Hey, what's up? Today, I want to talk to you about a concept
that is a little bit hard to grasp at first, but if you stick with me
I'm hoping you'll be able to get at least some of what I'm saying.
This topic is: the missing week prophecy.
It sounds mysterious already, doesn't it?
For starters, the term 'week' actually means seven years and not seven days.
That's explained in a video on our channel, called the '70 Weeks Prophecy'
which you ought to watch before you continue with this video.
Those final 70 weeks, by the way, are 70 periods of seven years, or 490 years.
As you can see, this is going to get a little bit confusing unless you check out that other video first.
But if you have checked it out, you would know that that video only covered the first 483 years
or 69 of those final 70 weeks.
There was still a period of seven years left hanging after the death of Jesus on the cross
and the original prophecy said that at the end of those seven years
God would make an end to sin, and he would bring in everlasting righteousness.
Most Bible scholars believe that this was referring to the return of Jesus
and him setting up his kingdom here on Earth.
In the tenth chapter of the Revelation, it says that at that at that time, when that last trumpet is sounded
it says that the mystery of God will be finished.
But those last seven years will not start until an agreement is made to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
As you may recall in the earlier video, we finished with Jesus saying, "it is finished" and the curtain in the temple
being supernaturally torn from top to bottom, in the year 30 AD.
What this was signifying was the end of the old way of visualizing God.
God doesn't live in buildings anymore, and there's no one organization out there that represents his true people.
Jesus brought in a concept of people being God's temple now
and more importantly, people as individuals and not members of an organization.
The early Christians pretty much missed that right from the start.
They tried to elect a replacement for Judas
even though God had actually intended for Paul to be the replacement.
There were a lot of things in the New Testament that got screwed up like that: teachings about circumcision
and eating blood, and people putting their faith in things like water baptism
or speaking in tongues as evidence that you are one of God's chosen people.
Everyone was looking for the sign to tell the good guys from the bad guys, and it's still like that today.
But, hey, that's okay, it's all part of God's plan.
From the day that Jesus died until now, God's people as a visible organization have been on hold.
No attempt to put together or to define all the good guys has ever worked, nor was it ever intended to work.
Only God knows who is really honestly trying to serve him
and the evidence suggests that the number of people doing that today are a lot fewer than you might think
compared to the number of people out there claiming to be Christians.
So, what about the missing week?
Well, it seems that in the last seven years before Jesus returns
God is going to miraculously reveal his army of faithful followers
and when he does, that will be the final week, or seven years, of what God called "Daniel's people."
A visible organization of all the good guys. At the end of that week God will usher in everlasting righteousness.
Some people think that this means that the children of Israel
are going to come back together, and that they will be God's chosen people for those last seven years.
Well, the physical children of Israel will experience some kind of a revival.
Not all 12 tribes, of course, because 10 of them no longer exist
but the 2 remaining tribes will finally get their temple back
and they'll be able to resume animal sacrifices in it again.
An official agreement to rebuild the temple is, in fact, the outward sign that the last seven years has begun.
But it won't be God rebuilding that temple...it'll be the diabolical opposite: the Antichrist.
God's real people, or "Daniels people", as the angel described it to Daniel
will be those prophets who, like Daniel, listen to the voice of God.
They will be 144,000 faithful followers of Jesus.
As we each follow the leadings of the spirit, God is going to miraculously bring us together
for those final seven years before Jesus comes back.
It's going to be an amazing seven years, with things going so well in the first three and a half years
that those people who have not listened all that closely to Jesus, are going to be convinced
that this guy who has decided to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, really is the world's Messiah.
Many of the church people who have pandered to Jews over the years on the basis of them being so special
will gush over this false messiah and the physical temple
until, in the middle of those seven years, at the three-and-a-half year mark.
The Antichrist will desecrate the temple and set himself up in it to be worshipped as god.
It will trigger the start of the Great Tribulation: a time of great suffering
that the world has never seen before, or ever will see thereafter.
Global disasters will kill hundreds of millions of people, and Christians, those people
who chose not to bow to the false messiah, will be blamed for everything that is happening.
And they will start to kill us, as the Antichrist declares war on the Christians.
The last seven years will culminate with the arrival of the heavenly city: the New Jerusalem
which hovers over the old Jerusalem for more than a month.
All Christians who have died in the past will be resurrected, and along with those who are still alive
they will be raptured, or taken up into the sky to meet with Jesus
to go into the New Jerusalem, to be part of this great wedding feast.
During that time, God will be pouring out his wrath on the people still left on Earth.
The final period of seven years is important
because from the start, we can use it to count down to the return of Jesus.
But it's also important because the world will finally see the great mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven revealed.
All the counterfeit kingdoms, organizations, churches, religious leaders
they'll all be replaced by the genuine in the final revelation of God's power and love through Jesus.
These last seven years are pivotal in terms of marking the end of one age and the start of another.
And there are signs that It is not far away
and we should all be looking for further signs to help prepare us for what lies ahead.
What I'm going to do now is go back over much of what I have just said
not necessarily making it all crystal clear or easy to understand, but just to fill in a little more detail.
You see, what is most important about the last seven years
is that it gives us a timeline that actually includes specific numbers of days from one event to another
much like the 70 weeks prophecy gave us specific years for the fulfillment of the first prophecy.
We can use it to count down to the exact date of Jesus's return.
With the first 69 weeks (or 7 year periods) it was easier
because we had history to show us how it all fit together, after the fact.
But the last seven years is yet to be fulfilled
and the starting point is marked by an event which has not yet happened.
There is no date, much like the start of the first prophecy.
The event for the first prophecy was a decree to rebuild the city of Jerusalem
and the event for the second prophecy appears to be an agreement to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
But the first question we would all have is this
Why didn't this all happen in the seven years immediately after Jesus died, at the 483 year mark?
So, let's get that clear first.
To be perfectly honest, the first Christians may have believed that it would all happen within seven years.
But of course it didn't, and that is when it became clear
that there was a mystery, or deeper truth, in what Jesus was teaching.
So much of his teaching was an attempt to get his followers
to stop thinking the way the world thinks, even when it comes to religion.
Many of the churches still look at the Jews today and refer to them as God's people.
No, they are not. As Christians, that should be obvious.
But still, the churches suck up to them.
Like, if you're Jewish, you can reject, torture, and kill the Son of God, and still be God's people.
Seriously? No way!
That attitude, and those who teach it, have become God's worst enemies.
When Jesus said, "It is finished", it really was finished done...over...kaput.
Were the first Christians the true church after that?
Again, no, not really.
Even from day one they were still thinking like Jews in many ways with elections
and titles, rituals, and other outward signs
eventually leading back to temples and priests, holy days, and all the trimmings of Old Testament Judaism.
As a visible group, 'God's people' (to use the term from Daniel's prophecy) disappeared when Jesus died.
Jesus had predicted it. He said that his kingdom was not of this world
that it was invisible, even though we, his so-called followers, have never acted like we really believed it.
So, we have been and are in that invisible age.
We have been there ever since Jesus died on the cross.
But--and this is a biggie--seven years before Jesus returns
he is going to miraculously make his people visible again.
Here's the first part of the verse from the 70 weeks prophecy, as it appears in the King James version.
"He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week."
What is interesting about this line is that the pronoun, "he"
could either be Jesus, or it could be referring to the Antichrist.
And it makes sense that it is referring to both.
Jesus confirms the promise that he made to Abraham, which was that he would make a great nation
through one of Abraham's descendants.
That new nation will become visible for the first time ever during those final seven years before Jesus returns.
That nation is elsewhere described as a bride, groomed to perfection for her husband.
It is also described as a nation of people who follow Jesus, 'the lamb', wherever he leads them.
This is not the visible institutional church, and it is especially not the Jewish people.
However, at the same time, the religious world will rejoice at an agreement
that confirms what they have always believed the Covenant to be about
which is a visible building, where carnal flesh descendants of Abraham
can do all the fun things they did in the Old Testament...in particular, offering sacrifices.
Many churches are already gearing up for this
convinced that the resumption of animal sacrifices in Jerusalem is a really good thing
having virtually forgotten who the real lamb is.
So, how does the Antichrist confirm the Covenant, as the passage predicts?
To be honest, it is mostly assumed that this agreement relates to building the temple.
This is based partly on the fact that there is no temple at the moment.
This agreement does relate to the offering of animal sacrifices, as stated in the next line
and that hasn't happened for more than two thousand years
because there is no temple in which to make the sacrifices.
The second line of the last verse says, "In the midst of the week
he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease."
Obviously, to cease, it must first start.
In the first two verses of Revelation 11, it talks about measuring the size of the Temple in Jerusalem.
This appears to be a further hint
about construction of the temple being significant in relation to the return of Jesus.
But this line from the final verse of the 70 weeks prophecy
also makes mention of a change that happens in the middle of the last seven years.
What we get in the Revelation, and in Daniel's prophecies
are specific periods of time that add up to half of seven years.
Three and a half years, 42 months, and 1260 days.
We touched on this a bit in the first video about the 70 weeks prophecy
and how it helped Bible scholars to understand
that a year in these prophecies, was a year as expressed in Babylonian calendars
12 months of 30 days, adding up to 360 days for a year.
What appears to happen is that the Antichrist makes this agreement with Jewish religious leaders
and everything goes well for a bit over three years, and then, there is a terrible change.
Read the next line in the prophecy: "For the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate."
In other words, the benevolent world ruler who used ecumenical favors to suck in religions around the world
shows his true colors, and catches superficial believers everywhere totally off-guard.
Jesus specifically warned his followers to pay special attention to this part of the prophecy.
You read about it in Matthew 24, starting with verse 15.
In short, he says this: "When you see the 'abomination of desolation'
"spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (Whoever reads, let him understand!)
"then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains.
"For then shall be Great Tribulation
"such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."
But the good news is that, despite this being the start of the Great Tribulation
there is a genuine day-by-day countdown to the return of Jesus, and an end to all suffering.
This countdown is possible only after the start of those last seven years.
For this is what the final line in the 70 year prophecy says.
Just remember that the prophecy has said that there will be no more sacrifices in the previous line.
This line takes up with the word 'until'.
"Even until the consummation, and that determined, shall be poured upon the desolate."
The key word here is 'consummation', which is more or less the end of all things.
Together, with other passages of scripture--which I will not take time to explain now
it becomes clear that this is when Jesus returns
and when God's wrath is poured out on those who fail to obey him.
'The desolate people', if you like. Can you see it?
I'll reread it now, simplifying the language a little.
"The sacrifices will cease, even up to a predetermined date
"when God's wrath will be poured on the desolate people.
"This will mark the consummation, or end of all things."
There's so much more I would like to say, but hopefully this is enough to give you some appreciation
for how that final seven years keeps appearing in the teachings
of many people who talk about the return of Jesus.
If you have further questions, please write to this channel, and we will do our best to help you.
But more than anything else, we have not done our job as Christian teachers
if we have not prepared you to stand on your own with faith in God alone.
I don't mean just doing your own thing; I mean getting to know the Jesus of the four Gospels.
Do you hear me? The Jesus of the four Gospels.
Follow the lamb wherever he goes, and put the Cornerstone back where it belongs.
Listen to Jesus, and start obeying him. Amen? Amen!
Please check out the other videos on this channel, and subscribe so you can stay up to date
with new videos that we'll be uploading each week.
Thank you!