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The Seven-Year Tribulation Period
RV112-01© Berean Memorial Church of Irving, Texas, Inc. (1993)
We will now continue with the first seal. This is segment number six on Revelation 6:1-2. We are still at the point of background material, because
Revelation 6 through 19 deal with a special period of human history which is still in the future, and which very specifically deals with the Jewish
people and the time of their greatest judgment and suffering at the hand of God, and of the judgment upon the gentile world.
The angel Gabriel, as a result of Daniel's prayer, informed the prophet that the Jewish nation faced a special cycle of 490 years of history. We
have that in Daniel 9:24. It is 70 weeks to be determined upon the Jewish people. These 70 weeks are 70 weeks of years. The timetable specifically,
we are told, applies to "your people and upon your holy city." Thus it refers only to the Jewish nation. It does not refer to the gentiles, and it
does not refer to the church. Daniel 9:24 said that this timetable applies "to your people." Who were Daniel's people? The Jewish people: "and upon
your holy city." What is Daniel's holy city? Well, it's not Chicago; Dallas; or, even Los Angeles. It is Jerusalem. That is the holy city. So, it
applies very specifically to the Jewish people, and to the city of Jerusalem.
Seventy Sevens
The Hebrew language here does not say "70 weeks" in Daniel 9:24. It says, "70 sevens." Therefore, we must observe that the text does not tell us:
sevens of what? Sevens of days? Sevens of weeks? Sevens of months? Sevens of years? It just says, "A series of 70 segments of seven are going to
complete God's dealing with the Jewish people. Only "sevens of years:" can, of course, literally fulfill the subsequent Jewish history that we do
know. So, it indicates to us that this is the time unit that is intended. 490 days would, of course, have fulfilled very little. Nothing happened
in that time. But in 490 years, the things that were predicted in this section of Daniel's timetable precisely historically took place.
So, therefore, history demonstrates to us that the sevens are sevens of years. Daniel, of course, had been thinking in terms of years. He was
praying about 70 years of captivity ending. So, it is quite logical that God continues talking to him concerning years. But now a period of 70
sevens of years.
The Jewish Calendar
The Jewish method of reckoning time is something that you need to take into account. In the Jewish calendar, every month is 30 days, and every year
has those 12 months of 30 days, so a Jewish year was 360 days. Daniel, when he speaks about a week of years, is talking about a week of 360-day years.
Those are prophetic years. What the Jews did was like we do in leap year. In a leap year, you get an extra day in February to bring the calendar back
in line with sun time. What the Jews did was to periodically would throw in a year that had 13 months, and then they'd get the calendar back in line
with some time again. But the rest of the time, every month had 30 days, and every year had 360 days in it. We're going to see that that's important
for you to know when we get to some of these figures.
So, the timetable for Jewish history revealed to Daniel is 490 prophetic years of 360 days each. Daniel 9:24 says that, "This period is determined
(or decreed) by God. It's an inevitable event. Therefore, it is very important for us, as students of the Word of God, to be interested in how it
applies. It's an inevitable decree of God. It is an important event. The expectation was there because the Davidic Covenant had been spoken of. Then
the termination of the 70-year captivity was of interest to Daniel. Now God begins speaking to Daniel, not only in terms of the termination of that
captivity, but in terms of the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant, which, of course, Daniel also knew.
God's Objectives
We have already looked at Daniel 9:24. There we have found that during the 490 years, six major objectives were to be achieved by God. They were:
to finish the transgression – that is, to end the Jewish violation of the Mosaic Law and their apostasy from that law; to make an end of sins
– to terminate the Jews' national rejection of their Messiah Jesus Christ, the great sin of Israel; to make reconciliation for iniquity –
that is, to make payment for the sins of the world (the sins of the Jewish people) by Jesus Christ, and to reconcile the Jews to God's standard of
absolute righteousness; to bring in everlasting righteousness – to bring in the kingdom of God with God Himself ruling upon this earth in
perfect justice; to seal up the vision and prophecy – that is, the fulfillment of all the divine promises to the Jews (some of which to this
day, of course, have not been fulfilled); and, perhaps most importantly, to anoint the most holy; that is, to set up the holy of holies, in a
restored Jewish temple of the millennium.
The holy of holies was the innermost room of the temple in which God Himself resided. It was where the Ark of the Covenant rested,
on top of which was the mercy seat where the priest, once a year, went to sprinkle the blood of animals as a symbol of the blood atonement which the
Messiah Savior was to bring for Israel. The Holy of Holies was the inner sanctum of the temple, which was the place where man made his contact with
God. That is why the curtain that separated that room from the holy room (in front of it) was ripped when Jesus Christ died. It was torn open
because it symbolized that now we could go directly, as our own priests, on the basis of those death of Christ, into the presence of a holy God. And
we would not be struck dead.
The 490 years then would complete all of these 6 objectives. They have not been realized to this day. The 490 years would begin with King Artaxerxes
in 445 B.C. when he gave a decree to Nehemiah to rebuild the city and the walls of Jerusalem. This was on March 14th, 445 B.C. The 490 years would
terminate in the establishment on earth of the Messianic Kingdom promised to King David, and which the angel Gabriel referred to when he spoke to
Mary.
The 490 Years
This period of 490 years would be divided into three segments first. This is told us in Daniel 9:25. There would be a period of 49 years. Jerusalem
would be cleaned up and rebuilt with its moat and its walls. That would then follow a period of 434 years. This would go from the rebuilding of
Jerusalem and its wall to the national official rejection of Jesus Christ on Palm Sunday, April 6th, about 30 or 32 A.D. There is fluctuation of
some debate of the specific year in terms of our calendar. But on April 6th, between 30 and 32 A.D., that period of time was brought to an end. At
that point (after that 434 years) the Messiah was cut off, which (in Hebrew terms) means that He would receive a violent death, and He would be
killed. 69 years had been fulfilled at that point. All that Messiah (the Ruler) was entitled to as King of the Jews under the Davidic Covenant (we
are told) would be cut off from Him. He would be denied those rights at the end of that 69th week. Jesus Christ thus went from the adulation of the
crowd, at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday, to crucifixion on the cross later that same week.
This national rejection of Jesus Christ as the King and Messiah of the Jews stopped the prophetic clock from ticking off the remainder of the 490
years which God had ordained for Israel. That remainder was seven years. This period has still been unfulfilled to this day. It is these seven years
which are described in Revelations chapters 6 through 19 – the era that we call the Tribulation.
I will not weary you with the mental meanderings, of which there are an innumerable number, that theologians and Bible students (particularly the
amillennials) make in trying to handle this seventh week. Many of them must admit that the first 69 weeks absolutely were literal years. They were
fulfilled historically. We can see that. We can look back. There's no problem with that. But when they come to the 70th week, which obviously has not
been fulfilled, what they do with it is just beyond imagination. They do not want the 70th week to be seven literally years still to be fulfilled in
the future, because that would imply that indeed the church and Israel are something totally different, and their whole system would crash to the
ground.
So, we're going to treat this thing the way it should be treated: literally. These seven years are just as literal as the previous 69 weeks. That's
the only proper, consistent method of interpretation. However, they have not been fulfilled.
Well, the prophetic clock will fulfill them in time. The clock will begin ticking these seven years off after the rapture of the church. The whole
church age of almost 2,000 years was inserted between the 69th and 70th week of Daniel's timetable. The Old Testament prophets didn't know that that
was going to happen. Nobody knew that was going to happen. The church was called a mystery, which means that it was a secret – that God had not
revealed it. Nobody knew that the 69th week was going to be separated from the 70th week, and that God was going to bring something marvelously
different. He was going to create a royal family known as the body of Christ, the church, of which we are apart this day.
What if?
After the close of the 69th week, or the 483 years, when Jesus Christ was rejected as the Messiah, the king of the Jews, He was murdered on the
cross. Jesus was murdered after the 69th week was over. This national rejection of the Son resulted in His death as the Lamb of God for the
sins of the world. John 1:29 tells us how John the Baptizer presented Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God that took away the sins of the world. What
would have happened if the Jews had had the good sense to believe the Scriptures, and to believe the evidence of the credentials of Jesus Christ?
They were very clear. He had everything to identify Him as the Messiah. He had everything that clearly marked Him as the one who had come to fulfill
the Davidic covenant, and the promise of a king to sit forever on that throne.
What if they had accepted Him and not murdered Him? What about our
sins, and the payment for the price of our evil? The Bible doesn't tell us. But we may conjecture that had the nation rallied to their Messiah, and
had they followed through with the attitude that they displayed on that triumphal entry Palm Sunday, then we may conclude that God the Father, in
some other way, would have provided a situation whereby His Son would have died for the sins of the world. The penalty would have been paid by Him in
some other way. As it was, in God's dealing, He used the rejection of the nation as the means to make the death which was inevitable, and which was
absolutely necessary to pay for our evil. So, in some other way, God would have handled that death before setting up the Millennial Kingdom.
Daniel 9:24-27 is Key
In Daniel 9:24-27, we have some very important verses of Scripture. Without these verses, it would be very difficult to understand the book of the
Revelation. So, let's summarize it. Daniel 9:24 looks at the prophecy of these 490 years as a whole. It presents it. It tells us that certain things
are going to be executed in that time span. Then Daniel 9:25 deals with the 69 weeks in particular. That period of 69 weeks is what is described in
verse 25. Then in verse 26, we have the details of the events that take place between the 69h and the 70th weeks. And that's very significant.
Daniel 9:26 gives us the details about what's going on between the 69th and the 70th week.
Daniel 9:26 says, "And after 62 weeks Messiah shall 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 of it shall be with a flood, and unto the end of war, desolations are determined." This expression, "the people
of the prince that shall come" refers to the Roman people, and to the future antichrist who will descend from that people: "The people of the prince
that shall come shall destroy the city." The Romans, in other words, here were predicted as the ones who would destroy Jerusalem and the temple. That
happened in 70 A.D. After the 69th week was over, and before the 70th week began, Jerusalem was destroyed. This happened almost 40 years after the
death of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Up to this time, every week of years consecutively followed the previous week. But when you get to the 69th week:
Bingo! Something happens. Suddenly, historically, things aren't clicking along anymore. That's our first major clue, that there must be a separation
between 69 and week 70. This is an important point in God's time table.
It was 40 years before what verse 26 says was going to happen actually took place. It says, "After the 69 weeks" (after 483 years). Do you know what
"after" means? It means when they're over. When the 483 years were completed, then a people will descend upon Jerusalem and the temple, and destroy
it. This is after the death of Christ. So, we've got a big piece of time in here that indicates to us that, suddenly, the weeks aren't consecutively
moving along. The 69 weeks, then, were completed during the lifetime of the Messiah, and before His crucifixion.
This verse tells us that the destruction of Jerusalem was to be like a raging flood of water sweeping over it, and its end will come like a flood.
That's what that means. Verse 26: "The end is going to be like a flood." If you've ever seen someplace where a flood of water has come through,
you'll understand this analogy.
Years ago, we used to do some camping in the Smoky Mountain National Park. There was a place on one of the trails where you could look up the
hillside and see what had resulted out of a flash flood. A tremendous flood of water from a tremendous storm had accumulated a huge amount of water
at the top, and it came gushing all the way down. You couldn't believe what that flood of water did to all the trees and to everything in its way.
You could see the devastation of the flood for years.
Well, that's the point here. When a flood goes through, it wrecks everything. The city of Jerusalem was ruined beyond anybody's imagination. The
Romans literally tore it apart. So, it hit them like a flood. Furthermore, it says that wars and desolation would be facing the Jewish people
to the end of the 490 years. And that's exactly true. War and desolation still face even the restored nation of Israel to this day.
So, when you read Daniel 9:25-26, we have clear historical fulfillment to refer to, and we have this fulfillment in great details.
The Messiah
The 69 weeks of years were completed, then, during the lifetime of the Messiah, and before His crucifixion. Daniel 9:25 indicates that the 69th week
ends with Messiah the prince or the anointed one – the ruler: "And know, therefore, and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to
restore and to rebuild Jerusalem (the decree of Artaxerxes) unto the Messiah." That is the 69-week periods from the decree of Artaxerxes to rebuild
Jerusalem, to the arrival on the scene of the Messiah is to be these 69 weeks. This term "the Messiah the prince" is a descriptive name of the
person who is the terminal point of this 69 weeks. This name, of course, expresses the official mission of the Deliverer promised to Israel, who is
Jesus Christ: the final great prophet; high priest, and King of the Jews. So, the name "Messiah" is used here because it is referring to all of the
functions of the promise Deliver of Israel. The term "prince," which is added to it, describes His supreme position among the Jews. He is called
"Messiah the prince" or "the Anointed Ruler.
So, at the end of the 69 weeks is the appearing of this Messiah ruler of Israel at his First Coming. The 69-week period ended with the only time
that Jesus Christ ever publicly presented Himself as the Messiah Ruler as described here. The only time that Jesus Christ ever presented Himself
to the people of Israel as Messiah the prince was one time in His whole ministry, and that was on that triumphal entry occasion when He came into
Jerusalem to the cheers of the people. That was the only time when, to the nation, He officially presented Himself as the Son of David who was to
set up their kingdom.
So, so that triumphal entry on Palm Sunday marks the end of the 69 weeks. The terminal point was not the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. That came
after the end of the 69 weeks. It was when He presented Himself as Messiah Ruler. Daniel 9:26 says, "That the Messiah Ruler is to be killed, or to
be cut off, after the 69 weeks. Notice Daniel 9:26: "after the 62 weeks: after the 69 weeks, Messiah would be cut off" (would be
killed). So, in between the 69th and 70th week, Jesus Christ is crucified. Daniel didn't know how long after the 69th week the Messiah would be cut
off. We found that it was very shortly thereafter. Also, it was before the 70th began.
The death of the Messiah the Ruler, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, is described in Daniel 9:26. This takes place after the 69th
week, and before the 70th week. These two events are after the 62-week segment. The seven-week segment for rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple,
plus the 62-week segment takes us down to Palm Sunday: from March 14th, 445 B.C. to April 6th, 30 or 32 A.D. So, Messiah is rejected by the Jewish
nation after the 69th week. This is closely associated then with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
The Prince
In verse 26, "the prince of the people that shall come is the antichrist, and we should identify him. You'll find this man referred to in Daniel 7:8.
So, Daniel had a little inkling already concerning this individual from what God had told him previously. In Daniel 7:8, we have this description:
"I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another a little horn." He considered the ten horns representing ten nations joined in
a confederacy of nations: "And I saw among them a little horn before which there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots, and behold,
in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man and a mouth speaking great things." This little horn of Daniel 7:8 is the antichrist. Here's where we
have our first indication that there will be on the earth scene, out of the nation descended from Rome, a confederacy of ten nations similar to the
ten nations of the European Economic Community that exists now. And out of those nations will come a leader so powerful and so magnetic that he will
be able to bring three of those nations under his control. He will pluck them up. Then the Scriptures tell us that the other seven decide to join
him. And he then becomes the ruler of the Western power structure – not of the whole world, but just of the Western power structure.
There are
three other power structures in the world at the time: Russia in the north; the Arab world in the south; and, the Oriental world in the east. But in
the middle of the tribulation period (in the middle of this last seven years), when Russia is destroyed, then the antichrist becomes the ruler of
the whole world. Then he takes over the master computers. Then he takes full control over all the information on every individual human being on the
face of the earth. Then he decides who eats; who doesn't eat; who work; who doesn't work; who lives; and, who dies. It's all at his fingertips. All
he has to do is punch it into the keyboard, and it's executed.
This man is the Little Horn in Daniel 7:8. He is also the abomination in Daniel 12:11: "And from that time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken
away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be 1,290 days." This "abomination" referred to here "that makes desolation" is
again the antichrist.
This same thing is referred to in Matthew 24:15, where Jesus speaks about this reference of Daniel to the abomination. In Revelation 13:1, you have
the beast out of the sea. That's the same person again – the antichrist. And in Thessalonians 2:3, you have the reference to the man of sin.
This is the same dude again. So, he comes up in a variety of descriptions: the little horn in Daniel 7:8; the abomination in Daniel 12:11, and then
referred to by the Lord in Matthew 24:15; the beast out of the sea in Revelation 13:1; and, the man of sin in 2 Thessalonians 2:3.
The Tribulation
The seventieth week does not begin until there is a treaty made with the Jewish nation, and that treaty is still in the future today. Daniel 9:27
says, "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week, and in the midst of the week, he shall call the sacrifice and the oblation to
cease. This statement indicates to us that this antichrist ruler, descended from the Roman Empire, is going to make agreement (a deal, or a covenant)
with the Jewish nation. He obviously will agree to be their protector. And he keeps his word for three-and-a-half years, and then he double-crosses
them. At the end of three-and-a-half years, Russia is out of the picture. He has a power vacuum that he can now feel. He becomes the ruler of the
whole world, and he turns against the Jew.
The Great Tribulation
Then begins the period that Jesus described as the great tribulation. So, the rejection of the Messiah Jesus Christ; the destruction of Jerusalem;
the destruction of the temple; and, in the dispersion of the Jews – all of these things have to take place before this 70th week begins.
The Hebrew language itself indicates to us that Daniel 9:27 is subsequent to verse 26. That's just the way the language uses the word "and." So,
we know that when verse 26 ends, and verse 27 begins with this Hebrew word "and," it's an "and" that indicates that it's after what took place in
verse 26.
So, the evidence is very strong. The events of Daniel 9:26 take place in a period of time between the 69th and 70th week. That's when Jerusalem and
the sanctuary were destroyed – in that year of 70 A.D. That's the time that God's program of 490 years was brought to an end. The gap has
stretched now for almost a period of 2,000 years. How much longer, we don't know. That is yet before us.
So, let's summarize this segment, so that you have some clear ideas. The 69 weeks of years is completed during the lifetime of the Messiah, and
before His crucifixion. Daniel 9:25 indicates that the 69 weeks ends with the Messiah, the prince, or the anointed one, the ruler. This is the
terminal point. This is His official name relative to the Jewish people. It sums up all that He is to them. Those 69 weeks end with the presentation
of Jesus Christ as the Messiah King on that triumphal entry, and they rejected Him. Daniel 9:26 says that, "He is then cut off, and He is removed
from that which should have been his proper authority.
The two events are after the 62 weeks: the seven week segment of rebuilding the temple; and, the 62-week segment taking us to Palm Sunday. That is
483 years. The Messiah is rejected by the Jewish nation. The 69th week ends, and in time Jerusalem and the temple are destroyed. The death of the
Messiah and he destruction of the Jerusalem and of the temple precede the arrival of the prince that shall come; that is, the antichrist. All of
this takes place before the antichrist arrives. He doesn't arrive until the time of the 70th week.
Let's look at one more thing just to be sure that you understand that there is such a period of seven years. One of the things that Christians
often do is we that we say, "Yes, there is this period." We talk about it, and then when somebody challenges us, we have a hard time thinking
through: "Where did we ever get that out of the Bible?" One of the most impressive things to a person who rejects the literal interpretation of
prophecy is to be led through all the verses that deal with this seven-year period. Very quickly, here we go:
The Tribulation Period
It is not just an isolated text. Daniel 7:25: "And he shall speak great words against the most high (describing the antichrist), and shall wear
out the saints of the most time (describing the Jews), and think to change the times and the laws. And they shall be given into his hand until a
time, and times, and the dividing of times." "Time" means one year. "Times" means two years. "A half-time" means a half-year. That's the Jewish way
of talking about time. That's what the Hebrew text means. "A time, times, and a half-time is three-and-a-half years. Bingo, you have the magic
number. This character is going to be put in supreme authority for three-and-a-half years over the Jewish people.
Daniel 9:27: "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week of years." "One week of years" is seven years: "And in the midst of the week,
he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease." The midst of the week would be three-and-a-half years. You have got the magic numbers again.
This is a period of seven years when this superior personality on the earth scene will be dealing with the Jewish people. And in the middle of that
seven-year period (at the end of three-and-a-half years), he's going to do something big to them.
Daniel 12:1: "And at that time, Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people, and there shall be a time of
trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time. And at that time, your people shall be delivered, everyone that shall
be found written in the book."
Then Daniel 12:6-7: "And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, 'How long shall it be to the end of these
wonders?" That is: when his people shall be delivered: "And I heard the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river, when he held
up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swore by him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and a-half. And when he
shall have accomplished the breaking up with the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished." So, here the one giving Daniel the
information raises his hands in an oath to God, and again uses the same expression time: "time, times, and a half-time." He says, "Daniel,
three-and-a-half years is how long you're going to suffer.
Daniel 12:11: "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away (the middle of the tribulation) and the abomination makes desolate
set up, there shall be 1,290 days." 1,290 days would be from the time that he double-crossed them to the end. Now you've got to divide this by 360
prophetic days (the number of days in a prophetic year). That's three-and-a-half years plus 30 days. There's the first clue to us that, after the
tribulation is over, the earth is so devastated in such absolute destruction, that there's a period of time while things are getting cleaned up;
humanity is being reorganized; and, things are being brought under control, before the Millennial Kingdom officially begins. That is interesting.
30 days is indicated there.
Daniel 12:12: "Blessed is he that waits and comes to the 1,335 days." Here you've got a period of 1,335 days. What is that? That is three-and-a-half
prophetic years plus 75 days. Here the period is expanded. Daniel is given the clue that it's going to even take more than those 30 days to get
things reorganized on this earth after what is going to happen to the human race and to the material world.
In Jeremiah 30:4-7 we read, "And these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus says the Lord, 'We have
heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and of peace. Ask now and see whether a man travails with child. Why do I see every man with his hands on his
loins like a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas, for the day is great, so that none is like it. It is even the time
of Jacob's trouble. But he shall be saved out of it." The term "the time of Jacob's trouble" is a term that refers to what Jesus, in Matthew 24:21,
called the great tribulation. It's the same thing. And it is the time of the Jews' most intense suffering. It's the last three-and-a-half years.
In Matthew 24:15 and in Mark 13:14, Jesus refers to the abomination of desolation which was predicted by Daniel – this same seven-year period.
Coming to the New Testament, Revelation 11:3 also anchors itself to this same concept of seven years divided into two segments of three-and-a-half
years. Revelation 11:3: "And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth." These two witnesses
are going to prophesy 1,260 days. That is three-and-a-half years. These two witnesses are probably resurrected Moses and Elijah: Moses, who went
into God's presence through death; and, Elijah, who went into God's presence without dying. They represent the two ways that the saints of God have
come into His presence. These two gentlemen are going to be on the scene preaching for three-and-a-half years with full television coverage. They
can't keep them off the air. They are proclaiming the judgment against the antichrist who is enraged against them. And no matter what they do, they
can kill these two people until God permits them to die. But they are going to have this three-and-a-half year period. What are they doing? It's
the last three-and-a-half years of the tribulation period. There we have it again.
Revelation 12:6: "And the woman fled into the wilderness (this woman represents Israel), where she had the place prepared by God, that they should
feed her there 1,260 days." And again you have three-and-a-half years. This is the latter part of the tribulation period when the Jews are under
the gun of the antichrist. They will be fleeing to the wilderness, perhaps back to Petra as a place that they can defend. It's hard to get into
the place; it's isolated; and, it's a place where they can have security.
Revelation 12:14: "And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place (wherever that is),
where she is nourished for a time, times, and a half-time from the face of the serpent;" that is, from Satan. There you have the expression "time,
times, and a half-time. That is three-and-a-half years.
Let's look at one more in Revelation 13:5-7: "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies (the antichrist), and power
was given unto him 42 months." 42 months equals three-and-a-half years: "And he opened his mouth, in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name
in His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. It was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them, and power was given him
over all kindreds and tongues and nations." This is why we know the antichrist will be a world ruler at this point: over all tongues; over all
kings; and, over all nations. This is the last part of the tribulation.
So, here is this tribulation period. It consists of seven years which is divided into two segments of three-and-a-half. If you think that's an
isolated statement in Scripture, I hope you will see now that we have hit several Scriptures, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament,
which are anchored to a special seven-year period of God's dealing with Israel. It is Daniel who makes clear to us what that period means.
Next time, we come to the climactic part. We will look into Daniel 9:27 which describes for us the 70th week, and the things that are going to take
place in that period.
Dr. John E. Danish, 1982
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