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Eschatology Seminar. Presented by. Eternal Answers Ministry www.EternalAnswersMinistry.org. In Memoriam. Elaine Conforti 1941 ~ 2013.

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  1. Eschatology Seminar Presented by Eternal Answers Ministry www.EternalAnswersMinistry.org

  2. In Memoriam Elaine Conforti 1941 ~ 2013

  3. 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 -Isaiah 61:1-2 , and the day of vengeance of our God… We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: -2 Peter 1:19

  4. What is Prophecy? • Prophecy is NOT about: • Predicting the future • Gaining insight into Satan’s plans • Matching news to the Bible • Looking out for the Anti-Christ • Prophecy IS about: • Comforting the afflicted • Knowing God’s plan • Looking up, for our redemption is nigh OUR SEMINAR’S THEME: Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.-I Thes 4:18

  5. Various Christian views of the End Times - There have been a number of different views formulated about the end times throughout the history of Christian theology, some well thought out; some not so well thought out - One view is to simply avoid the subject altogether - Many churches today, however, purposely avoid addressing the topic, using amongst other reasons/excuses: • Some say it is not important to salvation; true enough • Some say it is too complicated; stipulated • Some charge it is too divisive; agreed but only in as far as people seem obsessed with being “right” which is neither the fault of nor exclusive to eschatology

  6. Various Christian views of the End Times - There have been a number of different views formulated about the end times throughout the history of Christian theology, some well thought out; some not so well thought out - One view is to simply avoid the subject altogether - Many churches today, however, purposely avoid addressing the topic, using amongst other reasons/excuses: • Some pastors are frankly uncomfortable with their skill level on the subject as it does require a thorough knowledge of God’s Word from Genesis to Revelation in order to intelligently engage the material • Thus, many churches say they would rather opt to simply concentrate on evangelism & leave eschatology alone

  7. Various Christian views of the End Times - However, one will find as one witnesses enough, those involved in cults (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, etc.) eschatological material & knowledge thereof is of vital importance to any evangel one is going to present because it is an important element of the cult of which they are a part. To ignore eschatology, therefore, is to leave a gaping hole in your evangelism that will hobble your witness & evangelistic efforts. - However, roughly 27.5% of the Bible (8,352 of 31,124 verses) is on prophecy, with some estimates running as much as 8 to 1 of unfulfilled to fulfilled.

  8. Various Christian views of the End Times - Additionally, one should see why God put prophecy in His Word in the first place: • The Bible is the only holy book that will stake its reputation & worth on the strength of written, fulfilled prophecy • God tells us this is a test to identify His Word ie these are not just the words of men; (II Peter 1:20) rather, there are none like Him able to tell the end from the beginning • God binds His reputation & knowledge of His nature & being to prophecy

  9. Various Christian views of the End Times Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure -Isaiah 46:9-10 • - Can we comfortably say to God that more than a quarter of His Word is not worth the effort to study? That your reputation & nature are just too hard & would require too much work for me to try? That nearly a third of the message He has for us is just not that important, so we’d rather just put it away, but thanks all the same?

  10. (Post-Millennial) Amillenialism Premillennialism Preterism Futurist Mid-Trib Post-Trib Pre-Trib

  11. Where did Amillennialism Come From? - Prior to Augustine (AD 5th c.) ie Pre-Imperial Christianity, the Church preached that Christ was going to return & overthrow the world’s evil rulers - During the time of Augustine, this message did not go over too well with the world’s evil rulers who increasingly were signing the paychecks for those in the pulpits of the Imperial, state-run churches - Thus, Augustine developed an allegorical way of viewing the return of Christ that became the basis of Catholic & Orthodox eschatology which holds sway in those churches to this day - The Reformers, 1,000 years later, while doing wonders for soteriology, had little time to reform their eschatology - Thus, most mainline denominations coming out of the Reformation remained & remain amillennial.

  12. Replacement Theology - Starting with Augustine, this heretical doctrine became the basis for an even greater heresy, that being Replacement Theology, embraced by the Catholic Church & many mainline protestant denominations - Replacement Theology is an anti-Semitic doctrine that states that God has substituted the Church for Israel in His plans; - Paul spends three chapters in his foremost work on Christian theology, the Epistle to the Romans (Ch 9, 10 & 11) hammering away at the fact that God is not through with Israel, God still has a plan for Israel, God still has promises to fulfill for Israel - “Israel” appears 75 times in the New Testament; each time referring to national Israel—including the solitary, ostensible exception in Gal 6:16:

  13. Replacement Theology - Starting with Augustine, this heretical doctrine became the basis for an even greater heresy, that being Replacement Theology, embraced by the Catholic Church & many mainline protestant denominations - Replacement Theology is an anti-Semitic doctrine that states that God has substituted the Church for Israel in His plans; And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. •  the kaigrammatically sets apart the “Israel of God” from the “them” (the “many as walk….etc” ie the church), andprevents any synonymy [Johnson; Fruchtenbaum; et al.]  in other words, peace & mercy on these two separate groups, the Church & Israel

  14. Replacement Theology - Starting with Augustine, this heretical doctrine became the basis for an even greater heresy, that being Replacement Theology, embraced by the Catholic Church & many mainline protestant denominations - Replacement Theology is an anti-Semitic doctrine that states that God has substituted the Church for Israel in His plans; And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. - To adhere to Replacement Theology is not only to misunderstand Israel’s place in God’s plan, but also to completely misunderstand ecclesiology (the purpose of the Church) - This false doctrine of demons provides a red cord leading directly from Augustine to Auschwitz

  15. Resurgence of Pre-Millennialism - While there has always been a small remnant within the Church that has held onto the original doctrines of the Apostles, it was not until the intense interest in archaeology & historical texts in the freer, reformed atmosphere of 19th century America & Western Europe that these views began to come to light once again. • - AD 100 – Epistle of Barnabas • - 1st c. AD – Irenaeus, Against Heresies - 2nd c. AD – Hippolytus (disciple of Irenaeus) • - AD 150 – Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho - 4th c. AD – Ephraem of Nisibis (aka the Syrian) recently discovered: ο“For all the saints and Elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins.” On the Last Times, the Antichrist & the End of the World

  16. Resurgence of Pre-Millennialism - While there has always been a small remnant within the Church that has held onto the original doctrines of the Apostles, it was not until the intense interest in archaeology & historical texts in the freer, reformed atmosphere of 19th century America & Western Europe that these views began to come to light once again. • - 1687 – Peter Jurieu, The Approaching Deliverance of the Church • - 1738 – Philip Doddridge’sCommentary on the New Testament - 1748 – Dr. John Gill, Commentary on the New Testament • - 1763 – James Macknight, Commentary on the Apostolical Epistles - 1792 – Thomas Scott, Commentary on the Holy Bible - 1812 – Emanuel Lacunza (Ben Ezra) • - 1816 – Edward Irving

  17. Resurgence of Pre-Millennialism - While there has always been a small remnant within the Church that has held onto the original doctrines of the Apostles, it was not until the intense interest in archaeology & historical texts in the freer, reformed atmosphere of 19th century America & Western Europe that these views began to come to light once again. • - 1820 – John N. Darby, (popularizer) many mistakenly attribute Darby with inventing Pre-Tribulation / Pre-Millennial eschatology to Darby, deridingly calling it “Darbyism,” but clearly they are misinformed • - 1830 – Margaret McDonald, (popularizer) many also mistakenly attribute invention to her • - 1901 rev. 1910 – C.I. Scofield incorporated it into his very popularAnnotated Bible - Thus, historically, pre-millenialism has the deeper roots in the Church, all the way back to the pre-Augustinian, Apostolic Age - However, as in all matters, the final authority is Jesus Christ

  18. Scripture Commenting on Scripture - Scripture is the best interpreter of Scripture, HOWEVER: BEWARE of “Bible Hopscotch” - “Bible Hopscotch” is when a speaker takes you from verse to verse to verse in order to prove HIS point- If you watch carefully, he is NOT using Scripture to support Scripture EXAMPLE: “We can see in 1st Opinions verse 8 it says, ‘…rabbits are cute & cuddly’ & 2nd Assertions tells us that cute & cuddly things must never be harmed. Therefore, rabbit stew is sinful.” • - So, we’ll say you look up these passages. You find that 1st Opinions actually says, “Though rabbits are cute & cuddly, they make great hasenpfeffer (rabbit stew).” Then, in 2nd Assertions you find that “Some animals & human children are cute & cuddly, but because human children are human, they should not be harmed.”

  19. Scripture Commenting on Scripture - Scripture is the best interpreter of Scripture, HOWEVER: BEWARE of “Bible Hopscotch” - “Bible Hopscotch” is when a speaker takes you from verse to verse to verse in order to prove HIS point- If you watch carefully, he is NOT using Scripture to support Scripture • - Even though the speaker seemed to “key” up the phrase “cute & cuddly” to have Scripture reinforce Scripture, you can see that all he was really doing was jumping around trying to find verses he could twist to prove his point. • - This is an easy trap to fall into, so be very wary

  20. Legitimate use of Scripture to Interpret Scripture: 1. First off, note that anyone in the Scriptures reading Scripture, reads it literally a. Daniel in Dan 9 is reading the prophecies of Jeremiah & interprets the 70 years of captivity that Jeremiahs prophecies as a literal 70 years b. When Jesus reads or speaks of Noah or Adam or Abraham, He speaks of them as real people, their lives as real lives, really lived, not allegories or myths • - (if He was wrong on this, it has HUGE implications for Christology; think about it)

  21. Legitimate use of Scripture to Interpret Scripture: 2. “Keying”-Scripture uses certain phrases & terms to consistently designate particular people, places & events; from chapter to chapter & book to book, even across from the Old to New Testaments, one can carefully align these phrases in the passages in which they appear & tie them together to get a fuller picture of that person, place or event a. We will see the phrase “as a woman in labor pangs” is used to describe conditions between the time of Jesus & the End Times as non-signs but as indicators that we can use to gauge relative events during that period b. We will see the phrase “a time of trouble/tribulation as has never been seen before … or since,” sometimes for Israel specifically, sometimes for the world. Nevertheless, this phrase gives us a definitive marker within the given passages that allow us to say they are describing the same event in time. c. This is a principle that scholars term “constancy of exposition.”

  22. Legitimate use of Scripture to Interpret Scripture: 3. “Pointing”-Sometimes an author or speaker within the text will tell us to look at another author’s work by directly citing that author a. Jesus says in Matt 24, “When you shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel…”; well, right there, He’s telling us to go look up that passage in Daniel. b. Also in Matt 24, Jesus say, “as it was in the days of Noah…”; yet, again, Jesus is pointing us to another text, this time Genesis, to learn what it was like in the days of Noah.

  23. Legitimate use of Scripture to Interpret Scripture: 4. “Quoting”-This is often more subtle than pointing; this is when an author or speaker in the text quotes from another Biblical character or author. It can be more subtle because sometimes we do not recognize a passage as a quote • a. In Matt 24:21, when Jesus says, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be,” most people do not realize that He is paraphrase the prophet Jeremiah when he spoke of the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble.” b. As we began this talk with, Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth, but unless you went back & read the whole passage in Isaiah, you would not realize the eschatological phrase that He (intentionally) left out (which is of some importance!)

  24. What did Jesus say about the end of the world? Christ gives a private, confidential briefing for Peter, James, John & Andrew on His 2nd coming in Matt 24/Mark 13 called, “The Olivet Discourse” - DO NOT Confuse this with the Luke 21 discourse which talks about: • 1. what happens BEFORE the time of the Great Tribulation (the Siege of Jerusalem in AD70) & then 2. of the Judgment after without detailing the Great Tribulation at all - This requires a whole separate analysis which we will not have time for, but does offer a verse we should all consider as applicable to all eschatology: When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. -Luke 21:28

  25. What did Jesus say about the end of the world? In this discourse, He makes some very specific Keys, Pointers & Quotes that will lead us to ALL the major end times passages in Scripture: Matthew 24: • 1] And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2] 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. - Preterists point to this as evidence that Jesus is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70, but Jesus stops talking of that here & begins to address a different question starting in the next verse.

  26. What did Jesus say about the end of the world? - (In the Luke 21 passage, He does go on to talk about the fall of Jerusalem in AD70 which marks the difference between these two passages) 3] And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? 4] And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. - Jesus emphasizes this over & over. How are we not to be deceived? By knowing His Word! - This is a question of epistemology & ontology

  27. What did Jesus say about the end of the world? - Establish the integrity of His Word for yourself 1. Establish the reality of the identity of the person of Jesus Christ 2. This will lead you to know that His Word is true & WHY it is true 3. This means knowing Him, His claims & the Whole Counsel of God with precision (Hermeneutics) 5] For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6] And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7] For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8] All these are the beginning of sorrows.

  28. Are earthquakes, famines, tsunamis, etc. signs of the end times? - Despite what many popular writers & TV evangelists have said, Jesus has said these are non-signs! - These things will always be with us & though they may grow in intensity & become more frequent, we can never know when they have grown too intense or too frequent! - What is translated as “the beginning of sorrows” in the Greek indicates the same kind of pain that comes with the beginning of birth pangs - Therefore, they are not reliable “signs”; However, Jesus, by giving them the designation of “birth pangs” seems to tell us that, just as birth pangs tell us a baby is coming imminently, we just don’t know precisely when, they are an indicator that something big is coming soon! We need only prepare & wait. - We will see this comparison to birth pangs or a woman travailing in giving birth frequently. It is a “key” tying together descriptions of this time just before the Day of the Lord or Day of Judgment.

  29. Are earthquakes, famines, tsunamis, etc. signs of the end times? 9] Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10] And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11] And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12] And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13] But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14] And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. - It is HERE that Luke 21 says, “But before these things…” - This is a general description of the end times. - v.12 cuts deep; consider how our society has confused love with so many things that are not love: money, lust, hormones, etc. - Consider that the divorce rates are no better in the Christian community any more than in the public at large

  30. Are earthquakes, famines, tsunamis, etc. signs of the end times? - Consider that couples are more likely to simply live together now rather than ever get married & meditate on how this sign is coming to pass even in the largest “Christian” nation on earth - Something is wrong - Now Jesus begins to get specific… 15] When ye therefore shallsee the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) - “shall”-this is yet future - “see”-you will be able to see this event - yet, the “abomination of desolation” was an historical event every Jew in 1st century Judaea would have known about

  31. Are earthquakes, famines, tsunamis, etc. signs of the end times? - Preterists try to say that this happened when the Temple burned in AD70 & the 10th Legion posted their ensigns, which were objects of pagan military worship, at the Eastern gate; this doesn’t quite work— 1. This does not at all fit the events spoken of by Daniel 2. The Eastern Gate was not “the holy place”; they were not even in the Temple; the Holy of Holies in the Temple was the holy place 3. The Holy of Holies by this time was burnt to the ground 4. Jesus issues this as a warning to “get out of town for your lives sake”; the worship of these ensigns took place after the battle was over as a victory celebration & everyone was dead, long past time for a warning to be effective! - There are many other reasons, but these serve to make the point, not to mention that writings from the 1st century specifically point to another historical event from 200 years earlier already understood by all Jews to be referenced by this term!

  32. Are earthquakes, famines, tsunamis, etc. signs of the end times? - Jesus points us to Daniel - Daniel spoke of the various empires that would be on the earth before God established His kingdom: Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth…..

  33. Are earthquakes, famines, tsunamis, etc. signs of the end times? - Jesus points us to Daniel - Daniel spoke of the various empires that would be on the earth before God established His kingdom: This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings… Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken….

  34. Are earthquakes, famines, tsunamis, etc. signs of the end times? - Jesus points us to Daniel - Daniel spoke of the various empires that would be on the earth before God established His kingdom: And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. - Daniel 2:37-45

  35. Are earthquakes, famines, tsunamis, etc. signs of the end times? - Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that he & his kingdom (there was no distinction in the ancient world) were the head of gold - Scholars agree that Persia was the kingdom of silver & that Alexander’s Grecian Empire the brass - Rome, then, is the legs of iron - unlike previous empires, Rome broke native cultures & Romanized them - Rome also eventually split into two halves, an Eastern & Western Empire - Rome was never actually “conquered,” is just sort of fell to pieces - This “iron mixed with miry clay” warrants our attention - Who is “they?” - “They” are obviously not “mankind” for “they mingle themselves with the seed of men” - Let us, for now, just keep in mind that Daniel tells us of a final empire in which some non-mankind entities are mixed in with mankind

  36. What is the "Abomination of Desolation?" The Rule of Antiochus IV (“Epiphanes”) 175-164 B.C. - Jesus points us to something specific that Daniel talks about—the “abomination of desolation” - Antiochus IV was the 8th king of the Syrian dynasty. - He called himself “(Theos) Epiphanes” = “Illustrious; god manifest”; the people called him “Epimanes,” = ”the mad man.”

  37. What is the "Abomination of Desolation?" - He made Torah reading, Sabbath observance, & circumcision punishable by death; - He slaughtered a sow on the High Altar - And he erected an idol to Zeus in the Holy of Holies - This event was known to all Jews in the 1stc.BC as the “abomination of desolation.” - It incited the Maccabbean Revolt, which succeeded in rededicating the Temple on the 25th of Kislev, 165 B.C. [An event commemorated even today as Hanukkah which, though not a Mosaic feast, is a holiday authenticated by the Holy Spirit: Jn 10:22.] The sacrifices and oblations ceased during the period of desecration. - So, when did Daniel speak of this? Some 400 years before it happened! - It is the famous 70th week of Daniel. What is interesting is that Daniel describes this event as occurring, as Jesus indicates, after the coming of the Messiah. Both Daniel & Jesus tell us that Antiochus’ actions are a pattern for a desecration by a king yet to come:

  38. The Scope (Dan 9:24) 24] Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy Place. shabu’im= sevens, “week.” (Gen 29:26-28; Lev 25, 26). 1. The focus of the passage is on the Jews, not the Church or the Gentile world 2. Week is used in this context like we would us the word “dozen,” ie to mean 7 of something. The context in Aramaic implies “years”

  39. The Scope (Dan 9:24) 24] Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy Place. shabu’im= sevens, “week.” (Gen 29:26-28; Lev 25, 26). • 3. The six major items listed have yet to be completed… to make an end of sins, to bring in everlasting righteousness, etc. One could argue that some (such as “to make reconciliation for iniquity) were accomplished at the cross, but most of these things have not been done yet. Thus, somehow, there must be a staging of the implementation of this agenda. Unfulfilled in over 2000 years, v.26 will detail an interveningInterval, a pause between the 69th & 70th Weeks. A key to understanding this passage is to realize that the 70 “Weeks” are not contiguous. There is a definite planned “pause” in the countdown.

  40. The 69 Weeks (v.25) 25] Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the King shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

  41. The Trigger (terminus ad quo): The Decrees to “Rebuild Jerusalem”? • 1. Cyrus, 537 B.C. Ezra 1:2-4 • 1. Darius Ezra 6:1-5, 8, 12 • 1. Artaxerxes, 458 B.C. Ezra 7:11-26 • 1. Artaxerxes, 445 B.C. Neh 2:5-8, 17, 18 - #1 , #2 and #3 were to rebuild the Temple. Only the last one, #4, was to rebuild the city, the walls, etc. Note: rehob, “street”; haruts, moat, fortification (walls). Gabriel spells it out so that there can be no confusion. Only one of these decrees, the last, dealt with these structures. - Why “7+62”? Sir Robert Anderson, in his classic study of this subject,The Coming Prince, to which I am completely indebted for this whole analysis, goes into this subject with great detail & I refer you there. For our study today, it is suffice to say there will be 69 “weeks” of years

  42. Nominal 360-day Years - The Jewish calander used a nominal 12 months of 30 lunar days each yeilding a standard 360-day year (Biblical Usage: Gen 7:24; 8:3,4; Dan 9:27; 12:6; Rev 11:2,3; 13:5). - This is consistent across the ancient world; Ancient calendars based on 360-day years: Assyrians, Chaldeans, Egyptians, Hebrews, Persians, Greeks, Phoenicians, Chinese, Mayans, Hindus, Carthaginians, Etruscans, Teutons, et al. all used calendars based on a 360-day year; typically, twelve 30-day lunar months. (In ancient Chaldea, their calendar was based on a 360-day year giving them the foundation for a base-60 mathematical system and it is from this Babylonian tradition that we have 360 degrees in a circle, 60 minutes to an hour, 60 seconds in each minute, ie 360/6, etc.)

  43. The Target (terminus ad quem) - The MeshiachNagid: “The Messiah the King.” The prediction is to the presentation of the Messiah the King (Nagidis first used of King Saul). - On several occasions in the New Testament when the disciples attempted to declare Jesus publicly as a King, He invariably declined, “Mine hour is not yet come.” (Jn 6:15; 7:30, 44; etc.) - Then one day, He arranges it to fulfill Zech 9:9: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. - [BTW: Pre-christian rabbis speculated that there were 2 Messiahs-the suffering messiah & the Messiah King; This passage proves that they were one & the same, because Christ came after 69 weeks as the suffering one, but Daniel identifies Him as the Messiah King & tells us it is He who will be killed (v.26)]

  44. The Triumphal Entry - All four Gospels, (Mt 21:1-9; Mk 11:1-10; Lk 19:29-39; Jn 12:12-16 proclaim that Jesus deliberately arranges to fulfill Zech 9:9. This is the only day He allows them to proclaim Him King (Lk 19:38).

  45. The Triumphal Entry - Jesus held them accountable to recognize this very day . This was the 10th of Nisan, prior to the Passover on the 14th of Nisan, AD 32 the very day, to the day, that Daniel said He would arrive & they missed it! • Blindness Declared: For How Long? • For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the Fullness of the Gentiles be come in. • -Romans 11:25

  46. The Interval (Daniel 9:26) 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. - An interval, or gap, is clearly required by v. 26: events described are afterthe 69th and prior to the 70th week. - “cut off”: karat, to cut off, eliminate, kill, execute; death penalty (Lev 7:20; Ps 37:9; Prov 2:22). - “not for Himself”: nothingness: rejection, substitution. - The people of “the prince that shall come” = historically, the Romans.

  47. The Interval (Daniel 9:26) - Thus, the Prince to come will be of the Roman Empire (but NOT necessarily from Europe!) When interpreting Dan 9:26 “the people of the prince that shall come,” it is important to note that the 10th Roman legion that was used to destroy Jerusalem in AD70, according to Josephus, were NOT Roman but foreign conscripts from Assyria. Rome gave the incentives of citizenship & land to foreigners who served in their army for 25 years. - Sanctuary destroyed, etc. 38 years are included with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. Some commentators associate the “...flood” with the diaspora under Titus Vespasian but this was 38 years later, not 3½ or 7 as a reckoning of a “week” of years would imply! It just doesn’t fit… but that’s a discussion for another day!

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