Remarkable prophecy

Daniel 9:24-27 (NIV)

“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.  So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

Daniel 9:24-27 is one of the most remarkable passages in the Bible.  It contains a key prophecy about the future of Israel that affects the entire world during the end times.  It is also controversial because of debates about interpretation of the time specifics.  I will not try to discuss all the possible interpretations, but will present what seems to be the most common and reasonable view of this prophecy. 

Daniel’s vision was given to him by Gabriel (9:21) after Daniel confessed his own sin and the sin of the Israeli people (9:20) and sought the Lord’s wisdom (9:3, 22). 

Let’s start with the term “seventy weeks”.   The Hebrew word for “weeks” is shabuwa` that can be translated as a period of seven, either days or weeks.  Since Daniel wrote earlier in this chapter about seventy years of captivity by the Babylonians (9:2), his use of “shabuwa” in 9:24 is seven years rather than seven weeks.  So seventy weeks means seventy times seven years or 490 years.  The NCV bible translation uses 490 years rather than seventy weeks. 

The prophecy is that God has allotted 490 years to Israel and Jerusalem (your people and your holy city) before there will be an end to sin, i.e. the return of Christ to reign on earth and fulfill all prophecy.  The start of this 490 year period occurred when a decree was issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. 

After 483 years (7 + 62 weeks of years), the time clock has temporarily stopped.  What caused God’s clock to stop?  The crucifixion of the Messiah.  This is the only Old Testament reference to Jesus as the Messiah.  He is called “Messiah the Prince” with the Hebrew word for “prince” meaning the same as the Greek word used for “king” in Matthew 21:5 when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey as prophesied in Zechariah 9:9.

The start and end to the 483 years are subject to several interpretations.  The issuance of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem by Artaxerxes I of Persia (modern day Iran) occurred sometime between 457 and 444 BC.  Jesus was crucified sometime between 30 and 33 AD.  So the years can be manipulated to add up to 483.  Someone has calculated that using the Jewish and Babylonian calendar of 360 days per year, 483 years x 360 days = 173,880 days.  Further assumptions indicate that the Artaxerxes decree was issued on March 14, 445 BC and Jesus was crucified on April 6, 32 AD.  The number of days between those two dates add up to 173,880.

There will always be debate about these exact times, but perhaps what is most important is Daniel’s prophecy in verse 27 about the 70^th week of years that still has not taken place, but someday will.  The “he” in verse 27 is universally viewed to be the “antichrist” (Revelation 13).  Therefore, the 70^th week of Israel will start when the antichrist is known and the “middle of the week” will be the start of the great tribulation described in Revelation 6-19.  Jesus referred to the abominations caused by the antichrist in Matthew 24:15.

We are waiting for the return of Jesus Christ to rule the earth (“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”) that will occur after this 70^th week of years takes place.  All biblical prophecy has and will come true.  Like all other spiritual truth, it takes strong faith to believe.

The Rapture

I Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NIV)

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. 

I was first introduced to this passage and the concept of “The Rapture” back in the mid-70s after becoming a Christian when someone gave me the book The Late Great Planet Earth (LGPE) (Zondervan, 1970) by Hal Lindsay.  LGPE was one of the first Christian books that was published by a secular publisher (Bantam) and became a megaseller in both the Christian market and the secular market.  LPGE established greater awareness of Biblical teaching about the end times and perhaps paved the way for the popularity of the Left Behind series of books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.  

  

The concept of “The Rapture” is a controversial topic in the study of prophecy about the end times.  Rapture means to "carry off", "snatch away", or "seize for oneself".  It is not a Biblical term, but a theological principle taught here and I Corinthians 15:51-58 describing an event in which believers in Christ will suddenly vanish from the face of the earth.  Philip in Acts 8:39 was "snatched away" from the Ethiopian eunuch by the Spirit of the Lord.  Many Christians believe that a similar process will occur to the church prior to the beginning of the Great Tribulation described in Revelation 4-20.

The Rapture is controversial not only because of if and how it will happen, but also when.  Most evangelical Christians, and what was emphasized in the two above-mentioned books, believe that the Rapture will occur before the beginning of the Tribulation period (a belief called “pre-Tribulation, pre-millennial”, subjects of another teaching).  Thus, all Christians (the church) will not have to endure the horrible suffering and death during the Tribulation period.  One of the compelling arguments for this belief is the fact that the church is the focus of Revelation chapters 1-3, then not mentioned again until Revelation 20.  On the other hand, a compelling argument that the Rapture will not occur until during or after the Tribulation is the fact that nearly all main characters of the Bible did not escape suffering and death while on earth.  Each person must make their own decision about what they believe is the timing of the Rapture, but the Bible is clear that such an event will occur sometime before the end of times.

The greatest messages of the Rapture are to be prepared and to be encouraged.  Don't take the chance that you or your loved ones will be left behind.  Jesus said, "One will be taken, one will be left" (Matthew 24:40-41).  Do you want to awake and find your loved ones gone?  Can you imagine how you would feel if you heard Christ say to you "I never knew you"? (Matthew 7:21-22)  People who talked like Christians but did not act like Christians will be left behind.  According to Revelation 7:9-17, conversions during the Tribulation will occur, but believers will suffer a martyr's death for refusing to worship the antichrist (Revelation 13:11-17 and 20:4). 

Paul writes that we are to encourage one another with these words.  Encourage one another not only with the comfort and hope that these words bring to you as you think about your loved ones’ deaths and your own, but also encourage others to know Jesus Christ their personal Savior and Lord.  And make sure that you know exactly where you stand with your relationship with the Lord.  

Second Coming of Christ

Matthew 24:3-8 (NIV)

“Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, and will deceive many.  You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of birth pains. 

In the first three verses of Matthew 24, note that Jesus’ disciples asked Him three questions---(1) when will the Temple be destroyed, (2) what will be the sign of His coming again, and (3) what will be the end of this age?  He answered question 1 in Luke 21:20 that was fulfilled in AD 70 when the Roman army destroyed the temple and all of Jerusalem (interesting fact---the Roman Coliseum was built with the spoils and plunder from the destruction of Jerusalem).  The remainder of Matthew 24 and Luke 21 gives His answers to questions 2 and 3.  

In verses 4-8 above Jesus mentions at least four general signs that will precede His coming……(1) false Christs, (2) wars and rumors of wars, (3) unusual disturbances in nature including famines, and (4) earthquakes.  Since these phenomena have occurred in every generation since He spoke these words, theologians and fanatics have predicted that in whatever generation they were living, Christ would be returning then.  This generation is no different. 

Seven is a popular Biblical number.  In Revelation, describing the Tribulation, there are seven seals (chapters 6-7), seven trumpets (chapter 8-11), and seven bowls (chapter 16).  In my files—although I do not have a reference and could not find one readily with a Google search (although there are many websites with similar warnings)---there are seven signs of the end times.  I personally like these reminders as they seem to capture all that is written Biblically about the end of the world

1.   Signs of Israel—its rebirth in 1948 and the world’s political focus.

2.   Signs of society—plummeting morality, self-centeredness, disobedience.

3.   Signs of the environment—increase in earthquakes, famines, violence, war.

4.   Signs of technology—explosion of knowledge, travel, computers, satellites

5.   Signs of false teaching—cults, apostasy, new age, evil viewed as good.

6.   Signs of nations—increased centralization of world financial and political power

7.   Signs of the gospel reaching the whole world—TV, computers, missions

It would seem that fulfillment of Biblical prophecy is closer today than ever, but we just don’t know.  All anyone can do is choose to believe that the Bible is true and be certain that you are ready to meet the Lord, whenever that is, whether today or many years from now.   

You are what you think

Proverbs 23:7 (NASB)

For as he thinks within himself, so he is. 

You can find a lot of information about your thought life, especially from a Christian perspective.  In my perusal of Christian literature on the mind and its thoughts, it is incredible how often this one-half of one verse is referenced.  There are so many possibilities for writing about our thought life, but let’s start with the context of this proverbial verse. 

This verse starts with the word “For….” So it is concluding what was written in verse 6.  Verse 6 reads, “Do not eat the bread of a selfish man, or desire his delicacies”.  Then verse 7 reads, “For as he thinks within himself, so he is.  He says to you, Eat and drink, but his heart is not with you.”  The context of this verse is that selfishness starts from within, from what a person thinks about, and in this passage the selfish man is thinking only about himself.  The selfish man may say that he cares about you and wants you to eat and drink, but because of his selfish thinking, his heart---what he really cares about—is not you, but himself.

Your thought life will dictate who you are.  What you think about will determine your character.  What your mind dwells on will determine your actions and attitudes.  If you think about God and His Word, your character and actions will reflect Him in your life.  If you think about worldly things, then your life will reflect worldly things and worldly things are not from the Father (I John 2:15-16).  I heard somewhere that 90%+ of the thoughts of people are repetitive and mostly negative.  No wonder people are worry-warts and generally unhappy.     

If you think about yourself all the time, your life will be filled with selfishness and you will have little, if any, positive influence on others.  If you worry and think about negative things all the time, then your life will be filled with stress and unhappiness and, again, you won’t have much, if any, positive influence on others.  We all want our lives to have purpose and meaning, but if all you think about is yourself, if you worry all the time, you are usurping and losing opportunities to give your life purpose and meaning.

In II Corinthians 10:5, there is a very interesting command---“…….take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ”.  If you practiced this command, selfishness, worry, and any other negative thought would not occupy your mind.  This ties in with Romans 12:2 that tells you “to be transformed by a renewing of your mind…”.  You might need to re-program your mind by aggressively telling it to stop dwelling on the negative, stop worrying so much, and give these negative, anxious, yes….evil, thoughts over to Christ.

What you think about dictates your attitudes and, consequently, your attitudes dictate your character and actions.  You have seen/read this before, but it’s a wonderful reminder of the power of attitude on your life by Pastor Charles Swindoll:

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.  And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.”

If any of this touches your heart and you truly desire to change your thought life, then pray this prayer from Psalm 139:23-24:  “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”  God is faithful.  He will answer your prayer and will help you change your thought life.