ROMANS 11:25-27
ISRAEL’S FUTURE RESTORATION
Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Romans chapter 11 as we continue our in-depth study of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. We are currently in a section dealing with election and this covers Romans chapters 9 through Romans chapter 11. And as Paul is dealing with this issue he uses Israel to make his point. This morning we are going to see that the focus in this section can’t be the Church, as some have said. They believe that the Church is spiritual Israel and God is done with the Jewish people. They have been cast away and can never be restored again. They have fallen and they can’t get up, God has washed His hands of this stiff-necked people. I hate to mess up your thinking, but if you feel that way, you are very wrong!
We have seen that in our studies of these chapters and specifically here in Romans chapter 11. This morning, if you leave here thinking that the Church has replaced Israel and that God is done with the Jewish people, I either have not given you a clear picture or you just don’t want to see it. And folk’s, as I read these verses this morning, I don’t even need to expound on them. So if you reject the Jews, if you think God is done with them, then the problem is with you and not with what God has said. In fact, you are just rejecting what God has said in His Word!
Before we get to our text this morning, let me read to you these words from James Montgomery Boice as he wrote in his commentary on Romans. He wrote:
But it can hardly be doubted that the continuing existence of Israel as a distinct people throughout the four thousand years of her history is a striking phenomenon. Dispossessed of her homeland and dispersed throughout the world, Israel has nevertheless survived while other peoples in similar situations have not. Coupled with the Bible’s identification of the Jews as God’s elect people and its many prophecies concerning their unfolding history, the preservation of Israel as a people is strong evidence for the Bible being the inspired and inerrant Word of God.
Even more than that, and much to the purpose for our study, the survival of Israel suggests that God has preserved these people through their many dispersions and persecutions not because he does not care for them, but because he does, and because he has a plan for the Jewish people that will unfold in blessing in the last days.
- James Montgomery Boice Romans, p. 1376
May we not forget the fact that God has not only chosen the Jewish people but He also loves them and as we will see, He will once again draw them back! With that said, let’s begin reading in Romans chapter 11, starting in verse 25 and see what the Lord has for us as we study His Word.
As you can see, Paul is speaking very clearly on the promise of God for Israel’s future restoration back to God, that they will be saved as a nation. So let’s break these verses down and by the time I am done, as we look at these verses and some others, I hope you clearly see that God is not done with His people, the Jews. That they will be restored one day but right now, blindness has come to many of the Jewish people to their Messiah, to Jesus. For other Jews, their eyes have been opened to Jesus and they have received Him as their Lord and Savior. But again, we are looking at this group of people known as the Jews and not just individual Jews who are getting saved today.
What Paul has to say is important and he wants his readers to understand this point and not be “ignorant” about it! This word can speak of a lack of intelligence or just a lack of knowledge and what Paul had to say back then still applies. There are many Christians who are “ignorant” about Israel and that ignorance stems many times from a lack of knowledge but it can also stem from a lack of intelligence or a stubborn heart to see the truth and if you do that, you are truly ignorant!
In the epistles or letters of Paul he speaks of three things that he doesn’t want us to be ignorant about, and tragically, as you look at the church today, these are the things that many are ignorant about, either willfully or unknowingly. One of the things that Paul says he doesn’t want us to be ignorant about is the Rapture of the Church, which he speaks of in I Thessalonians 4:13-18, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 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. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
He also speaks of Spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to us as we need them as we minister in this world, and in I Corinthians 12:1-11 we are told, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” And look at how ignorant Christians are today about the Spiritual gifts that God has given to us.
Back here in Romans, what were his readers ignorant of? The restoration of the Jews back to God! Paul says it is this “mystery” or MUSTEERION in the Greek. Now when we think of a mystery we tend to think of a story that has an unknown outcome. In Paul’s day there were the “mystery religions.” But that is not what Paul is speaking of here. In the New Testament this word is used to refer to something that has been concealed but now is revealed. Paul picks up on this in Romans 16:25-27, “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith — to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.”
And Paul once again shows us this in Ephesians 3:1-7 as he wrote, “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles — if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.”
Paul is saying that God’s Word, opened up to us by His Spirit, now reveals this mystery, which was once hidden, to us. It is something that the natural man can’t see but the man of God can see because His spiritual eyes are open to the things of God. And if you can’t see this and you are a Christian, you are suppressing the truth that God has for you to see so that you can believe what you want to believe. Sorry, that is just the way it is.
And notice what Paul says here. That “you should not be wise in your own opinion.” If you think that God is done with the Jewish people, if you are looking down upon the Jewish people, it is not because God is showing you this truth, but it is your own opinion. Folk’s, opinions are everywhere and it doesn’t mean they are right. And, if your opinion goes against God’s Word, guess who is wrong? It is not God!
Now this mystery that Paul is revealing to us is in two parts. The first part speaks of this “blindness” or “hardening” that has happened to some of the Jewish people, part of them, and a large part of them. A blindness that is temporary.
The second part of this mystery is that this blindness will continue on “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” Now before we deal with what this is all about, let me speak of another phrase that the Scriptures talk about and many confuse the two. This phrase, the “times of the Gentiles” is different from the “fullness of the Gentiles.” Let me explain.
In Luke 21:20-24 we are told, “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
The times of the Gentiles began when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon invaded Jerusalem and took the Jews away captive and it continues on today when Gentile nations are persecuting the Jews, even though they are in their homeland. Now some believe that the times of the Gentiles has ended, not in 1948 when the Jews became a nation again in the land of Israel, but back in 1967 when they re-captured the city of Jerusalem. Now I don’t see it that way. You see, look at the Gentile nations that are still trying to cut up the land of Israel, tell the Jews where to live and they truly do not have all the land that God has given to them because Gentile nations will not let them occupy it!
So what I see as the times of the Gentiles is that yes, it began when the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and took many Jews back to Babylon as captives and it will continue on all the way through the Tribulation Period. You see, during this time the Antichrist will set up his headquarters or one of them down there and thus, the times of the Gentiles, their persecution against the Jews will continue on until the end of the Tribulation Period when the Lord will return and set up His kingdom on this earth and rule and reign for 1,000 years! It is then that there will be an end of Gentile rule over the Jewish people and they will no longer be persecuted. But until then, the times of the Gentiles continues on!
Then what is this fullness of the Gentiles all about? He is speaking of the last Gentile that will be saved before the Lord comes to take His Bride, the Church home, we call that the Rapture! It is at this point that the Church Age comes to an end and guess who God will be dealing with now? It will be His people, the Jews once again and we call this period of time not only the Tribulation Period, but it is known in the Old Testament as the 70th week of Daniel or that last 7-year period of time where God not only pours out His wrath upon a Christ rejecting world, but He will save His people, the Jews once again!
The best way I can show you this is by taking you to Daniel chapter 9 because you will see that God does not deal with His Church and Israel at the same time. In fact, I will show you that in these passages God is speaking of Israel, the Jewish people and there is the Church also spoken of, kind of. Before you right me off on this one, let’s read in Daniel chapter 9, starting in verse 24 and I will show you what I mean. We are told, “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. 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. 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. Then 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.” Daniel 9:24-27.
Daniel has spent the last 15 verses praying to God, interceding for him and his people, the Jews because the 70 years of captivity is almost up and what is God going to do now? It is out of this that God speaks through the angel Gabriel and God let’s Daniel know what is going to happen to his people, the Jews and His holy city, Jerusalem!
Now here is the key to understanding Daniel chapter 9. The focus of Daniel’s prayer has been the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem, not the church! Thus, the answer to Daniel’s prayer is going to be focused on the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem, not the church! Unless the Church has become Israel, it is not in view here and as I have said often, the Church has not become Israel. It seems so simple and yet many people mess this up and in doing so they not only will be confused in regards to Daniel chapter 9, but also in understanding end time prophecy!
Daniel is told that the time period of this prophecy is “seventy weeks.” The Hebrew word for “weeks” is SHABUWA and it speaks of sevens. It can be used of seven days or seven years, mostly we see it used in years in the Scriptures. Thus, seventy, sevens are determined upon the Jews and upon the city of Jerusalem. And the implication from the text, as Daniel was just reading of the 70 years of captivity, is that these are speaking of seventy, seven-year periods or 490 years, which will make up the time frame of this prophecy. And remember, the focus is “Your people,” the Jews, and “Your holy city,” Jerusalem. This is not speaking of the Church or the city of Rome, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City but the Jews and specifically the city of Jerusalem, the land of Israel!
Now what will the end of these 490 years bring to the nation of Israel? We are told of 6 events that will be accomplished which are directly related to Israel and God’s program for them. And keep in mind that these events have not been completely fulfilled as yet, and you will see this as we go through these things.
TO FINISH THE TRANSGRESSION
God will bring to an end Israel’s rebellion against Him, for we read in Ezekiel 39:23-29, “‘The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.’ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name — after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid. When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord God.”
That means that Israel will turn back to God and repent of their ways and will recognize Jesus as their Messiah for Jesus told the nation of Israel, “for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” Matthew 23:29. Yes the Jews will recognize Jesus as their Messiah and weep for what they have done to Him, as we shall see shortly.
Has this taken place? Well, yes for those Jews who have turned to Jesus but for the nation as a whole, I think we can safely say no. But by the end of the Tribulation Period we will see this come to pass. Remember the 490 years will bring this to a completion, and as we are going to see, there are still 7 years left to complete for this to come to pass.
TO MAKE AN END OF SINS
We have said before that the word; “sin” comes from a word that means, “to miss the mark.” God’s standard is perfection and we fall far short of that mark. For the nation of Israel it too speaks of missing the mark with their working their way into heaven mentality and yet we are told that God will put an end to their sins or seal them up. We read in Romans 11:26-27, “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’”
Has this happened yet? Well, in a way yes. Jesus’ death on the cross not only paid the penalty for our sins but for the whole world, including the Jews. But, like much of the world, the Jews have rejected their Messiah and are still dead in their trespasses and sins. But for all who repent and come to Christ, including the Jews, their sins are forgiven. When will we see this completed in regards to the nation of Israel? This too will take place at the end of the Tribulation Period; it has not taken place yet! Remember the 490 years will bring this to a completion, and as we are going to see, there are still 7 years left to complete for this to come to pass.
TO MAKE RECONCILIATION FOR INIQUITY
This of course was accomplished at the cross of Calvary by Jesus Christ but will not be fully recognized until He returns for the Jewish people. We read in II Corinthians 5:18-19, “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”
The nation of Israel will not fully recognize this until they call upon the one they pierced, Jesus Christ, which will be during the Tribulation Period and will reach it’s completion at the close of the Tribulation Period. Listen to what Zechariah 12:10-14 says about this event, “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves; all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.”
As God pours out His Spirit on the nation of Israel and they recognize what they have done, that they have crucified their Messiah, maybe not by their own hands but by their rejection of Him, and it will cause the nation to mourn over what they have done. And not only the nation as a whole, but also individually they saw what they have done and are mourning over it. In fact this time of mourning is linked to the day when godly king Josiah, the last hope of the fading Southern Kingdom of Judah, was slain by Pharaoh Necho II in the plain of Megiddo. We see the repentance of kings, (David), and of the prophets, (Nathan), and of the priests, (Levi). We also see the individual repentance and thus instead of just an outward conformity to events we see a sincere mourning over their condition and what they have done.
In Hosea 5:15-6:1 we may have the prayer of the nation of Israel as they call upon God once again. We read, “I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me. Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.” This is saying that God at one time left His place. When did He do that? When He became flesh and dwelt among us. And then we see that He will leave this “place,” the earth, till Israel acknowledges their sin. What was their sin? And note that “sin” is in the singular and not the plural form. Their sin was the rejection of Jesus Christ as their Messiah. The prerequisite to His return is their repentance and their seeking the One whom they have pierced! Remember the 490 years will bring this to a completion, and as we are going to see, there are still 7 years left to complete for this to come to pass.
TO BRING IN EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS
Every day we can turn on the news, read the newspapers or even witness for ourselves the wickedness of this world. We can clearly say that righteousness is far from the people of this world. In fact Isaiah calls our righteousness “filthy rags” which has been cleaned up for us a bit, it is even worse than that! You see, our righteousness is in Christ and one day Israel will recognize this and the earth will be filled with the righteousness of Christ as He rules and reigns in the Kingdom Age. Jeremiah 23:5-6 tells us, “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’”
And in Ezekiel 43:4-9 we read, “And the glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. Then I heard Him speaking to me from the temple, while a man stood beside me. And He said to me, ‘Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places. When they set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and Me, they defiled My holy name by the abominations which they committed; therefore I have consumed them in My anger. Now let them put their harlotry and the carcasses of their kings far away from Me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.’”
With the Lord dwelling amongst the people, righteousness will permeate the land! And again we see this spoken towards Israel, although it will encompass all people living during the Kingdom Age. Remember the 490 years will bring this to a completion, and as we are going to see, there are still 7 years left to complete for this to come to pass.
TO SEAL UP VISION AND PROPHECY
Some feel this speaks of the fulfillment of all that is written in the Word of God. When the new heavens and the new earth are created we see an end of this world and the beginning of a new one with Christ dwelling amongst us. But again we must relate this to Israel and even though this idea has a lot of merit to it, I don’t believe this is what God is saying to us.
This speaks of bringing to a close all visions and prophecies which will occur when Christ sits on the throne of David to rule as king. God will be with us and thus we will no longer need prophecy or visions. And the reason is simple, as I said, the Lord is with us, He will speak to us directly! Remember the 490 years will bring this to a completion, and as we are going to see, there are still 7 years left to complete for this to come to pass.
TO ANOINT THE MOST HOLY
This will be fulfilled when Jesus Christ comes into the millennial temple as king. In Ezekiel chapter 37 we read, “They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God. David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children's children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” Ezekiel 37:23-28. Remember the 490 years will bring this to a completion, and as we are going to see, there are still 7 years left to complete for this to come to pass.
Thus, at the end of these 490 years these six events will be completed. This is the scope of the prophecy or an overview of verses 25-27. Now we are going to move into more specifics about the things that will take place during that period of time. We have seen the culmination of these events and now we will look into what will be taking place in-between. And you will be surprised at how much information is packed into these 3 verses. And again, keep in mind that this is dealing with the Jewish people and Jerusalem, God’s people and His holy city!
Here in Daniel 9:25 God wants us to “know” and “understand” what this is all about. He is not hiding it from us. And he wants us to know that the starting point begins with the command to “restore and build Jerusalem.” Notice that it says nothing about the temple but only the city itself. That is what we need to be looking for in the Scriptures as our starting point for this prophecy.
If we look at the Scripture we can find four starting points, but only one is correct and you will see why. And we will look at the other 3 first before we get to the correct one so you can clearly see why we say they are wrong. And keep in mind the rebuilding of the city is the key.
In Ezra chapter 1 we see a decree by Cyrus, king of Persia, to rebuild the temple in around 536 BC. But this is not speaking of the streets and the walls of the city but only the temple and thus this is not the starting point.
In Ezra chapter 6 we see a decree by Darius, king of Persia to again rebuild the temple around 520 BC and thus, this too is not the starting point.
In Ezra chapter 7 we see a decree by king Artaxerxes Longimanus to restore the articles of the temple around 447 BC and again this is not the starting point.
But in Nehemiah chapter 2 we see king Artaxerxes Longimanus give the command to Nehemiah to rebuild the streets and the walls. This is the starting point, which we are told occurred in the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of king Artaxerxes reign.
In the 1990 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica it states that Artaxerxes ascended to the throne of the Medo-Persian Empire in July 465 BC. So if the command was given in the twentieth year of his reign that would put the year the command was given at 445 BC. Now according to Hebrew tradition, when the day of the month is not specified, then it is taken to be the first day of that month. So the day of the decree by Artaxerxes was the first day of the Hebrew month Nisan 445 BC, which corresponds to the fourteenth day of March. Thus, our starting date is March 14, 445 BC.
The time frame is seven weeks and sixty-two weeks or specifically 49 years and 434 years. What we will see at the end of this 483 year period is the ushering in of the “Messiah the King” or the MESHIACH NAGID. This prophecy is based on a 360-day year, and that would come to 173,880 days. So if our starting point is March 14, 445 BC then we can count off 173,880 days to find out when the Messiah would come!
So how does this all play out? What date do we come to? Well, lets go back to the starting date of March 14, 445 BC and count off the 173,880 days to come to our end point, which will bring us to the Messiah. Here is how we do it:
(* 1 day for every 4 years, (476 years divided by 4, 1 leap year for every four years, gives us an additional 119 days), subtract 3 years, for centennial years are not leap years, although every 400th year is a leap year, giving us 116 days in leap years.)
Now lets look at this a little closer. 173,880 days from our starting point of March 14, 445 BC, given by Artaxerxes Longimanus, until the Messiah the King comes. Now the birth of Christ occurred in 3 BC, but He was not brought into the world as king. And it is interesting as you read the Gospels and see when the crowds wanted to make Jesus king, that Jesus retreated from them, which sounds kind of strange. For instance, in John 6:15 we are told, “Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.” Why did He do that? Because His time had not yet come yet!
But there is one place where Jesus sets things up so He can be proclaimed as king. It was during the week of Passover when the city was packed with people and we see Jesus come riding into Jerusalem, down the Mount of Olives, on the back of a donkey, as Zechariah told us would occur. And in Luke 19:35-38 we are told of this event, “Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road. Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!' Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’”
The crowds were singing Psalm 118:26 which is to herald the Messiah. And the Pharisees recognized exactly what was happening and they knew that they themselves could not control the crowd, so they went to Jesus, the one who was being heralded as the Messiah. And they brought this to the attention of Jesus, that the people were blaspheming the true God by what they were doing. And I love the response of Jesus,
“ . . . ‘I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.’” Why would that happen if the crowds were silent? Because this was the day that was predicted over 500 years before His birth, that God would ride through Jerusalem as the Messiah their King! And when we were in Jerusalem, I actually have one of those stones that didn’t cry out, but I believe they could have as Jesus said!
What was the date that this took place? We call it Palm Sunday, and it was 173,880 days after the command by king Artaxerxes, April 6, 32 AD as Jesus, the MESHIACH NAGID had come!
Now don’t think Christians have just come up with this date, for Jesus held the nation of Israel responsible for not recognizing this date in which the Messiah was to come. We read in Luke 19:41-44, “Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’”
Blindness had come upon the nation of Israel because they did not recognize what day it was. They were not aware that the Messiah had come and was with them and thus they were accountable for not knowing prophecy! Understand this, no man, as cleaver as he may be, could arrange such a plan, only God can and did! In fact, this prophecy is so specific and detailed, and many have checked it out, that it is a testimony to them as Trapp tells us, “Others of the Jewish [scholars], by the evidence of these words, have been compelled to confess that Messiah is already come, and that he was that Jesus whom their forefathers crucified.”
Obviously we will not finish looking at this subject this morning, and I don’t want to rush through it. I want you to understand that God will deal with Israel once again and as we will see next time, there is a hint of the Church in these passages here in Daniel chapter 9 and we will look at these verses more closely in Romans chapter 11 and see Paul quote out of the Old Testament to prove that God is not done with His people, He is not done with the Jews. One day they will come to Him and receive Him as their Lord and Savior!
Yes, blindness has come upon Israel, but what about you? You see, the evidence is there before you, don’t close you mind, don’t close your heart to it, but receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. He loves you that much and if you want to be part of His election, you must receive Him and if you refuse, then you are not His elect, it is that simple! And, you may be that last person who closes out that period of time known as the “fullness of the Gentiles” so get saved so we can go home in the Rapture! Seriously folk’s, may we pray for the Jewish people and Gentiles to come to saving faith because the time is short, not only for the Lord’s return, but life itself and I don’t want anyone to pass from this life without knowing Jesus. I know that won’t happen, but as many as can soften their hearts, that they would come to Him and enter into that everlasting life! All Israel will be saved!