The pattern that God gave Moses included the tabernacle, the feasts, the commandments, the statutes and the laws. Everything that was given to Moses points to Lord Jesus Christ and the purpose of God for mankind. We have looked at the feasts. We shall consider the timeframe. Amazingly, the tent of meeting provides us insights to the time of the Mosaic Covenant, the Age of the Spirit and the reign of Lord Jesus Christ on Earth.
Holy
Place Prophecy
We read in the book of Exodus, chapter twenty-six, that the Tabernacle of Moses consisted of three courts. One court was called the Outer Court, the second, the Holy Place and the third, the Holy of Holies. The Outer Court represents the time from Moses to Pentecost. The Holy Place represents the time from Pentecost to the Second Coming of Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy of Holies represents the time Lord Jesus reigns on Earth.
If we take the measurements of the linen that is used to enclose each of these courts, we come up with the figures of 1500 cubits, 2000 cubits and 1000 cubits. If we simply convert these cubits into years, it appears that God revealed to Moses His plan 1500 years before Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given. The Holy Place, representing the Church Age beginning at Pentecost, signifies a 2000 year period. The Holy of Holies signifies 1000 years when Lord Jesus reigns on Earth.
This, of course, begins to get interesting when working out the date for the return of Lord Jesus Christ. All we need to do is find a point from where we can peg an exact date. We have already determined that Lord Jesus was crucified in AD 31. Therefore, if we subtract thirty-one years from fifteen hundred years, we have 1469 BC as the time when Moses was on Mt Sinai and was shown the Heavenly Pattern. Add two thousand years to the year Jesus was crucified and the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost and we arrive at AD 2031. Surely, these figures are in the ball park. Subtract twenty-one years from this and we have AD 2010 as the beginning of the twenty-one years of Jacob’s Trouble, which is introduced by the Feast of Trumpets. This signifies that a call has to go out to the people of God worldwide to heed the law and the prophets, which is what the two silver trumpets typify. Did such an event happen in 2010? Is there evidence of this today?
Not to my knowledge has there been a massive revival—unless a secret rapture took place. But we have been told by the Apostle Paul that the day of the Lord is not going to occur unless the Man of Sin is revealed and seats himself in the temple and claims to be God. Since, the Man of Sin has not appeared, there has been no resurrection of the saints nor any secret rapture. In fact, we can strike the secret rapture off as a false teaching—worse, it permits people to be hypocrites and still think that they will be saved. Those who adhere to the secret rapture teaching also believe that they are saved by grace alone and rejoice in the idea that Christians are never to be made righteous in that they have no desire to sin; for they are merely forgiven. Although not a Calvinist doctrine, the secret rapture appeals to many who believe in once saved, always saved—irrespective of whether one keeps on sinning and spurns the blood of Christ (Hebrews 10:29). However, when we read Romans, chapter eight, we learn different:
For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh; that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace; because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God; for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be. Those who are in the flesh can’t please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness. (Romans 8:3-10)
Many even believe that they do not have to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. In fact, those who claim that they have no need to be perfected by the power of Holy Spirit, tend to justify their sins by saying that Christians are not perfect, just forgiven—which is true, initially. But the Scripture does not say that we are to continue in the ways of this world; neither does it say that we are to be transformed by the renewal of minds for naught. Transformation means change. Change means being made morally perfect.
Jesus said that as in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. Noah was told to build the ark. Jesus also said that when we see the fig tree beginning to show its leaf, we are to know that the time of His return is near. The days of people’s lives were numbered at one hundred and twenty (120) years at the time of Noah being told to build the Ark. Additionally, the fig tree also represents the land of the Jews.
Now we know that the Bible speaks of the return of Israel. The Apostle Paul said that there was a mystery in place and the Jews would reject Lord Jesus Christ. At the time, when Paul was writing this, the Romans had not yet sacked Jerusalem. The biblical evidence points to the Apostle Paul writing about the Gentiles’ inclusion into the mystery of God before AD 60,[i] when the temple at Jerusalem was still standing. The Apostle wrote:
For I don’t desire you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you won’t be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (Romans 11:25)
Not only had a hardening come over Israel, the people living there still in AD 70 were dispersed or killed. Israel was no more. Now many claim that Israel became a nation in a single day in 1948. However, this is not totally true. Israel was actually granted the right to nationhood in 1947; something that had begun with the Balfour Agreement in 1917.
Now
if the return of Israel were to correspond to what God did in the days of Noah,
then we come up with some interesting possibilities. Noah appears to have taken
120 years to build the ark before the flood came that destroyed the world from
which he and his family were saved. Likewise, when Lord Jesus Christ returns,
the day of the Lord is going to be a day of great wrath upon the nations, but
Israel will be saved. If we add the 120 years to when Israel was given
provisional rights to live in Palestine, we find ourselves at the year 2037 as
a possible return date for the Lord. If we take this from the date that the
first settlers arrived in 1918, we arrive at a date of 2038. If we take this
date from when the United Nations passed the resolution that Israel should be
an independent state in 1947 (29th November), we arrive at 2067. And
when we take this from May 14, 1948, the day Israel was officially declared a
nation to the world, we arrive at the year 2068.
We have some discrepancies in all of this, therefore these possibilities only work as a guide. Nevertheless, when we consider world affairs and the advancement in technology that has been made, we become very much aware that the time for Lord Jesus Christ’s return is close. However, people have been talking about a New World Order, where the One World Government takes control, not being possible until 2070. The reasons for this have to largely do with population control and the current political structure of the world’s political domain.
What we do know is that there have been various attempts to bring in a One World Government beginning with the League of Nations, which later became the United Nations. During the twentieth century, there was talk about introducing the One World Government by the beginning of the twenty-first century. Attempts to date have failed because of nationalism, population explosion, and people obtaining access to weapons. Nevertheless, events that have occurred since the great computer scare running up to the year 2000, have aroused resistance towards the globalist agenda, because technology has made the flow of information more accessible to a larger percentage of people than ever before. Historically, people have been kept in the dark because they had to rely upon the information channels of a relatively controlled media. Now people, via the internet, have been able to access information and analyze events in ways previously not imagined. But this will change because censorship strategies are being worked on by the media moguls and this will be none more evidenced than when the United Nations takes full control of the internet. Currently, we can only surmise when the One World Government will to be introduced, but it will come with a universal digital currency.
The United Nations had a plan entitled Agenda 21 for bringing in the One World Government. This plan has been revised and now Agenda 2030 replaces it. Once it was recognized that even by 2021, the proposals of Agenda 21 (published 1992 for the 21st century) would not be realized, the new agenda, agreed to during September 2015, pushed the targets out to 2030. The propaganda for Agenda 2030 makes the claim that the proposals it contains are solely focused on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Meanwhile, the rights of nationals are being eroded slowly and technology is being developed to facilitate the control of people and the downfall of nations. Those who are seeking to fulfill their desires to see the One World Government, where they themselves become the lords of the Earth, are not many in number. At the most, there would only be twenty thousand people worldwide,[ii] and there are more than three hundred and fifty thousand people for every one of them. However, the ones who are really pulling the strings are likely to be less than a hundred—although, some say there is a committee of three hundred (representing 300 families) who do just that. With technology and information flowing as quickly as it does today around the world in minutes, these people are actually quite vulnerable if they are faced with an insurrection. A delicate balancing act is being played out. The globalists, who are intent on doing the work of Lucifer, believing him to be the one who truly gives men knowledge, cannot afford to let people within their chain of command break ranks. This is what happens when they move too fast. Consequently, this is the reason we have some pundits predicting the One World Government will not be attainable until around 2070. Meanwhile, there are some who are anxious to get their hands on the throne before they die. They are fearful that they might miss their opportunity for self-aggrandizement at the highest level as a son of Satan, not realizing that in the eternal scheme of things all they will ever be is a lackey for Lucifer.
At the beginning of the twentieth century there were some significant revivals taking place. Actually, revivals had been taking place quite frequently since the days of John Wesley. These were not all a direct cause of Wesley, but what happened in England and the United States can largely be traced back to him. Wesley’s conversion, through Moravian influence, even traces back to the experiential salvation known by the pietists of the 1400s and John Hus, who was burned at the stake in AD 1415.[iii] These revivals spread around the world, as the message of the gospel was transported by ship, when Britannica ruled the waves. However, a significant number of people believe the phenomenon of speaking in tongues, in the power of the Holy Spirit, which was affecting many seeking Lord Jesus Christ in the early 1900s, to be the sign of the Laodicean Age of the Church being ushered in.
At Azusa Street, Los Angeles, a meeting began in 1906 and lasted for about ten years, where this phenomenon of speaking in unknown tongues was taking place, and from there it was carried throughout the world. Many miraculous events occurred at the Azusa Street meetings. There were reports of a flame of fire often being seen above the building when meetings were being held. During these meetings at Azusa Street, sometime in 1909, there was a prophecy that a worldwide revival would begin around 100 years time and continue until the return of Lord Jesus.[iv] Some took this to mean the Second Coming would be occurring in 2010. But if we add three decades to 2010, we could be looking as far out as 2040 before the return of the Lord.
The
one thing that becomes obvious from honest attempts to find any way of
discovering the exact date of Lord Jesus Christ’s return, only an approxim-ation
appears possible, and yet this could be out by as far as thirty years or more.
Now one of the things that we do know, the pattern Moses was instructed to copy
has merit because it gives us the plan of God. When we read the book of Hebrews,
we learn that the Holy Place represents the present age; therefore, we need to
take notice. We read:
The Holy Spirit is indicating this, that the way into the Holy Place wasn’t yet revealed while the first tabernacle was still standing; which is a symbol of the present age, where gifts and sacrifices are offered that are incapable, concerning the conscience, of making the worshiper perfect; being only (with meats and drinks and various washings) fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation. (Hebrews 9:8-10)
The Holy Place is an area that is two thousand cubits. We are told this represents the current age. In other words, when Peter spoke at Pentecost, he claimed that we are in the age of which the prophet Joel called the last days, and these last days (beginning at Pentecost) continue to this present day. Nearly two thousand years have gone by. What is interesting is that the area of linen used to cordon off the outer court for the tabernacle of Moses comes to an area of fifteen hundred square cubits. When we covert the area of these cubits into prophetic years—that is, the original 360-day years that existed in the days of Noah before the flood—we produce the following equation: (1500x360=540000)/365.24=1478.471—which is 1500 years multiplied by 360 days equals 540,000 days, that when divided by 365.24 days, equals 1478.471 years, which places us at November 2, 1448 BC, according to the Gregorian Calendar, for an April 25, 31.crucifixion.
The archeological organization Associates for Biblical Research published an article by Dr. Bryant G. Wood in which he claims:
The date of the Biblical exodus-conquest is clear. 1 Kgs 6:1 and 1 Chr 6:33–37 converge on a date of 1446 BC for the exodus and the Jubilees data and Judg 11:26 independently converge on a date of 1406 BC for the beginning of the conquest. The 1406 BC date is further confirmed by archaeological data from Jericho, Ai (Kh. el-Maqatir) and Hazor.[v]
It just so happens that January 1, 1446 BC plus 1478.471 yrs brings us into June 15, 32, which suggests something is not quite right, even though with the archaeological data we have is a ballpark figure. When we consult the Jewish Encyclopedia we learn that Solomon became King around 971 BC.[vi] When we do the figures (971+476=1448) based on the fact Solomon was in his fourth year as King, four hundred and eighty years after the Exodus (1 Kings 6:1), we arrive at around 1448 BC for the Red Sea Crossing.[vii] This is in accord with what we have already established for AD 31; being the year Lord Jesus was crucified and the year the Holy Spirit was given to the called out ones—that is, those who make up the church.
What we have overlooked, however, is that this specific prophecy of Moses, in respect to the courts, was not to the Crucifixion but to Pentecost. This being the case, according to the Gregorian Calendar, using the 360-day-to-a-year methodology, this places the Exodus at December 23, 1448, eight days before the beginning of 1447 BC. While our figures do not get us exactly into March/April, when the month of Nisan occurs, what is interesting, this date places the crossing of the Red Sea closer to the month that the water baptism of Jesus occurred. Rather than being exact, these ballpark figures just keep landing near the mark, which has to be more than coincidence. Allowing for freewill, this gives more significance to the pattern that was given to Moses; for the outer court typology remained until the day of Pentecost, when the present Church Age of the Spirit began.
We are told in the book of Hebrews that the Holy Place refers to the present age and when we analyze the area covered by the linen, we learn that it comes to two thousand cubits. When we do the calculations in accordance to the prophetic year we have: ((2000x360)/365.24=1971.295) — that is, 2000 years times 360 days equals 720,000 days, divided by 365.24 days, equals 1971.295 years. Now this throws us out. If we add 1971 years to thirty-one years from the beginning of the Common Era (CE)—Anno Domini (AD), the year of our Lord—we land in the latter half of the year AD 2002. Does this mean that our calculations are wrong? No. What this means is we are in the end time! Could this point to what happened on 9/11? After all, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon attacks were an extraordinary series of events that have been compared with the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor! Could our Omniscient Lord God have seen that the war of terrorism would lead to the mass migration of Muslims into the West to 1) terrorize Jews so they return to Israel and 2) a thorn for Christians.
Though significant, we have to treat the 9/11 tragedy as being merely coincidental as far as the date of Lord Jesus’ return is concerned. We need to factor in something else if we are to find the date of the return of the Lord, or if not the exact day, the year. However, maybe there is no date in the Scriptures; for the return of Lord Jesus Christ depends upon the fulfillment of the number of Gentiles who are to come to salvation. The Apostle Paul wrote in the book of Romans that a hardening of Israel will remain until the all the Gentiles come into the fold. Once the number of the lost is complete—which depends upon individual decisions being made—then everything will begin to unfold.
The idea of the year 2002 being where the pattern shown to Moses lands us, could mean that this is the start of Jacob’s Trouble. Since the War on Terror has occurred, Christians worldwide have suffered much from the hands of Islamists. But not only Christians, also Jews. Moreover, in respect to the ecumenical movement, there has been a concerted effort to cheat non-conforming Christians, lump Christianity in with other religions and muffle the gospel message around the world. Supposing Jacob’s Trouble were to be considered as forty-two years and not twenty-one years, it would be natural that the end feasts would be fulfilled during the second period and not the first. We could have the year 2023 becoming the year of the Feast of Trumpets and the other feasts following suit, with the Day of Atonement in 2033, and the Feast of Tabernacles in 2037. Under this scenario, the Antichrist would appear in 2041. And Jesus would be expected to return in 2045.
What we have, though, are numerous indications that the time is very close. As we have been documenting in this effort, there are so many prophetic indications from the Scriptures that we are in the last days, we cannot afford to be in denial that the day is close. Some of the prophecies have been incredibly accurate. Just as we have seen in respect to the Tabernacle of Moses bringing us into the year AD 2002 for the Church dispensation and beginning around 1448/1447 BC (count down to the cross) for the Mosaic dispensation. The suggestion that God has to be accurate to the very second does not necessarily hold water as we do have freewill and, because of this alone, we should expect that there will always be anomalies. What is impressive, though, the plan of God is actually being worked out in accordance to His will. We may not get the very day, but we come close with the year so often, that when we are talking about periods of hundreds, even thousands of years, this is absolutely remarkable. Taking into account that the eleven hundred and fifty years to the prophet Muhammad might be a fluke,[viii] the fact that such a significant figure arrived on the scene in that year is nearly beyond belief. Especially so, when we factor in the impact of the prophecy, which points to the Islamic Caliphate being the fourth kingdom represented by the horns in Daniel 8. This is also the same one where we find the 2300 evenings and mornings that consist of 1150 days.
2300
Days Prophecy
In respect to the 2300 evenings and mornings in the book of Daniel, this has figured in prophetic declarations that have been made in the past. In the 1800s, what became known as the Millerite Movement was based upon the teachings of William Miller, who had calculated the return of Lord Jesus would be in AD 1843, using the 2300 evening and mornings of Daniel (interpreted as days in the KJV) as the basis of his calculation. This he did by using the decree of Artaxerxes as recorded by Ezra 1:1, which he determined to be 457 BC and adding 2300 years to arrive at AD 1843. Josiah Litch using the prophecy at the end of Daniel concerning the 1290 days and the extra 45 days came up with the following historical claims:
The eleventh and twelfth chapters of Daniel, are a prophetic history of the kingdoms which should succeed each other, down to the end of the reign of sin, or the commencement of the glorious reign of Christ on earth.
This time, or the history of this time, is divided into five periods.
1.
The
first period is given Dan. xi, 1-21; and extends from the Persian reign, to the
breaking of the prince of the covenant; and ends with the seventy weeks, AD 33.
2.
The
next period is recorded from verse 22nd to the 31st. It begins with the first
league ever made between the Jews and Romans, which took effect when
Bacchiades, a Grecian general, left off, at the command of the Romans, to
trouble the Jews, 158 BC; and extends to the taking away of the daily sacrifice
of pagan Rome, to make way for the abomination which maketh desolate, or the
papal power, which took place AD 508; being a period of six hundred and sixty-six
years. Just the celebrated number of the beast, Rev. xiii. 18. His number is
six hundred and sixty-six.
3.
The
next period is also given, verses 31, 32, and reaches from the taking away of
the pagan rites to the establishment of popery in its place, being thirty
years; from AD 508 to 538.
4.
The
fourth period reaches from the setting up of the abominations of popery in
Rome, to its fall by the last earthly conqueror; or the end of the time, 117
times, and a half. It began in AD 538, and ended AD 1798. This history is
recorded from verse 32nd to the 39th; and includes, first the history of the
true church, and secondly, the history of the papal or apostate church.
5. The fifth and last division is from the fall of popery by the French, to the resurrection and state of blessedness to the righteous, a period of forty-five years, commencing AD 1798 and ending AD 1843. The history reaches from Dan. xi. 40, to the end of the book.[ix]
Ellen White gives a glowing endorsement of Litch's prediction that the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) would fall on August 11, 1840 in her book The Great Controversy:
"In the year 1840 another remarkable fulfillment of prophecy excited widespread interest. Two years before, Josiah Litch, one of the leading ministers preaching the second advent, published an exposition of Revelation 9, predicting the fall of the Ottoman Empire. According to his calculations, this power was to be overthrown "in AD 1840, sometime in the month of August;" and only a few days previous to its accomplishment he wrote: "Allowing the first period, 150 years, to have been exactly fulfilled before Deacozes ascended the throne by permission of the Turks, and that the 391 years, fifteen days, commenced at the close of the first period, it will end on the 11th of August, 1840, when the Ottoman power in Constantinople may be expected to be broken. And this, I believe, will be found to be the case." —Josiah Litch, in Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, Aug. 1, 1840. [x]
The fall of the Ottoman Empire officially came about on October 29, 1923, after having existed for six hundred and twenty-four years.[xi] New borders were drawn up and the present day Turkish Republic was recognized. In 1873, Josiah Litch repudiated his erroneous interpretation of the 2300 days and the fall of the Ottomans in respect to the Millerite Movement.[xii]
Prophetic interpretation fails when people make assumptions based upon faulty interpretations. Jesus said that he did not know the hour or the day of His return Himself. Mind you, Jesus was speaking with the restrictions that had been imposed upon Him as a human, so that He might demonstrate that it is possible to keep the Ten Commandments without sin; or, to put another way, that He might fulfill the righteousness of God without violating His relationship with the Father, having taken human form in the likeness of a man (Philippians 2:6-8).
1948 Timeline Prophecies
Two Timeline Prophecies arrive at the date of May 14, 1948, as the exact date the Israelis would return to their land for the second time and become a nation. The problem with these two prophecies is they are inaccurate, and the figures have been fudged to make for eisegesis (sounds good to me) rather than sound exegesis (hammering out truth). As we will see, though the correct interpretation is very relevant for the current day. However, we will first look at the misinterpretation of these prophecies.
Moreover lie on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; according to the number of the days that you shall lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity. For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be to you a number of days, even three hundred ninety days: so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. Again, when you have accomplished these, you shall lie on your right side, and shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah: forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it to you (Ezekiel 4:4-6 )
But if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these commandments....I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursues you. If you in spite of these things will not listen to me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins. (Leviticus 26:14-18)
In this passage from Ezekiel, the sin of Israel was 390 years, and Judah was 40 years. To symbolize this, Ezekiel had to lie on his left side for 390 days, a day for each year of Israel’s sin, and 40 days on his right side, a day for each year of Judah’s sin. The total time then was 430 years of sin. The Babylonian captivity took up 70 years of this punishment, leaving 360 years (430-70=360).
Here God declares that if Israel does not repent after the Babylonian captivity, when Cyrus freed Israel, then the remaining time would be multiplied sevenfold. If we multiply 360 years by 7, we get 2520 prophetical years. The Prophet Daniel also predicted this same period in another way.
In Daniel 4, God punished King Nebuchadnezzar with insanity for seven years, in order to humble him. God had Nebuchadnezzar act out a prophecy, just as Ezekiel acted out his 430-day prophecy by lying on his side. In Nebuchadnezzar's case, the restoration of his kingdom after seven years is also a symbolic prophecy that illustrates that the children of Israel would be restored a second time to their land are seven years of days.
Since the prophetic calendar uses a 360-day year, being consistent, if we multiply Nebuchadnezzar’s seven years by the 360-day calendar, we arrive at 2,520 years—just like Ezekiel's prophecy!—which is a second witness.
From these two prophets (cf. John 8:17) we are told the time of the second return of Israel. To see this, we must first convert the Jewish years to Roman years, so that we can see the outcome of our modern calendar (2,520 Jewish years multiplied by 360 days per year equals 907,200 days).
Cyrus issued his decree, freeing the Jews and declaring the state of Israel to exist again, on August 3, 537 BC. This date plus 907,200 days (plus add one year changing from BC to AD) brings us to May 14, 1948. This was the very day that the UN declared Israel to be a sovereign state.
360 x 7 = 2,520 prophetic years;
2,520 x 360 = 907,200 days;
2483 yrs x 365.24 = 906915;
9077200 -906915 = 285 days;
August 3, 537 BC + 2483 yrs = August 3, 1946
Add 1 year [to make up for Year 0] = 1947;
Add 285 days = May 14, 1948.
(fig. 9)
Objections Timeline Prophecy
Interpretation
At first glance, the working out of these prophecies, as per the above example, seems amazing. They are! But reality brings the first objection to this mathematical equation. In order to justify the prediction, an extra year has been added to make up for the mythical missing year. When counting years from BC to AD there is no need to add additional years. For instance, if a person is born in April 5, 10 BC that person will be ten years old on April 5, AD 1 and twenty years old on April 5, 10. There is no need to add an extra year to make up for a mythical year zero for the transition from BC to AD. If we were to add an additional year, we would arrive at AD 11, or if we were to add a year 0, this would have the opposite effect and we would arrive at AD 9 for twenty years. To count twenty years from 10 BC to AD 10 will always depend on the actual starting date. So if we were to count 2483 yrs from August 3, 537 BC, without adding the extra year, we would come up with August 3, 1946. (The equation is 2483-537=1946).
Incredibly, the person (a Th.D.) promoting the above reckoning to arrive at May 14, 1948, deducts a day because that year was a leap year—fudging the figures is the reason people, in disbelief, walk away from seeking Jesus—which becomes our second objection.
It is worth noting at this point that Dan Bruce, who heads up The Prophecy Society of Atlanta, declares in relation to expositors who miss the mark:
Nothing undermines the authority of the Bible more than the presentation of manmade error as being Bible truth, and then defending the error against all reason when it can be proven to be error.[xiii]
The third objection to the above prophetic prediction is no exact date exists for determining when the prophecy begins, because the Scripture reference says “in the first year”, as is evident in the following Scriptures that refer to the proclamation of King Cyrus:
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of
Persia, that Yahweh’s word by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished,
Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a
proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying….
(2 Chronicles 36:22).
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of
Persia, that Yahweh’s word by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished,
Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a
proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying….
(Ezra 1:1).
But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree to build this house of God (Ezra 5:13).
The fourth objection to this particular interpretation is the date. According to the Cyrus Cylinder held at the British Museum, Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 BC[xiv] This places the first year of Cyrus’ reign as king of Babylon somewhere between January 1, 539 BC to December 31, 538 BC and not August, 537 BC. The first Jews to be sent back to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel, however, are thought to have left Babylon in 537 BC, seventy years after the first captives were taken from cities in Judah, beginning 607 BC. Archaeological finds have clearly detailed the fall of Jerusalem as 597 BC,[xv] and if we add seventy years to this, we are looking at 527 BC, before the actual seventy years were up.
Nevertheless, the fact that concerns us is this prophecy gives us 907,200 days that convert to 2483 years and 307 days, which, when we subtract 538 years for the BC side of the equation, beginning at January 1, 538 BC, and ending midnight December 31, 1 BC, this leaves us with 1945 years for the AD side of the equation, which puts us near the ballpark. The AD side of the equation begins as soon as midnight finishes and the New Year becomes January 1, AD 1. From the December 31, 538 BC, 2483 years and 307 days would bring us to November 3, 1946, but does not get us into the year 1948.
If this were to be a prophecy to note, then in all probability, Cyrus’ proclamation within his first year may have taken place in 538 BC. If the first captives were released within the second six-month period of 537 BC, then we would have a prophecy that would bring us into 1947. However, the prophecy is not exact to the very day, and as Jesus said, “He knows neither the hour nor the day”, but this does not mean we cannot know the year. Anyone, predicting the return of sovereignty to Israel as a nation in 1948, back in the days of the Millerite Movement or before the First World War, based on any of the above criteria, would certainly be up for a prophet’s reward. The prophecies were there to be found and have not changed since the days of Ezekiel, the contemporary of Daniel.
Importantly, what has to be realized, these prophecies are not something that have just been made up recently. These prophecies that we are addressing here have existed for centuries, but people have been egregiously misinterpreting them and causing people to doubt the validity of God’s inspired written word. What we are finding out now is how all these prophecies, that were written for our benefit, thousands of years ago, are all coming together within this current epoch in which we live.
Nailing
Down The Timeline Prophecies
On November 29, 1947, Israel was declared an Independent State. If we take this as our starting point and work backwards to see where the prophecy of years (2483 years, 307 days) for the punishment of Judah takes us, we should find ourselves probably at the date the first captives either left Babylon or arriving at Jerusalem. The reason why we say arriving at Jerusalem is because this is the time they had been away from their homeland until they returned from having been taken captive. The Jews definitely were not taken captive when they arrived at Babylon. Supporting evidence should be found in the book of Nehemiah or Ezra, where a record of the released captives departure from Babylon is recorded. When we subtract 307 days from November 29, 1947 this brings us to January 26, 1947. When we subtract 1947 years from 2483 years, we are left with 536 years. This means that the effective beginning of the release from captivity to return to Jerusalem was no earlier than January, 26, 536 BC. If Cyrus conquered Babylon sometime in 539 BC, the actual proclamation could have been made in 538 BC—even as late as December 31 538 BC; because we are not sure. Nevertheless, the captives were not heading off to Jerusalem on the day of the proclamation that they were to be set free. Slaves are not released without documentation—and this takes time! This being the case, a reasonable probability is that up to two years could have taken place before the first captives were released.
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of
Persia, that Yahweh’s word by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished,
Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a
proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given me all
the kingdoms of the earth; and he has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem,
which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be
with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the
house of Yahweh, the God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem. Whoever
is left, in any place where he lives, let the men of his place help him with
silver, with gold, with goods, and with animals, besides the freewill offering
for God’s house which is in Jerusalem.’”
Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, even all whose spirit God had stirred to go up rose up to build Yahweh’s house which is in Jerusalem. All those who were around them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with animals, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered. Also Cyrus the king brought out the vessels of Yahweh’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought out of Jerusalem, and had put in the house of his gods; even those, Cyrus king of Persia brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. This is the number of them: thirty platters of gold, one thousand platters of silver, twenty-nine knives, thirty bowls of gold, silver bowls of a second sort four hundred and ten, and other vessels one thousand. All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. Sheshbazzar brought all these up, when the captives were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem. (Ezra 1:1-11)
When we read the account from Ezra, our immediate impression is that this happened on the same day of the proclamation. A little careful reading and we note that there was a need to account for vessels, as well as who was prepared to make the trip, which was at least a four month journey. If the arrival at Jerusalem were January 26, 536 BC, then this would have meant the departure was at least around August/September of 537 BC..We have no exact dates, but when we consider that the time taken to account for everything and make the relevant documentation on clay tablets, or scrolls, we can see that we are well and truly on the money in respect to when this prophecy began, having worked it out from the time of the ratification of present-day Israel’s independence as a nation.
Now what we do know is the Balfour Agreement indeed brought about the embryonic beginnings of the state of Israel, as a protectorate of Britain, during November of 1917, and the first immigrants processed, because of that agreement, arrived in 1918. Some thirty years after the Balfour Agreement (which itself was an incredible outcome), during November of 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for Palestine to be partitioned between Arabs and Jews, allowing for the formation of the Jewish state of Israel. Israel obtained independence the following year in 1948. This indeed has to be cause to consider the Bible as an authoritative book for prophetic purposes, since within its pages the return of Israel as a nation is foretold, when the punishment of Israel is complete. According to the prophecy, this was complete by November, 1947—even if only fulfilled six months later. The ratification of November 1947 sealed the deal that Israel was to return as a nation in accordance to the written word of God. History is very difficult to nail down to the exact day, at times, but the fact that we are able to demonstrate from the Bible a prophecy that brings us from the time of Cyrus’ proclamation and the first release of the captives that lands in November of 1947, when Israel was given the right to exist as a nation is incredible of itself. If Zerubbabel and his companions left Babylon for Jerusalem on December 31, 537 BC, or during January, 536 BC, this would be close to perfect. Regardless of this fact, we only have approximations to work with, but what we see from the Bible is a consistency that allows for us to have freewill and yet demonstrates God’s authority, as His purpose is being carried out.
Desolating Sacrilege Prophecy
When Jerusalem was destroyed back in AD 70, for many people this appeared to be the fulfillment of the desolating sacrilege spoken about by Jesus. The record of the desolating sacrilege is found in the following passages, although, Luke does not mention an abomination. We read:
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded
by armies, then know that its desolation is at hand. Then let those who are in
Judea flee to the mountains. Let those who are in the middle of her depart. Let
those who are in the country not enter therein. (Luke 21:20-21)
“When, therefore, you see the
abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet,
standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are
in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to
take out things that are in his house. Let him who is in the field not return
back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are with child and to nursing
mothers in those days! Pray that your flight will not be in the winter, nor on
a Sabbath, for then there will be great oppression, such as has not been from
the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be. Unless those days
had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the
chosen ones, those days will be shortened.
“Then if any man tells
you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or, ‘There,’ don’t believe it. For there
will arise false christs, and false prophets, and they will show great signs
and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.
“Behold, I have told you
beforehand. If therefore they tell you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’
don’t go out; ‘Behold, he is in the inner rooms,’ don’t believe it. (Matthew
24:15-26)
But when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. (Mark 13:14 )
People tend to interpret prophecy according to the spirit of the times. The Bible is written the way it is because there is always the sin factor and the need for individual repentance and faith towards God. When we read the Bible there appears to be a three-fold witness. There is that which points to the past, that which is pertinent for the present and that which foretells the future. The timelessness of the Bible is really an illusion, because it does speak about a beginning, and there is definitely an end in sight. The abomination of desolation portends events that are yet to happen. Even though Jerusalem was made desolate, this is not the same as saying that, unless those days were shortened, no human being would be saved. The apocalyptic language used by Jesus in Matthew chapter twenty-four, quoted from the gospels, indicates an irreversible catastrophe, such as nuclear war, not the destruction of one city that is to be restored at a later date.
There are many tensions in the world. However, for nations of the world to come to a place where there will be nuclear war, there would need to be two megalomaniacs intent on destroying each other. These individuals would need to possess some obsession or belief that they are invincible or are going to be rewarded with such a magnitude of benefits in an afterlife for their actions, that unleashing nuclear bombs makes sense. If this sounds farfetched, then we need look no further than suicide bombers (thinking about virgins in the hereafter) to realize that this is not only possible, but an ever-present likelihood.
Under what circumstances could we find two megalomaniacs who would be prepared to put the world into a state of nuclear war? Russia and United States have made peace and the cold war has ended with the eastern European countries realizing their impoverishment as a Second World community compared to their counterparts in the West. Old Communist China no longer exists and the Chinese government is pursuing policies that allow individuals to cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit that permitted more people to have a share of the wealth in the democracies of the West. North Korea is a backward country that does not have the necessary influence and technology to impact peace worldwide. The United States of America possesses technology that could obliterate North Korean installations, just like the twin towers were turned into dust on that fatal day, September, the eleventh, 2001. India and Pakistan are unlikely to do anything more that saber rattle, for their politicians have no interest in incurring the wrath of the super powers. Other ploys are globalist decoys, even if rumors of nuclear war abound.
The book of Daniel provides us with a clue:
He shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the middle of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate; and even to the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out on the desolate…. Forces shall stand on his part, and they shall profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate…. From the time that the continual burnt offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred ninety days (Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11).
Many people have claimed Jesus was the one who made a firm covenant and was cut off in the middle of the week, having preached the kingdom of God for three-and-a-half years from the time of His baptism. However, we have demonstrated that the Scriptures clearly indicate that Jesus spent just over two years on His mission, after having been baptized in the Jordan by John. Numerous theories have been postulated as to how Jesus made a covenant with many for one week and was cut off midway. Jesus offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice and this brought an end to the burnt offerings and sacrifices that were part of the Mosaic covenant that were used to find favor with our Heavenly Father. However, as far as the Jews were concerned, this was not the case and they continued to offer up sacrifices at the temple until the Romans destroyed the temple and Jerusalem itself in AD 70. Since the destruction occurred some thirty-nine years after Jesus’ death, there is no logical connection with the event and the presumed seven-year prophecy above in connection with the crucifixion of our Savior.
What makes one’s eyebrows rise is the preparations that are being made for the third temple. Even though many dismiss this fact, everyone ought to take note. The Temple Institute is an organization dedicated solely to the rebuilding of the third temple where the Dome of the Rock now exists. In anticipation of this event many vestments and vessels have been already crafted for use. On the Temple Institute’s site we find these words:
The Temple Institute has likewise called upon Israel's finest craftsmen and artisans, and enlisted them in the historical task of recreating the sacred vessels and vestments. Every vessel produced by the Temple Institute is done in accordance with the precise instructions that were first handed down by G-d to Moses. The vessels you are about to view are all fit and ready for use in the Holy Third Temple, may it be built speedily, and in our days.[xvi]
What is also significant about the Temple Institutes’ site is the fact that at the very top of every page is the following declaration: For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations (Isaiah. 56:7).
This may not seem very significant to some. In fact, many Israelites are secular and Tel Aviv is renowned for its sodomite parade. The rabbinical and orthodox Jews are not all supportive of building a third temple, preferring to believe that this will occur when the Messiah appears. However, before us we have the kindling for the tinderbox that would ignite a world war of such proportions that if the Messiah does not come, Earth would be destroyed.
The proposed scenario is that if the third temple is built and Judaism asserts itself as possessing the house of prayer for all nations, and for a short period of time there is peace, then, because of the offence that is taken by many non-Jews, the sacrifices are abolished and after twelve hundred and ninety days, the abomination of desolation occurs. This is where an individual takes his place in the temple and proclaims himself to be God the Messiah. The Apostle Paul warned the Thessalonians in his day that this is what would happen and wrote:
Now, brothers, concerning the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to him, we ask you not to be quickly shaken in your mind, nor
yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by letter as from us, saying
that the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will
not be, unless the departure comes first, and the Man of Sin is revealed, the
son of destruction, he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is
called God or that is worshiped; so that he sits as God in the temple of God,
setting himself up as God
(2 Thess. 2:1-4).
The departure mentioned in the above text is that of the foolish, who claim they believe in Jesus Christ, but do not really have a personal relationship with Him; where they know Him as Lord, through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Many of these will probably expect to be caught up in “the rapture” before this event happens, as is taught by dispensationalists and others who ignore these words of warning from the Apostle Paul. You see, they believe that God is restraining the lawless one until He raptures them, which is found in the following verses (though taken out of context) and what they say is the real key to the truth of the rapture. These verses say:
Now you know what is restraining him, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. For the mystery of lawlessness already works. Only there is one who restrains now, until he is taken out of the way. Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming; even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved (2 Thessalonians. 2:6-10).
On its own, the above passage indicates that the Lawless One will be revealed once someone is taken out of the way. This someone is interpreted to be the Holy Spirit, or the believers who form the body of Christ. This appears to make sense, if we ignore the earlier verses, the portion of text that emphatically states that “we are not to be deceived”. For it is not until the Antichrist is revealed that “we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them [the dead in Christ] in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
To the unenlightened, the idea that we are to meet the triumphant Lord Jesus Christ in the air, when he appears in the sky, does seem like a scene from the world of fantasy. However, besides the prophet Daniel (12:2) talking about the resurrection, Ezekiel helps provide some more of the answer when he speaks of the dead being raised:
Yahweh’s hand was on me, and he brought me out in Yahweh’s Spirit, and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. He caused me to pass by them all around: and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and behold, they were very dry. He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? I answered, Lord Yahweh, you know. Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, you dry bones, hear Yahweh’s word. Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I saw, and, behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off. Therefore prophesy, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people. I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it, says Yahweh (Ezekiel 37:1-14).
Jesus confirmed this when He spoke of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, being alive, and not dead, saying:
But about the dead, that they are raised; haven’t you read in the book of Moses, about the Bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are therefore badly mistaken” (Mark 12:26-27).
Jesus also provided the key for us to understand the truth of those who are alive being caught up in the rapture, when He spoke of the desolating sacrilege taking place in the Holy Place. For Jesus referred to the prophet Daniel. Evidently, the Apostle Paul’s understanding of the resurrection, with the rapture happening after the Antichrist performs his abomination, is confirmed in Daniel. For we read:
From the time that the continual burnt offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred ninety days. Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred thirty-five days (Dan. 12:11-12).
When people did not believe Israel would become a nation again, most commentators were inclined to believe the abomination that makes desolate, in this text, was a reference to Antiochus IV Epiphanies. They would take the days and count one thousand years to one day and do magical mathematics with fictitious figures to make prophecies fit. On the other hand, Albert Barnes[xvii] comments in his publication of 1870:
Blessed is he that waiteth—This indicates a patient expect-ation of an event that was to occur, and the happy state of him who would reach it. The angel refers to another period different from the “time, and times, and an half,” and different also from the twelve hundred and ninety days. He speaks of this as the consummation—as the desirable time; and pronounces him blessed who shall be permitted to see it. The idea here is, that of one looking out for this as a happy period, and that he would be regarded as a happy man who should live in that age.
Barnes is not the only one to sense that this is when Jesus Christ returns. The Geneva Study Bible[xviii] of the seventeenth century speculates that this is of a figurative nature and provides the following commentary:
In this number he adds a month and a half to the former number, signifying that it is not in man to appoint the time of Christ's coming, but that they are blessed that patiently wait for his appearing.
When we read the Scriptures, the idea that we should wait upon the Lord God, as he searches our heart is quite apparent, as is evident from these two verses from the book of Isaiah:
Therefore Yahweh will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for Yahweh is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him …. For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides you, who works for him who waits for him (Isaiah 30:18; 64:4).
Blessed—that is, happy and to be envied (to quote the Amplified Bible)—are those who wait the extra forty-five days after the Antichrist is revealed for they shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. When we read this Scripture in conjunction with what the Apostle Paul said in Second Thessalonians, chapter two, about not being deceived, we know why we need to wait the extra days. For some reason, the obvious is hidden from many. Maybe what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount may explain why this is so:
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8).
Not only do we need to have a pure heart, but we also need ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. When the day of the Lord comes and the wise are waiting, they will hear the voice of the Son of Man. In the book of Revelation, the Apostle John heard the voice of the seven thunders, and what he heard, he was not permitted to divulge:
I saw a mighty angel coming down out of the sky, clothed with a cloud. A rainbow was on his head. His face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. He had in his hand a little open book. He set his right foot on the sea, and his left on the land. He cried with a loud voice, as a lion roars. When he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices. When the seven thunders sounded, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from the sky saying, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders said, and don’t write them.” (Revelation. 10:1-4).
Many people will be deceived, including those who do not truly seek the Lord God but instead are more concerned about heresies and pointing the finger at other people. This is because they have not earnestly sought the truth to live by the power of the Holy Spirit. These foolish ones have accepted false teaching or have suffered from unbelief because of a refusal to give up all the sin in their lives—sin is disobedience, which leads to unbelief (Hebrews 3:12-19). They will be those who do not have the understanding that is presented in this book, because they believe the lie of post-millennialism, amillennialism, or that the resurrection of the just is going to occur before the revealing of the Antichrist. This is what John wrote:
And he doeth great signs, that he should
even make fire to come down out of heaven upon the earth in the sight of men.
And he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs which it
was given him to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the
earth, that they should make an image to the beast who hath the stroke of the
sword and lived (Revelation 13:13-14 ASV[xix]).
For some reason, the producers of the World English Bible have “he deceives my own people” and this is the only English Bible to contain these words. While this will be true for those who fall away from waiting for the Bridegroom, as depicted in the parable of the virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), that they believe in the message of the gospel, some would argue that these, who are deceived, are not truly God’s people but the hypocrites; such as those who subscribe to the cheap grace position of “saved by grace alone”. These people only accept and teach one aspect of the salvation message, and not that we are saved by grace through faith in the Son of Man, who is the Son of God, Lord Jesus Christ—thereby missing the essential truth concerning faith being a requisite for salvation.
When we consider the fact that we have the book of Hebrews informing us that the Holy Place in the Tabernacle is a reference to the present time, we have a clue that enables us to grasp that there is more to this symbolic type than meets the eye. When we see that the linen used to fence off the outer court (the Public Place), the inner court (the Holy Place) and the innermost court (the Holy of Holies) have cubic dimensions that correspond to the time from Moses to Pentecost, from Pentecost to the Millennium and the Millennium to the Great White Throne Judgment, we need to take note. Then when we learn that the predictions given to Daniel clearly outline the year the Passover Lamb is to be sacrificed—once for all—we know that these are not mere guesses. Add to this the prophecies concerning Judah’s sin that bring us to the years 1947/1948, when Israel once more was declared a nation. The odds for this are incredible. We do not need to know the exact day. In fact, we have Jesus saying that we cannot. Moreover, we know that if people have freewill, then it would be impossible for God to predict the very second when an event will occur in thousands of years to come. But to make the prediction to the year is absolutely, and amazingly, incredible. Only a person possessing omniscience could do this.
Some people like to think that they do not have freewill and they are not responsible for their actions. Now if this were so, then there would be no need for any judgment to take place. Everybody would be just like machines. Anyone could be destroyed and there would be no issues of justice to deal with. However, while killing an animal and eating it is not a sin, we understand that killing a human is sin. And not just that cannibalism is considered horrific and inhuman. No doubt, we think like this because we have freewill. Moreover, we possess the capacity to think because of our freewill. But we cannot have freewill and yet not have the right to make choices and do as we desire. For to possess freewill means the right to think and do as we like, whenever we like, within the limitations of our environment. Most human environments are actually controlled by enculturation, or indoctrination of some sort is disseminated, and because of this, people can be conditioned to act within certain constraints. However, this cannot be guaranteed, because there could be those who decide otherwise —and, often, this just happens to be the case— resulting in criminal activity and sins against humanity.
Ten
Million Israelites Prophecy
One of the prophecies in the book of Numbers tells us that there could be ten million people brought back to Israel. Fifty years after Israel was declared an independent nation, the population still did not consist of seven million. In fact, the Second World War was an attempt to get Jews to migrate to Israel. Insufficient people were returning to Israel and this would mean that the Arabs would regain the land unless the population increased. Canadian Jew, Henry Makow claims that six million Jews did not die in the Nazi camps, and that this is an exaggerated number used as a propaganda means to inflict guilt upon the West. This propaganda has a two-fold impact: one, as a means to promote anti-Semitism and permit Jews to garner sympathy and extort the gullible Europeans and Americans; two, a means to create a meme that Jews would be safer if they lived in their own state. Still this has been insufficient to cause Jews to migrate to Israel.[xx] To counter this, the Israel Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption has been given the charter to encourage more Jews to migrate to Israel by providing incentives to overcome obstacles. Non-Jews cannot migrate to Israel. The Islamic invasion of Europe and North America is designed to cause Israelites to weigh up the options and view migration to Israel as a better alternative to where they are living.
The reality is not exactly what most people believe; because they accept what they are fed by the media propaganda and believe what they are told to do by politicians and government forces is for their own good. Little do people realize that only a few politicians in the cabinet posts make the decisions, the rest do as they are told and toe the party line. Truth is suppressed. Politicians are ambitious people, who are compromised because of their desire for power. Consequently, they are influenced by those who hold the purse strings. Nevertheless, God is fully aware that mammon is the god of this world. He is using mammon to bring about His end.
When Moses was heading to the Promised Land, this is the prophecy concerning the population to which our Lord God is to return:
Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel
the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are journeying to the place of which
Yahweh said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well;
for Yahweh has spoken good concerning Israel.”
He said to him, “I will not go; but I will depart to my own land, and to
my relatives.”
He said, “Don’t leave us, please;
because you know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you can be our
eyes. It shall be, if you go with us, yes, it shall be, that whatever good
Yahweh does to us, we will do the same to you.”
They set forward from the Mount of Yahweh three days’ journey. The ark
of Yahweh’s covenant went before them three days’ journey, to seek out a
resting place for them. The cloud of Yahweh was over them by day, when they set
forward from the camp. When the ark went forward, Moses said, “Rise up, Yahweh,
and let your enemies be scattered! Let those who hate you flee before you!”
When it rested, he said, “Return, Yahweh, to the ten thousands of the thousands
of Israel.”
(Numbers 10:29-36)
Ten thousands of thousands equals ten million. However, even though the Hebrew rebabah is not translated “ten thousand” in every translation. In Strong’s Concordance, we learn that the word could be translated multitude, myriad, or ten thousand. The idea is this is a significant multitude; yet, somehow, ten thousand thousands. The Tanakh English translation from the Jewish Virtual Library, instead of “ten thousands of thousands,” reads:
And when it rested, he said: “Return, O HaShem,[xxi] unto the ten thousands of the families of Israel” (Numbers 10:36).[xxii]
The translation from the Jewish Virtual Library, gives the impression that the thousands are actually families. In the modern context, the connotation that surrounds families is not necessarily what might be meant in the biblical context. The idea that a family could consist of a thousand people is not modern thinking. Yet when speaking about genealogies, this takes on another dimension and a family can consist of thousands of people. Even the evolutionary tree is framed so that there is the dog family, the cat family, and the horse family, etc., which have numerous species. In this sense, even humans are a family. However, the point is that the use of the word “families” instead of “thousands” indicates a multitude, and the text is appears to be suggesting at least ten million people, if not more.
Currently the population of Israel is not ten million. As of 2023, there is approximately seven million Jews and some two million non-Jews living in Israel. Whether this prophecy from the book of Numbers has any currency, we cannot be sure. But it is interesting to note that until there are ten million Jews living in Israel, we cannot tick this prophecy as having been fulfilled. The time of the current era is close and this could have ended in 2002 AD, if the timeline taken from the Mosaic pattern were the sole criterion; but we see there are a number of reasons why this is not the case. Notwithstanding freewill and sin, the main criterion appears to be the required number of people that complete the target set by our Lord God Almighty before the return of Lord Jesus Christ. Are ten million people required for Israel? One thing we can know for sure is there certainly has been set a predetermined number of people to be saved from among the Gentiles. We do not know the number of Gentiles that are to be saved, or how many are still to be saved, before the return of the Lord. All we really know is the sooner these people are saved, the sooner the return of the Lord. That there is a set number conforms to the doctrine of freewill and responsibility that permeates the Scriptures and provides a rationale for current events, as well as historical events. We can be confident that having been created in the image of God, freewill, morality and responsibility are integral components of an individual’s constitution and our social fabric as human beings.
Many people have attempted to work out the exact date for the Second Coming and they have failed. The reason for their failure appears to be freewill—not the freewill of the interpreters, but freewill in general. The people who attempt to work out the time lines seem to think that possessing freewill does not altar God’s plans and purpose in any way. Ultimately, this is true. But when we consider the fact that if God gave humans freewill and then overrode their freewill, this would be a futile exercise; for there would have been no point in having given people freewill in the first place. After all, God is righteous and humans are not robots; even if they are conditioned by their environment and programmed by tutors. Humans have freewill, and it is only when particular courses of action can be absolutely certain, can a prediction be made with accuracy to the very second. Consequently, those who have attempted to work out the prophecies, and then have made predictions based on whatever they claim is an accurate interpretation, have failed because they have not taken into account the factors we have discussed here. Nevertheless, we have to admit that the evidence is strong that Lord Jesus Christ is about to return and when people begin to rise up and win souls for the Kingdom, then once the target is reached, this completes the fulfillment of the number of Gentiles to be saved. The door will shut; the Antichrist will appear; and those who are truly saved will be ready to meet the Lord.
When talking about dates and God’s plan being subject to human freewill, the significance of what occurred when Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 BC needs to be grasped. For while Cyrus announced the release of the Jewish captives in his first year of ruling Babylon, the fact that some 1150 years later Mohammad appears on the scene to spawn the antichrist religion of Islam, that has writings filled with hatred for Jews, seems more than just a coincidence. For now that Israel has been given back Jerusalem, their problem is the sons of Ishmael occupy the Temple site. The abomination of desolation has to occur if the Bible prophecies are to be fulfilled. Islam appears to be playing a major part in this.
Litch repudiated his prophecy regarding the 2300 days and the fall of Islam, but had he understood that these were 2300 evenings and mornings, instead of days (as in the King James Version of the Bible) maybe he would have realized the significance of Cyrus conquering Babylon and what it meant for the fall of Israel, the origin of Islam and the return to Jerusalem to set up a third temple, which will be occupied by the Antichrist; thought by many to be a manifestation of Lucifer himself as the beast, rather than a human (or transhuman), who insists on being worshiped.
***
[i] “The Letter of Paul
to the Romans (Romans),” SparkNotes,
accessed March 5, 2017,
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/newtestament/section6.rhtml.
[ii]Ronald Bernard claims
to have been a money launderer for illegal money from governments and had to
deal with the elite people who ran the central banks and secret service
agencies. He says that there are 8500 people who control the globe— Ronald Bernard,
interview by Irma Schiffers, De Vrije Media, viewed June 19, 2017.
[iii] Ethan R. Longhenry, A Study of Denominations (Ohio: DeWard
Publishing), accessed July 12, 2016,
http://www.astudyofdenominations.com/denominations/pietism/.
[iv] Elizabeth Vaughn, Miracles of the Azusa Street Revival
(Elizabeth Vaughan Ministries Inc.), accessed June 17, 2025,
https://godsinstrument.com/glory-stories/#32.
[v] Bryant G. Wood,
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Hoffmeier," accessed July 8, 2016,
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[vi] "Solomon," Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), accessed
August 10, 2017, http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13842-solomon.
[vii] Donald B. Redford,
"Co-Regency of Amenhotep II and Thutmose III," The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 51 (Dec. 1965): 107–122, states
that Amenhotep II, the second son of Thutmose III co-ruled Egypt with him for a
short period (believed
to be two years) before he died and was immortalized in myth as a
Pharaoh of great exploits.
It just so happens that during this period
the Exodus took place. Pharaoh Amenhotep II’s son would have been
the first born child killed the night of the last
plague.
Thutmose III’s first son had died years earlier. Amenhotep was at war. Thutmose III would have let the Hebrews go.
Amenhotep returned and chased the Hebrews, being the Pharaoh who drowned in the
Red Sea at Neweiba, the Gulf of Aqaba.
[viii] Once more this author
must confess that a voice told
him this along with the fact that the Leopard of Daniel chapter 8 represented Voltaire and the bear represented Hugues De
Payens. With trepidation he invested further and was delighted to find verification
that the three cities associated with these prophecies showed up as different
UPC regions.
[ix] J. Litch, The Probability of the Second Coming of Christ
About AD 1843 (Boston, 1838), 116.
[x] D. Anderson,
"Errors in the Great Controversy: Josiah Litch's Predictions about
Turkey," unpublished manuscript.
[xi] "Ottoman
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[xii] Adventist Pioneer
Library, "The Rise and Fall of Josiah Litch," Lest We Forget, vol. 3, no. 4 (Fourth Quarter, 1993): 6.
[xiii] Dan Bruce,
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2017, http://www.prophecysociety.org/?p=449.
[xiv] "Cyrus
Cylinder," Wikipedia, accessed July 26, 2017,
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[xv] The Archaeological Commentary on the Bible explains the
significance of the 1956 find: "Until 1956, the date of the first conquest
of Jerusalem by the Babylonians was not known. But in that year, several
cuneiform tablets were deciphered which gave an exact date for the first
conquest— in 597 BC””(1979, pp. 143—144). "Downfall of Judah: Exile to
Babylon," The Archaeological
Commentary on the Bible (1979), 143–144, accessed July 26, 2017,
http://www.ucg.ca/booklets/bible-and-archaeology-part-2/downfall-judah-exile-babylon.
[xvi] "Vessels
Gallery," Temple Institute,
accessed June 6, 2014, http://www.templeinstitute.org/vessels_gallery.htm.
[xvii] Albert Barnes,
"Commentary on Daniel 12:1" (1870).
[xviii] Theodore Beza,
"Commentary on Daniel 12:1," in The
1599 Geneva Study Bible.
[xix] American Standard Version. Public Domain.
[xx] Henry Makow,
"Will Illuminati Throw Jews Under the Bus? (Again)," accessed April
14, 2017, https://www.henrymakow.com/are-jews-being-set-up.htm.
[xxi] The Jews do not like
using the NAME of GOD because they believe that incorrectly pronouncing YHWH is
taking His name in vain.
[xxii] "Numbers
10," Jewish Virtual Library,
accessed April 16, 2017,
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Bible/Numbers10.html.
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