What is the Great Tribulation? when – how – why…

What is the great tribulation by Pastor Bruce EdwardsWhat is the Great Tribulation? 

The Great Tribulation is an actual Biblical end time event. It is a critical part of the second coming of Jesus. It is not a myth and has not happened yet! It will happen at some time in the future. Jesus told His disciples there would be a period of great tribulation right before His return to the earth. He said, “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24:15-22) Daniel 12:1 calls it “a time of trouble.” Jeremiah 30:7 calls it “the time of Jacob’s trouble.” What did Jesus mean by the Great Tribulation? What is the great tribulation all about?

The great tribulation is a time set apart by God when He will pour out His wrath upon the earth and those who have rejected Christ. It will be a time of great suffering, the worst to ever come upon mankind. A good description of the dreadfulness of the tribulation is found in Revelation 9:6, “And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.” Individuals and various people groups have suffered persecution, famine, and terrible times throughout history. In fact Jesus said we would encounter tribulation in this world, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) This is not referring to the great tribulation. As a troubling as they are, none of it will compare to the judgments and the sufferings assessed during this time thus the Great Tribulation is how Jesus described this period which will be history’s worst time ever.

When does the Great Tribulation happen?

Once we know what is the great tribulation other question arise.  Like when does it happen? The Great Tribulation will begin immediately after the rapture of the church (the removing of those who believe in Jesus from the earth – click here to read more about the rapture) and right before the millennial reign of Christ. The great tribulation will last for 7 years.

What happens during the Great Tribulation?

I. After the rapture of the church tens of thousands of people will have vanished from the earth and it will leave a wake of confusion and chaos. This will provide the perfect back drop and environment for the rise of a very powerful world leader. The Bible calls this person the “antichrist”. (Revelation 13:1-8) In the beginning he will appear to the world as the greatest political and religious leader the world has ever seen. He will bring a calm to the world, a calm before the storm. He will appear to be a person of peace and sign a seven year covenant with Israel. (Dan 9:27) The world will be blinded to the evil that is behind this man. He will be controlled by the powers of darkness, Satan himself. He will have an associate, the Bible calls the False Prophet and he will control the world economic and military systems, and He will even claim to be God. (Revelation 13:11-18; 19:20; Revelation 13:17 2; Thessalonians 2:4). All of this happens in the first three and a half years of the “Great Tribulation”.

II. At the mid point of the great tribulation, after three and a half years, the antichrist will break his covenant with Israel by setting up the abomination of Desolation in the temple. (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15) The real character and nature of the antichrist will be seen by all and the most devastating world war ever will begin. (Matthew 24:6; Revelation 6:4; 16:12-16). It is at this time the final phase of God’s judgments, the 7 vials will be poured out as described in the book of Revelation 16:1-21. During the first 3 and a half years the judgments of the 7 seals and 7 trumpets describe in Revelation 6:1-17, 8:1-13, and 11:15-19 will be executed. The oceans become blood, most of the sea life dies, plagues, & hailstones are released, and a supernatural darkness covers the earth.

III. During the Great Tribulation people will be saved, born again. In the midst of all the atrocities that are occurring during this time tens of thousands will receive Christ, but they will be severely persecuted and many will be martyred because they will not take the mark of the beast. (Revelation 6; 13:16-17; Revelation 20:4) There will be 144,000 Jews miraculously converted and become world evangelist’s preaching the gospel and igniting a revival around the world. (Revelation 7:1-14)

IV. The Great Tribulation will come to an abrupt end at a place the Bible calls “Armageddon”. “And the demonic spirits gathered all the rulers and their armies to a place with the Hebrew name Armageddon.” (Revelation 16:16) The forces of darkness and all their cohorts look to finally defeat the righteous in this final and historic conflict, but in a matter of seconds it will be over. Christ Himself will return in power and great glory and will put down His enemies and set up His millennial kingdom (Zechariah 14:9,16; Revelation 19:16).

What’s the purpose of the Great Tribulation

Why does God do such a catastrophic thing? Isaiah calls it a “strange thing”. (Isaiah 28:21) God has never liked executing judgment. In fact God withholds judgment as long as he possibly can. He is slow to wrath and quick to mercy, but because He is a just God after all other options have been exhausted, He does move swiftly in judgment. Why? Here are three reasons for the Great Tribulation;

1) It is the means used by God to restore and regather Israel to it’s right place in God’s plan and their spiritual awareness. The blindness over their eyes is removed and it helps them to finally see the truth about their Messiah. The Gospel has been preached for 2000 years yet most of Israel has simply refused to hear it, thus the need of the Great Tribulation.

2) It is the means of the judgment of God upon all who have rejected Christ and bring to close the time of the Gentiles. (Luke 21:24)

3) It is the “set up” for the return of Christ and His millennial reign on earth.

If you’re a believer rejoice that you are not destined for the Great Tribulation. While many people think the tribulation will involve the church, the Bible does not support that theory. Scripture clearly teaches that the church will be taken at the rapture to be with the Lord before the tribulation begins, because God has not destined His bride for His wrath (Romans 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9; Revelation 3:10). However, for now the church remains and it may be here for a long time. There is still much work to be done with people and nations to be reached. So, while we can rejoice in knowing our destiny we need to be sober to the fact there are millions who still need to be reached with the gospel.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.