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 The Final Seven Years

By R.S. Neaville

 

 

A Seven Year Covenant

 

                Now that we have defined the last days in the first booklet of this series we will deal with the final seven-year period that leads up to the “Day of the Lord”.   This is the final seven of Daniel's 70 sevens in Daniel Chapter nine.  This final seven deals with the Antichrist, the great tribulation, and the events of Jesus' second coming. It is Jesus himself who places this final seven in the last days.

 

Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

 

 

  Contrary to popular opinion   there is not a seven-year tribulation.  This seven-year period is a covenant the Antichrist makes with many.  There is only one verse in all of  scripture that describes this as a seven-year period, and it describes it as a covenant not tribulation.  Let us look at the verse together.

                       

                        Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

           

            One week in Daniel is a period of seven years hence the vision is Daniel's 70 weeks or 70 weeks of years.  This is the final seven-year period reflected in this week.  Notice that the Antichrist makes a covenant with many for one seven.  In the middle of the seven he causes what is known as the abomination of desolation.  This is where he set himself up in God's temple and proclaims himself to be God.  This is the event described by Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians.

 

                        2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.The above understanding from Scripture gives us the timing of the event of the great tribulation.

 

             Now listen to what Jesus said, concerning the abomination of desolation in Matthew in his sermon on the Mount

 

Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

 

            It becomes clear that the great tribulation is only 3 1/2 years.  The seven-year period is a covenant and according to Jesus the great tribulation happens in the middle of this covenant with the abomination of desolation.  This corresponds with the fact that the Antichrist is only given power to continue for 42 months (3 1/2 years) Revelation 13:5.  It is no coincidence that the Antichrist rules and reigns for 3 1/2 years and that this is also the length of the great tribulation.  This also shows that what reveals Antichrist in his time is the abomination of desolation. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review Questions

 

  1. What is the final Seven of Daniel’s vision in Daniel 9:27?
  2. According to Jesus and Daniel what is the length of the “great tribulation”?
  3. When does the “Abomination of desolation” occur?
  4. What is the covenant that Antichrist confirms with many? Discuss  this with the class.
  5. What reveals Antichrist for who he i

               

Seven Year Countdown

 

    This Seven year period is more than just a covenant the Antichrist makes with many. It is a countdown to the “Day of the Lord”. It starts with the “beast” or “antichrist” coming on the scene and ends with the return of  Jesus. The return of our Savior and our resurrection is what starts the “Last Day”: The millennial reign of Christ.

 

 

            Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

 

Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

 

2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

 

     Notice that this seven year period starts with the Antichrist and ends with the Christ. It pictures the whole seven thousand years of creation which begins with Adam and ends with Christ. Adam is the man of sin. Christ is the man of righteousness. The sin nature is the son of perdition and the new nature is the son of God. Adam pictures the sin nature and Jesus is the new man. This final seven years that leads up to the day of the Lord is a microcosm of creation’s history. This pattern is displayed again in the seven seals. The seven seals start with antichrist and they end with Christ’s return.

 

 

Revelation 6:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. 2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

 

Antichrist is the man on the white horse coming forth to conquer. His heart bent on conquest.

 

Revelation 6:3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. 4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

 

This man with his heart bent on conquest starts war and causes great devastation.

 

Revelation 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

 

Revelation 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

 

 

Daniel 8:23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. 25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

 

    This war will bring famine and plague as war always does.

 

Revelation 6:5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. 7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. 8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

 

    We see a natural progression here. A man bent on conquest causes war, war brings famine and plague. War famine and plague bring death and hell. The famine and plague is so great the animals start eating people. In this we see the revealing of antichrist and the devastation he causes throughout his reign. Next in the fifth seal we see the suffering of the saints at his hand during the tribulation period.

 

Revelation 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

 

 

    After the tribulation comes the dark days that immediately precede the “Day of the Lord”.These are the days of the sixth seal. Compare the following with Matthew 24:29-31

 

Revelation 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

 

 

Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

 

    The comparison is clear. The sun grows dark, the moon to blood and the stars fall. The tribes of the earth morn at the sign of the sun of man as it appears in the sky. That is when all the great and least cry to the rocks to fall on them for the Day of the Lord has come!. Compare what Joel says about these days that immediately precede his coming.

 

Joel 2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

 

Joel 2:10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

 

Joel 2:30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come.

 

Joel 3:15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

    All these things happen in a short space of time at the end of the great tribulation. This is when the 144,000 Israelites are sealed. These are those who have placed their faith in Christ. This happens just scant moments before the Lord comes. This is still the events of the sixth seal in Revelation 7.

 

Revelation 7:1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

 

 

   We also see gathered with these Israelites is a crowd no one could number. They are those who have come out of the great tribulation that just ended.

 

Revelation 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

 

Revelation 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

 

    After this the vision changes, the seventh seal is opened and the vision gives us specifics of the things that occurred in this synopsis of the first six seals. In these specifics which run from chapter eight through chapter 20 of Revelation we have a revelation of the seven trumpets and seven bowls. It is important to understand the first six seals are a synopsis from the coming of antichrist to the return of Jesus. The seventh seal is nothing but specifics of the first six seals. It is also important to note the the sixth seal and the seventh trumpet and the seventh bowl all end with a great earth quake, a great hailstorm and the return of Jesus and our resurrection. In other words they all end at the exact same point.

 

Revelation 8:1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets....

 

Compare the ending of the sixth seal, seventh trumpet and seventh bowl

 

 

 

 

Sixth Seal

Revelation 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

 

 

Seventh trumpet

Revelation 11:13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.:16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, 17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. 18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. 19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

 

Seventh bowl

 

Revelation 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

 

     The final seven years end at this point . A great earthquake, the sun grows dark, the moon turns to blood the heavenly bodies are shaken and the sign of the son of man appears in the sky as a great brilliance. Jesus gathers his elect. Now the Kingdom is his. So begins the day of the Lord. The final seven is meant to proclaim the arrival of the second advent and day of the Lord which is the thousand year reign of Christ on the earth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review Questions

 

  1. What starts the final seven according to the prophet Daniel?
  2. What starts the seven seals according to the vision in Revelation?
  3. What ends the final seven years?
  4. Does the sixth seal and the seventh trumpet and seventh bowl all end with the same events? Discuss this with the class.
  5. What happens in the final days of the last seven years?