The Jewish Queen of Persia

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This week is Purim, a celebration that honors YHWH, the living God of the Bible and a young Jewish maiden who changed the course of history. The maiden’s Hebrew name was Hadassah which means myrtle, but most of us know her by her Persian name of Esther or star.

It’s the story of a young girl with a courageous heart who answered the call when others would or could not, a story of one who was willing to sacrifice her place amongst the people she loved in order to protect them. You know, we often focus on Hadassah’s bravery as queen when approaching the king unannounced, but seldom do we appreciate the sacrifice she made for her people long before that day arrived.

You see, Hadassah, in order to be considered a potential future queen of Persia, had to be willing to sacrifice her virtue and her place amongst her own people. This was not just a beauty pageant where the losers got to go home with a consolation prize. The best she could hope for in a second place finish was concubine to the king, forever an outcast without respect and place amongst her own people.

But that is not how it turned out. Hadassah’s bravery and her love for her people changed the history of the Jewish people and those efforts even reached across the ages to touch the lives of you and me. Can you imagine what the history of the Jewish people might have been had Hadassah not acted? To be sure, YHWH could have raised up another brave soul to take her place in order to fulfill His redemptive plan for mankind, but surely the historical landscape would have changed.

Today I’d like to give you a unique glimpse of how YHWH used Hadassah to change the history of the Jewish and Persian people. The history we will explore in this article is a little known aspect of that Jewish / Persian history which finds roots in the superstitions surrounding the number 13 and the celebration of April Fool’s day. Continue reading →

Queen of 127 Provinces

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“Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:) . . .” Esther 1:1

To me one of the coolest statements in the book of Nehemiah is an often overlooked mention of the queen of Persia. It’s a statement that frankly seems out of place unless you understand the chronological context of the Persian era. In the past few chapters, we’ve learned that the Jewish people were shown amazing favor during the reign of Darius ‘the Great’ Artaxerxes. This king over 127 provinces went out of his way to financially support and encourage the construction of the temple of Jerusalem as well as the city itself. It turns out there is more to the story than most of us have realized, and the book of Nehemiah gives us a clue: Continue reading →

Douglas Woodward Tackles Daniel’s 70 Weeks

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Douglas Woodward Pic To say my book Daniel’s 70 Weeks: The Keystone of Bible Prophecy challenges conventional thinking is probably an understatement. For those of you who have read the book, you know I challenge both Historicists and Futurists to take another look at this vital Bible prophecy in light of its 2^nd temple Biblical context and a Biblical reckoning of time.

Recently, Douglas Woodward, the popular Christian speaker and author, jumped into this discussion with both feet. If you have watched or read Mr. Woodward’s work, you know his unique style is sure to liven any discussion. In the case of Daniel’s 70 Weeks: The Keystone of Bible Prophecy, Mr. Woodward brought a decent amount of both praise and criticism. Mr. Woodward’s review of my book can be found at his blog here: Douglas Woodward I’d encourage you to read the article. It raises a lot of good questions and really challenges you to think about the subject. Few of today’s Christian prophecy teachers have been willing to talk about the issues raised in my book and it was a real privilege to get Mr. Woodward’s thoughts and criticisms.

As I said Mr. Woodward’s review had a decent amount of praise and criticism. In today’s blog post I would like to look at some of Mr. Woodward’s criticisms and do my best to provide a reasonable Biblical rebuttal. Mr. Woodward’s main disagreements focus on the final 7 shabuwa (weeks) of the 70 Weeks prophecy. More specifically he disagrees with my understanding of Daniel 9:27 and the identity of the “he” mentioned in this verse as well as the type of Biblical time used to calculate this final shabuwa. This timing discussion also spilled into a discussion of whether a “prophetic year” of 360 days is the intended timing mechanism to synchronize the various prophecies of Revelation and Daniel. Continue reading →

41 Generations to the Messiah

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Fibonacci Sequence

One of my favorite prophetic passages in the Bible is found in Isaiah 46:9-10. It’s a statement by YHWH, the living God of the Bible, that He is God and there is none like Him. In this wonderful passage, YHWH is talking to Israel contrasting Himself with the Babylonian gods, Bel and Nebo, which had been unable to save ancient Babylon and its inhabitants from captivity.

To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?…

Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Isaiah 46:5, 9-10

Did you catch that? The first evidence YHWH uses to prove to Israel that Bel and Nebo are not His equals is the fact that He tells the end from the beginning. In other words He knows the future. This foreknowledge of the future is one way YHWH sets Himself apart from other gods and elevates the Bible above other religious texts. Continue reading →

A Double Standard for Jonathan Cahn

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In the Bible Jesus often condemned the religious hypocrisy of His day. One of the more vivid examples comes from Matthew 23 where He lectures the scribes and Pharisees, telling them they were “blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel”.

Lately, I admit that I’m bothered by the way some of Jonathan Cahn’s more strident critics have attacked his work and in some cases his character. Mind you, I’m all for constructive criticism given in the spirit of humility and grace. In fact, there are some parts of Mr. Cahn’s book that I’ve disagreed with myself, but that’s not what I’m talking about here.

What I’m talking about are those who condemn his work with a sense of self-righteous superiority. While Mr. Cahn’s critics are straining to show the illegitimacy of his Shemitah theory, they fail to hold themselves to the same Biblical standard. In fact, I dare say they are straining at a proverbial gnat while swallowing a camel.

This is really about one of the best kept secrets of Bible prophecy. You see, many of Mr. Cahn’s critics hold a prophetic position far more influential for which they cannot provide a solid Biblical foundation. While they accuse Mr. Cahn of insufficient evidence, misinterpretation, and wishful thinking they are guilty of errors far more egregious. I’ll explain: Continue reading →

An American Da Vinci Code

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This week I’d like to share with you a bit of intriguing Americana with an unusual religious twist. It’s a true story about a famous Christian soap maker of early America and his brick cipher which The New Yorker magazine called the “Mystery on Pearl Street”.

To give you a sense of this story, New York’s own Historic Districts Council called this brick symbol an “American Da Vinci Code”, The New York Times headline ran, “Three Cryptic Shapes Pose a Puzzle” and USA Today proclaimed “Symbol on NYC building a History Mystery”.

Our story begins with William Colgate, one of America’s early success stories. When you think of Colgate you’re probably thinking of toothpaste, but Mr. Colgate actually began his entrepreneurial endeavors as a soap and candle maker in Baltimore, Maryland. Eventually Mr. Colgate moved to New York and became one of the most influential and wealthy men of that era. But that is only the most well-known part of the story. Continue reading →

The Unknown God

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Each time Friday the 13^th rolls around I can’t help but think of the Apostle Paul and his speech to the men of Athens. By all accounts, Paul was quite a character. I can just picture him standing on the ancient Areopagus (Mars Hill) of Athens nearly two thousand years ago calling out to those gathered at the famous altar to the Unknown God:

“Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.”

I admit, I would like to have been there for that speech. To see Paul in his billowing robes challenging the highly educated Atheneans about their unfounded superstitions would have been quite a sight. Anyway, Paul goes on to explain to the men of Athens that the God they ignorantly worship was the living God of the Bible.

If the Apostle Paul was here today, I can just see him chiding our generation with similar advice. Let’s take the number 13 for example. Even among Christians this number has a certain evil connotation about it. Have you ever wondered why the number 13 has such a superstitious aura? What if I told you, that like the ignorance of those men of Athens concerning the altar to the Unknown God, the superstitions surrounding the number 13 are but the vestiges of a similar story that involves that same “Unknown God”? Continue reading →

The Seventy Weeks of Walid Shoebat & Joel Richardson

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The role and identity of the Antichrist in future eschatological events has long concerned the Christian church. Today one of the growing schools of thought is that this future evil world ruler will be Islamic. Walid Shoebat and Joel Richardson are two of the leading proponents of this belief. In keeping with our investigation into the influence Daniel 9 has had on the eschatological beliefs of popular Christian prophecy teachers, today we will look at how the 70 Weeks prophecy is incorporated into Mr. Shoebat and Mr. Richardson’s eschatological world view. Continue reading →

The 70 Weeks of David Reagan

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In our ongoing efforts to understand how Daniel 9 and the prophecy of 70 weeks has influenced the world view of popular prophecy teachers, this week we will be looking at the 70 weeks of Dr. David Reagan. Dr. Reagan is the director and founder of Lamb and Lion Ministries. He is a respected author and teacher on prophecy and is well known for his straight forward no-nonsense approach to the subject.

Let me say up front Dr. Reagan has a special place in my heart. I don’t know him personally but I’ve read many of his books and I have great respect for his teachings on Bible prophecy. Many years ago when I was trying to contact many of the leading prophecy teachers of the day about Daniel 9, I emailed Dr. Reagan about the prophecy of 70 weeks and after a rather brief exchange Dr. Reagan’s final email to my question was just a few very important words: Continue reading →

The 70 Weeks of Alan Kurschner

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As part of our ongoing effort to understand the influence of Daniel 9 on popular Christian eschatological thought, this week we will be looking at the influence of the 70 Weeks on the pre-wrath position of Alan Kurschner. Mr. Kurschner is the director of Eschatos Ministires and a leading apologists for the pre-wrath position. Like my previous article this is meant to be a critical but respectful look at the subject.

Daniel 9 and the Pre-wrath view of the Rapture For those who don’t know, briefly, the pre-wrath position places the rapture of the church after the revelation of the Antichrist but before the wrath of YHWH is poured out upon the earth. Continue reading →

The 70 Weeks of Chuck Missler

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As promised in my last blog article, over the next several weeks, we are going to look at the influence Daniel 9 and the 70 Weeks prophecy has had on the teachings of some of today’s respected prophecy teachers. I want to make it clear up front that these articles, though critical, are not meant to be disrespectful. None of us have all the answers and when discussing Bible prophecy a great deal of humility is required.

I decided to start this series by looking at Chuck Missler’s interpretation of Daniel 9. The reason, I start with Mr. Missler’s interpretation of the 70 Weeks, is because this is the predominately held view today and it will be most familiar to a majority of my readers. Mr. Missler is a respected prophecy teacher and I have enjoyed and learned from reading his material over the years. Continue reading →