From Jeremiah to Jesus

Hi all,

I just wanted to announce the completion of my book. I have entitled it "From Jeremiah to Jesus". I thought I would post the preface here so you can get an example of what the book is about. I also scanned the cover from the proof copy. The main printing should be completed within a week or so.

PREFACE

While the subject that I ultimately deal with is of an incredible and exciting nature, the road to finding it, I can imagine, would be quite laborious to the average person who cares nothing for ancient Babylonian and Achaemenid kings and the events surrounding them.

And while I do expect the reader to have at least a minimum prior knowledge of these events I have also tried to write this book in a simple and easy to understand way and not in an “academic” way as you might expect from a college history professor.

However, it is from the book of Daniel that we are given the seventy weeks prophecy and if we want to understand the historical nature of this incredible prophecy we are forced to study the times and dates.

The amazing fact that this fulfillment could have ever been buried in our past is tantamount to watching the Red Sea split open, walking across on dry land and then just a few weeks later openly declare you wish you had never left Egypt.

Any attempt to remove the glory of this fulfilled prophecy must take extraordinary and quite obvious measures to do so. We see a good example of this in the removal of 240 years from the Hebrew calendar in a vain, and frankly pathetic, attempt to deny Christ.

Anyone with a modicum of historical understanding will quickly see the glaring blunders that the removal of these years has on the timeline of history. I find myself quite embarrassed for the whole lot of them as they embrace obvious lies rather than embrace their very own Savior, but I digress.

This book begins by laying the groundwork for understanding basic truths about the Hebrew calendar, the reckoning of days and the feasts of the Lord. These are important in reaching our goal of understanding when Christ began his ministry (26 AD) and when He died, resurrected and ascended into Heaven (30 AD).

Our history starts in earnest when we uncover the prophecy of the seventy years of captivity in Babylon, which begins from the first carrying away in 605 BC to the commandment given by Cyrus to rebuild the Temple in 536 BC. I also explain the all but forgotten character of Darius the Mede.

Understanding this timeframe is important because this is the time of the first commandment which is often disputed to be the one that initiates the seventy weeks prophecy of Daniel and once we gain a clear understanding of the seventy years we can better understand the seventy weeks.

Now, after the Temple is completed in 516 BC, we follow the timeline until the arrival of Ezra in 458 BC which brings with it yet another contender for the commandment that begins Daniel’s seventy weeks prophecy.

Finally, we arrive in 445 BC with Nehemiah, who is also given a commandment to return and rebuild Jerusalem, so this is the third contender for the start of the prophecy.

Usually the first thing that becomes clear when you begin to study this topic is that any one of these three commandments are so close as to make Christ’s arrival spot on and therefore undeniable, even to the most ignorant and knowledge rejecting among us.

However, if we dig deeper we can identify the precise commandment. This is important because once you pin it down all you have to do is start the countdown and 483 years later the Messiah is promised to show up.

You will be astonished to see how accurate the prophecy actually is and which commandment is the one spoken of in Daniel. I know I was.

Once the key is inserted into the door of understanding so much more opens up in front of us. Not only are we able to pin down the correct date but we are also able to flesh out many of the more obscure events in history.

When we finally arrive in 26 AD, we are able to uncover mystery after mystery concerning when and why things were done as they were. I remember being so excited the day I realized that I had pinned down the exact date of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.

From there it is easier to find these other dates such as His birth and then show compelling evidence of why that date is the correct one. Also we find the time when John is baptizing Jesus in the Jordan and officially introducing the Savior to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So many wonderful understandings are there for the taking.

Frankly, I was intrigued enough to seek it out and then write this book so I could share my understanding with you. I hope you find it enlightening.

-- Jonn Mooney

Dinosaurs in the Bible STUDY NOTES

Dragon: Strong’s Hebrew number 8577 "tanniyn" meaning land or sea monster

Notice how the descriptions suggest details about the dragons and not just simple references to them.

Isa 27:1 In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

Jer 51:34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.

Ps 74:13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.

Jer 9:11 And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.

Jer 14:6 And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.

Mic 1:8 Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.

Isa 13:22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.

{The passage above from Isaiah 13:22 is often interpreted as "Jackals" (as in a large wolf or hyena) in some reference Bibles. However this is only a suggestion as to the meaning. The real meaning of the word is as above, a land or sea monster. The word jackal is used because the idea that it could actually be a dinosaur is often just too much to stomach. Many people’s entire belief structure is centered on evolutionary theory and information such as this is too devastating for them and they cannot hear it.}

Unicorn: Job 39: 9-12
9 Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?
10 Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
11 Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?
12 Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn?

Nu 23:22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.

Ps 29:6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.

Ps 92:10 But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.

Leviathan: Job 41-1-34
1 Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?
2 Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn?
3 Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?
4 Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?
5 Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?
6 Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants?
7 Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?
8 Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more.
9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?
10 None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?
11 Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.
12 I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion.
13 Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him with his double bridle?
14 Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.
15 His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal.
16 One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.
17 They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.
18 By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
19 Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out.
20 Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron.
21 His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth.
22 In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him.
23 The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved.
24 His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.
25 When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves.
26 The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon.
27 He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble.
29 Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear.
30 Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire.
31 He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary.
33 Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear.
34 He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.

Ps 104:26 There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.

Leviathan is not only a large sea monster but it also was able to breathe fire. There is no doubt that the above passages are describing a terrible ocean dwelling dinosaur. Most likely a Pliosaur which is estimated to be up to 50 ft long and weigh around 45 tons.

Below are quotes from a newpaper telling about the discovery of one of these creatures.

They had short necks and huge, crocodile-like heads that contained immensely powerful jaws and a set of huge, razor-sharp teeth.

Richard Forrest, a plesiosaur expert, said "What is fantastic about this new skull, not only is it absolutely enormous, but it is pretty much in 3D and not much distorted," he said. "You have this wonderful lower jaw – and you can just see from the depth and the thickness that this was immensely strong.

"It could have taken a human in one gulp; in fact, something like a T-Rex would have been breakfast for a beast like this."

Using four paddle-like limbs to propel its bulky body through the water, the pliosaur made easy work of passing prey such as dolphin-like ichthyosaurs and even other plesiosaurs.

"These creatures were monsters," said David Martill, a palaeontologist from the University of Portsmouth.

"They had massive muscles on their necks, and you would have imagined that they would bite into the animal and get a good grip, and then with these massive neck muscles they probably would have thrashed the animals around and torn chunks off.

Sounds a lot like how the Bible described it 4000 years ago, and it could also breathe fire. Imagine that.

Behemoth: Job 40:15-24
15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.

(In the verse above, many Bible references try to say this is an elephant or a hippopotomus but neither of these animals "moveth his tail as a cedar" but brachiosaurus did.)

18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.
19 He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.
20 Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.
21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.
22 The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.
23 Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.
24 He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.