His Story

Daniel 9:26

All history is His story! As we watch God’s plan unfold in the Mid-East, let’s stop to appreciate that it is orchestrated, note for note, by the Composer of the universe.

“The people of the prince that shall come” - Who are they? They’re Romans. You know what happened in 70 A.D.? Jerusalem was destroyed. By whom? The Romans. They are the people of the prince that shall come. They lived in the first installment of the Roman Empire, and he will be over the last; but nonetheless, it is the same empire. They destroyed in 70 A.D. the city and the temple.

And notice further in verse 26, “And the end of it shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” In other words, it’ll be a flood of devastation. And until it’s finally over, there will be a constant desolation.

Luke 21:20-24

²⁰ And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. ²¹ Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. ²² For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. ²³ But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. ²⁴ And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

Jesus, I believe, had in mind the destruction of Jerusalem. And that’s exactly that to which Daniel speaks.

History records that there were among the Jewish people the loudest voices who protested the Roman presence. They hated and despised the Romans. They wanted Jesus to overthrow the Romans. And He didn’t; and that was part of the reason they hated Him.

And fanatics and Zealots began to carry daggers, and they would find Romans and they would slay them in the night. There were marauders, there was violence everywhere. And finally in A.D. 66, there was a wholesale open revolt that broke out in the month of May. And the Jewish Zealots and rebels overran the Roman garrison; and for a while, Jerusalem fell into the control of these rebels. They literally took back their city.

First thing they did was they said, “We’re not going to have any more honoring of the emperor.” In effect, they declared war on Rome. That little tiny country threw down the gauntlet at the foot of Rome.

Emperor Nero knew he had to deal with this, and so he gave command of his troops to a man named General Titus Flavius Vespasian. This man had distinguished himself as a brilliant soldier in the conquest of Britain, and now he was sent to do something about the uprising in Israel. He attacked Galilee, first of all, from the north; and by October of 67 he had subdued all of Galilee. By the way, one of his prisoners was Josephus the historian.

In the middle of all of that, Nero lost his mind and committed suicide, and when he did, in Rome, immediately civil war broke out, because everybody wanted to be the next emperor. And you had three insignificant emperors in a row.

Finally, this man Vespasian who had been this great soldier, was given the mastery of all of Rome. And so he embarked to Rome; but he left Israel in the hands of his son, Titus. And shortly before the full moon in the spring of 70, Titus appeared with his troops outside the city of Jerusalem ready to take on the rebels. And he had one hundred thousand plus soldiers. The population of Jerusalem was probably about two hundred thousand.

Titus attacked with Roman artillery. They smashed the walls. They swarmed around the city. They did everything they could. Finally, they built a huge mound around the city so no one could get out. And when anybody tried to get out or any mercenaries came out and tried to infiltrate their troops, they captured them. And Josephus says they nailed five hundred mercenaries to crosses every single day.

In fact, there was a forest around Jerusalem that they literally destroyed in making crosses and battering rams and war machines. Tree after tree was sacrificed for a cross, or a ramp, or a ladder, or a battering ram. There was no shade left.

Historians tell us there was an unbearable stench because of all the dead bodies that they couldn’t bury. The people began to die of starvation. Listen to what Josephus says; this will give you a little idea of the devastation.

“The terrible famine that increased in frightfulness daily annihilated whole families of the people. The terraces were full of women and children who had collapsed from hunger. The alleys were piled high with the bodies of the aged. Children and young people swollen with lack of food wandered around like ghosts until they fell. They were so far spent that they could no longer bury anyone; and if they did, they fell dead upon the very corpses they were burying.

“The misery was unspeakable; for as soon as even the shadow of anything eatable appeared anywhere, a fight began over it, and the best of friends fought each other and tore from each other the most miserable trifles. No one would believe that the dying had no provisions stored away. Robbers threw themselves upon those who were drawing their last breath and ransacked their clothing. These robbers ran about reeling and staggering like mad dogs, and hammered on the doors of houses like drunk men. In their despair, they often plunged into the same house two or three times in one day.

“Their hunger was so unbearable they were forced to chew anything and everything. They laid hands on things that even the meanest of animals wouldn’t touch, far less eat. They had long since eaten their belts and their shoes, and even their leather jerkins [close fitting sleeveless jacket], which were torn to shreds and chewed. And by the way, they also ate their children. Many of them fed on old hay.”

But Josephus says, “Why should I describe the shame and indignity that famine brought upon men, making them eat such unnatural things? Because I tell of things unknown to history, whether Greek or Barbarian. It is frightful to speak of it, and unbelievable to hear of it. I should gladly have passed over this disaster in silence so that I might not get the reputation of recording something that must appear…degrading. But there were too many eye witnesses in my time. Apart from that, my country would have little cause to be grateful to me were I to be silent about the misery which it endured at this time.

“In one night, two thousand died. The city was torched. By August of 70, Roman soldiers erected their banners in the sacred places, and began to sacrifice to idols. Murder and plunder followed.”

Daniel said it’ll come, and it’ll be a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

It wasn’t over. Following the fall of Jerusalem in 70, in a single day, ten thousand throats were cut in Damascus. Many died as gladiators in the games.

When the first crusade was launched in A.D. 1096, the people wanted to go back and capture the Holy Land for its resources. And they had one great fear. They feared if they took the Holy Land back, the European Jews would lay claim to it, because it was their rightful homeland. And so on the way across Europe, the Crusaders decided to massacre all the communities of Jews that they met. By the way, they did that in the name of Christ, supposedly as Christians.

Subsequent crusades continued trampling Jews wherever they were found. In order to save their lives, they fled to two countries: Poland and Russia. And that’s why they were there, even until modern times. I don’t need to tell you that in the 1940s, six million of them were slaughtered by Hitler.

You see, it happened just as our text prophesied. After the 483 years, the first 69 weeks of years, the Messiah would be cut off, and there would be desolation in the land; and that’s what happened.

But by 1914, ninety thousand Jews had come back to their land. And by 1948, they had a charter as a nation again.

What’s happening?

Verse 27          The Antichrist, from the revived Roman Empire, the feet of the statue, iron mingled with clay, enters the scene and takes charge for the final, 70^th week, the tribulation.

Now we have a gap, don’t we then, between weeks 69 and 70. You say, “How long will the gap last?” It’ll last until the Antichrist comes to confirm a covenant with Israel; that’s how long it’ll last. Don’t be bothered by the gap. There are all kinds of gaps in the grand scheme of Biblical history.

For example, in Isaiah, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulders.” Do you see a gap there? I see a gap there. He was born, but it’s been a long, long wait to get the government on His shoulders, which happens when He takes the throne in the millennial kingdom.

1 Peter 1:11

¹¹ Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

The gap is the church age. Paul calls it “the mystery period” – a parenthesis. That’s why the Lord could say, “No man knows the day nor hour.” Not for you to know the times or the seasons. You see, if it was all exact 490 years, we’d all know. But the gap means none of us knows.

How amazing indeed that little people like you and I can read God’s Word and know the history of the world, including the parts which haven’t happened yet! You see, Jesus has hidden it from the wise and prudent, and revealed it unto whom? Babes. I hope you’re grateful. What an incredible thing that God has done for us. All history is His story!

2 Peter 3:11-14

¹¹ Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, ¹² Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? ¹³ Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. ¹⁴ Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.