The Return of the King of Kings Part 3

There is further evidence that links the rebirth of Israel to the return of Jesus and places the return within our lifetime.  This evidence comes from the words of Jesus:

                “And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations.  And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
                Luke 21:24

In this passage Jesus is referring to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D. followed by the centuries of Jewish exile and occupation of their land by Gentile (non-Jewish) nations.  The land of Israel was indeed trampled by Gentiles.  It was turned into a desolate battleground that changed hands many times from the days of the Crusades all the way up until World War I when it fell under British control.

The times of the Gentiles refers to a break in God’s appointed timeline for the nation of Israel.  It is also referred to as the Church Age, marking the spread of the Gospel throughout the world.  The angel Gabriel explained the remaining years appointed to the nation of Israel to the prophet Daniel as follows:

                “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.  And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.  The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined.  Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.  And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.”
                Daniel 9:25-27
 
The weeks referred to by Gabriel are actually groups of seven years.  This is based on the Biblical passage that a year is as a day for the Lord.  The command to rebuild Jerusalem was given by Artaxerxes in the month of Nisan (March/April) in 444 B.C. based on a request by his Jewish cupbearer, Nehemiah.  This was actually a reaffirmation of a decree issued by King Cyrus years earlier that had not been completed.  The first seven weeks (49 years) represent the time it took to rebuild Jerusalem.  The rebuilding did indeed take place in troublesome times, so much so that Nehemiah ordered the men to build with weapons at their sides, for there were adversaries that did not want to see Jerusalem rebuilt.

The second 62 weeks represents the remaining time until the Messiah is cut off.  Using the Jewish calendar, which is lunar based, not solar based, you end up with the first 69 weeks (483 years) ending in the month of Nisan (March/April) in the year 33 A.D.  This puts the time of Messiah being cut off right at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus.

As Gabriel stated, the Messiah would be cut off (killed) but not for himself.  Jesus died as a sacrifice to save the human race from sin.  He died for our sake, not his own.  And just as Gabriel foretold, after this event the temple and Jerusalem would be destroyed by the people of the prince who is to come.  As mentioned earlier, the Romans destroyed the temple in 70 A.D.  This line of prophecy leads to the commonly held thought that the Antichrist (the prince who is to come) will be the leader of some kind of revived Roman Empire.

The cutting off of the Messiah marks a pause in the Jewish seventy-week timeline and the beginning of the time of the Gentiles.  The final week of the appointed years will begin when the time of the Gentiles comes to an end, and more precisely, when the prince who is to come confirms the one-week (7 year) covenant.

The question then becomes, how close are we to the time of the Gentiles coming to an end?  The year 1948 saw the rebirth of Israel.  The year 1967 saw Israel reclaim control of the Temple Mount of Jerusalem in the Six Day War.  However, despite the fact that Israel now controls all of Jerusalem, their holiest site is still occupied by Gentiles in the form of the Muslim Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque.  Indeed, as a gesture of peace, Israel granted Jordan administrative control over the Muslim holy sites on the Temple Mount.

It should also be noted that even though Israel reunified Jerusalem in 1967 and named it their capitol, the world did not acknowledge it.  That changed last year, the year of Israel’s 70th anniversary of returning as a nation, when President Donald Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capitol by moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.  Since then, other nations have followed suit.  However, there are still many nations that do not recognize Israel’s claim on all of Jerusalem and the Gentile Muslim presence still occupies the Temple Mount, standing in the way of the rebuilding of a third Jewish temple, which is crucial to the fulfillment of prophecy.

So the time of the Gentiles has not quite come to an end, but it is drawing close.  There are a few scenarios that could see the Jews take complete control over the Temple Mount and rebuild their temple.  The first would be as part of the seven-year treaty they confirm with the Antichrist.  This would involve full international recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capitol, the building of a Jewish temple, and perhaps the continued presence of the Muslim Holy sites as a compromise, but under the complete control of Israel.

The second possibility is that a coming war between Israel and the surrounding Muslim nations (most likely the Gog/Magog war prophesized by Ezekiel) will see the destruction of the Muslim holy sites on the Temple Mount, clearing the way for the rebuilding of the Jewish temple.

The third possibility is that Israel will continue to pursue its national interests regardless of world opinion and build their temple on the Temple Mount alongside the existing Muslim structures.  The razor-thin margin of victory in the most recent election for Prime Minister of Israel has seen the conservative religious faction gain critical political influence and they may exert this influence to push for the building of a temple.

I personally believe that it will be a combination of the first and second possibilities.  I think the Gog/Magog war (I will describe this war more fully later) will see the destruction of the Muslim holy sites on the Temple Mount, ironically most likely from a barrage of missiles fired by Muslim forces haphazardly into Israel.  In the aftermath of the war, the Antichrist will emerge to broker what he will describe as a lasting peace for the region.  Building the temple will be a priority for the Jews, because as Ezekiel describes, it will be very clear that they will owe their victory in the war to God.  This will turn Israel from a largely secular nation to the full-on religious state it was back when Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem and began the final seventy weeks appointed to Israel.  As part of the deal, Israel will forgo exerting further territorial claims to expand to their full Biblical borders in exchange for the removal of any Muslim claim to the Temple Mount.  After having been completely devastated by the war, the Muslims will have no choice but to accept these terms.  This will remove the Gentile presence from Jerusalem, thereby ending the time of the Gentiles and ushering in the final seven years before the return of the Messiah Jesus.
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In the next post I will discuss the Gog/Magog War and point out just how close we could be to seeing it unfold.