THE TRIBULATION PERIOD
REVELATION CHAPTER 5
TODAY AND NEXT WEEK, I AM GOING TO ATTEMPT TO DO SOMETHING THAT WILL BE UNIQUE IN MY MINISTRY. I AM GOING TO TRY TO COVER 13 CHAPTERS OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION, AND THROW IN SOME OF THE NINETH CHAPTER OF DANIEL AS WELL. THIS GROUP OF CHAPTERS COVERS THE TIME PERIOD THAT WE CALL THE TRIBULATION. THIS WILL JUST BE AN OVERVIEW, BUT IT’S VITALLY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS TRIBULATION PERIOD WILL BRING OUR END TIMES CLOCK TO MIDNIGHT AS IT ENDS WITH THE GLORIOUS APPEARING OF THE LORD AND USHERS IN THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST.
FROM THE END OF CHAPTER 3 UNTIL CHAPTER 19 OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION THE CHURCH IS NOT MENTIONED. THE REASON FOR THIS IS THAT THE CHURCH WILL HAVE BEEN RAPTURED AND ALL BORN-AGAIN PEOPLE WILL BE TAKEN TO BEGIN THEIR ETERNAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS. THEY WILL NOT HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE TRIBULATION PERIOD. THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO WILL HAVE TO SUFFER THROUGH THE TRIBULATION WILL BE THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT BORN-AGAIN.
TODAY WE WILL LOOK AT THE CONTEXT OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD, WHO INITIATES THE PERIOD, THE PURPOSE OF THE TRIBULATION, WHAT WILL OCCUR AND THE RESULTS OF THE TRIBULATION.
POINT ONE: CONTEXT OF THE TRIBULATION:
THE CONTEXT OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD IS ONE OF THE FEW THINGS ABOUT THE END TIMES THAT IS RATHER EASY TO UNDERSTAND. WE MUST GO TO THE RESPONSIVE READING IN DANIEL TO DO SO.
THIS PASSAGE IN DANIEL IS OFTEN CALLED DANIEL’S VISION OF SEVENTY WEEKS. THE TERM “SEVEN” USED HERE REFERS TO A UNIT OR BLOCK OF SEVEN. WHAT THAT SEVEN REFERS TO IS DETERMINED BY THE CONTEXT OF THE PASSAGE.
WE USE THIS OFTEN IN OUR LANGUAGE TODAY. IF I WERE TO TELL YOU I’M GOING TO GET A DOZEN OF SOMETHING, ONLY THE CONTEXT OF OUR DISCUSSION WILL TELL SPECIFICALLY WHAT I AM GETTING, BUT THE TERM “DOZEN” TELLS YOU I AM GETTING “TWELVE” OF WHATEVER IT IS.
IN DANIEL CHAPTER 9 AND IN REVELATION CHAPTER 12, WE FIND THAT THE “SEVEN” REFERRED TO ARE UNITS OF SEVN YEARS, AND WILL TOTAL 490 YEARS.
DANIEL GOES ON TO BREAK UP THE SEVENTY WEEKS INTO THREE GROUPS:
1. SEVEN GROUPS OF SEVEN YEARS = 7 X 7=49 YEARS
2. SIXY-TWO GROUPS OF SEVEN = 62 X 7= 434 YEARS
3. 1 GROUP OF SEVEN = 1 X 7= 7 YEARS
THE TOTAL OF THIS SEVENTY WEEKS OF SEVEN YEARS IS 490 YEARS.
HERE IS WHAT THIS MEANS FOR US:
DANIEL 9:25: “KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THIS: FROM THE TIME THE WORD GOES OUT TO RESTORE AND REBUILD JERUSALEM UNTIL THE ANOINTED ONE, G THE RULER, COMES, THERE WILL BE SEVEN ‘SEVENS,’ AND SIXTY-TWO ‘SEVENS.’ IT WILL BE REBUILT WITH STREETS AND A TRENCH, BUT IN TIMES OF TROUBLE.
1. FROM THE TIME THAT CYRUS THE KING OF THE MEDE-PERSIAN EMPIRE, WHO HELD ISRAEL IN EXILE, ISSUED A DECREE ALLOWING THE ISRAELITES TO GO BACK AND REBUILD JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE TO IT’S COMPLETION WAS EXACTLY 49 YEARS, OR 7 WEEKS, OR SEVEN TIME PERIODS OF SEVEN YEARS.
DANIEL 9:26: AFTER THE SIXTY-TWO ‘SEVENS,’ THE ANOINTED ONE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH AND WILL HAVE NOTHING. THE PEOPLE OF THE RULER WHO WILL COME WILL DESTROY THE CITY AND THE SANCTUARY. THE END WILL COME LIKE A FLOOD: WAR WILL CONTINUE UNTIL THE END, AND DESOLATIONS HAVE BEEN DECREED.
2. THIS SIXTY-TWO UNITS OF SEVEN YEARS EQUALS 434 YEARS. IT WILL BE A TIME OF GREAT TROUBLE FOR ISRAEL. IT COVERS THE INTERTESTAMENTAL PERIOD WHEN THERE WERE NO PROPHETS SPEAKING AND THE PEOPLE FELT THAT GOD WAS SILENT. THEY WOULD COME UNDER THE DOMINATION OF THE ROMANS AND CULMINATE DURING THE TIME OF CHRIST. THE PERIOD OF TIME FROM THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE TO THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS, DANIEL’S “ANOINTED ONE”, WAS 434 YEARS. SIR ROBERT ANDERSON IN HIS BOOK “THE COMING PRINCE” VERIFIES THESE DATES AS EXACT.
DANIEL 9:27: 27 HE WILL CONFIRM A COVENANT WITH MANY FOR ONE ‘SEVEN.’ IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ‘SEVEN’ HE WILL PUT AN END TO SACRIFICE AND OFFERING. AND AT THE TEMPLE HE WILL SET UP AN ABOMINATION THAT CAUSES DESOLATION, UNTIL THE END THAT IS DECREED IS POURED OUT ON HIM.
3. WE CAN SEE THAT FROM THE TIME OF CYRUS’S PROCLAMATION TO THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST IS 483 YEARS. HISTORY WILL SUPPORT THESE FACTS. BUT WHAT OF THE FINAL UNIT OF “SEVEN” OR THE FINAL SEVEN YEAR PERIOD. THIS PERIOD IS THE TRIBULATION PERIOD. IT STATES THAT IT WILL BEGIN WITH THE ANTI-CHRIST CONFIRMING A COVENANT WITH “MANY”, THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, BUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT TIME PERIOD HE WILL BREAK THE COVENANT AND DESECRATE THE TEMPLE. THIS WILL INTRODUCE THE SECOND HALF OF THE TRIBULATION, OR WHAT WE KNOW AS THE GREAT TRIBULATION.
POINT TWO: WHO INITIATES THE TRIBULATION JUDGMENTS?
WE KNOW THAT THE TRIBULATION PERIOD WILL START WITH THE COVENANT BETWEEN ANTI-CHRIST AND THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. WE ALSO KNOW THAT HE WILL UNLEACH UNPRECEDENTED EVIL AND FURY DURING THIS TIME, KILLING MOST IF NOT ALL WHO TURN TO THE LORD FOR SALVATION.
THE JUDGMENTS THAT WILL OCCUR DURING THIS TIME ARE NOT INITIATED BY SATAN OR ANTICHRIST, BUT BY GOD.
POINT THREE: WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE TRIBULATION?
IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE, BUT THERE IS A CLEAR AND REDEMPTIVE PURPOSE TO THE TRIBULATION.
CONSIDER THE TEN PLAGUES OF EGYPT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. WHO INITIATED THOSE PLAGUES? GOD DID. HE HAD A CLEAR PURPOSE IN MIND AND THAT WAS TO GET PHAROAH TO LET HIS PEOPLE GO FREE OUT OF BONDAGE AND SLAVERY. EACH OF THESE PLAGUES INCREASED IN SEVERITY. EACH OF THE PLAGUES USED DIFFERENT NATURAL PHENONEMENA IN SUPERNATURAL WAYS. THE LAST PLAGUE INVOLVED THE TAKING OF LIFE.
WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THE TRIBULATION WE MUST REALIZE THE OVERALL REDEMPTIVE PLAN OF GOD IN THIS. DURING THE AGE OF GRACE GOD HAS ALLOWED PEOPLE TO COME TO HIM FOR SALVATION, THE SAME WAY MOSES PLEADED WITH PHAROAH TO LET HIS PEOPLE GO. WHEN PHAROAH WOULD NOT, IT LEAD TO A GREATER EXAMPLE OF THE POWER OF GOD.
DURING THE TRIBULATION TIME GOD ALLOWS HUMANS TO HAVE A PREVIEW OF WHAT HELL IS GOING TO BE LIKE. EACH OF THE JUDGMENTS ARE GOING TO BE MORE SEVERE THAN THE OTHERS. EVERYTHING ON EARTH IS GOING TO JUDGED RIGHTEOUSLY BY GOD AS THE JUDGMENTS WILL EFFECT PEOPLE, LAND, WATER, AND ANIMALS. SINCE ALL THINGS CONTAIN THE SIN NATURE, ALL OF THE EARTH WILL BE JUDGED.
THE ANTICHRIST WILL BE ALLOWED UNRESTRICTED FREEDOM ON THE EARTH FOR THIS PERIOD OF TIME. IN DOING SO GOD ALLOWS PEOPLE TO SEE WHAT AN ETERNITY WITH SATAN WILL BE LIKE, WITH NO CHANCE OF ANY RELIEF FOREVER.
SINCE PEOPLE WOULD NOT OPEN THEIR SPIRITUAL EYES DURING THE AGE OF GRACE, GOD IS GIVING THEM ONE LAST OPPORTUNITY TO OPEN THEIR SPIRITUAL EYES AND ASK FOR MERCY AND FORGIVENESS DURING THE TRIBULATION.
MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT THIS. MOST PEOPLE WHO COME TO CHRIST DURING THE TRIBULATION WILL FACE MARTYRDOM AT THE HANDS OF THE ANTICHRIST. HE WILL DO WHAT HE CAN TO STOP THE WORLDWIDE REVIVAL THAT WILL HAPPEN DURING THIS TIME, BUT THE MOST HE WILL BE ABLE TO DO IS MURDER THOSE WHO TURN TO CHRIST. THEIR DEATH FOR THEM IS THEIR ESCAPE FROM THE EFFECTS OF THE TRIBULATION AND INTO THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST.
MATTHEW 10:28-32:
DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THOSE WHO KILL THE BODY BUT CANNOT KILL THE SOUL. RATHER, BE AFRAID OF THE ONE WHO CAN DESTROY BOTH SOUL AND BODY IN HELL. 29 ARE NOT TWO SPARROWS SOLD FOR A PENNY? YET NOT ONE OF THEM WILL FALL TO THE GROUND OUTSIDE YOUR FATHER’S CARE. 30 AND EVEN THE VERY HAIRS OF YOUR HEAD ARE ALL NUMBERED. 31 SO DON’T BE AFRAID; YOU ARE WORTH MORE THAN MANY SPARROWS. 32 “WHOEVER ACKNOWLEDGES ME BEFORE OTHERS, I WILL ALSO ACKNOWLEDGE BEFORE MY FATHER IN HEAVEN.
THERE ARE MANY THEOLOGICAL PURPOSES FOR THE TRIBULATION BUT THE GREATEST I BELIEVE IS THE REDEMPTIVE ONE. THE TRIBULATION WILL FORCE A FINAL DECISION FROM THOSE LEFT BEHIND. YOU WILL CHOOSE TO FOLLOW CHRIST, AND THOUGH YOU MAY LOSE YOUR PHYSICAL LIFE BE SECURE IN CHRIST AND LIVE WITH HIM AT THE TIME OF YOUR RESURRECTION, OR, YOU WILL CHOOSE TO FOLLOW THE ANTICHRIST. TO MAKE THIS DECISION MEANS THAT YOU WILL ENDURE ALL OF THE JUDGMENTS GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THIS TIME, AND YOU WILL LIVE FOREVER APART FROM GOD IN THE LAKE OF FIRE WE CALL HELL.
POINT FOUR: WHAT WILL OCCUR DURING THE TRIBULATION?
BE ASSURED THAT THE ONLY POSITIVE THING THAT WILL HAPPEN DURING THIS TIME ARE THE TRIBULATION SAINTS, THOSE WHO COME TO CHRIST DURING THIS TIME. LAST WEEK WE TALKED ABOUT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT THE ANTICHRIST WOULD ALLOW TO HAPPEN.
1. GOD HAS PROMISED TO NEVER LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US AND THIS PROMISE MUST INCLUDE THE TRIBULATION PERIOD AS WELL. GOD HAS PROMISED A REVIVAL AMONG THE JEWS DURING THIS TIME.
REVELATION 7:4: THEN I HEARD THE NUMBER OF THOSE WHO WERE SEALED: 144,000 FROM ALL THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL.
THERE WILL BE 12,000 FROM EACH OF THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL. THEY WILL PREACH THE SAME GOSPEL AS THAT OF PETER AND PAUL, THE GOSPEL OF GRACE ANDM MERCY IN JESUS CHRIST.
I BELIEVE THIS REVIVAL WILL HAPPEN DURING THE INITIAL STAGES OF THE TRIBULATION, BEFORE THE ANTICHRIST CAN BEGIN HIS TERRORISM OF CHRISTIANS IN IT’S FULLEST FORM.
WHILE THE HOLY SPIRIT’S ROLE AS A RESTRICTING FORCE OF EVIL IS RAPTURED WITH THE CHURCH, THE HOLY SPIRIT’S ROLE AS A CONVICTING AGENT ON THE HEARTS OF MEN AND WOMEN WILL BE PRESENT DURING THE TRIBULATION TO GUIDE PEOPLE TO CHRIST, MUCH LIKE HIS ROLE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
WHO KNOWS HOW MANY MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WILL COME TO CHRIST THROUGH THE MINISTRY OF THESE 144,000 SAINTS OF CHRIST.
REVELATION 7:9-10; 13-17:
AFTER THIS I LOOKED, AND THERE BEFORE ME WAS A GREAT MULTITUDE THAT NO ONE COULD COUNT, FROM EVERY NATION, TRIBE, PEOPLE AND LANGUAGE, STANDING BEFORE THE THRONE AND BEFORE THE LAMB. THEY WERE WEARING WHITE ROBES AND WERE HOLDING PALM BRANCHES IN THEIR HANDS. 10 AND THEY CRIED OUT IN A LOUD VOICE: “SALVATION BELONGS TO OUR GOD, WHO SITS ON THE THRONE, AND TO THE LAMB.”
THEN ONE OF THE ELDERS ASKED ME, “THESE IN WHITE ROBES—WHO ARE THEY, AND WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?” 14 I ANSWERED, “SIR, YOU KNOW.” AND HE SAID, “THESE ARE THEY WHO HAVE COME OUT OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION; THEY HAVE WASHED THEIR ROBES AND MADE THEM WHITE IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB. 15 THEREFORE, “THEY ARE BEFORE THE THRONE OF GOD AND SERVE HIM DAY AND NIGHT IN HIS TEMPLE; AND HE WHO SITS ON THE THRONE WILL SHELTER THEM WITH HIS PRESENCE. 16 ‘NEVER AGAIN WILL THEY HUNGER; NEVER AGAIN WILL THEY THIRST. THE SUN WILL NOT BEAT DOWN ON THEM,’ NOR ANY SCORCHING HEAT. 17 FOR THE LAMB AT THE CENTER OF THE THRONE WILL BE THEIR SHEPHERD; ‘HE WILL LEAD THEM TO SPRINGS OF LIVING WATER.’ V ‘AND GOD WILL WIPE AWAY EVERY TEAR FROM THEIR EYES.’”
2. MARKS WILL BE CHOSEN AT THIS TIME. PEOPLE WILL EITHER CHOOSE TO BE SEALED BY THE MARK OF GOD AS HIS CHILD, OR BE FORCED TO ACCEPT THE MARK OF THE BEAST. IF YOU CHOOSE THE MARK OF GOD, YOU NAME WILL BE IN THE BOOK OF LIFE, BUT YOU WILL BE MARTYRED FOR CHOOSING GOD OVER THE ANTICHRIST.
IF YOU CHOOSE THE MARK OF THE BEAST, THE 666, THEN AND ONLY THEN, WILL YOU BE ABLE TO BUY AND SELL, BUT IN CHOOSING THAT MARK, YOUR ETERNAL FATE APART FROM CHRIST IN HELL IS SECURED.
I HAVE OFTEN HEARD PEOPLE ASK, HOW WILL WE LIVE IF WE DON’T TAKE THE MARK. IT’S A QUESTION THAT ASSUMES THAT LIFE WILL GO ON AS WE KNOW IT NOW, AND THIS IS A FALSE ASSUMPTION. THE JUDGMENTS WILL HAVE DIFFERENT AND LASTING EFFECTS ON ALL THOSE WHO ARE LEFT BEHIND. IF YOU TAKE THIS MARK YOU MAY BE ABLE TO BUY AND SELL, BUT THERE WILL BE NOTHING TO BUY OR SELL. YOUR BODY WILL BE IN SUCH AGONY THAT DEATH WILL BECOME A WELCOME FRIEND. YOU WILL LIVE, BUT YOUR LIFE WILL ONLY BE A PREVIEW OF WHAT HELL WILL BE LIKE, ONLY A MILLION TIMES WORSE.
3. TWO SUPERNATURAL WITNESSES: REVELATION CHAPTER 11 SPEAKS OF TWO VERY SPECIAL WITNESSES WITH GOD-GIVEN POWERS. WHO THESE WITNESSES ARE WE DON’T KNOW. SEVERAL THEORIES HAVE BEEN SUGGESTED BUT ALL THEY ARE IS SPECULATION
THIS IS WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE WITNESSES. NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO HARM THEM FOR 1260 DAYS, OR HALF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD.
REVELATION 11:5: IF ANYONE TRIES TO HARM THEM, FIRE COMES FROM THEIR MOUTHS AND DEVOURS THEIR ENEMIES. THIS IS HOW ANYONE WHO WANTS TO HARM THEM MUST DIE.
THEY WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO DO SUPERNATURAL THINGS THROUGH THE POWER OF GOD.
REVELATION 11:6: THEY HAVE POWER TO SHUT UP THE HEAVENS SO THAT IT WILL NOT RAIN DURING THE TIME THEY ARE PROPHESYING; AND THEY HAVE POWER TO TURN THE WATERS INTO BLOOD AND TO STRIKE THE EARTH WITH EVERY KIND OF PLAGUE AS OFTEN AS THEY WANT.
THEIR PURPOSE IS TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE POWER OF GOD AND THE POWER OF THE ANTICHRIST.
AFTER 1260 DAYS THE ANTICHRIST WILL HAVE THE POWER TO KILL THEM. HOW THEIR DEATHS ARE HANDLED SHOWS THE RUTHLESSNESS OF THE TRIBULATION TIME AND PEOPLE.
REVELATION 11:9-10:
FOR THREE AND A HALF DAYS SOME FROM EVERY PEOPLE, TRIBE, LANGUAGE AND NATION WILL GAZE ON THEIR BODIES AND REFUSE THEM BURIAL. 10 THE INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH WILL GLOAT OVER THEM AND WILL CELEBRATE BY SENDING EACH OTHER GIFTS, BECAUSE THESE TWO PROPHETS HAD TORMENTED THOSE WHO LIVE ON THE EARTH.
AFTER THREE AND A HALF DAYS, GOD WILL RESURRECT THESE WITNESSES.
REVELATION 11:11-12:
BUT AFTER THE THREE AND A HALF DAYS THE BREATH OF LIFE FROM GOD ENTERED THEM, AND THEY STOOD ON THEIR FEET, AND TERROR STRUCK THOSE WHO SAW THEM. 12 THEN THEY HEARD A LOUD VOICE FROM HEAVEN SAYING TO THEM, “COME UP HERE.” AND THEY WENT UP TO HEAVEN IN A CLOUD, WHILE THEIR ENEMIES LOOKED ON.
ANTICHRIST ONLY HAS THE POWER TO TAKE LIFE. GOD HAS THE POWER TO GIVE IT BACK.
NEXT WEEK WE WILL TALK ABOUT THE ACTUAL TRIBULATION JUDGMENTS.
