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“The Feet” Arrive. Daniel 7:27 and 2 Thessalonians 2:4-5 reveal that the “Abomination of Desolation” will occur when the Anti-Christ stops the temple sacrifices, sits down in the temple, and declares himself to be God.
. . . the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. (NASB) 2 Thess. 2:3-4 Rev. 13:14-15 suggests that the Anti-Christ might even erect a statue of himself in the temple. But his reign of terror will only last 3.5 years or “time, times, and half a time.” Who is this individual? The Bible calls him the Anti-Christ. He is the leader of the empire we already know as the “The Feet” (Dan. 7:23-25).
So what do we know about “The Feet”? Daniel
7:3-7 presents the same information that is recorded in Daniel 2 but
uses four beasts: lion (Babylon), bear (Media-Persia), leopard (Greece),
and a dreadful beast (Rome). The fourth beast is described as dreadful.
Each beast represents an empire, just as the four metals of the statue
in Daniel 2. In Daniel 7 we are told the modified version of this fourth
empire, “The Feet,” will appear as a beast with ten horns.
The ten horns are ten kings (Dan. 7:8, 20-24) or ten nations. The future version of the fourth empire, “The Feet,” will be an alliance of ten nations which establish the peace treaty for Israel in the Middle East. When “The Feet” bring peace to the Middle East, the Tribulation will have started.
The leaders of these ten nations with the help of Anti-Christ, “the prince,” will have established what appears to be a lasting peace for Israel, a covenant of peace; but it will only last 3.5 years (Dan. 9:27). This treaty of peace will mark the beginning of the 7 year period called the Tribulation and the appearance of “The Feet.”
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. (NASB) 1 Thess 4:15-17 1 Thess. 5:4-6 tells us that Christians should not be surprised as to the signs of the end times and Jesus’ coming, but the world will be surprised. It will come as a thief in the night. Many of those who become followers of Jesus during the Tribulation will die for their faith. They will suffer greatly. But many will come to Jesus because it will be obvious that God is fighting with the world.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 tells us that the rapture will occur before the Day of the Lord. Since the Day of the Lord starts with the Tribulation, this means every follower of Jesus Christ will escape the Tribulation. The Day of the Lord starts with the Tribulation and ends after the Kingdom (1 Thess. 4:16-18; 5:1-3; Joel 2:1-11; Matt. 24:22-31; Rev. 6:17; 16:14; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 20:11). Note that the “man of lawlessness” in 2 Thess. 2:3 is the Anti-Christ.
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