Darryl explained, "Gabriel told Daniel the city and the temple would be destroyed again after the death of the Messiah. Jesus also confirmed this as he cried for Jerusalem. In 70 A.D., Titus the Roman conquered the city, and had five million Jews killed. The city was left in ruins and not one stone of the temple was left upon another. We are living in a period of time referred to by Jesus as the 'times of the Gentiles.' Jesus told his followers that Jerusalem would be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."

"What's a Gentile?" Brian asked.

"Anyone who is not Jewish is a Gentile." Jamie answered him and then asked a question. "What about the seventieth week?"

"That would be a period of seven years," Brian stated.

"The last seven years are still in the future," Darryl explained.

"The tribulation period!" Jamie shouted.

"Also known as Israel's seventieth week," Elizabeth explained. "When the rapture occurs, the times of the Gentiles will be over. In verse 27, Gabriel explained that 'he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week.' This describes the antichrist making a peace treaty with many nations and Israel for seven years. Gabriel referred to the antichrist causing the daily sacrifice to stop in the middle of the seven year period. Jesus referred to this very thing happening in the future. Allow me to read the words spoken by Jesus in Matthew 24:15-21: 'When you see standing in the holy place "the abomination that causes desolation," spoken of through the prophet Daniel--let the reader understand--then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now--and never to be equaled again.'"

"We talked before about the image standing in the temple. So that must be what Jesus called 'the abomination of desolation.'" Jamie said thoughtfully.

"That will be half-way through the tribulation period. Then all the people of the world will have to take the mark of the beast or die!" Brian added.

Jamie continued, "Anyone who takes the mark of the beast, or worships the antichrist or his image, will spend eternity burning in the lake of fire!"

Darryl smiled, "Well you both certainly remembered that correctly. Jesus said the people in Judea will run to the mountains to escape the antichrist. Bible scholars believe the Jewish people will go to Petra."

"Petra? Where's that?" Brian asked.

"Elizabeth has been to Petra so I'll let her explain it to you," her husband told them.

"Petra is located in southern Jordan. It is a natural mountain fortress, with only one very narrow passageway in through the mountains. The passageway is so narrow, it is necessary to walk or ride in on horse back. The widest vehicle able to get in there would be a little Jeep. Once through the narrow passage, there are over ten square miles of fortified land waiting to house a multitude of people. Thousands of years ago, the Nabetians had a city there. They carved buildings into the beautiful red sandstone mountains. It is quite beautiful to see and would make an excellent place for the Jewish people to hide out from the antichrist."

"I wish I could see it," Brian sighed.

"You may have seen it and didn't know it. Did you ever see the Indiana Jones movie, The Last Crusade?"

"Yeah?"

"The movie was made on location in Petra. Near the end of the movie, when Indiana Jones and his friends finally reach the hiding place for the holy grail, they ride through a narrow passageway on horseback and when they came out into the clearing they see a big red sandstone building facing them with pillars carved out of the rock."

"Yeah, I remember it! That's the building Indiana Jones went into to look for the holy grail, and he had to be careful because of all kinds of booby traps," Brian said excitedly.

Elizabeth concluded her description of Petra. "That's right! Except the treasury building, the one he went into, in reality, has only an empty room. The movies interior shots were made inside a Hollywood studio. We will talk more about Petra when we study chapter eleven."

"Tell us about the battle of Armageddon, Dad!"

"There will be a series of battles during the second half of the tribulation. The final battle, Armageddon comes from the Hebrew words that mean 'the hill of Megiddo.' Megiddo was an ancient city, now in ruins, that overlooked the valley of Jezreel. All the armies of the world will be gathered together in the valley, which stretches for about 200 miles. This includes the valley of Jezreel in the north of Israel and continues through the Jordan River valley and beyond to the Gulf of Eliat. At this time, when things couldn't possibly look worse for Israel, Messiah Jesus will come back to earth in the clouds riding a white horse. He will bring with him thousands and thousands of his saints. The victory will, of course, be won by the Messiah. The lose of human life will be so great that the blood will flow as deep as a horse's bridle."¹⁰

Jamie said sadly, "A river of blood 200 miles long and about five feet deep. Millions of people must be going to die!"

"Yes Jamie, it will be a sad day for the people of the earth who have rejected Jesus as their Messiah," Darryl said grimly.

"I think we need a break from Daniel," Elizabeth said, when she saw the sad faces before her. "Perhaps we can finish Daniel tomorrow."

"I think you're right," her husband agreed. "Do we have any marshmallows left or did the kids eat them all?"