Is it possible that the 70th Week already has begun?

Email Received:

I have heard about a 7-year agreement, initiated by the EU, and involving Israel and other nations. It is called the European Neighborhood Policy. Many are claiming that it meets the requirements of the prophesied covenant of Dan. 9:27, beginning the final 7 years prior to the return of Jesus. Do you you have an opinions about this?

Ted’s Response:

I do believe it certainly is possible, and plausible, that we have entered the 70th Week period.  This could be the case because the European Neighbourhood Policy went into effect, officially, on January 1, 2007.

Indeed, this agreement does involve Israel and other nations, and it specifically is for the 7-year period from 2007 through 2013. If the temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem before Passover Week 2010, then there would seem to be little doubt that we are in the midst of the 70th Week.

There are distinct parallels between the responses Jesus gave to His disciples on the Mount of Olives (Matthew 24:4-31) and John's description of six of the seven seals (Revelation 6:1-17). Both are brief depictions of most of the 70th Week (see Six Seals). Here are passages stated by Jesus:

For many will come in my name, claiming, "I am the Christ, and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places" (Matthew 24:5-7).

There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places (Luke 21:11).
Now I will do something that I have been very much opposed to doing for decades, and that is "speculating" about current events in light of what the Bible says. Admittedly, it is mere conjecture; but if indeed the 70th Week has begun, then now might be an appropriate time to speculate. All of the following happened in only a 4-5 day period, beginning in the second week of January, 2007: Now, this is where my speculation and conjecture begin. I suspect that Ahmadinejad has attempted to get Latin America to look at him as their protector, defender, and "savior" against the dreaded United States. He certainly and unquestionably is a great deceiver. It very well could be that in just the same way Iranian-backed Hezbollah provides social services and aid within Lebanon, it seems extremely plausible that Iran could do the same with Latin American countries, causing them to become totally dependent upon, and completely controlled by, Iran.

Ahmadinejad may not claim to be the Christ. However, there are many who do, including Dr. Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, Michael Travesser, Sun Myung Moon, and others.

In the Greek, "nation" (in Matthew 24:7) actually is translated "ethnos" or "ethnic group." Perhaps Latin America is in the beginning stages of scorning and spurning the United States. This could be an example of latinos starting to turn against whites and non-latinos, and specifically countries or "kingdoms" (Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Bolivia, etc.) showing contempt for the United States. Certainly, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela already is on that bandwagon.

I doubt that Ahmadinejad is the Antichrist. However, he certainly could be one of many who will come, claiming to be a savior, maybe even the Savior—or possibly will point to the "savior" (perhaps the 12th Imam)—to many. Perhaps he even would qualify as the rider on the white horse during the First Seal of Revelation 6:2, riding out "as a conqueror bent on conquest."

Conceivably, these recent examples of the coming of a "savior," nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom, earthquake, famine, and pestilence could be examples of things Jesus described in His Olivet Discourse. As such, they might be the "first dominoes" to topple in the multiple long lines of 70th Week events. If so, greater and intensifying cataclysms will follow.

The game of chess was invented in Persia (present-day Iran). In that game, the object is to checkmate the king, which can move only one space at a time. Other than the king, the most valuable and powerful piece is the queen, which can move an unlimited number of spaces at a time in any direction. All other pieces that one possesses are expendable. Unless the opponent's queen is eliminated, it is very difficult to checkmate that player's king.

We know that it is Persia/Iran's goal to wipe Israel off the earth, and of course Satan is behind this (Revelation 12:13,17). What if Israel is the "king" and the USA the "queen" on the side that Iran opposes in an end-time "chess game"? It would seem that Iran's primary goal right now would be to get rid of the "queen" (the United States), thus making it much easier to conquer Israel (the "king"). And what if Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt (all of whom are part of the European Neighborhood Policy), Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Bolivia, among others, are countries which Iran views as insignificant "pawns" that can be sacrificed along the way to "removing" the USA from the game and, ultimately, triumphing over Israel?

On January 17, 2007, scientists advanced the "doomsday clock" 2 minutes closer to midnight (see Doomsday Clock Closer to Midnight). It now reads "five minutes to midnight," which is a very interesting fact in itself. Even secular progressive scientists have a sense that the end of things, as we know them, may be fast approaching (although they most likely would ignore the fact that end-time catastrophes, both natural and supernatural, clearly are prophesied in the Bible, and there is nothing we can do about them). Also interesting is that if the clock now reads 5 minutes to midnight, then it read 7 minutes to midnight on January 1, 2007, when the European Neighborhood Policy went into effect. Perhaps the "7" was symbolic of "7 years left until the end." This is pure conjecture, of course.

In 1999, worldwide preparations for Y2K were taking place, in fearful anticipation of the date of January 1, 2000. The expected disasters (other than "9/11" in 2001) did not happen. Instead, a relatively prosperous seven-year period ensued, including record highs set in the U.S. Stock Market beginning in late 2006. I am reminded of the seven years of abundance in ancient Egypt, followed by seven years of famine; but Egypt, under the leadership of Joseph, had stored up food during the prosperous years, so they were prepared for the famine (Genesis 41:28-57).

There were exactly seven years between January 1, 2000, and January 1, 2007. I wonder if, perhaps, these were the abundant years during which we were supposed to "store up" for the lean, scant seven years of the 70th Week. Maybe all of this is a big stretch. Or maybe not.

Incidentally, I have received a few emails from those who embrace the idea of the "Pre-tribulation" Rapture, saying there is no possibility that the 70th Week could have begun, because the Rapture event has not yet occurred. My response to them is that they have allowed themselves to embrace a very misleading and erroneous belief. There will be no "Pre-trib" Rapture; rather, I am convinced, the Rapture event will take place after the opening of the Sixth Seal, well into the 70th Week. For more about this, you can read these other responses to emails:

In case the 70th Week period has begun (see the covenant and the Antichrist), I feel it is imperative for Christians and Jews not to be looking for the "imminent return" of the Messiah, which will not happen at least for a few years. Rather, they need to be doing these things: It might be a good idea to search on the web for "Y2K supplies" to find lists of items which were recommended for purchase prior to the year 2000; many of those lists still are web accessible. Disasters and calamities, both natural and social, may not happen immediately; it could take awhile, and probably sooner in some areas than in others. But it always is better to organize one's preparedness sooner rather than later.

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