Daniel 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. 6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? 7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swore by him that lives for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. 8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my lord, what shall be the issue of these things? 9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed till the time of the end. 10 Many shall purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but they that are wise shall understand.
From the time Daniel wrote these words until the beginning of their fulfillment was less than 100 years. He was told to seal it because it didn’t apply to anybody until it started to come to pass. The important phrase is “and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished”. The prophecy has to do with the holy people, this has to be the Israelites. “All these things shall be finished”, the power of the Jews was completely broken in 70AD. The sacrifices where finished, the Temple was completely destroyed according to Josephus, an eyewitness, he wrote nothing was left of Jerusalem after 70AD, the only thing left in the area was a Roman garrison to guard against any Jews coming back to rebuild. The area was uninhabited for centuries. It was a monk in the dark ages that claimed the wailing wall is part of the old temple.
Revelation 22:10 And he said to me, Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this Book; for the time is at hand.
From the time John wrote these words until now, has been about 2,000 years. Is the Bible inspired? Does the One who inspired it have a correct concept of language? Does He know how to convey ideas? Does He mean what He says, or could black be white, good the same as bad, soon actually mean far? If we allow that soon, quickly, at hand, this generation, etc. actually means 2,000 years anything is possible. The very words in the Scriptures are important and can’t be thrown away lightly. Maybe He said what He meant to say, maybe this generation meant the generation that heard the words. Maybe the interpretation that soon means over 2,000 years is flawed, it wouldn’t be the first mistake we have made and it won’t be the last.
Daniel 9:23 "At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision: 24 "Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy. 25 "Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. 26 "And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate. " Who brought an end to sacrifice and offering? Christ brought an end to the need for the sacrifice and offerings of the Hebrews. It took 30 more years for the physical end of sacrifices. Joshua 21:43 So the Lord gave to One argument for Mathew 21:33 "Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. 34 "Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. 35 "And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. 36 "Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. 37 "Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' 38 "But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.' 39 "So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 "Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?" 41 They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons." 42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes'? 43 "Therefore I say to you, the 44 "And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder." 45 Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them. This isn’t just a story, it is prophecy. Even the Pharisees knew Christ was talking about them with this parable. Did they repent, did they stop killing the prophets, did they embrace the Son? No, so the logical conclusion is the King will destroy the renters and give the vineyard to others. Which He did in AD 70. Mathew 22:1 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: 2 "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, 3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. 4 Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding." ' 5 But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. 7 But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 'Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.' Again not just a story but prophecy. Those who were invited were the Isaelites, going into the highways is the gentiles. He sent out His armies and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city in AD 70. Romans 9:6 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Romans 11:17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. In Gods eyes there is no Jew and Gentile anymore there is only believer and unbeliever. They were broken off by unbelief. Only by belief they can be added back on, belief in the New Covenant thru Christ, not the old covenant which has passed away. Joel 2:28 "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 30 "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 32 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved. For in Acts 2:16 "But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.' Peter says this prophecy has come to pass, the language of verse 19 and 20 is similar to Revelation, and yet The Holy Spirit through Peter says Pentecost is the fulfillment of this prophecy. Romans 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 18 But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: "Their sound has gone out to all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world." Col 1:5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; Colossians 1:21-23 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight, if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. Another statement heard often is that the Lord can’t come back until the whole world has heard the Gospel. The Bible claims it has. The modern mind thinks literally, the ancient mind thought figuratively. The moon turning to blood brings up totally different images to the two groups. In the story of Joseph his family got angry when the sun, moon and stars bowed down to him. They understood right away it was figurative. The Holy Spirit assumes a certain amount of intelligence, intelligence enough to discern figurative speech from literal. Christ used metaphors and parables, word pictures of truth. Eating His body and drinking His blood are not to be taken literally. We will make many errors if we don’t keep this in mind. We need to decide what is trustworthy. If we decide the Bible is our foundation then we have to believe everything that is written. We have to hold fast to the clear statements and find an explanation for the obscure that stays within the outline provided by the clear. Mathew 24:34 is a clear statement. We can’t pull a couple verses here and there to try to bolster our theology. We must have a theology that will accurately handle the Word of God. The Bible contains the story of the Jews. It is the story of their triumphs and breakdowns. Revelation is the record of the last of