TRIBULATION

Monday 2 June

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have TRIBULATION; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NKJV)

so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and TRIBULATIONS that you endure, 2 Thessalonians 1:4

And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great TRIBULATION, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Revelation 7:14 (KJV)

It should be of no surprise to us that there will be tribulation that we experience in this world. The context of all of these verses is centred around a particular kind however; Tribulation for the sake of the gospel. ‘Thlipsis’ in the Greek means anguished, burdened, afflicted, persecuted and troubled etc.

It is inevitable that all who make a stand for Christ will go through many things like this in their lives for preaching the message of Christ. Jesus Himself told us that this would be the case but He told us to ‘cheer up and take courage’ because He had already overcome the world for us. Thank you Lord!

In Thessalonians 1:4 we see the same Greek meanings for the plural tribulations. Apostle Paul was referring to multiple occasions where you will face persecutions and tribulations for the gospel. He lets us know that we are able to endure all these things.

Matthew 24:12-13 about tribulation says ‘And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.’

Endure here is ‘hypomeno’ in Greek which means ’to persevere under misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one's faith in Christ, bear bravely and calmly: ill treatments’.

If you look at the context of this verse you will find that it is about enduring trials, tribulations and persecutions and those who ‘endure to the end will be saved’ is therefore about a natural saving from persecution not eternal salvation as this has already been settled for the child of God.

Apostle Peter tells us in 2 Peter 4:16 ‘Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.’

Apostle James says ‘My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.’

In Revelation 7:14 we see the phrase ‘great tribulation’ used which is the accurate rendering for this verse. The KJV gets this phrase correct. Notice it says ‘great tribulation’ not ‘THE great tribulation.’ It’s not talking about a singular event. We don’t  see a specific timeframe, rather a description of the scope of tribulation encountered.

While we are here, let’s examine another part of this verse. The imagery shows they have ‘washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb’. This simply means the people mentioned received salvation and therefore were made righteous. This is just another example of how the book of Revelation contains metaphors that require interpretation in the light of the finished work of Christ.

One more example of this is the term 1,000 years in reference to what many call the Millennial reign of Christ. Did you know that the number 1,000 prophetically represents such things as ‘abundance, completeness, and God's sovereignty? It also denotes God's limitless power and provision, a complete or perfect period, often related to God's divine plan’. I believe this comes after the ‘Day of the Lord’ based on 2 Peter 3:10-13. Is the 1,000 years purely a reference to the new heaven and earth in the age to come?

Another important thing to observe  is that out of all the doctrinal writings of Jesus, Paul, Peter, James and John the Revelator Himself, there is nothing mentioned about a definite 7 year period coming in the future that some have coined as ‘the Tribulation or the 3.5 year period known as ‘the Great tribulation.’ Doesn’t that seem strange to you? The only thing I find doctrinally is tribulation or tribulations that believers face for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

No matter what we hold true on these matters there is an undeniable truth that underpins our faith as believers; We don’t have to fear the future at all because we are in the safest and most secure place that there is in the entire universe; in Christ and Christ is in us. Rest in this reality.

APPLICATION

Make a daily decision to be a life long learner of the Word and be continually ‘filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding’ in every area of your life.