Bob Prichard

Topic(s): Denominationalism

The word “tribulation” was used by Jesus and the apostles more than twenty times in the New Testament to refer to the distress and trials that the followers of Christ must suffer in this life. For example, Acts 14:22 tells that Paul and Barnabas taught that we should “continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” The words “great tribulation,” found in Matthew 24:21 describe a period of unparalleled suffering. “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21). Premillennialism incorrectly teaches that the “great tribulation” is a seven year period in the future that follows the “rapture” of the church and precedes the Lord’s second coming.

“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3). Notice that the disciples asked Jesus about two things, “the sign of thy coming” and “the end of the world.” The two separate things are the destruction of Jerusalem and the Lord’s second coming at the end of the world. Matthew chapters 24 and 25 give Christ’s description of these two events. The first part of Matthew 24, through verse 35, describes the destruction of Jerusalem that occurred in A.D. 70, and the remainder of the passage describes the Lord’s second coming.

The “great tribulation,” which the premillennialist wants to project to the end of time, is a description of the destruction of Jerusalem. Jesus described the horror: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21). Having described the coming destruction, Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled” (Matthew 24:34). Thus Jesus was saying that within a generation (thirty to forty years), the events He was describing would come to pass. The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 fulfilled this prophecy. Daniel had prophesied a coming “abomination that maketh desolate” (Daniel 11:31; 12:11). “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)” (Matthew 24:15). The abomination of desolation was the desecration and destruction of the temple by the Romans as they destroyed Jerusalem.

The fact that this period of great tribulation that Jesus spoke of was the destruction of Jerusalem, and not a coming period of misery, is demonstrated by His instructions to His followers to watch for the signs, and “flee into the mountains” to escape, saying that they should pray that it “be not in the winter,” when the weather would be bad, nor that their flight be “on the sabbath day” when the city gates would be closed (Matthew 24:16, 20). History shows that first century Christians heeded the warning of Christ and were able to escape the destruction of Jerusalem by fleeing to the mountains. All who follow Christ will suffer tribulation, but the period of “great tribulation” has already passed.