Omega Message – May 2001
Mark Jantzi
(This message was given at the July 2000 Sonlight Gospel Conference in Mahomet Illinois)
I believe we are all aware that this world is coming to some sort of conclusion insofar as the present trend of unrighteousness is concerned, and in Ephesians 1:10 we read what Paul said concerning what he referred to as “the fullness of times,”
“That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him.”
It seems that God has destined a measure of fullness for just about everything, both spiritual (“in heaven”) and natural (“on earth”). In the book of Revelation, mention is made of Babylon (the mother of false religion, of substituting man’s thing for God’s):
“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. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration” (Revelation 17:3-6).
I believe we have come to the time when the golden cup of Babylon is nearly full of her abominations and fornication as well as she is full of the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus Christ, and it seems that God is about to let her have the full measure of her own cup as well as “…the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his (own) wrath”:
“And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath” (Revelation 16:19).
“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her” (Revelation 18:4-8).
All things coming to a fullness! This is a spiritual law that was laid down from the foundation of the earth and it is a law that is as sure as the law of gravity.
“Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:7-9).
Sl there is also a full crop of righteousness awaiting those who will walk in the fullness of overcoming (Revelation 2 & 3) as mature sons of God. Let us also add the witness of Revelation 21:7,
“He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”
So, what about time? Where are we in God’s plan for time? First, I believe that God dwells in the spiritual realm of eternity. It is mortal man that dwells in the realm of time, until he dies and then passes over into eternity. However, while we are here we keep track of the passing of time, and indeed God created the means with the intent that we do so.
“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years” (Genesis 1:14).
It pleased God to set man and His creation on a schedule of time, and we will also see how God has set the “clocks” in motion by which we can determine where we are now in the move toward the fullness of time(s).
Since we are in Genesis (the Book of Beginnings) let us look at the creation of man. The latter part of the first chapter records the creation of man on the sixth day. Six then becomes the number of man. However, man was not the only thing that God created on the sixth day. I believe that man (following the creation of beasts, creeping things, and cattle) was the very last thing that was created on the sixth day. Man was then given dominion over all of God’s earthly creation:
“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28).
This statement flies directly in the face of modern New Age thinking that says that the earth belongs to the trees and the wild animals. This rebellious doctrine is being vigorously taught to our school children and is intended to give rise to a generation that will “Save the whales” but demand the right to kill our unborn human children. This teaching also says that the world is overpopulated and opens the door to euthanasia and genocide. A former Secretary of Defense who later became president of the World Bank made a report to his constituents in which he suggested t hat it should be a goal to reduce significantly the world population. During this last presidential campaign, a little eight year old girl came for a visit. She said that the teacher in her public school system told her class that if Mr. Bush were elected he would eliminate all the trees. She is at an age when children can believe anything that an authoritative adult says. So, as an adult, my response was that there are still many trees in Texas where her aunt and cousins live, and where this man is governor. Those who hold this philosophy have decided to use environmentalism to achieve their globalistic One World Government agenda.
Man is then the last of God’s creation made on the sixth day (the final workday of God’s creation). So how do we today normally count the passing of one day to the next? Normally we consider the beginning of a new day as the rising of the sun and our rising from our bed to begin our day’s activity. We speak of our past few hours in bed a “last night” (i.e. a prior day). Technically, modern man has made a clock and would consider the stroke of midnight to be the passing of one day to another. However, from Genesis we see that God began a new day with the setting of the sun, “….And the evening and the morning were the sixth day” (Genesis 1:31). If God spread the creation work of the sixth day over the full twenty-four hours, He then began this day by creating the beasts and creatures of the night, those who are primarily nocturnal. His final daylight act of this day then would be the creation of Adam. So Adam’s first experience may have been to watch the sun set at the end of the sixth day. He then went into the darkness that marked the beginning of the seventh day. Adam, the first man, had to endure the night and the influence of the beasts thereof before he could enjoy the light and such benefits of the seventh day of rest.
And so God set a pattern of seven days as a measure of the passing of time. Seven is the number of divine completion and fullness. The seventh day was to be a day of rest. The seventh month would later be celebrated as the Feast of Tabernacles. After every 49 (7 X 7) years, the 50th year was to be a year of Jubilee. There are numerous examples in Scripture of how God ordered things according to the number seven, but nowhere in the Word can we find “seven” as the number of tribulation.
Man’s first full day in God’s creation was rest, but before he could clearly see it, he went through a period of darkness. Now, we know that God has another timepiece besides the natural week of days. Let us go to 2 Peter 3 and begin reading in Verse 3,
“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation (modern science refuses to even acknowledge creation).”
After Peter reminds the reader of God’s judgment in the days of Noah and His future plans for judgment by fire, we pick it up with Verse 8,
“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night….”
So it is evident that God also has a millennial week’s calendar planned for this world. As further evidence of God’s seventh day millennium of rest, let us extract these words from Revelation 20. Let us begin with Verse 4, where in reference to martyred tribulation saints, it says,
“…and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”
In Verses 6-7, again referring to the partakers of the first resurrection, it says, “…they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired…..”
It seems quite clear that God has a seven-millennium plan in which the seventh millennium is sometimes referred to as “The day of the Lord,” with the word “day” here referring to more than twenty-four hours. The term also refers to a particular time in which the transition into this seventh day begins. The prophets in particular use this term to refer to a time of the earth coming under unprecedented judgment at the hand of God in order to accomplish the seven purposes that are given in Daniel 9:24.
“Seventy weeks (Literally, “Seventy periods of seven,” or “70 X 7 years”) are determined upon thy people (This includes us in this latter day, the New Testament “saints of the Most High” as mentioned in Daniel 7:18, 25, 27) and upon thy holy city, to (1) finish the transgression, (2) and to make an end of sins, (3) and to make reconciliation for iniquity, (4) and to bring in everlasting righteousness, (5) and to seal up the vision (6) and prophecy, (7) and to anoint the most Holy (place).”
And since 70 x 7 = 490, we see that God has another calendar of 490 years, which we will come back to shortly.
First, let us try to determine where we are in God’s seven-millennium calendar. We are quite certain that man has lost track of time to the extent that our Gregorian Calendar is not accurate. Scholars now acknowledge that the priest who was commissioned by Pope Gregory to make the calendar was off by about four years in his calculation of the time of the birth of Jesus. Even the names of our first eight months have been corrupted by the names of pagan gods and kings. The current thinking is that Jesus’ birth was about 4 BC and that the creation would have been in about 4004 BC. As this is written, we are passing into the year 2001, according to man’s (erroneous) reckoning the beginning of a new millennium. It seems then that we have already passed the 6000-year mark from the creation and that we are now into the seventh millennium, but at what point did we cross over and is it significant?
Michael Rood is a born-again Hebrew scholar who has sought to answer this question. He and a few fellow colleagues sought to return to God’s ancient ways of reckoning time. God spoke to Moses at the time of the Passover in Exodus 12:2 saying, “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.” In Deuteronomy 16:1, we find that this month was named Abib (also referred to as Nisan). The Hebrew meaning of the word Abib refers to a specific point of maturity of the barley fields near Jerusalem. So the month of Abib cannot come and thus the year cannot begin until the barley is at this point of readiness. If I can, I would like to come back later and show how barley is a type of the “first fruits company.” Rood and his companions have also returned to the reckoning of a new month by the sighting of a new moon by two witnesses. Using this method and NASA information (which claims a precise lunar cycle of 29.53059 days) and astronomical projections, he has come to the following conclusions:
The eighth day from creation was Abib 1 (March 26) 4001 BC. Jesus of Nazareth was born of Tishri 15, 3 BC (September 23), at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles in the 3999th year of creation. The Messiah was cut off (i.e., crucified) in the midst of the week, 33 ½ years later at the time of Passover, and precisely fulfilled every detail of the Law to become the perfect Lamb of God.
Rood also projected that Abib 1, 6001 would occur on April 5 or 6, 2000 depending on New Moon sighting and Abib readiness. This much of Mr. Rood’s work and conclusions I believe we can agree with. Mr. Rood’s work can be obtained from New Moon Publishing, PO Box 402, Two Harbors, MN 55616 (tel. 218-834-5200), or at www.6001.com on the Internet. (As of 10/30/2006 this was no longer Michael Rood’s URL, but his information was found at http://www.michaelrood.com/.)
I am satisfied with sufficient evidence that we are now in the seventh day (the seventh millennium). So, why do Christians have a problem believing this? For one thing, we have been fed on erroneous church teaching. We expect that the passage into “the millennium” should immediately manifest the universal reign of Christ (and I believe that there will be a literal manifestation in due course). However, God’s ordering of time has the day beginning ini the evening, and we fail to realize that Adam’s first twelve hours in the seventh day of God’s rest would have been mostly natural darkness without even much of a moon. So when we look at the present spiritual darkness that is waxing stronger, we conclude that we cannot be in the seventh day. What is needed is some teaching on the Biblical reference to “midnight.” I believe that we will see that midnight not only represents the darkest hour spiritually, but that it also represents a significant turning point in the circumstances. We read in Exodus 11:4,
“And Moses said, Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt.”
This was the night of the Passover. This was the final event that turned the tide and persuaded Pharaoh to release God’s people. It was not the end of their labor to enter into the rest, but it marked the point of their deliverance. Read on to Exodus 12:29,
“And it came to pass, that as midnight the Lord smote all the first-born of Egypt….”
In Judges 16, the man Samson, who is a type of the man child (Revelation 12:5), was found in the Philistine city of Gaza in a harlot’s house on a certain night. The men of the city had him surrounded and were waiting for daybreak to kill him.
“And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the tow posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron” (Judges 16:3).
It is unfortunate here that a son of God was found in a worldly place or in a harlot’s house, but at least Samson heard here the call of God found in Revelation 18:4,
“….Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”
Brethren, let us not wait until midnight to flee from the harlot church system. If god intends her judgment at midnight, another minute could be too late.
While it may be true that there are in fact born-again believers (perhaps even “sons of God”) in almost every “church” system, God makes it quite clear that while He loves the individual, the harlot systems are an abomination to Him. I believe the reason God’s children are not hearing the call to “Come out of her…” is because of two main deceptions they believe about her. The first is that they cannot believe that their system or denomination could possibly be a part of spiritual Babylon. The arguments go lie this: “People are getting saved! We are sending out missionaries. We have such a good youth program and my children really enjoy the activity. Our pastor really loves the Lord, etc., etc.” However, our love for her does not change God’s definition of Babylon or His judgment plan for Babylon. If your loyalty and your headship (i.e. your covering) is anyone or anything besides the person of the Lord Jesus Christ (not a representative of Him), then you are involved in something that is a substitute to the true church. Over the past fifteen or twenty years, I have come to understand that Babylon is bigger than I ever thought. Brethren, we cannot be in Babylon and at the same time be in the body of Christ. The Word tells us in Revelation 18:22-23 that when Babylon’s hour of judgment comes, that the “….voice of harpers and musicians and of popers, and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee….And the light of a candle (lamp) shall shine no more at all in thee.” Yes, God acknowledges that there is pleasant music and even some enlightenment in Babylon, but at midnight even that ends.
The second deception that some of God’s children have drunk from the cup of Babylon is, “I need to stay with her so I can change her”; or perhaps, “There are dear ones here who will starve to death if I pull out now.” Le us hear the wisdom of god on this subject from Jeremiah 51:6-9.
“Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul; be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunk; the nations (doesn’t this include denominations here?) have drunk of her wine; therefore, the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed; wail for her; take balm for her pain; if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed; forsake her, and let us go every one to his own country; for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.”
Brethren, you can neither change nor can you heal the system. You may be able to give some life to the beast, but you cannot cure her of her bestial nature. There are many voices among church leaders that are being heard in this hour that are trying to find a way to unite the community of believers as one and to eliminate the things that keep them apart. However, if we simply distance ourselves from every trait of Babylon and then hide ourselves “under the shadow of the almighty” (in the fulness of truth – He is the truth) are we not then one in Christ?
There are other pictures of midnight in the Word. In Ruth 3:8, it was at midnight that Boaz (a type of Christ) was stirred and found Ruth (a type of the bride of Christ) at his feet. It was there and at that hour that she desired and obtained the covering of his mantle. Here she was blessed for her faithfulness and for not following after other young men (loves). From here Boaz made hast to claim her as his bride.
In Judges 7:19, it was “in the beginning of the middle watch” of the night that Gideon began his victory march with his company of 300 men, who are a picture of the overcomers. He had previously gone down into the camp at night and overheard a Midianite soldier telling his friend a dream that he had had. In the dream, the man saw a “cake of barley bread” (a type of the firstfruits overcomers) roll down into their camp and flatten one of the tents. His companion interpreted the dream to mean that this was the “sword of Gideon” (the sword of the Word of God in the hand and by the mouth of Gideon) that was coming to defeat them, for God had delivered the Midianites and all the host into the hand of His servant Gideon.
My final reference in the Word concerning midnight is found in the parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins in Matthew 25. The arrival of that hour found most of the church asleep, with the exception of the watchman.
“And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him” (Verse 6).
It is my belief that we are fast approaching the midnight hour and at that point in time we had best be found with our lamp (spirit) (Ref. Proverbs 20:27) burning brightly and our vessel (soul) (Ref. 2 Timothy 2:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:4; Luke 21:19) filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit. At this hour, it will be determined if we are wise or foolish, because this will be that which separates the bride from the other daughters of Jerusalem (See Song of Solomon 5:8, 16,). This distinction will last throughout the tribulation and will determine those who will reign (be joined as one) with Him. It is for this reason that we write as such in this hour. The door is still open for “whosoever will” but as in the days of Noah there comes a time when God shuts the door. Now, a door has two sides: those on the inside are shut in, whereas those on the outside are shut out; and these foolish virgins in Matthew 25 had neither the power nor the protection in this time of tribulation.
Brethren, I want to make this point very clear. I believe the evidence is abundantly clear that at the time of the greatest spiritual darkness on this earth, even a time of “gross darkness upon the people” (Isaiah 60:2), a time that we will call midnight, that this at the same time will be the time when the “thief in the night” coming of Christ will be manifest in the sons of God who are watching and ready for such an hour. We are not talking about a matter of some kind of mechanical preparation, or the following of heart in response to His dealing with us. This takes time and is costly, and this is the price that the wise virgins paid to be found prepared at that hour.
So thos who have been brought up on the average end-time church leaven have been led to believe several wrong and unscriptural things about the tribulation. The first is that no born-again believer will ever have to experience or witness such a thing (i.e. they teach pre-tribulation rapture); and the second is that the tribulation is a thing that will last seven years. The first issue is not the subject of this article, but I can tell you that you can find the truth laid out clearly in Matthew 24 and 25, and that it is in perfect agreement with the rest of the Word.
The length of the tribulation is something that I believe we can settle in this discourse. Let us return again to where we left off in Daniel 9:24. This vers3e laid out a seventy-week (490 years) period of time in which God would accomplish certain things. The next two verses tell that sixty-nine (a combination of seven and sixty-two) weeks would transpire up to the coming of the Messiah (the Christ), and that the Messiah would be cut off. This means that there is one more week (seven years) to be accounted for.
“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. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: 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” (Daniel 24:25-26).
Now let us read the first half of the next verse, Verse 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 oblation to cease….”
This sentence is probably one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible. The word “he” does not refer to the antichrist but refers to the subject in the previous verse, which is the Messiah. Secondly, only God can make and confirm a covenant with us, not the devil, or his agent. Thirdly, after 3 ½ years of ministry confirming god’s covenant to us), Jesus the Messiah was cut off in crucifixion and became the last and final sacrifice that the Father would ever accept.
“But this man (Jesus Christ), after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12).
So, from God’s point of view, any further sacrifice that men would attempt to carry out would become an abomination bringing desolation. This is exactly what happened to natural Jerusalem approximately forty years later (a 3 ½ year siege from 67-70 AD under the Roman general, Titus).
So this seventieth week of Daniel is where the churches get the doctrine of a seven-year period of tribulation. However, as we can see, one half of that seventieth week (3 ½ years) has already been fulfilled by Jesus Christ, so that leaves one half of a week to go. Let us turn to the Word of god to see what is actually said about this period of time. Let us read Daniel 7:25.
“And he (the horn among the ten that overthrew three other leaders) shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change the times and laws; and they (the saints) shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time (3 ½ years).”
The angel spoke again to Daniel in Chapter 12, Verse 1,
“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who standeth for thy people (Not just Jews, but all of god’s people), and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time…..”
The angel then speaks of the resurrections of the righteous and the ungodly. Then two others join the angel as we read in Verses 6 and 7:
“And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swore by him who liveth forever, that is shall be for a time, times and an half (3 ½ years)….”
The angel then tells Daniel that this word is to be sealed up and that the understanding will only be given at “the time of the end.” This is speaking of our time!
Since The Book of Revelation is the New Testament complement to The Book of Daniel for end-time understanding, let us turn there now. Let us begin reading in Chapter 11, Verse 1,
“……Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar (the golden altar of incense), and them that worship in it, But the court which is outside the temple, leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles (the nations of the world, probably the UN), and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months (3 ½ years) clothed in sackcloth.”
Now turn to Revelation 12, Verses 5-6,
“And she (the wise virgin woman church) brought forth a man child (the overcoming church), who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron (See Revelation 2:26-27); and her child was caught up unto God and to his throne (to a place of power and authority). And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score days (3 ½ years).”
Then again, in Verse 14,
“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, unto her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time (3 ½ years), from the face of the serpent.”
The Bible then, clearly speaks of an unprecedented time of great tribulation, which is 3 ½ years in length. To make that into 7 years is twisting the Word to make it fit one’s own doctrine. The Bible does not speak of two consecutive 3 ½ year periods of time.
As it does concern this time period, let us take one more witness from the Bible regarding the prophecy about the coming of Elijah. Malachi 4:5 says,
“Behold, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.”
In Matthew 17 and Mark 9, Jesus told his disciples that Elijah (Elias) would come before the day of the Lord. He also told them that John the Baptist was a spiritual Elijah. Surely the Elijah that is to come will be another spiritual Elijah in the fullest measure (an Elijah company of overcomers). Jesus explained in Matthew 11:11 that John the Baptist (the natural man) was the greatest of those born to a woman, but that the least in the kingdom of God is considered even greater than John. We can be part of that Elijah company!
Luke 4:25 speaks of a time period in which the natural historical Elijah ministered,
“But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land.”
James 5:17 also speaks of this time.
“Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not upon the earth by the space of three years and six months.”
We see that the Elijah company that will be manifest will move in the same authority, the same anointing, and the same 3 ½ year time span.
We know that numbers carry certain spiritual meanings. When we study the subject of trial, testing, tribulation, and judgment, we find the number forty associated with it. Genesis 7:12 speaks of the flood of Noah,
“And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.”
And again, Verse 17 says,
And the flood was forty days upon the earth……”
After his baptism by John, it says that Jesus was “…..led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted (tested) by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights he was afterward hungry” (Matthew 4:1-2).
Also, in Exodus 34:28a, it says that Moses went up in the mountain to be with God and receive the Ten Commandments,
“And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water.”
I remember reading a while back that there is the record in an ancient Hebrew book known as the Book of Jubilees and that Moses’ time on Mount Sinai marked the 50th Jubilee from creation (50 X 50 = 2,500 years). Moses’ entire life was divided into three forty-year periods. The first forty years he lived as an Egyptian. The second forty years he spent on the backside of the desert serving a murder sentence that God had given him. So he died on Mount Nebo at Israel’s last wilderness encampment at the age of 120 (3 X 40 = three periods of forty). Now, the number “3” speaks of divine perfection and “40” speaks of testing and tribulation. According to Romans 5:3-5 and James 1:2-4, this kind of tribulation brings us into God’s perfection through patience, as God had done so with Moses.
When the Lord spoke to Noah about the building of the ark and how long it was to take him to do so, He said in Genesis 6:3,
“…My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall e an hundred and twenty years.”
After that time, God brought judgment on all flesh. Jesus said in Matthew 24:37,
“But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
We could also recall from Acts 1:15 that there were 120 gathered in the upper room (a type of first fruits people) waiting for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. If Michael Rood is correct, the year 2000 could mark the passing into God’s 120th Jubilee from creation.
Before I come back to Israel’s forty-year experience with Moses in the wilderness, let us look at several other examples.
Judges 13:1 reports that, “…..Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years,” after which God sent Samson to begin their deliverance.
Again, in 1 Samuel 17:16, Goliath, the Philistine giant, taunted Israel forty days before David the overcomer came and wrought a deliverance, which the stubborn and rebellious king Saul was unable to accomplish.
The Lord also spoke to Ezekiel in Ezekiel 4:6-7,
“…lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days; I have appointed thee each day for a year. Therefore, thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem…”
How many years has the church in America been unfaithful to god in failing to carry the torch of the testimony?
Jonah cried out in Jonah 3:4, “Yet forty days, and Ninevah shall be overthrown.” They responded god’s way in their forty-day trial by repenting.
I realize that the number forty appears in the Bible where it does not refer to tribulation. I also realize that there are times of trial and judgment in the Word that are not associated with the number forty. However, I believe that the above sample is ample.
Now let us return to Israel’s time in the wilderness. The crucial test is reported in Numbers 13 where Israel was camped at Kadeshbarnea and Moses sent the twelve spies into the Promised Land. As a result of Israel’s murmuring and unbelief in listening to an “evil report,’ THE Lord sentenced them as recorded in Numbers 14:31-34:
“But your little ones, whom ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in the wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms (harlotries), until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.”
So, what actually happened? Did they serve the full forty-year sentence? I had always believed they did so until I looked carefully into the matter. The Lord Jesus in speaking about the end-time tribulation period says in Matthew 24:21-22,
“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should mo flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”
god is going to reduce the appointed time for us. did he do so for Israel? Deuteronomy 2:14 indicates that he did;
“And the period in which we came from Kadeshbarnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and eight years, until all the generation of the men of war were perished from among the host, as the Lord swore unto them.”
The crossing of the brook Zered was a significant event. It flows from the east into the lower (southern) end of the Dead Sea. It marks the boundary between Midian and Moab. They crossed from here out of the wilderness into the Plains of Moab and then moved quite rapidly toward the final camp east of the Jordan River. It is from this point on that we see Israel shifting from defensive warfare to an offensive posture at the instruction of God: e.g., the battle and victory over the Amorite kings (Numbers 21, and Deuteronomy 2:24). It seems that God shortened the sentence for them, giving them credit for the two years of time after leaving Egypt and crossing the Red Sea that they spent at Mt. Sinai and those places before the first visit to Kadeshbarnea.
Another significant clue is found in Numbers, Chapter 33. Here you can count exactly thirty-eight camps from the crossing of the Red Sea to the crossing of the Jordan river and into the land of promise (Yes, I know they also camped in Egypt before crossing the Red Sea). Now in comparing this chapter with other accounts of their travels, it seems that God had a specific (perhaps hidden) purpose in listing exactly thirty-eight here. There were actually more than thirty-eight stops. For example, Kadeshbarnea (the place where Miriam died) is counted here as the 29th camp; and is followed by Mount Hor where Aaron died. It seems the first visit to Kadeshbarnea was not listed here, but apparently took place between the tenth encampment, Hazeroth, and the eleventh, Ritmah.
There should be yet another scriptural witness of the number thirty-eight before we attach much significance to it. That would be found in the New Testament in John 5:5 where Jesus met an impotent man at the pool of Bethesda, who had been in this condition of personal tribulation for “thirty-eight years.” Jesus healed the man immediately by telling him to ”Rise, take up thy bed and walk.” It might be of interest to note that the release from this infirmity took place on the sabbath, the seventh day. Since we have passed into God’s seventh millennium, can we not also expect to see our release from impotence and all bondage to darkness? So we see that forty is the number of tribulation, but God can also be merciful and shorten it to thirty-eight.
I want to finish this worked by seeing what God is saying to his servants about time and the tribulation of these last days. In the last six months I have become aware of a number of witnesses which have come to light and which seem to be saying nearly the same thing. As well as I can discern they are independent revelations that are not made in concert or collaboration. The first witness is that of Brother Cecil duCille. It was in the spring of 1970, at about the time of Passover, that he had a revelation from the Lord. The word of the Lord came to him where a piece of paper was put before him. When he attempted to read what was written, he was not able. It was removed from him and he was told that this was already past and that he did not need to know it. Another sheet of paper was put before him upon which two lines were written at the top, and he was told “This is the tribulation.” As Brother duCille shared in his first book, The Pattern, he first concluded (according to traditional church teaching) that what God was showing him then was the beginning of the seven-year tribulation. However, as we have seen in this writing, we cannot find a scriptural basis for such a doctrine. Now if 1970 were the beginning of a forty-year period of tribulation, and two years were already past (or were cut off), that then would conclude the forty year span in the year 2008 (perhaps at Passover). Now, we must remember that the “clock” of Daniel’s 70th week has been stopped for nearly two millenniums, with the last half of the week (3 ½ years) yet to be fulfilled. If this 3 ½ year period is to be the last 3 ½ years of the thirty-eight year tribulation period, then the “clock” would have to begin running again in the fall of the year 2004 (Which would be the time of the Feast of Weeks, the seventh month of God’s calendar?).
Now brethren, we are well aware of Matthew 24:36, “but of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” Now the purpose of this word is not to predict the day or the hour, but let us not overlook Verses 32 and 33 in this same chapter, in which it does say that we are expected to discern the season of the fulfillment of these things:
“Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.”
Luke also wrote in 21:29-36,
“And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”
In both of these passages, the Lord mentions the passing of natural seasons as He was admonishing us to be aware of the signs of His coming.
The second witness, I have already introduced. Michael Rood, in The Feasts of the Lord, has projected that the conclusion of the tribulation and the beginning of the reign of Messiah will be at the time of the Feast of Trumpets (also Tabernacles) in the fall of 2007. (Notice that this is ½ year earlier than that of the first witness, Brother duCille.) This would also mean that the last 3 ½ years would begin in the spring of 2004, at which time he projects that the “Anti-Messiah” will be revealed.
So far, this is not much difference. There are, however, a few differences that we have with some of Mr. Rood’s other conclusions. It seems that he believes that the full 70th week of Daniel is yet to be fulfilled. He also believes that a literal temple shall be built and sacrifices begun in early 2001 on the Temple Mount of Old Jerusalem, with the antichrist then causing the sacrifice to cease in the midst of the week. We should point out that the events which Rood projected to occur in the fall of 2000 (e.g., the war and subsequent destruction of Gog and Magog, which would have cleared the way for this temple construction) did not occur as predicted. It is clearly easier for man to see the past than the future.
The third witness comes to us second hand from our good friend and brother, Bill Mercer from Saint Catherine’s, Scotland. The Mercers made a trip recently to Israel. In the course of this trip, Brother Mercer made the acquaintance of a rather important and also meek and God-fearing rabbi. Brother Mercer was told that the Hebrew rabbis have long believed that the 1967 war marked the beginning of a forty year period of tribulation, which would then culminate in the Messiah’s reign in 2007. The rabbi also said that he and a number of his colleagues also believe the doctrine that a remnant of Israel will be saved, and are indeed waiting for the manifestation of this salvation.
The fourth witness is a man named Ken Peters, who has appeared several times on The Prophecy Club. We have recently viewed his video and listened to his audio tapes entitled, I Saw the Tribulation. In his testimony, he tells of a vivid all-night dream that he had twenty years ago when he was still a sinner in the world and also a practicing Roman Catholic. The dream drove him to the acceptance of Jesus Christ as his personal savior. In the course of time, the Lord began to lead him into a prophetic ministry. Near the conclusion of his testimony, he states that God has given America until the end of 2003 to repent, and if not, then the door to some of the last terrible events of the tribulation seen in the dream could be opened the following year. (If the last part of the tribulation is 3 ½ years in length, then this scenario would also put the coming of the Lord sometime around the time of 2007.)
Brethren, I believe that the first call of repentance should be to the church. If the church will not repent, how can we expect the world to do so? We understand that 2004 will bring another presidential election. We can only ask, “Has the Lord given us yet these few more years for the watchmen to cry for repentance and to warn of the coming of midnight?” Do we have yet these few years for the Lamb’s wife to make herself ready?
The fifth witness that I will cite here is Bob Colver, publisher of The Nehemiah Letter. We do not know Mr. Colver personally nor have we had the opportunity to have contact with him or to very much more about his doctrines and belief. We are speaking here only of his article “Jubilee 1998” (which is found at www.reapernet.com/nehemiah/jubilee.1998.html on the Internet) and his conclusions in this article with regards to time. This publication clearly states that it may be copi8ed or freely given. We understand that some of these findings are based upon a vision or visions that he has had. He believes that the facts obtained by the Israeli computer team working on the Bible code to be accurate, and used of God in recent times in the work of deciphering the hidden meanings of time associated with the book of Daniel. His conclusions are similar but not precisely the same as Michael Rood. For example, Rood believes the baptism of Jesus by John took place on Shevat 19 (February by our calendar), 27 AD. Whereas, Colver sees this as having happened on the 29th of Ellul (late September, which is when Rood has demonstrated was the time of His birth), and that He then began His forty day fast at sundown the 1st of Tishri, 27 AD, the beginning of the Feast of Trumpets. Rood also points out in his Biblical Hebrew Calendar that this date begins the forty days of repentance. I find Colver’s date more consistent with a Messianic 3 ½ year ministry concluding with Passover. Colver also differs with rood’s belief that the 70th week of Daniel ahs already been fulfilled; he places the first 3 ½ half years of the week in Christ’s ministry, but he gives no satisfactory accounting for the last half of the week. He does, however, believe that a prophetic seven-year period will conclude in 2007. (November 1, 2006 unable to find the above URL.)
Here are more of Mr. Colver’s conclusions: As per Daniel 12:11, there are exactly 1290 days from the beginning of Christ’s ministry until the day He was laid in the grave after sunset on Friday. The Feast of Trumpets 27 AD is 1335 days (an additional 45 days) to the day of Pentecost 31 AD. (These numbers [1290 + 45 = 1335] are spoken of in Daniel 12:11-12.) The Messiah was cut off in the midst of the 70th week, at which time the veil was rent, and the sacrifice and offerings ceased. He points out that it will be 400 years from the time of the first Christian settlers in America (Jamestown 1607) to the year 2007. We should not then that in Acts 7:6 Stephen reminded the people that God had spoken to Abraham, “That his seed would sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.” Clover claims that the Lord also showed him two other prophetic parallels of 490 years: the first from Noah’s Ark to Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac; the second from Martin Luther’s 95 Thesis in 1517 to the year 2007.
The year 1517 is not a year to be taken lightly. While we know that God was moving before that time, this is the year considered by historians to be the year that began the Protestant Reformation. This, however, does mark the time that a serious blow was struck against Roman Catholicism, a.k.a. the Mother of Harlots, the kingpin in the religious system of Babylon. It is sad to see now that the head of the Lutheran church has now signed an agreement with the Roman Pope, which in effect states that Martin Luther made a big mistake and they would like to rectify it. If Luther made a mistake, it was that he did not distance himself far enough from Rome. Other churches, however, came along who did do so, only to find now that with the modern ecumenical trend that they too want to go back to the harlot’s bed. This is especially true of the big “movers and shakers,” with Billy Graham being one of the major trendsetters. Brethren, why is it so necessary for the popular and influential television evangelists to have a private audience with the Roman pope? When a man comes into his presence, he is required to bow, doing obeisance; and to kiss his ring. This means that they are recognizing the Pope as the head of the church instead of Christ, clearly violating the commandment of Jesus Christ to “….call no man your Father” (Matthew 23:9). I do not know if we can see a greater falling away or a greater abomination of the church than we see with this current trend of gathering the churches together as one in preparation for a one-world church order. This is not a oneness under the headship of Jesus Christ, nor is it life by the power of the Holy Spirit!
Let me finish Colver with one more of his beliefs. Instead of the popular “rapture” theory, he sees a Daniel, Chapter 3, experience for the church, i.e., a purification by fire. He also believes that “God has revealed the present day truth through His prophetic movement and is exposing the false model of prophecy teachers, ‘Rapture,’ ‘Antichrist’ ‘Tribulation,’ and ‘New Temple’.”
In conclusion, we see considerable agreement and credibility in these witnesses that are pointing to the time around the year 2007 as one of great prophetic significance, quite possibly the finality of a forty year (or 38 year, depending on how it starts) tribulation. The Scriptures are quite clear that there will be an unprecedented 3 ½ year tribulation, to be immediately followed by the return of Jesus Christ and the great gathering together of His “…elect (the saints) from the four winds (of the earth), and from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 224:29-31). Since the fall Feast of Trumpets is also associated with the “Feast of Ingathering,” it could well be a fitting conclusion time for the end of tribulation, the fullness of man’s time, and the beginning of the manifestation of the seventh day” of God’s rest for this earth. For this to finish a 3 ½ year period, it would have to begin at about the time of Passover (i.e.2004), for Jesus was crucified for us in the time of Passover, and this we believe was when the “clock” of Daniel’s seventy weeks stopped, mid-way through the 70th week. This last 3 ½ years is then reserved for the overcoming sons of God to arise in the power of God and take their place in the last great end time battle for the salvation of this earth, under the headship of our mighty Captain and King, the Lord of Hosts, Jesus Christ.
Sonlight Devotional 