The Great Tribulation & the Time of Trouble

Created: 27 May 2013 / Modified: 09 Jun 2013 The Bible presents two major prophetic events which impact God's people in substantial, but different ways. As referenced by name or description they are:

The Great Tribulation

(Matthew 24:21-22 Mark 13:19-20 Luke 21:23-24 Daniel 11:31-36 Revelation 6:9-11 Revelation 7:9-17)

The Time of Trouble

(Daniel 12:1 Revelation 15-16 Revelation 18:4-19 Job 38:23 James 5:1-6 Luke 21:25)

As we will soon see, while both of these are significant prophetic events, they are not the same event.

The Great Tribulation

The Great Tribulation is a period of extraordinary persecution against God's people. In fact, if you look throughout the Bible, the word "tribulation" is almost always synonymous with religious persecution or religious conflict.
See: Deuteronomy 4:30 Judges 10:14 Matthew 13:21 John 16:33 Acts 14:22 Romans 5:3

One of the key characteristics of the Great Tribulation is that it has a prophetic duration associated with it. This is one of the key ways to determine where it is being described in the Bible. The following units of prophetic time are all associated with this specific event, and all are equivalent to 1260 literal years: Time, Times and the Dividing of Time (Daniel 7:25) Time, Times and an Half (Daniel 12:6-7) Forty-Two Months (Revelation 11:2 Revelation 13:5) Time, Times and a Half a Time (Revelation 12:14) One Thousand Two Hundred and Threescore days (Revelation 11:3 12:6)

Calendar Considerations: The Jewish calendar was based on 12 months of 30 days each = 360 days per year In prophetic language, 1 day = 1 year in literal time (Numbers 14:34 Ezekiel 4:6) Time = 1 year / Times = 2 years / a Time = a year / 1 Jewish year = 360 days

The Great Tribulation & the Time of Trouble by Andrew S. Baker

Page 1

The Time of Trouble

The Time of Trouble (not to be confused with the Time of Jacob's Trouble) is a time of complete upheaval in the world. This time of upheaval has an adverse impact on both the wicked and the righteous, but it will be far worse for the wicked because at this time, God will be pouring out His judgments upon them via the Seven Last Plagues, and He will be protecting the righteous from the effects of those plagues. A subset of the Gods promises of protection for His people during the Time of Trouble can be found here: Psalms 27:5 Psalms 91:1-10 Isaiah 26:20-21 Isaiah 33:2 Jeremiah 14:8 The Time of Trouble occurs immediately after the close of probation, and immediately before Christs Second Coming, when every destiny has been decided and there is no further chance to change sides (Revelation 22:11-12). Unlike with the Great Tribulation, there is no way to calculate a definitive duration of time for the Time of Trouble and the Seven Last Plagues (Revelation 15-16 Job 38:23) which will fall during that time. Based upon the description of the plagues and their impact, however, we expect that it cannot be for an extended period of time. The Bible says that it will all occur within a single prophetic day, or one literal year (Revelation 18:8). Here is a list of similarities between the original Ten Plagues which fell upon Egypt, facilitating the release of the Israelites from captivity, and the Seven Last Plagues which will fall upon the whole world and be followed immediately by the Second Coming:

The Ten Plagues on Egypt (Exodus 7-12)

Used by God to punish the Egyptians for enslaving His people (Exodus 7:1-5) Used by God to punish the Egyptians for their idolatry (Exodus 12:12) No complete duration of time is provided for the plagues (#1 #10) from start to finish Immediately after the last plague, God's people were rescued (Exodus 12:30-33) While the first 3 plagues affected Israelites and Egyptians alike, the last seven plagues (#4-#10) affected only the Egyptians. (Exodus 8:20-23) Any house that was not covered by the blood of the Passover lamb was affected by the 10 th plague. (Exodus 12:1-13)

The Seven Last Plagues (Revelation 15-16)

Used by God to punish the wicked for persecuting His people (Revelation 16:5-6) Used by God to punish the wicked for worshipping the Beast and his Image (Revelation 14:10 Revelation 16:2) No complete duration of time is provided for the plagues (#1 #7) from start to finish Immediately after the last plague, God's people will be rescued (Revelation 19:1-2) All seven plagues affect only the wicked (Revelation 14:9-11 Rev 16:2,6,9,11,21) Anyone who is not in the Lambs Book of Life will be affected by all of the plagues. (Revelation 7:1-3 Revelation 14:9-11)

The Great Tribulation & the Time of Trouble by Andrew S. Baker

Page 2

The Time of Jacobs Trouble

Genesis 32:24-30 KJV (24) And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. (25) And when He saw that He prevailed not against him, He touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as He wrestled with him. (26) And He said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me. (27) And He said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. (28) And He said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. (29) And Jacob asked Him, and said, Tell me, I pray Thee, Thy name. And He said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after My name? And He blessed him there. (30) And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. Jeremiah 30:5-7 KJV (5) For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. (6) Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? (7) Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
The Time of Jacobs Trouble mentioned briefly in the previous section, is a special time that affects only Gods people. It occurs within the overall timeframe of the Time of Trouble, once Jesus moves from His role as High Priest and puts on the garments of battle (Revelation 19). This event is named for the time of soul searching and mental anguish that Jacob went through as he prepared to meet up with his brother Esau after many years of separation (Genesis 32). Jacob realized that without Gods protection, he would surely be overcome by his brother, so the night beforehand, Jacob spent the night in prayer entreating the Lord again for forgiveness and mercy and protection. During the night, he ended up wrestling with the Son of God (more spiritually than physically) who ultimately blessed him and assured him of success. Similarly, Gods people are going to go through a period of mental and spiritual anguish once the final death decree has gone out against God s people (Revelation 13:15). This will be after probation has closed for the entire world (Revelation 7:1-4; Revelation 16), and Jesus is no longer operating as our High Priest and Mediator (Hebrews 8-10; Revelation 19). With the earnest desire for deliverance, and the realization that they are standing in the sight of a Holy God with no intercessor, Gods people will search their hearts earnestly out of the fear that they had sins which they did not confess or forsake. It will be a time of trembling not only because of oppression and persecution by the wicked, but because of the spiritual concerns. Just as Jacob wrested with God and prevailed, receiving a blessing, so too will Gods people wrestle with God and be overcomers receiving the ultimate blessing of redemption as Jesus returns to save them. The duration for the Time of Jacobs Trouble is not explicitly given in the Bible, but is understood to be only a subset of the overall time allocated to the full Time of Trouble, as it starts at about the time of the final death decree, and concludes at the Second Coming.

The Great Tribulation & the Time of Trouble by Andrew S. Baker

Page 3

Summary
The Great Tribulation was a time when God's people were allowed to be severely persecuted by the Little Horn of Daniel 7, which is also the 1st Beast of Revelation 13, but God cut short the timeframe in righteousness so that the elect were not entirely decimated from the earth. Never in the history of the earth was there a greater time of persecution than during those 1260 years of Papal supremacy, and never again will there be as long and brutal a time of religious persecution. The Time of Trouble is a time when the door of mercy is finally closed for all the inhabitants of this earth, and God will execute His vengeance against all those who have obtained the Mark of the Beast (Revelation 13). There has never been as great a time of national, political and economic instability and upheaval as will occur during this period. Additionally, there will be unprecedented natural disasters, plus the direct punishment of God. During this period, and leading up to it, the wicked will still attempt to persecute God's people, just as Ahab and Jezebel sought to persecute Elijah during the 3.5 years of judgment against Baal and the gods that Israel was following at that time (1 Kings 17-18), but God will miraculously protect and sustain His people during this crisis just as He did for Elijah. While there will be significant religious persecution, the real focus will be on the national upheaval and the plagues. Additionally, as probation will be closed to start this period, there will be no value/benefit in martyrdom no one can change sides. It will not be a pleasant for God's people, especially considering the Time of Jacobs Trouble, but it will most certainly be better than being a recipient of the Seven Last Plagues. Jesus will arrive immediately at the conclusion of the Time of Trouble...

Psalms 91:1-10 KJV (1) He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. (2) I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. (3) Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. (4) He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. (5) Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; (6) Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. (7) A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. (8) Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. (9) Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; (10) There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

The Great Tribulation & the Time of Trouble by Andrew S. Baker

Page 4