I could use the help of those of you who have years of studying the Old Testament. I say that because there is a tremendous amount of Scripture to digest that can cause a person to wonder what the Nature of the Jews actually was at the time of Christ.

Is it possible that Israel had been infiltrated and/or, become corrupt because of the Jews' inability to keep themselves from procreating with the Nations considered abominations?

Does anyone have any estimations on how Pure or corrupt their Vine had become?

Thanks!

And by the way, because we are Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we talk to each other with kindness and gentleness. Thank you.

This is just a theory.


I have very often asked myself, could we & the earth be the micro of God who is the macro.

To understand this better here is a link.

There are 75 Verses About The Womb In The Bible​

Children should never EVER be experimented upon for the financial gain of those in the medical profession as well as to push a social agenda.

Please prayer for me to find a church home, need to get back to the church. Hoping to listen and be guided by the Spirit to a church home, tomorrow night.

The founder of a Christian boys' boarding school in rural Missouri and his wife have been charged with first-degree kidnapping following reports of runaways and allegations of abuse at the facility.

Both worked at ABM Ministries Lighthouse Christian Academy, a private Christian boarding school in Piedmont that serves boys ages 10 to 13, the sheriff's department said. Musgraves is the founder and pastor of ABM Ministries, according to his LinkedIn page.

The 25,000-square-foot campus sits on 250 acres near the Ozarks, and the academy markets itself as a special campus for troubled or “learning impaired” youths, according to its website.

The arrests come a little over a week after The Kansas City Star published an article detailing how several boys had run away from the boarding school since Jan. 13.

Per AP:

The school was coed in 2009 when a federal lawsuit accused a former principal of sex acts with a female student and alleged that the Musgraves failed to take action to protect the girl.

In a video message on social media, Sinema, I-Ariz., rattled off what she views as a successful legislative record and lamented that “Americans still choose to retreat further to their partisan corners.”

"It’s all or nothing. The outcome is less important than beating the other guy,” she said. “The only political victories that matter these days are symbolic. … Compromise is a dirty word. We’ve arrived at that crossroad and we chose anger and division. I believe in my approach, but it’s not what America wants right now.”

I didn't always agree with Sen Sinema, but I do have great respect for her independence, worth ethic and willingness to reach across the aile to pass legislation. Sadly, that last attribute is no longer wanted in today's Senate.

There was an interesting conversation about it on Reddit the other day. Essentially people seemed to be more or less in agreement that ordaining married men may be alright since that's essentially what the practice looks like in the Eastern Churches and the Anglican Ordinariate, but it was a "hard no" on marrying already-ordained priests (which is also the practice in those respective parts of the Church).

I started thinking about what that would mean for the families of married men who entered the priesthood. Would it be like the diaconate where most dioceses prefer to ordain men whose kids are grown and therefore he has fewer personal and financial responsibilities or would it be like Anglican and Orthodox priests where men who are married and still raising children would be ordained too?

If it were the latter case I wonder whether the Church would consider some kind of middle ground where the married priests perhaps have a smaller range of responsibilities than their celibate counterparts just because they may need to also have a day job to support their families (like deacons). So they're almost like halfway between a deacon and a celibate priest.

I had been thinking about it a lot lately and I would be interested in considering the priesthood if it were opened up to married men if my responsibilities mostly focused on sharing the Mass and Confession schedule with the pastor of the parish. But when it came to things like going to hospitals and prisons and homeless shelters perhaps that still be left to the celibate priests.

I know, it sounds kind of preposterous to put it that way because laymen can't dictate the terms of the priesthood but I wonder whether the Church can and would make a prudential judgment in the interest of addressing the vocation shortage and giving existing priests a bit of relief by having more priests to say Mass and hear Confessions? It seems like if things were applied to married priests the same way as they are for celibate priests, you may still not get too many takers because the life of a celibate priest isn't really conducive to family life.

It's such a complex issue though. It seems like there's no way the Church would do that, but then I often think about the odd priest who seems to be allowed a different set of responsibilities because maybe they're an instructor at a university or a prolific author or they have a social media presence that they curate as a ministry and it at least seems like they're allowed those pursuits in lieu of a more traditional ministry.

Does that make sense?

Hello, my name is Nichole Eckert (you can call me Nikki). I am 36 years old and I'm blind. I live in a high rise building and have a studio apartment, which is easy for me to clean in and get around in. I've been a Christian, since I was 21 years old. I used to go to an Evangelical church, but I got away from it because I thought the pastor was arrogant. So then, I admit I relapsed and turned to my old ways (the way I acted before I became a Christian. I was not going to church for a long time, I was drinking and getting drunk a lot, I was just doing whatever I wanted, until one day the Holy Spirit convicted me on everything I was doing wrong and so then, I decided to change and take God seriously. Just at the end of this past September, I started going to a Pentecostal church and I love it there and that's where I still go to, now. It's not like just a regular church that you dread going to or you think it's boring, at the church I go to now, we're like a family, a second home, and the church is a safe place that we can talk about anything. My Pastor is very friendly and family-oriented and he gets us into all kinds of activities, encourages us to fellowship with one another, and even tries to reach out to those, who aren't yet saved, which is awesome. I'm not saying no other church does that, I'm sure they do, I was just explaining how my church is. This one is called New Life Assembly of God in Tamaqua and the one I went to years ago was Bethany Evangelical Congregational Church in Tamaqua. The Bethany ECC is right across the street from where I live and New Life is in the same town I live in, but on another street. What I also love about New Life is the people there are very loving and when I testify about things I had done wrong, they give me encouragement, rather than judging and shaming me and they always show me how I can live a better life and do what God says. However, they will tell me the truth and will correct me if I do something wrong, but it's in a loving way. What made me become a Christian was not just my friend and her parents begging me to, though I'm thankful they did, but I went to a Women of Faith confrence with them and I enjoyed hearing the speakers talk about their lives in Christ and it made me want that life. However, after going to Bethany ECC, it made me angry at God for a while and that was when I had my relapse, but when I went to New Life, that's where the Holy Spirit really transformed me and still is to this day. Since then, I'm really trying to live the way God wants me to live. I gave up drinking, I gave up watching a lot of shows I used to watch because of the sins they had in the shows, I just listen to the 700 Club and other God speakers if I want to listen to something, I gave up secular music and only listen to Christian music, I gave up telling white lies to not hurt people's feelings, and I try my hardest not to cuss or take God's name in vein, though something does slip out once in a while, but whenever I do something wrong, I do ask God for forgiveness and to help me not do it again. Some of my hobbies are: I like to walk, play games, do crafts, cook, study God's word, church, bible study, bowling, golfing, swimming, playing with animals, talking with friends, listening to Christian music, listening to Christian speakers and the 700 Club, and any kind of sporty thing I can easily do. I will admit, though, I also like to eat and sometimes I eat too much, which I know is gluttony and I have to work on that. Sometimes food or non-alcoholic drinks taste so good I want to keep eating them or drinking them, but I'm trying to work on that.

Credit card fees will be slashed as part of new rules brought in by the Joe Biden administration.

According to a release issued by the White House on Tuesday morning, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has finalized a ruling that will cut the typical credit card late fee from the current average of $32 to $8.

The new rule closes a loophole in a federal law called the CARD Act, which allows major credit card issuers to charge increasing fees if individuals are late in paying off their debt.

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Despite facing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit from the Center for Immigration Studies, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has refused to identify the 43 airports it is dumping immigrants at after direct flights from Latin America.
As an advocate for government transparency and accountability, this is just the kind of illegal activity that crooked government bureaucrats conduct because officials are almost never held accountable.

If a Christian doesn't feel comfortable being an evangelist/minister if he gives to/ support a world wide church could that take the place of a person preaching.....there are ALOT of Christians that are not evangelists or outgoing witnesses.

LINK

Prosecutors said in the indictment shared Monday that David Franklin Slater, 63, improperly transferred information classified as “secret” to a person who “claimed to be a female living in Ukraine” on the dating website.

According to prosecutors, between February and April in 2022, Slater attended Strategic Command briefings on the war in Ukraine, where he collected national defense information that he messaged the person claiming to be a Ukrainian woman on the dating website.

And around March 23, the co-conspirator allegedly wrote: “Dave, it’s great that you get information about [Specified Country 1] first. I hope you will tell me right away? You are my secret agent. With love.”

How totally not suspicious!

Voters in 16 states and one territory will make their voices heard Tuesday in the biggest primary election day of the 2024 cycle. Also known as Super Tuesday, this biggest single primary contest day will result in over a third of delegates assigned to determine the Republican presidential nominee.

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There's 16 states voting today, and mine is one of them but I may not be able to make it to the voting booth today.

My pain level is really high and I'm trying to take enough pain medicine to get myself in the shower, dressed and out the door but at this point I think it's not happening.

By the time the pain is low enough to do anything I'm probably going to look like a suspicious sort going into the cop shop to vote.... Hahaha

So who's voting? What do people think is going to happen today?

Meta's Facebook, Messenger and Instagram are down worldwide, leaving hundreds of thousands of users unable to access the social media platforms.

A source inside Facebook told DailyMail.com that the company's internal systems were also down, which may have led to Tuesday's outage.

Too early for speculation obviously, but any chance this could be some nefarious outside actors causing a little turmoil on Super Tuesday? (Not sure if FB still does the polling location assistance and voting reminders like they used to)

Many people will know that Jehovah's witnesses forbid their members access to blood transfusions, and if one of Jehovah's witnesses receives one, they will almost certainly be excommunicated and shunned. If the bible really did teach that the use of blood in transfusions was a sin, would you be willing to forgo one or have your child do so even if their life was at risk?

Some of you will know that the passage used to justify their stance is,
Do you think there is a case, however weak it may be, for forbidding blood transfusions?

Just so you know, I would take a blood transfusion even if it appeared that the bible forbids it. I am not willing to die, or to effectively kill my child, simply because someone says that the bible teaches that blood transfusions are not okay. I believe that life, and love overrule anything that a book can teach, even if the book is the bible.

Red heifer update:

Four of the five red heifers have still maintained their purity. If they maintain their purity the Temple Institute is planning on slaughtering them between Passover and Pentecost of this year. That's 2 to 4 months from now. The ashes of the heifer are necessary to purify the priests and implements to start building the temple. Everything is secured and ready to go including a secured spot on the Mount of Olives. I don't claim to be an expert on prophecy, but this is a big deal. Much of the end times are focused on Jerusalem, a temple, and deception.

I am looking for information on Job 42:18-22, in my Orthodox Bible there are these verses. But when I look at other translations NIV, TLV, or my JPS Hebrew-English translations these verses are not there. Any help or guidance much appreciated, thank you.

Voters in 16 states and one territory will make their voices heard Tuesday in the biggest primary election day of the 2024 cycle. Also known as Super Tuesday, this biggest single primary contest day will result in over a third of delegates assigned to determine the Republican presidential nominee.

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Today is Super Tuesday and my state is one that is voting today, though I may end up unable to make it to the polls.

Is your state voting? If so have you voted or are you planning on it?

I thought this would be a fun thread!

Keeping Sunday does not fulfil the commands requirement.

Where do I start here, I have had anxiety and OCD my WHOLE life. There are videos of me as a three year old doing repetitive actions. My parents took them because they were concerned on why I was acting weird. I have faced almost every kind of anxiety out there: health anxiety, Spiritual anxiety, magical thinking, POCD, HOCD, ROCD, Pure OCD, Real event OCD, the list goes on. You get the point.
Now, when I was in Grade 1 I had what is known as a cluster seizure. This is a bunch of seizures together that appear as one BIG seizure. There is no family history of seizures so the docs still don't know why I had this, but I was diagnosed with epilepsy. Now, Praise the Lord, I never had another seizure. But it became one of my MAIN fears with anxiety. That I was going to have another one.
For example, I started to get dizzy with strobes thinking that it was photosensitive epilepsy. Nope...just anxiety.
About a year after that I started to get these bursts of false smells of smoke out of nowhere. This is a symptom of temporal lobe epilepsy. But nope, also anxiety. I still get these sometimes if im REALLY stressed. So im used to my anxiety messing with me. However this one is different.
Back in May of last year I started to think about my seizures again, and I started to get worried about them. Shortly after that I was informed that I would be seeing my neuro in a few weeks for my final appointment with her. This got me REALLY concerned and about a week later I had this strong episode of Deja Vu, which again, is a BIG sign of temporal lobe epilepsy. However, I shook it off and moved on, forgetting about it. Two weeks later it happens again. Once again I shook it off and moved on. Two weeks later it happens AGAIN. This time I freak out. I start googling (how dumb I know, im a pretty seasoned anxiety sufferer and yet I did the single most stupid thing you can do) and get myself all good and anxious. At this point I was near a panic attack and I started to worry and freak out. I started to have them more and more frequently. First it was every 5 days. Then every 3, then 2 and so on.
June rolls around and I see two neurologists. Both of which tell me that I am probably ok. However my deja vus end up getting way more frequent. I talk to my neuro and get an EEG booked. It comes back clean, this did calm me a bit, but I didnt actually have a deja vu while hooked up to the EEG. So I brush it off and continue worrying.
Meanwhile the deja vus are still going on strong.
We jump forward to January of this year (big jump I know, but thats the healthcare system for ya) I meet again with my neuro, she is near positive that I am ok, however I am still having the Deja vus. And they are getting even MORE frequent. I then talk to my GP (who happens to have a masters in neurology), and she is ALSO pretty sure I am ok. However they CONTINUE to get worse.
That brings us to present day. I can't go a DAY without having at least several. They last like 2-10 seconds, and I get this feeling ive done X before and I can even see a false memory of me doing X before. But I can't recall the image afterwords. I am scared to DRIVE because of this. And I keep seeing posts on this sub where people were told their dejavus were just anxiety and then they end up being seizures. I just don't know what to do. Has anyone had this with anxiety before? I am so terrified.

Hi, there has been a 3-day event in my diocese about the Healing of the Holy Spirit (I have one more day I can go) and I'm kind of ashamed to admit it but I'm struggling to believe any of this

I believe that during Jesus' ministry, miracles did occur but this doesn't feel like a thing today. When the motivational speaker said "Jesus is ALIVE AND IS VICTORIOUS!" - instead of being motivated, I kind of cringed, because it was the way she said it maybe. I think the whole thing is trying to sport a Pentecostal vibe. Maybe I'm wrong.

As I said in the title, I hope this doesn't mean that my faith isn't real. None of this "healing session" stuff feels like it's legit. I've been to these things before at my former parish. I've never been healed. I still think you need to go to the doctor.

SUMMARY​

• The 70 "weeks" refer to Sabbath-year cycles (7 years each).
  • Daniel's prayer relates to the exile in Babylon, which is based on Israel's violations of the Sabbath year and their consequences as laid out in Leviticus 26. His plea for restoration aligns with the prophecy's promise of ending sin and bringing righteousness.
  • Furthermore, this interpretation aligns with the same Greek word for "weeks" used in Leviticus 25 and Daniel 9:25 in the Septuagint, and was a recognized interpretation in early Jewish literature.
• The prophecy starts with Cyrus's decree (539 BC) allowing the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem.
  • This decree fulfills prophecies about Cyrus in Isaiah (44:28, 45:13).
  • However, the actual Sabbath Year cycles didn't restart until Ezra's mission in 458-457 BC, when Jewish law was fully reinstated in Jerusalem and Judea.
• The 69 weeks mark the time until the Messiah arrives. This aligns with Jesus's baptism in 27 AD
• Jesus was crucified "after" the 69 weeks, not "in" the 70th week.
  • This, among other things, allows for a gap between the weeks.
• The subsequent destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans (70 AD) confirms the prophecy's prediction of temple/city destruction by the Romans.
  • There have been wars and desolations in Jerusalem since then, fulfilling the last part of verse 26.
• The 70th week is yet to come and will include the future abomination of desolation, marking a key end-times event.
  • Historically, abomination of desolation refers to an idolatrous act in the temple (Dan. 11:31). Therefore, Jesus cannot be the fulfillment of this prophecy.

FULL POST​

Background: The Babylonian Exile

Israel was supposed to let the land rest for a year every 7 years.

"For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its produce, but during the seventh year the land shall have a Sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard." - Leviticus 25:3

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They also descended into idolatry and terrible sins. As a result, Israel went into exile in Babylon for their sin.

31 I will turn your cities into ruins as well and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your soothing aromas. 32 And I will make the land desolate so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled at it. 33 You, however, I will scatter among the nations, and I will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become ruins. (Leviticus 26:31-33)

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The exile was not finished until 70 years were completed for Babylon.

‘Then the land will restore its Sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land will rest and restore its Sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it will have the rest which it did not have on your Sabbaths, while you were living on it. (Leviticus 26:34-35)

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"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 the Sabbath until seventy years were complete." - 2 Chronicles 36:21

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(For a discussion of the length of the exile, and what the 70 years refer to, see this link:

JEREMIAH'S SEVENTY YEARS FOR BABYLON: A RE-ASSESSMENT PART I: THE SCRIPTURAL DATA

and this link:

JEREMIAH'S SEVENTY YEARS FOR BABYLON: A RE-ASSESSMENT PART 2: THE HISTORICAL DATA

Daniel's Prayer​

While in exile in Babylon, Daniel realizes that the 70 years for Babylon have ended. This is proven by the fact that Darius was "of Median descent," and was in charge at the time.

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans— 2 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. (Daniel 9:1-2)

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Therefore, he prays a prayer of repentance specified by Leviticus 26 for when the nation is in exile.

11 Indeed, all Israel has violated Your Law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has gushed forth on us, along with the oath which is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him. 12 So He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great disaster; for under the entire heaven there has not been done anything like what was done in Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our wrongdoing and giving attention to Your truth. (Daniel 9:11-13)

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and also

16 Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the wrongdoings of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become an object of taunting to all those around us. 17 So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his pleas, and for Your sake, Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary. (Daniel 9:16-17)

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Compare to Leviticus 26...

40 ‘But if they confess their wrongdoing and the wrongdoing of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me— 41 I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies—or if their uncircumcised heart is humbled so that they then make amends for their wrongdoing, 42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land. 43 For the land will be abandoned by them, and will restore its Sabbaths while it is made desolate without them. They, meanwhile, will be making amends for their wrongdoing, because they rejected My ordinances and their soul loathed My statutes. (Leviticus 26:40-43)

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The Angel's Answer to Daniel's Prayer​

As a result, God responds by sending an angel to answer Daniel's prayer.

“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the wrongdoing, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place." - Daniel 9:24

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The angel says it will take 70 "weeks" for the Jews and Jerusalem to bring in "everlasting righteousness" and for them to stop sinning. We've already established a really strong link between Leviticus 26 and Daniel 9. So what are the weeks?

Definition of "Weeks"​

The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament used in the time of Jesus. It's translation abbreviation is "LXX." The Septuagint refers to "weeks" in two different places. The first is Daniel 9:24-25 of course.

"Seventy weeks [Greek: ἑβδομάδες] have been determined..." (Daniel 9:25b Brenton's LXX)

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...there shall be seven weeks [Greek: ἑβδομάδες], and sixty-two weeks [Greek: ἑβδομάδες]... (Daniel 9:25b Brenton's LXX)

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What's the ONLY OTHER PLACE that uses this Greek word for "weeks"? You guessed it. Leviticus!

"And thou shalt reckon to thyself seven sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and they shall be to thee seven weeks [Greek: ἑβδομάδες] of years, nine and forty years." (Leviticus 25:8 Brenton's LXX)

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Apparently, the interpretation of the "weeks" as Sabbath year cycles is found in multiple other Jewish documents BEFORE Christ. This view was apparently held within 5 centuries after Christ as well.

"That shavu'a meant the sabbatical cycle is attested in Qumran, rabbinic and epigraphic documents."

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"The difference between the two interpretations is that, according to the former, any septennial number will do; according to the latter, however, each seven-year period had its fixed place in a series, precise in beginning and end. A second difference stems from the first. Modern exegetes interpret the passage without reference to Jewish chronology current at that time. The ancients, however, took it for granted that the numbers in 9:24-27 had to harmonize with their calendar of sabbatical cycles." -Ben Zion Wacholder

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CHRONOMESSIANISM: THE TIMING OF MESSIANIC MOVEMENTS AND THE CALENDAR OF SABBATICAL CYCLES

Therefore, "weeks" are Sabbath year cycles, not just any old 7-year period.

The Decree to Restore and Rebuild Jerusalem​

So you are to know and understand 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 streets and moat, even in times of distress. (Daniel 9:25)

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(Notice also, the apparent allusion to Leviticus 25:8 with the forty-nine years of the verse above).

What then is the kick-off decree? Bear with me a moment, but I think many people are onto something when they say it has to be the decree of Cyrus to let the Jews return home. This is actually REQUIRED theologically.

It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd,
And he will carry out all My desire.’
And he says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’
And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”
(Isaiah 44:28)

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and also...

I have stirred him in righteousness,
And I will make all his ways smooth.
He will build My city and let My exiles go free,
Without any payment or reward,” says the Lord of armies. (Isaiah 45:13)

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Though not always historically accurate, the 1st Century Jewish historian, Josephus, agrees with this:

"Cyrus also sent an Epistle to the Governours, that were in Syria: the contents whereof here follow.
'King Cyrus to Sisinnes, and Sathrabuzanes, sendeth Greeting.
I have given leave to as many of the Jews that dwell in my countrey as please, to return to their own countrey, and to rebuild their city, and to build the temple of God at Jerusalem, on the same place where it was before."' -Josephus

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It looks like Cyrus authorized rebuilding of the city, as well as the temple.

When Did Wall-Building ACTUALLY Begin?​

In fact, we see building activity by Jews after Ezra arrived in the 7th Year of Artaxerxes (457-458 BC).

"11 this is a copy of the letter which they sent to him:
“To King Artaxerxes: Your servants, the men of the region beyond the Euphrates River; and now 12 let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem; they are rebuilding the rebellious and evil city and are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. (Ezra 4:11-12)

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This was why Nehemiah was so upset when he heard that the walls were in ruins (Nehemiah 1:3). It was not because of the city's destruction from nearly 150 years prior! He would have known about that.

Most scholars, however, do not believe that Nehemiah’s distress was caused by the condition of walls torn down one hundred forty years before his time but rather by the episode of Ezra 4:7–23. According to this passage Jews had attempted to rebuild the walls earlier, in the reign of Artaxerxes I. But after the protest of Rehum and Shimshai, the king ordered the Jews to desist.

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Nehemiah Esther Expositors Bible Commentary

Furthermore, Nehemiah's mission was primarily about REPAIRS, which only took 52 days!! (Nehemiah 6:15)


Some people start the Daniel 9:27 decree with Nehemiah. But this is not accurate, because they have to use 360-day years for the calculation, when literal years are required by context of the SOLAR 70 years of the desolations of Jerusalem.

But the Cyrus decree doesn't line up with the coming of Jesus, does it? That happened in 539 BC.

Keep reading to see how it does.

When Do the "Weeks" Begin?​

Remember, Sabbath-year cycles aren't just any 7-year period. They correspond to times in Jewish history. But Sabbath year cycles are only observed when in the land.

25 The Lord then spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I am going to give you, then the land shall have a Sabbath to the Lord. (Leviticus :25:1-2)

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Jews were allowed to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple (and apparently, the city). But they probably didn't start observing Sabbath-Year cycles at that point. The actual weeks didn't start until 457-458 BC, when Ezra took another group of returnees and re-instituted Jewish law in Jerusalem and Judea.

"25 “And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges so that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the Euphrates River, that is, all those who know the laws of your God; and you may teach anyone who is ignorant of them. 26 And whoever does not comply with the Law of your God and the law of the king, judgment is to be executed upon him strictly, whether for death or for banishment, or for confiscation of property or for imprisonment.”" - Ezra 7:25-26

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This lines right up to the baptism of Jesus in 26-27 AD!!


But what happens AFTER the 62 and 7 weeks?

AFTER the 69 Weeks​

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. (Daniel 9:26)

Historians lean towards a crucifixion date of 30 A.D. Some say it's 33, but I think the slight majority prefer the 30 A.D. date. As we know from history, Jesus was killed and rejected by his people "AFTER" the 69 weeks, not "IN" the 70th week. The Romans came after this and destroyed the city and sanctuary as predicted by Daniel. This happened in 70 A.D.

And since then, Jerusalem has been sacked or sieged numerous times in history.


This is consistent with the wars and desolations until "the end."

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.

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this aligns with Christ's words as well:

Woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to this people; 24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

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The 70th Week​

"And he will confirm a 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 the one who makes desolate, until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, gushes forth on the one who makes desolate.”

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This part hasn't happened yet. Jesus stated that the "abomination of desolation" was future from the standpoint of the first century. (Matthew 24). This also supports a "gap" between the end of the 69th week and the 70th week, since both refer to abomination of desolation. The abomination of desolation precedes the resurrection of the dead in the end times (Daniel 12) and happens in close proximity to the return of Christ in Matthew 24. Therefore, it is an end times event.


Furthermore, Jesus can't be the one who "makes desolate" as some interpreters claim. Abomination of desolation is associated with idolatry in the temple (Daniel 11:31), not our Savior.

Thoughts?

And not chasing pills and alcohol."

Trump White House Was Awash in Drugs Because No One Wanted to Be There

i recall reading a report that listed the drugs being dispenses for the white house a few months ago and this story just adds to it all.

While other presidents were known to take a mix of drug cocktails to fight off back pain (like JFK) or bad moods (like Nixon), no previous administrations matched the level of debauchery of Trump’s, whose in-office pharmacists unquestioningly handed out highly addictive substances to staffers who needed pick-me-ups or energy boosts—no doctor’s exam, referral, or prescription required...

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As a slight sidebar...do people bring in their own staffers or would the white house generally have mostly their own people? I'd assume mostly the latter

Thoughts on this?