It is very clear that the length of the tribulation is longer than 7 years in Revelation, and does not necessarily fit into the same single 7 year time window of Daniel 9, which is describing Israel's exile, not necessarily the length of the tribulation period.
Rev 8:13 announces three woes that will follow the tribulations that occur in Rev 4 to 8. We are also told they will happen in sequence.
Woe #1 = Trumpet #5: >5 months in length
Rev 9:10 lists beasts "like scorpions" that will torture for five months. That has not happened yet. Then Rev 9:12 says "
One woe is past; behold, there come two woes more hereafter." Note how this is telling us the three woes must come in sequence. One follows the other. If you think Revelation is jumping out of chronological order at times, it is telling us in plain language that these three events happen in chronological order. So if we try to say they are not in chronological order, are we not taking away from the book? And does not Revelation 22 warn us not to take away from the book? And why do most people take the chronology out of the book? Because it does not fit the seven year time-line they were told everything in the book must fit.Woe #2 = Trumpet #6: >42 months in length
- Rev 9:13 : One-third of mankind destroyed.
- Rev 10: The seven thunders.
- Rev 11: The two witnesses for 3.5 years.
The two witnesses rise from the dead after 3.5 days.
Rev 11:14 says "
The second woe is past; behold, the third woe cometh quickly. "Woe #3 = Trumpet #7: 42 months
Revelation 12-17 discusses the final 42 months before the return of the Messiah.
Note that:
Woe 2 lasts 3.5 years plus 3.5 days plus however long it takes to kill off one third of the planet. It may not be too over-conclusive to say that it will take longer than a week to kill one-third of the people on earth. So dating this as "Over 43 months" is no stretch.
- Woe 1 lasts five months or more. It has not happened yet.
Woe 3 lasts 42 months. Add these up and the three woes are more than 5 + 43 + 42 = 90 months. That is more than seven years (since 7 years has 84 months), and 90 months is just a minimum.
Shalom,
Joe