“What in the world is going on here?!!”

This is a phrase we have all heard and probably used ourselves at one time or another to describe a situation that is utterly confounding, unexplainable or surprising. As we take a look at the events that are occurring in the world today, and as things seem to be spinning more and more out of control, many people are asking themselves, “What in the world IS going on?”  We are not able to know every detail, but in the Bible, God has provided us with a broad outline of events to come, so that we may compare the Scriptures with the current news events and gain some understanding of what and why things are happening as they are. If you have read the past posts in Holding Fast Now, you will know that many subjects and questions of this nature have already been addressed.

In the Book of Daniel 9:1-20, Daniel lifts up a fervent prayer of supplication to God with a basic question or request included. The nation of Israel is living under captivity of the Babylonian empire and Daniel wants to know what is going to happen to the Jewish people and their holy city, Jerusalem. In Daniel 9:21, he is visited by God’s messenger, Gabriel, who delivers God’s plan for Israel.

In Daniel 9:24, God lays out a prophetic plan of a period of 70 weeks in which He would begin, complete and end His policy with Israel. This is continued in Daniel 9:25-27 wherein some detail is given as to what will occur in the prophetic period of 70 years.

“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 the prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.” (Daniel 9:24) — This is the purpose of the period.

In order to understand Bible prophecy, one must understand that it revolves around two major themes.

• God’s merciful plan of salvation for all men through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

• His plan of dealing with His chosen people, the Jews, and their Holy city, Jerusalem. 

The nation of Israel is geographically, spiritually, and prophetically the center of the world.  All events and prophecies of the last days revolve around the nation of Israel, the city of Jerusalem, and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Jews are the people of the period and Jerusalem is the place of the period.

“Thus saith the Lord God, This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.”  (Ezekiel 5:5)

The Purpose of the Plan: (taken from Daniel 9:24)

• “to finish the transgression”

The transgression is Israel’s rejection of her Messiah, Jesus Christ.

“When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.” (Matthew 27:24-25)

• “make an end of sins”  

Sin cannot be dealt with until the Messiah is recognized by Jews and Gentiles alike for who He is. There in no way of forgiveness of sin apart from the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” (Romans 5:8-9)

“And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant with them, when I shall take away their sins.” (Romans 11:26-27)

• “to make reconciliation for iniquity”  

When sins are forgiven, God and man can be reconciled with one another.

“For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us…and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:  for through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. ” (Ephesians 2:14,16,18)

• “to bring in everlasting righteousness”  

Jesus brought an end to the law.  Righteousness is bestowed upon everyone who believes upon Him as Lord and Savior.  The righteousness of God is fulfilled in those who trust and believe in Him.   

“Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes.” (Romans 10:4)

“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace. Being then made free from sin, you became  servants of righteousness.” (Romans  6: 14, 18)

• ” to seal up the vision and the prophecy”  

This is what God has been working for all these years, as He fulfills His plan for the redemption of mankind.

” And he that sat upon the throne said,  Behold, I make all things new.  And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.  And he said unto me, It is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” (Revelation 21:5-6)

• “to anoint the most Holy”  

That is, the most Holy One in the most Holy place.

“And he was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is The Word of God…and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:13, 16)

“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Revelation 21:2)

God Will Fulfill His Purpose with a Program

The program consists of the command to restore and build Jerusalem, reconstruction of the city, and the coming of the Christ.

“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem unto the Messiah shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” (Daniel 9:25)

“And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: …” (Daniel 9:26)

It has been established in Daniel 9:24 that the period required for God to fulfill His policy with Israel is 70 weeks, and in Daniel 9:25, of that period, 7 weeks are required for the command to be given and to rebuild Jerusalem, and threescore and 2 weeks (62 weeks) for the Messiah to come and be cut off. So, 69 weeks are needed to accomplish the first two parts of the program.

The 70 weeks of the entire period are prophetic weeks, and in this case means 70 weeks of years, ie, 70 X 7 years (heptad), which is 490 years. Sixty-nine weeks or 69 X 7 years equals 483 years to accomplish the first two parts of the program.  The program commenced when the command was issued to start the rebuilding of Jerusalem. When did this happen? When did God’s calendar start marking off the days and years?

We find in the Book of Nehemiah that he (Nehemiah) was in charge of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. The Bible says in Nehemiah 2:1-6 that the command was issued “in the month of Nisan (the first month in the Jewish Calendar), in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king.” At this time Israel was under subjugation to the Medo-Persian empire. Based upon this information, it can be traced through the Julian Calendar that the year was 445 BC and as regulated by the Paschal moon, the exact date was March 14 of that year. The construction of the city required 49 years and for the coming of the Christ, 434 years beyond that.

The prophetic year in the Bible is 360 not 365 days. So with a little more math, we can calculate that 483 years X 360 days equals 173,880 days.

We find in Luke 3:1 that Jesus began his public ministry “in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,” which correlates to AD 29 using the same calculation methods earlier mentioned in Nehemiah’s rebuilding of Jerusalem.  We also know from the Scriptures that Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem three Passovers later before he was soon crucified. Again, the date of this event can be ascertained to be April 6, AD 32 by using dating methods of the Julian Calendar and the Paschal moon, which is correlated to Passover. It can be counted from the issue of the command to rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of the Christ who was cut off, is exactly 173,880 days, which is one of the most amazing prophecies fulfilled in the Bible. 

Now this covers 69 years of the 70 year prophetic period.  Where is the missing one year? This will be covered in Part II of this article.

“… for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Revelation 19:10)

Pray for peace in Jerusalem.

Mark

1.  _{^{Julian Calendar: was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC.  It was the predominant calendar used  until it was replaced by the Gregorian Calendar, in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII.  (Wikipedia)}}

2.  _{^{Paschal Moon:  The Paschal full moon refers to the ecclesiastical full moon of the northern spring used in the determination of Easter.  The name Paschal originally comes down first from the Hebrew “pesach” through the Greek and means Passover.  The date of Easter is determined as the first Sunday after the Paschal Moon falling on or after the Spring Equinox (March 21).  (Wikipedia)}}

3.  _{^{I want to give credit to Pastor Adrian Rogers for the inspiration and the outline of this text.  I heard his message on this subject recently and found it so relevant and interesting, I felt I had to share it with others.   I have paraphrased parts and added some Scriptures where I felt appropriate  and used scriptural references he used in his message.}}

^{Photography by Sven van der Pluijm}