This episode of Hope for Today takes listeners on an enlightening journey through Daniel’s prophecy of the 70 weeks. Bible teacher David Hawking dissects this prophecy, revealing its significance in the larger narrative of salvation and God’s eternal kingdom. Unpack the causes behind the prophecy, including the sovereignty of God and the sins of Israel, and explore the future implications, through a captivating analysis that is bound to enhance your understanding of biblical prophecy.
Who will proclaim the year of acceptance of the Lord? It will be the servant of the Lord, the one who said, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. Jesus quoted that about himself. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the only one who can make reconciliation for iniquity. Isaiah 53 says of that servant of the Lord, He shall grow up as a tender plant, as a root out of a dry ground. He has no form or comeliness that we should desire him. There’s no beauty there. but it says he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We’ve turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all, and all God’s people sinned.
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Thank you.
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You’re in touch with Hope for Today with Bible teacher and author David Hawking. And on today’s broadcast, we step into one of the most explosive prophecies in all of Scripture. Daniel chapter 9, verses 24 through 26, the 70 weeks. You know, this isn’t guesswork. It’s a divine timetable given centuries in advance, laying out the arrival of the Messiah, his rejection, and the events that shake the world to its core. It’s precise, historical, and prophetic. You want proof that God is in control? There’s no better example than this passage. Well, stay right where you are. Day one of the 70 weeks begins in just a moment. And just before we kick off our study time, here’s David with a quick word on the ministry of Hope for Today.
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At the end of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said, Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Well, This is David Hawking speaking for all of us here at Hope for Today. That command is the center of what our radio programs aim to do. It’s the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible all around the world. You can join us in that mission. Pray for us. Pray about how you can help us. Like through your financial donations, you can actually contribute online at our website, davidhawking.org. Thank you.
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And if you’d like to co-labor with this ministry through a donation right now, call us at 1-800-75-BIBLE in the U.S. or 1-888-75-BIBLE in Canada. Bible is 24253. Or go online at DavidHawking.org. DavidHawking.org. All right, here’s David with today’s lesson.
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Will you take your Bibles, please, and turn to Daniel chapter 9, beginning at verse 24, on the 70 weeks of Daniel. Daniel chapter 9, beginning at verse 24. Seventy 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. 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. 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 the flood. Until the end of the war, desolations are determined. 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 abomination shall be one who makes desolate. Even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate. This prophecy has been a point of very serious controversy in the Church of Jesus Christ. I wish it weren’t so, but it is. And there are all kinds of interpretations of this prophecy. It’s a very important prophecy because it carries us all the way into the future of our day now. Things that are going to happen yet in our history. It’s a tremendously important prophecy because our Lord Jesus Christ quotes it. in the Olivet Discourse and says, when you see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, then flee to the wilderness. He’s referring to this passage, Daniel chapter 9, verses 24 to 27. As we look at the 70-week prophecy, we’re going to begin by examining the cause behind this prophecy. And the cause is really threefold, and we’ll study it in a little more detail, but I’ll mention it to start with. The cause behind the prophecy is, number one, the sovereignty of God, which really could be the theme of Daniel. Notice the opening phrase, 70 weeks are what? What does it say? They’re determined. You’re not going to change this. This is settled in the counsels of God. Seventy weeks are determined. So the cause behind the prophecy is the sovereignty of God. Number two is the sins of God’s people. It says, “…for your people and for your holy city.” This is a prophecy that applies to the nation of Israel. And so many people make a mistake right here. They think it refers to Gentiles. It does not. that it somehow refers to something other than what it says. No, it says your people and your holy city, clearly the nation of Israel. The sins of God’s people are one of the causes behind this prophecy. And there are three statements dealing with the sins of God’s people. One, to finish the transgression. Two, to make an end of sins. And three, to make reconciliation for iniquity. The third cause behind the prophecy is the setting up of God’s kingdom. And it involves three things. One, to bring in everlasting righteousness. Two, to seal up vision and prophecy. And three, to anoint the most holy. Now let’s back up and take a look at this again. The cause behind the prophecy is first the sovereignty of God. Seventy weeks are determined. Nobody’s going to change that. But then he moves quickly to the sins of God’s people and mentions three things. Let’s take them one at a time. First, these 70 weeks, which map out all of prophetic history… The root word means to rebel. The definite article in Hebrew in front of it is referring to a particular rebellion, the apostasy of Israel. What the text is saying is that within 70 weeks, whatever the weeks represent, we believe they represent years, not days, weeks, or months. Seventy sets of seven, literally, seventy sevens are determined. The context must decide whether it’s days, weeks, months, or years. Seventy-sevens, if they are years, is talking about 490 years. And according to the passage, the sins of God’s people, the people of Israel, their holy city, Jerusalem, in this period of time, we assume 490 years, which we’ll show you in a moment, they are to finish the rebellion. I expect, according to this passage, that there will be an end to the national apostasy of Israel within the confines and context of this prophecy. It’s going to happen within the 70 weeks the rebellion, the apostasy of Israel will be over. Turn please in your Bibles to Zechariah chapter 12. And verse 10, and it will take the intervention of the Holy Spirit of God, just like it does in our life. No Gentile comes to Christ without the work of the Holy Spirit. And no Jew comes to Christ without the work of the Holy Spirit. Zechariah 12.10 says, and I will pour on the house of David and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. That means they’ve got to come back to that land. And they’ve got to dwell in Jerusalem as their city. And that really didn’t happen until 1967. I’ll pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication. Then they will look on me whom they have pierced. They will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn. And that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem. We’re talking about a national repentance. like the mourning at Hadad Ramon in the plain of Megiddo. And the land shall mourn every family by itself, the family of the house of David by itself, their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves, the family of Shammai by itself, and their wives by themselves, all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves, in that day.” A fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. Will you turn, please, to Romans chapter 11 in the New Testament? The cause behind the prophecy is the sins of God’s people. And it says that during the 70 weeks, they’re going to finish the transgression. The rebellion will come to an end. Romans 11 speaks about it. The whole text begins in verse 1. I say then, has God cast away his people? Certainly not. And he goes on to discuss the wonderful plan of God. Verse 5 says, at the present time, there’s a remnant, according to the election of grace. And the Bible goes on to discuss the fall of Israel. Verse 11, I say then have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not. But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure, this transgression, this rebellion, riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness? God speaks about Israel being dealt with again. Look, please, down at verse 25. For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that hardening in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. What is the fullness of the Gentiles? That is talking about the salvation of Gentiles. When did God begin His program of saving Gentiles, just bringing them in like crazy? The answer, it began on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. God said in the Old Testament prophets that He would pour out His Spirit on all the nations of the world. That started on the day of Pentecost. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not dealing with spiritual gifts, as some people say. It is dealing with the salvation of the Gentile world. God has been saving Gentiles out of every nation, tribe, tongue, and people since the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 until the present day. This will continue, in fact, intensify in the tribulation period, which is all a part of the 70-week prophecy. and will come to an end at the end of the tribulation, as all the Gentiles that God has ever intended to be saved will be saved in that period of time. The fullness of the Gentiles, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon them, will be completed. When that is over, the blindness and the hardening of Israel, because of their rebellion and their apostasy, will be removed. Look at verse 26. And so all Israel, as a nation, will be saved. As it is written, the Deliverer, the Messiah himself, will come out of Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” You see, when Daniel prophesied in chapter 9, verse 24, to finish the rebellion, Israel’s apostasy will not last forever. And at the end of the tribulation period, which is the end of the 490 years, as we shall soon see, at the end of the tribulation, which is still future from our day, we are going to see the apostasy and rebellion of the state of Israel over. And as a nation, they’re going to turn to the Messiah and put their faith in Him. Why are they going to do that? The Holy Spirit will be poured out, as he has been now for almost 2,000 years, upon the Gentiles. He’ll be poured out on the house of David and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and they’ll look on him whom they have pierced. What a wonderful day that’s going to be. Israel, as a nation, is going to turn to their Messiah in mass at the end of the tribulation period, and the transgression and the rebellion will be over. Back to Daniel 9. The second fact about the sins of God’s people is he says he’ll make an end of sins. An end of sins. Now, some people say, well, that’s referring to taking them away. We just read in Romans 11 that his covenant is to take away their sins. But there is another thought that is probably more true to the grammatical expression here, and that is that he’s going to make an end of it by judging Israel. And those who will not repent of their rebellion, he will judge. Turn to Ezekiel chapter 20. In Ezekiel’s prophecy… chapter 20, beginning of verse 33, we learn about how God’s going to make an end of sins. By the way, it says sins plural, not sin singular. In the first phrase, finish the transgression, we’re talking about the particular rebellion of Israel. But in the second one, we’re talking about the pileup of all their sins during this period of time. God’s going to make an end of it. And that normally means He’s going to judge them. Well, the Bible does speak of this. Ezekiel chapter 20, verse 33. It says, “…as I live, says the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you. I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead my case with you face to face.” Just as I pleaded my case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I’ll plead my case with you, says the Lord God. What happened to all the people in the wilderness, wilderness wandering, all the fathers? What happened to them all? They all died. None of them entered the promised land except Joshua and Caleb. And God says, I’m going to do the same thing with you. Verse 37, I will make you pass under the rod. That’s a rod of judgment. And I’ll bring you into the bond of the covenant. I will purge the rebels from among you and those who transgress against me. I’ll bring them out of the country where they sojourn, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord. During this 490 years, God is going to finish the rebellion. It’s going to end. But God is also going to make an end of sins. He’s going to punish them. They will not get away. If they don’t turn to the Lord, God is going to judge them. Now come back to Daniel chapter 9. There’s a third statement about the sins of God’s people, which is the cause behind the prophecy. Not only to finish the transgression and make an end of sins, but to make reconciliation for iniquity. The word reconciliation is atonement. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 19 says that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. How is reconciliation going to be made for the iniquity of the children of Israel? And God’s answer has always been to send a Redeemer. Turn to Isaiah, please, chapter 59. The Redeemer is named here as Messiah the Prince in the Daniel 9 passage. How is God going to make reconciliation for all the iniquity of the nation of Israel and their rebellion against God? Isaiah chapter 59, verse 20. The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob, says the Lord. The Redeemer is going to come. Look at chapter 61, please. Isaiah 61. The Messiah is talking, the servant of the Lord, and says, “…the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God.” Now, it’s interesting that Jesus quoted this about himself when he was at the synagogue in Nazareth. but he did not quote the whole passage. He ended his quotation in verse 2, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and turned to the audience and said, this day, this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. He did not say the day of vengeance of our God, because that will come in the tribulation period. But the answer to who will bring the gospel, who will redeem the people, heal the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty, open the prison of those who are bound, who will proclaim the year of acceptance of the Lord? It will be the servant of the Lord, the one who said, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me. Jesus quoted that about himself. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the only one who can make reconciliation for iniquity. Isaiah 53 says of that servant of the Lord, he shall grow up as a tender plant, as a root out of a dry ground. He has no form or comeliness that we should desire him. There’s no beauty there. But it says he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. And the chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes, we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We’ve turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. And all God’s people said, isn’t it wonderful? What a savior.
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What a Savior. What a Savior. Indeed, there’s no one, no one like Jesus. Amen. Well, David, we’ll be back in just a moment or two with some closing comments, some additional teaching. So do stay with us. First, though, Matt Hawking is here. And, you know, if you’re enjoying our current Daniel radio series, you’re really going to like this resource tool.
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I enjoy a good story about real life faith that’s tested and stands firm to the glory of God. And Daniel is just such a book. Not only does it convey a dynamic testimony, it also gives prophetic insight to history and the future.
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It does indeed. And Matt, it makes the case that God is at work. keeps his word, and he will preserve and protect his saints all the way to the wonders of eternity with him.
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Well, our featured resource for April is the complete set of 17 messages in our Daniel radio series, covering several weeks on the radio for just $30 on MP3 and $50 on audio CDs.
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We also want to mention your dad’s book on Daniel, Daniel, Prophecies of the Last Days. Daniel spent a rather tense night in the lion’s den, didn’t he? And the book of Daniel has been in the critics’ den ever since. But in defiance of the critics’ doubts, this book of the Bible is so clearly predictive and accurate in its prophecies.
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Well, time and again, many of Daniel’s prophetic visions have been fulfilled in stunning and complete detail. Absolutely. This gives us confidence for his God-given vision still to be fulfilled, perhaps in our lifetime. Yeah.
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Well, get your copy of Daniel Prophecies of the Last Days by David Hawking from Hope for Today.
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And the cost is just $20. You know, this book will build your joy and faith. It will. And your purchase will help us continue the radio and online ministry of Hope for Today.
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Well, just before David returns to close out today’s study, we want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who stands with us through prayer and giving. Your support is what keeps this broadcast on the air and online, reaching people across the world with the uncompromised truth of God’s Word. In fact, this program reaches many places where people don’t have a means of hearing the Word except through radio or online. If you’ve been encouraged by Hope for Today, would you consider sending a gift to help us continue this work? The need is very pressing right now, and your gift here on the last day of April will help us finish the month with all bills paid. We need the help. To donate, call 875-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada, or visit our website, davidhawking.org. And now, friend, if you’re in a place in your life where you feel like the walls, like they’re closing in around you, and we’ve all been there, let us pray for you. The ministry team here at Hope for Today counts it a privilege to lift up the needs of our listening family to the Lord. You can share your prayer need in writing, if you prefer, by sending a note to Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, and Tustin is spelled T-U-S-T-I-N, California, 92781. Or in Canada, at Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO7Oaks.com. Abbotsford, B.C., V2S 8P1. And thank you for praying for us as well. And you can also share a prayer need by phone if you like, 875-BIBLE in the U.S. And if you live in Canada, call us at 888-75-BIBLE for prayer. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’re here for you. Well, once again, here’s David.
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Well, thanks for listening. I hope you’re enjoying our prophecy of 70 weeks, Daniel 9. Now, the cause behind this prophecy, I think, is clearly presented in verse 24. Certainly the sovereignty of God, because it says 70 weeks are determined. But another cause would be the sins of God’s people. To finish the transgression and bring an end to the apostasy in Israel, It will happen by the end of the 70 weeks. It also says to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity. That would require atonement. So what we have here is the setting up of God’s kingdom. And there are three things involved. One, to bring in everlasting righteousness. Two, to seal up vision and prophecy. And three, to anoint the most holy. Probably anointing of the holy of holies. But this is just a wonderful prophecy, and I know you’re enjoying it, and so you’ll want to be with us for our next broadcast. And don’t forget your commentary on Daniel. A lot of good stuff in there about the 70 weeks. Okay, God bless you. We’ll see you next time.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, thank you, David. And friend, if you haven’t yet had the chance to pick up your copy of David’s commentary on the book of Daniel, well, we got a copy waiting for you. Call 875-BIBLE, make the purchase, and we’ll send it out to you soon as possible. And why not order a copy for your prophecy-loving friend as well? Again, the number 800-75-242-53. And if you live in Canada, call 888-75-BIBLE, 888-75-242-53. And if you missed any part of today’s program or you maybe just want to listen again, well, head over to davidhawking.org. Well, next time on the broadcast, the clock, it’s still ticking. The 70 Weeks Prophecy marches forward. A Messiah cut off, a people scattered, a future that’s already been written. You won’t believe what Daniel saw and what it means for our world right now. Don’t miss day two of The 70 Weeks. We’ll see you then right here on Hope for Today.
This episode of Hope for Today takes listeners on an enlightening journey through Daniel’s prophecy of the 70 weeks. Bible teacher David Hawking dissects this prophecy, revealing its significance in the larger narrative of salvation and God’s eternal kingdom. Unpack the causes behind the prophecy, including the sovereignty of God and the sins of Israel, and explore the future implications, through a captivating analysis that is bound to enhance your understanding of biblical prophecy.
