THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION – IMPORTANT DETAILS
FIRST THINGS FIRST
EPISODE THREE
Now that we have reviewed a summary of the Book of the Revelation, let’s take a step back and look at the most important details of this Book by taking a more complete view and the actual beginnings or the Genesis of the Book of Revelation.
(By the way, a good primer for this essay, or study, would be the brief series, “The Journey to Perfection”, which attempts to lay out God’s full Plan, from Genesis to The Revelation, complete with an explanation of His purpose and His methods.)
In the beginning, God created. He began with the imperfect and created His Masterpiece. First in the heavens and then on the earth. His work completed in just seven days; He would allow His Masterpiece to mature for millennia until it became His Perfection. A journey of discovery and Revelation of God’s Grand Plan and Design, from creation through the End of the Age, then into a New Heaven and a New Earth.
God’s plan is unfolding exactly as He purposed; from The Creation, through the Garden of Eden and the Fall of Man to the Great Flood, the Tower of Babel, the Exodus from Egypt, the possessing of The Promised Land, the Destruction of the First Temple and the Jewish Captivity in Babylon, the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Destruction of the Second Temple, our steady march through time has been exactly as Bible prophecy has foretold. We have entered an era leading to the destruction and, eventually, a rebirth of the heavens and the earth.
The Purpose of God’s Eternal Plan is “Perfection”. He is maturing and perfecting His people into His image, ultimately to live in Perfect harmony with Him and with one another, in a New and Perfect heaven and earth.
To Wit: “Because by a single offering He has made perfect for all time those who are being sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14
Each and every chapter, verse and word in the Bible, when viewed within this context of God’s Eternal Plan of Perfection, begins to make perfect sense.
Secondly, as God’s Plan and Purpose unfold over the millennia we can see the purpose of the coming Day of The Lord and the End of the Age as found in Daniel 9 verse 24 through 27. Here, The scriptures give an overview or a panorama of the timing of the events leading to the Last Days.
Daniel 9, verse 24 says, “Seventy weeks (explained in further detain in this link) have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the wrongdoing, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
Verse 25. “So, you are to know and understand that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with streets and moat, even in times of distress.
Verse 26. “Then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
Verse 27. “And he will confirm a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come the one who makes desolate, until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, gushes forth on the one who makes desolate.”
The Timing, Place and Purpose of Daniel’s 70 Weeks.
It is important to place the approximate timing of Daniel’s Seventy Weeks whenever possible, and the 7oth Week in particular.
The “seventy weeks” prophecy is one of the most significant and detailed Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. It is found in Daniel chapter 9. The chapter begins with Daniel praying for Israel, acknowledging the nation’s sins against God and asking for God’s mercy. As Daniel prayed, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and gave him a vision of Israel’s future.
The Divisions of the 70 Weeks
(NOTE: This section on the division of The 70 Weeks is detailed, very helpful to the serious student of eschatology but is very complex. It is intended to unravel a mystery of the chronology and timing of the final SEVEN weeks of the Great Tribulation. But if numbers and historical detail tend to confuse you or are ‘not your thing’, just skip down to the paragraphs titled ‘The Final Week of the 70 Weeks’.)
In verse Daniel 9 verse 24, Gabriel says, “’Seventy Sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city.” Almost all commentators agree that the seventy “sevens” should be understood as seventy “weeks” of years; in other words, a period of 490 years. These verses provide a sort of “clock” that gives an idea of when the Messiah would come and some of the events that would accompany His appearance.
This prophecy goes on to divide the 490 years into three smaller units: one of 49 years, one of 434 years, and one 7 years. The final “week” of 7 years is further divided in half. Verse 25 says, “From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ (7 x 7 = 49 years) and sixty-two ‘sevens (62 x 7 = 434 years).’” (Forty-nine years + Four hundred thirty four years = 483 years.)
The Fulfillment of the 70 Weeks
Gabriel said the prophetic clock would start at the time that a decree was issued to rebuild Jerusalem and from the date of that decree to the time of the Messiah would be 483 years. We know from history that the command to “restore and rebuild Jerusalem” was given by King Artaxerxes of Persia 444 B.C. (see Nehemiah 2:1-8).
The first unit of 49 years (seven “sevens”) covers the time that it took to rebuild Jerusalem, “with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble” (see Daniel 9 verse 25). This rebuilding is chronicled in the book of Nehemiah.
Converting the 360-day year used by the ancient Jews, 483 years becomes 476 years on our solar calendar. Adjusting for the switch from B.C. to A.D., 476 years after 444 B.C. places us at A.D. 33, which coincides with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (see Matthew 21 verses 1 through 9). The prophecy in Daniel 9 specifies that, after the completion of the 483 years, “the Anointed One will be cut off” (Daniel 9, verse 26), which was fulfilled when Jesus was crucified.
Daniel 9 verse 26continues with a prediction that, after the Messiah is killed, “the people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” This was fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
“The ruler who will come” as referenced in Daniel 9, verse 26is a type or a forerunner of the Antichrist. Many ancient Jews viewed the actions of Antiochus Epiphanes as the fulfillment of Daniel 9, verse 27, which says, “On the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate.” But Antiochus Epiphanes was merely a forerunner to the ‘man of lawlessness’ who is to come.
The Final Week of the 70 Weeks
SIXTY-NINE of the SEVENTY “SEVENS” of Daniels 70 weeks have been fulfilled. One more “SEVEN” is yet to be fulfilled. Many scholars believe that we are now living in a ‘gap’ of time between the 69th week and the 70th week.
The prophetic clock has been paused, as it were. The final “seven” of Daniel is what we usually call the tribulation period. However, as the Day of The Lord has drawn nearer, it is becoming clear that the that the tribulation period known as the Tribulation Seal Judgements is separated into two stages.
The first stage includes tribulation seals 1 through 5, (which, as previously discussed, have been ‘broken’ or began between the birth of Christ and A.D. 95). These Seals are also known as the “the birth pains” as described by Jesus in Matthew chapter 24, verses 4 through 9. Jesus clearly says of these Seals and of this first stage of the tribulation, that “This is not yet the end”.
But at the completion of Jesus’ description of these first five tribulation seals, He says, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. (see Matthew 24, verse 14).
(It is helpful to note that Jesus’ description of the Seal Judgements are found, both in Matthew 24, verses 1 though 28, and again in Revelation 6, verses 1 through 11),
Jesus then continues His teaching by describing what comes at the end (of those days) in verses 15 through 28,
“Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, let the reader understand; then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get things out of his house. And whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. But woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days! Moreover, pray that when you flee, it will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again. And if those days had not been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘He is over here,’ do not believe him. For false christs and false prophets will arise and will provide great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
The second stage of the Tribulation inaugurates The Day of The Lord, and is also known as The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord and the coming Wrath of the Lamb. This second stage commences with the breaking of the SIXTH Tribulation Seal and is followed by the breaking of the SEVENTH Tribulation Seal as described by Jesus in Matthew chapter 24, verses 29 through 31,
“But immediately after the tribulation of those days, (those days spoken of in the preceding verses), the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”
(These events are repeated by Jesus, in a similar order, in Revelation chapter 6, verse 12 through Revelation chapter 7, verses 1 through 17.)
(Special note: If you will look closely in Matthew 24, verses 30 through 31, and Revelation 7, verses 13 through 17, you will see what appears to be, and I and many others have come to believe, is in fact, the rapture – hidden in plain sight!)
Daniel’s prophecy reveals some of the actions of the Antichrist, who the “ruler who will come.” Verse 27 says, “He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’” However, “in the middle of the ‘seven,’ . . . he will set up “an abomination that causes desolation” in the temple. Jesus warned of this event in Matthew 24 verse 15. After the Antichrist breaks the covenant with Israel, a time of “Great Tribulation” begins (Matthew 24 verse 21, NKJV).
Daniel tells us that the Antichrist will face the severest of judgments. He will rule only “until the end that is decreed is poured out on him” (Daniel 9:27). God will only allow evil to go so far, and the judgment the Antichrist will face has already been planned out.
Finally – What Came Before?
Genesis 6, verse 5 gives us the first example of how God purges, cleanses and refines His creation whenever a universal state of worldwide and perpetual wickedness exists.
“Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. So the LORD was sorry that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Verse 7. Then the LORD said, “I will wipe out mankind whom I have created from the face of the land; mankind, and animals as well, and crawling things, and the birds of the sky. For I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.”
After the great flood God promised He would never again use a flood to destroy the earth.
However, 2nd Peter, chapter 3, verse 10, tells us that the heavens and the earth will be destroyed once again, but next time it is to be purged, cleansed and refined in preparation for our Eternal home and Kingdom with Him.
“The day of the Lord will come as a robber comes. The heavens will pass away with a loud noise. The sun and moon and stars will burn up. The earth and all that is in it will be burned up.”
This will come at the End of the Age, following the Great Tribulation which is also known as The Great and Terrible Day of The Lord.
NEXT: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST – Chapter 1 – Episode 4
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
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