What is the great tribulation?
Jesus warned of 'great oppression' such as the world has never seen, drawing on Daniel's 'time of trouble,' and tied it to the abomination of desolation and the coming of the Son of Man. Bible readers differ over when this period falls in relation to Christ's return. What the texts make certain is that it comes, the saints are called to endure and be watchful, the chosen are kept, and the Son of Man will appear in glory at its end.
This question arose from studying What signs should we look for before Jesus returns? and What is the rapture?.
Begin by reading
Go into the Word
Not a summary of these passages: the passages themselves. Read them, then come back to the study below.
The study
What the Scripture says
Jesus predicted an unprecedented oppression
Jesus said, 'for then there will be great oppression, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be,' and Mark echoes, 'such as there has not been the like from the beginning of the creation.' He points to Daniel's 'abomination of desolation... standing in the holy place' as the signal to flee. These are not the ordinary hardships of every age; they are a distinct, cosmic-scale pressure that Jesus Himself named and told us to expect.
for then there will be great oppression, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be.
For in those days there will be oppression, such as there has not been the like from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will be.
“When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.
Its source is Daniel's 'time of trouble' and the beast
Jesus reaches back to Daniel: 'at that time shall Michael stand up... and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation.' Jesus is describing the same final period. In Revelation this tribulation is carried out through the beast, who causes those who will not worship its image to be killed and forces the mark so that 'no one would be able to buy or to sell.' Paul calls the same figure 'the man of sin,' who 'sits as God in the temple of God.'
“At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who shall be found written in the book.
It was given to him to give breath to it, to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause as many as wouldn’t worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to be given marks on their right hands, or on their foreheads; and that no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name.
Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the departure comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction, he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God.
“When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
The saints are summoned to endurance and watchfulness
Jesus makes endurance the test: 'he who endures to the end, the same will be saved.' Revelation applies the warning to the church: 'Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints,' and Paul pleads, 'Let no one deceive you in any way.' The tribulation does not remove the need for faithful, watchful living; it confronts it. Perseverance through the pressure, not escape from every hardship, is what the texts call the church to.
But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved.
If anyone is to go into captivity, he will go into captivity. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, he must be killed. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints.
Now, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to him, we ask you not to be quickly shaken in your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by letter as from us, saying that the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the departure comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction,
But you watch. “Behold, I have told you all things beforehand.
The chosen and the gathered
Jesus balances the severity with the keeping: 'unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.' And when the Son of Man appears, 'he will send out his angels... and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds.' John sees a great multitude 'who came out of the great tribulation... they washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb's blood.' God's people are not lost in the storm; they are kept and gathered.
Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.
and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood.
“At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who shall be found written in the book.
The certainties that hold despite timing differences
Christians differ over whether the tribulation precedes, accompanies, or in some views is largely past, and over how the prophecies fit Israel and the church. But the texts agree on what cannot be moved: the tribulation comes, it is the world's darkest hour and not the church's undoing, the Son of Man will be revealed in glory immediately after, and the church is called to watch and be ready 'in an hour that you don't expect.' The promise is that heaven is on the way, and the Judge is on His throne.
But immediately after the oppression of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.
Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come.
He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority.
He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
As you read, you may wonder…
Scripture raises the next question
Studying the Word naturally opens more of it. Follow what you just read: it leads somewhere.
Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
for then there will be great oppression, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be.
But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved.
“At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who shall be found written in the book.
If anyone is to go into captivity, he will go into captivity. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, he must be killed. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints.
and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.
Worth visiting