Daniel's Seventy Weeks may be the most important of all prophecies regarding both the first and second coming of Jesus and His Kingdom that will be established forever. Daniel is visited by the same angel that visited Mary to announce the birth of Jesus the Messiah. The angel Gabriel brings an announcement, saying, "Seventy Weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. " (Daniel 9:24).
First, let's talk "Seventy Weeks". Seventy Weeks to Jewish people is like talking Seventy Decades for us today. If the prophecy read "Seventy Decades" have been decreed for your people and your holy city, no one would have a problem understanding the prophecy. However, Seventy Weeks can and does cause some confusion. Why? Because the Hebrew people there were many different types of weeks; they had a week of days (by which they celebrate a weekly Sabbath), then they had a week of weeks or 49 days (by which they yearly celebrate Feast of Weeks or Pentecost), then they had a week of years (by which they celebrated a Sabbath Rest for the land on the seventh year see Leviticus 25:2-4).
Daniel's Seventy Weeks is a week a years. Just as is refered to in Genesis 29:27 where Jacob's uncle tells him to "Compete the week of this one" which we learn later in the verse means, "You shall serve with me for another seven years. And Jacob did so and completed her week (Genesis 29:28). Hence the week can be a week of days, a week of weeks, or a week of years. And in this case, Daniel's Seventy Weeks are Seventy Weeks of Years or Seventy times Seven Years.
One more clue that points to the Seventy Weeks being weeks of years is found in the beginning of Daniel 9. Daniel read the prophecy of Jeremiah and found that his people were only to be in captivity for seventy years (Daniel 9:2). We learn in at the end of 2 Chronicles, "And those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon... to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete" (2 Chronicles 36:20-21). The land enjoyed its sabbaths every seven years or a week of years.
Daniel's Seventy Weeks goes as follows; "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Price there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks" (Daniel 9:25). There are four decrees, but only one includes Jerusalem being "built again with plaza and moat, even in times of distress" (Daniel 9:25). This decree final of the four decrees is decribed in Nehemiah 2:1-9. The other three decrees had to do with the rebuilding of the temple but did not include the entire rebuilding of the holy city with plaza and moat. (See other decrees Ezra 1:2, Ezra 6:8, Ezra 7:13)
This decree "came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes" (Nehemiah 2:1). This decree taking place on the 1st of Nisan (March 14) in 445BC set in motion the most important of prophecies as this prophesy specifies to the exact day when the Messiah would present himself to the world as King.
Tomorrow we will examine to the exact day, Daniel's Seventy Weeks and the day when Messiah would present himself as King.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
88 Reasons why Jesus is coming back in 1988
Twenty-one years ago Edgar Whisenant sold 4.5 million copies of a book called "88 Reasons why the Rapture will be in 1988". I don't have to tell you this book isn't selling well today. Why was Whisenant so sure that the Rapture would take place in 1988 and where did he go wrong?
First, Whisenant saw the rebirth of Israel on May 14, 1948 as prophecied by Isaiah (Isaiah 66:7-8) as the key event. The reason is because Jesus said, "Learn the parable of the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place" (Matthew 24:32-34).
Whisenant saw the rebirth of Israel as the fulfillment of the parable of the fig tree. Most endtime prophesy experts totally agree with Whisenant. In short, figs represent the Jewish people and trees represent nations. The rebirth of the Jewish nation is the fulfillment of the rebirth of the fig tree.
Next Whisenant looked at the words which Jesus spoke, "This generation will not pass away until all these things take place." Whisenant surmised that a generation in the Bible is 40 years. However, throughout the Bible a generation is anywhere from 35 years up to 120 years. I believe the easiest explanation is sometimes the best explanation. The most simple explanation regarding "this generation not passing away" until all these things take place is that the entire generation that was alive on May 14, 1948 will not completely pass away, until all these things be fulfilled.
My own mother was 365 days old when Israel was reborn as a nation in 1948. Her and her generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
Daniel confirms that although the Jewish people are one of two keys to fulfillment of all endtime events. The other key is Jerusalem and not the nation of Israel as a whole.
Daniel received from the angel Gabriel the prophecy which we today know as Daniel's seventy weeks. The "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city" (Daniel 9:24). The prophecy is for the Jewish people and the holy city of Jerusalem. This prophecy predicts to the exact day when Jesus would be presented as king. Jesus Himself makes reference to the mid-tribulation event of the "Abomination which causes Desolation" (Matthew 24:15, Daniel 9:27).
The key to all endtimes prophecies is the seventy weeks of Daniel which surrounds rebirth of the Jewish people and the holy city of Jerusalem, which did not take place in 1948. The event that reconnected the Jewish people and the holy city was the "6 Day War" in June of 1967. It wasn't until 1967 that the Jewish people laid claim to the holy city of Jerusalem.
All we can be sure of is that the seventieth week of Daniel would not begin until after the Jewish people and the holy city were united. We also know that this "entire generation" will not pass away or die off until all these things regarding the second coming of Jesus comes to pass.
First, Whisenant saw the rebirth of Israel on May 14, 1948 as prophecied by Isaiah (Isaiah 66:7-8) as the key event. The reason is because Jesus said, "Learn the parable of the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place" (Matthew 24:32-34).
Whisenant saw the rebirth of Israel as the fulfillment of the parable of the fig tree. Most endtime prophesy experts totally agree with Whisenant. In short, figs represent the Jewish people and trees represent nations. The rebirth of the Jewish nation is the fulfillment of the rebirth of the fig tree.
Next Whisenant looked at the words which Jesus spoke, "This generation will not pass away until all these things take place." Whisenant surmised that a generation in the Bible is 40 years. However, throughout the Bible a generation is anywhere from 35 years up to 120 years. I believe the easiest explanation is sometimes the best explanation. The most simple explanation regarding "this generation not passing away" until all these things take place is that the entire generation that was alive on May 14, 1948 will not completely pass away, until all these things be fulfilled.
My own mother was 365 days old when Israel was reborn as a nation in 1948. Her and her generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
Daniel confirms that although the Jewish people are one of two keys to fulfillment of all endtime events. The other key is Jerusalem and not the nation of Israel as a whole.
Daniel received from the angel Gabriel the prophecy which we today know as Daniel's seventy weeks. The "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city" (Daniel 9:24). The prophecy is for the Jewish people and the holy city of Jerusalem. This prophecy predicts to the exact day when Jesus would be presented as king. Jesus Himself makes reference to the mid-tribulation event of the "Abomination which causes Desolation" (Matthew 24:15, Daniel 9:27).
The key to all endtimes prophecies is the seventy weeks of Daniel which surrounds rebirth of the Jewish people and the holy city of Jerusalem, which did not take place in 1948. The event that reconnected the Jewish people and the holy city was the "6 Day War" in June of 1967. It wasn't until 1967 that the Jewish people laid claim to the holy city of Jerusalem.
All we can be sure of is that the seventieth week of Daniel would not begin until after the Jewish people and the holy city were united. We also know that this "entire generation" will not pass away or die off until all these things regarding the second coming of Jesus comes to pass.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Redemption is drawing near!
When Jesus described the signs of the days leading to His return, He said, "But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near" (Luke 21:28). There is a day of redemption that is drawing near. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul wrote; "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30).
I have discovered that there are three redemptions. First, through the cross Jesus redeemed our souls. The Psalmist said, "No man can by any means redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him -- For the redemption of his soul is costly, and he should cease trying forever--" (Psalm 49:7-8). We learn here that no mere man can redeem his own soul or that of his brother, the price is costly. Peter said, we have not been redeemed with perishable things like gold or silver, but with the imperishable blood of Jesus. We learn in Acts 20:28 that this imperishable blood was God's own blood. The Psalmist confirms that it is only God who can redeem us. "But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; For He will receive me. Selah" (Psalm 49:15). God did this in the person of God the Son, Jesus Christ, the infinite God-Man.
Secondly, our bodies are redeemed. Paul wrote to the Romans, "We ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body" (Romans 8:23). This takes place at the secret coming or rapture of the church. In a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet, when we are changed from perishable to imperishable, from mortal to immortal (1 Corinthians 15:52-53).
Lastly, our lands are redeemed, the earth itself. The Levitical Law of Jubilee states that "in the year of jubilee the field shall return... to whom the possession of the land belongs" (Leviticus 27:24). The year of Jubilee is completely about the restoration of all things; not only lands but also property, slaves. "On the year of jubilee each of you shall return to his own property" (Leviticus 25:13). The Lord commands that "you are to provide for the redemption of the land" (Leviticus 25:24). This explains why our redeemer needed to be both God and Man. Our souls could only be redeemed by God, but a man who is poor and loses his property, possessions, or land, finds himself in need of a kinsman redeemer. "One of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him" (Leviticus 25:49).
Jesus to redeem our souls, needed to be God, per Psalm 49:15. But to redeem our land, our inheritance of the earth, and our bodies we were in need of a kinsman redeemer. Jesus is our relative per the geneology of Mary provided in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 3:23-38). Jesus was fathered by the Holy Spirit giving Him the right to redeem our soul and at the same time Jesus was man mothered by Mary. God and man fussed together, the ultimate redeemer.
Peter after explaining Jesus our ultimate redeemer in his second sermon said, "Repent therefore and return, that your sins my be wiped away in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time" (Acts 3:19-21).
So when you see all these signs you know that your redemption is drawing near. Your Jubilee year redemption! Jesus is to remain in heaven until the Jubilee redemption of all things. And we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, until the day of redemption.
Waiting and Watching for His Jubilee Redemption!
I have discovered that there are three redemptions. First, through the cross Jesus redeemed our souls. The Psalmist said, "No man can by any means redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him -- For the redemption of his soul is costly, and he should cease trying forever--" (Psalm 49:7-8). We learn here that no mere man can redeem his own soul or that of his brother, the price is costly. Peter said, we have not been redeemed with perishable things like gold or silver, but with the imperishable blood of Jesus. We learn in Acts 20:28 that this imperishable blood was God's own blood. The Psalmist confirms that it is only God who can redeem us. "But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; For He will receive me. Selah" (Psalm 49:15). God did this in the person of God the Son, Jesus Christ, the infinite God-Man.
Secondly, our bodies are redeemed. Paul wrote to the Romans, "We ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body" (Romans 8:23). This takes place at the secret coming or rapture of the church. In a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet, when we are changed from perishable to imperishable, from mortal to immortal (1 Corinthians 15:52-53).
Lastly, our lands are redeemed, the earth itself. The Levitical Law of Jubilee states that "in the year of jubilee the field shall return... to whom the possession of the land belongs" (Leviticus 27:24). The year of Jubilee is completely about the restoration of all things; not only lands but also property, slaves. "On the year of jubilee each of you shall return to his own property" (Leviticus 25:13). The Lord commands that "you are to provide for the redemption of the land" (Leviticus 25:24). This explains why our redeemer needed to be both God and Man. Our souls could only be redeemed by God, but a man who is poor and loses his property, possessions, or land, finds himself in need of a kinsman redeemer. "One of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him" (Leviticus 25:49).
Jesus to redeem our souls, needed to be God, per Psalm 49:15. But to redeem our land, our inheritance of the earth, and our bodies we were in need of a kinsman redeemer. Jesus is our relative per the geneology of Mary provided in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 3:23-38). Jesus was fathered by the Holy Spirit giving Him the right to redeem our soul and at the same time Jesus was man mothered by Mary. God and man fussed together, the ultimate redeemer.
Peter after explaining Jesus our ultimate redeemer in his second sermon said, "Repent therefore and return, that your sins my be wiped away in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time" (Acts 3:19-21).
So when you see all these signs you know that your redemption is drawing near. Your Jubilee year redemption! Jesus is to remain in heaven until the Jubilee redemption of all things. And we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, until the day of redemption.
Waiting and Watching for His Jubilee Redemption!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
We are living in the "Last Days"
So often we hear people say, "We are living in the last days!" However, the Bible says that "with the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day." When the Bible talks about the last days, it does not mean the last few thousand days before Second Coming of Jesus and establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on the earth. Last days literally means the last couple thousand years, since the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
Let's see if the Bible backs up what I am trying to say which is that the last days began with the first coming of Jesus.
Peter, when the day of pentecost had fully come, preached to a large crowd in Jerusalem. As he spoke he made reference to a prophesy by the prophet Joel and quotes Joel as follows;
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams" (Acts 2:17).
Peter quotes from this because he and the rest of the 120 have just been called "drunk" as they spoke in various tongues as the Holy Spirit had just been poured out upon them. But Joel had prophesied that in the last two prophetic days (last two thousand years) that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh! This is the promise of the Father over the last two thousand years. Men have received the Holy Spirit of God.
Both Paul and Peter make reference in their writings of things happening in the last days (2 Peter 3:3 & 2 Timothy 3:1). But I want to look at what the writer of Hebrews writes;
"God... spoke in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, Has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom he hast appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds" (Hebrews 1:1-2).
What this passage says, is previously, in the Old Testament B.C. (Before Christ) God spoke to our fathers through the prophets (i.e. Isaiah, Haggai, Joel, Ezekiel, ect.) but now in these last two prophetic days, these last two thousand years has spoken to us by His Son, Jesus Christ, whom God the Father has appointed heir of all things and who God the Father made the worlds.
Today these last of the last days, God still speaks by His Son. The words of Jesus resound around the world with a message of be reconciled to God through His shed blood. Hope this gives you something to meditate upon, especially since these last days shall be ending soon as "A New Day is Coming, our King is Returning Soon!"
These are the last days! Mankind has been living in them since the day of Pentecost had fully come in Acts 2:1; confirmed by the words of Peter and Joel the prophet in Acts 2:17; further confirmed by the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 1:2.
Let's see if the Bible backs up what I am trying to say which is that the last days began with the first coming of Jesus.
Peter, when the day of pentecost had fully come, preached to a large crowd in Jerusalem. As he spoke he made reference to a prophesy by the prophet Joel and quotes Joel as follows;
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams" (Acts 2:17).
Peter quotes from this because he and the rest of the 120 have just been called "drunk" as they spoke in various tongues as the Holy Spirit had just been poured out upon them. But Joel had prophesied that in the last two prophetic days (last two thousand years) that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh! This is the promise of the Father over the last two thousand years. Men have received the Holy Spirit of God.
Both Paul and Peter make reference in their writings of things happening in the last days (2 Peter 3:3 & 2 Timothy 3:1). But I want to look at what the writer of Hebrews writes;
"God... spoke in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, Has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom he hast appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds" (Hebrews 1:1-2).
What this passage says, is previously, in the Old Testament B.C. (Before Christ) God spoke to our fathers through the prophets (i.e. Isaiah, Haggai, Joel, Ezekiel, ect.) but now in these last two prophetic days, these last two thousand years has spoken to us by His Son, Jesus Christ, whom God the Father has appointed heir of all things and who God the Father made the worlds.
Today these last of the last days, God still speaks by His Son. The words of Jesus resound around the world with a message of be reconciled to God through His shed blood. Hope this gives you something to meditate upon, especially since these last days shall be ending soon as "A New Day is Coming, our King is Returning Soon!"
These are the last days! Mankind has been living in them since the day of Pentecost had fully come in Acts 2:1; confirmed by the words of Peter and Joel the prophet in Acts 2:17; further confirmed by the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 1:2.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Isaiah 61 "Anointed To Do"
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me...
The Lord anointed me, for His plan and His purpose. In this case the LORD has anointed me
To bring good news to the aflicted; He has sent me To bind up the afflicted; To proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD, and the day of vengence of our God; To comfort all who morn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a farland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. Isaiah 61:1-3
The anointing is to be used to bind, to proclaim, to bring, to comfort, to grant... all that He may be glorified! So this is my prayer, that I would receive His full anointing, to do, that He may be glorified.
LORD, thank you for today, I pray that you have been glorified. Today the captives heard about liberty, which you made available through the blood of your Son. Today my mouth was anointed to proclaim liberty to those who are captive. Today those who received your words, received the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So You call them oaks of righteousness being now the plainted of the LORD. Praise you Lord for all you do. I pray in the name! The name Jesus! Amen!
The Lord anointed me, for His plan and His purpose. In this case the LORD has anointed me
To bring good news to the aflicted; He has sent me To bind up the afflicted; To proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD, and the day of vengence of our God; To comfort all who morn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a farland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. Isaiah 61:1-3
The anointing is to be used to bind, to proclaim, to bring, to comfort, to grant... all that He may be glorified! So this is my prayer, that I would receive His full anointing, to do, that He may be glorified.
LORD, thank you for today, I pray that you have been glorified. Today the captives heard about liberty, which you made available through the blood of your Son. Today my mouth was anointed to proclaim liberty to those who are captive. Today those who received your words, received the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So You call them oaks of righteousness being now the plainted of the LORD. Praise you Lord for all you do. I pray in the name! The name Jesus! Amen!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
