Tribulation

This morning I spent a little time searching for the word "tribulation" in the New Testament. While tribulation doesn't seem pleasant, it was something the first Christians expected, and actually celebrated, as part of their new life as followers of Jesus:


Romans 12:12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;


II Corinthians 7:4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation.


I Thessalonians 3:4 For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know.


The western church is divided in it's ideas about the coming Great Tribulation in the Book of Revelation. Some believe we will be raptured, or caught up in the sky with Jesus, before the tribulation of those days, and some believe it will happen after the tribulation. A small percentage believe we are already in it, and an even smaller number think it will never actually happen.


The Bible is clear about what will happen. The book of revelation describes the Great Tribulation in stunning detail. It is the story of Jesus lifting His hand of restraint from a coming world economic and "humanitarian" system that promises world peace and prosperity, but is actually rooted in the evil desires of man's heart. It is an alternative to trusting God. It is the embodiement of fully placing our trust in man...it is the "fruit" of the antichrist's plan.


As Jesus allows man to flourish in what he really desires, this evil system will blossom. The fruit of what is really in man's heart will be openly manifest. What the world tasted in Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia, and recently in North Korea, will be globally manifest as Jesus allows man to finally get His way. The antichrist's plan will result in temporary world peace and then forced acceptance of one man as ruler of all (first seal Rev. 6:1) which actually leads to world war (second seal), worldwide famine (third seal), widespread death from disease, pestillence, war, and famine(fourth seal). This is man judging man. The proof is in the pudding, and we will see openly the evil in man's heart as Jesus allows it to unfold. Everyone eventually gets what they want.


Based on the vast amount of information in the Bible about this subject, to believe this will never actually happen isn't an intellectually valid argument for anyone who believes the Bible is the Word of God, and that it says what it means and means what it says. Based on the detail of the widespread death (over half the world's population dying in 3.5 years), belief this has already happened, or is happening right now, isn't really an option, either. That leaves us with two remaining eschatological (a fancy word for end-time theology) options: we are either here for the Tribulation, or we aren't. Either way, based on world events, tribulation is going to happen soon. It is important to know what Jesus said about it:


Matthew 24:29-31 “Immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. THEN the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and THEN all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.


"After" and "then" are pretty clear indicators of time. After and then always mean the next statement chronologically follows the previous. Here Jesus gives us a clear view of His eschatological belief: tribulation, signs in the sky (this is actually the sixth seal: moon red, and sun dark), a shifting and shaking of everything in heaven and earth and then Jesus gathers (raptures) His church at the "sound of a trumpet."


The trumpet here is very significant. The Book of Revelation describes the judgment of God in three stages: seals, trumpets, and bowls. All of them take place in the span of 3.5 years. First come the seven seals, then seven trumpets, and then the final 7 bowls of God's wrath. Jesus said He will return at the sound of the trumpet. Paul and John both confirmed this fact. These are some of Paul's many statements about the timing of the rapture:


I Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.


I Corinthians 15:51-52 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.


Paul said the rapture happens at the last trumpet...the seventh trumpet. Here is what John said the angel told Him about the seventh trumpet:


Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”


This is the moment that Jesus returns to take everything back that is rightfully His, including His Bride. This is the moment of the rapture. When this last trumpet sounds, in the twinkling of an eye, all those who have allegiance to Jesus will be caught up with Him in the sky, not to go away to heaven, but to Edom. To march with Jesus into a 30-day battle that He can't lose! In the Bible, trumpets are calls to battle. While bowls of God's wrath, the finality of His judgment on the earth, are released, this is where we will be:


Isaiah 63:1-4 Who is this who comes from Edom, With dyed garments from Bozrah, This One who is glorious in His apparel, Traveling in the greatness of His strength?— “I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like one who treads in the winepress? “I have trodden the winepress alone, And from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, And trampled them in My fury; Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, And I have stained all My robes. For the day of vengeance is in My heart, And the year of My redeemed has come.


Don't get the wrong idea here. Jesus isn't alone in this scene. Here, He makes a difference between "peoples" and "His redeemed." When we are with Him coming up from Edom, immediately after the rapture, we have already been changed...we are no longer part of the "peoples"...we have glorious new bodies like His! We are redeemed!...glorified!...He is alive on the earth, and we will never die. This is the beginning of God with man on earth....forever!


The Bible is clear that the Church will be on earth until the very end. The Church is Jesus' Bride...His companion in all He is doing...His very body. Would the King of all remove His body before the greatest day of His reign, the day of the seventh trumpet, when all the kingdoms of the world become physically His possession?!


Look at what Jesus said about the importance of understanding exactly what is going to happen:


Matthew 24:42-44 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.


Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”


Matthew 24:9-13 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.


Understanding the truth about what is about to come upon the whole earth is essential to guard against "offense." The Bible says in the Great Tribulation "many will become offended." ...MANY!... This is the great falling away. The falling away isn't talking about unbelievers, it is believers turning away from the invisible Jesus and trusting in man's plan because their hearts weren't ready to endure the long dark night (the parable of the bridesmaids in Matthew 25). To "fall away" you have to be in a position to fall. Jesus said this falling happens because of the "offense" in not understanding what Jesus is going to allow to happen.


The Book of Revelation is the end-time book of Acts and the end-time book of Exodus, combined and expanded to a global level. The book of Acts isn't the primarily the story of persecution of the apostles, it is the story of the start of the Church! When judgment rained down on Egypt in the Exodus story, the Israelites were protected. The coming Great Tribulation is the Church's finest hour! We don't need to fear it, Jesus is releasing it! We DO need to prepare our hearts with understanding, though.


Our faithful witness in a crumbling world system will be the final testimony that calls "a multitude without number" into a saving relationship with the coming King:

Revelation 7:14 And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.