Full Cup Principle / Jubilee Language

The final step in connecting the Jubilee Calendar with Revelation 8:2 concerns the operation of the full cup principle as it pertains to timing. Notice how this works. God’s patience with the nation of Israel ended when Israel violated seventy Sabbath years. When this limit was reached, God swiftly raised up King Nebuchadnezzar to take His people into Babylonian exile before another Sabbath year could be violated! (Jeremiah 25:7-11) The Bible says Israel was exiled to Babylon for seventy years because Israel violated seventy Sabbath years. (Leviticus 26:31-36; 2 Chronicles 36:21,22) After the Babylonian exile was over, God granted Israel a second chance with respect to time. God granted the Great Day of Tuesday to Israel using Jubilee language. He used Jubilee language so that His people (who should have understood the Jubilee Calendar) could easily determine which decree would start the countdown to Messiah’s appearing. The timing of the first advent of Jesus was not supposed to be a surprise.

“Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, [Messiah] the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens’…” (Daniel 9:25, insertion mine)

Have you ever wondered why God stated the sixty-nine weeks in two parts? Why does He say, “seven weeks” and sixty-two weeks” when He could have easily said, “sixty-nine weeks?”

Note: The Hebrew word shabuwa’ translated as “weeks” or “sevens” means “the cycle of the seven” or commonly “the week.” Compare Daniel 9:24 with Daniel 10:3. Millions of people have read the words in Daniel 9:25 without realizing what they actually say. Perhaps the easiest way to explain this text is to use interlaced commentary:

“[Israel] Know and understand this: [there will be a total of four decrees to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, however,] From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem [that will occur during the Jubilee year, 457 B.C.] until the Anointed One [Jesus, Messiah], the ruler, comes [in A.D. 27], there will be [one cycle of] seven ‘sevens,’ [a Jubilee cycle of forty-nine years. In other words, Israel, watch for the one and only decree that will be granted during a Jubilee year] and [after that Jubilee cycle of forty-nine years end, count off] sixty-two ‘sevens.’ [That is, count off sixty-two more weeks of years – 434 years. Then watch for Messiah’s appearing. You will be Messiah baptized by John the Baptist in the Sunday year of A.D. 27, the first year of His ministry and the first year of the seventieth week.]” (Daniel 9:25, insertions mine)

Think about this. God could have granted any number of probationary weeks to Israel. Why did He deliberately choose seventy weeks? God could have established any time frame for the appearing of Messiah. Why did He select “seven weeks and sixty-two weeks”? Even more, God could have used the words “490” instead of saying “seventy weeks.” Why did He choose to say seventy weeks? God could have started the counting down the years to the appearing of Messiah from something highly contemporary such as the victory of the Romans over the Grecians in 168 B.C. or He could have dated the appearing of Messiah from the destruction of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes IV on Kislev 15, 167 B.C. So, why did God deliberately describe the countdown to Messiah with the words “seven ‘seven’ and sixty-two ‘sevens’”?

I keep making this statement, “With God, timing is everything,” because the more you understand about His timing, the more profound the topic becomes. I conclude that God set the time and He chose the descriptive words “seventy weeks” for two reasons. First, a week of years begins with a Sunday year. Second, seventy weeks makes up one day in His Grand Week. In other words, God graciously granted Israel one more “day” to accomplish His objectives. (Hebrews 4:8) If God had said “490 years” instead of “seventy weeks,” the Jews would not been able to figure out which decree to restore Jerusalem that God used to start His count. (There were four decrees.) The language “seventy weeks” should have been a huge clue because the first day of the week always begins on Sunday in God’s calendar. It is as though God was shouting to Israel’s generations, “Watch for the decree that will be issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem in a Sunday year!” This is precisely what happened in the Sunday year, 457 B.C. (Ezra 7)

Note: Of the four decrees issued to rebuild and restore Jerusalem, only one occurred in a Sunday year and interestingly, it was also a Jubilee year. Since this alignment only occurs every forty-nine years, Israel had no excuse for missing the appearing and the ministry of Jesus. One of the most remarkable features of the Jubilee Calendar is that during the year of Jubilee, the land returned to its original owners free of charge. God did no less! He moved upon the heart of King Artaxerxes and the king returned the land of Judah to the Jews free of charge! He even gave them much wealth to help rebuild.

To be more precise, God divided the sixty-nine weeks into two parts of the seven weeks and the sixty-two weeks because He wanted His people to know and understand that the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem would not only occur in a Sunday year, but it would also occur in a Jubilee year! Since each Jubilee cycle is forty-nine years in length, God used the first seven weeks (the first forty-nine years) of the sixty-nine weeks to help Israel determine which decree was important to the appearing of Messiah. Every Jew knew that King Artaxerxes issued the all-important decree on or about Nisan 1, 457 B.C., and as you might expect, 457 B.C., just happens to be a Jubilee year. Remember, 457 B.C., is a Jubilee year because 702 B.C. is a proven Jubilee year. It is though God gave Israel every hint possible about the timing of Messiah’s appearance and yet; Israel’s learned scholars – pompous Pharisees and pious scribes – did not have a clue when the actual time arrived.

The arrogance and ignorance in Israel at the time of Christ’s birth is no different than the attitude of Christians today. This darkness cannot be measured. There is no darkness like stubborn religious darkness. Jewish authorities were speechless when the wise men showed up in Jerusalem to worship the newborn King. The second appearing of Jesus is imminent. Bible prophecy has never been clearer and more understandable, yet many Christians treat the books of Daniel and Revelation as though they are full of darkness, gloom, and doom. But, open your eyes, and you will see that the darkness is gone!!! The book of Daniel has been unsealed.  The rules that lead us into understanding the ways, plans, character, and love of God are shining brightly! “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”

(Galatians 4:4,5, italics mine)

Seventy: A Random or Deliberate Number?

Is the number seventy important to God or is it just a random number? I am generally opposed to numerology because numerology is based on the notion that numbers have hidden or obscure meaning. Since there are no defined rules regarding numerology, it is a nose of wax as far as I am concerned. It has taken some time for me to come to terms with the fact that certain numbers might have special meaning to God, but I have concluded that from God’s perspective, the number seven represents completion. There are seven colors in the rainbow. There are seven continents and seven oceans. There are seven days in the week. Jesus spoke seven times on the cross. In the book of Revelation, there are seven angels, seven lamps, seven churches, seven seals, seven thunders, seven trumpets, seven heads, seven hills, seven thousand people, and seven bowls. Furthermore, we know that God’s Jubilee Calendar is based on recurring and expanding units of seven. If after reading this paragraph you still don’t see any significance to God’s use of seven, you may want to skip down to the next section. (I’m smiling as I write this.)

Unlike God, man uses many numbering systems. For example, computers use a binary system of zeros and ones, but in order to program them, programmers use compliers that translate ordinary words into binary numbers for them. Perhaps the most common numbering system that man uses is the one based on units of ten. (Maybe ten fingers and ten toes got human beings going in this direction.) The nice thing about base ten is that each time a count is completed, the count continues expanding or shrinking by simply moving the decimal point one place to the left or to the right. It is interesting to me that God’s numbering system and man’s numbering systems have one thing in common. They express completion at intervals and in order to continue counting, expansion becomes necessary. In God’s case He translates a day as a year whereas man moves the position of the decimal.

When God multiplies His “seven” with man’s “ten,” we find the limits of divine forbearance and human completion. In other words, seventy indicates that God has gone as far as He will go and man has gone as far as God will let him go! Multiplying seven and ten to determine completion helps us understand, in part, why God was moved to action when Israel violated seventy Sabbath years. This seems to be the reason why God put Israel in Babylon for seventy years. (2 Chronicles 36:21,22) Again, the idea of completion helps us understand why God granted seventy weeks to Israel. I think it is beyond reasonable argument to say that God’s use of seven and ten is random and meaningless. God is just too deliberate and purposeful.

There are two other ways that God has used seven and ten. First, the annual Day of Atonement fell on the tenth day of the seventh month. The Day of Atonement was the most important day in Israel’s religious year because God required Israel to stand before His judgment bar on that day. It was a somber day and a day of fasting. It was the annual day of reckoning, and everyone in Israel was concerned whether God had accepted their individual efforts to make atonement. Remember, the seventh month indicates that God’s justice has gone as far as He will go and the tenth day indicates that man’s behavior has gone as far as God will let him go! So, the tenth day of the seventh month is judgment day!

Second, the great red dragon in Revelation 12, the leopard-like beast in Revelation 13, and the scarlet beast on which the whore rides in Revelation 17 have seven heads and ten horns. The seven heads on the beast represent the same thing, namely the seven religious systems of the world. The ten horns represent ten kings (political pawns) that the devil himself will appoint during the sixth trumpet. When the time comes, the seven heads and ten horns indicate completion a world whose leadership is full of theological and political evil.

You may think this discussion on the number seventy amounts to conjecture. If so, they why does the “Great Week” and the “Grand Week” each consist of seventy cycles! The Great Week consists of seven Great Days and each Great Day consists of ten Jubilee cycles (seventy weeks). Likewise, the Grand Week consists of seven Great Days and each Grand Day consists of ten centuries (1,000 years). When we place the seventeen prophetic time periods found in Daniel and Revelation in their proper places according to Rule Four, the dates and numbers will perfectly align so that everything neatly folds into a Grand Week of 7,000 years!

The Bottom Line

I believe there is a definite connection between the number “seventy” and 1994, and there is also a definite connection between the number “seventy” and the duration of sin. We can see from Creation, God allotted a total of 7,000 years of sin. I call this time period, the Grand Week (each day of the week translates as 1,000 years – Psalm 90:4, 2 Peter 3:8). This evidence aligns backward and forward. From the beginning, God foreknew the limits of His patience with sin and He deliberately set the duration of sin to be seventy (7 x 10) centuries or 7,000 years! When God’s use of seventy is further synthesized, I find that God’s patience with Jews and Christians ended in 1994. In other words, for purposes of proclaiming the gospel, God abandoned human organizations in 1994. The 144,000 will not be an organized body of people. Rather, they will be a group of diverse individuals upon whom the Holy Spirit rests. Seventy Jubilee cycles ended in 1994 and there is no further need to translate apocalyptic time as a day for a year. In 1994, God gave the seven angels the seven trumpets and they are armed and ready, waiting for the divine command to harm Earth.

Because the second and third trumpets involve asteroid impacts, I do not think it is coincidental that God gave the whole world a “prophetic sample” of the coming events in 1994. You may recall the implosion of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into Jupiter during July 1994. That marvelous event was televised and published worldwide. Those impact craters on Jupiter for the past fifteen years have been a harbinger of coming asteroid impacts on Earth. The comet, Shoemaker-Levy 9, broke up into a string of twenty-one chunks as it approached Jupiter and as these chucks accelerated into Jupiter’s gravity, they created the most powerful explosions ever witnessed by mankind. In fact, one impact crater is so large that three planets the size of Earth can fit in it! 

Summary

Even though the Bible does not explicitly say when the seven angels received the seven trumpets, and even though the Bible does not mention 1994, I conclude that Jesus gave the seven trumpets to the seven angels in April 1994 because God’s patience with Earth ended with seventy Jubilee cycles. According to His great mercy, God granted Israel thirty Jubilee cycles and the Gentiles forty Jubilee cycles. Arriving at 1994 is not easy and a fair amount of skepticism is warranted. Nevertheless, I believe that a synthesis of the topics just discussed will rule out any other date. In summary, here are five major points:

1.   Two Different Ways of Measuring Time - There has to a valid rule governing the interpretation of apocalyptic time because it is clear that some prophetic time-periods are to be translated and some are not. Based on the information above, I have drawn the line at 1994. Prior to 1994, a day is translated as a year in apocalyptic prophecy. After the expiration of the Jubilee Calendar in 1994, the translation of time is not permitted or justified. I cannot accept the premise that expositors of prophecy are free to interpret apocalyptic time according to personal whim or opinion because apocalyptic prophecy is based on a very intelligent design and God’s Word speaks for itself.

2.   The Jubilee Calendar – The Jubilee Calendar did not end at the cross for two reasons. First, Jesus died in the middle of the seventieth week; therefore, the seventieth week was unfinished at the cross. Second, the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:14 operate on both sides of the cross; therefore the Jubilee Calendar and the translation of a day for a year operates on both sides of the cross. In this particular case, the 2,300-day year prophecy extends from 457 B.C. to A.D. 1844. The Jubilee Calendar did not end in 1844, and the Great Day of Sabbath does not end until 1994.

3.   The Great Week – The time between the Exodus in 1437 B.C. and the dedication of Solomon’s temple in 947 B.C. was 490 years. Then, the decree of King Artaxerxes in 457 B, C. was another 490 years. Then, the seventy weeks in Daniel consisted of 490 years. Since there are three units of 490 years each, they suggest the presence of an ongoing pattern. Today, we know that God gave the Jews exactly thirty Jubilee cycles of grace – to the very year. It also appears that God gave the gentiles forty Jubilee cycles of grace (A.D. 34 – 1994). These two time periods of grace total seventy Jubilee cycles in all. Using the weekly template and aligning each unit of 490 years as a Great Day, we find the presence of a Great Week.  When the Great Week ends, so does the translation of apocalyptic time.

4.   Full Cup Principle - Evidently, God uses the numbers seven and ten to express the limits of divine forbearance. When Israel violated seventy Sabbath years, they were exiled to Babylon for seventy years. When God gave Israel a second chance, He gave the nation seventy weeks. We also see God’s use of seven and ten used during Israel’s annual judgment day, the Day of Atonement. This special day occurred on the tenth day of the seventh month. Furthermore, the dragon and the leopard-like beast in Revelation 12 and 13 have seven heads and ten horns. The heads and horns represent the sum of religious and political powers on Earth. Finally, the whole drama of sin fits neatly into seventy centuries (7,000 years). In other words, when the millennial Sabbath ends (seventh millennium), Earth will be made new.

5.   God’s Timing is Perfect – We find throughout the Bible that God’s timing is always perfect. He knows no haste or delay. Given this fact, two things stand out very prominently. First, if we translate the apocalyptic prophetic time periods prior to 1994 according to God’s calendar (a day for a year) and if we treat all apocalyptic time periods after 1994 as literal time periods everything written about timing in apocalyptic prophecy harmoniously aligns with a 7,000 year picture for the duration of sin. (Sin is destroyed at the end of the 1,000 years in Revelation 20.) Second, now that we understand what the seven trumpets are, if we align Revelation 8:2 with the end of the Jubilee cycles, it seems most appropriate that Jesus would give the seven angels the seven trumpets because God’s patience with mankind ran out in 1994. We are living on borrowed time! In fact, giving the seven angels the seven trumpets in 1994 is the only way I know of to explain from the Bible the delay that is imposed on the first four angels in Revelation 7.

When all items discussed in this segment are aligned with a working knowledge of God’s Jubilee Calendar and the precision of God’s actions, there appears to be only one “biblically reasoned” date for Revelation 8:2 and 1994 is that date. Again, I say, “With God, timing is everything.”  

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