THE BOOK OF DANIEL
Part
3
Nebuchadnezzar
who though was born and raised in idolatry, recognized that Daniel had the
Presence of a greater Spirit residing in him—a Spirit that is Holy, beyond the
frailty of men.
Nebuchadnezzar
himself said:
Finally, Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream (He
is called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy
gods is in him).
Dan 4:8 NIV
The
Holy Spirit is “THE SPIRIT OF THE HOLY GOD.” Besides The Lord, there is no God
(see Deut 4:35). Nebuchadnezzar made an indefinite reference to Him.
Christ
is “the Great Stone” which will crush the kingdoms of this world (see chapters
2:34, 35, 44). He is “The Son of Man” Who is given dominion by “The Ancient Of
Days” in chapter 7 verses 13 and 14; and in chapter 9 verses 25 and 26, He is
the coming Messiah Who will be “cut off”.
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the
commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall
be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again,
and the wall, even in troublous times.
And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but
not for himself: 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.
Dan 9:25-26 KJV
“The
Anointed One”—Christ, was “cut off” [crucified] “having nothing” [no one defending
Him]. He was ‘cut off from the land of the living’ (Isa. 53:8). He died to take
away the ceremonial law, quite to abolish that law of commandments, and to
vacate the obligation of it. But the Jews would not be persuaded to quit it;
still they keep up with more zeal than ever; they would hear no talk of parting
with it; they stoned Stephen (the first Christian martyr) for saying that Jesus
would change the customs which Moses delivered them (Acts 6:14); so that there
was no way to abolish the Mosaic but by destroying the temple, and the holy
city, and the Levitical priesthood, and that whole nation which so incurably
doted on them.
Seventy
Weeks of years equals to 490 years. This was decreed upon Israel and upon the holy
city [Jerusalem], to finish and put an end to transgression, to seal up the full
measure of sin, to purge away and make reconciliation for sin, to bring in
everlasting Righteousness (permanent moral and spiritual rectitude in every
area and relation) to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Holy of
Holies.
Yet it pleased The Lord to bruise him; He hath put him to grief:
when Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see His Seed, He
shall prolong his days, and the Pleasure of The Lord shall prosper in his hand.
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied:
by his knowledge shall My Righteous Servant justify many; for He shall bear
their iniquities.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he
shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul
unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of
many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isa 53:10-12 KJV
The
life of “The Messiah” was an offering for sin [guilt offering] —He has risen from
the dead. First, He is “The Seed of God”—“The Seed of The Word” in John 1:1,
and “The Seed of Abraham” in Genesis, as we read. He [Christ The Anointed One] shall
also see His spiritual offspring.
After
the suffering of His soul, as He bore the sins of the world, He embraced “the
Light of Life and was satisfied, and He is “The Light Of Life” (Psa. 56:13) by
Whom The Father justified many—this is “the Will of God”—the Will of The Lord
prospers in His hand, and He has been anointed with “The Oil of Joy.”
Jesus
disclosed to His disciples that His time had come for everything written about
Him by the prophets to come true (see Luke 22:37).
“The
Anointed One”—“The Messiah” is “the Prince,” “the Ruler” in Daniel 9:25.
Subjects
and loyalists [people] of a ruler [prince] who will come will destroy the city
[Jerusalem] and the sanctuary (Dan.9:26). It is here foretold that the people of the
prince that shall come shall be the instruments of this destruction. This ruler
mentioned here is “the antichrist.” But, “the end will come like a flood”—a
deluge of destruction.
Jeremiah
29 is “a letter” to the exiles in Babylon. You should read the content of that
“letter.”
God
promised deliverance to His people out of captivity, and restoration to the
Land in Jeremiah 30 and 31.
By
the edict of Cyrus mentioned in Ezra 1:1, the people of Israel were restored to
their land. God appointed him to build a temple for Him in Jerusalem in Judah.
But,
this prophesied destruction of Jerusalem, and of the Jewish nation, in Daniel
9, will be in a ‘near-future’ perilous time.
Christ
made a reference to this prophecy by Daniel, in Matthew 24:15-16.
"So when you see standing in the holy place 'the
abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel — let
the reader understand— then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”
NIV
This
is well explained in Luke 21:20-24
"When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you
will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to
the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not
enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that
has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and
nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against
this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all
the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of
the Gentiles are fulfilled.
NIV
It
is a desolation determined, and it will be accomplished to the utmost.
Verse
27 of Daniel chapter 9 says:
He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the
middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a
wing [of the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation,
until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."
NIV
In
chapter 3, “The Son Of God” protected and delivered Daniel’s friends from the
fiery furnace. He was “the Fourth Man” in the fiery furnace. “The Rock Eternal”
kept them in perfect Peace. While the fury of Nebuchadnezzar’s fire burned, The
Lord quenched its power which was fashioned to destroy them. These “servants of
The Most High God” came out of the dreadful flames, unharmed, without a hair of
their heads singed; nor their robes scorched, and there was no smell of fire on
them (read vv. 19-27).
In
same chapter, we see that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon made an image of gold
that was six cubits (9 feet) broad, and they played six kinds of musical
instruments when the people were called upon to worship the image. The
Babylonians worshipped their pagan gods with “all kinds of music.”
Six
is the number connected with satan, the devil.
Belshazzar
and his lords praised the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood and stone
(5:4); six pagan gods.
The
image which Nebuchadnezzar built to be worshipped was sixty cubits (90 feet)
high v.3:1.
Number
60 is revealed to be the number that is connected with pride. It was the pride
in the heart of Nebuchadnezzar that caused him to build this image.
Number
66 is connected with “image” or “idol worship.” The image of gold in Babylon
had the height of sixty cubits, and the breadth was 6 cubits.
“…whose
height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits” (Dan 3:1KJV)
Notice
the two numbers: 60 and six are connected with the image which Nebuchadnezzar
erected to be worshipped.