Daniel’s 70^th week, the time of Jacob’s trouble, Day of the Lord, Wrath of God, Great Tribulation are all commonly known as the Tribulation. This future event will last seven years, progressively worsening each year, and the last 3 ½ years the most horrific of all.

It may seem that the world is getting away with mocking God. Every blasphemous thought and action is directed toward Heaven these days with not a thought of the judgment about to fall. In due time, probably sooner than we think, a holy God will pour out His judgment with a vengeance upon a sin infested world.

God’s purpose for the Tribulation is to restore Israel and to judge a blasphemous Christ-rejecting Gentile world for its treatment of Israel. Please notice just these few examples.

“Then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today.” (Deuteronomy 30:3-8)

“The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the LORD.” ‘So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid. (Jeremiah 30:3, 10)

“Come near, you nations, and listen; pay attention, you peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world, and all that comes out of it! The LORD is angry with all nations; his wrath is on all their armies. He will totally destroy them, he will give them over to slaughter. Their slain will be thrown out, their dead bodies will stink; the mountains will be soaked with their blood. All the stars in the sky will be dissolved and the heavens rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree.” (Isaiah 34:1-4)

“I am with you and will save you,’ declares the LORD. ‘Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only in due measure; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’” (Jeremiah 3:11)

I first want to make clear that the true Church (Christ’s bride) will not be on earth during the Tribulation. In Revelation chapters two through three the Church is seen on earth as the “called out ones.” (ekklesia [church] meaning “the called out ones.) From Revelation chapter four through nineteen the Church is represented in Heaven as the 24 elders. Then in chapter nineteen and following, she is seen as the bride, the Lamb’s wife. The Church is never seen on earth after Revelation chapter three, but is seen in Heaven. The Church definitely will not be on earth during the seven year Tribulation.

To repeat my second paragraph above, God’s purpose for the Tribulation is to:

1. Restore Israel and
2. Judge the Christ-rejecting world

The Tribulation has nothing to do with the Church. Therefore, those remaining on earth after the Rapture will be Israel and all those who have rejected Christ as Savior.

Revelation 6:8 says, “I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.”

Revelation 9:15 says, “And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.”

So 1/4 of mankind will be killed in the Seal judgments (Revelation 6:8). Then 1/3 of those still living will be killed in the Trumpet judgements (Revelation 9:15). That equals 1/2 of the world’s population that will be killed during the Seal and Trumpet judgments. HOWEVER, there is no mention of how many of those still living after the Trumpet judgments will be killed during the Bowl judgments. Maybe this is why Jesus said, “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24:22)

The point to be made is the Tribulation is a real event that is definitely coming upon this earth. It is on its way, and it is getting very close. The only place to be that could be worse than being left to enter the Tribulation is to be in hell itself.

Two thirds of the Israelite nation will perish and actually well over one half (probably a much higher percentage) of all the world’s population will perish.

“Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” (Revelation 6:15-17)

Even though God’s judgment is very severe during this time, men will become so evil, they will refuse to repent.

“The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.” (Revelation 9:20-21)

“They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.” (Revelation 16:9-11)

Did not Jesus warn of this when speaking to the churches in Revelation chapter two?

“I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.” (Revelation 2:21-23)

Jesus is definitely warning those in the churches today to repent and come to Him. He is saying to the lost in all these churches (and there are apparently many more than we realize):

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:20-22)

All who come to Jesus now can avoid this prelude of hell called the Tribulation. How do we become victorious? He promised that all who open that door of their heart He will save and give them eternal life. He will also remove them from this earth before He administers His judgment upon mankind.

“Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.” (Revelation 3:10)

Whether you are Jew or Gentile, come to Him now by faith and He will save you by His grace. You will not come under His judgment.

“… because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.” (Romans 2:5-11)

In comparing Scripture with Scripture keep in mind that we cannot do good unless the Holy Spirit is living within us, and He cannot reside within us unless we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. So only those who are saved will do good.

Grant Phillips

Email: grantphillips@windstream.net

Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com

Rapture Ready: https://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html

 

The United States of America was once a light that shone in a dark place. The cross of Calvary was held high just as when Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness (Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:14-15).  Unfortunately, we decided we no longer need God. In my opinion, we have become so arrogant; many of us think we are gods of our own destiny. Since we made that brilliant shift in our thinking, sin has overtaken us like an old hound dog overtaken with fleas. We have gone the way of Cain (Jude 1:11).

Put simply, the way of Cain is to depend on our works as opposed to the works of Jesus Christ. We (I use this term loosely) think it takes a village to raise our children, meaning that the state should raise our children while the parents hold a secondary role. That being the case, God is removed from the schools and replaced by the state. The state demands we teach the children (for example) that homosexuality is just another way of life and we are born into it. If the parents object, that’s too bad. Long story short, now that God is out, the blind are leading the blind (Matthew 15:14).

I am convinced that the liberal leaning politically correct antichrists actually believe they are righteous and pleasing to God. They believe that all of us who take the Bible literally are hateful and ignorant. They believe the Word of God (the Bible) is a living document to be interpreted only by the ultra-left wing liberals that have never met a sin they couldn’t embrace and arrogance they cannot hide.

Even in our churches, most are working at becoming holy super-saints via religious genuflecting meant to send a thrill up God’s leg (so to speak). Even though God clearly says He never changes (Hebrews 13:8), God has now reclassified all our “sins” to simply “another way of life He instilled within man” and is totally content to just love us into His kingdom. Forget any judgment for our disobedience. Father doesn’t always know best, unless he’s the Pope of course.

I hope you realize I am being very facetious with these remarks. God does not change. We all sin. God will judge all of us. We are not saved by God’s love. We are saved by His supreme sacrifice, His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Our works will take us straight to hell if we depend on them to be saved. Salvation is in Jesus alone. If we do not rest our faith in Him alone, there is nothing for us but judgment via eternal fire.

Yet, man has always, and to this day, insists on going contrary to what a holy God demands.

Cain’s sacrifice to God was from the fruit of the ground. Abel’s sacrifice was the blood that God required. Most of mankind is still presenting to God the fruit of the ground and ignoring the blood of the cross.

Cain’s sacrifice of the fruit of the ground came from his own toil and sweat. Abel’s came from the lifeless body of the sacrifice signifying the one sacrifice yet to come, that of the Son of God upon the cross of Calvary. Cain came to God with his own works in hand. Abel came to God by faith.

I fail to understand how anyone cannot see how insulting it is to God when the bloody body of His only begotten Son is rejected for our measly little works?

Since Cain, mankind has been trying to clean up the outside in order to clean the inside (the heart). Going back to the churches I mentioned earlier, this practice is seen over and over in most churches of today. Jesus says we have it backwards.

“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” (Mark 7:18-23)

If the churches in this country would actually practice Mark 7:18-23 above, I don’t believe we would see the corruption that we have today in every venue of our society.

Jesus said to those of His day,

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” (Matthew 23:25)

From the pulpit to the pew, aren’t we doing exactly as the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day? Most go to church on Sunday morning with their own homemade spiritual remedies, and they return home no different than when they left. There is no repentance. Blatant sins still abound in the lives of the average church goer. God and His Word are not considered again until it is time to return to the local church service the next Sunday. In the meantime, throughout the week, the soul is filled with everything the world has to offer. The cup is clean on the outside, but the inside remains filthy. Why is that? It is because most are not submitting to God’s righteousness, but seeking to establish their own.

“Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” (Romans 10:3)

We keep trying to become ‘good little Christians’ by outward works, instead of accepting the righteousness of God.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

The apostle Paul says it so well.

“What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” (Philippians 3:8-9)

We live in a day when many who are in the local churches are not even Christians, including the “leaders.” So Satan’s bunch is having a tremendous impact upon society. Those who truly know Jesus as Savior and Lord can grow as Christians, but it cannot be in the manner the world dictates. We must come to our God with humbleness of heart, a repentant attitude, and a commitment to follow the Lord Who never changes.

Most of the so-called church leaders of our day fit nicely into our Lord’s description of false religious leaders.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” (Matthew 23:27-29)

What sane person would go to work in clean clothes but never bathe? Yet, we think we can stand before a holy God and He not smell the putrid stench of sin within our hearts.

As Christians we must keep the inside of the cup clean, and that comes by a daily follow-through of 1 John 1:9. Why? Is it to keep our salvation? No. It is to keep the fellowship open between our Father in Heaven and us.

For those who want eternal life in Jesus, it will never come by your trying to be a better person. It won’t happen. It can only be found in putting our total faith in Jesus Christ to save us and to keep us as He has promised.

To grow in Christ, each day must be lived by allowing Him to clean the inside of our cup, and He does so by our total obedience to Him. Then we will be clean indeed, inside and out.

Grant Phillips

Email: grantphillips@windstream.net

Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com

Rapture Ready: https://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html