Advancing the Revelation of Truth


The Archangel Gabriel's statement to Daniel concerning the purpose of the Seventy weeks.

Perpetual study of the Scripture has enlightened the following important facts concerning  Daniel's recorded message from Gabriel the Archangel. Christians seek to know at what time these seventy weeks commence, in order that their meaning can be understood, together with the time of their fulfilment.  Gabriel tells Daniel that these seventy weeks [of years] are determined 'upon your people' [The House of Judah.....the Jews] and 'upon your holy city' [Jerusalem]:

These 70weeks of years, that is 490years, are determined by God in order to bring about the following results:

*  The Most Holy is anything devoted to God[Lev 27:28]. In the book of Leviticus the Most Holy things devoted to God are the various offerings for sin and for trespass etc. including The Temple Itself.  These offerings were fulfilled in the work of The Lord Jesus Christ. In this case therefore, the phrase, 'To anoint The Most Holy' refers to Him or to The Temple.

[The full message given to Daniel by Gabriel can be read here.]

It should be noted that the work of The Lord Jesus Christ laid the ground for the fulfilment of Gabriel's prophesy. He announced His commission by reading the statement in the Book of Isaiah. This is recorded in the Gospel of  Luke[4:18-19]:

"The Spirit of The Lord is on me:

The Lord Jesus Christ was reading from the Hebrew scroll of Isaiah[61:1-2], where it states that the following actions would be performed by a person identified and anointed by God:

"The Spirit of The Sovereign God is on me:

When The Messiah, The Lord Jesus Christ, had finished reading this passage He said:

 'This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears'

This statement by Christ began his ministry and commission to the people of Israel. By quoting this statement of Isaiah he was indicating that His coming ministry would introduce the seventy weeks, that is the 490years, referred to by Gabriel. Without His atoning sacrifice and resurrection, Gabriel's prophesy could not be fulfilled.

  1. The end of this prophetic period of 490 years is described as The Consummation, i.e. the end or destruction of 'the ruler that will come', the anti-christ, whom The Christ shall destroy with the brightness of His Second Coming or 'parousia'. 2Thess 2:8

  2. At the time of The Christ's birth another prophetic span of time began. The Apostle Peter recognised that the action of The Spirit on the day of Pentecost was an important part of the single period referred to as The Last Days. The detail of these days, fourteen [O.T.] and five [N.T.] references, cover a certain length of time, defined by the prophet Daniel's interpretation of the multi metal dream image of Nebuchadrezza. In this vision, the end of The Last Days is brought about by an event which destroys the image with 'a stone cut out without hands'. This is understood to be the 'second coming' or 'parousia' of The Lord Jesus Christ,.

Thus both these periods end at the Personal Presence or parousia of The Lord Jesus Christ. These are shown graphically on the following chart:

History and our own experience tell us that this did not happen. The Lord Jesus Christ did not return in 566ad. Had He done so, this present World Order would have been replaced by one which would have been governed by Christ Himself

The Scriptures tell us that Gabriel's prophesy was postponed because of the lethargy of the Jews[Acts 28:26-28] in receiving their King and their prophesied Kingdom:

And when the Jews had appointed Paul a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.

And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Isaiah the prophet unto our fathers,  Saying,

Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 

be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is commissioned unto the Nations, and that they will hear it. And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves.  Acts 28:23

We now come to the important conclusion. 

At this time in 62ad, God took away from the Jews the capability of Spiritual discernment and understanding. Gabriel's prophesy, together with many others, remained to be fulfilled, but for the time being it would no longer be possible for them to receive The Kingdom that He had promised the whole nation of Israel in their land.

Furthermore, the authority for the distribution of the Gospel was no longer that of the Jews, but henceforth it would be the nations responsibility.

What therefore did God do to fill the vacuum left by His postponement of Israel's Kingdom? The apostle Paul agonised over this problem, seeking a higher level of understanding which he describes to his close friends, in the Philippian Church. Afterwards, about 70ad, it becomes clear from what He tells us when he writes his letter to the 'Ephesians' that God was introducing a new Administration that He had kept secret until that time:

In this passage in the Ephesian letter, Paul reveals his relationship with two mysteries, the Messianic mystery concerning the deity, kingship and authority of The Christ, and the mystery of The Administration of The Grace of God. It is the latter which has not been recognised, or given the importance in Christian teaching that would have enabled Christians to understand the present work of God.

This present Administration of God's Grace was revealed a few years after the end of the period known as The Acts of The Apostles. This new Administration imposed a suspension on the fulfilment of both Gabriel's 490years prophesy and also that of The Last Days. There was however a complication, because Gabriel had said that the:

a. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people................

Suspended in 62/63ad at Acts 28:28

b.  Seventy weeks are determined upon thy holy city...............

Suspended in 69/70ad as Mat 24:2

The Holy City, Jerusalem, was not destroyed until seven/eight years after Paul's announcement in Rome concerning the Spiritual blinding and deafening the Jews. This period from 62/63ad to 69/70ad is a TRANSITION period. The first one. For the seventy weeks [of years] to be fulfilled exactly, there must be a corresponding TRANSITION period, the second one, when God reverses His condemnation of the Jews. This reversal is a promise of God, which will be fulfilled in the future.

The period of the Last Days was also suspended at the end of The Acts of The Apostles. In epistles written during the Acts period, the Last Days are shown to  be present. But in epistles written after that period, references to the Last Days show them to be future events. [2Pet 3:3 and 2Tim 3:1]

It is clear from the anticipation expressed in the letters written immediately before Acts 28:28, that the Christians living at the time anticipated the introduction of their Kingdom in Israel in a year or two, probably before the 30th Jubilee in 76ad. As we know this did not occur. But we to-day are rapidly approaching the time of the 70th Jubilee in 2036ad.  Christians to-day have to be Spiritually numb, not to recognise that both the physical and political conditions on the earth and other planets require God's urgent intervention.

When God cancels the suspension of both these periods, prophetic times will recommence, i.e. God will again act in relation to His People, Israel and this present Administration of God's Grace will end. Christians who live in the Life of Christ are promised that when this happens, all mankind will know who He is:

'When Christ who is our Life shall be manifest, then will you be manifest with Him in Glory.'

 

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