Posted on 04/19/2010 11:45:07 AM PDT by TaraP
(Interesting Perspective)
Many students of bible prophecy have missed the signing of the 7 year peace treaty in Israel simply because they have not taken God's word literally. Before I go on let me quote the 2 main verses that reveal this event in prophecy.
Daniel 9:26, 'And after sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself: And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end shall be with a flood, and until the end of the war desolations are determined.
Daniel 9:27, 'Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week: but in the midst of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. and on the wing of abomination shall be one who makes it desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined is poured out on the desolate.
For those who are fairly new to bible prophecy I will be giving a little bit of boring information that is commonly accepted as truth during this presentation.
The word week here can easily be proved to mean weeks of years. One way to prove this is to go back to Genesis where Laban gives his daughters to Isaac for a week and it is revealed that he fulfills his 7 years. As well, the first 7 and 62 weeks where fulfilled exactly to the day when the Messiah was cut off and died when using the one day equals a year formula or the weeks of years rather than week. So then 7 and 62 weeks of years is equal to 483 years.
The 70 weeks in Daniel 9: 24 equals 490 years. The remaining 7 years that is the difference has never been fulfilled.
Note that it is not uncommon for scriptures to have undetermined allotments of time dividing one event from another. This is the case in this 490 years. Though the first 483 were fulfilled to the exact day when Jesus the Christ was crucified, the last 7 years has never in history been fulfilled to the letter until recently.
Now to understand who will make this covenant we must unravel Daniel 9:26. Here we are told that the prince of the people who destroyed the city will make the covenant.
In 70 A.D. Titus was given orders from Rome to take Israel into captivity and to destroy the city of Jerusalem. Judging from this then it was the Roman Empire that destroyed the city. So then the prince who will make the covenant is to be a prince of Rome.
Well many would say that the Roman Empire does not exist today, however , that is not entirely true. The Western Roman Empire fell to Germanic hordes in about 400 A.D. but the Eastern Empire remained in Constantinople until the 1400s. The main religion in Rome became Christianity by order of Emperor Constantine around 200 A.D.
At some point it was declared the Holy Roman Empire and popes were given rule over Rome. Though it is true that the Roman Empire did not exist after the 1400s, the Holy Roman Catholic Monarchy existed to this day. Now in our time we have the European Union whose 10 full member states all rule under the Holy Roman Catholic Monarchy, hence the Empire still exists to this day.
If you will do a study of the kingdoms that were to rule according to dreams and visions throughout Daniel you will learn that Rome was to be the final kingdom before the end of this age.
In Daniel 2 the statue with the head of gold was to be followed by the kingdom of silver and then bronze, then iron and then iron and clay. We know from Daniel 8 that the Gold represented Nebuchadnezzar, the silver was the Medes and the Persians, the bronze was the Greeks and history proves that the final kingdom was the Roman Empire.
Though there are 27 nations that belong to the European Union, there are only 10 that are full members with veto rites. The other 17 nations are lesser states. So then the prince that must confirm the covenant must come out of the EU.
Now the word 'prince' in Daniel 9:26 can be translated prince, commander, chief or any other title that could be considered an authority. This prince is to make a covenant with many nations so we see that he has something to do with foreign affairs.
The word covenant can be translated covenant or agreement. However, it does not mean 'peace treaty' as so many teach. This teaching stems from the idea that because first Thessalonians 5:4 says, 'And when they cry peace and safety, sudden destruction comes upon them'. If you study the context of Thessalonians you will find that it pertains to the time of the rapture at the end of the 7 years and has nothing to do with the topic at hand. No, in order top recognize the 7 year covenant you must realize that it is not necessarily a peace treaty.
Joveir Solana, whose office was Secretary General of the Western European Union, made separate agreements with many Middle Eastern countries over several years prior to 2007. These agreements would give each country the right to receive loans from the EU for the purpose of bringing stability in many areas of their governments. These loans would require substantial financial commitments from EU full member states and therefore had to be fixed into the EU upcoming budget. The term of the EU budget is 7 years and was due for renewal on Jan. 01/2007.
On this date Jovier Solana made a quick trip to the required office and gave his signature 'confirming' the agreements that he had set up prior to this date and therefore fulfilled all of the requirements that are called for in Daniel 9:26,27.
Now according to Daniel 9:27 he is to bring an end to the daily sacrifice in Jerusalem. Many have argued that there has to be a temple built in Jerusalem before he can do this. I believe you will find that this is not true if you pay close attention to the scriptures surrounding this issue. We know from second Thessalonians 2 that the wicked sits in the temple as god, however this event does not take place until the end of the 7 year covenant. Therefore it does not require a temple in the midst of the 7 years. Some say that he sits in the temple in the midst of the seven, but scripture says they set up an abomination and this is better translated an idol and cannot be translated as a person.
All that is required in the temple grounds for Daniel 9:27 is a place to do sacrifice. Israel has this now. They have just finished building an alter of sacrifice recently that fits requirements laid down in old testament law. As we speak Israel is calling on Jews world wide to send money to purchase lambs for sacrifices they are planning this June. Sometime in mid June is the middle of the 7 year covenant. They exact date is unknown because scripture tells us that the sacrifice will be stopped 'around' the middle of the 7 years.
From Daniel 11:21-31 we know that the king of Syria is responsible for the command to take away the daily sacrifice. According to history the king of the North in this scripture is this king of Syria. We are told in the verses mentioned that he will move against the king of the south, which history and the scriptures tell us is Egypt. Scripture tells us that he is stopped by ships from Kittim, which today is Cyprus.
He will be angry at the covenant, probably because if the covenant was not in place these ships would not be there. We are told that he has intelligence against those that transgress the covenant. This is very likely the fact that they are doing sacrifices of thousands of lambs which I am sure is contrary to UN laws governing the handling of sheep. The EU is tied to the laws of agriculture put forward by the UN. Daniel 11:31 then tells us that 'arms rise up on his part and take away the daily sacrifice and set there the abomination that causes desolation.
Notice that arms rise up on his part. In other words he squeals but someone else does the dirty work. In Daniel 8:11 we find that it is the Little Horn that actually takes away the daily sacrifice and sets up the abomination that causes desolation.
More about him in a minute.
Recently Syria has been trying to mend fences with Egypt, however, more recently they have had a parting of ways. We can only watch and see how this drama unfolds. But know this, that we are approaching the midst of the 7 years. Everything is in place for prophetic scriptures to unfold as we speak.
Now concerning the Little Horn there is much debate on who this could be but if we look at scripture we can narrow it down quite a bit and I believe his identity is obvious once you have the right information. First of all Daniel 8 :8,9 points you at the geographic region that he must come from.
The male goat here is said to come from Greece in verse 21. It followed the Medes and the Persians in verse 20. History tells us that this goat was Alexander the Great and that 8:9 is speaking of the 4 generals that divided his kingdom. So from here we can see that the Little Horn is not the president of the USA or an up and coming king of England etc... He is coming out of the Middle East. There are a couple of clues here that could not have been recognized many years ago but are now definite give aways.
Now understand that the main countries today that should be watched, considering the 4 generals territories, are Greece, Turkey, Syria, Assyria, Iran, Palestine and Egypt.
First the Little Horn waxes great toward the east, south and the pleasant land. In recent months Turkey has been calling on Muslim nations to form what I will call a union. If he succeeds it could be said that he has waxed great toward Iran, Egypt and Syria and Palestine.
Second he rises up among the 10 horns of the EU. For several years Turkey has been trying very hard to be accepted as a full member of the EU and if he does will be the first Muslim member. He will also have risen up among them as 'another Little Horn'. It should also be noted that he is the only country in the territories of the 4 generals who is even trying. 9 out of 10 of the existing members support his membership.
Now once he joins he must devour three of the former horns. This has been taught to mean that he forces himself on three members but what if he rather is supported by three members and is handed their support through intrigue and a silver tongue?
Watch and pray that you might be found worthy of that day.
Premillenial.
(I'm classic premillennial, uncommitted concerning the timing of the rapture and the nature of the tribulation.)
I'm unconvinced about the likelyhood of a rapture and believe the tribulation will happen when it happens. Rapture belief has always struck me as something people grasp at who are seeking to save their hides from the tribulation.
As far as "with a flood" is concerned, it is well within the normal (or literal) method of interpeting prophecy for such an expression to be considered metaphorically.
True. My point being the author in his detailed proof of Dan 9:26 prophetic fulfillment completely ignored the flood mentioned in the verse.
Total literalism would not be a suitable means of interpreting scripture in any case. Where to interpret figuratively and where not to is, of course, an open question.
Prior to opening the bible to begin study, one should have a standard by which scripture should be interpreted; literally -vs- figuratively and that standard should apply to each verse from Genesis to Revelation. I've come across few who do this.
“Um....its just not there.”
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The glaring thing that is missing is a temple. How can Antichrist stand in the holy place if there is no holy place, thus all this assertion that “the covenant has been confirmed” has to be popycock.
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Thanks for the ping!
I’ve become a panmillenialist — it will all pan out in the end.
Ah, but Jesus forcefully asserted that the generation he was speaking TO was the generation He was speaking OF. And, true to His prophetic word, almost exactly 40 years later, Jerusalem was sacked. Since the flames that consumed the profaned / pointless temple had melted the gold, the Romans took apart the foundation stones to recover the precious metal. Not one stone was left upon another.
Bad theology is a harsh taskmaster. A perverted doctrine of faith healing has led Christian parents to withhold insulin from diabetic children -- then watch them die in comas. A perverted doctrine of eschatology, one that proclaims as "gospel" the certainty of the global triumph of evil, cripples lives and witness in a more subtle way. For example, when I was an apocalypse-crazed Jesus Freak, when everyone KNEW that the end was upon us, when I was 20 years old, it was impossible to think more than a week or two ahead. Like many of my peers, I lost five irreplaceable years to that temporal fog / fugue. Those are critical years for launching careers and vocations -- and I'm still dealing with the consequences 38 years later.
OTOH, since embracing a more God-honoring eschatology at age 30, I have seen God's favor, power, and grace rest upon other long-term projects. For example, my first and only wife is still crazy about me. Now, THAT'S a miracle! At a point when many my age are getting ready to retire, I'm preparing for another career, and prayerfully seeking to maximize the "second half of my adult life" for God's glory. Launching projects that are calibrated in terms of the next three decades.
While your team keeps watching with bated breath for signs of Satan's triumph, serving as adoring groupies for the most recent AC candidates, I know folks on my team who are studying Turkish, Arabic, Farsi, and anticipating the global collapse of Islam. Hmmm ... studying a foreign language is hard work. Who's going to tackle that kind of project when we KNOW that we don't have the years it would take?
Yup.........without “the Temple” this falls flat.
It’s struck me that when David sought to build a house for God, yet He was the one to determine when and where His house would be built.
NOPE.
That near history did not fit the criteria at all.
It certainly did not fit the whole counsel of the whole of Scripture on the matter in any way, shape or form.
I can agree with RJR_fan up to a point, Quix. My interpretive framework is to accept the possibility of preterist, historic, or futurist interpretation based on what a passage calls for both in its immediate context and when compared with the teaching of prophetic scripture as a whole. I cheerfully accept that much of what Christ predicted came to pass in A.D. 70, but I believe much of it did not. I also agree that some premillennialists might be tempted to neglect their present duty to society. But that caricature certainly doesn’t apply to most of us. Some of the most dedicated missionaries were premillennial because they believed the time might be short.
All preterists claim this ... but they always get wrapped around the axle insisting that Matt 24 already happened.
How does thinking that Matthew 24 already happened "wrap me around the axle"?
29 "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.
What events in AD 70 happened to fulfill this?
The destruction of Jerusalem, of the Temple, and of the entire Old Covenant system. It's apocalyptic language, very similar to that used in the Old Testament to predict the Babylonian captivity. "Coming on the clouds" is a coming in judgment, a judgment that took place catastrophically and utterly in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem.
In my view Matthew 24 is actually the strongest single passage in support of Preterism, simply because of verse 34:
"I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened."
Your entire escatological system is built on one single point ... that “this generation” MUST mean Jesus’ contemporaries. By insisting that this is absolutely the meaning ... you must shoehorn interpretations of the entire discourse that are foreign to the grammatical and historical context ...
but to each his own ... we can both enjoy our freedom in Christ wrt escatology.
Here is a rather lengthy rebuttle of the preterist position ... not for the sleepy.
http://www.pre-trib.org/articles/view/has-bible-prophecy-already-been-fulfilled
Not at all, though it's a major point.
Unfortunately without that meaning, the statement is completely meaningless. But there are far more points of support than this - similar claims are repeated in several other places in the New Testament, and the entire tone of the writers of the New Testament reflects an expectation that the "end" would come in their lifetimes, or at least during the lifetimes of their immediate readers.
but to each his own ... we can both enjoy our freedom in Christ wrt escatology.
Very true.
Here is a rather lengthy rebuttle of the preterist position ... not for the sleepy.
I'll take a look; thanks.
Actually, this one is more to the point ...
http://www.pre-trib.org/articles/view/matthew-24-and-this-generation
The whole site is chuck full of escatological musings.
Since "all these things" did not take place in the first century then the generation that Christ speaks of must be future.
Well that's quite a piece of circular reasoning, no?
“It’s struck me that when David sought to build a house for God, yet He was the one to determine when and where His house would be built.”
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Are you sure that yuou want to stand by that idea? Scripture indicates that he followed YHWH’s will, and even yielded to him by not building the temple that he so desired to build.
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“Ah, but Jesus forcefully asserted that the generation he was speaking TO was the generation He was speaking OF.”
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That misconception comes from a grammatical misunderstanding. The Generation was the generation of the church. Bad theology is exactly what rises out of the misconception you embrace.
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“Since “all these things” did not take place in the first century then the generation that Christ speaks of must be future.”
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“Well that’s quite a piece of circular reasoning, no?”
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No, not circular, but incomplete.
The word ‘generation’ is not used in the Bible as we use it today. For example, Christ refered to the Jewish rabbinicals as a “generation of vipers.” That was not just those alive at the time, but the entire Rabinical generation. The same applies to the generation of believers that Christ refered to in his prophecy, that continues to this day, and onward until the prophecy is fulfilled.
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