We're told that the purpose of ALL of the 70 seven-year periods in Daniel 9 are for this reason:

 

כד  שָׁבֻעִים שִׁבְעִים נֶחְתַּךְ עַל-עַמְּךָ וְעַל-עִיר קָדְשֶׁךָ, לְכַלֵּא הַפֶּשַׁע ולחתם (וּלְהָתֵם) חטאות (חַטָּאת) וּלְכַפֵּר עָו‍ֹן, וּלְהָבִיא, צֶדֶק עֹלָמִים; וְלַחְתֹּם חָזוֹן וְנָבִיא, וְלִמְשֹׁחַ קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים.

24 Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sin, and to forgive iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal vision and prophet, and to anoint the most holy place.

 

There's multiple reasons given, but essentially, we can say that all of them involve God's dealings with the nation of Israel.  It has nothing to do with God and His dealings with America, Canada, or other nations.

 

While the book of Revelation may include references to God dealing with Israel, it was written to 7 Gentile Churches and describes what will happen in the end times.  There's no mention of a 7 year period anywhere in Revelation, or any hint that the various 3.5 year periods it does mention have to fit into a single 7 year window as is commonly taught.  If we try to assembly the timing of the book of Revelation, knowing that the 7 years of Dan 9:27 could fit into anyplace in the book of Revelation, we will find that the timing of the book makes a lot more sense.

 

I think the 7 years of Dan 9:27 will end at Revelation 12:1, largely because Mathew 24 seems to tie them together that way.  Maybe it ends earlier, but certainly not later.

 

But we're told that the 3 Woes of Rev 8:13 must occur in chronological order because we're told:

•  "One woe is past; behold, there come two woes more hereafter."    (Rev 9:12)
• "The second woe is past;  behold, the third woe cometh quickly. " (Rev 11:14)

It's as if God put this in here because he knew what error would come about and He wanted to make certain no one tried to shoehorn these 3 woes into a 7 year window by telling us, specifically, that they occure in chronological sequence.  We have some timing information, but it is incomplete.

 

• Woe 1: (Rev 8:13-9:11) Rev 9:10 says at least 5 months.
• Woe 2: (Rev 9:13-11:13) 1/3 of mankind destroyed, the 7 thunders, and 42 months of the two witnesses.
• Woe 3:  (Rev 11:15 onward) Final 42 months before Messiah returns.

Now these 3 Woes are trumpets 5-7, so let's backtrack this whole thing:

• Trumpet #1: (Rev 8:7 no timing clues) 1/3 of earth destroyed by hail and fire
• Trumpet #2: (Rev 8:8 no timing clues) 1/3 of sea creatures die, 1/3 of ships destroyed.
• Trumpet #3: (Rev 8:10) Wormwood causes bitter waters
• Trumpet #4: (Rev 8:12) 1/3 of sun / stars smitten
• Trumpet #5: (announces Woe #1) - At least 5 months.
• Trumpet #6: (announces Woe #2) - At least 42 months
• Trumpet #7: (announces Woe #3) - 42 months.

We have some minimum timing clues on the last 3 trumpets.  I think the 7 years of Daniel 9:27 ends at the end of Trumpet 6 and Trumpet 7 is after the abomination of desolation is set up.  Donna mentioned that there has to be time between trumpet 1 and 5 for grass to grown back.  Well, we're not given a whle lot of detail and if trumpet 1 only scorched the earth so as to leave the roots of the blades intact it could grow back rather fast in the summer, but then not grow much at all in the winter.  Either the north or the southern hemisphere will be waiting several months for it to grow back.  But that might be irrelevant compared to the fact that it would probably take longer to destroy 1/3 of the earth by hail and fire than for it to grow back in the summer time under best case conditions.  A lot of United States forest land has been burned up by wildfires this year.  A lot in Russia has burned up as well.

 

However, Trumpet #5 announces the FIRST Woe, not the third one.   There's a trumpet that announces EACH of the 3 woes.  So the whole issue of grass growing back only covers the time between the 5 trumpets that don't give a period of months for some other reason anyway.

 

We don't know how long the first 4 trumpets last.  Could trumpets 1-6 fit into a 7 year period?  Maybe.  But maybe it's longer than 7 years.  Maybe it's shorter.  I've heard some people try to claim that trumpets 1-3 have been unfolding over the years, we just haven't noticed.  For example, 1/3 of the ships were destroyed in WW II or WW I or maybe both combined.  "Chernobyl" means "Wormwood" in Russian, but I doubt that was trumpet #4.  However, it may have been a foreshadowing of what trumpet #4 will be about.

 

But it's no stretch to say that all of this is going to take at least 8 years or more.