, at the invitation of God He would return to heaven and sit at the right hand of the Almighty until the latter puts His enemies under His feet. When this is accomplished and Israel is ready to receive Him, having repudiated the national sin of rejecting Him, He will leave Glory and return to this earth, for the purpose of delivering her and of setting up His millennial kingdom.<\/p>\n During the time when Israel is in rejection, God is taking out from among the nations a people for His Name. The gospel is to be preached to all, giving everyone an opportunity. It is not the will of God that anyone should perish, but that all should come unto repentance. He who, convicted of sin, comes unto the Lord Jesus Christ will in no wise be cast out. Hence, during the present era of Israel’s dispersion and rejection, God is calling into being the Body of Christ \u2014 the Church of the First-born \u2014 consisting of Jews and Gentiles. The Jews are the natural branches, whereas the Gentiles are the unnatural. The latter are to be grafted in among the former and to partake of the fatness of the trunk of the tree, as indicated by the apostle Paul in Romans 9,10, and 11.<\/p>\n During this Christian era God is extending mercy to man as He has never done before this era began. Neither will He make such gracious offers to people after it closes. He has a special objective in mind in doing this, as is indicated in Ephesians 2:6,7. Because of this special purpose of God and the conferring of His grace upon people now, this era is called, \u201cthe year of Jehovah’s favor,\u201d in the marvelous prediction found in Isaiah 61:1-3. Our hearts should well up in praise to God for His goodness to us at this present time and for what He will give us throughout all Eternity.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAnd he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease: and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate.\u201d (Daniel 9:27)<\/p>\n The heading of this division is „The Antichrist and His Covenant“. This caption assumes that the Antichrist is referred to by the pronoun in this verse. This position has been, in certain quarters, called in question. Those who do challenge this contention insist that he<\/em> refers to Messiah the Prince mentioned in verses 25 and 26. Is there any proof for this position? So far as this text goes, there is absolutely none. Only by reading into this passage something that is deducted from other statements can this position be maintained. Moreover, it is diametrically opposed to one of the fundamental principles that is common to all languages. The rule to which I refer is this: A noun, which immediately precedes a pronoun and agrees with it in gender and number is to be recognized as the antecedent, unless there is positive evidence to the contrary. The word agreeing thus with the pronoun he and immediately preceding it is prince<\/em> in verse 26. Being governed by this universal law to which I have just referred, we must accept prince<\/em> as the antecedent of this pronoun unless there is evidence forbidding our doing so. One will seek in vain in this passage for such negative testimony. We must therefore accept prince<\/em> as the antecedent.<\/p>\n We have already seen that this coming prince of verse 26 is of the same nationality as those who destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D. This prince therefore is to be a Roman. He has never come as yet. He is spoken of as the coming prince<\/em>. As suggested above, this one is so spoken of as one who is well-known to the readers of the Book of Daniel. One instinctively identifies him as the prince mentioned in 7:25 who is the world dictator of the end-time.<\/p>\n One writer objects to this interpretation upon the basis that the pronoun he<\/em> does not appear in the original Hebrew text but is included in the verb stem. This statement is correct. There is no pronoun in this verse separate and apart from the verb. Everyone who knows Hebrew is aware of the fact that the person of a verb is expressed by its ending. This verb is in the third person, singular number, and definitely must be rendered he,<\/em> she<\/em>, or it<\/em> when there is no noun or pronoun expressed. The context alone determines what is intended. The objection therefore falls flat.<\/p>\n But who is this Antichrist or world dictator? As before suggested, he is mentioned in Daniel 7. A perusal of verses 23 to 28 of this chapter shows that Rome in its final form will embrace all nations and become in reality a world empire. After it has thus devoured all races and subjected them, it collapses and falls into ten divisions, over each of which a dictator will assume the authority. After the breaking tip of this universal kingdom, and the rise of its ten dictators, there will come out of obscurity a man who is represented by the little horn of this passage, and who becomes associated with the ten kings. He will be a real diplomat. He will, as we learn from other passages, be inspired and energized by the devil himself. By his diplomacy, power and shrewdness, he will gradually snatch the power from these ten and concentrate it in his own hands. These kings will become „rubber stamps“ or „yes-men“. This man who appears upon the international scene after the collapse of the world empire and the rise of the ten dictators is the Antichrist. Could any of the dictators who are in the world now be he? Positively not, because they came up too soon. The international stage is not sufficiently set for the appearance of the Antichrist, according to the schedule set forth in Daniel 7, which is absolutely infallible and is very clear and definite so that no one need misunderstand it.<\/p>\n When this coming prince or Antichrist has thus gained the ascendancy in the world, he enters into a firm covenant with many of the Jews for one week of years. My reason for saying that this covenant is made with the Jews is this: The prediction which we are studying says very specifically that it pertains to Daniel’s people and the Holy City (Daniel 9:24). Other nations are not in view in this prophecy \u2014 only the Jew. The many, therefore, with whom the covenant is made can be only Jews.<\/p>\n The fact that the prediction says that the covenant is made with „many“ is proof that the entire Jewish nation will not be party to this Satanic agreement. When one looks at a cross-section of Jewish life today and studies that people in the light of the past, he can come to a very definite and accurate conclusion as to who are the many referred to in this passage. It is evident that they are the apostate remnant of Israel who will sell their birth-right, like Esau, for a mess of political pottage. Should one speak of this section of the Jewish race in terms of present-day phraseology, he would say that those making the covenant are the modernistic crowd, which has given up largely the national hope and has abandoned faith in the inspiration of the Scriptures and the plan of God. One also comes to the conclusion that the faithful, orthodox Jews who believe in the Scriptures as the Word of God are the ones who hold aloof from such an alliance.<\/p>\n The „many“ will enter into this covenant for the period of seven years. As we have seen, the final week of this prophecy precedes immediately the millennial age of our Lord’s reign. The week referred to in verse 27 is therefore this seventieth week, which terminates the period of seventy weeks of years.<\/p>\n The prophets constantly speak of „the day of Jehovah.“ Descriptions of it are found in such passages as Isaiah 2, the Book of Joel, and Zephaniah 1:14-18. They picture it as a time of great distress and indignation when God arises to shake the earth mightily and to destroy the wicked out of it. One of the clearest descriptions of this period of trouble and judgment is found in Isaiah 24:1-20. This is called especially the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he is assured that he shall be saved out of it (Jeremiah 30:7).<\/p>\n The Book of Revelation is a detailed account of the judgments which will fall upon the earth during that time. This period of Jehovah’s wrath is described in chapters 6 through 19. Those chapters which give the chronological order of events are: 6,8,9, and 16. The other chapters give details concerning the conditions which will then obtain upon the earth. Thus, figuratively speaking, we would say that they give the stage setting.<\/p>\n A careful study of Revelation shows that this period of wrath is divided into two sections: The first half of the Tribulation covering 1260 days (Revelation 11:3); the second half consisting of forty-two months (Revelation 11:2). These judgments will be so very severe that the bulk of humanity will be swept from the face of the globe. The surface of the earth will present the appearance of a desolation and a waste. The heavens likewise will be affected by these thorough-going judgments. Jeremiah, chapter 4:23-26, gives a very vivid description of the heavens and the earth at the end of the Tribulation. That he was talking about this time of judgment is evident from the fact that verse 27 begins with the conjunction for,<\/em> which introduces a sentence explanatory of this passage. An examination of this verse and the following ones shows that Jeremiah was looking forward into the future \u2014 to this period of travail through which Israel as a nation shall pass in this period of Tribulation.<\/p>\n The present age ends in apostasy and finally in catastrophe. This is clearly predicted by both our Lord and the apostles. In II Thessalonians 2 Paul especially spoke of „the apostasy“. This prophecy foretells a deliberate renunciation of the faith of our fathers and an abandonment of it. „When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith upon the earth?“ This rhetorical question demands the answer „No“ (Luke 11:8). Paul told Timothy that in the latter days there would be perilous times and described them very minutely. There is, therefore, no scriptural warrant to expect a revival in these days of declension.<\/p>\n But the Scriptures do speak of a mighty turning to God and locate it in the Tribulation. For instance, in Isaiah 24 we find, as stated above, a graphic description of terrific judgments and their effect upon the earth during this time of unprecedented suffering. Yet we see in the midst of this description a revival that flares up and that encircles the globe. This is expressed in the following verses:<\/p>\n These shall lift up their voice, they shall shout, for the majesty of Jehovah they cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore glorify ye Jehovah in the east, even the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, in the isles of the sea. From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs: Glory to the righteous.\u201d (Isa. 24:14-16a)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The gist of the songs that will be heard on every hand during this time of trouble will be, „Glory to the righteous.“ Different writers of the Psalms likewise spoke in the most glowing terms of a mighty turning to God during this time of terrific judgments.<\/p>\n In Revelation 7 one sees a mighty army of 144,000 Jewish servants of God who are sealed against injury by the judgments of the Tribulation. They are servants of God; therefore, they serve. Immediately after giving us this vision, John gave another one of an innumerable host of people saved from every nation, tribe, tongue and language. These come out of the great Tribulation, wash their robes, and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. These who turn to God are the result of a mighty world-wide revival. They do not accept Christ before the Tribulation, but they come out of it. And in this vision John saw them standing in the presence of God. These facts force us to conclude that there is to be a mighty turning to God in the Tribulation. Since these 144,000 Jews are recognized as servants, are protected, and appear in this chapter immediately prior to the description of the result of the mighty world-wide revival, one concludes that they are the ones who conduct it. This is in perfect accord with the promise that God made to Abraham that in him and his seed should all families of the earth be blessed.<\/p>\n The apostle Paul, II Thessalonians 2, assumed unmistakably a world-wide revival as occurring in the first half of the Tribulation. The brethren in Thessalonica had been disturbed unduly by certain ones in regard to the Rapture of the Church and the day of the Lord, the latter of which is the Tribulation. In order to allay their fears and to set their hearts at rest, the apostle showed them that the day of the Lord could not possibly be until there should develop the great apostasy, and the man of sin (the Antichrist) be revealed. The knowledge of these facts would thus reassure them that the rapture had not occurred, as they had been led to believe, and that they had not therefore been left out of that glorious event. These facts presuppose that the rapture occurs prior to the Tribulation.<\/p>\n In his speaking of the revealing of the man of sin before the day of the Lord, the apostle identified this „man of sin“ and „the son of perdition“ as the one spoken of by Daniel in 9:27, which we are considering in this chapter. According to Gabriel, this future prince breaks his covenant in the middle of the week „and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate.“ The expression „the wing of abominations“ refers to the highest expression of heathen worship. Idolatry has taken many forms throughout the nations and at various times, but its highest expression will be ushered into existence by this future Roman emperor when he makes his covenant with the apostate remnant of Israel in the middle of the seventieth week of Daniel 9. When he thus takes this step, he will make desolate all opposition that is offered to him. He will reject the God of his fathers, the desire of women (the Messiah), and every god; but he will demand that they worship him. Such is the forecast appearing in the Book of Daniel. Paul, II Thessalonians 2:4, speaks of the one whom he calls the son of perdition as „he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God.“ This description identifies the man of sin as the one who is the willful king of Daniel 11 and also the one who makes desolate, mentioned in Daniel 9:27.<\/p>\n This opposition to all that is called God and the demanding of divine worship by the Antichrist occur in the middle of the Tribulation when the covenant made with the Jews is broken. It is clear, therefore, that Paul in II Thessalonians 2:4 was talking about the events of the middle of the Tribulation. This verse becomes very luminous in the light of the disclosure found in Revelation 13:11-18. This latter passage supplements Paul’s statement.<\/p>\n Second Thessalonians 2:5 is a reminiscence. Here Paul carried his readers back to the time when he was personally with them and taught them: „Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?“ Since he had given them personal instruction when he was with them, he could say to them, „Now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is<\/em> one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way.“ Since they had been instructed by the apostle personally, they understood „that which restraineth.“ Paul had taught them that there was that which restrained and which would continue to do so until it is time for the revealing of this son of perdition. He further explained what he meant in the next verse, which he introduced by the conjunction for<\/em>. This word shows that the sentence which it introduces is explanatory of verse 6. The mystery of lawlessness was working in Paul’s day. Undoubtedly it is Satan’s underhanded machinations and diabolical plottings. But, declared Paul, Satan could not bring forth the son of perdition until the time when he that restraineth now „be taken out of the way.“<\/p>\n Since verse 7 is tied to verse 6 and is explanatory of it, since verse 6 is united to verse 5 by the adverb now, and since verse 5 is a retrospect which brought afresh to their minds his teaching when he was present, we are forced to the conclusion that these verses \u2014 5, 6, and 7 \u2014 are parenthetical. Verse 8 takes up the thought that was dropped with verse 4. „And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to naught by the manifestation of his coming.“ Since verse 4 is unmistakably talking about the Antichrist’s opposing all worship and his demanding divine recognition, which occurs in the middle of the seventieth week, verse 8 is likewise talking about events of the same time. The adverb then<\/em> of this latter verse therefore connects verse 8 with verse 4. „And then (in the middle of the Tribulation) shall be revealed the lawless one.“ This one is revealed before the Tribulation according to verse 3, and then is again revealed in the middle of it according to verse 8. His identity<\/em> is made known before; his real, diabolical, satanic character<\/em> is revealed in the middle of the Tribulation, when he demands divine worship.<\/p>\n When the Antichrist thus abolishes all worship and demands that he alone be given divine honors, he will be energized by Satan and empowered by him to stage the greatest demonstration of superhuman power that will have been witnessed upon the earth to that time. Such is what the apostle referred to in this quotation: „even he<\/em> (the Antichrist), whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.“ This manifestation of satanic power, miracles, and lying wonders is that which is mentioned in Revelation 13:11-18. God allows Satan and the Antichrist to make this display of power for a definite purpose, which is expressed in these words: „for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.“ God will allow them to perform all of these satanic miracles in support of the claims of the antichrist for the benefit of a certain class; namely, „them that perish.“ These are in this category, „because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. „They could not refuse to receive something that was not offered to them. The fact that they received not the love of the truth shows that it will, by the middle of the Tribulation, have been offered to them, but they refuse it. Furthermore, we see that it is given to them prior to this demonstration in order that they might be saved. Thus people can be saved after the rapture by receiving the truth. Those who do not receive the gospel before this demonstration is staged will, in all probability, accept the Antichrist and his claims. By the permission of the reader, I will, because of its vividness, put the thought in a slang expression: These who hear the truth in the first half of the Tribulation, but who do not receive it, fall for the Antichrist when he puts on this demonstration of miraculous works and powers.<\/p>\n Paul declared that God will allow Satan and the Antichrist to work thus, in sending them this error that they should believe a lie, because they „believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.“ Without a doubt, these who accept the claims, the error of the Antichrist, and his satanic miracles will have had a chance to receive the gospel but they refuse it, preferring to believe a lie rather than the truth and to have pleasure in unrighteousness. It is clear therefore from II Thessalonians 2 that the gospel will be given to all the world prior to Satan’s great demonstration of miracles in the middle of the Tribulation.<\/p>\n It is the occasion of great rejoicing to our hearts to have the scriptural assurance that the Word of God will be preached to the entire world after the rapture of the Church and before the middle of the Tribulation. This, as has been stated, will be accomplished by the 144,000 Jewish evangelists mentioned in Revelation 7. Results of their labors will be the conversion of an innumerable host of people from every nation, tribe, tongue, and language.<\/p>\n Those who are now giving the gospel to Israel may come to the erroneous conclusion that their labors are futile. Not so. The Word which they are now sowing in the dry ground of indifferent hearts will be watered by the showers of judgments in the beginning of the Tribulation. As a result of their labors, there will arise a mighty army of 144,000 Jewish evangelists, who will conduct this sweeping revival in the first half of the Tribulation. Thus those who are laboring to get the gospel to Israel now will see the abundant harvest of their labors in the form of this innumerable host of people from every nation, tribe, tongue, and language, who are saved by the preaching of the 144,000 Jewish Pauls. This mighty turning to God of myriads of souls will indirectly be the result of the labors of those who are now giving the gospel to Israel. Of course, they will receive their share of reward for their part in this great soul-saving campaign.<\/p>\n As repeatedly stated in the preceding discussion, in the middle of the Tribulation the Antichrist will repudiate his covenant obligation to the Jews and will consider the material upon which it is written simply as a scrap of paper. His word will amount to nothing. From the twelfth chapter of Revelation we see that Israel, the woman of that prediction, flees into the wilderness to a place prepared of God for her. The occasion of her doing this will be the breaking of this covenant and the unrighteous, unreasonable demand of the Antichrist that he be worshipped as God. The Jews, the faithful orthodox ones, will flee to the mountains and live in the holes of the earth rather than submit to this type of idolatry.<\/p>\n As is indicated in Revelation 17, upon the beast, which is the civil power under the direct rulership of the Antichrist, will ride a woman, who is called Babylon the harlot. She symbolizes the false religious system of that day and time and will be supported by the government. In the middle of the Tribulation this ecclesiasticism will be abolished. All men will be required then to worship and serve this world dictator.<\/p>\n In the vision of the metallic image (Daniel 2), which symbolizes the four world empires (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome), we see that in the very end of the last one, Rome, there will be ten kings, who are signified by the ten toes on the feet of this image. These correspond to the ten horns on the nondescript beast of Daniel 7. When these two visions are presented side by side, this identity becomes evident. These ten horns, according to Daniel 7:24, symbolize ten kings who reign over the entire world.<\/p>\n To each of these universal empires, which are symbolized in the visions of the metallic image and of the beasts, are given worldwide dominion and authority. This is clearly seen in Daniel 2:36-39. This same universal sway is finally transferred to the fourth kingdom, which is Rome. None of these empires ever took possession of their possessions. Nevertheless, Rome, in the final course of her career at the end of this age, will seize this divinely-given authority. According to Daniel 7:23, she will devour the whole earth and tread it down. This language indicates a ruthlessness in gaining the supremacy over the world and her incorporating into her dominion every tribe, nation, tongue, and language. The distress that will be caused and the havoc wrought will be appalling \u2014 far beyond the conception of the most vivid imagination. But this universal sway will be short-lived, for it will collapse and the kingdom will fall into ten divisions, which fact is asserted in Daniel 7:<\/p>\n Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And as for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the former, and he shall put down three kings.\u201d (Daniel 7:23,24)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In these two verses, which are to be taken literally, we see that Rome is destined to become a world empire and that, after she has thus devoured the earth, this universal kingdom falls into ten divisions, over each of which a dictator or king will rule.<\/p>\n After these dictators have seized the authority and rule over the ten divisions of this collapsed empire, there will arise an unusual character, who is signified by the little horn which comes up in the midst of the ten other horns \u2014 and after them. This symbolic language translated into literal speech is this: Upon the break-up of this future world empire, ten kings will seize the authority over the ten sections into which it will split. There will appear a man who will come out of insignificance and who will by his shrewdness, diplomacy, and unusual ability ingratiate himself into the favor of these ten dictators. At the same time he will be advancing his interests and gradually seizing the authority, which they have usurped. Soon he becomes dominant among them. Expressing this thought in current phraseology, one would say that they soon become „rubber stamps“ while he becomes the all-powerful master-spirit among them.<\/p>\n Finally, in the middle of the Tribulation there will be a mighty upheaval, one result of which is the putting down of three of these ten kings and the assumption of new powers and prerogatives by this world dictator. By this time, he, having absolute and unquestioned authority over the remaining seven kings and the entire world, changes the calendar \u2014 the times and the law \u2014 and rules for the last three and half years of the Tribulation with an unthought of tyranny and despotism (Daniel 7:25). With ruthless inconsideration for others and an abnormal craving for human esteem, he will demand the absolute worship of himself. He will inaugurate a regime so that no one can buy or sell, or have any type of commercial transaction without his consent. At that time the password will be 666 or the number of a man (Read carefully Revelation 13 and 17). For the last three and a half years of the Tribulation, he will hold high carnival in dominating man \u2014 body, soul, and spirit. His despotism will go so very far that he will actually destroy everything that is not in agreement with his plans and purposes.<\/p>\n „And even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate“ (Daniel 9:27). This prophecy affirms that from the middle of the week, when the covenant is broken, unto the very end of the Tribulation, wrath which is determined by Almighty God shall be poured out upon this one who is here called the desolate, because he is the one who causes great havoc throughout the world, and, at the same time, he is the desolate, in that, he is devoid of all human feeling and consideration for others. He is also the desolate one because his entire regime shall be wrecked by the terrific judgments that will be poured out upon him during the last three and a half years of his career. This prediction should be studied carefully in the light of the seven judgments which are set forth in Revelation 16 and which are, figuratively speaking, the thunderbolts of the Almighty against this ruthless tyrant, the Antichrist.<\/p>\n His despotic, tyrannical rule will be brought to a close by the personal appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ with the armies of heaven which follow Him. This Beast, with the false prophet and their armies, gather together in Palestine for the express purpose of coming in combat with the Lord Jesus when He appears. But he shall be conquered and his hosts destroyed. Then he and his aide will be cast into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone, where they will be throughout the thousand years of our Lord’s glorious reign upon the earth. The Devil will be bound for a thousand years, and Christ, with His saints, will reign from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth. These predictions are found in the following passage (Revelation 19:19 – 20:6):<\/p>\n And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse, and against his army. 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image: they two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone: 21 and the rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, even the sword which came forth out of his mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh.<\/p>\n 20:1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed for a little time.<\/p>\n 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: over these the second death hath no power but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/a>In the chart below is a diagram showing pictorially the time set forth in Daniel nine. As may be gathered easily from the arches and the notations, the period discussed falls into various subdivisions.<\/p>\n It is to be noted that the ninth chapter of Daniel deals with a prediction which pertains to the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem. This fact must be borne in mind as one studies this volume and this chart. One should keep clearly in his mind this chart as he studies the book, especially chapters two, four, and five.<\/p>\n
\nChapter 04: The Stopping of God’s Clock<\/h1>\n
\nChapter 05: The Seventieth Week<\/h1>\n
I. The Antichrist and His Covenant<\/h3>\n
II. The Tribulation Period<\/h3>\n
III. The World-Wide Revival<\/h3>\n
IV. The Breaking of the Covenant<\/h3>\n
V. The Absolutism of the Antichrist<\/h3>\n
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