Other Subjects The Great Tribulation
I have been told that I tend to say things, in somewhat of an abbreviated way, and think a reader can know the details that I may have been thinking of. There was a paper when I evidently did this. I said, "This verse is the only time in the Bible that tribulation is referred to as "the great tribulation" ". Yes it is the only time that term is used in the Bible. But I could have done more to provide the evidence pertaining to the truth of that statement. Another truth is --- it is very popular to apply that term to the horrific end day tribulations. The following verses are at the core of this popular misconception.
Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Evidently the popular idea is to combine those two verses and think they describe the end time tribulation as THE GREAT TRIBULATION. When the term "the great tribulation" is used it is not at all attributing it to the period at the end of the age. I had tried to make that plain in the last section of the paper called --- Servants of God (sealed). That was the paper that I had previously referred to. I will now go into the details of how it is true that there is only one time that the term, "the great tribulation", is used in the Bible and then elaborate on the way it is used.
The first thing I would like to do is give several translations to try to show the credibility of the wording for Mat 24:21 and Mat 24:29. In verse 21 the word "the" is missing.
KJV: Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Revised Version: Mat 24:21 for then shall be great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be.
Youngs Literal Translation: Mat 24:21 for there shall be then great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the world till now, no, nor may be.
Literal Standard Version: Mat 24:21 for there will then be great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor may be.
In verse 29 the word "great" is missing.
KJV: Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Revised Version: Mat 24:29 But immediately, after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Youngs Literal Translation: Mat 24:29 `And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken;
Literal Standard Version: Mat 24:29 And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken;
As we can see, the tribulation of those days will be great, but the verses do not refer to the time of "the great tribulation". As I mentioned the circumstances for the end time tribulation and the time of "the great tribulation" are considerably different in nature. The term, the great tribulation, is used in conjunction with the innumerable multitude spoken of in Revelation chapter 7. I believe we know how important it is to unravel the "mysteries" that God speaks about that are made known to His people. We are to be so careful on how God's words are understood or one can be easily led astray.
Now I would like to go into the details of how the term "the great tribulation" is used in Revelation 7:14. I think possibly the first thing that should be mentioned is that the KJV and Douay-Rheims Bible are the only two out of 19 translations, that were available on "e-Sword", that left out the word "the" when speaking of "the great tribulation". That's not the only problem with the KJV.
KJV - Rev 7:14 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.
The words "which came" is an important error. The NKJV renders it "who come out". The YLT, LSV and the LITV (Literal Translation of the Holy Bible) have it as "who are coming out". The "present tense" is critical to an understanding of the verse.
YLT - Rev 7:14 and I have said to him, `Sir, thou hast known;' and he said to me, `These are those who are coming out of the great tribulation, and they did wash their robes, and they made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb;
When using the literal translations a more complete picture of the nature of the time being considered is formed. We can see that there 3 reasons this verse is not speaking of the 1,000 years of the reign of Jesus. The first is whatever takes place in the verse is a new vision. Verse 9: "After these things I saw". Then, the present tense shows us whatever is happening is occurring at that time. Lastly, there was no tribulation during the 1,000 year reign of Jesus. At the end of the 1,000 years Satan was let loose and had a mind to "battle" the saints. But his army was summarily dispatched.
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
So then what is the period of time that this vision is relating to? What does it mean when the verse said, "who are coming out of the great tribulation"? These people have experienced tribulation. The only time left to consider is the 6,000 years of the time of the rule of Satan. Satan has by now been destroyed and these people have been resurrected into "the great white throne judgment" period of time.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
We are familiar with the books are that opened. They are the books of the Bible that are opened and are now able to be understood. The single book being the book of life. All these people have an opportunity to repent and accept Jesus as their savior and then go on to live in harmony with the Father and Jesus and the wife of Jesus. I'll simply take from the last section of the paper "Servants of God (sealed)".
It is the tribulation that mankind has be subjected to since Satan first influenced Adam and Eve. It is important to understand that the end time tribulation is never called "the great tribulation". The innumerable multitude are those who come up for the great white throne judgment period. They have endured the millennia of tribulations exacted by Satan. As we all know it takes time to replace our self serving spirit with the serving "spirit of God". I believe that for those who experienced extreme trauma time would be needed for recovery. This innumerable multitude is shown to be well into the "great white throne judgment" period. They have received the sacrifice of Jesus for their sins and are living according to God's ways. They are awaiting their transformation to spirit life on the "eighth day". As such they have the Spirit of God living in them and are written in the book of life, being "passed over" from being cast into the "lake of fire".
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.