Re: Fay…An Important Question
Fay:
Many prophecy students, myself included, believed that there would be a 70-year prophetic association with the appearance of the State of Israel after the Diaspora exile in 70 A.D. God has used this 70-year theme with Israel from the beginning. We had all surmised that a 70-year countdown might accrue sometime beginning about 1948 when Israel appeared as a new nation. I just imagine that God may have “deferred” the end. Daniel certainly thought that the LORD might defer Jeremiah’s 70-year prophecy. (Jeremiah 29:10; Daniel 9:19) Maybe God’s start year for a 70-year countdown, if there is one, is based on something that I, we do not yet know or understand.
I still believe that the end of the age “fig tree” parable Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24, Luke 21 and Mark 13 is in play. This “fig tree” metaphor as the nation of Israel in certainly confirmed in the “certain man fig tree/vineyard parable” of Luke 13. We should still be in “this generation” event horizon for the end of the age.
When I first began to study eschatology around 2012, I did a couple of studies on the 70-year patterns. I have attached those PDFs.
My Questions to You:
- You say that our Lord Jesus “completed only 3.5 years of His earthly ministry”. Was is supposed to be 7 years as you imply? I do not know any Scripture which makes the claim that Jesus’s ministry was cut short. During Daniel’s 70th week we see 144,000 messianic Jewish preachers and the two witnesses, likely Moses and Elijah.
- I do not know any Scripture which states His ministry was cut short, in half? This implies that it was incomplete. Not a chance. God is perfect beyond the tiny measure of intellect which we may possess. There is no incompleteness with God.
You appear to be placing Jesus’ ministry in Daniel 9:27. If so, I think you should study Daniel 9:26. Jesus’ ministry began prior to the end of Daniel’s 69th week of years. According to Daniel 9:26 Jesus was “cut off” or killed after the 69th week of years.
Daniel’s 70 Weeks prophecy is divided into three groupings of years: 7, 62 and 1. These divisions are the result of interludes (gaps) between 7 and 62 and 62 (69) and 1. These are the elusive gaps. You can study gap theory.
Daniel’s 70th week of years (7-years) is in future. The Book of Revelation speaks to this period, as does Matthew 24, Luke 21 and Mark 13. This will be the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. It will be a sabbath week (7) of years.
Now, consider this: The counterfeiter will copy Jesus’ ministry of 3.5 years. This may likely be the period of “Great Tribulation” beginning at Revelation 12:6, Daniel 12:6-7 and spoken about by Jesus in Matthew 24, Luke 21 and Mark 13. I think this view might be a better option for your missing 3.5 years.
We Are Not Appointed to Wrath:
There are so many Scriptures which confirm the fact that there is no condemnation for the Church in Daniel’s 70th week of years. Would the Judge “judge” his own body, the body of Christ, the Church? No. What do Romans 4:25, 8:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; John 3:19, and 5:24 say about this?
The Restoration of Israel:
Theologically, if your eschatological view does not embrace the restoration of Israel, as is clearly stated in the OT and Romans 9-11, you will not have a correct doctrinal view of the “end of days”. Faulty doctrinal views of eschatology have led to the mid-trib and post-trib confusion.
The Church Age ends (with the Resurrection/Rapture) and the Time of Jacob’s Trouble follows for a seven year period. (Daniel 9:27). The Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7) is NOT the time of the Church’s trouble!
Greg
P.S. My views put forth in these essays have been refined based on the passage of time. As an example, I do not believe that the Rapture can be associated with the Festival of Trumpets. All date speculating is just that speculating based on 1 Peter 1:10-12. The point of these essays is to set out all of the 70-year patterns.
The 70 Year Visitation Patterns.pdf