Do the Math, 2009 Palm Sunday Matt Cassidy 4/5/2009 Daniel 9; Luke 19:28-44

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1 Do the Math, 2009 Palm Sunday Matt Cassidy 4/5/2009 Daniel 9; Luke 19:28-44 Dear God, We lift up next week to you, Resurrection Sunday, and it is going to be a special time for us here at Grace Covenant Church because we have never had enough room for people. Now we have these big banners on the sides of the building asking people that if they are hunting for something more to come join us. I know You are calling them to hunt for something more. So, our faith and our hope is in that. We come to You on Your field, the spiritual field. So we are talking to You about it. I ask You help us remember those people who raised their hands that we remember to pray for people this week, that in our fasting and hunger that would remind us to call out to You and that our appetite would be for Your glory and Your kingdom and Your values. Next week, that we would see miraculous things in the hearts of people. We won t have to see it, but that they would take place. So we are emphasizing that it is only through Your power breaking into the pride of hearts that causes transformation to take place. That is where we are asking You to help us play a part in that by talking to You about it throughout this week. We have great expectations for next week because we have great expectations in You. We pray this in Your name. Amen. Daniel 9:20- Turn to Daniel 9 and I want to show you some fun stuff that relates to a lot of our singing today. While you are turning there, I have an introduction which I am not particularly proud of but it will suffice. It is about a guy named George and he lives in Jerusalem. He has lost hope in God fulfilling his dreams. His dreams are godly dreams. He is a neat guy who always cares about other people before himself. Here is how you lose hope, generally speaking. You lose it one straw at a time. You know the figure of speech that it only took a straw to break the camel s back? It wasn t one straw but a bunch of straws; it took just one more straw. Do the Math, 2009 Page 1 of 11

2 This guy, George s last straw is that he lost his donkey. This is centuries ago. That had been his donkey for about 30 years, his whole adult life, and then it died. It took him three days to get up the nerve to go out and buy another colt. Nobody is relating to this introduction really. I told you it is not an introduction I am particularly proud of. Okay, let me switch to another introduction years ago (how about that for specificity) there was a prophet named Daniel and he too was out of hope. In his teens, he saw his city Jerusalem pummeled by the Babylonians. While the city was being destroyed, the adults were being killed and even children who were expendable they were not the pretty ones and the smart ones. Daniel and a handful of his friends were drug off to Babylon, the capital, and attempts were made to brainwash these young adults into buying into the culture of the Babylonian empire. At this early age, with all this loss of innocence, Daniel still survived several kings and he served under them because God blessed him. He was an honorable man. Now, towards the end of his life, probably in his 80 s, he is done. He cannot hope anymore. He has seen what Israel has done to herself and he has seen that she turned her back on God. God allowed this to take place. He is wondering if God s promises are still true, and if God still loves His people, and if God still loves that holy city on the hill, called Jerusalem. So, what does a godly man do who is out of hope, who is wondering about the next day, who has lived through too much and wonders if anything will matter after all? He prays. In Daniel 9:15 you see Daniel pray a wonderful prayer, a model prayer for us. Daniel 9:15 19 Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us. :17-19 Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name. Do the Math, 2009 Page 2 of 11

3 So, Daniel prays this righteous prayer, praying towards God s nature and so that God could brag about His holy city and His holy people again, that He would intervene and save them like He did back in the days of the Egyptians. In this moment of desperation, when Daniel is dwindling in his hope, God answers Daniel s prayer the way God answers hopelessness, He answers it in a promise. You will see in the next few verses, starting with Daniel 19:20: 19:20-23 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for His holy hill ; while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, [the archangel] the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision. 9:24 Seventy sevens (or weeks, some translations read) are decreed for your people and your holy city There are six things which take place in these 70 7 s: - to finish transgression - to put an end to sin - to atone for wickedness - to bring in everlasting righteousness - to seal up vision and prophecy and - to anoint the most holy. 9:25 Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven sevens, and sixtytwo sevens. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. So, how does God answer Daniel who is desperate and in need of some kind of help in believing in the future for Israel and for God s city, Jerusalem. God answers Daniel by giving him a promise. What is the promise? It is the promise that God gave to Adam, that He would make things right and get His people back to the garden. It was clarified (it is called progressive revelation) with David that there would be a descendant of David, that he would be a king and he would reign forever. The anointed one, the promised one, that is what the word Messiah means, and Daniel hears this. Do you remember what I said to Adam? Do you remember what I said to David? I am telling you this, that you can mark your calendar. Know and Do the Math, 2009 Page 3 of 11

4 understand this. 7 weeks and then 62 weeks are going to take place. After that decree, 7 weeks and 62 weeks, the anointed one, the atonement will come and be announced. Let s look at what that looks like. This sermon is entitled Do the Math for a good reason because it says in verse 24: seventy sevens (that is a summary verse; that is the whole thing, all 70, this is what happens): to finish transgression; to put an end to sin; to atone for wickedness; to bring in everlasting righteousness; to seal up vision and prophecy; and to anoint the most holy. That is going to take place over 70 weeks, or a week is called a prophetic year. A prophetic year is 360 days; it is twelve months, but 30 days per month. It is easy to remember. It doesn t make work with the sun but it makes easy prophecy from Genesis to Revelation, a prophetic year is 360 days. So it is 70 7 prophetic years. Look at Daniel again. I will summarize this in just a second. The Calculation of 69 weeks until the Messiah Look at verse 25 again where 24 is being made even more specific. He says this: 9:25 Know and understand this: from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuilt Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven sevens, and sixtytwo sevens. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. There are 7 sevens and 62 sevens. Each one of those 7 s is representing again those prophetic years. So let s look at the math on this and this is what the math looks like. Two parts: How long will it take? When do we start counting how long? Part One: How long will it take? This is the calculation of the 69 weeks The Anointed One, when He comes,, the ruler, there will be 7 sevens, and 62 sevens. Those are prophetic years. So you do 7 (7) + 62 (7) = 483 prophetic years (360 day years). Are you with me? Three of you are and I appreciate that. The rest of you will catch up. Now we have to calculate actual days. There are 483 years and there are 360 days per year (prophetic years) that comes out to 173,880 actual days, using prophetic years. But those are not solar years, Matt. I know. I have another slide. So we take the 173,880 days and now we are going to make them into solar years so we can work our calendar more effectively. We divide those by (how Do the Math, 2009 Page 4 of 11

5 long it takes for the earth to go around the sun) and that comes out to 476 years and 25 days. Remember that. Three of you are writing this down write that down. That is a summary statement. The Decree How long do we have to wait? 476 years and 25 days, to the day of the decree. Let s fill it in and make our own living translation. Daniel 9:25 Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven sevens. Let s draw a line through that and then write over it instead the 476 years + 25 days. Now, we have done the math on how long. The next part is when do we start counting how long? Daniel 9:25 Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and Rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be 476 years + 25 days. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. So, we are looking for a decree to rebuild the city with a trench and streets in times of trouble. Dating Nehemiah s Decree To know when that takes place, we can find a decree that is given in Nehemiah 1 and 2. You might know the story of Nehemiah. Nehemiah is given a decree from King Artaxerxes to go and rebuild the city, rebuild the walls of the city. So, we can see that in Nehemiah but we have to figure out what date the decree took place because when the date happens, that is when you start counting 476 years and 25 days. To do that, we go to the Bible as a source of one reference point. That says in Nehemiah 2, that it is the 20 th year in March (Nisan) of Artaxerxes. When did Artaxerxes begin his reign? Then we can count 20 years. Artaxerxes is the son of Xerxes. We know from archeology that Xerxes died in December of 465. So Xerxes dies December, 465, and Artaxerxes (the son of Xerxes) starts the very next year, 464 (we are counting backwards because it is B.C.). Then we saw in Nehemiah that we want to add 20 years to that. So in the month of Nisan (March 5, 444 B.C.) is the starting date because that is when the decree was given so that we could start there and count out 476 years + 25 days. Let s do the chart. It is tax month and you cannot get away from it. You come to church and we are just doing taxes. Do the Math, 2009 Page 5 of 11

6 Calculate from the date of the decree to Nehemiah: (1) Decree: March 5, 444 B.C. (2) Add 476 years - 25 days Note: 1 B.C. to A.D.1 = 1 year (We add a year because there is no year zero. There is 1 B.C. and 1 A.D.; there is no year 0; so we have to add a year to that.) When you do that math, it comes out to (3) Result: March 30, A.D. 33 Now, you are spell bound with anticipation because you wonder What happened on March 30, 33 A.D.? Here is how you find that out. First, you go to the science of astronomy, which is an exacting science, and in the field of astronomy, you can know the exact lunar phases of any date, any time in human history and in the future. Lunar phases are important because the Jewish calendar is set by full moons, half moons, quarter moons, and those sorts of things. So the first thing you do is check out astronomy. That will give us one bearing. Second, extra-biblical, historical information Josephus in commenting about John 2:20 talks about the temple being completely built. At this time, it took 47 years to do that according to Josephus. So, using that math, March 30, A.D. 33 has to come between 27 and 35 A.D., those years. Third, only 3 times in the adult life of Jesus, did Passover occur on a Friday. That is important because Passover is related to the fulfillment of this and only 3 times did that ever happen. One of those times was in the week of March 30, A.D. 33. So, because of those three reference points, kind of triangulating on this one time and place, if you will turn in your Bibles to Luke 19, you will find out exactly what happened on March 30, 33 A.D. as the fulfillment of 476 years and 25 days from the decree that Artaxerxes gave to Nehemiah. Luke 19:20-40 Let me show you how this rolls out. Luke After Jesus had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As He approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, saying to them, Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, Why are you untying tit? tell him, The Lord needs it. Do the Math, 2009 Page 6 of 11

7 So why is Jesus, who is on the Mount of Olives, which is across the street. When you go to Israel, it is a little disappointing. It is across the street, like from here to Taco Cabana. Jesus says Go get a colt for me to ride in on. He has walked this route countless times. Why does He get a colt? Because He wants to refer to Zechariah 9:9 and I will read it to you. Jesus knows what day it is and it is not just that it is March 30, 33 A.D. He knows that in Zechariah it says this: Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See your king {or King} comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Jesus knows who He is and He knows what day it is. It is the day that He is supposed to ride in on a colt that has never been ridden into the city because it is His triumphal entry the triumphal entry of the Christ. That is a title, the Messiah, Jesus. It is Palm Sunday, March 30, 33 A.D., the tenth of Nisan. Let s pick it up where we left off. Luke 19:32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as He had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, Why are you untying the colt? This is my buddy, George, that I was using before (the first introduction). He is wondering why somebody is taking his colt. 19:34 They replied, The Lord needs it. George responded Okay. 19:35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As He went along, people spread their cloaks on the road... Because He is a king and they put palms down ergo Palm Sunday. 19:37 When He came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen Him do. [now quoting Psalm 118:26] Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! 19:39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, Teacher, rebuke your disciples! They are calling you king and quoting a Psalm. They think you are the promised one. 19:40 I tell you, He replied, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out. Do you know what day it is? You don t. It is like if the donkey could talk, and that happened once before, but if the donkey could talk, he would say If they don t cry out, I will. The stones will play back up for me because we know what day today is. We know that this is 476 years and 25 days after the Do the Math, 2009 Page 7 of 11

8 decree of Artaxerxes when he told Nehemiah to go build the city. Do you have no idea what is happening here today? The Pharisees said No. We don t. Tell them to stop. If that isn t spooky enough, how this whole thing lays out to the very day, friends, that it was promised to Daniel in his state of desperation if that isn t eerie for you, then listen to this. The 10 th of Nisan in the inaugural Passover, the very first one, Israel was becoming a nation. This is the birthday of Israel, the original Passover, and listen to the instructions in Exodus 12:3-5. Exodus 12;3-5 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month [Nisan] they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers households, a lamb for each household. Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Just like the original Passover, on the 10 th of Nisan, each household took a lamb in the prime of its life, without spot, without blemish, absolutely perfect, because this lamb would be slaughtered so that the judgment of God would pass over them. This is why John the Baptist refers to Jesus as the Lamb of God who will come and take away the sins of the world. This household is God s household and God goes to His Son and says You will play that part. I will tell people 2000 years in advance + or 1 and then I will tell Daniel about 500 years in advance, that You are coming as the Lamb. That is what took place. So, Jesus in His triumphal entry goes down the Mount of Olives and goes up into the city, God s city Jerusalem, and they are all laying palms down and their cloaks down so that this little colt never touches the actual ground. Jesus knows about Daniel 9:26. He knows this fanfare will not last long because in Daniel 9:26 things change, much for the worse. It says this; Daniel 9:26 After the sixty-two sevens, [there are actually 69 7 s], the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. On Friday, that word cut off means slaughter for sacrifice and He will have nothing, not a friend. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. That is why in the Triumphal Entry story, if you look in Luke 19 again, verses 41-44, here is how Jesus responds, because Jesus knows what day it is. Luke 19:41-44 As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, If you, even you, had only known on this day [467 years and 25 days since the decree of Artaxerxes] what would bring you peace but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and Do the Math, 2009 Page 8 of 11

9 encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God s coming to you. The fulfillment of the promise I gave to Daniel that I gave to David that I gave to Abraham, and because you were sleeping during this great day, 70 A.D. Titus leads the Roman army and besieges the city of Jerusalem and lays waste to it. The temple is absolutely and completely destroyed just like God said to Daniel, through Gabriel, to you and me. Do you know what time it is? To the day He road into Jerusalem and the rocks would cry out if no one else would because even the rocks know what day it is. Conclusions Well, these are fascinating things. I was thinking about how to apply this to our lives. 1. How it applies to the Bible The first thing that I came to was how it applies to the Bible. This is a wonderful book, isn t it, with great detail, to the day. One of the reasons we at Grace Covenant Church apply a literal interpretation of the Bible is because of this kind of prophecy. When you read this kind of prophecy and God meant He fulfills it to the day, then that is how we should read prophecy. We don t read it allegorically. We don t try to dramatize it. We just take it for what it says. The reliability of the text itself do you know of any other book that is from God that tells stories with detail like this in specification that is b ringing to these details 500 years in advance, 1000 years in advance, and says Oh, it is going to look exactly like this? I don t think so because there is not any like it. The reliability of the Bible, in my opinion, is uncompromising. It is a subtle issue. It is like God is showing off sometimes. Do you ever feel like today, like this Palm Sunday, I know how things are going to roll out in the future and I am going to make sure that they do because I am Me. I am God. I can do that. And I am going to tell you what exact day it is. If you don t make anything out of it, I ll use a donkey and some rocks. I know these days, when we are without hope, and a number of people are, and we think of this 70 th week that will come, there are 69 weeks and then a 70 th week 7 years still remain. You see people who are dedicated to a literal interpretation of Christ s Second Coming, and when they put them on tv don t they always put some person who represents kind of a classic fool? They will put some blue haired old lady on tv who has a southern accent because you know what, how smart can you be if you have a southern accent? Geographical snobbery every type of prejudice is wrapped up into this little old woman. They say Well, you follow Jesus. Do the Math, 2009 Page 9 of 11

10 She says Yes, I do. They say And you think He is going to come back? She says I do. He is going to come back in glory. They pick that woman to scorn you and I, to make fun of what we believe. I ll ask you this about that little old lady with blue hair and a southern accent. She knows what time it is. People mocked people in Israel on March 30, 33 A.D. and they missed it then and they will miss it again. Know your time. 2. How it applies to God It says a lot about God, doesn t it? It says that when we talk about things like God s sovereign will, if you ever have gotten twisted with the sovereignty of God and the will of man, let me just help you understand maybe some of it like this. When this building was built, the slab was poured to exact specifications. When the super structure was erected and the load bearing walls were put in, it was to the plan that was rolled out almost a year in advance. There is a cross beam that goes across, holding up the major portion of the seats up there that was a quarter of an inch off. It was a huge I beam of steel that was put back on a truck and sent home because it was a quarter of an inch off. That was all planned in advance. The stuff like the color of the carpet and the paint on the walls and even the paintings hanging in our gallery, that is free will. We can do with that what we want. But God s sovereign will, oh, it is going to happen as sure as God said it would. March 30, 33 A.D., He made that happen. So whether people are moral or immoral; whether people choose to get in or get off, God used Artaxerxes, didn t He? I need a starting date. How about you? You don t even like Me. You don t ever listen to me. Watch this. I ll make you, Artaxerxes, decree something to Nehemiah so we can get this thing running. Thy will be done --- so yes it will. 3. How it applies to us How it applies to us is simply in two different ways: One, those of you who have been worn down by the straws of life and I know that it is easy to slip into hopelessness and into despair and discouragement and even feeling you are a little embarrassed about some of the promises God has made and He seems to be overly patient in your opinion. This Do the Math, 2009 Page 10 of 11

11 passage is for all the Daniel s out there who need some kind of promise to hold on to. The promise is not the American Dream; the promise is God s dream and He has a plan to the day. You hold onto the promises of God. That is where you find your hope. That is where it is. The reason I picked George is that he is like George Bailey of Bailey Savings & Loan (It s a Wonderful Life). God baptizes the mundane. God sanctifies the every day. So, in the providence of God, He sent Clarence the angel to keep George s old donkey alive long enough so that when George buys a new one, it will not have been ridden. Then I will talk to George and say: George, I know you are praying these prayers of despair. They sound just like Daniel s old prayers. Can I borrow your donkey? I will need it tomorrow. George says: Huh? Next day, someone is untying his donkey. What was true for that donkey, what was true for those rocks, what was true for the men who said, Hosanna and put their cloaks down, what was true for the Pharisees who did not believe is true for you and is true for me. God s will be done. The question is this: Who will you be? Will you be one of those who put down palms for the coming king? Or will you be one of those who fold their arms and say, Be quiet. God says, Fine, I ll use the rocks. Aslan is on the prowl [reference to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe] always winter and never Christmas but now the spring has sprung. You and I live in a very strange time. Do you know what time it is? We are almost there. Dear heavenly Father, You let us of little faith to live here and now at the time when we get to see prophecies unfolded before our very eyes. Israel has a home again and its capital is Jerusalem. So God, I pray that we would be those who shout your name and long for your coming and hold to the promise of you returning. We will sound silly and even stupid to those around us but we are in great company. So God, give us the courage and the hope that comes from trusting in the things you have promised us and that you will fulfill those promises because that is the kind of King that you are. We pray this in Jesus holy name. Amen. Do the Math, 2009 Page 11 of 11