The Seventy Weeks prophecy of Daniel is a foundational end times prophecy
“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.” Daniel 9:24
In this Seventy weeks (seventy weeks of years) prophecy, the first 69 weeks have played out exactly as prophesied including Jesus first coming to this earth and being killed “cut off”. There is an unspecified time gap between the 69 weeks and the last seven weeks (seven years) but as many of the other end-times events specified by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24) and in Revelation are beginning to play out we know that the last seven years before Jesus returns to set up His Millennial Kingdom is not too far off.
... And he (Antichrist) shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week, he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”Daniel 9:27
Bearing in mind Daniel was told to seal up the prophecy as it was not applicable until the time of the end.
“Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.” Daniel 12:9
We know from this prophecy that the Antichrist puts an end to sacrifices and offerings at the midpoint of the last seven years so they will need to start sometime before the midpoint.
Nelson Walters asks and then attempts to answer the following question in this video. Will Lamb Offerings mark the beginning of the 70th Week of Daniel? Or will they begin prior to the Tribulation or after it has already started? Can we use the beginning of these offerings as a sign? Is there a Bible prophecy that times the beginning of these offerings? Watch this Nelson Walter’s Q&A video to find the answer to this and other questions about lamb offerings.
Biblical End Times prophecy tells us that Muslim nations play a significant role in the time leading up to Jesus’ return. What we see playing out in Ukraine will only strengthen the Muslim position in the Soviet block and the west.
Russia, with a birth rate of 1.5 children per woman, has invaded Ukraine, where the birth rate is 1.2 children per woman, to determine which nation with below-replacement birth rates will go extinct the fastest.
In the long run, the only winners of the war to determine whether Ukraine will belong to the 1.2 or 1.5 people will be the Chechen and other Muslim soldiers doing the fighting. The Chechens have a birth rate of 2.5. Their religion and mosques are more likely to inherit the territories they are fighting over than either the Russian or Ukrainian Orthodox churches.
The leaders of Western Europe and Russia have dueling visions for Ukraine and the territories of the former Soviet Union. Europe would like them to join a wonderful union based around peace, tolerance, and importing millions of Muslims to balance out all the peaceful tolerant Europeans. Putin would like to induct them into Greater Russia which will unite Islam and Christianity.
Putin contends, “We have Eastern Christianity and certain theoreticians say that it is much closer to Islam than Catholicism is.” Which shows how out of touch he is with reality.
Europeans claim that they can have a tolerant society built around the demographic growth of a religion that murders unbelievers. Putin claims that a new Christian Russian empire will be built on a multifaith alliance with a religion that has spent centuries destroying Christian empires.
There is plenty of suicidal hypocrisy to go around from London and Berlin to Moscow.
Thank goodness we know the end of the story: Biblical prophecy reveals that Jesus will return soon to usher in His Millennial Kingdom.
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness, he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”Revelation 19:11-16
The gospel tells us that we are lost in our sin, and there is no way we can save ourselves through good works. The moment we recognize the awfulness of our sin and cast ourselves upon God’s mercy and grace, He forgives, transforms, and justifies us. Salvation is by grace through faith, not of works (Ephesians 1:7–9). That is the gospel message.
That message is a problem for nonbelievers because the natural human mind cannot admit the gravity and horror of sin. The natural mind says, “I admit I’m not perfect, but I’m a good person. If there is a God, He will accept me. I don’t need a Savior. So keep your ‘sin’ talk to yourself. Don’t bother me with your gospel.”
The natural mind refuses to admit to having sinned so grievously that Jesus would have to die. “You’re telling me that Jesus died to save me? Me? Are you calling me a hopeless, helpless sinner? How dare you!”
A gay couple getting married in Norway
Most of the denominational churches have compromised with the world in an effort to keep bums on seats and money to pay the bills including the minister’s salaries. Preachers belonging to these denominations have stopped preaching the gospel of redemption from sin, and now preach a message of human virtue. They have stopped preaching the cross and the empty tomb and instead preach positive thinking. They have stopped preaching justification by grace through faith, and instead preach social justice propaganda.
In many of the charismatic churches, it is all about the preacher and his ego. He/She wants to be liked and admired by nonbelievers who will donate big money to a ministry that flatters their egos.
What did Paul tell Timothy to do in a world that is hostile to the gospel of salvation? Guard the truth!
“What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us” (2 Timothy 1:13-14, NIV).
The “pattern of sound teaching” Paul writes of is God’s blueprint. The word translated “pattern” is the same word used for an architectural design. What happens if a builder decides to ignore the architectural blueprint? What if the builder decides he doesn’t want to bother putting up the pillars, crossbeams and archways that are specified by the architect? The building will collapse.
Though Paul is burdened by the subversion of the church, he is able to say, “That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (2 Timothy 1:12). What day? The day of the Lord’s return!
And that is why the apostle Paul, in the closing days of his life, pleads with Timothy—and with you and me—to please, please, please follow the blueprint of sound teaching. Please, please, please guard the deposit of truth that was entrusted to you. Don’t try to improve on it. Don’t deviate from it. Don’t modify it.
Paul’s message to Timothy and to us is to keep the pattern of sound teaching and guard the good deposit of truth that was entrusted to you. The Lord is faithful to His Word. He will never allow the light of the gospel to be extinguished. God has entrusted the gospel to us, but He has not abdicated. He is watching over His Word. He will preserve it, with or without us. Whether or not we remain faithful, He will always be faithful.
He is trustworthy. He will accomplish all things according to the counsel of His will.
His Word reveals that Christians will have a time of tribulation/persecution prior to His second coming. We need to be prepared and warn others as to what lies ahead. We need to realise that God is still in control of all that happens on His earth. What plays out in the last seven years with Satan and his Antichrist, God allows. During this time Christ’s church will be purified before He takes us to heaven with the Rapture and then pours out His wrath upon unrepentant earth with the seven Trumpet (Revelation 12) and seven Bowl (Revelation 16) judgements. It is all revealed in God’s Word.
The cultural “OTHERS”inSocial Sciences states that in any society or group, there are those who are “in” and those who are “out”— that is, inside the shared agreements of understanding and social practice, or outside them. The cultural other is an individual or, more than likely, an entire group, whose beliefs and practices place them outside of “normal” or “acceptable” society. Their way of thinking and of life offends the sensibilities and ideals of the dominant group, and in this sense, they are stigmatized in the extreme. As such, the cultural other is regarded as not just outside of the in-group, but so far outside that their very presence represents a profound ethical violation that might even be experienced as repugnant to those who are not part of it. This would now seem to be how many people have come to think about Evangelical Christians, those that truly believe the Bible is God’s Word and want to live by its constructs.
Jeff Younger is a father who lost custody of his trans-identified biological son after objecting to his ex-wife’s efforts to transition him from male to female.
Jeff Younger with his son
Younger is running as a Republican for the Texas House of Representatives. As a political candidate, Younger wants the state legislature to “outlaw sex-change surgeries on children” and criticizes the legislature for failing to do so in the last two sessions.
He spoke before a crowd of students at UNT the day after advancing to a runoff in the Republican Primary for House District 63 and a week after the Texas Attorney General characterized gender reassignment surgeries and puberty blockers for the purpose of gender transition as “child abuse” in a formal opinion.
Video footage shared by independent journalist Andy Ngo reveals that Younger received an overwhelmingly negative reaction from liberal protesters in the audience.
The protesters, who expressed outrage at Younger’s opposition to the efforts to promote the gender transitioning of children, pounded on the table and clapped their hands as they chanted “F*** you, fascist.” One protester is seen putting up their middle finger.
The generation these protesters represent is like the generation that arose after Joshua died, they did not know God and what He had done for Israel and hence they did what was evil in the sight of God.
“And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years… And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.” Judges 2:8-11
These protestors have no knowledge of God, sin, and judgement. The speed by which God and His values are being jettisoned is staggering and proof positive we are in the prophesied end times.
“And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” Matthew 24:10-12
Humanity’s primary problem is sin, and without repentance, forgiveness, and faith in Christ, sin will be punished. When is the last time this was taught in our churches and to our youths? When is the last time, Christian parent, that you have taught such things to your kids? When is the last time we taught them that we will all stand before the Lord on judgment day to give an account for the things we have done in the body, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10)?
Is it any wonder, then, that a generation of young people apparently feel no remorse, no conviction, no guilt for stealing, destroying small businesses, and injuring other human beings? There is no fear of God before their eyes, and our churches bear some guilt in not teaching this paramount truth.
Rioters burn American flags during a Black Lives Matter protest at Columbus Circle in New York City on July 4. (Photo: Pablo Monsalve/VIEWpress/Getty Images)
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh… if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident:sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.“Galatian 5:18-21
Social justice matters to God, and so does personal holiness, as this passage teaches. The “you” is addressed to the Christ-followers in Galatia. We are preaching the wrong message, then, if we think that because God loves us unconditionally, He will never punish us if we continue to do wrong and live in a sinful way.
Let’s conclude with Paul’s words, “Shall we continue to sin because we are not under the law but under grace? May it never be so!” Romans 6:1-2a. In other words, paraphrasing Paul, “You’re out of mind if you think this way!” Little could Paul imagine that this way of thinking would actually be turning into the norm for westernized Christians in the 21st century!
When human sin has a tendency to be played down in the name of God’s surpassing grace and so-called “unconditional love,” this passage helps set the record straight.
Ask the Lord to help you tell the truth in love but remember all of us a called to complete the Great Commission, especially now with Jesus’ return imminent. All the signs Jesus gave us that would precede His return are playing out now, particularly the increased persecution of Christians and the falling away (apostasy in the churches).
Just as Covid has caused massive disruption to the world now we have Russia invading Ukraine which has caused an enormous refugee crisis. Just as we see in the Book of Acts, catastrophes are opportunities for the church to innovate and to step in and help.
In Acts 8, a massive disruption upset the Christian world. Led by Saul of Tarsus, massive persecution drove Christians from their home base of Jerusalem. Up to that time the new Christian movement was centered in Jerusalem and was confined to Jews. By the end of the book of Acts, the church was more Gentile than Jewish and the church at Jerusalem was a side note. What made the difference? During the disruption, one church used it as an opportunity to innovate, and innovation changes the world.
Churches in countries neighboring Ukraine have opened their doors to shelter and aid refugees as the United Nations refugee agency estimated Thursday that 1 million people have fled the Eastern European nation since the beginning of Russia’s invasion last week.
“In just seven days, 1 million people have fled Ukraine, uprooted by this senseless war,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a statement. “I have worked in refugee emergencies for almost 40 years, and rarely have I seen an exodus as rapid as this one.”
Many of the displaced have fled to neighboring countries such as Poland, Moldova, Slovakia and Hungary, while many more remain in Ukraine.
Churches in neighboring countries are among community centers and camps sheltering refugees who’ve fled from the violence, with some seeing hundreds of Ukrainians coming and going in recent days.
Refugees from Ukraine are pictured after crossing the Ukrainian-Polish border in Korczowa on March 02, 2022. – The number of refugees fleeing the conflict in Ukraine has surged to nearly 875,000, UN figures showed on March 2, as fighting intensified on day seven of Russia’s invasion
As Poland has taken the brunt of the Ukrainian refugees, one church that has served as many as 400 refugees is a Baptist church in Chelm. According to the Baptist Federation of Europe, the church is “filled with life” as it has pushed its pews out of the way to make room for beds.
“It is not tension that you feel as you enter the building but life, peace, and joy,” a statement from the federation reads. “Children laugh and play while mothers prepare for onward journeys. The church piano plays a variety of tunes, none of the hymns, as the children practice their piano lessons.”
“Pews are in the pulpit and beds fill the sanctuary, the balcony, and every available space,” the statement adds. “Ukrainian and Polish families work side by side, making food, receiving donations, and cleaning the toilets. The laundry vibrates as the three new washing machines continue their endless 24-hour cycle. The supply rooms are full of children excitedly selecting new clothes and discovering new toys that have been donated.”
The church’s kitchen has supplied soup, snacks, and hot meals for the refugees arriving while packing lunches for the refugees that depart. The church receives help from local hotels that provide clean linen for the beds.
The Polish Baptist Union hopes to house as many as 1,000 refugees. Polish Baptists have established 40 shelter camps. The PBU provides the camps with bedding items, food, and hygiene items, while Send Relief, IMB’s relief arm, provides funds to assist in the relief efforts.
First Baptist Church of Gdasnk, Poland, will host one of the refugee centers, according to IMB missionary Ken Brownd. “It’s just cool to see Polish Baptists stepping up and taking care of their neighbors. They’ve done that for a long time now, but this is a different level,” Brownd was quoted as saying in an IMB report “Our team is trying to organize the Send Relief help … but really, this is mostly driven by Polish Baptists, so we’re not the main players in this at all. We’re helpers, and so it’s amazing.”
If nothing else Christians all around the world need to be in prayer and look for ways to financially support our brothers and sisters in Ukraine and the surrounding nations that are reaching out to help the refugees.
The video below from Faithwire is helpful in explaining why Christians need to be looking at the many Biblical prophecies about the end times prior to Jesus’ return first to take out the Saints and then to pour out His wrath upon an unrepentant world.
I would not agree with Jeff Kinley’s comment that Rosh is Russia. Rosh is a common Hebrew word that is used hundreds of times in the Bible and means ‘chief,’ ‘head,’ or ‘beginning.’ For example, Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year. I believe Gog will be a leader of Magog, a confederation of Muslim nations e.g. Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and others. What part Russia plays in the end times scenario I am not sure, but what is playing out now fits with Jesus saying that there will be wars and rumours of wars but this is just the beginning of the “end times” events
“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” Matthew 24:6-8
Author Jeff Kinley breaks down why so many theologians’ eyes are on Russia. He dives into the Prophet Ezekiel’s writings on Israel, Russia, and other nations — and explains how current events could play into the end times paradigm. With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upon us, this helpful explainer with the reservation I have given does help put these events in context.
In my opinion, the next major “end times event” in Biblical prophecy is Daniel’s vision of the Ram (Iran) and Goat (Turkey) battle (Daniel 8) which ends with Turkey establishing a revised Ottoman Empire. It is short-lived and is broken up into four nations probably by the United Nations forces. Note: out of one of these comes the Antichrist.
“Then the goat (Turkey now Revised Ottoman Empire) became exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven. Out of one of them came a little horn (Antichrist), which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land.” Daniel 8:8-9
The following article Russia’s Putin gambles that the West is weak by Australia’s Prime Minister (2013-2015) appeared in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL February 28, 2022
Tony Abbott as prime minister speaks during a national memorial service to honour victims of the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014. Picture: AAP
Ukraine’s fate was probably sealed when President Biden said last month that America might not respond to a “minor incursion” and definitively ruled out “boots on the ground”.
No consideration whatever appears to have been given to declaring a “no fly” zone for Russian military aircraft over Ukraine, even though that had been done to protect Iraqi Kurds against Saddam Hussein and would have given the Ukrainian army a much fairer fight against the Russians’ greater numbers.
America’s unwillingness to take risks to protect Ukraine, a democracy of more than 40 million people, is now fuelling doubts about the risks the US might run to help defend other countries that were once controlled by Russia — especially the Baltic states, which are part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
It’s obvious that small countries are largely helpless in the absence of collective defence and that countries that won’t or can’t fight an aggressor are doomed to negotiate the best possible surrender.
Yet the West’s bigger surrender has been economic and cultural. For at least 15 years, much of Western policy has been directed to reducing carbon-dioxide emissions. In Australia, former prime minister Kevin Rudd declared that climate change is the “great moral challenge” of our time.
The British parliament, along with many others, has officially declared a “climate emergency”. Last week, as the air raid sirens wailed over Kyiv, John Kerry worried that the Ukraine crisis would produce “massive emissions” and distract the world from climate change.
Reducing emissions is an important policy objective but should never be governments’ main task — especially when it entails risking significant economic damage and putting national security at risk. Europe has been busily closing down coal-fired power stations (and in Germany even emissions-free nuclear ones) only to become dependent on Russian gas that Mr Putin can turn off and on like a tap.
Here in Australia, we’re set on closing coal-fired power stations without any base-load substitute even while our thermal coal exports surge to record levels (including to China, an even more dangerous strategic competitor than Russia).
It’s the private sector that’s doing this, an unforgivable folly reminiscent of Lenin’s reported quip that the “capitalists will sell us the rope by which we hang them”.
Then there’s globalisation, which has undoubtedly made the world richer but at the cost (as we’ve only lately come to realise) of strengthening the West’s competitors and exporting its manufacturing base. Free trade should continue to be promoted but principally between countries with comparable standards of living and only between democracies that respect the rule of law.
The worst contemporary folly is the constant undermining of Western civilisation, history and national virtues.
Partly it is deliberate subversion by cultural Marxists, but mostly it’s the polite acquiescence of diffident and historically ignorant people conditioned not to give offence.
These days the rights of men who want to be women routinely trump those of women who don’t want to face unfair competition in sport. Religious free speech is still OK, as long it’s not the Bible you’re quoting.
Martin Luther King’s famous plea that his children be judged by the content of their character, not the colour of their skin, would be denounced on most Western campuses as an example of “colourblind racism”.
“Monty Python’s Life of Brian” couldn’t be made today due to politically correct wowserism. And I wonder how many students are still taught to take pride in Australia Day, which celebrates the founding of a country that’s as free, fair and prosperous as any on earth.
A Western world that has spent two years sacrificing freedom to preserve life is hardly going to sacrifice life to preserve freedom. Or at least that’s how it must look to the hard men in Moscow and Beijing.
As Churchill said of the Munich sellout in 1938, this is “the first foretaste of a bitter cup that will be proffered to us year by year unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigour we arise again and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time”.
Tony Abbott was prime minister of Australia, 2013-15.
Fortunately for Christians what is unfolding has been prophesied by God in His History book, the Bible. He told us how His world came into being and why.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26
It is the habitation for the people He made in His image to be sovereign over His creation but under His authority. He told our ancestor Adam what the consequences would be of disobedience but he and Eve chose to disobey God. SIN and death were the outcomes that we are dealing with today.
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”Genesis 2:16
Fortunately, God provided a way out by Jesus’ substitutionary death for us and yet most reject God’s offer of eternal life. They foolishly want to control their own destiny for the short time they have on God’s earth and we have history to show us what sinful man has accomplished. For those of us that have realised our sinfulness, repented and submitted our lives to Jesus Lordship, we have received the Holy Spirit that God the Father has sent to indwell the Spirit of each believer. How blessed we are, without the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to live a Christian life. The unbeliever has no understanding of what they are missing out on.
Jon Voight understands that Jeremiah, Ezekiel and many of the other O.T. prophets prophesied that God would restore Israel and that God’s people will once again produce wonderful wine, more so in the coming Millennial reign of Jesus Christ.
The following two Scriptures clearly outline the future of Israel with their Messiah, Jesus ruling and reigning over the nations of the world.
“Thus says the Lord God:Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land.And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned and will cleanse them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” Ezekiel 37:21-23
“At that time, declares the Lord, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people... Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit. For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim: ‘Arise and let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.’ For thus says the Lord: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’‘Jeremiah 31:1, 5-7
“Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’ For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more.‘ Jeremiah 31:10-12
