Signs Pt. 5

Sign Thirteen-

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

DANIEL the prophet.

Who is Daniel the prophet? 

There is a Bible book call Daniel and He was a prophet.

Dan 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.

So what does this mean?  Obviously Jesus was telling His disciples this would be one of the signs. Jesus didn't give signs that couldn't be understood, what would be the point. It would be like making a bunch of signs for English speaking people to follow and writing them all in German, they'd be no good to the English speaking people.  God gave His signs to us to comprehend. However, when people aren't seeking real truth, but rather fanciful theories to suit their own perceptions, they won't truly understand. If people are seeking to use what they perceive as confusion to make an example that the Bible is nonsense, they won't understand. We can't have our understanding opened unless God is truly our heart's desire, not something, not anything else. IF we aren't searching for our treasure in heaven we will not find the heavenly treasures given to us on earth, such as the understanding the Holy Spirit will give to those who are sincere in their seeking.

Having said all that, we've studied Daniel and the prophecies before. I'm going to find what I wrote before on Daniel 9:27 and see what understanding was given then.

******* I've copied this from the previous study- it's lengthy but worth the studying, especially because Jesus has USED this as a sign.

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From the study called - Prophecy 22- dated Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Recap time.  Putting pieces into place. We've already discussed how we've arrived at these conclusions so we're not going to discuss this again at any great length. Please, go back and read any of the prophecy posts you might have missed if you find this confusing.  It's by the grace of God that we can understand at all. So pray, pray, pray!

Dan 9:24  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.

70 weeks- 490 years

Dan 9:25  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.

457 BC to 27AD

(483 years)

Dan 9:26  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.

From 483 years to 490 years we have 7 years (one week)

After those 483 we have 7 years left, during those 7 years the Messish would be cut off.

Dan 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.

Here is that week that 7 years we are discussing now.

The covenant would be confirmed for one week (7 years) and in the midst of that 7 years the sacrifice and oblation will cease.   Did this happen?

Here we are at 27 AD  add half of that 7 years to that number and we get 31 1/2 AD.   Do you remember our earlier study about Jesus' death?  What year did we arrive at?  31 AD !  The prophecy is fitting into place!  Yet again we can see how the great prophecy puzzle pieces fall into place. 

So when we say He (the Messiah) would confirm the covenant with many for one week and Jesus died after half that time, what happened at the end of the NEXT 3 1/2 years? 

STEPHEN- Acts 6-7 describe his trial. He was stoned to death (c. A.D. 34–35) by an infuriated mob encouraged by Saul of Tarsus.[2] Stephen's final speech was presented as accusing the Jews of persecuting prophets who spoke out against their sins:

"Which one of the Prophets did your fathers not persecute, and they killed the ones who prophesied the coming of the Just One, of whom now, too, you have become betrayers and murderers." (7:52)

Pasted from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Stephen>

Not a coincidence! After Stephen was martyred what happened?

Act 7:58  And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.

Act 8:1  And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Act 8:2  And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

Act 8:3  As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

Act 8:4  Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

Act 9:1  And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

Act 9:2  And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

Act 9:3  And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

Act 9:4  And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

Act 9:5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Act 9:6  And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Saul became Paul an undisputed champion of God! And Paul was the man of God who brought the word of God to who? The Gentiles!

Act 9:15  But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

Act 9:16  For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.

Until Stephen's death the gospel was exclusively being given to the Jewish people, not the Gentiles. When Stephen was stoned to death the Jewish people as a corporate whole sealed their fate- denying the gospel. The gospel was then to go to the Gentiles.  The covenant had been confirmed for one week (7 years), in the midst of that 7 years Jesus was crucified, at the end of that 7 years the Jewish people ultimately denied the gospel of our Savior and that covenant was over. The new covenant, the new Israel, those being grafted onto the True Vine were under way.

This prophecy fits perfectly into our history! Perfectly!

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Now we need to remember that Gabriel came to Daniel to explain what? The 2300 year prophecy.  We know beyond a doubt it was 2300 years not literal days or half days etc, because that time passed between Gabriel giving that vision and His return to explain that vision that had Daniel so consumed with the need to comprehend. Daniel wanted it to make sense!  Jeremiah's 70 years was coming to a close, that had been a prophecy given and understood over Daniel's lifetime, and Daniel wanted this new prophecy to be understood. Daniel understood the previous vision of Nebuchadnezzar's dream statue and he lived to see Babylon overthrown by the Medes and Persians, he could comprehend this prophetic succession of ruling kingdoms. If one part of the prophecy had come to pass then the rest of it would as well beyond a doubt. Daniel knew from another vision that Grecia would over throw the Medes and Persians and He wasn't lacking understanding with that - not one bit.  The rest of the vision was what Daniel just couldn't fathom because he wasn't being asked to simply understand that one kingdom after another would come into play, but he was being told this--

Dan 8:9  And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.

Dan 8:10  And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.

Dan 8:11  Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

Dan 8:12  And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.

Dan 8:13  Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?

Dan 8:14  And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

Dan 8:23  And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

Dan 8:24  And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

Dan 8:25  And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

Dan 8:26  And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.

Now we know from previous studies that the Roman Empire would come after Greece and out of that Roman Empire- part of what would remain of the Roman Empire-  would be the Roman Papal rule. We learned that this power would live until Christ's second coming.   We learned that the Papacy fit all the prophet markers of this little horn power- and we know that the papacy still exists today as a unique power. We know that Satan would be in control of this very deceptive power - for deceit is just that something that is all but undetectable in its ability to trick.  It would do NO good for Satan to have a hand in something that wasn't deceptive. Satanists prove that, don't they? Satan deceives more people by appearing as close to the truth as he can, not by announcing his evil.  We know that Daniel was given visions and that so much of his prophetic visions have come true that there is NO way that the rest of his visions will fail. We know that so far in our study that we've been able to account for 490 of the 2300 year prophecy.  So let's do some more math.

Of the dates we've been given that match perfectly what has been prophesized we've been able to arrive at 34 AD. Our starting date beyond a doubt is 457 BC.   490 years are accounted for up to the 34 AD.

Taking our 2300 and subtracting 490 we are left with 1810 years.

Add that 1810 years to the 34 years we come up with the final date of the 2300 year prophecy and that is 1844 AD.

As we've done in the past we have to look at history along with our Bibles for an answer as to what happened in 1844.

We'll begin that study tomorrow, again taking this little bit by little bit.

It's fascinating how all this fits together so perfectly. 

Maybe we can't understand every thing, maybe we're are not meant to understand every thing. We are meant to understand all we need to in order to be saved. Some might argue at this point that all we need is the gospel and no more. It is true that we are only saved through the forgiveness, through the sacrifice of our Savior. And if we accept the sacrifice of our Savior then we have to accept all of Him don't we? We have to accept all He says, not pick and choose what is pleasing to our senses. We can't just accept the feel-good parts and ignore that it was Jesus Himself who told us to WATCH and PRAY.

This studying is part of that watching Jesus wants us to do. 

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

Those were Jesus' words!  Jesus talking about Daniel the prophet! We can choose to ignore this, it is our right to do so, or we can choose to take heed and study- watching and praying.

By His love!

By His mercy and grace!

In His righteousness forever!

Through His forgiveness!

Amen.

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The abomination of desolation- MORE on this tomorrow, because this deserves a lot more study.

All by the grace of GOD!

By HIS MERCY AND LOVE!