I want to begin by saying that these are years to especially watch for the rapture, though we should be watching and alert at all times (Mark 13:37). I do not know the day or the hour, but I do believe that the prophets and Jesus gave us warning signs for several reasons. One reason being so that we can know that the day is approaching and it won’t ‘overtake us like a thief’ (1 Thessalonians 5:4) and another so that we won’t be like one of the virgins who did not have oil in their lamps from the parable of the 10 virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). I am not stating as a fact that these are the years or doing any sort of prophesying to be extra clear up front. With that said we can move on. 🙂
There happen to be some very, very interesting things pointing our attention to these times that I’d like to share and in so doing encourage you to accept Jesus as your Savior (Romans 10:9) and make Him Lord of your life because time may be shorter than most of us think.
To make this easier to format I’m going to put these in numbered order, but they are not necessarily in order of importance.
It’s also important to note that at the time of this writing it appears that 2017 is already over, but that may not necessarily be the case when you look at Exodus 12:2. God sets Nisan 1 as the first day of the year for the Jewish people. Today the Jewish people celebrate their new year on the Feast of Trumpets, but our ultimate source of truth is the Word of God. Man might try to change dates and times, but that does not change the Word. Thus the year 2017 could actually be completed around March 17th, 2018 on the gregorian calendar, which would be Nisan 1.
With all that said, let’s jump in.
1. September 2017 Revelation 12 Sign (Revelation 12:1-2)
I can’t even begin to do this justice here without a very long post so please visit Unsealed’s compendium write-up of this event if you want more information. They give tons of research and evidence that this is a truly unique sign. To give a basic explanation though, there was a celestial event that occurred on Sept 23/24, 2017, which coincided exactly with the Jewish Feast of Trumpets.
It exactly matched the description given in Revelation 12: 1-2 and saw Jupiter, the king planet, traveling in Virgo’s stomach for the full length of a pregnancy. People have used programs like Stellarium to look 4,000 years backward and 1,000 years into the future and they could not find another time that this occurs. The stars never diverge from their paths so with the software we have available today we are able to see things like this for the first time in history.
The Bible tells us that the sun, moon and stars will serve as signs for us. (Genesis 1:14, Luke 21:25) We all know that the magi were aware of the significance of a star in the sky at Jesus’ birth leading them to the Messiah and Revelation tells us that there will be more signs in the heavens toward His 2nd return. If you were ever looking for a sign that the end times are here, this may be it.
2. The 62 Weeks of Daniel 9:24-26
This is also just so incredible. In these verses the angel Gabriel is explaining a vision to Daniel about how there will be 70 weeks until the Messiah comes and how there will be one group of 62 weeks and another group of 7 weeks followed by the final week. Now we understand that a day represents a year so there will be three distinct time periods (62×7 = 434 years, 7×7 = 49 years, 1×7 = 7 years).
It explains that the timing of this prophecy begins with a commandment to re-build Jerusalem with its streets and its walls, which the word ‘charuwts’ could also be translated as trench or moat when looking at the original language. Now this had a past fulfillment prophesying the exact arrival of Christ. Daniel 9:26 discusses how after 62 and 7 weeks the Messiah would be cut off leaving one final week (or 7 years), which is believed by many to be the tribulation ending in the glorious and final return of Christ to earth. This is not to be confused with the rapture, however.
As we can see sometimes in Biblical prophecy and symbolism, there can appear to be near term fulfillments in the past that also point to future fulfillments in the end times. In the book of Ecclesiastes we learn that there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9) and that what has been will be again. A possible future fulfillment appears to be reaching completion in our time.
In 1517 the Ottoman Turks gained control over the land of Jerusalem. Their leader at the time was Suleiman the magnificent. In 1535 he made an order for the ruined walls of Jerusalem to be rebuilt, which are the same walls that stand today in the city. This starts our time line. Flash forward now to 1969, which happens to be 434 exact years in the future. The Jewish people are back as a nation in their homeland as of 1948 and after the six day war in 1967 Jerusalem was now back in control of the Jewish people. On April 1, 1969 the Jewish government voted to begin rebuilding Jerusalem and established the Jewish Quarter Development Company.
It’s interesting that the time lapse was not 433 years or 435 years after the decree to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem by the Ottomans, it was exactly 1969-1535 = 434 years! You can’t make this stuff up – it’s recorded in history. This is something that makes Christianity different from all other religions. Things occur within recorded history and prophecies come true. To deny it or think it’s made up does nothing to eliminate what is truth in the end. Possibly this is the 2nd time that this prophecy is seeing fulfillment, the first fulfillment being with Christ.
So if we start the 2nd period mentioned by Daniel of 7 weeks being 49 years that takes us to 1969+49=2018. This could potentially be the year that the last week of tribulation begins. It’s believed by many that the rapture will occur before the tribulation period of wrath starts from 1 Thessalonians 5:9 and Revelation 3:10.
3. Ties to important times with Israel
I don’t think modern Christians truly and deeply appreciate the sheer magnitude of our times with the fact that Israel is a nation again. We’re talking about a people that have not been a nation since 70 AD. When Israel became a nation again in 1948 it happened in a single day, which many point to Isaiah 66:8. Who has heard of such things happening?
Israel has several important dates I want to briefly cover:
- 1897 – Formation of the First Zionist Congress – Held in Switzerland, this set the stage for the Basel Program proclaiming the desire to establish a home for the Jewish people under the public law.
- 1917 – The Balfour Declaration – Balfour, representing British rule, sent a letter to a prominent Zionist that Britain supported the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, which was under British rule after WW1.
- 1947 & 1948 – UN Vote for Israel & Official Creation of the Israel Nation
- 1967 – Six Day’s War – Israel defeats its neighboring countries and takes over control of Jerusalem.
Now let’s get into the interesting date connections:
- From 1917 – 1967 is a span of 50 years
The Jewish people are told to observe a year of rest for the land known as the Shmita year. (Exodus 23:10-11, Deuteronomy 15:1-6) After every 7th Shmita cycle they are told to observe an additional year known as a year of Jubilee which is the 50th year (Leviticus 25:8-55). God takes the sabbath years very seriously. In fact, Israel was initially destroyed and taken out of their land by the Babylonians for exactly 70 years (2 Chronicles 36:21, Leviticus 26:27-35, Jeremiah 25:8-12) to account for this failed observance and give the land its sabbath rest. Here is a resource to explain these points in more detail. These were times where debt was erased, land was restored to its original owners, and slaves were freed.
I explained all of that because it is believed that 1917-1967-2017 are possibly the years of Jubilee in action with 1917 being the 118th Jubilee, 1967 being the 119th Jubilee, and 2017 being the final 120th Jubilee or 6,000 years. See the 6,000 year count here.
- From 1897 – 2017 is a span of 120 years
The significance of 120 is the number of years determined for man before the flood came during the times of Noah found in Genesis 6:3. This has relevance to the end times because of Matthew 24:37-39 where it discusses the end will be as the days of Noah.
- From 1947 or 1948, the vote and founding year of Israel as a nation in respective order, to 2017 and 2018 is span of 70 years.
We understand from Scripture in Psalms 90:10 that a lifespan is meant to be 70 years. The number 70 has a lot of significance, but becomes more apparent when you read about the parable of the fig tree in Matthew 24:32-35, Mark 13:28-31, Luke 21:29-33. It is believed that this represents Israel becoming a nation again. If that is the case and with it saying that all these things will happen before this generation passes away this brings us to 2017/2018 for 70 years and if strength endures to 80 years then 2027/2028 for the end. This 10 year span allows for the unbelievers of that generation to still be alive during the tribulation years.