Right On Time! by Bill May

Right On Time!

Fasten your seat belt! You're now going to explore the longest time prophecy in the Bible—a prophecy that perfectly predicted the first coming of Jesus and the time of His death. In Study Guide 16, "Angel Messages from Space," you learned that God has an extremely important message the world must hear before Christ's return!

The first point commands people to worship God and glorify Him, because the hour of His judgment has arrived(Revelation 14:7). In Daniel 8 and 9, God reveals the date for His final judgment to begin and powerful prophetic clues proving Christ as the Messiah. Thus no prophecy in all of Scripture is more vital—yet few people are aware of it! Others completely misinterpret it. Please read Daniel chapters 8 and 9 before starting this Study Guide, and ask God's Spirit to guide you in understanding this phenomenal lesson.

1. In vision, Daniel saw a two-horned ram pushing west, north, and south and conquering every beast he met (Daniel 8:3, 4). What does that ram symbolize?
2. What striking animal did Daniel next see?
3. According to Daniel 8:8, 9, a little horn power next arose. What does the little horn represent?
4. Daniel 8 informs us that this little horn power would also destroy many of God's people (verses 10, 24, 25) and cast truth to the ground (verse 12). When a saint asked how long God's people and heavenly sanctuary would be trodden under foot, what was heaven's reply?
5. What urgent point did the angel Gabriel repeatedly stress?
6. While Daniel was praying, who suddenly touched him and with what message (Daniel 9:21-23)?
7. How much of the 2,300 days would be allotted to (or cut off for) Daniel's people, the Jews, and their capital city, Jerusalem (Daniel 9:24)?
8. What event and date were to mark the starting point for the 2,300-day and 490-year prophecies (Daniel 9:25)?
9. The angel said that 69 prophetic weeks, or 483 literal years (69 x 7 = 483), added to 457 B.C. would reach to the Messiah (Daniel 9:25). Did it?
10. We have now considered 483 years of the 490-year prophecy. There is one prophetic week, or seven literal years, left (Daniel 9:26, 27). What happens next? When does it happen?
11. Since Jesus died after three and one-half years, how could He "confirm the covenant with many" for the full final seven years, as the prophecy in Daniel 9:27 mandates?
12. When the 490-year period of final opportunity for the Jewish nation ended in the fall of A.D. 34, what did the disciples do?
13. After A.D. 34, how many years of the 2,300-year prophecy remained? What is the ending date for the prophecy? What did the angel say would happen on that date (Daniel 8:14)?
14. Why do some Bible interpreters detach the last week (or seven years) of the 490 years allotted to the Jewish nation and apply it to Antichrist's work at the end of the world's history?