upgraded September 2, 2008
Daniel 9:24-27 (NIV) "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. 25 "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."
The "Seventy 'sevens' of Daniel 9:24-27 printed above give much insight into prophetic truth. Written more than 600 years before the First "Coming" of Jesus Christ, Daniel prophesied that the TWO orders to restore and rebuild Jerusalem would set events in motion that would culminate in the TWO "Comings" of "the Anointed One, the ruler."
At the time that Daniel was written, very little was known about the coming of the Messiah, the Anointed One, the ruler. It was not known that the Messiah, the Anointed One, the ruler would actually be God Almighty. It was believed that the Anointed One, the ruler would establish an earthly kingdom at the time of His coming. It was not known that the Anointed One, the ruler would be crucified, buried, and raised to life on the third day. No one had the faintest idea that the Anointed One, the ruler would leave, go back to Heaven, and be physically absent from the earth for 2,000 years, and then come back to earth a second time as the Anointed One, the ruler to establish His Kingdom.
Jesus Christ is "the Anointed One, the ruler," and His First "Coming" occurred two thousand years ago at His birth.
Jesus Christ's Second Coming is eminent. However, prior to Jesus' Second Coming, the Antichrist will "confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven,'" but "In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering," and then the Antichrist will set up "an abomination that causes desolation."
There are three time periods referenced in Daniel 9:24-27: ("Seventy 'sevens'), - (seven 'sevens'), and - (sixty-two 'sevens'). The "sevens" referenced are seven year periods. One "seven" equals seven years.
The first time period that Daniel referenced was "Seventy 'sevens' .
Daniel 9:24 (NIV) "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.
This vision is concerning Daniel's people, and Daniel's holy city. Daniel was a Jew, and his holy city is Jerusalem. Daniel's vision is about the Jews, and Jerusalem. In Daniel 9:24 printed above, Daniel lists six very distinct events that will occur during the "Seventy 'sevens'.
There are TWO time periods stated until the coming of the ONE King: "the Anointed One, the ruler," Those two time periods are seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.'
Daniel 9:25 (NIV) "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.'
diaspora n [Gk, dispersion, fr. diaspeirein to scatter, fr. dia- + speirein to sow] (1881) 1 cap a: the settling of scattered colonies of Jews outside Palestine after the Babylonian exile b: the area outside Palestine settled by Jews c: the Jews living outside Palestine or modern Israel 2 a: the breaking up and scattering of a people : MIGRATION <the black ~ to northern cities> b: people settled far from their ancestral homelands <African ~> c. the place where these people live - Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
There have been TWO Diaspora's where the Jews were separated from Jerusalem.
The first Jewish Diaspora occurred in 536 B. C., when the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, and carried the Jews off into Babylon.
The second Jewish Diaspora occurred in 60 A. D., when the Roman General Titus conquered Jerusalem and scattered the Jews to the four winds.
Following the TWO Diaspora's of the Jews, there has been TWO orders in history to rebuild Jerusalem. The first time an order to rebuild Jerusalem occurred, was in approximately 445 B.C. under King Artaxerxes. That order was recorded in Nehemiah 1:1-4, and 2:1-8.
Nehemiah 1:1-4 (NIV) The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire." 4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
Nehemiah 2:1-8 (NIV) In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before; 2 so the king asked me, "Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart." I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?" 4 The king said to me, "What is it you want?" Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, "If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it." 6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, "How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?" It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time. 7 I also said to him, "If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?" And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.
Daniel 9:26a,b printed below states that, "sixty-two 'sevens,' after the first order to rebuild Jerusalem, "the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing."
Daniel 9:26a,b (NIV) After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.
King Artaxerxes gave the first order to rebuild Jerusalem in the year 445 B. C. Sixty two, "seven year periods", (434 years) after that first order to rebuild Jerusalem was the year 11 B. C. With the discrepancies in the calendar, and possible historical (not Biblical) miscalculations of the exact year, 434 years from King Artaxerexes order was the time of Christ's birth; the time of His First "Coming." (This 11 B. C. time period fits within the +3 to -11 year discrepancy of the calendar after Pope Gregory reworked it. It is possible that Satan motivated Pope Gregory to rework the calendar simply so that Biblical prophecies would become more difficult to recognize.)
After the sixty two sevens, the Anointed One (Jesus Christ) was cut off. Jesus Christ was crucified. Approximately 37 years after Jesus' crucifixion, "The people of the ruler who will come" (the Romans) destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple.
The second order to rebuild Jerusalem could be interpreted to have occurred June 28, 1967. Israel declared themselves to be a state on May 14, 1948. However, Jerusalem was not completely in Israeli control until 1967. During the "Six Day War" of 1967, Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem which included the Temple Mount. On June 7, 1967 Jerusalem came back under Jewish control for the first time in almost 1900 years. On June 28, 1967 the Knesset passed a "decree" annexing East Jerusalem, and thereby bringing the entire city of Jerusalem back into Jewish control.
If the decree passed on June 28, 1967 is the second order to rebuild Jerusalem referenced in Daniel, then Jesus, "the Anointed One, the ruler," will come again "seven 'sevens,'" (forty nine years) after that decree. The Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) occurs in the fall of the year. The decree to annex Jerusalem occurred in the Jewish year that began on September 14, 1966 (Rosh Hashanah 1966) and ended on October 4, 1967 (Rosh Hashanah 1967). From September 13, 2015 (Rosh Hashanah) until October 2, 2016 (Rosh Hashanah) is the one year window, of the forty ninth year (seven 'sevens'), since the order to rebuild Jerusalem occurred on June 28, 1967.
Mark Biltz, pastor of El Shaddai Ministries in Bonney Lake, Washington has discovered an interesting phenomenon while collating the Jewish Calendar and NASA's eclipse website. A total lunar eclipse produces a "blood red moon." According to NASA's eclipse website, the year 2014 has two "blood red moons" or total eclipses of the moon, one occurring on April 15, 2014 (Jewish Passover) and one occurring on October 8, 2014 (Jewish Sukkoth). These two eclipses are immediately followed by two additional "blood red moons" in the year 2015; one occurring on April 4, 2015 (Jewish Passover) and one occurring on September 28, 2015 (Jewish Sukkoth). According to the NASA/GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER, four total lunar eclipses in a row is known as a tetrad. After the "blood red moons" of 2014 and 2015, there are no more tetrads occurring on Jewish holidays in this century.
NASA's eclipse website reflects that a tetrad occurred spanning the years 1493 and 1494.
1492 Spanish Inquisition - Christopher Columbus discovered America
April 2, 1493 - Jewish Passover - total lunar eclipse ("blood red moon")
September 25, 1493 - Jewish Sukkoth - total lunar eclipse ("blood red moon")
March 22, 1494 - Jewish Passover - total lunar eclipse ("blood red moon")
September 15, 1494 - Jewish Sukkoth - total lunar eclipse ("blood red moon")
No tetrads occurred in the 1600's, 1700's, or 1800's, but NASA's eclipse website does reflect that a tetrad did occur spanning the years 1949, and 1950. This tetrad occurred following the birth of Israel as a nation; and during the subsequent Israeli war with the Arab world.
May 14, 1948 Israel declares its statehood and is immediately attacked by the Arab countries surrounding Israel
April 13, 1949 - Jewish Passover - total lunar eclipse ("blood red moon")
October 7, 1949 - Jewish Sukkoth - total lunar eclipse ("blood red moon")
April 2, 1950 - Jewish Passover - total lunar eclipse ("blood red moon")
September 26, 1950 - Jewish Sukkoth - total lunar eclipse ("blood red moon")
Following that tetrad, NASA's eclipse website reflects that the next tetrad occurred spanning the years 1967 and 1968. This tetrad occurred prior to and following the retaking of Jerusalem by the Israeli Defense Forces in the Israeli Six Day War.
1967 Israeli Six Day War
April 24, 1967 - Jewish Passover - total lunar eclipse ("blood red moon")
October 18, 1967 - Jewish Sukkoth - total lunar eclipse ("blood red moon")
April 13, 1968 - Jewish Passover - total lunar eclipse ("blood red moon")
October 6, 1968 - Jewish Sukkoth - total lunar eclipse ("blood red moon")
Biltz discovered that there have been seven Passover/Sukkoth tetrads since 1 A.D. These began in 162/163 A.D., and occurred thereafter in 795/796 A.D., 842/843 A.D., 860/861 A.D., 1493/1494 A.D., 1949/1950 A.D., 1967/1968 A.D., with the eighth tetrad scheduled to occur in 2014/2015 A.D.
Biltz also noticed that there are two solar eclipses coming in the year 2015, where the sun will be temporarily blocked out. (The Jewish Calendar has two new-years days during every twelve months. One new-years day marks the beginning of the civil year; six months later, the beginning of the seventh month is new-years day for the sacred year.) NASA's eclipse website reflects that one solar eclipse will occur on March 20, 2015 which happens to mark the first day of the sacred calendar for the Jewish New-Year, and is 14 days before the "blood red moon" lunar eclipse coming on April 4, 2015 (Jewish Passover). The other solar eclipse will occur on September 13, 2015 which happens to mark the first day of the civil calendar (Rosh Hashanah/Tishri) for the Jewish New-Year, and will be 14 days before the "blood red moon" lunar eclipse coming on September 28, 2015 (Jewish Sukkoth).
April 15, 2014 - Jewish Passover - total lunar eclipse ("blood red moon")
October 8, 2014 - Jewish Sukkoth - total lunar eclipse ("blood red moon")
March 20, 2015 - New-Years Day of Jewish sacred year - total solar eclipse (sun blocked out) - (Jewish day begins in the evening at sunset)
Exactly 14 days later- April 4, 2015 - Jewish Passover - total lunar eclipse ("blood red moon")
September 13, 2015 New-Years Day of Jewish civil year - Rosh Hashanah - partial solar eclipse (sun blocked out)
Exactly 14 days later - September 28, 2015 - Jewish Sukkoth - total lunar eclipse ("blood red moon")
(The dates of the two lunar eclipses make them appear to follow the solar eclipses by 15 days and not fourteen, until you remember that the Jewish day begins in the evening at sunset.)
Joel 2:30-31 (NIV) I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
Acts 2:19-20 (NIV) I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
Matthew 24: 27-30 (NIV) For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. "Immediately after the distress of those days" 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.' "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.
You must subtract seven years from the approximate time of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in order to calculate the approximate time for the beginning of the Tribulation period.
That would put the one year window for the beginning of the Seven Year Tribulation Period from September 29, 2008 (Rosh Hashanah) until September 18, 2009 (Rosh Hashanah).
When NASA's eclipse website is collated with the Jewish Calendar, the collation reflects that there will be total solar eclipses on the 1st of Av in the years 2008, 2009, 2010. The month of Av is a month of mourning for the Jews, as both Jewish Temples was destroyed on the 9th of Av (Tish'a B'Av).
August 1, 2008 - 1st day of the month of Av - total solar eclipse
July 22, 2009 - 1st day of the month of Av - total solar eclipse
July 11, 2010 - 1st day of the month of Av - total solar eclipse
Bill Koenig of Koenig's International News has provided additional information concerning "blood red moons" and the Jewish Temple Mount.
Matthew 24:36a (NIV) "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
We cannot know the exact day or the hour because the Jewish Calendar is a 360 day calendar based on the moon, with leap days added as necessary to keep the seasons correct. We actually never know exactly what day we are in. We can however, know very closely when Jesus will return so that the exact day is not a surprise.
1 Thessalonians 5:4 (NIV) But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
Both King Artaxerxes, and the Knesset's decree to rebuild Jerusalem have resulted in TWO times of resistance to the rebuilding of Jerusalem. The enemies of Israel resisted the rebuilding of Jerusalem at the time of Nehemiah and Ezra, and the enemies of Israel are resisting the rebuilding of Jerusalem by the Jews today.
Daniel 9:25c (NIV) It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
Within the "Seventy 'sevens,'" there are TWO "abomination that causes desolation." Daniel 9:27 references the Antichrist's "seven year period," and the "abomination that causes desolation" in the middle of the "seven year period." "abomination that causes desolation," is something unclean in accordance with Levitical law being sacrificed in the Jewish Temple, or a Gentile sacrificing in the Temple. (From a Biblical perspective, there are two classes of people in this world; Jews, who are descendants of Jacob [Israelites], and Gentiles [sometimes referred to as Greeks]). Antiochus Epiphanes was the first "abomination that causes desolation," when he desecrated the Jewish Temple at Jerusalem for a three and one half year period between 168-165 B. C. The Antichrist will be the second "abomination that causes desolation," when he desecrates the Jewish Temple at Jerusalem for a three and one half year period, in the last half of the Seven Year Tribulation Period. In a perfect parallel to the two "Comings" of Jesus Christ, there has already been one "abomination that causes desolation," just prior to Jesus' first Coming, and there is still an "abomination that causes desolation" to come, just prior to Jesus' Second Coming, making a total of TWO.
In a direct parallel to the TWO "abomination that causes desolation," there are TWO periods of three and one half years in which Jesus Christ is specifically shown to the Jews to be the Messiah, totaling seven years, or one "seven."
The first three and one half year period that Jesus was proclaimed as the Messiah specifically to the Jews, was when Jesus personally taught the Jews that He is the Messiah. The second time that specifically the Jews will be taught that Jesus is the Messiah will occur from Mid-Tribulation until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. 144,000 Jewish male virgins will teach the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah after Mid Tribulation, when the last Gentile that is going to be saved will have been saved.
Romans 11:25-27 (NIV) I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27 And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins."
The Jews have been separated from God for two thousand years, since the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Hosea 3:4-5 (NIV) For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol. 5 Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.
God will restore the Jews after the two thousand year separation, and the Jews will live in the presence of God for the One Thousand Year Reign of Jesus Christ from Jerusalem.
Hosea 6:1-11 (NIV) "Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. 3 Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." 4 "What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears. 5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth; my judgments flashed like lightning upon you. 6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. 7 Like Adam, they have broken the covenant--they were unfaithful to me there. 8 Gilead is a city of wicked men, stained with footprints of blood. 9 As marauders lie in ambush for a man, so do bands of priests; they murder on the road to Shechem, committing shameful crimes. 10 I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel. There Ephraim is given to prostitution and Israel is defiled. 11 "Also for you, Judah, a harvest is appointed.
Hosea 6:2 referenced above again reveals the concept whereby a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day:
2 Peter 3:8 (NIV) But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
Psalm 90:4 (NIV) For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.
Forty nine years after the second order to rebuild the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, Jesus Christ will return at His Second Coming following the Seven Year Tribulation Period. It is the order to rebuild the Jewish Temple at Jerusalem that will effect the beginning of the Tribulation Period.
All of the above information coincides with the TWO "Comings" of Jesus Christ.
Pictures of Jerusalem today
Jerusalem at the time of Jesus Christ