Hello Donna Danna, John
and Doves,
This is a follow up to
some of Donna Danna's letter in response to my letter on
the 'daily'. Thank you, Donna for your very well
written and thought provoking letter.
However, we do
obviously, differ on 'parts' of End Times prophecy. I have written many time before that I
don't hold to all the mainstream eschatology beliefs - I
don't hold to all Dispensationalist beliefs about the End
Times. Seems like a few men told the many what to
believe. And we can study and question those beliefs
today if we choose to.
Concerning the Third
Temple, there are different 'camps' of Eschatology
teachers. For example, some say there will be a Third
Temple built. Some say there will not.
And there are some
Eschatology teachers who believe that the 'he' in Daniel
9:27 is Jesus. And others who believe 'he' is the
Antichrist. Who the subject is
changes the understanding/interpretation of that verse to a
very great degree. I believe 'He' is the Anointed One/Messiah/Jesus.
Daniel 9:27:
"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."
Jesus confirmed the New
Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31 - 34) in the hearts of the people
"for one week" (the 70th Week - the first half the 70th Week
(1260 days) was Jesus' ministry; the last half of the 70th
Week will be the Tribulation period (1260 days) to bring
Daniel's people to the belief in Jesus the Messiah; He
caused the 'necessity' of the sacrifices and oblations to
cease as He is the last Passover lamb and the curtain to the
Holy of Holies was rent in two. And He brought the
desolation in 70 A.D. The end of the
Tribulation/Second Coming will finish up the 6 things listed
for the 70 Weeks to complete for Daniel's people and the
Holy city, Jerusalem. (And the angel prophesied the
destruction of Jerusalem and the sanctuary with a 'flood' -
that is an army - this happened in 70 AD)
The sacrifices and
oblations continued until the Temple was destroyed because
Jesus was not accepted as the Messiah\King - but they were
no longer necessary for atonement of sin, etc.. And
they were not needed for reconciliation.
I fall into the group
that doesn't believe there will be a Third Temple built by
human hands. Jesus' body is the Temple. There is
no decree for a Third Temple. And nowhere in the
Tribulation is there a third temple being built or
desecrated or destroyed.
And since, I don't
believe there is a Third Temple, I asked the question,
'what was the angel referring to in Daniel 12:11?'
It's obviously for the 'end times' and the angel
would know exactly what to reveal/say.
Daniel 12:11: "And
from the time that the daily sacrifice
is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set
up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and
ninety days." The words in italics are
added in...so it would read: And from the time the
daily is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is
set up, one thousand two hundred and ninety days."
Historically, as Donna
pointed out, the continual or daily refers to the
sacrifices. BUT, there hasn't been a Temple for some
2,000 years. And there is no decree or building for
a third temple. So what was the angel referring
to? And because there has not been a Temple for some
2,000 years...what do the Jews do continually/daily?
They pray. And since they have not been allowed to
do much on the Temple Mount for the last few decades, what
do they do daily or continually? They pray at the
Western Wall. Daniel doesn't mention a sanctuary in
Daniel 12:11 like he does in Daniel 8:13 or 11:31.
Since this is a prophecy for the end times - long after
the Second Temple was destroyed....the angel would know
there would be no temple, no altar, no sanctuary in the
latter days....but he would know about the continual
prayers at the Western Wall. This is why I asked
Gino about this.
Also, Donna mentioned
Luke 21:20 in relation to Matthew 24:15.
Luke 21:20: "And
when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then
know that the desolation thereof is nigh."
Matthew 24:15: "When
ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation,
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place,
(whoso readeth, let him understand)
Luke left out the word
'abomination' because that's what 'the armies surrounding
Jerusalem' are - the abomination. These armies lay
siege to Jerusalem and take her - resulting in the
desolation.
It is accepted that
the four Gospels are parallel versions of each other -
some add things, some explain things, etc. Just looking at the
context in Luke 21, Matthew 24 and Mark 13 it is clear
that they are referring to the exact things, the exact
time period, the same prophecies.
Luke's writing shows
that he very much had Gentiles in mind. Jesus'
audience was Jews. Gentiles aren't familiar with
Jewish idioms and certain ways Jews say things. Luke
makes it very clear to them what Jesus meant in Matthew
24:15. Luke made it very clear to his Gentile
audience what Jesus meant.
When Jesus adds, "let
the reader understand", I believe this is why Luke wrote
what he did - because we would not have understood what
the Jewish audience understood.
As for Jerusalem,
remember the "Seventy weeks are determined upon they
people and upon thy holy city (Jerusalem)..." Daniel
9:24 The
Seventy Weeks are all about the Jewish people and
Jerusalem. Not the temple, not the
sanctuary.
The Seventy Weeks are
decreed/marked out for Daniel's people and his Holy City,
Jerusalem: 1) to stop their
transgression/rebellion, 2) to put an end to sin/sin
offering, 3) to make atonement for iniquity/guilt, 4) to
bring in everlasting righteousness/justice - to set up the
Messiah as the righteous judge/His government in
Jerusalem, 5) to seal up the vision/prophecy, and 6)
anoint the Most Holy Place (Jerusalem). (Strong's
Lexicon) (And Rev 21:22 tells us there is not temple
in the New Jerusalem. The Temple is the Lord and the
Lamb.)
These last days are
all about the Jewish people and Jerusalem. I try to
keep this in the forefront of my prophecy studies.
So Donna, we can see
that we differ quite a bit on End Times prophecy.
It's interesting to
look at and study this - even though we'll be Raptured
before this comes to pass.
Thank you for your
reply to my letter!
There are indeed, many
varying views on End Times prophecies! And each
'camp' has their own verses and interpretations. And
I see Luis Vega has a recent letter on a very similar
topic - I'll have to read that too.
These are my thoughts for
now....
Blessings!
Chance
.