The Seven Year Tribulation Period

Daniel 9

Starting in Daniel 9:24-27 we see that Daniel is presented with a prophecy involving seventy “weeks”. I outline this prophecy in greater detail in another study. For the purposes of this study, we’re focusing specifically on the last “week” mentioned in verse 27.

It’s important to note that the word “week” in this instance speaks of a word translated as “week(s)” that in the Hebrew is the word “Shabua” which means “time period of seven”. Just as we use the word “dozen” to indicate a set of twelve, this word is used to specify a set of seven. While it’s specifically used in the context of time, it can mean seven days, seven weeks, seven months, seven years, seven decades, etc. — it only specifies that it’s a set of seven. We can see from Daniel 9:2 that the context of this vision is that Daniel learned from a different prophecy of Jeremiah’s that the captivity of Jerusalem would last for seventy years.

So, we have an educated guess that it’s speaking of years. But, not to jump ahead, we begin the diagram with a rectangle indicating the timeline for “a covenant with many for one week” is a set of seven. We also add an indication that in the middle of the set of seven — that is 3.5 “units” in — the main figure in this covenant will cease Jewish sacrifices and offerings and something called the Abomination of Desolation will occur. I've also noted that verse 9:26 says that the end will come with a flood. This detail will find significance in the section related to Revelation 12 below. But, for now, here's the information we've covered so far in the chart:

Olivet Discourse

Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21

These three chapters record different perspectives of the same teaching of Jesus referred to as the Olivet Discourse. In these, Jesus is asked by his disciples to answer three questions:

• When will the temple be torn down?
• Answered in Matthew 24:9-14, Mark 13:9-13, Luke 21:12-19
• What will be the sign preceding His second coming?
• Answered in Matthew 24:15-31, Mark 13:14-27, Luke 21:25-28
• What will be the sign of the end of the age.
• Answered in Matthew 24:4-8, 32-44, Mark 13:5-8, 28-37, Luke 21:29-36

While they all essentially say the same thing, Luke seems to present it in chronological order. The order of events Jesus communicates is as follows:

• First, they will lay hands on the disciples, persecute them, imprison them, give opportunity for their testimony and some of them will be put to death — hated because of Jesus and the message they bear. They’re told to endure.
• The Gospel will be preached to all nations.
• There will be false Messiahs throughout time —in the days of the disciples, the days of the church age, and the days of tribulation— who will rise up to deceive many.
• There will be wars & rumors of wars.
• There will be earthquakes & famines in various places. But the end is not yet.
• Nearing the end times, Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom (regional and/or world wars).
• There will be earthquakes, plagues, and famines.
• There will be terrible sights and great signs in heaven.
• Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies and desolated. It will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
• The Abomination of Desolation spoken of by Daniel will be set up.
• This establishes that the events of the Maccabean revolt are not what is being foretold by Daniel.
• The people of Judea will flee to the mountains as days of punishment begin with great distress on the land and wrath to the people of Israel.
• They will be persecuted, arrested, and killed
• There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars as the nations of the earth are distressed & perplexed at the roaring of the sea and waves.
• Could indicate major global issues like polar inversion.
• Then, Jesus will come in a cloud with power and great glory like lightning coming from the east and flashing as far as the west.
• When this happens, Israel’s redemption draws near.

From these chapters we can add a few things to our timeline diagram:

• In Matthew 24:15, the Abomination of Desolation is stated to be standing in the Holy Place.
• In the previously mentioned scriptures, it was only associated with the end of sacrifices and blasphemy except in the example of what Antiochus Epiphanes did.
• If there’s a Holy Place, then there is a temple, but we do not see these events take place after the crucifixion but before the temple is destroyed as Jesus predicted. So, logically, there must be a rebuilt temple prior to the abomination of desolation. This also aligns with the notion that the Jewish sacrifices would need to commence in order for them to be taken away.
• In Matthew 24:16, following the Abomination of Desolation, those in Judea must flee.
• Matthew 24:21 tells us that after the Abomination of Desolation will be Great Tribulation
• Matthew 24:29 tells us that after the tribulation of those days the sun and moon will be darkened and the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then, Jesus will return.

I’ve added these things to the timeline below in light blue:

Revelation 11

This chapter begins by speaking of the temple of God and the altar serving as another witness that a Third Temple seems to be coming. We see quickly in the chapter that “the nations” have been given the holy city to trample for forty-two months. Reading further, we see that two witnesses are given authority and they prophesy for 1,260 days. Because of the number of days, we can safely assume that we’re talking about one half of the seven year period, but which half? If Revelation 11-13 are presented chronologically then this would be speaking of the first half of the seven year period.

We get confirmation that Revelation 11 comes before Revelation 13 in verse 7 where we learn that the beast of the abyss will make war with them and kill them. In summary, the witnesses will prophesy with authority for 1260 days then the beast of the abyss will kill them. We have not yet met the beast of the abyss in our study, but we will find it in chapter 13.

I’ve placed the 1260 day period from Revelation 11 into the timeline in yellow serving as the number of days prior to the mid-point. It's logical to assume the second half will also be 1260 days, but let's continue into the next chapters and see what they say.

Revelation 13 & 17

Skipping chapter 12 for a moment because we just came across the beast in chatper 11, in chapter 13 we learn of two "beasts". We learn from Revelation 17:10 that the beasts represent kings and kingdoms. Hold onto the knowledge that the beasts are kingdoms and their heads are kings and then read Revelation 13:14-15 you'll see the beast out of the land creates an image (statue/idol) to the beast out of the sea to be worshipped. This is idolatry of the beast, which is likely to be worship of the king serving as its head.

This parallels the idea of idolatry being introduced into the Holy Place with the Abomination of Desolation. This leader is apparently trying to establish themselves to be worshipped as greater than God. In verse 12 we see the beast of the land is exercising the authority of the beast of the sea when he tries to force worship. Therefore the forty-two months of the authority of the beast must be correlated with the abomination of desolation. But, that only tells us that the forty-two month authority and the abomination overlap, but not to what degree. When we combine this with the knowledge from Revelation 11 that at the end of the first 1260 days the two witnesses who hold authority for their 1260 days are killed by the beast who is given authority to act in verse 13:5 & 7, we can see that the beast’s authority comes after the first 1260 days almost as if an authoritative baton is passed and that his ability to act against the witnesses isn’t available until the end of the time of the witnesses. Then, we find in Revelation 13:7, Revelation 17:14 and Revelation 19:19-21 that the beast makes war against Jesus and His saints. All of this occurs in the second half of the seven year tribulation period after the abomination of desolation occurs.

The timeline related portions of this chapter that I’ve added below in orange are:

• Rev 13:5-7 - The beast’s authority lasts for forty-two months granting him the ability to wage war on the saints following the 1260 days of the two witnesses.
• Rev. 13:14-15 - Abomination of desolation is an image of the beast of the sea.
• Rev. 13:

Revelation 12

Now that we've established that chapter 11 is speaking of the first half of the seven year Tribulation Period and Chapter 13 is speaking of the second half of the seven year Tribulation Period, I want to backtrack to Revelation 12. In Revelation 12, we read an allegorical story involving a woman who gives birth, and a dragon. The woman introduce in the opening of the chapter is two different things:

• The woman is a symbolic representation of the Kingdom of Heaven often referred to as Zion in the Bible. From Zion comes the different groups of members of the Kingdom of Heaven: The believing members of Israel and the church (seemingly sub-divided, which is supported by the microcosm found in the letters of the seven churches in Revelation 2-3 covered on the Millennial Days page.
• The woman is also a literal reference to the constellation Virgo.
  • Verses 1-2 describe an actual astrological event that has already occurred on September 23, 2017, and it's one of the reasons I believe that we are on the very cusp of the Tribulation Period beginning. I cover this point in greater detail on the Why 2025 page of this website. But for now, I'll skip over the astrological fulfillment of this section and continue with the overview of the events in the chapter and how they pertain to the timeline of the Tribulation Period.

The next thing that we see in Rev. 12:5 is the birth of the child who will rule all the nations with a rod of iron. In Psalm 2:9 we find that the authority of Jesus over the nations is likened to a rod of iron. Likewise, in Revelation 2:27 we find that Jesus promises to share this authority to those who overcome. So, from this we can gather that the child birthed from the Kingdom of Heaven is a body of believers who have or will overcome and share in Jesus's authority during His Millennial Reign. This body of believers is "caught up" to the throne of God. This is the Greek term "harpazo" (Strongs G726) which is referring to a rapture or gathering of believers to God. Meanwhile, the woman remains behind in verse 6 and flees from the dragon to a place prepared by God for 1,260 days.

Reading on, we find that while the child is raptured and the woman flees the dragon (who is Satan) and his angels are confronted by Michael and his angels. The angels prevail and the dragon and his angels are thrown from Heaven to Earth. This arrival at Earth seems likely to correlate to when the dragon gives his authority to the beast of the sea which we read about in Revelation 13:4-7. This notion is strengthened when we see in Rev. 12:13 that the dragon persecutes the woman (those of the Kingdom of Heaven who weren't raptured as the child).

The next thing to point out in this chapter is that the woman is being persecuted and flees into the wilderness "for a time (1), times (2), and half a time (½).” So, we understand the time in the wilderess after the woman's flight is to be three and a half “times” which is half of our seven years period. Now we have two halves mentioned in this chapter. So, we see that Revelation 12 is communicating an entire timeline of the Tribulation period. Finally we see that the end of her time in the wilderness is associated with a flood originating from the serpent (dragon/Satan). This flood correlates to the flood we saw mentioned in Daniel 9 and confirms our placement of events in the timeline.

As a side note, notice that we get some interesting math when we divide the 2520 by 12 months, or the 1260 days by 42 months (12 * 3.5). In both cases we find that the months we are speaking of are on average 30 days and that the number of days represented for each year are 360 days, not 365. These 360 day years are what are referred to as "prophetic years" and have application to interpreting the rest of the prophecy before the 70th "week" of Daniel we know as the Tribulation Period. I cover this in greater detail on the Daniel 9 page.

The final thing to point out in this chapter is that in Revelation 12:14-17 we find that the dragon fails to pursue and kill the woman he turns his at tention to the rest of the woman's children (members of the Kingdom of Heaven), which we have not yet seen mentioned in the chapter. This final portion finds significance in Revelation 19 which we'll cover further down this page.

Below, I've added the following points from Revelation 12 in Pink:

• 1260 days from Revelation 12:6 to the first half of the Tribulation Period
• The heavenly war and fall of Satan to the mid-point from Revelation 12:7-9
• The "time, times, and half a time" of the woman fleeing to the wilderness in the second half of the Tribulation Period that ends with a flood of water from the dragon found in Revelation 12:14-17
• The dragon making war with the rest of the woman's children.


Click Image to Expand

Daniel 11 & 12

Daniel 12 is a continuation of Daniel 11 and therefore the two should be handled together.

Daniel 12 context from Daniel 11 appears to be a series of events that I believe describe the Tribulation Period from the perspective of The Antichrist:

• Daniel 11:20-21 - A period of peace will produce a despicable person who is not originally a king but will seize the Northern Kingdom by intrigue.
• Daniel 11:22 - A “flood” of overwhelming forces will be flooded away from him and be smashed.
• Daniel 11:23-24 - An alliance with the deceptive king is mentioned involving a time of peace.
• Daniel 11:25-28 - The Northern King will attack the Southern King and succeed and return to his land with plunder set while being set against the holy covenant (Israel) and take action (against them) and return to his own land.
• Daniel 11:30-31 - The Northern King returns to the South and is met with resistance from Kittim (Modern-day Cyprus).
• Daniel 11:31 - Forces rise up from him who destroy the sanctuary fortress and cease (Jewish) sacrifices and set up the abomination of desolation.
• Daniel 11:32-35 - He will persecute and kill instructors of the people
• Daniel 11:36–39 - He will show no regard for God or any gods while attacking fortresses and be empowered by a foreign god. To the foreign god’s followers he’ll give great honor and land for a price.
• Daniel 11:40-41 - A great flood of military forces will enter Israel and overflow them, but the people East of the Jordan (Edom, Moab, and Ammon) will escape.
• Daniel 11:42-43 - He will conquer Egypt and gain control of treasures with Libya and Ethiopia pursuing him.
• Daniel 11:44-45 - He will retreat to establish camp between the seas and Mt. Zion (the temple mount in Jerusalem).

Starting in Daniel 12:1 we see that Michael the angel we met in Revelation 12 is said to stand guard over Israel and arises at the beginning of this chapter. We know from the Revelation 12 section above that Michael and his angels rise up against the dragon at the mid-point of the Tribulation Period. So, this gives us the initial hint as to what part of the End Times we're talking about. In Daniel 12:5-7, The angel is asked how long will the time of distress mentioned in verses 1-3 be? In verse seven, “The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time (1), times (2), and half a time (½).” While this is the first time it's mentioned in the Bible, we've already encountered this phrase in Revelation 12, which confirms Daniel 12 is discussing the second half of the Tribulation Period.

Then, in Daniel 12:8 Daniel asks what the outcome of these events will be and he is answered in verses 9-13. For our purposes I will point to verses 11 & 12 that provide new day counts to be added to our timeline with a reference to the abomination of desolation: “And from the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who is patient and attains to the 1,335 days!”

Some interpret Daniel 12:11 to say that the 1290 days is the time between the abolishment of sacrifices and the setting up of the abomination of desolation. This would have the 1290 days ending at the mid-point of the tribulation period and therefore extend our timeline 30 days earlier than the start of the 1260 days of tribulation with the abolishment of sacrifices occuring 30 days before the tribulation period begins. However, Daniel 9:27 explicitly states that at the middle of the week is when both the sacrifices will be abolished and the abomination of desolation will be set up.

Therefore, verse 11 states the abolishment of sacrifices and the setting up of the abomination of desolation have the same start date at the beginning of a 1290 day count which starts at the mid-point of the tribulation period. Because we already had other hints of what part of the Tribulation Period we were reading about and we know the abomination of desolation will occur at the mid point this would therefore extend 30 days beyond our established 1260 day count for the second half of the tribulation period. Then, we learn from the following verse there is something else that will occur an additional 45 days later at the 1335 day mark.

We get further confirmation of this application of verses 11 & 12 by re-reading Daniel 12:7 with the context of the other parts of the timeline we've already established. The process that is taking place from the beginning of the tribulation period to the mid-point of tribulation is the destruction of the power of the "holy people". Namely, Israel is being conquested leading up to complete domination with the establishment of the authority of the beast in Rev 13 we also see the fleeing of the Judeans as a result of the beast's power and the setting up of the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24:15-21 and Rev 12:14. Further, we see this domination turn to destruction of Jerusalem beginning in Rev 16:19 and into Revelation 17-18. However, in regards to Daniel 12, which this section covers, I've updated the timeline below to reflect the additional day counts provided, and we get some needed structure to the end portion of the prophetic events.

Revelation 6-18 Overview

I believe there is a great number of significant things that we find within the central bulk of the book of Revelation that occur during the tribulation period. There have been many different approaches to interpreting the timing of these events. Based on the information presented above, I am confident that the chapters of Revelation are largely presented in chronoligical order with chapter 11 occuring prior to the abomination of desolation, chapter 12 providing a full overview from a different perspective, and chapter 13 beginning at the mid-point. It seems to me then that the transition from chapter 11 toand chapter 12 serve as a natural division for the first half of tribulation and the middle division of the book of Revelation. I provide a general overview of the relative timing of chapters 6-18 below:

• Revelation 6-10 - A series of events and plagues that fall upon the earth during the first half (1260 days) of tribulation ending at the mid-point.
• Revelation 11 - An event that happens in parallel to the 1260 day first half of tribulation.
• Revelation 12 - An overview of the seven years of the Tribulation Period from the perspective of Heaven.
• Revelation 13-14 - Events that begin at the mid-point of tribulation and continue for the second 1260 day half of tribulation.
• Revelation 15 - Seems to be describing a scene toward the end of the second 1260 day half of tribulation since those who were victorious over the beast would not be in full attendance until the end of the tribulation period.
• Revelation 16 - Contains events and plagues that fall upon the earth during the second half (1260) days of tribulation. This chapter mentions the gathering of evil forces in preparation for war against God at the second coming of Jesus.
• Revelation 17-18 - These chapters communicate the destruction of Jerusalem which we see is part of the final bowl of wrath in chatper 16. We also learn that the gathering of evil forces from the previous chapter includes ten kings who do not have kingdoms.

Revelation 19

The next piece of scripture related to establishing a timeline is found in Revelation 19 in which we find three major events: the marriage of the lamb in verses 7-10, the second coming of Jesus Christ in verses 11-18, and the defeat of the beast and the false prophet in verses 19-21.

The marriage of the lamb in verses 7-10 refers to the joining of the church as the bride and Jesus as the bridegroom. We find marriage terminology is used a handful of times throughout scripture including Jesus referring to Himself as the bridegroom in Matthew 9:15 as well as Jesus providing a parable in Matthew 25 describing preparations made by the kingdom of heaven prior to the marriage found in Revelation 19. Jesus speaks in terms of the Galilean wedding in multiple places throughout His ministry. I aim to cover this in greater detail on another page, but for the moment the thing to note in these 4 verses is that the marriage of the Lamb occurs after the end of the tribulation period, but before the rest of the events of chapters 19-22. Using the pattern of the Galilean wedding, the marriage event in Revelation 19 is the public celebration of the marriage which has already gone through the stages of engagement/betrothal, home prepared, groom's return to claim the bride, and a private consummation ceremony. Now, in chapter 19 we find the celebration feast.

The second coming of Jesus Christ in verses 11-18 is the return of Jesus with His bride to earth to conquer and establish His Millennial Kingdom (Rev 20). In these verses we see the heavenly host enter the scene on Earth where the beast and his armies have been preparing for war against them.

Finally, in verses 19-21 we see the defeat of the beast, the false prophet, and their associated forces. The forces are killed and the beast & false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire. All of the above happens after the tribulation period has ended but before the Millennial reign has begun. For the sake of our timeline, these events are added at the end of the timeline and in keeping with what we know from Matthew 24:29 and Daniel 12 which seem to point to the second coming of Jesus at the end of the 1290 days and the defeat of the evil forces at the end of the 1335 days.

Altogether, I note on our timeline below in purple that the bride of Christ has been collected sometime prior to His second coming at the end of the 1290 days of Daniel 12, but before the war of Armageddon occurs after the second coming but before the Millennial reign which we find in the last chapter I'll cover on this page — Revelation 20.

Revelation 20

Revelation 20 gives us a few final major events beginning with the binding of Satan effectively cutting off his influence on the world for 1000 years found in verses 1-3. Simultaneously verses 4-6 mention Jesus and His saints reign over the Earth for 1000 years — the seventh millennial day serving as the completion of the pattern of the sabbath. Then, we see at the end of the 1000 years Satan is released at which time a final battle occurs involving Gog and Magog resulting in the final defeat of Satan. At that time there is a final judgement of the dead & all of Earth's inhabitants and existence enters into the final perfected state that God intended from the beginning where evil in all it's form no longer exists and all God's people live forever in His presence found with additional detail in Rev 21-22. This seems to be the blessing awaiting those who endure to the end of the 1335 days mentioned in Daniel 12:12. To finish the timeline project, I've added the events of Revelation 20 to our construction below.

Resulting Timeline

In the text above I've provided above a breakdown of how I arrive at my interpretation of the timeline of events. Below I've simplified our timeline by combining the scriptures together in a more cohesive view.

Other

I believe the body of true-believing church members will not be present on earth for the timeline above. Instead, I believe Jesus will retrieve true believers from the earth to spare His bride from the wrath to come. This retrieval is referred to as the rapture. To see my take on the Biblical precendent for the rapture Click Here!

It is my belief that God has communicated in the scriptures pattern, foreshadow, and in some cases explicit statements that tells us the timing of these events. Click Here to learn about my interpretation of the overarching timeline of mankind I believe God has communicated or Click Here to learn why I believe 2025 specifically has a high liklihood to be the year the prophetic seven year tribulation period begins.

The end times prophecy regularly includes a pattern of sets of seven. I've noticed that this pattern is prevalent throughout the Bible in some amazing ways. Click Here to learn more on this pattern's prevalence in the scriptures.