The Seven Year Covenant.
Jesus said no-one knows the time or the day, not even the son of man, for this is something that the Father has kept in his power, but you will receive power when the Holy Ghost comes upon you. And you will be witnesses throughout Judea and all of the world.
The Devil will use this scripture tho try and keep you from looking into prophecy. Many Christians don't study prophecy because they don't believe we can understand it. However, I believe that when the Holy Ghost comes upon you he will show you things you Know not of and will lead you into all truth.
Ephesians tells us that it is the purpose of the church to let the wisdom of God be known to the principalities and powers in heavenly places. Scripture tells us that the Angels desire to know the wisdom of Gog. That they stand ready to perform God's word.
Understand this. That the calling of the church is to prayerfully seek out the true understanding of prophecy and then to speak it out so the angels hear it and then they will perform it.
However, there is war in the heavenlies. Why! Because every false religion has an interpretation of prophecy and is speaking it out and the angels, including the fallen ones, are working to make it happen. God's angels are might for pulling down strong holds. His angels recognize the truth and will be moved by the faith of those speaking it and will win this angelic war in the end.
But who are the Christians who carry this truth. God knows.
Now Jesus said he didn't know the time of his return. I believe this is because one particular event has had no time stamp on it. This is the 7 year covenant. There is no scripture that I know of that tells when this covenant will be made. However, there are may scriptures telling us of events that follow the confirmation of this covenant once it is made. And so we can know the time of his coming if there is scripture that tells us the time in relation to an event like the 7 year covenant.
So, If you study Daniel you will find that there are many scriptures about the second coming surrounding the 7 year covenant, that have time stamps on them in relation to the covenant. But Jesus did not know when the covenant would be signed because only the Father new this. So he could not tell them when he would return to set up his kingdom.
So we will explore prophecy to see if the bible timeline after the covenant is signed will reveal when Jesus will return. But let's see exactly what the covenant is supposed to be and if there is one in place now.
The 7 year covenant has been taught by many to be a seven year peace treaty. There is absolutely no scripture to back up the idea that the covenant of Daniel 9:27 is a peace treaty. The idea stems from the scripture in 1st Thessalonians that tells us when they say peace and safety, sudden destruction comes upon them.
1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
This peace and safety does not even come at the beginning of the 7 years. It comes after the event Jesus spoke of in Luk 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. If you read on you will find that there is great tribulation in those days. This is because the Jews are being removed from Jerusalem. They are being taken to Greece and other nations that are willing to house them. When they are gone the Palestinians and the whole world will say, "Finally peace and safety" But then sudden destruction comes upon them for Mathew tells us in Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
So these scriptures prove that when 1st Thessalonians said "peace and safety" it was not talking about the covenant but about the time following the Midst of the 7 year covenant where the sacrifice and ablation are taken away.
So if you can see that then let's see what the verse actually says in Daniel 9:27 when speaking of the 7 year covenant.
Dan 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, (note that Jesus was crucified exactly on the day prophesied in this verse) 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.
Dan 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, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
OK, the prince here is the one who makes the covenant. He is of the people who destroyed the temple in 70 AD. This was the Roman soldiers, so the people were the Romans. So the prince comes from the Roman Empire. Today the closest entity we have to the Roman Empire is the European Union. So the prince, or chief according to Strong's concordance, could be of the EU.
Now Jovier Solana was the High Representative of the EU, the foreign affairs minister, in the year 2007. Prior to 2007 he had been busy making agreements with many of the Middle Eastern Nations to help stabilize the the nations involved financially and agriculturally. The agreement that was being drawn up was named the European Neighborhood Partnership Instrument, (hereafter known as the ENPI). It took several years to setup this agreement or covenant. However, by January 2007 the deal was set and only needed the signature of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to sign it to confirm it. On Jan 1st, 2007 Jovier Solana drove to the office, with very little fan fair, signed the covenant promising financial aid to the partnership countries.
The reason he had to wait until Jan 2007 is that the agreement was going to cost the EU millions of euros so it had to be put into the new budget that was up for renewal on January 1st, 2007. This budget has a 7 year term, hence the 7 year covenant.
So you see we now have a 7 year covenant in place for the first time in history between many nations, including Israel. And it was confirmed by the prince of the people who destroyed the city and the sanctuary in 70 AD top the letter fulfilling the prophesy in Daniel 9:26,27.
Now many have argued that this can't be the 7 year covenant because the church is still here and we don't have a peace treaty. I have already given good reason why this covenant is not a peace treaty. But what about the rapture of the church. Is that a sound doctrine?
It is based on the idea that there is a 7 year tribulation period. We know that Revelations tells us the Jesus will keep the obedient from the hour of temptation that comes upon the world. We also know that we are not destined to wrath. But where does the bible ever say that the 7 years are tribulation or wrath or the our of temptation? I can't find any of these. Oh I can take the verses mentioned and attribute them to the 7 year covenant period. But do they belong there? I say no.
The great tribulation is only referred to in the bible as a time after the sacrifice and oblation is taken away and then is only attributed to the Jews in Israel. It doesn't matter what we have been taught to believe. What matters is what the word says.
By the same token, the 7 years is never said to be a time of God's wrath. The wrath is only poured out on the earth after the 2 witnesses of Rev 11 are raised from the dead and raptured.
Others teach that the wicked one sits in the temple of God in Israel at the beginning of the 7 years and therefor we can't be here because he who lets is taken away before the wicked one is revealed. Others teach that He is the same man who makes the 7 year covenant so we can't be here. But none of these teachings are true and all of them only cause confusion when trying to understand God's word.
The fact that so many Christians believe these teachings only manages to prevent them from seeking a true understanding of prophesy, for they think in their hearts we are not going to be here for the 7 years so why try to understand it. It is to confusing. And let's face it, no-one really wants to go thru the 7 years that they believe will be great tribulation.
So, enough time spent of false teachings, let's see what the word says will come after the covenant is signed.
Daniel 8:13,14 give us some incite to the next event to watch for and when it will appear.
Dan 8:13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
Dan 8:14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
From Revelation 11:2 we know that the gentiles will tread the city under foot for 42 months, (1260 days).
Rev 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.
So the question here is, how long will it be until the sacrifice and oblation is stopped and the sanctuary and the host are turned over to be trodden underfoot for 42 months?
The answer in Daniel 14 is 2300 days.
Now this verse has been attributed to many instances throughout history, however, Daniel attributes it the the time of the end in an Daniel 8:17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.
So if we add from January 1st 2007 to the end of 2300 days we come to April 18,2013. This is the date that we should see the armies camped about Jerusalem. Notice that this is not the middle of the 7 years, as most believe it should be. However, it is in the midst of the 7 years, which is what the King James bible says. Here is yet another teaching that has caused confusion in understanding prophesy. The word midst is not necessarily the middle or center. It can be anywhere within the 7 years.
Continued later... It's time for bed.