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I was going to preach a sermon today on the timing of the rapture. I was going to preach on the post-trib pre-rap rapture. And then I decided, as I was putting the sermon together, I started to build a bit of an introduction to that sermon because it's important that we look at Daniel's 70 weeks as an introduction that will help us then understand that final seven-year period to come. But as I was putting the introduction together, it was blowing up more and more and more. It's become its own sermon. So basically the sermon that I took that I was prepared today, I've got to cut that in half. I'm not going to be touching on the rapture specifically this time around. But I do want to look at Daniel's 70 weeks. So the title for the sermon tonight is Daniel's 70 weeks. And as Brother Tim was reading that in Daniel 9, you could sort of see some mention of that. But one thing I want you to notice at the beginning of verse number one, it says, In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I Daniel, now look what Daniel says. In the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, and that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem. The 70 years there, let's just get us into the history we're up to here. So this is after Israel has been split into two kingdoms. The northern kingdom of Israel, the southern kingdom of Judah. And if you remember, the northern kingdom was dispersed by the Assyrians, taken into captivity, and all those kinds of things, those 10 tribes kind of missing, you know, in the picture. Then we have the southern kingdom of Judah being taken into captivity by the Babylonians. Remember that? King Nebuchadnezzar taking them into captivity. Now, what Daniel is saying, Daniel is someone who has grown up basically in captivity. Okay, he was a young man that was taken into captivity, you know, made to serve the king of Babylon, and here he is now being a counselor, a wise man to King Darius. And what he's saying here is when Darius started to reign, in his first year, Daniel is saying, I finally understood what was written in Jeremiah. I finally got it, he's saying, right? He's saying, look, I've learnt, I've read Jeremiah, and Jeremiah was a prophet that came before the captivity, and that Jeremiah would prophesy of that captivity to come. And then we have the book of Lamentations, which Jeremiah also wrote, and that's a book where he's saddened, he's seen the state of Jerusalem, of Judah being taken into captivity, lamentation, he's sorrowful, he's crying about that. But what Daniel found exciting in the books of Jeremiah, he goes, I realize now, it's only going to last 70 years, right? He's come to realize, he's studied Jeremiah, he gets it, he's studied the scriptures, he gets it, and he understands, what's it saying in verse number two? I, Daniel, understood by books a number of the years, okay? This gets me excited, because the autism prophets have to learn as well. They have to read, they have to understand, just like all of us. So when you're reading your Bibles, and you're struggling to understand, don't worry, even Daniel struggles to understand, even Daniel needs to study, spend time in the books of Jeremiah. Now the reason this is important, is because when we look at the end times, and I'll just read to you a quick portion in Matthew 24, just very quickly, you don't need to turn there, but in Matthew 24, Jesus says, at a very specific time, he says, when ye therefore, in verse number 15, when ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, then he says, stand in the holy place, then he says this, whoso readeth, let him understand. So Jesus says, when he comes to the topic of the end times, he goes, listen, go and read Daniel, then you'll understand what I'm talking about. Okay, go read Daniel, and understand what we're talking about. So as I was preparing the timing of the rapture, I realized, well, you know what, Jesus is saying, go back to Daniel. So what we're going to do tonight is, like I said, the title is Daniel 70 Weeks. We're going to go back to Daniel, we're going to read, we're going to understand, so as we continue this series, we have a better grasp of the end times. Okay, so just like Daniel had to understand Jeremiah, well now we, we have to understand Daniel. Okay, that's the instruction that's being given to us by Jesus Christ. Now, look at verse number 20, Daniel chapter nine, verse 20. It says here, So we have a good characteristic there of Daniel, first of all, a good Christian man. What's he doing? He's praying to the Lord, right? And what's he doing? He's confessing his sins. Should we confess our sins? Absolutely, every day. Every day we sin, we should confess our sins. Hey, Daniel's like us, he sins. He's got to confess our sins to the Lord. But then he says, Now Gabriel is the angel. Okay, Gabriel is the same angel that would come to Mary and tell her that she would give birth as a virgin to Jesus Christ. It's the same Gabriel. This is an angel here. He touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me and talked with me and said, Oh Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications, the commandment came forth and I am come to show thee. Look at this. What's Gabriel saying? He's saying, look, he says at the beginning of thy supplications, the commandment came forth and I come to show thee. He's saying, look, when you started praying, I've got a commandment from God to come and show you. Listen brethren, if you're struggling in reading the Bible, if you're struggling to understand, if you need answers to life, if you need answers to what God wants you to do for your life, what do you do? You get your head down, you get on your knees, you bow your head and you pray. You speak to God. And as you're starting to do that, God is already sending things in command. He's already organizing events to give you those answers. But what if Daniel doesn't pray? What if Daniel's not speaking? What if Daniel's not confessing his sins? You think God's going to send Gabriel to give him understanding and wisdom? No. Okay, so the importance of prayer we're seeing there, right? The commandment came to Gabriel and then it says here, for thou art greatly beloved, in verse 23, therefore understand the matter and consider the vision. Verse 24, now this is the most important part here. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish their transgression. Now before I keep reading, Gabriel is telling Daniel, there are 70 weeks that are important, that's coming up. This is important for you to understand, Daniel. I want you to have understanding and these 70 weeks are for a purpose. The purpose, to finish their transgression, number one. Number two, to make an end of sins. Number three, to make reconciliation for iniquity. Number four, and to bring in everlasting righteousness. Number five, and to seal up the vision and prophecy. Number six, and to anoint the most holy. So these 70 weeks are about six major things Gabriel is telling him, okay. So I don't know what your thoughts are there, I'm going to give you my thoughts as to what these six things are and it's not that complicated. I believe all of these things, or at least five out of six things is basically about the coming of Christ. It's basically about his sacrifice. You know, his death, his burial and resurrection. Because what's the first thing that's mentioned there? To finish the transgression, all right. And Galatians 3.19 says, Okay. And here's the thing, when we transgress, when we commit sin, we're breaking God's laws. This is why the law was given. This is why the Old Testament was given. So people could know they had transgressed against the Lord. But then it says, The seed should come to whom the promise was made. And it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. So we're talking about a time when transgressions would be finished, okay. And the Bible tells in Galatians 3, that happened till the seed came. That seed being Jesus Christ. That's when Christ came to die to make an end or to finish the transgression. Look at the next thing there. And to make an end of sins. Transgressions are sins. It's the same thing. To make an end of sins. And Romans 8.3 says, Sin was condemned in the flesh of Christ as he hung on that cross, the Bible tells us. He made an end to sin at that point. He died for all our sins. He died for those that lived before Christ. He died for those that lived during Christ. He died for us that lived after Christ. He's made an end for sin on the cross. Hebrews 9.26 says, For then must he have often suffered since the foundation of the world, but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. That's how the end of sin comes. That's how sin has been put away by the sacrifice of himself. Once done, 2000 years ago on the cross. The next thing we see there in verse number 24. To make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity. Reconciliation, and again, iniquity is just another way of saying sins. Transgressions, sins, iniquity are all talking about the same thing. Romans 5.10 says, So you can see how important this 70 week period is. It's all about pointing Daniel to Christ. It's all about that being the focal point of that period. 2 Corinthians 5.18 says, Sorry, let me read that again. Verse number 18. Reconciliation. So we see these things come into play where Christ's sacrifice means many, many things. The end of the transgressions, the end of the law as it were, the end of sin being condemned in the flesh, and also that we are brought into reconciliation with God through the sacrifice of His Son. What else does it say there in verse number 24 though? Make a reconciliation for iniquity and then it says then to bring in everlasting righteousness. This is obvious for us. Everlasting righteousness, eternal life, everlasting life, one saved always, saved eternal security. Of course, this is how Christ has given us this gift of eternal life. Romans 5.19 says, So by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. By the obedience of one, by the obedience of Jesus, only by Jesus can we be made righteous. What a great thing. Everlasting righteousness. In Romans 5.21, it says that as sin have reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. So as we're reading this vision that's given to Daniel, what's Gabriel telling him about? What did Gabriel come to Mary to tell her about? About Jesus. You're going to give birth to the Messiah. You're going to be giving birth to Emmanuel, God with us, right? To Jesus Christ. But what's he doing before that? He's telling Daniel about the same story. He's telling Daniel about the coming of the Messiah. So Gabriel has an important role to point people to Jesus Christ. And then it says here, after it says everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy. Now keep that in mind. We're going to come back to this. I don't want to talk about this just yet. And to seal up the vision and prophecy, that's another important aspect of the 70th week, or the 70 weeks I should say. And then it says, and to anoint the most holy. To anoint the most holy. And the Bible tells us in Acts 10 38, it says how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power and went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him, God raised up the third day and showed him openly. Okay, so you can see at least five of these six things are all about Christ, about his sacrifice and all the things that come together with that offering of his body. You know, on the cross, his burial, his death, his resurrection. Okay, but there was just the one that little point there that I want to touch on soon and to seal up the vision and prophecy. Okay, we'll come back to that a little bit later. But let's drop down to verse number 27 in Daniel 12. Sorry, Daniel 9, verse 27. And it says here. All right, verse 27. I'm not sure why I've got my notes here but I'll cover this anyway. Verse number 27. So Daniel's going to be given this vision of 70 weeks, right? And the one we care about the most, you know, as New Testament believers is the final 70th week. Now when it comes to Daniel, the entire 70 weeks was a future event to him. But for us, 69 of those weeks have already passed and we've got one week left. One of those weeks left, okay? Now look at verse number 27. Let's talk about this last week for now. It says here, So we're talking about the midst of the week, the middle of the week, something's going to happen. Now remember Jesus Christ said in Matthew 24 about this abomination of desolation. This is where it comes from. This is why he said we need to understand the prophecy that was given to Daniel. So we can read, we can understand. And then it says here, Notice how many times the word desolate comes up there, right? Overspreading the abominations shall make it desolate. And at the end, and that determination shall be poured upon the desolate. This is the abomination of desolation which Jesus Christ is speaking about. It's when the Antichrist will exalt himself and is going to set up an image in the future for people to worship. Now you guys are in Daniel. Keep your finger in Daniel 9. But go to Daniel 11. Go to Daniel 11. Because Daniel explains what this is about, okay? Daniel 11 verse 31. Daniel 11 verse 31. Notice this. It says, shall stand on his part and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength and shall take away the daily sacrifice. Look at this. And they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. So they're placing something that is an abomination, okay? And this is that statue. That statue of the Antichrist for people to worship. Drop down to verse number 36 of the same chapter. Daniel 11 verse 36. It says here, and the king, now this king is referring to that beast, to that Antichrist. It says here, and the king shall do according to his will. This is when he sets up the abomination of desolation. The king shall do according to his will and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished for that that is determined shall be done, alright? So what do we see coming together on that final week, on that 70th week, there is coming a point in the midst of that week, in that middle of the week that this abomination will be set up, this idol. And at that point, the king that's mentioned there, the Antichrist, the beast, will say, I'm God. He'll exalt himself. He'll magnify himself above the God of gods, the Bible tells us here. He blasphemes against God. He sets himself up as this deity, okay? So this is where it plays in to what Matthew 24 is about, where Jesus Christ was speaking about this event. Jesus wants us to understand the book of Daniel so we can better then understand what he teaches in Matthew 24, alright? Now, if you can please go to Daniel 12, verse 11. Daniel 12, verse 11. Because what I said to you is that that final 70th week, I told you that represents 7 years. So how do we know it represents 7 years? Why can't it represent 7 days? Why can't it represent something else? Okay, well let me show you this. In Daniel 12, verse 11, Daniel 12, verse 11, it tells us here, I know what I've done. Sorry guys, can you please go to verse number 25? Verse number 25. Sorry guys, I missed one page in my notes. I've stapled it the wrong way around. Let's go to verse 25. I'll put it all together for us as we keep going through this. Verse number 25. So this is, remember, Gabriel coming to Daniel, alright? And he says here in verse number 25, Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince shall be 7 weeks. Notice that, okay? There's a period of 7 weeks to come. And what do we see that's referring to? About the going forth of a commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, right? You see that? So keep in mind, what are we talking about? Daniel is in captivity. Daniel is in Babylon. He knows that when 70 years are done in captivity, they're going to go back according to Jeremiah, right? And what Gabriel is saying here is there's going to come a commandment to restore and build Jerusalem and referring to Messiah the Prince shall be 7 weeks. Now there's a period of 7 weeks and that's important but then it says this. And 3 score and 2 weeks. What's 3 score and 2 weeks? 60 and 2 weeks. 62 weeks, right? So the 7 weeks and the 62 weeks. When you put these two together, that's 69 weeks and then you've got that final week left, okay? Let's keep going. It says here, the street shall be built again and the wall even in troubleless times. Now when it says here the street and the wall will be built again, that's talking about, of course, the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem. Okay. So here's what we need to understand. They're in captivity in Babylon. Daniel knows shortly it's going to come to pass and we're going to go back. You know, the Jews are going to go back and rebuild that city, right? Now when it's said there that Messiah the Prince shall be 7 weeks, again who's Messiah the Prince? Well John 1.41 says, He that findeth his own brother Simon and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah's which is being interpreted the Christ. Okay. So when we read there Messiah the Prince, that is basically another way of being, I've said Christ the Prince. We know Jesus Christ is the Prince of peace. Okay. He's the Messiah. He's the Christ. And so you can understand why all of this is to build toward Jesus Christ. Now keep your finger there and go to Ezra chapter 1. Ezra chapter 1. As I've told you before, this end time study is more of a Bible study than a sermon. More of a Bible study. Please go to Ezra 1 because I want to show you a couple of things here. There is some misunderstanding when it comes to this topic of rebuilding Jerusalem and what this means. Okay. In Ezra chapter 1 verse 1, now Ezra is another man who lived during the Babylonian captivity. Okay. He's another man that knew there was coming a time and he was involved in this where the Jews would go back and rebuild Jerusalem. Okay. And all this kind of stuff. Rebuild the temple. And it says here in Ezra 1.1, Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. Again Jeremiah is prophesying of all these things. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven have given me all the kingdoms of the earth and have charged me, look at this, have charged me to build him and house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Hey, what's the house of the Lord in Jerusalem? That was the Old Testament temple. You know what Cyrus is saying? Cyrus the king of Persia is saying, God has put it on my heart. He has commanded me. He's charged me. Go and build me that house. Go and rebuild that broken down temple in Jerusalem. Okay. And then verse number three. He asked this question. Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. Okay, so notice that. You know this is now God preparing the hearts of the kings of Babylon to send back the Jews to go back to Jerusalem. Go back to rebuild everything that was broken down during the captivity. But if we look at Ezra 1, what is God asking King Cyrus to build specifically? What was it? The temple. The temple. Okay. This is where some people get it mixed up because they think the prophecy of Daniel is with Ezra when Ezra writes these things to go and rebuild the temple. But when we read the prophecy of Daniel, was it about rebuilding the temple or was it about rebuilding the walls and the streets and the city? It was about rebuilding the walls and the streets and the city. Okay. So here's what you need to understand. King Cyrus allowed Ezra to go back with others and they started rebuilding that temple. Now there was a time where they took a bit of a break and they had to complete it later on. Okay. But that's not where the 70 week prophecy begins. The beginning of the 70 week prophecy is the commandment to rebuild the wall, not the temple, but to rebuild the wall. So please go to Nehemiah now. Nehemiah chapter 2. Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 1. Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 1. Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 1. Nehemiah, another man who lived at the time of the Babylonian captivity. Another man that was used to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild things. In Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 1, it says, Verse number 2. Now this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid. So Nehemiah is someone that's just squeezing grape juice there, right? He's a cup bearer for the king and the king's concerned for his sake, right? The king obviously cares for Nehemiah. Verse number 3. And said unto the king, Let the king live forever. Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my father's sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven, and I said unto the king, If it please the king, if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldst send me unto Judah, unto the city of my father's sepulchres, that I may build it. So what does he want to build? The city, right? He's not so keen, his mission isn't about building the temple, but it's about building the city. Verse number 6. And the king said unto me, the queen also sitting by him, For how long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me, and I sent him a time. Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given unto me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah. And a letter unto Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams, look at this, for the gates of the palace which appertain to the house, look at this, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me according to the good hand of my God upon me. So when we look at Ezra and we look at Nehemiah, and both these guys lived around the same time, they both had different missions, didn't they? Ezra's mission was to go and rebuild the temple, but Nehemiah's mission was to go rebuild the city. And specifically he was focusing on having enough wood to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Now this is important, because we found out in Daniel chapter 9, it said in verse number 25, I'll read it again, Now therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, that comes with Nehemiah, not with Ezra. And then it says, the street shall be built again and the wall, even in troublous times. Are you guys in Daniel 9? Go back to Daniel 9. So let's break this down, let's understand this. We need to understand, notice how many times the Bible says, understand, understand, we want to understand. We don't want to rush this teaching. It's important. So it says here that, let me break this down. Now therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, now forget Messiah the Prince for a moment. Let's just put that aside. It says here, shall be seven weeks. How do we know these weeks represent seven years? I'll tell you why. Because it didn't take seven weeks to rebuild the entire city. Okay, to rebuild all the streets, to rebuild all the walls. But this commandment to rebuild the walls and the streets is said to have happened. Now I don't know exactly, we can't go to the Bible and see these dates obviously. But it's said to have happened around 454 B.C. 454 B.C. And it took 49 years, 49 years to rebuild Jerusalem. Okay, to rebuild the walls, to rebuild the streets, it took 49 years for that to happen. Now if you divide 49 years divided by seven, what do you get? Seven. Seven times seven is 49. So when you read about these seven weeks, that's talking about the commandment to rebuild and it took seven weeks or seven times seven years to finalize the city of Jerusalem, the walls, the streets and all those kinds of things. Ezra on the other hand was making sure the temple was getting rebuilt. The house of God was being rebuilt. Okay. So that's where that first seven weeks comes from. Okay. As we read Daniel chapter 9. Now notice as we kept reading, it says, and in verse number 25, and three score and two weeks. A score is 20. Three score, three times 20. 60 and two weeks. 62 weeks, right? 62 weeks is how long it takes from that time till Messiah the Prince. Okay. Till Messiah the Prince. Now look at verse number 26. Verse number 26. Daniel chapter 9 verse 26. And then it says here, and after three score and two weeks. What's that? That's after 62 weeks. So we have the seven weeks already gone. Then another three score and two weeks. Another 62 weeks. We're now up to 69 weeks. Right? So let's look at it like that. And after the 69th week, right? Shall Messiah be cut off? Now when it says cut off there, that's a reference to Jesus dying on the cross. Amen? But then it says here, but not for himself. He didn't die for himself. It says here, it must be cut off, but not for himself. Okay. He didn't die for himself. He died for our sins. He died for you and I. And then it says here, and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary and the end thereof shall be with a flood and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. So let's pause there for a moment. 69 weeks from that commandment to rebuild Jerusalem. Seven weeks and then another 62 weeks. If you break that down, 69 weeks times seven years is 483 years. Okay. 483 years. From the commandment to Messiah being cut off. The crucifixion. Alright. Now, if it is correct that this commandment to rebuild Jerusalem happened at 454 BC. Okay. Then we need to add 483 years. That'll bring us up to 29 AD. 29 AD. Okay. Now how old was Jesus when he was crucified? 33 years. Alright. He was 33 years old when he was crucified. Now if this is correct that the crucifixion then it would have taken it would have happened about 29 AD. Okay. So if he was 33 years old when he died approximately what was the year that Jesus was born? Well, we go back 29 years. Then we go back the three years. Now there's no year zero. You gotta remember that. So you go to 1 BC then 1 AD. That will take us to the birth of Christ being about 4 or 5 BC. And most historians you know if you lived around that time most historians would identify roughly that would be the period of time that Jesus was born. About 4 or 5 BC. Because that was the time that King Herod the Great was ruling from Jerusalem. Okay. So some people say well hold on. What about the AD? You know the calendar that we use? You know 1 AD. Wasn't Jesus born in 1 AD? Because you know 1 BC that's before Christ. And then AD that's the year of the Lord. So isn't 1 AD the time that Jesus was born? No. No. Okay. The reason the man that created the AD era in our calendars he was a eastern monk that lived in the 6th century. And his name was Dionysus Exiduus. Okay. And this was a monk okay that was involved with helping collaborate information for the Gregorian calendar that we use today. And he according to his research believed that Jesus was born at 1 AD. But if you go and you try to investigate that you research that nobody knows how he came to that. Like nobody knows. I mean I wouldn't trust a monk anyway. With the word of God. Nobody knows. But if you look at the historians most historians recognise that Jesus must have been born about 4 or 5 or 6 BC approximately. Okay. So we're in that ballpark. So the reason we know these are 7 weeks of years is obvious. It's common sense. Because that's how long it took from the commandment to rebuilding the entire city till then Christ coming back coming the first time and dying on the cross for us. Okay. So this would make no sense if there were days. Okay. But this makes perfect sense if there were years. Now this is what's amazing about the Bible. Because this is a prophecy that's very specific from the commandments to the rebuilding to the death of Christ. Very specific dates. And it lines up perfectly with when Christ came. It lines up perfectly. It lines up well with the writings of history as well. And these are prophecies that an angel Gabriel gave to Daniel. And you know people that mock the Bible they say that Daniel could not have written such things. They don't believe these chapters that were written of Daniel were written by Daniel. Because it's too accurate. It's too correct. It shows the hand of God. It shows that somebody knows the future and he's writing about these things. And many theologians many students people that study the Bible say no, no. This must have been another person that wrote under the name of Daniel and then they attached it to his books to his writings. No. It's the hand of God. You know it's God revealing the future events for us. Now if we can please go to Daniel 12. Daniel 12 please. And this is where I skipped ahead I'm sorry guys but I skipped ahead to the 70th week. So we know that after the 69 weeks at the point of the 69 weeks that were done Christ died for us. There's still another week left. Okay. There's still another week. Now the question is well maybe that week continued. Maybe that next seven years was after Christ died. But no I'm here to tell you that seven year period is still to come. That's still a future event that has not been fulfilled. Okay. How do I know this? Because remember when it said that on the final week in the midst of the week that the Antichrist will cause the abomination of desolation at the midst of the week. Right. Now if you look at Daniel 12 verse 11 look at this Daniel 12 verse 11 it says here it says here and from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that maketh desolate set up there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Now think about this for a moment. This is the final week. We already know this can't be days. But this proves it again. Because it's saying from the abomination of desolation we've got another three and a half years left. Right. Or we have three and a half days. Which one? But then that period of time of that three and a half that's left shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. So it's not three and a half days. If you break that down that becomes years. Okay. So this is another way of seeing how these weeks represent years. Alright. Now I want you to understand this. Look at this. It says here there shall be a thousand now kids pay attention especially my kids. If you're doing maths pay attention. One thousand two hundred and ninety days. One thousand two hundred and ninety days. Now when it comes to the Jewish calendar they've got twelve months like we do. Okay. But do you know how many days per month they have on the Hebrew calendar? Does anybody know? Thirty. Thirty days. Now on our calendar we've some months have thirty some months have thirty-one some months have thirty-one February has twenty-eight and in the leap year we give that extra day for February. Alright. Now the reason we have it this way is because our calendar is built around the sun. Okay. It's a solar calendar. Alright. And the reason we have thirty-one and thirty is so we can sort of stay within the seasons so you know we don't you know start having winter in summer and summer in winter we need to adjust these things and every now and again we need to adjust the leap year as well to keep it in the ballpark of the seasons. Okay. But when it comes to the Hebrew calendar when it comes to other people like the Chinese as well even I think the Muslims they have a lunar calendar. A lunar calendar. So instead of it being by the rotation of the sun or the orbit of the earth to the sun they do it by the orbit of the moon. Okay. And so their months when it comes to the Hebrew calendar they've got thirty days. Now think about that problem. They've got twelve months like we do but they've got only thirty days. That means our years are always a little bit longer a few more days longer than their years. Does that make sense? So they're also going to have to make adjustments to their calendar system. The way we make adjustments they also need to make adjustments. But what it says here let me just read verse number eleven again let's pay attention and from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that maketh desolate set up when is that set up again? The midst of the week. So from that time now we're in the second half of that final seventieth week. Does that make sense? Okay. So from that time in the middle in the second half shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Now if you divide one thousand two hundred and ninety if you divide that by thirty days and that's how many days of the month they have that comes down to forty three months. Forty three months. Okay. Now when it comes to three and a half years okay so every year has twelve months let's count this one year has twelve the second year if we include it the second year how many months? Twenty four a third year thirty six and then half a year three and a half years another six months what do we get to? Forty two. So a year sorry three and a half years is actually forty two months. Okay. But this period that we're looking at here is forty three months. And you say why is that? It's because in the Hebrew calendar like we've got that leap year when it comes to adding a day to February and the thirty one and thirty days they've got a leap month basically. They've got these leap years as well that every few years they've got to add an extra month to their calendar. Instead of us adding an extra day they have to add an entire month to their calendars every so often. Okay. And this is a leap year to the Hebrew calendar. So here's why we're seeing that the next three and a half years isn't actually forty two months but it's forty three months. Okay. So why do we have to know this? We've got to call it later as we keep going through this series on the end times right. Now I'm going to read to you just pay attention to Esther chapter three verse seven because it mentions the months. Mention the months. Don't turn there. Just listen to me. Esther three seven. It says here in the first month that is the month Nisan. So what's the first month of the Hebrew calendar? Nisan. As is January. For them it's Nisan. Okay. And this is this. In the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus they cast per that is the lot before Haman from day to day and from month to month to the twelfth month. So now we're going to the twelfth. What's our twelfth month? December. What's their twelfth month? To the twelfth month that is the month Adar. Their twelfth month is Adar. Okay. Now when they add another month to their calendar every few years instead of having twelve months of the year they've got thirteen months in a year. Okay. And the month of Adar the twelfth month of the year they basically have another month called Adar. Okay. So they have Nisan first month the next ten months then when they get to the twelfth month that's Adar one. Oh now we need to have elite month. Then we have Adar two. And then after Adar two they're back to Nisan. Okay. And they keep going in that month. Okay. So that's why we have this extra month that's mentioned here. Forty-three months rather than forty-two months. Okay. On the Jewish calendar. You've got to keep that in mind. Alright. Now Daniel twelve twelve. Daniel twelve twelve. Daniel twelve twelve. It says here Blessed. Now I want a blessing. Do you want a blessing? Do you want a blessing from God? It says blessed. Alright. Is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. You go man what are these numbers they're confusing me and they are a little bit confusing I understand. You understand why we have to read and understand. Okay. We need to spend time on these things. I want to be blessed. So I want to know what this is about. Okay. And so as I told you three and a half years is actually forty-two months. Okay. Now if you get forty-two months and you times that by thirty days on the Hebrew calendar you come to and this is important kids pay attention kids pay attention here. One thousand two hundred and sixty days. How many days for half a year? One thousand sorry for three and a half years one thousand two hundred and sixty days. Keep that in your mind. One two six zero. Okay. That is three and a half years. But the blessing is to someone that waits and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. That's one thousand three hundred and thirty five days. Now for any of the kids maybe Tim or someone else right if you're good at maths can you work out the difference here? What difference are we talking about here? One thousand three hundred and thirty five that's where the blessing is if you wait that long one thousand three hundred and thirty five but three and a half years is actually one thousand two hundred and sixty. So the maths is this one thousand three hundred and thirty five take away one thousand two hundred and sixty. Let me tell you that again one thousand three hundred and thirty five take away one thousand two hundred and sixty. Who wants to give a shot? Nicholas? Sorry? Seventy five days. Seventy five days. Alright. Think about this. So when talking about that final week to come that's a future event to come. Okay. We know and we're going to get into all this next time but we know it's going to be a very difficult time and we know at the midst of the week the Antichrist is going to exalt himself is going to persecute the believers. Alright. That happens at the midst of the week that happens at the end of forty two months but then there's an extra seventy five days which Nicholas worked out and we've been told here that there's a blessing to be had at the end of those seventy five days. Okay. So if the Antichrist exalts himself exalts himself at the half point that begins the great tribulation. That's when the Antichrist and his armies and whatever the devils start persecuting the people of God. Those that have the name of Christ those that have his testimony. What this is teaching us is that there is seventy five days of that great tribulation. Okay. That has been established by the prophet Daniel and at the end of those seventy five days Jesus Christ is going to come back. That's the blessing. That Jesus Christ will come back by that point. And in fact and we'll get into this next time I think Christ is going to come before that. But I'll get into that later. Okay. Seventy five days. So we have this teaching. So if you put all this together about three and a half years another three and a half years it's definitely seven years that a week is. So this is how you work it out. Okay. It's not seven weeks of days but it's seven weeks of years. Now look at verse number twenty four. Daniel nine. Daniel nine verse twenty four. Because I want to end on this. Thank you for your patience. I really appreciate it. Daniel nine twenty four. Let's end on this one. I left this to last. It says here seventy weeks to determine upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish their transgression to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness. So I showed you how all these things tie in to the sacrifice of Christ. But this is the one that stands out. And to seal up the vision and prophecy. So Gabriel's telling Daniel I'm giving you this vision and this prophecy but during this time it's going to be sealed up. There's going to be a restriction on this knowledge for Daniel. Okay. Now look at Daniel twelve please. Daniel twelve verse four. Daniel twelve verse four. God says these words to the prophet Daniel in Daniel twelve four. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book even to the time of the end. Right? The knowledge, the information will be sealed till the end. Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased. Drop down to verse number eight. And I heard, but I understood not. Then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, go thy way Daniel for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Now this is important because Daniel twelve speaks about that tribulation period to come. It talks about the resurrection to come. Right? And so Daniel's getting a good picture of what's happening. Gets a good picture about, you know, going back to Jerusalem. You know, learns from that from Jeremiah. And then he's got this period of time. Okay, it's going to work out to be 49 years from the time, you know, that this is all finished. And then an extra, you know, whatever number of weeks, whatever it was, 62 weeks more times seven years when Messiah comes. But then when he comes to this final week, Daniel wants to try to understand that more. And God said, no, seal up the book. Okay? Seal it up till the end, time of the end. Right? And so this is important because let's just end on Revelation 22 now. Revelation 22. Why am I spending so much time on this? This was information that was restricted to Daniel. But it's not restricted to us. Okay? And this is why we need to spend time teaching on the end times. Because in Revelation 22 verse seven, Revelation 22 verse seven. Now, of course, the book of Revelation is all about the end times. Half of Daniel is as well. The two books really go hand in hand so well. In Revelation 22 verse seven, Jesus says, Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. And I, John, saw these things and heard them. And when I heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. Then sayeth he unto me, See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow servant and of thy brethren the prophets and of them which keep the sayings of this book. Worship God, and he saith unto me, look at this, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. So was it sealed in the time of Daniel? Yes. Is it sealed anymore? No, the time is at hand now. You know it's been the end times since Christ has come back? It's been the latter times since Christ has come back, okay? But the knowledge will increase. We'll have a greater understanding, a greater appreciation of the end times as we get closer and closer to the end. Now we have the benefit of the book of Revelation. Daniel did not have that book, okay? The book of Revelation is a book of revealing. And it reveals for us that which was sealed by the prophet or by Daniel. But yeah, where Daniel was struggling to understand certain truths. So brethren, I hope this sermon didn't go over your head. I want you to understand, you have a great honor. You have a great blessing to have been revealed great truths by God in the Bible. And the other reason we know this is a future event is because the book of Revelation was written in 90 AD, 90 AD, okay? Therefore, when this is now open, you know God's saying, don't seal it up anymore. This is knowledge that needs to be known. That means it's still it was still a future event to come at least after 90 AD. This couldn't have happened before then because there are some in the world of Christendom that would teach now these things already happened. No, it must have happened after 90 AD or it's got to happen after 90 AD. This is still that final seven year period is still a time to come. This Antichrist, this beast will still come and persecute the believers. But brethren, if we are that generation, if we are those people that go through this time period, what I want you to remember with this sermon is there's a blessing. There's a blessing. You can last out 75 days of tribulation, you'll be going up in the rapture. You'll be waiting there, waiting for the coming of the Lord and He's going to deliver you from His enemies. All right, let's pray.