BRIAN DONOVAN’S 3 ½ YEAR TRIBULATION Since it is very long, I will just deal with Brian Donovan’s opening argument in regard to the Prince that shall come not being the antichrist but is Prince Jesus (but not King Jesus). If that argument is debunked, the rest based upon that premise can have no credibility. – Herb Evans KING OR PRINCE OR BOTH? Mat 27:11 And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, THOU SAYEST. John 1:49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. John 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou safest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Zec 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. Mat 21:5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. – Luke 19:38 Brian Donovan's article excerpt and reasoning for a 3 1/2 year tribulation period is certainly not a lesson in rightly dividing the word of truth. One of the ways that Brian tries to get a 3 and ½ year tribulation is by emphasizing Jesus as the Prince in the Gospels and not the King as of yet in his opening premise. If that argument is debunked, the rest of his arguments that center on this one point can have no credibility. In all fairness to Brother Brian, he is not being dogmatic but is rather presenting his view of the matter, however wrong it may be. Obviously, upon being asked if Jesus were the King of the Jews, Jesus never denied His King-ship and even affirmed it. The people and Nathaniel recognized him as the King and the one who was to come in fulfillment of the O.T. prophecy in Zech. 9:9 even if Brian does not so recognize Him as king. Brian’s treatise is also not a lesson in cross referencing either. Kings and Princes 1Ch 5:6 Beerah his son, whom Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria carried away captive: he was prince of the Reubenites. Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isa 10:8 For he saith, Are not MY PRINCES ALTOGETHER KINGS? Eze 26:16 Then all the PRINCES of the sea shall come down from their THRONES, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee. Eze 28:2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: Eze 37:25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Eze 38:2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the CHEIF prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, Dan 1:7 Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego. Dan 8:25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the PRINCE OF PR$INCES but he shall be broken without hand. Dan 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the PRINCE THAT SHALL COME shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. Dan 10:13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. Dan 10:20 Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. [both are Kings] Dan 10:21 But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince. Dan 11:22 And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant. Hos 8:10 Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the KING OF PRINCES Mat 20:25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. Luke 22:25 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. Act 3:15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. Act 5:31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the PRINCE of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, Obviously, from these passages and Strong’s, we are talking about a generic head person of any rank or class, a ruler, a master, a governor, a keeper, a lord, a master, a steward, and etc. The term king has the primary idea of royalty, whereas the term “prince” has the primary idea of rule. The KJB translators had no problem using kings and princes interchangeably. Even the O.T. priests are called princes. The generic word prince is given wide latitude in the scriptures. Much depends on who the Prince is in authority over, the prince of the angels, the prince of the eunuchs, and the prince of the power of the air. One might explore the dual usage of the word prince and how someone might be both a prince and a king. The plural princes are also interesting in that they all cannot be HEIRS of the throne of that province or nation to which they are attributed. Then there is the matter of the chief princes. Brian Donavan puts all his eggs in that shallow basket of his opening premise, only to have that argument to be found wanting. This is what happens when you start suggesting dates for the rapture. Obviously, the possibility of 2007 is gone, but the suggestion of 2033 is far enough ahead to keep some date setting folks safe for a while. Thanks for the input and questions, but most of this is refried Dave Rowley anyway. Brian said that we do not have to get upset and believe any of this and we don’t. We count it as just more prophetic sensationalism. – by Herb Evans

Donovan's 3 1/2 Year Tribulation Article as Follows: [And the Way that He Gets there] . . . Now, I've got a little heresy here! I've been working on this thing for a long time, and I'm going to just present to you as a possibility. You don't have to get all upset and say, "You have to believe this!" or anything else. I'm just going to show you a possibility. Now, there's no question, we just saw the references, that Tabernacles matches that Second Advent. But come back to the Book of Daniel, and Daniel chapter 9. And the way this thing is taught is that, when Christ dies, the 69 weeks of prophecy of Daniel are over right here. And, from the time to the commandment to restore Jerusalem until Messiah the prince is 69 weeks. It's divided up by seven and sixty-two. And we'll look at those verses just right now. But here's where the 69 weeks is up. And if you read Sir Robert Anderson and Larkin and all them, they have it dated right to His triumphal entry as the King coming in, and the 69 weeks are up. And then there's this parenthesis of the Church Age, and then you've got one week left. Now, here's one of the problems I have with it. Look at Daniel chapter 9 and verse 24. And, in verse 24, it gives you the reasoning for the seventy weeks: "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks." Now, that commandment is given back here in the Old Testament by a Gentile king, that, you'll see different dates on it -- 450 b.c. to 445, in there. So, Christ dies in 33 a.d. Then, 450 to His birth, plus the 33, is 483 years. That matches the 69 weeks, leaving you one week left of seven years. But here's the problem. Look what it said, verse 25: "Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks." Well, in Luke chapter 19 and Matthew, when He comes in there in His triumphal entry, what are they doing when they're waving the palm tree? What are they recognizing Him as? A King! Now, why doesn't it say "Messiah the king"? What's a prince? A prince is an heir. And in Matthew 21 do you know what they called Jesus Christ? "This is the heir; let's kill him." He's a Prince when He comes the first time. He's the Heir to the throne that He didn't take. So, when is He a Messiah anointed Prince? If you could find that out, then you'd have the true date of what Daniel's given you. "Unto Messiah the Prince." If you knew when He's anointed, and if you know when He's the Prince, then you'd have the date. Look at Matthew. You may want to keep your hand in Daniel; we'll come back to that. Come to Matthew chapter 3. Matthew chapter 3, John the Baptist is out there preaching, verse 1. Jesus Christ comes to meet him, and down in verse 14, "John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer [it to be so] now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the ***Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him***." That's His anointing. You say, "Well, you're just making that up." No, look at Acts chapter 10. Jesus Christ is anointed right there, and He goes out and begins His ministry. Acts chapter 10, verse 37: "That word, [I say], ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power." Jesus Christ becomes the anointed Messiah ready to preach the Kingdom when He is baptized. So, "unto Messiah the Prince" is 69 weeks, is going to go to 30 a.d. Luke chapter 3 says Jesus Christ is 30 years old. So, a new chart. You have the commandment given to restore Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince -- not His crucifixion, but His baptism in Matthew chapter 3. (And that's 30 a.d.). Luke chapter 3 says Jesus was about 30 years old when He came and began to preach. So, Jesus Christ is anointed right there at His baptism. What does He do? He goes out and begins to preach. And He offers a Kingdom. And we just saw last week that His forerunner, Elijah, has already come back, if they'll receive it, right? All right, so it's ready! He's offering the Kingdom, and He says, now He's anointed, and He goes out and says, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand," "The Kingdom of God is at hand," and He offers up a Kingdom. How long does His ministry last? His ministry does last 3 1/2 years and the terms "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" is preached and "The Kingdom of God is at hand" is preached by John the Baptist , but the Now, go back to Daniel chapter 9. And Daniel chapter 9, back in verse 25 again: "Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince..." that's his anointed; "Messiah" means "anointed" "...[shall be] seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks." So the 69 weeks goes up to here, to His anointing. And, "the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times." Verse 26: "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off." Doesn't say "at the sixty-nine weeks," but "after." All right, if the 69 weeks is over here, after that He is cut off. So, you're going into the seventieth week here -- and three-and-a-half of it is gone! So, Jesus Christ is preaching, and this First Advent, when He's preaching that ministry, everything's present for an Antichrist who's prophesied in the Old Testament to betray Him. So, not only is Elijah present, baptizing Him, but there's an Antichrist present -- Judas. Do you know what Jesus Christ does in Matthew chapter 10? He sends out His apostles preaching. When does He do that? After He's baptized. And who's one of them that He sends out? The Antichrist -- Judas. Now, here's the problem, people say: "Well, wait a minute, Daniel says that, verse 27, come down to Daniel 9:27, everyone says, well, the Antichrist makes a covenant with the Jews for one week, right? That's why you've got to have the one week out here, because he makes the covenant, and in the midst of the week he breaks off the covenant, right?" No, he doesn't make a covenant with them for a week. Look what the verse says. Verse 27: "And he shall CONFIRM the covenant." Didn't say he made a covenant. It says he'll confirm a covenant, so that means a covenant is there when the Antichrist shows up. All he has to do is break it in the midst of the week. He confirmed it, so he has signed a covenant, or he has agreed to it -- like Judas agreed to this covenant that he's under, and he's going out and preaching -- and he cuts it off in the midst. So, Judas is your perfect Antichrist; he does exactly what that verse says he'd do. The problem is, Jesus Christ said, "If you'll receive it." For all that stuff to be fulfilled that way at the First Advent, the Jews would have had to receive Him as their Messiah. Then John would have been Elijah, Judas would have been the Antichrist, the Romans would have killed Christ, and He could have come and set up His Kingdom. But they didn't receive it. So what happens? He's "cut off." And you have the Church Age. (That is not part of the seventieth week, the first half of it, and will not be a part of the second half of it.) Now, an Antichrist has to come and confirm a covenant. Right? And when he confirms a covenant, he cuts it off "in the midst of the week" -- that's the middle of the week. Now, there's some verses that really imply some of that stuff that I'm showing you real strong. Did you ever wonder why every time you read about the Tribulation, what's the number you get? It's not seven years. And it's not 84 months. It's always a reference to 42 months, and 1260 days. It's always a reference to that three-and-a-half. That's what the Bible keeps saying. Come to Revelation. Revelation chapter 11. Revelation 11:2: "But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty [and] two months. And I will give [power] unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days." Forty-two months is three-and-a-half years, 1260 days, three-and-a-half years. Look at Revelation chapter 12, verse 6. The covenant's cut off: "The woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days." Twelve hundred and sixty -- three-and-a-half years. Look at verse 14: "And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time," -- one year -- "and times," -- two more years -- "and half a time" -- total, three-and-a-half. Chapter 13, verse 5: "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty [and] two months." So, when that Antichrist comes in, and he cuts off a covenant, it's going to last for three-and-a-half years, not seven. Come back to Daniel chapter 7. Daniel chapter 7, and verse 25: "And he shall speak [great] words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time" -- three-and-a-half years. Daniel chapter 12, one more. Daniel 12:6: "And [one] said to the man clothed in linen, which [was] upon the waters of the river, How long [shall it be to] the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which [was] upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that [it shall be] for a time, times, and an half." So when Daniel asks, "How long?" the answer is, "Three-and-a-half years. The vision you're given, Daniel, is three-and-a-half years." Not a full week. A half a week. That's it. Now, Job is a picture of a Jew in the Tribulation, and Job is 42 chapters. And there's some description of the Antichrist, "the wicked one," all through the Book of Job. Come back to Job chapter 3. Job chapter 3 and verse 6, verse 5 and 6, well, 4, 5, and 6 here: "Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it. Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. As [for] that night, let darkness seize upon it." It's a picture of a Jew in Tribulation. "Let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months." So, 42 months are separated from the rest of Daniel's seventy weeks. He says, "Let it not come into the number of the months." And Job is 42 chapters, and the sixty-nine-and-a- half -- "let this not come into the number of the months" -- there's a separation between them. There's your separation; it's separated by a Church Age. Look at Job chapter 21. Job chapter 21, talking about the wicked in verse 17. And, when you see Job talking about the wicked, there's a type of the Antichrist there. "How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and [how oft] cometh their destruction upon them! [God] distributeth sorrows in his anger." Come down to verse 20: "His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty." That wicked man is the Antichrist in the Tribulation. He's going to see the wrath of the Almighty. Verse 21: "For what pleasure [hath] he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?" So, you know what? The Antichrist confirmed the covenant with many for one week. He thinks he's got a week, and he doesn't. He's only got a half a week. The number of his months is cut off in the midst; he only has three-and- a-half years. And he confirms a covenant. Now, all that stuff is in place in Christ's First Advent. What's the covenant then? Well, I go back to Matthew, and when Jesus Christ is baptized, Matthew chapter 3. Matthew chapter 3, Jesus Christ is baptized, He's anointed. Matthew chapter 4, He goes out and faces the devil and faces the temptation there. Then He begins to preach. And what's He doing in Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7? He sets up a covenant for that Kingdom. And do you know who's in agreement with it? You know who confirms that covenant, going out? In Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7, Jesus Christ gives all the details of the Millennial Kingdom. That's why, when somebody wants to put you under a wrong dispensation, they go to Matthew 5, 6, and 7. Jesus Christ is ready to set up a kingdom for Jews, and they won't take it, so it's going to come out here. But, what He does is, He gets anointed here, and He sets up a covenant for them to get into that Kingdom. And what's He do after that? Matthew chapter 10, He sends out Judas, and Judas confirms the covenant. How? With signs. Look at Matthew chapter 10, and verse 7. Matthew chapter 10, verses 1, 2, and 3, shows you Him sending them out, and they're named by name. Look at verse 4: "Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into [any] city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." So, He's sending these Jewish apostles to Jews with a covenant of Matthew 5, 6, and 7, set up, and signs confirming the covenant. And here's the offer. Now, where are the signs? Verse 8: "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give." So, Judas priest -- Judas as a priest -- Judas is the Antichrist set up ready to betray Him. John the Baptist is Elijah having been prophesied that he would come. Now, the whole thing's been pushed out here, and now you've got to have Elijah show up -- which he does, we saw last week, Revelation chapter 11, the two witnesses show up. And in Matthew chapter 17 the two witnesses are named -- Moses and Elijah. So the covenant has to be set up and an Antichrist has to come in and cut it off in the midst of the week, and that will either trigger your Tribulation, or we'll go just before that, knowing who he is. Why do we know who we is? Because in the Gospel of John, John is a type of the Church, and he knows who Judas is. He's sitting at the table, and He says, "The one that I dip the sop and give it to him, the same is he." And John is the only one who knows Jesus Christ said that, because He whispered it in his ear. And the rest of them think, "Oh, he's just going out to buy something for the feast." He's going out to betray Him. So, we ought to be looking for a guy who's going to sign a covenant, who's going to tell the Jews, "Yes, Jerusalem is yours. You can have that land," and set up the covenant. Now, I had a real problem trying to teach this, because I had no covenant. But there's a covenant in place right now. And that covenant's gone all around the world, signed by all the Jewish leaders. I'd love to get a list of those signers. And that covenant went around saying that "Jerusalem is ours, and we pay homage to Jerusalem," and all that -- the covenant's in place. All you needed is a guy that signed that and confirmed it. You know when that covenant went around? 1993. All he has to do is cut it off in the midst. Three-and-a-half years after 1993 is 1996. And that leaves you three-and-a-half years to the year 2000. So, all you is have a guy that's going to confirm a covenant -- not make a covenant, but he's going to confirm a covenant with many, and think he has one week, but it's going to be cut off in the midst. So the Jewish covenant has been established. Now, I'm not saying that that's definite. I have some other things I look at that make this whole thing just -- well, let me put it this way. The reason I'm able to teach this is, I don't see anything that blows it apart. Or else I wouldn't teach it. If I had a verse that I was sure this messes up this system, I wouldn't teach it. Now, you know what's safe about that? The Church is not part of the Tribulation, not part of any part of Daniel's seventy weeks -- no part of it. So that's safe. And I've put it by a few people. And, really, to me, only one matters, and he hasn't been able to shoot it down. So I can show you this as a possibility. Now, don't go saying that I'm saying the Rapture has to be 1996. Because your other possibility it's 2007, or 2033, or 2070. Take your pick. How many of you like this system? Heh heh! All right, now, that's just a possibility. But there's a lot of other verses that go along with that, that so far, the more I look at it, the more it seems to be confirmed. And I don't know about dating the Rapture, whether we're actually going to know. But I'd say that the Lord's given us plenty. I'll tell you the weak point I have with this whole thing, is that trying to make a covenant that I don't really find in Scripture. I have to go with something that they've done. See, the covenant in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, that's in the Scripture, and it's there. I sure wish I could find the covenant in the Scripture that would match that Antichrist coming and cutting it off. The only one I have as a possibility is that one in 1993 that went around the world, and all the Jewish leaders have signed it, and there's a covenant binding them to Jerusalem. And that was real strong to me, but I don't like using stuff like that. But it sure gave me the answer to putting the rest of the stuff together! All right, so, I'm not going to go into these other feasts here with this Rapture and all that. Let's get back to the Gospel of Mark here. QUESTION: So that 1993 date would be the Rapture? ANSWER: No. That 1996 date would be your Rapture. 2000 would be your Tabernacle. See, if it's three-and-a- half years -- I said I wasn't going to get into the feasts, but I'm going to go into it by answering this question -- if Pentecost, see, the Holy Spirit comes down in Acts 2, and that's Pentecost. So, the teaching is that Pentecost would be the Rapture. The problem is, Pentecost is May to June. And you've got three-and-a-half. Where's your half-year going to come to September-October? June to July, July and August, August September, September October -- you only have four months. But if this feast matches Firstfruits, and you come back to March to April, and it matches a Passover -- which, by the way, the Church probably starts right there, not Pentecost, Acts chapter 2 -- then it would go out in Passover. Look at Song of Solomon chapter 2. And the reason that's good is because Passover is March to April. April to May, May to June, June to July, July to August, August-September, September-October -- half a year. Three-and-a-half to match your Tabernacle, right here. All right, Song of Solomon chapter 2. You hear a lot of guys trying to put the Rapture at the Tabernacle, September and October. Song of Solomon chapter 2, there's no question this woman is a picture of the Church, the bride of Christ. Verse 10: "My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." Here's the dating of it: "For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over [and] gone; The flowers appear on the earth." That budding and that firstfruits comes out in Jerusalem in March to April. And they date 50 days after that is the Feast of Pentecost. And the Feast of Pentecost -- now, again, I'm not saying you have to believe that Passover thing. That messes up, I just come across that just in the last two weeks, as far as messing up those feasts. Because I always went with the Rapture being the Pentecost. But that doesn't match the three-and-a-half time period. Now, the way around that, if you want to keep it at Pentecost, is to say that there's a time period of waiting in there, and they say, "Peace and safety," then sudden destruction, and all that -- so you could get around it. So it's not saying it's not foolproof. But verse 12, "The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing [of birds] is come," you're in a springtime Rapture. You're in March to April. And an Advent of September to October . . .

– by Brian Donovan