How can you say that the 70th Week has begun when the Rapture hasn't occurred yet, nor have you been able to identify the Antichrist?
Your views about the Rapture and about the 70th Week are so contrary to mine. For one thing, I believe in a Pre-tribulation Rapture. For another thing, the birth pains Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24:5-8 are not part of the 70th week. The 70th week (tribulation) starts with the first seal judgments of the four horsemen in Revelation 6.
Since a Rapture has not taken place, I do not believe that the European Neighbourhood Policy can be the peace plan spoken about in Daniel 9:27. Furthermore, I have not seen a seven-year peace treaty involving Israel yet. If this were to be the covenant, then you should be able to name the Antichrist now.
As Daniel 9:27 states, "He (the Antichrist) will confirm (strengthen) a covenant with many for seven years." Meaning two things: 1) you should know who the Antichrist is, since he's the one who confirms it, and 2) the Antichrist strengthens a peace treaty that already exists. If this were to be the treaty Daniel spoke of, then the temple would also have to be completed in 2009 to begin the animal sacrifices, since the Antichrist would desecrate the temple in 2010 (midpoint of the tribulation).
Ted’s Response:
Uncountable "pre-tribbers" have expressed surprise when I have pointed out to them the parallels between Matthew 24:4-31 of Jesus' Olivet Discourse and the first six seals of Revelation 6:1-17. One of my pages, Parallels Between the Six Seals and the Olivet Discourse, does this. Another page is the Chronology of the Olivet Discourse.
Now, follow my logic explaining why the "beginning of birth pains," about which Jesus spoke, will take place during the first half of the 70th Week. Clearly, when Jesus said, "So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel..." (Matthew 24:15), He was referring to Daniel 9:27, which indicates that the "abomination that causes desolation" will be set up in the middle of the 70th Week. Jesus' next statement (24:16), about those in Judea who will flee at that time, parallels John's description of the fleeing of the remnant of Israelites, who will be protected by God for 1,260 days (Revelation 12:6)—the last half of the 70th Week. Thus, they will have fled at the midpoint.
Several verses later, Jesus describes events (Matthew 24:29), which clearly parallel John's Sixth Seal events (Revelation 6:12,13). That puts the opening of the Sixth Seal at some point after the midpoint of the 70th Week. No one can convince me that Jesus' discourse is not a description of the events of the first six seals, both before and after the midpoint of the 70th Week, with the "beginning of birth pains" taking place prior to the midpoint—that is, during the first half of that seven-year period.
I understand that you cannot believe there is any possibility that we have entered the 70th Week, because you have "placed all your chips" on a Pre-tribulation Rapture. On the other hand, I believe that the latter is a foundational tenet made of sand, on which anything else that is built, prophetically speaking, will collapse. (You can link to responses to other questions that have been posed to me, many about the Pre-tribulation Rapture, in the Rapture section of my Email Questions and Ted's Responses page, if you have an interest.)
Pertaining to a "seven-year peace treaty involving Israel," look at this document, which is part of the overall European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP): European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument: Israel. This document looks awfully suspicious to me. Not only does it display the seven-year period of the agreement (2007-2013) with Israel, and includes the year 2010 (which is in the middle of that period), it also contains indications and suggestions of peace, particularly between Israel and the Palestinians, in several places. One section reads this way:
Relations between the EU and Israel are also part of the Union’s wider efforts to contribute to a resolution of the Middle East conflict. The achievement of lasting peace in the Middle East is a central aim of the EU, whose main objective is a two-State solution leading to a final and comprehensive settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on implementation of the Road Map, with Israel and a democratic, viable, peaceful and sovereign Palestinian State living side-by-side in peace within secure and recognised borders and enjoying normal relations with their neighbours.The prophecy of Daniel 9:24 actually says nothing about a "peace plan." An assumption by many, including myself, who are interested in end-time events, has been that the seven-year agreement would involve some type of peace arrangement or roadmap—which the ENP clearly does. But the common idea that there will be a piece of paper, which the entire world will know about, containing words such as "Seven Year Peace Treaty" at the top, and with signatures of representatives from Israel, the Palestinians, and others at the bottom, is not at all substantiated by Scripture. In fact, it is a fanciful, implausible expectation. (See How can the European Neighbourhood Policy be the Daniel 9:27 covenant, if the latter is a "peace treaty"?)
In any case, even when I was a "pre-tribber" decades ago, I envisioned the first half of the 70th Week as a time of escalated natural disasters, famines, plagues, and soaring inflation, as well as a marked socio-economic decline worldwide. Those who do not realize that ALL of these things have been happening either do not watch the news or are living with their heads in the sand of denial. I am assuming that you are in neither of these boats.
We now are in more danger of experiencing a worldwide depression than we have been since the 1930s. That is not a pessimistic view view on my part; it is a realistic view, confirmed by the best economists and financial experts in the world. As such, in my opinion, people should be preparing—spiritually, psychologically, emotionally, and physically—as best they can for the extremely difficult times to come. Ignoring the fact that they are happening, or assuming that they will not get worse, will not make them go away.
If all of these things were happening around us, by themselves, without any seven-year agreement involving Israel having taken place, I would know that there is no possible way we could have entered the 70th Week. However, in conjunction with the seven-year European Neighbourhood Policy, which promotes peace and security between Israel and the Palestinians, I have very a strong suspicion that, indeed, we have entered the 70th Week.
Now, look at the original page of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Barcelona Process), located here (although this page has been edited, and many of the hyperlinks no longer work).In the fourth paragraph, it states the following:
The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) works to complement and reinforce the Barcelona Process....The words "complement" and "reinforce" sound very much like "confirm" and "strengthen" to me. Many people all over the world, who have emailed me about this topic at my website (or at other websites which point to my website), agree.
The true colors of lawlessness of the Antichrist will not be revealed to the world until the midpoint of the 70th Week (at the beginning of the Great Tribulation). I feel that a plausible candidate to be this "man of lawlessness" (2 Thessalonians 2:3) is Javier Solana. An avowed Marxist and Socialist, his nickname is "Mr. Europe," because he already has become exceedingly influential and powerful in Europe and elsewhere. Some argue that he is the most authoritative and dominant figure in Europe right now. Here are some of Solana's present and past titles:
Solana has not been heard of much here in America because, so far, he has not had any direct dealings with us, although he did claim to speak on behalf of the USA and others in nuclear talks with Iran in June 2008 (see Summary of remarks by Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the CFSP, at the press conference in Tehran). This raised up a HUGE "red flag" for me.
Many other prophecy websites on the net are eyeing Solana carefully as well. Here are merely a few of them, but they are just the tip of the iceberg (you can Google javier solana antichrist for more):
After EuroMed was established in Barcelona, both Ehud Barak (of Israel) and Yasser Arafat (of the Palestinian Authority) had high praises for Javier Solana's coordination of the Barcelona Process. Barak added that they all had beaten their "swords into ploughshares." All of this, and more, is explained in my European Neighbourhood Policy and Daniel 9:27 commentary.
According to the Daniel 9:27 prophecy, the Third Temple only has to be standing, partially or fully, by the midpoint of the 70th Week. If my proposed time frame is correct, that would be Passover Week 2010 (the first week of April). Construction does not have to begin in 2009, although I do suspect that there likely will be discussions to build it by the end of 2009 or in early 2010.
The temple isn't an exceedingly large structure, and it may take only a relatively short period of time to build, especially with today's technology of architecture and construction. If there is no sacrifice and offering being performed by the end of March, 2010, then I will be the first to claim that my ENP/seven-year hypothesis is wrong. We'll see.
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