Gog and Magog

[Eric Stahl]

Invicta,

When the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, Libya and Ethiopia did not attack the Romans and the Persians did not help Israel from

the east.

But in Ezekiel 38:1-12 Persia, Libya, and Ethiopia are all allies of Russia when it comes against Israel in the end time wars.

Daniel 11:36-45 is describing the wars of the seal judgments at the end of time as indicated in Daniel 11:35

Edited December 17, 2011 by Eric Stahl

[Invicta]

30 For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.

The Roman ships bringing the Roman General who drew a line in the sand and dared Antiochus to cross it. Ant returned and had intelligence with the helllenisers amongs the jews.

31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.

I am not sure what arms shall stand on his part, means, but it clearly refers to the Romans, who were "they" who later poluted the sanctuary, and placed the abomination that maketh desolate.


32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. 1),Antiochus. 2). the Maccabees and those who fought with them.

33 And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.
34 Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries.
35 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed. The Maccabees and those who fought with them and also those who followed them until:-

36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Herod

37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. The desire of women, the children murdered by herod when he tried to destroy the Messiah
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. The God of forces, Ceasar, the man god who Herod honoured with many gifts, temples, Cities named ceasarea, and Caesars Games, to be held every five years with which he provaided rich prizes to the first three contestants. This seemed to be the first games that such prizes were awarded, before that only the winner received a laurel crown.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. Caesar again
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. The time of the end of the Greek kingdoms. The king of the south Cleopatra (and Anthony) pushed against Octavius with Herod's help, but Octavius came againnst them like a whirlwind with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. Octavius got control over the riches of Cleapatra although he thought she would escape with them or destray them.
44 But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. Back to Herod. Tidings from the North (Rome) troubled him as he was told that his sons were plotting against him. Tidings from the East troubled him when the wise men came seeking the newborn King of the Jews. He went forth with fury and destroted many infants in Bethlehem.
45 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. He died a painful death with none to mourn. He ordered that many leading Jews were to be imprisoned and exexuted at the time of his death, so that there would be mourning when he died, but his orders were not carried out. This takes us to the time of Messiah, and the completion of the 69 weeks. The complete not part of the 69 weeks is in that chapter.

Edited December 18, 2011 by Invicta

[Eric Stahl]

When I was young, I wondered why none of the Arab nations around Israel were listed as allies of Magog or Russia in Ezekiel 38:7-12. After I understood Daniel 11:36-43a, I understood that the antichrist will destroy the Arab neighbors of Israel before God puts the hook in the Jaw of Russia and draws it to Israel for judgment in Daniel 11:43b-45.

[Invicta]

Magog is not Russia, but Georgia.

[John81]

Many Christians have studied this out over the years, decades and centuries. There has been no consensus as to the exact meaning of this. We can speculate, but often our speculation will be tainted by the times we live in.

[Eric Stahl]

Copied from America's Last Warning

The Red Horse Described

Daniel 11:43b–45
and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.
45 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.KJV

In verse 43, Daniel describes how the Libyans and the Ethiopians enter the battle from behind the army of the Antichrist when the Antichrist moves from Egypt to set up base camp in Israel. The Antichrist will move after he hears rumors from the north and the east that indicates the Russian alliance (described in Ezekiel 38:1–12) is coming. Ezekiel 38:1–23, Ezekiel 39:1–8, and Jeremiah 25:14–38 provide additional details of the war occurring during the time of the red horse of the apocalypse.

The Red Horse
Ezekiel 38:1–8 KJV
38 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.
SUDDEN DESTRUCTION COMETH 55 UPON THEM
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
—Ezekiel 38:1–8 KJV

Ezekiel tells the leader of Magog, which we call Russia today, that God is against him. The tribe of Meshech populated the area of Moscow, and the tribe of Tubal populated the area of Tubalisc, which are now the western and eastern capitals of Russia. The country called Persia is now called Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. They will all be allies of Russia. Ethiopia and Libya would have also included the area of Sudan. The tribes of Gomer and Togarmah most likely are now in Turkey and some of the Balkan states.
God told Magog, or Russia, to be a guard unto her allies, and Russia has already armed most of those Islamic countries. Ezekiel said that Magog (Russia) will be drawn to attack Israel in the latter years after Israel is back in the land and feels safe, but Israel won’t feel safe until the Antichrist signs the seven-year covenant with many mentioned in Daniel 9:27.

Russia has armed the Islamic countries not Georgia.

[John81]

Yet there is still no concensus as to just what countries and peoples all these prophecies point to. Some hold the view listed above, yet others point to seemingly equally compelling evidence to show that the references in Scripture are pointing to other countries, capitals and peoples.

Will we (Christains) be on earth when these things take place?

[Eric Stahl]

John81 "Will we (Christians) be on earth when these things take place?"

The church age believers will be taken up before the antichrist will be revealed. 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world if we are living for Jesus. Our presents has a restraining influence on sin in the world because we have the Holy Spirit in us. Because the Holy Spirit came as the comforter He reproves sin in the world. John16:8. When we go to heaven the Holy Spirit's restraining influence on sin is removed from the earth and the antichrist will come. The first seal judgment is the antichrist coming on a white horse as a peace enforcer when Daniel 11:36-43a happens.The battle of Magog or Russia is the second seal and the red horse. In the sixth seal the war of Russia and the western powers will go nuclear.

[Brother Rick]

One very important note about the battle(s) of Ezekiel 38 and 39 is that the Lord's people are at peace when they are attacked. If this is talking about Israel, which as a pre-Millennial dispensationalist that's what I believe, then the battle has to occur when Israel is at peace.

They haven't been at peace in how long?

My best guess is that it is sometime during the first half of the Tribulation after the antichrist makes peace with Israel.

No, the church will not be around.

http://ricksarticles...s-raptured.html

Edited December 23, 2011 by Rick Schworer

[Brother Rick]

John81 "Will we (Christians) be on earth when these things take place?"

The church age believers will be taken up before the antichrist will be revealed. 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world if we are living for Jesus. Our presents has a restraining influence on sin in the world because we have the Holy Spirit in us. Because the Holy Spirit came as the comforter He reproves sin in the world. John16:8. When we go to heaven the Holy Spirit's restraining influence on sin is removed from the earth and the antichrist will come. The first seal judgment is the antichrist coming on a white horse as a peace enforcer when Daniel 11:36-43a happens.The battle of Magog or Russia is the second seal and the red horse. In the sixth seal the war of Russia and the western powers will go nuclear.

Good stuff, Brother Eric, and it's very plausible. On the sixth seal though, have you ever considered that it's Armageddon? The similarities between the sixth seal, Rev. 14, 19, the Seventh Trumpet, and Matthew 24 have led me to believe that the story of the Second Coming occurs four times in the book of Revelation, just like the first coming occurs four times (the four gospels). I wrote a book on it a while ago, you can check it out HERE.

[Eric Stahl]

The sixth seal Judgment (God's nuclear war)

Rev 6:12-17
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? KJV

Isa 25:3-7

4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
5 Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.
6 And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. KJV

Isa 34:1-4
34 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.
2 For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. KJV

Isa 51:6
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. KJV

(In) Jer 25:15 God sends the cup of judgment that looks like a great whirlwind and goes from nation to nation.
Isaiah 26:11 says that the fire of Israel's enemies will destroy them.


Jer 25:29-33
29 For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts.
30 Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord.
32 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
33 And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground. KJV

Joel 2:30-31
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, (((before ))) the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. KJV

Zech 14:12-14
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. KJV

Isa 33:11-12
11 Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
12 And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire. KJV

Before the great and terrible day of the Lord, God will cause men to send evil from nation to nation that will look like pillars of fire and great whirlewinds that will have a hot blast with a shadow of a hot cloud which will burn men as lime and destroy the protective vail over every nation. This causes the sun to become black as sackcloth and the moon to look like blood and the heavens to roll up as a scroll. I believe God causes men to fight a nuclear war. God used nations to judge Israel all through history and He is going to do it again.

Edited December 23, 2011 by Eric Stahl

[Eric Stahl]

Copied from "America's Last Warning"
Armageddon 188
John saw the future invasion of earth by Jesus and the saints in the army of heaven. John said the believers, who have previously been taken to heaven, come down to the earth on white horses. It is unclear as to whether or not it will be real horses or some other vehicle, but the army will certainly go to Armageddon.
Do you see verse fifteen and twenty-one ( Revelation 19:15,21) describing Jesus killing the army of the Antichrist with a sword out of his mouth? This required a long search for the meaning, but ultimately Psalms 149:4–9 surfaced and it became less confusing.

Psalms 149:4–9 KJV
4 For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek
with salvation.
5 Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword
in their hand;
7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;
8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
9 To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord.

After reading this last Scripture passage, it appears that the saints in God’s army will be the ones to execute judgment on the Antichrist’s army at Armageddon.
The saints are those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. If you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will be one of these saints in glory during the tribulation period. There will be a two-edged sword put in your hand so you can have the honor of killing the heathen at Armageddon. We will all join together for this honor to kill the army of the Antichrist.
It is so important to both come to faith in Christ and witness to others so that they too can come to faith in Christ, as it could come to pass that we could see someone to whom we should have witnessed and have to kill them. That is why it is so essential that you open your heart and mind to these end-time messages and respond to them immediately.

Let’s pause here for a moment. I thought that Revelation 19:15, 21 states that Jesus would kill them with a sword out of His mouth.

Ephesians 6:17
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
KJV

The Bible refers to Jesus’ spoken words as the Word of God and the sword of the Spirit. Therefore, Jesus will give the command to kill the army of Antichrist, and it will be our honor to do it with our two-edged swords. We will go to Armageddon and fight for Jesus.

190 �� AMERICA’S LAST WARNING

Habakkuk 3:11–13 KJV
11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine
arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.
12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.
13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.

Edited December 23, 2011 by Eric Stahl

[Invicta]

Good stuff, Brother Eric, and it's very plausible. On the sixth seal though, have you ever considered that it's Armageddon? The similarities between the sixth seal, Rev. 14, 19, the Seventh Trumpet, and Matthew 24 have led me to believe that the story of the Second Coming occurs four times in the book of Revelation, just like the first coming occurs four times (the four gospels). I wrote a book on it a while ago, you can check it out HERE.

Plausible, of course, but as it suggests it is all in the future, if it does not come as you say, and it won't, no one will evert know.

Of course as I have already said the whole of Dan. 11 took place during the 69 weeks. Why should the Lord through Daniel give the history of the 69 weeks till the end of the Maccabee period and then jump more than 2 thousand years when thye whole propihecy of Dan 9 and Dan 11 is to give the history of the Jews from the publishing of the command of Cyrus to restore Jerusalem, till the Messah?

[Brother Rick]

Plausible, of course, but as it suggests it is all in the future, if it does not come as you say, and it won't, no one will evert know.

Of course as I have already said the whole of Dan. 11 took place during the 69 weeks. Why should the Lord through Daniel give the history of the 69 weeks till the end of the Maccabee period and then jump more than 2 thousand years when thye whole propihecy of Dan 9 and Dan 11 is to give the history of the Jews from the publishing of the command of Cyrus to restore Jerusalem, till the Messah?

I get tired of saying the same things over and over again, so I hope you don't mind if I cut and paste from my article, Problems with Preterism:





4.It can’t tell the difference between 1,000 and 2,000 years.

If you have a basic understanding of the end times from a Futurist perspective, then you know that at the end of the Tribulation we have the Battle of Armageddon in which Christ destroys the Antichrist and his armies. Following that is the Millennium in which Jesus Christ rules the Earth for 1,000 years. It actually says specifically 1,000 years, SIX times in Revelation chapter 20.

Revelation 20:1-7, “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2) And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3) And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
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.
5) But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6) Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
7) And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison…”

Preterists think that we are in the Millennium right now, and that the Millennium started back in 70 A.D. That would mean two things:

1. Satan is currently bound in chains in the Bottomless Pit.

2. The Millennium is in extra innings, overtime, whatever – it’s about 1,000 years longer than what God said it would be.

“Wait! Wait! You said that God views time differently than we do in point one! You said “a little while” to God can mean a really long time to us…”

Yes, I did – but there’s a difference between God saying “I’ll be back in a little bit so be ready…” and God saying, “For 1,000 years we’re going to…”

Here are two examples:

1. God said to Abram that his seed would be strangers in a land that was not theirs for 400 years.
Gen. 15:13-14, “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14) And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.”

And how many years were they there?

Ex. 12:40, “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, [was] four hundred and thirty years.”

430! To which the Preterist would say, “Gotcha! When God gives numbers He speaks in vague generalities and so 1,000 years can mean 2,000!”

(Brief interjection: Did you hear about the accident at the Preterist convention in Ireland? Apparently an elevator that said it only held 1,000 lbs was overloaded with 2,000 pounds of Preterists that think numbers don’t mean anything!)

The promise that was given to Abram in Genesis was given to him thirty years into the 430 years of wandering, so that’s why God said 400 years. When God gives an exact number of years, He means it.

2. Specific time periods in Daniel 9.

I picked this because I wanted to kill two birds with one stone. In order to justify their abusing the 1,000 years in Revelation 20, Preterists point to Daniel’s 70 weeks and accuse Futurists of being hypocritical. The best answer to that is, “And when did the 100 pound hailstones fall in 70 A.D. again?”

In all actuality, Daniel’s 70 weeks is another great example of just how detailed God is when He gives us specific time periods in prophecy.

Daniel 9:24-27, “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25) Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26) And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
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.”

Okay, this passage is the barn-burner of Bible prophecy, it’s a really, really, really important passage. I especially recommend Clarence Larkin’s commentary on Daniel and Sir Robert Anderson’s book The Coming Prince is good too if you want more info on what I’m about to lay down here.

In a nutshell, you have a few different periods of time, referred to as weeks. These are “weeks of years,” meaning every week in this passage is a reference to seven years. Here are the time periods:

1. Seventy Weeks. (Vs. 24)
2. Seven weeks and thirty-two weeks (69). (Vs. 25 – a “score” means twenty in the Bible.)
3. Sixty-two weeks (Vs. 26)
4. One week. (Vs. 27)

A few things happen before that, to say the least.

1. These are the obvious divisions of these weeks, and they all mean different things. In verse 24 we see that the weeks are a direct reference to the nation of Israel and what will happen to them. By the time these weeks are over all the things in verse 24 will be done to Israel and the Holy City Jerusalem, including all her sins being put away and everlasting righteousness for her.

2. The first division of the seventy weeks is the sixty-nine mentioned in verse 25. Gabriel tells Daniel that from the going forth of the command to rebuild Jerusalem up until Christ is crucified is going to be sixty-nine weeks to the day. That’s 483 years. That’s exactly what happened, and all Bible historians and theologians agree on this. It’s an amazing example of the exactness of God in Bible prophecy. It doesn’t stop there.

3. The next division in verse 26 is sixty-two weeks. In that verse it says there are sixty-two weeks until Christ is crucified. At first that may seem confusing, but look again at the verse right before this one, verse 25. It says “…seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks…” There are two divisions there. The first one is seven weeks, or 49 years, and the second one is sixty-two weeks, or 434 years. What’s the difference? It took 49 years to rebuild Jerusalem, that’s the first seven weeks, and after that comes the 62 weeks that are left of the original 69 weeks we just looked at. Another example of God’s precision in Scripture.

4. Ah, but there is one last week, and that’s what all the hubbub is about. It’s called Daniel’s 70^th week, and suffice it to say it hasn’t happened yet. How do we know that? Look again at the things in verse 24. It’s talking about a bunch of wonderful things that will happen to Israel after the 70 weeks are up. They haven’t happened yet.

The reason the passage was worded the way it was and why that last week is set apart from the other weeks is because for ALL the weeks to be complete was conditional based upon the Jews accepting Christ as their Messiah. They didn’t, so we’re in a hold pattern and God is dealing with the church (Acts 13:46, 28:28). Once He’s done dealing with the church, He’ll go right back to the last week where He left off. Daniel’s 70^th week is the seven year Tribulation period that is described all throughout Revelation; at the end of it all the things described in verse 24 will happen to Israel. They’ll all be saved and accept Christ, there will be everlasting righteousness and the Holy City Jerusalem will be the place of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Because Futurists simply state that the last week, being clearly separated from the other sixty-nine weeks, is parenthetical and conditional upon Israel’s acceptance or rejection of the Gospel, Preterists call us inconsistent when it comes to the 1,000 years. In turn, what they do is take all the promises of Israel and steal them away and give them to the church after they spiritualize them into meaning nothing at all in accordance to what the actual prophecy states in plain English!

Another good answer to them, so you don’t have to explain all of this, is “How exactly did the Euphrates River dry up in 70 A.D., releasing four angels to slay one-third of mankind?”

What’s the point of all this? The point is when God gives specific numbers He means exactly what He says. When He says 1,000 years, SIX times in Revelation 20 – that’s what He means.

Click here for the rest of the article. Edited December 23, 2011 by Rick Schworer

[John81]

If Christians won't be around when these events occur, why do so many Christians spend so much time on this?