Major;
Please tell me why you believe there will be a seven year tribulation. I have searched scripture and can not find it. This doctrine of a 7 year tribulation distorts the understanding of many scriptures. It is false, I am sure of that. Because of this doctrine men have created the doctrine of the pre-tribulation, hence pre 7 year rapture. This rapture goes against many other scriptures and causes confusion.
If, however, we accept the word as true then there is only less than one year of great tribulation. This takes place exactly when Jesus said it will. Right after the Jews are removed from Jerusalem in the midst of the 7 years. It could be 1 month to 10 months. I personally don't see it lasting very long.
However, that is not the issue at hand. The issue is the 7 year covenant period. There is absolutely no scripture that ties the 7 years to tribulation unless you take them out of context and ignore other scriptures that prove tit wrong. So it is easy to teach that the saints will go thru the first part of the 7 years. Why? Simply because there is no scripture that says they won't.
You apparently believe that the man of lawlessness is the one who makes the covenant. Again, this causes confusion in understanding scripture. The one who makes the covenant is not the same one who sits in the temple. To believe he is only confuses scripture more.
May the Lord bless you my friend and allow us to communicate over the Word of God in love and peace.
To properly explain your concerns for not understanding the seven year tribulation period would require a lot more space than is available here on this site. From the site."gotquestons.org" we have an understaning...............
An understanding of
Daniel 9:24-27 is necessary in order to understand the purpose and time of the tribulation. This passage speaks of 70 weeks that have been declared against “your people.” Daniel's people are the Jews, the nation of Israel, and
Daniel 9:24 speaks of a period of time that God has given “to finish 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.” God declares that
“seventy sevens” will fulfill all these things. This is 70 sevens of
years, or 490 years. (Some translations refer to 70 weeks of years.) This is confirmed by another part of this passage in Daniel. In verses 25 and 26, Daniel is told that the Messiah will be cut off after “seven sevens and sixty-two sevens” (69 total), beginning with the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. In other words, 69 sevens of years (483 years) after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, the Messiah will be cut off. Biblical historians confirm that 483 years passed from the time of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem to the time when Jesus was crucified. Most Christian scholars, regardless of their view of eschatology (future things/events), have the above understanding of Daniel's 70 sevens.
So to confirm that Daniel is referring to YEARS, we go to Daniel 9:2.........................
"In the first
YEAR of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of
YEARS whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish
SEVENTY YEARS in the desolations of Jerusalem."
We can clearly see that the CONTEXT of Daniels use of the words WEEKS is a referrance to YEARS.
Hebrew describes this as "SHABUA" and is a unit of measure". When it stand alone it could mean anything but as we see it used here it is the context of YEARS. A set of SEVEN YEARS.
Daniel had been reading the book of Jeremiah about YEARS. Jeremiah had been preaching and writing that the captivity of his people in Babylon would be for SENENTY YEARS. The 70 years of captivity were the specific penalty for the nation of Israel for violating 70 Sabbatic years. That my friend would be SEVENTY SEVENS or a total of 490 years. In those 490 years, Israel had violated exactly SEVENTY SABBATIC YEARS.
2nd Chron. 36:21.............
"To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths, for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil three score and ten years".
1 week = 7 years.
70 weeks = 490 years
70 weeks divided into 3 periods:
7 weeks--------62 weeks------1 week.
So we see that all of this revolves around YEARS. With that in mind please read Daniel 9:26 which confirms all of this...........
"And he shall confirm the covenant (Agreement) with many for ONE WEEK (7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease".
This "he" here is the beast of Revelation 13 who is the antichrist. After the church is removed from the earth, this "he" will make a covenant with Israel. Israel will believe him and accept him as her Messiah but in the middle of this agreement (3 1/2 YEAR) he will break his covenant and declare himself to be God. He will place a statue of himself in the temple and that is the abomination of desolation.
What Isreal thought to be the Kingdom will turn out to be the Great Tribulation Period (Matt. 24:15-26).
Now then............WHEN will it take place?????
I HAVE NO IDEA WHATSOEVER!!!!
But from the way the nations of the middle east are lining up, the world running out of natural resources, it does not look like it will be much longer.