1.   Are Daniel’s 70 weeks fulfilled in their entirety and why?
     2.   Is there going to be a 7 year tribulation period?
     3.   Will there be a rapture?  (This is not mentioned in the Bible.)
     4.   Will the anti-Christ be a person in the future, or is it an ongoing religious system since the birth of the Christian Church?
     5.   Is the 1000 years in Revelation symbolic or literal?

Our Response

Dear Sir,

First of all, I express my appreciation for the questions you ask.  These are definitely important
questions for the Christian as we come closer to the end of time and of history.  I also appreciate
your desire for a scriptural answer to these questions.  I must apologize, however, for not writing
back sooner.

In answer to your questions, let me say in general, first of all, that the Protestant Reformed
Churches hold to the “A-Millennial” view of the last things.  This means that we believe the
Scriptures teach that the “millennium” (1000 years) mentioned in Revelation 20 is not to be
interpreted literally.  Rather, the 1000 years should be taken figuratively, or symbolically (which
is in keeping with the figurative nature of the book of Revelation).  As such, these years represent
the whole of the New Testament era from when Christ left this earth at His ascension until when
Christ returns again at the end of time.

A few comments now concerning the 70 weeks mentioned in the book of Daniel.  The view of
the Pre-Millennial Dispensationalists is that the first 69 weeks have been fulfilled (they were
fulfilled before Christ’s first coming), but that the 70th week is still to be fulfilled.  Between the
69th and 70th weeks there is a huge gap or interim, during which time God saves the “church,”
that is, His people from among the Gentiles.  The 70th week, they say, will be fulfilled some time
in the future.  What will begin the fulfillment of it, according to the Dispensationists, is the
Rapture, when suddenly believers will be taken out of this world.  Then will follow the years of
tribulation.  Finally, Christ will return again in order to rule over an earthly kingdom for 1000
years.  This kingdom will be a Jewish kingdom, having as its purpose the fulfillment, for the
Jews, of Old Testament prophecies and promises.

With this view we do not agree.  One of our main criticisms of the above view is that a
separation is made between the Jews in the Old Testament and the people of God in the New
Testament.  Scripture teaches us that they are not two separate people of God.  The promises of
God in the Old Testament are for His people from among both Jews and Gentiles.  Elect Jews
and Gentiles together are the one people of God, the church.  This is clearly set forth in the
following passages which demonstrate the unity between God’s people in the Old Testament and
God’s people in the New Testament.  Romans 2:28-29, Galatians 2 & 3, Galatians 6:12ff,
Colossians 1:13-20, I Peter 2:9-10.  II Corinthians 1:20 is also important in this connection, for it
teaches that all the Old Testament promises were fulfilled in Christ.  They were fulfilled
spiritually.  Thus there is no need for a future 1000 year period in which Christ fulfills these
promises just for the Jews.

Also the idea of a “rapture” is, as you yourself indicated, unbiblical.  No where in the Scriptures
is such a rapture taught.  Those who believe in a rapture generally appeal to Revelation 20 as
teaching a rapture, specifically to verses 4-6.  In these verses the first and second resurrections
are mentioned.  But the first resurrection does not refer, as those who hold to a rapture claim, to
the rapture.  It refers, rather, to the fact that the soul of a believer at death is raised to heavenly
life and glory (I Corinthians 15, Philippians 1:21-23).  The second resurrection, therefore, refers
to the final bodily resurrection that will take place when Christ returns at the end of time and
history.  Then soul and body will be reunited.

We believe that the 70 weeks mentioned in the book of Daniel are fulfilled in their entirety.
These 70 weeks must, of course, be interpreted figuratively, not literally.  The number 70 is
symbolic.  The number 7 in Scripture represents God’s covenant, and the number 10 is
representative of fullness.  Thus 70 indicates the fulfillment of God’s Old Testament covenant
promises to Abraham.  That fulfillment was completed with the first coming of Jesus Christ.  The
70 weeks represent, therefore, the period from the rebuilding of Jerusalem until the first coming
of Jesus Christ.  The beginning of the 70 weeks is indicated in Daniel 9:25 as the command to
rebuild Jerusalem.  The 70th or final week, mentioned in Daniel 9:27, refers to the life and work
of Jesus Christ during His time on earth, including His resurrection and ascension.  During this
70th week the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the covenant God made with Abraham, for He shed His
life’s blood in order to satisfy the wrath of God for the sins of all His people, both Jews and
Gentiles, the true spiritual seed of Abraham, the elect.  During that 70th week Christ earned for
His people all the blessings of the covenant mentioned in Daniel 9:24.  From our standpoint,
therefore, the 70 weeks are fulfilled — they are not at all future.

There will indeed be a great tribulation toward the end of time.  This is mentioned in Matthew
24:21-22.  It is also referred to in Revelation 13:7, 16-18.  But nowhere in Scripture are we told
how long the great tribulation will be.  We are assured, however, that the Lord will surely
preserve His people and keep them faithful to Him during that period of tribulation.

Finally, you also ask about the anti-Christ.  Scripture speaks of the anti-Christ in Revelation 13.
He is also referred to in II Thessalonians 2:3-4, 8-10, as well as I and II John.  These passages of
Scripture together indicate that the anti-Christ will arise in the future.  It is true that there have
been various typical anti-Christ’s in the past.  But they have been merely types of the final anti-
Christ that is still to come.  The anti-Christ will be a person in the future who rules over the
whole world in direct opposition to Christ and His people.

I hope these answers are helpful.  Please feel free to write back again to ask for more information
about these things.  May the Lord bless you in your study of His Word and truth.

Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Daniel Kleyn.
 

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