A study on acceptable time periods and the importance of prayer  (Part 2)

 

I grew up in a little port town in southeastern Alaska, at the edge of a vast and beautiful mountain range – the Chugach. As in any port town, there are many fishermen—many sailors, and from all parts of the world. Growing up in the midst of this life I once heard the old proverb: “Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky in morning, sailors take warning.” Can a red sky in the morning really predict bad weather? Evidently, for it has been observed by many for thousands of years and now even has scientific explanation*. Jesus was also familiar with these signs in the weather and used the opportunity to bring home a truth that is vitally important for us today:

~ The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired Him that He would show them a sign from heaven. ²He answered and said unto them, ‘When it is evening, ye say, ‘[It will be] fair weather: for the sky is red.’ ³And in the morning, ‘[It will be] foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering.’ O [ye] hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not [discern] the signs of the times?’  Matthew 16:1-3

The Pharisees and Sadducees were two of the most learned and popular sects among the Jews; many of them were scribes, lawyers, doctors, and teachers of the law; yet they were so perfectly blind. They had come to Jesus asking for a sign; for further evidence proving that He was really and truly the promised Messiah. This was one of the marks of hypocrisy in the Jews of Jesus’ day—that in the midst of His numerous and astonishing miracles, miracles which no man on earth could perform, and prophecies unfolding right before their eyes, they would come and ask Him for a sign. They were well versed in the skill to tell tomorrow’s weather but had no skill in the promises, prophecies, and word of God. Sound familiar?

~ ³Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, ⁴And saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’ for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of the creation. 2 Peter 2:3,4 

The Jews were in the same blindness with regard to the time of Christ’s first advent, that many Christians are today with regard to the time of His second coming. The reproofs of Jesus to the Jews for their blindness are equally applicable now.

The reason why the Jews should have received Jesus as the Messiah was because of the many prophecies on record, which upon being fulfilled constituted “the signs of the times.” They were living in an “acceptable time period” and should have known. Listen to the following passage.

~ ¹Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, ²Saying, ‘Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him.’ ³When Herod the king had heard [these things], he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.  Matthew 1:1-3

The advent of Christ was the greatest event that had ever taken place since the creation of the world and the chosen nation is asleep! What about us?

There were many prophecies that had been given that authenticated Jesus as the Messiah, some notable ones are:

~ But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, [though] thou be little among the thousands of Judah, [yet] out of thee shall He come forth unto Me [that is] to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth [have been] from of old, from everlasting.  Micah 5:2

 ~ ¹⁴Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel. ¹⁵Butter and honey shall He eat, that He may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. ¹⁶For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. Isaiah 7:14-16

 ~ The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him [shall] the gathering of the people [be]. Genesis 49:10.

 So not only the place of His birth, but the time frame of His birth was also foretold and it was to be before the scepter departed from Judah. Herod, a stranger, an Idumean, a heathen, was sitting on the throne of Judah and was lawgiver to Judah by direct appointment of Rome and the Roman Senate when Jesus was born. The weakening power of Israel indicated that the scepter was soon to depart and therefore that the Messiah’s coming was at hand! 33 years later the Jews proclaimed before Pilate: “We have no king but Caesar.” By this they confessed that the scepter had indeed departed from Judah.

Prophecy had also given some very detailed calculations concerning the time frame for the Messiah. Notice the following:

~ ²⁴Seventy weeks are determined upon Thy people and upon Thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, 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. ²⁵Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. ²⁶And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof [shall be] with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. ²⁷And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations He shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. Daniel 9:24-27

The time of the first advent and of some of the main events clustering around the Savior’s lifework were made known to Daniel by the angel Gabriel. “Seventy weeks,” said the angel, “are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, 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.”
A day in prophecy stands for a year (see Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6). The seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety days, represent four hundred and ninety years. The angel then breaks down the “70 weeks” and gives a starting point for this period: “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks” (Daniel 9:25), sixty-nine weeks, or four hundred and eighty-three years.
The commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, completed by the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus, went into effect in the autumn of 457 B.C. (see Ezra 6:14; 7:1, 9). From this time four hundred and eighty-three years extend to the autumn of A.D. 27. According to the prophecy above, this period was to reach to the Messiah, the Anointed One. In A.D. 27 Jesus was baptized and received the anointing of the Holy Spirit and soon afterward began His ministry. Then the message was proclaimed, “The time is fulfilled.” (Mark 1:15).

This is the Messianic prophecy that God had given hundreds of years before to Daniel (a Hebrew) concerning the Jewish nation (“thy people”) and Jerusalem (“thy holy city”). Messiah the prince would come and die within that time frame.

The point is, God wants His people to “know and understand” and therefore gives the details necessary, in this case—VERY specific details. He does not leave His people in the dark about such important matters.

Another prophecy that came to pass is found in Isaiah 40:3. John the Baptist came at the appointed time and fulfilled his appointed mission, preparing the way of the Lord:

~ ¹In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, ²And saying, ‘Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ³For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.’’  Matthew 3:1-3

God has always been in the business of revealing vital future events ever since the day in which He told Noah of the coming flood—yes, even from the day when Enoch, “the seventh from Adam,” prophesied, saying: “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” Jude 14.

When Jesus came the first time it was an “acceptable time period.” Important events were taking place and their future, as the chosen nation, depended on them understanding the time in which they were living!

~ ⁴³For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, ⁴⁴And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. Luke 19:43,44

 ~ ³⁷“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [thou] that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under [her] wings, and ye would not! ³⁸Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
³⁹For I say unto you, Ye shall not see Me henceforth, till ye shall say, ‘Blessed [is] He that cometh in the name of the Lord.’  Matthew 23:37-29

 ~ “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6

They did not know the time of their visitation, therefore their house was left desolate.  The prophecy of Luke 19:43,44 was fulfilled 40 years later in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD by the Roman army under the general Titus.

Oh, what a lesson is found in the wonderful story of Bethlehem! How it warns us to beware, lest by our criminal indifference we also fail to discern the signs of the times, and therefore not know the day of our visitation.

Just as the wise men read and understood and knew, just as John the Baptist understood and knew and began to preach at the appointed time, just as the shepherds on the hills of Bethlehem were shown and Simeon and Ana’s eyes were opened to discern that the baby in their arms that morning in the temple was the Messiah, so we also can understand and know the times in which we are living. There is nothing so clear in the Bible but that GOD WANTS US TO UNDERSTAND.

To come and ask for a sign in the midst of astonishing miracles and blatant fulfillments of prophecy—this was the character of those whom Christ calls hypocrites, and to whom He addresses the question, “But can ye not discern the signs of the times?”

~ What is the monumental prophecy for this time? Are we really living in an acceptable time period? In the studies that follow we will dig deeper into God’s word as we find the answers to these questions and more. Feel free to leave questions or comments below.

*For some interesting facts on how colors in the sky can indicate weather patterns go to: http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/weather-sailor.html