Christ First Forum

by **Jeani** » 25 Jun 2009, 09:27

The Scriptures clearly speaks of a 'Great Tribulation' that is coming on the earth. Jesus in His 'Olivet Discourse' uttered on the Mt. of Olives on the Tuesday evening before His Crucifixion, said--

"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 no flesh be saved; but for the Elect's Sake (this is the elect of Israel here) those days shall be shortened.' Matt. 24:21,22

That this Tribulation was not the terrible sufferings that befell the Jewish people at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, is clear, because many of the things that are to happen before and after 'The Great Tribulation' did not happen at the destruction of Jerusalem.

The 'FACT' of the Tribulation~
Our Lord's prophecy does not stand alone.
It is backed up by other prophecies both in the OT and NT.

Turing to the OT, we find in Jer. 30:4-7, that it is the time of 'Jacob's Trouble,' and is compared in its sufferings to the 'birth-pangs' of a woman. I encourage you to read these scriptures.

In Ezek. 20:34-38, it is spoken of as the time when Israel shall 'Pass under the Rod;' and In Ezek, 22:19-22, we read how that God is going to cast Israel into His 'Melting Pot,' where they are to be refined as 'gold is refined.'

See also Malachi 3:1-3, and Zech. 13:9.

Daniel speaks of it as a 'Time of Trouble' for his people, the Jews in Dan. 12:1

From these references I just mention we see that 'the Great Tribulation' is something that has to do with the Jewish people, and is a Judgment through which they must pass as a 'refining process' to fit them to again be God's chosen people.

Indirectly the Gentiles will be affected by it, but the Church (saved Jews and Gentiles) will be 'caught out' before that 'Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.'

In the NT we have two descriptions of it.

The first is by Jesus in His Olivet Discourse, in Matt. 24:9-22, and the second is in the Book of Revelation, ch. 6:1 to 19:21, where in the breaking of the 'Seals' the sounding of the 'Trumpets' and the pouring out of the'Vials'.

John sees in vision the things that are to occur during the Tri. period.

The OT prophets speak of it as That Day, and the Latter Days, and the Prophet Joel calls it the 'Day of the Lord' in Joel 1:15, 2:1,3:14. The Scriptures speak of 'Four Days.'

1. Man's Day-that is the present age in which we are living.

2. The Day of Christ-that is the day when the Jesus will come and take His Church out of the world, and includes the time between the 'Rapture' and the 'Revelation.' On the earth it is the 'Day of Antichrist.'

3. The Day of the Lord-that is the day of 'Vengeance of Our Lord,' and includes the period of the'Great Tribulation' and the Mill that follows.

The time of the Tri. then is 'after' the Church has been 'caught out' and during the reign of Antichrist on the earth.

The Prophet Daniel in his vision of the 70th weeks in Dan. 9:20-27 was told that it would be 69 weeks from the going forth of the Edict' to restore and rebuild Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince.'

Those were' Prophetic Weeks' in which each week stood for 'seven years, and they were literally fulfilled, for it was exactly 483 years of 360 days from the going forth of that Edict, B. C 445, until Jesus rode in triumph into Jerusalem, A. D. 30, and was hailed as the promised Son of David.

Within a week the Jews had Jesus crucified and then 'God's clock' stopped, and the remaining 'one' week, the Seventieth, has still to be fulfilled which is the Tribulation with careful study.

In the meantime, in the break between the 'sixty ninth' and 'seventieth' week, the HS is gathering out the Church, and when it is complete it will be taken away, and then 'God's clock' will begin to tick again, because He will again be dealing with His People the Jews.

It is during this last, or Seventieth Week of Daniel's Seventy Weeks that the Tribulation is to occur, and as the 'weeks' of the already fulfilled 'sixty-nine' weeks, were each 'seven years' in length so this last, or 70th week, must be the same.

The length then of the Tri. Period should be 'seven years' but Jesus tells us in Matt. 24: 22, that for the ELECT'S SAKE those days shall be shortened.

Not the 'Elect' of the Church, for they are caught out before the Tribulation, but the 'Elect' of Israel, the 144,000 sealed ones of Rev. 7:1-8

While the 'Tribulation Period' shall last for about seven years, as to its severity it will be divided into two parts of three and a half years each.

The second or last part so far exceeding in its severity the first part as to be known as

THE GREAT TRIBULATION

When you study Daniel's 70th Week, what was to happen was not reveal to Daniel.

He received a communication which he did not understand and was told to 'seal the Book up until the Time of the End' in Dan. 12:4,8,9.

All Daniel knew was that the contents of the book had reference to the 'Time of Trouble' that should befall his People at the 'Time of the End', not the 'End of Time.'

What that Seal Book contained is no longer a Mystery, for John saw the 'seals' of that Book broken, and was told to record what it contained.

The Seven-Sealed Book of the Book of Revelation is the Book that Daniel was told to seal up.

If you want to know then about what is to happen during the Tribulation, all we have to do is to read and study Revelations from Rev. 6:1 to 19:21.

You'll see that the Dragon ( Satan) is cast out of the Heavenlies in Ch 12,and he is cast out of the 'Middle of the Week,' it follows that ch 6 to 11 inclusive cover the 'first Half' of the Week, or 3 1/2 years, and ch 13 to 19 inclusive the 'Second Half.'

I encourage you to take these scriptures and read them, and study them.

You have to understand 'Daniel's Seventieth Week and 'Jacob's Trouble' to understand prophecy,and the coming 'Great Tribulation.'

Some of the scriptures are imagery or symbols written not in our time,but the time of the author.

You can find most of the symbols in Revelation within the Bible,and we can try to applied them to our time.

I wanted to leave this with you:

'If Christ should come today,

I'll not be here tomorrow;

He'll take His ransomed ones away

From death and sin and sorrow.

In the midair He'll come

To call His loved ones home,

To take them to the 'place prepared,'

As He, before he left, declared.'

~unknown author

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