12 Feb 2024

Why “Tribulation”?

Here is the short but thorough answer from God’s prophet on why the seven-year period we term the “Tribulation” is coming:

“But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.

“But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keeping yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 1:10–21).

This describes all of humanity that fell victim, willfully so, to the serpent’s sly phrase: “Yea, hath God said?”

Adam’s unbelief in God’s prescription for living eternally with Him immediately caused all of Adam’s progeny to be infected by the serpent’s deadly venom—the sin virus wrapped up in the “mystery of iniquity.”

The passage above, given through Jude, describes the absolute depravity of humanity, as America’s founding fathers phrased it in thinking and praying about forming the United States of America. The founders recognized it for what it is—absolute rebellion of humankind and the need to bring that sin-sickness under governance. That’s why most of them agreed to use the term “Creator” to indicate what that governance must take place under.

Jude frames why a time will come when all this rebellion, though governed to some extent by law under human government, must be completely destroyed—rooted out from humanity’s “supernatural DNA,” if that’s the proper term in the matter of the souls of humankind.

All we have to do is to remember the recent things that continue to plague those who, like the righteous Lot, are “vexed” from day to day by the ungodly we live among. We watch as the wicked and rebellious surrounding us just in America murder more than 65 million children in the womb. They seek incessantly to change God’s order. They strive to make us conform to the madness of gender dysphoria. They demand that we validate and embrace their homosexual lifestyles as normal. They legislate and adjudicate in perverted ways parental rights to protect their children against pedophiles—whom they, along with other criminals set free within the lawless system of governing entities, have become.

We are demanded, through climate-change fanaticism, to worship the creation rather than the Creator—whom, it is more than obvious, they seek to cast off as the God who is in control. As Enoch put it, according to Jude, God will come to “execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

The Tribulation, then, is, in part, to punish the anti-God evil and wicked rebels of planet Earth. Secondly, but even more importantly, is that the Tribulation is to call out people who will be His for eternity.

Millions will be saved during this terrible time of God’s wrath and Satan’s rampage against God’s heavenly plan.

Here is how God will move Heaven and Hell to bring about that ultimate plan of Redemption–to bring both Gentiles and Jewish people into reconciliation with Himself.

Twenty-one specific Tribulation judgments are scheduled to fall upon rebellious earth dwellers:

7 Seals Judgments

1) Seal One: Rider on white horse – Rev. 6:2

2) Seal Two: Rider on red horse – Rev. 6:4

3) Seal Three: Rider on black horse – Rev. 6:5

4) Seal Four: Riders on pale horse – Rev. 6:8

5) Seal Five: Slain Tribulation Saints – Rev. 6:9–11

6) Seal Six: Great earthquake/sun darkens/moon becomes red as blood – Rev. 6:12–14

7) Seal Seven: Heaven silent – Rev. 8:1–2

7 Trumpet Judgments

8) Trumpet One: Hail, fire, blood, one-third of trees, and all green grass burned – Rev. 8:7

9) Second Trumpet: Great Mountain-like mass hits ocean – Rev. 8:8–9

10) Trumpet Three: star called Wormwood crashes into fresh waters – Rev. 8:10–11

11) Trumpet Four: Great darkness on earth – Rev. 8:12

12) Trumpet Five: Supernatural locust plague – Rev. 9:1–5

13) Trumpet Six: Demons unbound from Euphrates – Rev. 9:15–21

Heaven again pauses as two witnesses, 144,000 Jewish men sealed for service, plus other things wind up human history. – Rev. chapters 10–15

14) Trumpet Seven: All of the wind-up of chapters 10 through 15 is begun – 10:7

7 Bowl Judgments

15) Bowl One: Great sores befall rebels – Rev. 16:2

16) Bowl Two: Seas turn bloody – Rev. 16:3

17) Bowl Three: Fresh waters become blood – Rev. 16:4

18) Bowl Four: Sun grows darker, yet hotter – Rev. 16:8-9

19) Bowl Five: Pain because of darkness befalls rebels – Rev. 16:10–11

20) Bowl Six: Demons released upon the world – Rev. 16:12–14

21) Bowl Seven: Greatest earthquake flattens every city/100-pound hailstones – Rev. 16:18–20.

God’s anger is righteous, not wicked and evil like that of fallen humankind. He finally must inflict His righteous anger in order to bring a remnant of believers to live with Him forever in never-ending ecstasy in the glory of His presence.

Before that terrible Day of the Lord begins, Jesus Christ will step onto the clouds of that glorious dimension and shout, “Come up Here!” (Revelation 4:2).

All who have believed in Jesus will go instantaneously to Him to be kept from the time of God’s wrath upon the earth’s rebels. You want to be part of this group of called-out believers, not among those left behind who will have to go through what Jesus said will be the worst time in all of human history.

Millions will be saved as believers during that seven years, but most will have to lose their lives—be martyred for their faith.

Here is how to go to Christ when He calls and avoid being left behind to suffer through the Tribulation.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9–10).

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

––Terry

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The Tribulation Is Ever So Close

Even though he wrote The Late Great Planet Earth over fifty years ago, Hal Lindsey remains a leading voice in the realm of biblical prophecy.

In a recent article of his, “Recognizing ‘Palestine’ as a State in the Aftermath of Oct. 7 Would Reward the Worst Kind of Evil,” Lindsey correctly ties any near-term recognition of a Palestinian state as a prize for terrorism in the following paragraphs:

The idea is that the United States would make this move soon after Israel’s campaign in Gaza ends — and US pressure to end the campaign is already enormous. Hamas would then be able to say to every terror group in the world, “Here’s how you get the really big concessions. Kill, mutilate, rape, burn people to death, and take lots of innocents as hostages.”

To recognize a state of Palestine in the aftermath of their October terror attacks on Israel would encourage every rogue group on earth to follow that wicked path. It would bring chaos to this planet, the likes of which have never been seen before!

The determination of America and other nations to reward the murderous brutality of Hamas in such a way by dividing the Land of Israel demonstrates the nearness of the seven-year Tribulation. I say this for a couple of reasons.

The Warnings of Scripture Point to the Current Determination for Divide Israel

Long ago, Israel’s prophets wrote about the determination to divide Israel in the latter days. The Lord spoke these words to the prophet Joel:

“I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land” (Joel 3:2).

The current determination to divide the Land of Israel will continue, resulting in God’s final judgment of the nations at the end of the Tribulation. Since we already see such widespread passion for this, how close must we be to the Day of the Lord?

The prophet Zechariah wrote about a future time when the nations of the world would become consumed with the future Jerusalem (12:1-5). This prophecy is coming to life in our time.

Do any UN members seek to give away a part of any other capital city in the world? Of course not. But just as the Lord predicted long ago through Zechariah, this would happen to Jerusalem in the last days. Does this not point to our soon disappearance followed by this time of wrath upon the earth? (1 Thessalonians 5:1-10).

The sad news is that the world’s preoccupation with Jerusalem will lead to much suffering for the Israelites. The good news is that it will cause a remnant to recognize Jesus as their Messiah by the end of the seven-year Tribulation (Zechariah 12:10-13:9).

Israel’s Covenant with Death Lurks in the Future

The Bible tells us that the clock will start ticking on the seven-year Tribulation when Israel agrees to a peace covenant with the Antichrist (Daniel 9:27). Isaiah describes this future agreement as “a covenant with death” (Isaiah 28:14-18). Do we see any stage setting for this in the aftermath of all that’s transpired regarding Israel since October 7, 2023? Absolutely. However, it will be a more long-term result of current events.

As Hal Lindsey points out in his article, the Biden administration’s proposal for a two-state solution rewards barbarism, murder, and rape of innocent people. Benjamin Netanyahu will not agree to any such plan now or in the near future. He recently turned down a Hamas proposal to end the war in Gaza.

However, several factors seem likely to weaken the current resolve of Israel’s leaders in the future. Israel’s ongoing war on many fronts, the likelihood of a much deadlier encounter with Hezbollah, and the obtaining of a nuclear bomb by Iran are likely to continue for many months or longer. We can expect that the nonstop threats to the nation’s existence will, at some point, make its leaders vulnerable to an offer of peace.

What if someone suddenly appears on the world scene who seems both able and willing to guarantee a time of peace for the nation? What if this coming “man of lawlessness” sweetens the deal by including the construction of the Jewish third temple on the Temple Mount?

I believe such factors will cause Israel’s leaders to come to terms with the “covenant of death” offered by the antichrist. Although this seems out of the realm of possibility in the near future, events could, and will, rapidly progress to this point after the Rapture of the Church.

The Rapture is a signless event that could happen at any moment. It’s the nearness of the Tribulation that leads to our awareness that it could happen very soon since the New Testament assures us that our disappearance will happen before Israel inks the “covenant of death” with the antichrist.

-Jonathan

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