Daniel 9.

Daniel 9:24 The Literal, Grammatical, Historical Interpretation of Daniel 9:24-27 and Other Interpretative Approaches Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. 25 So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” (NASB95) One must adhere to sound hermeneutical principles when interpreting the prophecy, which appears in Daniel 9:24-27. The rules and principles involved in interpreting the Bible is called hermeneutics. The English word “hermeneutics” comes from the Greek verb hermeneuo and the noun hermeneia. These words point back to the wing-footed messenger god Hermes in Grecian mythology who was responsible for transmuting what is beyond human understanding into a form that human intelligence can grasp. He is said to have discovered language and writing and was the god of literature and eloquence, among other things. He was the messenger or interpreter of the gods, and particularly of his father Zeus. Thus, the verb hermeneuo came to refer to bringing someone to an understanding of something in his language (thus explanation) or in another language (thus translation). Thus interpretation involves making clear and intelligible something that was unclear or unknown. A compound form of this verb appears in Luke 24:27 with regards to the Lord Jesus Christ interpreting or explaining the Scriptures concerning Himself to His disciples. Luke 24:27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained (diahermeneuo) to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. (NASB95) Adhering to sound hermeneutical principles will result in sound exegesis, which refers to the process of determining the meaning of a text of Scripture, the Word of God. Exposition refers to the explaining, declaring, telling, or relating of objective truth. Exegesis precedes exposition (i.e. communicating the Word of God to the congregation). Exposition aims to apply the text and its meaning to men and women today, enabling them to answer the question: what message has this for us, or for me, in the present situation? Exposition must be firmly based upon exegesis: the meaning of the text for hearers today must be related to its meaning for the hearers to whom it was first addressed. When interpreting the prophecy of the seventy weeks in Daniel 9:24-27 as is the case with the rest of Scripture, one must not allegorize but let the Biblical text speak for itself. Those who allegorize are not letting the text speak for itself but are putting words into God’s mouth. Daniel 9:24-27 like the rest of the Scriptures must be interpreted in its historical setting. One must compare Scripture with Scripture. Also, one must interpret literally and grammatically and not allegorize. Proper interpretation involves paying attention to the context of a particular verse. One must interpret a passage by taking into account the immediate context as well as the context of the book it appears in and the rest of Scripture. This leads to a pretribulational and premillennial view. The basic differences between the premillennial and amillennial and between pretribulation and posttribulation views are hermeneutical. In other words, they are the direct result of method one chooses to interpret Scripture. The basic difference between an amillennialist and a premillennialist is the direct result of the method one chooses to interpret Scripture. Those who allegorize and do not interpret the Scripture literally and specifically prophetic portions of Scripture will not be pretribulational or premillennial but will be posttribulationalists and amillennialists. Therefore, the method one chooses to interpret the book of Daniel as is the case with the rest of Scripture, must be based upon sound hermeneutical principles. Unsound method of interpreting Scripture leads to error in interpretation and practice and false doctrine. The allegorical method involves interpreting a literary text which regards the literal sense as the instrument for a secondary and more spiritual profound sense. This method either ignores or denies the historical context. The emphasis with this method is entirely upon the secondary sense with the result that the original words of the text have little or no significance at all. Thus, this method does not interpret Scripture but ignores the meaning of the original sense with the justification that one is seeking a deeper, spiritual meaning. It is in error because it doesn’t interpret Scripture but puts words into God’s mouth. It denies the authority of the Scripture. Furthermore, this method does not provide any means at all to test the interpretation. Thus, the allegorical method of interpreting Daniel or any portion of Scripture takes away the authority of Scripture. It does not leave any basis upon which interpretations may be tested. The direct antithesis of the allegorical method is the literal method of interpreting the Scripture. The literal method gives each word the same exact basic meaning it would have in normal and customary usage whether in writing, speaking or thinking. It is also called by some the grammatical-historical method, which emphasizes the fact that the meaning of a text is to be determined by carefully considering its grammar and syntax as well as its historical setting. Ramm writes, “The customary, socially-acknowledged designation of a word is the literal meaning of that word. The ‘literal’ meaning of a word is the basic, customary, social designation of that word. The spiritual, or mystical meaning of a word or expression is one that arises after the literal designation and is dependent upon it for its existence. To interpret literally means nothing more or less than to interpret in terms of normal, usual, designation. When the manuscript alters its designation the interpreter immediately shifts his method of interpreting.” (Protestant Biblical Interpretation, page 64; Boston: W.A. Wilde Company, 1950) The literal method is the normal approach in all languages. Also, parables, allegories, types and symbols depend upon the literal meaning of the terms. The Bible makes sense when interpreted literally. Furthermore, many erroneously contend that the literal method does not take into consideration figures of speech, symbols, allegories and types. However, this in fact not the case. This method removes the subjective and emphasizes the objective meaning that it keeps man’s imaginations from imposing itself on the text and lets the text speak for itself. Ramm writes, “That this method is the only one consonant with the nature of inspiration. The plenary inspiration of the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit guided men into truth and away from error. In this process the Spirit of God used language, and the units of language (as meaning, not as sound) are words and thoughts. The thought is the thread that strings the words together. Therefore, our very exegesis must commence with a study of words and grammar, the two fundamentals of all meaningful speech.” (Ibid., page 54ff.) Further in support of the literal method is that when the Old Testament is used by the New Testament authors under the inspiration of the Spirit it is only used in a literal sense. For example, the prophecies concerning the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Christ were literally fulfilled two thousand years ago with the person of Jesus of Nazareth. This tells us that the prophecies concerning His Second Advent will also be fulfilled literally. The literal method bases itself in fact, which means that it seeks to establish itself in objective data such as grammar, logic, etymology, history, geography, archaeology, theology, etc. All sound exegesis of a passage of Scripture must begin with the words of the text itself. Secondly, the interpreter must pay attention to the context in which any passage appears. Thirdly, one must interpret a passage of Scripture in its historical setting. In the book of Daniel, we must understand that Daniel was a captive in Babylon and served under Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar and the Persian king Cyrus. Another important consideration when interpreting Scripture is that the interpreter must understand the grammar and syntax of a passage. Specifically he must understand the grammar and syntax of the original language of the passage. In Daniel, the interpreter is analyzing the Hebrew and Aramaic portions of the book. The interpreter must take into consideration figurative language. He must have the presupposition that the word is literal unless there is strong evidence for determining otherwise. Now, the interpreter of the book Daniel must be very careful since it contains prophetic material. First and foremost, the interpreter must interpret prophecy literally. He must take into consideration and analyze a passage in relation to the words it contains as well as its context, grammar, syntax and historical setting. When interpreting prophecy such as that which appears in the book of Daniel, the interpreter must determine the historical background of the prophet and the prophecy. He must determine the full meaning and significance of all the names, events, geographical references, references to customs and culture. He is to determine if the passage is prophecy or didactic. If the former, then is the verse presenting a prophecy that is fulfilled, unfulfilled or conditional. The interpreter also must determine if the same theme or concept is addressed in another passage of Scripture. Simultaneously, the interpreter must pay attention to the context. He is to be aware of whether the prophecy is local or temporal. Furthermore, prophecy must be interpreted in harmony with the rest of God’s prophetic program, which is a principle presented by Peter in 2 Peter 1:20-21. Another important aspect of interpreting prophecy is understanding and being aware that a passage might have a double reference. This means that in prophecy, events often bear some relationship to one another and are in fact parts of one program. In other words, certain events of the future are seen grouped together in one defined area of vision even though they are at different distances. For example, many times the major prophets issued prophecies concerning the Babylonian captivity, the events of the day of the Lord, the return from Babylon, the world-wide dispersion of Israel and their future return to the land and grouped them all together seemingly indiscriminately. Connected to this when interpreting prophecy, the interpreter must observe the time relationships meaning that some events that are widely separated as to the time of their fulfillment are sometimes treated within one prophecy. For example, the prophecies concerning the First and Second Advents of Christ are spoken of together in one pericope as though they were going to take place at the same time. This phenomena is also seen with the second and third dispersions of the Jews, which are viewed as taking place without interruption. So the prophet may view widely separated events as continuous or future things as either past or present. Another important aspect of interpreting prophecy is that of understanding and being aware of the central theme of all prophecy, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ, His person and work. To summarize, one must interpret prophecy historically, which means that the interpreter must know and understand the historical background of the prophet and the prophecy. This will include understanding the full meaning and significance of all proper names, events, geographical references, references to customs and culture. Connected to this is that the interpreter must interpret grammatically meaning that he must strictly observe the rules that govern grammatical interpretation. He also must interpret according to the principle of double reference, which we noted earlier. Finally, interpreting prophecy demands consistency applying the literal-grammatical method. Failure to consistently apply sound hermeneutical principles results in error in one’s conclusions and interpretations, which results in false doctrine and ungodly conduct. Consistent observance of these sound hermeneutical principles results in correct interpretation, sound doctrine and godly conduct. One of the results of applying these sound hermeneutical principles is that one will see that the Scriptures make a distinction between Israel and the church. The book of Daniel concerns itself with Israel and not the church. The essence of dispensationalism is that it recognizes distinctions between the church and Israel, which is the result of applying the literal-grammatical-historical method of interpretation. Dispensationalism recognizes distinctions in God’s program in history. The dispensationalist follows the principle of interpreting the Bible literally, and does not allegorize away the Bible, thus he is consistent in his interpretation. It recognizes that God’s message to man was not given in one single act but was unfolded in a long series of successive acts and through the minds and hands of many men of varying backgrounds. Different Interpretative Approaches to Daniel 9:24-27 There are three major interpretative approaches with regards to the prophecy of the seventy weeks in Daniel 9:24-27. These different approaches can be classified into two categories: (1) Christological (2) non-Christological. The “non-Christological” approach is also called the “Liberal interpretation.” This approach does not take Scripture as literal prophecy whereas the Christological view does. The liberal interpretation or “non-Christological” view does not believe Daniel 9:24-27 is a prophecy of the Messiah. They argue that Daniel was written in the second century B.C. which means that they view the book of Daniel as being written after all the historical events prophesied had come to pass. Therefore, they view the entire book of Daniel as representing the author’s (not Daniel) interpretation of past history. Walvoord writes, “Higher critics normally question the traditional authorship and dates of books in both the Old and New Testaments, and therefore disallow the testimony of the book of Daniel itself, dispute the mention of Daniel by Ezekiel, and discount the support by Christ in the New Testament. But conservative scholars have given almost universal recognition to the book of Daniel as an authentic sixth century b.c. composition of Daniel, the captive of Nebuchadnezzar. Consideration of the arguments of higher critics is given in the later discussion of the genuineness of the book of Daniel, upon which the conservative opinion rests.” Walvoord, John F. Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation; pages 11-12; Moody Press; Chicago; 1971 This “non-Christological” group believe the fulfillment of Daniel 9:24-27 is found in the events that led up to the persecution of the Jews by Antiochus Epiphanes IV in the second century B.C. Those who adhere to this view of interpreting Daniel 9:24-27 include John E. Goldingay, R.E. Brown, J.A. Fitmyer, James A. Montgomery, F.F. Bruce and J. H. Walton to name a few. The “Christological” interpretation is divided into two groups. Both approaches view the first sixty-nine weeks as literal. They both accept Daniel 9:25-26 as a prophecy of the Messiah. However, they differ over the seventieth week. One group views the seventieth week as fulfilled already in history and immediately follows the sixty-ninth week. They interpret the “he” in Daniel 9:27 as a reference to the Messiah or Christ and not the Antichrist. Those who don’t see a gap between these two weeks include Albert Barnes, Joyce Baldwin, John Calvin, John Gill, Matthew Henry, C.F. Keil, F. Delitzsch, E.J. Young and H.C. Leupold. Most of these writers are “amillennial” and thus don’t believe in the one thousand year reign of the Messiah on earth. The other camp in the Christological interpretive school argues that the seventieth week will be fulfilled in the future. Thus, those who contend the seventieth week is yet future believe there is a gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth week. Thus, they believe there is a postponement of the fulfillment of the seventieth week at this present time in history. Those who view a gap between Daniel 9:26 and 27 include Sir Robert Anderson, Gleason Archer, Donald Campbell, Thomas Constable, Robert Culver, Thomas Ice, H.A. Ironside, William Kelly, Alva McClain, Dwight Pentecost, Randall Price, John Walvoord, John Whitcomb and Leon Wood to name a few. Primarily dispensationalists and premillennialist hold to this view. Dispensationalists and premillennialists believe that the Second Advent of Christ precedes the millennium and in the literal bodily one thousand year reign of the Messiah in planet earth. They believe the Scriptures teach there is a distinction between Israel and the church. They contend that the “he” in Daniel 9:27 is a reference to the Antichrist and not the Messiah. They also believe in the literal, grammatical, historical method of interpretation. They hold to a normal literal interpetation. Those in this school of interpretation usually consider the seventy weeks as weeks of years and thus 490 prophetic years. They do not consider these seventy weeks as weeks of days. Conservative scholars generally feel the time units are years however those who are amillennial resist this idea since it doesn’t conform to their other views. In the Hebrew text of Daniel 9:24, the phrase “seventy weeks” literally reads, “seventy sevens,” which refers to years and “not” days as clearly indicated through a comparison of Scripture with Scripture. First of all, Daniel was reading Jeremiah’s prophecy regarding Israel’s Babylonian exile, which was to last 70 years (Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10-14). Furthermore, 2 Chronicles 36:21 speaks of Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning the Babylonian exile and it indicates quite clearly that the exile would last 70 years. These 70 weeks in Daniel 9:24 cannot possibly be 70 weeks in the ordinary, literal sense or 490 days for the number has an obvious relation to the 70 years of Jeremiah’s prophecy in Jeremiah 25:11 and 2 Chronicles 36:21. Finally, the context clearly indicates that Daniel is referring to years and not days since Daniel 9:2 indicates that Jeremiah’s prophecy of Israel’s Babylonian captivity would be 70 years. The 70 years of captivity were the specific penalty for violating 70 sabbatic years, which would be 70 sevens, a total of 70 years. Seven days are in one week and every seventh year was a Sabbath rest and seventy sevens brought them to the year of Jubilee which is noted in Leviticus 25:8-12. The provisions for the land’s Sabbath rest are recorded in detail in Leviticus 25:2-4, 26:32-35, 43 but in those 490 years, Israel had violated exactly 70 sabbatic years so they would go into captivity for 70 years to make amends. The 490 could not designate days (about 1 1/3 years) for that would not be enough time for the events prophesied by Daniel 9:24-27 to occur and the same is true of 490 weeks of seven days each (i.e. 3,430 days, about 9 ½ years). Also if days were intended one would expect Daniel to have added the phrase “of days” after “70 sevens” for in Daniel 10:2-3 he wrote literally, “three sevens of days”. Also, it is important to understand that the length of a prophetic year was “not” 365 days but rather 360 days since the solar year, which we live by, of 365.25 days was unknown to the nations in the Old Testament but the Jewish year of biblical times was lunar-solar and had only 360 days. This is borne out in Revelation in John’s vision of the Great Tribulation period since it describes the last 3 ½ years as precisely 1260 days (Rev. 12:6) and “forty-two months” of 30 days each (13:5). The “time, times and half a time” in Daniel 7:25 corresponds to these two passages in Revelation. Therefore, the “seventy weeks of Daniel” refer to 490 prophetic years of 360 days. Harold Hoehner commenting on the seventy weeks writes “The term שׁבעים‭ ‬in the Old Testament.‭ ‬The term‭ ‬שׁבעים‭ ‬is the plural form of‭ ‬שׁבוּע‭ ‬which is a unit or period of seven,‭ ‬heptad,‭ ‬or week. Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles Briggs, eds., A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1907), pp. 988-89; Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, eds., Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1958), p. 940. ‭ ‬It is used twenty times in the Old Testament.‭ ‬Three times it means a unit of seven and is followed by‭ ‬ימים‭ ‘‬days‭’ (‬Ezek‭ ‬45:21‭; ‬Dan‭ ‬10:2,‭ ‬3‭); ‬six times it means‭ ‘‬week(s‭)‬,‭’ ‬a normal seven-day week‭ (‬Gen‭ ‬29:27,‭ ‬28‭; ‬Deut‭ ‬16:9‭ ‬bis‭; ‬Lev‭ ‬12:5‭; ‬Deut‭ ‬16:10,‭ ‬16‭; ‬2‭ ‬Chron‭ ‬8:13‭); ‬and six times it is used as a‭ ‘‬unit of seven‭’ ‬without reference to days‭ (‬Dan‭ ‬9:24,‭ ‬25‭ ‬bis,26,‭ ‬27‭ ‬bis‭)‬.‭ ‬Therefore,‭ ‬the context determines its meaning.‭ ‬This can also be illustrated by‭ ‬עשׂוֹר‭ ‬which is normally translated‭ ‘‬ten days‭’ ‬because the context demands this rendering thirteen out of sixteen occurrences in the Old Testament.‭ ‬However,‭ ‬three times‭ (‬Ps‭ ‬33:2‭; ‬92:3‭; ‬144:9‭) ‬it has reference to a musical instrument and would have to be translated‭ ‘‬ten strings.‭’ Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon, p. 797. ‭ ‬Thus has the idea of a‭ ‘‬unit of ten‭’ ‬as determined by the context.‭ ‬In conclusion the term‭ ‬שׁבוּע‭ ‬means‭ ‘‬a unit of seven‭’ ‬and its particular meaning must be determined by the particular context.‭ ‬The term‭ ‬שׁבעים‭ ‬in Daniel‭ ‬9:24-27.‭ ‬In‭ ‬this passage the term refers to units of seven years and thus Daniel is speaking of seventy of these units of seven years or a total of‭ ‬490‭ ‬years.‭ ‬The reasons for this conclusion are as follows.‭ ‬First,‭ ‬in the context Daniel had been thinking in terms of years as well as multiples‭ (‬ten times seven‭) ‬of years‭ (‬Dan‭ ‬9:1‭–‬2‭)‬.‭ ‬Second,‭ ‬Daniel had been considering Jeremiah‭ ‬25:11‭ ‬and‭ ‬29:10‭ ‬regarding the seventy-year captivity.‭ ‬The captivity was a result of violating the sabbatical year,‭ ‬which was to have been observed after every six years‭ (‬2‭ ‬Chron‭ ‬36:21‭; ‬cf.‭ ‬Lev‭ ‬26:34‭–‬35,‭ ‬43‭)‬.‭ ‬Each year of captivity represented one seven-year cycle in which the seventh or Sabbath year had not been observed.‭ ‬Thus it is clear that the context refers to years,‭ ‬not days.‭ ‬Daniel then saw another‭ ‬490‭ ‬years into Israel’s future.‭ ‬This can be diagrammed in the following way:‭ ‬Third,‭ ‬the only other usage of‭ ‬שׁבעים‭ ‬by Daniel is in‭ ‬10:2,‭ ‬3‭ ‬where the phrase‭ ‬שׁלשׁה שׁבעים ימים‭ ‬is literally‭ ‘‬three units of seven days‭’ ‬or twenty-one days.‭ ‬This has reference to Daniel’s mourning for three weeks since the word‭ ‬ימים‭ ‬is included.‭ ‬The very fact that Daniel adds‭ ‬ימים‭ ‬in,‭ ‬indicates that he did not want his readers to think of the unit of seven the same way it was used in chapter nine.‭ ‬Everyone would have realized that Daniel would not have fasted twenty-one years,‭ ‬but the fact that he inserted‭ ‬ימים‭ ‘‬days‭’ ‬in‭ ‬10:2,‭ ‬3‭ ‬when‭ ‬it was not necessary would seem to indicate that he would have used‭ ‬ימים‭ ‬in‭ ‬9:24‭–‬27‭ ‬if there he meant‭ ‬490‭ ‘‬days.‭’ ‬Therefore,‭ ‬in‭ ‬9:24‭–‬27‭ ‬Daniel was referring to years and not days.‭ ‬Fourth,‭ ‬it is impossible to fit the events described in‭ ‬9:24‭–‬27,‭ ‬regardless of the terminus a quo,‭ ‬into‭ ‬490‭ ‬days or weeks.‭ ‬Only that number of years is viable.‭ ‬Fifth,‭ ‬in‭ ‬9:27‭ ‬the covenant that will be confirmed for one‭ ‘‬unit of seven‭’ (‬שׁבוּע‭) ‬will be broken in the middle of that unit of seven.‭ ‬If one accepts the‭ ‬שׁבוּע‭ ‬as a unit of seven years,‭ ‬this would mean that the covenant will be broken at the three and one-half year point and the last three and one-half years will be a time of trouble and desolation.‭ ‬This fits well with the trouble described by the temporal note‭ “‬time,‭ ‬times,‭ ‬and half a time‭” ‬in Daniel‭ ‬7:25‭ ‬and‭ ‬12:7‭ ‬as well as in Revelation‭ ‬12:14.‭ ‬Sixth,‭ ‬although the term‭ ‬שׁבוּע‭ ‬does not refer to years elsewhere in the Bible it has this meaning in the Mishnah. Mishnah: Baba Metzia ix. 10; Sanhedrin v. 1. ‭ ‬In conclusion the term‭ ‬שׁבעים‭ ‬in Daniel‭ ‬9‭ ‬most reasonably refers to a unit of seven years.‭ ‬To make it anything else does not make good sense.‭ ‬However,‭ ‬for the sake of clarity this unit of seven years will be called‭ ‘‬week(s‭)’ ‬for the remainder of this article,‭ ‬for it is simpler to refer to seventy‭ ‘‬weeks‭’ ‬than to seventy‭ ‘‬units of seven years.‭’ ‬Therefore,‭ ‬Daniel’s reference to seventy weeks means a period of‭ ‬490‭ ‬years.‭” Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 132. (1975)., 132(525), 48–50. Walvoord has an excellent comment summarizing the different approaches to Daniel 9:24-27, he writes “The non-Christological approach may be subdivided into the liberal critical view and the conservative amillennial view. Liberal critics, assuming that Daniel is a forgery written in the second century B.C., find in this chapter that the pseudo-Daniel confuses the seventy years of Israel’s captivity with the seventy sevens of Gabriel’s vision. As Montgomery summarizes the matter in the introduction to chapter 9, ‘Dan., having learned from the Sacred Books of Jer.’s prophecy of the doom of seventy years’ desolation for the Holy City, a term that was now naturally drawing to an end (1.2), sets himself to pray for the forgiveness of his people’s sin and the promised deliverance (3-19). The angel Gabriel appears to him (20-21), and interprets the years as year-weeks, with detail of the distant future and of the crowning epoch of the divine purpose (22-27).’ Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 132. (1975)., 132(525), 48–50. In a word, Montgomery is saying that this is not prophecy at all but is presented by the pseudo-Daniel as if it were. Whatever fulfillment there is, is a fulfillment in history already accomplished at the time this Scripture was written. In his extended note on the interpretation of the seventy weeks, Montgomery in general attempts to support the idea that the details of the prophecy are to a large extent fulfilled in the life and persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes. Ibid., pp. 390-401. In his summary, Montgomery states, The history of the exegesis of the 70 Weeks is the Dismal Swamp of O. T. criticism. The difficulties that beset any ‘rationalistic’ treatment of the figures are great enough, but the critics on this side of the fence do not agree among themselves; but the trackless wilderness of assumptions and theories and efforts to obtain an exact chronology fitting into the history of Salvation, after these 2,000 years of infinitely varied interpretations, would seem to preclude any use of the 70 Weeks for the determination of a definite prophetic chronology. As we have seen, the early Jewish and Christian exegesis came to interpret that datum eschatologically and found it fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem; only slowly did the theme of prophecy of the Advent of Christ impress itself upon the Church, along with the survival, however, of other earlier themes. The early Church rested no claims upon the alleged prophecy, but rather remarkably ignored it in a theological atmosphere surcharged with Messianism. The great Catholic chronographers naturally attacked the subject with scientific zeal, but their efforts as well as those of all subsequent chronographers (including the great Scalinger and Sir Isaac Newton) have failed. Ibid., pp. 400-1. In other words, Montgomery, for all of his scholarship and knowledge of the history of interpretation, ends up with no reasonable interpretation at all. Some conservative scholars have done no better, however, as illustrated in the commentary of Edward Young. Although treating the Scriptures with reverence, he finds no satisfactory conclusion for the seventy sevens of the prophecy and leaves it more or less like Montgomery without a satisfactory explanation. Young, pp. 220-21. The conservative interpretation of Daniel 9:24-27 usually regards the time units as years. The decision is, however, by no means unanimous. Some amillenarians, like Young, who have trouble with fitting this into their system of eschatology consider this an indefinite period of time. Actually, the passage does not say ‘years’; and because it is indefinite, they consider the question somewhat open. Further, as Young points out, the word sevens is in the masculine plural instead of the usual feminine plural. No clear explanation is given except that Young feels ‘it was for the deliberate purpose of calling attention to the fact that the word sevens is employed in an unusual sense.’ Ibid., p, 195. Most commentators agree that the time unit is not days. Further, the fact that there were seventy years of captivity, discussed earlier in the chapter, would seem to imply that years were also here in view. The interpretation of years at least is preferable to days as Young comments, ‘The brief period of 490 days would not serve to meet the needs of the prophecy, upon any view. Hence, as far as the present writer knows, this view is almost universally rejected.’ Ibid., p. 196. Young finally concludes after some discussion that Keil and Kliefoth are correct when they hold that the word sevens does not necessarily mean year-weeks, but ‘an intentionally indefinite designation of a period of time measured by the number seven, which chronological duration must be determined on other grounds.’ Keil, p. 339; Young, p. 196. With this point of view, Leupold, an amillenarian, also agrees: ‘Since the week of creation, “seven” has always been the mark of divine work in the symbolism of numbers. “Seventy” contains seven multiplied by ten, which, being a round number, signifies perfection, completion. Therefore, “seventy heptads”—7x7x10—is the period in which the divine work of greatest moment is brought to perfection. There is nothing fantastic or unusual about this to the interpreter who has seen how frequently the symbolism of numbers plays a significant part in the Scriptures.’ Leupold, p. 409. Some amillenarians, however, use a literal year time unit for the first sixty-nine weeks but an indefinite period for the last seven years, as in the case of Philip Mauro (see pp. 232-37). In view of the precision of the seventy years of the captivity, however, mentioned in the same chapter, the context indicates the probability of a more literal intention in the revelation. To be added to the non-Christological interpretation of Young is that of orthodox Jewry which concludes that the period ends with the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. This, of course, also does not give an adequate explanation of the text. The overwhelming consensus of scholarship, however, agrees that the time unit should be considered years. It is normal for lexicographical authorities in the field of Hebrew to define the time unit as ‘period of seven (days, years),’ and ‘heptad, weeks.’ Brown, Driver, and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, p. 988. Otto Zöckler, Professor of Theology in the University of Greifswald in Prussia in the 19th century, argued at length from the internal evidences within Daniel that the Hebrew term translated ‘week’ denotes a period of seven years: This cannot possibly denote seventy weeks in the ordinary sense, or 490 days; for the number has an obvious relation to the seventy years of Jeremiah, 5:2, and the brief limit of 490 days is not suited to serve as a mystical paraphrase of the period of three and a half years. Moreover, according to the descriptions in chapters 7 and 8, the three and a half years were throughout a period of suffering and oppression, while in 5:25 et seq. the latter and more extended subdivision (amounting to sixty-two weeks) of the seventy weeks is characterized as being comparatively free from sufferings. Finally, the three and a half years evidently reappear in 5:27, in the form of the ‘half-week’ during which the sacrifices and oblations were to cease, etc.: and this undeniable identity of the small fraction at the end of the seventy weeks with the three and a half years of tribulation, heretofore described, removes it beyond the reason of doubt that the seventy weeks are to be regarded as seventy weeks of years, and therefore as anamplification of the seventy years of Jeremiah. Zöckler adds, “Such a prophetic or mystical transformation of the seventy years into many periods of seven years each is not unparalleled in the usage of the ancients; cf., e.g., the remarks of Mark Varro in Aul. Gellius, N.A. III., 10: ‘Se jam undecimam annorum hebdomadem ingressum esse et ad eum diem septuaginta hedomadas librorum conscripsisse;’ also Aristotle, Polit., Vii 6; Censorin., de die natali, C. 14. It was, however, peculiarly adapted to the prophet’s purpose, and was especially intelligible to his readers, inasmuch as the Mosaic Law (Lev. 25:2, 4 et seq.; 26:34, 35, 43; cf. 2 Chron. 26:21) had designated every seventh year as a sabbath of the land, and had introduced the custom of dividing the years into hebdomads, which thus became familiar to every individual in the Jewish nation during all subsequent ages. The thought that instead of seventy years, seventy times seventy were to elapse before the theocracy should be restored in all its power and significance, and that, consequently, an extended period of delay should precede the advent of the Messianic era, is ‘an integral feature in the mode of conception which prevails throughout the book’ (Kranichfeld)” (“The Book of the Prophet Daniel,” in Commentary on the Holy Scriptures,13:194). In view of the great variety of opinions which find no Christological fulfillment at all in this passage, the interpreter necessarily must approach the Christological interpretation with some caution. Here again, however, diversity of opinion is found even though there is general agreement that the prophecy somehow relates to the Messiah of Israel. Christological interpretations divide again into two major categories. All Christological interpretations tend to interpret the first sixty-nine sevens as literal. The division comes on the interpretation of the seventieth seven. Amillenarians generally regard the seventieth seven as following immediately after the sixty-ninth seven and, therefore, is already fulfilled in history. The other point of view regards the seventieth seven as separated from the earlier sequence of years and scheduled for fulfillment in the future in the seven years preceding the second advent of Christ. Although many minor variations can be found, the principal question in the Christological interpretation of this text concerns the nature of fulfillment of the last seven years. In the Christological interpretation of Daniel 9:24-27, it is generally assumed that the time units indicated are years. The English word ‘weeks’ is misleading as the Hebrew is actually the plural of the word for seven, without specifying whether it is days, months, or years. The only system of interpretation, however, that gives any literal meaning to this prophecy is to regard the time units as prophetic years of 360 days each according to the Jewish custom of having years of 360 days with an occasional extra month inserted to correct the calendar as needed. The seventy times seven is, therefore, 490 years with the beginning at the time of “the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem” found in verse 25 and the culmination 490 years later in verse 27. Before detailing the events to be found in the first 483 years (sixty-nine times seven), the events between the sixty-ninth seven and the seventieth seven, and the final seven years, Daniel gives the overall picture in verse 24. Careful attention must be given to the precise character of this important foundational prophecy.” Walvoord, John F. Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation; pages 216-220; Moody Press; Chicago; 1971 Thomas Ice commenting on the early church’s interpretation of Daniel 9:24-27 writes “Over the last few years, I have come to expect outburst against all aspects of the literal interpretation of Scripture from preterists who believe that Bible prophecy is a think of the past. They come through in predicable fashion concerning this issue of the historical interpretation of Daniel 9:24-27. Gary DeMar is perhaps the most strident on this issue when he says, ‘nearly all Bible scholars agree that the first sixty-nine weeks of Daniel’s prophecy refer to the time up to Jesus’ crucifixion, only dispensationalists believe that the entire seventieth week is yet to be fulfilled.’ In a later edition of the same book, DeMar asserts concerning a non-gap view that it ‘has been the standard interpretation for centuries, except for minor differences in details. John Nelson Darby and other changed all this with their church-parenthesis hypothesis.’ After the first sentence of DeMar’s statement, he footnotes a reference to an errant source on the matter, Philip Mauro, who declares the following: ‘Nor, so far as we are aware, was any other meaning ever put upon them until within recent years, and then only by those belonging to a particular ‘school’ of interpretation.’ Of course, Mauro’s recent ‘school’ is reference to those of us who see a future seventieth week in Daniel’s prophecy. Mauro certainly was not aware of what was taught in the early church, as we shall shortly see. Preterist, Dr. Kenneth Gentry, speaking of his non-gap interpretation insists that ‘Conservative scholars widely agree on such an interpretation, which is virtually ‘universal among Christian exegetes’—excluding dispensationalists.’ Later, Dr. Gentry continues his inaccurate statements by saying ‘that the early Father held to a non-eschatological interpretation of the Seventieth Week.’ This is just not true, as shall be noted below. Now I will examine just what the early church did believe about the seventy weeks of Daniel. The main point for which I am looking into the early church view of Daniel’s seventy weeks prophecy is whether they held to a gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks of years. Interestingly, an article of note was done on this subject, published in a Reformed Journal, which is the general theological orbit of Gary DeMar and Dr. Kenneth Gentry. The article was written by Louis E. Knowles and referenced errantly by Dr. Gentry when he said, ‘that the early Father held to a non-eschatological interpretation of the Seventieth Week.’ Dr. Gentry’s statement is clearly in error when compared with the writings of the early church fathers. The earliest extant writings of the church fathers reveal just the opposite of Dr. Gentry’s claim, with the exception of The Epistle of Barnabas (about a. d. 90-100), which presents a short and incomplete treatment on the subject. Knowles divides the early church (Barnabas through Augustine) into two interpretive groups, ‘the eschatological and the historical.’ By eschatological, Knowles refers to those who took the seventieth week of Daniel as future prophecy leading up to Christ’s return. By historical, he means those who believe that Daniel’s final week has already been fulfilled. Knowles concludes that Barnabas"envisioned the completion of all the weeks before the development of the church.’ When Knowles deals with the next major contributors—Irenaeus (130-200) and his disciple Hippolytus (170-236)—he describes their views as ‘undoubtedly the forerunners of the modern dispensational interpreters of the Seventy Weeks.’ Knowles draws the following conclusion about Irenaeus and Hippolytus: . . . we may say that Irenaeus presented the seed of an idea that found its full growth in the writings of Hippolytus. In the works of these fathers, we can find most of the basic concepts of the modern futuristic view of the seventieth week of Daniel ix. That they were dependent to some extent upon earlier material is no doubt true. Certainly we can see the influence of pre-Christian Jewish exegesis at times, but, by and large, we must regard them as the founders of a school of interpretation, and in this lies their significance for the history of exegesis. Thus, it is clear ‘that in Irenaeus and Hippolytus we have the originators of that method of interpretation that places the seventieth week of Daniel at the time of the consummation.’ Although, Irenaeus does not explicitly spell out a gap in his writings, there is no other way that he could have come up with his view of a future tribulation period of at least at least three and a half years. Irenaeus speaks of how ‘three years and six months constitute the half-week’ in his section on the prophecy of Daniel 9. This is why Knowles says that in Irenaeus ‘we have the basic concept for a futuristic construction of the Seventy Weeks, viz., the position of the last week at the end of the age.’ Hippolytus, Irenaeus’ pupil is even clearer. Hippolytus is the first known person in the history of the church to write a commentary on any book of the Bible, and he wrote on Daniel. ‘Hippolytus give us the first attempt at detailed interpretation of the Seventy Weeks,’ observes Knowles. ‘He is dependent, no doubt, upon Irenaeus for the foundational proposition that the last half-week of the seventy is to be connected with the Antichrist, but the detailed development is not found in Irenaeus.’ In fact, Hippolytus refers to a gap or, in his words "division," multiple times. Hippolytus says, For when the threescore and two weeks are fulfilled, and Christ is come, and the Gospel is preached in every place, the times being then accomplished, there will remain only one week, the last, in which Elias will appear, and Enoch, and in the midst of it the abomination of desolation will be manifested, viz., Antichrist, announcing desolation to the world. Le Roy Froom grudgingly admits that ‘Hippolytus . . . arbitrarily separates by a chronological gap from the preceding sixty-nine weeks, placing it just before the end of the world.’ “Certainly Hippolytus” interpretation does not have the refinements of the later development, but it is the direct ancestor of it,’ concludes Knowles. There were a number of others in the early church, up till the time of Augustine (354-430), who spoke about the subject of the seventy weeks prophecy found in Daniel 9. Jerome (340–420) in his commentary on Daniel is reluctant to set forth his own interpretation of Daniel’s seventy weeks prophecy, ‘because it is unsafe to pass judgment upon the opinions of the great teachers of the Church and to set one above another.’ So Jerome simply records the various views up till his time. The first view that Jerome cites is that of Africanus (160-240), who does not mention a gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks, but does, like early gap proponents ‘definitely views this passage as eschatological and decidedly Messianic.’ Thus, Africanus fits into the eschatological camp, making him closer to the futurist gap position, and not the historical. Eusebius (270-340), the father of church history, teaches an historical view, but he places a gap of time between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks. Knowles explains: In regards to the last week, we have some rather distinct views in Eusebius. We must recall that the last week does not follow immediately upon the sixty-ninth, but comes after the ‘indeterminate space of time’ in which the events of vs. 26 are being fulfilled. This last week, then, covers a period of seven years that extend from three and one-half years before the crucifixion to three and one-half years after it. Knowles speaks of a writer named Hesychius whom Augustine refers to as an opponent of his historical fulfillment view. ‘Hesychius has questioned Augustine about the fulfillment of the Seventy Weeks, and seems to be an adherent of the futurist school of interpretation.’ Thus, it is clear that even in the early fifth century there are still proponents of the eschatological and futurist schools of interpretation of Daniel’s seventieth week. ‘We have seen the formation of two definite schools of interpretation. . . .’ notes Knowles. ‘All the later developments in Christian literature will be found to fit into one of these categories.’ In one sense it does not matter what others who have come before our current generation think on an issue, since in reality a matter rises or falls upon whether it squares with God’s Word. However, in another sense it does matter what others have thought down through church history, since if something is taught in the Bible then it may be legitimate to ask why others have not understood a particular teaching. While there are a number of doctrines that have gone well over a thousand years before members of Christ’s church have come to realize what was there in Scripture all along, the necessary gap of time between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks of Daniel is not one of those late teachings. Why opponents of a future seventieth week of Daniel want to make matters worse for themselves by saying that we do not have ancient historical precedent is beyond me. It is obvious that our futurist view was found early and often throughout the early church, and only became scarce when premillennialism was banded from the medieval church as a result of the influence of Augustine and Jerome. ‘But the saints shall never possess an earthly kingdom,’ declares Jerome, ‘but only a heavenly. Away, then, with the fable about a millennium!’ With Jerome’s banishment of early premillennialism went the literal interpretation of prophecy. History would have to wait more than a thousand years for the revival of a literal interpretation of Bible prophecy and the literal approach to the seventieth week of Daniel. Maranatha!” Ibid, pages 40-43. The Importance of Daniel 9:24-27 to Biblical Prophecy and Important Factors of the Prophecy Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. 25 So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” (NASB95) The prophecy of the seventy weeks in Daniel 9:24-27 constitutes the key to all prophetic interpretation and thus is the backbone of biblical prophecy and outlines the future of the nation of Israel. John Walvoord writes “The interpretation of the revelation given to Daniel concerning the seventy weeks (Daniel 9:24–27) constitutes one of the determining factors in the whole system of prophecy. The attention given to it by all schools of interpretation, and the attacks upon the authenticity of the book itself combine to focus the white light of investigation upon it. The interpretation of this passage inevitably colors all other prophetic views, and a proper understanding of it is the sine qua non of any student of prophecy.” (1944). Bibliotheca Sacra, 101(401), 29. The prophecy of the seventy weeks is extremely important because it affirms the literal, grammatical, and historical method of interpreting of prophecy. It also clearly demonstrates the truth of the Scriptures. It also supports the idea that the church is a mystery meaning she was not known to Old Testament prophets like Daniel. The prophecy makes clear that this prophecy is directly related to the nation of Israel and its future. It also makes clear that Israel has a future and refutes replacement theology which contends the church has replaced Israel. Furthermore, the prophecy of the seventy weeks presents the chronology of prophecy. John Walvoord comments on the importance of the prophecy of the seventy weeks in Daniel 9:24-27, he writes “The importance of the revelation of Daniel nine lies first of all in the chronology which it establishes. Properly understood, we have here the major outline of the period from Daniel to Christ and from the rapture of the Church to the second coming of Christ in glory. Certainly, no other Old Testament passage does as much for ordering events future from Daniel’s point of view as does the passage under consideration. Properly interpreted, the prophecy of Daniel furnishes an excellent example of the principle that prophecy is subject to literal interpretation. Practically all expositors, however opposed to prophecy per se, agree that at least part of the seventy weeks of Daniel is to be interpreted literally. In fact, such is the force of the literal interpretation that those who deny the possibility of accurate prophecy are compelled to move the date of the writing of Daniel until after the events which they believe fulfilled it. From the standpoint of this article, if the first sixty-nine weeks of Daniel were subject to literal fulfillment, it is a powerful argument that the final seventieth week will have a similar fulfillment. Another important aspect of the passage is frequently overlooked by expositors. The seventy weeks of Daniel, properly interpreted, demonstrate the distinct place of the Christian church and Israel in the purposes of God. The seventy weeks of Daniel are totally in reference to Israel and her relation to Gentile powers and the rejection of Israel’s Messiah. The peculiar purpose of God in calling out a people from every nation to form the church and the program of the present age are nowhere in view in this prophecy.” (1944). Bibliotheca Sacra, 101(401), 29–31. The prophecy of the seventy weeks in Daniel 9:24-27 also refutes the attempt of liberal scholars to question the date of writing for Daniel’s prophecies. Liberal scholars have assigned a second century B.C. date for the book of Daniel since they don’t believe in predictive prophecy. They say Daniel wrote after the events recorded in the book that bears his name.   Bob Bolender writes “Daniel 9:24-27 is an irrefutable witness that the prophecy of the Messiah's coming and being cut off is true. Since, no one ‘late-dates’ Daniel to the time of Christ, Daniel 9:24-27 is one clear case of predictive prophecy, which establishes the credibility of everything else. This observation also explains why the critics try so hard to debunk this passage.”    Henry Morris writes “The probability that Daniel could guess the date of the manifestation and crucifixion of the Messiah is essentially zero. Only supernatural inspiration can account for fulfilled prophecies like this. In fact, these events were fulfilled almost two centuries even after the date assigned to Daniel by scholars who deny that such prophecies can valid!” The Defender's Study Bible The prophecy of the seventy weeks in Daniel 9:24-27 further supports the biblical doctrine that God is sovereign. It also demonstrates that God is omnipotent in that He can bring to pass that which He declares will take place in history. It also demonstrates the fact that He is omniscient and knows what will take place in history before it happens. There are several important factors regarding this prophecy. First of all, it is directly related to the nation of Israel and not the church. It also has to do with the city of Jerusalem. Secondly, there are two different princes mentioned in the prophecy. They are distinct from each other and should not be taken as referring to the same individual. In verse 25, the first prince is mentioned who is called “Messiah the prince.” The second appears in verse 26 and he is called the “prince who is to come.” Thirdly, the prophecy has a specific time period, namely 70 weeks or in other words 490 prophetic years. Another important factor regarding the prophecy of the seventy weeks is that it is divided into three parts. The first contains 7 weeks or 49 prophetic years. The second is 62 weeks or 434 prophetic years. The third is one week or 7 prophetic years. The seventy weeks begins at a specific point in history, namely “from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem” (verse 25). At the end of the 69 weeks or 483 prophetic years the Messiah is said to appear (verse 25). After the 69th week, the Messiah is said to be “cut off’ and Jerusalem and the temple will once again be destroyed but this time by the people of the prince who is to come. The seventieth week also has a fixed point. It begins with the prince who is to come forging a seven-year treaty with the nation of Israel. In the middle of this seven year period, this prince of the people who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering in the temple. Alva McClain mentions the following important points regarding this prophecy, he writes “(1) The entire prophecy has to do with Daniel’s ‘people’ and Daniel’s ‘city,’ that is the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem (24). (2) Two different princes are mentioned, who should not be confused: the first is named Messiah the Prince (25); and the second is described as Prince that shall come (26). (3) The entire time-period involved is exactly specified as Seventy Weeks (24); and these Seventy Weeks are further divided into three lesser periods: first, a period of seven weeks; after that a period of three-score and two weeks; and finally, a period of one week (25, 27). (4) The beginning of the whole period of the Seventy Weeks is definitely fixed at “the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem” (25). (5) The end of the seven weeks and threescore and two weeks (69 weeks) will be marked by the appearance of Messiah as the ‘Prince’ of Israel (25). (6) At a later time, ‘after the threescore and two weeks’ which follow the first seven weeks (that is, after 69 weeks), Messiah the Prince will be ‘cut off,’ and Jerusalem will again be destroyed by the people of another ‘prince’ who is yet to come (26). After these two important events, we come to the last, or Seventieth Week, the beginning of which will be clearly marked by the establishment of a firm covenant or treaty between the Coming Prince and the Jewish nation for a peropd of ‘one week’ (27). (8) In the ‘midst’ of this Seventieth Week, evidently breaking his treaty, the Coming Prince will suddenly cause the Jewish sacrifice to cease and precipitate upon this people a time of wrath and desolation lasting to the ‘full end’ of the Week (27). (9) With the full completion of the whole period of the Seventy Weeks, there will be ushered in a time of great and unparalleled blessings for the nation of Israel (24).” McClain, Alva, J., Daniel’s Prophecy of the 70 Weeks; pages 12-13; BMH Books; Winona Lake, Indiana 46590; 1940; 1969; 2007 by BHM Books. Culver lists five propositions regarding the prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27, he writes “(1) The seventy weeks are 490 years, which relate wholly to the then future of Israel. (2) The seventy weeks are divided into three periods of seven, sixty-two, and one, which follow one another and run successively. (3) The first sixty-nine weeks ran out during the lifetime of Messiah and before His crucifixion. (4) The death of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem, both mentioned in the prophecy, are events which follow the close of the sixty-ninth week and precede the beginning of the seventieth week. (5) The seventieth week pertains to a seven-year relationship between the Antichrist and Daniel’s people Israel, in eschatological times, and concludes with the second advent of Christ.” Culver, Robert D., Daniel and the Latter Days; pages 139-140; Fleming H. Revell Company; 1954. The Time Gap Between Daniel 9:26 and 27 As we noted in our study of the different interpretive approaches to the seventy weeks prophecy, there is disagreement as to whether or not there is a gap of an indefinite period of time between the completion of the sixty-ninth week and the seventieth. Also, as we have pointed out, dispensationalism in contrast to other interpretive approaches views Israel’s rejection of her Messiah and His death as taking place after the sixty-ninth week and the completion of the six divine objectives mentioned in verse 24 are left for the seventieth week. Those who argue that the seventieth week follows immediately after the sixty-ninth week historically apply the divine objectives in verse 24 to the church, which they then view as the new Israel. However, adherents to dispensationalism which strictly adheres to the literal method of interpreting prophecy recognize a distinction between God’s program for the church and His program for Israel. Thus, dispensationalists view the fulfillment of the seventieth week is yet future. Walter Kaiser writes, “Replacement theology…declared that the Church, Abraham’s spiritual seed, had replaced national Israel in that it has transcended and fulfilled the terms of the covenant given to Israel, which covenant Israel had lost because of disobedience.” (Michael J. Vlach; The Master’s Seminary Journal, volume 20, number 1, page 59) Bruce K. Waltke writes that the New Testament teaches the “hard fact that national Israel and its law have been permanently replaced by the church and the New Covenant.” (Michael J. Vlach; The Master’s Seminary Journal, volume 20, number 1, page 59) Replacement theology or a some call it “supersessionism” is based on two major premises: (1) the nation of Israel has somehow completed or forfeited its status as the people of God and will never again possess a unique role or function apart from the church; and (2) the church is now the true Israel that has permanently replaced or superseded national Israel as the people of God. Michael J. Vlach writes, “Supersessionism, then, in the context of Israel and the church, is the view that the New Testament church is the new and/or true Israel that has forever superseded the nation Israel as the people of God. The result is that the church has become the sole inheritor of God’s covenant blessings originally promised to national Israel in the OT. This rules out a future restoration of the nation Israel with a unique identity, role, and purpose that is distinct in any way from the Christian church.” (The Master’s Seminary Journal, volume 20, number 1, page 60) Vlach lists several variations of supersessionism, i.e. replacement theology: (1) punitive or retributive: This emphasizes that God has rejected Israel for her disobedience and punishment by God as the reason for its displacement as the people of God. (2) economic: This view teaches that Israel is replaced by the church because her role in the history of redemption expired with the coming of Jesus and the establishment of the church. (3) structural: This view is a hermeneutical approach and refers to the narrative logic of the standard model whereby it renders the Hebrew Scriptures largely indecisive for shaping Christian convictions about how God’s works as Consummator and as Redeemer engage humankind in universal and enduring ways and thus ignores or removes the Hebrew Scriptures of the OT from having a voice. (The Master’s Seminary Journal, volume 20, number 1, pages 59-64) Therefore, replacement theology or supersessionism contends that the nation of Israel has absolutely no future whatsoever in the plan of God. Now, those who adhere to this view believe there will be a future “salvation” of Israel, but this salvation does not mean a “restoration” of Israel. The difference between a salvation of Israel and a restoration of that nation is that salvation means simply that many Jews will believe in Christ and be saved while on the other hand restoration involves Israel being replanted in Palestine and given a role and mission to the nations. A restoration of Israel means that the nation will have a role and a place of prominence that is not shared with any other group including the church. Dispensationalists accept both concepts and believe Israel as a nation will be saved and they also believe Israel will be restored to a place of prominence among the nations. Now, some supersessionists do not believe in either a salvation or restoration of Israel while some believe in a salvation of Israel but do not believe in a restoration of that nation. No supersessionists believe in a restoration of Israel and is the major factor that distinguishes them from dispensationalists. Therefore, dispensationalists view a prophetic postponement of the seventieth week or in other words they view there being a time gap between the fulfillment of the sixty-ninth week and the seventieth. Those who argue against a time gap contend that there are no gaps in the fulfillment of prophecy. However, it is clear from Scripture that the prophetic postponement of the seventieth week is in agreement with many passages in the Old Testament which reveal the two advents of Christ. There is clearly a time gap and postponement in the fulfillment of prophecies pertaining to the second advent of Christ. Randall Price has an excellent comment and writes “Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks (Dan. 9:24-27) is part of the division of his book (chapters 7-12) that records visions of future earthly kingdoms (both human and divine). In the context of chapter 7, the archangel Gabriel explains to Daniel that seventy weeks are required to fulfill the petition Daniel has made concerning the restoration of Israel (vss. 3-19). Daniel's prayer had been based on his observation (vs. 2) of the seventy years prophecy in Jer. 25:11-12; 29:10. Daniel is told of six restoration goals that will be accomplished during the seventy weeks (vs. 24), which the remainder of the chapter outlines in events to unfold in Israel's subsequent history. Dispensationalism joins with most Christian scholarship in holding that the seventy weeks are to be interpreted as seventy weeks of years. This resulting period of 490 years (70 x7) is divided according to the text (vss. 25-27) as periods of seven weeks (49 years), sixty-two weeks (434 years), and one week (7 years). Dispensationalism is also in agreement with most evangelical scholarship in interpreting the context of this passage as messianic, with the coming of Messiah taking place after the sixty-two weeks (i.e., after the 7 weeks + the 62 weeks = 483 years). However, Dispensationalism (classical) is distinct in its interpretation of Daniel's seventieth week (vs. 27) as future. With Israel's rejection of the Messiah and His death taking place after the sixty-ninth week (vs. 26), the completion of the six restoration goals for Israel (vs. 24) are left for the seventieth week. If the seventieth week immediately succeeds the sixty-ninth week historically, then the expected restoration must be applied spiritually to the Church as a new Israel. Because Dispensationalism adheres to the principle of literal interpretation and recognizes the scriptural distinction between God's program for Israel and the Church, it understands the historical completion of Israel's restoration must take place in a future week. During this time (as described in vs. 27), there is a resumption of the messianic program for Israel with the overthrow of the Antichrist (the apocalyptic prerequisite to the establishment of the messianic kingdom). This interpretation requires a prophetic postponement (older writers referred to this as a ‘gap’ or ‘parenthesis’) between the events of verses 26 and 27. The revelation of a prophetic postponement in the fulfillment of the eschatological aspect of the messianic program is in harmony with numerous passages in the Old Testament that reveal the two advents of Christ (e.g.. Gen. 49:10-12; Deut. 18:16; 2 Samuel 7:13-16; Isa. 9:1-7; 11:1-2, 11; 52:13-59:17-21; 61:1-11, cf. Lk. 4:16-19; cf. 7:22; Zeph. 2:13-3:20; Zech. 9:9-10; Joel 2:28; cf. Acts 2:17; Mic. 5:2-15; Psalm 2:7-8, cf. Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5; 5:5; Psalm 22:1-32; Psalm 34:14, 16; Mal. 3:1-3; 4:5-6; 53:10a, 11). Daniel's concern is with his People (vss. 20, 24; cf. 12:1) and the restoration that Jeremiah predicted would come after the seventy year exile (Jer. 25:11-12; cf. 2 Chron. 36:21). Jeremiah's prophecy of restoration (Jer. 30-33), like the prophecies of Isaiah (Isa. 40-66) and Ezekiel (Ezek. 33-48) included predictions of both immediate (post-exilic) restoration and future (eschatological) restoration. The post-exilic prophets understood this distinction, realizing that though they were enjoying a restoration under Ezra/Zerubbabel, the complete national/spiritual restoration had been delayed for the future. This is seen, for example, in one of the signal events of restoration - the rebuilding of the Temple (Hag. 2:3-9).” Price, Randall, Seventy Weeks of Daniel in Dispensational Interpretation. Thomas Ice has an excellent comment, he writes “Those who do not think that the seventy weeks of Daniel 9:24-27 have a literal and chronologically precise fulfillment are opposed to the postponement of the seventieth week as a yet future time of seven years. Examples of such criticism can be found by those within the Reconstructionist movement, holding to a form of preterist postmillennialism. Gary DeMar complains: Placing a gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks of Daniel 9:24-27 ‘must be fixed’ because of the system created by dispensationalists, not because the Bible mentions anything about a gap. . . . dispensationalists force the Bible to comply to an already developed system that insists that these events cannot be describing first-century events. Gary DeMar, Last Days Madness: Obsession of the Modern Church, (Power Springs, GA: American Vision, 1999), p.333. Fellow preterist, Dr. Ken Gentry echoes DeMar’s refrain in the following: An overriding concern of the prophecy, in distinction to all other Messianic prophecies is that it is specifically designed to be a measuring time-frame. . . . If there were gaps between the units, the whole idea of measurement in the ‘seventy weeks’ would vanish. An elastic yardstick is a worthless measure. None of the other prophecies brought forward as illustrations of a gap claim to be a measure of time. Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., Perilous Times: A Study in Eschatological Evil (Texarkana, AR: Covenant Media Press, 1999), pp. 29-30. Dr. Gentry is right about one thing, that the Daniel 9 passage is the only Messianic prophecy that specifically deals with chronology or the time element. While I believe that I have shown that the passage itself requires a chronological postponement between the sixtyninth and seventieth weeks of years, it is also supported by other Messianic passages which are not specifically time oriented, but clearly do refer to distinct time-periods: Christ’s first coming and his second coming. If anyone believes in the two comings of Christ, and both DeMar and Gentry do, then they also believe in a gap of time between the first and second coming of Christ. I want to show how this fits into a clear biblical pattern that in turn lends support to the notion of a gap of time in Daniel 9:24-27. It is obvious from the Bible that if you view the ministry or career of Christ in its entirety, then it is composed of two parts or phases. The first phase encompasses the first coming of Jesus two thousand years ago, while the second phase will consist of His second coming some time in the future. Yet many Old Testament prophecies of the coming Messiah commingled their descriptions of both phases of Christ into a single passage, without distinguishing between the two comings or phases of His earthly career. It is commonly understood today that the Jews of the first century did not understand that these Old Testament prophecies spoke of a single Messiah who would come twice—once in humiliation, then again in glorious exaltation. We have learned that many Jews of Christ’s day thought that there would be two different Messiahs—Messiah ben Joseph and Messiah ben David. Messiah ben Joseph would be one who suffers and dies, but is immediately followed by Messiah ben David, who reigns in glory. Raphael Patai, The Messiah Texts (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1979), pp. xxxii-xxxv. The reality of Scripture is that there is but one Messiah—Jesus of Nazareth—who comes twice. This means that there is a gap of time between the two comings. Even though preterists like DeMar and Gentry belittle a gap of time between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks of Daniel 9:24-27, they are driven to believe in a gap of time between the two comings. DeMar and Gentry even believe in a gap, so far, of almost 2,000 years. Yet this time-gap is not explicitly stated in Scripture. So how can DeMar and Gentry hold to something like a gap of time that not explicitly stated in Scripture? Because the only possible implication that can be deduced from the facts of Christ’s two comings is that there is a timegap between the two events. In like manner, such a time-gap must also follow from the fact that Christ has a career that is two-phased. Why is this important to our study of the seventy weeks of Daniel? It is important, because as Gentry noted above, ‘An overriding concern of the prophecy, in distinction to all other Messianic prophecies is that it is specifically designed to be a measuring time-frame.’ True, so true, Dr. Gentry. Yet, you believe in a gap of time between the two comings of Christ, even though it is not specifically stated in the Bible. In the same way, I would argue that all other Messianic passages that speak of the two aspects or phases of the career of Messiah also must imply that they are fulfilled at the two comings of Christ, . . . with a gap of time in between. This means that there are many similar passages that speak in a single statement of items that encompass both phases of Christ’s career—the first and second advents. However, as Dr. Gentry has noted, only the Daniel 9:24-27 passage deals specifically with measuring time. This explains why the Daniel passage is the only Messianic text that deals specifically with a time frame. Gentry, Perilous Times, p. 29. However, a significant number of other Messianic passages have something in common with the prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27. They all speak of components of Christ’s career that will take place in the two phases of His two advents. Only the Daniel text speaks of time factors. This means that it is legitimate to argue for a gap of time from the other Messianic passages that also include, in a single passage, the two elements of Christ’s career...Perhaps the most well-known example of the kind of prophecy about which I speak is found in Christ’s reading of Isaiah 61:1-2 as recorded in Luke 4:16-30. The passage reads as follows: The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, in our book called Charting the End Times. Tim LaHaye & Thomas Ice, Charting The End Times: A Visual Guide to Understanding Bible Prophecy (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2001), pp. 28-30. We say concerning this passage: Now when Jesus read the prophecies about Himself in Isaiah 61, why did He stop at the beginning of verse 2? Because He was announcing the reasons for His first coming and because He was to “proclaim the acceptable year of Jehovah’s favor” (KJV). That’s a reference to the church age, often called the age of grace, a time when sinners can freely call on the name of the Lord to be saved (Romans 10:13). Jesus stopped at the words, ‘and the day of vengeance of our God,’ which speaks of the Tribulation period, mentioned by the Hebrew prophets as ‘the day of wrath’ and ‘the time of Jacob’s trouble,’ and by Jeremiah as ‘a day of vengeance’ (46:10). That’s because the purpose of His first coming was to announce the period of grace and salvation we are living in, not the time of judgment that is yet to come. LaHaye & Ice, Charting The End Times, p. 30. Another example of what some have called ‘double reference’ is found in Zechariah 9:9-10. Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum says concerning double reference: This rule should not be confused with another rule often called Double Fulfillment. This author does not accept the validity of the principle of double fulfillment. This law states that one passage may have a near and a far view; hence, in a way, it may be fulfilled twice. . . . This author, however, does not believe that there is such a thing as double fulfillment. A single passage can refer to one thing only, and if it is prophecy, it can have only one fulfillment unless the text itself states that it can have many fulfillments. The law of double reference differs from the law of double fulfillment in that the former states that while two events are blended into one picture, one part of the passage refers to one event and the other part of the passage to the second event. This is the case in Zechariah 9:9-10. Arnold Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of the Messiah: A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events, (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries Press, 1982), pp. 4-5. In the same context we see that verse nine refers to Christ’s first coming: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Verse ten is a reference only to Christ’s second coming as follows: And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; and His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. In the Zechariah passage, there has to be a gap of time between the fulfillment of the verse nine that relates to Messiah’s first coming two thousand years ago, and His second advent, which is still a yet future event. Even though no time factor is explicitly stated in the text, because of the specific nature of the events described in the two verses, a gap of time is required to coordinate the fulfillment of this prophecy with the events of history. The point that I am making, relating to the seventy weeks of Daniel prophecy, is that it is not unreasonable to find implied time gaps in a significant number of Messianic passages in the Old Testament. I am not saying that this proves that there is in fact a gap in Daniel 9:24-27, I believe that I have demonstrated that earlier. I think that the two-phased career of Messiah means that it is not unreasonable to expect in a Messianic passage a necessity of a time-gap between the fulfillment of all events prophesied in such a passage. This supports our literal interpretation of Daniel 9:24-27.” Ice, Thomas, D., The Seventy Weeks of Daniel; pages 35-40; Liberty University; Pre-Trib Research Center. Another important factor in the favor of the dispensationalists view that God’s program for the church is distinct from His program for Israel and that there is a time gap between the fulfillment of the sixty-ninth and seventieth week is that they view the church as a mystery. This means that the church age was not known to Old Testament prophets like Daniel. In relation to the Greek New Testament, the noun musterion referred to Bible doctrine that was never revealed to Old Testament saints but was revealed through the Spirit to the church. It referred to God’s set of instructions for the church age believer, which were not known to Old Testament saints. The noun musterion was used by the Greeks of the content of the doctrines and the actual principles and points that had to be learned by the initiated. It was used in the ancient fraternities of Athens, Greece. These ancient fraternities had secret doctrines, which they called mystery doctrines and only those initiated into those fraternities knew the mystery doctrines or the secrets. Every Greek fraternity had its own secret doctrines and cultic rites. The mystery doctrine that the Apostle Paul taught and is found in the New Testament is truth. Paul took the noun musterion away from the secrets of the ancient mystery cults and used it in technical theological language. He did this to indicate that the doctrine that he was teaching was totally unknown in Old Testament times. Musterion is something that is hidden from those outside the fraternity. The fraternity is the royal family of God formed by the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the moment of conversion. Only members of the royal family of God have received the mystery doctrine of the church age. Our Lord taught this principle to us disciples and employed it Himself (Matthew 13:10-11). Only the initiated or within our Lord’s circle of students were given the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. The Person of Christ is called the “mystery of godliness” (1 Timothy 3:16). In Colossians 1:24-2:3, Paul taught that the indwelling of Christ in church age believers is a mystery not known to Old Testament saints. It was a mystery that the Gentiles would be “fellow heirs with Christ” (Ephesians 3:4-6). Ephesians 3:1-13 teaches that it was a mystery that the Gentiles through faith in Christ would become fellow heirs with Jewish believers, fellow members of the body of Christ and fellow partakers of the four unconditional covenants of promise to Israel. In Ephesians 5:22-33, Paul taught that the eternal union between church age believers and the Lord Jesus Christ is also described by Paul as a “mystery.” The resurrection of the church is a mystery (1 Corinthians 15:51-53). In Romans 16:25, “mystery” refers to the plan of salvation for both Jew and Gentiles and is now fully revealed during the church age by the Spirit through the apostles to the church, which was not fully known to the Old Testament prophets of Israel. The content of this mystery is Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection for both Jew and Gentile. The “hidden” nature of the gospel is not that it was totally unknown since the Old Testament prophets, all the way back to Abraham, were told that salvation would be provided for both Jew and Gentile through the Jewish Messiah. What Paul means by musterion in Romans 16:25 is that through the Spirit, God the Father has “fully” disclosed the gospel in the person of Jesus Christ and in the proclamation of the gospel by the apostles. Another factor in favor of the dispensationalist interpretation and their view that the church is not the new Israel is that they recognize that the unconditional nature of the covenants to Israel make clear that there is still a future for the nation of Israel and the church is by no means the new Israel. The four great unconditional covenants to Israel: (1) Abrahamic deals with the race of Israel (Gen. 12:1-3; 13:16; 22:15-18). (2) Palestinian is the promise of land to Israel (Gn. 13:15; Num. 34:1-12). (3) Davidic deals with the aristocracy of Israel (2 Sam. 7:8-17) (4) New deals with the future restoration of Israel during the millennium (Jer. 31:31-34). Replacement theology is refuted by the nature of the Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic and New covenants, which are all unconditional meaning that their fulfillment is not based upon the faithfulness of Israel but rather they are based on the faithfulness of God. The unconditional nature of the promises of these four covenants means that Israel’s unbelief throughout human history does not nullify or negate or stop them from being fulfilled. Therefore, the church can not possibly replace Israel because God always sets aside a remnant of Jewish believers throughout history based on His faithfulness to the unconditional promises He made to Israel in the Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic and New covenants. There are several major factors which support the view that there is a time gap between the fulfillment of the sixty-ninth week and the seventieth. First, the six divine objectives which appear in Daniel 9:24 must be fulfilled within the seventy weeks. However, these have emphatically not been fulfilled historically. For instance, the objective of anointing the most holy place has not taken place within the 490 years. The holy place was destroyed in Daniel 9:26 but then in Daniel 9:27 we see it rebuilt since sacrifices were allowed under the “firm covenant.” However, this temple does not presently exist. Therefore, one must see a future fulfillment duirng the seventieth week in Daniel 9:27, which thus necessitates a time gap, which corresponds to the church age as we noted. A second major factor supporting a time gap is that Daniel 9:26 says that the Messiah will be cut off after the sixty-nine weeks and not during the the seventieth week. Thirdly, the “he” in Daniel 9:27 refers to “the prince who is to come” in Daniel 9:26, if one follows the rules of grammar which would support the view that the nearest antecedent for the “he” in verse 27 is “the prince who is to come” in Daniel 9:26. Connected to this third point, is that if the “he” in Daniel 9:27 is the Messiah, then one cannot reconcile the fact that the temple sacrifices continued until 70 A.D. over thirty years after the crucifixion of Christ. Furthermore, the “he” in Daniel 9:27 breaks the covenant. At what point did Christ make a covenant with the Jews and then break it? There is nothing in the New Testament which would even suggest this. Another major factor which supports the time gap is that the events mentioned in the last three and a half years of Daniel 9:27 fit perfectly with the events described in the book of Revelation. Furthermore, if the first sixty-nine weeks have been literally fulfilled in history, then we would expect the seventieth week to be as well. Of course we have not seen a literal fulfillment in history of the seventieth week. We have not seen a Roman dictator make a seven-year treaty with Israel and then break it in the middle of this seven year period. Nor, have we seen in history a Roman dictator put a stop to the sacrifices in the temple. In fact, no temple is standing in Israel today. However, Christ’s first advent and presentation of Himself to the nation of Israel as her king has taken place literally in history as recorded in the gospels and thus fulfilling literally Daniel 9:25. We have also seen the fulfillment of Daniel 9:26 and the cutting off of the Messiah after this presentation, which is recorded in the gospels. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Romans as predicted in Daniel 9:26. Thus, it follows that if Daniel 9:25-26 were fulfilled literally in history, then we can expect the same for Daniel 9:27. Thomas Ice addressing those who argue against the seventieth week as yet future, writes “Preterist Gary DeMar is one of the most outspoken critics of a yet future 70th week of Daniel. DeMar argues that there are never any gaps in any time periods in Scripture that he examines. He declares, ‘If we can find no gaps in the sequence of years in these examples, then how can a single exception be made with the “seventy weeks” in Daniel 9:24-27?’ Interestingly, DeMar does not examine the 490-year period that took place during the 800 years of Israel’s occupation of the land as mentioned above. As I have noted, there are all kinds of gaps within this sequence. There were roughly 310 years of gaps interspersed throughout the 800-year period. This makes it directly related to the 70-weeks prophecy given to Daniel. DeMar acknowledges that Daniel’s 70-weeks are related to the violation of the sabbatical year laws of Leviticus 25 and 26, and connected to 2 Chronicles 36 and Jeremiah 25. But he fails to observe the fact that the 490 years of Daniel 9:24-27 are derived from the 490 years of Israel’s violation of the sabbatical years prescribed by God in His covenant with the nation. Dr. Harold Hoehner answers critics like DeMar when he notes that ‘The seventy-year captivity was due to the Jews having violated seventy sabbatical years over a 490-year period and Daniel now saw seventy units of sevens decreed for another 490 years into Israel’s future.’ Hoehner has diagramed this relationship as noted in the ‘Units of Seventy’ chart below. We also know that Daniel himself was familiar with the reason why God had sent His people into the Babylonian captivity from the first part of Daniel 9. In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans—in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes (Dan. 9:1-3). Dr. Leon Wood explains this matter as follows: since Daniel was here thinking in terms of the seventy-year captivity, he, as a Hebrew, could have easily moved from the idea of one week of years to seventy weeks of years. This follows because, according to 2 Chronicles 36:21, the people had been punished by this Exile so that their land might enjoy the sabbath rests which had not been observed in their prior history (cf. Lev. 26:33-35, Jer. 34:12-22). Knowing this, Daniel would have recognized that the seventy years of the Exile represented seventy sevens of years in which these violations had transpired; and he would have understood Gabriel to be saying, simply, that another period, similar in length to that which had made the Exile necessary, was coming in the experienced of the people. Even though DeMar recognizes the cause for Daniel’s prayer and the subsequent revelation of the angel Gabriel to Daniel of the 70-weeks prophecy, he fails to recognize that the 70-year captivity was based upon a 490-year period that contained multiple gaps of time. DeMar argues that a gap of time between the 69th and 70th week of Daniel is not justified because there are not other examples of this in Scripture. This appears to justify such a gap if an example of other gaps could be found. We have not only found an example, but it is an example directly related to the 70-weeks prophecy of Daniel. Thus, using DeMar’s standard, he should recognize that a gap in Daniel 9:24-27 is justifiable...Gary DeMar goes on to insist that it is impossible to have any kind of gap or chronological postponement of time between the 69th and 70th week of Daniel. As has already been noted, the text says nothing about ‘a period between the sixty-ninth and seventieth-weeks.’ There can be no ‘period between’ any time period, whether seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, or years unless a period of time is expressly given. It is impossible to insert time between the end of one year and the beginning of another. January 1st follows December 31st at the stroke of midnight. There is no ‘period between’ the conclusion of one year and the beginning of the next year. Culver, therefore, begs the question. He first must prove that a period of time should be placed between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks before he can maintain that there is a ‘period between’ the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks. The ‘simple language of the text’ makes no mention of a gap. I believe that there is clear evidence why the 70th week of Daniel is yet future and, thus, the necessity of a gap of time between the 69th and 70th week. Just as Gary DeMar and others who do not think that Daniel 9:24-27 can be taken literally are mistaken. Daniel 9:24-27 allows for a gap of time between the 69th and 70th week because the advancing of God’s program relating to His people Israel was put on hold and will be postponed until a future time.” Ice, Thomas, D., The Seventy Weeks of Daniel; pages 12-14; Liberty University; Pre-Trib Research Center. Excursus: Romans 11 Beginning in Romans 11, the apostle Paul teaches concerning the future salvation of the nation of Israel. The single basic theme throughout Romans chapter eleven is stated at the beginning of the chapter, namely that God has not rejected the nation of Israel. If this is the case, then God is surely not employing the church to replace Israel. Romans chapter eleven completes the fifth major section in the book of Romans, which began with chapter nine. This section is a defense of God’s righteousness in His dealings with the nation of Israel since the question arises that if God is for the elect and that nothing can separate them from God’s love as Paul says in chapter 8, then why has He set aside His chosen people, the Jews, the nation of Israel. In this section, Paul attempts to explain God’s dealings with the Jews as a vindication of His righteousness. Paul does it by demonstrating through the Old Testament Scriptures that Israel’s rejection is related to the spiritual pride of the Jews (9,10), that Israel’s rejection is not complete because some are being saved (11), and that Israel’s rejection is not final because it will be reversed before the coming of the Lord (the end of chapter 11). Therefore, in Romans 9-11, the apostle defends the righteousness of God in His dealings with the nation of Israel in the past (9), present (10) and future (11). It appears that these chapters are an interruption or a parenthesis but rather they are a continuation of Paul’s argument for justification by faith. In Romans 1-8, Paul presents the great spiritual truths or doctrines of the Christian faith and then in Romans 9-11, he demonstrates how these doctrines or spiritual truths apply to God’s dealings with Israel in the past, present and future. In Romans 11, he instructs his readers that all God’s promises to the patriarchs of Israel and the nation itself will be fulfilled. This chapter makes clear that even though the nation of Israel has rejected Jesus Christ as Savior, God is not through with the nation since He has set aside a remnant of believers in the nation in the future. That God has not rejected the nation of Israel altogether is also due to God’s faithfulness in fulfilling the four unconditional covenants that He made to the patriarchs of Israel and the nation itself. The four great unconditional covenants to Israel: (1) Abrahamic deals with the race of Israel (Genesis 12:1-3; 13:16; 22:15-18). (2) Palestinian is the promise of land to Israel (Gn. 13:15; Numbers 34:1-12). (3) Davidic deals with the aristocracy of Israel (2 Samuel 7:8-17) (4) New deals with the future restoration of Israel during the millennium (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Thus, Paul makes clear that God has not totally abandoned the nation of Israel and that in the future she will be restored. In Romans 11:1, Paul posing a rhetorical question that is the result of an inference that could be implied from his teaching in Romans chapters nine and ten, namely that God has rejected Israel. He emphatically rejects this idea and then presents himself as living proof that this is not the case. Romans 11:1 Therefore, I ask, God the Father has not rejected His people, has He? Absolutely not! Because I myself also am an Israelite, a biological descendant of Abraham, descended from the tribe of Benjamin. (Author’s translation) Then, in Romans 11:2a, he emphatically declares that God has by no means rejected the nation of Israel whom He foreknew. In Romans 11:2b, Paul poses a question in order to introduce the subject of God setting aside a remnant for Himself in Israel in the days of Elijah. Romans 11:2 God the Father has by no means rejected His people whom He knew in advance. Or, have you totally forgotten what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he repeatedly pleaded with God the Father against Israel? (Author’s translation) Next, in Romans 11:3, he cites 1 Kings 19:10 to demonstrate that God has not rejected Israel. In this passage, Elijah pleaded with the Father against Israel when he was the lone surviving prophet in Israel who was alone in the desert because he was fleeing Jezebel who sought to murder him. Romans 11:3 Lord, they have murdered Your prophets. They have destroyed Your altars. I myself alone am left. Also, they are making it a top priority to diligently, earnestly and tenaciously seek my life, sparing no expense to do so because it is of great value to them! (Author’s translation) In Romans 11:4, Paul presents the Father’s response to Elijah’s complaint against Israel by citing 1 Kings 19:18,which records God telling him that He had set aside a remnant composed of seven thousand men in Israel that had not bowed the knee to Baal. Romans 11:4 However, in direct contrast, what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for the benefit of Myself seven thousand men, who are indeed of such character and of a particular class of individuals that have never bowed a knee to Baal.” (Author’s translation) Then, in Romans 11:5, the apostle teaches that in the same way that God set aside a remnant for Himself in a Elijah’s day so He had done so in Paul’s day in the mid first century according to His sovereign grace. Romans 11:5 Therefore, in the same way also, there is in existence at this particular moment in history, a remnant in accordance with election by means of grace. (Author’s translation) Paul in Romans 11:6 argues with his readers that if you agree with me that God had set aside for Himself a remnant in Israel on the basis of grace, then it follows logically that this election of the remnant is never at any time on the basis of meritorious actions otherwise grace never at any time exists as grace. Romans 11:6 For you see if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that it is, as an eternal spiritual truth on the basis of grace. And we agree that it is true! Then, it is never at any time on the basis of meritorious actions as constituting its source, otherwise grace never at any time exists as grace. (Author’s translation) In Romans 11:7, we have the second paragraph in the chapter and in this verse, Paul poses a question that is the result of an inference from his teaching in Romans 9:6-11:6. Romans 11:7 What shall we conclude then? That which Israel has in the past diligently sought after and continues to do so up to the present moment, this they never obtained. However, the elect obtained it but the rest were hardened. (Author’s translation) His statement in Romans 11:7 teaches that Israel never obtained the righteousness that they diligently sought after in the past and continued to do so up to the time he wrote this epistle. He then says that in contrast with this group that sought after righteousness through obedience to the Law, the elect remnant obtained righteousness through faith in Christ and the majority were hardened by God for their unbelief. In Romans 11:8, Paul quotes Deuteronomy 29:4 and Isaiah 29:10 to support his contention that Israel was hardened because of unbelief. Romans 11:8 As it stands written for all of eternity, “God the Father caused them to experience an insensitive attitude, eyes that never see as well as ears that never hear up to and during this very day and period of history.” (Author’s translation) In this passage, he teaches that as a result of their rejection of Christ, the Father caused unregenerate Israel to experience an insensitive attitude towards spiritual truth. He then explains this by pointing out that unregenerate Israel did not have the capacity to receive and understand spiritual truth as a result of their rejection of Christ. He also teaches that this was continuing to take place up to and during the very day when Paul wrote this epistle. Then, in Romans 11:9, the apostle quotes Psalm 69:22 as further support for his contention that Israel was hardened because of their rejection of Jesus Christ. Romans 11:9 Also, David says, “May their table become as a snare and as a trap and as a bait stick of a trap and as a retribution against them.” (Author’s translation) In this passage, Paul quotes Psalm 69:22 as further support for his contention that Israel was hardened because of their rejection of Jesus Christ. He also teaches that the righteousness produced by unsaved Israel in his day through obedience to the Law in an attempt to be justified would be equivalent to judgment (snare), prepare them for judgment (trap), trigger judgment upon them (stumbling block) and retribution. In Romans 11:10, Paul quotes from Psalm 69:23 to again further support for his contention that Israel was hardened because of their rejection of Jesus Christ. Romans 11:10 “May their eyes be darkened so that they never see. Also, bend their back forever.” (Author’s translation) Romans 11:11 begins the third paragraph in the chapter and in this passage Paul argues that Israel’s fall as a nation is by no means final but was to save the Gentiles so as to make them jealous. Romans 11:11 Therefore, I ask, did they stumble so as to fall down in complete in ruin? Absolutely not! On the contrary because of their transgression salvation is experienced by the Gentiles in order to provoke them to jealousy. (Author’s translation) The rhetorical question that in Romans 11:11 is the result of an inference that could be implied from Paul’s teaching in Romans 11:8-10, namely that Israel’s rejection of Christ as a nation is the end of her as a national entity. “May it never be!” is the strongest negative Greek expression emphatically denying any possibility or thought of the nation of Israel being in complete ruin as a result of rejecting Christ. The statement “On the contrary because of their transgression salvation is experienced by the Gentiles in order to provoke them to jealousy” stands in direct contrast with the idea that Israel stumbled by rejecting Christ so as to fall in complete ruin as a nation. It indicates that salvation is experienced by the Gentiles because of Israel’s transgression in rejecting Christ in order to provoke Israel to jealousy. The apostle Paul in Romans 11:12 argues that if Israel’s transgression and failure meant riches for the Gentiles, how much more then will Israel’s full restoration bring to the Gentiles. Romans 11:12 But, if, and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that their transgression, as an eternal spiritual truth does mean infinite wealth possessed by the world’s inhabitants. Specifically, their failure, as an eternal spiritual truth does mean infinite wealth possessed by the Gentiles. And of course, we agree that this is a fact of history! Then how much more will their full restoration bring? (Author’s translation) In Romans 11:12, Paul is contrasting the infinite spiritual benefits that the Gentiles received through Israel’s rejection of Christ with that of the infinite spiritual benefits they will receive in the future when the nation of Israel is fully restored at the Second Advent of Christ and His subsequent millennial reign. This passage is a first class conditional statement. The protasis expresses the fact that Paul and his readers would agree that this is a fact of history that salvation has come to the world’s inhabitants, the Gentiles because of Israel’s rejection of Christ. It would persuade his reader to agree with his apodasis that Israel’s restoration in the future at the Second Advent of Christ will result in greater blessings for the world’s inhabitants, the Gentiles. Now remember Paul statement “their failure, as an eternal spiritual truth does mean infinite wealth possessed by the Gentiles” “explains” in specific terms the previous statement that Israel’s transgression meant infinite wealth possessed by the world’s inhabitants. In both statements, Paul is speaking of the same individuals, the Gentiles even though identifies them in the previous clause with the noun kosmos, which is a reference to the world’s inhabitants. This is indicated in that the noun paraptoma, “transgression” in the previous statement and the noun hettema, “failure” both refer to Israel’s sin in rejecting Jesus Christ. Paul again is writing rhetorically in that he is using parallelism meaning that paraptoma and hettema are both speaking of Israel’s rejection of Christ but from different perspectives. It is further indicated in that both statements use the noun ploutos to describe what was received by these individuals because Israel’s rejection of Christ. This question “Then how much more will their full restoration bring?” emphasizes that Israel’s full restoration at Christ’s Second Advent and subsequent millennial reign will bring even greater blessings to the Gentiles than when Israel rejected Christ. It emphasizes the certainty that if Israel’s rejection of Christ meant infinite spiritual wealthy possessed by the Gentiles, how much more will blessing will come to the Gentile when Israel is fully restored in the future at Christ’s Second Advent and subsequent millennial reign. Therefore, Paul’s statement in Romans 11:15 explains his statement in Romans 11:12 in that it provides additional information with regards to the latter. His statement in Romans 11:12 that Israel’s transgression in rejecting Christ meant infinite wealth (unmerited blessings) for the Gentiles is explained from in Romans 11:15 as God rejecting Israel. The infinite wealth (unmerited blessings from salvation) for the Gentiles is explained as the Gentiles being reconciled to God. Paul’s reference to the restoration of Israel at the Second Advent of Christ in Romans 11:12 is further explained as a national regeneration. That Romans 11:15 is explaining Romans 11:12 is indicated also by the fact that Paul is writing once again rhetorically, which is indicated by the parallelism. Now, in Romans 11:13, Paul addresses his Gentile Christian readers in Rome specifically and expresses the fact that he takes great pride in his ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles. Romans 11:13 Now, I am at this particular time speaking to and for the benefit of all of you Gentiles. Contrary to what you might be inclined to conclude, to the very extent that I myself am sent to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry. (Author’s translation) In Romans 11:14, Paul completes the thought that he began in Romans 11:13 by relating to his Gentile Christian readers in Rome that he takes great pride in this ministry to the Gentiles because he hopes that it would perhaps provoke his fellow Jews to jealousy so as to save some of them. Romans 11:14 If, and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that I take pride in my ministry and of course I do because I already told you that, then perhaps (by this ministry) I will provoke to jealousy my nation and thus deliver some from among them. (Author’s translation) The protasis in this verse reiterates the fact that Paul established from his statement in Romans 11:13 that he took pride in his ministry to the Gentiles. The protasis would then persuade them to respond to the apodasis that perhaps by his ministry to the Gentiles he hopes to provoke his fellow Jewish countrymen to jealousy so as to save some of them. In Romans 11:15, Paul employed a first class conditional statement that explains his statements in Romans 11:12-14. Romans 11:15 For you see, if, and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that their rejection reconciled the world’s inhabitants and of course, we agree that this is a fact of history, then what will their acceptance bring about but life out from the spiritually dead ones. (Author’s translation) Paul’s statement in Romans 11:15 explains his statement in Romans 11:12 in the sense that Israel’s transgression in rejecting Christ meant infinite wealth for the Gentiles is explained as God rejecting Israel and the infinite wealth for the Gentiles is explained as the Gentiles being reconciled to God. The statement in Romans 11:15 explains Paul’s statements in Romans 11:13-14 in the sense that his desire to provoke his fellow unsaved Jews to jealousy through the function of his ministry to the Gentiles so as to save some of them has reconciled the Gentiles to God. The inference from this protasis teaches that if God’s rejection of Israel for their rejection of His Son reconciled the Gentiles to Himself, then how much more will result from God accepting Israel when they have faith in His Son at His Second Advent. The protasis in Romans 11:15 reiterates and explains further his statement in Romans 11:12 by establishing the historical fact that God’s rejection of Israel because of their rejection of Christ reconciled those Gentiles who trusted in Christ. From this protasis, Paul infers in the apodasis assuring his readers that when God accepts the nation of Israel for having faith in His Son at His Second Advent there will be a national regeneration. Therefore, Paul is teaching that if God rejected the nation of Israel for rejecting His Son Jesus Christ during His First Advent, there will certainly be a national regeneration of the nation of Israel when they have faith in Christ at His Second Advent. The apostle Paul in Romans 11:16 employs two metaphors to illustrate his assertion in Romans 11:2 that God has by no means rejected Israel forever and his assertion in Romans 11:11-15 that there will be a future national regeneration of Israel. Romans 11:16 Now, if, and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that the first portion is, as an eternal spiritual truth holy and of course, we agree it is because it is taught in the Scriptures, then the lump is, as an eternal spiritual truth also. Furthermore, if, and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that the root is, as an eternal spiritual truth holy and of course, we agree it is because it is taught in the Scriptures, then the branches are, as an eternal spiritual truth, also. (Author’s translation) This passage contains two metaphors to further illustrate Paul’s assertion in Romans 11:2-6 that God has by no means rejected the nation of Israel forever and his assertion in Romans 11:11-15 that Israel’s rejection by God is not final but there will be a future regeneration and restoration of the nation. The first metaphor, the first piece of dough and the lump is taken from Numbers 15:17-21. The first piece of dough is analogous to the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who were the progenitors of the nation of Israel because they accepted by faith the promises that God made to them. The second metaphor, the root and the branches parallels the first. The root parallels the first piece of dough in that it is analogous to the patriarchs whereas the branches are analogous to the lump in that they are analogous to the saved biological descendants of Abraham, Israel. Let’s take a look at the first metaphor, which is taken from Numbers 15:17-21. Numbers 15:17 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land where I bring you, 19 then it shall be, that when you eat of the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering to the LORD. 20 Of the first of your dough you shall lift up a cake as an offering; as the offering of the threshing floor, so you shall lift it up. 21 From the first of your dough you shall give to the LORD an offering throughout your generations.’” (NASB95) In this passage, the Lord instructs Moses to instruct Israel to take a cake from the first of their ground meal and present it as an offering to Him after they entered the land of Canaan and reaped their first wheat harvest and this was to be repeated every year. The cake made from the first ground meal of the wheat harvest was sanctified or set apart for God by being offered to God. So the first part of the dough was to be offered up to God as a symbol that the entire lump belonged to Him. Numbers 15:17-21 implicitly teaches the principle that what is considered first contributes its character to what is related to it. (The Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament; page 484; Walvoord and Zuck Victor Books; SP Publications, 1985) In other words, as Wiersbe states, “when God accepts the part He sanctifies the whole.” (Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, volume 1, page 551; Victor Books, SP Publications, 1989) Numbers 15:17-21 does not explicitly state that the first piece of dough offered to the Lord sanctified the rest of the lump. However, it does imply this since the Lord explicitly tells Israel when they eat of the food of the land that they shall present the offering of the first of their dough to the Lord, which implies that the food of the land they eat is sanctified by that first piece of dough they offered to the Lord. In Romans 11:16, Paul takes the principle taught in Numbers 15:17-25 to teach that if Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are holy, then their descendants who compose the nation of Israel and had faith in the Lord like Abraham are sanctified as well. If God had accepted the progenitors of the nation of Israel, especially, Abraham, He has then sanctified or set apart those descendants of his who had faith in the Lord like him. The first piece of dough and the root parallel each other and are analogous to the patriarchs and in particular Abraham. The lump and the branches also parallel each other and are analogous to the saved biological descendants of Abraham through Sarah. In the protasis of the first metaphor, Paul’s readers would agree that the first piece of dough is holy because this principle is implicitly taught in Numbers 15:17-21. Paul takes the principle implicitly taught in Numbers 15:17-21 and applies it to Israel in the sense that if God had accepted the progenitors of the nation of Israel, especially, Abraham, He has then sanctified or set apart his saved descendants as well. He is not attempting to prove that his protasis is true rather he is saying with the first class condition that we agree that it is taught in the Old Testament Scriptures that the first piece of dough is holy. The first class condition would then persuade them to respond to the conclusion that the whole lump of dough is as well. Therefore, Paul’s audience would have to come to his conclusion if they submit to this line of argumentation. “The branches” (klados) refer to the biological descendants of Abraham who like Abraham had faith in the Lord. This is indicated in that they are on the olive tree in contrast to the “branches broken off” in Romans 11:17, which refers to the unsaved biological descendants of Abraham. This is indicated by the statement in Romans 11:20 “they were broken off for their unbelief.” In Romans 11:17-24, “the branches” are connected to an “olive tree,” which in the Old Testament was a figure for the nation of Israel (See Jeremiah 11:16-17; Hosea 14:4-6). Thus, “the branches” of the “olive tree” is a reference to born-again Jews since the latter is used in Jeremiah 11:16-17 and Hosea 14:4-6 as a figure for Israel and unbelieving Jews are broken off. Now we know that the Jews originated from Abraham and that branches originate from the root of a tree. Therefore, “the branches” are analogous to born-again Jews and since they come from “the root,” then aparche, “the first portion,” which parallels rhiza, “root” must refer to Abraham as well. Furthermore, in Romans 11:16, Paul is arguing that the beginning of the nation of Israel guarantees that Israel has a future. Paul is taking from the principle implicitly taught in Numbers 15:17-21 that when God accepts the first part, He sanctifies the whole. Further indicating that rhiza, “the root” is a reference to Abraham is Paul’s statement in Romans 4:16 where he teaches that the patriarch is the spiritual “father” or “progenitor” of both Jews and Gentiles who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Now, the remnant of believers in Israel does not constitute the first part or the beginning of the nation of Israel and neither does Christ Himself but rather Abraham is the progenitor of Israel. Therefore, in Romans 11:16, Paul uses this first portion/lump metaphor to teach that if God had accepted the progenitors of the nation of Israel, especially, Abraham, He has then sanctified those of his descendants who had faith like him. He sanctified these biological descendants of Abraham because they like Abraham had faith Him. In the protasis of the second first class condition, Paul’s readers would agree that it is taught in the Scriptures that the root, which is analogous to Abraham, is holy. Again, the first class condition would then persuade them to respond to the conclusion in the apodasis that the branches, which are analogous to saved Israelites, are as well. Therefore, Paul’s audience would have to come to his conclusion if they submit to this line of argumentation. In both of these first class conditional statements, Paul wants his readers to come to his line of argumentation because he does not want them to be prejudice against the Jews because of their rejection of Christ and to think that they are superior to the Jews. Therefore, it is essential that they agree with him on this point since it will help them to understand that God has a future planned for the nation of Israel and has not rejected her as a national entity. He is also attempting to build unity between Jew and Gentile Christians. In Romans 11:17, Paul presents the protasis of a first class conditional statement. In this protasis, he reminds his Gentile Christian readers that branches were broken off, i.e. unsaved Israelites and they as a wild olive tree have been grafted in among the branches, i.e. born-again Israelites. He also reminds them in this protasis that they have become partakers of the rich root of the olive tree, Abraham and in particular the divine promises given to him contained in the “Abrahamic covenant.” Romans 11:17 However, if, and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that some, which are a part of the branches were broken off but because you are a wild olive, you were grafted in among them so that you became joint-partakers of the olive tree’s root, which produces abundant oil and of course, we agree that this is a fact of history. (Author’s translation) Gentile Christians are joint-partakers with regenerate Israel of these divine blessings because they are his spiritual descendants and they are his spiritual descendants because like Abraham they exercised faith in the Lord. The protasis in Romans 11:17: “If and let assume that it is true for the sake argument some branches were broken off (unsaved Israelites) and you (Gentile Christians), being a wild olive tree were grafted in among them (saved Jews) and became partaker with them (saved Israel) of the rich root (Abraham) of the olive tree (Israel).” The responsive condition would say: “Of course we agree that this is an historical fact.” Paul’s readers would agree that some branches were broken off because it was a historical fact the majority of Jews rejected Jesus Christ. His readers would also agree that they have been grafted in among Jewish Christians and had become partakers with them of the promises to Abraham who is the progenitor of the nation of Israel because he taught in Romans 4:16 that Abraham is the spiritual father of their faith. “Were broken off” is the third person plural aorist passive indicative form of the verb ekklao, which is a compound word composed of the preposition ek, “out from” and the verb klao, “to break off,” thus the word literally means “to break off from.” The verb appears only three times in the Greek New Testament, namely Romans 11:17, 19 and 20. In each instance, it is used to describe God’s rejection of those Jews who rejected His Son Jesus Christ as their Savior by not exercising faith in Him. Paul’s statement in Romans 11:20 makes clear that these branches were rejected by God because of their unbelief and no other reason. “You” is the nominative second person singular personal pronoun su, which refers to Gentiles who trusted in Christ but with emphasis upon their racial background as indicated by the statement to follow, “being a wild olive (tree) were grafted in among them and became a partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree.” “A wild olive” is the nominative feminine singular form of the noun agrielaios, which is related to the adjective agrios, “wild” and elaion, “olive” and denotes the wild shoot of the wild olive tree. As a rule the wild olive is but a shrub, with small leaves, a stem more or less prickly, and a small, hard drupe with but little or no oil. The wild olive tree was very unproductive and actually a shoot or slip of a cultivated tree was inserted into a wild one in order to produce fruit. The varieties of olive are grafted on to seedlings of the wild olive. Paul uses the noun agrielaios in a metaphorical sense for the Gentiles in contrast to the “olive tree,” which in the Old Testament was used metaphorically of Israel (Jeremiah 11:16-17; Hosea 14:4-6). “Were grafted in” is the second person singular aorist passive indicative form of the verb enkentrizo, which means “to cause (a shoot or bud: scion) to unite with the stock of a growing plant, graft of trees.” In Romans 11:17, the verb is used in a metaphorical sense of Paul’s Gentile Christian readers being united with Jewish Christians. Now the usual procedure was to insert a shoot or slip of a cultivated tree into a wild one. However, in Romans 11:24 Paul makes clear that the metaphor he is using is “contrary to nature” of grafting a wild olive branch (a Gentile) into a cultivated olive tree. Such a procedure was unnatural and would be unfruitful, which is precisely Paul’s point with his Gentile Christian readers. He wishes to underscore the miraculous nature of their new relationship with God and other Jewish Christians. The normal procedure was to take a shoot from an olive tree that bears good fruit and graft it onto a wild olive stock whose fruit is poor. The result is a tree with vigorous growth, which bears good olives. However, Paul reverses the procedure and speaks of grafting a wild olive onto the stock of a good olive and then later he speaks of grafting back some of the good olive branches that have been cut out. So a procedure of grafting a wild olive onto a good olive was not the normal process, which is why Paul reverses the normal procedure in order to humble those Gentile Christians who might become arrogant towards Jewish Christians and unsaved Jews. He rebukes those Gentile Christians who might be arrogant towards the Jews, saved and unsaved because their spiritual heritage is from the Jews, salvation is of the Jews (John 4:23). The second person singular form of the verb enkentrizo refers to Paul’s Gentile Christian readers. “Among them” is composed of the preposition en, “among” and the dative third person masculine plural form of the intensive personal pronoun autos, “them.” The intensive personal pronoun autos refers to Jewish Christians since Paul is reminding his Gentile Christian readers that they were grafted onto the olive tree with the other branches, who are Jewish Christians since they are in contrast to those branches, which were broken off because of their unbelief. Paul is saying that the Gentile Christians, “wild olive” were united with Jewish Christians who unlike the Jewish Christians were related to the root, Abraham by race or in a biological sense. The preposition en is used in a distributive sense with respect to persons indicating that the “wild olive” (Gentile Christians) was grafted in “among” the Jewish Christians. Gentile Christians like Jewish Christians are a part of the olive tree, which is a symbol of Israel. Now, Paul is not saying in Romans 11:17-24 that saved Gentiles are members of the nation of Israel but rather the olive tree metaphor simply illustrates the importance of Israel in relation to God’s plan of salvation. It also demonstrates to Paul’s Gentile Christian readers that they owe much to the Jews since salvation is of the Jews. With this passage, Paul is attempting to illustrate to his Gentile Christian readers that they owe their spiritual heritage to the nation of Israel. He is not teaching that Gentiles are now members of the nation of Israel along with Jewish believers. Rather, he is attempting to illustrate how Gentile Christians are related to Jewish Christians through Abraham, the progenitor of the Jews and all believers so as to produce unity in the churches between both groups and to prevent anti-Jewish sentiment creeping in among the Gentile believers. “Partaker” is the nominative masculine singular form of the noun sunkoinonos, which is a compound word composed of the preposition sun, “with” and the noun koinonia, “partnership,” thus the word literally means “joint-partners.” The word refers to one who shares jointly with someone else in a possession or relationship, with emphasis upon that which is in common.” (Louw and Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, volume 2, page 559; United Bible Societies, New York, 1988, 1989) The noun denotes that Gentile Christians are “joint-partakers” with Jewish Christians of the divine promises that God made to Abraham. This word excludes the idea that Gentile Christians are now members of the nation of Israel since they maintain their racial character and saved Jews do so as well. Israel is a racial descendant of Abraham who trusts in Jesus Christ as Savior. Gentile and Jewish Christians share jointly in a relationship with the Trinity and possess through faith the divine promises that God made to Abraham, who is “the root” and. Paul speaks of this Ephesians 3:6. The mystery is not that the Gentiles would be saved since this was prophesied in the Old Testament (Isaiah 11:10; 60:3). Rather, the mystery concerning the Gentiles is that they would become fellow heirs with Jewish believers, fellow members with Jewish believers in the body of Christ and fellow partakers of the covenant promises to Israel. The content of this mystery is three-fold: (1) The Gentile believers are fellow heirs with Jewish believers in the sense that they share in the spiritual riches God gave them because of His covenant with Abraham. (2) Gentile believers in Christ are fellow members of the body of Christ with Jewish believers. (3) Gentile believers in Christ are fellow partakers of the four unconditional covenants of promise to Israel. The four great unconditional covenants to Israel will be fulfilled: (1) Abrahamic deals with the race of Israel (Genesis 12:1-3; 13:16; 22:15-18). (2) Palestinian is the promise of land to Israel (Gn. 13:15; Numbers 34:1-12). (3) Davidic deals with the aristocracy of Israel (2 Samuel 7:8-17) (4) New deals with the future restoration of Israel during the millennium (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Although, the four unconditional covenants of promise to Israel were specifically given to Israel (Romans 9:1-6), the church will still and does benefit from them since they are in union with Christ who is the ruler of Israel. “Of the rich root” is the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun rhiza, “the root” and the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun piotes, “rich.” The noun rhiza as we noted in our study of Romans 11:16 refers to Abraham as indicated by Paul’s statements in Romans 11:17-24. As we noted earlier in our study of the “first portion” in this passage, “the branches” (klados) refer to the biological descendants of Abraham who like Abraham had faith in the Lord. This is indicated in that they are on the olive tree in contrast to the “branches broken off” in Romans 11:17, which refers to the unsaved biological descendants of Abraham. This is indicated by the statement in Romans 11:20 “they were broken off for their unbelief.” In Romans 11:17-24, “the branches” are connected to an “olive tree,” which in the Old Testament was a figure for the nation of Israel (See Jeremiah 11:16-17; Hosea 14:4-6). Thus, “the branches” of the “olive tree” is a reference to born-again Jews since the latter is used in Jeremiah 11:16-17 and Hosea 14:4-6 as a figure for Israel and unbelieving Jews are broken off. Now we know that the Jews originated from Abraham and that branches originate from the root of a tree. Therefore, “the branches” are analogous to born-again Jews and since they come from “the root,” then rhiza, “root,” which parallels aparche, “the first portion” must refer to Abraham as well. Further indicating that rhiza, “the root” is a reference to Abraham is Paul’s statement in Romans 4:16 where he teaches that the patriarch is the spiritual “father” or “progenitor” of both Jews and Gentiles who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior. The noun piotes in classical literature means “fattiness” and is often used metaphorically to mean “wealth” or “prosperity” (Liddell-Scott, page 1406). The word appears only once in the Greek New Testament, namely, here in Romans 11:17 and refers to the state of oiliness and denotes the sap produced by the root. (Danker, Frederick William, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature; page 814; Third Edition; University of Chicago Press; Chicago and London) The noun piotes functions as a genitive of product meaning that the word is the “product” of the noun to which it stands related, which in our context is the noun rhiza, “root.” This indicates that the root produces the olive tree’s abundant sap or oil that extends to the branches of the tree and their leaves. Paul is saying then that the Gentile Christians are joint-participants of the root, i.e. Abraham, which produces the olive tree’s abundant oil, which is analogous to the abundant blessings of the Abrahamic covenant. He teaches the Galatians this in Galatians 3. The apodasis of this first class condition appears in Romans 11:18, which infers from the protasis a warning, namely his Gentile Christian readers were not to be arrogant towards either saved Jews or unsaved Jews. Romans 11:18 Do not assume arrogant superiority over the branches. However, if, and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that you are assuming arrogant superiority then remember that you, as an eternal spiritual truth, by no means sustain the root. But rather on the contrary, the root, as an eternal spiritual truth, sustains you. (Author’s translation) This passage not only contains the apodasis from the first class condition in Romans 11:17 but also a first class condition, which presents a contrast. The contrast is between Paul’s Gentile Christian readers obeying his prohibition in the apodasis of the previous first class condition with that of disobeying the prohibition, which is assumed for the sake of argument in the protasis of the next first class condition in Romans 11:18. The protasis presents a hypothetical situation for the sake of argument. In it Paul says that “if and let assume that it is true for the sake argument some of you do assume arrogant superiority over the branches.” The apodasis of the first class condition is “Remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.” The first class condition is indicating the assumption of truth for the sake of argument. The force of the indicative has the idea of the presentation of reality and in the first class condition the conditional particle turns such a presentation into a supposition. However, this does not mean that the condition is true. It does mean that as far as the portrayal is concerned, the point of the argument is based on the assumption of reality. The context does not indicate that Paul is affirming the truth of the protasis that Paul’s Gentile Christians were arrogant towards the Jews. Rather Paul is using the first class condition in Romans 11:18 in a rhetorical sense, which has the idea of a polite command, couched in indirect language. There is nothing in Romans 11:1-17 or Romans 11:19-24, which indicates that Paul’s Gentile readers were assuming arrogant superiority over the Jews. This first class condition is preventive maintenance or as a simple reminder to supplement the teaching they were already receiving from their pastors. This passage and the fact that Paul had not yet met face to face the Christians in Rome makes it more likely that the Gentile Christians in Rome were not assuming arrogant superiority over the Jews and that Paul was only attempting to remind them of what they had already been taught. Thus, the first class condition in Romans 11:18 indicates that Paul is speaking of a hypothetical situation that could possibly take place among the Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome. In contrast with the apodasis, Paul teaches his Gentile Christian readers in Rome that they by no means sustain in a spiritual sense Abraham. But rather on the contrary, Abraham sustains them since God established a covenant with Abraham, which provided salvation for Gentiles through Abraham and his descendants, the Jews and in particular his greatest descendant, Jesus Christ. So the apodasis of this first class condition appears in Romans 11:18, which infers from the protasis a warning, namely his Gentile Christian readers were not to be arrogant towards either saved Jews or unsaved Jews. The prohibition “Do not assume arrogant superiority over the branches” is addressing the Gentile Christians’ attitude towards both saved and unsaved Jews. This is indicated in that he reminds his readers in the apodasis of the first class condition in Romans 11:18, that the root, Abraham supports them, implying that these branches are referring to saved Jews since saved Jews are on the olive tree due to their faith in Christ and are thus connected to the root. That this prohibition is also to prevent arrogance towards unsaved Jews is indicated by Paul’s statements in Romans 11:19-20 where he reminds his readers that these branches were broken off because of their unbelief and that his Gentile Christians are grafted in because of their faith in Christ. The reason why Paul does not want his Gentile Christian readers to assume arrogant superiority over the saved Jews is that they are on equal footing with the saved Jews since both are on the olive tree and connected to the root because of their faith, which is non-meritorious. They are both in union with Christ because of the grace of God and the merits of Jesus Christ and His substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths. Thus, with regards to salvation there are no racial distinctions (Galatians 3:26-28). So this prohibition is designed to maintain and build unity among Jew and Gentile Christians in Rome. The reason why Paul does not want his Gentile Christian readers to assume arrogant superiority over the unsaved Jews is so that they might continue to evangelize the unsaved Jew so as to save some of them. Furthermore, salvation is of the Jews, thus the Gentile Christians owe much to the Jews. The Gentile Christians are joint-partakers of the divine promises given to Abraham and the Savior Jesus Christ is a Jew. The Old Testament Scriptures were given to the Jews. Therefore, Paul is reminding his Gentile Christian readers in Rome that they owe much to the Jews and that there is no place for anti-Jewish sentiment in the Christian way of life. “However, if, and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that you are assuming arrogant superiority” stands in contrast with Paul’s Gentile Christian readers obeying his prohibition in the apodasis of the previous first class condition and denotes a hypothetical situation in which they disobey the prohibition. The first class condition is indicating the assumption of truth for the sake of argument. The context does not indicate that Paul is affirming the truth of the protasis that Paul’s Gentile Christians were arrogant towards the Jews. Rather Paul is using the first class condition in Romans 11:18 in a rhetorical sense, which has the idea of a polite command, couched in indirect language. Thus, he is simply issuing a friendly warning and performing preventive maintenance in Romans 11:18 by issuing this prohibition. The first class condition in Romans 11:18 indicates that Paul is speaking of a hypothetical situation that could possibly take place among the Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome. “Then remember that you, as an eternal spiritual truth, by no means sustain the root. But rather on the contrary, the root, as an eternal spiritual truth, sustains you” contains the apodasis and is a reminder to Paul’s Gentile Christian readers in Rome that they by no means sustain the root, Abraham but rather Abraham sustains them. He sustains them in the sense that through your faith in Christ you have become joint-partakers with Jewish Christians of the promises, blessings, privileges and responsibilities of the Abrahamic covenant. The Abrahamic covenant reveals that God planned to save Gentiles through Abraham’s descendants, the Jews and in particular his greatest descendant, Jesus Christ. Therefore, there is no place Paul says for Gentile Christians to assume arrogant superiority over the Jews whether saved or unsaved. Next, in Romans 11:19, Paul once again employs a diatribe style by presenting an argument of a hypothetical Gentile Christian who seeks to justify assuming arrogant superiority over both saved and unsaved Jews. Romans 11:19 Therefore, you will contend, Branches were broken off in order that I myself could be grafted in.” (Author’s translation) In this passage, Paul is assuming the position of a hypothetical Gentile Christian who seeks to justify assuming arrogant superiority over both saved and unsaved Jews. The statement that appears in Romans 11:19 is the result of an inference that could be implied from Paul’s teaching in Romans 11:17. Paul taught in Romans 11:17 that branches (Jews) were broken off (rejected by God) and Gentiles (wild olive) were grafted into the olive tree in their place. “Branches were broken off” describes God’s rejection of those Jews who rejected His Son Jesus Christ as their Savior by not exercising faith in Him. “So that I might be grafted in” refers to the perspective of a hypothetical Gentile Christian and emphasizes that they arrogantly assume that God’s purpose in rejecting the Jews was to graft Gentiles in, with the implication that God prefers the Gentiles to the Jews, which is false. In Romans 11:19-21, Paul is seeking to prevent what took place among his fellow Jews, namely, they erroneously and presumptuously believed that they merited being the covenant people of God, and inheriting the promises made to the patriarchs. They erroneously and presumptuously thought that they merited receiving the Temple service, the Shekinah glory, the giving of the Law, the adoption as sons, the covenants, Old Testament Scriptures and being descendants of the patriarchs. They erroneously and presumptuously thought that they merited the fact that the Messiah would be like them, Jewish. Therefore, Paul in Romans 11:19-21 is seeking to prevent this type of arrogance that was in the Jew from taking place among Gentile Christians. Paul does not want his Gentile Christians to assume arrogant superiority over the Jews just as the Jews assumed arrogant superiority over the Gentiles because of their many privileges bestowed upon them. He also does not want to the Gentile Christians to have a racial prejudice towards the Jews just as the Jews had towards the Gentiles. In Romans 11:19-21, Paul is also emphasizing with his Gentile Christian readers in Rome that they do not merit their salvation and thus there is no room for arrogance to the either unsaved r saved Jews since they were saved based on the merits of Christ! Also, Paul does not want his Gentile Christian readers in Rome to erroneously assume that they merit their salvation since God’s faithfulness to the promises of the Abrahamic covenant made it possible for them to get saved in the first place. In Romans 11:20, Paul answers the argument of his hypothetical Gentile Christian by first acknowledging the fact that unsaved Jews were rejected by God for their unbelief in His Son Jesus Christ. However, he then reminds his hypothetical Gentile Christian that he stands by his faith in Christ. Also, in this passage, Paul issues a prohibition to those Gentile Christians who might think they are superior to the Jews to stop thinking arrogantly about themselves but to have reverence for God. Romans 11:20 Absolutely! They were broken off because of their unbelief but you are inserted because of your faith. Do not think arrogantly but rather make it a habit to reverence God the Father. (Author’s translation) In this passage, Paul is affirming the statement by his hypothetical Gentile Christian in Romans 11:19 that “branches were broken off,” which refers to God’s rejection of those Jews who rejected His Son Jesus Christ as Savior. He does not affirm that these branches were broken off in order to graft Gentile Christians in but only that branches were broken off. This implies that Paul’s hypothetical Gentile Christian was correct in saying that branches were broken off because this is an historical fact but they were incorrect and arrogant to say that they were broken off in order to graft them in. Paul corrects them in verse 20 by stating that they were broken off “because of their unbelief” and not in order to graft Gentiles in. He reminds his Gentile Christian readers who might hold this presumptuous and erroneous viewpoint. His Gentile Christian readers stand by their faith not because they merited their salvation. They stand by their faith in the sense that they are accepted by God based on the merits of His Son Jesus Christ and His death on the cross. “They were broken off because of their unbelief” indicates that the nation of Israel was rejected by God because of unbelief or in other words failure to accept by faith Jesus Christ as their Savior. “But you are inserted because of your faith” presents a contrast between the Jews rejection by God because of their unbelief and the Gentiles’ acceptance by God because of their faith in Christ and indicates that Gentile Christians were accepted by God because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Their faith in Christ is non-meritorious, thus they have no business thinking themselves better than the Jews. “Do not think arrogantly” prohibits Paul’s Gentile Christian readers in Rome of thinking arrogantly by thinking that they merited their salvation or that God thought that they merited their salvation more than the Jews. In Romans 11:20, Paul is prohibiting the Gentile Christians from thinking arrogantly about themselves in the sense of thinking they are superior to the Jews because God accepted them and rejected the Jews for their unbelief in Christ. In this command “But rather make it a habit to reverence God the Father” Paul is saying instead of thinking yourself superior to the Jews I command you to have reverence and respect for God so that you worship Him for saving you through faith in His Son! Next, the apostle teaches in Romans 11:21 that the reason why Gentile Christians should never think arrogantly but rather reverence God is that God did not spare the natural branches, unsaved Jews because of their unbelief and He will not spare unsaved Gentiles either for their unbelief. Romans 11:21 Because, if, and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that God the Father by no means spared some of the natural branches and of course, we agree that He didn’t, then, neither will He spare you. (Author’s translation) This passage teaches Paul’s Gentile Christian readers in Rome that the reason why they should never think that they are superior to the Jews as a race but rather reverence God is that God did not spare the unsaved Jews because of their unbelief and He will not spare unsaved Gentiles either for their unbelief. Thus, Paul is instructing his readers that you are not saved based upon the fact that your race has more merit with God than the Jewish race because God will not spare Gentiles who reject His Son like He did not spare Jews who rejected His Son. He is saying to his Gentile Christian readers in Rome in Romans 11:20-21 that you are saved based upon your faith in Christ and not because your race has more merit than the Jewish race. In Romans 11:21, we must address a textual problem. After the protasis and before the adverb oude some manuscripts contain the negative particle me, which is followed by the enclitic particle of indefinite manner pos and together they mean “perhaps.” Both the NIV and NASB Updated Version do not translate the word. However, the NET Bible does. The following witnesses do not contain this expression: a A B C P 6 81 365 630 1506 1739 1881 pc lat co. These witnesses indicate that the omission of the expression has very strong support in the Alexandrian textual family (the primary uncials a and B, the secondary MSS C, 81 and 1739). The following witnesses do contain the clause: P46 D F G Ψ 33, Majority Text, latt syr; Irlat. We can see also that there is widespread textual support for including this expression in the text. The 27th edition of Nestle-Aland’s Novum Testamentum Graece puts the preposition in brackets to indicate the conjecture with regard to this word. Bruce M. Metzger commenting on this textual problem, writes, “On the one hand, the strong combination of a B C P 81 1739 in support of the shorter text would normally be preferred. On the other hand, however, (a) mhv pw$ is a typically Pauline expression (it occurs in nine other passages in Paul; only once elsewhere in the New Testament), and (b) copyists may have taken offense at its presence here because of its apparent unrelatedness (Origen substituted the more appropriate povsw ma~llon and povsw| plevon – see Tischendorf in loc.) and uts grammatical inappropriateness with the following future. In order to give due weight to both external evidence and internal considerations, a majority of the Committee considered it necessary to retain mhv pw$ in the text, but to enclose it within square brackets.” (A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament; second edition. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft: 1994, pages 464-465). If we include the expression me pos, then Paul is saying, “If and let assume that it is true for the sake of argument that God did not spare the natural branches and we agree that He didn’t, then perhaps He will not spare you (Gentiles) either.” This would indicate some doubt as to whether or not God will not spare Gentiles. It would indicate that God did not spare the Jews who rejected His Son and He “might not” spare the Gentiles or “He might” spare the Gentiles. However, Paul is not teaching that God might or might not reject the Gentiles when He did not spare the Jews who rejected His Son since when he is speaking of the Gentiles he is referring to those Gentiles who reject His Son. Thus he is saying God did not spare those Jews who rejected His Son and He will not spare Gentiles as well who reject His Son. If we omit the expression me pos, then Paul is saying “If and let us assume for the sake of argument God did not spare the natural branches, i.e. those Jews who rejected His Son Jesus Christ and we agree that He didn’t, then, He will certainly not spare the Gentiles who do so as well.” He is paralleling the Jews who rejected His Son with those Gentiles who do the same. The personal pronoun su, “you” is not referring to saved Gentiles since God does not judge those whom He justifies through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. It refers to Gentiles who do not have faith in Christ. The expression me pos appears to have been added by some copyists because they were confused about whether Paul is speaking of saved or unsaved Gentiles or both when he uses the personal pronoun su, “you.” Or more than likely, many copyists added the expression because they interpreted Paul used it to convey that maybe some of his Gentile readers would not be spared by God because of unbelief and maybe some would because they had faith in Christ. This can be rejected because he is addressing Gentile Christians in Rome regarding Gentiles who reject Christ like most of the Jews did. That Paul is addressing Gentile Christians is indicated in that in Romans 11:20 he reminded his readers that they should never think that they are superior to the Jews because they were never accepted by God on their own merits but because of their faith in Christ. That he is addressing Gentile Christians about Gentiles who reject Christ is indicated in that in Romans 11:21 Paul is teaching that God did not spare those Jews who rejected His Son and He will not spare Gentiles who do the same. He is paralleling unsaved Jews with unsaved Gentiles in Romans 11:21. In Romans 11:22, Paul commands his Gentile Christian readers in Rome to consider God’s kindness and uncompromising justice. In this passage, he teaches that those Jews who rejected Christ experience God’s uncompromising justice but those Gentiles who had faith in Christ experience God’s kindness. He also warns them that the Gentiles will continue to experience God’s kindness if they continue to respond to His kindness as expressed in the gospel by exercising faith in Christ but if they don’t, God will reject them just as He rejected those Jews who rejected Christ. Romans 11:22 Therefore, I solemnly charge you now to consider God’s kindness and uncompromising justice! On the one hand towards those who fell into complete ruin-uncompromising justice while on the other hand towards you-God’s kindness, if you continue to respond to His kindness otherwise you too will be cut off. (Author’s translation) The command in Romans 11:22 is the result of an inference from Paul’s argument recorded in Romans 11:17-21. He commands his Gentile Christian readers in Rome to consider God’s kindness and uncompromising justice. In the correlative clause he contrasts unsaved Jews with saved Gentiles and teaches that those Jews who rejected Christ experience God’s uncompromising justice whereas those Gentiles who had faith in Christ experience His kindness. In the third class condition, he also warns his Gentile readers that Gentiles will continue to experience God’s kindness if they continue to respond to God’s kindness as expressed in the gospel by exercising faith in Christ. In the causal clause he presents the reason why they must continue to respond to the gospel by exercising faith in Christ, namely they too like the unsaved Jews will be rejected forever by God. “Will be cut off” is the verb ekkopto, which means “to cut off” and is used in a figurative sense of God rejecting the Gentiles if they do not continue to respond to the gospel by exercising faith in Christ. With this word, Paul is saying that if the Gentiles do not continue to respond to the gospel, then they too will be rejected by God just as He rejected those Jews who rejected the gospel. Does Paul mean cut off from the olive tree? No. He is not saying that Gentile believers can lose their salvation if they do not continue to walk by faith since Gentile Christians are engrafted onto olive tree as a result of faith in Christ and a result have eternal security. The moment a Gentile exercises faith in Christ, they received as a gift through imputation the righteousness of God and as a result God declared them justified (Romans 3:21-30; 4:1-6). Thus, Paul teaches in Romans 8:1 that there is never any condemnation whatsoever for those in Christ Jesus. Nor, is he saying that Gentile unbelievers will be cut off the olive tree since Gentiles whose race is depicted in the analogy as a wild olive tree are not connected by race to the nation of Israel whose race is depicted by the olive tree. The Jews on the other hand who were broken off the olive tree were on the olive tree from the beginning to denote the fact that unsaved Jews belong racially to saved Israel, which is depicted by the olive tree and cultivated olive tree. However, the Gentiles were not, of course related to the nation of Israel by race as expressed in depicting the Gentiles as a wild olive. Therefore, when Paul says in Romans 11:22 that the Gentiles were cut off he cannot possible mean that they are cut off the olive tree since Gentiles are not related by race to the nation of Israel and Gentile believers have eternal security. Some contend that Paul is speaking of the Gentiles in a corporate sense as being cut off but this is not correct. First of all, “the branches” in Romans 11:16-18 refer to individual Jews. Those broken off are those Jewish individuals who rejected Christ. The “wild olive” in Romans 11:17 does not speak of the Gentiles as a corporate unit but rather individual Gentiles since the noun agrielaios, “wild olive” does not speak of wild olive tree but rather a branch from a wild olive tree. The wild olive tree would be the Gentile race as a whole whereas the wild olive branches speak of individual Gentiles who are not connected to the nation of Israel by race. The olive tree speaks of regenerate Israel, i.e. true spiritual Israel (See Romans 2:28-29; 9:6, 27-29). “The branches” would speak of individual Jews who are connected to the nation of Israel of course by race. “The branches” broken off refers to unsaved Jews. Those branches on the olive tree are on it because of their faith in Christ, which is the same reason why the Gentile believers are engrafted in. In Romans 11:17, Paul uses the verb ekklao, “were broken off” to denote God’s rejection of those Jews who reject His Son Jesus Christ, thus preventing these Jewish unbelievers from experiencing the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant. However, Paul does not use this verb in Romans 11:22 when discussing Gentile unbelief but rather he uses ekkopto. This is significant. The implication is that Paul in Romans 11:22 could not be speaking of individual Gentile unbelievers who were at one time on the olive tree since we would expect Paul to use ekklao, which he does with reference to Jewish unbelievers. The other implication is that he could not be speaking of the Gentiles as a corporate unit since he could have used ekklao as he did with reference to the Jews but he didn’t. The reason he doesn’t use the word ekklao but rather ekkopto is that the Gentiles who are depicted by Paul as a “wild olive” are not connected by race to the nation of Israel, which is depicted as the “olive tree.” The implication of all this is that ekkopto in Romans 11:22 could not possibly be referring to individual Gentile unbelievers, or Gentile believers losing their salvation or the Gentiles as a corporate unit being cut off from the olive tree for unbelief. The reason is that the olive tree depicts the race of the nation of Israel and Gentiles whose race is depicted as a wild olive tree in the analogy are not connected to the nation of Israel by race. So when Paul teaches in Romans 11:22 that if the Gentiles don’t respond to the gospel by rejecting Christ as Savior and as a result will be cut off he means that they will suffer eternal condemnation and will be separated forever from the covenant blessings and promises that saved Jews and Gentiles are experiencing and will experience forever. The verb ekkopto in Romans 11:22 therefore, does not refer to Gentiles being cut off “from the olive” after being engrafted onto it through faith in Christ but rather it speaks of unsaved Gentiles being cut off from experiencing the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant depicted by Paul in Romans 11:17 as the “rich root of the olive tree.” The cutting off does not imply that these Gentiles were formerly on the olive tree after being engrafted in. Rather, it speaks of being cut off from experiencing the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant. Therefore, ekkopto in Romans 11:22 does not speak of the Gentiles being cut off in a corporate sense from the olive tree since Gentiles are not connected to the nation of Israel by race. Nor does it refer to individual Gentiles believers being cut off the olive tree since Gentiles believers were engrafted onto to the olive tree by faith in Christ and Paul teaches in Romans 8:1 that there is no condemnation for those in Christ. They have eternal security and could never be broken off. Rather ekkopto refers to those Gentiles who reject Christ as being cut off from experiencing the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, which Jew and Gentile believers in Christ will experience forever. In Romans 11:23, Paul teaches his Gentile Christians readers in Rome that the Jews will be accepted by God if they do not continue in their unbelief. Romans 11:23 However, if they also, as an eternal spiritual truth, do not continue in the sphere of unbelief then they will be grafted in because God the Father is, as an eternal spiritual truth able to graft them in again. (Author’s translation) In this passage, Paul presents a contrast between God rejecting Gentiles for rejecting His Son Jesus Christ with His accepting Jews if they have faith in His Son. Paul teaches his Gentile Christian readers that if the Jews do not continue in unbelief by having faith in Christ, then God will unite them with born-again Jews and Gentiles. He also instructs them that God can do this because He is omnipotent. All of this is to instill humility in Paul’s Gentile readers in the sense of understanding that they are accepted by God because of the merits of the object of their faith, His Son Jesus Christ and not based upon the fact that they have more merit than the Jews. This is to protect them being anti-Jewish and to motivate them to evangelize the Jews along with their fellow Gentiles. This statement is also designed to build unity among Jewish and Gentile believers in Rome and the churches throughout the Roman Empire. Now, many expositors of this passage stumble over the fact that Paul uses an unlikely bit of horticulture by stating that God can engraft the branches broken back onto the olive tree. However, they fail to recognize that Paul is not talking about orchardists but rather He is instructing His readers regarding the power of God. The engrafting of the Jews back onto the olive tree because of their faith in Christ is nothing more than an illustration that speaks of the power and grace of God. In Romans 11:17, Paul teaches his Gentile Christian readers in Rome that they were analogous to a wild olive shoot of a wild olive tree that has been engrafted onto a cultivated olive tree, which is analogous to born-again Israel. Now the usual procedure was to insert a shoot or slip of a cultivated tree into a wild one. However, in Romans 11:24 Paul makes clear that the metaphor he is using is “contrary to nature” of grafting a wild olive branch (a Gentile) into a cultivated olive tree. The normal procedure was to take a shoot from an olive tree that bears good fruit and graft it onto a wild olive stock whose fruit is poor. The result is a tree with vigorous growth, which bears good olives. However, Paul reverses the procedure and speaks of grafting a wild olive onto the stock of a good olive and then later he speaks of grafting back some of the good olive branches that have been cut out. Such a procedure was unnatural and would be unfruitful, which is precisely Paul’s point with his Gentile Christian readers. He wishes to underscore the miraculous nature of their new relationship with God and other Jewish Christians. Now here in Romans 11:23, Paul again uses a horticultural analogy, which again speaks of an unlikely procedure of regrafting a branch that has been broken off to illustrate that God will accept those Jews who do not persist in unbelief by exercising faith in Christ. What the orchardist would never do, namely regrafting a broken off branch, God, with respect to salvation can and will do, namely accept those Jews who do not persist in unbelief by exercising faith in Christ. Next, in Romans 11:24, the apostle Paul teaches his Gentile Christians readers in Rome that if they were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, then how much more will the natural branches will be grafted into their own olive tree. This illustration emphasizes with Paul’s Gentile Christian readers in Rome that if God accepted Gentiles who had faith in His Son who did not belong to born-again Israel (olive tree) then He will certainly accept those Jews who were broken off the olive tree because of their unbelief if they have faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 11:24 Because if, and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that you were cut off from that which is by nature a wild olive tree and in addition were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree and of course, we agree that this is true then how much more will these which are natural be grafted into their own olive tree? (Author’s translation) Romans 11:24 presents the reason why God will accept unsaved Jews if they repent in believe in His Son Jesus Christ. This passage is composed of a first class conditional statement. In the protasis, Paul establishes by way of analogy the fact with his Gentile Christian readers that God accepted them through faith in His Son Jesus Christ even though they were not racially related to regenerate Israel, which is depicted by him as an olive tree. In the apodasis, he employs the logical argument of a fortiori to emphasize with his Gentile Christian readers that God will certainly accept Jews who are biologically related to regenerate Israel if they repent and believe in Christ. The logical argument of a fortiori in the apodasis of Romans 11:24 argues that if God can do the greater and accept Gentiles through faith in Christ, then He certainly can do the lesser and accept Jews who do so as well. If God accepted Gentiles with whom He never established an unconditional covenant with like He did the Jews with the patriarchs, then certainly He will accept the Jews if they have faith in Christ. If God can save Gentiles with whom He is not in covenant relation with, then certainly He will save Jews who are in covenant relation with. If God can graft branches (Gentiles) into the cultivated olive tree (saved Israel) that do not naturally belong to the cultivated olive tree by nature, then certainly God can graft branches (Jews) into the cultivated olive tree which belong by nature to it. Paul uses the a fortiori argument to emphasize with his Gentile Christian readers that they are not superior to the Jews. This first class condition is to promote unity in the churches between Jewish and Gentile Christians. He also wants to protect his Gentile Christian readers from getting arrogant towards unsaved Israel because of their rejection of Christ. He wants them to continue to evangelize the Jews. Now, Paul is not saying in Romans 11:17-24 that saved Gentiles are members of the nation of Israel but rather the olive tree metaphor simply illustrates the importance of Israel in relation to God’s plan of salvation. It also demonstrates to Paul’s Gentile Christian readers that they owe much to the Jews since salvation is of the Jews. With this passage, Paul is attempting to illustrate to his Gentile Christian readers that they owe their spiritual heritage to the nation of Israel. He is not teaching that Gentiles are now members of the nation of Israel along with Jewish believers. Rather, he is attempting to illustrate how Gentile Christians are related to Jewish Christians through Abraham, the progenitor of the Jews and all believers so as to produce unity in the churches between both groups and to prevent anti-Jewish sentiment creeping in among the Gentile believers. The apostle Paul in Romans 11:25 attempts to protect his Gentile Christian readers from arrogance by revealing to them the mystery that a partial hardening has occurred in Israel until the full number of Gentiles who will be saved has come to pass. Romans 11:25 In fact, I by no means want each and every one of you spiritual brothers and sisters to be ignorant of this mystery in order that you will not be arrogant concerning yourselves, namely that a partial hardness is taking place in Israel until and during which time the full number of Gentiles has come into existence. (Author’s translation) Paul’s statement in this verse confirms and advances upon his statements in Romans 11:11-24 and intensifies them. It not only summarizes what he has taught in Romans 11:11-24 but also advances upon these statements and goes beyond that which he has said in these statements. In this passage, Paul is attempting to protect his Gentile Christian readers from arrogance by revealing to them a mystery, namely that a partial hardening has taken place in Israel until the full number of Gentiles who will be saved has into existence. The expression “the fullness of the Gentiles” or “the full number of Gentiles” is not the same as the expression used by our Lord in Luke 21:24, namely, “the times of the Gentiles.” “The times of the Gentiles” refers to an extended period of time when the Gentiles are the dominant world powers and Israel is subject to those powers and extends from the Babylonian capture of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar (586 B.C.) and continues through the Tribulation (Revelation 11:2). This period of history includes the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the church age and the Tribulation period. This phrase does not rule out temporary Jewish control of Jerusalem as has occurred in the past during the Maccabean era (164-63 B.C), the first Jewish revolt against Rome (A.D. 66-70), the second Jewish revolt (A.D. 132-135) and now since 1967 and the Six-Day War. However, this control is only temporary because Revelation 11:1-2 predicts at least another three-and-one-half years of Gentile domination during the last half of Daniel’s Seventieth Week, also known as the Tribulation. Therefore, any Jewish takeover of the city of David before the Second Advent of Christ must be therefore viewed as a temporary one and does not mean that “the times of the Gentiles” has ended since it can only end with the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, which will forever stop Gentile powers waging war against Israel. “The times of the Gentiles” is prophesied in Daniel 2:31-45 and Daniel 7 and refers to an extended period of time when the Gentiles are the dominant world powers and Israel is subject to those powers and extends from the Babylonian capture of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar (586 B.C.) and continues through the Tribulation (Revelation 11:2). So “the fullness of the Gentiles” in Romans 11:25 and the “times of the Gentiles” in Luke 21:24 both end with the Second Advent of Christ. However, the former deals with the number of Gentiles who will be saved whereas as the latter is political dealing with the political control of Jerusalem. The apostle Paul in Romans 11:26 cites Isaiah 59:20 to support his assertion that there will be a national regeneration of Israel and to teach that it will take place at Christ’s Second Advent. Romans 11:26 And then, in the following way, all Israel will be delivered just as it stands written for all of eternity, “The Deliverer will arrive out from Zion. He will remove totally and completely the godless ones from Jacob.” (Author’s translation) Romans 11:26 teaches that at the Second Advent of Christ and immediately after the full number of Gentiles that have been elected by the Father in eternity past have been saved there will be a national regeneration of Israel. “So” is the adverb of manner houtos, which refers to the quotation from Isaiah 59:20-21 and 27:9 indicating that the manner in which there will be a national regeneration of Israel is through Christ’s Second Advent since this quotation refers to the Second Advent. “All” is the nominative masculine singular form of the adjective pas, which is modifying the proper name Israel and is not referring to each and every citizen of the nation of Israel but rather it refers to nation as a whole. It is used to denote a large and representative number from a group and refers to the majority of the citizens of the nation of Israel at the time of Christ’s Second Christ who will trust in Him as their Savior. So pas is referring to the national regeneration of Israel at the Second Advent of Christ in which at that time the majority of Jews in Israel will exercise faith in Christ so as to be saved in contrast to His First Advent when the majority of Jews rejected and only a remnant believed. We know that some in Israel at that time will reject Christ since the Scriptures teach that the Lord will judge Israel immediately after His Second Advent and will have His elect angels remove every unbeliever from the nation (Ezekiel 20:37-38; Zechariah 13:8-9; Malachi 3:2-3, 5; Matthew 25:1-30). So Paul is using pas here in Romans 11:26 much like we would say in America that “the whole country watched the events of 911 transpire on television!” Of course not each and every person would have done so but the idea behind the statement is that a good majority in the country did watch the events of 911. “Israel” refers to the nation of Israel as a corporate entity at the time of Christ’s Second Advent without reference to spiritual status whether saved or unsaved, which is denoted by the adjective pas, “all.” “Will be delivered” is the third person singular future passive indicative form of the verb sozo, which is used with reference to those Jews in Israel at the time of Christ’s Second Advent who will trust in Jesus of Nazareth, the incarnate Son of God as Messiah. It speaks of these Jews being delivered not only in a temporal sense from Satan, Antichrist and the Tribulational armies but more importantly being delivered in a spiritual sense from eternal condemnation as well as personal sin, the sin nature as well as Satan and his cosmic system. The verb is used here with reference to the national regeneration of Israel that will take place at the Second Advent of Christ, which is indicated by the quotation that follows that is from Isaiah 59:20-21 and 27:9, which is a reference to the Second Advent. This prophecy in Romans 11:26 that there will be a national regeneration of Israel at Christ’s Second Advent is taught throughout the Old Testament. Zechariah 12:10-14 records that at the Second Advent the nation of Israel will mourn as a nation over their rejection of Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah and will acknowledge as such and will turn to Him for deliverance from Antichrist and the Tribulational armies. On the Day of Atonement, at the Second Advent of Christ, Israel will as a nation trust in Jesus Christ as Savior (Ezekiel 37; Zechariah 12:10; 14:9-21). In order to be the subjects of the Lord Jesus Christ during His millennial reign, Israel will be made righteous (Isaiah 1:25; 2:4; 44:22-24; 45:17-25; 48:17; 55:7; 57:18-19; 63:16; Jeremiah 31:11; 33:8 50:20; 34; Ezekiel 36:25-26 Hosea 14:4; Joel 3:21; Micah 7:18-19; Zechariah 13:9; Malachi 3:2-3). Paul’s statement in Romans 11:26a that “all Israel will be saved,” which refers to the national regeneration of Israel at Christ’s Second Advent is echoing Paul’s previous statements in Romans 11:12 and 15. “Just as it is written” introduces an Old Testament passage, namely, Isaiah 59:20, which supports Paul’s statement in Romans 11:26a that “all Israel will be saved.” In Romans 11:27, Paul cites a combination of Isaiah 59:21 and 27:9 as further support for his prediction in Romans 11:26 that there will be a national regeneration of Israel. So in Romans 11:26b-27 to validate his assertion in Romans 11:26a that there will be a national regeneration of Israel and to teach that this will take place at Christ’s Second Advent, Paul quotes Isaiah 59:20-21 and 27:9. “The Deliverer” is a title referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. In Luke 21:25-28, the Lord Jesus in His Olivet Discourse replying to a question as to the time of His return to deliver Israel teaches that He will deliver Israel at His Second Advent. Revelation 19:11-20:3 teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ will deliver Israel at His Second Advent in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (Deuteronomy 30:3; Psalm 2:1-9; 24:7-10; 96:10-13; 110; Isaiah 9:6-7; 63:1-6; Jeremiah 23:1-8; Daniel 2:44-45; 7:18-27; Zechariah 12; 14). Paul teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ will deliver Israel at His Second Advent (2 Thessalonians 1:1-10; 2:1-8). “Will arrive out” is the third person singular future active indicative form of the verb heko, which means “to arrive” and refers to the Lord Jesus Christ’s arrival on planet earth at the Mount of Olives at His Second Advent from the third heaven at the right hand of the Father. “Out from Zion” is composed of the preposition ek, “IN” and the genitive feminine singular form of the noun Sion, “ZION.” “Zion” refers to heavenly Jerusalem located in the third heaven since the Scriptures teach that Christ will descend on the Mount of Olives on planet earth at His Second Advent to deliver Israel from Satan, Antichrist and the Tribulational armies prompting a national regeneration in Israel at that time. “He will remove totally and completely the godless ones from Jacob” refers to the Lord Jesus Christ removing the unsaved from the nation of Israel when He judges the nation subsequent to His Second Advent. This judgment is prophesied in Ezekiel 20:33-38. “The godless ones” refers to those Jews in Israel at the time of Christ’s Second Advent and describes them as having a lack of reverence for God as manifested in their thinking, speaking and acting in a manner contrary or against the laws of God or His character and nature. The word is not speaking of godless acts but godless individuals since the way the Lord will remove godless acts is to remove the unbelievers whose behavior is ungodly as indicated by the prophesy in Ezekiel 20:33-38. “From Jacob” indicates that the immediately after His Second Advent when He judges Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ will “totally and completely separate from” the unbelievers in Israel from those who are saved in the nation. So in Romans 11:26, the apostle Paul cites Isaiah 59:20 to support his assertion that immediately after the full number of Gentiles that have been elected by the Father in eternity past have been saved there will be a national regeneration of Israel at Christ’s Second Advent. In Romans 11:27, Paul cites Isaiah 59:21 and 27:9 to support his assertion that there will be a national regeneration of Israel, which will take place at Christ’s Second Advent. Romans 11:27 “Furthermore, this is, as an eternal spiritual truth, the covenant established by Me for their benefit when I act on My promise and remove their sins.” (Author’s translation) Paul cites a combination of Isaiah 59:21 and 27:9 as further support for his prediction in Romans 11:26 that there will be a national regeneration of Israel. These quotations are alluding to the New Covenant recorded in Jeremiah 31:31-34, which refers to this national regeneration of Israel at Christ’s Second Advent. Paul in Romans 11:27 quotes Isaiah 59:21 and 27:9 to teach that this national regeneration of Israel will involve the Lord fulfilling one of His promises in this covenant, namely removing the sins from those Jews who have faith in His Son Jesus Christ. “The covenant established by Me” is composed of the preposition para and the genitive first personal singular form of the personal pronoun ego, “by Me” and the articular nominative feminine singular form of the noun diatheke, “the covenant established.” In Romans 11:27, the noun diatheke, “covenant” refers to specifically to the New Covenant since in context Paul is speaking of the future national regeneration of the nation of Israel at Christ’s Second Advent, which the New Covenant speaks of. Also, he is presenting the provision of the forgiveness of sins, which appears in the New Covenant. The New Covenant is unconditional meaning that it is based upon the faithfulness of God rather than the faithfulness of Israel (Jeremiah 31:31-37). The New covenant is related to the restoration of the nation during the Second Advent and His subsequent millennial reign. The blessings the nation of Israel will receive are based on the New Covenant (Isaiah 61:8-9; Hos. 2:18-20). The greatest blessing in this covenant is that of being brought in close relationship with God (Jeremiah 30:22; 31:33; 32:38-41; Ezek. 11:20; 34:25-27; 37:27). The New Covenant with Israel was based upon the voluntary substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths of the impeccable humanity of Christ in hypostatic union (Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25). The Lord Jesus Christ is the mediator of this New Covenant to Israel. Hebrews 12:24a, “and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.” Therefore, in Romans 11:27, the noun diatheke refers to the New Covenant, which the Lord Jesus Christ will establish with Israel at His Second Advent and subsequent judgment of Israel and millennial reign. “For their benefit” refers to the regenerate citizens of the nation of Israel since they receive the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ. “When” is the temporal conjunction hotan, which is employed with the subjunctive mood of the verb aphaireo, “I TAKE AWAY” in order to denote that “whenever” those Jews who placed their faith in Jesus Christ at His Second Advent and as a result receive the forgiveness of sins this will be a manifestation of the New Covenant. “I act on My promise and remove” is the first person singular aorist middle subjunctive form of the verb aphaireo, which means “to remove” and is used with the Lord Jesus Christ as its subject and its object are the sins of those Jews who trusted in Him as Savior at His Second Advent. This indicates that the manifestation of the New Covenant will be that the Lord Jesus Christ will remove the sins of those Jews who trusted in Him as Savior at His Second Advent in the sense that through their faith in Christ they will appropriate the forgiveness of sins. So as we can see from our study of Romans 11:27, Paul cites a combination of Isaiah 59:21 and 27:9 as further support for his prediction in Romans 11:26 that there will be a national regeneration of Israel. These quotations are alluding to the New Covenant recorded in Jeremiah 31:31-34, which refers to this national regeneration of Israel at Christ’s Second Advent. Paul in Romans 11:27 quotes Isaiah 59:21 and 27:9 to teach that this national regeneration of Israel will involve the Lord fulfilling one of His promises in this covenant, namely removing the sins from those Jews who have faith in His Son Jesus Christ. Romans 11:28 summarizes God’s dealings with the nation of Israel and the Gentiles. The first part of the verse teaches that from the standpoint of the gospel, the nation of Israel corporately is God’s enemy for the sake of evangelizing the Gentiles. The second half of the verse teaches that from the standpoint of God electing them in a national sense, the nation of Israel is the object of God’s love because of unconditional promises to the patriarchs. Romans 11:28 On the one hand, from the perspective of the gospel, they are, as an eternal spiritual truth, enemies on behalf of all of you while on the other hand from the perspective of their election, they are, as an eternal spiritual truth, divinely loved because of the promises to the fathers. (Author’s translation) This passage is a correlative clause. The declarative statement in this correlative clause teaches that the Gentiles benefited from the fact that the nation of Israel at the present time is God’s enemy. However, the adversative clause teaches that from the standpoint of God electing them as a nation, Israel is the object of God’s love because of His unconditional promises He made to the patriarchs. “From the standpoint of God’s choice” is composed of the preposition kata, “from the standpoint” and the articular accusative feminine singular form of the noun ekloge, “God’s choice.” In Romans 11:28, the noun ekloge does not refer to the election of individual Jews who trust in Christ as Savior but rather it refers to the “national” election of the nation of Israel. This is indicated in that in Romans 11:26-27, Paul quotes Old Testament Scripture to support his assertion that there will be national regeneration and restoration of the nation of Israel at Christ’s Second Advent. This “national” election is referred to in Romans 9:4 with the term huiothesia, “adoption as sons.” The term “adoption” refers to the Old Testament teaching concerning the nation of Israel that they were “God’s son” in a “national” sense meaning that God had set apart Israel from all the nations of the earth for blessing and service (cf. Exodus 4:22-23; Deuteronomy 14:1-2; Jeremiah 31:9; Hosea 11:1). In Romans 11:28, the noun ekloge is in the accusative case and functions as the object of the preposition kata, which itself functions as a marker of a specific element bearing a relation to something else. Here the preposition denotes the relationship between the nation of Israel and God electing them in a national sense. “For the sake of the fathers” is composed of the preposition dia, “for the sake of” and the articular accusative masculine plural form of the noun pater, “the fathers.” The noun pater contains the figure of metonymy meaning that the noun is put for God’s faithfulness to the promises that He made to the patriarchs. The noun does not simply refer to the patriarchs themselves. Paul is not saying with this noun that because of the merits of the patriarchs themselves that the nation of Israel is the object of God’s unconditional love. Rather, he is saying that because of God’s faithfulness to His unconditional promises He made to the patriarchs, the nation of Israel is the object of God’s unconditional love. Therefore, Paul is saying with this word pater that from the perspective of God electing them in a national sense, the nation of Israel is the object of God’s love because of His faithfulness to the promises that He made to the patriarchs. Or we could say that from the perspective of God electing them in a national sense, the nation of Israel is the object of God’s love because of the unconditional promises He made to the patriarchs. The word functions as the object of the preposition dia, which itself functions as a marker of cause indicating that from the perspective of God electing them in a national sense, the nation of Israel is the object of God’s unconditional love “because of” His faithfulness to the promises He made to the patriarchs. Paul in Romans 11:29 then presents the reason why the nation of Israel can be both God’s enemy and the object of His unconditional love. Romans 11:29 Because the gracious privileges, especially, God the Father’s invitation to privilege are, as an eternal spiritual truth, irrevocable. (Author’s translation) The apostle Paul teaches in this passage that Israel is both the enemy of God and the object of His unconditional love because the eight gracious privileges that God bestowed upon the nation of Israel that are listed in Romans 9:4-5 and especially the invitation to privilege that He extended to that nation are irrevocable. In Romans 11:30-31 Paul employs a correlative clause that compares God giving grace to the formerly disobedient Gentiles because of Israel’s unbelief with extending grace to the presently disobedient Jews because of the grace obtained by the Gentiles. Romans 11:30 For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy 31 because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. (Author’s translation) In Romans 11:30, Paul taught his Gentile Christian readers in Rome that they who were once unbelieving in God have now been obtained grace because of Israel’s unbelief. Romans 11:31 teaches that God’s purpose for the present state of unbelief in Israel during the church age was in order that because of the grace obtained by the Gentiles through faith in Christ, the Jews might also obtain grace through faith in Christ. Therefore we can see from our studies of this comparative clause that appears in Romans 11:30-31 that there is similarity between the Jews and Gentiles experience in that both have been unbelieving, the Gentiles prior to the church age and the Jews during the church age. There is however differences in that the Gentiles obtained grace and salvation because of the nation of Israel rejected Christ. However, the nation of Israel will obtain grace and salvation because of the grace that the Gentiles obtained since Paul teaches in Romans 11:25-27 that the nation of Israel will not repent and trust in Christ until the full number of Gentiles to be saved, have in fact been saved. When the full number of Gentiles, have been saved between the first and second advents of Christ, then the Second Advent will take place when the majority of Jews in Israel will have faith in Christ in contrast to the majority in Israel who reject Him during the church age. Then, in Romans 11:32, Paul draws an inference from his teaching in Romans 11:30-31, which states God has confined the entire human race to unbelief in order that He might extend the offer of grace to the entire human race. Romans 11:32 Therefore, God the Father has confined the entire human race to unbelief in order that He may extend the offer of grace to the entire human race. (Author’s translation) This passage refers to a judicial decision that the Father rendered the moment that Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden when He condemned the entire human race along with Adam in order that He might extend the offer of grace to Adam and his posterity. In Romans 11:33, Paul praises the Father for His infinite wealth, wisdom and knowledge as well as His unsearchable decrees and incomprehensible ways. Romans 11:33 Oh, God’s infinite wealth and wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable, as an eternal spiritual truth, are His decrees and in addition, how incomprehensible, as an eternal spiritual truth, are His ways! (Author’s translation) Then, in Romans 11:34, Paul cites the two rhetorical questions that demand a negative response that appear in Isaiah 40:13 to support his exclamation in Romans 11:33. Romans 11:34 Indeed, who has fully comprehended the Lord’s mind or who became His advisor? (Author’s translation) This quotation is related to Paul’s praise of the Father’s infinite wisdom and knowledge and unsearchable decrees and incomprehensible ways. This rhetorical question brings out the implication of Paul’s doxology in Romans 11:33, which is that God is sovereign over His creatures and is transcendent of His creatures and self-sufficient unlike His creatures. The two rhetorical questions in Romans 11:34 deals with the believer’s knowledge of God’s eternal plan of salvation for mankind, both Jew and Gentile. Lastly, in Romans 11:35, Paul cites the rhetorical question that demands a negative response that appears in Job 41:11 to support his praise of the Father in Romans 11:33. Paul teaches that the Father will receive praise and thanksgiving throughout eternity because all things exists from Him and through Him and for Him. Romans 11:36 Because each and every thing, as an eternal spiritual truth, exists because of Him as their source and through Him and for Him. Glory (in the sense of adoring praise and worshipful thanksgiving) will be directed towards Him throughout eternity. Amen! (Author’s translation) This quotation relates to Paul’s praise of the Father’s infinite wealth. This rhetorical question in Romans 11:35 deals with the way in which the believer experiencing God’s eternal plan of salvation for mankind. The quotations from Isaiah 40:13 and Job 41:11 that appear in Romans 11:34-35 serve to “confirm” Paul’s doxology or praise of the Father in Romans 11:33. So we can see that Replacement theology is refuted by Paul’s teaching in Romans 9-11. In Romans 9:27-29, he teaches that God has emphatically not rejected the nation of Israel as manifested by the fact that He set asides for Himself as He did in the days of Elijah a remnant of Jewish believers throughout every part of history. This doctrine of a remnant of believers in Israel, which constitutes in God’s eyes the national entity, Israel, refutes replacement theology. The nation of Israel would be completely rejected by God if there wasn’t a remnant of believers and would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah as Paul states in Romans 9:29. But the fact that there is a remnant in Israel and will always be the case is why the nation still exists according to Romans 9:27-29. In Romans 9:27, Paul cites Isaiah 10:22 to teach that only a remnant of Jews throughout history will be saved, which supports his premise in Romans 9:6 that not all racial Israel is considered by God to be spiritual Israel, children of the promise and spiritual descendants of Abraham. Then, in Romans 9:28, Paul quotes from Isaiah 10:23 to warn unregenerate Israel of eternal condemnation in that the Lord Jesus Christ will execute this judgment thoroughly and decisively. In Romans 9:29, Paul quotes Isaiah 1:9 to teach that if the Lord had not been merciful by leaving a remnant in Israel that it would have become like Sodom and would have been make like Gomorrah in that not only would the nation have been destroyed but all its citizens would have suffered eternal condemnation as well. It would be ridiculous of God to elect the nation of Israel if He did not set aside a remnant of believers since the national election of Israel only makes sense if God has set aside a remnant of believers throughout human history. Therefore, the national election of Israel is based on the fact that God, in His foreknowledge, which is based on His omniscience, knew in eternity past a remnant of Israelites whom He would create in time and would in time accept His Son Jesus Christ as Savior. Consequently, this is the reason why God has by no means rejected Israel completely. Thus, refuting replacement theology. If God had not set aside a remnant of believers in Israel, God would have rejected that nation. Moo is right when he says of Israel in this passage, that “it is this national entity whose status is called into question by what Paul said in 9:30-10:21 and about whom Paul then asks in verse 1.” However, what Moo fails to see is that this national entity status is maintained because God has set aside a remnant of believers in the nation as he illustrates in Romans 11:2b-5 with God’s response to Elijah’s prayer against Israel. Otherwise, as Paul teaches in Romans 9:29, Israel would be non-existent as a nation, just as Sodom and Gomorrah. Paul teaches in Romans 9:6 that not all racial Israel is considered by God to be His covenant people but only those who have trusted in His Son Jesus Christ as Savior. In Romans 2:28-29, Paul teaches that a true Israelite in God’s eyes has faith in His Son Jesus Christ. These two passages make clear that God makes a distinction between Israelites and accepts those who accept His Son by faith and rejects those who reject His Son. The nation of Israel whom God foreknew is the remnant of believers because God considers a true Israelite to be one who has faith in His Son Jesus Christ and these constitute the national entity from God’s perspective, thus refuting the claims of replacement theology. In Romans 11:1-6, he teaches that God has emphatically not rejected the nation of Israel as manifested by the fact that He set asides for Himself as He did in the days of Elijah a remnant of Jewish believers throughout every part of history. We have seen in Romans 11:1, Paul posing a rhetorical question that is the result of an inference that could be implied from his teaching in Romans chapters nine and ten, namely that God has rejected Israel. He emphatically rejects this idea and then presents himself as living proof that this is not the case. Then, in Romans 11:2a, he emphatically declares that God has by no means rejected the nation of Israel whom He foreknew. In Romans 11:2b, Paul poses a question in order to introduce the subject of God setting aside a remnant for Himself in Israel in the days of Elijah. Next, in Romans 11:3, he cites 1 Kings 19:10 to demonstrate that God has not rejected Israel. In this passage, Elijah pleaded with the Father against Israel when he was the lone surviving prophet in Israel who was alone in the desert because he was fleeing Jezebel who sought to murder him. In Romans 11:4, Paul presents the Father’s response to Elijah’s complaint against Israel by citing 1 Kings 19:18,which records God telling him that He had set aside a remnant composed of seven thousand men in Israel that had not bowed the knee to Baal. Then, in Romans 11:5, the apostle teaches that in the same way that God set aside a remnant for Himself in a Elijah’s day so He had done so in Paul’s day in the mid first century according to His sovereign grace. Paul in Romans 11:6 argues with his readers that if you agree with me that God had set aside for Himself a remnant in Israel on the basis of grace, then it follows logically that this election of the remnant is never at any time on the basis of meritorious actions otherwise grace never at any time exists as grace. Daniel 9:24a-The Seventy Weeks are 490 Years Which Are Used in Relation to the Jewish People and Jerusalem Seventy Weeks Decreed for the Jewish People and Jerusalem Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.” “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city” is composed of the masculine plural noun šā·ḇûaʿ (שָׁבוּעַ‭) (‬shaw-boo‭´‬-ah‭)‬,‭ “‬weeks‭” ‬which is modified by the masculine plural cardinal number‭ ‬šiḇ·ʿîm‭ (‬שִׁבְעִים‭) (‬shib-eem‭´)‬,‭ “‬seventy‭” ‬and then we‭ ‬have the third person masculine singular niphal passive perfect form of the verb‭ ‬ḥā·ṯǎḵ‭ (‬חָתַךְ‭) (‬khaw-thak‭´)‬,‭ “‬have been decreed‭” ‬which is followed by the preposition‭ ‬ʿǎl‭ (‬עַל‭) (‬al‭)‬,‭ “‬for‭” ‬and its object is the masculine singular construct form of the noun‭ ‬ʿǎm‭ (‬עַם‭) (‬am‭)‬,‭ “‬people,‭” ‬which is modified by the second person masculine singular pronominal suffix‭ ‬ʾǎt∙tā(h‭) (‬אַתָּה‭) (‬at-taw‭)‬,‭ “‬your‭” ‬and then we have the conjunction‭ ‬wa‭ (‬וְ‭) (‬waw‭)‬,‭ “‬and‭” ‬which is followed by the preposition‭ ‬ʿǎl‭ (‬עַל‭) (‬al‭)‬,‭ ‬which is‭ ‬not translated and its object is the feminine singular form of the noun‭ ‬ʿîr‭ (‬עִיר‭) (‬eer‭)‬,‭ “‬city‭” ‬which is modified by the masculine singular construct form of the noun‭ ‬qō·ḏěš‭ (‬קֹדֶשׁ‭) (‬ko‭´‬-desh‭)‬,‭ “‬holy‭” ‬which is followed by the second person masculine singular pronominal suffix‭ ‬ʾǎt∙tā(h‭) (‬אַתָּה‭) (‬at-taw‭)‬,‭ “‬your.‭” Asyndeton We begin our exegesis and exposition of Daniel 9:24 by noting the figure of asyndeton which is employed to mark a transition from Gabriel’s speaking to Daniel his purpose for visiting him and Gabriel commumnicated to Daniel the prophecy of the seventy weeks. šiḇ·ʿîmʹ šā·ḇǔ·ʿîmʹ The masculine plural noun šā·ḇûaʿ means “a unit of seven” since it refers to a unit or period of seven, heptad, or week. Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles Briggs, eds., A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1907), pp. 988-89; Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, eds., Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1958), p. 940. Here the context as we will note denotes that the word means “a unit of seven years.” This noun is modified by the plural form of the cardinal number šiḇ·ʿîm, which means “seventy.” Therefore, these two words mean “seventy units of seven years” or “seventy weeks.” Thus Daniel is speaking of seventy of these units of seven years or a total of 490 years, which as we will note is specifically 490 prophetic years with a year being 360 days according to the Jewish calendar. ḥā·ṯǎḵ The verb ḥā·ṯǎḵ means “to decree, to determine, ordain” pertaining to a particular plan. Here the word refers to the Father’s decree in eternity past. Specifically it expresses the fact that in eternity past the Father issued a decree that He would fulfill six objectives with regards to the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem within 490 prophetic years. These six objectives are: (1) to finish the transgression (2) to make an end of sin (3) to make atonement for iniquity (4) to bring in everlasting righteousness (5) to seal up vision and prophecy (6) to anoint the most holy place. G. H. Lang writes “Decreed means divided or severed off from the whole period of world-empire in the hands of the Gentiles, as to which Daniel was already well informed. It points to a fixed and limited period, of definite duration, forming part of a longer period the duration of which is not fixed, or at least not declared.” G. H. Lang, The Histories and Prophecies of Daniel, (Miami Springs, FL: Conley & Schoettle Publishing Co., 1985), p.127. The niphal stem of this verb ḥā·ṯǎḵ expresses an action where the subject is acted upon. Here the subject is the seventy weeks of years. Therefore, this stem denotes that these seventy weeks were acted upon by an unexpressed agency who is obviously the Father. The perfect conjugation of this verb is constative describing in summary fashion this divine decree taking place in eternity past. ʿǎm The noun ʿǎm is in the singular and means “people” in the sense of a large group based on various cultural, physical and geographical ties. It refers to a large group that is larger than a tribe or clan but smaller than a race. This word speaks of a national entity and specifically the nation of Israel. It is modified by the second person masculine singular pronominal suffix ʾǎt·tā(h), which means “your” referring of course, to Daniel. It is also the object of the preposition ʿǎl, which is a marker of advantage indicating that it was “for the benefit of” the Jewish people that this decree was issued by the Father in eternity past. It was for their benefit because within these 490 prophetic years, God would fulfill six objectives which ultimately benefit the nation of Israel. wa The conjunction wa is adjunctive meaning that it is introduces an “additional” entity which is benefited by this divine decree. Thus, “in addition to” the Jewish people the decree of 490 prophetic years is for the benefit of the city of Jerusalem, which is the capital city of the Jewish nation. qǒḏ·šěʹ ʿîrʹ The noun ʿîr means “city” referring to a population center enclosed by a wall. Here it refer to the city of Jersualem. The construct state of ʿîr means it is governing the noun qō·ḏěš which follows. The latter means “holy” describing the city of Jerusalem as being set apart exclusively for the worship of the God of Israel. The construct state is expressing a genitive relation between the two words, which is attributive meaning “holy city.” The noun ʿîr is also modified by the second person masculine singular pronominal suffix ʾǎt·tā(h), which means “your” referring again to Daniel. It too is the object of the preposition ʿǎl, which once again is functioning as a marker of advantage indicating that it was “for the benefit of” the city of Jerusalem that this decree was issued by the Father in eternity past. It was for this city’s benefit because within these 490 prophetic years, God would fulfill six objectives which ultimately benefit the city. Translation of Daniel 9:24a Daniel 9:24a “Seventy units of seven years have been decreed for the benefit of your people as well as for the benefit of your holy city.” Exposition of Daniel 9:24a So the angel Gabriel begins to give Daniel an answer to his prayer, which ultimately is above and beyond what Daniel asked for. Remember, Daniel was interceding for the Jewish exiles in Babylon because of Jeremiah’s prophecy recorded in Jeremiah 25:11-12 and 29:10-14. He was praying that God’s will for Israel, as revealed in Jeremiah’s prophecy would be accomplished. Daniel’s prayer for the Jewish exiles as recorded in Daniel 9:3-19 makes clear that this is what Daniel was praying for. However, Daniel 9:24-27 makes clear that Gabriel provides him with more information with regards to the future of the nation of Israel than he asked for. This fulfills the principle taught by Paul in Ephesians 3:20 that God is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think. Therefore, the prophecy of the seventy weeks not only answered Daniel’s prayer that the Jewish exiles would return from Babylon to their homeland after seventy years but also provided Daniel a comprehensive understanding of God’s program for the nation of Israel. The prophecy not only made clear that Jerusalem would be rebuilt but that her Messiah would appear but would be rejected. She would be disciplined again for rejecting her Messiah and Jerusalem would once again be destroyed. The nation would also be deceived into entering into an agreement with a Roman dictator who will stop the sacrifices in the temple but would be destroyed in the end by God. So the prophecy of the seventy weeks tells Daniel that Israel would continue to rebel against God and would thus again be disciplined by Him severely. However, this corporate apostasy would come to an end. Her corporate sin would be dealt with, which we know was dealt with through the cross of Jesus Christ. Everlasting righteousness would be experienced in Israel. All that God predicted with regards to the nation of Israel would come to pass. Gabriel begins by telling Daniel that seventy sevens have been decreed for his people as well as his holy city. The first challenge we have is the meaning of the seventy weeks. Is it referring to weeks of days or years? There are several factors which support the interpretation that the seventy weeks are years and not days. First of all, Daniel was reading Jeremiah’s prophecy regarding Israel’s Babylonian exile, which was to last 70 years. Jeremiah 25:11 ‘This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation.’ (NASB95) Jeremiah 29:10 “For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’” (NASB95) Furthermore, 2 Chronicles 36:21 speaks of Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning the Babylonian exile and it indicates quite clearly that the exile would last 70 years. 2 Chronicles 36:20 Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete. (NASB95) Thus we can see that these 70 weeks in Daniel 9:24 cannot possibly be 70 weeks in the ordinary, literal sense or 490 days for the number has an obvious relation to the 70 years of Jeremiah’s prophecy in Jeremiah 25:11 and 2 Chronicles 36:21. The context clearly indicates that Daniel is referring to years and not days since Daniel 9:2 indicates that Jeremiah’s prophecy of Israel’s Babylonian captivity would be 70 years. The 70 years of captivity were the specific penalty for violating 70 sabbatic years, which would be 70 sevens, a total of 70 years. Seven days are in one week and every seventh year was a Sabbath rest and seventy sevens brought them to the year of Jubilee which is noted in Leviticus 25:8-12. The provisions for the land’s Sabbath rest are recorded in detail in Leviticus 25:2-4, 26:32-35, 43 but in those 490 years, Israel had violated exactly 70 sabbatic years so they would go into captivity for 70 years to make amends. The 490 could not designate days (about 1 1/3 years) for that would not be enough time for the events prophesied by Daniel 9:24-27 to occur and the same is true of 490 weeks of seven days each (i.e. 3,430 days, about 9 ½ years). Also if days were intended one would expect Daniel to have added the phrase “of days” after “70 sevens” for in Daniel 10:2-3 he wrote literally, “three sevens of days”. Harold Hoehner commenting on the seventy weeks writes “The term ‎שׁבעים‭ ‬in the Old Testament.‭ ‬The term‭ ‬שׁבעים‭ ‬is the plural form of‭ ‬שׁבוּע‭ ‬which is a unit or period‭ ‬of seven,‭ ‬heptad,‭ ‬or week. Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles Briggs, eds., A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1907), pp. 988-89; Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, eds., Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1958), p. 940. ‭ ‬It is used twenty times in the Old Testament.‭ ‬Three times it means a unit of seven and is followed by‭ ‬ימים‭ ‘‬days‭’ (‬Ezek‭ ‬45:21‭; ‬Dan‭ ‬10:2,‭ ‬3‭); ‬six times it means‭ ‘‬week(s‭)‬,‭’ ‬a normal seven-day week‭ (‬Gen‭ ‬29:27,‭ ‬28‭; ‬Deut‭ ‬16:9‭ ‬bis‭; ‬Lev‭ ‬12:5‭; ‬Deut‭ ‬16:10,‭ ‬16‭; ‬2‭ ‬Chron‭ ‬8:13‭); ‬and six times it is used as a‭ ‘‬unit of seven‭’ ‬without reference to days‭ (‬Dan‭ ‬9:24,‭ ‬25‭ ‬bis,26,‭ ‬27‭ ‬bis‭)‬.‭ ‬Therefore,‭ ‬the context determines its meaning.‭ ‬This can also be illustrated by‭ ‬עשׂוֹר‭ ‬which is normally translated‭ ‘‬ten days‭’ ‬because the context demands this rendering thirteen out of sixteen occurrences in the Old Testament.‭ ‬However,‭ ‬three times‭ (‬Ps‭ ‬33:2‭; ‬92:3‭; ‬144:9‭) ‬it has reference to a musical instrument and would have to be translated‭ ‘‬ten strings.‭’ Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon, p. 797. ‭ ‬Thus has the idea of a‭ ‘‬unit of ten‭’ ‬as determined by the context.‭ ‬In conclusion the term‭ ‬שׁבוּע‭ ‬means‭ ‘‬a unit of seven‭’ ‬and its particular meaning must be determined by the particular context.‭ ‬The term‭ ‬שׁבעים‭ ‬in Daniel‭ ‬9:24-27.‭ ‬In this passage the term refers to units of seven years and thus Daniel is speaking of seventy of these units of seven years or a total of‭ ‬490‭ ‬years.‭ ‬The reasons for this conclusion are as follows.‭ ‬First,‭ ‬in the context Daniel had been thinking in terms of years as well as multiples‭ (‬ten times seven‭) ‬of years‭ (‬Dan‭ ‬9:1‭–‬2‭)‬.‭ ‬Second,‭ ‬Daniel had been considering Jeremiah‭ ‬25:11‭ ‬and‭ ‬29:10‭ ‬regarding the seventy-year captivity.‭ ‬The captivity was a result of violating the sabbatical year,‭ ‬which was to have been observed after every six years‭ (‬2‭ ‬Chron‭ ‬36:21‭; ‬cf.‭ ‬Lev‭ ‬26:34‭–‬35,‭ ‬43‭)‬.‭ ‬Each year of captivity represented one seven-year cycle in which the seventh or Sabbath year had not been observed.‭ ‬Thus it is clear that the context refers to years,‭ ‬not days.‭ ‬Daniel then saw another‭ ‬490‭ ‬years into Israel’s future.‭ ‬This can be diagrammed in the following way:‭ ‬Third,‭ ‬the only other usage of‭ ‬שׁבעים‭ ‬by Daniel is in‭ ‬10:2,‭ ‬3‭ ‬where the phrase‭ ‬שׁלשׁה שׁבעים ימים‭ ‬is literally‭ ‘‬three units of seven days‭’ ‬or twenty-one days.‭ ‬This has reference to Daniel’s mourning for three weeks since the word‭ ‬ימים‭ ‬is included.‭ ‬The very fact that Daniel adds‭ ‬ימים‭ ‬in,‭ ‬indicates that he did not want his readers to think of the unit of seven the same way it was used in chapter nine.‭ ‬Everyone would have realized that Daniel would not have fasted twenty-one years,‭ ‬but the fact that he inserted‭ ‬ימים‭ ‘‬days‭’ ‬in‭ ‬10:2,‭ ‬3‭ ‬when‭ ‬it was not necessary would seem to indicate that he would have used‭ ‬ימים‭ ‬in‭ ‬9:24‭–‬27‭ ‬if there he meant‭ ‬490‭ ‘‬days.‭’ ‬Therefore,‭ ‬in‭ ‬9:24‭–‬27‭ ‬Daniel was referring to years and not days.‭ ‬Fourth,‭ ‬it is impossible to fit the events described in‭ ‬9:24‭–‬27,‭ ‬regardless of the terminus a quo,‭ ‬into‭ ‬490‭ ‬days or weeks.‭ ‬Only that number of years is viable.‭ ‬Fifth,‭ ‬in‭ ‬9:27‭ ‬the covenant that will be confirmed for one‭ ‘‬unit of seven‭’ (‬שׁבוּע‭) ‬will be broken in the middle of that unit of seven.‭ ‬If one accepts the‭ ‬שׁבוּע‭ ‬as a unit of seven years,‭ ‬this would mean that the covenant will be broken at the three and one-half year point and the last three and one-half years will be a time of trouble and desolation.‭ ‬This fits well with the trouble described by the temporal note‭ “‬time,‭ ‬times,‭ ‬and half a time‭” ‬in Daniel‭ ‬7:25‭ ‬and‭ ‬12:7‭ ‬as well as in Revelation‭ ‬12:14.‭ ‬Sixth,‭ ‬although the term‭ ‬שׁבוּע‭ ‬does not refer to years elsewhere in the Bible it has this meaning in the Mishnah. Mishnah: Baba Metzia ix. 10; Sanhedrin v. 1. ‭ ‬In conclusion the term‭ ‬שׁבעים‭ ‬in Daniel‭ ‬9‭ ‬most reasonably refers to a unit of seven years.‭ ‬To make it anything else does not make good sense.‭ ‬However,‭ ‬for the sake of clarity this unit of seven years will be called‭ ‘‬week(s‭)’ ‬for the remainder of this article,‭ ‬for it is simpler to refer to seventy‭ ‘‬weeks‭’ ‬than to seventy‭ ‘‬units of seven years.‭’ ‬Therefore,‭ ‬Daniel’s reference to seventy weeks means a period of‭ ‬490‭ ‬years.‭” Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 132. (1975)., 132(525), 48–50. Pentecost writes “Daniel was first informed that God’s program would be consummated in 70 ‘sevens.’ Since Daniel had been thinking of God’s program in terms of years (v. 1; cf. Jer. 25:11–12; 2 Chron. 36:21), it would be most natural for him to understand these ‘sevens’ as years. Whereas people today think in units of tens (e.g., decades), Daniel’s people thought in terms of sevens (heptads). Seven days are in one week. Every seventh year was a sabbath rest year (Lev. 25:1–7). Seven ‘sevens’ brought them to the Year of Jubilee (Lev. 25:8–12). Seventy ‘sevens,’ then, is a span of 490 years. The 490 could not designate days (about 1 1/3 years) for that would not be enough time for the events prophesied in Daniel 9:24–27 to occur. The same is true of 490 weeks of seven days each (i.e., 3,430 days, about 9 1/2 years). Also if days were intended one would expect Daniel to have added ‘of days’ after ‘70 sevens’ for in 10:2–3 he wrote literally, ‘three sevens of days’ (niv niv New International Version, “three weeks”). Also since Israel and Judah had failed to keep the sabbatical years (every seventh year the land was to lie fallow, Lev. 25:1–7) throughout her history, the Lord enforced on the land 70 ‘sabbaths’ (cf. Lev. 26:34–35). Thus 490 years would be required to complete 70 sabbatical years with one occurring every seventh year.” Pentecost, J. D. (1985). Daniel. (J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck, Eds.)The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. John Whitcomb writes “Our problem is to determine how long a period of time is intended by this word: whether a week of days, as the most common usage of the word would suggest, or whether, perhaps, it is intended to be a week of years, as the immediate context would seem to demand. The problem is intensified by the fact that nowhere else in the OT, when the word is used by itself, does it mean anything else than a week of days. In seeking a solution to this interesting and important problem, we shall study the word ‎שׁבוּע‭ (“‬week‭”) ‬in the light,‭ ‬of analogous Hebrew usage,‭ ‬comparative chronology,‭ ‬and the context of biblical prophecy.‭ ‬The dictionary definition of our English word‭ ‘‬week‭’ ‬is‭ ‘‬a period of seven successive days.‭’ The American College Dictionary, 1964 ed., s.v. "week."‭ ‬This is not true of the Hebrew‭ ‬שׁבוּע.‭ ‬Its literal meaning is‭ ‘‬a unit of seven.‭’ See BOB, 988-89; William L. Holladay, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971), 358; KB, 940.‭ ‬It has no primary reference to time periods at all,‭ ‬whether of days or years.‭ ‬In other words,‭ ‬it is simply a numerical measure.‭ ‬Let us demonstrate what we mean by examining a similar Hebrew word.‭ ‬The word‭ ‬עָשׂוֹר‭ ‬would seem to have the basic meaning of‭ “‬ten days,‭” ‬because that is its correct translation in thirteen out of the sixteen times it appears in the Old Testament. ‭ ‬The noun‭ ‬עָשׂוֹר‭ ‬refers to days in Gen‭ ‬24:55‭; ‬Exod‭ ‬12:3‭; ‬Lev‭ ‬6:29,‭ ‬23:27,‭ ‬25:9‭; ‬Num‭ ‬29:7‭; ‬Josh‭ ‬4:19‭; ‬2‭ ‬Kgs‭ ‬25:1‭; ‬Jer‭ ‬52:4,12‭; ‬Ezek‭ ‬20:1,‭ ‬24:1,‭ ‬40:1.‭ ‬See Lisowsky,‭ ‬Konkordanz,‭ ‬1137.‭ ‬But on three occasions it does not mean‭ ‘‬ten days‭’ ‬at all,‭ ‬but rather‭ ‘‬ten strings‭’ ‬or‭ ‘‬an instrument of ten strings‭’‬:‭ ‬Psa‭ ‬33:2,‭ ‬92:3,‭ (‬92:4,‭ ‬Heb.‭)‬,‭ ‬144:9. ibid.‭ ‬Therefore,‭ ‬the word‭ ‬עָשׂוֹר‭ ‬must mean‭ ‘‬decad‭’ ‬or‭ ‘‬unit of ten,‭’ ‬and whether it means‭ ‘‬ten days‭’ ‬or‭ ‘‬ten strings‭’ ‬must be determined entirely‭ ‬by the context,‭ ‬not by the word itself. See BOB, 797; Holladay, Lexicon, 285; KB,741.‭ ‬On the basis of analogous Hebrew usage,‭ ‬therefore,‭ ‬we find that our word‭ ‬שׁבוּע‭ ‬may have the basic meaning of‭ ‘‬heptad‭’ ‬or‭ ‘‬unit of seven,‭’ ‬even as‭ ‬עָשׂוֹר‭ ‬must mean‭ ‘‬decad‭’ ‬or‭ ‘‬unit of ten.‭’ ‬This possibility is greatly strengthened by the fact that‭ ‬שׁבוּע‭ ‬appears three times in the OT with the word‭ ‬יָמִֽים‭ (‘‬days‭’) ‬added,‭ ‬as though to imply that‭ ‬שׁבוּע‭ ‬by itself was not sufficient to show that a period of seven days was intended. ‭ ‬The terms‭ ‬שׁבוּע‭ ‬and‭ ‬ים‭ ‬occur together in Ezek‭ ‬45:21‭; ‬Dan‭ ‬10:2,‭ ‬and‭ ‬10:3.‭ ‬SeeLisowsky,‭ ‬Konkordanz,‭ ‬1195.‭ ‬The most interesting point,‭ ‬however,‭ ‬is that two of these three combinations of‭ ‬שׁבוּע‭ ‬and‭ ‬יָמִֽים‭ ‬appear in the second and third verses of Daniel‭ ‬10, Ibid.‭ ‬immediately following the Seventy Weeks prophecy of the preceding chapter,‭ ‬as though to warn the reader that‭ ‬שׁבוּע‭ ‬is now being used in a‭ ‬different sense‭! ‬If the Seventy Weeks prophecy refers to weeks‭ (‬sevens‭) ‬of years,‭ ‬we are then dealing with a time-span of seventy sevens of years,‭ ‬or‭ ‬490‭ ‬years.‭ ‬Now according to the second verse of this same ninth chapter of Daniel,‭ ‬the prophet Daniel had been studying the prophecy of Jer‭ ‬25:11-12,‭ ‬which stated that Israel's captivity in Babylon would last for exactly seventy years.‭ ‬It was because this seventy-year period had now come to an end that Daniel began to pray for the deliverance of his people Israel,‭ ‬in accordance with Jeremiah's prophecy.‭ ‬The full significance of the seventy-year captivity in Babylon does not come to light,‭ ‬however,‭ ‬until we consider some explanatory passages in Leviticus and‭ ‬2‭ ‬Chronicles.‭ ‬Lev‭ ‬25:2-5‭ ‬states that every seventh year the children of Israel were to observe‭ ‘‬a sabbath of rest‭’ ‬for the land,‭ ‬during which time they were neither to sow their fields nor prune their vineyards for an entire year.‭ ‬Then in chap.‭ ‬26,‭ ‬vv‭ ‬34,‭ ‬35,‭ ‬and‭ ‬43,‭ ‬a solemn warning was added,‭ ‬that if this commandment was not obeyed,‭ ‬the people would be sent into captivity,‭ ‬and the land would be left desolate for a number of years equal to the number of sabbath-rest years that they failed to observe.‭ ‬Now when we turn to the account of Jerusalem's destruction by Nebuchadnezzar in‭ ‬2‭ ‬Chronicles‭ ‬36,‭ ‬we read in v‭ ‬21‭ ‬that the purpose of the captivity was‭ ‘‬to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah,‭ ‬until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths.‭ ‬All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath,‭ ‬until seventy years were complete.‭’ ‬On the basis of these passages,‭ ‬therefore,‭ ‬we may conclude that the seventyyear captivity of Israel in Babylon came about as a result of a lax attitude toward the Law of Moses,‭ ‬as evidenced by her failure to observe a total of seventy different Levitical sabbath-rest years,‭ ‬over a period of‭ ‬490‭ ‬years.‭ ‬These facts lead us to make the following observation:‭ ‬if‭ ‬490‭ ‬years of disobedience had brought about‭ ‬70‭ ‬years of punishment,‭ ‬is it not‭ ‬probable‭ ‬that the testing-period for Israel which was now announced to Daniel would cover another‭ ‬490‭ ‬years,‭ ‬instead of‭ ‬490‭ ‬days‭? ‬How could all of the events described in this prophecy have taken place within a period of less than seventeen months‭ (‬490‭ ‬days‭)? ‬And what comfort would it have brought to Daniel and his people to be told that only a year and a half after the termination of the Babylonian Captivity,‭ ‬their city would be destroyed again‭? ‬And,‭ ‬finally,‭ ‬where in the history of this period can a destruction of the city and sanctuary be seen‭? ‬Comparative‭ ‬chronology,‭ ‬therefore,‭ ‬makes it‭ ‬probable‭ ‬that sevens of‭ ‬years,‭ ‬rather than sevens of‭ ‬days,‭ ‬is to be understood by the word‭ ‬שׁבוּע‭ ‬in this prophecy.‭” Whitcomb, John C., Daniel’s Great Seventy-Weeks Prophecy: An Exegetical Insight; pages 260-262; Grace Theological Journal; 2:2; Fall 1981. It is also important to understand that the length of a prophetic year was “not” 365 days but rather 360 days since the solar year, which we live by, of 365.25 days was unknown to the nations in the Old Testament but the Jewish year of biblical times was lunar-solar and had only 360 days. This is borne out in Revelation in John’s vision of the Great Tribulation period since it describes the last 3 ½ years as precisely 1260 days (Rev. 12:6) and “forty-two months” of 30 days each (13:5). The “time, times and half a time” in Daniel 7:25 corresponds to these two passages in Revelation. Therefore, the “seventy weeks of Daniel” refer to 490 prophetic years of 360 days. Notice that Gabriel informs Daniel in Daniel 9:24 that this decree of seventy weeks of years or 490 prophetic years was for the benefit of Daniel’s people and his holy city. Daniel’s people is an obvious reference to the nation of Israel, and not the church since the church was unknown to Daniel and were simply not his people. The church age was unknown to the Old Testament prophets since it was mystery revealed only through the Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles. Daniel’s holy city is a reference to Jerusalem of course. Therefore, this prophecy has no relation to the church whatsoever. To say it does or that it encompasses the church age is to put words into God’s mouth. The text does not make any reference to the church but only to Israel and her capital city. This means that the church is absolutely not the new Israel and that God has planned a magnificent future for Israel as head of the nations under her Messiah, Jesus Christ. The prophecy of the seventy weeks is therefore, not concerned with world history or even church history but deals exclusively with the history of the nation of Israel as well as its capital city Jerusalem. Thomas Ice writes “For whom did God reveal this period of prophetic destiny? The text says that they have been decreed ‘for your people and your holy city.’ This is such an obvious statement, yet too many interpreters attempt to shoehorn in a people not mentioned in the passage. In the sixth century B.C., when Daniel wrote, who were Daniel’s people and holy city? Clearly it can only refer to Israel as Daniel’s people and Jerusalem as Daniel’s holy city. Yet many interpreters insist that it means something more, something different than what the text actually says. For instance, H. C. Leupold says, ‘Here, as so often in prophecy, terms like God’s ‘people’ and God’s ‘holy city’ broaden out to the point where they assume a breadth of meaning like that found in the New Testament (cf. Gal. 6:16).’ H. C. Leupold, Exposition of Daniel, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1949), p. 411. Another non-literalist, E. J. Young, says, ‘It is true that the primary reference is to Israel after the flesh, and the historical Jerusalem, but since this very vs. describes the Messianic work, it also refers to the true people of God, those who will benefit because of the things herein described.’ Edward J. Young, A Commentary on Daniel, (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1949), p. 197. Notice that both allegorizers appeal to reasons that are outside of the text. They just believe that it refers to individuals beyond Israel because that’s what they believe. Therefore, the text must have in mind some beyond what it actually does say. This is a clear example of reading meaning into the text from one’s own belief system, which is not what the Bible wants us to do. Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 4:6, ‘that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written.’ Gabriel goes out of his way to inform Daniel that the seventy weeks of years are decree for Israel and Jerusalem. Lang notes, ‘The endeavour to apply this prophecy, in general or in detail, to others than Daniel’s people, Israel, and Daniel’s city, Jerusalem, is an outrage upon exegesis, being forbidden in advance by the express terms used.’ Lang, Daniel, p. 130. Gabriel says that God has specifically cut away those 490 years for Israel and Jerusalem, which would not include the addition of anyone else. Wood expands upon this idea and notes: ‘It should be noted that Gabriel said the 490 years will be in reference to the Jewish people and the Jewish capital city, which would seem to exclude any direct concern with Gentiles. That this concern is to be with the city, as well as the people, militates against the idea that the 490 years carry reference only to Christ’s first coming and not to His second. It is difficult to see how the physical city of Jerusalem was involved in the deliverance from sin which Christ then effected but it will be in the deliverance from the destructive oppression which the Antichrist will bring prior to Christ’s second coming.’” Wood, Daniel, p. 248. Ice, Thomas, D., The Seventy Weeks of Daniel; pages 3-4; Liberty University; Pre-Trib Research Center. Daniel 9:24b-The Six Divine Objectives of the Seventy Sevens First Purpose of Seventy Sevens Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.” “To finish the transgression” is composed of the preposition lĕ (לְ‭) (‬leh‭) “‬to‭” ‬and its object is the piel active infinitive construct form of the verb‭ ‬kā·lā(h‭) (‬כָּלָה‭) (‬kaw-law‭´)‬,‭ “‬finish‭” ‬which is followed by the articular masculine singular noun‭ ‬pě·šǎʿ‭ (‬פֶּשַׁע‭) (‬peh‭´‬-shah‭)‬,‭ “‬the transgression.‭” kā·lā(h) The verb kā·lā(h) means “to finish, to bring to an end” in the sense of bringing a process to completion referring to a forcible cessation of an activity and always points to a complete stop and not a mere hindrance to something. The processes which are brought to an end may be either positive or negative. That is, something may be continually added to until it is full or complete, or something may be taken away from until there is nothing left. The English word “finish” coincides very nicely with kālâ in that it too can have either positive or negative connotations. ‭ ‬Oswalt,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬N.‭ (‬1999‭)‬.‭ ‬982‭ ‬כָלָה.‭ (‬R.‭ ‬L.‭ ‬Harris,‭ ‬G.‭ ‬L.‭ ‬Archer Jr.,‭ & ‬B.‭ ‬K.‭ ‬Waltke,‭ ‬Eds.‭)‬Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament.‭ ‬Chicago:‭ ‬Moody Press. Here in Daniel 9:24, the verb kā·lā(h) is used with the noun pě·šǎʿ, which means “the transgression.” Thus, the word speaks of bringing to completion the transgression, which is a reference to the corporate rebellion of Israel. Interestingly, the many translations such as the NASB, NIV and NET adopting the qere reading, have understood the Hebrew verb in this first phrase as kālâ, “be complete, at an end, finished, accomplished, spent.” This writer adopts this view as well. On the other hand, (e.g., kethiv, Wood, Young) have taken the word to be  kālā, “shut up, restrain, withhold.” If the latter is in fact correct, the idea could be that transgression is not completely stopped but lessened. However, it also could mean that transgression is restrained completely, at least for a time. Thus the meaning would be very similar to that of kālâ. Now, the scribes when copying the Hebrew Bible did not alter any text they felt had been copied incorrectly. They had great reverence for the text. In the Masoretic Text they noted in the margin what they thought the written text should be and this was designated what they call a “kethiv” (or Kethib or Ketib) which literally means “what is written.” The marginal note is called the “qere” (Kere) which is an anglicized Aramaic word  which means “what is read.” The original Hebrew text inspired by the Holy Spirit had only consonants and no vowels. The Masoretes were scholars whose job it was to maintain the tradition which governed the production of copies of the biblical text, which is now referred to as the Masoretic Text. They thought that by adding vowels would help to clarify the Scriptures and therefore began to copy the Hebrew texts with the addition of vowels. Now, when they came across a word they thought was unclear by its normal vowels, they would put the word in the margin with other vowels, changing the meaning or intent. The word that was written in the text was called the “kethiv” and what was to be read was called the “qere” which represented the variant marginal reading. There are about 1300 instances of “kethiv-qere” in the Masoretic Text. This note would lead a person reading the text to pronounce the “qere” rather than the “kethiv.” “Qere” readings were intended either to correct the “kethiv” or to preserve variant manuscript traditions. The piel stem of this verb kā·lā(h) is a factitive piel meaning that the subject of the verb in the piel causes its direct object to enter a state that can be described by the same verb in the qal. The subject is the seventy sevens or weeks and the direct object is the transgression. Thus, this stem denotes that the seventy sevens or 490 prophetic years will cause the transgression of Israel to enter a state of being finished. The preposition lĕ is prefixed to the infinitive construct form of this verb and governs it and is functioning as a marker of purpose indicating that the first purpose of the seventy sevens or weeks (490 prophetic years) is to bring to an end or to finish the transgression. pě·šǎʿ The noun pě·šǎʿ means “rebellion” referring to the corporate apostasy of the nation of Israel. It refers to the unrepentant disobedience of the majority of Jews in the nation of Israel since Gabriel has told Daniel that the seventy sevens or 490 prophetic years are related to his people, the Jews and his holy city, Jerusalem. Specifically, the word describes this sin as “rebellion” against God since the word is speaking of willful rejection of God’s authority or in other words intentional disobedience on the part of the nation of Israel. The articular construction of this noun emphasizes that this rebellion is well-known to Daniel since it is a reference to the unrepentant corporate disobedience of the nation of Israel. Second Purpose of Seventy Sevens Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.” “To make an end of sin” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ‭) (‬waw‭)‬,‭ ‬which is not translated and followed by the preposition‭ ‬lĕ‭ (‬לְ‭) (‬leh‭) “‬to‭” ‬and its object is the qal active infinitive construct form of the verb‭ ‬ḥā·ṯǎm‭ (‬חָתַם‭) (‬khaw-tham‭´)‬,‭ “‬make an end of‭” ‬and then we have the feminine singular form of the noun‭ ‬ḥǎṭ·ṭā(ʾ)ṯ‭ (‬חַטָּאת‭) (‬khat-taw-aw‭´)‬,‭ “‬sin.‭” wa The conjunction wa is adjunctive meaning that it is introducing an “objective” of the seventy sevens or 490 prophetic years, which is “in addition to” the previous one. ḥā·ṯǎm The basic meaning of the root of this verb ḥā·ṯǎm is “to seal.” It can also convey the idea of “closing” something up, “sealing” it securely to prevent tampering or accessibility. However, here in Daniel 9:24 the verb means “to seal” but in the sense of ending something or bringing something to a successful conclusion. Thus, many translations simply render the word “to put an end to” (NET, ESV, NIV, NLT). So this word expresses the idea of sealing something up for the purpose of bringing to an end the corporate sin of Israel. The preposition lĕ is prefixed to the infinitive construct form of ḥā·ṯǎm and governs it and is functioning as a marker of purpose indicating that the second purpose of the seventy sevens or weeks (490 prophetic years) is to put an end to sin. The qal stem of the verb is fientive expressing the action of putting an end to Israel’s corporate sin. ḥǎṭ·ṭā(ʾ)ṯ The noun ḥǎṭ·ṭā(ʾ)ṯ is in the singular and means “sin” referring to an offense against a particular standard. This is in accordance with the qere (singular) reading rather than the kethib (plural). In our context, it refers to the nation of Israel as a corporate unit committing an offense against the Mosaic Law. Third Purpose of Seventy Sevens Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.” “To make atonement for iniquity” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ‭) (‬waw‭)‬,‭ ‬which is not translated and followed by the preposition‭ ‬lĕ‭ (‬לְ‭) (‬leh‭) “‬to‭” ‬and its object is the piel active infinitive construct form of the verb‭ ‬kā·p̄ǎr‭ (‬כָּפַר‭) (‬kaw-far‭´)‬,‭ “‬make atonement for‭” ‬which is followed by the masculine‭ ‬singular form of the noun‭ ‬ʿā·wōn‭ (‬עָוֹן‭) (‬aw-vone‭´)‬,‭ “‬iniquity.‭” wa Once again the conjunction wa is adjunctive meaning that it is introducing an “objective” of the seventy sevens or 490 prophetic years, which is “in addition to” the previous two. kā·p̄ǎr The verb kā·p̄ǎr means “to cover” over something or to expiate expressing the idea of reconciliation. Most translations render the word “to atone, to make atonement” for iniquity. The root kāpar is used some 150 times. It has been much discussed. There is an equivalent Arabic root meaning “cover,” or “conceal.” On the strength of this connection it has been supposed that the Hebrew word means “to cover over sin” and thus pacify the deity, making an atonement (so BDB BDB Brown, Driver, Briggs, A Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1905). It has been suggested that the ot ritual symbolized a covering over of sin until it was dealt with in fact by the atonement of Christ. There is, however, very little evidence for this view. The connection of the Arabic word is weak and the Hebrew root is not used to mean “cover.” The Hebrew verb is never used in the simple or Qal stem, but only in the derived intensive stems. These intensive stems often indicate not emphasis, but merely that the verb is derived from a noun whose meaning is more basic to the root idea. ‭ ‬Harris,‭ ‬R.‭ ‬L.‭ (‬1999‭)‬.‭ ‬1023‭ ‬כָפַר.‭ (‬R.‭ ‬L.‭ ‬Harris,‭ ‬G.‭ ‬L.‭ ‬Archer Jr.,‭ & ‬B.‭ ‬K.‭ ‬Waltke,‭ ‬Eds.‭)‬Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament.‭ ‬Chicago:‭ ‬Moody Press. Here in Daniel 9:24 the verb kā·p̄ǎr means “to atone in the sense of covering something so thoroughly and completely that it is no longer in sight, thus to expiate.” The piel stem of this verb kā·p̄ǎr is a factitive piel meaning that the subject of the verb in the piel causes its direct object to enter a state that can be described by the same verb in the qal. The subject is the seventy sevens or weeks and the direct object is iniquity. Thus, this stem denotes that the seventy sevens or 490 prophetic years will cause iniquity to enter a state of being atoned for or covered. The preposition lĕ is prefixed to the infinitive construct form of kā·p̄ǎr and governs it and is functioning as a marker of purpose indicating that the third purpose of the seventy sevens or weeks (490 prophetic years) is to atone for iniquity. ʿā·wōn The noun ʿā·wōn refers to sin describing it as iniquity in the sense of it being wickedness and wrongdoing with emphasis upon volitional responsibility and guilt for a wrong incurred. It also used in a collective sense referring to the sum of a collection of sins. Here the word is used of the corporate sin of the nation of Israel and describes this sin as iniquity or wickedness. Fourth Purpose of Seventy Sevens Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.” “To bring in everlasting righteousness” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ‭) (‬waw‭)‬,‭ ‬which‭ ‬is not translated and followed by the preposition‭ ‬lĕ‭ (‬לְ‭) (‬leh‭) “‬to‭” ‬and its object is the hiphil active infinitive construct form of the verb‭ ‬bôʾ‭ (‬בּוֹא‭) (‬bow‭)‬,‭ “‬bring in‭” ‬and then we have the masculine singular construct form of the noun‭ ‬ṣě·ḏěq‭ (‬צֶדֶק‭) (‬tseh‭´‬-dek‭)‬,‭ “‬righteousness‭” ‬which is modified by the masculine plural form of the noun‭ ‬ʿô·lām‭ (‬עוֹלָם‭) (‬o-lawm‭´)‬,‭ “‬everlasting.‭” wa The conjunction wa is once again adjunctive meaning that it is introducing an objective for the seventy sevens which is “in addition to” the previous three. bôʾ This verb bôʾ is in the hiphil stem and means “to bring to pass, to cause to happen” indicating that God’s fourth purpose of the seventy sevens (490 prophetic years) is to bring about everlasting righteousness or cause everlasting righteousness to take place in Israel. The hiphil stem of this verb is factitive meaning that the subject of this verb causes its direct object to enter the state described by the same verb in the qal. The subject of this verb is the seventy sevens and its direct object is everlasting righteousness. Therefore, this stem denotes that God’s fourth purpose for the seventy sevens is to cause everlasting righteousness to take place or occur in Israel. The preposition lĕ is prefixed to the infinitive construct form of bôʾ and governs it and is functioning as a marker of purpose indicating that the fourth purpose of the seventy sevens or weeks (490 prophetic years) is to bring about everlasting righteousness. ʿō·lā·mîmʹ ṣěʹ·ḏěq The noun ṣě·ḏěq means “righteousness” and refers to the righteousness of God. The word refers to God’s perfect integrity in that His character is perfectly sound, perfectly adhering to His own perfect holy standards and what He promises to men. It is all that God is, all that He commands, all that He demands, all that He approves, and all that He provides through Christ. It describes God as always fulfilling His covenantal obligations with regards to Israel which stands in stark contrast with Israel’s failure to meet her covenantal obligations with regards to God. This noun refers to the Trinity’s perfect integrity in that their character is upright, honest, perfectly whole, undiminished, sound, unimpaired and in perfect condition. It signifies the Trinity’s perfect virtue in that their character is perfect moral excellence, goodness, and their conduct is conformed perfectly to their own perfect holy standards and what they have promised to men or group of people like Israel and the church. So the noun ṣě·ḏěq refers to an inherent attribute of God which causes Him to always do what His perfect holy standards require. The construct state of the noun ṣě·ḏěq means that it is governing the noun which follows it and expresses a genitive relation with this noun, which is the noun ʿô·lām, which is in the plural and means “everlasting.” It describes this righteousness as enduring for an unlimited duration of time with emphasis upon the future. Thus it speaks of God’s righteousness which is eternal by nature since as to His nature, He is eternal. The genitive relation between these two words is attributive meaning that ʿô·lām is ascribing to ṣě·ḏěq, “righteousness” the attribute of eternality or that this righteousness is perpetual in nature. Fifth Purpose of Seventy Sevens Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.” “To seal up vision and prophecy” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ‭) (‬waw‭)‬,‭ ‬which is not translated and followed by the preposition‭ ‬lĕ‭ (‬לְ‭) (‬leh‭) “‬to‭” ‬and its object is the hiphil active infinitive construct form of the verb‭ ‬ḥā·ṯǎm‭ (‬חָתַם‭) (‬khaw-tham‭´)‬,‭ “‬seal up‭” ‬which is followed by the‭ ‬masculine singular form of the noun‭ ‬ḥā·zôn‭ (‬חָזוֹן‭) (‬khaw-zone‭´)‬,‭ “‬vision‭” ‬and then we have the conjunction‭ ‬wa‭ (‬וְ‭) (‬waw‭)‬,‭ “‬and‭” ‬which is followed by the masculine singular form of the noun‭ ‬nā·ḇî(ʾ‭) (‬נָבִיא‭) (‬naw-bee‭´)‬,‭ “‬prophecy.‭” wa Once again, the conjunction wa is once again adjunctive meaning that it is introducing an objective for the seventy sevens which is “in addition to” the previous four. ḥā·ṯǎm If you recall, the verb ḥā·ṯǎm appeared earlier in verse 24. As was the case with the first occurrence of this word, the word means “to seal.” It again conveys the idea of “closing” something up, “sealing” it securely to prevent tampering or accessibility. However, here in this fifth infinitive clause the verb means “to seal” in the sense of ending prophetic vision or bringing it to a successful conclusion. It is expressing the idea of sealing prophetic vision for the purpose of bringing it to an end implying the fulfillment of all prophecy relation to the nation of Israel. The qal stem is fientive expressing the action of God sealing upon prophetic vision in the sense of fulfilling all that He has promised to the nation of Israel. The preposition lĕ is prefixed to the infinitive construct form of ḥā·ṯǎm and governs it and is functioning as a marker of purpose indicating that the fifth purpose of the seventy sevens or weeks (490 prophetic years) is to seal up prophetic vision. ḥā·zôn The noun ḥā∙zôn refers to the revelation Israel received from God, which is recorded by the prophets of Israel and now appears in the Old Testament canon. This noun denotes that this revelation contained extrasensory audiovisual experiences, which were revelatory in character, were perceived by him. God communicated with the prophets in a vision what would transpire in the future on planet earth with regards to the nation of Israel. nā·ḇî(ʾ) The noun nā·ḇî(ʾ) is in the singular and should be rendered by the adjective “prophetic” since we have the figure of hendiadys. The word is describing the visions which God gave to the prophets to communicate to Israel as being prophetic in nature or pertaining to prophecy. wa The conjunction wa is used to join the nouns ḥā∙zôn and nā·ḇî(ʾ) in order to communicate one idea, which is called “hendiadys.” This figure takes place when two nouns or verbs are used to express one idea or concept and it literally means “one by means of two” and takes place when the author uses two words but only one idea is intended. The two words are of the same parts of speech, i.e., two nouns or verbs, and are always joined together by the conjunction “and” and are also always in the same case. One of the two words expresses the thing, and the other intensifies it by being changed (if a noun) into an adjective of the superlative degree, which is, by this means, made especially emphatic. Here Daniel 9:24, the verb nā·ḇî(ʾ) intensifies the meaning of the verb ḥā∙zôn. Therefore, these two words express one idea, namely “prophetic vision.” Sixth Purpose of Seventy Sevens Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.” “And to anoint the most holy place” is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ‭) (‬waw‭)‬,‭ “‬and‭” ‬which is followed by the preposition‭ ‬lĕ‭ (‬לְ‭) (‬leh‭) “‬to‭” ‬and its object is the hiphil active infinitive construct form of the verb‭ ‬mā·šǎḥ‭ (‬מָשַׁח‭) (‬maw-shakh‭´)‬,‭ “‬anoint‭” ‬and then we have the masculine singular construct form of the noun‭ ‬qō·ḏěš‭ (‬קֹדֶשׁ‭) (‬ko‭´‬-desh‭)‬,‭ ‬which is modified by the masculine plural noun‭ ‬qō·ḏěš‭ (‬קֹדֶשׁ‭) (‬ko‭´‬-desh‭)‬,‭ ‬which together are translated‭ “‬the holy place.‭” wa Again, the conjunction wa is adjunctive meaning that it is introducing an objective for the seventy sevens which is “in addition to” the previous five. mā·šǎḥ The verb mā·šǎḥ means “to anoint” referring to the symbolic act of pouring oil on the various articles and furniture which reside in the most holy place or holy of holies in order to dedicate them for service in the worship of God. The NET Bible has the following comment, they write “Oil of anointing was used for all major offices (giving the label with the passive adjective “mashiah” (or “messiah”) to anyone anointed. In the further revelation of Scripture, the oil came to signify the enablement as well as the setting apart, and often the Holy Spirit came on the person at the anointing with oil. The olive oil was a symbol of the Spirit in the OT as well (Zech 4:4–6). And in the NT ‘anointing’ signifies empowerment by the Holy Spirit for service.” Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Ex 29:7). Biblical Studies Press. The anointing of the most holy place and its furnishings would sanctify them meaning that they were qualified to be used in serving God in the tabernacle. It means that they would be set apart to be used exclusively for worshipping the Lord in the tabernacle. In Exodus 30:22-33, we have the Lord giving Moses instructions concerning the formulation and use of the “anointing oil.” In verses 22-25, we have the Lord giving Moses instructions concerning the formula for the tabernacle anointing oil. The amount of the ingredients listed here in this passage was a sizeable quantity in that it was about a gallon in modern measurement. The formula for this anointing oil was unique as the product was holy in that it contained about twelve and a half pounds of myrrh, six and a half pounds of cinnamon, six and a half pounds of cane, twelve and a half pounds of cassia and four quarts of olive oil. The quantity of these ingredients was about thirty-eight pounds in modern measurement. When mixed together, these ingredients would produce a fragrant blend. In Exodus 30:26-33, we have the Lord instructing Moses concerning how this anointing oil was to be used and warns about misuse. This anointing oil was to be used to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, the table of showbread and all its utensils, the golden lampstand and its utensils, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, the bronze laver of water and its base. Therefore, verses 26-30 describes how all the articles mentioned in chapters 25-30 were required to be anointed with this special oil with the exception of the high priest’s clothing, including the ephod and its breastpiece. Exodus 29:7 records the Lord instructing Moses to anoint Aaron and Exodus 29:21 records the Lord instructing Moses to anoint his clothes. Anointing these articles of the tabernacle would sanctify them meaning that they were qualified to be used in serving God in the tabernacle. It means that they would be set apart to be used exclusively for worshipping the Lord in the tabernacle. The anointing oil was also to be applied to Aaron and his sons so that they like the articles of the tabernacle could be set apart to be used exclusively to worship and serve Him in the tabernacle. Therefore, the Israelites were being taught by the Lord that the anointing of the tabernacle and its furniture as well as Aaron and his sons and their clothing were set apart to be exclusively used in the worship and service of the Lord in the tabernacle. The Israelites are told by God that this anointing oil was to be used throughout their generations as a nation. He warned them that it must not be applied to the body of any Israelite. It could only be applied to Aaron and his sons and their future generations. The Israelites were also warned to not use this same recipe since it was holy meaning that God wanted this anointing oil to be used exclusively for His purposes in the service and worship of Himself in the tabernacle. The Lord warns the Israelites that failure to comply with this order would result in being cut off, i.e. executed, i.e. the death penalty. This anointing oil was related to ceremonial cleanness and was a symbol of holiness. The Lord demanded that his priests who would serve in His house be clean and pure. This anointing oil applied to them would symbolize that they were. In Daniel 9:24, the qal stem of the verb mā·šǎḥ is fientive expressing the action of the most holy place being anointed. The preposition lĕ is prefixed to the infinitive construct form of mā·šǎḥ and governs it and is functioning as a marker of purpose indicating that the sixth and final purpose of the seventy sevens or weeks (490 prophetic years) is to anoint the most holy place. qōʹ·ḏěš qā·ḏā·šîmʹ   The expression qōʹ·ḏěš qā·ḏā·šîmʹ means “Most Holy Place” or “Holy of Holies” referring to the room in the tabernacle and temple which contained only one piece of furniture, namely the Ark of the Covenant. In the tabernacle this room was separated from the holy place by a veil whereas in the temple this room was separated from the other rooms in the temple by a veil. Exodus 36:35-38 records the Israelites fulfilling the Lord’s commands in Exodus 26:31-37, which address the design of the veil in front of the Holy of Holies and the entrance curtain and its support posts. These two pericopes teach that a special curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen was to be made to close off the most holy place, i.e. the “Holy of Holies” from the front room of the tabernacle, which is called “the Holy Place.” This curtain was to match the curtains that lined the inside of the tabernacle (26:1) as well as the entrance curtain (26:36). Thus, everything in the interior of the tabernacle would share the same general appearance of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen curtains with cherubim figures woven into them, supported by gilded frames and poles with silver bases. Exodus 36:35-38 and 26:31-37 also teach that this special curtain hung from four gold-covered poles that had silver bases. The support of these poles would stretch the veil from one side to the other of the interior of the tabernacle or in other words from south to north. This curtain hung by the golden clasps mentioned in verse 6 from the top of the tabernacle. It was a long single curtain, which was not a divided curtain, which could be easily opened. In order to get past this curtain, one would have to move at least one of the poles at the either side and go around it since it was not designed to be gotten past under ordinary conditions. Rather, this curtain was to provide a barrier which would prohibit people from entering. The ark rested behind this curtain in the most holy place and in front of it would be a table and lampstand. When the priest faced toward the back or west end of the tabernacle, the table would be standing to the right or north side and the lampstand to the left or south side. This special veil typified the physical death of the impeccable humanity of Jesus Christ in hypostatic union (Hebrews 10:20; cf. Matthew 27:50-51; Mark 15:37-38; Luke 23:45-46). The Holy Place in the Temple was divided from the Holy of Holies by a great and beautiful veil and was suspended by hooks from four pillars of gold. It measured 60 feet long by 30 feet wide, worked in 72 squares and was reputed to be as thick as the palm of the hand. So heavy was it that the priests claimed it took 300 men to handle it. The veil was a barrier and effectively excluded the Levitical priests from the entering the Holy of Holies. Only once a year was it drawn aside to admit the high priest on the Day of Atonement. He entered the sacred presence-chamber to sprinkle the Mercy Seat with the Lamb’s blood, making atonement for his own sins and those of the nation of Israel. The rending of the veil in the Herodian Temple was symbolic of the new and living way into the presence of God, which has been opened to everyone, both Jew and Gentile (Hebrews 10:14-18). The barrier in the Herodian temple and the special veil in the tabernacle served to separate a holy God from sinful mankind. The death of Christ tore this veil in two permitting access for sinful humanity to have a relationship and fellowship with a holy God. The death of Christ on the cross removes this barrier (Eph. 2:14-16), which consists of the following: (1) Mankind commits acts of sin (Isa. 64:6b; Rom. 3:23). (2) The penalty of sin is spiritual death (Rom. 5:12; 6:23a). (3) All are born spiritually dead at physical birth (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 5:12; Eph. 2:1). (4) Man’s relative righteousness cannot compare to God’s perfect righteousness (Isa. 64:6a; Rom. 9:30-33). (5) The character of God demands that our personal sins be judged (Isa. 46:9b; 64:6b; Rom. 8:8). (6) Man’s position in Adam as a result of the imputation of his sin (1 Cor. 15:22a). The death of Christ on the cross, which removes the Barrier, is as follows: (1) Redemption resolves man’s problem with sin (1 Pet. 1:18-19; Eph. 1:7; Titus 2:14; 1 Tim. 2:6a). (2) The Unlimited Atonement also resolves man’s sin problem (1 John 2:2). (3) Expiation resolves man’s problem with the penalty of sin, which is spiritual death (Col. 2:14). (4) Regeneration resolves man’s problem with being born spiritually dead (John 3:1-18). (5) Imputation resulting in justification resolves the problem of man’s relative righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 4:1-5; Gal. 2:16). (6) Propitiation resolves man’s problem with the perfect character of God (Rom. 3:22-26; 1 John 2:2). (7) Our position in Christ resolves man’s position in Adam (1 Cor. 5:22b; 2 Cor. 5:17). Translation of Daniel 9:24 Daniel 9:24 “Seventy units of seven years have been decreed for the benefit of your people as well as for the benefit of your holy city in order to put an end to the rebellion and in addition to bring sin to an end as well as to atone for iniquity likewise to bring about everlasting righteousness as well as to seal up prophetic vision and in addition to anoint the most holy place.” Exposition of Daniel 9:24b Gabriel now proceeds to describe for Daniel the six-fold objectives of the seventy sevens or seventy units of seven years (490 prophetic years). The first three deal with the corporate sin of the nation of Israel, which will be brought to an end at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ since at that time their will be a national regeneration of Israel as a result of the majority in Israel exercising faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. This faith appropriates the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Thus, the basis for the first three is the substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths of Jesus Christ on the cross. The first three objectives will take place on the Day of Atonement which takes place at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. The last three deal with the millennial kingdom, which will be established at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. “To put an end to the rebellion” speaks of the corporate rebellion of the nation of Israel against God being brought to an end on the Day of Atonement which will occur at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. This phrase does not refer to the cross of Jesus Christ since the nation of Israel continued to rebel against God after the cross. However, the cross of Christ is the basis for this rebellion being brought to an end. Rather it refers to the Day of Atonement which will occur at the Second Advent since at that time the rebellion against God by the nation of Israel will come to an end since at that time there will be a national regeneration in Israel. “To bring sin to an end” also speaks of the corporate sin of the nation of Israel being brought to an end on the Day of Atonement which again will occur at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. This phrase does not refer to the cross of Jesus Christ since the nation of Israel continued to sin and rebel against God after the cross. However, the cross of Christ is the basis for Israel’s sin being brought to an end. Rather it refers to the Day of Atonement occuring at the Second Advent since at that time the corporate sin of Israel will be brought to an end since at that time there will be a national regeneration in Israel. At the Second Advent the majority in Israel will exercise faith in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation and will be regenerated and receive the forgiveness of their sins. So at the Second Advent the corporate sin of Israel will be brought to an end. “To atone for iniquity” is again another reference to the corporate sin of the nation of Israel but this time being atoned for on the Day of Atonement which again will occur at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. This phrase does not refer to the cross of Jesus Christ since the nation of Israel continued to sin and rebel against God after the cross. However, the cross of Christ is the basis for Israel’s sin being atoned for. Therefore, this third objective refers to the Day of Atonement which will take place at the Second Advent. At that time the corporate sin of Israel will be atoned for in the sense that the majority in Israel will exercise faith in Jesus Christ which appropriates the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Therefore, we can see that the first three objectives for the seventy sevens or weeks (490 prophetic years) refers to the corporate or national sin of the nation of Israel being brought to an end on the Day of Atonement which will take place at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. At that time the majority in the nation of Israel will exercise faith in Jesus Christ so as to appropriate His finished work on the cross which He accomplished during His first advent (Jeremiah 31:33-34; Ezekiel 37; Zechariah 12; Romans 11:25-27). Thus, the sacrifice of Christ on the cross affects the national regeneration and restoration of the nation of Israel. The implication of these first three objectives is that the seventieth week has yet to take place in history and is still yet future since these three objectives and the last three are all to be fulfilled within the seventy weeks. At this time in history, the nation of Israel is still in rejection of Jesus Christ and the Second Advent of Jesus Christ has yet to take place. Another implication which would be obvious to Daniel based upon his knowledge of the Mosaic Law is that God would provide a future sacrifice, which would satisfied the demands of His holiness that sin and sinners be judged. This sacrifice would be future from Daniel’s perspective in the sixth century B.C. and would deal with the corporate sin of his people. The sin of his people could never come to an end without a sacrifice to satisfy God’s holiness. In other words, these first three objectives mentioned by Gabriel in Daniel 9:24 could never be accomplished or fulfilled without a sacrifice which would completely satisfied the demands of God’s holiness. The blood of the animal sacrifices stipulated in the Mosaic Law could not satisfy but only the blood of Christ. “To bring in everlasting righteousness” refers to the righteousness which will be manifested by regenerate Israel during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. The millennial kingdom will be characterized by righteousness. The key words of the Lord Jesus Christ’s millennial reign are righteousness and peace, the former being the root of which the latter is the fruit (Isaiah 32:17-18). During the millennial reign of the King, the prophecy of Psalm 85:10 will be fulfilled. Psalm 85:10 Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 11 Truth springs from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. 12 Indeed, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its produce. 13 Righteousness will go before Him and will make His footsteps into a way. (NASB95) The Messiah’s presence in Jerusalem shall be the source from which all millennial righteousness will emanate in spectacular glory. Isaiah 62:1“For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not keep quiet, until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, and her salvation like a torch that is burning. 2 The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; And you will be called by a new name which the mouth of the LORD will designate. (NASB95) Righteousness will be the descriptive term characterizing the rule of the Messiah as a whole. Christ will be the King reigning in righteousness. Isaiah 32:1 Behold, a king will reign righteously and princes will rule justly. (NASB95) He will judge the poor in righteousness and in judging and seeking judgment He shall be quick to bring about righteousness (Isaiah 11:4-5; 16:5; Psalm 96:10). Under the Lord Jesus, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be filled. Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (NASB95) “To seal up prophetic vision” denotes that all that God communicated to Israel through the prophets regarding her future and the future of planet earth will come to pass or in others words, will be completely fulfilled. This has not been fulfilled yet because much prophecy has yet to be fulfilled. For example, the Seventieth Week, the Second Advent of Christ, the resurrection of Old Testament Israel, the national regeneration of Israel, and Christ’s millennial reign on earth have yet to be fulfilled. We have yet to see fulfilled in history the Gog/Magog rebellion, the destruction of the present heavens and earth, the Great White Throne Judgment and the creation of the new heavens and earth have yet to come to pass. Unger writes “How could it possibly be claimed that the vision and prophecy concerning Israel were completely fulfilled and attested if the prophecy of the seventy weeks has already been fulfilled for many centuries, as amillenialists must do, and Israel faces the hatred of her Gentile neighbors bent on her destruction?” Unger, Merrill F., Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament; page 1665; Tyndale Theological Seminary Published by AMG Publishers, 2002. “To anoint the most holy place” refers to the millennial temple being anointed as a symbolic act of dedicating this temple to the worship of the Lord. This is yet future since we have yet to see the millennial reign of Christ take place in history. In fact, there is no temple standing in Israel today. During the millennial reign of Jesus Christ, Jerusalem will become the center of the worship of the Lord (Jeremiah 30:16-21; 31:6, 23; Joel 3:17; Zechariah 8:8, 20-23). There will be a temple in Jerusalem, which will be the center of this worship of Jesus Christ during His millennial reign (Ezekiel 40-48). John Walvoord writes “The sixth aspect of the prophecy, ‘to anoint the most Holy,’ has been referred to the dedication of the temple built by Zerubbabel, to the sanctification of the altar previously desecrated by Antiochus (1 Macc 4:52-56), and even to the new Jerusalem (Rev 21:1-27). Cf. Young, pp. 200-1. Young suggests that it refers to Christ Himself as anointed by the Spirit. Ibid., p. 201 Keil and Leupold prefer to refer it to the new holy of holies in the new Jerusalem (Rev 21:l-3). Keil, p. 349: Leupold, pp. 414-16. A. C. Gaebelein, expressing a premillennial view, believes the phrase “has nothing whatever to do with Him [Christ], but it is the anointing of the Holy of Holies in another temple, which will stand in the midst of Jerusalem,” that is, the millennial temple. A. C. Gaebelein, The Prophet Daniel, p. 133. There is really no ground for dogmatism here as there is a possibility that any of these views might be correct. The interpretation of Keil and Leupold that it refers to the holy of holies in the New Jerusalem has much to commend itself. On the other hand, the other items all seem to be fulfilled before the second advent and the seventieth week itself concludes at that time. If fulfillment is necessary before the second advent, it would probably rule out Keil, Leupold, and Gaebelein, although millennial fulfillment could be regarded as a part of the second advent. On the other hand, the six items are not in chronological order and it would not violate the text seriously to have this prophecy fulfilled at any time in relation to the consummation. If complete fulfillment is found in Antiochus Epiphanes as liberal critics conclude or in the first coming of Christ as characterizes amillenarians like Young, this reduces the perspective. If the final seven years is still eschatologically future, it broadens the possibility of fulfillment to the second advent of Christ and events related to it such as the millennial temple. Amillenarians like Leupold, who hold to an indefinite period of time, can extend the final fulfillment to the eternal state.” Walvoord, John F. Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation; page 223; Moody Press; Chicago; 1971 Excursus: The Day of Atonement The twenty-third chapter of the book of Leviticus gives us an account of the seven great feasts of the Lord. They were a prophecy and foreshadowing of future events, part of which have been fulfilled, and part are yet to be. They are the “shadow of things to come,” of which Christ is the “body” or substance (Col. 2:16-17). They were “holy convocations” of the people. The Lord instituted them. The people had no say in the matter. God promised that if the males went up at the appointed time to Jerusalem to keep these Feasts, He would look after their families. When the people became legalistic and arrogant, the Lord said, “I hate your new moons and your appointed feasts; they have become a burden to Me. I am weary of bearing them” (Isa. 1:14). Therefore Jesus called them the “feasts of the Jews,” rather than the “feasts of the Lord.” The “feasts of the Lord” are seven in number. If we include the Sabbath there are eight. But the Sabbath stands by itself. It was to be observed “weekly,” the other feasts “annually.” The Sabbath was to be observed at “home,” the other feasts at “Jerusalem.” The seven feasts may be divided into two sections of four and three. The first section includes the following feasts: (1) Passover (2) Unleavened Bread (3) First-Fruits (4) Pentecost. Then there was an interval of four months followed by the second section includes the following feasts: (1) Trumpets (2) Atonement (3) Tabernacles. The three great festivals were the following: (1) Passover (2) Pentecost (3) Tabernacles. They extended from the fourteenth day of the first month (Nisan) to the twenty-second day of the seventh month Tishri or Ethanim. These seven feasts were given to only given to Israel to be observed and not the Church. They do however dispensational implications since they mark God’s timetable with reference to human history. Each of these seven feasts were designed in eternity past to be literally fulfilled by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They speak of Lord Jesus Christ’s intervention into human history. The following Feasts were literally fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ during the dispensation of the hypostatic union: (1) Passover: His voluntary substitutionary spiritual death on the cross in April of 33 A.D. (2) Unleavened Bread: His impeccability as a Person. (3) Pentecost was literally fulfilled when the Baptism of the Spirit took place in June of 33 A.D., which marked the beginning of the Church Age. The following Feasts are eschatological in nature and thus have yet to be literally fulfilled: (1) Trumpets: Rapture or exit-resurrection of the Church terminating the Church Age. (2) Atonement: Second Advent of Christ ending the Tribulation dispensation. (3) Tabernacles: Millennial Reign of Christ on planet earth. Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement was the day appointed for a yearly, general and perfect expiation for all the sins and uncleanness that might remain, despite the regular sacrifices. It was Israel’s annual cleansing from sin. Leviticus 16:1-34 gives the full account of this day along with its services. The Levitical ritual was a constant reminder that “the Law...can never by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near” (Heb. 10:1). Even with the most scrupulous observance of the prescribed ordinances many sins and defilements would still remain unacknowledged and therefore without expiation. This want was met by the appointment of a yearly, general, and perfect expiation of all the sins and uncleanness that had remained unatoned for and uncleansed in the course of the year (Lev. 16:33). Thus on the day of Atonement Israel was reconciled to Yahweh, which was necessary before the Feast of Tabernacles which prefigured the ingathering of the nations or the Millennium dispensation. In connection with this point it may also be well to remember that the Jubilee year was always proclaimed on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 25:9). The 10th day of the 7th month, or Tishri (October), and the 5th of Atonement (Lev. 16:1-34; Num. 29:7-11). The day was a high Sabbath in which no work was performed. All the people were to afflict their souls and to fast from the evening of the 9th to the evening of the 10th under penalty of being cut off from Israel (Lev. 23:27-32). Leviticus 16:5-28 and Numbers 29:7-11 indicate that the sacrifices for the day were as follows: (1) Ordinary morning sacrifice. (2) Expiatory sacrifices for the priesthood, namely, a young bull. (3) The sin offering for the people, a kid from the goats for Yahweh and another for Azazel. (4) The burnt offering of the priests and people and with them, another sin offering. (5) The ordinary evening sacrifice. If the Day of Atonement fell on a Sabbath, the ordinary Sabbath sacrifices were offered besides all these. The Day of Atonement’s typical meaning was fulfilled in Christ. He is our Great High Priest, Who instead of offering a sin offering for Himself, offered Himself as a sin offering for us (Heb. 9:11-14). But the fact that the Day of Atonement is placed between the Feast of Trumpets which we have seen will be literally fulfilled by Christ at the Rapture of the Church, and the Feast of Tabernacles which is a type of Israel’s Millennial rest implies that it typifies the Second Advent of Christ. The Day of Atonement will therefore be literally fulfilled by the glorified resurrected incarnate Son of God at the Second Advent (Zech. 12:7-14; 14:4; Matt. 24:29-31; Rev. 19). There will be a national Day of Atonement or mourning in Israel at the Second Advent of Christ (Zech. 12:9-14; 13:1). Zechariah 12:10-14 records the Day of Atonement when the nation of Israel will mourn as a nation over their rejection of Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah and will acknowledge as such and will turn to Him for deliverance from Antichrist and the Tribulational armies. At that time, Israel will receive the Holy Spirit. Zechariah 12:10 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. 11 In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves; 14 all the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves.” (NASB95) The Day of Atonement will therefore be literally fulfilled by the glorified resurrected incarnate Son of God at the Second Advent (Zech. 12:7-14; 14:4; Matt. 24:29-31; Rev. 19). There will be a national Day of Atonement or mourning in Israel at the Second Advent of Christ (Zech. 12:9-14; 13:1). The Scriptures teach that during the millennial reign of Christ, Israel will be composed of a nation of born-again believers. Israel will be converted as a nation (Dt. 30:4-8; cf. Rm. 11:26-27). Through regeneration, Israel will possess the capacity for obedience because of the indwelling of the Spirit (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:25-31). On the Day of Atonement, at the Second Advent of Christ, Israel will as a nation trust in Jesus Christ as Savior (Ezekiel 37; Zechariah 12:10; 14:9-21). Israel will become the subjects of the King’s reign (Isaiah 9:6-7; 33:17, 22; 44:6; Jeremiah 23:5; Micah 2:13; 4:7; Daniel 4:3; 7:14, 22, 27). In order to be the subjects of the Lord Jesus Christ during His millennial reign, Israel will have been converted and restored to the land (Ezek. 37). In order to be the subjects of the Lord Jesus Christ during His millennial reign, Israel will be made righteous (Isaiah 1:25; 2:4; 44:22-24; 45:17-25; 48:17; 55:7; 57:18-19; 63:16; Jeremiah 31:11; 33:8 50:20; 34; Ezekiel 36:25-26 Hosea 14:4; Joel 3:21; Micah 7:18-19; Zechariah 13:9; Malachi 3:2-3). Excursus: Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ The Scriptures teach that Jesus Christ Himself will reign bodily in Jerusalem for a thousand years as the King of the earth and Israel will be head of the nations. Jesus Christ will establish His millennial reign at His Second Advent. He will come from heaven with the elect angels and the church to deliver Israel from Satan and the non-elect angels and Antichrist, the false prophet and the Tribulational armies. During the millennial reign of Christ, Satan will be incarcerated for a thousand years. Israel will be regathered and the four unconditional covenants that the Lord established with the nation will be literally fulfilled. There will be perfect social, economic, environmental and political conditions during the millennial reign of Christ. During this time, God will make a display of the absolute authority of divine government through the rule of the Messiah. Men will be subjected to and tested by the authority of the King. The Messianic reign is the final divine trial of sinful man on this earth before the Great White Throne Judgment and destruction of the earth. The millennial age is designed by God to be the final test of fallen humanity under the most ideal circumstances, surrounded by every enablement to obey the rule of the King, from whom the outward sources of temptation such as Satan have been removed, so that man may be found and demonstrated to be a sinner by nature. The word “millennium” is derived from the Latin words mille, “thousand” plus annus, “year.” The corresponding Greek expression in Revelation 20:4-7, chilia ete, gives rise to the term “chiliasm,” properly a synonym for “millennialism.” The term “chiliasm” has been superseded by the designation “premillennialism.” The word “millennium” denotes a biblical doctrine taught in Revelation 20:1-6 and throughout the Old Testament. It describes the penultimate triumph by the Lord Jesus Christ over Satan and the kingdom of darkness and the establishment of the kingdom of God on planet earth. The distinctive feature of this doctrine is that Christ will return “before” the thousand years and therefore will characterize those years by His personal presence and exercise of His rightful authority, securing and sustaining all the blessings on the earth which are ascribed to that period. This thousand year period takes place between the resurrection of the church, Israel, born-again Gentiles and the resurrection of unsaved at the end of history. Fulfillment of the Four Unconditional Covenants To Israel As we noted in our introduction, the millennial reign of Christ will literally fulfill the four unconditional covenants that God established with the nation of Israel: (1) Abrahamic (Gen. 12:1-3; 13:16; 22:15-18; 26:4; 28:14; 35:11; Ex. 6:2-8). (2) Palestinian (Gen. 13:15; Ex. 6:4, 8; Num. 34:1-12; Deut. 30:1-9; Jer. 32:36-44; Ezek. 36:21-38). (3) Davidic (2 Sam. 7:8-17; Ps. 89:20-37) (4) New (Jer. 31:31-34; cf. Heb. 8:8-12; 10:15-17). There are seven great features that are distinct in each of these unconditional covenants to Israel: (1) Israel will be a nation forever. (2) Israel will possess a significant portion of land forever. (3) Israel will have a King rule over her forever. (4) Israel will have a throne from which Christ will ruler, forever. (5) Israel will have a kingdom forever. The entire expectation of Old Testament Israel is involved with its earthly kingdom, the glory of Israel and the promised Messiah seated in Jerusalem as ruler of the nations. Since the Lord Jesus Christ literally fulfilled prophecy during His First Advent, then it follows that He will certainly literally fulfill the prophecies related to the millennium at His Second Advent. The word used most often in the Old Testament to express the covenant concept is the Hebrew noun berith. A general characteristic of the OT berith is its unalterable and permanently binding character. There two categories of covenants: (1) Conditional (2) Unconditional. The fulfillment of unconditional covenants depended entirely upon the faithfulness of God rather than the man whereas the fulfillment of a conditional covenant depended upon the faithfulness of man. In a conditional covenant, that which was covenanted depended on the recipient of the covenant for its fulfillment, not on the one making the covenant. Certain obligations or conditions would need to be kept by the recipient of the covenant before the giver of the covenant would be obligated to fulfill what was promised. This type of covenant has an “if” attached to it. The Mosaic Covenant made by God with Israel is an example of a conditional covenant. In an unconditional covenant, on the other hand, that which was covenanted depended for its fulfillment solely on the one making the covenant. That which was promised was sovereignly given to the recipient of the covenant on the authority and integrity of the one making the covenant, entirely apart from the merit or response of the receiver. It was a covenant with no “if” attached to it whatsoever. Now we need to clarify an important aspect of an unconditional covenant. An unconditional covenant which binds the one making the covenant to a certain course of action, may have blessings attached to it that are conditioned on the response of the recipient. That response is simply faith or to trust that God will deliver on His promise. The fulfillment of unconditional covenants does not depend on the continued obedience of the recipient but rather the integrity and faithfulness of God who instituted the covenant. Therefore, the promises contained in the four unconditional covenants will all be literally fulfilled since their fulfillment is based upon the faithfulness of God rather than the nation of Israel. Fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant The story of Abraham is recorded in Genesis 11:27-25:11. Abraham was born around 2161 B. C. in the land of Ur of the Chaldeans (Gen. 11:31). His father’s name was Terah (Gen. 11:27) and he also was born in Ur. He was a prophet of God according to Genesis 20:7. Abraham had two wives with his first being Sarah according to Genesis 11:29 and his second was Keturah according to Genesis 25:1-6. Sarah bore him one son, the son of promise, Isaac (Genesis 21:1-4) from whom came Jacob whose name was later changed to Israel. The nation of Israel descended from Abraham’s son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. Keturah bore Abraham six sons (Genesis 25:2) and through Jokshan, Abraham had two grandsons and three great-grandsons (Genesis 25:3), for a total of five children of Jokshan and through Midian, Abraham’s fourth son through Keturah, he had five grandsons (Genesis 25:4). These sons that Keturah bore Abraham formed one branch of the Arabs. He had a son through his concubine Hagar and his name was Ishmael, who was the progenitor of one branch of the Arabs (Gen. 16; 17:20; 21:13; 25:12-18). Therefore, Abraham was the progenitor or father of the Jews and the Arabs since both these groups descended from him through his wives, Sarah and Keturah and his concubine, Hagar. His name was originally ‘Abram,” which means “exalted father,” but was changed by God in Gen. 17:5 to “Abraham” after God had established His covenant with him. The name Abraham means “father of a multitude,” and this he was indeed though he and his wife Sarai were childless up until the time that Abraham was hundred years old (Gen. 21:5). Abram was a fairly common name in those days and means, “exalted father” or “my father is exalted.” It was given to him by his father Terah to honor the moon god Nannar, which Terah worshipped and not the God of the Bible. On the other hand, the name Abraham means, “father of a multitude” and became a declaration of God’s purpose and of His covenant with Abraham, which God would accomplish by making Abraham prolific so that not only populous nations but also kings would be among his descendants. Abraham is one of the heroes of faith and In Hebrews 11:8, he is mentioned as the fourth member in God’s Hall of Fame. Romans 4:11 says that he is the “father of all them that believe” thus indicating that he is the progenitor of all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, which would of course, include Christians. In James 2:23, Abraham is called in Scripture “the friend of God.” At times in his life, Abraham did not walk in faith as demonstrated in Genesis 12:10-20 where he left the land of Canaan without the Lord’s direction because of the famine in that land. Also, out of fear for his life told the Egyptians that Sarah was his sister and not his wife. This led to Pharaoh attempting to add Sarah to his harem but the Lord intervened. Genesis 20 records Abraham committing the same sin but this time with the king of the Philistines, Abimelech and again the Lord delivered him. Genesis 13 records Abraham’s magnanimous behavior towards Lot. Genesis 14 records Abraham courageous rescuing of his nephew Lot from the Eastern Kings and his meeting with Melchizedek. Genesis 18 records his intercession for Sodom, which delivered his nephew Lot and his daughters. There were seven crises in the life of Abraham, which tested his love for the Lord, his faith in the Lord and his obedience to the Lord: (1) God commanded Abraham to leave behind his parents as recorded in Genesis 12:1 and Hebrews 11:8. (2) God commanded Abraham to live among the Canaanites as an alien (see Genesis 12:1-8; Hebrews 11:9-10). (3) Abraham’s faith was tested in that he had to choose between living in the land of Canaan, trusting that the Lord would take care of him even though there was a famine in the land or leave the land of Canaan and go to Egypt. (4) Abraham had to separate from his nephew Lot as recorded in Genesis 13:5-18. (5) God commanded Abraham to send away Ishmael whom he loved dearly as recorded in Genesis 17:18-21 and 21:12-14. (6) Abraham’s faith was tested in that he had to wait twenty-five years for the birth of Isaac and had to trust that God could deliver on this promise even though he and Sarah were biologically unable to have children together because of their advanced age (see Romans 4:18-22). (7) God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac after he waited so long for him to be born (Genesis 22:1-19; Hebrews 11:17-19). Abraham is also the recipient of covenant promises from God as recorded in Genesis 12:1-3, 6-9; 13:14-18, 15:6, 18-21; 17; 22:15-18. These covenant promises are called by theologians the “Abrahamic covenant,” which was originally established with Abraham when he left Haran and is recorded in Genesis 12:1-3. The Abrahamic covenant was originally established with Abraham when he left Haran and is recorded in Genesis 12:1-3. In His covenant promises to Abraham, the Lord emphasized to Abraham that he would not only be a progenitor biologically but also one spiritually. Let’s look at in detail the “Abrahamic” covenant, which was originally established with Abraham when he left Haran and is recorded in Genesis 12:1-3. Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you. 2 And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing. 3 And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (NASB95) The Abrahamic covenant contained three categories of promises: (1) Personal (2) National (3) Universal and Spiritual. (1) Personal: “I will bless you and make your name great” (Gen. 12:2), which refers to the fact that the Lord would make Abraham a famous character with a great reputation among men and before God. This fame and reputation is expressed in that Abraham is called a “father of a multitude” in Genesis 17:5, a prince of God in Genesis 23:6, the man in God’s confidence in Genesis 18:17-19, a prophet in Genesis 20:7, the servant of God in Psalm 105:6 and the friend of God in 2 Chronicles 20:7 and James 2:23. (2) National: “I will make you into a great nation” (Gen. 12:2), which refers to the nation of Israel. (3) Spiritual and Universal: “And all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen. 12:3) refers to the fact that through Jesus Christ, Abraham would be a blessing to all mankind (Deut. 28:8-14; Is. 60:3-5, 11, 16) since it is only through Jesus Christ that one becomes Abraham’s seed and heirs of the promise (Gal. 3:29; Eph. 2:13, 19). The phrase “and you shall be a blessing” is “not” a promise since the verb hayah, “you shall be” is in the “imperative” mood expressing a command and literally means, “so become a blessing” indicating that Abraham had a responsibility to walk by faith, which is expressed by obedience to the Lord’s commands. The promises “I will bless them that bless you and the one who curses you I will curse” refers to the fact that the Lord is identifying Himself with the cause of Abraham and guaranteeing protection for Abraham and his descendants. “Bless” is the verb barakh, which appears five times in Genesis 12:1-3 and means, “to endue with power for success, prosperity, fecundity, longevity, etc.” Therefore, the verb barakh indicates that Abraham and his descendants were endued with power by the Lord for success, prosperity, fecundity (offspring in great numbers) and longevity.” Bruce K. Waltke, “The three nuances of bless-posterity (13:2, 5; 14:22-23; 24:35; 26:12-13; 30:43; 32:3-21), potency/fertility (1:28; 13:16; 15:5; 22:17; 26:4; 28:3, 14; 35:11) and victory (cf. 1:22)-are spelled out in 22:17. Horst says, ‘Blessing brings the power for life, the enhancement of life, and the increase of life’” (Genesis, A Commentary, page 205; Zondervan). The Lord blessed Abram in the sense that the Lord multiplied his descendants so that his posterity was great in number both, racially and spiritually. Also, the Lord blessed Abram in the sense that the Lord multiplied his possessions and livestock and prospered him financially. The Lord blessed anyone who was associated with Abraham. The phrase “I will bless you” was fulfilled “temporally” according to Genesis 13:14-18; 15:18-21; 24:34-35 and it has been fulfilled “spiritually” according to Genesis 15:6 and John 8:56. “Name” is the noun shem, which refers to a person’s character, reputation and fame among men and in the kingdom of God. The promise “I will make your name great” refers to the fact that the Lord would make Abraham a famous character with a great reputation among men and before God. This fame and reputation is expressed throughout Scripture in that Abraham is called a “father of a multitude” in Genesis 17:5, a prince of God in Genesis 23:6, the man in God’s confidence in Genesis 18:17-19, a prophet in Genesis 20:7, the servant of God in Psalm 105:6 and the friend of God in 2 Chronicles 20:7 and James 2:23. Again, the phrase “and you shall be a blessing” is “not” a promise since the verb hayah, “you shall be” is in the “imperative” mood expressing a command and literally means, “so become a blessing” indicating that Abraham had a responsibility to walk by faith, which is expressed by obedience to the Lord’s commands. The imperative mood of the verb hayah indicates that others would be blessed when Abraham walked by faith and was obedient to the Lord. Therefore, the imperative mood of hayah teaches us that the Lord wants us to be a blessing to others and this is accomplished by obedience to the Lord, which expresses our faith in the Lord. The promises “I will bless them that bless you and the one who curses you I will curse” identifies the Lord with the cause of Abraham. Therefore, blessing Abraham would be equivalent to doing it to God whereas those who curse Abraham would be cursing God. The promises “I will bless them that bless you and the one who curses you I will curse” refers to the fact that the Lord would bless those who bless Abraham and curse those who curse him. The promise “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” refers to the fact that through Jesus Christ, the Promised Seed of Genesis 3:15, Abraham would be a blessing to all mankind (Dt. 28:8-14; Is. 60:3-5, 11, 16) since it is only through the Lord Jesus Christ that one becomes Abraham’s seed and heirs of the promise (Gal. 3:29; Eph. 2:13, 19). This promise was the Gospel of salvation proclaimed to Abraham (Gal. 3:8) and reaches back to the divided “families” (10:5, 20, 31) of the earth at the Tower of Babel who were alienated from God due to sin and rebellion and the deception of Satan but who would be blessed through faith alone in Christ alone. Galatians 3 teaches that Gentiles and Jews who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior become the “spiritual” posterity of Abraham and heirs according to the promise made to Abraham in relation to the nations. The promise “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” gives us further information regarding the Promised “Seed” of Genesis 3:15 who would destroy the works of the devil and would deliver Adam and Eve’s descendants from sin and Satan and indicates that the human nature of Jesus Christ would originate from the line of Abraham. Up to this point in Genesis, the human nature of Jesus Christ is identified as coming from the line of Seth (Luke 3:38) and Shem (Gen. 9:24-27; Luke 3:36) and now Genesis 12:3 states that Jesus Christ would be a descendant of Abraham. The promise “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” refers to God’s plan to reverse the curse of Genesis 3 and all the effects of the Fall of Adam and is God’s promise of salvation to the human race and is repeated five times in the Book of Genesis (Gen. 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14). This covenant with Abraham was reaffirmed and confirmed after Abraham’s faith was tested (Gen. 22:15-18) and was confined to the Jews who are the racial descendants of Abraham (Gen. 17:1-14). The “Abrahamic” covenant has several applications in different areas of theology: (1) Soteriology: Study of salvation (2) Resurrection (3) Eschatology: Study of events that are future to the rapture of the church. The apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians that Christian believers enter into the blessings promised to Abraham (Gal. 3:14, 29; 4:22-31) and his argument is based on this same covenant promise made with Abraham (Rom. 4:1-25). Paul taught that after the Fall of Adam, God revealed His purpose to provide salvation for sinners (Gen. 3:15) and which purpose was progressively revealed to man and the promise made to Abraham represented a significant and progressive step in that revelation. In Matthew 22:23-32, the Lord refuted the Sadducees unbelief in the resurrection by stating that God had revealed Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Ex. 3:15), with whom He had entered into covenant relationships. Thus since these men had died without receiving the fulfillment of the promises (Heb. 11:13) and since the covenants could not be broken, it was essential for God to raise these men from the dead in order to fulfill His word. In Acts 26:6-8, Paul united the “promise to the fathers” with the resurrection from the dead. Dwight Pentecost writes concerning the “Abrahamic” covenant and eschatology, “The eternal aspects of this covenant, which guarantee Israel a permanent national existence, perpetual title to the land of promise, and the certainty to material and spiritual blessing through Christ-and guarantee Gentile nations a share in these blessings-determine the whole eschatological program of the Word of God” (Thy Kingdom Come, page 81, Victor Books). The “Abrahamic” covenant serves as the foundation for the message delivered to the nation of Israel by the Old Testament prophets and writers. The “Abrahamic” covenant marked the “patriarchal” dispensation, which ended with Exodus of Israel and the giving of the Law at Sinai. The “Abrahamic” covenant is declared to be eternal or everlasting in Genesis 17:7, 13, 19; 1 Chronicles 16:17 and Psalm 105:10 and is confirmed repeatedly by reiteration and enlargement. The “Abrahamic” covenant was solemnized by a divinely ordered ritual symbolizing the shedding of blood and passing between the parts of the sacrifice (Gen. 15:7-21; Jer. 34:18). This ceremony assured Abraham that his seed would inherit the land in the exact boundaries given to him in Genesis 15:18-21. The Lord gave circumcision to Abraham and his descendants to distinguish those who would inherit the promises as individuals through faith from those who were only physical seed of Abraham (Gen. 17:9-14). The “Abrahamic” covenant was confirmed by the birth of Isaac and Jacob who also received the promises repeated in their original form (Gen. 17:10; 28:12-13). A comparison of Hebrews 6:13-18 and Genesis 15:8-21 records that the “Abrahamic” covenant was immutable and was not only promised but solemnly confirmed by an oath from God. Genesis 12:6-9 records Abraham’s journey through the land of Canaan, which the Lord had promised to Abraham and his descendants. Genesis 12:6 Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.” (NASB95) The Lord identifies the land of Canaan as the land that was promised to Abraham in Genesis 12:1. Now, remember, this promise was not yet fulfilled since the Canaanites were still occupying the land, thus Abram had to continue to trust the Lord to deliver on His promise. Many times the promise often seems long and delayed and the believer must simply continue trusting the Lord day by day and trusting that His timing is always perfect. Psalm 37:34 Wait for the LORD and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you will see it. (NASB95) Throughout his lifetime, Abraham had to rest in the promise that the Lord made to him that he and his descendants would posses the land of Canaan and he had to trust the Lord to fulfill this promise in His perfect timing. Genesis 12:8 Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD. 9 Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev. (NASB95) Genesis 13:14-18 records the Lord promising land to Abram and is called in theology, the “Palestinian” covenant, which is the sixth covenant in history God has made with men. The “Palestinian” covenant is in fact an extension of the “Abrahamic” covenant, which is recorded in Genesis 12:1-3. Like the “Abrahamic” covenant, the “Palestinian” covenant that the Lord established with Abram denoted the Lord’s gracious undertaking for the benefit of Abram and his descendants. Like the “Abrahamic” covenant, the “Palestinian” covenant was “unconditional” meaning that its fulfillment was totally and completely dependent upon the Lord’s faithfulness. We will note this covenant in detail in the next section. Genesis 13:14 The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward 15 for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. 16 I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. 17 Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.” (NASB95) Genesis 15:1-6 records the Lord’s guarantee to Abraham that he would have a child and that his descendants would be innumerable. Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” 2, Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” 4 Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” 5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” (NASB95) The Lord guarantees Abram that the promises would be literally fulfilled by a child of Abram’s own and to drive the point home, the Lord compares the number of the stars of the universe to the number of descendants of Abram there will be in the future. Bruce K. Waltke, “The representation of offspring like the uncountable stars is not just an amazing promise but an assurance of God’s creative and sovereign power” (Genesis, A Commentary, page 242; Zondervan). The promise of Genesis 15:4-5 not only pertains to Abram’s “natural” progeny (cf. Deut. 1:10; 10:22; Heb. 11:12) but according to Romans 4 it refers to his “spiritual” progeny (cf. Gal. 3:29). Genesis 15:6 Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. (NASB95) Abram’s faith in the Lord in Genesis 15:6 and the Lord imputing His righteousness to Abram as a result of his faith is employed by the New Testament writers as the pattern of a sinner’s justification (Rm. 4). “Believed” is the verb `aman, which is in the “hiphil” (causative) stem meaning, “to cause to have confidence in, to trust.” The object of Abram’s faith is the Lord Himself who alone can make this guarantee to Abram because He sovereign and omnipotent and omniscient. Although, the New Testament writers employ Genesis 15:6 to teach that justification is through faith alone in Christ alone, it does “not” mean that Genesis 15:6 records the moment when Abram first got saved. There at least three reasons for this. First of all, Abram had already obeyed the Lord’s call to leave Ur and Haran (Acts 7:2-5; Gen. 12:1-5). Secondly, the Lord had entered into a covenant agreement with him as recorded in Genesis 12:1-3 and 15:4-5, which is something the Lord would never do with an unbeliever. Thirdly, the perfect conjugation of the verb `aman, “believed” demonstrates that Abram’s faith did “not” begin after the events recorded in Genesis 15:1-5 since it represents the state of Abram trusting in the Lord, which flowed from his initial faith in the Lord the moment he got saved in Ur of the Chaldeans. Bible Knowledge Commentary, The Old Testament, “Abram’s faith is recorded here because it is foundational for establishing the Abrahamic covenant. The Abrahamic Covenant did not give Abram redemption; it was a covenant made with Abram who had already believed and to whom righteousness had already been imputed” (page 55, Victor Books). “Reckoned” is the verb chashav, which refers to the Lord imputing His righteousness to Abram and as a result it refers to His “viewpoint” of Abram as a result of Abram’s faith in Him in delivering on His promise to give Abram a son. Imputation is the function of the justice of God in crediting something to someone for cursing or for blessing. At the moment of spiritual birth, God imputed His righteousness to the believer so that he is “positionally” the righteousness of God meaning God has given His righteousness as a gift to the believer and that God views the believer as righteous as Himself. Romans 3:21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction. (NASB95) The righteousness of God is received through faith in the gospel concerning Jesus Christ since in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God, Jesus Christ is revealed. Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” (NASB95) The Bible teaches us that the Lord Jesus Christ is the believer’s righteousness. 1 Corinthians 1:30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption. (NASB95) The righteousness of God can never be attained by anyone through human power and dynamics or by keeping the Mosaic Law but rather it is received as a gift through faith in Jesus Christ who is the righteousness of God incarnate (Romans 4:1-5). Genesis 15:7 records the Lord reconfirming His promise to Abram to give him the land of Canaan. Genesis 15:7 And He said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.” (NASB95) Therefore, the phrase “I am the Lord” expresses the unimpeachable authority of the Lord’s declaration to give Abram the land of Canaan in order to possess it. Covenants made by kings in the days of Abram began with the king identifying himself and giving a brief historical background and this the Lord does by beginning His covenant with Abram by identifying Himself to Abram as the One who brought him out of the idolatry of Ur of the Chaldeans. Genesis 15:7 records the Lord reiterating and confirming His original promises to Abram recorded in Genesis 12:7 and Genesis 13:14-17 to give him and his descendants the land of Canaan. The northern border of the land of the Canaanites went as far as Sidon, which is 120 miles north of Jerusalem and the southern border extended to Gerar, which is about 11 miles south-southeast of Gaza, which was on the coast 50 miles southeast of Jerusalem. In Genesis 15:7, the promise by the Lord to Abram to give him the land of Canaan is a reference again to the “Palestinian” covenant. Genesis 15:8 He said, “O Lord GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?” (NASB95) Abram’s question recorded in Genesis 15:8 was motivated by faith and was simply a question asking for more details or more accurately the specific means by which the Lord would accomplish giving him the land of Canaan. Therefore, Abram’s question in Genesis 15:8 does not indicate that Abram doubted how the Lord would fulfill His promise but rather he simply asked for confirmation as to the specific the means he will accomplish giving Abram the land. In Genesis 15:9-21, the Lord gives Abram quite a few details surrounding the specific means by which the Lord would bring about Abram possessing the land of Canaan. The specific means by which the Lord will give Abram the land of Canaan would be through the unconditional covenant that the Lord initially made with Abram in Genesis 12:1-3 and 13:14-17, which would be enlarged and amplified and confirmed as demonstrated in the covenant ceremony recorded in Genesis 15:9-21. Also, the specific means by which the Lord will give Abram the land of Canaan would be through suffering as indicated by the Lord’s prophecy in Genesis 15:13-16 that Abram’s descendants, specifically, the nation of Israel would suffer in Egypt for four hundred years before they would finally leave Egypt and then enter the land of Canaan to possess it. Also, although not specifically mentioned but it is implied, is that it would be through resurrection from the dead that Abram would personally enter into possessing the land of Canaan, which will take place during the millennial reign of Christ. Genesis 15:9 So He said to him, “Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds. 11 The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. 12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. 14 But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.” (NASB95) “Your descendants” is a reference to the nation of Israel and the “land” in which the nation of Israel would be strangers in and would be enslaved to and oppressed for four hundred years is Egypt. “Four hundred years” is a “round” number for the more precise figure of four hundred thirty years appears in Exodus 12:40-41; Acts 7:6; Gal. 3:16-17. Genesis 15:15 “As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. 16 Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete. 17 It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.” (NASB95) The flaming torch symbolizes the Lord’s presence and the fact that the torch alone passes through the pieces teaches Abram that this covenant that the Lord is making with him is “unconditional” meaning its fulfillment is totally and completely dependent upon the Lord’s faithfulness. Genesis 15:18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.” (NASB95) “Your descendants” refers to the “regenerate” Israel or Jews racially who are saved who entered into this covenant that the Lord made with Abram by believing in Promised “Seed,” as their Savior namely, Jesus Christ. Never in Israel’s history has she secured these boundaries and thus this promise awaits its fulfillment during the millennial reign of Christ. According to Genesis 15:18, the boundaries of Israel during the millennial reign of Christ would be the river of Egypt on the south and the Euphrates River in Iraq in the north. Genesis 15:19 “the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite 20 and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim 21 and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.” (NASB95) In Genesis 17:1-8, the Lord enlarges again upon the covenant He made with Abraham not only promising him that he would have many descendants but he would also be the father of many nations, which has been fulfilled in a two-fold sense: (1) Biological (2) Spiritual. Genesis 17:1 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. 2 I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.” 3 Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, 4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.” (NASB95) The promise to make Abraham a father of many nations was fulfilled in a “biological” sense through Hagar and the Ishmaelites (Gen. 17:20; 21:13; 25:12-18); through Keturah and the Midianites and others (Gen. 25:1-4); through Isaac and Rebekah, the Edomites (Gen. 25:23; 36:1-43); through Isaac and Rebekah, the Israelites (Gen. 12:2; 18:18). The Lord’s promise to make Abraham a father or progenitor of many nations was fulfilled and continues to be fulfilled in a “spiritual” sense through those individuals who exercised faith alone in Christ alone (John 3:1-7; 1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:15-29). This is how the Lord’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 that in him “all the families of the earth would be blessed” would be accomplished. The “Seed” God covenanted with Abraham found its fulfillment uniquely in the Lord Jesus Christ (see Galatians 3:16). Genesis 17:6 “I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you.” (NASB95) The Lord’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 17:6 that “kings will come forth from you” is a reference to primarily the kings of Israel (Gen. 35:11; 49:10; 2 Sam. 7:8-16) and the Lord Jesus Christ. Genesis 17:7 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.” (NASB95) The promise recorded in Genesis 17:7 “I will establish My covenant with him (Isaac) for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him” indicates that the Promised Seed, the Savior, Jesus Christ would come through the line of Isaac rather than Ishmael. Genesis 17:8 “I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” (NASB95) Genesis 17:9-14 records the Lord giving Abraham and his descendants the ritual of circumcision to observe as a sign to ratify the covenant that He established with Abraham when he left Haran. Then in Genesis 17:15-22, we saw that the Lord promised Abraham that his wife Sarah would be the progenitrix or the mother of numerous nations and kings. Genesis 22:15-18 records the Lord reconfirming the promises of this covenant and then enlarges upon them. Every time Abraham made a sacrifice for God the Lord responded by giving Abraham more: (1) God commanded Abraham to leave his hometown and as a result God rewarded him with a new one (Gen. 12:1; Heb. 11:8). (2) Abraham offered the best of the land to Lot and separated from Lot and as a result God rewarded him by giving him more land (Gen. 13:5-18). (3) Abraham gave up the King of Sodom's reward (Gen. 14:17-24) and God gave Abraham more wealth (Gen. 15:1-6). (4) God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac after he waited so long for him to be born (Genesis 22:1-19; Hebrews 11:17-19) and as a result the Lord rewards Abraham by enlarging upon the previously made covenant (Gen. 22:15-18). In each case, where Abraham was obedient to God, God rewarded Abraham with a deeper and more intimate fellowship with Himself. Genesis 22:15 Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son.” (NASB95) The Lord’s statement “by Myself I have sworn” indicates that the Abrahamic covenant, which will be reconfirmed and enlarged upon in Genesis 22:17-18 is “unconditional” and “guarantees” its fulfillment. The phrase “declares the Lord” expresses the Lord’s faithfulness in fulfilling that which He has promised, indicating that the Lord is “guaranteeing” the fulfillment of the covenant promises to Abraham and his descendants. The reason for the Lord guaranteeing the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham is given in the Lord’s statement “because you have done this thing.” This statement refers to Abraham’s obedience to the Lord’s command in Genesis 22:2 “Take now your son, your only son whom you love and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” The word “only” in Genesis 22:2 and 16 is incorrectly translated since Abraham had many sons (Ishmael through Hagar, see Genesis 16; Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah through Keturah, see Genesis 25:1-2) and so Isaac was not an “only” child. “Only” is the adjective yachidh and means, “uniquely born one” and this interpretation is supported in that Isaac was a “miracle” baby since his mother was ninety years old and his father was one-hundred years old when he was born. Furthermore, John 3:16 employs the adjective monogenes (monogenhv$) translated “begotten” in the NASB and is used to describe God the Father’s Son, Jesus Christ as being uniquely born of a virgin. Hebrews 11:17 employs monogenes translated “begotten” in the NASB but like the word in John 3:16, it means, “uniquely born one” since it is used to describe Isaac who was born to parents who were well past the age of having the capacity to procreate. Jesus Christ was born of a virgin and Isaac was born of parents who were in their old age and so like Jesus Christ, Isaac was unique. Genesis 22:17 “indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.” (NASB95) In Genesis 22:17, Moses under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit employs two infinitive absolutes to express the fact that the Lord is “guaranteeing” the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham as a result of his obedience to God’s command to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac. “I will greatly bless you”: (1) Piel infinitive absolute complement form of the verb barakh, “blessing” (2) Second person common (neither masculine nor feminine) singular piel imperfect form of the verb barakh, “I will bless” (3) Second person masculine singular pronominal suffix, “you.” In Genesis 22:17, the verb barakh means, “to bless in the sense of enduing someone (Abraham) with power for success, prosperity, fecundity, longevity, etc.” Therefore, the verb barakh indicates that Abraham and his descendants were endued with power by the Lord for success, prosperity, fecundity (offspring in great numbers) and longevity.” The Lord blessed Abraham in the sense that the Lord multiplied his descendants so that his posterity was great in number both, racially and spiritually. Also, the Lord blessed Abraham in the sense that the Lord multiplied his possessions and livestock and prospered him financially. The phrase “I will bless you” was fulfilled “temporally” according to Genesis 13:14-18; 15:18-21; 24:34-35 and it has been fulfilled “spiritually” according to Genesis 15:6 and John 8:56. The infinitive absolute barakh stands before the finite verb of the same root in order to intensify the certainty or force of the verbal idea expressing the certainty that the Lord would fulfill the promise to bless Abraham. So to the English speaking person this construction literally means, “blessing, I will bless you” but to the Hebrew mind, it simply means, “I will greatly bless you.” “I will greatly multiply”: (1) Hiphil (causative) infinitive absolute complement form of the verb ravah, “multiplying.” (2) First person common (neither masculine nor feminine) singular hiphil (causative) imperfect form of the verb ravah. The infinitive absolute stands before the finite verb of the same root in order to intensify the certainty or force of the verbal idea expressing the certainty that the Lord would fulfill the promise to multiply Abraham’s descendants. So to the English speaking person this construction literally means, “multiplying, I will multiply” but to the Hebrew mind, it simply means, “I will greatly multiply.” “Your seed” refers to not only Isaac but also those who like Abraham exercise faith alone in Christ alone, which would include the church and regenerate Israel and regenerate Gentiles who lived in dispensations outside of the church age and ultimately it refers to Jesus Christ. Therefore, the Scriptures teach that the “seed” of Abraham is four-fold: (1) Abraham’s biological or racial descendants, which would include: (a) The Ishmaelites through Hagar (Gen. 17:20; 21:13; 25:12-18) (b) The Midianites and others through Keturah (Gen. 25:1-4) (c) The Edomites through Isaac and Rebekah (Gen. 25:23; 36:1-43). (2) Abraham’s biological or racial descendants the Israelites of Jews through Sarah and Isaac and Rebekah and Jacob (Genesis 12:2, 7; 18:18; Rom. 9:6-9). (3) Abraham’s spiritual descendants, which would include those individuals, both Jew and Gentile racially, who exercised faith alone in Christ alone (Gal. 3:6-29). (4) The Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:16). The comparative clause “as the stars of the heavens” echoes the Lord’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:5 and is used to compare the Lord’s promise to Abraham to multiply his descendants with the number of the stars of the universe. The promise of Genesis 15:4-5 not only pertains to Abram’s “natural” progeny (cf. Deut. 1:10; 10:22; Heb. 11:12) but according to Romans 4 it refers to his “spiritual” progeny (cf. Gal. 3:29). The comparative clause “as the sand which is on the seashore” echoes the Lord’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 13:10 to multiply his descendants as the dust of the earth and drives the point home regarding the Lord’s promise to greatly multiply Abraham’s descendants. The prophecy that Abram’s descendants would be as the dust of the earth in a “near” sense was fulfilled in the days of Solomon (see 1 Kings 4:20) and will be fulfilled in a “far” sense during the millennial reign of Christ (see Hosea 1:10). The Lord’s promise to Abraham that “your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies” is a prophecy that through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the great enemy of God and His people would be defeated, namely, Satan, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 (see Colossians 2:15; Philippians 2:6-11; Ephesians 1:15-22). In the ancient world, to “possess the gate” of one’s enemies was to have access to a walled city and possessing control of the city. The term “enemies” refers to Satan and the kingdom of darkness who at the present time temporarily rule this world (Eph. 2:1-3; 6:10-18; 2 Cor. 4:4; 1 Jn. 5:19; Rev. 12:10). The Lord Jesus Christ has defeated Satan with His death and resurrection and at His Second Advent, He with His church, and the elect angels will imprison Satan and the fallen angels and assume control over planet earth for a thousand years (see Revelation 19:1-20:6). In another sense, this prophecy also refers to the fact that regenerate Israel will be delivered by Jesus Christ from the armies of the hostile Gentile nations and Antichrist during Daniel’s seventieth week and will become head of the nations during the millennial reign of Christ (see Zechariah 14:16-21). “Your seed” is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord statement that “in your seed (Christ) all the nations of the earth will be blessed” echoes the Lord’s promise in Genesis 18:18 and is an enlargement upon the Lord’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 that in Abraham “all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Galatians 3:8-14 reveals that the promise in Genesis 18:18 that “in (Abraham) all the nations of the earth will be blessed” and the promise in Genesis 22:19 that “in your Seed (Christ) all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” are references to the fact that Abraham’s descendent, Jesus Christ, would bring salvation to the Gentile nations through faith in Him. Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us -- for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE” 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (NASB95) Genesis 22:19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba. (NASB95) Abraham returned with Isaac as he believed he would since according to Hebrews 11:17-19, he reasoned that God would raise Isaac from the dead. Genesis 28:13-15 records Jacob receiving from the Lord reconfirmation of the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant and reassurance that the Lord would protect and prosper him in exile in Paddan Aram. Genesis 28:10 Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place. 12 He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. 14 Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” (NASB95) The promises to Jacob that are recorded in Genesis 28:14 echo the promises given to his father Isaac, which are recorded in Genesis 26:4. They also echo the blessing that his father Isaac pronounced upon him before he left home, which is recorded in Genesis 28:3-4. The Lord’s promises to both Jacob and Isaac and the blessing of his father bestowed upon him before he left home were a “reconfirmation” of the promises made to Abraham that are recorded in Genesis 12:2-3, 7, 13:14-18, 15:1-6, 18, 17:1-8 and 22:17. In Genesis 26:3-4, Isaac received reconfirmation of the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant by means of a theophany. In Genesis 26:23-25, the Lord appeared in a theophany to Isaac at Beersheba and gave him reassurance by reconfirming to him the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant. In Genesis 28:3-4, the blessing that Isaac bestowed upon Jacob before he left home echoes the promises of the Abrahamic covenant. In Genesis 28:14-15, God’s reiteration of the promises to Abraham and Isaac assures Jacob of God’s faithfulness. The Lord is reassuring Jacob in his time of adversity that like his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac, that he would receive divine protection and would be prospered by the Lord. The Lord’s reiteration to Jacob of the promises He made to his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac would reassure Jacob that the very God who protected his grandfather and father and prospered them would do so for him. The Lord’s reiteration to Jacob of the promises He made to his grandfather and father would confirm to Jacob that he was in the Messianic line. So these promises to Jacob would reassure him that the God of his grandfather Abraham and that of his father Isaac would not abandon him. “Your descendants” refers to Isaac’s “biological” descendants, which would be the nation of Israel and it refers to his “spiritual” descendants, which would be anyone, Jew or Gentile who believes in Jesus Christ as their Savior. In a “near” sense “Your descendants” refers the nation of Israel (saved and unsaved) and in a “far” sense it refers to saved Israel during the millennial reign of Christ. The comparative clause “like the dust of the earth” echoes the Lord’s promises to Abraham in Genesis 13:10 to multiply his descendants “as the dust of the earth” and “as the sand on the seashore” in Genesis 22:17 as well as the promise to Isaac in Genesis 26:4 to multiply his descendants “as the dust of the earth.” The comparative clause “like the dust of the earth” drives the point home to Jacob regarding the Lord’s promise to greatly multiply his descendants and would indicate quite clearly to him that the Lord has a plan for his life and would give him assurance during his time of adversity! The prophecy that Jacob’s descendants would be as the dust of the earth in a “near” sense was fulfilled in the days of Solomon (see 1 Kings 4:20) and will be fulfilled in a “far” sense during the millennial reign of Christ (see Hosea 1:10). Like his grandfather Abraham, Jacob receives these promises of numerous descendants while he was childless. In fact, at this time, he wasn’t even married! The Lord’s promise to Isaac that he “will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south” echoes the Lord’s promise to his grandfather Abraham that is recorded in Genesis 13:14-15 and pertains to the “Palestinian Covenant. The Lord’s promise to Jacob that he and his descendants would spread over the land of Canaan would reassure him that he would be returning to Canaan. The Lord is promising Jacob that He would bring him back to Canaan even though he is fleeing from it at this particular time. “Spread out” is the verb parats, which is a military term meaning “to break out” and implies that the descendants of Jacob who would be the nation of Israel would through military conquest take possession of the land of Canaan. This military conquest of the land of Canaan was accomplished to a certain extent in Israel’s history under Joshua. But it will find its ultimate fulfillment when the Lord Jesus Christ at His Second Advent who at that time will destroy anti-Christ, the false prophet, and the Gentile armies surrounding Israel during the Tribulation period (aka Daniel’s seventieth week) and will establish His millennial reign. Genesis 28:14 “Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” (NASB95) The Lord’s promise to Jacob that in him, “all the families of the earth be blessed” is a “universal” promise and indicates that Jacob would be in the Messianic line meaning that the Lord Jesus Christ in His human nature would descend from him. The promise “in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed” should be translated “in your Seed or Descendant all the families of the earth shall be blessed” since the word for “descendants” in the Hebrew text is in the singular making the promise Messianic. This promise is a “reconfirmation” of the “universal” promise the Lord made to Abraham, which is recorded in Genesis 22:18. The Lord statement in Genesis 22:18 that “in your seed (Christ) all the nations of the earth will be blessed” and the promise to Jacob in Genesis 28:14 that “in Your Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed” echoes the Lord’s promise in Genesis 18:18. It is an enlargement upon the Lord’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 that in Abraham “all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Galatians 3:8-16 reveals that the promises in Genesis 18:18, “in (Abraham) all the nations of the earth will be blessed,” Genesis 22:18, “in your seed (Christ) all the nations of the earth will be blessed,” Genesis 26:4, “by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,” Genesis 28:14, “in Your Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed” refers to the Lord Jesus Christ who would bring salvation to the Gentile nations through faith in Him. Genesis 28:15 records the “personal” promises that the Lord made to Jacob. Genesis 28:15 “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (NASB95) Genesis 35:9-13 records the preincarnate Christ appearing to Jacob and reconfirming the change of his name to “Israel” and reconfirming the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant. Genesis 35:1 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments 3 and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem. 5 As they journeyed, there was a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6 So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. 7 He built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother. 8 Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named Allon-bacuth. 9 Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him. (NASB95) Jacob would be “blessed” or in other words, “endued with power for success, prosperity, fecundity and longevity” by means of the Word of God since the Word of God is “alive and powerful” according to Hebrews 4:12. God would bless Jacob through six promises, which are contained in Genesis 35:10-12. Therefore, the statement “He (God) blessed him (Jacob)” means that Jacob would be the recipient and beneficiary of the omnipotence of God, which would be manifested in time by the Lord fulfilling six promises through Jacob and his descendants (spiritual and biological), which are recorded in Genesis 35:10-12. Genesis 35:10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name. Thus He called him Israel.” (NASB95) The statement “You shall no longer be called Jacob but Israel shall be your name” echoes the Lord’s statement to Jacob at Peniel after wrestling with Jacob, which is recorded in Genesis 32:28. After Jacob wrestled with the Lord at Peniel, the Lord changed Jacob’s name to “Israel” and here the Lord reiterates and reconfirms and reaffirms to Jacob that this is still the case. The name “Jacob” means, “heel catcher” implying someone who is a “deceiver” and a “supplanter,” which is a person who takes the place of another by force, scheming or strategy. “Israel” is the proper noun yisra’el, which means, “one who fights and overcomes with the power of God” since the Lord states the reason for the name is that Jacob has fought with both God and men and has prevailed. Therefore, the promise “You shall no longer be called Jacob but Israel shall be your name” is not only a promise but a reaffirmation to Jacob that would impress upon him the need to live his life in a manner that is consistent with the meaning of his new name. He would live his life in a manner that is consistent with the meaning of his new name by appropriating by faith in prayer the promises that God had given to him just as he did prior to being reunited with Esau (See Genesis 32). By means of His Word, the Lord would fulfill His first promise to Jacob and empower him to live in a manner consistent with the meaning of his new name yisra’el, “Israel,” which means, “one who fights and overcomes with the power of God” (See Genesis 35:10). The bestowal of the name “Israel” upon Jacob constituted the essence of the blessing that he requested from the Lord recorded in Genesis 32:26. The name yisra’el, “Israel” memorializes the historical event of Jacob wrestling the preincarnate Christ, and which wrestling match symbolized Jacob’s struggles in life with men, which in reality were with God. The name “Israel” represents the character of his new divine nature whereas the name “Jacob” represents the character of his old Adamic sin nature, which will be permanently eradicated at his physical death. Therefore, the emphasis of the name change to “Israel” implies that Jacob would experience the fulfillment of these six promises during the millennial reign of Christ when he will live permanently in his new nature that God gave him, which is signified by the name “Israel.” Genesis 35:11 “God also said to him, “I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come forth from you.” (NASB95) The title El Shaddai, “God Almighty” emphasizes the omnipotence of God and describes the Lord as being able to bring to pass that which He has promised to Jacob (Romans 4:20-21). The expression “God Almighty” (Hebrew: El Shaddai) was first used by God of Himself when speaking to Abraham as recorded in Genesis 17:1 and was used by Isaac when blessing Jacob as recorded in Genesis 28:3. Therefore, the title El Shaddai, “God Almighty” signifies that the six promises contained in Genesis 35:10-12 echo Isaac’s prophecy about Jacob, which is recorded in Genesis 28:3-5 and also recalls the covenant with Abraham recorded in Genesis 17:1-8. The Lord’s promise to Jacob that he would “be fruitful and multiply” echoes the prophecy of Isaac concerning Jacob, which is recorded in Genesis 28:3 and means that the Lord would give Jacob the capacity to be prolific in that he would be the progenitor of a multitude of children in both a biological and spiritual sense. This promise means that the Lord would endue Jacob and his descendants with the ability to be prolific in terms of posterity. By means of His Word, the Lord would fulfill His second promise to Jacob that he would “be fruitful and multiply” and endue him with power for success, prosperity, fecundity (offspring in great numbers) and longevity (See Genesis 35:11). The promise “a nation…shall come from you” in a “near” sense refers to the nation of Israel (saved and unsaved) and in a “far” sense it refers to saved Israel during the millennial reign of Christ. By means of His Word, the Lord would fulfill His third promise to Jacob that he would be the progenitor of “a nation,” and endue Jacob with power to be the progenitor of the nation of Israel (See Genesis 35:11). The promise “a company of nations…shall come from you” was fulfilled and continues to be fulfilled in a “spiritual” sense through those individuals who exercised faith alone in Christ alone (John 3:1-7; 1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:26-28). The expression “a company of nations…shall come from you” refers to a community of nations that will originate from Jacob and echoes the Lord’s promise to his grandfather Abraham that he would become “the father of a multitude of nations” (Genesis 17:4-5) and “the father of nations” (Genesis 17:6). The Lord’s promise to Abraham to make him “the father of a multitude of nations” and Isaac’s desire that the Lord would make Jacob a “company of peoples” and the Lord’s promise to Jacob that “a company of nations…shall come from you” would be fulfilled in both a “biological” and “spiritual” sense. In a “biological” or “racial” sense, the “company of nations” that would originate from Jacob would be the nation of Israel. In a “spiritual” sense the “company of nations” that would originate from Jacob be all those who exercise faith alone in Christ alone who would be composed of all nations and races, both male and female, slave and freeman (John 3:1-7; 1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:26-28). This is how the Lord’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 that in him “all the families of the earth would be blessed” would be accomplished. In the same way, that Abraham became a father in a “spiritual” sense to those individuals who exercised faith in Christ so also Jacob would become the father in a “spiritual” sense to all those who exercised faith in Christ. By means of His Word, the Lord would fulfill His fourth promise to Jacob and endue him with power to be the progenitor of “a company of nations” in a “spiritual” sense through all those who exercise faith alone in Christ alone. The promise that “kings shall come forth from you” echoes the Lord’s promise to Abraham, which is recorded in Genesis 17:6, 16 and is a reference to primarily to the kings of Israel (Gen. 35:11; 49:10; 2 Sam. 7:8-16) and the Lord Jesus Christ. Since the promise that “kings shall come forth from you” is a reference to the Kings of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ, it is therefore related to the “Davidic” Covenant, which like the “Abrahamic” Covenant, was an unconditional covenant meaning its fulfillment was totally dependent upon God’s faithfulness. By means of His Word, the Lord would fulfill His fifth promise to Jacob and endue him with power to be the progenitor of the kings of Israel and the greatest King of them all, the Lord Jesus Christ (See Genesis 35:11). Genesis 35:12 “The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you.” (NASB95) The promise of “land” is a reference to the “Palestinian Covenant.” “Your descendants” refers to Jacob’s “biological” descendants, which would be the nation of Israel and it refers to his “spiritual” descendants, which would be anyone, Jew or Gentile who believes in Jesus Christ as their Savior. In a “near” sense “Your descendants” refers to the nation of Israel (saved and unsaved) and in a “far” sense it refers to saved Israel during the millennial reign of Christ. By means of His Word, the Lord would fulfill His sixth and final promise to Jacob and endue him and his descendants (spiritual and biological) with power to possess the land of Canaan (See Genesis 35:12). Though Jacob was still a resident alien in the land of Canaan, it was really his according to God’s promise and would be possessed by him and his descendants through faith in Christ during the millennial reign of Christ. Genesis 35:13 “Then God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him.” (NASB95) Genesis 46:2-4 records Israel/Jacob receives a theophany, divine reassurance and promises (46:2-4). Genesis 46:1 So Israel set out with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” 3 He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there.” (NASB95) “God” is not the usual Elohim but rather the singular form of the noun, which is El in order to express a contrast between the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who is the one and only true God and the foreign gods of the Canaanites and the Egyptians. God identifies Himself to Israel as “I am the God of your father” in order to reassure Israel that he will be protected by Him just as He protected his father Isaac. The prohibition “do not be afraid to go to Egypt” that was issued to Israel/Jacob indicates that the patriarch was fearful of leaving the Promised Land. The explanatory clause “for I will make you a great nation there” gives the reason why Israel should not be afraid and would give him assurance that it was according to the will of God that he and his family migrate to Egypt. In Genesis 46:3, God is assuring Israel that everything is ok that he will be protected from the Egyptians and reassures him that God will make his descendants into a great nation while in Egypt in accordance with the promises God made to his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac. The assurance that God gave Israel that He would make Israel’s descendants into a great nation while in Egypt is a positive declaration or guarantee from God intended to give Israel confidence and courage. This statement “I will make you a great nation there” is a reference to the “Abrahamic” covenant since it reconfirms the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:2 and 18:17-18 that God would make Abraham’s descendants into a great nation. “Nation” is the noun goy, which is in the singular referring to Abraham’s “national” posterity (Gen. 18:18), the nation of Israel that would originate from Abraham and Sarah’s son Isaac and Isaac’s son Jacob. “Great” is the adjective gadhol, which refers both to numbers and to significance or impact the nation of Israel would have on both human and angelic history. Therefore, the “national” posterity of Abraham, the nation of Israel has been a great nation in history during the reigns of David and Solomon and will be significant according to prophecy since she will be the head of the nations during the millennial reign of Christ (See Isaiah 2:1-4). Israel has had a huge impact upon human history in that she was the custodian of the Old Testament Scriptures, the recipients of the covenants of promise, the Law (Rm. 9:1-5) and the nation from which the Savior, Jesus Christ would originate (Jn. 4:22). Prophetically, the promise “a great nation” in a “near” sense refers to the nation of Israel (saved and unsaved) and in a “far” sense it refers to saved Israel during the millennial reign of Christ. Genesis 46:4 ‘I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will close your eyes.” (NASB95) The statement “I will also surely bring you up again” is a reference to the “Palestinian” Covenant, which was a confirmation and enlargement of the original “Abrahamic” covenant and amplified the land features of the “Abrahamic” covenant (Gen. 13:14-15; 15:18). The promise “I will also surely bring you up again” is “national” promise in that it is a guarantee that the Israelites will return to the land of Canaan. It is a “personal” promise in that it is a guarantee that Israel himself would return to the land of Canaan not only in a coffin (See Genesis 49:29-32) but more importantly that he and all of born again Israel will live in the Promised Land in resurrection bodies during the millennial reign of Christ. Fulfillment of the Palestinian Covenant As we noted in the previous section, the “Palestinian” covenant is in fact an extension of the “Abrahamic” covenant, which is recorded in Genesis 12:1-3. Like the “Abrahamic” covenant, the “Palestinian” covenant that the Lord established with Abram denoted the Lord’s gracious undertaking for the benefit of Abram and his descendants. Like the “Abrahamic” covenant, the “Palestinian” covenant was “unconditional” meaning that its fulfillment was totally and completely dependent upon the Lord’s faithfulness. Genesis 13:14 The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward 15 for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. 16 I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.” (NASB95) The Lord’s promise of land to Abram and his descendants in Genesis 13:14-17 is an “extension” upon His promise to Abram in Genesis 12:1 and is thus related to the “Abrahamic” covenant. The “Palestinian” covenant was a confirmation and enlargement of the original “Abrahamic” covenant and amplified the land features of the “Abrahamic” covenant (Gen. 13:14-15; 15:18). The “Palestinian” covenant was confirmed to Isaac (Gen. 26:3-4) and Jacob (Gen. 35:12), reiterated to Moses (Ex. 6:2-8) who described the geographical boundaries of the land in Numbers 34:1-12 and who prophesied the fulfillment of this covenant during the millennium in Deuteronomy 30:1-9. The land grant under the “Palestinian” covenant: (1) Most of the land in Turkey (2) Most of East Africa (3) Saudi Arabia (4) Yemen (5) Oman and Red Sea (6) Syria (7) Iraq (8) Jordan. The land grant has boundaries on the Mediterranean, on Aegean Sea, on Euphrates River and the Nile River. Deuteronomy 30:1-10 describes seven features of the “Palestinian” covenant: (1) The nation will be plucked off the land for its unfaithfulness (Deut. 28:63-68; 30:1-3). (2) There will be a future repentance of Israel (Deut. 28:63-68; 30:1-3). (3) Israel’s Messiah will return (Deut. 30:3-6). (4) Israel will be restored to the land (Deut. 30:5). (5) Israel will be converted as a nation (Deut. 30:4-8; cf. Rm. 11:26-27). (6) Israel’s enemies will be judged (Deut. 30:7). (7) The nation will then receive her full blessing (Deut. 30:9). The Lord promises that this land would be given to Abram’s descendants and this promise was fulfilled to a certain extent by Israel under Joshua (Josh. 21:43-45; cf. 13:1-7) and David and Solomon (1 Kgs. 4:20-25; Neh. 9:8). The prophets of Israel prophesied of the “Palestinian” covenant’s literal and ultimate fulfillment during the millennial reign of Christ (Isa. 11:11-12; Jer. 16:14-16; 23:3-8; 31:8, 31-37; Ezek. 11:17-21; 20:33-38; 34:11-16; 39:25-29; Hos. 1:10-11; Joel 3:17-21; Amos 9:11-15; Micah 4:6-7; Zeph. 3:14-20; Zech. 8:4-8). During the millennial reign of Christ, the northern boundary of Israel will extend from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River (47:15-17), incorporating much of modern Lebanon and Syria. The eastern border will extend south from the Euphrates River, incorporating the Golan Heights and portions of Syria almost up to Damascus, and continue south to where the Jordan River leaves the Sea of Galilee. The river will be the eastern border to the Dead Sea’s southern end (47:18). From there the southern border will go westward, incorporating the Negev and parts of Sinai all the way along the Brook of Egypt (the modern Wadi-el-Arish) to the point where it reaches the Mediterranean Sea (47:19), the western border (47:20). Although the land will have twelve tribal divisions, these subdivisions will differ form those in the Book of Joshua. Ezekiel 48:1-7 describes the northern subdivisions for seven of the twelve tribes. From the north to the south they will be: (1) Dan (48:1) (2) Asher (48:2) (3) Naphtali (48:3) (4) Manasseh (48:4) (5) Ephraim (48:5) (6) Reuben (48:6) (7) Judah (48:7). Ezekiel 48:8-22 describes the holy mountain, which will be south of Judah and north of Benjamin, separating the northern and the southern tribes. Ezekiel 48:23-29 describes the subdivisions of the remaining five tribes in the south. From north to south, they will be: (1) Benjamin (48:23) (2) Simeon (48:24) (3) Issachar (48:25) (4) Zebulun (48:26) (5) Gad (48:27) next to the southern border. Fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant The millennial reign of Christ will also literally fulfill the Davidic covenant. God called David a man after his own heart (Acts 13:22). The Lord Jesus Christ will sit upon the Davidic throne in truth. Isaiah 16:5 A throne will even be established in lovingkindness, and a judge will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David; Moreover, he will seek justice and be prompt in righteousness. (NASB95) Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. (NASB95) David was the second and greatest King of Israel whose reign over Israel 40 years, seven in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem, and whose dynasty ruled in Judah for over four hundred years (2 Samuel 5:5; 1 Kings 2:11). He was born in the town of Bethlehem (House of Bread) (1 Samuel 16:1; 17:12; Luke 2:4). David was the youngest of seven sons of Jesse (1 Samuel 16:10; 1 Chronicles 2:13-15) and has two sisters (1 Chronicles 2:16; 2 Samuel 17:25). He was from the tribe of Judah (Ruth 4:18-22). He was a direct descendant of Judah, Perez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz (the husband of Ruth), Obed, (the son of Boaz and Ruth) and Jesse his father (1 Chronicles 2:5-16; Matthew 1:3-6; Luke 3:31-33). He was a shepherd by trade before being anointed king of Israel by the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 16:1-13). David was an outstanding military commander, a masterful statesman and administrator, a skilled musician witnessed by the fact that he organized the temple music and wrote many of the Psalms (See 1 Samuel 16:17-18). He made his debut in Israelite history when he killed the Philistine champion Goliath which resulted in the rout of the Philistine armies (See 1 Samuel 17). Consequently, King Saul adopted David into his court (1 Samuel 17:55-18:2). David struck up a great friendship with Saul’s son Jonathan and it lasted till Jonathan’s death on the battlefield with his father (1 Samuel 18:1-4). Saul persecuted David out of jealousy for David’s great talents and his tremendous popularity among the citizens of Israel and even attempted to assassinate David (1 Samuel 16:14-23; 1 Samuel 18:5-9). The next several years of David’s life were as a fugitive and an outlaw as a result of Saul’s repeated attempts to assassinate him. During his years of exile, he became an ally with the Philistines (1 Samuel 27). His years of exile ended with the death of Saul and his son Jonathan (1 Samuel 28:1-2; 1 Chronicles 12:19-22). David was anointed king over the house of Judah at Hebron and reigned seven and a half years over that tribe (2 Samuel 2:1-11). The long civil war between the house of David and the house of Saul eventuated in the extermination of the house of Saul and David being anointed king over all Israel (2 Samuel 2:8-5:5). As king over Israel, David defeated the Philistines (2 Samuel 5:17-25; 1 Chronicles 18:1; 2 Samuel 21:15-22). He conquered the Moabites, Aramaeans, Ammonites, Edomites and Amalekites (2 Samuel 8:10; 12:26-31). David built up a substantial empire for his son Solomon, which reached from Ezion-geber on the gulf of Aqabah in the south to the region of Hums bordering on the city-state of Hamath in the north (See W.F. Albright, page 131). He demonstrated his great administrative talents by the extensive kingdom he left behind and the preservation of accounts of efficient organization (1 Chronicles 22:17-27:34). David also reestablished Levitical cities and cities of refuge. He captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites and established his capital there (2 Samuel 5:6-8; 1 Chronicles 11:4-8). He brought back the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6:12-15) but only after several failed attempts (2 Samuel 6:11-15; 1 Chronicles 15:13). He was responsible for the organization of the temple music and made plans for the rebuilding of the temple, which he was not allow to do by the Lord who assigned David’s son Solomon with the task (2 Samuel 7; 1 Chronicles 17:1). David received the tremendous promise from God that his throne would be established forever (2 Sam. 7:16), namely that the Messiah would descend from him. This promise is called the “Davidic” covenant, which was given to David through the prophet Nathan and was an unconditional covenant meaning its fulfillment was based upon the faithfulness of God rather than the faithfulness of Israel. The “Davidic” covenant deals with the dynasty that will rule the nation of Israel as indicated in 2 Samuel 7:16 where God promised David that a descendant of his would sit on his throne forever. The Davidic covenant is also confirmed in the following passages: Isa. 9:6-7; Jer. 23:5-6; 30:8-9; 33:14-17, 20-21; Ezek. 37:24-25; Dan. 7:13-14; Hos. 3:4-5; Amos 9:11; Zech. 14:4, 9. The Davidic covenant contains four promises: (1) A Davidic House: Posterity of David will never be destroyed. (2) A Davidic Throne: Kingdom of David shall never be destroyed. (3) A Davidic Kingdom: David’s Son (Christ) will have an earthly sphere of rule. (4) It Shall Be Unending. The “sign” of the Davidic Covenant is a Son (Lord Jesus Christ). Provisions of the Davidic covenant: (1) David is to have a child, yet to be born, who will succeed him and establish his kingdom (2) This son (Solomon), instead of David, will build the temple. (3) The throne of his kingdom will be established forever. (4) The throne will not be taken away from him (Solomon) even though his sins justify God’s discipline. (5) David’s house, throne and kingdom will be established forever. The essential features of the Davidic covenant are found in three words in 2 Samuel 7:16: (1) House (physical descendants): A line stemming from David would continue indefinitely and would be the divinely recognized royal line. (2) Kingdom (political body): the political body that David would rule and over which David’s descendants would successively reign. (3) Throne (right to rule): refers to the authority as king vested in him. Just as important as these three terms is the word “forever,” which refers to any time during which the descendants of Abraham would exist. Even though there might be temporary interruptions in the exercise of royal authority because of divine discipline, the authority would never transfer to another line. As in the case of the Abrahamic covenant, this covenant with David is restated and reconfirmed elsewhere in Scripture. One of the royal titles that the Lord Jesus Christ possesses is that of the “Son of David,” which denotes His rulership over the nation of Israel (Matt. 1:1; 20:30; Mark 10:47-48; Luke 1:32; 2 Tim. 2:8; Rev. 3:7; 5:5; 22:16). The Bible anticipates a future literal fulfillment of the Davidic covenant. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David, will literally fulfill this covenant during His millennial reign. The prophetic implications of the Davidic covenant: (1) Israel must be preserved as a nation. (2) Israel must have a national existence and be brought back into the land of her inheritance. (3) David’s descendant, the Lord Jesus Christ, must return to the earth, bodily and literally, in order to reign over David’s covenanted kingdom. (4) A literal earthly kingdom must exist over which the returned Messiah will reign. (5) This kingdom must become an eternal kingdom. Fulfillment of the New Covenant During the millennial reign of Christ, regenerate (born-again) Old Testament Israel will be resurrected and will enjoy the millennial blessings that were promised to them (Ezek. 37:1-14). This will be in fulfillment of the New Covenant to Israel made in Jeremiah 31:31-34. The New covenant is also an unconditional meaning that its fulfillment is based upon the faithfulness of God rather than the faithfulness of Israel (Jer. 31:31-37). The New covenant is related to the restoration of the nation during the Second Advent and subsequent millennial reign of Christ. There were additional blessings added to the unconditional Abrahamic covenant. Before the covenant nation could enjoy the covenanted blessings it must walk in obedience to the laws of God. The obedience required was outlined for the nation in the Mosaic Law, which was given alongside the Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 17:19) to define what God expected as a prerequisite for blessing. The nation of Israel was unable to fulfill the obedience the Law required. The nation of Israel was characterized by God as being stiff-necked (Jer. 17:23). They were hardened and obstinate (Ezek. 3:7). Therefore, if the nation was to experience the blessings of the covenant they would need forgiveness for their sins, they would need to be regenerated (born-again), a new heart characterized by obedience, and empowerment from the Holy Spirit. A covenant that guarantees Israel these divine provisions is given in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Within the original Abrahamic covenant were promises concerning the following: (1) Land: Palestinian covenant developed the land promises to Israel. (2) Seed: Davidic covenant developed the seed promises to Israel. (3) Blessings: New covenant developed the blessing promises of the original Abrahamic covenant. The prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel have a great deal to say about these blessings that will flow from the New Covenant, which they speak of often. In spite of the disobedience of the nation, this covenant necessitates the continuation of the nation. Even continued disobedience cannot remove Israel from her covenanted position (Jer. 31:34-35; Rom. 11). Further the nation is promised a restoration to the land (Jer. 32:37; 33:11; Ezek. 11:17; 36:28-35; 37:21-22, 25). The prophets speak of the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Jer. 31:38-40). The temple will be rebuilt (Ezek. 37:27-28). The blessings the nation of Israel will receive are based on the New covenant (Isa. 61:8-9; Hos. 2:18-20). The greatest blessing in this covenant is that of being brought in close relationship with God (Jer. 30:22; 31:33; 32:38-41; Ezek. 11:20; 34:25-27; 37:27). The New covenant with Israel was based upon the voluntary substitutionary spiritual deaths of the impeccable humanity of Christ in hypostatic union (Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25). The Lord Jesus Christ is the mediator of this New Covenant to Israel. Hebrews 12:24a and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant. (NASB95) These four unconditional covenants (Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic and New) are all related to Israel and not the church. The nation of Israel was “directly given” the covenants according to Romans 9:1-5. However, the church and regenerate Gentiles who live outside the church age participate in the blessings of these covenants since she is the bride of Jesus Christ, the king of Israel (See Galatians 3). Ephesians 3:1-13 teaches that it was a mystery that the Gentiles through faith in Christ would become fellow heirs with Jewish believers, fellow members of the body of Christ and fellow partakers of the four unconditional covenants of promise to Israel. “Mystery” is the noun musterion, which refers to doctrines that centered upon the Person of Christ and members of His body and were doctrines never revealed to Old Testament saints. The mystery is not that the Gentiles would be saved since this was prophesied in the Old Testament (Isa. 11:10; 60:3). Rather, the mystery concerning the Gentiles is that they would become fellow heirs with Jewish believers, fellow members with Jewish believers in the body of Christ and fellow partakers of the covenant promises to Israel. The content of this mystery is three-fold: (1) The Gentile believers are fellow heirs with Jewish believers in the sense that they share in the spiritual riches God gave them because of His covenant with Abraham. Galatians 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise. (NASB95) Ephesians 3:6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. (NASB95) (2) Gentile believers in Christ are fellow members of the body of Christ with Jewish believers. There is one body, the body of Christ (Eph. 4:4), which has no racial distinctions (1 Cor. 12:13) and has the Lord Jesus Christ as its head (Eph. 5:23). Each individual member of the body of Christ shares in the ministry (Eph. 4:15-16). (3) Gentile believers in Christ are fellow partakers of the four unconditional covenants of promise to Israel. Although, the four unconditional covenants of promise to Israel were specifically given to Israel (Rom. 9:1-6), the church will still and does benefit from them since they are in union with Christ who is the ruler of Israel. Ephesians 3:7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. (NASB95) Ephesians 3:7 teaches us that the Gentile believer’s union with Christ gives them the 100% availability of divine power that was manifested in the life of Paul and His proclamation of the Gospel. Ephesians 3:8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ. (NASB95) Ephesians 3:8 teaches that the Gentile believer’s union with Christ gives them infinite wealth. Ephesians 3:9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. (NASB95) Ephesians 3:9-10 teaches that this mystery concerning the Gentiles is important to the angels both elect and non-elect since it reveals the multifaceted wisdom of God. Ephesians 3:11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory. (NASB95) Satan Incarcerated As we noted in the introduction, during the millennial reign of Christ, Satan will be incarcerated for a thousand years. He will be thrown into prison at the Second Advent of Christ according to Revelation 20:1-3 before the millennial reign begins. The fact that Revelation 20:3 teaches that Satan will be incarcerated for a thousand years at Christ’s Second Advent clearly implies that he is not incarcerated at this present time in history and won’t be until the Second Advent of Christ. In fact, 2 Corinthians 4:4 says that Satan is the “god of this world” at the present time and also deceives the entire world as well (1 John 5:19; Revelation 12:10). Satan’s Character and Personality The believer has three great enemies according to the Scriptures: (1) Satan, our chief adversary, the devil: (1 Pet. 5:8-9; Eph. 6:12; John 16:11; Col. 2:15; but note 1 John 2:13-14). (2) The world, a system and arrangement of the affairs of men and government under the control of the evil one and opposed to God and His purposes for man: (John 16:33; 1 John 5:4; Eph. 2:2). (3) Indwelling Adamic sin nature or the flesh and all its corrupting power and life-dominating patterns: (Rom. 7:15; 8:4-8, 13; Gal. 5:16-26). The intelligence apparatus of a nation plays a vital part in modern warfare. Unless, we know who our enemy is, where he is, and what he can do, we will have a difficult time defeating him. The leader of the church’s great invisible enemy is of course Satan whose name means, “adversary” because he is the enemy of God. He is also called the “tempter” (Mt. 4:3), the murderer (Jn. 8:44). He is compared to a “lion” in 1 Peter 5:8, a serpent (Gen. 3:1; Rev. 12:9), an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:13-15), the “god of this age” (2 Cor. 4:4). The Christian is not to be ignorant of his schemes and devices (2 Cor. 2:11). Satan is a created being. The Lord Jesus Christ created angels who are moral rational creatures like mankind and the greatest of these angels was Satan. Therefore, Satan is a creature (cf. John 1:1 with Ps. 148:1-5; Col. 1:16; Ezek. 28:13). He is also a spirit being. Hebrews 1:14 describes angels as spirits and demons are called unclean spirits (Matt. 8:16; 12:45; Luke 7:21; 8:2; 11:26; Acts 19:12; Rev. 16:14). Furthermore, the fact we are told that “we do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12) also suggest that Satan and his demons are spirit beings. Finally, the fact that Paul describes them as invisible also shows they are spirit beings (Col. 1:16). Satan is not omniscient, omnipotent or omnipresent like God but rather he has limitations. He simply cannot be everywhere at once. Nor, can he read your mind. Angels, though spirit beings and very powerful, are not omnipotent, omniscient, or omnipresent. They cannot be everywhere at once and this is true of Satan. However, as the chief of his demons forces or as the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph 2:2), he is chief of a vast host of demons who are so numerous as to make his power and presence seem to be practically ubiquitous or everywhere at once (cf. Mark 5:9). Therefore, because of this limitation, many references to Satan or the devil include his whole kingdom. The person of Satan does not personally tempt each of us for he simply cannot do that. He is only able to do so through his world system and demon hosts. In his appearance when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord (Job 1:6), in the temptation of Christ (Matt. 4:10f), and the entrance into Judas (Luke 22:3) we surely have clear references to the person of Satan himself, but in many other passages, Satan or the devil seems to stand for Satan’s kingdom (see Mark 3:23; 4:15; Luke 13:16; 1 Pet. 5:8-9; Jam. 4:7). It is also comforting to know that Satan is limited. The promise of Scripture is that “greater is He who is in us, than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). For all his power and hatred against God and man, he could do nothing against the believer that God does not expressly allow. Therefore, he can be resisted and made to flee (Jam. 4:7), but only by the strength of God made available to believers in Christ (Eph. 6:10-18). So Satan is a person. The Scripture state that he possesses the traits of personality. He shows intelligence (2 Cor. 11:3). He exhibits emotions (Rev. 12:17, anger; Luke 22:31, desire). He demonstrates that he has a will (Isa. 14:12-14; 2 Tim. 2:26). Satan is referred to as a person in both Old and New Testaments (Job 1; Matt. 4:1-12). If Satan were merely a personification that people have devised to express their ideas of evil, then such a personification could scarcely be held morally responsible for his actions, since, in reality, there is no being who can be held accountable. But Satan is held accountable by the Lord (Matt. 25:41; Job 1-2), and this passage reminds us that to deny the reality of Satan requires denying the veracity of Christ’s words. Judgment of Satan God the Father has awarded the incarnate Son of God the highest rank in the entire cosmos for His substitutionary spiritual death on the cross with power and authority over all creation and every creature. Because the Lord Jesus Christ controls history as sovereign ruler of history, He has the authority to conduct the following judgments and evaluations in the future. The humanity of Christ in hypostatic union has been awarded the sovereign rulership over the entire cosmos for His voluntary substitutionary spiritual death on the cross and as a result has been awarded by God the Father the power and authority to preside over and conduct the following judgments: (1) Bema Seat Evaluation: Takes place at the Rapture of the Church and is the evaluation of the Church Age believer’s life after salvation (Rom. 14:10; 1 Cor. 3:11-15; 2 Cor. 5:10; 1 John 2:24). (2) Israel: Takes place at the Second Advent and is the removing unregenerate Israel from the earth leaving only regenerate Israel to enter into the Millennial reign of Christ (Ezek. 20:37-38; Zech. 13:8-9; Mal. 3:2-3, 5; Matt. 25:1-30). (3) Gentiles: Takes place at the Second Advent and is for the purpose of removing unregenerate, anti-Semitic Gentiles from the earth (Matt. 25:31-46). (4) Fallen Angels: Takes place at the end of the appeal trial of Satan which runs co-terminus with human history and is execution of Satan and the fallen angels sentence for the pre-historic rebellion against God (1 Cor. 6:3; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6; Rev. 20:10). (5) Great White Throne: Takes place at the end of human history and is the judgment of all unregenerate humanity in human history for the rejection of Christ as Savior (Rev. 20:11-15). The following groups of regenerate human beings throughout human history will be subjected to a eschatological compulsory evaluation that the victorious, resurrected incarnate Son of God as Sovereign Ruler of the entire cosmos will conduct: (1) OT saints in heaven who lived during the dispensation of the Gentiles (Adam to the Exodus). (2) OT saints in heaven that lived during the dispensation of Israel (Exodus to 1st Advent). (3) All Church Age believers (Day of Pentecost to the Rapture). (4) Regenerate Jews who will live during the Tribulation (Post-Rapture to the Second Advent). (5) Regenerate Gentiles who will live during the Tribulation (Post-Rapture to the Second Advent). (6) Regenerate Jews and Gentiles who will live during the Millennial reign of Christ (Second Advent to Gog and Magog Rebellion). The following groups of unregenerate human beings throughout human history will be subjected to a eschatological compulsory judgment that the resurrected incarnate Son of God as Sovereign Ruler of the entire cosmos will conduct: (1) Unbelievers who lived during the dispensation of the Gentiles (Adam to the Exodus). (2) Unbelievers who lived during the dispensation of the Jews (Exodus to the 1st Advent). (3) Unbelievers who lived during the Church Age (Day of Pentecost to Rapture). (4) Unbelievers who lived during the Tribulation (Post-Rapture to Second Advent). (5) Unbelievers who lived during the Millennium (Second Advent to Gog Rebellion). All fallen angels including Satan himself have already been subjected to a judgment before human history but the execution of that sentence has been delayed because the Supreme Court of Heaven granted Satan and the fallen angels an appeal trial, which runs co-terminus with human history. The elect angels do not come under judgment for the very same reason that regenerate human beings don’t come under judgment because they have exercised personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Every regenerate human being in every dispensation of human history must at some point in the future submit to an evaluation of their lives after salvation which will be conducted by the resurrected and sovereign humanity of Christ in hypostatic union. Regenerate Israel who lived during the Age of Israel and Tribulation period will evaluated at the Second Advent (Ezek. 20:37-38; Zech. 13:8-9; Mal. 3:2-3, 5; Matt. 25:1-30). Regenerate Gentiles who lived during the Age of the Gentiles and Tribulation period will be evaluated at the Second Advent (Matt. 25:31-46). Church Age believers will be evaluated at the Bema Seat Evaluation of Christ (Rom. 14:10; 1 Cor. 3:11-15; 2 Cor. 5:10; 1 John 2:24). Regenerate Jews and Gentiles who lived during the Millennium will be subjected to a judgment at the conclusion of human history (Rev. 20:15). Every unregenerate human being in every dispensation of human history must submit to a judgment, which will also be conducted by the resurrected and sovereign incarnate Son of God at the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:11-15). Every fallen angel has already been judged and sentenced to the Lake of Fire by the Supreme Court of Heaven before human history. The execution of that sentence will not be carried out until the conclusion of the appeal trial of Satan and the fallen angels (Rev. 20:10). Social, Economic and Environmental Conditions During Millennium The millennial kingdom will be a glorious kingdom (Is. 24:23; 4:2; 35:2). The King will administer to every need and there will be complete comfort and rest in the millennium (Is. 12:1-2; 29:22-23; Jer. 31:23-25; Zeph. 3:18-20; Zech. 9:11-12; Rev. 21:4). There will be the administration of perfect justice to every individual (Is. 9:7; 11:5; Jer. 23:5; 31:23; 31:29-30). The millennial reign of Christ cannot begin until the beast (Antichrist) and the false prophet being thrown alive into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:20-21). Furthermore, Satan must be thrown into prison at the Second Advent of Christ according to Revelation 20:1-3 before the millennial reign begins. The demons have all been removed from the earth and a new civilization will begin with believers only. During the millennial reign of Christ religion will be abolished from the earth because Satan, who is the author of religion, will be imprisoned. Only believers will begin the millennial reign since all unbelievers will be removed through the judgments of Israel and the Gentiles. The judgment of “Israel” will take place immediately after the Second Advent and prior to the millennial reign and involves the removal of unregenerate Israel from the earth leaving only regenerate Israel to enter into the millennial reign of Christ (Ezekiel 20:37-38; Zechariah 13:8-9; Malachi 3:2-3, 5; Matthew 25:1-30). The judgment of the “Gentiles” and also takes place immediately after the Second Advent of Christ and prior to His millennial reign and involves the removal of unregenerate, anti-Semitic Gentiles from the earth (Matthew 25:31-46). These judgments are designed to produce perfect government and environment on planet earth. Every home in the millennium will start off with believers. The “overcomers” of the church age dispensation will reign with Christ during the millennium. Revelation 3:21 “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (NASB95) Those believers who survived the Tribulation who remain on the earth and have yet to receive their resurrection bodies will repopulate the earth. Those born will have sin natures and will thus need to get saved through faith alone in Christ alone. All of creation will be at peace during the Millennium (Zech. 3:9) and there will be no war during the Millennium. Isaiah 2:1 The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. 3 And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war. (NASB95) There will be international prosperity. The life of a man being during the millennium will be greatly increased. Isaiah 65:17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness. 19 I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying. 20 No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed. 21 They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 They will not build and another inhabit, they will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands. 23 They will not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them. 24 It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent's food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says the LORD. (NASB95) There will be no deserts on the earth (Isa. 35:1-3) and the animal kingdom will be changed (Isa. 11). The original Adamic curse placed upon the creation that is recorded in Genesis 3:17-19 will be removed so that there will be abundant productivity to the earth. The animal kingdom will be at peace as well (Isa. 11:6-9; 35:9; 65:25), all sickness will be removed (Isa. 33:24; Jer. 30:17; Ezek. 34:16) and all deformities will be healed (Isa. 29:17-19; 35:3-6; Jer. 31:8). There will be a supernatural work of preservation of life through the King (Isa. 41:8-14; Jer. 32:27; Ezek. 34:27; Joel 3:16-17; Amos 9:15; Zech. 8:14-15; 14:10-11). There will be freedom from oppression (Isa. 14:3-6; Zech. 9:11-12). There will be a perfect economic system during the millennium in which the needs of men are abundantly provided for by labor in that system, under the guidance of the King. There will be a fully industrialized society (Isa. 62:8-9; 65:21:23; Jer. 31:5; Ezek. 48:18-19) and agriculture as well as manufacturing will provide employment. There will be economic prosperity because of the perfect labor situation (Isa. 4:1; 35:1-2; 30:23-25; Jer. 31:5; Ezek. 34:26; Mic. 4:1; Zech. 8:11-12; Ezek. 36:29-30; Joel 2:21-27; Amos 9:13-14). There will be a tremendous increase of solar and lunar light during the millennium (Isa. 4:5; 30:26; 60:19-20). There will be unified worship of the Father and the Messiah (Isa. 45:23; 52:1; Zech. 13:2; 14:16; Zeph. 3:9; Mal. 1:11). Jerusalem will become the center of the millennial earth (Isaiah 2:2-4; Jeremiah 31:6; Micah 4:1; Zechariah 2:10-11). Because the world is under the dominion of Israel’s King, the center of Palestine becomes the center of the entire earth. Jerusalem will be the center of the kingdom rule (Jeremiah 3:17; 30:16-17; 31:6, 23; Ezekiel 43:5-6; Joel 3:17; Micah 4:7; Zechariah 8:2-3) Spiritual Character of the Millennium The outstanding characterization of the millennium is its spiritual nature. The millennial reign of Christ will be an earthly kingdom but it will be most definitely spiritual in character. The millennial kingdom will be characterized by righteousness. The key words of the Lord Jesus Christ’s millennial reign are righteousness and peace, the former being the root of which the latter is the fruit. Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. 18 Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation, and in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places. (NASB95) During the millennial reign of the King, the prophecy of Psalm 85:10 will be fulfilled. Psalm 85:10 Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 11 Truth springs from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. 12 Indeed, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its produce. 13 Righteousness will go before Him and will make His footsteps into a way. (NASB95) The Messiah’s presence in Jerusalem shall be the source from which all millennial righteousness will emanate in spectacular glory. Isaiah 62:1 “For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not keep quiet, until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, and her salvation like a torch that is burning. 2 The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; And you will be called by a new name which the mouth of the LORD will designate.” (NASB95) Righteousness will be the descriptive term characterizing the rule of the Messiah as a whole. Christ will be the King reigning in righteousness. Isaiah 32:1 Behold, a king will reign righteously and princes will rule justly. (NASB95) He will judge the poor in righteousness and in judging and seeking judgment He shall be quick to bring about righteousness. Isaiah 11:4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. 5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist. (NASB95) Isaiah 16:5 A throne will even be established in lovingkindness, and a judge will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David; Moreover, he will seek justice and be prompt in righteousness. (NASB95) Psalm 96:10 Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity.” (NASB95) Under the Lord Jesus, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be filled. Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (NASB95) The millennial kingdom will also be characterized by obedience. There will be complete and willing obedience on the part of the Lord’s subjects. Through regeneration, Israel will possess the capacity for obedience because of the indwelling of the Spirit (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:25-31). There will be complete obedience in the millennial reign because of the absence of Satan and the fallen angels. All the wicked evil social, religious, economic and political systems of Satan’s cosmic system will be terminated. There will be universal knowledge of the Lord, which will eliminate opposition to God’s will through ignorance. Not only will there be obedience in the nation of Israel to Christ’s rule but also there will be universal obedience among the Gentile nations. There will be complete submission to the Lord’s sovereign authority in the millennium. This perfect obedience to Christ’s authority will be another manifestation of the spiritual character of the millennium. Psalm 22:27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will worship before You. 28 For the kingdom is the LORD'S and He rules over the nations. (NASB95) Malachi 1:11 “For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of hosts. (NASB95) Another manifestation of the spiritual character of the millennium will be holiness. Holiness will be manifested through the King and the King’s subjects. The land will be holy, the city of Jerusalem holy, the temple holy and the subjects holy unto the Lord (Is. 1:26-27; 4:3-4; 29:18-23; Jer. 31:33; Ezek. 36:24-31; 37:23-24; Joel 3:21; Zeph. 3:11; Zech. 8:3; 13:1-2). Zechariah 14:20 In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” And the cooking pots in the LORD'S house will be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the LORD of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts in that day. (NASB95) Christ will reign over the nations of the earth from the throne of His holiness. Psalm 47:8 God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne. 9 The princes of the people have assembled themselves as the people of the God of Abraham, for the shields of the earth belong to God; He is highly exalted. (NASB95) The fact that Christ will reign over the nations of the earth from the throne of His holiness will be according to the promise of the Davidic covenant. Psalm 89:35 Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. 36 His descendants shall endure forever and his throne as the sun before Me. (NASB95) The millennial kingdom will also be characterized by truth. Jesus Christ will judge the world with His truth (Ps. 96:10). Truth will triumph since “the Truth” Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ will reign. Zechariah 8:7 Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; 8 and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.” (NASB95) Isaiah 65:16 “Because he who is blessed in the earth will be blessed by the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of truth; Because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from My sight!” (NASB95) Jeremiah 33:6 “Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth. 7 I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first.” (NASB95) Truth shall be joined together with mercy during our Lord’s reign and then Israel shall say the following: Psalm 98:3 He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. (NASB95) The millennial kingdom will be characterized by the full manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Joel 2:28 It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. (NASB95) The Spirit will indwell all believers during the millennial reign of Christ (Ezek. 36:22-28; 37:1-14). The filling of the Spirit will be common during the millennium. This will be in contrast with the dispensations of human history prior to the millennial reign. National and individual peace is the fruit of the Messiah’s reign (Is. 2:4; 9:4-7; 11:6-9; 32:17-18; 33:5-6; 54:13; 55:12; 60:18; 65:25; 66:12; Ezek. 28:26; 34:25; Hos. 2:18; Mic. 4:2-3; Zech. 9:10). Joy will also be a distinctive mark of the millennial age (Is. 9:3-4; 12:3-6; Jer. 30:18-19; 31:13-14; Zeph. 3:14-17; Zech. 8:18-19; 10:6-7). There will be a full knowledge of the Lord during the millennium because of the indwelling presence of the Spirit in the subjects of the Lord (Is. 11:1-2; 41:19-20; Hab. 2:14). This knowledge will be the result of the instruction that issues from the Lord Jesus (Is. 2:2-3; 12:3-6; Jer. 3:14-15; Mic. 4:2). The Millennial Government of Christ and His Subjects The Scriptures make clear that the world government during the millennium will be under the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ (Is. 2:2-4; 9:3-7; 11:1-10; 16:5; Dan. 2:44; 7:15-28; Obad. 17-21; Mic. 4:1-8; 5:2-5; Zeph. 3:9-10; Zech. 9:10-15; 14:16-17). There will be a perfect world government under the rule of Christ (Isa. 11:1-2; Zech. 14:9). Christ will literally reign in Jerusalem and Israel will be the head of the nations. Capital punishment will be used for punishment of any criminals during the millennium as denoted by the phrase in Revelation 2:27 that Christ will rule “with a rod of iron.” The cessation of war through the unification of the kingdoms of the earth under the reign of Christ, together with the resultant economic prosperity, since nations need not devote vast proportions of their expenditure on weapons, is a major theme of the prophets. The city of Jerusalem, which was the center of David’s government will become the center of the government of David’s greater Son. The city will become a glorious city, bringing honor onto Jehovah (Isaiah 52:1-12; 60:14-21; 61:3; 61:1-12; 66:10-14; Jeremiah 30:18; 33:16; Joel 3:17; Zechariah 2:1-13). So closely is the King associated with Jerusalem that the city will partake of his glory. The city will be protected by the power of the King (Isaiah 14:32; 25:4; 26:1-4; 33:20-24) so that it never again need fear for its safety. The city will be greatly enlarged over its former area. (Jeremiah 31:38-40; Ezekiel 48:30-35; Zechariah 14:10). It will be accessible to all in that day (Isaiah 35:8-9) so that all who seek the King will find audience within its walls. The city will endure forever (Isaiah 9:7; 33:20-21; 60:15; Joel 3:19-21; Zechariah 8:4). The thousand-year reign is the direct administration of divine government on earth for one thousand years by our Lord and His church. Its earthly center will be Jerusalem and the nation of Israel, though Christ and the overcomers of the church age will rule in resurrected bodies and will take the place now occupied by the kingdom of darkness. The millennial reign of Christ will be the public earthly honoring by God the Father of His Son Jesus Christ where men dishonored Him on this earth 2000 years ago. It will be the execution of God’s promises to His Son and the prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus. The Messianic reign will be God’s answer to the prayer, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The Lord Jesus Christ will finally receive the kingdom that He was promised by the Father, which in turn allows the Son to fulfill His promises to those who were faithful to Him while under the persecution of the kingdom of darkness. The Lord will share His kingly honors with the overcomers of the church age. Revelation 2:26 “He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; 27 AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father; 28 and I will give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (NASB95) Revelation 3:21 “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (NASB95) David will be a regent in the millennium (Is. 55:3-4; Jer. 30:9; 33:15, 17, 20-21; Ezek. 34:23-24; 37:24-25; Hos. 3:5; Amos 9:11). Ezekiel 34:23 “Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the LORD have spoken.” (NASB95) He will be prince in Israel and offer sacrifices for himself in the millennial temple (Ezek. 45:22). Nobles and governors will reign under David (Is. 32:1; Ezek. 45:8-9). The parable in Luke 19:12-28 indicates there will be smaller subdivisions of authority in the administration of the government. Israel will be responsible to David and of course ultimately, they will be responsible to the Lord Jesus Christ. The subjects in our Lord’s millennial kingdom will be the following: (1) Regenerated Israel in resurrection bodies (Is. 9:6-7; 33:17; Jer. 23:5) (2) Regenerated Gentiles in resurrection bodies (Is. 2:4; 11:12; 60:1-14; 61:8-9). (3) Regenerated Jews without resurrection bodies (4) Regenerated Gentiles without resurrection bodies (5) Unregenerate Jew and Gentiles. Israel will become the subjects of the King’s reign (Isaiah 9:6-7; 33:17, 22; 44:6; Jeremiah 23:5; Micah 2:13; 4:7; Daniel 4:3; 7:14, 22, 27). In order to be the subjects of the Lord Jesus Christ during His millennial reign, Israel will have been converted and restored to the land (Ezek. 37). Israel will be reunited as a nation in order to be the subjects of the Lord Jesus Christ during His millennial reign (Jeremiah 3:18; 33:14; Ezekiel 20:40; 37:15-22; 39:25; Hosea 1:11). In order to be the subjects of the Lord Jesus Christ during His millennial reign, Israel will be exalted above the Gentiles (Isaiah 14:1-2; 49:22-23; 60:14-17; 61:6-7). Israel will be made righteous in order to be the subjects of the Lord Jesus Christ during His millennial reign (Isaiah 1:25; 2:4; 44:22-24; 45:17-25; 48:17; 55:7; 57:18-19; 63:16; Jeremiah 31:11; 33:8 50:20; 34; Ezekiel 36:25-26 Hosea 14:4; Joel 3:21; Micah 7:18-19; Zechariah 13:9; Malachi 3:2-3). The nation will become God’s witnesses during the millennium in order to be the subjects of the Lord Jesus Christ during His millennial reign, (Isaiah 44:8, 21; 61:6; 66:21; Jeremiah 16:19-21; Micah 5:7; Zephaniah 3:20; Zechariah 4:1-7; 4:11-14; 8:23). In order to be the subjects of the Lord Jesus Christ during His millennial reign, Israel will be beautified to bring glory to Jehovah (Isaiah 62:3; Jeremiah 32:41; Hosea 14:5-6; Zephaniah 3:16-17; Zechariah 9:16-17). Worship of the Messiah During the Millennium The millennial reign will be marked by the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ (Is. 12:1-6; 25:1-26:19; 56:7; 61:10-11; 66:23; Jer. 33:11, 18, 21-22; Ezek. 20:40-41; 40:1-46:24; Zech. 6:12-15; 8:20-23; 14:16-21). Worship is adoring contemplation of the Lord and is the act of paying honor and reverence to Him and affection for Him and flows from love and where there is little love, there is little worship. It is the loving ascription of praise to the Lord in gratitude and appreciation for who and what He is, both in Himself and in His ways and in His work on the Cross for us and is the bowing of the soul and spirit in deep humility and reverence before the Lord. Worship of the Lord involves “reverence” for Him, which is an attitude of deep respect and awe for Him. Worship of the Lord also involves “respect” for Him, which is to esteem the excellence of His Person as manifested through His attributes such as love, faithfulness, mercy, compassion, justice, righteousness, truth, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, immutability, and sovereignty. Worship of the Lord involves “awe” of Him, which means we are to possess an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration for Him. Worship of the Lord also involves “wonder” towards Him, which refers to being filled with admiration, amazement and awe of Him and reaches right into our hearts and shakes us up and enriches our lives and overwhelms us with an emotion that is a mixture of gratitude, adoration, reverence, fear and love for Him. Worshipping the Lord is adoring contemplation of Him as He has been revealed by the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures and is also the loving ascription of praise to Him for what He is, both in Himself, His Work on the Cross and in His ways and is the bowing of the soul and spirit in deep humility and reverence before Him. The believer is to worship the Father spiritually by means of truth, i.e. the Word of God (John 4:23-24). Zechariah 14:16-21 describes the millennial reign of Christ, which is typified by the feast of booths or tabernacles. Jerusalem will become the center of the worship of the millennial age (Jeremiah 30:16-21; 31:6, 23; Joel 3:17; Zechariah 8:8, 20-23). Worship of the Messiah Through The Blood Animal Sacrifices Worship of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ will manifest itself in the millennial temple through animal sacrifices (Ezekiel 40-48). Jerusalem will become the center of the worship of the millennial age (Jeremiah 30:16-21; 31:6, 23; Joel 3:17; Zechariah 8:8, 20-23). There will be a temple in Jerusalem, which will be the center of this worship of Jesus Christ during His millennial reign (Ezekiel 40-48). During the millennial reign of Christ, the Levitical blood animal sacrifices will be reinstituted and will be related to the worship of the Messiah (See Isaiah 56:7; 66:20-23; Jeremiah 33:18; Zechariah 14:16-21; Malachi 3:3-4; Ezekiel 45:18-25). “The prince” is King David as indicated by Ezekiel 34:24; 37:24-25. There are several reasons for the existence of these sacrifices. The first is that the blood animal sacrifices will “memorialize” the work of Christ on the cross just as the Lord’s Supper was designed to do so. Just as the Lord’s Supper today memorializes the death of Christ without diminishing the complete sufficiency of His death, so the animal sacrifices during the millennial reign of Christ will be offered without diminishing the finished work of Christ on the cross. There is yet another purpose for the blood animal sacrifices during the millennial reign of Christ, which is that they are related to solving the problem of ceremonial uncleanness (Ezekiel 43:20, 26; 45:15, 17, 20). To be “clean” meant that one was qualified to worship the Lord while to be “unclean” implied the opposite. The blood animal sacrifices offered during the millennial reign of Christ like the Levitical sacrifices offered by the citizens of Israel during the dispensation of Israel will solve the problem of ceremonial uncleanness enabling a person when they became impure to be restored to the presence of the Lord. In Old Testament Israel, the Lord was in the presence of the Israelites in the Tabernacle and the Temple. Now, an Israelite could become ceremonially unclean or impure by eating unclean animals (Leviticus 11), childbirth (Leviticus 12), swellings and eruptions (Leviticus 13-14), sexual misdeeds (Leviticus 18) or by touching a corpse (Leviticus 21). The solution the Lord provided someone ceremonially unclean or impure were the blood animal sacrifices offered by the Levitical priests. The offering of these sacrifices made the impure Israelite ceremonially clean again and thus enabled him or her to continue to reside in the presence of the Lord. This too will be the purpose for the blood animal sacrifices during the millennial reign of Christ in that these sacrifices like the sacrifices in Old Testament Israel will make an impure person clean so that they can continue to live in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the blood animal sacrifices of the Old Testament and in the millennial reign of Christ protect the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ who is holy. Those who are in resurrection bodies during the millennial reign of Christ such as church age believers and Old Testament saints will not offer the blood animal sacrifices to make them ceremonially clean since they already will be clean. However, those individuals during the millennium who have not yet received their resurrection bodies, namely those believers who survive the tribulation and are still alive on the earth at the time of Christ’s Second Advent will have to offer these animal sacrifices to be ceremonially clean and their offspring will have to as well. Now we must remember that the purpose of the blood animal sacrifices in Old Testament Israel and during the millennial reign of Christ was not to provide eternal salvation since they can never cleanse the conscience of the sinner. Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross is superior to these blood animal sacrifices in that our Lord’s death cleanses the sinner’s conscience and provides eternal salvation for the sinner whereas the blood animal sacrifices only dealt with ceremonial uncleanness and could never provide eternal salvation (Hebrews 10). Another purpose for the blood animal sacrifices during the millennium is that they serve to point to Christ’s superior sacrifice on the cross and will serve as a continual message to the unsaved during the millennium of their need for a Savior. Lastly, the animal sacrifices during the millennium will offer the regenerate person an opportunity to demonstrate outwardly his or her love for and obedience to the Lord (Isaiah 56:6-7). Ezekiel 46:1-18 records King David, who will be in a resurrection body, as offering sacrifices during the millennium as part of his worship of the Lord. He will not be offering sacrifices to become ceremonially clean since he will be in a resurrection body, rather he will offer sacrifices to demonstrate outwardly his love and obedience to the Lord. The Millennium Will Be The Literal Fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles The feast of Tabernacles typifies the millennial reign of Christ. The twenty-third chapter of the book of Leviticus gives us an account of the seven great feasts of the Lord. They were a prophecy and foreshadowing of future events, part of which have been fulfilled, and part is yet to be. They are the “shadow of things to come,” of which Christ is the “body” or substance (Col. 2:16-17). The seven feasts may be divided into two sections of four and three. The first section includes the following feasts: (1) Passover (2) Unleavened Bread (3) First-Fruits (4) Pentecost. Then there was an interval of four months followed by the second section includes the following feasts: (1) Trumpets (2) Atonement (3) Tabernacles. The three Great Festivals were the following: (1) Passover (2) Pentecost (3) Tabernacles. They extended from the fourteenth day of the first month (Nisan) to the twenty-second day of the seventh month Tishri or Ethanim. These seven feasts were given to only given to Israel to be observed and not the church. They do however dispensational implications since they mark God’s timetable with reference to human history. Each of these seven feasts was designed in eternity past to be literally fulfilled by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They speak of Lord Jesus Christ’s intervention into human history. The following feasts were literally fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ during the dispensation of the hypostatic union: (1) Passover: His voluntary substitutionary spiritual death on the cross in April of 32 A.D. (2) Unleavened Bread: His impeccability as a Person. Pentecost was literally fulfilled when the Baptism of the Spirit took place in June of 33 A.D., which marked the beginning of the Church Age. (3) Firstfruits: Resurrection of Christ. The following Feasts are eschatological in nature and thus have yet to be literally fulfilled: (1) Trumpets: Rapture or resurrection of the church terminating the church age. (2) Atonement: Second Advent of Christ ending the Tribulation dispensation. (3) Tabernacles: Millennial reign of Christ on planet earth. The Feast of Tabernacles is also called in the Scriptures the festival of Tents (Hebrew: hag hassukkot, “Feast of Booths,” 2 Chron. 8:13; Ezra 3:4; Zech. 14:16, 18-19; Greek: skenopegia, John 7:2, “Feast of Booths”) was so called because the Israelites were commanded to live in booths during its continuance (Lev. 23:43). It was also called the feast of Ingathering (Hebrew: hag ha’asip, Ex. 23:16, “Feast of the Harvest”; 34:22), because it was held after the ingathering of the harvest and fruits. The Feast of Tabernacles was also called the festival of Jehovah (Hebrew: hag YHWH, Lev. 23:39, “feast of the Lord”) or simply the festival (1 Kings 8:2; 2 Chron. 5:3, “the feast”), because it was the most important or well known. The principal documentation for this feast are as follows: (1) Exodus 23:16 (2) Leviticus 23:34-36 (3) Leviticus 39:43 (4) Deuteronomy 16:13-15 (5) Deuteronomy 31:10-13 (6) Nehemiah 8. The Feast of Tabernacles was a celebration to be observed at the end of the harvest and was continued seven days (Deut. 16:13). The people during the feast were to dwell in booths made of the branches of palm trees and willows from the brook, which would remind them of the palm trees of Elim, and the Willows of Babylon (Ps. 137:1-9). What the Sabbath is to the week, a day of rest; so the seventh month to the other six months of the seventh month cycle, typifies a period of rest-the Sabbath rest of the millennial dispensation in relation to the other six thousand years of the world’s work day history. Like the Lord’s Supper is to us here in the church age, a memorial looking back to the Person and Work of Christ on the cross and forward to the Second Advent so the feast of tabernacles will be a memorial to Israel looking back to Egypt and forward to the millennium. While the Feast of Tabernacles began on the Sabbath and continued seven days, it was to be followed by a Sabbath (Lev. 23:39). This Sabbath on the eighth day points to the eternal state that follows the millennium and the termination of human history when the Lord will create a new heavens and a new earth. PAGE 141 ã2014 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries