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Scripture Reading: 2 Thes. 2:1-12; Dan. 9:24-27
In the foregoing message we considered the three main schools of teaching concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus, His parousia, and our gathering together, our rapture, to Him. These are the schools of pretribulation, post-tribulation, and the school that considers the entire parousia in detail. We also saw that in 2:1-12 Paul gives a word of correction of the misconception concerning the day of the Lord’s coming.
In 2:1 Paul speaks of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him. In 2:2 and 3 Paul tells the believers not to be quickly shaken in mind nor alarmed, neither by spirit, by word, or by letter, as from the apostles, that the day of the Lord is present. He also charges them not to allow anyone to deceive them. Then Paul goes on to say that the day of the Lord will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness, Antichrist, is revealed in his own time. At present, although the mystery of lawlessness is already working, there is a restraining factor, but one day this factor will be removed. Then the lawless one will be revealed. However, the Lord Jesus will slay him by the breath of His mouth and bring him to nothing by the appearing of His coming (parousia, v. 8). The coming of the lawless one will be according to the operation of Satan, with all power, signs, and wonders of a lie and with all deceit of unrighteousness among those who are perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. Because of this, God will send them an operation of error that they might believe the lie.
In the foregoing message we pointed out that the man of lawlessness, Antichrist, will be manifested in the middle of the last of the seventy weeks mentioned in Daniel 9. In this message I would like to give a further word regarding the seventy weeks in Daniel 9 in relation to Paul’s word of correction in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12.
Daniel 9:24 says, “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.” In this verse a week equals seven years. Seventy weeks, therefore, are seventy times seven years or four hundred ninety years. Daniel was told that these seventy weeks are determined upon “thy people and upon thy holy city.” This means that the seventy weeks are related to Daniel’s people, the children of Israel, and to the holy city, Jerusalem. This verse also speaks of finishing the transgression, making an end of sins, making reconciliation for iniquity, bringing in everlasting righteousness, sealing up the vision and the prophecy, and anointing the Most Holy. If we read this verse carefully, we shall see that it speaks of the ending of this age. The bringing in of everlasting righteousness refers to the millennium, to the thousand-year kingdom, when there will be righteousness on earth. Therefore, this one verse indicates that the seventy weeks will reach unto the end of this age and will bring in the thousand-year kingdom.
Daniel 9:25 says, “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 seven weeks in this verse denote forty-nine years. If you study the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, you will see that from the time that the king of Persia gave the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem unto the completion of this rebuilding was forty-nine years. Verse 25 also speaks of a period of threescore and two weeks, or sixty-two weeks. This is equal to four hundred thirty-four years. The first seven weeks and the sixty-two weeks yield a total of four hundred eighty-three years. This leaves the last week, a period of seven years, for the future. The first forty-nine years go from the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem to the completion of the rebuilding. The four hundred thirty-four years extend from the building of Jerusalem to Messiah the Prince. The last part of verse 25 says that the “street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” This refers to the building that took place during the first seven weeks, that is, during the first period composed of forty-nine years.
Verse 26 says, “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” The words “cut off” refer to the crucifixion of Christ, the Messiah. Christ was cut off not for Himself but for us. He was crucified for us.
The “people of the prince that shall come” is a reference to the people of Titus, a prince of the Roman Empire. In A. D. 70 the Roman army under the leadership of Titus thoroughly destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, the sanctuary. The history written by Josephus describes this terrible destruction.
Verse 27 says, “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, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” In this verse the pronoun “he” refers to “prince” in verse 26. However, this “he” will actually be the coming Antichrist. In typology, Titus was a prefigure of Antichrist. What he did in A. D. 70, Antichrist will repeat in the future. Hence, the prophecy here in Daniel 9 regards the two as one: the first, Titus, is the prefigure; the second, Antichrist, is the fulfillment.
The Antichrist, the one typified or prefigured by Titus, will according to verse 27 “confirm the covenant with many for one week.” This covenant will be an agreement that is intended to last for a period of seven years. This seven years is the last of the seventy weeks mentioned in Daniel 9:24. In the midst of the last week, the last seven years, Antichrist will “cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” This means that he will stop the Jews from offering sacrifices on the altar in the temple and will begin to persecute every kind of religion.
From the time the commandment was given to rebuild the city of Jerusalem until the completion of this rebuilding was forty-nine years, or seven weeks. Then the time from this completion to the crucifixion of Christ was sixty-two weeks, or four hundred thirty-four years. After the crucifixion of Christ, the seventy weeks were suspended. This suspension will continue until the beginning of the last seven years of this age.
In the four Gospels the Lord Jesus said that because of His crucifixion God would give up the children of Israel. Therefore, their history was suspended at the cross, and from that time onward they have been forsaken by God. God has temporarily set them aside, put them away. The divine history then comes to the church. This means that the history of the church occupies the period of time between the end of the sixty-ninth week and the beginning of the seventieth week. In other words, the church age is equal to the time during which the seventy weeks are suspended. We may also say that the age of the church, the entire history of the church, is an insertion wedged in between two parts of the history of the children of Israel.
This understanding corresponds fully to what is revealed in certain of the parables uttered by the Lord Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. For instance, the parable in Matthew 21:33-46 speaks of the transfer of the kingdom of God. In this parable the vineyard is the city of Jerusalem, and the husbandmen are the leaders of the Israelites. Matthew 21:41 says, “They say to Him, He will miserably destroy those evil men, and will lease the vineyard to other husbandmen, who will render the fruits to him in their seasons.” This was fulfilled when the Roman prince, Titus, and his army destroyed Jerusalem in A. D. 70.
In the parable of the marriage feast the Lord Jesus says, “And the king was angry; and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city” (Matt. 22:7). These were the Roman troops under Titus which destroyed Jerusalem. Matthew 22:9 indicates that the preaching of the New Testament has turned to the Gentiles: “Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and as many as you find, call to the marriage feast.”
These parables indicate that after the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, God gave up the children of Israel and focused His attention on the church. Therefore, at the time of Christ’s crucifixion, the history of the children of Israel was suspended. This suspension will continue until the end of the church age, when God will once again visit the children of Israel. Then the last of Daniel’s seventy weeks will begin. After this seventieth week, there will be the millennium, the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. The millennium will be followed by the new heaven and the new earth with the New Jerusalem. That will be eternity.
Antichrist will be extraordinarily powerful. For this reason, the Jews will be afraid of him and will be compelled to make an agreement, a covenant, with him that is intended to last for seven years. According to that covenant, Antichrist will promise the Jews that he will not persecute their religion. However, in the middle of the last week, the last seven years, Antichrist will break this covenant. He will force the Jews to stop offering the sacrifices, and he will seat himself in the temple of God, claiming that he is God. Speaking of Antichrist, the man of lawlessness, 2 Thessalonians 2:4 says, “Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or an object of worship, so that he seats himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself that he is God.”
In the Bible the last of the seventy weeks is divided into two parts. What divides this week in half is Antichrist’s breaking his covenant with the Jews, forbidding the continuation of the sacrifices, and seating himself in the temple. The Bible does not say much about the first half of the seventieth week; however, it has much to say about the second half. This second half is called “time, times, and half a time,” that is, three and a half years; it is also described as forty-two months and twelve hundred sixty days (Rev. 11:2-3; 13:5).
While Antichrist is moving on earth, the Lord Jesus will begin to move from the heavens to the air. We are not clearly told at what time the Lord will begin this move. As a result of careful study, I would say that this will begin very close to the middle of the last seven years. Revelation 12 indicates that the manchild will be raptured to the throne of God. From the book of Revelation we also know that the last three and a half years will begin after the manchild is raptured. At the time of the rapture of the manchild, the Lord Jesus will still be on the throne in heaven.
Furthermore, the one hundred forty-four thousand, first-fruit to God and the Lamb, in Revelation 14 will also be raptured to the throne of God. These one hundred forty-four thousand firstfruit will not be taken to the air; rather, they will be taken to the heavens, even to the heavenly Mount Zion. The rapture of the firstfruit to the heavens is typified by the firstfruit in Exodus 23:19 being brought into the house of the Lord for God’s enjoyment: “The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God.” According to Revelation 14, the harvest, the majority of the believers, will be left on earth to pass through the second half of the last seven years, which will be the period known as the great tribulation. Shortly after the manchild and the firstfruit are raptured to the throne, probably the Lord Jesus will begin His descent from the throne to the air, concealed in a cloud.
Where does 1 Thessalonians 4 fit into this picture? The rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4 must correspond to the reaping of the harvest in Revelation 14. This harvest will be reaped, raptured, probably at the end of the last three and a half years. This means that the harvest will be reaped toward the very end of the great tribulation.
In 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Paul says, “Let no one deceive you in any way; because it [the day of the Lord] will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.” After the apostasy and the revealing of the man of lawlessness, there will be the appearing of the Lord’s parousia. The revelation of the Antichrist will be completed during the last seven years. This revelation of Antichrist must be first, and then there will be the appearing of the Lord’s parousia.
In verse 8 Paul says, “And then the lawless one shall be revealed (whom the Lord Jesus will slay by the breath of His mouth and bring to nothing by the appearing of His coming).” This indicates that the Lord’s coming (parousia) will first be hidden and then will appear openly. This also indicates that the Lord’s coming involves a period of time. It will remain in secret for a period of time, and then will appear to the public. The Lord’s parousia will take place secretly during the last three and a half years. Then when the Lord Jesus slays Antichrist, His parousia will appear. Therefore, the Lord’s parousia will begin with His coming from the heavens to the air and will be completed with its public appearing.
