Overview
The Endtimes we describe on this site are not only the Christian Endtimes. The Old Testament is the foundation of all Endtimes prophecy. By studying The Jewish Age as we’ve called it, in context with the Endtimes, we can uncover the foundational truths first, and then work our way progressively towards The Christian Age, and on to The Millennium and The Eternal State.
The Overview pages are meant to give a summary of the section.
The Jewish Age
The word of God was given first to the Jewish nation. God in his wisdom decided to reveal himself more fully to and through the Jews, and later through the Church (Gentiles). God unveiled his plan for the Jews over hundreds of years starting with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, then Moses, and later through the prophets. By covenant with God, Abraham is the father of the Jewish nation.
Abrahamic Covenant
Genesis 17:6 – “I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. 7“I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.” (Genesis 12:1-3)
The Jews in the Endtimes
Some Christians mistakenly believe that the Church has replaced Israel in God’s plan for the future, both nationally and redemptively. On the contrary, the unconditional nature of God’s covenants with Abraham and David demonstrates why the Jews must be a key component of our understanding of the Endtimes. In Daniel chapter 9 the angel Gabriel gives a prophecy from God directly to Daniel. It describes a time period of 70-weeks (70 groups of seven years = 490 years), starting from Daniel’s time to the end of this age. The final week (7-years) of his 70 weeks prophecy is directed at the Jews. That final week is described in the New Testament as The Tribulation. (Matthew 24)
“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness”
If we wanted a timeline, we have it. (We haven’t arrived at everlasting righteousness yet) We just need to understand how to break it down. From the wording of the prophecy, we know that there is a gap in-between the 69 weeks and the 70th week. This is the Church Age, a mystery revealed in the NT.
The Messianic Kingdom and the Judgment
The Old Testament lays the groundwork for all Endtimes prophecy. We write about the OT Covenants, God’s promises to the Jews here quite a bit because they explain the Purpose, the Plan and the People of the Endtimes.
The Davidic Covenant:
God speaking with David: When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13“He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14“I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me;
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.
The First Prophecy
As we will see, the first foundational prophecy comes right from Genesis chapter 3, describing the future defeat of Satan by the Son of God, and then jumping forward, the book of Daniel actually paints an amazingly detailed picture of the major world empires of Daniel’s day going forward, and lastly the final world empire of the Antichrist, kicked off by the 7-year tribulation and ending with the Second Coming of the Messiah – Jesus Christ.
Visiting each page in the Jewish Age section will help lay the foundations we need in the New Testament section.
The Covenants
God made covenants (binding agreements) with the Jews. Some of those promises were contingent on the Jews obedience to God, and others were not, and required no action on the part of the Jews. For example, the Land given to the Jews was for an everlasting possession.
Daniel
The book of Empires!
The book of Daniel contains some of the most detailed Endtimes prophecies in the OT. Specifically, in Daniel’s visions of the statue of Gold, Silver, Bronze, he learns that the statue is a prophetic picture of the coming world kingdoms up to the final world kingdom.
This is in context of Daniel’s prayers to petition God for his people, while he himself is in exile in ancient Babylon.
God answers his prayer by sending the angel Gabriel, and as it turns out, God gives Daniel much more than what he asked for. He gave him details of the future of the world system and empires up to the Antichrist and the end of this age.
We learn about some specific time periods, the Antichrist, the Tribulation, and a unique Messianic prophecy.
The Messiah
Jesus, having fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, was the rightful King of Israel.
As shown in the Gospels, Jesus was a direct descendant of King David through both parents, so he became the heir of the Davidic promises.
The death of the Messiah is prophesied in Daniel 9:25-26 and a timetable of sorts is given.
“…Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary”
Artaxerxes issued that decree. (more on this in the Daniel Page)