Study – Grow – Know

What is the Coming Tribulation All About? Part 9

August 10, 2014 at 10:36 AM 1 comment

Last time, I said we were going to get into the Trumpet judgments, but that will wait until next time. I want to emphasize the event that kicks off the entire Tribulation period and I would like to stress that it is my belief from Scripture that the Tribulation will only begin when Daniel 9:27 takes place. Here’s the text:

“And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

The first use of the pronoun “he” in this verse refers BACK to an individual who has already been mentioned. We need to find out who that person is and we do by using the rules of grammar. Verse 26 references two different people, though some commentators believe the two references point to the same person. Let’s look at the text.

“Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.”

In this verse, we know that Messiah (Jesus) is specifically mentioned as being “cut off” and will “have nothing” when that happens. It is almost universally agreed that the term “cut off” references Messiah’s death. This, Jesus did, right around the age of 33. He died on the cross via crucifixion. He had absolutely nothing when He died; no clothes, no money, no grave, and His friends had deserted Him.

The second part of the first sentence is a bit confusing though. It says “…and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” This is a description of the person who will eventually come to this earth and that is why some believe this “prince” to be Jesus at His second coming. The problem with this view is that we need to merely ask the question what destruction is the text referring to here?

Most would also agree that the destruction being referenced is of Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple that stood at the time in AD 70. Who were the people who brought this destruction? The Romans. Gentiles.

In AD 70, the Gentile Romans surrounded and destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple went up in flames as well. The text “the people of the prince who is to come” does not therefore refer to Jesus but to another individual, an individual who will be like the Romans. Jesus was not like the Romans. He was neither Gentile or a soldier. Romans were Gentiles for the most part (though some like Paul could have been Roman and Jewish).

It is this “prince” that will come one day and will take control of the entire world before Jesus returns at the end of the Tribulation. It is this “he/prince” that the first use of “he” in Daniel 9:27 is pointing. This individual will be the one who brokers a seven-year covenant with Israel and the Arab nations that surround her. Why would Jesus do that? He wouldn’t, so it must be referring to another “prince,” someone Paul calls the “man of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2).

It is this individual who not only brokers a covenant with Israel and Arab nations, but in the middle of the “week” (seven-year period of Tribulation), this same individual does something so bad that the renewed Jewish sacrifices and offerings will cease! What does this prince do? He waltzes into the rebuilt Jewish Temple and sits inside the Holy of Holies declaring himself to be God (2 Thessalonians 2; Matthew 24). This act completely defiles the Temple as it did in 168 BC when Antiochus Epiphanes essentially did something similar (Matthew 24). This event became known as the “abomination of desolation,” (Matthew 24).

The exact starting point of the Tribulation/Great Tribulation is when Antichrist manages to do something that no one else has ever accomplished, by bringing peace to the Middle East region between Israel and Arab nations for seven years. He’ll break that covenant at the midway point and the Tribulation then becomes the Great Tribulation, but initially does create a sense of peace.

The Tribulation has not begun yet. Certainly, we’re getting there, but it has not begun. It will not begin until there is some semblance of political peace between Israel and the Arab nations. For all who are paying attention at that point, the Antichrist’s identity will be known and it will be known to the world because of his ability to create peace. This is the first seal of Revelation 6 that shows the rider on the white horse with a bow but no arrows, who conquers politically. This is Antichrist.

Entry filed under: Dr. Fred, Religious - Christian - End Times, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology, second coming. Tags: the tribulation.