The Night of Seven Watches

Students of Bible prophecy give plenty of attention to what's familiar to most as Daniel's seventieth week, a set of 7 years that must be seen as pivotal.

Reference is made to this passage (and also, to Daniel 11:31 and 12:11) to establish a connection in Matthew 24, another primary text about the last days.

The Bible has plenty to reveal about what will happen during this week, and when, and this is our interest in this structured overview as attention is given to those events and dynamics . Captain Obvious here. There's more that I don't know than what I think I do. Yet, I believe what is represented here is fit for the season.

What I thought I knew back in 1991 when the Lord took me to his feet and began to instruct me in matters of The Hope turned out to be far less than I actually knew, as the Lord demonstrated to me in memorable ways. It was like I had been seeing with the light of a 20 watt bulb - but then suddenly with a 150 watt bulb! After revealing the celestial sign of Jacob's deathbed prophecy He began to open to me many other things about how the end times would unfold, and with the relationship between key events being exposed light was brightly shining upon the meaning of the events. I learned from profoundly detailed allegories in such places as Genesis 45 and Acts 12. This came in combination with learning how shadows of the big transitional events had been embedded in the historical record. With insight into the hidden meaning of Psalm 90:4, I understood how The Threefold Model of Great Sevens is a marvelous and elegant provision!

This focal period is identified in Daniel as one seven, week or shavua (Hebrew). "Famine" week, or, "night of seven watches;" these are other fitting labels. According to the accounting on the Lord's calendar we have learned to identify it as the Shemitah numbering 860 in the count From Adam (abbreviated: FA).

So, again, what will happen during this week, and when? I see as through a glass darkly, and there is far more that is yet to be revealed. Yet, there are some things that must be declared. I have varying degrees of confidence about the material, which I will note.

The Shemitah Begins

Many students of prophecy read Daniel 9:27 and see the declaration of a sign that is widely interpreted as a peace treaty made with Israel for a 7 year term. "And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week". (Recent Example: Russia arranging peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians - is this the Daniel 9:27 deal?) Whatever Daniel is conveying isn't claimed to be a sign. It has been assumed that it is, and perhaps it will be. I have never received revelation insight about this. Perhaps the most useful information I can offer is an account of what has been witnessed while on watch through the turns of the Shemitah.

In the very notable Fall season of 1991, President George H. W. Bush was in the news with plenty of momentum, trying to put a deal together that had the look of what was generally expected by prophecy pundits. The Madrid Conference began on October 30 (with some consequences for Bush's attempt to broker the State of Israel's land being noted by John McTernan) but this effort was ultimately seen as not having been very effective.

In 1998, at the beginning of the second Shemitah in the count from the celestial sign of 1991, Bill Clinton had a similar deal in the works.

"The Wye River Memorandum was a political agreement negotiated to implement the Oslo Accords, completed on 23 October 1998. It was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. It was negotiated at Wye River, MD (at the Wye River Conference Center) and signed at the White House with President Bill Clinton as the official witness. On 17 November 1998, Israel's 120-member parliament, the Knesset, approved the Wye River Memorandum by a vote of 75-19." (Wikipedia)

In 2005, as the next Shemitah got underway, Bill Clinton was once again right at the center of the signal activity. Clinton's Global Initiative was launched, with the inaugural meeting taking place in New York City on September 15-17, 2005. The launch began on Yom Kippur. Yom Teruah was September 6, 2005. The CGI was (at least superficially) all about getting leaders to make promises and giving a show of accountability for following through.

"What I decided to do is to have a smaller meeting around the opening of the UN, discuss just four topics every year, and then tell everyone that comes at the end of the two days, "You have to make a personal commitment to take some action in one of these four areas.""

"I figured if I could get really good people who are gonna be able to have a big impact in the world over the next decade to come together once a year for ten years and actually sign a pledge to take action themselves, if we did that every year for ten years we could do a lot of good in the world."

Pledges were signed. Covenants. With many. They had their ten year stretch, 11 actually, and in the 12th session (a time number) they're shutting it down. To avoid conflicts of interest with Hillary's Presidency. Throw some curly quotes in there somewhere. The typical controversy has attended the antichrist contender's activities.

In 2005, the inaugural CGI overlapped the U.N's Millennium+5 Summit (September 14-16), and Bill's stated intention for his event was to complement the Summit. The Summit was the first plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly 60th Session. The stated agenda for the Millennium+5 Summit was to evaluate the progress made towards the United Nations Millennium Declaration that was adopted by over 150 Heads of State at the September 2000 UN Millennium Summit. In so doing, the world's leaders reaffirmed their "faith in the Organization and its Charter as indispensable foundations of a more peaceful, prosperous and just world." More timely modeling of Daniel 9:27? Perhaps.

In 2012, when the prime Shemitah finally arrived and the things forshadowed and prophesied were expected, what we witnessed instead was simply more of the same. Clinton's Global Initiative and the UN meetings. Yom Teruah was 9/18/2012 and the CGI met from 9/23 to 9/25.) It was a huge disappointment. Beyond puzzling. Time was skewed slideways and the prophetic schedule was deferred, pending a reset. Back then, we had learned about a coming reset but still had no awareness of how it would be reset into the past.

I don't have much more to offer about the beginning of the pivotal Shemitah except to note that, in the record of Creation, light was brought forth on the 1st day, which suggests that we should anticipate that light will manifest in that first Watch of the Night in either an exoteric or esoteric sense, or in both senses. When the sun sets the stars come out.

The Flood Divider : 1½ / 5½

According to the threefold model of great sevens we can project the flood of Noah's day (1656-7 FA) into the early second half of the second Watch of the Night. (reference) I don't have revelation insight into what biblical event of significance is appointed but I can offer observations that seem relevant.

Any event that compares on some level with the great flood of Noah's day seems likely to have a substantial impact. Many biblical passages containing the word, flood, are heart-rending transcripts of the cries and prayers of those affected by a kind of flooding. The 4th verse of Psalm 90 establishes the template of the Night Watch Week - and the very next verse makes reference to a people who have been swept away like a flood.

The language of the verses that follow it hearken back to the circumstances of the flood of Noah's day.

The following passage informs us about a more localized flood that is appointed for the Night Watch Week.

Is this what compares to the flood of Noah's day? I don't believe so because of the timing cues. You'll find more discussion of this and other matters of relevant interest in this study called A Flood Like - and Unlike - Noah's.

In seasons of watching I didn't give this much attention until this Shemitah came and the antitype or event itself was anticipated. It seemed more and more likely that the Black Awakening was part of the deal, or perhaps America's "horn being broken off" and a subsequent pandemic - but it was not to be. We had no idea that time had been hijacked and that the prophetic schedule had been subverted so this failure to witness the Flood-shadowed event on the correct scale was disturbing - and confusing because the Lord kept stongly encouraging us to carry on. What we did see was a wonky set of signs, like might have been appropriate in the preceding Shemitah cycles as shadows of the event echo into the past - but slightly out of phase. The following unedited posts were published during that watch season, which depending on how it's calculated, falls in the range of May 5-18, 2014. The one on the bottom is most interesting.

• Signs of the Season: "Noah sails past Jacob" as a blue baby born & Stephen Jones' Observations
• While on Watch - Signs of a Counter-Flood
• Signs in the Earth - Report of May 15
• Initial Observations While on Watch in the Projected Flood Season

The Exodus Divider : 2½ / 4½

This third Watch of the Night stands out as the one I have the most confidence in because it has been made to be my primary focus and so much has been revealed about it that is redundant in ways that naturally provide for cross-checking.

The prophetic scenarios presented in the directory as piercing the Veil cast their brilliant light upon this division of the third Watch of the Night! The Bride Theft study is a stand out - and these others with it!

• What Will Their Acceptance be but Life from the Dead?
• The Sign for the Bride - Part 1
• When Will the Lawless One be Revealed? (The Sign for the Bride - Part 2)

What will happen at this time on our calendar, in the (post-reset restored timeline) Spring of 2015? According to the harvest allegory it will be the antitype barley harvest followed by the wheat harvest. For a brief sketch, a key sequence of events begins with a trigger, the baptism of the lawless one by the papal false prophet. The Bride will watch for that on the 13th day of the 1st month and recognize it as a special sign, setting about the business of exposing as a fraud the one who will be wildly celebrated by the world. A faction of Israel numbering 144,000 gives this matter of the messianic identity their attention. While the world persecutes and dismisses the claims of the hated Bride, her witness moves those 144k sons of Israel to envy and they turn to accept the Bridegroom Y'shua as their promised messiah. Their acceptance on the 21st day of the 1st month, the last day of Pesah, prompts the Bridegroom at this transitional moment to steal His barley Bride away to His Father's house. There's a private meeting of Y'shua and his beloved family in His heavenly quarters where testimony is given, a meal is shared and there is an equipping and commissioning. A joint mission then results in another faction of Israel coming to accept Y'shua as their messiah, triggering another harvest at Shavuot, of the Wheat.

The following passage in Hosea applies to the Millennial Week and to the Night Watch Shemitah. Indeed, the reference to the spring rains in connection with the Lord's appearing suggests that a particular week of years is the most fitting context in which this prophecy will be fulfilled.

According to the threefold model of great sevens, we reflect upon how the third day of Creation is easily seen to be divided in two. This is a pronounced division. The view is that of a habitat being prepared that is subsequently followed by the appearance of creatures to inhabit it. From the Millennial Week, what is very exactly projected into the midst of the third Night Watch is Israel's Exodus from Egypt (2448 FA) and entrance into the promised land. (reference) Do you perceive a common theme? Reflect on Hosea 6:2, above, and on John 13:3 in the context of the appearance of new life to inhabit a prepared place.

So, ...on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence!

What was witnessed during the intense watch season in this prime Shemitah can be read in the unedited posts published during April, 2015. It was an intense season where we received some visions and touches of glory and dramatic signs, and memorable discipline, and further promise. Instead of the antitypical events, of course, we witnessed a variety of out-of-phase kinds of signs.

While on watch earlier during this these Night Watches Aaron witnessed a dramatic sign that is worth noting here. The kitchen wall clock that looks like an apple fell on the floor, coming off the wall in an impossible way. Time stopped, in a figure. I heard it fall, having just gone upstairs to bed. Even though this event didn't come at the 2½ demarcation it still happened at the transition into the 3rd day-year, on Yom Teruah in 2014, precisely 2 years in. You can read about it in these two posts to the blog.

• The Sign of Yom Teruah - Falling Apple Clock, Antichrist and the Time Mission
• The Sign of Yom Teruah - Stopped Clock - Russ Dizdar, Agent of Light and Shadow

Some 2/5 Divisions Featured in Cryptic Prophecies

When we searched for other sets of seven to learn how they might be divided we found five accounts. In each case, the seven are divided into whole number sets of two and five. There is no variance! Two of these accounts feature children, one, fishermen, and two, food items. Each of these accounts is a prophetic allegory picturing the watches in the night.

She Who Was Barren has Borne Seven Children

Briefly, 1 Samuel 2 lays the foundation for Samuel as a type of the 144,000. His parents, Hannah and Elkanah represent Israel and the church. The famine week is seen in symbolism as the seven children borne by she who was barren.

The name, Hannah, means, "He was gracious." 1 Samuel 2:21a reads, "And the Lord was gracious to Hannah;" which, expanded, reads: "And the Lord was gracious to 'he was gracious.'" Our attention is drawn to the verse because the meaning of the name is found right there, and this has become a familiar device for the calling out of a hidden prophecy. This verse is the one in which the rest of Hannah's children are mentioned, and there's an apparent discrepancy regarding her children that suggests that there is a riddle to be solved.

Here's the whole verse.

Let's do the math. Samuel plus three sons makes four. Add two daughters and the sum is six children. Where's the seventh child? There's no further information anywhere to be found in the Bible, so we're left with a curiosity about the number of children. Here's my understanding of the riddle. When the prophecy is given that "she who was barren has borne seven children," the children are to be understood in the sense that is consistent with the esoteric context. It looks to me as though the seven are grouped into two, (Samuel and the mysteriously missing child) and then five (three sons and two daughters).

Saul Receives Two of Seven Sacrificial Gifts at the Oak of Tabor

If you do the math on the exchange at the Oak of Tabor described in verses 3 and 4, the men going up to God at Bethel gave Saul two of the seven items they carried, leaving them with five.

Having become familiar with many coded prophetic scenarios, several elements in this passage suggest that it's an esoteric text pertaining to the third Watch of the Night, speaking to me of the Bride Theft and the sealing of the 144k sons of Israel. Seven days are mentioned; the jug of wine is the 7th item listed - signifying the Shabbat rest that follows the work week of 6 days; donkeys are often representing angels; the spirit of the Lord comes on Saul mightily and he will be changed into another man - a transformation as from flesh to spirit body; Benjamin is a type of the Bride; the men with the prophetic sacrificial gifts are going up to God at Bethel, the house of God - as ascending into heaven; after receiving the bread Saul comes to the hill of God as another reference to heaven while the Phillistine garrison is as the Iron Gate of Acts 12; while other spiritual men are "coming down from the high place" as from heaven itself with musical accompaniment.

Saul's Seven Male Descendants

These seven children are found in the context of the payment of the penalty for a sin. Saul had sinned against the Lord and brought a famine upon the land as a consequence. Saul is recognized by some as a symbol of the wheat/Shavuot church. These seven are his sons, sacrificed to pay a penalty for his sin and bring the famine to an end. This account is another extensive prophetic scenario like many we've seen.

The seven children are presented to us as the two sons of Rizpah and five sons of Adriel. It's another two/five split.

Seven Fishermen

In The Twenty-First Chapter of John there is a thrilling and spectacular view of the Bride Theft. In this scenario there are seven men in a boat on the Sea of Tiberias. These seven can be divided into two categories; those who are identified and those who are not, which produces a five/two split.

Two of the disciples have lead roles in the scenario (Peter and John) while the other five do not, rendering once more the same ratio. Why would the Author of the Bible identify such things to us if there weren't some significance?

Seven Miraculous Food Items

The Feeding of the Five Thousand was a miracle and remarkable prophetic scenario that was accomplished with seven food items. This esoteric text illustrates the transition of the ages that occurs at the Bride Theft. These seven items are in two categories - bread and fish.

This is yet another set of seven with a five/two split.

In whole numbers, this is how biblical sets of seven items are divided. With regard to The Threefold Model of Great Sevens, the Exodus coming at 2448 FA suggests a more granular resolution, a 2½ / 4½ split. This fits perfectly with the way the Holy Day calendar structures the year. With the prime Shemitah beginning on Yom Teruah in 2012, the day appointed for the Bride Theft follows almost exactly 2½ years later, which is the 21st day of the 1st month in 2015. In the Exodus, the Sea of Reeds was crossed on the 21st day of the 1st month, concluding the very first Pesah in a foreshadowing of the Bride Theft!

The Tradition of the Midpoint Division

It's widely believed that the seven years is divided right in the middle. The basis for this 3½ / 3½ split theory is a single verse of scripture.

The word translated, middle, is, chatsi. It does not demand that we interpret it here as dividing the period into equal portions. Because of what we now know about the harmony of The Threefold Model of Great Sevens, if a major event divides this week of years it will be modeled in both the creation and millennial weeks. So, do these patterns exhibit a midpoint division? No, they don't. What dramatic event can be found at the midpoint of the fourth millennial day? If there was such a significant event around 500 BC, it would be easy to identify. Take a look. I found nothing at that point in the history of the entire world that has potential and nothing that looks like a shadow of what is called in Daniel the abomination of desolation.

Consider the fourth day of the Creation week. The most basic architectural structure of the fourth day account is a two part division; however, the second is merely a repetition of the first. (see Interactive Display of Thematic Structure in Genesis 1:14-18) No distinction in character is made in the two halves like we see in the divided third day.

With eyes that have been opened to see the Lord's calendar patterns, it should be clear that the tradition of a midpoint division is weakly supported at best. It will be seen that the division in the midst of the Shemitah week matches the major division in the midst of the millennial week at the 4/3 divide, as the fourth day transitions into the fifth.

The First Advent Divider - 4 / 3

According to the threefold model of great sevens it should be anticipated that the transition between the 4th and 5th Watches of the Night should be substantial. (reference) We look for some kind of event or sequence of events that has been foreshadowed in the bringing forth of the sun in Creation and in the coming of the Messiah. In this point in the unfolding of the Night Watches it may be appointed for what is called the abomination of desolation. I don't have revelation insight on this and the possible evidence seems pretty sparse but this seems to be a fair suggestion. As I write, we're approaching this time on the calendar, so we're practicing some informed watching to see what we might see.

This event called the abomination of desolation seems to rank right up there with Armageddon in popularity, known to most anyone who has ever heard a sermon on Bible prophecy. I suspect it has to do with the arrival of the mark of the beast. We find what is perhaps the most popular warning about this event in Matthew's gospel.

That's the kind of dramatic transition in character we might expect to correlate with the rather dramatic 4/3 split seen in the other two kinds of weeks!

An abomination has to do with idols, idolatry - the worship of something in place of God. The abomination of, or, "that causes" desolation may compare to the creation of the sun and the coming of HaMashiach as some manner of the appearance of a counterfeit sun, an anti-sun, antichrist. This can't be the revealing of the lawless one recorded in 2 Thessalonians 2 (from about a year and a half earlier) but perhaps it pertains to the image of the beast receiving life and the full implementation of the mark of the beast, where people provide their bodies as hosts for the spirits of those dead who had been destroyed in the great flood of Noah's day and were reserved for judgement as agents appointed to execute it.

As noted in the study called, Resurrection on the Third Day, the seventh day may well be accounted as a third day. This bears witness to the week having a second starting point. The second count begins at this 4/3 divider, as the 4th ends and the 5th Watch of the Night begins. That there is a secondary count that begins at this time reveals that it's a new beginning. You can perceive the theme, right? I don't really know what to expect, not having it on revelation insight, but whatever is coming at this point in the Watches of the Night looks pretty ominous and of enormous significance!

The Shabbat Divider - 6 / 1

The creation week pattern of six units of work followed by one of rest was extended to another type of week (reference) in Leviticus 25.

This cycling set of seven years is known as the Shemitah cycle, "Shemitah" referring to the Shabbat year of rest. If you have become familiar with the subject of The Harvest allegory, you may note that this agricultural cycle prophesies of the redemption of the creation, including mankind, and the eventual restoration of all things!

This resting in the seventh day is a primary theme of the seventh Watch in the Night too. Another is the execution of judgement, where the wrath of God is visited upon the disobedient and peace and rest is brought to their persecuted victims.

The following passages are often interpreted in the context of the millennial week but do they not also apply to a literal day and to a literal year?

This year-day Shemitah will be a rest year for the remaining people of God as they are protected and cared for, but in contrast a season of wrath for others. I believe there is a literal 24 hour kind of day most particularly appointed for the conclusion of the wrath, and that there is also a year appointed for retribution. The Lord calls this the year of his redemption. That year will also be a year of the Lord's favor, similar to when Y'shua proclaimed its fulfillment in Luke 4:18-19 and further applying to those who would come after His kind, who will grieve in Zion and upon whom the Sprit of the Sovereign Lord is.

I will close this section with an interesting view where the Night Watches are metaphorically calamities.

The Hebrew word for "rescue" is "natzal," meaning the same as "rapture." This is not a "pre-mid-post-tribulation rapture." This truth should become very obvious as you make your way through the compilation of studies.

The Shemitah Ends

When the prime Shemitah comes to an end, the Yobel or Jubilee will be celebrated as a fulfillment of longstanding prophecy beginning with Yom Kippur. The night portion of the 7th millennial day will have passed. The dawn of the day will be celebrated in the Earth as the reign of the triumphant Lion of the Tribe of Judah is established! Those glorious passages that picture His millennial reign will be manifest. He will be known as both sovereign and just. He will be vindicated, and those with Him. Glory!

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