We discover the 49 days (a tenth of the whole), which begin the 490-day period,
are marked off from the 434 days. This represents a time to count the day and
to consider where we are in prophetic time. Likewise, there is also a 49-day
period between Passover and Shavuot--a time that God's people are to count the
days in preparation for meeting God. The 490 days embody God's last call for
Israel
and the Holy City, as a display of His patience and mercy that leads up to the
Day of the Lord. However, the decree to rebuild war-torn Jerusalem that begins
the 70 Week prophecy, will only lead to greater sorrow and destruction upon the
beloved city, because (in spite of prophecy's warnings) Israel's leaders will
allow Antichrist into Jerusalem and onto the Temple Mount to set up his
abomination.
Continuing with our study, Daniel 9:26 says, "After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the
Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing." New International Version
and the King James Version scholars interpreted the "anointed one"
to be Messiah and therefore capitalized the title; however, the original
language does not demand the anointed one represent the Son of Man, the
Messiah. In the Bible an “anointed one" is a term also associated with a "king"
or "prophet," and the same texts are true to the original by pointing out in
footnotes, the language simply reads, "an anointed one, the ruler"; that is to
say, an anointed king or a ruling prophet will arrive in Jerusalem.
Let's look at Chart III
below that maps the time line and events so far.
/--------------Prophecy For Israel & Jerusalem ------------ Coming Of An
Anointed One-- A Prophet
A
---49 Days---B------------------434
Days----------------C
A decree
will be given to restore Jerusalem
A
to C Jerusalem will be rebuilt in times of
trouble
B no
specific event is sited in the passage (represents a tenth of the whole--a
counting time)
C anointed
one (prophet) comes to Jerusalem (with an important message of warning)
Verse 26 says after
sixty-two sevens or 434 days, the anointed one will be cut off. The New
International Version footnote suggests the reading of the original text could
be, "the anointed one will be cut off but not for himself." This verse
has often been applied to the death of Jesus two thousand years ago, however, we
would do well to consider the end-time fulfillment.
5. Paul and
the apostles believed they were living in the last days and on the verge of the
imminent return of the Lord. In 2 Thessalonians 2:7
Paul also believed the power of lawlessness was already at work and eventually
the man of sin (Antichrist) would be "revealed" in the Temple in Jerusalem;
however, he said the "one who now holds it back will continue to do so" until
what?
He is taken out of the
way.
6. What will
happen next, once "he" is taken out of the way (v.
8)?
The lawless one
(Antichrist) will be revealed (as an impostor messiah: one who thinks himself to
be God). Verse 4 states at the end of time, "he sets himself up in God's [Jerusalem]
Temple, proclaiming himself to be God."
7. What is
the outcome of his abominable act (v.
9)?
Daniel says the "anointed one", the prophet, will be cut off but not for
himself, while Paul says the one who now holds ["restrains" him] back will do so
till He is taken out of the way.
The similarity is in the
cutting off and taking out of the way of a masculine figure, but the parallels
go way beyond this language.
Both texts focus on the very end of time, just before the Day of the Lord; both
passages spotlight Jerusalem
and the Temple; and the content of both expose the evil deeds of Antichrist.
That is to say, both passages hone in on the same end-time events!
These two texts in the Hebrew Scriptures are contextually connected. The Daniel
9 and 2 Thessalonians 2 passages above most likely refer to the death of Elijah,
one of the two last-day heaven-sent prophets who will rule by divine authority
on earth as found in
Revelation 11.
Malachi 3:1-2 says, "See, I will send My messenger [Elijah], who will
prepare the way [for My coming] before Me [for 1,260 days, then he will die a
martyr's death in the streets of Jerusalem and lie unburied for 3 1/2 days].
Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to His [Jerusalem] Temple [to
deal with Antichrist's evil act]; the Messenger [Hebrew "mal'akh"--angel, or
Michael] of the Covenant [Ten Commandments], whom you desire, will come [to
earth], says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the Day of His coming? Who
can stand when He appears?"
Revelation 11:3-13
forecasts the ministry of two prophets during 1,260 days of the appointed time
that runs parallel with Antichrist's 1,260 day rule. Demonic deceptions are
countered by the voice of these miraculous working messengers (Moses and Elijah)
who proclaim essential warnings during the last days and call God's people to
faithfulness.
As already mentioned, at the end of their 1,260 day ministry
Revelation 11:7-8 predicts they will be murdered in the streets of
the great city Jerusalem, where also our "Lord was crucified." That's why John
in Revelation speaks critically of Jerusalem's inhabitants, calling Jerusalem
"Babylon" for "in her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of
all who have been killed on earth," (18:24).
When a prophet of God speaks, it is as though Christ Himself has spoken.
Hebrews 1:1 declares, "in the past God spoke to our forefathers
through the prophets at many times and in various ways [and will do so again in
the last days]." When Elijah is killed, he will be "cut off, but not for
himself"; he will be "taken out of the way," so that no one is left to restrain
the lawless man of sin, Antichrist, from his evil act. With the two witnesses
killed, Antichrist will step onto the Temple Mount and set up his abomination (Matthew
24:14-21) as also foretold by Daniel (12:11),
and proclaim himself God. The
Appointed Times & Season Calendar shows the death of the two witnesses come
just before the Day of the Lord and the Great Tribulation, just as the 490 days
prophecy predicts.
9. Consistent
with Daniel 9:26,
after the 434 days (sixty-two sevens) and the cutting off of the anointed one
(Elijah), what will happen next to the rebuilt Temple and Jerusalem?
"The people of the [evil] ruler [Antichrist] who will come will destroy the city
[Jerusalem] and the sanctuary [on the Temple Mount]. The end [of Jerusalem] will
come like a flood: War will continue until the end [of prophetic time], and
desolations have been decreed [in prophecy]."
Jesus prophesied of Jerusalem,
"your house is left to you desolate,"
Matthew 23:38. Revelation agrees, "Come out of her [Jerusalem] My
people so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any
of her plagues; for her sins [of following after Antichrist; killing the
prophets; etc.] are piled up to Heaven, and God has remembered her crimes," (18:4-5).
Paul recognized Jerusalem's
sins even in his day; he wrote, "You suffered from your own countrymen... the
Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out,"
1 Thessalonians 2:14-15. In the last days, apostate Christianity
will join Islam and fallen Judaism in a triangle of sin against God's two
prophets and their message of warning.
10. There is
one seven (one week) time period that concludes the 490 days. What does Daniel 9:27
say Antichrist will confirm for one week?
He will confirm a covenant for one week; that is to say, he will make a
covenant with Israel
that will usher in death and destruction to Palestine
(Isaiah
28:17-19).
11. What does
Antichrist do in the middle of the week?
"In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and
offering." He will stop the rituals so that he can use the Temple Mount for his own
abominable act.
12. After
Elijah, the anointed one, is taken out of the way and Antichrist stops the
Temple ceremonies, what is his next move?
"And on a wing of the [Jerusalem]
Temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that
is decreed [his punishment and death] is poured out on him." The abomination
will be set up as spoken of in both
Daniel 12:11 and
Matthew 24:15,
but only for a moment until Michael stands and descends in the cloak of darkness
to deal with Antichrist's evil act.
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Focus On The Prophecies Ministry 5815 S.W. 29th Street Topeka, Ks
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