YES VIRGINIA, THERE IS A TRIBULATION
DANIEL 9:20-27
SEVERAL DECADES AGO, AROUND CHRISTMAS, A NOW FAMOUS ARTICLE WAS PRINTED IN A NATIONAL NEWSPAPER IN THE UNITED STATES ENTITLED “YES VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS.” THE AUTHOR OF THE ARTICLE TRIED TO ANSWER THE QUESTION AS TO THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE EXISTENCE OF SANTA CLAUS.
IT IS NOT MY INTENTION TO ENTER THAT DEBATE TODAY CONCERNING SANTA CLAUS. IT IS MY INTENTION TO ENTER INTO THIS DEBATE THOUGH CONCERNING WHAT WE CALL THE TRIBULATION.
LET ME BEGIN WITH A SIMPLE QUESTION. HOW MANY OF YOU HERE TODAY BELIEVE THAT THE BIBLE IS TOTALLY INSPIRED BY GOD AND THAT THE WORD OF GOD IS INERRANT, THAT IS WITHOUT MISTAKES?
IF YOU DO, THEN YOU MUST BELIEVE THE MESSAGES THAT I HAVE PRESENTED CONCERNING, SIN, DEATH, THE RESURRECTION, AND THE RAPTURE. YOU HAVE NO CHOICE IF YOU BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS TRUE BUT TO BELIEVE THAT THERE WILL COME A TIME OF JUDGMENT FOR US ALL. YOU MUST ALSO BELIEVE THAT THE PLACE WHERE BELIEVERS GO, AND ONLY BELIEVERS WHO HAVE ACCEPTED JESUS CHRIST AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR IS HEAVEN, AND THAT HELL IS THE ABIDING PLACE FOR ETERNITY OF ALL NON-BELIEVERS AND THOSE WHO HAVE NOT ACCEPTED JESUS AS LORD AND SAVIOR.
TODAY I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU ANOTHER IMPORTANT TRUTH OF SCRIPTURE. THIS TRUTH IS SO PROFOUND THAT WE HAVE BEEN STUDYING IN GREAT DETAIL IN BIBLE STUDY FOR MORE THAN A YEAR AND A HALF. THAT’S RIGHT, WE’VE JUST SCRATCHED THE SURFACE OF THIS AREA OF SCRIPTURE. I WILL PROMISE YOU THAT WE WILL NOT GO SO IN DEPTH TODAY.
THE NEXT GREAT EVENT ON THE CHURCH CALENDAR IS THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH. THERE IS NOTHING THAT NEEDS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED, NO PROPHECY FULFILLED, IN ORDER FOR THE RAPTURE TO OCCUR. WHEN THE RAPTURE OCCURS ALL BORN-AGAIN BELIEVERS, LIVING OR DEAD, WILL BE CHANGED TO LIVE WITH CHRIST FOR ETERNITY.
THIS HOWEVER, IS ONLY FOR BORN-AGAIN BELIEVERS. THERE WILL BE SOME LIVING WHO WILL NOT BE TAKEN AT THE TIME OF THE RAPTURE. CONSIDER WHAT OUR RESPONSIVE READING IN MATTHEW STATES:
MATTHEW 24: 36-42: “36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. 42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE RAPTURE TO THOSE WHO ARE LEFT BEHIND? DO WE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THEM?
WE CAN ONLY SPEAK IN GENERAL TERMS, BUT ONE FACT WE CAN BE CERTAIN OF IS THAT ANYONE WHO HAS NOT MADE A DECISION FOR JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOR WILL, WITHOUT A DOUBT, BE LEFT BEHIND AT THE TIME OF THE RAPTURE. THESE PEOPLE CCOULD BE YOUNG OR OLD, ANYWHERE FROM TEENAGERS TO THOSE WELL ADVANCED IN YEARS. MALE OR FEMALE GENDER MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. RELATIONSHIPS MAKE NO DIFFERENCE. A MOTHER OR FATHER COULD BE RAPTURED, BUT A SON OR DAUGHTER LEFT BEHIND. THERE WILL BE NO CHILDREN LEFT AFTER THE RAPTURE, NOR WILL THERE BE THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE THE MENTAL CAPACITY TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE SIN NATURE.
THOSE LEFT BEHIND WILL HAVE TO FACE WHAT IS CALLED THE TRIBULATION PERIOD. THIS IS A SEVEN YEAR PERIOD OF TIME THAT DANIEL SPEAKS ABOUT. IT IS DIVIDED INTO TWO THREE AND A HALF YEAR PARTS, WITH THE SECOND PART OF GRATER HORROR AND INTENSITY OF EVIL, AND IS REFERRED TO AS THE GREAT TRIBULATION.
BIBLICAL BACKGROUND:
DANIEL AND REVELATION ARE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE THAT ARE WRITTEN IN APOCALYPTIOC STYLE. THIS MEANS THAT THEY PRIMARILY DEAL WITH PROPHECY. NOW WHEN WE STUDY ABOUT PROPHECY THERE IS AN IMMEDIATE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY AND THERE IS ALSO A MORE LONG TERM FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY.
LET ME ILLUSTRATE: WHEN I WAS A CHILD AND IN SCHOOL, WE KNEW THAT IF WE ACTED UP THERE WOULD BE CONSEQUENCES. THEY WERE TOLD TO US AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR. IF WE CHOSE TO DISOBEY, THEN THE FORETOLD CONSEQUENCES (I.E. THE STRAP) WOULD BE APPLIED. THAT’S AN IMMEDIATE CONSEQUENCE. WHEN WE GOT HOME AND MOM OR DAD FOUND OUT WE MISBEHAVED AT SCHOOL WE WERE SPANKED. THAT’S THE LONG TERM CONSEQUENCE.
NOW THIS LONG AND SHORT TERM PROPHETIC FULFILLMENT IS IMPORTANT AS WE CONSIDER DANIEL’S WRITING OF CHAPTER 9. VERSES 24-27 CONTAIN WHAT HAS COME TO BE KNOWN AS “THE PROPHECY OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS.”
THE TIME PERIOD HERE IS SYMBOLIC AND REFERS TO YEARS RATHER THAN WEEKS. WE WILL NOT GO INTO DETAIL CONCERNING THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY EXCEPT TO SAY THAT THE FIRST SIXTY-NINE WEEKS OF THE PROPHECY WERE PART OF THE IMMEDIATE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY AND HAVE ALREADY OCCURRED. THE SEVENTIETH WEEK IS THE TIME PERIOD THAT CONCERNS US. CONTINUING WITH THE SYMBOLISM THIS TIME PERIOD IS ACTUALLY A SEVEN YEAR PERIOD OF TIME. IT IS PART OF THE LONG TERM DEVELOPMENT OF THIS PROPHECY AS IT HAS NOT BEEN FULFILLED AS YET. LOOK AT VERSE 27:
DANIEL 9:27: “He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing [of the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."”
THIS VERSE INTRODUCES YOU TO THE MAIN VILLIAN OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD AS WELL AS TO THE TIME FRAME FOR THE TRIBULATION PERIOD.
WHAT IS THE TIME FRAME FOR THE TRIBULATION?
THE EXACT TIME FRAME FOR THE TRIBULATION PERIOD TO BEGIN IS UNKNOWN. WE KNOW THAT ON A BIBLICAL TIME LINE THE RAPTURE OCCURS AT THE END OF REVELATION CHAPTER 3 AND BEFORE CHAPTER FOUR. WE ALSO KNOW THAT IN CHAPTER FIVE JESUS IS REVEALED AS THE ONE WHO CAN OPEN THE SCROLL AND REVEAL THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD. THE TRIBULATION WOULD HAVE BEEN IN IN EFFECT AT THIS POINT FOR SOME TIME.
THEOLOGIANS BELIEVE THAT THE TRIBULATION WILL NOT OCCUR IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH. THERE WILL BE A BRIEF PERIOD OF TIME, WHERE THE ANTI-CHRIST WILL ESTABLISH HIMSELF AS A WORLD LEADER, AND BE ABLE TO BRING ABOUT THE EVENT THAT WILL BE THE BEGINNING POINT OF THE TRIBULATION. MOST THEOLOGIANS WOULD PUT THIS BRIEF TIME PERIOD AS BETWEEN 3-7 YEARS AT THE OUTSIDE, ALTHOUGH A FEW SAY AS MUCH AS 10 YEARS BUT THIS IS NOT WIDELY HELD.
DANIEL 9:27 TELLS US THAT A COVENANT WILL BE MADE WITH MANY FOR ONE SEVEN. THIS ONE SEVEN IS DANIEL’S SEVENTIETH WEEK AND IS THE SEVEN YEAR TRIBULATION TIME. WHEN WILL THIS COVENANT BE ESTABLISHED WE DON’T KNOW. WHAT WE DO KNOW IS THAT IT WILL MAKR THE BEGINNING OF THE SEVEN YEAR PERIOD, AND THE IMMINENT LAST DAYS OF THE SINFUL WORLD AS WE KNOW IT.
HOW DO WE IDENTIFY THIS COVENANT?
THIS COVENANT IS GOING TO BE OF GIGANTIC PROPORTIONS. IT WILL BE SOMETHING THAT IS TOTALLY IMPOSSIBLE NOW TO ACCOMPLISH. IT WILL ESTABLISH PEACE IN THE WORLD AND WILL ESTABLISH THE ANTI-CHRIST AS THE WORLD RULER.
THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TEMPLE ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT WILL BE THE STARTING POINT OF THE TRIBULATION.
MATTHEW 24:15: “"So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel— let the reader understand—”
THE KEY HERE IS THE LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE. IT WILL BE BUILT ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT. THIS IS SACRED GROUND TO BOTH THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND THE MUSLIMS.
THIS WAS THE MOUNT WHERE ABRAHAM WAS SET TO OFFER ISSAC AS SACRIFICE. IT WAS ALSO THE PLACE WHERE SOLOMON’S TEMPLE WAS ERECTED.
AT PRESENT THE TEMPLE MOUNT IS THE HOME OF THE DOME OF THE ROCK, A SACRED PLACE OF THE MUSLIMS. ISRAEL HAD WON CONTROL OF THE TEMPLE MOUNT DURING THE SIX DAY WAR, BUT TURNED IT’S AUTHORITY BACK TO THE MUSLIMS IN AN EFFORT TO KEEP PEACE.
THE ONLY WAY ISRAEL COULD BUILD A TEMPLE ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT WOULD BE TO DESTROY THE DOME OF THE ROCK. THIS WOULD BEGIN A HOLY WAR WITH THE MUSLIMS.
THE ANTICHRIST IS GOING TO BRING IN A DEAL THAT IS GOING TO RE-ESTABLISH THE TEMPLE ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT. HE WILL FASHION THIS DEAL IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE MUSLIM’S WILL NOT DECLARE A HOLY WAR BUT WILL WELCOME PEACE. WHEN THIS TEMPLE IS COMPLETED AND SACRIFICES BEGIN THE TRIBULATION PERIOD WILL BEGIN.
IT MAY SEEM LIKE A STRANGE WAY FOR THE ANTI-CHRIST TO ESTABLISH HIS AUTHORITY, BUT WE MUST REMEMBER WHAT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SACRIFICE AND TEMPLE IS TO THE JEWISH RELIGION, AND THE SIGNIFICANCE TO CHRIST.
THE JEWISH RELIGION IS BASED ON THE SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. SINS WERE FORGIVEN, THANK OFFERINGS MADE, ECT. ALL THROUGH SACRIFICE. THE TEMPLE IS THE PLACE THE JEWISH PEOPLE GO TO MEET GOD AND WORSHIP HIM.
GOD ESTABLISHED A NEW COVENANT THOUGH AT CALVARY. IT IS THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST NOW THAT PEOPLE ARE SAVED, NOT THROUGH THE SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM. GOD SAW THE SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM AS A MEANS OF DECLARING PEOPLE RIGHTEOUS, NOT AS A MEANS OF DEALING WITH THEIR SIN NATURE, OR ELSE THEY WOULD NOT HAVE TO BE REPEATED.
HEBREWS 10:1-6:
“1 ¶ The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming— not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.”
THIS MAKES THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TEMPLE AND SACRIFICES A PERFECT SOLUTION FOR THE ANTICHRIST. IT WILL ESTABLISH HIMSELF AS A WORLD RULER FOR SOLVING THE MID-EAST CRISIS, AND RE-ESTABLISHING A SYSTEM FOR THE JEWS THAT WILL LEAD THEM FURTHER AWAY FROM GOD.
THE OTHER THING FOR YOU TO REALIZE IS THAT WHILE IT TOOK SOLOMON DECADES TO BUILD THE TEMPLE, WITH THE TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE TODAY, IT CAN BE REBUILT IN ONLY MONTHS. THERE ARE CRAFTSMAN NOW WHO ARE PREPARED TO FASHION THE FEATURES OF THE TEMPLE. WHEN THE TIME COMES, IT WILL NOT TAKE LONG TO RE-ESTABLISH THE TEMPLE.
WHAT WILL LIFE BE LIKE DURING THE TRIBULATION?
EVIL WILL BE WIDESPREAD DURING THE TRIBULATION. IF WE THINK THE WORLD IS BAD NOW, IT IS NOTHING TO WHAT IT WILL BE LIKE THEN. THERE WILL BE NO CHURCH MAKING INTERCESSION BEFORE GOD DURING THE TIME OF THE TRIBULATION. PEOPLE WILL BE LEFT TO THEIR OWN DEVICES TO FIND THE TRUTH, AND MANY WILL BE DECEIVED BY THE ANTICHRIST.
THERE WILL ALSO BE A SERIES OF JUDGMENTS, TWENTY-ONE IN ALL, SENT BY GOD ON UNBELIEVERS ON EARTH. THESE JUDGMENTS WILL EFFECT PEOPLE, ANIMALS, EVEN THE UNIVERSE, NOTHING WILL BE LEFT UNTOUCHED IN AN EFFORT TO BRING PEOPLE TO CHRIST.
AT THE HALFWAY MARK OF THE TRIBULATION THE ANTICHRIST WILL DESTROY THE COVENANT HE HAD MADE TO ESTABLISH THE TRIBULATION IN THE FIRST PLACE. HE WILL OFFER THE “ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION” IN THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM.
IT IS BELIEVED THAT HE WILL OFFER A PIG ON THE ALTER TO CREATE THE ABOLINATION.
ISAIAH 66:17: “"Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following the one in the midst of those who eat the flesh of pigs and rats and other abominable things— they will meet their end together," declares the LORD.”
IT IS AFTER THIS POINT THAT ANTICHRIST CEASES TO HIDE HIS GOALS AND AMBITIONS. HE WILL SEEK TO DESTROY ALL CHRISTIANS, NOBODY WILL BE ABLE TO WORSHIP ANYONE BUT HIM.
THE MARK OF THE BEAST WILL BE ESTABLISHED, AND PEOPLE WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO BUY OR SELL UNLESS THEY RECEIVE THIS MARK. THE BIBLE ALSO TELLS US THAT THOSE WHO CHOOSE THIS MARK ARE IN FACT CHOOSING THE ANTICHRIST OVER CHRIST AND WILL FOREVER BE LOST.
MANY CHRISTIANS WILL FACE MARTYRDOM DURING THIS PERIOD. IT WILL BECOME A CHOICE OF A SHORT TIME OF DEATH AND AN ETERNITY WITH CHRIST, OR A SHORT TIME OF EXISTENCE FOLLOWED BY AN ETERNITY IN HELL.
HOW WILL THE TRIBULATION END?
THE TRIBULATION WILL END WITH THE GREATEST BATTLE OF HISTORY BEING FAUGHT. ARMIES FROM ALL NATIONS OF THE WORLD WILL GATHER AT ARMAGEDDON, THINKING THAT THEY WILL BE FIGHTING ISRAEL.
IT WILL BE THEN THAT JESUS WILL RETURN, FOLLOWED BY AN ARMY MADE UP OF THE SAINTS OF HEAVEN. THE LORD WILL CREATE THE CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR THE BATTLE TO BE FAUGHT. WE ARE TOLD THAT THE ARMIES OF THE ANTICHRIST WILL BE DEFEATED BY THE SWORD COMING OUT OF THE MOTH OF THE LORD.
THIS BATTLE WILL END THE TRIBULATION PERIOD AND USHER IN THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST.
WHAT DOES THE TRIBULATION MEAN TO US?
THE SHORT ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION IS THAT TO THE BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN THE TRIBULATION PERIOD SHOULD BE VERY SIGNIFICANT FOR US.
AS BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIANS WE WILL NOT FACE THE TRIBULATION PERIOD. THE BIBLE IS CLEAR THAT WHETHER LIVING OR DEAD, ALL CHRISTIANS WILL BE TAKEN UP TO BE WITH CHRIST AT THE TIME OF THE RAPTURE. OUR DESTINY IS SECURED.
WHAT OF OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO THOSE AROUND US? CAIN ASKED THE QUESTION “AM I MY BROTHERS KEEPER” AFTER HE HAD KILLED HIS BROTHER ABEL. MANY TIMES SINCE THEN WE HAVE FOUND THAT WE ARE OUR BROTHER’S KEEPER. MORE THAN THAT WE ARE OUR LOVED ONES KEEPER.
I STARTED THIS SERMON WITH THIS QUESTION “HOW MANY OF YOU HERE TODAY BELIEVE THAT THE BIBLE IS TOTALLY INSPIRED BY GOD AND THAT THE WORD OF GOD IS INERRANT, THAT IS WITHOUT MISTAKES?”
IF YOU DO THEN YOU MUST DEAL WITH TWO VERY IMPORTANT ISSUES:
1. THAT THE FACTS I HAVE JUST TOLD YOU ABOUT THE TRIBULATION WILL HAPPEN.
2. THAT WE AS A CHURCH ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR SPREADING THE GOSPEL OF GOD’S LOVE AND GRACE TO AN UNSAVED WORLD.
3. THAT WE AS INDIVIDUALS AND A CHURCH, WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR NOT MAKING THE MOST OF EACH OPPORTUNITY WE HAVE.
IF WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE THEN WE MUST BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE WILL HAVE TO FACE THE TRIBULATION. THESE PEOPLE WILL BE YOUNG OR OLD, MALE OR FEMALE, A SON OR DAUGHTER, A HUSBAND OR WIFE, A FATHER OR MOTHER, OR GRANDPARENTS.
THE PEOPLE GOING THROUGH THE TRIBULATION WILL NOT BE ROGUES, EVIL, OR CRIMINALS, ALTHOUGH THEY MAY WIND UP THIS WAY. A PERSON MAY BE THE BEST PERSON IN THE WORLD AND IF THEY HAVEN’T ACCEPTED CHRIST AS SAVIOR, THEY WILL STILL FACE THE TRIBULATION.
THE ONLY WAY TO AVOID THE TRIBULATION IS A LIFE-CHANGING RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOR. MY QUESTION TO YOU TODAY IS WHETHER OR NOT YOU HAVE ACCEPTED CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOR IN YOUR LIFE. YOU CAN DO SO TODAY. I INVITE YOU TO COME AS WE SING OUR CLOSING HYMN.
