The great tribulation is indeed 3 1/2 years, but there is a period of 3 1/2 years before that in prophecy that is significant to end times. For some reason it made me think of this scripture:
Matthew 16:17-19
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and
the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth [
b]will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”.../NKJV
I had realized something awhile back that I never finished studying out. But some things recently could tie into this now that I think about it. Tel me what you think.
...The gates of Hell shall not prevail against it...I've always got the picture of the enemy attacking and ultimately losing in the long run, because God has already won. But I think that interpretation is wrong because, think about it...A Gate is a defensive device. A gate has nothing to do with attacking or aggression. It's nature is defensive, right?!
So what if this passage means that the gates of Hell will not prevail when they are attacked? ...By Christians I would suppose?
There's lots more to this but let's not go too fast. But who knows what all God will tell His people to do during the end times? Comments...