The Great Tribulation—In Summary

Before you start todays devotional, ask the Lord to use it to grow you up in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Though it felt like a long time coming, the events of the Great Tribulation ended with catastrophic and cataclysmic events happening in rapid succession like the firing of a machine gun.

The Tribulation, called the “seventieth week” in Daniel’s prophecy, spanned seven years. In the Old and New Testaments, Daniel and John divided it into two separate and equal periods of three and a half years each.

After the church is snatched from the earth in the Rapture, the Antichrist comes to power as world dictator on a platform of peace, prosperity, and fame. In the first half of the Tribulation, he brings radical changes in world systems that seem to benefit mankind. He brings a false peace and controls all governments and religion. When that time comes, there will be one world, one religion, and one everything. The world will believe they are entering the Millennium. This is the big lie.

Israel will once again become God’s witness on earth—144,000 strong, sealed by the Spirit of God, they’ll witnesses for God on the earth. God will also seal a great company of Gentiles.

Somewhere near the middle of the seven-year season, the king of the north will move against Israel. This opens the floodgates of war. The Antichrist now begins to move, and his deception will begin to be revealed. Restless mankind, under Satan’s control, begins to march and the Man of Sin, the Antichrist, breaks his covenant with the nation Israel.

The Middle East will become the center of world activity during this period. Ancient Babylon on the Euphrates River will become the political and economic center of the world, and Jerusalem (also called Babylon) will be the religious capital. The Antichrist will rule in Rome, and the False Prophet will rule in Jerusalem. They will—together with the kings of the earth—destroy the false church.

But then, judgment from God will fall swiftly and suddenly on a God-rejecting and blaspheming world. In one fell swoop, 25% of the world’s population will be destroyed, and later, another 33% will be blotted out. Nature will be stricken—the grass and trees of the earth, the sun, moon, and stars in the heavens. One disaster after another will fall on the earth, but the heart of man will still be unrepentant. In fact, he will defy and blaspheme the God of heaven.

Then armies will march toward Israel. For three and a half years, the War of Armageddon will rage. Millions will march into the land of Israel and engage in a conflict. When they are destroyed by God, there will be blood up to the bridles of the horses—about three feet deep.

Into this horrible arena of chaos—the chaos of man’s making and of Satan’s scheming—comes the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

We don’t know the day this all begins. We don’t know when the church will be snatched away to meet Him in the clouds. It may be soon. It could be today. On the other hand, He may not return for several hundred years. No one can say with certainty when the Lord will return for His church since in this detail the Word of God is silent.

The best that can be said today is that everything happening now is significant. We live in a great period in world history. Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. We have been given no signs by which to gauge the time of His return, but we do see the setting of the stage. When everything is in position, the church could be raptured at any moment, and the Tribulation could begin.

The urgency of the hour demands that we live ready.

Next: What makes heaven, heaven?

1. We read about the Great Tribulation, and even for slow readers it only takes a few minutes to finish. But for those involved, these terrors will last seven long years. How can we grow our endurance for dark days, most of which are far briefer than anything experienced during the Tribulation?

2. The timing of when the events of the Tribulation will take place is a mystery to us. What lessons can we learn about relying on God from this mystery?

3. What does it look like in your life to live ready for the return of Christ?

Additional Resources

Listen to Dr. J. Vernon McGee’s complete teaching on Revelation 19:1.