The final seven years begin when the Antichrist signs a seven-year peace treaty with Israel.
Les teaches that God's prophetic time clock stopped at the cross during the church age. When the Antichrist signs that treaty with the nation of Israel, it kicks God's time clock back into gear and the final seven years begin. At the midpoint of those seven years, the Antichrist's defilement of the temple and his demand for worship mark the start of the final three-and-a-half years.
Daniel 9:27 — This verse records the seven-year covenant and the midpoint cessation of sacrifice, the two key trigger points in the seven-year timeline.
Daniel 9:24 — This verse establishes the seventy-week framework of which the final seven years are the last remaining week.
Matthew 24:15 — Jesus points to the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel, which Les identifies with the midpoint temple defilement.
Daniel 9:24 says seventy weeks are determined upon Daniel's people and the holy city. Daniel 9:27 says a prince shall confirm a covenant with many for one week, and in the middle of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. Jesus in Matthew 24:15 warns that when the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet stands in the holy place, those in Judea should flee. Matthew 24:8 also describes the early events of this period as only the beginning of sorrows. These verses together establish that a covenant begins a seven-year period and that a midpoint desolation divides it.
Les teaches that the final seven years are the last 'week' of Daniel's seventy weeks — a 490-year calendar for Israel. He says the church age has been sandwiched between the 483rd year and the final seven, and because the church is not part of the Jewish program it must be taken out of the way first. The opening event of the final seven years is the appearance of the Antichrist, who signs a seven-year treaty with Israel and, more broadly, with the Middle Eastern nations. Les repeatedly says the signing of that treaty kicks God's time clock back into gear and begins the final seven years.
According to Les, the seven-year clock starts when the Antichrist signs a seven-year treaty with Israel. Daniel's 490-year calendar was interrupted at the cross, and the church age has been inserted since. Once the church is gone, that treaty signing trips God's time clock back into gear and the final seven years begin.
Les says the treaty gives Israel relative peace and safety. Soon after, the red horse appears, which he equates with the Russian/Ezekiel 38 invasion from the north. That invasion in turn sets off famine, pestilence, and the early judgments Jesus called the beginning of sorrows.
At the midpoint of the seven years, the Antichrist returns from his European headquarters and enters the temple. Les says he defiles the temple, forces the Jew to worship him as God, and causes the sacrifice and oblation to stop. This midpoint desecration, rather than the original treaty, begins the final three-and-a-half years.
Church Removed Before the Jewish Program
Les explains that the church must be taken out of the way before God resumes His dealings with Israel, and he connects Daniel 9's prophecy to the Antichrist 'assigning' a seven-year treaty with Israel.
Midpoint Temple Defilement
Les describes the midpoint events of the seven years: the two witnesses are killed, the Antichrist returns from Europe, defiles the temple, and forces Israel to worship him as God.
Opening Event of the Final Seven Years
Les says the very opening event of the final seven years will be the appearance of the Antichrist and his signing of a seven-year treaty with Israel.
Treaty Triggers God's Time Clock
Les explicitly says the signing of the seven-year treaty triggers God's time clock and begins the final seven years, followed shortly by the red-horse/Russian invasion.
Prophetic Clock Restarted
Les says the treaty signing kicks God's time clock back into gear after it had been stopped during the church age, setting the whole sequence in motion.
Daniel 9:27 Identity and Midpoint Covenant
Les explains Daniel 9:27's 'prince' comes from the old Roman Empire and will make a peace agreement involving Israel and the Arab world; the same passage marks the midpoint stopping of sacrifice and oblation.
Peace, Then Invasion and Famine
Les says the treaty gives Israel relative peace and safety, and then the invasion from the north triggers famine and pestilence—the beginning of sorrows.
Seven-Year Clock Starts at Treaty
Les teaches that when the Antichrist signs the treaty with Israel, God's seven-year time clock starts running; at the midpoint he causes sacrifice and oblation to cease, fulfilling Matthew 24's temple desolation.
Daniel 9:24: Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
This verse frames the seventy weeks, of which the final seven years are the concluding week.
Daniel 9:27: And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
This verse directly states the seven-year covenant and the midpoint stopping of sacrifice and oblation.
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:)
Jesus refers to the temple desolation that marks the midpoint of the seven years.
Matthew 24:8: All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Jesus describes the early tribulation judgments as only the beginning of sorrows.
Daniel 9:27 says a prince will confirm a covenant with many for one week. Les identifies this as the Antichrist's seven-year treaty with Israel, which begins the final seven-year period.
No, according to Les's teaching. He says the church would be 'a fish out of water' in the tribulation because it is not part of the Jewish program, and it must be taken out of the way before God resumes His dealings with Israel.
At the midpoint, the Antichrist enters the rebuilt temple, stops sacrifice and oblation, defiles it, and demands to be worshipped as God. That act begins the final three-and-a-half years.
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