As you will see in the Scripture verses listed below, the Great Tribulation will last 7 years. At the midpoint of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will seat himself in the Temple of God that will have to rebuilt by the Jewish people. He will proclaim himself to be God. This event is called the abomination of desolation by the prophet Daniel. Jesus Himself specifically refers to this event in the New Testament. Jesus says that once this event occurs, that His people are to literally run for the hills. Jesus says that the last three and half years of the Tribulation set off by the abomination of desolation will be the worst tribulation and time of trouble that the world has ever seen. He says that had these days not been shortened by God the Father, that no flesh would be saved. I feel Jesus is implying that man probably would have destroyed the earth at or shortly after the Battle of Armageddon. The Antichrist starts to lose control of his empire. Other nations come against him in the battle of Armageddon. With the availability of nuclear weapons, my guess is that the Antichrist may have been willing to "hit the button" if he thought he was going to lose his empire. If he hits the button, chances are the other nations he is going to fight against will also be willing to hit the button, and you thus could end up in a full scale nuclear war.
You have already seen what an ego-maniac this man is going to be from the description of his personality in the above verses. With him being under the influence and control of Satan, I feel the most logical conclusion is that both he and Satan would be more than willing to hit the nuclear button if they thought they could not retain control of their built up empire.
I really feel that this is what Jesus meant when he said that no flesh would be saved if God had not shortened these days at the end of this Tribulation. Here are the key Scripture verses on the 7 year Tribulation.
1. This first verse from Daniel shows that the 7 year Tribulation is initially established by the Antichrist confirming a covenant with Israel and then in the middle of the covenant he will set up the abomination of desolation. "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 abomination shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate." (Daniel 9:27) One week has been determined to be one year. How do you know that? Because in the middle of the week, the Antichrist sets up the abomination of desolation. And we already know that once the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 42 months or three and half years to go before the end. So that tells us that one week is equal to 7 years. This is how you know that the Tribulation is for a 7 year time period.
2. The next verse from Daniel specifically tells you that once the animal sacrifice is taken away from the Jews and the abomination of desolation is set up, that there will be 1290 days until the end!! 1290 is three and half years and 13 days. "And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand, two hundred and ninety days (1290). Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty five days (1335)." (Daniel 12:11-12)
Notice in the first part of the above verse that it says "the daily sacrifice is taken away." This refers to the fact that when the Jewish people rebuild their Temple, they will once more reinstitute the practice of animal sacrifice as they did in the Old Testament.
The Antichrist will allow this to go on for a time, but when he sets himself up to sit in the Temple of God in the abomination of desolation, he will take this privilege away from the Jewish people! This verse is giving you two key pieces to let you know when we are at the midpoint of the Tribulation - the taking away of animal sacrifices and the Antichrist seating himself up in the Temple proclaiming himself to be God.
At that point, we have 42 months or as Daniel says above, 1290 days which is three and half years plus 13 days. The last sentence refers however to the people going a little longer - 1335 days. This may be referring to when Jesus comes down and destroys the armies that have come against Jerusalem in the battle of Armageddon - the time period for the Jews to come back to their homes since a lot of them will have been in hiding during the last three and half years.
3. Here is another verse that bears repeating under this caption - once again showing that the persecution of the Jews and saints of God will only last three and half years. "He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time." (Daniel 7:25) A time = 1 year. Times = 2 years. Half a time = half a year. Total comes to three and half years.
4. Here is another verse showing that the Antichrist will have a period of 42 months to continue his carnage. This verse uses the unit of time of 42 months - which again is three and half years. "And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty two months." (Revelations 13:5)
5. Here is the verse from Jesus telling everyone to "run for the hills" once the abomination of desolation occurs with the Antichrist. This is where Jesus also tells us that this Tribulation will be the worst of times in all of human history. "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, then those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in the winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened." (Matthew 24:15-22)
6. And here is the final verse showing the carnage that will result from the Tribulation. This next verse says that two thirds of the Jewish people will be killed by the Antichrist. This is going to be worse than the German holocaust!!!! I think in one of the books I read, two thirds of the Jewish people will equate to 9.3 million Jews being killed by this one man. This will top the 6 million Jews that were killed in the German holocaust. However this verse does not tell us how many of the Christians will be killed by the Antichrist. "And it shall come to pass in all the land," says the Lord, "THAT TWO-THIRDS IN IT SHALL BE CUT OFF AND DIE. BUT ONE THIRD SHALL BE LEFT IN IT: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'This is My people', and each one will say, 'The Lord is My God.' " (Zechariah 13:8-9)
The end of the Great Tribulation will now lead up to the Battle of Armageddon which will be the last and final battle before Jesus comes back the 2nd time to put an end to the Antichrist, the False Prophet, Satan and all the other nations who are coming against Israel in this final battle.
Article written by Michael Bradley of Bible Knowledge Ministries. Their website is a resource of Bible articles, commentary and teaching. They currently have over 100 Bible articles. All free of charge.
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