THE FUNDAMENTAL'S FOLLY ON PROPHECY
The Protestant Fundamental's have been teaching for about
100 years now, what they claim will be the end-time prophecies to
bring Jesus Christ back to this earth.
Briefly it is this:
There will arise a Beast power and an anti-christ. This
anti-christ will make a covenant with the Jews in Palestine. the
Jews will built a physical Temple, have a priesthood, and will
once more perform animal sacrifices. The covenant made between
the anti-christ and the jews will be for 7 years. In the middle
of this 7 year period, the anti-christ will break the covenant,
stop the Jews from performing their Temple rituals and
sactifices. The "rapture" of the saints to heaven will take place
and the Great Tribulation will come on the earth. Three and one
half years later, Jesus will return with the saints to earth and
set up the Kingdom of God for 1,000 years.
Jesus returning to earth and establishing the Kingdom of God
on earth for 1,000 years is CORRECT! The Scriptures DO teach
this. Just about everything else in the fundamental's timeline is
INCORRECT!
With a few additional comments I give you below a very fine
study to answer the recent teaching of the fundamental's on
Daniel's Time-line.
COMMENTARY ON DANIEL'S TIMELINE
by Tara Chapman
June 2008
This is a rebuttal to Dewey Bruton's "Daniel's Timeline"
(www.danielstimeline.com).
*The wave sheaf offering (the firstfruits) is not a feast. The
wave sheaf offering is offered DURING the week of the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, the Sunday after the weekly Sabbath.
(The weekly Sabbath that is part of the Feast of Unleavened
Bread. Hence in years when the first day of UB is on a Sunday,
you do not start counting to Pentecost until the following
Sunday, the day after the weekly Sabbath that is part of the UB
feast. See my studies on Pentecost for the correct way to count
to Pentecost - Keith Hunt)
*The 8th day, which is both the 7th feast and also the 7th holy
day was totally left out.
The Hebrew calendar is not a solely lunar calendar. It's a
lunar-solar calendar. The Roman "Christian" (really Catholic)
calendar is a solar calendar. The Muslim calendar is a lunar
calendar. It's interesting, when one thinks about it ...
Catholicism worships the sun god. Islam worships the moon god.
The former has a solar calendar, without taking into
consideration the moon. The latter has a lunar calendar, without
taking into consideration the sun. The Hebrew calendar is
lunar-solar or "lunisolar". This is one of the reasons why it is
the most accurate calendar in the world.
*An actually positive comment I have is that he observes the
correct date for Passover. I commend him for this. This was
surprising to me, since it seems he is along the Messianic belief
system, and most of them make the mistake that most in Judaism
make, which is observing it incorrectly on the 15th day of the
month. This is really about the only thing he said with which I
agreed.
*He's making assumptions when he says that it took Noah 120 years
to build the ark. The bible does not state this. God said that
man's days would be 120 years. As a matter of fact. I can show
that it could NOT have been 120 years for Noah to build the ark.
Also stating that the 120 years were jubilee years is another
assumption.
*He claims that Christ will return on the Feast of Trumpets in
2017. It may be true that Christ will return some year on the
Feast of Trumpets, but who's to say that maybe the first trumpet
will be fulfilled on the feast of trumpets. Really, we don't know
for CERTAIN how the feasts of trumpets will be fulfilled, and the
seventh trump may not blow on the feast of trumpets, and we sure
do not yet know which YEAR His return is.
There is NO year 0 B.C. It went straight from 1 B.C. to 1 A.D.
(It is never ending, the people who set dates for the return of
Christ. If it is not the month and day they set for His return,
it is the year they set. There was "year" setting way back in the
early 1980s. Some fundamentals were writing books back then
claiming 1988 [40 years after the State of Israel was formed - a
generation to them] would be the return of Christ. One article in
a religious fundamental magazine claimed the stones to build the
new Jewish Temple were at dock-side at a shipping port in the
USA, ready to be shipped to Israel for the building of the end-
time Jewish Temple. It was all one big false lie - there never
was any stones at any shipping port anywhere in the world let
alone in the USA. The fundamentals claim a physical "temple" MUST
be built before Jesus can return - Keith Hunt)
*He even admitted himself that he ASSUMED the 6-day war was a
Jubilee year. It may have been. I don't know. But even he himself
admitted that it was an assumption.
*The second beast in Daniel's prophecy was not Greece. It was
Medo-Persia. The first beast was not Medo-Persia. It was Babylon.
*It is an assumption to apply the fig tree parable to Israel
(Judah) having the state re-established in 1948. Although that
event was very important, this is NOT to what the fig tree
parable is referring. All it's saying is that when we see all the
signs culminating, that we are to KNOW that His coming is soon.
When we see all that He talked about, the generation then alive
will not pass before He returns. It's VERY important to compare
scriptures. Matthew and Mark just say "fig tree." Luke 21:29 says
"fig tree and ALL trees," and verse 30 says, "When THEY shoot
forth." This is a real problem for those who want to make the fig
tree mean something it doesn't. If Israel (or Judah) in those
verses mean "fig tree," then what do the other trees mean? The
tree parable is an analogy. We all know when we see trees start
budding that summer is on its way and that it will not take long.
When we see all the events Christ spoke of happening all
together, then we will know His coming will not be far off.
*He goes on and on about the "commandment in 1947." WHAT
commandment? He's changing what the bible says. The bible says,
"the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem unto the Messiah
the Prince...." Of course, if he realized that Daniel's 70 weeks
prophecy was fulfilled 2,000 years ago, that would clear up the
confusion. Daniel wrote this while in Babylonian captivity.
During that time, Darius the Median overtook the Babylonian
empire. Remember, Daniel told Belshazzar that the kingdom would
be divided and given to the Medes and the Persians. Daniel was
under the Median king Darius. Ezra and Nehemiah were in captivity
under Cyrus, king of Persia. Cyrus gave Ezra permission to go
back and rebuild a TEMPLE in Jerusalem (from when Babylon
overtook them and led the Jews into captivity), and Nehemiah
continued this after Ezra. THAT was the commandment. That
commandment happened over 2500 years ago, in 537 B.C. Ezra 1:1-3
shows the commandment (see also 2 Chronicles 36:23). Isaiah
(44:28) prophesied this a century and a half in advance. The
granted request from Nehemiah to Persian king Artaxerxes rebuild
the CITY of Jerusalem happened in 446 B.C. and can be read in
Nehemiah 2:5-8. Ezra had already requested this of Artaxerxes in
457 B.C. (Ezra 7:6), but apparently the WALL had still not been
built by 446 (Nehemiah 1:3-4). Ezra's request in 457 B.C. was the
starting of the counting of the 70 weeks (490 years, a day for a
year and 7 days in a week). 69 weeks brings us up to 26 A.D. when
Christ would have begun his ministry. Three and a half years
later, in 30 A.D. Christ died in the middle of the week (3.5
years is half of seven years, and he also happened to die in the
middle of a literal week on Wednesday). He totally IGNORES where
it says that Messiah was CUT OFF (killed). This referred to
Christ's crucifixion. He won't be dying anytime in the future.
This was FULFILLED. The NEXT time Jerusalem and a temple will be
rebuilt will be AFTER Christ's return, as Ezekiel explains.
(Ezekiel's temple [chap.40-48] has never been built. It is
different from the Temple's of Solomon's day, Ezra's day, and the
Temple standing in Christ's day. The orthodox Jews believe the
Temple of Ezekiel CANNOT be built, will NOT be built but by the
leading and oversite of the very Messiah on earth.
The truth of Daniel's 70 week prophecy in detail, can be found in
a study on this Website - Keith Hunt)
*Not only does he put the 70 weeks prophecy in our days, rather
than it being fulfilled long ago, but he gives a week for a year,
rather than a day for a year, as is the correct thing to do for
prophecy. A day=a year, not a week=year. Daniel 9:24's "seventy
weeks" is literally "seventy sevens." See your bible footnote, if
it has one. Seventy times seven is 490. So, we're dealing with
490 years, not seventy years. Again, the 70 weeks prophecy was
fulfilled thousands of years back.
*Bruton claims that the abomination of desolation is an abominable
sacrifice on an altar. Much like the example of the fig tree I
gave above, this is another instance in which it is vital to read
all the gospel accounts on a given subject. Once again, it's Luke
that gives us the answer. Matthew and Mark speak of the
"abomination of desolation," and Luke defines what it is. Luke
21:20 explains that armies surrounding Jerusalem are the
"abomination" that will make the city "desolate." I'm now careful
to look at all parallel accounts.
*According to Bruton, this "abomination of desolation" that
supposedly takes place on an altar, will take place in the year
2013. This is supposed to be the halfway point of a seven-year
period he assigns. So, in other words, we ought to be expecting
an altar (and perhaps a temple in which the altar will be
located) less than two years from now ... perhaps as soon as a
year and a half or less away. I do not foresee this occurring.
Besides, as I said, the abomination that makes desolate is when
Jerusalem is surrounded by armies and is brought to desolation.
The bright side is that everyone will know Bruton was wrong by the
end of 2010- just 2 1/2 years away.
(Yep, they will know he's wrong very soon, but in the meantime
this fellow will have made a nice sum of money from the selling
of his ideas, just as those same kind of teachers did in the
early 1980s, then they can disappear into the dust, never to be
heard from again, as they retire with their nice bank account,
gotten from people who seem to love reading and listening [now
watching on DVD] to such prophetic talk of year settings - Keith
Hunt)
*IF we were to know when the tribulation starts BEFORE the
abomination of desolation, would it not make sense that those
Christians in Judea would get out of dodge AHEAD of time, rather
than wait until Jerusalem is surrounded by armies? (Or in the
case of believing it is some sacrifice, then when the abominable
sacrifice takes place.) But, no ... Jesus said WHEN you shall SEE
the abomination of desolation, THEN you will know to get out! If
the wise are to know the dates ahead of time, there was certainly
no need for this warning. People would be wise to at least plan
to get out of there a few weeks beforehand, if his theology was
correct. And besides, this also brings out another error. Armies
surrounding the whole city can be seen by everyone. But, some
sacrifice on an altar (especially if in a temple) is not going to
be seen by everyone, so how would all Christians know they needed
to bail out and not bother going back to their houses for
something, if they're out in the field or at their place of work?
(Until recently, I thought the abomination of desolation was an
abominable sacrifice, too, but the TRUTH of the matter makes much
more sense.)
*The "holy place" is Jerusalem. The abomination is the Gentile
armies surrounding Jerusalem. The desolation is Jerusalem's being
desolated by the armies. See Luke 21:20-24.
*He ASSUMES that the tribulation will not start in the winter.
I'm supposing he says this, because Christ instructed us to pray
that our flight not be in the winter or on the Sabbath. Well, I
hope it's not in the winter, but the bible never emphatically
states that it will not be in the winter. BUT, I'll go with his
assumption just for the purpose of this comment and say that it's
not in the winter. He then pulls out the dates of March 21 and
March 22, because spring starts then. If this isn't grabbing at
straws, I don't know what is! He uses a ROMAN calendar date to
make his teachings fit. After going on about God's calendar and
using it to fit his theology, he then switches to use a Roman
calendar date in order to help finish the web he began spinning.
Since when has God used Rome's calendar?
*Bruton really goes out in left field when discussing the "flood"
of Revelation 12. He goes on to say that he's heard that it rains
a lot in Jerusalem in the spring (again, he's assuming the
tribulation starts in the spring), and so there must be a huge
flood that endangers the woman. First of all and more
importantly, the woman whom the flood goes after is the Church,
not just the small number of Christians in Jerusalem. The flood
does not apply to only those small number of Christians in
Jerusalem. Secondly, there is no guarantee that the "water as a
flood" is a literal flood of water (especially considering we're
talking of the whole Church, spread out in many places). More
likely, the water symbolizes people going after these Christians
to arrest and/or kill them.
(Revelation 17:15 gives the interpretation of "waters" and so
also then "flood." It is the armies of the Beast power, which are
made up of people from different nations - Keith Hunt)
*He then uses astrology to further convince his audience that
prophecy will be fulfilled on the dates he has predicted. He took
the verses in Revelation 12:1-4 and applied the Virgo
constellation with the woman and the Draco constellation to the
dragon, and he said since they and the sun and moon all lined up
in a certain manner at the time he predicted, that was further
proof. The woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her
feet and with a crown of twelve stars symbolizes the nation of
Israel and further on spiritual Israel--the Church. Joseph, the
son of Jacob (whom was renamed Israel), had a dream that the sun,
moon, and eleven stars bowed to him (Genesis 37:9). The sun and
the moon symbolized his parents, and the eleven stars symbolized
his brothers. It's clear that Israel's reference in Revelation 12
has absolutely nothing to do with constellations in the sky.
(And as this 12th chapter of Revelation goes on to say, this
woman brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations with
a rod of iron, and the Devil tried to kill him as soon as He was
born [verses 4-5]. This child was eventaully caught put to heaven
to the throne of God. Nothing could be plainer. All this is the
true Church of God and Jesus Christ being born in her midst;
Satan trying to kill him at His birth, and finally His return to
heaven to be on the Father's right hand - Keith Hunt)
*He claims that I Thessalonians 5:4 proves that there will be
some who know the day the Lord returns. That verse states: "But
ye brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake
you as a thief." Ha! Let's look at the context. Verse 1-2 say:
"But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that
I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of
the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." Now, we can see what
verse 4 really says. Notice what it does NOT say. It does not say
that we will know what day He comes back. It only says that that
day will not OVERTAKE the faithful brethren "as a thief." Verse 2
clearly says that Christ WILL come as a thief. That's why Christ
commanded us to WATCH. We need to ALWAYS be ready, for we do NOT
know when exactly it will be. There will be SIGNS in the heavens,
and the true faithful Christians will know when they see those
signs that they should, "look up, and lift up your heads; for
your redemption draweth nigh." We should be still living every
day as if it were our last and not to be carried away with cares
of the world. THAT is what Christ and Paul were saying about that
day taking us by surprise. IF we're not being faithful, we'll
certainly be caught off guard. If we're doing as we're supposed
to, it doesn't matter exactly when He shows up. We'll be READY.
How ridiculous of a thought and what a waste of a lot of breath
for Jesus to have repetitively warned that we must be watching.
If we could know the day ahead of time, we could know ahead of
time not to be acting a fool, now couldn't we? (Of course, the
true brethren will not be acting like a fool during any of those
days, but that's the point.)
(Actually it may well be that Paul was here not talking about the
"day" of Christ's coming back to earth, but the prophetic time
called "the day of the Lord" spoken about in over 30 passages in
the Old Testament prophets; and given as "the great day of His
wrath" in Revelation 6:17. After the Great Tribulation has come
on this earth by the working of the end-time Beast power, there
will be nations of people under the Beast, who will proclaim
"peace and safety." They will think they have done God's work and
that the enemies of the Eternal One have been destroyed, hence to
them, peace and safety will have come. It is when they say and
think this that God will step in on world events like never
before, and the SEVEN trumpets of the day of the Lord, or the day
of His great wrath, will come on the earth. True Christians, who
are not spiritually sleeping WILL KNOW the signs, and will
understand and will be aware that Jesus' return is within sight
as we say. They will NOT be apppointed to His wrath [1 Thes.5:9]
but to obtain salvation - Keith Hunt)
*Now, he's gone into all this detail concerning how people really
should know the day of Christ's return, and then he misapplies
Matthew 24:36: "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not
the angels of heaven, but my Father only." He says that is just a
saying referring to the feast of trumpets and doesn't really mean
what it says. But, now it gets even better. He now says that
verse 36 refers to the previous verse 35, rather than verse 34.
Verse 35 says, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words
shall not pass away." This is perhaps the most unbelievable
comment of all. He tried to make a case of the "day and hour"
having a special meaning, but now he contradicts himself and says
it applies to the "heaven and earth passing away" verse.
Unbelievable! WHICH is it? Bruton says that the "day and hour"
that no one knows is the day when heaven and earth passes away.
Well, for those who do not know the scriptures well or do not
take the time to read the context, I can see how some may believe
this. But, it's clear when a person reads further, that the "day
and hour" he's speaking of is NOT the day heaven and earth passes
away. It's talking about Christ's coming. That's been the main
idea since verse 23. Verse 42 REPEATS, "WATCH therefore: for ye
know not what hour your Lord doth come." Then, it's repeated
again in 25:13: "WATCH therefore, for ye know neither the day nor
the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." There should be NO doubt
as to what the "day and hour knoweth no one" in verse 36 means.
24:44,50 warn especially those who are NOT watching. These will
be the ones who will be taken off guard, overtaken as a thief,
because they did not remain FAITHFUL and did not watch--watch
both their BEHAVIOR and the SIGNS.
*He kept going on about how the Feast of Tabernacles symbolized
the wedding/marriage feast after Christ's return. How he gets
this idea is beyond me. If any feast is linked to the marriage
feast, it's Passover. Christ said during His last Passover, "For
I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be
fulfilled in the kingdom of God ... For I say unto you, I will
not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God
shall come" (Luke 22:16,18).
(I can see that some would acquaint the Feast of Tabernacles with
the marriage feast of Christ and the Church. Tabernacles was the
most festive and rejoicing Feast of all the Festivals of God. It
was the final completion of the harvests of Palestine. It was the
7 days of the most happy time of the year, hence easy to see how
some can understand this as the type of the marriage feast of
Christ and the Church at His coming - Keith Hunt)
*Then, he claims that those "taken" in Matthew 24:40-41 are the
wicked. Now, indeed, I must say that at a time I thought this,
too. It does seem to say that, since the ones "taken" in the
flood analogy were the wicked, and the "righteous shall never be
removed," and all that. But, here again, we must look at all the
scriptures. This is the THIRD time in which Bruton should have
looked to see what Luke had to say. Luke records the disciples,
in reply to Jesus' comment that some will be taken and others
left, "Where Lord?" And continuing the scripture, "And he said
unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither the eagles (or
vultures) be gathered together" (Luke 17:37). We see this same
thing being said by Christ, recorded by Matthew, PRIOR to the
"taken" and "left" verses. Verses 27-31 read: "For as the
lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west;
so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever
the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light and the stars
shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be
shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in
heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and
they shall see the Son oman coming in the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great
sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from
the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." The
"carcass" symbolizes Christ, and the "eagles" or "vultures" are
the resurrected saints. We will meet Him in the air. So, we see
that the ones TAKEN are the saints, and WHERE they are taken is
in the air to meet Christ (I Thessalonians 4:17).
Jesus warned of people like Dewey Bruton. He said, "For there shall
arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great
signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall
deceive the very elect" (Matthew 24:24). Bruton is one of MANY
false prophets that are devouring people in these latter days.
There are many people who are "amazed" at the "discoveries" Bruton
has shared--"great signs". He has many hoodwinked, because so
many of the things he put forth seem to fit together, too much to
be a coincidence, it seems. But, the fact is, is that all those
things that seem to fit together ARE just coincidence. If Jesus
matched ALL the prophecies that foretold of the Messiah's first
coming, except for ONE, He would have been disqualified. So it is
with every prophecy. There are many holes in Bruton's timeline.
And it is HIS timeline. Daniel's timeline had nothing to do with
Christ's second coming, and it certainly had nothing to do with
70 years, but rather 490 years (70x7), and it foretold of
Christ's FIRST coming.
A friend gave me the "Daniel's Timeline" dvd. But, I looked at
Bruton's website, and he sells the dvd for $19.95. That is one
more mark of a false prophet. They are in it for the money. True
prophets do not charge for prophetic truth. They give it away
freely. At the very worst, a person would only charge for
shipping of a product (which is perfectly understandable, if a
person cannot afford to ship free of charge), but Bruton charges
$4.05 for shipping in addition to the 20 bucks for the product.
Why would a true "prophet" want to "profit" money from the truth?
He would NOT.
He found something that sells. Another major problem is that he
also believes that God is a trinity--a heathen false doctrine.
................
Tara Chapman's Website is:
www.endtimecog.net
Entered on this Website June 2008
NOTE:
Date setters on Bible Prophecy have been never ending. When some
are blown away and disappear into the dust, as those in the
1980s, and we think we are rid of such foolish people and their
predictions; we find it is not long that others take their place.
I guess the new guys and gals they think that everyone has
forgotten the old date setters folly, or that there is a new
generation on hand that do not even remember the folly of the
date setters of 20,30,50,100,150, years ago. And so the fields
are ripe once more for new date setters to cash in on making a
buck on eager people who seem to always be out there to gollop up
the latest date setter's dates.
YOU need to understand Bible Prophecy as it really is in your
Bible. On this Website you have dozens of studies as well as the
whole book of Revelation, EXPOUNDED in detail as to true
prophecy. I set NO dates. I give FREELY to you what must come to
pass before Jesus can return to this earth. You are given the
world signs to WATCH for. I told you in 2004 that all signs of
world events show Jesus will NOT return in this decade. Will
Jesus return in the decade of 2010-2020? I will, if the Lord
grants me continued life, answer that for you in 2014, and
depending on the signs, I may answer earlier. I certainly do
still pray "Thy Kingdom come, They will be done on earth as it is
in heaven." The world desperately needs Jesus Christ back here to
establish God's Kingdom over all nations, and bring in the
wonderfull promises of the age to come, spoken about by the holy
prophets since the world began.
Keith Hunt
