According to the scriptures, "The Tribulation" is a Biblical term given to describe catastrophic events that occur over the entire earth shortly before Jesus returns. On a few occasions Jesus warns the Jews of the amount of suffering that will occur during this period. The book of Matthew provides us with an illustration of what Jesus said concerning this period:

We can see quiet clearly from the scripture above; that this is no walk in the park. If God did not plan to intervene and protect/save his "chosen" people from such devastation, then this period would wipe out the entire human race.

 

 

We know that this period of intense suffering has not yet happened, because we have never had a catastrophe to date that has nearly wiped out the entire human race and nor has Jesus returned to the earth. So what starts off this period referred to as "the Tribulation"? The clue is really given in the words of Jesus. Notice in the above scripture Jesus refers to the Prophet Daniel; and what he had to say concerning this period of time. We turn to the book of Daniel, specifically Daniel 9, which was written almost 600 years before the book of Revelation was penned and read all its prophetic details:

 

Daniel tells us, that as a result of Israel's constant disobedience to God, it would be the starting point of a major catastrophe. According to this prophecy, a coming ruler, which is later identified as the Antichrist, would establish a treaty with the Jews and its neighbours for a period of 7 years.

However, the Antichrist will confirm and keep the treaty in force for only half this period of time. Which effectively means that Israel will only be at peace with its neighbours for three and a half years. Daniel 9:27 reveals, that at this mid-way point of 3 1/2 years, the Antichrist will stop Israel from performing temple offerings, something which he allowed to happen in the 3 1/2 years of his control; and then will place himself in the rebuilt temple of the Jews and declare himself to be God.

 

Obviously, for this to happen, the Jews would have to be back in their homeland, an incident which only occurred in 1948. We also know that for this part of the prophecy to be fulfilled, the Jewish temple will have to be rebuilt. This will obviously either be done before this event occurs; or will be part of the treaty that the Jews sign with the Antichrist and the surrounding Islamic countries.

 

It appears that the Tribulation all starts off with a treaty being signed between Israel and its Islamic neighbours; confirmed by a foreign diplomat with great communication abilities and charm.

 

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The book of Daniel tells us that there are two periods to this last Seven year period; referred to as "the Tribulation".

 

The period when the Antichrist announces a covenant with Israel and its' neighbours. Because the Antichrist is only coming into power at this stage, the first 3½ years is seen as a Lesser Tribulation for the Jews and the world.

 

The second 3 ½ years is referred to by many Bible scholars as the Great Tribulation, for this is when the seven trumpets and bowl judgments of the book of Revelation and the destruction of the Antichrist occurs. During this period there many wars will be fought, culminating in the battle of Armageddon. But we will examine this later.

 

One important prophetic point, we have not yet mentioned, is how the time-frame per the book of Daniel relates to the book of Revelation. We have already said that according to the scriptures it is the Antichrist that starts off this final Seven year period by confirming an agreement between the Jews and its' neighbours.

 

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Take note; that the 3 1/2 years per Daniel = 3.5 x 30 days = 42 months or 1 260 days.

(prophecy in the Bible is based on 30 days)

 

Now lets consider the passages in the book of Revelation, penned more than 600 years later.

 

 

The point here is not to explain the prophetic impact of the above scriptures, but merely to illustrate just how the time periods of the Tribulation relate to one another and how the time period in the book of Daniel; relates to the prophetic scriptures found in the book of Revelation. This enables us also to determine how Daniel and Revelation relates to each other, when we open the book of Revelation.

 

For a more detailed study of this topic; please click here or the globe below. If you really want a thorough grasp of end time events, the detailed section is a must!