Participants: Shakeela Yasuf
Series Code: DOA
Program Code: DOA000014
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00:41 As-Salaam-Alaikum to our Muslim brothers and sisters,
00:45 shalom to our Hebrew cousins, 00:47 and peace be upon you to our Christian friends. 00:50 Welcome to "The Descendants of Abraham." 00:54 We pray that you will be blessed with us 00:59 for the rest of this program. 01:00 And we're gonna try to answer 01:03 a question in the next few weeks, 01:06 that many of our Muslim brothers and sisters have 01:09 and that question is, can the Holy Bible be trusted? 01:14 And we pray that as we go through this journey 01:18 that you will see, it is a book that can be trusted. 01:23 Many of our Muslim brothers and sisters 01:26 as you read the Quran you will see 01:28 that it talks about the people of the book. 01:31 And that is another subject that we will touch on. 01:34 Who are the people of the book, and what is the book, 01:38 that-that they're asking about? 01:42 Let's first go to the Bible to 2 Peter 1:21, 01:50 let's read that together. 01:53 "Prophecy never came by the will of man, 01:56 but holy men of God spoke 01:58 as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." 02:02 And let's read another verse here 02:04 in 1 Timothy 3:16 and that verse says, 02:10 "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, 02:14 and is profitable for doctrine, 02:17 for reproof, for correction, 02:19 for instruction in righteousness." 02:24 The Holy Bible does not contradict itself. 02:27 Let's take a look at some of facts regarding the Bible. 02:31 There are 66 books in the Bible 02:34 and these 66 books were written on 3 different continents. 02:40 The Holy Bible was written in 3 different languages. 02:44 It was written by 40 people 02:47 who were from every walk of life. 02:50 It was written over approximately 1500 years. 02:55 Most of these people have never met each other 02:58 and yet the 6 books in harmony with each other. 03:03 The Bible does not contradict itself 03:06 as many people claim it does, it does not. 03:10 The book is indeed the Holy Word of God. 03:13 It would be impossible to have this kind of harmony 03:17 among 40 different authors. 03:21 God's Holy Spirit moved on these men 03:26 and in their own words, 03:30 the instructions that God gave them, 03:33 the word that He showed them, 03:35 they wrote down in their human language. 03:40 God will never trust His word to just one person. 03:44 Let's go to Proverbs 11:14 and it says this, 03:50 "Where there is no counsel, the people fall, 03:53 but in the multitude of counselors there is safety." 03:58 And again to the scripture of 2 Peter 1:19 and 20, 04:06 "And so we have the prophetic word confirmed 04:09 which you do well to heed 04:11 as the light that shines in a dark place, 04:15 knowing this first that no prophecy of scripture 04:19 is of any private interpretation." 04:24 Brothers and sisters, 04:26 the Holy Bible contains prophecies 04:28 given to us by our Father God. 04:32 The discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls 04:34 and I believe that was providential, 04:37 confirms that these prophecies were given hundreds of years 04:41 prior to the birth of Jesus Christ. 04:46 Over the next few weeks, 04:48 we will take a look at some of those amazing 04:51 and accurate prophecies. 04:54 You see brothers and sisters, 04:56 God does not leave us in darkness. 04:59 He will never leave us in darkness. 05:02 He guides us and He has given us His book, 05:05 the instructions that we need to follow Him. 05:10 The Holy Book is logical, 05:13 it appeals to the intellect and to the conscience. 05:18 The Holy Scriptures were given 05:20 to our Hebrew brothers and sisters first, 05:25 and they were supposed to spread God's message, 05:27 the gospel message to the rest of the world, 05:30 to all the nations about a coming Redeemer. 05:35 This Redeemer is the same one 05:37 that the Hebrews followed in the desert 05:39 in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. 05:47 That same pillar of cloud 05:50 and pillar of fire is with us today 05:53 in the form of these Holy Scriptures. 05:58 Today we will look at the prophecy 06:01 regarding the Messiah that was given to the Prophet Daniel. 06:05 This prophecy is recorded 06:07 in the 9th Chapter of the Book of Daniel. 06:11 We are going to look at Daniel 9:24-27 06:15 and we're going to break that down a little bit. 06:18 But before we move on, we must recognize 06:21 that in Bible prophecy one day equals one year. 06:27 So we will look at what the Bible teaches us 06:31 in the Book of Numbers 14:34 and the Book of Ezekiel 4:6. 06:38 Let's look first at Numbers 14:34, 06:43 "According to the numbers of the days 06:45 in which you spied out the land, forty days, 06:49 for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, 06:53 namely forty years, 06:55 and you shall know My rejection." 06:58 And now in Ezekiel, the Book of Ezekiel 4:6, 07:03 "And when you have completed them, 07:06 lie again on your right side, then you shall bear 07:09 the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. 07:13 I have laid on you a day for each year." 07:19 So following God's one day 07:22 equals one year prophetic principle. 07:25 We will take a look at the prophecy 07:27 as it is recorded in the Book of Daniel. 07:31 Now let's look at Daniel 9:24, it says, here, 07:37 "70 week are determined for your people 07:40 and for your holy city, 07:43 to finish the transgression to make an end of sins, 07:47 to make reconciliation for iniquity, 07:51 to bring in everlasting righteousness, 07:54 to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." 08:02 This part of the prophecy 08:04 is a synopsis of the whole prophecy. 08:08 It tells us that there's a certain time period 08:11 for the prophecy to be fulfilled. 08:13 It tells us what will happen 08:15 and why these things must take place. 08:19 And as we will see the events 08:21 and the timing of these events are very precise 08:26 and just as the Prophet Daniel recorded. 08:30 Let's us now read the rest of the breakdown of the prophecy 08:33 as outlined in Daniel 9:25-27 and we'll read all of these, 08:39 little at the time, breaking it down. 08:42 Let's go to Daniel 9:25 first, 08:46 "Know therefore and understand, 08:49 that from the going forth of the command 08:52 to restore and build Jerusalem, 08:54 until Messiah the Prince, 08:57 there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, 09:01 the street shall be built again, 09:03 and the wall, even in troublesome times." 09:07 And now Daniel 9:26, "And after the sixty-two weeks, 09:14 Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself." 09:19 And now Daniel 9:27, 09:23 "Then he shall confirm a covenant 09:25 with many for one week, 09:27 but in the middle of the week 09:29 He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering." 09:35 So we see here that there are 70 weeks 09:40 which equals 490 days, which equals 490 years. 09:46 Because going by the year, 09:49 day year principle, prophetic principle. 09:52 Now we need to know 09:53 when the 490 years of the prophecy beings. 09:59 Verse 25 gives us the answers. 10:03 It says that from the time 10:05 that the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem 10:10 is given until the Messiah appears 10:14 shall be 69 weeks or 483 days 10:19 which equals 483 years. 10:23 That command was given by King Artaxerxes, 10:27 the Persian King in 457 B.C. 10:31 You can read the decree for yourself 10:34 in the Book of Ezra 7:12-26, 10:42 Ezra 7:12-26. 10:45 And if we had time we'll read that right now 10:47 but you can, you can read that 10:49 and you will see the king's decree 10:51 to rebuild Jerusalem started in 457 B.C. 10:56 So 457 B.C. is our starting point 11:00 for the rest of this prophecy. 11:03 So did the Messiah appear 11:07 at the end of the 69 weeks or 483 years? 11:13 Well, let's take a look, 483 years later, 11:17 would take us to the later part of 27 A.D. 11:21 So king, Persian King Artaxerxes 11:24 gave the command to rebuild in 457 B.C., 11:28 483 years later is 27 A.D. 11:33 And what happened in that year in 27 A.D. 11:39 Well, that is when Jesus the Christ was baptized 11:46 or anointed as the prophecy says, 11:48 anointing the Most Holy. 11:51 Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan River 11:55 by John the Baptist and also by God himself 12:00 when the-the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove 12:04 came upon Him in the River Jordan. 12:08 So the Messiah did appear at the end of the 69 weeks 12:15 or 483 years exactly as the Prophet Daniel predicted. 12:23 The only person that this prophecy fits is Jesus. 12:30 There is no one else that was around that this prophecy fits, 12:34 no one was at that time anointed or baptized, 12:39 just Jesus Christ came exactly on time. 12:44 The word Messiah means the anointed one. 12:49 At his baptism Jesus Christ was anointed by the Holy Spirit 12:55 and as God and-and God 12:58 as it is written in verse 24 and to anoint the Most Holy 13:02 and God anointed Jesus Christ 13:05 who was considered Most Holy. 13:10 Now the last week of the 70 weeks 13:13 of that prophetic period, let's take a look at that. 13:17 Let us take a look again at Daniel 9:27 13:21 and see what it say. 13:23 Daniel 9:27 says, "Then he shall confirm 13:27 a covenant with many for one week, 13:30 but in the middle of the week 13:32 He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering." 13:39 The week seven days which equals seven years is mentioned here 13:46 and that is the last week of the 70 week prophecy. 13:51 The seven year time period begins in 27 A.D. 13:56 and it ends in 34 A.D. 14:01 So what does the prophecy say 14:04 will take place in the seven year period? 14:08 As we have learned Jesus began His ministry 27 A.D. 14:15 and Jesus proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom of God 14:19 through the time that He walked on this earth. 14:22 In the Book of Mark 1:15, we read what Jesus say, 14:28 He says, "The time is fulfilled, 14:32 and the kingdom of God is at hand. 14:35 Repent and believe in the gospel." 14:41 He was reminding our Jewish brothers and sisters 14:45 that this prophecy of Daniel 9 14:47 which was being fulfilled exactly on schedule, 14:52 the Messiah was now dwelling among them as prophesied. 14:58 Three and half years after His baptism, 15:01 Jesus was crucified in 31 A.D. 15:06 So in the middle of the week just as the prophecy says, 15:11 he was cut off. 15:15 And in the middle of the week it also says, 15:19 he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. 15:24 So here it was just as the prophecy told us, 15:27 he was cut off and brought an end 15:30 to sacrifice and offering. 15:32 At the exact moment that Jesus Christ died on the cross, 15:39 we read in Matthew 27:50, 51 15:46 in the following account, 15:48 "And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, 15:53 and yielded up His spirit. 15:55 Then behold, the veil of the temple 15:58 was torn in two from top to bottom." 16:04 Brothers and sisters at the exact time that Christ said, 16:12 it is done, it is finished and died on the cross. 16:18 The veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 16:24 Now the reason it is mentioned in scripture from top to bottom 16:28 and so that we can know the man did not do this, 16:33 the veil was very heavy, it was very thick and high. 16:39 So man could not have done that it had to be God, 16:43 who tore that veil. 16:45 And that was to show us that it fulfilled the prophecy 16:49 that Daniel gave where it will bring an end 16:52 to sacrifice and offering. 16:54 The Lamb of God, who is Jesus Christ 16:59 was the final sacrifice and offering. 17:08 The end of sacrifices 17:11 in the Jewish temple came to a halt, 17:16 no more would God accept the sacrifices of animals. 17:22 As a matter of fact as we study the scripture 17:26 we will see that the sacrifice of the animals 17:29 truly would not take our sins away 17:33 but it pointed forward to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, 17:39 the Son of God, because it is only Him 17:43 that could remove our sins. 17:44 It is only His purity, His blood, 17:48 His cleansing blood that can remove our sins, 17:51 not the animals. 17:53 Those were just symbols for the true Lamb of God. 17:59 We now come to the last three and half years 18:03 of that seven year timeframe 18:06 during the remaining three and half years 18:08 after Christ was crucified, 18:11 the disciples of Christ obeyed His instruction to them. 18:15 In Matthew 10:5, 6 here is what Jesus told His disciples to do 18:22 before He departed from the earth. 18:25 He said, "These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, 18:29 saying, Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, 18:33 and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 18:37 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 18:46 Jesus Christ instructed His disciples 18:50 to go back to the children of Israel and remember 18:55 they also were Israelites, they were Hebrews, 18:59 they were Jewish and he said, 19:00 don't go outside, stay in Jerusalem, 19:04 take this gospel message even where after I live this earth, 19:08 after I'm crucified take this gospel message to the people. 19:17 When the apostles obeyed Christ 19:19 by sharing the gospel message with the Jewish nation, 19:24 unfortunately the Jewish Sanhedrin 19:28 rejected Jesus as the Messiah. 19:31 The people responded by stoning Steven 19:36 an apostle, disciple of Christ. 19:39 And they stoned him to death 19:41 and persecuted the followers of Christ. 19:46 Many of these men were eye witnesses 19:49 to the miracles of Jesus 19:52 and share their personal experiences 19:54 with the Jewish people. 19:57 As Steven was being stoned to death, 20:00 God was with him. 20:03 In the Book of Acts 7:55, 56 20:09 we read the following account," 20:13 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, 20:17 gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, 20:21 and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, 20:26 "Look I see the heavens opened 20:29 and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. 20:36 Steven, as he was being stoned to death, 20:41 saw Jesus Christ who had risen at the right hand of God. 20:49 There is no reason for Steven to lie. 20:52 He was an eyewitness and he is passing this on to us 20:58 that Jesus did rise from the dead 21:01 that He was resurrected 21:03 and He is standing at the right hand of God 21:07 interceding for us. 21:11 The stoning of Steven 21:14 who was the first martyr for Christ 21:16 ended the 70 week prophecy written in Daniel 9. 21:21 The disciples then began taking the gospel message of salvation 21:26 to the other nations of the world 21:28 as they were instructed to do by Lord Jesus. 21:33 We read in Acts 13:46, 47, 21:40 "Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, 21:44 it was necessary that the word of God 21:47 should be spoken to you first, 21:50 but since you reject it, 21:52 and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, 21:56 behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 22:00 For so the Lord has commanded us, 22:03 'I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, 22:06 that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth."' 22:14 Brother and sisters as we saw 22:18 the final seven years of the prophecy of Daniel 9 22:22 was allocated to our Jewish brothers and sisters 22:26 as a chosen nation to hear 22:29 and accept the gospel invitation. 22:32 They were chosen when Moses went 22:35 and he brought them out of the land of Egypt 22:38 and they remain the chosen nation 22:42 and Jesus wanted to take this gospel message to them. 22:49 He gave them this time period to really repent 22:55 and to turn from their-- from their ways 23:00 and to take this message but unfortunately, 23:05 sadly they rejected Him as the Messiah. 23:10 The message of salvation 23:11 through Christ was then given to the Gentiles. 23:17 You know, when Daniel said that Christ would be cut off, 23:23 when He was crucified. 23:26 At that time, when Daniel was writing there was no, 23:32 no record of crucifixion, 23:35 no record at that time and yet we will see 23:39 as we continue to study the prophecy were specifically 23:43 in the Book of Isaiah crucifixion was mentioned 23:46 and this cut off happened. 23:49 The Jewish nation now 23:50 was no longer the chosen nation of God. 23:55 After the stoning of Steven that end. 23:59 Now does that mean that the Jewish people 24:01 cannot be saved, absolutely not? 24:04 Anyone that accepts Jesus Christ as the Son of God, 24:08 as their Savior are counted spiritual Jews. 24:15 There is no longer chosen nation 24:18 but there is a chosen people. 24:21 Let's look at Galatians 3:27-29, 24:26 what he says about this, 24:29 "For as many of you as were baptized 24:31 into Christ have put on Christ. 24:34 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, 24:39 there is neither male nor female, 24:42 for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 24:45 And if you are Christ's then you are Abraham's seed, 24:50 and heirs according to the promise." 24:54 Isn't not a wonderful promise 24:56 that we have been given all of us? 24:59 Brothers and sisters stay with us, 25:02 we will be right back. 25:05 When you get to the Descendants of Abraham, 25:07 you can be sure that you're lighting 25:09 the way for all in search of the Creator God 25:13 and His message of love and forgiveness to all nations. 25:16 Thank you for your support and for your prayers. 25:20 All contributions are tax deductible. 25:22 Please visit us online today at www.descendantsofabraham.org 25:28 or write to us at the address you see listed on your screen. 25:31 All correspondence will be kept confidential. 25:36 You know, through this prophecy of the 490 years 25:39 we see how a compassionate loving God 25:43 gave the Israelites 490 years to repent of their sins, 25:50 to turn away from worshiping idols 25:52 to sacrificing their children 25:55 on the altar false gods and many of the sin-- 25:59 sinful practices that they picked up 26:02 along the way through the, 26:04 you know, after they went to the Land of Canaan. 26:08 And he pleaded with them to return 26:11 to the worship of the true God of Abraham. 26:16 Can the Bible be trusted? 26:19 Absolutely, yes it can. 26:22 It is a book, that is inspired by the Holy Spirit of God 26:26 and as you can see it proves 26:29 that Jesus the Christ is the Messiah. 26:34 Remember brothers and sisters, 26:36 this prophecy was given to Daniel 26:39 by the Angel Gabriel 500 years 26:43 before Christ even came to earth. 26:46 Let's look at the Book of Amos 3:7, 26:49 "Surely the Lord God does nothing, 26:51 unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.' 26:56 And then Deuteronomy 29:29, 26:59 "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, 27:02 but those things which are revealed belong to us 27:06 and to our children forever, 27:08 that we may do all the words of this law." 27:12 I know that the information 27:14 and interpretation of this prophecy of Daniel 9 27:16 that was shared with you today. 27:18 It's a lot of information 27:20 and I don't expect you to absorb it all. 27:23 So we hope that you will go to our website, 27:26 contact us, email us 27:28 and we will be happy to answer any questions for you. 27:31 This information will be up 27:33 on the website in a couple of weeks. 27:35 God bless you and keep you 27:38 and we hope to see you next week. |
Revised 2014-12-17