Contemporary Christian thought has its adherents waiting for what is called a Rapture, which they think is the Day of the Lord/Second Coming of Jesus.
They await a time when unbelievers experience a Great Tribulation which some think they will live through (mid and post-tribulation rapture) and some think they will escape (pre-tribulation rapture).
This is followed by a glorious time when Jesus reigns on earth for 1000 years, and then after that taste of Heaven Satan is released to again cause destruction during which time He is finally and utterly defeated and thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the fantasy that many Christians live in, believing it totally or in part.
Possibly the primary reason for this is because they do not recognize that parables are not intended to be taken literally. They are designed by God to conceal the truth from insincere people, as the following verses illustrate.
Proverbs 25:2 KJV — It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.
Matthew 13:34 KJV — All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:
Mark 4:11 KJV — And he said unto them, Unto you, it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
- The restoration of Spiritual Israel in Acts 1:6 refers to the Second Coming of Jesus which is described in Acts 3:19-21.
After His crucifixion, Jesus went to Heaven to prepare a place for us. When an individual becomes a Christian and repents of their unbelief He comes into their hearts Spiritually, to make His abode with them as is spoken of in Acts 3:19-21.
This happens at conversion when an individual first places their faith in Jesus.
- There is no rapture. The verses that supposedly refer to this actually refer to the correction of an individual backslidden believer.
- The Millennium is the 1000-year period of Christ’s reign in the life of the individual. It is symbolic of the period when the devil is inactive in the believer’s life and they are obedient and do what Jesus wants.
- The tribulation is what Jesus said would happen if an individual Christian lives “in the world” or lives in a worldly manner, John 16:33. This discipline that follows willful ungodly behavior is actually called “The Day of the Lord”.
The application of each of these concepts to an individual as opposed to a group, solves most of the problems of interpretation.
Misunderstanding these four concepts contributes to Christian confusion.
Daniel 9:24-27 is a timeline of sorts. With 69 of the weeks fulfilled through the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the crucifixion of Jesus. There remains 1 week to go and this is described in verse 27.
Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Jesus will confirm the covenant with many for the entire week.
That confirmation is the time when a Christian is obedient to their covenant with God.
The sacrifice for sin is Jesus, but Jesus will Himself cause this sacrifice to cease, Heb 10:26.
Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
This means that Christians who sin will no longer seek forgiveness through recognizing and confessing their sinful actions as being sinful.
This is in accord with 2 Thess 2:11-12 which indicates that God will send delusion upon a person so that they can be judged.
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie: (ASV) 12 that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (ASV)
Willful sin is the abomination that brings desolation.
This is the condition that the Church finds itself in (11-26-23), and we/they have been given over to leanness of soul as Psalm 106:15 illustrates.
Ps 106:15 And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.
Jesus will make the person desolate until the consummation, or until the sin is consumed.
In this manner, we can see the fulfillment of 1 Cor 11:32.
1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
These verses illustrate the Grace that God expresses toward mankind as He teaches Jesus’ followers to deny ungodliness, Titus 2:11-12.
As a consequence of “willful disobedience” an individual will experience discipline or tribulation called the “Day of the Lord”.
Daniel 9:24-27 is a parable concerning the correction of the backslidden condition of the nation of Israel (Christian individual after the Crucifixion).
The discipline/tribulation of the Christian individual ends with a consummation.
Consummation means that something is consumed.
Jesus refers to this consummation as the “end or goal of the age, mentioned in Daniel 9:27 and Matthew 24:15.
The thing that is consumed is the sinful behavior, not the Christian.
2 Peter 3:12 KJV — Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements (elements or rudiments = sinful tendencies per the following references) shall melt with fervent heat?
Ga 4:3; Ga 4:9; Col 2:8; Col 2:20; 2Pe 3:10; 2Pe 3:12
As Rev 20:5 shows, the dead do not live again until the 1000 period/millennium is fulfilled/achieved, or until they are again obedient to Christ.
The spiritually dead do not experience the resurrected life in Christ again until the 1000-year period/millennium is completed/attained. In other words, until they stop the willful sin.
Tongues Explanation, Book Link