God’s Promise To Us
Most understand that the tribulation period is a time of extreme peril upon the world. What it is for, and who it applies to is where much debate sets in. If we allow Scripture to interpret itself we can solve many issues. In order to understand the tribulation first one needs to know the importance of God’s promises to Israel and also the Church.
Without these prerequisites it becomes easy to miss the importance of this period of time. I highly recommend reading the posts concerning Israel and the Church before continuing as they are fundamental building blocks. We can begin to understand the why behind creation and the foundations of the world.
Understanding Time and for Who
Daniel 9 is critical in laying the foundations of time for knowing the tribulation. While the 70 weeks prophecy needs its own explanation, it is this prophecy which details various periods of time for Israel. This prophecy was given to Daniel to explain two main concepts in time.
First when the Messiah would be cut off, crucified on the cross, and secondly to establish the time for the tribulation. To reach the moment in time where Christ was crucified would require 69 of the 70 weeks. Each week consists of 7 days and each day represented 1 year. Thus prophetically each week is 7 years of time.
For this moment while dealing with the tribulation I wish to focus on two concepts. First this prophecy is specifically for Israel and is used as a measurement of time for Israel. No where is a Gentile nation mentioned, nor is there any mention or meaning for the Church. This is imperative to recognize. Secondly the last week, or the 70th week, is specific to one event being the tribulation. With each day representing one year this tribulation period will last for a total of 7 years after the antichrist confirms this covenant of peace.
Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Despite the perception of many within the world of prophecy today it is imperative to recognize who this prophecy is for and the events within it. In no way can or will this event apply to the Church.
Many who see the tribulation as a Church event may have a difficult time accepting what was stated. Yet this is allowing Scripture to define and interpret itself without other influence. When Jesus came to this earth as our sacrifice for sin the Jews rejected Him. They refused to recognize Christ as the Messiah. Here we turn to another piece of scripture.
Why Israel?
In Matthew 23 we find Jesus berating the Pharisees scolding them for many of their “religious” ways. He compares them to whitened sepulchers which are whitewashed on the outside yet are tombs for the dead within. He scolds them for saying that they would have never killed the prophets while they themselves are the children of those who did kill them, and we know they would soon kill Jesus Himself. At the end of chapter 23 we come to an interesting insight of prophecy.
Matthew 23:38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Jesus goes on in Matthew 24 to detail issues pertaining to the end of the world with the disciples. He gives them a marker to identify the period within which they will live within. It is not until that moment that they see Christ for who He is.
In Genesis 17 we find God’s promise to Abraham and the future house of Israel. He promised them that He would forever be a God unto them, and He promised them the land of Canaan for all eternity. When Jesus came they rejected Him. Nevertheless God does not go back on His promises, He is not a liar. God is willing to keep His end of the promise, yet Israel must yield and recognize Jesus as their God, their Messiah. Thus the statement Jesus made in Matthew 23:39
In that statement Jesus was looking forward in time. He recognized that Israel would be blind and it would not be until the tribulation period that they would know Him as their Messiah. They will not see Christ until they say “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord”. Jeremiah 30:7 speaks of the tribulation as being “Jacobs trouble” and of its terror but that Israel will be saved from it.
There is no mistake that the tribulation is specific in purpose for Israel to recognize their Messiah. It has also been detailed to a specific period of time within the Empires of history as given to Daniel.
God must fulfill His promise to them but the only way to accomplish this is for them to know Him.
This is why the Church has no purpose within the tribulation period. The Church are already believers in Christ. Nevertheless this brings about some interesting questions pertaining to the tribulation.
What role does the Church play?
Since the core purpose behind this event is for Israel to know Jesus, why are there so many horrors that fall upon the world? Here we turn again to Scripture to further elaborate upon what takes place. In 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 Paul is giving certain details about the tribulation, the falling away, and the antichrist. Yet there is one passage that gives insight into why so much falls upon the world, and it is also why it is necessary for the Church to not be present within the world.
2nd Thessalonians 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Focus on the phrase “only He who now letteth will let, until He be taken out of the way”. Some translations use the words “And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time”. At the present moment within the world, before the rapture, there is something restraining or holding back these events from cascading into the end times. Who is this “restrainer” or the one “who now letteth will let, until He be taken out of the way”? It is the Holy Spirit.
Paul wrote about how we do not war against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, the rulers of darkness over this world. As long as the Church is present within the world this restrainer, the Holy Spirit, stands in the way waging this war. Once the Church is removed from this world through the rapture the Holy Spirit does not leave, but rather steps aside. It would be as if a quarterbacks linemen sat down for coffee and he had no defense. He would be overrun.
The events which begin to unfold on the earth within the tribulation are without restraint. Wickedness and evil will rule the world and the world has no defense strategy except that the Holy Spirit fights for Israel. Those who remain within the world are those who rejected Christ. For those within the world God will pour out His wrath on them as a judgment for their refusal to accept Him and their sin. There are passages within Revelation that show how the people of the earth know that He is God but shake their fists in rejection despite the suffering as they refuse to accept the truth.
How can God be so cruel you may ask? How can a God who is loving, and Scripture states that God is love, do or allow such things? Let me return that question to you like this. If God is love, then the individual rejects that love, what does that person have? God is the giver of life, without God there is only death. To reject love and life would leave any individual with only death. Our modern mindset has ingrained us with this idea that each person can have their own truth. Is this idea of our own truths reality or an illusion?
I love Kipling’s poem “The God’s of the Copybook Headings”. In his time he recognized the cost of an illusion within social progress. If one were to take his poem he states obvious truths. Water will always wet no matter what one believes just as fire will always burn. To believe that water is not wet or that fire will not burn may be a fanciful idea from the armchair. When dropped into a lake or placed within a fire the reality of the given situation strikes home no matter what ones belief may be. Truth is always truth irregardless of ones perception or belief.
A Traitor before Time
The back story which set this train into motion long ago leading us to the tribulation is quite amazing. How did all of this come to be? Why can it not be stopped or changed? What is really taking place within the world? I give you the beginning of it all in Isaiah 14.
Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Lucifer and the other angels were created before this world or Adam and Eve. There was no other creation at that time aside from maybe Michael that could match him. Lucifer was jealous and prideful and stated that he would be like the most high. Imagine for a moment that at his fall he recognized that there was no redemption for him if he even desired it. Christ would not die for angels, but only those created in God’s image. There is no way that I can be convinced that Satan knew of God’s ultimate plan or that God in some way runs His day planner by him. I personally believe what Lucifer would see stunned him.
I believe that at the moment of the creation of Adam and Eve for the first time Lucifer witnessed something which he had never seen. A creation which was in God’s image. Lucifer himself stated that he desired to be like the most high, a desire he could never achieve. When Eve was deceived it was not a mere temptation but rather a desire to destroy a creation which was more beautiful than Lucifer himself was, for Lucifer is not in the image of God.
Imagine in the mind of Lucifer for a moment, a belief that once mankind fell they too would have no way to be redeemed or saved. They too would be trapped apart from God as he was. It is not until after Adam and Eve sin that we see the first prophecy pertaining to salvation in
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
If one recognizes while reading the book of Revelation that some of the judgments unleashed upon the earth are those of allowing demons or fallen angels loose to run rampant and torment mankind, there is a reason for it. As the Holy Spirit steps aside these unholy beings will attack for they hate all mankind. Lucifer from the very beginning sought to destroy us. He introduced sin and with it death. The tribulation which falls upon the world is not God merely saying choose or die, rather it allows mankind to see reality and truth.
A Picture of Marriage
At this moment we are on a stage called life. There is a curtain behind us that can only be passed through death. Many wonder what is behind that curtain. Within the tribulation God allows the curtain to be removed. Mankind is left with no question or assumption as to what is reality or truth. God is love and life, outside of love and life is only death. A holy God cannot be a part of sin. A holy God cannot accept nor look on sin.
Just as a marriage takes two people to choose to love one another our relationship with God is much the same way. God loves us, but we must decide to either love Him or accept our reality without Him. A man or woman can love their respected wife or husband, but a love that is only going one direction and no love is reciprocated nor returned is bound for problems. The difference is God never stops trying to get our attention.
Last Act of Mercy
Within the tribulation 144 thousand Jews will be appointed to preach the gospel. There will also be angels which fly through the atmosphere proclaiming the gospel to the entire world. There will not be a soul on this earth which will die in ignorance. Many will accept Christ, yet there will be many who continue to shake their fist in defiance.
The tribulation is not for a purification of any kind nor people such as the Church. It is firstly for Israel to come to know Christ, then hopefully also those who have not heard the gospel among the Gentile nations. Its purpose is singular in focus and its primary target is the hearts of all mankind to know Him. It is as it were His last act of mercy for those who choose to believe in Him before they enter an eternity within the 2nd death. There is one more concept I wish to give before concluding this definition or overview of what the tribulation is. What about those who are alive now and have clearly heard the gospel but have rejected it in our time?
2nd Thessalonians 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
For those who are alive now before the rapture but reject Christ, at the moment the Church leaves this earth there will be no hope for them. They will believe this lie or strong delusion. Some do not like this passage. Some disagree with it. I cannot explain the totality of why this passage is true other than to say that the Church age has never been about belief by sight but by faith and grace alone. For someone who had heard and rejected a clear presentation of the gospel, seeing the rapture take place to then come to faith by seeing would break that one consistent fact throughout the Church age after the time of the apostles.
The tribulation is not the end of the world. Nor is the battle of “Armageddon” the end. The battle at Meggido wraps the end of the tribulation for something greater, grander, and perfect as we move into the Millennial Kingdom. For those who know Christ there is no need to fear as we are with Christ and always will remain so.