The Great Tribulation
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
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.
23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.
24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
25 See, I have told you beforehand.
26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Pray
This morning we are going to begin looking at what Jesus said was coming. In order to understand this passage, we have to remember that this prophecy of the end times began when Jesus was risen from the dead. The “end times” began then and we have been living in them for over 2,000 years now.
However, we also need to remember that there is a near fulfilment and a future fulfillment in Jesus’s prophecy.
When we look at what all Jesus said was coming, there is no doubt that part of the prophecy was pointing to what was coming upon Jerusalem with the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple in AD 70.
However, there are also some things that are mentioned here that cannot refer to the fall of Jerusalem and must be for a future date.
Now, don’t get out your calendars and start trying to jot down dates, because we won’t be able to do that, even after looking at the passage this morning.
God has left some things as a mystery, even though He ha shown us what is to come.
1. The Abomination of Desolation (v.15)
1. The Abomination of Desolation (v.15)
15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
There have been many abominations of desolation
Daniel spoke of a future desecration
24 “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. And for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time.
26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.
27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
You will notice that there are some clear prophecies in this passage that were fulfilled in Jesus. He is the anointed one that was cut off. He also came right on schedule.
However at the end you see there the mention of the abomination who makes desolate.
Because the Roman empire worshiped pagan gods and the emperor, they were consider an abomination.
They came and trampled the city and the temple, desecrating it.
They were not the first to desecrate the Temple though.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes had previously done so by offering a pig on the altar.
Daniel speaks of these desecration in Daniel 11:30-31
30 For ships of Kittim shall come against him, and he shall be afraid and withdraw, and shall turn back and be enraged and take action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant.
31 Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.
The ships of Kittim is a reference to the Roman army and this prophecy speaks of them marching into the city before Jesus’s day. This is the time of the Maccabees.
In Daniel 12:9-11
9 He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.
10 Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand.
11 And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days.
All of these prophecies point to both near events and future events.
The destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple served as a partial fulfilment of this prophecy, but also point to a future one to come at the end of the age.
The reason that we cannot fully pinpoint precisely the exact event this is speaking of is because there have been a series of abominations of desolation and will continue to be until the end.
So to recap, some of the candidates have been:
Antiochus
Emperor Cligula ordering a statue placed in the Jerusalem temple
Roman armies advancing on the city
A future man of lawlessness
Jesus is simply warning that there will be forces opposed to God and they will be rallied by a leader who will set himself up against God.
We are not to be surprised, but instead are to be reminded that these things will come.
2. There Will Be Great Tribulation (vv.16-22)
2. There Will Be Great Tribulation (vv.16-22)
Not only will there be a person and a leader who exalts himself against God, but there will be a widescale persecution of God’s people.
Matt. 16-22 describes the troubles that would be faced by people in those times.
Jesus is protecting His own by warning them that when they see these signs they are to flee.
There has always been persecution, but there will such a persecution to come that Jesus says never has been, nor never will be.
It is so intense that no one would survive if it were not cut short, but for the sake of the elect it is.
That means that there will be at least some believers on earth during the Great Tribulation.
Again, remember that that there have always been periods of intense persecution, but this is a time that is unlike any other and many of the features that are mentioned here of the seige of Jerusalem will be present in the end as well.
What are we to do with this?
Don’t be discouraged when trouble comes
Don’t give up, but persevere
Don’t grow hopeless, because the end will come
3. The Mass Deception (vv. 23-25)
3. The Mass Deception (vv. 23-25)
23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.
24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
25 See, I have told you beforehand.
Jesus also warns that there will be many false Christs who will come and try to deceive people.
We see how easy in our day it would be for a charismatic leader to rally the people of the world.
We have a pope right now that is pushing for unity with the Roman Catholic Church and Protestants who at the same time tries to argue that there is also a unity shared between Christians and Muslims, arguing that we worship the same God.
Friends, these things are just not true. This man is a heretic.
He may not be the one to successfully unite the world around a false religion, but there will be a man who does this.
When you see it, beware!
This will be possible because of a mass deception.
A mass deception is made possible by mass biblical illiteracy. When we don’t know the truth, it won’t set us free.
When we are ignorant, we cannot discern the spirits and test them.
When we don’t read the Bible and our churches are full of lost people who think they are saved, but are not, the sheep don’t hear the voice of the Shepherd.
4. The Unmistakable Return (vv.26-31)
4. The Unmistakable Return (vv.26-31)
26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Jesus warns that some will come claiming to be Christs, but we are not to be deceived because when He returns, everyone will see Him clearly.
He will come like a bolt of lightning from the east to the west.
This speaks of the visibility and suddenness of His return.
Like vultures circling overhead shows that there is a corpse, Jesus return will also be clearly apparent to everyone.
Now, I believe here Jesus is not speaking of the rapture of the Church, but of His second coming.
I could be wrong, but I believe that there will be a secret snatching away of the church and there will be a second coming where Jesus will return to judge the earth.
The second coming will be clearly visible to all.
If there is a secret rapture, the only thing visible that will be seen is that there are people not seen anymore that have been caught up to be with the Lord.
How would the world explain this? Do you think they will believe the Bible then? Of course not!
There are already alien encounters and theories about these type of contacts that are out there circulating. These are just the tools of the enemy to prime the pump and explain things away if this view is true.
This also could be a good way for the Antichrist to rally the world around a common system. Since people from every tribe and nation will be missing, there will be attempts to explain it away, such as mass alien abductions and people will have a common enemy in the ones who snatched their loved ones away.
I could be entirely wrong here, but the point is that when the second coming happens, there will be no confusion.
Jesus will be clearly seen by all in the skies, but then it will be too late.
Conclusion
If things are not crystal clear to you this morning, that’s okay. Scholars still debate what the meaning of all of this is.
Jesus was not giving us a detailed playbook so clear that we could mark off things and make an accurate prediction of the exact timing of His return.
He was getting us prepared so that we didn’t grow weary and lose hope and fall away.
He was preparing us.
Are you ready for what’s ahead?
Will you be ready to meet the Lord at His coming?
Or, will you be one of the ones deceived?
