Is It The End Of The World? - Part One
Will The Church Go Through The Tribulation?
The disciples of Jesus asked Him what the signs of the end of the age, and the signs of His coming. Jesus gave His reply in Matthew 24, versus 4-44.
These are the signs Jesus spoke about to look for:
Jesus called these "the beginning of sorrows". He followed it up with other signs:
Every one of these signs have been fulfilled at least in part as of this writing (April, 2020).
Jesus then went on to speak of a period of great tribulation (Gk. thlipsis - pressure, affliction, anguish, burden, persecution, tribulation, trouble) that believers would go through, and for whose sake that period of tribulation would be shortened (v. 22). It is described as a period of tribulation that the world has not seen since its beginning, nor will it until the end.
There has been much debate as to whether believers will enter this period of tribulation, and whethere Christ returns to take His Bride prior to or following this period. Let us examine scripture to establish the chronology of events.
Matt. 24:29: “Immediately AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS (empahsis mine) the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30: Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31: And He will send His angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
These verses are key to understanding the answer to the question: "Will the Church go through the Tribulation?"
We note from Jesus' outline of prophetic events leading up to His coming that the Son of Man returns for the elect/believers/church AFTER the period of tribulation.
In understanding scripture, we need to keep in mind the old adage: "When the plain sense of scripture makes sense, seek no other sense, lest it be found to be nonsense."
What is the plain sense and meaning of verses 29 through 31? It is that Jesus will return with His angels and the sound of the trumpet to gather the elect/believers/church AFTER the tribulation.
The next question that logically follows is: Will believers/the church be on earth to see the rise of the Antichrist?
And also, what are some of the trials and persecutions they will be subject to during the Tribulation? Again, let us turn to scripture.
2 Thes. 2:1: Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, we ask you,
2: not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.
3: Let no one deceive you by any means; for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
4: who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (bold emphasis added)
In these verses, Paul is writing to the church at Thessalonica to warn them against being deceived by anyone or any means that "the day of Christ" had already come. What is this "day of Christ"?
There are many references to this "day of Christ", which we will see in subsequent parts of this article. It is sufficient now, for the purpose of this discussion, to know that this "day of Christ" is the day when Christ returns for His Bride, the Church.
Paul states explicitly and with great emphasis that Christ will NOT return for the Church until AFTER the following events.
So we can safely establish that the Church will remain on earth to see the rise of the Antichrist.
This brings us to the next question: What is the role of the Antichrist with regard to Christians? Let us examine the scriptures again:
Rev. 13:5: And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty two months.
6: Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.
7: It was granted to him to MAKE WAR WITH THE SAINTS AND OVERCOME THEM. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue and nation.
8: All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
These scriptures lay out the "role" of the Antichrist. Verse 7 clearly shows that he will persecute and overcome Christians. Some have interpreted these "saints" to be those that came to faith in Christ after the church has been raptured, but there is absolutely nothing in the text to support or even suggest this belief and therefore it can be discarded as erroneous.
This leaves us with the conclusion that believers will not only see the Antichrist come to power, but will also be subject to his tyrannical oppression and focused persecution of Christians.
Paul also shows how this man of sin/perdition/lawless one can be recognised as the Antichrist, and will embody these characteristics:
Rev. 13:5: And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty two months.
6: Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.
2 Thes. 2:4: who oppposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
He is empowered and commissioned by Satan himself, and performs lying wonders and signs to deceive those who have rejected the gospel.
2 Thes. 2:9: The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Now that we have established that the Church/believers will suffer persecution at the hands of the Antichrist, we can look at the chronology of events immediately preceeding the return of Christ.
Matt. 24: 29: Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30: THEN the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31: And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to another.
The sign immediately preceding Christ's return to gather His church is the signs in the heavens:
This event is once again outlined and reiterated here:
Rev. 6:12: I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red,
13: and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.
14: The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
If we compare these two passages carefully (Matt. 24:29 & Rev. 16:12-14), we will notice that both speak of the same event. There are also several references to these events regarding the sun, moon and heavens in the Old Testament prophecies, which will be listed in a future article.
Revelation 6 goes on to outline what happens after these cosmic disturbances occur:
Rev. 6:15: Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
16: They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
17: For the great day of Their wrath has come and who can withstand it?"
Again, here we see the "great day of Their wrath", which is also referenced as the "day of Christ", comes AFTER the signs in the sun, moon and heavens at which all the people on earth hide in terror of the coming of the Lord.
In conclusion and summary, both Jesus and Paul taught emphatically that believers will remain on earth to see the rule of the Antichrist and experience persecution at his hand. Also the sign immediately preceding the coming of the Lord is one of cosmic disturbances as well as a great earthquake.
In Part Two, which you can go to HERE, we will discuss what the Antichrist and the mark of the beast.