Reading of Revelation: The Great Tribulation and the Rapture
There are quite a few people who consider the Great Tribulation and the Rapture to be a key teaching of the Bible, while others completely deny them. Which is the truth?
The idea
The idea of the rapture comes from the following thought: At the end, just before Jesus returns, there will be an intense time of persecution, but also dramatic catastrophes that are unbearable for everyone.
This time is called the Great Tribulation, and it lasts twice the amount of the 3.5 years, and the second 3.5 years are even worse.
That’s why God will rapture the church before all this happens, and the church will not have to endure it. This is a great hope for many believers.
In order to have a deeper understanding, we need to take a closer look at this Great Tribulation.
The Great Tribulation
When you see how much this topic is part of the internet or in the popular literature, you might think that this topic is all over the Bible, but it is not. The term is mentioned without further explanation in Revelation chapter 7.
But there is some context. In the Old Testament, people suffered when they violated their covenant with God, such as exploiting the poor or worshipping other gods, and were blessed when they obeyed God (with some exceptions, of course).
But that changed dramatically when Jesus came. Now Christians suffered simply for believing in Jesus. Revelation tells us why: When Jesus died on the cross, Satan lost his position in heaven and tried to destroy as much as he could. He had nothing to lose. At the time Revelation was written, the greatest tribulations (in the Roman Empire) were yet to come.
This is probably what is meant by “the Great Tribulation”. It is the daily reality that is not an experience for Christians in the Western world today, but was and is the reality in many parts of the world.
The story retold
So if the Great Tribulation is not coming, what about the Rapture? Well, the rapture is not mentioned in the Bible, nor do arguments about the rapture have a solid foundation. There is not a single chapter that teaches about it, only a few verses that are interpreted based on the rapture.
So here is the real story: When Jesus came to earth for the first time, the tribulation began, and the Church not only endured it, but it is the way the Church follows God’s plan. This won’t change until Jesus returns and sets up a new heaven and a new earth.
We will see a lot of what that means in the next few chapters. And there will be some surprises.
The hope of Christians should not be that we will be relieved of our tribulations, but that our tribulations will make a difference in this world.