From the time of Abraham to the time of the Exodus was 505 years. Near the beginning of this stretch of years Abraham lived with Ismael at his side for 15 years. If we subtract the 15 years from the time of 505 years due to the unbelief caused by Ishmael, it would leave us with a span of 490 years. Of the following sets of numbers, this one is the hardest to establish. Yet, the pattern of God putting Israel on a 490 year clock and stopping it during unbelief is begun here.
From the Exodus to the building of Solomon's temple spanned 601 years. If we look carefully at the book of Judges and count the amount of time that the Israelites were given over to their enemies for unbelief we find that it is 111 years. 601 years-111 years is again 490 years. The clock stopped again due to unbelief.
The Babylonian Captivity marks the next crucial event in Israel's history. We know that it lasted 70 years and that during this time the temple was destroyed. The time from Solomon's Temple to the edict to rebuild the temple was 560 years. Again 560-70=490. Their captivity time was subtracted from God's prophetic clock.
Look at Daniel's amazing prophecy. Some have called this the greatest prophecy ever given. It is found in Daniel 9:24-27. For space reasons, I will not post it. Verses 25 and 26 inform us that the Messiah appears 69 weeks of years after the edict to restore and rebuild the temple. 69 x 7 = 483 years. After this He will be cut off (crucified) for others, and those who killed Him will destroy the city which happened in 70 AD. Then amazingly the sacrifices are still going on in verse 27 and a covenant is made for that last seven years. How could there be sacrifices that are caused to cease if the temple was destroyed? More on this at another post--just know that this is the seven years tribulation.
The Jewish people's calendar is a 360 day lunar calendar (this is also an important point to remember in a later post). The edict to rebuild and restore was given in 444 BC on March 5th. According to our calendar, 483 years later would be 33 AD when adjusted for zero year. It becomes astounding when we calculate the days in 483 lunar years. 483 x 360 = 173,880. Exactly 173,880 days from the above mentioned edict was March 30, 33 AD. It was on this day that a lowly carpenter named Yeshua in Hebrew rode into Jerusalem on a donkey as the masses shouted, "Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."
We will find out why this is important and how it relates to the last trump on the next few posts. Just know that God was imputing prophetic stoppages of the clock as it related to Israel since Abraham. The final countdown to the 490 prophetic years will begin when the beast makes a peace treaty with the Jewish nation. I wonder how the NT John and the OT Zechariah knew that the peace process would dominate the news just before this time? :)
Israel, the Middle East and the Coming of Jesus
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