The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Twenty-One - L Sep 27, 2020 by: John Herbert | Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T004_20200927.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Da 12:11 “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Daniel was told of additional days beyond the end of the tribulation, before the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom. We will look at these days today. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday September 27th 2020 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Lesson 21L The Remains of the Day 1). Eze 22:14 Can your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and will do it. 15 I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and remove your filthiness completely from you. 16 You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations; then you shall know that I am the LORD.” ’ ” God’s purpose for the creation in Jacob will be brought to fruition despite the millennia of harlotry Israel has engaged in. And as we have come to know, dealing with Israel’s harlotry will be accomplished through the persecution of God’s people by the Gentile nations, while the Jews are scattered among those nations. a). We have seen this process repeated throughout Israel’s history, and in our past weeks of study we have seen how it will be brought to its ultimate conclusion during the final 7 years of the 490 years that God has allotted to His people for this purpose, Daniel’s 70th seven. b). And we have also seen that during the final 3 ½ years that will bring the 7 years to an end, Israel will be given into the hands of the seed of the serpent, the ruler of the final form of the Babylonian kingdom that began with the Babylonian captivity and Nebuchadnezzar, setting in place the times of the Gentiles - Da 7:25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time. And this man who will speak the pompous words against the Most High will be the very essence of all that is Gentile, all that is opposed to God, as he rules the most intense form of Satan’s kingdom that there has ever been. Something that may well be signified through the 3 sixes of his number – Re 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. In the hands of this man, scattered throughout his kingdom, Israel will be brought into such dire straits, that they will have nowhere to turn except to the God of their fathers. The One who has placed them into the hands of the beast is the only One who can deliver them out of his hands – Hos 5:13 “When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah saw his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria And sent to King Jareb; Yet he cannot cure you, Nor heal you of your wound. 14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. 15 I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” Earnestly seeking the Lord in the desperation of their affliction is exactly what they will do - Hos 6:1 Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 2 After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. So then, what we see in the verses from Hosea Chapter 6 is that the Lord will revive Israel ‘after two days’, at the complete end of the 2000 years, the 2 days, of the dispensation given to them. And the end of the 2 days, the end of the 2000 years of the Jewish dispensation will bring us to the end of Daniel’s 70th seven. c). The final 7 years of the tribulation are then the final 7 years of the 2000-year dispensation of the Jews, bringing us to the end of the 2 days seen in Hosea and also to the end of Man’s Day. 2). Ex 3:7 And the LORD said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” Exodus Chapter 3 provides the type for what will happen at the end of the tribulation. God will see the oppression of His people and will hear their cry. And with a view to returning to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He will send back the One greater than Moses, the One who had been found worthy to open the scroll, to deliver Israel from the kingdom of this world – Mt 24:13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. In Acts Chapter 7, in v56, Stephen saw ‘the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God’. And had there been national repentance on Israel’s part in response to his impassioned message that day, then the Lord would have returned to the earth to deliver His people from Gentile world power, He would have regathered them to the land and established His Kingdom. a). However, as we know, the national response to the message was not repentance but the stoning of Stephen instead. With Stephen’s death the heavens were closed and with respect to Israel the heavens will have remained shut for around 2000 years. b). But at the end of the tribulation, in response to Israel’s cry to the God of their fathers, the heavens will open again and this time the One standing at the right hand of God will return, and He will come forth as King of kings and Lord of lords – Re19:11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. The Lord’s return is in conjunction with the opening of the 6th seal on the 7-sealed scroll where the kingdom of the beast is seen in total disarray – Re 6:12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves 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 who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” And in relation to the Lord’s return to the earth to the Jewish people, the end of the tribulation and ‘the great day of His wrath’, the Lord had revealed another period of time to Daniel, which is recorded at the end of his book – Da 12:7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished. 8 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, “My lord, what shall be the end of these things?” 9 And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 10 Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. 11 “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. 13 “But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.” Now we know that the daily sacrifice is taken away at the midpoint of the tribulation, at the completion of the first 1260 days, when the beast enters the Jewish temple and declares himself to be God. c). From the time the sacrifice is taken away there then remains the final 1260 days of ‘great tribulation’ to complete the full 2520 days of Daniel’s 70th seven. d). Now, in v11 of Daniel Chapter 12, the Lord speaks of 1290 days to be counted from the time the sacrifice is taken away, which takes us to 30 days beyond the end of the tribulation. e). Then in v12 we find, ‘blessed is he’, who comes to 1335 days beyond the sacrifice being taken away, which adds another 45 days to the additional 30 days beyond the end of the tribulation seen in v11. f). Putting these 2 sets of additional days together, there will be a 75-day period beyond the end of the tribulation, the end of the Jewish dispensation, the end of Man’s Day, before the Millennial Kingdom begins. Power Point – Slides 1-2 g). And according to v13, Daniel will be resurrected to his inheritance ‘at the end of the days’. At the end of the 75 days. Now, Daniel will not be resurrected apart from all the other OT saints, and this resurrection of the OT saints will fulfill the Feast of Firstfruits. This then places the fulfillment of the Feast of Firstfruits towards the end of the 75 days before the Kingdom begins. h). Firstfruits is the third of the 7 feasts given to Israel in Leviticus Chapter 23, feasts that together provide a prophetic timetable for the nation. The first of the 7 feasts, Passover, will be fulfilled when the Jewish people appropriate the blood of the Passover Lamb who was slain at Calvary slightly over 2000 years before. And this appropriation of the blood can only happen with the acknowledgment of Jesus’ true identity as Israel’s Messiah – ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’. And this is only possible following the Lord’s return to the earth, which therefore places the fulfillment of Passover within the 75 days that follow the end of the tribulation. i). The 7th of the 7 feasts, Tabernacles, will be fulfilled in the Millennial Kingdom itself, and so consequently we can see that the first 6 feasts must all be fulfilled during the 75 days beyond the end of the tribulation, before the Millennial Kingdom begins. And the fulfillment of these feasts will complete Israel’s redemption and restoration. Power Point – Slide 3 j). And the one ‘who waits and comes’ to the 1335th day will be blessed because he will be among those faithful Jews who will be regathered to the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob [who will also be a part of this regathering prior to the ‘better resurrection] – Isa 27:13 So it shall be in that day: The great trumpet will be blown; They will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria, And they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, And shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem. Now, if the one who comes to the 1335th day is blessed because he will return to the land in a position of rulership at the head of the nations, then it follows that the one who doesn’t come to that day isn’t blessed and won’t attain that position. k). And this consideration will take us to the wilderness of the peoples and the judgment of Israel and the OT saints following their resurrection and regathering from the Gentile nations, in fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets, prior to returning to the land – Eze 20:34 I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. 35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead My case with you face to face. 36 Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead My case with you,” says the Lord GOD. 37 “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; 38 I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD. Jn 5:26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits and Pentecost will all be fulfilled while the Jewish people remain scattered among the Gentile nations. The fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets will bring Israel and the resurrected OT saints out of the Gentile nations to the wilderness of the people for judgment and the ratifying of the new covenant, before the return to the land where the Feast of Atonement will be fulfilled. 3). Mal 4:4 “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments. 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 6 And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” When the Lord returns to the earth with the ‘armies of heaven’ He will also be accompanied by Moses and Elijah, just as we see in Matthew Chapter 17 on the mount of transfiguration – Mt 17:1 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Ac 1:9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” In the type in Exodus, when Moses returned to deliver Israel from Egypt, both he and Aaron went into Pharaoh’s presence to demand the release of the Jews - Ex 4:22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ” And in the antitype, we would see the Christ and Moses going into the presence of the beast and possibly the dragon for the same purpose. a). And then at the end of Malachi we had seen that Elijah will ‘turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers’ ‘before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord’. And presumably, Elijah’s ministry at this time will be of a similar nature to that seen at Mt. Carmel in 1 Kings Chapter 18. b). In Exodus Pharaoh’s refusal to let Israel go results in the 10 plagues and the ultimate destruction of the power of Egypt in the Red Sea. The 10 plagues in Exodus foreshadow the opening of the 7th seal, and the judgments seen through the 7 trumpets and the 7 bowls – Re 8:1 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. The 7th seal is opened after Christ has returned to the earth, after the end of the tribulation, after the end of Man’s Day. Re 15:1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete………….16:1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.” That seen through the pouring out of the 7 bowls adds extra detail to that seen through the sounding of the 7 trumpets. These are not additional judgments but the same judgments in more detail. Power Point – Slide 4 c). What we have presented through this, is a triad of 7s - 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 bowls – 3 sets of 7 in relation to judgment showing God’s complete judgment upon Israel and the nations. d). And with the opening of the 7th seal the prophecy at the beginning of Malachi Chapter 4 will be brought to pass – Mal 4:1 “For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” Says the LORD of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves. 3 You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this,” Says the LORD of hosts. 4). Mt 24:21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. These are familiar verses for us, and we have always looked at the shortening of the days in relation to the tribulation, concluding that God would shorten the duration of each day while still keeping a full 2520 days which cannot be changed. a). And this is still perfectly possible as time is relative and not absolute. b). But let’s also consider this – Re 9:1 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. The sounding of the 5th trumpet, seen here at the beginning of Revelation Chapter 9, takes place within the 75 days following the end of the tribulation. And in v5 we see that the ‘locusts’ had authority to torment those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads for 5 months, or 150 days. c). If these 150 days ran their full course, they would take us beyond the 75 days shown to Daniel, into the Millennial Kingdom. Clearly this would not be possible. d). Cut the 150 days in half and we have 75 days, the exact number of days given to Daniel in Chapter 12. e). Unlike the 2520 days of the tribulation that cannot be altered, the 5 months in Revelation Chapter 9 can be, and given what Daniel was told about the 75 days, the 5 months would of necessity have to be shortened. And given the intensity of the judgments seen through the opening of the 7th seal, this would make perfect sense. Power Point – Slide 5 5). Re 19:17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, 18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.” Re 10:1 I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land……… Both sets of verses here declare the same thing, the complete and irrevocable overthrow of Gentile world power, previously foreshadowed in the destruction of Egypt in the Red Sea. a). With the complete overthrow of Gentile world power, the redemption of the inheritance will be complete. But this will have to wait until next time – if the Lord is willing. The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Twenty-One - L Sep 27, 2020 Speaker: John Herbert Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T004_20200927.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Da 12:11 “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Daniel was told of additional days beyond the end of the tribulation, before the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom. We will look at these days today. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday September 27th 2020 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Lesson 21L The Remains of the Day 1). Eze 22:14 Can your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and will do it. 15 I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and remove your filthiness completely from you. 16 You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations; then you shall know that I am the LORD.” ’ ” God’s purpose for the creation in Jacob will be brought to fruition despite the millennia of harlotry Israel has engaged in. And as we have come to know, dealing with Israel’s harlotry will be accomplished through the persecution of God’s people by the Gentile nations, while the Jews are scattered among those nations. a). We have seen this process repeated throughout Israel’s history, and in our past weeks of study we have seen how it will be brought to its ultimate conclusion during the final 7 years of the 490 years that God has allotted to His people for this purpose, Daniel’s 70th seven. b). And we have also seen that during the final 3 ½ years that will bring the 7 years to an end, Israel will be given into the hands of the seed of the serpent, the ruler of the final form of the Babylonian kingdom that began with the Babylonian captivity and Nebuchadnezzar, setting in place the times of the Gentiles - Da 7:25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time. And this man who will speak the pompous words against the Most High will be the very essence of all that is Gentile, all that is opposed to God, as he rules the most intense form of Satan’s kingdom that there has ever been. Something that may well be signified through the 3 sixes of his number – Re 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. In the hands of this man, scattered throughout his kingdom, Israel will be brought into such dire straits, that they will have nowhere to turn except to the God of their fathers. The One who has placed them into the hands of the beast is the only One who can deliver them out of his hands – Hos 5:13 “When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah saw his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria And sent to King Jareb; Yet he cannot cure you, Nor heal you of your wound. 14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. 15 I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” Earnestly seeking the Lord in the desperation of their affliction is exactly what they will do - Hos 6:1 Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 2 After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. So then, what we see in the verses from Hosea Chapter 6 is that the Lord will revive Israel ‘after two days’, at the complete end of the 2000 years, the 2 days, of the dispensation given to them. And the end of the 2 days, the end of the 2000 years of the Jewish dispensation will bring us to the end of Daniel’s 70th seven. c). The final 7 years of the tribulation are then the final 7 years of the 2000-year dispensation of the Jews, bringing us to the end of the 2 days seen in Hosea and also to the end of Man’s Day. 2). Ex 3:7 And the LORD said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” Exodus Chapter 3 provides the type for what will happen at the end of the tribulation. God will see the oppression of His people and will hear their cry. And with a view to returning to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He will send back the One greater than Moses, the One who had been found worthy to open the scroll, to deliver Israel from the kingdom of this world – Mt 24:13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. In Acts Chapter 7, in v56, Stephen saw ‘the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God’. And had there been national repentance on Israel’s part in response to his impassioned message that day, then the Lord would have returned to the earth to deliver His people from Gentile world power, He would have regathered them to the land and established His Kingdom. a). However, as we know, the national response to the message was not repentance but the stoning of Stephen instead. With Stephen’s death the heavens were closed and with respect to Israel the heavens will have remained shut for around 2000 years. b). But at the end of the tribulation, in response to Israel’s cry to the God of their fathers, the heavens will open again and this time the One standing at the right hand of God will return, and He will come forth as King of kings and Lord of lords – Re19:11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. The Lord’s return is in conjunction with the opening of the 6th seal on the 7-sealed scroll where the kingdom of the beast is seen in total disarray – Re 6:12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves 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 who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” And in relation to the Lord’s return to the earth to the Jewish people, the end of the tribulation and ‘the great day of His wrath’, the Lord had revealed another period of time to Daniel, which is recorded at the end of his book – Da 12:7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished. 8 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, “My lord, what shall be the end of these things?” 9 And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 10 Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. 11 “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. 13 “But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.” Now we know that the daily sacrifice is taken away at the midpoint of the tribulation, at the completion of the first 1260 days, when the beast enters the Jewish temple and declares himself to be God. c). From the time the sacrifice is taken away there then remains the final 1260 days of ‘great tribulation’ to complete the full 2520 days of Daniel’s 70th seven. d). Now, in v11 of Daniel Chapter 12, the Lord speaks of 1290 days to be counted from the time the sacrifice is taken away, which takes us to 30 days beyond the end of the tribulation. e). Then in v12 we find, ‘blessed is he’, who comes to 1335 days beyond the sacrifice being taken away, which adds another 45 days to the additional 30 days beyond the end of the tribulation seen in v11. f). Putting these 2 sets of additional days together, there will be a 75-day period beyond the end of the tribulation, the end of the Jewish dispensation, the end of Man’s Day, before the Millennial Kingdom begins. Power Point – Slides 1-2 g). And according to v13, Daniel will be resurrected to his inheritance ‘at the end of the days’. At the end of the 75 days. Now, Daniel will not be resurrected apart from all the other OT saints, and this resurrection of the OT saints will fulfill the Feast of Firstfruits. This then places the fulfillment of the Feast of Firstfruits towards the end of the 75 days before the Kingdom begins. h). Firstfruits is the third of the 7 feasts given to Israel in Leviticus Chapter 23, feasts that together provide a prophetic timetable for the nation. The first of the 7 feasts, Passover, will be fulfilled when the Jewish people appropriate the blood of the Passover Lamb who was slain at Calvary slightly over 2000 years before. And this appropriation of the blood can only happen with the acknowledgment of Jesus’ true identity as Israel’s Messiah – ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’. And this is only possible following the Lord’s return to the earth, which therefore places the fulfillment of Passover within the 75 days that follow the end of the tribulation. i). The 7th of the 7 feasts, Tabernacles, will be fulfilled in the Millennial Kingdom itself, and so consequently we can see that the first 6 feasts must all be fulfilled during the 75 days beyond the end of the tribulation, before the Millennial Kingdom begins. And the fulfillment of these feasts will complete Israel’s redemption and restoration. Power Point – Slide 3 j). And the one ‘who waits and comes’ to the 1335th day will be blessed because he will be among those faithful Jews who will be regathered to the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob [who will also be a part of this regathering prior to the ‘better resurrection] – Isa 27:13 So it shall be in that day: The great trumpet will be blown; They will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria, And they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, And shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem. Now, if the one who comes to the 1335th day is blessed because he will return to the land in a position of rulership at the head of the nations, then it follows that the one who doesn’t come to that day isn’t blessed and won’t attain that position. k). And this consideration will take us to the wilderness of the peoples and the judgment of Israel and the OT saints following their resurrection and regathering from the Gentile nations, in fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets, prior to returning to the land – Eze 20:34 I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. 35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead My case with you face to face. 36 Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead My case with you,” says the Lord GOD. 37 “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; 38 I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD. Jn 5:26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits and Pentecost will all be fulfilled while the Jewish people remain scattered among the Gentile nations. The fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets will bring Israel and the resurrected OT saints out of the Gentile nations to the wilderness of the people for judgment and the ratifying of the new covenant, before the return to the land where the Feast of Atonement will be fulfilled. 3). Mal 4:4 “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments. 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 6 And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” When the Lord returns to the earth with the ‘armies of heaven’ He will also be accompanied by Moses and Elijah, just as we see in Matthew Chapter 17 on the mount of transfiguration – Mt 17:1 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Ac 1:9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” In the type in Exodus, when Moses returned to deliver Israel from Egypt, both he and Aaron went into Pharaoh’s presence to demand the release of the Jews - Ex 4:22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ” And in the antitype, we would see the Christ and Moses going into the presence of the beast and possibly the dragon for the same purpose. a). And then at the end of Malachi we had seen that Elijah will ‘turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers’ ‘before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord’. And presumably, Elijah’s ministry at this time will be of a similar nature to that seen at Mt. Carmel in 1 Kings Chapter 18. b). In Exodus Pharaoh’s refusal to let Israel go results in the 10 plagues and the ultimate destruction of the power of Egypt in the Red Sea. The 10 plagues in Exodus foreshadow the opening of the 7th seal, and the judgments seen through the 7 trumpets and the 7 bowls – Re 8:1 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. The 7th seal is opened after Christ has returned to the earth, after the end of the tribulation, after the end of Man’s Day. Re 15:1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete………….16:1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.” That seen through the pouring out of the 7 bowls adds extra detail to that seen through the sounding of the 7 trumpets. These are not additional judgments but the same judgments in more detail. Power Point – Slide 4 c). What we have presented through this, is a triad of 7s - 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 bowls – 3 sets of 7 in relation to judgment showing God’s complete judgment upon Israel and the nations. d). And with the opening of the 7th seal the prophecy at the beginning of Malachi Chapter 4 will be brought to pass – Mal 4:1 “For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” Says the LORD of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves. 3 You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this,” Says the LORD of hosts. 4). Mt 24:21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. These are familiar verses for us, and we have always looked at the shortening of the days in relation to the tribulation, concluding that God would shorten the duration of each day while still keeping a full 2520 days which cannot be changed. a). And this is still perfectly possible as time is relative and not absolute. b). But let’s also consider this – Re 9:1 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. The sounding of the 5th trumpet, seen here at the beginning of Revelation Chapter 9, takes place within the 75 days following the end of the tribulation. And in v5 we see that the ‘locusts’ had authority to torment those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads for 5 months, or 150 days. c). If these 150 days ran their full course, they would take us beyond the 75 days shown to Daniel, into the Millennial Kingdom. Clearly this would not be possible. d). Cut the 150 days in half and we have 75 days, the exact number of days given to Daniel in Chapter 12. e). Unlike the 2520 days of the tribulation that cannot be altered, the 5 months in Revelation Chapter 9 can be, and given what Daniel was told about the 75 days, the 5 months would of necessity have to be shortened. And given the intensity of the judgments seen through the opening of the 7th seal, this would make perfect sense. Power Point – Slide 5 5). Re 19:17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, 18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.” Re 10:1 I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land……… Both sets of verses here declare the same thing, the complete and irrevocable overthrow of Gentile world power, previously foreshadowed in the destruction of Egypt in the Red Sea. a). With the complete overthrow of Gentile world power, the redemption of the inheritance will be complete. But this will have to wait until next time – if the Lord is willing.