Transcript: Mark Hitchcock on God's Countdown to the End Times

Well, it's great to be here with you this morning. We're so glad you're here with us on this beautiful Lord's Day that God has given to us. If you're visiting with us, we're especially glad you're here. And we're thankful for everybody here in present and physically present, but also those who are watching online as well. We're we're very privileged to have you with us today. We're continuing our study of the book of Daniel today. You know, with all that's happening in our world today, sometimes people ask me, Are you going to stay in the book of Daniel or kind of bring some special message, you know, related to what's taking place in our world? Well, I do that sometimes. I'll leave a study to address a topic that's relevant to what's happening in our world today. But to me, we couldn't be in a better passage today for all that's happening in our world than the passage that God has for us. And that shouldn't surprise us because God knew long ago where we'd be in the book of Daniel and he knew what would be happening in the world. So I believe in his providence that God has us. I mean, just the passage he wants us to be in this morning. I'm in Daniel chapter nine. So if you'll take your Bible and turn there with me, we've titled this study of Daniel, the end time and the meantime. And certainly we're looking toward the end time and these days in which we live. But God wants us to be faithful to live for him in the meantime as well as we await those coming days. I want to pray for us here this morning as we begin. But before I lead us in prayer, I just wanted to read a quote that came to mind this week that I read, I don't know, some years ago. And it's a quote by Barbara Bush, the first lady. She said this. This is a great thought. Your success as a family, our success as a nation depends not on what happens inside the White House, what happens inside your house. It's a good quote. Now, certainly what happens in the White House is important. But I think a lot of us need to think a lot about what's happening in our own houses as well as we think about those things. And really make sure that our own house is in order. We're walking with God. We're leading our families the way we should. And certainly that will affect, have a great impact upon our nation. It will affect our nation from the bottom up rather than the top down. Well, let's look to the Lord in prayer together. Father, we turn our faces towards you this morning. And as we do that, Father, we find in you everything we need. You're all sufficient. You're all sustaining. You're all satisfying. Father, we thank you for who you are and for all that you've done for us. Father, I pray that you'll give us an eternal perspective today. Help us to see the things that are unseen, to find our joy and to find our hope in you. Father, I pray for all of us today. You'd humble our pride. You'd lift our heaviness, strengthen our weakness. You'd focus our passion upon you and upon the gospel. Father, we ask today that you'd protect our republic. That you'd have your hand of blessing upon this nation. Father, we know we don't deserve it. We pray that you'll bless us in your mercy. That's all we have, Father. All we have is to come and to plead the mercy of God upon our country. And we do that today as your people. We pray for our new president and vice president. Pray for our new representatives and senators. Pray that they'll realize how much they need you, Father. That they'll realize how woefully they lack the wisdom that they need to make the decisions they make. I pray that you'd grip their hearts with a deep sense of their accountability to you. That they one day will stand before you and they'll answer for the policies and the platforms that they've put forward and that they've championed. And Father, as we think today about our government and our country and the White House, Father, again, help us to think about our own house, to make sure our own house is in order. For those of us who are married, that we love our spouses, we're kind and gracious to them, and we're loving and leading our families and our children and our grandchildren the way we should, that we're being the example we should be of a godly life in these times in which we live. Father, I thank you for each one of us. You placed us all here for such a time as this. We're not here by accident. We're here as part of Your plan and Your purpose. Father, help us to see the things in our culture today, not as obstacles, but opportunities to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with a world that needs it so desperately. Father, help us not to spend all of our time cursing the darkness, shining the light of the gospel into this darkness to those who need the message of Jesus Christ. Father we thank you for our church We pray for our youth retreat For our young people and leaders Who are gone on this retreat over to Arkansas Pray for safety and good health for them Spiritual transformation Lord in their lives Father help us to yield our lives to you We've been bought with a price I pray that we'll glorify you with our bodies We pray that Jesus Christ Will be more and more formed in us As we yield to him And now fathers we open your word together We pray that your holy spirit would teach us and minister to us And encourage us father in these times in which we find ourselves So we commit ourselves to you now to the power of the spirit We ask these things in jesus name Amen Well, many of you've heard of the doomsday clock There's a doomsday clock. It debuted back in 1947 It's put out by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. They started it back then. And what it is, it's a clock. And they move the minute hand backward and forward, depending on what's kind of happening in the world. It's moving towards midnight to the end, the apocalypse, or a nuclear midnight. And the minute hand has been reset 24 times since 1947. And last year it was set at 100 seconds before midnight, the closest it's ever been to midnight. And they always give all their reasons for setting it in that way. But 10 days from now, on January 27th, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will have a live announcement. And they're going to set the clock, the atomic clock, if you will, the doomsday clock for 2021. And to me, it's interesting. Even secular scientists have this sense that our world is getting near closing time with all that they see happening out there. You know, this this doomsday clock is kind of man's best attempt to count down the apocalypse. But many people may not realize that God has his own clock. God has his own countdown clock. Now, for this world and those who don't know the Lord, it will be a doomsday clock. But for those of us who know him, it's a deliverance clock. And so we see God's countdown bearing down really upon this world. And God has a clock that's counting down the time to the end of the age and to the coming of Jesus Christ. And we find God's countdown clock in Daniel 9, 24 to 27. This is often called the 70 weeks prophecy. Now, I want to read this for us. And then we'll get into the details of this great prophecy. Daniel 9, 24 to 27. 70 weeks have been decreed for your people in your holy city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and 62 weeks. It will be built again with moat and plaza even in times of distress. Then after the 62 weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come with a flood. Even to the end, there will be war. Desolations are determined. And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week. But in the middle of the week, he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering. And on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, But even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate. May the Lord write his eternal word on our hearts this morning. Well, this is the great 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel. And you're going to have to put your thinking caps on this morning with me here and stay with me as we go through this great passage. But I guarantee you there's a great payoff in understanding this great countdown clock of the Lord. This is a great passage in the Bible. Here are just a few quotes from some famous people. Philip Newell said, This is the greatest chapter in the book of Daniel, one of the greatest in the Bible. Sir Edward Denny called this section the backbone of prophecy. H.A. Ironside called it the greatest of all of the time prophecies. H.C. Leopold said they enroll a panorama of history that's without parallel, even in the sacred scriptures. And Sir Isaac Newton said we could stake the truth of Christianity on this prophecy made five centuries before Christ. So this is an astounding, staggering prophecy that God has given to us here in these verses. Now, we left off last time in verses 20 to 23. Daniel's been praying in verses 1 to 19. And you remember the Lord comes and interrupts his prayer before he's even finished. And what he's doing is he's praying, asking God to restore the Jewish people back from the captivity to Babylon. He's been reading in the book of Jeremiah that the captivity will last 70 years. He's been in Babylon about 67 years. So he begins to plead with God and confess the sins of the people and ask God to do what he's promised to do and bring the people back to their land. And while he's praying, the angel Gabriel comes to him. And he comes to him at the time of the evening sacrifice. Now, that's interesting because the temple's been destroyed now for 50 years. But notice Daniel still operates on Jerusalem time. He still remembers it's three in the afternoon. It's the time of that evening sacrifice. And so the angel Gabriel comes and he's going to give Daniel an answer to his prayer. But think about this. Daniel is just praying about the near future. He's just praying about the end of the Babylonian captivity. a year or two in the future from his time. But God and the answer that He gives Daniel goes far beyond Daniel's request to the distant future and points him all the way to the end to the coming of the Messiah. Let me just say here I love that because God gives Daniel an answer that goes far beyond what He even asked for. And God will do that for you and me as well. In Ephesians 3 it says that God is able to do exceeding abundantly exceedingly abundantly beyond what we can ask or thank so remember that in your prayer life you may go ask god for something and god may give you and go far beyond and exceed what you asked him now when we get to this passage in daniel 9 24 to 27 it called the 70 weeks prophecy Most of your Bibles probably in verse 24 say 70 weeks have been decreed for your people. Now, one author has called this passage 70 weeks and 20 problems, because there's a lot of different ins and outs to this passage of scripture. It's notoriously difficult. But I want you to notice something here. God wants us to understand this prophecy. Look at verse 22. Oh, Daniel, I've come forth to give you insight with understanding. Verse 23, to give you the message and gain understanding of the vision. So I just want to say this at the outset. God wants us to understand this prophecy. You're not trying to hide it or make it mysterious to us. God wants us to know and understand what is written here. So this is a key to understanding really all other biblical prophecy. Some of you have heard of the Rosetta Stone. The Rosetta Stone was discovered in Egypt by some of Napoleon's engineers in 1799. And up to that point, no one had been able to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics. What you had on the Rosetta Stone was the same inscription written in three languages. And two of those languages were Greek and Egyptian hieroglyphics. And obviously they could read the Greek part of that. And by reading the Greek part of that, it helped them decipher and decode the Egyptian hieroglyphics part of that inscription. So that became the key to deciphering this Egyptian script. And I thought it's interesting this week as I was reading about this passage, several authors called this section the Rosetta Stone of Bible prophecy. because everything else in Scripture must fit in this great prophetic outline or this timepiece here in Daniel 9, 24 to 27. All other prophecy is validated by this prophetic passage. Now, to get us through this, to unpack these four verses in this prophetic countdown, you can see in your outline I've got four simple points. I want to compute this countdown, commence the countdown, Look at the continuing of the countdown and the completing of this countdown. So we begin with computing the countdown. Notice again, it begins 70 weeks have been decreed for your people. Now, 70 weeks, they're literally in Hebrew at 77 or 70 units of seven. Or it's often 70 weeks, obviously, because a week is a period of seven. Now, I'm not going to go into this in great detail, but there's three main views of what these 77 refer to. Many people take this as symbolic. They'll say if you look at 7 times 7 times 10, it's a round number. This is just a symbol of prophetic completion. But I don't think this is symbolic because, again, if you go back to the beginning of Daniel 9, Daniel is thinking about 70 literal years, right? The Babylonian captivity. So he's thinking in terms of literal years. So if he's thinking in terms of literal years, why would God come and give him some symbolic number? So I think it's a literal number here. Now, some will say, well, these are 70 sets of seven days. So it'd be 490 days. The problem is you can't squeeze everything in these verses into 1.3 years, about one and a third years. So I think the best view is that the 70 sets of seven are 70 sets of seven years or 490 years. And again, that's the best view, I believe, because if you go to the beginning of the chapter when Daniel's praying, he's thinking in terms of years. He's thinking in terms of 70 years. So I think this is 70 sets of seven years or 490 years. Now, why 490 years? Remember, we looked last time at the reason the Jewish people went into captivity for 70 years. You remember that? They went into captivity for 70 years to let the land rest. Because remember, every seventh year was a sabbatical year. When the people of God were not to plow their fields, they weren't to tend their vineyards, they were to give the land a rest. Well, they had stolen 70 of those sabbatical years from God, so God sent them into captivity for those 70 years. Well, if every seventh year was a sabbatical year and they owed God 70 of those, That means they must have violated the sabbatical years for 70 times 7 or 490 years, right? So they violated that for 490 year period. They owed God those 70 years. Now God says, let me tell you about another 490 years in the future. So he picks up on this same time period and says, this is the time when God's going to deal with the nation of Israel and Jerusalem. Now notice it says 70 weeks have been decreed for your people in your holy city. That word decreed there means cut off or severed. Now think about this. In all of time, God has carved off or severed off 490 years from the rest of history. And He's done that to accomplish His purposes for Israel and for Jerusalem. Because notice, this period of 490 years has to do with your people, Daniel's people, the people of Israel. Thank you. Israel. It's about the nation of Israel. And that's why I believe. It's about the nation of Israel. And that's why I believe today there are 40% of the Jews in the world back in the land of Israel today. God is bringing them back there to fulfill these prophecies with them. But the first three of these purposes are kind of more negative and deal with sin. The last three are positive and deal with fulfillment. He says, look, in this 490 year period, we're going to finish the transgression. The rebellion of Israel will be finished. We're going to make an end of sin. An end of sin is going to be made. We're going to make atonement for iniquity. We're going to bring in everlasting righteousness. Well, that sure hasn't happened yet. I guarantee you that. We haven't brought in everlasting righteousness. We haven't brought in temporary righteousness. And he says to seal up vision and prophecy. This means that all the predictions for Israel will be completed in the course of this period of 490 years. And then he says to anoint the most holy place. That refers to a future temple that's going to be built in Israel. That's going to become a sacred temple there where the Jewish people will worship. So these six goals here bring about the realization of all the hopes and dreams of the human race. And they're all accomplished ultimately in Jesus Christ when he comes back to rule and reign. And these six purposes will only be fulfilled when Jesus comes back to establish his kingdom on earth. And that means that this 70 weeks, this 490 year period, has to take us all the way to the end. now all we have to do really at this point now the main thing is find the starting point of this countdown when did God's countdown clock begin to tick well notice in verse 25 he says you're to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem that's it right there that's the beginning point this verse tells us the 490 years begin when there's a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem And you say, well, when was that decree issued? Well, there were four ancient decrees that related to the return of the Jewish people to their land. And all of those have been proposed as the starting point for the commencement of this countdown. But there's only one of them that fits the language of verse 25. To go back and to restore and rebuild the city. And that was the decree in Nehemiah chapter 2. when Nehemiah was given permission to go back and rebuild the city and rebuild the walls. It was a decree signed by a man named Artaxerxes Longimanus. I like that. It means Artaxerxes Longhand. Evidently, his right hand was longer than his left hand. They called him Longhand. But he signs this decree. And we know from history that decree was signed on March the 5th, 444 B.C. So that's the beginning point for this countdown by God to the end. March the 5th, 444 B.C. That's the starting point. Now from commencing this countdown, we move now to what I call continuing the countdown. And you'll notice this 490-year period is broken down into three parts. Seven weeks of years, that'd be 49 years. 62 weeks of years, that'd be 434 years. And then finally, one week over in verse 27. Just broken down into these three parts. Now, let's begin with the first two here and what I call the interval. Notice he says in verse 25, the end of it, he says, from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah, the prince, there'll be seven weeks and 62 weeks. Now, the reason he divides it into these two parts is during that seven weeks or 49 years, he said that's when the city will be built again with Moat and Plaza in time of distress. So about 49 years that the city's rebuilt. But then you go on for another 62 weeks of years after that. Now, again, I'm not very good at math. It's certainly not my forte, but 69 times seven is 483 years. And you take 483 years times 360 days. That was the calendar, the prophetic calendar used in Israel and lots of other nations in that day. And you get 173,880 days. Now, here's where this blows the mind. If you begin March the 5th, 444 B.C., and you add 173,880 days, you come to March the 30th of A.D. 33. And you know what happened that day? The triumphal entry of Jesus. What we celebrate on Palm Sunday. As Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem. Presented there as Messiah the Prince. So he says, No one discerned from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. March 5th 444 B Until Messiah the Prince There will be seven weeks and 62 weeks 69 weeks of years 173 days Now, what happened that day again, Palm Sunday? Go over to Luke 19 in your Bible. To Luke 19. Those of you who've been to Israel with us, I hope you can picture in your minds, There's a place there called Dominus Flevit. It's called Jesus Wept there on the side of the Mount of Olives. And when Jesus made His way down into the city for His triumphal entry. But in Matthew 19 and verse 41, it says, And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it. And He said this, If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace, But now they've been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank against you, surround you and hem you in on every side. They'll level you to the ground and your children within you. And they will not leave in you one stone upon another. He's talking about 70 A.D., the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. It's 37 years in the future. And then notice what he says at the end of verse 44. because you did not recognize the time of your visitation. It was all written down there in the Old Testament. Notice he says, in this day, if you knew, you didn't recognize the time of your visitation. To the very day, 173,880 days, Jesus rides into Jerusalem as Messiah the Prince. And they didn't recognize him. And so he weeps over the city and he says, Jerusalem is going to be destroyed. And again, that happened in 70 A.D. So this prophecy is fulfilled to the very day. It's the greatest prophecy in the Bible. It's the most precise prophecy in Scripture. Now, that's the first 69 weeks of years. So, again, this is a great chart. We start on the left over here, March 5th, 444 B.C. Those first 69 weeks of years, you come to March 30th, A.D. 33, the triumphal entry of Jesus. He's presented there to them as Messiah, the Prince. All of that was literally fulfilled. But that still leaves one final seven year period before the completion of this 490 years. Right. We have 483 of these years finished on March the 30th of AD 33. So one week of years is still out there. But before that seven year period begins, there's an interlude. there's an indeterminate period of time that we find in verse 26. Notice what he says in verse 26. Then after the 62 weeks, and that, of course, is the 62 plus the 7, so it's 69 weeks or 483 years. After that, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. So this time period ends, this 69 weeks right here, And after it ends, he tells us two things that are going to happen after it ends. Messiah is going to be cut off. That happened just four days later. I mean, after the triumphal entry on April the 3rd, Jesus is crucified. But then he also tells us something that's going to happen 37 years in the future. The destruction of the city of Jerusalem. It happened August 6th of A.D. 70. So what he's saying here is, look, this 483-year period is going to end. and what's going to happen is Messiah is going to be cut off and he's going to have nothing and Jerusalem is going to be destroyed. So there's two specific events that happen in the gap between the end of the 69th and the beginning of that final week. The death of the Messiah and the destruction of Jerusalem. When it says their Messiah will be cut off, it's a word that means to be killed violently. The Messiah is going to be cut off by death. And then Jerusalem was destroyed just as this predicts. 37 years later in A.D. 70. Now notice in verse 26 it says, And the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city. The prince who is to come, I think, here's another reference to the Antichrist. It's referred to in Daniel 7. We have a picture of him in Daniel 8. He's this coming prince. And one of the things that tells us is, in fact, this is the only verse in the Bible that gives us the ethnic background or the origin of the coming Antichrist. Notice it's the people of the prince who is to come who will destroy the city of Jerusalem. Well, who destroyed Jerusalem? The Romans. So this final Antichrist is going to come out of the old Roman Empire. So the Antichrist won't be an American. A lot of people have tried to make about every American president, you know, the Antichrist. You know, Kennedy's the Antichrist. Ronald, Wilson, Reagan, each of his names had six letters. So he was the Antichrist. And it's kind of whoever you don't like, basically, that you make the Antichrist. He's not going to be an American. He's going to come from a revived, reunited Roman Empire. But you and I today are living in this interlude or this gap between the end of the 69th week of years and that final week out there. And it's been going on now for an indeterminate period of time. It's this time period we call the church age, or I like to call it the gap of grace. But in the Old Testament, or in the New Testament, in Ephesians 3, it tells us that in the Old Testament, the church, this current age was a mystery. It was something that was not revealed. And so that's why Daniel doesn't spell it out here in detail, because Daniel didn't know about this current age. He didn't see it. It was a mystery to him. But during this current church age, the New Testament tells us that Israel has been partially blinded. and they've been temporarily set aside by God. So when Israel rejected Jesus as its Messiah, when he said, you didn't recognize this day, the day of visitation, Jesus turned to the Gentiles and temporarily put aside his plans and program for the nation of Israel. And so today he's building his church and he's forming his body. And it's kind of like the clock has stopped. The countdown has been suspended. It's like if you've ever watched one of the launches there at NASA, sometimes they're getting to that countdown and they're, you know, T minus, you know, whatever, an hour or whatever it is. And all of a sudden the countdown has stopped because of weather conditions or because of some mechanical difficulties. And that's exactly what happened when Jesus rode into Jerusalem as Messiah the Prince. The clock stopped. And after that period of time, he was cut off. Jerusalem was destroyed. And now we have this entire church age intervening. There's a helpful illustration I got from Louis Talbot years ago. He said one time he was on a train, and all of a sudden the train came to a stop. And he asked the conductor what was going on, and he said, We're on a sidetrack. The express is coming through, and we had to get off so it could come through. And he used to say that that's what happened to the people of Israel. They were on the main line. They were on the main track. But they rejected their Messiah. So God put them on a side track as a nation. And today, I like this, Lewis Talbot said, the Gospel Express, which we know as the church, is going through on the main track. And we're living now on that express, you and I are. We're living in this parenthesis of time before Israel gets back on the main track. But someday the rapture is going to take place. This church age will end. and the seven year tribulation period will begin and God will put Israel back on the main track again. And the momentum, I think, towards that final seven years is building. So I believe the rapture can happen at any moment. And at some point after the rapture, the Antichrist is going to rise. He's going to broker a peace treaty with Israel and God's countdown is going to resume again. So verse 27 tells us what will take place as this countdown reaches zero and takes us to the end. Now notice it begins, and he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week. It's that one week that's still out there. Now the he here is not Jesus. The nearest reference is back to the coming prince, the Antichrist. And he's going to make a firm covenant with the many. The many there means the many in Israel for one week. Now when it says a firm covenant there, the word firm can mean to make strong or strengthen. So it could mean there's a covenant that's already in existence. He just comes along and strengthens it or makes it stronger. Or it can mean a firm covenant that's a compelled, forced covenant. But either way, the seven years is this final week or unit of seven that we often call the tribulation period. It's the final era of history before the coming of Jesus Christ. And the event that triggers the last seven year period is the signing of some kind of treaty or covenant between the Antichrist and the nation of Israel. So I want you to remember this. The rapture doesn't start the tribulation period. The rapture can happen in any moment when the rapture takes place sometime after that. The Antichrist will rise. He'll make this agreement with Israel and that will begin the countdown again. And so what will happen is all of a sudden the clock, the countdown will start again. Now, evidently, under the terms of this agreement, the Jews will be able to rebuild their temple and resume worship in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount. Because notice it says in the middle of the week, in other words, in the middle of that last seven years, he'll put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering. And on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate. Well, if he's going to put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering, that means there has to be a temple in Israel. That's the only place they offer sacrifices. So a temple is going to have to be rebuilt and they'll resume their worship there. So evidently, this treaty the Antichrist makes with Israel will involve some kind of security guarantee for the Jewish people to rebuild the temple and resume their worship. Now, you talk about a thorny problem. So that 35 acres up there on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is a major flashpoint in the world. I've been up there many times. Some of you have been up there with us. And it's probably the most interesting place in the world, that 35 acres, to visit. Because of all that's gone on there in the past and what will happen there in the future. We don't know how it's going to happen. But think about this. A hundred years ago, people would say, how are the Jewish people ever going to get back in their land again? I mean, it's impossible. 1948 5% of the Jews in the world Came to the land of Israel The modern state of Israel was reborn It called the miracle on the Mediterranean If God could bring that to pass he going to get a temple somehow there on that temple mount Again it may be some kind of forced agreement or something that compelled by this ruler the Antichrist But, you know, it's interesting. Current events point toward this treaty. You all have been hearing probably about the Abraham Accords, right? You know, Egypt has a peace agreement with Israel from 1979. Jordan entered into one in 1994. But just here in the last year, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and last week Sudan signed these normalization agreements with Israel. Now, none of those are the fulfillment of this, but you can see a momentum towards some kind of peace with Israel. And the Bible tells us here the Jewish people are going to enjoy peace and prosperity for three and a half years. The first half of that seven years. But then in one of the great double crosses of all time, the Antichrist will break the treaty. He'll seize the temple. He's going to put an image of himself there in the temple, just like Antiochus Epiphanes did. And he's going to desecrate and desolate the temple. And then the final three and a half years of time is known as the Great Tribulation. That's when the Antichrist is going to rule and reign over the earth. And that time is spoken of clearly in the book of Revelation. Again, right here, it's the last half of this seven-year period, three and a half years. You go read the book of Revelation, it talks about 1,260 days, 42 months. It's all that same period of a final three and a half years. So Antichrist is ultimately then going to be destroyed by the return of Jesus. Notice the end of the passage. There will come one who makes desolate until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate. So this desolator, the Antichrist, he's going to be desolated by another. And, of course, it's speaking here of the coming of Jesus Christ when he comes in power and glory, the usher in his kingdom and to finish that 70th week, that final week of years. Now, what a prophecy this is. That's precision. So let me just kind of summarize it here and put it all together and then just mention a few points of application for us. Here's the way one person put it. I like this. This is a great summary. Israel is God's timepiece, God's clock. God has carved off 490 years of time for them in the city of Jerusalem to fulfill his purposes. The clock began counting down in 444 B.C. The first 483 years were fulfilled to the day. Jesus appeared right on schedule. The final week of years will also be literally fulfilled. Almost six million Jews are back in the land today after almost 2,000 years of dispersion. They desperately need peace. Everything is ready for the Antichrist to come. The treaty to be signed and the final years of God's clock to begin ticking. We live today in the gap, the parenthesis, the mystery, the church age, when Israel's on the sidetrack and God is forming the body of Christ. At any moment, the rapture will end the church age and Israel will be back on the main track. The treaty will be signed. The final seven years of the age will begin ticking. That's where we are in God's program right now. We're right over here. That's where we are. Waiting for the church age to end by the rapture. And then this coming prince will come and make this covenant with Israel. And the countdown will begin. And those final seven years will run their course. Now, there's a lot of things we could draw for this. Let me just mention a couple as we close here this morning. The first one is that God's word is trustworthy and accurate. I mean, there is stunning precision here in this passage. Never doubt the truth of God's word. This passage is really God's fingerprints. It's God's signature upon the Bible that what he says is true. A prophecy fulfilled to the day, 173,880 days. It's stunning. Another point that you and I need to get from this, and this relates to what we see happening today. All history and all human leaders are under God's sovereign control. Presidents, senators, dictators, whoever they are. I like the way Dale Ralph Davis puts it This is a great little illustration he gives He says the Aegis class cruiser Lake Erie Was operating in heavy seas west of Hawaii On the night of February the 20th, 2008 Was charged with shooting down a disabled satellite Tumbling towards Earth's atmosphere The satellite carried a toxic fuel that could pose health risks Should it hit a populated area The deadline for action was March the 1st On that date, the bus-sized satellite would bounce against the outer reaches of the atmosphere and begin a more erratic orbit. Actually, the firing window was only 30 seconds long. At 10.30 p.m. Eastern Time, the USS Lake Erie fired an SM-3 missile 150 miles into space and scored a direct hit on the satellite that was moving at 17,000 miles an hour. And then he says this, one tends to be impressed. I'm impressed. But he says the timing was precise, the shot accurate, the destruction complete. All had to be carefully calculated ahead of time. And I love this. He says the calculations have been made. The time has been set for the last tyrant who would assault God's kingdom and crush God's people to be terminated. Somehow that injects a ground floor assurance into the souls of God's servants and makes it possible for them to walk on with a certain godly fearlessness. You and I can live a life of godly fearlessness. It's all calculated ahead of time. God has already calculated how he's going to take down the final tyrant of history. And you and I can know that all those who are tyrants today, all those who are flaunting God's word, God will deal with them. They're under his control. Here's another thing Ralph Davis says. He says, a final ruler exalts himself, imposes his authority, forbids true worship. instigates idolatrous worship and runs into the meat grinder of God's decree. Predetermined, on target, certain. Look, all of those who go against God and His ways, they're going to run into the meat grinder of God's decree. It's predetermined. It's on target. It's certain. You and I can rest and know that God is in control of what's happening in this world. He's in control of our government, our leaders. the third thing I would just say is look our world is ripe for the rapture the Jewish people are back in their land against all odds 40% of them live there today in the world started in 1948 peace for Israel is front and center with these Abraham Accords globalism is paving the way for Antichrist rise I'm not going to get into that this morning we'll talk about that later in chapter 11 11 but all the the the greater government control and how crises are being used in our world today as a pretext for power. All this track and trace technology, all that's a setup for the kind of globalism that's going to lead to the rule and reign of the Antichrist. The world stage is set for this final week of years. And it's fascinating to me what I've been preaching for 30 years in Bible prophecy is coming together and converging at an astounding rate and exhilarating. To me, it's exciting and it should be an encouragement to us. Look, you and I are part of God's plan. You and I were born for such a time as this. If God wanted us to be here 100 years ago, we'd have been born then. God has us here and He has us now here in this place for a purpose. Again, as I said in my prayer, let's not spend our time cursing the darkness, but let's shine the light and be faithful in our generation and seize the opportunities that God has given to us here in this time. We are here, you and I, in this time, in this place, by God's appointment. God wants us to be faithful in our generation. Then one final thing. We'll close here. You must know the Messiah personally. This Messiah, the Prince who's spoken of here, you have to know him personally. He's coming back someday to rule and reign. He's coming back for those who've come to him. And it says here that the Messiah was cut off and he had nothing. And he was cut off for you and he was cut off for me. He took our sin and bore our debt. And He had nothing so that you and I can have everything through Him. But you have to know Him personally. I love John 1.13 or 1.12. It says, As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, even to those who believe in His name. But you have to know Him personally. You have to receive Him. If you've never done that, that's what you need to do this morning. You need to meet this Messiah personally. The one who was cut off for you. The one who will give you everything if you trust in Him. Look, the next event on God's prophetic calendar is the rapture. And it can happen at any moment, so make sure you're ready. Our only job today is to be ready when that moment arrives. That's what God is calling us to do. I close with this. It's a quote by Danny Akin. He's talking about the coming of Jesus. He says, Until then, we work and we wait. We serve and we hope. The plan is in place. The clock is ticking. The anointed ruler is on the way. Amen. May he come soon. May his name be praised forever. Let's pray together. Oh, Father, we come before you this morning and we're really overwhelmed and astounded at the precision and the detail in this prophecy. We see, oh God, that you're the sovereign over time. That you have a plan and you have a purpose. That it's right on schedule. everything in this plan that's been fulfilled already was fulfilled exactly and precisely. We can know that this final week of years that's still out there will be fulfilled in the same way. Father, I thank you for each one of us here that we can be a part of your plan. We can be a part of your purpose. Father, give us confidence in this time in which we live that you control all things. You control leaders and governments and countries. You control our lives. You control our families. We can trust in you. We can live lives of godly fearlessness. Because we know there's a God in heaven who rules all things. He's the sovereign over time. Father, I pray for each one of us here that we would shine the light and not spend so much of our time cursing the darkness. We'd be looking for the opportunities you have for us every day and not just focusing on the obstacles. we'd yield our lives up to you to take us and use us in our time as we await the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we ask these things in his dear name amen