The Tribulation
And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened" (Matt. 24:21-22).
What shall occur?
Jesus told us that the Tribulation will be a time of terror and horror without precedent: "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened" (Matt. 24:21-22).
The central chapters of Revelation give us a vivid description of the horrors of the Tribulation Period. Great wars will ravage the world as nations rise up, lusting for conquest. All peace will end, and rampant slaughter will bloody the earth. Hail and fire will burn up the planet's grass and destroy a third of all trees. Intense famine will dry up food supplies. Rivers and seas will become too polluted to sustain life. Many rivers will dry up entirely. The sun will scorch the earth and its inhabitants like fire. A quarter of the world's population will die from war, starvation, and beastly pred-ators. Giant earthquakes, accompanied by thunder and lightning, will destroy cities. Mountains will crash into the seas, killing a third of the fish. Tidal waves from the cataclysm will sink a third of all the world's ships. A massive meteor shower will strike the earth. Ashes and smoke rising from its devastation will hide the sun and moon. Swarms of demonic insects will darken the sun and inflict painful stings. Rampant, epidemic plagues will kill one-third of all man-kind. Everyone, from national leaders to servants and slaves, will flee the cities to hide in caves and under rocks (Revelation 6:2-17; 8:8-13; 9:1-20; 16:1-21).
To make matters even worse, a maniacal despot known as the Antichrist will rise to power. He will be multiple times more demonic than Antiochus IV, Nero, Stalin, and Hitler combined. He will demand total allegiance to his satanically inspired program, and those who resist will be barred from buying or selling food or any other product.
His lust for power will not cease until the entire civilized world chokes in his tyrannical grasp (13:1-18). It is not an overstatement to say that the Tribulation will be hell on earth, from which Dr. J. Dwight Pentecost tells us there will be no escape and no relief: "No passage can be found to alleviate to any degree whatsoever the severity of this time that shall come upon the earth."
The Tribulation will be brought on the earth by humanity's increasing rebellion and rampant sin. But God's hand will be heavily involved, just as it was when He brought the plagues on the defiant nation of Egypt. The Tribulation is a planned program designed to accomplish His purpose.
PURIFICATION OF ISRAEL — To purge out Jewish rebels and bring about the final conversion of the nation. (Ezekiel 20:37-38, Deuteronomy 4:30-31, and Romans 11:26-27)
PUNISHMENT OF UNREGENERATE SINNERS — This will be God’s wrath poured out upon those who oppose Him — First upon the Jews, and then upon the Gentiles. As Paul wrote, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18).
PREACHING THE GOSPEL — The seven-year Tribulation Period will expose unregenerate people, both Jews and Gentiles, to the wrath of God, yet incredibly, God's Word indicates that the Tribulation will be wonderful news for many who are forced to endure it since it will bring them to a place of submission before God. It will confront them with the reality of their sin and spur them to accept the salvation offered by Jesus Christ.
Amazingly, the Tribulation may produce the greatest harvest for God's kingdom in the history of our world. Just as the sun hardens clay and softens butter, God's wrath will harden some hearts and soften others. This shows us that the purpose of the Tribulation includes both conversion and punishment, depending on how the objects of God's wrath respond to it.
Speaking of our response to the Tribulation, this can seem like a bleak subject to study. Knowing that our world—and perhaps our loved ones—will endure seven long years of terror and chaos is a burden none of us wants to carry. Knowing those events may come quickly only raises the tension.
As the late Billy Graham has written, "We are like people under sentence of death, waiting for the date to be set. We sense that something is about to happen. We know that things cannot go on as they are. History has reached an impasse. We are now on a collision course.Something is about to give."
Still, we can comfort ourselves in the knowledge that even something as terrible as the Tribulation is part of God's plan for history—for His story. Even during the worst circumstances imaginable, God is in control. He has planned out His will for the future, and His plans will never be thwarted.
❤️❤️❤️