Day 9: The World’s Most Prophetic Book – Part 3c
The evidence you never heard.
Bible References (NIV)
21. while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.
22. He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding.
23. As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:
24. “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city 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 Place.
25. “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
26. After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. 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.
27. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him. ”
21. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
26. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”
27. And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
44. He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
45. Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
Devotional
Today, we conclude the topic of prophecy by looking at an amazing prediction from the Bible about WHEN the Messiah would come.
The Book of Daniel is one of the most loved books of the Bible due to its many predictions. The purpose of many of these is to give us a ‘big picture overview’ of what is going to happen in the future. However, there are many very detailed predictions also. The Scripture you just read from Daniel 9 is an example.
The video clip you’re about to watch explains this Scripture – so I won’t repeat the details here. I only want to note that, while some claim a perfectly accurate fulfilment, in this case I can’t prove that to you. I note this because honesty around details is important – while I also don’t want to confuse you. This prediction may well have been 100% accurate in its timing, but we are now living another 2000 years later on. As in the video, there are four timing options. However, what’s of note is that in even the ‘worst scenario’ with this prediction – which crosses a period of 500 years and is also clearly written in poetic format (to note that) – this still undeniably takes us to Jesus which is the whole point! In all scenarios it’s miraculous. With thousands of years to choose from Daniel makes a prediction that ends up having a starting point almost 100 years after his own death, that then spans almost 500 years – to show us who the Messiah is – and we find ourselves looking at Jesus!
What then is the purpose of the prophecies we see fulfilled in the Scriptures? What do they tell us?
Firstly, God is outside of time. They evidence something of who God is. He isn’t a material being, confined to time, space and matter. He is instead the timeless, spaceless, non-material one – who created time, space and matter. As Genesis 1:1 puts it, “In the beginning” (time) “God made the heavens” (space) “and the Earth” (matter).
Secondly, God’s hand is behind the Bible. Like in the Bible verses you read again from 2 Peter 1, God must have inspired the hearts and minds of those who wrote the books of the Bible to achieve what we have. We therefore have, in the Bible, a unique ‘revelation’ of what God is like.
Thirdly, despite the evil and suffering of our world, the fulfilled predictions show us that God does still have a plan and is in control. Put differently, there is hope! God isn’t freaking out, as if he had lost control of his creation. Despite our evils, God has a plan that is still going to work. So, when The Bible tells us about the final judgement, and the end that then comes to all suffering and evil – there is a basis for believing this.
It’s an amazing gift. There is a God. There is a plan – and there is therefore a reason to live with hope no matter our circumstances!
Video clip: The World’s Most Prophetic Book – Part 3c — 4mins
Reflection questions
- With the evidence we just looked at considered, why might some sceptics still suggest that no Biblical predictions have ever been fulfilled as a miracle?
- In noting again how many of the predictions have pointed to Jesus, what is the significance of this?
- What do the predictions in the Bible mean to you?
For prayer
“Thank you, God, for including things in your book that simply blow our minds when studied. We are humbled in our scepticism and stand amazed.”
related topics
coming up in our next devotion
Day 10: A Seemingly Crazy Claim – Part 4a
Jesus claimed to be God visiting Earth! This claim is so radical that some sceptics of the Bible have suggested that Christians have misunderstood Jesus. If we study the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we see that Jesus often avoided making a direct claim to be the ‘Son of God’.