The Great Tribulation – Greg Albrecht
Question:
Can you please tell me who will be going through the tribulation? Is it the unconverted, is it God’s people?
I have heard so many things about it and they don’t make sense. Some say those a part of their church will be, just before the great tribulation, jetted away to safety on the wings of a great eagle. Some speak of a three and ½ year tribulation just before the Second Coming, others say it will be seven years. Who will have to endure it, and who will be saved from it? Surely the great tribulation is not God’s anger being taken out on those who fail to adhere to certain teachings?
Response:
Thanks for your question – this topic about what the Bible says about the great tribulation is of “great” concern to many people, many who live in fear of being alive during it, and having to suffer. Sadly, many people live in fear because of the way in which many people interpret what the Bible has to say about a/the tribulation and what it means and perhaps most egregious of all, “when” folks say it will happen.
Anyone who has lived through any part of the 20th century, and during now the first 25% of the 21st century, is well aware of the horrific warfare and bloodshed of human inhumanity toward fellow humans and thus any future prediction of even more suffering is not “good news.” And of course, “good news” is what the gospel is …. so how indeed, given the revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ, can anyone attempt to shoehorn God, who is love, mercy, grace, kindness and forgiveness, into a time during which he goes ballistic and punishes so many?
We should understand that the contexts in which we find the word “tribulation” in the Bible vary widely. I cannot take the time in a brief personal answer to discuss them all, but needless to say there is no biblical one-size-fits-all definition about tribulation/great tribulation.
In what is often called the Olivet Prophecy Jesus speaks of a great tribulation (in the NIV it is translated “great distress”) unequaled in all history, before or after (Matthew 24:21). Many statements of Jesus in this chapter seem to challenge and beyond that, upset the apple cart of those who feel that “the” great tribulation is a future event to any era in which someone may read the Bible. Matthew 24 is filled with context suggesting that great distress would be in and around Jerusalem, as Jesus speaks of people fleeing – and he specifically says “this generation shall not pass away until all these things have happened” (Matthew 24:34). A generation, by any definition, is of course far less than almost 2000 years, which is the amount of time that has passed since Jesus spoke these words to his disciples.
Many believe, as I do, that many, if not most, of the prophetic words of Jesus in Matthew 24 were fulfilled in 69-70 AD, with the siege of Jerusalem, the final event of the Jewish-Roman war of 66-70 AD. The Second Temple (Herod’s temple as it is called) was destroyed, as Jesus said it would be. Mass killing, enslavement, the sacking of the temple – all of it, as Jesus predicted, with profound consequences for the Jewish faith, as they no longer had a temple for sacrifices, etc. It, as the book of Hebrews clearly teaches, marked a drastic distancing of Christ-centered new covenant faith away from the Mosaic economy of the old covenant Jewish faith. Again, that distress/that tribulation, took place in 69-70, certainly within the time frame of a generation to whom Jesus originally spoke in Matthew 24.
However, there are many other times the word “tribulation” occurs in the Bible – some are in the Old Testament, and many times they speak of the Hebrew people in captivity – both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Then there is the much misunderstood book of Revelation, within which, in its context, we find tribulation mentioned. In that context, given my time limitations available for answering on line questions, I must refer you to one of the books I have written, “Revelation Revolution.”
You are right – the entire world of “end times” teaching, predictions (indeed, prediction addiction!) is confusing and does not make sense. Given the fact that there have been many predictions of a great tribulation which was said to have happened just before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ but thus far no prediction has been accurate – given that fact, the batting average for all predictions and those who popularized them, is .000% — folks really should stop listening to such sermons and reading such books. If my mechanic constantly failed to fix my car I would assume he may not know enough about fixing my car. The methodology that was used, and is still being used, to give these false prophesies is not, it seems, a trustworthy way in which to understand the Bible.
Thanks for allowing us to be of service.
In Christ, Greg Albrecht
Check out Greg’s book:
Plain Truth Ministries | Box 300 | Pasadena, CA 91129-0300
