The word ‘gospel’ means ‘good news’ or ‘good tidings.’ The Gospel Books of the New Testament are the teachings and revelations concerning Jesus Christ. The four Gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These disciples and followers of Jesus wrote their Gospels under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. According to God’s design, each Gospel writer presented Jesus in a different way and to different audiences.
THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW
Matthew was one of the twelve original disciples of Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew is very Jewish in its message, revealing Jesus as the fulfillment of many Old Testament prophecies. He is the Star that would come out of Jacob, the Scepter that would rise out of Israel (Num 24:17-19 and Genesis 49:10), and the One who would sit on David’s throne (Isa 9:7). Matthew 2:1-2 describes the birth of Jesus whereas wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” Throughout Matthew’s gospel account, Jesus is portrayed as king of an eternal kingdom (Matthew 16:28; 21:5; 28:18).
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised Messiah/Christ in the very first verse of his Book (Matthew 1:1) and as the coming king of Israel in Matthew 2:2. Matthew 1:1-17 presents Jesus as the legal heir to the throne of David and gives the genealogy from Abraham to Joseph (Jesus’ stepfather or guardian father).
The first verse condenses the genealogy to three Hebrews (3 is the number for divine perfection), including Jesus. “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” This genealogy emphasizes Jesus’ Jewish ancestry, aka, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the progenitor of the Hebrews (later called the Jews), while David was Israel’s greatest king.
In the Gospels, the term ‘son of David’ was used mostly by those Jews who were in need of a miracle from Jesus – the deaf, dumb, blind, crippled, and demon-possessed. They had witnessed Jesus’ miracles and knew he was fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 35:5-6, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart [deer], and the tongue of the dumb sing” (Isaiah 35:5-6). It took the blind of Israel to ‘see’ that Jesus was the Messiah (the Son of David). Even the demons that Jesus encountered knew who Jesus was, and yet the religious Jewish elites refused to believe.
The symbol of the Gospel of Matthew is the lion, the king of the jungle. Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The Book of Matthew begins with the genealogy and birth of Jesus and ends with the resurrection.
THE GOSPEL OF MARK
John Mark was not one of the twelve original disciples, but he accompanied Paul on his first missionary journey. Mark’s Gospel was written to the believers in Rome. It presents Jesus as the ‘suffering servant’ prophesied in Isaiah 53. The NKJV subtitles this chapter as The Sin-Bearing Messiah. “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he has poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:11-12).
Jesus taught his disciples that greatness doesn’t come from ruling over others but from serving others. His best lesson on this subject is found in Mark 10, where Jesus said, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:42-45).
Mark gives the genealogy of Jesus only through His Heavenly Father: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). In the next two verses, Mark teaches how John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 40. “As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Mark 1:2-3).
Now, compare what Isaiah wrote, “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3). John the Baptist was preparing the way for Jesus as the LORD (another name for Yahweh or Jehovah) or the Son of God. John, the apostle, said, “My Father and I are one” (John 10:30).
The symbol of the Gospel of Mark is the ox, a beast of burden and service, representing the burden of sin Jesus took upon Himself and his role as a servant to mankind. The Book of Mark begins with the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth and ends with the ascension of Jesus into heaven, where He then sat down at the right hand of God.
THE GOSPEL OF LUKE
Luke was also not one of the 12 original disciples but was a close friend and companion to Paul. Luke wrote to both Gentiles and Jews. His Gospel presents Jesus as ‘the Son of man,’ a messianic title from the prophecy in Daniel 7, “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of man, Coming with the clouds of heaven!” (Daniel 7:13). Just as the LORD liked to call Ezekiel the “son of man,” so did Jesus refer to himself in the Gospels as the ‘Son of man.’ Just as ‘Son’ is capitalized in Daniel 7:13, so it is in the New Testament (KJV), when referring to Jesus. This indicates Jesus’ divinity. He was the one and only God man.
Luke relates Jesus’ humanity and details the announcement of His incarnation and His birth (Luke 1,2). Luke is the only Gospel that gives a glimpse into Jesus’ childhood years (Luke 2:40, 42-43). Luke 3:23-38 traces Jesus’ genealogy through his mother’s lineage. This lineage doesn’t stop with Abraham but continues all the way to Adam and God.
Mary’s lineage goes through another son of David, named Nathan. This genealogy emphasizes Jesus’ humanity, aka, the Son of man. However, notice how Luke mentions God in Jesus’ genealogy, as in God is the Father of Adam. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, compares Jesus and Adam: “The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:45, 47).
It’s interesting that when Gabriel gave Mary the news that she would be the mother of the Son of God, he would be called ‘the Son of David.’ “You will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David” (Luke 1:31-32). It’s also interesting that in verse 33, Gabriel calls Jesus a king over Israel, and His kingdom will be everlasting. “And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:33).
Jesus told his disciples, “But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins” (Luke 5:24). As the Son of Man (and the kinsman redeemer) and the Son of God, Jesus Christ has the right and the authority to forgive sins.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem on ‘Palm Sunday’ four days before Jesus’ last Passover, the multitudes greeted him saying, “Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest” (Matthew 21:9). Luke’s story of this event is worded a little differently. He says the multitude of disciples yelled out, “Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest” (Luke 19:38). Either way, be it the King or the Son of David (who comes in the name of the Lord), on this day, the Jews got it right. How soon they would forget!
Some of the Pharisees in the group told Jesus to rebuke his disciples for saying this. “And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out” (Luke 19:40). When Jesus came near Jerusalem, he began to weep over the city because He knew its eventual fate, “Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes.
For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation” (Luke 19:42-44). I wrote about this in detail in my article, They Knew Not the Time of Their Visitation :: By Randy Nettles – Rapture Ready.
During the days preceding the Passover, the Jews would follow the lead of the Pharisees and Sadducees and would reject Jesus as their Messiah King. The Kingdom of God, with Jesus as the King, would not come at this time. It wouldn’t come for several more days, ‘Lord days,’ that is. As in “a day for the LORD is as a thousand years.”
The symbol of the Gospel of Luke is a man, representing Jesus’ incarnation in human form. The Book of Luke begins with the parents of John the Baptist, Zacharias and Elizabeth, and ends with the promise of the Father to send His Spirit and the subsequent ascension of Jesus into heaven.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
John was one of the twelve original disciples of Jesus. He wrote to both Jews and Gentiles. John, in his Gospel, liked to say (five different times) he was “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (the most). John presents Jesus as the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, coequal and coeternal with the Father and the Spirit. John’s record is remarkable for revealing Jesus’ divinity and for recording the pre-incarnate life of Jesus as the Word and his role in creation.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:1-5). John then explains how the Word became flesh and that His name is Jesus.
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spoke, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:14-17).
There are two scriptures in John that record Jesus’ words regarding the Rapture (IMO), which Jesus hinted at but didn’t really teach about (that would be left to Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, a few decades later). The first is a conversation between Martha and Jesus before Lazarus’ resurrection. “Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:23-26).
Paul elaborated upon these words of Jesus in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 regarding the Rapture to come, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
The second Scripture in which Jesus hints about the Rapture is found in the 14th chapter of John. “Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3).
The genealogy in the Book of John is short but complete. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God (the Father, the first Person of the Trinity). The most famous verse in all the Bible is found in the Gospel of John. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
The symbol of the Gospel of John is an eagle, representing the majesty that is above our earth. The eagle is the king of the heavens. The Book of John begins with the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, the Word, and ends with the promise of Jesus’ return, which is prophesied in detail in the Book of Revelation.
THE FOUR GOSPELS AND THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES
Therefore, for all the reasons given in the four Gospels, in all of God’s earthly created beings, the ones that best represent Jesus Christ are an ox, an eagle, a lion, and a man. Ezekiel, the Old Testament prophet whom the LORD liked to call “son of man,” had visions of God and of four heavenly beings called “living creatures.” In Ezekiel 10, they are called Cherubs or Cherubim.
Here is part of their description: “They had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and the four had their faces and their wings. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. As for the likeness of their faces, the four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle” (Ezekiel 1:5-10).
In Genesis 3:24, the Cherubim are first mentioned. They are seen here keeping and guarding the Tree of Life, and thus preserving the blessed hope of immortality for all of creation. E.W. Bullinger says the Cherubim mark the purpose of God from the moment the curse was pronounced and are the pledge that it will one day be removed. “The fact, therefore, of the living creatures being four, marks them as connected with Creation and as a symbolical representation that its hope of deliverance from the curse is bound up with the blood-shedding of the coming Redeemer.” {1} Number In Scripture by E.W. Bullinger – pg. 125
The four faces of the Cherubim reflect the attributes of Jesus Christ as portrayed by the four Gospels of the New Testament. He is the suffering servant (the ox). He is the King of the earth (the lion). He is the King of the heavens (the eagle). And He is God who became a man so he could become our kinsman redeemer to set us free from sin and death.
THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD (A.K.A. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN)
In Matthew 3 and 4, we learn that John the Baptist and Jesus began their ministries by preaching the gospel of the coming Kingdom of God. Their message continued that of the Old Testament prophets, who prophesied about a ‘son of David’ who would one day establish an everlasting kingdom in which the Jews would be the head of nations. John said the messiah (anointed one) king would come after him. He was just a messenger fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3. After John was cast into prison, “Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).
Jesus and the apostles preached that the gospel of the kingdom of God was at hand, and to make way for the king (a descendant of David) who was prophesied an eternal kingdom in 2 Samuel 7:16, “And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.” The Kingdom to come was contingent on the identity of a “son of David,” a term for the Jewish Messiah (or Christ).
In Matthew 10, Jesus sent the twelve disciples out to the Jewish masses and told them, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 10:5-7). This gospel message was only preached to the Jews, except for a few exceptions. The only way the kingdom of God (or heaven) could be “at hand” is if the prophesied King of Israel had arrived.
During Jesus’ ministry, besides sending out the 12 original disciples, he also sent out 70 disciples to engage in missionary work. “And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you” (Luke 10:9). The gospel (good news) message at this time was of the coming kingdom of God.
70 is a significant number in the Bible as it represents spiritual and ordinal perfection (7 x 10). The phrase “kingdom of God” occurs 70 times in the KJV New Testament (including once in Luke 18:29 as “kingdom of God’s”), primarily in the Gospels, where Jesus teaches on it. Counting Luke 18:29, the “Kingdom of God’ is used 33 times in the book of Luke.
Another name for this realm is the “kingdom of Heaven,” used exclusively by Matthew in his Gospel account. The phrase “kingdom of heaven” is a genitive source (not its location), meaning the kingdom is from heaven. Matthew mentions the “kingdom of heaven” 33 times in the KJV (including Matthew 19:12, which says, “kingdom of heaven’s”) and the “kingdom of God” 5 times. Ephesians 5:5 uses the term, “the kingdom of Christ and of God.” 33 is another important biblical number as it is associated with Jesus.
Many Bible scholars believe Jesus was crucified at the age of 33 in the year 33 AD. He was resurrected on the Feast of Firstfruits (Nisan 17, 33 AD) on the third day from his crucifixion death. Jesus Christ is the firstfruits of the dead. “But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). The word “firstfruits” is mentioned 33 times in the Bible (NKJV and ESV). The Greek word (or transliteration), “diathēkē,” occurs 33 times in the New Testament (KJV). It is translated 20 times as “covenant,” and 13 times as “testament.”
David, an ancestor of Jesus, was said to be” a man after God’s own heart” (like Jesus, “the Son of David“). David ruled for 33 years over all 12 tribes of Israel. He was the 33rd generation from Adam. Once again, we see the comparison of Jesus to David, with the number 33 representing the two kings.
Luke was the author of two New Testament books, Luke and Acts. He is considered the first historian of the early church. In Chapter 16, Luke recorded Jesus’ words regarding the Kingdom. “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presses into it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail” (Luke 16:16-17).
The Tanakh (the Old Testament) comprises the Torah (Instruction, or Law, also called the Pentateuch), the Prophets (the Neviʾim), and the Writings (Ketuvim). The Torah is the first five books of the Bible written by Moses. The Prophets include the Former, Latter, and Minor prophets. John didn’t preach or teach on the Tanakh, but on a new gospel, ‘the kingdom of God,’ which is its fulfillment.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the covenant of the Law and the Prophets. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17-18).
Luke 17 records one of Jesus’ teachings about the coming of the Kingdom of God. “Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Luke 17:20-21).
The Jews didn’t know it (or chose not to), but the King was standing in their midst, ready to establish his kingdom. All they had to do was accept him as such, and the kingdom of God could have begun soon after. Instead, they had him crucified. When Pilate told the Jews he was innocent of the blood of this just person, the crowd yelled out, “His blood be on us, and on our children” (Matthew 27:25). You should be very careful what you ask for!
Matthew 12:28 and Luke 11:20 record Jesus casting out demons from possessed people. “But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:20). Jesus indicated that the kingdom of God began with him and his ministry, as evidenced by his Spirit-given abilities to perform miracles.
Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom of God throughout his 3.5-year ministry. He even spoke of it in his Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24. It would be one of the signs that would occur at the end of the age. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14). John, in Revelation, also speaks of this gospel preached in all the world, “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” (Revelation 17:6).
Jesus had told his disciples three different times that he would be killed and then be resurrected on the third day. In the last verse before the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24, Jesus tells his disciples (regarding the Jews), “Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23:39). This will only occur at the end of Daniel’s 70th week (aka the Tribulation), when the remnant Jews finally acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah and pray that he will return and save them from certain death by the Antichrist’s forces.
The disciples finally understood that Jesus would be killed and then resurrected. In chapter 24 of Matthew, they asked Jesus, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3). Jesus then describes the Great Tribulation and His Second Coming before He begins His physical Kingdom on Earth. Matthew 25 presents Jesus’s parables and events that will transpire after the Second Coming and the beginning of the Kingdom of God on earth. I’m sure at this point the disciples were confused about the timing of Jesus’ return to establish his kingdom.
After Jesus’ resurrection, he appeared to his disciples numerous times and continued to speak to them about the kingdom of God. “To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).
On the day of Jesus ascension back to Heaven, the apostles asked Him, “Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel again? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:6-8). After Jesus said this, He was “taken up” into heaven.
Although the Jews knew the prophecy of Daniel 9:25-26 regarding the timeline for the Messiah’s coming, and specific prophecies about him (such as Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 6:9-10; 35:5-6; 40:3-5; Deuteronomy 18:15, etc.), they still rejected him as their long-awaited Messiah King and had him killed.
The result of this killing of the Lamb of God and the Jewish Messiah (the Son of David) was that the Kingdom of God, which was prophesied throughout the Old Testament and the Gospels, was put on hold after the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah King. You can’t have a kingdom without a king.
This meant there would be a temporal gap between Daniel 9:26 and 9:27, and the six objectives for the Jewish people listed in Daniel 9:24 would be delayed. The new covenant for the Jews (national Israel) spoken of by Jeremiah the prophet in Jeremiah 31:31-34 would also be delayed until the Kingdom of God on Earth (the Millennium Kingdom) could be established. We will look at this “new covenant for the Jews” later in the article.
Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel 9:25 (and Zechariah 9:9) when he rode into Jerusalem as the Jewish Messiah after 69 ‘sevens’ were completed, from “the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince.”
Daniel 9:26a says, “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.” Jesus, the Jewish Messiah (whom they did not acknowledge) was ‘cut off’ or killed in 33 AD. Daniel 9:26b says, “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.” This refers to the Roman legions destroying the city and the sanctuary in 70 AD.
Daniel, 9:27 says, “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
THE DUAL-FULFILLMENT PROPHECY OF DANIEL 9:25-27
What many people don’t realize is that Daniel 9:25-27 is a dual-fulfillment prophecy, which I gave several examples of in Part I of this article. I described these prophecies as such: “References to the Lord’s First and Second Comings are scattered throughout the Old Testament, as if they were a single event (if one didn’t have the testimony of the New Testament). These ‘dual reference prophecies’ could only be determined as such after the First Coming had already taken place. They were written so that it was impossible to know beforehand that the Lord’s First Coming would only fulfill part of the prophecy.
The writers of these prophecies often switch from the First Coming to the Second Coming in the middle of a sentence or the following one, as if they were one event. Regarding Daniel 9:24-27, if you were living in the times of Daniel (or afterwards) when he recorded this prophecy, you would think the 70th week (verse 27) would come concurrently after the 69th week (verses 25-26), without any major gap of time between them.”
Let’s speculate on how this could have played out if the Jews had accepted Jesus as their prophesied Messiah. Even if the Jews had accepted Jesus as their King and Messiah, He would still need to die on the cross for the sins of mankind and to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 53. The Romans would not accept a Jewish king in their midst, so they would see to it that he was crucified. They would then punish and persecute the Jews who were now revolting against the Roman Empire. The events of Daniel 9:26b (the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple) would have occurred shortly after Jesus’ death (approximately 3.5 years later). Jesus was crucified on Thursday, Nisan 14, in 33 AD.
I demonstrated strong evidence for a 33 AD crucifixion in The Season of the Lord’s Return :: By Randy Nettles – Rapture Ready.
Because of Old Testament typology, Jesus would still be resurrected on the third day and appear to many. I believe Jesus would also have remained on the earth for 40 days before ascending to heaven and the Father’s house, where He would remain until He returned, 7 years later, in 40 AD.
For Daniel’s prophecy to be fulfilled in this scenario, I believe the Jews would agree to a 7-year peace treaty (“confirm the covenant with the many for one week”) with the Romans to avoid further persecution or war, and the time of Jacob’s trouble (the Day of the LORD) would commence. The Roman ruler would break this covenant with the Jews and commit the abomination of desolation (Daniel 9:27) midway through this “covenant with death” (as described by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 28:15-16). Instead of the temple being destroyed in AD 70 (for in this scenario, there is no AD 70), its destruction would occur after the abomination of desolation, in 37 AD.
The desolations of Daniel 9:27 would continue until the Jews repented and called on the LORD to return, fulfilling the prophecies of Hosea 5:15 and 6:1-2. Jesus would return to the earth in 40 AD, 3.5 years after the abomination of desolation, at the end of the campaign of Armageddon, and destroy the Roman Antichrist and his army and all the other forces arrayed against Him. I don’t know how all of this would play out, as it’s just speculation. All I know is that all the Old Testament prophecies would have been fulfilled by the time of Christ’s return.
In this scenario, you have to remember that there is no Church, no Rapture, and no New Testament. Of course, God, being omniscient, knew Israel would reject His Son as the Messiah King during His First Advent, and the scenario I just described never took place, obviously. However, He gave the Jews every opportunity to do so, including Jesus remaining on the earth for 40 days after His resurrection.
The Holy Spirit gave the prophets of old His exact words so that ‘dual-reference prophecies’ would be spoken/written. This was done so that Jesus could fulfill the entire prophecy during his first advent, or only part of it, depending on the Jews’ acceptance of Him as their Messiah. If they didn’t accept him as their Messiah, Jesus would fulfill the latter part of the prophecy during His second advent. In hindsight, we know it took two advents of Christ to fulfill these prophecies in its entirety, but no one would have known it at the time.
Between the events of Daniel 9:26 and Daniel 9:27, the Jews were scattered throughout the world. The Church (consisting of both Gentiles and Jews) was established, and the new covenant of God’s grace through faith began. After the removal of the Spirit-filled Church at the Rapture, in which the Holy Spirit’s role of restricting sin will diminish, the second part of the dual-reference prophecy mentioned in Daniel 9:27 will be fulfilled. The 70th week of Daniel 9:27 for Israel will begin under the old covenant of the Mosaic Law, as they didn’t accept the new covenant of God’s grace.
As you might know, I am a numbers guy, so let’s look at the timing of Daniel 9:24-27 as if it were a continuous prophecy rather than a dual-reference prophecy. That means Daniel’s 70th week would begin in the fall of 33 AD and would end in the fall of 40 AD. We will use the same formula for reckoning these 1st-century dates as we did for the 21st-century dates in my article (and chart), Reckoning Daniel’s 70th Week From the Gregorian Calendar. We will then determine the start, middle, and end dates and compare them with the 21st-century dates from that article.
If you compare the seven years of 33-40 AD to the seven years of 2026-2033 on the lunar calendar, they both have 2569 days from the first new moon conjunction of fall in the first year to the first new moon conjunction of fall in the seventh year. They also have 2557 days in their respective solar calendars. There is only a 4-hour, 13-minute difference between these 1st- and 21st-century seven-year lunar timeframes.
FIRST CENTURY TIMELINE (HYPOTHETICAL) FOR DANIEL’S 70TH WEEK
Jesus ascended to heaven on Thursday, Iyyar 27 on the Jewish calendar, forty days after Resurrection Sunday (which occurred on Nisan 17 that year). The date on the Julian calendar (the calendar used by the Romans at the time) was Thursday, May 14, 33 AD.
The starting date for Daniel’s 70th week (Daniel 9:27) in this hypothetical 1st-century timeline is Heshvan 10 on the Jewish calendar, which would be October 22, 40 AD on the Julian calendar. The Abomination of Desolation of Daniel 9:27 occurs at the mid-point of the seven years of Daniel’s 70th week. The mid-point of seven years on the Julian calendar is 1278.5 days, so the A.O.D. would have occurred on April 23, 37 AD (or April 21, 37 AD on the proleptic Gregorian calendar), which was Nisan 19 on the Jewish calendar. The end of Daniel’s 70th week would have been on Tishri 28, or October 23, 40 AD on the Julian calendar (or October 21, 40 AD on the proleptic Gregorian calendar).
TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY TIMELINE (POTENTIAL) FOR DANIEL’S 70TH WEEK
Ascension Day occurs 40 days after Easter Sunday on Thursday, May 14, 2026, on the Gregorian calendar, or Iyyar 27 on the Jewish calendar. Of course, we recognize May 14, 1948, as Israel’s Independence Day on the Gregorian calendar (the Jewish date was Iyyar 5 in 1948). In this possible timeline for the Tribulation (Daniel’s 70th week), it will begin on October 21, 2033 (Heshvan 10). The mid-point, in which the A.O.D. occurs, is April 21, 2030 (Nisan 19). The end of Daniel’s 70th week is October 21, 2033 (Tishri 28).
The calendars for the seven years of 33-40 AD and 2026-2033 align almost identically (within a few hours) for both the Jewish lunisolar calendar and the Gregorian calendar. Now, this could just be a coincidence, as these new and full moon conjunctions align on these dates periodically. For example, 2034-2042 aligns with 33-40 (and 2026-2033) as well.
However, the seven-year timeframe of 2026-2033 has additional qualifications for Daniel’s 70th week that other seven-year timeframes don’t, which I have written about several times in the past but is definitely worth repeating.
1) If Jesus returns (Second Coming) in 2033, it will have been 2000 years since he ascended back to heaven in 33 AD. When you reckon in the Hosea 6:2 prophecy of two days for the LORD (or 2,000 years for the LORD according to “a day is as 1000 years for the Lord” of Psalm 90:4 & 2 Peter 3:8) to 33 AD, the math adds up to 2033, minus the seven-year Tribulation, giving you the year 2026 for the Rapture and the start of the Tribulation.
If there is a pre-tribulation Rapture in 2026, then the Church will have been in existence for 1993 years (33 AD – 2026). If you add in the 7 years in heaven during the Tribulation, there will have been 2000 years since the Church’s inception in 33 AD until Jesus returns in 2033 and begins His Millennium Kingdom.
For Israel, it will have been 2000 years since the Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah in 33 AD until they accept Him as such in the proposed year of 2033. In Hosea 5:15, the LORD prophesied to Hosea, “I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will earnestly seek me.” Hosea then wrote about “the return.” “Come, let us return unto the LORD: for he has torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days, he will revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight” (Hosea 6:1-2).
In the verse before the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24, Jesus confirmed Hosea’s prophecy. He told the Jews, “For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23:39). At the end of Daniel’s 70th week, the Jews, “in their affliction,” will “acknowledge their offense” (unbelief in Jesus Christ) and call on His name to save them from certain death. Only then will He return (Second Coming).
2) The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations members in 2015, created 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Agenda 2030 has 17 goals to solve all the world’s problems under the leadership of the United Nations’ unelected officials by 2030. All nations are required to follow their guidelines to bring about this new utopia on Earth. They are to relinquish their national sovereignty and become a member of the New World Order. All members will be required to submit to the authority of the United Nations, the one-world government.
2030 marks the midpoint of the proposed 2026-2033 Tribulation timeline, when the Antichrist will become the undisputed ruler of the world, as the ten kings will give their authority to him (per Revelation 17:12-13).
3) 2025-2026 is the 3,430th (7 x 7 x 7 x 10) year from 1406-1405 BC, when the Israelites entered the Promised Land. 3,430 years is the equivalent of 490 Sabbath (or Shemitah) cycles (3430 ÷ 7 = 490). If the Shemitah (and Jubilee) cycle/s began in (Tishri to Tishri) 1406-1405 BC, and is reckoned continuously regardless of the Jews leaving and re-entering the land, and if the 50th year is also the first year of the following Shemitah week, then 2025-2026 AD is the 70th Jubilee year for the Jews.
Additionally, if 3968 BC marks the beginning of mankind’s creation, as I discussed in The Hepta Week Cycle For Six Millennia of Mankind :: By Randy Nettles – Rapture Ready, then 33 AD would have been mankind’s 4000th year (or four days for the LORD) and 2033 AD will be mankind’s 6,000th year (or six days for the LORD).
The seventh “millennial day for the LORD” (6000 – 7000 AM) is the ‘Sabbath day.’ It is a ‘day’ of rest and worship. The English word ‘sabbath’ is found 137 times in the Bible (KJV). Matthew 12:8 (also Mark 2:28 and Luke 6:5) says, “For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.” Isn’t it interesting that 137 is the 33rd prime number? 137 is a very special number in Scripture and science. I wrote three articles about it. Here is the first one: 137: Number of God in Scripture and Science :: By Randy Nettles – Rapture Ready
CONCLUSION
There are two steps to being saved from our sins. The first step is recognizing Jesus is who He said He was. He is the Son of Man (a man), the Son of David (a king), and the Son of God (He is God). If you don’t accept this first step, you can’t continue on to the necessary second step.
The next step in being saved is to have faith in what Jesus has done as “the Lamb of God.” John the Baptist briefly mentioned this in John 1:29, “The next day John saw Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.“ I don’t think John fully understood this himself when he said it, but he was full of the Holy Spirit when he uttered this prophecy.
This “taking away the sin of the world” was first prophesied by Isaiah in Isaiah 53, known as “the Sin-bearing Messiah.” This prophecy confused the Jews, as they couldn’t understand how their prophesied Messiah would be killed and still reign as their king in the Kingdom of God. Many Jewish scholars believed there would be two Messiahs: the “suffering servant” Messiah and the “Son of David” Messiah-king. That might be why John, when he was in prison, sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3).
It would be left up to Paul (the apostle to the Gentiles), who received the revelation from the ascended Jesus, to reveal this mystery of “grace through faith” in the sacrificial work of Jesus to the newly formed Church of Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ. He also revealed the mystery of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. We will examine this further in Part III of this article.
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Randy Nettles
rgeanie55@gmail.com
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