How Close Are We? (Part 5)

Friday, March 1, 2013

Paul Schneider

Dear Friend,

INTRO

There are so many indicators of the nearness of the Rapture, things I have shared with you previously, and now its like the planets are all in perfect alignment, screaming at us, "The Rapture is any day!"

ESTABLISHING A PRECISE DATE

"So the 70 weeks are divided as follows: 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and 1 week. Why? The first 7 weeks of years (49) is most likely distinguished from the rest because it was that exact period of time (from the beginning of the 70 weeks) until Malachi, in 397 B.C.,penned the last of the Old Testament. To understand the 62 weeks (which added to the 7 makes 69) and one week remaining, it is necessary to go back to when these 70 weeks began. Daniel is very specific. The 70 weeks (490 years) was to be measured "from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem." So this period begins, not with the rebuilding of the temple under Zerubbabel, but from the later authorization Nehemiah received to rebuild Jerusalem from King Artaxerxes Longimanus in 445 B.C. on Nisan 1, 445 B.C.. Here then is the date. Counting 483 years (69 times 7) of 360 days each, the Hebrew and Babylonian calendars of that time, were 360 days each (173,880 days), from that date brings us exactly to April 6, A.D. 32. That was the very day when Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem! Palm Sunday! "What an incredible prophecy! The God who who watches over history declared 500 years in advance not only that a specific event would occur BUT that it would happen on a particular day! Try to imagine the many related circumsatances and happenings which also had to fit in place! That Daniel foretold 500 years in advance the precise day when Christ would make His triumphal entry into Jerusalem has been fully established. That amazing fact requires the most stubborn skeptic to become a believer. No honest person can deny the evidence."

TWO SECOND COMINGS

Just a brief interjection. although we are not given an exact day for the Rapture when Jesus comes for His church, as a "Thief in the night," we have been given MANY identifying signs. The Rapture will occur at least 7 years before the 2nd coming. When the Antichrist signs the peace agreement with Israel, it will be EXACTLY 7 years to the 2nd Coming. We will review the SIGNS in a later article.

WHEN STONES

CRY OUT

"Why would Daniel's statement "unto Messiah the Prince" signify Christ's entry into Jerusalem? Why not His birth? There are a number of reasons. His birth was known to very few. Certainly there was no announcement to Israel that the Messiah had been born. It was too soon for that. Even during His public ministry, Christ told the disciples not to reveal that He was the Messiah (Matthew 16:20). The reason for the prohibition is obvious. The Messiah could only be revealed to Israel on the precise day foretold by Daniel and in the manner described by Zechariah. Whether Jesus was the Messiah would not be established by a majority vote of the Jews. Nor would it be by the persuasiveness of His disciples. The O.T. prophecies had to be fulfilled to the letter. On no other basis was the Messiah to be identified. Therefore, the Messiah could not be revealed until the appropriate time and in the manner prophesied. Had Christ allowed His disciples to proclaim Him before that time, it would have been proof that He was in fact not the Messiah."

A SPECIAL DAY

"By the time this special, April 6, A.D. 32, arrived, Christ had fulfilled many of the necessary prophecies

All that remained was the triumphal entry into Jerusalem foretold by Zechariah, to be followed by the cleansing of the temple, His betrayal, crucifixion, and resurrection. Those climactic events would occur in that very week, as Christ alone knew." Stay tuned. This article excerpted from the book HOW CLOSE ARE WE by Dave Hunt.