Dan 8:18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.
Dan 8:19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the TIME APPOINTED the end shall be.
TIME APPOINTED: H4150, mo-ade', mo-ade', mo-aw-daw'
From H3259; properly an appointment, that is, a fixed time or season; specifically a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal (as appointed beforehand): - appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season, solemn (-ity), synagogue, (set) time (appointed).
God has His own time table, regardless of our schemes or our aspirations. We all are warned in the Book of James that we are subject to God’s plans, not the other way around.
Jas 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Jesus gave us a very specific sign to look for when He spoke about the end times.
Luk 21:20 And when ye shall see JERUSALEM compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
Luk 21:21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
Luk 21:22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
Luk 21:23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
Luk 21:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and JERUSALEM shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
JERUSALEM is the key to understanding the last days. Jesus said that, “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Jerusalem has indeed been trodden down by the Gentiles more often than not.
JERUSALEM: H3389, yer-oo-shaw-lah'-im, yer-oo-shaw-lah'-yim
A dual (in allusion to its two main hills (the true pointing, at least of the former reading, seems to be that of H3390)); probably from (the passive participle of) H3384 and H7999; founded peaceful; Jerushalaim or Jerushalem, the capital city of Palestine: - Jerusalem.
We see that Jerusalem is made from two Hebrew words: TEACH and PEACE
TEACH: H3384, H3384, yaw-raw', yaw-raw'
A primitive root; properly to flow as water (that is, to rain); transitively to lay or throw (especially an arrow, that is, to shoot); figuratively to point out (as if by aiming the finger), to teach: - (+) archer, cast, direct, inform, instruct, lay, shew, shoot, teach (-er, -ing), through.
PEACE: H7999, shaw-lam'
A primitive root; to be safe (in mind, body or estate); figuratively to be (causatively make) completed; by implication to be friendly; by extension to reciprocate (in various applications): - make amends, (make an) end, finish, full, give again, make good, (re-) pay (again), (make) (to) (be at) peace (-able), that is perfect, perform, (make) prosper (-ous), recompense, render, requite, make restitution, restore, reward, X surely.
Therefore, Jerusalem means to “teach peace”. Isn’t it strange that no other city in the history of the world has been marked by so much war and conflict? However, almost two thousand years ago, the Prince of Peace was crucified there!
We also see that JERUSALEM is the KEY to understanding end times prophecy by reading the Book of Jeremiah and the Book of Daniel:
Jer 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after SEVENTY years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
The Prophet Daniel was a young man when he was taken in captivity to Babylon. I suspect Daniel was very familiar with the prophecies of Jeremiah. When Daniel and the Jews had been in captivity at Babylon for close to seventy years, Daniel started fasting and praying to God and declaring His promises.
Dan 9:2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of JERUSALEM.
Dan 9:3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
Daniel serves all believers as a good example. Although the prophecy in the Book of Jeremiah appears to be clear, Daniel prays to God to give him an answer concerning Jeremiah’s prophecy…and God does! However, the answer Daniel received from the angel Gabriel has had people scratching their heads for over 2500 years.
Dan 9:24 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.
Christian Bible students have been attempting to fit Daniel’s prophecy into the first coming of Jesus Christ for a long, long time; however, their calculations just do not fit the prophecy unless they do some complicated figuring. The main problem is determining WHEN to start the countdown of the seventy weeks.
Most Bible scholars agree that the seventy weeks is a prophetic number that signifies SEVENTY WEEKS OF YEARS (70 x 7 years = 490 years).
WEEKS: H7620, shâbûa‛ / shâbûa‛ / shebû‛âh
BDB Definition:
1) seven, period of seven (days or years), heptad, week
1a) period of seven days, a week
1a1) Feast of Weeks
1b) heptad, seven (of years)
This makes sense because it appears to reflect the reason why God allowed the Jews to be taken captive to Babylon in the first place. God told Jeremiah that the Jews would be taken to Babylon for 70 years because they did not keep His Sabbath years for the previous 490 years (490/7 = 70).
2Ch 36:19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.
2Ch 36:20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
2Ch 36:21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
Therefore, the 490 years are like bookends, 490 years prior to the captivity in Babylon, and 490 years after the captivity. However, the last 490 years do not seem to work out mathematically. Let’s look at the rest of the message from the angel Gabriel.
Dan 9:25 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.
The prophecy says that from the commandment to restore and build JERUSALEM to the MESSIAH will be (7) weeks, and (60) threescore weeks, and (2) weeks/ 7+60+2 = 69 weeks (days or years) or 69 x 7 = 483 (days or years). Some Bible students have guessed that the prophecy started when Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem in 539 BC (539 BC – 483 = 56 BC). The Messiah did not appear in 56 BC.
Other Bible students have guessed that the prophecy started when Artaxerxes allowed Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in 445 BC (445 BC – 483 = 37 AD). This is a lot closer, but most Bible scholars agree that Jesus was crucified sometime between 27 AD and 33 AD. However, determining historical dates is notoriously difficult. As a matter of fact, the walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times since the Daniel 9 prophecy. In 70 AD the Romans almost completely destroyed Jerusalem’s walls and it remained without protective walls for almost two centuries.
I want to interject that Christians live by faith not by sight. I have no doubt that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and that He died to pay for the sins of the world, and that God raised Him from the dead on the third day. Therefore, just because I do not understand a specific prophecy does not mean I throw out ALL prophecy.
What if the Daniel 9 prophecy was not only about the first coming of Jesus Christ, but it was also about His SECOND COMING? Often God uses allegory or foreshadowing when a prophecy is fulfilled. Examples include the abomination desolation, which seems to have been fulfilled by Antiochus IV, but will also be fulfilled by the man of sin mentioned in 2nd Thessalonians. Another example is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Book of Joel, Chapter 2. The Apostle Peter said that it was fulfilled at Pentecost, but many students of prophecy believe it will also be fulfilled just before the second coming of Jesus Christ.
As I mentioned before, the walls of Jerusalem have been built and rebuilt many, many times. In 1033 AD, the rebuilt walls surrounding Jerusalem were mostly destroyed by a massive earthquake, and Jerusalem remained unprotected for several centuries.
The walls that currently surround Jerusalem’s Old City were built by the order of Sultan Suleiman I.
The Walls of Jerusalem (Arabic: أسوار القدس; Hebrew: חומות ירושלים) surround the Old City of Jerusalem (approx. 1 km²). In 1535, when Jerusalem was part of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Suleiman I ordered the ruined city walls to be rebuilt. The work took some four years, between 1537 and 1541.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_%28Jerusalem%29
The current walls surrounding Jerusalem have been standing since at least 1541 AD. If we add seventy sevens or 490 years to 1541 AD, we arrive at the year 2031 AD, only thirteen (13) years from now. Again, dates are notoriously not very accurate. If we add 490 years to the dates between 1535, when Suleiman I ordered the building of the walls, and 1541 when the walls were most likely completed, we have dates ranging between 2025 AD and 2031 AD.
Another interesting fact, in 1541 AD Suleiman ordered the Eastern Gate, also called the Golden Gate, to be sealed up. It is believed that the Muslims sealed the Eastern Gate because the Jews believe when Messiah comes, He will enter through the Eastern Gate since it is believed God’s cloud of glory left through this same gate.
Eze 11:23 And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the EAST side of the city.
Jesus also promised that He would come from the east.
Mat 24:26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
Mat 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Here are some more interesting facts. The Ottoman Turks conquered Jerusalem in 1517 and held it for 400 years, or eight jubilee periods of 50 years. Then the British took Jerusalem in 1917 during World War I. Fifty years later, or the ninth jubilee later, the Jews took Jerusalem and the Holy Mount during the 1967 war. In 2017, it is fifty years, or the tenth jubilee later. Could something just as significant happen in 2017?
I just wanted to give my readers some more food for thought. I do not doubt that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is very, very near. Therefore, the manifestation of the sons of God, and the beginning of the great tribulation is also very near!
Mar 13:34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
Mar 13:35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
Mar 13:36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
Mar 13:37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Dan 8:19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the TIME APPOINTED the end shall be.
TIME APPOINTED: H4150, mo-ade', mo-ade', mo-aw-daw'
From H3259; properly an appointment, that is, a fixed time or season; specifically a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal (as appointed beforehand): - appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season, solemn (-ity), synagogue, (set) time (appointed).
God has His own time table, regardless of our schemes or our aspirations. We all are warned in the Book of James that we are subject to God’s plans, not the other way around.
Jas 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Jesus gave us a very specific sign to look for when He spoke about the end times.
Luk 21:20 And when ye shall see JERUSALEM compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
Luk 21:21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
Luk 21:22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
Luk 21:23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
Luk 21:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and JERUSALEM shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
JERUSALEM is the key to understanding the last days. Jesus said that, “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Jerusalem has indeed been trodden down by the Gentiles more often than not.
JERUSALEM: H3389, yer-oo-shaw-lah'-im, yer-oo-shaw-lah'-yim
A dual (in allusion to its two main hills (the true pointing, at least of the former reading, seems to be that of H3390)); probably from (the passive participle of) H3384 and H7999; founded peaceful; Jerushalaim or Jerushalem, the capital city of Palestine: - Jerusalem.
We see that Jerusalem is made from two Hebrew words: TEACH and PEACE
TEACH: H3384, H3384, yaw-raw', yaw-raw'
A primitive root; properly to flow as water (that is, to rain); transitively to lay or throw (especially an arrow, that is, to shoot); figuratively to point out (as if by aiming the finger), to teach: - (+) archer, cast, direct, inform, instruct, lay, shew, shoot, teach (-er, -ing), through.
PEACE: H7999, shaw-lam'
A primitive root; to be safe (in mind, body or estate); figuratively to be (causatively make) completed; by implication to be friendly; by extension to reciprocate (in various applications): - make amends, (make an) end, finish, full, give again, make good, (re-) pay (again), (make) (to) (be at) peace (-able), that is perfect, perform, (make) prosper (-ous), recompense, render, requite, make restitution, restore, reward, X surely.
Therefore, Jerusalem means to “teach peace”. Isn’t it strange that no other city in the history of the world has been marked by so much war and conflict? However, almost two thousand years ago, the Prince of Peace was crucified there!
We also see that JERUSALEM is the KEY to understanding end times prophecy by reading the Book of Jeremiah and the Book of Daniel:
Jer 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after SEVENTY years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
The Prophet Daniel was a young man when he was taken in captivity to Babylon. I suspect Daniel was very familiar with the prophecies of Jeremiah. When Daniel and the Jews had been in captivity at Babylon for close to seventy years, Daniel started fasting and praying to God and declaring His promises.
Dan 9:2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of JERUSALEM.
Dan 9:3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
Daniel serves all believers as a good example. Although the prophecy in the Book of Jeremiah appears to be clear, Daniel prays to God to give him an answer concerning Jeremiah’s prophecy…and God does! However, the answer Daniel received from the angel Gabriel has had people scratching their heads for over 2500 years.
Dan 9:24 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.
Christian Bible students have been attempting to fit Daniel’s prophecy into the first coming of Jesus Christ for a long, long time; however, their calculations just do not fit the prophecy unless they do some complicated figuring. The main problem is determining WHEN to start the countdown of the seventy weeks.
Most Bible scholars agree that the seventy weeks is a prophetic number that signifies SEVENTY WEEKS OF YEARS (70 x 7 years = 490 years).
WEEKS: H7620, shâbûa‛ / shâbûa‛ / shebû‛âh
BDB Definition:
1) seven, period of seven (days or years), heptad, week
1a) period of seven days, a week
1a1) Feast of Weeks
1b) heptad, seven (of years)
This makes sense because it appears to reflect the reason why God allowed the Jews to be taken captive to Babylon in the first place. God told Jeremiah that the Jews would be taken to Babylon for 70 years because they did not keep His Sabbath years for the previous 490 years (490/7 = 70).
2Ch 36:19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.
2Ch 36:20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
2Ch 36:21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
Therefore, the 490 years are like bookends, 490 years prior to the captivity in Babylon, and 490 years after the captivity. However, the last 490 years do not seem to work out mathematically. Let’s look at the rest of the message from the angel Gabriel.
Dan 9:25 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.
The prophecy says that from the commandment to restore and build JERUSALEM to the MESSIAH will be (7) weeks, and (60) threescore weeks, and (2) weeks/ 7+60+2 = 69 weeks (days or years) or 69 x 7 = 483 (days or years). Some Bible students have guessed that the prophecy started when Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem in 539 BC (539 BC – 483 = 56 BC). The Messiah did not appear in 56 BC.
Other Bible students have guessed that the prophecy started when Artaxerxes allowed Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in 445 BC (445 BC – 483 = 37 AD). This is a lot closer, but most Bible scholars agree that Jesus was crucified sometime between 27 AD and 33 AD. However, determining historical dates is notoriously difficult. As a matter of fact, the walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times since the Daniel 9 prophecy. In 70 AD the Romans almost completely destroyed Jerusalem’s walls and it remained without protective walls for almost two centuries.
I want to interject that Christians live by faith not by sight. I have no doubt that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and that He died to pay for the sins of the world, and that God raised Him from the dead on the third day. Therefore, just because I do not understand a specific prophecy does not mean I throw out ALL prophecy.
What if the Daniel 9 prophecy was not only about the first coming of Jesus Christ, but it was also about His SECOND COMING? Often God uses allegory or foreshadowing when a prophecy is fulfilled. Examples include the abomination desolation, which seems to have been fulfilled by Antiochus IV, but will also be fulfilled by the man of sin mentioned in 2nd Thessalonians. Another example is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Book of Joel, Chapter 2. The Apostle Peter said that it was fulfilled at Pentecost, but many students of prophecy believe it will also be fulfilled just before the second coming of Jesus Christ.
As I mentioned before, the walls of Jerusalem have been built and rebuilt many, many times. In 1033 AD, the rebuilt walls surrounding Jerusalem were mostly destroyed by a massive earthquake, and Jerusalem remained unprotected for several centuries.
The walls that currently surround Jerusalem’s Old City were built by the order of Sultan Suleiman I.
The Walls of Jerusalem (Arabic: أسوار القدس; Hebrew: חומות ירושלים) surround the Old City of Jerusalem (approx. 1 km²). In 1535, when Jerusalem was part of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Suleiman I ordered the ruined city walls to be rebuilt. The work took some four years, between 1537 and 1541.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_%28Jerusalem%29
The current walls surrounding Jerusalem have been standing since at least 1541 AD. If we add seventy sevens or 490 years to 1541 AD, we arrive at the year 2031 AD, only thirteen (13) years from now. Again, dates are notoriously not very accurate. If we add 490 years to the dates between 1535, when Suleiman I ordered the building of the walls, and 1541 when the walls were most likely completed, we have dates ranging between 2025 AD and 2031 AD.
Another interesting fact, in 1541 AD Suleiman ordered the Eastern Gate, also called the Golden Gate, to be sealed up. It is believed that the Muslims sealed the Eastern Gate because the Jews believe when Messiah comes, He will enter through the Eastern Gate since it is believed God’s cloud of glory left through this same gate.
Eze 11:23 And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the EAST side of the city.
Jesus also promised that He would come from the east.
Mat 24:26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
Mat 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Here are some more interesting facts. The Ottoman Turks conquered Jerusalem in 1517 and held it for 400 years, or eight jubilee periods of 50 years. Then the British took Jerusalem in 1917 during World War I. Fifty years later, or the ninth jubilee later, the Jews took Jerusalem and the Holy Mount during the 1967 war. In 2017, it is fifty years, or the tenth jubilee later. Could something just as significant happen in 2017?
I just wanted to give my readers some more food for thought. I do not doubt that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is very, very near. Therefore, the manifestation of the sons of God, and the beginning of the great tribulation is also very near!
Mar 13:34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
Mar 13:35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
Mar 13:36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
Mar 13:37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
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