An Introduction to End Times.
Part 2 Daniel’s Prophecy
The Church Age. – Section 2a
We have already mentioned the ‘Tribulation’ and touched on the ‘Church Age’. A third name we will come across in due course is the ‘Rapture’, but we will deal with that later.
To put these happenings and the rest of end times into perspective we really need to look at the overall timetable of events which can be called ‘God’s Prophetic Calendar’. (See diagram above). For this we need to start at the time of King Artaxerxes I of Babylon
In the year 445 BC the cupbearer to this king, a Jewish exile named Nehemiah, found himself talking to the king, in Susa (near the present Basra), about the walls of Jerusalem – some 700 miles from Susa – which were still in disrepair following the sacking of Jerusalem some 90 years earlier, when the city had been taken by the Babylonians. The story is told in the book of Nehemiah, mainly in chapter 2. (See Ne 2:1-8*)
This episode within the book of Nehemiah forms part of a prophecy within the book of Daniel, chapter 9. In this chapter Daniel describes how he was praying to God about the due return of the Jews to their homeland, which had been prophesied by Jeremiah (Jer 25:11-12)*. While he is praying the Archangel Gabriel came to him as follows:
The Seventy “Sevens”
Da 9:20 While I [Daniel] was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill—
Da 9:21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.
Da 9:22 He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding.
Da 9:23 As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision:
Da 9:24 “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.
Da 9:25 “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (see Ne 2:1-8) until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
Da 9:26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.
Da 9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.’”
So what does this message tell us?
The ‘issuing of the decree’ to restore Jerusalem is taken by many to have been in the year 445 BC, as mentioned in Da 9:25 above, but scholars are divided on this point. Some take an alternative date of 458 BC and some use a slightly different calculation from then on, but the end result we are seeking is more or less the same whichever route you use.
When God speaks of ‘sevens’ (sometimes referred to as ‘weeks’), it is widely taken, as in this example, that he is actually meaning 7 years (Greek = Heptads), and in the times we are talking of here (in the Old Testament) a year was reckoned as 360 days.
For the illustration here, I will use the common method of reckoning as follows. Starting from 445 BC the first seven ‘sevens’, which would account for 49 years, takes us to 396 BC (or maybe 397 BC if we count in our ‘present day’ years of say 365.25 days per year!). This ties in with our reckoning of the completion of the rebuilding of Jerusalem
The second time period of sixty-two ‘sevens’, referred to in Da 9:26, which equates to (62x7) 434 years, plus the first 49 years, takes us up to 38 or 39 AD (depending whether we count a year zero between BC and AD or not) (ie. 434+49 = 483 years altogether). However, if we reckon the total number of days (483x360) in years of say 365.25 days each we come to 31 or 32 AD. What happened about then? Well surely this would tie in with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, or when ‘the Anointed One’ was ‘cut off’, as Da 9:26 puts it.
Since then however (ie. when Jesus was crucified), practically 2000 years have gone by. So have we reached the end of the overall prophecy? Have we gone through the third time period of one ‘seven’, ie. the seventieth ‘week’, or final 7 years, of the prophecy in Daniel?
Well, the answer has to be ‘No!’, for we surely have not yet attained ‘putting an end to sin’ etc. as stated in Da 9:24. Anything but!! Also we have certainly not reached the end days envisioned by Isaiah, Daniel and David in Is 2:2-4*, Da 7:13-14*, and Ps 72:1-4*.
Furthermore we have not reached even, the events of Da 9:27, where a certain ruler (now known to us as the ‘antichrist’ - see section 1b) ‘will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.’
But, Da 9:24 tells us that ‘Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for Daniel’s people (Israel) and his holy city (Jerusalem) to finish transgressions, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy (the Temple?)’.
So, what has happened?
This now re-introduces the concept of the ‘Church Age’ or ‘the Church Gap’, which has so far lasted around 2000 years and which was mentioned earlier in Part 1(section 1b). This period started at Pentecost, in AD 33, the year of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and is still running at where we are now, in the early part of the 2000’s. As stated in Part 1 it essentially covers the period of the non-existence of Israel
So, it seems possible that God’ clock has stopped at the end of Daniel’s 69th week, so to speak, and that for the last 2000 years Israel has been going through a second ‘Babylonian type’ experience. Why? Well, since the time of King David the Jews have been falling out of favour with God, again and again, culminating in the rejection and murder of His Son in AD 33. The steps God would take in such an event are described in Leviticus 26* and Deuteronomy 28*.
Jesus explains the situation in a prophetic parable in Matthew (also in Mark & Luke). See Mt 21:33-46*.
End notes for ready reference:
Ne 2:1-8
Ne 2:1 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before;
Ne 2:2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very much afraid,
Ne 2:3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
Ne 2:4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven,
Ne 2:5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah
Ne 2:6 Then the king , with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.
Ne 2:7 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah
Ne 2:8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.
Jer 25:11-12
Jer 25:11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon
Jer 25:12 “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the LORD, “and will make it desolate forever.
Is 2:2-4
Isa 2:2 In the last days the mountain of the LORD’S temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
Isa 2:3 Many peoples will come and say, “Come let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths. “ The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Isa 2:4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
Dan 7:13-14
Da 7:13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.
Da 7:14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
Ps 72:1-4
Ps 72:1 Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness.
Ps 72:2 He will judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice.
Ps 72:3 The mountains will bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness.
Ps 72:4 He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor
Is 40:3-4
Isa 40:3 A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.
Isa 40:4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
Mal 3:1-2
Mal 3:1 “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty.
Mal 3:2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.
Lev 26:27-35
Lev 26:27 “ ‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me,
Lev 26:28 then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over.
Lev 26:29 You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.
Lev 26:30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you.
Lev 26:31 I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings.
Lev 26:32 I will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled.
Lev 26:33 I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins.
Lev 26:34 Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths.
Lev 26:35 All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.
Deut 28:61-66
Dt 28:61 The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.
Dt 28:62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the LORD your God.
Dt 28:63 Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.
Dt 28:64 Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
Dt 28:65 Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart.
Dt 28:66 You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life.
Mt 21:33-46
Mt 21:33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey.
Mt 21:34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
Mt 21:35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.
Mt 21:36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way.
Mt 21:37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
Mt 21:38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’
Mt 21:39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Mt 21:40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
Mt 21:41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
Mt 21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “ ‘The stone the builders
rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’ ?
Mt 21:43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and give to
a people who will produce its fruit.
Mt 21:44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be
crushed.”
Mt 21:45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was
talking about them.
Mt 21:46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
Next time: Will there be a positive outcome for Israel?
No comments:
Post a Comment