Trouble On the Way to the Manger
An exposition of Daniel 9
Pre-tribulation rapture teachers claim the “70 Weeks of Daniel” are suspended after the 69th week (of years). They say the count-down that began with the edict to rebuild Jerusalem, stops for an unspecified time, until the “70th week” — the tribulation — starts. They say that’s where we live, in the gap, and we’ll get to escape before the 70th week, avoiding any trouble. Of course, again, it makes no sense to arbitrarily insert a gap in a time line just to make it fit our preconceived conclusions.
For more on the Pre-tribulation Rapture: Tribulation over the Rapture (<click for the article)
In reality, the 70 weeks of Daniel take us on the way to the manger and beyond.
Israel was in trouble. The whole nation of Israel has gotten into deep trouble with the Lord for generations of ignoring His law. They ignored the parts of God’s Word they found too inconvenient like the command to leave the ground unplowed one year out of every 7.
People around us claim to be Christians but ignore God’s Word when it’s too much trouble, they think; when it requires them to be a part of a church, to deny themselves.
To hear about the “70 weeks of Daniel” and tribulation in this world, listen to this exposition of Daniel 9:
To learn why the pre-tribulation rapture is false, click on the link to the YouTube video above?
The Confession (9:1-15)
Contrition is “sorrow for and detestation of sin with a true purpose of [change], arising from a love of God.”
Daniel 9:1-15 is a model of a prayer of contrition. This was not a religious ritual to get what he wanted out of God. He doesn’t want to eat, just pray.
The “Footprints” poem pictures God as someone who is there to help us in some kind of sweet, unseen way, when we’re in trouble. We can give Him a tongue lashing if we feel disappointed in Him. We can accuse God. We don’t have to confess our sins and be contrite, according to the poem. It does not recognize that God is sovereign.
For more about the errors in the “Footprints” poem, click on the link to the YouTube video above.
Some think they can blame God if they go through trouble but Daniel blames their sin. Daniel says, “You are great and awesome.” Today we say, “You are obligated.”
Daniel prays “O Lord, the great and awesome God.” (9:4.)
To be a Christian is to confess, to be contrite, to tremble at the Word of a great and awesome God, to see that we are part of a church, that there’s not just two sets of footprints in the sand.
The Supplication (9:16-19)
Supplication is “a humble entreaty or petition; a plea to a superior.” Daniel appeals to the Lord’s righteous acts, not his own. He doesn’t say, because me and my friends have been so good. He pleads for “mercy,” to not get what was deserved. He prays like a desperate man who knows he’s in trouble
To learn about how to approach God, click on the link to the YouTube video above.
The Tribulation (9:20-27)
Tribulation is “grievous trouble; severe trial or suffering.” A time-line starts in verse 24, called “the 70 weeks of Daniel.” Pre-tribulation rapture teachers say there’s a gap in the time-line, after the 69th week and before the 70th week and that’s where we live and we’ll get to escape before the 70th week.
Times of Trouble
Daniel is shown that on the way to the manger there will be a “troubled time” (9:25.) The “seventy weeks of Daniel” are not about the second coming of Christ but the first coming.
During the trouble before Christ was born, believers in the Lord responded with war (9:26), eventually freeing the temple, cleansing it, and instituting worship of the Lord again (including burning the oil lamps even though there wasn’t enough consecrated oil but it lasted 8 days.) So the holiday of Hanukkah was created.
It will take 70 “sevens” (weeks of years, Sabbath years) “to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place” (9:24.) After 69 of these “sevens” (Sabbath years), the Messiah will be cut off (9:26).
From 458 BC when Nehemiah was given the edict to rebuild Jerusalem, exactly 69 “sevens” passed (434 years); then Jesus Christ was crucified and left desolate on the cross. He was the true temple. In the 70th week, the Church is launched to the world, the true holy place Daniel was praying for but didn’t know it.
To learn about the “seventy weeks of Daniel,” click on the link to the YouTube video above.
To be a follower of the One who walked into the worst trouble on the cross, is to expect trouble. Jesus said “In the world you will have trouble,” Jesus said, “but take heart. I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).
For the full message on Daniel 9, click on the link to the YouTube video above.
Covenant Reformed Baptist Church is Caswell County’s/Danville’s Reformed Church.