THE GREAT TRIBULATION

THE GREAT TRIBULATION

MAT 23:39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed [is] he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Jesus had just finished pronouncing desolation to the nation of Judah, when He made the above declaration to them or about them.

Here is what follows that episode.

MAT 24:1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to [him] for to shew him the buildings of the temple.

MAT 24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

Those words of Jesus set the stage for a much longer discourse at a later time.

MAT 24:3 ¶ And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

The primary concern of Jesus as He talked to them on the Mount of Olives was a warning about letting men deceive them.

MAT 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

THAT IS STILL HIS MAIN CONCERN. It should also be ours.

Let's take a good look at what the Disciples asked Jesus that day.

Tell us, when shall these things be? That was the first portion of a three-part question. They, being men and not possessing Spiritual knowledge, THOUGHT they were asking only one question.

The last thing He had told them was about the Temple buildings-- that they would be completely demolished. He DID NOT tell them WHEN it would happen, nor WHY it would happen.

40 years would roll by before the prophecy of Jesus would be fulfilled. It would be accomplished by the Roman general Titus in 70 AD. But Jesus gave them no date.

He only said, "Take heed that no man deceive you." He then related some conditions whereby they might have an idea of what was about to happen.

MAT 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

MAT 24:16-21 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For THEN shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

I readily admit that I do not have all the answers, but I believe I have SOME OF THEM. I also have to admit that I have serious doubts about the validity of most of the answers that are floating around today.

Sounds like Jesus was telling His disciples that the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 AD would be the time of what is called THE GREAT TRIBULATION. (Remember that Jesus was talking about Jerusalem and the Temple when He mentioned the term "GREAT TRIBULATION"

Now, if this be correct (and I am convinced that it is), how in the world did the GREAT TRIBULATION get shoved clear down into what is considered the LAST DAYS? Who did it, and why?

There are a couple of other scriptures where the words "GREAT TRIBULATION" are found. But neither scripture mentions the fact that it will be the worst that has ever happened, or ever will happen.

REV 2:22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into GREAT TRIBULATION, except they repent of their deeds

This one is talking about the great Whore that rides on one of the three (wild) Beasts of the Revelation, as it was given to John.

How come she is a whore? What does it mean to be a scriptural whore? It means to have a divided allegiance-- both to the God of the universe, and to the god of this world . Jesus said we CAN NOT serve two masters.

The word "kosmos" is used to denote the World. Its root means "an orderly arrangement", and is definitely referring to secular rulership, (government) which we are all under today if we are a citizen of any country.

TIT 3:1 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,

The Word teaches us that our CITZENSHIP is in Heaven.
PHI 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

We are given instructions about the relationship we should have toward the affairs of government while we inhabit the earth.

Jesus said for us to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's. We get into trouble when we try to mix the two.

Yet, we should maintain an attitude of being pilgrims and strangers in the world. We are citizens of the "city" that Abraham was looking for.

HEB 13:14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

Another mention of GREAT TRIBULATION (Rev 7:1-14) refers to a "great multitude which no man could number" standing before the Throne and giving Glory to God. An angel asked John who they were, and where they came from.

REV 7:14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Again, I submit that I do not have all of the answers, but it would seem to me that GREAT TRIBULATION is an essential element in our Spiritual Development, and is an integral part of becoming an OVERCOMER.

I am of the opinion that the person/s who, for whatever reason, changed the interpretation of the Scriptures, made a mistake.

The Church has seen many periods of intense persecution. But there is ONE such persecution/tribulation which the Word indicates as being the GRAND DADDY TRIBULATION.

That one was identified by Jesus as being what happened at 70 AD., when the Temple was burned. The gold overlay melted and ran into the cracks between the stones. Every stone was separated from all others to retrieve the melted gold.

It indicated that the Law of Ordinances was finished.
Faith in Jesus Christ is all that remains. There simply IS NO OTHER WAY TO APPROACH GOD.

Perhaps in a later issue we will discuss the other two facets of the question asked by the Disciples on the Mount of Olives. "The sign of Thy coming, and the end of the world.