DAY 253    Read Daniel 9.

Today's reading:  As Daniel prayed, the same angel returned to finish the explanation which had been cut off so suddenly by Daniel's sickness.  The angel had said, just before the prophet fainted, "The vision of the evening and the morning [that is, the 2,300 days] which was told is true."  And now he has come back to give the prophet "skill and understanding" as to its meaning.

Memory gem:  "When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law"  (Galatians 4:4).

Thought for today:
In order to make things clear to the prophet Daniel, the angel began by giving him a shorter period to deal with--the first part of the long prophetic time prophecy of the 2,300 days.

It is a little like the way a schoolteacher explains how distances are measured on a world map.  First, the scale of miles in one corner is explained; then this is placed on the large map to get the distance in miles.  The 2,300-day period is a time map of the world events.  The angel first provided a smaller scale of years, so that the longer period might be better understood.  Also, if the shorter period fit exactly events in the then-near future, he and we would be sure that the longer one would fit events in the far future.

So let us put ourselves at the time of Daniel as we study.  According to the scale of time, 490 days (70 weeks) would extend from the proclamation to restore Jerusalem (the event for which Daniel had been praying) to the complete fulfillment of the prediction in Daniel 9:24-27 concerning Jerusalem, her temple, and her people.  And the 483 days (69 weeks) would reach from the issuing of the same decree to the anointing of Christ at His baptism--that is, to the Messiah, which is the Hebrew word for "anointed" (see Acts 10:38; Luke 3:21, 22).

If we make a careful comparison of the secular history of the times with the statements in Ezra 7:11-26, we find that this decree of the great Persian king of the civilized world went forth in the autumn of the year 457 B.C.  This was the decree by Artaxerxes to restore and build Jerusalem, which had been desolated many years before by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

Looking back at it from our day, we can see that the angel must have been speaking in prophetic time, in which the word day is used to represent a year (see Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6).  For there were exactly 483 years between the dates 457 B.C. and A.D. 27, the latter year being the one in which Christ appeared at the Jordan River for Baptism.  It was then that He was anointed by the Holy Ghost which lighted upon Him in the form of a dove.

We read in Mark 1:14, 15: "Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."

"The time is fulfilled."  "This," in effect says our Lord, "is the reason why you should give attention to what I say.  I have fulfilled the great time prophecy, and My appearance at the very time that has been a subject of prophetic forecast for five centuries proves that I am the Messiah, the Christ whom you have been expecting."

Daniel 9:27 says, "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease."  In what way did He do this?  He did it by dying as the Lamb of God upon the cross.  The sacrifice of innocent lambs had for centuries pointed the faith of the people to the death of Christ as an atonement for their sins.

And His crucifixion was to take place "in the midst of the week."  At that time, says verse 26, "shall Messiah be cut off."  There at the middle point of the last seven-year period of the prophecy, "in the midst of the week," the cross was set up, "towering o'er the wrecks of time."

Christ began His work on time, He completed it on time; and there upon the cross He cried, "It is finished" (John 19:30).  The apostle Paul declares in Galatians 4:4 that "when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son."  His coming was timed to the need of men and the fulfillment of divine prophecy.  His coming as a babe at Bethlehem, His baptism at the Jordan, His death upon the cross--all fulfilled the most exacting prophecies and prove the Bible to be true.

When Christ died in the midst of that last week of the prophecy, He was "cut off, but not for himself," as we read in Daniel 9:26.  That is the eternal beauty and wonder of it all.  He was cut off for all men--for us, for you, and for me.

At the end of the seventieth week, the exclusive opportunities of the gospel were taken from the chosen people, and the message of salvation through Christ went to the Gentile world after the stoning of Stephen in A.D. 34.  That is the year that ends the 490-year period of 70 weeks of Daniel's prophecy.  Se we see that the simple scale of years fits exactly with the signal events of early Christianity.

It remains for us to take the scale and apply it to the long 2300-day period.  Beginning at the same date--namely, 457 B.C.--we can compute that 2,300 years from 457 brings us to A.D. 1844, about the middle of the nineteenth century.

So the sanctuary leaps the great gulf of historic time starting in the period before Christ, and changes from an ancient shadow to a very modern substance, as we might put it.  The figure and the prophecy have served their purpose.  We now have the reality.

----------------
Difficult or obscure words:
Daniel 8:7.  "Choler"--an old English word meaning "anger."
Daniel 8:14.  "Days"--literally, evening mornings, a Hebrew expression meaning whole days.
Daniel 9:24.  "Are determined"--a Hebrew word occurring only here in Scripture.  In other Hebrew sources, it is used to mean "are cut off," or "are decreed," as well as "are determined."  Here the context favors "are cut off" from the longer period of the 2,300 evenings and mornings that Gabriel is explaining.

DAY 252    Read Daniel 8.

Today's reading:  Daniel takes another prophetic look, but it begins with Medo-Persia.  One part of the eighth chapter causes Daniel deep anxiety, and his question was not resolved until after the fall of Babylon (in chapter 9).  Unfortunately, we cannot here take up a detailed study of these vital prophecies, but in tomorrow's "Thought for today" we will give an explanation somewhat longer than usual.

Memory gem:  "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High"  (Daniel 7:27).

Thought for today:
In the book of Daniel we find a remarkable statement that throws a searchlight ray down the dark vistas of the ages and locates world events with surprising accuracy.  It is found in Daniel 8:14.  "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."

This could not have reference to a mere temple on earth, made with hands.  That sanctuary-temple was lying in ruins when Daniel wrote these words.  In the New Testament we find indications that the cleansing of the sanctuary foretold by the prophecy must take place in the heavenly sanctuary (see Hebrews 9:24-28).

And we see that the cleansing of the celestial sanctuary must be the final judgment of every human being.  In the fourteenth chapter of Revelation we are told that the hour of judgment is come, when God is sending a worldwide message to all the earth.

The holy prophet Daniel had a vision in four parts, and an angel had been commissioned by God to explain its meaning to him.  The explanation had reached the fourth part, which pertained to the 2,300 days.  At this point Daniel fainted (Daniel 8:27) under the tremendous strain of watching such momentous events in vision.  He was sick for some time.  Later, as he slowly recovered, he studied diligently the prophecy of Jeremiah to see whether he had foretold the restoration of Jerusalem, the city where the earthly sanctuary had been located before its destruction.

Daniel concluded that the vision referred to the sanctuary to be rebuilt in Jerusalem after the people had gone back from their captivity.  So he began to pray for that restoration, as recorded in Daniel 9.

DAY 251    Read Daniel 6 and 7.

Today' reading:  After the familiar story of Daniel in the lions' den we launch into six chapters of prophecy.  Today we find a series of symbols that closely parallel the great image of chapter 2.

Memory gem:  "The saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever"  (Daniel 7:18).

Thought for today:
Since the march of history in its broad outline fulfills the divine predictions in the Book of God, we can see that history is, as someone has said, really "His story."  In the prophecies of the Bible, especially those of Daniel and the Revelation, we actually have history in advance, and we can read tomorrow's headlines.

No wonder this prophecy is of extreme interest to all of us.  God's hand is still upon the nations.  He watches them.  Remember this: Babylon, the nation that carried Judah captive, is gone.  Medo-Persia, which cast its terrible laws of genocide against Israel, is gone.  Grecia, whose representatives persecuted the people of God, is gone.  Rome, whose armies destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70, is gone.  All these nighty nations had contact with God's representative people on earth, and these four mighty nations are gone.  They have sunk into the deep grave of the past, and only their memory and the artifacts of buried cities remain.  These raging beasts from the sea have become the ghosts of nations.

But the church of Christ still lives.  The day will come when "the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever."

Then we shall have the worldwide peace that all men long for.  But we can never have this until we first have the peace of God in our hearts, the peace which passes human understanding or explanation, the peace which comes through surrender and forgiveness.

Even today, while the storms of national strife and hatred are raging in the world, you may have peace in your heart.  He said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you....Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid"  (John 14:27).

----------------
Difficult or obscure words:
Daniel 7:9.  "Cast down"--better: placed or set up.
Daniel 7:25.  "Laws"--singular, the law.

DAY 250    Read Daniel 3 to 5.

Today's reading:  Many years elapsed between the events of Daniel 3 and those of Daniel 4.  Then more years later came Belshazzar's ill-fated reign.  Daniel was about eighty years old when he read the cryptic writing on the wall.

Memory gem:  "Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting"  (Daniel 5:27).

Thought for today:
Belshazzar's feast was the drunken debauch par excellence, led by the king and the great men of the government.  It revealed the decadence of high society, the failure of the intellectuals, the final end of the civilization.  As you read the story, you see three great pictures on the wall--revelry, revelation, and retribution.

Now the whole thing is being reenacted before us among the nations of our own civilization.  There was a worldwide depression; then a second world war brought its desolation upon us; and now, what do we have?  Repentance, peace, and righteousness?  No!  We seem to be entering into a modern Belshazzar's feast.

This age of great intellectual and scientific light is a dark night spiritually for the world.  The revelry goes on about us today amidst our economic anxieties.  Our amusement life is largely non-Christian--in fact, anti-Christian. We may put "In God we trust" on our money, but do we trust Him?

We have warnings enough.  We have seen the handwriting on the wall.  God has been writing His message of the approaching judgment day.  As Belshazzar in his day had warning of things to come, so with us now.

Can we not in the events of our day and in the words of Holy Scripture and in the movings of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, hear God's bells of grace and mercy pealing out His message of invitation and warning?  They have not yet sounded a dirge or a knell.  Let us respond to God here and now.

NOTE:  The fall of Babylon occurred in 539 B.C.
"Darius the Median" of Daniel 5:31 and of chapter 6 has not been identified in secular history.  Cyrus the Great was the acknowledged first emperor of the new Medo-Persian Empire.  After Cyrus completed the conquest of the Babylonian territory, he may have placed the aged Darius (sixty-two years old) in charge of the Babylonian homeland as "king."  Darius apparently died after a reign of less than two years.

DAY 249    Read Ezekiel 47; 48; 49:17-21.

Today's reading:  As we read the end of Ezekiel's prophecies, the vision of the temple and the new nation closes on an assuring note.  The last prophecy concerns a somewhat cryptic message to Nebuchadnezzar.

Memory gem:  "The name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there"  (Ezekiel 48:35).

Thought for today:
Several times in the Old Testament the name of God--transliterated as "Jehovah"--is combined with another word to picture some aspect of God's character as meeting human need.  One of these appears in the last verse of Ezekiel 48: "The name of the city from that day shall be [Jehovah Shammah], The Lord is there."

Turning to the "shepherd's psalm," we read the words that appear to go with this divine title:  "I will fear no evil: for thou art with me."

In the sunshine and in the shadows, in life and in death, the Lord is there; He is with us.  We fear no evil when the Lord is there.

Jesus is called "Immanuel," "God with us"  (Isaiah 7:14); Matthew 1:23).  The apostle Paul says of Christ that "in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell"  (Colossians 1:19, RSV).  Of the true church, it can also be said that the Lord is there (see Ephesians 2:19-22).

But the final and supreme fulfillment of the prophecy will come in the earth restored, when John's vision will at long last be a glorious reality.  We read in Revelation 21:2-4:
"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven....And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

Then we shall fear no evil, for "the Lord is there"--Jehovah Shammah.

DAY 248    Read Ezekiel 44 through 46.

Today's reading:  After completing the description of the temple, the Lord gave instructions for restoring a righteous nation.  It would be well for us to consider the general principles involved.

Memory gem:  "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).

Thought for today:
According to a famous story, England awoke one day and found that the Bible was gone; not only the book itself, but every quotation from it and every reference to it.  Every bit of its influence was gone; all trace of its power was wiped out.  Every echo of its music, every picture in art, every act or production of the mind and heart of man, every influence of the Bible, was gone.  Great literature could hardly be understood--Shakespeare was practically unreadable, Ruskin looked like a moth-eaten tapestry, and everyday speech stammered and faltered.  A change passed over everything.  Life became vulgar and hectic.  All restraints were thrown off; instincts ran wild; life became not so much tragic, as tedious, trivial, and frivolous.

Well," you say, "that's just a terrible dream."  True--but something like that has really happened, friends, not only in England, but in America, in Australia, in every part of the world.  It is not that the Bible is not in existence, not available.  It is that it is unknown.  Few people read it, compared with a hundred years ago.  They not only do not read it, but they do not often hear it read.  Many have no idea of how to read it or of what it means.

So we read today a whole generous, charming, intelligent, troubled generation without the Bible.  People are trying everything else.  Many ancient philosophers have been resurrected, and people are trying them.  They try psychology, psychiatry, and many other things that may contain much good, but not the real answer demanded by the human heart.  Many try sedative pills and pick-me-up pills.  They try various exercises, diets, hypnosis, and so on and on.  Why not try the Bible?

Listen, friend, you might be missing the best thing that could come to you.  Don't risk it.  Open God's Book and read it for yourself.  Read all of it.

DAY 247    Read Ezekiel 42 and 43.

Today's reading:  Ezekiel in vision saw the glory of God fill the great temple.  Now we await, according to Christ's own promise, the coming of Jesus "in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels"  (Luke 9:26).

Memory gem:  "When the Son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory"  (Matthew 25:31).

Thought for today:
What a day that will be!  What a dawning of the morning!  The night of sin will be over at last.  The powers of darkness will be vanquished, with the Lord of light triumphant over all.

The coming King is on His way.  There can be no doubt about that.  The signs of His return are as plain as if they were written in flaming letters in the sky.  Soon the glorious pageantry of His advent will burst upon our mortal sight.  Streaming past the glowing constellations of the watching universe, the most sublime procession of the ages will move toward this planet for the final scenes of its tragic history.  At its head will be Jesus, crowned with many crowns, as King of the ages, King of creation, King of the world, and King of kings.

What will you do then?  Many will flee in fear and shame from His presence.  Others will look up into His face with gladness, saying, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord: we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation"  (Isaiah 25:9).  Which will you do?

God grant that you may crown Him King in that great day--King of your heart forever!

DAY 246    Read Ezekiel 40 and 41.

Today's reading:  Chapters 40 through 48 give a detailed description of the temple that was never built and a plan for the division of the land that was never carried out.  Much speculation has been done in attempting to explain these chapters, but we suggest that a careful reading in search of a blessing is all that concerns us here.

Memory gem:  "We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God in the midst of thy temple"  (Psalm 48:9).

Thought for today:
The Bible tells us of three places of worship where God met His people Israel: the tabernacle of Moses, Solomon's temple, and the temple built under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah.

A fourth temple is described in great detail in the prophecy of Ezekiel, chapters 40 to 48.  The prophet was told to show the plans for it to the Israelites if they would repent and turn to God.

This great temple was never built.  Of course it would be out of place now, because in it were to be offered sacrifices pointing forward to the death of Jesus.

We may all learn a lesson from the temples of God.  He desires our loving worship.  He sent His own Son to die for us, as represented by the sacrifices offered in the temples of old.  Jesus spoke of the temple of His body.  The church is a temple, and each individual member of the church is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

The Saviour is now finishing His work in the great sanctuary-temple in heaven, and someday God Himself will dwell with us.  The Holy City itself will be a temple of refuge, and holy place forever for the people of God.  May we all share that land, that day, and that glory.

NOTE:  The words "beginning of the year"  (Ezekiel 40:1) come from the Hebrew ro'sh hashshannah, meaning "head of the year."  This is the only occurrence of this expression in Scripture.

DAY 245    Read Ezekiel 38 and 39.

Today's reading:
These two chapters have caused a great deal of speculation, but no clear proof has been established on the meaning of Gog and Magog or the events described.  However, you will notice that both chapters close with the promise of an end of conflict as God's glory is revealed.

Memory gem:  "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).

Thought for today:
When the Lord gave the land of Canaan to the children of Israel, it was only a temporary possession.  It was a type of their final inheritance in the earth made new, renewed as it was in the days of Eden.  But through unbelief they lost it.  Had they remained faithful, the city of Jerusalem would have stood forever (see Jeremiah 17), and the throne of David would have been occupied by righteous kings until the Saviour Himself came as the Seed of David.  His reign would have been established upon that very throne, and Israel would have been a mighty nation in righteousness encircling the world.

But they lost their opportunity, they turned away from God's plan, they followed the big crowd.  So the rest which they might have received when Joshua led them into the Land of Promise, they failed to get.

But man's failure does not mean God's failure.  His plans go on for what is best for you and me.  He ordains that the rest for which His people earnestly long may be secured through Jesus Christ.  Spiritually it may be ours here and now.

----------------
Difficult or obscure words:
Ezekiel 39:2.  "Leave but the sixth part of thee"--probably better: lead thee (as one leads a child).  The whole clause comes from one obscure Hebrew word occurring only here in Scripture.
Ezekiel 39:11.  "Passengers"--rather: those who pass through, or travelers.  No particular valley can be identified for this place.

DAY 244    Read Ezekiel 36 and 37.

Today's reading:  Many of Ezekiel's prophecies foretold what God planned for His people if they would truly repent.  Chapter 37 may be considered a parable to show that God would restore Israel even if nothing remained but "dry bones."

Memory gem:  "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you"  (Ezekiel 36:26).

Thought for today:
We think of the nation of Israel, God's own people, brought out of the land of Egypt by His mighty power and great miracles, as we read in the first five or six books of the Bible.  We see them growing into power under King David and King Solomon; then we see them in apostasy in Babylon; and, even after that lesson, again we see them drifting away from the service of God until Jerusalem was destroyed by Roman armies and this honored people scattered over the earth.  Yet here is the promise of God: "I will...do better unto you than at your beginnings: ye shall know that I am the Lord"  (Ezekiel 36:11).

Reading the rest of the chapter, we find that this prophecy was made nearly 600 years before Christ, during the time of Israel's trouble and sorrow.  Ezekiel himself was in the land of captivity.

This prophecy was fulfilled in the return of Israel to the Holy Land.  God has a way of changing things, even against the will of mighty nations and kings.  Had Israel gone on and on in the service of God, this chapter would have been fulfilled in a far more glorious way than it was, for God's promises are almost always based upon conditions.  But the time will come when, in its complete spiritual fulfillment, this prophecy will indeed find God's true Israel enjoying more glorious blessings than at their beginning.

In the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh verses, we read of the new heart that will be given--in other words, conversion, the new birth.  The promise goes on and includes the entire world in the kingdom of glory which is to come, when God's holy flock will walk by the river of life and enjoy the fruit of the tree of life.