Revived Roman Empire

This last week that is determined upon "thy people" (notice how God had disowned them as "His" for a time) will mark the end of God's dealings with Israel because of their rejection of the One who came "to confirm the promises made unto the fathers." Rom. 15:8. We learn from Daniel 9:27, "And he [the prince of the same revived Roman Empire] shall confirm the covenant with many [the rulers of the nation of
Israel] for one week: and in the midst of the week [seven years] he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations [idolatry] he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate [on Israel under God's judgment]." The Lord Jesus refers to this verse in Matt. 24:15-22 as the beginning of the "great" tribulation. Just how quickly the last week of Daniel, the great tribulation, will follow Israel's present testing period of forty years as a nation (which will be completed May 14, 1988) is a question.
There has been a rise in recent years of the teaching of humanism in schools and colleges coupled with plans for a workable system of world government without God. Indications are that the European Common Market governing body is developing into a strong political unit which will soon be ready to assume the last or "revived" stage of the ancient Roman Empire, when a strong leader will appear, who will apparently have at least a seven-year career. This leader and empire are described in Rev. 13:1-10. A second beast, contemporary with him, will be the religious leader called elsewhere "the false prophet" or "the antichrist" or "the king" in Dan. 11:36. The rapid development of computer technology and a dependable system of world-wide communications has made man's long dream of world government with the aid of a false religion, seemingly attainable. The stage will then be set for the fulfillment of Matt. 24:15-22, when this man of sin will be manifested in his true character (see 2 Thess. 2:3,4). Israel still has to pass through the seventieth week of Daniel, better known to us as the seven years of tribulation.
The Lord's coming for the Church (known as the rapture) may take place at any moment and is our present hope as believers, but we can gather from Israel's present history that the end of this dispensation of grace is at hand. Our Julian calendar has an error of four years, or perhaps five. Chronology shows the birth of Christ as 5 A.D. That makes the real date of our 1987 calendar to be 1991 or 1992. "Surely I come quickly: Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Rev. 22:20. L. Huff