The Lord our God cut a blood covenant with Abraham such that if the people lived by the promises they entered into and followed God’s law, then Abraham and his descendants would prosper in the land God would provide for them. He promised to make Abraham the father of many nations, but it was His intention to call out a people and create a nation devoted to the Father and bound in love to follow His Law from the heart. To perfect a people for this purpose, the covenant is designed to break down any barriers between God and us and each other by not allowing us to hide from our sin, and thereby lead us into a willing and joyful union with the Spirit of God.

The cornerstone of the covenant is to acknowledge God as the Sovereign and Source of all. In the book of Daniel this is a lesson the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, experiences several times. In chapter 4, the king was on the roof of his palace surveying the land of Babylon, praising his power and giving glory to himself for what he had built. As soon as he said this he heard a voice from heaven and was driven away to live among the wild animals with the mind of a beast for 7 times. After this experience, the king had a change of heart and declared that the Most High is Sovereign over all. This is a major theme of the book. God is showing that when the leaders of this world respect God and their fellow man, then they rule from the heart as God intended. But when they operate from self, they become beasts. If the leaders of government do not honor God in their decisions but only serve self, then our governments become beasts that oppress and trample upon their people.

The covenant is cut in blood to bind us in the seriousness of the commitment, to remind us of the cost of sin, and to show us the way to prevent the spilling of each other’s blood. Cain did not master his anger, as God had warned (Gen 4:6), and so it grew to the point of spilling his brother’s blood. God is calling out a covenant people to be a holy nation (Ex 19:5-6), to lead by example, to master the urgings of self and serve a higher purpose, thereby maturing to be sons and daughters of the Most high (Ps 73:21-22; Js 4).

Abraham was called out of the city of Ur in the land of the Chaldeans (S.E. Iraq). He traveled along the river Euphrates until Haran (N. Syria), then through the Promised Land and finally all the way to Egypt, due to famine. When God initiated the covenant with Abraham, He promised him the land from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates (Gen 15:18). This area covers the modern countries of Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, part of Saudi Arabia and some of Egypt.

This pretty much describes the Fertile Crescent, the upper part of which Abraham traced out in his initial journey. If one envisions this area as a triangle, then the countries that lie just outside those three points are: Persia (modern Iran), Turkey and Egypt. This is the land promised to Abraham and his descendants, not just the Israelites. Abraham's descendants include the children of Ishmael and Esau, so they are part of this larger description. The portion that is for the children of the covenant, the line of Isaac and Jacob, is described approximately as Lebanon and most of current Israel (excluding the southern tip which is part of the land of Edom). From Lebanon the eastern border follows the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River and the Salt Sea. Then continue through the Desert of Zin to Kadesh Barnea and over to the Wadi of Egypt for the southern border of the land. On the west is the Mediterranean Sea. (Num 34:1-12; Ezek 47:13-20)¹

As God was preparing a people to come out of the long journey in the desert into the Promised Land, he warned them in Deuteronomy 28 to follow the commands of His covenant. If they did, then there will be blessings. The fruit of the womb, the crops of the land and the herds would be blessed. There will be blessings when they come in and when they go out. Enemies that come against them will be defeated. They will come at them from one direction but flee in seven. If God’s people keep His commandments and walk in His way, then the Lord will establish a holy people; ones called by the name of the Lord and feared by other nations.

However, if His commands are disobeyed then there will be curses. The fruit of the womb, the crops of the land and the herds would be cursed. There will be curses when they come in and when they go out. The enemies that come against them will defeat them. They will come at their enemy from one direction but flee in seven.

The Lord will send curses, confusion and rebuke until they are destroyed. Their carcasses will be food for the birds and beasts. Their sons and daughters will be given to another nation. The Lord will drive them and the king they set over themselves to a nation unknown to them or their fathers. Their enemies will pursue and overtake them until they are destroyed, because they did not obey the Lord and observe His commands. Of these people who take the Israelites, God says:


The Lord will bring upon His people all the diseases of Egypt. They will be uprooted from the land they were given. Then the Lord will scatter them among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other, if they do not obey God. So did the Israelites remember God after He miraculously freed them from their Egyptian bondage and set them on their journey toward the Promised Land and the path toward total freedom?


When the Israelites came into the land they were promised, God gave them judges, people led by the Spirit of God to protect and guide them. During this time, the people continued to worship at the tabernacle, the house God designed to show the way to His Spirit. But the Israelites were not happy with the judges. As they looked at the other nations, they demanded to have an earthly king over them, just like other nations. This was an insult to the Lord God who is their king, but he gave them what they wanted anyway. However, God warned what the king would do. Even the beloved kings, David and his son Solomon, would violate God’s law while building a Temple for the altar and the ark, something God did not ask for (2 Sam 7:5-7).

David and Solomon violated the Law by having many wives and accumulating many horses, much gold and silver (Deut 17:14-20). They also violated the law in planning the layout of the temple and the palace. Eventually Solomon slept right next to the Lord’s house, thereby defiling it, as the Lord makes an extended point about through the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 43. Do you recall any preacher ever pointing these things out?

Finally Solomon blatantly violated the law when he elevated the altar for the continual burnt offering. He made it bigger than it was in the Tabernacle, but he also raised it, which required it to be supported on cut stone. Furthermore, it exposed the nakedness of the priests when they would climb the steps that elevated them above the heads of the congregation (Ex 20:24-26). The Tabernacle was God's house and it did not violate the Law. David's desire for a temple (for it was not the Lord's²) would have altered God’s plan, but He saw it coming. For further details on this, please see:


Even though these are beloved kings, and they made seemingly small and perhaps, one might argue, practical changes; nonetheless, they still made changes to God’s Law that He did not request nor command, so they began seeds of rebellion and the introduction of the spirit of antichrist.

After bringing His people into the Promised Land through the leadership of Joshua, the Lord led the nation of Israel by raising up Judges led by the Spirit of God as needed. Eventually the people demanded to have an earthly king, like other nations, but this was an insult and transgression toward the Lord Jesus, their heavenly king anointed and designated by the Lord God Almighty (Ps 2).

This “transgression” of asking for a different king, an earthly king (1 Sam 8:7), which the Lord granted but warned what the king would do if not led by the spirit of God, opened the door to the spirit of antichrist. For it puts one person in the position of authority that might think he is wise enough to change God’s Law, which then affects the whole congregation.

One of the first major impacts of this earthly king was the dropping of God’s house, the Tabernacle, and the creation of its replacement, the temple. The temple does not have the same humble nature and grounded ness that one finds in the Tabernacle, but more of a focus on self and pride, as the web page above discusses, and perhaps, the desire of the king to make a name for himself in history.

Why is David so revered in history? Is it because of his character or his military prowess? How much of a role does his part in the temple play? To give David his due, I believe part of his importance is that he is a type of the Messiah. Also, he was one led by God’s Spirit. And even though his character was not at the level of Enoch, Daniel or Joseph, I admire David because when he was wrong, he was able to see it and admit it. Furthermore, as Psalm 51 attests, when he confessed he did it from the heart and better than any other person in the Bible.

As the history of Israel attests to, various kings brought much trouble upon Israel due to their sin and the fact that they weren’t always led by the spirit of the Lord. This transgression of asking for an earthly king when their heavenly king, Jesus, was leading them would eventually led to the loss of the nation and being subject to a foreign king, as the Lord had warned (1 Sam 8:8-18).

The loss of the kingdom of Judah began the time of the nations, also known as the time of the Gentiles for it refers to the nations that are not in covenant relationship with the Lord. And this period of other nations ruling is detailed in the book of Daniel and explained on this page. This period will continue until the transgression reaches its fullness in the manifestation of the Antichrist, the final earthly world-ruling king before the return of God’s anointed king. (This whole understanding is captured in the 70 weeks prophecy.)

So the Israelites violated God’s law and brought curses upon themselves. The kingdom was divided. God showed mercy time and time again and even sent prophets, such as Isaiah and Jeremiah, who warned that if they did not change their ways, they would lose their land and be taken into captivity. But the people continued in their selfish ways and turned their back on God's covenant and so the full extent of the curses came upon the people. The Northern Kingdom was conquered by Assyria and its people scattered among the nations. Jerusalem was laid siege and eventually the Southern Kingdom was conquered and its people taken captive to Babylon, a land with a language they did not understand. Jeremiah informed his people that they would be held captive for 70 years.

Among those taken captive was a young man named Daniel. He was one who followed God’s covenant and developed into a prophet. He records several visions that describe much of the future of God’s people. It is at this point in time that God begins an object lesson with the kingdoms of this world. That lesson is about our development and the consequences of not mastering our 4 bodies: the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies.

Daniel declares that God is the one who changes times and seasons and who sets up and deposes kings (Dan 2:21). God declares in the first vision of the book (ch. 2) and in the third vision (ch. 7) that there will be a total of four kingdoms (2:40, 7:17) that control Jerusalem before His kingdom on earth is established and centered there. The four begin with Babylon, the kingdom that conquered Judah and destroyed Jerusalem. It will be followed by the other three. The fourth one will be a divided kingdom (2:41) and eventually out of it will come a weak alliance of 10 kings who ultimately empower Antichrist (Rev 17:13), just before God will establish His Rock in this world.

In the vision of chapter 7, the four kingdoms in control are portrayed as 4 beasts who have 7 heads. The 4 kingdoms tie back to the first vision (ch. 2) and the 7 heads connects to the 7 times of the second vision (ch. 4). Verse 7:23 confirms that the fourth beast is the fourth kingdom. This vision in chapter 7, though, gives special emphasis to the third beast, which has 4 of these 7 heads. This will be the focus of the next vision, but for now the 7 heads echo the 7 times this sequence of kingdoms will have the mind of a beast; i.e., at all times. It will not be until God sets up His kingdom that the government on earth will again be run from the heart.

On the personal spiritual level, the numbers 4 and 7 remind one of the 7 spiritual centers of the body (Chakras) and that the 4^th center, the heart chakra, is the key to not operating exclusively from the needs of the lower 4 centers and thereby solely expressing the beast aspect of our beings. One way to achieve balance is to get proper rest. Our Creator has made it a law that we rest one day a week, the Sabbath. If it is so important, it must have an impact on who we become. When we push ourselves or are pushed too long beyond normal, we do tend to become beastly. Our pace of life and the way we treat each other daily is the core of who we become.

The vision of chapter 7 is also where the concept of the Antichrist, the little horn, is introduced. He is a king to come out of the fourth kingdom, right after the alliance of 10 kings, and he will subdue three of these ten. (Note: The 10 kings of this vision parallel the 10 toes of the first vision.) The Antichrist is the one who would think to change the time and the seasons, that which God does. He will rule for 3½ years (time, times and half time). We are assured that his kingdom will be taken away and given to God’s people.

In chapter 5 Belshazzar, king of Babylon, asks Daniel to read the handwriting on the wall. We are told that God has brought his kingdom to an end because the king came up short. He had a choice, but did not humble himself before God and acknowledge the Most High as Sovereign, as Nebuchadnezzar before him had done. He is then told that the kingdom of Babylon was given to the Medes (5:30), so Media-Persia is the second kingdom in the progression of Daniel’s visions.

In the vision from chapter 8, the second and third kingdoms are given by name: Media-Persia (8:20) and Greece (8:21). The ram of this vision represents the second kingdom and lines up with the bear of the prior vision. Notice that they both have two of something with one stronger/higher than the other which reflects the combined powers of Media-Persia. The third kingdom, Greece, is ushered in by a great king, but then the kingdom is given to 4 kings. This equates to the four heads of the third beast in chapter 7. History proved this to be true. The kingdom of Alexander the Great was given to his four generals after he died suddenly.³ The vision then focuses on the final king of the third kingdom, a little horn, who becomes the type of the Antichrist that will come later in history, just before God’s kingdom is established.

The end-time Antichrist, the “little horn” of the vision from Daniel chapter 7, comes up from among the 10 kings that come out of the 4^th beast. The “little horn” of the vision from Daniel chapter 8 comes out of the 3^rd beast, the Greek kingdom. Therefore, these 2 “little horns” cannot be the same person. One is the Antichrist and the other is the type of the Antichrist. This distinction is clearly established in chapter 11 of the book of Daniel. We step through the Greek period in detail leading to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, one “little horn” (Daniel 10:20 – 11:35). Then we jump to the end-times to see again the other “little horn”, the primary end-time fulfillment, so this indicates the first one is a type of the second. Furthermore, the words highlighted by Jesus (Mt 24:15), "abomination" and "desolation", are used in Daniel 11:31 in describing the final king of the third kingdom, yet they are not used in the original vision (Dan 8:13). Thereby, it establishes this as a type for the original vision with these words (Dan 9:27) and its application in the end-times  (Dan 12:11).

This type of the Antichrist who came at the end of the kingdom of Greece, Antiochus Epiphanes, outlawed the Jewish faith, committed abominations on the temple altar and removed the daily sacrifice by replacing the High Priest. The daily sacrifice was prophesied to be removed for a set number of days, 2300, and then the sanctuary would be cleansed. This happened on time. Antiochus was defeated in the Maccabean revolt. The temple was cleansed and rededicated with a ceremony involving the lighting of the temple lamp stand. This fulfillment of prophecy and anointing of the holy place in the sanctuary is commemorated in the holy feast of Hanukkah.

The great prophet Isaiah sings of God’s faithful servant who will come to establish righteousness in Jerusalem by executing justice fairly and by leading her people to be a righteous nation. God’s plan is for this servant to bring the daughter of Zion, the bride of Christ, to maturity.

Long ago the Lord planted and tended his vineyard, the nation of Israel. The goal was to bring about good grapes for the winepress at harvest. The nation blossomed but then got lost in sin and created separation from God. Eventually judgment came and the people were carried off into slavery by Assyria and then by the king of Babylon. However, a remnant, a holy seed represented by a stump, would remain after the land was laid waste (Isaiah 6:13).

From this stump a shoot, the Branch who is God’s righteous servant, would come (Isaiah 11:1-4). He will bring the Israelites back to God and is a light to all the world. He binds up the brokenhearted and proclaims freedom for captives. He preaches the good news of the Lord God Almighty. He acts righteously and is thereby acceptable to the Lord. However, the Holy One of Israel has a plan of salvation for all people and so His servant must suffer before being king (Heb 2:17-18).

God’s suffering servant was pierced and cut off for our transgressions. He was bruised because of our iniquities, even though he had done no violence and spoke no deceit. The Lord God made his life a guilt offering (Rom 8:3). The suffering servant poured his life out unto death (2 Tim 4:1-8). He now makes intercession for transgressors and thereby bares the sins of many. (Isaiah 53:1-12)

Isaiah then reminds his people that God will not forget His vineyard, His people or His holy city, for their maker is their husband. Even though judgment is coming, there will be a future time when the the city of Jerusalem will be a joy as righteousness is established and the congregation of the faithful will enlarge to fill the earth. The stump will grow again!

To establish righteousness on earth, a time of judgment must come first – the day of vengeance! This is the day the Messiah comes as judge and conquering lion, the day Christ returns in the flesh. This day of vengeance brings the year of redemption, for the action of bringing judgment against their enemy means redemption for God’s people. But Israel has her sins too, and so judgment also means atonement for one’s sins. Ultimate redemption means freedom from the slavery to sin.

In Isaiah 61, the whole mission of God’s righteous servant is described. He comes first to declare the future day of vengeance that is followed by the year of the Lord's favor, the great jubilee prophesied in the feasts of God. This day of vengeance is a different day from the time when this righteous servant was first with us on the day of salvation and proclaimed freedom for the captives (Isaiah 49:8; 2 Corin 6:1-2). The Hebrew for salvation here is Yahshua, a name for Jesus. The day of salvation was the day when God's Rock of Salvation, Jesus, was among us. One day we will see the day of God's vengeance when sin is atoned for and redemption comes to God’s people. After this the sovereign Lord will guide his seed, this stump, to grow and in so doing cause righteousness to spring up before all nations.

Since the servant will be cut off as a guilt offering for our sin (Isaiah 53:10), there must be another time when he comes to establish God’s everlasting righteousness. Isaiah lets you know that the day of vengeance will follow the restoring of the nation of Israel. Knowing God’s Master Plan of 7,000 Years, we are aware of the two prophetic “days” between the two manifestations of Messiah (as Lamb and Lion) and that the resurrection of Israel is a sign of the second. In the last days, the last 3 days (3,000 years) of the 7 days (7,000 years) of God’s plan, there is a gap of about 2,000 years between the Messiah being cut off as sacrificial lamb and the Messiah coming as conquering lion to establish righteousness beginning in God’s Holy City of Jerusalem. A prerequisite for this is the return of the nation of Israel.

When Jesus was with us, he made this gap between the day of salvation, the coming of Messiah to declare the year of the Lord's favor, and the day he would execute God’s vengeance very clear when he read Isaiah 61:1-2 and stopped between the two days (Luke 4:19-20). With all this clearly in mind, we have the proper perspective for reading the 70 weeks prophecy as given to Daniel.

Daniel’s 70 weeks (‘sevens’) prophecy also describes the whole mission of God’s righteous servant. First, the Anointed One, the one meant to rule, will come and be cut off (compare Isaiah 53:8-10) as a guilt offering so as to atone for wickedness and accomplish the act that will result in the end of sin. After a gap of time this servant will finish transgression and atonement by bringing judgment to all sinners. But first there will be the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the perfecting of God's people through the final shabua of 7 years. After the final battle, everlasting righteousness will be brought to the Holy City of Jerusalem through a redeemed people ready to rule with Christ. This Most Holy people through marriage with the Holy Spirit, the bride of the Messiah, will come with Messiah, now crowned king, to the temple and together anoint a Most Holy place.

While others in the Bible have been anointed at various times, only the Messiah, God’s righteous servant, is that Anointed One who will be cut off and then at a future time establish righteousness in God’s Holy City. And he will lead God’s people to the time when there is no more sin because God’s law will be written in their hearts.

Take notice that the person who confirms the covenant for one ‘seven’, the final week of years, is the other ruler to come, the anti-ruler, and not the Messiah. (Note: The KJV is clearer in making the distinction between the two rulers in calling them: Prince and prince.) First, Jesus could not have fulfilled this final week because he did not end the daily sacrifice but rather changed it as explained in Sacrifice, The Sanctuary & Salvation. But most importantly, the Messiah would never confirm the covenant for a limited time period, a week of years, since God’s covenant is an everlasting covenant (Isaiah 24:5, 54:10, 55:3). This covenant with the anti-ruler is a counterfeit of the everlasting covenant God will reaffirm with the faithful through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Finally, it is the Messiah in the future who will pour out the decreed end upon this anti-ruler, the one who confirms the covenant for one week.

When the Israelites first lost their kingdom to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, they were taken into captivity. Jeremiah prophesied that they would be held for 70 years as a penalty for worshiping other gods, for not turning from their evil ways and for not following God’s way and keeping His Law, especially the 7 year sabbatical laws (Jer 25; 2 Ch 36). As the Sabbath comes every 7 days, a sabbatical year comes every 7 years and the Bible says the land should be rested from sowing just as we rest on the seventh day.

When the time of captivity was coming to an end, Daniel prayed about this prophecy and made confession to God about Israel’s transgressions and why they deserved their punishment. However, God’s temple did not deserve this disgrace and he asked that God look with favor upon his house. In response to his prayer, Daniel received the 70 weeks prophecy. This prophecy was given in weeks of years to emphasize that the 7^th year was the sabbath year just as the 7^th day of the week is the sabbath. It is a year of rest for the land. Right at the time the Israelites are given another chance to worship in freedom and to rebuild their temple and city, right after being punished for not properly observing God’s laws, they are given a prophecy about the whole journey of the temple, pointing to the ultimate anointing within, and it is given in a unit of time that emphasizes and keeps track of God’s holy cycle of Sabbaths.

The total time frame of the prophecy is chosen to again emphasize the sabbatical theme. It begins with a decree from Artxerxes in 444 BC allowing Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem, the city and its walls (Neh 2). The first 69 weeks are 69 sabbatical cycles. They are given in biblical lunar time without an adjustment for the solar year. The numbers of Daniel 12 confirm the units of time given. When the total number of days in the prophecy is converted from lunar to solar years, the 5¼ day difference per year becomes 7 years, one sabbatical cycle. So, when you begin to count the prophecy in 444 BC and count forward, whether you use solar or lunar years you will end on cycle with the sabbatical years! It seems to me that God is using math to emphasize the importance of the Sabbath.

History shows that using the count of lunar converted to solar years ends in 33 AD, a very likely year for the crucifixion of Jesus. Starting at 444 BC, this also makes 33 AD a sabbatical year. 2 Chronicles 36: 20-21 states the land enjoyed its sabbath rests "all the time of its desolation". The land needed to be rested every seventh year because it was worked by its people the other 6 years. Since the people were not working the land at all after its desolation (they were taken as slaves), the land rests each year and so there is no need to count. Therefore, when the land becomes desolate of people, the sabbatical cycle stops. Many have tried to follow the ancient sabbatical cycles into the present so as to possibly predict which will be a Jubilee year. I have come to believe this thinking is not correct. One hint is that the Bible does not give enough information to establish which years were Jubilees during the time of the kings. I now believe the sabbatical cycle restarts when the people return to the land and the walls of protection are established, as detailed in this next section by the example of the conditions for the start of the 70 weeks prophecy.


And there is one more echo of the theme of seven. There is one more larger cycle to consider, the Jubilee year. It is the 50^th year and it comes the year after 7 sabbatical cycles or every 49 years; however, it is announced and declared in the 7^th month of the 49^th year. The themes of the Jubilee have messianic overtones (set captives free, return land, forgive debts), so surely the Messiah would return on a Jubilee year. There is a Dead Sea Scroll which states this, entitled "The Last Jubilee". The 70 weeks prophecy itself hints at this in that the first 69 weeks are broken into two parts with the wording almost saying the Messiah would come after the first 7 weeks or 49 years, for then there is a jubilee.

The prophecy is also declaring the time to restart the sabbatical cycles and the Jubilee count, for it occurred at a time when God's people returned to the land and established the walls of protection around the holy city of Jerusalem. It is interesting to note that with the count started then and ending when Messiah was cut off, the count began with the first Jubilee (7x1 week), then as we focus on the remaining 62 weeks until Messiah is cut off, one week is missing for the count to complete on the final Jubilee (9 more Jubilee cycles = 7x9=63; 63-1=62). After the Israelites return to their land and the walls of the city are established, the count will resume when the conditions of Daniel 9:27 are met. When the conditions are met and the count resumes, the final week will complete the 7^th sabbatical cycle of the 10^th Jubilee cycle defined by the 70 weeks prophecy (7x10 weeks = 7x10x7).

In 1948, Israel declared its independence formalizing the return of Jews from around the world to their homeland, just as the Bible had predicted. So the people have been returning to the land for most of the last century and recently a new wall was built around Jerusalem. So the conditions have been satisfied to begin the sabbatical counting again; however, the conditions to continue the count to the tenth Jubilee have not been met yet. They are defined in Daniel 9:27 and call for a covenant to be confirmed regarding God’s Holy City and His holy people.


When the trumpet sounds on the Day of Atonement, it is a declaration of the coming year of Jubilee (Lev 25:8-10). Since the Jubilee year is announced in the Fall, on the Day of Atonement, and if indeed the Messiah will return on a Jubilee year, then Daniel's final week, the 70^th week, should end in the 7^th month and bring us to the point of Jubilee. For also, the 70 weeks prophecy is defined to be complete with the "end to sin" (Dan 9:24 NIV) and this can only be done on the Day of Atonement.

Since the count of Sabbath years begins in the Spring (Lev 25:2; Ex 12:1-2; Josh 4:1,19, 5:10-12; Neh 2:1,8-9; Ex 23:10-11,14-16; Deut 11:8,12; Ezek 40:1, 45:21), and the beginning of the year, Rosh Hashanah, is defined in the Spring (Ex 12:1-2), when the Holy Spirit is poured out in the first Spring after the start of Daniel's 70^th Week, then 7 years later brings us right to the start of the great Jubilee year!


The 70 Weeks prophecy represents a time period of 490 years (7x7x10). As stated above, this is a period of 10 Jubilees, which is built upon the sabbatical cycle of seven years in that the year of Jubilee follows seven sabbatical cycles (Lev 25:8). Jeremiah states in 25:7-11 that because Israel did not listen and violated God’s law, the land would become desolate and its people will serve the king of Babylon 70 years. Daniel prayed toward the end of this period of captivity when he received the 70 Weeks prophecy. 2 Chronicles 36:21 states that the land enjoyed its Sabbath rests “all the time of its desolation” until the 70 years were completed. This implies the penalty was drawn from violating one of the 7 year sabbatical laws. If the penalty were based upon violating the law once in 7 years, this would imply a 490-year period in order to incur a 70-year penalty (490 / 7 = 70). So as God allocates a new 490-year period, there is the implication that there was a prior 490-year period in which Israel violated the Law to incur the 70 years of Babylonian captivity that was just ending. When might that prior 490-year period have occurred?

When Paul stood in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch to address the Men of Israel and the Gentiles who worship God, he gave a grand sweep of the history of his people. He started with their enslavement in Egypt (clarified by Acts 7:6), continued to the Exodus and then the wilderness for forty years, followed by the conquest of Canaan under Joshua. All these events took about 450 years. Then God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. The period of the judges was around 400 years. Toward the end of this time the people asked for a king and were given Saul for 40 years. After removing Saul, God made David king and testified he was a man after His own heart. From David’s descendants, God brought Israel the Savior Jesus. (Acts 13:16-23.) It is a most interesting witness that Paul gives two groups of numbers that add to 490 years (450 + 40) and that it is made up of two non-contiguous sequences of time, just as the 70 Weeks prophecy has two non-contiguous groups, 483 years separated from the final 7 years.

Another place we see a number close to 490 years is in 1 Kings 6:1 where it is stated that in the 480^th year after the Exodus, Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in the second month. It took 7½ years to complete and was finished in the eighth month (1 Kings 6:38). The temple was dedicated in the seventh month, probably one month prior (1 Kings 8:2). This is a total of 487½ years and leaves 2½ years to make a total of 490 years. Since the Israelites left on Passover, after the first of the month, and since the 490 years brings one to the year to announce the Jubilee (in the seventh month), the Jubilee would not begin until the following Spring. Therefore, we have 3½ years remaining to bring one to the start of the year of Jubilee.

The vision of 70 years of captivity came to Jeremiah in the 4^th year of Jehoiakim king of Judah, which was also the same year Nebuchadnezzar came to power as king of Babylon (25:1-11). This occurred about 605 B.C. and was the time when the first Hebrew captives were taken to Babylon. (This likely included Daniel.) If one goes back in time 490 years from this point, one comes to early in the life of the prophet Samuel. It is interesting to note that late in Samuel’s life the people asked for a king but the Lord took offense, for it meant that the people had rejected him as king (1 Samuel 8). Jesus alludes to this 490-year period when he answers Peter’s question of how many times he should forgive his brother by answering 70 times 7 (Mt 18:21-22). Was Jesus hinting that when the people asked for a king, it was an offense to the Lord and he was giving Israel 490 years to come to repentance and recognize their true king? (Zech 9:9; 12:10-14.) This will finally occur later, after they lose their nation again and after a significant gap of time predicted by Hosea (6:1-2), for then the Holy Spirit will be poured out and Israel will mourn for their son, just before he returns as their king.

Another place in Scripture that hints at this 490-year period is when Jacob made a covenant for his two wives. When Jacob summarizes his time in Laban’s household (Genesis 31:41), the 20 years included two consecutive 7 year periods and that his wages were changed 10 times (7-7-10). It is noteworthy that Jacob received a wife at the end of the first and second 7 years and that he got his freedom from a fellow Hebrew in the 3^rd seventh year. It seems God wants one to count periods of 7 years from this point. If one counts 70 seven's, or 490 years, from this point one comes exactly to the Exodus!⁴ Even though this is symbolic of Israel leaving sin behind and going through the baptism of the Red Sea, it was still a gap of 40 years before they were ready to enter the promised land. When we choose to live outside God's plan, we only delay our inheritance. Nonetheless, this doesn't appear to be the period that generates the penalty because they had not yet been given the Law nor had they entered the land (Lev 25:2).

In putting these different periods in order, a picture of hope and disappointment of man arises but ultimately the patience of God will triumph. Beginning with the betrothal of Jacob to two of Laban’s daughters, each a period of 7 years followed by another of 7 years at the end of which Jacob receives his freedom from a fellow Israelite, counting 490 years brings us exactly to the Exodus. Even though the people made a decision to leave sin behind, as shown by the blood on their doorposts, and were baptized and redeemed by the Lord, they were not ready to enter the Promised Land for another 40 years.

So the Lord allocated another 490 years from the Exodus and this brought us to the time of the temple. After Moses died, the one who led them out of Egypt by the power of God which they witnessed, the one who talked with God and received the Law, the one who led them through the wilderness of perfecting, after his death, God gave them Joshua to led them into and take possession of the Promised Land. After coming to live in the land God had promised, God also provided people led by the Spirit of God, Judges, to guide them for over 400 years. Here the Lord God was their heavenly king and guided the nation through the Spirit of the Almighty. However, the people rejected this model and the Lord’s path to knowing the Father’s Spirit. They demanded to have an earthly king like other nations. This was a rejection of their heavenly king and a transgression to the Lord.

This seed of rebellion began early in the life of Samuel and grew to the point that later in his life the people demanded he anoint a king. So he did and anointed Saul, but ultimately God could not work with him and David replaced him. David had the idea to change God’s house and decided to build the temple but was told by God he would not, yet his descendant would. David was a type of the Messiah and God hoped the people would have embraced the way of the true covenant by now and so realize the kingdom. But the people had not been perfected yet and so the journey continues.

God allocates another 490-year period to bring a lesson about the transgression of asking for a king and the consequences of what he would do. God warns the kings neither to deviate from the law nor to think of themselves as being above their brothers. But the kings violate the law and bring division and judgment upon the people and the land. At the end of this period the people are taken into Babylonian captivity for a period of 70 years, while the land lies desolate.

At the end of this period of Babylonian slavery, Daniel receives a vision of yet another 490-year period, but this time he is promised the final perfecting of the people. After the people return to the land and establish the walls of protection, the counting of the new time period begins and brings us to the coming of Messiah. However, the counting is not complete before Messiah is cut off, which stops the count, and soon afterward the temple is destroyed, the people carried into slavery again and the land is left desolate once more. The count will not resume again until the nation and people return, the walls are established and the one who will finish the transgression makes the covenant that brings back the temple and leads to the final earthly king. This occurs just before the return of the Almighty’s anointed king. It is during this long period that the land lies desolate that God will work on perfecting His people through trials and hardship so that when they return to the land and the practice of the way, the Lord's true covenant, they will be ready to receive the Latter Rain that will cleanse their hearts and prepare them to witness in the face of the final anti-king.

When one reflects on Israel's 70 year penalty coming out of the prior 490-year period, one year for each seventh year, Jeremiah makes clear that one aspect of the law Israel violated was to not release their fellow Hebrew slaves every 7 years (Jeremiah 34:13-14; Deut 15:12). This makes more sense that the Israelites would be taken into captivity as slaves because they failed to release their own slaves according to the law, rather than simply for forgetting to give the land its rest from planting. Israel did acknowledge these obligations after the Babylonian captivity (Nehemiah 10:31).

Many are familiar with the biblical calendar based upon the monthly cycle of the moon, a cycle of approximately 30 days. For 12 months in a year this gives a total of 360 days before adjusting for the solar year. The monthly cycle is kept in sync with the solar year by periodically adding another month to the year, which also keeps the calendar in sync with the cycles of the moon. (1 month is added 7 times in 19 years by calculation.)

The visions of Daniel define the time period of the final king who will have the mind of a beast, the Antichrist, and it is 3½ times. This is 3½ prophetic or lunar years and is expressed exactly as: 3½ years = 42 months = 1260 days. These equivalent numbers are confirmed by the book of Revelation (Rev 11-13).

When dealing with the whole of the 70^th week from chapter 9, the 1260 days from its midpoint ends at a point that is 7 lunar years from the start of this final week. The 1290 days from this midpoint ends at a point that is 1 week short of 7 solar years from the start of the 70th week. It seems to my eye, that when the abomination occurs at 1290 days from the midpoint, from when the daily sacrifice is removed, and being about 7 full years from the start of the 70^th week, it would be the appropriate time for the Antichrist to declare that he has fulfilled all prophecies, and then commit the final abomination, declare that he is the Almighty Creator of the universe (2 Thess 2, which amplifies Daniel 12!).

As shown in The Last Days chart, neither the end of Daniel’s 70th week (1260 days) nor the abomination (1290 days) is the end of Daniel’s prophecies. The end comes at 1335 days, which is 75 days past the 1260 point. If, as proposed in the chart, the 70^th week ends on the Day of Atonement, then the blessed day of our resurrection 75 days later will always occur on Hanukkah! So the solution to the 1335 puzzle is the feast day prophesied in Daniel 8 and fulfilled by the hand of God as seen in history. It is fulfilled on a day that sets this holiday at 75 days from the day of atonement and it occurs almost four centuries after the book of Daniel is written. (Note: There are some possible variations which stay within the parameters of these themes and they are covered on the web page.)

This is a plan that only God could put together and implement. When the true fulfillment of prophecy is made clear, then the conclusion as to the author is also clear. The message of the numbers to everyone is this: When the Antichrist ends up doing things on God’s timetable, it will be a reminder to all that despite the outer appearance that the Antichrist is in control of the world, that it is actually God who ultimately remains in control.

It is a fact of history that the Roman Empire split into the Western Roman Empire with its capital remaining in Rome and the Eastern Roman Empire whose capital was Constantinople.

Charlemagne, Napoleon and others in history, and even now the European Union, have all attempted to revive the Western Empire. Russia and the Ottomans, at least, claimed to have continued the Eastern Empire.

How do we determine which may have continued the proper legacy and thereby may deserve the title of revived Roman Empire and so may qualify as the resurrected 4^th beast of the prophecies of Daniel & Revelation?

Since the description of the beast in Revelation 13 includes all four beasts from Daniel, there is a strong implication that the end-time empire should cover the same territories as these kingdoms. The primary territory of concern is the land given to Abraham and his descendants. As described above, this is the Fertile Crescent and is a triangle bracketed by the countries of Egypt, Turkey and Persia. When one adds the territories of the 4 beasts of Daniel, this expands the area of the Fertile Crescent to include the modern countries of Iran (Persia), Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Greece and into the heart of Europe.⁶

Of all the attempted revivals of the Western Roman Empire, Holy or otherwise, none came close to occupying the territories mapped out by the beasts of Daniel.

After Constantine became Emperor of the Roman Empire, in 330 AD he moved the capital from Rome to what was then called Byzantium. He renamed the city to Constantinople, the “New Rome”. He also kept the symbol of the city, the crescent moon and star, as his flag. This established the Eastern Roman Empire, which also was known as the Byzantine Empire. No one questions this first stage where the once great empire eventually split into the Eastern and Western Empires. In looking back at the first vision in Daniel of the great statue, the 4^th kingdom began as the single Roman Empire during the time of Christ but was later split in two and this is exactly reflected by the image in that this kingdom is represented by two legs.

When the Eastern Empire began, it controlled Jerusalem. This Empire, The Byzantine Empire, remained until 1453 AD when it was taken over by the Ottoman Empire; however, it lost control of Jerusalem briefly to the Persians but then to the Arab Muslims in 638 AD. From the point of view of Jerusalem, the fourth beast no longer controlled the Holy City, so it appeared to be mortally wounded. But it did not die because the beast continued, at least for another 800 years.

When the city of Constantinople was taken over by Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire on May 29, 1453, he kept the crescent and star flag and claimed the title of Kayser-i Rûm: Roman Emperor. Consider the following excerpt from Wikipedia:⁷


So it seems quite reasonable to consider the Ottoman Empire to be the continuation of the Eastern Roman Empire. The Empire continued to grow from this point and in 1516 AD the Ottoman Turks took Jerusalem. This began a relatively peaceful period for Jerusalem as it remained under the Ottoman Empire until the end of World War I.

In summary, at the time Messiah came the 4^th Beast of Daniel was the Roman Empire and it controlled Jerusalem. The Empire later split and Jerusalem was under the control of the Eastern Roman Empire, ruled from Constantinople. This Empire eventually lost control of Jerusalem, yet the Empire continued. From the point of view of the Holy City, the beast was now wounded and no longer a beast over the city. Many thought the Roman Empire was finally gone, especially when the Byzantine Empire ended. But actually the name had changed again, for the culture and the government of the capital city continued. This was seen symbolically in the flag of the crescent moon and star being unchanged and actually adopted by the “new” empire. So when the Ottoman Empire captured Jerusalem in 1516 AD, I believe that we can say at that point we were seeing the resurrection of the fourth Beast. At that time, its territory included all that of the first 3 beasts of Daniel. As we follow the development of the next stage and see the completion of this image, we will also see the addition of the final territory of the fourth Beast.



I find it quite interesting to note that the Bible specifically named the first 3 beasts, yet it left the fourth one unnamed. Considering that this kingdom split, it appears as though God may have not named this kingdom as a hint, so that we might not focus on "Rome" and the wrong leg. Oh well.⁸

By the way, did you know that Rome is not the only city to be associated with "7 hills" in the past (Rev 17:9). So was Constantinople, Babylon & Jerusalem!!!⁹

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After World War I broke out, the Ottoman Empire eventually sided with Germany and Austria against Britain, France and Russia. Britain, who controlled Egypt, Algeria and Aden, used its influence to instigate an Arab revolt against the Ottoman Muslim Turks with the promise to the Arabs of gaining full control of their lands, excluding areas already under British control.

The following year Britain issued the Belfour Declaration pledging support for a national Jewish homeland in Palestine. In the same month, the Russian revolution brought to light secret documents that showed Britain and France had plans to divide the Ottoman Empire among themselves without giving any territory to the Arabs. This double-dealing with the Arab world is still affecting our world to this day.


Palestine became a problem for Britain. The British allowed unrestricted Jewish immigration to Palestine. Fearful of a Jewish takeover, the Arabs demanded an end to the immigration and Britain complied, right on the eve of World War II thereby cutting off the escape route just when it was needed most.

Conflict arose and eventually the United Nations voted to divide Palestine between the Arabs and the Jews, with Jerusalem as an international city. The Israelis accepted the plan and the Arabs rejected it. As the British left, Jewish leaders proclaimed the birth of the independent Jewish nation of Israel on the evening of May 14-15, 1948. Within hours, war broke out but Israel prevailed.

And so the Jewish nation of Israel returned after almost 2,000 years, just as the Bible had predicted!¹¹

Isa 10:20-23, 11:10-13, 27:6; Jer 16:14-15, 50:4-6, 19-20; Ezek 34:12-13, 36:24-28, 37:21-22; Mt 24:32; Lk 21:20-24, 29-31; Rom 11:25; Rev 11:1-2.

As we step back and look at this history in the light of Bible prophecy, we can say the following:

The Eastern Roman Empire had control of Jerusalem but lost it over time. The Empire remained but was changed when the Ottomans took over Constantinople, the capital of this Empire. They regained control of Jerusalem and so we see the resurrection of the Fourth Beast of Daniel. At this point, this Empire covers all the territory of the first 3 Beasts of Daniel. After World War I, when Britain, France and the League of Nations took control of areas of this Empire, we now have the descendants of the old Western Roman Empire getting involved and the territory in question now includes that of the Fourth Beast.

So out of the Ottoman Empire, the remains of the Eastern Empire, with the influence of the descendants of the Western Empire, the following countries were created in the Middle East:

1	Afghanistan (1919)
2	The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1922)
3	The Kingdom of Egypt (1924)
4	The Kingdom of Iran (Formally Persia)
5	Transjordan (Later renamed Jordan)
6	Iraq (1932)
7	Lebanon (1943)
8	Syria (1946)
9	Pakistan (1947)

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The Beast who comes out of the Sea with 10 Horns and 7 Heads is a reference to the Beasts of Daniel. In this vision the 10 Horns have 10 Crowns (13:1), meaning this is the time they come to power. However, this vision also includes much of the history that culminates in this beast (empire).

The vision begins in the time when the beast is composed of 10 kings. When the Bible says the beast was given a mouth and exercised his authority for 42 months (13:5), it is a reference to the time of the Antichrist, the next and final king, a single ruler of the Empire. We are also given a quote from Jeremiah (13:10) that has references to God’s justice against those who worship other gods. Finally, God’s people are warned to have patience to endure this time period.

Next we have the Beast from the Earth with 2 Horns like a Lamb but speaks like a Dragon (13:11). This beast exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf (13:12). The first beast of this vision, the beast out of the sea that had a fatal wound yet healed is this resurrected empire that gets carved into 10 kingdoms. It began in the past as the Roman Empire. At the time the church began, this other beast (one out of the sea), the Roman Empire, used its power and authority to elevate the Bishop of Rome above the other bishops and imposed some of its pagan ideas on the church. However, as some have made the case, these pagan ideas originally came from Babylon, which brings us to the first beast of Daniel.¹⁴

Revelation 17 confirms the importance of following this path because it warns us that ultimately the false religion (harlot) of the end-times will be called “Mystery Babylon”, again bringing us to the first beast of Daniel and the kingdom of Babylon.¹⁵ A mystery means it can’t be explained, but the Bible reveals God’s truth to His faithful, for the mysteries of God are revealed in Christ.¹⁶

Understanding the mystery religion of Ancient Babylon is a challenging research project. The Bible gives only a few clues that at first seem unrelated. Jeremiah gives stern warnings against the “Queen of Heaven”, who turns out to be a Babylonian goddess named Ishtar. Ezekiel warns those who weep for Tammuz, another character from Babylonian (and Assyrian) mythology. Finally there is Nimrod, a mighty one among men who founded the empires of Assyria and Babylon.

The stories of the mystery religion of Babylon vary. It turns out it is an ancient myth which traveled to many regions and in process took on many variations, so it is difficult to come to consensus on the original elements. Pulling together from various resources, a few things do seem clear. Babylon was the origin of this mystery religion and it involved a trinity concept.

Nimrod built Babylon, Nineveh and other cities. He was a mighty hunter, feared and awed among men. He married Ishtar, who became the Queen of Babylon. Nimrod met an untimely death. After this, Ishtar, also known as Semiranis, promoted the belief that Nimrod was a god. Years later she had a child, although she never remarried.


In one variation of the story, the child is given to the god of the underworld to hide him for a while but then Ishtar must appeal to Zeus to get him back. A deal is made that he comes back part of the year and thus the weeping for Tammuz to bring rebirth in the spring. In another version, Ishtar descended into the “land of No-Return”, yet she was able to come back. In yet another version, Nimrod became the sun god Baal and was also involved in the miraculous birth of Tammuz.

In his book The Two Babylons, Rev Hislop, in the first chapter entitled “Distinctive Character of the Two Systems”, makes the case that the mystery religion of Babylon perverts the confession aspect of the law and thereby creates the wine that all the nations were made to drink in Revelation 17. This supports one of the main points of this web site.¹⁷

Returning to Revelation 13, we see that the Beast with 2 Horns creates an image of the first beast and causes all to receive a mark in the hand and forehead and the number of the beast is 666. This symbol has at least 2 dimensions of meaning. As the Bible says, it’s the number of a man. But it also refers to theological concepts because this is the counterfeit to the seal of God. The seal says God’s Law should be in our minds and guide our hands. Those who have the mark of the beast in their mind, those concepts, will be driven to not do the will of God. The number 666 implies 3 main concepts that fall short of perfection, which is they don’t represent what the Bible says. From the mythology of Babylon, we can see early forms of 3 concepts now in the church:

1. A trinity where the father and son are the same yet different.
2. The idea of an underworld from which one normally does not return.
3. A system of sanctification that does not involve proper confession.
   

The reference to the name of a man may very well be Caesar Nero, a pointer to the time when the Roman Empire began to impose its pagan ideas, borrowed from Babylon, onto the young and vulnerable new church. (For more details on the influence of the Empire putting its mark on the church, see the web page: Changes to the Word of God & the Mark of the Beast.) The Bible also warns that this entity would kill those who refuse to worship the image (13:15). This was fulfilled at various times through such things as the Inquisitions and the Crusades. Those who accept the image in their mind then come to life as agents of the beast, and become trapped, by allowing the beast to rise within and then keeping it caged deep inside. And perhaps 13:13 is a reference to the Apparitions of Mary. Or perhaps it refers to the church calling down the fire of the Holy Spirit. But since it prays to some other Jesus due to the trinity concept and the rest of the Babylonian Mysteries it promotes, this fire may actually be power from another god, a real spiritual dark force that binds the faithful in some type of covenant of death.

However, the historic role of the Church of Rome in bringing Babylonian concepts to the faithful and its actions that violated the Lord’s covenant cannot be the complete fulfillment of this vision. Revelation 16:13, 19:20 & 20:10 call the Beast from the Earth with 2 Horns the “False Prophet.” It is clear from these descriptions that there is an occurrence of this influence during the end-times, because the False Prophet is thrown in the lake of fire along with the Beast (Antichrist). So what the Church of Rome has already done is just minor fulfillment of this prophecy. The final and major fulfillment is yet to come. Furthermore, the model of Rome and the type of Antiochus Epiphanies give us insight into the final manifestation.

Revelation defines the earth and the sea as nations of people (Rev 5:13, 10; see also the Hebrew for earth), so the implication of the Beasts coming out of the earth and sea are beasts coming out of different nations of people. While it may be tempting to see the Pope’s miter as the total representation of the symbol of the beast with two horns, we must stick to our thesis that the Bible defines its own symbols. Therefore, the two horns represent two kings or kingdoms. Since the Bible is clear that this beast exercises all the authority of the beast from the sea (Rev 13:12), perhaps this represents the influence of the two legs of the fourth beast, i.e. when the 7^th head first appeared and later when it returns. Remember, this vision spans a long period of time.

So just as the Western Empire (one leg of the beast) empowered and elevated the false prophet of the Bishop of Rome in the beginning of this sequence and put its mark of the Babylonian Mysteries upon the early church, it will be the 10 kings coming out of the Eastern Empire (other leg of the beast) who will create an empire and empower another false prophet, the one for the end-times (Rev 17:12-13).

Whether you come out of the western people who elevated a false prophet in the past or come out of the eastern people who will elevate a false prophet in the end-times, the Lord God Almighty is calling all people to come out of Babylon and return to the Father. Commit to not allowing the beast to rise within oneself, master one’s four bodies and allow the Christ to rise to the upper 3 centers and become anointed for the Lord.

3	Bride
+	or
4	Beast

This challenge is great and knowledge is important. Even though one might think that this is just a competition of ideas, this section of Revelation comes with a dire warning.


The Bible continually warns about worshiping other gods. If Jesus is indeed a fellow created being with a beginning (as this web site professes), then seeing Jesus as an eternal extension of the Father, whether through the trinity or even if one calls him Yashua, one is worshiping some other god, not the Jesus who is High Priest in the Heavenly Sanctuary and at the right hand side of the Father, and who is not the same being as the Father.

The Bible calls Nimrod a mighty one and some speculate that he was a Nephilim. The Hebrew word used here for “mighty” is the same one used to describe the Nephilim in Gen 6:4.¹⁸ If so, then one of his parents was a fallen angel and we are now in the realm of demons that work for Satan.

Another piece of the puzzle that ties all this together is the fact that Byblos, listed in Psalm 83, was once the center of Syrian worship of Tammuz.

I believe the implication of this section is that if one believes any of the concepts that originate and point to the beings from ancient Babylon, then you may actually be praying to these beings and making requests of these beings. (These beings created the trinity concept. They own it, so to speak, so it is a mark that points to them.) If so, one is then opening oneself up to demonic and negative spirit influence by believing these concepts that are not biblical!

People who are not led by the Spirit of God will not be ready to shed the Babylonian Mysteries and embrace the Lord's true covenant (1 Cor 2:14). The important thing is to not allow your heart to become calloused (Mt 13:14-15), nor your mind to be directed by judgmental thinking so as to prevent your hand from doing what your heart knows is right (James 4:11-17).

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The end-times will strip all bare:


For those who don’t love the truth, who wish to run from their sin, they love their Babylonian Mysteries because it allows them to hide from their sin. So they refuse to follow Spirit, which wants to lead them to the truth but they really don’t want to go there. For only if you are willing to face your sin, will you be willing to accept the truth and let go of the Babylonian Mysteries.

Furthermore, once one does find the Way, gained from living, seeking and understanding the true covenant, then one has the correct perceptual filter and Scripture will fully open up to one’s eyes and ears.

This fulfillment of Revelation 13 is a clear example, because one cannot fully justify the application of the symbols unless one is on the right side of the theological fence. It also highlights the role of knowledge, a required partner in the union with Spirit to lead to a detailed understanding of the Lord.²⁰ For one must know the theological influence of Mystery Babylon on Rome and some aspects of that history in order to begin to see the message.

So knowledge is needed to get to the message, and experience with the true covenant (correct perceptual filter) is needed to handle the content of the message. One will not be able to live with the Holy Spirit residing in one's temple if one's way of life is to hide from sin. Nor can you even be around those who are ready to welcome God's Spirit as their constant companion.

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Our recorded history of the rise and fall of empires in the Middle East has been a grand object lesson of what happens when we live outside of God’s Law. When one allows your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies to rule oneself, then they become beasts (Ps 49:12-14, 20; James 4:1-10). As beasts, living outside God’s Law and doing anything to hide from one’s sin, we have created and brought our world to the point of tribulation. By not standing up for what is right, we have all contributed to the chaos, confusion and pollution of all aspects of our society so that we cannot buy or sell without being affected by the consequences of the mark of the beast. The goods and services of the world all contain the mark, evidence of the lack of transparency, accountability and integrity that the Lord God Almighty calls us to manifest.²²

Only by sacrificing ourselves for a higher good, confessing to the right god (the one who actually has the authority to forgive sin), seeking the love of the Father and guidance of His Holy Spirit, can we hope to be masters of our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies.²³ Only then can we allow the love of Christ to rise up in us, energizing the upper 3 centers of our 7, thereby empowering our temples and allowing us to shine as peaceful and powerful lights for the Lord in this world.





The bottom line is this:

Footnotes

¹ For a map of the land promised to Abraham and all of his descendants, see: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Greater_Israel_map.jpg
For a map of the land of Israel, the land promised to those who enter into covenant relationship with God, see: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Map_Land_of_Israel.jpg

² 2 Sam 7:1-2 makes clear that it was David's idea to built a temple for the Lord. This did not come from God. It was motivated out of David's desire to make the ark as comfortable as he was in his palace of Cedar. God later mocks cedar, I believe because of this. God makes clear in 2 Sam 7:5-16 that he did not ask David to build a house nor would he be the one to do it. One of his descendants would. David and Solomon misunderstood this, thinking God meant Solomon was the one God wanted to build a new house for the Lord, the temple. When one reads the passage carefully, I hear God referring to Jesus. He is the one to built the house of God within his body as the Father raises him in 3 days to become the High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary where the faithful will then direct the prayers and supplications of the daily sacrifice. This is explained in greater detail in the web page whose link is shown just after this footnote in the body of the text above.

³ After Alexander the Great died, his kingdom was given over to his four generals: Ptolemy (Egypt & N. Africa), Seleucus (Syria & Mesopotamia), Lysimachus (Thrace & Asia Minor) and Cassander (Macedon). In time, Jerusalem was caught in wars between the Ptolemies ("king of the South") and the Seleucids ("king of the North"). This period of Greek domination culminated with the type of the Antichrist, its last king of the North, Antiochus Epiphanes.

⁴ From the book of Genesis we know the following. When Joseph was born, Jacob asked Laban to release him (30:25). Laban gave Jacob his freedom in the 3^rd 7^th year that he was under his care, i.e. in the 21^st year (31:38, 41). Joseph was 30 years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh, king of Egypt (41:46). Jacob came to Egypt in the second year of the famine (45:4-6), after 7 years of plenty (41:47), so Joseph was 39 when Jacob came to Egypt. Joseph was born in the 21^st year of the time Jacob was under Laban, so from the beginning of this period of 3 sets of 7 years until Jacob came to live in Egypt was 60 years. When one adds this period to the time Israel stayed in Egypt until the day of the Exodus (Ex 12:40), one gets 60 + 430 = 490 years!

It is interesting to note that Jacob was 70 when he began with Laban (Gen 47:9 130-60) and therefore he was 77 years old when he began his 7 years for Rachel. This is when Jacob began to work for the woman he really wanted and loved. If you start the 490-year count from this point in time, then the Exodus occurs at a point with 7 years still remaining.

⁵ For details on the control of Jerusalem, please see the following summaries: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-timeline.htm & http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/jerutime.html

⁶ For maps of various kingdoms and territories, see the following:
The Assyrian Empire: http://www.wfu.edu/~zulick/300/maps/ANEmap.html & http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/maptext_n2/assyria.html
The Babylonian Empire: http://web.archive.org/web/20060614035226/www.anova.org/sev/atlas/htm/082.htm & http://www.science.co.il/Maps-Near-East-Empires.asp
The Media-Persian Empire: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Median_Empire.jpg & http://web.archive.org/web/20060613155918/http://www.anova.org/sev/atlas/htm/084.htm
The Grecian Empire: http://library.thinkquest.org/10805/alexmap.html
The Roman Empire: "Growth of Roman Dominions" & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire
The Byzantine Empire: "All About Turkey" & http://encarta.msn.com/media_461516887/byzantine_empire.html
The Ottoman Empire: http://www.naqshbandi.org/ottomans/maps/default.htm

⁷ For quote and more info on the Ottoman Empire, see the Wikipedia article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire. For more info on the history of the Crescent Moon & Star symbols, see the Wikipedia article "Star and crescent". (Another article is at this link.)

⁸ Now that we have the benefit of history to clarify the fulfillment of this prophecy, we are in a position to reexamine various interpretations of these prophetic symbols. Only by following both legs of the Roman Empire do we see the total fulfillment of this prophecy. One form of the Beast with the 2 Horns is the Roman Church that the Western Empire elevated. It has brought apostasy to the world, as traced here and by others. However, almost all who know this theme apply it to all the beasts of Revelation and focus solely on Rome. They also look for future fulfillment of the 4^th Beast (7^th Head) of Daniel, as did I, until the Holy Spirit led me to follow the territories as defined in the Bible. And those who focus on Rome look for it and/or the European Union to yet fulfill this prophecy. But as this web page has shown, only by following the Eastern Roman Empire do we come to see that the resurrected fourth beast has already occurred.

Many have focused on the Western Roman Empire exclusively and one of the biggest proponents of this thinking is Ellen G. White and her writing from The Great Controversy. One of the cornerstones of this book is that the Roman Church and its daughters, the Protestants churches, (and the U.S.) are the fulfillment of the beasts of Daniel.


If the fulfillment of prophecy is as described on this web page, even though the Roman Church played a key role in leading the world to apostasy, its role as the beast with 2 horns is not correctly identified here. This book also creates another major misunderstanding of Daniel by stating the following.


First of all, the Hebrew word behind “determined” is chathak. Strong’s definition for H2852 is “a prim. root; prop. to cut off, i.e. (fig.) to decree:- determine.” It is translated as “determined” in KJV, NKJV & NWT and “decreed” in NIV, NAB & RSV. I know of no translation that renders “cut off”. So this is a false premise to connect the 2,300 days and 70 weeks prophecies.

Furthermore, this is a distraction and directs one’s attention away from the actual translation of “cut off” that appears in verse 26. This refers to the Messiah being cut off, which was first discussed in Isaiah (53:8). Focusing on the idea of being “cut off” should have one thinking about Isaiah’s description of the Messiah, not about 2,300 days.

When one focuses on God’s Holy Calendar, it should be clear that between 2,300 evenings & mornings and 70 “weeks” or “sevens”, that an "evening and morning" is a time period clearly and solely defined as a day. The description of “evening and morning” is never expanded into a larger time frame. Whereas the Sabbath, which is the whole context of the 70 weeks prophecy, is a time period that can mean 7 days, 7 years or 7 millennia depending upon the context. So it is definitely a time period that can expand into the future. When one understands God’s calendar, I think it is clear the 2,300 evenings & mornings is set to one scale, 2,300 days, and the 70 weeks prophecy depends on the context whether it is 7 days or 7 years. Finally, the end of the 2,300 days prophecy is when the sanctuary is “cleansed” (KJV). This is an annual event on the Day of Atonement and can certainly be fulfilled in the past. The 70 weeks ends, among other criterion, when there is the “end of sin”. This is a one-time event in the future and so the 70 weeks prophecy must extend up to at least the Second Coming of Christ.

Consider also that the great “disappointment of 1844”, for those who followed William Miller, was explained as Jesus moving from the first apartment to the second apartment of the Heavenly Sanctuary, i.e. into the Holy of Holies on that date. This is not biblical! The Bible states that when Jesus ascended to heaven he went directly to the inner sanctuary on our behalf as High Priest (Heb 6:19-20, 9:24).

As I look back over history, I can’t help but notice that this material came to this world in the late 19th century, just about a generation before the actual fulfillment of Daniel began with the events of World War I leading to the changes of territory in the Middle East. So it served as a powerful distraction to help prevent many faithful from seeing the true fulfillment of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation.

Considering all these things, it should be clear that Ellen G. White was a false prophet. Recently, I learned that she did not breathe when she was in vision. This is not natural and therefore a warning sign of possible demon possession. If so, then those who come from this tradition are at risk of influence from negative spirits. I’ve often felt that in trying to discuss Daniel with those from this tradition, logic does not apply. There is a continual and dogged focus on the 2,300 days applying to the end-times instead of the 70 weeks prophecy. I have a number of friends from this tradition and I pray that they ask for help from the Holy Spirit to break free from the many powerful deceptions created by this false prophet.

⁹ For an article describing ancient cities said to be built on "Seven Hills" see: http://askelm.com/prophecy/p000201.htm

¹⁰ For article on The Middle East in Bible Prophecy, see - http://www.gnmagazine.org/booklets/me/modernmiddleeast.asp

¹¹ Note that the "time of the Gentiles" is the time of the non-Jewish nations or, in other words, the nations not in covenant relationship with the Lord. This is from the time Babylon conquered Jerusalem until the culmination with the time of the Antichrist. Just prior to his time, when the full number of Gentiles comes in to be added to the Jewish Elect, and thereby the 144,000 are ready, the Holy Spirit will be poured out in the Latter Rain and God's Elect will be sealed. The time of the Antichrist will end with the return of the Lord and the establishment of the nation in covenant relationship with God.

It should also be noted that the KJV of Gen 10:5 incorrectly uses the term "Gentiles" only for the sons of Japheth rather than the general term of nations as used in the NIV translation. This gives the false impression that the term Gentiles applies only to the people of the north when it should also apply to the sons of Ham and also to the sons of Shem who are not Israelites. I believe this has contributed to focusing solely on the Western Roman Empire and looking for its descendants to dominate in the end-times.

¹² Another country to come out of the same Belfour Declaration / League of Nations mandates / push for independence was India in 1947. Perhaps India is the tenth toe (king). I concluded it does not belong because India was never a part of any of the ancient kingdoms, including Assyria which is the list in Ps 83. It appears that none of the ancient kingdoms went past the Indus River, including Alexander the Great's Kingdom of Greece. Also, India did not become a kingdom out of this process, as the other countries did.

¹³ For a map of ancient biblical territories, please see: http://www.blueletterbible.org/images/maps/Otest/world.cfm

For the record, I wish to thank Ed Hoover, who at a dinner at my home on 8/21/05, pointed out that there are 10 territories in Ps 83 and that there may be a connection to the 10 toes/kings of Daniel. This ended up being a critical insight that grew over time. Thanks Ed!

I have been tempted by some to see the animals of Revelation as symbols for current nations. I operate on the understanding that the Bible defines its own symbols. To be consistent with this premise, I felt I was led by the Spirit of God several months ago (end of '08) to explore the ancient kingdoms in Daniel and their territories, along with the definition of Israel. Due to the insight from years ago, I included Psalm 83 in the study. It was meditating upon the maps of the territories that led to the understanding of the role of the Ottoman Empire in fulfilling Daniel and Revelation. The Bible interprets its own symbols. So the ironic part is that by studying the actuality of the ancient kingdoms, I came to a precise answer for today's world.

¹⁴ In his book, The Two Babylons, Rev Alexander Hislop makes the case that the pagan elements introduced into the faith by the Roman Church actually came originally from Babylon and involved the worship of Nimrod and his wife, Ishtar, the "Queen of Heaven". This was the source of the original trinity concept and involved them and a later son named Tammuz.

¹⁵ Note that Daniel’s beast with 10 Horns & 7 Heads appears in Rev 12, 13 & 17 but the beast with 2 Horns appears only in Rev 13 and is not the same beast as the Harlot. The Harlot sits on 7 hills and many people assume this can only be Rome, but as we have seen this can also be Constantinople, Jerusalem or Babylon. The end-time religion comes out of Babylon. Therefore, while Rome was a significant player in corrupting the church in the beginning, I do not believe it will be a major player in the end-times. Its role was to bring Babylonian mystery religion to the world. However, after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Latter Rain, occurs and the Antichrist is revealed, I suspect it will be the original Babylon unveiled that will make the final push to take your soul before the return of our Lord.

¹⁶ For example, one of the mysteries of God revealed in Christ is that the Patriarchs did not actually speak directly with the Father, with YHWH. They actually were speaking with the Lord’s Messenger, the Messiah, the one who comes in the Name of the Lord, in the Name of YHWH: Ex 3:2, 14-15; Isa 48:6, 12-15; Jn 8:54-58; Rom 16:25-27. For more details see: Jesus Is The God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob.

¹⁷ To piece together the story of Nimrod, Ishtar and Tammuz, see the following sources:
1. The Two Babylons, by Rev Alexander Hislop, as cited above.
2. The Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics Volume XII edited by James Hastings, see entry for "Tammuz". (See Google book sample at this link.)
3. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, entry for Tammuz at: http://www.searchgodsword.org/enc/isb/print.cgi?number=T8597
4. An article with a link to an alabaster relief of Tammuz: http://www.answers.com/topic/tammuz
5. This article has many bits of information but may not be well researched: http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract1.html
6. Another article with good footnotes can be found at: http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-t020.html

¹⁸ According to the Bible, Cush was the father of Nimrod (Gen 10:8); However, the NIV footnote for this verse says "Probably not the same as that in vv. 6-7". The Cush of the prior verses is the son of Ham, who himself was one of the sons of Noah. So who is this other Cush? From his research, Reverend Hislop says that other names for the father of Nimrod are Bel, Baal & Marduk. Jer 50:2 states that "Bel" and "Marduk" are names for Babylonian idols. Zecharia Sitchin in his translation of the Sumerian The Lost Book of Enki states that Marduk is the son of Enki, who is a visitor from The 12th Planet. This is Sitchin's version of the Nephilim.

¹⁹ I used to have the same understanding as these people because they were my teachers, but now I rely upon the Holy Spirit as my teacher and counselor. A couple of years ago I began being led through a journey of correcting my theology so as to prep me for a return to the subject of prophecy. (The Lord knew this. I caught on later.) These corrections allowed me to go deeper than I ever could have before. They consisted primarily of dropping the Holy Trinity and understanding the true meaning of communion. I had already corrected myself on past lives, due to the influence of Cayce, but during this journey I was also shown a greater depth of the Biblical support for this area as well. (Check out The Elect & Rose Again.)

²⁰ When the Bible says to the "Jew first", it is referring to knowledge. For those who have the knowledge of the Law will be the first to understand. For example, one needs to have a thorough understanding of the sacrificial system in order to really understand what Jesus said at the Last Supper.

²¹ Here are markers which help give one a frame of reference for the time period of these prophecies: Isaiah 24:1-6, 19-23, 25:6, 26:1-2, 9, 17-21, 27:1-3, 6, 12-13, 28:5-6; Jeremiah 50:1-6, 8-11, 19-20; Ezekiel 32:7-9, 11-12, 21-22, 24, 26, 29, 30, 33:2-5, 34:12-13, 23-25, 35:2, 5, 10, 36:24-28, 33, 37:21-28.

It is most intriguing that Ezek 32 says in the end the "King of Babylon" will come against and conquer Egypt, Assyria, Elam (Iran), Meshech and Tubal (Asia Minor), Edom, and the princes of the North. When one adds the names of the Babylonian gods from Jer 50:2, it is very eerie. This seems to suggest that in the end-times we will see the return of the true King of Babylon, Marduk (See writings of Zecharia Sitchin).

²² I suspect the mark of the beast will never evolve to the point of being a device that is placed in us. Since the mark of the beast is a counterfeit for the seal of God which has to do with keeping God's Law in your mind, I think the full extent is as described in the body of this page and that the concern about watching for a coming device may end up being another red herring generated from man's understanding of prophecy.

As for 666 being the number of a man, even though I believe this applied to Caesar Nero in the past, I believe it will also apply to the head of the final beast.

^{23 Chakras} For greater depth on our seven chakras and four bodies, the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual, see the following material. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Emmet Fox (DeVorss & Co. Publishers, Marina Del Rey, CA. 1942.) A Commentary on the Revelation from the Edgar Cayce material (ARE Press, Virginia Beach, VA. 1945.) For a diagram of the 7 chakras, see this page. For an explanation, start here.

²⁴ Quote from "Parallels" song of the Going For The One album by Yes. Subsequent music references from Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin.