Friday, April 29, 2016

Spiritual Comprehension and Prophecy.

I'm doing another private Bible study at this time and something in that study seemed to jump out at me concerning this study.

When we try to use our own intellect to comprehend God's word we truly are in danger of being deceived. Our own ideas are often influenced by things other than the Spirit. We desperately need the Holy Spirit enlightening us because if we try to enlighten ourselves we are like that old cliché - the blind leading the blind. Only the Holy Spirit can give us spiritual insight, spiritual truth. By faith we have to believe the our Savior will lead us to only His truth as He has led others before us, His truth being passed down throughout the ages as it has unfolded.

Why would God give us a 2300 year prophecy if we were never to comprehend such a prophecy?

The comprehension comes from inspired sources. 

Can we be led astray if we are fully and wholly dedicated to knowing the Truth, the Way, the Life?

The only way we can be led astray is if we place our trust in ourselves and not the Holy Spirit.

The knowledge we must seek is only the knowledge that our Savior wills to reveal and no more. Will we have all the knowledge there is? No.

Deu_29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Faith is a very real and necessary force, believing sight unseen, believing without logic and worldly wisdom, believing in LOVE, and the truest and only source of love comes from our God the Father, from our God the Son and from our God the Holy Spirit.

May we be blessed as we continue this very in-depth prophecy study! All through the LOVE of our Savior Jesus Christ, our Lord now and forever!


******* Continuing our prophecy study--  Please GO back several days and read the study from the beginning to gain full understanding of where we are if you haven't been following this study daily.  Thank you :)  God bless you! *******

Sanctuary being cleansed.

The 2300 day (year) prophecy of Daniel said 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?

Remember studying this before? The historic  knowledge of Medes Persia, Greece, Roman, and out of the Roman Empire the Roman Papal power that was so strange and diverse, so different than the other powers.

Remember discussing the host of heaven being cast down under the Roman rule when the Savior was born.  Jesus  was born, lived, and was crucified all under the Roman rule.  We know for a fact that Papal Rome was formed as the counterfeit church deceiving many and that Satan behind the scenes ruled this little horn power.  The truth was definitely cast to the ground. Transgression lived in the heart of the deceptive powers that morphed from pagan Rome into papal Rome.

How long…  how long would this vision which included the daily sacrifice being taken away, which included the desolation of all that God had set up upon earth as His ways. How long would the sanctuary and those of God be debased, demeaned, abused?

We have to consider what the sanctuary meant to God's people. The sanctuary and all its services came into being out of a covenant God made with His people. God would be their God and they would be His people and they would obey His commands and He would be with them.  Even as soon as that covenant was made, or rather not much longer after it was newly enacted and accepted by God's people, then God's people broke that covenant.  Rather than destroy the people Moses stepped in and pleaded for their lives.  God knew that a system would have to be set up that would symbolize a mediation between Him and His people. Back when Abraham was alive God called for Abraham to offer up His only son Isaac.  A symbolic event forever afterwards. When man sinned- animals were first sacrificed to make them coats of the animal skins. Abel the second born son of our first parents offered up an animal sacrifice to God.  The idea of there needing to be a mediator between man and God was not a new one, it was ancient, it existed from the moment sin entered the world. A way had to be made for man to be reunited with God again. 

Under Moses' leadership the wilderness sanctuary was set up. David, beloved of God, wanted to erect a permanent sanctuary so that God could dwell with them in the land God had given to them to be theirs forever. Solomon, David's son was allowed to build the sanctuary and they called it Solomon's Temple. All the rituals involved with the sanctuary were kept there in that temple for many, many years.

Built in  957 BC and totally destroyed in 586 BC - For 371 years that sanctuary was used for the ritual sacrificial services that God required of His people.

457 BC saw the final call to finish rebuilding the sanctuary and the call for the Jewish people to return there and begin their services once more.

(((Interjection a bit of IMPORTANT historical fact for the date 457 BC as the final call to finish and rebuild the sanctuary- the call for the Jewish people to return there and begin their services- Please read. 

Establishing the date 457 B.C
 L.P. Tolhurst

Seventh-day Adventists believe that "the commandment to re store and to build Jerusalem" (Dan. 9:25) marks not only the beginning of the 70- weeks prophecy of that passage, but also the beginning of the 2300 days mentioned in Daniel 8:14- We believe that this latter prophecy reaches down to 1844, and thus points us out as the people God raised up on time to proclaim the last message of warning to the world. If we are correct, we ought to be able to justify our claim by producing evidence that will support it.

Three Persian decrees played roles in the restoration of God's people from the captivity the Babylonians had instituted.1 Confirming our interpretation of these important prophecies of Daniel depends on identifying and dating the decree with which God intended the time calculations to begin.
Cyrus issued the first decree in the first year of his Babylonian reign, which was 538/537 B.C. (see Ezra 1:1; 6:1; and 2 Chron. 36:22, 23). The Bible does not indicate when in the first year of his reign this decree was given, so we do not know whether the year involved was 538 or 53 7 B.C. Nor does the Bible tell us when Zerubbabel's party left Babylon and when they arrived in Jerusalem, so we do not know when this decree became effective. The Bible's vagueness about these details argues against this being the all important decree. Furthermore, Cyrus's decree says nothing about the restoration of the city. It speaks only of the rebuilding of the Temple.

Another evidence that this is the wrong decree is that it simply doesn't work with the Daniel 9 prophecy of the time of the arrival of the Messiah, the anointed one. With the date of this decree as a starting point, the 483 years Daniel spoke of do not reach anywhere near Jesus' time, never mind identifying the year of His baptism--His anointing--which took place in A.D. 27.

Scripture gives no date at all for the second decree, that of Darius the Great. All we know is that it was given in the early years of his reign, because, as a result of it, the Temple was completed and dedicated.2 And, like Cyrus's, Darius's decree was concerned with the restoration of the Temple, not of the city. Obviously, for establishing a starting point for the prophecy this decree is not of much use either.

If God intended either of these decrees to mark the beginning of a time prophecy as important as that of the 2300 days, then certainly He would have seen that the details needed were recorded in the Bible.

Artaxerxes' decree

It is in connection with the third decree--that of the seventh year of Artaxerxes, recorded in Ezra 7:8, 9--that we have the information necessary to locating in time this important prophecy. Regarding this decree we are told that Ezra left Babylon on the first day of month 1 of the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes, and that he and his group arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of month 5 of the same year. For no other decree is such detail given. This itself should alert us. Surely God is saying something to us when His Word is so explicit regarding this decree and so vague regarding the other two.

Furthermore, this decree provided for the restoration of local government on a scale not mentioned in the other decrees (note Ezra 7:21-28). It empowered the judiciary to punish wrongdoers, even granting the authority to impose the death sentence. And as a result of this decree Ezra began to build the city--see the letter to Artaxerxes in Ezra 4.

However, perhaps the strongest argument of all is that when we calculate the Daniel 9 prophecy using the date of this decree, 457 B.C., as marking its beginning, the prophecy reaches exactly to the baptism of Jesus. In fact, Daniel 9:24 suggests that the events that take place within the 70 weeks set God's seal of approval on the whole of the prophecy. They show that the prophecy was divinely given, and thus absolutely dependable. And no other date even begins to satisfy the demands of this prophecy.

Obviously, then, the decree God in tends us to use is that of Ezra 7 the one issued in the seventh year of Artaxerxes. God has given us details about when it was issued and when it went into effect. And the precision with which it relates to Jesus' baptism marks it as authentic. It is just too accurate to be wrong!

Having determined that it is Artaxerxes' decree that marks the beginning of these prophetic periods, we must now establish that the year in which he issued his decree actually was 457 B.C.

Babylonian and Persian dating methods

In the time of the Persians, all events and documents were dated in terms of the day number, month name or number, and year number of the current king's reign. For example, as we have already noted, Ezra says that he left for Jerusalem on the first day of month 1 of Artaxerxes' seventh year, arriving there on the first day of month 5 of the same year.

When a king died and a new one took the throne, the remaining portion of that year was considered the accession year of the new king and was not counted as or called the first year of the new king's reign. Only the first full calendar year of a king's reign was called his first year (see Figure 1). As can readily be seen, the accession year could be long or short, depending on when the new king came to the throne.

To establish the date of an event in terms of our calendar, scholars first had to determine the succession of the kings and the length of their reigns. The lists of kings that ancient writers provided are one source of such information. Another is the method that Richard A. Parker and Waldo H. Dubberstein developed as they gathered the information published in their useful book Babylonian Chronology: 626 B.C.-AD. 75. Parker and Dubberstein's method grew out of the fact that thousands of tablets dated by their authors to the reigns of ancient Near Eastern kings have been found. These two men suggested that by finding the three or four tablets bearing the latest dates from each king's reign and the three or four tablets bearing the earliest dates of each successor's, the transition points between each reign might be pretty well established. Using this method, scholars can calculate the month and sometimes almost the day of the month that a king died and his successor took his place. In this way they have been able to compile a list of the Babylonian and Persian kings together with precise details as to when each came to the throne and how long each ruled.

To assign B.C. dates to the reigns of these kings, scholars had to take one more step; they had to find a way to link the reigns of the kings to our B.C. scale. They established this link by means of the tablets that record and date the eclipses that occurred in the days of those kings. Most of these tablets describe in detail eclipses that had already occurred, but at least one predicts an eclipse at that time yet future; it was to occur in the seventh year of Cambyses. That they were able even to predict eclipses reveals the high standard of astronomical science these ancient people practiced.
As archeologists have found and translated tablets describing eclipses, astronomers have been able to calculate when in terms of our calendar those eclipses took place. Thus guesswork has been eliminated and precise dates given to the reigns of these ancient kings. In terms of chronology, the Babylonian and Persian periods are among the very best documented periods of history. (The table below lists some of the eclipses the tablets describe.)

The date for the seventh year of Artaxerxes

With such a wealth of information regarding the chronology of this period, we can with confidence ascertain the B.C. date of the seventh year of Artaxerxes' reign.

Xerxes, the predecessor of Artaxerxes, was murdered sometime between December 17, 465 B.C., and January 3, 464 B.C. The tablet bearing the latest known date from his reign is dated to month 9 (which corresponds to December) of his twenty-first year of reign. And the Elephantine papyri from Egypt contain the first known date identified with Artaxerxes' reign the equivalent of our January 3, 464 B.C. Since this date comes from records originating in Egypt, most scholars agree that Xerxes died before the end of December, as it is hardly likely that news of his death and Artaxerxes' succession would travel from Persia to Egypt in three days. Thus it appears certain that Xerxes' death must be dated in late December, 465 B.C.

While the Jews followed a spring-to-spring calendar for their religious year, in time they came to use a second calendar as well--much as many nations today have a fiscal year as well as a calendar year. Just as the beginnings and endings of our fiscal years differ by six months from those of our calendar years, the Jewish fall-to-fall calendar differed by six months from the spring-to-spring calendar. And much as the months of our fiscal and calendar years retain the same names, the months of the spring-to-spring and fall-to-fall calendars retained the same numbers. So while the spring-to-spring calendar began with month 1 and ended with month 12, the fall-to-fall calendar began with month 7 and ended with month 6 (see Figure 2).

With this information we can construct a time line for the early years of Artaxerxes and thus arrive at the all-important seventh year of his reign. We calculate that year according to the Jewish fall-to-fall calendar the calendar Ezra was using when he referred to Artaxerxes' decree (see the box on the opposite page).

Figure 3 shows that Artaxerxes' seventh year began in 458 B.C. and ex tended into 457 B.C., and that the dates Scripture records in connection with this decree--those for Ezra's departure for Jerusalem and for his arrival there--fall well within 457 B.C.

It is interesting to note that William Miller and his associates used a different method for calculating which of our years corresponded to Artaxerxes' seventh year. Basing their work on Ptolemy's Canon, they came up with the same date we have arrived at above. This certainly is a gratifying reassurance as to the trust worthiness of our position and should help to fortify our faith in the message we bear to the world. As the apostle Peter declared: "We have not followed cunningly devised fables" (2 Peter 1:16).


Then in 70 AD, 527 years later it (the sanctuary) was completely destroyed once again and has never been rebuilt since then. 

The sanctuary and it's services were all precursors pointing to the realized sacrificial act found in God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, the Messiah.  So of course, after our Savior died the temple veil was torn in two, and the need for the earthly sanctuary was no longer. 

But tell me something-- this sacrificial system which in all reality had its start the moment sin entered the world, was it over? Was sin gone? The only way for the entire sacrificial system- the only way for the  need of sacrifice to be removed would be if sin was no more.

God has taken mankind step by step through a process that points solely to the Savior and us finding forgiveness in Him and Him alone without any other person involved. The Way was pointed to, the Way was realized.

Read this--  talking about the New Jerusalem that will exist after our Savior comes again and then ultimately brings His people back to earth and makes it new--

Rev 21:22  And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

The Way realized, then and only then when no temple would be needed any longer. Until that day there would be a temple, there would be a sanctuary. But if that sanctuary which was such a huge part of the life of God's people was no longer of significance upon earth when our Savior died, where was the sanctuary that would be trodden underfoot 2300 years?

Where was the sanctuary at before it was erected upon earth under Moses' guidance?

Exo 25:40  And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.

Exo 26:30  And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the mount.

Heb 8:2  A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man

Heb 8:5  Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

If our Savior did away with the need for an earthly sanctuary it was because HE became the only sacrifice needed from then on. Our Savior - all of the sacrificial offerings ever made pointed to His great sacrifice- HIMSELF. No earthly sacrifice, no symbolic sacrifice was ever needed again because our Savior died for us becoming that Sacrifice.  From then on faith alone in that Sacrifice of Christ's would be needed. And our Savior left earth after His resurrection and went to the HEAVENLY SANCTUARY!

Something was to begin to happen in the HEAVENLY sanctuary after the 2300 year prophecy was up, but what?  How is it significant to us here on earth? To understand this we HAVE to understand what was meant by the cleansing of the sanctuary.

The cleansing of the sanctuary- 

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

More study on this tomorrow by the grace of God our Lord and Savior!

Amen.

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