What is the future peace Treaty with Israel? The Antichrist will make a peace treaty with Israel to start the seven-year tribulation.” At the start of his reign, he takes over countries peacefully. “And he (Antichrist) will make a firm covenant (peace treaty) with the many for one week (week of seven years, the tribulation)” (Daniel 9:27).
The Seven Year Tribulation
The angel Gabriel mentions a significant peace treaty that begins the seventieth week of Daniel, a.k.a. ‘the seven-year tribulation’ and ‘the time of Jacob’s trouble.’ Gabriel’s ‘weeks’ are groups of seven years, not days (Daniel 9:24).
There is a gap between the 69th and 70th weeks because the seventy weeks reveal the future of Israel and not the Church. So, the 69th-week ends when Jesus is crucified:
(From the beginning of the weeks) “until the Prince Messiah shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks (equals sixty-nine weeks)….After the sixty-two weeks (sixty-nine total) Messiah (Jesus) shall be cut off and shall have nothing” (Daniel 9:25-26).
Note: These are prophetic years of 360 days based on the lunar calendar used by the Babylonians and the Jews. So it’s difficult to determine the exact timing of the first sixty-nine years. But, the end date of the sixty-nine weeks is firm because it ended the day Jesus died on the cross.
The 70th week doesn’t start until after Jesus raptures the Church
But the rapture doesn’t begin the tribulation ‘week’; the signing of the peace treaty does:
“And he (the prince to come, the Antichrist) shall make a firm covenant (a peace treaty) with many (Israel) for one week” (Daniel 9:27).
Daniel’s 70 Weeks of Years (prophetic years of 360 days)
Event |
Time |
Decree to rebuild Jerusalem (this starts the 70 weeks) |
445 BC |
Rebuilding Jerusalem |
7 weeks, 49 years |
Until Messiah is cut-off |
62 weeks, 434 years |
Parenthesis: The Church Age |
Counts as -0- years |
Tribulation |
1 week of years, 7 Years |
Jesus’ Second Advent |
Ends the 70th Week |
Future Antichrist
Daniel first saw the future Antichrist in his visions as the ‘little horn’:
“And it (the future revived Roman Empire) was different from all the beasts (empires) that were before it, and it had ten horns (a confederation of ten nations)…. There came (a) little horn (and) in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of man (Antichrist), and a mouth speaking great things” (7:7-8).
In the tribulation, Israel will again worship God and offer sacrifices in a rebuilt temple. But in the middle of the tribulation, Antichrist will desecrate the temple by entering it and demanding worship as god. He will also stop the Jewish sacrifices and offerings (Daniel 9:27). However, Jesus will destroy Antichrist when Jesus returns to earth at the end of the tribulation (Daniel 9:27; Revelation 19).
Israel has experienced sixty-nine weeks of Daniel’s years.
And the seventy weeks of Daniel’s prophecy apply only to Israel. After that time, the Messiah was crucified (cut off in @30 AD) and did not receive His Kingdom. Between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks is the parenthetical time of the Church Age, which, so far, has lasted two thousand years. The last week, the seventieth, which occurs after the Church age, will be the seven years of the tribulation. The Church Age ends when the Church is taken to heaven in the rapture. Then, after the seventieth week (the seven-year tribulation), Christ will return to earth, defeat Antichrist, and receive His Kingdom (Revelation 19-20).
The Church will not be in the Tribulation Time
Before it begins, Jesus raptures it to heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). The Holy Spirit, who indwells all the believers during the Church Age, accompanies them back to heaven (2 Thessalonians 2:7). Those who become believers during the tribulation time are not in the Church. The believers in this time believe in Christ after the rapture.
The Future Peace Treaty with Israel
The seventieth week is a return to Jewish religious practices, including worship in the temple. These are believers, but they are not the Church. They will be the brothers of Old Testament believers.
• There is a time gap between the sixty-ninth week, which ended when Christ was crucified, and when the peace treaty is signed. The Church Age fills this time gap.
• Christ will rapture His Church before the seventieth week begins.
• The seventieth week doesn’t start when Jesus raptures the Church; it begins with a peace treaty signed after the rapture.