Daniel's Last Week

Daniel 9:24-27 “Seventy weeks 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.


“Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times.


“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.


The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.


And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”


The angel Gabriel explained to Daniel that the "time of gentiles"...the amount of time engineered by God to bring the Jewish people into agreement with Him without ever violating their free will would take 70 sets of 7 (490) years. 69 of Daniels 70 weeks have been fulfilled just as Gabriel described to Daniel. From the time Artaxerxes issued the command to rebuild the Jerusalem and the temple, it took 49 years to complete the rebuilding of the city. Then, another 434 years to the year of Jesus' death sentence. Jesus was "cut-off"...appearing, in the eyes of Daniel's people to have accomplished nothing. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, just like Gabriel said, in 70 AD....with one week still yet to be accomplished.


Gabriel said that last 7 years would come like a "flood." This is the same word used in Nehemiah 1:8, describing a flood of wrath. When a flood comes, it comes with very little warning, it rises fast, and, if you aren't watching and ready, it catches you off-guard, with no time to preserve anything, except maybe your own skin.


Jesus described the same condition...the end coming like a flood:


Matthew 24:37-39 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.


There is coming...coming really isn't the right word....there is "building" not only a flood of wrath, but also a flood of righteousness...the most intensely glorious time ever for the world, but specifically for the companion of Jesus...the Bride. The greatest manifestation of God's power through His people is building right now. More and more is available, if we will press in.


The prophet Joel promised the "pouring out of the Spirit on all flesh" at the 6th seal, but it is available in some increasing measure NOW to any who would choose to be "spiritually violent" right now. Ever since the day Jesus stepped into His public ministry, the kingdom of heaven has rewarded those who would go after the kingdom with zeal...pursue spiritual violence as a lifestyle:


Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.


This isn't violence against people that Jesus was describing...it is violence against comfort! John the Baptist was the forerunner of anti-comfort...camel's hair, honey, locusts...saying the hard things...pursuing fidelity to Jesus...decreasing so Jesus could increase...violently overthrowing comfort in His life. John came into Israel like a flood of righteousness, and this is how Jesus described Him:


Matthew 11:11 “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.


What a statement!! Jesus said to choose what John chose...to deny the world's comfort and reason to go off and "violently" deny self and choose adventure in Jesus... is to choose greatness. Then He said the most amazing thing: "what John chose without the aid of the Helper, is available to YOU and ME with direct assistance from God himself through the Holy Spirit living on the inside. All who say yes can "run past" the level of zeal John the Baptist had"...if I want it...but do I want it? YES!!


Daniels last week is the story of a wedding. This wedding is so intense. It is a royal wedding, putting to shame anything ever seen in England. There are important people coming to this wedding. The guests will be honored forever. There will be great and small guests.


Revelation 19:5-7 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both SMALL and GREAT!” (emphasis mine) And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”


Saying yes to the invitation is all that is required, and it is still a free invitation, but there is a storm surrounding this wedding. Many are not ready for the intensity of the flood Gabriel described to Daniel. Spiritual violence isn't even a part of their equation. But to make yourself ready in the midst of the flood REQUIRES spiritual violenece. Many Christians are so distracted by their own quest for comfort that they are woefully unequipped to make it through Daniel's flood, which will be full of disappointment and offense to those who haven't chosen violence against self and comfort. They have chosen to pursue God as part of a balanced diet of life. Saved? Yes...prepared to endure? No. Jesus said clearly many invited guests would completely miss the wedding.


Jesus described them like this:


Luke 8:13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.


And Paul said this:


II Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,


There is going to be a wedding...and it is, according to the Book of Revelation, the most intense event in world history. Every wedding has the potential to be intense, emotions run high, and the cost is great...much is on the line at a wedding...Many are too busy to prepare for the wedding that is just around the corner...for real. They will miss it, just like in the days of Noah...Daniel's flood will catch them off guard, and their love WILL grow cold (the great falling away)...BUT many will see these events, and witness the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who choose to be spiritually violent now, and THEY will respond to the invitation (the great harvest). Jesus promised this would happen:


Matthew 22:1-14 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are called, but few are chosen”


Daniel's last week, and the flood coming with it, are at the door. Look at the news...it isn't getting better, only more intense. Now is the time for spiritual violence!


II Peter 3:11-12 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

Daniel 12:1-3 “At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.