This verse (Daniel 9:27) encapsulates the focus of the seventieth week, which will be a time of great evil known at the tribulation period.
We have been studying Daniel 9:25-27.In these three verses is the timeline of the entire seventy week period (490 years), referred to in verse 24. Last time we looked at verse 26. We will pick up our study now in verse 27.
And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.
From this verse, the holy church of Christ has just departed in the rapture and only unbelievers are left. But in…
Abiding I believe is the key to receiving regular and many answers to prayer. For Jesus says to us in John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you desire, and it shall be done for you.” Abiding in Christ and in His words means to continue in them, that is, to continue believing them and living by them. Abiding also means to dwell with and to be connected to as a branch is to a vine. I conclude, therefore, that abiding in Jesus means that we are continually dwelling with Him and perpetually letting His life flow into us just as living sap flows from a vine to its branches; hence, it means that we are always sipping and tasting and drinking in His goodness, ever being satisfied with what we need and long for.
We have been studying Daniel 9:25-27.In these three verses is the timeline of the entire seventy week period (490 years), referred to in verse 24. Last time we looked at verse 25. We will pick up our study now in verse 26, which we will see as a gap of time between the sixty-ninth and seventieth week.
Daniel 9:26Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
Many do not agree that this is a gap of time; they (Preterists) believe that the events described here, and also in verse 27, are all in the seventieth week. And because they say that, since…
Here are some wonderful reason why we should want to receive answers to prayer—and I got a lot of help here from E. M. Bounds, a great author.
1. God’s answers to prayer shows evidence of the existence of God and give us proof of our right relationship with Him. Anyone who comes to God in prayer must believe, at least a little, that He exists (Heb. 11:6). But when He rewards us with an answer, we have unmistakable evidence of His existence. Says E. M. Bounds in his Possibilities of Prayer, “There is no proof so clear and demonstrative that God exists than prayer and its answers.”
Furthermore, when we receive answers from Him, it not only strengthens our own faith, but it plants the seed of faith in others around us who have witnessed His answers. This was Elijah’s expectation for the people of Israel—that when…
There will come a time (during the Tribulation) that evil will not be restrained—when the restrainer (the Holy Spirit) is “taken out of the way” and when evil dominates the world (2 Thess. 2:7-8). During that time, in his book, “What On Earth is Happening?” Ray Stedman wrote,
The arrogant pride of humanity will break out into the open as the Antichrist steps forth and claims to be God…Evil will reign in triumph…lawlessness will fill the earth…men and women will stubbornly refuse to repent. Fear will not drive humanity to prayer but to further defiance. The human race will not wish to be delivered but only to be destroyed. People will take no delight in good but will celebrate the triumph of evil.
But that has not happened yet, and will not happen until the Tribulation. As long as believers are in the world, evil will not be allowed to dominate. Stedman said,
[In this world now] only the good is really acceptable. Evil must dissemble and disguise itself to gain acceptance. Once evil is unmasked, it is rejected by the world. This fact alone is ample proof that even the massive power of evil that we see on every hand is still in check by the even more massive power of good… Evil is powerful, but hemmed in by forces of good.
As a Christian, I see so much evil going on in the world, and sometimes I get discouraged and can hardly see any good. But, as Stedan indicated, overall, only the good is acceptable, and evil is masked and sort of hidden—but still we can see the results of it. Evil is now kept in check because of the salt and light in Christians. As Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:13-14). “Salt [said Stedman] doesn’t merely add savor to food. It is also a preservative, halting the process of corruption.”
This puts a grave responsibility on us as Christians to be in the word and in prayer, so that we remain salty and light—so that evil will continue to be unmasked and hemmed in. I fear, and I can feel that we as Christians are becoming less and less salty and evil is becoming more and more bold. The spirit of Antichrist is on the rise. So, let us battle against it. He is coming soon!
I have been writing on the six things that will happen to Israel and to the city as a direct result of the seventy weeks (of years) according to the determined purpose of God (from Daniel 9:24).
The following article is an excerpt from this book.
Daniel 9:24
Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place.
These six things have been labeled as goals or accomplishments; however, we must also see them as the promises of God—things that will definitely happen as it has been decreed by God as Israel’s future.
Like the second clause, “to seal up” means to “make an end of” and it carries the idea of completion…
The following article is an excerpt from this book.
Generally speaking, to be earnest means to be sincere and serious. When one prays with earnestness, he prays showing deep sincerity or seriousness; thus, he is determined, fervent and intense in his prayers. And we could say that the reason one prays with such seriousness is because he finds that the need is so great and that prayer is so important, that it is the only way to find the answer or to satisfy the need.
Now when you have a longing, a craving, and a yearning to satisfy a need, that is the desire of prayer. It is what God puts in you. But if you want that desire to be fulfilled you must follow up that desire by praying with earnestness. For when you pray with earnestness, what you are doing is you are putting that desire to work…
The following article is an excerpt from Prayer A to Z.
The way I see it, the way God gets a hold of us and brings us to into prayer is by first creating in us a desire for Himself and for what He wants to give us by showing us that we have a need or a lack. Next, He, in His own way, gets a hold of us and shows us that He can fill that lack; He shows us that He is the great provider and lover. As He desires us and draws us to Himself He continues to create in us a greater and greater desire for Him. The more we are united with Him in love the more we desire Him and what He wants to give us; hence, the more we have a desire to pray.
Since the election of the new President (Jan. 20), I’ve been feeling rather sad. And I’m wondering why. I guess I feel that righteousness in the country and in the world is not being done. Good people are being stopped and stepped on, and bad people are being praised. The media, who are supposed to just report the news are really Satan’s instruments of deception. Our new president who has taken every step to prop up sin and to put our country on a path to destruction, is being praised and worshipped as if he is the new Savior of mankind.
Meanwhile, our former President, who has done so many good things for our country—in spite of being harassed and ridiculed every minute of every day for the last four years—is now being impeached. For what? For inciting a riot, which he did not do. He was trying to bring justice to an unjust election.
So, this is why I am feeling sad. But I must break out of this mood, with prayer, and look toward heaven. I can be comforted by the good news (in 1Thess. 4:15-17) that soon …
The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Such wonderful news to think about!
Though we live in the world we must not let the world get us down. For we have been raised up with Christ and we sit with Him in the heavenly places. And He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Though we should pray for the country and the world, we must set our mind on things above where Christ is, not on all the things of this world. For our real life is hidden with Christ in God. Soon, when He comes and we see Him, we will be revealed with him in glory (Eph. 1:3; Col. 3:1-4).
Stephen Nielsen 