Continuation of post #48
Yes we do need to get organized and lay some gound work which I did in the post that got lost because of the crash. We need to first realize what was prophesied about the Messiah. Two completely different portraits were described of a coming Messiah by the Old Testament prophets, for those that lived prior to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, it was difficult for them to understand. They saw the two differences but supposed two different people, they missed the connection.
One portrait depicts Him as a humble servant, who would suffer for others and be rejected by His countrymen. This is in Isaiah 53. The other shows a conquering king with unlimited power, who suddenly comes to earth at the height of a global war and saves men from self-destruction. He places the Israelites who believe in Him as the spiritual and secular leaders of the world and brings in an age free of prejudice and injustice, this can be found in Zechariah 14 and Isaiah 9:6,7. The second was the most popular with the people since during Jesus's first advent the perspective of the people including the disciples was distorted by anti-Roman sentiment. They resented Roman authority and accepted the popular opinion that the Jews should have political autonomy. They wanted the kingdom now!
But political kingdom of God as described in Zechariah 14 and Isaiah 9:6,7 demanded a spiritual response first which most of the Jews refused to give (Matt.23:37). Even though the disciples had believed in Christ as Saviour, their preconceived ideas about the kingdom of God had kept them from comprehending Christ's teaching. They also had missed the significance of His rejection by Israel and, therefore, had failed to notice a major shift in His message.
Christ presented Himself to the Jews as the Son of David, the King of the Jews, the fulfillment of all God's unconditional covenants with Israel. When Israel refused to accept her rightful King, the promised earthly kingdom of God was postponed until the Millennium, which God will establish at His own perfect time (Acts 1:6,7), regardless of human acceptance or rejection (1Thess.5:1-2). The disciples were still thinking in terms of an immediate Jewish kingdom on earth after Jesus had already shifted His focus temporarily away from the Jews, who had rejected Him, to a new body of believers, the Church.
If Jesus fulfilled the Prophet Isaiah's prophecy about a "Suffering Servant," Zechariah's prophecy of a "Conquering King" will also be fulfilled. That is why we have a gap in time and the last week (Seventieth Week) of Daniel has not been fulfilled yet.
The prophet Daniel, while in captivity in Babylon, was given a precise timetable and sequence relating to the future events of the people of Israel. Daniel was told that there would be a certain number of years which would transpire between the time a proclamation was given which allowed the Jewish people to return from their Babylonian captivity back to Israel and the coming of the Messiah. This proclamation can be established according to Scriptural history in Nehemiah 2:1-10; Daniel 9:25,26. Also, archeologists have uncovered evidence of this same proclamation in the ancient Persian archives. From the time permission was given to return and rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the Temple until the Messiah would come as the Prince, the heir apparent to the throne of David, would be 483 years (69 weeks of years-483 years). When Jesus died anything having to do with Isareal and the kingdom was set aside temporarily, thus there is still a week in the prediction of Daniel that has not been fulfilled.
Not only was Daniel given specific years, but also a sequence of major historical events which cannot be denied. First of all, there was the proclamation given to the Jews to return from captivity and rebuild the Temple. After that, the Messiah would come as the Prince. Then the Messiah would be "cut-off," which is an idiom for being killed. After the Messiah was killed an army would sweep in and destroy the city and Temple which was rebuilt previously by the returned Babylonian exiles (Daniel 9). As I said before, Daniel's prophecy shows that whoever the Messiah was He had to appear before the city and the Temple were destroyed in A.D.70 by Titus of Rome.
To be continued.
