The Greatest Prophecy Ever Fulfilled

The Greatest Prophecy Ever Fulfilled.

The 70th Week of Daniel.

By L.R. Shelton.

Message #3.

It has been the delight of my soul for the Holy Spirit to open my understanding to the great truths set forth in this 9th chapter of Daniel. There seems to be nothing in Scripture that surpassed Daniel's prayer as recorded in verses 1 thru19. It shows us the very heart of Daniel; his deep concern for the glory of the Lord his God; his hatred for sin and the need of confession before God of all the sins he and his people had committed; his concern for his people, the Jews, and their deliverance from Babylonian captivity; and sets before us a spirit of intercession that we should long to imitate. Listen to the closing remarks of his prayer as he pleads with God for mercy, "O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name, for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God, for thy city and thy people are called by thy name" (verse, 18 thru 19).

Then in answer to Daniel's prayer the angel Gabriel was sent with a message of profound importance, such importance and with such effect upon Daniel that verse 2 & 3 of Daniel 10 tells us that he was left mourning three full weeks. What then was this message that so affected Daniel? It was a message of both of the GOODNESS and the SEVERITY of God. The goodness of God in sending Christ, His dear Son, to die for His people, and His severity or judgment in bringing the Jewish nation to a state of desolation and wrath because of their continued sin of rebellion against Him and their sin of rejecting and crucifying the Lord of Glory.

In our previous messages we have showed you that vs 24 thru 27 of Daniel 9 gives us the timetable of 490 years in which God was going to perform certain things and cause His GOODNESS and His SEVERITY to be manifested.

We have seen the first of the six things given in verse, 24 that would transpire in this period of 70 weeks of years or 490 years upon Daniel's people, the Jews, and upon the holy city Jerusalem. Today let us look at the second thing that was revealed to Daniel by the angel Gabriel that was to come to pass. When the transgression of the Jewish nation was finished, according to our Lord's own words of Matthew, 23,32,34,35,36 & 38; then was brought to pass the words spoken by Peter on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2,23 that Christ, who was delivered to the Jews by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, they took and by wicked hands crucified and slew. This constituted the crowning sin of Israel.

Paul confirms this in 1st Thessalonians, 2,16. In speaking of the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, who persecuted the Christians, who did not please God and were contrary to all men (verse, 15), adds in verse, 16 that because of this—the finishing of transgression—they filled up their sins alway, and for this the wrath of God is come upon them to the uttermost. This wrath of God did come upon them to the uttermost in A.D. 70 when the holy city, Jerusalem, was destroyed, the temple laid waste, the blood sacrifices ceased, the nation of Israel scattered among the nations of the earth and God cut them off from being His chosen nation. We know from Matthew, 21,43 that He gave the kingdom to a nation bringing forth the fruits of Christ which I Peter 2,9 declares is the True Israel of God, the Church of the living God. Listen! "Ye are a chosen nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

Listen now, as we go into the second expression given in verse, 24 that Christ by His death "WOULD MAKE AN END OF SINS." It is a fact that the wrath of man is made to praise the Lord (Psalm, 76,10) and this is what happened at the cross. It was the wrath of the Jewish nation that put our Lord upon the cross, which inhuman deed finished their transgression. But it served also to the putting away of the sins of God's elect and to make an end of sins by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here we see the marvelous workings of God's wisdom in causing that the extreme sin of man should serve to accomplish eternal redemption, and so provide a complete remedy for sin. For the crucifixion of Christ, though it was truly a deed of diabolical wickedness on the part of man, was on Christ's own part the offering of Himself without spot to God as a sacrifice for sins (Hebrews, 9,14). Yes, it was at the cross that our Blessed Lord Jesus "offered the one sacrifice for sins forever" (Hebrews, 10,12).

Oh how precious is this gracious truth to my heart and I am sure it is gracious to the hearts of all of God's redeemed ones. It tells us that One was willing to make of Himself no reputation, to take upon Himself the form of a servant, to be made in the likeness of sinful flesh, to humble Himself and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Philippians. 2,7thru8; Romans, 8,3). And I ask, For what reason? So that He might purge us from all our sins (Hebrews, 1,3); that He might purge our conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Hebrews, 9,14); that He might declare God's righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God (Romans, 3 ,25); that He might deliver us from the curse of the law upon our sin (Galatians, 3, 13); that He might deliver us from this present evil world (Galatians, 1,4); and that He might present us to Himself holy and without blemish having no spot or wrinkle, in the day of our glorification (Ephesians, 5,27).

We could multiply these Scriptures over and over again, but we have given enough to show that these words, "to make an end of sins" (Daniel, 9,24) were fulfilled in the death of our Lord, and this had to take place in the framework of the 70 weeks of years. In fact verse, 26 tells us that it was after the 69 weeks or 483 years that Messiah was to be cut off which would then put it in the 70th week. This fact we have brought out in our previous messages, that the 70th week of Daniel has been fulfilled and is not something we are to look for in the future.

The third expression used here in Daniel, 9,24 that the angel Gabriel said would be accomplished was that our Lord was "TO MAKE RECONCILIATION FOR INIQUITY." What a blessed gospel truth this is, that our Divine and human Substitute for sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ, has made reconciliation for our iniquity. You see, dear friend, the need for reconciliation arises from the fact that we by nature are not only a sinner, but also an enemy of God. It is because we are sinners that we are also enemies of God, and as an enemy we need to be reconciled to God.

I ask then these questions, Have you ever been justified before God in Christ, based upon His perfect righteousness? Have you ever been reconciled to God by the death of His Son? Have you ever stood before God as a guilty, lost sinner and had revealed to your heart by the Holy Spirit that you have been justified before God by the blood and righteousness of Christ? Have you ever known yourself to be an enemy of God in your mind by wicked works, and had revealed to your heart by the Holy Spirit that you have been reconciled to God because your sin debt was paid in full at the cross?"

Oh, these are very important questions, because only in the death of Christ as an atoning sacrifice has there been accomplished that which would both JUSTIFY you before God and RECONCILE you to God. Listen to Romans 5,8thru10 where both of these truths are brought out, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."

Follow us now because I want to show you the importance of this statement of prophecy in Daniel 9,24—this statement that our Blessed Lord would "MAKE RECONCILIATION FOR INIQUITY." You see, reconciliation has to do directly with the kingdom of God in that it signifies the bringing back those who were rebels and enemies into willing and loyal submission to God. In this connection, attention should be given to the great passage in Col. 1,12 thru 22 which shows that, as the result of the death of Christ, those who have "redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins" (verse, 14) are also "translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son" (verse, 13). How? On the basis of Christ "having made peace for them through the blood of His cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself." And the apostle adds, "And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death" (verse, 20 thru 22).

Listen now! It is certain then, that when Jesus Christ our Lord died and rose again, atonement for sin and reconciliation for the enemies of God were fully and finally accomplished as a Matter of historical fact. It is important then, and essential to a right interpretation of this prophecy here in Daniel 9,24 to keep in mind that atonement and reconciliation were to be accomplished, and actually were accomplished, within the measure of 70 weeks from the going forth of the decree of King Cyrus for the Jews in Babylonian captivity to return to Jerusalem.

You ask, "What does all this mean?" It means that the prophecy has to do with the great and eternal purpose of God to establish His kingdom and to bring pardoned and reconciled sinners into it as willing and loyal subjects of Christ, the King. Watch it now! And when the time drew near the kingdom was proclaimed by our Lord Himself and by His forerunner, John the Baptist, as being "at hand." Therefore, our Lord's own words, when taken in connection with the prophecy of Gabriel, are very significant. He said, "THE TIME IS FULFILLED and the kingdom of God is at hand" (Mark 1 ,15). This to me is proof positive that the 70th week of Daniel has already been fulfilled and is not to be looked for in the future.

Let me state it again, the more I go into this GREATEST PROPHECY EVER FULFILLED, I behold the GOODNESS of God in sending His only Beloved Son to die in the place of His people, and to rise again from the grave as our living Lord and King. Dear friend, do you know Him?

The Lord is Zion's King,

Let Zion in him trust;

'Midst friends and foes his goodness sing,

And of his mercy boast.

He rules on Zion's hill,

With laws of peace and grace,

Laws that bespeak his kindness still,

And human pride abase.

Let saints his scepter own;

His righteous laws obey;

Acknowledge him the Lord alone,

And walk the heavenly way.