Hi
@SuperCow
I've seen the seventh day adventists use it (as well as the 1260 year periods) to point to then end of papal supremacy in 1798 AD, as well as creating a variation of the Millerite movement that predicted Christ's return in 1844 AD.
Yes, but none of those events came to pass. As far as the prophecy that I'm talking about Israel did become a nation in 1948. Had Christ returned in 1844, for which there is truly no way to make the numbers of the prophecy that I'm referring to point to 1844, then maybe today we could agree that the prophecy somehow pointed to that date. But...Jesus didn't return in 1844. Israel did become a nation in 1948 and the prophecy seems to be pretty darned accurate in pointing to that date. So, while I understand that you may have read other explanations of the prophecies, as far as I know, only the return of Israel actually happened about the time that the prophecy does seem to point to.
Jehovah's witnesses originally predicted Christ's return in 1914, but for that to work, they push the destruction of Jerusalem back 20 years earlier to 607 BC.
Right, and just as explained above, we know Christ did not return in 1914 and so the JW's are obviously wrong in their prophetic foretelling. But...Israel did return in 1948 which is where this prophecy that I'm discussing does point to.
Just as Daniel's prophecy of the 70 sevens was obviously not understood by Israel prior to Jesus' visiting us, we can now, after the fact mark out the exact date that Jesus was to visit us based on the prophecy because now Jesus has come. Now, on this side of the equation, we know when Jesus came and so we can go back and reread Daniel's prophecy, for which the angel specifically told Daniel that it foretold the coming Messiah, and see how the years of 69 sevens does work out to exactly when Jesus was with us.
So, sometimes, before events happen, prophecies can be made to explain a lot of things that are going to happen. We see that all the time now in those who propose to tell us all the things that are going to happen in the last days based on the Revelation of Jesus. But trust me, after the days of great tribulation have come, then we will, most of us, be able to sit back and say, "OHHh. That's what was being explained to us." Just as today we can say, "Ohhhh. I see how Daniel's 69 sevens worked out. And we can also now sit on this side of Israel's return, which we know that God has always promised us was going to happen through dozens of other prophetic passages. But now we can sit back and add up all the numbers of the prophecy and say, "Ohhhh. I see now how 1948 was exactly when Israel we supposed to regain its nationhood based on God's word.
I don't know if you've done any reading on the bible codes that seem to be contained in the writings of the law, and it is only in these few writings that the codes appear. But it lists a number of names and dates, that unfortunately we have no clue as to what they're about, until after a certain person or a certain date has come. It's really quite a fascinating study. And while I understand that there are naysayers among us who claim that the phenomenon is just not possible, it is worth considering that one of the main points that the ELS (equidistant letter spacing) claims is that you can't know what words or dates to look for until after some event has passed. Similarly, I claim here that even with biblical prophecy, much of it isn't understood until after an event takes place that was foretold.
As I wrote earlier, despite the angel telling Daniel that the prophecy he was about to receive was explaining 'when' Messiah would come, it seems that very few in Israel understood it, even as it was unfolding right before their eyes. Jesus, in his first teaching read from the scroll of Isaiah the prophecy of what God's servant would be doing. Jesus read it and then said to them, "This prophecy is fulfilled in your hearing." None of those people understood what Jesus was talking about. If they had, they would have immediately understood that Jesus was the Messiah, the servant of God that Isaiah was writing about.
We actually stand today and slap ourselves on the forehead. Questioning with a certain amount of incredulity, "How can they not have known?' An entire legion of angels appeared in the sky over the heads of a group of shepherds when then went into Bethlehem and told the people what they had seen, and yet most of the Jews had no idea 30 years later, that they were murdering God's Messiah. So, I understand that prophecy often can't be understood until after what ever is prophesied comes to pass. But now Israel has been reborn. It happened in 1948. There is a prophecy in the Scriptures which does point us to that date. It obviously wasn't a prophecy foretelling of Jesus' return in 1844 or pointing to the end of the papacy in 1798.
God bless,
Ted