Dear friends:

The other day I prayed that the Lord would give me just one more dating insight that would confirm the year AD 2005 as the end of "the times of the Gentiles."

Several hours later I began to think about Ezekiel's prophecy in chapter 4 of the 430 (390 + 40) years of punishment on the Houses of Israel and Judah.

Clearly, the punishment began with the siege of Jerusalem, according to verses 1-3. That occurred in 586 BC, according to www.encyclopedia.com. That could have begun the age of the Gentiles.

The Babylonian captivity is thought to have been 70 years (Jeremiah 29:10). The year 586 + 70 years = 516 BC, the year the Second Temple was dedicated. The Web site www.aboutbibleprophecy.com says, "(In 516 BC) For the first time in 70 years, the Jews are able to acknowledge God as their ultimate ruler in a way they had been unable to do."

That seems to take care of 70 of the 430 years. But what about the remaining 360 years of punishment?

Here's the possible answer. In Leviticus 26, God promises to punish the Israelites "seven times more." For divine emphasis, God actually says it four times (verses 18, 21, 24, 28)! So, 7 X 360 years = 2,520 years.

Add 2,520 years to 516 BC and you arrive at AD 2005 (with the no-zero-year correction, as I understand it).

Could this mean AD 2005 will be the end of the times of the Gentiles and the beginning of God's final dealings with His people Israel for their restoration?

I cannot be dogmatic about the above and I know there are different interpretations of Ezekiel 4, but it is a possibility, so please don't send me all your theories about Ezekiel 4. I will admit right now that you may be right. But the above may be right.

One interesting sidelight:

If you convert the 2,520 modern (365-24-day) years to Jewish/prophetic (360-day) years, you come up with 2483.85 years.

Get this: From 516 B.C., the date of completion of the Second Temple, there are 2483.85 years to the recapture of the Temple Mount in the miraculous Six-Day War on June 7, 1967, to the very day some claim! This is especially significant prophetically because Jesus, in Luke 21:24, said Jerusalem would be trodden down by Gentiles "until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." June 7, 1967 may have the beginning of the end of the "times of the Gentiles" of which Jesus spoke. That same miracle Six-Day War is also thought to be when the fig tree of which Jesus spoke began to put forth its leaves with the capture of Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and the Gaza strip.

This is strange. If those 1967 real estate acquisitions are truly the leaves of the fig tree, then in 1967 Israel clipped one of them off by voluntarily giving back the Temple Mount to the Arabs, resulting in the 14,000-day countdown to this year. Now, in 2005, by giving back Gaza, they are clipping off another leaf. That could truly trigger the Tribulation and the final seven years of "Jacob's trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7).

As previously indicated, from June 7, 1967 plus a 14,000-day generation comes to October 3/4, 2005, which is Rosh HaShanah/Feast of Trumpets. (See June 26, 2005 post at www.insights.injesus.com .)

Was my prayer answered? You be the judge.

Jim