How to Study the Bible III – Daniel 9:24-27 & the day of the Crucifixtion

Really neat stuff here. I had asked several weeks ago if people wanted me to address various things in the remainder of our How to Study the Bible class. And the one on the stand came up, which is this Daniel 9, 24 through 27, and the Day of Christ's Crucifixion. One of the things I've been saying, mostly in the main service here, is that the evidence is increasingly accumulating that the day of Christ's crucifixion was April 3rd, 33 A.D. And we're going to go over some of that evidence here this morning. Some of that evidence that has been coming forth has only come forth in the last few years, and exactly starting November 2012, so four years ago this month. some things came to light. So anyway, hopefully you have your handout.

We're going to need to step through that. One of the things that first brought this particular date to the forefront is a book, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, by Harold Hohner. And that was back in the 1970s. He first published those as articles in the Dallas Seminary Journal, Bibliotheca Sacra. and then compiled those into the book, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ. In there, he showed various evidences, including what we'll be going through here with Daniel 9, 24 to 27, various evidences that the day of Christ's crucifixion was April 3rd, 33 AD.

I had read those articles in that book back in those days, but I said, well, let's just you know, see how this thing turns out, because what happens over time, something either gets proved out and confirmed or, you know, not. And so I said, well, let's just wait. I'll keep this and keep looking.

And then a journal article came out in 1985 to University of Oxford professors. put out this journal article in the Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, which in spite of its name is actually a Christian organization. I once belonged to it myself.

So they wrote The Day of the Crucifixion. This is Colin Humphreys and Graeme Waddington, and they arrived at April 3rd, 33 AD as the Day of the Crucifixion. I still said, well, let's wait. As a matter of fact, when I first came to Holly Hills, you'll see some of my earlier material points to a 30 AD crucifixion, which was fairly commonly held to.

Next was this Jerusalem earthquake, 33 AD, Geological Society of America, Stephen Austin. And I have read his material from a long time ago, but this was the first time he published on this earthquake in 33 AD. So let me show you just a few slides Here is the Jerusalem earthquake and he presented at the Geological Society of America meeting, an annual meeting, and he presented this and offered this as one of the things that the people in the society could go to. He had to sit there and present it about eight times. So anyway, so here's the meeting where he presented it. If you want to email him, there's his email address.

And what he did, he and I think it was his wife, went down to the Dead Sea. And the Dead Sea has been dropping in its level, fairly significantly. And what that's meant is that this Delta, all this Delta that you see there, was underwater during the time of Christ and before. And it's dropped down, but it's left the evidence of past years And so he and his wife were able to go up into those gullies that have been cut into the delta and look at the layers.

Because ordinarily what happens at the lake is calm. You get river flowing into it and then it settles and makes a very smooth laminar layer year after year. And you can see the years because of the different kinds of sediment that comes in at different parts of the year. And so you can count the years, right?

But when there's an earthquake, all those layers get all churned up. And you can even look at how it's churned up and point to where the earthquake was located. Where was it centered, right? And so, he and his wife went in and they actually, they actually went back by looking at these gullies, they went back all the way to the time of Abraham and clocked all the earthquakes all the way up to near the present in those gullies.

Yes. So are those big like canyons almost that you can get down to? Yes, and let's look at the next slide. Here's his wife and here are the, you can see the smooth layers And she's putting her hand, there's one from 33 AD, and we'll see why it stands out in just a minute here, and there's one from 31 BC that Josephus and Herod the Not-So-Great wrote about.

So he found them all recorded all the way from the time of Abraham, and this particular level, and the whole delta with all those gullies has the same record available so you can go and confirm it in all those different places and see where it is. And depending on where the ripples point to, you can even see where is the origin of this earthquake. Which way is it rippled? He and his wife went there.

This shows the 31 B.C. earthquake and the 33 A.D. earthquake, and no major earthquakes impacting the dead sea layers between. Here is how they can tell there was an earthquake. You see that? The layers get all churned up, and then the next year, no earthquakes, it starts laying down smooth layers. So you can sit there and count the years between them, and you can see where the earthquakes are, and you can look at every earthquake all the way back to the time of Abraham. Isn't that amazing?

And we have a historical record matching that to confirm it. And so when did the earthquake occur? in 33 AD. The record that we have is that it occurred at Christ's crucifixion. So anyway, so this was amazing confirmation. It meant that at 30 AD, which is what I used to use as the date, there wasn't an earthquake. That doesn't qualify anymore. So, we've got that. By the way, the term for this wrinkled, warped layer is called seismite. Seismite is the geological term. Okay, so then there was a book that's, you know, why we believe we can know the exact date Jesus died, April 3rd, 33 AD, and some articles. The Final Days of Jesus is another part of it.

So Kostenberger and Taylor, Taylor, by the way, is the editor in Crossway Books and the editor of the ESV the English Standard Version, and he hired another name you've probably heard me mention, Leon Rittmeier, to do all the architectural drawings and maps for the ESV Study Bible.

So, you've got those several different journal articles, books, and things of that sort. I can send you copies of most of this. And so I'll pass this around. If you'd like me to email you copies of these things, either, like, for example, with the book Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, I have several chapters that I can send to you because they were published in Bibliotheca Sacra. So I can pass those along. I can pass you along the journal article by Humphreys and Waddington for making you buy it.

I can pass along the entire presentation. This is only a few slides. The entire presentation, 39 slides, I've just shown you a few and I can send that to you. I can send you several, a portion of the book and different articles that are available by Kostenberger and Taylor. So, at any rate, if you like that, go ahead and let me know and I'll be glad to send it along. So you can look at it yourself. I think it's always valuable to be able to examine things yourself and confirm it.

Yeah, Marilyn? It's BC and that's AD. Yeah, yeah. And those are significant earthquakes. There were probably other minor earthquakes, but it didn't do enough to make a noticeable record in the layers. But yeah, that's the reason. And actually, what they're showing is just a small portion that focuses on the 31 BC earthquake that Josephus and Herod recorded and then this one in 33 AD and there's nothing else in between. There's no other years that have it.

So what that does is it geologically lops off the other proposals that have been made by people. Somebody asked me recently about Graham Scrooge. Graham Scrooge wrote about Christ being crucified in 28 AD. Well, that just doesn't fit, right? Okay, yeah. Typically how wide, I mean this probably isn't important, but typically how wide are those layers and what is it, just dirt being laid on top of each? Let's talk about this. I don't want to get too derailed here, but let's talk about this.

Here's the Jordan River. It brings in a lot of the sediment. Does it bring in all the sediment? No, because there are other water sources coming into the Dead Sea. But the Jordan River is a primary source. It starts way up in northern Israel, and then it flows down through the Sea of Galilee and then all the way down into the Dead Sea. So that's a primary source, it's not the only source.

So you can imagine during the time when you got the runoff, because up at the top there is Israel's only ski area, and when that melts off, and get other sources coming into the Sea of Galilee and then going out the Jordan River, then that comes in during a key runoff season and dumps a heavier load of silt. And then you get, and that takes time to settle, right?

And you can examine through all the different, those gullies that get cut. You can examine and kind of confirm, oh yeah, I can see the earthquake in this gully, and that gully, and the next one. I can go up and down the gully, so there's lots of opportunity without even trenching or anything, or boring. Lots of opportunity to see it as is.

So the different layers, I'm making an assumption here, depending on how much moisture it starts with, that would somewhat determine how thick a layer is, because I'm assuming the more moisture you have, the thicker the layer is. Let's take an example. We have had years, just recently, of above average snowpack, right? And this year, it's not happening. So unless we get a really big change in the weather pattern, we're not going to have anywhere near as much runoff. And so you'll have that impact, and so you'll have variation in the layers. You'll have a layer, but it'll be some years more and some years less. Okay, now, so let's go through the bullets on the bottom of page one here.

Besides Matthew, Mark, and Luke, there are a few authors who wrote about the darkness on the day of Christ's crucifixion. And one of those, for example, was Julius Africanus. One of those was Tertullian, a Latin author. who wrote about the darkness, but among them is Flagon, the Greek historian, who said that the widespread darkness took place on the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad.

That would be from July 32 to June 33. So if I take that year and cross it with the Passover, that we know the date of, that says Christ was crucified and the darkness resulted over a wide area. This Phlegon is not a Christian. A wide area had this three-hour darkness, a large area of the Roman Empire. And it was recorded by him and it ends up April 3rd, 33 AD is the crossover between that year, that Olympiad year, and the Passover, the next day being Christ's crucifixion.

Yeah, sorry, somebody asked a question? Was it probably an eclipse? You know, there are those who think it's an eclipse, and there are those who do not. I haven't checked it out myself. I'm inclined to think it's rather miraculous. Most eclipses are going to be not that long. Yeah, most eclipses are short-lived and so I'm inclined at the face of it to think that this was something miraculous rather than natural. But it is not something I've checked out thoroughly, but it's a good question.

So Luke 3, 1 and 2 says, Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, John the Baptist began his ministry. So we know that Augustus Caesar died, and Tiberius Caesar, who by the way became now the second emperor to become emperor by the adoption of sons process. So here's Tiberius Caesar, he wasn't Augustus' son, it was like a grand-nephew or something. So he became the Caesar. So if we take 14 AD and add 15 years to that, we end up with 29 AD.

And we count the Passovers recorded in the Gospel of John. That takes us to the Passover that was celebrated on April 2nd, 33 AD. This, by the way, is something that Taylor and Koestenberger have written about in their articles and in their book. So that ends up also arriving at April 3rd, 33 AD.

There is one more cross check and that is what years do we have as options within these, because Luke 3 verses 1 and 2 gives seven different rulers all the way from Tiberius down to who was a high priest. It talks about Caiaphas. And so you look at those rulers and when did they reign, you get a range of years that are possibilities then, if you don't take the Tiberius date. And so what that says is you get a Thursday Passover, Thursday night Passover, a Friday that's part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and it's the Sadducees preparation for their Passover, and then a Sabbath following. What years does that happen?

30 and 33 AD are the only options. And we just saw geologically, 30 just got cut off geologically. So what it says is Thursday night Passover, Friday crucifixion, got to get him off the cross and buried before sundown. That fits. 30 or 33 are your only options that fit with that. Alright, so now we've got another one.

We have this one that we've talked about here and the geologist Stephen Austin looking at what's the evidence and you've got all those gullies you saw in the Delta. Well, all those gullies, you can go in and check them all out. Walk up and down, check them all out.

So, that's a quick summary of some of the evidences that are pointing to that specific date. And now, too, the information is increasingly coming in as to the location, pretty definitely, where Christ was crucified, and right nearby, across a garden, right nearby, put in the tomb. And the evidence for that garden remained until about the year 350. Cyril of Jerusalem, a Christian, recorded that he could still see evidence of the garden, even though, by that time, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre had been built, replacing the Temple of Venus, which was put there intentionally to thumb the nose, so to speak, at the Christians by Emperor Hadrian. So now, what we're going to do is address Dan's very good question.

Daniel 9.24-27 has long been looked at as a passage that has something to say about when Christ was crucified.

And there have been books written back, starting back in the 1800s even, written about this particular passage, January 9, 24 through 27. And looking at that specific passage as one that indicates when Christ would come, when the Messiah would come, and because the 70th week, and we'll examine this, because the 70th week points to a separate time and separate fulfillment, that that would be a future seven-year tribulation. And the Jews even wrote, this is just after the time of the New Testament, the Jews even wrote that they were anticipating a future seven-year period of time that would be just awful, the worst time the earth has ever known. And their name for the Antichrist is Armolus. and looking to that horrible, awful seven-year period of time at the end of which the Messiah would come. So even the Jews in their reading of Daniel came to this conclusion. Alright, so let's take a look at page two. And this is from a previous set that I prepared. Actually, I went through this back in 2011. excuse me, 2001. So here we have in Daniel 9, 24 through 27, and we'll go through it one step at a time here.

One thing is it talks about a week. Now when you say a week, what do you usually think of? Seven days. You usually think of seven days. The Jews had that understanding, because remember they're supposed to work on six days and rest on The Sabbath, right? They also had the idea of seven years. And where does that come from? So when Daniel wrote about weeks, where does that come from?

Daniel, excuse me, Genesis 29, 18, Jacob agreed to work for Laban seven years for Rachel, but Laban gave him Leah instead. And how long did he work? seven years, and it's called a Shabuwa. Shabuwa, and that is a seven year period of time. Now, so what did Laban do? He said, okay, now you can work for me another Shabuwa for Rachel. So that's where the work got established. So Genesis 29, 27 and 28, Laban asked Jacob to work another seven years for Rachel and in those verses the seven years are called Shavuah, seven. So both places is translated a week. So, Exodus 21, 2, 23, 10, 11, Leviticus 25, 2-7, Deuteronomy 15, 1-3, etc. They are on the list there. Like the week of seven days, the Jews had a week of seven years.

Remember what they were supposed to do with the land? Work the land for six years, and then the seventh year, let it rest. If you have a slave, you may have the slave for six years. But if it's the seventh year, you're supposed to do what? Free the slave. Free the slave. Unless the slave volunteers to stay with you. And so that was the principle.

So they had a mindset built into the Law of Moses of understanding seven years, Shabuwa, as a week. A week of years. Yes? Jubilee was 70 years, right? Jubilee, let's see, 7 times... I think it was 49. Pardon? I think it was 49, it was 7 times 7. Yeah, 7 times 7, 49, right? I think you're thinking of the 70 as this was the time of the Babylonian turned into Persian captivity. That was a seven-year period of time.

That's probably what you're thinking of. Okay, so now the other thing is, can there be a time gap in the middle of a prophecy? So we need to get that settled. And so we have examples. Genesis 49.10, Christ is the Lion of Judah, and his first coming is foretold in which he descended from the Lion of Judah, and that's where that descension from Judah It's recorded both in Matthew, the line of Joseph, and in Luke, chapter 3, through the line of Mary. In both cases, it's through Judah. So then you also have that example, and then Christ comes again, that's when He is the Lion of Judah, as Revelation calls Him. So it's an amazing thing. I'm fascinated with Revelation. Here's the lion of Judah who's the tiny little lamb. You know the word for lamb in Revelation repeatedly? It's a tiny little lamb, only weeks old at most. Alright, so here we have another one, Isaiah 61.

The first half of verse 2 is about Christ's first coming. Christ stood up in the synagogue in Nazareth and stopped in the middle of verse 2. Why? Because the last part of verse 2 of Isaiah 61, the last part is about his second coming. And so he stopped in the middle of verse 2 and told everyone that these words about his first coming in Isaiah, written seven centuries before he came, this first verse and the first half of the second verse are fulfilled in your day, right now. And so at first they liked it and then they got really mad and tried to kill him.

But that's an example of here's a first coming and then a second coming and there's a gap between them not apparent in the text. So this allows a break in the text in Daniel. So Daniel 9, and now we'll go actually through the passage step by step here. Daniel 9, 24a, not the complete verse, but the first part of it.

Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city. Alright, so now, who is this about? This is about Israel and about which holy city? Israel and Jerusalem. And we're going to get more detail about the Messiah as well. So it starts off, this is about Israel, this is about Jerusalem.

And so it spells it out 7 plus 62 plus 1. The 7 plus 62 is history. The plus 1 has yet to happen. That's the 70th week. So, a decree is for Daniel's people, the Jews, in Daniel's holy city, Jerusalem, while allowing for the time gap that includes the church. These verses do not mention the church. And what is included in the 70 weeks is described immediately afterwards, in verses 24-27. So, let's look at the top of the third page here.

So the rest of Daniel 9.24, let's take it piece by piece.

To finish the transgression, that is, to end the time of rebellion of the Jews with the coming of the Messiah, that's the transgression. To make an end of sin, the sin problem of Israel will come to an end with the coming of the Messiah, and that has no definite argument. Next, to make atonement for iniquity as Christ the Messiah provided for on Calvary, the day of atonement fulfilled. What's the Day of Atonement? This is the Jewish Day of Atonement, right? And what happens on the Day of Atonement?

The high priest, only the high priest, goes in only on that day. He goes in regarding the Holy of Holies. How about this? Apparently I'm listening to Bernie. I'm talking to myself. So this is a key reason why Jesus dies on the cross and why does the temple veil get torn in two. Because there's no need for it anymore. There's no longer any need.

Atonement has been paid. And to bring in everlasting righteousness, literally the righteousness of the ages. The righteousness of the age is to be brought in by the Messiah's kingdom, the millennial reign of Christ on the earth. Next, to seal up vision and prophecy. No more need for vision and prophecy once the Messiah comes to reign.

You know, there are some things we could ask about the millennial kingdom that aren't recorded and revealed to us, but guess what? We've got the Messiah to say directly truth to us that's not in the Bible. And I think we'll have a number of things people will be surprised about.

Oh, I didn't know that. Well, I'm telling you now, right? So then, we have, to anoint the most holy place, that's setting apart the millennial temple for service. Ezekiel 45, 3. There's the Old Testament prophecy on that. Now, this is the temple that's built during the millennial? This is the millennial temple. How many temples have there been? There was previously just a tabernacle, right? The first temple was built by who? Solomon. Built by Solomon. I got distracted for a minute. Built by Solomon, and then the second temple...

The second temple was actually rebuilt by the Jews 515 B.C. and Herod began around 20 B.C. an upgrade. It was a significant upgrade, but it was an upgrade. The second temple was rebuilt by the Jews. Not all, but a number of the Jews returned and they rebuilt the temple and then came back and rebuilt the walls.

Was Ezra responsible for directing the rebuilding of the second house? That was something that got initiated with his group returning. Was it Nehemiah part of that too? Nehemiah was one who came in and rebuilt the walls. And some portions of Nehemiah's walls, by the way the walls radically changed configuration since then, but some portions of Nehemiah's walls have been located. Oh wow. Yeah. So I just want to restate this. The temple that Herod continued to build was on the temple that Nehemiah and Ezra and that population of Jewish people had started. The temple was rebuilt before Nehemiah's time. The temple was rebuilt before Nehemiah's time.

Okay, so then we have here Daniel 9.25, so you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.

Now here's where I'm going to want you to write, because what I taught previously was an approximate date. I'm going to give you an exact date, and the last page will also include that. So in Nehemiah 2, 1 through 8, King Artaxerxes issues a decree to rebuild Jerusalem.

I wrote previously, this took place about 445 and 444 BC. I was at that time holding off on Harold Hohner's date because I was waiting for all the evidence to line up before talking. This is specific. I think it has now. And so Harold Hohner gave a date of March 5th, 444 BC. March 5th, 444 B.C. So he nailed down a specific day.

So this decree fulfills Daniel 9.25 and starts the clock on the time frame for the nation of Israel and for the Messiah. Now this was the decree to go back and build the temple in Jerusalem and it was given to...

No, excuse me, this Nehemiah was to rebuild the wall. Just to be clear, right? Okay, that's what this decree was to build the wall. Yes. Okay. So, every other part of the prophecy, 924 through 927, is timed off of this decree. Okay. So, Jerusalem Rebuilt, 925b, until Messiah the Prince, there will be 7 weeks and 62 weeks. Again, this is Shavuot, right? Weeks of years. It would be built again with plaza and moat even in times of distress. What's a plaza and moat? There isn't a moat around Jerusalem. Well, what this is is the term for moat.

They would dig down, as you see in your handout, they would dig down to bedrock before starting any major construction and build up from there. They did that for the walls around Jerusalem, and Herod had that done. They went down to bedrock, sometimes dozens of feet down, and then started building up the perimeter wall for the temple. So dozens of feet down in some places. And they've gone along and done various studies and that's what, so Leon Rittmeyer has done drawings that shows different places where, how far down they went to bedrock. And then they used huge stones, average about 50 tons. The longest one is almost 45 feet long and weighs about 570 tons. To this day, they don't know how it was placed. Did you say 570 tons? Yes. It's the longest one that's visible now, and we saw it in the tunnels along the western wall. But they would go down to bedrock, that's what this moat is talking about.

So the 69 weeks of years from the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus, Nehemiah 2, 1-8 is the time of the Messiah. And the rebuilding would include streets supporting commerce, the plaza, and defensive structures including the wall or moat. So that's what this is talking about. So Israel's enemies brought times of distress and of course This was the rebuilding of the walls, some of the distress.

OK, so let's move on to page 4. So then, in Daniel 9.26a, then after the 62 weeks, the Messiah would be cut off and have nothing. So 62 weeks of years, Shavua. After the time the city of Jerusalem was rebuilt, the Messiah, Christ, will be cut off. And by the way, that's 62. It says after the 62 weeks. So the 62 weeks does not mark the time when the Messiah will be cut off. He will be cut off after the end of the 62 weeks.

So then, the Hebrew word for cut off is used for execution. And so we give several references there in 1 and 2 Samuel and Jeremiah. So cut off isn't a rock-paper-scissors game. This is a word used multiple times for execution. So it's clear. And it's not just guessing. Have nothing means he was rejected of man and he does not receive the kingdom at that time. So then we have 69 weeks of years.

We've got the Roman suppression of the Jewish rebellion culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD as foretold by Daniel in Daniel 9.26 and by Christ in Matthew 24.15. Now Daniel 9.26b, 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, that end there will be war, desolations are determined. So, the people of the prince who is to come, so there's the Romans in 70 AD and the prince who is to come being the Antichrist. Could that also mean Titus? And that's one of those things where there is some debate over that. And so I wouldn't say it's Titus, but anyway, that's the point. And destroy the Sidian sanctuary. So the Romans destroyed Jerusalem's Sidian sanctuary in 70 AD. And I think Hohner places it on August, I think, 6th. So that's recorded in the Luke there, 1943 and 44. Its end will come with a flood. Attacking armies were referred to as a flood, both in Daniel the book of Daniel there, several times in chapter 11, and Isaiah 8.

By the way, it's real interesting, Isaiah and Homer, who wrote the Greek myths, were contemporaries. Their times overlapped, and they both, about the same time, used a figure of speech that was used for the first time in any recordings that we have. They both used the same figure of speech. referring to these armies as insects. So anyway, very interesting. OK, now to the end, the time when Jerusalem was overcome, there will be war. That took place in 66 to 70 AD with Rome. The Jews rebelled, and it first appeared to be successful. But then the Romans had cycles of retribution.

And it got interrupted by things like emperors dying or being deposed, things like that. So there's lots of disruption. And the original general who came in to deal with things was made emperor. So his son, Titus, came in to finish the job, who also later became emperor. And there will be war.

So desolations are determined. Determined means what? God has set it in place. God's the one who set it in place. And that's a lesson in destruction? Yes, and I think one of the things to ponder is that a lot of times we'll look at earthly cause and effect, and in fact God is really the one who rules and reigns. Something we'll be talking about even with this recent election and all the ruckus that's going on. God rules and reigns in the midst of it. How does the tribulation get started on earth? Okay, how does it get started on earth?

The Antichrist makes a treaty that allows the Jews to have their third temple, this isn't a millennial temple, their third temple reconstructed and they can begin their sacrifices. And the Jews are all ready for that. They've got men and equipment, they've even got a high priest appointed. They're ready to go.

So, that's how it gets started on Earth, because Antichrist makes a treaty. How does it get started in Heaven? The Father is handing the scroll to the Son, and the Son then begins opening up the seven seals. So it gets initiated into heaven. So we're looking at cause and effect here on planet earth.

And meanwhile, God's still in control and he's still doing everything. So we don't need to get all worried and upset. God's got things in hand. That's why the night before the crucifixion, Jesus was able to have that uncanny ability to not show any stress about what was going to happen the next day. That just blows my mind. I mean, nothing was said about the fact that he was nervous or upset or anxious or anything. I mean, that's unbelievable.

Yeah, and to just say, God's in control. No matter what crazy stuff is going on on planet Earth, God's in control. And along those lines, the Lord decided to record what he said and what he prayed right before he was going to get arrested. He knew it was coming up and it's just, it is the most beautiful words of love ever.

Now, so, now next we have the church age or dispensation. The church age here, so this is the time gap between the 69th and the 70th weeks of years and we spoke of before and as is shown in the graphic. Notice that the Church is not explicitly mentioned in Daniel, since the prophecy is about Israel, Jerusalem, and Israel's Messiah. The Church is not mentioned. Is the Church mentioned anywhere in the Old Testament? No. It is not.

There is at best, like this, implication that something else is going on. I think the only, I mean, the closest you could get is The Nations. Like Abraham is going to be a birth, something about the blessing, but it's The Nations, and that's like the closest I think you could get. Paul talks about, he uses the word mystery, right, repeatedly. And mystery is, unlike our common usage, not something that remains mysterious, but something that in the past was unknown, but is now revealed, right?

That Christ and the Church is the model for husband and wife was a mystery. It was previously not revealed. Paul revealed it in Ephesians 5. He even calls it a great mystery. It is a great revealed truth now that was previously unknown. Also, Paul the Apostle tells us that the Church, the body of Christ, is a mystery, which is a truth not previously revealed. So we give examples there out of Ephesians, and it's not the only place you can look up mystery elsewhere. By the way, the definition of mystery is given in Colossians 1, I think it's verse 26. Paul uses the word and then defines it, just to make it very clear.

Okay, now, page 5. And it shows there, here is the 70th week, the Shavuot, the one Shavuot, and it starts off on earth, Antichrist makes a treaty, at the midpoint the Antichrist breaks a treaty, Christ returns to reign at the end of that 70th week. As I talked to one rabbi over a decade ago, he said, when the Messiah comes we'll be asking him, is this your first or your second time? Well, guess what? If you're asking that question, it's too late. Right? It's going to be very awkward. It's too late. Yeah, that'll be too late.

So, and what you see here between Daniel and Revelation, you get this. A half a week is three and a half years, 42 months, and 1260 days. Daniel 9, 27a. And then a half a week in three and a half years, 42 months, 1260 days, is Daniel 9.27b, Daniel 7.25 and 12.7, and Revelation 12.6 and 13.5. So you get the definition then, that each year in the week of years is therefore 360 days long.

And that's confirmed by these other references we give in Genesis. Now, so the Antichrist makes a treaty, The King James presents a bit of a problem there. It says that the Antichrist confirms a treaty. And actually that's not correct. He makes a treaty. And it's a firm treaty. So they had a bad choice of words there. So he'll make a firm covenant with the many for one week. And although the Antichrist will pull off this amazing seven-year covenant, seemingly resolving this Middle Eastern conflict, he's going to break it right in the middle. There's going to be a set of events.

He's going to kill the two witnesses who have been testifying for 1260 days in the first half of the tribulation period. He's going to kill the two witnesses who are then going to be lying in the streets. By the way, are Jews supposed to have bodies lying around? No. No, they're supposed to bury them by sundown, right? So he's going to have those bodies lying around in Jerusalem, and everybody's going to be happy as can be, and even giving presents, celebrating the death of these two witnesses. At the same time, he will make a polluting sacrifice there at the temple, which will end the temple worship. He will then turn on the Jews with military force, which will not be successful. Remember where Jesus says, if you're up on the rooftop, don't go down inside to get your coat. Don't go out in the field to get anything. Run. Run.

And to go down to the area that's now Petra, and God will miraculously preserve them. The Antichrist will be thwarted. Then Antichrist will break the treaty. That's what we have on the bottom slide there. Breaks the treaty with Israel, the many. Christ says in Matthew 24, 15 that the abomination of desolation will be set up on the Holy of Holies, in the third temple. That's the third temple. This is the midpoint of the tribulation period, the 70th week, which will begin with the tyrannical global reign of the Antichrist. That's where he sets up 666, the numbering system that is the only way that you can buy and sell anything. Yes.

So do you feel that prior to the tribulation period, the world's going to be under the 10 kings or the global economy? No, we won't necessarily even see that. And that's the thing. People keep looking at, well, it's the European Union or some other thing, and the reality is we may or may not even see that. Because it sets up during the Tribulation, right? Well, and here's one other point. We talk about the Rapture. The Rapture does not start the Tribulation period.

It only must happen before, so there is a potential time gap, and a lot of things could happen during that period of time that to us are just not apparent. including, you know, the Antichrist coming to power, and nations, you know, they get set up and all that. A lot of things could change real quickly. Well, and at the moment the Holy Spirit of God is constraining all of this, so... Yeah, so it's not happening, but it could fall in place quickly, and we could be out of here when this is all getting set up. Alright, and I hope it's today.

Okay, Now, last one, this is a chart, this is Harold Hohner's arrangement here, and so what you have there is the decree, March 5th, 444 B.C., Argo Xerxes Decree, Nehemiah 2, 1-8. 69 weeks, and so what did Harold Hohner do, he took the number of days, And 69, you know, 7, 360, so 173,880 days. And so then he ends up with March 30th, 33 AD for the Triumphal Entry, the date of the Triumphal Entry.

And remember that after that, the Messiah will be cut off. After that, the Messiah will be cut off. So that's where we look at, okay, what's the next Passover? If Jesus celebrated Last Supper, that's April 2nd, 33 AD. And when was his crucifixion? The next day, April 3rd, 33 AD.

So Harold Horner's contribution to this is coming up with the date. Now, there are those who believe in an April 3rd, 33 AD crucifixion, but do not hold to Harold Hohner's calculations. They think that he's off by one day. And because this March 30 of 33 AD is Monday, has a Monday triumphal entry. And there are those that say, no, it should be on Sunday. So there are a number of people who will argue for an April 3, 33 AD crucifixion. But do not agree with Hohner by one day. And that would be Kostenberger and Taylor would be among those.

But they can even get it down to that two days. We're talking two days in ancient, for us, history is mind-blowing. Yes. That there's that much evidence that can point to one of two days. Yeah. And so anyway, on the other hand, there are people who are very well qualified. I've met or at least heard some of them.

Dan Wallace, who's a professor at Dallas Seminary, Claire Forlan and I heard him speak. He's one who has read through chronological aspects of the life of Christ and agrees with it. Wayne House is another fellow I've met, talked to on the phone. He also has read Harold Horner's book and agrees with it. Dr. Thomas Ice, Randy and I have met with him. Nancy and I went over to his house. But anyway, so he's read Harold Horner's book and agrees with it.

So anyway, just so you know, there is some disagreement in detail about earlier in the week, but still you'll have people conclude, no, it was Friday, April 3rd, 3380 was the date. So anyway, and you'll have an explanation, we won't have time to go through it in detail, there in the little box over in the lower right corner of the 70 weeks and the verification of it and the rationale. But that's how he looks, and he looks at the coming tribulation period as something that is yet future, just like the Jews do. And about that, those who interpret the Bible literally, there's no real disagreement at all. So, and we'll be talking about, believe it or not, some of this in the main service as well.

So, thoughts, questions? I have one. Yes. So, I'm just trying to get this straight in my head, so bear with me. So, the one week, which is seven years, is Chippewa? Right. And then you said that the 69 weeks is also Shabbuah. Right. Weeks of years. So weeks of years equals Shabbuah. A week of years is Shabbuah. A week of days ends on the Sabbath. Or Shabbat. Shabbat. Shabbuah. So they're related terms.

But Shabuwa is the term for a week of years that starts in Genesis with Laban having Jacob work for one Shabuwa, a week of years, for Leah as he found out, and then another week of years, Shabuwa, for Rachel. And then the weeks of years idea continues on into the Old Testament law, the law of Moses, where you're to let the land lie fallow in the seventh year, you are to forgive debts, you are to let slaves free in that seventh year.

Pardon? No. No. One reason is because Probably 90% of the population in Israel is atheist, agnostic. And you have the most observance in Jerusalem. But in terms of the total population, it's like less than 10% are serious about Judaism. And by the way, that's going to change during the tribulation period. You'll have the national regeneration of those that survived basically, of all Israel will be saved. But isn't that typical for the remnant, it's so much smaller than the rest? Yeah, you're correct. It's really an amazing thing.

One of the things we're going to be talking about in the main service here is there are about 10,000 prophecies in the Bible and you break down every little detail. And that's an approximate number depending on how much detail you want to break things down. But 10,000 prophecies in the whole Bible, 5,000 of them have been fulfilled. About 5,000 are yet to be fulfilled.

And do you know what the next one is? The Rapture. That's the next one. There's nothing waiting to happen for the Rapture. That's the next of the 5,000 prophecies. That's perspective. That's cool. But it's today. Thank you. That means the other 5,000 comes after the rapture. That's right. And that's why the rapture is the next level. And then what happens after that?

The tribulation. Then you have the tribulation get started on earth. The Antichrist makes a treaty. You and I won't be here. We don't need to try to guess who the Antichrist is. He may not even rise to the forefront on the surface at the time we get raptured. So guessing ahead of time isn't good. But it is an exciting thing to think, once we get raptured, then a series of things is going to start happening, and the clock gets started.

In heaven, the Father hands the scroll, the seven-sealed scroll, to the Son. The Son is the only one qualified to open those. And by the way, an inheritance document in Israel had how many seals? Seven seals. So, it's exciting times. Because the next thing out of the 5,000 that are yet to be fulfilled is the rapture. The Lord's coming for us. And then everything else will happen. But not until the rapture comes first. The rapture is the next thing on God's prophetic clock. Let's pray.

Thank you, Lord, that we have such great hope. Thank you that we have a hope that is absolutely certain. And we can count upon that. We thank you for your blessed hope that you've given us. We thank you that as we look at these things, we can see prophecy fulfilled like clockwork. in the past, and we even can look at specific days and times within our time, even in the last half decade, we've seen further confirmations. And Lord, we just thank you for the blessed hope and thank you for the marvelous, amazing grace that we live under. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.