No 4

(The 70^th week of Daniel)

When will this week occur? It will occur after Jesus Christ comes for His Church and raptures it up to heaven (1 Thessalonians 4 : 13 to 18). Then the question should be : When will Jesus come for His Church? The Bible says in Matthew 24 : 36 “But of that day and hour, knowth no man, no not the angels of heaven, but My Father only”. The Rapture of the Church will start God’s Divine clock ticking again and Daniel’s prophesy of 70 weeks of years will finally be accomplished. We have a God of order and I firmly believe that no airplanes will crash and no driver-less cars will be speeding down the highways when the Rapture occurs. This type of guessing and dreaming has turned a lot Christians against prophecy and, by extension, eschatology.

The Bible is so clear in these matters; all we need is some intense study and the picture becomes crystal clear. Antichrist will show his face after the rapture and he will undoubtedly be a strong political leader who will unite the world under his leadership (Rev 13). The religions of the world will also unite under one leader (Rev 14). During the first part of the week, antichrist will end all wars and famine (Rev 6 : 2, 4, 5, 8. He will balance out the world’s riches and everyone will be happy. But now, back to Daniel’s prophesy. When Gabriel gave this prophesy to Daniel, he said that the “prince that shall come….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” (Dan 9 : 27). In other words, at the mid-point of the week after 1260 days (7 x 360 = 2520 days divided by 2 = 1260), the prince (antichrist) will take over everything including the religious unity and will form one world power totally under his control. Of course, we all know who will be behind all this: Satan himself. Someone else who lived long after Daniel also was given this information; he got it directly from Jesus Christ. I’m talking of the Apostle John. In Revelation, John records three events that he saw unfolding in front of his eyes. The first event is in Rev 11 : 3 –“they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days in sackcloth” - John speaks here of the two witnesses. The second event is recorded in Rev 12 : 6 –“And the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God so that there she might be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days” - John speaks here of the nation Israel. The last event is in Rev 13 : 5 and is recorded in months instead of days –“…and authority to act for forty-two months” (1260 days divided by 30 = 42 months) – John is describing the beast, antichrist. He (antichrist) will be allowed to do wondrous things and he will persecute the Jews like never before in their history. He will rise to be the world’s dictator but Jesus Christ will defeat him when he attempts to take God’s place on the throne in Jerusalem - (2 Thess 2 : 4) “…so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God”. The Bible says in Revelation 19 : 14 – “the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean”. Satan is thoroughly defeated by Jesus and His Church (clothed in fine linen) and thrown in the bottomless pit for a thousand years (Rev 20 : 2, 3). The Church has already been raptured at this time and has been with Jesus, in heaven, for seven years. At this point, the marriage ceremony of the Lamb has already been celebrated back in Rev 19 : 7- 10 and the Church is waiting for the thousand-year period to begin. Isn’t our God great? The Rapture of the Church could occur at any time. Will you be with us?