This proposition simply means that the rapture will occur before the beginning of the Seven Year Tribulation Period or Daniel's 70th Week.  For those unfamiliar with the latter phrase, the more popular former phrase is just another way of saying the same thing.

     On my part, while I remember hearing about the Seven Year Tribulation Period as far back as my early teens, mentions of Daniel's 70th Week either did not register with me or seemed so far over my head that I didn't really delve into the meaning of it until years later.  However, as I have become more familiar with this latter phrase, I have come to prefer it when discussing the subject.  Mostly, this is because the word "tribulation" in the more popular phrase has made for so much misunderstanding when it comes to distinguishing between the tribulation that all Christians presently experience (ofttimes great!) and that of the time of Daniel's 70th Week.

     The basis for teachings related to Daniel's 70th Week is found in Daniel 9:24-27, where we find what is referred to as Daniel's Seventy Weeks' prophecy.  This prophecy concerns "seventy weeks" that Daniel is informed of that are determined upon his people and Jerusalem, as revealed in the first verse of the prophecy, which follows:

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 24  SEVENTY WEEKS are determined upon thy people (the Israelites) and upon thy holy city (Jerusalem), 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 (Jesus Christ ).

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     Unsurprisingly, the Hebrew word from which weeks is translated literally means "sevened."  The meaning then of the phrase "seventy weeks" is seventy sevened, which would mean seventy times seven, which equals four hundred and ninety.  Moreover, evidences from history and other Scripture bears out that what is being meant is 490 years or "seventy weeks" of years.  This is a solid and widely accepted interpretation.

     In this prophecy, as will be seen, there is a division of the 70 weeks of years into 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and 1 week.  The first 69 weeks of these years have been fulfilled and are accounted for in the time span between the commandment to restore Jerusalem (after the Babylonian captivity) and the coming of Jesus the first time (His First Advent), in keeping with the next verse of the prophecy:

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 25  Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince (Jesus Christ ) shall be SEVEN WEEKS, AND THREE SCORE AND TWO WEEKS:  the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

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     While minor differences in viewpoints and information are to be found, many study Bibles and other works on prophecy elaborate on the remarkable fulfillment of this prophecy.  For me, King Artaxerxes' commissioning of Nehemiah to rebuild the walls and city of Jerusalem (Neh. 2:1-8) best fits the starting point of this prophecy.  It was approximately 445 B.C. when this took place.  With 69 weeks of years totaling 483 years, when these are adjusted to factor in the early 360 day Jewish calendar versus our present 365.25 day Gregorian calendar, the result coincides with the time of Jesus' earthly ministry.  There are evidences that the fulfillment of this prophecy may be even more precise than this.

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(For you math whizzes, 69 times 7 equals 483 years;  483 times 360 divided by 365.25 equals 476 years;  and 476 years added to 445 B.C. equals 31 A.D., or the time of Jesus' earthly ministry.)

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     Finally, the remaining or 70th Week of Daniel is spoken of in the last verse of the prophecy, which reads:

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 27  And he ("the prince that shall come," spoken of in vs. 26 / the Antichrist ) 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.

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     Of course, this last or remaining week will also be seven years and is yet to be fulfilled.  As reflected in the prophecy, at some time in the future the coming Antichrist is going to confirm a covenant with the Israelites, which will mark the beginning of this week.  Then it is described what he will do "in the midst of the week,"  or after 3-1/2 years.  It is this last week of years that is spoken of so often in studies having to do with the end times and is the basis for the popular phrase, "The Seven Year Tribulation Period."

     Something important to be remembered, as far as Daniel's Seventy Weeks' prophecy and our present proposition goes, is this:  Just as the Church was not a part of the fulfilling of the first 69 weeks of this prophecy, it will not be a part of the last week.  Said another way, just as it was not a part of the first 483 years, it will not be a part of the last seven years.  This point has also been brought out by others.  The whole of this prophecy concerns the Israelite nation and Jerusalem, not the Church (note again vs. 24).  This fact, in itself, makes for reasonable and solid support that the Church will be removed or raptured prior to the fulfilling of the 70th week.  Prophetically, the Church just does not fit in this time period.

     As far as evidence of this seven year period in The Revelation, the actual key that it is about to begin is found in chapter 10, where the big focus is upon "a little book open" (vs. 2).  I submit that this is the little book of Daniel, which will be the subject of PROPOSITION 7.  Note that in the very next chapter, in Revelation 11:2-3, we see the first New Testament mention of two 3-1/2 year time frames, which together equal the seven years of our focus.  One of these time frames is given as "forty and two months"  and the other as "a thousand two hundred and threescore days" (exactly 3-1/2 years by the early Jewish calendar).  These numbers are found in the next two chapters as well, in Revelation 12:6 and 13:5.  Further, a different form of time reference is given in 12:14 as "a time, and times, and half a time."  Phrases very similar to this are also found in Daniel 7:25 and 12:7 and are widely accepted as meaning 3-1/2 years.  For now, if this is something new to you, just remember that the Church, according to the view herein set forth, will be raptured prior to any of this last seven year period being fulfilled.

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