Hey Still waters, here is what belief I hold to: I am a
Pre-Millennialist and Pre-Tribulationist
Dispensationalists typically hold that a 'hiatus', which some refer to as a 'biblical parenthesis', occurred between the 69th and 70th week of the prophecy, into which the "church age" is inserted (also known as the "gap theory" of Daniel 9). The seventieth week of the prophecy is expected to commence after the
rapture of the church, which will incorporate the establishment of an economic system using the number '666', the reign of the beast (the
Antichrist), the false religious system (the harlot), the
Great Tribulation and
Armageddon.
Controversy exists regarding the antecedent of
he in Daniel 9:27. Many within the ranks of
premillennialism do not affirm the "confirmation of the covenant" is made by Jesus Christ (as do many
Amillennarians) but that the antecedent of "he" in vs. 27 refers back to vs. 26 ("the prince who is to come"—i.e., the Antichrist).
Antichrist will make a "treaty" as the Prince of the Covenant (i.e., "the prince who is to come") with Israel's future leadership at the commencement of the seventieth week of Daniel's prophecy; in the midst of the week, the Antichrist will break the treaty and commence persecution against a regathered Israel.
In the
futurist view of
Christian eschatology, the Tribulation is a relatively short period of time where anyone who chose not to follow
God before the
Rapture and was left behind (according to
Pre-Tribulation doctrine, not
Mid- or
Post-Tribulation teaching) will experience worldwide hardships, disasters, famine, war, pain, and suffering, which will wipe out more than 75% of all life on the earth before the
Second Coming takes place.
According to
Dispensationalists who hold the futurist view, the Tribulation is thought to occur before the Second Coming of Jesus and during the
End Times. Another version holds that it will last seven years in all, being the last of
Daniel's
prophecy of seventy weeks. This viewpoint was first made popular by
John Nelson Darby in the 19th century and was recently popularized by
Hal Lindsey in
The Late Great Planet Earth. It is theorized that each week represents seven years, with the timetable beginning from
Artaxerxes' order to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem (the
Second Temple). After seven plus 62 weeks, the prophecy says that the
messiah will be "cut off", which is taken to correspond to the death of
Christ. This is seen as creating a break of indeterminate length in the timeline, with one week remaining to be fulfilled.
This seven-year week may be further divided into two periods of 3.5 years each, from the two 3.5-year periods in Daniel's prophecy where the last seven years are divided into two 3.5-year periods, (
Daniel 9:27) The time period for these beliefs is also based on other passages: in the book of Daniel, "
time, times, and half a time", interpreted as "a year, two years, and half a year," and the Book of Revelation, "a thousand two hundred and threescore days" and "forty and two months" (the prophetic month averaging 30 days, hence 1260/30 = 42 months or 3.5 years). The 1290 days of
Daniel 12:11, (rather than the 1260 days of
Revelation 11:3), is thought to be the result of either a simple
intercalary leap month adjustment, or due to further
calculations related to the prophecy, or due to an
intermediate stage of time that is to prepare the world for the beginning of the millennial reign.
Hope that helps you to get a better perspective on this matter lol