Will you take your Bibles and turn to Daniel chapter nine. Once again, we are going to be looking at verses 24 through 27. As we continue to make our way through this amazing book, this will actually be part two of what I've entitled 70 sevens. Before we look at the text. I'd like to remind you of a few things that will, I think, help us set our mind where it needs to be, given what we have before us in this passage of Scripture. We understand from scripture that Satan is the father of lies, he was a murderer from the beginning, there is no truth in him. Paul tells us that he is, "the god of this world that blinds the minds of the unbelievers that they might not see the light of the glory of Christ." We know from First John five and verse 19, that "the whole world lies in the lap of the evil one." Temporarily, he is the god of this world. And his primary purpose is to thwart the purposes of God, and to do that at every level, in every way he possibly can. And he does this primarily through deceptions, false ideologies, false philosophies, using false teachers, using political movements that are rooted in false presuppositions. And we see this all the time in our culture today. In fact, we see this most blatantly, in political and theological liberalism, twin evils that destroy nations, and deceive people, damn men souls. We live in an age of mass delusion. Millions are ruled by impressions and beliefs that are contradicted by reason and rationality. We look at things like critical race theory. And millions of people actually believe that that is based in facts rather than leftist propaganda. Millions of people believe that there's nothing nefarious going on with all of this vaccine and vaccine mandates and all of these types of things. Millions of people believe that biological males can be females if they want to be, and vice versa. Millions believe there are more than two genders. In fact, there can be well over 100 according to some. They believe that you can choose to be whatever you want. I was reading just this last week, maybe you saw it in the news, the governor of New York has now made it illegal to misgender a transgender or transsexual person who identifies with the opposite sex. In other words, Misgender means to use the wrong pronoun that that person wants you to use. Millions believe that a 17-year-old boy is a white supremacist and vigilante when he was protecting himself from the physical attacks of three white males, criminals, that that who were trying to kill him, and all of this is on video. But that doesn't matter. Facts don't matter to people that are delusional. Dyjuan Tatro, senior adviser to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said this in regard to this written house trial that we've seen unfold this week. Quote, "The American legal system is rooted in racism and functions to uphold white supremacy." That's like saying two plus two is five. Folks, this is the work of Satan in the heart and the mind of people that have no fear of God. What the Bible calls fools, and those people will despise wisdom and instruction and as a result, we know biblically that God punishes those who reject him by giving them over to a depraved mind, literally a worthless mind. And they become delusional. We read about this, for example, in Romans one beginning of verse 28, "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, there, gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving and merciful. And although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them." This is what happens according to what Paul said in Second Timothy four and verse four, I believe it is, "when people turn away their ears from the truth, they will turn aside unto myths." In other words, whenever there is the deliberate rejection of truth, that will result in the delusional acceptance of lies. And that's where we're at in the world today in our culture today. That, by the way, is a form of divine judgment. But Jesus promises that those who believe in Him, according to John 8:31, "'If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine, and you will know the truth. You will know the truth and the truth will make you free.'" Therefore, as we come together today, I think of what Paul said in Second Corinthians 10, verse five, we are "destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." So dear friends in an age where virtually everything we hear from our corrupt political leaders and corrupt health care experts, knowing that most everything is a distortion of the truth, and when most everything we hear or read from the news media is merely parroting their propaganda, it is truly a blessing--and I hope you understand where I'm coming from with this--It is truly a blessing to open up the truths of the Word of God and immerse ourselves in them. What would we do without His Word? We would walk in darkness. But his word is a lamp into our feet and a light into our path. Jesus said in John 17:17, praying to the Father, "'Sanctify them in the truth, thy word is truth.'" And Paul tells us in First Timothy 3:15, that the "church of the living God is to be the pillar and the support of the truth." And of course, the greatest of all truth is that of the Lord Jesus Christ, who said, "'I am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the Father, but through Me.'T that's the truth of the gospel. We have much to be thankful for here in the United States of America. But dear friends, the greatest object of our praise has to be God's mercy and grace that he has given us through the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the power of his Word.

Let me remind you of the context here in Daniel. Because once again, we have an opportunity to immerse ourselves in some truth okay? After a heartfelt confession of sin for his Israeli countrymen, and praying as well for himself, he interceded on their behalf that God would somehow deliver them from exile from Babylonian captivity, restore them to their land. So God sends his angel Gabriel to answer his prayers. But his answer encompasses a far greater deliverance beyond that of the Babylonian captivity. He discloses his plan to deliver them from a far greater enemy, and that is the enemy of their sin itself. A remedy that can only be accomplished through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross at His first coming, and so his answer is going to include that. But it's also going to include something more than just deliverance from their Gentile oppressors there in Babylon. But he's going to also speak to a final day when they will be delivered forever, from Gentile oppressors, all earthly oppressors. And that will occur at the triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ, when he returns as King of kings and Lord of lords. And as we've already learned, all of this is going to basically require 490 years, 70 weeks, literally 70 sevens, divided into two seasons of deliverance, the first season requires 69 weeks, or in other words, 483 years that will lead up to the death of Christ. And then after an indefinite indefinite period of time, there will be the final 70th week, and that will culminate in the second coming of Christ, the Messiah, who will defeat the the armies of the Antichrist, who is bent on exterminating all of ethnic Israel and all who worship Him. So that's the context here.

So let's return to the text. Let me read it to you, beginning of verse 24, of Daniel 9. "'Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and 62 weeks; it will be built again with plaza and mote, even in times of distress. Then after the 62 weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week. But in the middle of the week, he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate.'"

So in verse 24, remember, he begins with 70 weeks, literally 70 sevens, 70 heptads, in other words, units of seven. So in other words, 490 years have been decreed. Remember that is from a Hebrew root that means to cut out, or to divide, to cut off, to determine. This has been determined for your people and your holy city. So God has deliberately determined a 490 year period of time, he's cut this out from the rest of history to accomplish his purposes in delivering his covenant people Israel from their sins, and deliver them once again, to their capital city, Jerusalem, and so forth. This is all consistent with Daniel's prayer. And I might add, as we're going to see, these things did not happen at Christ's first coming as some want us to believe. And then he lists six magnificent objectives that will be accomplished during this period of time. He goes on in verse 24, to say, "to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place." And you will recall last week we went into this in detail. So here God reveals the future--future realities way beyond that which occurred within Antiochus Epiphanes, far beyond the events surrounding the life and ministry of Christ, far beyond anything that has ever happened in history. 490 years of judgment must occur in order for these six glorious objectives pertaining to your people, Israel, and your holy city, Jerusalem could be realized, verse 19. All of which looks to the Messianic Kingdom of Christ here on Earth. So this brings us to our text this morning, to the second division of the prophecy where God's Messenger, the angel, Gabriel, reveals the historical context in which these six objectives will be accomplished.

So let's look at the text closely, beginning in verse 25. "'So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and 62 weeks; it will be built again with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.'" Now notice the two divisions of time here. First, you have seven weeks, in other words, seven sevens or 49 years. And then after that, another 62 weeks, or 62 sevens, which equals 434 years. This means that something special occurred 49 years after the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. And then as we will see, 62 weeks later, or 434 years later, Messiah the Prince comes on the scene. Now the question is, what is the starting point? The "terminus a quo?" When did this begin? This first 69 weeks, this 483-year period, that will also include a final seven years or a 70th week? Now there are various calculations to give us the answer to this. And I will not bore you with all the technical aspects of those calculations, but I will give you what I believe is the most compelling of all, and there's only minor variations in them.

The first division of seven weeks, or 49 years began in 445 BC, when Artaxerxes gave the decree to Nehemiah to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, Nehemiah two. And we know that he completed his work around the 15th year of the Persian ruler, Darius Ochus, that would have been around 409/408 BC, according to historians like Prudeo as well as Josephus. But we have to admit that history is sketchy on all this. Furthermore, the full 49 years of that first division probably included that work of Ezra and Nehemiah combined, as they were trying to establish a working capital city of Judah. We know for example, if we studied Nehemiah, that the debris in Jerusalem was so great that it was impassable in places. And so it took almost a whole generation just to clean out the city before they could rebuild it. Nehemiah's work included the construction, as the prophecy said, of "the plaza and moat." Plaza could be translated wide place or street and moat is the fortification ditch filled with water and so forth. It's also clear from Nehemiah's account as you will recall that all of this work was done "in times of distress," as the prophecy says. And that also includes the great difficulties that Ezra had, during that time, in which he tried to restore the spiritual foundation of the people in order for Jerusalem, and the people of Israel, to function as they should. That's the first division of 49 weeks.

The second division of 62 weeks, or 434 years, until Messiah the Prince can also be calculated by using the same terminus a quo or the starting point of 445 BC. And the terminus ad quim, if you want to use the Latin or the ending point would be AD 32, the date of the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem. So what you have is 49 plus 434. That equals 483. The exact number of years according to the biblical chronology. Now there was a man by the name of Sir Robert Anderson, who was a good theologian, but he was also a great investigator. In fact, in the 19th century he was the chief investigator for Scotland Yard. This man did a masterful job of mathematical calculations where he demonstrates most compellingly, that between the dates of March 14 445 BC--that's Nissan the 20th year of Artaxerxes, as we read in Nehemiah two one--between that date and April 6 AD 32, which was the date of the triumphal entry, there are exactly 173,880 days, or 483 prophetic years of 360 days, which fulfills the prophecy to the very day. As Leon Woods states, "The idea of considering prophetic years, that's lunar years of 30 days to the month, rather than solar, in this context, finds support in that the scriptures elsewhere, in prophetic passages speak of 42 months as equaling 1260 days." Like we read in Revelation 11 two, verse three as well, Revelation 12, six and 13 five. So this is based on the calculation that they would use 360 days in the year.

So back to verse 25, "'So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem,'" 445 BC, '"until Messiah the Prince,'" 32 AD, '"there will be seven weeks.'" In other words, 49 years, which was that period of restoration for Nehemiah, and Ezra, '"And 62 weeks,'" or in other words, 62, sevens, another 434 years, you add the 49 and the 434. Together, you get 483 years, forgive me for having to be so technical. But if you want to know the truth, you have to study it. All right? And I don't think you need your calculators for this. But it is fascinating to see the precision in the Word of God.

Now we come to verse 26. '"Then after the 62 weeks.'" In other words, there's been the seven weeks, and now you've got 62 more weeks. '"After the 62 weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing.'" This is a reference to Christ's crucifixion. "Cut off,” “karath" in Hebrew means to put an end to, or to destroy, or to kill-- Genesis 9:11, Deuteronomy 20:20, Jeremiah 11:19. And sometimes in the Old Testament, it is a term that's even used to describe an execution. We read, for example, in Psalm 37, nine "evildoers will be." here it is "cut off." Proverbs 2:22, "The wicked will be cut off from the land." So, "After the 62 weeks that Messiah will be cut off," and he goes on to say, "have nothing." "Ayin" in Hebrew, it means nothingness, no one, nothing he deserved was awarded to him. I mean, think about it, Israel rejected him, his disciples abandoned him, his father forsook him as he bore the wrath that we deserve in his body on the cross. Indeed, in his humiliation, he had nothing, not even a grave. And so all of this came to pass.

So once again, verse 26, "'After the 62 weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing.'" Obviously this has happened. We know that Jesus entered into Jerusalem on Monday, the 10th of Nissan--that's April. The precise day by the way, when, according to Mosaic Law, sacrificial lambs for the Passover were to be selected. You read about this in Exodus 12. And he was cut off, he was crucified then, on Friday, the 14th. Bottom line, dear friends, Christ's death occurred shortly after the endpoint of the 69 sevens, that 483 years as Daniel prophesied, the 69 weeks were then fulfilled in total.

But notice what else he reveals in verse 26. "'And the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood.'" Then he adds this "'even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.'" Well, we know that this is exactly what happened. 43 years later, after Christ, "the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary." That's a clear reference to the Roman invasion and AD 70. We know historically that General Titus Vespasian, along with 50,000 elite Roman troops came to Jerusalem, and they ended up leveling Jerusalem, the city, including the temple. And by the way, the temple was destroyed on the very anniversary of the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE. My what a coincidence. Immediately 500 Jewish leaders were executed. And according to Josephus, there was about 2.7 million persons that occupied the city at that time. Many pilgrims had come for the Passover, and the Romans massacred 1.1 million Jews, about 100,000 were taken into slavery. People were scattered all over the world.

So as prophesied, "its end will come with a flood even to the end, there will be war desolations are determined." A more literal rendering in the Hebrew is "and the end of it will be in the overflowing, and unto the end, there will be war, a strict determination of desolations," or the "determined amount of desolations." So this seems to indicate not only what happened in AD 70, but also indicate that there this will be the ongoing experience of Israel until the end of the times of the Gentiles. The end, which we see in verse 27, is decreed. And of course, this is reality that's corroborated by many other prophecies. Now, bear in mind, all of this occurred before the final 70th week is revealed in verse 27.

So let's look at verse 27. "And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week but in the middle of the week, he will put us stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate." So verse 27, "and he," who is this? This is a very important question. A very controversial passage of scripture. Who is this referring to? The Messiah, or the prince who is to come? Our amillennial brethren would argue for the former, the premillennial position would argue for the latter, the latter is my position, the position of this church. And this is a key understanding Bible prophecy. I do not believe it could possibly be a reference to the Messiah in the previous verse, although there are many who will argue that that's what it's referring to, because they deny the future fulfillment of this text and see this last unit of Daniel's prophecy following immediately after the 69th week, and ultimately finding its fulfillment in the ministry of Christ. I do not agree with that position. And I want you to understand why. Primarily, it's because there's nothing in the context of Daniel's 70th week that corresponds to anything in Christ's earthly ministry, despite the most labored forms of interpretation. More specifically, let me give you a few thoughts so that we have this on the record. Rather than me just telling you what I think, I want you to know why I think what I think-- why we teach what we teach--why we believe what we believe.

First of all, the 70th week is depicted as a period of time that is distinct, it is separate from the first 69 weeks, and those first 69 weeks are clearly treated as one unit or one period of time. Secondly, the text goes on to describe how this person makes a quote, "a firm covenant" with the people. Well, that's something that Christ never did in his earthly ministry. The only way you can come up with that is come up with some fanciful, spiritual interpretation. Thirdly, even if he had made some kind of a covenant, it makes no sense to mention that here after the statements concerning his death and the destruction of Jerusalem. And fourth, in what way did Christ put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering? Now, some will say, well, that's a reference to his death on the cross. But I would humbly argue that that just doesn't fit the context of this prophecy. And how would these ancient people possibly make even a remote connection to something like that. Moreover, the sacrifices did not cease until AD 70, some 40 years later. That was stopped by the Romans, not by Christ. Fifthly, Hebrew grammar, and this is very important for an exegesis, Hebrew grammar requires that the subject of the verb be linked to the last eligible antecedent. Namely, in this case, verse 26, "the prince who is to come" who "will destroy the city and the sanctuary," that is the Roman prince, not going all the way back to 25, "Messiah the Prince." And it's also obvious here that something further needs to be said about this destructive prince who is to come. And then sixthly, in Matthew 24:15, in Jesus' Olivet Discourse, he refers to quote, "the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet." And when he speaks of that, he describes that as a future event beyond his earthly life and ministry. So the pronoun here in verse 27, and "he will make a firm covenant" refers to the "prince who is to come" in verse 26, not the Messiah. However, go a little bit further, because the events described at the end of verse 26, and those described in verse 27, and other parallel passages, as we will see, I do not believe that this refers to the Roman ruler of AD 70, but rather to another ruler of a Roman Empire, a future Roman Empire, that Daniel has already described, in his previous visions, represented by the figures of quote, "the fourth beast," and the 10-horned beast of chapter two, and the little horn in chapter seven. Who is this? The Antichrist, ruling a revived Roman Empire. So this means that there must be an extensive time gap between the 69th week and the 70th week, which is not at all unusual in Bible prophecy.

I might also add in Daniel 7:24, Antichrist is described as the one who will rule a massive kingdom that basically comprises the old Roman Empire, but it will be one of a western confederacy of a united Europe that Daniel describes as a 10-nation empire.

So one more unit of seven needs to take place. And in this text, in Daniel 9:27, that Jesus refers to as the prophetic template that we are to use to determine the chronological sequence of the birth pains, the beginning of birth pains. Remember in Matthew 24, and Mark 13, all of these things point to something yet future. And I might also add, as we will see in a moment, all of this correlates with Revelation six.

So again, back to the text, bear with me here, "and he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week." In other words, there is going to be a great deceiver that will lure Israel into a protective agreement called a firm covenant. "But in the middle of the week, he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering, and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate." Again, referring to a future Antichrist during Daniel's 70th week, a time also known as the Great Tribulation.

If we go to Revelation chapter six, we see the description of the seal judgments. The first one in verse two and this will be the first Seal Judgment that will come upon the earth is an era of unparalleled world peace. Isn't that what everybody wants today? World peace? Oh, yes, but it will be a great hoax. It will be a calm before the storm. There we read about "a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went off went out conquering and to conquer." He had a bow, no arrows just a bow, implying a diplomatic rather than a military victory, a peace sealed by a covenant, not by a war. And a crown was given to him he went out conquering and to conquer. The certainly fits the Antichrist, the one who will conquer the world in a bloodless triumph one day. So the first seal with its white horse and rider symbolizes a force of counterfeit righteousness that will come upon the earth that will bring the world into a pseudo peace, a deceptive world peace, a false peace, whose architect will be the Antichrist. He will seduce the world as a great political leader, with his political savvy and his personal charisma. And he will put forth a compelling plan to the world that will bring everybody together. It will be the greatest kumbaya in the history of mankind. He will form a strategic alliance with European nations and with Israel, and even Israel will be seduced by his sham, and finally he will rebuild the third temple. But three and a half years later, in the middle of the week, they will learn of his charade, when he desecrates the temple as we read here in verse 27. So "he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week," in other words, three and a half years in "he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering." Now I might add, dear friends, that this obviously means that a new temple has been built by this time. And I would encourage you to go online, and you can see the architectural plans for the third holy temple. All of that is in place today. Go to the Temple Institute. I've been there in the Old City in Jerusalem. I've seen many of these things with my own eyes, but they have everything all set up ready to go. They said they could build it within a year. You can go online and see a virtual reality tour of a mockup of their temple. But we read here that the Antichrist is going to demand that they stop their worship and worship Him. Now I know it's hard for us to fathom a political leader that wants to be worshipped, right? Ha. But this is what is prophesied.

So back to verse 27, "'And on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even one until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.'" So in the middle of the week, three and a half years, this satanically possessed antichrist will seize the temple, he will betray the Jews, demand that they worship him, just like his forerunner, Antiochus Epiphanes, and he will do this for 42 months, according to Revelation 13 and verse five. The last half of the seven years, this is part of the pre- kingdom judgments just before Christ returns. This is the one pictured in Revelation 13 in verse one and five as the beast that comes up out of the sea. Let me read this to you. He "was given a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for 42 months was given to him." We dropped down to verse seven, "It was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world, in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain." Now, what will he do that is so abhorrent to God? Well, the answer can be found as well in Second Thessalonians two beginning in verse three. He is described as "the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship." And then Paul goes on to say, "he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself and as being God." Of course, this has always been Satan's modus operandi. This is always how he has functioned. He has always wanted to be the one to be worshipped. This is why he is so determined to deceive people, even to this day, through false Messiahs and false prophets. Again, he is the father of lies. Second Thessalonians two in verse nine, we read more about him about the Antichrist, he is "the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved." Grammatically, this passage of Scripture in the original language indicates that this detestable thing, standing in the holy place will be some kind of permanent image probably of the Antichrist that's going to be displayed in the temple. This, dear friends, is the abomination of desolation that Jesus referred to in Matthew 24:15, where he quotes the passage that we're looking at right here in Daniel 9:27. This is what Paul was referring to, in Second Thessalonians two, three, as, quote, "the apostasy," which is associated with "the man of lawlessness" that must come first, just prior to the final day of the Lord. So God makes it abundantly clear to his people through Daniel, that a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is going to be poured out on the one who makes desolate and indeed, we know according to Second Thessalonians, two, eight, "the Lord will slay" this lawless one, "with the breath of His mouth by the appearance of His coming." Oh, I love those passages. They're so exciting. I love it when the bad guy gets it, right? Then he, along with the False Prophet, we read and other passages will be "thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone," Revelation 19:20. And this will bring to completion the prophecies of Daniel's 70th week.

Dr. David Larsen, in his excellent book, "Jews, Gentiles, and the Church," said this, "The stage for the beast and his religious cohort, the False Prophet, is the tribulation period, quote, 'the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world,' Revelation three one, or the time of quote, 'messianic woes,' as the Jews have spoken of them. In this timeframe, certain gigantic collectivism will arise to form the driving wedge of Satan's massive effort to frustrate God's purpose. Problems on earth seem insurmountable. No human leadership seems competent to address the complexity of the issues. A demographic explosion with moral social, economic, ecological and political ramifications baffles the think tanks of the world. Humankind's vaunted self-sufficiency evaporates in the face of insoluble questions. The church notwithstanding her frequent impotence and perennial failure is now gone, and the salt and light she has afforded are missing. Hom sapiens are adrift, rudderless." Larson goes on to say, "Nature abhors a vacuum, the old adage has it. The scriptures depict a brilliant charismatic personality, a demagogue of the first order, striding dramatically onto the stage of human history. It is George Orwell's '1984' and Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World.' So desperate is the human race for solutions and answers that freedom easily becomes a casualty in the panic for security." As the late Paul Henri Spaak, prominent Belgian diplomat and astute European strategist, put it so boldly, quote, "We do not want another committee, we have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all the people and to lift us out of the economic morass into which we are sinking. Send us such a man, be he god or devil and we will receive him." End quote.

Now, there is much speculation about who this man will be, where he will come from. But I would argue that it's all speculation. However, we do know much about his character, as well as his diabolical plans. I'll get into it just a little bit here in closing this morning. According to Daniel's description of the Antichrist, we learn that he will have no normal desire for or interest in women, Daniel 11:37, which will probably mean that he will be homosexual, or at least will be heterosexual, be celibate. And because of this, combined with his unprecedented religious ecumenical power, and setting himself up to be the object of worship, some believe that he will be the Roman Catholic Pope. We don't know, it's speculation; it’s possible. But what is fascinating to me is that the biblical descriptions of the person and the work of the Antichrist are precisely how the Muslims describe their redeemer in the Quran. And the Sunnah, sometimes called the Hadith, which is the words and the practices spoken by Muhammad, their oral traditions. And for them, the Christian Jesus is the Antichrist. The Satanic counterfeit. Yes, Muslims believe in Jesus, dear friends, but it's not the Jesus of the Bible. The Muslim Jesus plays a crucial role in their eschatology.

Let me review this for you briefly. They teach that Jesus was not the second person of the triune godhead, not the Son of God, but merely a man and a man that did not die. They teach rather that he went to heaven like Elijah. And this is very important for their theology. This means that in no way did he provide an atonement for sin. He did not die and be buried and raised from the dead. And they believe that he is in heaven right now alongside Allah, waiting for Allah to send him back. Why? If you read what they write, it's to correct all of the Christians and the Jews who have misunderstood who he is. And he will get married when he comes back, he'll have children, he'll die and he will be buried next to Muhammad. That's what they teach. Islamic eschatology is very revealing. There's three great signs in the form of man at the end of history, let me give them to you. First of all, they believe in the "Mahdi." He is the redeemer of Islam. He's also called the 12th Imam. He's coming to slaughter all those who refuse to worship Allah, and to establish an everlasting world dominating kingdom of Islam. This will be, for them, the final caliphate. He will have an army, he will carry black flags and on the black flags in Arabic is the word punishment and you've seen these black flags that Iran has and ISIL and all of that stuff. Today, they use this flag of jihad. And they claim that the Mahdi's ascendancy to power will be preceded by an army from the east. They'll be carrying black flags and banners of war. And the Hadith indicates that these black flags will come from the area of Corizon and they will signify that the appearance of the Mahdi is nigh. Corizon is in today's Iran. Surprise, surprise. And some scholars have said that this hadith means that when the flag, black flags appear from Central Asia, in the direction of Corizon, then the appearance of the Mahdi is imminent. If you study their eschatology, they say that he will make a peace agreement with Israel and the West for seven years. His reign will last for seven years, he will come riding a white horse, as it says in Revelation six one through two, according to their sources and he will be loved by the people who will massacre the Jews. He will establish his rule on the Temple Mount. He will discover hidden scriptures and Torah to show that they were wrong. You have to say is this the Antichrist? Well, all of the details in Scripture certainly point to this. The biblical Antichrist may well be the Islamic Mahdi, can't say for sure. They also believe that Jesus is going to return as a prophet. But by the way, the Mahdi is greater than Jesus. He returns as a radical Muslim, he arrives at Minaret near Damascus. He's going to come to help prove, help the Madhi prove that Christians and Jews were wrong. He will worship and serve the Mahdi. He will establish a real law, he will quote "shatter crosses," meaning destroy Christianity, he's going to refute all the truths of the gospel, deny that Jesus was the Son of God and died for sinners, rose again and so forth. And he will kill the Islamic Antichrist, who, from our perspective is the true Jesus that we worship, and then he will die and be buried with Muhammad. So dear friends, all that the Muslim Jesus is and does parallels the person and the work of the false prophet in Revelation 13, as well as chapter 16 and 19, "the beast coming out of the earth." By the way, bear in mind, dear friends that Satan is the master counterfeiter. He offers you things that looks like the real thing, looks like the truth, but it's not. And in Scripture, we see how he counterfeits the triune Godhead. Satan is the father, the Antichrist is the Son, and the False Prophet is the Holy Spirit.

A third thing that you need to understand about Islamic eschatology is that the true Jesus, the Son of God, our Savior and Lord, they call the Dajjal. Dajjal, the Great Deceiver, their antichrist. They say that he is blind in one eye, he returns on a mule, that he's an infidel, a false miracle worker. And he claims to be Jesus the Son of God. He will attempt to stop the Mahdi and Islamic Jesus who will slaughter him. I know some might say, Do you mean that the United States could someday be under the authority of the black flag of Islam? I can't say. But certainly it's a tenable hypothesis. Given everything that we see, even now, our current administration is sympathetic to Islam. I mean, we just gave Afghanistan, we just surrendered Afghanistan to these people.

It's inconceivable, yet this has happened. Europe is gradually being taken over by them. And I believe we're next given the delusional policies of the left here in America. Just before the pre kingdom judgments of the Tribulation, I believe that the true church is going to be snatched away according to First Thessalonians 4:16 16th through 18th, First Corinthians 15:51, through 52, and Israel will once again become the focus of God's attention. And when the snatching away, the rapture of the church happens, the United States will be utterly devastated. Imagine the sudden departure of Christians all over the world. God has warned us that just before Christ returns, Israel will be surrounded according to Zechariah 12 three, by all of the nations of the earth, "all of the nations of the earth will be gathered against Jerusalem." All includes the United States. Dear Christian, I would just encourage you to wake up and look and see how the world is being prepared for the Antichrist. We see this in Daniel's prophecies, we see it all through Scripture. He will be the most deceptive, demonic power and violent dictator in the world that beyond anything that we've ever seen; we see this all through Scripture.

And then there will be his false prophet, who will be his great religious enforcer and chief supporter. The Bible prophecies tell us that there will be a one world government, a one world religion, a one world economy. The stage is set for all of that right now. Had we talked about these things even 50 years ago, it would be hard for anyone to comprehend how these things could come to pass.

Well, in summary, I believe that the next thing to happen on the prophetic calendar is the snatching away of the church and the rapture. The Antichrist will appear on the scene to somehow bring the world into an understanding of what has happened. He will offer a peace plan to the world protection of Israel. Then after three and a half years, he is going to betray them, demand to be worship. And the abomination that brings desolation will occur, resulting in unprecedented desolation throughout the last half of the Tribulation, where Satan tries to destroy Israel through the Antichrist and his vast armies a time. Jeremiah 30, verse four and following calls, "the times of Jacob's trouble." Then Jesus will return as promised, in power and great glory as the King of kings, the Messiah of Israel. He will crush Satan, Israel will repent, be reconciled to Jehovah, be finally restored to their land, he will establish his millennial kingdom on earth, all at the end of Daniel's 70th week. And again, I would argue that God is not finished with Israel, even to this day, they are his beloved enemy. Isaiah 62, beginning of verse 11, says, "Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth, 'Say to the daughter of Zion, Lo, your salvation comes. Behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. And they will call them, the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, and you will be called, sought out, a city not forsaken.'" Today, the people of the world, especially our political leaders, have absolutely no understanding why the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the most disputed piece of real estate in all of the world. And there is a reason for that. According to Scripture, a Jewish Temple is going to be built there next to Islam's Dome of the Rock. And that temple is the epicenter of two opposing kingdoms, kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. And we see this all through Bible prophecy, including what we've just studied here in Daniel nine. O, dear friends, what an unfathomable blessing it is to be a part of the Kingdom of God, amen? And to know that God is sovereign over all things, he is working his plan, and he's given us somewhat of a template to let us see where things are going. I mean, we can't be precise with a lot of these things, but what we can be precise about is Jesus is coming again, he is going to make the crooked straight, he is going to take us unto himself, and we are going to enjoy him forever. And during this Thanksgiving season, I pray that you will contemplate these things, this time when his kingdom will come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And I pray that all of you are ready to see Jesus. Because dear friend, one day every knee is going to bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. We're promised that and you will see him one day. And when you do, you will see him either in terror or in triumph. You will see him either as your judge and executioner or your Savior and Lord. I just pray that all of you who love Him and long for his return will express your gratitude. Not just this Thanksgiving season, but every day of your life, because that will be the theme of our song throughout eternity. Let's pray together.

Father, thank you for your Word. And even though there are always things within it, especially in the context of eschatology that we can't be certain of, but certainly, we can be certain that you are in control. You have a plan to ultimately bring glory to yourself and to think that we are somehow part of that plan, what an amazing truth. And so we give you thanks, we give you praise. And for those that may not know you as Savior and Lord, even though they may have some religious ideas and do some religious things, Lord, I pray that if they're not truly born again, will you be merciful to them? Bring conviction to their heart and save them by your grace? And may we be instruments of your righteousness to that end. We thank you. We give you praise. Even so, Lord Jesus come quickly. Amen.