DANIEL'S 70 WEEKS continued

Here is the next section of Brother Martel's study.I received permission from Brother Martel to share his study here on Rap-con. The full study can be found here: http://www.christconnection.net/id3.html.
If you have any questions for Brother Martel you may reach him at : christco@christconnection.net

EXCUSES, EXCUSES

The prophecy of the 70 weeks, given in Daniel 9:24-27 is the single most important, most accurate, TIMELINE in history.

It is so precise that people really need to be pathologically biased in order to misunderstand it.

It's so awesomely fulfilled in Jesus Christ that unbelieving critics have made the false claim that it wasn't written by Daniel, but by an anonymous author, at a much later date, AFTER Jesus appeared, died and rose from the dead.

Only problem with their false theory is that, in the second century B.C., when the Hebrew Bible was translated into koine Greek, the same Book of Daniel we have in our Bibles today, in its entirety, was included in the Septuagint. THAT is undisputed.

Better luck next time.

Jews offer a different excuse. They claim [falsely, of course] that the "anointed prince" [mashiach nagid] is Cyrus, king of Persia.

While it's true that God refers to Cyrus in Isaiah 45:1 as His "anointed", there are a couple of problems with that view:

The prophecy states that "Messiah Prince" [mashiach nagid] was cut off [killed] after 62 sabbatical "weeks", which is 434 years. Unless they want to argue that Cyrus lived 500 years, it doesn't hold water.

In their blindness, they say this refers to two anointed princes, Cyrus, who issued the decree to rebuild THE TEMPLE 7 weeks [49 years] after the Babylonian captivity [that claim is HIGHLY debatable], and that the second prince who died after 62 weeks [434 years] is Alexander Jannaeus, a cruel king of Judea during the Hasmonean dynasty.

That's RIDICULOUS.

To think that God would send Gabriel to deliver a special message about that is absurd.

It also contradicts the text, which says the command is to rebuild THE CITY, NOT the temple.

It also says that the 49 years come AFTER that decree, NOT BEFORE.

These facts alone COMPLETELY DEBUNK, and RIP their theory to shreds.

There are two princes mentioned in this passage "Messiah Prince" [Jesus] and "the prince that shall come" [Titus] who would destroy the city and temple, period.

If the Jews' perspective were true, you need THREE PRINCES: Cyrus, Alexander Jannaeus, and Titus.

Moreover, in the previous verse [Daniel 9:24] Gabriel specifies that the 70 weeks are to "put an end to sin", and bring in EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS. Are they suggesting that Cyrus's decree and Alexander Jannaeus's death accomplished that? Get real!

Their last desperate pretext is that the Hebrew definite article ha, referring to the Messiah does not appear in the text.

That in no way indicates that Jesus wasn't and isn't the fulfillment of this prophecy.

The definite article doesn't appear in verse 26 either, where it refers to Titus as another prince that would come. Does that mean Titus wasn't a specific prince than came and destroyed the city and the temple, in 70 A.D., precisely as predicted?

Take off the blinders, Jewish friends!

Even Maimonides admitted that this prophecy was about the Messiah. In context, IT COULDN'T BE ANYONE ELSE.

NO ONE ELSE can bring EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS.

NO ONE ELSE can put an end to sin.

NO ONE ELSE can seal the vision and prophecy.

And, NO ONE ELSE can put an end to the desolations [plural] of Jerusalem [Daniel 9:2].

Gabriel told Daniel there would be 70 sabbatical weeks [shmitas] in which:

Jerusalem would be rebuilt. It was.

Messiah would appear. He did.

Messiah would be killed. He was.

Messiah would confirm the covenant. He did.

Then another prince would come who'd destroy [yet again] the city and the temple. It happened.

The temple site would remain desolate UNTIL "the time of the end". It has!

This was prophecy when Gabriel told Daniel.

These things are now HISTORY.

YEAR OF THE RAPTURE

According to the Word of God, the Rapture should happen sometime IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS.

There are two timelines regarding the return of Jesus: the first is the "70 weeks" given in Daniel 9:24-27. The second is Luke 21:24-36. Both timelines concern Jerusalem.

In the latter, Jesus states that Jerusalem will fall to Gentiles, and will be continuously trampled by Gentiles, UNTIL the "times of the Gentiles" are fulfilled.

AFTER their "times" are fulfilled, there will be signs in the sun moon and stars, distress of nations with perplexity, the seas and waves reverberating, men dying of terror, the powers of heaven shaken.

And then shall THEY see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

The pronoun THEY is significant. Thank God Jesus didn't say YOU will see.

YOU will be gone. By then, if you're Christian, you will have been raptured.

In verse 32 Jesus adds that THIS GENERATION, [in context, the generation after Jerusalem is recovered by Jews, and is no longer trampled by Gentiles] WILL NOT PASS AWAY without ALL THESE THINGS happening.

We are that generation, without a doubt.

Jerusalem returned to the Jews on June 7, 1967 during the 6-Day War, AS JESUS PREDICTED.

This happened after 1,930 years of continuous Gentile trampling, just as Jesus predicted.

Since this happened (as of June, 2011) 44 years ago, and a biblical generation is 40 years or slightly over, we KNOW His return MUST BE very, very, very near.

But that still doesn't tell us the year.

The next three messages will.

TIMES OF GENTILES

Romans, Persians, Byzantines, Armenians, Turks, Crusaders,

Mamelukes, Ottoman Empire, the British, Jordan
____________________________________________
70 A.D. 1,930 YEARS 6/7/1967

Temple Destroyed Jerusalem
Liberated

Read Part One