According to the Biblical Prophecy ‘Experts,’ What Starts the Last 7 Years?

 

That is a very good question, what do the most famous Biblical prophecy ‘experts’ believe will be the event that starts the last 7 years? 

Here is the answer, they believe the event that starts the last 7 years is the peace treaty.

 

In popular Christian eschatology (the study of end-times events), particularly within dispensational premillennialism, the signing of a seven-year peace treaty (or covenant) involving the Antichrist and Israel is the specific event believed to start the final seven-year period, often referred to as the Tribulation.

 

Many modern-day evangelical and dispensationalist Bible teachers subscribe to the view that a seven-year peace treaty (or covenant) involving the Antichrist and Israel will initiate the final seven years (the Tribulation period). This interpretation is a cornerstone of this specific eschatological framework.

 

Prominent figures and authors who teach this perspective include:

 

Dr. David Jeremiah: A well-known pastor, author, and founder of Turning Point Ministries, Dr. Jeremiah has written and taught extensively on end-times prophecy, adhering to the view that the Antichrist will confirm a seven-year covenant with Israel, which starts the Tribulation.

Dr. Mark Hitchcock: A prolific author and Bible prophecy expert, Dr. Hitchcock focuses on current events aligning with prophetic timelines, and he teaches that the seven-year covenant is the key trigger for the final period.

Robert Clifton Robinson: An author and teacher who frequently writes blog posts and books on biblical prophecy, emphasizing that the Daniel 9:27 prophecy of a seven-year peace plan is the beginning event of the Tribulation.

 

Dr. J. Dwight Pentecost: While his prominent work, the Bible Knowledge Commentary, was published decades ago, his interpretation of the Daniel 9 prophecy as a future seven-year covenant made by the Antichrist remains highly influential and is the basis for many modern teachers' views.

 

Joel Richardson: An author and filmmaker known for his focus on Middle Eastern prophecy, Richardson discusses the role of the covenant, although his views on the Antichrist's origin might differ slightly from traditional interpretations, the core concept of the treaty remains central to the timeline.

 

This teaching is widely disseminated through prophecy conferences, Christian television and radio, books, and online resources. The general consensus among those who hold this view is that the treaty will be brokered by a rising world leader (the Antichrist) and will guarantee Israel's security, allowing for the rebuilding of their Temple in Jerusalem.

 

And you know what, I agree that the last 7 years, or the 70^th Week will begin with the signing of the peace treaty with the many. In fact, it just happened: On October 13, 2025 the peace treaty was signed with the many.

 

So, why aren’t all these Biblical 'experts' proclaiming that the last 7 years has begun? It is probably because they also believe in the pre-tribulation rapture theory, which states that the rapture also occurs at the beginning of the last 7 years.  And since Christians have not been raptured yet, they reason the last 7 years has not begun. BTW, most pretribbers erroneously call the last 7 years the tribulation even though the tribulation events are only from Seals 1 to 4.

Part of the reason for their incorrect rapture thinking and failure to realize that the last 7 years has begun is that they also believe in a man-made theological system that came about in the 1830s called dispensationalism. This system forces them to interpret scripture in a certain way.

 

Dispensationalism is a Christian theological framework for interpreting the Bible that views history as a series of distinct "dispensations" or "administrations" in which God relates to humanity in different ways. A core tenet is maintaining a distinction between Israel and the Christian Church, and using a consistent literal interpretation of Scripture, especially biblical prophecy.

 

With their dispensational constraint they then interpret scripture based on what their theological system dictates rather than allowing the scriptures to speak for themselves. And the theological system of dispensationalism dictates that there has to be a pre-tribulation rapture.

 

In dispensationalism, the Rapture is a central and distinct event in end-times prophecy that involves the sudden removal of the Christian Church from the earth before a seven-year period of Great Tribulation. This event serves to "pause" God's dealings with the Church (the current "Dispensation of Grace") so that He can resume His specific prophetic program with national Israel.

 

So, basically they are allowing a man-made system dictate to them how to interpret scripture rather than interpreting scripture for what it says. 

And what does scripture say regarding the rapture? I refer you to the Apostle Paul who addressed the Thessalonians about their incorrect rapture belief—they believed the rapture was imminent or had already occurred and God through the Apostle Paul told them that certain things had to occur first.

 

1 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,

 

2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

 

3 No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,

 

4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 2 Thes 2:1-4

 

As you just read God told them that before the rapture, which occurs at the day of the Lord, that the apostasy must occur first, the antichrist be revealed and the abomination of desolation occur. All of that must occur before the rapture.

 

Therefore, since those things must occur first, then the rapture is not imminent until those things occur. Thus, the dispensational theory that contends the rapture is imminent cannot be correct because it contradicts scripture. 

And here is another scripture that disproves dispensational thinking. How can God have a different dispensation for Israel and Christians when they have been grafted together into one.

 

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, Rom 11:17.

 

So, how can there be a dispensation for two groups when we have been combined? There cannot.

And if you don't believe me about the dispensational error here is what the 'experts' say.

The most significant argument against thebiblical interpretation system of dispensationalism is that it fragments the unified message of Scripture by postulating a fundamental distinction between Israel and the Church, leading to an inconsistent interpretive method and a denial that Christ and the New Testament are the culmination and fulfillment of Old Testament promises. 

 

Critics, primarily from the covenant theology perspective, raise several specific points:

 

·         Disunity of Scripture: Dispensationalism is accused of "chopping up" the Bible into distinct, self-contained "dispensations" (periods of time where God tests humanity under specific rules), which obscures the overarching, continuous story of God's single plan of redemption through Jesus Christ that spans the entire Bible.

·         Separation of Israel and the Church: A core tenet of dispensationalism is a hard distinction between national/ethnic Israel and the Church as two separate peoples of God with different promises and destinies (one earthly, one heavenly). Critics argue that the New Testament presents the Church as the spiritual "Israel of God" and the continuous people of God, where the wall between Jew and Gentile has been broken down in Christ.

·         Inconsistent Hermeneutic: While dispensationalists advocate a "plain" or "literal" interpretation, especially for prophecy, critics point out this is applied inconsistently. For example, when the New Testament interprets an Old Testament prophecy (like the rebuilding of David's tabernacle in Acts 15) as being fulfilled spiritually in the Church, dispensationalists may label this an "application" to maintain the need for a future literal fulfillment in a physical Israel. This leads to a complex system rather than a "plain" one.

So, having established that the dispensational system is faulty, when in the end times does the rapture occur? God in scripture tells us It occurs at the day of the Lord.

 

That you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 2 Thes 2:2

 

And when in the end times does the day of the Lord occur? God clearly tells us it begins after the sun is darkened and the moon is turned to blood.

 

The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. Acts 2:20

 

And the sun is darkened, and the moon is turned to blood after the Sixth seal is opened.

 

12 And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;

 

13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.

 

14 The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

 

15 Then the kings of the earth and the eminent people, and the commanders and the wealthy and the strong, and every slave and free person hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;

 

16 and they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the sight of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;

 

17 for the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Rev 6:12-17

 

Therefore, the rapture and the day of the Lord occur after the sixth seal has been opened. Take note that in the scripture passage above the men of the earth hide because they see Jesus. That is exactly what happens at the rapture, Jesus is seen in the clouds and men hide. And after the rapture God’s wrath begins to be poured out upon the earth, which is exactly what the passage above says will happen—for the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

 

According to the ‘experts’ the last 7 years begins with the peace treaty, I agree, but their man-made erroneous dispensational system does not allow them to recognize that the last 7 years began on 10/13/2025 with the signing of the peace treaty with the many, and it also forces them to deny the fact that the rapture occurs at the day of the Lord after the opening of the sixth seal.

And since the last 7 years have begun, this is what we have to look forward to in the next 3.5 years—by the spring of 2029—we should see Seals 1 to 5 occur; a conquering world force, nuclear world war, a hyperinflationary financial collapse, a 25% population drop, the ‘coming on the scene’ of the UFO connected antichrist, the strengthening of the peace treaty, a rebuilt Jewish temple, the abomination of desolation, the mark of the beast, and the antichrist war of persecution against Jews and Christians. 

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. Luke 21:36  

Not sure that you will go to heaven? The end times are knocking on the door and so is Jesus. He wants to save you; will you let him? Find out what you must do to be saved, click here.  

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