Lesson
12
The
Tribulation
I. The
Tribulation
The endtime is
portrayed in an awesome way in the Scripture. Paul said, "It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). The
judgment of God is revealed in the closing lesson of our Home Bible Study. Daniel, the
great prophet during the Babylonian Captivity of the Jews, records a period of
seven years at the endtime. This period of time will bring terrible calamity on
the earth. He describes 70 weeks (or 490 years) that would relate to Jewish
history. Daniel in his prophecy did not see the church age. Thus his prophecy
concerns the state of the Jews in God's plan.
A. Daniel's
Seventieth Week
To understand the
seventieth week of Daniel's prophecy, it is necessary to have an understanding
of how the Scripture describes the seventy weeks. Daniel was told in Daniel 9:24,
"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city"
Sixty-nine of these weeks were to take place between the decree to restore
Jerusalem, and the crucifixion of the Messiah the Prince (Jesus Christ) (Daniel
9:25-26). Seven (7) weeks or (49 years) were used to rebuild the walls of
Jerusalem. There were sixty-two (62) weeks (or 434 years) from the rebuilding of
the walls until the crucifixion of the Messiah. Using the scriptural year of
360 days each, there were exactly 69 weeks or 483 years between 445 B.C. and 32
A.D. This would leave one week remaining of the 70. Verse 27 tells of this week
of years when the Antichrist system (the prince that shall come in verse 26)
shall break the covenant with the Jewish nation and thus bring much havoc on
the earth. There is an interval of time between the 69th week and the 70th
week, during which time the church age exists. The church age will
continue until the time of the rapture. The 70th week that follows is the
Tribulation Period.
B. The Tribulation
judgments
During the seven years
of tribulation God will pour out severe and drastic judgment on the earth.
These judgments are introduced by the Seals, the Trumpets, and the Vials
(Revelation 6, 8, 9, 15, and 16). During this time, the people of the earth will go
through a time of suffering and death such as the world has never known.
1. The Seals
(Revelation 6, 8:1)
The Seals judgment
will bring a promise of peace:
- The Anti-Christ will be able to win the world to
himself.
- Terrible war shall follow death and famine.
- One fourth of the world's population will die.
- There shall be much persecution of believing Jews.
- Catastrophies will disturb the earth with earthquakes.
- The moon will become as blood and people will hide in
the mountains for fear (Revelation 6).
2. The Trumpets
(Revelation 8, 9)
- During these judgments hail will fall and fire will
burn over a third of the earth.
- A falling meteor will destroy one third of the
shipping.
- The fish of the sea will die.
- One third of the sea will become blood.
- Poisons will contaminate one third of the water supply
and many will die.
- Great darkness will come over the earth.
- Five (5) months of scorpions stinging men on the
earth.
- A 200,000 man army will kill one third of the
population (Revelation 8, 9).
3. The Vials
(Revelation 16) - The Vials are the final showdown of God's judgments
for the tribulation:
a. Awful sores will
afflict those with the mark of the beast.
b. Everything in the
ocean will die.
c. All the water will
turn to blood.
d. The sun will burn
hotter than usual and will scorch men.
e. The earth will be
thrown into darkness and great pain will come upon men.
f. The river Euphrates
will be dried up so the armies of the east can come to Armageddon.
g. Hail, 100 Ibs. in
weight will fall destroying whole cities (Revelation 16).
4. The
Terrible Death
In the
fourth (4th) Seal, one fourth of the earth's population will die. With over
four (4) billion people living today, that would be over one billion people
dying in a short time. In the sixth (6th) Trumpet, one third of the remaining
population will die in the short period of the tribulation. The population of
the U.S. is a little less than one fourth of a billion, and from this you can
see that eight (8) times the U.S. population will die. Death brings misery and
heartaches. All the world will feel this heartache over and over again.