God Is Always Working I

How prophecy has been hidden in the Bible!
Fred R. Coulter—November 4, 2023

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My message today applies to what is taking place in all of our individual lives, as Norbert brought out, as well as the prophecies and things going on in the world.

I haven't had a chance to cover much of this, with the war going on over there in the Middle East. That's quite a thing that they're doing to get rid of Hamas. Very interesting. None of the other Islamic nations want the Palestinians to come to their nation.

Secretly behind the scenes, they are agreeing with the Israelis to get rid of Hamas completely. All of this will lead to the building of the temple. As I covered before, that's one of the next major things to take place. Before that, they have to have a red heifer of three-years-old; they found five of them in Texas. So, here's a picture of the red heifer.

It tells us in Num. 19 that it's to be completely burned and the ashes will be used to cleanse the unclean.

Let's see what Paul said in Heb. 9[transcriber's correction], because this becomes important. As sensational as this may be, now they got five of these heifer and they put them in Shiloh. Now, Shiloh was where the tabernacle was first located when the children of Israel came into the 'promised land.'

What they're going to do, they're going to have tours, because they have a lot of tourists come in. They're going to go look at the five red heifers and charge them a fee to go see them. Remember who it was that sold Joseph to the Midianites to go to Egypt? Judah! He's always got to make a profit of whatever happens.

So, let's look at it spiritually, what it means, because they will build the temple! We'll talk about building the temple and show that God is always working! Part of the working that is going on is taking place right now with the war against Hamas.

Heb. 9—we know that this was the temple service that God gave to the children of Israel, and it was all based on sacrifices and things like this. All of these things were a foretaste of God's ultimate plan in sending Christ. That we would have, as those who have the Holy Spirit, direct access to God the Father in heaven above. So, Paul is writing and preparing the Jews in Jerusalem.

The book of Hebrews was written in 60-61A.D. At that time, the half brother of Jesus was the head of the Church in Jerusalem. They had many thousands who professed to believe, like James told Paul when he came up there (Acts 21), 'Look at the thousands that believe,' but they still clung to all of the sacrifices. This has been the hardest thing for the Jews to really grasp. What happened was, as we know in history, they rejected Christ!

Now they want to re-institute the temple, which, by the way, is part of the Abraham Accord. So, God will have to open the eyes of the orthodox rabbis to know where to build the temple properly.

Hebrews 9:10: "These services consist only of meat and drink offerings, and various washings and physical ordinances, imposed until the time of the new spiritual order. But Christ Himself has become High Priest of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by human hands (that is, not of this present physical creation)" (vs 10-11).

They're going to rebuild the temple again. I'm going to have to spend some time on the Temple Institute website {templeinstitute.org} to find out what they have in mind and approximately how long it will take for them to build it. Can't take the time that they took to build the second temple.

Verse 12: "Not by the blood of goats and calves, but by the means of His own blood, He entered once for all into the Holiest, having by Himself secured everlasting redemption for us. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who aredefiled, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh" (vs 12-13).

That's all it did. It was just a ritual. It didn't change the heart because the covenant that God announced now with the Church and with the people—with everyone that has the Holy Spirit—is that we are begotten by Him!

Verse 14: "To a far greater degree, the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, shall purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God."

This is the whole process of God's Holy Spirit working with us, in us, through us, and with His Word all combined together. That perfection is, as Norbert pointed out, step-by-step-by-step, and even the difficulties we go through.

Before we get into some of the other prophecies, I want to cover something here that maybe we have never completely noticed. We've talked about it before, but we have never noticed.

Let's remember the words of Jesus Christ in the book of Rev, 1. What does He say? I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the Ending!

What we're going to see is that with these prophecies, lots of times, God tells us the ending first. When we read things, we think of it in sequential, one after the other, one after the other, and that's the timing of the way that they occur. But let's look at the promise here to Abraham, and let's look at the principle that I just stated:

Genesis 15:4: "And behold, the Word of the LORD came to him saying, 'This man shall not be your heir; but he that shall come forth out of your own loins shall be your heir.' And He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward the heavens…'" (vs 4-5).

So, what we have here is the beginning and the ending. Think about that! Isaac was the beginning of the line coming down to the children of Israel, and then all of the history of that. Inside of that space of time, there are various beginnings and endings, beginnings and endings, all the way down. Very interesting indeed!

The LORD took Abraham outside, said, "…'Look now toward the heavens and number the stars—if you are able to count them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your seed be'" (v 5). That's the ending, isn't it?

When all those in the Kingdom of God will shine like the stars (Dan. 12). All who are the sons and daughters of God will shine like the sun.

If we think we know anything when we contemplate all of that, we really know very little! Think about that. So, let's look at another example. Isa. 40 is a perfect example of starting out with the ending. Now, this is after chapters dealing with Hezekiah and so forth.

Isaiah 40:1: "'Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people,' says your God. 'Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished… [What's going on now over there? War!] …that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins'" (vs 1-2).

The very next verse goes to a beginning. When will v 2 be accomplished? When Christ and the saints come back and set their feet on the Mount of Olives! Not until! But you don't know that from these verses, do you?

If you think about all of those who did not have the rest of the Bible or understand the Plan of God through the Sabbath and Holy Days, these things don't make much sense. But this is how God has hidden prophecy in the Bible, because it's not in chronological, sequential order. Many times He starts out with the end, which He did right here! Then what does He go to next?

Verse 3: "A voice is calling out in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'"

• that can apply to His first coming
• that can apply to His second coming

• we find this next thing about prophecy is there is duality!
• we will see the next thing about prophecy is there is singularity!
• then the next thing we find in prophecy, we find continuous cycles!

When you come to Matt, 24, that's what you find in that whole chapter. But without the knowledge of the Sabbath and the Holy Days, it becomes impossible to understand!

Notice v 4: This is Christ's second coming: "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken" (vs 4-5).

That's Christ's second return to the earth! It can apply somewhat to His first coming, the glory of His ministry!

Verse 6: "A voice says, 'Cry!' And he said, 'What shall I cry?' 'All flesh is grass, and all the beauty of it is as the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the Word of our God shall stand forever" (vs 6-8).

Now then, there are other things, but let's see what it gets down to: "…the Word of our God shall stand forever."

How much of the Word of God will we learn after we're in the Kingdom of God as spirit beings? Never, never, never can we say that we know everything. We don't! God has to give us understanding of it, and we've got to be yielding to God in prayer and in study and in living so that God can give us understanding!

Look at the things that I'm bringing out here today. How long have I been in the ministry? Well, since 1965, ordained by Herbert Armstrong himself! Look at all the years involved with that, and how long it's taken for us, even with the knowledge that we have and all of the things we've been able to do, which really amount to virtually nothing when compared to God, to come to understand some of these things.

• knowledge of the Sabbath is not a know-all cure-all
• knowledge of the Holy Days is not a know-all cure-all

Jesus said that there would be many false prophets and false Christs to arise. Go on the Internet and what do you find? Many false prophets! They have a smidgen of something here and a smidgen of something there, but:

• Do they really understand? No!
• Why? Because they don't believe God enough to obey Him!

Believing there is a God is never enough; even the demons believe and they tremble in fear! You have to believe unto obedience and love.

Notice what He says here, because men always like to come and improve on God. You can't improve on God! No human being can do that. That's where people make mistakes. That's how the message of God gets changed. They can get people to come.

• Who does the calling?
• Who does the drawing?

God the Father!

• When you were called, did you command Jesus to come into your life?

or

• Was His calling a command for you to come into His life?
• What was it?

So, this whole Franklin Graham sweet little prayer, Twiddle-dee-dee, twiddle-dee-dum, and that's what it is. Come into my life. NO! God wants you to come to Him! If you start seeking Him, you'll find Him. That's why it's repentance and baptism that's necessary.

So, that whole thing that they have is a complete fraud, and they're adding to the Word of God, which they never should have done. That's what v 12 is all about.

Verse 12: "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out the heavens with a span?…."

• Do you want to take all your knowledge, all your degrees, everything you've ever learned in your whole life, and stand that up before God?
• How's that going to work? Not very good! Read the book of Job!
• What did Job think? Well, I'm as righteous as God, and I need an umpire to tell everybody that I'm as righteous as God.

After he repented of those vain thoughts, what did he say? I repent in sackcloth and ashes, for there is no thought that can be withheld from You! Who is in control? God! All right.

"…And who has comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, and who was His counselor that he might instruct Him?" (vs 12-13).

That's something! Notice all of this in one chapter and we're not even done with it.

Verse 14: "With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and made known the way of understanding to Him?"

So, the best way you can humble yourself, this is why I mentioned before, I've got the James Webb Telescope website on my laptop. I periodically go there and look at some of the vast things billions of light years away and sit there and think about it and look at them and ask myself:

What do you really know? Not very much! But look at what God has done with that. His Plan is so great that He's going to share it with us. How can we comprehend that?

Verse 15: "Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the scales; behold, He takes up the isles as a very little thing."

Verse 17: "All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted by Him as less than nothing, and vanity."

A drop in a bucket! Everything in the whole world!. This is to glorify God and to give us a perspective of how we need to look to God in everything that we do.

Let's come to Isa. 44 and let's read what God has said to Israel and how important this is. Then a time when many things were happening simultaneously, just like they are today. What things are happening simultaneously today that are going to lead to the building of the temple, which then will be the imminent return of Christ?

What's happening right now is causing Europe to look to its own independence without America. At the same time:

• America is being punished by God for all of their gross sins
• the Jews are getting rid of Hamas to prepare to build the temple
• the Islamic nations are getting together so that that will bring the alliance of the King of the South

And up in Europe, guess what the Germans are saying? We need to have a military to operate in today's world! Have they been washed enough of all the Nazism? They can come to the rest of Europe and say, look, we're all together now in united Europe and we need a united army.

Well, guess who's doing somersaults in his grave? Adolf with his little mustache! So, all of these things are working. In the Far East we have China and the Eastern nations! We have all of those. What do we have on the financial thing?

• the dollar's going down
• the pound is going down
• the euro is going down

The nations of the East and the South, including Russia, India, China, Brazil, South Africa, and soon to join: the Islamic nations of United Arab Republics, Qatar, Arab Emirates, as well as Saudi Arabia, in the BRICS.

BRICS is another way of expressing how to make payments in trade that are not done in dollars. Because right now, up to this point, all trade has been done in dollars, regardless of where it is internationally. The way they got their dollars was they would buy US Treasury bonds. Now, they've got $1 trillion in bonds that have to be sold in the next coming months. But nobody is buying the bonds. The dollar value is going down. All of those are things of God acting simultaneously to bring about the events at the end-time. We see these things being set.

Now, let's look at another time where God was actively involved, and He prophesied of it way ahead of time. All of these things are directed to Jacob, the 12 tribes. God wants the children of Israel to really understand about God.

Isaiah 44:1: "Yet, now hear, O Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen; thus says the LORD Who made you, and formed you from the womb…" vs 1-2).

Think about that again! God is saying of every new child, He's involved. That's an amazing thing. Women would have a greater respect for themselves, and God, to realize that they are the ones who help bring forth new human life! If they had that in mind, then we wouldn't have all these abortions.

Sidebar: When questioned about abortions, a lot of the women say, will the men forced us to have them? I look at that and ask: How come then 63% of single women vote for Democrats because of abortion? Which means that survey can't be correct! Why? Because they don't want to admit that they wanted it!

They wanted to blame someone else. That sounds a little bit like Garden of Eden. Just a little sidebar on it.

"…Who will help you, 'Fear not, O Jacob My servant, and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen'" (v 2).

Then here's a prophecy that has not yet happened. It's happened only in type to the Church, but this is going to happen beginning during the Millennium and then the Great White Throne judgment. So, you see how important the Holy Days are.

Verse 3: "I For I will pour water upon him who is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground. I will pour My Spirit upon your seed, and My blessing upon your offspring."

Hasn't happened, yet; except for the Church. But prophesied thousands of years before it would occur!

Verse 23—here's another prophecy. This can be dual. This can be at the time that the Jews come back out of Babylon to the Holy Land. It can be a time when the Millennium begins, both! So, this is a duality in prophecy.

Verse 23: "Sing, O heavens; for the LORD has done it. Shout, O lower parts of the earth. Break out into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it…"

How are the mountains and forests and trees going to sing? They give off a certain amount of energy that we don't understand! God understands that.

"…for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel. Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, and He Who formed you from the womb…" (vs 23-24).

He mentions that how many times? Think of that!

"…'I am the LORD Who makes all things; Who stretches out the heavens alone; Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself; Who brings to nothing the signs of the liars, and makes fools of diviners; Who turns the wise backward, and makes their knowledge foolish" (vs 24-25). That's an ongoing thing whenever anybody rejects God.

• Don't we see that today? Yes!
• Where do we find that exemplified in the New Testament by the Apostle Paul? Romans 1—they profess themselves to be wise, they became fools!

This is it, here's a prophecy of it!

Verse 26: "Who makes the word of His servant sure, and makes good the counsel of His messengers; Who says to Jerusalem, 'She shall have people'…."

At the time this was spoken, Jerusalem had people. When was it that Jerusalem didn't have people? When they were taken captive into Babylon! So, this is a prophecy of:

• coming back out of Babylon
• the coming Millennium

Who will be the people in spiritual Jerusalem?

• all the resurrected saints
• all of the prophets
• all of the patriarchs

Christ is the Head with a great tabernacle (Isa. 4).

 "…and to the cities of Judah, 'You shall be built'… [that happened when they came back out of Babylon] …and I will raise up the waste places of it" (v 26).

What happened when they went into captivity for 70 years? The land had 70 years of continuous land Sabbath to rejuvenate the land!

Today, we don't have that, and they just plow and plant and plow and plant and plow and plant. Here in Hollister, all the area around this is various agricultural products all the way from onions and garlic to tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and so forth.

Who's going to help start this to happen? It's interesting, here (in v 28) it names Cyrus. Cyrus did not live very long, but as king of Persia he was the one who gave—under inspiration of God—the order for the Jews to leave Babylon and come out of their 70 year exile.

Verse 28: "Who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd, and shall do all My pleasure; even saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built"; and to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid."'"

We'll read about that here in just a little bit. In here, it also talks about his conquering of Babylon. Quite an interesting thing that happened.

Isaiah 45:1: "Thus says the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus…"

He was never converted. Some historians say that Cyrus was the offspring of Esther and Ahasuerus, the king of Persia, very possibly. But also, if you read the book of Esther, what do you find out? There was a time of terrible distress against Jews everywhere!

Agag—who was the high religious leader and counselor of the king—gave an order to kill all Jews.

You go read it? Sometimes the worst thing that has been pronounced against the people of God, God turns it over! What happened to Agag? They hung him on a gallows that he prepared for Mordecai, the uncle of Esther. Amazing! So, God is able to take and turn things around.

"…'Whose right hand I have made strong in order to humble nations before him. And I will loosen the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved doors; and the gates shall not be shut. I will go before you, and make hills level. I will break in pieces the bronze gates, and cut the iron bars in two. And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I am the LORD, Who calls you by your name, the God of Israel'" (vs 1-3).

Now, the way he conquered Babylon was without throwing a spear or shooting an arrow. The armies came down, surrounded Babylon. He got crews of thousands to dig a canal to divert a major part of the Euphrates River from flowing through the middle of Babylon. Because the river flowed through the city of Babylon right down the middle of it.

It was the city of Babylon with the high walls, and they had iron bars where the river would come through. So, the water came down low enough so that the soldiers could walk under those bars. They came to the big bronze gates that opened up to the River Euphrates, which were normally locked at night, and they were open.

They just opened the gates and walked in, in the middle of the banquet of Belteshazzar, who was celebrating that they had in their hands the sacred gold and silver things from the temple at their feast. Right when the enemy thought we have total victory, BOOM! total defeat!

These prophecies were given in the 800sB.C. Cyrus did not come until 539B.C., so about 450 years before. That's why when we look at prophecy and what God is doing, there are times when He is much more busy in carrying out a lot of things like He did from that time forward. Let's come here to the book of Daniel and let's see. Here again, we have a very interesting thing.

Remember the first and the last and all of that? That's there!

Daniel was carried off in captivity, probably the first invasion of Nebuchadnezzar in Jerusalem. He took all of the learned young men and put them in the school of the learned ones in Babylon (Dan. 1-2). Then the dream eventually given.

By the time we come to Dan. 9, Daniel was an old man. This is after that Cyrus came, then he put Darius in charge of it. This was in the year of 539B.C. Now I've got here all written out. Let me show you a picture of Carl Franklin, one of my close friends in Ambassador College and associate down through the years. He has done more work on Dan. 9-11 to sort it all out because it's very complicated.

I'll put this online, the various updates that he has and everything that he has right there. So, let me see if I can come to the place that we need it here. 539B.C is when the decree was given that they go back to Jerusalem.

Daniel 9:1: "In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books the number of the years, which came according to the Word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years" (vs 1-2).

Then what he did, he turned and prayed to God about being able to have the children of the Jews. There were some Israelites there because previous, we have to go back in history, the 10 tribes were carried off into captivity roughly 100 years before the Jews went captivity into Babylon.

While the Assyrians were coming against the 10 tribes, a lot of them came down to Judah to escape the war. So, there were a good number of them also that went into captivity into Babylon.

He gave a prayer; you read that prayer how he confessed the sins, so forth. Let's see his prayer. This is what we need to look to. This shows when God started to be really active again, because we will see that Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah all overlapped each other at that time when they came back and were building the city.

Verse 15: "And now, O LORD our God, Who has brought Your people out from the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and has made a name for Yourself, as it is this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly!…."

Remember this: The first thing in every prayer, like Jesus said, what was the first thing He said of the model prayer after honoring God? Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us!

So remember, the first thing in praying is confessing sin and repenting.

"…we have done wickedly. O Lord, I pray you according to all your righteousness..." (vs 15-16).

Now, the way we're out of difficulties is coming to God and

• recognizing His part
• recognizing that God can change the circumstances

or

• give us grace and favor

Verse 16: "O LORD, I [Daniel] pray You, according to all Your righteousness, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem…."

So, Daniel acknowledged all the sins that were going on there 70 years previously.

"…Your Holy mountain. Because of our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those who are around us" (v 16).

 The interesting thing is that we will see is that when they got back to Jerusalem under the reign of the Persians, they had peace—which was relative peace—for over 200 years.

So, the hatred against the Jews was turned into that the kings of Persia ordered all the people west of the Euphrates River coming up to Judea to keep the Laws of God and the laws of the empire. That created a time of great peace. But first there has to be repentance.

Verse 17[transcriber's correction]: "And now, therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary that is desolate for the LORD'S sake. O my God, incline Your ear and hear. Open Your eyes and behold our desolations…" (vs 17-18).

 They were! Everything was destroyed. But God said at the end of 70 years, He would lift it! So here is Daniel claiming that in his prayer.

"…For we do not present our supplications before You on account of our righteousnesses, but because of Your great mercies" (v 18).

Notice how humble he was, looking to the mercies and love and forgiveness of God. So he says:

Verse 19: "O LORD, hear; O LORD, forgive; O LORD, hearken and do. Do not delay, for Your own sake, O my God; for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.'

Quite a thing! Same thing with us today. When Israel goes into captivity at the end-time, there's going to be a release again, very similar to this that we see in other parts of the Bible.

• God will hear
• God will forgive
• God will bring back
• God will re-institute
• God will change the heart

Now notice how quickly his prayer was answered:

Verse 20: "And while I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin, and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the Holy mountain of my God; yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel… [that is the angel who appeared to him as a man] …whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, came to me, about the time of the evening sacrifice" (vs 20-21).

Notice what he did. Here's what we have, starting at this point forward, all the rest up to the second return of Christ! Now that's quite a thing! Notice how that ties in where we were with Abraham and what God told him.

• Isaac the son—physical
• look at the stars—spiritual
• the beginning—the ending

So we have the same thing here!

 Verse 22: And he made me to understand, and talked with me, and said, 'O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your supplications… [right when he started, God heard] …the word went forth, and I have come to declare it, for you are greatly beloved; therefore, consider the word, and understand the vision'" (vs 22-23).

Here we have one of the most complex prophecies in the Bible. It is such that—when it goes through the other chapters of the book of Daniel—though it looks like it flows in sequential fashion, the sequence is interrupted with years between the reigns of the kings.

Now we will have all of that with Carl's research. When Carl passed away several years ago, he sent all of it to Dwight Blevins and to Ron Carey. I got this some time ago, but I decided now at this time I would get into it where it looks like the Jews are going to be able to build their temple again.

Because all of this that is taking place in the world today is God moving to get all of the things in place to complete the end-time prophecies! So, here's where it started.

Verse 24: "Seventy weeks are decreed upon your people and upon your Holy city to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sin, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy."

Now that tells us an awful lot! This goes out beyond the 70 weeks. Notice what it says.

"…to finish the transgression and to make an end of sin…"

When is sin ended? The Lake of Fire! Anything less than that is a temporary, how shall we say, bringing down of sin, but it's not ending sin.

"…to bring in everlasting righteousness…" What is that? New Jerusalem!

But Daniel didn't understand that at this point. So, look at how these prophecies go way, way on into the future. Amazing things! To seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

• When was Jesus anointed? Don't know!
• Was it when He succeeded with overcoming Satan?
• Was it when He succeeded with overcoming Satan?
• Was it when He was 12 years old and was in Jerusalem with all of the learned teachers?
• Was it when he was begotten?
• Will it be when he's king over all the world?
• Will there be a special ceremony on the Sea of Glass where we're all there, where then Christ is anointed as King of the whole world?

Look at all the different fulfillments that you might have with this! So this is quite a thing!

Verse 25: "Know, therefore, and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, to Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks."

The 7 weeks equals 49 years. Here every week is a 7-year increment. So, 7 weeks is 49 years. We will see that's how long it took to get the temple built, which was in 20 years, and then to put the wall around Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah. He had to come on a special mission to do that.

"…and sixty-two weeks. It shall be built again with streets and the wall, even in troublous times" (v 25).

So you have these things that are going to happen:

• return to Jerusalem
• build a temple

It started in 539B.C.., coming back to Jerusalem. The temple was finished in 515B.C.  They had a lot of skirmishes because the people around them right at first didn't want them to build it. So, you can read that in the book of Ezra.

Now then, after 62 weeks there's a space of time between the 49 years, or the 7 weeks, and the 62 weeks, which is 434 years. After that, Messiah would come.

You can get that in the book: The Appointed Times of Jesus the Messiah!

God gives these overall prophecies, then the details are filled in a little later. Let me just tell you this, because I'll have Ron post it online so you can get it. Dan. 9-11 are the most difficult and complicated prophecies to understand in the whole Bible, because they cover so much.

We will see that in bringing the children of Israel back out of Babylon and building the temple and building the city and building the wall and everything that took place there, that they had their ups and their downs.

Since it's getting pretty close for me to finish here, I'll go ahead and wrap it up so that we can pick it up next time.

Let's finish the prophecy here, because we'll come back and we'll look at it as we go along in the next message or two.

Verse 26: "And after sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off but not for Himself…." Not for anything He did, because He was God manifested in the flesh!

Nothing here tells us that the Messiah was going to be God manifested in the flesh. This is why the Jews to this day are looking for a physical Messiah to come. So, once again, the deception is going to fall upon them.

"…And the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. But his end shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined" (v 26).

That brings us up to the very last here. So, that has happened. Jerusalem was destroyed again when? 70A.D.! Then again in 135A.D.!

It's been the point of contention down through the centuries: Jerusalem and the area of Judea. Look at it. What did they do in the Middle Ages? They had crusades, and they said, Well, as soon as the Christians take Jerusalem, Christ will come.

But they didn't, So it's been back and forth and back and forth. This is what we're dealing with right now with the war on Hamas. Prophecies have to be fulfilled that there will be a temple. But how can you build a temple as long as you have Hamas sending in rockets? You can't do it! This has to be eliminated. Let's keep that in mind.
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So, this last week will be seven years! "…And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease…" (v 27).

Now, we'll look at that again in Dan. 12 next Sabbath.

There will be sacrifices instituted again. The first sacrifices will probably be when they find a location, they can make an altar of stone, and they can burn on it burnt offerings. One of the things I'm going to do this coming week is check with the Temple Institute and see how much of everything they have ready to go.

But the Jews know that when they start that temple, they want it finished in as quick a time as possible. It took 20 years to build the second temple, and then another 46 years to refurbish it and make it grand during the time when Christ had His ministry.

Scriptural References:

• Hebrews 9:10-14
• Genesis 15:4-5
• Isaiah 40:1-8, 12-15, 17
• Isaiah 44:1-3, 23-26, 28
• Isaiah 45:1-3
• Daniel 9:1-2, 15-27

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Numbers 19
• Acts 21
• Revelation 1
• Daniel 12
• Matthew 24
• Romans 1
• Isaiah 4
• Daniel 1; 2; 10; 11

Also referenced: Book: The Appointed Times of Jesus the Messiah

FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 11/8/23

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