TO GINO AND GM:
From Miriam Howard RE:
WHY JESUS HAD
TO FULFILL THE FIRST HALF OF DANIEL’S ‘70th WEEK’
Notice
carefully that Daniel 9:24
clearly tells the reader that “seventy weeks are
determined upon thy people and thy holy city in order to FINISH”… the
seven requirements listed.
This
plain and clear statement is not open to interpretation. It is also clear from
the Bible that it is ONLY the
substitutionary work of Christ’s shed blood on the Cross that could
accomplish and fulfill those seven stipulations of verse 24.
Therefore,
if one accepts the fact that it was the Lord Jesus Christ ONLY who could have
accomplished these requirements, then one must realize and
accept the fact that He did His work within the 70th week,
as commanded by the prophecy, The text itself clearly says He came into Israel
at the end of the 483
years, which were 69 sabbatical cycles which ended on Elul 29, 26
A.D. The sabbatical cycles were not
interrupted, as the next sabbatical cycle
of 7 years, was the beginning of the 70th week,
which opened the next day on Tishri 1, of
26 A.D., and began new Jewish
year 3787, which, of course, was a 7th year.
Yeshua
the Messiah, came into the nation of Israel in a year of perfect order,
in the Spring of 27 A.D., 3787, at the head of the Sacred Year, and accomplished and fulfilled the 7 requirements of verse 24 three
years later, in the Spring of 30 A.D. Jewish
year 3790, again in a year of
perfect order, beginning at the head of the Sacred
year, in the MIDDLE of the 7 year Sabbatical cycle.
>From Tishri 1, 26 A.D. to Nisan 1, 30 A.D. is exactly 3.5 years.
It
is also important to realize that like everything in the Bible itself, this 4 verse prophecy of Daniel 9, unfolds
in chronological, progressive order.
The
prophecy begins with the statement of the overall time it will take to bring
the prophecy to consummation for both the city of Jerusalem and its
people. Then
it states the 7 things which must be completed within that
stated time. Then it predicts when the Person who could fulfill those
stated requirements would come to the nation of Israel
in order to do His appointed work. THEN, and this is very important to notice in the unfolding order of
things….THAT PERSON IS CUT OFF! JESUS, THE ROCK OF ISRAEL, THE MESSIAH YESHUA,
THE SAVIOR, REDEEMER AND KING OF ISRAEL IS CUT OFF…AFTER…He
accomplished what He was sent to do.
Always remember what national Israel
said very near to Nisan 10, just before Jesus rode
into Jerusalem on the donkey at the beginning ‘Passion Week’…
“We will not have
this man to reign over us” Luke 19:14. Then, and
this is really important to note - in the early morning on the day of
the Crucifixion, remember what national Israel
yelled out to Pilate in Luke 23:21, “Crucify him, crucify him” and “When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that
rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the
multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to
it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our
children.” Matt 27:24-25.
Do you realize that that these were the moments
in time that Israel’s own Messiah the Prince was “cut-off”
by national Israel by their own rejection
and turning their backs on His Person even before He was hung on the Cross. Israel well knew who Jesus was at the VERY BEGINNING of His
ministry. He was baptized by John the Baptist at the very beginning of His
ministry in the early Spring, at which time the Father’s voice from
Heaven announced “this
is My Son in whom I am well pleased,” and of course
the Holy Spirit in the form of the dove, descending upon Yeshua, also validated
just who He was, Matt 3:17. Yeshua, Israel’s
Messiah, became ‘the anointed One’ at the beginning of His ministry. In Matt 4:1-4, immediately
upon being baptized, Yeshua was led into the wilderness to be tested for 40
days. At the end of His time of testing, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming into
Jerusalem, in John 1, most likely at the end of
Nisan 7, beginning of Nisan 8, when all the priests and levites of Israel were
presented for service, after their yearly
consecration beginning on Nisan 1 thru Nisan 7,
(Lev 8:33,35; 2 Chron 29:17).
The point is this, national
Israel, represented by the scribes and the Pharisees, including the majority of
the priesthood, rejected their own Messiah the Prince from
the beginning of His ministry to the end of it. But the majority of the people themselves,
turned their backs on Him on His way to the Cross.
Fact: Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, Israel’s Messiah, Savior, Redeemer and King is STILL ‘CUT OFF’
FROM NATIONAL ISRAEL
THROUGH THIS VERY DAY…AND
WILL CONTINUE TO BE ‘CUT
OFF’ FROM NATIONAL ISRAEL UNTIL THE END OF TRIBULATION. If Yeshua walked into the city of Jerusalem today
… BEFORE their recompense is poured out
upon their heads, before their repentance, before their reconciliation and before
their restoration back to their Holy God, Lord Yeshua and His holy Land, national Israel
would STILL turn their backs upon Him and immediately call for His arrest,
imprisonment and probably for His immediate death, except for the possible limitation
imposed by political correctness!
While it is true, that the Holy Spirit has called out a
remnant of precious Jews all over the world to the Lord during these past 1,983
years in the Age of Grace, they are just that
- a remnant – about which by the way, the Bible says they are no longer Jew, nor Greek, male or female, but now are included in the BODY of Christ, Gal 3:28,
Col 3:11.
During the first half of the
Tribulation, which is called in Scripture “the travail of the woman” in Is 21:3; Jer 4:31; 13:21; 30:6; Hos 13:13; Mic 4:19,*5:30; *1 Thess 5:3; *Rev 12:2, another precious
remnant will be called out during the “travail” –
inside the first half of the Tribulation only, as no one comes to salvation in
the last half. This remnant will be made
fit to enter their long-promised Kingdom of David, by turning to and finally accepting their own dear Messiah the Prince. [At first, the Virgin Mary of Judah “travailed with child” in order to physically deliver Yeshua
Messiah, as the Savior and Redeemer to national Israel
and the whole world. Finally, “the woman”
Judah must “travail” one
more time with her “Manchild”
in order to “spiritually deliver”
Israel’s King- the Son of David
– “up to God and His throne,”
as Rev 12:4-6 says. This denotes the physical opening of the
Messianic Kingdom in Heaven.]
Jesus, Israel’s Messiah,
will remain ‘cut off’
from national Israel until AFTER the end of the 70th week
of Daniel, at the end of the Tribulation. After His return to Israel and the world, and after the angels have brought in the Jewish Tribulation remnant
from the four corners of the Earth, Matt 24:30-31. Yeshua will take out their stony heart and put
in a new heart of flesh, and will sprinkle clean water upon them and place His
spirit in them, Ezk 36:25-27, which is “national
conversion” - “national
salvation” when “national
acceptance” of Him will finally take place and national reconciliation and restoration of all Israel will occur at last, bringing them back to their
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The beautiful words of Hosea 2:14-23,
are a proof text that tells the reader about the end of the Tribulation, when the remnant of national
Israel will all be gathered over on the other side of the
Jordan, when the reconciliation and restoration of that believing remnant will
take place and when Almighty God finally recognizes that
holy Tribulation remnant as joining the righteous group of “all Israel”
–from their very beginning through to the end of the end of the
Tribulation as the apostle Paul wrote in Rom 11:26. Hosea 2 says this about the
Tribulation remnant: “And I will
sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not
obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God,” verse 23. ( “All Israel” will finally
include all the saints of national Israel from the beginning of
Abraham thru to the end of the Tribulation. After the Tribulation, God will
never have to deal with Israel’s sins ever
again. All Israel will be put into a pure,
sinless, human body just as Adam and Eve had before the Fall. All their children, born
generation after generation forever, will be pure with no sin
nature, just as Adam’s progeny would have been except for his sin.)
After that, Messiah will
join back the broken stick of Ephraim (the ten northern tribes) to the Tribes
of Judah and Benjamin in order to once again form “the whole house of Israel,” Ezek 37.
It is right there at that time that Messiah the Prince will be making His first covenant with all Israel
since the ones He made clear back in Old Testament times, and the New Covenant
that He brought in at the Cross. (*See list at end of God’s ETERNAL covenants previously made with His own people, at
the beginning.)
This is the true peace covenant that Messiah the
Prince will make with the redeemed nation of Israel, only AFTER recompense is poured out upon the
Tribulation remnant during the 7 years of the Tribulation, which will cause that
remnant to repent, which will bring them into reconciliation and restoration
back to the God of their fathers, who is Messiah the Prince, which will then
allow Him to finally be able to make this eternal covenant with the whole
nation from their beginning : Ezek 37:26… “Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an
everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and
will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.”
After all this is accomplished, Messiah the Prince will no longer be ‘cut
off’ from national Israel. In fact, the new hearts and new spirit of the Tribulation remnant will allow
them to finally recognize and accept their own dear Messiah the
Prince, and fulfill this prophecy in Zech 12:10… “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
the spirit of grace and of
supplications: and they shall
look upon me whom they have pierced, and
they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
Messiah the Prince is NOT THE ONE making
covenant with wicked, national Israel during the 7 years of the Tribulation,
neither would wicked Israel even accept a covenant from Him in their present sinful nature. The Lord has NEVER made any formal covenant with national Israel when they are recognized as being out of covenant relationship with
Him!
Messiah the Prince “is
removed” from out of this prophecy at the end of the
first sentence of verse 26 (concluding
with the colon in the KJV).
Carefully
notice that after
the colon in verse 26, the prophecy telescopes
down to 40 years later, when…
“and the people of the prince that shall come shall
destroy the city and the sanctuary;” Of
course, that is a foretelling of the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and
the Second Temple by Roman General Titus in 70 A.D. Then, notice after the
semicolon…the
prophecy telescopes ALL THE WAY to the end of the
70th week – the end of the Tribulation - as it uses
the word ‘end’ twice in the
single line: “and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the
war desolations are determined.”
There is confusion and misunderstanding about who the person is that
brings in “the covenant” is verse 27!
Let’s
return back to the unfolding, progressive order of this prophecy, because recognition of this order totally clears up any
misunderstanding of the prophecy.
Verse 27
telescopes down to the beginning…
of the Tribulation…
the
middle – which begins the last
half of the ‘70th week, and finally down to the end of the 7 years of the
Tribulation, which closes
the last
half of
Daniel’s 70th week.
“And he shall
confirm the covenant with many for one week:” Again, this first line of verse 27 to the colon (in the KJV) is a telescoping to the beginning of the Tribulation
and the first man who brings in “the covenant” to national Israel.
The Bible student should study Daniel 11,
beginning with verse 21 which is a
‘personality profile’ of the first man
that comes into Israel, who is the antichrist. Daniel 11, like
all other chapters in the Bible unfolds in chronological, progressive order. Daniel 11:21 thru around verse 28
is a description of the first half of the Tribulation - which the Bible
calls “the travail of the woman.” The last half of the
Tribulation, beginning in the middle of the 7 years, is
the last half of Daniel’s 70th week. Its description begins around verse 28, at least by verse 31,
to the end of chapter 11.
It is very important to realize there are two
personages in one human body which represent “the
man of sin” in the Tribulation. The first man is the antichrist. He
is only a political figure who comes out of the area
directly surrounding the nation of Israel, because Daniel 11
says in several places that he goes in and out of his own
country during the first 3 ½ years. This first
personality is given NO authority over the whole world by the Lord. He
does NOT require people to worship him. He
performs no signs or wonders. He is NOT a religious figure, only a political
one, whom I believe is an Arab leader who obviously carries with him some clout
by which he is able to quell the present jihadist rage against Israel, for the
first half of the Tribulation. I fully
believe he is an Arab leader who carries with him the power to grant “peace and safety” to national Israel during the first 3.5 years.
He is the one who is
making the covenant with
Israel, along with the scornful men who rule Jerusalem.
(I believe the Lord is using the antichrist as a type of restrainer for Israel
– holding back the terrible hatred and rage of radical Islam during the
first half, since the restraining power of the Holy Spirit has been set aside
beginning with the rapture of God’s true Church, in order that
Israel’s eyes can focus on the terrible judgments of wrath coming out of
Heaven from the Lord Himself.)
It is very important to read and understand Isaiah 28, beginning with verse 7 thru to the end of the chapter. Proper understanding of
this one chapter will totally clear up any confusion about why Messiah the Prince
is NOT, and NEVER could
be the Person who makes the wicked covenant
with totally wicked national Israel
during the Tribulation!
Note carefully these words
in verses 14 and 15: “Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people
which is in Jerusalem. Because
ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell
are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it
shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under
falsehood have we hid ourselves:”
Messiah the Prince
Himself would NEVER make a lying covenant
with death and hell with national Israel!
The Hebrew word “scourge”
in the text above is Strong’s # H7752
Showt, and is “a whip of chastisement for
national judgment.”
Its Greek equivalent is Strong’s #5416 Phragellion,
which is from the Latin ‘flagellum’ which again is a
whip made up of small cords, and is what Yeshua used when cleaning up the
Temple in John 2:15. Yeshua Himself was whipped with this instrument
as were some of the disciples. It was a favorite ‘weapon’ of the
Romans, and was connected to their ancient ‘cat-o-nine tails.’ The word “scourge” here is a symbol
of God’s severe punishment of recompense poured out upon wicked Israel (and the whole world), in order to attempt to get the
attention of the future remnant of both Jews and Gentiles to turn to Him.
Notice the “scornful”
leaders are boasting that when God’s
“overflowing scourge” of
severe judgment arrives … “when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under
falsehood have we hid ourselves:”
To GM:
The Hebrew word “overflowing”
is Strong’s #H7857, Shataph, which
means to “wash off, rinse and engulf.” This word “overflowing” is the very same root word as “flood”
(Shataph) towards the end of Daniel 9:26…"and the end thereof shall be
with a flood….” where
the Holy Spirit directly counters the foolish boast of Israel’s
scornful leaders – in Is 28:15 !
Now, keeping to the order of the text, the remaining portion of
verse 27 begins with the opening of the last half of Daniel’s 70th
week, with the entry into Jerusalem of the second personality
who inhabits the body of the first man
- the antichrist.
Revelation 13
is a total description of the rise of the BEAST and the FALSE PROPHET during the last half of
Daniel’s 70th week, beginning in the MIDDLE
of the Tribulation. There, the Beast is
described as coming out of the sea with seven heads
and ten horns, which sea is the Mediterranean Sea, representing
the Eastern leg of the ancient Roman Empire. The False
Prophet is described as coming out of the land,
which is to be understood as the land of eretz Israel. (Revelation is a JEWISH book, as the Body of
Christ has been removed from the scene and is not mentioned after Revelation 5, until she is seen coming back with Christ in chapter 19.) The false prophet is Jewish and most likely a rabbi whom I believe is a
member of the Sanhedrin at this very moment. National
Israel would NEVER listen to nor follow any religious
prophet other than a Jew. ALL of God’s holy prophets
to the nation of Israel mentioned in Scripture
were Jewish. Before Israel was a people, Enoch, Noah, Job,
and Abram, before he was called a Jew, were all
Godly Gentile prophets.
Balaam was also a Gentile prophet but then ended up as an apostate. It is out of God’s order for the false prophet to be a Gentile,
coming up out of the land of Israel at this most key time in
Israel’s history. It is the false
prophet who performs most of the signs and wonders listed in Revelation 13, and the idea of ‘the mark of
the beast’ is conceived by him, not the Beast, which is NOT
implemented until after the opening of Daniel’s 70th
week, in the MIDDLE of the Tribulation. His total purpose is to
‘validate’ the authority and power of the Beast, who has ONLY
been given authority over the whole world for the last 42 months of the
Tribulation, (verse 5) - the last half of Daniel’s
70th week of 1260 days/3.5 years.
In Revelation 17,
John the Revelator describes “the mother of harlots” and “the beast with seven
heads and ten horns.” The Bible is a book of geography (and of
medicine, math and science, etc). The Holy Spirit NEVER
changes His geographical locations of places and cities. The cities of ancient Babylon and Assyria are STILL in the same
location today as they were at the beginning. Though Babylon is a symbol of the wicked ‘world system,’ it is also the name of a real city which will lie in the same
area at the end as it was in the beginning. Remember that “the woman of wickedness”
in Zechariah 5:11 is taken to “her place in Shinar,”
which lies in the ancient and original location of Babylon. Shinar is
mentioned as the location of the ancient land which was the site of the ancient
city of Babel, Nimrod’s
first kingdom, in Genesis 10:10. In Isaiah 14:3-7,
the Holy Spirit is describing the end of the
Beast at the end of the 7 years of
Tribulation, and the end of Daniel’s 70th
week. He calls him “the
king of Babylon.” Towards the end of that chapter, the Holy
Spirit again references the Beast at the end of the
7 years by calling him by his most frequent name in Bible prophecy…’the Assyrian.’ In the middle of that chapter- the scene
changes to Lucifer in Hell.
It is ancient and original Babylon herself that is “the mother of
harlots.” She is
the progenitor of
ALL evil, all ‘isms,’ all occultism
and demon worship, etc. Everything that is evil in the world originated out of ancient Babylon.
That is the reason her territory “will be made desolate and
a curse forever.”
Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 says
this: “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be
done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof
it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of
old time, which was before us.”
Ancient Assyria and
ancient Babylon had a
builder, his name is Nimrod. He was the world’s FIRST king. He also is called in Genesis 10,
“king Asshur.” Verses 10 and 12 describe
the cities that Nimrod built in and around Assyria and Babylon. He
is called there “a
mighty hunter.”
Hal Lindsey once explained that in the Hebrew -
“a mighty hunter” was “a
mighty hunter of souls in rebellion against the Lord.” Nimrod’s wife was
Semiramis, who is depicted in pictographs as sitting in a chair with her son,
Tammuz, on her lap. The original cult of
“the queen of heaven” began
with her.
John
the Revelator gives a
hint about the person of the Beast in Revelation 17:8-11. In
verse 8 John says this about the Beast two times: “The beast
that thou sawest was, and is not; and
shall ascend
out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the
earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the
foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” In verse 11,
John repeats this phrase for a third time: “And the beast that was,
and is not,
even he is the
eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into
perdition.” This is a past, present
(in John’s day) and future reference
about the Beast during the last half of
Daniel’s 70th week.
John is clearly telling us that the Beast was
a king on the Earth
at the beginning, who is not present during
John’s day in the Roman Empire, but would be returning at the end.
Revelation 13:2 says that one of the
Beast’s seven heads was “wounded unto death.”
I believe that the ancient spirit of Nimrod, from
out of Hell, who was the world’s FIRST
king will enter the Beast’s “head wound unto death,” and he will become
the world’s LAST
king. Remember that Revelation 13
begins to take place in the middle of the Tribulation,
as Satan, the great dragon, is now present on
the Earth, after having been cast
down and confined to Earth, along with his angels in Revelation
12:8-10. It is the dragon who gives the beast his power, his seat
and his great authority, in 13:2
(for only 42 months).
Again, returning back to the chronological order of
Daniel’s prophecy, beginning at the opening
of the last half of the ‘70th week, the rest of 9:27 says… “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.”
Following the clear, progressive and chronological
order of Daniel 9:24 through 27,
totally clears up any confusion and misunderstanding of this short but vital
prophecy for the believer. Actually, the
four verses actually become quite simple to understand when one compares
Scripture with Scripture.
Thank you for your questions and comments, GM and
Gino. I hope this brought a bit of
clarification to your concerns.
Following is a list of God’s ETERNAL covenants which He has already made with His own people:
1. Edenic
Covenant: (Gen 1:28)
2. Adamic
Covenant (Gen 3:15)
3. Noahic
Covenant (Gen 9:1)
4. Abrahamic
Covenant (Gen 15:18, including the covenant
of circumcision)
5. Palestinian
Covenant (Gen 30:3)
6. Davidic
Covenant (2 Sam 7:16)
7. New Covenant (Heb 8:8,10)
8. The future Covenant of Peace (Ezek 34:25; 37:26; Hos 2:18)
“But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her
sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee
upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” Isaiah
49:14-16
Miriam
Howard
September,
2013