in this three-week Christmas series, we will study the rich prophecy of Immanuel found in Isaiah chapters 7 through 9. In this first installment, we examine the promise of Immanuel given to king Ahaz and to the Jewish people, during a time of impending invasion by the joint forces of Aram and Israel. The king of Judah in this scene stubbornly maintains a disposition of unbelief. Therefore, LORD confronts him of this unbelief with a double sign, one for the immediate deliverance from these two enemies and another for the ultimate deliverance from sin and judgment through the virgin born Immanuel. The God who is able (both omnipotent and omniscient) to deliver us from all our ills calls us to repent and believe in Him. There is a breathtaking deliverance for the soul for all who believe and repent.
1 Thess. 5:8-10, The Wrath of God
The wrath of God is what marks the final seven year period of Daniel 9, also known as the tribulation period. This understanding provides the perspective by which we can understand where the Gentile church fits into the plan and the timeline of God in Daniel 9. God’s wrath is meant for His enemies, not His own people. This is confirmed in Revelation 7 where God seals the Jewish remnant to be protected from the onslaught of His judgments during the tribulation period. God also takes up His church to be removed from the world during this period. The church is removed from the earth before the final 70th heptad. The church belongs to the gap between the 69th and the 70th heptads of Daniel 9. All this means the rapture of the church and the commencement of the day of the Lord are imminent. They can occur anytime. The proper response to this news from 1 Thess. 5:8 is this: Be sober. May the Lord evermore wise us up to be sober-minded, always living in the reality of Jesus’ soon return for rapture.
Daniel 9:27, The Kingdom of God (Part 8): the Destruction of the Antichrist
God is powerful to end all evil in the world. The end of Satan is sealed with the destruction of his greatest and the vilest brainchild on earth, the Antichrist. With the demise of the Antichrist, we are assured all the more that our God has a definite power over the Devil and that he will not prevail over our God. This encourages us to pray, for God is more than able to do that which Satan opposes, to open blind eyes and soften hardened hearts. May the Lord evermore strengthen and empower us to depend on the almighty who vanquished the Devil and his minions. With this in mind, we delve into the final verse of this chapter which reveals the final heptad of years in the timeline of God for the history of the world for this age.
Daniel 9:25-26, The Kingdom of God (Part 7): Messianic Events
God’s timeline precisely pinpoints the time of the presentation of the Messiah as the King (“prince” is just another word for king). This is then followed by His death and other events, including the destruction of Jerusalem. The timeline of the sovereign God is simply amazing. May God persuade every heart to be humbled before His truth, and may they repent, embrace Jesus as the only Savior and Lord, be delivered from their sins, and enter into life eternal in the kingdom of God.
Daniel 9:24, The Kingdom of God (Part 6): Divine Timeline
God has a plan with a timeline. In this breathtaking prophecy, we see the rich backdrop against which the seventy-sevens are to be understood as years that mark out a very particular timeline for the Jewish remnants and the rationale for this timeline that stretches Daniel’s expectation of restoration from seventy years since captivity to four hundred ninety years. What the new timeline accomplishes is the full restoration of the people of God with the completion of judgment, true repentance, atonement for sin, everlasting righteousness, and the millennial temple. This is the God whom we worship and serve, the God of wisdom and order who has a plan and a timeline. He is the reason for the security that we enjoy no matter the circumstances in this life.
Daniel 9:1-23, The Kingdom of God (Part 5): Prayer
Prayer is God’s ordained means of bringing His will to pass on earth. Daniel perceives this from his study of the Bible and earnestly prays with confession and repentance. Prayer is still the means by which God accomplishes His purposes in the world today. May the Lord build us up to be a church of prayer. In this sermon, we also cover the five features of the Antichrist that found in Daniel 8.
Daniel 7:13-14, The Kingdom of God (Part 4): the Son of Man
This vision of Daniel reveals more about the Messiah, the stone of chapter 2, as the Son of Man. He is the One who receives the eternal and indestructible kingdom of God and shares it with His people. Who is the Son of Man? What is His kingdom? And who are His people with whom He reigns? Listen to learn more.
Daniel 7:1-14, The Kingdom of God (Part 3): the Antichrist
Daniel receives a second vision which expands on the first vision regarding the kingdoms of the world and the climactic conclusion with the indestructable and eternal kingdom of God. Several new elements are unveiled in this vision, including the prophecies regarding the antichrist. His final judgment is also revealed, in which the LORD, the righteous Judge, will recompense him for his deeds according to the books. The only Lawgiver and Judge will deal with every last sinner according to His perfect and uncompromised justice.