The Final Time-Line

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THE FINAL TIMELINE

1917 / 1948 / 1951-1952 

2018 / 2021-2022 / 2024 / 2025 / 2028 / 2064

Isaiah 28:13 “But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.”
1 Corinthian 13:12 “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

 

 

Author’s Note: The following interpretations of scripture are done with the best of intentions and to the best of our understanding, for we see through a glass darkly but eventually we will understand ’face-to-face’.

 

 

All dates of prophetic events referenced are an approximate and are based on the Jewish calendar as this author understands it; however, calculations could be off a year or more.

 

This author would also like to acknowledge that this essay is, in some ways, written in a disjointed way: here a little and there a little. Each piece of the puzzle will be separated into parts for analysis and commentary. All those pieces, however, will come together at the end to form the whole picture. So bear with me.

 

 

 

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Puzzle Piece #1
A fundamental piece of the puzzle is understanding that May 14th 2018 will mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel; for those 70 years tension between the Jewish and Arab population has turned into notable conflicts and wars. Although there are peace-talks, the Jewish-Palestinian relationship is an ongoing struggle with wide-ranging conflict. The most recent peace negotiations began in July 2013 but were suspended in 2014.

 
Puzzle Piece #2: Zechariah’s Prophecy—These 70 Years

 

 

 

Starting in Zechariah Chapter 1:12, we read,

“Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? [13] And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words. [14] So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. [15] And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.

 

Let’s dissect these above verses point-by-point. First we see:

• Threescore and ten years which is seventy years.
• In which, the Lord has withheld mercy from and has had indignation for Jerusalem and Judah.
• The Lord then answers with good and comforting words that He is jealous (also zealous) for Jerusalem and for Zion.
• He is SORE DISPLEASED with the HEATHEN who are at ease (or secure/haughty). Young’s Literal Translation reads:  “And [with] great wrath I am wroth against the nations (plural) who are at ease.
• And they helped forward the affliction (or the distress). Young’s Literal also reads as, “For I was a little wroth, and they assisted—for evil.”

 

 

These seventy years appear to be referring to Israel after the Babylonian captivity—but despite what scholars and Bible commentaries say, upon closer study, these verses do not mention the Babylonian captivity, whatsoever. And it’s what these verses do not say that is perplexing. In the entire book of Zechariah, Babylon is mentioned only three times: Zech. 2:7; Zech. 5:11; Zech. 6:10.

 

 

 

Throughout the bible we find the Lord explicitly stating that the people would be carried away, exiled, taken captive, led into captivity or that they would enter Babylon. The manner in which they would be removed and where they would be removed was clearly and indisputably stated. Yet Zechariah fails to make any specific mention of Babylon or the captivity—an event so significant that over half of all Babylonian references are found just in the Book of Jeremiah alone.  To critique these verses further, let it also be pointed out that in Young’s Literal Translation, the Lord is sore displeased with the nations—PLURAL—who are at ease. It does not say the nation or the nation of Babylon—singular—but it instead addresses multiple sovereignties. It is the belief of this author that the book of Zechariah is a book of prophecy for a latter time. Below are the reasons for my case.

 
Reason #1 – The Wall

Zechariah 2:4 . . . Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: [5] For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.

 

 

 

The book of Nehemiah discusses the rebuilding of the wall, whereas this states there shall be no wall around Jerusalem.

 
Reason #2 – The Daughter of Babylon 

Zechariah 2:6 Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the NORTH, saith the Lord: for I have spread you ABROAD as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord. [7] Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.

 

This verse is the first place in the Book of Zechariah where Babylon is mentioned. Interestingly though, this is the DAUGHTER OF BABYLON.

 

 

 

Ancient Babylon was located EAST of Israel; however in 608 B.C. Babylon invaded from the north. Isaiah 41:25 records this: “I have raised up one (Babylon) from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun (the east) shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay.”

 

 

 

In the aforementioned verse the Lord commands Jerusalem to FLEE from the LAND of the NORTH, but we already know that Babylon was a land (or kingdom) located to the east.

 

 

 

To contrast: Jeremiah 1:13 states:  And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north. [14] Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

 

 

 

Jeremiah 6:1 O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.

 

Jeremiah 4:5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities. [6] Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

In Jeremiah’s account we see two main things:

• Judah is to flee OUT OF the midst of Jerusalem and INTO defended (walled) cities;
• an evil destruction shall come from a northward direction;

In Zechariah we see:

• Jerusalem will be a town inhabited without walls (not defended).
• God shall be a fire round about her, and will be the Glory in the midst of her.
• God’s people are to flee from the Land of the North, and in Zechariah 14:4-5 to flee through the mountain. Note that no where does it say to flee from Jerusalem nor does it mention fleeing into fortified cities.
• Zion has been spread abroad as the four winds of heaven.
• And for Zion who dwells with the daughter of Babylon to “Deliver Thyself”

 

 

 

 

Reason #3 Fleeing / Delivering Thyself
King Cyrus, in the year 538 B.C., allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem:

 

Ezra 1:1 “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying: [2] “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. [3] ‘Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem. [4] ‘Every survivor, at whatever place he may live, let the men of that place support him with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.’”

 

So we see that God’s people were allowed to return to Jerusalem by a royal decree; what need was there to flee then? The first dictionary entry meaning: run away from a place or situation of danger. But there was no more danger; in fact, it is commonly believed that the Prophet Daniel had revealed to Cyrus the biblical prophesies pertaining to the king himself. Cyrus was friendly to the Jews, and not only Cyrus the Great, but also Xerxes (Ahasuerus); King Artaxerxes; and Darius II.

 

Ezra 9:12 “Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time. [13] I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee. . . . [15] And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counselors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem”

 

Even Nehemiah, who had remained in Babylon as the King’s cupbearer, was treated well by the king who had kindly observed, “Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart.” [Nehemiah 2:2]

 

Nehemiah answers, “Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchers, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?” He then continues in verse 5 “If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchers, that I may build it. [6] And. . .so it pleased the king to send me. . . . [9]  Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.

 

The kindness, cooperation, and generous offerings of the Persian kings is contradictory to Zechariah’s account, in particular the phrase deliver thyself; because as we established above, God raised up Cyrus, and God—through Cyrus—delivered Israel out of captivity and into its former lands. For the Lord to tell Zion to deliver itself would imply that no worldly power would (or will) intercede for Zion; and yet we see Israel had intercessors when the Babylonian captivity ended: the Persian Kings.

 

Isaiah 45:1 “Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden . . .[4] For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.”

 

The Lord anointed Cyrus, a gentile, and even promised “to subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut: ‘I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places”. [Isaiah 45:1-3]

 

 

 

One has to ask: does this sound like a God who is, “very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease”?

 

 
Reason #4 – Spread Abroad

 

 

Next we see that the Lord had spread Jerusalem abroad as the four winds of heaven. The four winds—mentioned approximately seven times in the bible—refers to the ends of the earth.

 

 

 

Judah, during the Babylonian captivity was not, in the strictest sense, spread to the ends of the earth.

 

 

 

Archaeological excavations and surveys have calculated—with much confidence—that the population of Judah before the Babylonian destruction was approximately 75,000.

 

Taking the different biblical numbers of exiles at their highest, 20,000, this would mean that at most 25% of the population had been deported to Babylon, with the remaining 75% staying in Judah. Although Jerusalem was destroyed and depopulated, with large parts of the city remaining in ruins for 150 years, numerous other settlements in Judah continued to be inhabited, with no signs of disruption visible in archaeological studies. – Wikipedia, Babylonian Captivity

 

Around 50,000 people made the return to Zion after the decree of Cyrus in 538. The return to Zion, also known as Aliyah, came in separate waves.

 

• Sheshbazzer’s Aliyah 538 B.C. – 1,000 young Jews made this Aliyah under Sheshbazzer a prince of Judah (Ezra 1:8) These Jews came to redeem the land of Israel from its ruins and to re-establish the holy temple.
• Zerubbabel’s Aliyah 538 B.C. – 42,360 Jews and 7,337 servants and handmaids made the return trip under Zerubbabel. The second chapter of Ezra documents the number of people who returned.
• Ezra Aliyah 458 B.C. – 5,000 Jews
• Nehemiah Aliyah 445 B.C. – Unknown number, but the king had given him a military escort.

 

While many of the Jews who had been taken into Babylon did not return, still, many of them did and those who returned, remained in the region as a majority until the Jewish-Roman wars of 66 A.D. to 136 A.D.—please note the 70 year time span.   The Judean region has been confronted by 4 gentile nations.

 

• Babylonians in 608 under Nebuchadnezzer
• Persians in 538 under Cyrus the Great
• Greeks in c.330 B.C. under Alexander the Great; the Seleucid Empire saw the Maccabbean Revolt in 167-160 B.C.
• Romans in 63 B.C. under Pompey the Great who laid siege to Jerusalem and spelled the end for Jewish independence, and incorporated Judea into the Roman Republic as a client kingdom.

 

 

After the Bar Kokhba Revolt in 136 A.D. Roman Emperor Hadrian changed the name of the province to Syria Palaestina and changed Jerusalem’s name to Aelina Capitolina. The name-change was an attempt to erase the memory of Israel and to remove the relationship of the Jewish-peoples to the region. The Bar Kokhba revolt also caused extensive depopulation throughout Judean communities, more so than all previous wars against the Romans. Approximately 580,000 Jews perished in the revolt, with many more dying of hunger and disease. In addition, an unknown number of war captives had been sold into slavery. After the revolt, the Jews were barred from entering Jerusalem and the surrounding districts. Even Jewish-Christians who did not support Bar Kokhba were expelled.

 

 

 

Because of the great destruction that occurred during the revolt and the subsequent (and thoroughly devastating) loss of life and expulsion, scholars mark the Bar Kokhba Revolt as the beginning of the Jewish Diaspora.

 

 

 

The Jewish Diaspora is defined as followed: “the dispersion of Israelites, Judahites, and later Jews from their ancestral homeland and their subsequent settlement in other parts of the globe.”

 

 

 

During the fifth and sixth century B.C. the Jews would have remained in relatively, isolated territories extending slowly across the borders of Babylon into the surrounding nations. They would not and could not have gotten very far in only 70 years time. But with a remnant lost in Babylonia, and the final expulsion of Jews from Jerusalem in 136 A.D., nearly 2000 years later, we can find Jews in New York, in Russia, in Germany, in Australia, and even in China. Now, more than ever, do we see Jerusalem/Judah spread abroad as the four winds of heaven; and that isn’t including the lost ten tribes of Israel who have been scattered to all parts of the world as well.

 

Matthew 24:30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. [31] And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. [32] “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree (the nation of Israel): As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. [33] Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. [34] Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. [35] Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

One generation is seventy years, and if by reason of strength, 80 years. (Psalm 90:10) 2018 marks 70 years, 2028 marks 80 years.

 

 

 

 

Reason #5 – The Four Horns & The Four Carpenters

 

Zechariah 1:17 Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem. [18] Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold FOUR HORNS. [19] And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. [20] And the Lord shewed me FOUR CARPENTERS. [21] Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.

The four horns are the same horns as mentioned in Daniel 7:17 “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth”: Babylon; Medo-Persia; Greco-Macedonia; Roman. And it is they who scattered Judah. But who are these four carpenters who are come to ‘cast out the horns of the gentiles’?

 

 

 

The Balfour Declaration in November 1917 laid the foundation for the nation-state of Israel by establishing the region as a home to the Jewish peoples.

 

 

 

The declaration was incorporated into a new international treaty: the Mandate of Palestine or the British Mandate of Palestine. The mandate provided an official home for the Jewish people who lived abroad. What made this mandate so special was that the nations of the world and international law now recognized the Jewish people’s historical connection to the land of Palestine, and their right to reconstitute their national homeland which had not happened since Emperor Hadrian. 

 

Interestingly, the Balfour Declaration was authored by FOUR men: Walter Rothschild, Arthur Balfour, Leo Amery, Lord Milner.

 

 

 

The mandate stated that the Arabs in Palestine would receive both civil and religious rights, but they would not receive political rights of self-determination. The Arab people, however, would receive their political rights in the rest of the Middle East under the Mandates for Syria and Iraq. The Mandates for both Syria and Iraq were to provide freedom to tens of millions of Arabs from Turkish rule; however, the Mandate of Palestine provided the Jewish people, not the Arabs, freedom and rights of sovereignty over the territory.

 

 

 

But these [the four carpenters] are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.

 

 

 

May 14th, 1948 the British Mandate of Palestine expired and Israel declared its independence. As one Youtube commentary stated: “Britain is a state with a tremendous commitment to the rule of law, but in 1948 when Britain left the Holy Land, she left like a thief in the dark. For the first time—for the only time in British history—there was no legal transfer of power from Britain to the successor state. In 1948 Britain acted as a midwife for the baby to be born—the state of Israel.” ( The Birth of Israel – Balfour Declaration uploaded by MercifulServant)

 

 

 

 

An interesting article by The Times of Israel was published 4.25.2017 titled: We won’t apologize for Balfour Declaration, UK tells Palestinians ¦Her Majesty’s government smacks down online petition, says it’s ‘proud of our role in creating the state of Israel’.

 

 

 

“In February, the Balfour Apology Campaign, run by the Palestinian Return Center rights group, launched a petition on the British parliament website calling on Britain to “openly apologize to the Palestinian people for issuing the Balfour Declaration. . . . The British government has emphatically refused to apologize for the publication, a century ago, of a document that legitimized the creation of a future Jewish state, saying instead that it is proud of the role Britain played in establishing Israel.”

 

A separate article by the Independent recounted that the newly appointed Prime Minister, Theresa May “told us that Britain will celebrate the centenary of the Balfour Declaration this summer with ‘pride’.”

 

 

 

So then, if Zechariah’s prophecy is for a future time and does not relate to the past Babylonian captivity—which this author believes to be the case—what does the completion of these 70 years (1948-2018) entail?

 

Zechariah 1:6 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord: “I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy; My house shall be built in it,” says the Lord of hosts, “And a surveyor’s line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.”’ [17] “Again proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “My cities shall again spread out through prosperity; The Lord will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem.”’”

 

 

If the Lord intends to return to Jerusalem and build his house, we very well may see a path to the 3rd Temple manifest itself in 2018.

 

 

 

A little side information: Friday, May 14th, 1948 Israel signed their declaration of Independence. Interesting, Sunday May 16th, 1948 was the day of Pentecost. Pentecost falls on May 20th in 2018.

 

 

Puzzle Piece # 3: Joshua The High Priest

Zechariah 3:1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. [2] And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” [3] Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. [4] Then He spoke, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”

First off, I have to dispute one interpretation of the above verses. Some have purposed that Joshua the high priest is the same person as Christ, but if Christ knew no sin and when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: [2 Corinthians 5:21 & 1 Peter 2:23] why then does the Lord say, “See I have removed YOUR iniquity.” Not our iniquity, but specifically Joshua’s iniquity?

 

 

 

And if Christ is God’s beloved son in whom He is well pleased [Matthew 3:17] why does the ANGEL of the Lord admonish Joshua in the following verses?  [3:6] Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, [7] “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘If you will walk in My ways, and if you will keep My command, then you shall also judge My house, and likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk among these who stand here.”

 

 

 

Joshua was admonished to KEEP God’s command and walk in His ways yet Christ says in John 15:10 “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.”

 

 

 

Joshua the High Priest and Christ ARE NOT the same person. The exchange of filthy garments for rich robes, symbolically, implies conversion, hence walking in “My ways” and keeping “My command[ments]”.

 

 

 

[8] ‘Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, You and your companions who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign; For behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH [Christ]. [9] For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua: upon the stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave its inscription,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. [10] In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘Everyone will invite his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree.’”

 

Matthew 21:42 [And] Jesus saith unto them, “Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?”

 

Matthew 16:18 “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Since Christ has become the chief cornerstone and upon this rock Christ will build his church, one must conclude that the seven eyes on the stone are the same as the seven churches Christ promised he would build. This stone laid before Joshua must be a ministerial commission.

 

 

 

And just to reiterate that Zechariah’s prophecy must be for the future and not for his time, Christ’s Church did not begin until Pentecost 28 AD. 500 years after the Babylonian captivity. Also, some scholars believe Joshua the High Priest may have already been deceased at the time this vision was given.
If a path to the temple appears in 2018, the temple will need a high priest: Joshua. And by these verses, it appears that Christ will establish his Church at/in the new temple with Joshua leading.
Puzzle Piece # 4: Zerubbabel the Temple Builder

Zechariah 4:1 “Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. [2] And he said to me, “What do you see?” So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. [3] Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.”

Revelation 1:20 “The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand. . .are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven [golden] lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.”

Zechariah 4:4 So I . . . spoke to the angel . . . saying, “What are these, my lord?” [5] Then the angel . . . answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” [6] So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts. [7] ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” [8] Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: [9] “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.”

Much can be said about these few verses. When Zechariah asks what the olive trees and the lamp stands mean, the angel seems to expound into a random exaltation of Zerubbabel’s accomplishments, but what if the angel was indeed answering Zechariah? What does this response mean?

 

 

 

The future Zerubbabel will lay the foundation, build, and finish the temple. And Zerubbabel shall BRING FORTH THE CAPSTONE with shouts of “GRACE, GRACE to it.”

 

 

 

The capstone was the final stone placed on the very pinnacle of the temple. It was a somewhat ornate stone and was the ‘crowning’ aspect of the temple. The capstone is the same as the headstone; the stone which the BUILDERS have rejected has become the CHIEF CORNERSTONE. But we see Zerubbabel the future builder of temple shouts Grace, grace! Zerubbabel is different from other builders in that he has not rejected the capstone but instead has CONFESSED to it. This indicates that Zerubbabel will be a Christian, more probably a Jewish-Christian (Messianic Jew).

 

 

 

Zechariah 4:10 For who has despised the day of small things? For these SEVEN rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the EYES of the Lord, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”

‘These seven’ are the Churches of God. ‘Small things’ can also mean ‘small beginnings’.

Matthew 13:31 Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man planted in his field. [32] Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
Zechariah 4:11 “Then I answered and said to him, “What are these two olive trees—at the right of the lampstand and at its left?” [12] And . . . “What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?” [13] Then he answered me and said, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” [14] So he said, “These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.”

The angel has just expounded on many wonderful details about Zerubbabel, and yet Zechariah responds by asking, “But what are these olive trees?”

 

 

 

The angel has just spoken of two men by name: Joshua and Zerubbabel. Now remember that there were no chapter breaks in the old text. Keeping that in mind, we see that the angel has not only illustrated Zerubbabel’s role, but has shown Zechariah, Joshua’s divine commission back-to-back. Two men are mentioned in succession with olive trees and lamp stands, and then the angel clarifies that ‘these are the two anointed ones’.

 

 

 

It is well understood that oil is representative of the Holy Spirit, and olive oil was commonly used for anointing. Trees are representative of leaders or leadership. [Daniel 4:20, Isaiah 10:19] Therefore, the olive trees represent two anointed religious leaders. And it’s already been established that Joshua is the HIGH PRIEST and Zerubbabel the BUILDER OF THE TEMPLE—two religious leaders.

 

Revelation 11:1 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. [2] But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. [3] And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” [4] These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.

In conclusion: these two, Joshua and Zerubbabel, are two men who will come and perform similar roles of the original Joshua and Zerubbabel who lived 2,500 years ago. These two men who are yet to come, the High Priest and the Temple Builder, must also be the Two Witnesses.

 

Zechariah 6:9 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: . . . [11] Take the silver and gold, make an elaborate crown, and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. [12] Then speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying: “Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH [Jesus Christ]! From His place He shall branch out, and He [Christ] shall build the [spiritual] temple of the Lord; [13] Yes, He shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne; so He shall be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them BOTH [Christ and Joshua].”

 

Revelation 3:14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, . . . [15] “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. . . . [19] As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. [20] Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. [21] To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

 

We know that Joshua the High Priest cannot be Christ. He was admonished to keep God’s ways: and as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. But, despite such admonishment, Joshua bears the glory and shall sit and rule on His throne: a reward reserved for Laodiceans who overcome; while Philadelphians are pillars in the Temple of God and shall go out no more; Sardis shall be clothed in white and their names shall not be blotted from the Book of Life; Thyatira shall have power over the nations and rule with a rod of iron and be given the morning star; Pergamos will be given some of the hidden manna to eat and white stone with a new name written that no one will know except him who receives it; Smyrna will be given the crown of life and shall not be hurt by the second death; Ephesus will eat from the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.

 

 

 

The reward of each church era is different; and interestingly each era through time seems to get closer to God; beginning in the Paradise of God, to ruling nations, to becoming pillars in the temple, to sitting down with Christ: which Joshua the High Priest accomplishes.

 

 

 

A personality difference between Joshua and Zerubbabel also seems to be evident as we can see by the one having to be told to walk in God’s way, and the other just doing it without having to be told. Joshua, has a seemingly lukewarm attitude while Zerubbabel seems to be more passionate.

 

Haggai 2:20 And again the word of the Lord came to Haggai. . . saying, 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying: ‘I will shake heaven and earth. [22] I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms. I will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them; the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. [23] ‘In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,’ says the Lord, ‘and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

 

Revelation 3:8 “[To Philadelphia] I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.”

 

We already know that Zerubbabel shouts Grace, grace and has not rejected (or denied) the capstone; that’s why this author purposes that Zerubabbel is of the Philadelphian Era and/or the Philadelphian personality. And so, why wouldn’t the builder of the temple become a ‘pillar’ within it; his reward for overcoming?
The Temple Institute completed the golden crown for the high priest in 2007, and the weaving of the sacred Ephod garment for the High Priest has also been completed.

 

 

 

“The Temple Institute has also completed the complicated task of joining the ephod to the remembrance stones, and affixing the breastplate.”

 

 

 

Many of the sacred vessels are completed and ready for use. In August 2016, The Temple Institute announced it was opening a school for training Levitical priests “for their eventual service in the temple.”

 

 

 

If 2018 a path to the temple appears then the ultimate question is: when can we expect the foundation of the temple to be laid or its completion?

 

 
Puzzle Piece #5: Shemitahs; Germany; Queen Elizabeth and Tyre
To begin, Shemitahs (or Sabbatical years) are seven year cycles of release and rest. (Leviticus 25:1-7)

 

 

 

The first Shemitah year in the modern State of Israel was 1951-52. Subsequent Shemitah years have been 1958–59, 1965–66, 1972–73, 1979–80, 1986–87, 1993–94, 2000–01, 2007–08, and 2014-15.

 

 

 

Those who have listened to Jonathan Cahn or read his book The Harbinger already understand the significance of the 2000-2001 and 2007-2008 Shemitah years. But this author won’t be addressing the well-known events that occurred during those years; rather, we’ll be focusing on the events that occurred in 1951-1952.

 

 

 

In 1951, the Feast of Trumpets occurred on October 1st; Atonement, October 10th; the Feast of Tabernacles, October 15th-21st; the Last Great Day, October 22nd.

 

 

 

During this time, King George VI was ill, having had his left lung remove September 23rd due to a malignant tumor. His daughter Princess Elizabeth stood in for him at many public events. In October 1951 the princess, accompanied by her husband, went on a month long tour of Canada. Her private secretary carried a draft accession declaration in the events that the king should die while she was on tour. While on tour, the princess entertained President Truman at the Canadian Embassy in Washington on November 1st.

 

Contrary to popular understanding, World War II did not end in 1945, rather, on October 24th, 1951. On that day President Harry Truman signed Proclamation 2950, which formally ended World War II and abolished the state of war with Germany.

 

“Whereas, by a joint resolution, approved by the President on December 11, 1941, the Congress of the United States formally declared a state of war to exist between the United States and the Government of Germany (55 Stat. 796); and

“Whereas on December 31, 1946, the President proclaimed the cessation of hostilities of World War II; and

“Whereas it has been and continues to be the policy of the United States to bring about the conclusion of a treaty of peace with the government of a united and free Germany, but efforts to this end have been frustrated and made impossible for the time being by the policy of the Soviet Government; and

 

“Whereas it has nevertheless been considered desirable to bring the existing state of war with Germany to a close and to remove Germany from its present enemy status, thus eliminating certain disabilities affecting German nationals; and. . . .

 

“Whereas the Congress of the United States by a joint resolution, approved October 19, 1951 (Public Law 181, 82d Congress), has resolved that the state of war declared to exist between the United States and the Government of Germany is terminated and that such termination shall take effect on the date of enactment of such resolution:

 

“Now, Therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, pursuant to such joint resolution, do proclaim that the state of war between the United States and the Government of Germany declared by the joint resolution of Congress approved December 11, 1941 was terminated on October 19, 1951.

 

“In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

 

“Done at the City of Washington this twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and fifty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and seventy-sixth.”

HARRY S. TRUMAN

By the President:

DEAN ACHESON

Secretary of State

 

 

What took so long for war with Germany to end? The answer: Soviet interference. In the Letter to the President of the Senate Recommending Legislation To Terminate the State of War With Germany, on July 9, 1951 President Truman writes,

 

“Dear Mr. Vice President:

 

“The progress which has been made in the recovery of Europe and in the strengthening of democratic institutions there makes it appropriate at this time to end the status of Germany as an enemy country. Bit by bit in recent years we have carried out a policy, agreed upon with our allies, of building up a freely elected German government, and returning to the German people an increasing degree of control over their affairs. This policy has been most successful. As a legal matter, however, we are still in a state of war with Germany. It therefore becomes desirable, in pursuance of our policy, to bring this state of war to an end.

 

“Six years ago, when the wartime allies achieved complete victory over Germany, the country was destitute and there was no effective German government. Allied control was the only way to manage the prostrate country. We went forward with a clearly stated policy which anticipated that after a period of Allied occupation and reconstruction we would be able, together with our allies, to conclude a treaty of peace with a newly-established German government–a government truly representative of the German people, willing to assume its responsibilities as a member of the world community and anxious to work with its free neighbors in maintaining the peace and fostering the prosperity of Europe.

 

“We have never deviated from this policy. Neither have our British and French allies. Unfortunately for all of us, however, and especially for the people of Germany, Soviet Russia has actively prevented the growth of a representative democratic government in a unified Germany, and has thus made impossible for the time being the arrangement of a final peace settlement. The Soviet effort has been, instead, to cut the eastern third of Germany away from the rest of the country and to develop it as a province of the new Soviet Empire.”

The same day in which this letter was written (July 9th) Great Britain, Australia, and South Africa ended their state of war with Germany. Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Italy followed suit on July 26th.

 

 

 

Before the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, at the beginning of the Shemitah year, America terminated (or released) the state of war with Germany.

 

 

 

The inevitable finally happened on February 6th, 1952. The passing of King George VI came as a “sudden” and “grievous” shock to the nation.  “This is London”, starts the radio broadcast, “It is with great sorrow that we make the following announcement: His Majesty the King passed peacefully away at a few minutes before twelve. He, whom we loved as king, has passed from our midst. We voice the grief of all the peoples of his empire.”

 

 

 

On that 6th of February 1952, Princess Elizabeth and Philip had just returned to their Kenyan home when word arrived of the King’s death. Martin Charteris, her private secretary, asked her what name she wished to be called by; she chose to remain Elizabeth, “of course”, and was thus proclaimed queen throughout the empire.

 

 

 

Four months into the Shemitah year, an Israelite Queen from the House of David ascends the throne. As of February 6th, 2017, Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to celebrate a Sapphire Jubilee (a period of 65 years).

 

Isaiah 23:13 “Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin. [14] Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste. [15] And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. [16] Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. [17] And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

What is fascinating is that in the Shemitah year of 1951-1952, the world power of the time, America, normalized its relationship with Germany, ending the hostilities breed by their actions during WW2. They were forgotten.

 

 

 

And AT THE SAME TIME the President of the United States terminated the state of war with Germany, Princess Elizabeth was given the certificate stating that upon her father’s death she would become queen, which she did four months later.

 

 

 

The official end of World War II and the rise of Queen Elizabeth II coincide perfectly. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king”.

 

 

 

Aside from the fact that these two events happened within months of each other, it’s also important to note that a reign of seventy years is actually quite uncommon.  According to historical records dating back to 2278 B.C., only (approximately) 44 kings have reigned for seventy years or longer. Of those kings, 15 of them were German and only 2 were potentially from the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel: Harald Fairhair the 1st King of Norway (872-830) and King Louis XIV of France (1643-1715). So, in 4,000 years and in nations all across the globe, historians and scholars are only aware of 44 monarchs whose reigns had lasted over seventy years.

 

 

 

Queen Elizabeth II is currently the longest reigning monarch in the world. The next Shemitah of 2021-2022 will be seventy years since the Queen ascended the throne, and it will be seventy years since the war with Germany had been forgotten.

 

 

 

“But”, one might say, “Italy is Tyre and holds all the characteristics of Tyre’s harlotry.”

 

Revelation 17:1 “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: [2] with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. [3] So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. . . . [5] And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth.

 

 

 

The territory that is now Germany and Italy had once composed the Frankish Empire under Charlemagne until the Treaty of Verdun in 843 which divided the Carolingian into three kingdoms: East Francia, West Francia, and Middle Francia. These kingdoms went to the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne. The Treaty of Meerssen in 870 partitioned the land further and Middle Francia became the Kingdom of Italy. East Francia would evolve into the Kingdom of France and West Francia would eventually evolve into Germany.

 

 

 

Germany and Italy would re-establish relations with the Unification of Italy beginning in 1815. Italy allied itself with Prussia during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. Germany, Italy, and Austria would eventually form the Triple Alliance in 1882, however, Italy did not ally itself with Germany or Austria during WW1, but in 1939 Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler signed the Pact of Steel, formalizing the Rome-Berlin Axis Agreement. Germany and Italy are irrefutably linked to each other. Because of their cozy relationship, strong cases can be made that Tyre and Babylon the Great are, indeed, synonymous with each other.
Quoting from Beyond Babylon at Blogspot.com: Germany in Prophecy by Peter Salemi:

“The book of Nahum shows that these people [The Assyrians] migrated NORTH in to the mountains towards Europe: “Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them” (3:18).

 

“The only mountains that are in the region of Assyria are the Caucasus Mountains between the Black and the Caspian Sea. The Assyrian nation was situated just SOUTH of those mountains, and it was often a place of refuge from danger. In the book of Kings the princes of Assyria took refuge there: “So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead” (2 Kings 19:36-37). Modern translations render Armenia as “Ararat,” which is between the Black and the Caspian sea just NORTH of Assyria. Now, let’s look at secular history to see if it corroborates the Bible.

 

“The Roman historian Pliny writes that he found “…a warlike people called the ASSYRIANI that inhabited the region NORTH of the Black Sea” (“Natural History”, IV, § 12, page 183,). They were north because of the Babylonian invasion from the south, which Nahum wrote is the reason why the Assyrians were migrating north. . . .

 

“Roman historians attached a name to these “warlike” people. They named them “Teutons.” The Romans whose unaccustomed ears tried to translate into their own tongue the names of these fierce Germanic-peoples rendered the “Deutschen” as the “Teutons”

 

“The Germans refer to themselves as DEUTSCHE, and to their country as DEUTSCHLAND. Why? Let’s turn back the pages of history for the answer. The Assyrians anciently called their land “Athur” — the Indo-Germanic form of the Semitic word “Asshur” (“Encyclopedia Britannica”, article, “Mesopotamia”). Sometimes the name “Athur” was shortened simply to “Tyr” in the Indo-European tongue. Asshur or Tyr was worshipped as the god of war by all the ancient world. His name was placed on the THIRD DAY of the week — called “Tuesday” in the English-speaking world. Tuesday is Asshur’s day. Tuesday is from an old Saxon word meaning “Tiw’s day.” Tiw was the god of war of the Germanic people of Europe. Tiw, or Tiwe, was also known by the name Tyr — that is, Asshur. Tiw is another name of Asshur! “But what has the name “Deutsche” to do with Tiw? The modern German word “Deutsche” is derived from the old Anglo-Saxon word Tiw. [Proto-Indo-European: tewteh] Whenever a German calls himself Deutsche, he is saying he is Tiw’s or Asshur’s son — an Assyrian.”

Tyre → Tyr → Athur → Assur = Assyria = Germany

 

 

 

Interestingly, the oldest city in Germany is Trier. Although encyclopedias and contemporary records state that Trier was built by the Romans, German legend has it that the Trier was built 4,000 years ago by the Assyrian prince Trebeta, from whence Trier gets its name.

 

 

 

“The inhabitants of Trier maintain that their city is the oldest in all Europe,” writes Josef K. L. Bihl in his textbook “In Deutschen Landen,” page 69. “Trier was founded by Trebeta, a son of the famous Assyrian King Ninus. . . .”

 

 

 

According to legend, after the death of King Ninus, Prince Trebeta fled from his wicked stepmother Semiramis, emigrated to Europe with a large Assyrian following, and settled not far from the Rhine River where he built a town called Trebetam or Treverum, today’s Trier.

 

 

 

In fact in the market square there is a building called the Rotes Haus. A Latin inscription on the house translated says: “Treveris [Trier] existed 1300 years before Rome; let it continue to exist and enjoy eternal peace. Amen.”

 

 

 

Rome was founded in 753 B.C. + 1300 years = 2053 B.C. Abraham lived some time around 2050-1900 B.C. (Approximate)

 

 

 

To conclude this part: At the end of the seventy years [2021/2022] we should see Tyre (or Germany) sing again as a harlot, and at the same time we may see the retirement or death of Queen Elizabeth II.

 

 

 

Because of Germany’s mostly positive relationship with Italy throughout the ages, this revival may very well be the final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire, which will last for seven years. I will explain the reason for this assumed length of time in the next piece of the puzzle.

 

 

 

 

Puzzle Piece #6: Daniel’s 70 Week Prophecy & Christ’s Ministry

Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. [25] Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. [26] And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.”

 

The 70 weeks of Daniel began in c. 456 B.C. The king who gave the decree is disputed between Cyrus and Artaxerxes; biblically Cyrus fulfills the role, but the Greek mathematician, astronomer, astrologer and geographer Claudius Ptolemy listed Artaxerxes as the king who lived at the time the decree would have to have gone forth.

 

 

 

Regardless of who made the decree, if we use c. 456 B.C. as the rough starting point, and subtract 483 years, (the total length of the prophetic seven plus sixty-two weeks) brings us to 27 AD. (If you add 1 for year zero, that brings us to 28 AD).

 
The above verse states that after the sixty-two weeks, Messiah would be cut off. Cut off in Strong’s Concordance can mean, cease; destroyed; killed; perish. Therefore the sixty-two weeks ends with Christ’s crucifixion; it DOES NOT begin his ministry. This fact is important for interpreting latter verses, so bear this in mind.

 

 

Daniel 9:26 . . . and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

 

 

Young’s Literal Translation renders it: “the Leader who hath come doth destroy the people; and its end is with a flood, and till the end is war, determined are desolations.”  [27] “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”

 

 

 

 

There are those who would say that ‘he’ refers to Messiah because ‘he’ is a grammatically incorrect pronoun to attach to ‘the people of the prince’. But we see Young’s Literal addresses a ‘Leader’. Therefore, this verse could easily be translated as, ‘the prince who is to come, his people shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and he—the prince who is to come—will confirm a covenant with many.’

 

 

 

If Christ’s role in this prophecy is on hiatus; if he was ‘destroyed’ just a few sentences away, how then does he confirm a covenant with many for one week?

 

 

 

Confirm in Strong’s Concordance can mean: exceed, confirm, be great, be mighty, prevail, put to more strength, strengthen, be stronger, Whereas covenant can mean: confederacy; covenant; league.

 

 

 

Therefore, the verse could aptly be written: and he shall strengthen a confederacy or he shall strengthen a league. ‘He’ that is being referred to in the verses above is the man of sin, the “antichrist”, the beast power. And it is he who will confirm a covenant or strengthen a confederacy for one week. In the midst of that week, 3.5 years later, he will cause the sacrifice to cease.

 

 

 

Daniel 12:11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

 

Matthew 24:15 “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand.)

A majority of the population agrees that the ‘he’ spoken of is the beast power and there is no reason to debate the case. However, there are a select few who fervently deny it, claiming the ‘he’ is the Messiah; therefore, to prove my case further, I’d like to point out that Christ’s ministry was only 1 year long, more probably 69 weeks.
The idea that Christ’s ministry was three and half years long comes from Eusebius who lived from c. 263-339 AD.

 

 

 

“The whole period of our Savior’s teaching and marvel-working is recorded to have been three years and a half, which is half of a week” – Demonstratio Evangelica VIII, 106, 8

 

Eusebius concluded this time frame from reading Daniel. However, Luke 4:18 records:

 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, [19] To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Although the Gospel according to John has been edited, John has recorded the events of Christ ministry in order:

• John 2:1 — A wedding in Cana on the 3rd day of the month of Nisan
• John 2:13-26 — Passover
• John 5:1 — Pentecost
• John 7:2 — Feast of Tabernacles
• John 10:22 — The Feast of the Dedication (Hanukkah)
• John 12:1 — Six days before Passover
• John 13:1 — Passover
• John 17 — Christ’s last words
• John 18 — Christ arrested
• John 19 — Crucifixion
• John 20 — The Resurrection
• John 21 — Christ appears to His disciples.

 

John 6:4 mentions Passover, which would, admittedly, throw off a 1 year ministry if John’s memoirs are recorded in chronological order. However, as stated before, the Gospel of John has been edited—probably more than any other gospel—and it has been claimed that this verse was not in the originally text, but was added later; therefore it cannot be taken into account, at least according to Historian Michael Rood.

 

 

 

For example, the New International Version has omitted verses, such as John 5:4. Unlike the committee that compiled the King James Version who could only obtain manuscripts from as early as 1100 AD, the committee of the NIV holds manuscripts within 150 years of the original New Testament documents.

 

 

These manuscripts have been hand copied over and over for centuries. Occasionally a copyist would write an explanation in the margin of their manuscript and these explanations were later copied and inserted into the next manuscript. Although there are only a few manuscripts that lack John 6:4, Mr. Michael Rood makes an interesting point that John 6 is set during the Feeding of the 5,000—the only miracle that was recorded in all four gospels: Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-13. The feeding of the 5,000 appears to occur shortly before the Feast of Tabernacles. This well recorded event seems to occur sometime between late August and early September.

 

 

 

Some have argue that Luke 9:51 proves it’s the Passover season: “And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.”

 

 

 

Michael Rood explains that this verse had been mistranslated. Received up in the original Hebrew is aliyah. (Remember the Aliyah after the Babylonian captivity?) This simply means to ‘go up’. Jerusalem was physically ‘upwards’; those traveling would geographically be ascending to Jerusalem. Therefore, the time had come for Jesus to go up to Jerusalem, because it was the Feast of Tabernacles.

 

 

 

Notice what is said previously in Luke 9:33 “And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said.”

 

 

 

This is in regards to the transfiguration which occurred eight days after the feeding of the five thousand but before Christ’s arrival in Jerusalem .

 

 

 

Notice now what Jesus says in the following chapter Luke 10:2 “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest.”

 

 

 

John records the Feeding of the 5,000 in Chapter 6, Verses 1-14. However, by John 7:2 the Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. Either John neglected to write 6 months of Christ’s ministry or John 6:4 was not the Passover season, which this author believes the latter explanation to be the case. In addition, if Luke 9:51 were the Passover season, it is very odd Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem isn’t recorded until 10 chapters later in Luke 19, verses 28-34.
When we take into account the role of the Passover Lamb and its qualities in Exodus 12, we know that Christ who was/is our Passover Lamb would have to adhere to the same strict requirements like those in the Old Testament. Therefore Christ had to be:

 

 

• Chosen on the 10th Day of Nisan (Exodus 12:3); (Matthew 21)
• A lamb without blemish (Exodus 12:5); (1 Peter 1:19)
• At even the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel would kill him.  (Exodus 12:6); (Matthew 27:22-23); (Acts 2:23 & 2:26)
• The blood of which is to be struck on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they eat. (Exodus 12:7); (Exodus 13:15-16); (Matthew 26:26-27)
• The flesh shall be roasted in fire and eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. (Exodus 12:8); (John 6:35)
• No bones of it shall be broken. (Exodus 12:46); (John 19:36)
• A MALE of the FIRST YEAR (Exodus 12:5)

 

Since we know God is precise and does exactly according to the Law, Christ couldn’t be a Lamb of two years, or three years or four; He, too, would have to be a male of the FIRST YEAR.

 

 

 

If we know that Christ’s ministry was a year long, and if we know it started on Passover (John 2:23), we can conclude approximately when He was baptized and, from there, how many weeks he had been anointed with the Holy Spirit before being taken into Heaven.

 
First we have to determine when John the Baptist started preaching:

Luke 1:3 “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, [2] Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. [3] And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;

 

Tiberius became co-regent with his father Augustus Ceaser in late 11 AD and became emperor in 14 AD. 14 AD + 15 years brings John the Baptist’s ministry to 29 AD; however if we are going by when he became co-regent 11AD + 15 = 26 AD.
John is believed to be roughly six months older than Christ (Luke 1:36). If we assume Christ began his ministry six months later, we come to either 27 AD or 30 AD.

 

John 2:1 “And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: [2] And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. [3] And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. [4] Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

 

Note that Christ already had his disciples at the wedding, but his hour was not yet; his ministry hadn’t begun. Backtracking through time, we see:

• Christ is baptized by John (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11 & Luke 3:21-23);
• He is then immediately led into the wilderness and tempted for 40 days (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13)
• John the Baptist confesses he is not the Christ but there is one who comes after him (John 1:19-28)
• The next day John sees Jesus and testifies that he had seen the Spirit descend upon Him as a dove. (John 1:29-34)
• The next day after that, Christ begins gathering His disciples; Andrew and Simon Peter. (John 1:35-42)
• The next day, Christ gathers Philip and Nathanael. (John 1:43-51)
• There is the wedding at Cana (John 2:1)
• Sojourns at Capernaum for a few days (John 2:12)
• Christ over throws the money changers in the Temple; the Passover is at hand (John 2:13)
• Passover; Christ does miracles and many believe in His name. (John 2:23)
• Nicodemus comes by night and calls him a teacher come from God (John 3:2)

 

 

 

If we calculate the beginning of his ministry as the 14th day of Nisan, following this timeline backwards, we can conclude that Christ was baptized in the month of Shevat.

 

 

 

The month of Shevat is the final month of the rainy season in the Mediterranean. The rainy season typically begins around the Feast of Tabernacles (15th of Tishrei) and ends around the 15th of Shevat. The 15th of Shevat is a Jewish Holiday, also called Rosh Hashana La’llanot which literally means New Year of the Trees.

 

Leviticus 19:23 “And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of. [24] But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the Lord withal. [25] And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am the Lord your God.”

 

 

 

To be able to calculate the age of trees for eating and tithing, the Jews established the 15th of Shevat. For example: if one were to plant a tree on the 14th of Shevat, the next day it would be consider 1 year old; however, if one planted a tree on the 16th of Shevat, it would have to endure for the full year, and then on the next 15th of Shevat, it would be considered a year old.

 

 

 

So Christ, the Tree of Life, might have been baptized on, but more likely, a few days after the 15th of Shevat. And then He would have had to endure to the next 15th of Shevat before aging one year.  At this time in late winter / early spring, the water levels of the Jordan would have been at their highest. The average temperature in Jerusalem during the month of Shevat is a chilly 54 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

 

 

Also, 27 and 30 AD were a leap years, meaning that instead of having twelve months, it had thirteen. A typical year contains 52 weeks, but a Jewish leap year (which contains the extra month Adar II) has 55 weeks or 385 days.  We, therefore, can calculate Christ’s early schedule. These are the days we can account for in the Bible:

 

 

 

• Baptized—1 day
• Wilderness—40 days
• Returns Home / Sees John—1 Day
• Gathers Disciples—2 Days
• Wedding—1 Day
• Sojourn at Capernaum & Then Goes to Jerusalem—10 Days
• Passover to Passover—385 days
• In the Grave—3 Days
• Wave Sheaf Offering / Seen By Disciples & Ascends into Heaven—40 Days
• Total Days: 483 or 69 Weeks

 

 

We know that Christ was about 30 years old when he started his year-long ministry (Luke 3:23) and that he was born during Herod’s reign. Herod died c. 4 – 1BC.
A 30 AD ministry would therefore be too late, seeing Christ would have been born AFTER Herod died. That leaves us with a 27 AD ministry date. 27 AD – 30 Years = 4 BC. (Taking into account that there is no year 0.
Herod ordered all children from two years old and under to be killed, based on information he received from the wise men. (Matthew 2:16) Based on these calculations Herod likely died around 1 BC.

 
The calendars of 28 AD are conflicting. The change from Julian to Gregorian makes many of these calendars less than accurate. In 28 AD, Passover has been argued to have fallen on a Monday evening, a Wednesday evening and a Friday evening. In order to know when Passover fell, we need to know when the full moon was, as Passover always falls on the full moon.

 

 

In 28 AD the full moon fell on April 27th. The leap year with the additional month, pushed the Passover later.
April 27th fell on a Tuesday. However, Tuesday evening, would have marked the 14th Day of Nisan. Tuesday night going into Wednesday, was the night in which Jesus was arrested. On Wednesday (Nisan 14) Jesus Christ stood before the judgment seat, was scourged, crucified and died at 3pm–the time in which the Passover sacrifices started. That Wednesday evening started the 15th of Nisan and the Days of Unleavened Bread.
Lev 23:5-6 “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even (or twilight) is the LORD’S Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.”
Where any confusion might lie regarding the dates and times of the Passover, circles around the fact that Christ kept the Passover a day early with his disciples because he would be otherwise occupied the following day.
The Passover begins at twilight before the 15th of Nisan. Meaning that the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are only hours apart, not an entire day.

 

 

• Wednesday, 14th of Nisan @ 3pm – Christ, the Passover Lamb is killed.
• Wednesday, 15th of Nisan @ 6pm – Days of Unleavened Bread begin.

For example: Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14th and sank on April 15th. It didn’t take one day for the ship to sink. They struck ice at 11:40 on the 14th and the ship sank at 2:20 on the 15th–2 hours and forty minutes later.

 

 

 

 

There are some people like Michael Rood who suggest Christ’s ministry was indeed a full 70 weeks. Their calculations bring them up to the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given; however that is an additional 10 days from when Christ ascended into Heaven. Placing their calculations more at 70.5 weeks instead of a perfect 70.

 

 

 

 

When reading Daniel 9 and understanding that Messiah is cut off after the seven and sixty-two weeks—or sixty-nine weeks—we can see that there is one week remaining. And rereading Daniel 9:24 one could argue that the prophecy has not been fulfilled yet:

 

 

 

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city — Thy people and thy holy city would be the Jews and Jerusalem, because remember Gabriel was speaking to Daniel—a ‘Jew’; however, the Jews have not accepted Jesus Christ as the Messiah.

• To finish the transgression
• To make an end of sins
• To make reconciliation for iniquity
• To bring in everlasting righteousness
• To seal up the vision and prophecy
• To anoint the most Holy.

Although Christ bore our iniquities on the tree and although He stands in glory at the right hand of God, vision and prophecy have not yet been sealed up¾not all has been fulfilled. Christ has not received His kingdom as of yet and, because of that, everlasting righteousness has not been brought into the world.

 

 

 

So, if Christ’s ministry is indeed 70 weeks, 69 of which have been fulfilled, there appears to be one literal week remaining, which will, assumingly, be fulfilled when He returns; but let’s not forget that there is also the prophetic week of 490 years yet to be fulfilled.

 

 

 

Daniel 9:24-27 appears to be a dual prophecy. Notice that verse 24 is one complete thought; one complete prophecy regarding the Messiah. Verses 25-27, when viewing with a critical eye, appear to shift to prophecies regarding the temple.

 

 

 

We know that the temple stood for another 42 years after the Messiah was cut off, and yet the 69th week surrounding the temple ends with Christ’s sacrifice. Why is that?

 

 

 

When Christ was cut off, He replaced the physical temple with a spiritual one. The physical temple in Jerusalem therefore became a moot structure, and was subsequently destroyed in 70 AD.

 

 

 

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.”

 

1 Peter 2:5 “You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

 

Ephesians 2:19-22 “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

Christians, being the spiritual house of God, don’t need a physical temple. This is why the final era of God’s work must be a Jewish work. Why would a Christian die for a physical temple? Most wouldn’t put their lives on the line for a building because they understand themselves to be spiritual temples of God. But a Jew would die for the temple, and how much more its High Priest and its Builder?

 

 

 

A simple analogy: Thomas Andrews was a naval architect in charge of building the Titanic. Edward John Smith captained the ill-fated ship. In the ship’s final hours both men worked feverishly to save as many lives as possible. Both men went down with the ship. The builder of the Titanic and its ‘high priest’, if you will, couldn’t and wouldn’t leave their ship until the ship was no more.

 

 

 

This psychology of commitment and dedication to one’s duty or creation, especially in times of trouble is not a rare characteristic; after all, Christ, Himself, died for us—he did not abandon us to death, for the wages of sin is death—and we are His creation. [Colossians 1:16] So why wouldn’t we see the same thing during the days when the holy city is being trodden underfoot for forty and two months? Those in the highest positions (eg: the architect & the captain) would be the ones who would have the most authority over the sanctity of the Temple.

 

 

 

Since it is the belief of this author that the Laodicean Church will be headquartered at the temple, Christ’s spirit will, therefore, fill the temple. There is a reconciliation between the physical and the spiritual. These two elements had deviated from one another at Christ’s crucifixion but will merge in the final week.

 

 

 

Matthew 17:2 And [Jesus] was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. [3] And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

This has often been considered a representation of the Kingdom of God; branches of Church and State. Elias being over the Church and Moses over the State. When one looks into their roles, Moses dealt with the Law—the physical aspects of the Law. Elias led a school of prophets know as “the sons of the prophets” and was in charge of the spiritual house of God. The two are seen together with Christ: the physical and the spiritual working together to the Glory of God.
So to conclude this part, there appears to be one literal week of Christ’s ministry yet to be fulfilled. There is also on prophetic week yet to be fulfilled, and this final week seems to culminate with the beast power and the existence of the third temple.

 

 

 

If Tyre sings again as a harlot after 70 years, the years of one king, then in 2021/2022 we should see a revival of a German-Italian pact, and we may very well see the completion of the third temple or at the very least the beginning construction. (Remember that the first seven weeks of Daniel’s prophecy has to do with the rebuilding of the Temple. The final week, therefore, may begin with the construction, rather than the completion, of the third temple but we’ll just have to wait and see.) Either way, the two will coincide, because the leader who is to come will cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease in the midst of that week (3.5 years later) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it [the city and the sanctuary] desolate.

 

Daniel 12:11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

 

 

Revelation 11:2But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

If the Great Tribulation starts when the Holy City is tread underfoot for 42 months, 42 x 30 days is 1,260 days. That means 1 month prior to the Great Tribulation the daily sacrifice will be cut off and possibly at the same time the abomination that makes desolate set up.

 

 

 

What do we have then? (All time-frames are approximate)

 

Autumn 2021/2022 –

• Rise of the Beast Power
• The Temple is completed or the foundation is laid
• Retirement or death of Queen Elizabeth II

Spring 2025

• Beast power enters the Holy Land  –
• The Sacrifice and Oblation cease

30 Days Later    –

• The Two Witnesses Preach
• The Great Tribulation Begins

 

 

 

Puzzle Piece #7: The Day of the Lord

Amos 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light. [19] As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. [20] Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

 

Revelation 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; [13] And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. [14] And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. [15] And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; [16] And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: [17] For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

The day of the Lord is period of time marking the transition from when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of Christ. Revelation 6-11 document in chronological order the things that will happen from when the Day of the Lord begins to Christ’s return.

 

• White Horse of False Religion Unsealed (6:2)
• Red Horse of War Unsealed         (6:4)
• Black Horse of Famine Unsealed   (6:5-6)
• Pale Horse of Death Unsealed   (6:8)
• Persecution of the Saints     (6:9)
• Day of the Lord: Earthquakes,         (6:12-17)
• Signs in the Heavens 144,000 Sealed (7:3)
• Seventh Seal Opened (8:1)
• Silence in Heaven for ½ Hour
• First Trumpet Sounds     (8:7)
• Hail & fire mingled with blood 1/3 of the trees and grass burnt up
• Second Trumpet Sounds     (8:8)
• A great mountain burning with fire cast into the sea;  1/3 of the sea becomes blood; 1/3 sea creatures die 1/3 of the ships destroyed.
• Third Trumpet Sounds     (8:10)
• Great star falls from heaven
• Poisons 1/3 rivers and fountains; star called Wormwood
• Many men die from the bitter waters
• Fourth Trumpet Sounds     (8:12)
• 1/3 part of the sun, moon & stars are smitten
• The day only shines for 1/3 as does the night
• Fifth Trumpet Sounds / First Woe (9:1)
• The bottomless pit is opened
• Smoke of the pit darkens the sun and the air
• There comes locusts; they torment men for 5 months
• Their King is Apollyon.
• Sixth Trumpet Sounds (9:13)
• Four angels bound at the Euphrates are loosed
• They slay 1/3 of men 200,000,000 horseman by them 1/3 of men are killed.
• Prophesy again to many nations, tongues, kings (10:11)
• Second Woe
• The Holy City trodden underfoot for 42 months
• The Two Witnesses
• Beast wars with and kills the two witnesses
• They lay in the street 3.5 days
• Afterwards they are resurrected Great earthquake.
• 1/10th of the city falls 7,000 Die
• Seventh Trumpet Sounds
• Kingdoms of the World become the Kingdoms of Christ

So we see that chapters six through eleven are indeed in chronological order. (Chapter seven, however, might be an insert chapter, spanning thousands of years; no seals are mentioned and therefore the vision could take place at any time)

 

 

 

The Day of the Lord begins with the sixth seal. This is when there are earthquakes; the sun is black as sackcloth, the moon turns to blood, and the stars of heaven fall. Yet:

 

 

 

Matthew 24:29-30 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

 

Various preachers have claimed that the Great Tribulation begins at the fifth seal with the persecution of the saints, and the sixth seal is Christ’s return, but how can Christ return at the sixth seal when he returns at the sounding of the seventh trumpet?

 

Revelation 5:1 “And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. [2] And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? [3] And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. [4] And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. [5] And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

 

Revelation 6:1 “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals”

 

Christ is the only one worthy to open the book and loose the seals. At the seventh seal we see that there is silence IN HEAVEN for about a half an hour. Angels are standing before God and are given seven trumpets. If Christ, according to some interpretations, has returned at the sixth seal then what’s He doing IN HEAVEN opening the seventh seal? Obviously He has not returned; so what does that mean then?

 

 

 

There are at least two times that the sun and moon go dark and there are at least two great earthquakes; however as you’ll see in Joel there could be a third time.
Puzzle Piece #8: The First Darkening and The Fall of Egypt

 

Ezekiel 30:1The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, [2] Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Howl ye, Woe worth the day! [3] For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen. [4] And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down. [5] Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.

 

 

Ezekiel 30:9In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh. [10] Thus saith the Lord God; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. [11] He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. . . . [17] The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the sword: and these cities shall go into captivity. [18] At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity. [23] And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. [24] And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon. . . .

 

Ezekiel 32:2 “Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, . . . [3] I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net. [7] And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. [8] All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God. [11] For thus saith the Lord God; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee. [22] Asshur [Assyria] is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword:

 

 

Daniel 11:41 He [The King of the North] shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. [42] He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. [43] But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. [44] But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. [45] And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

 

Ezekiel 28:2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: [3] Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: [4] With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: [5] By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches: [6] Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;

 

 

Daniel 12:1And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

“Let the Bible interpret itself,” ministers have said. When we lay out the events of Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation and compare them, we see that the Bible clearly tells us what will occur in the latter days. It would be redundant for this author to expound upon scripture. No interpretations are needed for the following timeline:

When reviewing the above table, we see that Egypt falls BEFORE the Great Tribulation begins. Ezekiel repeats that when Egypt falls the day shall be darkened; it shall be a cloudy day; darkness shall cover the heavens. Ezekiel claiming that the Day of the Lord is near and the emphasis on the darkness indicates the Fall of Egypt and the Sixth Seal occur concurrently with each other. This is the former darkening.

 

 

 

Speculation: Tehaphnehes-The Suez Canal
We know that the day shall be darkened at Tehaphnehes; there the pomp of Egypt’s strength shall cease and her yoke broken. The ancient city of Tehaphnehes is now located on the Suez Canal.

The Suez Canal is the main trade route from the Orient to Europe and vice-versa. The Suez Canal allows watercraft a shorter journey between the North Atlantic and the Northern Indian Ocean via the Mediterranean and Red Sea. If the Suez Canal were to be blockaded or otherwise impassible, watercraft would have to travel around the tip of Africa in the South Atlantic and travel up the coast of Africa to Europe: approximately 4,300 extra miles!

 

 

 

Remember in Isaiah 23 that after seventy years Tyre returns to her hire. Ezekiel 27 laments over Tyre and mentions all the peoples who trade for her merchandise: Ashurites; Egypt; Zidon; Arvad; Gebal; Persia; Lud; Phut; Gammadims; Tarshish; Javal; Tubal; Meshech; Togarmah; Dedan; Syria; Judah; Israel; Damascus; Dan; Javan; Arbia; Kedar; Sheba; Raamah etc.

 

 

 

Ezekiel 27:3“O dweller on the entrances of the sea, Merchant of the peoples unto many isles, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: O Tyre, thou — thou hast said: I [am] the perfection of beauty. [34] In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall. [35] All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance. [36] The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more.

 

 

Ezekiel 29:2-3 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold I am against you O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies in the midst of his rivers, who has said ‘My River is my own; I have made it for myself.’”

Britain possessed the Suez up until July 26th, 1956, when Egyptian president Gamal Abdal Nasser nationalized the canal. Nasser was the first native Egyptian to come to power since the time of the Pharaohs in the 6th century B.C.

 
“We dug the canal with our lives, our skulls, our bones, our blood. The money is ours and the Suez canal belongs to us,” Nasser stated on that fateful day in July, 1956.

 

 

 

Ezekiel records that Pharaoh was a great monster in the midst of his rivers¾plural possessive. Prior to Nasser, Egypt was ruled by the Ottoman Empire or was a tributary state to the Ottoman Empire. Not until Nasser came to power, who was a native Egyptian, could the term ‘Pharaoh’ be accurately used.

 
Also once Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal could Pharaoh lie in the midst of his rivers, plural. However, there is one river in which he specifically claims is his own and that he made for himself.

 

 

 

Nasser seems to confirm this statement by saying ‘we (the native Egyptians) dug the canal’, and that ’[it] belongs to us’.

 

 

 

Tehaphnehes the city, interestingly, worshipped the God Ba’al-Zephon as their chief God. Ba’al-Zephon was the Canaanite storm god, equating to Zeus and Jupiter. He was also the god of maritime trade, which is an interesting correlation with the ancient city being so close to the Suez Canal.

 

 

 

Because of where ancient Tehaphnehes is located, it appears as though there will be some type of trading crisis at the Suez Canal. The King of the North may very well go down to secure the Suez Canal so that trade can continue to pass through the Red Sea into the Mediterranean. At that time, he defeats Egypt, and Ethiopia and Lybia follow at his heels.

 

 
The Former Darkening, Continued:

Amos recounts, 8:8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. [9] And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: [10] And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. [11] Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: [12] And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.

This darkening that Amos describes differs from the one that Joel describes. Amos states that the word of the Lord will not be found, whereas Joel states that all flesh will have God’s spirit poured out on them.

 

 
Puzzle Piece #9: The Latter Darkening

Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: [29] And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. [30] And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. [31] The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. [32] And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.

 

Joel 3:1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, [2] I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. [4] Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head; [5] Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things: [6] The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border. [10] Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. [12] Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. [13] Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. [14] Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. [15] The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. [16] The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

 

Isaiah 13:9 Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. [10] For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. [11] And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. [12] I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. [13] Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. . . . [17] Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. . . . [19] And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. [20] It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: [14:1] For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. [2] And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. [3] And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, [4] That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! [5] The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the scepter of the rulers. [6] He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. [7] The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.

 

Zechariah 14:1 Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. [2] For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. [3] Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. [4] And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. [5] And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. [6] And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: [7] But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.

Please note that the latter darkening is not an event that lasts only minutes or a single hour; it is ONE DAY known to the Lord and at evening time there shall be light. Therefore the darkening coincides with multiple events.

Puzzle Piece #Unknown: The Ambiguous Darkening

Joel 2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; [2] A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. [3] A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. [4] The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. . . . [10] The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: [11] And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? [12] Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

 

The time frame of the above verses is questionable. Are the great people a literal army or a figurative one? Joel 1:4 recounts “That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten.”

 

 

 

When one reads the description of the great army, one wonders if it could be an army of literal locusts. We therefore don’t know if great army or a locust plague comes upon Zion at the same time Egypt falls; if it happens at the same time Christ returns, hence the Lord telling the people to return to him, or if this is a third darkening, separate from the two we’ve already covered.

 

 

 

 

Puzzle Piece #10: The Jubilee
We established the possibility of the Beast Power entering Holy Land around the Spring of 2025 at the end of Puzzle Piece #6. If this time is correct, we can approximate when the fall of Egypt occurs.

 

 

 

First, from the time the Day of the Lord begins there is 1 more seal that lasts one half of an hour. Afterwards six trumpets have to blow before the Great Tribulation begins. The fifth trumpet is at least 5 months long.

 

 

 

Assuming the Abomination of Desolation begins in March/April of 2025 we can confidently count back 5 months, which puts us at October/November 2024. But we don’t know how long the events during the first four trumpets last.

 

 

 

Ezekiel records that after the fall of Egypt the Egyptians will go into captivity for forty years and be scattered among the nations.

Ezekiel 29:12 And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. [13] Yet thus saith the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered: [14] And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom.

Although there’s no definitive proof, it’s suspected that the years 1917-1918, 1966-1967 and 2015-2016 were Jubilee years.

 

Leviticus 25:8 And thou shalt number seven Sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. [9] Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. [10] And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

If these suspected Jubilee years are correct that means the next Jubilee will begin on Atonement 2064. On this day, under Christ’s Rule, liberty will be proclaimed throughout all the land and all people will be set free; free to return to their possessions and free to return to their families.

 

 

 

2064 minus 40 years = 2024.

 

 

 

If Egypt is taken away captive for forty years the most reasonable day in which they will be given their freedom would be on Atonement. Although these dates are only speculations, if Egypt is freed on Atonement 2064 it’s not ridiculous to suggest that they will go into captivity around Atonement 2024. (October 12th, 2024) The fall of Egypt could occur sooner than October, but probably no sooner than April.

 

 

 

Puzzle Piece #11: DAYS BEFORE THE TEMPLE

Haggai 2:3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing? [6] “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; [7] and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. [8] ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. [9] ‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

We begin with the Lord speaking about the second temple and how in comparison it’s nothing compared to the first, but then God says ONCE MORE he will fill the temple with glory, and this latter temple will be greater than the former. If the Lord is already talking about the second temple, why then doe He say once more and it is a little while? And if the second temple was of only modest design how then will it be greater than the former?

Revelation 21:1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. [2] Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. [3] And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. [4] And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Hence, the Lord saying ‘in this place I will give peace’. (Hag. 2:9) Little peace has been seen in Israel, even to this day. We also see that the Lord will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land, the nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations.

 

Luke 21:25-26 “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.”

 

Zechariah 14:16 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

 

In Haggai Chapter 2, the temple spoken of must be the future, third temple. If that is, indeed, the case, then what is prophesied to happened before the days the foundation of the third temple is laid?

 

Haggai 2:15 ‘And now, carefully consider from this day forward: from before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the Lord [16] since those days, when one came to a heap of twenty ephahs, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty baths from the press, there were but twenty. [17] I struck you with blight and mildew and hail in all the labors of your hands; yet you did not turn to Me,’ says the Lord. [18] ‘Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid—consider it: [19] Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. But from this day I will bless you.’”

 

Zechariah 8:9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Let your hands be strong, you who have been hearing in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, who spoke in the day the foundation was laid for the house of the Lord of hosts, that the temple might be built.[10] For before these days there were no wages for man nor any hire for beast; there was no peace from the enemy for whoever went out or came in; for I set all men, everyone, against his neighbor.

Before the temple was laid there was no hire for man or beast; but to have no wages and to have no hire would mean there is no economic activity. There is no currency circulating in the hands of the people. This indicates that there will be a horrific economic downfall in which money has become worthless.

 

 

 

 

Haggai records that Israel was struck with blight, mildew, and hail; even the trees and the vines didn’t yield their fruit. Famine almost always follows on the heels of economic distress; modern examples would be Zimbabwe and Venezuela.

 

 

Mark 13:8 “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows. [9] So be on your guard. You will be handed over to the councils and beaten in the synagogues. On My account, you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. [10] And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all the nations. [11] But when they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand what to say. Instead, speak whatever you are given at that time, for it will not be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

 

Revelation 10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be fulfilled, just as He proclaimed to His servants, the prophets.” . . . [11] And they told me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”

What’s fascinating is that in John’s vision he was told to ‘prophesy again’. Again meaning that at some point in time the prophesying had stopped. Churches around the world believe they are to do THE work, but they are not. They are doing A work, indefinite article. The work they do is still important, but God is not going to put new wine into old wine skins, lest the skins break and both it and the new wine are ruined. But new wine must be put into new skins and both are preserved.

 

 

 

THE work, which is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God being preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations is reserved for the Laodicean Era: the final era of God’s church. And as we established earlier, the Laodicean Church will be headquartered at the temple, led most likely by the two witnesses. Therefore before the foundation of the temple is laid there is not only no hire for man nor beast, but there are also famines!

 

 

 

 

Puzzle Piece #12: No Man Knows the Day Or Hour

This often cited verse is actually a Hebrew idiom meaning ‘The Day of Trumpets”.

 

[T]he two qualified witnesses usually stood before the Nassi or
President of the Sanhedrin (Jewish High Court) to give account of the
moon’s appearance prior to its becoming total dark. Just before the moon’s disk enters total darkness, there are tiny slivers of white on the edges of the waning disk. These were called the “horns” of the moon. Correctly sighting the “horns” (on the waning crescent) determined the beginning of the new month. Once the two witnesses were qualified and questioned, if the President (who had
knowledge of astronomy) was convinced their observation was accurate, he
publicly sanctified the start of the new month.

 

After careful scrutiny to determine the official arrival of the new moon,
the Nassi or President of the Sanhedrin proclaimed Rosh Chodesh with the
words: “Sanctified”, and all the people repeat after him, “Sanctified,
sanctified”. After the proclamation, the Sanhedrin ordered watchmen on the
nearby hillsides to light fires and thus inform the Jews in all of Judaea, Samaria, Egypt, Babylon and the diaspora that the new month had begun. That started the festival of the New Moon and counting of the next 29- days to the next new month proclamation.

 

Again, once the Sanhedrin set Rosh Chodesh, or the beginning of the new
month by sighting the new moon, the rest of the festivals were calculated.
However, the seventh month, Tishri, was particularly important because it
was the only month that had a holy convocation or appointed time on the
first day of the month. This posed a unique problem. The first day of
Tishri was the appointed time called Rosh HaShanah, the Feast of Trumpets. Yet no one could begin observing the festival until they heard those famous words from the President of the Sanhedrin, “Sanctified!”

 

No one in Israel could plan for the first day of the Feast of Trumpets. How could they [when] they did not know at what day or hour it would be publicly announced?

 

This was unique to Rosh HaShanah and dependent upon the testimony of the
two witnesses. Quoted from Tony Galli from hebroots.org

 

We may not know on which day or at which hour our Lord will come, but we might be able to calculate the year and the season.

 

 

Conclusion

 

 

The financial and political upheaval, where ever it starts, will inevitably engulf the entire world. When the world is cast into despair with no jobs and no food; when people lose their homes, when protests break out and civil order decays, just like in Nazi Germany, a hero will emerge to save the world.

 

 

 

But he is not our hero.

 

 

 

Our Hero IS coming, but before He does, another must come before Him. And our Christ will destroy with the brightness of His coming.

 

 

 

And if these calculations are correct, we only have a short time left to make ourselves ready. The years coming up will be full of struggles and tribulations and at times life will look bleak and hopeless, but just remember that there is hope! The day of our Lord’s Coming is closer than ever, and every day that passes by is one day closer to being with Him!

 

 

 

So, now that you understand each puzzle piece separately, what does the picture look like when we interlock each of these jagged, little blocks together? Remember, these dates are approximate and only to the best of our understanding. Should new information be revealed or these events fail to happen within the given times, this author, with an open mind, will listen to other interpretations and other theories.

 

 

* All dates are approximate. This author acknowledges a flexibility of a year or more, depending on how the Shemitahs and Jubilee’s are calculated.

**If Christ has 1 week left remaining in his ministry, his return could also occur a week before the Feast of Trumpets to proclaim his kingship before destroying the armies at the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

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