First_Baptist

Pastor Lars Larson, PhD                                                                                              FBC Sermon #628
First Baptist Church, Leominster, MA                                                                           September 11, 2011
Words for children: Jerusalem, desolation, coming                                                          Text: Matthew 24:15-28
Scripture reading: Isaiah 44:24-28

The Gospel of Matthew (92)
God’s Judgment upon Jerusalem (cont.)

Our current progress through Matthew:

I. Prologue (chs. 1, 2)
II. The Kingdom Comes (chs. 3-7)
III. The Works of the Kingdom (chs. 8-10)
IV. The Nature of the Kingdom (chs. 11-13)
V. The Authority of the Kingdom (chs. 14-18)
VI. Kingdom Blessings and Kingdom Judgments (chs. 19-25)
            A. From Galilee to Jerusalem (chs. 19, 20)
            B. The King enters Jerusalem (chs. 21-23)
            C. Fifth Discourse: Kingdom Judgment, the Olivet Discourse (chs. 24, 25)
                        1. Signs of the “End” (24:1-31)

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C. Fifth Discourse: Kingdom Judgment, the Olivet Discourse (chs. 24, 25)

1. Signs of “the end” (24:1-51)

We are currently studying our Lord Jesus’ prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem that occurred later in the first century (AD 70). We have already considered (a) The setting for the discourse in 24:1-3. The immediate setting of our Lord’s speech was the questions posed to Him by His disciples. As they were departing from the temple mount out of the city, the disciples drew attention to the great buildings of the temple. Our Lord seemed to dismiss their wonder at the buildings, for these buildings would not be standing for long. Our Lord declared that these buildings would be destroyed to the extent that not one stone would be left standing upon another. When the Lord and His disciples arrived at the Mount of Olives, which is perhaps a quarter of a mile from the city wall, the disciples came to Him and asked Him several questions: (1) “When will these things be?” And (2) “What will be the sign of your coming? And (3) What will be the sign of “the close of the age?”
Our Lord began to answer His disciples’ questions by first foretelling (b) the events that are not signs of “the end” (24:4-14).

4And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
9“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Most read these verses and interpret them as “signs of the end times”, evidences that the second coming of Christ is near. But in these verses our Lord was not giving signs to identify the end times, rather, He was telling His disciples directly of the kinds of things that they themselves would experience and He was telling all of His disciples throughout this church age of what they will encounter as they sought to live for Him.
The last word that He gave before the end of Jerusalem would occur was the prophecy of verse 14:

14“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

We gave the argument last Lord’s Day that this was a prophecy that was fulfilled during the first century between the time our Lord spoke these words, about AD 30, and the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. Within this one generation the gospel had gone out into the entire world. When our Lord spoke these words to His disciples, they were few in number and all were Jewish in their ethnicity. By the time that Jerusalem fell in AD 70, our Lord’s followers were in great number and were largely Gentile from “nations” all over the known world (cf. Col. 1:5f).
The fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Jewish temple brought a full end to the old covenant system that had been initiated through Moses. The new covenant that our Lord established with His disciples the night He was betrayed was now established and widespread throughout the world. The time for Jerusalem’s end will then have arrived.

c. The coming great tribulation-- the “end” of the temple and Jerusalem (24:15-28)

15“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25See, I have told you beforehand. 26So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. (Matt. 24:15-28)

(1) The abomination of desolation (24:15-20)

Our Lord gave reference to a prophecy from the book of Daniel of “the abomination of desolation.” This is one of those phrases that is the subject of fanciful speculation of evangelical end time pundits. It is commonly taught that the abomination of desolation is an incident that will happen in Jerusalem in the middle of a future seven year tribulation period, an event that the antichrist perpetrates on the Jewish people. It is commonly said that this is an event which occurs through the actions of a future antichrist. The common interpretation is that the antichrist, having become the world leader through political intrigue and skill, seeming to have the solutions to all of mankind’s problems, initially makes a pact with Israel to allow them to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem and reinstitute their sacrifices. But in the midst of the seven year tribulation period just prior to the coming of Christ, the antichrist will show his true evil character. He will come to Jerusalem, set up an idol of himself in the rebuilt temple, proclaim himself to be god and demand to be worshipped. Then he will turn upon the Jews and persecute them with fierce hostility. He will have destroyed the Jews had not the Lord intervened by His second coming to the earth, in which he overthrows the antichrist and his armies in a great end time battle of Armageddon, which will take place in the valley of Megiddo, in northern Israel.
Here are a few examples of what is commonly taught:

The temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem. This is clear from at least four important prophetic passages: Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; and revelation 11:1-2. A fair exegesis of each of these passages demands a rebuilt temple after the church is taken home to heaven and tribulation is poured out in God’s wrath on earth. The coming Roman prince of Daniel 9 could not proscribe the sacrificial system unless it were reinaugurated and operative again in Jerusalem in the temple. Our Lord in the Olivet discourse could not have meant other than that an abomination, in all probability an idol, would be erected in the holy place of the reconstructed temple in Jerusalem in Judea.[1]

This author quotes our Lord’s words from Matthew 24, and ignoring the historical context, he applies His words to an end time Antichrist in a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. He claims that this temple is rebuilt “after the church is taken home to heaven”, and only then the tribulation takes place. This writer disregards completely the context of Matthew 24 in his fanciful assertions.
Here are the comments from another popular writer about “the end times”:

          This time of trouble in the world will be the period just before the second coming of Christ to the earth. In Daniel 12:11 it is described as extending for 1,290 days, approximately three and a half years…
          In the New Testament the same theme was continued. The Olivet discourse, which was Christ’s answer to the disciples’ question concerning the end of the age, describes the same period (Matt. 24-25). The Lord Jesus spared no words in describing the awfulness of the period. According to Matthew 24:15, it will begin with “‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel”; that is, the desecration of the temple that Israel will build in the last days and the stopping of the renewed sacrifices and ceremonies. This will signal the beginning of the awful period.
          Christ advised those in Judea at that time to flee to the mountains (Matt. 24:16). He advised them not to return to their houses to gather up anything, but to flee with the utmost speed. It will be a time of great trial and trouble for those with small children. He instructed them to pray that their flight would not be in the winter, when cold weather would make it more difficult, nor [sic] on the Sabbath, when the Jews normally do not take a journey and their detection would be easier.[2]

The above words were written by John Walvoord, the long term president of the Dallas Theological Seminary. This is a typical treatment of the Matthew 24 passage regarding “the abomination of desolation.” The writer disregards the context of Jesus instructing His disciples about the destruction of that temple that stood before them, the temple of which not one stone would be left standing upon another. He projects all of our Lord’s words in Matthew 24, including “the abomination of desolation”, to a future end time tribulation period in which there is a rebuilt Jewish temple.
Here is another example of the generally accepted, rarely refuted position about the prophecy of Matthew 24. This is from a book that has sold over 20 million copies, one of the bestselling books of all times.

         According to the Bible, the Middle East crisis will continue to escalate until it threatens the peace of the whole world. The focus of all nations will be upon this unsolvable and complex problem which keeps bringing the world to the precipice of a thermonuclear holocaust. This is apparently the first major problem that the incredible Roman leader will solve after taking over the ten-nation confederacy of the European nations.
         Some 2500 years ago the prophet Daniel said that a prince would come to power from the people who would destroy the city of Jerusalem and the second Temple (Daniel 9:27). The Romans under Titus did the destroying, so the coming prince would have to be someone out of the Roman culture. This Roman prince, as we described in “The Future Fuehrer,” will come to power just before the return of Christ. He will make “a strong covenant” with the Israelis, guaranteeing their safety and protection. The word translated “strong covenant” has the idea of a treaty or mutual protection pact. The Israelis will then be permitted to reinstitute the sacrifice and offering aspect of the law of Moses. This demands that the Temple be rebuilt, because according to the law of Moses, sacrifices can be offered only in the Temple in Jerusalem. Apparently all this will be done under the supervision of the Antichrist of Rome.
         According to Daniel’s prophetic chronology, the minute the Israeli leader and the Roman leader sign this pact, God starts His great timepiece which has seven allotted years left on it. This event marks the beginning of the period of Biblical history previously noted as the Tribulation.
         It is through an ingenuous settlement of the Middle East problem that the Antichrist will make good his promise to bring peace to a world terrified of war. After this he will rapidly bring all nations under his control. The world will experience great hope and put its full trust in the genius of Rome. He will begin to bring in fantastic plans of economic prosperity, even to the underdeveloped countries. War will seem to be a curious game that men used to play. The world will be universally acclaiming the Dictator…
         After three and a half years of remarkable progress, the Antichrist will become worshipped for his brilliant statesmanship and the wonderful progress in the world…
         Riding on the crest of public worship the Roman Dictator will go to Jerusalem and in the Temple proclaim himself to be God incarnate (2 Thess. 2:4; Matt. 24:25). As mentioned, this will be the great warning sign to the believers of that day that Armageddon is about to begin. The residents of Israel who believe in Jesus will flee to the mountains and canyons of Petra for divine protection, as promised (Matt. 24:16; Rev. 12:6, 14).[3]

In these comments we see again how the context is disregarded of Matthew 24, in which our Lord was warning and informing His disciples of the impending destruction of that first century temple. The writer quotes verses in Matthew 24 projecting them as prophecies of what will occur in a future seven year tribulation period, which the author claims both Daniel and Matthew foretold.

Let us give our attention to what our Lord said about these matters that unfolded in the first century. In Matthew 24:15f we read our Lord’s words, “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”
The Lord Jesus refers to prophecy that the Old Testament prophet, Daniel, had given over 500 years prior to the occasion that our Lord sat with His disciples and told them of the temple’s destruction. If we turn to the book of Daniel, we may find this expression, “the abomination of desolation” in three verses. They are as follows:

Daniel 9:27. “And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

Daniel 11:31. “Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.”

Daniel 12:11. “And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days.”

Of these three references, I would argue that the latter two, in Daniel 11 and 12, are prophecies that looked forward from Daniel’s time to the terrible events that were inflicted on the Jewish people by a conqueror in the second century BC, whose name was Antiochus Epiphanies. He had led his army to capture Jerusalem and its temple. In fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy, Antiochus defiled the temple by intruding into the temple court and sacrificing a pig upon the altar. That event, which took place in 168 BC, was the abomination of desolation that Daniel spoke of in both Daniel 11 and 12.
But the reference to the abomination of desolation referenced in Daniel 9 is in a different context entirely. I would suggest that this is the passage that our Lord was referring to in Matthew 24:15f, when He said, “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” In order that we understand this, it is necessary that we give some attention to the details of Daniel’s prophecy.

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Excursus: Daniel’s prophecy of Seventy Weeks in Daniel 9

Introduction: Daniel had been deported with other young Hebrew youths after Judah and Jerusalem had been defeated by the Babylonian Empire in 605 BC. God’s judgment was upon the nation for it having broken its covenant with God. Daniel arrived to Babylon as a teenager, but God blessed him there and he rose to become one of the leaders of the empire.
Years later, when Daniel was an old man, he had been reading a copy of Jeremiah’s prophecy when he learned of God’s intention and promise to restore His people to their land after seventy years in exile.

1. Daniel learns of God’s promise to restore His people to their land (Dan. 9:1-2)

1In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans-- 2in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

Daniel knew these 70 years were coming to an end and he expected that God would soon restore His people to their land. And so,…

2. Daniel confesses the sins of his people, Israel (Dan. 9:3-19)

Daniel did not presume upon God’s mercy, but he began to pray that God’s will would come to pass for his people.

          3Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. 7O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day-- to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.”
          8“O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. 12And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.”
          13“As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. 14Therefore the LORD has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. 15And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day-- we have sinned, we have done wickedly!”
          16“O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. 17Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord's sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. 19O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

3. The angel Gabriel comes to Daniel with a detailed message of God’s timeline in bringing salvation to His people (Dan. 9:20-24)

20Now while I was speaking, 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, 21yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. 22And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. 23At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:

24Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.

Gabriel told Daniel that although Israel would be returning from exile after 70 years, in reality God would not restore His people fully to Himself by atoning for their sins not after 70 years, but the time frame would be 70 weeks of years, in other words, a total of 490 years. Only then would their transgression be forgiven for them having broken their covenant with God. Only then would their sins be fully forgiven and their relationship with God would be restored. Only then would all of the promises of God respecting their salvation be realized; in other words, “To seal up vision and prophecy.” Only then would the Messiah come and accomplish their redemption from sin. Did this occur? Of course it did. And the early Christian witness was that Jesus of Nazareth had fulfilled all that the holy prophets had foretold would come to pass.

4. The angel Gabriel gives detailed explanation to Daniel about the prophecy of the seventy weeks of years (Dan. 9:25-26)

25“Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem
Until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The street shall be built again, and the wall,
Even in troublesome times.

26“And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall be cut off,
But not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.”

           The angel Gabriel makes reference to “the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem” (Dan. 9:25). This is a reference to the formal decree of the Persian emperor Cyrus, who commanded that the captive Jews from the Babylonian exile be permitted to return to their homeland and rebuild the city of Jerusalem and its temple. This decree is recorded for us in Ezra 1:2-4. According to Daniel’s vision, this would signal the beginning of the time frame of “seventy weeks” of years, or 490 years before the Messiah would come to restore His people to enjoy an eternal relationship with their God. From this initial decree “until Messiah the Prince”, 69 weeks of years, or 483 years, would transpire.
           Gabriel divides these initial 69 weeks into two divisions of 7 weeks and 62 weeks. The seven weeks speak of an initial 49 year period in which the city of Jerusalem was re-inhabited and rebuilt, which takes us through the book of Nehemiah, who led the people in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. You can read of the difficulty and the “troublous times” that Nehemiah and the Jews endured even as they rebuilt the walls of the city. And then after the city is reestablished in its fortifications, another 62 weeks, or 434 years, is specified “until Messiah the Prince.” These 69 weeks of Daniel’s prophecy, therefore, takes us from the “official” return of the Jews from the 70 year Babylonian captivity until the appearance of Jesus Christ the Messiah, when He began His earthly ministry of proclamation and reconciliation.
           Verse 26 declares that “after the sixty-two weeks, Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself.” After 69 weeks would place this event in the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy. The 69 weeks of years took history to the onset of Jesus’ ministry, and then when the seventieth week of Daniel began, the Messiah was performing His ministry in the regions of Galilee and later Judea. The Messiah would be “cut off, but not for Himself.” This is a clear reference to sacrificial and substitutional death of Jesus upon His cross in which He died to reconcile His people to God.
           What happens next? The Prince determines to bring about the destruction of Jerusalem, the desolation of which would be total and lasting.

And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.

It was our Lord Jesus who pronounced judgment upon Jerusalem and its temple. We saw this in Matthew 23:37-39, in which our Lord declared, “Your house is left to you desolate.” The city was destroyed within a generation of our Lord’s words. He sent forth the Roman armies as the Lord of heaven and earth, bringing to pass the desolation of Jerusalem and its temple that He Himself had pronounced.But what of Daniel 9:27, which reads:

Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.”

This speaks of the seventieth week of Daniel, which began with the onset of the public ministry of the Lord Jesus. This last seven year period in Daniel’s time frame included our Lord’s entire 3½ year public ministry and, I would argue, approximately 3½ years afterwards. Our Lord initially “confirmed” a covenant with many. Jesus had announced to His disciples who he sent out on a short term preaching mission to only go to Jews.

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (Matt. 10:5-7)

Later He would tell a Gentile woman, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24).
But in “the middle of the week”, that 70th week of Daniel, Jesus Christ was crucified, “having brought an end to sacrifice and offering.” As Hebrews declares: “But as it is, He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Heb. 9:26). But then the desolation of Jerusalem and its temple would take place. Even the city and temple that Daniel prophesied would be rebuilt, would be destroyed once again.

And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.” (Dan. 9:27)

But what of the second half of the seven year period? If Jesus Christ was crucified half way through the seventieth week, what occurred in the latter 3½ years? I would argue that for the first 3½ tears of this church age that the primary emphasis of mission took place among Jews, because God was fulfilling His commitment and promise to them. Peter would himself declare to gathered Jews, “God, having raised up His servant, sent Him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness” (Acts 3:26). The early church went to the Jew first, and then to the Gentile. But approximately 3½ years after the crucifixion, the Lord Jesus appeared to Paul, and called him to become the apostle to the Gentiles. It would be Paul’s later decision when the Jews refused to hear and respond to the gospel that he announced,

And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 47For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” 48And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. (Act 13:46-48)

Why was it “necessary” that Paul first offer salvation to the Jews? Because the Lord Jesus had confirmed the covenant with the Jews for “one week”, which was from the onset of our Lord’s earthly ministry to His crucifixion and through the ministry of the early church. That seventieth week had come to its fulfillment, and God now determined that this Gospel would be preached in all the world, and then the fall of Jerusalem would take place, which must certainly occurred in AD 70.

We must close. But next week, Lord willing, we will show how the popular interpretation of Daniel’s seventy weeks is not entirely about the Christ (the Messiah), but rather the popular view sees a prophecy of a coming antichrist in this prophecy. We will explore and examine their claim in the light of what is recorded before us in God’s Word.

[1] Charles Lee Feinberg, ed., Prophecy and the Seventies (Moody Press, 1971), p. 181.

[2] John Walvoord, Armageddon, Oil, and the Middle East Crisis (Zondervan, 1974, 1976, 1990), pp. 169f.

[3] Hal Lindsey, The Late Great Planet Earth (Zondervan, 1970), pp. 140-42.