I have been looking at the dating of the earthquake in relation to the biblical
calendars. If I count back 2000 lunar years of 12 * 29.530589 days, I get
to 17th July A.D. 64 - the day before the great fire of Rome broke out. This
was quite an eventful period in history:
 
Spring 62: Paul the apostle arrives in Rome, and spends 2 years under house
arrest. Finally, he appears before Nero, and is released and takes the gospel
to the whole world of that time.
 
July 18/19 64: The great fire of Rome. The people accuse Nero of starting
it; Nero accuses the Christians. He has the believers eaten by dogs or used
as human torches to illuminate his garden parties. Thus starts the first great
persecution of the church under Rome, by the end of which all the apostles
but John were martyred.
 
66: The Jewish revolt begins.
 
67: Paul is martyred (11th June)
 
68: Nero commits suicide.
 
70: Jerusalem is destroyed.
 
73: The mass suicide at Masada, 40 years to the day after the suicide of Judas
Iscariot (of the Scarii).
 
The significance of the revelation that the Lord gave through Paul can hardly be
underestimated. He grafted in the Gentile believers to the Jewish root and made
one body the church, so that the Son might have His bride. It is often said that
that the church began at Pentecost; however at that time no Gentile was admitted
to membership. The book of Acts tells of the of the steps and stages by which the
body was formed; the book ends as Paul is released to take the gospel to the whole
world. During the following few years, Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews
scattered and the church became mostly gentile.
 
It is obvious from reading Acts that the occasion of Paul's appearance before Caesar
was of great importance. I think it has to be viewed as the official proclamation of the
gospel to the ruler of the world, somewhat as the Lord had presented himself to the
Jewish elders at the commencement of His ministry. Nero, it seems, did not
receive the good news with gladness; however the Lord overruled and had Paul set
free.
 
N.B. Nero is the #1 prototype for the Antichrist. Exactly how Satan will conjure
up some kind of counterfeit "resurrection" remains to be seen.
 
Today, many of us believers live comfortably. However the church began with suffering,
and still is suffering in many parts of the world. It remains to be seen whether we shall
experience the same before the Lord comes to take us away with Him.
 
It is well known that the time from the Lord's first coming to his return is a nominal
2000 years. Precisely and exactly how these years are to be reckoned is yet
to be discerned. However the awareness of a sequence of 2000-year anniversaries
gives us reason to watch and pray. Let us not be like those who did not know the
hour of their visitation.
 
There are various calendars used in the Bible, of which the true lunar calendar is just
one. The last 2000 lunar year anniversary which was heavily marked was Yom Kippur
in 1973. This was the anniversary of the day the Lord was anointed at Bethany and then
rode into Jerusalem as King but His own people rejected Him..
 
Adrian