Saturday, January 15, 2011

Bible Prophecy Mysteries Examined
In this Blogsite we will look carefully at various difficult Bible Prophecies that have become points of contention for Bible Scholars. Often Bible Prophecies that are actually very easy to read, and even easier to understand, are made very complicated by those trying to use the Prophecy to prove their doctrine or view. Even if the doctrine or view is correct, Theologians should never twist a Prophecy to prove their point. However, if the doctrine or view is completely non-Biblical, the confusion is intensified. Let's look at a few such prophecies.
Day-for-a-Year
Substituting a, "year for a day," in Bible prophecies is a tried and true method for solving many Bible Prophecy Mysteries, and it works. Daniel gave a 70 Week Prophecy that, if we change the days in the Prophecy into years, it reveals the exact year Jesus was Baptized, the year of His Last Supper, and His crucifixion. The Prophecy tells exactly when Jesus would institute the New Covenant with His Church. It also marks the date Stephen was stoned, an event which caused the Gospel to expand to the Gentiles. 

Pre-Trib's Interpretation
Pre-Trib accepts that the first portion of Daniel's 70 Week Vision is about Jesus because Daniel used the actual word, "Messiah the Prince." Up until Dispensationalism emerged in the early 1800s, Bible scholars agreed that the "Anointing of Messiah the Prince" referred to Christ's baptism, but Dispensationalism, Pre-Trib, believes this, "Anointing" occurred when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey a few days before He was crucified. We suggest Christ's baptism is the correct event, and when the whole Prophecy is examined, His Baptism is is the only view that fits perfectly. Let's read about it: "And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water, and lo the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a Dove, and lighting upon Him. And lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased" (Matt.3:16-17). Either His Baptism or His entrance into Jerusalem could fit, but, we must look at the whole Prophecy. We will show in a minute that the math fits perfectly with Christ's Baptism, but not so with His "Triumphal Entry" into Jerusalem.

Pre-Trib promoters say that the following portion of the 70-Week Prophecy does not fit Jesus, but rather fits a future roll of Antichrist. Let's look at the portion Pre-Trib says doesn't fit Christ: "And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week; and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease" (Dan.9:27). At His Last Supper Jesus said, "For this is the cup of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matt.26:28). It almost looks as if Jesus is quoting Daniel's Prophecy word for word. 

"Sacrifice and Oblation Ceased" 
Did Christ's death, "Caused the Sacrifice and Oblation to cease?" It did absolutely! At the moment Jesus died, something that could only come from God happened in the Temple of Jerusalem. "And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake and the rocks were rent" (Matt.27:51). This was a Passover Week when many special sacrifices were to be done, but the tearing of the curtain would obviously disrupt the service. Was this an act of God signaling the Jews that sacrificing should stop? If our Reader is a Pre-Trib Promoter and believes this portion of Daniel's Prophecy will be fulfilled by Antichrist after Jesus takes His people to Heaven, we will ask one question. Did the death of Jesus mark a time when animal sacrificing should cease? Anyone who understands the sacrificial system at all knows that everything pointed to Christ's sacrifice, after which there should be no sacrificing animals.

 
Which is Right - Christ or Anti-Christ
If Christ has already fulfilled the, "Confirming the Covenant" and the, "Causing the Sacrifice and Oblation to Cease," portions of the Prophecy, then the whole view of Antichrist fulfilling this portion is no longer an option. If this is so, the notion of a, "Seven Year Tribulation," is pretty much null and void. We will look at the length of the Tribulation in the next section.

 Conclusion  to "Day-for-a-Year"
The starting place for the 70 Week Prophecy is, "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" (Dan.9:25).  In today's words, that is 69 weeks. There were actually a total of four events that could be called, "Commands to Rebuild." The first three listed below were true commands, but the last one listed, 444 BC, the one that Pre-Trib uses, was only permission for Nehemiah to go check on the process. Let's look, and notice that only one Command works out to be 69 weeks between the time of the command and the beginning of Christ's Ministry. Artaxerxes issued a Command in 457 BC, and exactly 69 prophetic weeks later, Jesus was baptized:
Cyrus - 538 BC = 81 Weeks
Darius - 520 BC = 78 Weeks
Artaxerxes - 457 BC = 69 Weeks
Artaxerxes - 444 BC= 67 Weeks
Daniel prophesied that Messiah the Prince would be anointed at the end of 69 weeks, thus 69 is the key number. Obviously only one command date fits. That would be 457 of course. If we start at 457 BC and count down 483 days, or prophetic years, we come to 27 AD, the year Jesus was baptized. This would complete the 69 weeks, leaving one prophetic week, the 70th week, in Daniel's Prophecy. Thus the 70th Week starts at Christ's baptism. Daniel said that, "in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease" (Dan.9:27). The Jews were forced to cease their Temple Sacrificing Service because of the earthquake and the tearing of the Temple Curtain. Of course the Jews did not completely cease because they rejected Jesus, however, all Christians agree that sacrificing should have ceased the very moment Jesus died. Also Jesus, "Confirmed His New Covenant" in the middle of that 70th Week. Then, when Stephen was stoned 31/2 years later, this ended the 70th week. 
Pre-Trib's Virsion of 444 BC
If we use Pre-Trib's starting date of 444 BC, and add 69 weeks (483 days or years) we come to the year 40 AD. This matches nothing, but, Pre-Trib uses a method that brings their date to 33 AD. Pre-Trib says this is the year Jesus rode the Donkey into Jerusalem, and, Pre-Trib says this was when Jesus was anointed. However, in order to make this date work out, Pre-Trib had to do some recalibrating. The Jewish calender showed 360 days. But, there are 365 1/4 days in a year, not 360 days. It is true that many Bible Prophecies are complicated by the Jewish reckoning of a 360 day year. But, even though the Jewish calender showed 360 days, each year still contained an average of 365 1/4 days. If you do an Internet Search using Google, Bing, or Yahoo, you'll find two methods listed showing how the Jews dealt with this 5 1/4 extra days per year. We are not sure as to which is correct, but we will continue to do research. Some websites show that every few years, when the seasons began to not match the Jewish months, the Jews would add a 30-day month to the year. Other websites say that the Jewish Priests would add days to certain months depending on the fullness of the moon lining up with the month. We will not find fault with Pre-Trib's attempt to convert 365 1/4 days to 360 days, but when we look at this, as well as all of the other problems created by trying to fit things together in order to transfer the 70th week to the last days, we cannot help but see a serious altering of Daniel's Prophecy. If Pre-Trib advocates are incorrect, not only have they attempted to remove Jesus from the Prophecy and replace Him with Antichrist, they have diminished the Prophecy's accurate descriptions of Christ's ministry. Daniel's Prophecy accurately describes Christ's baptism, His Last Supper, His instituting His New Covenant, His dying on the Cross, His causing the sacrifice and oblation to cease, and finally an event that drastically changed the focus of Christ's Gospel. With the stoning of Stephen, Christ's followers immediately scattered. Also the stoning of Stephen was the beginning of Saul becoming the Apostle Paul, the key person in the spreading Christ's Gospel to the entire world. We suggest that anyone with an open mind that truly compares Pre-Trib's version of the 70 Week Prophecy with the version that leaves Jesus in the Prophecy as fulfilling it, will chose wisely. It helps if the person's comparing the versions are not totally determined to attach themselves to Pre-Trib's version of Daniel's 70th Week being cut away and added at the end of time. We suggest our Reader seriously pray about this.
More Problems with the 444 BC Date.
Finally, the 457 BC date was truly a, "Command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem," and the 444 BC date was only a time when Nehemiah was given permission to go to Jerusalem to check on the progress and to take steps to improve and speed up the process. So, if Pre-Trib is incorrect about the 70th week being cut away and transferred to the end times, what effect does this have on Pre-Trib's version of the Great Tribulation? This will be our next Bible Mystery to examine.

7-Year Tribulation
.      Nowhere in the Bible do we find the words, "Seven Year Tribulation."  In fact, the "Tribulation," also called the "Time of Trouble," is mentioned many times specifically and many times is the subject of whole chapters in the Bible, but, in no case is the number seven connected to it in any way. There are, 1/2 years and 1260 days, which could be seen as half of seven years. There is also a mention of , "Time Times, and half a Time," which again is 3 1/2 years. Pre-Trib uses these to show the length of time Antichrist will be doing his evil work in the world. The Bible is very clear about this, and Pre-Trib is exactly correct. Antichrist has 1260 days in which to persecute God's people. However, Pre-Trib is very adamant about using the Day for a Year interpretation in Daniel's 70 Week Prophecy, and they are exactly right to do so, and if the Prophecy is correctly applied, it shows Christ's Baptism, His Last Supper in which He confirms His New Covenant, His Death, and the time when the Gospel was to go to the Gentiles. The same can be said for the 1260 day/year prophecy about Antichrist. For 1260 years God's people were horribly persecuted. Almost all of the Reformers were killed, and some of them were killed only because they translated the Bible into the language of the people of their day.  However, a very careful study into these prophecies shows how the apostate Church fits perfectly into every detail in Bible Prophecy concerning Antichrist.  To see how over a dozen Antichrist prophecies were directly fulfilled by the Church after it united with Paganism, see out Blogsite, "When the Church Became Antichrist."
however several mentions of 3

So, if the Bible doesn't mention a 7-Year Tribulation, and all of the 3 1/2 year prophecies and the 1260 day prophecies cannot be used to determine the length of the tribulation, does the Bible have any useful information?  Let's look at what John really said about times during the Tribulation. Perhaps we can still use the, "Day-For-a-Year" interpretation:

"Plagues Come in One Day"
John records the following: "Therefore shall her (Babylon's) plagues come in one day [1 day = 1 prophetic year], death,and mourning, and famine, and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her" (Rev. 18:8)! This appears to indicate one Year. John also wrote: "Alas, alas, that great city, Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour [prophetically 2 weeks] is thy judgment come" (Rev.18:10; see also vss.17-19)! If a prophetic day is changed into a year, then 1 hour would be approximately 2 weeks. Thus we might conclude that the entire Tribulation might be 1 year in length, and the 7 Last Plagues of the Tribulation could be about 2 weeks in length. Was John being precise by saying "One Day" and "One Hour?" Perhaps not, but we know that however long it lasts, even though some may be killed, God will save them in His everlasting Kingdom!! And that's enough, if we trust Him! We have another Blogsite that goes into details about the Great Tribulation. In it we discuss the more important Question of "Why God allows the Tribulation." If  the Tribulation served no purpose, God would never allow it to occur. The purpose of the Tribulation is one of the most important subjects we can study. For more on this, see, "The Great 7-Year Tribulation."

"Heavens Rolled Together as a Scroll"
 These words appear in Scripture only two times, thus the information the verses give must be combined in order to understand what the Prophets are telling us.  Let's look a John's first: "And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together" (Rev.4:14). Now Isaiah: "And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll" (Isa.34:4). John said the event he was describing was, "The Great Day Of His (Christ's) Wrath" (Rev.6:17). Isaiah called the event he described as, "The Day of the Lord's Vengeance" (Isa.34:8). Both Prophets used fig trees and figs to illustrate: "And the stars of fell upon the earth, even as fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind" (Rev.6:13). 

Why is This Significant?
 It is important because the vast majority of Christians believe that Jesus is going to set up a Millennial Kingdom here on this earth. A few Christians, a very few, believe Jesus is going to come to earth and take all of His Redeemed people to Heaven for a thousand years. We are among that few. We believe Jesus comes to earth and takes His people, all of His people to Heaven. We believe that Heaven and New Jerusalem are the same. John says that at the end of the thousand years, New Jerusalem come down to earth and Jesus purifies the earth with fire and creates a New Earth. John 14:1-3 tells us that the thousand years begins this process. By comparing and combining the two places in the Bible where we see, "Heavens rolled together as a scroll," the condition of earth after Christ's Second Coming should be absolutely clear. Isaiah saw the evil armies of all nations slaughtered by the indignation of the Lord (see Isa.34:1-3). He saw, "the slain cast about and their stink coming up out of their carcasses" (Vs.3; see also Jer.25:33). Isaiah said it would be in this condition, "from generation to generation" (vs10). Isaiah was not shown the amount of time that was represented by this particular, "generation to generation." All he was shown was the utter devastation and the "slain carcasses." However, John was shown the exact length of time. In his vision, he was shown a, "thousand years" (see Rev.20:2-7).
      So, what will the condition of earth be during the thousand years? The Bible is too clear! Total devastation! The method we used here can be repeated literally hundreds of times, and by so doing many of the mysteries of the Bible are easily solved.

"The Child Shall Die an hundred Years Old"
17 "For, behold, I create New Heavens and a New Earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord" (Isa.65:17-25).
     There appears to be two possible times for this prophecy to be fulfilled. One is definately after the Millennium and the Judgment. Much of the wording is the same as John's at the end of Revelation. Pre-Trib insists that this is a description of the earth during the Millennium. We discount this outright because we do not believe there will be a Millennial Kingdom here on earth. Actually this Scripture eliminates the possibility. Notice the very first words. "For, behold, I create New Heavens and a New Earth." There may be some Pre-Trib advocates proclaiming that Jesus will create a New Earth at the beginning of the Millennium, but such Pre-Tribbers have not truly studied Pre-Trib. The New Heaven and New Earth occurs at the end of the Millennium. 
     As we move on down the Bible Verses, we come to "Jerusalem." Isaiah wrote,  "But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy." Note the words, "For Ever," and also the word, "Create." God, and God only, will create New Jerusalem. Men have created old Jerusalem, and it will not continue forever. Also, no city containing mortals will ever be without, "Weeping or Crying."
     And now we come to the Mystery.  "The child shall die an hundred years old." Will children be dying in New Jerusalem? Of course we know they absolutely will not! Some of the Bible Mysteries we've examined so far in this Blogsite are very easily solved and leave no questions unanswered. This is not exactly one of those. The, "New Jerusalem," the, "New Earth," the, "Forever," the, "No Weeping or Crying," these all fit perfectly into the eternity that begins after the Millennium. If the Reader is familiar with our other Blogsites, you know that we stand firm on the belief that there'll be no Millennial Kingdom here on this earth. But, "child dying," and the, "sinner," in the text appears to deny the stand we've taken. But, the rest of the text is of no help to the advocates of Pre-Trib or any others that teach the Earthly Millennial Kingdom Theory. No true Bible student say the New Earth will be created at the beginning of the Millennium, and neither do they teach that New Jerusalem comes to earth at the beginning of the Millennium. With this in mind, we will try to explain the reason for what appears to be answer:
Isaiah, as well as Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and actually almost all of the Old Testament Minor Prophets, write much about the possible blessings promised to Israel if they would be obedient to God and His Law. God's plan for Israel was that it be the leading nation of the world so that the other nations would seek them out and literally plead with them to teach them about their God and the Law He gave them. As anyone knows that has read the Bible, Israel never became that nation. So, a portion of this prophecy, the part about the child living to be a hundred, and there being some sinners there, could be one of those places in which Isaiah reverted back to the earthly blessings available to Israel. Old Testament Prophets would often be describing an event that was to be far in the future, even the Millennium and beyond, and then, literally in the middle of the sentence write directly about something that could be occurring at the time the Prophet was writing. This is the only explanation for this Mystery that makes any sense whatsoever. Any time we discover a Bible Text that seems to contradict other Scriptures, and even sometimes appears to contradict itself, we must always put all Scriptures together. We must also always remember that when Prophets write, there may be occasions that the Prophet actually has no idea what the complete picture is. In cases like this, there will be Prophets that come later in fill in the blanks. Again, we suggest this is the case here. We suggest, we know actually, that God's Holy spirit will help us to come to an understanding of these difficult Bible Prophecies. 

"Absent from the Body - Present With the Lord"
Most of our Readers will say, "That's no Mystery! It is Paul telling us that the moment we die, we are instantly in the presence of Jesus!" The statement from Paul is found in 2 Corinthians 5:8, and most of our Readers will say that this is Paul's position about what happens when we die. They declare that Paul teaches against, "Soul Sleep." They say we never sleep at death. Most of our Readers are also familiar
with Paul writing to the Thessalonian Church the following: "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them who are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others who have no hope" (1Thess.4:13). Paul then tells what eventually happens to those who have died: "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (precede) them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words" (1Thess.4:16-18). If our Reader is a person that is honest, and we believe all of our Readers are honest, he or she will think that Paul could have, and should have, worded his message better. He could have written, "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them who are asleep, for they are not asleep. At the moment of death, they were instantly in the presence of the Lord....Wherefore comfort one another with these words." If Paul believed that saved people who die are instantly in Heaven with Jesus, he would have written something similar to this. Obviously he wrote what the Holy Spirit gave him. If Paul believed death for saved people results in instantly being with Jesus, how did he let this opportunity to say so pass him by? In Psalms 146, we read concerning those who die, "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish" (Psa.146:4). Again, if our Reader is honest, he or she has no choice but to completely disagree with this Bible Verse, because the popular view says our, "Thoughts" do not ever perish! The popular view says that, not only do our thoughts not perish, our thoughts are enhanced multiple times better than before we die. We have a complete Blogsite that looks at the whole context of Paul's "Absent from the Lord - Present with the Lord," message. See, "Absent from the Body - Present with the Lord." There we go through each statement Paul makes, and in doing so it becomes very clear that Paul is actually saying exactly the same as when he wrote to the Thessalonians about Christ's Coming and the resurrection. We will close this section with something that might surprise many of our Readers. Following is the way almost everyone quotes Paul's famous statement, "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." Notice, "is to be present." Now let's look at what Paul really wrote, "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (2Cor.5:8). Note that the popular version implies instant transfer, while the words Paul used allow for it to match the other statements he made concerning death. 
Why is This Important?
Because the Bible says that in the last days Satan will take advantage of the those who think their friends and relatives are actually alive in some other realm. If your relative who has died suddenly appeared to you and gave you false information as if it were from Jesus, and that relative is actually a Demon impersonating your relative, you might be deceived. The reality is, you would definitely be deceived! Who could doubt the words of dear sweet Aunt Martha?!? If you know the truth about death, you will eliminate one of Satan's evil tactics.

(To be continued) 
Help
We need your help, Dear Reader. In the comment section provided below, send us a question you have about the Bible. We will do our best answer. Thanks.
    Thank you SO much, Dear Reader, for your time. May God send His Spirit as we prepare to meet Jesus at His Soon Coming!!
    Your Brother in Christ
    Walter C. Martin Jr.
    --------------------------------------------------------

    Check Our Other Blogsites:

    Pre-Tribulation Rapture
    Post-Tribulation Second Coming of Jesus
    Will We Eat Pigs During the Millennium?

    Planet Earth WILL be Destroyed After the 1000 Years!
    New Jerusalem - How BIG is It?
    Great White Throne Judgment Seat - When and Where
    Christ's Kingdom - Millennial or EVERLASTING?

     Hell Fire
    Is God Torturing People Now
    Did Jesus Suffer ALL of Your Hell?
    The Rich Man and Lazarus?
    Death
    The Dead - Dead or Alive - What is Death?
    Did Jesus Die YOUR Death for You?
    Will Satan Ever Die - Bible Says "YES!"
    Testing Our Doctrine About Death
    The Dead Stand Before Great White Throne Judgment Seat

     The Gnostics Attack the Sabbath
    Were Gnostics Really Christian?
    Were Gnostics Satan's Implants into the Church?
    Is Gnosticism Alive and Well in Today's Churches
    Church is Israel - Israel is Church
    Is the Church Israel and Israel the Church?
    Is the Bride of Jesus the 144 Thousand?
    Did Jesus Offer the Jews a Millennial Kingdom in His Ministry?
    Will New Jerusalem Sit in Israel? How Big is It?
    Christ's REAL EVERLASTING Kingdom is for ALL Believers!

    The Sabbath
    Is it a Sin to Observe the Sabbath?
    Is There a Connection Between the Rapture and the Sabbath?
    Will the Sabbath Be Observed By God's People During the Tribulation?
    Who REALLY Changed the Sabbath in Early Christianity?
    Un-Answered and Un-Answerable Sabbath Questions For Popular Preachers
    How to Test Your Doctrine Concerning the Sabbath

    Heaven
    Marriage in Heaven - Millennial Kingdom?
    Strange Animal/Demons the Millennium?
    Why Jesus Hasn't Come to Take Us To Heaven?
    Teachers of Anomia (Law Annulling)
    Good Ministers Teaching Against God's 10 Commandments?
    Teaching of Anomia - The Reason Jesus Hasn't Come Yet?
    Pre-Trib Rapture and Sabbath
    Pre-Trib Rapture and the Sabbath?

    Walter C. Martin Jr.
    Everlasting Gospel Ministries

    These are just a few of the questions we examine in our Websites.
    Thank you, Dear Reader,  for checking them. Please feel free to give us your comments and feedback if you look at our Sites.  If you send us your questions or comments, we will try to answer and add your question to these Websites. We will Not give your name or E-Mail address to ANY ONE or ANY Church Group or Denomination! Nor will we send you ANY annoying E-Mails!! It is NOT our purpose to get you to withdraw from your present Church, but to invite you to present things you learn here to your Pastor and Friends.
    Let's pray that God will continue sending His Holy Spirit to guide as we prepare for Jesus to come. Thank You!
    Your Brother in Christ!
    Walter C. Martin Jr
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