Open up your Bibles to Matthew 24...
I'm going to cover this line upon line what Jesus said below about the future "great tribulation":
Matt 24:5-31
5 For many shall come in My name, saying, "I am Christ"; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
The above events are not... during the
"great tribulation" timing. They happen prior to the
"great tribulation", and Jesus calls the above events
"the beginning of sorrows".
Many false ones have already come throughout history claiming to be Christ, even in my generation that has been going on. (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_claimed_to_be_Jesus)
The above
"beginning of sorrows" is what the pre-trib rapture school mainly relies upon for how the coming
"great tribulation" will be. But those events are not about the actual time of "great tribulation", but instead a time just prior called the
"beginning of sorrows".
Lord Jesus reinforced that idea of the
"beginning of sorrows" time prior to the tribulation by that phrase
"but the end is not yet". That "
end" is about the time of "
great tribulation." In that He says as long as we hear of wars and rumors of wars, then the "
end" (trib time) is not yet. Now think just a little bit about that; if the "
end" is not a time of war, then what kind of time will it be? What's the opposite of a time of war? It's a time of peace.
In 1 Thessalonians 5, Apostle Paul showed that when the deceived say,
"Peace and safety", then
"sudden destruction" will come upon them, like a woman in travail at birth. That
"sudden destruction" means the very last day of this present world, when Jesus returns and ends this present world by God's consuming fire (2 Peter 3:10; 1 Cor.15:53-54). By that Apostle Paul showed the 'end' will be a time of world peace, when the deceived will be saying that, "Peace and safety".
This means the coming "
great tribulation" is going to be a time of world peace, NOT all out WWIII and chaos like the pre-trib rapture authors and preachers instead teach. Hal Lindsay and Time LaHaye in their books show those "beginning of sorrows" ideas of nation against nation, war, pestilences, earthquakes, and just absolute world chaos, as being what the "great tribulation" time is about.
But as I have said before, they failed to study God's Word closely enough, because God's Word shows the
"great tribulation" will be a time when all wars have stopped, which means world peace. It won't be the real peace that Lord Jesus will manifest when He returns, but it will be a mimic of Jesus' true peace on earth.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
That above is during the
"beginning of sorrows" timing also. The actual "
great tribulation" has not yet started at this point, but is getting ready to. The Mark 13 version gives a more detailed picture of some of Christ's servants being delivered up to Satan's host in order to give a Testimony from The Holy Spirit against them.
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand
That above event, the placing of the IDOL abomination inside a new Jewish temple built in Jerusalem for the 'end', and the false-Messiah demanding that we all bow in worship to it, and/or to him, is what will actually kick off the time of "
great tribulation".
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
In the Luke 21 version of this timing, Jesus even warns brethren in the countries to not enter into Jerusalem when that above "abomination of desolation" IDOL is placed in a temple in Jerusalem for false worship. Those ideas to not come down from the housetop, nor return home from the field, is to show that Jesus' coming to gather us is going to be real soon after these events.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
That warning is about
"Blessed are the barren..." metaphor which Jesus used in Luke 23:26-31 about those of us who remain a spiritual
"chaste virgin" waiting for our True Husband Jesus Christ at His coming, like Apostle Paul showed in 2 Corinthians 11. The Luke 21:23 version of that
"with child" metaphor shows there will be great 'wrath' upon those, pointing to God's cup of wrath on the final day when Jesus returns (7th Vial of Revelation 16).
(Continued...)
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