OK, I read about the first half of the study and skimmed through the last half. I also spoke to a pastor for about an hour that held the same view. It was as if he just read the same study, almost an identical linear thought process that hinges on the strict adherence to the exact time frame of 70 weeks in
Daniel 9:24.
Well, not really the exact time frame. There is an algebraic equation, one day equals one year, not mentioned in the scripture that must be applied before even beginning this study. A difficult pill to swallow when your belief hangs on the thread of a time frame needing to be exact. The scriptures also talk of a breakdown into three groups of time, seven weeks, sixty-two weeks, and one week. But for some reason, they must all be connected, with no gaps, for this study to hold together.
The 70 weeks, or actually 490 years once decoded, must be an exact time and in order with no gaps, but I was never able to find in scripture where those MUST be the case; two crucial unfounded points to begin this entire way of believing.
I have also found it interesting how everyone with this belief starts with this very point. Its almost like there is a hidden wormhole in the Bible to another universe of Bible thinking. Once you've found it, you're sucked in never to return. No one ever starts their debate anywhere else. It all starts and ends with time. I have never had someone try to convince me 70 weeks absolutely positively must mean 490 years, but its absurd to think that one thousand years actually means one thousand years, all in the same attempt of understanding the actual words about time in the scriptures.
So, I think this is as far as I need to go. There are just too many assumptions and unsubstantiated statements in the first three paragraphs alone, I don't think I could ever come to the same conclusions drawn by this study. I might be wrong. Forgive me if I am.
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to teach me this other viewpoint. This will now always be a thought in the back of my mind when doing further study. I will continue to weight it as I learn new things...
Mark