The History of the Ages – Lesson 23
Now we’ll start with an examination of the 7-year tribulation period. The tribulation period will deal with the enemies of Israel so they (that is, Israel) can then be elevated to their rightful place as the eternal spiritual leaders of the earth as God had determined in eternity past; then the Millennium will deal with the rest of the enemies of God both on the earth and in the spirit realm so He can usher in His eternal kingdom. The lessons that follow will detail just who the enemies of Israel are and what God does to judge them and the great destruction that is brought upon them during this time.
So, in our consideration of the tribulation period we must keep two things in mind. God is judging the enemies of Israel and at the same time He’s dealing with Israel in order to restore them. The first thing we should look at is what He will do in dealing with Israel to prepare them for this restoration. There is a passage that generally describes God’s actions in regards to Israel during the tribulation in Ezekiel 20:33-44. The purpose of the tribulation period as it relates to Israel can be found in these points:
- To get Israel back to a place where God can fulfill His covenants with them as His chosen people (Jeremiah 30:3, 10-11, 22-24; Romans 11:25-29).
- To judge and punish Israel for their rejection of the Messiah (Zechariah 12:10-13).
- To purify Israel of all who would rebel against Him (Malachi 3:1-4, 4:1-3).
How will He accomplish this?
- During the tribulation period Israel will be pursued by their enemies (Luke 21:20-28), but will experience the miraculous protection of God (Revelation 12:13-17).
- This will cause Israel to recognize their Messiah and the whole nation will come to repentance in a moment of time (Isaiah 66:7-8) and will say, “Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23:37-39).
Remember that during this time God is dealing with Israel and at the same time He’s judging the enemies of Israel (read Joel, chapter 3) in preparation for the end of the tribulation period when Christ will sit in judgment of those who survive this terrible time (Matthew 25:31-46). It is interesting to note that when you read the passage in Matthew 25 regarding this judgment of the nations, the basis of the judgment is not what people believe about Christ, the Gospel or whether they have a relationship with God that is real. The basis of the judgment is how they have treated Israel!
Again, in a general way, this is what the tribulation period will be like (specific details to follow in future lessons).
- There will be great wickedness and corruption. This is obvious by the comparison made by Jesus in the Gospels (Matthew 24:37-39, Mark 13:14-23 and my personal favorite, Luke 21:20-28). Before the flood God was sorry He even created man and was willing to destroy everyone on the earth with the exception of Noah and his family, 8 souls in all (remember Lesson 17 and our discussion of the giants). And, when you look at the record, only Noah is said to be a righteous man, the other 7 were lucky enough to be allowed to go along for the ride (the failures of some are recounted later after the flood, none are said to be righteous). Read Genesis 6:8-13.
- It is a time of unparalleled violence and death (we will document this in detail later) because it is the final war between God, Satan, the Antichrist, the false prophet and the rebels that follow them in their attempt to destroy Israel, ruin God’s plan and possess the earth (Revelation 19:11-21).
- Even in the face of what has become a series of obvious judgments coming from God, men willfully reject truth and are judged for it (II Thessalonians 2:8-12, II Peter 3:3-5). It should be noted that during the tribulation period there is an increased knowledge of the truth caused by the events of the day and people’s search for truth in the Scriptures (Daniel 12:3-4). The strong delusion coupled with the understanding of truth causes a great divide among people that then leads to incredible violence.
- Then finally, we will see that even after it becomes obvious that this is God’s judgment, in the face of unspeakable destruction and death, men will still openly defy Him (Revelation 9:18-21).
Since the Book of Revelation gives us no details regarding the Millennium, when we get to the appropriate place in our study, I will do a series from detailed information gleaned from the Old Testament prophecies.
