Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
The Book of Daniel chapter 9 predicted the very time that Israel's Messiah was to appear. Galatians spoke of it as "when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law" (4:4). There was no excuse for the leaders in Jerusalem not to have known and been ready to welcome Him.
But what happened? When that handful of "wise men from the East" came "to Jerusalem" asking, "Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him" (Matt. 2:1, 2), neither the chief priests nor any of the leaders knew what they were talking about.
There were a few individuals who were alert, such as Elisabeth, the shepherds near Bethlehem, old Simeon, and "one Anna, a prophetess" (Luke 2:25-38). They knew what was going on and they welcomed the Baby of Bethlehem. They understood the prophecy of Daniel 9, "the 69 weeks" or 483 years "unto Messiah the Prince" (vss. 24-26). Even old Simeon understood what even Joseph and Mary could not grasp at that time, that "in the midst" of the 70th "week" "shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself" (vs. 36). Thus he understood that the cross was coming. In tender love for Mary's soul and in an effort to prepare her, he warned her at the dedication of the Baby Jesus, "A sword [Goliath's "romphaia" sword] shall pierce through thy own soul also" (Luke 2:35).
What's the point? There were some people who understood Daniel and were ready to welcome the birth of their Messiah at His first coming. But they were pitifully small in number, and it all went right over the heads of the Israel leadership!
God has taken great pains not to tell us the very time of Christ's second coming. The last thing He wants from His people is a superficial "preparation" based on fear. In the days immediately before Christ's second coming, when the Book of Revelation will be completely fulfilled, the things of this world will pale into insignificance. When you study the Book of Daniel that's the way they will appear.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 9, 2002.
Copyright © 2013 by "Dial Daily Bread."
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