Learn what will happen during the tribulation period from beginning to end
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I have been reading with interest the latest developments in the Middle East peace talks. The sources I have read seem to believe that it is only a matter of time before the Palestinian's and Israeli's are at peace. In fact, the negotiators have setup a one hundred day timetable to peace. Of course, that may only be wishful thinking, but once peace has been established with the PLO, Israel plans to begin peace negotiations with its other Arab neighbors soon after.
What does this mean in endtime prophecy? Obviously, the fact that Israel is engaging in any peace talks is a miracle in and of itself. It was against all odds that they even became a nation. Upon its conception in 1948, Israel has been in the middle of one conflict after another. For decades, world leaders have attempted to solve the peace puzzle only to see there efforts ripped apart from war or territorial skirmishes. But one day soon the antichrist will step forward and solve what was previously considered unsolvable.
Is this one hundred day timetable the beginning stages of the peace that the antichrist will bring? Even if it is that doesn't mean we only have one hundred days until the Lord comes. A lot of things could happen, and so many times it has, that could postpone and delay peace.
There is a very interesting scenario that I found in Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins book "Are We Living In The End Times?". They state in their book (as a possible scenario) that in the middle of the peace process, Russia and its Arab allies could stage their attack on Israel (Ezekiel 38 -39). Of course, they will be miraculously defeated. Here's an excerpt from the book.
"It could happen prior to God's last soul harvest just before the rapture. Or could come after the rapture and before the tribulation. Keep in mind, there could be a period of days were several years between the rapture and the beginning of the tribulation. Since the Jews will burn the remains of the war described in Ezekiel 38- 39 for seven winters, and because they will be driven out of the Holy Land by the antichrist during the last three and a half years of the tribulation (Revelation 12: 6-14), it would seem logical that the destruction of Russia and her allies will occur at least three and half years prior to the tribulation. If that deduction is correct, there will be ample time for the Jews to rebuild their temple. In one moment God will have broken the back of the Muslim hordes who hate Israel so intensely, freeing Israel to rebuild her temple. This would be a drawing card to Jews around the world to return to the Holy Land to worship in their third Temple.
This scenario, of course, does not mean that the tribulation period will not begin for at least another three and one-half years. But it does open up the possibility that the rapture could occur at any moment. For years it has been widely held that when the rapture occurs, that will mark the start of the tribulation period. But I would not rule out a period of time that may lapse before the Israeli peace treaty is signed. It could be a matter of days, weeks, months or years.
Obviously, no one knows how this sequence of events will play out, but as we draw closer to His coming, I think we will begin to see God's plan for the last days unfold clearly just as He said it would. "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." (I Thessalonians 4:4)