19. The Tribulation Period
CHAPTER NINETEEN
THE TRIBULATION PERIOD
“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should be no flesh saved; but for the elect’s sake, those days shall be shortened" (Matthew 24:21-22).
The tribulation period is a time of seven years immediately following the departure of the Church and the Holy Spirit from the earth. It extends from the Rapture to the Revelation of Jesus Christ (Jeremiah 30:3-7). It is the seventieth week of Daniel (Daniel 9:27), and the day of the Antichrist. The Antichrist will be revealed after the Rapture, and he will become the absolute dictator of the world. This period will greatly affect the Jews and the Gentiles who are unsaved.
What happens during the tribulation period is described in Revelation 6:1 to Revelation 19:21.
The removal of all true Christians from the earth will cause great consternation and confusion on the earth. People will look for the cause of this departure. The seven years of this tribulation period are divided into two parts of three and one-half years each. At the beginning of this period, which is characterized by the breaking of the seals (Revelation 6:1), the Antichrist will be revealed, and he will make a covenant with the Jewish people. At the end of three and one-half years in this period, the Antichrist breaks his covenant.
Satan, who is sometimes referred to as the great dragon, with all his angels, is cast out of the heavenlies. He has always been opposed to the work of God, and he does all he can to oppose God’s chosen people. He directs his woes upon the Jews especially, because Christ was born of the Jewish race, and is elevated to a place of power. The Antichrist is empowered by the Devil. The period of “Great Tribulation” is the last three and one-half years of the seven years. It is called the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble". A second beast rises up out of the sea. He is the false prophet. He does lying wonders. He blasphemes God, and causes the people to worship the first beast. He causes all people to receive a “mark,” either in their forehead or in their right hand. He causes that no man can buy or sell without the mark of the beast. The Antichrist is then acknowledged by the world as ruler, and he is worshipped as God.
The remnant of God’s chosen people, Israel, shall be delivered from all these woes, and will go to a place prepared for them, that they may hide themselves for three and one-half years. This time will be shortened for the elect’s sake.
This period is also a period of salvation. A body of 144,000 people of Israel are sealed. Another group called “the Blood-Washed Multitude” is saved during the “Great Tribulation,” the last three and one-half years of this period. They are not the Church, but they have accepted the Saviour, after the Church has been taken up to be with Christ.
All of these are the tribulation saints, martyrs of this bloody period. Their souls after their death are seen under the altar, as observed by John. These martyrs are those who have preached the “Gospel of the Kingdom,” and have been persecuted unto death. They are the gleanings of the harvest. Their bodies are in the grave. There is a resurrection of these tribulation saints when they arise to help form the hosts of heaven.
Scofield says that the innumerable host of Gentiles of Revelation 7:9, which are said to have come out of the “Great Tribulation,” are not of the priesthood, the Church, but seem to stand somewhat in the relationship of the Levites to the priests under the Mosaic covenant (Revelation 7:15).
There is a scarlet woman who will appear riding on a beast which has seven heads and ten horns. She will be the apostate church at that time. She will later be destroyed.
The Jews will recognize that Christ is their Messiah, and that the Spirit of God has been poured out upon them. Three angel messengers then are sent forth to preach to the people. One preaches the “Everlasting Gosper* of judgment; another announces the “Fall of Babylon”; and the third preaches warnings of judgment to those who are tempted to worship the beast.
The period will end at the time of the battle of Armageddon on the plain of Megiddo. Christ shall return suddenly in glory with all the hosts of heaven. He will bring to an end the “Times of the Gentiles” and the tribulation period. He will come to judge the nations and to set up His Kingdom on earth.
On the Art Chart (www.BibleSupport.com/a/gppc.png) are pictured the seals, the trumpets, the vials, Satan and his hosts cast out of the heavenlies, the Antichrist, the false prophet, the image, the scarlet woman, the altar, the “Little stone cut out without hands,” Armageddon, the Revelation, and the Mount of Olives.
This kingdom of the Antichrist on earth, which is set up during the tribulation period, is a counterfeit kingdom. The trinity of that kingdom is the Anti-Father who is Satan, the dragon; the Anti-Son, who is the first beast, the Antichrist; and the Anti-Spirit, who is the second beast, the false prophet. In the prayer Jesus taught His disciples, when they prayed, “Thy Kingdom Come,” they did not pray for this counterfeit kingdom, but they prayed for the real kingdom of Christ which follows the tribulation period and the Revelation of Christ.
At the conclusion of the tribulation period, Christ will set up His kingdom, and the Jews will accept their king.
Satan will be bound and cast into the “bottomless pit” for 1000 years. The Antichrist and the false prophet will be cast into the “Lake of Fire" Christ will judge the nations. Here again is the close of another period in which God tests man. It is a period in the conflict of the ages, between God and Satan, when Satan turns loose all the fury and power of his evil purposes.
A study of the Revelation will disclose the details of the work of the angels, the seals, the trumpets, and the vials (Revelation 6:1-17; Revelation 7:1-17; Revelation 8:1-13).
Satan knows that he is in the last round of his losing conflict-of-the-ages with Christ. Again, in this time of trouble, the “Grace of God” is manifested, and the people who obey God will be saved. We are reminded of God’s message, “He that endureth to the end shall be saved”. “Be thou faithful unto death and I will give you a Crown of Life" (Revelation 2:10).