Lesson 3: the Ultimate Fulfillment of Most Prophecy Is God's Promise to the Jews of An

Lesson 3: The Ultimate Fulfillment of Most Prophecy is God's Promise to the Jews of an Earthly Kingdom with The Redeemer--their Messiah-- on the Throne

God created the world and said it was very good. God made the world to be inhabited by the pinnacle of his Creation--the man and woman made in his image. But they chose to believe the serpent instead of God, and God's creation was infested with sin. The devil won, and was now in control. But the battle was just starting. The first promise of this redeemer came immediately after the fall: And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15

What would the promised redeemer do? ______

God continued to flesh out this promise through four covenants that God made with Israel.

1) The covenant with Abraham: Abraham was promised that the Messiah would be his descendant, and that he would be given a land in which the nation from which that Messiah would arise would live.

Abraham called to receive the Land:

 Genesis 13: 14-17 And the LORD said to Abram… “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your seed forever. 16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. 17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”

Exact boundaries were given:

 Genesis 15:17: And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. 18 On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates.

Look at God's promises to Abraham again in Genesis 13: 15 again. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The promise of the land was confirmed to Isaac (and his seed) in Genesis 26: 2-5; it was then confirmed to Jacob and his seed in 28:13-15 ) The other sons of Abraham and Isaac became the surrounding Arab tribes; they did not inherit the promises made to Abraham. Only Jacob's seed-- the tribes of Israel-- retained those promises.

There is more in Genesis 13: 15 , however, then meets the eye. Paul explains to us in Galatians that God did not only give the land to Abraham's descendants: The Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. (Galatians 3:16)

What else was Abraham promised in the covenant God made with him? ______

This promise was confirmed to David. 2) The Covenant Made with David

And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name…. (I) will make you a house. 12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you.[b] Your throne shall be established forever.”

What does this covenant promised David? ______

God also made a covenant with Israel through Moses:

3) The Covenant with Moses: Deuteronomy 29: 1-30:20 When … you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 …from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it.

What does this covenant promise? ______

Boundaries of ancient kingdom

Current Boundaries of Israel

There is also future covenant, whose mediator is Christ, still promised:

4) New covenant: Jeremiah 31: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,[a] says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. And their sin and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

What does this covenant promise? ______

Isaiah 9: 6-7 is not a covenant, but a prophecy that kind of wraps all four of the covenants up: For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder.And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE: The descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were promised a literal kingdom with the Messiah on the throne, and almost all prophecy relates to the coming fulfillment of those promises! So that is an important thing to remember!

The Kingdom Prophecies of Daniel:

This kingdom was the major topic of most of the prophets (major and minor). It was an important topic in Daniel, described in three different passages:

PASSAGE 1: 605 BC, Daniel 2: 31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

36 “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion … in your hands he has placed all people… Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. 39 “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others… 44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands —a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

What is the ultimate fate of the four Gentile empires that Daniel describes? ______

______

PASSAGE 2: 553 BC , Daniel 7: In my vision that night, I, Daniel, saw a great storm churning the surface of a great sea, with strong winds blowing from every direction. 3 Then four huge beasts came up out of the water, each different from the others. 4 The first beast was like a lion … Then I saw a second beast, and it looked like a bear. … Then the third of these strange beasts appeared, and it looked like a leopard…. Then in my vision that night, I saw a fourth beast—terrifying, dreadful, and very strong. It devoured and crushed its victims with huge iron teeth and trampled their remains beneath its feet. It was different from any of the other beasts, and it had ten horns. … Three of the first horns were torn out by the roots to make room for (a little horn). This little horn had eyes like human eyes and a mouth that was boasting arrogantly. 9 I watched as thrones were put in place and the Ancient One sat down to judge. … I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking, I kept watching until the fourth beast was killed and its body was destroyed by fire. …. I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.

This second passages fills in some details: The four Gentile kingdoms will culminate in a strong and terrifying empire, from which one particular ruler, called the "little horn" will arise.

Who would this ruler seem to be? ______

What happens to him? ______

What happens next? ______

Passage 3: 539 BC, Daniel 9:

It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians. 2 During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting …………. 20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill…21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. How, in verse 20, does Daniel summarize his prayer of repentance? What was his request?

______

This request comes from Psalm 2: 5-7 : Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.7 I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

What event does this verse describe? (in advance) ______

What is Daniel requesting? He knows the seventy years Jeremiah predicted are almost up. What does he obviously think will bring this period of conquest to an end? ______

Read Daniel 9:22 again. Why was Gabriel sent? ______

Gabriel then corrects Daniel's misunderstandings:

“Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.

From what you now know about Israel's covenants, how would you summarize this prophecy so far?

______

25 “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks…

What is the starting point for this period of time?______

What is the end point? ______

How many sets of seven years are there in between? ______

How many years is that? ______

The passage continues to explain that period of time: The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times.26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;

What is the end point for the 483 years (again?) ______

The Messiah has come and gone. So what happens next, happens after the 483 years: 27 And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.

The last verse describes what happens in that last period of seven years:

26 And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary… 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; In the middle of the ‘seven" he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.

What is the starting point for this period of time?______

What is the end point? ______

The people who destroyed Jerusalem after the messiah came were the Romans, in 70 AD. The prince here, then, will come out of the resurrected Roman empire. It is he who makes the treaty.

What is his ultimate fate? ______

Where in Scripture was that end decreed? ______Based on the Old Testament prophecies, the Jews defined What does that verse (Genesis 3:15 tell you about who carries out three "ages" of Jewish his execution? ______existence. The current (at the time the disciples asked) or JESUS ON THE KINGDOM OF GOD Mosaic age (wherein the Law prevailed), the Day of the Lord The Kingdom was the focus of much of Jesus' teaching as well: (the fulfillment of the tribulation prophecies) and Acts 1: 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are the Kingdom Age. They knew you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set that in the kingdom age the by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Messiah was prophesied to Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and rebuild the temple. Jesus just in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” said that the existing temple would be destroyed, so they His main teaching on the Kingdom is found in the Olivet discourse: are eager to see that promised kingdom come. Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”… “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Mathew 24: 1-2 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

Jesus makes two specific prophecies in verse 6 : ______and ______

Are these prophecies signs? ______

 From the time of Roman occupation of Jerusalem, through the modern era there have been hundreds of Jewish individuals who claimed to be the promised Messiah.

 From the time of Roman occupation of Jerusalem through the modern era there have been thousands of wars. There are about 25 distinct wars going on right now (The State Department has a posted list.) War has been a constant companion of man on earth.

Jesus continues: 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilence and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of the birth pangs. Jesus goes on to describe a period of intense conflict and suffering, then his return to set up his kingdom, and then he says; Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it[d] is near—at the doors! If you shall see jesus now is identifying a lot of things that ARE signs. The first is" nation against kingdoms rising nation and kingdom against kingdom", called the beginning of the birth pangs of against each other the Kingdom promised by the covenants. in turn, then give Wars and rumors of wars, however, were not signs. So what is different about heed and note the these wars? "Nation against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" was a footsteps of the recognized Jewish idiom meaning a local wars that escalates until the whole Messiah. world is involved, and it was a recognized precursor, from the Old Testament, of Bereshit Rabbah the coming of the Messiah. XLII:4 This had never really happened before WWI and WWII, and those wars led directly to the events of May 15. 1948, when the nation of Israel was reborn, in the land that God had given Abraham. The fig tree bloomed, indicating that the kingdom promised was again on the horizon.

The land and government was restored to the Jacob's descendants, the first step to a restoration of the throne, the dynasty, and ultimately, the presence of the Messiah on that throne. An amazing prophecy fulfilled in our generation.

What are the rest of the birth pangs listed?

______, ______, and ______EARTHQUAKES:

38-YEAR SPAN NUMBER OF EARTHQUAKES 7.0 OR ABOVE A seismologist at the Scripps Howard Research Center in La 1863-1900 12 Jolla, CA commented on the 1901-1938 53 apparent increase in earthquakes, " It is almost as though the earth's 1939-1976 71 plates are gyrating in anticipation of the world's greatest 1977-2014 208 through 2012 earthquake." Hmmm. the apostle John predicted that the world's biggest earthquake would occur during the events in Revelation. LaHaye, Tim. Jenkins, B. Are we living in the end times?

The only known multiple earthquakes (earthquakes that occur simultaneously in different geographical areas) in history have all been recorded since World War I. For example, during a long quake in Helena, Montana there were also quakes reported in New York and Honduras.

How does the current world situation with regard to earthquakes relate to the analogy Jesus makes of birth pangs?

______Persecution, but when?

Now we're going to look at familiar passages but I can almost guarantee you've never REALLY read them!

MATTHEW CHAPTER 24 LUKE CHAPTER 21

7Nation will rise against nation, and 10Then he said to them: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will kingdom against kingdom. 11There will be great be famines and pestilence and earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and earthquakes in various places. 8All fearful events and great signs from heaven. 12"But before these are the beginning of birth all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They pains… "Then you will be handed will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be over to be persecuted and put to brought before kings and governors, and all on account of death, and you will be hated by all my name. nations because of me.

Both passages promise their audiences persecution! When does Matthew promise his audience they will be persecuted?

______

When does Luke promise persecution? ______

Have you ever noticed that before? ______

What does this tell us about God's promises? ______

______

Next week we'll look at what God prophesies for those two audiences before the tribulation! APPENDIX: A Comparison of Israel and the Church

Israel Verse Church Verse

Origin Abraham, Isaac, Jacob Genesis 50:24 Pentecost, about 32 AD Acts 2 about 2000 BC

How defined Inherited lineage Exodus 29:44 Indwelling of the Holy Spirit Romans 8:14 (although converts accepted)

Salvation Not all are saved Romans 9:6, All are saved (as defined by I Corinthians 11:28 indwelling of Holy 12:13 Spirit nationality They comprise a nation Gen 12:12 Spread among all nations Revelation 5:9

Focus of faith Jerusalem and temple II Kings 23:27 Christ Colossians 1:19

Major promise Earthly kingdom Gen 35:11 Heavenly kingdom Phil 3:20

Symbolic Offspring of slave Gal 4:22-31 Offspring of free woman Gal 4:22-31 parentag woman e

Covenant sign External circumcision Gen 17:11 Circumcision of the heart Romans 2:29

Law or Promise Law, from Mt. Sinai Lev 26:46 Mercy, from Mt. Zion Obadiah 1:17

Basis for Perpetual animal Lev 9:7 Once for all Messianic Hebrews 9:27- forgiven sacrifice sacrifice 28 ess

Residence of Temple Exodus 40:34,34 Every believer II Cor 1:22 Holy Spirit

Eligibility for Only sons of Aaron Exodus 30:30 All members Rev 1:6 Priestho od

Dual position of Forbidden II Chronicles All members are kings and Rev 1:16 king and 26:16-26 priests priest?

Woman of Unfaithful wife Ezekiel 16 Virginal bride II Cor 11:2 comparis on

Object of Will Face wrath Ezekiel 20:34-38 Kept from wrath I thess 5:9 wrath?

Composition Descendants of Jn 8:40 Jews and Christians Gal 3:28 Abraham

Tree compared Cultivated olive tree Romans 11:24 Wild branch grafted in Romans 11:24 to APPENDIX A: Daniel and the Triumphal Entry

(Why Israel should have recognized the day of their visitation.)

From a read- through of the gospels you can tell that Jesus' ministry spanned four Passovers. In Luke 3:1 it says that Jesus' ministry began in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, Tiberius came into power in 14 AD, so the fifteenth year would have been 29 AD. That makes the fourth Passover in 32 AD. The entry into Jerusalem would have been the 10th of Nisan, counting back from when we know Passover was that year, the tenth of Nisan in our calendar would have been April 6, 32 AD.

The prophecy in Daniel 9 says that from the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Meshiach Nagid (the Messiah, the King) came would be 69 periods of 7 years. (The term "weeks" of years was common terminology with regard to the periods of sabbath rest for the land, those seven years were commonly called a "week". ) The starting point, then is the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. There are actually four different decrees that were issued with regard to Israel's rebuilding after the Babylonian captivity.

1) Edict by Cyrus: Ezra 1:2-4 given 537 BC

2) Edict by Darius: Ezra 6:1-5, 8, 12 given ???

3) First edict by Artaxerxes Ezra 7:11-26 given 458 BC

4) 2nd edict by Artaxerxes Nehemiah 2:5-8, 17, 18 given 445 BC

If you look at the four decrees the first three relate specifically to rebuilding the temple. Only the last one, Artaxerxes' second decree, specifically relates Nehemiah's desire to rebuild the fortifications and the infrastructure of the city. Fortunately, since Herodotus, the father of western history, had taken up residence in the Persian courts (it was the place to be at the time), we can date this edict pretty specifically to March 14, 445 BC.

An important note at this point is that the Bible consistently speaks of years as consisting of 360 days. A good example is in Genesis 7 and 8: Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.

Genesis 7: 24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.

Genesis 8:3 At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, 4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. i.e. 150 days here is made equivalent to 5 months--defining a year as three hundred and sixty days.

Esther 1:4 also says that Xerxes 6-month feast was 180 days. so, 69 "weeks" of 360-day years would be equivalent to 173,880 days. If you start at March 14, 445 and move forward in time 173,880 days, the anticipated date of arrival of the king comes out to March 6, 32 AD! And on that very day, Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey! Sixty-nine "weeks" of years, exactly as Daniel's prophecy had predicted.

(The calendar has been adjusted several times in that amount of time, and you have to make adjustments for that: From 445 B.C. to 32 A.D. there are 476 years according to the Julian Calendar (the calendar we use today). There are not 477 years, because there is no year zero. 476 years x 365 days = 173,740 days. (We are using 365 day years because our frame of reference is the modern calendar now.) From March 14 to April 6, add 24 days, for leap years in the period, add 116 days.

Thus, the total number of days from March 14, 445 B.C. to April 6, 32 A.D= 173,880 days

But he was not merely ignored by the Jewish authorities, he was rejected. (The Pharisees told him to get his disciples, who were singing Psalm 118, the psalm that celebrates the arrival of the Messiah, to shut up!) And why was it that it was on this specific occasion that Jesus told the authorities that even the stones would cry out?!!

Those who may be inclined to dismiss the implication that the Jews should have known the exact day and been watching are refuted by the fact that Luke records that after his rejection, Jesus continued towards Jerusalem but wept, saying that he longed to protect the Jews and bring them home, but their reaction to him prevented that, and because they "did not recognize the "day of their visitation" by God. (Luke 19) , Jerusalem would be destroyed.