Welcome to another Upstream Teaching blog. In this series on End Time Prophecy Revealed, we have been looking at the antichrist in depth but now we are going to move into the Great Tribulation and when it is.
Some think it’s already happened. Some think it’ll be 7 years long. But the Bible teaches that it will be half of a seven year period which is 3 and half years. Let’s dive in.
Daniel’s prophecy concerning the 7 weeks a great place to start. The book of Daniel is a remarkable book and this prophecy is one of the most incredible and unlikely prophecies in the Bible. In chapter 9 we find the Angel Gabriel visiting Daniel in response to Daniel’s prayers. And he says in verse 24: Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
Seventy weeks isn’t very long is it? It’s only 490 days, a little over a year. Well, it’s obvious that those things did not happen in that time period. But the way to understand this is that a day equals one year, which means a week equates to 7 years. Let’s keep reading…
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
Messiah the Prince is Jesus. There was a commandment to restore Jerusalem. From that command to the Messiah’s arrival was predicted exactly. And it was written in the book of Daniel hundreds of years before it happened! Isn’t that amazing?! This is a great passage to use to demonstrate the validity and inerrant nature of the Word of God. Keep reading…
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Wow, there’s a lot in there. Once you do all the math, you find that it comes out perfectly. Five centuries before, the Bible predicts this perfectly. Isn’t that incredible!!
There is another theory that takes it to 30AD, but it’s based on different calendars etc. The point is, the Bible got it right! The prophecy was fulfilled perfectly and accurately. That should comfort us. The Bible can be relied on folks! We knew that already but it’s always great to see it functioning and operating before our eyes! Let’s finish this prophecy.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Remember, in Matthew 24, Jesus talks about this. It says, the midst of the week. What does that mean? It means it’s halfway through the ‘final week’, or the final seven year period. Halfway through that week is the beginning of the Great Tribulation. The world will be proclaiming peace and safety. At that time, the antichrist will remove the sacrifices and oblation in the temple and the great tribulation will begin.
Daniel 7:25 says And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
This is another allegorical way of saying 3 and half years. We see it also in the New Testament. Revelation 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Revelation 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. Again, 3 and half years.
So, we can tell from these passages in God’s Word, that the Great Tribulation will occur halfway through the final ‘week’ or seven year period and after the antichrist has created a peace treaty (again, most people think that to be between Israel and Palestine) and then stopped all the sacrifices and oblations (offerings) in the temple. Praise God it will only last 3 and a half years!
The message remains the same; keep your eyes on the prize! Be equipped and empowered with knowledge, but do not let fear come in. Keep your eyes on Jesus and the victory that we will live in for all eternity.
We’ll see you next week. Until then, have a blessed week.
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Joel Richardson, a biblical end times teacher, makes a good case, I think, that the anti-messiah empire will be a revived Islamic Empire and not a revived Roman Empire. The Daniel scripture that the people of the prince (anti-messiah) to come will destroy the second temple is officially interpreted as Rome but Joel points out that the troops who carried that out were from the surrounding nations under Roman rule and who are now Muslim nations surrounding Israel. He also points out that the legs of Nebuchadnezzar's statue in the dream did not represent Rome but Islam since Rome never conquered the area where Babylon was but Islam did. That dream was about future empires that would supplant Babylon. Islam…