Bible Study—"Appointed Times"

Miscellaneous Questions

Fred R. Coulter—April 13, 2012

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How do we resolve the difference between 400 years and 430 years?

We begin right here in Genesis 15:13: "And He said to Abram, 'You must surely know that your seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs... [Notice the parenthetical statement. We will skip over it.] ...four hundred years."

The parenthetical phrase: "...and shall serve them and afflict them four hundred years." (v 13). That's not the way it reads. It reads this way, so I'm going to read it without the parenthetical statement. Because the parenthetical statement is not totally part of what's being said. And they: "...shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs four hundred years..." and shall serve them and they shall afflict them. Not that they were afflicted 400 years. They're going to be sojourners 400 years. See the difference? Because if you don't realize the parenthetical statement is an inset, then you can get the chronology all messed up.

Let's come to Exodus 12 and the thing we need to understand is that God does everything on time. That's why the book, The Appointed Times of Jesus the Messiah. Remember, 'at the appointed time Christ died for the ungodly.' At the time of fulfillment He was born. We have a reference back to this very place that we just read, but notice something that is a little different.

Exodus 12:40: "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years." Anyone who does any chronological things can find out that no, they were not there 430 years. We're going to solve two problems here:

• How do you solve the difference between the 400 and 430?

You do it this way: Write this down. Gen. 12. Abraham was called at 75-years-old. Gen. 15 was the covenant given and he was 85, because it says at the end of one of the chapters there that he was 86 when Ishmael was born. That was one year after Gen. 15. Then we come to the birth of Isaac.

• 85-years-old when the promise given
• 100—Isaac is born
• Take away 85 from 100 and you have 15
• so, we have half of the missing 30

We'll go to Gen. 22 because I'll answer another question while we are there. Gen. 22 also probably took place on a Passover. I just mentioned that recently, so I won't go into detail through that.

This is where God told Abraham to take your son, your only son Isaac, and that means the only son of promise. Ishmael was also his son, but not the son of promise. 'Take him over to the mountain of Moriah which I will show you and then offer him there for a burnt offering.'

Genesis 22:6: "And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son.… [a type of Christ carrying His cross] ...And he took the fire pot in his hand... [You can't hold fire in your hand; it had to be in a pot that he was carrying.] ...and a knife. And they both went together. And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, 'My father.' And he said, 'Here I am, my son.' And he said, 'Behold the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt offering?' And Abraham said, 'My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering.' So, they both went on together. And they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. And he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the wood, upon the altar" (vs 6-9).

Isaac is called a boy, and a lad. Let's see that, which means he was not 20, because you are counted as an adult at age 20.

Verse 10: "And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the LORD called to him from the heavens and said, 'Abraham! Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.' And He said, Do not lay your hand upon the lad..." (vs 10-12). That means he was less than 20.

What do we pick up here by deduction? The 400 years cannot be wrong and the 430 years cannot be wrong, so we have to deduce that he was 15-years-old at this point. You total up 75+10+15+15 and you come out to 115 years. That's where you get the extra 15 years.

• 15 years from the promise to the birth
• 15 years from the birth to the sacrifice

That's 30 years. Then from the time of the promise it's 10 years, so you have 10 and 30 makes 40 and 40 is a time of trial.

One minister recently tried to explain that what we're going to read next did not apply to Abraham, but applied to Isaac. How do you know it doesn't apply to Isaac? Because if it did apply to Isaac, He would have said so!
Verse 2, God said, "…'Take your son, your only son Isaac…'" But this applies to Abraham, not to Isaac.

Verse 11: "And the angel of the LORD called to him from the heavens and said, 'Abraham! Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.' And He said, 'Do not lay your hand upon the lad, nor do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God... [Not Isaac. Isaac was not even at the age of accountability; he was 15-years-old. It's talking about He now knows that Abraham truly fears God.] ...seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me" (vs 11-12). Then God sent the ram as a substitute sacrifice.

That's problem #1—15 and 15 equals 30. That's how you get the 430 years.

Now let's come back to Exodus 12 and read that again. How do we answer this—because if you ever run into an atheist who is really sharp on the Bible, they'll probably come up with this and nail you with it. You can nail them right back. You can tell them, 'Yes, you're right. It appears to be that way.'

Duncan and I were talking last night. He has written a booklet for Church at Home, God—no God. He's going to see if he can work on another one that we may entitle, I Agree with Atheists 90%. It's really the 'religion' they hate. If they knew the Truth about God, they wouldn't hate God. It's really what men do in the name of God. They'll come along, if they're real sharp, and say, 'Okay, here's a contradiction in the Bible. Says 400 years in Gen. 15 and in Ex. 12 it says 430.'

Exodus 12:41: "And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, it was even at that very same day, all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt"

Verse 40: "Now, the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years."

• How could that be because Isaac was not even born yet at the beginning of the 430 years? And he had not yet been offered and God providing the substitutionary offering.

How do you answer that? Tricky question! Come back to Genesis 15 and we can give the answer, because when God says something, it is as good as done, though it won't happen for quite a while in the future.

After Abraham said, 'Look, I haven't had any children so let's use Eliezer,' Genesis 15:4: "And behold, the Word of the LORD came to him saying, 'This man shall not be your heir; but he that shall come forth out of your own loins shall be your heir.'" Where was Isaac at the moment that He was speaking? In his loins: Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve tribes of Israel.

Let's see something else. We can put this together in a way that also answers that question. How does God look at things? Let me just say this: God says we are sitting in heavenly places now and also in the ages to come. How are we sitting in heavenly places? Because we have the Spirit of God and the Spirit of God is here with us, and He is teaching us spiritually! But we are not literally there yet, but we will be. Just like Isaac had not been born. All the children of Israel had not been born. Isaac and Jacob had not been born, nor the twelve sons.

This is talking about tithing, so he says here, Hebrews 7:5: "For on the one hand, those from among the sons of Levi who receive the priesthood are commanded by the law to collect tithes from the people—that is, from their brethren—even though they are all descended from Abraham. But on the other hand, He Who was not descended from them received tithes from Abraham, and blessed him who had the promises. Now it is beyond all doubt that the inferior one is blessed by the superior one. And in the first case, men who die receive tithes; but in the other case, He received tithes of Whom it is witnessed that He lives forever" (vs 5-8).

Now notice v 9, which is the key. How did they sojourn 430 years: "And in one sense, Levi, who receives tithes, also gave tithes through Abraham; for he was still in his forefather's loins when Melchisedec met him" (vs 9-10). God was speaking of the whole thing as if it were one long sequence in Egypt because Abraham went into to Egypt. Isaac did not go into Egypt. Jacob finally went into Egypt. Joseph went into Egypt; the rest of the twelve tribes came, remember, during the famine and all that sort of thing.

It's all counted as one block of time by God, because they were in the loins of Abraham their forefather. Levi didn't say, 'Knock, knock, hey, great-grandfather.' What do you want down there, Levi? 'I want to tithe.' You do? Okay, I'm going to Melchisedec, now you can do it. No!

The Appointed Times

In this book—The Appointed Times of Jesus the Messiah—it talks about all the appointed times as it pertains to Jesus the Messiah. Some of these things are in A Harmony of the Gospels, which are also in The Christian Passover book and The Day Jesus the Christ Died. But these are presented in a little different manner, is that these all apply to Jesus Christ.

We're going to talk about Jesus' birth here in just a minute. I think we're going to find some very interesting parallels concerning the days of the week. It said that Christ came at the fulfillment of the time (Gal. 4).

Matthew 1:25: "But he [Joseph] did not have sexual relations with her until after she had given birth to her son, the firstborn..." I know the King James says 'her firstborn,' but the Greek says the firstborn. I know that the King James says 'a virgin,' but the Greek says the virgin, not any virgin, but the—singular, particular—virgin, called Mary. Jesus was born of the flesh—correct?

Let's see what else it also says about Jesus. This also helps answer the question: When are you born again? This will really throw all of your Protestant friends into a 'tither.' You can use these two verses. You can ask them, 'Does it say He was firstborn? Yes! Does this mean He was born of the flesh?' Yes! You get them involved in answering.

Revelation 1:5: "And from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness the Firstborn from the dead..." Then you ask them: Was He the Firstborn from the dead? You've already paved the way for answering about souls not going to heaven. What do we have? Jesus was born of the flesh—do you agree? He was born from the dead. It says Firstborn, so Jesus was born again.

• Firstborn in the flesh
• Firstborn from the dead

This proves when you're born again: when you're born from the dead. It has nothing to do with baptism. It has nothing to do with believing in the Lord. You're already born once—aren't you? Jesus was born in the flesh; He was born from the dead. Now pay careful attention. You'll find it in the book. Jesus had to have been born on the Feast of Trumpets in 5B.C. Couldn't be any other year. That day was the Feast of Trumpets, which occurred on a weekly Sabbath.

Jesus was born on a weekly Sabbath, also a High Day and the Feast of Trumpets pictures the coming of Christ! Was He the Christ? He was born on the Holy Day, the weekly Sabbath. When was He raised from the dead? You have His first birth on the Sabbath, you have His born again when? When was He raised from the dead? On the weekly Sabbath! Does God do things on time or not? Isn't that something? Parallel—amazing!

Now I'll tell you about another one, but we'll go back and we'll pick up the details on it. Carl Franklin did all the research on the kings of Media, Persia, Babylon and Assyria. That's the only way you can straighten out the time frame of Ezra and Nehemiah. I want you to follow along with how God does it and how God does it right on time to the very day. That's why there's no such thing as 'prophecy speeding up.' That's only apparent in our eyes. 'The process is slowing down, prophecy is slowing down'—no, it doesn't happen—it's right on time!

When properly understood, which you will find in the book, Jesus began His ministry on the Day of Atonement in 26A.D. That began a Jubilee year. Is that not the time for the Gospel to be preached, a Jubilee? We'll cover here in just a little bit. Guess what day of the week that Day of Atonement was on? 26A.D., a Wednesday! How about that?

Let's fast forward to the crucifixion. When did Jesus die? On the Passover Day—correct? What day of the week was that day? A Wednesday! Does God do things on time and parallel? Yes!

Let's follow along with just a couple of other things that we have in the book. God brought the children of Israel to Him to Mt. Sinai and on Pentecost He gave the Law. When did the Church begin? On Pentecost! When are the 144,000 sealed? It has to be on next to the last Pentecost! That's the 50th-day harvest of God. See how all of that fits in?

You have seven churches, which represent the seven weeks in the harvest of the churches. But the harvest isn't finished until Day 50. That's the 144,000, great innumerable multitude of Rev. 7. See how nice that works together? You go one more year and you come to Pentecost. The Church began on Pentecost; it is raised to immortality on Pentecost. So look at what we have, how God uses the Holy Days. Isn't that amazing?

Let's come back and tie some of these things together. Let's come to Daniel 9, pg 860. Why is Daniel clear out here before Ezra and Nehemiah? Because in the timeframe it was written, it was written before Ezra and Nehemiah. Daniel 9 contains an awful lot. It tells us some things that are going to happen. It tells us some things that are going to be way into the future.

Daniel 9:24: "Seventy weeks are decreed upon your people and upon your Holy city to finish the transgression and to make an end of sin, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." Those are not all necessarily in chronological order. Go back and look at it.

"...to finish the transgression..." What is the transgression? Where did that take place? Adam and Eve! 'As in Adam we all die'—right? As in Adam we all have the law of sin and death—correct? Did all of that end when Christ died on the cross? No! So, this projects way out—doesn't it?

...to make an end of sin..." When is sin ended? When does sin come to an end? Lake of Fire! That's projected way out.

"...to make reconciliation for iniquity..." That started with Jesus' resurrection from the dead.

"...to bring in everlasting righteousness..." That's not going to happen until New Jerusalem comes—right? See how far out this goes? That's what is projected in the last part of the book because we have the Appointed Time of the Messiah's Return, Part 1 and Part 2. We go through a lot of the book of Revelation.

"...to seal up the vision and prophecy..." It's not done until everything is completed.

"...and to anoint the Most Holy" When was Jesus anointed? Keep that in mind, we'll answer it a little later. Let's go on with the rest of the description of the seventy-week prophecy.

Verse 25: "Know, therefore, and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, to Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks... [Stop!] ...and sixty-two weeks.…" Stop!

There are several decrees about the temple and you have to get the right one. That's why you need to have the chronology of the kings of Persia, Media, Babylon and Assyria, all straightened out, because many were called Ahasuerus. Which Ahasuerus? When was the decree given?

In the first edition of A Harmony of the Gospels I did not understand any of this when I wrote it. The Church taught at that time that the 70 weeks ended with Jesus' crucifixion. It doesn't! Completely missed the point. We'll explain it.

The weeks here are called 'heptads.' A 'heptad' equals seven years. So instead of seven days, it's seven years. So you take 7 times 7, how many years do you end up with then? 49! That's exactly how long it took to build and restore Jerusalem. So, we account for the first seven years.

The 62 weeks does not begin exactly when the seven weeks end. That's the key. There is a break and there are intervening years between the end of the 49 years and the beginning of the 434 (62 times 7) years.

Now of the 70 weeks it says: "It shall be built again... [that is Jerusalem] ...with streets and the wall, even in troublous times" (v 25). That's recorded there in Ezra and Nehemiah.

Now notice this, very important, v 26: "And aftersixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off but not for Himself." Stop! 'After'means away from, not at the end of, but after. So, there's a space of time. We'll see what that is in a little bit. We have it in the book.

"…And the people of the prince... [or the prince of the people] ...who shall come... [that is not Christ] ...shall destroy the city... [Did Jesus Himself destroy the city? No!] ...and the sanctuary. But his end shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined…. [This does not apply to Jesus; this applies to the prince of the people or the coming beast. This is talking about the 70th week. The 70th week does not occur until the beast comes on the scene and makes that covenant. We've got the prophecies of it out of Dan. 10 and 11.] …And he shall confirm a covenant... [not the covenant] ...with many for one week..." (vs 26-27).

{speculation}: Look at Jerusalem today. How do we know another temple has to be built? Let's stop right here for just a minute and we're going to put ourselves in the Apostle John's shoes. The Apostle John was the longest-lived apostle. He was also of the priestly line. He is the one responsible for canonizing the New Testament. He probably had Peter, Andrew and Mark with him.

John saw everything, beginning with the ministry of Christ, to the crucifixion, to the beginning of the Church, to the destruction of Jerusalem, to the time after Jerusalem. Here he's got all the manuscripts there ready to go. He has just received the vision called the Apocalypse in Greek or the book of Revelation. When he was given that book of Revelation, there are some scholars who said, 'He had a first edition of it.' No, he did not! He was on the Isle of Patmos and that's when it started and it continued until the end of it. He was probably 96-years-old at that time.

Here he gets the vision of the book of Revelation. In Rev. 11 he's told, 'Measure the temple and the court, but leave out the outer court for it's given over to the Gentiles.' John saw in vision that there was a temple, but he knew that the existing temple was destroyed 30 years before, approximately. This alerted him to the fact there had to be another temple.

What else did he have with him? He had Paul's second epistle to the Thessalonians! What do you have in the 2-Thes. 2? 'The man of sin, the son of perdition.' Who does what? He goes into the temple of God and says he is God and that he is worshiped above everything, every idol, everything that is called God.

Here's John, he's looking back at the events. He knew that Jesus said the Great Tribulation will not start until there's the 'abomination of desolation standing in the Holy place'—correct? He also knew that that did not happen with the destruction of Jerusalem the first time, because he was alive and knew of what happened. There was no Gentile to go in there and say, 'I am God.'

That's why we have in the appendix of The New Testament, A Faithful Version, we have there that when they finally conquered it, Titus got up on Fort Antonio wall and looked down into the temple area and it was just stacked with dead bodies. It was the most horrible thing. He said, 'We could not have conquered this without the help of God.' No man of sin, son of perdition went into the Holy place.

So here's John. 'How do I reconcile these things that God told me to write, but I don't understand it?' He knew from the vision in Rev. 11 that there had to be another temple. But when was it going to be built? Because he knew the temple was destroyed. He knew there was no 'abomination of desolation' that went into the Holy place. He knew that he was giving all the prophecies concerning the return of Christ.

We've been through this a lot. I've mentioned this before, but in the light of how I'm explaining it now, it will have perhaps a little more meaning to you. Here's also something that Jesus said. Take Matt. 24 and use it for this generation, this time, not then. Those things happened in type. They always come in cycles. But this is going to be everything fulfilled all at once at the end.

Matthew 24:14: "And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world... [There's that third word I told you to keep in mind—all.] ...for a witness to all nations... [They couldn't understand that. But today we can—can't we? Yes!] ...and then shall the end come." It doesn't tell us about how long this witness is going to be. We don't know. We need to be about doing what God wants us to do.

Verse 15: "Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place..." Now notice this next parenthetical statement. Jesus did not say this, because He was talking. How did this next phrase get in there? It's in parentheses. John put it there! He didn't understand it, but he knew there was a time that it would be understood because Dan. 12 says, 'And at the time of end, none of 'the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.'

So he put this statement in there: "...(the one who reads... [what is written. It doesn't say the one who hears what I'm saying.] ...the one who reads, let him understand)" (v 15). John is saying by this, 'I don't understand it. This is for you in the future, whoever is going to get this.'

Daniel 9:26: "…And the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary..." That is future during the last week, the 70th week. The last seven years. I can imagine this, because we're getting closer to it. Look at what is happening; {speculation} I can imagine this: think what would happen if the Jews tried to build their temple today. They would immediately have 100-million Muslims storming in there, shooting, killing, destroying.

Besides, the Mosque of Omar is not where the temple originally stood. That was the territory of the Roman Empire, Fort Antonio. Down from that was the temple area. The Jews pray at the Wailing Wall. The temple area was down from that. The Jews have yet to understand where it's going to be built.

I'll tell you a little joke: One man went up to an old man who was praying at the Western Wailing Wall. He said, 'Do you come often to pray?' Yeah, I come every day. He says, 'How long have you been doing this?' For sixty years. He said, 'What do you pray about?' I pray for peace, I pray that the Messiah will come and I pray that God will preserve His people and the city of Jerusalem. He says, 'Well, what does that feel like?' Sometimes it's like talking to a wall!

(go to the next track)

How many have gone online to look at the Temple Institute? They've got a lot of things ready to go for the temple. You take the area of the Western Wailing Wall and you go south down the ridge. Gihon Springs was right below where the temple was. With all the sacrifices, you have got to have a lot of water to keep things clean. Just imagine blood and gut and skin. You had to have a place to throw the innards. You have to cart things out and take it out to the Miphkad Altar upon the Mount of Olives. There you burn all the rest of the sin offerings and everything so it's all gone.

{speculation}: I suspect that when the Gihon Springs starts flowing with a lot of water—because now it's flowing just a little bit. It used to have a lot of dirty water; now the water is cleaner. So, when it starts flowing with a lot of water, the Jews are going to say, 'Ah ha. Straight up from there is where to build the temple.' Which will not interfere with the Mosque of Omar.

The Muslims will be able to keep their temple, but I do believe in order for the temple to be built—and I think it's going to be built quickly; it's not a very big building—I suspect that when the beast power makes the covenant for one week, which is for seven years, that at the beginning of that part of the covenant is going to be international armies right in Palestine, right there surrounding the greater area of Jerusalem. The Jews will sign no peace pact until they're guaranteed that they can build the temple. You know for sure they're not going to.

So, they will be given permission to build it. The troops will come in and they will guarantee the peace. The temple will be built. They will start the sacrifices. We know no time frame involved here. But the sacrifices have to begin before the prophecies of Dan. 12, where he cuts off the sacrifices for 1,260 days. How can you cut off the sacrifices without a temple? You can't cut them off because they're not there!

After being out of the area of Palestine, which they call the Holy Land, which is completely a misnomer. It's the most un-holy land in the world and will not become Holy till Christ returns and rededicates it all. They will not be satisfied with a tabernacle. They will not be satisfied with a place to have burnt offering. It will be the temple and the priesthood or nothing else.

Dr. Ernest Martin wrote a book on the temples that Jerusalem forgot and pointed out where the temple needed to be built. The Jews cannot allow a Gentile to tell them where to build their temple. However, they have some Jews that are out investigating this. Lo and behold, they're going to discover, 'Here's where to build the temple, right above where the Spring of Gihon is going,' and the Jews look for a sign. Don't you think that the flowing of the Spring of Gihon will be a sign? Yes!

That's when they will start it. That's how that 70th week I see as taking place. You have all these other prophecies that stack up with it and they all have to fit together. You can't have contradiction of Scripture. The only apparent contradiction in Scripture is when we don't understand how to properly put it together. That's all. That's a time we say, 'We don't know.'

Daniel 9:27: "And he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week... [That's seven years.] ...And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease..." How many have the series, Daniel and Revelation? You look at the chart that I have. You go back 42 months from Trumpets and you come back right to Passover. Trumpets is when the beast and the false prophet will be thrown in the Lake of Fire.

So you go back 42 months and you come right at Passover time. How is the beast power going to receive the deadly wound? What would be the most sacrilege thing to do? Stop the Passover sacrifices at the temple. How are the Jews going to react? Are they not going to have an official assassination crew ready to kill the beast? 'After over 2,000 years now we got the temple going and now the sacrifices are stopped because of this evil man. What are we going to do? Kill him!'

So, they attempt to kill him. The deadly wound is healed. Then the Tribulation begins, when the deadly wound is healed. I believe that takes place when he goes into the temple and says he is God, stops the sacrifices, breaks the covenant in the middle of the week, receives the deadly wound, brought back to life. Then there are 42 months for the remainder of the seven years or the rest of the Tribulation. Does that make sense?

We would not even be able to come close to even understanding this part of the prophecy without the knowledge that we have:

• of the Bible
• of what's going on in the Holy Land

You could not understand this before the Jews came in 1948. Any commentaries that you read like Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, forget it. They can't answer it. But we can come close to it. I don't give this as the definitive answer, please understand. This is a possible way on how it's going to take place.

But we know for certain there will come the 70th week begin when we have, 'Hooray, this wonderful covenant, peace at last in the Holy Land,' and it's peace and security for three and a half years. In the middle of it, stops the sacrifices and then the Tribulation begins and all hell breaks loose. We can see how that could come about. Before that you could never see.

Let's come back to the 62 weeks. Daniel 9:25: "Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, to Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks…."

Come to Matthew 3 and we will see when Jesus was anointed. Who would the anointing come from? God the Father! Here is the only place that gives us the anointing. This was just before His ministry began.

Matthew 3:13: "Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, 'I have need to be baptized by You, and You come to me?' Then Jesus answered and said to him, 'You must permit it at this time; for in this manner it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.'…." (vs 13-15). What was one of the things of righteousness that it said back in Dan. 9? To fulfill righteousness—right? This is part of it.

"…Then he permitted Him to be baptized. And after He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him.... [That was from the Father—right? He taught what the Father taught Him to teach. He spoke what the Father told Him to speak. He did what He saw the Father do, so this had to come from the Father. It could not come from any man.] ...And lo, a voice from heaven said, 'This is My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I have great delight'" (vs 15-17).

This is when Jesus was anointed, just before He began His ministry. What happened right after that? Matthew 4. 1: "Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit in order to be tempted by the devil."

If He began His ministry at the beginning, right when the 434th year ended, this had to start on Atonement. It couldn't start at any other time. If it started before Atonement, it would before the 62nd week had ended. If He started it later, it would be after. So it had to be right exactly on the Day of Atonement when the Jubilee year was declared. That was 26A.D. in the fall. So Jubilee year ran from fall, 26A.D. to fall 27A.D. Have you ever wondered why there were multitudes who would follow Him? A lot of them weren't working—a Jubilee year! What happens with the Jubilee? Every man goes back to his position; all the slaves were freed! It had to begin on the Day of Atonement Jubilee year. Where was He? What was the first order of business of His ministry? Conquer Satan the devil! Had to be tempted by him.

Verse 2: "And when He had fasted for forty days and forty nights... [Starts with the Day of Atonement and goes on for 40 days.] ...afterwards He was famished. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, 'If You are the Son of God...'" (vs 2-3)—etc, etc. You know the whole temptation there. We've covered it many times in the past.

Jesus did not announce that He was the Messiah, the Anointed one of God, until later, but He had to announce it. He couldn't announce it here because He was in the wilderness. What did Jesus do after He finished the temptation? First of all, angels came to minister to Him because He was so weak! Where did He go then? Let's see what John tells us. Jesus did announce that He was the Anointed One of God.

John 1:29: "On the next day, John sees Jesus coming to him, and he says, 'Behold the Lamb of God... [When was He the Lamb of God? After He was anointed, not before! But he knew who He was.] ...Who takes away the sin of the world.'" To put an end to sin. Of course, we have discussed when that would come to an end.

Verse 30: "He is the one concerning Whom I said, 'After me comes a man Who has precedence over me, because He was before me.'.... [Meaning that He existed before me.] ...And I did not know Him... [If you've heard the stories in the past that Jesus and John the Baptist grew up playing together, no, he remained in the wilderness until the day of his showing—didn't he?] ...I did not know Him; but that He might be manifested to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water" (vs 30-31).

Verse 32: "And John testified, saying, 'I myself beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and it remained upon Him. And I did not know Him before, but He Who sent me to baptize with water said to me, "Upon Whom you shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, He is the one Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." And I have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God'" (vs 32-34).

Then the next day he sees Jesus again. Two disciples were there and he said: "Behold the Lamb of God!" (v 36). The disciples, we have Peter and Andrew and Nathan, and they all find out where Jesus was staying and they are with Him for a couple of days.

Then we have the wedding in Cana (John 2). He goes to the temple. Perfect time to say He was the Anointed One—correct? What did He do when He got there? He chased out the moneychangers and chased out the oxen and the sheep and the doves! He said, 'Take all these things out of here.' And they asked Him, 'By what authority do You do these things?' And He says, 'Destroy this temple and I'll raise it up in three days.' Why didn't He say, 'I am the Messiah'? Why didn't He say, 'I am the Anointed One of God' at that point? Was He at God's temple? Yes! Would that have been a witness to them? Yes! But why didn't He say it? Because it was a Jubilee year and He had to announce it on a spiritual Jubilee day!

Then after John 2 we have chapter three with Nicodemus and then we have the witness of John, the last part of chapter three. Then we have Jesus going to Samaria talking to the woman at the well. He came very close to telling her that He was the Messiah. But she said, 'We've heard that the Christ is coming.' He said, 'The one Who is speaking to you is.' But He didn't say, 'I am the Messiah.' Not quite. He didn't say, 'I have been anointed by God.'

Then after John is put in prison, then He comes into Galilee. Let's see when He announced that He was the Anointed One of God. We will see the day on which He announced it and that becomes very, very important. After all we're talking about appointed times. We're talking about appointed days—all the way through.

Luke 4:14: "Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee... [It sounds like He went there right after the temptation was finished, but He didn't. John 1-2-3-4 are the intervening chronology that goes from when He finished the temptation with Satan and the devil and He came into Galilee.

Verse 16: "..And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and according to His custom, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day..." You will see a footnote that says that that Sabbath day in the Greek means 'on the day of the weeks.'

• What day is the 'day of the weeks'? Have to be Pentecost!
• How do you reckon Pentecost? The same way you reckon the land Sabbath and Jubilee!

One complete week, seven of those, and the next day is the 50th day. Land Sabbath, seven land Sabbaths, 49 land Sabbaths and the beginning of the year of Jubilee is on the Day of Atonement when the 49th year ends. That begins the 50th year. And His ministry was in the year that was a Jubilee.

• Why is this so great?

A little side bar: {speculation}: The year that Jesus returns:

• Will that be a Jubilee year?
• Would that not be the greatest Jubilee year?
• What would start that Jubilee year?
• The binding of Satan the devil and the fulfillment of the two goats of Atonement!

We can't say for sure. The only way we're going to know for sure is to be in the resurrection, come back to the earth with Christ. Then we'll know for sure. But God uses His Holy Days—does He not? Yes!

Let's see how He used Pentecost, v 17: "And there was given Him the book of the prophet Isaiah; and when He had unrolled the scroll, He found the place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me; for this reason, He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal those who are brokenhearted... [All of these are Jubilee things—right? Freedom from sin, from broken-heartedness.] ...to proclaim pardon to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind... [Both physical and spiritual.] ...to send forth in deliverance those who have been crushed. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord'" (vs 17-19). And when are all of the things that He announced in v 18 acceptable? The Jubilee! Isn't that something? He proclaimed that He was the Anointed One, 'the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. He has anointed Me—no one else—to preach the Gospel.'

It talks about to Messiah, the Anointed One, (Dan. 9). It happened to the day and to the year and then announced on Pentecost, because what did Pentecost, two years after this, represent? Coming of the Holy Spirit! Isn't that amazing? That's why the world is blind. They don't know, because they have the Roman calendar and they keep Halloween and Christmas and Easter and all of the holidays and Sunday. They don't know. Even the Seventh Day Adventists don't know. So, this tells us an awful lot—doesn't it?

Verse 21: "Then He began to say to them, 'Today, this Scripture is being... [present tense passive] ...fulfilled in your ears.'"

There's so much in the Bible; it is absolutely amazing. It's just layered and layered and layered. This is why when we have all the information we've been given, brethren, and have the Bible,

• we need to be zealous
• we need to be serving God
• we need to be excited

—because we can see these things that all the prophets and all the apostles and all the disciples down through time wanted to know. 'When, Lord?'

They had no idea what it's going to be like. So, here we are. This is why we need to be busy about doing what God wants us to do. God's plan is so fantastic. The more that we draw on God's Spirit and are led by God's Spirit and study the Word of God, the more He's going to give us understanding. As we learn, we'll learn together. You ask questions and if there's something I don't know, I better search it out and find what it is and learn from it. I know in doing this that Carl Franklin didn't understand this particular thing concerning Pentecost. I didn't understand it at first until I thought BINGO! Yes! Counting to Pentecost is a mini-Jubilee.

The greatest grace of receiving the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost. When Christ returns, it's going to be something! I hope this is helpful to you. When you get the book, you read it and you'll understand it even more. But this is something, brethren. I'm sure there are other things that we're going to learn, we're going to know and just happy to be here.

Miscellaneous Question & Answers:
How were the children of Israel were baptized going through the Red Sea but never received the Holy Spirit

It's not talking about a baptism unto receiving the Holy Spirit. It's talking about going through the Red Sea and with the cloud over them and God over them, they were baptized out of Egypt, let's put it that way. That would be the best understanding.

Were their sins forgiven at that point? I do not know! They just complained the day before. Let's put it this way: they were baptized to be the nation of God, yet to be established with the covenant from Mt. Sinai. That would be the best way to define it. Remember He says in another place that He almost exterminated all of them in Egypt.

How is Jerusalem going to be divided? I have no idea how it's going to be!

Did Judas take the bread and wine?

When you read Luke 22 concerning the bread and wine it looks like Judas was there, but it is in a past tense, rather than a present tense, in the Greek. That's one of two places that's difficult to understand. However, the other witnesses have it the other way, so we can just say we don't have it exactly correct there in understanding it. The other two were written previous to it and Luke wrote this from other accounts. I don't know.

{speculation}: But let's just suppose that he did take the bread and wine and it could show that a person could take Passover and still turn. So if there's any lesson out of that, that could be derived at that point. The other one in Luke 2, it says when they were done with the things at the temple of presenting Jesus they went home. Matthew says they went into Egypt. Those two occurrences I could not fully answer in A Harmony of the Gospels. Got everything else taken care of. I'm sure there are things in the Bible that way that are just there. We'll just have to wait and see.

Were the apostles converted? Did they have the Holy Spirit?

Yes! They were converted, but they were not converted until after the resurrection of Christ. But the Holy Spirit was with them. We have John 14, so put this in your notes, Jesus said, 'The Comforter—which is the Holy Spirit—is with you and shall be in you.' Now there's a difference, glad you asked that question.

If you have the Holy Spirit with you, you are not converted. But He says, 'It shall be within you.' He says, 'In that day, it shall be within you.' The Holy Spirit was with the apostles, but after His resurrection, then the Holy Spirit came into them.

Now when did it come into them? Let's go to John 20:19. This is the Wave Sheaf Offering Day: "Afterwards, as evening was drawing near that day, the first day of the weeks... [The first day counting the weeks to Pentecost.] ...and the doors were shut where the disciples had assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, 'Peace be to you.' And after saying this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples rejoiced because they had seen the Lord. Therefore, Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be to you. As the Father sent Me, I am also sending you.' And after saying this, He breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit'" (vs 19-22).

That's when the Holy Spirit came into them. Someone's going to say, 'Thomas wasn't there.' It's just like back in the days of Moses. When God gave the Spirit to the 70 elders, some of them weren't able to get there, but the Holy Spirit was given to them. So Thomas undoubtedly received it, even though he wasn't there, otherwise, he couldn't be an apostle.

A lot of people have wondered, 'What about that?' They received the Holy Spirit within them. Then on Pentecost they received additional Holy Spirit for the power of preaching. That's the best I can answer that. A lot of you have been studying your Bibles, that's good. That's what you're supposed to be doing.

Protestants: Are they converted

I have been reading two books by Protestants on this trip, one called Peacemaker—very good in settling disputes and problems with people. But I think I discern, or see as never before, that the Protestants come to the cross and forgiveness and no further. Some few take a few steps beyond that. But he talks nothing in his whole book about overcoming after forgiveness except just a few places.

If we have a dispute with one another, we're to go to one another and forgive one another, and we're to grow in grace and knowledge after that. But his whole book is about coming to the foot of the cross, coming to Christ for forgiveness, which is true.

What about the Protestants? Because some people will say, 'I think you're going to be surprised and at the resurrection there are going to millions and millions of Protestants.' I don't think so. Because the dividing line is this: If you have God's Spirit in you and He does not give that without covenant baptism conjoined to the crucifixion and death of Christ, and He does not give the Holy Spirit to those who disobey Him, only to those who obey Him.

But what did Jesus tell James and John when they saw different men not with them casting out demons? They even said, 'Do you want us to call fire down on them?' He said, 'You don't know what spirit you are of.' He said, 'Those who are for us are not against us. They are on our part; leave them alone.' Were they converted? No! Would some people think they were converted? Yes! But they were never converted.

So, you have a lot of Protestants in that category. They may have the Spirit of God with them and before Jesus, but I've also noticed in both books they talk nothing about the Father. Jesus came to reveal the Father. As a matter of fact the book of John, if you get out a concordance and you look up the Father, the book of John talks more about the Father than any other book in the New Testament.

What did Jesus say the Passover night? He said, 'Don't pray to me and I ask the Father, you pray to the Father for the Father Himself loves you.' Everything with the Protestants is Jesus. We need Jesus—don't we? But Who do we need more? The Father! Who does the Holy Spirit come from? The Father! Jesus said, 'The Spirit of Truth from the Father which I will send.' The Spirit of the Father that He will send. 'We will make our abode with you.' The Holy Spirit consists of two elements:

• the Spirit of Christ
• the begettal of the Father

Unless you have the begettal of the Father, which is then you are the begotten child of God through the power of the Holy Spirit, you're not going to be in the first resurrection.

Are there a lot of well-intentioned Protestants out there? Yes! Do they do good works? Yes! Let's ask another question: can people use the Word of God to a certain extent, follow it to a certain extent, and be nicer than they would be if they didn't? Yes! Can they talk about the wonderful works that Jesus has done? Of course!

But you see, Jesus said, 'If you love Me, keep the commandments, namely Mine'—the dividing line. Some of them may have the Spirit of God, that is being the seven Spirits of God. Those seven Spirits of God, Rev. 4 and 5, go into all the earth seeking those who are seeking Him. God is constant communication with the earth. How is it that you are out there one day and no one else around and you said, 'Lord, help me!' Did God answer the prayer? Yes! How did that happen? The seven Spirits are busy, looking, watching for those who are seeking Him. Did Jesus say, 'Seek, knock and ask.' Yes!

• Who is seeking?
• Who is knocking?
• Who is asking?
• The seven Spirits know!

If they respond to that, then the Father begins to draw them. If they respond to the Father, He'll draw them more. If they keep responding and say, studying the Bible, repenting of their sins, and things like this, God will be working with them more.

But if they stop, and the whole Protestant mantra is, 'Lord, I believe You're my Savior. Lord, I'm a sinner. Lord, forgive my sins.' Hallelujah, you're born again! No! They are not converted! They are distinctly nicer and better people because they follow certain parts of the Bible, but they're not converted. If you love God with all your heart and mind and soul and being, you're going to keep His commandments. That's why we have in 1-John 2, 'Anyone who says I know Him and does not keep His commandments is a liar.' Sometimes people are so deceived they don't know what they are saying is a lie or not, but they're still lying. They have to be keeping the commandments.

John went on further and said, 'Anyone who says I know Him is obligated to walk as He walked.' That defines it even further(1-John 2). If they do that, obviously then they'll come to the point of conversion, baptism, Sabbath, Holy Days, because all of those things will then be open to them. But if they insist on Sunday-keeping, they're following the traditions of men and rejecting the commandment of God. Again, they're nice people.

• Are they well intended?
• Do they devote their life to it? Yes, they do!
• Do people devote their lives to other things? Yes!
• Do they have long careers?
• Are they successful?
• Do they do well? Yes!
• Are they converted? No!

How many have read My Fifty Years in the Church at Rome? I couldn't get over that he cried for 50 years. By time I got down close to the end where he was ready to leave, I kept saying to myself, 'Why didn't you leave?' Chiniquy was his name. But fifty years. Was he converted after he went to Presbyterianism? I don't know, he still kept Sunday and Christmas and all of that.

When you look at things like that, you have to ask: were they really converted? Who's the only One Who knows the heart and mind? God. Certain things we can know. We can't know anybody's heart. So we just have to take it from there. That's quite a book. He was born into it and dedicated to it.

What are you going to do when you grow up in total Catholic country? You look around, everybody's a Catholic and you're told this is right. You're told this is of God. You're told that God ordained the popes when He never did. You're told that whatever the priests say, 'That's the Law of God.' And the priests are between God and men. They mediate for us. You can have the virgin Mary even help you a little bit, too. But the Apostle John said, 'No one has ascended into heaven.' So, sorry about that!

The guests and the bride of Matthew 22

The Bible shows us in Matt. 22 that there will be guests at the wedding. The guests have to be distinct from the bride and the bridegroom. So then who is the bride? We know Christ is the bridegroom. Could it be the 144,000 of Rev. 14, because they're different than Rev. 7? Could be!

Who is going to be part of the bride of Christ? We don't know! I don't think that Abraham is. He's going to work directly with God the Father and Jesus Christ. I don't think Moses will be. I don't think any of the prophets will be. They're all going to be in the Kingdom of God and live forever.

The bride of Christ are those who Christ Himself chooses who are called virgins, which means this. Once they were converted

• they never got involved with the great whore, Babylon the Great
• they never deviated from Truth
• they never deviated from doctrine
• they never went out and committed gross sin

—because Christ is going to marry a virgin.

Look at all the parables about those who start out well and then have to repent and come back. God accepts them. What did Jesus say? 'The least in the Kingdom of Heaven is going to be greater than John the Baptist who was the greatest prophet!'

What is it going to be like? It's going to be something. A lot of answering those questions are: wait until you get there. So we don't know.

Scriptural References:

The 400 and 430 Years:

• Genesis 15:13
• Exodus 12:40
• Genesis 22:6-12, 2, 11-12
• Exodus 12: 41, 40
• Genesis 15:4
• Hebrews 7:5-10

Referenced, not quoted:  Genesis 12

Appointed Times:

Scriptural References:

• Matthew 1:25
• Revelation 1:5
• Daniel 9:24-27
• Matthew 24:14-15
• Daniel 9:26-27, 25
• Matthew 3:13-17
• Matthew 4:1-3
• John 1:29-34, 36
• Luke 4:14, 16-19, 21

Referenced, not quoted:

• Galatians 4
• Revelation 7
• Daniel 10, 11
• Revelation 11
• 2-Thessalonians 2
• Daniel 12
• John 1-4

Miscellaneous Questions/Answers:

Scriptural References:  John 20:19-22

Referenced, not quoted:

• Luke 22, 2
• John 14
• Revelation 4; 5
• 1-John 2
• Matthew 22
• Revelation 14; 7

Also referenced throughout:

Sermon Series: Daniel and Revelation

Books:

• The Appointed Times of Jesus the Messiah by Fred R. Coulter
• A Harmony of the Gospels by Fred R. Coulter
• The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
• The Day Jesus the Christ Died by Fred R. Coulter
• Bible Commentary by Jamieson, Fausset, Brown
• Peacemakers by Ken Sande
• My Fifty Years in the Church at Rome by Charles Chiniquy

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 5-1-12
Formatted: bo—5/2/12

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