The Rapture And The Prophecy of Daniel's 70 Weeks
The prophecy of Daniel's 70 weeks is the one most persuasive passage that shows that the Rapture takes place BEFORE the Tribulation. This prophecy of Daniel tells what the PURPOSE is for the last seven years. If you understand the PURPOSE, then the rest will make sense. “Seventy weeks are decreed upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." Daniel 9:24 "Seventy weeks are decreed upon your people…" What does the passage mean by "Weeks?" In the Hebrew, the word is "shavua" and is a period of seven in the same sense that in English a decade is a period of ten. This passage is speaking of seventy periods of seven years. Seventy periods of seven equals 490 years which were decreed "upon your people" and "your holy city." All but the last seven have been fulfilled, and that last period of seven is what is referred to as "Daniel's 70th week." It is a period of seven years decreed upon the Jews, upon Israel, and upon Jerusalem, and it is to take place in the last seven years of this age. Jesus Christ referred to it as the Tribulation, (Matthew 24). Upon whom is the last seven years determined? This is the defining question. . It's determined "upon YOUR people," which is the Jews. . It's determined "upon YOUR holy city," which is Jerusalem. The purpose of that last seven year period is twofold: 1. It's "the time of Jacob's trouble" in which God will be dealing with the Jewish people. It is not two half-weeks that are "determined" upon Israel and Jerusalem, but one period of 7 years according to Daniel 9:24. 2. It's the outpouring of the wrath of God which will fall upon the whole world against the wicked. The wrath of God is NOT upon the church. "For GOD DID NOT APPOINT US (THE CHURCH) TO WRATH, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ..." 1 Thessalonians 5:9 The events of the period revolve around Israel, The Temple, Jerusalem, the Two Witnesses, and the 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel ...not around the Church. The church was not present during the first 69 weeks, and is not present in the last week. The church conspicuously missing: The first three chapters of the Book of Revelation are ALL ABOUT THE CHURCH, where Christ is seen walking among them and sending messages to seven different churches. And then abruptly - after Revelation 4:1 - there is no more mention of the church until the end and the subject changes to the Tribulation. The church is conspicuously missing from chapter 4:1 when a door is opened, and a voice from heaven says "come up here." "After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place AFTER this.” Revelation 4:1 The Tribulation takes place AFTER the church age. The church was a mystery hidden in the Old Testament. The church age was a HIDDEN MYSTERY not revealed to the prophets of the Old Testament. It has to be removed before Israel's story begins again in the last 7 years. Paul was given the task of revealing this MYSTERY to believers. "I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of his body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, THE MYSTERY WHICH HAS BEEN HIDDEN from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to his saints." Colossians 1:24-26 The church age began suddenly and unexpectedly on Pentecost, and ends suddenly and unexpectedly, at the Rapture, before the events of the 70th week begin. THEN, after the Rapture, the Tribulation begins. Isaiah 26 Shows The Rapture Taking Place Before The Judgments: First the resurrection: "Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." Isaiah 26:19 Then a hiding away: vs 20: "Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, UNTIL the indignation is past." Then the judgments: vs 21: "For behold, the Lord comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth will also disclose her blood, and will no more cover her slain."
The Rapture is Not Post-Trib
The post-tribulation view requires that the church be present during the 70th week of Daniel, even though it was absent from the first 69. The Tribulation is not purposed upon the church, it's purposed on Israel.
Not Pre-Wrath
The pre-wrath view requires the church to be present during the first part of the 70th week, which indicates a misunderstanding of the purpose and continuity of the 70 weeks. It also suggests that the first half of the week will be relatively calm. No, as soon as "the Lamb" opens the seals (Revelation 6) THE WRATH OF GOD begins, and is anything but calm.
Here is the entire 70th Week passage in Daniel, chapter 9:
24: Seventy weeks are determined upon your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.
25: Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.
26: And after the sixty-two weeks MESSIAH SHALL BE CUT OFF (the crucifixion of Jesus Christ) but not for himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; the end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined.
The destruction of Jerusalem took place in 70 AD. That was the end of the 69th "week."
The MYSTERY of the church age is parenthetical. It began on Pentecost after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and ends with the Rapture before the beginning of the Tribulation. Then the story goes back to Israel.
The 70th week begins when the Antichrist confirms a seven-year covenant:
27: Then he (the Antichrist) shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering; and on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.
Only born-again believers in Jesus Christ will be taken by him in the Rapture. False "Christians" will not be taken, as shown in the "seven wise and seven foolish virgins" passage in Matthew 25 1:13.
The day after the Rapture there will be many churches remaining. Make sure of your position with Jesus Christ lest you be in one of them.
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The Rapture