Revelation, General Introduction

NOTES ON THE BOOK OF REVELATION

General Introduction

I. AUTHORSHIP
A. External Evidence
1. "The external attestation for this book is as strong as one could wish."--Thiessen [Actual source unknown]
2. All early external evidence of authorship points to John the Apostle.
3. Justin Martyr--A. D. 139-161 gives clear evidence of the Johannaine authorship, which testimony is refered to
by Eusebius who did not believe in Apostolic authorship of this book.
4. Not until Dionysius of Alexandria, the successor of Origen, about A. D. 247, is any real voice raised against the authorship of John the Apostle.
a. Note that this man was strongly anti-millennarian.
b. He ascribes it to some "John the Presbyter" who is mentioned by Papias, but not necessarily in connection with the Revelation.
c. Very little if anything. is known of the so-called "John the Presbyter" if he is distinct from John the Apostle.
5. The exile of John the Apostle in the Isle of Patmos under Domitian has strong early church tradition.
6. Equally ancient is the tradition that John the Apostle lived and worked among the Asiatic churches until the time of Trajan.
7. Thus the whole weight of external evidence points to John, the Apostle, the writer of the fourth Gospel and three epistles.
B. The Internal Evidence
1. Used against authorship of John
a. Four times calls himself John, but not apostle.
b. Can't be John the Apostle says some.
(I) Barbarisms
(II) Solecisms
(III) Difference of vocabulary from Gospel and Epistles
(IV) Hebraistic in style
2. Answers to anti-Johnnaine authorship
a. The humility of the Apostle John would readily account for him saying just "John" and those to whom he
wrote knew who it was. Furthermore, the writer says he was imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos for the sake
of the Gospel, and no tradition exists for any other person so imprisoned except John the Apostle.
b. The barbarisms
(I) Greatly exaggerated by those who deny the Johannaine authorship
(II) See below
c. The solecisms
(I) "A nonstandard use of grammatical construction" (The American Heritage Dictionary. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, c1982; 1163)
(II) Also greatly exaggerated
(III) They are largely attempts to emphasize certain words and phrases according to sense rather than
grammar.
d. Differences of vocabulary with Gospel and Epistles
(I) Also important similarities such as "the Word", "the Lamb", "water of life", "he that overcomes", etc.
(II) Material on which he is writing considerably different from Gospel and Epistles
e. Hebraistic in style
(I) John was a Hebrew, not a Greek.
(II) John was dealing with subjects largely dealt with in the Old Testament.
(III) Book is a series of visions; thus, it would tend to be Hebraistic.
f. General summary of evidence
(I) The method of writing can account for many differences.
(A) In Gospel and Epistles he was calmly arranging his material under the Guidance of the Spirit.
(B) Here he is the seer being taken quickly from vision to vision.
(II) Though John knew Greek, he was a Galilean, and here he might not have had a Greek secretary to write
down the material for him or to tell him of faults in grammar. (Inspiration used the writer as he was and did not give special linguistic ability.)
(III) Advanced age of the Apostle may have caused him to lapse into less accurate Greek.
(IV) It is noteworthy that Classical Greek writers have also been found to have elapsed into so-called
barbarisms.
3. Internal evidence, therefore, also points to John the Apostle.

II. BACKGROUND
A. Churches Addressed
1. General considerations
a. The churches addressed are seen in 1:11.
b. The seven churches addressed were the primary target of this book.
c. The church universal is addressed as embodied in these seven churches.
d. These seven churches may well represent a circuit of churches that were visited regularly by the Apostle
before his exile to Patmos.
2. The churches
a. Ephesus
(I) Capital of proconsular Asia
(II) A large city
(III) The center of commerce
(IV) In ruins today--cf. Revelation 2:5
b. Smyrna
(I) Homer's birthplace (?)
(II) A very ancient city
(III) Polycarp was an important leader in this town about 150 A. D.
c. Pergamos
(I) Also a very ancient city, but may have been only a fortress until Alexander the Great
(II) Had a great library
(III) Still exists as a considerable size city
d. Thyatira
(I) About 60 miles south-east of Pergamos
(II) Main trade was the dyeing of purple
(III) Still exists as a considerable size town
e. Sardis
(I) The ancient capital of Lydia about halfway between Thyatira and Philadelphia
(II) Several Christian councils held in it
(III) Fell to the Turks in Eleventh Century
(IV) Only a small village left
f. Philadelphia
(I) Founded by Attalus Philadelphus, King of Pergamum
(II) Eventually taken by Turks in Fourteenth Century
(III) A considerable size town today with many churches
g. Laodicea
(I) Is close to Colosse
(II) Was a very wealthy and important place under the emperors of Rome
(III) When the city was destroyed during the reign of Nero due to an earthquake, the citizens were able to
rebuilt it by their own wealth without state-aid.
(IV) It produced literary men of eminence and had a great medical school.
(V) Utterly destroyed by the Turks; today it is desolated, with only a small village among its ruins
B. Author's Connection with these Churches
1. John apparently came to Ephesus in 69 or 70 A. D.
2. Apparently took charge of the circuit of Asia consisting of these seven churches
3. Ephesus was doubtlessly his headquarters.
4. While on the Isle of Patmos in the fifteen years of Domitian, he wrote this book to them.
5. Eusebius tells us that he returned to Ephesus after Domitian’s death at the beginning of Nerva's reign.

III. OCCASION AND DATE
A. Why John Wrote
1. At the direct command of Jesus Christ--1:10-13
2. Behind this command doubtlessly lay the need of the Churches in days of persecution.
3. If the word angels of the churches are the "messengers" of those Churches, perhaps they visited John
informing him of the condition of the churches. This would give him occasion to write.
B. When Did He Write
1. Early date
a. 68 or 69 A. D.
b. Based on the character of the Greek; it was reasoned that the linguistic differences can be accounted for this
way because John would be less learned in Greek at the early date.
c. Based on a strained interpretation of the seven headed beast in chapters 13 and 17
2. Later date
a. 95 or 96 A. D.
b. Generally accepted
c. Testimony of several early writers say that John was banished to Patmos during reign of Domitian, A. D.
81-96.
d. The reference to the "Lord’s Day" would tend to put it at the end of the first century since this term was used
to refer to Sunday before the end of the Second Century.
e. Much of the attempt to present an earlier date is based on an erroneous interpretation of the book of
Revelation.

IV. CONNECTION WITH THE REST OF THE BIBLE
A. The Old Testament
1. Connection with the Old Testament should be obvious, since much of the symbolism is Old Testament.
2. A real understanding of the Book of Revelation comes from a careful reading and understanding of the Old
Testament, especially the Prophets.
3. The Book of Revelation gives the "culmination of many of the Old Testament Prophecies.
B. The New Testament
1. What the Prophetic Books of the Old Testament is to the Old, the Book of Revelation is to the New.
2. The Book of Revelation gives us the culmination of all New Testament prophecies especially Matthew 24 and
25.
3. The Book of Revelation gives the final triumph of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.

V. PURPOSE
A. 1:1
1. The Holy Spirit's declaration of purpose
2. "Which must shortly come to pass"
a. God's time is not our time.
b. "This clause, therefore, does not necessarily mean that the fulfillment will actually begin at once, but merely that
we are to look for it to begin at any time in the future."--Thiessen
B. Secondary Purposes
1. Purification
2. Encouragement
3. Fortification
C. To Set Forth the Ultimate Triumph of Christ and His Cause

VI. METHODS OF INTERPRETATION
A. Spiritualistic or Idealistic
1. All in the book is to be interpreted for whatever spiritual value can be obtained.
2. Originated with the Alexandrian school, i. e., Origen and Clement, who approached the Book with a strong
anti-chiliastic bias
3. System allegorizes practically everything.
4. Modern form considers the Revelation "as dealing with the conflict between the Church and the forces of evil
through the whole Christian dispensation." (Source unknown)
5. The truth in this view is that the Book does serve as encouragement to believers in every age.
6. The falsehood is that this view ignores the fact the book is prophecy-- 1:1, 3, 7.
B. Praeterist or Past Fulfillment
1. "This theory holds that practically all the book has already been fulfilled."
2. Two basis views
a. The older one
(I) Chapters 6-11 fulfilled in "the humiliation and prostration of the Jewish persecuting enemies of the
Church"
(II) Chapters 13-19--fulfilled mainly in the reign of Nero
(III) Chapters 21.22--Still future
(IV) Rest of book vaguely interpreted.
b. The newer one
(I) Originated about 1600 A. D. by Jesuit Alcasar
(II) The General Interpretation
(A) Chapters 4-11--conflict of the Church with Judaism
(B) Chapters 12-19--conflict of the Church with Paganism
(C) Chapters 20-22--The Church's present (1600), triumph and power
(III) View fails
(A) In fanciful meaning given to symbols
(B) Events of Chapters 4-19 are relatively short in time and connected with Christ's second coming.
C. Historical
1. Originated with Berengaud--Ninth Century
2. Popularized by Joachim, a Roman Catholic , Twelfth Century
3. Holds that the book covers the whole History of the Church from the time of John to the end of the World.
4. Widely accepted by the Reformers
5. Today, most of the book would be fulfilled and " thus of little value to the church.
6. "The hopeless differences among the historical interpreters" is "strong proof that they are on the wrong track."
D. Futuristic
1. The only view that has early acceptance among the early church
2. The only view consistent with a literal method of interpretation
3. The only view that really makes any real sense out of the book
4. The only view where there substantial agreement among its interpreters--though we must admit that considerable
disagreement exists as to details
5. This view holds that most of the book, particularly Chapters 4-22 are yet future.
6. Admittedly this view had no advocates or few from the time of Jerome and Augustine on.
7. Also admittedly this view had practically no advocates among the reformers, nor in the so-called main stream of
Christianity since them

VII. KEYS
A. Key Verse
1. 1:19
2. This is the Divine outline.
B. Key Words
1. I saw (or equivalent)--51 times
2. Behold--24 times
3. Amen--11 times
4. Seven--40 times
C. Numerology
1. General considerations
a. One--unity
(I) Occurrences
(A) 822 times
(B) 17 times in Revelation
(II) One God
(A) 46 times rendered "first"
(B) Occurrence of "first" in Revelation is actually "foremost."
(III) One body
b. Two--diversity
(I) Occurrences
(A) 570 times
(B) Nine times in Revelation
(C) 38 times rendered "second"--11 times in Revelation
(II) Two witnesses--Revelation 11:3
(III) Double-tongued--1 Timothy 3:8
c. Three--Sacred and completeness
(I) Occurrences
(A) 440 times
(B) Nine times in Revelation
(C) "Third" occurs 165 times--20 times in Revelation
(II) The Trinity
(III) Three heavens--2 Corinthians 12:2
d. Four--Earth and created things
(I) Occurrences
(A) 293 times
(B) 28 times in Revelation
(C) Fourth--three times
(II) Points of a compass
(III) Seasons
(IV) Phases of the moon
(V) Living creatures--Revelation 4
e. Five--Divine grace
(I) Occurrences
(A) 282 times
(B) Three times in Revelation
(C) Fifth--58 times (4 times in Revelation)
(II) Five offerings of Leviticus 1-7
f. Six--humanity
(I) Occurrences
(A) 235 times
(B) Seven times in Revelation
(II) Six days of creation (Man created on sixth day.)
(III) Work week of six days
(IV) 666 in Revelation 13:18
g. Seven--Fulness or completion
(I) Occurrences
(A) 527 times
(B) Seventh--nine times
(C) Five times in Revelation
(II) Probably the most prominent and most significant number in the Bible
(III) Multiples are important
(A) 7 x 2 = 14--genealogy
(1) Cf. Matthew 1:1
(2) Occurs 50 times
(B) 70
(1) Occurs 60 times
(2) Cf. Luke 10:1
(C) 70 x 7--(Matthew 18:22)
(D) 77--Genesis 4:24
(E) 7 x 7 = 49, years to year of Jubilee
(F) 7 x 1/2 = 3 1/2
(1) Expressed by phrase "a time, and times (a dual word in the Hebrew or Aramaic) and half a time"
(2) Important in prophecy
(3) Half of Daniel's 70th week
(4) Revelation 11:9; 12:14
(IV) Occurs in Scriptures
(A) Seven--527 times
(B) Multiples--113 times
g. Eight
(I) Occurrences
(A) 79 times
(B) Eighth--38 times
(C) Twice in Revelation
(II) The number of resurrection
(III) The number of circumcision, whether physical or spiritual
h. Nine
(I) Occurrences
(A) 45 times
(B) Ninth--33 times
(C) Once in Revelation
(II) Finality of judgment
(III) Genesis 17:1
(IV) Note: nine is 3 x 3
i. Ten
(I) Occurrences
(A) 200 times
(B) Seven in Revelation
(C) Tenth--62 times (Revelation--twice)
(II) The third number signifying completion
(III) Completes one series on numbers
j. Eleven--signifies disorder because it stands for 12 - 1
(I) Cf. Acts 1:26
(II) Occurrences
(A)19 times
(B) Eleventh--19 times
(C) Once in Revelation
k. Twelve
(I) Occurrences
(A) 488 times
(B) 20 times in Revelation
(II) Fourth and last number of completion
(III) Indicates election
(A) Twelve tribes
(B) 12 apostles
(C) 144,000
(1) Consists of 12 x 12
(2) Consists of 10 x 10 x 10
(3) Fanciful?
(a) Then you explain why 144,000.
(b) Why 12,000 from each tribe?
(c) Why not 1,200 or 120,000?
l. Thirteen--23 times, all in Old Testament
(I) Number of calamity?--cf. Genesis 14:4
(II) Not suggesting anything superstitious, but . . . .
m. The most remarkable number
(I) 2,520
(II) Product of the four complete numbers--3, 7, 10, 12
(III) Lowest common denominator for the four numbers
(IV) Furthermore, it is the lowest number into which all the numbers from 1-10 will divide equally.
(V) Important from a prophetical and chronological view point being 7 x 360 or 7 prophetic years, the
seventieth week of Daniel
(VI) Fanciful? Accidental? Certainly amazing .isn’t it?

VIII. ESCHATOLOGICAL MATTERS
A. The Dispensations
1. General matters
a. The word “age” in Scripture often refers to a dispensation.
b. The word rendered “world" in Authorized Version is often the Greek word aion or age--cf. Hebrews 1:1, 2
c. The word "Dispensation"
(I) From Greek oikonomia
(A) primarily means "stewardship"
(B) Thus a responsibility to be discharged
(II) "A specific, divine economy, a commitment from God to man of a responsibility to discharge that which
God has appointed him." (Chafer, Lewis Sperry, Systematic Theology. Dallas, TX: Dallas Seminary
Press, 1948; VII:122)
(III) Used by the Apostle Paul--Ephesians 3:1, 2
(IV) Note: Though the seven dispensations are herein discussed briefly, it is not necessary to hold to seven; a minimum number would be three; conceivably one could name four. Seven, however, certainly gives a
complete picture and has been the most commonly accepted number.
2. The seven dispensations
a. General remarks
(I) NOTE: Each dispensation begins well and ends in failure.
(II) Each dispensation ends in a judgment by God.
(III) Each dispensation tests man along certain lines.
(IV) Each dispensation is NOT, this writer repeats, NOT a different way of salvation; salvation is always by
grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not by any of works.
b. The dispensations
(I) The dispensation of innocence
(A) Boundaries
(1) Creation of man
(2) Expulsion from the Garden of Eden
(B) Man's condition
(1) "Adam and Eve were originally innocent; that is, they were pure and untainted by sin. They were,
however, free moral agents.”
(2) Genesis 1:26-29, 31; 2:7, 8, 15, 25
(C) God's requirement
(1) Only prohibition was the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
(2) Genesis 2:16, 17
(3) Penalty--death
(D) Man's conduct
(1) Disobedience
(2) Genesis 3:6; Romans 5:12
(E) God's retribution
(1) Spiritual death immediately
(2) Physical death eventually
(3) Genesis 3:6, 8, 10; 3:16, 19, 23, 24
(II) The dispensation of conscience
(A) Boundaries
(1) Man's expulsion from Garden of Eden
(2) The Great Flood
(B) Man's condition
(1) Sinful
(2) Has the conscience to tell right from wrong
(3) Cf. Genesis 3:7-19
(C) God's requirement
(1).No direct statement
(2) Compare Genesis 4: 4 and 3:21; Hebrews 11:4
(3) Offer by faith a bloody sacrifice to God
(D) Man's conduct
(1) Cain rejected the Divine revealed way.
(2) Moral standards declined
(3) Genesis 4:3, 8, 17; 6:5, 11-13
(E) God's retribution
(1) God flooded the entire earth for five months
(2) God saved eight persons.
(3) Genesis 6:13, 17; 7:4, 10-12, 17-24
(III) The dispensation of human government
(A) Boundaries
(1) The great flood
(2) Confusion of tongues at Babel
(B) Man's condition
(1) At beginning righteous by faith in the God appointed sacrifices
(2) Genesis 7:1; 8:15-20; 9:1-4; 11:1
(C) God's requirement
(1) Man to govern themselves
(2) Capital punishment instituted
(3) Man to scatter over the earth
(4) Genesis 9:1, 5-7; 11:4, 8, 9
(D) Man's conduct
(1) Man disobeyed and built a city in which to dwell.
(2) Built a monument to their own glory
(3) Gen. 11:2-4
(E) God's retribution
(1) God confused their language.
(2) Without being able to understand each other, they scattered.
(3) Genesis 11:7-9
(IV) The dispensation of promise
(A) Boundaries
(1) Call of Abraham
(2) Giving of the Law
(B) Man's condition
(1) Man generally was away from God.
(2) Abraham was called on basis of sovereign grace.
(3) Genesis 12:1-3, 7; 13:14-17; 15:4, 5, 18
(C) God's requirement
(1) Faith in the promise
(2) The rite of circumcision
(3) Genesis 17:9-13
(D) Man's conduct
(1) Faith and failure present in lives of patriarchs
(2) Failure as a whole by becoming too settled in Egypt
(3) Genesis 12 - Exodus 12
(E) God's retribution
(1) Left them in Egypt for 400 years. and caused them to be oppressed
(2) Led them out of Egypt when they turned to Him
(3) Exodus 1ff.
(V) The dispensation of Law
(A) Boundaries
(1) Giving of the Law
(2) Death of Christ on the Cross and His resurrection from the dead
(3) Renewed to some extent during the Great Tribulation
(B) Man's condition (Israel's)
(1) Delivered but continued sinning and complaining
(2) Exodus 2:23, 25; 19:4ff..
(C) God's requirement
(1) Obedience to all that was in the Law
(2) Exodus 19:5-8; 20:1-17, 22-26; Deuteronomy 6:16-25; Gal 3:10
(D) Man's conduct
(1) Israel transgressed even while the law was given.
(2) The History of Israel is repeatedly the story of
(a) Disobedience
(b) Transgression
(c) Apostasy
(E) God's retribution
(1) God brought on them the judgments that were spelled out in the Law.
(2) Finally, God sent His Son with Whom they did away.
(VI) The dispensation of grace
(A) Boundaries
(1) The cross and the resurrection of Christ
(2) The rapture
(B) Man's condition
(1) Sinful
(2) Romans 3:9-19, 23
(C) God's requirement
(1) Faith in the finished work of Christ on the Cross
(2) John 1:12; 3:16,18, 36; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:24; 4:5; 10: 9, 10
(D) Man's conduct
(1) Some have believed.
(2) Others have rejected the way.
(3) Some have professed, but have prostituted the way by a system of works.
(4) The seven letters clearly set forth the decline in this church age.
(E) God's retribution
(1) The saved will be called out at the rapture.
(2) The apostate church will go into the great tribulation to be destroyed with other God-hating,
Christ-rejecting people.
(3) Numerous passages
(VII) The dispensation of the kingdom
(A) Boundaries
(1) The Second Coming of Christ
(2) The Great White Throne
(B) Man's condition
(1) Many during the Tribulation will turn to God and will inherit the kingdom.
(2) Satan will be chained so that sin has no leadership.
(3) Ideal world conditions will prevail.
(C) God's requirement
(1) Acknowledgement and yieldedness to Jesus Christ as Lord and King
(2) Immediate judgment for transgression and sins
(3) Many verses
(D) Man's conduct
(1) Man's fleshly nature will be unchanged.
(2) Man will again fail the test and upon Satan's release, they rebel.
(3) Revelation 20:7-9
(E) God's retribution
(I) Fire from Heaven
(2) Judgment final and certain
(3) The White Throne Judgment
e. What the dispensations test
(I) The dispensation of innocence shows that man would have sinned even if innocent.
(II) The dispensation of conscience reveals that man's conscience is not adequate to live a holy life.
(III) The dispensation of human government sets forth that man is unable to govern himself.
(IV) The dispensation of promise shows that a God-given promise will not keep man right.
(V) The dispensation of Law indicates that rules are not sufficient for holy living.
(VI) The dispensation of grace reveals that holy living can only come from God's free gift received by faith,
but shows man's refusal to accept such proffered grace.
(VII) The dispensation of the kingdom reveals that the very presence of the King, God manifested in the
flesh, is still not enough to keep man from sinning. It shows that the absence of Satan (A person can't
say, "the devil made me do it.") may reduce evil, but will reveal that the ravages of sin are not so stopped.
f. Two notes
(I) Some have proposed an eighth dispensation to cover the new heaven and new earth; such a proposal is
really unnecessary for perfection will then exist.
(II) Some have also proposed a separate dispensation for the Great Tribulation; this is also unnecessary.
(A) First, it is unnecessary because it is so brief a period of time.
(B) Second, it is unnecessary because it is primarily a period of judgment and the only requirement is faith
in the coming Messiah.
g. Relationship to our study
(I) Chapters 2, 3 reveal the downward course of this Church age, this dispensation of grace.
(II) Chapters 4-12 gives the Tribulation Period between the sixth and seventh dispensations.
(III) Chapter 20 sets forth the dispensation of the kingdom.
(IV) Chapters 21, 22 give the state of things following the seventh dispensation.
B. The Seventy Weeks of Daniel
1. The Passage--Daniel 9:20-27
2. The seventy weeks
a. Literally "Seventy sevens"
b. Why the week is years instead of days
(I) Immediate context
(A) Daniel 9:1, 2
(B) Daniel was thinking about years.
(II) The Jews had a week of years which was equally if not more important than the week of days--
Leviticus 25:3, 4.
(III) God's judgment against Israel was in part due to their violation of this sabbatical year's rest to the land.
(A) The judgment of being dispersed in Babylon was for 70 years.
(B) Thus, the sabbatical year had been violated for 70 sevens or 490 years.
(C) God in infinite grace now declares another cycle of 490 years or 70 sevens.
(IV) If the week had been of days, the events predicted would have been 490 days or slightly more than
a year.
(A) This would not be enough time for the events predicted.
(B) No such thing happened after the decree went forth.
(C) The context
(1) 10:2,3
(2) Literally, "three sevens of days"
(3) Thus, if days were meant why was this phrase not used in 9:24ff.?
(V) Cf. Genesis 29:27 for substantiation
c. The year in prophetic Scripture is 360 days.
(I) Historical proof
(A) The flood
(B) Compare Genesis 7:11 with Genesis 8:4 where period is given as 5 months.
(C) Same period is given as 150 days--Genesis 7:24 and 8:3.
(II) Prophetical proof
(A) The midst of the seventieth week to the end is the persecution according to Daniel 9:27; thus, 3 1/2
years.
(B) Daniel 7:24-25 speaks of a “time, times and dividing of time” which in Aramaic is 3 1/2 times.
(C) Revelation 12:14 speaks of the same 3 1/2 times.
(D) The same ruler and his persecution is mentioned in Revelation 13:5 as 42 months.
(E) The same period is given in Revelation 12:6 as 1,260 days.
(F) Therefore, the length of the prophetic year is fixed by Scripture as 360 days.
d. The fulfillment of the seventy weeks
(I) The sixty-nine weeks
(A) Its beginning
(1) Which decrees are not it
(a) The decree of Cyrus
((I)) 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23
((II)) Ezra 1:1-3
(b) The decree of Darius--Ezra 6:3-8
(c) The first decree of Artaxerxes--Ezra 7:7
(d) None of these decrees gave permission to the Jews to build the city; only the temple was to be
built under these decrees.
(2) The second decree of Artaxerxes
(a) Nehemiah 2:1-8
(b) This decree gave permission to rebuild Jerusalem.
(c) Date of the decree
((I)) Month of Nisan, year 20 of Artaxerxes' reign
((II)) Robert Anderson, The Two Babylons, page number not known--March 14, 445 B. C.
from secular historians
(B) Its end
(1) 69 weeks of years
(2) Prophetic year is 360 days
(3) Total is 173,880 days
(4) Anderson's calculation
(a) Nisan 1, 20th year of Artaxerxes was March 14, 445 B. C.
(b) The 10th of Nisan in passion week (Christ's entry into Jerusalem)
((I)) Jesus entered Jerusalem six days before the Passover--John 12:1
((II)) The 14th of Nisan is when the passover was to be eaten which in the year of our Lord's
death fell on Thursday.
((III)) Six days earlier would be the preceding Friday, the sabbath being spent at Bethany in
Martha's house.
((IV)) The following day , the 10th of Nisan, a Sunday, He entered Jerusalem.
((V)) The 10th of Nisan was on April 6, 32 A. D.
(c) The time between (a) and (b) was 476 years, 24 days.
(d) The calculation
((I)) 476 x 365 = 173,740 days
((II)) March 14 to April 6 inclusive is 24 days.
((III)) For leap years add 116 days.
((IV)) Total--173,880 days
(e) Cf. Luke 19:42 --"on this day" is the best rendering.
(5) After the 69 weeks, Messiah is cut off--Dan. 9: 26.
(II) The gap between 69th and 70th week
(A) suggested by the prophecy itself--vv. 25-27
(B) Continual fulfillment idea
(1) Wrong because it allegorizes instead of literalizes
(2) Wrong because little or nor agreement as to its fulfillment
(3) Wrong because of the switch in method of interpretation
(4) Wrong because prophecy concerns Israel about whom no such events as predicted in 70th week
took place
(C) Dr. Ironside stated that such a gap exists in many prophecies (probably from his book, The Great
Parenthesis)--compare Isaiah 61:2 with Luke 4:13-20 where Jesus stops in the middle of the
sentence and closes the scroll.
(D) What occurs during the gap
(1) Messiah cutoff, but not for himself--Daniel 9:26
(2) The people of a coming prince destroys the city of Jerusalem.
(a) Daniel 9:26
(b) Occurred in 70 A. D.
(c) What was this people? Romans!
(d) Desolations determined
(3) The church age
(a) No mention made in Daniel
(b) This was the new thing revealed to the Apostle Paul.
(III) The seventieth week
(A) The Person of the Covenant
(1) Many say "Christ."
(2) They are right, but actually the Anti-Christ.
(3) The "he" of verse 27
(a) All rules of grammar whether English or other language says that the antecedent of a personal
pronoun is the nearest person mentioned.
(b) That nearest person is the prince from these people who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A. D.
(c) Therefore, the "he" refers to him and not to the Messiah.
(B) He makes a covenant with the many (who are Jews --v. 24)
(C) He breaks the covenant and cause the sacrifices to cease in the middle of the 70th week.
(D) This 70th week is the Great Tribulation

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