Great Post!ProffBuff (5-15-04) "Incredible Heavenly Signs in 2005"
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/may2004/prophbuff515.htm
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. Revelation 12:1-5
Sacred versus the Profane
Starting Sir Robert Anderson's Epic, "The Coming Prince", Appendix 1, he states, "The point of contact between sacred and profane chronology..." which this post is a point of contact between sacred scripture as quoted above and my own profane commentary on the matter. That being said, the Heavenly signs starting Av 9, 2005 and proceeding through Tishri 10, 2005 sure seem to me as shown by Chris (ProfBuff) as a great fulfillment of Revelation 12:1-5. Reading the backup literature which emphasizes Yom Teruah, Tishri 1, 1999 and the sign that only happened theoretically once every 26,000 years but literally for man's existence on this earth, once, ever, takes one's breath away.Revelation 12:5, is a picture of the rapture, for the woman, the church, gives birth to an adult child, the Bride of Christ, which is caught up unto God in the Rapture, which this great wonder in the heavens, pinpoints in time for us. As a sign, this procession of events can be watched in the starry heavens as each event unfolds, starting with Av 9, 2005.
The referenced backup and basis literature:
http://www.betemunah.org/watchman//rev121.html
Brings up the Torah readings for Yom Teruah, Tishri 1, 1999 and what great imagery with Revelation 12. Likewise, the Hebrew Calendar from www.calendar-maven.com lists for Rosh Hashanah I the readings, Gen. 21.1-34, Num. 29.1-6, and I Samuel 1.1-2.10. For Rosh Hashanah II it lists the readings, Gen. 22.1-24, Num. 29.1-6, and Jeremiah 31.1-19. The different scripture for Rosh Hashanah II includes the following Rapture image:
For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God. Jeremiah 31:6
This watchman has cried out before that for Rosh Hashanah II on October 5, 2005, let the sleeping virgins arise and let us go up to Zion to meet our bridegroom in the air. We can discuss whether the extra measure of anointing oil from the Holy Spirit for our lamps to keep burning is the extra measure of infilling of the Holy Spirit. Or whether it is the result of leading clean and upright lives, the mark of true repentance. Yet the imagery of being one of the ten virgins waiting for the Lord is such of being clean and undefiled by this world to begin with.
The imagery of not only the rapture but the woman with child in Revelation 12 continues in this reading of Jeremiah with:
Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. Jeremiah 31:8
And the imagery of going to the "height" of Zion in the rapture. And the 5 faithful virgins, both young men and old (the dead in Christ will rise first).
Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. Jeremiah 31:12-13
While the beautiful imagery of Jeremiah 31:6-13 read on Rosh Hashanah II does not preclude us going on Rosh Hashanah I, it can be added to the other evidences. And it is realized, if the call goes out at midnight, October 4, 2005, then not only is this considered the next day as of sunset on the Hebrew Calendar, but when the bridegroom actually came was after midnight, the next day even on our present calendar. Although it is realized that while the 2000 week generational count from the prophetic fulfillment (some say partial fulfillment) of Jerusalem no longer being totally trodden down by the Gentiles on June 7, 1967, Jerusalem Unification Day, can be counted from that date coming to October 5, 2005. It can also be counted including June 7, 1967 coming to October 4, 2005. Likewise, it is realized that while the 7 sacred year count from the confirming of the original covenant by Rab (many) by the Israeli legislative body in the Wye agreement on November 11, 1998, can be counted from that date coming to October 5, 2005. It can also be counted including November 11, 1998 coming to October 4, 2005. (An interjection here is that the November 11, 1998 confirmation should not in any way be taken as the fulfillment of starting the 70th week of Daniel. Merely that it is a pre-image of the future event as are a vast many events that can be looked at throughout history.) Yet, Rosh Hashanah is a two full day celebration with "trumpets" blasting so the "last trumpet" would not be until Rosh Hashanah II, October 5, 2005. And the observed new moon starting the day "no one knows" which was the day Jesus said he would return on, is predicted to be on October 5, 2005. This can be verified by using LunaCal from the Israeli New Moon Society http://www.geocities.com/royh_il/software.htm which shows for October 4, 2005 from Jerusalem that the new moon is "definitely not visible" according to Yallop's q value, (q = -0.19). (For explanation, any q value below -0.05 is considered definitely not visible while any q value above 0.2 is considered definitely visible). And for October 5, 2005 that the moon is definitely visible to the naked eye, (q = 0.99). And if 555 precedes 666 then 10/5/05 fits the 5 pattern much better than 10/4/05. The 10 parallels the Hebrew ten days of awe (tribulation) which start on Rosh Hashanah and proceeds to Yom Kippur which parallels the ten days (years) of tribulation that the world will go through after the rapture as spoken of in Revelation 2:10:
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Revelation 2:10
For the record, out of the 22 verses in the Bible containing the word "tribulation", none of them have the word "seven" in them. While with seven days a week is completed and seven years a biblical land rest cycle is completed, and we shall rest during the millennial seventh 1,000 years, the final seven years seems reserved for directly after the 7,000 years in reference to the "little season" that satan will enjoy. Such seems the consensus also of our church fathers, at least according to Sir Robert Anderson in "The Coming Prince" at the end of Chapter 7, "The mystic era of the weeks". It is easy for us all to be shortsighted and ascribe to our own generation all future events that the Bible prophecies concern. Yet the huge difference between the term "end of age" which refers to the close of the church age with the end of Jerusalem being trampled down by the Gentiles bringing to fullness the ingathering of the Gentiles, and the term "end of days" which occurs after the millennium and the little season where satan deceives the nations for the last time, cannot be overlooked. Quoting from the end of Chapter 7 in reference to Daniel's last week:
"Hippolytus, bishop and martyr, who wrote at the beginning of the third century, is most definite on the point. Quoting the verse, he says: "By one week he meant the last week, which is to be at the end of the whole world; of which week the two prophets Enoch and Elias will take up the half; for they will preach 1260 days , clothed in sackcloth." (Hip. on Christ and Antichrist)."
Which brings us to add 10 Hebrew years to October 5, 2005 where first Jesus the Christ would fulfill Rosh Hashanah to bring up the next feast to fulfill, Yom Kippur on September 23, 2015, ten days and ten years later returning as Messiah.
While there are many details to flesh out, from Revelation 12:6 there appears to be 1260 days that elapse till Michael and his angels fights the dragon and his angels and are cast to earth, which would place it at March 18, 2009, Adar 22, 5769.
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. Revelation 12:6
Then the woman as the church is protected in the wilderness for 3 1/2 times. If these are Hebrew years since the Bible uses a different method of time keeping then that would bring us to Elul 22, 5772, September 9, 2012. If these are prophetic months this would bring us to August 29, 2012.
And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. Revelation 12:14
Then in Revelation 13:5, the beast makes war on the Saints for 42 months. Again, if these are Hebrew months then counting from Elul 22, 5772 with 5773 having 12 months, 5774 having 13 months, and 5775 having 12 months, then 42 months brings one to February 1, 2016. And if these are prophetic months this would be February 10, 2016. If the times refers to Hebrew times and the months refers to prophetic months then September 9, 2012 + 1260 days = February 21, 2016.
And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. Revelation 13:5
Then in Revelation 14:7 we have the hour of God's judgement falling:
Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. Revelation 14:7
And we have the time including last seven plagues in Revelation 15:6 through Revelation 16:21 before the triumphant return of Jesus the Christ. While in a daily hour a lot gets accomplished to where we may be tempted to convert this hour into some other time basis, we must remember that the other times were taken as literal. So we should if at all possible, limit any conversion. An analogy can be made to when David was asked whether he would want the judgment of man or of God.
So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man. II Samuel 24:13-14
So seven years is compared with 3 days of pestilence in the hand of the Lord. Likewise we could take one hour and use one of the previous 42 months from the last units used as the unit of measure. One hour is to one day as what is to one month? Now Jesus said there were 12 hours in a day which would have us divide 30 days by 12 and get 2.5. So we now have 2.5 days that could be used for the time of God's wrath.
The problem is February 21, 2016 + 2.5 days is February 23, 2016 and this happens to be past Yom Kippur in 2015. In fact it is past Yom Kippur, September 23, 2015 by exactly 153 days. Those Bible students will quickly recognize the fish harvest number (153). So instead, let us fix Yom Kippur in 2015 and back up from our starting point, October 5, 2005 by 153 days. This lands one on May 5, 2005 or 5/5/05. What a remarkable date. This is Ascension Day, the same day Jesus left this earth. What an appropriate day to leave. This date can also be represented as 555 which would precede 666. In addition, this is exactly 5 solar years from the apparent Bride betrothal date of 5/5/00 when 5 planets made an astronomical sign and which would point to an ingathering by the bridegroom 5 years later.
A May 5, 2005 rapture would then mean that the ingathering of the Bride be would occurring before the signs in the heavens starting Av 9, 2005. But then we should still be watchful of both.
Silence in Heaven
The signs in the heavens starting Av 9, 2005 which include the war in heaven may point to a 5/5/5 rapture followed by 153 days of silence in heaven which then is followed by the war in heaven starting 10/5/5 where satan is cast out for good and down to earth with an expected great increase in supernatural manifestations upon the earth. Maybe even a counterfeit rapture by the supernatural hordes. Woe to the earth.And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. Revelation 8:1
This would start the 10 years of tribulation as spoken of in Revelation 2:10
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Revelation 2:10
Of the first five seals then we can say that these take up the time from Christ's death to just before the rapture, which is in general in agreement to what Sir Robert Anderson states in the beginning of Chapter 14, "The Patmos Visions" in "The Coming Prince":
"It is at the fifth seal that the vision crosses the lines of the chronology of prophecy. Of the earlier seals, therefore, it is unnecessary to speak in detail. They are evidently descriptive of the events to which the Lord referred in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, as preceding the great final persecution; -wars and unceasing threats of war, kingdoms in arms rushing on one another to destruction; and then famine, to be followed again by pestilence, hunger and the sword still claiming their victims, and others being seized by strange and nameless deaths in the ever-gathering horrors of these cumulative woes."
But can the space of half an hour in heaven be equated to 153 days? This is a specific time reference, not to a time, month, day, or hour, but to half an hour. If a half an hour is the fraction of the ten years of tribulation from October 5, 2005 to September 23, 2015 then we are talking about a period of exactly 3640 days. And again using the 12 hour in a day as Christ specified:
Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. John 11:9
So dividing 3640 days by 12 and then again by 2 for half an hour one gets 151.7 days. And we are actually talking about 152.5 days. So about half an hour is about as accurate as one can get.
But are there other explanations of the "Silence in Heaven". While an even better explanation of the silence in heaven may be found it does not negate necessarily the previous explanation, as multiple designed fulfillment's in sacred scripture should be expected from an almighty God. That explanation would be that the silence in heaven is when Jesus Christ has left heaven to reign on earth during the Millennium. The opening of the seventh seal with the seven angels blowing the seven trumpets signals the end of seven thousand years and the beginning of the last seven years when satan is loosed for a season.
But can 1/2 hour be converted to 1,000 years in God's timetables? Clearly one knows the verse commonly used for conversions and indeed valid for the current dispensation:
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. II Peter 3:8
But there is another verse containing the same conversions above plus another conversion having to do with a watch which can be applied to the next age:
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. Psalms 90:4
How long is a watch in a night? Well, it depends whether there are three or four watchmen to break up the time from sunset to sunrise. With three watchmen each watch would be four hours. With four watchmen each watch would be three hours. Matthew 14:25 and Mark 6:48 speak of a fourth watch while Luke 12:38 speaks of up to a third watch. Taking a watchman average of 3.5 gives a watch average of 3.5 hours. A half hour would then be on average one seventh of a watch. And if man's time on earth is 7,000 years then one seventh of this would be 1,000 years.
Watch, Do Not Be Deceived, Do not Lose Faith
Whatever happens, regardless of what you think should happen, do not lose faith. There are too many people when something happens that doesn't fit their preconceived idea of how God should work, such as the loss of a loved one, lose faith and turn from God, to their utter condemnation.
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. Luke 21:8
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Daniel 3:17-18
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Matthew 24:12-13
In Anderson's "The Coming Prince", the middle of Chapter 12, he states:
"No one who diligently seeks the answer to this inquiry can fail to be impressed by the fact that at first sight some confusion seems to mark the statements of Scripture with respect to it. Certain passages testify that Christ will return to earth, and stand once more on that same Olivet on which His feet last rested ere He ascended to His Father; and others tell us as plainly that He will come, not to earth, but to the air above us, and call His people up to meet Him and be with Him. These Scriptures again most clearly prove that it is His believing people who shall be "caught up," leaving the world to run its course to its destined doom; while other Scriptures as unequivocally teach that it is not His people but the wicked who are to be weeded out, leaving the righteous "to shine forth in the kingdom of their Fathers." And the confusion apparently increases when we notice that Holy Writ seems sometimes to represent the righteous who are to be thus blessed as Jews, sometimes as Christians of a dispensation in which the Jew is cast off by God. These difficulties admit of only one solution, a solution as satisfactory as it is simple; namely, that what we term the second advent of Christ is not a single event, but includes several distinct manifestations. At the first of these He will call up to Himself the righteous dead, together with His own people then living upon earth. With this event this special "day of grace" will cease, and God will again revert to "the covenants" and "the promises," and that people to whom the covenants and promises belong will once more become the centre of Divine action toward mankind."
While this sequence of events is the one to be expected, these difficulties Anderson expresses admit to another solution as well. That is, the ten years of tribulation before the millennial kingdom results in the weeding out of the wicked. And after the millennial kingdom, before satan is loosed for a short seven year season and God ends up in the end completely destroying the world by fire as in Sodom and Gomorra, the saints meet Jesus in the air.
Therefore whatever God has in store we are not to loose faith, as satan will deceive even the elect if this is possible.
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Matthew 24:24
Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? James 2:5
And if one relies on secular ideas such as being able to live an unclean life and still be among God's faithful, or even receiving the mark of the beast and still be a Christian, then one is being deceived. Having finished Lisa Ruby's book, "God's Wrath on Left Behind" subtitled "Exposing the Antichrist Agenda of the Left Behind Series", it is humbling to see how easily deceived we all can be. The many psychological tactics used by the author of the Left Behind series to introduce non biblical ideas was eye-opening. And if Eve who walked with God could be deceived, don't for a minute think that any of us can't be. Let us put on the whole armor of God.
Daniel's 70 Weeks
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. 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. 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. 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 9:24-27This short prophecy has been one of the most interpreted in all of scripture. That is because it foretells not only the destiny of the Jews and Jerusalem, but when the Messiah the Prince, Jesus Christ, will come. This prophecy links the Jewish people with Jerusalem, foretelling both their futures. What skips many people's attention is the phrase, "and to bring in everlasting righteousness". Since everlasting means everlasting, not sometimes lasting, then there is no way that this prophecy can have a complete fulfillment until after satan is loosed for a season at the close of the millennium and the earth is destroyed by fire and a new heaven and a new earth usher in eternity. We understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince there shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks. We also know that there are two separate times mentioned, seven weeks and threescore and two weeks which must relate to two separate events. There is an "and" connecting the two times which means it is also not wrong to add together these two time periods as Sir Robert Anderson has done. To do both, the seven weeks must apply both to His second coming and to His first coming as Messiah. Thus we actually have a total of seventy seven weeks or seventy seven , sevens of sacred years, (77 x 7). The first coming's timing is clearly described by Sir Robert Anderson from the decree of Artaxerxes in the month of Nisan of 445 BC, (-444) to rebuild Jerusalem. Adding 69 weeks of prophetic years or 483 x 360 / 365.2422 = 476.07 years. Now, 476-444=32 AD plus 25 days which means the fulfillment could be to the day based on our know accuracy. The second coming will be from the second commandment to restore and build Jerusalem which happened when Jerusalem was recaptured by Israel on June 7, 1967. Which adding 7 weeks of prophetic years or 49 x 360 / 365.2422 = 48.30 years. Or more accurately, 17,640 days which comes exactly to Yom Kippur in 2015, September 23, 2015. That leaves the final week to usher in everlasting righteousness after the end of the millennium or 7 x 360 / 365.2422 = 6.90 years or 2520 days. The first time as indicated by just the threescore and two weeks, Messiah was cut off, but not for himself, but for the people. And the people of the prince destroying the city and the sanctuary must be a future destruction during God's time of wrath after the Millennium, not the destruction in 70 AD which was not by the people of the Messiah the Prince.
Alexander the great
And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Daniel 8:21In 334 BC (-333) Alexander the great broke the back of the Persian empire, fulfilling prophecy. Thought that God must use the negative numbers in deference to the B.C. numbers as we have a prophecy starting in -444 and one in -333 by Daniel. And -444 + -333 = -777. Also note that 2300 solar years as opposed to sacred are indicated by the sun rising and falling in evenings and mornings in prophecy when added to -333 = 1967, the starting year for Daniel's secondary fulfillment of his 70th week prophecy.
-Shalom