THE GREAT TRIBULATION
When
is the great tribulation? Is it a
future event, as popularly espoused and debated by most Christians? Or is it an event that took place at
the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple as espoused by
preterists? Or are both of these
wrong and the great tribulation has been taking place for 2,000 years? According to prevailing Christian
teachings, it is a period of time that takes place after the abomination of the
desolation of a literal temple in Jerusalem. But is this true?
To answer these questions, there are some specific questions that must
be addressed.
First
though, one will not be able to approach this subject with fixed, preconceived
ideas, based on what they have been taught by Christianity. As you have learned in the Remnant
Bride writings, and will see here as well, the 2,000 years of Christianity are
a period of great blindness. It is
darkness, even hades, which means “to not see.” It is the breach when they are hidden
in the cleft of the rock with Yahweh’s hand over them so they cannot
see. It is the wilderness
wanderings when kingdom men eat manna, or “what is it?” It is Babylon, or confusion. With this formidable obstruction, how
then can they speak truth?
To
begin with, let us lay out the justification that the abomination of desolation
is in fact the beginning of the great tribulation. In Matthew 24:15 and 21 we read:
Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet,
standing in the holy place (let the reader understand) …. For then there will be a great
tribulation, such as has not
occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.
Thus
we see that, indeed, the abomination of desolation initiates the great
tribulation. But here is where
diverse Christian fiction and truth separate. As you will now see, the abomination of desolation began
immediately after Yahshua left this earth, returning to heaven, and there
remaining until His triumphal return, the way thereof prepared by the Elijah.
In
John 9:4-5 we read the words of Yahshua:
We must work the
works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can
work. While I am in the world, I
am the Light of the world.
Therefore,
it is obvious that as soon as Yahshua left this world, light was removed and
men entered into darkness. And as
you will see, immediately kingdom men errored in that darkness, instantly
initiating the abomination of desolation.
In
order to show the clear evidence of this, we must first examine a specific
point in time upon which the entirety of this hinges – the middle of the
final seven years spoken of in Daniel 9:27. Let us begin by turning to those very passages to which
Yahshua directed our attention when He referred to the abomination of
desolation as that “which was spoken of through Daniel the
prophet.”
But
once again, you must escape the template of error set up by Christianity; and
there is most certainly no greater evidence of this error than their
translation of Daniel 9:24-27. To
evidence this, we will first read these verses in the New American Standard
(NAS) version. You will notice
here the classic error regarding Christianity’s supposed antichrist beast
man who will purportedly desolate a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem; or in the mind
of some, the Romans desolated it already.
As you will see here, the translators completely twisted and altered
these verses to make them say what they believe, failing to present them for
what they truly say. Here now is
Daniel 9:24-27 as it reads in the NAS:
24. “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your
holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make
atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up
vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.
25. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and
rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built
again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
26. Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and
have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city
and the sanctuary. And its end will
come with a flood; even to the
end there will be war; desolations are determined.
27. And he will make a firm covenant with the many
for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and
grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete
destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes
desolate.”
Let
us deal with the first chief error in these verses. You will notice in verse 25 that the one being spoken of
here is very specifically identified – Messiah the Prince. Yahshua is called “Messiah the
Prince” in verse 25, and “Messiah” in the very next verse as
well. But, the translators forced
great error when they took the liberty to wholly depart from this clear identification
and then make the “prince,” also in verse 26, into someone entirely
opposite. If Messiah the Prince is
the subject in verse 25; then clearly, the prince referred to in verse 26,
where the Messiah is once again referred to, is none less than the Prince, the
Messiah. This is especially true
when the Messiah is the one who is to come, and here He is called “the
Prince who is to come.”
Therefore, verse 26 absolutely must read:
Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be
cut off and have nothing, and the people of the Prince who is to come will destroy the city and the
sanctuary.
There
can be no escaping this fact.
Another
item that is helpful to note is that the Hebrew word here for
“week,” or “shabu,” actually means “a period of
seven.” Though shabu is used
to denote a week, or a period of seven days, as in the Feast of Weeks, here the
actual fulfillment is periods of seven years, and would best read in its
literal meaning – “period of seven.” Therefore, let us now read these same
verses for what they literally say, not only correcting these two points, but
others as well, staying with the original Hebrew and not yielding to the
template of error of Christianity:
24. “Seventy periods of seven have been
decreed for your people and your holy city: to bring to an end the
transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring
in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the
holy.
25. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree
to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be
seven periods of seven and sixty-two periods of seven; it will be built again,
with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
26. Then after the sixty-two periods of seven the Messiah will be cut
off and have no one; and the people of the Prince who shall come will destroy
the city and the sanctuary, and the end will come with a flood; even to the end
of the battle, desolations are determined.
27. And He [Messiah] will prevail in the covenant
with the many for a period of seven, but in the middle of the period of seven,
He will cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and for the
overspreading of abominations, He will make desolate, even until the
consummation, and that which is determined will be poured out upon the
desolate.”
Again,
the message here in its literal translation is entirely different from that
which you have been taught. Up to
now, you have been fed dung – the word of God taken in by carnal men, processed
by their flesh, and fed to others.
Let us briefly examine some of the specific items in these verses.
Adding
further to what we have already noted, we read in verse 27 in the NAS the
errored translation: “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for
one week.” But what covenant
is truly being spoken of here? As
with the matter of who the Prince truly is, to answer this all one has to do is
look into this chapter and see what that covenant is already stated to be. In verse 4 of the same chapter, Daniel
began his supplication for those in captivity in Babylon and those disbursed
abroad, as well as for Jerusalem, receiving Gabriel’s reply in verses
24-27. Here we are specifically
told what that covenant is:
I prayed to Yahweh my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O
Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and
keep His commandments, we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and
rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances [vss. 4 and
5].
So
in verse 27 when Gabriel was giving the answer to Daniel’s prayer and
supplication, he was in fact referring to the very covenant regarding which
Daniel had just made supplication – Yahweh’s covenant with His
people. Both are in fact the
identical Hebrew word for “covenant.” Therefore, that passage must read: “And He [Messiah]
will prevail in the covenant
with the many [the residents of the true Jerusalem] for a period of
seven.” In other words,
Yahweh will fulfill His covenant with His people. As you will see, this is precisely what He has done and is
doing, and in a most incredible and revealing way.
Now,
let us once again remain within the message of Daniel 9 so as to better
understand the relevance of Gabriel’s answer regarding another
matter. In verses 26 and 27
regarding these seventy periods of seven, you will notice the following
references to desolations:
26. … even to the end of the battle, desolations are determined.
27. … and for the overspreading of
abominations, He will make desolate,
even until the consummation, and that which is determined will be poured out
upon the desolate.
What
desolations then was Gabriel comparing to here? He was making reference to the desolations of Jerusalem that
had been taking place for nearly seventy years. It is important to note that Daniel’s seventy periods
of seven in verses 24-27, are specifically Gabriel’s answer to
Daniel’s supplications in verses 1-19 for the people in their Babylonian
captivity and for Jerusalem. The
fact is, this desolation spoken of in verses 26-27, has a direct relationship
with the seventy years of bondage that took place in the time of Daniel,
evidenced once again by Daniel’s preceding supplication in verses 2, 17,
and 18:
2. … in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the
books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah the prophet for
the completion of the desolations
of Jerusalem, namely, seventy
years.
17. So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his
supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary.
18. O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we
are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our
own, but on account of Your great compassion.
Let
us now examine these subject seventy periods of seven years. To begin with, Daniel 9:25 sets forth:
So you are to know and discern that from the
issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince,
there will be seven periods of seven and sixty-two periods of
seven; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
What
decree was being spoken of here?
As addressed in the book, The Curse of 1920, Appendix
Ten, that decree was the
decree of Artaxerxes in 458 B.C., sending Ezra to Jerusalem to “establish
the law of your God,” an act that would “adorn the house of
Yahweh” (Ezra 7:25–27).
Most notably, that decree was at the completion of the seventieth
Jubilee waiting period from the fall of Adam, or 70 x 49, or 3,430 years. As we have seen, this Jubilee waiting
period count in reckoning time is critical to the works and order of Yahweh.
The decree of
Artaxerxes was the legal decree spoken of in Daniel 9:25 – “a
decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.” But as you will now see, it is not literal Jerusalem that
is being spoken of here, but looks to the rebuilding of Jerusalem above, beginning with the completion of 120 Jubilee
waiting periods from Adam’s fall, that completion being in 1993. Yahweh’s Jubilee therefore began
in 1994. Natural Jerusalem has
always only been a type, a shadow – a natural testimony that could be
referred to in order to prophesy concerning the true fulfillment. This fulfillment is the Jerusalem seen
by John in Revelation 21:10-27 – Jerusalem above. And this is the Jerusalem spoken of
here in Daniel 9:25.
With these facts
in mind, let us now lay out these seventy periods of seven years spoken of
here. And in order to be complete,
we will restate verse 27:
And He [Messiah] will prevail in the covenant with the many for a
period of seven, but in the middle of the period of seven, He will cause the
sacrifice and the offering to cease ….
Therefore, we see
the timing:
|
Periods of Seven |
Number of Years |
Years in History |
|
Seven periods of seven |
7 x 7 years = 49 years |
458 B.C. – 409 B.C. |
|
Sixty-two periods of seven |
62 x 7 years = 434 years |
409 B.C. – 26 A.D. |
|
One period of seven |
1 x 7 years = 7 years |
26 A.D. – 33 A.D. |
And
most notably, we find that Yahshua was crucified at the end of the eightieth Jubilee
waiting period, or in 33 A.D.
The reality of
this specific fulfillment is glaringly undeniable. One cannot argue with history or time, and both of these
very clearly point to the certainty of this truth. Add to this the confirmation of the seventieth and the
eightieth Jubilee waiting periods, this is rock solid undeniable evidence. Let us now examine the final period of
seven and consider the statement – “and in the middle of the period
of seven, He [Yahshua] will cause the sacrifice and the offering to
cease.”
How long was
Yahshua’s ministry period?
It was for three-and-a-half years.
His ministry began with His baptism by John on Atonement, 29 A.D., and
He was crucified three-and-a-half years later on Passover, 33 A.D. Therefore, you see that indeed He came
specifically in the middle of the final seven-year period. How was it then that His baptism
effected the cessation of the sacrifice and offering?
Legally, once
Yahshua presented Himself to Yahweh on Atonement as the sacrifice for
man’s sins and was baptized into death by John, all other offerings were
of none effect. Yahshua’s baptism legally effected the true fulfillment
of the sacrifice for atonement, and no longer were the old animal sacrifices
necessary. At that moment He
“caused the sacrifice and the offering to cease”; and with the
invasion of Rome in 70 A.D., Yahweh put an end to that which He legally ceased
at Yahshua’s baptism. The
temple was torn down and never rebuilt, and never will be rebuilt. Its
prophetic testimony was finished.
The true sacrifice was presented to Yahweh, and the only temple to be
built now is that one that is made with living stones.
In verse 26 we
read:
Then after the sixty-two periods of seven the Messiah will be cut off
and have no one; and the people of the Prince who shall come will destroy the
city and the sanctuary ….
Unmistakably,
after the sixty-two periods, Yahshua was cut off in the concluding covenant
period, and indeed He had no one.
He came early, before the time, and the first resurrection that would
take a people to heaven to receive immortal incorruptible bodies, could not
come for 2,000 years. Kingdom men
lay in the grave. His true and
perfect kingdom on earth would have to equally wait; for as He declared,
darkness came and no man could work (John 9:4-5).
As foretold in
Daniel 9:26-27, what took place after Yahshua left this earth to not return for
2,000 years? Precisely what we
read here:
The people of the
Prince have destroyed the kingdom Yahshua came to establish, just as He
foretold in similar manner in Matthew 13:24-33. In like testimonies of its desolation, He plainly said that
the kingdom of heaven would become a field corrupted by tares. It would become an overgrown tree where
the demonic spirits, the birds of the air, would nest in it. It would become entirely leavened.
This now brings us
to a very important, revealing, and confirming point. The book of Daniel closes with a clear definitive statement. In Daniel 12:11-12 we read:
11. “From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and
the abomination of desolation is established, there will be 1,290 days.
12. How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335
days!”
We see here that when
the time of the regular sacrifice is abolished, 1,290 days later the
abomination of desolation is established. We now know when the
regular sacrifice was abolished – when Yahshua was baptized by John on
Atonement in 29 A.D. So, to know
when the abomination of desolation was established, all we have to do is count
1,290 days from then. Where does
that take us? There are 354 days
in a lunar calendar year. Three
years would equal 3 x 354, or 1,062 days to Atonement in 32 A.D. The next closest event to this 1,290
day count would be Pentecost, 33 A.D.
From Atonement to Pentecost is 232 days, for a total of 1,294 days. Therefore, whatever began the
abomination of desolation, took place four days before Pentecost, the 1,290th
day. What was it? Yahweh did not leave us without
understanding.
We saw in The New Millennial Calendar, page 10, that Pentecost was on the eleventh day of the
third month. We also saw in the next page of that writing that Yahshua
departed from them by ascending alive on the twenty-eighth day of the second
month. This would have meant that
Yahshua would have been gone for ten days, with Pentecost coming on the
eleventh day since His departure.
So what could have taken place on the day that was four days prior to
Pentecost? Though the Scriptures
do not give us the exact day of the event, its relevance is tellingly obvious.
In Acts 1, just
before Pentecost, verses 15-26 record that highly impacting event – the
abomination of desolation, beginning the great tribulation. Yahshua had been among them for forty
days. When He left, darkness came,
and it took no time at all for them to stumble in darkness. What was that desolating event? When the disciples made the grave error
of seeking to establish a man to replace Judas!
Were the disciples
right when they quoted from Psalm 109:8 – “Let another take his
office”? Indeed they
were. But, they were acting both
prematurely and presumptuously, for that office was not to go to a man for
2,000 years. They acted in
complete error when they cast lots in selecting Matthias, corrupting the
government Yahshua set up. Quite
fittingly, on the seventh day after Yahshua had left, the apostles committed this
error. The number seven has been the mark of the
beast. In like manner, it was also
in the seventh year that Adam and Eve sinned, bringing a like abomination of
desolation to the Garden. In fact,
even as Eve ate from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
and gave that fruit to Adam, so the first Remnant ate from the same fruit and
gave it to the body of Christ.
Also attesting to this abomination on the seventh, the apostles equally
failed to do what was right when they chose seven men to wait tables, whereupon
shortly thereafter Stephen was stoned.
Yahshua had called the apostles to serve (Mark 9:35).
If it had been
time to establish that required apostle, then Yahshua would have done so
Himself when He was among them for forty days – but He did not!
Yahshua had clearly told them, “You did not choose Me but I chose
you, and appointed you …” (John 15:16). He alone had the right to establish His apostles, not them,
not any man. But the apostles
elected to stand in His place and do what He alone could do – choose that
twelfth apostle. They possessed
neither the right nor the authority to do so, and it was totally out of season
for that fulfillment to take place.
That place belonged to the fulfilling Elijah, and they did not see
that.
Yahshua had
already made the choice for Judas’ immediate successor, and had already
forthrightly declared it, once again affirming His place alone to do so. The one to immediately replace Judas
was not a mere man. That
fulfillment would not come for 2,000 years. Until then, Yahshua’s choice was clearly set forth
– “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is the
devil?” (John 6:70).
Even the
apostles’ means of making that choice revealed their error – by
casting lots! This was the same
means whereby Haman determined when to destroy the Jews (Esther 9:24), costing
him his own life. This was the
same means whereby Achan’s sin was revealed when he kept some of the
devoted things from Jericho, costing him his life as well (Joshua
7:16-21). And this was the same
means whereby the sailors revealed Jonah’s own error, whereupon he was
cast into the sea and remained in the belly of the great fish for three days and
three nights (Jonah 1:7). Thus,
the same fate came upon the church when the apostles cast lots for Judas’
replacement, bringing for it death, even three days and three nights in the
heart of the earth.
Therefore, we see
that when Yahshua left and darkness came, the apostles quickly fell into error,
and the abomination that makes the kingdom of heaven desolate immediately came
about. And quite fittingly, they
erred pertaining to the very office whereby its true occupant would ensure the
kingdom’s continuing desolation and the great tribulation –
Satan! For 2,000 years, Satan
would stand in that office and continue to deceive the church and effect great
affliction upon it – the great tribulation! The kingdom of heaven would be trodden down by the nations. Satan would dearth the kingdom. And as already evidenced by the
apostles on the seventh day since Yahshua’s departure, the people of the
Prince would “destroy the city and the sanctuary.” The prophesied “overspreading of
abominations” began, and all one has to do today is to look back at
church history and see the raw truth of this ill fate.
And frankly, this
pattern will be repeated. In The New Millennial Calendar, page 13, we noted that Yahshua will come in the
Millennial reign, build the temple of Yahweh, and ascend back to the Father at
the end of the Millennium. Once
again, as soon as He leaves, what do we see will happen? Precisely what we saw happen when He
left once before – another abomination of desolation by Satan. In Revelation 20:7-8 we read:
When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from
his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four
corners of the earth ….
Thus we see the
repeated pattern – Yahshua leaves to go to the Father, and Satan
immediately goes to work, effecting an abomination of desolation. This enduring desolation certainly was
the case when Yahshua left the first time. Satan deceived the apostles, even as he will deceive the nations. But we are told in verse 3 that he will
not succeed long this second time, for his release will be for only a short
time, whereupon he will be thrown into the lake of fire.
Often
truth is revealed in obscurity, and this is certainly the case with the events
that both began this prophesied 1,290 days, as well as concluded them. The immense impact of Yahshua’s
baptism was most certainly obscure – the cessation of sacrifices and
offerings – taking place with no one’s notice until much
later. But in the sight of Yahweh
God, that event was pivotal. In
like regard, 1,290 days later when the apostles sought to stand in the place of
Yahshua and made that grave error of seeking to fill that critical office, they
likewise performed an act that was obscure. But once again, this was not so in the sight of Yahweh God;
and its effects were highly impacting and destructive, with its immense
significance not being known until now.
That event was equally pivotal, as it began the abomination of the
desolation of the kingdom of heaven, the Jerusalem, beginning the great
tribulation.
Truly,
in every regard the apostles sought to stand in the place of Yahshua, effecting
that which He alone had the
right to carry out. Thus we find
written in Matthew and Mark affirming evidence of the beginning of the
abomination of desolation at this earliest point in the church. In Matthew 24:15 we read:
Therefore when you see the abomination of
desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the
holy place (let the reader
understand) ….
And
in the like passage in Mark 13:14 we read:
But when you see the abomination of desolation standing
where it should not be (let the
reader understand) ….
Revealingly,
this statement is not found in second Remnant Luke. Why? Because in
the time of the second Remnant, it is indeed legally time for Judas’
replacement to stand in that place; and instead of bringing the desolation of
the kingdom, it brings the restoration of all things and Yahshua’s much
needed return. But for the Matthew
first Remnant apostles to seek for someone to stand in that place, or for Mark
Christianity to seek to do likewise by trying to place Paul in that office,
both of these works effected and advanced the desolation of the kingdom.
And
recognize here that in both cases Yahshua’s reference to this is
specifically – that “which was spoken through Daniel.” And there is no more direct or clearer
passage regarding the identification of the abomination of desolation than this
passage in Daniel 12:11:
“From the time that the regular sacrifice is
abolished and the abomination of desolation is established, there will be 1,290 days.”
Furthermore,
it is with great meaning that this message was to be hidden and would not be
discerned until the one to whom that office belonged came and would see its
truth. This is what you are
reading now, and only now can the passage be fulfilled – “let the
reader understand.”
Before
concluding this first point, one other matter must be addressed. We noted that Daniel’s seventy
periods of seven in verses 24-27, are specifically Gabriel’s answer to
Daniel’s supplications in verses 1-19 regarding the people in their
Babylonian captivity and for Jerusalem.
We see that this desolation spoken of in verses 26-27 has a direct
relationship with the seventy periods of bondage that took place in the time of
Daniel, evidenced once again by Daniel’s preceding supplication in verses
2, 17, and 18 – “see our desolations.”
What
we find is that the seventy years of literal Babylonian captivity, are a type
of the like Babylonian captivity that would take place in the church from the
time of the abomination of desolation four days before Pentecost, 33 A.D., to
Yahweh’s Jubilee. That
Jubilee would undoubtedly have legal marks, as well as fulfillments. Two evident marks are the Jubilee of
1994, as well as the Jubilee on Trumpets, October 25, 2007. But it is important to note that the
seventy years of Babylonian captivity are fulfilled in the 2,000 year period of
the church, which is mystery Babylon. Daniel repented for the ills of the
people of Jerusalem which placed them in Babylonian captivity for seventy
years. Then seventy periods of
seven years later, the true Jerusalem, the kingdom of heaven, went into
Babylonian captivity for twenty-eight periods of seventy years.
In
conclusion, on the day of Pentecost, the priest stood before Yahweh to wave
before Him two loaves of leavened bread.
Only four days before that day, the apostles added the leaven to the kingdom, insuring that
the next 2,000 years would be the two loaves of leavened bread. By standing in the place of Yahshua,
seeking to fill the office of the twelfth apostle, they leavened the kingdom of
heaven! And as Yahshua foretold,
all three measures were guaranteed to be leavened (Matthew 13:33).
Thus
we have our first great evidence that the abomination of desolation and the
great tribulation are relative to the 2,000 year period of the church, the
kingdom of heaven on earth, the Jerusalem that would be plundered and trodden
under foot by the nations, even the people of the Prince who “destroy the
city and the sanctuary”:
1.
Daniel 12:11
tells us that the abomination of desolation occurred 1,290 days after the
regular sacrifice was abolished – on the seventh day after Yahshua
departed, the apostles stood in His place and cast lots for Judas’
replacement.
But
regarding this first testimony, we are obligated to not stop here, and will
find further attesting evidence that what we are seeing is indeed accurate and
true. Next, in Daniel 12:12 we
read:
How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to
the 1,335 days!
The
count of 1,335 days in relation to the abomination of desolation at day 1,290,
would mean that forty-five days later some event took place that attested to
that blessing (1,335 – 1,290 = 45).
What could that event have been?
We do not have a specific accounting of the days following Pentecost,
which we noted took place four days following the abomination of
desolation. We are told in Acts
2:46 that “day by day” they were “continuing with one mind in
the temple,” and that Yahweh was “adding to their number day by
day.” But we do find an
event taking place that certainly would have fulfilled, but even moreso
foreshadowed, that promised blessing.
In
Acts 3:1 and following, we read that ”at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer,” Peter and John healed
a man in Yahshua’s name who was lame from his mother’s womb. We read in verse 11 that “all the
people ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of
amazement.” Peter then
delivered his second recorded sermon, and Acts 4:4 tells us that “many of
those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be
about five thousand.” Peter
and John were taken into custody that day, and the next day were released. Acts 4:31 then tells us: “And
when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken,
and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with
boldness.” There seems
little doubt that this was in fact the very event spoken of in Daniel 12:12
– “blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days!”
But
what can this mean for us today?
You will see that, more importantly, this event is highly
prophetic. What we find in these
opening chapters of Acts are two separate testimonies that are uniquely
connected – one being an account of the actual former rain in Acts 2 that
came on the first Remnant, and this second account in Acts 3-4 attesting to the
latter rain that comes on the second Remnant. This is what the passage in Daniel 12:12 actually looks to
– blessed is he who attains to the latter rain, evidenced by what took
place on this 1,335th day.
Let us examine some of these attesting items in Acts 3-4.
First,
this event took place at the ninth hour, the very hour when the three hours of
darkness were completed at Yahshua’s crucifixion – evidencing the end
of the time that the church has been in darkness. Also, the man was healed, having been lame in his feet from
birth. Feet speak of kingdom
rights, and we see prophesied that kingdom rights are restored – which
must take place today with the cessation of the period wherein the nations have
ruled over the kingdom. Also, he
was “more than forty years old” (4:22), the number forty
representing the forty years in the wilderness – therefore equally
following the wilderness period of the church. Additionally, it is very encouraging that on the next day
the place where they gathered was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy
Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness. Such must take place today – an earthquake must
take place in people’s lives and in their beliefs, and be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak the
word of God with boldness.
But
what is equally significant and revealing about this are the 3,000 and the
5,000. There are only two times
when the people are numbered in the opening accounts in Acts – in
Peter’s first sermon on Pentecost where 3,000 were added (Acts 2:41), and
here after Peter’s second sermon when their numbers were recorded at 5,000
(4:4). Numbers recorded in the
Scriptures are given as prophecy, and these two numbers are no exception.
On
the day of Pentecost, 3,000 were numbered. What is the number 3,000? It is the number of years that the church was to receive. Is that good? On the one hand, considering what would happen in that
period, not at all. We are told,
and will examine in this writing, that if that number was not cut short, no
flesh would be saved. Those 3,000
years would have been the like three hours of darkness, whereupon Yahshua cried
out at the ninth hour, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken
Me?” Those 3,000 years would
have been the three times in which the church would have denied Yahshua before
the rooster crowed. And most
significantly, they would have been the like 3,000 at Mount Sinai on the first-ever
Pentecost who were slain (Exodus 32:28), even as kingdom man has died for 2,000
years, and would continue to die for the remaining 1,000 years if Yahweh did
not cut this death short.
The
church’s 3,000 years are equally attested with the three sons of Judah
(Genesis 38). Having been given
Tamar, the granddaughter of Melchizedek, the first two sons were killed by
Yahweh. These three sons were
mixes – their mother was a Canaanite. In like manner, kingdom man is a mix, and when given the
kingdom of heaven, it equally kills him and the kingdom is corrupted. Therefore, just as Judah’s first
two sons were rejected by Yahweh and He killed them, so the first 2,000 years
of kingdom men are rejected and they too have died. And even as Judah realized regarding his third son, Shelah
(the same name of the Pool of Siloam where Yahshua healed the blind man), if
the third part of the 3,000-year church period was given to man, they too would
perish! This is the church period
evidenced by the 3,000 added to the kingdom on leavened Pentecost.
So
what then is the significance regarding the 5,000 and its testimony as the
latter rain? Even as 3,000
represents the corrupted church, 5,000 represents the wholly fulfilled
church. As we have seen in other
writings here, including Ascending
Alive, page 12, the church is cut short from 6,000 years to
5,000 years. By doing this, Yahweh
fulfills building the complete new Jerusalem, the temple with its Remnant Bride
holy of holies and the body of Christ holy place – the establishment of
the complete kingdom of heaven on earth.
This complete temple work was also attested in this account in that they
gathered in the Portico of Solomon, pointing to Yahshua building His temple in
the Millennium (The New Millennial
Calendar, page 12).
And
very significantly, this 1,335th day is also when Peter declared:
“Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a
prophet like me from your brethren; to him you shall give heed to everything he
says to you. And it will be that
every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from
among the people’” [3:22-23].
This
is the Elijah, whose message is equally that which Peter spoke here, and whose
timing and work is the hope of all mankind:
“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped
away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;
and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must
receive until the period of
restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy
prophets from ancient time” [3:19-21].
This
spoken here by Peter on day 1,335 is the promised Elijah, the work that effects
the restoration of all things and Yahshua’s return!
Therefore,
this promise of “blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335
days!,” looks to the latter rain work in the Millennial reign, bringing
the Elijah who restores all things and prepares the way for Yahshua’s
return. But also, very importantly,
this affords the complete fulfillment of the temple that takes place at the end
of 5,000 years.
Continue
to page 2 of The Great Tribulation
for THE ELIJAH MINISTRY PERIOD