A Life in Exile

There are a lot of prophets in the Bible. I’m sure most of us could easily name at least three or four. Today’s lesson from the Old Testament centers on the prophecy of one of the most interesting of those prophets—Daniel. If you grew up in church, you know the stories of his adventures as a young man in exile in Babylon. We like those stories, but his prophecies…well, they can be hard to grasp.

Thankfully, we have not only the Holy Spirit, but good Bible scholars, teachers, and preachers, who help us to sort through the second half of his book. We do really need to read the book of Daniel, because our Lord Jesus refers to his prophecy when talking about his second coming, and that’s why we’re looking at it today. I’m going to first show you the two passages in Daniel. The first is from the ninth chapter:

Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city—to bring the rebellion to an end, to put a stop to sin, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an Anointed One, the ruler, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat, but in difficult times. After those sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the coming ruler will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come with a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations are decreed. He will make a firm covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering. And the abomination of desolation will be on a wing of the temple until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.” (Daniel 9:24-27 CSB)

The second is from the very end of the book:

He said, “Go on your way, Daniel, for the words are secret and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand. From the time the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Happy is the one who waits for and reaches 1,335 days. But as for you, go on your way to the end; you will rest, and then you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance at the end of the days.” (Daniel 12:9-13, emphasis added)

Precision in God’s Word

Daniel is known for his numbers, parsed out in days and weeks. They are reminders that God’s plan is not a whimsical one, but a precise one. He knows the beginning from the end, through the prophets he clearly foretold when the Messiah would come. In these passages from Daniel, he’s showing his people that there is a day coming, and it will be a terrible day, when the Temple will be desecrated. Horrible things will happen on that holy site, and Jerusalem and the Temple will be destroyed.

The second passage today, which I highlighted, two things are made known by God. The wicked will not understand all this stuff. They won’t get the meaning, the dates, or the significance of the coming destruction of the Temple. Only those who have wisdom or insight will understand.

These two insights are important as we fast-forward to first-century Palestine. Jesus does not shy away from preparing his disciples for what is to come. Not only does he clearly tell them about what is about to happen to him in the immediate future, but he also wants to get on record about what is to come at a later date. He uses Daniel to show them that God is a God of clarity. He doesn’t hide his purposes, nor does he speak through false prophets. We need to be people of insight and understanding.

Watch out for false messiahs.

The twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew is crucial to our understanding of what we need to watch for. As the end nears, things are going to get really bad, and he tells us:

“Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. So when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place” (let the reader understand), “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.” (Matthew 24:11-16)

Old Testament prophecies often carried a now and later fulfillment, and the prophecy quoted by Daniel was like that. There would be the first desecration and destruction of the Temple, but then a later repeat of that would come with the arrival of the antichrist. For the followers of Jesus in 33 AD, some would live to see that horrible day in the year 70 AD. Jesus knew that with the trials, false messiahs would rise up, claiming to be the one who could save them from impending doom. Those who knew Christ must be wary of such men, as we must be today.

Let the reader understand.

In both passages, Mark and Matthew insert the cautionary phrase: Let the reader understand. You are that reader. All who read Scripture must be aware of what is to come. Those who are wicked, who do not fear God or follow Christ, can’t grasp the significance of the signs we see all around us today. We, the readers, know. God has made it clear.

Evil will increase. Persecution of Christians will increase. Many will fall away from the faith. False prophets will rise up and deceive many. Hearts will grow cold.

But “the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). May we be wise readers of the Word. Let it soak us, permeating our hearts and minds. May we apply it to every aspect of our lives, that we may live in the light of all that God has made known to us, standing firm in our faith till the end. For, our Messiah will return. He is coming soon.

Grace and Peace

If you missed the last Learning from the Past post, click HERE, or start the series from the BEGINNING.