Posted by Elana Janson on November 27, 2013 at 07:25:38:
In Reply to: Severe Weather posted by Richard Smit on November 26, 2013 at 05:38:08:
It is interesting that you inquire about the “the great tribulation” at this point in time for I believe it is of great significance now where, I believe, we are experiencing, a sure sign of the end time namely the “the seas roaring”. This was seen particularly in the tsunami of 2004 in Indonesia, hurricane Katrina, the tsunami on the Japanese coast and very recently the destruction by the sea in the Philippines.
Luke 21:25 “And there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the seas and waves roaring.”
The “distress of nations, with perplexity” is part of the understanding of the “great tribulation” in Revelation.
I say ‘part’ because the Bible uses the word ‘tribulation’ for personal tribulation as well as the tribulation of nations.
The word “tribulation” can include ‘affliction’, ‘pain’, ’distress’ and ‘calamity.
In order to understand “great tribulation” in Revelation we should firstly look at the use of the word in Scripture. (KJV)
Deut. 4:30: Tribulation as a result of ‘worshipping’ things pertaining to the earth.
28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
Judg.10:14
10 And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.
11 And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?
12 The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.
13 Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.
14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.
1 Sam 26:24 And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the LORD, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation. (These words were spoken by David when he spared Saul’s life.)
In the above verses “tribulation” is the distress felt by the believer that he has sinned against God.
Mat 13:21
20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
This is from the parable about the sower and the seeds that fell in stony places. The word ”tribulation” is used here for distress caused by faith and adhering to faith in the time of trouble.
Mat.24:21
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:29
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Mark13:24
24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
In the last days there will be “great tribulation” as never seen before.
John16:33
33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Acts14:22
22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
NIV “We must go through many hardships”. (We must through much tribulation.)
Rom 2:9
7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
Rom 5:3
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Rom 8:34-37
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom12:12
12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; (NIV continuing faithful in prayer).
2 Cor 1:3-4
3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
2 Cor 7:4-5
Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.
5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.
1Thes 3:3-5
That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.
4 For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.
5 For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain.
New International Version (NIV)
3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. 5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain.
2 Thes 1:5-7
Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
New International Version
5 All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.
Tribulation is part of having faith while on earth. Tribulation is part of finding the way to the kingdom of heaven. Some will not overcome the tribulation and be like the seed sown on the stony places. Those who persevere in well doing will overcome tribulation through faith, knowledge of the love of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Endurance of well doing in tribulation brings patience, endurance, experience and hope.
Tribulation in the Bible seems to be essentially spiritual anguish when the nature of man confronts the will of God. Paul distinguishes it from distress, persecution, famine, poverty, peril and war.
‘Tribulation’ in Revelation
Rev 1:9 “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
John was in tribulation in the time that he was writing the visions he saw on the island of Patmos, but found comfort (“in the kingdom”) and patience through his faith and trust in the words of Jesus Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit (“testimony of Jesus Christ”).
Rev 2:9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
In the early church in Smyrna God was aware of tribulation there. They would have tribulation there for a certain amount of time (Rev 2:10).
Great tribulation
Revelation specifically uses the words “great tribulation” in the letter to the church in Thyatira and in connection with the prophetess Jezebel.
Rev 2:18-22
And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;
19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.
20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
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.
Christ praised the church of Thyatira for their deeds, love and perseverance. Also, that they were trying to do even more. The church was given a stern warning that those who were tolerating the deeds of the woman Jezebel, who was leading Christians into sexual immorality and the eating of the food of the idols (regarded as non-Christian behaviour), would suffer intensely and be repaid according to their deeds.
There was also a temple outside the city that was dedicated to a prophetess that encouraged an amalgamation of religions.
It seems that besides the sexual immorality in Thyatira there was also “depths of Satan”. As mentioned, this could have referred to the prophetess who was encouraging the amalgamation of different religions. The philosophy also existed at that time that man should experience all things, good and bad, because then only would he be able to decide the course of his life. The congregation is warned that they should not follow these teachings and must remain true to the testimony of Jesus Christ.
In other words “great tribulation” would come upon those who followed the sinful teachings of the prophetess. This substantiates the meaning that was found in the other references from Scripture. When the faithful are misled by sin they will find themselves in a state of spiritual tribulation. The only way out is to turn from the temptation and do what is right.
This brings us to the “great tribulation” of Rev 7:14 which has to do with the end time.
Rev 7:9-14
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
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.
The fact that Revelation only uses the words “great tribulation” in the letter to Thyatira and in Rev 7:14 is of significance. I believe, through my understanding of the placement and repetition of the words of Revelation that the misdeeds of the church of Thyatira reflect the “great tribulation” that mankind will experience in the last days.
Those who wish to amalgamate Christianity with other faiths will know they have to do with a jealous God.
Those who are busy with sins of the flesh will have tribulation.
Those who were misled by the beast out of the earth
and the beast out of the sea will have tribulation.
Armageddon, extreme weather, famine and illness could also aggravate tribulation in the final time.
If the signs of the end are such that mankind realizes that the Return is imminent modern man will have to reconsider that God and the angels are as real as evolution. A “day” in the eyes of God is as a thousand years – 2 Peter 3:8 - (or a million years). The Bible does not stop in Genesis!
I do not know how long the ‘short season’ will be, but it could be some time. Tribulation has even started on this website by the hacking of this Forum. The only way out of the final great tribulation is to wash your robes in the blood of the Lamb!