Hi John & All:
 
  Just a question to Watcher, in regards to his post of two days ago.
 
  I may have misunderstood something reading it, but are you saying you believe that Jesus was 32.5 years old when crucified?  I bring this up because that is the length of time between the fall of 2 B.C., and the spring of 32 A.D.
 
  I agree with the 19 year thing concerning taking possession of Jerusalem, as well as the date of the crucifixion being 32 A.D.  But I believe the scriptures show He was 33.5 years old on the date of His crucifixion, which would put his birthdate in the fall of 3 B.C.
 
  Just as a side note, one of the problems I have with the tribulation period being only 3.5 years is this scripture concerning it, found in the Book of Daniel:
 
   "Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint which said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot?   And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."   - Daniel 8: 13-14
 
  Here the scriptures clearly show there is a 2,300 day period (6 years, 4 months, 20 days, using the prophetic count of 30 day months), from the beginings of the daily sacrifice, to the desolate transgression, and after which the sanctuary is cleansed (obviously by the Messiah).
 
  It should be readily apparent that a 2,300 day period cannot fit inside a 1,260 day tribulation, and so the way people deal with it is to discount its end-time significance by saying it refers to  an unassociated 2,300 year period -- or that it runs several months into the millenial reign of our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
  The second problem with a 3.5 year tribulation period, is that Jesus tells the Jews who are to be alive at the end-times, to flee for the mountains when the abomination is stationed where it ought not be (Matthew 24: 15-21 and Mark 13: 14-19). Further, Revelation 12: 5-6 teaches that this period of hiding is 1,260 days ... which coincides with the 1,290 day period count from said abomination, in Daniel 12: 11.
 
  It is the covenant with the anti-christ that sets up the rebuilding of the temple. If the temple were in fact pre-antichrist, then the Jews would obviously have unprecedented control of the Middle East, and there would be no need for said "covenant".
 
  There has to be a period of time to allow for the appearing of the antichrist, the building of the temple, and the resumption of the sacrifices... prior to the aforementioned 1,260/1,290 day time period that commences with the abomination of desolation.
 
  The issue here seems to be that if prophetic events do not happen when people expect them to occur... Scripture gets twisted differently to support a theory, rather than to admit said theory to be incorrect.  Our theories must both agree with and adhere to Scripture, not vice versa.
 
  When both the temple and Jerusalem were destroyed, and the Jewish people scattered across the face of the earth, commencing in 70 A.D., many centuries passed afterward.  But the Word of God did in fact state that the Jews would return to the land in the end days.  However, as many centuries passed, as with our tribulation theories, many people in the Church began to "spiritualize" said prophetic scriptures concerning Israel, often substituting the Church in its place, because they found a literal interpretation of God's Word difficult to believe.
 
  Until May 15, 1948.... when they got caught with their spiritual pants down.
 
  In my humble opinion, the same thing is happening concerning the interpretation of Daniel's 70th week and the final 7 year tribulation period. People have become somewhat unnerved by the length of time that is passing, and rather than to admit the 40-year generation theory to be wrong, are instead twisting scripture concerning the last 7 year period to fit new spiritual type theories.
 
  Just my two-cents (Canadian).
 
  See ya in the air,
 
  Eric