Daniel 9:27 - Covenant was confirmed, not made
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A confirmed covenant cannot be broken. Christ confirmed the covenant made by God with Abram.
- 70 Bible years equal 69 of our Roman years
- When does this countdown of 483 Gentile years start?
- Three time periods are in the 70 weeks
- When was Messiah the Prince announced?
- Jesus had a ministry of 3½ years
- Jesus confirmed the covenant when He was cut off
- The 7-year covenant is confirmed, not made, at Calvary
- So, when was that covenant made?
- 3 church ages to restore the Bible Truth lost in the Dark Ages
- Abram's covenant on how to overcome death and hell
70 Bible years equal 69 of our Roman years
In prophecy, every 70 of the Bible years is the same as 69 of our slightly longer Roman years, established by Roman dictator Julius Caesar in 45 BC and fine-tuned by Roman Pope Gregory 13 in 1582.
Let us do a quick review of the return of the Jews after their captivity in Babylon.
Cyrus, the Persian king, allowed the Jews to start rebuilding the Temple in 536 BC.
Jeshua and Zerubbabel laid the foundations and were then stopped by their enemies for 17 years.
Eventually, the Persian king Darius allowed them to finish the Temple which they did in 516 BC, helped by the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah. The second Temple was now complete.
56 Years later, in the first year of the Persian king Artaxerxes, around 460-459 BC, Ezra brought the treasure back to the Temple. At this stage, the Temple was fully restored.
Ezra represented the 5th church age messenger Martin Luther who brought the treasure (salvation by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ when we repent of our sins) back into the church teachings of the Bible. All the rubble of worshiping relics and earning salvation by good works was cleaned out of the new Protestant church.
Then 13 years later Nehemiah, in 52 days, rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem.
In those days a place was only called a city if it had a strong wall built around the buildings. This wall was the strength and protection of the people who were in the city.
Nehemiah represented John Wesley, the 6th church age messenger, who put up the powerful Christian wall of holiness, brotherly love, and outreach. This then led to the great missionary age.
Wesley experienced the Holy Spirit baptism that left his heart "strangely warmed" in 1738 when he listened to a reading of Martin Luther's "Introduction to the Book of Romans".
In 1739 Wesley joined George Whitfield in the open-air ministry to the "unchurched" people.
Wesley preached open-air outreach for 52 years and died in 1791.
Wesley focused on salvation by grace through faith as well as strict holiness. He had a passion for sinners who were outside the church.
Then in 1792 William Carey started the English Baptist Missionary Society and spent his life in India from 1793 onwards. This launched the golden missionary age of Philadelphia, brotherly love. Risking your life to take the Gospel to the heathen who often ended up killing you, assuming strange tropical diseases did not kill you first. Such dedication. Such courage.
Facts to keep in mind when looking at prophecy.
A day can represent a year in prophecy.
A prophetic or Bible year is 360 days long.
Every 70 Bible years are 69 of our Gentile or Roman years.
GENESIS 29:27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
A week can mean 7 years, so a day can represent a year in prophecy.
But it must be a Bible year of 360 days, not a Gentile year of 365.24 days.
REVELATION 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot
forty and two months.
:3And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy
a thousand two hundred and threescore days,
clothed in sackcloth.
A score is 20. So, 1260 days = 42 months. Then 1 month = 30 days.
A Bible year of 12 months is thus 360 days.
DANIEL 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city.
Each year we Gentiles have 5.24 days extra.
So, in 69 years we Gentiles have 5.24 x 69 = 361.56 days extra which makes up a Bible year of 360 days
[within 99.5% accuracy. Gaining 1.56 days in 70 Bible years means gaining less than two weeks in 490 years. So, this slight error will not affect the calculation of the number of years that are involved].
In 70 Bible years we have 69 Gentile years.
So, in 490 Bible years, we have 490/70 = 7 years less on the Gentile calendar.
The 490 Bible years become 490 – 7 = 483 Gentile years.
So, the Jews have a total of 483 Gentile or Roman years left to them.
When does this countdown of 483 Gentile years start?
DANIEL 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
Who gave this command to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem?
Please note.
The Temple had been rebuilt 70 years before this commandment to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem.
A place was only considered to be a city if it had a wall around it.
Jerusalem needed a new wall to replace the broken-down wall in order to be regarded as a city again.
NEHEMIAH 2:1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan,
in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king,
that wine was before him: …
NEHEMIAH 2:5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah,
unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.
Nehemiah could only build Jerusalem as a city if he rebuilt the wall. The wall made it a city.
When did Artaxerxes become king? In the year 465 BC.
Artaxerxes I of Persia - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Artaxerxes_I_of_Persia
Artaxerxes I was the sixth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, from 465-424 BC.
When was his 20th year?
In the next table, the red numbers indicate each year of his reign.
So his 20th year will be 446 BC on our calendar.
Three time periods are in the 70 weeks
7 weeks, 62 weeks, and 1 week. What do they represent?
DANIEL 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be
seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks:
the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
The first 69 weeks (69 x 7 = 483 Jewish years) of the time span is broken up into two sections.
According to Dr Scofield, Malachi prophesied in 397 BC.
Thus from 446 BC to 397 BC the Jews still had 7 weeks (7 x 7 = 49 Jewish years) where they could expect to hear from a prophet.
Then followed 62 weeks (62 x 7 = 434 Jewish years) when there were no prophets.
This ended when John the Baptist came on the scene in AD 29.
Thus, at the end of a 6-month ministry, John baptized Jesus near the end of AD 29 when it was almost AD 30.
The time from the commandment to John the Baptist baptizing Jesus will be 49 + 434 = 483 Jewish years
This equals 483 – 7 = 476 Gentile years.
446 BC plus AD 30 = 476 years.
So, Messiah has to come on the scene in AD 30.
Thus, we must look for an event that happened around AD 30.
LUKE 3:1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,
Dates were measured from the Roman emperor’s reign. Augustus Caesar died in AD 14 and soon after that, the Senate appointed his adopted son Tiberius as emperor or Caesar.
Augustus claimed not to be a king. So Tiberius could not be declared king when Augustus died. To bbe an Emperor, he had to first be appointede by the senate. This happened about one month after Augustus died.
Augustus - Wikipedia
The 15th year of Tiberius means 14 + 15 = 29 so John the Baptist began his ministry in AD 29.
Towards the end of that year he baptized Jesus. It was late in the year AD 29, and thus almost the year 30.
LUKE 3:23And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age,
So when Jesus came on the scene and was baptized it was the end of the 69th week.
Only one week was left for the prophecy.
There were only 7 years to go. But we have had almost 2000 years, so how does it fit?
Messiah the Prince was Son of the King.
Whoever places the seed of life in a woman’s womb is the father of that child.
The Person Who did this to Mary was the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is thus God the Father.
MATTHEW 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife:
for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
Thus the Holy Ghost is the Father of Jesus.
In other words, the Holy Ghost is God the Father Who was creating a physical Body for Himself to dwell in.
This physical Man was the Son of God. (The Bible never says "God the Son" because God is a Spirit, not a Man).
There is no mention of “God the Father” in the Old Testament.
God could only become “God the Father” when there was a human “Son of God” for God to dwell in.
COLOSSIANS 2:9 For in him [Jesus] dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Now notice how the Holy Ghost descended upon Jesus as an anointing. The Spirit did not go into Him.
LUKE 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
The Holy Ghost is the Father of Jesus.
So when He descended in a public anointing He put the emphasis on Jesus as the Son of God.
When was Messiah the Prince announced?
Messiah the Prince.
DANIEL 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince
Messiah means the Anointed One.
Prince means the Son of the King.
At the end of His 3½ year ministry, Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday as the King in AD 33. So that is not the event that Messiah the Prince refers to.
ZECHARIAH 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
MATTHEW 21:5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
DANIEL 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks:
John the Baptist came onto the scene as a prophet in AD 29.
Near the end of that year as AD 30 approached, Jesus was baptized and publicly anointed as Messiah the Prince Who is the “Son” of the King. The King is God Himself.
I TIMOTHY 1:17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God,
DANIEL 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;
Jesus was baptized meaning that only 1 week, 7 years, were left to the Jews.
But He was going to be cut off in the middle of that week after 3½ years.
Then somewhere in the future, during the time of great Tribulation, there is 3½ years left to the Jews.
After the 62 weeks without a prophet that ended with John the Baptist in AD 29, Jesus began his ministry towards the end of AD 29, just before AD 30. Then His ministry was cut off after 3½ years.
Vespasian, the Roman general, was sent to conquer Jerusalem in AD 66 by the emperor Nero.
Towards the end of AD 69 Vespasian was declared Roman emperor and he left Israel and told his son, general Titus, to conquer Jerusalem in AD 70. Thus, Titus was actually a prince in AD 70 as his father was now the emperor of Rome. Titus, as a Roman general and prince, destroyed the Temple and the city and killed 1100000 Jews and enslaved 90000 Jews.
“The people of the prince that shall come”.
Romans destroyed the city in AD 70. So the end-time antichrist prince will also be a Roman, a Roman Catholic.
Catholics say that Peter was the Prince of the Apostles who founded the first church.
The Pope is called "Vicar of the Prince of the Apostles". This makes the Pope a Prince as he stands in the place of Peter. (Vicar means “in the place of ”).
Thus “the Prince that shall come” will also be Roman, a Roman Catholic Pope.
Jesus had a ministry of 3½ years
To prove this, we need to look at the feasts in John’s Gospel.
To have a ministry of 3½ years Jesus would have to attend four Passover Feasts.
Passover was usually around April.
So, if Jesus was baptized around October of AD 29 then that would be about 6 months before the first Passover.
JOHN 2:13 And the Jew’s Passover was at hand… (AD 30)
OHN 6:4 And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh (AD 32)
JOHN 13:1 Now before the feast of the Passover… (AD 33)
There is one Passover missing for AD 31.
The Passover was always the first feast of the year.
So, if Jesus was at any other feast then it meant that the Passover had already happened.
JOHN 4:35 Say not ye, There are yet four months and then cometh the harvest…
The barley harvest was in April. The wheat harvest in May.
So, Jesus is speaking to the Samaritans in winter, around December.
JOHN 5:1 After this there was a feast of the Jews…
We are not told what feast it was. But the Passover feast always came first. So, if this was some other feast, then the Passover for that year AD 31 had already happened.
So, Jesus was present at four Passovers.
This confirms His ministry of being 3½ years.
He died in the year AD 33.
Jesus confirmed the covenant when He was cut off
So, when Jesus began His ministry, late in AD 29 when it was almost AD 30, there were still 7 years (one week) owing to the Jews.
If Jesus had fulfilled His ministry of seven years, then He would have established the Millennium or 1000 years of peace straight after that in AD 37. Then we Gentiles would never have got saved.
But He was to be cut off after 3½ years which is right in the middle of the last week in AD 33.
DANIEL 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,
When he was cut off in the midst of the week, that ended the Old Testament Law with all of its sacrifices.
LEVITICUS 10:6 And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people:
The Law stated that the High Priest Aaron (and his sons who would follow him as High Priest) were not allowed to rend or tear their clothes.
But Caiaphas the High Priest tore his clothes when he questioned Jesus.
MATTHEW 26:65 Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy;
That ended the Law.
God responded by tearing up the inner veil in the Temple.
MATTHEW 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom;
So, the Temple law and its sacrifices and offerings ceased at Calvary.
The Holy Spirit left the Temple when Jesus died and the Holy Ghost came down on the Day of Pentecost to start the seven church ages. The last church age ends at the Rapture when the church is caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
Then Jesus is off the mercy seat and there is no mercy for any Gentiles after that, in the 3.5 years of great Tribulation.
But God has to have mercy on the Jews because He promised them 70 weeks and there is still half a week, the 3½ years of great Tribulation, that is owing to them. That is when Moses and Elijah will call out the 144000 Jews to meet and recognize Jesus as their Messiah.
So the mystery of the 7 church ages is that they push the two halves of the 70th week apart.
These two halves are separated by about 2000 years.
The church ages are thus the "dividing of time" between the two halves of the 70th week.
The 7-year covenant is confirmed, not made, at Calvary
DANIEL 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,
This verse causes much confusion.
A very popular belief goes as follows.
People say that the antichrist will rule the earth for 7 years of Tribulation and make a covenant with the Jews to allow them to rebuild the Temple.
Then they claim that he will break his covenant in the midst of the 7 years by sitting in the Temple as if he is God, and then the last half of the Tribulation will be very bad. The first half of the Tribulation is claimed to be not so bad.
There is no Scripture saying that the first half of the Tribulation is not too bad.
”And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week”.
He does not make a covenant. This covenant is confirmed.
That means that the covenant had been previously made.
The churches cannot answer this because it means that the antichrist has to be on earth for longer than 7 years in that he first has to make the covenant and then later confirm it for 7 years.
There is no Scripture for him being here for longer than 7 years.
There is no Scripture for him making a covenant before he confirms it.
If he is going to break the covenant after 3½ years, then he cannot confirm it.
A covenant that is confirmed cannot be broken.
So, we have a very subtle problem.
The Scripture does not say that he will break the covenant. That is wrongly assumed.
The Scripture says he will end the sacrifices.
So the covenant is confirmed for 7 years but involves the Temple sacrifices ceasing after 3½ years.
DANIEL 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,
The middle of the last week.
The last week splits into two 3.5 year sections.
The first half is the ministry of Jesus.
Pushed far away by the 7 church ages is the second half, known as great Tribulation.
The 7 church ages are the "dividing of time" as they divide the last time of 7 years into two portions.
It looks like God originally promised the Jews 70 weeks but when it came to the last week, the 70th week, then God caused the Temple sacrifices to cease halfway through this last week, at Calvary.
So it seems that the Jews cut themselves off from the last 7 years by killing Messiah.
But Daniel says that God confirmed the covenant for 7 years.
Thus the Jews will get their full 7 years, but they will have to wait until the 7 church ages are over to get their last half-week.
The 7 church ages have divided the last week in half by pushing the last 3½ years way into the future. But the Jews got cut off when they killed Messiah and then had their Temple ruined by the Romans in AD 70 so that they could no longer offer sacrifices. The Jews will come back into the picture in the future, but it will be the time of great Tribulation and two-thirds of them will be killed.
ZECHARIAH 13:8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
But according to the 5th Seal those Jews who are killed for being Jews will be given white robes in Heaven.
REVELATION 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
These are Jews. Their own testimony. Not the testimony of Jesus.
REVELATION 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Christians forgive their killers. Jews demand vengeance. An eye for an eye.
REVELATION 6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
The Bride has just come up to Heaven. But the Jews must wait for a little season, the 3.5 years of great Tribulation where their fellow-servants, the 144000, must also be killed.
Some person must confirm the covenant for 7 years and end the sacrifices in the Temple.
He cannot confirm the covenant if he later breaks it.
The only Person Who can do that is God.
So, when was that covenant made?
GENESIS 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
God made a covenant with Abram, later called Abraham, and his spiritual Seed (Christ).
We always thought that meant his seeds, the Jews. We got that wrong.
There is only one other Scripture that speaks of confirming a covenant.
GALATIANS 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.
He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
GALATIANS 3:17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
God confirmed this covenant in Christ, the spiritual Seed of Abraham.
It had nothing to do with the Jews and the Law which came much later.
The Jews do not own the territory of Israel right up to the Euphrates, but they will in the Millennium of 1000 years of peace.
So what was the covenant that God made with Abraham and his spiritual Seed that was confirmed at Calvary.
Please note that the Temple sacrifices were finished in the middle of the week when the covenant was confirmed. The covenant was not broken.
The Law was ended.
But the Law had nothing to do with the covenant.
3 church ages to restore the Bible Truth lost in the Dark Ages
The resurrection of truth out of the Dark Ages would take three church ages. This was symbolized by Abram killing three animals that were three years old.
The church would have the truth in the first church age thanks to the apostles but would lose the truth in the Dark Ages. Then would come three stages of restoration. This was the difficult part for God because the apostles were no longer around to guide the church back to apostolic truth. So God was very concerned with these last three ages of restoration, described in Revelation Chapter 3.
This 7-branched candlestick represents the first church age from the Day of Pentecost and under the leadership of the apostles who wrote the New Testament.
They were as good as the human church could get.
We cannot improve on them, we can only try to be restored back to them.
This represents the first four church ages as the truth gets increasingly lost, especially in the third and the fourth church ages.
Now we come to the restoration of the truth. This is the part that God is mainly concerned about.
Age 5. Luther in Germany. Getting saved by faith.
Age 6. Wesley in England. Holiness. Brotherly love. Outreach that led to the great missionary age.
Age 7. Pentecost in America. Restore spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit. But that is not quite complete.
Jesus said we must worship God in Spirit and in Truth.
Age 7 restored to Age 1.
William Branham restores the original Truth that the apostles preached in the first church age.
MATTHEW 17:11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
In Revelation Chapter 4 there is a lion around the throne representing Paul and the apostles. There is also an eagle representing the penetrating insight of William Branham's revelations of the Bible mysteries.
So, 5, 6, and 7 are the three key church ages of restoration back to the New Testament faith.
GENESIS 15:9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
Three animals that were three years old.
The "three" symbolizes the three church ages (5, 6, and 7) where truth was restored.
The two birds represented healing and salvation. The two great needs that sinful man has.
GENESIS 15:10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.
The animals were each cut in half and the two halves were laid facing each other.
This symbolizes the Old Testament and the New Testament that represent the two halves of God’s Word that are laid facing each other, separated by the four Gospels which form the middle of God’s salvation plan. Only Jesus knew what was going on in the four Gospels.
The Old Testament finds its meaning in Calvary and the New Testament finds its strength and inspiration in Calvary. The Life and death of Christ hold the whole plan of God together for the salvation of mankind.
The birds were not cut in half.
You cannot separate salvation and healing from Calvary. Both can be obtained there.
Calvary is God’s "Wifi" that continuously broadcasts the Good News of salvation by grace through faith.
You can connect any time, anywhere if you have a password.
The password that works is sincere prayer and accurate Bible study.
GENESIS 15:11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
Fowls were the enemy that gobbled up the seed that fell on hard ground in the first parable, the parable of the sower that represented the first church age in Matthew Chapter 13.
MATTHEW 13:4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
The third parable has a big tree growing unnaturally instead of staying a small shrub. Then fowls (the enemy) come and sit in the branches and take the leadership of this organized church.
Truth should have stayed as small home churches run by local elders.
But the Nicaean Council set the stage for the unscriptural Trinity and the unscriptural Good Friday for Easter. Thus, organized religion, with the bishop of Rome demanding to be the head of the churches, rose up on man-made traditions until human opinions and pagan ideas like Christmas dominated the big organization. Now the churches are ruled by elevated human heads, Nicolaitanism. God hates that.
MATTHEW 13:31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
Each local church was supposed to be small to avoid ambition and money power.
MATTHEW 13:32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
Every religious organization has a man-made hierarchy that is unscriptural but offers elevated positions to ambitious leaders.
The Protestants would also later create an Aaronic priesthood of the five-fold ministry to be elevated above the people so that they could dominate and oppress the people. Then the pastor could claw his way to the top of the unscriptural structure and claim to be head of the church. Only Christ fills that position.
EPHESIANS 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church:
So Abram, the prophet, chased these denominational fowls away. Being Scriptural according to the teachings of the New Testament apostles will chase away the wrong leadership. The New Testament never put a pastor in charge of a church. The early church met in homes.
ROMANS 16:3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:
:5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house.
Abram's covenant on how to overcome death and hell
GENESIS 15:12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
"The sun was going down". Evening time. It shall be light in the evening time when the Truth is restored.
"Abram fell asleep". That was God’s covenant. Do nothing Abram. Your works cannot save you. Just fall asleep and stay out of the way. God will arrange your salvation without any help from you.
The horror of great darkness. The darkness of our sins. Sleep is symbolic of death. After death comes the dark horror of having to pay for our sins.
GENESIS 15:17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
“The sun went down”. Evening time light in the confusing denominational time.
The churches get some light as many understand salvation by grace through faith.
But they also produce much darkness with their unscriptural traditions.
Trinity. Christmas that we were never asked to celebrate. Good Friday. Sunday Sabbath. Eve ate an apple. Seven-year Tribulation. The 1963 Cloud was the coming of the Lord or the coming down of the Angel in Revelation Chapter 10. William Branham is the infallible, Absolute, Voice of God.
ZECHARIAH 14:7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
But there is also Truth as some people are restored back to the truth of the apostolic fathers.
“Dark”. The horror of death when sin has to be paid for.
“A smoking furnace”. The fires from the pit of hell. The scary fate of sinners.
“and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces”.
At Calvary, between the New Testament church that started on the Day of Pentecost and the Old Testament, we have the four Gospels.
They tell us of Christ dying on the cross to pay for our sins. Then He died and His great Holy Ghost passed between the two Testaments as He went down to the fiery furnace of Hell like a burning Lamp in the darkness and smoke of the Pit and defeated the Devil. He paid for our sins and won the battle for our salvation as He left with the keys of Hell and Death. Jesus was then in full control of the salvation plan and the devil badly beaten.
God made the covenant with Abram in the form of these symbols.
God confirmed the covenant at Calvary when He suffered, died, and descended into Hell to defeat Satan. Then He rose from the dead.
The salvation of our souls was confirmed. The sacrifices of the Law were abolished.
But the covenant is confirmed for a week, 7 years.
Jesus fulfilled 3½ years so there are another 3½ years owing to the Jews in the time of great Tribulation.
A huge problem today is that people are falling away from the need to get saved.
Church-goers no longer feel that they need to genuinely and sincerely repent of their sins. People are losing the desire to ask Jesus into their hearts so that He can fully control their lives. Our modern age does not want to become totally submitted to the will of God as they no longer believe that the King James Bible is the infallible Word of God. But each one of us has to make these decisions. The decision is between each person and the Lord Jesus. It has nothing to do with any church.
If you genuinely receive forgiveness of your sins from Jesus, then no man could ever take the place of Jesus in your heart. Because no man could ever forgive your sins.