Ps Elshama Gomo
14 August 2024
Bible Study
The Great Tribulation
Scripture Ref:
1 Thess 1:8-10
8 For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not
to speak any thing.9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we
had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true
God;10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even
Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (KJV)
1 Thess 5:9-11
9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus
Christ,10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together
with him.11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as
also ye do. (KJV)
The greatest event we await as the body of Christ in this present age is the appearing
of Jesus Christ. His appearance will be 2 fold:
1. In his first appearance he wont come down to the earth and ONLY
christians/believers will see him and that event is called the RAPTURE.
Matthew 24:37-42 (NKJV), "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of
the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not
know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son
of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch
therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming."
Luke 17:35-37 (NKJV), " 'Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken
and the other left. Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other
left.' And they answered and said to Him, 'Where, Lord?' So He said to them,
'Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.' ”
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NKJV), "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with
a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in
Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with
the Lord.”
While the raptured church is in heaven, a time of great tribulation lasting 7 years will
take place.
2. In his second appearance he will come after a period of tribulation which will last
7years and the WHOLE world will see him, but the church according to scripture is not
appointed to see the wrath/will be delivered not to see the wrath of God.
End OF AGE Timeline
(According To Matthew 24 & 25)
Key facts about the TRIBULATION
Introduction:
The Bible tells over and over again of dark days to come—days of the wrath of God,
when Satan will rule on Earth. “…There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was
since there was a nation, even to that time” (Daniel 12:1b).
Jesus Christ said, Matthew 24:21-22 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.
Duration:
The Tribulation is often described as lasting for seven years. This period is divided
into two halves, each lasting three and a half years. The second half is sometimes
called the "Great Tribulation" due to its increased severity.
(1 week = 70 weeks = 7yrs)
Daniel 9:24-27
The length of the Tribulation is seven years. This is determined by an understanding
of the seventy weeks of Daniel.
Events:
The Tribulation will include catastrophic events, such as wars, famines, plagues, and
natural disasters. These events are often interpreted through the imagery of seven
seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls of wrath described in the Book of Revelation.
Seven Seals:
The seven seals, in Revelation 5, 6:1–17 and 8:1–6, a set of symbolic seals on a scroll
that begin the apocalypse (the complete final destruction of the world) when opened. In
John’s vision, the seven seals hold closed a scroll in heaven, and, as each seal is
broken, a new judgment is unleashed on the earth. In his vision, the apostle John
declared, “The great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
(Revelation 6:17) What caused him to say this? He saw the four horsemen of the
apocalypse, who represent the coming judgment of the tribulation period.
The first seal. The first seal introduces the Antichrist (Revelation 6:1–2). From the
biblical description, we gather several details: he rides a white horse, which speaks of
peace; at the beginning of the tribulation, the Antichrist will come under the
pretense of bringing peace to the world (cf. Daniel 9:27). He is given a crown, which
indicates that the Antichrist will exercise great authority (cf. Daniel 7:24–25). He
holds a bow, which shows his true intentions, and he advances “as a conqueror bent
on conquest” (Revelation 6:2).
The second seal. When the Lamb opens the second seal, great warfare breaks out on
the earth (Revelation 6:3–4). This is symbolized by a rider with a large sword on a
fiery red horse. As the Antichrist will be inflamed with hatred and sin, war will break
out. Red is the color of blood. This world did not want the Prince of Peace, so He will
stand aside and the streets will be filled with dead bodies. (Read Matthew 24:15-22.)
The third seal. The breaking of the third of the seven seals causes famine (Revelation
6:5–6). The rider that John sees is riding a black horse and “holding a pair of scales in
his hand.” Then John hears a declaration that people will have to work all day to earn
just a little food. After dominion comes destruction and then deprivation of the world
economy. A quart of wheat is hardly a meal. A denarius was the wage of a day’s
labor. The scales in this rider’s hand represent food being carefully rationed out.
The fourth seal. The fourth seal is opened, and John sees a pale horse. “Its rider was
named Death, and Hades was following close behind him” (Revelation 6:7–8). The
result of this fourth seal is that one fourth of the earth’s population are killed “by
sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.”
The fifth seal. The scroll’s fifth seal reveals those who will be martyred for their faith
in Christ during the tribulation (Revelation 6:9–11; cf. Matthew 24:9). The souls of
these martyrs are pictured as dwelling under the altar in heaven. God hears their
cries for justice, and He gives each of them a white robe. The martyrs are told to
wait “until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were
killed just as they had been.” God promises to avenge them, but the time was not yet
(cf. Romans 12:19).
The sixth seal. When the Lamb of God opens the sixth seal, a devastating earthquake
occurs, causing massive upheaval and terrible devastation—along with unusual
astronomical phenomena: the sun turns black, and the moon turns blood-red, and
“the heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was
removed from its place” (Revelation 6:12–14). Survivors of the sixth seal, regardless
of their social position, take refuge in caves and cry out 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! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can
stand?” (verses 16–17).
After the opening of the sixth of the seven seals is an interlude in the book of
Revelation. John describes the 144,000 Jews who will be protected during the
tribulation (Revelation 7:1–8).
The seventh seal. When the Lamb opens the seventh seal, “there was silence in
heaven for about half an hour” (Revelation 8:1). The judgments that lead up to the
close of the tribulation are now visible in the scroll and are so severe that a solemn
silence falls upon all of heaven. The seventh seal obviously introduces the next series
of judgments, for John immediately sees seven angels who are handed seven trumpets
ready to sound (verse 2). An eighth angel takes a censer and burns “much incense” in
it, representing the prayers of God’s people (verses 3–4). The angel then took the
same censer, “filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there
came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake” (verse 5).
Once the seven seal judgments are finished, the next part of the tribulation,
featuring the seven trumpet judgments, is ready to begin.
Seven Trumpets:
The seven trumpets are described in Revelation 8:6–9:19 and 11:15–19. The seven
trumpets are the “contents” of the seventh seal judgment, in that the seventh seal
summons the angels who sound the trumpets (Revelation 8:1–5). The judgments
heralded by the seven trumpets will take place during the tribulation period in the
end times.
The first trumpet. When the first angel sounds his trumpet, the world experiences
“hail and fire mixed with blood” (Revelation 8:7). One third of the world’s trees are
burned up in this plague, and all the grass is consumed. This judgment bears some
similarities to the seventh plague in Egypt (see Exodus 9:23–24).
The second trumpet. In heaven, a second angel sounds a trumpet. The result is that
“something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea” (Revelation
8:8). A third of the sea turns to blood, a third of the ships sink, and a third of ocean
life dies (verse 9). This judgment is similar in some ways to the first plague in Egypt
(see Exodus 7:20–21).
The third trumpet. The third trumpet judgment is like the second, except it affects
the world’s freshwater lakes and rivers instead of the oceans. Specifically, “a great
star, blazing like a torch” falls from the sky and poisons a third of the water supply
(Revelation 8:10). This star is given the name Wormwood, and many people die (verse
11). In botany, wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) is a shrub-like plant noted for its
extreme bitterness and poisonous properties.
The fourth trumpet. The fourth of the seven trumpets brings about changes in the
heavens. “A third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars,
so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a
third of the night” (Revelation 8:12).
Following the fourth trumpet judgment, John notes a special warning that comes from
an eagle flying through the air. This eagle cries out with a loud voice, saying, “Woe!
Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be
sounded by the other three angels” (Revelation 8:13). For this reason, the fifth, sixth,
and seventh trumpets are referred to as the “three woes.”
The fifth trumpet. The fifth trumpet (and the first woe) results in a terrifying plague
of “demonic locusts” that attack and torture the unsaved for five months (Revelation
9:1–11). The plague begins with a “star” falling from heaven. This star is most likely a
fallen angel, as he is given “the key to the shaft of the Abyss” (verse 1). He opens the
Abyss, releasing a horde of “locusts” with “power like that of scorpions” (verse 3).
The locusts do not touch the plant life of earth; rather, they head straight for “those
people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads” (verse 4). For five
months, these locusts torment people, whose agony is so great that they will wish to
die, “but death will elude them” (verse 6). The locusts are not allowed to kill anyone,
only to torture them.
These demonic “locusts” have a “king,” who is the angel of the Abyss (Revelation
9:11). In Hebrew his name is Abaddon, and in Greek it’s Apollyon, meaning
“Destroyer.” The locusts themselves are described in unusual terms: they look like
“horses prepared for battle” (verse 7). They wear something like “crowns of gold,”
and their faces are vaguely human (verse 7). They have hair “like women’s hair” and
teeth “like lions’ teeth” (verse 8). They have something like iron breastplates, and
their wings sound like “the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into
battle” (verse 9). Like scorpions, they have stings in their tails (verse 10). This
description has prompted many different interpretations: is this a vision of
helicopters, of barbarian warriors, of a satanically empowered army, or of actual
creatures from the pit of hell? We won’t know for sure until it happens.
The sixth trumpet. The sixth trumpet (and the second woe) involves the onslaught of
another demonic horde (Revelation 9:12–21). Once the sixth trumpet sounds, a voice
from the altar of God calls for the release of “the four angels who are bound at the
great river Euphrates” (verse 14). These four angels had been kept in captivity for
just this purpose: to wreak destruction during the tribulation (verse 15). These four
wicked angels lead a supernatural cavalry of thousands upon thousands to kill a third
of humanity (verse 16). The riders have breastplates of “fiery red, dark blue, and
yellow” (verse 17). Their horses have “the heads of lions, and out of their mouths
came fire, smoke and sulfur,” and “their tails were like snakes” (verses 18–19). They
kill with their mouths and with their tails.
Despite the severity and horror of these plagues, the survivors on earth still refuse to
repent. They continue in their idolatry, their murder, their sorcery, their sexual
immorality, and their theft (Revelation 9:20–21).
Following the sixth trumpet judgment is a literary interlude. John sees an angel
descend from heaven with a little scroll in his hand. A promise is given that “the
seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet” (Revelation 10:7), and John is told that
he must prophesy some more (verse 11). Next comes a description of the two
witnesses who will preach in Jerusalem and perform miracles before they are
murdered. God will then raise them back to life and take them to heaven (Revelation
11:1–13).
The seventh trumpet. The seventh trumpet (and the third woe) sounds, and
immediately there are loud voices in heaven saying,
“The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).
The twenty-four elders say, “The time has come for . . . destroying those who destroy
the earth” (verse 18). Obviously, God is about to wrap things up once and for all. At
the sound of the seventh trumpet, the temple of God is opened in heaven, and
“within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of
lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm” (verse
19).
Thus end the seven trumpet judgments. All is set for the seven angels with the seven
bowls of God’s wrath. These angels stand inside the now-open temple, ready to step
forward and bring the final judgments on earth (Revelation 15).
Seven Bowls Of Wrath:
The seven bowl or vial judgments are the final judgments of the tribulation period.
They will be the most severe judgments the world has ever seen. The seven bowls are
described in Revelation 16:1–21, where they are specifically called “the seven bowls
of God’s wrath” (verse 1). Under the Antichrist, the wickedness of man has reached
its peak, and it is met with God’s wrath against sin. The seven bowl judgments are
called forth by the seventh trumpet.
The first bowl. The first angel pours out the first bowl on the land, “and ugly,
festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped
its image” (Revelation 16:2). This plague is targeted at those who have committed
themselves to the Antichrist; tribulation saints will not be affected by these sores.
The second bowl. The second bowl is poured out on the sea, turning the water “into
blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died” (Revelation
16:3). A third of the sea life had already perished with the sounding of the second
trumpet (Revelation 8:9), and now the rest of the sea life is gone. The oceans are
dead.
The third bowl. When the third bowl of God’s wrath is poured out, the rivers and
freshwater springs also turn into blood (Revelation 16:4–5). The angel in charge of the
water says, “You are just in these judgments, O Holy One,
you who are and who were;
for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve” (verses 5–6).
The altar in heaven responds,
“Yes, Lord God Almighty,
true and just are your judgments” (verse 7).
The fourth bowl. The fourth angel pours out his bowl on the sun, “and the sun was
allowed to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat” (Revelation
16:8–9). Rather than repent of their sin, the wicked inhabitants of the earth “cursed
the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and
glorify him” (verse 9).
The fifth bowl. The fifth of the seven bowls causes the kingdom of the beast to be
plunged into great darkness. The pain and suffering of the wicked intensify, so that
people gnaw their tongues in agony (Revelation 16:10–11). Still, the followers of the
Antichrist “refused to repent of what they had done” (verse 11).
The sixth bowl. The sixth angel pours out his bowl of judgment on the Euphrates
River. That river is dried up in preparation for the kings of the East making their way
to their own destruction (Revelation 16:12). John then sees three unclean spirits
“that looked like frogs” coming from the mouths of Satan, the Antichrist, and the
false prophet (verse 13). These demons perform miracles and deceive the kings of the
earth and gather them to the final battle on the Day of the Lord (verse 14). Under
demonic influence, “the kings [gather] together to the place that in Hebrew is called
Armageddon” (verse 16).
The seventh bowl. The seventh bowl is emptied into the atmosphere. A loud voice in
heaven says, “It is done!” (Revelation 16:17). The seventh bowl results in flashes of
lightning and an earthquake so severe that “no earthquake like it has ever occurred
since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake” (verse 18).
Jerusalem is split into three parts, and the cities of the world collapse (verse 19).
Islands are flooded, and mountains disappear (verse 20). Giant hailstones, “each
weighing about a hundred pounds, fell on people” (verse 21). Those under judgment
“cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible”
(verse 21).
One of the angels of the seven bowl judgments then shows John the fate of Babylon
the Great (Revelation 17), as God avenges “the blood of prophets and of God’s holy
people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth” (Revelation 18:24). The world
mourns the fall of Babylon (chapter 18), but heaven rejoices (chapter 19). Jesus
Christ then returns in glory to defeat the armies of the Antichrist at Armageddon
(Revelation 19:11–21) and to set up His kingdom on earth (Revelation 20:1–6).
Antichrist:
A key figure during the Tribulation is the Antichrist, a deceptive leader who will gain
global influence and demand worship, opposing God.
Purpose:
The Tribulation is a future time period when the Lord will accomplish at least two
aspects of His plan: 1) He will complete His discipline of the nation Israel (Daniel
9:24), and 2) He will judge the unbelieving, godless inhabitants of the earth
(Revelation 6 - 18).
Second Coming of Christ:
The culmination of the Tribulation is the return of Jesus Christ to Earth, defeating the
Antichrist and establishing His millennial reign.
