blog.Tribulationperiod.com

Israel has Waited long Enough,

Everything Seems to be in Place,

All Seems To Be Politically Correct,

The Majority of Population Liking It,

More Than Enough Provocation for It,

Its Hit & Stop, In & Out, Make It Count,

Seems the time to pull the Hamas Snout,

Not intending to run them Completely Out,

Just reminding Hamas what War’s All About!

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December 27, 2008

Begin series of Excerpts from Jerusalem Center for Public Information/Daily Alert

Excerpt 1 – Al-Arabiya

Israel: Hamas Rocket Fire Must Be Stopped

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert

(Al-Arabiya/Prime Minister’s Office)

Prime Minister Olmert told Al-Arabiya television Thursday:

Israel withdrew from Gaza approximately three years ago not in order to return to it. Is it the spirit of Islam to kill innocent children? To shoot rockets at kindergartens and at civilians? I do not think that th is

is the spirit of Islam. Hamas, which does this against the spirit of Islam, is the main reason for your suffering – for all of ours.

I say to you in a last-minute call, you the c itizens of Gaza, you can stop

it. I know how much you want to get up in the morning to quiet, to take your children to kindergarten or school, the way we do, the way they want to in Sderot and Netivot.

Hamas is the enemy of the residents – not only in Israel but in Gaza. We want to live as good neighbors with Gaza. We do not want to harm you.

We will not allow a humanitarian crisis and that you should suffer from a lack of food or medicines. We do not want to fight the Palestinian people, but we will

not allow Hamas to strike our children. Do not let the murderers of Hamas, which is acting against the values of Islam, put you in danger.

Hamas is firing at us and at the power station that is supposed to supply electricity to Gaza. Tell them to stop shooting at innocents.

I did not come here to declare war.

I intend to reach peace with, not fight, the Palestinians. But Hamas must be stopped – and so it will be. I will not hesitate to use Israel’s strength to strike at Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Begin Excerpt 2 – Israel Television/IMRA

Poll: Israelis Support Military Operation in Gaza

(Israel Television/IMRA)

A poll commissioned by Israel Television Channel One and conducted on Wednesday found that 60% of Israelis support a military operation in Gaza, while 23% are opposed.

Excerpt 3 – Haaretz

Hamas “Military Industry” Working Overtime to Manufacture Rockets

Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff

(Ha’aretz)

For two years Hamas, with Iranian assistance, has been working hard on developing its military power.

In recent years dozens of Gazans have traveled to training camps in Iran and Lebanon run by terror organizations and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

Hamas has learned to create ammonium perchlorate compound, an advanced rocket propellant that extends Kassam rocket range beyond 20 kilometers and significantly increases a rocket’s shelf life.

That means that, for the first time, Hamas can maintain a supply of rockets

for months at a time.

Analysts believe Hamas currently has over 1,000 rockets, while Islamic Jihad maintains its own production and storage facilities.

Sources in Gaza say Hamas’ “military industry” is working overtime to manufacture rockets.

Excerpt 4 – Ynet News

An End to Israeli Restraint in Gaza

Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff

Israel is about to retaliate fiercely for Hamas’ attacks. The situation will not necessarily develop into an all-out war, but the coming days will, so it seems, mark the end to restraint. Close to 200 Katyushas, Kassam rockets and 120-mm., Iranian-produced mortar shells have been fired at Israel since Hamas said it would not renew the lull th

at had expired on Dec. 19. Israeli intelligence assessments say that Hamas is interested in returning to a period of calm, but wishes to do so from a position of power, once it has imposed its conditions on Israel. (Ha’aretz)

Excerpt 5 – Ynet News

“Make Hamas Decide to Stop the Fire”

Shmulik Hadad

Israeli military officials said the IDF did not intend to recapture Gaza, but an IDF official said Wednesday that “our goal is to make Hamas come to a decision that the fire must stop, and this goal can be accomplished by a military operation, which is unpreventable in the current situation.” (Ynet News)

Excerpt 6 – Ynet News

IDF Chief: We’ll Operate Against Terror Infrastructure

Hanan Greenberg

Israel “will need to use all its force in order to damage the terror infrastructure and create a different and safe reality in the Gaza vicinity,” IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said Tuesday.

(Ynet News)

Excerpt 7 – Ynet News

Palestinian Mortar Barrage on Israel

Ilana Curiel

Dozens of mortar shells were fired at Israel by Palestinians in Gaza in a number of barrages Thursday night.

(Ynet News)

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DANIEL’S PROPHECY OF 70 WEEKS – PART 6

Daniel 9:24-27

December 27, 2008

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THE 70 WEEKS OF DANIEL’S 9:24-27 PROPHECY – Part 6

Have We Taken the Wrong Path in Prophecy?

Have We “Bought the Farm” in Prophetic Teachings?

It is absolutely amazing how the great majority of our prophetic teaching on the antichrist, and all the events associated with his arrival and departure during the last seven years of the

Age of the Gentiles, is based on Daniel 9:27, and the understanding that the three “he’s” in it refer to the antichrist. All of the prevailing positions on the rapture, so widely differing among the brethren, the pre, mid, pre-wrath, post, split, and progressive positions are all based on the three “he’s” being the antichrist. All our prophetic charts and diagrams are based on the antichrist being the three “he’s” in Daniel 9:27, showing two boxes, each one three and one half years in duration, which are supposed to be the final seven years of the Gentile Age.

I seriously doubt if most of the men and women, who are teaching prophecy in 2005, realize how much of what they are teaching being correct is dependant on the first HE in Daniel 9:27 being the antichrist. Quite frankly, I am acutely aware of what they teach, and am prepared for it if it is correct, but some of them have never looked at what was taught about the “HE” in Daniel before 1740 by all publishing book expositors, and are not prepared for what I believe about the “HE.”

Daniel 9:27 – And HE shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week HE shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations HE shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

There are times a part of me wishes I had never gone back in time to see what was believed, and what was taught, about the three “he’s” in Daniel 9:27. In all my years of research on book publications prior to 1740, I have yet to find anyone publishing what is routinely taught today.

Book Publishing Period 1423 to 1460

I found no books published in this period or inner-Bible comments indicating the “he’s” in Daniel 9:27 were the Antichrist.

1423 Europeans use xylography (art of engraving on wood, block printing) to produce books.

1430 Gutenberg moved from his native town of Mainz to Strasburg

1436 Gutenberg begins work on his printing press.

1437 Gutenberg was sued for “breach of promise of marriage” by a young lady of Strasburg

1440 Gutenberg completed his wooden press which used movable metal type.

1440 Laurens Janszoon Koster (Coster) is credited, by some, with inventing movable metal type

1444 Gutenberg returns to Mainz and sets up a printing shop

1446 Gutenberg prints the “Poem of the Last Judgment”

1448 Gutenberg prints the “Calendar for 1448”

1450 Gutenberg’ formed a partnership with the wealthy Johann Fust

1450 Gutenberg begins work on a Bible, the first is 40 lines per page.

1452 Gutenberg begins printing the 42-line Bible in two volumes.

1454 Gutenberg prints indulgences (notes sold to Christians by the Pope, pardoning their sins)

1455 First block-printed Bible, the Biblia Pauperum, published in Germany.

1455 Gutenberg completed work on what is estimated to be 200 copies of the Bible

1455 Gutenberg was effectively bankrupt. Investor Johann Faust gains control of print business

1457 First known color printing, a Psalter (a collection of Psalms for devotional use) by Faust.

1460 Gutenberg reestablished himself in the printing business with the aid of Conrad Humery

Book Publishing Period 1460 to 1740

The world’s Earliest Published Books

I found no published books in this time Period that indicated the “he’s” in Daniel 27 represented the Antichrist.

From the first book published in English through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare, this incomparable collection now contains about 100,000 of over 125,000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave’s Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640) and Wing’s Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700) and their revised editions, as well as the Thomason Tracts (1640-1661) collection and the Early English Books Tract Supplement.

Libraries possessing this collection find they are able to fulfill the most exhaustive research requirements of graduate scholars – from their desktop!

– in many subject areas, including: English literature, history, philosophy, linguistics, theology, music, fine arts, education, mathematics, and science.

The first expositors of the Church Age on the Old Testament held in their writings that the three “he’s” in Daniel 9:27 were Jesus Christ or Antiochus Epiphanes. The idea that the “he’s” might represent a future antichrist failed to appear in their writings, except for two interpretations appearing in the writings of Hippolytus and Irenaeus in about 180 AD. Among the best known writers of the first four centuries, who believed the “he’s” were Jesus Christ or Antiochus Epiphanes were: Clement of Alexander, Julius Africanus, and Eusebius.

The Catholic writers of the Dark Ages continued to state this belief in the Sargis DOAberga document and, in this period, Theodore Beza, Arnold of Villanova, and Pseudo Aquinas all continued to proclaim that the “he’s” were indeed Jesus Christ or Antiochus Epiphanes. I could find no writer among them that identified the “he’s” as referring to a future antichrist. The vast major ity believed

it was Jesus Christ, and a minority believed it was Antiochus Epiphanes, but none believed it to the future antichrist.

In the Protestant Reformation times both Martin Luther and Melanchthon said the “he’s” in Daniel 9:27 were the Christ, not antichrist. Melanchthon dated the 70 weeks of Daniel from the second year of the great Persian king Artaxerxes Longimanus, with 69 weeks to the baptism of Christ, and placed the crucifixion of Christ in the midst of the 70th week, three years after Christ’s baptism. This is the position I hold today. I believe Christ fulfilled the covenant during his ministry in the first part of the last seven years, and we are waiting for the second half to be fulfilled following the attack of antichrist against Israel. Other Reformation writers who held the three “he’s” were Jesus Christ or Antiochus Epiphanes were Georg Nigumus, Johann Funck, Jacques Cappel, John Tillinghast, Joseph Mede, and Heinrich Bullinger. And, once again, I was unable to find a single writer during the Protestant Reformation that identified the “he’s” as the future antichrist. I am not saying one did not exist, but I could not find him.

In the Post Reformation period Isaac Newton, Cocceius, Johann Petri, William Wilson, Heinrich Horch, Jahann Bengal, and the Belenburg Bible, all identified the three “he’s” in Daniel 9:27 as being Jesus Christ or Antiochus Epiphanes. And, once again, I could find no writings in this period that stated the “he’s” were the future antichrist.

From the Post Reformation period to 1740, I could not find a writer that identified the three “he’s” as being the future antichrist. Among American expositors who identified the “he’s” as being Christ or Antiochus Epiphanes were Samuel Langdon, John Davenport, Ephraim Huit, and

Samuel Osgood. Among the Old World expositors, during this period, who held the “he’s” were Christ or Antiochus Epiphanes, were Bishop William Winston, William Hales, Louis Gaussen, Archibald Mason, and Edward Bukersteth. Calvin, in his exposition of Daniel, clearly identifies Christ as the “HE” in Daniel 9:27.

So, the question I have been forced to address is a very simple one. Were they all wrong up to 1740? Should we have changed the teaching that the three “he’s” refer to Christ, and made them apply to the antichrist? I have made my choice – the old fellows were right, it is Christ! This teaching lasted well into the 20th century, and is still held by a minority in this present century. I was exposed to it as a young man many years ago, and I now believe it. One of the greatest Baptists of history, B.H. Carroll, who was born in the 19th century, carried this teaching into the 20th century. It began to decline in popularity after John Darby began to popularize the Pre-Trib Rapture position in 1827, but it was still the majority belief until the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible in 1909, after which it became more and more of a minority belief.

There was a very popular song in my youth titled “What a Difference a Day Makes!” I assure you, that the title I ascribe to Daniel 9:27 is a most profound one – “What a Difference a ‘HE’ Makes.” The Age of the Great Evangelical Prophecy Revisions involves the three “HE’s.”

As I mentioned in Part 2 of “The 70 Weeks of Daniel,” the time of the great evangelical age began in the 1730’s, and the conversion of John Wesley in 1738 is often said to be the beginning of it. I have, for clarity of purpose, marked the Evangelical Movement as beginning in 1740. The minor changes in prophetic teachings began in 1760, but the major revisions began in 1827, and accelerated up until 1912, by which time most of the prophetic teachings of today had been established with all the associated charts, graphs, theology, and eschatology. The movement marked a gradual shift from the importance of the local church to huge masses of assemblies of believers and great camp meetings. It has now reached its zenith, with biblical teachers and teachings on many types of communication media being pictured and spoken to the invisible masses on the receiving end of the high tech communication blitz. They send out their high tech transmissions to what they consider to be a universal church made up of all believers.

I have not been able to find a single book commentary, published prior to 1740, that identified the three “HE’s” of Daniel 7:27 as the future antichrist, which the world is expecting soon to arise. So the question I poise is a simple one – Were all prophetic teachers wrong before 1740? And if they were right, how does that affect what is taught today? Is there a radical difference?

Daniel 9:27 – And HE shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week HE shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations HE shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

What are some of the ramifications to prophetic teaching today if the “HE’s” in Daniel 9:27 are not the future antichrist? Are the changes drastic? Yes, indeed they are! What are some of them?

1. We would not have to have a peace treaty signed between antichrist and Israel.

2. The antichrist would not have to be a Jew.

3. The antichrist would not have to be a Roman prince or come out of Europe.

4. We would not have seven full years left to be fulfilled in Daniel’ s prophecy of 490 year

s.

5. There would not be two 1260 periods left to be fulfilled in the tribulation period.

6. The antichrist could strike suddenly without three and one half years of peace occurring, leaving only 1260 days before Armageddon would end the tribulation period.

7. The temple would not have to be rebuilt for the antichrist to occupy prior to Christ’s coming for his saints.

8. The “first of the week” rapture position, seven years before the 2nd Advent, would not be correct.

9. Is it possible that the following Scripture could be applicable to some aspects of today’s teachings based on Daniel 9:27?

II Timothy 4:3,4 – For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; [4] And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Could it be that the recent outpouring of fictional books advocating the whisking away of all believers before the tribulation period might be more fable than fact

? Could it be that tickling the ears of the masses by telling them what they want to hear is much more acceptable to them, and much more profitable to the writers and teachers, both financially and in acceptance and popularity?

II Corinthians 5:10,11 – For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. [11] Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

Which position is correct? I could care less personally, because I am prepared for something that might fool us all. How is that possible

? I just WATCH! I both practice, and advocate to the church I pastor, to do the following:

Mark 13:34-37 – For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. [35] Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: [36] Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.

[37] And what I say unto you I say

unto all, Watch.

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Sorry You Didn’t Like Us, Harold,

But ever since the Tower of Babel,

That marked a beginning of Nations,

Each One driven by National Interest,

Its been true in the kingdom of Nimrod,

And in all which has ever risen to Power,

It Will be so Until God’s Kingdom Appears!

Really, Harold, we’re not as bad as you Say,

Being a great improvement to ones before Us,

And Many Other Bigger Bully Nations Exist Now,

In the north, south, east, and west on the Planet,

And when the Middle East Caliphate Empire Arrives,

Many Nations Hating Us Will Then See A Bigger Bully!

We Will Seem Like Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs!

December 26, 2008-12-26

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Unfortunately, there are many ultra-liberal Hollywood stars and Black Liberation preachers who agree with this excerpt from the UK Guardian, who propagate the message of G.D. America. It is the national interest of a nation that is

the driving force of its actions, and this is the world society based on the inherited carnality of mankind. I do not agree with the article which follows. I believe the article to be blown out of proportion to the extreme but, at the same time, having retired from the NSA, I know our priorities and, like any other nation, we are driven by national interest which reflects our own welfare.

However, I am firmly convinced we have been much more considerate to the welfare of all other nations than any leading world nation before us. We are not Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but we are certainly a better leading nation than any of the historical world leaders before us, and a thousand times more considerate than would have been the Soviet Union or Communist China.

Begin Excerpt from the UK Guardian by Harold Pinter

The biggest bully in the west

This article by Harold Pinter, who died on Wednesday, first appeared in the Guardian in December 1996.

Harold Pinter

guardian.co.uk,

Friday 26 December 2008 09.30 GMT

Can it be true? Are the other “major powers” in the world finally moving towards a position where their contempt for the assertion of US power is actually being embodied in action? For the fourth year running the United Nations has voted for the motion condemning the US embargo of Cuba, this time by 137 votes (including Great Britain!) to three.

The countries against the motion were the US, Israel and Uzbekistan.

The European Union is taking the US to the World Trade Organisation panel, arguing that the Helms/Burton bill is illegal. Fourteen out of 15 members of the security council (including Great Britain!) voted against the US veto of Boutros Boutros-Ghali. The US was on its own.

How can any country stand out against such a consensus? How can any country, in the light of such blanket condemnation of its policies and actions, not pause to take a little thought, not subject itself to even the mildest and most tentative critical scrutiny? The answer is quite simple. If you believe you still call all the shots you just don’t give a shit. You say, without beating about the bush: Yes, sure, I am biased and arrogant and in many respects ignorant, but so what? I possess the economic and military might to back me up to the hilt and I don’t care who knows it. And when I say that I also occupy the moral high ground you’d better believe it.

The US is without doubt the greatest show on the road. Brutal, indifferent, scornful and ruthless it may be, but it’s also very smart.

As a salesman it’s out on its own. And its most saleable commodity is self-love. It’s a winner. The US has actually educated itself to be in love with itself. Listen to President Clinton – and before him, Bush and before him, Reagan and before him all the others – say on television the words: “The American People” as in the sentence, “I say to the American People it is time to pray and to defend the rights of the American People and I ask the American People to trust their President in the action he is about to take on behalf of the American People.” A nation weeps.

It’ s a pretty brilliant

stratagem. Language is actually employed to keep thought at bay. The words The American People provide a truly voluptuous cushion of reassurance. You don’t need to think.

Just lie back on the cushion. The cushion may be suffocating your intelligence and your critical faculties but you don’t know that.

Nobody tells you. So the status quo remains where it is and Father Christmas remains American and America remains the Land of the Brave and the Home of the Free.

Except of course for the 1.5 million people in prison, the 50 million living under the poverty line, the adolescents and mentally deficient about to be gassed or injected or electrocuted in the 38 out of 52 states which carry the death penalty. They don’t feel quite the same about this cushion of reassurance, but nobody listens to them anyway. As they are mostly poor and black they are essentially subversive. They are subversive because where they are resentful and critical and degraded and angry they threaten the stability of the state. The one thing they can have is God. If they want him. God belongs to every American.

Successive American presidents have made this quite clear.

Sometimes you look back into recent history and you ask: did all that really happen? Were half a million “communists” massacred in Indonesia in 1965 (the rivers clogged with corpses)? Were 200,000 people killed in East Timor in 1975 by the Indonesian invaders? Have 300,000 people died in Central America since 1960? Has the persecution of the Kurdish people in Turkey reached levels which approach genocid

e? Are countless lraqi children dying every month for lack of food and medicine brought about by UN sanctions

? Did the military coups in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Chile result in levels of repression and depth of suffering comparable to Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia and the Khmer Rouge? And has the US to one degree or another inspired, engendered, subsidised and sustained all these states of affairs? The answer is yes. It has and it does.

But you wouldn’t know it.

It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn’t happening. It didn’t matter. It was of no interest. The crimes of the US throughout the world have been systematic, constant, clinical, remorseless and fully documented but nobody talks about them. Nobody ever has. It’s probably more than a newspaper or TV channel’s life is worth to do so. And it must be said that as the absolute necessity of economic control is at the bottom of all this, any innocent bystander who raises his head must be kicked in the teeth. This is entirely logical. The market must and will overcome.

Perhaps the story that really takes the biscuit or beats the band or finally makes the cat laugh is the story of Haiti, a story virtually ignored by the world for decades. Haiti suffered under the grisly Duvalier dictatorships and their paramilitary force, the Tontons Macoutes, for 29 years. By 1986 popular feeling was so powerful that the Duvalier regime collapsed. Other military dictatorships followed but in 1990 the first democratic election in Haiti took place. President Aristide was elected with 67 per cent of the vote.

His platform: “To bring the Haitian people from misery to dignity.” Eight months later there was a coup d’etat. For three years the military again ruled.

During this period 5,000 people were killed. The US was finally forced to act. It led a UN force to the island, to “restore democracy”.

What it actually did was to restore the status quo, to give the generals various modes of asylum and protection and to effectively emasculate Aristide. His economic policies, for which the people had elected him, were discarded. The IMF and the World Bank moved in. They insisted on the application of a structural adjustment policy which threatens all hope of equitable development and progress in the country. People in Haiti refer to this plan as the “Death Plan”. It will destroy the country’s peasant economy. As a rider, the US army took from the Haitian army headquarters 160,000 pages of documents. The US government refuses to return these documents.

Why? Guess. The documents show the extent of CIA involvement in the coup which overthrew Aristide in 1991.

Lastly, an elegy. Curtains are drawn, lights go out. It’s as if it never happened.

In Nicaragua in 1979, the Sandinistas triumphed in a remarkable popular revolution against the Somoza dictatorship.

They went on to address their poverty-stricken country with unprecedented vigour and sense of purpose. They introduced a literacy campaign and health provision for all citizens which were unheard of

in the region, if not throughout the whole continent. The Sandinistas had plenty of faults but they were thoughtful, intelligent, decent and without malice.

They created an active, spontaneous, pluralistic society. The US destroyed, through all means at its disposal and at the cost of 30,000 dead, the whole damn thing. And they’re proud of it.

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DANIEL’S PROPHECY OF 70 WEEKS – Part 5

Daniel 9:24-27

December 26, 2008

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

THE 70 WEEKS OF DANIEL’S 9:24-27 PROPHECY – Part 5

What a Difference a “He” Makes!

More than 34 years ago I accepted the Pastorate of Dardanelle MBC, while still a Seminary student. I attended the University of Arkansas in Little Rock and Arkansas Tech University during the summers of my time in Seminary because it did not offer summer courses. I graduated from the Seminary in 1975 while enrolled full time at Arkansas Tech University, from which I graduated and began teaching at Dardanelle High School in 1977. I have not changed my beliefs on any of the things I was taught in Seminary concerning salvation, security of the believer, the two church ordinances, or the local identity of the church. However, there are many things I once believed in prophecy that I am no longer able to teach with any conviction. I came to Dardanelle MBC like Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail, believing I was ready to teach prophecy. As I studied the doctrines of salvation, the church, and the church ordinances I discovered realms of Scripture to validate what I had been taught, but when I began to search for Scriptures that would fit all the diagrams from which I was taught prophecy in Seminary, I found very few I did not have to distort. I retired as a synoptic analyst in the National Security Agency, and I know quite well how to put the pieces of a puzzle together to form a whole premise. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are called the Synoptic Gospels, and they can be pieced together synoptically into a Harmony of the Gospels. All the pieces of the salvation-church-ordinances puzzle came together and formed a perfect picture of conformity, but the many pieces of prophecy puzzle simply would not mesh together, unless I symbolized or spiritualized to a massive degree.

I found in our work there was harmonious agreement on the doctrines of salvation, the two church ordinances, and the church itself, but in prophecy I found “first of the weekers,” “mid-tribbers,” “seventh trumpers,” “last of the weekers,” split rapturists,” and “progressive rapturists” – Or Pre, Mid, Seventh Trump, Post, Split, and Progressive positions. I knew there had to be a reason for these great divisions, and was hopeful that perhaps the answer might be found in a historical search to see if all of them have always existed and, if not, when did each one arise.

What I found brought back a lot of memories from my earliest teachings when I was a teenager. Before 1827 only three positions were taught: the Last of the Week, the Seventh Trumpet, and the Mid-Tribulation positions – And the Mid-Tribulation position was born in 1788 (See Updates 74A and 73D). During all my research I also discovered something that shocked me with memories of a position I had also heard as a teenager – Before 1800 the vast majority of Bible expositors believed that the “HE” in Daniel 9:27 was not the antichrist, but the true one, Jesus Christ or Antiochus Epiphanes. I am convinced they were correct. I have never been able to find a single writer before 1740 who believed the “HE” was the antichrist.

Daniel 9:27 – And HE shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week HE shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations HE shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

I was fully aware of all this by 1992, but out of cowardice as to what I knew I would face from the bulk of my brethren, I would only teach it at Dardanelle MBC. My cowardice certainly did not lead me to lie to the brethren – I simply stopped talking about the first three and one-half years of Daniel’s 70th week in my lectures, stopped presenting the worldwide antichrist empire that is taught today, and honed in on the last 1260 days of the tribulation period. I have firmly believed the Seventh Trumpet position since 1982, and taught the “HE” of Daniel 9:27 was Jesus since 1992. Knowing that I must soon face my Savior, and give account of all I have taught from his Word, I decided to publicly declare what I truly believe about Daniel 9:27, for better or for worse. Many of the men who taught me prophecy, whom I love and deeply respect, may well denounce me and regret ever having known me, but I will one day stand before the judgment seat of Christ and, in all conscience, I cannot continue to keep this to myself. I was taught synoptic analysis in the AWS and NSA, and contextual analysis in the Seminary. The synoptic subject of the contextual discourse in every verse of Daniel 9:24 to 27 is the Messiah the Prince, Jesus Christ. In verse 24 Jesus is “the most Holy” who is anointed. In verse 25 Jesus is “the Messiah the Prince.” In verse 26 Jesus is identified as “Messiah” who is cut off. And in verse 27 Jesus is the “he” who confirmed God’s blood covenant at his death in the “midst” of the last week of Daniel’s 70 weeks of years.

Jesus has already confirmed most of the first three and one-half years of the last week of seven prophetic years. The prophet Isaiah, who wrote some 150 years before Daniel, whose writings were probably in Daniel’s possession when he wrote during Babylonian captivity, wrote of the one who would fulfill the “covenant” of Daniel 9:27.

Isaiah 42:6 – I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee FOR A COVENANT of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

How did the Jews look at Daniel 9:24 to 27 at the time of Christ’s birth? Were any of those in the Middle East expecting his coming on the scene to be near

? Henry H. Halley, in his well known “Bible Handbook” of 1927, wrote the following concerning the expectation of the Messiah: “Josephus, Tacitus, and Sue tonius state there was general expectancy over the East that the time for the Messiah

to appear was at hand. It was based, partly at least, on Daniel’s 70 Weeks Prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27). By the popular interpretation at that time, the 70 weeks was understood to mean 70 sevens of years, that is, 490. The decree to rebuild Jerusalem, from which they were to be reckoned (Daniel 9:25), was issued in 457 B.C. Hence the time was about up.

The Son of God was about to appear.”

Simeon clearly revealed Jesus as the one who had come to fulfill the covenant to his people Israel, and as a light to lighten the Gentiles.

Luke 2:25-32 – And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. [26] And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. [27] And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, [28] Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, [29] Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: [30] For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, [31] Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; [32] A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

The word “he” in Daniel 9:27 does not refer back to the “prince that shall come” in Daniel 9:26 – That prince has already come, and the ones he led destroyed the temple and the city of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The “he” refers not to a coming antichrist, but to the contextual subject of each verse from 24 to 27 – Messiah the Prince, Jesus Christ. I am not waiting for an antichrist to destroy a sanctuary that was destroyed in Jerusalem more than 1900 years ago. I am waiting for the return of a Messiah who was cut off for my sins in the “midst” of Daniel’s last week after having fulfilled most of the first three and one-half years of it. The covenant was finished when the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and a token sign of its fulfillment was manifested by resurrection of many of the Old Testament saints, who came out of their graves after his resurrection.

John 19:30 – When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

Matthew 27:50-53 – Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. [51] And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; [52] And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, [53] And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

You will find a thorough verse-by-verse exposition of Daniel 9:24 to 27 in our Prophecy Archives in Parts 1 through 4, but I will, in this Update, exposit on verse 27 as it relates to Christ.

Daniel 9:27 – And HE shall confirm THE COVENANT with many for one week: and in the midst of the week HE shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations HE shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

“He” is used three times. In each case it pertains to Jesus the Messiah. ”He” began to “confirm the covenant” with the “many” who would believe he was the one sent to confirm it when he was baptized in water by John, and he completed the covenant when he was crucified in his baptism by fire at Golgotha in the “midst” of Daniel’s 70th week, some three and one-half years after his water baptism. His water baptism pictured what would finish the covenant some three and one-half years later when he died, was buried, and then resurrected to complete the covenant. I am of the opinion he fulfilled the covenant during the first 1185 days of Daniel’s last week, and that the remaining 1335 days will begin when Israel actually believes it has “peace and safety.”

Daniel 9:27 – And HE shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week HE shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations HE shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

“He” caused “the sacrifice and oblation to cease” being acceptable to his Father when he became the true sacrifice that made void all the offerings, which had only pictured what he would do to confirm the covenant.

“He” made the Temple and its offerings spiritually desolate because of “the overspreading of abominations” he had twice cleaned out of it. The Temple had become a den of thieves and those who ministered in it had turned into blind guides.

Matthew 23:37,38 – O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! [38] Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

Matthew 21:12,13 – And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, [13] And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Matthew 23:23,24 – Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

[24] Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

“He” has made the Temple and all its sacrifices “desolate, even unto the consummation” of this present age. They will not be restored until Jesus returns at his Second Advent.

Matthew 23:38,39 – Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. [39] For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Daniel 9:27 – And HE shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week HE shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations HE shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

The “consummation” of this present age comes to pass when “that determined will be poured upon the desolate” men and women of this present age of the Gentiles who are spiritually desolate, having not the Spirit of Christ. And that determined will be poured out on the antichrist. He will be in a position where no one can help him, as well as his false prophet, and both will then be cast into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. The battle of Armageddon is the consummation of this age, and the last days of the tribulation period will see Michael the Archangel deal with the forces of evil during the pouring out of the vials of wrath.

Romans 2:28,29 – For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: [29] But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Daniel 11:45 to 12:1 – And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. [1] And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

Matthew 24:21 – For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Revelation 19:19,20 – And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. [20] And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.

These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Daniel 7:11 – I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.

Daniel’s 70 weeks of year’s clock stopped ticking when Jesus the Messiah was cut off in the “midst” of the last week. The Hebrew word “midst” in a seven year week could mean any time between the end of the third

year and the beginning of the fifth year, in other words, at any time during the fourth year. I believe Jesus fulfilled the first 1185 days of the 2520 days in Daniel’s 70th week, and only 1335 days remain. When the Israelis truly believe they have “peace and safety” enough to actually “say” it, then the clock will start to tick again, and they will shortly thereafter be attacked some 1260 days before the final battle of Armageddon.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4 – For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Revelation 12:6 – And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Revelation 11:2 – But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

Revelation 13:5 – And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

I was astounded to discover how much of our prophetic teaching about the antichrist’s reign, the tribulation period, the time of the rapture, and a multiplicity of all things related to prophecy, are all tied primarily to the interpretation that the “he” of Daniel is the antichrist. I have made my choice – I believe the majority of the prophetic teachers before 1800 were correct – I believe the “he” is Jesus. This has been a hard choice for me to make – what a difference a “he” makes!

THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT FROM GOD IN CHRIST JESUS

MERRY CHRISTMAS

DECEMBER 25, 2008

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

A GIFT OF GOD WHEN UNWRAPPED KEEPS GIVING TO YOU ETERNALLY
GOD’S 1ST ADVENT VISIT WAS IN A MANGER ENDING AT HIS ASCENSION
GOD IS MINDFUL OF MAN AND IN LOVE KEEPS

VISITING HIS CREATION

HIS NEXT VISIT IS NOT ONE YOU SHOULD FEAR, IT IS ONE OF REUNION!

Hebrews 2:5,6 – For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.

[6] But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou VISITEST him?

GOD’S FIRST VISIT TO EARTH WAS TO CREATE MAN IN THE IMAGE HE WOULD ONE DAY TAKE ON HIMSELF IN THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST!

Genesis 1:26 – And God said, Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

BUT MAN LOST HIS RIGHT TO REIGN WHEN HE CHOSE TO OBEY SATAN,

BUT WE SEE JESUS WHO BOUGHT BACK OUR RIGHT TO BE REUNITED WITH GOD BY HIS SACRIFICE AND TO RESTORE

OUR INHERITNCE.

Hebrews 2:7-9–THOU MADEST HIM A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS;
thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: [8] Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet.

For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put

under him. BUT NOW WE SEE NOT YET ALL THINGS PUT UNDER HIM.

[9] BUT WE SEE JESUS, WHO WAS MADE A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he BY THE GRACE OF GOD should taste death for every man.

II Corinthians 5:17-21 – Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. [18] And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; [19] To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

[20] Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. [21] For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

II Corinthians 9:15 – Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

John 3:16-18 – For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. [17] For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. [18] He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

John 3:36 – He that believeth on the Son HATH everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not SEE life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Romans 10:17 – So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Romans 10:13 – For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

THE GIFT IS THE ABILITY GOD GIVES THE INDIVIDUAL TO HAVE FAITH TO BELIEVE HE WILL HEAR AND SAVE BY THE SALVATION IN THE NAME OF HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON – THAT IS THE AMAZING GRACE OF GOD! TODAY MANY STILL STUMBLE OVER HIM, BELIEVING THAT MORE IS REQUIRED FOR GOD TO SAVE THE SOUL. GOOD WORKS DO NOT SAVE THE SOUL NOR DO THEY ADD TO WHAT JESUS DID TO SAVE IT. THEY ARE TO LET MEN SEE CHRIST’S SPIRIT AT WORK IN YOU AND TO DETERMINE THE DEGREE OF REWARDS AT HIS JUDGMENT SEAT.

Acts 4:12 – Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Romans 4:1-8 – What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? [2] For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. [3] For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

[4] Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but

of debt.

[5] But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. [6] Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, [7] Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities

are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. [8] Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

Ephesians 2:8-10 – For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.

[10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus UNTO GOOD WORKS, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

I Peter 2:12 – Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: THAT, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, THEY MAY BY YOUR GOOD WORKS, which

they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Revelation 11:15,18 – And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. [18] And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

GOD’S 1ST ADVENT VISIT WAS IN A MANGER ENDING AT HIS ASCENSION

Luke 19:41-44 – And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, [42] Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

[43]For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, [44] And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; BECAUSE THOU KNEWEST NO THE TIME OF THY VISITATION.

GOD’S 2ND ADVENT VISIT WILL BE WHEN HE COMES WITH THE SAINTS AND IT WILL LAST ON THE PRESENT EARTH FOR A THOUSAND YEARS!

I Peter 2:12 – Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, THEY MAY BY YOUR GOOD WORKS, which THEY SHALL BEHOLD, GLORIFY GOD IN THE DAY OF VISITATION.

Jude 1:14 – And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

Revelation 20:4 – And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

I John 3:2 – Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT DAY,

MERRY CHRISTMAS,

TOM AND EMOGINE MCELMURRY