Will the first three and a half years of the tribulation be pleasant or utopian?
No. The first three and a half years are not a Sunday school picnic or a utopia. Although the Antichrist may appear to have everything under control for a few months, the remainder will grow progressively worse, with war, invasion, famine, and escalating crises.
Les teaches that the first three and a half years of the tribulation are not going to be a Sunday school picnic and are not going to be a utopia. He explains that maybe just for a few months the Antichrist is going to seem to have everything under control, but the remainder of that three and a half years is going to get progressively worse. The war and the invasion in Israel and all the attending famine are already beginning to crescendo. Then at the midpoint of the seven years, the sixth seal brings a great earthquake and cataclysmic events.