God's covenant with Abraham was primarily one entered into with the Hebrew people, which was to have a global impact. This understanding is crucial to understanding why the church of Jesus Christ will have to be taken out of the earth through the rapture. In Daniel 9:24-27, God revealed to Daniel what was to be the history of the Jewish people from the day of Daniel to the end of age. This is what has become known among bible scholars as Daniel's 70 weeks vision.
Before we look more closely at the 70 weeks prophecy, it is important to also note that ingrained into the Jewish scriptures is the looking forward to the coming of the kingdom of God. Isaiah the prophet was a leading prophet in
prophesying about this coming kingdom of God. Isaiah 65:15-27 is a picture of the world that the Jewish people were looking forward to, but this was entirely predicated on the coming of the Messiah. In their scriptures that taught about the Messiah, it seemed hidden from their eyes that the Messiah was going to have two comings, therefore they assumed that there would be two different Messiahs who will come at different times to fulfill the Messianic prophecies that taught of the two comings of the Messiah. But unknown to them, the suffering Messiah was the same as the conquering Messiah that was to come at different times in history.
Such prophecies like Isaiah 61, and Micah 5:2-6 are classic Jewish prophecies of the Messiah. Jesus read this prophecy to the Jews in the synagogue in Luke 4:18, but stopped at proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord. Carefully He left off the portion that spoke of the day of the vengeance of the Lord. Jesus is the one Messiah who fulfills both aspects of the prophecies of the Messiah. His first coming was to fulfill the prophecy of the suffering Messiah, spoken of in Isaiah 42 & 53; and in His second coming, He will come as the conquering Messiah, the King of Israel.
So, the Jews were expecting the coming of the Messiah, but what was not clear to them was the way He was going to come. Sadly, when He appeared to them as the suffering Messiah, they rejected Him.
Why are all of these important to our understanding of the rapture, you may ask? The prophecies of the kingdom were directly given to the Jews, and not to gentiles. But when the Jews rejected their Messiah and crucified Him, God turned to the gentiles with the gospel. This became the gospel age that was never revealed to the ancient prophets. It was a mystery kept from them. Romans 16:25. But this did not mean that God forsook the Jews, nor did He abandon the kingdom project which was promised to them.
In Daniel's 70 weeks prophecy of the end times, there is a 70th week yet unfilled in the prophecy of the kingdom that was going to involve principally the Jews. In this 70th week, there will be a restoration of the ancient Jewish religious order because it was under that order that the promise was made. The church was a mystery hidden from the ancient, and only revealed by Jesus in Matthew 16:18 (Romans 16:25-26; Ephesians 3:6). The church age, also known as the age of the gentiles, will be taken out of the way, when its time is fulfilled, and this will be done through the rapture, after which the last seven years spoken of by Daniel will begin, with the unveiling of the man of lawlessness spoken of by Daniel and the apostle Paul.
This is why the church must be taken out of the way so that Daniel's 70th week can start. This week, according to the angel that spoke with Daniel concerned Daniel's people. When this week begins, the Jewish religious order of animal sacrifice will once again resume in the rebuilt temple.
Toni
Before we look more closely at the 70 weeks prophecy, it is important to also note that ingrained into the Jewish scriptures is the looking forward to the coming of the kingdom of God. Isaiah the prophet was a leading prophet in
prophesying about this coming kingdom of God. Isaiah 65:15-27 is a picture of the world that the Jewish people were looking forward to, but this was entirely predicated on the coming of the Messiah. In their scriptures that taught about the Messiah, it seemed hidden from their eyes that the Messiah was going to have two comings, therefore they assumed that there would be two different Messiahs who will come at different times to fulfill the Messianic prophecies that taught of the two comings of the Messiah. But unknown to them, the suffering Messiah was the same as the conquering Messiah that was to come at different times in history.
Such prophecies like Isaiah 61, and Micah 5:2-6 are classic Jewish prophecies of the Messiah. Jesus read this prophecy to the Jews in the synagogue in Luke 4:18, but stopped at proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord. Carefully He left off the portion that spoke of the day of the vengeance of the Lord. Jesus is the one Messiah who fulfills both aspects of the prophecies of the Messiah. His first coming was to fulfill the prophecy of the suffering Messiah, spoken of in Isaiah 42 & 53; and in His second coming, He will come as the conquering Messiah, the King of Israel.
So, the Jews were expecting the coming of the Messiah, but what was not clear to them was the way He was going to come. Sadly, when He appeared to them as the suffering Messiah, they rejected Him.
Why are all of these important to our understanding of the rapture, you may ask? The prophecies of the kingdom were directly given to the Jews, and not to gentiles. But when the Jews rejected their Messiah and crucified Him, God turned to the gentiles with the gospel. This became the gospel age that was never revealed to the ancient prophets. It was a mystery kept from them. Romans 16:25. But this did not mean that God forsook the Jews, nor did He abandon the kingdom project which was promised to them.
In Daniel's 70 weeks prophecy of the end times, there is a 70th week yet unfilled in the prophecy of the kingdom that was going to involve principally the Jews. In this 70th week, there will be a restoration of the ancient Jewish religious order because it was under that order that the promise was made. The church was a mystery hidden from the ancient, and only revealed by Jesus in Matthew 16:18 (Romans 16:25-26; Ephesians 3:6). The church age, also known as the age of the gentiles, will be taken out of the way, when its time is fulfilled, and this will be done through the rapture, after which the last seven years spoken of by Daniel will begin, with the unveiling of the man of lawlessness spoken of by Daniel and the apostle Paul.
This is why the church must be taken out of the way so that Daniel's 70th week can start. This week, according to the angel that spoke with Daniel concerned Daniel's people. When this week begins, the Jewish religious order of animal sacrifice will once again resume in the rebuilt temple.
Toni
