From the time of Moses on there are four eras or ages the Bible talks about. It is not rocket science but the way the times and seasons of the Bible's prophecy seem hidden from the view of modern Christianity, maybe that says otherwise.
1. Old Covenant age: From Moses until 70 AD. The age God pretty much exclusively operated his kingdom through Ancient Israel. He used it to write his word for us and bring us the messiah. He also made it the Normandy beach head for his long-planned invasion of planet earth with his invisible kingdom. It ended in 70 AD. Matt. 24, Luke 21, Mark 13 are prophecies about this you can read about in this article: The End Of An Age . So are most of the apostles letters and about a chapter of Revelation and some Old Testament prophecy.
2. Second Covenant age. When Jesus came and it was time to invade planet earth with his kingdom through the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It has no prophesied end.
3. The age of the four gentile empires. EXPLICITLY prophesied about in Daniel chapters 2 & 7 and Revelation. They are named for us. Babylon in Daniel 2. Medo\Persia and Greece in Daniel 8. Then Rome is described as conquering the Greek Empire in Daniel 11 and named all over the New Testament. It started in 597 BC when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judea and ended in 1453 AD when what had been the capitol of the the Roman Empire since 333 AD, Constantinople fell. It has its own body of end time prophecy. Jesus called this the times of the gentiles in Luke 21:24 -And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Both the natural city of Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem which is God’s people of all nations would be trampled underfoot and oppressed world wide as per Isaiah 54, Daniel 7, Revelation and many other chapters of prophecy. It was an age of oppression everywhere for real believers who were mostly underground. I have to mention that IT BLOWS MY MIND that this is not universally recognized as a specific era by all Christian teaching. But it is what it is.
4. Finally, the promised age. The time it was prophesied to come was when the Roman empire ended in 1453 AD. It has around 100 chapters of prophecy and promise regarding it like: Isaiah 54, 60, 61, 65:17-25, Revelation 20-22. Psalm 2, 22:27-31, 66:1-4, 37, 47, 72, 67 ,97, 110. Those chapters of prophecy are to be the focus of our faith in this present age that also has no prophesied end. They are prophecies of billions coming to Christ and a growing free world where all the earthly promises of God made to a hundred generations of saints, unfulfilled in their generations, could finally start coming to pass in this growing free world pioneered by Christians. Those earthly promises could not be fulfilled in that age of oppression. Things got even worse for true believers once Jesus came, not better. The catalyst that brought this about was the Bible (illegally) making its way into the hands of the general public which among many other things empowered them to start winning the wars of extermination against them. That started to happen immediately after the fall of the 4th empire, What a fight it has been over this last 570 years.
Here is the timeline in years on this that the Bible prophesied. Daniel 7 prophesied about 10 emperors of the Roman Empire, then an 11th who makes war on the saints and overcomes them for a time, two times and a half time, which is 1260. This number 1260 is repeated five times concerning the Roman Empire in the book of Revelation. Revelation 13:5 ....and power was given to him [The Roman empire] to continue 42 months. In Revelation 12 the Roman Empire is making war with believers who are illustrated as the woman in this verse, and oppressing them. Revelation 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a 1260 days......14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. In Revelation 11, again, the time of oppression of the saints given over to the nations. Revelation 11: 2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty two months. 3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses [The Word and the Holy Spirit, the law and the prophets, the prophets and the apostles] and they shall prophesy a 1260 days, clothed in sackcloth.
Turns out the 1260 days just like 70 weeks in Daniel 9:24-27 prophesying when the messiah would come to Israel illustrated years. In this case from beginning of this eleventh of ten Roman emperors reign in Daniel 7 till the end of the empire. Simply subtract 1260 years from 1453 AD and you get 193 AD. The first year of the reign of Septimius Severus who fulfilled what Daniel 7 says about him precisely. Three emperors fell before him as did three dynasties of Latin emperors. He was the empires first was non Latin emperor. He is the one who started the military campaign against the saints. and also made the worlds first blaspheme law- the death penalty for becoming a Christian. Daniel 7: 21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;....23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse (non Latin) from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. That tells you who the ten emperors were that preceded him illustrated by ten toes in Daniel 2. Ten horns in Daniel 7. Ten horns in Revelation Chapters 12, 13 and 17.
But you can also start from the beginning of the age of the gentiles in 597 BC to see this. That was the year the first of these four empires conquered Jerusalem. Revelation 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. 12 And he exercises all the power of the first beast before him.... 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number 666. This is a prophecy of the Roman Empire splitting into an eastern and western branch. It is illustrated as a lamb with two horns. The two horns illustrate the split. The lamb illustrates the empires claims of Christianity, and it speaking the words of the dragon illustrating the devil is self explanatory. That infamous number connected to it. 666. That was the number of years from the beginning of the age of the four gentile empires when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judea 597 AD, until Titus the prince of Daniel 9:26-27, (the number of a man.) destroys Jerusalem in 70 AD. There is no year -0-. making it 666 years. The next ten emperors after Titus are the same ten in Daniel and Revelation. The ten before Spetimius Serverus.
The Bible is God's supernatural book. You cannot fake these kinds of numbers thousands of years in advance. This is why the devil spends so much time sowing such confusion away from the simplicity of this prophecy. He does not want people to see the supernatural nature of God's Word. He especially does not want people to recognize the dozens and dozens of chapters of prophecy about this current age of billions coming to Christ and a growing free world for them to live in. That is what he is really trying to hide. HE WANTS the whole world to believe the Bibles prophecy is about an apocalyptic end of a world dominated by rising evil, because it is self-fulfilling false prophesy. 100's of millions of Christians have abandoned their duties to sacrifice by being the salt and light serving God and their fellow man in politics because of these pop culture end time teachings. The wicked only needed to fill that vacuum left by those who believe the dominance of evil is inevitable or those waiting to check out of planet earth. If the world's Christians put their faith in those prophecies about the free world and taught it to the nations; the effects would be staggering. Isaiah 60:5 Then you shall see, and flow together, and your heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea (the nations) shall be converted to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. It's not like it is not happening anyway. Billions have\are coming to Christ and Bible reading Christians did pioneer a free world that the peoples everywhere are trying to emulate and power\money hungry wicked are trying to squash, but failing. Christians need to get "born of heaven" by the incorruptible seed of God's Word, 1st Peter 1:23, on this issue.
I have written a book that goes over all this in great detail. It is mainly about the most important prophecy that our faith needs to rest in and order our lives around. That would be dozens of chapters of prophecy about billions coming to Christ; and a growing free world pioneered by Christians for them to live in that was prophesied to arise after the Roman Empire fell. But the last half goes over the end time prophecy about the age of the four Gentile empires in great detail. You'll find out what the seven seals are and the four horsemen. What exactly the seven vials\trumpets\plagues were. Who do the 144,000 illustrate and even the precise understanding of what Revelation 20 prophesied.
The Bible's Prophecy About The Free World - Westbow Press You can read the first four chapters by clicking on look inside or read sample. If you like it, it is the cost of a cup of coffee for an e book.
© Daniel Martinovich 2023-2024