Supplementary to Revelation 13
Daniel's 70th Week - Jacob's Trouble - 7 Year Period
1st 3½ Years = Tribulation of the Saints
2nd 3½ Years Wrath of God
These are two distinct periods. Not 7 years of tribulation nor 7 years of God's wrath.
The Rapture of the church takes place at the close of the 1st 3½ years but before the beginning of the 2nd 3½ years.
Antichrist's comparison with Christ
Jesus was about 30 years of age when He began his ministry, "And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age" (Luke 3:23) - then John the Baptist revealed Him, "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1:29). And His earthly ministry lasted about 3½ years.
Will the Antichrist be a 30 year old man when he comes to power? The False Prophet will then reveal him, "And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast" (Revelation 13:12). He will only be in power for 3½ years, "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months." (Revelation 13:5).
Now let us look at some of these issues in greater detail.
1. 1st 3½ Years
a) This period will be one of peace and safety for the world ... "But of the times and 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 and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and 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 and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and 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 and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:1-9).
b) There will be a great falling away from Biblical Christianity ... "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition" (2 Thessalonians 2:3). The words "falling away" means both apostasy and rebellion against God. This is because they will not stay in the truth ... "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
c) There will be little true faith ... "Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8).
d) Lukewarmness within the church ... "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:16).
2. The Rapture of the Church
a) Tribulation of believers should not be seen as being the wrath of God ... "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." (2 Timothy 3:12).
b) The true church will be removed before the wrath of God is poured out upon the earth ... For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17) ... "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).
c) The rapture will take place in the middle of Daniel's 70th week. Exactly at the time the "restrainer" is removed ... "And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8). Most commentators see the "restrainer" as either being the Holy Spirit or the church.
d) Satan will then be cast down to the earth ... "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." (Revelation 12:10). It will be at this point he possesses the Antichrist.
e) The church cannot be here at this time ... "Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18).
3. 2nd 3½ Years
a) Antichrist's ministration will only las for 3½ years (42 months) ... "Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." (Revelation 12:12) ... "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months." (Revelation 13:5).
b) Antichrist's image will be set up in the temple ... "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." (Daniel 9:27) ... "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days." (Daniel 12:11) ... "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:)" (Matthew 24:15).
c) The False Prophet will reveal the Antichrist ... "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and 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. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders." (2 Thessalonians 2:3-9) ... "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." (Revelation 13:11-18). The word "revealed" in 2 Thessalonians literally means "suddenly manifested".
d) The "Mark of the Beast" introduced (see previous scripture).
e) The Jews will be persecuted by the Antichrist, but they will be delivered by God ... "And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." (Revelation 12:14) ... "But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains." (Mark 13:14).
Conclusion
There is no point trying to figure out who the number 666 refers to until after the False
Prophet reveals him. Just as John the Baptist declared, "Behold, the Lamb of God", so the False Prophet, Antichrist's forerunner, will proclaim him to be the world's messiah and god.