Do me a favour & leave me your opinions & any other related feedback. Thanks. It folds in four so that the title & cartoon of the prophetic sage appear as the cover. The article text would be printed on the other side.
The 70 Sevens of Daniel
Please note: This article is excerpts & summarisations of more complete texts, to keep it as simple as possible due to the limited space provided here. If there appear to be blanks in the logic, write us & we'll be able to fill you in on the rest. Enjoy!
For those interested in apocalyptic biblical predictions, the 9th chapter of Daniel is a good place to start. Amongst other things, it predicts the exact timing for the first (& even second) coming of Christ & the “time of The End!”
Brief setting: The chapter opens with the prophet Daniel calling out to God to save his city (Jerusalem) & his people (Israel) who, at this time, were captive slaves of the Persian Empire (about 538 B.C.). Finally, by verse 20, Gabriel comes to him & says...
O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill & understanding. Therefore, understand the matter, & consider the vision.Then, at verse 24, the fascinating predictions begin & the time-line is drawn.
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people & upon the holy city...& to make reconciliation for sins...to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal up the vision & the prophecy...(Dan.9:24)The word “weeks” is a translation from “shabua” which is Hebrew for “seven”. As we decrypt & compare these prophecies with their historic fulfillments, it becomes evident that these “sevens” are not periods of seven days, but seven “prophetic years”, (360 days or 12 months of 30-days) also called “times”. One must keep that in account when calculating biblical prophecies that are as precise as this passage!
Furthermore, we discover how, in 70 sets of 7years, the world's history will be concluded & fulfilled!
Know therefore & understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore & to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be [seven sevens] & [sixty-two sevens]. The street & the wall shall be built...And after 62 [sevens] shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself. (Dan.9:25-26a)Let's break that down. The angel accounts for a total of 69 sevens (483). 453 prophetic years before Christ, Artaxerxes Longimanus (king of the Medes & Persians) gave the cocommandment allowing the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem.
The city was completed 49 (7x7) years after the decree was given. Then 434 years later (62x7) brings us to 30 A.D…the exact date Jesus was crucified, or “cut off”!
In 712 B.C. the Prophet Isaiah also uses this term in reference to Jesus' execution:He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people...when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin...[He] shall justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities. (Isa.53:3-11)In a manner also fulfilling numerous other prophecies, Jesus died, making His soul the ransom payable for our sins. Try this yourself: Simply say, “God (whatever & wherever you are) if You really wrote this book & You're somewhere listening to me, I accept Your free gift of eternal salvation that Jesus paid for with His death. I ask Jesus to come into my heart & fill me with Your spirit of love, making 'His soul an offering for my sins'.” (see John.3:16)
The angel Gabriel continues: ...and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city & the sanctuary;... & unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(Dan.9:26b)This prophecy was not fulfilled until 70 A.D., forty years after Jesus' crucifixion, when the Roman legions destroyed Jerusalem & the Temple. This means that the last set of seven (see next verse) is separated from the 69 first sets by an undefined period of time. We know also that when this 70th seven ends, it will bring in God's kingdom on earth (see Dan.9:24 & illustration on the cover). So this last seven is still in the future!
He (the prince that shall come, aka. the “Anti-Christ”) shall confirm the covenant with many for one [seven]: & in the midst of the [seven] he shall cause the sacrifice & oblation to cease, & for the overspreading of abomination, he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, & that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.(Dan.9:27)
This implies that the Anti-Christ will rise out of what was the Roman Empire (the EU?) & sign a seven year religious pact that enables the Jews to engage in the daily sacrifice, only to break it midway.Along with what we know from other biblical texts, 3 & ½ years (42 months, 1260 days) before the end he declares himself as God & demands that all worship him & his economic system. At the end, when God's had enough, He steps in & pours out His judgments.
Matthew quotes Jesus himself referring to this passage saying, “When ye shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet standing in the holy place...then shall be great tribulation...Immediately after [that] tribulation the sun shall be darkened & the moon will not give her light (perhaps the aftermath of an atomic bomb?)...Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven...& the tribes of the earth shall mourn for they shall see Him in heaven with power & great glory. Then He will send His angels with the sound of a trumpet to gather His chosen.(Mat.24:15-31)The most fascinating thing in Bible prophecy is not just figuring out & dogmatising over the future of our planet, but rather getting to know your own future & getting that sorted out! Get to know Jesus now! He loves you. Contact us to find out more--or if you have questions. We love you.
4 comments:
This is great, very easy to follow without too many cross-references. I think the ending paragraph is great as that should be (IMO) the general attitude toward bibble prophecy interpretation.
Would this be a tract format? I think its great!
One thing that has always puzzled me is the over 1930 year "gap" in bibble prophecy. Dan. 9:26,27 is an example. Would have been interesting to have prophecies about major events that happened in that timeframe.
Reading books is not a waste of time!!
(I like your tract thingie)
Thanks for your feedback James. The points you mentioned were things I was deliberately aiming for when I edited the text so I'm glad they came across right & that you noticed them.
That 1930 year gap was a bit of a weak point for me so I swept over it briefly.But the prophecy about the temple being destroyed IS one of the events that happens in this period.
It could be available as a tract if people want it to be (depending on how the whole approval thing works). Someone would just have to lay out the text & the logo/symbols on the back side. I, of course, have the hi-res graphics for the front.
Kathy, reading is only a redemption of time if it does something productive to your brain, which IS very possible. I haven't read MUCH, I read a couple John Grisham books & one from Tom Clancy & that's about it. Oh, & Time magazine. But what I read taught me a lot about writing & expressing my thoughts BECAUSE I read to learn & not JUST to pass time. Then, once I feel I've learned something, I try to do something useful with it immediately.
I guess whether it's a waste of time or not is decided by whether it's done anything useful for you. Where's the fruit? Is it getting you any closer to your goal in life? Has it helped you win a soul? Or make more money? If so, then yeah, it has NOT been a waste of your time.
I remember you showing me this a couple years ago and, just a couple days ago, I was wondering what had become of it. Did you get it printed? Are you going to?
Post a Comment