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The following is a study of Bible prophecy within the traditional continuous-historic context. Let's start with a couple of Daniel's "time, times and an half" problems, and the mathematical probability of prophecy.
In one of Daniel's dreams we read:
1. (KJV) Daniel 10:1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing [was] true, but the time appointed [was] long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
You can Yahoo confirmation of the first year of Cyrus in Babylon to be 537-536 BC which makes the third year of Cyrus 534-533 BC
Toward the end of this prophecy we read:
(KVJ) Daniel 12:7 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.
Jews - both Messianic and some that don't yet recognize Jesus as their Messiah - translation of the Hebrew idiom "time, times and an half" is somewhat different than most of us Christians may have been taught. Below is the above verse from a version of the Tanach :
Daniel 12:7 And I heard the man clad in linen, who was above the waters of the river, and he raised his right hand and his left hand to the heavens, and he swore by the Life of the world, that in the time of [two] times and a half, and when they have ended shattering the strength of the holy people, all these will end.
L ink to chabad.org (But hey, what would Hebrew scholars know about Hebrew idioms, eigh? :-) )
While Jews understand the idiom in the passage indicates a factor of 2-1/2, they will readily admit their books and commentaries are silent in regard to just what a "time" is, and thus what the verse indicates 2-1/2 of!
Most Christians are familiar with the following verse from the New Testament:
2 Peter 3:8 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.
The Greek word that is translated as "day" in the above verse is "hemera". It is an ambiguous word, the definition of which, is determined by it's context.
In 3 other passages in the KJV it is translated as "time" (in 12 verses in the NASB).
From Strong's:
New Testament Greek Definition:
2250 hemera {hay-mer'-ah}
from (with 5610 implied) of a derivative of hemai (to sit,
akin to the base of 1476) meaning tame, i.e. gentle;
TDNT - 2:943,309; n f
AV - day 355, daily + 2596 15, time 3, not tr 2, misc 14; 389
So if the Lord had meant for a "time" to be as a thousand years:
Then 2-1/2 "times" = 2500 years.
2500 - 533 = 1967 The restoration of the Jews to, and end of the Gentile control of, Jerusalem. The end of the "shattering the strength of the holy people".
Is this a one "time" wonder?
In another of Daniel's dreams we find:
2. (KJV) Daniel 7:1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, [and] told the sum of the matters.
You can Yahoo confirmation for the first year of Belshazzar to be 553-552 BC
Later in this dream we read:
(KJV) Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak [great] words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
2500 - 552 = 1948 The restoration of the Jews to their covenant land, declaring an independent Israel. End of the Jews being given into his (gentile oppressors) hand and being scattered among the "wilderness" of the nations.
"His hand" being 'little horn" - from "Zondervan Handbook to the Holy Bible" - "Opposing God's people in different guises throughout history is the "little horn" (8, 20-21), until God finally removes its power."
Yahweh's covenant people restored to their covenant land, even while many are unfaithful and in unbelief, restored not for their sakes but for the sake of Yahweh's Holy name .
The probability of these two math problems being an accident, that span 2500 years in perfect parallel while also being well supported textually, would be statistically absurd. Blessedly there even more problems that reinforce them. For open eyes these problems aptly demonstrate that it wasn't until after the dates of 1948 and 1967 had come to pass, and we entered what Daniel's prophecy calls the "time of the end", that we could understand the solutions to these simple problems both mathematically and textually.
Here is YouTube summary of these first two problems.
The book of Daniel was sealed until the "time of the end":
Daniel 12:4 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.
God followed this up with a crystal clear statement of fact:
Daniel 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words [are] closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
What a perfect seal God had Daniel put on this book! Not a seal that some man or religion could take credit for unsealing, but rather being unsealed by the simple passage of time, until the right moment in time for understanding. This "time of the end".
These "times" problems are covered in more depth in "The False Prophet" at this link.
DAY YEAR LANGUAGE OF PROPHECY
Within this traditional continuous historic context of study we also find a "language" of prophecy wherein we consider "each day for a year". We learn that this day-year principle was well known prior to the 20th century, when we look to those of the "former age" and "search of their fathers", as the Bible instructs.
The following is a summary of seven more of the math problems explored in "The False Prophet" (available absolutely free by simply clicking on the link), that uniformly apply this day = year "language" of prophecy. Much better to start the book at the beginning, rather than explore the math out of context, because "The False Prophet" is a brick by brick empirical argument.
Let's start this section with a problem involving 1260 "days" in prophecy, from John's vision detailed in Revelation:
Here is a link to a godtube video of this problem.
3. Revelation 12:6 (KJV): And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her therea thousand two hundred [and] threescore days.
Most agree that Israel, is the "woman" in the context of this verse. If we then consider that the end of the 1260 "days" was when Israel came out of "the wilderness" (of the people Ezekiel 20:35 ), or out from being scattered among the nations, returning home and declaring her independence in 1948, and subtract 1260 years ("each day for a year"), we arrive at 688 AD.
A quick Yahoo search reveals that this is widely understood to be the founding year of the construction of the Islamic mosque, the Dome of the Rock .
The founding verses of the Dome of the Rock "O you People of the Book, overstep not bounds in your religion, and of God speak only the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is only an apostle of God, and his Word which he conveyed unto Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from him. Believe therefore in God and his apostles, and say not Three. It will be better for you. God is only one God. Far be it from His transcendent majesty that he should have a son."
Luke 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
1 John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [(but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also].
The blasphemous founding verses are written in the mosaic on the Dome of the Rock both inside and out. Over the nearly 1400 years of Islamization of the Middle East, the Holy Land became spiritually desolated by the exile of Christians and Jews. Today Iran is 99% Muslim, with Iraq at 98% and Syria at 90%, while Saudi Arabia is 100% and Turkey 99% Muslim. Below is a map of this spiritual condition.
It is very important for everyone to get familiar with The History of Mecca .
Continuing our study it will become increasingly apparent that the Dome of the Rock is God's symbol for Islam in prophecy, and that Islam is the subject of Daniel's "time of the end", and the "end of the world".
The language of prophecy wherein we calculate "each day for a year" was well known by Matthew Henry, Thieleman J. van Braght, and Jamison, Faucett & Brown, to mention just a few. One example of a source verse is:
Ezekiel 4:6 : And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
Next let's try a verse that involves 42 "months" in prophecy.
There are 365.24 days in our modern solar year, or John's 1st century Julian (365.25) year, divided by 12 months = 30.44 average days in a month:
4. Revelation 11:2 : But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty [and] two months.
The city of Jerusalem was under the foot of , or controlled by, Gentiles until the Israelis took back the holy city in 1967. 42 months x 30.44 days = 1278.5 days (as years). Subtracting this from 1967 we arrive at 688.5. Once again, the founding year of the Dome of the Rock.
It wasn't until after the events and the years of 1948 and 1967 had come to pass that we could understand the textual and mathematical solutions to these two simple problems.
Further study of the above verse may well demonstrate God's wonderfully wry sense of humor. The Solomonic Temple was built over thethreshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, and on that bedrock the Arc of the Covenant, or Holy or Holies, was kept. It is obvious that the stone pictured below, in the Dome of the Rock, could hardly have served as a threshing floor, because both threshing and recovery of grain would have been beyond reason, particularly when there was a perfectly suited smooth flat rock just 300 feet away.
Today the little gazebo aptly named the "Dome of the Tablets", or "Dome of the Spirits", covers the smooth flat former threshing floor of the old Temple site . (Circled in Temple Mount photo at this link)
The old Eastern Gate lines up perfectly with the little "Dome of the Tablets".
The Solomonic Temple "Court of the Gentiles", where even unwashed slaves were allowed, is likely where the Dome of the Rock was constructed.
Photo from: http://www.excel.net/~hoy/east-tab.html
It would seem that the Dome of the Rock was built in the court that was outside of the Solomonic temple, that the Lord gave to the Gentiles. In other words, the Moslems built the Dome of the Rock - over the wrong rock! Does God have a wonderfully wry sense of humor?
Let's explore Daniel's 1290 "days" in prophecy, that he penned over 500 years before John authored the problems from Revelation above:
5. (KJV) Daniel 12:11 : And from the time [that] the daily [sacrifice] shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, [there shall be] a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
(Tanach) - Daniel 12:11 And from the time the daily sacrifice was removed and the silent abomination placed, is one thousand, two hundred, and ninety.
Sacrifices were suspended three times in the Old Testament: once before Daniel (Chronicles 28:24-25 ), once during the Babylonian captivity in 583 BC (Chronicles 36:19 and Ezra 3:6 ), and once, about four hundred years later, by the Greek king Antiochus Epiphanies. Let's try the 583 date considering that the angel Gabriel may have had Daniel write about the abolition of sacrifices with which he was directly familiar.
Old Testament - day = year "language" is suggested in Genesis' account of the flood as 30 day months pointing to a 360 dayprophetic year, each year being equal to .9857 solar year (360/365.24) of or our modern historical record that the event dating comes from. 1290 x .9857 = 1271.5 solar years. Subtracting 583 we arrive again at 688.5 AD. The founding year of The Dome of the Rock -THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION.
There is a 2-3 year leeway in Babylonian period historical dating, rendering "zero year" discussion unimportant. Might the Lord have allowed for the calculation to remain simple anyway?
Daniel and John's prophecies were written over 500 years apart, yet the two books unite with mathematical precision - both pinning the year 688 AD - that was hundreds of years in John's future and over a thousand years in Daniel's future!
From TFP: "When Khalifah Omar entered Jerusalem in 639AD, he was met by Sophronius, Bishop of the Jerusalem Church, who showed him around the city. Seeing the temple mount (then in rubble), Omar declared that he was going to build a memorial to Muhammad on the original site of the temple of God. Sophronius exclaimed in horror, "Verily, this is the Abomination of Desolation as spoken of by Daniel the prophet, and it now stands in the holy place". Though Sophronius was a very old man of about 80, Khalifah Omar put him in prison and to forced labor, the severities of which killed him." - Jerry Landay - "The Dome of the Rock"
Is there an explanation as to why we couldn't see the perfect mathematical relationships between these two prophets before this "time"?
Daniel 12:4 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, andknowledge shall be increased.
Daniel 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words [are] closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
Isaac Newton, Matthew Henry and many of those before us understood that the book of Daniel, and by extension Revelation, would not be fully understood until the "time of the end".
For my could-become brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, who are today in the grip of Islam, here is a Bible translated intoArabic , including an online Arabic audio New Testament .
On this link are videos of Muslims who have come to know the love of the one true God.
Here is the site for Muslims for Christ
Site for Gospel For Muslims
Here is a link to a good sound bible teacher , where you can go to church online, anytime you want, to get into the Word of God.
Answering Islam is an excellent site by X-Muslims that answers most any question you could have regarding Islam.
To my brothers and sisters in the Church, let's wake up and save these poor folks through the truth, and proof, of God's Holy Word.
Let's try the very next verse after Daniel's 1290 days verse, and see if we can confirm the method we used, with Daniel's 1335 "days":
6. Daniel 12:12 : Blessed [is] he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
Tanach: Dan 12:12 : Fortunate is he who waits and reaches days of one thousand, three hundred, and thirty-five.
A quick Yahoo search determines that 732 was the year of The Battle of Tours , France. This battle was fought exactly 100 years after Mohammed's death. The Battle of Tours is widely considered to be the most important battle of the entire Christian era. Charles "Martel" (the hammer), against astronomical odds, defeated the Islamic army, and the spread of Islam, in its near conquest of the whole known world , as it headed up through Europe during the Islamic First Jihad. Indeed blessed was he who patiently waited and made it through the First Jihad, without converting to Islam, or denying his Lord and Savior.
This epic battle was the turning point marking the zenith of the Islamic onslaught delivering the mortal wound to the spearhead of the invading forces, and killing the literal head of the advancing army Emir Abd er Rahman . "Without his leadership and guidance, the other commanders were unable to even agree on a commander to lead them back into battle the following morning. The effect of the death of Abdul Rahman on both Islamic and world history was profound." ".... according to one unidentified Arab, 'That army went through all places like a desolating storm.' sacking and capturing the city of Bordeaux, and then defeating the army of Duke Odo of Aquitaine at the Battle of the River Garonne — where the western chroniclers state, 'God alone knows the number of the slain'—[3] and Odo fled to Charles Martel, seeking help."
Stunningly, the two math problems from Daniel launch from the shared beginning date of 583 BC and nail God's symbolic pin date for the Islamic Dome of the Rock - the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION - and then go on to pin the year of the zenith of, and death knell of, the Islamic First Jihad conquering of nearly the whole known world! At the same time the above problems unite the books of Revelation and Daniel with mathematical and textual precision.
Blessedly we don't have to depend on only the six math problems above. There are over a dozen such problems explored in The False Prophet. If the above peaked your interest it would be best to start that book from the beginning, to keep them in context, because The False Prophet is a sound, hermeneutic, brick by brick, empirical argument. For the impatient I'll abbreviate a few more problems to hopefully tease you into reading the FREE book.
Here is a link to a brief GodTube video of the following problem.
Let's study another 42 "months" problem from John in Revelation, prefaced with a related verse:
Revelation 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his [Daniel's beast is "his" ] feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
7. Revelation 13:5 : And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies ; and power was given unto him to continue forty [and] two months.
Again using the average of 30.44 days in a month, multiplied by 42 months = 1278.5 days (as years). Subtracting this from 1967 we arrive again at 688.5. The founding year of the Dome of the Rock.
The political and religious control (through jizya - that is - humiliation taxes of the enslaved, etc.) of the Islamic LBL beast, of Revelation 13 "continued" in Jerusalem until the Israelis retook the Holy City in 1967 - Islam being marked symbolically by the founding year of the Dome of the Rock.
Daniel defined what a beast is, when the figurative language of a dream or vision is used in Scripture, and he did it in the context of the lion, bear, leopard and fourth "terrible" beast: Daniel 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,...
And so we learn that in the figurative language of a dream or vision in prophecy, beast = kingdom.
Islamic conquest resulted in the exile of Jews and Christians from the Holy Land, and subsequent spiritual desolation of the region. By the 1800's it was a physically desolated, deserted wasteland.
In "A History of the Jews" page 321 Paul Johnson writes: "Between 1827 and 1839, largely through British efforts, the population of Jerusalem rose from 550 to 5,500 and in all Palestine it topped 10,000 - the real beginning of the Jewish return to the Promised Land. In 1838 Palmerston appointed the first western vice-consul in Jerusalem, W.T. Young, and told him 'to afford protection to the Jews generally'."
We can see from Revelation 13:2 above, that the dragon, Satan, gives the beast the power that is mentioned in Revelation 13:5, that is manifest in Islamic control of this empire. See illustration
Daniel's successive kingdom beasts of lion, bear and leopard, which Bible scholars recognize as Babylon, Medo-Persia, and ancient Greece, form the composite leopard-bear-lion - beast / kingdom - we find in Revelation 13 . This same geographical region is todayoccupied by Iraq, Iran, and Syria/Lebanon. While some Islamic sects have national autonomy, and different sects of Islam are at war against each other, they are all perfectly united behind their false prophet Mohammed, and united in the spirit of antichrist. These modern day realities perfectly compliment this sound hermeneutic, textual and mathematical study.
The prophetic pin date of 688 and the symbol of the end times - the Dome of the Rock - the abomination of desolation - also fits all of the definitions of terms used to describe this abomination, since it was "set up", and "stands", "where it ought not", "in" the "holy place", asMatthew 24 confirms, in conjunction with that passage in Mark and Luke, as well as Daniel, where Matthew and Mark instruct us to "understand" the concept from.
Eventually Western wealth transfer to the Middle East through oil purchase would heal the wound of the leopard-bear-lion beast , financing the second Jihad in the image of the first Jihad. This image worship may also include the Black Stone in the Kaaba, that at one time housed over 360 idols, that all Muslims bow toward, in their daily prayers, from everywhere in the world.
This next problem uses prophetic "weeks" of days as years, and includes 3 consecutive events spanning 483 years in prophecy, that were all in Daniel's future - and came to pass just as he prophesied - proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
Here is a link to a video of this problem.
8. Daniel 9:24-26 : 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. 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. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Quoting from "The False prophet": "Almost 100 years after Gabriel spoke to Daniel, a special decree was granted by Artaxerxes I to Nehemiah (444-445 BC). This is the ONLY decree recorded in the Bible that gave the Jews permission to 'restore Jerusalem and rebuild its walls'. The Messiah, Jesus, was "cut off" or crucified in 32 or 33AD."
Much of Christianity understands these 69 weeks to be 69 sevens of years. So we have 69 x 7 or 483 prophetic 'years'." Again, uniformly using our multiplier of .9857 to reconcile this 360-day year "language" (per Genesis) with the solar year units of our modern historical record, yields: 483 x .9857 = 476 solar years. Artaxerxes' decree in 444 BC + 476 years = 32 AD, the cross right to the year! See illustration
Again quoting from The False Prophet: "But what about those six points that were supposed to be fulfilled during these 70 weeks? Ah-ha! All but one were fulfilled at the cross. Did not Jesus (1) finish transgression eternally, (2) make an end of sin,(John 1:29 ) (3) make reconciliation for iniquity, (4) bring in everlasting righteousness, and (6) anoint the Most holy with His own precious blood? Of course, praise the Lord!Point (5), however, was left out: 'Seal up vision and prophecy'. This is where those peculiar 7 weeks and 62 weeks come in:
7 x 7 years in prophecy = 48.3 Solar years. 444 BC - 48.3 = 395.7 BC, Malachi was inspired to write the last book of the Old Testament.
"The Scripture to the Jews was complete, and no more was written until the New Testament era! So Old Testament vision and prophecy were indeed 'sealed up'. As one dear Rabbi lamented in about 200 BC, 'The Holy Spirit has departed from Israel,' and until this very day, the Jews, as a nation, have not been permitted to see any further. The Lord has blinded their eyes so they could not recognize Jesus as their Messiah (Romans 11:8 , 2 Corinthians 3:15 )."
But in this time of the end it would seem that God is increasingly lifting the "spirit of slumber" from their eyes and ears as increasing numbers of Jews are recognizing Jesus as their Messiah, as God takes "the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand."
Please see "Timeless Covenant" and "One More Time".
Calculating the above 3 date pins in Daniel's 70 weeks was accomplished using the exact same mathematical methodemployed in Daniel's 1290 and 1335 days in problem 2 and 4 above! All confirmed textually as well.
Let's try another 1260 "days" problem from Revelation regarding the Two Witnesses:
9. Revelation 11:3: And I will give [power] unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
1948 - 1260 = 688 .... the Dome of the Rock. See illustration
The Bible defines the two witnesses as the Jewish and Christian church. These were religiously exiled from the Holy Land by Islam, and sent into the world, marked symbolically, specifically, and repeatedly above, by the Dome of the Rock - the abomination of desolation. Employing the scriptural adjacency rule of hermeneutics we learn:
Revelation 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in My right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
Romans 11:24 For if thou [the Gentiles] wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into agood olive tree [the Jews]: how much more shall these [the Jews], which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
Blessedly, when we look to those of the "former age " and "enquire of their fathers" we find confirmation for this view, just as we did with the day = year understanding of the language of prophecy.
Matthew Henry: "Some think these two witnesses are Enoch and Elias, who are to return to the earth for a time: others, the church of the believing Jews and that of the Gentiles ... "
Isaac Newton: "... God gives power to his two Witnesses, and they prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days clothed in sackcloth. They are called the two Olive-trees, with relation to the two Olive-trees, which in Zechary's vision, chap. 4 stand on either side of the golden candlestick to supply the lamps with oil: and Olive-trees, according to the Apostle Paul, represent Churches, Rom. 11. .... They are also called the two candlesticks; which in this Prophecy signify Churches, the seven Churches of Asia being represented by seven candlesticks...." - Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John
Jamieson Faucett and Brown "... I think the twofold Church, Jewish and Gentile, may be meant by the two candlesticks represented by the two witnesses ... "
To explore the two witnesses further, read the chapter of that title from the False Prophet at this link. I highly recommend, however, that you start the book from the beginning.
The book of Daniel was sealed, until this "time of the end" and we can see that it wasn't until the years of 1948 and 1967 had passed, that we could fully understand the textual and mathematical solutions to the problems in Revelation, to relate back to Daniel, for the full picture to come into view. More problems are studied in The False Prophet. This book is a brick by brick empirical argument that is best read from start to finish.
The mathematics combined with the application of sound hermeneutic principles confirm these conclusions textually. It is clear that this study is not about some "Bible code" but rather about solutions to the day, week, and month, math problems, that were assigned to us by prophecy.
If you have read this far, congratulations. You are that one in a thousand that has been blessed with a Berean spirit and is willing to simply ask the question, "What if the Lord meant....". This question has become increasingly rare in our indoctrinated Churches of today, in which all of the hundreds of denominations are convinced that their's is the correct eschatological interpretation, as doctrine trumps truth.
For nearly thirty years, seventy-nine year old Pastor Ellis Skolfield has written about the central role of Islam in Second Coming prophecy, by studying within the traditional continuous-historic context.
By now you may be asking "But what about Daniel's 70th week?" The following off-menu page was placed there for you. The explanation is a bit technical but I believe you will find it as sound as the above problems. Please click on Daniel's 70th week.
(link to next page John's 8 beasts)
SUMMARY OF DAY = YEAR PROBLEMS
THE MATHEMATICAL PROBABILITIES
Here is a website that discusses the mathematical probabilities of just one single component, of just one of the problems above - Daniel's 69 weeks - coming out to within even a couple of years of being correct. "DANIEL'S MESSIAH IN THE CRITIC’S DEN ".
"Section 4.3 - Summary - There are several reasonable interpretations of the Daniel 9:25 prophecy that are successful predictions for pointing to Jesus as the Messiah. Since it is not known whether the crucifixion of Jesus occurred in 30AD or 33 AD, in order to be conservative, the highest probability reported by Section 4.1 or 4.2 which is 0.0071 will be considered as the conservative estimate for the probability of the Daniel 9:25 prophecy occurring. Within these unknowns is the possibility that the prediction was essentially exact because one comparison matches to the day." - CRITIC’S DEN
THE MATH MULTIPLIERS
The following methods were used to arrive at the multipliers. You can Yahoo the fact that a common understanding of the average number of days in a solar year is 365.24 . Dividing this number by 12 we get 30.436666... days in a month. Rounding this number off we can arrive at the 30.44 average days in a month that we used uniformly above, and also a perfectly acceptable solution to average days in a monthwhen Yahooed .
In regard to the multiplier to convert the Old Testament 360 day prophetic year "language", to the Solar year units of our historical record, we divide it by the same 365.24 average days in a solar year, we get .9856532. Rounding this number shorter we arrive at .9857 which is the multiplier we used uniformly above to convert Daniel's Hebrew year language to the solar years of our historical record.
Here's a fun site regarding the 360 day calendar .
ZERO YEAR
For those suggesting that Daniel's "times" problems miss because of "zero year", historians allow a 2-3 year leeway in dating of this Babylonian period. Interestingly, many of the same critics don't hesitate to consider at least 69 of Daniel's 70 weeks, as weeks of days as years fulfilled at the Cross, even though there may be as much as a 2 to 3 year ambiguity in historical dating at both ends of that problem. That possible error of 5 years in 500, would be proportionate to an error of 25 years in 2500. Yet Daniel's "times" problems are date certainon the 1948 and 1967 ends, and within historically acceptable limits on the other. They also confirm each other by working together in parallel over this period of 2500 years. If one thought Daniel missed by such a narrow margin, even though these problems work textually as well ("for a long time" - "end of the shattering the strength of the holy people"), then one would be stuck having to believe that it is a mathematical and textual coincidence, the odds against which, are somewhat beyond astronomical. Even an honest atheist would have difficulty making, let alone supporting, that claim. Might the Lord have allowed for these problems to be correct when calculated simply and without adjustment in the first place?
DAY-YEAR "LANGUAGE" OF PROPHECY
The use of prophetic day=year language is certainly nothing new. Indeed the interpretations in the church today are what are new, especially those from within the last hundred to few hundred years or so (futurism/preterism ). As mentioned earlier, Scripture instructs us: Job 8:8 For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers: 9 (For we [are but of] yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth [are] a shadow:)
Quoting from "The False Prophet": "In 1569, the great Anabaptist theologian, Thieleman van Braght, wrote the following in Martyrs Mirror, pages 21-24: 'a thousand two hundred and threescore days, which reckoned according to prophetic language means as many years… let it be reckoned as it may, say we, as a very long period of time.'
Two hundred years later, Matthew Henry, in his 'Commentary of the Whole Bible', came to the same conclusion (Vol VI, page 1157 column 1, para. 2): "….if the beginning of that interval could be ascertained, this number of prophetic days, taking a day for a year, would give us a prospect of when the end might be."
Isaac Newton - "She is nourished by the merchants of the earth, three times or years and an half, or 42 months, or 1260 days: and in these Prophecies days are put for years." - Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St.a John - Chapter 3
Also Jamison, Faucett & Brown commentary - "..... in the wilderness 'a thousand two hundred and threescore days.' In the wider sense, we may either adopt the year-day theory of 1260 years..."
Ezekiel 4:5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
Ezekiel 4:6 And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
Numbers 14:34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, [even] forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, [even] forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.
Genesis 29:27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
Additionally Exodus alludes to a week of days as years:
Exodus 23:10 And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:
Exodus 23:11 But the seventh [year] thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, [and] with thy oliveyard.
Others who understood this language include:
Augustine (AD 430)
Nahawendi (Jewish) (AD 8-9th century)
Jehoram (AD 10th century)
Abraham bar Hiyya (Jewish) (AD 1136)
Arnold of Villanova AD (1292)
Tichonius (AD 380)
Joachim of Floris (AD 1202)
John Wycliffe (AD c.1379)
Nicholas of Cusa (AD c.1452)
Martin Luther (AD 1522)
Phillip Melanchthon (AD 1543)
Johan Funck (AD 1558)
James I of England (AD 1600)
Sir Isaac Newton (AD 1727)
THE 360 DAY YEAR PROPHETIC CALENDAR
The Jews kept various mostly lunar/solar calendars over the ages, so how could we decide which calendar the Lord meant for us to use in Old Testament prophecy?
The 360 day calendar that was applied to the math above is a component of this "language" of prophecy. Just as a day never literally equals a year, it is unlikely that anyone kept a continuous 360 day calendar without periodic adjustment, or winter would have switched with summer in the calendar year, about every 35 years. One early calendar, for example, was adjusted by adding a 30-day month every six years to compensate for the discrepancy.
Scripture offers few clues regarding days, months and years to suggest a "language" for prophetic years, but one is found in the account of the flood in Genesis:
Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
Genesis 7:24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
Genesis 8:4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
In the above verses we find a period of 5 months that total 150 days constituting 30 day months that may suggest a 360 day year.
In order to convert these prophetic "years" to the solar years of our historical record we divide 360 by 365.24 to arrive at a multiplier of .9857.
Only by applying this calendar uniformly, and having the several Old Testament problems that span from 480 to 1335 years repeatedly confirm this "language", may we conclude that our understanding from genesis is likely correct. Certainly the odds against the several problems conspiring with this kind of mathematical precision, to be an accident, are astronomical.
This from a Rabbi in a Jewish forum in which I inquired:
"These are the 12 months, starting with the first month as referred to in the Jewish *****ures - the month of Nissan - that denotes the month of the Exodus from Egypt and celebration of Passover (I have indicated the alternative month number, if one starts numbering with Tishrei - the start of the Jewish civil year, in brackets) -
Month 1[7]: Nissan - 30 days (marks the beginning of the ecclesiastical year)
Month 2[8]: Iyar - 29 days
Month 3[9]: Sivan - 30 days
Month 4[10] : Tammuz - 29 days
Month 5[11]: Av - 30 days
Month 6[12]: Elul - 29 days
Month 7[1]: Tishrei - 30 days (marks the beginning of the civil year)
Month 8[2]: Heshvan - 29 (30*) days (This month is also called Mar’kheshvan)
Month 9[3]: Kislev - 30 (29*) days
Month 10[4]: Tevet - 29 days
Month 11[5]: Sh'vat - 30 days
Month 12[6]: Adar - 29 days (30 days in a leap-year, followed by Adar 2 with 29 days)
Note (*) - Heshvan and Kislev may, on certain occasions, have 30 and 29 days, respectively, but this detail is not significant right now."
It becomes readily apparent that this calendar could not log 150 days over any 5 consecutive month period, as our 360 day prophetic year calendar in the account of the flood in Genesis does.
WHY NOW?
Why can we only just now begin to see this whole picture? One of the most important things to note about the book of Daniel can be found in these two verses:
Daniel 12:4 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.
God followed this up with a crystal clear statement of fact:
Daniel 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words [are] closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
It wasn't until after the events of 1948 and 1967 had passed that we could check both ends of most of the prophetic math problems assigned to us through prophecy. So how reliable are the doctrines that professed to understand the book of Daniel before this "time of the end"? Another seal Daniel may have applied is the bifidic and chiasmic forms of Hebrew poetry.
NEWTON AND HENRY ON DANIEL'S "TIME OF THE END"
Isaac Newton expressed it thus:
"This Prophecy is called the Revelation, with respect to the scripture of truth, which Daniel was commanded to shut up and seal, till the time of the end. Daniel sealed it until the time of the end; {Daniel 12:4, 9} and until that time comes, the Lamb is opening the seals:....
All which is as much as to say, that these Prophecies of Daniel and John should not be understood till the time of the end: .... But in the very end, the Prophecy should be so far interpreted as to convince many."
(Part II. Observations Upon the Apocalypse of St. John. Chap 1)
Where does your eschatological doctrine date from?
Matthew Henry expressed it:
"VI. That this prophecy of those times, though sealed up now, would be of great use to those that should live then, v. 4. Daniel must now shut up the words and seal the book because the time would be long ere these things would be accomplished: and it was some comfort that the Jewish nation, though, in the infancy of their return from Babylon, while they were few and weak, they met with obstructions in their work, were not persecuted for their religion till a long time after, when they had grown to some strength and maturity. He must seal the book because it would not be understood, and therefore would not be regarded, till the things contained in it were accomplished; but he must keep it safely, as a treasure of great value, laid up for the ages to come, to whom it would be of great service; for many shall then run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Then this hidden treasure shall be opened, and many shall search into it, and dig for the knowledge of it, as for silver. They shall run to and fro, to enquire out copies of it, shall collate them, and see that they be true and authentic. They shall read it over and over, shall meditate upon it, and run it over in their minds; discurrent—they shall discourse of it, and talk it over among themselves, and compare notes about it, if by any means they may sift out the meaning of it; and thus knowledge shall be increased. By consulting this prophecy on this occasion they shall be led to search other scriptures, which shall contribute much to their advancement in useful knowledge; for then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord, Hos. 6:3. Those that would have their knowledge increased must take pains, must not sit still in slothfulness and bare wishes but run to and fro, must make use of all the means of knowledge and improve all opportunities of getting their mistakes rectified, their doubts resolved, and their acquaintance with the things of God improved, to know more and to know better what they do know. And let us here see reason to hope that, 1. Those things of God which are now dark and obscure will hereafter be made clear, and easy to be understood. Truth is the daughter of time. Scripture prophecies will be expounded by the accomplishment of them; therefore they are given, and for that explication they are reserved. Therefore they are told us before, that, when they do come to pass, we may believe. 2. Those things of God which are despised and neglected, and thrown by as useless, shall be brought into reputation, shall be found to be of great service, and be brought into request; for divine revelation, however slighted for a time, shall be magnified and made honourable, and, above all, in the judgment of the great day, when the books shall be opened, and that book among the rest."
20TH CENTURY ESCHATOLOGY
With textual and mathematical confirmation, in conjunction with the evening news, placing Islam in the center of eschatology, if our current chosen end-time understanding concludes otherwise are we really to expect that:
Yet a different billion and a half people will also be specifically antichrist as the most important fundamental ("shirk ") of an as yet unknown European religion.
Yet a different billion and a half people will also follow a different, as yet unknown, European false prophet.
Yet a different religion will also "wear out the saints" by murdering Jews and Christians (Dan 7:25 ) - and by beheading.
Yet a different religion will also change the times - by creating its own calendar. (Daniel 7:25)
Yet a different religion will also seek to change laws - by ignoring the Sabbath as well as imposing Islamic Sharia law, in the place of legitimate laws of sovereign nations, throughout the world. (Daniel 7:25) See "Time, Times and a Half"
Yet a different religion will also build yet another abomination on the Temple Mount that will:
1) Blaspheme God The Most High - for 1300 years with mosaic inscriptions inside and out that read "Far be it from God's glory that he should have a Son".
2) Blaspheme God's name - blaspheme Yahweh by calling their god Allah.
3) Blaspheme God's tabernacle - by building the Dome of the Rock, with blasphemy written all over it, within 300 feet of where the Holy of Holies was kept.
Yet a different religion will also be marked with the number 666 = Bismillah = "in the name of Allah". Also Yahoo search - quran 666 - and find the "submission" sect that says the "Quran is the 666".
Yet a different religion will establish in a few years, what took Islam almost 1400 years to establish.
Are we really to believe that the 1.5 billion antichrist Muslims in antichrist Islam today, will all convert to a different as yet unknown European antichrist religion, operated by some as yet unknown antichrist charismatic European leader, and this in a period of just a few years?
Really?
Additionally John specifically indicated that the 8th beast has nothing to do with the Roman Empire, because that was the beast that "is", as he penned Revelation. He wrote that the 8th beast "is not" - that is to John - who was writing about the things that were, are and shall be - at the time of his writing. See John's Eight Beasts page.
"God is truth, so how well a person serves the Lord is not dependent on how artfully he can defend his doctrines, but on his willingness to seek out and follow the truth." - Ellis Skolfield.
Not to be confused with C.I. Scofield of the Scofield annotated Bible.*
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