Text
Daniel 9:25
“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.”
God and Almost, Do Not Go Together
The prophecy we are addressing is one of the most amazing prophecies that I’ve ever seen in God’s word in that it specifically tells of the very day that the Messiah would present Himself to Israel as their Redeemer, which Jesus fulfilled on the 10th of Nicaea in the year 32, when He OPENLY PRESENTED Himself as the Messiah, four days before His crucifixion, which we call the Triumphant Entry.
Faith Comes through Examining God’s Word
Whereas this prophecy is an amazing undertaking yet made available because of the detailed and hard work of one particular individual, Sir Robert Anderson (est. 1899 AD), who believed that God’s word was to be taken literally, wherein by examining God’s word in great detail, the fruit of which would be faith.
Biblical Faith
Faith is found in God’s word because of the consistency of witnessing miracle after miracle (unexplained occurrences which go far beyond mere suggestion due to the exactness of details given) exhibited in God’s word, with the end result being an understanding that truly this book could not have been authored by man, but must have been authored by HIM who has seen, or better stated: “declared the ending from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10) – God Himself, wherein this book, the Bible deserves our greatest attention as God’s revelation to man. Biblical faith is to be primarily based upon an interaction with God’s word, as is declared in Romans 10:17, which states:
“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God“
The Source of Biblical Faith
Biblical faith is created and grown wherein as a person reads the Bible, and the Holy Spirit opens their spiritual eyes to perceive that which is laid out, it is a logical reasonable process of coming to the conclusion that this book could not have been written by mortal man (2 Timothy 3:16), because:
1) There are prophecies given in Old Testament, that are fulfilled in the New Testament.
2) There are prophecies given within the Bible as a whole, which are fulfilled since it’s closing.
3) There are scientific and natural insights presented in the Bible, which were once considered completely false; in time, science has caught up with the Bible proving that it was correct in the first place, and that it is beyond human insight.
4) There is deep wisdom that is written between its pages, which are far beyond the capacity of a human being to create.
5) There are internal evidences found in the Bible when it is crossed-referenced within itself in such a way that it is obvious that 40 different men could not have utilized the exact same type of “Figures of Speech,” including: typology, such as seen in metaphor, similes, models; along with prophetic symbols as seen in even the use of numbers, colors, events, material and substances, dates, mathematics, names, roles, and even people’s personality and lives; all done to portray “shadows” of things to come (Colo. 2:16-17; Heb. 8:2-5; Heb. 10:1-7) rather in heaven, or in the particular case of Jesus, the fulfillment of the Messiah; as witnessed in His First and Second coming – as well as Last Days events – all done in such a way that the only explanation is that God orchestrated the creation of this Book – The Holy Bible – as it is “The Word of God.”
All leading to the conclusion that this book was not written by man, but by a God that is outside of our time domain, who can see the ending from the beginning (Isaiah 46:9-10); who is all-powerful, and in total control of His creation (Isaiah 45:5-7), and therefore this Book is worthy of our complete trust and faith in what it says, as God declared concerning what He has done, and will do still yet (Isaiah 46; Jeremiah 29:11).
Sir Robert Anderson’s Work
In 1899, 116 years ago, Sir Robert Anderson published the book: “The Coming Prince,” (It was republished in 1957, and is in current publication and can be purchased at any Christian book store), which deals with the 70 weeks of Daniel regarding Daniel chapter 9, verses 24 through 27 wherein we see an alignment with the book of Revelation which is far beyond coincidence, and addresses the issue we are dealing with today, the First Coming of Jesus Christ.
Sir Robert Anderson was a attorney at law (barrister), the chief of criminal investigations for Scotland Yard, second Assistant Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police department and was knighted by Queen Victoria for his service to the crown. Sir Anderson was a lifelong believer and preacher of the gospel, as well as a theologian and author a biblical studies who was friends with Cyrus Scofield, John Nelson Darby, James Martin Gray, A. C. Dixon, Horatius Bonar, E. W. Bullinger, and Charles Haddon Spurgeon who stated that Sir Robert’s book on human destiny “was a most valuable contribution on the subject you’d ever encountered.”
However, it is this book “The Coming Prince,” among 2 dozen others which we as believers are indebted to this man for his diligence in approaching and handling of God’s word.
A Numeric Prophecy
This verse gives a prophecy in the form of utilizing the specific date the Messiah would present Himself in a numeric formula utilizing a benchmark in time which is known by both secular historians, as well as Christians; the order to rebuild Jerusalem.
The first question is who would give such as an order, the obvious answer is a King. But what King? History presents that there were 4 orders given by Kings of foreign nations, which had captured the inhabitants of Israel, wherein later gave decrees to rebuild Jerusalem in some manner.
However, the below prophecy refers to a decree that is given which is very specific in that it mandates that the walls are to be rebuilt, as well as the streets.
Daniel Chapter 9
Verses 24 to 27 state:
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 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 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 shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he 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.” (Daniel 9:24-27)
These four verses have filled more volumes in the last hundred years regarding the subject of prophecy, than probably any other section of Scripture.
And as stated above, we are only going to directly address verse 25, as time does not allowed to accurately handle all four verses, we shall also attempt to lightly touch upon other aspects of these prophecies.
Verse 24 – The Scope of These 4 Versus
The scope of this introductory verse regarding this passage of prophecy involves an announcement of time which is distinguished as 70 weeks. And as we will later explore, this handling of the word “weeks” is never meant to indicate exclusively 7 days, as in 24 hour days; Yet in this case is handled as weeks of years, wherein 70 weeks of years, which would translate into 70 periods of 7 years each would total 490 years.
Therefore the totality of the scope of this prophecy, 490 years is determined in regards to the Jewish people and upon Jerusalem their holy city; with verse 25 giving us the starting point of this period of time, wherein the order to rebuild Jerusalem, including the streets and the walls of the city.
Yet what is not stated, but directly inferred is that there is a parenthesis between the 69th week, or 483 years, and the final 7 year period, which we believe is also referenced as the great tribulation referred to in the book of Revelation, when referring to the Prince of the people that shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The people that destroyed the city and the sanctuary where the Romans, which has given the insight that the Antichrist who shall be there Prince hundreds of years later, comes out of the Roman empire which at its greatest point expanded from Great Britain, Europe, Asia minor, Egypt, and North Africa.
Yet as verse 24 states, the scope of this for verse passage covers 6 distinct areas:
- 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.
Certain of these conditions are met at the crucifixion which would include a reconciliation of iniquity, with the seal up the vision and prophecy being fulfilled in the late 18 hundreds wherein the understanding of the full meaning of this section of prophecy became known.
Verse 25 – A Command to Investigate the Meaning of this Prophecy
First we need to realize that within this verse there is an admonition, a command to “know therefore and understand.”
We are not to simply walk past this passage because it seems to mysterious to unfold. It is God who has mandated that at some point in history, an understanding of this passage would be undertaken because somebody would obey His command to “know therefore and understand,” meaning that someone had to work out the puzzle, and uncover the truth of this text.
They would not only need to know this text, but to understand, what it meant.
Verse 25 specifically foretell the precise date when the Messiah would be presented to Israel, Daniel 9:25 states:
“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.”
A Numeric Prophecy
This verse gives a prophecy in the form of utilizing the specific date the Messiah would present Himself in a numeric formula utilizing a benchmark in time which is known by both secular historians, as well as Christians; the order to rebuild Jerusalem.
As stated above, the first question is who would give such as an order, the obvious answer is a King. But what King? History presents that there were 4 orders given by Kings of foreign nations, which had captured the inhabitants of Israel, wherein later gave decrees to rebuild Jerusalem in some manner.
However, the above prophecy refers to a decree that is given which is very specific in that it mandates that the walls are to be rebuilt, as well as the streets.
Understanding the Basis of Meaning – The Word “Weeks”
Sir Robert Anderson, in his studies came to understood that the term in the English translation of the Bible, “weeks” did not simply means 7 days as we currently understand it in our English, but was a term that God utilized concerning the number 7; as in 7 weeks, 7 months, and 7 years; indicating that the true interpretation of this word, “weeks” is the word “seven” as opposed to our English understanding as a week being 7 days only.
YOU MAY ENLARGE ANY OF THE DIAGRAMS BY CLICKING ON THEM
Understanding the Basis of Meaning – 360 Day Years
In his research, Sir Robert Anderson also found where the Bible referred to a year as 360 days, because there were twelve months determined in a year, and each month was thirty days long. This was determined by cross-referencing certain passages, such as: Genesis 7:24 with Genesis 7:11 with Genesis 8:3-4.
Let Me Illustrate – Example 1
Genesis 7:24 ~ States that the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.
Genesis 7:11 ~ States that this process started in the second month, on the seventeenth day with all of the fountains of the great deep breaking up and that windows in heaven open to deliver water and rain upon the earth.
Genesis 8:3 ~ States that after a hundred and fifty days the waters abated, with verse four stating that the Ark rested in the seven month and the seventeenth day of that month (Where some may quibble with the Hebrew translation, as the Hebrew is a more vague language; however, according to the exactness of the Greek Language, as seen in the Greek Septuagint Translation of the Old Testament, which Jesus validated Himself as He quoted from it, wherein the fourth verse states that precisely 5 months after the time of the flood, the ark rested, with verse 3 identifying this as exactly 150 days; mandating a 30 day month).
What this is indicating, is that there was five months between the second month and the seventh month which repeatedly is stated as a hundred and fifty days (Genesis 7:24; 8:3) which mandates that each month was thirty days long.
Let Me Illustrate – Example 2
Revelation 11:2-3 states:
“But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.” (KJV)
Both of these verses, verse 2 and verse 3 refer to the same span of time. Verse two indicates that this time period is 42 months, which if each month is 30 days long would be a total of 1260 days, which is what verse three indicates concerning the same span of time.
God Don’t Make Junk
I was always to bugged by the idea that God who is perfect, and never creates junk; could create a world with a wobble, wherein the wobble is a sign of imperfection, and is inconsistent in its orbit.
With the results manifest that within our calendar year, in order to make up for the wobble we utilize a leap year every 4 years to correct for the 5 and a quarter days inconsistency, yet the math never seem to really work out – did something happen to the earth to throw it off its axis after God’s perfect creation – with the results of this anomaly concerning our calendar?
The Original Hebrew Calendar
It also amazes me that the Jews originally had a calendar system of 30 days per month, and 12 months per year; which comes out to 360 days a year – the perfect number of a circle, referred to as pi which is a mathematical constant; hence 360 degrees of a circle.
In the Hebrew language there is also a pun concerning the words “circle” and “Earth,” wherein there is a direct connection between 360 degrees and the Earth – yet how did we get 5 and a quarter days off, was it because of the wobble (At some future date we will address the long day of Joshua ~ Joshua 10:12,13, which states: “Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.” Wherein the sun appeared to be frozen in time, yet this would be the appearance if time was extended, however God did this, would He not do something physical which would produce the event recorded in the book of Joshua?), and why is North, no longer North?
Why?
Whatever changed the orbit of the Earth and created a wobble, whatever change the calendar system from 360 days to 365 and a quarter days, whatever changed the consistency of a 30 day month wherein the Hebrews knew exactly the location of the moon during this 30 days, whatever attributed to this change we do not know, we are just left with the fact that something occurred!
Outside Evidence of Cultures with 360 Day Year Calendars
Sir Robert Anderson began a diligent study after uncovering these Scriptures and attempting to answer some of these questions wherein he discovered, and documented that there are 18 separate calendars from independent cultures and races which also validated a 360 day year prior to 700 BC.
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Investigation of Daniel 9 – “Cut Off”
While it appears ambiguous in the English translation of the Old Testament Hebrew, the word translated into the English,”cut off” in verse 26 is a term in the Hebrew which means: “to be executed for a capital offense,” wherein verse 26 states “and after threescore in two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself”
This is exactly what happened to Jesus who was executed; accused of blasphemy by claiming to be God and as far as the Jews were concerned, yet causing’s sedition as far as a Romans was concerned, yet dying for the sins of others as far as God was concerned.
Investigation of Daniel 9 – “Destruction of Jerusalem”
Verse 26 also foretells of the destruction of Jerusalem, which occurred 38 years after Christ crucifixion, in 70 A.D., when it states: “people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.”
We will pause for a minute and consider the destruction of Jerusalem little further before getting back to the passage at hand.
Concerning the destruction of the sanctuary, meaning the temple in Jerusalem; it is interesting to consider Jesus prophecy as stated in Matthew 24:1-2, which states:
“And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
Recapping the situation, the disciples were bragging about the temple and Jesus prophesied that not one stone would be left upon another, which is where Jesus is speaking about the destruction of Jerusalem.
First we must realize that this situation in Matthew chapter 24 is also recorded Luke chapter 21.
SIDENOTE: Biblical Context – When studying God’s word we must realize that a vital and necessary tool is that of cross-referencing any passage regarding the same event or situation with other biblical passages in order to gain a complete understanding of what is going on and being said. Many teachers speak of the primacy of “Immediate Context,” many times simply referring to it as “the context” of a passage, in a singular manner (I am not speaking about a hermeneutical system, which is actually incorrect to begin with; as contrast, while a tool within hermeneutics or principle, within schools of philosophy it is not considered a system all in itself); yet this is fully incomplete. While the immediate context is always necessary in order to understand what the text is saying, if you do not take into consideration the biblical context as a whole, you may error as much as avoiding the immediate context in the first place.
Example: In Matthew chapter 17 Jesus deals with an individual that was possessed by a demon, wherein the disciples could not cast out the demon, Jesus stated in verse 20: “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Now if you are a Jesus only person, a individual that is supposedly a Christian that only uses their Gospels as God’s word, and you take this within the immediate context; you can say that literally anything you want God must grant to you – hence the abuse of this passage by the “name it and claim it” crowd.
However, if you utilize “Biblical Context” you will also find that it is written in 1 John 513-14, which states: “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.” But if maintain biblical context by cross-referencing God’s word with God’s word concerning the act of prayer wherein there is petition, we find that there is a condition to receiving what we would seek of God, wherein “if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.” It is because of mistakes by only presenting the immediate context at the expense of the rest of God’s word that whole denominations err from the truth of what is presented within the Bible.
Scriptural Reference: One such reference is Acts 20:27, Paul speaking in his farewell address to the church of Ephesus stated: “For I did not keep back from declaring to you all the counsel of God (literal Greek), which is understood to mean everything that God had revealed in the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, as well as what the Holy Spirit had revealed to Paul (1 Corinthians 2:13; 14:37; 2 Corinthians 5:19-20; 1 Thessalonians 2:4, 13; 2 Thessalonians 2:14-15; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Peter 3:1-2, 15-16) and within his letters to the church, as well as his preaching which included what we refer to as the epistles in the New Testament – “all the counsel of God” is a reference to what we would refer to as God’s Holy Word, the Bible.
I started with the Matthew passage as a teaching tool to display why we need to use God’s whole word, cross referencing in order to gain a complete resolution of what God wants us to understand. It is not 66 books with 40 authors, it is one book with one Author
What we do not understand when only looking at the Matthew passage, is the whole context of this conversation is not seen in the book of Matthew alone, but must be crossed reference with Luke chapter 21 as well to view the complete context of this situation
Luke 21:5-24, states:
“And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? [here we see the 3 questions: 1) “when she all these things be” – when will the temple be destroyed, 2) “what will be the what sign will there be] And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony.
Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. But there shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls. And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
Wherein the rest of this passage starting from verse 4 on is an answer to their first question which was recorded in Luke 21:20-40, which included the sign of Christ return.
Here in Matthew 24 we see the same event without the previous question wherein Christ answers 3 questions at once, concerning when the temple would be destroyed, what would be the sign of his coming, and the sign of the end of the ages. This is why Matthew seems confusing because we don’t understand the answers that Jesus is giving not having seen the question. Yet if we turn to the Luke 21 passage, found in verses 20-24 we see there is a context as it specifically refers to the destruction of Jerusalem when it states:
“And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
38 Years
Interestingly, the same amount of time from when the Israelites were cursed by God to die in the desert after the golden calf incident, 38 years to fulfill God’s judgment against that generation; for them to die off and their children to enter the promised land. Regarding this event we should remember that it was there murmuring that displeased God the most.
Murmuring is display of a complete lack of faith.
It is to make verbal an accusation against God.
They even went so far as to accuse God concerning their children dying in the desert. Yet it was they who died because of their complete lack of faith and trust in God.
It was they who did not enter the promised land except for the two individuals, Joshua and Caleb Who displayed faith in God.
Daniel 9:25, states:
“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.”
The Benchmark
The benchmark / starting point for the beginning of this prophecy is when the “command to restore and to build Jerusalem.”
We will see below that there was only one order given that included this specificity, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me start by presenting the work of a man who over 114 years ago deciphered this amazing prophecy.
Now we understand that there were 3 foreign Kings that gave dictates to rebuild part of Jerusalem, yet the last of these 3 kings, King Artaxerxes gave not one, but two degrees to rebuild Jerusalem, and it is this last degree which actually was an order to rebuild the streets and the walls, which is an order that precisely meets the prophecy in rebuilding the city proper, which is what the Hebrew indicates.
So now we have a starting point of this prophecy.
The Math
Verse 25 states: “… commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks,” concerning the time-table in order to figure out the map this prophecy.
This phrasing: “unto the Messiah” is saying unto the presentation as Messiah – it would be similar to using the word “manifestation” of the Messiah.
We know that a score is 20, hence 3 score is 60, and 7 weeks and addition to 2 more weeks adds up to 69 weeks. There is a reason for the numbering to be broken down as it is, this would coincide with the rebuilding of the Temple (but this is an issue for another post regarding the Temple and all the prophecies referring to it in regard to Israel). So the question at this point is how long are these weeks (or sevens); are they 7 days, 7 weeks, 7 months, or 7 year periods of time.
If they are years (which logically would make sense concerning to all the other prophecies in Daniel, the weeks referred to are years, and not 7 day weeks, or 7 months of months); this would be 69 x 7 year periods; which would total 490 years.
And if it is true that God, according to Genesis and Revelation; marks time in the same way that He originally marked time in the creation of the earth (when it was perfect), according to 360 days per year; the easiest way to determine how long these 490 years would be according to God’s math of 360-day years, would be to multiply 69 times 7 years, times 360 day years, which would be 173,880 days from when the order to rebuild the city Jerusalem until the presentation of the Messiah.
Isn’t it amazing that God uses numbers, which cannot be manipulated the same as words can sometimes; and whereas numbers can be used to figure a calculation in working out an exact conclusion in time in order to figure out when the Messiah would be revealed.
It would be one thing to say that God created the earth without a wobble, with 360 days in its rotation; hence a 360 day year; but because of sin the rotation changed, and therefore the calculations would have to be according to the current rotation of 365 days because sin has changed things.
However, the point of this prophecy is that God makes the rules, He defines what calendar system He uses as seen in His use of the same 360 day year in the book of Revelation, as well as in the beginning – in the book of Genesis.
This prophecy is from God’s perceptive, not our sinful one; but His perfect one. And God in His foresight made sure to record in the book of Revelation that He continues to determine time on earth at 360 day per year – though sin has changed time for man, it has not changed it according to God and His prophecy to man.
173,880 Days!
Therefore, 173,880 is the number of days of when the Messiah would declare himself, so by adding 173,880 days from when the order was given to rebuild Jerusalem (not just the Temple, as in the other decrees from the other 3 kings; but the city proper), the complete city which occurred and was recorded according to secular history (this is a historical fact which cannot be disputed according to secular history – how amazing that God would use a benchmark that cannot be disputed, but is actually validated by unbelieving man in his record of history ) on March 14, in the year 445 BC – this would come to the 10th of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar (April 6th), in the year 32 A.D.
But now we have a new problem, because we don’t know exactly when Jesus was born; and therefore do not know when He was crucified, and how it might coincide with this date of April 6th in the year 32 AD; and when did Jesus declare Himself – make Himself manifest – we don’t know for sure when any of this occurred, or do we.
Boy, I love how God is always thoroughly complete, anticipating anything that we might run into in order to address it in advance in His Word – so hold onto your seats for the following teaching, which is actually been around for over 100 years.
This is my chart, and I give permission for anyone to copy it.
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When Was Jesus Born and When Did He Die
This has been one of the most pertinent questions for the last 2000 years. Over 20 years I had this question answered for me from God’s Word.
(SIDENOTE: And I pose a question yet again, how many of you have heard this teaching before. The reason I keep making the point that some of these teachings which were previously unknown to you can be explained from God’s Word, is because someone put in the arduous and laborious work to address complicated issues in order to commit themselves to the understanding and teaching of God’s Word. And this is what the church is all about first and most – training of the saints [Ephesians 4:11-12] to do the work of the ministry – this is done by teaching the Word of God as its primary function. When the church first began, its power and potency was because of this, as seen in Acts 6:1-2 – which displays the mindset of the leadership when it came to dealing with pragmatic problems – the Word of God was always first, not the needs of the people. God will take care of the people, but the people need to put God first by putting His word first as this text communicates.
“And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.” (Acts 6:1-2)
“KISS” [“keep it simple stupid”], is not the catch phrase for a Christian – “KIITW” [“keep it in the Word”] is).
When was Jesus born – according to Scripture it was 1 BC – Say what? Let us start off with Luke 3:1, which states:
“Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.” (Luke 3:1-2)
Verse 32 of Luke chapter 3, is where Jesus starts His ministry. Verse 33 states He was 30 years old, which is in accordance with the Torah in that a man had to be 30 years old to be a priest and begin his fulltime public service to God.
(SIDENOTE: the reason I listed verse 2, when verse 1 is the only verse we will address, is because there are 9 people listed that can be cross-referenced in order to better pinpoint the time when this verse occurred – and this would be a good study all on its own. The reason why the Scripture states that Annas and Caiaphas [either one serving as the deputy – The “cohen mishneh” or “sagan cohanim”] were “High Priests,” indicating two high priests when according to the Torah there was only one high priest at a time, is because when the Romans took over authority of the temple, Annas was the high priest. But the Romans understanding that he would not submit to Rome, took him out of office, and placed his son-in-law Caiaphas as high priest because he was less of a threat. So when the Sanhedrin met, though Caiaphas was considered the high priest according to secular authority, Annas stood next to him giving him Levitical sanction [as he was the prior anointed priest] – wherein both were considered the high priests by the people. This becomes important because it was documented due to its irregularity in secular history which would help date Christ’s birth. Also, this passage indicates when the father of John the Baptist, Zacharias [who was a priest of the order of “Abia”]; was serving one of the 24 times of service as a Levite within the Temple. David had orchestrated that there were 24 times of service, two-week periods of time that members of the different tribes of Levites would serve in the Temple. This further indicates when Jesus was born, as these times of service were recorded and according to the prophecies given to Zacharias, and when he completed his service, in light of the birth of John the Baptist as it relates to the birth of Jesus, there is yet further proof of Christ birth date. Within these 2 verses, 9 men’s names are referenced, which can all be cross-referenced and help to validate the birth of Christ. However, the simplest way to do it is utilizing Verse 1 concerning the rule of Tiberius Caesar – which I will list below. I’m not can it get too far into the weeds concerning this, anyone desiring further information please e-mail me. There are many proofs concerning the Time of Christ birth, such as the shepherds tending their sheep in the country side – this only occurred in September to October, due to the temperature, ext. )
Tiberius Caesar
We know from secular history that Tiberius took the throne in the year 14 A.D., at the end of August after the death of Augustus. Therefore, since Tiberius came to the throne in the year 14 A.D. and this passage occurred (during) 15 years later, we now understand that Jesus ministry which this passage records in verse 32; started in the fall of the year 28 A.D.
We know from the Gospels that Jesus was crucified on the fourth Passover after this date; which would mean that Jesus was crucified on April 10, in the year 32. And since Jesus was crucified when He was 33 and half years old, He would’ve been born in the year 1 BC.
However, what is important concerning this prophecy is not when Jesus was born, but how His life relates to the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy indicating when the Messiah would declare himself on April.
Because a picture can be worth a 1000 words, the following diagrams were created by Chuck Missler of Koinonia House, and are presented here in order to more easily present this complicated subject. These are presented under the conditions of the “fair use” doctrine.
Click to Enlarge
Now, back to the prophecy of Daniel in the calculations. If you added 173,880 days to March 14, in the year 445 BC – this would come to 10th of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar (April 6th), in the year 32 A.D. – what happened on this date in history.
The Triumphal Entry
On the 10th of Nisan (April 6th) on the Hebrew calendar; Jesus did something that He had never done before, He accepted worship – no, He orchestrated to be worshiped2 This was the one and only day that the Jesus presented Himself to Israel by fulfilling prophecy (such as riding an un-ridden colt ~ Zech. 9:9), this is when Jesus declared Himself openly to all of Israel, including the leaders, not just to individuals or small groups, but to the nation as the Messiah.
On many occasions, Jesus declared Himself to be “the son of man” (a synonym with prophetic meaning ~ John 3:14. Matt. 8:20; 9:6; 10:23; 11:19; 12:8,32,40; to name a few), as well as “the Son God” (Matt. 27:43; Luke 22:70; John 3:18; 5:25; 9:35; 10:36; 11:4), yet concerning His anointing as the Messiah of God concerning the nation of Israel, wherein did He openly declare this to the world – nowhere until this day – this is the one and only day that He did so, openly.
You see Jesus entered Jerusalem 4 days before Passover, at the very time that the Israelites were mandated to present a lamb for the sacrifice of the sins of their own family – what a coincidence, “The lamb of God” as John the Baptist referred to in presenting Jesus (John 1:29, 36) – Now presented to the religious leaders, as well as the population at large. There were more people in Jerusalem on this date than any other time during the year because of the 7 feast of Israel, 3 were mandated to be attended, with this being the holiest day of the year – where all required to attend.
Jesus entered on the very road that was prophesied that the Messiah would enter on, the people were singing the “Hallel” Psalm (Psalm 118), the very psalm that the people would sing as the Messiah was entering the city, which is why the religious leaders told Jesus to have the people stop singing this song (Luke 19:39), they understood that the people were declaring Jesus to be the Messiah by singing this song concerning Jesus as He entered the city of Jerusalem. And what was Jesus response, that if the people did not declare Him to be the Messiah; that the rocks that God Himself made would spring forth to make this declaration.
The people were fulfilling the requirement to lay out palm branches for the King, another literal fulfillment concerning the Messiah as he entered Jerusalem on the day of His dedication to the world.
I used to read with great curiosity all the times that Jesus refused to declare Himself openly, of when the people would attempt to force Him to present himself as the King, where He would sneak away – now I know why, His time was not come.
And speaking of this, remember the comment that Jesus made to Mary when He first started His ministry, at the first miracle that He conducted at the marriage feast in Cana; where his mother asked Him to do something (supernatural) concerning the lack of wine (John 2:3-4), and Jesus response was: “Mine has not come” – this passage always struck me as funny, when teachers would explain that Jesus was referring to His death and resurrection; yet it makes more sense if you understand that what He was stating was “I am not making a public announcement concerning my anointing,” by doing a public miracle, yet He does so discreetly; displaying honor to His mother, while also fulfilling prophecy of His first miracle – yet not done so openly as to be understood to be a divine miracle performed by the hands of Jesus as the Messiah.
There are so many things that Jesus did that made no sense until you understand that Jesus could not present Himself as the Messiah until the very day that the lamb was to be presented to the priest for Passover, 4 days before His death as a “Lamb of God,” who would die for the sins of the world.
What’s funny, is that when Jesus tells his disciples to go get the colt at a certain location, what is not obvious in the English, but is in the Greek is that He tells them to use a particular phrase wherein the inhabitants would understand its meaning. They just didn’t go down some street and pick up some animal, this was pre-arranged by Jesus himself. We must understand that: “one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled”3, was literal in every sense of the statement.
With Responsibility Comes Accountability
One of the passages that never made sense to me, now make sense – Luke 19:42 &44 (19:35-44 is presented to maintain context)
“And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon. And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way. And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.”
What is not obvious in the English, but is in the Greek is that the phrase: “If thou hadst known,” which is NOT a reference to something NOT known before, but something that was unacknowledged, but was apparent – something that was refused to be acknowledged.
And this phrase: “at least in this thy day,” is a reference to a particular day as noted by the use of the article, which concerned this people in particular. In the expression: “the things which belong unto thy peace,” is better translated “the thing that would grant you peace;” which did not occur because they were held accountable for not acknowledging their Messiah on this very day.
38 years later Jerusalem would be destroyed, and they would be scattered among the nation for 2000 years because of them refusing to acknowledge their Messiah on this particular day – would a righteous God hold these people accountable for what they could not see, or rather what they refused to admit (the church fathers record that the Holy Spirit, through prophecy had forewarned the Christians prior to the Roman General Titus encamping around the city, and that not one Christian was among those that starved to death, killed, or were taken prisoner – the believer’s understood the day of their visitation and they were not under the wrath of God, only the Jews who refused to accept Jesus as the Messiah. We must understand that when Anna and Simeon; perceived that it was time for the Messiah this was a common perception then. Even Harrod’s religious leaders were aware that the Messiah should come at any time – how were they aware of this? Sir Robert Anderson did not discover this originally, he only rediscovered it – the Jews knew this long ago – as the Jews at Jesus time understood it was the time that their Messiah would come soon. This is why when Jesus was a young boy, age 7, the Romans, who had already captured Judea in 63 BC, took away the ability to self-rule of the Jews by taking away the ability to perform capital punishment [which is why the Romans had to crucify Jesus, rather than the Jews following the mandate of “The Law” by stoning Jesus]; Rabbinical leaders put on sackcloth and ashes, walking through the city of Jerusalem wailing and saying: “God’s Word had been broken,” because the Messiah had not come forth – that Genesis 49:10 “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be,” had been broken – that the “sceptre” – which is the right to rule was taken away and “Shiloh” had not come. “Shiloh” was another term for the Messiah – however, they did not know that there was a young boy in a carpenter’s shop, Jesus who was on the scene, that He was “Shiloh” ~ alive in Israel – that He had fulfilled Genesis 49:10 by “until Shiloh come“- that He had been given the right to rule Israel by God at His birth – the “sceptre” belonged to Jesus, the Romans were not the rulers of Israel – God was in control – He, God would take the life of His Son [Jesus laid down His life ~ John 10:17-18; but also the Father gave His Son ~ John 3:16; Romans 5:8 – God was always in control, which is why we can trust Him – have faith in Him because He has the ability to control everything, and does His good Will] who would literally fulfill the prophecy of the Messiah, presenting Himself to Israel openly when He did so while entering Jerusalem 21 years later).
Jesus holds them – the Jews accountable to have known that this was their day, the day that the prophets had spoken of, the day the Messiah would come forth – present Himself – that would have brought them peace, forever. Instead they rejected and killed Him, only to have three legions from the Roman army destroy the Temple and the city thirty 38 years later as Christ had foretold in Matthew 24.
The passage states,
“… His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:1-2)
Titus, the Roman General gave orders to not destroy the Temple, so as to save the gold. However, a solider inadvertently caught the Temple on fire, with all the gold melting into the cracks in the floor. Titus had every stone of the Temple un-dug to retrieve the gold, thus totally fulfilling Christ prophecy.
Why would someone go to all expense and labor to tear up every stone of the Temple, not leaving one upon another – this prophecy of Jesus’ seemed ridiculous? Yet, in understanding that in order to retrieve the melted gold this was necessary, it all makes sense. This is one of the ways God’s Word proves itself, in making sense out of nonsense – thus building faith in the process.
You see this is why the prophecy in Daniel is so important – is because God always makes sense of nonsense, He makes clear what seems uncertain and unclear. He goes so far as to even tell us the very day that His Deliverer, His only begotten Son, the Anointed “Goel” – “Kinsman-Redeemer,” would come forth and present Himself to the world. That even though His own would reject Him, this would open the door so that God could bring redemption to the whole world, yet through the Jew.
To conclude, I will present the last 3 verses of Daniel with bracketed inserts for the sake of clarity. I have merely addressed only a portion of this prophecy which dealt primarily with the presentation of the Messiah, however there is so much more here. I will also attach a few different diagrams for further consideration.
These are meant to be a starting point for doing your own investigation, yet anyone seeking more information need to simply e-mail me with your questions or requests.
A break down of Daniel 9:24-27:
Daniel 9:24-27 states:
Verse 24, “Seventy weeks are determined for your people [Jews] and for your holy city [Jerusalem], to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy [Jesus’ second coming].”
Verse 25, “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem [445 B.C., the third command which was to rebuild the city and its walls] until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks [of years] and sixty-two weeks [69 weeks of years = 173,880 days]; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.”
Verse 26, “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off [Cutoff = “killed for a capital offense”], but not for Himself [For the sins of the world]; and the people [Romans] of the prince [Antichrist] who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.”
Verse 27, “Then he [little he, the Antichrist] shall confirm a covenant with many for one week [Seven years]; but in the middle of the week [three and a half years] He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering [The rebuilt Temple]. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate [“Abomination to make desolate” was done already once in 170 B.C. by sacrificing a pig on the Alter and will done by the Antichrist half way during his peace treaty], even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.”
The following diagram may help concerning this last verse above regarding the last days timeline.
Click to Enlarge
Endnotes
1. Context ~ Immediate & Biblical
The problem of contextual abuse has two different forms, where context is meant to be maintained, and integrity should be preserved, that of:
1) The “Immediate Context” which has to do with the text surrounding the passage.
2) The “Biblical Context,” sometimes referred to as the “Doctrinal Context” which has to do with the complete word of God.
Ingenious Design
God has so ingeniously designed His Word that there is not simply a chapter that deals with one doctrine, then another chapter that deals with yet another doctrine; or where a particular subject is organized in a particular area of the Bible, in a particular book.
If this was the case, then editing any subject out of the Bible would be easy; however, this is quite the opposite from God’s design. God has distributed text concerning any specific doctrine over the whole spectrum of the Bible so that if any book is removed from the Bible, the Bible still addresses any doctrines taught in that specific book, in yet another book.
There are passages and chapters which appear to be the masterpiece (Magnum opus) on any subject, such as 1 Corinthians 13 being the “love chapter”, or Hebrews Chapter 11 being the “heroes of faith” chapter. However, these are not the only passages which thoroughly address these subjects; God has interwoven the subject of love and faith through all of His Word.
God interweaves all of these different doctrines thoroughly through His Word, both in the Old Testament and the New Testaments, as Isaiah 28:10 states how doctrine is taught in God’s Word:
“For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little”
Many times understanding an issue that seems somewhat vague is made clear according to other passages in the Bible on that same subject, which mandates cross-referencing any doctrine or issue in the Bible to gain the widest perspective; therefore, the most intrinsic details God wishes to communicate in His Word are never lost due to deleting or maliciously editing certain books.
The question of context has always been difficult to address due to a couple of reasons. For one, addressing a singular topic within a passage by isolating it from the rest of the passage is common, and while appearing to address the plain text in order to be time sensitive concerning the amount of time allowed during a teaching session; it is sometimes it is not an obvious connection that a text has with previous or following text that becomes a casualty of brevity.
Also, it is in consideration of the following points that we must keep in mind when maintaining the integrity of meaning, wherein:
“the veracity of the text is preserved according to the context, in order to avoid pretext.”
1) Immediate Context~ As stated, isolating a portion of a verse from the context of the whole passage may render it more easily misused or abused in situations or events unrelated or outside of the intended immediate context for which the passage was initially meant. When a single verse is isolated from a paragraph addressing a specific subject or the chapter it is a part of, rather there is an obvious connection or not.
It must be remembered there is a reason that the Holy Spirit connects verses (and sets the chronology of), issues, doctrines, and even “trains of thought” within God’s Word, and taking a verse out of context may disturb the purpose the Holy Spirit intended.
2) Biblical Context~ Also as stated above, there is the concern of Biblical context, which deals with the congruence of a passage when isolated from the rest of the Bible and presented singularly, when God meant for it to be connected to other passages on the same subject. The following must be taken into account concerning the Bible as a whole document, as opposed to individual books.
A) Consistency~ From man’s point of view these 66 books were written independently, yet from God’s perspective all 66 books are one complete message from Him; this is one of the internal proofs of the divine origin of the Bible(and should be a reason for building our faith according to Rom. 10:17; 1 Pet. 1:23), as God and God alone is the only one that could present a consistent message without contradiction through 40 different writers from many diverse occupations and backgrounds, written from 3 different continents (in 3 languages, mainly Hebrew and Greek, with some Aramaic), over almost 1700 years.
B) Application ~ This is why each text of Scripture must agree with every other text of Scripture on the same subject if it is to be understood correctly, because if there seems to be a contradiction, then this implies that either the two text are dealing with different subjects (meaning we must have an apples and oranges situation), or there is a diverse application to one of the texts. Application makes an immense difference.
Example: If you are dealing with the phrase, “the faith” within the Bible, you have a few different applications, which would change what this phrase was referring too.
In dealing with the noun form of the word “faith,” wherein when the definite article “the” is used, the application of the word “faith” has to do with “Christianity as a religious system” or “teaching.”
As opposed to the noun form of the word “faith” in which there is no definite article, which be referring to “faith as in an action exercised by an individual.” It is the grammar that identifies the proper application of the noun form of the word “faith.”
The point is, by misapplication, many Scripture verses can be used to say the opposite of what they are meant to convey – which has been done far too many times. therefore, it is when we cross reference a scriptural passage with another scriptural passage on the same subject that we utilize biblical context, while also being aware of diverse types of applications, yet it is the grammar that will correct any problems some applications, but not so concerning context. This is why the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27, literal Greek) as Paul referred to it is necessary to maintain the correct understanding of the text.
2. Luke 19:29
3. Matthew 5:18
Diagrams created by Koinonia Ministries – Thank you Chuck Missler.
THE FOLLOWING IS EXTRA INFORMATION
YOU MAY ENLARGE ANY OF THE DIAGRAMS BY CLICKING ON THEM
What must be understood about the 70 weeks of Daniel is that 69 of the weeks are completed with the death of the Messiah, and that there is a gap of time wherein the church, which was not spoke about in the Old Testament, which was a special revelation given to Paul according to Ephesians 3:2-6; is a parenthesis in time, and that the seventieth week, or last 7 years commonly referred to as the tribulation will deal solely with Israel.
This parentheses referred to as the “church,” is a mystery unspoken before Paul’s revelation, and will last for an disclosed amount of time (until “the times of the Gentiles is fulfilled” – which is who makes up the church, the Gentiles ~ Romans 11:25) until Jesus will return in the air to reclaim Hid church, by being “caught up“ (1 Thess. 4:17 ~ “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”), and God will again deal with Israel; and fulfill the rest of His prophecies concerning the remnant that will come back to Him.
We must realize that on 24 occasions there are what is referred to as “gaps (below I listed the Scriptures concerning these gaps),” spans of time where God does not openly show us what occurs, but where He hides the future. He is under no requirement to explain everything to us. This is why you see Jesus in Luke chapter 4 read out of Isaiah 61, but stops halfway through the prophecy declaring that He has fulfilled the first half of the passage, with part of the passage unfulfilled – the reason why is He will fulfill the rest of the passage during His “Second Coming,” when He will complete “the day of vengeance of our God…”
Luke 4:17-22, (Jesus’ is reading Isaiah 61:1-3) States:
“And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son“
Isaiah 61:1-3, States:
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, [Jesus stops here – because He has only been assigned to do this first half of the prophecy at this point, He will finish the rest of this prophecy at His second coming – His first coming is to be that “Lamb of God” who dies for the sins of the world, at His second coming, He will be the warrior that Israel was always looking for the first time, to bring vengeance against Israel’s enemies.] and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”
Click to Enlarge
THE MULTIPLE GAP THEORY ~ (24)
Introduction
There are twenty-four gaps in the Bible. These gaps of time are located between Scriptures that are not identified as having breaks in the text, in which God hides valuable treasures. They are hidden truths that God reveals to His own, in His own time. They center on the Church, Christ’s Bride. The Church was not spoke about in the Old Testament, it is an unrevealed surprise, a “Mystery,” (Greek, “Musterion,” something totally hidden, with no hint it existed) as Paul states in Ephesians 1:9-10 (V.22); 3:1-6; 3:8-9; 5:32.
An Example
An example can be found in the text of Isaiah 61:1, 2. Jesus Christ quotes this passage when He begins His ministry, where He speaks about part of His mission, that of first coming and starting the Church.
Luke 4:16-21, states,
“So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’”
Jesus read this text, which has always been understood to be a prophecy of the Messiah. It appeared to be a single event; however He revealed that in reality the passage was speaking about two separate events. The Messiah did not have a singular undertaking, but two completely distinct missions that were separated by over two thousands years, that of Christ’s first coming and His second coming, with the Church set between the two. His first mission was proclaimed in verse one, and in the first sentence of verse two.1 However, He stopped short of finishing the rest of the text and said that the verses He had read thus far were fulfilled that day. What the rest of verse two said was, “and the day of vengeance of our God.” This was referring to another, future event which has come to be commonly called Christ’s second coming. This is a good example of Christ’s dual missions: first as Savior, Redeemer, head of His Church, and as an earth-born man who was really God. Then in His second coming as Judge and punisher, coming down from heaven as God who was also a man.2
This is one of many examples in God’s Word where God has created mysteries,3 in which He would guide His own to uncover concerning Christ’s Church and the last days that surround it. It has been wisely said that, “if there appears to be a contradiction in the Bible it is a signpost the Holy Spirit is using to get our attention so as to indicate that the text has hidden or special importance.” The same is true about Biblical gaps, the Luke 4:18, 19 passage is a good example. Because it reveals the misconceived notion that the Messiah of Israel was to come to earth only once as the conquering govern who would expel the usurpers. Where as, when Jesus revealed the gap located in the Isaiah passage, it became known that the Messiah had to come to earth twice. First, as the Lamb of God to die for the sins of mankind, and the second time as the conquering King to take possession of that which He paid for with His life. If you study these 24 gaps, when you examine a passage, you will find that the particular gap in time that is being referred too is literally where the Church is present, and concerns Christ’s Church, of which He is the Groom, or the time surrounding the Church. As is true with all studies in God’s Word, that the Holy Spirit would have us understand that the underlying theme is always Jesus Christ, and in this instance Jesus as the Head of the Church.
The following are other gaps written into God’s Word:
Psalms 34:12-16, Quoted in 1 Peter 3:10-12
Psalms 118:22
Isaiah 9:6
Isaiah 53:10
Isaiah 61:2, Quoted in Luke 4:18-20
Lamentations 4:21,22
Daniel 9:26
Daniel 11:20,21
Hosea 2:13,14
Hosea 3:4,5
Amos 9:10,11
Micah 5:2,3
Habakkuk 2:13,14
Zephaniah 3:7,8
Zephaniah 9:9,10
Matthew 10:23
Matthew 12:20
Luke 1:1,32
Luke 4:18-20, Quoting Isaiah 61:1,2
Luke 21:24
John 1:5,6
1 Peter 1:11
1 Peter 3:10-12, Quoting Psalms 34:12-16
Revelation 12:5,6
Warning
We cannot cut up Scriptures, using what suits us and discarding what does not. It is by thoroughly immersing ourselves in God’s Word, and availing ourselves completely to the Holy Spirit, that we can determine how to correctly divide God’s Word.
2 Timothy 2:15, says:
“Study [give diligence] to shew thyself [conduct yourself] approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” We must use Scripture to interpret Scripture. We must also remember, “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,” (II Peter 1:20, NKJV)
Correctly Studying God’s Word
Doctrinal error can be avoided by applying three foundational rules of exegesis (expository critiques of Scripture).
1. Scripture must be used to interpret Scripture, using the whole of God’s Word.
2. Context, both immediate and that of all of Scripture is to be used in interpreting text.
3. The mass of Scripture on any doctrine must be used to interpret that doctrine, not only a few select verses, but the majority of the Bibles teaching on that subject.
Endnotes
1. The Scriptures were not created with chapters and verses, chapters were introduced in the twelfth century, and verses were added later in the fifteenth century.
2. Revelations 1:12; 14:14.
3. Examples of mysteries hidden from mankind, to be reveled by God to His own (From K-House Ministries):
1. Mystery4 of the Kingdom (the church), Matthew chapter 13 had seven parables, which coincided with the seven churches of Paul’s letters (he wrote 13 letters, 3 were continuations to the same churches, 3 were to individuals, and 7 were to churches), which coincided with the seven church letters that Jesus dictated in Revelation (Matthew 13:11, Revelation 2 & 3). 2. Mystery of lawlessness. (II Thessalonians 2) 3. Mystery Babylon. (Revelation 17 & 18) 4. Mystery of the rapture. (I Corinthians 15:51-53, I Thessalonians 4:16, Gk. harpazo, “caught up” of “snatched up”) 5. Mystery of Israel rejecting their Messiah. (Romans 11:25) 6. Mystery of Christ and the church. (Ephesians 3:3; Colossians 1:24-27) 7. Mystery of the will of God. (Ephesians 1:9-3:1)
4. The Greek word used in the above passages that is translated into the English word “mystery” is musterion. It is a derivative of muo (to shut the mouth). Vines states, “In the NT it denotes, not the mysterious (as with the Eng. word), but that which, being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, can be made known only by divine revelation, and is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God, and to those only who are illumined by His Spirit. In the ordinary sense a “mystery” implies knowledge withheld; its Scriptural significance is truth revealed. Hence the terms especially associated with the subject are “made known,” “manifested,” “revealed,” “preached,” “understand,” “dispensation.” The definition given above may be best illustrated by the following passage: “the mystery which hath been hid from all ages and generations: but now hath it been manifested to His saints” (Col. 1:26, RV).
Brent
Faith Bible Ministries Blog ~ An Online Study of the Bible 
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