It says that His death would be "not for Himself." Daniel 9:26
In an even earlier prophecy God revealed, "For the transgression of My
people He was stricken.... He shall bear their iniquities." Isaiah
53:4-11 The New Testament writers gave the same testimony concerning
His death–"Christ died for our sins..." "that He might bring us to God."
1 Corinthians 15:3; 1 Peter 3:18
Simply put, this means that the death of Jesus Christ, the divine/human
Messiah, somehow made it possible for you to come to God with a clean slate,
as though you had never sinned against God or another person in your entire
life. It means further that God is willing to continue granting you
this same status before Him forever, and to have you live with Him forever,
because of what Jesus accomplished for You by His death.
It's an incredible claim, to be sure. But that's the very reason
that this prophecy we're studying, Daniel 9:24-27, predicted 500 years
in advance the exact years of Jesus' baptism and death , so that once these
events occurred we might then have confidence in the even greater revelation
in this prophecy that His death was "not for Himself," but rather in some
way paved the way for us to be in harmony with God so that we might live
with Him forever. What this means is expanded further in our studies
entitled: "Star Wars," "The Good News/Bad News Path to Personal Peace,"
and "The Truth of the Spotted Leopard" which can be accessed from our home
page.
The prophecy further stated that Jesus' death would "bring an end to
sacrifice and offering." Daniel 9:27 This occurred remarkably at
the very moment Jesus died. At that very moment the sacred veil that
shielded from view the most holy precincts of the Jewish temple was mysteriously
and supernaturally torn in half–the divine announcement that Jesus' death
brought the Old Testament system of animal sacrifices forever to an end.
Matthew 27:50,51; Everything
those sacrifices had pointed forward to had found their fulfillment in
the death of Jesus for us. Hebrews 10:4,12,18
The death of Jesus means much, much more than these few, abbreviated
paragraphs could convey. But it doesn't mean less. Jesus Christ
died so you could be forgiven and have a relationship with God that will
result in eternal life. And the prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 provides
sufficient evidence for
you to be able to experience this liberating truth for yourself.
Would you like to accept
His forgiveness and experience its meaning for you right now?
As spectacular as the predictions in Daniel
9:24-27 are–fortelling over 500
years in advance the exact years that Messiah Jesus would be anointed
at His baptism and then would
be killed–equally if not more
significant are the insights it provided about the meaning of His
death.
