The Suffering Servent of Isaiah 53 - Part One

A religious statement was once made in my presence by a Christian woman of which I openly agreed with her. With a big smile on her face she asked me if I went to church in the area nearby. When I told her my faith was Jewish that big smile she had immediately left her face as she proclaimed very vehemently that I believed in "nothing". It didn't dawn on her that such an attack on my faith opened up a justifiable response that from my prospective her form of Christianity is as "nothing" to me as my Judaism was to her. This was something I would have done had I not been convinced that she was totally clueless of Judaism, or for that matter, her "Old Testament".

Come to find out, this woman had never had an experience with God and was totally relying on what her pastor who she kept bringing up during the conversation, tells her. I ask her what scripture of the "Old Testament" most tells her that Jesus was the Jewish messiah. Of course, she, like most Christians, pointed to the 53rd chapter of Isaiah as a prophesy of Jesus' suffering. When I told her that the suffering servant was indeed the nation of Israel, she kept shaking her head from side to side (still without that big original smile on her face) stating that Israel was never a servant. It was then that I knew this religious woman was clueless of the Hebrew Bible, or her Old Testament for that matter.1

Therefore, while knowing that women will never read this blog, I'm dedicating this blog to her and the rest of the Judaism-hating Christian religious women with big smiles on their faces, who don't know the Bible that they say they believe as the word of God.
.
Two questions come to mind when first approaching Isaiah's suffering servant.

1. Was the nation of Israel considered a "servant" in the prophet Isaiah's own eyes?


2. Has the nation of Israel "suffered" as God's servant?
   

The first question is quite easy to answer given the fact that we have Isaiah's own words revealing the fact of Israel's servantship:
"But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend." - Isaiah 41:8
"Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen.." - Isaiah 44:1
"Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me." - Isaiah 44:21
"And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified." - Isaiah 49:3
.
From Isaiah 41:8 until the beginning of chapter 53 Israel is referred to as God's servant no less than sixteen times! Therefore, without a scriptural doubt, Israel was and is a biblically declared servant leading up to Isaiah 53. 2
.
The second question, "Has the nation of Israel suffered as God's servant?" is almost a comical question. It's like asking if the Buffalo Bills has ever lost any major football games such as Super Bowls.3 Besides the sad fact of how much Israel has suffered, any question to their suffering can be answered with a question: "What nation throughout world history has been most persecuted through banishment, forced isolation, forced conversions, government-sponsored terrorism and mayhem, and industrialized murder?" Even new words such as "antisemitism" and "genocide" have arisen within the English language in response to such suffering of the Israelite nation! In fact, it has been said, "antisemitism is the second oldest profession known to man"! Such statements are attempts to somehow reflect the vastness of Israels' suffering throughout world history.
.
In comparison, the long historical sufferings brought about by the Roman conquest, the Inquisitions, the pogroms, the mind-blowing Holocaust, and the never-ending Muslim terrorism, far outweighs the suffering of one man's / one day crucifixion. The question then becomes, "Is Isaiah 53 talking about a literal one day execution of one single man or millennias of unjust persecutions of an entire people who just so happens to be His "Chosen People"?

.

FACT: Jesus' own crucifixion can be counted among the Israelite sufferings due to it being a Roman political execution, one of thousands preformed by the Romans on Jews while in occupied Jewish land. In suffering alone, Jesus' suffering was not unique. Thousands of Jews (and Gentiles) died upon Roman crosses as did Jesus. On the other hand, the Israelite nation's sufferings are very unique as the most persecuted people in human history and of whom the single greatest crime of mankind (the Holocaust) was orchestrated against! The Jews have been suffering at the hands of the Gentile nations long before, during, and long after the time of Jesus. In this present day there are several organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah vowing Israel's torture and death, while the world powers (the Quartet) overwhelmingly supports Israel's enemies.
.
ANOTHER FACT: Israel is a declared "servant" by the Hebrew prophet Isaiah. This is not a matter of faith. All it takes is just an ability to read the words of Isaiah and to comprehend what was read. This is something that cannot be said concerning Jesus. Jesus' servanthood has to be taken as a matter of "faith". Therefore, when it comes to who is best fitted for description of one who suffers as God's "declared" servant, Israel the nation, wins hands-down.
.
The text and context of Israel 53
It must be noted that chapters divisions and numbering of verses of the biblical texts were of medieval-Christian origin, and far from being part of the original text. Jewish Bibles adopted most of this Christian numbering system as late as 1330 CE, about two thousand years after the text was first given. http://www.onelittleangel.com/wisdom/quotes/bible.asp?level=3

.

The context of Isaiah 53 does not begin at verse 1 of the chapter, but three verses earlier in verse 13 of the 52nd. chapter. You say you want proof of this? I'll let you the reader establish your own proof. If you are a Christian who believes Isaiah 53 concerns only Jesus, then consider of whom Isaiah 52:13 (three verse earlier) is talking about:

"Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high."

If you believe this verse is talking about Jesus, then you yourself agree that the context of God's servant in Isaiah 53 is connected with the "servant context" just three verses prior to Isaiah 53.

If it's not Jesus, then who is this "exalted servant" of God? I rest my case on this "connection of context" issue.

.

Quick Test for Christians (and Jews):

• What is Isaiah 53 about? You say the suffering servant? Very good.
  
• Now, because I know you know your Bible really well, what is Isaiah 52 about? Not a clue?
  
• What is Isaiah 54 about? Still, not a clue?
  

It interesting to note that when it comes to "Old Testament" readings most Christians are most familiar with scriptures that in their minds point to Jesus rather than all the scriptures as a whole. This is because they view the Hebrew scriptures through the window of the "New Testament" (or "New Covenant" as pertaining to the Christian Messianics) rather than the what the Hebrew scriptures gives on their own. It is the same principle as the Mormons viewing the New Testament through the window of the Book of Mormons, though I give Paul a lot more spiritual credit than Joseph Smith.
.
Since one can say for absolute certain that the last three verses in Isaiah 52 are connected with Isaiah 53, time needs to be spent examining chapter 52 because it indeed sets the stage for Isaiah 53. In fact, Isaiah 52 blends right into Isaiah 53.

Isaiah Chapter 52
Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus saith YHVH, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money. For thus saith YHVH GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. - Isaiah 52:1-4
.
From the reading of the first four verses of Isaiah 52 can we conclude from the subject-nouns of Zion, Jerusalem, and holy city, that the context is obviously talking about the "servant" of Isaiah 41:8, Isaiah 44:1, Isaiah 44:21, Isaiah 49:3? Is there any chance that the words in verse 2 "Shake thyself from the dust; arise," has anything at all to do with the servant being exalted just eleven verses later in verse 13? "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high."Any chance at all?
.
Verse 4 tells us that Israel was oppressed without cause: "My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause." What? Is there no mention within the context of Isaiah 52:4 of "Israel's sins" involved in this Gentile oppression of Israel here? Are the Christians who normally render every persecution of the Jewish people on their so-called "rejection of Jesus" forced to keep silent here on this Biblically proclaimed unjust Gentile persecution of the Jewish people?

Bringing this biblical context into modern times, Hitler's Europe, like Assyria of Isaiah's time, also oppressed Israel without a cause as well. The Islamic world carries the "Israel oppression without a cause" torch in this present day!

Is it too far fetched of a biblical reading revelation that this biblical description of God's servant "oppression them without cause" found in Isaiah 52:4 is directly linked to the "oppression" (without cause implied) found in verse 7 of Chapter 53 which reads "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted"?
.
There are many reasons why I chose to learn Biblical Hebrew and the following is one of them. The KJV translates the Hebrew in verse 4 of chapter 52 "va-ashur ba-ephes ashak-o" as "and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause." However, that is incorrect. I agree that such a translation makes the English more understandable, for even some Jewish translations are similar, but that is not how the holy script in the original language was given! The word ashak meaning "to oppress" is given in the affixed form with the objected suffix pronoun letter "vav" (but is the holem maleh vowel) attached to the end of the verb, making the verb be applied with a singular-masculine pronoun.

The precise correct translation from the original Hebrew should be: "and Assyria without cause, oppressed him". The singular "him" meaning the "single servant" that will be referred to in the coming verses. Feel free to check out what I'm saying. Obtain a Biblical Hebrew grammar book (preferably edited by Christian scholars) and the Tanach (the Jewish Bible in Hebrew) and learn the objected suffix pronouns and then read it in Hebrew for yourself. Also, keep this in mind when we go through chapter 53 in part three of this blog, for we will see the exact opposite in verb pronoun formation where the plural was translated as being singular.
.
A further examination of chapter 52 reveals certain spiritual details about this servant:

• Verses 5 and 6: God's people knowing God's Name of YHVH on a personal level.
• Verses 7 and 8: The salvation of Zion (not the Gentile world, but Zion)
• Verse 9: The redemption of Jerusalem (Zion, by name)
• Verse 10: The Gentile world bears witness of God's salvation of Zion. Notice the words "salvation our God" and not just" salvation of God".
• Verse 11: The commandment to be clean before YHVH.
• Verse 12: The "God of Israel" is their reward.

All of these events found here in chapter 52 are also found elsewhere in prophecy Hebrew scriptures:

• God's people knowing His name: "So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more." - Ezekiel 39:7 (Compared with Isaiah 52:5-6)
  
• The salvation of Zion: "Thus saith YHVH; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth" - Zechariah 8:3 (Compared with Isaiah 52:7-8)
  
• The redemption of Jerusalem: "And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness." - Zachariah 8:8 (Compared with Isaiah 52:9)
  
• The Gentile world bears witness of God's salvation of Zion: "And the heathen shall know that I YHVH do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." - Ezekiel 37:28 (Compared with Isaiah 52:10)
  
• The commandment to be clean before God: "And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean." - Ezekiel 44:23 (Compared with Isaiah 52:11)
  
• God of Israel" is their reward: "yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people." - Ezekiel 37:27 (Compared with Isaiah 52:12)
  

Now we're back to the last three verses of chapter 52 again where a new thought begins in addition to the previous twelve verses. Isaiah 52:13 is where the fourth and last servant song begins with the servant being promised to be exalted as the prior verses indicate.
.
Isaiah 52:14 "As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men"
The Holocaust as a whole was the most despicable action known to the history of man. Great evil arose from out of Germany and spread among many European peoples. There were no shortages of Hitler's European willing executioners! What came out in Nazi-Germany wasn't something new under the sun as Solomon has informed us in Ecclesiastes 1:9, but what has been in the hearts of the Gentiles since ancient times then was brought out on a massive and technologically-advanced level! Pharaoh, Haman, Muhammad, the Popes, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Inquisitioners, and the Pogromers didn't have fast moving cattle-cars and Zyklon-B pellets at their disposal.
.
Many depictions of Jews as vermin and other non-human animals came out of Nazi-Germany http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eternal_Jew and the official Nazi party indoctrinated its people that the Jews were "untermensch" (under-human or sub-human) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untermensch

During the Spanish Inquisition, the Jews were known as "marranos" meaning "pigs", and Gentiles could be put to death for acts of bestiality and sodomy for have sexual relations with a Jew. Medieval folklore caused the actual belief that all Jews had indeed grew devil horns on their heads. When I see these historical phenomenons along with the Muslim Koran - dating back from the seventh century - that today billions in the world believe as the "revelation from Allah" stating that the Jews are as "donkeys" and were turned into "pigs" and "apes" (suras 5:59-60, 7:166, 62:5) I'm reminded of Isaiah 52:14.

Isaiah 52:14 is describing the "psychology of the nations" view towards the Jewish people down through the ages. It is an interesting fact that this Gentile concept of the Jew has been so vast that Gentiles living before the television and the internet who had never seen or known a Jew became actual shocked on that how the Jew resembles a normal human!
.
As far as this servant being marred by crucifixion, I would recommend the reading of the book entitled "The Crucified Jew: Twenty Centuries of Christian Anti-Semitism" by Dan Cohn-Sherbok http://www.amazon.com/Crucified-Jew-Centuries-Christian-Anti-Semitism/dp/0802843115
And the answer is "yes" for all you who have a touch of "Protocols of the Elders of Zion - spiritual conspiracy" on the brain and don't know it, Mr. Cohn-Sherbok is Jewish. But that just means his book has a more personal viewpoint of the Jewish people being of victims of Gentile aggression than does a conspiring evil shylock http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shylock attempting to replace a Jesus-verse out of his own Hebrew Bible for a Jewish one. 4
.
Isaiah 52:15
"So shall he sprinkle (shake) many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider."

It must first be noted that the "many nations" in this verse are Gentile nations. Never does the word "goyim" in the Hebrew Bible refer the non-gentile single nation of Israel. Secondly, the subject of "the kings" (given in the plural) is the continuation of the first mentioned "many nations" context of the verse. The verse moves the subject matter from addressing Gentile peoples themselves to the leadership and political arena of those "many nations" which is their "kings".

Fact: The Herodian Dynasty that was ruling over Israel during the time of Jesus was not of Jewish descent and were puppet kings that was put in place by the Roman Senate.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herodian_Dynasty

The Christian notion that Isaiah 52:15 refers to Jesus transforming the Jewish nation can not be further from the truth. It is the Gentile nations as a single unit that are being shook up over something they have never considered, but shall indeed witness.

Also Isaiah 52:15 is very consistent with what the Hebrew Bible does and doesn't do throughout its entire message, especially in the "Israel redemptive section" of Isaiah (chapters 40-66).

• The Hebrew Bible never, I repeat, NEVER prophesies or even implies in the slightest way that the Hebrew nation turns to the Gentiles for their understanding of God.
• The Hebrew Bible prophesies in many places show how the Gentiles as a whole, will turn to the Jewish people for a correct understanding and worship of the God of Israel. Here is the list from the book of Isaiah alone: Isaiah 2:2-3, 11:10-12, 42:1-6, 49:6-7, 52:10, 52:15, 54:3, 55:5, 60:3, 60:10-12, *60:16-21, *61:6-11, 62:6-7, 66:18-20.

Most Christians will try to spiritualize the Hebrew prophecy of Gentile recognition of Israel as being related to the vast number of Gentiles becoming Christians under Jewish-Christian leadership at the beginning of the Christian era. However, some of these scriptures are impossible to deny, and when compared altogether, they become overwhelming for the Christian faith.
.
Let's take a look at Zechariah 8:23 for an example where it prophesies that the Gentiles will take a hold of a Jew in seeking the correct path to God. One might argue that ten Gentiles will grab hold of Jesus, Peter, or Paul in fulfilling that prophecy. However, when the same scene of Gentile recognition is setup by the prophet Ezekiel it becomes very difficult for the Christian apologist to keep such claims. Consider the uniformity and closeness of the two prophesies:
"Thus saith YHVH of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you." - Zechariah 8:23
"And the heathen shall know that I YHVH do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." - Ezekiel 37:28
.
Does it not become very clear that the Gentiles shall finally know (implying that they never have known before this prophesied-fulfilled time) that the God of Israel does sanctify Israel, are the same Gentiles grabbing unto a Jew in finding a true path to God? There is a very spiritual and profound reason why the Ezekiel prophecy and the Zachariah prophecy mentions Gentile recognition. These prophets did not just mentioning it in passing when writing their holy script.
.
In the short verses above the two prophecies relate on two accounts. One, is Israel's spiritual glorification, and the second is the Gentile recognition of that glorification. It is a greater stretch to say that they are fulfilled thousands of years apart than to say they are simply fulfilled at the same time. It is according to prophecy that the Gentiles turn to glorified Israel (the same glorified Israel that returns to the land in a massive in-gathering and becomes holy before God) not some Jewish cult during the exile!!!
.
As I pointed in my open letter to Hank Hanegraaff

http://zionism-now.blogspot.com/2007/08/letter-to-hank-henegraaff.html the Ezekiel prophecy could not have happened during the Babylonial return of the 6th. century BCE because one, only about 5% of the Jewish exiles actually returned which would not fulfill other scripture-prophecy of return (see Isaiah 27:12 / Ezekiel 36:24). Because of this low Jewish percentage rate of return from Babylon is also why we have today the "Babylonian Talmud". And two, the Ezekiel prophecy states that the messiah (a descendant of Kind David) will rule the Jewish nation which could not have happened during the time of the Babylonian return.
.
Neither could the Ezekiel prophecy be fulfilled during the time of Jesus since Israel was being ruled by Rome and the Jewish nation mostly lived outside "the land of their fathers" during the 1st. century CE which goes totally against the context of the Ezekiel prophecy (see St. John 7:35 compared to Ezekiel 37:25).
.
Also, the Ezekiel prophecy consists of a temple lasting forever (Ezekiel 37:27-28) , while the Herodian Temple that stood during Jesus' time was completely destroyed 37 years after Jesus' life in 70 CE. Therefore, this Ezekiel prophecy in all of its context can only, I repeat can ONLY, be fulfilled at a future date. And if the Ezekiel prophecy is indeed set for the future, then so is all the other prophecies of the same event including Zechariah 8:23.
.
Now allow me to through in a "servant-prophecy" scripture into the "Gentile-recognizing prophecy scriptures" for a conformation, and watch how all three scriptures compliment each other in painting the true and perfect end-time scene.
"So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider." - Isaiah 52:15"
"Thus saith YHVH of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you." - Zechariah 8:23
"And the heathen shall know that I YHVH do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." - Ezekiel 37:28
.
Yes, the Gentiles who shut their mouths and consider something about Israel that they had never considered according to prophecy, are the same Gentiles grabbing unto a Jew because they know "God is with them" according to prophecy and that "God does sanctify" them according to prophecy. Any questions? Feel free to leave a comment.
.
With these things in mind, one can begin to understand Isaiah 53 which the continence of the fourth servant song of Isaiah that consists of Israel being exalted before the nations and the Gentiles recognizing it! Isaiah 53 begins with the Gentiles' response under "shock and awe" in recognizing Israel's exaltation. They begin to speak about what they have began to spiritually recognize. And it is from there (Isaiah 53:1) is where I will continue the second part of this blog.
.
Notes
1. Even the New Testament states that Israel is God's servant. "He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy" - Luke 1:54. This New Testament verse shows the 1st. century Jewish mindset towards the mentioning of "God's servant" throughout the Hebrew Bible including the servant songs found in Isaiah's writings.

2. There are four "servant songs" throughout the "redemptive portion" of the book of Isaiah (chapters 40-66). First servant song - Isaiah 42:1-4, second servant song - Isaiah 49:1-6, third servant song - Isaiah 50:4-9, and fourth servant song - Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12.
3. I heard someone say that an acronym for "Bills" is: "Boy, I love losing Super-Bowls".
4. I mention this because of two personal accounts. One was a racially-aware feminist-liberal who believes America should let anybody and everybody come and live within her borders based upon what I call the "Rainbow-brotherhood doctrine". When I got her to read part of a newspaper editorial column condemning the religious evils of Islam the first words from out of her mouth concerning the columnist who wrote the article was, "Is she Jewish?" as if being Jewish created a strike against the columnist that she must use when evaluating her opinion. It seems the self-proclaimed enlighten ones regarding racism are not so enlightened, at least not spiritually. The second incident occurred when the James Ossuary was still being tested and dated. A Christian-conservative who generally favored Israel, suggested to me that Israel (the Jews) might deliberately falsify their findings on the ossuary in order to further deny Jesus and Christianity. This kind of thought process comes from being effected by the antisemitic portions of the New Testament that portrays Jews as being inherently evil towards Christianity, and for that matter, all mankind (see I Thessalonians 2:14-15). How someone really feels about another can be manifested of what a person is likely to believe about someone. In a small way he was mimicking the mindset of the Christian Europeans in their "Blood Libels" and the "Protocols of the Learn Elders of Zion" conspiracy without realizing it. It turns out that a Jew named Oded Golan forged the writing on the ossuary naming James as the brother of Jesus. I guess one could call him a "Jew for Jesus" in the archaeological world.

The Seventy Weeks of Daniel: From the Destruction of the First Temple to the Destruction of the Second

The prophecy of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel is the most widely used prophecies used by the Protestant for their end-of-time scenarios, even more than their own book of Revelations because they have to use the book of Daniel in order to place the book of Revelations. According to dispensationalist Christians sixty-nine weeks of the seventy (Daniel 9:25-27) were completed at the death of Jesus, leaving just one week left. After the death of Jesus, the running-time of the seventy weeks takes a break while the dispensation of the "Gospel / Gentile era" begins. That remaining week (The Seventieth Week of Daniel) is indeed known as the "Tribulation Period" and can only begin its running-time (to play out the full seventy weeks) after the church is taken up in the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) completing the Gospel / Gentile time (Romans 11:25,26) as the "Jewish time" starts back up again. It is during this Jewish-time of the seventieth and final week that the Jews (144,000 of them - Rev. 7:4-8) turns to Jesus or as their messiah.
.
This sixty-nine weeks of Jewish time, followed by two millenniums of Gentile time, followed by another one-week Jewish time, is known to Christian theologians as the "Gap Theory". Needless to say, this is not how the observant Jews to Judaism view their scripture. And there are a lot of scriptural questions raised by such a view.
.
Orthodox Judaism agrees little with this pre-Millennium Christian view concerning the Daniel seventy-week prophecy, but there are some things they both agree on. Both views hold that Daniel was a Jewish prophet to his people the Jews, whereby they (the Jews) would play a major role in the fulfillment of this prophecy. Also, within Daniel's prophecy, each day of the seventy weeks are counted for a year based upon the Hebrew scriptures Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6.
.
People who know me, know that I am a stickler for staying with the context of scripture. That is one thing that I've learn to do in coming to embrace Judaism as the spiritual and religious concept closest to the heart of the God of Israel. One of my pet peeves is to see a Gentile (like myself) parachute into a verse of scripture and come up with a whole scenario from that verse that they parachuted into, that is totally outside the context that surrounds that very scripture, then have the audacity to claim "duel prophecy" when challenged on it.
.
One Hebrew text where this so frequently occurs is where Jesus is portrayed as being recognized by the Jews by his nailed "pierced" hands when he tells them that he received them in "the house of his friends" - his fellow countrymen, the Jews (Zechariah 13:6). This scripture is used on "witnessing" tracks to the Jewish people by the messianics and other Christian groups and organizations in order to get them to convert, of which no doubt works on Jews who don't know their scriptures. But when one examines the "whole text" (Zechariah 13:2-6) it then becomes very clear that the one with the wounds is nothing other that a lying false prophet trying to disguise his false prophethood! One could actually argue that it's talking about Muhammad rather than Jesus. And if this sounds offensive to you as a Christian, then I would invite you to read the entire context (Zechariah 13:2-6) out loud! To believe that this scripture is talking about the "anointed one" (mashiach in Hebrew) that is to come at the End of Days for the salvation of the nation of Israel gets even more outrageous when the context is read and understood in the original Hebrew.
.
This kind of "parachuting into the text" occurs almost every single time when the Seventy Weeks prophecy is expounded upon by dispensationalist Christians. It is always the last three verses in the entire chapter (Daniel 9:24-27) that is most mentioned without ever tying the preceding twenty-three verses to those last three verses (Daniel 9:1-23) together for an understanding of the complete context. After reading the complete context we must begin to analyze the context itself as a whole. There are three main subjects of which this text is concerned with and addresses:

1. The Jews, a.k.a. "Israel / "God's People" in their breaking of the covenant (Daniel 9:5-16)
2. Jerusalem, a.k.a. "God's city" (Daniel 9:16, 18,19)
3. The Temple, a.k.a. "Holy Mountain" / "Sanctuary" (Daniel 9:16, 17)

All three subjects (Jews, Jerusalem, and the Temple) are reaffirmed as the main concerns of the text in Daniel 9:24-25 (the scriptures dispensational Christians love to quote). One thing the text is not about, but lays a foundation for, is the messiah. The Latin word "messiah" that the King James Version (KJV) translators used with a capital "M" in Daniel 9:25,26 is injected into the English text. Biblical Hebrew does not have capital letters, so one must wonder why did the KJV translators translate the meaning of "an anointed one" into one English word using a capital letter in the middle of a sentence? The Hebrew word "mashiach" that is used on many occasions throughout the Hebrew Bible (38 times in all) is never translated into English as "Messiah" throughout the KJV as it is in Daniel 9:25,26. There is a reason for this. The Christian KJV translators had an agenda to interpolate (not translate) the meaning of the Hebrew word mashiach as the one to come at the End of Days. This is also why the KJV translators used the definite article "the" before the Latin word messiah in their English translation. They wanted to give their interpolation more credibility. However, there is no definite article (the Hebrew letter "hay" that comes before and is connected to a noun) before the word mashiach in this Hebrew text. I will work my way down to this mashiach (anointed) from the beginning of the text.
.
Daniel 9:1-3
Daniel was part of the Jewish refugees from the land of Israel living in Babylon. He knew that the Jewish prophet Jeremiah had prophesied that after 70 years the Jews would return to their homeland (Jeremiah 25:12). As the time of the 70 years was drawing close to expire, Daniel saw no change in his people and began to fear that God would decide not to bring them out of captivity even after the 70 years had expired. Thus, he began to cry out to God and confess the sins of his people.
.
Daniel 9:4-15
I have often said that Psalms 51 is the best "sinners' prayer" that an individual can pray, but when it comes to the sinners' prayer for the nation of Israel, Daniel stands head and shoulders above everyone else. For twelve straight verses he cries out confessing the sins of Israel of not "rejecting the messiah" as the Jews are viewed among the Christian world today, but rather for forsaking their Law of Moses! This is key when it comes to understanding their redemption at the End of Days that the 70 weeks are to give way to. In staying with same mindset of the entire context, we can understand what righteousness is when it speaks of it in verse 24 (towards the end of the text) by what unrighteousness is at the beginning of the same exact text (verses 5-15). And get this: It will coincide perfectly with the Torah -Deuteronomy 6:25, and the prophets - Ezekiel 37:22-24 / Malachi 3:22 (4:1)
.
Daniel 9:16-19
Daniel begins to pray for the sake of the three things most dear to him (1) Jerusalem (2) The Temple (3) His people, the Jews. Notice again that the three things that the text has Daniel being most concerned about does not include the messiah. Nor does Daniel pray for a "spiritual Israel" to come on the scene to "replace" the physical one. Rather Daniel followed like unto Moses and prayed for the nation of Israel to be spared judgment for her many sins and be brought to righteousness (Deuteronomy 9:13-29).
.
Daniel 9:20-23
After Daniel's confession of his people's sins and his speedy intersession on their behalf because he knows the Jeremiah prophecy of 70 years is about up, it is then that the angel Gabriel visits Daniel to give him understanding concerning three things (1) Jerusalem (2) The Temple (3) The Jews - of which he just completed supplicating unto the Lord concerning. Notice again, Gabriel did not come to give Daniel understanding concerning "the messiah" or a "spiritual Israel" replacement. He only came to address the things Daniel had just inquired God about being that Daniel in his righteousness (such as keeping the "evening oblation") was so loved by God. We must stay with the context and only what the text states!
.
Daniel 9:24-27
It is here that Gabriel announces a 70 week period concerning (1) Jerusalem (2) The Temple (3) the Jews. He gives Daniel the understanding that Jews would indeed return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple but that this would be during a time of trouble (verse 25). The 70 week period is a continued time of judgment towards Israel for her sins which didn't include a sin of "rejecting the messiah" but rather for forsaking the Law of Moses (verses 11-13). It is during this 70 week period that we learn three things concerning judgment of Daniel's rebuilt temple.

• From its beginning, the second temple did not hold the beauty and splendor of the Solomon temple it replaced (see Haggai 2:3).
• The second temple as Daniel 9:25 indicates, went through a time of trouble. Even Jerusalem's protection wall had to be built with "sword in hand" (see Nehemiah 4:18). This was just the opposite circumstance of the time of peace as when Solomon build the first temple while the other nations assisted in the project, and while no nation would dare attack Israel. It was during this 70 weeks of Daniel that Israel lost their sovereignty (including the spiritual center of Jerusalem) over their scriptural promised land to other nations (which in itself is a sign of judgment (Deut. 28:49 / Dan. 9:7) while the temple itself was desecrated with foreign gods and even pig's blood.
  http://www3.telus.net/public/kstam/en/temple/details/hanukkah.htm
  
• The second temple was glorified with gold and the temple mount was doubled its original size by a non-Jewish murdering king who killed his own family members, picked non-Levitical priests to serve in the temple, and was a puppet for the Roman Empire. The Romans even had their own building (the Antonio Fortress) adjacent to the temple mount and the Holy of Holies to oversee that the temple services run according to Roman interests. This temple was destined to fall during Daniel's 70 weeks, along with its evil priests as the final verses of Daniel 9 indicates.

To look further into the 70 week judgment period toward Israel, notice the number of years that the full 70 weeks amount up to: 490 years. That number might not seem significant unless you take into account the 7 times rule promised in the Torah of Moses that Daniel had just acknowledge they had broken. "And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins." - Leviticus 26:18
God had already hit Israel with a 70 years period of judgment as Jeremiah prophesied concerning Babylon (Jeremiah. 29:10). But because Israel did not hearken unto their God, He did as He promised in Leviticus 26:18, and issued a period of judgment of "seven times more" the seventy years prophesied by Jeremiah (70 x 7 = 490 years). So when Christians claim that the second temple was destroyed because the Jews rejected Jesus, the biblical fact that the second temple was destroyed because the Jews rejected Moses' law (that reached its climax and the end of the 70 weeks) over four hundred years before Jesus, can be pointed out to answer that claim.
.
The Gap Theory (as pictured above) has a hard time holding water in light of the Jewish scriptures. To inject two thousand Gentile years (four times the amount) into the midst of a 490 year Jewish period seems far fetched, but this "revelation" was originally conceived in order to Christianize (therefore Gentile-izing) the Jewish text. If any outsiders from both Christian and Judaism influences were to read the text, they would never come away with the notion that "extra time" beyond the stated 490 years is present within the text! The fact is, one can no more place "extra time" inside the 490 years time period than they can place extra time inside the original 70 year Babylon period that Jeremiah prophesied of, for they are both connected together! To place an "undetermined" amount of Gentile time within a "determined" Jewish time (see Dan.9:24) makes the whole prophecy undetermined and therefore non-biblical. It's kind of like a little leaven leavens all the lump (I Cor. 5:6 / Gal. 5:9). Even though I righteously hate the Palestinian-loving / Jew-hating preterists, they do make a good case for Judaism on this issue without knowing or acknowledging it, as do the Seven Day Adventist concerning the Jewish Shabat (Sabbath).
.
In most Christian graphs of Daniel 70 weeks, the first 69 weeks are shown as one complete section of weeks. The picture above shows 483 years (the total number of 69 weeks). However, that is not how the Jewish text was given. In fact, the number "69" appears absolutely nowhere in the entire ninth chapter of Daniel. From the King James Version we have the following: "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks..." -Daniel 9:25 There is an official split amidst the first 69 of the 70 weeks that Christian eschatologist refuse to acknowledge. In fact, the original 1611 edition of the King James Version didn't place a comma between the first seven weeks and the following sixty-two weeks as shown above, but instead actually placed a semicolon between the two sections of weeks. In no language, ancient or modern, would one express the number "69" as "7 and 62". The reason the Christian eschatologists don't acknowledge the two separate sections of weeks (one being seven weeks, the other being sixty-two weeks) is because they seek to emerge the two mashiachs "anointed ones" mentioned in both sets of weeks as being one "Messiah". This is also their reasoning for changing the Hebrew word "anointed" to "messiah", capitalizing the "M" of messiah (something they hadn't done nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible) and adding a definite article before their changed word in order to have the text referring to Jesus. However, if we wish to stay with the Hebrew text while continuing within the context is was written in, we have to acknowledge that there are two different anointed ones separated by 62 weeks (434 years).
This acknowledgment alone puts Jesus into question as to the one of whom the text is referring.
.
The Gentile Messiah
If the Hebrew word mashiach can mean the Latin word messiah with a capital "M", then Cyrus was indeed a Gentile Messiah! The following are Cyrus' biblical credentials as the "Messiah" of the first set of Seven weeks in Daniel 9:25:

• Cyrus is twice mentioned in two separate biblical writings (Ezra 1:1 / 2 Chron. 36:22) in connection with Jeremiah's 70 year prophecy of which is also mentioned in Daniel 9:2.
  
• Cyrus is named by the God of Israel Himself before Cyrus even came unto the scene as being "God's personal shepherd" (a title of messiahship) in connection with Jerusalem (the city) being built and the temple foundation laid. Compare the scriptures of Isaiah 44:28 and Daniel 9:25 while remembering the three main topics of Daniel's 70 weeks (1) Jerusalem (2) the Temple (3) the Jews.
• Isaiah 45:1 could be read this way: "Thus saith the LORD to His Messiah - Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut." Cyrus' His right hand (of power) is held by God Himself to subdue the nations of the world before him, where kings honor him? Wow, what an endorsement for messiahship!
  

Cyrus' anointment was during the time of Daniel, and his life was connected with a big part of the Book of Daniel, including his referral to Jeremiah. With all these messianic attributes ascribed to Cyrus by God Himself regarding Jerusalem and the temple, surely, Daniel's prophecies of Jerusalem and the temple would include "Cyrus the mashiach"!
.
Cyrus fulfills the first set of weeks (seven) by declaring as the messiah the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple 49 years (seven, seven years) after the destruction of the first temple*: "Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and He hath charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah." - Ezra 1:2
Notice, that Cyrus in his messianic role, does exactly what the Jewish messiah will do at the End of Days, which is to build the third and final temple (see Ezekiel 37:24-28).
.
The second set of weeks (sixty-two) speaks of the troubled times that would follow the rebuilding of the second temple. Not only did the construction workers of Jerusalem's wall have to carry a sword in hand (Neh. 4:18) and Antiochus Epiphanes murdered Jews including temple priests, outlaw the Torah and Judaism, and offer of pig in the temple, but the Jews themselves steeped into great sin. Many Jews during this sixty-two weeks embraced Antiochus and Hellenism much like the liberal Jews of today embrace the UN resolutions against Israel and join the peaceniks. Things got even worse after Israel lost there sovereignty to the Romans. The Gospels of the New Testament speaks a lot about the corruption among the spiritual leaders of Israel during the first century, but the "Works of Josephus" really spells out what happened spiritually to Israel towards the end. Murder, (like in the depiction of Hosea 4:2) was so widespread the Sanhedrin wouldn’t even judge them as homicide! In fact, the Sanhedrin Council was regarded as a “Killer's bias Den”. Even when they were under siege by the Roman army, the Jews in different groups were killing each other. They would be starving while rationing their food because they were under siege and different groups of Jews would destroy each others stored food supply. It is no wonder God cleared the land in judgment as He promised He would do in the last verse of Daniel 9! It is in the downgraded spiritual atmosphere after sixty-two weeks that the second mashiach (anointed) comes into view.
.
The Jewish view of the second mashiach that is noted after sixty-two weeks is not righteous just like the one in Zachariah 13:6 is not righteous. This mashiach is "cut off" in judgment for some of the same reasons of Israel's sins during the 1st century as listed above. It is note-worthy that the Hebrew word "karaat" for "cut off" as applied to this second mashiach is never applied to a righteous person throughout the Hebrew scriptures, but only towards an evil person as judgment. Also, the Hebrew words "va-ayn-lo" that depicts this second mashiach literally means, "and nothing (of) him" meaning, "nothing is left of him" for he is completely eradicated. This is also a judgment term. This mashiach is the anointed high priest (priests) of the doomed temple, anointed as in "ordained by the people". The word mashiach comes from the root word "mashach" meaning "to smear oil". Kings, prophets, and priests can be mashiachs due to their position and not necessarily by God's calling. Even the murderous King Saul was considered "anointed" (see I Samuel 24:10).
.
The temple was suppose to be the spiritual center of the Jewish nation with the priests and high priest its guardians. However, because of Israel's deep sin God showed His displeasure by focusing in on and destroying the ones of the highest religious calling. The entire reading of verse 26 is concerning judgment, and judgment only! Immediately after the mashiach is cut off (down) look at the following words: "and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood...". First, the priestly function is cut off and tied in with that major event and to complete the last and final week, the whole city and temple mount is completely destroyed. The finial vengeance of God's anger of Israel's sin. Notice, that the cutting off of the high priests and the temple's total destruction are tied to the last week of 70 CE and not 40 years (about 5 1/2 weeks worth of Daniel weeks) earlier in Jesus' time.
.
Here is a question I have for the evangelical dispensationalists, gap-theory, tribulation-believing Christians regarding Daniel 9:27 and the finial 70 week of Daniel: Why would the Hebrew prophet Daniel (or the entire Hebrew Bible for that matter) go to great strains to write about the building and destruction of the first temple, the rebuilding of the second temple, but not one single word about the destruction of the second temple, especially since the duration of such a destruction of their second temple would be the longest lasting that the Jews would ever face (1938 years and counting)? Without question the destruction of the second temple was one of the greatest monumental events (if not the greatest event) in Jewish history, yet the Gap theorists ask people to believe Daniel never mentioned it, even though there are verses within Daniel that would appear as though he indeed did?
.
Likewise, why did Daniel write about the destruction of a third temple without mentioning a single word about its rebuilding as he did extensively about the second temple, when the building of the third temple would be an even greater event in Jewish prophecy? Doesn't that seem strange? Again, let me recap: In order for one to believe that Daniel's prophecy contains 69 weeks pertains only to the second temple era and that the last and seventieth week pertains only to the future tribulation period temple, you have to believe the following two things:

• Daniel wrote extensively concerning the building of the second temple and the period it which it was present, but absolutely nothing of its destruction and the events that transpired of such a extraordinary event.
• Daniel wrote in great detail of the events concerning the destruction of a third temple, but not one single word of how it came into being.

To take it a step further, here are some questions concerning Daniel 9:27 - the last verse in the chapter:

• Does the words, "he will abolish sacrifice and meal-offering" sound in anyway like what Titus did to the temple in 70CE, being that the temple sacrifices and meal-offerings did come to an abrupt halt in 70 CE?
  
• Can the words, "and the mute abominations will be upon soaring heights" be applied or identified with Hadrian's mute Temple of Jupiter that was erected upon the Temple Mount along with a statue of himself soon after 70CE?
  
• Is the pronoun "he" that is mentioned in verse 26 of whom most Gap-theory Christians will agree is the Roman General Titus as the one who destroys the city and sanctuary, the same "he" in the very next verse (27) who abolishes the sacrifice and meal-offering temple ritual in 70 CE?
  
• If we stay with the context from verse to verse, doesn't the "he" in verse 26 being identified by Daniel as the "people of the prince" continue of who the "he" is in verse 27, instead of it being someone totally different while jumping into the context with no introduction whatsoever?
  
• Does the destroying of the city (Jerusalem) and sanctuary, go together with the abolishment of the sacrifice and meal-offering temple ritual?
  
• If the 70CE destroying of the city (Jerusalem) and sanctuary can easily go together with the abolishment of the sacrifice and meal-offering in one single event, why wouldn't Daniel's prophesy include both happenings of the same event instead both events being separately fulfilled two-thousand years apart?

What is wrong with this picture here? What piece of the puzzle is missing? Maybe no piece is missing? Maybe Daniel's events concerning the first 69 weeks needs to be placed together with the 70th week without a space in between in order to get a complete and accurate picture to emerge? Maybe the 69th week can merge with the 70th week in the text like the first seven weeks merged with the following 62 weeks in the exact same way? I hope my point here is well taken. Daniel's Seventy Weeks has been completely fulfilled! It was fulfilled in 70 CE at the destruction of the second temple as indicated in verses 26 and 27. Therefore, Daniel Seventy Weeks covers 490 years from the destruction of the first temple to the destruction of the second. For it is only after the completion of the Seventy Weeks that complete redemption of Israel can come about. This is why the Talmud states that on the day of the destruction of the second temple, the messiah was born. They were not looking for the messiah and the End of Days to come during the Seventy Weeks of Daniel, only after.
.
I can almost hear the Gap-theory Christians claiming "duel prophecy". What gets me about the duel prophecy claimers is that they only speak of duel prophesies when they find themselves in a prophecy jam and not until. When someone starts asking those tough questions like those of mine above, duel-prophecy becomes a quick-fix.
.
One thing that I've noticed about duel-prophecy claimers is that they pick and choose only a portion of prophecy that they feel fits their theology while discarding the rest of the prophecy as fulfilled ancient history. For example, the Immanuel in Isaiah 7:14 becomes a "duel prophecy" when any person of Judaism points out that Isaiah 7:15-16 are connected to verse 14 placing little Immanuel during the time of the "two kings" mentioned in verse 16, Pekah of Israel (of the divided kingdom) and Rezin, King of Syria (see II Kings 15:29-30, II Kings 16:5, 9). For some reason Isaiah 7:15-16 is not part of the duel-prophecy in their minds, just Isaiah 7:14 by itself is, even though all three verses are part of the same exact text. Likewise with Daniel's Seventy Weeks, all prior 69 weeks are ancient fulfilled prophecy, except for the last week which is duel so that the Gap-theory can be maintained. Go figure.
.
What seems to be a silent "gap" between the second and third temples really isn't. What the Seventy Weeks of Daniel did was, lay a foundation for the great messianic age (olam haba) to come that will give rise to an everlasting temple. Remember, Daniel's temple was doomed from its beginning, it was only given 490 years to be in existence according to prophecy. Ezekiel's temple however, is prophesied to last throughout the ages (see Ezekiel 37:26-28).
.
Daniel 9:24 spells out six things that the seventy weeks are to accomplish (1) to terminate transgression (2) to end sins (3) to wipe away iniquity (4) to bring everlasting righteousness (5) to confirm the visions and prophets (6) to anoint the Holy of Holies. These six glorious things that will no doubt benefit the Gentile nations but they are not centered around them. These six glorious things are centered around the Jews, Jerusalem, and the third and final temple, as Gabriel in verse 24, gave Daniel the understanding: "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city..." The prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied of this great time of the third and final temple and describes them in their prophesies the fulfillment of each of these six spiritual conditions:
(1) to terminate transgression - "Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions" - Ezekiel 37:23
(2) to end sins - "I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God." - Ezekiel 37:23
(3) to wipe away iniquity - "And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me." Jeremiah 33:7,8
(4) to bring everlasting righteousness - "And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore." - Ezekiel 37:25, 26
(5) to confirm the visions and prophets - "And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." - Ezekiel 37:28 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD. - Ezekiel 38:23
(6) to anoint the Holy of Holies - "So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house." - Ezekiel 43:5
.
The destruction of the second temple is still being strongly felt today. From the second temple's destruction came the Christian persecutions of the Crusades, Inquisitions, Pogroms, and the finally the Holocaust. It is due to the second temple's destruction that we have today's situation in the Middle East. If Israel would have maintained their sovereignty over the land and temple throughout the first century and beyond, there wouldn't be the terrorists-Palestinian problem that Israel has to deal with today! Those horrific events of 70 CE has laid the foundation for all the nations of today to assemble themselves against the tiny nation of Israel for a final spiritual showdown that goes far beyond the spiritual application of 70 CE.
.
To understand what I'm saying in movie terms, picture the first Rocky motion picture as 70 CE and Rocky II as the Quartet verses Israel in the coming confrontation. This confrontation will end up causing the nations to know the true God of Israel. Just today I learned from the Associated Press' own admission that the Quartet (USA, UN, EU, Russia) was created solely for the purpose to deal with the Palestinian /Israeli issue. There is no doubt in my mine that the gathering of nations against Israel has been two-thousand years in coming from the destruction of the second temple. The core issue of this Palestinian / Israeli issue that has the nations gather together for one cause, and one purpose, is the Temple Mount! The most disputed piece of land in all the world is the Temple Mount, where the events of 70 CE and Daniel Seventy Weeks took place. And the end result will be the destruction of all Israel's enemies, and the emergence of the third and finial temple in the exact same place!
.
*Christians love to point to Antaxerxas' declaration to build a "security fence" around Jerusalem as the time the 70 weeks of Daniel time starts based upon Daniel 9:25 that states in the KJV:"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.... However, Antaxerxas was not God's mashiach as any Bible reader can see nothing even close was ascribed to him from God as it was to Cyrus. Furthermore, the Hebrew word that the KJV translates as "commandment" (davar) for the purpose of their Antaxerxas revelation, actually means "word". The "word"(davar) that appears in verse 25 is connected to the same "word" (davar) in verse 2 of the same text, which is the "word to Jeremiah" (staying with the context) of the destruction of the first temple.

• "For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word (davar) toward you, in causing you to return to this place. -Jeremiah 29:10
• Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word (davar) of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia... -Ezra 1:1
• To fulfil the word (davar)of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. - 2 Chronicles 36:21
• In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word (davar) of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. - Daniel 9:2
• Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the word (davar) to restore and to build Jerusalem... -Daniel 9:25

Thus, the angel Gabriel gave Daniel the understanding in verse 25 that Jeremiah's prophecy would be fulfilled 18 years later (there is an 18 year span between the Babylon's subjugation of Jerusalem and the city's total destruction) than what Daniel had originally thought based upon Jeremiah 25:12 and not the (davar-word) verse of Jeremiah 29:10. The difference being:

• Jeremiah 25:12 speaks of the seventy years from Babylon's subjugation of the city of Jerusalem right after their kingdom arose to power, to Babylon's destruction and the rise of "God's shepherd" Cyrus. Basically, from the beginning to the end of the Babylonian Empire (non-biblical modern chronology 606BCE to 536BCE).
• Jeremiah 29:10 speaks of the 70 years between the destruction of the first temple to the completion of rebuilding of the second temple (non-biblical modern chronology 587BCE to 516BCE). This also is the start-time of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel (the fulfillment of the word (davar) of the Lord. It was after seven weeks (49 years) after the this seventy year period started that Cyrus "the Messiah" came on the scene to declare by God's power through him, the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the second temple.

Therefore, this great movement in time towards the ending of Babylon and the restoration of the temple would become noted in Daniel's first set of weeks in his prophecy of Jerusalem and the temple.

The New Heart and the New Spirit

I was listening to Christian minister on the radio the other day explain how the Christian era brought about a new and deeper relationship with God via the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 and that only "the believers" had access to this new relationship. He went on to say the under the "old" covenant (the completed temporary covenant) the Jews didn't have the availability of the Spirit of God to "indwell" within them. This has been for the most part a mainstream doctrine that the Church has carried for close two thousand years concerning the nation of Israel and the covenant that God has with them. As with all doctrinal claims be it Christian or Islam, they need to be looked at first through the Jewish Scriptures since the Jewish scriptures are the base from which all monotheistic beliefs derives from.

The Hebrew scriptures describes the relationship that God had with ancient Israel was not just as a son (which is fairly significant in and of itself) but as a "firstborn" son at that (Exodus 4:22)! Traditionally, the firstborn son held a special place in the father's heart. It was the plague of the firstborn that hit Pharaoh so personally hard that it became the only plague out of the ten that finally convinced him to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt. Concerning the ancient Hebrews, the firstborn had the "birthright" of which Esau sought Jacob's life in his struggle to regain his birthright, and under the Mosaic Law the firstborn and only the firstborn, must to be offering to God in a life-long service of the priesthood or be redeemed back to his parents at a cost (Exodus 13:1-3, 13-15). In Hebrew, this portion of the law is called "Pidyon Haben" meaning "redemption of the son" and it shows the special thought that God had towards the firstborn in connection with His holiness. When we look at the entire nation of Israel as God's own firstborn as He has declared unto Pharaoh, we should ask ourselves what kind of intense closeness did God have for such a nation? How would God as a father interact with His firstborn? How would the relationship between this spiritual father God and His firstborn son be carried out? Could God express His very nature and "indwell" Himself in such a "firstborn nation- son"? We will find out as we go on.
.
There is another type of close bond that God has with Israel. Israel was and is to be a bride and a wife to God. A deep reading of the Song of Songs (Songs of Solomon) reveals how close righteous Israel is to God and just how close God is to righteous Israel. After reading such a text in very graphic detail it becomes very plain that God didn't hold any indwelling back from His bride Israel. If He had, what kind of husband to Israel would He be? When Israel sinned by worshiping other gods, God didn't look at it that Israel just so happened to have failed at keeping His
commandments but was considered by God to be in an adulteress affair. This affair with other gods was not only adultery (which was plenty bad by itself) but was indeed adultery against God by prostitution which was all the more vile (Jeremiah 3:1 / Hosea 1:2). The church likes to perceive that because of Israel's adultery God had completely divorced Israel forever. This doctrine is partly based upon the New Testament passage that falsely quotes a Hebrew scripture pertaining to the forever marriage God has with Israel (see Hebrew 8:9 compared with Jeremiah 31:32) and the notion that God has taken on a new wife called "The Church" or "New Israel" based on Galatians 6:16 and other New Testament scriptures. However, contrary to this belief, it is during the glorious Messianic Age that estranged Israel will return to her husband with the same intensity contained within the Song of Songs (Isaiah 62:4,5).

.

Notice, when comparing Hebrew 8:9 with Jeremiah 31:32 that the complete context of Jeremiah 31:31-37 is declaring that the same nation that was "married" to God under the covenant (not a Gentile spiritual people under a another covenant) that did the sinning against her "husband" to begin with are indeed the same exact nation that returns to her husband. This time however, under a new covenant (promise) that Israel will be without the choice to accept or break away from the wedding vows - the Torah. Laying aside the choice that was first given to Israel between life and death given in Deuteronomy 30:19 God was so determined that His wife return to Him that He made a vow (a new covenant promise like that mentioned in Leviticus 26:42 and not a new Torah) that regardless of had deep Israel's sin is, God will see that she returns ever to Him, and we see this forever-return prophesied in Ezekiel 37:22-28.

.
The relationship between father and son and between husband and wife are the same types of relationships that the Christian Bible uses to describe the relationship between God and the believer. So, what is the difference? Mainstream Christianity as did this radio host I first mentioned, has argued that the difference between ancient Israel and the Christian believer was that since the Christian New Covenant era an indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God is available to man that wasn't available to ancient Israel. My question then becomes, if the indwelling of the Spirit that is portrayed in the Christian Bible as a father to son and husband to wife relationship (Galatians 4:6 / Ephesians 5:23) why was Israel, who supposedly didn't have the Spirit indwelling availability be portrayed in the exact same closely intense relationship with God? Why wasn't Israel portrayed as God's servants only, so that the son and bride relationship could be reserved for the Christians only? Wouldn't that put things in a better prospective and leave little doubt of Christianity being the superior religion? The truth is, like the book of Revelations, Christianity had to borrow most of it's biblical metaphors from the Hebrew scriptures, many times using them word for word. And to think that the Hebrew prophets who spoke in "Thus saith The Lord" of what God had spoken to them from lip to ear, and those like Ezekiel and Isaiah who were carried deep into the Spirit of God by vision had anything less than an indwelling of God in their human spirit is really quite absurd!

.
There are several men in the Hebrew scriptures in whom dwelt the Spirit of God. Many times it would be the Gentiles recognizing it: Pharaoh asked his servants concerning Joseph, "Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?" (Genesis 41:38). This same type of scenario of Gentile recognition is repeated in the book of Daniel when a pagan queen not knowing the one true God of Israel, declares unto King Belshazzar,"There is a man in thy kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the holy gods" (Daniel 5:11). For the ministry of workmanship of holy objects in the tabernacle including the Ark of the Covenant, God says of Bezaleel son of Uri, "I have filled him with the Spirit of God" (Exodus 31:3). Caleb was led by the Spirit (Numbers 14:24). God told Moses that his successor- Joshua was, "a man in whom is the Spirit" (Numbers 27: 18). Of Moses himself, God said,"I have made thee a god [a god "Elohim" in flesh] to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet" (Exodus 7:1). The Bible tells us that, "the Spirit of the Lord (lav-shah in Hebrew- meaning "clothed") Gideon" (Judges 6:34). In other words, the Spirit of God became clothed and became active in an earthen vessel known as Gideon! And the prophet Isaiah recounts how backsliden Israel would remember God among the congregation saying, " Where is He that put His Holy Spirit within him ?" (Isaiah 63:11).

.

Christianity began after the Ark became unaccessible and spread like a wildfire after the Temple was destroyed. Therefore, Christian foundational doctrine placed more emphasis on a human temple while looking down on a physical temple of the Lord as merely a shadow of a the new belief (Hebrews 9:13,14). However, the Temple never stood as a barrier between God's spirit indwelling with man just as the "Church houses" don't today! You have probably heard the saying, "God isn't in the church building, He is in the people". No kidding? And without the "people" of Israel, the Temple of the Lord becomes nothing as well! The Temple was a spiritual center for a chosen national people to worship God nationally with the main emphasis on the heart of man:

"And now, Israel what does the Lord thy God require of you, but to fear the the Lord thy God, to walk in all of His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and His statues, which I command you this day for thy good" - Deuteronomy 10:12,13

.

The question for the temple-replacement theology is, why did David who lived between the time of the Tabernacle and the First Temple beg God not to take His "Holy Spirit" from him in Psalms 51:11 if the Temple was only foreshadowing the Spirit to come? As the Temple was the spiritual center for a national Israel before the Common Era, guess what? It is to be a nation spiritual center again for Israel first, and then to all the Gentile nations!
In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up the his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old" -Amos 9:11My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." - Ezekiel 37:27,28.
.

If the Temple was only a foreshadow of the Spirit to come, why is it prophesied to return "as in the days of old" and forever more at that? And if the Temple symbolized ancient Israel 's inaccessible ability to the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit within them, what's it doing in the Messianic Age where the Spirit of God will be known universally (Jeremiah 31:34 / Joel 2:28 / Habakkuh 2:14)? This brings me back to the radio preacher.

.
During his radio message he stated that there was indeed a scripture that was not from the New Testament scriptures but from the "Jewish scriptures" that told Israel that they couldn't have access to the Spirit of God indwelling within them but that later they would after the Christian era. So I started to listen more intently as he began to read to his listeners the quote of such a scripture "from the Jews' own Bible". He read one verse from start to finish, Ezekiel 36:26
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I have to admit that if someone didn't know their Bible I could see how they could possibly believe that this scripture in Ezekiel is talking about the coming Christian era years after the last Jewish prophets. But because of how he setup the verse in its meaning there was a reason as to why he only read the one and only verse. If he had included just two verses either before or after his reading of Ezekiel 36:26 he would not have been able to use this scripture in the terms of how he introduced it.
.
I'm not a scholar by any stretch of the imagination but there one thing I do preach hard on, and that is to "stay with the context" of what the scripture is plainly stating! I only care about what the context is directly telling me and not some imaginary doctrine read into it! Just take the text for what it says, and don't paint me a picture, for I have absolutely no interest in that!
.
After he finished reading the verse I began yelling at the radio, "Who is the "you" in that verse? Just "who" is it that will get that new heart, that new spirit, and that heart of flesh? Is it talking about the Gentiles and the Jews all grouped together in one big indwelling as in the Christian era for the last two thousand years or is the text talking about the Jewish nation only at the End of Days? Let's look at the text in a broader spectrum:
And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. - Ezekiel 36:23-28
.
Without going through a lot of details that are clearly obvious, this context is the same context given in the very next chapter (Ezekiel 37:22-28). In the text above Israel will be gathered from all the Gentile nations and into their "own land" just like in Ezekiel 37:21,22. Then they will be cleansed for sin and walk in righteousness just like in Ezekiel 37:23. They will walk in God's statues and judgments and do them just like in Ezekiel 37:24. And they will dwell in the land of their ancestral fathers just like in Ezekiel 37:25. What Ezekiel 37 contains that chapter 36 doesn't is mention of the everlasting Temple.
.
But with all this clear information within the text, how dare any minister try to use a Jewish text against the people of the covenant that the very text is about. How dare any minister spiritualize these holy texts when they know full well God didn't gather Israel from all of the Gentile nations and bring them into the land of their fathers during the rise of Christianity, but that the exact opposite happen when the Jews were even more so scattered among the heathen nations in 70 C.E. How dare they spiritualize these holy scriptures when they know full well that the Jewish nation as a complete whole, are walking under God's statues and Judgments and "doing them"as the scriptures says that they will be doing them - I might add. And how dare they spiritualize these holy scriptures when knowing full well that a third and final Temple as described Amos 9:11, Ezekiel 37:27,29 and Ezekiel chapters 40-48 did not happen during the rise of Christianity but that the exact opposite happened when the Temple that was build by the non-Jewish insane murderer, King Herod, was destroyed!
.
No, these glorious events will happen at the End of Days, and not until then. Until that time we must read these holy text as they are given, which is of a holy and righteous day to come, where there will be no need for guess work concerning the text themselves. Where the terrible events of Jewish history of 70 CE give way to Biblical prophecy of a glorious time in the physical land of Israel that is promised not to cease, and the Spirit resting with and in His people.
"And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God." -Amos 9:15
"For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God" -Ezekiel 36:24-28