THREE PROPHETIC EVENTS CONCERNING THE SACRIFICES
             One of the major hindrances to the Church being unified in the knowledge of Christ and His return is the concept of a 7-year tribulation. Yet few believers know where that concept arose or that it isn’t even stated specifically in Scripture. It comes from a misinterpretation of the 70 Weeks Prophecy recorded in Daniel 9, specifically the final 70th Week. Hence, the 7 year period. 
            The theme of the prophecy is what would happen to the Jewish people who were then in captivity, and whether their Temple and Jerusalem would be rebuilt. The subject of the prophecy is Messiah the Prince and a divine to-do-list. By using modern Bible study helps, we can look at the Spirit-inspired words to see that Jesus Christ the Messiah is the only person who could accomplish all that was prophesied.
            Daniel 9:27 describes the first of three prophetic events concerning the Temple sacrifices. The first happened at Christ’s first coming, when “He shall confirm the covenant with man for one week; and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease” (KJV).  The Hebrew word for “cease” here is shabbath, as when God rested from the work of creation on the 7th day. Only Jesus, the Lamb of God, could offer Himself as the final and ultimate sacrifice for the sins of the world. Jesus made the sacrificial system obsolete by instituting a new and better covenant.
            The Jews missed their visitation from Jesus when they rejected Him as the Messiah and called for His crucifixion. He was cut off after 3½ years of ministry. This represented the first half of Daniel’s 70th week. It was paused mid-week, as if a penalty had been committed on the field. The time out would cover nearly 2,000 years of the Church Age when the Gospel was to be preached to all the world, Jews and Gentiles alike (Romans 11).
            The rest of Daniel 9:27 goes on to foretell that because of their rejection of the Messiah (abominations), the Temple would be made desolate and stay that way “until the consummation.” That is, the appointed time when the Temple would be rebuilt toward the end of the 2,000-year time-out, just before Christ’s second coming at the rapture. Sadly, instead of letting Scripture interpret Scripture, men decided to add another prince to the prophecy who would commit the abominations instead of the Jews, even though there is no other person named.
            But Jesus told His disciples that when they see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then they would know that the desolation is near (Luke 21:20). Daniel 11:31 foretells this event—the Abomination of Desolation. “And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.”
            The Hebrew word for “take away” is sur sur, and it means to turn off and let fail. In this case, the Jewish priests and worshippers were the ones who left the sacrifices undone as a result of the Roman siege of Jerusalem that ended in 70 AD with the destruction of the Temple and the Jews scattered across the nations. 
            Both of these prophetic events are now in our past. Yet one prophetic event remains in our near future. It shall happen shortly after the end of the Church Age—the end of the 6th great Day—after the initial invasion of Israel by the Antichrist’s armies. God halts the invasion with the final sign of this age—total darkness over the entire world at one time.
            The the 7th Day dawns with Christ’s second coming at the rapture to gather His Bride and take us back to our prepared place in Heaven to be seated as the heavenly court. When the remnant of Jews see Him coming and standing on the Mt. of Olives, they finally receive Him as the Messiah and are delivered miraculously from the invaders. Their acceptance and deliverance reinstates the last half of Daniel’s 70th Week prophecy.
            The first 3½ years of this final 1,000-year Day is known as the Wrath of that Day. It is when God’s vengeance against evil us unleashed as the trumpet/bowl judgments that consume and destroy the Antichrist and his armies. But before that fateful moment, the man also known as the Transgressor, will enter the Holy of Holies in the rebuilt Temple and exalt himself as god.
            Daniel 8:9-14 describes this third, future event as the Transgression of Abomination. This time it is the Antichrist who brings an end to the sacrifices. This time the Hebrew word for “take away” is rum or ruwm, which means to rise up against in an exalted and haughty manner. It happens before the mark of the beast and the worship of the beast (Antichrist) are instituted.
            The bottom line here is that not acknowledging these distinctions between these events and Spirit-inspired wording has fueled the false concept of a 7-year tribulation and a 3½-year great tribulation—both of which do not appear in Scripture. Instead, Jesus taught that the tribulation of those Days would last nearly 2,000 years—the time from His ascension until He returns at the rapture.
            It’s time to see what God’s Word actually says about the appointed time of the end so that our hearts need not be troubled and we can walk in the unity of the Spirit to complete our present assignment of preaching the Gospel and making disciples.
 

       When we ignore the one thing the Apostle Peter told us we need to know about the coming of the Lord—what we call the Day Code, God’s prophetic great Week of 1,000-year Days—we’re fair game. We’re vulnerable to the hype and deception that runs rampant compliments of social media. We may have boatloads of information, but there is very little true biblical knowledge. The result is that we are tossed to and fro by the sensational dreams, prophecies, or “intelligence” from those supposedly in the know.
         One such example is the so-called document on human fraternity that led to the construction of the Abrahamic Family House to be completed this year. It will house a church, a mosque, and a synagogue. It is heralded at once as a progressive sign of religious tolerance and as an ominous omen of a one-world religion.
        Is this the precursor to the beastly Antichrist? We don’t have to wonder because God provides everything we need to know about the end-time events. If this is such an important sign, then why is there nothing about it in God’s Word? What we are told is that as the 6th Day draws to a close, the Jewish Temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem and the daily sacrifices will be resumed.
         Daniel 8 tells us that the little horn—aka: the Antichrist—will invade Israel and take away the daily sacrifices. He will even enter the Holy of Holies, declare himself god, and walk out in boastful defiance.
          Needless to say, this isn’t a kumbaya moment of a one-world religion. No, it’s the exact opposite. It’s a Babel moment where humanity seeks to make a name for itself.  Humanism declares that people are a god unto themselves. Religion is the opiate of the people. Forget about religion and faith. Have faith in yourself instead.
       As Daniel foresaw it, the transgressors have reached their fullness. Through his cunning the Antichrist shall cause deceit to prosper. Even those who think that they will control the world through they abominable riches will be fooled because “he shall destroy many in their prosperity.”
      Yes, the Antichrist will strike with stunning efficiency as his coalition of armies invade Israel. In his prideful hubris, he dares to rise against the Prince of princes. In an ironic twist, darkness will overcome them, for God Almighty shall respond by shutting off the celestial lights. Then the veil over the heavenly throne room will be pulled back and everyone on earth will see the Most High God.      
       They will see the Prince of princes come for His Bride. They will hear the triumphant roar of the Lion of Judah as Christ stands on the Mt. of Olives and splits it open, making a way of escape for the remnant of Israel. It is the beginning of the end of the Antichrist’s short, 3½-year prophetic career. As Daniel revealed, “he shall be broken without human means.” Talk about an understatement!
      But what about the peace treaty that the Antichrist makes with Israel? What about the 7-year tribulation? Or the 3½-year great tribulation? Why can’t the Church agree on how and when Christ will return? Once again, it’s because we’ve ignored the one thing Peter told us not to forget. This causes us to focus solely on signs as we see them—not as Scripture describes them. Why is this important? Because Scripture always connects the kairos signs to the corresponding chronos times—God’s great Week of seven 1,000-year Days.
        We need both views in order to see fully what lies ahead. Doing so not only lets us see the Day approaching clearly (Heb. 10:25), it keeps us from being deceived and troubled. And, perhaps more importantly, it keeps our focus on our present assignment—offering a merciful warning and a grace-filled option in Christ.
          In our next blog we will look at the three prophetic events concerning the Temple sacrifices. This will help us see clearly what has already come to pass and what actually lies ahead in our near future.

            In his last days on this earth, one thing in particular weighed heavily on the mind of the Apostle Peter. He desperately wanted to make sure that the Church did not forget one very important truth. And he tied that truth to the fact that God’s promises are true and that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
          What was the one thing Paul didn’t want believers to forget? “That with the Lord one Day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one Day” (2 Peter 3:8). Really, Peter? That’s the one thing—not salvation, forgiveness, or grace? Yes, because of the times Peter was living in and we are still living in. The latter Days. Peter understood the despair of watching lawlessness accelerate. He knew the mind-numbing effect that the words of the scoffers could have.
            Sadly, the Church in general has forgotten this one thing, what we call God’s great prophetic Week. It’s the key truth to understanding Christ’s return. We need to recognize that God counts time differently than we do. His prophetic timetable is based on 1,000-year Days. This was what the apostles taught and what was commonly taught in the first few centuries of the early Church. It was lost during the so-called Enlightenment. Sound familiar?
            It regained popularity in the latter part of the 20th century, only to be forgotten once again when the Y2K buzz passed without any sign of Christ’s return. We should have known better. For the pivotal marker between the early and latter Days was not the Child being born in Bethlehem, but the Messiah being anointed for ministry in the River Jordan when He was 30 years old.
            This “one thing” is why God raised up Chronos Ministries. It’s the chronos. In the Greek language, two words are used to describe a certain time period: chronos and kairos. Chronos refers to the length of time while kairos emphasizes the features that characterize that time. In terms of Christ’s return, we need both—the specific chronos set time and the kairos signs that correspond to that appointed time.
            Many churches and ministries avoid teaching about the end-times because of the confusion surrounding the various views. Since God is not the author of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33), how can this be? We’ve ignored the one thing we were not supposed to forget concerning Christ’s return. And to make matters worse, we divorced His coming from the last Day, which the Bible calls the Day of the Lord.
            Some of the ministries that do focus on the end-times focus on the kairos signs based on Jesus’ parable of the fig tree. Still others simply say He is coming soon, yet we cannot know when because He can come anytime, at any moment, without any signs. They even suggest that Jesus can come secretly in the rapture and catch all of us—even believers—by surprise. Again, we have to ask, how can this be? What about the one thing? Why did Jesus tell us to look for the signs?
           Oh I know, many will respond that we cannot know the time of His return because Jesus said so. Really? Read the passage in Matthew 24 carefully, in the context. He tied the unknown Day and Hour to the passing away of this earth and the heavens. The Scriptures refer to this as the Perfect Day, the Day of God, which comes at the end of God’s prophetic great Week. It is eternity future, or what we call forever and ever.
            The reality is that Scripture gives us five time-specific chronos elements that tell us when Christ shall return. They are detailed in our video, “When Will the Rapture Occur? Is It True No One Can Know? What Do the Scriptures Really Say?”
            Here’s the summary: (1) at the Last Day of the Great Week; (2) after the signs of the Day of the Lord; (3) the Fig Tree signs of Israel and the Nations; (4) at the Last Trump of the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah); and (5) at the 70th Jubilee.
            Jesus said we can know like Noah knew. Noah knew the specific timing of the Flood. He preached a merciful warning to the people. In these last Days, this must be our priority as well. God is calling all the Noahs to issue a merciful warning and get people into the Ark that is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God will deal with the nations.

THE TALE OF THREE CITIES—PART TWO
           
       The story of the Harlot, the apostate Jerusalem, reveals God’s just judgment. The story of the rebuilt Jerusalem in the Day of the Lord reveals God’s faithfulness and mercy. The story of the New Jerusalem, the Bride as the City, reveals the power of God’s love.
      In the last blog we saw how modern-day Jerusalem follows the spirit of the Antichrist in that she denies Jesus, which means she also does not have the Father. Thankfully, the story doesn’t end there. God has not given up on Jerusalem. It will be destroyed in judgment, but it will be rebuilt because of God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The details as to how this comes about are scattered in the prophetic books.

• Zech. 12:2 sets the backdrop. “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.” The apostate Jerusalem has caused the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication (Rev. 18:3).
• In Rev. 18:4 a voice from Heaven warns God’s people to come out of the city, lest they suffer the plagues that shall come as judgment.
• Zech. 13:8-9 records the initial invasion by the Antichrist, who is God’s weapon of indignation for their apostasy. The sudden destruction cuts off and kills ⅔ of the people. The invasion screeches to a halt when God turns out the lights as the final sign of Christ’s coming at the rapture. All the peoples of the earth see Jesus come.

• Joel 3:14 reveals the multitudes in the valley of decision. Will they finally recognize Jesus as the Messiah?
• Zech. 12:10 gives the answer. When they will look on Jesus whom they pierced, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. They receive Christ’s finished work as the only begotten Son and the firstborn Son.
• Zech. 14:2-5 says that the revived remnant that accepts Jesus as the Messiah is not cut off. When Jesus comes, He stands on the Mt. of Olives, splitting the mountain and making a way of escape. “Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle.”
• Now saints and set apart unto Jesus, Zech. 10:1 says God pours out the Holy Spirit upon them—the latter rain for that Day and season. Verse 5 tells us what happens: “They shall be like mighty men, who tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle. They shall fight because the Lord is with them.”
  
• Zech. 12:5-6 reveals that this deliverance becomes their battle cry. They devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left. Then comes the prophetic declaration: “Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place.”
• Her place is the new and improved landscape described in Isaiah 40:4-5 that appears due to the many earthquakes during the war for Jerusalem. Every valley is exalted, every mountain and hill are brought low, the crooked place are made straight, and the rough places are made smooth. In this new place—the rebuilt holy Jerusalem—there is now room for the new Temple described in Ezekiel 48.

 
      Rev. 16:19 explains that the great city (Jerusalem) will be divided into three parts. We know that two parts of it are destroyed. The verse also says the cities of the nations shall fall. But because of God’s great mercy and faithfulness, Jerusalem will be rebuilt. It becomes a praise in the earth (Isaiah 62:7). The Davidic kingdom is revived as Jerusalem becomes the earthly capital of the nations during the remainder of Christ’s 1,000-year reign. “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” (Lam. 3:22-23).