KEYWORDS: tribulation, end, years, temple, time, god

What If?--Part 2

David Berg

DO 2211-25/86

—When the Tribulation Could Begin!

102. FIGURING FROM THE "70-YEARS PROPHECY" & THE 70 YEARS PASSING BEFORE THE END OF THE TRIBULATION, we have moved the end of the Tribulation as far away as we can‚ into '91‚ right?—Therefore, you can't move it later. You couldn't possibly move the beginning of the Seven Years any later than the beginning of 1985!—'85, '86, '87, '88, '89, '90‚ '91. Moving the end of the Tribulation off as far as we can after the passing of the 70 years‚ I can't see how you could put the end of the Tribulation any later than the end of '91! And if we put it at the end of '91, the Seven Years had to begin no later than the beginning of '85! This is putting it all off as long as we can.

103. IF I DIE EVEN JUST BEFORE MY BIRTHDAY AT THE BEGINNING OF 1990, you couldn't put the end of the Tribulation off more than 1 year & 9 months, at the most, roughly speaking at the end of '91. Got that clear? All right. Then if that '91 is the seventh year, you can't back any further than what?—'90, '89, '88, '87, '86, '85! So if '85 was the first year of his reign of the Seven Years‚ then it is '85, '86, '87, these three years‚ & that puts the beginning of the Tribulation somewhere in '88 at the latest!

104. OK, LET'S SAY THEN THAT THE PASSING OF THE 70 YEARS IS SOME TIME WITHIN MY 70TH YEAR & maybe I don't die until the end of my 70th year, somewhere maybe like the first of 1990. If that, as we say, is near the end of the Tribulation‚ well, by the wildest stretch of your imagination, near the end of the Tribulation couldn't begin much more before the end than the middle of it! Isn't that what we said? Are you getting this clearly?

105. THEREFORE, ACCORDING TO THAT, THE TRIBULATION COULDN'T END ANY LATER THAN THE END OF '91!—Because I'm still 70 until the end of '89 & the beginning of '90. So to put it off as long as you can, you can hardly end later than somewhere around the end of '91!—Which makes the Seven Years begin at the beginning of '85, which puts the beginning of the Tribulation or the middle of the Seven Years somewhere around the middle of 1988! Now this all hinges on the "70-Year Prophecy" because that's the most specific date we've got to work with & the years the Lord said will pass before the end of the Tribulation.

106. PUTTING IT OFF AS FAR AS WE CAN, PUTS THE BEGINNING OF THE TRIBULATION NO LATER, AT THE MOST, THAN THE MIDDLE OF '88.—Which means the Covenant has already been secretly signed & the Antichrist is already controlling things from behind the scenes secretly & will not be revealed until the middle of '88 according to that interpretation!

107. NOW‚ REMEMBER, THIS IS STILL INTERPRETATION because He hasn't told us exactly what He means by "before the end", but that certainly doesn't sound like before the beginning! If it's before the end then it is not before the beginning! Although, as I said a while ago, if you want to believe that the beginning is before the end, well, of course, the beginning is before the end! But it sounds more like he is trying to say that it is going to be somewhere just before the end of the Tribulation, or maybe at the most, as I say‚ it is going to be like the dog going into the woods & coming out, it could hardly be more than a couple of years or approximately 1-&-3/4 years before the end. The Tribulation has 3-1/2 years & to be near the end of it, it seems you'd have to be in at least the last half of it!

108. OK, ARE YOU CONVINCED?—OF THAT LOGICAL REASONING AT LEAST? We have certain specific things, prophecies that the Lord gave us, the 70 years, & He says it is going to pass before the end of the Tribulation. Now that sounds to me that He is talking about somewhere near the end of the Tribulation. And as I say‚ we couldn't possibly stretch that out more than a couple of years before the end, because then it would be before the middle of it. Of course, all these years I've been trying to put it before the beginning of it! Now dear Hart wants to have the 70 years pass before the Seven Years begins & push it as far away as he can! That's just what the Cooneyites did!—They didn't want to go through the Tribulation, so they cooked up a pre–Trib Rapture doctrine that got'm out before the Trib!—Ha!

109. ALL RIGHT, WHAT IF "BEFORE THE END OF THE TRIBULATION" MEANS JUST WHAT IT SAYS?—Even at the most a couple of years before the end of the Tribulation? Then that puts my death in relation to the Seven Years somewhere in '89, or at the very latest, at the first of '90. If it is before the end of the Tribulation then certainly it's not more than two years before the end, which puts the end of the Tribulation not more than the end of '91‚ right?—According to the 70 Years. Which puts the beginning of the Seven Years of Antichrist reign, beginning with the Covenant, about the beginning of '85, & puts the beginning of the Tribulation about the middle of '88! Which means the Covenant has been made!

110. I'M REPEATING & REPEATING TO GET THIS REAL CLEAR! It means the Covenant had to be made secretly if it was made in the beginning of '85, because we certainly haven't heard about it! Which means if he is now ruling & controlling things from behind the scenes, that he is doing it right now concealed & he will not be revealed until he seizes power & begins the Tribulation!—If that kind of figuring is accurate.

111. YOU SAY, WELL THAT GIVES THE JEWS TIME TO REBUILD THE TEMPLE! They've just barely got time now‚ a year or so, to rebuild it. We gave them nine months once upon a time. So they've got time to rebuild it & to re-institute sacrificial offerings etc., so that's possible. We can pretty well rationalise that & say there is still time‚ even though the Covenant is a secret, the Antichrist is a secret. As far as the World is concerned he is still concealed, not yet revealed, the Covenant is still concealed, not yet revealed. So they've still got time to rebuild the Temple & everything still can work hunky–dory according to plan. The only difference, & a possible difference that I've often mentioned, is that the Covenant could be concealed & he could be concealed until he is revealed at the point where he seizes power, breaks the Covenant in the middle of the Seven Years & initiates the Tribulation.

112. OK, IT ALL STILL FITS, RIGHT?—Even if you move the Tribulation up that close to where it begins in the middle of '88 at the latest. But what if I die just before the end of the Tribulation? My 70 years is up, I would have finished my 70 years!—Although in our modern Western way of thinking, we don't call ourselves 70 until we've finished our 70th year, right? So I become 70 February 18, 1989. I could die on February 18, 1989 & the Tribulation could end the next day! For the prophecy to be literally fulfilled, it could end the next day! I could die on February 18‚ 1989 & be resurrected on February 19, 1989 in the Rapture! So that would be before the end of the Tribulation, right? But that would mean the Tribulation would have begun already in 1985!

113. WE'VE SAID AT THE END OF '91 IS THE LATEST IT COULD POSSIBLY END, but what if the Tribulation ends as early as the day after I turn 70, hmm? What if it is that early? It could be, because technically it could still be accurate to end the next day after I die!

114. WELL‚ LET'S GIVE IT A LITTLE TIME. Let's say it ends some time in my 70th year. Let's say just for ease & convenience of figuring that it ends at the end of the year in which I am 70‚ after I become 70. It doesn't say exactly, it says the 70 years passes before the end of the Tribulation. OK, it's past February 18, 1989 & the end of the Tribulation doesn't actually come until the end of '89. Well, that still fits‚ right? Then the 70 years has passed before the end of the Tribulation.

115. SO LET'S SAY FOR THE SAKE OF CONVENIENCE THAT THE TRIBULATION COULD END AT THE END OF '89 or somewhere in '89‚ right? To end while I am still 70 could be anywhere before February 18, 1990. But let's just figure it out right now from the end of '89, shall we? Let's say that '89 is the last of the Seven Years. Count'm on your fingers. '89, '88, '87, '86, '85, '84, '83! Then the Seven Years would have had to begin at the beginning of '83! Then making '83 the first year of the Seven Years, what have we got to the beginning of the Tribulation? We've got '83, '84, 85, three years, & half-a-year in the middle of '86! How does that scare you?

116. WELL, THEN YOU SAY, LIKE HART, "THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Of course, he said, "all things are possible", give him credit for that! But the immediate objection will be, "Well, if it's only one month to the beginning of the Tribulation‚ the Tribulation begins about June‚ the middle of '86, then where's the Temple, where's the sacrifice? You could explain away the Covenant & the first 3-1/2 years of Antichrist rule by saying that they're all secret, that's fine, that's easy to explain, but what about the Temple?—The Jewish Temple & the beginning of the sacrifices, huh? Where is that? They can't possibly build that Temple between now & June 1st & start sacrifices too!" Now I'm really putting myself out on a limb!

117. WE CAN'T FIND IT IN THE BIBLE, BUT WE'VE ALWAYS THEORISED THAT THEY HAD TO REBUILD THE TEMPLE & THE ALTAR & RE–INSTITUTE SACRIFICIAL WORSHIP IN ORDER FOR THE ANTICHRIST TO STOP IT, RIGHT? Well, one thing is certain: They have certainly got to start sacrificial worship or he can't stop it. But if the beginning of the Tribulation is only a month away, this looks impossible! But what if?

118. IT SAYS THE ANTICHRIST WILL SIT IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD CLAIMING THAT HE IS GOD. Is the Jewish Temple the only temple of God? Is there any other temple of God already on top of Mount Moriah which actually covers the altar of the old Jewish Temple? Is there a temple of God there dedicated to Allah?—One that actually has the old Jewish Temple altar as its centrepiece, the altar which Abraham started to sacrifice Isaac on & is even called the Dome of the Rock! What rock?—The rock on which Abraham started to sacrifice Isaac, which later became the altar of the Temple! This is history, authentic history, known history that that rock was the Temple altar!

119. WHAT IF THE JEWS GET TIRED OF WAITING FOR THE TEMPLE & SAY THAT TIME IS TOO SHORT, we've got to reveal the Antichrist right away, we've got to start this Temple worship, blah, blah!—And they grab the Mosque of Omar & start sacrificial sacrifices on the former Temple altar, the Rock of the Dome! You say, "Oh Dad, boy, you're really stretching it now!" Well, I'm just showing you that it's possible! They could grab that Mosque of Omar some time this month & say those Arabs have had it long enough & we're going to start sacrificing, & then declare the Antichrist!

120. SEE, THEY THINK HE'S GOING TO BECOME THEIR MESSIAH, so what if they decide‚ "Well, we've got our Messiah now, let's start the sacrifices & our own religious worship just before the revealing"—not realising that he is going to stop the sacrifices & declare himself to be God!

121. NOW WE'VE GOT A POTENTIAL TIME PERIOD THERE OF ANYWHERE FROM NEXT MONTH, JUNE, MIDDLE OF '86, TO THE MIDDLE OF '88, ABOUT A TWO-YEAR TIME PERIOD. We're saying that this could happen any time within the next two years, as early as next month, if they grab the Temple‚ the Mosque of Omar, & start sacrificing, which doesn't seem likely that they will do it that fast, & that would have to mean that the Tribulation ends in the first part of 1990.

122. SO WE CAN'T SAY DEFINITELY WHAT THE TIME PERIOD IS. If we relate, therefore, the end of the Tribulation to the time of my death, we can't put it off more than two years beyond my death. We certainly can't have the end of the Tribulation any earlier than the day after my death‚ right? So this gives us about two years, or almost a two-year period after my death when the Tribulation could end.

123. SO THIS GIVES US AN APPROXIMATE TWO-YEAR PERIOD‚ or an almost two–year-period when the Tribulation is going to have to start, somewhere between the middle of this year, next month, June '86, to the middle of '88. How about that?—Which would give plenty of time‚ of course, even if the Jews decide to rebuild the Temple & start sacrifices.

124. LET'S SAY THAT I DIE IN '89 SOMETIME & THE TRIBULATION DOESN'T END TILL AT THE MOST MORE THAN TWO YEARS FROM THE TIME I DIE, OR LESS‚ MOST LIKELY. Then you cannot put the beginning of the Tribulation off any further than the middle of '88, but you could even put it as early as the middle of '86, except that it seems a little difficult for the Jews to be able to take over the Temple mountain & to rebuild the Temple & reinstitute the sacrificial offerings that early.

125. YOU CAN CERTAINLY SEE HOW THE COVENANT CAN BE SECRET & THE ANTICHRIST COULD BE CONCEALED, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE JEWS? Well, if it's got to be a rebuilt strictly Jewish Temple & a new altar, then you'd just almost have to put it off a year or two at the most. The Temple would have to be rebuilt before the middle of '88 & the sacrifices reinstituted before the middle of '88 in order for it to be stopped in the middle of '88. The furthest we can possibly postpone the beginning of the Tribulation, in other words, would be the middle of '88, & that would give them plenty of time to rebuild the Temple & start the sacrifices & get ready to seize the World.

126. BUT IF I DIE IN FEBRUARY 1990, THE END OF THE TRIBULATION, & THE TRIBULATION ENDS THE NEXT DAY, THAT SHOVES THE BEGINNING OF THE TRIBULATION UP TO NEXT MONTH! And I'm trying to say how it's possible for this Temple of God spoken of here in 2nd Thessalonians 2 to be already in existence! I think even we as Christians could say that the Mosque of Omar is just as much a temple of God as any other temple or church today that's dedicated to God, the one God‚ the true God, Allah or Jehovah or whoever, whatever name they want to call Him by! I don't think it takes too much stretch of your imagination to say that, "Well, the Mosque of Omar is a temple of God!" It's as much a temple of God as any church I know of! It's as much a temple of God as the Jewish Temple! If the Jews would decide to seize it & start sacrificing on the rock, it could begin very quickly!

127. SO WE COULD BE EXPECTING THE ANTICHRIST & THE COVENANT TO BE REVEALED ANY TIME FROM NOW UNTIL THE MIDDLE OF '88, according to the "70-Years Prophecy." And if that's true, he's already ruling from behind the scenes, has already made the Covenant & is controlling things from behind the scenes & is just waiting for the auspicious time to reveal himself, fulfilling Bible prophecy as God's Word has predicted. And we know that's true, that he's going to be revealed certainly no later than the breaking of the Covenant in the middle of the Seven Years, the beginning of the Tribulation. That we know‚ it says so, that at the end of 3-1/2 years he breaks the Covenant, in the middle of the week, in the middle of the seven years, & he stops the sacrificing, proclaims he's God, sets up the Image, sits in the Temple of God claiming he is God.

128. THE MOSQUE OF OMAR IS A REAL NICE TEMPLE, IT'S BEAUTIFUL! It has a gorgeous golden dome on the outside & is a beautiful building! It's even more beautiful than the Taj Mahal in India! It has gorgeous mosaic tile on the inside, a really beautiful temple!

129. WHAT IF EITHER THE JEWS DECIDED TO SEIZE IT & START THEIR SACRIFICES OR THE COVENANT HAD BEEN MADE THAT ALL OF THEM WOULD SHARE IT? Since it's already there & all of the Muslims had been claiming exclusive right to it, what if some kind of an agreement was made where the Jews could share it part-time, & somehow or another they force it down the throats of the Arabs! You know‚ they've done things like that! The U.N. could declare that it's to be internationalised since it's the holy shrine of all three faiths!

130. EVEN THE CHRISTIANS REVERE IT BECAUSE THEY REVERE ABRAHAM & THAT IT'S WHERE HE STARTED TO SACRIFICE ISAAC! So it's even a holy place of Christians, certainly a holy place of the Arabs & a definitely recognised holy place of the Jews! That's been a sore point in their relationship with the Arabs, that the Arabs had claimed it & they exercise exclusive rights to the rock, which is just as holy to the Jews as it is to the Arabs because Abraham was the father of both Jews & Arabs, right?

131. WHAT IF THE U.N. SHOULD DECLARE, WELL, SINCE THIS IS THE HOLY PLACE OF THREE DIFFERENT FAITHS‚ the three greatest faiths in the World—Jews, Muslims & Christians—why not internationalise it & make it an international World shrine where all three faiths can worship & take turns & have different hours & even the Jews could do their sacrificial offerings! It could begin any day, any time! How about that?

132. SO I'D SAY WE'VE GOT ABOUT TWO YEARS IN WHICH THE LORD HASN'T GIVEN US ANYTHING EXACTLY SPECIFIC‚ but He's holding off & letting us just trust Him by faith as to when it's going to begin, somewhere within the next two years‚ anywhere from next month to the middle of '88! Now it doesn't seem likely that it's going to begin as soon as next month, especially if the Jews have to rebuild the Temple & start their own altar & sacrifice, but '88 would certainly give them plenty of time. But that's the latest date! It could happen any time from now on!

133. ANY TIME FROM NOW ON THEY COULD START BUILDING THEIR TEMPLE, & THEY SAY THEY COULD HAVE IT DONE IN NINE MONTHS! So we could say that the Temple could be rebuilt & sacrifice reinstituted any time, certainly as early as the middle of next year, '87. But remember, the Jews would have most likely already been sacrificing in secret elsewhere‚ even before they would have built their own Temple. This could make it easily possible for the Tribulation to begin any time after that, as far as I can see. The "70-Years Prophecy" makes it impossible for the Tribulation to begin any more or less than within the next few years‚ from the middle of '86, this year, to the middle of '88.

134. WELL, THAT'S ABOUT IT! DO YOU GET THE POINT? (Fam: Yes, Sir! TYL!) Now what does "The 70–Years Prophecy" say? It says that 70 years will pass before what?—70 years of my life will have passed before the end of the Tribulation. So if I am to die sometime in '89, then the end of the Tribulation has got to come after that, right? And if my death is to be somewhere near the end of the Tribulation, then the end of the Tribulation has got to be when? Somewhere within approximately a two-year period of what? If I die shortly after February 18, 1989, at the earliest, it would have to come within let's say two years after my death, to be near the end of the Tribulation. So the end of the Tribulation in that case would have to be sometime in what year? When am I supposed to die? (David: '89.) It would have to be somewhere after that in '89 or what? (David: '90.)

135. THE END OF THE TRIBULATION WOULD HAVE TO COME THEN SOMEWHERE IN '89 OR '90. That means the beginning of the Tribulation would therefore have to come somewhere in what year? (David '86.)—Right! If I die in '89, then the end of the Tribulation has got to come after that. So it couldn't come earlier than '89, right? And certainly if you stretch it, the end of the Tribulation couldn't come any later than sometime in '90. Therefore the beginning of the Tribulation couldn't come earlier than what or later than what?

136. SO IF I DIE AROUND FEBRUARY, 1989, & THE END OF THE TRIBULATION HAPPENS, AT THE LATEST, 1–&-3/4 YEARS LATER, & 1990 IS THE LAST YEAR OF THE TRIBULATION, THEN WHEN WOULD THE TRIBULATION BEGIN?—'90, '89, '88—it would have to begin at least not later than the middle of '87, right? But if it is right after or shortly after my death, let's just take possibly the middle of '89. Well, let's take in all of '89 just to make it easier to figure. What if instead of the end of '90, the Tribulation is at the end of '89‚ where would the beginning be?—'89, '88, '87, you could put it as close as right now!

137. SO OBVIOUSLY THE TRIBULATION HASN'T BEGUN YET! The Tribulation cannot begin earlier than this because it hasn't begun. It can't begin any earlier than today, can it, because it hasn't, right? (Maria: That's one thing we know, we're going to know when it begins, right?) We're certainly going to know when the Tribulation begins! It begins when the Antichrist is going to be revealed & he's going to sit in the Temple of God saying he is God, telling everybody to worship him & setting up his Idol & all that sort of thing. It'd take a few days, give or take.

138. BUT ONCE AGAIN, BACK TO THE "70-YEARS PROPHECY," if it means that I die on my 70th birthday, that would be February 18, 1989. All right‚ if the next day is the end of the Tribulation, then the Tribulation would have already begun because you'd have only '88 as a full year, '87, '86 & it would have had to have begun somewhere around the middle of '85, last year, & it didn't, so it can't be that. Here it is the middle of '86 & it hasn't begun yet‚ so it can't be that. But it could be anywhere from now on!

139. THE TRIBULATION, BELOVED, COULD BE GIN ANY DAY NOW! With the Covenant having already been made secretly & the Antichrist controlling things from behind the scenes already for 3-1/2 years, the Tribulation could begin any time from now on in order for it to end sometime after my death! Let's say it begins in June of this year‚ the middle of '86. OK, we've got the rest of '86 for the half-year, we've got '87—a year & a half—'88—two-&-a-half years—'89—all of '89. Since the Tribulation hasn't begun now, even if it began next month it couldn't pos-sibly end until the beginning of '90, which would still make the prophecy valid that I die before the end of the Tribulation.

140. SO IT COULD HAPPEN ANY TIME FROM NOW ON, if we relate it to the "70-Years Prophecy" in which the Lord definitely‚ specifically indicated that I would die before the end of the Tribulation, that 70 years would pass before the end of the Tribulation. If I die even on my 70th birthday‚ February 18, 1989, since the Tribulation hasn't started yet, then it couldn't end before the end of '89, you know what I mean? But if the Tribulation did end at the end of '89, then it would have to begin this month! It could begin anywhere from now to the very most‚ which is stretching it, the middle of '88.

141. SO PREPARE YE! BE YE THEREFORE READY, AMEN? PTL! It's later than you think & may be earlier than you think! The Antichrist, if he's already made the Covenant & is already in power behind the scenes, could seize full power & be revealed at any moment from now on!

142. GOD BLESS HART FOR MAKING ME STUDY THAT! When people ask questions it makes you get down to the business of working & reading it over again & trying to figure it out! But instead of postponing the Tribulation like he was trying to do, it looks to me like it could begin at any time! PTL!

143. THERE'S A VERY GOOD PASSAGE ABOUT THIS IN THE 5TH CHAPTER OF 1 THESSALONIANS: "But of the times & the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say peace & safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them." Apparently they're going to think they've got it all figured out. It's talking about the "sudden destruction" in this case being the Coming of the Lord, destroying the Antichrist kingdom etc.

144. "BUT YE‚ BRETHREN, ARE NOT IN DARKNESS, THAT THAT DAY SHOULD OVERTAKE YOU AS A THIEF! Ye are all the children of light, & the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch & be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; & they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith & love; & for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ‚ Who died for us, that‚ whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him! Wherefore comfort yourselves together, & edify one another, even as also ye do." PTL?

145. THEN IN 2ND THESSALONIANS 2 HE SAYS THAT "THE MAN OF SIN SHALL BE REVEALED, who opposeth & exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he as God, sitteth in the Temple of God‚ showing himself that he is God"—"as God, of God, is God"—three times! So he's going to claim to be God. Then the 6th verse says, "that he might be revealed in his time", also talking about being revealed‚ which again sounds like he's been concealed for a time.

146. THE 8TH VERSE SAYS, "THEN SHALL THAT WICKED BE REVEALED". Again it sounds like he's been revealed because he's been concealed, right? "Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power & signs & lying wonders. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

147. "BUT WE ARE BOUND TO GIVE THANKS ALWAY TO GOD FOR YOU, BRETHREN BELOVED OF THE LORD, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit & belief of the truth." PTL! "Whereunto He called you by our Gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

148. "THEREFORE, BRETHREN, STAND FAST, & HOLD THE TRADITIONS WHICH YE HAVE BEEN TAUGHT, WHETHER BY WORD‚ OR OUR EPISTLE. Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, & God, even our Father, which hath loved us, & hath given us everlasting consolation & good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, & stablish you in every good word & work." PTL! Amen? (Fam: Amen!)

149. SO THERE YOU ARE‚ A NEW THEORY! But if the "70-Years Prophecy" is true, I will die before the end of the Tribulation, not before the beginning, that means I would die somewhere in the Tribulation, at least. And if I die at the age of 70, just after the 70 years have passed, that could be as early as February 18, 1989! And if that's somewhere in the Tribulation, then the Tribulation's already begun before I die‚ right? If I'm going to die at the end of 70 years, it will have to be somewhere in '89, or before February 18, 1990 at the very latest. So even if I die sometime within the beginning of the Tribulation, which as I said, doesn't seem very likely, that still puts the beginning of the Tribulation before February 18, 1989, or before February 18, 1990, at the very latest. In other words, it will have already begun before February 1989.

150. LET'S SAY THE TRIBULATION, THERE FORE, HAS BEGUN JANUARY 1‚ 1989, LET'S COUNT BACK. Let's say that I died in the Tribulation close to the beginning of the Tribulation, which doesn't sound very logical or reasonable, but let's just say what if? That means that it's just in the Tribulation but still technically before the end, but it's already in the Tribulation.

151. BUT THE TRIBULATION COULD END THE DAY AFTER FEBRUARY 18, 1989. If that were to happen, the Tribulation would have already begun in the last part of '85, & we know it hasn't‚ but it could begin any time from now on. In order for me to die before the end of the Tribulation, it could start at any time from now on! That's a shocker! So be ye therefore ready! PTL? You may be shocked!

152. THERE ARE SOME MORE GOOD VERSES ON THIS ON THE SAME LINE THERE IN MATTHEW 24: "And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the World for a witness unto all nations; & then shall the end come." (Mat.24:14) Has it been preached now in all the World to all nations?—So the end could come any time now!

153. BUT JESUS GIVES A SPECIFIC SIGN, SOME OTHER EVEN MORE SPECIFIC: "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:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains." In other words, when the Antichrist takes over Jerusalem & sits in the Temple of God declaring he is God & sets up his Abomination of Desolation, the Image of the Beast, that's the beginning of the Tribulation. He tells them to flee to the hills, head for the hills! (Mat.24:15-16)

154. "FOR THEN SHALL BE GREAT TRIBULATION, SUCH AS WAS NOT SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD TO THIS TIME, NO, NOR EVER SHALL BE." That begins the Tribulation, that's as clear as can be! "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved"—in other words, man would destroy the Earth & everybody! (Mat.24:21-22)

155. THEN HE TALKS ABOUT BEWARE OF FALSE CHRISTS, FALSE PROPHETS‚ "insomuch that if it were possible they should deceive the very elect." (Mat.24:24) Well, they've already deceived the elect! Scofield was a false prophet & he has deceived the entire Fundamental Evangelical church into supporting the Jews in Israel by claiming they're still the children of God & the chosen people, & getting the churches to cooperate with the forces of the Antichrist right now, kicking the Bible & God & prayer out of the public schools in the U.S.A.!

156. SO IT'S HAPPENING ALREADY, RIGHT? Everything is in line to happen & to begin any time‚ as far as I can see! The Covenant could have been secret, the Antichrist controlling things from behind the scenes could have been happening for the last 3-1/2 years! He could seize power & set himself up as God in the Temple of God, perhaps the Mosque of Omar, anywhere from now on in order to fulfil the prophecy!

157. THE TRIBULATION COULD BEGIN ANY TIME FROM NOW ON! It couldn't begin later than the middle of '88, & it couldn't begin earlier than right now because here we are & it hasn't started yet. But it could begin anywhere from now‚ in the middle of '86, to the middle of '88 in order to fulfil the "70 Years Prophecy" & my death occurring before the end of the Tribulation. It certainly sounds to me like I die in the Tribulation! If I do, we know the end of the Tribulation will have to occur no earlier than February 18, 1989, & certainly no later than the end of that 70th year. It's actually the 71st year that begins in Feb. '89!

158. SO THERE YOU ARE, THE TRIBULATION COULD BEGIN ANY TIME! That ought to shake some people up! You'd better hurry up with those pubs & repubs or you may not get them done!

159. HAVE THY WAY, LORD‚ THY WILL BE DONE! YOU KNOW WHAT'S BEST! TYJ! We know it will be done, & whenever it comes, Lord, that You'll have us ready for it! God bless Hart for asking the question, Lord, which has forced me to study Thy Word to find the answer, & as a result we've come up with an even more shocking revelation! So help us to be prepared, Lord‚ in Jesus' name! Amen, thank You Lord!

160. (FAM: I WAS GOING TO MENTION SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT THE DOME OF THE ROCK. Already they've had a number of very violent demonstrations there by the radical Jews like Kahane who wanted to take it over or whatever.) Yes, & they tried to blow it up a couple of years ago & several guys were caught. They've been imprisoned & they've had a trial & were sentenced for trying to destroy, I think they call it a national monument or something. But Kahane & some of the ultra-conservatives, the religious Jews, have been trying to get them off, probably the guys that sponsored them!

161. THEY'RE TRYING TO DESTROY THE MOSQUE OF OMAR SO THEY CAN REBUILD THE TEMPLE! But what if they don't get to rebuild the Temple? What if they don't have time & in an emergency they grab the Mosque of Omar & use the altar, & there you are!

162. SO IT COULD HAPPEN ANY TIME! If you're saying, oh it's got to wait for the rebuilding of the Temple & reinstitution of sacrifices, that doesn't necessarily have to be. They can grab that Temple & start any day!

163. PREVIOUSLY WE HAD FIGURED THE TRIBULATION WAS SUPPOSED TO START AFTER '89 BECAUSE I WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE BEFORE IT BEGAN. This new revelation changes our interpretation. Jeane Dixon predicted that the Antichrist would arise & take control about 1985. If my death is before the "end of desolations", meaning the end of the Tribulation, this still puts the end of the Tribulation & the Lord's Coming, as we used to figure, somewhere around 1990 or '91, still close to the approximate time.

164. IN OTHER WORDS‚ IF THE ANTICHRIST TOOK OVER IN '85, THIS STILL PUTS THE COMING OF THE LORD SOMEWHERE AROUND '90 OR '91. If it was the beginning of '85, it's '85, '86, '87, '88, '89, '90, '91, then the coming of the Lord would be at the end of '91 or the beginning of '92. If the Antichrist took over at the end of '85‚ it'd be '86‚ '87, '88, '89, '90, '91, '92, & the Lord would come at the end of '92!—Of course, this is totally going beyond our new timetable, which seems to fix the beginning of the last 7 years at the beginning of 1985 at the latest‚ but I'm just trying to show anything is possible!

165. YOU CAN'T BE DOGMATIC ABOUT THESE DATES, THEY'RE GUESSTIMATES, THEORIES! At the most, the exact date that we have is the "70-Years Prophecy," that the end of the Tribulation will come after my death‚ that my death would be at least some time in '89, which puts the end of the Tribulation sometime after that, certainly not more than one or two years after that so that you still wind up with '90 or '91, somewhere around there. And since we don't exactly know how far the end of the Tribulation is after my death, we know my death comes before the end but we don't know exactly how far, how much later the end is, it could stretch on to '92 or '93!—But that's really stretching it!

166. THE LORD DELIBERATELY HAS NOT MADE THOSE THINGS TOO EXACT UNTIL THEY REALLY START HAPPENING! The only exact times we could figure would be if we knew when the Covenant was made, but if it was made secretly, then he's ruling secretly‚ which is quite possible. Then the only exact date that we could possibly know from the Bible is when he breaks the Covenant, then we will know we're exactly 3–1/2 years into the last 7 years & 3-1/2 years until the end of it!

167. SO IF THE COVENANT & HIS REIGN SO FAR ARE SECRET, THEN WE WON'T KNOW FOR SURE UNTIL HE IS REVEALED & WHEN HE BREAKS THE COVENANT & he sets himself up as God & his Image etc. We're told in a number of places that that definitely begins the Tribulation. So since we don't know exactly when the Covenant was made or when he began his 7-year rule, we won't know exactly where we're at until the Covenant is broken & the Tribulation begins! But as we've said today‚ since we don't know when the Covenant began or his rule, we won't know exactly when he breaks it until he does, which could be anywhere from now on. In other words, the Tribulation could begin at any time, when the Antichrist is revealed & sets himself up as God.

168. IN "THE TIME OF THE GENTILES" WE'RE ESTIMATING THAT OUR MINISTRY BEGAN IN '69, ACTUALLY IT BEGAN IN '68. We said there that it would begin in '69 & end in 1990 or '91 with 21 years to go. But if you take actually beginning around the start of 1968, the 21 years would end in 1989 or '90, we don't know for sure. And if the end of the Tribulation comes after my death, then it has to come definitely either somewhere in 1989 or after. If my death, in other words, is to be somewhere in 1989, then the end of the Tribulation has to come somewhere after that, which means that the beginning of the Tribulation has got to come before my death!