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When Jesus Christ returns in the clouds at His Second Coming, “the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air,”  (I Thessalonians 4:16b-17).  Christ’s Second Coming will have two main purposes:  to rescue His bride and to initiate the outpouring of His divine wrath upon the wicked.

But do all “Christians” go in the rapture?

CONSIDER THE TEACHING OF JESUS ABOUT THE TEN VIRGINS.  FIVE WERE “WISE” AND FIVE WERE “FOOLISH:”

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.  Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.  But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’  Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.  And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’  But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.

“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’  But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming,”  (Matthew 25:1-13).

In this parable, as well as the following parables, JESUS UNDERSCORES THE NECESSITY FOR PREPAREDNESS FOR HIS RETURN.  In this parable, ALL were virgins.  ALL were looking forward to the return of their bridegroom.  This can be said of all believers everywhere.  ALL believers are “virgins.”

However, only five of the virgins were prepared for the Master’s return by having enough oil.

In ancient Jewish marriages, the engagement begins with the prospective groom going off to build a house for himself and his bride to live in after their wedding.  The building of the house is done under the direction of the groom’s father.  It is only when the father gives the okay that the groom is allowed to return for his bride.  So, the day and the hour of the groom’s return is unknown both to the groom and his bride.  Jesus said about His return, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father,” (Mark 13:32).

The prospective bride’s job was to prepare herself for her bridegroom’s return.  How does she do this?

Leonard Ravenhill once observed that he had been to weddings all over the world.  All had different customs and different ceremonies.  But one thing was held in common by all the brides:  none of them were dirty!  All had bathed and dressed in a manner fitting to their new status.  ALL HAD PREPARED THEMSELVES FOR THE GROOM’S RETURN.

In Revelation 19:7, scripture declares that “the marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife has made HERSELF ready.”

In Jesus’ parable, the lack of being prepared is shown in five of the virgins who did not have sufficient oil to keep their lamps burning.  Their lamps were going out prior to the groom’s appearance.  In Jewish tradition, the groom departs to build a house for his bride.  Sometimes, the building took a long time.  Upon being alerted that the groom’s return was imminent, the bride would take a lamp, light it, and place it in the window of her house.  The lighted lamp would be a SIGNAL TO THE GROOM THAT THE BRIDE WAS STILL EXPECTANT AND PREPARED FOR HIS RETURN!  Without the lighted lamp in the window, the groom could take it to mean that his bride had lost interest and was no longer willing and ready for him.  If the lamp was dark, the groom would pass by.

So it is in the parable of the virgins.  Five of the virgins had their lamps brightly shining and lit for their groom’s return.  Five had allowed their lamps to go out.  The foolish virgins may have still been wanting their groom, but were passed over.  Their lamps had, sadly, gone out.

Another important point made in this parable was that at midnight “a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’”  THIS CRY WAS HEARD BY ALL TEN VIRGINS, BOTH WISE AND FOOLISH!  At this point, all ten virgins get up and get ready for the groom’s coming.  Although they did not know the exact hour, they were aware that His arrival was imminent!

BUT THE OPPORTUNITY FOR PREPARATION WAS PAST.  The foolish virgins were under the impression that they could scramble around at the last minute to buy oil, but found this was really not so.  Many Christians are foolishly putting off living holy and faithful lives to God today, believing that they will have time to straighten up later on.

What does the “oil” stand for?  The oil is the Holy Spirit of God.  It is His very own Presence that fills us and makes us ready. We daily get filled up with the oil of His presence by spending time with Him. We do not grieve Him by living in ungodly, worldly fashion; instead, we live to please Him.  He is more important to us than all the world has to offer. Thereby, we are daily filled with the oil of His precious presence.  Our lamps stay burning.  WE LIVE PREPARED, READY FOR HIS RETURN!

Some Christians are under the illusion that the point of their salvation is all that is necessary.  But consider this:  our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit.  Now, if God personally came to your house, how would you prepare for Him?  Would you have pornography, drunkenness, worldliness, and idols set up?  If it is His very own Presence that is the oil for you, are you welcoming Him in to fill you?

Jesus gave the parable of the 10 virgins as a warning to stay ready for His return.  It is at the return of Christ that we are “caught up” in the clouds to meet Him in the air.

In Revelation 3:10-11, Jesus promises His faithful virgins that “Because you have kept My command to PERSEVERE, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.  Behold, I am coming quickly! HOLD FAST WHAT YOU HAVE, THAT NO ONE MAY TAKE YOUR CROWN.”

This warning to the wise is repeated in the parable of the 10 virgins.  At the point of the imminent return of the groom, the 5 foolish virgins try to take some of the oil from the 5 wise virgins who had stocked up. “And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’  But the wise answered, saying, ‘NO, LEST THERE SHOULD NOT BE ENOUGH FOR US AND YOU; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’” 

THERE IS A WARNING HERE TO THE WISE ONES: 

GOD NEVER TOLD US TO SACRIFICE OUR “OIL” FOR THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO LIVE COMPLACENTLY.  

DO NOT DEPLETE YOUR OWN RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD BY SPREADING YOURSELF TOO THIN FOR THE FOOLISH.  GUARD YOURSELVES CAREFULLY.  KEEP YOUR OWN OIL OF RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD FULL.

We are to live holy and godly lives, being careful that the sinfulness, worldliness, complacency, and apathy of others around us (even fellow Christians) does not deplete us!

So, do all Christians get “caught up” at the return of Christ?  According to the Lord’s own teaching, only those who are PREPARED for His return will be caught up to meet Him.

In Daniel 9:24-27, God gave us a remarkable prophecy laying out the future history of our world as centered around the nation of Israel.  This prophecy covered a period of 490 years or 70 “7’s” of years.  The prophecy was launched in 454 B.C. with Artaxerxes’ command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.  It ran uninterruptedly for the next 483 years or 69 “7’s”.  Then it stopped at the crucifixion of Christ.

The reason the prophecy stopped was that one condition to the prophecy— the “holiness” of Jerusalem— was destroyed at Yeshua’s crucifixion.  Destroy the true “Temple” of God and you destroy that which made Jerusalem “holy.”  And so the prophecy stopped.  (See previous blog at prepare-bridgewell.com.)

During the ensuing breech, Daniel’s prophecy went on to say that the city (of Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the temple building) would be destroyed by the people of a future “prince.”

Just as prophesied, Jerusalem and its temple building were destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Roman army under the command of General Titus, son of the Emperor Vespasian.  The Jews were scattered all over the world.  The great Jewish Diaspora had begun.  The nation of Israel was seemingly dead:

“Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.  They indeed say, “Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off,’” (Ezekiel 37:11).

The Jewish Diaspora would last for almost 2000 years.  Yet, just as Ezekiel 37:7-10 prophesied, the nation of Israel would be reborn from the dead:

“So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone.  Indeed as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.  Also He said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, “Thus says the Lord God:  ‘Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.’  So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.”

Within the generation of people alive today, we have seen the original determinants to the prophecy — “thy people and thy holy city”—  come back into place:

• ISRAEL BECOMING A NATION ONCE AGAIN AFTER ALMOST 2000 YEARS.  Isaiah 66:8 asked:  “Can a country be born in a day?”  Israel was reborn as a nation on one day — May 14, 1948.
• ISRAEL REGAINING JERUSALEM (1967) AND MAKING IT HER CAPITAL ONCE AGAIN;
• PREPARATIONS COMPLETED FOR THE FUTURE REBUILDING OF HER TEMPLE.

The conditions to launch the final, 7-year period of Daniel’s prophecy are almost completed! The study of Biblical prophecy must be taken very seriously, since it is batting 100% in its accuracy.  This final period may be on our horizon!

Next blog:  The final 7 years of Daniel’s prophecy, a.k.a., the end times.

In earlier blogs (prepare-bridgewell.com) concerning the prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27, we learned that Almighty God laid out the timeline of history beginning almost 500 years before Christ and running through the end of this present age.  

This prophecy in Daniel concerned a period of 70 “weeks” or 70 “7’s” of years for a total of 490 years.

Wait a minute, you say.  How could a prophecy of 490 years take us from the 5th century B.C. through end times?

The prophecy began to unfold in 454* B.C. with the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.  This restoration took up seven “7’s” or 49 years of the prophecy and is documented in the book of Nehemiah.

Following that, there would be a period of 62 “7’s” or 434 years which went from the restoration until 30 A.D. when “Messiah would be cut off, but not for Himself,”  an obvious reference to Christ’s crucifixion.

So, from the prophecy’s start in 454 B.C. until 30 A.D., a total of 483 years or 69 “7’s” of the prophecy were fulfilled:

454 B.C. + 30 A.D. – 1 (there is no year “zero” when going from B.C. to A.D.) = 483 years.

The original prophecy concerned 70 “7’s” of years.  If 69 “7’s” had been fulfilled by Christ’s crucifixion, that leaves only one “7” or 7 years of the prophecy yet to be fulfilled. How does that take us from the time of Christ until the end times?  The answer is:

THE PROPHECY PAUSED AT THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST.

If we go back to the prophecy’s opening passage in Daniel 9:24, we see that the prophecy was determined upon “thy people and thy holy city”.  When the Jews crucified Messiah, in effect they destroyed the true Temple of God.  This caused the prophecy to stop, because Jerusalem had rejected and killed the very One who made her holy.

Then, in Daniel 9:26 it goes on to say that after Messiah was “cut off and have nothing, the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.”

This was fulfilled to the letter some 40 years following the crucifixion of Christ when the temple building as well as Jerusalem itself were destroyed by the Roman army under General Titus in 70 A.D.

Also included in that scripture was a veiled reference to the future Antichrist, “the prince who is to come.”   Antichrist will be connected to the same people who destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D.

“The end will come like a flood.  War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed,” (Daniel 9:26b).  What followed after 70 A.D. was the great Jewish Diaspora. After Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, wars and desolations would be the norm for the Jews.  History has testified to this.  The Jews for centuries wandered all over the world, seeking peace and a homeland, but finding themselves persecuted outcasts.  Even today, after re-entering their land, they have been subjected to ongoing wars and terror attacks.

AS OF TODAY,  THE PROPHECY HAS NOT FINISHED OUT.  THE FINAL 70TH “7” HAS NOT YET BEEN FULFILLED.  This final 70th “7” or 7-year period of time is what Christians refer to as the “end times.”  What does Daniel’s prophecy tell us about this period?

 

(*  All dates given are according to world-renown Bible chronologist, Dr. Floyd Nolen Jones, in his groundbreaking book, The Chronology of the Old Testament.  Other readers may prefer the chronology of Sir Robert Anderson in his book, The Coming Prince.  In either case, the time span is still reckoned according to the prophecy.)

“Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay.  And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.  As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.  And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed…” (Daniel 2:41-44).

In the book of Daniel, God laid out the remaining world empires that would rule over Israel, from Daniel’s time through the end of this present age.  This information was initially delivered in a dream given to King Nebuchadnezzar of a giant statue of a man.  Daniel was called in to interpret the dream.

The statue was composed of four main metals:  gold, silver, bronze, and iron.  Each metal represented an empire, and was succeeded by an even stronger metal or empire.  The final empire was the iron empire of Rome.  Rome would  continue in some way, shape, or form through the end of this present age.  Ultimately, the kingdom of Christ— represented as a stone cut out of the mountain without hands— would strike the statue on its feet and bring about its downfall.

In the statue, the composition of Rome in its latter days changes from that of all iron to one of iron and clay.  What does that represent?

All nations have experienced immigrants to their lands.  A normal slow and gradual process results in assimilation into its culture, such as America has experienced over its history.

But what has happened to Europe in the past few years has been a rapid, huge influx of refugees on a constant basis.  Instead of gradual assimilation, the masses of refugees have remained within their own enclaves and culturally distinct from the host nations.  As a result, we have the mess going on in Europe right now (and also threatening America).  We have the Roman descendants of iron not mixing in with the Middle Eastern clay refugees.

The refugee crisis in Europe is what drove the Brexit vote a few days ago.  The iron and clay do not mix.  They do not “cleave together”, just as iron does not mix with clay.  It is akin to adding flour to your mix.  Do it slowly and carefully and it mixes in well.  But dump a lot of flour suddenly, and you have a real mess  on your hands!

NOW I AM GETTING TO THE REAL MESSAGE HERE.  In the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, the feet of iron and clay change over into ten toes of iron and clay during the final days.  What drives the change from feet into the ten toes?  We may be experiencing that right now.  It may be the very fact that the iron/clay are not adhering together that forces a CRISIS, which brings about the final government of the ten kings (and Antichrist).

HAS THAT “CRISIS” BEGUN WITH THE BREXIT VOTE?  We are naive and much too idealistic if we believe that a vote will somehow solve the already existing refugee crisis.  Or that the interdependent global economy will not be markedly affected by this.  For the exiting of Britain is inciting other countries to do the same.

If the EU is modern day Rome with its feet of iron and clay, could the BREXIT shaking transform it into the ten toes of iron and clay?

What does the Bible actually teach concerning the timing of the rapture?  The Bible spells it out plainly in a passage of scripture that has been misused by prophetic teachers as a basis for every weird theory of end times out there.  The Bible passage is Luke 17:26-30:

“And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:  They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage UNTIL THE DAY THAT NOAH ENTERED THE ARK, AND THE FLOOD CAME AND DESTROYED THEM ALL.

“Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot:  They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, BUT ON THE DAY THAT LOT WENT OUT OF SODOM IT RAINED FIRE AND BRIMSTONE from heaven and destroyed them all.  EVEN SO WILL IT BE IN THE DAY WHEN THE SON OF MAN IS REVEALED.”

This passage is NOT talking about how evil society will be in the end times.  Eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting, and building are normal activities of daily life.

What this passage IS saying is that normal activities of daily life will go on UNTIL THE DAY that the righteous are removed and THE JUDGMENT OF GOD (as typified in the flood, fire, and brimstone) BEGINS!

I Thessalonians 1:10 agrees with this:  “…and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

And then there is 2 Peter 2:9:  “then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment.”

What the Bible actually teaches about our deliverance is that it occurs ON THE SAME DAY that the judgment of God begins.

So the question becomes, when does the day of God’s wrath start?

The Bible does not reveal dates, but it does given certain things that MUST take place BEFORE the great and terrible Day of the Lord commences.  I will give you 5 of them:

– The great apostasy (II Thessalonians 2:3).

– The revealing of the man of sin (II Thessalonians 2:3-4).

– The coming of Elijah the Prophet (Malachi 4:5).

– The cosmic disturbances of the sun, moon, and stars (Joel 2:31 and others).

– An unprecedented silence in heaven (Zephaniah 1:7).  By the way, this silence is documented in Revelation 8:1, with the breaking of the seventh and final seal!

According to scripture itself, certain events MUST take place BEFORE the great and terrible day of the Lord can occur.  If we take the Bible for what it plainly teaches, the wrath of God cannot begin any earlier than the second half (the last 3 1/2 years) of end times.

This would leave us Christians— while not knowing the day or hour— yet knowing the SEASON of His return!  Are there other scriptures to back this up?  Consider this important instruction by Paul the apostle:

“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.  For you yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.  For when THEY say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon THEM, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman.  And THEY shall not escape.  BUT YOU BRETHREN ARE NOT IN DARKNESS, SO THAT THIS DAY SHOULD OVERTAKE YOU AS A THIEF!  You are all sons of light and sons of the day.  We are not of the night nor of darkness.  Therefore let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober…” (I Thessalonians 5:1-6).

How could we not be caught offguard by the Lord’s return unless He had given us clearly defined signs of His return?  We are not in darkness because His “word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.”  The Word of God is our lamp.

Revelation promises a blessing to those who hear and keep this word.  However, keeping this word requires that we do a sober study of it.  And neither give in  to sensationalism nor the pressure of the religious majority.

In regard to the rapture, what the Bible actually teaches is that we are not appointed unto God’s wrath.  It says nothing about us being exempt from the persecution of Antichrist.  In fact, when seal #5 is broken, the martyrs are heard asking God how long before He judges and avenges their blood!

In Matthew 24:21-22 Jesus tells us that the great tribulation of Antichrist will be SHORTENED for the elect’s sake.   What shortens it?

 Jesus documents His Second Coming and a gathering of His elect (Matthew 24:31) from the heavens and from the earth (Mark 13:27) at an indeterminate day following the onset of the great tribulation!  THIS IS THE RAPTURE OF BELIEVERS!

Jesus’ Second Coming occurs with the cosmic signs given in Matthew 24:29-30, which is the breaking of Seal #6 (Revelation 6:12-17).  It is at this point that the people of the earth recognize that DIVINE WRATH has come to the world.

BUT THE ELECT OF GOD HAVE JUST BEEN REMOVED.  WE ARE NOT APPOINTED UNTO WRATH.  It is a PRE-WRATH rapture that the Bible teaches.  

 

   

 

 

 

Almighty God has ordained that this present age will wrap up around the nation of Israel, as laid out in the Daniel 9:24-27 prophecy.  (See previous blog at prepare-bridgewell.com).  The prophecy itself covers a period of 70 “weeks” or “heptads” of years.  A heptad is seven.  Seventy weeks/heptads are seventy “sevens”of years– for a total of 490 years (70 x 7).

Beginning in verse 25, God begins to give Daniel certain “benchmarks” contained within the prophecy.  The first benchmark was when the prophecy would actually begin.

“Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem…”

Ezra 1:2-4 tells us that it was Cyrus of Persia who gave the command for the Jews to return to their land, following their exile in Babylon, and to rebuild the temple.  The city of Jerusalem itself, however, still lay in ruins.  It was not until the command of Artaxerxes Longimanus (see Nehemiah 2) that the edict to rebuild Jerusalem was given.

In Daniel 9:24 we learned that the prophecy was determined upon 3 conditions being in place:  “thy people” – the Jews back in their land; “thy holy” – the temple; “city” – Jerusalem.  So the prophecy was not launched with Cyrus’ command, but that of Artaxerxes.

“…until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.  The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.”

The “seven weeks” or 49 years correspond from the time of Artaxerxes’ command through the finish of Nehemiah, when the street and wall of Jerusalem were rebuilt despite great opposition (“even in troublesome times”).  The book of Nehemiah documents the history and struggle to rebuild Jerusalem.

This period of “seven weeks” was immediately followed by a “sixty-two weeks” period of 434 years.  This period picks up from the finish of Nehemiah through the rest of the Old Testament period and up to Palm Sunday, when Jesus allowed Himself to be hailed as the Messiah of the Jews (“Messiah the Prince”).

So, the period of time from Artaxerxes’ command until Messiah the Prince was to be a period of seven “weeks” and sixty-two “weeks”, for a total of 69 “weeks” or 483 YEARS in all.

How accurate was this prophecy?  The two men most famous as Bible chronologists are Sir Robert Anderson and Dr. Floyd Nolen Jones.  Sir Robert gave the date of Artaxerxes’ command to be 445 B.C., using a 360-day prophetic year as his yardstick.  His date for Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem– which was also the week of the crucifixion–was 32 A.D.  This works out to be exactly 69 weeks of prophetic years!

On the other hand, Dr. Floyd Nolen Jones used a solar year for his calculations.  Based upon intensive historical research, he determined the date of Artaxerxes’ command to be 454 B.C. and the date of Christ’s triumphal entry as 30 A.D.  This works out to be exactly 69 weeks of SOLAR years!  [Simple check:  454 B.C. + 30 A.D. – 1 (no year “zero”) = 483 years.]

If this is all too much for you, then there is an even simpler way:  the Mountaineer method.  This easy method goes like this:  Sir Robert says 445 B.C.; Dr. Floyd says 454 B.C.  Let’s just round it off to 450 B.C., then add the age of Jesus during Passion week.

450 + 33 = 483 years!

The point is– no matter what method you use– Daniel’s prophecy showing 483 years from Artaxerxes’ command until Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem PUTS US RIGHT OVER THE TIME IN HISTORY WHEN IT ACTUALLY TOOK PLACE!  Someday, when we all see Jesus, we can ask Him who actually got it right– Sir Robert, Dr. Floyd, or the mighty Mountaineers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almighty God has determined that the end of this present age will wrap up around the nation of Israel.  Out of Israel came Messiah the first time.  And to Israel will Messiah return the second time.  The season of His return is centered around future events that will happen to the nation of Israel.  The physical sign that we are approaching the end of the age is the resurrection of the nation of Israel!

The Lord began prophesying to us in the book of Genesis and continued through Revelation.  God’s prophecies are literal in their fulfillment, detailed in their description, and batting 100% in their accuracy.  So, when we discover that within a prophecy given to Daniel, God not only gave the exact time of Messiah’s appearance on earth the first time, but also laid out the end times for us– well, now you have our attention!

And when you discover that we– the generation living today– have seen two out of three of the requirements to launch end times come to pass in our lifetime, then it becomes fascinating.

The foundation for understanding the book of Revelation starts with a prophecy given to Daniel some 500 years before Christ.  In this prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27, God gave an overview of the rest of Jewish history up through the end of the age!

Daniel 9:24, “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.”

1.  The term “weeks” is an old translation of the original Hebrew word “heptad”, which actually means “seven.”  Seventy “weeks” then, equates to seventy “sevens” of years or 490 years (70 x 7).
2. The prophecy is determined upon three conditions:

– “your people” – the Jews;

– “your holy” – the Temple;

– “city” – Jerusalem.

This prophecy has a life of its own.  When all three conditions are met, the prophecy moves forward.  If a condition is removed, the prophecy stops.  This will become clearer as we move through our study.  UNDERSTANDING THAT THESE THREE CONDITIONS MUST BE IN PLACE FOR THE PROPHECY TO PROCEED will explain how a prophecy of 490 years can take us from the 5th century B.C. until the end of this present age.

 

PREPARE:  REVELATION BY WAY OF DANIEL by Beverly Ridgewell.  Available on Amazon.com.