These are notes from my pastor's sermon series entitled "Last Days." While I am a copious note-taker (and don't want them to go to waste!), I do NOT intend that they replace Pastor Bryan's preaching! Hopefully they will serve as a helpful outline as you listen to the actual sermon, which is available for viewing here:
http://www.firstroanoke.com/HTML/Resources/0410-LastDays/053010/Viewer.shtml
A BIBLICAL TIME LINE FOR THE LAST DAYS
May 30, 2010 ~ Dr Bryan Smith, First Baptist Church Roanoke VA
“’Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing [of the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him. ‘" Daniel 9:24-27
Daniel received this vision as an old man, and is considered to be one of the greatest prophecies he ever received. It gives us a reliable time line that is built around Israel, the Jewish people, Israel and the temple.
1. The Message of the Prayerful Servant
- Prayer is crucial in the life of the believer and we approach Him with humble hearts. We see God for Who He is, and then realized how sinful we are. Confession of sin is important so we can remember and understand the price that Jesus paid for us, and then repent and go a new direction.
- Daniel was extremely weary as he prayed, but the Bible teaches us to pray without ceasing. “Pray it through” refers to continually praying for a situation until it’s resolved. Daniel was one of the king’s advisors, wise and well-respected, but he knew the importance of seeking God. The Lord Jesus set an example as He persevered in prayer.
- The Lord God answered Daniel’s persistent prayers by sending angelic messengers. Remember that much of what we face is spiritual in nature (Eph 6:12). In Daniel chapter 10, the angel tells Daniel that soon as Daniel humbled himself and began to pray, the Lord heard his prayer and dispatched the messenger. But during those three weeks that Daniel prayed, the messenger had been detained by the “prince of the Persian kingdom.” This was likely a fallen angel (demon) who resisted him for 21 days until Michael (one of the chief princes of heaven) came to help! It isn’t a stretch to believe that even today demons have been assigned (for a limited season of time) to afflict nations, governments, and even groups of people. So it’s crucial that we PRAY.
- 70 weeks decreed – means that it is SURE, it WILL happen according to God’s time table, and was given to and is based on the nation of Israel. Three of those things have been accomplished in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ: finish THE transgression, which was the rejection of the Jesus. There is only one sin that will keep you from going to Heaven - the sin of disbelief, not believing on Jesus Christ as Savior (John 3:36).
2. The Meaning of the Seventy Weeks
To understand this prophecy we must use the lunar year (360 day year), which most Bible scholars believe is seventy weeks of YEARS. The time line began in the Jewish month of Nisan in 445 BC. This is when the decree was given by the Persian king Artaxerxes I to rebuild Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2).
- The first 69 weeks of years ended on Palm Sunday in AD 32 when Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. At that point in time, the Anointed One (Jesus) was cut off (crucified).
- We are now living in God’s “prophetic pause” as we wait for the 70th week. This will be the 7-year period of the Great Tribulation, and it will begin when the Antichrist makes a peace treaty between Israel and her Arab neighbors and is allowed to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. (There are currently people in Israel who are collecting materials and working on elements for the temple).
- Pastor Bryan and many of us believe that the church will be raptured prior to this 7th week. People will still come to know Jesus and there will be 144,000 Jews who will testify and be protected (Revelation 7:4).
3. The Majesty of the Returning Lord
- At the end of the 70th week, Jesus will return with His church and will defeat the Antichrist and his armies in the battle at Armageddon. Satan will be bound for 1000 years and the Lord will set up his earthly kingdom and reign from Jerusalem.
We are currently living in the “Age of Grace” or the “Church Age.” As Paul taught in Romans 11, there is a “partial hardening of Israel” because of their rejection of Jesus as Messiah. But understand, Jesus WILL return and He WILL be recognized for Who He is.
What about you? Do YOU know Jesus? Scripture teaches us that one day EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Confess Him NOW and click HERE to learn how.
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