Ronald you wrote: "the 7 year tribulation period did not start in late 2008,,,because the 2 special witneses are not here,,,,they will be here for 3 and a half years,,,,when they die and are revied 3 days later,,,the bible says all the world will see,,,,,how will they see...well cnn,,bbc..cable tv and satilite tv..and internet,,,,,well the 2 witneses can not come the 2nd half of the 7 years because....only the people at the temple mount would see,,,,because at the end of the 7 yeras,,,,many billions are dead,,,electrity is a thing of the past iam thinking do to the wrath....and looking at tv is not a priority drinking water would be,,,,also   elijah is the foreman of building the 3rd temple...he was given the rod to measure.....also just because there are solor and lunor eclipse coming later ,,,that does not mean that is what cause the sun to turn black or the moon to turn red,,,,you just think it means that,,,,it might be true,,,,,and it might not be true,,,GOD can do thoes things without using eclipse,,,,,

Ronald, I believe you are correct.  I think there are a number of things that could be added to that list.  The destruction of Damascus and the war of Gog/Magog would also have to occur sequentially before the seven years of tribulation.  I wrote an earlier post on this.  In essence, the prophecy concerning the destruction (obliteration) of Damascus would seem to occur before the Gog and Magog war, because it is no longer mentioned in the list of enemies connected to the Gog and Magog war.  Then the Gog and Magog war would have to occur and the Israelis would have to have time to burn the weapons of that war for seven years.  Presumably the Gog and Magog war could have time to occur along with the begininning of the burning of the weapons up to a year before the tribulation, though I think it would only necessarily be a matter of months before the tribulation started.  In the earlier post I tried to explain how the Jews would have to be given seven years to burn the weapons according to the prophecy.  Thus the Gog Magog war couldn't happen during the seven years of tribulation, but would have to occur (partially overlapping) at least a little while before the tribulation in order for the for the task of burning the weapons to be completed before the invading armies at Armaggedon curtailed it.

All that being said, I wish that all of the preconditions leading up to the pre-trib rapture had been met, but I fear that more time for the things listed above will have to be allowed for.  Unless the destruction of Damascus happens in the next few weeks, immediately followed by the Gog and Magog war, we may be waiting for about one more year.  I truly hope not!  The scenario I described would fit if you added 70 years (length of a generation) to 1948 (year of establishing Israel) bringing us to 2018.  Subtract seven years of tribulation and you come to 2011.  That's why I am worried that we may have something like 12 more months before the rapture.  IF the rapture occurs before the before three things (the tribulation, the Gog and Magog war and the destruction of Damascus) then I suppose it could happen at any time, which perhaps it will.  That would be my very great hope!

 

Perhaps if I used a 360 day count for each year in the 70 year generation waiting period, that would decrease the amount of time we have to wait. 70 times 360 days would equal 25,200 days.  Divided by 365 to convert to our current reckoning of years and we get 69.04 years.  That would bring us to 2017, from which we could subtract 7 and we are right back to tribulation beginning sometime in 2010.  I rounded off the fractions and leave that to someone else to figure out.

 

If we have something like 12 more months, then my best guess is to look for the pre-trib rapture on Tu B'Av in 2011.  That would be Sunday, August 14th, 2011.  I personally like the holiday of Tu B'Av for the pre-trib rapture for numerous reasons detailed in earlier posts.  But, then again, if the pre-trib rapture does occur on this Rosh Hashanah (Tuesday, September 28, 2010) then I will be overjoyed!

 

I just remembered that we have to factor in the construction of the temple.  The construction would have to be completed by the middle of the tribulation and presumably couldn't even be begun until Israel had relief from the danger of war.  That would be the case if we allowed for about 12 more months and the completion of the two wars that I mentioned.  Unless it is the beginning of the construction that is the trigger for those two wars.  Already my mind is spinning from the possibilities.  I've tried to make this as brief as possible and explain the timing of three, or four big events which we haven't seen happen yet.  And yes, Ronald, we still haven't seen the two witnesses have we.  We are, however, seeing a lot of conditions that are right for everything to finally gel together.

 

Let us hope for Rosh Hashanah this year.  God, please help us if we have to wait until Tu B'Av next year!  We are truly watching.