Biblical Concept: Great Tribulation

Findings:

Note: Biblical Concept: Great Tribulation, but not for the Church

Note: Biblical Concept: Day of the Lord

See Revelation chapters 4-19 for the event by event account--written for the benefit of those left behind at the Rapture of the Church.

Great Tribulation has not happened yet.

Great Tribulation threat.

Great Tribulation martyrs.

42 Months is the last half of the Great Tribulation and features global Divine judgments on Satan’s world system and unrepentant humanity.

Day of the Lord includes the Great Tribulation.

The Book of Daniel has large Great Tribulation sections in chapters 7, 9, 11, and 12.

Time of Jacob’s trouble = Great Tribulation.

Ezekiel 38-39 contain Great Tribulation.

Great Tribulation has much angelic activity. (Angel vocabulary is found 74 times in the Book of Revelation.)

Great Tribulation also impacts heaven. (Revelation 12:7-12.) (Relief for heaven.) (Great Tribulation ends fallen angel actions in heaven.)

Great Tribulation halts Fallen Angel rule over the earth. (The battle of Gog and Magog at the end of the Millennium finalizes the situation: Revelation 20:7-10.)

_______

Great Tribulation (This combination of words is only found these three times.)

^NAS Matthew 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 shall. (See Revelation chapters 4-19 for the event by event account--written for the benefit of those left behind at the Rapture of the Church.) (Great Tribulation has not happened yet.)

^NAS Revelation 2:22 'Behold, I will cast her upon a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. (Great Tribulation threat.)

^NAS Revelation 7:14 And I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Great Tribulation martyrs.)

Tribulation (Some passages address the Great Tribulation but only call it the Tribulation.)

^NAS Matthew 24:9 "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name. (Great Tribulation martyrs.)

²¹ for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. (See Great Tribulation above.) (Great Tribulation has not happened yet.)

²⁹ "But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, (Great Tribulation also impacts heaven.) (Luke 21:33 ³³ "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.) (Matthew 24:29-31 ²⁹ "But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, ³⁰ and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹ "And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.)

^NAS Mark 13:19 "For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created, until now, and never shall. (Great Tribulation has not happened yet.)

²⁴ "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, (Great Tribulation has not happened yet.)

^NAS John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

^NAS Romans 2:9 There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek,

^NAS Romans 5:3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;

^NAS Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

^NAS Romans 12:12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,

^NAS 1 Thessalonians 1:6 You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit,

^NAS Revelation 1:9 I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

^NAS Revelation 2:9 'I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

¹⁰ 'Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

²² 'Behold, I will cast her upon a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. (Great Tribulation threat.)

^NAS Revelation 7:14 And I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Great Tribulation martyrs.)

42 Months (The first 42 months of the Great Tribulation will be more peaceful than the final 42 months. Then, Satanic rule over the earth will devolve to chaos.)

Revelation 11:1-12 ¹ And there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, "Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it. ² "And leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months. ³ "And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." ⁴ These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵ And if anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and if anyone would desire to harm them, in this manner he must be killed. ⁶ These have the power to shut up the sky, in order that rain may not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. ⁷ And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. ⁸ And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹ And those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. ¹⁰ And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹ And after the three and a half days the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were beholding them. ¹² And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them.

Revelation 13:1-18 ¹ And he stood on the sand of the seashore. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. ² And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. ³ And I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; ⁴ and they worshiped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?" ⁵ And there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies; and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. ⁶ And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. ⁷ And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. ⁸ And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. ⁹ If anyone has an ear, let him hear. ¹⁰ If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints. ¹¹ And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. ¹² And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. ¹³ And he performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. ¹⁴ And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. ¹⁵ And there was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast might even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. ¹⁶ And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead, ¹⁷ and he provides that no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. ¹⁸ Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.

Great Tribulation in Daniel

Daniel 7:19-28 ¹⁹ "Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed, and trampled down the remainder with its feet, ²⁰ and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts, and which was larger in appearance than its associates. ²¹ "I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them ²² until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom. ²³ "Thus he said: 'The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. ²⁴ 'As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings. ²⁵ 'And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. ²⁶ 'But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. ²⁷ 'Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.' ²⁸ "At this point the revelation ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts were greatly alarming me and my face grew pale, but I kept the matter to myself."

Daniel 9:24-27 ²⁴ "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. ²⁵ "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. ²⁶ "Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. ²⁷ "And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate."

Daniel 11:36-45 ³⁶ "Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done. ³⁷ "And he will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all. ³⁸ "But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones, and treasures. ³⁹ "And he will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him, and he will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price. ⁴⁰ "And at the end time the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen, and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow them, and pass through. ⁴¹ "He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon. ⁴² "Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. ⁴³ "But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels. ⁴⁴ "But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many. ⁴⁵ "And he will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.

Daniel 12:1-13 ¹ "Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. ² "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. ³ "And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. ⁴ "But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase." ⁵ Then I, Daniel, looked and behold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the river, and the other on that bank of the river. ⁶ And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, "How long will it be until the end of these wonders?" ⁷ And I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed. ⁸ As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, "My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?" ⁹ And he said, "Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. ¹⁰ "Many will be purged, purified and refined; but the wicked will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand. ¹¹ "And from the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. ¹² "How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days! ¹³ "But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age."

Time of Jacob’s trouble: Jeremiah 30:1-31:26, a Great Tribulation passage. (Jeremiah 30:7-8 ⁷ 'Alas! for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob's distress, But he will be saved from it. ⁸ 'And it shall come about on that day,' declares the LORD of hosts, 'that I will break his yoke from off their neck, and will tear off their bonds; and strangers shall no longer make them their slaves.) (Jeremiah 30:11 ¹¹ 'For I am with you,' declares the LORD, 'to save you; For I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you, Only I will not destroy you completely. But I will chasten you justly, And will by no means leave you unpunished.')

Ezekiel 38-39, A prophecy of destruction for the nations trying to destroy Israel during the Great Tribulation.

Day of the Lord (Rapture, Great Tribulation, Millennium, and Eternity Future time-frame.)

Isaiah 13:6-13 ⁶ Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. ⁷ Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man's heart will melt. ⁸ And they will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame. ⁹ Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. ¹⁰ For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises, And the moon will not shed its light. ¹¹ Thus I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud, And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. ¹² I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold, And mankind than the gold of Ophir. ¹³ Therefore I shall make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the LORD of hosts In the day of His burning anger (Historical nation Babylon and prophetic for the Great Tribulation.)

1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. (A rapture passage.) (Great Tribulation beginning.)

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 ¹ Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. ² For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. ³ While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. ⁴ But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; ⁵ for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; ⁶ so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. ⁷ For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. ⁸ But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. ⁹ For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. ¹¹ Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

(A Great Tribulation passage.)

Zechariah 14:1-11 ¹ Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. ² For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. ³ Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. ⁴ And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. ⁵ And you will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him! ⁶ And it will come about in that day that there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. ⁷ For it will be a unique day which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light. ⁸ And it will come about in that day that living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter. ⁹ And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one. ¹⁰ All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin's Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's wine presses. ¹¹ And people will live in it, and there will be no more curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security. (A Great Tribulation, Second Advent, Millennial passage.)

Joel 2:1-11 ¹ Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the LORD is coming; Surely it is near, ² A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a great and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it To the years of many generations. ³ A fire consumes before them, And behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, But a desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them. ⁴ Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run. ⁵ With a noise as of chariots They leap on the tops of the mountains, Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble, Like a mighty people arranged for battle. ⁶ Before them the people are in anguish; All faces turn pale. ⁷ They run like mighty men; They climb the wall like soldiers; And they each march in line, Nor do they deviate from their paths. ⁸ They do not crowd each other; They march everyone in his path. When they burst through the defenses, They do not break ranks. ⁹ They rush on the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter through the windows like a thief. ¹⁰ Before them the earth quakes, The heavens tremble, The sun and the moon grow dark, And the stars lose their brightness. ¹¹ And the LORD utters His voice before His army; Surely His camp is very great, For strong is he who carries out His word. The day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome, And who can endure it? (A Great Tribulation, Second Advent passage.)

A-Z