Part I: Section A

Introduction

We will now examine the potential fulfilment of prophecy in the period that lies ahead of us concerning, most importantly, the Advent or Return of the Messiah and the arrival of the Witnesses.

We have looked at the time-frame to the next Jubilee year in 2027, the 120^th Jubilee since the closure of Eden and the beginning of the 120 Jubilees or 6000-year rule and judgment of Satan and the Host. We will examine the sequence of the 21 years that lead up to the Jubilee in 2027. We will also publish papers that deal with the actual conflict over the period until the return of the Messiah and the way that Messiah will deal with the planet. There are at least two ways of looking at the problem posed by the application of God’s Calendar to the time ahead.

God does things in sequence and in order according to His Calendar and His Plan and timetable. The Calendar is in fact a reflection of the Plan. Let us go back to the beginning. Adam was created in 4004 BCE and lived for 130 years and had Seth. Seth lived 105 years and had Enosh. Enosh lived 90 years and had Kenan. Kenan lived 70 years and had Mahalael. Mahalael lived 65 years and had Jared. Jared lived 162 years and had Enoch. Enoch lived 65 years and had Methuselah. Methuselah was born in the Seventh year of the 14^th Jubilee cycle. Enoch lived a further 300 years “and he was not” for God took him. He did not die but rather God removed him as he also removed Elijah.

Adam died in the Jubilee year of 3074 BCE, 18 Jubilees after the closure of Eden, which happened 900 years previously, in 3974/3 BCE. Enoch was born in 3382 BCE, which was the 622^nd year of Adam’s life, on the first year of the second Sabbath cycle of the 12^th Jubilee. Adam was obviously alive when Enoch was born and lived for another 308 years. 365 years later God took Enoch for another purpose.

Adam was 687 when Methuselah was born in 3317 BCE. He was 874 when Lamech was born in 3130 BCE. He lived for 56 years more and died. Noah was born in 2948 BCE and was 600 years old at the time of the Flood.

Enoch was taken in the year 3017 BCE, which was the first Sabbath year of the cycle of the new Jubilee, which was the 20^th Jubilee cycle since the closure of Eden in the Jubilee year of the old Eden system under the rule of God. The first year of the first Jubilee under Satan began in the Sacred Year 3973/2 BCE, after the closure of Eden in the year 3974/3 BCE. Thus the first Jubilee year of Satan’s rule was 3924/3 BCE. Adam was 30 years old when Eden was closed (probably from Atonement 3974 BCE). The six thousand years of Satan’s rule is complete 120 Jubilees later in 2027.

Seth was born in the second Jubilee year of Satan’s Rule in 3874/3 BCE. The lineage was recommenced uncorrupted after two Jubilees. Enosh, son of Seth, was born in the fifth year of the fifth Jubilee of Satan’s rule, which was the sequence of grace. God showed His direction and the identification of the line that would lead to Noah and then to Messiah.

Enoch was taken as the first of the righteous men to judge the Earth (see the paper The Witnesses (including the Two Witnesses) (No. 135)). Methuselah was 300 years old when God took His father Enoch in the Sabbath Year of 3017. Methuselah lived a further 669 years and the year he died God sent the Flood. That was in 2348 BCE. The world was not destroyed in his lifetime for the righteousness of Enoch his father. The Flood occurred in the 26^th year of the 33^rd Jubilee cycle of the Rule of Satan. The Exodus was to occur exactly 18 Jubilees later in the 26^th year of the 51^st Jubilee in 1448/7 BCE. These time sequences are not accidental.

Enoch was taken six Jubilees or 300 years after the birth of Methuselah. Noah lived for 600 years or twelve Jubilees and the Flood occurred on the death of Methuselah.

From the birth of Noah it was twelve Jubilee equivalents to the Flood and from the Flood it was 18 Jubilee equivalents or 900 years to the Exodus. From the Exodus it was ten Jubilee equivalents or 500 years to the completion of the Temple at Jerusalem and the houses of administration (see the paper Rule of the Kings Part III: Solomon and the Key of David (No. 282C)).

From the beginning of the Rule of Satan in 3973 BCE to the Exodus was seven times plus the five years of grace; in other words it was 2525 (2520 or seven times, plus 5) years to the year that God decided to deal with Egypt and the Rule of Satan (see also Moses and the Gods of Egypt (No. 105)). The seven times of the Host ended in the Sabbath year that was the 21^st year of the 51^st cycle. Like all of the creation we are given our times to be dealt with in accordance with God’s Plan and according to His mercy. Satan and the Host were also given their times. The Egyptian system was dealt with over the period of the plagues, which ended with the Exodus in the Fifth year of the fourth cycle. However, Satan was not judged until the Jubilee year of the 80^th Jubilee in 27 CE when he was confronted with Messiah. Messiah had confronted him at the Exodus but for Satan’s final judgment Christ came as a man.

Satan was given a double set of forty Jubilees to implement his rule. God had selected Abraham in the 40^th Jubilee and set him aside. Abraham was the first elohim as replacement Covering Cherub for Satan. Moses was the second elohim to be set aside, eleven Jubilees later. He replaces the Aeon of the Lion-headed system at the Resurrection. These are the only two people referred to in the Bible as elohim until the elect are mentioned (in Zechariah 12:8 and the Psalms) as becoming elohim as the Angel of the Lord at their head. The Angel of the Lord at their head refers to the head of the Church and the head of Israel, his inheritance. That Being was the Rock that was with them in the wilderness and who gave the Law to Moses at Sinai; and that Being is Christ (1Cor. 10:1-4). He is the senior Elohim of the Host under God, although Israel also means he shall rule as God (see also The Elect as Elohim (No. 001)). The demons are not judged until we succeed them and they are placed in the Second Resurrection and judged against what we have done over our lives, and what we do in the millennial system in the thousand years between 2028 and 3027.

The world was given forty Jubilees also and the Church was placed in the Wilderness for that period until the nations are judged and brought into subjugation by the 120^th Jubilee in 2027 CE.

The Babylonian or world system was also given 2520 years or “seven times.” The period finished at the end of the eighty-year sequence, from 1916, in 1996. The “times” of the nations ended then (see the paper The Fall of Egypt: The Prophecy of Pharaoh’s Broken Arms (No. 036)). The last system under Satan will emerge and be destroyed between then and 2027, which completes the thirty years of the Time of the End. The last twenty-one years of that time completes the sanctification process and the subjugation of the nations (see the paper Sanctification of the Nations (No. 077)).

The Sun System in other nations

The Sun system actually dates itself from before the Flood. The Mayan Sun system begins the Long Count in its calendar from what is generally argued to be 11 August 3114 BCE. Protagonists differ over what is officially the end of the Sun system according to the Mayans but agree on the year, namely ca. 2012, between the solstice on 21 December 2011 and 21 December 2012. One student of the Mayan system argues that it actually ends on October 28, 2011 (C.J. Calleman, Mayan Calendar, Why Creation Cycles do not end December 21, 2012 but October 28, 2011).

In other words, the Mayans understood the sequence of the Sun system to be in place exactly forty years before the death of Adam. Remember, the Sun system was taken over into Babylon and carried over from the Flood; and so Satan’s system started again. The Mayans base their calendar of the Long Count on the solar zenith in Izapa in Southern Mexico where the Long Count was first devised. The end date of the Long Count logically falls on 21 December 2012, which is the solstice. It is the end result of the date chosen by Izapans for the beginning of the creation cycle (ibid.). The date of 21 December 2012 is 4 Ahau in the tzolkin count and Calleman argues that that cannot be correct, as the end date must fall on a date that is 13 Ahau in the tzolkin count. It is for that reason that Calleman, for example, argues that 28 October 2011 is the correct end date based on the Palenque inscriptions, which were ca. 1000 years after the Izapan writings (ibid.). For the layman, the Mayan system is based on 13 cycles from 3114 BCE and ending in 2012 traditionally at the solstice (or 3115-2011 in October for those that support the views of Calleman).

We might argue that the Sun system begins forty years before the death of Adam and ends at the destruction of its system under the creation cycle of this age. The thirteen sequences should be obvious to a Bible student as the number of rebellion under the Fallen Host.

The solstice is the mark of the “invincible sun god” and the sequence of human sacrifice culminating in the so-called Christmas Festival (see the paper The Origins of Christmas and Easter (No. 235)).

However, whilst Satan uses his calendar and the days of human sacrifice within them to mark events in his years, God does not do that and uses the Sacred Calendar to implement His system.

The Return of God’s system

As Enoch was taken in the Sabbath year so too might we expect him, and Elijah, to return in the Sabbath year.

Why was 2012 advanced by the demons? The year is a Sabbath year in the Sacred Calendar and the 35^th year of the 120^th Jubilee. When viewed against the Sacred yearly Calendar we see the 21 days of both the First and Seventh months as pivotal and reflecting the story of the activities of Messiah as both spirit Being and as the Son of God. There is no doubt that Christ told us that unless he returns to save those who eagerly await him there would be no flesh saved alive. The end is a disaster in any language. He has to be back to stop the demons before the Treble Harvest of the Jubilee in 2025 to accord with the six thousand year plan as understood by the church, or we misunderstand the plan.

Matthew, chapter 24:1-51 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. ²But he answered them, "You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down." ³As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?"⁴And Jesus answered them, "Take heed that no one leads you astray. ⁵For many will come in my name, saying, `I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray.⁶And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet.⁷For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: ⁸all this is but the beginning of the birth-pangs. ⁹"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death; and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. ¹⁰And then many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another. ¹¹And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. ¹²And because wickedness is multiplied, most men's love will grow cold. ¹³But he who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come. ¹⁵"So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), ¹⁶then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; ¹⁷let him who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house; ¹⁸and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his mantle. ¹⁹And alas for those who are with child and for those who give suck in those days! ²⁰Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. ²²And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. ²³Then if any one says to you, `Lo, here is the Christ!' or `There he is!' do not believe it. ²⁴For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵Lo, I have told you beforehand. ²⁶So, if they say to you, `Lo, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out; if they say, `Lo, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. ²⁷For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of man. ²⁸Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together. ²⁹"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; ³⁰ then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; ³¹and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. ³²"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.³³So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. ³⁴Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these things take place. ³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. ³⁶"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. ³⁷As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man. ³⁸For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man. ⁴⁰Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left. ⁴²Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect. ⁴⁵"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?⁴⁶Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. ⁴⁷Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁸But if that wicked servant says to himself, `My master is delayed,' ⁴⁹and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken,⁵⁰the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, ⁵¹and will punish him, and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.

Note that the end generation will not pass away until all these things are accomplished. A generation is 40 years. The worst time of the flight in this sequence is in the northern winter and on a Sabbath. Thus we might expect the greatest of the disasters to occur on the period of human sacrifice, perhaps when the solstice occurs on a Sabbath. Certainly the worst of the disaster and destruction occurs in winter on a Sabbath. 21 December 2012 is a Friday. The Sabbath begins that evening. The winter solstice in 2013 was on a Sabbath. The solstice in 2011 is on a Wednesday. The next solstice after that on a Sabbath is 2019, then 2025. The winter solstice in 2007 was on a Friday and 2008 is on a Sunday. These variations will emerge as we progress. At any rate, it will certainly not be pleasant after the event. Our flight will be possible beforehand.

Satan’s time has to be cut short. His full period was the six working days of the creation of this age. One might argue that was from the creation of Adam and thus ended in 1997. However, there were thirty years at the beginning where Adam was under the protection of the Host in Eden and Adam could not be brought into judgment until he had thirty years on Earth, which was at the Jubilee of 3974 BCE. Christ could not begin to teach until he was over thirty and eligible to teach as an elder (see the paper Christ’s Age at Baptism and the Duration of His Ministry (No. 019)). Satan was able to interfere with the Garden over the thirty years before his full period of rule and thus there is a period also at the end where the thirty years mark the transition back to the conditions of Eden in the Millennium. This is represented by the period called the Mourning for Moses of Israel in the Wilderness before they entered the Promised Land (see The Last Thirty Years: the Final Struggle (No. 219)).

Satan is also given back a period at the end of the millennial system to deal with the Earth again and expose the self-righteousness and the weakness of the human condition in the rebellion of the end. Thus the Messiah will arrive before 2027. The question is by how much will he cut the period short? See the paper Cutting the Time Short (No. 210C).

Hence also we can expect to see the drama of the Last Days play out over the last thirty years. The Sabbath years see the Reading of the Law taken on and the procedure of the Restoration covers the 1260 days of the Witnesses and the Advent of the Messiah and the subjugation of the nations. These times and procedures are given as Scripture and Scripture cannot be broken (cf. Jn.10:34-35).

Let us examine now the alternatives for the final phase of the end of this age.

If Enoch and Elijah arrive three and a half years before the latest possible date in 2024, and are indeed the Witnesses, it will be 5028 years since Enoch was taken (see the paper The Witnesses (including the Two Witnesses) (No. 135)). Elijah was taken by chariot into the future at about half that interval. Scripture is clear that Elijah will be sent to us before the great and terrible day of the Lord (cf. Mal. 4:1-6).

"For behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. ²But for you who fear my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go forth leaping like calves from the stall. ³And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts. ⁴"Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. ⁵"Behold, I will send you Eli'jah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.⁶And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse."

Thus the Scriptures ended with the promise of Elijah. John the Baptist came in the Spirit of Elijah but so also shall Elijah come in the Last Days, as Christ stated in Matthew 17:10-13 (cf. Mk. 9:11-13).

¹⁰And the disciples asked him, "Then why do the scribes say that first Eli'jah must come?" ¹¹He replied, "Eli'jah does come, and he is to restore all things; ¹²but I tell you that Eli'jah has already come, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of man will suffer at their hands." ¹³Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

Thus Elijah takes part in the Restoration and restores “all things”. The final thing to be restored is the nexus of the Law. The Witnesses restore the nexus of the Law by tying the rainfall on the planet to the Law of God and withholding the rains for 1260 days of the prophecy. The plagues of Egypt are also tied to the nexus and irrigation will not save anyone that does not keep the Laws of God. That period is before Christ comes to save the elect.

There are two ways of viewing the Last Days. The period of the build up to Abib is fourteen days from the New Year on the New Moon, firstly to the Seventh of Abib, which is the Sanctification of the Simple and the Erroneous, and on to the Passover which commences with the Lord’s Supper on the evening of 14 Abib and the Passover meal on the evening of 15 Abib. The Lamb was set aside on 10 Abib as we saw happen with Christ for the Passover in 30 CE. Passover saw mankind redeemed from sin. The Feast of Unleavened Bread represents the removal of sin from the elect of Israel. The Wave Sheaf Offering, from the first day of the week (Sunday) within the Feast of Unleavened Bread, commences the Omer Count to Pentecost (counting fifty), which is the Feast of Weeks fifty days later on the first day of the week following the seventh complete Sabbath. The Feast of Weeks represents the harvest of the elect, which is symbolised as the wheat harvest, whereas Christ was the Wave Sheaf of the barley harvest, which occurs at Passover.

The First Day of the Seventh month is the Day of Trumpets, which is traditionally viewed as the coming of the Trumpet of the Archangel and within the Churches of God represents the return of the Messiah.

The Day of Atonement represents the reconciliation of Israel and the Earth to God under Messiah.

The Feast of Tabernacles represents the millennial rule of Messiah.

We might thus argue that as Tabernacles represents the Millennium then there are only fifteen days between the coming of the Messiah and the Millennium. Thus if the Millennium is in 2027 then Messiah should be here three years previous to that, or by 2024, to subjugate the nations by the Treble Harvest of 2025.

For this to happen the Witnesses, who must be here 1263.5 days beforehand, must take up their position by Abib three and a half years beforehand. As the Day of Trumpets represents the call of the Archangel it may be that the Witnesses could be included in this sequence and arrive as late as 1 Tishri, the New Moon of the Seventh Month.

The other aspect of the Passover sequence is that Christ appeared to Joshua son of Nun as the Captain of the Host on the day following the Sanctification of Israel by their circumcision at Gilgal and issued orders for the nation to encircle Jericho over the seven days of Unleavened Bread. After seven days the trumpets blew seven times, once on each encirclement, and on the Last Holy Day of Unleavened Bread the walls of Jericho fell down and the city was destroyed. This event was to look forward to the coming of the Messiah in the subjugation of the enemies of the chosen of Israel, which also includes the Gentiles as salvation is of the Gentiles (see the paper The Fall of Jericho (No. 142)).

Thus on this view, the Witnesses and then Christ would be with Israel a minimum of seven years before the subjugation of the nations. That makes the latest date 2020 (from 2027). However, the Jubilee has to be prepared two years in advance for the Treble Harvest in 2025. Thus the nations must have commenced to be subdued in the wars of the Fifth and Sixth Trumpets. It may commence in 2018, or by the latest 2019, which is the Sabbath Year for the Reading of the Law and we might expect the system to be organised for the reading in that year under the Witnesses, preparing for Messiah. The Witnesses would be dead by the Advent. The Witnesses ideally should read the Law with the elect in that year but may simply reinforce the Laws by prophecy and punishment after they do arrive.

The Atonement symbolism does not fit within that cycle and precedes the seven-year period. It is symbolised as the arrival of the king on 10 Abib. We discussed earlier that only some aspects of this prophecy were fulfilled in 30 CE (see the paper Commentary on Zechariah (No. 021K)).

The feasts in Abib thus do not include the millennial system but precede it, whereas those in Tishri start with the arrival, and only fifteen days symbolise the fifteen years prior to the Millennium. Thus Abib symbolises the 21 years prior to the Millennium whereas Tishri does not.

The 21 years prior to the Millennium starts on 2006 with the beginning of the sanctification period on a year-for-a-day basis.

We have identified 2012 as the equivalent of the period of the Sanctification of the Simple and the Erroneous (No. 291) in the 21 years to 2027.

The Feast of Weeks or Pentecost might also be argued to be the marker of the First Resurrection at the coming of the Messiah. This sequence cannot, however, be on a year-for-a-day basis at the Last Days apart from representing the last Jubilee from the Jubilee in 1977 to the Jubilee in 2027. The period represented the taking out and Measuring of the Temple (see the paper Measuring the Temple (No. 137)). The period of the Last Generation commenced from 1987 with the Measuring of the Temple. We will see the entire sequence end with the millennial system being set in place. The previous twenty years from 1967 saw the challenges to both the Church as the Israel of God and to Israel the nation.

It might be argued that the Witnesses take up their positions 1263.5 days prior to Pentecost and the Messiah comes at Trumpets, five months later, in 2015. However, that would mean that the Witnesses would be resurrected prior to the coming of the Messiah or distinct from the elect of the First Resurrection. This sequence does not appear to fit with Bible prophecy.

A scenario that might work in that regard is if the Witnesses appear 1263.5 days prior to the Messiah in Abib and he in Tishri.

The temptation in dealing with the 1260 days of the Witnesses is to assume that they are part of the 1290 days from the taking away of the daily sacrifice to the setting up of the Abomination of Desolation as spoken of by the prophet Daniel (Dan. 9:27). The assumption then is that a resurrection at Pentecost is 45 days from the end of the 30 days, following on from the 1260 days. The problem this entails is that the arrival of the Witnesses and the Advent of the Messiah are completely thrown out of synchronisation with God’s Calendar. For example, Christ might arrive on 1 Abib but there are only 21 days left to the last Holy Day of Unleavened Bread and that can then only take place on a Friday to allow 45 days to Pentecost for the Resurrection. Daniel 12:11ff. must therefore place the sequence of the activities of the end there distinct from the activities of the Witnesses and located at the setting up of the Abomination of Desolation.

The taking away of the daily sacrifice to the setting up of the Abomination of Desolation is 1290 days. This is quite distinct from the Witnesses and their resurrection although the periods will no doubt overlap.

The logical scenario is that the daily sacrifice is eliminated by the removal of the Church as an effective force at the end. The Temple and the physical sacrifice were done away with from 66 to 70 CE as explained in the paper War with Rome and the Fall of the Temple (No. 298). That was 1936 years ago. The argument is thus advanced that the Temple has to be rebuilt and the sacrifice resumed for it to be done away. That is not the case, as the Body of the Church has constituted the daily sacrifice also since 30 CE and alone since 70 CE.

Thus for the two to be linked and that to be the answer the Church has to be overcome some seven and a half days before the arrival of the Witnesses, who preach for 1260 days and lie dead for three and a half days, ending the sequence on 1 Abib. Messiah would thus arrive on 1 Abib with the last Holy Day of the Feast on a Friday, some 45 days before Pentecost. The Witnesses would rise but precede the general Resurrection of the elect by 67 days, which is not only not as tidy as it might be, it does not fit exactly.

There does not need to be a link between the removal of the daily sacrifice and the arrival of the Witnesses. There can thus be a correlation between the death of the Witnesses and the setting up of the abomination at the end sequence at 1290 days; but they may well all overlap and, indeed, the Witnesses can go on after the setting up of the abomination for up to 27 days to make the Resurrection be one single event.

In the first instance, the abomination that makes desolate set up in the Temple in 66-70 CE were the standards of the Roman legions that were sacrificed to at the destruction of Jerusalem. The final system is likely to be the emblems of power that epitomise the system of the Antichrist that emerges from the wars of the Last Days. The Nazi swastika was such an emblem in the Holocaust. It may well be a revival of that system with a modified emblem. Christ kills the leader at his coming and so his arrival is coincidental with the end of the 1335 days and not at its setting up.

Another important connection with the Witnesses and the time-frame is the construction of the first Mosque called the Dome of the Rock on the site of the Temple Mount.

Jerusalem and the Temple Mount play no part in the structure of the Qur’an and the life of the Prophet. It is related only through the Scriptures that form the basis of Islam through the Bible.

The details of the conquest of Jerusalem and its place in Islam are examined in the paper The Oracles of God (No. 184).

“Islam under the Caliph Abu-Bakr (632-634) invaded Syria. Abu-’Ubaidah had command of the army. He was an Ashab, one of the original band who accompanied the Prophet from Becca to Medina in 622. They took Bosra and then defeated Heraclius at Ajnadain near Emesa in July 633. In 634 they took Damascus and defeated the Roman Army again at Yarmuk and took Emesa in 636. Caliph Omar (634-644) was consulted as to whether they should march on Jerusalem or Caesarea. On ’Ali’s advice they marched on Jerusalem. It was attacked by an advance guard of 5,000 under Mo’awiyah Ibn-Abu-Sufyan and then besieged by the entire army under Abu-’Ubaidah. Jerusalem was defended by a large force of refugees from all over Syria and the veterans of Yarmuk. The city was assaulted every day for four months. The patriarch Sophronius finally asked for peace with the commander Abu-’Ubaidah. They were allowed to capitulate on fair and honourable terms. The Christians were allowed to keep their churches and no one had to accept Islam. The terms were ratified by the Caliph Omar, then at Medina. The Caliph Omar came to the wall on a single camel, signed the capitulation, entered the city and spoke courteously with Sophronius about the antiquities there (Cath. Encyc., ibid., p. 360).

Omar refused to say prayers in the Anastasis in case that became a future excuse for Islam to break the treaty. The Temple Mount at this time was bare and later became a rubbish heap. There were no buildings on the Mount other than the Anastasis. The Mosque of Omar was built on the place to which he retired for prayer. Under the Moslems, the Christians of Jerusalem were given the usual tolerance shown to non-Moslem Theists. Islam did not make Jerusalem the new centre of Palestine. This was at Lydda until 716; then at Ar-Ramal (Ramleh). Jerusalem is however the third most holy place after Becca and Medina (see Qu’ran Surah 17).” Although some argue this text refers to Medina.

In the reign of the Caliph ’Abd-al-malik (684-705), the fifth Ummayid Caliph at Damascus, the Iraqis revolted and seized possession of the Hijaz. In order that the people had a substitute for the Haraman of Becca and Medina, which they were prevented from visiting, he then began to adorn the place of the Temple with a mosque. Omar had visited the Mount and found it filled with refuse (ibid.). In his time he had erected a simple square building for Islam and ’Abd-al-malik then in 691 erected, with Byzantine architects, the Dome of the Rock which still stands in the Temple Mount.

The original building was not built on the Mount until well after 636 and the Dome of the Rock was not built until 691. From 636 the Temple Mount was used as a rubbish heap by so-called Christians. The Dome of the Rock (falsely called the Mosque of Omar) is understood to stand on the place of the altar of holocausts of the old Temple.

The application of the prophecy in Daniel 12 to this period yields uncertain figures and the abomination that makes desolate could not be applied to Islam at this site from these dates. It was, of course, some 1290 years – if the sack by the Babylonians in 598 BCE is taken into account – ending in 691 CE.

The dates in question, if taken from 637 CE and then 1290 years are added to it, produce the year 1927 and not 1917. If we add the forty-five year period we arrive at 1972. That date is related to no significant event and there is certainly no peace in Jerusalem.

In 715 the Ummayid dynasty built the large and impressive al-aqsa, or Al-Aqsa Mosque, named from a passage of the Qur'an (17:1) describing the Prophet’s Night Journey to heaven (isra'). With this naming they retroactively gave Jerusalem a role in the Prophet’s life, which was entirely fictional since the Prophet never visited Jerusalem and died in 632, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque was not built until 715, eighty-three years after his death.

The dates taken from this timing end the 1260 years in 1975, which resulted in a flush of false prophecy from a number of Churches (see the paper False Prophecy (No. 269)).

However, if we take the sequence and add 30 years we come to the Sabbath year 2005, and then a further 45 years takes us to 2050, which is further on again into the Millennium.

The Dome of the Rock is based on the ancient design of a pagan phallus. If we take the date of its completion at 691 and add 1260 years we come to 1951, which is the period from the commencement of the wars in 1948 and the establishment of the State of Israel and the expulsion of many Palestinians to Lebanon over that period. The addition of 30 years brings us to 1981.

If we again examine the 1975 question, we will see from the examination below regarding the Palestine Question that: The General Assembly reaffirmed, in 1974, the rights of the Palestinian people to return to their land and to self-determination, national independence and sovereignty. In 1975, the following year, the General Assembly established the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and conferred observer status on the PLO in the Assembly and international conferences held under UN control.

The conflict continued to escalate and in June 1982, Israel declared its intent to eliminate the PLO and invaded Lebanon. The conflict was brought to a halt by an arranged cease-fire.

Thus 1981 saw the increase in hostilities to war with Lebanon and the PLO in June 1982.

If we again add 45 years to 1981 we arrive at 2026. Ten years earlier is the year we would expect to see the Witnesses to have completed their tasks and the Messiah in Jerusalem. If we take the time from the beginning of the construction in 690 we arrive at 2015, which did not see a conclusion and so must be discarded.

A further ten years, making 45 years, is 2025 to 2026, which is the treble harvest and the Sabbath Year for the declaration of the Jubilee Year for 2027.

Part I: Section B

Battle of the Granicus River and the 2300 Evenings and Mornings

The prophet Daniel speaks of the Kings of the Medes and Persians and the King of Grecia and uses it to relate to 2300 evenings and mornings. This prophecy is of a dual nature and relates to the ascendancy of the Greeks and from that ascendancy he links it to the activities of Israel.

It was of importance to Israel as the death of Ezra was coincidental with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE and the closure of the Canon of Scripture from that time. There was no prophecy after the death of Ezra and the compilation ca. 321 BCE. The Canon was closed until the First Advent of the Messiah. It was then added to by the record of the works of Messiah, John the Baptist and the letters of the Apostles.

Daniel was given a vision of the Time of the End that was only explained to him in part. The dating was from the conflict of the Medes and Persians. These were the two horns of the Ram, and one was later than the other and the higher one was the later one. Darius the Mede was the king mentioned in Daniel and he was subordinate to the more powerful Persians. The Greeks defeated them in turn, and the Greeks were similarly replaced by the Roman system. All of this activity is played out under a strict timetable culminating in the Last Days.

Daniel Chapter 8

In the third year of the reign of King Belshaz'zar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first. ²And I saw in the vision; and when I saw, I was in Susa the capital, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was at the river U'lai. ³I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram standing on the bank of the river. It had two horns; and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. ⁴I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward; no beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue from his power; he did as he pleased and magnified himself.

Elam is Persia, the nation of the sons of Elam. They are Semitic. They are modern Iran. The Medes are sons of Madai, son of Japheth, and were allies of the Persians and constitute a significant section of the modern-day Kurds. The Kurds, however, also have a significant section of Semitic Haplogroup J2 as do the other surrounding tribes in the northern Levant. Haplogroup J2 is present mostly in Europe, but is found especially in the northern Levant (Kurdistan, Armenia), Anatolia: Muslim Kurds (28.4%), Central Turks (27.9%), Georgians (26.7%), Iraqis (25.2%), Lebanese (25%), Ashkenazi Jews (23.2%) and Sephardi Jews (28.6%) (cf. Wikipedia art. ‘Haplogroup J’).

The Persians had issued a proclamation and assisted the construction of the second Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple was ordered to be completed and was finished in the reign of Darius II, Darius the Persian, in 423 BCE. In the year 334 BCE Alexander, king of the Macedonians, entered Persia and made war on the Medes and Persians ruled by Darius III.

⁵As I was considering, behold, a he-goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. ⁶He came to the ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing on the bank of the river, and he ran at him in his mighty wrath. ⁷I saw him come close to the ram, and he was enraged against him and struck the ram and broke his two horns; and the ram had no power to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled upon him; and there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power. ⁸Then the he-goat magnified himself exceedingly; but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.

The story of Alexander is well known. He died in 323 BCE and was succeeded by his four generals who divided the empire among themselves. From that division emerged what later became the Roman Empire.

⁹Out of one of them came forth a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land. ¹⁰It grew great, even to the host of heaven; and some of the host of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled upon them.

The Greeks under Alexander occupied and destroyed Tyre but they did not destroy Jerusalem because the prophecy of Daniel was shown to Alexander and he was content to sacrifice there. The Romans occupied Judah and were instrumental in the death of Christ; for Christ is the Prince of the Host. The continual burnt offering was taken away and the Temple destroyed in 70 CE. That prophecy is covered in Daniel chapter 9 and is explained in the paper The Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 013).

¹¹It magnified itself, even up to the Prince of the host; and the continual burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. ¹²And the host was given over to it together with the continual burnt offering through transgression; and truth was cast down to the ground, and the horn acted and prospered.

The horn was to create an empire, and then it was to be cast down and a religious system was to take its place as an image to the system of the empire of iron in Daniel chapter 2.

¹³Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to the one that spoke, "For how long is the vision concerning the continual burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled under foot?" ¹⁴And he said to him, "For two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state."

The restoration to its rightful state is a very interesting comment and concerns Jerusalem. Jerusalem was given over to the Romans and was trodden under foot for centuries. Jerusalem was rightfully the capital of Israel after its conquest by David and his entry ca. 1005 BCE. It became part of Judea as the Holy Mountain of Zion.

Daniel did not understand the vision and asked for it to be explained. The Angel Gabriel was told by the Archangel Michael to explain the vision.

¹⁵When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it; and behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. ¹⁶And I heard a man's voice between the banks of the U'lai, and it called, "Gabriel, make this man understand the vision." ¹⁷So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was frightened and fell upon my face. But he said to me, "Understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end."

The vision was thus for the Time of the End, but there was a direct relationship between the activities in the prophecy and the Time of the End.

¹⁸As he was speaking to me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me and set me on my feet. ¹⁹He said, "Behold, I will make known to you what shall be at the latter end of the indignation; for it pertains to the appointed time of the end. ²⁰As for the ram which you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia. ²¹And the he-goat is the king of Greece; and the great horn between his eyes is the first king. ²²As for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his nation, but not with his power. ²³And at the latter end of their rule, when the transgressors have reached their full measure, a king of bold countenance, one who understands riddles, shall arise. ²⁴His power shall be great, and he shall cause fearful destruction, and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people of the saints. ²⁵By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall magnify himself. Without warning he shall destroy many; and he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes; but, by no human hand, he shall be broken. ²⁶The vision of the evenings and the mornings which has been told is true; but seal up the vision, for it pertains to many days hence."²⁷And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days; then I rose and went about the king's business; but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it.

The explanation of the vision is this.

We know from the text that it relates to the Medes and the Persians and their successors, the Macedonians and Greeks. Their kingdom under Alexander became great and on his death it was divided into four among his generals.

Alexander died in 323 BCE. He left no heir to the throne. This power vacuum led to intense struggle among his generals for control the empire. His wife Roxana, princess of Bactria, gave birth to a son shortly after his death. The child was the rightful heir to the throne. However, Cassander, one of the generals, killed both Roxana and her baby.

The struggle for power among the generals continued until 315 BCE, when the parties headed by the top four generals decided to divide the kingdom four ways. Daniel prophesied this division in Daniel 8:21-22. These four generals were known as the Diadochoi, meaning Successors in Greek.

The generals and their areas of rule were:

Ptolemy Lagi ruled over Egypt, Palestine, Arabia, and Peterea. He was assisted by the general Seleucus. General Seleucus had originally been given Babylon, but was forced out by Antigonus.

Antigonus ruled Syria, Babylonia, and central Asia.

Cassander ruled over Macedonia and Greece.

Lysimachus ruled Thrace and Bythinia.

Continuing conflict among the Diadochoi saw Antigonus, the worst of the generals, subjugated by an alliance of the others in 312 BCE. His family fled to Macedonia where they set up a small kingdom. The explanation of the conflicts and the significance of those conflicts from the Battle of the Granicus up to the Battle of Ipsus are explained in the section below on Daniel chapter 8 where more details are given with their relationship to prophecy concerning the Last Days.

The subsequent divisions were reduced to two based on Egypt under the Ptolemies and Asia under the Seleucids. The Romans later defeated the Seleucids and the empire that grew from that system was Roman. The religious system they created was based on deceit, and truth was cast to the ground. They have destroyed many mighty men and the people of the saints have been killed by them for almost two thousand years. They became magnified in their own minds and declared themselves to be gods both as emperors and as religious leaders or popes.

“Without warning he shall destroy many and shall rise up against the prince of princes.” That tells us that this system will survive until the Last Days and it will destroy many and shall rise against the Messiah as Prince of princes when he comes to save the elect.

Time of the Vision

The vision dates from the Battle of the Granicus in May 334 BCE.

The Persians were under control of Darius III named Codomannus (ca. 380-330 BCE). He was the last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia.

Wikipedia notes that the ambitious chiliarch Bagoas murdered King Artaxerxes III of Persia in 338 BCE and then murdered his son Arses in 336 BCE. Bagoas installed Codomannus thinking he would be easy to control. Codomannus was a distant relative of the royal house who had distinguished himself in a combat of champions in a war against the Cadusii and was serving at the time as a royal courier. Codomannus was the son of Arsames son of Ostanes, one of Artaxerxes's brothers and Sisygambis, daughter of Artaxerxes II Memnon.

Bagoas tried to poison Darius when he proved hard to control. Darius was warned and forced Bagoas to drink the poison himself. The Persian Empire had become unstable. Large portions were governed by jealous and unreliable satraps and inhabited by disaffected and rebellious subjects.

In 336 BCE, Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander, was authorised by the League of Corinth as its Hegemon to initiate a sacred war of vengeance against the Persians for desecrating and burning the Athenian temples during the Second Persian War. He sent an advance force into Asia Minor under the command of his generals Parmenion and Attalus to "liberate" the Greeks living under Persian control. They took the Greek cities of Asia from Troy to the Maiandros River. Philip was then assassinated. The campaign was suspended on his assassination while Alexander as his heir consolidated his control of Macedonia and the rest of Greece.

In the spring of 334 BCE Alexander, who was 20 at the time, after being confirmed as Hegemon by the League of Corinth in his father’s place, invaded Asia Minor at the head of a combined Macedonian and Greek army. He immediately confronted the Persian Army with 8000 Greek mercenaries at the Granicus River in May 334 BCE near the site of what was ancient Troy.

The battle took place on the road from Abydos to Dascylium (near modern day Ergili, Turkey), at the crossing of the Granicus River (modern day Biga Cay).

The details are listed in the Wikipedia site at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Granicus

“He crossed the Hellespont from Sestos to Abydos, and advanced up the road to Dascylium, which is the capital of the Satrapy of Phrygia. The various satraps of the Persian Empire united and offered battle on the banks of the Granicus River. A Greek mercenary, Memnon of Rhodes suggested a scorched-earth policy of burning the grain and supplies and retreating in front of Alexander, but his suggestion was rejected” (ibid.).

Accounts of the battle don’t make a lot of sense to soldiers as the Persian army positions are odd and seem to be the result of a previous encounter that may have been covered up by Alexander to disguise a serious error in his generalship. He almost died in this battle. His leadership was in serious question. The Macedonians won a hard-fought battle, fought against a mixed force of Persians and 8000 Greek mercenaries. They suffered remarkably few casualties if the accounts are correct.

The forces are listed by Wikipedia as follows:

Macedonians and their Greek Allies, led by Alexander, with about 5,000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry, against:

Persians under a "committee" of satraps with some 10,000 Persian infantry (peltasts), 8,000 Greek mercenaries and 15,000 Persian cavalry.

The numbers involved vary according to different accounts, with the Macedonians numbering anywhere between 30,000 to 35,000 and the Persians numbering between 25,000 and 32,000.

The magnificent training of the Macedonian Phalanx was largely responsible for the victory. They were able to win under indifferent leadership.

Subsequent battles with the Persians

In 333 BCE Darius himself took the field against Alexander. The much larger Persian army was outflanked and defeated at the Battle of Issus and Darius was forced to flee. Alexander captured the baggage including Darius’ chariot, camp, and family. In 331 BCE, Darius' sister-wife Statira, died in chilbirth whilst in captivity. In September of that year Darius tried to negotiate with Alexander who rejected his overtures and defeated him at the Battle of Gaugamela. Darius’ chariot driver was killed and Darius was knocked off his feet. The Persian force, thinking him killed, was routed. Darius subsequently fled to Ecbatana to attempt to raise a third army. Meanwhile Alexander took possession of Babylon, Susa and the Persian capital of Persepolis.

Darius was deposed by his satrap Bessus and assassinated on Bessus’ order in July 330 BCE to slow Alexander’s advance. Bessus assumed the throne as Artaxerxes V. Alexander was slowed, as he gave Darius a magnificent funeral. He later married Darius’ daughter Statira at Opis in 324 BCE. According to Plutarch, Alexander took one of Darius’ catamites, the eunuch Bagoas (see also Wikipedia article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darius_III_of_Persia).

Conclusion

It was in this first battle of the Granicus River in 334 BCE that the He-goat that was Alexander came over the Earth and threw himself at the king of Persia. This battle marks the start point of the prophecy.

It should be obvious that 2300 prophetic days from 334 BCE ends in 1967 (there is no year 0).

In 1967 the Israelis had fought the Seven-Day War and were victorious. The Arab legion was committed in spite of Israeli requests that Hussein of Jordan remain neutral. The Arab legion was defeated and Jordanian-controlled territories on the West Bank of the Jordan were occupied by Israel. That included Jerusalem. Thus after 2300 years, from the first battle of the Greeks on Persian soil, Jerusalem passed back into Jewish hands. The Holy Land had been trodden underfoot for 2300 evenings and mornings from the Ptolemies and the Seleucids to the Romans and on to the Arabs.

However, that sequence merely marks the start point of the Last Days before the coming of the Messiah and leads up to the final conflict where this body of military and political force under religious leadership literally attacks the Prince of the Host, who is Jesus Christ, at his return. It is not by humans that this system is destroyed but by Christ and the Host.

The prophecy concerning its return to its former state did not mean that the Temple would be built after 2300 days but rather it would be returned to Judah at the end of the period. There will also be another specific period of 2300 days and also seven years over the Time of the End that see the prophecies brought to a close and Messiah subjugate the false system. He will then subjugate the nations.

The year 1967 is the beginning of the sixty years before the millennial occupation of the Holy Land under Jesus Christ. It is marked in the Exodus prototype as the thirty days of Mourning for Aaron. It concerns the loss and subjugation of the saints as referred to by Daniel. It was to last thirty years to 1997 when the final thirty years of the end were to commence, represented by the Mourning for Moses which ends in 2027 (see the paper The Last Thirty Years: the Final Struggle (No. 219)).

In this sixty-year period we will see the entire conflict and fulfilment of the prophecies of the Last Days.

Jerusalem and Israel will see war over that time until the subjugation of the nations at the battle of Megiddo as shown in the War of Hamon Gog (No. 294).

When it is over Israel will extend to the Euphrates, and Jordan, Syria and Lebanon will be provinces of the greater nation of Israel under Messiah.

Part I: Section C

The Morning Star and the Mayan Calendar

Earlier we discussed the Mayan calendar briefly. There are some important points to note regarding that system. It was not perfected until after the text in the Dresden Codex, ca. 934 CE.

The YDNA system of the Maya is of the Q derivatives that occurred when the P Haplogroup split into the R and Q sub- groups. In other words, biblically speaking the Amerindians are sons of Japheth and close relatives of the Slavs and Europeans (see the paper Genetic Origin of the Nations (No. 265)). The calendar is thus a post-flood derivation and, given the degree of drift in the calendar of the Dresden Codex, perhaps a not too ancient variation.

It refers back to a system that places its mythological beginnings in the year 3114 BCE, forty years before the death of Adam. It is a complex system that includes the determinations of the Rising of Venus as Morning Star and calculates the time of the current creation age or One Great Year cycle comprised of 13 Baktuns, which approximate to 5125 solar years.

This number of 5125 years is alleged to relate to the Great Cycle that is the progression of the equinoxes. Thus there are alleged to be five ages or aeons of the Great Cycle, each of 13 Baktuns. That is incorrect. The five divisions of 13 Baktuns make 25,625 solar years. The 12 Zodiacal divisions do not equate with the five divisions of the Baktuns of the Maya. There is a significant difference in the totals of the Great Cycle of 295 solar years. The figures are similar and may represent another symbolic relationship deriving from an early source.

The progression of the equinoxes is a gradual backward movement taking 2,160 years to pass through one zodiacal constellation, or 25,920 years to pass through the entire zodiac. There is no sudden and dramatic change. The concept of a ‘Great Year’ in Greek thought can be traced back to Heraclitus but the intent is unclear.

“Plato seems to allude to a ‘Great Year’ as the time it takes for the stars to return to their starting point in the cosmos (Ti. 39d) and appears to give a mathematical value for this (Rep.546b-c).[1][25] This would indicate Plato’s awareness of some sort of celestial pattern over a great period of time and Celsus seems to be aware of two movements of the cosmos” (Simon Mahoney An Interpretation of Mithraic Remains

http://pages.britishlibrary.net/simon.mahony/ma-mith.html)

The entire Mayan system is based on the number of the Heavenly Council of the Host. The base number is 72 or the Hebdomekonta[duo] of Luke 10:1 and 17. It reflects the number of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin is itself a reflection of the Heavenly Council, as we know from the Bible.

In 3114 BCE Adam was alive. The following patriarchs were also alive: Seth (b. 3874, d. 2964); Enos (b. 3769, d. 2864); Kenan (b. 3679, d. 2768); Mahalael (b. 3609, d. 2714); Jared (b. 3544, d. 2582); Enoch (b. 3382, t. 3017); Methusaleh (b. 3317, d. 2348); Lamech (b. 3130, d. 2353). Jared was Enoch’s father. Noah was not born until 2948 BCE. Thus in the year 3114 all the patriarchs were alive and present save for Noah. The fall of the Host was traditionally associated with the rule of Jared and that in his days the Host descended and fornicated with women. His father Mahalael allegedly named him Jared in prophecy. The name Jared (SHD 3382) means descent and refers to the descent of the Host in his days. He was born in 3544 and was 430 years old in 3114 BCE. The descent and interbreeding with the Host occurred over this period of time.

Enoch testified against the Host and was taken by God as a reward for his faithfulness in 3017. The text in 1Enoch attributes prophecy concerning the Flood to Enoch at the birth of Noah, but that is impossible as Enoch was taken 69 years before the birth of Noah (1Enoch 106:12-13; Jubilees 4:15,22). The Book of Jubilees holds that Enoch was taken so that he may bear witness against the misdeeds of the generations at the Day of Judgment. He will offer incense on Mt Qatar, which is the Mountain of the East among the four sacred mountains (Eden, The Mount of the East (Qatar), Sinai and Zion), for the sanctification of the nations for the new creation in the Last Days (cf. Jub. 4:24-26). It may be that 3114 is associated with this event and the confinement of the Host to Tartarus. The time-frame is too spread out to be more definitive. However, the date in 3113 is seventy years before the birth of Noah and that base number (plus two = 72) is associated with the Heavenly Host and the nations that they were given to rule in years to come. Thus we appear to be speaking of the rule of the creation from this date. It is thus the beginning of the age of Satan as Morning Star over a Fallen Host.

The Rising of Venus is allocated to 1 Ahau. The date means the “1^st of the Lord". Ahau is linguistically related to Yaho and may be a reference to the elohim of the Host.

The system is based on a twenty-day month, which has the name uinal. The word uinal means person or man. The number 20 is the number of biblical years required before a person is considered fully grown. There are 18 uinals to the Tun or year of 360 days. The prophetic year is thus stylised to enable man to symbolically develop. The five days are adjusted as explained in the Appendix.

The years are arranged so as to equal 100 cycles of 72 days, or 360 uinals (a year of months), totalling 7200 days, which is termed a Katun. 20 Katuns (years of months) equal 144,000 days, which is termed a Baktun.

A Bible student can thus see that the entire system is directed at the rule of the Morning Star under the Sun system. It symbolises the rule of the Morning Star over this age. The current Morning Star ruling over this age is Satan. The New Morning Star is Christ and his elect are the 144,000 under the Apostles. The calendar seems to be aimed at returning men as gods at the end of the age. However, it has no lunar basis.

The Venus rounds of the calendar plot the rise of the Morning Star and predict its occurrence.

The Mayan calendar thus represents the Sun system under Satan coming to a close in this age of the creation, as the end of the Great Year in 2012. The end date in 2012 is designated as 13.0.0.0.0 meaning that 13 Baktuns have passed, being 1,872,000 days.

The Tzolkin count is alleged to have started on the date 4 Ahau and will thus end on 4 Ahau; however, there is much argument now that the start was and the end should be on 13 Ahau.

The next Great Year will be under and symbolised by the New Morning Star.

A simple explanation of the complex interrelating systems is in the Appendix.

Part I: Section D

Daniel Chapter 8

We will now deal with the events in Daniel Chapter 8 and relate it to the time sequence from the conquests of the Babylonians and the events of Chapter 2 and the parallel events of the end days. We will look at the Medes and Persians to the Battle of the Granicus River in 334 that marks the start of the He-goat of the Greeks and Macedonians. The He-goat was Alexander the Great.

We know that Alexander’s four generals succeeded him. However, the succession was not by common consent but by the constant squabbles among them. The empire simply fell apart because none of them could successfully eliminate the others. Daniel correctly prophesies the fourfold division.

The general concensus is that the most important of the Diadochoi were Antipater and his son Cassander, Antigonus Monopthalmus and his son Demetrius Poliorcetes, Craterus, Eumenes, Leonnatus, Lysimachus, Perdiccas, Ptolomy and Seleucus.

After the death of Alexander on 11 June 323 in Babylon, there was an initial arrangement for the administration of the empire termed the Babylonian Settlement. The settlement took a month to achieve because of contention among the Macedonians of the Diadochoi. Alexander’s half-brother Arrhidaeus (who had some mental deficiency) and the unborn son of Roxana, Alexander IV, were jointly proclaimed king and Perdiccas was established as regent. In 321-320 a new settlement was agreed upon at Triparadeisus in Syria. The details are at http://www.ancientlibrary.com/wcd/Babylon_settlement

By 306 BCE six of the Diadochoi remained. These were Antigonus and Demetrius, Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy and Seleucus. The forces of Demetrius defeated Ptolemy in the naval battle off Salamis in Cyprus and that allowed him and his father Antigonus to take the royal title. The others soon followed suit. The empire was thus ruled in five kingdoms under six kings in constant rivalry.

The Diadochoi reduced to four, roughly ruling as follows:

The generals and their areas of rule were:

Ptolemy I Soter (saviour), son of Lagus, ruled over Egypt as satrap from 323-305 and as king from 305-283, ruling Palestine, Arabia, and Peterea. He was assisted by the general Seleucus. General Seleucus had originally been given Babylon, but was forced out by Antigonus. Seleucus Nicator later ruled in Syria and recovered Babylon ca. 312 and later ruled in Judea, establishing the Seleucid Dynasty.

Antigonus ruled Syria, Babylonia, and central Asia.

Cassander ruled over Macedonia and Greece.

Lysimachus ruled Thrace and Bythinia.

The Diadochoi continued the wars over the period from 320 to 281 BCE.

The Battle of Ipsus

The major decisive battle was the Battle of Ipsus (301 BCE). Antigonus and Demetrius were pitted against the coalition of Cassander, Lysamachus, and Seleucus near Ipsus in Phrygia. Antigonus was defeated and killed and his possessions divided amongst the victors.

The Battle

“The sole surviving account of the battle appears in Plutarch's Life of Demetrius 28ff. Plutarch does not mention the location, but this is supplied by Appian (Syrian Wars 55). Fragments of Diodorus (Bibliotheka 21) provide additional details. According to Plutarch, Antigonus' forces included 70,000 infantry, 10,000 cavalry and 75 elephants, while his opponents fielded 64,000 infantry, 10,500 cavalry, 400 elephants and 125 war chariots. The exact numbers have been called into question (see Billows, Antigonus Monophthalmus p. 181) but the near-equality of the forces is not in doubt.

The action began with a cavalry charge led by Demetrius, which routed cavalry under the command of Antiochus. Having pursued the enemy off the battlefield, Demetrius found his return blocked by the large contingent of allied elephants. Cavalry under Seleucus took advantage of this situation by riding around the exposed flank of Antigonus' phalanx, threatening but not actually mounting an attack. This menacing maneuver (sic) led a portion of Antigonus' army to defect to the allied cause, and the remainder were subsequently routed. According to Plutarch, Antigonus died in a hail of javelins, confident of his son's immanent (sic) return. The battle lost, Demetrius escaped to Ephesus with 5,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry. According to Diodorus, Antigonus was subsequently given a royal burial.” (http://www.ancientlibrary.com/wcd/Battle_of_Ipsus)

From 301, after Ipsus, the empire was as follows:

Ptolemy I Soter ruled Egypt and Palestine from his capital in Alexandria. He died in 282 BCE. It was this dynasty that he began which the Romans finally defeated in 31 BCE at the battle of Actium, signalling the end of the Hellenistic period and forming the Roman Empire in its place.

Seleucus I Nicator ruled Syria and Phrygia as far as the Indus from his capital in Antioch.

Lysimachus ruled Thrace and Bithynia, and Cassander ruled Macedonia for only four years before his death in 297 BCE. Macedon was eventually lost to the descendants of Antigonus, founder of the Antigonid Dynasty, one of the three Hellenistic dynasties along with the Ptolemaic and the Seleucid.

The period of 2300 years from the Battle of Ipsus takes us to the year 2000. From the year 2001 the wars of the end began (see the paper The Last Thirty Years: The Final Strugggle (No. 219) and especially the audio).

The wars ended in 281 on the death of Seleucus and all the Diadochoi were now dead. The four holdings reduced to three dynasties based on:

Egypt and the surrounding island and ports under Ptolemy II.
The Asiatic part of the empire under Antiochus the son of Seleucus.
Macedon and Greece were extant but unstable until subjugated by Antigonus Gonatus, son of Demetrius, when he seized the throne of Macedon in 276 BCE.

This ended the age of the Diadochoi even though these three entities were not themselves successors or original Diadochoi.

The year 282/1 is of significance also as we see below and relates to Judah and Egypt under the Diadochoi.

Jerusalem after Alexander

Josephus in Antiquities of the Jews (Book 12 chapters 1 and 2) tells us of the way in which Jerusalem was subjugated by the treachery of Ptolemy on the death of Alexander. This seizure is also critical to the prophecy

“....Antigonus obtained Asia, Seleucus Babylon; and of the other nations which were there, Lysimachus governed the Hellespont, and Cassander possessed Macedonia; as did Ptolemaeus the son of Lagus seize upon Egypt. [3] And while these princes ambitiously strove one against another, every one for his own principality, it came to pass that there were continual wars, and those lasting wars too; and the cities were sufferers, and lost a great many of their inhabitants in these times of distress, insomuch that all Syria, by the means of Ptolemaeus the son of Lagus, underwent the reverse of that denomination of Saviour, which he then had. [4] He also seized upon Jerusalem, and for that end made use of deceit and treachery; for as he came into the city on a sabbath day, as if he would offer sacrifices he, without any trouble, gained the city, while the Jews did not oppose him, for they did not suspect him to be their enemy; and he gained it thus, because they were free from suspicion of him, and because on that day they were at rest and quietness; and when he had gained it, he ruled over it in a cruel manner. [5] Nay, Agatharchides of Cnidus, who wrote the acts of Alexander's successors, reproaches us with superstition, as if we, by it, had lost our liberty; where he says thus: [6] "There is a nation called the nation of the Jews, who inhabit a city strong and great, named Jerusalem. These men took no care, but let it come into the hands of Ptolemaeus, as not willing to take arms, and thereby they submitted to be under a hard master, by reason of their unseasonable superstition." [7] This is what Agatharchides relates of our nation. But when Ptolemaeus had taken a great many captives, both from the mountainous parts of Judaea, and from the places about Jerusalem and Samaria, and the places near Mount Gerizzim, he led them all into Egypt, and settled them there. [8] And as he knew that the people of Jerusalem were most faithful in the observation of oaths and covenants; and this from the answer they made to Alexander, when he sent an embassage to them, after he had beaten Darius in battle; so he distributed many of them into garrisons, and at Alexandria gave them equal privileges of citizens with the Macedonians themselves; and required of them to take their oaths, that they would keep their fidelity to the posterity of those who committed these places to their care. [9] Nay, there were not a few other Jews who, of their own accord, went into Egypt, as invited by the goodness of the soil, and by the liberality of Ptolemaeus. [10] However, there were disorders among their posterity, with relation to the Samaritans, on account of their resolution to preserve that conduct of life which was delivered to them by their forefathers, and they thereupon contended one with another, while those of Jerusalem said that their temple was holy, and resolved to send their sacrifices thither; but the Samaritans were resolved that they should be sent to Mount Gerizzim.

The account of Josephus seems somewhat strange in that Ptolemy is on the one hand treacherous yet on the other bestowing equality with the Macedonians whilst in Egypt when they were yet slaves. In those days many had slaves, including the Jews.

The important point is that Alexander had reigned twelve years and Ptolemy Soter reigned forty years. Thus Judah had been taken into Egypt for at least forty years, perhaps before but certainly from the death of Alexander.

[2.] [11] When Alexander had reigned twelve years, and after him Ptolemaeus Soter forty years, Philadelphus then took the kingdom of Egypt, and held it forty years within one. He procured the law to be interpreted, and set free those that were come from Jerusalem into Egypt, and were in slavery there, who were a hundred and twenty thousand. [12] The occasion was this: Demetrius Phalereus, who was library keeper to the king, was now endeavouring, if it were possible, to gather together all the books that were in the habitable earth, and buying whatsoever was any where valuable, or agreeable to the king's inclination, (who was very earnestly set upon collecting of books,) to which inclination of his Demetrius was zealously subservient. [13] And when once Ptolemaeus asked him how many ten thousands of books he had collected, he replied, that he had already about twenty times ten thousand; but that, in a little time, he should have fifty times ten thousand. [14] But be said he had been informed that there were many books of laws among the Jews worthy of inquiring after, and worthy of the king's library, but which, being written in characters and in a dialect of their own, will cause no small pains in getting them translated into the Greek tongue;

Josephus then records that the king wrote to the Jewish High Priest requesting that he act. At the time of the ascension of Ptolemy II, a friend of the king named Aristaeus petitioned the king to set the Jewish captives free. He first discussed the issue with the captains of the king’s guard, Sosibus of Tarentum and Andreas. They then approached the king on the grounds that, as the laws of the Jews were going to be transcribed, it was not fit that they remain captive.

Josephus records that Ptolemy Soter reigned for forty years after the death of Alexander.

In about 285/4 BCE, Ptolemy I Soter is assumed to have taken as his co-ruler one of his sons by Berenice, Ptolemy II Philadelphus. The date is given by some as ca. 28 February 284 BCE. Ptolemy II Philadelphus was King of Egypt from 284-47 BCE. It was actually his sister/wife who bore the title Philadelphus. He became sole ruler of Egypt and the rest of his father's empire upon the death of Ptolemy I in 282 BCE around Artemisius/Daisios year 41 (Mac.) or ca. April - June 282. He took the Egyptian name, Meryamun Setepenre, which means "Beloved of Amun, Chosen of Re". He expanded his possessions around the Mediterranean and stabilised Egypt. He completed many of the ambitious projects of his father such as the Pharos Lighthouse and the Alexandrian University Library, which is the action that is referred to by Josephus.

Ptolemy II was born in Cos in about 309/8 BCE. His official birthday was 12 Dystros (Mac.) or ca. 10 February 308. His education followed the traditions set by Philip of Macedon in educating Alexander, who was taught by Aristotle. Ptolemy II wanted rule over the Aegean as well as Egypt and set about achieving that aim.

Alexandria grew rapidly under the first two Ptolemies and was eventually divided into three governable districts. By the end of his reign, they consisted of Rhakotis, the native Egyptian quarter, Bruchium, the royal Greek-Macedonian quarter and the Jewish Quarter that was almost as large as the Greek.

It was this growth that influenced Ptolemy II to establish a high quality of education to both Greeks and Jews and to translate the Laws of the Bible into the Greek language, and hence the Septuagint was created. Called the Seventy (LXX) it, like the Sanhedrin, consisted of 72 translators comprised of six scholars from each tribe.

The liberation of the Jews took place from 282 BCE, prior to the compilation of the Septuagint, and before Eleazar was High Priest in Jerusalem.

Through Greek poets like Callimachus, and many others that Ptolemy II supported, a catalogue of works was written exhorting the king. Manetho dedicated his history of Egypt to him even though Ptolemy II had ordered him to write the history in the first place.

If we take the period of the absolute rule of this king and apply it to the 2300 days on a year-for-a-day basis, we arrive at 2017; and 2019 for his sole rule. Thus the commencement of the liberation of Judah as prophecy is from 2017 to 2019 with the period left of the seven years to the Jubilee, which we see as the fulfilment of the Fall of Jericho (No. 142) on a year-for-a-day basis. It is also thus 2300 years from the translation of the Bible text into the Gentile Greek to the establishment of the Bible text as the rule for the Millennium.

Josephus says (40) that he sent fifty talents of gold to Eleazar with an immense quantity of precious stones for the making of large basins and vials and cups for the Temple and one hundred talents for the sacrifices and other uses of the Temple. Josephus says that Eleazar became High Priest after the death of Onias and his son, Simon the Just. Simon had a son called Onias but his brother Eleazar, son of Onias I, assumed the High Priesthood ca. 260-245 BC and it was to him that Ptolemy II wrote.

The application of this date for the furbishing of the Temple and the education of the Gentiles within this prophecy gives us the date 2041, being the fourteenth year of the Golden Jubilee of the Millennium for the furbishing of the Temple at Jerusalem.

The letter sent by Ptolemy II to Eleazar is repeated by Josephus as follows:

"King Ptolemaeus to Eleazar the high priest, sendeth greeting. There are many Jews who now dwell in my kingdom, whom the Persians, when they were in power, carried captives. These were honoured by my father; some of them he placed in the army, and gave them greater pay than ordinary; to others of them, when they came with him into Egypt, he committed his garrisons, and the guarding of them, that they might be a terror to the Egyptians. [46] And when I had taken the government, I treated all men with humanity, and especially those that are thy fellow citizens, of whom I have set free above a hundred thousand that were slaves, and paid the price of their redemption to their masters out of my own revenues; [47] and those that are of a fit age, I have admitted into them number of my soldiers. And for such as are capable of being faithful to me, and proper for my court, I have put them in such a post, as thinking this [kindness done to them] to be a very great and an acceptable gift, which I devote to God for his providence over me. [48] And as I am desirous to do what will be grateful to these, and to all the other Jews in the habitable earth, I have determined to procure an interpretation of your law, and to have it translated out of Hebrew into Greek, and to be deposited in my library. [49] Thou wilt therefore do well to choose out and send to me men of a good character, who are now elders in age, and six in number out of every tribe. These, by their age, must be skilful in the laws, and of abilities to make an accurate interpretation of them; and when this shall be finished, I shall think that I have done a work glorious to myself. [50] And I have sent to thee Andreas, the captain of my guard, and Aristaeus, men whom I have in very great esteem; by whom I have sent those first-fruits which I have dedicated to the temple, and to the sacrifices, and to other uses, to the value of a hundred talents. And if thou wilt send to us, to let us know what thou wouldst have further, thou wilt do a thing acceptable to me."

Josephus records that there were also artefacts constructed over that period and given to the Temple by Ptolemy II.

We can thus determine from this letter that the Jews were set free at the very beginning of his reign and that this letter was probably sent at the beginning of the reign of Eleazar, as the replies and the entire works were all competed in his reign.

To apply this prophecy to the restoration of the Jews as well as their enslavement covers the period from 1967 to 2041 for the establishment of the Temple system in Jerusalem. If we look at the period involved in the construction of the Temple and the administration at Jerusalem under Solomon, as detailed in the paper Rule of the Kings Part III: Solomon and the Key of David (No. 282C), we see that the system will be completed by the twentieth year of the 121^st Jubilee, or 2047, for the Reading of the Law in 2048.

Josephus also records (119) another matter of importance in the struggle between the Greek successors of Alexander and their effect on the Jews and Jerusalem. Seleucus Nicator made the Jews citizens in the cities he built in Asia, lower Syria and particularly in Antioch and gave them privileges equal to the Macedonians and Greeks. This continued down to the time of the War with Rome under Vespasian and Titus.

The conflict over Jerusalem continued during the reigns of Ptolemy IV Philopator, when it was taken by Antiochus the Great of the Seleucid Dynasty. The Egyptian general Scopas was sent out by his son to recover Coele Syria and Judaea, which he did. However, not long after Antiochus overcame Scopas and recovered Coele Syria and Samaria, the Jews went over to him and supplied him and the army plentifully. He rewarded them for their generosity. He then wrote to Ptolemy concerning them.

Babylon and the Seven Times

The sequence of the “seven times” of the Babylonians goes for 2520 years from the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE, where Nebuchadnezzar established the Babylonian supremacy over the Egyptians and the Middle East. He began the sequence of the empires of Daniel chapter 2 and the Kings of the North and South explained in Daniel chapter 11. The early events spanned a block of time over an eighty-year period of two arms of forty years ending with Cambyses’ invasion of Egypt in 525 BCE (see the paper The Fall of Egypt: The Prophecy of Pharaoh’s Broken Arms (No. 036)). The “seven times” or 2520 years end with the block from 1916 to the year 1996. 1997 to the Jubilee in 2027 covers the period of the last thirty years of this age.

From the end of that period in 1916, the British Commonwealth began to reclaim Palestine, and in 1917 the Balfour Declaration declared the Jewish homeland. In December 1917 on 24 Chislev or 7 December 1917, according to the Temple Calendar (not the Hillel Postponement Calendar of modern Judaism), Jerusalem was retaken from the Ottoman Empire (see the papers Oracles of God (No. 184) and Commentary on Haggai (No. 021J)).

The Palestinian Mandate

The War ended in 1918 after the declaration of the Jewish homeland. The Palestine Mandate went from 1922 to 1947, during which large-scale Jewish immigration from abroad took place. That immigration was mainly from Eastern Europe with the numbers swelling in the 1930s during the notorious Nazi persecution of Jewish populations. Palestinians demanded independence and resisted Jewish immigration. Those factors led to a rebellion in 1937. The rebellion led to continuing terrorism and violence from both sides during and immediately after World War II. Great Britain tried to bring independence to Palestine, which was ravaged by violence. In 1947, Great Britain could not solve the problem and turned the problem over to the United Nations. Part of the reluctance to implement the Balfour Declaration was caused by considerations of oil and Arab opposition.

The UN canvassed the options and finally proposed, under Resolution 181 (II) of 1947, the partitioning of Palestine into two independent States, one Palestinian Arab and the other Jewish, with Jerusalem internationalized. The Jewish section envisaged in the partition plan then proclaimed its independence as Israel. War followed, and in the 1948 war Israel expanded to occupy 77 per cent of the territory of Palestine. In that war Israel also occupied the larger part of Jerusalem. In the conflict more than half of the indigenous Palestinian population fled or were expelled. Many went to Lebanon and many to Tyre. Jordan and Egypt occupied the other parts of the territory assigned by the partition Resolution to the Palestinian Arab State, which did not come into being.

In the 1967 war, Israel occupied the remaining territory of Palestine, until then under Jordanian and Egyptian control (the West Bank and Gaza Strip). This included the remaining part of Jerusalem, which was subsequently annexed by Israel. The war brought about a second exodus of Palestinians, estimated at half a million. The Security Council (under Resolution 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967) called on Israel to withdraw from territories it had occupied in the 1967 conflict.

The General Assembly reaffirmed, in 1974, the rights of the Palestinian people to return to their land and to self-determination, national independence and sovereignty. In 1975, the following year, the General Assembly established the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and conferred observer status on the PLO in the Assembly and international conferences held under UN control.

The conflict continued to escalate and in June 1982, Israel declared its intent to eliminate the PLO and invaded Lebanon. The conflict was brought to a halt by an arranged ceasefire. The PLO troops withdrew from Beirut and were transferred to neighbouring countries. That was done only after guarantees of safety were provided for the thousands of Palestinian refugees left behind in Lebanon. Despite the guarantees a large-scale massacre of refugees took place in the camps of Sabra and Shatila.

In September 1983, the International Conference on the Question of Palestine adopted, inter alia, the Geneva Declaration which contained the following principles:

the need to oppose and reject the establishment of settlements in the occupied territory and actions taken by Israel to change the status of Jerusalem,
the right of all States in the region to existence within secure and internationally recognized boundaries, with justice and security for all the people, and
the attainment of the legitimate, inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.

In December 1987, a mass uprising termed the intifadah against the Israeli occupation began in the occupied Palestinian territory. Retaliation by Israeli forces in the uprising caused massive injuries and heavy loss of life among the civilian Palestinian population.

The Peace Process

On 30 October 1991 a Peace Conference on the Middle East was convened in Madrid, Spain. It had the stated aim of achieving a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement through direct negotiations along two tracks: between Israel and the Arab States, and between Israel and the Palestinians, based on the UN Security Council Resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) (this was termed the "land for peace" formula).

Mutual recognition between the Government of the State of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, as the representative of the Palestinian people, occurred as a result of protracted negotiations. The Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements was signed by both parties in Washington, D.C., on 13 September 1993. There were subsequent implementation agreements. They led to several other developments such as:

the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces,
the elections to the Palestinian Council and the presidency of the Palestinian Authority,
the partial release of prisoners, and
the establishment of a functioning administration in the areas under Palestinian self-rule.

The involvement of the United Nations has been regarded as essential to the peace process. It has been seen as the guardian of international legitimacy and essential in the mobilization and provision of international assistance.

We have now covered a series of developments over the period from 1916. When placed in the context, we see that those prophecies of Daniel of the Book of Daniel cover the period from 1916 through to 2048. We will continue to unravel those sequences and their application to the Last Days.

Appendix 1

The Mayan Calendar

An excerpt from John Major Jenkins’ "Tzolkin: Visionary Perspectives and Calendar Studies"
(1992, 1994; pages 23-30).

Introduction to the Mayan Calendar

And so we begin our journey. There is much to discover and much to learn about the Sacred Calendar. By the end of this chapter we will have covered a lot of ground, and I will be sharing some advanced ideas. In an effort to make this accessible to the beginner, we should try to get a firm understanding of the basic mechanics of several different cycles and how they relate. And don't worry, a lot of the basics covered here will be repeated when necessary throughout this chapter. I'll try to keep this introduction short and simple. The full meaning of these interlocking cycles will be explored in later sections.

There are two types of Mayan time keeping: 1) the Venus Round system, consisting of the tzolkin, haab and the Venus cycle, and 2) the Long Count. Let's start where it all begins, with the tzolkin.

Tzolkin, Haab, The Year-Bearers and Venus

The Sacred Calendar, the Earth Calendar, the Sacred Almanac, the Count of Days, the Tzolkin - all of these terms refer to the 260-day cycle. The term Sacred Calendar, however, is often used to denote the multiple interrelated systems, ie., the entire framework of cycles. 260 days is roughly nine moons. The cycle consists of 20 day-signs combined with a number from one to thirteen. Each day is named by its number and day-sign, thus giving a total of 260 unique days. The day-signs are glyphs, and on one level are used in divination. Their meanings cover important themes in Indian culture and can be loosely translated as follows:

I.	Alligator	Death	Monkey	Owl
II.	Wind	Deer	Grass	Quake
III.	House	Rabbit	Reed	Knife
IV.	Lizard	Water	Jaguar	Rain
V	Serpent	Dog	Eagle	Flower

These day-signs also have linguistic, astronomical and mythical references. The order of the day-signs is universal throughout Meso-america, and there is evidence that the 260-day Sacred Almanac has been followed unbroken for some 3000 years; Wind follows Alligator, House follows Wind, and so on. The 13-day number cycle parallels the sequential passage of day-signs. In other words, 1 Wind is followed by 2 House, followed by 3 Lizard, etc. In this way, 7 Jaguar (for example) occurs 40 days after 6 Jaguar. Most likely, the count doesn't "begin" on any specific day, although the conventional listing begins with Alligator.

The way in which the day-signs have meanings on many different levels of Mayan culture is characteristic of Sacred Calendar studies. It would be difficult, indeed inaccurate, to promote just one origin or use for the day-signs; the Calendar has what I call "multiple meanings." So why is the 260-day cycle so important? First and foremost, it corresponds to the 9-month gestation period of human beings, which has everything to do with growth and unfolding. It also corresponds to the interval between Venus emerging as eveningstar and its emergence as morningstar (about 258 days), the interval between the planting and harvesting of certain types of corn, and is related to planetary cycles. Here we see biological, agricultural and astronomical references.

The Haab

The 260-day cycle does not directly correspond with any known astronomical period, yet it serves as a common denominator to synthesize the cycles of Sun, Mercury, Venus, Moon, Earth and Mars (as well as the other planets). In essence, it is the key factor of all the planetary periods. Strange to think that it corresponds to our own gestation period. The solar cycle, which is really the 365 days or so that it takes for the earth to travel around the sun, was conceived as a partner cycle to the tzolkin. It was called the haab (cycle of rains) and consists of 18 months of twenty days, with a short month of 5 days at the end. Haab dates are indicated by a month name and a day-number. (Unlike the tzolkin dates, the months and numbers of the haab follow like our own month and days - e.g. 2 Zec in the haab is followed by 3 Zec, 4 Zec, 5 Zec and so on.) In one sense, these two cycles represent the secular and sacred interests of the culture. The haab is the obvious yearly cycle, while the tzolkin structures a hidden dimension, closer to the sacred spirit realms. Together, the tzolkin/haab serves as a framework for predicting eclipses, timing festivals, and for scheduling visits to shrine sites. The nineteen month-names we will use in this book come from the Yucatec Maya language:

Kayab	Zec	Sac
Cumhu	Xul	Ceh
Pop	Yaxkin	Mac
Uo	Mol	Kankin
Zip	Chen	Muan
Zotz	Yax	Pax
Vayeb (5 day month)

The Tikal haab began on 0 Pop and numbered months from 0 to 19. The Quiche and Ixil haab begins on 1 Kayab and numbered months from 1 to 20. We will explore this further in the next section of this chapter.

The Year Bearers

This is where it starts getting a little tricky, and we start to see the mythological uses of the Sacred Calendar. The quality of a year is determined by the day-sign which falls on New Years Day - which is the first day of the haab. This special day is called the year-bearer, or, to the modern Ixil Maya, the mam. The 365-day haab is an approximation of the year. It is referred to as the vague solar year, or casually, as the year. Since the twenty day-signs divide into the 365-day haab 18 times with 5 left over, the year-bearer advances by 5 day-signs every year. Furthermore, five goes into 20 four times; thus there are four possible year-bearers. They correspond to the four directions and (for the Quiche Maya) the four sacred mountains. In this way, the Calendar's "windows to the New Year" are anchored in the directional pillars of the cosmos. The year-bearer system, then, is the 4-year cycle of senior day-signs, which consecutively fall on New Year's Day. Because the year began on different days for different Mayan groups, there are 5 possible year-bearer systems, and they are indicated by Roman numerals in the day-sign chart given above. In practice, however, only the Type II system seems to still be in use, among the Mayan groups of Highland Guatemala.

Venus

Venus has a 584-day cycle. In other words, it will rise as morningstar approximately every 584 days. This was an important cycle to the Maya. The astrolo-mythic adventures of Sun and Venus were no doubt tracked closely by the early Maya, and there is some reason to suspect that the tzolkin arose, in part, to structure the related cycles of the two prominent celestial lights (Sun and Venus). This is because the relationship between the solar and Venus cycles is quite simple: 5 Venus cycles equals 8 haab. The influence of the third celestial factor, the Moon, was built into the tzolkin cycle itself. The cyclic relationship between Sun and Venus indicates that Venus traces a five-pointed star in the sky over a period of eight years. And eight is the musical octave, the number of harmony. More on this later.

Since the twenty day-signs divide into 584 twenty-nine times with 4 left over, the Venus cycle begins on one of 5 possible day-signs. As with the year-bearer system, the Venus day-sign system repeats sequentially, over and over. The beginning of the Venus cycle is considered to be the day on which it emerges as morningstar, about 4 days after inferior conjunction with the sun. The five day-signs which indicate when Venus will emerge as morningstar serve as a prediction mechanism; the Mayan priest-astronomers thus tracked, charted and predicted future morningstar appearances. When the number-coefficients are considered (which we have ignored for awhile), the calculations become a bit more complex, and the cycles become larger.

The Calendar Round

The first large cycle we come to is called the Calendar Round. This is when all the possible combinations of the tzolkin and haab are exhausted and the same tzolkin day and haab day come together. For example, let's presume that the year-bearer 1 Wind initiates a New Year. Now, the year-bearer day-sign alone will return to initiate a New Year in only 4 years time, but when we consider the 13 number-coefficients, then (13 x 4) = 52 years (or haab) must pass before 1 Wind returns to initiate the New Year. This 52-haab cycle is called the Calendar Round. It was widely used by the Aztecs as well as the Maya, and is still vaguely remembered by the Ixil Maya of Guatemala. The math of this is as follows:

260 x 73 = 365 x 52 = 18,980 days

This, again, is the shortest time in which the tzolkin and haab can synchronize. But where does Venus fit into the picture?

The Venus Round

The big cycle of tzolkin, haab and Venus is completed when they synchronize on the senior emergence day-sign, the Sacred Day of Venus: 1 Ahau. The nature of the tzolkin, haab, and Venus cycles are such that they all synchronize every 104 haab, which just happens to equal two Calendar Rounds. The math:

260 x 146 = 365 x 104 = 584 x 65 = 37,960 days

This is an amazing calendrical accomplishment. In addition, the Maya mythologized this sacred link-up in the Popol Vuh and the Dresden Codex. The five possible day-signs on which Venus could emerge as morningstar are recorded in the Dresden Codex as: Flower (Ahau), Lizard, Rabbit, Grass and Owl. Ahau was the senior day-sign of the five, and 1 Ahau was the Sacred Day of Venus, representing the big synch of tzolkin, haab and Venus.

Let's take a little side track here - I'll present a puzzle which we will return to and solve later. Look at the cover of this book. The four day-signs above the title are of the Type II year-bearer system, the one allegedly used in the Dresden Codex. They are, from left to right:

Wind, Deer, Grass, and Quake.

The five day-signs at the lower border (one is in the middle of the rising sun), are the five predictive emergence day-signs from the Dresden Codex:

Lizard, Rabbit, Grass, Owl, and Flower.

Now let's think about this. Obviously, if the three cycles of tzolkin, haab and Venus are to synchronize, then at least one of the 4 year-bearers must correspond with at least one of the 5 beginning day-signs of the Venus cycle. The one that does, which I have placed in the middle of the rising sun, with Venusrising on the left and the Mars glyph on the right, is Grass, not Flower! Is our reasoning faulty? What is the truth behind this? Could it be that Calendar Round and Venus Round observances were not synchronized? Even though one VR equals exactly 2 CR's, it seems as though (from evidence in the Dresden Codex) that during the Late Classic Period the Maya had not yet synchronized Venus emergences with Calendar Round beginnings. This imperfect situation, to a people who apparently strived to reveal a harmony of the heavens, must have been intolerable. As we will see, perhaps the Venus system in the Dresden Codex was not the most perfect, and perhaps the Maya continued to perfect the system - during a period of Mayan history lacking in substantial data. So the smaller cycles of this dating system, the tzolkin, haab and Venus cycle, are encapsulated by the Venus Round, a period of almost 104 years. Here's a brief summary:

Tzolkin: 260 days. 20 day-signs combined with 13 numbers.

Haab: 365 days.18 months of 20 days each, + a 5-day month.

Venus Cycle: 584 days between each morningstar appearance.

Calendar Round: Synchronization of tzolkin and haab every 52 haab (18,980 days).

Venus Round: Equals 2 Calendar Rounds. Synchronization of tzolkin, haab, and the Venus cycle every 104 haab (37,960 days).

The Long Count and the Great Cycle

Another time-keeping system was used by the Maya. It is known as the Long Count because it deals with larger cycles of time. It is written using dots to indicate placement values (for example: 8.15.6.0.4). The leftward placements are of higher value. The Long Count dating method is based on a hierarchal day-count based on twenty. The above date represents the passage of 8 baktuns, 15 katuns, 6 tuns, zero uinals, and 4 days since the zero date. The placement of this zero date has been a tough question for Mayanists, and we will discuss this in detail in the next section. The hierarchy of days is as follows:

LONG COUNT PERIODS	NUMBER OF DAYS
1 day = 1 day	1
20 days = 1 uinal	20
18 uinal = 1 tun	360
20 tuns = 1 katun	7200
20 katuns = 1 baktun	144,000
13 baktuns = 1 Great Cycle	1,872,000

In this way, 1 Baktun equals 144,000 days, 1 katun equals 7200 days, 1 tun equals 360 days, and a uinal equals 20 days. Also of importance, in that it reveals the relationship between humans and the cosmos is the term for the twenty-day period: the uinal. The similar term uinac means person!

The 5-decimal Long Count dating system is found on hundreds of inscriptions from the archeological record. Fortunately, they often occur alongside tzolkin/haab dates, which has allowed archeologists to correlate the two systems (they are consistently related). As can be seen, the Long Count generates a large period of time known as the Great Cycle. This period of 13 Baktuns is about 5125 years in length, and is due to end in 2012 A.D. The end date in 2012 is designated in the Long Count as 13.0.0.0.0 - which means that 13 baktuns, or some 1,872,000 days have passed since the Great Cycle beginning date. Specifically, the Great Cycle began on the tzolkin date 4 Ahau, and will also end on 4 Ahau. The Long Count seems to be the more abstract dating method. Yet, we will see that the cycles it generates are strangely connected to planetary phenomena and ultimately to the processes of human unfolding.

The Long Count and tzolkin/haab/Venus system are theoretically unrelated, yet 37 Venus cycles = 3 katuns. Here are two more connections between the "long" and the "short" counts: 1) 72 haab = 73 tun; 2) 13 tun = 18 tzolkin. Is this fortuitous, or is there a deeper, hidden pattern at work? Both the Long Count and tzolkin/haab are used together in many of the archeological inscriptions throughout Mesoamerica. With these connection points, a complex interweaving between the two methods of Mayan timekeeping could be demonstrated. For now, this will have to serve as a basic introduction to the mechanics of the tzolkin, haab, Venus, year-bearer, and Long Count systems. Grasping all these different systems and how they relate to each other can initially be confusing. But hang in there, and if necessary, refer to this section or to the Glossary of Terms (Appendix I).

The Julian and Gregorian Calendars

I should explain these two calendar systems, as both are used in this study. The calendar system known as the Julian calendar was established by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C., which was the year 709 of the Roman Empire. It made the year-count more accurate by adding an extra day every fourth year, thus approximating the solar year to 365.25 days. (By comparison, the Maya had already come up with their year-drift formula which more accurately calculated the solar year as 365.2422 days.) The extra day was probably not officially used until 8 A.D., during the reign of Augustus. The expansion of the Roman Empire in the subsequent centuries made this calendar widely recognized. The system of numbering years by A.D. designation (Anno Domini) was instituted in 525 A.D. by the Roman abbot Dionysius Exiguus.

Since the Julian calendar is still slightly inaccurate, a discrepency built up over the centuries, causing problems in determining the occurrence of Easter. By the 16th Century, Easter was slipping towards summer. The problem was resolved by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. The reform resynchronized the time-count with respect to the equinoxes by skipping ten days; in other words, October 4th of 1582 was followed by October 15th. However, the sequential cycling of the day-names of the week could not be broken. This is an interesting fact. Remember, our week days are named after planet-gods and mythical heros: Sun, Moon, Thor, Wotan, and Saturn among others. It suggests a European feeling, similar to the Mayan need to track an unbroken count of days, that the cycling of day-gods was not to be fooled with.

The rule for leap year was also changed. In the new Gregorian calendar a year which is divisible by 4 is a leap-year unless it is divisible by 100 but not by 400. Thus, 1700, 1800, 1900 and 2100 are not leap years.

It took a while for the new calendar to be adopted in all of the European countries, although Italy, Spain, Portugal and Poland began following it immediately. Britain and British Colonies didn't follow suit until 1752. English writers of the time often indicated which system they kept by noting O.S. (old style) or N.S. (new style). Russia was the last to reform; after the Bolshevik Revolution January 31, 1918 (O.S.) became February 14, 1919 (N.S.).

Although it may be assumed that dates before 1582 are going to be in the old Julian calendar, I prefer to clarify the matter by indicating (J) or (G) whenever necessary.

The Use of Julian Day Numbers

Astronomers have standardized a conventional way of denoting dates, to simplify long range calculations. By this method days are identified in reference to an unbroken count begun on January 1st, -4712 (J). The Mayan zero date of the Great Cycle is therefore referred to by its Julian Day number, 584283. This just means that 584283 days have elapsed between 1.1.-4712 (J) and 8.11.-3113 (G). Another important point is that -4712 is written 4713 B.C. In other words, astronomers recognize a 0 year for calculational purposes, whereas historians do not; there was never a "zero" year. Therefore, -3113 is the same as 3114 B.C.; a given negative year number is always one less than its B.C. equivalent.

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