DO 2211–15/86

—When the Tribulation Could Begin!

1. IN ORDER TO FIT GRANDMOTHER'S PROPHECY, which states that a certain "number of years"—which, as I stated in "The 70 Years Prophecy‚" I believe to be the 70 years of my life—will pass before the end of the Tribulation, it sounds like not only my death is in the Tribulation, but toward the end of the Tribulation! So it looks like the Tribulation could not end much more than a year or two after my death! So therefore the Tribulation has to start anywhere from now to the middle of '88, within the next two years according to that prophecy & the way I see it! (See ML #156:1-9.)

2. THE PROPHECY WAS GIVEN BY MY MOTHER IN 1966 ABOUT DAVID & DANIEL, about David being Daniel, me, this David being the Daniel of the End‚ not the first Daniel‚ but like a Daniel to the Endtime, you understand? This prophecy was quoted in "Saul & Michael," "David-Daniel" prophecies & the "70 Years Prophecy." (See ML#s 115, 156 & 1501.)

3. AND HERE'S EXACTLY WHAT THE PROPHECY SAID, what the Lord said to my Mother, "To the one called David by divine anointing"—now I was the one called David by divine anointing through my Mother. She was anointed by the Lord to call me David, right? So that I became the David of the End, or like the Daniel of the End.

4. OBVIOUSLY THE TRIBULATION PERIOD IS THE PERIOD OF DESOLATIONS, it is from every description. It starts off with "the abomination that maketh desolate‚" it continues, "desolations unto the end thereof" & it speaks of it so many times, you couldn't possibly misunderstand it. The Tribulation is the period of desolations.

5. ALL RIGHT, SO TAKING THAT TO MEAN THAT THE PERIOD OF DESOLATIONS IS THE TRIBULATION, it says here, "To the one called David by divine anointing, it has been given thee to perceive the number of years which according to the Prophet Jeremiah will pass before the end of desolations." What number of years did Jeremiah predict? There was only one number of years that Jeremiah predicted & that was 70 years! (Jer.25:11; 29:10) Will pass when?—"Before the end of desolations."

6. I'VE ALWAYS TAKEN THAT 70 YEARS TO MEAN THE NUMBER OF YEARS OF MY LIFE‚ according to the "70-Years Prophecy" we received on June 30, 1970 when I was asking the Lord, "What shall be the days of my years?", & He answered with, 49 years plus 21 years. It was counted just as clear as I ever heard anything counted, by my hand knocking on the wood of the bed, just like spirit-writing! The first 49-year period of it is already fulfilled.

7. I HAD SPENT 49 YEARS GETTING READY FOR IT‚ & THEN I WOULD THEN SPEND 21 YEARS IN MY FULL MINISTRY WITH THE FAMILY, & that's exactly how it went, exactly! I was 49 in '68 when we began the Family & therefore I was to live 21 more years, which means until '89. It could only mean‚ at the most, to the end of '89. I was exactly 49 in February of '68, & that's just about the time we really began the Family. We arrived there in December of '67 & we started that ministry—I can just about pinpoint it—in February of '68 when I was 49! I had my 49th birthday in February of 1968!

8. SO IF FEBRUARY 1968 BEGAN THE LAST 21 YEARS OF MY LIFE, if the knocks do indeed indicate my years—& how can I doubt it, because my question was so definite: "What shall be the days of my years?"—Then it meant that I have spent 49 of them in preparation for this ministry, & that I would spend another 21 years fulfilling this ministry.—Which, if you're going to go exactly by the number of years‚ & God's pretty exact, mathematical, that means that the 21 years began on February 18‚ 1968, & the 21 years would therefore end on February 18, 1989! I was 49 on February 18, 1968, add 21 years to 68 & what do you get? 68 plus 21, you get 89!—And not the end of '89, but February '89! Is that right or not?

9. I WILL HAVE COMPLETED 70 YEARS OF MY LIFE IN FEBRUARY '89! Do you want to count it? We'll start with '68 because that's when I was 49, & we're going to start counting 21 years. I'll count it on my fingers: 69, '70, '71, '72, '73, '74, '75‚ '76,'77, '78. That's the first ten years, until February 18, 1978. Now here we go for another ten years on my ten fingers: '79‚ '80, '81,'82, '83, '84, '85‚ '86, '87, '88. February 18, 1988, I will be 69, that's 20 years. And one more year, if that's the last year of my life, then my life is supposed to end about February 18, 1989!

10. IF IT'S BEFORE THE END OF THE TRIBULATION‚ THAT DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN BEFORE THE TRIBULATION! (Maria: That's right!) That does not have to mean before the beginning of the Tribulation but before the end of it! It could be during it, or near the end, or it could be just before the end!

11. IT SAYS BEFORE THE END OF THE TRIBULATION. I am absolutely convinced that the Tribulation is the "desolations" & the "desolations" is the Tribulation, because it's referred to that way throughout all these prophecies in the Bible. And here the Lord says it will be 70 years. In other words, the days of my life will be 70 years which will end before the end of the Tribulation. It does not say I'm going to miss the Tribulation! How about that?

12. I WAS THINKING ABOUT THAT THE OTHER DAY: "WHY, LORD, WOULD YOU ACTUALLY EXCUSE ME & LET ME OFF THE HOOK WHEN ALL THOSE DAYS WOULD BE SO INTERESTING TO SEE? How come You would let me go before that?" I'm a lot more likely to die in the Tribulation, or "before the end of the Tribulation." That's what it says, "Before the end of desolations," before the end of the Tribulation. (Maria: I would think you'd want to get out of it!) Well, of course, everybody would like to get out of it‚ but that doesn't mean we can! So there you are!

13. THAT OUGHT TO CHEER YOU UP A LOT‚ HONEY, THAT I'M GOING TO BE HERE WITH YOU THROUGH THE TRIBULATION! (Maria: It makes me happy for me‚ but sad for you! I feel bad for you because it's going to be so hard!) What are you trying to get rid of me for? (Maria: I don't want to get rid of you, but for your own sake...I mean, you never like to see people you love suffer.)

14. THE TRIBULATION ISN'T NECESSARILY GOING TO BE THAT BAD! Oh, some of our people have suffered almost that much already! We've even had martyrs‚ people who were killed & suffered & arrested & beaten & tortured & everything! I'm telling you, I don't think anything could happen any worse than what has already happened to some of our people, at least a few of them!

15. WELL, THE LORD'S ALREADY PREDICTED THAT THE 70 YEARS IS ONLY GOING TO END BEFORE NOT THE BEGINNING OF DESOLATIONS, BUT BEFORE THE END OF DESOLATIONS! Listen, "It has been given unto thee to perceive the number of years." All right‚ the Lord promised that I would understand the number of years. "The number of years which according to the Prophet Jeremiah will pass"—& the only number of years given to Jeremiah was 70 years! What could be clearer than that? And then He gave me that other prophecy that the number of the days of my life were going to be 70 years. So what could be clearer than that? And it "will pass before the end of desolations"—that is‚ before the end of the Tribulation! It does not say before the beginning.

16. SO I AM GOING TO LIVE ON INTO THE TRIBULATION! (Maria: Why didn't we get that before?) Because we're just now getting it, that's why! (Maria: I mean, what did we interpret it as before?) That I was going to die just before the beginning of the Tribulation. (Maria: But why did we interpret it as that?) I think just because we wanted to, that's why, & because we couldn't believe the Tribulation was going to begin that soon! (Maria: So the Tribulation has to begin before February '89.) That means that I am going to die somewhere before the end, so that must mean that '89 is near the end of the Tribulation! Before the end of the Tribulation sounds to me like not too long before the end of the Tribulation!

17. WE FIGURED OUT BEFORE FROM SEVERAL DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS THAT THE TRIBULATION WOULD BEGIN SOMEWHERE IN 1989 OR THE END OF 1989. So that three-&-a-half years later the Lord would come in 1993. And with "The Watch" & several other predictions, we have come up with that same schedule. The Tribulation could end at the earliest in 1989! (Maria: So it can't begin any later than 1986 because you've got to have three-&-a-half years of it!) So as dear Hart has pointed out here, God bless him‚ that means that the Antichrist has got to be in power when? (Maria: Well, right now!) What is seven years from the end of 1989? Count back, '89 is one year, '88 is one year, '87 is one year, etc.—back to 1982!—So he'd have to be already in power! As he says, that, of course is possible, but he says it doesn't seem likely.

18. (MARIA: WELL, YOU'VE BEEN PREDICTING THE RISE OF THE ANTICHRIST & THE CRASH IN '86.) Yes, it could still happen, & the Tribulation could still begin this year‚ it could all still happen this year! To make that schedule work & that interpretation work, it would have to begin this year! If the Tribulation begins at the end of '89 & I die February 18, 1989, I would be dying nearly a year before the Tribulation even begins! (Maria: But the end of '89 has to be the beginning of the Tribulation if we're just about to start the seven-year period, if the former interpretation is correct.)

19. BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, IF I'M GOING TO DIE AT AGE 70, WHICH WILL BE IN '89, & my death is supposed to be before the end of the Tribulation, not before the beginning, then that means the Tribulation will have to be over some time in '89! This is almost the middle of '86, so if the Tribulation is over sometime in '89, the middle of '86 is the very latest it can begin! Therefore, we could be in the last month before the Tribulation! So instead of having seven more years, we have only three more years before Jesus comes! That will be a shocker, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised!

20. IF I'M GOING TO LIVE 70 YEARS, THEN THE END OF THAT 70 YEARS HAS GOT TO BE IN '89! And the whole question hinges on just what does the Lord mean by, "before the end of desolations‚" before the end of the Tribulation! How long before the end of the Tribulation? It sounds to me like somewhere near the end, or not too far from the end. I'd say the first half of the Tribulation would be termed the beginning of the Tribulation, right? Just like, "How far does a dog run into the woods?"—He can only run in half-way, the rest of the time he's running out of the woods! How far can we run into the Tribulation?—Only half-way or the beginning of it, the other half, the ending of it, you're going out‚ right?

21. SO THE END OF IT WOULD PROBABLY BE THE LAST HALF OF THE TRIBULATION, THE LAST ONE–&-THREE-QUARTER YEARS, RIGHT? So I would say it would be somewhere past the mid-point of the Tribulation that I die, & the closer we put it to the midpoint the more we're stretching it, because it says specifically "before the end." Now, that sounds to me like near the end‚ or not too far from the end, right? And at the very most, to be before the end it would be somewhere in the last half. It doesn't say before most of the Tribulation, it says before the end of the Tribulation.—Sometime in '89.

22. THE PROPHECY THE LORD GAVE ME ABOUT "THE DAYS OF MY YEARS" WAS VERY SPECIFIC ABOUT THE YEAR I'M SUPPOSED TO DIE. (See ML #156:9.) If it's at the end of 70 years, that's Feb.'89, & I believe those are the "number of years" to pass before the end of the Tribulation. I certainly wouldn't call that before the beginning of the Tribulation! It says, "before the end of the Tribulation" & I'd say that "before the end" would have to be in the last half somewhere, which means the end of the Tribulation would have to be somewhere in either '89 or '90.

23. SO GOD HELP US, MAYBE WE'VE GOT ANOTHER MONTH OR SO BEFORE THE TRIBULATION BEGINS! (Maria: Before the Tribulation begins?) Yes, another month from now, which would have to mean then that the Covenant was signed secretly! At the most‚ three–&-a-half years before the beginning of the Tribulation, if you call "before the end" somewhere in the last half of the Tribulation, the last year–&-three-quarters. Do you get it? (Maria: Which means that the first three-&-a–half years of the 7-year-reign of the Antichrist is almost all gone?)—Yes!

24. IF THE TRIBULATION IS TO END AS EARLY AS THE END OF '89 OR '90, THEN IT'S GOT TO BEGIN MIGHTY SOON! It's got to either begin this year or next year, & that means then that the Covenant is already signed & the AC is already ruling from behind the scenes & the Jews are already sacrificing, or about to! (Maria: But they can't because they haven't built their Temple yet.)

25. WHERE CAN YOU FIND THAT THEY HAVE TO BUILD A TEMPLE? (Maria: In lots of the Letters!) I have said before that it seems like they would have to build their Temple before they could start sacrificing, but what if not? (Maria: Because you said that according to the Bible, they have to have the Temple so they can sacrifice.)—Not necessarily! All it says is that he stops the sacrifices, which means they've already begun sacrificing somewhere around the Holy Place. Who knows, maybe they're already sacrificing secretly? (Dan.9:27; 11:31)

26. MAYBE HE SETS UP HIS THRONE IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD, THE TEMPLE THAT'S ALREADY THERE, THE MOSQUE OF OMAR! (Maria: We'll have to rewrite a lot of these Classes!) The closer we get, the more information we get, the more we're going to have to rewrite! (Maria: Maybe we should rewrite them before we publish them!—Ha!) Well, that's not possible, they're already published! (Maria: No, the whole series we had last year, we're just getting ready for publication.) It doesn't make much difference.

27. THE MAIN SUBJECT OF THAT SERIES IS WHO ARE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO SURVIVE THE TRIBULATION‚ THE WRATH OF GOD & ARMAGEDDON & LIVE ON TO THE MILLENNIUM! (Maria: But that's just the first part of the series.) That's the main subject I'm following all the way through, the rest is just sticking to our traditional doctrine & interpretation.—Which may still be correct!

28. I MEAN, THIS JUST MAKES ME VERY HAPPY, THAT THE TIME IS EVEN SHORTER THAN I THOUGHT! We don't have to drag this thing out. (Maria: It makes me sadder, because I see all the work we haven't gotten done!) You can finish it in the Millennium! (Maria: Well, now is when we need it the most!)—No! That's why I want to write about Heaven's Children after the Rapture! The Millennium is when we're going to need it the most! This period's almost done for! We've just about done all we can do, our job is almost finished! (Maria: Maybe you could go back & read those other Letters & get a different interpretation that extends our time a little bit‚ ha! I don't know if I like this!)

29. HONEY, YOU'RE JUST LIKE THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURISTS! They decided they wanted to interpret the Bible to show that they were going to be raptured before the Tribulation because they didn't want to have to go through the Tribulation! They twisted the Scriptures to fit their doctrine, rather than changing their doctrine to fit the Scriptures!

30. MAYBE THE COVENANT WAS SIGNED SECRETLY IN '82 & THE ANTICHRIST IS RULING SECRETLY BEHIND THE SCENES & THE JEWS ARE SACRIFICING BEHIND CLOSED DOORS! That knocks in the head my original interpretation that I would die before the Tribulation, because to apply it literally, exactly what the Lord said, He said that my 70 years would end before the end of desolations! In other words, before the end of the Tribulation, not necessarily before the beginning. The 70 years ends February 18, 1989. What it says is that the end of my 70 years would come before the end of the Tribulation, it doesn't say it would come before the beginning.

31. I WOULD SAY IF IT'S BEFORE THE END OF IT, IT MUST BE IN THE LAST HALF OF IT SOMEWHERE. I wouldn't say that sometime in the first half or even before the beginning is before the end! "Before the end‚" it says specifically time & again, "before the end‚" that I'd die before the end, & I've interpreted it all these years as "before the beginning," that the Lord wasn't going to let me go through the Tribulation! I think I interpreted it that way because that's the way I wanted it!

32. PAUL SAYS, "THEN SHALL THAT MAN OF SIN BE REVEALED." (2Th.2:3,8)—When? Who? The one who "sitteth in the Temple of God saying that he is God," right? Well, that sounds like he's not revealed until he does that. That's been a long controversial point with interpreters of Bible prophecy for a long time, whether the man of sin is revealed at the beginning of his reign or he's not truly revealed until the Abomination of Desolation is set up!

33. I'VE GIVEN THE ALTERNATIVES ON THAT. I've said we don't know whether it means when he begins reigning he'll be revealed, or he won't be revealed until the beginning of the Tribulation when he sits himself down on the throne in the Temple of God saying that he is God! What if it turns out the Mosque of Omar is the Temple they're talking about?

34. IT'S ALREADY BUILT, & TO TRULY SACRIFICE WHERE ABRAHAM DID & UPON THE ALTAR WHICH WAS THE ALTAR OF THE TEMPLE‚ THEY WOULD HAVE TO SACRIFICE ON THAT ROCK IN THE MOSQUE OF OMAR!—It's a Temple of God! So why rebuild the Temple? What if they're in a hurry? What if they wanted to get started in a hurry & they grab it from the Arabs & start sacrificing on Abraham's old altar? Does that blow your theories all to pieces? I'm just showing what is a possibility! Prophecy is often very mysterious, very vague‚ & you can interpret it several different ways!

35. IT DOESN'T SAY IT HAS TO BE A JEWISH TEMPLE, THAT'S OUR INTERPRETATION, it just says that "he sitteth in the Temple of God as God saying that he is God." Isn't the Mosque of Omar the Temple of God? Doesn't the whole Arab World, the entire Moslem World consider it the Temple of God? It's one of their most hallowed temples of God‚ one of the most sacred mosques, & it's the only mosque which is sacred to both Arabs & Jews & Christians, the only one in which all their faiths unite under Father Abraham! It was the worshipping place of Abraham, it was the altar of the Temple & it is today the sacred hallowed Dome of the Rock, the Mosque of Omar!

36. THAT'S ONE GOOD PLACE WHERE ALL THREE FAITHS COULD UNITE, if he wants to make a united faith international and all that sort of thing, the perfect spot! If he could make the Arabs yield to that and say‚ "Well, you can take turns having services in the Mosque. You can have one Arab service, one Jewish service, one Christian service! Everybody hallow the Dome of the Rock." It's a beautiful thing with a gorgeous golden dome, mosaic on the inside, gold on the outside. I'm just trying to say how it's possible! By the wildest stretch of your imagination maybe that's going to be the Temple, and it would almost have to be if they're about to start sacrificing!

37. (MARIA: OR YOU SUGGESTED MAYBE THEY ARE ALREADY SACRIFICING IN SECRET SOME WAY.) Maybe they are, who knows? You take all those masonic temples, they've got all kinds of secret rites inside them. Maybe in Israel some place they've already started animal sacrifice! However, there's nothing they'd like better than to move it to Abraham's rock, the former altar of the Temple! That is established fact, that that was the altar of the Temple! That's history, that was the altar of the Temple. It's got a place for the fire for the sacrificial offering & channels for blood to drain off, the place where they slaughtered the animals.

38. I'M JUST SAYING HERE'S A POSSIBILITY OF HOW IT COULD BE SO SOON! How could the Tribulation possibly start one month from now? Well, that's how it could start! A lot of things can happen in a month! Boy, I'll tell you, every war has started suddenly‚ really suddenly, things could happen really fast! Hart was saying, "Well‚ how could the Last Seven Years start so soon? That means that the Crash would have to happen this next month, the Antichrist would have to be revealed & he'd have to confirm the Covenant & all these sort of things!"

39. IT'S EASY TO INTERPRET BIBLE PROPHECY WHEN IT'S A LONG WAY OFF & YOU CAN PUT IT ALL OFF IN THE FUTURE! It hasn't happened yet so nobody can prove you're wrong! But what if it is going to happen sooner than you think? PTL! That means it won't be long until the Lord comes! Hart said the Crash would have to begin right away or have already begun or something. Don't blame it on me, blame it on Hart, he's the one that thought it up! He's going to be sad it back–fired on him though. He thought it meant we'd have more time, not less! But no way, you can't go the other way. The whole seven years is not the "end of desolations."

40. I DON'T SEE ANY OTHER WAY TO INTERPRET THE "70-YEARS PROPHECY," because there were seven seven's of knocks, which is 49‚ & the Lord said that the days of my years were going to be seven seven's & three seven's. The only way you could figure that out is that I was in 49 years of preparation & 21 years of ministry. Now my 70 years, from the time I was born to age 70, is 1989. And if that's before the end of the Tribulation, it certainly doesn't mean before the beginning, so it's got to be sometime during the Tribulation at the least.

41. "BEFORE THE END OF DESOLATIONS"—WHAT DOES THAT SOUND LIKE TO YOU? Before the Tribulation begins?—No! The Tribulation is the "desolations." And when does it begin?—It begins at the end of the first 3-1/2 years. So the Tribulation is the desolations & the end of the desolations is the end of the Tribulation. So if I have to die before the end, it certainly doesn't sound like before the beginning of the last 3-&-1/2 years, much less before the beginning of the Seven Years! It says "before the end" plain as day! Doesn't that sound like it's more likely that I'm going to die sometime during the Tribulation? And if I'm going to die at the end of 70 years, that's '89 any way you figure it!

42. AND IF THAT MEANS THAT'S BEFORE THE END OF THE TRIBULATION, THEN '89 HAS GOT TO BE SOMEPLACE IN THE TRIBULATION, & if it's before the end, it means it must be some time before the end, not before the beginning, not before the middle, but before the end, which has got to mean somewhere in the last half of the Tribulation, right?—Somewhere after the first couple of years. (Maria: Right.) So if '89 is during the last half of the Tribulation, where does that put us now? We're awful close to the beginning of the Tribulation!

43. NOW THE CLOSEST YOU COULD FIGURE THAT 70 YEARS BEFORE THE END WOULD BE SOME PLACE PAST THE MIDDLE OF THE LAST HALF OF THE TRIBULATION. So '89 is past the middle of the Tribulation & it's awful close, boy, it's got to begin within the next couple of months! And if the Tribulation begins within the next couple of months, the Seven Years has already begun‚ the Covenant has already been made & the AC is already ruling! It's very easy to believe that it was a secret Covenant & he's ruling from behind the scenes, & boy, it sure looks like it!

44. I DON'T SEE HOW YOU CAN CHANGE '89 NO MATTER HOW YOU CAN FIGURE IT! 49 & 21 is what? (Fam: 70!) And '19 & 70 is '89! So I don't see how you can move that anyhow! If 89, therefore, is somewhere near the end of the Tribulation‚ or it's at least in the last half of the Tribulation, then we're already living in the Seven Years & we're almost to the beginning of the Tribulation! We can't be more than a month or two from the beginning of the Tribulation if that's the right interpretation. So praise the Lord, it will soon be over!

45. SO THERE'S A POSSIBLE INTERPRETATION! I don't see how you can change the'89 because the year I was born, 1919, plus 70 is '89, so how are you going to change that?—Which means the World would now have to be controlled by the Antichrist from behind the scenes & the Covenant a secret, & that he's not going to really be revealed until he sets up the Abomination of Desolation! And the Mosque of Omar could be the Temple, & the Dome of the Rock of which it's the dome, is definitely the altar of the Temple! It was the altar of the Temple for years, so they could just grab it! It would be just like the Jews to grab it & maybe thereby violate the Covenant‚ the secret Covenant, which riles him & makes him angry & makes him storm down & invade Israel! Maybe he's already had these other wars of Daniel 11, there have been plenty of them! So it may be later than you think!—Or it may be earlier, I should say!

46. DID YOU HEAR HART'S LATEST THEORY THAT THE TRIBULATION COULD START IN '93 INSTEAD OF '89? Well, it made me study up on it! I've always got to answer his questions, since he sends me these complicated things, so I had to study up on it & I did discover some things that were very interesting!

47. THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE TRIBULATION COULD BEGIN EARLIER THAN WE HAD PREVIOUSLY INTERPRETED, which would mean that the Pact could have been already secretly signed!—Especially with the [ACs] trying to get the World ready‚ & I've already suggested that the Antichrist could already be in control behind the scenes.—In fact he is, obviously! They are, so he must be!

48. THE ONLY THING THAT REALLY SEEMS TO CONTRADICT THE IDEA OF THE TRIBULATION BEGINNING IMMEDIATELY IS OUR THEORY THAT THE TEMPLE HAS TO BE REBUILT in order to start sacrificing, so he can stop the sacrifices. But what if that is wrong? The Bible doesn't actually say they're going to rebuild the Temple. It just speaks of the Holy Place, & it does speak of him sitting in the Temple as God claiming that he is God, right?

49. BUT WHAT TEMPLE? There's already a Temple on Mount Moriah covering the very stone on which they want to sacrifice, which used to be the altar of the Temple! What if they don't take time to rebuild the Temple? What if they just grab that Mosque of Omar from the Arabs & say, "We'll confiscate it, & we have a right to it because it covers our rock‚ our sacred altar" & blah blah!

50. ANYTHING'S POSSIBLE! Where you don't have the exact Scriptures you can theorise all you want! But what if that's true? What if it's secret & he's already operating, which he must be, & what if at the last minute the Jews decide to grab the Mosque of Omar & start sacrificing on the rock? That could happen at any time‚ any moment!

51. NOW THIS "70-YEAR PROPHECY" IS A PROPHECY OF THE LORD THROUGH MY MOTHER, that I would know the number of the years which Jeremiah foresaw‚ that just as 70 years passed before the end of the desolations of his land & his people long ago, the Lord was going to show me an equal number of years! "The number of years that would pass" (the 70 years of my lifetime), it says, "before the end of desolations." In other words, the 70 years of my life would pass & I would die before the "end of desolations," which if you add 70 years to 1919, when I was born, you come out with what? (Fam: '89.)—Some time in '89 that I would have to die‚ according to that prophecy, a little over—or somewhere around—three years from now.

52. HART SUGGESTED THAT MAYBE THIS EXPRESSION "THE END OF DESOLATIONS" COVERS THE WHOLE 7-YEAR-PERIOD, not just the beginning of the Tribulation. I've always interpreted the "70-Year Prophecy" that I was going to die before the Tribulation, & the Tribulation would begin in '89. But he said, "Maybe that "end of desolations" means not just the Tribulation period‚ but the whole 7 Years"?

53. WELL, I HAD TO WRITE HIM A LETTER TO EXPLAIN THAT THAT WAS IMPOSSIBLE, because in the Bible the period of desolations is always related to the period of the Tribulation. That's the period of desolations, & the Tribulation is related to that word "desolation" throughout all the Bible. It's the period of the Tribulation, the period of desolations. He was trying to postpone the Tribulation‚ that's what he was trying to do!—Ha! He thought maybe he could give us another three-&-a-half years!—Ha!—That maybe the Antichrist wouldn't begin his seven-year-rule until 1989 & then the Tribulation would start 3-1/2 years later!—Ha!

54. I WROTE BACK, "WELL, THAT CAN'T BE, BECAUSE THE PERIOD OF DESOLATIONS IS THE PERIOD OF THE TRIBULATION." I mean‚ you can prove that by the Bible very clearly because there are many many references along that line all through Daniel & a lot of other places too. (Dan.8:13; 9:26,27; Mat.24:15; Mk.13:14) So I said, "Instead of postponing the Tribulation another 3-1/2 years so the Lord's coming will be seven years after my death in '89, I'm afraid he has brought up a whole new question!"

55. WHENEVER GRANDMOTHER'S PROPHECY IS QUOTED, it says that a specific "number of years"—which I believe to be the 70 years of my life—will pass before the end of desolations. Now we've already said the period of desolations is the Tribulation, the Bible makes that very clear, I'm sure you're familiar with that. We've always taught that. But the thing that shocked me when I re-read it was that it doesn't say that those years will pass before the desolations, or before the Tribulation, but that they will end or pass away before the end of desolations.

56. IF YOU READ IT LITERALLY JUST THE WAY IT SOUNDS EXACTLY‚ IT SOUNDS MORE LIKE I'M GOING TO DIE SOMEWHERE NEAR THE END OF THE TRIBULATION. Or literally, if you use the word "tribulation" which we understand more clearly, that those years "will pass before the end of the Tribulation." What does that sound like to you? What would you call the end of the Tribulation? (Fam: When Jesus comes back.) Right, sometime before the end. It certainly doesn't mean before the beginning, it just says before the end of desolations.

57. NOW IF YOU REALLY WANTED TO DRAW IT OUT TO THE EXTREME, a wild interpretation, you could say, "Well, the beginning of the Tribulation is before the end of the Tribulation, so it'd be before the beginning!" Ha! So it's still before the end of the Tribulation. But why would He say, "Before the end of the Tribulation"? What does that sound like to you? (Fam: Just before Jesus comes back, the end.)—The end! And my 70 years will pass when? (Fam: Just before the end.) It shocked me to realise that it said, "before the end," not before the beginning, not before the Tribulation, as I had always interpreted it!

58. NOW THE ONLY THING THAT JEREMIAH HAD TO DO WITH A PREDICTION OF YEARS WAS THE 70 YEARS, & when this prophecy was made about me, Jeremiah had long been gone to Heaven! So it had nothing to do with the 70 years of captivity of the Jews, it was definitely implying that the 70 years of Jeremiah was the same number of years as the 70 years of my life & that I would pass away, or the 70 years would pass, before the end of the Tribulation! I was always thinking somehow or another it was saying‚ "before the Tribulation." But after careful checking & reading all the references to it, it does not say "before the Tribulation‚" it says, "before the end of desolations!" How about that? So, hallelujah! I'm going to stick with you through part of the Tribulation, maybe almost to the end! How's that?

59. BUT NOW COMES THE BIG PROBLEM! If I'm going to live 70 years, which this prophecy & others seem to indicate‚ then my death has got to be in 1989, & that is just before the end of the Tribulation, Brother‚ & that creates a whole new problem!—Ha! Hart says, "Well, this couldn't be because that would mean that the Tribulation is about to start next month!" Even if we say the end of the Tribulation was at the end of '89, the Tribulation would have to start at the latest in the next month or two! (Maria: There goes the 3-1/2 years we were planning on before the Tribulation!—Ha!)

60. HE'S QUITE A THINKER, GOD BLESS HIM, ONLY HE CONVINCED ME OF JUST THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT HE WAS TRYING TO CONVINCE ME OF! He convinced me we have less time, not more! I had to go back & dig into all those Letters. I read that again & again & I couldn't see it any other way, I couldn't rationalise it away! It struck me for the first time clearer than I had ever seen it before!

61. YOU KNOW, YOU KIND OF GET THOSE THINGS & THEY SORT OF PASS BY YOU & YOU AREN'T REALLY FORCED TO FACE IT. That's one thing about Hart, with his questions & his problems & his new ideas, he's always forcing me to buckle down & face the problem & have to find an answer for him!

62. NOW IF I JUST TELL THAT TO THE CHILDREN, "WHEN DO YOU THINK THAT MEANS THAT GRANDPA WOULD DIE, IF IT SAYS 'BEFORE THE END OF THE TRIBULATION'?" (Techi: At the beginning.) Well, that's what I've always said. But if you say "before the end," that doesn't sound like the beginning, does it? How far can a dog run into the woods? (David: Half-way.) Halfway. The rest of the time, what? (David: He's running out!)—He's running out of the woods! So at the wildest stretch of your imagination, "the end of the Tribulation" would be the second half of the Tribulation, beginning one year & 9 months before the End. The Tribulation is 3–&-1/2 years long, right? So half of it would be what? Half of 3-&-1/2 years is 1–&-3/4 years.

63. SO THE MOST YOU COULD STRETCH IT WOULD BE THAT IT WOULD BE SOME POINT IN THE LATTER HALF OF THE TRIBULATION BEFORE THE END. Doesn't it sound like that to you? "Before the end" is not before the beginning, not before the middle, but before the end! Which if I'm to die at 70 years of age in 1989‚ that puts 1989 somewhere near the end of the Tribulation, at least somewhere in the last half. Wouldn't you say so?

64. THEREFORE THE END OF THE TRIBULATION (from my restudying that prophecy), couldn't possibly be more than, even stretching your imagination, somewhere between the middle & the end! At least that's what it sounds like! Which means the end couldn't come any later than 1-&-3/4 years after my death, which has to be somewhere in the year 1989, 'cause I'm still actually 70 years old all of that year. If I die in February of 1989, then the Lord would have to come at least before the end of 1990!

65. BUT IT DOESN'T SAY I HAVE TO DIE ON MY BIRTHDAY, IT JUST SAYS, "BEFORE THE END OF THE TRIBULATION," & the "70 Years Prophecy" says that I will be 70 years old‚ at least in my 70th year, which would be any time in 1989. It could be the end of 1989 & I'll still be 70 even in the first two months of 1990! Okay, let's say you give me at least till the end of my 70th year, I'd still be in my 70th year, although that's kind of stretching it, but I'm just trying to stretch it as far as I can.

66. LET'S SAY THE LORD MEANS SOMETIME IN MY 70TH YEAR I'LL DIE, NOT RIGHT ON MY BIRTHDAY. Obviously I'll have to die some time in 1989, or at the very most at the beginning of 1990 while I'm still 70, if you even stretch it that far, put it off as long as we can like Mama wants to do!—Ha! Either that could be just a few days before the end or at the most not more than a year & nine months before the end, a year-&-three-quarters before the end. And if you put the first couple of months of 1990 as being before the end & you stretch the end out for another year-&-three-quarters, at the most you couldn't put the End off more than somewhere in '91. Right?

67. IT SAYS "BEFORE THE END," IT DOESN'T SAY "BEFORE THE BEGINNING"! It doesn't say "before the beginning of desolations‚" it says‚ "the number of years which shall pass before the end of the Tribulation," which I believe means that 70 years of my life was to pass before the end of the Tribulation. So the very latest you could put off the end would be somewhere near the end of '91.

68. ALL RIGHT, LET'S COUNT BACK FROM THERE. I'LL STILL BE 70 UNTIL FEBRUARY OF 1990, RIGHT? I'll have my 70th birthday on February 18‚ 1989, right? I was born in 1919. Add 19 to 70, what do you get? (David: 89.)—Right, so February 18, 1989 I will be 70 years of age & I will be technically in that 70th year for a year until February 18, 1990. So the latest I could possibly die would be just before my birthday‚ to say I'm still 70. I'm just trying to put it off, like Mama says, as long as we can. The latest it could possibly be would be before my birthday 1990.—Right? (Fam: Then the End of the Tribulation couldn't be more than, say, a year & nine months after that.)

69. LET'S SAY I'M STILL 70 IN THE EARLY PART OF 1990, JANUARY & HALF OF FEBRUARY. Let's just pick a month for convenience. Let's say January 1st that I'm still 70, 1990, & that I die about then when I'm still 70. I'm more inclined to believe the 70 years ends when I turn 70 in 1989, but let's try to put it off for Mama's sake, until the end of that year‚ about January 1st, 1990, the beginning of 1990.

70. AS WE'VE JUST POINTED OUT, IT CERTAINLY COULDN'T BE MORE THAN 1-&-3/4 YEARS BEFORE THE END‚ because the old dog has run into the woods already past the middle of the woods somewhere before the end, then he's going out, you see what I mean? Well, maybe not, it's a little complicated. But let's say since I'm still 70 on January 1st‚ 1990 & that's before the end of the Tribulation, I die.

71. TO REALLY MEAN WHAT IT SAYS, "BEFORE THE END OF THE TRIBULATION"—not before the beginning, not before the middle, but before the end—it sounds like the Tribulation couldn't possibly last from January 1st, 1990 more than a year & nine months or somewhere near the end of '91, at the most. So let's give it as much time as we can.

72. LET'S SAY THE TRIBULATION ENDS WHEN '91 ENDS. Count back 3-1/2 years from the end of '91. Here's '91‚ '90, '89, & a half is the middle of '88. To postpone the Tribulation as far as you possibly can, by stretching some of those figures & numbers & interpretations, the Tribulation could not possibly begin later than somewhere around the middle of '88, right? Half a year of '88, all of '89, all of '90, all of '91, what do you have?—3-1/2 years!

73. SO EVEN IF YOU SAY THAT I DIE IN THE LAST HALF OF THE TRIBULATION, or the beginning of the last half, just past the middle, (I mean, I'm trying to stretch it as far as I can) then the Tribulation couldn't possibly begin later than sometime in '88, right?

74. LET'S GO BACK ANOTHER 3–1/2 YEARS TO THE BEGINNING OF THE ANTICHRIST REIGN. The first six months of '88, '87, '86, '85, that means that you count back another 3-1/2 years before the Tribulation begins to the point where the Antichrist makes the Covenant, & as we've always said, begins his reign—& it couldn't be later than the beginning of '85!

75. WE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHEN HE BEGINS HIS REIGN, & we don't know that the Covenant is made public‚ we're just assuming, we're theorising it would have to be public to bring any kind of peace, etc. But how do we know? You can't prove by the Bible that the Covenant is made publicly. You can't prove by the Bible that he takes over publicly until‚ as Paul says‚ he's revealed in 2nd Thessalonians 2. And he seemed to indicate that he'll not be revealed until that time.

76. THAT HAS BEEN A GREAT CONTROVERSY AMONGST BIBLE PROPHECY TEACHERS FOR YEARS, but I remember that I just couldn't accept that. I couldn't see how the Covenant could be made in secret, how he could be in control from behind the scenes in secret without being known. But 2nd Thessalonians 2 seems to indicate that "then that man of sin shall be revealed"—when? What does he do? Where's your Bible? Go get a Bible, I want to read exactly what it says! It seems to indicate, & some Bible prophecy students have advocated for a long time, that the World will not know who he is or what he is until he reveals himself when he sits in the Temple declaring that he is God.

77. PAUL SAYS THAT "THE DAY OF THE LORD'S COMING SHALL NOT COME EXCEPT THERE COME A FALLING AWAY FIRST"—& that's already happening—"& that Man of Sin be revealed, the Son of Perdition." Jesus is not going to come until the Antichrist is revealed‚ the Son of Perdition. And he goes right on to say, "Who opposes & exalts 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." That sounds like his revelation!—And that he is only revealed when he breaks the Covenant & sets himself up as God. And many Bible students have taught that for years, that the Antichrist will not be revealed until he does that, until he breaks the Covenant & sets himself up as God & sets up his Image, etc.

78. ALL RIGHT, WHICH SEEMS TO IMPLY, IF HE IS NOT REVEALED UNTIL THEN‚ THAT HE IS CONCEALED UNTIL THEN! Wouldn't that be the [ACs'] own way of doing things? I was thinking about it this morning & something came to me that Grandmother's prophecy said about the Great Confusion, when we used to theorise that the Great Confusion meant the Atomic War. How does it say the Great Confusion is going to come?—Suddenly! "So sudden will be the Great Confusion that it shall cause a mighty widening of the eyes of those who have not discerned the signs of the times!"—Because it is going to happen very suddenly! (See ML #655.)

79. NOW WHAT IS THE GREAT CONFUSION? I'll tell you, a sudden World change of administration could cause great confusion! When the Antichrist grabs power & suddenly throws out everybody that's not pro-Antichrist & puts his own people in, it is going to cause great confusion! So maybe that is the Great Confusion that the prophecy is talking about!

80. WE THEORISED FIRST OF ALL THAT IT WAS THE ATOMIC WAR, & NOW LATELY WE'VE BEEN THEORISING, WELL, IT'S GOING TO BE THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE, THE CRASH! That's our theory, we don't know. It's just what we've felt it is going to be, that the economic Crash would bring on great confusion. What if it's the seizing of power by the Antichrist? Wouldn't that bring on great confusion?—Or suddenly somebody would have enough power to seize power in Russia or somewhere to start great confusion!

81. "THEN SHALL THAT MAN OF SIN BE REVEALED, who opposes & exalts 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!" Now we know it is going to happen‚ there is no doubt about it, no theory, no nothing! He's going to break the Covenant & set himself up as God & erect his Idol in the Holy Place, etc.

82. THAT WORD "REVEALED" SEEMS TO IMPLY THAT UNTIL THAT TIME HE IS CONCEALED! Now we've mentioned this possibility before, & you know I've said lots of times, "Who knows, maybe the Covenant has already been made secretly! Maybe he is already controlling secretly from behind the scenes right now!" Because if we're not told exactly what is happening here, & it hasn't been revealed to us exactly what is going to happen or what's happening, then we just have to theorise or at least we have to ask the Lord what it is & we get general ideas. But as we go along & get closer to what is happening, He sheds a little more light on things all the time.

83. THE LORD LOVES A MYSTERY & HE LIKES TO SHROUD THE FUTURE IN MYSTERY, because maybe for some reason He doesn't want us to be too afraid or do something we shouldn't or not do something we should or something! Why does He hide the Future from us? Why doesn't He give us every single little detail, huh? We think we know a lot about the Future but we don't know it all!

84. I'M JUST SAYING "WHAT IF?" That would be a good title for this!—What if? What if the end of the Tribulation is the end of 1990? That puts the beginning of the Antichrist's reign where?—OK, let's go back seven years. '90, '89, '88, '87, '86, '85‚ '84. OK, I will still be 70 at the beginning of 1990‚ & if we stretched it another 1-&-3/4 years‚ maybe we could stretch the end of the Tribulation till the end of 1991 at the most.

85. OK, LET'S BEGIN WITH '91. If the end of the Tribulation is at the end of '91, where would that put the beginning of the Seven Years? '91, '90, '89, '88, '87, '86‚ '85. Either way the Seven Years has already begun!—Either at the beginning of '84 or '85, at the very latest!

86. OK, LET'S TAKE IT AT THE VERY LATEST, '85. Let's say that the Covenant was made & the Antichrist began to control things from behind the scenes at the beginning of '85.That would put the beginning of the Tribulation where? That's '85, '86, '87, in the middle of '88. Now that's putting it the latest we can possibly put it in relation to the "70-Year Prophecy" & the supposed date of my death. That would put the beginning of the Tribulation at the latest at the middle of '88.

87. LET'S JUST SAY THAT THE BEGINNING OF THE TRIBULATION NOW IS THE MIDDLE OF '88. That would give us, thank the Lord, possibly‚ the rest of '86, with all of '87, D.V. It would still put the Covenant & the beginning of the Antichrist's Seven Years in 1985 where he "confirms the Covenant with many." That means there are many who are going to know.

88. BUT YOU & I KNOW HOW GOOD THOSE [ACS] ARE AT KEEPING SECRETS. Look how they kept the Protocols a secret & have said it is not true & have hidden it for over a hundred years now so people don't even believe it, they won't even believe you when you tell them! They can't believe that there is such a worldwide … conspiracy to take over the World. They've kept that a secret over a hundred years! Why couldn't they keep the Covenant a secret? They obviously are keeping the Antichrist hidden right now because he is bound to be alive right now!

89. WHO KNOWS WITH WHOM THE COVENANT IS MADE? It's apparently made between two kings, a league between two kings.—What kings? Obviously between him, he is the prince of the Covenant‚ & somebody else, we don't really know who. If the end of the Tribulation couldn't be any further away than the end of '91‚ according to the "70 Years Prophecy," then the beginning of his reign couldn't be any later than the beginning of '85. Right? '85, '86, '87, '88, '89, '90, '91!—Seven years!

90. IN WHICH CASE, IF THE END OF THE TRIBULATION COULDN'T BE ANY LATER THAN THE END OF '91, then he couldn't have made the Covenant any later than the beginning of '85 & begun control of things from behind the scenes! If he is not controlling things already, I'd be surprised‚ it certainly looks like it!

91. THIS ALSO FITS THE SEEMING IMPLICATION OF THAT SCRIPTURE HERE IN 2ND THESSALONIANS 2, that he is concealed for the first three-&-a-half years before the Tribulation, & he is only revealed by his breaking of the Covenant, seizing power, setting himself up as God & setting up his Image, the Abomination of Desolation in the middle of the Seven Years, right? It seems to imply that therefore he & even the Covenant is concealed for that first 3-&-1/2 years, but then he takes over suddenly. "So sudden shall be the Great Confusion that it will cause a mighty widening of the eyes," etc. That could possibly fit there. I'm not saying it does. At first I said the Great Confusion must be the Atomic War. Then as we saw that the Atomic War couldn't come first, we figured it must be the Great Crash.

92. BUT WHAT IF, TO PUT IT OFF AS FAR AS WE POSSIBLY CAN, THE GREAT CRASH DOESN'T REALLY COME UNTIL JUST BEFORE HE SEIZES POWER, taking advantage of the great Crash, seizing power there with the Great Confusion that comes so suddenly! What if he & the Covenant are concealed until the Great Confusion occurs & he grabs power right there & he is not revealed until the beginning of the Tribulation?—He is not revealed until then according to 2Thess.2 & he then initiates the Great Tribulation? This we've always taught & always known because it is clear that the Tribulation does not begin until he breaks the Covenant in the middle of the Seven Years & sets himself up as God & his Image to be worshipped & abolishes all religions & tries to kill all the religionists. It certainly sounds like he is possibly concealed until that time.

93. I DON'T SEE HOW IT COULD BE ANY OTHER WAY, BECAUSE '85 HAS GONE BY & '86 IS HALF GONE & WE HAVEN'T SEEN ANY ANTICHRIST! We certainly can see a lot of his work that is going on through his anti-Christ people, the [ACs] & [their] dupes as well! Even Christians are being deceived now by the [ACs] & persuaded to kick the Bible & God & prayer out of the public schools & all this sort of thing! They don't even see what is going on. … Talk about deceiving the people! Whew! (Mat.24:24!)

94. "FOR THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY DOTH ALREADY WORK, only He Who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way." That means the Lord & the Holy Spirit, that He is allowing these things & He is holding back the Devil's takeover of the World until He allows the floodgates to open & the flood of iniquity to take over the World! "Then shall that wicked be revealed," there it is again! It says it twice! It says in the 3rd verse, "That Man of Sin shall be revealed," then in the 8th verse, "Then shall that Wicked be revealed," meaning the Antichrist, "whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, & shall destroy with the brightness of His coming. 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!" (2Thes.2)

95. HE IS THE GREAT DECEIVER IF HE IS ANYTHING, & he has already got the Fundamentalist Christians deceived! He's had them deceived for years, ever since Scofield wrote his Bible…! (Maria: "Deceiving the very elect.") That's a very good verse for that which Jesus said in Matthew 24:24!

96. "IF IT WERE POSSIBLE, THEY SHALL DECEIVE THE VERY ELECT," THE SAVED‚ THE CHRISTIANS! (Mat.24:24) We always had preachers interpret that to mean that "Of course true Christians couldn't be deceived!" Well‚ right now you & I know that there are millions of Christians who are already deceived. … They're already deceived, even "the very elect"! Think of that!

97. ALL RIGHT, HOW COULD HE POSSIBLY DECEIVE THEM UNLESS HE IS CONCEALED, & their clock & plan & their conspiracy is concealed as it has been for over a hundred years since the Protocols were first issued. … People still don't believe that the [ACs] unleashed the Green Paper Pig on the World! It hasn't even been revealed except through us, but the Lord showed me about the Green Paper Pig! (See ML #243.) In other words, obviously it means they are manipulating the money, but people still won't believe that, how about that? As you get closer to it the Lord begins to make things clearer, right now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. (1Cor.13:12)

98. WHAT IF—AGAIN I SAY, WHAT IF—& I HAVE OFTEN SUGGESTED THE POSSIBILITY THAT MAYBE IT WILL BE A SECRET COVENANT. Maybe he will be concealed until he is revealed! And there's one time when we know he has got to be revealed here, & that is described in 2nd Thessalonians 2 when he does what?—"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!" When he does that he is revealed! "Then shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume..." When he does that, he is revealed! Later he is consumed by the Lord at Armageddon, etc.

99. HE SAYS, "THE DAY OF THE LORD'S COMING SHALL NOT COME EXCEPT THERE COME A FALLING AWAY FIRST & THAT MAN OF SIN BE REVEALED!" It certainly sounds as if he is going to be revealed then, & when he is revealed he sits in the Temple of God claiming he is God. It sounds like up until that time he is concealed till he is revealed!

100. I HAVE SUGGESTED THIS POSSIBILITY TIME & AGAIN, but I've also suggested that I couldn't see how such a Covenant could possibly be made without it being known‚ or how he could possibly be actually ruling those Seven Years without that being known even in the first half! But I could be wrong because it was my theory! Now that this has come up, all these Scriptures have started flooding back in on me again & it just seems that the Lord is trying to convince me now that the Covenant is a secret Covenant & the ruler is ruling from behind the scenes‚ controlling things & the way they are going until the time is ripe & auspicious for him to seize power! He is concealed now until he seizes power & is revealed.

101. NOW I'M JUST SAYING "WHAT IF?" WHAT IF THE COVENANT HAS ALREADY BEEN MADE? WHAT IF THE ANTICHRIST IS ALREADY RULING FROM BEHIND THE SCENES? It certainly is possible the way the World is going, especially with the [ACs] running everything! You know he is back there somewhere, you know they've got him somewhere & he is already demon-possessed & he's a superman with super wisdom, he is telling them how to run things & how to seize power! And he's still concealed until the time is right for him to seize power—either as a result of the Great Confusion or precipitating the Great Confusion!—Amen?

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family