“The righteous shall live by faith.” – Romans 1:17
Daniel 9 ends with another prophecy that is hotly debated among Bible scholars. But I can tell you one thing: It’s talking about Jesus Christ. There are lots of questions and even more potential answers here.
Here are the questions:
- Are these events past history, future prophecy, or a combination of both?
- Are these numbers literal or symbolic?
- Is it 70 weeks or years? If it’s 70 times seven, is it 490 weeks or 490 years?
- How long is a year? Is it a 360-day Jewish year or a 365-day lunar year?
- Multiple decrees went forth to rebuild Jerusalem. It says the clock will start when the decree goes out. Which decree?
The way you answer each of these questions will bring you to a different conclusion on how to interpret this prophecy. So, what do we do with this? I don’t know for sure, but what I do know is that Jesus accomplishes all of these. He will bring an end to rebellion, put an end to sin, and come again to stop the evil in the world. He will fulfill all biblical prophecy perfectly and, when He comes back, everything will be as God intended and pre-determined.
What should we do when we reach difficult parts of the Bible that have more questions than answers?
- We can skip it. Most pastors preach Daniel 1-6, then move on.
- We can get really dogmatic and bring out our charts, our ammo boxes with crayon drawings, and our tinfoil hats and think we know the exact details of the end times.
- We can have an opinion, keep it in the open hand, admit that our interpretation could be wrong, and humbly wait to see what happens in the future.
Let’s be dogmatic about things that have for sure happened, like the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let’s wait and see for the things that have not yet happened but are prophesied in Scripture. I’m not on the planning committee and don’t have a date on my calendar for the return of Jesus, but I am on the welcoming committee and will have my kazoo ready to go.
We don’t know when it’ll happen, so we should be ready every day. Romans 1:17 says, “The righteous shall live by faith.” One day, we’ll live by sight when He returns to judge the living and the dead, establish an eternal Kingdom, and put to death all the shenanigans. Until then, we will pray, worship, and open the Word of God.
Tomorrow’s devotional will move to Daniel 10 where we look at how to handle grief.
In which of the three ways described above do you tend to handle difficult parts of the Bible?
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