nancy70x7 said:
Dispy,
I think you are forgetting one important issue. The 70 Weeks of Daniel is a time period of seven "sevens" (literally "heptads"). The first 69 Weeks were literal weeks of years. Unless you want to allegorize Scripture (and shame on you if you do!), the 70th Week has to be interpreted literally as one "heptad" also. It would be inconsistent to interpret one literally and the other allegorically.
It should be obvious to you that the tribulation has gone on much longer than seven years, if indeed the tribulation began at Pentecost.
I do agree with you that the Tribulation is a 7 year period. However, the Tribulation that started at Pentecost was interrupted,
AFTER Israel was set aside, because that had rejected God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Also, that interrupted the Law and the preaching of "the gospel of the kingdom."
With the raising up of Saul/Paul, God ushered in this "dispensation of GRACE".
The Tribulation will resume
AFTER the rapture of the Chrich, the Body of Christ.
The following is what I posted on another thread:
In Luke 24:45 we learn that prior to Jesus returning back to heaven, He opened up the understanding of His disciples to the scriptures. They had to be the OT scriptures being the NT scriptures had not yet been written. The OT scriptures had to do with the prophesies pertaining to the nation of Israel. Paul tells us in Romans 15:8 that Jesus came "...to confirm the promises made unto the fathers."
In Acts 2 we find that Peter and the 11 were filled with the the Holy Ghost and were speaking "...as the Spirit gave them utterance" (vs 4)
Based upon those two facts, I feel that Peter knew exactly where he was in the timetable of prophesy.
He explained to his listeners in Acts 2:15-20 what was happening.
Acts 2:15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
16 BUT THIS IS THAT WHICH IS SPOKEN BY THE PROPHET JOEL,
17 And it shall come to pass IN THE LAST DAYS (the Tribulation), saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come:
Peter is quoting Joel almost word for word.
Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass AFTERWARDS ( THE LAST DAYS/the TRIBULATION), that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come.
32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
Joel isn't speaking of Pentecost, he is speaking of the 70th Week of Daniel, found in chapter 9.
Another thing that I just learned in the past year, after believing and hearing it all my life, was that Jesus [BNEVER[/B]offered to kingdom to Israel. I only heard and believed that Jesus offered the kingdom, the Jews rejected it, and Peter then offered the kingdom again in Acts 3:19-21.
It was in Sunday School, in this past year (I love Sunday School), that I learned that Jesus NEVER offered the kingdom to Israel. (I'm still in the learning mode.)
True, according to OT prophesy, it was the proper time for the kingdom to be established. The King was already in their midst. However, Jesus Him self said in Luke 17:25 (speaking of Himself) "But first he must suffer many things, and be rejected by this (those living at that time) generation.
We know from OT prophesies that two things must happen prior to the kingdom being established. 1. That Jesus must suffer, and 2. That Israel must go through the Tribulation.
Jesus couldn't offer the kingdom while he taught and preached on earth because He still had not suffered. However, Peter at Pentecost could make a legitiment offer of the kingdom in Acts 3:19-21 because Jesus had already suffered, and the Tribulation had started. Therefore, if Israel, as a nation, would repent of the crucifiction of Jesus, then the Tribulation would have run its 7 year course, and Jesus would have returned to set up His Kingdom.
We know from the Gospels, and what Paul said in Romans 10:3, that Israel, as a nation, rejected God the Father, when they refused to be baptized of John the Baptist, and ALLOWED him to be beheaded, and went about trying to establish their own righteousness.
They rejected God the Son when they DEMANDED that Jesus be crucified.
Then they rejected God the Holy Ghost when they (their leaders) KILLED (STONED) Stephen who was filled with the Holy Ghost. (Notice the progression of Israel's involement.)
With the nation of Israel's rejection of the Trinity, there was no way that the "so called" great commission could be carried out through the nation of Israel, and the promise to Abram, back in Genesis 12:1-3 that the world would be blessed through his seed, be fulfilled.
Therefore, God set the nation of Israel aside, after the stoning of Stephen, raised up Saul/Paul to usher in this "dispensation of GRACE," to offer salvation/justification to all mankind according to "the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began."
We know that at Pentecost, "the gospel of the kingdom" was still being preached (it was offered in Acts 3), and that the Law was still in effect. Also, at that time if one that was a Gentile wanted to worship the true and living God, that one had to become a Jew (proselyte), and place themselves under the Law. It was still unlawful for one that was a Jew to have company with one from another nation. Peter confirmed this in Acts 10:28. The Gentiles was still considered "unclean"/"heathen"/"dog" and "outside the gate."
When God showed Peter, in Acts 10, that he should no longer consider the Gentile "unclean," it didn't raised up the Gentile to the level of the children of Israel, as God's favorite people/nation, but put the children of Isreal on the same level as the Gentiles that were set aside back in Genesis 11, at the Tower of Babel. Paul tells us in Romans 11:32 "For God hath concluded them all (Jews and Gentiles) in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all."
When God set the nation of Israel aside, He raised up Saul/Paul to usher in this "dispensation of GRACE." Saul/Paul was saved by the pure GRACE of God when he was on his way to Damascus. Paul tells us in 1Tim.1:16 "Howbeit for this cause, I obtained merch, THAT IN ME FIRST Jesus Christ might shew forth all long suffering, FOR A PATTERN to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting."
If Paul was the first one to be saved by pure GRACE, then those that were added to the Chruch at Pentecost, must have been added to the Jewish Church that Peter was speaking.
It is in Paul's Epistles that we learn that believers are a "new creation" in Christ, that the Law was set aside and the purpose of the Cross. Salvation is no long of the Jews (John 4:22), and the keeping of the Law, but by FAITH ALONE in the Cross work, (death, burial, and resurrection [1Cor.15:4] of Christ.
The purpose of the Cross was unknown until revealed to Paul (1Cor.2:7,8).
Hope this is helpful, but at least you know where I am coming from. Interested in knowing your feelings on thisl.
God Bless.
Live Well, Laugh Often and Love the Lord!
