The Seven Year Tribulation

October, 2003

by: Jack Hughes

• Prophecy and End Times

In our last Calvary Review we looked at the rapture of the church. The rapture, we learned, precedes a seven-year period of time called the tribulation. The tribulation is significant because it is a time of transition. It closes one age and brings in another. It culminates in the second coming of Christ. In this Calvary Review we will examine some of what the Bible says about the last seven years of earth which precede the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Purpose of the Tribulation

The purpose of the tribulation is to redeem the people of Israel. When Jesus came the first time, He was rejected by most of the Jews - only a small remnant believed in Him. Immediately after Jesus told the parable of the wicked vine growers in Mt. 21, which is about the Jewish leaders rejecting their Messiah, Jesus quoted Psa. 118:22-23 which speaks of the rejection of the Corner Stone (Jesus) by the builders (Jewish leaders). Then Jesus said to the Jewish leaders, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruit of it.” History has shown that while Jesus was a Jew, the Apostles were Jews, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ was first preached to Jews, the church has been comprised of mostly Gentiles.

Paul, in Rom. 11, explains in great detail how God has used the rejection of Jesus by the Jews as a means to both save the Gentiles and make the Jews jealous so they too will be moved to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. In Rom. 11:25 Paul says, “that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in.” Right now we are living in the church age, which started in Acts 2 and continues until the rapture when the church is caught up in the air to be with the Lord.

We are also in what Luke describes in Lk. 21:23-24 as “the times of the Gentiles.” The times of the Gentiles started with Babylonian world dominance and continues until the end of the tribulation when the renewed Roman empire and the reign of the antichrist is thrown down by the return of Jesus, the King of kings. When Christ returns again to earth after the tribulation, a Jewish King will reign over the earth from Jerusalem and Israel will have preeminence and world dominance.

During the tribulation God will preserve and protect one hundred and forty-four thousand Jews who will be His evangelists at that time to witness to the masses of unbelieving Jews and Gentiles (see Rev. 7:4; 14:1-5). While many Jews still reject Christ during the tribulation, one third will end up being saved (see Zech. 13:8-9).

The Intensity of the Tribulation

Jeremiah seems to be the first to mention the tribulation. In Jer. 30:4-10 we read of a time of great trouble or distress that comes upon Israel, the result of which causes Israel to be saved and freed from their oppressors to serve the Lord their God. It is described in Jer. 30:6 which says, “that day is great, and there is none like it.” The prophet Daniel, in Dan. 12:1 describes the tribulation with these words, “And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time.” Jesus described the tribulation with similar words in Mt. 24:21, “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.”

As we can see from these statements, the tribulation will be exceedingly dreadful. More dreadful than anything that has ever happened before. This would include the worldwide flood of Noah's time! It makes you wonder how the tribulation could be worse than the flood that Noah survived. The answer is that while the flood reduced the earth's population to eight, the seven year tribulation will be greater because more people will die and the time of judgment will last seven years instead of several months. In addition to that, those who are on the earth during the time of the tribulation will be so miserable they will want to commit suicide but will not be able to do so. Rev. 9:6 says, “And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them.” The tribulation is the greatest time of distress that will ever come upon the earth.

The Duration of the Tribulation

As mentioned earlier, the tribulation will last seven years. In Dan. 9:24-27 we are told by the Prophet Daniel of seventy weeks of seven years each. Sixty-nine weeks have already occurred and the seventieth week is the tribulation, which is yet to come. Daniel is also the first prophet to break down the tribulation into two, three and a half year time periods. Each of the three and a half year periods have certain characteristics. These three and a half year periods are also called “a time, times, and a half of time” (a time equals a year, times equals two years, see Dan. 9:25), “forty-two months” (see Rev. 11:2; 13:5), “twelve hundred and sixty days” (see Rev. 11:3; 12:2) in the Scriptures. The last three and a half years of the tribulation period are sometimes referred to as “the great tribulation” (see Mt. 24:21; Rev. 7:14). This is helpful to know and it will be especially helpful for the tribulation saints to know this so they can understand what is to come next.

For instance in Dan. 7:25; 9:27; 12:7; 11:1-2; 12:6, 14; 13:5-7, we learn of a man who rises to power during the first half of the tribulation, commits the abomination of desolation by sacrificing an unclean animal in the temple, claims to be God, seizes power and persecutes Jews and the false church. We know that this man is the “antichrist,” the “man of lawlessness,” or “the beast” of the Book of Revelation (see II Thess. 2:3; I Jn. 2:18, 22; 4:3; II Jn. 7; Rev. 19:19-20; 20:4, 10). Hence the tribulation will last seven years and has distinct events in both the first and last three and a half year periods.

The Nature of Tribulation Trials

While we have discussed the intensity of the tribulation and how it will be the greatest time of distress the world will ever experience, we have not yet discussed the specific judgements that will make that time so terrible. The two greatest descriptions of the tribulation period are the Olivet discourse of Mt. 24-25 and Rev. 6-19.

The Olivet discourse was prompted by a question the Disciples asked Jesus in Mt. 24:3, namely, “what will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age?” Jesus then describes the proliferation of false christs, wars, famines, earthquakes, persecution of the Jews, increased lawlessness, people's love growing cold, the rise of the antichrist, false prophets and teachers showing great signs and wonders, and the disruption of the sun, moon, and stars. Jesus said in Mt. 24:22, “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved.” Though Jesus' description of the tribulation seems grim, it is pleasant compared to the Apostle John's detailed account.

In Rev. 6-19 John explains that the tribulation will suffer three distinct series of judgments which will come upon the earth in an ever increasing severity. First there will be seven seal judgments (see Rev. 5-8). These seal judgments release war, bloodshed, famine, death, and persecution. The sun and the moon fail to give their light; huge earthquakes destroy cities and kill multitudes. These judgments terrify the people of the earth and make them want to die and hide under rocks and in caves.

The seventh seal judgment leads to the trumpet judgments (see Rev. 8-9) which bring hail and fire mixed with blood to fall from the sky so that a third of the earth is destroyed with fire. A large object, described as a burning mountain, possibly a meteorite, falls into the sea causing a third of all the creatures in the sea to die and a third of all of the ships in the sea to be destroyed. The waters of the world are poisoned from another star that falls from heaven killing countless numbers. The pit of hell is opened up and demons emerge in the form of locust type creatures who have tails like scorpions, which sting people who try to die but are unable. The sixth trumpet releases war and chaos on the earth. Armies containing hundreds of millions of soldiers destroy a third of the human population on earth.

When the seven trumpets are finished, seven bowls of wrath are poured out upon the earth (see Rev. 16). These judgments cause people to receive painful sores on their bodies that cannot be healed. The sea and rivers are turned into blood so that everything in them dies. Men are burned with fire and extreme heat and suffer from sores that cannot be cured. The armies of the world gather together to battle against Israel and Jerusalem. The seventh bowl judgment is an unprecedented earthquake, which comes upon the earth removing mountains and islands from their place. Huge hail stones, one hundred pounds a piece fall from threatening skies, decimating the population on earth and giving men an excuse to blaspheme God. This is why the tribulation is called the tribulation. It is God's final attempt to bring the inhabitants of earth and especially Israel to repentance.

If you know Jesus Christ be thankful that you will not have to endure the tribulation, for God has not destined the church for wrath, but to obtain salvation! Remember… the rapture could happen right now!