The 7 Year Tribulation Misconception

By: Robert Hunt
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Many biblical scholars’ and teachers refer to Daniel’s 70^th week as the so-called 7 year tribulation, and they believe the son of perdition will commit the abomination of desolation in the middle of this seven year period.  I, too, agree that the future man of sin will commit the abomination in the middle of the seven years, but this 7 year period is not the biblical tribulation.  It’s true that the abomination of desolation will occur in the middle of Daniel’s 70th week, but it will also precede the actual tribulation period.  Therein lies the problem; and referring to Daniel’s 70th week as the so-called 7 year tribulation has done nothing but confuse a lot of sincere believers who are seeking God’s truth.

Most people don’t know it, but the 7 year tribulation is a great misconception. Modern scholars have renamed or changed the biblical term known as Daniel’s 70th week to the 7 year tribulation.  While Daniel’s 70^th week is, in fact, a 7 year period (Dan.9:27), the truth is that only the second-half of Daniel’s 70^th week is actually the tribulation, which is a period of 1260 days, 42 months and/or 3 ½ years.  There is absolutely no mention of the so-called 7 year tribulation anywhere in God’s Word.  I cannot stand to hear this term mentioned because misconceptions and assumptions like this only seem to cloud our perception of the end times.  It seems we are often comparing apples to others oranges and I don’t always have the time necessary to educate others on the truth of this matter, so hopefully this blog post will begin to shed some light and make a difference, because this misconception has now become so widespread that it’s often difficult to have a meaningful discussion about it.
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Apparently, modern scholars have renamed Daniel’s 70^th week in order to more easily identify which rapture theory they hold.  And this is when they began applying the prefixes (pre, mid & post) to the word “tribulation.”  These terms did not even exist in the first century when the New Testament was written.  Nevertheless, many scholars’ now call the first-half of Daniel’s 70^th week the “tribulation,” and the second-half the “great tribulation.”  This has certainly confused a lot of people, because the truth is that Christ used both the “tribulation” and “great tribulation” to describe only the last or second-half of Daniel’s 70th week.  And both of His mentions of the tribulation and great tribulation came after He had already mentioned the abomination of desolation in Matt. 24:15, which is commonly believed to occur in the middle of Daniel’s 70^th week.  Therefore, the tribulation and the great tribulation are actually the same thing.  Let’s take a look.
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Matthew 24:15 – “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:)”
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Matthew 24:21 – “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
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Matthew 24:29 – “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:”
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The only time of tribulation mentioned in God’s Word will last for a period of 1260 days, 42 months and/or 3 ½ years.  Apparently, this future tribulation period will begin 30 days after the abomination of desolation, according to Daniel 12:11 below, because Daniel mentioned that it would end 1290 days after the abomination of desolation, but all of the other scriptures mention 1260 days, 42 months or 3 ½ years, which I’ve also listed below.
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Daniel 12:11 – “From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.”
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Revelation 11:3 – “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”
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Revelation 12:6 – “The woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God, that they may nourish her there for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.”
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Revelation 11:2 – “But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.”
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Revelation 13:5 – “And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.”
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Daniel 7:25 – “He shall speak words against the Most High and shall wear out the saints of the Most High and plan to change times and law. And they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.”
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Daniel 12:7 – “And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was over the water of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time.”
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Revelation 12:14 – “The woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is to be nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.”
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Hopefully, the scriptures above will help bring an end to this 7 year tribulation misconception.  However, there are also many others who realize there won’t be a 7 year tribulation, but instead, they believe that the world has been in tribulation since Christ was rejected by Israel in the first century.  This belief is also incorrect, and since I’m on this subject, I’m going to address this error now as well.
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There are two types of tribulation.  We will all go through our own personal trials and tribulations in our lives, but these trials and tribulations refer to the troubles in our lives as individuals.  The great tribulation, on the other hand, speaks of a tribulation for the entire world.  It will be a future time at the end of this age that will be much worse than World War II or any other world crisis in the history man.  The prophet Daniel and Christ both talked about this perilous time.  Daniel called it a time of trouble, while Christ called it the great tribulation, but as we can see from the passages below, they were both clearly speaking about the very same time.  Let’s compare the two below.
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Daniel 12:1 – “And at that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who shall be found written in the book.”
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Matthew 24:21-22 – “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”
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In conclusion, the tribulation and/or great tribulation is only the second-half of Daniel’s 70^th week, which is a seven year period.  Christ called the first-half of Daniel’s 70^th week the time of sorrows (birth pains), as He explained in Matthew 24:4-14, which is the time that will precede the abomination of desolation.  Christ’s explanation of these things were His reply to His disciple’s question about the sign of His coming and the end of the age (Matt. 24:3), which still remains to be fulfilled.

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