Extreme Tribulation

We need to change our nomenclature if we even hope to understand end times prophecies accurately. What most Christians associate with the two word phrase, “great tribulation”, is not at all what God intended. They assume that “great tribulation” refers to one thing, and one thing only, a seven-year Great Tribulation. And furthermore, they assume that the Great Tribulation is only going to affect the wicked of the world, those left behind when the Christians are all peacefully and blissfully raptured away to be with Jesus.  That assumption is woefully and dangerously misleading.

Let’s propose a simple means of understanding the prophecies of Revelation accurately. Change the terminology to extreme tribulation. Let’s abandon the term great tribulation altogether, so we can understand that we are all headed into extreme tribulation as the end of the age comes upon us. We Christians will not escape the tribulation that God will unleash. The Greek words normally translated great tribulation (e.g., Rev 7:14, Matt 24:21; cf. Dan 12:1) are thlipsis megalos. Thlipsis is best translated as affliction or turmoil, but we have become more accustomed to using the English word tribulation to translate it. And megalos simply means large, extreme, huge, or great.  Changing the terminology is completely legitimate within the bounds of Biblical translation, and it is extremely helpful for getting away from the false notions associated with “great tribulation”. (That statement will obviously be challenged by those who want to believe in a seven-year Great Tribulation, and insist on the prevailing translation to support their theology. In my book, Right at The Door, there is an entire chapter dismantling the underpinnings of the seven-year Great Tribulation hoax.)

The English word that we use in so many translations, tribulation, actually comes from a Latin word, tribulum. The tribulum was a large heavy sledge-board with flint or stones on the underside. It was drug over the wheat to thresh it, separating the grain from the husks. The wheat could then be winnowed, the husks blowing away in the wind and the grain preciously gathered up.  Like the tribulum, God uses tribulation to separate the useless husks from the precious grain. That is such an important concept to understand as the last days quickly come upon us.

Tribulation is a common theme throughout Biblical history. It is a key component of God’s redemptive plan.  Tribulation is the means by which God purifies His chosen and called people. Tribulation was used by God in Egypt to stir the hearts of the Hebrews to cry out for freedom and deliverance, and again in the wilderness to prepare them to enter the promised land. Tribulation was used by God during the time of the Judges, repeatedly, to cause His people to turn back to Him for deliverance. Tribulation was used with the nations of Israel and Judah, when they were crushed by Assyria and Babylon. Tribulation was used in 70 AD, destroying the temple and decimating the unbelieving Jews, scattering the survivors to the four corners of the earth for two millennium. Why then would we Christians, at the end of the age, refuse to understand that extreme tribulation at the end of the age will again be used by God, used to purify the Church to be a holy bride for Jesus’ return. Instead we want to relegate that extreme tribulation as judgment upon the wicked, and allow for the church to be raptured, never being threshed by the tribulum, separating the true believers from the wannabes, the idolatrous and half-hearted from the deeply faithful.

For over 150 years now America has listened to prophets and teachers proclaiming that the Church will be spared the extreme tribulation that is laid out in Revelation. Bible-believing Christians are conlficted and confused over what to believe about the Great Tribulation. This quandary is similar to that described by Isaiah and Jeremiah. They pointed out, over and over, that false prophets are notorious for prophesying peace and safety, giving false hope, when God is warning of destruction, captivity, and extreme tribulation. (see Isa 30:20-22, Jer 14:13; 23:16-17, and the story of the false prophet Hananiah in Jer 28). The truth of what lies ahead is not peace and rapture. The true prophecy of Revelation is the destruction of the seventh beast nation, America, the rise of the lawless one, the leader of the eighth beast, and the final, cataclysmic battle of Armageddon. Six of the seven trumpet warnings and bowl judgments will take place while Christians are still here on the earth. Only then will Jesus return to rescue His chosen ones, catching us up from this earth just prior to the last trumpet, the horrible outpouring of His wrath. (In fact, five of the first six trumpets have already occurred, but most people are oblivious. They are not future, they have already taken place. History is the best interpreter of prophecy, not speculation.)

Is the church in America ready for extreme tribulation. The answer, I am afraid, is a resounding “no”. Many will be disheartened, dismayed, and fall away. Only a few will be threshed by the tribulum, and remain faithful and true.