Watchman's Teaching Letter #132 April 2009
This is my one hundred thirty-second monthly teaching letter and completes my eleventh year of publication. This is another in a series on the apostle Paul. In lesson, #131, for March, 2009 it was clearly demonstrated that Paul never taught the “secret rapture” of the church (assembly) which is being strongly promoted today by nominal mainstream churchianity. In WTL #131 I quoted from Paul’s epistles, at 1st Corinthians 15:51-58 & 1 Thess. 4:13-18 and proceeded to demonstrate that the idea of a “rapture” followed by a “seven year period of tribulation” was purely a Roman Catholic invention in order to avoid the prophecy of the Pope being identified as the “Antichrist” by the Reformers. Summing up the last WTL, I stated: It all began as a Roman Catholic invention. Thus, the Jesuit priest Ribera’s writings influenced the Jesuit priest Lacunza; Lacunza influenced Irving; Irving influenced Darby; Darby influenced Scofield; Scofield and Darby influenced D.L. Moody, and Moody influenced the Pentecostal Movement; and the Pentecostal Movement influenced the Charismatic Movement, and I don’t want to have the slightest part in this satanic plot which is dreamed up and supported by Canaanite-jews. It should also be pointed out that the so-called Pentecostal movement turned out to be a tool of Satan to encourage multicultural race-mixing in America and throughout the world.
Again, in order to defend Paul from this monstrous, heretical plot of Satan and his children to corrupt Scripture, I will continue in this lesson to expose the errors of “futurism”. This will not be an exposé promoting praeterism, for that doctrine is just as erroneous as futurism, also invented by a Roman Catholic Jesuit. What we are going to deal with in this lesson is properly interpreting Daniel’s prophecies, which Paul surely would never have stated anything to the contrary. As I showed in the last lesson, it was Darby who theorized that there is a 2000 year gap between Daniel’s 69th and 70th weeks (a week being a week of years). So the question arises: Is Daniel’s 70th week past or yet future?
All Bible prophecy is declared to be the proof of Divine inspiration of the Scriptures. Peter speaks of this at 2 Peter 1:19-21: “19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” Thus, Darby’s gap theory is his own “private interpretation”! What a monstrous supposition, that there should be a 2000 year gap between Daniel’s 69th and 70th weeks. But hang on to your hat; we ain’t seen nothin’ yet! Most all of the so-called preaching and teaching concerning Bible prophecy today has to do with a series of events which proponents inform us center around a seven-year span which they allege to be the “great tribulation period”! Some even go so far as to make the asinine suggestion that it is the time of “Jacob’s troubles” as spoken of at Jeremiah 30:7-9 which reads:
“7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. 8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith Yahweh of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: 9 But they shall serve Yahweh their Elohim, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. 10 Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith Yahweh; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.”
The big problem we have with this passage is the absolute fact that today’s jews are neither Israel nor Judah, for they are Canaanites passing themselves off as Israelites. They are more related to Esau and Cain than to Jacob. Actually, this passage is referring to the Anglo-Saxons and related peoples rather than Canaanite-jews! What’s more, this passage is a prophecy for we White, lost Israelites of today. Not only that, but “Jacob’s troubles” have lasted for “seven times” (a time being 360 years, or 2,520 calendar years). There is indeed a “great tribulation” period for Jacob, and it’s not seven calendar years but seven punishment periods of 360 calendar years. In plain language, in this world there is never going to be a seven calendar year tribulation with a super, duper, pooper antichrist!
And how do the futurists come up with a “tribulation period” of seven years? They do it by proclaiming that the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy was not fulfilled after the 69th, but they arbitrarily amputate it to await a future fulfillment at the close of this age. They loudly proclaim that this seven year period “begins with the rapture of the church”. They further declare that immediately thereafter some fast talking super, duper, pooper “antichrist” will appear on the world scene who will make a covenant with the Canaanite-jews, and at the end of 3½ years he will break that covenant, and turn against them with great, awful slaughter. Actually, most holding to the futurist position can’t make up their minds whether it will be a 7 or 3½ year period of tribulation, for they say the antichrist will be at peace with them for the first 3½ years.
Momentarily brushing all of the nonsense aside, on what occasion did Daniel receive this 70-week prophecy? Those familiar with Scripture are well aware that Daniel had been carried off captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, along with that remnant nation of Judah. I say “remnant nation of Judah” because the greater part of Judah had been carried away captive by king Sennacherib into Assyria some 100 years earlier than this. Those familiar with the archaeological record may recall the invasion and capture of all Judaea except Jerusalem, was addressed in the book An Outline History Of The Seventy Weeks Nation by the Rev. Alban Heath where he stated on page 13:
“Later, the Southern kingdom fell a victim to the ravages of heathen rulers. ‘Sennacherib king of Assyria (705-681 B.C.) did come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.’ While the Scriptures are silent on the subject of deportations at this time, Sennacherib himself has left the following record: ‘And Hezekiah king of Judah, who had not bowed down at my feet forty-six of his strong cities, his castles, and the smaller towns in their neighbourhood beyond number with warlike engines ... I attacked and captured 200,150 people small and great, male and female, horses, mares, asses, camels, oxen and sheep beyond number, from the midst of them I carried off and distributed them as a spoil. He himself, like a bird in a cage, inside Jerusalem his royal city I shut him up’.”
One might assert that when I cite archaeology that I am straying away from the Bible, but I am not, as I will demonstrate. All one need do is go to Jeremiah 16:16 where he states: “Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith Yahweh, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.”
The “fishers” in this passage are none other than the disciples chosen by Yahshua Christ, and the hunters are none other than the archaeologists. Who else would hunt “out of the holes of the rocks”? If this is true, and it is, the hunters hold as much Biblical weight as the fishers, and that is quite important. In other words, take all of the words in the New Testament written by the “fishers of men”, and the “hunters” (the archaeologist’s findings) as equal in their significance.
Did Yahshua Christ Himself refer to this sort of thing when He made the following statement at Luke 19:40?:
“39 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. 40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.”
The Smith & Goodspeed version has a somewhat better rendering, stating: “39 Some Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Master, reprove your disciples!’ 40 And he answered, ‘I tell you, if they keep silence, the stones will cry out!’” Notice that Smith & Goodspeed says nothing about it happening “immediately”. In other words, if the disciples of Christ (the fishers of men) kept quiet about the gospel of the Kingdom, the hunters (archaeologists) would cry out the evidence of to where the lost tribes of Israel migrated. To comprehend to whom Jeremiah was making reference at 16:16, we need to read Jer. 16:14-15, which says:
“14 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Yahweh, that it shall no more be said, Yahweh liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 15 But, Yahweh liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.”
Hence, this is evidence that all of Christ’s apostles (including Paul) were sent to the same Israelites whom Jeremiah prophesied concerning the fishers and hunters. Did Yahweh bring the children of Israel again into their land which Yahweh had given to the fathers? He certainly did!
This is only a later development of the account, for we need to go back to the year 1917 for a more important element of the story. Once we resolve the relevance of 1917 in this chain of events, we will see clearly how all this fits together. We must first take into consideration that all the tribes of Israel were given a “seven times” punishment period, or 2,520 years. As each tribe was taken into captivity at different dates, each individual tribe’s punishment ended in a corresponding manner at the end of its 2,520 years. Jerusalem was no exception. The starting date for Jerusalem’s 2,520 years of punishment was November/December 604 B.C., and is called “the times of the Gentiles” at Luke 21:24. If one will check the history of Jerusalem from 604 B.C., they will find Jerusalem was continually under foreign powers until 1917 A.D., for a total of 2,520 years, when Palestine became a British Mandate under King George VI, a bona fide descendant of David. 1917 was the year that General Allenby captured Palestine and entered Jerusalem with true Israelite soldiers from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and a few minor contingents of non-Israelites such as India, Egypt, Singapore, Hong Kong and the West Indies (As Birds Flying by Andrew Adams, page 42). King George VI lived until 1952, long enough to make a decree on Palestine which has never been countermanded by Queen Elizabeth II. Today, Palestine still belongs to Great Britain under Yahweh’s law. The Canaanite-jews are therefore trespassers in that land by the authority of an illegal satanic entity called the United Nations. Whether or not in the future Palestine will ever be occupied by any quantity of true Israelites is unclear.
Hence, Palestine in 1917 came under the rule of King George VI, a direct descendant of the line of David. While Palestine was ruled in the time of Christ by Israelite Roman rulers of the Zerah branch of Judah, they were not rulers from the line of David. The object of the story is, Judaea (now referred to as Palestine) hadn’t been ruled over by a descendant of David since the time of Zedekiah some 588 years before the time of Christ. All we need to do is add 588 and 1917 and we arrive at a total of 2,505 years (minus 18 months for conversion from B.C. to A.D.) or about 2,504 years since Palestine had a legitimate king from the line of David, upon which one arrives very close to the seven times punishment period of 2,520 years.
For documentation on King George VI’s decision concerning Palestine, I will now quote from the book Understanding The Dead Sea Scrolls, chapter 1, by Harry Thomas Frank, page 8: “His Majesty’s Foreign Office had somewhat irresponsibly decided that since the problem of Palestine could not be solved by reason, they would withdraw, leaving the two sides to decide the issue by blood.” Ever since that proclamation by King George VI, one day one will hear or read in the news how the Palestinian-arabs have killed x-number of Israelis (actually Canaanite-jews), and the next day one will read how the Israelis have killed x-number of Palestinian-arabs. All this means is that Yahweh is honoring King George VI’s decision, a legitimate king of the line of David, and his heirs re-ruling over Palestine starting in 1917 A.D. The truth of the matter is, neither the Palestinian-arabs nor the Canaanite-jews are legitimate citizens of Palestine. My reason here for bringing all of this to the fore is to explain the context of what Jeremiah 30:7-9 and “Jacob’s troubles” are all about; that it is entirely misrepresented by today’s mainstream religious interpreters.
Now back to all of this “rapture” nonsense and its history; along with how it conflicts with Holy-writ. We were discussing what Daniel was doing when he was praying and fasting and seeking knowledge from Yahweh concerning when the 70-year prophecy of Judah’s captivity by Babylon, spoken of by Jeremiah the prophet, would end. The passage that Daniel was reading, which in turn led him to such an understanding was Jeremiah 25:11-12, which reads in the KJV:
“11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 ¶ And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith Yahweh, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.” (Note that there is a paragraph mark “¶” in the A.V between these two verses, showing two separate declarations and thus two separate prophecies.) Hence, not only was the remnant nation of Judah punished for seventy years, but so was Babylon punished forever for taking Judah captive. Babylon’s punishment started suddenly in 539 B.C. when the city of Babylon fell in one night as recorded at Dan. 5:30-31: “30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. 31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.” Thus, Jeremiah’s original prophecy spoke not only of a seventy year period of punishment of desolation concerning Judaea, but also a punishment period of desolation for the land of the Chaldeans. Yahweh always punishes any nation that subjugates His people Israel! If these two desolation periods on Judaea and the Chaldeans are exact, so too must the 70-weeks of years later prophesied by Daniel be exact, with no gap between the 69th and 70th week of years.
We can observe that by Daniel’s prayerfully seeking the answer to his question of when the seventy weeks of desolation would end for Judah, that Yahweh sent the angel Gabriel to him in a vision, informing him that he had come forth to give him understanding. As one who believed and never questioned that Yahweh keeps all of His promises, Daniel was quite unconcerned whether Yahweh would act, but rather how and when He would do it. Daniel was aware that if he could establish the exact beginning of the seventy years that Judah was carried into Babylon, then he could by simple arithmetic also establish its termination. Daniel also knew by reading the words of Jeremiah that the beginning of the 70 year period of desolation for Judaea and Jerusalem was fixed somewhere in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.
Today, we can consult 2 Chron. 36:20-21, as a good marker on how long the 70 years of desolation for Judah would last which states:
“20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: 21 To fulfil the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.”
It is pretty well agreed among many Bible scholars that the two books of Chronicles were written by Ezra sometime near the end of the exile. This is supported by the fact that Ezra’s purpose in coming to Jerusalem was to teach the people concerning Yahweh’s laws (Ezra 7:10, 25) and also by the emphasis of his book on the history of Israelitish worship, which also shows a similar style as the book of Ezra. As one can see, formerly Daniel didn’t have (or at least didn’t have all of) the book of 2 Chronicles to consult. The one thing we learn from this after-the-fact passage is that Ezra understood that the 70-year desolation period would come to an end under a Persian ruler.
While Daniel was praying concerning the timing for the ending of Jerusalem’s desolation period, Yahweh intervened, apparently not to answer his prayer, but to give him a completely new revelation concerning not one single period of 70 years, but seven such periods, making 490 years in all, which is recorded at Daniel 9:24-27:
“24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [Christ] shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the Prince [the Romans under Titus] that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And he [Christ] shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he [Christ] shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
One can clearly see from this that the angel Gabriel then proceeded to inform Daniel that 70 weeks of years had been determined by Yahweh upon Daniel’s people (the remnant of Judah in Babylon), along with the city of Jerusalem. And in this 70 week period, 6 things were to be accomplished – every one of which were dependent upon the finished work of Christ with His death and resurrection. Read again the above passage at Dan. 9:24-27. If you have reread this passage very carefully, this passage is speaking of Christ and his finished work, and not some super, duper, pooper antichrist. Not only that, but when speaking of Christ’s finished work, there is absolutely no necessity to place a 2000-year gap between the 69th and 70th weeks of years of the prophecy given to Daniel by Gabriel! You will notice that the above passage makes the statement: “and to make an end of sins”. Are we to believe that some super, duper, pooper “antichrist” is going to come on the scene “and to make an end of sins”? Yes, there are antichrists, but let’s keep them in their proper context! It is simply blasphemy to take this passage, which predicts Christ’s finished work, and assign it to some unknown antichrist as the futurists do. Paul never taught any doctrine that would support such a lie!
We still haven’t resolved just when Jeremiah’s original prophecy of a 70-year desolation on the remnant nation of Judah and Jerusalem would end, but Gabriel gave Daniel a clue, at 9:25, of when that might be, and we will use only the portion where that clue is given: “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem ...”
There is a problem, though, with understanding this clue given to Daniel by Gabriel, as there were in fact four different decrees issued by the kings of Medo-Persia in regard to the rebuilding of Jerusalem, each of which we will consider in their turn.
(1) In the first year of Cyrus – 538 B.C. (Ezra 1:1-4 cf. 2 Chron. 36:22-23). Cyrus was the first Medo-Persian king and reigned from 539 to 529. His reign began after the fall of the city of Babylon in 539 and lasted until 529 B.C. It is thought that his first year began on the 1st of Nisan, 538 and continued until 537 B.C.
Ezra 1:1-4: “1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, Yahweh singular-Elohim of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of Yahweh singular-Elohim of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem. 4 And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”
(2) In the second year of Darius – 520 B.C., (Ezra 4:4-5, 24; 6:8)
Ezra 4:4-5, 24; 6:8: “4 4 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, 5 And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. ... 24 Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. ... 6 8 Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Judaeans for the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered.”
(3) In the seventh year of Artaxerxes – 458 B.C. (Ezra 7:7-9): “7 And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. 8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. 9 For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.”
(Please note: ñò As will be explained in a later WTL lesson, the “Artaxerxes” in the KJV versions of Ezra and Nehemiah is NOT the historical Artaxerxes!)
(4) In the twentieth year of Artaxerxes – 445 B.C. (Nehemiah 1:3; 2:1, 7-8). “1 3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. ... 2 1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. ... 7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; 8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.” [Note: I have followed somewhat the general outline given in the book The Sabbatic 70 Years by Michael D. Bennett on these four different decrees, except I quoted each of the four cited passages related to the subject.]
Bennett continues on page 12 that the third listed date above is the correct one, or (3) In the seventh year of Artaxerxes – 458 B.C. On page 12, he makes a point to show that Ezra had left Babylon on this occasion on the first day of the first month (Nisan) 458, B.C., but didn’t arrive at Jerusalem until the fifth month to rebuild Jerusalem. On page 13, Bennett points out that Daniel may have shown Cyrus, from the scrolls of Jeremiah his prophecy concerning him. Further, the historian Josephus recorded such an event, but didn’t identify the person that showed him. (Again, see note on “Artaxerxes”)
We now come to a very problematic part of Daniel’s predicted seventy weeks, or 490 year prophecy. No matter how hard one tries to reconcile the mathematical time line from Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion of Judaea until the time of Christ, it becomes quite impossible. Bennett is among a limited group of knowledgeable expositors on the subject. I will now follow his general outline in my own words using similar diagrams. First of all, Nebuchadnezzar made three different forays into Judaea thusly, and only one can fit Jeremiah’s 70-year prophecy:
Nebuchadnezzar’s 1st visit + 70 years desolation:
604 70 Years 534
|<--------------------------------------->| (all years B.C.)
Nebuchadnezzar’s 2nd visit + 70 years desolation:
598 70 Years 528
|<--------------------------------------->|
Nebuchadnezzar’s 3rd visit + 70 years desolation:
588 70 Years 518
|<--------------------------------------->|
The reader should now comprehend some of the mathematical problems involved. The question is: Which one do we start counting from? Furthermore, there are other 70-year periods to consider during this general era of time. For instance, there is the 70-year period from the end of Assyria to the fall of Babylon, thusly (years B.C.):
End of Assyria Fall of Babylon
609 70 Years 539
|<--------------------------------------->|
The next one we should consider will show a possible missing 70-year period, mathematically speaking (years B.C.):
1st Temple destroyed • 2nd Temple complete • Nehemiah builds walls
586 70 Years 516 70 Years 446
|<--------------------------------------->|<--------------------------------------->|
140 Years
|<---------------------------------------------------------------------------------->|
While this helps us to discover nearly 70 unaccounted for prophetic years, it is not exact. The reason it is not exact is because Jerusalem was captured in 598 B.C., but the temple wasn’t destroyed until 586 B.C., or 12 years later. Therefore, we need to add 140 years, starting at 598, to find when Daniel’s 70-week’s prophecy starts. Michael D. Bennett calls this extra 70 years a “double punishment” for Judah and quotes Jer. 16: 12-15, 18; 17:18; Job 11:5-6; Zech. 9:12; Isa. 40:1-2 & Rev. 18:5-6. Of these passages Isaiah, 40:1-2 might imply a “double punishment” for Judah, which states:
“1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of Yahweh’s hand double for all her sins.”
I would prefer to call this additional 70 years “troublous times”, as that is what Gabriel called the building of the wall and street, but both designations may apply. The following graph will be similar to how Michael D. Bennett has it drawn, (years B.C.):
Jerusalem Ezra returns &
captured “rebuilding decree”
598 140 Years 458
|<---------------------------------------------------------------------->|
140 Years Start of Daniel’s ò 70 weeks
|<---------------------------------------------------------------------->|ð------------------------
Now for a graph by me representing the fulfillment of Daniel’s 70-weeks prophecy: (a) = 458 B.C. or Ezra’s return; (b) = B.C. to A.D. conversion; (†) = 32 A.D. or Christ’s crucifixion; (c) = 3½ years after Christ’s crucifixion or near Stephen’s stoning:
a 490 Years b † c
|<--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------->|
Note: These dates in these five graphs may not be perfectly on the dot, nor drawn to scale, but they are very close. One will notice that there are 3½ years left of Daniel’s 490 year prophecy after Christ’s crucifixion, and that is not to be projected 2000 years in the future either! Those 3½ years would take the end of Daniel’s prophecy very close to Stephen’s stoning.
From Ezra’s mission in 458 B.C., nothing more is fulfilled in the first 69 weeks. If one will turn to Dan. 9:24-27, and see what Gabriel had to say about this 70-week nation, one will discover that the entire prophecy is Messianic. The first 69 weeks of Daniel’s prophecy simply brought the nation to Christ, with His ministry directed to lost Israel only. Now don’t take anyone’s word for it, but check it out for yourself that Gabriel stated, “Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks” etc. Unless someone has changed it, 7 plus 62 still equals 69!
It was Christ, not some super, duper, pooper antichrist that is the object of Daniel’s 70th week! By-and-large the antichrist theorists pounce on Dan. 9:26 and make the “prince that shall come” to be their man, the “Antichrist”. And then they proceed to apply the Messianic prophecy of verse 27 to some imagined antichrist. On the basis of this verse, they maintain that the Antichrist will “make” a covenant with the Canaanite-jews for one week (meaning Daniel’s 70th week) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. In other words, supposedly this is where the Antichrist turns on the Canaanite-jews and the great tribulation begins. The “Prince” at verse 26 is rather Christ whose kin, the Roman army led by Titus, destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 A.D.
As fantastic as this fan-dangled novel concept is, we are supposed to believe that Paul taught such a distorted precept! Paul never even hinted at such an idea. As a matter of fact, these futurist teachings are supported by the same people who crucified Christ and today control the world’s monetary systems!
Here I have done a critical review on a booklet The Sabbatic Period Of 70 Years by Michael D. Bennett. In the next lesson, I plan a double witness to show that ALL of Daniel’s 70 weeks, or 490 years of prophecy, have been fulfilled!
