What in the world is the tribulation, and what is going to happen during that time? This devotion begins to answer those questions.
Nuggets
- God already has it planned out when the second coming will be.
- God has and is going to end the rebellion.
- God has put a stop to sin through Jesus’ death and will put a stop to sin permanently.
- Jesus’ blood was the atonement for our sins, but the transaction hasn’t been closed out yet.
- This is God’s goal: usher in the righteousness.
- When the end comes, He is going to make sure all His statements come true.
Devotions in the What I Believe series
Devotions in the End Times category
End Times Churchy Words Focus
I have to lead with my disclaimer again. I am learning just as everyone else is. We will never understand it all, and sometimes we will get things wrong. So, we search the Scriptures to see what God wants us to know.
This is going to be a quick delve into the tribulation. I know there are more resources out there I could review, but that will have to be at a later time.
I am probably going to have to break this into several devotions. We will just have to see what materializes.
Right now, we are seeking God’s wisdom on the tribulation. That period not be a fun time.
Let’s get started.
Let's Put It into Context
According to Compelling Truth, the tribulation “… is the period during the end times wherein God judges Israel and the world for their unrighteousness and prepares to establish Jesus as the King of the world.”
Resource
Read that again. It says God is going to judge Israel and the world. It does not say God is going to judge the church during this time.
What kind of timeline are we looking at?
Timeline
“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city — to bring the rebellion to an end, to put a stop to sin, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place” (Dan. 9: 24 CSB)
Oh, Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. Yes, you prophesied. No, you didn’t clear things up.
What Daniel gave us was a timeline. But since we aren’t to know date and time, I would call this a general timeline.
One thing we do know is God is precise. He schedules when certain things are going to happen.
- Creation
- The Flood
- The Exodus
- Jesus’ birth
- Jesus’ resurrection
- The destruction of the Temple
God already has it planned out when the second coming will be. It shouldn’t matter that we don’t know date and time.
We know it is coming. We should live that way.
Roberts wrote that the seventh weeks means that God is punctual. God tells us He is going to do something, He does it. He does it exactly when and how He says He will do it.
Let’s break down verse 24 to see what Daniel said God will accomplish.
“… to bring the rebellion to an end …”
Adam and Eve rebelled in the Garden of Eden and started all of this. They decided they didn’t want God telling them what to do. They wanted to have control over their own lives. (Yeah, we’re related to them, aren’t we?)
God is going to end the rebellion. He did, in a way, when Jesus died on the cross. However, He hasn’t shut the rebellion down.
It isn’t that He is going to regain control. He never lost total control.
Since Adam and Eve sinned, God has been allowing Satan to rule us. That is going to change.
God wants us to be what He made us to be — worshiping Him.
“… to put a stop to sin …”
God has put a stop to sin through Jesus’ death and will put a stop to sin permanently. Sin is when we disobey God and break one of His laws and commandments.
When we are obeying God’s laws and commandments, we are exhibiting His character. We will truly be like Him when sin and our sinful bodies are eliminated.
“… to atone for iniquity …”
Oh, church word alert. Iniquity is an old word that means sin. Atonement, according to the Holman Bible Dictionary, is “… reconciliation, was associated with sacrificial offerings to remove the effects of sin and in the New Testament,] refers specifically to the reconciliation between God and humanity effected by the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.”
Jesus’ blood was the atonement for our sins. He paid the penalty for our sins because we couldn’t.
Jesus paid the price already. But the transaction hasn’t been closed out yet.
“… to bring in everlasting righteousness …”
This is God’s goal: usher in the righteousness. Righteousness is the result of a solid relationship with God built by a sincere life of conscientious obedience to God’s laws and commandments.
Right now, we are heading there because we are on the sanctification road. Sanctification is the transformation of mind, body, and soul beginning with regeneration and ending with perfected state of spiritual wholeness or completeness. Regeneration is the change in us that God brings about when we go from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
God’s bringing in the righteousness is kind of like a graduation for us. We have completed — and succeeded on — the sanctification road. It is now time to enter heaven.
But think of it this way. Righteousness is the outcome of obedience. Obedience means to hear and carry out the instructions that God gives us.
We will finally be doing what we should have been doing all along. And we will be doing it throughout eternity.
“… to seal up vision and prophecy …”
Seiss had to tell me what this one meant. He wrote, “authenticate and vindicate by fulfilment (sic), make good and finish out in fact and deed all that God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.”
Okay, in Elaine-speak, God has told us many times about things He was going to do in the future. When the end comes, He is going to make sure all His statements come true.
But let’s chase a rabbit a second. God is going to seal that. We’ve talked about God sealing things before.
Back in first-century Israel, seals were used to show ownership. The seal was a type of individual mark. It would also show (like if documents were sealed) if they had been tampered with during transport.
“… and to anoint the most holy place”
I have to process a second. Anoint, according to the Holman Bible Dictionary, “describes the procedure of rubbing or smearing a person or thing, usually with oil, for the purpose of healing, setting apart, or embalming.”
The Tabernacle was anointed. “Then Moses took the anointing in and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it to consecrate them” (Lev. 1: 10 CSB).
There is going to be a new heaven and earth along with a new Jerusalem. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. 21: 1-2 CSB).
They will need to be anointed, won’t they?
Phase 1 of the 70 Weeks
“Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an Anointed One, the ruler, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat, but in difficult times” (Dan. 9: 25 CSB)
The Christian Standard Bible translated this verse a little differently than the King James Version did. This one said, “… restore and rebuild Jerusalem …” (Dan. 9: 25 CSB).
To me, that is talking about earthly Jerusalem. Only an earthly Jerusalem would have been destroyed.
Look how the English Standard Version translated it (closer to KJV without the poetic language):
“Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem …” (Dan. 9: 25 ESV emphasis added).
What if Daniel was told about the building of New Jerusalem instead of Old Jerusalem? You know, Jesus said He was going to build a place (Jn. 14: 1-3).
Wait a second. Pastor Chad taught on that not long ago.
Jesus was saying the palace is already there. This isn’t about Him grabbing a hammer and nails. Heaven is all ready for us.
Pastor Chad said it was the going that mattered.
So, for us right now — since the date and time aren’t important — what is important is the sanctification road and watching for Jesus’ return.
The only thing crystal clear is that there will be troubled times. We’ve talked numerous times that it is during those troubled times when we grow.
Griffin made a really excellent statement. He wrote, “This world is the house of discipline in which Christians are broken to the Divine service by severe management.”
Phase 2 of the 70 Weeks
“After those sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the coming ruler will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come with a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations are decreed. He will make a firm covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering. And the abomination of desolation will be on a wing of the temple until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.” (Dan. 9: 26-27 CSB)
These verses make it clearer that Daniel is talking about Jesus. Durham explains that the “… will be cut off …” (Dan. 9: 26 CSB) refers to His death on the cross. Only through this substitution can our sins be forgiven.
But to me, this is really when the tribulation starts. We talked about the abomination of desolation before. The ruler will “… set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration …” (Dan. 9: 27 NLT).
Making the Connections
I don’t know. I don’t know what to think of all of this. I think I need to do some more digging on this.
To me, it doesn’t seem like Daniel is talking about the tribulation itself. He is talking about what leads up to it.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
When the tribulation begins, non-believers will see that prophecy is true. Convincing some before they see the horror will be challenging.
But we have to witness to them. We want them to know the loving God we do.
We’ve been looking at defending our beliefs when we are witnessing. That means we have to be secure enough to convince someone to accept our beliefs.
Our questions should still serve us to determine on what we need to focus.
- What does the Scriptures say?
- What do I believe?
- Why do I believe the same/differently than the Scriptures?
- What are the talking points when witnessing to a non-believer?
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
How Do We Apply This?
I came across this in my reading. I thought we needed to hear it in today’s world. Wilberforce wrote (emphasis added), “Here is the secret of our inmost life. To hold on amidst discouragements — to lift up to God, a face often wet by tears, and soiled by mourning — to know outward trials and inward — to be tempted, buffeted, yea, above all, betrayed! This is our life. Hardly, and after many a struggle, does the evil depart from us. The building goes on slowly — with arms in our hands — amidst reproaches — with watching unto prayer. Let us seek to know this for ourselves in very deed.”
Father God. It does seem like troubles are all around us. We raise our tear-soaked faces to You. We hold on to You and Your promises. Amen.
What do you think?
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