THE GREAT TRIBULATION

From our earliest days of childhood, right up until the end of our lives we are confronted with warnings. For the youngster it may be as simple as "Don't touch the stove!" or "You will burn yourself!" For the senior citizen it may be as basic as "Don't forget to take your medicine or you will have problems." The Word of God is filled with words of warning which carry with them serious consequences for those who disobey. To Adam God said, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Gen. 2:16-17) Here was a direct warning from God. Adam disobeyed and brought sin and death into the world. Noah was "a preacher of righteousness" (2 Pet. 2:5). He warned that judgment was coming and that men should get into the ark (1 Pet. 3:20). Except for eight people, men ignored the warning and perished in the Noahic flood. Lot, the nephew of Abraham, was warned by two angelic messengers to flee Sodom with his wife and two daughters because the city was going to be destroyed (Gen. 19:13, 15). They instructed Lot with these words: "Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountains. lest thou be consumed" (Gen. 19:17). The account is all too familiar. Almost any Sunday School child can recite it: "But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt" (Gen. 19:26).

Heeding legitimate warnings is important. Heeding divine warnings is imperative. Men must take God's warnings seriously or pay the consequences. In that vein, the Son of God warned: "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand [literally, standing] in the holy place [the temple on Mount Moriah]...flee" (Mt. 24:15-16). [Emphasis added.] The Lord then gave the rationale for His urgent warning to flee when the abomination of desolation occurs. "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be"
(Mt. 24:21). The third Gospel, in speaking of that event, states that the armies of Antichrist are going to converge on Jerusalem. Dr. Luke wrote, "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh" (Lk. 21:20). Evidently the purpose for the converging armies will be the enforcing of submission to Antichrist. The Old Testament calls this period "the time of Jacob's [Israel's] trouble" (Jer. 30:7). The New Testament calls it the "great tribulation" (Mt. 24:21).

One of the most frequently used words in any discussion concerning the end of the age is the word "tribulation." It is so fundamental to the prophetic vocabualry that major views of Christ's second coming are defined by use of the word "tribulation" and the prefix that precedes it. Men speak of pretribulation rapturism - the view that Christ will rapture the Church before the tribulation, midtribulation rapturism - the view that Christ will rapture the Church at the midpoint of the tribulation, and post-tribulation rapturism - the view that Christ will rapture the Church at the end of the tribulation. The Greek word thlipsis is normally translated by the English word "tribulation" (Mt. 24:21) or "affliction" (Mt. 24:9; Mk. 13:19) in the Authorized Version of the Bible. In Classical Greek thlipsis conveyed the idea of pressure. It was used to describe a man who was bound, laid prone on his back, and a heavy boulder placed on his chest. The pressure of the boulder on the chest would diminish the ability to collect air in his lungs, and slowly the victim would die of suffocation. Roman crucifixion had the same effect. The weakening victim, hanging from the cross, found it increasingly difficult to pull himself up and fill his lungs with air. Slowly he would die by suffocating. This idea of "thlipsis" (physical pressure) eventually came to speak of the pressures, problems, and distresses of life. Strong's Concordance defines thlipsis as "affliction, anguish, persecution, trouble, and tribulation."

It is critical for an understanding of prophecy that a clear distinction be made between general tribulation (thlipsis), common to all men during all ages, and the Great Tribulation which will occur for a brief time and be directed against God's elect at the end of the age. The Greek word thlipsis (tribulation) occurs about twenty times in the New Testament . It is used most frequently in a generic, nonprophetic setting. For instance, the Lord taught, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (Jn. 16:33). And Paul taught, "Knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope" (Rom. 5:3-4). And the aged apostle John identified with his fellow believers who were going through pressure and persecution this way: "I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation" (Rev. 1:9). Since the fall of Adam and Eve and the advent of sin into the world, all men through the ages have known tribulation. No one, however rich, powerful, popular, or noble has ever been exempted. Tribulation is a malady common to all. In contrast to the generic use of the word tribulation there are a number of clear prophetic uses of the word "tribulation." In each of these instances, thlipsis (tribulation) is associated with the adjective "great." And in each occurence it refers to a future event. Thst still future event will be so devastating that the Lord, in describing it in His Olivet Discourse, said, "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Mt. 24:21).

Three important truths concerning the Great Tribulation need to be emphasized.
FIRST, the Lord, in speaking of the Great Tribulation, is not overstating the case; He is not using hyperbole. The Great Tribulation will be of such severity that it is unequaled in all the annals of history.
SECOND, the Great Tribulation is not universal in its scope. It will be directed against the "elect" of God (Mt. 24:22). They will be the specific target. It will be a time of great thlipsis for them. The cause will be their refusal to submit to Antichrist. The effect will be unprecedented persecution - great tribulation.
THIRD. the Great Tribulation has no relationship whatever to the outpouring of God's wrath during the Day of the Lord. The Great Tribulation will be persecution by the Antichrist directed against those who reject his authority and refuse his mark. The Day of the Lord (the time when God will rapture the righteous and judge the wicked), by contrast, follows the Great Tribulation but is not associated with it. The former (the Great Tribulation) is directed against God's elect by the Antichrist. The latter (the Day of the Lord) is directed against the unsaved world by the true Christ.

In almost any discussion of end-time events, Bible teachers speak of "the Tribulation period." The Tribulation period is commonly identified with the seventieth week (a seven-year period at the end of the age), spoken of by the prophet Daniel (Dan. 9:24-27). It is clear from the Scriptures that God has decreed a seven-year period at the end of the age during which time specific prophetic events will be fulfilled. However, nowhere in the Scriptures is that seven-year period ever designated "the Tribulation period." The technical designation "Tribulation period" has simply been superimposed upon the Scriptures, without any basis, and made to equal the final seven years of Daniel's prophecy. The problem with the designation is that it creates an unbiblical bias toward pretribulation rapturism. We know that the believer is not appointed unto wrath, as seen in Romans 5:9. If the final seven years are called the Tribulation Period, it is an easy leap to the conclusion that the Chruch is raptured pretribulationally. In point of fact, the seventieth week of Daniel is a complex mosaic which, according to the Lord, includes the beginning of sorrows (Mt. 24:4-8), the Great Tribulation (Mt. 24:9-28), the Rapture of the Church, and the Day of the Lord (Mt. 24:29-31). While on the one hand the Bible does not speak of a seven-year Tribulation period, it does on the other hand speak of "great tribulation" which will commence at the midpoint of Daniel's seventieth week. Daniel taught that in the midst of the seventieth week the Antichrist would cause the (reinstituted) animal sacrificial system of Judaism to be brought to a halt. He wrote of Antichrist: "In the midst of the week [three and one-half years into it] he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease" (Dan. 9:27). And then he will desecrate the temple by demanding worship of himself (2 Th. 2:4). The abomination of desolation at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah will trigger the Great Tribulation and is the basis for the Lord's warning to flee.

The problem is not so much with the starting point of the Great Tribulation. Most prophetic commentators start the Great Tribulation at the midpoint of Daniel's seventieth week in connection with "the abomination of desolation." The problem is with the time of the termination of the Great Tribulation. It is generally taught that the Great Tribulation is three and one-half years in duration; that it commences at the midpoint of Daniel's seventieth week in connection with the abomination of desolation, and thatit continues until its end - three and one-half years later.
Dr. Harry Ironside wrote in his helpful commentary, simply called Matthew: "The great tribulation in its full sense will begin in the midst of the seventieth week - that is, of the last seven years of Daniel's great time-prophecy." (p. 318) He then adds that it will last three and one-half years (p.320).
John Walvoord, who for many years served as president for one of our finest seminaries, wrote in his commentary, Matthew: Thy Kingdom Come: "The great tribulation, accordingly, is a specific period of time beginning with the abomination of desolation and closing with the second coming of Christ, in the light of Daniel's prophecies and confirmed by reference to forty-two months." (p. 188)
And John MacArthur wrote in his commentary, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary - Matthew 24-28 that: "Jesus states unequivocally that the central sign of His return will occur immediately after the tribulation of those days, that is, at the end of the Great Tribulation (v. 21), the second three and a half years of the seven-year Tribulation period." (p. 50)

If the Great Tribulation is three and one-half years in duration, how are we to understand the Lord's teaching that it will be shortened(?) He told His disciples: "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened" (Mt. 24:22). The question of importance is, In what way is the Great Tribulation shortened? Harry Ironside writes of the Great Tribulation: "So terrible will be the conditions that unless God in mercy shortens the days there should no flesh be saved. But for the sake of the elect - not the elect of the Church but of Israel - He will shorten the days ." (p. 320) He then goes on to explain how the days of the Great Tribulation are shortened. "They are numbered as actually 1260 days in the Book of Revelation. This would be three and one-half years, made up of thirty-day months, and so considerably shorter than the full time if the years were counted as of 365 days each." (p. 320) The problem with Ironside's view is that Daniel's entire seventy-week prophecy is based on the Jewish lunar calendar of 360-day years. If the explanation for the shortened Great Tribulation is based upon a 360-day lunar year as against a 365-day solar year, then the first three and one-half years must also be shortened. The same would apply for the entire seventieth-week prophecy. In such a scenario, the Lord's statement that "for the elect's sake the great tribulation is shortened" becomes meaningless. John Walvoord explained the shortened great tribulation this way: "Jesus also predicted that the period would be 'shortened' (v. 22), literally, terminated or cut off (Gr. ekolobothesan). This does not mean that the period will be less than three and one-half years, but that it will be definitely terminated suddenly by the second coming of Christ." (p. 188) The problem with Walvoord's explanation is that the Greek word translated "shortened" (koloboo) doesn't mean "terminated" or "suddenly," as he suggests. According to Arndt & Gingrich, in the classic work A Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, the word koloboo means to "cut off, cut short, mutilate, or curtail." When the Lord taught that the "Great Tribulation" would be "shortened,{" He wasn't simply teaching that it would be "suddenly terminated." He was teaching that it would be "cut short," or "amputated" - that somethig would occur which would bring the Great Tribulation to an end before the fully intended purposes of the Antichrist could be realized. John MacArthur, in explaining "cut short," wrote: "Koloboo [cut short] can carry the idea of stopping instantly, and that could be the meaning in this context." MacArthur is one of our finest Bible expositors. Nontheless, I must take issue with his comments in this instance. "Cut short" does not mean to stop "instantly," unless the idea of "amputation" or "termination" earlier than planned is included. He goes on to say: "Since the length of the Great Tribulation is repeatedly stated as being divinely ordained at three and one-half years, its length could not be reduced without God's contradicting His own Word." (p. 45)

Nowhere in the Word of God is the Great Tribulation ever "divinely ordained" to last three and one-half years. To be sure, the last half of Daniel's seventieth week is repeatedly referred to as lasting for three and one-half years. This period of time is defined in days: "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore [1,260] days" (Rev. 12:6). A prophetic year is 360 days. Three and one-half years is 1,260 days. This time period is also directly defined in months: "And there was given unto him [Antichrist] a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months" (Rev. 13:5). That is three and one-half years. The same period is also referred to in years. "And to the woman [Israel] were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time [one year], and times [two years], and half a time [one-half year], from the face of the serpent" (Rev. 12:14). Again, the period is three and one-half years. Nowhere is the last half of Daniel's seventieth week ever referred to as the Great Tribulation. MacArthur's circular argument (and it is embraced by many) goes like this: (1) The Great Tribulaation is the same as the last half of Daniel's seventieth week. (2) The last half of Daniel's seventieth week is three and one-half years. (3) Therefore, the Great Tribulation is three and one-half years in duration and not subject to being shortened. Hoever, he never demonstrates that the Great Tribulation and the last half of Daniel's seventy weeks are synonomous. Nonetheless, on that assumption he concludes that the Great Tribulation is incapable of being shortened - that it must be three and one-half years in duration.

If the Great Tribulation is not the same as the last three and one-half years of Daniel's seventieth week, what is it? Can it be identified? Many Bible teachers have called attention to the similarity between the Lord's teaching in Matthew 24 and the four horses and riders of the apocalypse (Rev. 6). That similarity is shown below.

The Lord's Description of the 70th Week = (parallels) = The Apostle John's Description of the 70th Week

"For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. (Mt 24:5) = (parallels) = THE FIRST SEAL is the white horse and rider. He is understood to represent false prophets personified in the Antichrist who conquers by deception (Rev. 6:1-2)

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom." (Mt. 6-7a) = (parallels) = THE SECOND SEAL is the red horse and rider. He is given a sword and has power to conquer through war. (Rev. 6:3-4)

"And there shall be famines" (Mt. 24:7b) = (parallels) = THE THIRD SEAL is the the black horse and rider. He is given a scale to measure the food supply. He will bring famine (Rev. 6:5-6)

"And pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Mt. 24:7c-8) = (parallels) = THE FOURTH SEAL is the pale horse and rider. He represents death and pestilince. He kills with sword, hunger and bestst of the earth (Rev. 6:7-8)

"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake." (Mt 24:9) = (parallels) = THE FIFTH SEAL reveals a faithful remnant who are martyred "for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held" (Rev. 6:9-11)

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken," (Mt 24:29) = (parallels) = THE SIXTH SEAL reveals cosmic disturbance: "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind." (Rev 6:12-13)

(The seventh seal is not under discussion here and therefore has not been included.)

The fifth seal (Rev. 6:9-11) represents a faithful remnant who are martyred " for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held." And in the parallel Olivet Discourse the Lord teaches: "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted [the word translated 'afflicted' is thlipsis and is referring ot the Great Tribulation], and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake" (Mt 24:9). The Great Tribulation of which the Lord speaks in Matthew 24, then, is the fifth seal of Revelation 6. It commences at the midpoint of Daniel's seventieth week and is "shortened." That which cuts the Great Tribulation short is the sixth seal which, when opened, results in cosmic disturbance (see above). By cosmic disturbance it is meant that something happens in the heavens to the sun, moon, and stars (Mt. 24:29; Mk. 13:24-25; Lk. 21:25; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 6:12-13). Cosmic disturbance is the clear indicator that the Day of the Lord is about to begin. The prophet Joel wrote: "And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come" (Joel 2:30-31). And Isaiah wrote: "Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible" (Isa 13:9-11). Following the opening of the sixth seal, God will rapture those who belong to Him and begin His judgment of the unsaved world. The Lord taught: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (Matt 24:29-31).

A critically important question for all believers is the identity of the "elect" in the Olivet Discourse who will experience the Great Tribulation. Many Bible teachers suggest that the "elect" cannot be referring to the Church. They argue that the Church is raptured before Daniel's seventieth week commences and hence cannot be the elect of Matthew 24:31. They also teach that Matthew is the Gospel of the Kingdom. It is Jewish and the Church cannot be found in it because it did not begin until Pentecost (Acts 2). Let's examine these contentions:
FIRST, the Olivet Discourse is also found in Mark 13 and Luke 21. Therefore, one cannot negate any Church truth from Matthew on the grounds that it is the Jewish Gospel. Mark and Luke contain the same truth.
SECOND, as early as Matthew 16 the Lord spoke of the Church. He said: "I will build my church; and the gates of hell [hades] shall not prevail against it" (Mt. 16:18). So the Church was not an unknown entity by the time Matthew 24 is reached.
THIRD, in Matthew 28 the Lord gave the Great Commission. In it He commanded: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost [Spirit]" (Matt 28:19). He gave this command to His eleven disciples before the Church began on Pentecost. He was not committing to unsaved Israel the task of world evangelism. The Lord had earlier condemned the Jewish leadership for their hypocrisy (Mt. 23:13-36). He warned the nation that their house would be a desolation and that they would not see Him until they were ready to say, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Mt. 23:37-39). It is the Church which is to evangelize the world. Paul, though himself a Jew, wrote to the Church at Ephesus: "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone" (Eph 2:19-20). It is the Church, not Israel, which is built upon the apostles. Instruction given to the apostles - whether in the Olivet Discourse or the Great Commission - is intended for the Church.
FOURTH, the Lord gave His Upper Room Discourse to His disciples the night before His crucifixion. This was only two days after He gave the Olivet Discourse. The occasion of their gathering in the upper room was the observance of the Passover dinner (Seder). The entire context was Jewish; Yet on that occasion the Lord instituted the Lord's Supper (Mt. 26:17-30), which is uniquely a Church ordinance. More than that, during the Jewish Passover, while speaking to His Jewish disciples, the Lord taught Church truth concerning the Rapture. He said to His disciples: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:1-3). The "you" in the expression, "I go to prepare a place for you," is referring to the Church which will experience rapture at the Lord's coming. To suggest that in the upper room the Lord would teach His Jewish disciples Church truth (the Communion and the Rapture), but two days earlier in the Olivet Discourse He could not be speaking of the Church or its rapture because the Church had not yet begun or because Matthew was the Jewish Gospel is simply inconsistent with the Scriptures. The setting of the upper room was appropriately in a Jewish context since "salvation is of the Jews." The disciples, however, represented the Church.

The question remains, Who are the "elect" who will encounter the Antichrist and suffer the persecution associated with his emergence - are they to be identified with Israel, or is the term "elect" referring to Church believers? The Greek word "elect" (eklektos) means "chosen out, selected, to be chosen as a recipient of special privilege." The word "elect" is found sixteen times in the New Testament. Add to "elect" the words "elects" and "election" and there is a total of twenty-three usages in the New Testament. It is used once of "elect [chosen] angels" (1 Tim. 5:21). It is used once of the Lord Jesus Christ who is referred to as "a chief cornerstone, elect [chosen], precious" (1 Pet. 2:6). It is used of all believers: "And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily" (Luke 18:7-8). Excluding the six usages in the Olivet Discourse (Mt. 24:22, 24, 31; Mk. 13:20, 22,27) and the use of "elect" for angels and the Lord, as cited above, in every other instance the word "elect" in the New Testament refers to those who are members of the Church.

* "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?" (Rom. 8:33)
* "Put on therefopre, as the elect of God." (Col. 3:12)
* "Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake." (2 Tim. 2:10)
* "Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect." (Ti. 1:1)
* "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father." (1 Pet. 1:2)
* "The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth." (2 Jn. 1)
* "The children of thy elect sister greet thee." (2 Jn. 13)

Not once in the New Testament is Israel ever called the "elect." If we are to believe that in the six usages in the Olivet Discourse the word elect is to be understood as referring to Israel rather than its normal usage for the Church, clear and compelling evidence must be cited. The reality is that no such clear and compelling evidence has been brought forth. The reason for denying that the word "elect" is referring to the Church in Matthew 24 is not because of the meaning or usage but because, if the "elect" refers to the Church, pretribulation rapturism is destroyed.

When the Lord Jesus comes again, He will not come as a usurper to a kingdom to which He does not have a legal right. Instead, He will come as the Lion of the tribe of Judah - Son of David - and heir to David's throne. As the bonafide King of Israel, He will become King of all kings. Therefore, Antichrist will seek to rule the world from Jerusalem. He will ask the Jews to give him their allegiance. Many, believing him to be a political deliverer, will gladly do so. A believing remnant - part of the "elect" - will refuse. That will trigger the Great Tribulation and the warning by the Lord to flee. Antichrist will seek to kill this believing Jewish remnant (Rev. 12:13-16). He will then turn his attention to the elect worldwide. John describes that event this way: "And the dragon [Satan] was wroth with the woman [Israel], and went to make war with the remnant of her seed [those saved by faith like Father Abraham], which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Rev 12:17; cp. Mt. 24:9 and Rev. 6:9). The Great Tribulation is a time of unprecedented persecution. It will commence in the middle of Daniel's seventieth week. It does not last three and one-half years. It is the fifth seal of Revelation 6. It will impact the elect. The "elect" is referring to the Church. The persecution starts at Jerusalem and spreads to believers worldwide. This time of persecution will be shortened by the cosmic disturbance which begins with the opening of the sixth seal and which announces the commencment of the Day of the Lord and rapture of the Church.

Believers are not exempted from the Great Tribulation. They are exempted from the outpouring of God's wrath against a godless and unrepentent world. The Great Tribulation is not something for the believer to fear - but it is something that must be understood for victorious living. The Lord taught, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life" (Rev. 2:10). The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is called to be soldiers - and down through the years many have had to give their last ounce of devotion in the service of their King. They knew, as we must know, that we have a blessed hope. If we are called upon to give our lives, at His coming we will be resurrected. If we are that one generation that is still living, we shall be raptured. In either case, believers are on the winning side of history.

[1] Zion's Fire/May-June 1998 pp. 4-9 (Published by Zion's Hope. Published here with permission of the author.)

THE RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST
THE DAY OF THE LORD
THE BOOK OF REVELATION
(A Bible Study)