THE PROPHECY OF SEVEN TIMES

1290 “days” = 3½ (Gentile) Times, i.e. 42 Gentile “months” over 3½ “years,” equivalent to 42 Jewish “months” of 1260 “days” + one intercalary “month” of 30 “days.” (The Gentile system is solar, and measures out the 12 months over the full solar year. The Jewish system is lunar, and each lunar month is, on average, shorter than a solar month. Therefore an extra month is intercalated every 3 years or so to keep the Jewish calendar up with the solar year.) The intercalary month in the Hebrew system was a second Adar, falling around February, March or April, that is, half-way through a Tishri-to-Tishri year. Normally three and one-half Tishri-to-Tishri years would be followed by a second Adar. That means from the starting point of the count of seven prophetic times, the scheme would be: three and one-half times followed by an “intercalary month”, plus another three and one-half times (followed by an “intercalary month” if the scheme is continued further); or, in terms of prophetic years: 1260 prophetic (360-day) years + 30 prophetic (“intercalated”) years + 1260 prophetic years (plus 30 prophetic “intercalated” years, if the scheme is continued further). The 1290 (= 30 + 1260) “days” (= prophetic years) of Daniel 12 run from the “time of placing abominable filth” on the Temple site, — that “time of placing filth” comprising the interval which terminated with the building of the Dome of the Rock, — till the opening of the Seals on Sunset Mountain at the end-time. For the Opening of the Seals nz = 2438090.5 = 00.00 hrs. 2 March 1963. The period of 1290 days is described as three and one-half times. Therefore, the preceding three and one-half times must be the period preceding the building of the Dome of the Rock. As the intercalary 30 days was added after 3½ years, then 1260 prophetic years run from the commencement of the Seven Times till the Dome of the Rock (the last half of which precisely, 630 prophetic years, was the period of “placing abominable filth” on the Temple site), then 30 extra (“intercalary”) prophetic years are inserted, then 1260 prophetic years run on till the Opening of the Seals. A further 30 extra prophetic (“intercalary”) years would then fall due for insertion in the normal scheme of things. That makes 7 Times = 1290 × 2 × 360 = 2580 × 360 = 928800 days. Therefore nz = 2448890.5 = 00.00 hrs., 25 September AD 1992 (27 Elul on the modern Hebrew Calendar), p = 928800, pa is at n = nz – p = 1520090.5 = 13 October 552 BC, ps is at n = 1520089.5 = 12 October 552 BC. The end-point of the seven times would be the last week of Elul AD 1992, followed by the 1 year of restoration (typed by Nebuchadnezzar’s restoration year) = Elul 1992 through Elul 1993, and the first full regnal year of restoration (in terms of the Babylonian regnal system with which the seven times started) Nisan 1993 through Adar 1994. That this is a significant year is demonstrated by the completion of 1954 years of God’s dealing with the Gentiles in 1994 (from the conversion of the first Gentile Cornelius, Acts 10, 15. 14, 7ff., in AD 41, according to Usher’s Chronology), as He dealt 1954 years with the Jews up to the Crucifixion of Jesus in AD 33 (see the next section).

Nebuchadnezzar retired from public life at the beginning of the last week of the Babylonian month Ululu (Hebrew Elul), 562 BC. A period of twelve months followed till he was smitten with insanity for seven complete years till the last week of Ululu (Elul) 554 BC. His first full year of recovery lasted to the beginning of the last week of Ululu (Elul) 553 BC. 1 year + 7 years + 1 year was the full cycle. The greater cycle was likewise 1 year + Seven Times + 1 year. Year 1 lasted till 13 October 552 BC, pa = Julian Day Number 1520090.5, the beginning of the last week of Ululu (Elul) 552 BC. This is the chronological marker for the beginning of the greater cycle of seven historical times of the Babylonian Beast system, of which Nebuchadnezzar’s beast-like experience was the type. These seven times lasted till the Opening of the Seals at nz = 2438090.5 = 00.00 hrs. 2 March 1963, that is, to the Jewish day sunset 28 February to sunset 1 March 1963. This was followed by an “intercalary” 30 prophetic years till nz = 2448890.5 = 00.00 hrs., 25 September AD 1992 (in the last week of Elul on the modern Hebrew Calendar). The final 1 year of restoration in this scheme lasted from Elul 1992 till Elul 1993, which intersected with the regnal year Nisan 1993 through Adar 1994. Thus, “Seven Times” of bestial insanity passed over Nebuchadnezzar individually (seven literal years) till his restoration and acknowledgment of the True God, and “Seven Times” (seven greater “years”) of bestiality then passed over the Gentile system of which Nebuchadnezzar was the head (cp. Daniel’s image), till the restoration of the Gentile Bride Tree. That restoration was accomplished by the Opening of the Seals through the ministry of the seventh Church-Age messenger, Brother William Branham (1909-1965). The Stone cut without hands (the Revelation of the Seals) struck the Beast-system, resulting in the demolishing of it, and its reduction to powder. The nuclear wind finally blew the chaff-like dust away. So the physical remnants of the beast-system will be destroyed in the Great Tribulation, but the individuals redeemed out of it (typed by the restored Nebuchadnezzar), through the ministry of the end time prophet (typed by Daniel in Nebuchadnezzar’s era) will be restored at the Rapture.

The Opening of the Seals occurred at the same time as the Second Vatican Council. The real purpose of the Second Vatican Council was to hijack, and ultimately to extinguish, the phenomenal Holy Spirit revival initiated across the world by the ministry of Brother Branham, and to unite against it the forces of the Vatican and the pseudo-Protestant groups of the World Council of Churches, claiming to “be one in the Spirit.” This was the “chaff” which resulted from the arrival of the Stone. “Chaff” in Scriptural typology means “false prophets”. The Vatican and the Ecumenical Movement are now led by supposedly “Spirit-filled” ministers influenced by the charismatic revival initiated after the Second World War through the ministry of Brother Branham. These same two false-church systems will be, according to Revelation Chapter 13, the persecuting powers of the Tribulation period (Vatican = the Beast, World Council of Churches = the Image [Duplicate] of the Beast).

SUMMARY OF 1954 YEARS OF GOD’S DEALING WITH THE JEWS

(a) 1853 BC Jacob went down into Egypt at 130 years old (Genesis 47. 9).

(b) Therefore Jacob was born in Hebrew year (autumn to autumn) 1981/0 (= 1983, minus 1 year for inclusive reckoning, and minus 1 year for Hebrew dating of day of birth as year 1). Jacob’s twin brother was Esau.

(c) Esau was 40 years old at marriage (Genesis 26. 34), therefore Jacob was also 40 then.

(d) Jacob fled to Laban (Genesis 27 to 29) and served him 14 years (Genesis 29. 20, 30).

(e) Jacob had four sons in a row by Leah (Genesis 29. 31-35), Judah being the fourth. Given 1 year per

child (as in Usher’s Chronology), this made a total of 4 years till the birth of Judah.

Therefore, the interval from the birth of Jacob till the birth of Judah = (c) + (d) + (e) = 40 + 14 + 4 = 58 years. Therefore the birth of Judah = 1981/0 − 58 = 1923/2 BC. Therefore the first year of God’s dealing with the Jews, that is, with Judah himself, the ancestor of the Jews, was completed in 1922/1, conventionally reckoned simply as 1921 BC. From 1921 BC till AD 33 = 1954 years of God’s dealing with the Jews.

EXPLANATION

Brother Branham explains how God dealt with the Jews 1954 years from 1921 BC to AD 33, when Christ was crucified. What is the starting point of the 1954 years? What happened in 1921 BC, which made that date the beginning of God’s dealing with the Jews?

The natural explanation would be that God BEGAN His dealing with the Jews as soon as Judah, the very FIRST “Jew”, that is, Judah-ite or descendant of Judah, was born. Even the names of these sons of Israel had a SPIRITUAL meaning, which is pointed out in the Scriptures (for example Judah means “Praise”, and the Apostle Paul explains its spiritual meaning in Romans 2. 29), so their naming was not coincidental: God was behind it. Already, as soon as Judah was born and named, God was “dealing with” him. Brother Branham therefore makes the comment that God dealt with the Jews 1954 years “according to Galatians 3. 16 and 17” and “according to Usher’s Chronology of the Hebrews”, and also “according to the Chronology of the Jews”.

What is the Chronology of the Jews? And how does Galatians 3. 16-17 and Usher’s Chronology of the Hebrews fit into the picture? To find this out, we need to take careful notice of what Brother Branham repeats twice in this section of the tape recording: that is, the Scripture Galatians 3. 16 and 17. This Scripture tells us God confirmed the Covenant originally given to Abraham “430 years” before the giving of the Law of Moses. This is the Scripture which led Usher (mistakenly) to date the Call of Abraham to 1921 BC and the rest of his life to the years following that date, as Usher thought Paul meant by the “confirming of the Covenant” in Galatians 3. 16 and 17, the occasion when God gave a vision to Abraham that the Israelites would be enslaved in Egypt for a minimum of 400 years (Genesis 15. 12-21). But if that was true then there were only 430 years between Abraham’s lifetime and the year of the Exodus (which was when God gave the Law to Moses). However, that would mean the Israelites only stayed in Egypt something over 200 years, not 400 years and more, as God Himself promised they would. Usher’s dating of Abraham, therefore, must be INCORRECT. The truth is that the “confirming of the Covenant” referred to by Paul was not the occasion when God originally gave the promise (in the vision), but the fulfilling of God’s promise when the 430 years in Egypt actually started. God confirmed His promise to Abraham concerning his seed, that Abraham’s seed would be resident in a strange land a minimum of 400 years, when He brought about the fulfillment of His promise, and caused the Israelites actually to take up residence in Egypt in the time of Joseph.

If we use the correct date of the Exodus, 1446 BC, which is, as the Bible says, 480 years before the building of Solomon’s Temple, and grant that the sons of Israel stayed in Egypt, again as the Bible says, for 430 years, then we can date the BEGINNING of the Israelites’ stay in Egypt to 1875 BC, 430 years (inclusive) before 1446 BC. The FIRST Israelite to stay in Egypt was Joseph, who was taken as a slave down to Egypt, when he was 17 years old. Therefore Joseph at 17 years old began his stay in Egypt in 1875 BC. When Joseph was 30 years old, 13 years later, he was let out of prison, then followed 7 good years of plentiful harvests, then in the course of the following 3rd year of famine Joseph’s father Jacob came down into Egypt: that was 22 complete years after Joseph went down into Egypt (13 years from Joseph’s going down into Egypt till he was let out of prison, plus 7 years of plenty, plus 2 complete years of famine). 22 years after 1875 BC makes 1853 BC when Joseph’s father Jacob came into Egypt.

The Bible says Jacob was at that time 130 years old. That means Jacob was born in 1981 BC. (That is, the 130th year inclusive before 1853 BC, which is 1852 BC, but minus 1 year, to make it 1851 BC, because Hebrews dated a child’s age from year 1 at birth, not from zero, as we do in the West. We say a child is 1 year old after his first year is complete, whereas Hebrews would say he is at that point starting year 2, and is thus 2 years old.) This year of Jacob’s birth, 1981 BC, is a Hebrew year which began in the autumn, and actually lasted the twelve months from autumn 1981, till autumn 1980. Properly, therefore, we should call it year 1981/0 BC, or simply 1980 BC, as the majority of the months fell in that calendar year. Jacob was the twin brother of Esau, who was born alongside him in 1981/0 BC. Esau was 40 when he married, and that event occurred in 1942/1 BC (counting age from year 1 not zero). Immediately following that Jacob fled to Laban, that is in year 1941/0 BC. Jacob served Laban 14 years till 1927/6 BC. He then had four sons by Leah, and, according to Usher’s chronology, one child per year. That means the firstborn Reuben was born 1926/5 BC, the second child Simeon in 1925/4 BC, Levi the third child in 1924/3 BC and Judah the fourth child in 1923/2 BC. That means the first year of Judah’s life was complete in 1922/1 BC, and that year, 1921 BC, using simple notation, was the first year of God’s dealing with the first Jew. From that year to AD 33 was 1954 years of God’s dealing with the Jews. Since God, through Brother Branham, brought Usher’s chronology into this scheme, not to give the proper date of Abraham’s Call, but to date the birth of Judah, it is also “according to Usher’s chronology” that Brother Branham’s calculation measured the birth of Judah in the fourth of four consecutive years (with one child born per year), just as Usher put it down in his chronology, though the Bible itself gives no time scheme for the birth of these four children.

(Brother Branham says from the time God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, “according to Galatians 3. 16 and 17” and “according to Usher’s Chronology of the Hebrews”, God “dealt with the Jews” 1954 years. This means: “taking the whole span of time from the Call of Abraham to the Crucifixion, within that time-frame God dealt with the Jews for a period of 1954 years”; because, of course, at the precise time when God called Abraham THERE WERE NO JEWS EXISTING for God to deal with. Jews only existed after their ancestor Judah was born, and Judah was the great grandson of Abraham. When God called Abraham out of Ur, Abraham did not have any children at all, let alone great grandchildren like Judah, and God could not therefore have been dealing with the Jews, or Judah-ites, at that time. “Jews” is not the same thing as “Israelites”. Brother Branham explained this in the Seven Seals series. “Jews” are people only of the tribe of Judah, who was a son of Israel, whereas “Israelites” are people of ALL the thirteen tribes descended from the thirteen sons of Israel, including, amongst them, Judah. Another name is “Hebrews”. “Hebrews” means “descendants of Eber”, Eber being a descendant of Shem son of Noah. Abraham was a “Hebrew”, a descendant of Eber, but he was certainly not an “Israelite”, as Israel was not yet born: Israel was Abraham’s own grandson. An “Israelite” was a future thing in the days of Abraham. Nor, for the reasons already stated, was Abraham a “Jew”. Actually the DATE of the Call of Abraham in Usher’s Chronology happened also to be 1921 BC, though Usher was mistaken in his chronological scheme. If one followed Usher, and took the beginning of God’s dealing with the “Jews” in a loose, unscriptural, sense, as though it started with Abraham’s Call, one would still have a total of 1954 years: that is, 1921 years before Christ, plus 33 years till AD 33 during the lifetime of Christ = 1954 years.)

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