The Great Tribulation is probably one of the most famous, or infamous, topics of Christian discussion. It is the sign that Jesus is about to return and execute judgment and wrath. It is billed as the most intense period of persecution of Christians that will ever take place, nothing before and nothing after will be its equal.
7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
Matthew 24
The passage quoted above is in two sections (v.7-14 and v.15-22). These are the same time period described in two different ways. Daniel describes the period of the Great Tribulation as “shattering (or scattering) of the power of the holy people” (Daniel 12:7).
The trigger for both events in Matthew 24 and Daniel 12, is the Abomination of Desolation.
Jesus says that everyone in Judea should flee (Matthew 24:16) when they see it set up (Daniel 12:11).
The first real question, to aid in identifying the Great Tribulation in determining whether it is past or future, is determining the length of the Great Tribulation or the period of Desolation.
For how long will they flee and abandon (leave desolate) Jerusalem and Israel?
Scripture does not explicitly give the duration for the Desolation or for the Great Tribulation. Jesus says that the Great Tribulation starts after the Abomination. Most eschatological positions draw upon durations given for events highly likely to be associated. For example, passages that hint at the great tribulation include Revelation 11 (mentions both 1260 “days” and 42 months), Revelation 12 (1260 “days”), and Revelation 13 (42 months), Daniel 12 (1335 days).
- Revelation 11 indicates that the two witnesses will suffer for 1260 days, while Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by Gentiles for either 1260 days or 1278 days depending on the duration of the month. This is usually believed to be during the Great Tribulation.
- Revelation 12 says that the Woman (Israel) flees from her home for 1260 days. It has been recognised by many, many Christian writers over the last 500+ years, that the duration the Woman abandons the land is 1260 years, not days. The notion of a day for a year is a common theme throughout Scripture. See historical note 1, and note 2.
- Revelation 13 says the Sea Beast will dominate the world for 42 months (1260 days or 1278 days depending on the duration of the month).
- Daniel 12 suggests that the desolation will last 1335 days, although some argue the 1335 days overlap the 1290 days, making the desolation just 45 days long.
Has the Desolation occurred?
Mark Twain famously stated in Innocents Abroad, ‘There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent—not for thirty miles in either direction. There are two or three small clusters of Bedouin tents, but not a single permanent habitation. One may ride ten miles, hereabouts, and not see ten human beings.‘1 Twain was not alone in his observations of the desolation of Israel. Six hundred years before Twain’s visit, another famous visitor with a nom de plume2 was struck by Jerusalem’s desolation. Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, known as Nachmanides (1194-1270), fled Christian Spain for the land of Israel. After a long and perilous journey, Nachmanides arrived at the Port of Acre before travelling to Jerusalem in 1267, where he couldn’t even find nine other Jews to pray with. He wrote to his son, “Many are Israel’s forsaken places, and great is the desecration. The more sacred the place, the greater the devastation it has suffered. Jerusalem is the most desolate place of all.”3. In Leviticus 26:32, one of God’s curses against Israel for their disobedience promised that even Israel’s enemies would be appalled at the state of the land. Nachmanides said this was a great comfort to find the land desolate as it confirmed the word of the Lord.
There are only two passages that indicate a possible duration of desolation.
- Revelation 12, where the Woman (Israel) flees her home after significant persecution and returns after 1260 years.
- Daniel 12, indicates a great blessing, where the shattering of the holy people will be ended after 1335 days, and that many who sleep in the dust will awake (either to heaven or hell (vs 2)). It is unclear in Daniel’s passage whether the 1335 days start after the Abomination (vs 11-12) or run concurrent with the 1290 days. Given the difference in time between the 1335 and the 1260 days, it is likely that the desolation is 1260 years, rather than 1335 years, however attaining the blessing described in Daniel 12, will take 1335 years.
It is reasonable to start our investigation with Revelation 12 and the time of the return of Israel to her home.
Since we know that Israel returned in 1948 (although some say 1967), we shall use these as the starting point and subtract 1260 years to identify the Abomination that caused the Desolation. In the table below, we used 1967 and 1948 as starting points and from both were subtracted 1260 solar years and 1260 360-day years (1241.9 solar years), with the resulting years in the four cells. We then look to identify if these years are significant, to see whether there is a possible fulfillment.
Are any of these years significant? Yes. AD688 was the start of the construction of the Dome of the Rock, which I have argued elsewhere is the Abomination of Desolation. Construction was completed in AD.691/2 (3.5 years later). The other dates here are also significant. Al Aqsa mosque (also on the temple mount) was constructed sometime between AD.705 and AD.725, although most historians argue AD.705/6.
There is a prima facie case that the Abomination of Desolation and the Great Tribulation has been fulfilled in the 1260-year desolation of Israel, which was triggered by an Abomination being built on the Temple Mount, the Dome of the Rock.
However, Jesus says (Matthew 24) that after the Abomination of Desolation would come great Tribulation. So it is insufficient that the land would be desolate, it must also be followed by severe Tribulation.
Great persecution, that has never been, and never will be again
One of the great adages people have coined over the ages when looking back on history is, “It could have been worse.” We have a tendency to downplay tragedy, presumably because it didn’t happen to us.
There are two main reasons why Christians often reject the idea that Islam (the Sea Beast) ushered in the Great Tribulation in AD688:
- “The persecution will be so bad it will never happen again.” This sentiment is echoed, predicated on the fact that they usually know very little about the persecution that Islam brought to Christians and Jews, and that they believe “it could have been worse”; and
- A belief in a future temple, although Scripture gives no indication of this, coupled with a hyper (and inconsistent) literalism applied to the 1260 days.
Islam expanded at a phenomenal rate. It was the largest empire in human history. This map below shows some of the extent of the empire up to AD1500, but does not include the various battles and wars (suck as the sacking of Rome (3 times), the siege of Vienna, etc.
Jesus’ statement in Matthew 24, ‘except for the sake of the elect, no one would be left’ alive, indicates the distress does not come solely on Christians, but to all mankind. Islam has a particular hatred for Christians and Jews, and the decline of Christianity under Islam is exceptionally well documented. But in overview, before Islam came, Christianity had spread throughout the Middle East and across North Africa and throughout Europe. Within a century of Islam, except for Europe, Christianity was in significant decline with many populations completely eradicated.
Bat Ye’or has compiled significant works in this area, perhaps her most famous is The Decline of Eastern Christianity under Islam: From Jihad to Dhimmitude. Another equally compelling work is The Myth of Islamic Tolerance: How Islamic Law Treats Non-Muslims, edited by Robert Spencer.
Mohammad claimed he was made successful through terror, and Allah rebuked Mohammad who wanted captives, and says he desired great slaughter to manifest his religion.
Non-Muslims were given three choices:
- Submit to Islam i.e., convert
- Submit to Islam’s rules for non-Muslims (most frequently captivity – Revelation 13:10)
- Death (usually beheading – Revelation 13:10).
Muslims routinely genocided entire cities and regions that did not submit.
They were raped, brutalised, and literally tortured millions, on a daily basis, for over 1000 years. Islam is on record having killed more than 1/3 of the world during this time, over 350 million people. Even in the declining days of the Ottoman Empire, the Christian Armenians were genocided to the tune of 1.5 million.
Those who challenge that this is the Great Tribulation Jesus speaks of, and respond with “but something worse may come”, do not heed Jesus’ words that nothing will be that bad ever again. Islam almost entirely wiped out Christians and Jews wherever it landed, not through persuasion and peace, but from unparalleled brutality that has not even been equalled by Hitler, Stalin, Mao, or Pol Pot, combined. Islam did this with greater intensity, over the greatest area, and for the longest time, and it erected an abomination on the Temple Mount that caused the desolation of Israel for 1260 years. The Abomination declares inside and outside, over and over again, that Allah is greater than all, that Mohammad is the favoured prophet, that Jesus is just a man, and that Mohammad will provide intercession, not Jesus, and that God has no Son. This is antichrist (1 John 2:22).
Jesus’ statement that the Tribulation hadn’t been ‘cut short, none would be left’, was fulfilled. There are very few Christians left in Islamic lands, very few of anyone except Muslims.
Could it have been worse? Of course. But thank God nothing worse will come.
Before you dismiss this as the Great Tribulation, because you have heard little about it because the Media and Governments have vested interests in you not knowing, I would encourage you to research more about Islam and what it has done.
Some websites I recommend:
https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/
https://markhumphrys.com/islam.killings.html
Does Jesus return at the end of Tribulation?
Belief in the Rapture of the Church before Tribulation, or the belief that the 2nd Coming ends the Great Tribulation, are both objections that need to be considered carefully.
Jesus states plainly in Matthew 24 that after the Great Tribulation, a number of events happen:
29 “Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Matthew 24
Jesus does not tell us how long these events take. What we do know is that Jesus’ promise that the distress of the Great Tribulation would never happen again. If Jesus’ return ends tribulation, then the promise is redundant. Jesus does not make redundant promises; so we are now in the time between the end of the Great Tribulation (vs 29) and the return of Christ (perhaps the time difference between the 1260 days and the 1335 days of Revelation 12 and Daniel 12).
Before you suggest that you have not seen the sun darkened, you need to see that this is symbolic of the light leaving the church, the great falling away, the gospel not being preached, and the overflowing of heresy. All Christians agree we are in a tumultuous time in the Church, this is why.
Summary:
This is good news. Our redemption is nigh. Tribulation is finished. Look up. Strengthen the hands that hang low.