One Week Left

The Contender: Jude 3: Earnestly Contend For The Faith
Rev. Raymond M. Jackson

Scripture: Daniel Chapter 9.

We are living in a day and hour when it seems that just about everyone wants to be seen and heard as some great authority on something, and an awful lot of them know very little about what they are trying to teach or cram down the throats of others. I find that especially true in the ranks of religion, and that is the mos serious of them all, for these characters are tampering with the soul of those who follow them. religion and politics are both given equal status by the news media of our day, and rightly so, for they are both as rotten and contemptible as they could possibly be. But god is not without a true witness in this evil age, no matter what some may think, for he does have a few god fearing, bible believing, blood washed Christians that stand apart from all the corruption of the organized religion, and are able to recognize the gross deception of both politics and religion in our day. Of course we all realize that these conditions are present, and most of them we can do very little to change, but now and then we do have an opportunity to set the record straight, for those who are interested in hearing the truth, and I feel that this is one of those times for me. I have recently received a little booklet submitted by Mr. A. W. Post and Me. Tom Marshall entitled, “Branhamism, Fact or Fiction,” in which they have sought to discredit or disprove four of the main subjects Bro. Branham taught on, and we believe to be true doctrine. These subjects are predestination, the serpent’s seed, the end time prophet, and the spoken word ministry. naturally we do not agree with everything that is being taught by various ones who claim to be followers of the message delivered to this age by Bro. William Marrion Branham, but we do take our stand to defend the truth of these various bible doctrines that are under attack, furthermore we openly defend the character and image of our precious deceased brother that was used of god in this age, as no other mortal man has been, and we take exception to any remark that brands him as a false prophet. He truly was a god anointed prophet, and his “thus saith the lord,” was right in line with the word of god every time. It never failed. It is only what others claim he meant, that is proving to be incorrect as time goes on, and god is allowing that, for it is serving its purpose in this separation time.

In this little booklet, trying to disprove Bro. Branham’s Malachi 4 identity, as that Elijah that was to come, they point out how the Elijah of Revelation 11, will be killed, and his body lie in the streets of Jerusalem, and then be resurrected from the dead and translated into heaven, before the eyes of the of the whole world. “Unfortunately Mr. Branham was killed in an automobile accident, and carried to the faith assembly church in jeffersonville, indiana, where his followers waited for over a week for him to be raised from the dead. He was finally buried, upon the insistence of the Indiana state authorities. He was not resurrected nor translated into heaven, and because he claimed to be someone other than who he really was, we are left with only one conclusion, concerning his claimed office of prophet, (listen to this blasphemous remark.) He was indeed a prophet, a false prophet.” Saints: that remark came from the same old spirit that is on denominational religion. They will go to any extremes twisting the scriptures to fit their own particular doctrine, and they will go the same extremes in their efforts to discredit anything god does, that does not fit within the framework of their particular doctrine. They will use any carnal means to justify their refusal of any further truth. These men have gone into Bro. Branham’s sermons and pulled out certain statements that they base their whole conclusion upon. no doubt they got enough out of “the contender,” to make a connection with what they endeavored to write about, for Bro. Branham’s body was not brought back to faith assembly church; it was taken to coots funeral home, in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and it was much, much longer than a week before he was finally buried. It just lets us know that they tried to be a great authority of something they knew very little about. Maybe they will challenge me on one of the contender subjects one of these days. I hope they do; for there are some questions I would like to ask them concerning their blindness toward revealed truth from the word of god.

ONE WEEK OF YEARS

Bro. William Branham

Brothers and Sisters: you may think this is a strange introduction to the subject we are going to deal with, but please remember this, it is this old Antichrist spirit of error and perversion that causes us to have to deal with these things in the way we do. Denominational religion has closed their ears to any further revelation of the word of God, and the radicals of this message are perverting every truth that the true people of God stand for. That is what causes me to feel that we need to deal with the seventieth week of Daniel one more time, for even though this is not a salvational message, it is still of utmost importance, or the Devil would not fight the true teaching so hard. This is a subject that is dividing households. Family members are divided against each other because they cannot agree on whether half of that seventieth week is already fulfilled, and both sides are able to point to something they have directly, or indirectly received from Bro. William Branham’s teaching on the subject. Do you know what it is all about? It is two different spirits battling for preeminence, the Spirit of God and spirit of Antichrist. One proves it by the word of God, and the other tries to prove it with the statements of a man. As we have pointed out many times before, Bro. William Branham was the prophet messenger to this age of Laodicea, therefore he had to feed both elements of believers, truth for the genuine believers, and something else for the make believers to feed upon. That is the only way you can reconcile dual statements made upon the same subject, when one statement will always line up perfectly with the word of God. That is why those who catch the right revelation do not have to depend completely upon what someone else says, for they can go right to the Bible and find the vindication. We have proved from the Bible itself many times over and over, that there is still one full week of years to be fulfilled to the Jews of Daniel’s seventy weeks, but I feel that we can approach it from a little different angle, and publish it one more time, and maybe help some soul somewhere, that is seeking to know the truth of the matter.

A CALCULATION OF TIME

“One Week Left”, 1983

One thing I want to say right at the beginning, a right understanding of the seventy weeks of Daniel is not necessarily tied to a Holy Ghost revelation, for it can be traced out, through the pages of history after you once get the scriptural structure of it in your mind. It is simply a matter of calculating time. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 24;15, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (Saints: please notice, as you read this verse, that the next five words are in parenthesis, in your Bible. We are supposed to read certain things, and then understand them.) (WHOSO READETH, LET HIM UNDERSTAND.) (16) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains,” and so forth. The abomination of desolation referred to here, is that period of excessive hatred for the Jews, brought on by the Antichrist, when he moves into that holy place, in the middle of the seventieth week. You should take special notice to the fact that Jesus did not say, Whosoever prays a lot will understand, nor Whosoever fasts a little extra will understand; He simply intends for us to do a certain amount of studying from available material, on some things, and brother, that has to go beyond the mere statements of a mortal man. I will never forget, one night when I was talking with a certain young man he made this statement. “Bro. Jackson: I love you, but there are some things I just do not see like you do. It looks to be like there can only be 3 ½ years left, of the seventy weeks of Daniel.” I just though to myself, “Young man, what do you read? What brought you to that conclusion?” You hate to think that a young man like that would just accept a statement, or remark, and close his mind to anything further, that could shed more light upon a subject. Most of you young men out there, have a much better education than I do, and most all history books are consistent on the points that establish this subject, so why will you not avail yourselves of the opportunity to settle the matter in your own mind once and for all? I know the scripture that causes many of you to get hung up, when you approach this subject, and I intend to stress that point with special emphasis when we get to it; so please pray that God will help be say each thing in a way that can be easily understood, and then you take my remarks and do your own studying on the subject. Of course I also realize that there are some who could never care less about the seventy weeks of Daniel, but there are many who are interested, so this is for them, and I desire to make it an enjoyable subject.

GOD KEEPS TIME PERFECTLY

Gabriel comes to Daniel

It is important that we know from the standpoint of the scriptures, why we believe there are yet seven full years left to be fulfilled of Daniel’s seventy weeks of years, therefore I want to give you certain points of information as we go along. The first is this, When the angel of the lord appeared to Daniel there in chapter 9, Daniel had been reading books. That is how he got hold of the information that caused him to set his face toward God in prayer for his people Israel. Then I want you to notice verse 24, where Gabriel began to speak to him concerning the matter of his interest. “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon the 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.” Saints, listen to me now! Do not ever allow yourself to think that God would say, “seventy weeks,” and then just play around with 65½, or 74¾, or something close to seventy. When God says seventy weeks, He means seventh weeks; He is precise. When yo deal with other things, you can have an overlapping of this and that, but when God speaks concerning a time factor, He is precise. Over in the book of Revelation, when it says that the devil will be bound for a thousand years, and that the certain ones will live and reign with Christ for a thousand years, don’t allow yourself to even think that 997 years might be close enough; I tell you, God is precise on these things. You cannot give, nor take a year, it must be exactly what it says, and God is the one that keeps the time, so there will never be a mistake. When the thousand years are expired the devil will be loosed out f his prison, and allowed to test the Millennial subjects, and God will not wait three years and six months past the thousand years to loose him; it will be done immediately. That is why it is so foolish for men to wrestle with the scriptures, trying to make them fit a certain way they want to believe something. (You will understand later why I say that.) God keeps the time, and He will not change even the slightest little detail of what His word declares is yet to be.

70 WEEKS EQUALS 490 YEARS

I believe we are ready to begin reading in Daniel 9:1, which takes up the account in the year 538 B.D., just two years prior to the actual release of certain jews by King Cyrus to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. We are bringing this in, for the sole purpose of showing how precise God is when He is dealing with a time element, so let us read. (1) “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; (2) In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, (Praise God! The Jews were a people that really believed in keeping record of their events and happenings. That is what you are reading when you read Kings and Chronicles, a historical account of their kings, and happenings. The word Chronicle itself, means, to set in order. But what Daniel is reading is the writings of the prophet Jeremiah who is no longer in the picture, for he is already dead at this time. Daniel was carried away into Babylonian captivity, in the first invasion, in the year 607 B.D., by Nebuchadnezzar’s army, and while in captivity, he had been reading Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning the length of time that the lord would allow them to be punished in this way, and knowing that the time had almost expired, he began to seek the face of God in the matter.) that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.” (You can read Jeremiah 25:11, and 29:10, if you want the exact prophecy that Daniel was referring to.) Daniel knew that he had been there almost seventh years already, and he felt that it was just about time for God to set in motion the next phase of Jeremiah’s prophecy. God was giving the land of Israel a rest, because those Jews had become so greedy for gain, they had failed to let the land rest from tilling one year out of every seven, according to the Levitical order given to Moses. While they were in captivity, the land of Israel was enjoying her sabbaths. By connecting certain scriptures together we find that Israel had actually gone on for 70 sabbaths without letting the land rest, so that really adds up to 490 years when you multiply 7 x 70. Therefore God is giving the land all of her neglected rest in one continuous period of time, and even though Daniel was taken into captivity in the year 607 B.D., when the final destruction was accomplished, and the Jewish temple lay in ruins. But Daniel, counting only the time of his own captivity, realized that he has been there in Babylon almost seventy years, and he becomes very concerned about what the Lord is going to do. That is when he begins to seek the face of God, and that brings us to verse 3, in the 9th chapter. (3) “And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fastings and sackcloth, and ashes: (4) And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God.” (You can read those verses of his confession later, but right now we want to get on down to verse 20, where the angel of the Lord appeared to him.) (20) “And while I was speaking, and praying, and confession my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God: (21) Yea while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. (That would be as the sun was setting in the evening.) (22) And He informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.” (We could go to Ezra 1:1-4, and read how God stirred the spirit of Cyrus the king of Persia, to build Him a house “temple” in Jerusalem, and see how the time worked out perfectly with the prophecy of Jeremiah, but you can read that later, for we must continue reading, here in Daniel 9, verse 23.) (23) “At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee; for thou are greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. (Notice now.) (24) 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.” I will not use chalk board, because of those who will hear this on tape. We have to present it clearly for those who could not see our illustrations. But to you who will hear this on tape, or read it in the Contender, let me say this, We have to realize that when Jeremiah prophesied this captivity, and the children of Israel began to be carried away, they were to be penalized 70 years, all because they had failed to observe seventy sabbatic sabbaths whereby according to the law given to Moses, the land was to be tilled six years, and rested the seventh. God promised to give them an abundant crop the sixth year, so there would be plenty to carry them through the seventh, but they became greedy and failed to rest the land, and God allowed them to go on like that for 490 years before He judged them for it. There, sits a profile of how God deals with Israel in a numerical way so much of the time. There in Babylon in 538 B.D., just two years prior ro the actual release, God tells Daniel that seventy WEEKS are determined upon his people. (For what?) To finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, 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. Brothers and Sisters: When you break that down, that means that in exactly 490 years of prophetic time Jesus Christ is going to be on earth literally, to sit up His Millennial reign. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 24:29, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: (30) And THEN shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and THEN shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man (Jesus) coming in the clouds of heaven with POWER and GREAT GLORY.” That is absolutely to take place exactly at the end of this 490 years of prophetic time allotted to God’s dealing with the Jewish people in their land. Many people get the seventy years of Babylonian captivity mixed up with the seventy weeks of Daniel’s vision, but they are absolutely not the same. You will see as we continue reading this 9th chapter of Daniel, that God gave those Jews a perfect yardstick to measure time by, and if they had used it correctly, they would have known exactly when to expect their Messiah to appear on the scene. You just have to realize that it is a prophetic yardstick, and that being so, there is a broken interval of time between the 69th week and the seventieth week while the prophetic clock is stopped for the nation of Israel. That is the part this is so hard for a lot of people to understand. Naturally I am speaking of Gentiles that are so wrapped up in John 3:16, they simply cannot see anything else. But God means for the bride of Jesus Christ to understand these things before the end of Gentile time.

TWO SEPARATE DECREES

Cyrus the Great, King of Persia

Alright now, we are showing this Cyrus decree that actually ended the seventy years of captivity for any Jew that wanted to go up to Jerusalem and work on the temple. God gave Daniel the vision and understanding of certain things in the year 538 B.D., and just two years later, when the full seventy years of captivity had expired, He moved upon Cyrus to set the plan in motion for their release. When you go to II Chronicles 36:22-23, you find where Cyrus the king, made a proclamation stating that the Lord God of heaven had given to him all the kingdoms of the earth, and that He had commanded him to build Him an house in Jerusalem. Then as you read the first chapter of Ezra, you find that the year is 536 B.C., and that it is the first year of the reign of Cyrus the great, and that he somehow knew that the Lord God of heaven had given him this kingdom to rule over. How do you suppose he knew all of this? I believe Daniel had been talking to him, Don’t you? It was Daniel, that helped him understand how much that temple meant to his own people that had by the year 536 B.C., been deprived of the use of it for seventy years. But it was God Himself that stirred the spirit of Cyrus to do something about it. Throughout his kingdom, went these words of Cyrus. Who is there among you of all His (God’s) people? (Jews) His God b with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, which is in Jerusalem. That released all the Jews that wanted to go. But remember, This was not the decree that started the seventy weeks of Daniel’s prophecy, this was the decree that ended the seventy years of captivity. From his own treasury Cyrus provided gold and silver for the Jews to take with them, but he also decreed that they should receive help from others throughout his kingdom. Ezra was not on the scene at this time; he stood out in the second great migration from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes, and was active with Nehemiah when the decree was given that activated the seventy weeks of Daniel’s prophecy. But Ezra’s writings go all the way back, to pick up the account of the first decree, given by Cyrus, and brings it up to date at that time, and then Nehemiah picks up in the year 446 B.D., and deals with the period of time that covers the building of the wall and the city itself, and the commandment to do that is what started the prophetic clock ticking on the 70 WEEKS, which actually covers 490 years of prophetic time allotted to God’s dealing with the Jews, and of which, there is exactly one WEEK left, exactly SEVEN years. Not 3½, but 7 years, no matter how you calculate it.

PROPHETS ON THE SCENE

Now when the temple was rebuilt the first time, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah were on the scene prophesying, while the temple was being constructed. That set a perfect type for what is ahead, for when the Millennial temple is being constructed, there will be two other Jewish prophets on the scene, prophesying. That will be the Moses and Elijah of Revelation 11:3-7, which will prophesy to Israel for a full 3½ years, which is the first half of the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy. Brothers and Sisters: I am trying to go slow, and be specific with the points of this subject, that I feel should enable every true child of God to see clearly, what pertains to what. Some have wondered about the 91 years between 536 B.C., when the decree ended the 70 years of captivity and 445 B.C., when the decree came that activated the 70 weeks of Daniel’s prophecy. But you just have to realize that they are not related in any way to the prophetic years. Well, how about the fact that not all of the Jews left Babylon in 546 B.C.? Some will say, Saints, you just have to realize that from the time Cyrus gave the decree of release in 536 B.C., there was not a thing holding those who wanted to go, but by the same token, they were not forced to leave. It was the same way in 457 B.D., when Ezra led another bunch of them up to Jerusalem; there were a lot of them that were prospering where they were, so they chose to stay in Babylon. All this time Daniel’s prophecy is still lying there, yet to be fulfilled. Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning 70 years of captivity as a result of failing to keep the law of sabbatic sabbaths which was given on behalf of the land itself, had been fulfilled exactly. The time was not cut short to 68½ years, and neither was it stretched out to cover 71¾ years; it was exactly 70 years. Therefore, Daniel’s 70 WEEKS will be exactly 70 weeks of years. Not 69½, nor 70½, but exactly 70 weeks, (490 years) then Jesus will be on earth, to rule and reign. It is of utmost importance though, if we are going to understand this prophecy, that we see the three divisions of that seventy weeks, and realize that there is a two thousand year interval of Gentile time between the 69th and the 70th weeks are allotted for the completing of these certain things, and verse 25 begins to break it down into three categories, so let us read it slowly, and think about what we are reading.

SEVENTY PROPHETIC WEEKS START

Daniel 9, verse (25) “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build (what?) Jerusalem (Not the temple; it is already built.) Unto the Messiah the Prince (Jesus) shall be SEVEN WEEKS, and threescore and two weeks: and threescore and two weeks: (That is another SIXTY TWO WEEKS.) the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” That covers a total of 69 WEEKS, when you add 7 weeks and 62 weeks together, and in just a few minutes, we are going to read verse 26, and see what happened at the end of that 62 week period. But right now, let us go to the 2nd chapter of Nehemiah, where we will see what led up to the decree that actually activated the 70 WEEKS prophecy. The year is 445 B.C., and Nehemiah, still in Babylon serving the king, has received word from some brethren that have returned from Jerusalem, that the city itself is still lying waste, the gates burned, and the people were suffering hardship and much affliction, and that made Nehemiah feel real bad, and it affected his countenance as he went about his duties as the king’s cupbearer. That brings us to Nehemiah chapter 2, where we will begin reading. (1) “And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. (2) Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, (3) And said unto the king, Let the King live forever: why should not my countenance be said, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?” Nothing had been said in the 536 B.C., decree about building the city or anything else other than the temple, and 91 years had come and gone, and the city was still as it was, and that burdened Nehemiah. He no doubt felt that this would automatically have gone along with the rebuilding of the temple, but for some reason it was left as it was. God knew why, but Nehemiah did not know. (4) “Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. (5) And I said unto the King, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.” Certainly we all understand that no one man alone is going to build the city, but with proper authorization and authority from the king, he would be able to gather together the people that it would take to accomplish the work. Verse 6, “And the king said unto me,(the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? And when wilt thou return? So it pleased the King to send me; and I set him a time. (7) Moreover I said unto the king, It if please the King, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; (8) And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertaineth to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.” A letter was given to Nehemiah according to his request, and that letter of authorization from the king, in the year 445 B.C., in the month of Nisan, was what set Daniel’s seventy weeks prophecy in force. That points right to Daniel 9:25, which we have already read. But let me say this, The word week does not just apply to a period fo seven days as we normally use it. It applies to a period fo seven. It could be days, months, or years, but in this particular instance, the term applies to seven year periods of time, seventy weeks of years. The first division in these seventy weeks was a definite seven WEEKS, and that would cover the first 49 years of the prophecy, and would be from 445 B.C., until Malachi came on the scene. By the time Malachi came upon the scene, the revival spirit had worn off of those Jews, and they had already ceased to offer acceptable sacrifice unto the Lord, so He sent Malachi with a rebuke, and a promise. He rebuked them for their ways, and promised to send them Elijah the prophet to deal with the apostate spirit before the coming of the GREAT and DREADFUL day of the Lord. From there, time moved on, and even though there was a division in the weeks of prophecy, there was no broken gap of time between the first seven weeks and the next sixty two weeks. Let me remind you also, at this time, that history is recorded by the secular calendar which consists of 365¼ days to each year, and prophetic time is calculated by a 360 days to the year Hebrew calendar, so do not expect the recorded dates to match exactly with what we know to be accurate according to prophetic time. If you are looking at dates in your Bible, they may not correspond, for that reason. Nevertheless 7 WEEKS added together come to a total of 483 years that would expire between the time of the Nehemiah decree to build the city, and the time when the Messiah the Prince would be cut off. So when you take the 49 years (SEVEN WEEKS)of the first seven weeks from that total of 483 years, you have 434 years left, from Malachi to the crucifixion. Sometime during the early part of that last 34 years, Jesus was born, and when He was crucified, (you believe me) It was exactly 483 years from the start of that 70 WEEKS of years of Daniel’s prophecy, leaving exactly 7 years (one week) that God will yet deal with the nation of Israel, before Jesus returns bodily to rule on earth for a thousand years.

JEWS – BACK IN APOSTASY

Rebuilding the Wall of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3-4). Wood engraving, published in 1886.

Now just to point out the fact that God knows everything by His great foreknowledge, He knew that Israel would not be true to Him once they were restored back to their land; therefore He marked the time by giving a division in the first 69 weeks when He would have to send a prophet upon the scene with a rebuke for them. The first thing Nehemiah set about to do, was get the walls built, for he knew that people were not going to be very interested in building homes and shops, until they had a wall around the city to protect them from their enemies. Once the walls were completed, and the people gained a little feeling of safety, they entered into a period of clearing away rubbish so they could begin to rebuild the city. His strategy worked fine, and the day came when Jerusalem was once again a city of commerce and trade as well as the religious center for the whole land of Israel, but the great revival that took place in the early days of their return did not last. For by the time that Nehemiah had returned to Babylon as he had promised to do, and Ezra had passed from the scene, those Jews had already began drifting back into apostasy, and by the time that those first 49 years had expired, Israel was again in a pitiful shape spiritually. Malachi came on the scene with a strong rebuke, but after Malachi, Israel never had another prophet until John the Baptist. That left them without “Thus saith the Lord,” for almost 400 years, for Malachi prophesied between the year 400 B.C., and 397 B.D. In that little short prophecy though, is found one of the great prophecies of the Bible. Let us turn to Malachi 3:1, and read it. “Behold I will send my messenger (John) and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, (Their Messiah which was Jesus the Christ) shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.” Let me hasten to say, that the covenant mentioned here is not to be associated with the covenant of Daniel 9:27. Jesus came with a covenant of eternal life for the house of Israel, just like Paul wrote in Hebrews 8:8, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.” Verse 10 finished my thought on that. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” The covenant in Daniel 9:27, is a peace covenant that the Antichrist will make with many, and especially with the political Jews of that hour, and that is the covenant that will be made for a one week (7 years) period of time, and then be broken in the middle of the week, or after 3½ years from the time it becomes effective. It will be an economic and political covenant that will give the world great hopes of peace and prosperity, just before she faces the darkest hour of all time, the great tribulation.

TRUE PRINCE CUT OFF

Let us go back to Daniel 9 now, and re-read verse 25, so we can be sure we get the straight through progression of the first 69 weeks, even though it is divided for emphasis, between the first 7 weeks, and the 62 weeks that follow. “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: (And, is a conjunction word that connects the two together, showing that there will be no broken gap between the seven weeks and the sixty two weeks, like there is between the sixty ninth and the seventieth week.) the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” It truly was troublous times, but the work was finally completed, and by the time 49 years had expired, the people had fallen right back into an apostate state of mind, and God sent Malachi with a rebuke for them, Malachi 1:7, “Ye have offered polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee?” He went on to remind them of how they had robbed Him, by withholding their tithes and offerings, and told them that they were cursed with a curse because of it. Malachi 3:14, “Ye have said, it is vain to serve God.” They were really in a pitiful shape after only 49 years from the actual decree that started the work on rebuilding the city, and it is interesting to note that Malachi was the last prophet God sent to them until it was time for John the Baptist to introduce the messenger of the new covenant that God had promised them. That left them 400 years without a prophet, all of which, is within the 62 week period of Daniel’s prophecy. Sixty two weeks of years adds up to a total of 434 years, and Jesus lived 33½ years, and was cut off, (crucified) and the year of His crucifixion is recorded in history as 33 A.D., so you can see that He had to be born sometime during the first part of that last 34 years of the 62 week period. For by the time He was cut off, God had worked conditions and circumstances around, so that exactly 69 weeks of Daniel’s prophecy had been fulfilled, leaving only one more week of years wherein He would deal specifically with Israel. But between that 69th and 70th week, you have the church agrees, two thousand years of time wherein the Gentiles have been given an opportunity to partake of the benefits of this glorious gospel of eternal life given first to the Jews. Alright now, notice the wording of verse 26, for this is where a lot of people are hung up right today. Instead of analyzing the actual wording of this verse, they just simply stop and assume something to be a fact that is not a fact at all. Daniel 9:26, “And AFTER threescore and two weeks (Saints, that literally means at the end of this 62 week period of time.) Shall Messiah, be cut off, but not for Himself.” A lot of people read that verse down to that point, stop, and begin to reason like this, Now Jesus ministered 3½ years, so the word after must mean that He was cut off in the middle of the seventieth week. How many of you actually understand what I am saying? You just simply do not interpret scripture by going backward; you interpret it by going forward. Jesus ministered 3½ years over here in the New Testament, but those Jews did not have that information to apply to this prophecy in the B.C. period. They had to take it for what it said, after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off. In other words, this was a prophecy that could stand alone, without the knowledge of how long the Messiah would minister to that nation before He was cut off. Therefore the word after, definitely means, after the complete duration of the sixty two weeks that have followed straight on through from the seven weeks, the Messiah would be cut off, and it would be immediately after, not 3½ years after. This is “Thus saith the word of God!” Now I hope none of you will think that I am trying to be something more than what I am, but even if you do, truth is truth, no matter what people may think. Besides that, He was born precisely at a time that would make the types and shadows of the law coincide exactly with the time that He was to be crucified, buried, and then rise from the dead. Brother, do not try to tell me that God is not precise in every little detail. He knows that exact moment five hundred years from now, that the sun will rise over the Judaean hills. I will just have to say to a lot of preachers of this message, Preacher! You do not know the God you claim to be serving. If you did, you would know better than to play around with 3½ years. That is why I say, If the Jewish rabbis who had Daniel’s prophecy had been reading it correctly, they would have known within a space of time, when to expect their Messiah. Simeon and Anna were at the temple watching for Him. It just goes to show that they believed their prophets, and they believed them in the right way. What they believed did not cause them to have to step across the scriptures, it held them right in line with the scriptures. I am saying all of this to impress upon your minds the fact that Jesus the Messiah, the Prince of Daniel 9:25, was cut off immediately after the full sixty nine weeks had run their course, not 3½ years later, not 2 years later, nor 1 year, not even six months later, but absolutely immediately. Furthermore He was not cut off because of any wrong thing that He had done, for He was unlawfully condemned to death, by that bunch of holier-than-thou Jews, that could not see two feet in front of their faces spiritually, just like this spiritually blind character that branded Bro. William Branham as a false prophet. To those Scribes and Pharisees, Jesus was a false prophet. They saw Him only as a troublemaker, always trying to stir up trouble. They looked upon Him as a perverter of everything that was right, simply because they themselves were blind as bats, and could not see where they were going. They read Daniel’s prophecy, but did not understand anything about it, for their Messiah had come to them exactly according to that prophecy, and they called Him a devil. What a bunch of hypocrites. Yet they were the spiritual leaders of their day. Brothers and Sisters: We are living in an hour just like that hour. The “supposed to be” spiritual leader of our day are just exactly like those Jews that condemned Jesus to death; if Jesus appeared on the scene today, they would do the very same thing.

A CERTAIN SEAT OF AUTHORITY

Emperor Titus Vespasian. Destroyer of Jerusalem and the Temple, 69-70AD. Image: Wikimedia Foundation
Emperor Titus Vespasian. Destroyer of Jerusalem and the Temple, 69-70AD. Image: Wikimedia Foundation

Let us finish reading verse 26 now. We read down to where the Messiah was 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.” The prince in that verse is not Jesus the Messiah; it is a prince of the people that destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Now tell me, Who brought about that destruction? The Roman army, you say, and that is exactly right. All of history agrees upon that. Well then, Who is a prince of the Romans? Here is where a lot of arguments start. In the day that Jerusalem was destroyed, there was no such thing as a pope. There was no Roman catholic church in those days, but now there is, and the prince that shall come will be the pope that is in office when the last week of Daniel’s prophecy goes, and that un-measured time as far as Jewish prophecy goes, and that un-measured time has spanned more than 1900 years, and secular history has recorded every year of it, and that prince of verse 26, has not come yet, but true children of God know that he will come, and they know when he will come, (prophetically) and they know who he will be. That is, they know his office, and they know what he will do when he comes, because verse 27 tells us what he will do. Let us read it. “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: (7 years) and in the midst (middle) of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” Now Saints: That verse will clear your mind if you will allow it to. There has never been any sacrifice and oblation since the time Titus and his Roman army destroyed the temple, and made Jerusalem a waste land.

Arch of Titus. A memorial constructed by the Romans to celebrate the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem

But when the seventieth week of Daniel goes into effect, those orthodox Jews will clear off that rock of Omar, and start offering sacrifice to God, according to the law of Moses, even before the temple itself is built. While that Millennial temple is being built there will be those two Jewish prophets of Revelation 11:3-7, prophesying to the nation, and orthodox Jews will be offering sacrifice upon the only altar that God will ever accept such sacrifice from, because the temple itself will not be built over the rock, as the Moslem mosque is, for the altar is to be in the outer court of the Jewish temple. As for the peace covenant with the Antichrist, there is an element of political Jews over there right now, that would sign such a peace pact in a minute of time. Mr. Begin would not sign it, but there are plenty that would. As for the identity of the Antichrist, I did not say that he would have to be a Roman by birth, but I am saying that he will be a prince whose seat of authority is Rome. The men of the army that destroyed Jerusalem were not all Roman born, but the seat of authority over them was Roman. Old Nero the Roman emperor, sent Vespasian and his son Titus into Israel to quieten a civil disturbance, and one thing let to another, until the mass destruction was brought about. Therefore knowing that it was the Roman army that destroyed the city, and the sanctuary, verse 26, lets us know that the prince that is yet to come will have to be a prince whose seat of authority is Rome. What other prince could that be, but the Roman Catholic Pope? He is the only man on earth today, that enjoys universal authority over people. The president of Italy does not enjoy the kind of influence over the people of all nations, that would cause them to look to him for the solution to world conflicts. The man who turns out to be the literal Antichrist will have to be a man that the nations look up to as a man that can be trusted, a man of wisdom, and a man of authority. Therefore the pope of Rome is the only man on earth, with authority from the same place as the army that destroyed Jerusalem. He actually sits in the same authoritative position as the old Roman emperors. People of all nations, no matter what color they may be, will bow down and kiss him feet. Saints: Do you understand what I have said? Do not look for the Antichrist to come from any place other than from that office, no matter what Jimmy Swaggart may say. Men like that cannot afford to tell you the truth, even if they knew it, for they would lose too much of their financial support. They might also have to suffer a little persecution along the way, if they start telling people the truth about these things. But nevertheless the people of this prince that is yet to come did destroy the city of Jerusalem, and the sanctuary, (the temple) and it was with a flood of persecution until the desolations were accomplished. Now, Did I say that Vespasian and Titus went there with a command to destroy the city? Absolutely not. God knew it, and he prophesied it through Daniel, but those Roman generals did not know that it would turn out that way. Alright then, let me ask you another question. Will the old pope of Rome know what he is going to do to those Jews in the middle of his seven year covenant of peace when he negotiates that great plan? Absolutely not. It will be the constant lambasting of those two prophets against him, and the way those spiritual Jews react to their ministry, that actually stirs up his wrath to the point where he will have them killed, and then begin an all out campaign of persecution against the Jews. Daniel and John wrote it all in the book, but those who fulfill the various parts of this prophecy are not doing it because they have read the script, and they are acting out their part; they are doing what they do because they were destined to do what they are doing, and the great foreknowledge of God just revealed it ahead of time. God will not have to force the pope to kill those two prophets in order to fulfill his word; the very spirit in him will just be reacting according to its true nature, and God will only have to work circumstances to where it will work out exactly in the middle of the week. Satan is the murderer, but God who is mightier than he, restrains him until the time is right. Satan would have killed Jesus, before He ever even performed His first miracle, but God withheld him until the proper time. That is why Jesus could say, My time is not yet fully come. Yet when His time did come, He knew it, and He went into the garden and kneeled down, and prayed, and after praying like any man would, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” He ended His prayer, “Not my will, but thine be done,” and surrendered to those that had come to arrest Him. Prophetically, what time did that occur? At exactly the end of 483 years from the time Nehemiah acquired the decree from King Artaxerxes to build the wall and the city. We are talking about prophetic years of 360 days each, naturally, so do not try to prove it by the use of a Julian calendar, for you will only have a little more than 478 years.

IDENTITY OF LITTLE HORN

As I have already said, The church ages come between verses 26 & 27, of the ninth chapter of Daniel. Therefore everything down through verse 26, is already behind us, leaving only verse 27, to cover the seventieth week that is yet ahead of where we are today. Israel is flying her own flag over Jerusalem again, and has been ever since June 1967, when she regained control of it, but Gentiles are still trying to tell her how to run her business. What most of them do not know, is that God Himself is calling the shots, and it is just about time for Him to send His two prophets, Moses and Elijah, to set that seventieth week in motion, and there is no way that Israel could give in to their demands, lest it upset the stage that is already set for that purpose. It is too late in time, for Israel to give up anything that she is supposed to have when that last week of time starts. Bro. Jackson: Do you really believe it is that close? I believe it is too close, for Israel to give up to the demands of world politicians and start all over again. I believe Ezekiel 38 & 39 is knocking right at our door. Isn’t that just to the Jews? Some will say. The prophecy is to the Jews, but every last one of us will be affected by the fulfillment of it, if we are still alive at that time. I believe that war will have such repercussions, that world politicians will rush to the peace table, and be willing to sign any kind of agreement that would offer them assurance that a thing like that would never happen again. That will put the old pope in the driver’s seat, and put him in a position to fulfill his role in Daniel’s prophecy. “HE shall confirm the covenant with MANY for one week.” The word HE, in verse 27, has to correspond with the LITTLE HORN of Daniel 7:8-26. That little horn was established through historical time, that brings it right up to our day, and it is in our day that it actually corresponds to the he, of Daniel 9:27. Daniel 12, and Revelation 13, fill in the rest of the necessary details for a proper understanding of his role, and the duration of it. In Daniel 12:6, when the question was asked, “How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?” The answer came back, verse 7, “It shall be for a time, (one year) times, (two more years) and a half; (half a year) and when he (This is the same he, that we see in 9:27.) shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, (Jews) all these things shall be finished.”

HORN-BEAST-POPE-ANTICHRIST-FALSE PROPHET

Triple Crown of the Pope

Now Saints, I am going to prove to you who will accept the Bible as the authority on these things, that the HE, of 9:27, and 12:7, is the Antichrist, and that the time, times, and half time, is 3½ prophetic years, and that it is 3½ years which start when the daily sacrifice and oblation is suddenly denied those Jews that have been worshiping God according to the law of Moses ever since the beginning of that week of time. We will have to go back to Daniel 7, to nail down Rome as the seat of authority for the Antichrist, and show what Daniel saw him doing to the saints of the most High. This is the same man that is referred to in other scriptures by various other titles; such as, The Little Horn, The Beast, The Antichrist, The False Prophet, and they are all titles that belong to the man who sits in the papal chair in Rome. Daniel is telling of a vision he had, in which he saw four great beasts come up from the sea. (The sea of people. We can prove that by scriptures such as Revelation 13:1, 17:1, 17:15.) Each beast was different from the others. The first was like a lion, and it had eagles wings. This beast represented the world empire of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. (See Daniel 2:37-38) The second beast was like a bear, and that represented the world empire of Media-Persia. The third beast was like a leopard, and that represented the world empire of Greece, under Alexander the great. Then in verse 7, Daniel says, “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. (See Revelation 13:1, where John saw this same beast with ten horns, and verse 2 where it shows that all the power of those three beasts before it were swallowed up, and incorporated within its structure.) I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn, (There is your pope, just keep that in mind.) Before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” We do now hate time to read all of this, but you should try to, later, in order to get the whole picture more clearly. Verse 17 shows that the four beasts were four kings, (or kingdoms) which shall arise out of the earth. But the one that really troubled Daniel was that fourth beast, and in verse 19, you find him asking the angel about it. He wanted to know especially, about that little horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. In verse 21, he says, “I beheld, and the same horn made ware with the saints, and prevailed against them; (for how long?) Until the Ancient of days came, (Jesus Christ, at the end of the seventieth week) and judgement was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” Isn’t that exactly what we are looking for? Here is what the angel told Daniel in answer to his inquiry. Verse 23, “Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, (Every school child knows that was Rome.) which shall be diverse (different) from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, (The old world) and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. (Notice verse 24 now.) “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; (That was the bishop of Rome working his way into the old caesars chair, and later became known as the pope of the “universal church.” and today, he is the pope of the Roman Catholic Church, and his seas of authority is still Rome.) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak with great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand (How long?) Until a time and times and the diving of time.” In these verses, we see the ten kingdoms of the breakup of the old Roman imperial rulership, and the little horn (ecclesiastical horn) that worked his way right up through all those others, (Horn speaks of power.) until he eventually gained the supremacy over them all. There was never any greater power arose in Europe than the power of the papacy. When they talk about the Dark Ages, let them remember this, It was not the emperor of Rome that made it the Dark Ages, it came about through the maneuvering of the pope of Rome. Daniel was looking hundreds of years into the future in that vision where he saw all of this, but today, we can read most of it from our history books. History reveals how the pope of Rome subdued those three kings during those Dark Age years. What we have to remember, is that this is not the same man doing everything that Daniel saw that little horn doing. It is the same devil all the way through, but he has to work through whichever man happens to be sitting in the papal chair. Many popes have fulfilled their part of this vision, but there is yet one, that shall actually be the incarnate devil. He is the one that shall speak great words against the most High, (in the great tribulation time) and shall wear out the saints of the most High. He will make a decree, in the middle of the seventieth week of Daniel, that will initiate a bloodbath for the Jews. That is when he shall accomplish to scatter the power of the holy people, when the spiritual element of that nation flees into their place of hiding, that the Lord has prepared for them, and Revelation 12:6 tells us exactly how long she will have to hide out in that place, a thousand two hundred and threescore days. That is exactly 3½ years of prophetic time.

GOD KEEPS THE TIME

Dear Brother, Dear Sister: It never ceases to amaze me, how so many preachers of this end time message can argue until they are blue in the face, that there is only 3½ years left, of that last week of Daniel, and all the time knowing that the Jews will have two prophets prophesying to them for 3½ years, in the land of Israel, and knowing also, that the woman (spiritual Israel, awakened by those two prophets) will flee into the wilderness for 3½ years, where she will hide out until the wrath of the Antichrist has been brought to its end by the visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ. It just goes to show, how they will walk right over the Bible, and hold on to a statement from a Spoken Word book. They would never take the time to sit down with their Bible, and the necessary history books, to trace this thing out. But I am here to tell you, that there is no possible way for you to stretch time far enough to get 486½ years of fulfilled prophetic time, starting with the Nehemiah decree. Even allowing for a little discrepancy in changing from B.C. time to A.D. time, you will still come up short. B.D. time ended with the death of King Herod, and A.D. time is calculated from the advent of Christ, (His birth) and we know from the gospels, that King Herod was still alive when Jesus was born, so that leaves a few years in there, that cannot be correlated precisely. We have to realize also, that A.D. time was not really set in motion until many years after the birth, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. Then when men did try to figure the time, and make a calendar, they have already updated it at least three times, and it still does not figure out right. I am certain, that with all the knowledge we have in this computer age, it could be done, but do you realize what the consequences would be? You cannot change all your history books over night. It would drive people crazy, if the calendar was updated at this point in time, for all history is recorded by the Roman calendar. When we printed the seventy weeks of Daniel article before, I knew the B.C. and A.D. were mixed up, right at point zero, therefore we just strictly calculated years of elapsed time, and pinpointed the birth of Christ at point zero as it should be, but that is not completely satisfactory, for it is a known fact that Jesus was born sometime prior ro the death of King Herod, and people get their thoughts mixed up when you start comparing solar time with prophetic time, and you lose their attention. But in order to show you that there is no possible way for you to come up with enough years to have Jesus crucified in the middle of Daniel’s seventieth week, let us take the 445 years of B.C. solar time, when the Nehemiah decree went into effect, and add to it the 33½ years of the life of Christ, and we come up with a total of 478½ years of solar time. Then we will multiply that by 365½ days, to get the total number of days involved, and that comes to 174,772 days, and then you must divided that by 360 days to a prophetic year, and when you do that, you still have only 485½ years, and that still leaves you short of the necessary 486½ prophetic years that it would take to have Jesus crucified in the middle of Daniel’s seventieth week. However, if you will accept the Bible for what it says, you will see that Jesus was cut off precisely at the end of the 69th week, and that leaves one full week to be fulfilled yet, which is seven years of 360 days each, and that works out perfectly with the 1260 days to flee from the wrath of the Antichrist and hide, from the time those prophets are killed. In the calculations we just did, you cannot even get 485½ years of actual time, for Nehemiah received that decree in the month Nisan, in the year 445 B.C. That would be part of March and part of April on your solar calendar, and actually, by the time you get it all calculated, you will find that you barely have 444 years of time, before the birth of Christ.. I hope this helps some misguided souls that have been bogged down in quotes, without a scriptural leg to stand on. For you simply cannot squeeze two 1260 day periods into 3½ years!

EXCERPTS 

CALCULATING TIME

“One Week Left”, 1983

Now I want to explain something, and I hope you will follow closely and get the picture. We want to fix the cut off point in this 490 year prophecy that went into effect in the year 445 B.C. We must all see the same thing eventually, if we be the bride of Jesus Christ. He will not rapture a bride that has a dozen different versions of something that only has one version to it. I am using Jewish history because this prophecy is regulated by God’s dealing with the Jewish people, not Gentiles. Therefore let us settle our minds on the fact that somewhere before this whole 62 week period of time would come to a close, the Messiah would be born, and right here is where the great mixup in dates really causes trouble. Prophetically, we must fix the time of Malachi’s prophecy at around 400 B.C., for we have B.C. and A.D. time to deal with. All of us know that B.C. indicates time before the advent of Christ, and A.D. pertains to time, after the advent of Christ. Right? Therefore B.C. time stops where A.D. time begins, or vice versa, and the birth of Christ was the marker. Now the historians, the scholars who deal with such things, have tried to update the calendar so many times that they are fouled up, and hardly any of them can agree as to when Jesus was born. They start with where we are presently and figure backward, and they come out with ever so many different years that Jesus was born in, some as far back as 7 B.C., others 4 B.C., 3 B.C. and 1 B.C. But I want you to consider this, Jesus was born in the fall of the year. He had to be, in order to be 33½ years old in the month of Nisan which compares to part of March and part of April on our calendar. Are you following me? We all know He was crucified in the month Nisan, and that figures out to have been about April 6th or 8th, give or take a day. Alright now, His ministry lasted for about 3½ years. Is that not right? Now take that 3½ years back from the time He was crucified, and you will wind up in the fall of the year. He was baptized by John to begin His ministry, and the Bible says He was about 30 years old at that time. When you subtract 30 years from that time you will not be in the month of December. Neither will you be in March, nor April; you will be in the fall of the year. Right? That is why I say Jesus was born somewhere between the year 1 and 0 B.C. Think for just a moment now. If the year 1 B.C. started January 1, you would not stop the year the moment Jesus was born. If (for example) Jesus was born in the month of October, in the year 1 B.C., that year would still have to finish out, all the way through December 31, before you could start this year, 1 A.D. Are you still with me? Therefore in the year 1 A.D., in the month of October, He would have been 1 year old. You just have to remember that historical records are kept by a 365½ days to the year calendar, and prophecy is given according to a 360 days to the year calendar. This 490 years (70 weeks of years) that we are dealing with, is 490 prophetic years, consisting of 360 days each, not 365½ like you have on your solar calendar. Most historians will agree, that in ancient times, even the Egyptians, for a period, used a 360 day calendar. Many of the nations did. But they knew that the sun and the moon was out of balance, therefore, every so often, in the various nations that used this means, to calculate a year, 360 days, they would insert another month, this would occur every so often, this is absolutely the type of calendar that God gave the Israelites coming out of that Egyptian bondage, and the calendar that he gave them, started in the spring of the year. You read this in Exodus, and the first month of that year was called Abib. But after they went into Babylonian captivity, then they dropped the word Abib, and it took on the title, Nisan. Now right over here, is where they pick it up, while in Babylonian captivity. Nisan occurs in the spring of the year, and is related with the last part of March, and through the first part of April; that is when their month begins. That is when their religious calendar starts. Because it always dates back to the time when God brought the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage. Now, with this type of calendar, with this type of calculation, prophetic years, keep in mind, 360 days to the prophetic year, we will balance as we go along, but I want you to keep in mind, you’re dealing in the prophetic year, term, 360 days to that particular year. Therefore it lets me know, this is 490 prophetic years, not 490 solar years. Now how many in here know what solar year means? It means 365¼ days for the earth to make its totals traverse around the sun. This should tell a lot of people something. As I said before, evidently it happened in the flood, that the earth was pushed out of relationship to the sun, just far enough that it increased the rotation around the sun, this lengthened the whole journey, and this also brought the earth closer to the moon, which shortened the circumference of the moon’s rotation around the earth, while the two are together, going around the sun, and this shortened the lunar month, from actually 30 full days, to actually about 29½. Now, the Jewish calendar begins each month with a new moon. In actuality, if the universe today was in perfect balance, here is what you would have. In every year you would have 12 new moons. What is it, the pagans, even the ancient Indians kept records by? The moon. That is why you have always heard the old saying, many moons ago. It came from the Indians. Because there was in the knowledge of man, to keep time by the moon. He watched it rise from a new one, he watched it grow, and everything like that. Even the Orients today hold the lunar year, which means their whole year is measured by the rise of the new moon, and so forth, and that is exactly the calendar that God gave to Israel, in its prophetic relationship. Now, if everything was in perfect balance, the earth was with the sun, exactly the way it should be, and the moon the earth, we would have 12 lunar months, full 30 days each, and this would absolutely take out all confusion of time, and it would put 360 days each, and this would absolutely take out all confusion of time, and it would put 360 days, it would take that for the earth to go around the sun. And you know and I know, when you go to school, they will ask you, How many degrees are there in a circle? 360. I believe that God is the perfect mathematician. Don’t you? He has to be. He set the stars, now you could take all the other planetary bodies in space, they work perfect. Scientists can calculate exactly where Jupiter will be 100 years from now, because they know its route, its speed through space, and everything, and therefore, where it will be 100 years from now. Now that is the point we’re looking at. You must understand that the calendar we will be exploring here, is the prophetic calendar, but in doing so, it is necessary to use dates that are recorded in history by the Julian calendar. The important thing for you to understand from this message is not the dates that various things occurred, but rather, you should understand from what we show you, that from the going forth of the Nehemiah decree to restore and to build Jerusalem, right down to the time Jesus Christ the Messiah, was crucified, was exactly 483 prophetic years, which is exactly 69 weeks of the 70 weeks of time that we are dealing with. If you can just understand that there is yet one full week of prophetic time (7 years) left to the Jews, you will not be misled by these preachers who run around all over the world saying, that Jesus was cut off in the middle of the seventieth week. It was not Jesus cut off in the middle of that week, that we see there in Daniel 9:27; it will be the Jewish sacrifice and evening oblation that will be cut off by the Antichrist in the middle of that week which is yet ahead of where we are, that will fulfill Daniel 9:27. They do not even have such a thing now, but when that week truly does start, they will set up their altar and begin offering sacrifice to god, even while they are building the temple, just like they did when they were rebuilding the temple the first time. You read in Ezra 3:6, “From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not even yet laid.” That is exactly what they will do when they gain control of the temple grounds somewhere just out in front of where we are in time. Remember, God is the one who is watching over the time, and He is not checking out calendar to keep up with it either; He is going by His calendar that has never changed. Praise His name!

TWO PROPHETS DEMONSTRATING GOD

While the political leaders of many nations are sitting around their peace conference table, making a covenant with the Roman Catholic pope: something else is going to be taking place in that little land of Israel. Two Jewish prophets are going to step on the scene, and a great revival is going to break out. They will be demonstrating God just like Moses and Aaron did in the land of Egypt, and the true spiritual Jews will be having the time of their lives. Saints, do not think for one minute that the old peace loving pope will just ignore all of this. You can believe me; he will be watching the national news on television every night. What those two prophets do in that hour will draw more attention than the hostages in Iran ever did. Never have you seen the news media flock around anything, like they will them. They (the two prophets) will be standing in the streets of Jerusalem, warning those Jews not to have anything to do with the Antichrist which they will be revealing, and at the same time they will be revealing the true Prince of Peace to their brethren. They will be vindicating their ministry by calling down the plagues that you read about in the 8th chapter of Revelation. Believers will be receiving the Holy Ghost, and unbelievers will be partaking of the plagues. What a stir that is going to cause! The old pope will manage to bear it for a period of 3½ years, but by then it will be more than he can allow to go on any longer. He will be backed into a corner so to speak. Here he is, a man that is looked upon by the world as the great mouthpiece of God, and over there in Israel two men are demonstrating God in such a way that it is holding world attention. Where does that leave him? If he lets this go on, it will wreck his whole program. No doubt by then the Arab world will be having political repercussions that will be pulling on hi, so what is left for him to do? The old pope will pick up his sword and head for the land of Israel. Naturally his sword is his authority to call in international troops that will be at his complete disposal. They will fulfill Revelation 11:7, by killing those two prophets and the old pope will fulfill Daniel 11:45, “And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas (between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea) in the glorious hold mountain.” That could be no other place but right on Mt. Zion. Did not the apostle Paul say that he would sit himself in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God? He will demand worship, for by this time he will have been anointed by Satan to fulfill all that is written about him. His first attention will be directed to having those two prophets killed, and from there on out for the duration of his allotted time, he will fulfill at that Antiochus, Titus, and Judas typed. He is the god of gods in his own eyes, and he will serve the god of forces, the god of money, the god of power. He will still have a belief about God, but it will be such a warped belief, such a perverted belief that h will fulfill what Daniel wrote in chapter 11; he will not be serving the same god as his fathers, those who held the office of pope before him. Brothers and Sisters: I hope you are seeing how all these various scriptures fit together. None of this Bible was written in vain. It will help you if you will allow it to. But remember above all else, it is only that which you have by revelation that will hold you when the going gets rough. The Antichrist, the son of perdition is ordained to lead the unbelieving world to destruction, but to you who believe, let me say to you what Paul said to the Thessalonians. Let no man deceive you by any means, and do not be troubled in your spirit by all these various dates that certain individuals are pushing, for the day of our gathering together unto Christ will not come until this great falling away has run its course, and the man of sin, who is the son of perdition, the Antichrist has been revealed. When that peace covenant is signed and those two prophets step on the scene, then, and only then can you set dates for certain things to happen. At least we know from the scriptures how many days are allotted both to the two witnesses as well as the Antichrist. Each have 1260 days, and God Himself will keep the time on them.

AFTER THE SEVENTIETH WEEK

Let us look at another specific time element that Jesus established in Matthew 24:29. This follows right behind the 42nd month period of time that we have just been dealing with. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” Now when He said, Immediately after the tribulation of those days; He did not mean 6 months later; He meant immediately, right then. That is what marks the end of that week of Daniel. That is what marks the end of the reign of the Antichrist. Notice that next verse, what follows that great power shaking event. (30) “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Saints! Pay attention to what I am going say! This scripture WAS NOT fulfilled in 1963, when the cloud of angels appeared to Bro. William Branham. Those who believe it was, are still looking for the rapture, and the resurrection, and they believe the tribulation is still ahead of us. Would you please tell me how they hope to make that line up with the scriptures? If this scripture (Matthew 24:29-30) was fulfilled in 1963; then let us face facts; the rapture, the resurrection, and the great tribulation is already in the past, Jesus is in the Millennium with His saints, and we missed it all. Is that what you want to believe? I just talk like this to get your attention; every revelated person knows better than to believe those preachers who preach that. It does not take much revelation to see where a thing like that would put you. But these characters have the nerve to stand up and say, That Jackson does not preach what the prophet does. Yes I do! The only difference is, I preach it from the Bible, and they just quote, quote, quote, use the quotes out of context, and add their own private interpretation as to what the quotes mean. That is why so many of them are in false doctrine, and have their minds so clogged up, they could not even receive a true revelation if it was slapping them in the face. Brothers and Sisters: Please do not think that I am boasting; if it was not for the grace of God, there is no telling what I might be preaching today, for I sat right among them, and heard the same verbal words that Bro. William Branham, that they did. I will say this, though, I have never found any reason to take what he said and twist it around trying to make it say something else.

-END OF EXCERPTS

PROPHECIES FOR THE WISE

From Daniel, chapter 7, we see without any doubt whatsoever, that the Antichrist will have to be a prince whose seat of authority is Rome. We see, in chapter 9, that he is going to confirm a covenant with many for one week, and in the midst (middle) of the week, he will break that covenant, and stop those orthodox Jews from offering up their daily sacrifice to God. Then in Daniel 12, we find that this one who breaks the covenant and begins in all out persecution of the Jews, is going to be allowed three and one half years of time, in which, he will kill and destroy, and exalt himself above all that is called holy. (This was Paul’s words, 2nd Thessalonians 2:4) When Daniel was told that this would go on for a time, times, and an half, and when he (the Antichrist) shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the Holy people, ALL these things shall be finished, he said, I heard, but I understood not. Then he said, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? The angel replied, “Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the TIME OF THE END. (that is our day.) Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” That lets us know that this prophecy of Daniel was not supposed to be understood until the last generation before the return of Christ. (Naturally I am talking about the complete prophecy as it applies to the end.) Notice also, that the wicked were never meant to understand, but that the WISE shall understand. There is no doubt about it; the wise Gentile virgins, and the Jews that God is dealing with, shall understand. Now in verse 11, of the 12th chapter, the angel goes ahead speaking, and says,

“And from the time that the DAILY SACRIFICE shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, (That is absolutely the middle of the week.) There shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” Saints, did you notice that the angel adds an extra 30 days to the thousand two hundred and threescore days we find in the other scriptures? Keep that in mind, and let us read verse 12, before we comment. “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.” There is another 45 days, making a total of 75 days more than the 1260 days allotted to the Antichrist. First let me explain who is blessed, and then we will talk about the extra days. Suppose we just read it like this, Blessed is the man that is still alive when 1335 days have passed, from the time the Antichrist breaks the covenant. Why? He is going to see his Messiah. Where? Physically, on earth, right in Jerusalem. That in no way pertains to the bride, for she is going to be with Jesus when He comes back to earth, just like Revelation 19 portrays it. This is a promise to the spiritual Jew, as he goes through that terrible dark hour of time. Another important thing we need to take note of, is the exact number of days that is mentioned. That shows that God will not let time run on to who knows when, once the thing is accomplished. He gives 1260 days to the two prophets, to prophesy, and 1260 days to the Antichrist to kill and destroy, and you can be absolutely sure that neither one will be cut short, nor stretched out, not even for one day. Alright then, what about those extra days in Daniel 12:11&12? That extra 75 days will cover the wrath of God that is poured out upon wicked mankind once the great tribulation has ran its course of 1260 days, and also the cleansing and sanctifying of the temple, after it has been defiled by this wicked man of sin. In other words, by the time 1335 days have transpired from the middle of the week, Jesus will have His Millennial reign set up, and blessed is everyone that remains alive to witness and be a part of that. Hallelujah! It just thrills my soul to see how clearly this word of God is laid out, for all who have eyes to see and ears to hear. This blessedness is a promise to those spiritual Jews that will live through that great tribulation period, and step out into the Millennium, on the other side of it. The angel does not explain these extra days to Daniel, but by the Spirit of God, we know that they are days of time that will elapse while Armageddon is being wrapped up, and the temple cleansed and sanctified, and everything set in order for the Millennium. Brothers and Sisters: the prophecy of Daniel has been closed for centuries, and so has Revelation, but we are now in the days when they are no longer closed. Somebody has got to understand them, and you can rest assured, it will not be the tares, nor wicked mankind; it will only be the true people of God. “The WISE shall understand.” Saints, that does not apply to the wise of the world system; it only applies to those who are wise spiritually. There are no mathematical calculations, nor any scientific formulas that can get us out of here, out of this present world, and over to the other side. Only the grace of God can do that, and it will only be done for those that are spiritually wise, those who have walked with the Lord, by a spiritual revelation. Praise God! It is a wonderful day to be living in. The world is full of darkness and despair, but the children of God are not walking in darkness. Even while Daniel and Revelation were both sealed books, many were purified and made white, tried, and tested, just like the angel told Daniel they would be. They did not need to know those things that were sealed up until the end time. The wicked have always continued in their wickedness, but as the end draws near, wickedness in its true sense is getting worse and worse, and none of them shall understand. Understand what? How many rocks are on the moon? How to build a more sophisticated shuttle to the moon? No! How to look into the book of Daniel and tell how close we are, to the coming of Jesus Christ. That is what this yardstick is here for. It is basically for the Jews, but the Bride of Christ will also use that time measurement, as she prepares herself to meet her bridegroom. To the revelated Jews, it is God’s way of letting them know that time will not linger on, not even for one day, past those days that are recorded there. That is why Jesus could say, in Matthew 24, which we have already read, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: AND THEN shall appear the sign of the Son of man (Jesus) in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of earth mourn, (Why will they mourn? Because He is coming in judgment and wrath, and all the armies of heaven will be with Him.) and they (wicked mankind) shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” These are the ones that mourn when they see Him. These are the ones that cry unto the rocks and mountains, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. (Revelation 6:16) When that hour arrives, the armies of the world will be engages in that awful battle that so many have talked about down through the years of time, the battle of Armageddon, (Revelation 6:16) and Jesus will come from heaven with His great army, and fight against them all, and destroy them. That is when He cleanses the earth from all evil and wickedness, and chooses His Millennial subjects that will pass over, alive, in their natural bodies, to repopulate the earth.

THE FALSE PRINCE OF PEACE

Now, what about this covenant that the Antichrist is going to confirm with many for one week? It is definitely going to be a covenant of peace, prosperity, universal brotherhood and tranquility, which will cover economic, political, religious, and military conditions, and offer the world what she has been crying for. What is the cry of the world? “We are all one, Let us have world peace, Let us divide the wealth of the world, Let everyone do what he wants to do morally, and so forth.” Brother! The kind of peace these people are looking for, is never going to be a reality this side of the Millennium, and those who are crying the loudest for it, will never partake of it, for they will sell out to the Antichrist, accept his false peace conditions, and damn their souls forever, both Jews and Gentiles. God knew that there would be an element of Jews in the end time, that would be so blind spiritually, and so far astray from their Bible prophecies, that they would fall completely, for such a material outlet as the Antichrist will offer them. There are many Jews in the land of Israel right today, that are not even looking for a literal anointed Messiah which will be God incarnate. If you were to ask some of them what they believe about the Messiah, they would answers, Well, we believe that the Messiah can actually be an era of time, in which God moves upon society to bring about an age of prosperity, tranquility, and universal peace. In 1968, we had an opportunity to speak with a Jewish Rabbi, and we asked him what he thought about that kind of philosophy, and he replied, If I believed like that, I would be justified in saying that the Messiah could very well be an IBM machine, meaning, some mechanical, or electronic gadget programmed to run such an era of peace. In other words, fill it with information on what you desire, press a button, and just sit back and wait for the answer. The reason there are so many Jews thinking like that, is because they have nothing on their mind other than how to make their next million dollars. They are ready to sell out to the devil, in any scheme he presents to them, if it has a promise of material prosperity tied to it. Even in the Knessett right today, there are a lot of political leaders that are not in agreement with what Mr. Begin believes and stands for. They will sell out to the U.N., or any other peace structure in a minute of time, yet they call themselves Jews. It just lets us know, that they interpret everything from the scriptures, looking only toward a material end. They are of the sort that looked the Messiah in the face over 1900 years ago, and called Him a devil. That is why Jesus made the statement to them, “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: (In other words, I am your Messiah, and you are too blind spiritually, to recognize me.) if another shall come in his own name, (meaning the Antichrist) him ye will receive.” That statement belongs to Daniel 9:27, the false prince of peace who will receive more honor from world politicians, than Jesus received from anyone in His first advent. If the pope had appeared on the scene instead of Jesus, those Scribes and Pharisees would have fell for his bait immediately, for what he will offer, is what those Jews were looking for. Even some of the disciples of Jesus, when they began to get the idea that He could be the Messiah, began to allow their minds to run off into thoughts of materialism. That is why the other of James and John came to Him, and requested that He would grant her two sons to sit, the one on one side, and the other on the other side of Him, in His kingdom. That is why His disciples asked Him, “Will you at this time, deliver the kingdom to Israel?” They were looking for a material kingdom, and a King that would lead them into a life of ease. But Jesus came to them with a covenant of eternal life, rather than a covenant of world peace and prosperity, and they rejected it. This was no surprise to God though, for He had already given Daniel this prophecy, more than 500 years before that, promising those political Jews exactly what they would be looking for in this end time, a prince that would offer them an economic covenant of peace and prosperity. If they had accepted the true Prince, there would have been no place for this false prince. But God knew they would reject Him, and God knew they would crucify Him after He had ministered exactly 3½ years, therefore before He was ever born, God allotted the same amount of time to the false prince of peace that would appear on the scene in his own name and deceive the whole world, except for revelated children of God.

KING OF FIERCE COUNTENANCE

Over in the 8th chapter of Daniel, verse 19, the angel said to Daniel, “Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the LAST ENT of the indignation: for at the TIME APPOINTED the end shall be.” Then he just mentioned Media-Persia and Greece, and in verse 23, he got right to the one that would climax all abominations. “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. (24) And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: (by the power os Satan.) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. (25) And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his own heart (That is what Paul was writing about in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2, when he said, “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.”) and by PEACE shall destroy many: he shall be broken without hand.” He will be broken by the sharp sword that proceeds out of the mouth of Jesus Christ, when He comes in wrath, at the end of the great tribulation, taking vengeance upon all that know not God and have had pleasure in unrighteousness. Revelation 19:20 tells us that this false prophet will be cast alive into the lake of fire and brimstone. That will be the end of this false prophet that has exalted himself in his own heart, and actually taken over the Jewish temple, and showed himself as God to the people. That is why the temple has to be cleansed and re-sanctified before the true Prince of Peace enters into if for His Millennial rule. This false prince is going to come on the scene with flatteries, according to the 11th chapter of Daniel. Do you know what that means? It means that he will be so subtle and shrewd in his political and economic overtures that he presents to the nations of the world, that those political leaders will actually sit back in awe. By flatteries and shrewd maneuvering, he will make it look like peace and prosperity is knocking at every door. Those political Jews that are not very spiritual in the first place, knowing only vaguely what is even written in the scriptures about the Jews returning to the land of Israel, will feel like this false prince is truly anointed of God to bring about their full restoration. What a surprise they are going to get just 3½ years later. But, Saints: You can easily see why anyone who is without a true revelation would fall for his plan. The world will be in a pitiful shape by then. Even people of the world are already talking about Armageddon. People that know absolutely nothing about the scriptures beyond the face that the great battle of Armageddon is to come. Don’t you think people like that will be ready to sign anything, in an effort to stay off such destruction? You know they will; and after they have signed the peace covenant, they will be so proud of themselves, because for 3½ years after that, everything will be just lovely in that way. That is why those two Jewish prophets in the land of Israel will draw so much world wide attention. They will be exposing that old man of sin that has disguised himself so completely. We can say it like that, but actually, there is no way for him to know that he is literally going to be incarnated by Satan, the very enemy of God, for he has not believed the scriptures that have revealed all of this to the true saints.

SPIRITUAL ISRAEL FLEES INTO WILDERNESS

Two thousand years ago God gave those Jews their true Messiah, and for 3½ years He was vindicated among them, declaring the whole counsel of who He was, and what He was doing, and when it came down to the question, What must I do with Jesus? They said, Crucify him! Give us Barabbas. Israel must pay for that. They had a chance to accept their Messiah in the flesh, and they rejected Him. They will never have that chance again. Those spiritual Jews will have to accept Him by a revelation of the scriptures, just like Gentiles have had to, and it will come about through the preaching and prophesying of the Moses and Elijah prophets of Revelation 11:3-7. On the way to the cross, Jesus said, “If they have done this in a green tree, what will it be in the barren tree?” Do you remember that parable? In other words, If they cannot recognize life in its season, what kind of fruit can they expect, when the barren tree comes on the scene? There will be no eternal life offered by him. The only eternal life being offered, will be offered by those two Jewish prophets, as they go about sealing the 144,000 servants of God, and as w just said, Only those who receive a spiritual revelation will partake of this true tree of life, for they will not have any flesh to hang on to in that day. That is the reason the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians saying, “Henceforth know we Him no more after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” In these last days, God will lift the blindness from the eyes of those spiritual Jews, and they will be given the same capabilities of spiritual revelation, that we Gentiles have had. Gentiles received this Messiah having never seen Him, and those who saw Him, (Jews) rejected Him. But in the last half of that seventieth week of Daniel, (the great tribulation time) the Gentile foolish virgins, the 144,000 Jewish servants of God, and the woman of Revelation 12, (spiritual Israel) will all be on equal terms spiritually, for they will all be depending completely upon revelation. Jesus will not be here in the flesh, to lead any of them. The woman will flee into the wilderness to hide from the terror of that Antichrist army, simply on the strength of the prophecy given to her by her two prophets. It will be a place prepared for her by God, and revealed to her through her prophets. That is why Revelation 12:14 says, “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and a half a time,” (that is the same language the angel measured time by when he was speaking to Daniel, only in this case we can look right back to verse 6, and see that it is referred to in an exact number of days, 1260, no more, and no less.) But the two wings of a great eagle speaks of the two prophets that told her (or will tell her) when to flee, where to flee to, and how long she would have to stay there. You can verify that, by turning in your Bibles to Exodus 19:4, where the Lord is speaking to the children of Israel about how He brought them forth out of Egyptian bondage through the leadership of His prophet Moses, saying, “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles wings, and brought you unto myself.” Saints, scripture will reveal scripture, if we will allow the Holy Ghost to guide our thinking, and not be guilty of following some imagination of our mind. I realize Bro. William Branham brought out certain things that made it sound like Jesus would be on earth literally, when those Jewish prophets are prophesying to Israel, but that just simply is not correct, for there is only one time that He is going to come back to earth literally, and when He does, it will be to rule and reign as King of kings. It is a fact that He is seen in angelic form, in Revelation chapter 10, where He is closing out Gentile time, and staring the last week of prophetic time for Israel, but He certainly will not be here in literal flesh doing that. Do you think Jesus would have said in vain, Upon this rock I will build my church, (meaning, the rock of revelation) if He was going to keep coming back in fleshly form, showing Himself as He did in His first advent? Peter had just received the revelation of who Jesus truly was, when he burst out, “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God, and Jesus answered saying to him, Blessed art thou Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:16-17) That was His way of saying, Peter, even though you have walked with me in these days, it would be impossible for you to know that, unless it were revealed to you by the Spirit of God, the great eternal Spirit. You must remember, there were great multitudes that witnessed those miracles Jesus did, and that heard Him preach, but only a few of them ever really knew who He was, while He was among them bodily. That is why there was only 120 souls present in the upper room, when the Holy Ghost was sent back to indwell the church. Tell me now, Do you think people are any different today? If Jesus came back to earth in bodily form today, do you actually think He could say enough, and do enough miracles to convince anyone that He is the Son of God, unless they received a revelation by the eternal Spirit? Absolutely not! Even those two prophets will have to prophesy to Israel by a spiritual revelation, never having seen their Messiah literally. Praise God, for His consistency. You do not have to worry about Him changing His mind, and coming up with some new way for people to find salvation, just about the time we find the way that is already in effect. Hallelujah! The formula remains the same throughout all time. We either know Him by the Spirit, or we do not know Him at all.

A WORD TO THE WISE

Let me say a few words now, that I hope you will listen well to. We are at the end. There is no time left to play around with the scriptures. All that is prophesied in the Bible, to be fulfilled in the end time, is just before us. Unless God calls us home individually in the very near future, we are going to witness some anxious moments as time for the Gentiles closes out. A very great shaking is just ahead, and only those that have their souls anchored in a true revelation, will have any peace of mind at all. Natural security is crumbling to pieces, and more and more fear is taking hold of those who have put their trust in material assets. But no true child of God should be trusting in material possessions, for they can all be taken from you in a day’s time, and then you would have to trust God completely for everything you need. I am not just trying to be a prophet of doom, but the hour is late, and the time is at hand, that we should check up on ourselves, and get our revelation, and our daily living in line with the word of God. As I said earlier, We have published this message before, but I feel an urgency to get it before you one last time, in order that you, as children of God, may know where we are in the scope of Gentile time. If you are still just playing around with theories and quotes when God turns His attention back to Israel, it will be too late for you to set things in order then. All you can do then, is just suffer the consequences of your negligence. Sure there will be foolish virgins that will make it in, but they will only do so by giving their lives in martyrdom during the reign of the Antichrist, and I will tell you right now, they are not planning it that way. That is not a choice we have before us; it is strictly the mercy of God that has made that provision for many whose hearts are seeking after Him, but because of circumstances, time runs out before their revelation is brought up to a rapturing level. Yet all the time, they are expecting to be in the rapture when it does take place. Therefore let me say once again, There is ONE full week left to be fulfilled to Israel, of Daniel’s seventy weeks, the first half of which, God will give Israel one more change to accept their Messiah, but only on the merits of divine revelation imparted to them through the ministry of those two prophets of Revelation 11, the two olive trees of Zechariah 4, that will prophesy in Israel a thousand two hundred and three-score days, clothed sackcloth. God will vindicate their ministry by allowing them to shut up the heavens, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy, turn the water to blood, and smite the earth with all manner of plagues as often as they see fit. But after they have prophesied for 3½ years, and all those believed that will believe, even they will be killed the evil beast, the Antichrist, and their dead bodies allowed to lie in the streets of Jerusalem for 3½ days, while the whole world looks on rejoicing. Of course we realize that by that time the bride will be gone to glory, and it will be this apostate, compromising, sick society of world population that will be rejoicing, and that will be before they see what the last half of that week holds for mankind at large. By the time the old Antichrist gets through with them, some of them will not be rejoicing any longer. Those three woes that are announced in Revelation 8:13, will literally turn hell loose on earth for 3½ years, and that is why it is called, The great tribulation. There has never been a time on earth like it, and there never will be again, when it is over, for Jesus will be on earth, to rule in righteousness for one thousand years, and the devil will be chained up, so it truly will be a blessed time for those that are left alive to live in that time. Praise God! Amen.