PropheZine Newsletter #121
June 1, 2001
Bob Lally Publisher/Senior. Editor
Bob Ippolito Asst. Editor
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IN THIS ISSUE
----GREETING FROM BOB LALLY
----ARTICLES
Grant Jeffrey: Extraordinary Evidence About Jesus in the Dead Sea Scrolls
Grant Jeffrey: The Historical Evidence For the Bible
Thomas S. McCall: Israel and the Church: The Differences
Jews For Jesus/Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum:
The Messianic Time Table According to Daniel the Prophet
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----PRIVACY NOTICE
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GREETINGS FROM BOB LALLY
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Hi Everyone:
What a time to be alive! How many readers feel honored that God has chosen
you to live during these end times? What an honor to see the closure of ALL
prophecy!
If you are not watching the events in the Middle East closely you are
missing out on watching the prophecies unfold. Many people are expecting a
war in which Is. 17 will be fulfilled - the quick destruction of Damascus.
Once this happens will a 7 year treaty be put forth? Only God knows. I
honestly believe that we are close. Very close.
I think you will thoroughly enjoy this issue. Thank you and enjoy!
Oh....Please visit Sherlock Bally's web site (http://www.sherlockbally.com)
and review the information about the conference. PropheZine is responsible
for the maintenance of this site and we also help design the Newsletters.
Sherlock is an anointed man and I don't say that lightly.
Bob Lally and the staff of PropheZine
bob@...
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Branson Missouri International Prophecy Summit
Sherlock Bally Ministries (http://www.sherlockbally.com/) is sponsoring a
massive Prophecy Summit on August 21-25, 2001 in Branson Missouri. 3,000
attendees are expected. This Prophecy Summit will undoubtedly be the
greatest Prophecy conference to date - I can guarantee that.
Speakers: Sherlock Bally, Hal Lindsey, Zola Levitt, Grant
Jeffrey, Bob Cornuck, Gary Kah, Chuck Missler, JR Church, Yacov Rambsel,
David A. Lewis, Bill Cloud, Mrs. Missouri 2000, and others yet to be named.
So, call 1-866-263-1811 or visit http://www.sherlockbally.com/ for details.
($40-$50 registration fee - that's it!)
===================================================
America's #1 Bible Conference!
Steeling the Mind of America Conference
August 24, 25, 26, 2001 at The Keystone Resort & Conference Center
Ed Hindson, Gerald Robison, Jerry Falwell, Bob Cornuke, Kent Hovind, Mark
Eastman, Mike Gendron, Dave Hunt, John Ankerberg, Andy Day, Pat Boone, Josh
McDowell, Chuck Missler, Randall Price, Ed Buckley
Contact: Bill Perkins for details bill@...
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Extraordinary Evidence About Jesus in the Dead Sea Scrolls
By: Grant Jeffrey
http://www.grantjeffrey.com
======================================================
If someone had asked a minister in 1947 to prove that the original Hebrew
Scriptures from the Old Testament were reliably copied without error
throughout the last two thousand years, he might have had some difficulty in
providing an answer. The oldest Old Testament manuscript used by the King
James translators was dated approximately A.D. 1100. Obviously, that old
manuscript from A.D. 1100 was a copy of a copy of a copy, etc. for over two
thousand years. How could we be sure that the text in the A.D. 1100 copy of
the Scriptures was identical with the original text as given to the writers
by God and inspired by Him? However, an extraordinary discovery occurred in
the turbulent year before Israel became a nation. A Bedouin Arab found a
cave in Qumran near the Dead Sea which ultimately yielded over a thousand
priceless manuscripts dating back before A.D. 68, when the Roman legions
destroyed the Qumran village during the Jewish war against Rome.
An Arab shepherd boy discovered the greatest archeological finds in history
in 1947. When the ancient Hebrew scrolls from these caves were examined by
scholars they found that this Qumran site contained a library with hundreds
of precious texts of both biblical and secular manuscripts that dated back
before the destruction of the Second Temple and the death of Jesus Christ.
Once the Bedouins recognized the value of the scrolls they began searching
for additional documents in every valley and cave near the Dead Sea. The
most incredible discovery was the immense library of biblical manuscripts in
Cave Four at Qumran that contained every single book of the Old Testament
with the exception of the Book of Esther. Multiple copies of several
biblical texts such as Genesis, Deuteronomy and Isaiah were found in Cave
Four.
Scholars were able to reach back a further two thousand years in time to
examine biblical texts that had lain undisturbed in the desert caves during
all of the intervening centuries. The scholars discovered that the Hebrew
manuscript copies of the most authoritative Hebrew text, Textus Recepticus,
used by the King James translators in 1611, were virtually identical to
these ancient Dead Sea Scrolls. After carefully comparing the manuscripts
they discovered that, aside from a tiny number of spelling variations, not a
single word was altered from the original scrolls in the caves from the much
copied A.D. 1100 manuscripts used by the Authorized King James Version
translators in 1611. How could the Bible have been copied so accurately and
faithfully over the many centuries without human error entering into the
text? The answer is found in the overwhelming respect and fear of God that
motivated Jewish and Christian scholars whose job was to faithfully copy the
text of the Bible. In a later chapter dealing with the Hebrew Codes beneath
the text of the Bible, I will share how the Masoretic scribes meticulously
copied the text of the Scriptures over the centuries.
The Essenes were a Jewish community of ascetics that lived primarily in
three communities: Qumran at the Dead Sea, the Essene Quarter of Jerusalem
(Mount Zion), and Damascus. They appear to have existed from approximately
200 B.C. until the destruction of their communities in Jerusalem and Qumran
by the Roman armies in A.D. 68. During the first century there were three
significant Jewish religious communities: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and
the Essenes. The Essenes established their religious community near the
shores of the Dead Sea. In their love for the Word of God they faithfully
copied each Old Testament scroll in their Scriptorium in the village of
Qumran. New evidence indicates that these men of God were aware of the new
religious leader in Israel known as Jesus of Nazareth and the group of
writings about Him known as the New Testament. The Christian historian
Eusebius, who wrote around A.D. 300, believed that the Essenes were
influenced in their beliefs by Christianity.
When the scrolls were first discovered, many Christian scholars naturally
wondered if they might contain evidence about the new faith of Christianity.
Despite overwhelming interest, the vast majority of scrolls were not
translated for publication in the intervening forty-nine years. For almost
fifty years, the hopes of Christian scholars were frustrated by the decision
of the small group of original scroll scholars to withhold publication and
release of a significant number of these precious scrolls. Some scholars
speculated publicly that there might be evidence about Christ in the
unpublished scrolls but the original scroll scholars vehemently denied these
claims. While some scroll scholars had published part of their assigned
texts, after forty-five years the team responsible for the huge number of
scrolls discovered in Cave Four had published only twenty percent of the
five hundred Dead Sea Scrolls in their possession.
Quotes from the New Testament in the Dead Sea Scrolls
Finally, after a public relations campaign demanded the release of the
unpublished scrolls to other scholars, the last of the unpublished scrolls
were released to the academic world. To the great joy and surprise of many
scholars, the scrolls contain definite references to the New Testament and,
most importantly, to Jesus of Nazareth. In the last few years several
significant scrolls were released that shed new light on the New Testament
and the life of Jesus. One of the most extraordinary of these scrolls
released in 1991 actually referred directly to the crucifixion of Jesus
Christ.
The Crucified Messiah Scroll
In 1991 the world was astonished to hear that one of the unpublished scrolls
included incredible references to a "Messiah" who suffered crucifixion for
the sins of men. The scroll was translated by Dr. Robert Eisenman, Professor
of Middle East Religions of California State University. He declared, "The
text is of the most far-reaching significance because it shows that whatever
group was responsible for these writings was operating in the same general
scriptural and Messianic framework of early Christianity." Although the
original scroll team still claimed that there was no evidence about early
Christianity in the unpublished scrolls, this new scroll totally
contradicted their statements. This single scroll is earth-shaking in its
importance. As Dr. Norman Golb, Professor of Jewish History at the
University of Chicago said, "It shows that contrary to what some of the
editors said, there are lots of surprises in the scrolls, and this is one of
them."
This remarkable five-line scroll contained fascinating information about the
death of the Messiah. It referred to "the Prophet Isaiah" and his Messianic
prophecy (Chapter 53) that identified the Messiah as one who will suffer for
the sins of his people. This scroll provides an amazing parallel to the New
Testament revelation that the Messiah would first suffer death before He
would ultimately return to rule the nations. Many scholars believed that the
Jews during the first century of our era believed that, when he finally
came, the Messiah would rule forever without dying. The exciting discovery
of this scroll reveals that the Essene writer of this scroll understood the
dual role of the Messiah as Christians did. This scroll identified the
Messiah as the "Shoot of Jesse" (King David's father) the "Branch of David,"
and declared that he was "pierced" and "wounded." The word "pierced" remind
us of the Messianic prophecy in Psalms 22:16: "They pierced my hands and
feet." The prophet Jeremiah (23:5) said, "I will raise unto David a
righteous branch."
The scroll also describes the Messiah as a "leader of the community" who was
"put to death." This reference pointing clearly to the historical Jesus of
Nazareth is creating shock waves for liberal scholarship that previously
assumed that the Gospel account about Jesus was a myth. Jesus is the only
one who ever claimed to be the Messiah who was crucified. The genealogies
recorded in both Matthew and Luke's Gospels, reveal that Jesus was the only
one who could prove by the genealogical records kept in the Temple that He
was the lineage of King David as the "Son of Jesse." Since the tragic
destruction of the Temple and its records in A.D. 70 it would be impossible
for anyone else to ever prove their claim to be the Messiah based on their
genealogical descent from King David. Additionally, the scroll identified
the Messiah as "the sceptre" which probably refers to the Genesis 49:10
prophecy, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from
between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the
people be." This scroll confirms the historical truthfulness of the New
Testament record about Jesus and His crucifixion. The evidence from the
scroll suggests that the Jewish Essene writer acknowledged that Jesus of
Nazareth was the "suffering Messiah" who died for the sins of His people.
The "Son of God" Scroll
Another fascinating scroll discovered in Cave Four known as 4Q246 refers to
the hope of a future Messiah figure. This is another of the scrolls that was
unpublished until recently. Amazingly, the text in this scroll refers to the
Messiah as "the son of God" and the "son of the Most High." These words are
the exact wording recorded in the Gospel of Luke.
The Text of Scroll 4Q246 - the Son of God Scroll:
"He shall be called the son of God,
and they shall designate [call] him son of the Most High.
Like the appearance of comets, so shall be their kingdom.
For brief years they shall reign over the earth and shall trample on all;
one people shall trample on another and
one province on another until the people of God shall
rise and all shall rest from the sword."
Compare the words in the scroll 4Q246 text to the inspired words found in
Luke 1:32 and 35: "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the
Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father
David... And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore
also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of
God" (Luke 1:32-35).
Anyone comparing these two first century texts will be startled by the
amazing similarity of concept and wording describing the Messianic leader.
One of the great differences between Christian and Jewish conceptions of the
promised Messiah revolves around His relationship to God. While the Jews
believe the Messiah will be a great man, such as Moses, with a Divine
mission, the Christians believe that the Bible teaches that the Messiah
would be uniquely "the Son of God." The Jewish view usually held that the
concept of a "son of God" violated the primary truth of monotheism found in
Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord." The
Christians believed that Jesus' claim to be the Son of God was not a
violation of Deuteronomy 6:4. Rather, Christians believe in the Trinity, the
doctrine that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are revealed in the
Bible to be One God, revealed in three personalities.
As Christians, we do not believe in three separate gods. Therefore,
Christians understand the statements about Jesus as the Son of God to be in
complete conformity to the truth of monotheism - there is only one God. It
is fascinating in this regard to consider the presence of these statements
in this first century Jewish text: "He shall be called the son of God, and
they shall designate [call] him son of the Most High."
The presence of these statements in the Dead Sea Scrolls suggests that some
of the Essenes either accepted the Messianic claims of Jesus to be the Son
of God or anticipated this concept. Either possibility opens up new areas
for exploration. Another possibility that must be considered is this: Is it
possible that this scroll 4Q246 is a direct quote from the writer hearing
the words of the Gospel of Luke that was now widely circulating according to
early Christian witnesses? Luke, the physician, claimed that he wrote the
Gospel of Luke as an eyewitness of the events he personally observed. In
Luke 1:1-3, he says: "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in
order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,
Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were
eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having
had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto
thee in order, most excellent Theophilus."
The discovery of the virtually identical wording "the Son of God" from Luke
1:32 and 35 with the scroll found buried in a cave in A.D. 68 stands as a
tremendous witness to the early existence and transmission of the Gospel
records within thirty-five years of Christ. If the Gospels were written and
distributed within thirty-five years of the events of the life of Jesus (as
the Gospels claim) then they stand as the best eyewitness historical records
we could ever hope to possess. It would be almost impossible to distribute
the Gospel accounts to thousands of people in Israel within three and a half
decades of the events unless they were true accounts. If the Gospel records
were untrue, many witnesses would have stood up and denied their accuracy.
However, the records of the first century reveal that no one denied the
facts about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In fact, all of
these ancient historical records confirm the truth of the Gospels.
Other New Testament Quotes Identified in the Scrolls
In 1971, a Spanish biblical scholar named Jose O'Callaghan studied some of
the small fragments of scrolls discovered in Cave Seven at Qumran. He was
looking for correspondences between these fragments of Greek scrolls and the
Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament that was
widely used by Jesus and the apostles.
These fragments are quite small containing only small portions of each
verse. After almost two thousand years, the elements and insects have
significantly damaged these manuscripts. In some cases only small fragments
containing parts of a verse on three or four lines remain from an original
scroll. It required considerable detective work to determine the precise
text in these tiny fragments.
One day he carefully examined several small scroll fragments located in a
photo page in The Discoveries of the Judean Desert of Jordan. To his great
surprise O'Callaghan noticed that several did not fit any Old Testament
text. These fragments were listed as "Fragments not identified." To his
amazement Dr. O'Callaghan found that these Greek language fragments bore an
uncanny resemblance to several verses in the New Testament. He read the
Greek words "beget" and a word that could be "Gennesaret," a word for the
Sea of Galilee. The fragment containing "Gennesaret" appears to be a
quotation of the passage referring to the feeding of the five thousand found
in Mark 6:52,53 which states: "For they considered not the miracle of the
loaves: for their heart was hardened. And when they had passed over, they
came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore."
If these texts are actually portions of these Christian writings they would
be the earliest New Testament texts ever discovered. The New York Times
responded, "If O'Callaghan's theory is accepted, it would prove that at
least one of the Gospels, that of St. Mark, was written only a few years
after the death of Jesus." The Los Angeles Times headlined, "Nine New
Testament fragments dated A.D. 50 to A.D. 100 have been discovered in a Dead
Sea Cave." It stated that "if validated, [they] constitute the most
sensational biblical trove uncovered in recent times."
Other Scroll Fragments and the New Testament
Dr. Jose O'Callaghan ultimately identified eight different scroll fragments
from Cave Seven that appear to be quotes from New Testament passages. The
scholarly magazine Bible Review ran a fascinating article on Dr.
O'Callaghan, these scrolls, and their possible connection with the New
Testament in an article in December, 1995.
The fragments appeared to O'Callaghan to be portions of the following verses
from the Gospels and Paul's Epistles:
"For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself. . ." (Mark 4:28).
"And he saw them toiling in rowing; . . ." (Mark 6:48).
"And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar. . ." (Mark 12:17)
"And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship. . ." (Acts 27:38).
"And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. . ."
(Romans 5:11-12).
"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness. . ." (1 Timothy
3:16).
"For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer. . ." (James 1:23-24).
As one example of Dr. O'Callaghan's study, he examined a small scroll
fragment known as 7Q5 that contained only twenty Greek letters on five lines
of text. Many of the thousands of scroll fragments that were successfully
identified from the Qumran site are equally small. Another scroll scholar,
Carsten Thiede, agrees with O'Callaghan that portions of the Mark 6:52,53
passage appears in this scroll fragment. While other scroll scholars
disagree with the identification of this fragment as a verse from the New
Testament they do admit that almost all of the scrolls found in Cave Seven
were written in the period between 50 B.C. and A.D. 50, which is consistent
with the time of the writing of the Gospel of Mark.
Naturally, as with other matters connected with the controversial Dead Sea
Scrolls, many scholars disagreed with the conclusions of Dr. O'Callaghan.
The debate still continues twenty years later. At this stage we cannot be
certain that O'Callaghan's conclusion is correct. More work needs to be
done. However, the recent publication of the discovery of Scroll 4Q246 and
its identical reference to "the Son of God" as found in Luke 1:32 and 35
provide strong support for the possibility that these fragments are related
to these New Testament passages. In addition, I have great hopes that the
new archeological exploration of recently detected caves at Qumran may
provide new evidence including New Testament references. Many of these
mysteries will be solved when the final four hundred unpublished scrolls are
finally published in the next few years. The new dig at Qumran may also
uncover additional scrolls that will help us understand more clearly the
Messianic beliefs of this group of religious men and women who lived at this
desert site during the time when Jesus walked the earth.
When we consider the total amount of evidence that confirms the biblical
record about Jesus of Nazareth we can have confidence that we know more
about the life and resurrection of Christ than we know about any other
person in the ancient world. God has not left us in darkness concerning the
truthfulness of the miracles, prophecies and teaching of His Son, Jesus
Christ.
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Historical Evidence of the Bible
By: Grant Jeffrey
http://www.grantjeffrey.com
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The last one hundred and fifty years of archeological exploration in the
Middle East has provided students of the Bible with an unparalleled
abundance of evidence confirming thousands of detailed historical statements
found in both the Old and New Testaments. In this chapter, we will explore a
small fraction of the powerful historical and archeological evidence that
has been discovered in Israel and throughout the Middle East that throws new
light on the pivotal events that have shaped our modern Western culture. It
is important that we place this evidence in its proper context. Archeology
and historical documents can never prove that the Bible is inspired. Rather,
the confirmation of the statements of the Bible through archeological and
historical investigations provides us with powerful evidence of the
historical truthfulness of the Word of God and indicates that its statements
were accurately transmitted over thousands of years.
One of the greatest of these pioneer archeologists is the Jewish scholar Dr.
Nelson Glueck, considered by many to be the greatest Jewish archeologist in
history. Professor Glueck has written, "It is worth emphasizing that in all
this work no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a single,
properly understood biblical statement."1 Professor Glueck's statement is a
powerful antidote to the pervasive skepticism and unbelief of so many of the
liberal theologians who inhabit the seminaries and universities of the West.
Despite the cynicism and skepticism of many liberal theologians to the
accuracy of the biblical account the scientific evidence of archeology
continues to confirm the accuracy of the Bible's statements. Meanwhile,
liberal theologians continue to ignore this overwhelming evidence in favor
of their presuppositions and strongly held prejudice against the authority,
inspiration, and accuracy of the Word of God.
Dr. Glueck wrote about the wonder of exploring the ancient ruins of the
Promised Land and finding confirmation after confirmation of the
truthfulness of this incomparable book, the Holy Scriptures.
Acquaint yourself with the needs and fears, the moods and manners, of the
broken array of peoples and civilizations that appeared at intervals along
the horizon of time and, in a general way, you will know in advance where to
look for the clues they left behind in the course of their passage. . . .
And above all, read the Bible, morning, noon and night, with a positive
attitude, reading to accept its historical references. . . . And then go
forth into the wilderness of the Negev and discover, trite as it may sound,
that everything you touch turns into the gold of history, and that it is
almost impossible not to stumble across the treasures of a robust past,
whose existence becomes as real and as full of content and color and sound
and fury and the thrill of progress and the pity of failure as the transient
present, which is always ticking away so furiously to join the throng of
those that need no longer hurry.2
Jerusalem, The City of David
Modern liberal scholars who reject the biblical evidence about the
monarchies of King David and his son Solomon in the tenth century before
Christ also dismiss the Bible's claims about Jerusalem being the capital
city of a united Israel. Many of these biblically minimalist scholars,
including Professor Thomas Thompson of the University of Copenhagen, totally
reject the Bible's description of Jerusalem as Israel's capital city during
the reigns of King David and Solomon in the period 1000 B.C. to 930 B.C. In
an article in Biblical Archeological Review, Thompson stated, "We don't have
a tenth-century Jerusalem . . . The last point is that Jerusalem becomes a
really major town only after the destruction of Lachish in 701 B.C. . . .
Its very difficult to talk about a united monarchy [under David and Solomon]
in the tenth century b.c.e."3 [Note: academic scholars use b.c.e. (before
common era) rather than the normal designation B.C. (before Christ) for
fairly obvious reasons].
In other words, Professor Thompson and his many liberal colleagues totally
deny the detailed biblical record of the reigns of Israel's greatest kings
and Solomon's Temple. From their skeptical standpoint, they automatically
reject every biblical statement unless it is verified by multiple pagan
historical or archeological sources. However, a logical question arises. How
could such a detailed historical tradition and national memory of King
David's and King Solomon's deeds, their conquests, and their Temple have
arisen in Israel if these events never occurred?
Modern anthropologists admit that nearly always there is some historical
event behind every tradition. The biblical minimalist scholars reject the
historical and archeological evidence, as well as the biblical evidence,
that attests to Jerusalem's existence as a significant city in Palestine
during the time of Israel's conquest of Canaan, which occurred several
centuries before the rise of King Saul and then King David to rule Jerusalem
as Israel's capital. A fascinating article entitled "Cow Town or Royal
Capital" by Nadav Na'aman appeared in the July/August 1997 issue of the
respected Biblical Archeological Review magazine. This article contained
interesting archeological evidence about ancient Jerusalem including a
reference to the Tell el Amarna Letters. Although I had read a summary of
these letters years ago, I was delighted to acquire an excellent copy and
translation of these vital ancient documents from a rare-book dealer several
weeks ago. It was fascinating to read these letters by the pagan king of
Jerusalem during the time of the conquest of the Promised Land.
Evidence about Jerusalem From the Tell el-Amarna Tablets
The famous Amarna letters were discovered at Tell el-Amarna in Egypt more
than a century ago. These thirty-five hundred-year-old clay tablets included
diplomatic letters that were written in the 14th century B.C. in Akkadian
cuneiform characters, the common official language at the time. This
valuable library of government documents includes more than three hundred
diplomatic letters written by the governors or kings of Canaan to the
Egyptian pharaoh who ruled Canaan as a province of the Egyptian-controlled
territory in Palestine and Syria. This extensive correspondence includes
hundreds of letters written by two well-known Egyptian pharaohs (Amenophis
III [13911353 B.C.] and Amenophis IV, popularly known as Akhenaten
[13531337 B.C.]). The dates when these Egyptian pharaohs ruled are widely
accepted.
The most important portion of the letters for biblical scholars include six
diplomatic messages sent from the King of Jerusalem, who ruled Canaan
(present-day Israel and the West Bank). These letters are incredibly
valuable for the detailed historical evidence they provide about the
situation in Canaan at the approximate time of the conquest of the Promised
Land under the leadership of Joshua and Gideon, according to the biblical
record found in Joshua and Judges. The Tell el-Amarna Tablets provide
invaluable independent information about historical conditions in Canaan.
Written by several kings who ruled their provinces and cities under the rule
of Egypt, these letters are of vital importance to scholars because they
describe conditions in Canaan only one or two generations after the Exodus
at the very time the Bible tells us the conquest of the Promised Land
occurred.
All serious scholars who have examined the Tell el-Amarna letters agree that
the name "Urusalim" found in the letters clearly refer to the city of
Jerusalem, according to the detailed geographical descriptions about its
location. The Amarna letters mention the city of "Urusalim" (Jerusalem)
which appears repeatedly in this fascinating correspondence. At the time of
this correspondence, Jerusalem and other cities of Canaan were ruled by
local kings under ultimate Egyptian control. Jerusalem itself was ruled by a
local dynasty which passed the crown from father to son. Other sources refer
to these local rulers of city-states as kings. In most of these letters, the
king of Jerusalem appeals desperately, and without success, for troops and
archers from his overlord, the pharaoh of Egypt. Apparently at this time,
the pharaoh ruling Egypt was distracted from defending his province of
Canaan against the invaders who were attacking the cities under the control
of the king of Jerusalem. This invasion of the foreign "Habiru" occurred
during the reign of Pharaoh Amenophis IV, often called Akhenaten (13531337
B.C.). Apparently Akhenaten ignored military defense because he was focussed
solely on creating a new religion in Egypt to worship the sun god.
Consider the powerful historical evidence provided in these six letters from
the king of Jerusalem to his overlord, the king of Egypt, that prove
Jerusalem existed as a capital city during this critical historical period.
In addition, these letters provide evidence that the Promised Land was being
invaded at this time by a victorious army of foreign people called "Habiru."
Many scholars admit that the "Habiru" were most likely the conquering
Israelites, who called themselves "Hebrews." For example, Abdi-Hiba, the
king of Jerusalem, wrote to the pharaoh in desperation requesting Egyptian
troops to defend his territory.
Letters From The Tell el-Amarna Tablets4
There is no garrison here.
So let the king care for his land.
Let the king care for his land.
The lands of the king, the lord,
have all deserted.
Ilimilku has devastated the whole land of the king.
(Letter of Abdi-Hiba, King of Jerusalem to the Pharaoh -
Tell el Amarna Letter - Number 2)
No lands of the king remain.
The Habiru plunder all lands of the king.
If archers are here this year, then the lands of the king,
the lord, will remain; but if archers are not here,
then the lands of the king, my lord, are lost.
(Letter of Abdi-Hiba, King of Jerusalem to
the Pharaoh - Tell el Amarna Letter - Number 3)
Verily, the king has set his name
upon the land of Urusalim for ever.
Therefore he cannot abandon
the lands of Urusalim.
(Letter of Abdi-Hiba, King of Jerusalem
to the Pharaoh - Tell el Amarna Letter - Number 3)
In his letters the king protested that the pharaoh's indifference to his
desperate military request for additional troops indicated that he didn't
want to fight the "Habiru."
As long as the king, my lord, lives
I will say to the deputy of the king, my lord:
"Why do you love the Habiru, and hate the regents ?"
(Letter of Abdi-Hiba, King of Jerusalem to
the Pharaoh - Tell el Amarna Letter - Number 2)
But if there are no archers
the land of the king will desert to the Hiabiru.
This will be the fate of the land.
(Letter of Abdi-Hiba, King of Jerusalem|
to the Pharaoh - Tell el Amarna Letter - Number 6)
Could the reluctance to fight this group of invaders stem from the
historical memory of the Egyptians' of God's supernatural deliverance of the
Israelites and the destruction of Egypt's army at the Red Sea during the
Exodus?
Abdi-Hiba, the king of Jerusalem, indicated the significance of his kingdom
and capital in his description of his gift of over five thousand slaves to
his Egyptian overlord. If Jerusalem was a small, insignificant town, its
king would not have had a military victory that afforded him the opportunity
to send a gift of five thousand prisoners captured from his enemies. The
biblical minimalist scholars assert that during this period (three centuries
before King David and Solomon), Jerusalem was only a tiny, insignificant
town, but their assertions have been proven to be false by the Amarna
Letters of the Egyptian government.
__ __ I have sent to the king, [my] lor[d]
__ __ prisoners, five thousand _ __ _ _ ,
[three hundr]ed and eigh[teen] bearers for
the caravans of the king;
they were taken in the fields (iati) near [Ialuna.
(Letter of Abdi-Hiba, King of Jerusalem to
the Pharaoh - Tell el Amarna Letter - Number 3)
Finally, Abdi-Hiba reveals his personal fear of imminent defeat by these
conquering "Habiru" (Hebrews), who are taking city after city throughout his
weakly defended territory. The king of Jerusalem warns the pharaoh that his
fellow regents (local kings under Egypt's rule) are succumbing to the Habiru
attack. Lastly, he admits that because Egypt is indifferent ("yet the king
holds himself back") that the soldiers of another Canaanite king, "Zimrida
of Lakisi," have deserted to join the victorious Habiru army.
But now the Habiru are taking
the cities of the king.
No regent is (left)
to the king, my lord; all are lost.
Behold, Turbazu has been killed
in the gate of Zilu, yet the king holds himself back.
Behold, Zimrida of Lakisi - servants,
who have joined with the Habiru, have smitten him.
(Letter of Abdi-Hiba, King of Jerusalem to
the Pharaoh - Tell el Amarna Letter - Number 4)
Other correspondence in the series of Tell el Amarna Letters indicates that
the territory ruled by the king of Jerusalem at that time (during the days
of Joshua and Gideon) included land extending from Hebron in the south to
the town of Bethel in the north. In addition, these letters indicate that
the territory of the king of Jerusalem extended from the midpoint of
present-day West Bank to the Jordan River.
In conclusion, an analysis of the Tell el Amarna Letters clearly confirms
that, in the 14th century B.C., the city of Jerusalem was a capital city
ruling over a considerable amount of territory in Canaan under the oversight
of the Egyptian pharaohs. The area encompassed a significant portion of the
current West Bank as well as the areas to the west of Jerusalem. The letters
confirm that the king of Jerusalem lived in a palace with a pagan temple and
a full court of officials. Most importantly, these records confirm that
Jerusalem was sophisticated enough to possess court scribes who carried on a
continuing diplomatic correspondence with neighboring states, including its
overlord, Egypt. In addition, the letters confirm that couriers from Egypt
carried on regular correspondence with the court of Jerusalem.
In conclusion, the powerful historical evidence from these ancient Egyptian
Tell el Amarna documents provides one more strong link in the chain of
evidence from sources outside the Bible that tends to confirm the historical
accuracy of these biblical accounts.
King Hezekiah's Tunnel Inscription
The ancient king of Judea, King Hezekiah ordered his workmen to carve a long
tunnel through 1,749 feet of hard bedrock to bring in a safe supply of water
from a spring that was located outside the walls of the City of David,
ancient Jerusalem. This undertaking was a truly phenomenal engineering task,
especially when we consider the limited mining and surveying knowledge as
well as the primitive tools, available to Jewish engineers in the 8th
century B.C. An inscription describing this undertaking reveals that the
leader of the project ordered two groups of miners to begin digging toward
each other from opposite ends of the tunnel. The reason for attempting the
very difficult task of trying to bore through so much solid rock in the hope
of meeting in the center rather than simply working from one end only, must
have been the fear of an impending invasion of Jerusalem. Tourists visiting
Jerusalem can now safely wade through the shallow waters of Hezekiah's
Tunnel that lead to the Gihon Spring. Kaye and I have walked underground in
this engineering marvel, and have witnessed proof of the incredible accuracy
of the historical accounts recorded in the Holy Scriptures.
The tunnel inscription was written in ancient classical Hebrew on a plaque
located near the pool. The inscription described the construction of this
unusual tunnel: "Behold the tunnel. This is the story of its cutting. While
the miners swung their picks, one towards the other, and when there remained
only 3 cubits to cut, the voice of one calling his fellow was heard - for
there was a resonance in the rock coming from both north and south . . . and
the water flowed from the spring towards the pool, 1200 cubits. The height
of the rock above the head of the miners was 100 cubits." This engraved
inscription is enormously important to archeologists because it clearly
confirms a very specific and unusual biblical account. The engraving was
carved out of the base rock that formed the side of the ancient excavated
tunnel. After its discovery, it was removed by the Turkish authorities to
their capital of Istanbul in 1880. It was forgotten and laid aside as an
unknown inscription until an Israeli archeologist visited the museum and
recognized that the engraved stone was incredibly valuable, the
long-forgotten Hezekiah Tunnel inscription. He alerted the museum curator to
the fact. This priceless inscription from the past can now be seen in an
exhibit in an archeological museum in Istanbul, Turkey.
It is interesting to look back in Church history to view the attitudes
toward the authority of the Bible expressed by the great men of faith in
past generations. In the fourth-century book The City of God, Saint
Augustine declared, "Scripture, which proves the truth of its historical
statements by the accomplishment of its prophecies, gives no false
information.
Can We Trust the Historical Statements of the Bible?
The Testimony of Archaeologists and Classical Scholars
Professor Millar Burrows of Yale University discussed the findings of recent
archeological digs and their impact on the views of the critics of biblical
historical accuracy: "Archaeology has in many cases refuted the views of
modern critics. It has shown in a number of instances that these views rest
on false assumptions and unreal, artificial schemes of historical
development"5 Dr. Burrows explained the underlying assumptions that creates
this climate of rejection of the Scriptures: "The excessive skepticism of
many liberal theologians stems not from a careful evaluation of the
available data, but from an enormous predisposition against the
supernatural." His comments underline the fundamental role of
presuppositions in the minds of all intellectuals as they approach any area
of study. If you approach the Bible determined to reject any of the
statements that reveal the prophetic and supernatural nature of God's
revelation to man, then you have determined your negative conclusions before
commencing your study.
As a leading archaeologist in the field of biblical Middle Eastern studies
Burrows revealed that the results of modern archeological research have
provided powerful new evidence in favor of the historical accuracy of the
statements found in the Scriptures: "On the whole, however, archaeological
work has unquestionably strengthened confidence in the reliability of the
scriptural record. More than one archaeologist has found his respect for the
Bible increased by the experience of excavation in Palestine"6 In conclusion
Burrows affirmed that the net result of the recent discoveries has actually
increased our ability to categorize the Bible's statements as solid evidence
by eyewitnesses to these ancient events: "Such evidence as archaeology has
afforded thus far, especially by providing additional and older manuscripts
of the books of the Bible, strengthens our confidence in the accuracy with
which the text has been transmitted through the centuries."7
Sir Frederic Kenyon, a well-known archeologist in the earlier part of this
century, has written that the results of modern research has profoundly
increased our knowledge and understanding of the biblical world. Professor
Kenyon wrote that Christians can welcome the results of continued
archeological research because the continuing evidence produced from the
digs in the Middle East has strengthened our confidence in the total
accuracy of the Word of God.
It is therefore legitimate to say that, in respect of that part of the Old
Testament against which the disintegrating criticism of the last half of the
nineteenth century was chiefly directed, the evidence of archaeology has
been to re-establish its authority, and likewise to augment its value by
rendering it more intelligible through a fuller knowledge of its background
and setting. Archaeology has not yet said its last word; but the results
already achieved confirm what faith would suggest, that the Bible can do
nothing but gain from an increase of knowledge.8
F. F. Bruce is a leading researcher in the area of biblical studies. He has
stated that, far from disproving the Bible, recent archeological finds have
proven the truthfulness of the scriptural account: "Where Luke has been
suspected of inaccuracy, and accuracy has been vindicated by some
inscriptional evidence, it may be legitimate to say that archaeology has
confirmed the New Testament record."9 Professor Merrill Unger, the editor of
the well respected Unger Bible Dictionary has pointed out the incomparable
value from the results of modern archeology in enabling us to understand the
ancient world of the kings and prophets of Israel: "Old Testament
archaeology has rediscovered whole nations, resurrected important peoples,
and in a most astonishing manner filled in historical gaps, adding
immeasurably to the knowledge of biblical backgrounds."
The dismissive attitude toward the literal truth of the historical accounts
in the Bible as displayed by liberal theologians such as Bishop Spong, the
author of Rescuing the Bible From Fundamentalism, is in direct contradiction
to the powerful evidence confirming the reliability of the Bible's history
from the actual archeological digs. An underlying attitude and prejudice of
the liberals is that they deny that the four Gospels were written by
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all eyewitnesses and contemporaries of Jesus
and the people who were present during the life, death, and resurrection of
Jesus of Nazareth. This attitude is displayed in the Jesus Seminar and its
negative conclusions that any statement of Jesus that displays evidence of
the supernatural, prophecy or His claim to be the Messiah and the Son of
God, is "inauthentic." These liberals declare that the four Gospels were
created by editors or redactors at least a century after the events they
record. In denying the claims of the New Testament writers that they were
actually recording events in which they participated, these liberal scholars
suggest that the claims of the New Testament regarding the virgin birth, and
the resurrection of Jesus, as well as His teachings and miracles, can be
dismissed as imaginary creations of editors far removed from the historical
events they describe.
The underlying assumption of the liberal scholars who reject the historicity
of the Gospels is their belief that these documents were composed over one
hundred years after the events of Jesus' life and death. The scholars call
the period between the death of Christ and the writing of the Gospels the
formative period. The popular German Tubingen school of thought or theory is
that the Gospels were edited by unknown Christian redactors to create new
theological statements that Jesus never uttered. They suggest that these
Gospel accounts were mainly myths or religious legends that developed during
the lengthy interval between the lifetime of Jesus and the time these
accounts were set down in writing. While this attitude is extremely
widespread in liberal universities and seminaries, the evidence produced in
the last fifty years provides powerful proof that the Gospel writers were
eyewitnesses and contemporaries of Jesus of Nazareth.
The continuing historical research provides overwhelming proof that the
three Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written within forty years of
the Cross. The importance of this fact cannot be overestimated.
Archeologists had discovered numerous early papyri manuscript portions of
the four Gospels in Egypt and Syria that were written between A.D. 32 and
the beginning of the second century. These early manuscripts closed the gap
between the time of the Cross and the previously known Gospel manuscripts
from the second century. Professor William F. Albright, an outstanding
biblical archaeologist, concluded in 1955, "We can already say emphatically
that there is no longer any solid basis for dating any book of the New
Testament after circa A.D. 80, two full generations before the date between
130 and 150 given by the more radical New Testament critics of today."10
Dr. Albright's personal assessment of the conclusions of the liberal critics
who deny the authenticity of the New Testament is informative: "Only modern
scholars who lack both historical method and perspective can spin such a web
of speculation as that with which critics have surrounded the Gospel
tradition."
Concerning the Old Testament, Professor William F. Albright has written,
"There can be no doubt that archaeology has confirmed the substantial
historicity of Old Testament tradition." In response to the question of
widespread skepticism and outright contempt for the authority of the
historical statements of the Bible Dr. Albright wrote the following:
The excessive skepticism shown toward the Bible by important historical
schools of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, certain phases of which
still appear periodically, has been progressively discredited. Discovery
after discovery has established the accuracy of innumerable details and has
brought increased recognition to the value of the Bible as a source of
history . . . As critical study of the Bible is more and more influenced by
the rich new material from the ancient Near East we shall see a steady rise
in respect for the historical significance of now neglected or despised
passages and details in the Old and New Testament.11
The importance of this proof of the early composition of the Gospel records
cannot be overestimated. If the Gospels were written and widely distributed
within the lifetime of thousands of people who personally saw the miracles
of the feeding of the five thousand and the resurrected Jesus then they must
be true historical accounts.
In another interview with Christianity Today magazine in January 1963, Dr.
Albright announced his professional conclusion that every one of the books
of the New Testament were written "probably sometime between circa A.D. 50
and 75." Professor Albright correctly noted that this twenty-to
forty-five-year interval between the actual historical event and the
subsequent writing of the Gospels is "too slight to permit any appreciable
corruption of the essential center and even of the specific wording of the
sayings of Jesus." Many modern scholars suggest the hypothetical existence
of a "Q" source manuscript, containing numerous traditions about Jesus's
life and ministry, that they believe was used by Matthew and Mark. However,
even these liberal scholars usually suggest this hypothetical (nonexistent)
"Q document" was written by some follower of Jesus before A.D. 50.
Therefore, even if this theory were correct, the Gospel tradition was still
written by eyewitnesses and immediately read by people who personally knew
Jesus and the apostles.
If the Gospels contained imaginary or false information then Christianity
would never have prevailed in light of the massive persecution of its
followers. Why would hundreds of thousands of Christians allow themselves
and their beloved family members to die horribly in the Roman Coliseum when
all they had to do to escape was to deny their faith that Jesus was God? It
is inconceivable that these martyrs would die for their Christian faith if
they held the slightest doubt as to the historical accuracy of the Gospel
accounts that Jesus was the Son of God who had risen from the dead. The only
possible way to explain the steadfast faith of these first-century believers
is to acknowledge that they were totally persuaded of the truth of the
Gospel account about Jesus of Nazareth.
Consider the confident faith represented by the apostle Paul in his inspired
letter to the church at Rome, to people who lived in constant expectation of
martyrdom.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it
is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as
sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord. I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing
me witness in the Holy Ghost (Romans 8:35 9:1).
During the last year, I completed a detailed study of the research on the
dating of New Testament documents in Redating the New Testament, written by
Dr. John A. T. Robinson, the well respected lecturer at Trinity College,
Cambridge. Dr. Robinson is an eminent critic of the New Testament period. He
concluded that the New Testament is the work of the actual disciples of
Jesus and their contemporaries who worked in the early Church, and that,
furthermore, every one of the New Testament books, including John, must have
been written before A.D. 64.12 Robinson also wrote about the reliability and
early dating of the Gospel of Luke in his book Luke the Historian in the
Light of Research. He concluded that both Luke and Mark were written at some
point before A.D. 59 by the named authors. Furthermore, he wrote, "The early
date of both Gospel and Acts gives a strong presumption in favor of the
historical value of the books. There was less time for legends to grow. The
author was nearer to his sources of information . . . But at any rate, since
Luke the physician, the friend of Paul, wrote the two books, they cannot be
thrown aside as second-century romances written to deify Jesus and to
idealize Peter and Paul. The writer is so close to the facts of which he
writes that he has to receive serious consideration to see if, after all, he
has not drawn his characters to the life."13
Saint Peter's Fish
Some of my favorite passages in the Gospels tell us about the life,
teachings, and miracles of Jesus that occurred during His ministry in His
home region surrounding the Sea of Galilee. When my wife, Kaye, and I travel
to Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee, we always stop at St. Peter's Restaurant
to enjoy their main course of St. Peter's Fish, while watching the fishing
boats on the usually quiet sea. This species of fish belongs to the
Cichlidae family and flourishes in this warm freshwater sea. St. Peter's
Fish is occasionally called the "mouth breeder." It is found naturally in
only three places, all of which lie along the geological zone extending from
the Sea of Galilee thousands of miles to the south in Lake Victoria, Uganda.
This species of fish is found only in the Nile River, in Lake Victoria, and
in the Sea of Galilee. The Gospel account recorded in Matthew 17:2427
describes the disciple Peter catching a fish with a shekel coin in its mouth
to provide the tribute money that the government officials demanded of Peter
and Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus told Peter, "Notwithstanding, lest we should
offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that
first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a
piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee" (Matthew
17:27)
Dr. Jim Fleming, a professor of archaeology and historical geography at
Hebrew University in Jerusalem, has taught about the unusual nature of this
fish in connection with Matthew 17:2427. The female St. Peter's Fish
carries her eggs in her mouth to protect them against predators until they
hatch. As the brood of minnows begins to grow, she opens her mouth to let
them out to swim around her from time to time. However, the mother fish
opens her mouth again and quickly scoops them up whenever danger is present.
The mother will fast almost to the point of starvation to avoid the danger
of inadvertently swallowing her young offspring. On account of her
well-known maternal habits, the fishermen of Galilee call the female St.
Peter's fish by the Hebrew name "The Mother-Fish." After the young mature to
the point where they can survive independently, they swim away. However, the
mother fish often keeps a substitute in her mouth to perpetuate her habit of
carrying her young. St. Peter's Fish are sometimes caught by fishermen and
when they examine their mouths they find pebbles or coke bottle caps inside.
The popular name for the fish is "St. Peter's fish" because of the account
in Matthew 17:2427 about Peter catching a fish that carried a shekel coin
in its mouth. This habit of the fish to pick up items from the lake bottom
in no way minimizes the miracle of our Lord. Only the Son of God could have
known that this particular fish would be carrying a shekel coin in its
mouth.
In the last century, the writer H. L. Hastings wrote about the astonishing
survival and success of the Bible, despite centuries of attacks on its
authority and accuracy. The Scriptures have withstood the blistering attacks
of skepticism. Hastings wrote, "Infidels of eighteen hundred years have been
refuting and overthrowing this book, and yet it stands today as solid rock.
Its circulation increases, and it is more loved and cherished and read today
than ever before. Infidels, with all their assaults, make about as much
impression on this book as a man with a tack hammer would on the Pyramids of
Egypt."
Notes
1. John W. Montgomery, Christianity for the Tough Minded (Minneapolis:
Bethany Fellowship Inc., 1973) 6.
2. Dr. Nelson Glueck, Exploring Southern Palestine - The Negev (1959).
3. Biblical Archeological Review July/August, 1997.
4. The Tell el-Amarna Tablets.
5. Millar Burrows, What Mean These Stones? (New York: Meridian Books, 1956)
29.
6. Millar Burrows, What Mean These Stones? (New York: Meridian Books, 1956)
1.
7. Millar Burrows, What Mean These Stones? (New York: Meridian Books, 1956)
42.
8. Sir Frederic Kenyon, The Bible and Archeology (New York: Harper & Row
Publishers, 1940) 27.
9. F. F. Bruce, Revelation and the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House,
1969) 33.
10. Howard Frederick Vos, Can I Trust My Bible? (Chicago: Moody Press, 1963)
136.
11. William Albright, The Archaeology of Palestine (Middlesex: Pelican
Books, 1960) 127128.
12. John A. T. Robinson, Redating the New Testament (Philadelphia:
Westminster Press, 1976) 351-353.
13. John A. T. Robinson, Luke the Historian in the Light of Research (New
York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1923) 3940.
======================================================
Israel and the Church: The Differences
By: Thomas S. McCall
http://www.levitt.com
======================================================
One of the great theological battlegrounds of orthodox Christianity
throughout the centuries has been the nature and character of the Church,
especially in relation to its biblical predecessor, Israel. The two major
views are that:
The Church is a continuation of Israel
The Church is completely different from Israel
First View: The Church is Israel
The predominant view has been that the Church is the "new" Israel, a
continuation of the concept of Israel which began in the Old Testament. In
this view, the Church is the refinement and higher development of the
concept of Israel. All of the promises made to Israel in the Scriptures find
their fulfillment in the Church. Thus, the prophecies relating to the
blessing and restoration of Israel to the Promised Land are "spiritualized"
into promises of blessing to the Church. The prophecies of condemnation and
judgment, though, are retained literally by the Jewish nation of Israel.
This view is sometimes called Replacement Theology, because the Church is
seen to replace Israel in God's economy. One of the problems with the view,
among others, is the continuing existence of the Jewish people, especially
with regard to the revival of the new modern state of Israel. If Israel has
been condemned to extinction, and there is no divinely ordained future for
the Jewish nation, how does one account for the supernatural survival of the
Jewish people since the establishment of the Church, for almost 2,000 years
against all odds? Furthermore, how does one account for Israel's resurgence
among the family of nations as an independent nation, victorious in several
wars and flourishing economically?
Second View: Israel and the Church are Different
The other view, we believe, is clearly taught in the New Testament, but it
has been suppressed throughout most of Church history. This view is that the
Church is completely different and distinct from Israel, and the two should
not be confused. In fact, the Church is an entirely new creation that came
into being on the Day of Pentecost after Christ's resurrection from the
dead, and will continue until it is taken to Heaven at the Rapture return of
the Lord (Eph. 1:9-11 . None of the curses or blessings pronounced upon
Israel refer directly to the Church. The Church enters into the Abrahamic
and New Covenants, for instance, only by divine application, not by original
interpretation (Matt 26:28 ).
This leaves all the covenants, promises, and warnings to Israel intact.
Israel, the natural Jewish nation, is still Israel. To be sure, Israel has
been side-lined during these past 1,900 years of the Diaspora. The Church
has taken center stage in the Lord's affairs as the Gospel has spread
throughout the world. Nevertheless, God has carefully preserved the Jewish
people, even in unbelief, through every kind of distress and persecution.
Sometimes, the professing Church itself (I speak to our shame) has been a
cause of these persecutions to the Jews.
Not only has God preserved the Jewish nation, but He has also kept His
promise to save a remnant of Israel in every generation. The remnant of
Israel in this age are the Jewish believers in Christ who have joined the
Gentile believers, and form the Church, the Body of Christ (Rom. 11:5 ). In
this respect, then, a part of Israel (the believing remnant) intersects with
the Church during the Church Age. But this does not make Israel the Church,
or vice versa.
In the future, both God's warnings and promises to Israel will come to pass.
After the Lord is finished with the Church Age, and has taken the Church to
Heaven in the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:16-18 ), God will restore Israel to center
stage on the world's divine theater. First comes the devastating "Time of
Jacob's Trouble" (Jer. 30:7 ) also known as the Great Tribulation. This is a
dreadful period of seven years, which begins relatively lightly during the
first half, but intensifies into full focus during the latter half. During
this time the world is judged for rejecting Christ, but, more specifically,
Israel is judged, purged and prepared through the fiery trials of the Great
Tribulation for the Second Coming of the Messiah. This is the bad news.
The good news is that, when Christ does return to the earth at the end of
the Tribulation, Israel will be ready, willing, and eager to receive Him,
and proclaim, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord" (Matt.
23:39). As the stumbling of Israel brought blessing to the world at Christ's
First Coming, the reception of Israel to Christ at His Second Advent will be
like "life from the dead" (Rom. 11:15). The remnant of Israel which survives
the Tribulation (some one-third of the Jewish people who enter the
Tribulation), will be saved, and the Lord will establish His kingdom on the
same earth and the same capital city, Jerusalem, that rejected Him centuries
before. Israel will be the head of the nations, and no longer the tail, and
all nations will send representatives to Jerusalem to honor and worship the
King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Isa. 2:2-3; Micah 4:1 ). The Church will
return with Christ, and will rule with Him for a thousand years (Rev.
20:1-5 ). He Himself told His disciples that they would rule over the 12
tribes of Israel in the restoration (Matt. 19:28 ). Thus, Israel has not
been forgotten in God's plan. While the Jewish nation still has a dark
period facing it, there is a glorious finale to Israel's long history.
How Did the Church Decide the Demise of Israel?
The New Testament Church was very much involved with the vicissitudes of
Israel. Jesus is an Israeli, as were all the apostles, and the concerns of
Israel, spiritually and politically, were very much a part of their lives.
The greatest struggles the early Church had were over the relationship
between Israel and the Church, law and grace, and the fellowship between
Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ (Galatians). Many of the Jewish
believers were not comfortable with the Gentile believers at first; and as
time went on and Gentiles began to predominate numerically, the attitudes
were reversed. Galatians shows how the Jewish party tried to impose the
Mosaic Law on Gentile Christians, and Romans shows how the Gentile party
began to "boast against the branches" (Rom. 11:18), resenting the place of
Israel in history and theology.
It took some time, perhaps a couple of centuries, but eventually the vast
Gentile majority in the Church began to view Israel as a vestigial organ
that had outlived its usefulness. In fact, the predominant Christian view
was that the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD
signaled the official and divinely-ordained end of the Jewish nation, never
more to be re-instituted as a national entity. The fact that Jerusalem lay
in ruins and the Jewish people were scattered over the world was seen as
conclusive evidence that God was forever finished with national Israel. If
there were any purpose for the existence of the Jewish people, it was to
remind the world of the severe judgment of God upon a disobedient people.
If this harsh view of Israel were true, though, what of the promises of God
to Israel in the Old Testament? For those who claimed to believe in the
entire Bible as the Word of God, this was a great problem. How could a
faithful God not keep His promises to His ancient people? To deal with this
took extraordinary theological dexterity and alchemy. The theologians had to
propose that Israel in the Scriptures did not really mean Israel, especially
when it came to the promises of eternal blessing. Instead, Israel meant
something else, something that came to be known in the New Testament as the
Church. The Church became the new Israel, and through this remarkable
transformation, wherever blessing is promised to Israel in the Old
Testament, it was interpreted to mean the Church. This is Replacement
Theology, in which the Church has become Israel.
Replacement Theology was already around before the end of the First Century,
but did not become the official position of professing Christian leadership
until Augustine popularized the concept, primarily in THE CITY OF GOD, in
the latter part of the Fourth Century. Augustine actually states that he was
previously a Chiliast, meaning that he was a believer in the thousand-year
reign of Christ on the earth after His return. This is the same as our
current description of Premillennialism. However, he had come to the
conclusion that this view was "carnal," and had adopted the view that the
reign of Christ would be something more "spiritual," and would actually
occur during the Church Age. Such a view necessitated the extinction of
Israel, and the cancellation of all promises God made to the Jewish nation.
These promises of blessing would now be fulfilled within the framework of
the Church.
This view, which had been latent in Christendom, now flourished throughout
the Byzantine world. From this point on, the theological legs were cut out
from under Israel, and the predominant Christian theology was that there was
no future for Israel. Replacement Theology has been the rule that has
survived the Middle Ages, the Crusades and the Reformation in Church
History. Only during the last Century or so has the Premillennial concept of
the future of Israel come to the forefront in evangelical Christianity. Even
so, it is a minority view.
Does Israel's Future Demean the Church's Glory?
Some suggest that if Israel has not ceased to exist in its covenant
relationship to God, and if Israel still has a future in the divine plan,
this somehow diminishes the position of the Church. Is such a concern valid?
It is almost as though the Church has been jealous of Israel, and afraid
that if it recognized Israel's future promises, it would somehow demean
Christ and the Church. Nothing could be further from the truth.
It is when the Church recognizes Israel that the true distinctiveness and
glory of the Body of Christ becomes evident. This called-out body, composed
of believing Jews and Gentiles during the Church Age, is the highest entity
the Lord has created, superior to the universe, all the Angels, the nations,
and Israel. Our Head, our Husband, our Friend is the Son of God Himself. We
shall reign with Him when He rules the earth, and our 12 Founding Apostles
will rule over the 12 tribes of Israel. The Angels themselves will study us
forever as the greatest exhibit of God's grace, and we will actually judge
the Angels. This is our destiny, and this writer, for one, would not trade
his position in the Body of Christ with any creature in the universe! Why,
then, be disturbed over what God has promised the Jewish people? Why be
jealous over the future destiny of Israel? How short sighted of us! Indeed,
the Church's finest and most distinctive hour will be when Israel is
restored nationally and spiritually to the Lord at the Second Coming of
Christ. We will return from Heaven with Him as His glorious Bride to rule
Israel and the world. What more could we ask?
So, if we are not to suffer from spiritual myopia, we must recognize what
the Lord is doing with Israel, not shrinking from it as though our own
interests will be overshadowed. Rather, we rejoice in these developments,
with full assurance that our own redemption draws ever closer.
======================================================
The Messianic Time Table According to Daniel the Prophet
By: Jews For Jesus/Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum
http://www.JewsForJesus.org
======================================================
More than any other book of the Hebrew Scriptures, the writings of the
prophet Daniel confront us with evidence of the time of Messiah's
coming--evidence that many people would rather not see. But it is there and
cannot be ignored.
That Daniel was indeed a prophet is well substantiated. He accurately
prophesied the rise of the Medo-Persian, Greek and Roman empires even at a
time when the Babylonian Empire, which preceded them all, was at its height.
He accurately predicted the fortunes, conflicts, wars and conspiracies of
the two kingdoms of Syria and Egypt between the fracturing of the Greek
Empire and the conquest by Rome. He prophesied the role of the Maccabees
during this period. It is Daniel's detailed accuracy in his prophecies that
has caused many critics to try to give a late date to the book of Daniel,
although no evidence has been discovered that would negate the book's
composition at the time that it claims to have been written. At the very
latest, the book was completed around 530 B.C.E.
The purpose of this article is to discuss in some detail verses 24-27 of
Daniel nine. However, it will be wise to survey the entire chapter in order
to see what engendered the prophecy of when Messiah would come.
The Background--Daniel 9:1-2
The date for Daniel's prophesy is "the first year of Darius," which means
that it occurred in the year 539 B. C. E., about 66 or 67 years after the
Jews initially went into exile to Babylonia.
It was on this occasion, Daniel stated, that he was studying the Scriptures;
and from these Scriptures he came to understand that the number of years for
the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem was almost over, since the
duration was to be 70 years. Daniel mentioned that he was studying "books,"
and we can see for one that he had been studying the writings of Jeremiah;
the lives of Jeremiah and Daniel did overlap to some extent. On two
occasions (Jeremiah 25:10-14, 29:10-14) Jeremiah predicted that the
captivity and desolation of Jerusalem would last 70 years. What other books
Daniel may have been studying we cannot know with certainty. But there are
some strong possibilities that he also studied the book of Isaiah, since
Isaiah actually named Cyrus as the one who would permit the Jews to return
(Isaiah 44:28-45:1). Furthermore, there are other writings in Moses and the
Prophets that spelled out some specific conditions for the establishment of
the messianic kingdom, and Daniel may have looked at some of these as well
(Leviticus 26:40-43, 1 Kings 8:46-53, Jeremiah 3:12-18, Hosea 5:15-6:3).
These passages emphasize that Israel as a nation must repent and confess sin
prior to the establishment of any kingdom of the Messiah.
Reckoning the 70 years from the year 605 (when the Jews went into exile)
would bring the end of the 70 years to 536 B.C.E. Daniel realized that the
captivity had only about three years to go.
But Daniel not only expected the captivity to end after 70 years, he also
expected a final termination of any possibility of future desolations for
Jerusalem. He had acted as if the messianic kingdom were about to occur:
since the Word of God was to be established on the basis of prayer, he
prayed; and realizing that the prerequisite was the confession of national
sin, he confessed the sins of Israel.
Daniel's Prayer--Daniel 9:3-19
Daniel's detailed prayer can be divided into two portions. The first (verses
3-14) is the confession of sin. Daniel acknowledged both sin and guilt,
which had been incurred in two ways--first by disobedience to the Law of
Moses, and secondly by disobedience to the prophets who came after Moses.
Daniel neither denied the sin of his nation nor his own sin, and by the use
of the pronoun "we," Daniel fully identified with all Jewish people in their
sins. He did not see sin as merely a bad habit, but as something ingrained
in the people that had brought on divine judgment. This disobedience to both
the Law and the Prophets caused Israel "confusion of face," an idiom meaning
a sense of shame. It also resulted in the need for forgiveness. Here Daniel
confessed that to God belong forgiveness and mercy, and that forgiveness was
needed. Daniel concluded the first part of his prayer by describing the
punishment for sin and guilt. That punishment, captivity in Babylon,
confirmed the words of the prophets who had predicted it and confirmed the
Law of Moses, which taught that divine judgment would come as a result of
disobedience.
The second part of the prayer (verses 15-19) is a plea for mercy. Daniel
made his plea on the basis of righteousness--not Israel's, but God's
righteousness. He also pleaded for mercy on the basis of God's grace, for
Israel did not merit mercy; but the grace of God was (and is) able to extend
it anyway. Furthermore, the righteousness of God required him to fulfill his
promises, and therefore he should do so at the end of the 70-year period.
The conclusion of Daniel's prayer is very dramatic: "O Lord, hear; O Lord,
forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God;
because thy city and thy people are called by thy name."
The Arrival of Gabriel--Daniel 9:20-23
Then, while Daniel was presenting his supplications, he was interrupted. He
apparently had intended to say more, when Gabriel arrived. The interruption
came by the touch of the angel's hand, "about the time of the evening
oblation." This refers to the daily, regular evening sacrifice that was
offered while the temple stood. Although it had not been practiced for seven
decades, Daniel showed his longing for the return from captivity and for the
rebuilding of the temple by remembering the sacrifice.
Gabriel told Daniel that the purpose of his visit was (1) to correct
Daniel's misunderstanding concerning when the messianic kingdom would be set
up and (2) to present God's revelation, which contained a timetable for
Messiah's coming.
The Decree of the 70 Sevens--Daniel 9:24a
Gabriel's prophecy to Daniel began with the words, "Seventy sevens are
decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city..."
Many English versions have translated the phrase to read "seventy weeks."
But this translation is not totally accurate and has caused some confusion
about the meaning of the passage. Most Jews know the Hebrew for "weeks"
because of the observance of the Feast of Weeks, and that Hebrew word is
shavuot. However, the word that appears in the Hebrew text is shavuim, which
means "sevens." The word refers to a "seven" of anything, and the context
determines the content of the seven.
Here it is obvious Daniel had been thinking in terms of years--specifically
the 70 years of captivity. Daniel had assumed that the captivity would end
after 70 years and that the kingdom would be established after 70 years. But
here Gabriel was using a play upon words in the Hebrew text, pointing out
that insofar as Messiah's kingdom was concerned, it was not "70 years," but
"70 sevens of years," a total of 490 years (70 times seven).
This period of 490 years had been "decreed" over the Jewish people and over
the holy city of Jerusalem. The Hebrew word translated "decreed" literally
means "to cut off" or "to determine." In chapters 2, 7 and 8, God revealed
to Daniel the course of future world history in which gentiles would have a
dominant role over the Jewish people. This lengthy period, which began with
the Babylonian Empire to continue until the establishment of Messiah's
kingdom, is for that reason often referred to as the "Times of the
Gentiles." Now the prophet was told that a total of 490 years was to be "cut
out" of the Times of the Gentiles, and a 490-year period had been
"determined" or "decreed" for the accomplishment of the final restoration of
Israel and the establishment of Messiah's kingdom.
The focus of the program of the 70 sevens was "thy people and...thy holy
city." The "people" were Daniel's people, the Jewish people, and the city
was Daniel's city, Jerusalem. Though he had spent the vast majority of his
life in the city of Babylon, Jerusalem was still Daniel's city. For Jews,
whether they are in the land or outside the land, their city is always
Jerusalem and not any other.
The Purpose of the 70 Sevens--Daniel 9:24b
Daniel was next told by Gabriel that the 70 sevens are to accomplish six
purposes. The first is to finish transgression. The Hebrew word translated
"to finish" means "to restrain firmly," "to restrain completely" or "to
bring to completion." The Hebrew word translated "transgression" is a very
strong word for sin and more literally means "to rebel." The Hebrew text has
this word with the definite article, so literally it means "the
transgression," or "the rebellion." The point is that some specific act of
rebellion is finally going to be completely restrained and brought to an
end. This act of rebellion or transgression is to come under complete
control so that it will no longer flourish. Israel's apostasy is now to be
firmly restrained, in keeping with a similar prediction in Isaiah 59:20.
The second purpose of the 70 sevens is to make an end of sins. The Hebrew
word translated "to make an end" literally means "to seal up" or "to shut up
in prison." It means to be securely kept, locked up, not allowed to roam at
random. The Hebrew word translated as "sins" literally means "to miss the
mark." It refers to sins of daily life, rather than to one specific sin.
Even these sins are to be put to an end and taken away. This, too, is quite
in keeping with predictions by the prophets that proclaim that in the
messianic kingdom, sinning would cease from Israel (Isaiah 27:9, Ezekiel
36:25-27, 37:23, Jeremiah 31:31-34).
The third purpose is to make reconciliation for iniquity. The Hebrew word
translated "to make reconciliation" is "kaphar," which has the same root
meaning as the word "kippur," as in Yom Kippur. The word "kaphar" literally
means "to make atonement." The third purpose, then, is to make atonement in
some way for iniquity. In fact, it is by means of this atonement that the
first two purposes will also be accomplished, that of finishing the
transgression and making an end of sins. The word translated "iniquity"
refers to inward sin. This has sometimes been referred to as the sin nature,
or perhaps a more common term among Jewish people would be yetzer hara," the
evil inclination."
The fourth purpose of the 70 sevens is to bring in everlasting
righteousness. More literally this could be translated "to bring in an age
of righteousness," since the Hebrew "olam" is better translated as "age"
rather than as "everlasting." This age of righteousness is to be the
messianic kingdom spoken of in the Prophets (Isaiah 1:26, 11:2-5, 32:17;
Jeremiah 23:5-6, 33:15-18). It is this very age that Daniel had been
expecting to see established after the 70 years of captivity, but now he is
told that will only be after the 490-year period.
The fifth purpose is to seal up vision and prophecy. Here Daniel used a word
which means "to shut up." So "to seal up" means to cause a cessation or to
completely fulfill. Thus, vision and prophecy are to be completely
fulfilled." Vision" is a reference to oral prophecy, while "prophecy" refers
to written prophecy. Both oral and written prophecy will cease with the
final fulfillment of all revelations.
The final purpose of the 70 sevens is to anoint the most holy. A better
translation here would be "to anoint a most holy place." This is a reference
to the Jewish temple which is to be rebuilt when Messiah comes. It refers to
the same temple that Daniel's contemporary, Ezekiel, described in great
detail (Ezekiel 40-48).
The Start of the 70 Sevens--Daniel 9:25a
Daniel was clearly told when the 70 sevens would begin their countdown.
Gabriel said, "Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the
commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem...." The 70 sevens would begin
with a decree involving the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem. Not
everything in Persian chronology is as clear as we would like to have it,
and there are still some gaps in our knowledge of history. But from what
biblical and historical records we do have, there are four possible answers
to the question of which decree the passage refers to.
One is the decree of Cyrus, issued somewhere between 538-536 B.C.E., which
concerned the rebuilding of the Temple (2 Chronicles 36:22-23, Ezra
1:1-4,6:1-5) and of the city of Jerusalem (Isaiah 44:28,45:13). Another
option is the decree of Darius Hystaspes (Ezra 6:6-12), issued in the year
521 B.C.E.; it was a reaffirmation of the decree of Cyrus. A third
possibility is the decree of Artaxerxes to Ezra (Ezra 7:11-26) issued in 458
B.C.E., which contained permission to proceed with the temple service. The
last option is the decree of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah (Nehemiah 2:1-8), issued
in the year 444 B.C.E. This decree specifically concerned the rebuilding of
the walls around Jerusalem. Of these four possibilities, only the first and
fourth are valid in fulfilling the wording Gabriel gave to Daniel. It goes
beyond the purpose of this article to deal with the various arguments of
either option, but one thing is certain: by the year 444 B.C.E., the
countdown of the 70 sevens had begun.
The First 69 Sevens--Daniel 9:25b
The 70 sevens are divided into three separate units--seven sevens, 62 sevens
and one seven. During the first time period (49 years) Jerusalem would be
"built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times." The second
block of time (62 sevens, a total of 434 years) immediately followed the
first for a total of 69 sevens, or 483 years.
It is at this point that we are told what the ending point is of the 69
sevens: "unto Messiah the Prince." As clearly as Daniel could have stated
it, he taught that 483 years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem had been
issued, Messiah would be here on earth.
The obvious conclusion is this: If Messiah was not on earth 483 years after
a decree was issued to rebuild Jerusalem, then Daniel was a false prophet
and his book has no business being in the Hebrew Scriptures. But if Daniel
was correct and his prophecy was fulfilled, then who was the Messiah of whom
he spoke?
The Events Between the 69th Seven and the 70th Seven--Daniel 9:26
Whereas the second subdivision of the 70 sevens was to immediately follow
the first, the third subdivision was not immediately to follow the second.
Daniel pointed out (in verse 26) that three things would occur after this
second subdivision and before the third one.
Stepping back in time and looking ahead from Daniel's perspective in verse
26, we see first that "the Messiah shall be cut off and shall have nothing."
The Hebrew word translated "cut off" is the common word used in the Mosaic
Law and simply means "to be killed." The implication of the term is that the
Messiah would not only be killed, but he would die a penal death by
execution. The Hebrew expression translated "and shall have nothing" has two
meanings. It may mean "nothingness," emphasizing Messiah's state at death.
It can also be translated "but not for himself," and the meaning would then
be that he died for others rather than for himself, a substitutionary death.
The latter meaning would be much more consistent with what the Prophets had
to say about the reason for Messiah's death (e.g. Isaiah 53:1-12).
The first three purposes of the 70 sevens--to finish transgression, to make
an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity--have to be accomplished
by an atonement. The Law of Moses decreed that atonement is made by blood
(Leviticus 17:11). It appears that Messiah's death "not for himself" but for
others would be the means by which Israel's transgression, sins and iniquity
would be atoned for. The point of this phrase is that between the end of the
second subdivision (the 69th seven) and before the start of the 70th seven,
Messiah would be killed and would die a penal, substitutionary death.
Secondly, during this interim period it would also happen that "the people
of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and
the end thereof shall be with a flood...." The city and the temple that were
to be rebuilt because of the decree by which the 70 sevens began would now
be destroyed. So sometime after the Messiah was cut off, Jerusalem and the
temple would suffer another destruction. Our knowledge of history during
this period is extremely clear: the people responsible for this deed were
the Romans, and Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed in year 70 C. E.
Based upon this verse, it is also clear that the Messiah should have both
come and died prior to the year 70 C.E. If such an event did not take place,
then Daniel was a false prophet. If such an event did occur, then the
question must be answered, who was that Messiah who was killed before 70
C.E.?
The third thing to take note of would be, "and even unto the end shall be
war; desolations are determined." For the remainder of the interval between
the 69th seven and the 70th seven, the land would be characterized by war,
and its resulting condition would be desolation. All this would set the
stage for the final, or 70th, seven.
The 70th Seven--Daniel 9:27
>From where we stand in time today, the last seven years of Daniel's prophecy
are still prophetic, still future, but it is with their conclusion that all
six purposes of verse 24 will reach their fulfillment. The verse's main
points are as follows: First, the 70th seven will begin only with the
signing of a seven-year covenant or treaty between Israel and a major
gentile political leader. Secondly, in the middle of that period, that is,
after 3 1/2 years, this gentile leader will break his treaty with Israel and
cause a cessation of the sacrificial system. The implication here is that by
this time a temple in Jerusalem will have been rebuilt again and the
sacrificial system of Moses re-instituted, but then will be forcefully
ceased. Thirdly, the result of the breaking of this covenant is that the
temple will now be abominated. The " abomination" refers to an image or an
idol.
As it was in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, so it will be again in the
future when a gentile ruler will abominate the temple by means of idolatry.
Fourthly, the abomination is to be followed by wrath and desolation,
persecution and warfare, for the remaining half of the 70th seven (the final
3 1/2 years). This is similar to the trials and tribulations the rabbis
spoke of as preparation for the establishment of the messianic kingdom.
These terrible days were referred to as "the footsteps of the Messiah." But
once those days have run their course, the last three things predicted in
verse 24 will occur: After this period the age of righteousness will be
brought in, in which the most holy place will be anointed and every vision
and prophecy be fulfilled. At this point the messianic kingdom for which the
prophet Daniel yearned will be set up.
Obviously, the messianic kingdom requires the Messiah to rule as king. This
means the Messiah will come after the 70th seven. Yet earlier Daniel stated
that the Messiah would come and be killed after the 69th seven. This would
appear to be a contradiction unless Daniel was speaking of two comings of
the Messiah. The first time was to be after the 69th seven, when he would
die a penal, substitutionary death for the sins of Israel and accomplish the
first three purposes listed in verse 24. The second time was to be after the
70th seven (still future), when he will establish the messianic kingdom and
accomplish the last three things of verse 24. There is also an important
implication here that should not be missed. The Messiah would be killed
after his first coming. Yet he would be alive at his second coming. The
implication is that the Messiah would be resurrected from the dead after he
was killed.
Conclusions
This dramatic prophecy features certain things in very clear and
unmistakable terms. First, the Messiah was to be on earth 483 years after
the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Secondly, after his appearance on earth he
was to be killed, not for his own sins, but rather for those of others; and
the death he would die was to be the death of the penalty of the law.
Thirdly, the death of the Messiah had to come sometime before Jerusalem and
the temple were destroyed again, which occurred in the year 70 C. E.
Fourthly, some time after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, and
following a long period of warfare, the 70th seven will commence, and once
that has run its course, Messiah's kingdom and age of righteousness will be
established. For that to occur, the implication is that the Messiah who was
killed would return again.
But who is this Messiah? One man fulfills all that is required in this
passage. Jesus of Nazareth was born into the Jewish world and proclaimed his
messiahship 483 years after the decree to rebuild and restore Jerusalem was
issued. In the year 30 C. E., Jesus was executed by crucifixion. Daniel
indicated that he would be cut off, not for himself, but rather for others.
Isaiah 53 also prophesied the death of the Messiah, pointing out that he
would die a substitutionary death on behalf of his people Israel. The
teaching of the New Covenant is that Jesus died a penal death by taking upon
himself the penalty of the Law as a substitute for his people. In keeping
with Daniel 9:24, he died for the purpose of making an atonement for sins.
Three days after his death, he was resurrected. Finally, the New Covenant
proclaims the fact that he will someday return to set up his kingdom and the
age of righteousness.
If Daniel was right, then Messiah came and died prior to the year 70 C.E. If
Daniel was right, then there are no other options for who the Messiah is,
but Jesus of Nazareth. If Daniel was right, this Jesus is destined to return
and to set up the messianic kingdom.
===================================================
Branson Missouri International Prophecy Summit
Sherlock Bally Ministries (http://www.sherlockbally.com/) is sponsoring a
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So, call 1-866-263-1811 or visit http://www.sherlockbally.com/ for details.
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===================================================
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Steeling the Mind of America Conference
August 24, 25, 26, 2001 at The Keystone Resort & Conference Center
Ed Hindson, Gerald Robison, Jerry Falwell, Bob Cornuke, Kent Hovind, Mark
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Contact: Bill Perkins for details bill@...
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