Greetings Fellow Eschatologists! Now that we’ve ended our study on the book of Revelation, I think it is only logical that our next study should be on the Resurrection of the Dead, or as most people call it—the rapture! The most common statement made about the rapture is that it is impossible to know when the rapture takes place, that it is a mystery. This oft-quoted statement goes something like this: “It’s impossible to know when the rapture takes place. The Bible says no one will know the day or the hour when it happens.” And it’s true—no one can know the day or the hour when the rapture takes place. The most obvious reason no one will know the day or the hour is because there are 24 different time zones around the world. The “day and hour” in one part of the earth will be a different “day and hour” in another part of the earth. But I assure you, the Bible tells us exactly when the rapture, i.e. the resurrection of the dead, takes place. If you’re curious, then stay tuned!   

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD

First in a One-Part Series
By Karen Thompson

Introduction

Should you find yourself in a conversation about prophetic end times, sooner or later, somebody will bring up the topic of Daniel’s 70^th week. If you don’t know what Daniels’ 70^th week is all about, you’ll quickly become confused and a little lost in the conversation. In this study, the subject of Daniel’s 70^th week comes up quite often. So for that reason, an understanding of Daniel’s 70-weeks prophecy is necessary.

By the time the prophet Daniel received the 70-weeks prophecy, the first group of exiled Jews had been living in Babylon for 70 years; and according to prophecy, it was time for them to return to Jerusalem. Daniel had been reading Jeremiah’s prophecy that said the exiles in Babylon would return to Jerusalem after 70 years: “For thus says the Lord: after seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place” (Jer. 29:10). By Daniel’s calculation, the 70-year judgment had been completed. This caused him to seek the Lord in prayer as to why it had not been fulfilled.

While Daniel was praying about Jeremiah’s 70-year judgment being fulfilled, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him about an additional judgment of 70 weeks that the Jewish people were to go through! When this additional 70-weeks judgment was completed, God’s divine will and plan for Israel would be accomplished. So far, 69 of those weeks have been fulfilled, and there is only one week left that has yet to be fulfilled. Eschatologists refer to this last week as “Daniel’s 70^th week.”

The following is a very brief summary of the 70-weeks prophecy. In response to Daniel’s prayer about Jeremiah’s prophecy, the angel Gabriel came with a message from God: “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” (Dan. 9:24). This 70-weeks prophecy is about the “thy people” and “thy holy city.” Since the angel was addressing Daniel, we can establish that Daniel’s “people” were the Jewish people and the “holy city” was Jerusalem. That means at the end of the 70-weeks judgment, God’s ultimate will and plan for the children of Israel and the holy city of Jerusalem would be fulfilled!

Seventy weeks comes to one year and four and a half months. Did Gabriel really mean that God’s plan for Israel would be accomplished in less than two years? Obviously not, since 70 weeks have already come and gone long ago and it never did come to pass. Actually, these seventy weeks were not weeks of days but rather weeks of years. Seventy weeks of years comes to 490 years. At the end of 490 years, Israel will have experienced the arrival of Messiah and the fulfillment of God’s covenant promise for Israel to be that holy and set apart nation. The clock started ticking on the 70 weeks when King Artaxerxes gave the command for Jerusalem to be rebuilt. (Neh. 2:5–9)

Three Segments of Time

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. 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. 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.

Gabriel divided the segment of 490 years into three segments of time: 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and 1 week. During each of these segments of time, certain events were to take place.

The first segment of time of 7 weeks, or 49 years, began when the commandment to restore the city of Jerusalem was given. From the time the commandment was given to restore Jerusalem until the city was actually restored was 49 years.

The second segment of time of 62 weeks, or 434 years, would come to an end when Messiah was “cut off.” The Hebrew word for “cut off” is karath, and it means “to cut off, cut down, eliminate, to kill.” Christian Bible scholars agree this refers to the Messiah being crucified. That makes the second segment of time fulfilled.

So far, sixty-nine of the seventy weeks have been fulfilled. There is only one week left of Daniel’s 70weeks to be fulfilled. The fulfillment of Daniel’s 70^th week is when the events in the book of Revelation take place, which all occur during a span of seven years. The book of Revelation is the fulfillment of Daniel’s 70^th week!

The 70-weeks prophecy was suspended after the completion of the 69^th week. Why didn’t the last week of events unfold? Part of the blame goes to the Romans. After the death of the Messiah, the Jewish people were in a constant state of rebellion with the Roman Empire. The Roman Emperor grew tired of the rebels in Judah and Jerusalem and decided to be done with them once and for all. As a result, the Romans brought about the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, burning it to the ground. A little later, the Bar Kokhba revolt took place which enraged the Roman Emperor Hadrian. As a result, he determined to erase Judaism from the province. He commanded all the Jewish people from the area to leave, forcing them to become exiles in foreign lands. Then he renamed the kingdom of Judah to Palestine.

Remember, the 70-weeks prophecy is about Jerusalem and the Jewish people: “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city.” With no Israel and no city of Jerusalem and no Jewish people living in the area, it was impossible for Daniel’s 70^th week to be fulfilled. But then in 1948, after two millennia, the nation of Israel was born, and the Jewish people from all over the world began to return, making it possible for Daniel’s 70^th week to be fulfilled.

Third Division of Time: One Week

Dan. 9:26b …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. 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.

Verses 26b–27 describe what happens during the last segment of time which has not yet come to pass. They describe to us what will happen during Daniel’s 70^th week. Without getting into details, here are the things that will happen. First, Antichrist will invade the city of Jerusalem. After Antichrist invades Jerusalem, he will enter into some sort of seven-year covenant with “many,” meaning other nations. It can confidently be asserted that this covenant will be some kind of peace treaty.

Eschatologists guestimate that it is during the beginning of this seven-year period that Israel will most likely rebuild the temple.

In the middle of the week, meaning in the middle of the seven-year covenant, Antichrist will break the covenant and invade Jerusalem. He will go on to invade other nations, killing many people. He will come to an end when Messiah shows up to stop him.

There you have it: Now you know what Daniel’s 70^th week is all about.

In our next posts, we’re going to study a subject called the “Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Dead.”

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