The Great Tribulation
The Great Tribulation: An Unprecedented Time of Trouble
"The Great Tribulation" is foretold in both the Old and New Testaments: a future era of unparalleled distress, divine judgment and spiritual conflict, ending in the glorious return of Jesus Christ. It bears on God's plan for Israel and for the establishment of His eternal kingdom. This article follows the futurist, pre-tribulational reading of this prophesied time, drawing on the King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Biblical Basis and Terminology
The term "Great Tribulation" is explicitly found in the words of Jesus Himself in the Olivet Discourse:
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Matthew 24:21
KJV
Scripture gives this period other names, each marking a different facet:
- The Time of Jacob's Trouble: This emphasizes its specific focus on Israel, God's chosen nation.
Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
Jeremiah 30:7
KJV
- Daniel's Seventieth Week: Derived from the prophetic seventy weeks given to Daniel, where, in the futurist reading, the final week (seven years) is still to come.
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
Daniel 9:24
KJV
- The Day of the Lord: A broader term encompassing divine judgment and the establishment of Christ's kingdom, which this reading sees as beginning with the Tribulation.
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
On this reading the period lasts seven years, the final week of Daniel 9:27. It is divided into two halves of three and a half years each (42 months or 1,260 days), with the latter half being "the Great Tribulation" proper, marked by even more intense judgments and persecution.
Purpose of the Tribulation
The Great Tribulation, terrifying as it is, serves righteous purposes in God's plan:
- To Bring Israel to Repentance and Faith: The primary focus of Daniel's 70th week is "upon thy people and upon thy holy city" (Daniel 9:24). Israel has often turned away from God. This period is a refining fire, designed to break their stubbornness and lead a remnant to acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah.
And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
Zechariah 13:9
KJV
- To Judge the Ungodly Nations: The Tribulation is also God's righteous wrath poured out upon a world that has rejected Him and oppressed His people. The seals, trumpets, and vials of judgment described in Revelation are direct divine interventions to punish global wickedness, idolatry, and rebellion against God.
And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
Revelation 11:18
KJV
- To Prepare the World for Christ's Millennial Reign: In the premillennial reading, these judgments clear the earth of unrighteousness and prepare it for the physical, righteous rule of Jesus Christ for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:4), and the Tribulation is the prelude to the Kingdom of God on earth.
Key Events and Characteristics
In the futurist reading, the book of Revelation, especially chapters 6-18, gives a chronological account of the Tribulation's events. The main features are:
- Rise of the Antichrist and False Prophet: A charismatic, powerful leader will emerge, who will "confirm the covenant with many for one week" (Daniel 9:27), taken in this reading as a seven-year covenant with Israel. He will be aided by the False Prophet, who performs miracles and directs worship towards the Antichrist and his image.
- The Abomination of Desolation: In the middle of the seven years (3.5 years in), the Antichrist will break his covenant and "cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease" (Daniel 9:27); in this reading he sets up an abomination in a rebuilt temple at Jerusalem, so that he "sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" (2 Thessalonians 2:4). This event marks the beginning of "the Great Tribulation" proper.
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Matthew 24:15
KJV
- Global Persecution and the Mark of the Beast: The Antichrist will institute a global economic and religious system, forcing all to receive a "mark" (either his name or the number of his name, 666) on their right hand or forehead to buy or sell. Those who refuse will face severe persecution, including death.
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
- Divine Judgments: God's wrath will be unleashed through a series of escalating judgments:
- The Seven Seals: Beginning with the rider on the white horse (read here as the Antichrist's rise) and progressing through wars, famine, death, martyrs, the sun black as sackcloth and the stars falling, and a great earthquake.
- The Seven Trumpets: Affecting a third of the earth's vegetation, sea, fresh water, and celestial bodies, followed by demonic plagues.
- The Seven Vials (Bowls): The final, most intense judgments, poured out on the earth, sea, rivers, sun, the Antichrist's throne, the Euphrates river, and culminating in a great earthquake and hailstones.
- The Two Witnesses: Two divinely empowered witnesses will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth and working miracles, placed in this reading in the first half of the period. They will be killed by the Beast but resurrected after three and a half days (Revelation 11:3-12).
The Role of Israel
As the "time of Jacob's trouble," Israel is central to the Tribulation. They will face unprecedented persecution, especially during the latter half, fleeing into hiding (Matthew 24:16; Revelation 12:13-14). In this reading the period will also see a spiritual awakening among a Jewish remnant, and many will finally recognize Jesus as their true Messiah, leading to their national salvation at Christ's return (Romans 11:26).
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Zechariah 12:10
KJV
The Church and the Tribulation
The question is whether the Church is present during the Tribulation. This article holds the pre-tribulation view of the rapture: the Church will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air before the Tribulation begins.
The arguments for the Church's absence during this period include:
- God's Deliverance from Wrath: The Church is not appointed unto wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
The Tribulation is explicitly described as a time of God's wrath (Revelation 6:16-17; Revelation 11:18).
- The Promise of Preservation: To the faithful church in Philadelphia, Jesus promised to keep them from the hour of temptation (or trial) that shall come upon all the world.
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Revelation 3:10
KJV
In the pre-tribulational reading this "hour of temptation" is the Tribulation itself.
- The Nature of the Tribulation: As the "time of Jacob's trouble," its primary focus is Israel, not the Church. The Church, as the body of Christ, has a distinct prophetic program.
- The Rapture as Imminent: In this reading the rapture is imminent, an event that could happen at any moment without preceding signs; if the Church were to go through any part of the Tribulation, specific signs would have to occur first, and imminence would be lost.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Therefore, from this perspective, the rapture immediately precedes the Great Tribulation: God removes His saints from the earth before pouring out His wrath.
Conclusion
On this reading, the Great Tribulation is a divinely appointed period of unparalleled judgment and purification, designed to bring Israel to repentance and to judge the wickedness of the world, preparing the earth for the righteous reign of Jesus Christ. The prospect is sobering, but for those who are in Christ it confirms God's faithfulness to His prophetic word and the glorious hope of His imminent return, and it urges us to share the Gospel and live in watchfulness, knowing that the Lord's coming for His Church is near, before the storm of the Great Tribulation breaks upon the earth.