Now, this question is going to become very important. Jesus: imposter or Messiah?
It's a very important question, because this Jesus lays claims to some astounding things.
He says, for example, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." How many come to the Father?
"No one comes to the Father except by Me." That's what He says. And today this Jesus
is being marginalized, and the critics—and especially what they call the "new Reformation
movement"—is disseminating the Bible and ripping the heart out of the Messianic side
of the Bible. Jesus must, if we want to have world unity of religions, become one on a
level with all the others.
Isn't that right? He cannot stand out above anyone else; He has to come down to the level
of all the others. But if this Jesus Christ is the Messiah of God, and is God, well then,
we're going to come up to an impasse. So let's have a look what the Bible says, because I
don't want to influence you. Jesus: imposter or Messiah?
Jesus says in John 6:38, "For I came down from heaven." Well, that's not everyone who
can say that, right? That's not something usual; I can't say that. So, either this is
presumption, or it is truth.
"Evidence that Demands a Verdict," a book by Josh McDowell. He says, "Some skeptics
have suggested that these prophecies"—the prophecies about Jesus and the Messianic prophecies—"were
accidentally or coincidentally fulfilled by Jesus. According to the science of probability,
the chance of any one human being up until the present fulfilling a selection of just
eight of these prophecies, including the one on the crucifixion, is 1 in 10 to the power
of 17...And here we are considering only 8 prophecies. What if we were to consider 48
prophecies? The chance would then become virtually zero: 10 to the power of 157." And you must
remember that the number of particles as defined by science in the entire universe is only
10 to the power of 18. So this is the number of particles in billions upon billions "ad
infinitum" universes. Wow.
"What about all 61 prophecies?" I believe there are even more prophecies, and every
single one of them is fulfilled by Jesus Christ.
Numbers 24:17 says, "There shall come a star out of Jacob." He would be preceded by a messenger.
I'm just going to run through a few of them, I'm not going to make a big deal about them.
I'm just going to come to a specific prophecy tonight. So we'll briefly run through some
of these ancient prophecies.
Isaiah 40:3: "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the
Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God."
So the Bible predicts that He will be preceded—the Messiah—by a messenger. "In those days came
John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea saying, Repent, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:1-3). So he was preaching this very message predicted
by the Messiah. In John 8:36 it says, "If the son therefore shall make you free, you
shall be free indeed."
It's a very important prophecy. So according to this statement by Jesus, freedom comes
through Christ and through no one else, because He says, "no one comes to the Father except
by Me." The Jews answered, "we are Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man:
How sayest thou, ye shall be made free?" He was talking of freedom from bondage, freedom
from sin.
"My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). I mean, these are astounding claims.
The miraculous birth: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call his
name Immanuel." God with us—not just anyone, God with us—but you'll say He wasn't called
Immanuel, He was called Jesus. Well, you see, in ancient times the name referred to something.
It had a meaning; it wasn't just an objective name. It had a meaning. So Immanuel means
"God with us." Joshua—which is translated in the Greek as Jesus—means Yahweh the Saviour,
God the Saviour. And Jesus laid claim to being God; therefore, He is not on a par with anyone,
in any religious system. That's Isaiah 7:14.
And, "the angel said to her...you will be with child and give birth to a son, and you
are to give him the name Jesus," which is exactly the same as Immanuel. Yahweh the Saviour
is here—in other words, God with us (Luke 1:28-31). Then, the Old Testament says, "Bethlehem"—Beth-lehem—"out
of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel" (Micah 5:2).
And this particular Bethlehem, Bethlehem—Bethlehem Ephrata, which means the bread basket—the
bread of life would come down and be born in Bethlehem. And of course, we know that
was also fulfilled. Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the time of Herod. And He was
given the name Joshua, Yahweh the Saviour.
Jesus said, "the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek," but this is an
Old Testament prophecy as well, "bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord...to comfort all that mourn" (Isaiah 61:1-2). So that's a prophecy that's
fulfilled.
Luke 4:18 and 19 tell us that that is exactly what Jesus claimed for Himself. Isaiah proclaims
that the Messiah would work through miracles. "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, the
tongue of the dumb shall sing..." And the New Testament—Matthew tells us, Luke tells
us—"He went about healing all manner of diseases."
"... to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of
praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isaiah 61:3).
In the Psalms we read that the Messiah would open His mouth in parables, "I will open my
mouth in parables." "All these things Jesus spoke in parables." The Bible predicts the
triumphant entry.
And we have it there in Zechariah: "thy king cometh to thee and he is just, having salvation;
lowly and riding on an ass..." All these things are predictions in the Old Testament. "My
close friend whom I trusted and shared my bread with has lifted up his heal against
me that he would be betrayed" is fulfilled, and we read it in Matthew that Judas Iscariot
did precisely that.
What about this one: Zechariah 11:12-13: "So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of
silver." Even the price that was paid for this deception is listed in the Old Testament.
And they "took thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the
Lord." And that's exactly what they did. They bought the potter's field because they wouldn't
take the money, which was death money. Judas went to the chief priest and he said to them,
"what will you give me and I will give Him unto you," and they gave him 30 pieces of
silver. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed.
And what did they do? They bought the potter's field. Every single little detail. "I offered
my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard." The sufferings
that Jesus went through—unbelievable. "I did not hide my face from the mocking and
spitting." He was tried seven times, seven times. Once by Annas, and He was struck in
the face right there. Caiphas, and Annas, the night trial, the morning trial, then the
trials with the Roman officials, then He was sent to Herod, back to Pilate. Seven times
He was tried.
"I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting" (Isaiah 50:6). "They spit in my face." They
buffeted Him, smote Him with palms. The Bible said they hit Him over the head again, and
again, and again. "They hate me without cause" (Psalm 69). Then He would be rejected, predicted
in the Bible. "They hated me without cause" (John). "He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
he opened not his mouth, he was brought like a lamb to the slaughter." Everything there
in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is a testimony to Jesus Christ.
"And when he was accused of the chief priests and the elders, he answered nothing," just
like a lamb to the slaughter (Matthew 27:12).
And they wagged their heads—they shook their heads and said, "Look at this guy, where does
he come from?" "He was numbered with the transgressors." "They gave him vinegar to drink" (Psalm 69:21,
Matthew 27:34). "Crucified with thieves," you know that that was the case (Mark 15).
Zechariah, "they will look on me the one they have pierced." Even the way of the crucifixion.
"...and he bare the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12)—beautiful
prophecies in the Old Testament about Jesus.
Luke 23:34: "Father forgive them; for they know not what they do." Every single aspect
about the Messiah was predicted, and is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. "They divided my garments
amongst them, and for my clothing they cast lots"
People say, "why did He say, 'My God my God why did thou forsake me?'" Because it was
predicted in Psalm 22:1: Jesus died the death of total separation for you and for me. "They
pierced my hands and my feet," (Psalm 22:16). Even down to the detail, the predictions are
there. Psalm 31:5—the last words that He would speak—"into thy hand I commit my spirit."
Father, into thine hand I commit my spirit. Everything, there in the Old Testament.
"He keeps all of his bones, not one of them is broken" (Psalm 34:20). That was already
a typology with the lamb, with the Passover lamb. It was to be eaten, but not a bone was
to be broken. Why? Because the Messiah's bones would not be broken. It was the Preparation,
and the Jews were afraid that they would come down and run away. And they didn't want to
have to chase them on the Sabbath day because they had hoards and hoards of rules written
in their Talmud. So they gave the order that they should break the legs. That's what the
New Testament says. But when they came to Jesus, He was already dead so they did not
break His legs, fulfilling the prophecy (John 19:32-33).
And they pierced His side. So the place of His birth is predicted. The manner of His
birth is predicted. His betrayal is predicted, and the manner of His death is predicted in
great detail. We've just flown over them, we haven't even gone into the detail. The
nuances, the finer details—absolutely astounding.
Here's a beautiful statement: "Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated
as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be
justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death, which
was ours, that we might receive the life, which was His. 'With his stripes, we are healed.'"
Beautiful statement.
"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life." Isaiah 53 again says, "His grave would be
with the wicked"—very interesting—"and with the rich in his death." So he died with
the wicked and a rich man gave Him the grave, and Matthew 27:57, 60 confirms that very statement.
So the manner of His death, the way He was buried—everything there in the Old Testament.
Some of the critics said, "well hang on a second, maybe He wasn't a historic figure
at all. Maybe the New Testament writers just wrote all that stuff down to make it look
as if Jesus fulfilled the prophecies."
Now, I hope you realize that the scribes and the Pharisees never understood the prophecies.
Because otherwise they would have accepted the Messiah, right? So here we have a story
that all these things were changed, and they said that individuals involved, like Pilate,
weren't historic figures. Well, I have news for them, because here was a plaque that was
found. It is on display at a museum in Israel, where the very names Tiberius and Pontius
Pilatus are there—historic figures.
Let's have a look at some of the historians. Tacitus, the Roman historian who lived AD
115, speaks about Nero's persecution of the Christians of the year AD 46. Then, he says,
"Christus, from whom their name is derived, was executed at the hands of the procurator
Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius."
So there's an extra-Biblical source, which says when these things happened. Then you
have Suetonius the Roman Historian writing about AD 120. And he says, "Since the Jews
were continually making disturbances"—remember that the Christians were counted as a Jewish
sect, and so they were called Jews—"disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he (Claudius)
expelled them from Rome."
And the Talmud, which is the Jewish traditions, said, "on the eve of the Passover they hanged
Jeshu of Nazareth."
So there are sources outside the Scriptures, which confirm the very issue. Jesus Christ
was always central; the Messiah was always central to the religion of Israel. If you
look at the sanctuary that had to be built, every single item, every single practice that
occurred within this sanctuary is a reference to Christ. The most beautiful story of the
plan of salvation is enacted here in the sacrifice of the lamb, which stood for the Lamb that
would take away sins of the world. If you go on into this sanctuary there was the laver
of washing, where you are washed by the consequences of your action, of confessing your sins.
Jesus Christ the Light of the world, Jesus Christ the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ the
Intercessor, Jesus Christ the Mercy—everything is there. It's a beautiful story. We haven't
got time to go into it.
Even in the typology of the high priest, the high priest stood for Jesus Christ. It was
a type because Paul says, "we have such a high priest." Jesus Christ was the one who
entered into the majesty of heaven. Hebrews 8:1-2: "We have such an high priest, who is
set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the
sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man"—very interesting
stuff.
"For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of
the true." So that was the figure of the real thing, this was just a type, "now to appear
in the presence of God for us." He has entered into heaven itself (Hebrews 9:24).
The whole Old Testament was a typology of the very acts of Jesus. So now we are faced
with a problem: the world is going to expect very soon that everybody acknowledges equality
of all. But the Bible says there's only 1 way to salvation, and that is through Jesus
Christ, and that Jesus was not 1 of many prophets in this world, but that He was the predicted
Messiah, the God-Man, the One who would come down from heaven to pay the price for sin
for your and my salvation. And we have to know where we stand.
Well, there's a fantastic prophecy in Daniel, which has put this issue beyond a shadow of
doubt—so much so that it is a nightmare for those who want to reject Jesus Christ
as the Messiah. In Daniel chapter 8, we have also a flow through history like we did in
Daniel chapter 2 now—where we did the head and the arms of silver, and the bronze, and
the iron—but here the whole issue is repeated in terms of animals. And you have here a particular
goat with 2 horns, 1 larger than the other. And the Bible tells us who it is. We don't
have to guess. It's a reference to the Medes and the Persians. And it tells us that while
these horns were there, another goat came along with a prominent horn between his eyes,
and again we don't have to guess. In Daniel chapter 8 it tells us who the horn is. A horn
is a king or a kingdom. It says the prominent horn between its eyes is the first king of
Greece.
So who is it? Alexander the Great. We don't have to guess, the Bible tells us exactly
what these symbols stand for. And it says he approached, and he attacked the 2-horned
one and broke off the horns. Medo-Persia was conquered. So then he comes flying, crashes
into the other one, breaks off his horn, and Daniel 8:8 says, "Therefore the goat waxed
very great, and when he was strong the great horn was broken." So Alexander the Great would
come to his end. And in his place four notable ones would come up towards the winds of heaven.
And we know that Greece was divided into four regions. Interesting there were 12 generals
fighting over it, but after those battles there were just four regions.
"And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, towards
the south, and towards the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even
to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground,
and stamped on it. Yea, it magnified himself even to the prince of hosts, and by him the
daily..."—sacrifices there written cursively, so it wasn't in the original text. That's
what it means in the King James Version when they write it cursively. It means it's not
in the original. So, "...by him the daily was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary
was cast down." Now this whole sanctuary stood for the Messiah. And Rome came along and crucified
the Messiah.
"Then I heard one saint"—now he's in vision and he's hearing an angel speak to another
one—"speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall
be the vision concerning the daily"...sacrifice added by the way. The daily, which is the
"tameed." The "tameed" is the continual. That was that fire that was burning. When they
looked at it the fire meant that it was the sacrifice was always available, the atonement
of Christ. We can come to that in a later lecture..."And the transgression of desolation,
to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot. And he said unto me"—and
now we have a time prophecy—"unto two thousand and three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary
be cleansed" (Daniel 8:13-14).
We have a time prophecy. Now, we're not going to deal with this prophecy tonight, this 2300-day
prophecy. We'll deal with it in another evening, in detail. So I don't want to go into this
into detail, but he is discussing a particular time prophecy. And I want to look at a portion
of this time prophecy. Daniel 8:23-26: "And in the latter time of their kingdom...a king
of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up...he shall also
stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand." There you
have the "without hand" again—thunderous prophecy. We're going to deal with it, and
we're going to see who's going to be in control just before Christ comes. "And the vision
of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut up the vision; and
it shall be for many days," for the future.
"He said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be
cleansed." So here is a vision that Daniel is given and he doesn't understand it, doesn't
understand it at all, and he's told, "Don't worry. You don't have to understand it. It
concerns the distant future and it will be unsealed at a later stage but not now." And
we're not going to deal with this in this lecture. In another lecture, we'll come to
it.
So he's thinking about this vision. And he doesn't understand it, so here he's standing.
Daniel 8:17: "So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and I fell
on my face"—so he was in vision and he sees this heavenly being, falls on his face—"Understand,
thou son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision." So the vision concerns
the future; it concerns the time of the end. And it has so many aspects to it that bother
Daniel. And then in Daniel chapter 9 from verse 20 onwards we have an explanation of
part of the vision. So, "while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel"—this is now
the angel Gabriel—"came to me in swift flight, and he said to me, O Daniel, I have now come
out to give you wisdom and understanding." So now he's going to explain something to
him, and we want to know what it's about. And here we go. Fasten your seatbelts.
"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city..." How many days in
a week? Seven. So 70 weeks would be 70 times 7. We'll come to that: days. So, "Seventy
weeks are determined upon thy people"—that's the Jews—"and upon thy holy city"—which
one is that? Jerusalem—"to finish transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation
for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and the prophecy, and
to anoint the most Holy" (Daniel 9:24).
Thunderous vision, thunderous prophecy. So 70 weeks are determined—cut off for this
particular time period—and all these things must be accomplished. End of sins, reconciliation
for iniquity, bring in everlasting righteousness—now who did all that? Who brings in everlasting
righteousness? Who can make an end to sin? Only Jesus.
This is a Messianic prophecy. Now let me tell you, the Jews are very upset about this prophecy.
Listen to this, this is the Rabbinic Curse, and you will find it in Talmudic Law (page
978, section 2, line 28). Let me read it to you.
"May the bones of the hands and the bones of the fingers decay and decompose of him
who turns the pages of the book of Daniel, to find out the time of Daniel 9:24-27. And
may his memory rot from off the face of the earth forever." Wow, these guys mean business.
Would you agree? So now I have to ask you something, or what do the Americans say? Ask
you something? Are you willing to go on in spite of that curse? Because if you are going
to number with me Daniel 9:24--27, then this curse should theoretically stick to us. But
let me tell you something, I serve someone greater than this curse. I have no fear of
this curse. And I know why they've got this curse, because if this curse were not there
somebody might number that prophecy and find out whom they really should serve. Let's see.
Cut off. Determined. Separated from. Seventy weeks cut off from the bigger prophecy for
the Jews.
Now let's take a look at it. In prophecy, a day counts for a year. A week counts therefore
for 7 days. So a day for the year—the day-year principle—means that it counts for 7 years.
Now can I say that just by myself? Nope, that would be arrogance, so let's get some Biblical
support. Ezekiel 4:6: "I have appointed thee each day for a year," talking about a prophetic
sense. Or Numbers 14:34: "After the number of days in which you searched the land, even
forty days, each day for a year." So now, the proof of the pudding is always in the
eating, so let's apply the day-year principle, and number the 70 weeks and see where we get.
Seventy weeks are appointed on your people. Seventy weeks—well, a week has 7 days. So
how many days is that? That's 490 days, and that is therefore 490 prophetic years, which
are cut off.
Cut off from what? Obviously, the 2300-day prophecy, which he was talking about. So that
would bring us to 2300 years—490 years cut off for the Jews. That's what it means. All
right, let's have a look a little further. Then the sanctuary would be cleansed at the
end of that period. Now I'm going to deal with only this part of the prophecy, only
this 70 week. In order to find out what this is about, we have to know when the prophecy
starts, right? So when do these 2300 years begin? From when do we start counting the
70 weeks, which the Rabbinic code says we're not allowed to study?
Well, Daniel 9:24 gives us the answer. There is a curse upon this verse. Interesting that
Rabbis should curse a part of Daniel. Does that puzzle you tonight? It would certainly
puzzle me if I were you, because it puzzled me like crazy. "Seventy weeks are determined
upon thy people."
"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore
and rebuild Jerusalem"—unto what?—"Unto the Messiah." So from the going forth of the
decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem—remember Daniel is in captivity, Jerusalem is destroyed,
and now is told 70 weeks. And you start counting when? From the time when the decree goes forth.
"From the going forth of (the decree) the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem
unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and three score and two weeks." And,
"the streets shall be built again, and the wall, even in troubles times" (9:25). Wow.
He just received a Messianic prophecy, telling Daniel precisely when the Messiah would come.
Did you know that's in the Bible? Did you know that? Well let's work it out.
7 weeks. 49 days.
49 years. 62 weeks.
434 days. 434 years.
Where does that bring us? The decree to rebuild and to restore Jerusalem, and then there would
be 7 weeks—temple restored—and then Messiah the Prince. So what do we need? We need a
date over here, and we can work it out. Is that right? We need a date.
Artexerxes, king of Persia, issued the decree in the year 457 BC. This decree was total
political freedom again for the Jews. There was a Cyrus decree, previously, which pertained
only to the temple. But this decree—Artexerxes, 457 BC—pertains to the restoration of Jerusalem.
There we go. So we have a starting date.
So 457 plus 483, that's the 49. Plus the 434, brings us to the year AD 27. Now what happened
in AD 27—69 weeks, 483, 1 day for a year. "I have appointed you a day for a year"—remember?
Day for a year, and let's look at the decree. Ezra 7:12-13: "Artaxerxes, king of kings,
unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of God of heaven...I make a decree, that all
they of the people of Israel...which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem,
go with thee." That was the decree. "And I...Artexerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers
that are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest...shall require of you, it
be done speedily" (Ezra 7:21). And by the way, an archeological tablet has been found
confirming the date 457 BC. So it's beyond the shadow of doubt. There can be no argument
about the date. It's found, written in stone. Four-fifty-seven, 490 years: The total prophecy
is 2300 years. "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment
to rebuild unto the Messiah the Prince there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks."
Now, 7 plus 62 is how much? That's 69 weeks. The total prophecy concerns how many weeks?
Seventy, so there's another week to go. But the prophecy says that Messiah, which means
"Anointed One," will come after the 69 weeks, and that worked out to which year, do you
remember—27 AD. So the decree went out: 457, 69 times 7, 483 days. And total restoration,
that was only that particular decree, unto the Messiah. So 27 AD unto the Messiah. Now
how old was Jesus when He started His Messianic ministry? He was 30. Now why 27 AD? Here's
a problem. Thirty and 27 they don't add up. But go to any little encyclopedia, even a
children's encyclopedia, and you will see that our time has been shifted, and that the
whole period is really out by these 4 years. You don't count the 0 year, and that Jesus
was actually 30 in the year 27 AD. The word Messiah means "Anointed One," and when Jesus
was anointed, that happened at His baptism. "Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of
Tiberius Caesar," this is quoting the Scriptures, "when all the peoples were baptized, it came
to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying to heaven, praying, the heaven was
opened" (Luke 3:1,21).
Now that year of Tiberius was 27 AD. Now how many Messiahs can there be? Only 1. Only 1
that fulfills every single prophecy. The 15th year of Tiberius Caesar was 27 AD, and Jesus
was anointed with the Holy Spirit precisely on time. Now can you imagine now why the Rabbinical
Talmud said, "cursed be the one who numbers the 7 weeks," because Judaism would come to
an end. If they accepted what Daniel said, Judaism would come to an end.
"And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came
from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased." Now, listen
to what it says in Mark 1:15. Jesus was just anointed, the year was 27 AD. And He says,
"And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye and believe
the gospel" (Mark 1:15). Which time is fulfilled? John 1:29: "Behold the lamb of God, which
taketh away the sins of the world." The Anointed One, the Messiah, was He there? "God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power" (Acts 10:38). That took place
at His baptism. So the going forth of the Messiah who would take the sins of the world
upon Him was predicted precisely in the Bible. The date, Galatians 4:4 says, "when the fulness
of time was come, God sent forth his Son." Which fullness of time? There was a prophecy
that had to be fulfilled. And only Jesus fulfills it, nobody else. And I'm going to put it straight
out to you: nobody else, no Shiva, no Brahma, no Vishnu, no Buddha, no Muhammad, no nobody.
Jesus fulfilled it, no one else. So there is only 1 Biblical Messiah. And no one comes
to the Father except through Him.
Now, I was giving a lecture in Germany, and I said that, and somebody got up in the audience
and said to me, "but that's arrogance, how can you say that 'nobody comes to the Father
except through Jesus Christ.' That's arrogance, what about all the others?"
And I said, "yeah you're right. It sounds arrogant to say nobody does it except through
this 1 particular individual. But if somebody comes up to me and he says to me—and I'm
sitting there with my daughter—and he says to me, 'are you the father of that child?'
And I say, 'yup, I'm the father of that child.' And he says, 'hey, out of all the billions
of people on this planet, you say you're the father? That's arrogance.'" Well, you know
folks that might be arrogance, but it could also just be a fact. Right? Although my sister
does say that fatherhood is an opinion, and motherhood is a fact. So we could perhaps
argue the issue, but the fact of the matter—the point that I'm making—is if Jesus is the
Messiah, and if Jesus is Immanuel, and if Jesus is the Joshua, the Yahweh, the Saviour,
then no one else qualifies. Right or wrong?
And if He is the Creator, there's no one else, right? So can I accept the hodgepodge, or
must I make a choice? What if I'm told to bow down to someone else? Well, I have interesting
news. In my country, in South Africa, they're bringing out new laws and new curricula, and
these are going to be filtered throughout the whole world. The whole world is going
to get them.
And in our school systems we have something called Curriculum 2005. Which means that in
the future, our children must be trained in all religions, say all the prayers of all
the other religions, and acknowledge the deities of all the religions as well. I have a problem
with that.
So soon, I don't know, maybe there'll be this image and I'll have to say, well, I'm sorry,
I'm sorry I can't go along with that. When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth
His Son (Galatians 4:4). And what happens in the 70th week? Did you know there are people
that now—there are many prophetic ways that are out in the world—and some take this
70th week and they throw it into the future, somewhere way out there, and they say that
pertains to the Antichrist. Now hang on a second, the 70 weeks pertained to the Jews,
to end transgression, to bring in everlasting righteousness. All of it was messianic. All
of it was messianic. "After three score and two weeks shall Messiah be"—now what does
it say there?—"cut off, but not for himself." What does that mean? He will die, but not
for Himself, for whom? For us. Now it gets exciting, it gets thunderously exciting: "and
the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city..." Now we have chiasm. A
beautiful chiasm, talking about 2 forces at work: Messiah the Prince and another 1 that
comes and destroys the city. Now who is he?
It was Rome. Rome came and destroyed the city AD 70. So Messiah will "be cut off but not
for himself: and the people of the prince shall come and destroy the city and the sanctuary;
and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and the end of the war desolations are determined"
(Daniel 9:26).
Then, "he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week." This is now Messiah—the other
ruler, Messiah. That's how the chiasm works. So the Messiah will confirm a covenant with
many for 1 week. But now note this: in the middle of the week, He shall bring an end
to sacrifice and offering. Wow. How did the Messiah bring an end to the sacrificial system?
He became the sacrifice. He became the sacrifice. So now we have the 70th week. Now folks please
think about this: the 70th week pertains still to the Messiah. It cannot be thrown into the
future, because in the middle of that week—by the way, the middle of seven is how much?
And how long was Jesus active after his anointing? Three and a half years—in the middle of
that week He was cut off, but not for you and me. And He brought an end to the sacrificial
system because he became the Lamb of God to take away the sins of this world. Is that
right? So only He can fulfill this part of the prophecy. Therefore, can I throw it into
the future, or does it pertain to the time of Christ? It pertains to the time of Christ.
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
There is 1 prophetic week or 7 literal years left in the prophecy. What is a half of 7?
3 1/2 —3 1/2 from the fall of 27 AD leads us to the spring of 31 AD. So we have 27,
3 1/2 , and the sacrificial system of the Jews—which the temple stood for—comes
to an end. Shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself. It's phenomenal. This ancient
prophecy points to Jesus and to no one else, much to the disgust of many religious leaders
in the world today.
Seventieth week—31 AD—Jesus died, but there's still a 3.5 left: 70 weeks were determined
upon the Jews. What happened in 34 AD? Now let me tell you something. Jesus said to the
Jews, to these disciples, "go ye first to the lost children of"—what?— "Israel.:
"Go ye first to the lost children of Israel." He didn't reject Him even at His death. He
said, "go ye first to the lost children of Israel." And they worked amongst the Jews.
But then, in 34 AD something happened, something happened. They stoned Steven, they stoned
Steven and the Christians fled, and who persecuted them? Who was sent after them? Do you remember?
Paul. And Paul received a vision, and he was made the apostle to whom? The Gentiles. Peter
received a vision of a sheet coming down filled with unclean things, and he's sent to Cornelius
a Gentile, and he comes to Cornelius. He says, "God has shown me in vision that I must not
call any man unclean or impure."
"You know," he says to him, "it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with a Gentile, but
God has shown me in vision I can come to you." So AD 34 Steven is stoned, the commission
that the Gospel would be carried forth by the Jews comes to an end, and the Gentiles
take the message further. They preach the risen Christ. Isn't that interesting? And
any Jew that wants to be grafted into the vine can be grafted in, but he has to acknowledge
Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour, and therefore become a Christian, and if you be
in Christ then you become Abraham's seed. And that's how it works.
Christ was crucified exactly on time, according to the prophecy. Exactly as the prophecy foretold
it would happen. And in the middle of the week He was crucified, but still mercy lingered
until they totally rejected not only Christ, but His followers as well.
According to the prophecy of Daniel, God's covenant with the Jews would cease 34 AD,
and henceforth you have to be grafted into the vine. They preached and they were rejected.
Here at the Sheep's Gate, this is where they brought Him out, where they crucified the
Saviour. They wanted Him as their King of kings and they wanted Him to destroy the Romans,
but He came to destroy sin.
"Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms but they did not
know that I had healed them" (Hosea 11:3).
"I let them with cords of compassion, with the bands of love...And I bent down to them
and fed them."
"How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over O Israel?"
"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I wanted to gather you under my wings, like a mother
hen, her chicks, but you would not. Therefore your house is left to you desolate."
The time when they would be the carriers of the Gospel message would come to an end. As
He approached Jerusalem He saw the city and He wept. He wept. "If you, even you had known
on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes." Why? Because
of the hardness of their hearts.
"The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle
you and hem you in on every side. And they will dash you to the ground, and your children
within the walls," and, "they will not leave one stone upon another" (Luke 19).
Was it fulfilled? Yes, "look, your house is left to you desolate." So the Gospel is carried
by the Gentiles. By the way, what does desolate mean? Does it mean there's something left,
or there's no light? Nothing. Nothing at all, nothing at all.
In the midst of the week, Christ the Messiah would cause the sacrifice to cease. These
verses tell that the Messiah would die by crucifixion on the 14th day of the first Jewish
month in the year AD 31. And every single detail has been fulfilled by Jesus Christ.
Now note this, the Bible says in Mark 15:38, "and the veil of the temple was rent in twain
from the top to the bottom." Not from the bottom to the top. From the top to the bottom.
Who rent it? God, He tore it. Now when that veil tore, then the way to the Most Holy was
open, which meant any Jew could look into the Most Holy and live. Wow. Why? Because
the sacrificial system had come to an end. Now think about this: Jesus fulfills the sacrificial
system, yes or no? Because by one sacrifice He has forever made...? Perfect. One sacrifice.
What if I was to build a little temple and start sacrificing again? What would I be saying
if I did that? That Christ was not sacrificed and did not fulfill everything. So if they
want to build another temple, let them do it, but it is not from God. Are you with me
on this or not? So the veil of the temple was rent in twain from top to bottom.
"And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom" (Matthew
27:51). God saw to it that it is written down for us. So according to the prophecies of
Daniel, God's covenant with the Jews would cease AD 34—so, at the end of the 70 weeks.
And you cannot throw the 70th week into the future, because the sacrificial system was
ended by Jesus himself. So it fits back into the past.
AD 34, the stoning of Stephen, the Jewish leaders reject the Gospel and it goes to the
Gentiles.
Galatians 3:29: "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according
to the promise." So in other words, everyone who accepts Jesus Christ is Abraham's seed,
yes or no? Because Paul says the seed refers to the singular, which means it refers to
Jesus Christ and to nothing else.
"Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation. Peace
and mercy to all who follow this rule, even the Israel of God." Who's that? The ones who
accept Christ, that's who it is.
So I love the Jews, and I have many Jewish friends, and I really pray with all my heart
that they will accept the Gospel, and I hope there are many Jews here tonight. I'm not
hammering the Jews here tonight, I'm discussing the prophecy—a prophecy that points to Jesus.
"And he said unto them, unto 2300 days then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." There's
more to this prophecy, more to it. The cleansing of the sanctuary is a Jewish feast. And we'll
have to look at it, it was a day of judgment, so it refers to judgment day at the end of
time.
End of the world—the prophecy will end 2300 days later, and then will come eternity. We
all know that this earth was judged once before and destroyed by a Flood. And everybody that
wasn't in the ark drowned. And in the same way, "search the scriptures, for in them you
think you have eternal life: but they are they which testify of me" (John 5:39).
In Jesus we have life. In Jesus we are saved, in Jesus we can go through to the Kingdom:
in no one else. And I want to warn the people of this country and all the countries of the
world that this showdown is soon to take place.
Serve the Lord and nobody will be lost. Thank you for coming.