Who is “the prince that shall come”?
(Leviticus 16:16-31; Daniel 8:2-14; 9:23-27; Acts 3:19; 10:37-38; Heb. 8:1-5) Blog Apr. 30-May 06, 2023
Prepared by Richard A. Marin: Present Truth PO Box 700, Fallbrook CA 92088-0700 USA
REVIEW: In the last days three angel messengers call humanity to enter God’s judgment. They carry the everlasting gospel, which is our only hope in a judgment that will examine our works and require obedience to God’s Law.
Judgment Day in Israel
1. When God gave Moses a symbol of heaven’s temple and its services for man’s salvation, what three aspects did that include? God gave Moses a pattern of a two-part sanctuary with an outer court & a two-part service that followed the dedication service (Ex. 25:8-9; Heb. 8:4-5; 9:1-10, 18-21).
2. What did the two parts of Israel’s sanctuary service include? The first part of the earthly sanctuary service included a continual priestly ministry of daily acceptance, individual forgiveness of sins, & a ministry of purification. The second part was a final reckoning in which sins were blotted out, the participants were confirmed as God’s covenant people, & those not represented by the high priest were excluded from God’s people (Ex. 29:38; Lev. 4:27-31; 16:20-22, 30; 23:27-29).
3. How was the second-part ministry (Day of Atonement) conducted on earth? On the Day of Atonement God’s people were to fast & afflict their souls while the high priest, their representative, entered the Most Holy Place (God’s throne room) with blood that would remove all the sins registered there. The priest then transferred them to a scapegoat that would bear them into the wilderness. Then he would bless the gathered congregation (Lev. 16:19-22, 29-30; Heb. 9:7).
4. How did the earthly services depict Christ’s heavenly, priestly ministry? The earthly services showed that after his “outer court” ministry on earth Jesus was to have a continual heavenly ministry followed by a final ministry that would blot out sins & seal God’s faithful people (Acts 2:38; 3:19; Heb. 5:1-10; 9:7-9; 10:9-10).
5. How is the Day of Atonement a type of God’s final judgment? The Day of Atonement was a day of judgment because on it the representative of God’s people entered the throne room where the covenant law was kept & on it all the sins confessed during the year were removed, resulting in final purification for those who entered by faith in their high priest (Lev. 16:16, 19; 23:27-29; Heb. 9:4-7).
6. What should we learn from the fact that the earthly, priestly ministry had two parts? Since the earthly service was a pattern of the heavenly it tells us that just because a person is justified there is no guarantee they will be saved in the end. Or, in other words, the idea of “once saved, always saved” is wrong (Eze. 33:13; Gal. 5:4; Heb. 6:4-6).
7. In what other way could the above idea be expressed? The same idea can be expressed by saying: “the forgiveness of sins is distinct from the blotting out of sins” (Jer. 18:23; Acts 2:38; 3:19; Heb. 8:12; Rev. 3:5).
The Timing of the Judgment
8. How did Israel’s feasts picture events that would take place in salvation history? Jesus was sacrificed as the Passover lamb at the cross. The feast of Pentecost followed fifty days later when God’s Spirit was poured out. In the 1800s the feast of trumpets heralded the nearness of God’s final judgment. Today we are living in the antitypical Day of Atonement which is followed by Christ’s return (Acts 2:1-4; 3:19-20; 1 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 10:19; Rev. 9:13-15).
9. How can we know the timing of God’s final judgment? Knowing that the Day of Atonement was a type of judgment day, then we can see from Daniel when it was to begin (Dan. 7:3-10; 8:14).
10. How does the book of Daniel reveal the time when God’s judgment was to begin? In each of the four parallel prophesies of Daniel a final crisis occurs. That crisis is judgement & corresponds to the Day of Atonement. All Daniel’s prophesies place that day after Babylon, Medo-persia, Greece, Rome, & the reign of the Papal “little horn.” Daniel 8 says it will come after 2300 years & Daniel 9 explains the starting point for that time period: the Medo-persian decree to restore & rebuild Jerusalem (Dan. 2:39-44; 7:3-10; 8:5-14; 9:23-25; 11:40-44; 12:1-3).
11. Since Medo-persian kings gave three decrees how do we know which one is the starting point for the 2300 years? The only way to know the starting point of the 2300 years is by believing that all the demands of Daniel 9:24 were fulfilled by Jesus. Then measuring the “70 weeks” of Daniel 9, back from the cross we arrive at the third decree: 457 BC (Ezra 6:14; 7:12-16; Dan. 9:21-25; Heb. 7:26).
For more detail visit:
https://liferesearchinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/PT-Vol.-8-4.pdf
“The prince that shall come”
12. What does the coming of the Messiah have to do with the “seventy weeks” determined upon God’s people? As a perfect representative of God’s people, the Messiah fulfilled, in their place, every demand recorded in Daniel 9:24 (Dan. 9:24; Matt. 3:15; Rom. 10:4).
13. Who is “the prince that shall come” as recorded in Daniel 9:26? Jesus is “the prince that shall come” for he is called that in verse 25 (Dan. 9:25-26).
14. If Jesus is the “Prince” in Daniel 9:26, how was he to “destroy the city and the sanctuary”? Jesus used the Roman army under Titus to destroy Jerusalem & its sanctuary (Matt. 22:7; 24:2).
15. How did Jesus “confirm the covenant for one week”? From when Jesus was anointed Messiah at his baptism until his ministry for the Jewish nation ended at the stoning of Stephen was 7 years. Since each day of the last week of Daniel 9 represents one year & since Bible covenants are confirmed by a weeklong ceremony then Jesus’ ministry to the Jews confirmed God’s everlasting covenant during those seven years (Gen. 29:27-28; Eze. 4:6; Dan. 9:27; Acts 7:51-53; 10:37-38).
16. What happened in the middle of Daniel’s 70th week? Daniel wrote that Messiah would be “cut off” in the 70th week & states that the Jewish sacrifices would cease in the middle of that week (obviously a reference to the cross where the Lamb of God was slain in our place) (Dan. 9:26-27; Rom. 5:6-8; Col. 2:14).
17. Since we are living in the antitypical Day of Atonement what should we be doing? We should by faith in our High Priest gather to heaven’s Most Holy Place, send our sins beforehand to judgment, afflict our souls in repentance, & plead the mercy of God (Lev. 16:16; Psa. 52:8; Joel 2:15-17; 1 Tim. 5:24; Heb. 10:19-25).