Messianic Perspectives

Liz Aiello: God is not going to allow evil to corrupt His creation forever. What is God's final solution to evil? We'll find out today, right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Liz Aiello: Shalom, and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinctive first-century Jewish point of view. I'm Liz Aiello.

Today, Pastor Al Ranji answers the question, "What is God's final solution to evil?" with a study from Daniel 9. I'll be back at the close of the program to tell you about our special offer. And now, with today's installment, here is Al Ranji.

Pastor Al Ranji: Thank you for letting me come back into your homes and to share with you the wonderful message of our Lord Jesus. I've been speaking on God's final solution to evil. Our prophetic scripture is found in Daniel 9:24-27. I want to read that scripture to you again. Some of you have not been listening to the series, and some of you, it's good for you to hear it again and again. Daniel 9:24-27.

"Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, 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. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince. There shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks. The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after the 62 weeks, Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself. And the people of the Prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, that is an invasion, until the end of the war, desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of the week, he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering, and on the wing of abominations shall he be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined is poured out on the desolate."

In Daniel 9, verse 24-27, there are five periods of prophetic time here. The first period, the end of the 70 weeks of years when God will end the transgression of humanity and He will establish everlasting righteousness.

The second period is seven weeks of 49 years in which the Second Temple and city was rebuilt, even in troublous times under Nehemiah. The third period of time was seven and 62 weeks of years later, when the Messiah would come the first time, and He is killed, but not for Himself.

The fourth period of time is after the death of the Messiah and the destruction of the city of Jerusalem. The Second Temple by Titus, the Roman prince, will be fulfilled. And the prophetic clock is stopped for a determined amount of time, in which the land of Israel will be desolate, but only known to God.

The fifth period of time, the prophetic clock starts again when the Antichrist makes his appearance on the world scene. He makes a covenant with Israel, allowing them to rebuild their temple and sacrifices again, but after three and a half years, he breaks his covenant with Israel, and he sits in the temple demanding the world to worship him.

Now, I want to go to the first period of seven weeks of 49 years when the Second Temple and the city of Jerusalem were to be rebuilt in troublous times. God always selects people to carry out His prophetic plan. Isaiah the prophet predicted 140 years before the birth of King Cyrus of Persia that he would issue an edict to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem and allow the Israelites to go back to their land.

In Isaiah 45, verse 13, we see this prophecy 140 years before it took place. "I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness. I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward," says the Lord Almighty.

God has foreknowledge. He knew Cyrus by name before he was born. He knew that he would be the King of Persia, and that he would make an edict to restore and rebuild the city and temple. In 2 Chronicles 36, verse 22 and 23, we're told, "In the first year of Cyrus King of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, that is that the exile would only be 70 years."

"The Lord moved the heart of Cyrus, King of Persia, to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it into writing." And this is what Cyrus the King of Persia said, "The Lord, the God of Heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build a temple for Him in Jerusalem and Judah. Anyone of His people among you, may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up."

God also raised up Ezra to rebuild the temple and later Nehemiah, the cupbearer to King of Persia, to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. I want to focus on Nehemiah and his part in fulfilling God's plan.

You know, a cupbearer to the king was more than a servant. He was a trusted counselor, confidant. As the king drank his wine in private, the cupbearer standing by his side would hear the king say a lot of his innermost thoughts and plans. We are not sure who introduced the king to the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, or how it took place, but God worked out the details.

It was divine providence, and not an accident that Nehemiah, a Jew, was in such a position of trust. In the right moment of history, God put him there. Nehemiah is a model of the kind of person that God uses for the good of His kingdom. God wants us all to be builders of His kingdom, and we can imitate Nehemiah.

First of all, Nehemiah loved God and His people. In Nehemiah chapter 1, verse 3, he heard that the Jewish survivors in the province of Judea were there in great distress and reproach, that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and its gates were burnt with fire. Nehemiah could have said, "What's that to me? I have my position by the side of the king and the palace to think about."

Sometimes I hear Christians say, "I don't go to church anymore because I don't get anything from it." Did you ever think that you have something important to give to God's people? I know that there are some church people that can be thoughtless, insulting, and say unkind things, but out of our love for the Lord Jesus, we must not refuse to be a part of God's people.

Nehemiah not only loved God and His people, but he was a man of prayer and he prayed according to the word of God. In Nehemiah 1, verse 4, we read, "So it was, when I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days. I was fasting and praying before the God of Heaven." Notice how Nehemiah identified with the people of God in his prayer. Listen to his prayer.

"I pray, Lord God of Heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, please let Your ear be attentive, and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant, which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel, Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against You, both my father's house and I have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances, which You commanded Your servant Moses." What a powerful prayer.

Nehemiah confesses his own sin and the sins of the people of Israel. Nehemiah was one with the people of God as we should be. And God answered his prayer. You know, God answers honest and sincere prayers on the behalf of His people. You know, for a time I thought, "Why pray? God has it all arranged anyway. There's nothing that I can do to change things."

That was very poor theology. Do you know we can influence God? We can touch the heart of God, and we can move Him in compassion to help us. It is not that there's power in prayer, but there is accessibility to Almighty God through prayer. Listen to me, it is God who has the power, and He makes it available to us that we might build up His kingdom and do His will.

I've learned in my ministry to lean on the resources of God to accomplish His will. Here is a verse I recently read in my devotions in Ephesians 3, verse 20 and 21. "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Jesus Christ throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

God is far greater than we can imagine. We can't ask enough of God. There's nothing impossible for Him. We can't even think of what God could do. Oh, that we would just trust Him in His greatness and His almighty power.

I remember when I was a pastor of the Omaha Gospel Tabernacle, and we needed to get land to grow, to relocate, to rebuild our facilities. And we couldn't find any land. It was very expensive. Well, I heard about this great piece of land that was on an interstate highway. And I remember taking two elders, and we went out and we prayed for it in the name of Jesus.

And when I called the real estate agent for the insurance company, he said, "Forget it. They already decided they weren't going to sell it. There's no way you can buy it." So I wrote a letter outlining my vision to the board of directors. And the real estate agent called me. He said, "I don't understand it, but they said, make a bid. We'll only sell 26 acres to you, no more, no less." Well, I thought, "Listen, I don't know what to say." So I said, "$250,000." He said, "I'm not taking that to the board."

I said, "Do you work for them, or do they work for you?" Well, he did take it, and lo and behold, we were able to buy that land. It's a beautiful church there today. How did that happen? Well, we serve a great and mighty God. And if we get on board, and we decide that we want to be kingdom builders, and we'll trust God, there's nothing that could stand in our way.

I trust that this will give you faith to trust and believe God, and that your prayers will be specific. And listen, you can't think big enough when you come to God in your prayers. You can't ask for too much in that God can do all things. Now, He won't give you anything that's not going to help you, that's going to ruin you or spoil you, but you can trust your heavenly Father. And if you're on side with the building of the kingdom of God, you will see things that you can't imagine today.

Well, I trust that you'll love God, and you'll love God's people. You'll get involved with God's people in the building up of His kingdom, even as Nehemiah did, and you will one day see beyond your imagination how great things God has done. God bless you and be with you. Amen.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Pastor Ranji. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. It's always good to have you with us as we look into God's word together. We've been listening to Pastor Al Ranji teach on "God's Final Solution to Evil."

If you would like to have your own copy of this series, or perhaps you'd like to share it with a friend, you will be glad to know that it's available on two convenient compact discs. Just ask for ART8, "God's Final Solution to Evil." It's available for a contribution of just $12.

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And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. I'm Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, as Pastor Al Ranji continues our series of studies on "God's Final Solution to Evil," right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Liz Aiello: Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries of San Antonio, Texas, and is made possible on this station by the freewill contributions of our listeners in this area.