Let's examine this.
Daniel 9:27 is the last part of the Bible's most compelling prophecy
which foretold the exact year of Jesus' baptism and death, and even revealed
the meaning of His death–500 years before He was even born! Sir Isaac
Newton referred to this prophecy as "the foundation stone of the Christian
religion." Contained in Daniel 9:24-27,
it forms the basis of our web presentation entitled, "The Spectacular
Prophecy Which Nostradamus Missed" which you can access from our home
page. What follows is a brief summary of what we study in depth in
that presentation.
The prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 spans
"seventy weeks" of years (490 years) beginning with "the command to restore
and build Jerusalem" issued in 457 B.C. Sixty-nine weeks (483 years)
later, in 27 A.D., "the Messiah" (literally in Hebrew, "the anointed one")
would come, according to the prophecy. Daniel
9:25 Amazingly, the Bible specifically dates only one event in
Jesus life–His baptism–at which time Jesus was indeed "anointed" with the
Holy Spirit and thus became "the Messiah"–in "the fifteenth year of the
reign of Tiberius Caesar," or 27 A.D., the exact year prophesied in Daniel
9:25! (Luke 3:1; etc.) See Chart
1.
The prophecy further reveals that the "Messiah shall be cut off, but
not for Himself." Daniel 9:26 Just
as prophesied, Jesus was crucified "not for Himself," that is, not for
anything He had done wrong, but "for our sins." 1
Corinthians 15:3; etc.
The final verse of the prophecy, Daniel 9:27,
says, "he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle
of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering." When
this final "week" (seven years) of the 490-year prophecy began in 27 A.D.,
God sent the long-awaited and promised Messiah to His people as Jesus was
baptized and began His messianic mission. Just three and a half years
later ("the middle of the week"), which was 31 A.D.,
Jesus was crucified, bringing the Old Testament system of animal sacrifices
to an end just as Daniel had prophesied. Matthew
27:50,51 See Chart 2.
One more thing. Verses 25-27 of this prophecy all follow exactly
the same pattern–they each start with a statement about the Messiah, and
end with a statement about Jerusalem. The Messiah will come,
which occurred in 27 A.D (v. 25); will be "cut off" and "shall bring an
end to sacrifice," which occurred at His death in 31 A.D when He was sacrificed
for the forgiveness of our sins (vs. 26,27). Jerusalem will be rebuilt,
which occurred in 457 B.C. (v. 25); and will be desolated, destroyed, which
occurred in 70 A.D. under the Romans (vs. 26,27). See Chart
3.
Now, the supporters of the rapture theory essentially agree with this
historic interpretation of this spectacular prophecy up through verse 26.
But at that point they do two amazing things:
1. They break with the consistent pattern
established in the previous verses and convert the main character of
verse 27 from the Messiah to the antichrist! See Chart
4.
2. Without any warrant in the text itself
for doing so, they arbitrarily insert a 2000-year gap between verses 26
and 27, severing the final seven years of this prophecy and moving them
all the way down to the end of time, thus creating a final seven-year tribulation.
Furthermore, they insert a secret rapture of Christians prior to this seven-year
tribulation, another creation of the interpreters for which there is not
even the slightest hint in the text itself. See Chart
5.
The rapture theory thereby seriously distorts the beautiful unity, symmetry
and message of the Bible's most compelling prophecy. If you would
like to experience the deeper beauty and power of this prophecy, we recommend
that you study our presentation, "The Spectacular Prophecy Nostradamus
Missed," which can be accessed from our home page.
