No, it is
just the times of the Gentiles and the times of the
fulness of the Gentiles.
The
Times of the Gentiles
(Click
here to for timeline of the
"Times
of the Gentiles
")
Daniel 2 (Click
here for Kay's Lecture on Daniel 2)
is the first prophetic vision recording Nebuchadnezzar’s vision:
|
Da 2:1
Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had
dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.2 Then the
king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers
and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood
before the king. And the king said to them, "I had a dream, and my spirit
is anxious to understand the dream." But only Daniel could explain the
king’s dream because he went to God. |
931BC Israel was divided into the Southern Kingdom & the Northern
Kingdom which stayed intact until
722BC : when they were taken captive by Assyria because they had
gone into idolatry, and had not listened to God or obeyed
His commandments or given up their idols.
605BC The Southern Kingdom came down to fight the battle of
Carchemish (just north of Israel) and from there went
on to conquer Jerusalem
and took Daniel et al nobles of the royal house captive to Babylon.
604BC Nebuchadnezzar has a dream but cannot interpret it:
|
Da 2:31 "You, O
king, were looking and behold, there was a single
great statue; that
statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in
front of you, and its appearance was awesome. 32 "The
head of that statue was
made of fine gold, its
breast and its
arms of silver, its
belly and its
thighs of bronze,
33 its legs of iron, its feet
partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 "You
continued looking until a
stone
was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue
on its feet of iron and
clay, and crushed them. 35 "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the
gold were crushed all at the same time, and became like chaff from
the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not
a trace of them was found. But the
stone that struck the statue became
a great mountain and
filled the whole earth. 36 "This was the dream; now we shall
tell its interpretation before the king. (This
is God’s interpretation so you know that it is going to be accurate).37 "You, O king, are the
king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power,
the strength, and the glory;38 and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the
beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your
hand and has caused you to rule over them all. (Nebuchadnezzar got his
power to rule from the sovereign God, the Most High God, El Elyon…the
name for His sovereignty) You are the head of gold."
|
(Click
here for kay's lecture:
on Daniel 2: NEVER FEAR,
HISTORY HAS ALREADY BEEN WRITTEN)
(Nebuchadnezzar/Babylon)
39 "And after you there will arise
another kingdom inferior (Medo-Persian empire) to
you, then another third kingdom
of bronze, (Greece) which will rule over all the earth.
40 "Then there will be a fourth
kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and
shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush
and break all these in pieces. 41 "And in that you saw the feet and toes,
partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it will be a
divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of
iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay.42 "And as the
toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the
kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. 43 "And in that
you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one
another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even
as iron does not combine with pottery. (these were 10 separate toes)
44 "And in the days of those (ten)
kings (Daniel now equates the 10 toes with 10 kings) the
God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, (Rev
20 sees the Kingdom of God being set up to never be destroyed) and
that kingdom (the
kingdom that comes into being in the days of the 10 kings) will not be
left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these
kingdoms, but it will itself
endure forever.
The
Stone hits the statute on its feet, where the 10 toes are, with the result
that the statute crumbles.
|
Da 2:45 "Inasmuch as you saw that a
stone was cut out of the
mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay,
the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what
will take place in the future; so the dream is true, and its
interpretation is trustworthy." |
God was showing Israel way back
in 604BC what would happen all the way to the end time when God would
establish His Kingdom on the earth. In so doing, God laid out the Gentile
nations that would dominate Israel throughout her history. In this way,
Israel could know what her future was and who was going to rule over her
until the Lord came to set up His Kingdom.
The
Times of the Gentiles
In
Luke 21 Jesus is
describing the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. Jesus said that ‘Jerusalem
will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the
Gentiles be fulfilled.’ (Luke 21:24). On your chart you see a
cross and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. Some say the ‘time of
the Gentiles’ refers to a time beginning when Babylon ruled over
Jerusalem in 605BC because in Luke 21:24 the focus is on Jerusalem
(Click here for charting of
"Times of the Gentiles")
626BC
538
331
146
32AD
70AD
{TIME GAP}
???
Israel in Captivity Israel’s
Restoration & living in the land until
70AD---------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Babylon
Medo-Persia
Greece Rome
Christ Returns
Dan 2
Head Chest Belly
Legs
{TIME GAP}
Stone Crushes
of
of
of
of
All Kingdoms
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Iron
Da2:34-35, 45
Dan 7
Lion Bear Leopard DT
Beast
10 Horns
Little Horn
Dan 8
Ram Goat
One Horn
Alexander the Great
Dan 8:5-8
4 Horns
Da 8:8
Rather Small
Horn:
Da 8:9-14
Da
8:23-26
Antiochus
Epiphanes
Dan 9
444/445
7Wks + 62Wks (Dan
9:25-26)
=> => => => =>
Messiah 32/33AD
Abomination
Decree
by
Sanctuary
{TIME GAP}
of Desolation
Artaxerxes Longimanus
Destroyed 70AD
Da 9:27 = Daniel's 70th Week
Dan 11
486-465
Alexander the
Great 4 Generals Antiochus Epiphanes
King does as he pleases
Da 11:2 Xerxes I
Da 11:3
Da 11:4
Da 11:-35
Da 11:36-45
Maccabean
Revolt in 166BC
Temple Rededicated
Dec 25, 165BC
TIMES OF THE GENTILES
|
605BC Nebuchadnezzar’s captivity of Jerusalem begins the 70 years
of Jewish captivity. (Note that in there were 3
sieges of Jerusalem: 605, 597
(Ezekiel taken captive), 586 (Jerusalem & Temple destroyed)
536BC The 70 years of captivity are completed and the Jews (a
remnant) return to the land. So obviously Gentiles
were trampling on Jerusalem.
539BC Medes & Persians conquered Babylon and Cyrus made a decree
(prophesied by
Is44:28-45:1 150 years earlier) telling the Jews that they could return to Jerusalem and rebuild their
Temple (2 Chr 36:22-23). The remnant of Jews returned from
Babylon the year in 536BC and under Zerubbabel they began rebuilding the
Temple.
534BC The Jews were discouraged and stopped rebuilding the Temple.
Now during this time there were no Gentiles
trampling on the Temple mount
area and yet Jerusalem is still under the authority of the Medo-Persian
kingdom.
520BC Under Haggai Temple rebuilding began again.
516BC Temple completed.
331BC Alexander the Great, swiftly moved across the land like a
leopard (his feet hardly touching the ground, cp.
Dan
7:6) and conquered the Medo-Persians
as well as Jerusalem, so they are still under Gentile dominion.
Daniel
11: Gives a detailed account of all the Grecian Kings (ptolemies in south
and seleucids in the north) and how their rule affected Israel (click
here for lecture on daniel 11)
|
Da11:
2 …Behold, three
more kings are going to arise in Persia. Then …he will arouse the whole
empire against the realm of Greece…. 21 "And in his place a
despicable person (Antiochus
Epiphanes ~ ‘glorious one’) will arise, on whom the honor of kingship
has not been conferred, but he will come in a time of tranquility and
seize the kingdom by intrigue."
(click
here for lecture on daniel 11) |
175-163BC: Antiochus
Epiphanes reigns. God uses this Syrian (Seleucid) king (from the Grecian kingdom)
as a preview picture of one who is to come, who will also set up an abomination of
desolation in the Holy Place in the last days just before God sets
up His Kingdom.
|
Mt
24:15 "Therefore
when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through
Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader
understand),16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains;…
21 for then there will be a
great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning
of the world until now, nor ever shall. |
In
2 Th
2:3-4 we saw a man of lawlessness will walk into the Holy Place
and stand there declaring himself to be god, desecrating the sanctuary
(the abomination of desolation). We also know that the Day of the Lord
cannot begin until the Apostasy occurs and that man stands in the Holy
Place. So there has to be a defection of some people from their faith.
|
Da11:29 "At the
appointed time he (Antiochus Epiphanes) will return and come into
the South (to Egypt, and in this campaign has to pass through
Israel, the beautiful land), but this last time it will not turn out the way
it did before. 30 "For ships of Kittim will come against him
(and tell Antiochus Epiphanes that if he continues on to
Egypt, he will have to face them so Antiochus turns around); therefore he will be disheartened,
and will return (again going through Israel and this time he is mad)
and become enraged at the holy covenant (of the Jews)
and take
action; so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the
holy covenant. |
To
a Jew the most important thing was the covenant and the sign of the
covenant, circumcision. So many of the Jews wanted to please Antiochus, to
such a degree that some of the Jews forsook the Holy Covenant and refused
to have their children circumcised. Antiochus threatened to kill any
Jewish child that was circumcised. He took the Old Testament and
desecrated it, placing heathen symbols in it. Many Jews submitted to
Antiochus demands because it was EXPEDIENT!
In the last days, specifically
the last 3 ½ years the Beast
will cause many to take a mark on their hand or forehead in order to buy
or sell. The beast will make a statute of himself and tell all to bow down
and worship that image or be put to death. So here is an opportunity for
apostasy similar to that which was described in Daniel 11.
|
Da11:31 "And forces
from him (Antiochus Epiphanes) will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress,
(the Temple) and do away with the regular sacrifice. (Parallels
Da9:27 when he puts a stop to sacrifices and grain offerings)
And they will set up
the
abomination of desolation. (statue of Zeus placed in the
Holy of Holies). 32 "And by smooth words he will turn to godlessness
those who act wickedly toward the covenant, (those that APOSTATIZE)
but the people who know
their God will
display strength and
take action." |
So the people who know their
God are the ones who will not
defect! They will display strength. They will take action. They are the
ones that do not
compromise. This is the passion of Precept’s Ministry---this is why we
have labored hours and hours to understand this Book—so that you and I can
KNOW OUR GOD, and can know that His word is true and will
walk in His truth, not turning from it to the right or to the left
Who is going to be led astray?
See Daniel 11:33 below
|
Da11:33 "And those who have insight among the people will give
understanding to the many; (that those Jews who know their God will then
be able to give understanding to others…not just so that we can have
knowledge that will puff us up or recite but so that we know that we know
and are able to take this sure Word and explain it to other people Precept
upon Precept so that they understand for themselves and are enabled to
stand firm & to take action even if it means death! Indeed, Revelation
clearly teaches there will be those who are martyred because they hold to
the Word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ. Both Jews and
Gentiles) yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and
by plunder, for many days. (They were willing to stand in the face of
persecution.) |
165BC Mattathias, was the head of a family which refused to offer
sacrifices to Zeus and led to the Maccabean
Rebellion, led by Judas
Maccabees (Maccabees means Hammer). Within 3 years the Jews had
reclaimed and cleansed the Temple (commemorated by the Jewish feast of
lights or Hanukkah every Dec 25th). For a while Jerusalem
was not trampled under foot by the Gentiles. (Click
here Kay's Lecture notes on Antiochus Epiphanes in Daniel 8;
Click here for lecture notes on Daniel 11 relating
to Antiochus Epiphanes)
63BC Marked the cessation of Jewish control of the Temple.
Pompeii, a Roman, conquered Jerusalem, taking the
Temple Mount area and walking
all the way into the Holy of Holies (Note: the Ark of the Covenant was not
there having last been described at the time of the beginning of the
Babylonian captivity). Because of this desecration, the Jews never forgave
Pompeii. So now we find the
Roman Empire ruling over Israel. Although the Roman Empire
is never mentioned by name we know that the
4th Beast in
Daniel 7 is clearly referring to
Rome.
20BC Herod an Idumean declared himself ‘king of the Jews’
with Rome’s permission and began elaborate
reconstruction on the Temple (the Temple had been completed under Haggai
in 516BC but was very plain.) This
reconstruction took 46 years (John 2:26) not being completed until after
Herod the Great had died (see below).
4BC Herod died and Jesus Born (turn your chart over). Jerusalem is
still being trampled under foot by the Gentiles
(with the brief respites noted above). Some scholars believe that
the times of the Gentiles encompass all of these times just discussed,
beginning with the Babylonian exile and continuing to the present and into
the future.
Daniel 7:
Daniel's Dream of Four Beasts
|
Da 7:3
"And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one
another. 4 "The first was like a
lion and had the wings
of an eagle...5 "And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a
bear....6 "After this I
kept looking, and behold, another one, like a
leopard, which had on
its back four wings
of a bird; the beast also had
four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 "After this I kept
looking in the night visions, and behold, a
fourth beast,
dreadful and
terrifying (''DT
Beast'') and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth.
It devoured and crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet;
and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had
ten horns.
|
Daniel 7
parallels
Daniel 2:
| |
Daniel 2 |
Daniel 7 |
|
Babylon |
HEAD of GOLD |
LION
|
|
Medo-Persian |
CHEST of SILVER |
BEAR (up on one side) |
|
Greece |
BRONZE
ABDOMEN |
LEOPARD with 4 wings & 4 heads |
|
Rome |
LEGS OF IRON |
DREADFUL & TERRIFYING |
Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a statue with HEAD of
GOLD (Babylon) = LION (Dan 7), chest of SILVER (Medo-Persian)
= BEAR (up on one side~ one side more powerful than the other, picturing
the stronger Persians while the Medes faded away) ; BRONZE (Greece)
= LEOPARD with 4 wings & 4 heads. Alexander the Great died suddenly and
his kingdom was split among 4 generals (thus the 4 heads).
The FOURTH BEAST is not
described as an animal. In
Daniel 8 the
bear equates with a
ram and the
leopard with a one horned
goat,
but the DT BEAST is described as having 10 HORNS (Horns
in Scripture are often a symbol of power) which equates with the 10
Toes of Nebuchadnezzar's
statue.
DANIEL’S PROPHECY OF 70 WEEKS
Daniel 9
gives a prophecy of 70 Weeks which begin when a decree went forth to
restore and rebuild Jerusalem. The Jews were under the rule of the Medo-Persian
Empire when they returned to Jerusalem after the 70 Years of
Babylonian captivity. In 445BC Artaxerxes, a Persian King, makes a
decree to allow the Jews to go back and rebuild Jerusalem. The Jews had
rebuilt the Temple by this time but they had not rebuilt the WALLS of
Jerusalem. So under Nehemiah they rebuilt the walls. Daniel’s initial
7 weeks a time period
that might equate with the time it took to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls. Then
follows 62 weeks for
a total of 69 weeks (483
years of 360 days/year using the Jewish rather than the Gregorian
calendar, the latter having 365 days) which takes us up to Messiah the
Prince and His Cross. During all this time the Jews are under Gentile
dominion. So from
Da 9:24 up to
Da 9:25 takes us to
the time of Messiah the Prince.
|
Da 9:26 "Then after
the 62 weeks (7 + 62 weeks) the Messiah will be cut off
(crucified) and have
nothing, and the people (Romans) of the prince (Antichrist) who is to come will destroy the city
(Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (Temple - occurred in 70AD). And its end will come with a flood; even to the end
there will be war; desolations are determined." |
So we are still missing
1 week (one 7 year
period, Daniel's 70th Week) after the crucifixion & the destruction of
Jerusalem in 70AD. This week does not directly follow the 69 weeks and
most evangelical scholars agree will follow a period of time, a gap which
is now almost 2000 years long (see
timeline above). There is some disagreement as to when the ‘times of the Gentiles’
begin, some saying they begin with the Babylonian exile in 605BC while
others say these times begin with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. When will
the end come and
Jerusalem no longer be trampled under foot by the Gentiles
(when will ''the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled''
Lu
21:24
)? When the
STONE
(Da 2:34-35, 45),
Who is Jesus Christ, returns (in
Rev19:11ff) and crushes all of the other
kingdoms and sets up His Kingdom initiating the 1000 reign of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Daniel's
70th Week
|
Da 9:27 "And he (Antichrist) will make a firm covenant with the many
(Jews) for one
week (7 year period), but in the middle (at 3.5 years) of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and
grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes
desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is
poured out on the one who makes desolate." and |
We know from Revelation that in
the days of the TEN KINGS is the time when the ANTICHRIST enters
into the Holy Place and sets up the ABOMINATION of DESOLATION initiating
the last 3 1/2 years (time, times, half a time). So what you do is that
you back up with the 70th WEEK. In that week the ANTICHRIST makes a
COVENANT with ''the many'' (Jews) but breaks it in the middle of
the week (3 1/2 years), stopping the sacrifice and initiating the last 3
1/2 years during which you have TRIBULATION on of the face of this
earth.
When does the last 3 1/2 years begin?
From the
Revelation study it appears to begin at the
7th Trumpet.
Daniel 7:23-27
Describes these LAST 3.5 YEARS
Of Daniel's 70th Week in Daniel 9:27
|
Da
7:23 "Thus he said: 'The fourth beast will be a fourth...and it
will devour the whole earth...24 'As for the ten horns, out of this
kingdom ten kings will arise; and
another (this makes
ELEVEN) will arise after them, and
he will be different
from the previous ones and will subdue three kings. (this leaves EIGHT)
25 'And he will speak
out against the Most High and wear down the saints (JEWS) of the
Highest One, and he
will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they (JEWS)
will be given into his
hand for a time, times, and half
a time. 26 'But the court will sit for judgment, and
his dominion will be
taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. 27 'Then the sovereignty,
the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven
will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom
will be an everlasting
kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.' |
The ANTICHRIST'S kingdom is
taken away when the
STONE crushes the statue at its ''TEN TOE'' stage
(which equates with TEN HORNS).
|
Rev
12:3-4 And another
sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads
and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept
away a third of the stars of heaven, & threw them to the earth. And the
dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when
she gave birth he might devour her child. |
In
Rev
12
the DRAGON tries to devour the WOMAN
pregnant with a MALE CHILD Who is to RULE THE WHOLE EARTH. This would take
us back to just before the birth of Jesus Christ. Note that the Dragon has
10 horns which is a picture of the
revived Roman Empire,
the Fourth Beast (''DT Beast''). Then in
Rev 13 you have a
description of this BEAST: In
Rev 13:1 the Beast comes out of the
SEA and has 10 HORNS & 7 HEADS with 10 diadems on his horns. This
description parallels
Dan 2 &
Dan 7.
|
Rev 13:2 And the beast
which I saw was like a leopard,
and his feet were like those of a
bear, and his mouth like
the mouth of a lion.
And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great
authority. ...5 And there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words
and blasphemies; and authority to act for 42 months was given to
him. |
So the BEAST is given
authority to act for
3 1/2 YEARS...the FOCUS then is on the last 3 1/2 years. But what is
happening in the first half? Before the 7th Trumpet sounds we know that
there have been 2 WITNESSES calling down fire from heaven for 3 1/2
years, tormenting those who DWELL UPON THE EARTH. During the first 3
1/2 years there is a COVENANT with Israel & the Jews have a TEMPLE. Maybe
they are not trampled during the first 3 1/2 years--see
Rev 11:1-2.
|
Rev 11:1 And there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and
someone said, "Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and
those who worship in it. 2 "And leave out the court which is outside the
temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and
they will tread under foot the holy city for 42
months.
|
Jerusalem has been trampled on
and off for many years but it looks like possibly during this first 3 1/2
years it will not be trampled down because there is a COVENANT with THE
MANY (the Jews) and the Jews are LIVING AT PEACE, until the ANTICHRIST
walks into the Temple, sets up the Abomination of Desolation and WEARS
DOWN THE SAINTS (the Jews,
Da 7:25) who are GIVEN INTO HIS HANDS
(Da 7:25) for time, times and half a time and he makes war with
the saints and overcomes them for 42 months (Rev 13:5-7). The
Antichrist holds that AUTHORITY ''until the Ancient of Days (Jesus
Christ, the Stone crushing the statue) came'' and He sets up His
Kingdom.
Rev 17:7, 12-13 describe the TEN KINGS who give
their authority to the BEAST and how they rule.
The times of the Gentiles will end
when ‘the stone’ crushes their dominion
We have surveyed the Gentile
dominion of Israel. But is God through with Israel? No. There is a STONE
coming, a STONE that is going to crush all of the Gentile dominions and
then Jesus Christ and the elect
(Jewish saints and Gentile saints) will live with Him and reign with Him
forever and ever. The Kingdom will be given to the Jewish saints of the
Most High God.
|
(Da 7:27) 'Then
the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms
under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the (JEWISH)
saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting
kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.'
|
God is not
through with the Jews even though most have rejected their Messiah. But
THEIR REJECTION becomes OUR SALVATION! During THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES
God is doing another thing. During this GAP OF TIME between the
DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM and the time of the TEN TOES & THE 70th WEEK of
Daniel God is drawing out a BRIDE for Himself and when the FULNESS
OF THE GENTILES has come THEN ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED! (Ro
11:26). Why? Because ''"THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL
REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB." The Stone will crush the statue and set up
a Kingdom that will not be destroyed.
|
Know your God
Do not defect.
Know His Word
Have that insight and give it to others. |
Know this then that when you
stand before Him, you will not need to be ashamed. There will be others
standing there because you have been faithful to proclaim the good news of
Jesus Christ. All that we have discussed tonight is part of the GOSPEL
OF JESUS CHRIST, the good news that He is coming again not as
SUFFERING SAVIOR but as KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. The King of the
Jews is COMING and God is not through with the Jew. And He is not through
with you or I, so keep studying!