The Tribulation,or the Seventieth Week of Daniel

We have reached the end of the age of grace, or the church age. Jesus came to save His people, the Jews. When the Jewish people turned their backs on Him and crucified Him the gift of salvation was given to the gentiles. Anyone that is not of Jewish descent is considered a gentile. This fulfilled the prophecy given to Daniel, 

“Seventy weeks[a] are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of[b] sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.

25 “Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem
Until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The street[c] shall be built again, and the wall,[d]
Even in troublesome times.

26 “And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.”  Daniel 9:24-27

In verse 25 it states that Messiah would be cut off after 69 weeks, (a week is considered a year). The 69 weeks are finished when Jesus is rejected by His people and crucified. Since the Jews rejected their Messiah they were cut off and the gift of salvation was given to the gentiles as it was prophecied in Isaiah. 

“Also the sons of the foreigner
Who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him,
And to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants—
Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And holds fast My covenant—
7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain,
And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
Will be accepted on My altar;
For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
8 The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says,
“Yet I will gather to him
Others besides those who are gathered to him.”

This is an interlude in the period of time where Israel will be brought back into fellowship with God. After the age of grace and the rapture there may be a short period of time before the 70th week begins. This final week will begin when the Antichrist signs a seven year peace with Israel. You have to imagine that after the rapture the world will be in chaos. Millions of people just disappeared and all the children that were not old enough to make a decision to follow Jesus. There will be horrific damage and death from cars and other vehicles crashing when their drivers disappear, planes will fall out of the sky when their pilots disappear. Most people will be missing family members or friends, people will be terrified wondering where the others went and if others will be taken too. With so many people missing you have to imagine that the stock market will crash, government will be left short staffed as well as hospitals, the police and the military. Martial law will be instituted to protect as many people as possible while the country tries to recover.  This will be much worse in countries with many Christians, but every country will lose people. The world will be looking for someone to step in and bring things back to normal... A man steps onto the world stage, the people of the earth are mesmerized by what he says, this man seems to have answers that the world desperately needs. Before long this man is pushed into taking charge of a one world government. He speaks of peace and before long he has done what no one has ever been able to do before, he has brokered a peace in the Middle East. Israel has signed a seven years peace treaty. The world will look on in wonder at what this man has done, they will think that he is the leader that the world has always been waiting for. The truth is far more frightening, this man is the Antichrist. He will come onto the world scene talking about peace, he will seem to be the answer the world has looked for. He will actually have peace for three and a half years, but then he will break the treaty and start persecuting the Jewish people.  When the peace treaty is signed, that is the beginning of the final seven year period before Jesus second coming. During this period God will send judgments down on the earth like He did in the Old Testament, the purpose of these judgments are to remind Israel that their God is real and has not forgotten them. It is a call to Israel to come back to God. God will send judgments that get progressively worse, He will send two witnesses to preach the truth in Israel, these witnesses will cause many Israelites to turn back to their God and to preach the truth and bring others to truth. 

And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days,clothed in sackcloth.” 4 They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.”[a] 5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. 6 They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want. Revelation 11:3-6

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,

from the tribe of Gad 12,000,

6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000,

from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,

from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,

7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,

from the tribe of Levi 12,000,

from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,

8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,

from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,

from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.  Revelation 7:1-8

The first half of the tribulation will be bad, but the second half will be even worse. After the Antichrist breaks the treaty he will insist on being worshiped. He will institute a new program, everyone on earth will be required to have the number 666 on their right hand or forehead or they will not be allowed to buy or sell. Part of taking this mark is the worship of the Antichrist. As you take the mark you then need to walk over to the statue of the Antichrist and bow down and worship it. If you choose not to take the mark you will be immediately executed by guillotine. 

Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.

18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.[e] That number is 666. Revelation 13:14-18

This will be a terrifying time to live if you are a believer. Many believers will be martyred during this time, but they will immediately be with God. 

As for Israel, the Antichrist will be trying to kill the Jews any way that he can. The only way for the Jews to survive would be for them to escape Israel and run to the mountains where God will protect them. Many think the mountains that are mentioned is the rock city of Petra. Some believers have gone to Petra and buried Bibles for the Jews to use once they are in Petra. 

 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’[a]spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.  Matthew 24:15-22

At the end of the seven years, when all seems lost, Jesus will return. All will see Him. Jesus will destroy the Antichrist's armies and at the end of the one sided battle He will take the Antichrist and the False Prophet and throw them into the lake of fire. 

 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is calledFaithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen,white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will [d]rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the [e]wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

17 Then I saw [f]an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying toall the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of [g]commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.”

19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.

Doom of the Beast and False Prophet

20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs [h]in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with [i]brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. Revelation 19:11-21

No one wants to live through these times, and the good news is, as a Christian you will not have to. You will be with Jesus, in heaven at this time. What about those that don't believe? Well the good news is that there is still time. The age of grace is still here, you have a chance to escape the tribulation, all you need to do is accept the free gift that Jesus is giving you. You don't need to be perfect to accept this gift, it is a free gift of salvation. Think of it as a do over. All the bad things that you have done in your life are gone, the slate has been wiped clean. There is not one sin that God does not know about, or one that He can't forgive. All it takes is a quick prayer and you will be saved from these things. Yes, you may die before the rapture, but you will be with God at that moment and at the rapture you will receive your perfect body and live in heaven, which is too beautiful to even imagine. I want to see you there. Pray this simple prayer to join God's family.

Heavenly Father, in Jesus' name I confess that I have sinned and ask for forgiveness. I ask that Jesus come into my heart and become my  Lord and Savior. I believe Jesus died for my sins and was raised from the dead.
Thank You Father for saving me in Jesus' name. Amen.

The End of the Age of Grace

There have been quite a few different ages throughout history. The first age was creation, from the beginning of creation until man was thrown out of Garden of Eden for disobeying God and bringing sin into the world. 

So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;    male and female he created them.  Genesis 1:27


 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.  Genesis 3:23

The next age was the pre-flood age, this time period covers the period after Adam and Eve were thrown out of the garden until Noah built the ark to survive the flood. 

The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”  Genesis 7:1-4

The third age was the age of Abraham and the formation of the state of Israel. God made His covenant with Abraham to make him a nation and the father of many generations. Jesus starts His ministry and is crucified at the end of this age.

When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am El Shaddai.[a] Walk with me and be trustworthy. 2 I will make a covenant between us and I will give you many, many descendants.” 3 Abram fell on his face, and God said to him,4 “But me, my covenant is with you; you will be the ancestor of many nations. 5 And because I have made you the ancestor of many nations, your name will no longer be Abram[b] but Abraham.[c] 6 I will make you very fertile. I will produce nations from you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will set up my covenant with you and your descendants after you in every generation as an enduring covenant. I will be your God and your descendants’ God after you. 8 I will give you and your descendants the land in which you are immigrants, the whole land of Canaan, as an enduring possession. And I will be their God.”  Genesis 17:1-8

 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob,[d] but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.[e]” So he named him Israel.

11 And God said to him, “I am God Almighty[f]; be fruitful and increase in number. A nationand a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. 12 The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.” 13 Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him. Genesis 35:10-13

 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

9 After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. 10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”  Acts 1:6-11

Now the fourth age is the church age, this is the age we are currently living in. The church age began when Jesus ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit down to believers during Pentecost. It will end at the rapture of the church, when God calls all believers living and dead from this age up to heaven. At this point the Holy Spirit will also leave the world. 

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.  Acts 2:1-4

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.  1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 2 Thessalonians 2:7

We are living in the church age right now. The only thing that is holding back Satan's plans and the releasing of the Antichrist is the Holy Spirit. When the believers are taken to Heaven in the rapture, the Holy Spirit will leave as well. The Holy Spirit is on earth now in the church and the believers, once we are taken in the rapture the Holy Spirit will be taken from the earth as well.

Now no one knows when the rapture will happen


 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.  Matthew 24:36-41

What we do know is what Jesus told us about His return. 

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:4-14

As you read this I am sure you can see the parallels in the world that we are living in. There are wars and rumors of wars...the world has been at war more than it has been at peace, you constantly hear about wars in various places. As of right now we just had Israel and Palestine fighting and lobbing missiles at each other...and God has supernaturally been protecting Israel like He promised. At the same time Russia has encroached on the Ukraine and there have been some skirmishes.  Famine is widespread, especially in Africa and if you watch the news, it seems like there is a large earthquake happening somewhere around the world at least weekly. And of course, watching the news or reading a news site it seems like all that is published is bad news. More and more violence and brutality, evil is on the rise. We are growing closer and closer to the end of this age. 

One of the most pressing reasons that we are nearing the end of the age is in what Jesus said in this verse. The fig tree always represents Israel.

 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[e] is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.  Matthew 24:32-35

Israel became a nation on May 14, 1948, as prophesied by Ezekiel.

The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares theLord.’” Ezekiel 37:1-14

Now in Matthew, Jesus says that this generation will not pass away before these things come to pass. Many consider this to mean that those that were alive when Israel became a nation will not all pass away before the end of this age. So, in this age a person can live to be around 100 years old, if incredibly lucky. It has been 65 years since Israel became a nation and with all the other prophecies about the end of the age coming to pass, the end of the age could occur at any time. 

Once the rapture comes, the church age, the age of grace will end. After the rapture the next age is all about Israel and God giving Israel a final chance to turn to Him. In the Bible we see that Israel was punished to turning away from God and worshiping false gods. They were taken captive by the Babylonians and many of them were taken to Babylon as captives. Daniel was one of the captives, as he was praying fervently for Israel he receives a prophecy. 

While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill— 21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. 23 As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:

24 “Seventy ‘sevens’[c] are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish[d] transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.[e]

25 “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One,[f] the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing.[g] The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’[h] In the middle of the ‘seven’[i] he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple[j] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him. Daniel 9:20-27

The first 69 weeks of Daniel's prophecy have already been fulfilled. After this, the prophecy was halted to be completed in its appointed time. So, between the 69th and 70th week is the age of grace. Once the age of grace has ended, the 70th week will start.