By Dr Neville van Eerten
Introduction 67 AD is a year of signs from God, warning of the impending destruction of Jerusalem. The first day of Passover marks the start of the following prophecies:
Three-and-a-half-years prophecy of Daniel 7
1290-day prophecy of Daniel 12
335-day prophecy of Daniel 12
42-month prophecy of Revelation
Previously In our Introduction to the Great Tribulation, we addressed these questions: 1. When was the Great Tribulation, and why will it never happen in our lifetime?
2. What was the Abomination of Desolation?
3. Had the gospel been preached to all nations before the Great Tribulation?
4. Why does Revelation equate Jerusalem to Sodom and Egypt?
5. Who was Josephus, and is he a credible historian? We then examined the Seven Seals of Revelation and their relationship to the Great Tribulation of 66 CE to 73 CE.
We answered these questions:
1. What are the Seven Seals, and how do they connect to the Great Tribulation?
2. Was a quarter of the population killed, as Revelation states?
In our third lesson, we examined the 144,000 and established that they were Jews from the first century, before and during the Great Tribulation.
Then we examined the essential elements of various calendars from the first century to understand the historical view of the Great Tribulation.
Our lessons on Daniel’s Seventy-Weeks Prophecy revealed that the seventy weeks aligned precisely with the start of Jesus’ ministry. By understanding the different calendars, we can determine the beginning of the New Covenant, Stephen’s martyrdom, and subsequently, Jesus’ birth in 4 BC.
We then realized that the Bible does not say the Euphrates army numbered 200 million soldiers; instead, it consisted of a unit of 10,000 horsemen and another of 10,000 men. These details match what historians agree on. A legion of horsemen called the Legio Equestris, and a second legion of 10,000 men (XII Fulminata Legion), came from the Euphrates to attack Jerusalem.
In the seventh lesson, we learned that the Great Tribulation was the 2300-day prophecy of Daniel. It began when Nero declared the destruction of all the cities of Israel, including Jerusalem, on 27th December 66 CE, and ended when the last city, Masada, fell on 14th April 73 AD.
© Use by Permission Awakening Impact Ministries Page of 1 8 Author: Dr Neville Westerbeek van Eerten D.Miss BVSc 67 AD: A Year of Signs 2.
67 AD: Year of Signs
The Jewish Day 67 AD was a year marked by many signs. When considering the dates of these signs, it is vital to remember that the Jewish day begins at sunset on Friday. For example, we know that Passover in 67 CE started on 18 April around 6 pm, and the light shining occurred at the ninth hour on the Jewish date of 18 April. However, for us, it would be the following day, 19 April 67 AD.
The Glory Departs
Glory of the Latter
The prophet Haggai states the new temple will be more glorious than the previous one.
HAGGAI 2:6-9 “FOR THUS SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS: ‘ONCE MORE (IT IS A LITTLE WHILE) I WILL SHAKE HEAVEN AND EARTH, THE SEA AND DRY LAND; AND I WILL SHAKE ALL NATIONS, AND THEY SHALL COME TO THE DESIRE OF ALL NATIONS, AND I WILL FILL THIS TEMPLE WITH GLORY,’ SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS. ‘THE SILVER IS MINE, AND THE GOLD IS MINE,’ SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS. THE GLORY OF THIS LATTER TEMPLE SHALL BE GREATER THAN THE FORMER,’ SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS. ‘AND IN THIS PLACE, I WILL GIVE PEACE,’ SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS.”
Some people mistakenly believe that the latter temple is connected to the Second Temple. However, this prophecy shows that it isn’t the case, as history reveals Solomon’s Temple was far more splendid in silver and gold than the Second Temple.
Our lesson on the Feast of Tabernacles shows that the Temple of the Holy Spirit fulfils this prophecy in both individual and collective believers.
East Gate Opens At midnight on the first day of Passover 67 AD, the east gate to the inner courtyard swung open all by itself.
FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS WAR OF THE JEWS 6.293-295
MOREOVER, THE EASTERN GATE OF THE INNER [COURT OF THE] TEMPLE, WHICH WAS OF BRASS, AND VASTLY HEAVY, AND HAD BEEN WITH DIFFICULTY SHUT BY TWENTY MEN, AND RESTED UPON A BASIS ARMED WITH IRON, AND HAD BOLTS FASTENED VERY DEEP INTO THE FIRM FLOOR, WHICH WAS THERE MADE OF ONE ENTIRE STONE, WAS SEEN TO BE OPENED OF ITS OWN ACCORD ABOUT THE SIXTH HOUR OF THE NIGHT. NOW, THOSE THAT KEPT WATCH IN THE TEMPLE CAME HEREUPON RUNNING TO THE CAPTAIN OF THE TEMPLE, AND TOLD HIM OF IT: WHO THEN CAME UP THITHER, AND NOT WITHOUT GREAT DIFFICULTY, WAS ABLE TO SHUT THE GATE AGAIN. THIS ALSO APPEARED TO THE VULGAR TO BE A VERY HAPPY PRODIGY, AS IF GOD DID THEREBY OPEN THEM THE GATE OF HAPPINESS. BUT THE MEN OF LEARNING UNDERSTOOD IT, THAT THE SECURITY OF THEIR HOLY HOUSE WAS DISSOLVED OF ITS OWN ACCORD, AND THAT THE GATE WAS OPENED FOR THE ADVANTAGE OF THEIR ENEMIES.
Joy Turned to Mourning
Their initial excitement about the gate opening came from some rabbis’ belief that it signified the Messiah’s arrival to fully establish His Kingdom. However, He did not arrive as they had hoped. The prophecy in question is found in Ezekiel.
EZEKIEL 44:2 AND THE LORD SAID TO ME, “THIS GATE SHALL BE SHUT; IT SHALL NOT BE OPENED, AND NO MAN SHALL ENTER BY IT, BECAUSE THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL HAS ENTERED BY IT; THEREFORE, IT SHALL BE SHUT.
This verse shows that the Lord God of Israel has already passed through it to enter the Second Temple. It is to stay shut until the Lord leaves. Therefore, the sign at midnight on Passover 67 AD indicates that the gate is open for the Lord to depart.
This is the first sign of the Lord’s glory leaving the Temple.
Bright Light
The sign of the bright light shining for thirty minutes after the gate was opened, and the light’s departure symbolizes the glory of God leaving the Second Temple. This occurred three hours after the gate opened at 3 am on 19 April 67 AD (the first day of Passover).
FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS WAR OF THE JEWS 6.290-291
…BEFORE THOSE COMMOTIONS WHICH PRECEDED THE WAR, WHEN THE PEOPLE WERE COME IN GREAT CROWDS TO THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD, ON THE EIGHTH DAY OF THE MONTH XANTHICUS [NISAN], AND AT THE NINTH HOUR OF THE NIGHT, SO GREAT A LIGHT SHONE ROUND THE ALTAR AND THE HOLY HOUSE, THAT IT APPEARED TO BE BRIGHT DAY TIME; WHICH LIGHT LASTED FOR HALF AN HOUR. THIS LIGHT SEEMED TO BE A GOOD SIGN TO THE UNSKILLFUL, BUT WAS SO INTERPRETED BY THE SACRED SCRIBES AS TO PORTEND THOSE EVENTS THAT FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY UPON IT.
The Glory Departs
It is crucial to recognize that the light is outside the Holy of Holies, where the cherubim dwell under the Old Covenant. It could no longer stay there because the Old Covenant had become outdated and was fading away. The events about to unfold were, of course, the destruction of this very Temple, as it was no longer needed, having been replaced by our own bodies filled with the Holy Spirit.
HEBREWS 8:13 IN THAT HE SAYS, “A NEW COVENANT,” HE HAS MADE THE FIRST OBSOLETE. NOW WHAT IS BECOMING OBSOLETE AND GROWING OLD IS READY TO VANISH AWAY.
Now, let’s look at Ezekiel’s prophecy, which highlights the same point.
EZEKIEL 10:18-19 THEN THE GLORY OF THE LORD DEPARTED FROM THE THRESHOLD OF THE TEMPLE AND STOOD OVER THE CHERUBIM. AND THE CHERUBIM LIFTED THEIR WINGS AND MOUNTED UP FROM THE EARTH IN MY SIGHT. WHEN THEY WENT OUT, THE WHEELS WERE BESIDE THEM; AND THEY STOOD AT THE DOOR OF THE EAST GATE OF THE LORD’S HOUSE, AND THE GLORY OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL WAS ABOVE THEM.
Thirty Minutes of Silence in Heaven
Light Fades in the Temple
As the light shone outside the Temple for 30 minutes, the Book of Revelation records a corresponding 30-minute period when the seventh seal was opened.
Revelation’s Thirty-Minute Silence
REVELATION 8:1-5 WHEN HE OPENED THE SEVENTH SEAL, THERE WAS SILENCE IN HEAVEN FOR ABOUT HALF AN HOUR. AND I SAW THE SEVEN ANGELS WHO STAND BEFORE GOD, AND TO THEM WERE GIVEN SEVEN TRUMPETS. THEN ANOTHER ANGEL, HAVING A GOLDEN CENSER, CAME AND STOOD AT THE ALTAR. HE WAS GIVEN MUCH INCENSE, THAT HE SHOULD OFFER IT WITH THE PRAYERS OF ALL THE SAINTS UPON THE GOLDEN ALTAR WHICH WAS BEFORE THE THRONE. AND THE SMOKE OF THE INCENSE, WITH THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS, ASCENDED BEFORE GOD FROM THE ANGEL’S HAND.
Jewish Saints
When we read this through our Western-trained minds, we tend to think of saints as Christians from the past two thousand years. However, this is not proper hermeneutics. We should remember the close link between Revelation and Daniel, and that Revelation was mainly written for Jewish believers. These saints refer to faithful Jews and Gentiles, as seen in Daniel.
DANIEL 7:27 THEN THE KINGDOM AND DOMINION, AND THE GREATNESS OF THE KINGDOMS UNDER THE WHOLE HEAVEN, SHALL BE GIVEN TO THE PEOPLE, THE SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH. HIS KINGDOM IS AN EVERLASTING KINGDOM, AND ALL DOMINIONS SHALL SERVE AND OBEY HIM.’
Kingdom Theology
The link between the departing light and the thirty minutes in Revelation becomes clear when we examine Daniel 9:27 in the context of Revelation 8 and the signs of 19th April 67 AD. The hope shared by all Old Testament saints and Jews today is the coming of the kingdom. The Old Covenant Temple, along with its laws and feasts, needed to become obsolete, die, and fade away before the fullness of the kingdom could arrive, along with the millennial reign that would start shortly afterwards. We explore this further in our lesson on the Millennium.
The fading light signals the second sign of glory leaving.
Sign of the New Covenant
The third sign to occur on Passover was that a heifer births a lamb.
Red Heifer
Dispensationalists become overly excited about the qualifying red heifer due to Numbers 19, which they see as a sign of the coming Messiah.
NUMBERS 19:2 “THIS IS THE ORDINANCE OF THE LAW WHICH THE LORD HAS COMMANDED, SAYING: ‘SPEAK TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, THAT THEY BRING YOU A RED HEIFER WITHOUT BLEMISH, IN WHICH THERE IS NO DEFECT AND ON WHICH A YOKE HAS NEVER COME.
Jesus has already come and is seated at the right hand of the Father. Continuing to search for the red heifer is an insult to Jesus, and that is why this sign was given. The heifer is to be slaughtered soon to purify the people in preparation for Passover.
Heifer Gives Birth to a Lamb
FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS WAR OF THE JEWS 6.292
AT THE SAME FESTIVAL, A HEIFER, AS SHE WAS LED BY THE HIGH PRIEST TO BE SACRIFICED, BROUGHT FORTH A LAMB IN THE MIDST OF THE TEMPLE.
The heifer in this sign represents the Old Covenant and has no symbolism under the New Covenant. This sign reminds people that the Messiah was slain on the same day of Passover, yet it brought new life (the lamb that was slain is alive).
The heifer’s unlikely birth of a lamb is a strong symbol of the end of the Old Covenant and its sacrificial laws, and the new birth found only through the lamb of God.
Three signs appeared during Passover; now, the next sign occurs at Pentecost, which, 37 years earlier, marked the beginning of the church, the collective Temple of God.
Sacrificial Heifer
As soon as the Heifer produced the lamb, it was sacrificed. This was a powerful message to the Jews. The Old Covenant system was dead, so that the New Covenant (the Lamb) may be born.
The Angels Depart the Temple
Let Us Go Hence
Seven weeks after the three signs of Passover in 67 AD, during Pentecost, another sign took place. First, there was an earthquake, a loud noise, and then the sound of voices.
FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS WAR OF THE JEWS 6.299-300
MOREOVER AT THAT FEAST WHICH WE CALL PENTECOST, AS THE PRIESTS WERE GOING BY NIGHT INTO THE INNER [COURT OF THE] TEMPLE, AS THEIR CUSTOM WAS, TO PERFORM THEIR SACRED MINISTRATIONS, THEY SAID THAT, IN THE FIRST PLACE, THEY FELT A QUAKING, AND HEARD A GREAT NOISE, AND AFTER THAT THEY HEARD A SOUND AS OF A GREAT MULTITUDE, SAYING, “LET US REMOVE HENCE.”
The multitude of angelic beings responsible for the Holy of Holies departs. The earthly temple no longer has a purpose for their presence.
There was a multitude of beings with voices declaring, “Let us remove hence.” These were not ordinary people; they were angelic beings. For them to be removing indicates that they were leaving. When we read this alongside the light that lasted only thirty minutes, we understand this as a reference to the glory departing. Prophetically, this is shown in Ezekiel, where we read about the glory leaving.
Book of Revelation Account
John clarifies this event in the Book of Revelation:
REVELATION 8:5 THEN THE ANGEL TOOK THE CENSER, FILLED IT WITH FIRE FROM THE ALTAR, AND THREW IT TO THE EARTH. AND THERE WERE NOISES, THUNDERINGS, LIGHTNINGS, AND AN EARTHQUAKE.
The word for noises here is
φωνή phōnē; an address, saying or language: — voice, noise, sound.
It is translated as ‘noise’ only once here in Revelation 8; mostly, it is translated 131 times as ‘voice’ or ‘voices’, as Josephus described. So, the noises described in Romans are the same voices that declare “Let us go hence”.
Church Becomes the Temple of God
Israel is no longer the Wife of God, having been divorced many centuries ago. Instead, the Church, made up of both Jews and Gentiles, is to become the wife of Jesus. And members of the Church are now sons and daughters of God. This was always God’s original plan.