The Tribulation is a Future Event
(From the Present Perspective)
The tribulation period immediately precedes the millennial kingdom and from the present perspective it is a future event. While some covenantal premillennialists agree with this observation, amillennialists, because of their allegorization of Bible prophecy and their belief that we are currently living in the millennial period, almost universally deny that the tribulation is in the future, preferring instead to identify it with past events—usually the Roman persecution of Christians.[This position is generally true only of conservative amillennialists. Liberal amillennialists usually do not believe in a tribulation, or predictive prophecy. Some covenant premillenialists hold to a similar position, identifying the tribulation as a past event, usually the A.D. 70 destruction of Jerusalem, or the early persecutions of the Church; that position is called “preterism”—signifying “past” fulfillment.] A few covenant premillennialists known as “imminent posttribulationists” even suggest that we may now be in the tribulation. This presents us with our first major chronological question concerning the tribulation: “Is the tribulation to be found in past history, present reality, or in the future?”
Let’s ask three questions that can help us to clarify our understanding of the relative external chronology of the tribulation period. 1) Is there any evidence to suggest that we are currently in the millennium (thus implying that the tribulation is past)? 2) Has there been any set of world events in history that matches the description of the tribulation given in the Bible (implying that the tribulation is either past or present)? 3) Are there any prerequisite conditions that would have to be met in order for certain tribulation events to take place; and if so, have they been met (indicating that the fulfillment of tribulation prophecy must be in the future)? [Question one addresses amillennialism. Questions two and three address the preterist position, and the imminent posttribulational position.]
When we compare what we know about the millennium to the present age in which we live, there is simply no evidence to support the idea that we could be in the millennium now; you would think that would be fairly obvious, and it is—even to amillennialists! That’s why they must engage in allegorization of the millennial prophecies (such as suggesting that Christ is presently ruling over His kingdom from Heaven, instead of on earth as pictured in every millennial passage in which locational references are made). Every prophecy of the second coming in which a chronological relationship with either the tribulation or the millennium is given places the second coming of Christ either immediately at the end of the tribulation, or immediately prior to the inception of the millennial kingdom (note especially Zech. 14:1-11, Matt. 24:29-31 and Rev. 19:11-20:6). If we really want to know when the millennium is going to take place, we should listen to the words of Christ in Matthew 25:31-34 where He says,
But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as he shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” [NASB, underlines added]
Jesus tells us very plainly that He will sit on the throne of His kingdom—“when [He] the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him.” Note the clear time reference; He will sit on the throne of His kingdom “when” He comes (Gr. hotan, indicating a specific point in the future, which is further specified as, “then” [Gr. tote, adverb of time, meaning “at that time”]). This is not a reference to some “mystical,” or “spiritual” coming; Jesus had just described His second coming with His angels in great detail within the context of this discourse (Matt 24: 3-31). He now associates the inauguration of His kingdom with that coming. The temporal structure of this passage (“when/then”) is very precise. Christ is clearly indicating that it will be at His second coming that He will His take His seat on the throne of His kingdom. (Although He is presently seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven, that seat is not the throne of His visible, earthly kingdom.) Concerning the second coming of Christ, Zechariah says,
[14:4-9] On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime-a day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there will be light. On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter. The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.
Notice the precise correspondence of this statement to the Lord’s statement in Matthew 25:31-34. Messiah will come and His feet will rest upon the Mount of Olives (note the physical details—the mount will “split”), He will return with His “holy ones” (the angels) and the Lord, physically present, will be King over the whole earth. Note also John’s description in Revelation 19:11-20:4.
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great.” Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
There is no question that this is a description of Christ’s second coming. We see in this description, as in the rest, that Christ does not return alone, He returns with what are here described as “the armies of Heaven,” undoubtedly a reference to the angels (cf. 19:17-18; 20:1-3; Matt. 24:29-31). He will strike down His enemies and rule the earth “with an iron rod.” Satan will be bound and sealed in the Abyss, and the saints will be resurrected from their graves to rule with Christ during the millennium. One only has to read this passage once to understand why the Book of Revelation was temporarily excluded from the New Testament Canon when the eastern branch of the church adopted amillennialism in the second century. Nothing in this description fits with amillennialism. To underscore how poor the amillennial view of the visible kingdom is, we need only ask a few simple questions like these: “If we are now living in the kingdom described in these passages, in what sense is Satan both ‘bound’ and ‘sealed,’ and unable to ‘deceive the nations?’” “In what sense are the saints now ruling?” “When did the resurrection described in Revelation 20:3 occur?” The amillennial answers to these questions will inevitably involve either a diminution of the prophetic source material itself, or our ability to interpret it; or more likely, a wholesale allegorization of the passages. If Scripture is taken at face value, there can be no question that the millennium is yet in the future. Since we can be certain that the second coming has not occurred, we can be sure that amillennialism is incorrect, and equally certain that the tribulation did not occur in the first century, or at any period in the past.
To determine whether the tribulation events have been fulfilled in any prior age since the time of the New Testament, or are being fulfilled at the present, the reader need only compare the descriptions given of the tribulation with history. Covenantalists have already made this comparison and found no match with history—that’s why they arbitrarily switch to an allegorical method of interpreting tribulation prophecies, despite the fact that they apply a normal/literal method to most other prophecy (for example, the birth of Christ). The bias of this procedure is obvious. Only through a process of selective allegorical interpretation can one claim historical (or present) fulfillment of the tribulation prophecies. For example, we might ask: “When, since the writing of the New Testament, did an object from space hit one of the world’s oceans destroying most of the life in it?” Or, “When did Christ return, as is clearly indicated to be the concluding event of the tribulation (Zech. 14:1-21; Matt. 24:3-31; Rev. 19:11-21)?” There simply is no match to the tribulation prophecies in history, nor do we see the events we have previously described (in the last chapter) occurring at present—nor do covenantalists—which is why they suddenly (and with patently biased intent) switch to an allegorical interpretation of these events.
The final question we will ask is whether there are any prerequisites that must be satisfied before the tribulation can be fulfilled; and if so, have they been met? The answer is, “Yes”—there are prerequisites, and “No”—they have not been met. The following examples will illustrate this point.
The abomination in the temple originally described in the Book of Daniel, and repeated by Christ and Paul, cannot take place unless the temple is standing (cf. Dan. 9:27; Matt. 24:15 and 2 Thess. 2:3-4). The reason is that owing to the nature of this act, it must be performed in the temple. There are two ways to demonstrate that this precondition to the fulfillment of the tribulation could not have been met in the past. 1) The Book of Revelation, as nearly as we can date, was written between A.D. 81 and 96—some twenty years after the destruction of the temple by the Romans in A.D. 70. From the perspective of Revelation, this abomination was yet to be fulfilled (Rev. 13:5-10). This means that the reconstruction of the temple is a prerequisite to the fulfillment of this prophecy. Since the temple has not been rebuilt since its destruction in A.D. 70, it is not possible that the tribulation prophecies have been fulfilled in the past as some covenantalists claim. In response to this argument, Preterists claim that we do not know the precise date of the Book of Revelation; however, even if that objection were sustained, it wouldn’t matter because the same argument can also be proved differently. 2) That the temple must be rebuilt after its A.D. 70 destruction (in order for the prophecies of the tribulation to be fulfilled) can be deduced from the prophecy of the seventy “weeks” in the Book of Daniel (9:24-27, see Figure 7.3). This prophecy pictures the tribulation period (the seventieth “week,” v.27) beginning after the prophesied destruction of the temple (v.26), which would have to have been the A.D. 70 destruction of the second temple, since the 586 B.C. destruction of the first temple was, by the time of this prophecy, years in the past. This prophecy requires that the temple (i.e., a third temple) be rebuilt after the A.D. 70 destruction of the second temple (prophesied in v. 26) in order for the abomination spoken of in verse 27 to take place. The third temple has not been built; therefore, no set of events prior to the construction of the third temple (in the future) could fulfill the conditions of the tribulation. Let’s see how this is derived from the passage. [I have added the explanations in brackets.]
[Dan. 9:24-27] (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. (25) Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven sevens, and sixty-two sevens. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. (26) After the sixty-two sevens, the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. [This refers to Christ’s death April 6, A.D. 33] The people of the ruler who will come [the Romans] will destroy the city and the sanctuary. [Referring to the destruction of Jerusalem and the second temple in A.D.70] The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. (27) He will confirm a covenant with many for one seven. [The Prince to come, i.e., the Antichrist, will make a covenant with Israel for a seven-year period.] 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.” [After 3 ½ years he will break his covenant by desecrating the temple. This event must happen in the third temple since it is represented as occurring after the destruction of the second temple, cf. v. 26. Since the third temple has not been built (as of this writing), the fulfillment of this prophecy can only be in the future.]
It is interesting that some covenantal interpreters, in an effort to avoid this problem, place the fulfillment of the abomination in the intertestamental period, when Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) eighth ruler of the Selucid dynasty desecrated the temple by offering a pig on the alter (167 B.C.). This interpretation directly contradicts Christ’s statement two hundred years later to the effect that the abomination spoken of in Daniel was yet future (Matt. 24:15), as well as Paul’s statement to the same effect in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-9; and entirely removes it from the context of the tribulation events of which it is a part; thus again contradicting Daniel (Dan. 9:27), Christ (Matt 24:15-31), Paul (2 Thess. 2:3-4), and John (Rev. 13:1-10), all of whom picture this event as part of a set of future events. We might also note that Christ did not return with His angels to rule the earth any time in the second century B.C., nor to our knowledge was Satan at that time bound and sealed in the Abyss (all of which are elements directly associated with the conclusion of the tribulation).
Another prerequisite to the fulfillment of the tribulation prophecies is that Israel must be in existence as a nation. Daniel 9:24-27 pictures the tribulation as beginning when the Prince who is coming (Antichrist) makes a covenant with Israel. Additionally, the nation of Israel is at the center of many tribulation prophecies (Jer. 30:4-7; Dan. 9:27; Joel 2:1-11; 3:1-16; Zeph. 1:2-3:11; Matt 24:4-31; Rev.7:1-8; 11:1-2). One of the descriptions applied to the tribulation period in the Old Testament is “a time of trouble for Jacob” (Jer. 30:7). Since Israel as a national entity ceased to exist in A.D. 70 and did not come back into existence until 1948, it is impossible that any events between A.D. 70 and 1948 could qualify as the fulfillment of the tribulation prophecies. That no event prior to A.D. 70 qualifies as the fulfillment of the tribulation prophecies is evident from two facts: 1) Revelation, written after the destruction of Jerusalem, views the tribulation period as yet in the future, and 2) Daniel 9:24-27 clearly indicates that the tribulation will occur after the destruction of Jerusalem, (i.e., contextually this can only refer to the A.D. 70 destruction, since it is said to occur after the Messiah is killed, cf. 9:24-26.) Therefore any set of events prior to A.D. 70 could not qualify as the tribulation (nor could any set of events after A.D. 70, until Israel came back into existence in 1948.) Given these observations, it should be apparent that any attempt to find a historical fulfillment for the tribulation prophecies simply is not consistent with biblical facts. The tribulation is not to be found in the past but in the future.
The Scripture presents the judgment aspect of the tribulation and the blessings of the millennium as two aspects of the same period called “the day of the LORD.” For this reason, many passages treat these as a unit (Isa. 1:24-2:4; 24:1-25:12; 34:1-35:10; Joel 2:1-32; Zech. 12:1-13:9). The Old Testament knows no other relationship than that the beginning of the day of the Lord is the prelude to the establishment of the visible earthly kingdom of Christ on earth.
A study of the second coming of
Christ also sheds light on the chronological relationship of the tribulation to
the millennium. Many passages that deal with the second coming picture it as
the consummation of the tribulation period and the beginning of the millennium
(Zech. 14:1-11; Rev. 19:11-20:6; see also Isa. 35:4-10; 61:2b-3; Joel 3:9-21;
Zech. 2:6-13); given this, along with the purpose of the tribulation period as
a time for Israel to undergo a national conversion in preparation for
Messiah’s return (Isa. 1:24-2:4; Zech. 13:7-9), it is apparent that the
tribulation immediately precedes the premillennial return of Christ and the
establishment of the millennial phase of the visible kingdom.
Copyright 2005, by Sam A. Smith
All rights reserved.
Published at: http://prophecy.biblicalreader.com
Adapted from What the Bible Says About the Future
Copyright 1995, 2004, by Sam A. Smith
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