The Tribulation

'How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half"

(Daniel 12:6,7)

Whereas the focus of this page is on the duration of the tribulation, wich is of enormous importance for the billions of people that will go through this darkest of periods, the above text also shows that the Entime is not just about 'trouble'. It is also a time of 'wonders' or 'marvels'.

A time of expectation

Against the darkness of the world powers, which are predominantly the US-empire and the zionist state of Israel, the brightness of Christ's works will shine as the glimmering hope of humanity, ending in Jesus' return in power and great glory.

The 'wonders' Daniel 12:6 speaks of are (1) the intervention of archangel Michael on behalf of God's people (vs.1), (2) the resurrection of myriads of dead (vs.2,3) - taking place at the beginning as well as at the end - and (3) the purification of an innumerable multitude (vs.10).

In the book of Revelation, we are informed about the enormous activity of angels, to which Jesus referred when He said: 'you shall see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man' (John 1:51). This prophetic verse is still future. Because the only angel that was seen during the life of Jesus was the one that strengthened Him in the garden of Gethsemane. And the only angels that were seen in the forty days thereafter were (1) the one that came from heaven like a lightning and rolled away the stone at the tomb of Jesus and (2) the two that the women saw within the tomb afterwards and (3) the two that the disciples saw after Jesus' ascension. But an account of angels ascending and decending upon the Son of man is nowhere to be found. That prophecy will become a reality during the Endtime, when angels will seal the 144,000 (Revelation 7), when angels will warn humanity of falling into the trap of the beast-system (Revelation 14), and when angels will prepare the grounds for the last battle, of Armageddon (Revelation 14, 16, 19). Angels will be sent in order to gather the people of the most High to the holy land, where they will be placed around the throne of the King of kings (Mathew 24:31, Mathew 25:31, 40).

The Endtime is not merely a time of utter darkness. It is also a time of the glimmering of the early daylight. It is the time of fierceless persecution. But it is also a time out of which an innumerable multitude of people will come into the blessed kingdom of God. It is a time in which many will find death. But those who died will be profoundly blessed in the resurrection at the start of the millennium (Revelation 14:13, Revelation 15:2, Revelation 20:4).

The Palestinians

Many charts of the Endtime show a tribulation of 7 years and they call the last half of it 'the great tribulation'. The line between 'tribulation' and 'great tribulation' is however quite vaguel and it is believed that during the 'tribulation', the first half of the period, many witnesses of Jesus will be put to death. This is not what the Bible shows us. This concept of a 7-year tribulation is based upon one single verse in Daniel 9:27. It is the last verse of a prophecy of the 70 weeks that would pass until the second coming of Jesus. From Daniel 9:26 it becomes clear that the first 69 weeks expired at the entering of Jesus into his ministry and would lead up to a period of wars and chaos. This period has lasted for about 2000 years and the events of the 70th week still have to pass. We however believe that we are experiencing the first few years of the 70th week of Daniel, since the all-out genocide upon the Palestinian people started on October 7, 2023. The genocide was performed by those claiming to be themselves victims of a genocide. The genocide was performed blatantly, before the eyes of the whole world to see. The genocide was performend with myriads of international laws and humanitarian institutions in place and yet, with nobody interfering.

We believe this strangest and most ourageous of genocides was described in Daniel 9:27, with the words: 'And he shall make the covenant heavy to many for one week'. This genocide is directed at one specific people: the Palestinians, that have come under attack of the collective West since the early 1900's. In those years a covenant was made between the British empire and Rothschild central bankers in order to create 'a homeland to the Jews'. What is almost never realized is that the inhabitants of the holy land, the Palestinians, are the most direct in line to old Israel and that they can therefore be counted as 'the Jews'. The Jews were already in their homeland for thousands of years. And many of the Europeans that were considered to be 'Jews' either had no genetic link to old Israel or had a much more feeble genetic link to it, after centuries of assimilation with the peoples of Europe. 

A time of 3.5 years

Back to the duration of the endtime. The 7-year period, called a week, was destined to be an attack on a specific people, not yet an attack on humanity as a whole. For one week, the covenant would be made heavy 'to many'. The prophecy of the 70 weeks being about Daniel's city and people, the 'many' are probably the descendants of old Israel. The prophecy of Daniel is related to the prophecy of Jeremiah that leads up to 'the new covenant' in Jeremiah 31, that will be established with 'the house of Israel and of Judah'. Before the new covenant will become effective, their would be a 'time of Jacob's trouble', mentioned in Jeremiah 30:7 - the preceding chapter. Daniel 9:27 teaches us that this 'time of Jacob's trouble' would be 7 years or 'one week'.

However, this 'one week' of 7 years is not the endtime, called the great tribulation. At least eight bible parts show that the 'great tribulation' will only last for the second half of the 7 years, when persecution will become worldwide.

(1) Daniel 9:27 states that at 'the midst of the week', an overspreading of abominations will cause desolation. The midst of the week is after 3.5 years of it have passed and 3.5 years of it are still future. At that very point, an abomination, a blasphemous act of idolatry somewhere, would cause 'desolation', destruction and death on a huge scale.

(2) Daniel 12:11 tells us that from the time that 'the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days'.  Again, an abomination is mentioned to be 'set up' - followed by 1,290 very difficult days, about 3.5 years.

(3) Jesus refers to Daniel 12:11, when he says: '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:)...then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains....For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be...' (Mathew 24:15,16,21). So again, the 'great tribulation' would start with 'the abomination of desolation', spoken of by Daniel, after which would follow about 3.5 terrible years.

(4) At the end of a very detailed prophecy about two rival powers within the Greek empire, the king of the North and the king of the South, a great war would start in the Middle East in 'the Endtime'. This war would be ignited by actions of a third power, named 'the king' that would honor 'a god of fortresses' in 'the strong holds'. (Daniel 11:39,40). If the Endtime is within reach, these powers would be Iran (king of the North), Egypt (king of the South) and Israel (the king honoring its great ally as 'god'), with the USA  as 'the god of fortresses'. The USA has about 750 military bases all over the planet and supports and defends its precious ally, Israel, in every way possible. After the start of the Endtime war, the prophecy goes on with: 'and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time' (Daniel12:1). It is therefore plausible that the 'honoring of the god of fortresses in the strong holds' will be 'the abomination of desolation', that will prompt the Endtime of 3.5 years.

(5) Revelation 11:2 speaks of a period of 42 months, 3.5 years, that 'the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months' by the forces of the gentiles. That will start with an invasion by 'the king of the North' (Iran) and the 'king of the South' (Egypt) - see point (4). But the force of Iran will be broken by the US-empire and from the ashes of the state of Israel, the beast system will be set up as control tool of a tyrannical empire.

(6) Revelation 12:14 tells us that the persecuted woman - that we consider to be the Palestinians in Palestine - will be supernaturally brought to safety and be nourished for 'a time, times and half a time'. For 3.5 years, the Palestinians that were subjected to a genocide will be safeguarded in a place where nobody can touch them - in 'the wilderness', much like the people of Israel that were delivered out of the hands of Pharao in the Exodus, through the Red Sea, into the wilderness. But then we read in Revelation 12:17: 'And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ'. And then Revelation 13 starts, describing the two instruments of satan that he will use to terrorize all of humanity into submission. These two instruments, the beast out of the sea and the beast out of the earth are seen in the present US-empire and the present state of Israel. Through them the dragon, satan, will attack all of those that belong to the people of the most High and that hold on to the word of God, while the Palestinians in Palestine will be safe, for 'time, times and half a time' - 3.5 years.

(7) Daniel 7 shows 2,600 years of history of the empires in four consecutive beasts, ending with the last phase of the fourth empire, visualized as an eleventh horn of the fourth beast (which was the Roman empire), that came forth from among ten horns that came first (the European powers). It was the USA that started as a 'small horn', a series of European colonies, but that rose to enormous size and strength - the US-empire. That 'horn', as the last phase of empires would 'speak great words against the most High, and ... wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.' There we again have the 'time, times and dividing of time',  3.5 years during which a persecution of 'the saints of the most High' would become worldwide. While the Palestinians in the land would be safe, the persecution against their relatives in exile and all of those supporting them, would start and last for 3.5 years. We consider the Palestinians in exile to be 'the 144,000 sealed' of Revelation 7 and 'the brothers of the Lord' of Mathew 25:31-46.

8. Revelation 13:5 again names the '42 months', being 3.5 years, describing the actions of 'the beast out of the sea', which is identical to 'the eleventh horn' of Daniel 7. In 200+ years, the horn has developed into the 7th head (Revelation 17:10) and ultimately into the complete beast of the Endtime (Revelation 17:11 - where of = 'out of'). The 42 months are the last 3.5 years of the beast, during which it will reign through the use of force and oppression (which we already see in the extreme use of sanctions by the US) and no longer primarily through deception and control of the information space.

These 3.5 years will be divided in two parts, during each of which the beast (the US-empire) will be given 'power to act'. The first two years will see actions of the beast in igniting and waging war in order to restore its world supremacy (which at the moment the US is on the vere of losing - both financially and militarily). During these two years Iran will be defeated and both Russia and China will be subdued (Daniel 11:44,45). During the last 1.5 years the beast will reign with terror, mandating its beast system worldwide, with 'the image of the beast' at the center, in destroyed Israel. The image of the beast is the real-time digital copy of the complete empire, that is continually updated through 'the mark of the beast' in peoples right hand or forehead - a dystiopian nightmare.