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Today I'm gonna share with you about a prophecy, an angel, and a man greatly beloved, because Palm Sunday has everything to do with this. Today is Palm Sunday, which is six days before Christ is crucified. And y'all know the story of Palm Sunday, right? He rode into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey, a young donkey. The mother donkey is there, but he rode on the colt of a young donkey, fulfilling prophecy in Zechariah that says, "Fear not, rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for your King comes meek and lowly having salvation riding on the colt of a donkey", okay? When he comes again in the second coming, we will come with him. After the Rapture, he's gonna come again and rescue Israel before Israel is destroyed. He will come and he will set this world right. Are you with me?
So, here's a prophecy of Daniel. Daniel was called man greatly beloved more than one time in the Old Testament, all right? In the New Testament, John is called "the disciple whom Jesus loved" in his own gospel. But in the Old Testament, that phrase, "A man greatly beloved" is used of Daniel. Daniel was one of the captives that was taken captive away from Israel in the Old Testament, and this happened about 600 over years, 700 years before Jesus came in the New Testament.
And the Bible tells us that at that time when they were taken captive, God had warned them again and again through prophet Isaiah, through prophet Jeremiah, "Stop your idolatry. Stop worshiping the gods made of stone and trees and wood, and start worshiping the true living God who brought you out of bondage. He had compassion on you when you were a slave. He brought you out. He saved you. He gave you abundant land, a land flowing with milk and honey". And still they refused. And finally God says, "That's it". God brought the Babylonians, King Nebuchadnezzar came in, the king of Babylon, and God delivered his people into captivity for 70 years. Even then his mercy ruled. It's only for 70 years.
Well, Daniel was one of them that was captive at that time. So, Daniel prayed in the 70th year he started praying about the deliverance that's to come, and then God sent Angel Gabriel. Angel Gabriel is a messenger angel, all right, from God. Now, Daniel 9, "Yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel", which is angel, actually, all right, "Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering". So, the angel Gabriel came in response to Daniel's prayer and he says this, he informed me and talked with me and said, "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. At the beginning of your supplications, the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision. Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city".
Now stop, these 70 weeks has got nothing to do with 70 weeks of days. This is prophetic weeks. In the Jewish prophetic terminology, a week is 7 years. So, 70 weeks, 70 times 7 years is what? Four hundred and ninety years. You got it? So, there's 490 years in Daniel's prophecy, something to do with the Lord Jesus all the way to our times and to the future when the Antichrist is here. So, 490 years is for the Jewish people and for Jerusalem to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. Wonderful things, amen? Aren't they wonderful things? And then the next verse says when it will start, when this prophetic clock will start. "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince".
You must understand when Daniel received the prophecy, Jerusalem was in ruins because the Babylonians came, right, raised the temple, took them captive. Come on, it's in ruins. So, the angel is saying, there'll be 490 years for the Jewish people in God's prophetic timetable, all right, and for Jerusalem, but notice when the prophetic clock will start. "The command will be given, all right, from this place, Daniel, you will hear the command". By the way, Daniel was there for the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. After his reign was the Medo-Persian, right, the King of Persia, Medo-Persia. His name is... actually it's not his name, it's a title like Pharaoh or Czar. It's Artaxerxes, all right, his name will be... He made a decree in his 20th year of reign to rebuild Jerusalem.
Now, that kicks off the prophetic clock. And you know when he made the announcement. You can find this in this in Nehemiah and Ezra. The announcement went forth and the date is known, the day is known, the date is known, the month is known, the year is known. So, you can start counting from that time to the command to build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, Jesus when he comes. There shall be 7 weeks and 62 weeks. Okay people, use your calculator mentally, all right? The world is watching. They say Singapore is very good at mathematics so real fast, come on. Times seven is what? Four hundred and eighty-three years, right? Am I right? Okay, don't waste your time, okay? It is 483 years. We have seven years missing, right? One week missing, prophetic one week missing, am I right?
Pretend you understand. Just nod your head, amen? You can get this CD later on and then, all right, because we know the command came from Artaxerxes, king of Persia, the day, the month, and the year exactly 483 years brings you to the very day, the very day Jesus rode on the colt of a donkey into Jerusalem showing Israel he is the king, Messiah the Prince. It was a public proclamation to the very day itself. Are you listening, people? So, we follow the story from Psalm Sunday. Today is Palm Sunday, all right? It is six days before Jesus is crucified, all right? So, what is the significance of Palm Sunday? Many times we preach on Good Friday, resurrection and all that, but what's the significance? It's significant for Israel especially because it was a time when Israel could have received forgiveness of sins, salvation, prosperity. It was the day that they will pray this prayer.
Look up here, Psalms 118, "This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I pray, O Lord". Whatever it is, whether your depression, whether it's suicidal tendencies, whether it is your bad, unclean habits, whatever, save now is your prayer, amen? Or if you are broke, you're always broke or you need to pay off your debt, the next prayer say, "O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity". What a wonderful thing. When Jesus comes, salvation come. When Jesus comes, prosperity comes, hallelujah. And in fact, in the Hebrew it's so beautiful, the word "now" is repeated twice in this one verse in verse 25. Let me say it in Hebrew, okay? Are you ready?
The poetry is lost in the English, all right? The word prosperity, by the way, is the word tsaleach. It's the most often used word for prosperity. For example, it says, "Joseph was a prosperous man". Joseph was a tsaleach man. "Meditate on my Word day and night, you'll make your way prosperous". You'll make your way tsaleach, all right? It's the most often used word in Hebrew for prosperity, tsaleach, all right? So, watch this now. I'm gonna say it in Hebrew, the entire prayer and then you can hear the poetry. Ana Adonai Hoshia Na. We say Hosanna, they say Hoshia Na, all right? Hosanna means saved. Ana Adonai Hoshia Na. Ana Adonai Hoshia Na, prosperity, it's beautiful. Ana, I pray now, now. This today, Ana Adonai Hoshia Na. Ana Adonai Hoshia Na. Send now salvation. Send now prosperity. If your child is sick, you say, "Send now".
The last time Justin was sick, I prayed this prayer, "Send now salvation. Send now prosperity". It's beautiful, there's a poetry in the Hebrew, amen. Then this verse says, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord", Baruch haba b'shem Adonai. This is the word that they shouted when Jesus start riding into the city of Jerusalem. So, let's follow the story now. Don't forget, this phrase, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord", comes right after, "Send now salvation, send now prosperity".
Now, let's go back to the story. In all four gospels this triumphal entry is recorded. You're in for a blessing. Fasten your seatbelts, all right? You're in for a ride. Let's go right now to the first part. "Then as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!' Baruch Haba Malek HaShem Adonai Peace in heaven and glory in the highest"! I don't have time to tell you why it's not peace on earth as when he was born but he has peace in heaven. And glory in the highest. It's another message altogether. This kind of message actually need weeks of this.
All right, so verse 39, "And some of the Pharisees called to Jesus from the crowd, 'Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.' But He answered and said to them, 'I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.'" By the way, it all started with the riding on the colt. You know where it started? I was there last year. For the first time I saw the place where the colt was unloosed, okay? It tells you in Mark's account, when they came, Jesus and his disciples came near to Jerusalem, they're not there yet, near Jerusalem, unto Bethpage and Bethany. So here, he was near Bethany and Bethpage, near Jerusalem at the Mount of Olives. He sent forth two of the disciples and said to them, "Go your way into the village over against you", opposite you.
I stood there before, and I looked over there, and you'll see something. "And as soon as you are entered into it, you shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him. If any man say unto you, Why do ye this? Say ye the Lord has need of him; and straightway he will send him here. And they went their way, and found the colt", the young donkey, "tied by the door". By the way, when he comes again, it won't be a donkey he's riding. It will be the white horse, amen? "They went their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside without in a place where two ways met, where two ways met, and they loosed him". I'm gonna show you a video with took, okay? Watch this, the two ways met. By the way, you see the pinnacle up there? That's Mount of Olives, okay? Jesus walked down all the way here and over here is Bethany, Bethpage.
Now you're looking down here. I'm gonna show you where two ways met, okay, all right? Zero in just above the green dome. There are two ways there. The road is still there. You'll see a motorcycle passing by and you'll see a fork in the road. That's where the two ways met. That's where the donkey was, tied down there. Jesus was standing somewhere here and said, "Go over, guys, bring the donkey. He's prepared for a time like this". And the owner will ask, "Who wants it"? "You say the Lord, and he will understand". So, he sat from here, you see, when you go to Israel, everything fits. You will see wow, you know, you see everything fits.
So, from there, Jesus sat on the donkey and the people threw palm branches. And they're shouting, "Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna", which means save, save now. "Hoshia Na Ana Adonai. Hoshia Na Ana Adonai. Hoshiach Na". He was saying, "Prosper, prosper us now, save us now". But unfortunately, it was only children and the disciples and those who believe in him because he raised Lazarus from the dead. But the entire city of Jerusalem, the leadership rejected him. They missed the timing of their visitation. And the Bible says, "As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it".
Now, I'll tell you something, something about leadership here, leaders. I was sharing with some of the pastors in the room. You know, when people are praising you, all around you people are shouting your praises, they are lifting their voice in laudation and extolling your name. Is it easy for you to cry, surrounded by praises? But as the young donkey went down the slope, and many of you who may have been there in Israel. As he went on the slope, he stopped and he looked at Jerusalem, and Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Now, what caused him to wept? He says this, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day".
You know this your day means this is the day that was prophesied. This is the day of salvation. This is the day of prosperity. Send now this day, now means this day. This is the day the Lord has made. If only you knew this day what's in store for you? "The things that make for your peace". Now, he will say shalom. The things that make for your health, the things that make for your wellness, the things that make for your peace, if only you knew. "But now they are hidden from your eyes". He wept as he spoke these words. "Now they're hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you and your enemies will build an embankment around you".
About 40 years after he said this, the Romans came in and exactly this happened, all right? "They'll surround you and close you in on every side, and level you and your children within you to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not know the time of your visitation". The one prophesied by Daniel through Angel Gabriel. You didn't know the day of your visitation. You see, people, we are living in crazy days, but thank God we have a refuge under his wings. Can I have a good amen? We have a refuge under his wings. Just like Jesus said also in Matthew's account. Let's look at Matthew's account. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem. Drop down, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your chicks together, your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing".
Keep this in your heart and mind. Anyone that tells you, "Why God? Why God? Why God? Why God"? Give them this verse, all right? Forty years after this, exactly what Jesus said happened. You know, go back to Luke's account. "They will not leave in you, the Romans will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation". So, we look at different gospel accounts of the same story. "Then he went into the temple and began to drive". After Jesus got off the colt, the first thing he did was he cleansed the temple, amen. "He drove out those who bought and sold". Now, we'll go to Matthew's account, okay? I want to show you something. "Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers, and the seats of those who sold doves".
Now, why'd he do that? Okay, number one, you must understand, they had a table for the money changers. Nothing wrong if you're a money changer, but what they were doing was this, when the people came from Galilee or they came from the north, or they came from different parts of Israel. All right, they will say, "Oh, your money's useless down here". They made their own rules. In other words, you had to exchange for temple money, all right? And then when they exchanged, you know what they did, right? They cheated the people. And then notice specifically also, the seats of those who sold doves, not the seats of those who sold lambs or sheep or oxen. Because the rich, when they want to show their appreciation to God, all right, they buy an ox. The middle income, they buy a sheep. The very poor God says, even the poor can participate to show a type of Christ, but they're all domesticated animals. God never says bring a wolf, you know, because a wolf cannot typify his Son.
Isn't it beautiful? It's either an oxen strong to labor, a sheep, all right, willing to endure, patient, meek. Jesus says if the poor cannot bring anything, they can bring a pair of pigeons or a pair of doves. Now, in those days, all the children especially, they know how to catch pigeons, birds. They don't have to buy it. But in the temple, they are selling it. In other words, the priests, you bring your own pigeon or dove, the look at it. "Oh no, it's blemished, it's blemished, you must buy ours". You get I'm saying? They were extorting the people. And Jesus came in. In another account the Bible says he made a scourge, and he drove them all out.
Let me tell you this, single handedly driving these people, money changers, people with money. I don't care whether they are Jews, Chinese, Indian, Caucasian, to divide them from their money single handedly when they're all collecting it together is not these kind of men. Follow me, can or not? You understand. Amen, he was a man's man. He overturned the money changers, he drove them all out. And he says to them, "It is written, my house should be called a house of prayer, but you made it a den of thieves". He calls it, "My house". Now right after he drove them out, the scourge still in his hands, the blind and the lame came. Obviously, people brought them. He threw away the scourge. He healed them. Actually, if you have eyes to see, pun not intended. We're all blind when we first came to Jesus, and we're all lame. If our eyes are not open, we can't even walk to him. People, we are saved by grace. We see because he made us see or else we cannot see, and yet we look at other people and criticize them.
Why are Christians criticizing sinners acting like sinners? Why do you criticize a drunkard when a drunkard act like a drunkard? A drunkard acts like a drunkard because he's a drunkard. A sinner act like a sinner because he's a sinner. What's the point of holding up banners saying, "We are against this, we are against that"? Preach the gospel for goodness sake. Preach the good news. And Jesus finally said after the last verse, right, go back to Matthew 23, we'll close with that. "Jerusalem, Jerusalem", he says, "how I wish to gather you but you're not willing. See"! Last part, "Your house is no more my house". A few days earlier when he rode in he says, "Don't make my father's house, my house, a house of den of thieves", remember that? It was still his house because the final rejection, they reject him. Now it's what? Your house.
I tell you this, if God never moved out, the Romans cannot raze the temple down. You understand? It's no more God's house. Your house is left to you desolate. "I say to you, you shall see me no more till you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord'"! That prayer in Psalms 118. In other words, one day Israel will be so much under pressure, they will all scream Baruch haba b'shem Adonai. They will see Jesus, and they will shout this prayer and that's the time they will see his face. Amen, people? Give the glory to Jesus. Hallelujah, hallelujah. For you, let me announce to you because you say, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord", because you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, Ana Adonai Hoshia Na. Ana Adonai Hoshia Na. Send now salvation to your life. Send now, Father, prosperity into their lives. In Jesus's wonderful name. And all the people said amen.