Weekly Devotional 11-14-16 The Mosaic Law Revisited
Daniel 9:20-27 ( NKJV ) “20Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God, 21yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. 22And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. 23At 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. 25Know 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. 26And 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. 27Then 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. 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.’”
The book of Daniel was addressed and written by God through His prophet Daniel to Jews who had been taken captive by the Babylonians siege of Judah between the years of 607and 586 B.C. Coming to chapter 9 of God’s testimony via Gabriel and then Daniel, we read that Daniel had inquired of God how long Judah’s captivity would be. The answer was after 70 years, 70 years from the time King Cyrus of Persia had decreed that Judah would be allowed to return to Israel and begin rebuilding the temple.
During their time of captivity in Babylon, Judah was not allowed to live by its own laws (the Mosaic Law), but by Babylonian law. Even though after their return, they were give a certain amount of freedom they were not given the complete freedom to once again live under the Mosaic Law. They were still subject to the laws of the nations of domination; the Medo-Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman empires. Today, even though unified Israel (Southern and Northern kingdoms) is back in the land and enjoys a semblance of sovereignty, she still does not enjoy the completeness of the Mosaic Law. Israel does not yet have a temple, nor are the sacrificial requirements of the Mosaic Law experienced nationally. In the future, the temple will be rebuilt just before, or during the first months of the last 7 of Daniel’s 70 “weeks.” The Mosaic Law will once again be the rule in Israel by allowance of the Antichrist.
There will be a difference of observance however. Instead of Israel looking forward to her coming Messiah, Israel will look back to the Messiah they rejected, Jesus of Nazareth. At the mid-point of this 7 year period, the Antichrist will turn on Israel with great persecution and attempt to end the sacrifices and observance of the Law. Israel will have tasted of the then understood Law and will observe it perhaps underground. When God has accomplished in Israel what He prophesied through Daniel, He will bring an end to the Antichrist’s rule and the nations who serve him.
Today, the world is experiencing a period or dispensation of grace, wherein God is calling to Himself men and women out of all nations, including Jews and Gentiles, and forming them into one body of believers. He will continue to do this until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (Romans 11:25), and then He will establish Israel’s, and the world’s, long awaited 1,000 year reign of Messiah who is King David’s descendant. He will rule by the dictates of the Mosaic Law in righteousness, but it will be a remembrance of the true sacrifice of the only perfect Lamb, Jesus the Christ. What a time this will be. There will finally be worldwide peace. Wow! It’s almost too hard to wait.
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Transforming Power; The Work of God on Behalf of Man