From T.W. Tramm’s Facebook page…
THE BIBLICAL STANDARD for determining the truth of a matter is the testimony of two or three witnesses (2 Cor. 13:1).
In this study, we will consider a convergence of five eschatological timelines that suggests 2021–28 could be a pivotal period in Bible prophecy:
1. FIG-TREE TIMELINE
Speaking of the time of His return, Jesus says the generation who sees the fig tree put forth leaves will see all the end-times events come to pass:
“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near … Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (Matt. 24:32, 34).
The fig tree is a symbol of Israel (Hos. 9:10; Jer. 24:1–10; Luke 31:1–9). The upper limit of a human lifespan in Scripture is 80 years (Ps. 90:10). Counting 80 years from May 1948 when Israel became a nation and began to flourish, the calculated upper limit of the fig-tree generation is 2028. Subtracting seven years, the presumed length of the tribulation period, we arrive at 2021.
2. ABOMINATION TIMELINE
In the Fig-Tree Parable, the time of great tribulation is linked to an abomination that causes desolation:
”When you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel …. then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again” (Matt. 24:15, 22).
The Book of Daniel tells us when the abomination will appear:
“From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that causes desolation set up, there shall be 1,290 days” (Dan. 12:11).
In Bible prophecy, a day commonly represents a year (Dan. 9:24–27; Num. 14:34; Ez. 4:5, 6). Counting 1,290 years from when the daily sacrifice was interrupted by King Nebuchadnezzar in 605–06 BC, we arrive at 685–86 AD—the year construction began on the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine which has made the Temple Mount desolate ever since.
After revealing when the abomination will be set up, Daniel tells us how many days (or years) will pass before Israel receives the blessing of redemption at the end of the age:
“Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days” (v. 12).
Counting 1,335 years from when construction began on the Dome of the Rock in 685–86 AD, we arrive at 2021.
Counting 1,335 years from when the Dome was completed in 692–93 AD, we arrive at 2028.
Thus, the fig-tree and abomination timelines in Matthew and Daniel point to 2021–28!
3. DANIEL’S WEEKS
In Daniel’s Weeks Prophecy, the going forth of a command to rebuild Jerusalem initiates a countdown to Messiah:
“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times” (Dan. 9:25).
It is well-known how Daniel foretells the year of Messiah’s first coming: counting the 7 and 62 weeks (483 years) from Persian King Artaxerxes’ command to rebuild Jerusalem in 457 BC, we arrive at 27–28 AD, the year, according to some reckonings, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and was hailed as Messiah (Matt. 21:1-17).
In addition to revealing the year of Jesus’ first coming, some believe Daniel’s weeks have a dual application, that they may be counted from later restorations of Jerusalem to determine the year of His return.
For instance, Daniel mentions Jerusalem’s walls being rebuilt (v. 25). The walls currently surrounding Jerusalem were rebuilt by Ottoman ruler Suleiman in 1537–38 AD. Counting Daniel’s 7 and 62 weeks from this restoration of Jerusalem, we arrive at 2021.
What’s more, when we count only the 62 weeks (434 years) from the rebuilding of the walls in 1537 AD, we arrive at 1971 AD. This is significant because the biblical year spanning 1970–1971 is when a master plan to rebuild the Old City of Jerusalem was approved and implemented (see notes). Counting Daniel’s 7 weeks from the 1971 rebuilding of Jerusalem, we arrive at 2020. We then add a year, a 50th, as a count of 49 implies a 50th in Scripture, to arrive at 2021.
Thus, we have two orders to rebuild Jerusalem (1537–38 AD and 1970–71) pointing to 2021. Furthermore, the two orders are separated by a span of 62 weeks!
4. 2,520 TIMELINE
With our reckoning of Daniel’s Weeks Prophecy in view, it is fascinating to consider the total number of years encompassed by God’s plan to redeem Israel. As noted earlier, the countdown to Israel’s redemption began in 457 BC and may conclude around 2021–28. What is remarkable is that the period intervening 457 BC to 2028 AD amounts to 2,520 prophetic (360-day) years—the same number of days in a prophetic “week” of years, 2,520. So if our 2028 end date is correct, the prophecy based on a reckoning of weeks will be fulfilled over the course of a “week” of 2,520 years!
Seeing how God repeats numbers and themes in Scripture, it would make sense for the “weeks” prophecy, including the lengthy gap between the 69th and 70th week, to play out over the course of a symbolic week, i.e. 2,520 years. It would also make sense for the years to be prophetic years as this way of reckoning is common to Daniel and Revelation (Dan. 7:25; 9:27; 12:7; Rev. 11:2, 3; 12:6, 14; 13:5).
5. HOSEA’S TWO DAYS
Finally, In Hosea we are told Messiah will revive, or resurrect, Israel after two days:
“After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence” (Hos. 6:2).
According to Scripture, “a day is as a thousand years” to the Lord (2 Pet. 3:8). Thus, there are exactly two (thousand-year) “days” between Jesus’ first coming in 28 AD and the calculated year of His second coming in 2028!
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
In this study we have seen how eschatological timelines in the Old and New Testaments—recorded centuries apart and employing vastly different calculations—point to the same seven-year period, 2021–28:
• Counting the biblical upper limit of a lifespan, 80 years, from when the fig-tree, Israel, began to flourish in 1948, we arrive at 2028.
• Counting Daniel’s 1,335 days as years from when construction began on the Dome-of-the-Rock in 685–86 AD, we arrive at 2021.
• Counting Daniel’s 1,335 years from when the Dome of the Rock was completed in 692–93 AD, we arrive at 2028.
• Counting Daniel’s 7 and 62 weeks from the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls in 1537–38 AD, we arrive at 2021.
• Counting Daniel’s 7 weeks (plus one year) from 1971 when a master plan to rebuild Jerusalem was approved and implemented, we arrive at 2021.
Additionally . . .
• From the commencement of Daniel’s Weeks Prophecy in 457 BC to its speculative conclusion in 2028 is 2,520 prophetic years, a symbolic week.
• From Jesus’ first coming in 28 AD to the speculative year of His second coming in 2028 is two (thousand-year) “days” (Hos. 6:2).
What should we take away from this remarkable convergence?
First, the fact that God has given us calculable timelines means He wants us to try and figure out the year, or at least have a general understanding, of when Jesus is returning.
Second, the unprecedented confluence of timelines, without stretching dates or scripture, suggests our calculations may be correct or near correct. We say “near” correct because, where calendars and calculations are involved, there is a margin of error. For this reason, even if our understanding of the prophecies is on track, we cannot say for certain 2021 will see the Lord’s return. What we can say, based on sound biblical calculations, is that 2021 holds more promise than any year before.
So keep watch!
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NOTES:
1. Fig-tree calculation: Adding 80 years to May 1948, we arrive at May 2028. However, since we reckon a generation as one would count a person’s age, Israel is considered “80 years old” until her 81st birthday in May 2029. Thus, the Feast of Tabernacles 2028 is the last fall-harvest festival to occur within the generation limit, actually occurring 80 years, 4 months, and 20 days after the May 1948 rebirth of Israel.
2. May 1948 makes sense as the start point of the fig-tree generation because . . .
• There is an appointed season for everything (Ecc. 3:1). May is when fig trees put forth new growth. Thus, the May rebirth of Israel in 1948 fits perfectly the typology of the fig-tree putting forth leaves.
• Gold is heated to exactly 1,948 degrees Fahrenheit during the refining process. That gold melts at 1,948 degrees is pertinent to the fig-tree generation because Scripture compares Israel’s suffering during the Tribulation to the purification process of gold: “I will bring the third part [of Israel] through the fire. I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold” (Zech. 13:9). By this concurrence, God seems to be saying 1948 is the pivotal or inaugural year for the final generation, the one who will see the Tribulation.
• There are 1,948 prophetic years between the calculated date of Jesus’ resurrection in 28 AD and the resurrection of the Nation of Israel on May 14, 1948. By this concurrence God, again, seems to be underscoring the prophetic significance of the year 1948. (NOTES: Passover began the evening of Wednesday, April 28, in 28 AD, putting Jesus’ resurrection on May 1:
https://www.biblicaltheology.com/Research/RamsundarP01.pdf
1,948 prophetic years are equivalent to 701,280 days (1,948 x 360 = 701,280). Subtracting 701, 280 days from May 14, 1948, we arrive at May 1, 28 AD).
• Bible Scholars have demonstrated how the date of the fig tree’s revival, May 1948, is actually mathematically predicted by a combination of scriptures in Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Leviticus.
3. A second Islamic “abomination,” a silver-domed mosque called Al-Aqsa, has stood at the outer edge of the Temple area since it was originally laid down and consecrated by Caliph Omar in 693 AD. The Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa together comprise what Muslims call the Noble Sanctuary, the third holiest site in Islam. Counting Daniel’s 1,335 years from 693 AD when the structures comprising the Noble Sanctuary first coexisted, we arrive at 2028.
4. More on Daniel 12 and the 1,335 days:
5. Isaac Newton believed Daniel’s 7 weeks and 62 weeks were mentioned separately to allow for the calculation of both the First and Second Coming. Newton’s view is supported by Psalm 102 where the rebuilding of Jerusalem is linked to Jesus’ return: “When the Lord rebuilds Jerusalem, he will appear in his glory …. Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD” (Ps. 102:16, 18).
6. The brilliance of Daniel’s prophetic timelines in chapters 9 and 12 is that they are “sealed” (Dan. 12:9, 10), so the time of redemption or Messiah’s coming cannot be calculated until a milestone event, i.e. the rebuilding of Jerusalem or the setting up of the abomination that causes desolation.
7. Construction timeline for Jerusalem’s walls and fountains in the days of Suleiman:
While construction continued until 1541 AD, Daniel’s countdown to Messiah begins at the initial “going forth of the command” to rebuild (Dan. 9:25). The fountains (sabils) were ordered rebuilt in 1536–37. The walls and gates were ordered rebuilt in 1537–38.
8. It is said that Suleiman’s order to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls was prompted by a series of dreams in which he was being chased by lions who seemed intent on devouring him. In one dream the Sultan finally stopped running and faced the lions, asking what he should do to save his life. He was told he should build the wall of Jerusalem.
9. The modern plan to rebuild the Old City of Jerusalem was approved in the month of Av (August) 1970. Five months later, in Tevet of the same biblical year (January 1971), the rebuilding of Jerusalem began when “a bulldozer commenced working within the perimeter of the United Nations premises at Government House”:
https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/eed216406b50bf6485256ce10072f637/cad07c91cf05ebf985256437005be684?OpenDocument&fbclid=IwAR2gg_xmU9dFahVmpMLESUG1XxHwINRHZ-9BZhEFoO4Uxz_GMZdT-GSHz8o
District Town Planning Com master plan to rehabilitate old quarters of city approved; plans for redevelopment, which will cover 2,500 acres of city that was ruled by Jordan until '67 but not interfere with any holy places, detailed; Western Wall illus
www.nytimes.com
10. A 49-year count denotes a jubilee cycle, which implies a 50th year (Lev. 25:8–10). Similarly, the 49-day count to Feast of Weeks implies a 50th day, Pentecost (Lev. 23:15, 16).
11. The 50th year as counted from Nisan 1970-71 ends at Nisan 2021. What is interesting is that, according to Levitical Law, no harvesting is allowed during the 50th year (Lev. 25:11, 12). Since the Rapture is a “harvest,” and Jesus came to fulfill the Law (Matt. 5:17), one could reason that summer 2021 represents the first opportunity to lawfully rapture the Church, based on our reckoning of Daniel’s weeks.
12. The “prophetic” (360-day) year features prominently in Daniel and Revelation where “time, times and half a time,” referring to half of a 7-year period, or 42 months, is equivalent to 1,260 days (Dan. 7:25; 9:27; 12:7; Rev. 11:2, 3; 12:6, 14; 13:5).
13. 2,520 prophetic years (2,520 X 360) are equivalent to 907,200 days. There are 907,200 days between 457 BC and 2028.
14. 2,520 is a number of profound prophetic significance because, as a factor of the numbers 7 and 360, it denotes completion and a perfect circle of time. Additionally, 2,520 is a product of the factors 3, 7, 10, and 12, numbers that denote perfection and completion in Scripture:
• 3 is the number of divine perfection.
• 7 is the number of divine completion.
• 10 is the number of ordinal perfection.
• 12 is the number of governmental perfection.
3 x 7 x 10 x 12 = 2,520
Thus, 2,520 could be said to be the ultimate number of completion and perfection, denoting the fullness of time.
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*For more on why 2021 could be a pivotal year in Bible prophecy, see T.W. Tramm’s latest book, ‘Summer Is Near’:
*Visit the author’s website:
www.theseasonofreturn.com
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IMPORTANT MESSAGE: Scripture says those watching for the Lord’s return will see the Day approaching (Heb. 10:25; 1 Thess. 5:4; Luke 21:28). A convergence of biblical signs and timelines indicates the Day is near. In order to escape the horror of the tribulation period, one must be in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. If you have not yet done so, call on His name and believe that He is the Son of God who died for your sins and was raised from the dead (Rom. 10:13). Do it today. Time is running out.
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