4. This is because I don't see any need for a one world government or Anti-Christ figure or any final 'timetable' to be fulfilled. The Anti-Christ language seems to be figurative of the evil in the human heart and the evil drum beat of society, and that we should avoid siding with the natural, evil disposition of our culture as it is ultimately inspired by Satan. I read the Anti-Christ as figurative because other parts of scripture clearly teach us there are 'many' Anti-Christ's out in the world, teaching heresy and sending the gullible merrily on their way to hell.
The spirit of iniquity and the spirit of Antichrist that was already at work in John and Paul's day was that Jesus was not the messiah. The Antichrist is one person, that's why John made the comparison that there were already many antichrists in the world in his day.
Start in Luke 24.
44And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
45
Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
46And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
47And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Okay, that was the first time the disciples understood that God's prime mission for the Messiah was to be a save-us-from-our- sins Messiah. Up to that point everyone was expecting the messiah to be a special anointed king of Israel, King Messiah. The Jews still believe that today. And that is who they are looking for.
John 5: 43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
The Jews rejected Jesus as King Messiah (remember no-one understood that God's secret plan was that the messiah would be a save-us-from-our-sins messiah). Another (person) coming in his own name, the Jews will receive - as King Messiah.
In Daniel 9:27, the prince who shall come will confirm the covenant with many. Keep in mind in Daniel 9, it prophesied the arrival of Jesus as King Messiah (that final passover week). And his being cutoff (4 days later he was crucified). The prince who shall come is the "another coming in his own name" that Jesus prophesied the Jews will accept
as their "King Messiah".
The false "King Messiah" will confirm the covenant for seven years -
the identification of the covenant and the 7 years confirmation that goes with it is in another part of the bible. In Deuteronomy 31:10-11, Moses made a requirement that every 7 years, his instructions to that second generation to go in and possess the land would be read to the congregation of Israel. Thus confirming the Mt. Sinai covenant.
That's why it says "
for seven years" and not a seven year covenant in Daniel 9:27. The Jews have not had control of the temple mount for religious purposes. So the reading has not been done as Moses instructed because the reading has to be done from the place of God's choosing, which the Jews believe to be the temple mount.
So that is where the 7 years comes from. The Antichrist man will be the false King Messiah, who will oversee the reading of Moses instructions, confirming the Mt. Sinai covenant, from the temple mount.
Verification of the 7 years:
We go to Revelation 12. In Revelation 12, there is the vision of dragon having seven heads with seven crowns. The Antichrist man is the seventh king of Revelation 17. He will rule for a short time.
In Revelation 13, none of the seven heads have crowns, and one head is mortally wounded. Time left in the 7 years is 42 months. The Antichrist man, false King Messiah, has gone into the temple and claims to be God, stopping the daily sacrifices, breaking the covenant in the middle of the week.... and revealing himself as the man of sin. For that action, the Antichrist man is killed. He is the mortally wounded head.
Going back to Revelation 12. Again, the vision of the dragon has seven heads with seven crowns. In Revelation 12, the prophecy of the 7 kings of Revelation 17 has been fullfilled, with the 7 years in the text of Revelation 12. The Antichrist man, the last of the 7 kings, has come to power, confirming the Mt. Sinai covenant for Moses' seven years.
Revelation 12:6, the 1260 days
(the first half) + Revelation 12:14, the time, times, and half times
(the second half) together total the seven years.
9And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel.
10And Moses commanded them, saying,
At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,
11When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
So the prince who shall come, the false King Messiah that Jesus prophesied to Nicodemus, coming in his own name - that is, he will eventually declare that he is God - confirms the Mt. Sinai covenant by having Moses's instructions to go in and possess the land read to the congregation of Israel on the temple mount, resetting the 7 year interval.
There is not 3 1/2 years, expressed as such, in bible prophecy. There are nominal equivalents of 42 months, 1260 days, and a time, times, and half times. The events are structured, either in the first half or second half, according to the time frame expression.
the first half
1260 days - Revelation 11:3, 12:6
the second half
42 months - Revelation 11:2, 13:5
time, times, half times - Revelation 12:14, Daniel 7:25, 12:7