Eschatology The Tribulation Part 1

To truly compass the subject of the Tribulation would require the exegesis of a number of Old Testament passages as well as Revelation chapters 6-19. Even then there would not be answers to all the questions posed by our idle curiosity. It is more important to establish the fact of the event as well as the flow of the prophecy. This is sufficient to impress upon the church the urgency of the hour in the light of the coming judgments upon the earth.

Who There is a seminal passage from the Old Testament that is critical to our understanding. (Dan. 9:20-27) Daniel sought the Lord in prayer in a supplication for the people of Israel. He understood by study of the prophecy of Jeremiah that the time for a return to the city of Jerusalem was imminent. God dispatched the archangel Gabriel, to communicate critical information about that return, its implications, and the history that would follow.

The number seventy is significant for a couple of reasons The number seventy is significant for a couple of reasons. First it represents the duration of the captivity. (Jer. 25:11,12; 29:10) The governing factor in understanding Daniel 9 is also the governing factor in understanding all prophecy. (Literal Interpretation) The text is quite specific – Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city. This prophecy is directed toward and about God’s earthly people, Israel. It does not have any other meaning. Daniel only had one people and there was only one holy city in his life.

Why At this point it is necessary to address Paul’s extended discussion of God’s plans for Israel. (Rom. 11:1-32) The history of Israel is replete with divine chastening for rebellion, disobedience, and apostasy. The Captivity served to cure the Jews of idolatry which has never been an issue since.

Still the spiritual apathy that allowed God’s people to substitute form for substance in their worship so hardened their hearts that they rejected Christ as the Messiah. This in turn brought about a spiritual blindness which persists to this day (verse 7). (2 Cor. 3:13-16) It is the plan of God to remove the blindness from God’s earthly people. There has no point in history in which this event has transpired. The blindness has and will continue until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. Gentiles hold sway in the current Church Age.

The members of the church are primarily of Gentile extraction The members of the church are primarily of Gentile extraction. The most conservative and orthodox of the Jews are still estranged from God. There is a future day when all this will change and the roles will be reversed. The primary emphasis of God will again be upon the Jews and Gentiles will be secondary. The Tribulation is primarily about God dealing again with Israel with the purpose of bringing them back into a relationship with Him. (Isa. 59:20-21)