Ted Porter (28 Feb 2013)
"RE: GM / Pineman - When did Jesus become Messiah and When was Messiah Cut Off and is our Rapture Watch for April 6th or March 21st, 2013?"

RE: GM / Pineman - When did Jesus become Messiah and When was Messiah Cut Off?
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/feb2013/tedp226.htm
 
First regarding the paragraph:
 
One quite old school of thought holds that Jesus became Messiah when He was baptized at the start of His ministry.  Three and a half years later He was cut off from God the Father when He was crucified with the sins of the world.  That leaves three and a half years in the future to be fulfilled at some unknown time.  Counting backward 62 weeks plus 7 weeks of solar years from 30 AD brings us to a year a Persian King made a proclamation taken as fulfilling prophecy.
 
The last sentence should have had after "7 weeks" the phrase, "plus another half a week".  Which would have made the whole paragraph read like:
 
One quite old school of thought holds that Jesus became Messiah when He was baptized at the start of His ministry.  Three and a half years later He was cut off from God the Father when He was crucified with the sins of the world.  That leaves three and a half years in the future to be fulfilled at some unknown time.  Counting backward 62 weeks plus 7 weeks plus another half a week of solar years from 30 AD brings us to a year a Persian King made a proclamation taken as fulfilling prophecy.
 
Hopefully this did not cause any confusion. 
 
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Also, I was curious whether I had planted the seed to where anyone was going to challenge my contention of using 360-day years instead of solar or Gregorian or Hebrew years regarding the following statement made near the end of my post.   Many of us would presume that Hebrew years would be the most justifiable of the three.
 
Subtracting two and a half 360-day years which is 900 days from September 23, 2015 brings us to April 6, 2013.
 
If one does use solar or Gregorian or Hebrew it leads to quite interesting results.  Subtracting 2 1/2 solar years brings us to March 23, 2013.  Subtracting 2 1/2 Gregorian years by the month also brings us to March 23, 2013.  Subtracting 2 1/2 Hebrew years from September 23, 2015, which is Tishri 10, brings us to Nisan 10 which is March 21, 2013.  So much pointing to this exact same time period.
 
But can using Hebrew years be justified?  Since there were no posts on 5Doves today, thought I'd post now my expected reply.
 
Okay, first covering some ground.
 
1.  I can justify using 360-day years for the 7 weeks of Daniel 9 leading up to the second coming of Messiah based on His first coming.  The 62 weeks of Daniel leading up to Messiah at His conception in 5 BC had to be in 360-day years because only that will take us back to Nehemiah's commandment to build Jerusalem.  It doesn't work with solar or modern Hebrew years.
 
2.  I also have confirmation going the other way from His conception in 5 BC.  Adding the "two day" dispensation of Grace of Man's "week" on planet Earth which separates the 62 weeks of Daniel from the 7 weeks of Daniel in solar or Hebrew years brings one to 1996 AD.  Only by using 360-day years will one arrive at 1967 AD.
 
However, the 2 1/2 "times" are not a listed part of this timeline nor is the same terminology used.  In fact the period of time represented by "time", "times" and "half a time" only occurs twice in the Bible, once in Daniel and once in Revelation.  While the substituting the similar phrase "dividing of times" for "half a time" only occurs once in the Bible, that being in the book of Daniel.  They are listed chronologically below along with the Strong's numbers. 
 
Dan 7:25 And he shall speak 4449 [great] words 4406 against 6655 the most High 5943, and shall wear out 1080 the saints 6922 of the most High 5946, and think 5452 to change 8133 times 2166 and laws 1882: and they shall be given 3052 into his hand 3028 until 5705 a time 5732 and times 5732 and the dividing 6387 of time 5732.
 
 
Dan 12:7 And I heard 8085 the man 376 clothed 3847 in linen 906, which [was] upon 4605 the waters 4325 of the river 2975, when he held up 7311 his right hand 3225 and his left hand 8040 unto heaven 8064, and sware 7650 by him that liveth 2416 for ever 5769 that [it shall be] for a time 4150, times 4150, and an half 2677; and when he shall have accomplished 3615 to scatter 5310 the power 3027 of the holy 6944 people 5971, all these [things] shall be finished 3615.
 
Rev 12:14 And 2532 to the woman 1135 were given 1325 two 1417 wings 4420 of a great 3173 eagle 105, that 2443 she might fly 4072 into 1519 the wilderness 2048, into 1519 her 846 place 5117, where 3699 she is nourished 5142 for a time 1563 2540, and 2532 times 2540, and 2532 half 2255 a time 2540, from 575 the face 4383 of the serpent 3789.
 
As one will note, in all three verses the same word for "time" and "times" is used in both the Hebrew and in the Greek, again confirming the count is one time plus one time plus a half a time for a total of two and a half times.  Daniel 7:25 and Rev 12:14 have been taken as speaking of the same period of time, the Great Tribulation. 
 
As shown in Daniel 7:25, the tribulation saints are worn out by the horn that arises after the ten horns that come after the 4th kingdom of the Roman Empire.  This horn is described as having a more stout look than his fellows.
 
As shown in Revelation 12:14, the Bride of Christ escapes from the serpent in what we can interpret as the Rapture during what we take as the same 2 1/2 years as Daniel 7:25.
 
Now sandwiched between these two verses is a verse that appears to speak of a different period of time.  This is in the last chapter of Daniel after Daniel is told to seal the book.
 
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.  Daniel 12:4
 
This vision in Daniel 12:7 is believed to have taken place shortly before Daniel's death.  Daniel is believed to have died in 534 BC. 
 
http://creationwiki.org/Daniel
 
The man clothed in linen asks the question regarding a length of time.
 
And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?  Daniel 9:26
 
And in the next verse we are told the end of this period of time is when the POWER of the holy people is no longer scattered.
 
And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.  Daniel 9:27
 
So, 2.5 years being a "time" is not nearly enough time to account from 534 BC to when the POWER of Daniel's people was no longer scattered.  Instead, let's look at using a "time" as 1,000 years from God's reference point.
 
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
 
Now adding 2,500 360-days to 534 BC we have -534 + 1(because there is no zero year) + 2500*360/365.2422 (which is 2464 solar years) = 1931 AD.  
 
I know of no event in 1931 AD which points to the POWER of the holy people no longer being scattered.  In fact this was right before World War II when the Jews were POWERLESS to prevent the Holocaust.
 
Well then, let's try Hebrew years.  Adding 2,500 Hebrew year to 534 BC we have -534 + 1 + 2500 = 1967 AD.  Looks like a direct hit.  On June 6, 1967 AD the Jewish people in the tiny nation of Israel found themselves about to be invaded on several fronts.  In a preemptive strike, the Jewish people not only kept the invading armies from wiping out their country but recovered new ground including Jerusalem in the 6 day war.
 
Which means we are quite justified to interpret "times" as Hebrew years and not 360-day years.  This brings us then to March 21st, 2013 for the beginning of the fulfillment of Daniel 7:25 and Revelation 12:14. 
 
Are we finally at the end of our watching?  Is this finally Valerie's "Sky Blue 21"?    We don't have long to wait!
 
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Just for information, the following table had been constructed a while back to show the effect on the starting day for a 1260 day Great Tribulation based on an end date of September 23, 2015 and various number of days shortened, in increments of 45 days.  The start of the shortened days would correspond to the day it is believed an object from space will hit the earth and open up what is called the "bottomless pit" in the book of Revelation.
 

Days Shortened
9/23/2015 Start Shortened
1260 0 0 4/11/2012 9/23/2015
1215 45 1 4/26/2012 8/24/2015
1170 90 2 5/11/2012 7/25/2015
1125 135 3 5/26/2012 6/25/2015
1080 180 4 6/10/2012 5/26/2015
1035 225 5 6/25/2012 4/26/2015
990 270 6 7/10/2012 3/27/2015
945 315 7 7/25/2012 2/25/2015
900 360 8 8/9/2012 1/26/2015
855 405 9 8/24/2012 12/27/2014
810 450 10 9/8/2012 11/27/2014
765 495 11 9/23/2012 10/28/2014
720 540 12 10/8/2012 9/28/2014
675 585 13 10/23/2012 8/29/2014
630 630 14 11/7/2012 7/30/2014
585 675 15 11/22/2012 6/30/2014
540 720 16 12/7/2012 5/31/2014
495 765 17 12/22/2012 5/1/2014
450 810 18 1/6/2013 4/1/2014
405 855 19 1/21/2013 3/2/2014
360 900 20 2/5/2013 1/31/2014
315 945 21 2/20/2013 1/1/2014
270 990 22 3/7/2013 12/2/2013
225 1035 23 3/22/2013 11/2/2013
180 1080 24 4/6/2013 10/3/2013
135 1125 25 4/21/2013 9/3/2013
90 1170 26 5/6/2013 8/4/2013
45 1215 27 5/21/2013 7/5/2013
0 1260 28 6/5/2013 6/5/2013
 
So, if the start is 3/22/2013, that would mean there were 1035 shortened days and 225 non-shortened days and the object from space would hit the earth on November 2, 2013.
 
Regardless, let's keep looking up and praising the Lord in whatever our circumstances.
 
 
- Shalom
 
Ted Porter