4. On Target, On Time  

LONNIE: Welcome to Exploring the Word. I hope you’ve been enjoying our studies together. And I hope we’ve been able to help you see what a remarkable document this book, the Bible, really is. Today I hope to show you something absolutely amazing, one of the messianic prophecies that just astounds you when you really understand it.

Jeannie what got us thinking about this?

JEANNIE: Well it was a question we sometimes get from people who are going through our Discover Bible Guides. They want to know if the Old Testament really does describe details in Christ’s life, hundreds of years beforehand.

Lonnie, I’ve noticed people really are curious about this idea of predictions pointing to Jesus as the Messiah. I know some of our most enthusiastic responses have come when you’ve spoken on the subject.

LONNIE: And I hope you were able to check out our website and read the assignment we gave last week. Did you read “One Life Changed the World”? Were you able to follow that amazing timeline of prophecy?

Right now I hope we can give you an even clearer picture.

Today we’re going to focus on one of the Old Testament prophecies that pointed forward to the Messiah. Did you know there are over 300 of them? Three hundred prophecies about Christ---written hundreds of years before He was born. They’re the Messianic Prophecies.

The book of Daniel contains a truly amazing one, a time prophecy that flies like an arrow across hundreds of years and strikes a bulls eye, precisely at the right time and place. You’ll find it in Daniel, chapter nine.

Hold on, this is going to be some ride.

The prophet Daniel wrote in the time of Babylon and Medo-Persia. He lived nearly 500 years before the birth of Christ. And he was concerned for his people Israel . They’d been exiled to Babylon . Jerusalem had been destroyed. Daniel wondered if they still had a future. What about God’s promises to restore the kingdom? What about all the covenant blessings?

As he was praying and studying Scripture earnestly, Daniel received a message through the angel Gabriel. A message came from the God of Heaven. And these were the words he heard. Daniel 9:24:

Seventy weeks are determined for your people . . . to make an end of sins. . . ” Daniel 9:24

What had been DETERMINED for the people of Israel , set aside for Israel ? 70 WEEKS had been set aside for the people of Israel . Seventy weeks for what? To put it simply, they had seventy weeks to get their act together, to get back in covenant relationship with God.

Daniel was actually very troubled by this vision. It haunted him for days and weeks.

Well, the angel Gabriel actually unpacked this prophecy! He explained the symbolic language. First of all, Daniel needed to remember something about prophetic time. In apocalyptic writing, one day stands for a year. Ezekiel 4:6 and Number 14:34 spell that out. Look at Ezekiel:

“I have appointed thee each day for a year.” Ezekiel 4:6 (KJV)

A day in prophetic writing, represents a year in real time. So, how many days in 70 weeks? Seventy times seven is 490 days. So we have 490 YEARS.

That’s the period determined, measured off for the Jews. The period to repent. It’s a special period of grace for the nation of Israel . After that, a crisis is coming.

But the good news is. This prophecy is going to pinpoint the very year when the Messiah will arrive, and the very month, day and hour when the Messiah will be sacrificed.

Daniel wants to know when the prophecy starts, exactly when does the countdown to the Messiah begin?

So Gabriel tells him plainly. Let’s read Daniel 9:25. Gabriel says:

“. . . from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty two weeks...”

There it is, the starting point: a DECREE TO REBUILD JERUSALEM. At that time Jerusalem lay in ruins. It had been leveled by the soldiers of Babylon . Daniel was among those who’d been exiled.

So, the question is, when was this command given? Do we have a historical record?

Absolutely. Turn over, if you will, to the book of Ezra. Ezra was a priest who led out in this rebuilding process. And he tells us precisely when it all started. Look at Ezra chapter seven. Here Ezra actually records a copy of this command, this decree. It was given by King Artaxerxes—you can see that in verse 11. King Artaxerxes gave this letter, with the command, to Ezra. Look at verse 13:

“I issue a decree that all those of the people of Israel and the priests and Levites in my realm, who volunteer to go up to Jerusalem, may go with you. “

Here Artaxerxes officially releases these Jews from captivity, from exile, and allows them to return to their homeland to rebuild their beloved city.

Now, when did this happen. Look back a bit in this chapter at verse 7. Do you see a time given there? Yes, “in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.”

There we have it. History tells us the decree of King Artaxerxes to rebuild Jerusalem was issued in the year 457 B.C. In fact, it was the fall of 457 B.C., Ezra even specifies the month.

If Daniel had a stopwatch; he’d know precisely when to start it. This is when time begins in the countdown to the Messiah, the fall of 457 B.C. 457 B.C. that’s when the big prophecy, the 490-year period, begins.

Now look at Daniel 9, verse 25 again. Let’s see how we reach all the way to the Messiah:

“. . . from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty two weeks...”

OK, seven weeks plus sixty two weeks. What’s that? SIXTY NINE WEEKS. How many days? Sixty nine times seven---483 days, or, in prophecy, 483 YEARS.

The time span to the Messiah is 483 years. Now, remember the starting point. What was it? 457 B.C. – the decree to rebuild Jerusalem . Let’s go down 483 years from there. We actually subtract 483 from 457 B.C. going toward zero. That takes us past zero. It takes us to 27 A.D. Bang. The stopwatch stops. The prophecy hits a target.

What exactly happened in 27 A.D.? Matthew, Mark, Luke, John tell us what happened. Let’s look at Luke chapter three. Luke is actually a great historian. Look at verse one. Here’s the time: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. . .” We know that was 27 A.D.

Now look down at verses 21 and 22. This was the time when John then Baptist was baptizing people in the Jordan River . And one day Jesus showed up:

“. . . Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

This is the beginning of Christ’s ministry as the Messiah. The Father is formally introducing the Son to the public. A.D. 27 – JESUS’ BAPTISM. Jesus was being anointed for His ministry. The Holy Spirit descended on Him. Messiah actually means “anointed One.” Remember that phrase in Daniel 9:24: “to anoint the Most Holy.” Now we see what it was pointing toward.

Well, at that moment, John realizes what is happening. And he makes his own official announcement. His words are recorded in John 1:29:

“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

Jesus showed up right on time, precisely on schedule. The prophetic clock hit a bulls eye---after 483 years of history passed! The gospel of Mark says it well:

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.” Mark 1:15

Jesus was baptized in the fall of A.D 27. The Messiah was anointed. It wasn’t a coincidence. No one else could have filled that role. No one else in history hit the target. Folks, this prophecy in Daniel 9 is astonishing proof that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. No human being can make guesses about the future that are fulfilled so accurately hundreds of years later. The broad sweep of history doesn’t just fall into place by accident. The details don’t fit simply by chance.

No, at the moment when Jesus was baptized, a prophecy made in another epoch, in another culture, in another empire, was fulfilled with mathematical precision.

But there’s more! Yes, believe it or not, there’s more to Daniel’s messianic prophecy.

We’ve just looked at a prophecy that involved sixty-nine weeks. That’s in Daniel 9:25. Seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It takes us to “Messiah the Prince.”

But now look back at verse 24. How many weeks are “determined” there? Seventy weeks. That’s the period of grace given the nation of Israel. Seventy weeks. One more week than sixty-nine.

What does that mean? I believe it means there’s still one more week for Israel, after the coming of the Messiah, after 27 A.D. And again, seven weeks prophetically equals seven years. The nation of Israel had seven years after Christ began His ministry to get back in covenant with God. Seven years after 27 A.D. takes us to 34 A.D.

What happened in that seven-year period? As it turns out, that’s exactly when the gospel was preached especially to the Jews. First by Jesus during His three-and-a-half-year ministry, and then by His apostles. They went first to the Jews, before taking the gospel to the whole world.

But something happens in this period. Something happens before that 70-week period expires for Israel. Verse 26 introduces a new idea, an idea that would be shocking to Daniel and most of Israel. The “Messiah would be cut off.”

Here we see a suggestion of the great event that changed human history. The Messiah is cut off. The Messiah is actually killed. And notice the next phrase: “but not for Himself.” Jesus didn’t die for Himself. He died for everyone else. He died for you and me.

Now look down at verse 27:

“Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.”

What’s this one week? It’s reasonable to assume it’s that final seventieth week “determined” for Israel. It’s that week, that seven years, that begins in A.D. 27 with the start of Christ’s public ministry. After all, He and His apostles worked to “confirm the covenant.” They worked to invite their fellow Jews to accept the new covenant of grace.

But something happens “in the middle of the week.” The Messiah brings “an end to sacrifice and offering.” How did Jesus do that? By dying on the cross. His sacrifice was precisely what all those lambs on the altar pointed toward. Jesus fulfilled the entire sacrificial system of the Old Testament. There was no more need to point forward to what the Messiah had accomplished. It was finished!

So, here in Daniel’s prophecy, here in verse 27, we have the Messiah dying “in the middle of the week.” What’s the middle? Three-and-a-half days. Three-and-a-half years. So let’s count it out. The week starts in the fall of A.D. 27. Go three years, 28, 29, 30. Then go half a year, from the fall to the winter to the Spring. We end up at the Spring of A.D. 31. When is Easter? In the Spring! Why? Because that’s when Jesus died and rose from the grave.

And what’s more, it happened exactly in the Spring of A.D. 31. That’s when Jesus Christ was crucified by Pontius Pilate on a hill outside Jerusalem. He hung on the cross on a Friday, on the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month, which is the same as our Easter time.

Jesus Christ crucified was the lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. Mark tells us it was Passover in Jerusalem and suddenly, just as the priest in the temple was about to slay the lamb on the altar, the temple curtain in the holy place was torn from top to bottom by an unseen hand.

The priest must have dropped his knife in shock and horror. For the first time the Most Holy Place, which only the high priest visited once a year, was exposed to view. Why? Because Jesus Christ, by His sacrifice, had opened a new way to the very right hand of God.

Jesus Christ the Passover Lamb was slain at three o-clock on the afternoon of the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month in A.D. 31. The year was right. The month was right. The day was right. The hour was right. The very moment when a temple lamb would be slain was right.

It all fits. It all speaks to us. It all offers eloquent evidence that this Jesus from Nazareth was indeed the Savior of the whole world.

And now the final detail falls into place. Three-and-a-half years after Christ’s death brings us to A.D. 34, as we noted. This is the end of the week. This is the end of the 70 weeks. This is the end of Israel’s grace period.

What happened in A.D. 34? The book of Acts tells us that the Sanhedrin, the ruling council in Jerusalem, ordered the stoning of a young believer named Stephen. He had stood before them and made a powerful case for Jesus as the Messiah. They didn’t want to hear. They had Stephen silenced.

And this turned out to be a turning point for the leaders of the Jews. They had officially rejected Jesus as Messiah. And that meant their time was up, as the prophecy said. Now please remember, the early Christian church was Jewish, almost entirely Jewish. And many Jewish leaders did indeed accept Jesus as Messiah.

But the official body of Jewish national leaders had rejected Him. And so Israel, as a nation, could no longer serve as the primary means of sharing God’s covenant with the world. And that is when believers began preaching the gospel to the Gentiles.

Daniel’s 70 week prophecy fulfilled—down to the last detail. Every subdivision fit precisely in place. And at the center of it all is Jesus, Jesus the Messiah. When I look at this prophecy in Daniel 9, you know what I think? What a beautiful way God had of demonstrating to us—this is the One! Right here. At this time. This is the One the world has always waited for. This is the One who fulfills the longings of our innermost hearts. This is the One. This is how I planned it.

JEANNIE: Lonnie what you just explained really is one of the most amazing prophecies in the whole Bible. I thought Daniel two was something, with that prediction about the empires, what were they?

LONNIE: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome.

JEANNIE: Right, but this is extraordinary, how it points to such exact times in Jesus’ ministry.

LONNIE: After you study it I don’t see how there can be any doubt about who the Messiah is.

JEANNIE: Well I guess it’s time to get practical again, isn’t it? Is there something we can take away for our day-to-day lives from this prophecy, or maybe from Messianic prophecies in general? I mean it certainly strengthens your faith in Christ. But how does it relate to people’s challenges and struggles?

I believe there’s something wonderful we can take away from Daniel 9, something that applies to each of our lives. And it’s simply this. God has a plan, period, no matter what. God can work things out.

Think about the details in Christ’s life which seemed to spell only trouble.

A young woman in Nazareth, probably a teenager, gets pregnant. She has no husband.

Not to worry; it’s part of a plan. Mary is bearing the Messiah in her womb, as Isaiah predicted—a virgin would conceive Immanuel.

This same young woman has to take a perilous journey at the worst of times---and find no room at the inn.

Not to worry; it’s part of a plan. The Messiah has to be born in Bethlehem as Micah predicted.

Jesus was betrayed by one of His closest disciples.

It’s part of a plan. Zechariah saw it coming long before. Predicting the very price paid to the traitor. Jesus has to be betrayed to enemies in order to fulfill His destiny. Jesus, the righteous one, suffered cruelly on a cross beside common criminals.

It’s part of a marvelous plan. Isaiah saw it long before. By his stripes we are healed.

Do you see what this means for our lives? No matter how dark things get, no matter how messed up the world around you seems, God has a plan. He has a plan to bring good out of evil. He has a plan to help you grow. He has a plan to make things add up in the end---yes, as precisely as the 70 weeks adding up to A.D. 34.

So I invite you to open yourself up to that plan today. No matter where you’re standing. No matter what has gone on in your life up until now. God has a plan for you. And that plan runs through the Messiah, Jesus Christ. He is where things will begin making sense for you. He is the starting point. He is where the stopwatch starts. He is where the countdown to a new life begins.

So please make a decision right now that you will accept God’s plan for you in Jesus Christ, no matter where that may lead you. I can assure you, this is a step you will never regret. Let’s take it together as we pray.

Dear Father, here we are. Here’s our life. Here are our plans. Here are our hopes and fears about the future. We invite you to take charge now. We invite you to mold our lives into the pattern of your Son, the Messiah. We accept the plans you have for us. We ask for the wisdom to follow them. We take this step in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

JEANNIE: Today we’ve got an assignment for you that will help you appreciate this Messiah of prophecy even more. Before next week’s program, please look at Luke 23 and Matthew 27. Those two chapters describe the crucifixion of the Messiah.

LONNIE: And next week we’ll be looking at the seven last sayings of Jesus---because they provide a key to what you can hear from the cross, personally. We want to take a new look at what Christ really accomplished on the cross.

JEANNIE: So remember, Luke 23 and Matthew 27; that’s your homework for this week.

LONNIE: U ntil next week, God bless you and yours. And remember, never stop exploring the Word.