Chapter 17: The Great Babylonian Captivity in the Twentieth Century

The Babylonians took Jerusalem in 604 B.C. It marked the beginning of the 70-year captivity that Jeremiah had prophesied (Jer. 29:10). In 534 B.C., the Edict of Cyrus freed them to return to their own land.

This 70-year Babylonian captivity was repeated 2,520 years later, from 1917-1987 A.D., among the modern nations of the twentieth century. It began with the so-called Russian Revolution in November of 1917 and ended 70 years later when President Gorbachev gave his 70th anniversary speech before the Supreme Soviet, announcing a shift in policy that ultimately resulted in the disintegration of the Soviet Empire as we knew it.

Of course, neither Gorbachev nor anyone else in Russia comprehended just how far down the nation would slide into economic, political, and social anarchy. The new policy was sold to the Supreme Soviet as just another tactic by which they would eventually rise to the top and defeat the West. But God had other plans, for it was the end of the second great Babylonian captivity of history that was repeating on one of the most important time cycles in the Bible.

The 2,520-Year Cycle Prophesied

Some students of the Bible are unaware of the 2,520-year cycle and its importance in Bible prophecy. However, most know about the 1,260-day cycle mentioned in Revelation 11:3. This is half of 2,520. A prophetic year is 360 days, because it is about half-way between the solar year (365 days) and the lunar year (354 days).Three and a half prophetic years is thus 1,260 days, and a full seven-year cycle is 2,520 days.

In short-term prophecy, a 1,260-day period is three and a half years, and 2,520 days is seven years. In long-term prophecy, however, we see these things fulfilled after 1,260 years or 2,520 years. Usually, we see short-term fulfillments which are types and patterns of a long-term fulfillment. In order to obtain a full view of God’s Plan, we need to see how these things are fulfilled in all the short-term patterns as well as the long-term fulfillments.

Daniel never mentions the 1,260-day period, but it is generally accepted that this is what is meant by the expression, “a time, times, and an half” in Daniel 12:7. While a “time” is unspecified, it has meaning only if it refers either to a year of 360 days or a period of 360 years.

History has some interesting fulfillments of prophecy on these 2,520-year cycles, and they consistently deal with a time of judgment, with a view to restoration or cleansing at the end of that time. For example, in the history of the House of Israel, we find that their captivity began in 745 B.C., with the deportation of the tribes on the east side of the Jordan River. Precisely 2,520 years later is 1776 A.D., the date that Americans hold as the establishment of the United States. Thus, there is a connection between the two events. The judgment upon the House of Israel began in 745 B.C. and lasted 2,520 years to the formation of America in 1776. Then it began to come to an end.

Of course, as we have already seen, this 2,520 years was manifested as the “time of Jacob’s trouble” (12 x 210 years). Thus, it required a final 210-year period to manifest the division between Judah and Israel when Solomon died, so that we could see God at work repairing the breach between the Sceptre and the Birthright. We covered this subject in Chapter 15, so we need not restate it here.

There is a second 2,520-year period that is our focus in this section. It is applied to the city of Jerusalem. Even as the 210-year breach of the House of Israel (931-721 B.C.) manifested again after 2,520 years, so also with Jerusalem. The Babylonians captured Jerusalem in 604 B.C., and Judah experienced a 70-year captivity until 534 B.C. British general Allenby took Jerusalem from the Turks in 1917, precisely 2,520 years after Nebuchadnezzar did in 604 B.C. This represented a return of Jerusalem to the control of an Israelite nation (Great Britain) and its monarchy, which can trace its ancestry back to king David.

At the same time, in November of 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution took place in Russia, which put a great many people into a 70-year time of captivity until 1987. This runs parallel to the 70-year captivity of Jerusalem and Judah 2,520 years earlier. In November of 1987, in his 70th anniversary speech before the Supreme Soviet, President Gorbachev announced a shift in policy which proved to be the beginning of that nation’s slide into economic and social chaos.

It is possible that this slide may reach a culmination point ten years later, in the fall of 1997. Just as America’s final 210-year period (1776-1986) required a final ten years to repair the breach in 1996, so also might there be a ten-year cycle from 1987-1997 to complete the Plan of God for Russia.

The 76-Year Cleansing Cycle

When Cyrus issued his famous Edict allowing the Judahites to return to Palestine in 534 B.C., it began a 76-year cycle of cleansing. This time period was completed in 458 B.C., when king Artaxerxes I issued his Edict sending Ezra to Jerusalem. Ezra cleansed the priesthood, and this began a 490-year countdown toward the Messiah’s first work, the Cross. In other words, in that manifestation we saw the 70-year captivity, followed by the 76-year time of cleansing, which brought us into the 490-year countdown toward the Messiah.

In the twentieth century, we see this same pattern, but it is slightly altered in order for God to shorten the time. Instead of being consecutive, the 70 years and the 76 years overlap each other. In fact, they both begin in the fall of 1917. How do we know this? Simply by the historical facts. In November of 1917, the Russian Revolution began a 70-year captivity. In December of 1917, General Allenby freed Jerusalem, and his act runs parallel to the Edict of Cyrus that began the 76-year cleansing cycle.

November 1917 + 70 years = 1987

December 1917 + 76 years = 1993

Thus, in our century we see the beginning of a 70-year captivity coinciding with the beginning of a 76-year cleansing cycle for Jerusalem. The cycles run concurrently, rather than consecutively. Thus, while recent events run parallel to the events many years ago, the cycles are overlapped. Both begin in 1917, but the 70-year captivity began to end in 1987, while the 76-year cleansing cycle for Jerusalem ended in the fall of 1993.

On September 13, 1993, the Israeli government signed a peace treaty with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). While it is not for me to condone or criticize this treaty, I do not believe that it will ultimately result in peace between the Palestinians and Jews. Neither side will give up Jerusalem, and there will be no peace without deciding that issue. It is a religious issue to both sides, and neither side is willing to undermine its own religion. Ultimately, neither side will win. The Jews will lose, because Jesus prophesied in Luke 19:12-27 that God would bring the Jews back to the land for the purpose of destruction. The Palestinians will lose, because the Jews make sore losers and will not lose without destroying everyone—by nuclear weapons, if necessary.

Esau Receives the Dominion

In Chapter 11, we dealt with “the controversy of Zion,” which is the controversy between Jacob and Esau over who would inherit the land of Palestine and the birthright blessing. We showed how Esau had always coveted that land, and his descendants have maintained aspirations to return. Malachi 1:1-5 specifically reflects this Edomite desire.

The story really goes back to the day that Jacob lied to his father, Isaac, in order to secure the birthright blessing for himself. Isaac was nearly blind by this time, so Jacob dressed up as Esau and received the blessing by deceit. Afterward, Esau implored his father for a blessing also, but it was too late. Nonetheless, Isaac did give Esau a blessing. Genesis 27:39-40 says,

³⁹ And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be [away from] the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; ⁴⁰ And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

Isaac’s blessing tells us that the day would come when Esau would have the dominion. Why? Because this was justice. It was in the Plan of God for Jacob to receive the birthright, but he obtained it in an unlawful manner. Thus, the day would come when he would have to give it back to Esau for a time, in order to give Esau opportunity to bring forth the Fruits of the Kingdom. That day came in 1947/48 when Britain gave the land back to the modern descendants of Esau who had incorporated into the nation of Judah in 126 B.C.

Britain’s flag is called the “Union Jack,” and Jack is a shortened form for Jacob. Thus, it was in the Plan of God that Britain first take Palestine from the Turks, so that Jacob would be in a position to give it to Esau. It is a matter of Bible law. Isaac had given the birthright to Jacob, but Esau would yet have his day. In this way, God would give Esau’s descendants the final opportunity to hold the Debt Note after Babylon’s time had ended. That way, Esau would have no excuse before God when they did not bring forth the Fruits of the Kingdom. They would not be able to complain in the divine Court, “If Jacob had not stolen my birthright, I would surely have brought forth the Fruits of the Kingdom!”

It is remarkable how God was able to fulfill two sets of prophecies at the same time. The remnant of Judah, represented by the cursed fig tree, was to bring forth more leaves, but no fruit. The remnant of Edom had to receive the dominion for a time, in order to prove that they had no interest in bringing forth the Fruits of the Kingdom.

Rebuilding Herod’s Temple

King Herod was the most outstanding type and shadow of the Judah-Edom nation. His father was Antipater, a Judahite, who had been captured at an early age by Edomites. He grew up among Edomites and later married an Edomite woman. Their son, Herod, eventually was appointed king in Galilee by the Roman government. He greatly expanded and beautified the temple that Zerubbabel had built in 515 B.C. In John 2:20, we learn that it took 46 years to complete that project. Because of a contradiction in Josephus’ accounts, we do not know precisely when the project began or ended. In Wars of the Jews, I, xxi, 1 he says it was begun in Herod’s 15th year (i.e., 23-22 B.C.). However, in Antiquities of the Jews, XV, xi, 6 he says it was begun in Herod’s 18th year (i.e., 20-19 B.C.). So the temple was completed either in 24 A.D. or 28 A.D. Either way, it was completed shortly before the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.

We showed in Chapter 10, pages 114-117, how the “Debt Note” was given to the Jews in 1948, after it had been held by Babylon and its successors for eight periods of 414 years. In Chapter 11, we showed how the Israeli state was fulfilling Jesus’ prophecies of the cursed fig tree. (See pages 123-125.) We also showed earlier in this present chapter how the Israeli state was a counterfeit Israel. However, so far, we have not developed this theme beyond 1948. The key question is how long the Israeli state can survive before God brings the judgment that has been prophesied.

It would appear that there are two main time cycles that are relevant in answering this question. The first (76 years) we mentioned in the last section. That 76-year cycle of cleansing brings us to November or December of 1993. The second is a 46-year cycle for the rebuilding of Herod’s temple, from November 1947 to November 1993.

In 1 Corinthians 3:16, we find that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Of course, this is true only if the Holy Spirit truly does indwell us. Recall that Solomon’s Temple was filled with the Spirit of God, and this was a type and shadow of our own infilling as well. But a man who is not indwelt by the Holy Spirit is merely a temple of Herod. That temple did not have an Ark of the Covenant, nor was it ever glorified by the presence of God. It was meant to portray an empty shell of man and man’s religious system. It was beautiful on the outside, but full of dead men’s bones on the inside.

Thus, we find that John associates Herod’s temple with the number 46. It is no coincidence that man has 46 chromosomes, which define his fleshly characteristics. Man’s body without the Holy Spirit is exemplified by the temple of Herod.

The Israeli state is a counterfeit Israel. The Israeli Jews who control that nation have no intention of fulfilling the Feast of Tabernacles to portray the Temple of Solomon. Their most sacred site is the Wailing Wall, which is a part of Herod’s temple. In effect, the kingdom they are attempting to build is a temple of Herod. Their religion is without the Spirit of God as well, for they remained spiritually in the Age of Passover and were unable to graduate by the Cross and make the jump into Pentecost.

It appears to me that the allotted time for the Jews to rebuild Herod’s temple (the nation, not necessarily the building) is 46 years. Their time ended on November 29, 1993, precisely 46 years after the Palestinian Resolution in 1947.

Because of Jewish terrorists in Palestine during the late 1940’s, the British government finally decided to put the fate of that land into the hands of the United Nations. They did so on November 21, 1947, and eight days later, the United Nations passed the Palestinian Resolution on November 29, 1947. It created a “homeland” for the Jews, not an Israeli state. However, a few months later, when the British government suddenly decided to withdraw its troops, the Jewish terrorists seized the reins of government and declared the “State of Israel” on May 14, 1948. The men who had been wanted for murder and terror now became statesmen for the new government.

Thus, their 46 years began to come to an end during November 21-29, 1993. Knowing this, we understood that there was to be one final shift in the Debt Note. Babylon and its successors had held it until 1947/48. The remnant of Judah and Edom had held it for 46 years until November of 1993. Now the time had come for Jesus’ words to be fulfilled, when He said in Matthew 21:43,

⁴³ Therefore say I unto you, The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the Fruits thereof.

The time had come for the Jews to be called into God’s Courtroom. It was time to bring forth the Fruits of the Kingdom or be “sold” into captivity, as God had done with many nations before this time. Jesus’ words above indicated that they would not pay the Debt Note, but that it was to be given to those who would do so. Ultimately, the only ones who will bring forth these Fruits will be the Overcomers.

Britain-Jacob had sold the birthright to the Jews of Esau in November of 1947. In the divine law, if a man sells his inheritance, he cannot return to it until the year of Jubilee, unless he is able to raise the money needed to redeem the property. In this case, it appears that 1993 is the legal date ending Esau’s control of the birthright, but that 1996-7 was the actual time when they were to give up the birthright name of Israel or face the consequences.

The Debt Note Given to the Overcomers

There are many thousands of Overcomers worldwide. They are one in the Spirit, and so what one does benefits them all. When one weeps, they all weep. When one rejoices, they all rejoice. I do not mean to be presumptuous in this, but in 1991, when God showed me the revelation of timing partially contained in this book, I came to understand that the Overcomers would have to stand before God’s divine Court at the appointed time in 1993 to receive the Debt Note—the responsibility to bring forth the Fruits of the Kingdom. In so doing, the Overcomers would also be given the authority to rule on earth as prophesied many times in the Scriptures.

In November of 1993, the Israeli Debt Note came due. They still had not brought forth the Fruits of the Kingdom required of them. So God foreclosed upon their debt and sold them into the hands of the Overcomers. The Debt Note was transferred, and I believe that the Overcomers were given three years in which to pay the debt--i.e., to declare the Jubilee.

This three-year cycle is the time it takes to raise up the body of Christ (John 2:20). By divine law, fruits are not required until the fourth year. In the fourth year, the fruits are all to be dedicated to God as Firstfruits (Lev. 19:24). Obviously, only a tiny fraction of Overcomers knew the time to appear in God’s Court, but their representatives were there to act on their behalf, submitting themselves to the Will of God. They accepted this responsibility and authority on behalf of the entire body.

In the summer of 1993, I was led to issue a call for the Jubilee Prayer Campaign to be held November 21-29, 1993. This was the 46th anniversary of the United Nations debate leading up to the Palestinian Resolution that ultimately handed control of Palestine from Jacob to Esau. Just before the prayer campaign, I was led to move my family from Arkansas to Washington state, knowing that this was to be the location to conduct this prayer campaign.

There were precisely 414 prayer warriors who responded by November 29. There was also a lunar eclipse that night fully visible in most parts of North America. The Washington state lottery even drew the number 490 that day. We took this as a sign that the Cursed Time for the Overcomers had ended, and that we were being moved into Blessed Time that would lead to the second work of Christ. The eclipse we took as a sign that the powers of heaven were being darkened, and that those who had held the Debt Note in the past had been found in noncompliance with its terms. Thus, we petitioned the divine Court on behalf of the overcomers to receive the Debt Note, that we might take upon ourselves the responsibility to bring forth the Fruits of the Kingdom in due season and so fulfill Matthew 21:43.

Then God called for a second prayer campaign to be held January 27-30, 1994, called “His Fullness Prayer Campaign.” I was led to issue a second prayer call to see how many would be added to the original 414 prayer warriors. Some dropped out, others were added, until it stopped at precisely 490 prayer warriors. This confirmed that God was indeed bringing us out of the Curse from Adam into the glorious liberty (Jubilee) of the Sons of God.

The second prayer campaign was a time of prayer to receive the Fullness of His Spirit. Counting 2 x 490 days from the end of His Fullness Prayer Campaign would bring us to the eighth day of Tabernacles of 1996 (Oct. 5, 1996). Consequently, we understood that this second prayer campaign served as a countdown toward the Jubilee and ultimately to the second work of Christ, which we believe will be the next great move of God in the earth.

The midpoint of this time period fell on June 4, 1995—the Feast of Pentecost. On that day, we were led to hold a one-day prayer campaign called “Occupy Till I Come.” The purpose of this prayer campaign was to occupy the gates, where the elders and judges of a city would sit in ancient times. In other words, we accepted the authority that God would be giving to the Overcomers at the appointed time “when I come.”

There are many more things that God has led people to do in the past twenty years, which would require an entire book in itself. However, our purpose in this present study is to record the history of God’s Plan from the beginning to the present in an overall view. Regardless of how God has led me personally or others in the recent past, one thing is certain: God is Sovereign in history. He has a Plan, and though history seems to be out of control like a ship driven before a powerful wind, we know that that wind is the Spirit of God, and that even the wind and the sea obey His voice. I am no great one for having received this revelation of timing, and the same could be said of all who built the foundations for this revelation. I seek to establish no religion, denomination, or church. I will point only to Jesus Christ and admonish all to have faith that He knows what He is doing, for only He is worthy and able to be any man’s covering.

What Is an Overcomer?

An Overcomer is primarily a forgiver; one who lives the principle of the Jubilee. He has allowed the work of Passover (the Cross) and the work of Pentecost (the law written on one’s heart) to do their work. An Overcomer is one who is growing up into Christ, one who is coming into a state of maturity in Him. An Overcomer is putting on His Father’s mind and is coming to agree with what God does in the earth and how He accomplishes those goals. He is learning to say “Amen” to all that God does, bearing witness to Him in all things, and not disagreeing with Him. An Overcomer is one who is coming to understand the Father and His ways.

We are, as yet, only potential Overcomers. We can aspire to this end with our whole heart, but we are not yet perfected, for we are yet in the wilderness, stumbling in the dim light of Pentecost. We have no sense yet that we are “nearly perfected.” Instead, we cry out to God for mercy, knowing the total inadequacy of any personal righteousness or ability to hear His voice as we should. We desire the authority of God only as a tool to better serve others, to have a greater ability to bring the blessings of God to the needy in the world. It is not authority we seek, but responsibility. The authority He gives is only a means to an end.

Reputation means nothing to us, for we have found that this is the first pot of pride that God must remove in order to teach us to serve God first. While men may rationalize their need for reputation on the grounds that it is the only way God can spread the Gospel to the masses, God teaches the Overcomers that they cannot take themselves so seriously. As they learn this, they come to understand that being obedient is more important than doing good.

Overcomers must learn, first and foremost, a total dependence upon God. They must truly know in their hearts that God is God and does not really need us at all to do His work. Yet they must also truly know the magnificent but humbling truth that God does indeed intend to use us to manifest His glory and His works to others.

Whether in ignorance or in understanding, an Overcomer is one who is dissatisfied with the realm of Pentecost and desires to go all the way into the realm of Tabernacles. He must leave the good to obtain the best. He searches the Word, not simply for a knowledge of it, but to become the Word, for it is in so being that he fully reflects the character of his heavenly Father.