THE BIBLICAL TIMELINE

SEVEN SEVENS AND THREE SCORE AND TWO SEVENS

On January 14 we began the seventy weeks of Daniel 9, in particular verse 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 (sevens) and threescore and two weeks (sevens) the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. We saw that Galatians 4:26 defined Jerusalem as the elect and that to build Jerusalem refers to Ezra bringing the Gospel.

On January 17 we saw that in bringing the Gospel to Jerusalem Ezra typ- ifies Christ, who saves His people, allegorized by rebuilding the physical temple (in 537 and 445) that represents them. We concluded that Daniel 9:25 uses the phrase, to restore and to build Jerusalem, as a picture of the Lord's Gospel plan, which Ezra executes by going to Jerusalem in 458 to reestablish the law….

As we determined on January 14, the seventy weeks (sevens) took us from B.C. 458 to A.D. 33 and the cross. But we still have to deal with the threescore and two weeks of Daniel 9:25. We have to figure out why Daniel 9:25 breaks this time period up into seven weeks (sevens) and threescore and two (sevens) instead of just 69 weeks (sevens).

While researching the birth of Christ on December 21 we learned that a Jubilee year occurred every fifty years, with 49, or seven sevens of years, in between. The seven sevens of Daniel 9:25 reminds us of the period be- tween two jubilee years. Therefore to understand Daniel 9:25 we need to look at the jubilee year. But first we have to become aware of a Sabbath year.

We have seven sevens of years between a Jubilee Year. Leviticus 25:2-4 marks the last year of each seven years a Sabbath year and defines B.C. 1407, the year the Jews entered Canaan (see October 18), as the first Sabbath year: ² …When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD. ³Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; ⁴But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

After seven sevens or seven Sabbath years we have a Jubilee year. The Jews cancelled all debts, gave land back to the proper owners, and set slaves free. In Leviticus 25 God commands the Israelites, ⁸…thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years… ¹⁰And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. ¹¹A jubile shall that fiftieth year be un- to you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. ¹²For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you…

That Scripture uses allegory means this Jubilee year must designate some- thing significant—Christ. Christ as the Jubilee came to free His elect from their bondage to sin and death. So God commands the Israelites to pro- claim liberty throughout all the land and to cancel all debts, which desig- nates the debt (death) the unsaved owe to God.

Every 50^th year after 1407 became a Jubilee year, so the first one fell on 1407 – 50 = 1357 B.C. and every Jubilee year ends in 07 or 57. Since the first Jubilee occurred in 1357, the year B.C. 457, the one after Ezra's ar- rival in Jerusalem, is a Jubilee year: 1357 – (50 x 18) = 457. So Ezra ar- rived in Jerusalem in a Sabbath year: B.C. 458. The following year, 457, began a Jubilee year followed by another seven sevens of years. That Daniel 9:25 gives us a Jubilee period of 7 sevens and Ezra comes to Je- rusalem with the Gospel just before a Jubilee year shouldn't surprise us. After all, we've already determined on January 14 that he represents Christ, who is the Jubilee.

That Daniel 9:25 breaks up 69 weeks into seven weeks  (sevens) and threescore and two weeks (sevens) suggests we first begin counting on our timeline from one Jubilee to the next, i.e., from -457 to the next Jubilee (to account for the seven weeks). That puts us on -407 (= -457 + 50). Then if from -406 we continue along our timeline for threescore and two weeks (= 62 sevens = 434), we come to A.D. 29, since |-406 – 29| – 1 = 434 (see December 8 for counting the years between two events.) 

So we wonder what's with A.D. 29. On January 10 we determined that in light of Luke 3:1 we want to remember A.D. 29 in regard to John the Baptist. Recall that Luke 3:1 begins ¹…in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.., Tiberius began to reign in the fall of A.D. 14 = p, therefore q(15) = 29 (= p + 15; see October 29). In A.D. 29 John the Baptist ³…came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins (Luke 3).

The seven sevens and 62 sevens of Daniel 9:25 brought us to A.D. 29. In that year ²…the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness (Luke 3). So we have to ask why Daniel 9:25 brought us to A.D. 29—unless in that year John baptized Jesus. That would leave Christ between 3 and 4 years to minister the Gospel.

To sum up: Daniel 9 gives us two sets of directions. The first one takes us 490 years from B.C. 458 to the cross in A.D. 33 (see January 12). The second set of directions takes us a Jubilee period from B.C. 458 to B.C. 407, then 434 more years to A.D. 29, verifying that 29 is indeed a signifi- cant year. But so far we have only 69 weeks (7 + 62), which leaves 1 left over to make 70. So we need more information about that 70^th week. From Daniel 9 we know that ²⁶…after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off (Daniel 9:26). To know when that 70^thweek kicks in, it looks like we should figure out what the term cut off means and when it happened to Christ; we do that on January 21.

THE 70TH WEEK & BAPTISM OF CHRIST

On January 19 we noted that Daniel 9:25 gives us two sets of directions along the timeline. The first one takes us 490 years from B.C. 458 to the cross in A.D. 33. The second takes us one Jubilee period, seven sevens, from B.C. 457 to B.C. 407, then 434 or three score and two sevens to A.D. 29. The year 29 must contain a significant event that concerns Je- sus. Christ does not begin to administer the Gospel or let Satan tempt him in the wilderness (Matthew 4) until after His encounter with John the Baptist at the Jordan River (Matthew 3:13-17). The baptism of Christ anointed him as the high priest and the Messiah. So we highly suspect John baptized Christ in 29 A.D.

But we still only have 69 "weeks" (7 + 62), which leaves 1 left over to make 70. So we expect more information about that 70^th week.

From Daniel 9:26 we know that ²⁶…after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off (Daniel 9:26). To know when that 70^th week kicks in, we look at what the term cut off means.

The Bible uses the term, cut off, (kārat) about 145 times to mean some- one coming under the wrath of God. For example in Exodus 31:14 God commands, ¹⁴Ye shall keep the sabbath...every one that defileth it shall …be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work…that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Then in Numbers 15: ³⁰…the soul that doeth ought presumptuously…the same reproacheth the LORD…that soul shall be cut off from among his people. ³¹Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.

Numbers 15:32-36 goes on to tell about a man caught picking up a few sticks on the seventh day Sabbath in violation of Exodus 31:14. When Moses asks God what to do with him, God declares, ³⁵…The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones…

This execution illustrates the spiritual death one suffers under the wrath of God, thereby defines the term, cut off, as used in Exodus 31:14. The man picking up sticks on the Sabbath represents anyone who thinks he can contribute in some small way towards his salvation; such as by saying the "sinner's prayer," undergoing water baptism, confessing his sins, doing penance etc. The penalty for such thinking is spiritual death, as the exe- cution in Numbers 15:32 so amply shows. Yet some ecclesiastical author- ities today tell people their church membership and attendance saves them—even when the Bible they claim to honor commands them to leave the congregations.

In Daniel 9: ²⁶…after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off. We have to ask, when ²⁶…after threescore and two weeks… (i.e., after A.D. 29) was the Messiah …cut off, i.e., when did Christ experience God's wrath: at the cross, of course. So after A.D. 29, Christ will go to the cross on April 1 in A.D. 33.

Daniel 9:27 backs up our conclusion. At the cross Christ ²⁷…shall con- firm the covenant with many for one week… The covenant is the cove- nant of grace, i.e., salvation. Christ as ²⁴ the mediator of the new cove- nant (Hebrews 12) ²⁹… that taketh away the sin of the world (John 1) allows God to proclaim, ²⁷…this is my covenant…when I shall take away their sins. (Romans 11) To Take away their sins is to save them. So Christ ²⁷…shall confirm the covenant with many (the elect) by going to the cross and confirming what He prophesized in the Old Testament.

We can further back up our conclusion by looking at Daniel 9:27 where Christ will ²⁷…cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease… In the Old Testament God instituted many ceremonial laws (such as the 7^th day Sab- bath) and sacrifices that turned the Jewish temple into a slaughterhouse. These offerings pointed to Christ as the sacrificial lamb on the cross; or as the lamb of God, as John the Baptist puts it in John 1:29.

When Christ went to the cross ⁵¹the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom (Matthew 27). This veil (about 50 feet high) sectioned off the holy of holies that the high priest entered on the 10^th day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement. Only then could he en- ter into God's presence (see July 30). But the cross brought all ceremon- ial laws and sacrifices to an end, as the veil was rent, because the ultimate sacrifice that everything else pointed to was over and done with.

So in Hebrews 10 we read: ⁵Wherefore when he (Christ) cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:⁶ In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. ⁷Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is writ-ten of me,) to do thy will, O God. ⁸Above when he said, Sacrifice and of- fering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;⁹Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, (sacrifice) that he may establish the second.¹⁰By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

And so Colossians 2 admonishes us to ¹⁶ Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: ¹⁷Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. All those ceremonial laws of the Old Testament were only a sign pointing to Christ. So in Daniel 9:27 Christ on the cross will …cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease…

According to Daniel 9:27 Christ shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease in the midst of the week. Half of a week or 7 gives us 3½. The Jews crucify Christ on April 1, 33 (see January 10, & 12). So we backtrack 3½ years and land somewhere in late September or early Octo- ber of 29 A.D. Daniel 9:27 corroborates Daniel 9:25 and confirms the year 29 A.D. for the baptism of Christ. The year 29 A.D. ushers in the 70^th week or seven. Christ now has 3½ years to proclaim the Gospel, then, after the cross, we have 3½ weeks or sevens to go.

On January 24 we look at this final 3½ sevens of Daniel 9:27—when ²⁷…the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation (the final end), and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. Recall where we have abominations and what be- comes desolate after the cross and the church age; or see August 4.

THE FINAL 3½ SEVENS OF DANIEL 9

On January 21 we saw that the 3½ sevens take us from the fall of A.D. 29 and the baptism of Christ to the cross in 33 A.D. From the cross we still have 3½ sevens to go to complete the 70^th week of Daniel 9:27. So we search Scripture for anything pertaining to this final 3½.

Revelation 11:1-13 keeps referring to 3½, both for the church age and the great tribulation. Beginning in Revelation 11: ¹…there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. ² But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months (3½ years of the great tribulation).

Revelation 11:1 refers to the elect, whom God named in the book of life (Revelation 3:5) before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4); i.e., the elect (in the book of life) can be measured.

Revelation 11:2 refers to the non elect left out of the book of life. The court (the unsaved) is given unto the Gentiles (nations); the unsaved have the world whereas the saved remain strangers and forsake life. The forty and two months, 3½ years, refers to the great tribulation, when they desecrate the churches; i.e., the holy city or holy place in Matthew 24: ¹⁵When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place… So Revelation 11:2 refers to 3½ for the period of great tribulation.

In Revelation 11:3 Scripture backtracks to the church age: ³And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. ⁴These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

Revelation 11:3-4 is the language of the New Testament church. The two witnesses and olive trees refer to those making up the body of Christ and proclaiming the Gospel within the congregations. So the thousand two hundred and threescore days (3½ years) of Revelation 11:3 refers to the church age. 

The 1260 "days" refers to the Noachian calendar. Don't confuse this time- line with T1 and T2 that we mapped out on December 1: T2 corresponds to the Gregorian calendar with 365.2422 days per year; T1 begins the year 0 (= -11013 on T2) with the creation and also has 365.2422 days per year. Genesis 7:11 defines the Noachian timeline such that each month has 30 days with 360 days per year (see October 15). Therefore 1260 = 3.5 x 360 and Revelation 11:3-4 refers to 3½ years for the church age.

Continuing Revelation 11 and the great tribulation: ⁷And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottom- less pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. ⁸And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was cruci- fied. ⁹And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

The two witnesses have finished their testimony in the churches and the beast (Satan) now rules in the congregations for the period of great tribu- lation. Satan kill(s) the two witnesses by having them put out of the churches according to John 16: ²They shall put you out of the syna- gogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service (see July 19). Their dead bodies lie in Sodom and Egypt (because the churches now represent the world) for three days and an half. So again we have 3½ as the period of great tribulation.

The rapture follows in Revelation 11:11-12 and another reference to 3½: ¹¹And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.¹²And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their en- emies beheld them. ¹³And the same hour was there a great earthquake...

So we have 3½ representing the church age and the great tribulation, then the Rapture and Judgment Day follows.

Going back to Daniel 9:24—Seventy weeks are determined upon thy peo- ple 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 ever- lasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

We conclude that at the end of the 3½ in Daniel 9:24 God will ²⁴…finish the transgression, and…make an end of sins, and…make reconciliation for iniquity, and…bring in everlasting righteousness. The sins go on until the end: ³²…This generation (of evil; i.e., sins) shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled (Luke 21). That God will make an end of sins can only refer to till all be fulfilled at the end of the world. Then He will bring in ever- lasting righteousness, which can only occur at the end because everlasting can only exist in eternity. Thus the Seventy weeks of Daniel 9:24 takes us to the end of the world.

Therefore, since the seventy "weeks" includes the last 3½ "weeks," the final 3½ "weeks" takes us to the end of everything—even though the 3½ in Revelation 11 refers to both the church age and the great tribulation.

Daniel 9:27 assures us of our conclusion: ²⁷…he shall confirm the coven- ant 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.

Daniel 9:27 refers to both the church age and great tribulation. The midst of the week when he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease refers to the cross (see January 21); and the overspreading of abomina- tions refers to what goes on in the churches (see August 4) during the great tribulation.

The 3½ weeks includes the period when he shall make it (the churches) desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate (Daniel 9:27). The phrase even until the con- summation in Daniel 9:27 means to the end; i.e., the abominations in the churches remain until the end of the world; Satan will reside in the churches until God destroys him along with everyone else residing there. So again the 3½ weeks takes us to the end of the world.

For those who haven't read Part 1: Contents: In Matthew 24 God com- mands that, ¹⁵When ye…see the abomination of desolation…in the holy place (the church) ¹⁶…let them…in Judaea flee into the mountains. Ju- daea is a metaphor for the churches and the mountains in this context represent Christ. In Revelation 18 God also commands us to ⁴… Come out of her (the churches), my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. The elect will hear verses like Matthew 24:15-16 and Revelation 18:4 and obey them. ²⁷My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (John 10). The non elect will remain in the congregations, as they do today, and await their des- truction.

So far we've established that John baptized Christ in the fall of 29; Christ went to the cross on April 1, 33 and fifty days later, on May 22, we have the first Pentecost.

11006…… Birth of Christ: (a Jubilee year on the day
                   of atonement: Lev. 25:8)…….......…….....… 10/2/7
11041…… Christ announced by John the Baptist........… 9∆10/?/29
11045…… Christ crucified on Friday........…………...… 4/1/33
11045…… Pentecost; the beginning
                   of the church age.............................................5/22/33

On January 26 we begin the 1335 days of Daniel 12:12 to find the exact day of Christ's baptism in 29 A.D.