Bible Warns of Apostasy and Persecution: Birth Pang 9

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

This article deals with the final Birth Pang #9 that I believe is revealed in Scripture that leads up to the time just prior to the physical return of Jesus. This period of time is what is known as the Tribulation period, which is a final seven-year period of time in which God will pour out His wrath over the entire earth. Our most recent article in this series dealt with Birth Pang #8 – Peace and False Security.

Birth Pang #9 is listed as the Signing of the Seven-Year Covenant. This is noted in numerous areas of Scripture, but most specifically in Daniel 9:27. Let’s look at that verse in its immediate context of Daniel 9:24-27.

24 “Seventy weeks have been determined
concerning your people and your holy city
to put an end to rebellion,
to bring sin to completion,
to atone for iniquity,
to bring in perpetual righteousness,
to seal up the prophetic vision,
and to anoint a most holy place.
25 So know and understand:
From the issuing of the command to restore and rebuild
Jerusalem until an anointed one, a prince arrives,
there will be a period of seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.
It will again be built, with plaza and moat,
but in distressful times.
26 Now after the sixty-two weeks,
an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing.
As for the city and the sanctuary,
the people of the coming prince will destroy them.
But his end will come speedily like a flood.
Until the end of the war that has been decreed
there will be destruction.
27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one week.
But in the middle of that week
he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt.
On the wing of abominations will come one who destroys,
until the decreed end is poured out on the one who destroys.”

It is important to understand that the world will not wake up one morning and out of the blue, society will notice that a one-world government is in place. That takes time and happens in stages. Studying history proves this. Neither Hitler or any other dictator rose to power overnight. It takes time and the right set of circumstances for that to happen.

Space doesn’t permit me to fully explain the 70 “weeks” that Daniel deals with in this article. I have written a book on the subject that called Between Weeks. It’s exactly 70 pages long and addresses this topic there. It can be purchased through Amazon either in new condition for $10.99 or used for around $6.00.

The above verses – Daniel 9:24-27 – break things down nicely and explain God’s countdown, from the time He starts that countdown until the time it ends. Verse 27 provides us with a very important event that the world will witness. Notice it says that “He will confirm a covenant with many for one week.” This “week” is actually the final seven years of the 70 “weeks.” The entire 70 “weeks” is actually 490 years in length from start to finish, with a “gap” in the middle of it. That “gap” begins “after the sixty-two weeks” (v. 26), when several things occur but the “timer” so to speak is paused. The “timer” begins again with the “he” confirming the covenant with the many for one week.

The “he” in verse 27 is none other than the Antichrist. I realize that some people believe this “he” is Jesus, but I explain in my book why this cannot be the case. It is the Antichrist and his appearance coincides with the 1st Seal of Revelation 6:1-2. This guy comes on the scene who is able to do what no one else before him has done. He will actually create some semblance of peace in the Middle East. Though it will be short-lived (“But in the middle of that week, he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt,” v. 27b), it will look as though it’s going to happen and for three and half years, that’s what the world will think. Antichrist will have other ideas though and it may well be during this three and a half years that things settle down enough to allow the Jewish people to build another Jewish Temple. It will be this temple that Antichrist will desolate (cf. Matthew 24:15-28; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4), by going into the rebuilt temple and declaring himself to be God. His actions will desolate the temple and cause the sacrifices that had likely been restarted to stop. This same exact thing happened in 168 BC with Antiochus Epiphanes IV, which is the person and event that Jesus was referring to in His Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24.

Once the Antichrist gets a covenant in place, by getting the parties in question to come together and sign on the dotted line (Jews from Israel and surrounding leaders from Arab nations), it will be at this point that the Tribulation begins. The Tribulation is the seven-year period (“week”) mentioned by Daniel and other prophets. The apostle John in Revelation mainly deals with the second three and a half years of this period, although he does touch on the first half of the Tribulation.

When the covenant or peace agreement goes into effect, this is the very thing that starts the Tribulation itself. It does so because it will be at this point that God’s patience with Israel will have run its course. Stop and consider that Israel’s leaders will be making a deal with Antichrist, who is the spiritual son of Satan. In essence then, Israel’s leaders will be signing a deal with the devil. Instead of leaning on God and trusting in Him, they will look – once again – to human beings for their assurances of safety.

Because Israel’s leaders will essentially be signing a deal with the devil, God responds to their complete lack of faith in Him by beginning to pour out His wrath on the nations that have deceived Israel (outlined beginning in Revelation 5). His wrath is also poured out against Israel as well, but the Bible tells us that at the three and a half-year point of the Tribulation when the Antichrist claims to be God from inside the rebuilt Jewish Temple, this is when the eyes of many Jews will start to open. They will realize they were deceived and will run for the hills. God will protect them from the onslaught by Satan and because he cannot reach the Jewish people, he will then turn his attention to people who will become Christians during that same time period (Revelation 12 – read the entire chapter!).

But as I said at the beginning of this article, the world will not go to sleep one night and wake up the next realizing that a one-world government has sprouted as they slept. It will happen gradually until everything is in place so that it can happen. It’s certainly on its way to happening now.

Note the letter to the editor I’ve included from a Ken Huber who, in many ways, presents his opinion on how things have changed in society. Much of it has changed during my growing up years. The Elite – the people who work behind the scenes, deep in the shadows to make these changes possible – have been working diligently for generations to bring about all the changes this world and especially America has been experiencing. They count on the fact that people don’t know history and aren’t paying attention. So I suppose in one sense, many of these people will be taken by surprise. However, we need to be clear in understanding that the push toward a one-world system of global governance has been in the works for the past few hundred years and has been gaining a momentum that will not be undercut or stopped.

I believe the Rapture will occur prior to the coming Tribulation. That being the case, authentic Christians will not be here to witness the signing of the seven-year covenant between Israel and the surrounding Arab nations. Nonetheless, we can see that the world is moving toward a one-world government and for a good amount of time, the world has been watching the happenings in the Middle East. To this day, the situation there seems to degenerate, with a great deal of huffing, puffing, and military movement. If we consider the fact that as far as God is concerned, Israel and especially Jerusalem is the center of this world (Ezekiel 5:5), a lot more has to happen to bring about even the semblance of a peace covenant. Yet, we can be assured that it will occur simply because God tells us it will.

Let’s also not forget one very important fact in all of this. God is allowing this to occur because it will give Satan the opportunity to attempt to fulfill his promises he made to himself (that God overheard) in which he promised that he would become “like the Most High,” (Isaiah 14).

Satan will attempt at every turn to become like the Most High and will fail miserably. He’ll do it in full view of the entire universe too. God has been and continues to be the Victor in all things. Aren’t you glad you are on His side? At least, I hope that’s the case.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective