January 5, 2025 • 26 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is Connect with Skip Heitzig, and we're so glad
you've joined us for today's program Connect with Skip Heitzig.
It's all about connecting you to the never changing truth
of God's Word through verse by verse teaching. That's why
we make messages like this one today available to you
and others. Before we get started with the program, we
want to invite you to check out connect with Skip
dot com. There you'll find resources like full message series,
(00:25):
weekly devotionals, and more. While you're at it, be sure
to sign up for Skipp's weekly devotional emails and receive
teaching from God's Word write in your inbox each day.
Sign up today at connect withiskip dot com. That's connect
with Skip dot com. Now let's get started with today's
message from pastor Skip Heitzig.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Zachariah chapter nine, verse nine. It's paraphrase here a little bit,
but back in Zecharia, it's rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout,
daughter of Jerusalem, for your king is coming to you.
And that verses alluded to, and it is quoted here.
Zechariah chapter nine, verse nine, the prediction that the Messiah
(01:09):
will come to them riding on a donkey. Is that
significant a donkey? Well, yeah, it is significant, not just
because it's a part of prophecy, but it's part of history.
It's a part of the traditional way kings would approach
a city. If a king came to a city bringing
terms of peace, he would ride an animal, a piece
(01:32):
a donkey. If he was coming as a ruler to
subjugate them or to rule and reign over them, he
would ride on a horse. So when Jesus comes the
first time, he is offering them peace, terms of peace.
He is the one and only time he is allowing
himself to be publicly seen and preached as their promise.
(01:57):
Messiah is here. And now when he comes the second time,
he will come on a horse. Revelation, chapter nineteen. Don't
have to turn there. Now, you can keep a marker there.
You can write a little note in your bible, look
at it later. But Jesus comes in the clouds of
heaven the second time to the earth to put an
(02:18):
end to the great tribulation period, riding a horse. And
it says, and he judges and makes war. He's on
a war horse. So I don't know, I'm not that
excited that he's coming to make war, but I'm glad
he's coming to take over. But anyway, at this point,
(02:38):
he's coming to make peace. Terms of peace now verse sixteen,
I'm glad it says this boy, am I glad. There's
certain verses that you know are popular. This probably isn't.
This is one of my favorite verses. His disciples did
not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified,
(03:00):
then they remembered that these things were written about him
and that they had done these things to him. Why
is that one of your favorite versus?
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Skip?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
I love the fact that it says they didn't get it,
because I don't always get it. I'm glad it says
of the disciples, these things happen. It was written in
the scripture, and the disciples are going, huh. I don't
get it, and they won't get it until Jesus is glorified,
after the crucifixion, after the resurrection, after all of that,
(03:30):
when he's glorified, he's taken back up into heaven, then
they'll remember it. I can't tell you how many times
I've read through parts of the Bible, only to read
it again after years of studying it even perhaps and
I'll look.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
And I go.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I never saw that there. I didn't quite get it.
Now it makes sense. Ever had one of those moments.
It's wonderful when you have those moments. The disciples had
those moments. And what I love is that it's when
Jesus was glorified that they got it. And I believe
the more Jesus becomes glorified in your life, the more
(04:10):
you'll get his word, his truth. It'll make sense to you.
You know, you've got the right heart, You're growing in
your faith, You're growing in your relationship with God. He's
more and more glorified. It's like, Ah, enlightenment is coming.
I'm getting it. Therefore, the people who were with him
when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised
(04:30):
him from the dead, bore witness. They checked it out,
They saw it. They agreed with it. For this reason.
The people also met him because they heard that he
had done this sign. The Pharisees therefore set among themselves.
You see that you were accomplishing nothing. Look, the world
has gone after him. Can you hear the frustration in
(04:53):
their voices. They're losing the grip of control on the people.
They're becoming less popular. Jesus is becoming more popular. They
hate that their influence is waning Jesus is growing, and
they make a statement, Oh, I wish it were true.
He said, Oh, look, the whole world has gone after him. Boy,
(05:14):
do I wish that were true. I wish the world
would go after Jesus. He's the only hope for the world. Sadly,
the world hasn't gone after him. They've gone away from him.
But that's where you and I come in. We can,
by our lives, by our message, but by our lives,
create a hunger and a thirst. You're the salt of
(05:38):
the earth. You know. Part of salt's job is to
create a thirst. You can create a thirst so that
when you're around people, go, Man, whatever you got, I want,
give me some of that. You've got peace in this
political hurricane. You've got joy. You're not stressed because you
(05:58):
believe like God's in control. How did you get there?
And hopefully, though the world is gone mad, they may
go after him as they see you pursuing him. Okay,
so this is the tenth of Nissan, right, this is
(06:18):
the Triumphal Entry. It's called the Triumphal Entry. I mentioned
you'll never find that term in the scripture. I'm going
to give it a different term, the tearful entry, because
when Jesus, according to the other Gospels, crusted the Mount
of Olives and looked at the city, he stopped. And
(06:42):
Luke's Gospel, chapter nineteen says he stopped and he wept
over the city. So he's not like going, we donkey
rye yay. He stops. He's their messiah. It's the tenth
of Nissan. The lamb is being presented, but he weeps
over it and he makes one of the most incredible
(07:03):
statements that begs a person to find out what he means.
In Luke nineteen it is recorded. Let me just tell
you what it says. He weeps over Jerusalem. And by
the way, remember what we read last time in the
previous chapter, Jesus at the Tomb of Lazarus, the shortest
verse in the New Testament, Jesus wept. The second time.
(07:27):
Jesus weeps very different. First time at the tomb of Lazarus,
he wept silently, his eyes just welled up with tears.
When he saw Jerusalem, he wept audibly. The term is strong.
It's a loud, audible groaning. Kind of wailing, it would
(07:48):
be unmistakable. I'm sure when the disciples saw them, whoa
check out, Jesus, like, what's going on? It's almost like
a nervous breakdown. What's going on? I mean, it was
that dramatic. And Jesus said this, if you had known,
even you, especially in this your day, the things that
(08:09):
make for your peace, but they have been hidden from
your eyes for days are coming when your enemies will
build an embankment around you and surround you, and close
you in on every side, and level you and your
children within you, and not leave one stone upon another
because you did not know the time of your visitation.
(08:33):
Striking words. I wish you would have known, especially today,
But you don't know what this day is, and your
enemies are going to destroy you because you didn't know
the day of your visitation. What was he speaking about?
He was holding the nation accountable that they should have
(08:57):
known what day this was, that they should be aware
of what was happening. And it wasn't just the tenth
of Nissan the land being presented. It was a date
predicted in their scripture by the prophet Daniel. And that
is what I believe Jesus was referring to you should
(09:17):
have known this date. This is the day of your visitation,
or as the NIV puts it, the day of God
coming to you. You say, what did Daniel have to
say about this? Well, Daniel was given in chapter nine
a detailed prediction, Daniel, seventy weeks the Angel came and
said to Daniel, seventy periods of seven are determined for
(09:42):
your people the holy City of Jerusalem. To finish the transgression,
make an as end of sin, anoint the most Holy,
bring an everlasting righteousness. No, therefore, and understand that from
the beginning of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem,
until listen to this Siah, the prince will be four
(10:03):
hundred and eighty three years. It's a wild statement. Now
I'm changing the wording to a modern translation from the
New King James, which is sixty two sevens and seven seven,
So four hundred and eighty three years the modern translation.
So listen to what I just said. Again, the Angel
(10:24):
comes out of having says Daniel, Dude, I want you
to know something. If you want to know when the
Messiah is going to come, know this from the commandment
given to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah, the
Prince will be four hundred and eighty three years. What
that means is you should be able to find whatever
(10:45):
date it was given to restore and build Jerusalem and
count four hundred and eighty three years, and you'd show
up to the day of Jesus or some happening in
the life of Jesus. Right, that's exactly right. This so
interested the lead detective years ago at Scotland Yard, Sir
Robert Anderson, that he wrote a book on it called
(11:06):
The Coming Prince. All of his calculations are in it.
I won't bore you with them all, but I'll cut
to the chase. He took the four hundred and eighty
three years given by the prophecy In Daniel nine discovered
that the date in question given to restore and build
Jerusalem was given March fourteenth four forty five BC by
(11:29):
the ruler art Exerxes. Lonngemanis okay, good, we have the date.
Art Exerxes on March fourteenth, four to forty five BC
said Jews go back home, build a temple under the
leadership of King Cyrus. That's a date attested to in history.
What that means is that from March fourteenth four to
forty five BC, you should be able to go four
(11:50):
hundred and eighty three years into the future and something
amazing should be there. So, Sir Robert Anderson calculated not
just the years, but the days of the years, and
four hundred and eighty three years is one hundred and
seventy three thousand, eight hundred and eighty days.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
You following me, you're listening to connect with Skip Heidzig
before we get back to Skip's teaching. Starting the year
with a structured Bible study can shape your spiritual journey
for the months ahead and help align your life with
God's truth. We want to help you do that with
Pastor Skipp's book The Bible from thirty thousand Feet and
companion workbook Journey through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation,
(12:33):
gaining a deep panoramic understanding of God's Word that helps
you understand the big picture of Scripture with greater clarity.
These resources are our thanks for your gift of at
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Go to connect with Skip dot com. Slash offer or
(12:54):
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with Skiff Heiitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skiff.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
So he counted from March fourteenth, four forty five BC,
one hundred and seventy three thousand, eight hundred and eighty days,
and he found what date that was in history, and
it happened to be April sixth thirty two AD, the
tenth of Nissan, the very day Jesus said, go get
(13:30):
me a donkey. I need to fulfill Zechariah nine. I
need to come on the exact date as given to
the prophet Daniel, something that is in the Jewish scripture,
something that they should be accountable of knowing because it
was given to them. It's in their text, it's read
in their synagogues, and he came on that date. Now,
(13:54):
some of you may be interested in this stuff. Like
when I first read this and heard it, it's so
like amped me up that I read everything I could
on it. In fact, I've used this to share with
unbelievers for years in secular settings, just to watch them
change their thinking about the Bible. Now, you may get
(14:15):
excited about this and go home, and you'll come back
next week with your little calculator and pencil and go,
you're wrong. I did the math, and it's one hundred
and seventy six and ninety five days, and I'll say, ah,
you're wrong, you miscalculated. And your mistake probably is that
(14:35):
you took our calendar, the Julian calendar based on the
lunar model rather than the I mean the solar model
rather than the lunar model. The ancient calendar is a
three hundred and sixty day per year model based on
a lunar calendar. The Julian calendar is three hundred and
sixty five and third days. It's a different model. If
(14:57):
you calculate with that model, add the necessary leap years
to compensate, you too will come up with one hundred
and seventy three thousand, eight hundred and eighty days starting
at March fourteenth, four forty five PC, ending on the
exact date Jesus came to Jerusalem, wept over it and
said you should have known this day. Now, let me
(15:20):
ask you a question. Is your God precise or what
is your God on time? Or what is your God exact?
Or what? Yeah, that's praiseworthy, that's awesome. So if he's
(15:43):
that exact, what are you worried about? What on earth
do you have to fret about? When God is like
into it that much? So don't you ever dare say God,
you're later? Or how could you let this happened? He
knows what he's doing, and he's right on time, and
(16:04):
he can pull any string he wants to get whatever
he wants. So you can chill acts when it comes
to trusting God. I love this.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Now.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
There were certain Greeks among those who came up to
worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who
was from but Sayadev Galilee, and asked him saying, Sir,
we wish to see Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew,
(16:40):
and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. Okay. John
the author John is the only Gospel author who mentions
this little event of some Greeks. We don't even know
what they were, who they were, why they were there,
just as certain Greeks. John is the only one who
(17:03):
brings it up but there's a couple of things I
want you to notice about this, because it's noteworthy. It
wouldn't be in your bibles were it not. First of all,
these certain Greeks who came to the feast, they said, sir,
we want to see Jesus. It's a great request. The
old King James said, sir, we would see Jesus in
(17:25):
pulpits that I have been in, especially like old World,
old school, like European pulpits, they will often have a
plaque when you get into the pulpit, and the plaque
is this verse, sir, we would see Jesus. It's a
reminder of the preacher. Don't preach your opinion, don't preach politics,
don't preach you preach Christ, sir. The people want to
see Jesus. That's the idea. So I love that, sir,
(17:46):
we want to see Jesus. Now, who are these Greeks, Well,
we don't know. They could be secular Greeks. They could
be there because they were interested. They're traveling true and
they're interested in the wisdom that they have heard Jesus
is filled with. They heard there is a man from
Galilee who has wise thoughts. He does amazing things. But
(18:10):
he says amazing things, you gotta hear them. And if
you know anything about the Greeks, they they love wisdom, right,
they love philosophy. They are philosophers, philosophos, they love wisdom.
You may also recall in the Book of Acts, chapter seventeen,
when Paul goes to Athens, he goes to a place
(18:33):
called Areopagus, the hill of ares Mars Hill where the
philosophers gathered, and it says those who were there came
only to listen and to hear some new thing. They
would just tell each other stories. Interesting. Wow, they just
(18:56):
loved new ideas. Sounds like a college campus. They're they're
just to hear and discuss something new. So it could
be that they were just there to learn, or it
could be that they were religious Jews. Now that's what
I think they were. I don't think they were just
loving wisdom. I think that they were there probably because
they were seekers of God. And you ought to know
(19:18):
that there was a group that the Jews referred to
as god fearers, and god fearers were also known as
proselytes of the Gate. That is, they believed in the
Jewish God. They prayed to the Jewish God. They worshiped
the Jewish God everything short of circumcision for obvious reasons,
(19:41):
short of circumcision, and keeping the Mosaic dietary laws. So
they were allowed to have some sort of relationship with
Judaism as god fearers. And they knew that Jesus was
not from Jerusalem. He's from Galilee, and Galilee was called
the Galilee of the Gentiles. It's interesting that they came
(20:02):
up to Philip. Why Philip, well, Philip has that's a
Greek name. The name Philip was the name of Alexander
the Great's father, Philip of Macedon, and he was from Betsayda,
which was a very gentile area in the Decapolis, a
(20:22):
gentile region for Rome and for Greece. So probably because
of the area, because of his name, they approached him.
And they're interested in this Jesus. And the reason John
includes this is because John wants you to know that
God didn't just love the Jewish people. God loved the world.
(20:43):
He came to be the savior of the world. And
right here, when the door is closing to Judaism, their
Jews are rejecting Jesus, a door is opening in the
gentile world, which will be carried out by Peter, but
then especially by Paul as the Gospel will go out.
So that's probably why John included it in his letter, Sir,
(21:08):
we want to see Jesus. But here's what I love.
Greeks were known for wisdom. They show up at the
end of jesus life, before the cross. There was another
group of wise men who showed up at jesus birth.
When Jesus was born, wise men from the east showed up,
(21:31):
seeking Jesus. Where is he who has been born King
of the Jews, wise men from the east. At jesus death,
wise men from the west came. It's as if his
life and ministry were bookended by people seeking him, non
Jewish people seeking him for some reason. And that is
(21:52):
one of the messages that John is trying to get across,
that he is the savior for all and the he's
the savior of the world world. Now, they didn't expect
this answer, but Jesus answered them, saying, the hour has
come that the son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly,
(22:13):
I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls
into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if
it dies, it will produce much grain. He who loves
his own life will lose it. He who hates his
life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
If anyone serves me, let him follow me, And where
I am there my servant will be. Also if anyone
(22:34):
serves me him, my father will honor. Why does Jesus
give an answer about kernels of wheat being put in
the ground. Why doesn't he quote the Old Testament? Why
didn't he say, let me show you who I am
from the prophecies? Because he's dealing with Greeks. It's an
(22:55):
answer that's going to go from the disciples back to
the Greek. So he talks about a Unless a kernel
of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone.
So they're seeking Jesus. But Jesus is on his way
to the cross to fulfill the hour, the exact time
of him coming into Jerusalem, so that he might dine across.
(23:17):
So if you're seeking him, that's where he is going,
and you might be seeking Jesus. But by doing this,
Jesus is seeking the whole world. You see, if you
take a kernel of wheat in your hand and you
look at it, it looks pretty insignificant. It looks small, and
it looks powerless, looks dead, it's lifeless. But then you
(23:41):
take a little kernel of wheat and you bury it
in the ground, you intombe it, and you give it
a little bit of time and a little bit of nourishment,
and it will break forth from its encasement and sprout
out into new life. It's a picture of death, burial,
and resurrection. And if you do that with a number
(24:02):
of kernels of wheat, you'll have a whole field of it.
And then if you take what they produce and so
more of it, you'll have more fields of it. And
I guess theoretically, if you kept doing it, you could
fill the whole world. The principle is that life comes
from death, from resurrected light. Resurrected life comes from death.
And this group is seeking Jesus, but Jesus, by his death,
(24:25):
burial and resurrection, can spread the seed of truth around
the world.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Thanks for listening to connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope
you've been strengthening your walk with Jesus by today's program.
Before we let you go, we want to remind you
about this month's resources that will help you gain a
deeper understanding of the sweeping story of scripture. Pastor Skip's book,
The Bible from thirty thousand Feet and the Companion Workbook
(24:52):
are our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip
Heitzig today. Request your copies when you give fifty dollars
or more call eight one hundred ninety two two eighteen
eighty eight. That's eight hundred nine two to two eighteen
eighty eight, or visit connectwiskip dot com slash donate and
did you know that you can get a weekly devotional
(25:13):
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verse by verse teaching of God's Word. Here on connect
with skip Heidzig Make.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Connects, Make connects, crossing, and song makes Next.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Connect with skip Heidzig is a presentation of connection communications
connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.
This is Connect with Skip Heitzig, and we're so glad
you've joined us for today's program Connect with Skip Heitzig.
It's all about connecting you to the never changing truth
of God's Word through verse by verse teaching. That's why
we make messages like this one today available to you
and others. Before we get started with the program, we
want to invite you to check out connect with Skip
dot com. There you'll find resources like full message series,
(00:25):
weekly devotionals, and more. While you're at it, be sure
to sign up for Skipp's weekly devotional emails and receive
teaching from God's Word write in your inbox each day.
Sign up today at connect withiskip dot com. That's connect
with Skip dot com. Now let's get started with today's
message from pastor Skip Heitzig.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Zachariah chapter nine, verse nine. It's paraphrase here a little bit,
but back in Zecharia, it's rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout,
daughter of Jerusalem, for your king is coming to you.
And that verses alluded to, and it is quoted here.
Zechariah chapter nine, verse nine, the prediction that the Messiah
(01:09):
will come to them riding on a donkey. Is that
significant a donkey? Well, yeah, it is significant, not just
because it's a part of prophecy, but it's part of history.
It's a part of the traditional way kings would approach
a city. If a king came to a city bringing
terms of peace, he would ride an animal, a piece
(01:32):
a donkey. If he was coming as a ruler to
subjugate them or to rule and reign over them, he
would ride on a horse. So when Jesus comes the
first time, he is offering them peace, terms of peace.
He is the one and only time he is allowing
himself to be publicly seen and preached as their promise.
(01:57):
Messiah is here. And now when he comes the second time,
he will come on a horse. Revelation, chapter nineteen. Don't
have to turn there. Now, you can keep a marker there.
You can write a little note in your bible, look
at it later. But Jesus comes in the clouds of
heaven the second time to the earth to put an
(02:18):
end to the great tribulation period, riding a horse. And
it says, and he judges and makes war. He's on
a war horse. So I don't know, I'm not that
excited that he's coming to make war, but I'm glad
he's coming to take over. But anyway, at this point,
(02:38):
he's coming to make peace. Terms of peace now verse sixteen,
I'm glad it says this boy, am I glad. There's
certain verses that you know are popular. This probably isn't.
This is one of my favorite verses. His disciples did
not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified,
(03:00):
then they remembered that these things were written about him
and that they had done these things to him. Why
is that one of your favorite versus?
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Skip?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
I love the fact that it says they didn't get it,
because I don't always get it. I'm glad it says
of the disciples, these things happen. It was written in
the scripture, and the disciples are going, huh. I don't
get it, and they won't get it until Jesus is glorified,
after the crucifixion, after the resurrection, after all of that,
(03:30):
when he's glorified, he's taken back up into heaven, then
they'll remember it. I can't tell you how many times
I've read through parts of the Bible, only to read
it again after years of studying it even perhaps and
I'll look.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
And I go.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I never saw that there. I didn't quite get it.
Now it makes sense. Ever had one of those moments.
It's wonderful when you have those moments. The disciples had
those moments. And what I love is that it's when
Jesus was glorified that they got it. And I believe
the more Jesus becomes glorified in your life, the more
(04:10):
you'll get his word, his truth. It'll make sense to you.
You know, you've got the right heart, You're growing in
your faith, You're growing in your relationship with God. He's
more and more glorified. It's like, Ah, enlightenment is coming.
I'm getting it. Therefore, the people who were with him
when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised
(04:30):
him from the dead, bore witness. They checked it out,
They saw it. They agreed with it. For this reason.
The people also met him because they heard that he
had done this sign. The Pharisees therefore set among themselves.
You see that you were accomplishing nothing. Look, the world
has gone after him. Can you hear the frustration in
(04:53):
their voices. They're losing the grip of control on the people.
They're becoming less popular. Jesus is becoming more popular. They
hate that their influence is waning Jesus is growing, and
they make a statement, Oh, I wish it were true.
He said, Oh, look, the whole world has gone after him. Boy,
(05:14):
do I wish that were true. I wish the world
would go after Jesus. He's the only hope for the world. Sadly,
the world hasn't gone after him. They've gone away from him.
But that's where you and I come in. We can,
by our lives, by our message, but by our lives,
create a hunger and a thirst. You're the salt of
(05:38):
the earth. You know. Part of salt's job is to
create a thirst. You can create a thirst so that
when you're around people, go, Man, whatever you got, I want,
give me some of that. You've got peace in this
political hurricane. You've got joy. You're not stressed because you
(05:58):
believe like God's in control. How did you get there?
And hopefully, though the world is gone mad, they may
go after him as they see you pursuing him. Okay,
so this is the tenth of Nissan, right, this is
(06:18):
the Triumphal Entry. It's called the Triumphal Entry. I mentioned
you'll never find that term in the scripture. I'm going
to give it a different term, the tearful entry, because
when Jesus, according to the other Gospels, crusted the Mount
of Olives and looked at the city, he stopped. And
(06:42):
Luke's Gospel, chapter nineteen says he stopped and he wept
over the city. So he's not like going, we donkey
rye yay. He stops. He's their messiah. It's the tenth
of Nissan. The lamb is being presented, but he weeps
over it and he makes one of the most incredible
(07:03):
statements that begs a person to find out what he means.
In Luke nineteen it is recorded. Let me just tell
you what it says. He weeps over Jerusalem. And by
the way, remember what we read last time in the
previous chapter, Jesus at the Tomb of Lazarus, the shortest
verse in the New Testament, Jesus wept. The second time.
(07:27):
Jesus weeps very different. First time at the tomb of Lazarus,
he wept silently, his eyes just welled up with tears.
When he saw Jerusalem, he wept audibly. The term is strong.
It's a loud, audible groaning. Kind of wailing, it would
(07:48):
be unmistakable. I'm sure when the disciples saw them, whoa
check out, Jesus, like, what's going on? It's almost like
a nervous breakdown. What's going on? I mean, it was
that dramatic. And Jesus said this, if you had known,
even you, especially in this your day, the things that
(08:09):
make for your peace, but they have been hidden from
your eyes for days are coming when your enemies will
build an embankment around you and surround you, and close
you in on every side, and level you and your
children within you, and not leave one stone upon another
because you did not know the time of your visitation.
(08:33):
Striking words. I wish you would have known, especially today,
But you don't know what this day is, and your
enemies are going to destroy you because you didn't know
the day of your visitation. What was he speaking about?
He was holding the nation accountable that they should have
(08:57):
known what day this was, that they should be aware
of what was happening. And it wasn't just the tenth
of Nissan the land being presented. It was a date
predicted in their scripture by the prophet Daniel. And that
is what I believe Jesus was referring to you should
(09:17):
have known this date. This is the day of your visitation,
or as the NIV puts it, the day of God
coming to you. You say, what did Daniel have to
say about this? Well, Daniel was given in chapter nine
a detailed prediction, Daniel, seventy weeks the Angel came and
said to Daniel, seventy periods of seven are determined for
(09:42):
your people the holy City of Jerusalem. To finish the transgression,
make an as end of sin, anoint the most Holy,
bring an everlasting righteousness. No, therefore, and understand that from
the beginning of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem,
until listen to this Siah, the prince will be four
(10:03):
hundred and eighty three years. It's a wild statement. Now
I'm changing the wording to a modern translation from the
New King James, which is sixty two sevens and seven seven,
So four hundred and eighty three years the modern translation.
So listen to what I just said. Again, the Angel
(10:24):
comes out of having says Daniel, Dude, I want you
to know something. If you want to know when the
Messiah is going to come, know this from the commandment
given to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah, the
Prince will be four hundred and eighty three years. What
that means is you should be able to find whatever
(10:45):
date it was given to restore and build Jerusalem and
count four hundred and eighty three years, and you'd show
up to the day of Jesus or some happening in
the life of Jesus. Right, that's exactly right. This so
interested the lead detective years ago at Scotland Yard, Sir
Robert Anderson, that he wrote a book on it called
(11:06):
The Coming Prince. All of his calculations are in it.
I won't bore you with them all, but I'll cut
to the chase. He took the four hundred and eighty
three years given by the prophecy In Daniel nine discovered
that the date in question given to restore and build
Jerusalem was given March fourteenth four forty five BC by
(11:29):
the ruler art Exerxes. Lonngemanis okay, good, we have the date.
Art Exerxes on March fourteenth, four to forty five BC
said Jews go back home, build a temple under the
leadership of King Cyrus. That's a date attested to in history.
What that means is that from March fourteenth four to
forty five BC, you should be able to go four
(11:50):
hundred and eighty three years into the future and something
amazing should be there. So, Sir Robert Anderson calculated not
just the years, but the days of the years, and
four hundred and eighty three years is one hundred and
seventy three thousand, eight hundred and eighty days.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
You following me, you're listening to connect with Skip Heidzig
before we get back to Skip's teaching. Starting the year
with a structured Bible study can shape your spiritual journey
for the months ahead and help align your life with
God's truth. We want to help you do that with
Pastor Skipp's book The Bible from thirty thousand Feet and
companion workbook Journey through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation,
(12:33):
gaining a deep panoramic understanding of God's Word that helps
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These resources are our thanks for your gift of at
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(12:54):
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Speaker 2 (13:08):
So he counted from March fourteenth, four forty five BC,
one hundred and seventy three thousand, eight hundred and eighty days,
and he found what date that was in history, and
it happened to be April sixth thirty two AD, the
tenth of Nissan, the very day Jesus said, go get
(13:30):
me a donkey. I need to fulfill Zechariah nine. I
need to come on the exact date as given to
the prophet Daniel, something that is in the Jewish scripture,
something that they should be accountable of knowing because it
was given to them. It's in their text, it's read
in their synagogues, and he came on that date. Now,
(13:54):
some of you may be interested in this stuff. Like
when I first read this and heard it, it's so
like amped me up that I read everything I could
on it. In fact, I've used this to share with
unbelievers for years in secular settings, just to watch them
change their thinking about the Bible. Now, you may get
(14:15):
excited about this and go home, and you'll come back
next week with your little calculator and pencil and go,
you're wrong. I did the math, and it's one hundred
and seventy six and ninety five days, and I'll say, ah,
you're wrong, you miscalculated. And your mistake probably is that
(14:35):
you took our calendar, the Julian calendar based on the
lunar model rather than the I mean the solar model
rather than the lunar model. The ancient calendar is a
three hundred and sixty day per year model based on
a lunar calendar. The Julian calendar is three hundred and
sixty five and third days. It's a different model. If
(14:57):
you calculate with that model, add the necessary leap years
to compensate, you too will come up with one hundred
and seventy three thousand, eight hundred and eighty days starting
at March fourteenth, four forty five PC, ending on the
exact date Jesus came to Jerusalem, wept over it and
said you should have known this day. Now, let me
(15:20):
ask you a question. Is your God precise or what
is your God on time? Or what is your God exact?
Or what? Yeah, that's praiseworthy, that's awesome. So if he's
(15:43):
that exact, what are you worried about? What on earth
do you have to fret about? When God is like
into it that much? So don't you ever dare say God,
you're later? Or how could you let this happened? He
knows what he's doing, and he's right on time, and
(16:04):
he can pull any string he wants to get whatever
he wants. So you can chill acts when it comes
to trusting God. I love this.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Now.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
There were certain Greeks among those who came up to
worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who
was from but Sayadev Galilee, and asked him saying, Sir,
we wish to see Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew,
(16:40):
and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. Okay. John
the author John is the only Gospel author who mentions
this little event of some Greeks. We don't even know
what they were, who they were, why they were there,
just as certain Greeks. John is the only one who
(17:03):
brings it up but there's a couple of things I
want you to notice about this, because it's noteworthy. It
wouldn't be in your bibles were it not. First of all,
these certain Greeks who came to the feast, they said, sir,
we want to see Jesus. It's a great request. The
old King James said, sir, we would see Jesus in
(17:25):
pulpits that I have been in, especially like old World,
old school, like European pulpits, they will often have a
plaque when you get into the pulpit, and the plaque
is this verse, sir, we would see Jesus. It's a
reminder of the preacher. Don't preach your opinion, don't preach politics,
don't preach you preach Christ, sir. The people want to
see Jesus. That's the idea. So I love that, sir,
(17:46):
we want to see Jesus. Now, who are these Greeks, Well,
we don't know. They could be secular Greeks. They could
be there because they were interested. They're traveling true and
they're interested in the wisdom that they have heard Jesus
is filled with. They heard there is a man from
Galilee who has wise thoughts. He does amazing things. But
(18:10):
he says amazing things, you gotta hear them. And if
you know anything about the Greeks, they they love wisdom, right,
they love philosophy. They are philosophers, philosophos, they love wisdom.
You may also recall in the Book of Acts, chapter seventeen,
when Paul goes to Athens, he goes to a place
(18:33):
called Areopagus, the hill of ares Mars Hill where the
philosophers gathered, and it says those who were there came
only to listen and to hear some new thing. They
would just tell each other stories. Interesting. Wow, they just
(18:56):
loved new ideas. Sounds like a college campus. They're they're
just to hear and discuss something new. So it could
be that they were just there to learn, or it
could be that they were religious Jews. Now that's what
I think they were. I don't think they were just
loving wisdom. I think that they were there probably because
they were seekers of God. And you ought to know
(19:18):
that there was a group that the Jews referred to
as god fearers, and god fearers were also known as
proselytes of the Gate. That is, they believed in the
Jewish God. They prayed to the Jewish God. They worshiped
the Jewish God everything short of circumcision for obvious reasons,
(19:41):
short of circumcision, and keeping the Mosaic dietary laws. So
they were allowed to have some sort of relationship with
Judaism as god fearers. And they knew that Jesus was
not from Jerusalem. He's from Galilee, and Galilee was called
the Galilee of the Gentiles. It's interesting that they came
(20:02):
up to Philip. Why Philip, well, Philip has that's a
Greek name. The name Philip was the name of Alexander
the Great's father, Philip of Macedon, and he was from Betsayda,
which was a very gentile area in the Decapolis, a
(20:22):
gentile region for Rome and for Greece. So probably because
of the area, because of his name, they approached him.
And they're interested in this Jesus. And the reason John
includes this is because John wants you to know that
God didn't just love the Jewish people. God loved the world.
(20:43):
He came to be the savior of the world. And
right here, when the door is closing to Judaism, their
Jews are rejecting Jesus, a door is opening in the
gentile world, which will be carried out by Peter, but
then especially by Paul as the Gospel will go out.
So that's probably why John included it in his letter, Sir,
(21:08):
we want to see Jesus. But here's what I love.
Greeks were known for wisdom. They show up at the
end of jesus life, before the cross. There was another
group of wise men who showed up at jesus birth.
When Jesus was born, wise men from the east showed up,
(21:31):
seeking Jesus. Where is he who has been born King
of the Jews, wise men from the east. At jesus death,
wise men from the west came. It's as if his
life and ministry were bookended by people seeking him, non
Jewish people seeking him for some reason. And that is
(21:52):
one of the messages that John is trying to get across,
that he is the savior for all and the he's
the savior of the world world. Now, they didn't expect
this answer, but Jesus answered them, saying, the hour has
come that the son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly,
(22:13):
I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls
into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if
it dies, it will produce much grain. He who loves
his own life will lose it. He who hates his
life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
If anyone serves me, let him follow me, And where
I am there my servant will be. Also if anyone
(22:34):
serves me him, my father will honor. Why does Jesus
give an answer about kernels of wheat being put in
the ground. Why doesn't he quote the Old Testament? Why
didn't he say, let me show you who I am
from the prophecies? Because he's dealing with Greeks. It's an
(22:55):
answer that's going to go from the disciples back to
the Greek. So he talks about a Unless a kernel
of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone.
So they're seeking Jesus. But Jesus is on his way
to the cross to fulfill the hour, the exact time
of him coming into Jerusalem, so that he might dine across.
(23:17):
So if you're seeking him, that's where he is going,
and you might be seeking Jesus. But by doing this,
Jesus is seeking the whole world. You see, if you
take a kernel of wheat in your hand and you
look at it, it looks pretty insignificant. It looks small, and
it looks powerless, looks dead, it's lifeless. But then you
(23:41):
take a little kernel of wheat and you bury it
in the ground, you intombe it, and you give it
a little bit of time and a little bit of nourishment,
and it will break forth from its encasement and sprout
out into new life. It's a picture of death, burial,
and resurrection. And if you do that with a number
(24:02):
of kernels of wheat, you'll have a whole field of it.
And then if you take what they produce and so
more of it, you'll have more fields of it. And
I guess theoretically, if you kept doing it, you could
fill the whole world. The principle is that life comes
from death, from resurrected light. Resurrected life comes from death.
And this group is seeking Jesus, but Jesus, by his death,
(24:25):
burial and resurrection, can spread the seed of truth around
the world.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Thanks for listening to connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope
you've been strengthening your walk with Jesus by today's program.
Before we let you go, we want to remind you
about this month's resources that will help you gain a
deeper understanding of the sweeping story of scripture. Pastor Skip's book,
The Bible from thirty thousand Feet and the Companion Workbook
(24:52):
are our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip
Heitzig today. Request your copies when you give fifty dollars
or more call eight one hundred ninety two two eighteen
eighty eight. That's eight hundred nine two to two eighteen
eighty eight, or visit connectwiskip dot com slash donate and
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(25:13):
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