Chris Rosebrough's Q and A session included a question about the 70 weeks of Daniel, which he answered according to Lutheran eschatology. When I returned to the video a few days later, this section was edited out, possibly because he expected some pushback regarding what he refers to as the
"traditional understanding" of Daniel's 70 weeks which is virtually unheard of in the majority of commentaries.
The question: "Would like to hear about the 70 weeks of Daniel. Jesus Christ fulfilled it is my understanding."
Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”(Daniel 9:24-27).
Rosebrough: "Many charismatic and Pentecostal folk have a problem, and that is that they think there's still one week or part of a week left in Daniel's 70 weeks." He refers to Daniel 12:4,9 which states that the prophecy was closed up and sealed until "the time of the end'. My understanding is that the Book of Revelation unseals Daniel's prophecy. (Revelation 22:10).
Rosebrough referred to the Concordia Commentary on Daniel in Logos which is apparently the "traditional understanding". Based on the claim that Daniel's prophecy is sealed at the end of the 70th week, Rosebrough asks the question: "When does that occur?" According to Concordia, Daniel's 70-week prophecy was fulfilled in 135AD when Emperor Hadrian conquered Jerusalem during the Second Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire.
Hadrian did not fulfill this prophecy. During Hadrian's rule, a temple to Jupiter (Zeus) was set up on the Temple Mount, the previous site of the Jewish Temple. Preterists usually refer to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus Vespasian in 70AD as the fulfillment of this prophecy. However, neither Titus nor Hadrian made a strong covenant with the many (the Jews) for one week (seven years) or broke the covenant halfway through that period. (Daniel 9:27). As others have argued, the 70-week prophecy is too far-reaching to apply to the preterist interpretation. By the first century, the first 483 of Daniel's 490-year prophecy were fulfilled, leaving the last seven years or "week" (shabua) to be fulfilled. (Daniel 9:27; Daniel 12:11). At the end of this final seven-year period, Israel's salvation will be accomplished. The key event in this timeframe is the midpoint of the week when the Antichrist signs a "strong covenant" with the Jews marking the onset of the great tribulation. The Olivet Discourse is a crucial passage that confirms these events. The disciples ask Jesus: "..when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming (parousia) and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3).
So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. (Matthew 24:15-28 cf.2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; Daniel 7:25,11:36; Revelation 13:3-6).
Amillennialism (Greek: a- "not" + Latin: mille "thousand" + annum "year") was the accepted view of the Roman Catholic Church and the 16th-century Protestant Reformers. No literal interpretation of the scriptures supports amillennialism. Amillennialism was systemized by Augustine of Hippo (354-430), and it was subsequently accepted as the dominant eschatology of the Medieval and Reformation periods. This view is still held by various Protestant denominations including Lutheran, Reformed, and Anglican. The Lutheran Church formally rejected the predominant view of the early Church Fathers i.e. premillennialism aka "chiliasm" in the Augsburg Confession—Art. XVII. My view is that amillennialism is based on tradition rather than the scriptures. Amillennialism has given rise to replacement theology which is a denial of the unfulfilled prophecies given regarding a literal Jewish remnant. (Romans 11:1-32). Premillennialism generally maintains a literal physical 1000-year reign of Christ based on Revelation 20 and other prophetic eschatological passages of scripture.
Theopedia: "Premillennialism was the most widely held view of the earliest centuries of the church. Philip Schaff has said, 'The most striking point in the eschatology of the ante-Nicene Age (A.D. 100-325) is the prominent chiliasm, or millenarianism, . . . a widely current opinion of distinguished teachers, such as Barnabas, Papia, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Methodius, and Lactantius.' (History of the Christian Church, Scribner, 1884; Vol. 2, p. 614)."1
Luther: "Our churches.. condemn the Anabaptists, who think that there will be an end to the punishments of condemned men and devils. They condemn also others who are now spreading certain Jewish opinions, that before the resurrection of the dead the godly shall take possession of the kingdom of the world, the ungodly being everywhere suppressed.."2
Wikipedia: "Likewise, the Swiss Reformer Heinrich Bullinger wrote up the Second Helvetic Confession, which asserts, 'We also reject the Jewish dream of a millennium, or golden age on earth, before the last judgment' John Calvin wrote in Institutes of the Christian Religion that chiliasm is a 'fiction' that is 'too childish either to need or to be worth a refutation.'"3
Some denominations such as Methodists and Baptists do not take an official position on Daniel's 70 weeks and their ministers have latitude to teach this subject according to their convictions. The official position of the Assemblies of God (Pentecostal) is that "the weight of Scripture supports a pre-Tribulation Rapture."4 However, individual AG churches are autonomous and it is not always possible to ascertain exactly what they believe about the 70 weeks if they teach on the subject at all. Many AG churches have fallen to the NAR deception which denies premillennialism and aligns with dominion theology.
The two primary premillennial views are historic premillennialism and dispensational premillennialism. Historic premillennialism is the classic form of premillennialism found in the writings of the early Church Fathers. Dispensational premillennialism was developed by cult leader John Nelson Darby (1800-1882). Unfortunately, Darby and Schofield succeeded in infecting the church with the pretrib dispensational teachings that permeate many churches today. The result is that the pretrib rapture is aggressively promoted by many teachers with a "Left Behind" mindset who should know better. Non-charismatic pro-Israel teachers like Andy Woods (Sugar Land Bible Church), Prophecy Watchers, Tom Hughes (Hope for our Times), Jan Markell, Jack Hibbs, etc. relentlessly promote the pretrib rapture view even though it is extremely tenuous and fails to stand up to rigorous methodology. Following much research, I rejected the pretrib rapture view and concluded that the prewrath view solves the false eschatology of the pretrib camp.*
Like Rosebrough, I have come out of a Charismatic/Pentecostal background, and like him, I have reacted strongly against their false teachings, their incessant false prophecies, and what can only be described as their rank foolishness. I have been careful not to exchange one false teaching for another, even though this has resulted in isolation at times. I find it difficult to understand why someone of Rosebrough's caliber and problematic background in charismatic circles would launch into Lutherism with its semi-Roman Catholic theology, including baptismal regeneration, consubstantiation, amillennial eschatology, and over-emphasized liturgy etc.
