“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you
may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good
cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NKJV)
“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since
the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
(Matt. 24:21 NKJV)
Every now and then I get a question from someone who says even though
the pre-trib position seems to make sense scripturally, they can’t
accept it because Jesus said we would have tribulation in this world,
and that must mean the church will go through at least the first part of
the Tribulation. When they say this they’re thinking of the first 3½
years.
Let’s get this straight. There is no mention anywhere in the Bible of a
seven year tribulation. According to Strong’s Concordance the Greek word
translated tribulation in these two passages appears 45 times in the New
Testament and tribulation is the English word of choice in 21 of them,
including the two above. It comes from a root meaning “to press” as
grapes are pressed. When used metaphorically it can mean oppression,
affliction, tribulation, distress, hardship, or trouble. But while
tribulation is the word that appears in both these verses, their intent
is completely different.
What Does That Mean?
In John 16:33 Jesus said, in effect, that becoming a believer doesn’t
mean your troubles are over. Troubles are characteristic of this world
and as long as you’re in it you’ll have them. But He has overcome this
world and through faith in Him you will overcome it too.
He was referring to the fact that because of our faith we can have peace
even in times of trouble (Phil 4:4-7). First because we know he’s
working everything in our lives together for our good (Romans 8:28) and
second because one day this will all be over and we’ll live in a state
of eternal peace and happiness with Him. Therefore we should focus on
that world not this one (2 Cor. 4:16-18). When you read the passage in
context you can see that John 16:33 is meant for the entire Church Age
and addresses individuals and our individual lives.
A Different Matter
But Matt. 24:21 is a different matter altogether. First of all it
applies to a specific period of time, commencing on the heels of the
abomination of desolation (Matt. 24:15) and ending just before the 2nd
Coming (Matt. 24:29). And Jesus prefaced the word tribulation with
“great” saying nothing like it has ever happened in the history of the
world, or ever will happen again. From other references we know the
Great Tribulation will last for 3½ years and will be far more severe
than anyone can imagine. So much so that if the Lord doesn’t return to
put an end to it, not a single human will survive (Matt. 24:22).
So as far as the Bible is concerned, there are two kinds of tribulation.
The first is the general condition of our fallen creation. Hardship,
illness, persecution and other kinds of unfair treatment, and a general
state of uncertainty characterize our world. These are facts of human
life that to a greater or lesser extent have impacted all human beings
throughout the Age of Man. This is the tribulation Jesus spoke of in
John 16:33. Of the 21 times the word tribulation appears in the New
Testament (KJV) 16 of them are in this context.
Then, there’s the Great Tribulation. Three and one half years of extreme
judgments that will fall upon just one generation, the one alive just
before the second coming. This is the focus of Matt. 24:21 and just four
other verses (Matt. 24:29, Mark 13:24, Rev. 2:22, Rev. 7:14) . You can
see that the conditions of the two kinds of tribulation are very
different. Whenever the word tribulation appears it’s referring to one
of these two kinds and you know which one the Bible has in view by
looking at the context in which the word is being used. But you’ll never
see it used to describe the seven years just prior to the 2nd Coming.
Where Did That Come From?
So how did the idea of a seven year tribulation originate? Well if it
didn’t come from God, it had to have come from man. In researching this,
I was not able to discover who first taught this, but I believe it
started in the days when even the most learned scholars didn’t realize
that Israel would be reborn. Neither did they understand that the Age of
Grace didn’t follow the Age of Law but rather interrupted it seven years
short of its completion. So calling the last seven years by their Old
Testament name, Daniel’s 70th Week, didn’t make sense because doing so
implied that Israel would come back from the dead and play a part in the
End Times. This is something most scholars believed would not happen.
Even so there were seven years that had to be accounted for. The last
three and a half were easy, Jesus had already named them the Great
Tribulation (Matt. 24:21). That just left the first three and a half.
These have been variously called the beginning of sorrows or the false
peace or the tribulation period, but eventually scholars incorrectly
began calling the entire seven year period the tribulation with the last
half being the Great Tribulation. Since the rapture takes place before
the seven years begin, it has also been incorrectly named.
Instead of
being pre-trib, it’s really pre 70th Week.
So What’s the Problem?
Other questions I’ve received concern the effect of this incorrect
interpretation. “Why does it matter?” they ask. It matters because it
isn’t Biblical. And what’s more it’s confusing, as questions I get on
the End Times demonstrate. Many people don’t distinguish between the two
uses of the word tribulation and incorrectly use John 16:33 and similar
passages to deny the pre-trib rapture.
For example, Acts 14:21-22 (KJV) is another passage sometimes used to
question the pre-trib rapture.
And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many,
they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, Confirming
the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith,
and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
Paul and Barnabas were encouraging new gentile converts to keep the
faith in spite of the hardship and persecution they were facing, in
effect saying it was something that should be expected as a result of
their profession of faith.
Reading about the current plight of Christians in places like India,
Indonesia and China shows us these things are still going on in the
world. Even in America we’re becoming used to seeing two things our
constitution forbids. Persecution of Christians and promotion of other
religions. But like it was in Paul’s day this has nothing to do with the
Great Tribulation, and everything to do with religious persecution.
Also, referring to Daniel’s 70th Week (which concerns Israel) as the
tribulation (which is world wide) hides the fact that Israel and the
Church can’t co-exist during that time. Because of this, many Christians
don’t realize that during Daniel’s 70th Week God’s focus will be on
Israel, with its Old Covenant Temple, animal sacrifice, keeping the
commandments and all things Jewish. How can the dispensation of Law and
the Dispensation of Grace exist in the same place at the same time when
the two are theologically incompatible? Truth be told this is perhaps
the most compelling reason for a pre 70th Week rapture.
After We’re Gone
In Romans 11:25-27 Paul said that Israel has experienced a hardening in
part until the full number of Gentiles has come in, but after that
Israel will be saved. The Greek word for hardening also means blinded.
This is a clear indication that God’s unfinished business with Israel
won’t be concluded until he’s finished with the Church. We know He won’t
be finished with us until the rapture. Until then Israel will remain at
least partly blinded to the truth, just as Jesus warned would happen in
Luke 19:41-44.
This sentiment was echoed at the Council of Jerusalem when James
disclosed that God would first take from the Gentiles a people for
Himself (the Church) and after that would turn again to Israel (Acts
15:13-18). In Greek the phrase translated "take from" literally means
“to take in order to carry away from” and is another reference to the
rapture.
These two passages of Scripture are not widely used in defense of the
pre-trib rapture because they speak to the theology behind the Church’s
disappearance rather than the event itself. But they’re extremely
helpful in putting the missing week of Daniel 9:24-27 in its proper
perspective. It’s the remaining 7 years of God’s assignment for Israel
to complete 6 tasks in preparation for the coming Kingdom, as outlined
in Daniel 9:24.......
“Seventy ’sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to
finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to
bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and
to anoint the most holy (place).”
The phrase seventy sevens means seventy weeks of years, or 490 years.
Some of these tasks were at least partially completed in the 483rd year
at the time of the Crucifixion. But Israel’s rejection of the Messiah
stopped the clock 7 years short of the total leaving the rest undone.
These 7 years are yet to be completed, but as Paul and James both
specified, the clock will not start running again until the Church
disappears. This is what makes knowing all about Daniel’s 70th Week so
important to the Church. It helps us understand why the rapture can’t
happen during any part of it.
The Bible is not a book of generalities, it’s a book of specifics. Those
last 7 years are missing and must be completed. When you read the Bible
literally, as was intended, there’s no sense in which they can be placed
in the past.
They’re part of the future and they’re not called the tribulation, they’re called Daniel’s 70th Week.