To Honor Jesus Christ, Glorify God, Encourage Believers, & Warn All
Est 11-09-2003 Changed 03-31-2010
 

This information is offered with the hope that YOU can come to KNOW the Lord personally.

At this point let's pause to understand that Daniel's 70th week, which we already know to be 7 years in length, consists of 7 years of 360 days each, 12 months of 30 days each, on the Jewish prophetic calendar.  This fact is clearly revealed in that from 14 Mar 445 BC until 6 Apr 32 AD is exactly 173,880 days.  The math follows.

14 Mar 445 BC the date Artaxerxes commanded the temple to be rebuilt
  6 Apr 32 AD    the date Jesus Christ entered the city of Jerusalem
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173,880 days = 69 "weeks" x 7 years x 360 days each
  
Quoting from The Coming Prince we read the very words Jesus uttered on 6 Apr 32 AD (praise God!!!):
                                                                        ---
No student of the Gospel narrative can fail to see that the Lord's last visit to Jerusalem was not only in fact, but in the purpose of it, the crisis of His ministry, the goal towards which it had been directed. After the first tokens had been given that the nation would reject His Messianic claims, He had shunned all public recognition of them. But now the twofold testimony of His words and His works had been fully rendered, and His entry into the Holy City was to proclaim His Messiahship and to receive His doom. Again and again His apostles even had been charged that they should not make Him known. But now He accepted the acclamations of "the whole multitude of the disciples," and silenced the remonstrance of the Pharisees with the indignant rebuke, "I tell you if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." (Luke 19:39, 40)

The full significance of the words which follow in the Gospel of St. Luke is concealed by a slight interpolation in the text. As the shouts broke forth from His disciples, "Hosanna to the Son of David! blessed is the king of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord!" He looked off toward the Holy City and exclaimed , " If thou also hadst known, even on this day , the things which belong to thy peace; but now they are hid from thine eyes! "[4] The time of Jerusalem's visitation had come, and she knew it not. Long ere then the nation had rejected Him, but this was the predestined day when their choice must be irrevocable, – the day so distinctly signalized in Scripture as the fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! behold thy King cometh unto thee!" (Zechariah 9:9) Of all the days of the ministry of Christ on earth, no other will satisfy so well the angel's words, unto Messiah the Prince."

4 [I purposely omitted his references to the revised Text because he is wrong] And the date of it can be ascertained. In accordance with the Jewish custom, the Lord went up to Jerusalem upon the 8th Nisan, "six days before the Passover."[5] But as the 14th, on which the Paschal Supper was eaten, fell that year upon a Thursday, the 8th was the preceding Friday. He must have spent the Sabbath, therefore, at Bethany; and on the evening of the 9th, after the Sabbath had ended, the Supper took place in Martha's house. Upon the following day, the 10th Nisan, He entered Jerusalem as recorded in the Gospels.[6]

The Julian date of that 10th Nisan was Sunday the 6th April, A.D. 32. What then was the length of the period intervening between the issuing of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the public advent of "Messiah the Prince," – between the 14th March, B.C. 445, and the 6th April, A.D. 32? THE INTERVAL CONTAINED EXACTLY AND TO THE VERY DAY 173, 880 DAYS, OR SEVEN TIMES SIXTY-NINE PROPHETIC YEARS OF 360 DAYS, the first sixty-nine weeks of Gabriel's prophecy .[to Daniel]
                                                                         
                                                                               ---

Daniels 70th week last 7 years of 360 days each, or a total of 2520 days.  Each year is 12 months of 30 days each.  This is a total of 12 months x 7 years or 84 months.

Therefore, one half of the 7 years is 3.5 years, 42 months, or 1260 days.  Once Daniel's 70th week commences the two witnesses will begin their testimony.  Anyone present will know that there are exactly 1260 days until the witnesses are killed.  At the middle of Daniel's 70th week, the Gentiles will occupy Jerusalem (at the time of the death of the witnesses).  The Gentile occupation will last 42 months.  There is no opportunity for any " thief in the night " coming of the Day of the Lord.  Therefore, the Day of the Lord must begin BEFORE any of these events can occur (or at the exact same moment as the witnesses begin their testimony, the later being the most likely).  Once the two witnesses begin to testify, there are no more surprises.

There is an event that precedes the Day of the Lord .  It is known as the Rapture .  The Rapture could be at the exact same instant as the beginning of Daniel's 70th week or a little before Daniel's 70th week.  For the purposes of those left behind, the Rapture and the Day of the Lord will be inseparable events.  The Rapture will come and it will be followed "shortly" by the clear visible signs of the beginning of the Day of the Lord .  We will deal with these signs shortly.

While considering the topic of the persecution and martyrdom of tribulation saints, look at WHEN these saints are killed.

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes , and palms in their hands;
 -- Revelation 7:9

And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes ? and whence came they?   -- Revelation 7:13

And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes , and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.     -- Revelation 7:14

When Jesus spoke of the abomination of desolation of Daniel, He said, when you SEE the abomination of desolation stand in the holy place, THEN, shall be great tribulation .  See Mathew 24:15-21.  See also Daniel 9:27.  Of course, since the abomination occurs in the middle of Daniel's 70th week, this means that great tribulation occurs in the second half of the week.  Since the martyrs come out of   great tribulation , then, the 5th seal occurs primarily in the second HALF of the tribulation.  Consequently, the 5th seal is describing a time in the second half of the tribulation.  This means that the seals do not precede the trumpets and vials in chronology, but, are representative of the entire 70th week of Daniel, the tribulation.

In this regards, before we look at the 6th seal, remember that we discussed the fact that once the Day of the Lord starts the people will realize that it has begun.  This can only be true if there are certain visible signs.

And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and  hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne , and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
-- Revelation 6:15-17

Look at this verse in the old testament:
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.   
-- Joel 2:31

When does this occur?  BEFORE the great and terrible day of the LORD come.

Now let's return to our discussion of the seals and describe the 6th seal.

Is the Administration’s new policy benefitting our enemies in the war on terrorism?

In the past few months, as the situation in Iraq has deteriorated, the Bush Administration, in both its public diplomacy and its covert operations, has significantly shifted its Middle East strategy. The “redirection,” as some inside the White House have called the new strategy, has brought the United States closer to an open confrontation with Iran and, in parts of the region, propelled it into a widening sectarian conflict between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration has decided, in effect, to reconfigure its priorities in the Middle East. In Lebanon, the Administration has coöperated with Saudi Arabia’s government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran. The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda.

One contradictory aspect of the new strategy is that, in Iraq, most of the insurgent violence directed at the American military has come from Sunni forces, and not from Shiites. But, from the Administration’s perspective, the most profound—and unintended—strategic consequence of the Iraq war is the empowerment of Iran. Its President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has made defiant pronouncements about the destruction of Israel and his country’s right to pursue its nuclear program, and last week its supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on state television that “realities in the region show that the arrogant front, headed by the U.S. and its allies, will be the principal loser in the region.”

Don’t get me wrong. I am American and I love the USA. But the U.S. dollar’s days as the world’s reserve currency are now numbered. The greenback’s supremacy will not survive the onslaught of nearly $126 TRILLION in debts our country has wracked up. Nor will it continue to receive the funding it needs from our foreign creditors, who are now starting to balk at our country’s indebtedness more than ever before.

You can see these gathering forces in ...

— The G-20 countries, who have now taken official control of the world's economic caretaking. Put another way, the U.S. is now being forced to placate our largest creditors in an international forum, where it is now just one of 20 countries in charge of the world's economic affairs. And it is the largest debtor of the group, by far.

— Behind closed doors meetings of the Arab Gulf States, who have been meeting with Russia, Japan and China to replace the dollar for pricing oil.

— Reports out of the U.N. Commission of Experts on International Financial Reform recommending that the world ditch the dollar as its reserve currency and replace it with a money unit representing a basket of currencies.

— From China’s central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan calling for a new global reserve currency run by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

— And from a host of leading and Nobel prize-winning economists such as Robert Mundell, Joseph Stiglitz, George Soros and fund manager Jimmy Rogers.

Make no mistake about it. The world’s monetary system is on the verge of dramatically changing. And investors like you, who have the savvy to foresee what’s happening, stand to protect their wealth and profit tremendously in the months and years ahead.

. . .   I want to answer a question that is on many readers’ minds: “Why the strong upward pressure on gold and natural resource prices, and strong downside pressure in the dollar, when it appears the worst of the financial crisis may have passed?”

After all, the economy has shown considerable signs of improvement, both here and across the globe. So why the record demand for gold? And why has gold climbed past $1,000 an ounce? Why is oil surging? Why are other natural resource prices exploding higher?

Another key question: According to official figures, there is virtually no inflation on the horizon, and indeed, many sectors like real estate, consumer electronics, and more show signs of continuing disinflation and even outright deflation. So where’s the beef?

My answer is invariably different from most analysts: There’s much more to what’s happening now besides the eventual resurgence of inflation. We are witnessing an historic collapse in confidence in government.

Simply put, the financial crisis may have passed in the private sector — but only to soon re-emerge in the public sector as Washington begins to drown in a nightmare of unpayable debts.

So while inflation is not yet obvious to everyone, what is becoming abundantly obvious is that Washington is BROKE beyond repair.

After all, Washington now has ...

— An officially recognized national debt of $11.8 trillion, which will likely exceed $12 trillion sometime this month. Not to mention ...

— Unfunded national obligations of $104 trillion!

— Another $9 trillion in cumulative deficits over the next ten years.

— Plus another trillion dollars for health care reform, no matter what bill finally makes it through Congress.

Grand total: At least $125.8 TRILLION of public debts!

All told, that means that each and every household in America is now indirectly responsible for more than 1 MILLION DOLLARS in government debts and obligations. And that assumes no new government spending; no new social programs; no new wars; no new economic disasters or bailouts; NO NEW DEFICITS IN THE MEANTIME!

Put another way, even if the government could somehow pay off that debt at the rate of $100 MILLION PER DAY, every day starting right now, even at that rate, it would take 3,446 years before the total government debts and obligations are paid off.

Even if Washington were to pay off just $1 BILLION per day, it would still take nearly 345 years to pay off those debts!

Patently unsustainable debts? Yes! Patently unpayable? You bet it is. Of course, Washington will never default outright on its obligations. But it doesn’t have to. By devaluing the dollar, Washington can effectively pay off its debts with a cheaper currency.

This is why the dollar is falling ... and why savvy investors all over the world are beginning to lose confidence in Washington and our currency ... and why it’s all leading to a massive renewed bull market in natural resources, especially gold.

Make no mistake about it: By doing nothing, your finances become a victim of a falling dollar — a currency whose purchasing power has already lost more than 36% of its value in the last decade ... lose a lot more purchasing power in the months ahead ... and eventually lose its status as the world’s reserve currency, ultimately replaced by a new world currency.

My view: Although we will likely see massive inflation in the not-too-distant future, inflation is not a pre-requisite the next phase up in natural resources, especially gold. The pre-requisite was diminishing confidence in Washington and the dollar, and THAT process is already here. Indeed, it has now entered a new phase with a virulent almost non-stop decline in the dollar about to accelerate.

Crigger: With this bleak situation facing the European Union, is the euro doomed?

Gartman: Yes. For all intents, I think the euro is doomed. There were many who said they didn't think the euro would make it past the first important recession. Well, this is really the first important recession since the creation of the euro. And I've been surprised it has lasted as long as it has. Honestly, I think the euro is a doomed currency.

Economic Dictatorship Ahead?
The Eurozone Is Finished!

But the worst is yet to come for Great Britain, because Spain, with which the City of London is closely intertwined, is a much larger financial bomb than Greece. The Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) recently published a comprehensive 68-page report, warning its customers that the Spanish banks are covering up their losses, especially in the mortgage market and commercial real estate. The Spanish real estate market, according to the bank, was overvalued by more than 30%, and NPL (non-performing loans) were probably on a scale of 30-40%, which was concealed by all sorts of restructuring.

The Financial Times wrote on Feb. 18 that people should be much more worried about Spain than about Greece, because Spain's debts are so massive that even Germany and France combined could not save it. And the guru of a one-world currency, Robert Mundell, told Bloomberg that Italy is the biggest problem of the Eurozone.

It couldn't have happened to a nicer country. On March 18, with very little pomp and circumstance, president Obama passed the most recent stimulus act, the $17.5 billion Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (H.R. 2487), brilliantly goalseeked by the administration's millionaire cronies to abbreviate as HIRE. As it was merely the latest in an endless stream of acts destined to expand the government payroll to infinity, nobody cared about it, or actually read it. Because if anyone had read it, the act would have been known as the Capital Controls Act, as one of the lesser, but infinitely more important provisions on page 27, known as Offset Provisions - Subtitle A—Foreign Account Tax Compliance, institutes just that. In brief, the Provision requires that foreign banks not only withhold 30% of all outgoing capital flows (likely remitting the collection promptly back to the US Treasury) but also disclose the full details of non-exempt account-holders to the US and the IRS. And should this provision be deemed illegal by a given foreign nation's domestic laws (think Switzerland), well the foreign financial institution is required to close the account. It's the law. If you thought you could move your capital to the non-sequestration safety of non-US financial institutions, sorry you lose - the law now says so. Capital Controls are now here and are now fully enforced by the law.

(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any withholdable payment to a foreign financial institution which does not meet the requirements of subsection (b), the withholding agent with respect to such payment shall deduct and withhold from such payment a tax equal to 30 percent of the amount of such payment.

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