25. 4. THE FUTURE NOT INTO PRESENT: TRIBULATION
Then:
The 3rd Seal: *Famines* (vv. 5, 6).
The 4th Seal: *Pestilences* (vv. 7, 8).
The 5th Seal: *Martyrdoms* (vv. 9—11).
The 6th Seal: *Signs in Heaven and Earth* (vv. 12—17).
Then it is added in Matt. xxiv. 7, 8, and Mark xiii. 8,
"THESE ARE THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS."
But in Luke xxi. 12 it does not go on to describe these events, which belong to the Great Tribulation, but *it goes back* to what shall be
"BEFORE ALL THESE THINGS,"
and describes the events up to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 in verses 12—24. Then the description (having passed over the details of the Tribulation itself given in Matt. xxiv. 9—28 and Mark xiii. 9—23) joins with them in describing the end, and what shall be "immediately after the tribulation of those days," culminating in the coming of the Son of Man, which is the common subject of Matt. xxiv. 29—31. Mark xiii. 24—27. Luke xxi. 25—28.
The very title of Christ as "Son of Man" in this description of the Tribulation shows that the Church of God is not here. That title, as we have seen (page 140), has nothing to do with the Church or with this Dispensation of grace. It has to do with the earth, and with Christ's dominion in the earth. It contemplates the Jews as in their own land, observing their own Sabbath laws (Matt. xxiv. 20). It concerns those who are "in Judea" (v. 16). All the expressions used point to a people under the Mosaic law. This cannot therefore refer to the Church of God, which is "not under the law" (Rom. vi. 14. 1 Cor. ix. 21).
True, the Church of God has tribulation NOW, in the world, at least many of its members have, but not the Church, *as such*. But this is a very different thing from the Church, or any part of it, being IN "the tribulation, the great one."
On the other hand, the Scriptures, other than the epistles addressed to the Church of God, constantly refer
¹ Greek, *dōnos (ōdinos), birth-pangs, or throes*. Compare Isa. lxvi. 6—11 with Jer. xxx. 5 24.
to that coming time of tribulation (Matt. x. 16 -23.¹ Rev. i. 9; ii. 9, 10, 13; iii. 10; vii. 13 -17).
Thus, the moment we recognize the great duty of "rightly dividing" the different principles of administration, apportioning each to its own distinct time and Dispensation, we see that the Church of God can have no place in the Great Tribulation; and that, being "not under the law," it must be excluded from all those Scriptures which have the law for its governing principle, and Judæa for the scene of its administration.
(b) In the same way, we must not interpret the 144,000 of Rev. vii. or xiv. of the Church of God. We see them involved in the horrors of the Great Tribulation, and in the Dispensation of Judgment; and specially sealed so that they should be preserved through it; whereas the promise to those who belong to the Church of God is very positive that that Day shall not overtake, or come upon it (1 Thess. v. 4).
But beside this, the very enumeration of them excludes all except those who belong to the *tribes of the children of Israel*. Not only are these tribes mentioned thus, collectively, in Rev. vii. 4, but, in verses 5-8, each tribe is afterward mentioned separately by name.
The promise to Daniel was, that when that time of trouble should come, "thy people shall be delivered." Here we see how that deliverance will be secured. This is the deliverance which is referred to in Joel ii. 28-32.
As the Lord had 7,000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal, in the days of Ahab and Jezebel, so He will have 144,000 of those who will refuse to bow the knee to the Beast, or receive his mark in the days of the Great Tribulation.
In Rev. vii. we have two of the three peoples with whom Scripture deals. In verses 1-8 we have the Jews; in verses 9-17 we have the Gentiles. It is clear therefore that we must not put in the Church of God where He has left it out. As for the Jews, we are told that "they shall not be reckoned among the nations" (or Gentiles), Num. xxiii. 9, and as to the Church of God, there is neither
¹ See above, page 122.