Biblical Timeline from the “Appearing” to the Second Coming, Part 1 of 5
Dear Troy,
As per your request, the following chronological events as to the literal fulfillment of Biblical prophecy is as follows, that is, as follows according to my understanding of the Holy Scriptures (The AV1611 King James Reformation English Bible) as of December, 2009.
An understanding of the Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks of Gabriel given to the Prophet Daniel (Dan. 9:24-27) is key if we are to understand the First Coming of the Messiah of Israel as well as the Second Coming of the same Messiah, the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
The details of Daniel’s partially fulfilled prophecy are as follows:
I. Dan. 9:24—Six Purposes for the Prophecy of the 70 Weeks of Years
A. Upon the fulfillment of the prophecy covering 70 weeks of years (490 years), all prophecy concerning “the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow” (I Peter 1:11) would be fulfilled—”to seal up the vision and prophecy” along with five other purposes. This prophecy given to Daniel would include the arrival of the promised “Seed of David” to sit on the throne of David “forever” (II Samuel 7:12-17; Luke 1:31-33). This “Seed of David” would be “the Son” of Jehovah (Psalm 2:7, 12), the “LORD of hosts” Himself, to rule over His repentant, racial Hebrew/Jewish/Israelitic brethren enjoying their restored, Davidic Kingdom of Israel (Acts 1:6). Messiah will rule out of the Fourth Hebrew Temple that He Himself will build (Ezekiel 43:7; Zechariah 6:12-13). His international, earthly dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river Euphrates even to the end of the earth (Zechariah 9:10). During this reign of Messiah, whose name is “Salvation” (Isaiah 62:11), there will finally be world peace and the “God of Jacob” sitting in the Fourth Hebrew Temple will be the center of international worship (Isaiah 2:1-4). At the completion of Daniel’s prophecy of the 70 Weeks of years, the Lord Jesus Christ “shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels” (II Thessalonians 1:7) to return as “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16). All of the above would be literally fulfilled—on earth—in space and time, that is if the Word of God says what it means and means what it says.
B. Each Hebrew year would constitute 360 days.
II. Daniel 9:25—First 69 Weeks of Years Fulfilled
A. The beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy would begin with the “commandment” to restore and to build Jerusalem—not the Temple. That command was given approximately 100 years after this prophecy of the 70 Weeks of Years was recorded by Daniel the Prophet. The commandment was given by King Artaxerxes I of Persia in Nehemiah 2:1-8 on the first day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, 445 BC. That day, according to the Julian Calender is March 14, 445 BC. For a more complete understanding as to the computation of that date, see Sir Robert Anderson’s epic masterpiece, The Coming Prince: The Marvellous Prophecy of Daniel’s Seventy Weeks Concerning the Antichrist (1895).
B. The first 69 weeks of years would be fulfilled beginning with “the commandment” to restore and to build Jerusalem—not the Temple—and ending with “Messiah the Prince.” That phrase was to be fulfilled on the day Messiah would formally and publicly declare himself to be the Messiah of national Israel according to specific requirements set forth by the Prophet Zechariah, Chapter 9: Verse 9. The day in verifiable history upon which this event occurred was April 6, 32 AD, as proven by Anderson in The Coming Prince. That day was “Palm Sunday,” the day Jesus the Christ rode into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey, “the foal of an ass,” thus literally fulling Zechariah 9:9 and Psalm 118:24-26. “This is the day that the Lord hath made: we shall rejoice and be glad in it.” Again, that day was the very day in which the Lord Jesus Christ declared Himself “Messiah the Prince.” That day—”this thy day“—was specifically spoken of by Christ on the day he fulfilled Zechariah 9:9 in Luke 19:42 when he wept over Jerusalem upon his entrance into His city.
C. Therefore, from the very day King Artaxerxes gave the commandment to rebuild “the holy city”—Jerusalem—to his cup-bearer Nehemiah, to the very day Jesus of Nazareth declared Himself “Messiah the Prince,” was, to the very day, 69 weeks of years (483 Hebrew years of 360 days per year) and thus exactly, to the day, 173,880 days. Again, this conclusion is amply proven in Anderson’s The Coming Prince. Therefore, the first 69 weeks of years have been literally fulfilled.
III. Daniel 9:26—Time Gap Between Completion of the 69th and the Beginning of the 70th Week of Years
A. With the first 69 Weeks (483 years) of Daniel’s Prophecy of 70 Weeks (490 years) now literally fulfilled, the Lord Jesus Christ (“Salvation”) having declared Himself to be “Messiah the Prince” in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9 on Palm Sunday, April 6, 32 AD, two specific events follow the conclusion of the 69th week (483 years). But these two events do not transpire within the 70th week of years. Again, if we read the prophecy literally and as written, these climatic two events do not and cannot have been fulfilled within the 70th week of years. These two events are:
1. The Death of Messiah. After the 69 weeks of years (483 years) have been fulfilled “shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself.” The Hebrew word translated “cut off” is “karath,” it meaning “to cut down to make a covenant.” Messiah was killed and by his death established a New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31). The Prophet Isaiah speaks in detail of this monumental event—the suffering of Messiah, “cut off out of the land of the living” (Isaiah 53:8). The Hebrew word translated “cut off” in this passage is “gazar” meaning to “cut off or cut down” without the meaning of establishing a covenant as is the case with “karath.” Thus, Messiah was cut off to establish the New Covenant, not for Himself, but for the benefit of his elect nation of Israel—yet to be brought under that New Covenant. The death of Messiah— “Salvation”/Joshua/Jesus—occurred four days after He fulfilled Zechariah 9:9, after the fulfillment of the first 69 weeks of years. Christ declared Himself to be Messiah on Sunday, April 6, 32 AD, and was crucified four days later on Thursday, April 10, 32 AD. According to Daniel 9:26, His crucifixion did not transpire during the 70th week of years of this prophecy. Therefore, the 70th week of years is yet future.
2. The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple. The destruction of “the holy city” (9:24) called “the city” (9:26), which city is Jerusalem, transpired 38 years and 5 months after Messiah was “cut off.” The Roman Legions of Roman General Titus, son of Roman Caesar Vespasian, sacked and destroyed Jerusalem in August, 70 AD after a four-month siege. The Second Temple was destroyed on August 10, (the 9th of the Hebrew month Av) the very same day Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, destroyed Solomon’s Temple in 586 BC. Both “the city” (Jerusalem) and “the sanctuary” (Second Temple) were destroyed 38 years after the death of Messiah. Both events occurred after the fulfillment of the 69th Week (483 years) of this prophecy; both events did not transpire during the 70th week of years of this prophecy.
B.
Therefore, there is a gap of time between the ending of the 69th Week of Years and the beginning of the 70th Week of Years. (Time Gaps are found between verses of Scripture in many prophetic passages. One such example is the Time Gap between Zechariah 9:9 and 9:10. Another example is within verse 2 of Isaiah 61 as read by Jesus the Christ when He read of Himself from verses 1 and 2, but stopped in the midst of verse 2, closed the scroll and sat down (Luke 4:16-21). Therefore, the 70th week of years is yet future.
IV. Daniel 9:27
A. The beginning of the yet future 70th Week of Years of the Prophet Daniel is marked by a specific and singular event. That event is the confirming or the strengthening of a specific international treaty relating to Jerusalem. That covenant will have been in existence, enacted by some world body, possibly the Pope’s United Nations. Apparently the treaty lacks force for its effectiveness, thus “the covenant with many [nations]” is confirmed for “one week” of years—seven years. The “prince” who confirms this covenant will be the final Roman Caesar/King of Rome, the Papal Roman Caesar—known today as the Pope of Rome. The people who destroyed the city and the sanctuary in 70 AD were Romans, thus the coming prince shall be Roman.
B. The 70th Week of Years is divided into two halves of equal duration. Both halves will be three and one-half years. In other places the first half is described as 1260 days (Revelation 11:3), while the second half is described as 42 months (Revelation 11:2; 13:5) or “a time (1), times (2) and an half (1/2)” (Daniel 7:25; 12:7) meaning three and one-half years. Three and one-half years is the exact same duration of time as 42 months and is primarily referring to the latter half of the 70th Week of Years. That latter half is called “great tribulation” by Christ in Matthew 24:21, and is called “the great tribulation” by the Prophet John in Revelation 7:14.
C. The event that separates the first half from the second half of the 70th Week of Years is one single and notable act of a man—the risen Pope turned Antichrist. That event is the breaking of the covenant (which appears to be an international peace treaty) by “the prince that shall come” of verse 26. That coming prince is the “he” of verse 27 who confirms the international covenant for Seven Years. This same “he” causes the sacrifices and oblations offered by the Levitical priests ministering in the Third Temple to cease in the midst of the Seven-year week. This same “he” is responsible for the placing of an idol of himself inside the Third Temple which is called “the abomination.” That same “he” who erects the idol of himself in the Third Temple desolates the Temple (Daniel 9:27; 12:11) and is therefore called “the desolate,” i.e., “the Desolator” (Daniel 9:27).
Notice the Popes use the Same “Votive Hand” Symbol as does “Baphomet.” Evidenced by Rome’s Latin words on the Man-Beast’s arms, the illustration foretells the coming of the last and final Pope of Rome. For the final Pope will be the “Seventh” Roman “King” of Revelation 17:10. He will be murdered (Revelation 17:11; 13:3, 12, 14) indicated by the Latin word “SOLVE” (lit., “dissolve”) written on the Man-Beast’s left arm. The murdered Papal Caesar/“Seventh” Roman “King” will be brought back to life (Revelation 17:11; 13:3, 12, 14) indicated by the Latin world “COAGULA” (lit., “change to another form”). The murdered Pope will then be the “Eighth” Roman “King”—the Antichrist/Man-Beast.
“As Above, So Below,” so state the Illuministic/Freemasonic/Egyptian worshippers of Baphomet. This maxim is illustrated by the arms of Baphomet, the left arm pointing “Above,” the right arm pointing “Below.” For as Satan is presently the invisible “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2) and “the god of this world” (II Corinthians 4:4), he will one future day be visibly worshipped as “God” (II Thessalonians 2:4) when he indwells the physical body of the Seventh Roman King (the murdered Pope) to be the Eighth Roman King—the Antichrist/Man-Beast.
V. Conclusion to Part 1 of 5
A. The Prophecy of the 70 Weeks of Years begins with commandment to build Jerusalem and ends with the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. He will fulfill all prophecy which includes the promises made to the fathers of the nation of Israel, the repentance and conversion of National Israel and the restoration of the Kingdom of David for 1000 years, thereby “sealing up the vision and prophecy.”
B. The commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem was given by King Artaxerxes I as recorded in Nehemiah 2:1-8. The date for the commandment is March 14, 445 BC.
C. The fulfillment of the first 69 Weeks of Years was the day when Messiah Jesus declared Himself to be the National Messiah of Israel in accordance with Zechariah 9:9. The date for that declaration of Jesus of Nazareth as “Messiah the Prince” was April 6, 32 AD.
D. Therefore, 69 Weeks of Years (483 years) of the Prophecy of the 70 Weeks of Years has been literally fulfilled—to the day.
E. Following the end of the 69 Weeks of Years (483 years) of the Prophecy of the 70 Weeks of Years, Messiah was killed and Jerusalem with its Temple was destroyed. These events occurred after the fulfilled 69 Weeks of Years and yet prior to the final 70th Week of Years of the prophecy of Daniel. Therefore there is a Time Gap between verses 25 and 27 of the prophecy. The Time Gap is fully described in verse 26.
F. The beginning of the 70th Week of Years transpires when a Roman Prince (the final Roman Papal Caesar as we shall discover hereafter in Parts 2-5) confirms a preexisting, international covenant for Seven Years. This is the one and only singular event that is to begin the countdown of the final Seven Years of the Prophecy of the 70 Weeks of Years. (The “appearing” of Christ for the dead and living bodies of his believers that collectively compose “the Body of Christ” has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the beginning of the 70th Week of Years.)
G. When the first half—1260 days—of the 70th Week of Years has elapsed, the Roman Prince that confirmed the preexisting, international covenant for Seven Years (the final Roman Papal Caesar who, a few days prior to Mid-Week, will have been murdered and risen from the dead to be the Man-Beast/the Antichrist) will then break that covenant, cause the Temple sacrifices to cease and will erect a statue of himself—”the abomination“—inside the Third Temple making the Temple of God “desolate” or unclean.
H. This Roman Gentile “Prince that shall come” will rule the world for three and one-half years, “a time, times and an half” (Daniel 12:7), and “shall be broken without hand” (Daniel 8:25), for “he shall come to his end, and none shall help him” (Daniel 11:45).
End of Part 1 of 5