70 years ?
Peace broker and son-in-law of President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, just announced that the peace plan will be released in June, after the Ramadan. This was confirmed by special envoy Jason Greenblatt. Meanwhile, we learned that a deadline in the Trump administration isn't always rock solid. It could be part of a political game that is played by both Trump and Israeli prime minister Netanyahu, to force the Palestinians in the hands of the US peace proposal. Netanyahu might be playing the bad cop, by rapidly claiming sovereignty over different disputed areas in Israel. After declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel, and sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights by the Trump administration, Netanyahu might feel empowered to follow that trend in a rapid pace. In only one week he declared sovereignty over both Samaria-Judea and the Temple Mount. Trump might be playing the good cop here, checking from time to time whether the Palestinians are finally ready to talk. This might be the best deal the Palestinians can get. Time could be working in their favour, if they act quick. Because, if they tarry much longer, there won't be any land left to designate Palestinian ground, with Netanyahu claiming sovereignty over just about anything that smells Israeli in quick succession. But since we're talking June 2019, what about that 70 year-generation of Matthew 24?
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Rapture
The rapture of course isn't dependent on the covenant that Daniel 9:27 talks about. The doctrine of imminence implies that we, for instance, could be taken up tomorrow and that the great tribulation will start in let's say 2021, so that when we add 7 years of tribulation, we end up in 2028. This would then mark the exact 80th year after the founding of the modern state of Israel, just in time for a generation to see all the things in Matthew 24 happening. Because, Psalm 90:10 tells us that there isn't only a generation of 70, but also of 80 years. But what if the generation of Matthew 24 is conveying a complete different message? |
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Generation
I recently did a vast rebuttal of the preterist view, and stumbled upon an interview Joel Richardson did with dr. Brock Hollett. While I do not necessarily agree with all his realized eschatology views, he made an excellent point. When Matthew 24 talks about a generation in the 34th verse, he was making a comment about that generation's quality, not its quantity. In other words, when we are talking about a generation, we are not always talking about the life expectancy, but sometimes we mean just the way a generation behaves. When we follow what the Bible tells us about a generation, this is actually the case quite often. The first time the word generation appears, is in Genesis 7:1, and it immediately reveals a more qualitative context. Noah was the only upright person of his generation. In Deuteronomy 32:5 and also in verse 20, we see a prophecy about a later generation, that would be very wicked. Again, we can notice the qualitative aspect of the usage of this word. In the 4 gospels, there is actually never explicitly a statement made about the quantitative aspect of a generation. Jesus uses the term generation 28 times in 29 verses, and 25 of these statements are qualitative. The 3 statements that we can argue about, are found in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. Take a good guess what the topic is in these 3 verses. The Olivet Discourse.
Now what?
This new information doesn't necessarily disqualify the thesis that the rapture and tribulation will happen in the lifetime of the generation that saw the rebirth of the modern state of Israel, but at least it gives us some more space to speculate. Because now the 70 years from the 14th of May, 1948 are about to end, we could easily become discouraged when nothing happens. Prophecy is like seeing through a glass darkly (1 Cor. 13:12), and therefore we shouldn't be so adamant about certain dates or doctrines that derive from just one verse. Prophecy isn't the same as predicting the future. It merely is the recognition of patterns and authorization of the Bible. When we see all these things happening, we know that He is the Lord (John 13:19). Because the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10). Okay, now we got that clear, let's find out if we have to wait hundreds of years, or that the scripture provides some more clues to an imminent rapture.
2025
I think the year 2025 is as far as we can stretch it, when it comes to the latest possible timing of the rapture. Probably sooner. That's a bold statement, I know, but let me explain how I came to that conclusion. We know from Sir Robert Anderson's calculations that Jesus went into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey on the 10th of the Hebrew month of Nisan. That happened on the 6th of april, 32 AD. Four days later, He would be crucified on Calvary. Even the Dead Sea scrolls confirm that this would have happened right after the first shmita (7 years) after the jubilee, which is 32 AD, according to dr. Ken Johnson. That's a good starting point to work with when we explore the 7000 years theory that seems to run throughout the Bible and is even confirmed by the Epistle of Barnabas (chapter 15:7-9). 2 Peter 3:8-10 talks about a day being a 1000 years and vice versa, in the context of the end days. That's a big clue. The Bible has lots of these nuggets, like God saying to Adam that the moment he sins, he would die the same day. Adam would live 930 years and then, finally, died. There's only one way to resolve this supposed contradiction. That 1 day in Gods eyes is like a 1000 years and vice verse. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews also seems to flirt with the idea that the sabbath is the ultimate rest that is to come, in chapter 4. In Revelation 20, we see that there will be a peaceful 1000-year reign of Jesus, which is probably that sabbatical rest the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews is talking about. Hosea talks about the 2nd day being the day we will be revived. What's that all about? Well, here comes the kicker..
Shannim
In Genesis 6:3, Moses records that the Spirit will not always strive with man, but that his days will be 120 shannim. This is translated as years, but the 2 dominant theories about what that ought to be talking about, fail miserably when investigated. The first theory is that Noah had 120 years to build the boat, but when we examine the chapter before, he is already 500 years old (Genesis 5:32). When the flood finally arrives, Noah is 600 years old (Genesis 7:6). The other explanation is that no one would be living over 120 years after the flood. Well, just have a good look at the genealogies in Genesis 11 and you will learn that people will still live a few hundred years before they die. Arpaxad is 465, Selah 433, Heber 464, Peleg 239, Rehu 239, Serug, 230, Nahor 148 and Terah 205. Even Abraham became 175 (Gen. 25:7), Ishmael 137 (Gen. 25:17), Isaac 180 (Gen. 35:28), Jacob 147 (Gen. 47:28), Levi 137, Kehath 133 and Amram 137 (Ex. 6:15-20). Then we 're already a good 900 years past the flood of Noah. But that's not all. Even about a 1000 years later, we encounter Jehoiada the High Priest, who became 130 (2 Chron. 24:15). And even in recent times, a French woman became 122. So therefore, we have to consider that the word shannim in Genesis 6 may have a broader meaning than just 1 physical year. And that turns out to be the case, when we consider the following. The word yomim that is translated as days and also occurs in the sentence, seems to be out of place. I mean, we already have the word shannim that tells us about the length of years, right? The word yomim can mean days, but also years and is even translated 64 times as periods. One of these occasions that this word is translated as a period of time, is in Leviticus 25:8, where it talks about the institution of the jubilee year. The word shannim is primarily translated as years, but can also mean repitition, according to Jonathan Cahn (The Book of Mysteries, p. 3). So, in theory, we could be talking about a repetition of periods like jubilees here. What is 120 jubilees? Right.. 6000 years. Bear with me. This is gonna be great.
Adam
The Spirit will not always strive with man, Genesis 6:3 tells us. So, when exactly did the Spirit start striving with mankind? Well, since the fall of man. When did Adam fall? My guess: at 32 years after creation? We know Adam is a shadow and type of Christ in some way, since Paul talks about that in both Romans 5:14b and 1 Cor. 15:45. In 1 Timothy 2:14, Paul reveals a very interesting detail: Eve was deceived, but Adam was not. How can that be? Didn't he eat of the fruit of that tree? Oh yes, he did. But what if he ate it on purpose? What if he, like Christ, was willing to lay down his life for his bride? And what if the typology goes even further than just this? What if Adam and Christ shared the same age, at the moment they did an act that would greatly influence the future of mankind? Adam did an act of sin, and therefore sin entered into the world. Christ, the second Adam (1 Cor. 15:45) did an act of mercy and by that, righteousness entered into the world. What if they were both 32 at that moment? Or 33. Or whatever age you think Jesus was. At least we know the date of the crucifixion is rock solid, given the evidence that I showed you before. That would be in 32 AD. So if the Spirit started striving with man in 32 after creation, and 120 jubilees (6000 years) later He somehow stops striving with man, what happened? As the Holy Spirit is the only Entity that can restrain sin (in the Body of Christ), and will be taken up with the rapture, according to 2 Thess. 2:7-8, there is no need for striving anymore. It's time for wrath.
Conclusion
"So, how do we arrive at 2025 then?" Well, if you subtract 7 years of great tribulation from 2032, which is exactly 6000 years after the fall of mankind, you end up in 2025. "Oh, great. Do I have to wait that long?" Again, not necessarily. The rapture can happen at any time. Not the tribulation. It has prerequisites. And these take some time. Remember a temple needs to be rebuilt, a covenant to be implemented, and there's even hints that a literal Babylon will be rebuilt. This is meant to be message of comfort. The rapture can happen at any time, there are no prerequisites. Remember that Paul himself expected to be raptured in 1 Cor. 15:51-52, when he addresses the rapture and talks about it using the word 'we'. My guess is that the rapture will happen in or before 2025. Not setting this date in stone or saying 'Thus says the LORD ...' but that's just a way to look at the facts. I'm not a prophet, but look at the pace things are happening. If we can already see some prophecies regarding the tribulation taking shape, how much more closer to the rapture must we be? I'm so excited to finally meet my Saviour, my dear brothers and sisters! I hope you are too :-) God bless!
I recently did a vast rebuttal of the preterist view, and stumbled upon an interview Joel Richardson did with dr. Brock Hollett. While I do not necessarily agree with all his realized eschatology views, he made an excellent point. When Matthew 24 talks about a generation in the 34th verse, he was making a comment about that generation's quality, not its quantity. In other words, when we are talking about a generation, we are not always talking about the life expectancy, but sometimes we mean just the way a generation behaves. When we follow what the Bible tells us about a generation, this is actually the case quite often. The first time the word generation appears, is in Genesis 7:1, and it immediately reveals a more qualitative context. Noah was the only upright person of his generation. In Deuteronomy 32:5 and also in verse 20, we see a prophecy about a later generation, that would be very wicked. Again, we can notice the qualitative aspect of the usage of this word. In the 4 gospels, there is actually never explicitly a statement made about the quantitative aspect of a generation. Jesus uses the term generation 28 times in 29 verses, and 25 of these statements are qualitative. The 3 statements that we can argue about, are found in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. Take a good guess what the topic is in these 3 verses. The Olivet Discourse.
Now what?
This new information doesn't necessarily disqualify the thesis that the rapture and tribulation will happen in the lifetime of the generation that saw the rebirth of the modern state of Israel, but at least it gives us some more space to speculate. Because now the 70 years from the 14th of May, 1948 are about to end, we could easily become discouraged when nothing happens. Prophecy is like seeing through a glass darkly (1 Cor. 13:12), and therefore we shouldn't be so adamant about certain dates or doctrines that derive from just one verse. Prophecy isn't the same as predicting the future. It merely is the recognition of patterns and authorization of the Bible. When we see all these things happening, we know that He is the Lord (John 13:19). Because the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10). Okay, now we got that clear, let's find out if we have to wait hundreds of years, or that the scripture provides some more clues to an imminent rapture.
2025
I think the year 2025 is as far as we can stretch it, when it comes to the latest possible timing of the rapture. Probably sooner. That's a bold statement, I know, but let me explain how I came to that conclusion. We know from Sir Robert Anderson's calculations that Jesus went into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey on the 10th of the Hebrew month of Nisan. That happened on the 6th of april, 32 AD. Four days later, He would be crucified on Calvary. Even the Dead Sea scrolls confirm that this would have happened right after the first shmita (7 years) after the jubilee, which is 32 AD, according to dr. Ken Johnson. That's a good starting point to work with when we explore the 7000 years theory that seems to run throughout the Bible and is even confirmed by the Epistle of Barnabas (chapter 15:7-9). 2 Peter 3:8-10 talks about a day being a 1000 years and vice versa, in the context of the end days. That's a big clue. The Bible has lots of these nuggets, like God saying to Adam that the moment he sins, he would die the same day. Adam would live 930 years and then, finally, died. There's only one way to resolve this supposed contradiction. That 1 day in Gods eyes is like a 1000 years and vice verse. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews also seems to flirt with the idea that the sabbath is the ultimate rest that is to come, in chapter 4. In Revelation 20, we see that there will be a peaceful 1000-year reign of Jesus, which is probably that sabbatical rest the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews is talking about. Hosea talks about the 2nd day being the day we will be revived. What's that all about? Well, here comes the kicker..
Shannim
In Genesis 6:3, Moses records that the Spirit will not always strive with man, but that his days will be 120 shannim. This is translated as years, but the 2 dominant theories about what that ought to be talking about, fail miserably when investigated. The first theory is that Noah had 120 years to build the boat, but when we examine the chapter before, he is already 500 years old (Genesis 5:32). When the flood finally arrives, Noah is 600 years old (Genesis 7:6). The other explanation is that no one would be living over 120 years after the flood. Well, just have a good look at the genealogies in Genesis 11 and you will learn that people will still live a few hundred years before they die. Arpaxad is 465, Selah 433, Heber 464, Peleg 239, Rehu 239, Serug, 230, Nahor 148 and Terah 205. Even Abraham became 175 (Gen. 25:7), Ishmael 137 (Gen. 25:17), Isaac 180 (Gen. 35:28), Jacob 147 (Gen. 47:28), Levi 137, Kehath 133 and Amram 137 (Ex. 6:15-20). Then we 're already a good 900 years past the flood of Noah. But that's not all. Even about a 1000 years later, we encounter Jehoiada the High Priest, who became 130 (2 Chron. 24:15). And even in recent times, a French woman became 122. So therefore, we have to consider that the word shannim in Genesis 6 may have a broader meaning than just 1 physical year. And that turns out to be the case, when we consider the following. The word yomim that is translated as days and also occurs in the sentence, seems to be out of place. I mean, we already have the word shannim that tells us about the length of years, right? The word yomim can mean days, but also years and is even translated 64 times as periods. One of these occasions that this word is translated as a period of time, is in Leviticus 25:8, where it talks about the institution of the jubilee year. The word shannim is primarily translated as years, but can also mean repitition, according to Jonathan Cahn (The Book of Mysteries, p. 3). So, in theory, we could be talking about a repetition of periods like jubilees here. What is 120 jubilees? Right.. 6000 years. Bear with me. This is gonna be great.
Adam
The Spirit will not always strive with man, Genesis 6:3 tells us. So, when exactly did the Spirit start striving with mankind? Well, since the fall of man. When did Adam fall? My guess: at 32 years after creation? We know Adam is a shadow and type of Christ in some way, since Paul talks about that in both Romans 5:14b and 1 Cor. 15:45. In 1 Timothy 2:14, Paul reveals a very interesting detail: Eve was deceived, but Adam was not. How can that be? Didn't he eat of the fruit of that tree? Oh yes, he did. But what if he ate it on purpose? What if he, like Christ, was willing to lay down his life for his bride? And what if the typology goes even further than just this? What if Adam and Christ shared the same age, at the moment they did an act that would greatly influence the future of mankind? Adam did an act of sin, and therefore sin entered into the world. Christ, the second Adam (1 Cor. 15:45) did an act of mercy and by that, righteousness entered into the world. What if they were both 32 at that moment? Or 33. Or whatever age you think Jesus was. At least we know the date of the crucifixion is rock solid, given the evidence that I showed you before. That would be in 32 AD. So if the Spirit started striving with man in 32 after creation, and 120 jubilees (6000 years) later He somehow stops striving with man, what happened? As the Holy Spirit is the only Entity that can restrain sin (in the Body of Christ), and will be taken up with the rapture, according to 2 Thess. 2:7-8, there is no need for striving anymore. It's time for wrath.
Conclusion
"So, how do we arrive at 2025 then?" Well, if you subtract 7 years of great tribulation from 2032, which is exactly 6000 years after the fall of mankind, you end up in 2025. "Oh, great. Do I have to wait that long?" Again, not necessarily. The rapture can happen at any time. Not the tribulation. It has prerequisites. And these take some time. Remember a temple needs to be rebuilt, a covenant to be implemented, and there's even hints that a literal Babylon will be rebuilt. This is meant to be message of comfort. The rapture can happen at any time, there are no prerequisites. Remember that Paul himself expected to be raptured in 1 Cor. 15:51-52, when he addresses the rapture and talks about it using the word 'we'. My guess is that the rapture will happen in or before 2025. Not setting this date in stone or saying 'Thus says the LORD ...' but that's just a way to look at the facts. I'm not a prophet, but look at the pace things are happening. If we can already see some prophecies regarding the tribulation taking shape, how much more closer to the rapture must we be? I'm so excited to finally meet my Saviour, my dear brothers and sisters! I hope you are too :-) God bless!
