Hello John and Doves,
We've had several letters recently about
"appointed dates", "appointed times" and 'hints' to the
timing of these. In this letter, I've written about
the Triumphal Entry - an "appointed day", Daniel's 70th
week, the sixty-two week and seven week time periods of
Daniel, the moat around Jerusalem and how King Herod may
have fulfilled part of Daniels' prophecy, Jesus' fulfillment
of Daniel's prophecy, and what still remains to be fulfilled
in the 70th week.
This is very much a High Watch time period!
Fay's letter 19 Mar 2023 "Israel Unrepentant.
Hosea 6 Resurrection Sunday?" is one such recent
letter. Fay writes about the Lord raising us up on the
third day - pointing us towards "the end of winter,
beginning of spring....The reference to winter AND
spring showers points to the time of year that we are
entering....On our western calendars, Good Friday
is April 7th with Resurrection Sunday falling on April
9th. April 9th falls on the fourth day of
Passover."
Israel
Unrepentant. Hosea 6. Resurrection Sunday?
https://www.fivedoves.com/letters/mar2023/fay319-17.htm
And Garry B's letter 19 Mar 2023 "The
"Appointed Day" Will Come", he wrote, "Jesus revealed to us
in (John 4:34-36) that the "appointed month" that
includes the "appointed day" for the resurrection &
rapture to occur is the month of Nisan which is
the first month on God's Sacred Year lunar calendar."
And he ends his letter with "We are told in the Scriptures
that the "appointed day" for the resurrection & rapture
of His elect Body of Christ Church will come during the
"appointed month " of Nisan on God's Sacred Year lunar
calendar. We are also told "the day will come as
a snare" upon the whole world who are not watching. But we
know that day is coming during the month of Nisan...."
Other letters point to this time period - the
month of Nisan, and to specific days: Day 1 (1 Nisan), Day
10 (10 Nisan, Passover (starts eve of 14 Nisan), Feast of
Unleavened Bread (starts 15 Nisan), Feast of Firstfruits,
the whole of Passover Week - "for seven days you shall
eat unleavened bread"..."On the first day you shall have a
holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work...On
the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any
ordinary work." Leviticus 23:7,8 - all of these
"appointed" days are in the month of Nisan. God
designated Nisan as the first month of the religious year.
The High Holy days are prophetic days -
appointed days of the Lord. But there are other days
that have been appointed by God. That are also of very
great significance.
The Triumphal Entry:
Jesus' Triumphal Entry was not on a High Holy
day - yet it was most certainly an "appointed day".
Jesus sent two disciples to find the donkey and
colt - this fulfilled the prophecy "Say to the Daughter of
Zion, 'See, your King comes to you, righteous and
victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a cold, the
foal of a donkey." (Zechariah 9:9) We call this
Palm Sunday, the day Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem
and hailed "Hosanna", but our day doesn't always line up
with the 10th of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar.
The Appointed Day:
In Luke 19:41, 42 "And when He drew near and
saw the city, He wept over it saying, "Would that
you, even you, had known on THIS DAY that things that make
for peace! But now they are hidden from
your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your
enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you
and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the
ground, you and your children with you. And they will
not leave one stone upon another in you, because YOU
DID NOT KNOW THE TIME OF YOUR VISITATION."
Daniel's 70 Weeks:
The prophet Daniel told us about seventy weeks
decreed for the people of Israel and for Jerusalem - the
seventy weeks were prophesied to "finish the transgression,
to make an end of sins, to make atonement for iniquity, to
bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and
prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." Daniel
9:24
In Daniel chapter 9:25: "Know therefore and
understand, that from the issuance of the decree to restore
and rebuild Jerusalem, until the Messiah, the Prince, shall
be seven weeks and sixty-two
weeks. The street shall be built again and
a moat (some translations have wall) There
are two distinct time periods here. Sir Isaac
Newton believed these were separate for a specific
reason.
A possibility for these two time
periods:
Sixty-two weeks is 434 years. Seven weeks
is 49 years. A total of 483 years. The
decree to restore/rebuild Jerusalem was the 434
years. The rebuilding the street and the moat
was the 49 years.
The sixty-two weeks plus the seven weeks takes
us to the start of the 70th week - the Messiah begins His
ministry at the start of the 70th week, in the middle of the
week He is crucified which brings about a new covenant with
the Jewish people (the old Abrahamic covenant was one of
written rules and laws); the new/second covenant was written
on their hearts. (Jeremiah 31:33: "but this
shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put
my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts,
and will be their God, and they shall be my people.")
A covenant with many. Daniel 9:27 Jesus ends the
sacrifices and offering in the middle of the 70th week (1260
days of ministry) - He is the last Passover lamb chosen on
10 Nisan (the traditional day the Jews choose their
unblemished lamb and take to the High Priest); He is
crucified and The Temple curtain to the Holy of Holies is
torn in two - signifying Jesus is the High Priest and none
other is needed. He is the Way to God.
Many have looked at Daniel's prophecy and
looked back at various decrees to "restore and rebuild
Jerusalem" - here is one such author who believes that
"Artaxerxes' seventh year began in 458 B.C. and extended
into 457 B.C. and that the dates Scripture records in
connection with this decree - those for Ezra's departure for
Jerusalem and for his arrival there - fall well within 457
B.C." He wrote, "...we can with confidence ascertain
the B.C. date of the seventh year of Artaxerxes'
reign."
Ministry
Magazine | Establishing the date 457 B.C
Taking this year, 457 B.C. and adding 434 years
(sixty-two weeks) we come to 23 B.C. Then adding 49
years (seven weeks), we come to 26 A.D. Herod reigned from 40 BC to 4 BC. He
died in 4 BC. Herod rebuilt the temple,
the streets and the moat of Jerusalem.
Herod began building the temple in about 19
B.C. "Josephus records that Herod, in the eighteenth
year of his reign (20-19 BC) gave a speech to the people in
which he proposed to rebuild Zerubbabel's temple temple in
gratitude for the fact that he had, "by the will of God,
brought the Jewish nation to such a state of prosperity as
it has never known before."
But What About The Moat?:
It could be that this moat described by
Josephus was the one mentioned in the prophecy in the Book
of Daniel ... "Antonia's Fort was located south of
a moat and on a rock 25 meters high. It
was located exactly where the Dome of the Rock is today...it
was the work of King Herod....Josephus
describes how Herod in 38 BC attacked the temple from the
north, in the same way as Pompey (Pompey filled in the
moat and attacked the temple on the Sabbath in 63
BC)...Josephus goes on to write about Titus in 70 AD
filling in the moat too to attack the temple. So
Herod had "built again the moat" after he filled it in to
attack the temple - as Titus followed him and filled it in
again in his attack years later on the temple.
The
Fortress of Antonia was built on the Rock under the
Dome.
"Herod was one of the greatest builders of antiquity.."
The
Temple of Herod | Religious Studies Center
Jesus Ministry and the 70th
Week:
Many believe that Jesus began His ministry in
26 A.D. - 3 and a half years before He was crucified on
Passover, 30 A.D.
"The Gospel of John records that Jesus cleansed
the temple at the outset of his ministry
as a symbol that he came in power and with authority, and
Jesus used this occasion to teach of his eventual death and
resurrection from the dead (John 2:13-25). Following this
cleansing of the temple, the Jews asked Jesus for a sign of
his authority. According to the Gospel of John:
"Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and
in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews,
Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt
thou rear it up in three days?" So, Herod had been
working on this temple for forty six years - it wasn't
completed until about 63 AD.
If this occurred early in Jesus' ministry, 26
AD, then going back 46 years puts the date at about 20 BC.
The time that Herod announced he was going to rebuild the
temple.
IF the above dates are correct (approximately)
we can see that there were "appointed" dates for the times
given in Daniel. And that would include the arrival of
the Messiah.
Just like Daniel knew when the Babylonian
captivity would end for the Jewish people (exactly 70
years), and the Magi knew to watch for and follow the King
star...as the prophets told of the times to watch for
'things' to happen.
The Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon that he
would not die until he had seen the Messiah - Jesus.
When Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the Temple as
required by Jewish law, Simeon prophesied over Him, "This
child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall and many
others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God,
but many will oppose Him. As a result, the deepest
thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword
will pierce your very soul." Luke 2:34, 35 And
Anna, a prophet, overhead Simeon in the Temple - "...and she
began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone
who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue
Jerusalem." Luke 2:36,38
So, it wasn't just the Pharisees, the High
Priests, and the Sadducee who could have known about the
coming Messiah - most of the 'average' Jews did too.
"In the ancient Jewish community, education for children
took a high priority...This dedication to education in the
Jewish community made them one of the most literate
communities during the time period....Because Scripture is
the Divine revelation of God, the Jewish community put
emphasis on learning the Scripture from an early age."
"The ancient Jews began the education of their children at
the age of five to seven....'At five years old, Scripture;
at ten years, Mishnah; at thirteen, the commandments; at
fifteen, Talmud....but the Rabbis felt that a child was
never too young to begin hearing, learning and being
impressed with the words of Scripture." Educating the
children primarily fell to the father in the family.
Religious festivals, synagogue services, etc. allowed
even more opportunities for learning. "The backbone of
all ancient Jewish education was Scripture alone."
Jewish education was "entirely religious education."
"The Jews were 'the people of the book' " - not all had a
Torah, but it was engraven in their minds and hearts through
oral teaching. And during Jesus' ministry, many
followed Him during His ministry, listening to His teachings
and some even believed that He was the Messiah. Simeon
and Anna were aware of a coming Messiah - as were all of the
Jewish people. They learned about the coming Messiah
at an early age.
The Jewish people knew the prophecies of their
coming Messiah - but they pictured Him as a warrior king who
would crush their enemies and free them from the yoke of the
Romans/Caesar. They questioned Jesus as being "the one
Moses wrote about in the Law" saying "Nazareth! Can
anything good come from there?" John 1:46 In
John 1:11 "Jesus came to His own, and His own people did not
receive Him." "He was in the world, and though the
world was made through Him, the world did not recognize
Him" John 1:10
The day of Jesus' "triumphal entry" into
Jerusalem - He stopped and wept - and said that IF they had
KNOWN ON THIS DAY! If they had been watching - they
would have known the day of His arrival. But because
they didn't...."but now it is hidden from your eyes."
Luke 19:42
This tells us that there was an appointed day
for Jesus to show up - to enter Jerusalem as King. But
the seventieth week was not to be totally fulfilled. Jesus
knew this.
Mike
P had a very interesting link to a blog on 19 Mar 23: "Lamb
Selection Day". In this blog we read that the Jewish
people - "Spiritually they were blind to their true
condition...they needed salvation from sin and
death, not from Roman oppressors. "They
were still looking for a physical king. They were
desiring and hoping for someone to change their current
oppressed condition. They were sure the long-awaited
Messiah would come in the form of a militaristic king.
One who would sit on an earthly throne. The throne of
King David - and reign in Jerusalem over a renewed Davidic
kingdom."
Lamb
Selection Day….. – It Is Finished
Jesus did
bring an end to transgression and sin and He did make
atonement. But He did not bring in everlasting
righteousness, or seal the vision and prophecy and was not
anointed the Most Holy. (Transgression is
violation of a law or commandment and atonement is
reparation or amends for an offense or injury.) No
longer did the Jewish people need to follow the covenant
with Abraham...they had a new covenant - written in their
hearts. The rent curtain showed them this.
"The day Jesus entered Jerusalem was actually
called "lamb selection day."..In the Old Testament, on the
10th of Nisan, families selected their lambs in the late
afternoon for Passover. Jesus also rode into the city
int he late afternoon that day offering Himself as the Lamb
(Mark 11:11)" Lamb selection day is also our Palm
Sunday. Jesus was the last Passover lamb who takes
away the sin of the world and redeems us with His precious
blood.
Lamb
Selection Day….. – It Is Finished
Jesus being crucified on Passover - coming to
them as a lamb to the slaughter - most certainly would not
have been missed by the Jewish people. "..they grew up
abundantly schooled in Torah and the Old Testament
Scriptures..." It wouldn't have taken much for
them to make the connection.
Lamb
Selection Day….. – It Is Finished
So there is still more to be fulfilled in the
70th week of Daniel - Jesus needs to bring in
everlasting righteousness, seal up the prophecy and the
vision and be annointed as Most Holy, the King.
The Rest of the 70th Week:
So when will 'the rest' of the 70th week be
fulfilled? If we see this last week as a prophetic
clock, and this clock stopped when Jesus said 'they missed
Him and certain things are now concealed from their eyes',
this clock may start ticking again at the same moment it
stopped. Which was 10 Nisan. This would start
the last half of the 70th week - the Time of Jacob's
Trouble/The Great Tribulation.
It's been noted before on Doves that adding
1260 days to 10 Nisan ends up on Rosh Hashanah/Feast of
Trumpets 2026. April 1, 2023 plus 1260 days =
September 12, 2026
And adding 1290 days to 1 Nisan (the start of
the religious year) ends up on Shemini Atzeret, 2026 - the
last and greatest day of the Feast of Tabernacles.
This could be right at the start of the Millennium/Thousand
Years of Peace. March 23, 2023 plus 1290 days =
October 3, 2026.
Torah
Calendar
There have been many letters to Doves about
Shemini Atzeret. On the last day, the great day of the
feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying "if anyone is
thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes
in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow
rivers of living waters." John 7:37-38 Shemini
Atzeret is one of the 'solemn assemblies" named in
Leviticus; it is the least understood and most obscure of
the Biblical holidays.
Pastor Dana had a dream about a September
calendar back in 2020. On the calendar a hand wrote
"the solemn assembly". At the end of his dream he sees
Jesus in the clouds. He says he was told to pray for
three things - the last was for 'a great harvest'.
Revelation 1:7 says, "Behold, He is coming with
clouds, and every eye will see Him." This is the
second coming.
On 10 Nisan, Joshua led the nation of Israel
across the Jordan River into the Promised Land. Maybe
we will enter our "Promised Lane" on 10 Nisan.
Note: These dates may be off a bit - due
to sighting of the new moon, etc. And Jewish days
start at sunset and end the following day at
sunset.
Certainly not long to see how these Nisan 2023
days pan out. By the time this letter is with John's
Sunday, March 26 letters, March 23 will be past. Maybe
something has happened on March 22/23 and there will be a
ten day countdown to 10 Nisan?
We will certainly know by then when the new
moon was sighted for Nisan. And can count to the rest
of the days in Nisan.
With so much evil going on around us we are
certainly very close to the Rapture! And the start of
the Tribulation period.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
Maranatha!
Chance