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Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 1 * PART 3 * BOOK 43
II Thessalonians 1:1-2:4
Daniel 9:26b
"…and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary,…"
So let’s begin our study in verse 24. Daniel by inspiration is writing, and God tells Daniel to say-
Daniel 9:24a
"Seventy weeks (of years, or 490 years) are determined (or already established in God’s program) upon thy people…"
Now it’s interesting that when Israel is in the good graces of God, He refers to them as what? My people. But when they’re out of His good Grace, He calls them, "your people" whether He was speaking to Moses or Daniel. Now you want to realize that at the time God is speaking to Daniel, Israel is in captivity in Babylon which means they are out of the place of blessing in Jerusalem. Daniel 9:24
It’s interesting, and I’ve made these points before, and I’m going to keep repeating them, that whenever God deals with Israel with regards to prophetic statements, almost without exceptions, because somebody may find an exception, but almost without exception, God puts that prophetic statement in a time frame. Then the next predetermined period of time was from the day Joshua took over the leadership of Israel until King Saul made the first king of Israel, was 490 years.
Then from the time King Saul was commissioned as king of Israel until Nebuchadnezzar came in from Babylon and put the Israelites under servitude was another 490 years. God always deals with Israel in specific time frames. In between you have the Babylonian captivity in which Daniel is writing, and long before it happened, what did God tell Israel?"God had told them to let the land rest 1 out of 7 years. So you see everything that God does with Israel is in a prescribed time frame. Now with these empires there is no definitive time frame. In other words God didn’t say, "Babylon you’re going to rule 400 years. No God doesn’t do that, but rather all God is saying is, "one Gentile empire will be followed by another." But when He makes prophetic statements concerning Israel it’s always in a time frame. Because remember Daniel’s prophecy says –
Daniel 9:25-26a
At the crucifixion that would conclude 483 years of the 490 years that God had declared on the nation of Israel. Daniel 9:26a
Daniel 9:26b
I’m going to come back to the Old Testament timeline which comes up through all the Old Testament prophecies concerning Christ’s first coming, and it’s all to the Jew. Now the Old Testament format beginning in Psalms chapter 2 and all the Old Testament prophecies spoke of Christ’s first coming, He would be rejected, and then according to the prophecies the next thing that was to come after His ascending back to glory as we see in Psalms 110:
Psalms 110:1
"The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."
Now that was the call of Christ back to glory after His death, burial, and resurrection. Notice there’s not a word about the Church, not a word about this Age of Grace, but rather everything is based on prophecies made with Israel in this 490 year time frame that begin back in 454 BC. Alright then everything in prophecy was looking forward to His crucifixion, His ascension, and then would come then wrath and vexation, the out pouring of God’s judgment "the Day of the Lord." Psalms 2:6
You all know those verses, and this was the Old Testament format. Now when Peter was preaching on the day of Pentecost, he had no idea that God was going to postpone that 7 years, and bring in the Church Age with the apostle Paul. Remember Peter and the twelve were part and parcel with the nation of Israel. So Peter goes on in Acts chapter 2 and quotes Joel’s prophecy.
Acts 2:16
"When Israel is out of the place of blessing, like they were in that 70 years of captivity in Babylon, God’s time clock on the nation stopped. God doesn’t count those years that He has decreed on Israel when they are out of the land." Just as soon as God opened this timeline and sent Israel into a dispersion, permitted her temple to be destroyed in 70 AD, the priesthood dismantled, and He goes to the Gentiles, God’s time clock stopped. Just like with the Gentile empires back in Nebuchadnezzar’s day and following, God did not put them in a time frame so also with the Gentiles Church Age we are not in a time frame. So God’s clock does not tick when He’s dealing with Gentiles or when Israel is out of the place of blessing. Probably 90% of church members, even Bible studying church members do not know these verses are here. All of the Old Testament writers (Jesus in His earthly ministry, Peter on the Day of Pentecost) were all looking forward to this progressive timeline. After Christ was crucified, and ascended, in would come the wrath and vexation, then Christ would return, and yet set up His kingdom.


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