Can you feel it? There’s excitement in the air! Jesus will be calling us Home soon, and if you’re like me, you can hardly wait. I listen to the awful news reports, but instead of allowing them to scare me or cause me to worry, I look at things through the lens of prophecy. Prophecy doesn’t make things better, but it does make it all clearer.
The hatred toward Israel is Satanic. Israel seems to be blamed for everything, and Iran and the Muslim world won’t be happy unless they totally destroy God’s chosen people. That won’t happen. Israel is back in their land, and that’s where they’re going to stay. The Bible tells me so!
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:11-12).
The nation of Israel has been gathered for the second time, and, praise God, they aren’t going away! Bible prophecy will be fulfilled. For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, we know it’s being fulfilled today.
Daniel was an amazing man of God. He was born in Jerusalem but was taken as a captive to Babylon. God’s truth was a part of his nature, and nothing the pagan Babylonians could do would change Daniel’s heart for God. His refusal to embrace the pagan ways got him in trouble, but God always protected Daniel. Because Daniel honored and loved God, he was given an amazing prophecy known as Daniel’s 70 weeks. If you study it, you’ll understand that God isn’t finished with Israel. You’ll also understand that the Church age (a time period between the 69th and 70th week) is coming to an end. What will happen to Christians and to Israel is something everyone needs to understand.
“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” (Daniel 9:24).
Remember, Daniel was Jewish, so “thy people” refers to the Jewish people, and “thy holy city” is Jerusalem. Don’t be deceived. No matter how loud Satan yells through the mouths and hearts of the Muslim world, Jerusalem belongs to God, and He gave it to Israel. The term “week” is a common term for seven years, in the same way a decade is understood as ten years, or a score is known as 20 years. So, 70 weeks is 490 years. This prophecy is given a timeframe and is specifically directed to the Jewish nation.
When Daniel was taken captive, a war was raging; it was a war that fulfilled prophecy. God had said that the Jewish nation would be taken captive to Babylon because of their failure to follow God’s directions to allow their land to rest. Prophecy was fulfilled, and the temple in Jerusalem was totally destroyed. Daniel knew this, but during the captivity he had never stopped praying towards Jerusalem. He knew that one day God would restore it. The 70-week prophecy confirmed this to Daniel.
“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again and the wall, even in troublous times” (Daniel 9:25).
That’s very specific. History tells us that this prophecy was fulfilled exactly. Various decrees were given to allow the rebuilding of the Temple, but these attempts failed. On March 14, 445 BC, Artaxerxes issued a decree allowing the rebuilding of Jerusalem. You can read about the various decrees in Ezra and Nehemiah, but the one named in Daniel’s prophecy is found in Nehemiah chapter 2, and is the one that allows the city to be built.
According to calculations by Sir Robert Anderson in his book The Coming Prince, it can be proven that Jesus fulfilled Zechariah 9:9 and rode into Jerusalem on a young donkey on April 6, 32 AD. I’m not a great mathematician, but the calculations can be found in The Coming Prince, or by doing a little research yourself. Daniel had prophesied it, Zechariah described it, and Jesus was right on time and fulfilled it. Still the Pharisees missed it. Jesus lamented their blindness
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate, and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Luke 13:34-35).
That blindness has lasted to this day, but one day the blindness will be lifted. “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Romans 11:25).
God is not finished with Israel, and the Church hasn’t replaced Israel. Prophecy is being fulfilled, and one day soon, the nation of Israel will call out to their Messiah…Jesus Christ the Lord. The lifting of the blindness will happen after Christians have been Raptured and the horrors of Daniel’s 70th week have happened.
Daniel’s prophecy goes on to talk about the crucifixion. “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined” (Daniel 9:26).
Daniel must have been very happy to learn that Jerusalem and the Temple would be rebuilt, but then he was told it would be destroyed again. And so, it happened in 70 AD. Israel has faced many wars, but God has never completely turned from them, and He never will. This prophecy goes far beyond the destruction that happened in 70 AD. It goes a few years beyond today. After the Messiah was “cut off” (crucified), the way was opened for salvation by grace, not by the works of the Law, but by faith in Jesus.
The temple was destroyed in 70 AD, and the Jewish people were scattered throughout the world. There is a “pause” in the 70-week prophecy. This pause has lasted nearly 2,000 years, but prophecy didn’t stop. The persecution of the Jewish people is Satanic, but in 1948, they were regathered in their land and won’t be uprooted. We are still in the “pause” between the 69th and 70th week, but the 70th will start soon after Christians are Raptured; God will turn His attention back to Israel.
The 70th week is described in Revelation, beginning in chapter 6; Jesus spoke of it in the Olivet (Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13:3-13, and Luke 21:7-19), as well as in Daniel.
Concerning the Anti-Christ, he writes, “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” (Daniel 9:27).
This tells us that the Temple will be rebuilt. There is much talk in Israel today about rebuilding the Temple. They have all the items needed to be used for the rituals in the Temple, as well as priests being trained, and their garments are fitted to them. It’s also very possible that they have ashes from the red heifer. I’m very astonished that suddenly there are many red heifers being born. Some qualify, and some don’t. The ashes of a red heifer are needed to purify the Temple. We live in amazing times.
Sometimes it seems as if God is slow to fulfill prophecy. That’s when people begin to twist His words and come up with “replacement theology” and the idea that the Rapture isn’t in Scripture. God has a plan, and that plan must be fulfilled. We saw in Romans 11:25 that there’s a specific number of Gentiles that must come to salvation before the blindness will lift from Israel. God is willing to be slow to fulfill prophecy, while waiting for souls to be saved.
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
If you want to hurry things along so the Rapture will take us Home, you need to share the Gospel. Your friend or a family member just might be the one we are all waiting for! God has made the only way for salvation, and that’s through the blood of Jesus Christ. Why did He do this? Because He loves us. Jesus loves me; this I know. He loves you too.
“Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23).
The Rapture will take all Christians Home, not because of our own righteousness, but because Jesus is righteous. After that, Daniel’s 70th week will start. We have many Biblical prophecies to tell us that that week will soon happen. God’s wrath will be poured out, but Christians will be safe with Jesus and away from God’s wrath.
The Anti-Christ will be revealed after the Rapture, but all of the tools he needs to implement the Mark of the Beast and track people are being used today. Don’t be deceived by all the “good” AI can do. Implanted chips may sound wonderful, but beware. Trust in Jesus, not in the world.
The war that’s happening in the Middle East isn’t just some whim of politics; it’s fulfilling prophecy. We are admonished to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and I do.
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).
Ezekiel, Psalms, Isaiah, and more tell us that major war will engulf the entire world. Plagues, famine, signs in the sky, and more will become common. Jesus isn’t slow in His return but is right on time. Don’t reject Him.
God bless you all,
Nathele Graham
Recommended prophecy sites:
All original Scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.
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“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).