The tribulation is a seven year period of time on earth when God will finish His discipline of Israel and finalize His judgment of the unbelieving world. This time of tribulation or trouble, called Jacob’s trouble, will result in the salvation of God’s “remnant of Israel” at Jesus’ second coming. Scriptures tell us God will set up His Kingdom on earth after the tribulation, and Jesus will be the King of His Kingdom – ruling from Jerusalem.
These events will occur in the “end times” as prophesied in the Bible. Listed below is the order of events that will take place:
church age – rapture – 7 year tribulation – Jesus’ 2nd Coming – millennial Kingdom on earth – eternity future
We are currently living in the church age when Christians are sharing the gospel (good news of Jesus our Savior) with the nations of the world. Christians are awaiting the rapture when the church (believers) will be caught up to meet Jesus in the air and be taken to heaven.
For more information, visit End Times Timeline & Explanation.
What are the signs of the coming Tribulation and Jesus’ Second Coming?
There will be great deception leading up to and during the tribulation. Matthew 24:3-4 (NKJV) The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.
To see more signs, visit Signs of the End Times
The unholy trinity
Satan, the devil serpent (dragon) is the name given to Lucifer (angel of light) who was created by God. His sinful pride makes him believe he can be God. Satan’s goal is to prove God wrong by preventing prophecies from being fulfilled, but he never succeeds. The Antichrist (1st beast from the sea of humanity) will rise to power as the one world leader. The False Prophet (2nd beast from the earth with no spirituality) preaches a false doctrine which has nothing to do with Christ. The Antichrist and the False Prophet are given power by Satan. The unholy trinity is anti-God, anti-Christ and false. Do not be deceived!
Satan always counterfeits (mimics) God. So, during the tribulation, Satan will set up his kingdom on earth with the Antichrist reigning from Jerusalem.
The False Prophet will force people to worship the Antichrist. Those who do not worship the Antichrist will be killed. He also forces people to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads. Without “the mark of the beast”, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name (666), no one will be able to buy or sell. In other words, people will starve to death. Taking the mark will be an act of worshiping the Antichrist. Those who take “the mark of the beast” will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire with the unholy trinity and all unbelievers. Even though the three angels in Rev. 14:6-13 warn people on earth, there will be many who take the mark and worship the Antichrist.
The Antichrist will fake his own resurrection. Only God has the power to resurrect a person. Many will be deceived and worship the unholy trinity – Satan, the Antichrist and the False Prophet.
When will the Antichrist be revealed?
The Holy Spirit lives in each believer’s born again spirit. Since the Holy Spirit is the restrainer of evil, the Antichrist (man of lawlessness) cannot be revealed until the church (believers) are removed at the rapture. Once that happens, the Holy Spirit’s influence will be greatly diminished. However, He will still have a presence on the earth as He is omnipresent (present everywhere). Also, a person cannot be saved unless The Holy Spirit draws that person to Jesus. And we know many will be saved during the tribulation. With evil unrestrained, the Antichrist will be revealed and lawlessness will reach unprecedented levels during the tribulation.
2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 (NLT) And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.
Events during the Tribulation – on earth and in heaven
Events of the tribulation can be found in The Book of Revelation, Chapters 4-18. This book is the revelation of Jesus Christ. It reveals what the Apostle John saw in a vision when he was “in the spirit” in heaven.
The tribulation (first 3 ½ years) – There will be false peace under the Antichrist, war, famine and death. Heaven and earth will tremble at the coming judgments.
The great tribulation (last 3 ½ years) – During this time, God’s wrath (divine justice) is carried out as well as Satan’s wrath (evil) allowed by God. Normal life ends, and all are in terror and try to hide.
On earth, the tribulation begins after the Church is raptured (caught up) to heaven and as soon as the Antichrist (man of lawlessness and one world leader) confirms a peace agreement with many people. In the middle of the tribulation, the Antichrist will break the peace agreement and stop the sacrificial system of worship in the third Temple in Jerusalem.
In heaven, only Jesus is found worthy to open the seals of the scroll. Revelation 5:5 (NIV) Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
The Title Deed to Earth
This scroll contains the Title Deed to Earth. God created the earth and therefore had ownership or title to it. After God made man, He gave dominion over the earth (the Title Deed) to Adam. When Adam sinned, the curse of death fell on the earth as well as mankind. Satan deceived Adam & Eve and gained dominion over the earth, becoming the temporary god of this world. Since Adam had no worthy or wealthy redeemer kinsman to purchase the deed at that time, God handed the Title Deed to Earth over to Satan.
Our Redeemer kinsman (Jesus – The Lamb of God) paid our sin debt in full with His death, burial and resurrection. Jesus bought us with a price – His holy precious blood. The Holy Spirit resides within each believer’s new sanctified spirit (born again spirit) as a deposit towards our final redemption when we receive new sanctified souls and bodies. Jesus not only paid off our debt, but the debt caused by the curse of sin on the earth.
Jesus receives His inheritance and believers do too!
So, in heaven, Jesus receives His inheritance – that which was promised to Abraham, as Jesus was from his lineage. God unconditionally promised Abraham a land, a nation and a blessing. Hebrews 11:8-10 (NKJV) By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Believers are co-heirs with Christ and share in His inheritance. Romans 8:16-17 (NIV) The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. At His second coming, Jesus will set up His Kingdom on earth, and we will dwell with Him forever. Jesus’ inheritance will include the earth (especially Jerusalem and Israel), the nation of Israel and gentile nations. Believers are also His inheritance and blessing. We will be blessed as Jesus will share His inheritance with Abraham and all believers (Jews and Gentiles).
In Revelation Chapter 5, we see Jesus claim His inheritance and take back the earth. He takes the scroll (Title Deed to Earth) from His Father’s right hand and begins to open the seals, which lead to the judgments.
For more understanding, visit Title Deed to the Earth
Israel’s disobedience
Israel disobeyed God by periodically turning away from Him and worshipping idols. Also, the Israelites were to work the land for 6 years and let it rest on the Sabbath year. They continued to work the land year after year and disobeyed God. Due to their sin, God allowed their enemies to take them into bondage. God will continue to discipline Israel for a total of 490 years until their land has gained back its Sabbath rests.
Daniel 9:24 (AMP) “Seventy weeks [of years, or 490 years] have been decreed for your people and for your holy city (Jerusalem), to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make atonement (reconciliation) for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness (right-standing with God), to seal up vision and prophecy and prophet, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
A total of 483 years (69 seven year periods) have passed by from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem to the Messiah’s crucifixion. One 7 year period of trouble (tribulation) remains to be fulfilled.
Daniel 9:25 (AMP) So you are to know and understand that from the issuance of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until [the coming of] the Messiah (the Anointed One), the Prince, there will be seven weeks [of years] and sixty-two weeks [of years]; it will be built again, with [a city] plaza and moat, even in times of trouble.
God’s Discipline of Israel & Judgment of the Unbelieving World
The following judgments, revealed to the Apostle John, become increasingly worse and more devastating through the seven year tribulation period. The seven seals, trumpets, and bowls are connected to each other. The seventh seal introduces the seven trumpets, and the seventh trumpet introduces the seven bowls.
The Seal Judgments
1st Seal White horse – Antichrist’s false peace
2nd Seal Red horse – Magog War
3rd Seal Black horse – Famine from inflation
4th Seal Pale horse – Death (1/4 of population)
5th Seal Martyrs under altar in heaven (slain for the Word of God & for their testimony) cry out for God to avenge their deaths caused by evildoers on earth
6th Seal Worldwide earthquake, sun blackened & moon blood red, stars fall to earth
Interlude - Silence in heaven for ½ hour while the 144,000 Jews are sealed (marked, redeemed, protected) before spreading The Gospel of the Kingdom to the nations. This Gospel of the Kingdom is the same gospel preached when Jesus was on earth. For salvation then and in the coming tribulation, a person must believe Jesus is God (the Son of God) and that He will come and set up His Kingdom on earth.
7th Seal Then another angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.
The Trumpet Judgments
1st Trumpet 1/3 of plant life destroyed from hail & fire mingled with blood thrown down to earth
2nd Trumpet 1/3 of the sea becomes blood from a great force of something like a mountain burning with fire and cast into it; 1/3 of sea creatures die; 1/3 of ships are destroyed
3rd Trumpet 1/3 of the springs and rivers are poisoned (as Wormwood poisons) including drinking water as a result of a falling burning star; many people die
4th Trumpet 1/3 of the heavenly bodies (sun, moon, stars) are struck so that 1/3 of the day and night they do not shine
5th Trumpet
(1st Woe)God gives a fallen angel the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit and he opens it. Out of the shaft comes smoke as of a furnace and then locusts that resemble horses equipped for battle. These demon possessed locusts also sting like scorpions. God gives them power to sting only unbelievers (those who don’t have the seal of God on their foreheads) for 5 months. The locusts are allowed to torment but not kill the unbelievers. Satan (angel of the bottomless pit) is their king.
6th Trumpet
(2nd Woe)God releases four angels (powerful enemies from the east) who have been held at the Euphrates. These enemies with an army of 200 million release fire, smoke and brimstone and 1/3 of the population is killed.
A great earthquake causes 1/10 of the city (perhaps Jerusalem under Antichrist’s control) to fall and 7,000 people are killed. God’s remnant of believers is frightened and gives glory to God.
Interlude – (The remaining people do not repent of their idolatry, murders, drug use, fornication or thefts.)
Two Witnesses will have God’s power flowing through them to prophesy and witness to the world, accomplishing God’s work for 3 ½ years. Rev. 11:3 (NKJV) And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”
Those who hurt the witnesses will be destroyed by fire coming out from their mouths. They have power to stop the rain, turn the waters into blood, and smite the earth with plagues as often as they will. When they have finished their testimony, Satan comes out of the bottomless pit and kills them. Their dead bodies lie in the street. People on earth celebrate their deaths because of the torment they caused. After 3 ½ days, The Holy Spirit enters the two witnesses and they are raised to life. Then they are raptured (caught up) to heaven in a cloud. The world will see all of this happen.
7th Trumpet
(3rd Woe)The announcement of Christ’s reign and the finishing of God’s judgment on sin, including the 7 bowls of His wrath. Revelation 11:15 (NIV) The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
The Bowl Judgments
1st Bowl grievous sore placed upon those with the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image
2nd Bowl sea becomes polluted like the blood of a dead man; those in the sea die
3rd Bowl rivers and springs of water become polluted like the blood of death
4th Bowl the sun gives great heat to scorch unbelievers with fire
5th Bowl wrath upon the seat of the Antichrist and his kingdom who blasphemed God because of their pain
6th Bowl Euphrates River dries up to make way for the kings of the east. Demon spirits from the mouths of Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet go out to gather and draw the kings of the earth to the Battle of Armageddon.
7th Bowl Revelation 16:17-21 (NLT) Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. And a mighty shout came from the throne in the Temple, saying, “It is finished!” Then the thunder crashed and rolled, and lightning flashed. And a great earthquake struck—the worst since people were placed on the earth. The great city of Babylon split into three sections, and the cities of many nations fell into heaps of rubble. So God remembered all of Babylon’s sins, and he made her drink the cup that was filled with the wine of his fierce wrath. And every island disappeared, and all the mountains were leveled. There was a terrible hailstorm, and hailstones weighing as much as seventy-five pounds fell from the sky onto the people below. They cursed God because of the terrible plague of the hailstorm.
Could “the great city of Babylon” be spiritual Babylon, the city of Rome and the seat of the apostate church (the Vatican & Papacy)?
The 3rd Temple in Jerusalem
In the first 3 ½ years of the tribulation, Jews will worship in the newly built third Temple in Jerusalem. The sacrificial system will continue in the Temple just as if the “Church Age” never took place. Revelation 11:1 (NKJV) Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.
The angelic battle in heaven
At the tribulation midpoint, Satan (the dragon/serpent) and his angels will be cast out of heaven for good. This will happen after Satan and his angels fight against the Archangel Michael and his angels. Satan will lose this battle and no longer have access to heaven. He will realize God’s throne in heaven will never be attainable. Satan will be furious, and he will use the Antichrist and False Prophet to pour out his wrath on mankind, especially Israel for the remaining 3 ½ years (the great tribulation).
Daniel 12:1 (NKJV) “At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book.
Those who will be saved already have their names written in the Lamb’s book of life in heaven.
Revelation 12:9 (NKJV) So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Therefore, in the middle of the tribulation, the Antichrist breaks the peace agreement and stops sacrificial worship in the Temple at Jerusalem. He blasphemes the Temple as the False Prophet (religious antichrist) forces people to worship the image of the Antichrist.
God’s wrath (divine justice) and Satan’s wrath (evil) are poured out on the world
During the tribulation, 2/3 of the Jews will die, but a remnant of 1/3 will recognize Jesus as their Savior.
Zechariah 13:8-9 (NLV) In the whole land,” says the Lord, “two-thirds will die, but one-third will be left alive. And I will bring the third part through the fire. I will make them pure like silver is made pure. I will test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”
As a result of The Seal Judgments, ¼ of the world’s population will die.
Rev. 6:8 (NKJV) So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
By the end of The Trumpet Judgments, ½ of the earth’s population will have died, but the worst is yet to come – The Bowl Judgments!
The Tribulation will result in the salvation of the “remnant of Israel “
Those saved will be the ones who come to believe Jesus is God (the Son of God) and that He will return to set up His Kingdom on earth. This is the Gospel of the Kingdom.
Romans 11:25-27 (NKJV) For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.”
Isaiah 59:20 (NKJV) “The Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” Says the Lord.
Zachariah 12:10 (NLT) “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died.
Tribulation Video: 13 Minutes in the Book of Revelation
All biblical prophecies will be fulfilled
All future events in the Bible must take place. These are prophecies that will be fulfilled as prophesied by Jesus and other biblical prophets. They will take place whether we understand or believe them. God is love, but He is also just. He requires justice (punishment for sins). With His perfect righteousness and justice, He cannot act unfairly or unjustly. Knowing what is to come, this should be a great motivator to “get right” with Him and not suffer His wrath and judgment. Proverbs 9:10 (NKJV) “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Will you be “left behind” to suffer The Tribulation?
Once your friends and relatives (believers in Christ) are raptured to heaven, will you be “left behind” to suffer the tribulation on earth? When God looks at your spirit (heart), is He seeing a dead, dark and stony heart born of Adam in sin? Or, is He seeing a perfect, righteous spirit born in Christ? Have you placed your faith and trust in God’s Son Jesus?
Salvation begins with knowing we are all sinners in need of a Savior. See how sin affects all of us by visiting SIN – Who Cares? You can be a SIN Survivor, too, once you claim Jesus as your personal Savior.
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