What Is The Tribulation?

Would you rather listen than read? Listen here.

What Reaction Do You Get?

When I say the word tribulation, what reaction do you get? Do you feel fear? Does your heart rate increase? Maybe it piques your interest? I have seen an array of reactions when this subject arises. I have seen people physically change and say, please, we can not discuss this. The mention of the word brought them sheer terror. Others could really careless, and then others want to know more.

When the Left Behind series hit its peak and everyone talked about it, I had to jump on the bandwagon. I have to admit I only made it halfway through because I read them at night and let my imagination get the best of me. But, I did not want to live in fear and learned more about what the Bible says and not what fiction literature says about it.

Tribulation

The Bible gives us little about the tribulation and we need to be cautious not to take the little it says and try to fill in the missing parts. The word Tribulation in Greek is θλῖψις thlipsis, and appears just over twenty times in the New Testament. This word means trouble, distress, oppression, tribulation, persecution, suffering, afflictions, hardships, sufferings, trials, anguish, hard pressed, and persecuted. (NIV Exhaustive Concordance Dictionary Copyright © 2015 by Zondervan.)

Strong’s Concordance says it means, “A pressing pressure or anything which burdens the spirit.” If we look at these meanings and the way the authors used this word, it often comes across as daily trials, but there are a few places where it refers to a much bigger type of event that we will look at closer.

Great Distress

Matthew tells us, “For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again” (Matthew 24:21) Eight verses later, Matthew says, “Immediately after the distress of those days ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken’” (Matthew 24:29). Mark repeats these two scriptures almost verbatim in Mark 13:19 and 24.

We read of these prophecies and I would guess the scriptures bring up a lot more questions than they give answers. How long will this last? When will it happen? And lots more.

How Long Will The Tribulation Last?

Let’s look at a couple of views people have on all of this. Some believe this time of trial will last a literal seven years. Others believe we have been in this time of trial since Jesus left. And there are plenty of other thoughts in between.

The literal seven years comes to us from the book of Daniel in chapter 9. I encourage you to read this entire fascinating chapter. Now try to stay with me here. “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place” (Daniel 9:24 NIV).

Seventy ‘Sevens’

70 x 7 = 490 years

“Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble” (Daniel 9:25 NIV).

“From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.”

This is said to be the decree sent out by Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem after the Israelites’ time in exile.

“Until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes”

This refers to Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the donkey, as we know as Palm Sunday.

So from the time of the decree until the arrival of the Anointed One there will be “seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’” Let’s do the math and compare it with the 490 years.

Seven ‘Sevens’

7 x 7 = 49 years

Sixty-Two ‘Sevens’

62 x 7 = 434 years

Together, these make 483 years. This leaves seven years left and many believe this will be the time of tribulation Matthew and Mark speak of.

When Will The Tribulation Begin?

If we know the decree was the beginning and Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the donkey is the end, what will be the beginning of the final seven years?

Those that would lean towards the view that we are already in this period would think of these seven years in God’s timing and they began the moment Jesus left.

Those that go with the literal seven years believe it will begin with the signing of a peace treaty with Israel. This comes from Daniel 9:27.

Jesus Is With Us

Other than reading these scriptures and wondering what all the chaos will be about, what do we do with this? As believers, we have the great peace in knowing Jesus is with us. Whether we are in the time of tribulation now or it is to come, Jesus never says that He will leave us.

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:20b NIV

He is with us and will strengthen us to walk through any trial along with Him. He also gave us two commands to do while He was not with us physically and that is to love one another and to go and make disciples. You can read further about that in these posts.

I will be the first to admit things I don’t know bring me uncertainty. I can focus on that uncertainty and let those thoughts get the best of me. Or, I can focus on the One who holds us all in His hands and reassures us how this will all end. I pray for you today that He is your focus. When the world gets scary because of politics, world events, or your own life feels uncertain, we can keep our eyes on Him, the author and perfector of our faith.

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