The Tribulation is Not 7 Years Long

There are seven years or one week of years left in the prophecy known as Daniel’s Seventieth Week or the Last Shemitah Cycle, and it begins with a covenant or peace treaty! The prophecy clock starts again with the initiation of a treaty between the apostate Jewish leaders and a world leader who becomes the Antichrist. This treaty directly involves the Temple Mount. It also includes EU membership! Then, in the middle of this seven-year period, this EU leader breaks the treaty and sets up the Abomination of Desolation on the Temple Mount.

The Antichrist makes or confirms a covenant with the “many.” The “many” is a term used for apostate Jewish leaders who have become humanistic and have renounced the Torah. We deduct this from the history of the Jews under Antiochus Epiphanes who was the prototype of Antichrist and the one referred to in Daniel Chapter 11 (see verse 31), which seems to shift from the history of this man to a parallel history of Antichrist at the end of the age. Jesus makes reference to this event under Antiochus known as the Abomination of Desolation and repeated again by Antichrist (Mt 24:15)

How Long is the Tribulation?

The peace treaty divides Jerusalem and brings “peace” to the region for three and a half years. The Antichrist is revealed with the Abomination ot Desolation. This event commences the Tribulation, which lasts for the remaining three and a half years. Therefore, the Tribulation is three and a half years long. This fact is confirmed by Jesus and Paul in the following verses.

“Therefore when you see the Abomination of Desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand, then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains…..For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.” Mt 24:15-21

“For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.” 1 Thess 5:1-3

Jesus said that when you see the Abomination of Desolation, then there will be a great tribulation. When you see then there will be – it is very clear! Paul said that the Tribulation would come suddenly during a period of Peace and Security! And we know from Daniel 9:27 that the first three and a half years of the Last Shemitah Cycle will bring peace and security because it allows for Jewish worship on the Temple Mount!

Why Do Many Say the Tribulation is 7 Years Long?

When Christopher Columbus discovered America, he thought he had arrived in India. Based on the understanding that he had at the time, his assumptions were reasonable. Yet, he had not reached India at all but a new and unknown world. And as a result of his wrong conclusions, Native Americans are still called Indians although they are not and never have been Indian. In a similar way, many Bible teachers, while discovering truth in the prophetic Scriptures, after centuries of ignorance, concluded that the Tribulation is seven years long. Like Columbus, who was unwilling to consider an alternative, they build elaborate theories and end-time scenarios on this assumption. And though many of the same teachers know that the Tribulation is in fact three and a half years long, their insistence on referring to the entire seven year period of the Last Shemitah Cycle as “The Tribulation,” presents major problems for students of eschatology. I believe that this miscalculation is a result of the lack of understanding of the Jewish roots of the Bible (both Old and New Testaments). Daniel was a Jew, and the Last Shemitah Cycle is a period of time set apart for the Jewish people. It is their Shemitah. To divorce it from this context is a serious mistake. The Tribulation is the time of “Jacob’s Distress” and not the time of American, European, African, or Asian distress. There will indeed be horrific distress for all the earth during this time, but the epicentre of that distress will be in Israel.

“For thus says the LORD, I have heard a sound of terror, of dread, and there is no peace. Ask now, and see if a male can give birth. Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in childbirth? And why have all faces turned pale? Alas! For that day is great, there is none like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved from it” Jer 30:5-7

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The Seventieth Week or Last Shemitah Cycle is broken into 2 halves!

Take a look at the chart above. Can you see clearly that the Tribulation is three and a half years long? There is a significant body of Scripture to support this and none to support a seven year long Tribulation. The Tribulation begins with the Abomination (Abom) and ends with Jesus appearing. The “Abom” begins the war that ends with all the nations coming against Jerusalem. It is the Armageddon Campaign. Many Scriptures clearly identify the Tribulation as the Day of the Lord.

Covenant with Sheol

Daniel 9:27 says that the Antichrist will make a covenant with the Jewish leaders for seven years. This is undoubtedly the so called “Peace Treaty” that will be brokered with the EU. Today the whole world is preoccupied with making this agreement. The document that the international community considers to be the foundation for this agreement is called the “Road Map.” At the core of the”Road Map” which was supposed to have been implemented years ago, is the “Final Status of Jerusalem.” This “Final Status Agreement” would require a solution to the situation on the Temple Mount. The aspirations of religious Jews regarding the Holy Place would have to be satisfied for such an agreement to be signed.

“Parties reach final and comprehensive permanent status agreement that ends the Israel – Palestinian conflict in 2005, through a setlement negotiated between the parties based on UNSCR 242, 338, and 1397, that ends the occupation that began in 1967, and includes an agreed, just, fair, and realistic solution to the rejugee issue, and a negotiated resolution on the status of Jerusalem that takes into account the political and religious concerns of both sides, and protects the religious interests of Jews, Christians, and Muslims worldwide, and fulfills the vision of two states, Israel and sovereign, independent, democratic and viable Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security

Isaiah speaks of Israel’s covenant with Antichrist as their “Covenant with Sheol.”

“Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers, who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have made a pact the overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, for we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.’

……Your covenant with death will be canceled, and your pact with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, then you become its trampling place. As often as it passes through, it will seize you; for morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day of night, and it will be sheer terror to understand what it means. The be b too short on which to stretch out, and the blanket is too small to wrop onese in. For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perim, He vill stred up as in the vally of Gibeon, to As His tast, His una a ot to work His work, His extraordinary work. And now do not cany o o sor to, or your feters will be made stronger; for have her in at Lord GOD of hoss of decisive destruct tron all the earth. Isaiah 28:16-22 ***

As is typical with the words of the prophets, this passage is about the current situation at the time of its writing and then it jumps to the scenario at the end of the age. We can tell this by the language used. For example; the prophet talks about a destruction he has heard which affects all the earth. The leaders of Israel today are not listening to God any more than they were then. They are referred to as “scoffers.” They make a “covenant with Sheol” or “death” which is supposed to protect them from the Gentile armies (floods are a reference to armies, Dan 9:26, 11:10, Rev

12:15). The covenant or pact with Sheol will not stand. The Lord will go forth and fight as at Perazim (1Chron 14:11) and Gibeon (Josh 10:7-15).

The world’s financial and political elite have adopted the phrase “Peace and Security” as their benevolent mantra and excuse for all that they do! They have concluded that until they can solve the problems in the Middle-East between Israel and its Anti-Semitic neighbors, they will not reach their goal. Thus they are devoted to the implementation of the agenda of the Road Map.”

Excerpt from “The 7 Lost Keys of End-Time Prophecy: Unlocking the Mysteries and Dispelling the Myths Surrounding the Coming of Christ” by PJ Hanley.

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