Hi Ahwatukee,
OK. I'll share my perspective since you asked but it's not with a desire to argue or to try to convince you anymore since I know we differ in eschatology. And personally, with time as short as we agree it is, I think we're all about to get major confirmation on whoever's view is right pretty soon anyhow.
"For at that time there will be great tribulation, unmatched from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again. If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short."
Based on the scripture above, which states that the great tribulation will be unequaled from the beginning, until now and never to be equaled again," how could you believe that we are at the tail end? In addition, Jesus said that it will be so bad that if those days were allowed to go on any longer, no one would be left alive.
When we look back at the last 2000 years of human history there's a temptation to minimize just how bad things actually were because (a) we're reading events through the filter of a lifeless history book or online articles which can't capture the pain, terror, and anxiety people suffered through daily...and (b) we think because we can imagine far worse than what has happened we reason that things couldn't have been
that bad for them, right? So there's a bit of a disconnect.
But terrible things happened. The entire world....every major nation...was at war...TWICE! We were literally on the brink of world destruction. And many say WW2 was a continuation of The Great War, with WW2 punctuated by the complete annihilation of two bustling Japanese cities
in seconds. This terrified the entire world (including the USA) so much that nations covenanted never to use such destructive power irresponsibly. Everyone feared the A-bomb. Imagine if America continued to use them...Imagine if Russia followed suit. There would be no flesh here. And this was as recent as 1945, only a generation ago.
The seals, trumpets and bowl judgments will make up the majority of God's wrath during the tribulation/great tribulation. That said, with just the 4th seal and the 6th trumpet, that would equal over half the earths population killed in just the first 3 1/2 years and that is not including trumpets 1, 2 and 3, nor the fatalities from the bowl judgments.
There is just no way that the time prior or our current status fits the great tribulation.
1) Is the
great tribulation for the world...or is it for Israel?
Matthew 24:20-22
Pray that your flight will not occur in the winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For at that time there will be great tribulation, unmatched from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again. 22 If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short
Luke 21:22-24
22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 24And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Daniel 12:1
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy 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 thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
So the GT is a punishment for the Jews, not the world, but if it wasn't ended no flesh would've been saved. Gentiles would've destroyed themselves and the world.
2) Are the trumpets and bowls part of the great tribulation...or is the GT separate from them?
As shown above, Daniel 12:1 is another passage describing the great tribulation. After it's described, one of the angels asks the "man in linen" how long until this event ends. Here's what He says...
Daniel 12:7
7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth forever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
Again, the angel is told:
-
When the holy people are completely scattered, that's the end of the great tribulation
- This scattering will take
time, times, and half time to complete.
- And the "man in linen", standing on the waters,
raising his hands and swearing to heaven knew this timeframe.
We can match "the scattering" to what the Messiah said in Luke 21 about His people:
Luke 21:22-24
22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 24And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
So the people would be scattered into ALL NATIONS during this GT. Next, we can match this "scattering into the nations" with what history documents as
the diaspora of the Jews where indeed they were eventually scattered to all nations through persecution and exile after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD.
Now, let's match the man in linen "standing on water", "raising hands" and "swearing to heaven" with the angel in Revelation 10:
Revelation 10-5-6
And the angel which I saw
stand upon the sea and upon the earth
lifted up his hand to heaven, 6 And
sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein,
that there should be time no longer:
...So this Person (who I believe is the Messiah, because the linen garments are High Priest garments) told Daniel it would take some time to scatter the people...but in Revelation 10 - after the events of the 6th trumpet - this Person (who I believe is the Messiah, because only he has the scroll that's now opened after breaking the seals) performs the
same exact actions like in Daniel 12 but says "time no longer" (i.e. "no more time"). In other words, after the 6th trumpet but before the 7th, it was time for the great tribulation upon the Jews.
...But again we now know that this "great tribulation" was to end with
the scattering of the Jews into all nations (as Daniel was told), which already happened in history...so that means the 6th trumpet already sounded and the GT was much LONGER than 3.5 years or 7 years. More like 1260 years.