The Tribulation, Part 2- Revelation 20, Daniel 9, and Matthew 24

up to the book of Daniel chapter nine.

We'll be there for just a second.

Daniel chapter nine.

And you'll remember where we were last week.

If you missed last week, you're gonna need to go

on our website and watch that because

we had a very complicated chart up here

but I've already erased it.

So you can find that chart online.

But we were basically talking about how the next thing

in the eschatological timeline,

according to dispensationalism, was the tribulation.

And we said that there's this idea

of the seven year tribulation and that came

from the book of, church?

Daniel, right?

Daniel chapter nine.

And we learned about these 70 weeks

that aren't really weeks, it's just seven periods of time.

And so we went through that entire complicated timeline

of what they said is gonna happen

and then we offered some critiques about maybe

why that doesn't line up the best.

But it is at least one interpretation.

So at the end of last week though,

you'll remember I was saying maybe there's a better approach

or at least an alternative approach, right?

We were saying, well, what if rather than

interpreting these 70 weeks chronologically,

they're meant to be interpreted theologically.

And what did we talk about the theological significance

of the 70 and the seven and this time of renewal

and fulfillment, anybody remember what it was?

The jubilee, right?

And we were saying that there's this time of the jubilee

where slaves were freed and people's properties

was restored and it became this symbol

of the Lord's ultimate redemption that was to come

in the Messiah.

And then we saw when the Messiah did come

and he starts reading in the temple,

he just happened, just happened to open up to Isaiah

and read the passage about pronouncing the year

the Lord's favor, which we said was actually

a reference to what?

The jubilee.

And so Jesus was saying that the year

the Lord's jubilee or the time of the Lord's jubilee

has come with him.

He's going to free the captives.

He's going to deliver us from sin.

He's going to bring in the abundance of blessing

and that this timeline was actually

pointing to that fulfillment.

And so I said, OK, well, let's just chart this out

in an easier way.

So if you have your chart, your timeline, here's what we'll do.

We'll plot some points on it real quick

and then we're going to say, OK, does this mesh with scripture?

And then we're going to go to another fun book of the Bible

and a very easy passage to look at there.

So if we're looking at this timeline

and we say this whole thing represents the 70 weeks,

it would start with the decree of Cyrus.

You remember we talked about that last week.

So the decree of Cyrus and that took place in 538.

He was the one who issued this decree that

was said that the Jews could leave and they could go rebuild

the city of Jerusalem and the temple specifically

and how the two go together.

So decree of Cyrus and then you've got the 69 weeks that

passed according to Daniel chapter 9.

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

And then you come to this very interesting point here.

69 weeks end with the baptism of Jesus.

We'll get into that in a second.

We're just plotting points right now, OK?

So stick with me.

All right, next up, you've got, what do you think

the cross represents?

Yeah, yeah, death of Jesus.

OK, that was the give me, folks.

We're going to have a rough night.

So death of Jesus we have here.

And then this whole, you've got this little section here.

This is going to represent the first half of the 70th week.

Because you remember it talks about after 69 weeks,

there's one week left, the 70th week.

But that week was split in half.

So you have that.

This whole thing here represents the 70th week.

And then right here, this midpoint kind of,

it's not really a midpoint, but I just plotted it there,

is the year AD 70.

Come back to that.

Then you've got the second half of the 70th week.

And then what do you think happens here at the very end?

Jesus, come back.

That's right, yeah.

Come Lord Jesus, come quickly.

Jesus comes back, running out of room.

OK, so it looks like we plotted a lot of stuff there.

But honestly, that's far less complicated than last week.

Can we all agree on that?

It's pretty easy, pretty straightforward.

You've got this basic timeline of events

that are going to happen.

So this comes to the question.

Our first question we should be asking tonight.

And I guess I shouldn't have closed my marker, but I did.

Why, if we're thinking 69 weeks, 70th week begins somewhere,

why would it begin with the baptism of Jesus?

Anybody have any ideas?

Do you remember, I put them on there just in case you forgot,

do you remember what one of the purposes of the 70 weeks was?

There's something there that should pop out at you.

To anoint a most holy place.

Now, do you remember we saw that in Daniel chapter 9?

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

It was one of the first things it said at the very end

of verse 24.

It said, into anoint a most holy place.

Now, we said last week that dispensationalists would look at

that and they'd say, well, that could either refer to the future

anointing of a future temple or possibly the city of Jerusalem

itself.

People vary within that scheme.

So give or take.

But here's the question.

Did anyone ever anoint a temple throughout the entire Old

Testament?

There's not a single place in scripture where the temple was

ever anointed.

Could still be Jerusalem.

And most of your Bibles, if you open up to Daniel chapter 9,

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

look at the very end of verse 24, does almost everybody have

to anoint a most holy place?

What do you have?

You got something?

It just says a most holy.

Anybody else have a most holy?

OK, who else has a most holy place?

Anybody have a most holy place?

Yeah, we've got a couple here.

All right, perfect.

So it doesn't refer to a place at all.

It's actually in the Hebrew, which I mean, I don't even need

to say it because you can just read it.

But this is Kodeshim Kodesh, which Joseph means of?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Holies of holy.

But Alex did it backwards so we could fit it here.

So a holy of holies.

What it actually says, if you're looking on your sheet there,

you can put holy of holies to anoint a most holy of holies.

Now, this is very significant throughout the Bible, right?

Do you remember what the purpose of the holy of holies was?

Yeah, most sacred place in the temple.

It was the place where only the high priests could go,

even only one time a year.

And it was the place where God was said to meet with man.

It was the one place where God met with man was in the holy of

holies, right?

Well, I want to submit to you that Jesus is the true holy of

holies.

Now, why would I say that?

Well, do you remember what happened when Jesus died on the

cross and he breathed his last?

Something interesting happened in the temple.

Anybody remember?

The veil tore.

What that veil, what did it cover?

Holy of holies.

Block the entrance.

There's a whole theological significance there, right?

Saying that the way that was previously blocked to God has

been removed and a way has been made where there wasn't a way

and the way had been made through Jesus.

And actually, if you go and read Hebrews chapter 9, verses 11

Hebrews 9:11–28

through 28, which we won't read, it talks about how Jesus

through his flesh becomes the new holy of holies for us,

where we meet with God through Jesus.

And Jesus was anointed.

Where was he anointed?

As baptism.

What happened to his baptism?

He said it.

The Holy Spirit descended as a dove.

The book of Acts in Acts chapter 10, verse 38 says that

Acts 10:38

Jesus was anointed by God with the holy spirit and with power.

This happened that as baptism, when the holy spirit of God

ascended as a dove on Jesus anointing him.

So Jesus is the true holy of holies.

He is the anointed one who accomplishes all the six

purposes of the 70 weeks.

And I want to show you that as well, because if you just look

through Daniel 9, Jesus is going to fulfill all of these.

I mean, even in verse 26, it says that this person was cut

off from his people through his death.

Who does that sound like?

Jesus.

But think about all these purposes of the 70 weeks.

It says to finish transgression, to put an end to sin,

to atone for iniquity.

Did Jesus do that?

Of course he did.

His death on the cross.

I hope he did.

Otherwise, we're all believing in vain.

We have no hope at all.

Of course he did.

He finished transgression.

He put an end to sin.

He atoned for our iniquities through his sacrificial death

on the cross.

Well, what about number four?

Did he bring in everlasting righteousness?

Yeah, the Bible says, through his perfect obedience

and his life of obedience, he is righteous.

And his righteousness is reckoned to us forever

through faith.

So do you, Christian, have an everlasting righteousness?

Of course you do.

Did you earn it?

No.

It comes through Christ, through faith in Christ.

So there's everlasting righteousness.

He was anointed.

But that leaves number five.

Right?

What about number five?

To seal vision and prophet.

What does that mean?

Yes, the final revelation.

It means to bring revelation from God to completion.

You know what we read in Hebrews chapter one, verses one

through three?

Long ago, at many times and in many ways,

God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

But, and that's very significant,

but in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son.

Finally, fully, complete, period, stop.

That's it.

There is no more revelation to come.

Jesus is the final and full revelation from God.

So in other words, we don't need to be looking and waiting

for more revelation to come.

We don't need to be waiting for some prophet to arise

to start telling us things from God.

We have the Bible, which is the story of the Son of God.

Jesus said, the entire scriptures speak of me.

So you don't need visions.

You don't need new revelation.

Jesus is sufficient.

He put an end to the revelation and it is sealed.

And so he's the full and final revelation from God.

So I want you to see that Jesus fulfills all six

of these purposes of the 70 weeks in his life and ministry.

And it began, this 70th week began in his baptism

when he was anointed by the Spirit of God.

And so we would say then, potentially,

this alternative interpretation would say that this 70th week

lasts from the entire time between Jesus' baptism

to Jesus' second coming.

And then that gets into a couple other things

because there's some interesting things here in Daniel, right?

Like, I mean, do you remember the part about where it says

there's a prince who was to come?

We haven't talked about that yet.

Who's this prince that is to come?

Who's going to destroy the city and the sanctuary?

Who brings war and desolations?

Because if you remember last week,

the dispensationalist explanation was that the prince

to come was the anti-Christ.

And he was going to make a covenant with the Jewish people.

And then after a time, he's going to break that covenant.

And then there's going to be a war and desolation.

Here's my question.

Is that how Jesus interpreted Daniel's vision?

That should be significant for us, right?

It matters what Jesus thinks of the scriptures

because he inspired the scriptures.

They're about him.

So my question is, is that interpretation

how Jesus understood Daniel to be referring to here?

And for that, we need to go to chapter.

My man, Matthew 24.

How to mouth that last little bit for him, but he got it.

So turn to Matthew 24.

If you have your Bibles there, we're

jumping into some very interesting things.

Matthew 24.

And there's a lot to read here and consider.

But I think it's good that we hear it all together.

I'm not going to read the whole chapter,

but I just want to read starting in verse 1.

So Matthew chapter 24, if you have your Bibles there,

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

we're going to need to go through some of this together.

It says, Jesus left the temple and was going away.

When his disciples came to point out to him

the buildings of the temple, but he answered them,

you see all these?

Do you not?

Truly I say to you, there will not be left here one stone

upon another that will not be thrown down.

What's he referring to there?

The temple.

They're looking at the temple, talking about the temple.

He says, temple's going.

It's going away.

And as he sat on the Mount of Olives,

the disciples came to him privately saying,

tell us when these things will be.

What things?

What did we just talk about?

This is immediately falling.

What were they just talking about?

The destruction of the temple.

And the question is, when will these things

be, the destruction of the temple?

OK, got it.

And what will be the sign of your coming

and of the end of the age?

So these are their questions they have for Jesus.

And Jesus answered them, see that no one leads you astray.

He's going to clarify some stuff.

For many will come in my name saying, I'm the Christ.

And they will lead many astray.

And you'll hear of wars and rumors of wars.

See that you are not alarmed.

For this must take place, but the end is not yet.

For nation will rise against nation and kingdom

against kingdom.

And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

All these things are but the beginning of the birth pains.

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation

and put you to death.

And you'll be hated by all nations for my namesake.

And then many will fall away and betray one another

and hate one another.

And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.

And because lawlessness will be increased,

the love of many will grow cold.

But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

And this gospel of the kingdom will

be proclaimed throughout the whole world

as a testimony to all nations.

And then the end will come.

So when you see the abomination of desolation

spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place,

let the reader understand.

OK, so Paul's, let the reader understand.

Do we understand?

Are we tracking?

OK, he's starting here in verse 15.

When you see the abomination of desolation,

Daniel was talking about desolation

that was going to come to the temple

and to the city of Jerusalem.

Remember, he's praying that these things would be restored.

And God was saying, yeah, all this kind of stuff

is going to happen in time.

But understand that after a while, during this 70th week,

there's going to be a time that's not going to be so fun

for the temple and for the people of Israel and for Jerusalem,

that there's going to be wars and desolations

and apprentices coming who's going to lead the charge on them

all.

That's what Daniel prophesied.

And Jesus is saying now, when you see that taking place

that Daniel talked about, so something happening in Jerusalem

and to the temple, and to the Jewish people,

and believers in Yahweh, he says, when you see that,

understand what's about to go down.

Then those who are left in Judea will flee to the mountains.

Let the one who is on the housetop not go down

to take what is in his house.

And let the one who is in the field not turn back to take

his cloak.

And alas, for women who are pregnant

and for those who are nursing infants in those days,

pray that your flight might not be in winter or on a Sabbath.

For then there will be a great tribulation,

such as has not been seen from the beginning of the world

until now.

No, it never will be again.

And if those days had not been cut short,

no human being would be saved.

But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.

Then if anyone says, you look, here's the Christ,

or there he is, do not believe it.

For false Christ and false prophets will arise

and perform great signs and wonders,

so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

See, I have told you beforehand.

So if they say to you, look, he's in the wilderness,

do not go out.

If they say, look, he's in the inner rooms, do not believe it.

For as the lightning comes from the east

and shines as far as the west, so will

be the coming of the Son of Man.

Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

Now, many people will read these verses,

and they will say this either has to be all in the future.

This is talking about the end times.

This is something that's going to come in the future,

a great tribulation, all that kind of stuff.

It's the far-off future, right?

That's one extreme.

The other extreme is every single bit of what we just read

has taken place in the past, right?

We talked about that.

There's probably some sort of middle ground there, right?

Like, if you've got two extremes,

there's probably some sort of middle ground

and say you both probably got some points.

Because I think what Jesus is talking about here

is not some far-off event that's going to take place

towards the end of time.

It sounds exactly like what happened in 8070, right?

Like, that's the marker we have here.

Almost everything that He just said

sounds exactly like what took place

during the fall of Jerusalem in 8070,

when Jerusalem was under siege and the temple fell.

And this would only happen 40 years

after Jesus spoke these words to His disciples.

So, understand here, remember,

His explanation was prompted by questions

concerning the temple and how the temple

was going to be overturned.

I want you to notice, this is what Luke says

in Luke 21 verses 20 to 21.

Luke 21:20–21

He says, this is Jesus doing the same speech

to His disciples, okay?

This is just Luke's account.

Jesus says, but when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies,

that's pretty clear, is it not?

Jerusalem surrounded by armies,

then know that its desolation has come near.

That's that same word that Daniel used,

that Matthew used, same word here.

Its desolation has come near.

Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains

and let those who are inside the city depart

and let not those who are outside come in.

So again, it sounds like the siege on Jerusalem

when the nation of Israel would be in a state of desolation

and the temple would be destroyed

by the armies of a prince.

Now, who's the prince?

Anybody know?

Yes, look at our historian of the night.

Did I put it on your paper?

No, that's my man, all right.

All right, so it's a man named Titus

is a great explanation for who this prince is.

Titus was a general in the Roman army

who actually led the siege of Jerusalem

and was responsible for the war on the Jewish people

and the destruction of Jerusalem.

Now, here is the main objection.

What do you think the main objection to that interpretation is?

About Titus.

Daniel says there's a prince to come

who's gonna do all this

and one interpretation says Titus,

the main objection of course would be?

No.

Titus was not a prince.

Yeah, there you go Tommy.

Titus was not a prince.

He was a general.

We got a problem, don't we?

Except,

in Daniel chapter nine,

the Hebrew word for prince,

and the guide right here,

it doesn't actually refer to a prince.

It refers to a commander.

Almost every instance of this word in the Bible

refers to a commander of an army

like a general, like Titus.

And so it doesn't actually refer to a prince here,

it refers to a commander of a general.

Just here it refers to a commander,

a military leader of an army,

like the man Titus.

And so he fits the description of this prince

who would wage war against the city of Jerusalem,

against the people of Israel

and the destruction of the temple.

And Jesus was saying,

hey, when you see that happening,

you need to flee because you know

that the time of the desolation has come.

And it's interesting,

he even says the people are gonna flee into the mountains.

And the historians of the first century

talk about the fact that when the siege on Jerusalem happened,

the people ran to the mountains.

The same place that the Jews hid

during the Maccabean wars,

the Christians ran there,

the Jewish people ran there,

they were going to the mountains

just as Jesus predicted.

And so if you go straight through his speech here,

his whatever he, it's not a sermon,

but his warning, his prophecy,

it matches very closely to what happened in AD 70

with the destruction of the temple.

And it says that there's gonna be a great tribulation

during that time.

And all this stuff has taken place.

And it says this interesting phrase here,

which leads to an objection.

Because Jesus says that when this is gonna happen,

nothing will ever equal it again,

past, present, future, right?

He says this is gonna be the worst thing

that Jerusalem has ever seen before.

And people will go, well, hold on,

this can't be referring to AD 70

because surely something bad is gonna happen,

something worse will happen in the future.

The type of tribulation that's being talked about here,

surely there's gotta be something worse,

or we haven't even seen it yet, right?

Like we haven't seen something that bad.

But what's interesting is this was from a historian,

I wanted to read this, it said,

first and foremost, you have to remember

that Jesus is speaking to people who lived in Jerusalem

during the first century.

So he was saying this is gonna be the worst thing

that you have ever seen

and that this city has ever seen.

It's very specific to that generation.

But this historian said the horrors

which came upon Jerusalem in AD 70

were the worst events that Jerusalem has ever

or will ever experience.

Jesus says it will be far greater

than the destruction of the temple in 587 BC.

It will be greater than the desolation of 163 BC

at the hands of Antiochus Epiphanes.

Desolation will fall upon the temple and the people.

As a result, they will be dispersed to the ends of the earth.

And anyone who has read Josephus's description

of the Roman siege of Jerusalem,

including the terrible famine and infant cannibalism folks,

you wanna talk about how bad that time was?

They were eating babies.

It was infant cannibalism was how terrible this time was.

He says if you read about that,

you cannot help but be moved by the unspeakable horrors

that the Jewish people endured

while the Roman army crushed the revolt

and then burned the temple to the ground.

And once the temple burned, accidentally, by the way,

Titus gave a very specific order

not to burn the temple down.

His men went ahead and did it anyways.

What happened is the soldiers were eager to retrieve the gold

which melted and flowed down

into the drainage system before the stones of the temple.

The soldiers went to great effort to overturn

the huge stones of the burned out building

to retrieve the gold.

And as Jesus predicted, not one stone

was left unturned during that time.

And so you read history, you read what happened

and it just matches with what Jesus is saying here.

And so this is, I think, a good interpretation

of what we're reading about here.

This desolation that Daniel predicted,

that Jesus predicted is referring to the fall of Jerusalem

and the destruction of the temple that happened in 8070.

But then there's this other issue real quick

because we said that the prince

was gonna make a covenant with the people.

And what did we say was the problem

with that phrase make a covenant last week?

Anybody remember?

My man, okay, he said it in Hebrew.

Okay, no one can top that.

But what did it mean?

To renew a covenant or to affirm a covenant.

It doesn't actually refer to making a new type of covenant.

So if we're saying that Jesus is the one who comes,

who's going to make a covenant with the people of Israel

or renew a covenant, how does that play out

in this interpretation?

What does that look like?

In what way would Jesus have reaffirmed

or committed himself to a covenant with Israel?

There you go.

Yes, yes, so exactly what Michael just said.

When Jesus came, he was the long-awaited Messiah

of the Jewish people.

And even though the Bible says he came unto his own

and his own did not receive him,

did that keep Jesus from going to the cross?

Why?

Because they needed him to go to the cross,

just as we needed him to go to the cross.

He demonstrated his faithfulness to the Jewish people

as well as to the Gentiles

by willingly laying down his life, going to the cross,

defeating sin, paying for their sins,

even though they were the ones who crucified him,

still did not keep Jesus from going to the cross.

Hey, Jude, hey, bud.

So one of the ways that Jesus reaffirms this

is that he is saying that God has not forsaken

the Jewish people and he has not turned his back

on the Jewish people, right?

I mean, think about what Paul says in Romans 11 too.

He says, God has not rejected his people,

whom he foreknew.

On the contrary, God is still not forgetting his people

because the Bible tells us in Romans 11

that God is using the Gentiles.

Who's the Gentiles?

That's us.

God is using the Gentiles to reach the Jewish people,

that we were the ones, the wild olive shoot

who were grafted in, but God gave us the gospel.

And what do we do with the gospel?

We take it to the Jewish people

and we say, God has not abandoned you.

God has not forsaken you.

God has not said you can't be part of this covenant.

He says, repent of your sins.

Trust in Jesus, receive him as the Messiah.

You're gonna be saved, just as every Gentile

who believes will be saved.

It's Jesus' demonstration.

He has not forsaken the Jewish people.

That they are welcomed to be part of his new kingdom

and his new covenant community

through repentance and faith in him.

That's a good word, is it not?

I mean, that's encouraging because it means

that during this time, this 70th week,

it means that countless Jewish people

are going to come to faith in Christ, right?

I mean, we read about that in the Bible.

That the more the Jews are exposed to the gospel,

the more likely they are to repent of their sins,

trust in Christ and recognize him as the Messiah.

Which again, we'll probably close with this

in just a second, but this isn't even in my notes.

This one's for free, okay?

We do the Jewish people a great disservice

when we treat them as brothers and sisters in Christ.

I know that's an unpopular opinion these days,

but the Bible makes it very clear

that if you reject the Son,

you are not part of the people of God.

The Bible makes it very clear.

The children of God are not the children of the flesh,

but the children of promise.

Those who receive Christ as their savior.

The Bible is very clear.

The book of John says if you do not know the Son,

you don't know God, okay?

So when we treat Jewish people as brothers and sisters

and say, well, they don't believe in Jesus,

but they are the Old Testament people of God

and surely they're going to heaven,

we do them a great disservice.

We're basically signing a piece of paper

that says I don't care if you go to heaven.

The Jewish people were the Old Covenant people of God,

the Old Testament people of God,

but they reject the Son of God.

And if you reject the Son of God, you reject salvation.

You do not know the Father.

The greatest thing that Christians can do

for the Jewish people is call them to repentance

and faith in Jesus.

We do them a disservice when we do otherwise.

That's all I'm gonna say about that.

But just very quickly, I'm gonna say two more things

and then we'll continue next week.

But I want to say this thing about the sacrifices ending

for half a week, because you remember in Daniel nine,

it talked about for half a week,

the sacrifices would be ended, okay?

So here we have a half a week.

Well, what happened in 8070, as we've already said?

Temple destroyed.

What happened to the sacrificial system out there?

Anybody know?

Done away with it, no more.

So for half a week, sacrifices are done away with entirely.

And so this interpretation would claim

that the entire 70th week is actually the time of the,

yes, what is the main topic we're talking about tonight?

Let's start this whole thing.

I mean, you just, you like, you softball it to me.

The tribulation, they would say,

this interpretation would say that the entire 70th week,

the entire church period, the entire church age

is the time of the tribulation.

Now, we're gonna end there, but I'm gonna end

with this question for you to consider for your homework.

This is where we'll pick up next week is,

and it's the all important question,

is this claim supported by scripture?

Because it's one thing to claim something, right?

One thing to believe something,

but it doesn't matter if it's not supported by scripture.

Like God be true, every man alive.

So your homework is to investigate that claim.

Is it biblical to say we are living in the time

of the tribulation now?

I'll even give you a hint, okay?

I'll give you a hint.

Go to blueletterbible.com, I don't know if it's org or com

or something, try a couple different combinations, okay?

Blueletterbible.com, org, I don't remember, probably com.

And you can, it's a great site,

especially if you're gonna search for words

and stuff like that.

In the search bar, type in the word tribulation, okay?

And you can see a couple times in the Old Testament,

but I want you to focus on the occurrences

in the New Testament, okay?

Look at the gospels and what they say,

because it doesn't occur that many times.

It'll take you 10 minutes to do this homework assignment.

Look at how many times it occurs in the gospels

as well as the letters and into Revelation.

And then, all right, when you see it in the gospels,

it's primarily gonna be in this discourse of Jesus

that we talked about here tonight,

which we said was referring to the time of 8070.

So even if we discount that and say, okay,

all those times in the gospels is referring to 8070,

here's my question for you.

As you look at all those other times, ask yourself,

is this a, look at the tense and say,

are they talking about something

that's happening in the future,

or do they seem to think this is happening right now?

That's all I'm gonna do, I'm just pointing you to scripture.

You search the word, you read the verses for yourself,

and you just ask yourself, is this a future tense thing,

or are they saying this is happening ongoing right now?

And your final hint, I swear,

this is your final hint for tonight,

we're in the book of Revelation.

I just want you to read Revelation chapter one, verse nine.

I mean, in addition to all these other things, but yeah.

But that's the one I really want,

you can even start there, Revelation chapter one, verse nine.

And just ask yourself,

does the Bible seem to indicate

that we're living in the time of the tribulation now?

And we'll talk about that next week

as we conclude this view, and we move further,

getting closer and closer

to actually beginning Revelation verse by verse.

Now, that will conclude this time,

but Ms. Vicki, I think you raised your hand,

you had a question, you came in late,

so you probably missed a whole lot of context.

Okay.

So, I think you're just not,

you're just not.

Yes.

Very, very good question.

So, we've been talking about the tribulation

and all that, basically it goes back to Daniel chapter nine,

when he talks about the 70 weeks,

but that word weeks, it's not actually a week,

it just said 77s, which is a period of time.

Most Bibles would translate that as a week,

although dispensationalists interpret it as literal years,

except when you get to like here,

and then it's just an indefinite period of time.

This view never really interprets it as,

this is different than dispensationalism.

This view never interprets it as literal years per se,

but just distinct periods of time.

So, you have the 69 weeks,

and that's a period of time from the decree

to Jesus's baptism.

And, but Daniel chapter nine talks about how that last week,

the 70th week is cut in half.

And so, the first period of time is from the baptism

of Jesus to 8070, and the second period of time

is from 8070 until Jesus returns.

Well, it's not technically a halfway mark,

but it's not literal years either.

So, the first period half of time is that,

and the second period half of time is until Jesus returns.

So, come Lord Jesus, come quickly.

All right, any other questions?

You wanna, we haven't done that in a while.

Anybody have any questions?

Clarify some stuff for you.

It's fun to dig into scripture, isn't it?

Yeah, challenge our views.

You hear this stuff, you grow up with it,

you watch a movie about it,

but then you just ask yourself,

well, what does the Bible say?

And you start looking at stuff,

and it's just fun to actually see what scripture says.

I enjoy studying scripture.

Hope you do too.

I'm Michael Stevenson.

Close us in prayer.