SPECIAL TOPIC: TRIBULATION

SPECIAL TOPIC: TRIBULATION (thlipsis)

There needs to be a theological distinction between Paul's use of this term (thlipsis) and John's.
1. Paul's usage (which reflects Jesus' usage)
  1. problems, sufferings, evil involved in a fallen world (see SPECIAL TOPIC: THE FALL OF MANKIND)
    1. Matt. 13:21
    2. Rom. 5:3
    3. 1 Cor. 7:28
    4. 2 Cor. 7:4
    5. Eph. 3:13
  2. problems, sufferings, evil caused by unbelievers
    1. Rom. 5:3; 8:35; 12:12
    2. 2 Cor. 1:4,8; 6:4; 7:4; 8:2,13
    3. Eph. 3:13
    4. Phil. 4:14
    5. 1 Thess. 1:6
    6. 2 Thess. 1:4
  3. problems, sufferings connected to Jesus' "coming" in judgment (see SPECIAL TOPIC: SECOND COMING)
    1. Matt. 24:21,29
    2. Mark 13:19,24
    3. Luke 21:10-19,20-24
    4. 2 Thess. 1:6-9
2. John's usage
  1. John makes a specific distinction between thlipsis (tribulation) and orgē/thumos (wrath) in Revelation. Thlipsis is what unbelievers do to believers and orgē and thumos is what God does to unbelievers (see F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions, pp. 138-139).
    1. thlipsis ‒ Rev. 1:9; 2:9-10,22; 7:14
    2. orgē ‒ Rev. 6:16-17; 11:18; 16:19; 19:15
    3. thumos ‒ Rev. 12:12; 14:8,10,19; 15:1,7; 16:1; 18:3
  2. John also uses the term in his Gospel to reflect problems believers face in every age ‒ John 16:33. (see SPECIAL TOPIC: SUFFERING)
"The Great Tribulation"
1. Rev. 7:14 "these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation" This is a PRESENT PARTICIPLE and is an allusion to the persecuted churches in John's day (cf. Rev. 1:9; 2:9,10,22). However, it is obvious that the historical allusions in the Revelation address the persecution of the saints in the first century by Jews and Romans. This is related to
  1. the persecution of God's children (cf. Matt. 24:21-22; Mark 13:19; 2 Thess. 2:3ff; Rev. 2:10; Dan. 12:1)
  2. God's coming wrath on unbelievers (cf. 2 Thess. 1:6-9; Rev. 3:10; 6:17; 8:2ff; 16:1ff)
    
    These problems, to some degree, have been associated with every age. Christians have often suffered in Jesus' name (cf. Matt. 5:10-12; John 16:33; Acts 14:22; Rom. 5:3; 1 Pet. 4:12-16). This persecution is often called "the birth pangs of the new age" of righteousness (cf. Mark 13:8 and the apocryphal book of II Baruch, chapters 25-30, see SPECIAL TOPIC: BIRTH PAINS OF THE NEW AGE).
2. The only reason modern interpreters assert a seven year tribulaton, which they label "the great tribulation," comes from
  1. the book of Daniel and its 42 month imagery, see SPECIAL TOPIC: FORTY-TWO MONTHS
  2. pre-millennial systems of eschatology
    
    We must be careful of letting our linking of verses take on the same authority as the verses themselves!
3. As a theological aside, if the book of Revelation was written to encourage believers going through tribulations, why do some modern interpreters insist on a secret rapture to spare some future generation of believers persecution (this is also true of the 2000 year gap)? Persecution was the lot of most of the Church's first leaders, and every generation of believers. Why then should one future group be spared? I think the church will go through the end-time tribulation.
Bob's view
1. I believe the Church will go through the end-time tribulations (i.e., "post-tribulation," see Millard Erickson, Christian Theology, 2^nd ed., pp. 1230-1231
2. The Church has suffered greatly in this fallen world for centuries, why should one generation of believers be spared (i.e., no secret rapture)?
3. I hold to one second coming, involving
  1. rapture (1 Thess. 4:13-18)
  2. resurrection (1 Corinthians 15)
  3. judgment (Matthew 25; Revelation 20; 2 Cor. 5:10
  4. the beginning of the eternal Kingdom (cf. Dan. 2:44-45; 7:14)
4. The "tribulation" mentioned in the Olivet Discourse and 2 Thessalonians 2, as well as the book of Revelation, is referring to the Jewish War (A.D. 66-70). It involved both Jewish persecution and Roman government persecution under Nero. See Kenneth Gentry, Before Jerusalem Fell and John L. Bray, Matthew 24 Fulfilled.

SPECIAL TOPIC: RAPTURE

SPECIAL TOPIC: RESURRECTION

SPECIAL TOPIC: JUDGMENT IN THE NT

SPECIAL TOPIC: SECOND COMING