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WAIT FOR INTRO, MUSIC, AND VOICEOVER

VOICEOVER: Welcome to End Times Today with Author, Speaker, and Bible teacher: John Claeys. In today’s exciting episode we are going to explore the amazing prophecy of Daniel concerning the “seventy sevens.” 

Before we do, I’d like to remind you all that is available at End Times Today Dot Org. You can sign up for notifications concerning upcoming episodes, watch previous broadcasts, and even send in your own questions for John. 

In addition you can get a copy of John’s book Impending Apocalypse by going to End Times Today Dot Org. 

Before we dig into our Prophecy presentation today, let’s take a look at what’s happening in our the world right now. Here’s John Claeys

What in the World Is God Doing?

Broadcast 6

Senior Official: UAE Can Work with Israel, Despite Political Differences - Lisa Barrington (Reuters)
    The United Arab Emirates can work with Israel on some areas, including fighting the coronavirus and on technology, while still having political differences, minister of state for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash told the American Jewish Committee on Tuesday.
    He said communication with Israel was important and would yield better results than other routes taken in the past.

Middle East Nations Sidling Up to Israel:

Saudi Arabia

Egypt

Jordan

UAE

Bahrain

Oman

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/mar/19/why-israel-quietly-cosying-up-to-gulf-monarchies-saudi-arabia-uae, accessed 06/20/2021 

Evidence is mounting of increasingly close ties between Israel and five of the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). 

“The Obama administration was hated by Saudi Arabia and Israel because it shunned them both,” a senior Saudi explained. A veteran Israeli official made the same argument: “There was a sense that we were looking at an American ’s administration that wasn’t as committed to America’s traditional friends. We had to make common cause because there was a sense of being left to fend for ourselves. “Unwittingly, President Obama contributed very significantly to the buildup of relations between Israel and the UAE and the Saudis.” 

The Emiratis “believe in Israel’s role because of their perception of Israel’s close relationship with the US, but also due to their sense that they can count on Israel against Iran,” an Israeli diplomat noted in 2009, adding that in general Gulf Arabs “believe Israel can work magic”. 

Fear of Iran, above all, is what has brought Israel and the Gulf states together.

One former UAE diplomat told me that the threat from Iran today had a unifying effect .

Israeli trade with the Gulf states is currently estimated to be worth $1bn a year, though no official statistics are available on either side. The potential, however, is vast – in technology, especially cybersecurity, irrigation, medical supplies and the diamond industry, amo

ng others, it could be 

to $25bn annually, according to a detailed new study.

Obama’s first secretary of state, Hillary Clinton “knew that the UAE and Saudi Arabia were … working together behind the scenes with the Mossad to counter Iranian influence.”

In 2013, Bandar bin Sultan, by then running Saudi General Intelligence, met the then Mossad chief, Tamir Pardo, for what a senior British source described as a “long and boozy dinner” at a Knightsbridge hotel. “There has never been such active cooperation between the two countries, in terms of analysis, human intelligence and interception on Iran and movements loyal to it such as Hezbollah, the Houthis and the Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Units,” a specialist intelligence newsletter reported in 2016. Saudi officials were said to be as “pleased as punch”.

And when the crown prince made a three-week trip to the US last spring, he transmitted even louder signals about his intentions toward Israel, telling the Atlantic that the Palestinians should accept Trump’s plan or “shut up and stop complaining” about an issue that was no longer a priority compared to confronting Iran. MBS also explicitly acknowledged Jewish claims to Israel, declaring: “I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land.” 

FULL STOP. WAIT FOR MUSIC AND VOICEOVER

VOICEOVER: It’s amazing to see what’s going on in the world. Now let’s consider what in the Bible God is saying to us, as we ponder the question “What Are The ‘Seventy Sevens’ of Daniel Chapter 9? Here’s John to shed some light on this mysterious concept

What in the Bible Is God Saying?

Viewer Screen: Seventy Sevens: 

The Incredible 490-Year Prophecy

In his commentary Daniel: Decoder of Dreams, Dr. Donald Campbell tells of how Leopold Cohn, a European rabbi, came to the conclusion that the Messiah had already come. Based on his study of Daniel 9:24–26, he reasoned that the Messiah’s coming was slated to occur prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. 

Interestingly, this led him to speak about this to an older rabbi, who told him that he would find information about the Messiah if he went to New York. So, he sold his belongings to purchase passage to the big city. After he arrived, he wandered the streets seeking information on the Messiah. Then, one day he heard singing coming from a building, so, out of curiosity, he entered and sat among the congregation. There he heard a message about Jesus Christ, and responded by believing in him for eternal life. 

He then dedicated himself to reaching Jews for Christ. Shortly thereafter, he established an outreach that was to become the American Board of Missions to the Jews. 

Viewer Screen: Daniel 9:24–27 can lead to an eternal impact.

Viewer Screen: Daniel 9:24-27 presents an incredible 490-year prophecy. 

Viewer Screen: This prophecy culminates in the return of Christ to establish God’s kingdom on the earth.

Viewer Screen: We previously saw: The Bible foretells a future 7-year period in which God’s wrath is poured out upon the earth.

Viewer Screen: This period is called the Tribulation period which begins on the very day the rapture of the Church occurs.

Viewer Screen: This 7-year period is initiated by a different event, an event we cannot appreciate without seeing it in the context of Daniel 9:24-27.

Viewer Screen:  The Significance of 70

Daniel, who wrote the book in which these verses appear, was a godly Jew living in Babylon at the time—along with many other Jews. These Jews were all originally from southern Israel, called Judah, the area in which Jerusalem is located. However, due to Judah’s disobedience against God, God used Nebuchadnezzar and his army to discipline southern Israel by attacking that area and evacuating ten thousand young Jewish men to Babylon. Almost 70 years before Daniel chapter 9 takes place, Nebuchadnezzar’s army overran Jerusalem, looted the Jewish temple, and set up his own puppet government there. 

This 70-year period of time takes on great significance for Daniel as he reads the scroll of Jeremiah where he learns that the captivity of Judah will last seventy years.

Viewer Screen: Captivity: 70 Years, Not 490!

2 Chronicles 36:21: Judah was to be in captivity one year for every Sabbath year the nation violated. God’s law regarding the Sabbath year called for Israel to farm the land for 6 years, but, on every 7th year, the land was not to be farmed; it was to rest. (Sabbath means rest.) = great faith on Israel’s part, trusting God for His provision during this 7th year. However, Judah (southern Israel) did not have that kind of faith at that time. So, for 490 years—70 Sabbath years—Judah continuously farmed the land. As a result, God announced He would force a rest for the land by taking ten thousand of Judah’s best workers (young men) to Babylon and by taking control of southern Israel! Judah would be disciplined by being taken into captivity one year for every Sabbath year she violated—70! (The mercy and graciousness of God: He could have disciplined Judah for every year the Jews were in disobedience = 490 years!) 

Viewer Screen: Near the End of Captivity: Praying for God’s Will

Daniel also realizes this 70-year captivity is near the end, as Judah had been in captivity for about 38½ years at this point. This moves Daniel to begin praying fervently for his people, asking God to fulfill his word by delivering the Jews from captivity. In response, God sends the angel Gabriel to announce to Daniel that Israel would be delivered—but not as Daniel expected. 

Viewer Screen: Surprising Answer to Prayer

However, the message the angel proclaims to Daniel is not about the immediate deliverance of Israel but about the long-range deliverance of Israel. It is as if God is saying to Daniel, “I will answer your prayer for the deliverance of Israel. But I will do so in a far greater way than you can imagine!” Isn’t that the way God works!

Viewer Screen: Overview of God’s Plan for His People

This amazing revelation to Daniel begins in verse 24 of Daniel 9:

Viewer Screen: “ ‘Seventy sevens 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’ ” (Dan 9:24).

This verse presents an overview of God’s incredible plan for his people, while the verses that follow (25–27) provide key elements of that plan and their God-ordained timing. The word seven in this context refers to a unit of time, but the question is: What unit of time? Is it referring to days, weeks, or years? 

Viewer Screen: Always Look for the Interpretive Clues

The clues in the context of Dan 9:24-27 reveals this prophecy is referring to units of years. 

Viewer Screen: The Jews Were Familiar with Seven as Referring to Years

Daniel and his people were in captivity when he recorded this passage due to the failure of the Jews to keep the law of Sabbath rests (every 7 years). They were banished to exile in Babylon for 70 years—one year for every sabbatical year they violated. Thus, their violation of this law covered 70 Sevens = 490 years. This was the exact amount of time covered by the prophecy of Dan 9:24–27!

Viewer Screen: Discovering the Clues

V. 24 provides us with key interpretive clues: There are two subjects mentioned, around which this prophecy is built.  1) “Your people” = the Jews, or Israel; 2) “Your holy city” = Jerusalem, the Jewish capital city & its religious center. 

Viewer Screen: The Summary of the Prophecy

Therefore, God designated a specific 490-year period to complete His plan for Israel, centered on the Jews in the land of Israel, on Jerusalem, and on the Jewish temple. 

Viewer Screen: A Plan with a Purpose

In Dan 9:24-27, God presents His critical, future, 490-year plan for Israel, which will also affect the entire world. The design is presented by means of six infinitive phrases (signaled in English by the word to), each of which displays a significant revelation. 

Viewer Screen: “To Finish Transgression”

The first of these infinitive phrases refers to God’s overall plan for Israel and is presented as: “to finish the transgression.” 9:5, part of Daniel’s prayer to which the angel Gabriel was sent in response. Daniel made this confession: 

Viewer Screen: “We [the Israelites] have sinned and committed iniquity, we [the Israelites] have done wickedly and rebelled” (Dan 9:5). 

Daniel humbly identifies himself with the history of the Israelites, a history of rebellion against God. It was this rebellion which moved God to discipline His people by taking them into captivity in Babylon, from which Daniel was asking God for deliverance for his fellow Jews. 

This future deliverance would arrive by way of finishing Israel’s transgression. Because Israel’s captivities were always the result of Jewish wickedness and rebellion, God would need to finish Israel’s transgression in order to provide the kind of ultimate—and final—deliverance He has planned for his people. We will see that God will use the 7-year Tribulation to do just that by bringing his people into a committed relationship to him. As v. 24 continues, we gain insight into how God will do that. 

Viewer Screen: “To Make an End of Sins”

The second infinitive phrase presents how God will achieve the completion of Israel’s transgression; He will use this 490-year timeframe “to make an end of sins.” 

God will use the Tribulation period make an end of sins through the judgments he will pour out on a sinful world. Those judgments will bring about faith in Christ and national repentance by Israel, as well as bring many Gentiles to faith in Christ. 

Viewer Screen: “To Make an End of Sins” or “To Seal Up Sins”

The phrase to make an end of sins can also be translated to seal up sins, as in not allowing sinfulness to have free rein upon the earth. This meaning fits well with the context surrounding verse 24. 

Viewer Screen: Pointing to the Return of Christ

Though the Tribulation period begins the process of making an end of sins, the event that will produce this sealing of sinfulness is the return of Christ to establish God’s kingdom on the earth. During the first thousand years of his kingdom rule on earth, Jesus will “rule with a rod of iron” and cause justice and holiness to be manifested on the earth. Following that millennial reign, the Lord will destroy the present world and create a new one “in which righteousness dwells.” Thus, Jesus, at His return to the earth, will seal up sins, fulfilling this second purpose statement of Daniel 9:24.

Viewer Screen: “To Reconcile”

The 3^rd infinitive phrase in this overarching purpose for this 490-year period is: “to make reconciliation for iniquity.” The NT shows that Christ’s death on the cross provided for the reconciliation of the world to God. However, Israel will not receive reconciliation until Jews in the nation believe in Jesus as the Christ, the giver of eternal life. That will not fully occur until the very end of the Tribulation period—at the return of Jesus to bring God’s kingdom to the earth. Thus:

Viewer Screen: This 3^rd infinitive phrase of v. 24 focuses on the return of Christ, as the first two do. 

Viewer Screen: “To Bring Everlasting Righteousness”

The next fulfillment toward the achievement of God’s overall purpose for Israel is listed by the fourth infinitive phrase in this way: “to bring in everlasting righteousness.”The future 7-year Tribulation period will prepare for this everlasting righteousness, displayed in the following way: 

Viewer Screen: “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:5–6, emphasis added). 

These verses describe what will occur following the return of Christ. Notice the emphasis on righteousness; when He returns, He will initiate His reign of righteousness over all the earth. 

Notice, also, that this promise revolves around Israel. At the return of Christ, Israel will be delivered from her enemies and will dwell safely upon the earth. For the first time since the introduction of sin into human history, righteousness will reign on the earth; and once universal righteousness comes to the earth, it will last forever! Thus, everlasting righteousness, proclaimed in Daniel 9:24, will be present on our planet following the return of Christ to the earth. 

Viewer Screen: “To Finish Transgression”

This brings us to the 5th infinitive phrase of v 24 and the next fulfillment toward the achievement of God’s overall purpose for Israel: “to seal up vision and prophecy.” 

The Hebrew word translated to seal up = to enclose something because its functions are completed, while the word for vision = revelation. Putting these together, this phrase refers to the fulfillment of God’s prophetic revelation. God will use the plan he outlines in verses 24–27 to fulfill his promises to Israel—promises that will be experienced in God’s future kingdom upon the earth. Therefore, “to seal up vision and prophecy” will also be fulfilled at the return of Christ to establish God’s kingdom upon earth. 

Viewer Screen: “To Anoint the Most Holy”

The 6th & final infinitive phrase in v 24: “to anoint the Most Holy.” This refers to the temple in Jerusalem. 

“The Most Holy”: translation of qodesh qadashim (holy of holies), used together 39 times in the OT, always in reference to the tabernacle or temple in Jerusalem, or to the holy articles used in the tabernacle or temple. 

Thus, this final infinitive statement refers to the temple erected according to God’s direction, as indicated by the word anoint. This anointing of the Most Holy refers to the temple that will be built for Christ’s 1000-year rule.

Viewer Screen: Pointing to Christ’s Return

As mentioned, v 24 gives an overview of God’s timetable for accomplishing his overall purpose for Israel, achieved through the fulfillment of six infinitive phrases. All of these point to the future return of Jesus to the earth. Thus, we can see that God appointed a 490-year period (seventy sevens) to prepare Israel for God’s future kingdom on the earth. 

Viewer Screen: In Our Next Broadcast

We have looked at one verse in this 4-verse revelation of God’s 490-year prophecy for Israel. In v 24, we have seen that these 490 years will be used by God to bring His kingdom to the earth. Next time, we will focus on verses 25 and 26 of this incredible prophecy, which will not only show us how God has fulfilled 483 years of this 490-year prophecy, but will also demonstrate how amazingly accurate God’s word is. I believe an accurate understanding of those verses will galvanize your faith in God’s word. So, join us next time on End Times Today to discover the extraordinary outworking of God’s prophetic plan. 

FULL STOP. WAIT FOR MUSIC AND VOICEOVER

VOICEOVER: WHAT AN AMAZING PLAN GOD HAS. WE HOPE YOU ARE ENCOURAGED BY THE TRUTHS WE’VE DISCOVERED IN THE BIBLE PROPHECY TODAY. BEFORE WE GO, LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT A QUESTION FROM A VIEWER JUST LIKE YOU. 

Questions / Answers

VOICEOVER: JENNA IN MICHIGAN WRITES. Q: Will there be a partial Rapture of the church which includes only overcoming believers or a full rapture of the church including both faithful and unfaithful believers ? --- Jenna, MI

A: To answer your question, let’s go to one of the passages in the NT that addresses the rapture of the Church.

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep [have died, koimao], lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep [have died, koimao] in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep [have died, koimao]. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1Thess 4:13-18).

In the very next passage, the Apostle Paul describes the Day of the Lord (7-year Tribulation period), at the end of which he provides this applicational exhortation to his Christian readers in 5:6-8:

“Therefore let us not sleep [be spiritually lethargic / unfaithful, katheudo], as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation [deliverance]” (1Thess 5:6-8).

Clearly, this exhortation is to prompt his readers to pursue faithfulness to Christ as they await the rapture of the Church, which will occur on the day the Tribulation period begins. Then Paul returns to the promise of the rapture, which will deliver us from the Tribulation period, as he writes this in 1 Thess 5:9-11:

“For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation [deliverance] through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep [experience spiritual lethargy / unfaithfulness, katheudo], we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing” (1 Thess 5:9-11). 

Here is the point Paul makes: ALL believers alive at the moment the rapture occurs, whether they be faithful or unfaithful, will be taken up in the rapture to meet Jesus in the air. Not one of those believers will enter the Tribulation period. To quote Paul: Comfort one another with these words. 

FULL STOP. WAIT FOR OUTRO VOICEOVER. 

VOICEOVER: A big thanks to John, for those encouraging words from today’s episode. We certainly hope that what you’ve heard has lifted your spirits as we watch for the return of Christ. 

A COUPLE OF QUICK REMINDERS. If you’d like to sign up for notifications, see recent episodes, or even ask John a question you can do that and more at ENDTIMESTODAY.ORG 

If You can also get a copy of John’s book, Impending Apocalypse you can also do that at Endtimestoday.org. Thanks for watching and we will see you next time on End Times Today, With John Claeys.