The Time Of Jacob's Trouble

The Beginning Of The Tribulation

The Antichrist in the 70th Week. The 70th week will begin when someone with authority will make a binding commitment with a group of people called "the many." After 3 1/2 years he will break his agreement. This will be accompanied by some kind of sacrilege. But in the end, the person who breaks the treaty and engages in this abomination will meet his doom.

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 (Dan. 9:27).

It seems obvious that this 70th week does not immediately follow the 69th week. The time period of 7 weeks plus 62 weeks extends from the decree to restore Jerusalem to "Messiah the Prince" (v.25). It is after this time period of 49 years plus 434 years that the Messiah is "cut off," and the city and sanctuary are destroyed. No time spans are given for these events, which are both well-attested historically. Moreover, to view verse 27 as taking us back to the Messiah who was "cut off" doesn't work out very well. Jesus did not make a covenant. And He wasn't the kind of man who would make a 7-year covenant and then break it.

Since the events described in verse 27 cannot be tied in with the time of Christ's crucifixion, the destruction of Jerusalem, or anything that happened in the first century, the text must look to the future.

The man who "shall confirm a covenant with many for one week" is undoubtedly the ruler introduced to us in verse 26 as "the prince who is to come." As noted earlier, he is the "little horn" of Daniel 7. He will head a western confederacy of nations, the revived Roman Empire in its "ten toes" phase of Daniel 2:40-43, the "ten horned" phase of Daniel 7:24.

This same individual is referred to as the "man of sin" (2 Th. 2:3), the "Antichrist" (1 Jn. 2:18), and the "beast" (Rev. 13:1-10). He will apparently pose as a friend of Israel, giving the Jewish people a sense of security and allowing them to worship in their newly rebuilt temple. Revelation 13 opens with this man receiving the adulation of all mankind. He will have unified the Western world.

He will have brought order out of chaos. People will feel confidence in his goodness. It is then that he dares to drop all pretense and show himself to be Satan's henchman. He begins to blaspheme God and "make war with the saints and to overcome them" (vv.6-7). From this point on, he remains in power for 42 months before meeting his doom.

The final statement of Daniel 9:27 is difficult to translate, but the rendering in the NIV clarifies the meaning. He will "set up an abomination that causes desolation." Three New Testament passages throw some light on these words: Matthew 24:15, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, and Revelation 13.

Addressing Jewish people, Jesus said, "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, . . . then let those who are in Judea flee" (Mt. 24:15). It appears that the image of Antichrist will be placed in the temple and that people will be ordered to worship it. This is the abominable event that will trigger the desolation of the temple and the city of Jerusalem at the end of the age.
Paul, instructing Christian believers about the coming time of tribulation that will precede Christ's return to set up His kingdom, declared that during this period of trouble the "man of sin" will be revealed, describing him as one "who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God and that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God" (2 Th. 2:3-4).

Revelation 13 tells us that he will start a war against the saints and blaspheme God. Then his partner, the False Prophet, will make an image of the Beast (Antichrist) and demand that people worship it or die. Jesus and Paul both indicated that this outrageous blasphemy will take place in the restored Jewish temple. The devil himself as the Anti-father (the dragon of Rev. 13:4), the Antichrist (the Beast), and the Anti-spirit (the False Prophet) are the infernal trinity. They will attempt to make the restored Jewish temple their religious headquarters, the place where they will be worshipped.

The last words of Daniel 9:27, "until the end that is decreed is poured out on him" (NIV), indicate Antichrist's doom. Other Scriptures clearly declare that he will be totally and disgracefully defeated. His final series of battles and his destruction are portrayed in Daniel 11:40-45. This passage closes with the words, "Yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him."

Israel's Conversion In The 70th Week. Daniel 9 closes, as noted above, with a summary statement about the shocking sacrilege and predetermined doom of the future world ruler the Bible calls the Beast, the man of sin, and the Antichrist. His defeat is further described in Daniel 11:40-45. But that's not the end of the story. Daniel 12:1-3 gives a summary of what will happen to the Israelites as a nation:

At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever (Dan. 12:1-3).

"At that time" refers to the interval between the rise of Antichrist and his destruction. During this time of great tribulation--tribulation for Israel predicted in Deuteronomy 4:30, Jeremiah 30:7, Matthew 24:21-22, and many other Bible passages--the archangel Michael will see to it that the Israelites are not annihilated. Multitudes of Jewish people will repent and believe in their Messiah. Zechariah 12 graphically depicts God's supernatural deliverance of the surviving Israelites at the close of this terrible time. He then describes the repentant nation as Messiah returns to establish His kingdom:

I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn (Zech. 12:10).

The Jewish people who still refuse to believe will be removed in judgment (Ezek. 20:33-38). Therefore, all the Israelites who go into the full blessings of the kingdom age will be true believers, people whose names appear in the book of life. All the promises in Daniel 9:24 will be realized. The prophet Isaiah portrays what will then occur:

Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore (Isa. 2:2-4).

And what about the Israelites whose bodies have turned to dust? They will not be forgotten! The Christian scholar Tregelles, following earlier Jewish commentators, translated verse 2, "And many from the sleepers of the dust of the earth shall awake, these shall be to everlasting life; but those of the rest of the sleepers, those who do not awake at this time, shall be unto shame and everlasting contempt." The coming of God's Messiah will be a tremendous event for all the believing Israelites of all the ages!

I personally believe that WE are we at a crisis point in human history? I am not alone in that thinking. Many conservative Jews and Christians believe we are. They see as highly significant the fact that Israel often occupies center stage in newscasts and is signing treaties with her Arab neighbors. They insist that we are inevitably moving toward such internationalization that mankind is ripe for a world dictator who could easily be the Antichrist.

On the other hand, some Christians believe we are on the verge of a worldwide spiritual revival. People are becoming alarmed at world conditions. Reports of spiritual awakenings in India, Africa, and countries in Central and South America support this optimistic outlook.

I believe the next event in God's prophetic program is described by the apostle Paul:

The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord (1 Th. 4:16-17).

The Scriptures indicate that this "catching up," or rapture, of those who are "in Christ" must take place before Antichrist reveals his true identity.

Paul wrote his letter to the Thessalonians in part because some of them thought they had entered the great tribulation of the end-times. Paul assured them that they were wrong and said it would not begin until after the man of sin had been revealed (2 Th. 2:1-3). He went on to explain:

Now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way (2 Th. 2:6-7).

It's important that we see the Holy Spirit and the church together as the restrainer mentioned in this text. The third person masculine pronoun suggests the Holy Spirit. As God, He is always present everywhere. He cannot be "taken out of the way." But He can leave the earth as the restrainer when the Lord catches up His church to be with Himself. His departure in this sense will open the door for Antichrist to make his move.

This identification of the restrainer fits the context of 2 Thessalonians 2 better than any other suggested interpretation. Good reasons can be given for rejecting the idea that the restrainer who will be removed is the devil, an angel, or civil government. This passage of Scripture gives us solid reasons for believing that the return of Christ for His church could occur at any moment.

Believers therefore must live in healthy tension. On the one hand, we are looking for His any-moment coming for us. On the other hand, because we do not know exactly where we are in God's end-time program, we pray and work to spread the good news about Jesus Christ. The fact that the nation of Israel is making treaties reminds us of Bible passages about the end-times. It heightens our sense of anticipation. The news about multitudes turning to Christ throughout the world moves us to pray and give and work.

For nonbelievers, the fact that Christ could return at any moment has ominous overtones. The Bible has a solemn warning to those who have heard the gospel and have not believed. Paul declared that when the Antichrist is revealed, it may be too late for a change of mind:

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Th. 2:9-12).

Now is the time to make the decision to trust Jesus as Messiah. Tomorrow may be too late.

"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2).

Senior Research Editor - Herb Vander Lugt - RBC Ministries