For consistency, all verses are quoted from the Authorized King James Bible. We will continue to make every effort to aid all who are searching for the truth of Jesus Christ our Savior.
You may find the Greek Dictionary helpful in your studies, see left hand column.
Novel by Phillip LaSpino 10-22-27 IS AVAILABLE ON eBook at the following online retailers (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and others) 10-22-27 may also be purchased at barnesandnoble.com — Bookshop.org — Hoopla — Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com — Epub Book- Kobo.com. Read the book if you want to know what the Lord has prepared for the world.
E-mail address: philliplaspino@outlook.com
Jokes for today.
One week after the election the headline was, “Crazed woman makes sandwiches of her running mate.”
1. Kamala Harris interviewed herself, but she refused to answer any questions.
2. Joe Biden was going to interview Mrs. Harris, but he forgot what the questions were.
3. CNN asked Kamala, “What’s your take on the border crisis?” Her reply, “It was late June 2002 when my boyfriend rode his bicycle over the wall that was built between the road and the ocean.”
4. The last few interviews Kamala had, seem to us a justification for her scholarly obscurantisms.
5. Kamala was asked, “What do you think about Joe Biden?” She replied, I was getting fond of Joe until he got fresh and spoiled it.”
6. Kamala recently finished writing her first book. The titled of it is, ‘Further Fables from Kamala.”
7. Mademoisella magazines latest exclusive. It concerned Kamala Harris’s wardrobe, it read, “Clothes to be caught dead in.”
8. Kamala was asked, “What was your latest dream?” She hesitated for a moment to collect her thoughts, then said, “I dreamed I was arrested for indecent exposure in my Virgin-firm bra.”
9. What do you think of women in general?” She replied, “There’s a bit of walrus in every one of us.”
10. Kamala looked in the mirror one morning and thought to herself, “Kamala you have to reduce the size of your legs.” After consulting her trainer, she went on a 10-week exercise program. Before the program began, the length of her legs were 28-inches. Today their 24.
End Time Prophecy for Today:
I love to dabble in end-time prophecy because I find it interesting, and challenging. The following is what I have investigated and believe for the most part to be correct. I have read the conclusions of other writers and investigated their work against historical dates and events. End-time prophecy begins with Daniel 1 and ends with Daniel 12:13, with some 2629 years having passed.
Many books and other material have been written concerning end-time prophecy, much of which I agree with and some I don’t. I’ve attempted to remain flexible, and open-minded concerning the work of others. But the most important thing is to use common sense. Let’s begin with the following:
Daniel was taken captive in 606 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon.
In 606, Nebuchadnezzar co-ruled with his father Nabonassar who died in 605 B.C. It was then Nebuchadnezzar became sole ruler of Babylon.
In 603 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of future kingdoms was given to him by the LORD in the image of a man. That image, from the head of Gold to the feet and toes of miry clay, then to be followed by its destruction by a stone made without hands will cover more than 2600 years.
In 599 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar returns to Jerusalem and takes King Jeconiah of Judea captive with many others. He also took the vessels of the Temple with him to Babylon, 2 Chronicles 36:5-6-7.
In 586 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem and the Temple.
In 559 B.C. Daniel is given a vision of coming wars, including the coming of the antichrist and his war against the Jews
In 556 B.C. in the third year of Cyrus, he was given a vision
In 555 B.C. Daniel has his vision of four great beasts, representing Babylon, Medeo Persia, Greece, and Rome.
In 552 B.C. Daniel is given another vision. His vision was of the city of Shushan or Susa, the winter palace of the King of Persia in the province of Elam. Here he has a vision concerning 490 years, see Daniel 8. This vision concerned the coming of the Medes and Persians 16 years before Babylon was conquered.
In 536 B.C., Babylon was conquered by Darius and Cyrus the Great.
In 536 B.C., Michael the Archangel comes to Daniel. The same year the Babylonians fell to Cyrus.
From Daniels’s captivity in 606, until his release from Babylon in 536 B.C., Jeremiah’s prophesy of Israel’s 70 years of captivity for not resting the land, ended.
In 521, in the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, Daniel is given another vision. This vision covers some of the most important end-time prophecies in Scripture. It covers the whole of Daniel 9.
In 519 Haggai is told by the Lord, “The people say, the time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built.”
In 518 B.C., Darius the First ruled over the Achaemenid Empire (Persian Empire). At this time, Daniel is given visions of future wars, the coming of the antichrist, and the end of all things, see chapters 11-12.
Darius died in 486 B.C. He brought the empire to its greatest glory, controlled more land than any other ruler in history, and was responsible for converting the empire to the religion of Zoroastrianism.
Esther’s part in prophecy:
Esther came on the scene around 486 B.C. At that time, the Persian Empire had four capital cities, the two prominent ones were Persepolis and Susa. “Persepolis” is derived from the word “Parsa” which means “City of the Persians.” Persepolis was made into an administrative center having built roads, irrigation systems, and the world’s first postal service. The other two capitals may have been Nineveh and Hakmatanch/Ecbatana.
Susa was the winter capital for the King, who occupied it from January to March.
Xerxes father was Darius the First. Xerxes was crowned King in 486 and died in 465 B.C.
The King appears to have had several wives/Queens, Amestris and Vash-ti. Vash-ti resided in Shu-shan or Susa, see Esther 1:11.
In 483, Amestris, Xerxes’ wife/Queen lived elsewhere, I cannot pinpoint exactly where, but it wasn’t in Susa in the winter months.
The king’s winter capital:
Ahasuerus (Xerxes) occupied Susa in January, February, and March. The distance between Persepolis and Susa is 437 miles. A caravan traveling at a speed of 2 or 3 miles per hour for 12 hours, would have taken them two-and-one-half to three weeks to journey.
In the summer months, the temperature in Susa averages 113 degrees. So, in the nine summer months of the year, Persepolis, or one of the other two capitals is where the King resided with his other wife/Queen, and never seen in Susa.
The book of Esther opens in Susa in the year 483 B.C. That year, Queen Vash-ti sat at the King’s side. It appears the king had more than one wife/Queen, one of them was Vash-ti who resided in Susa, the other was Amestris. Xerxes, also known as Ahasuerus resided in Susa that winter with Vash-ti his Queen.
The story of Esther begins in 483 B.C. She was a young maiden and believed to be between twelve and fourteen years of age when first brought before the King as a possible successor to Vashti. Esther’s uncle, Mordecai raised Esther as his daughter. Mordecai was taken from Israel in 599 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar. When the story opens, he is an old man and an old-school Jew.
Jewish law allowed young girls to marry when they turned twelve. Most likely it was about this age Mordecai allowed Esther to be brought before the king. According to Bible chronology Mordecai had to be over 120 years of age when these events took place.
After Esther’s first appearance before the King, she was taken away for 12 months, a period referred to as ‘The time of purification.’
After twelve months, in the year 482, she was brought back to stand before the King.
It is written in Esther 2:17, “And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight. — so that he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vash-ti.” I suppose when it said, “All the woman,” it would have included his other wife and Queen, Amestris.
In the seventh year of his reign, the consummation of Esther and Ahasuerus’s marriage occurred in 479 B.C. Esther would have been somewhere between 18 and 21 years of age. This was the year she was taken to the King’s house. The Lord put Mordecai and Esther in a position of influence with Xerxes and Artaxerxes Longimanus to fulfill Daniel’s prophecy, found in Daniel 9/25.
Some researchers believe Esther may have been the mother of Artaxerxes because of what’s written in Nehemiah 2:6, the year 445 B.C. “And the king (Artaxerxes Longimanus) said unto me (Nehemiah), (the queen also sitting by him,)”
The question is, who was the Queen sitting at the King’s side? If it was Esther, she would have been in her early fifties.
In the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, 445 B.C., in Shushan (Susa) Nehemiah went before the king. Now, let’s consider the following. If Artaxerxes Longimanus was Esther’s son, it would have given Nehemiah the courage to go before the king with his request to return to Israel. Artaxerxes does appear to be sympathetic toward Nehemiah’s cause. Nehemiah 2:6, “So it pleased the king to send me (Nehemiah);”
Xerxes’s son, Artaxerxes Longimanus was crowned in 465 B.C., he died forty years later in 425 B.C. Artaxerxes Longimanus was the author of two decrees. Both would have allowed the Jews to return to their homeland; to rebuild the Temple. The first came in 457 B.C., the second in 444. His first decree was the one that fulfilled Daniel’s prophecy found in Daniel 9:25. “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore, and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks:”
So, the year 457 B.C. gives us a starting point for the 490-year prophecy found in Daniel 9:24-25. Verse 24, “Seventy weeks (490 years) are determined upon thy people and upon the holy city to finish the transgression, and make an end of sins,”
Verse 25, “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandments to restore, and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks (483 years).” Let’s test this by putting it on a timeline.
Daniel’s prophesy is broken down into four periods, the first 49 years were to be followed by 434 years, with seven years remaining. Now the seven years were divided into two 3 ½ years periods.
Malachi the last prophet of the O.T. begins his book in 436 B.C. According to Daniel’s prophecy, the first 49 years that began in 457 would have ended in 408 B.C. This was to be followed by a second period of 434 years which would have ended on October, 27 A.D. This was the year and month John the Baptist, Andrew, and Peter announced “We have found the Messiah” fulfilling Daniel’s prophesy found in verse 25, “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment (457 B.C.) to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince (27 A.D.) shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks (483 years):”
So, the remaining two periods of 3 ½ years were yet future. Christ was declared Messiah sometime between the middle to the end of October, 27 A.D. Therefore, the first 3 ½ years would end the day before Passover, in April of 31 A.D. after the Lord’s death. So, what remains to this day are 3 ½ years.
The Bible is loaded with information concerning this last period of 3 ½ years. We can begin to fill in the gaps starting with Hosea 5:15 and Hosea 6:1-2, then Daniel, Matthew 24, and the book of Revelation beginning with chapter 4.
Following are the words of the Lord found in Hosea 5:15. “I will go and return to my place, until they (the Jews) seek my face: in their affliction (distress), they will seek me early (diligently).”
So, our first question should be, “When did the Lord return to his place?”
The only possible time is when he left his disciples on the Mt. of Olives some forty days after his resurrection. We read this in Acts 1:9-10. While the disciples beheld, “He (Jesus) was taken up; and a cloud (angels) received him out of their sight.” This fulfills Hosea’s prophecy, “I will go and return to my place,”
Jesus identifies the prophecy when he said to his disciples in, John 14:28, “I go away, and come again unto you.”
John 16:10, “I go to my Father, and you see me no more:”
John 16:16, “A little while, and you shall not see me: and again, a little while, and you shall see me, because I go to the Father.”
Verse 11, “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come (return) in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.” Compare that with,
Zechariah 14:3-4, “Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his (Jesus) feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east,”
So, the Lord leaves his disciples from the Mt. of Olives 40 days after his resurrection, and Zechariah 14:4 tells us he will return to the Mt. of Olives after 2000 years (two days). So, another question remains, when? When will he return? The answer is found in,
Hosea 6:2, “After two days will he (the Lord) revive us (to revive is to make spiritually alive) us: in the third day (the 1000-year reign) he will raise us up (the Jews), and we shall live in his sight.” Two days, followed by a third day. Hosea’s words cannot possibly be referring to three 24-hour periods, it would make no sense.
2 Peter 3:8 and Psalms 90:4 may give us the clues to unravel this mystery. Peter wrote the following, “Be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
Psalms 90:4, “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past,”
The only clear meaning to Hosea 6:2 and his reference to ‘Two days’ can only mean 2000 years. The third day would represent the 1000-year reign of Christ; “In the third day he will raise us (the Jews) up, and we shall live in his sight.” “Shall live with the Lord can only mean the Jews will be with the Lord for an extended period of one day, or 1000 years.
So, from the year 31 A.D. sometime late in May, forty days after his resurrection the Lord returned to his place in heaven and sat at the Father’s right hand. If correct, 2000 years would bring us to May of 2031.
The Emperor of Rome, Hadrian went to war with Israel from 132 to 136 B.C. He intended to eradicate all Jewish identity and religion. He would rename Judea, ‘Palaestina.’ This was a deliberate attempt to sever all historical and religious connections of the Jews to their land. His policies against the Jews were harsh, hoping to marginalize them with no hope of ever regaining their former glory. So, the Jews were left without a country and a name.
But the Lord throughout the Old and New Testament when he speaks of end-time prophecy, he speaks of a land called Israel, not Palaestina. So, until May 14, 1948, it appeared Hadrian had won. But we know whose word remains Supreme.
So, Matthew’s prophecy about a “Generation that shall not pass, until all these things be fulfilled,” is coming to pass. The generation that was born in Israel is now 76 years old.
Matthew also prophesied that, as a nation, the Jews would suffer through wars and rumors of war. Today Israel is in a fight for their very existence, without friends except the Christian America. Also, Matthew tells us there will be an “Abomination of desolation standing in the holy place.”
There is only one holy place on all the earth. It’s where the Holy place in the Temple was on Mt. Moriah. But today there stands in God’s holy place an abomination, it’s called the Dome of the Rock. Prophecy fulfilled!
Also, the book of Revelation speaks directly to these final years in chapters 11 and 13. Revelation 11, mentions two holy men of God, or his two witnesses. They will “prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, (3 ½-years) clothed in sackcloth,”
Also, Revelation 13:1, and 13:11 speak of two other men, but these are not men of God. The first shall “come up out of the sea,” and the other shall “come up out of the earth.” Take note of the wording, they will not come out “from the earth, or from the sea, but out of the earth and out of the sea. Compare with, Revelation 11:7, “And when they (two witnesses) have finished their testimony, the beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them and kill them.”
If you enjoy end-time prophecy, consider the above. Add it to what you already know, maybe you have a few gaps in your understanding. I’ll stop here and continue the story later.