Daniel 9, Daniel’s Prayer, the seventy sevens.

 

Many are they who have tried to calculate the day of the return of Jesus Christ. The decree to rebuild Jerusalem was recorded four times in the Bible.

First in modern times to head for the hills and watch the return of Christ.

When that didn’t happen they modified the date, also at no avail.

Next came Russell, founder of Jehova’s Witnesses. He proclaimed a spiritual return (since nobody can possibly physically rise from the dead)

And there are many other, one of which was

The end of the Mayan Calendar came and went, but still no return of Christ. Last to make this ridiculous list is physicist Randall Smith, claiming the end of the world thanks to Earth colliding with a hitherto unknown planet.

Another question pops up, when did the age of Grace start?

 

At the birth of Christ the angels sang: Luke 2:¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

At the start of Jesus Ministry Jesus opened the scroll of Isaiah and said: Luke 4:¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
¹⁹     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. ²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

At the Cross Jesus proclaimed : “It is finished”

At Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out and power was given to the Disciples.

Any clue?

At this point, I realized I had fallen into the same trap as all the previous people trying to figure out the date of Christ’s coming: The time of grace is “Today”.

This is it: We live in “Today”. Today is the day of salvation.

And then comes the tribulation.

There is one more thing: What is the meaning of “seven”? In the original text it can mean three things.

And the center of action will return to Jerusalem.