The Great Tribulation Will Last Three And One Half Years

1260 days / a time, times and half a time again.

We have all been taught that the Great Tribulation Period – known as “the end times” or “the end of the age” or “the days of Armageddon” – will be 7 years. We have been taught it so often, that it has become assumed theology. Now EVERYBODY JUST KNOWS IT!! I did too, until it was pointed out to me that THE BIBLE DOESN’T SAY THAT!! You be the judge!!! This is THE ONLY PLACE IN THE BIBLE that can be twisted by the theologians to indicate a 7 year tribulation:

“Seventy `sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city 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. “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven `sevens,’ and sixty-two `sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two `sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. Daniel 9:24-26

The prophet Daniel lays out this sequence of numbers; 7 + 62 + 1 = 70 X 7 = 490 (years). They reckon that the set of seven and the 62 happened through Jesus’ ministry and ended when His earthly ministry did. Then you skip 2,000 years, then you count a last set of ‘seven’. I don’t know what your ‘take’ on the matter is, but I think that theory puts the evolutionists ‘gap’ theory to shame! This is the 2,000 year gap…

Patterns of Repetition

One witness is not enough … A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Deuteronomy 19:15

Can you show me the OTHER verses in the Bible that CLEARLY say that we are in for a seven year tribulation? No readers of this website have pointed it out to me yet…

Once again we are confronted with a decision to make; shall we continue to believe what our priests, pastors, teachers, scribes, scholars, luminaries, dignitaries and theologians TELL US it means, or shall we listen to what the bible says?

Would you care to see what the bible says for itself;

Revelation 11:1-2 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.

Revelation 11:3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.

Revelation 12:6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

Revelation 12:14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.

Revelation 13:5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.

Revelation 13:7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation

Patterns In Distances

Can you see the picture here of tribulation (A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough) . The majority of Christians find themselves left behind and enduring 3 1/2 years of tribulation. “they saw Jesus approaching… and they were terrified” , because when the current charade is terminated, the church leaders will fear for their lives – and their souls. The church then decides to accept Jesus Christ as the head of His church by “taking Him into the boat”, at which time the tribulation suddenly ENDS in 1260 days. Yes, most graciously Jesus proclaims;

“but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” Matthew 24:22

We thought it was supposed to be 7 years! Praise The Lord! It’s only 3 1/2 years! Not 7 years of tribulation… Ain’t it great how our Dad REALLY LOVES ALL US KIDS 

When you take all of these instances, it’s hard to ignore the weight of evidence. Especially when coupled with a viable alternative. I believe that it will only be a matter of time before this “viable alternative” is more commonly referred to as TRUTH!.

Patterns In Feasts

Perhaps you have read elsewhere on this website about the “patterns” that God uses to communicate with man? In Leviticus 23, The Lord lays out the “feasts” or “festivals” that He wants the Jews to celebrate as a lasting ordinance. Many in our day have come to understand the significance of the “feast of Tabernacles” and it’s representation of being ‘with the Lord’, or the Lord “tabernacling” with us, His people. Therefore it is concluded that the rapture would occur on or about the festival of “Tabernacles”. But 1260 days added to Tabernacles (fall of the year) is nothing special.

It has been thoughtfully calculated that the rapture of the 144,000 firstfruits will occur on Nisan 10, based on a number of highlights from Hebrew history. The first being that the Passover lamb was “set aside” on Nisan 10. The lamb was “shut up” for 4 days, then was sacrificed on the day of the Passover. Two days later, Nisan 16, is the feast of firstfruits, or the waving of the barley sheaf – the firstfruits of the winter harvest. Can you see that as the lamb was “shut up” for the four days, so was the lamb of God “shut up” in heaven for 4 days – 4000 years?

The second major event to occur on Nisan 10 is that it is the date that the Jews crossed over the Jordan River into the promised land. Now doesn’t that pretty well SCREAM at you? Only a small group passed over into the promised land the first time – so similarly this time, only a small portion of the original group actually crossed over.

So figuring a Nisan 10 rapture of the firstfruits, we add 1260 days to come EXACTLY to the Feast of Trumpets!!! After “breaking through” the household of the church by snatching a scant 144,000 “firstfruits” that are READY, then the Lord commences to “ripen” the rest with the “heat and pressure” of the tribulation – for 3 and 1/2 years. THEN the Lord returns to “harvest” the great masses of Christians who have “matured” and are now ready to be raptured away to glory.

THEN comes “THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE DAY OF THE LORD”. The Lord returns a second time for this “harvest of the earth” taking millions of Christians away in a great rapture that is witnessed by the whole world.

Then all hell breaks loose, literally, with an all-out nuclear holocaust that lasts approximately 2 weeks.

If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive Mat 24:22

Finally, Jesus returns to break up this little fight that the kids have gotten into (just like they always do when you’re trying to put them down for bed…). So to stop the fight, we see Him exert a bit of His power;

On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. Zechariah 14:4

7 Year Tribulation?

If you must hold on to a 7 year tribulation, then try this. The “thief” will “sneak” the “5 wise virgins” out at the midway point of the 7 years, this very event triggering the countdown of 1260 days spoken of in the New Testament. In other words, the rapture of the firstfruits will define the “middle” of the 7 years, and the beginning of the 1260 days – 3 1/2 years. So we are probably IN the first 3 1/2 years RIGHT NOW!!!! Soon The Lord will do His “strange work”, and bring this current “Babylon” system to a very sudden end. Just watch for 2 extremely BIZAR men walking into Jerusalem just a couple of days before one of these Passovers.

Another reason many people believe that the Bible indicates a 7 year tribulation period is because of the 49 weeks of Daniel, and the missing week. Nonsense. There is not a “skip” in time. “Weeks” don’t magically transform from one century to another. No, the 49th week is followed by the 50th week. Here is a very nice breakdown of this passage in Daniel regarding the weeks. As you’ll read there, the weeks were important for one simple reason – it pinpointed almost to the day, when The Messiah would be murdered / give up His life for His children’s sake.

How Do We Know It Has Begun?

From what I can see, there will be 2 signs showing the Tribulation is beginning. They both occur on the exact same day – the 10th day of Nisan OR a few days later on the Feast of Firstfruits. In no particular order:

1). The Firstfruits who followed the Lamb wherever He lead are “redeemed from the earth” (raptured). The 144,000 fully obedient and mature in Jesus are taken away to be married to Jesus as His bride. Shortly thereafter, they return to earth for a very special assignment through the Great Tribulation period.

2). The two EYE Witnesses of Revelation 11 come strolling into Jerusalem. These are the two men who took Jesus up on His word when He said that if we follow His words we would never see death, and that some standing among them would remain alive until He returned. This is John the Beloved, as the witness to the Christians, and Lazarus as the witness to the Jews. Neither are recorded as having died (Lazarus, a second time) and both were Jesus’ favorites and both were considered His friend.

Matthew 24:33 when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.

By Russell Dibird