THE GREAT TRIBULATION
MORE EVIDENCE
The
evidence we have examined thus far that the abomination of desolation began at
the very beginning of the church, even at the time of the first Remnant, has
required substantial examination to unfold. The items we will now address are less involved, but even
so, quite confirming and certainly revealing.
First,
we have seen abundantly evidenced that the period of the church up to Passover,
2004, is the period of the great and terrible wilderness. As we briefly addressed at the opening
of The New Millennial Calendar, this is simply the way of Yahweh. He begins things in darkness, in
corruption, even in a wilderness.
Though He brought the sons of Israel out of Egypt in order to bring them
into the promised land (Deuteronomy 6:23), His way was to place a breach in
that promise, to add Job’s sorrows when Satan gains the right to test and
afflict. This was like telling
Job, “I am going to give you double of everything you have,” but
not telling him what takes place in order to receive it.
Such
it was with the church as well. He
brought us out in order to bring us in; but, there had to be a breach, a period
of Job’s sorrows and loss, a wilderness period, a premature Saul period. The church was early, even as the demons
well knew – “have you come here to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8:29). Thus, the church entered into the great and terrible
wilderness period, or as Stephen called it – “the church in the
wilderness” (lit. of Acts 7:38).
Therefore we see in Deuteronomy 8:2-5 and 15-16 this accurate
description of this first 2,000 year period of the church:
“You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led
you in the wilderness these forty years [forty Jubilee waiting periods], that
He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you
would keep His commandments or not.
He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you
did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that
man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out
of the mouth of Yahweh. Your
clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. Thus you are to know in your heart that
Yahweh your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.”
“He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with
its fiery serpents and scorpions
and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of
the rock of flint. In the
wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might
humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end.”
The
good that comes following this period of testing and humbling is the promised
Millennial reign, the promised land.
Therefore,
we see once again that this great and terrible wilderness period of the church
is in fact what is otherwise called the great tribulation. Both terms describe what was addressed
here in Deuteronomy – a Job breach period of agonizing tribulation and
testing by Satan. Thus we find
evidenced:
5. The forty years of the great and terrible
wilderness speak of the great tribulation of the forty-Jubilee-waiting-period
time of the church in the wilderness.
Furthermore,
this is the same message in Malachi 4:5-6:
“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet in the
face/presence of the coming great and terrible day of Yahweh.
He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers,
so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”
The
great tribulation, the great and terrible wilderness, and the great and
terrible day of Yahweh, all speak of the same thing – the 2,000 year
testing period of the church. And
as we have addressed, if Yahweh did not cut those 3,000 years short to 2,000
years, then no flesh would be saved.
Who have we seen that stops this abomination of desolation? The Elijah! And who do we see here in Malachi that cuts short the great
and terrible day of Yahweh? Once
again, the Elijah!
Unfortunately,
the NAS and other versions translate this passage – “before the great and terrible day of Yahweh,” as
though he comes prior to that time.
But you will get a better understanding of the meaning of this word if
you read the passage just a few verses before this in 3:16, where it says:
Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another,
and Yahweh gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before [in the presence of] Him for those who fear
Yahweh and who esteem His name.
This
by no means could mean that the book of remembrance was written prior to
Yahweh. The Hebrew word used here,
panim, more literally means “face,” and in the NAS is translated as
such 263 times. It is also translated
“presence” 128 times.
For example, in Exodus 25:30 and other like passages,
“panim” is the same Hebrew word for the bread of the Presence, meaning Yahshua’s presence. Therefore, the message here in Malachi
4:5 is the coming of Elijah during
the great and terrible day of Yahweh.
Why
does Yahweh send the Elijah? As we
have seen, for the same reason Judas Maccabeus prevailed. Elijah is sent in order to stop the
abomination of desolation, the great tribulation, the great and terrible day of
Yahweh – “lest I smite the land with a curse.”
And
here again we find even further revealing and confirming truth. The Hebrew word for “curse”
here is not the standard word for a curse. In fact, this Hebrew word, “cherem,” is only
translated “curse” or “accursed” four times. Otherwise, it is primarily translated
in relation to being banned. Its
origin is from a word that has precisely the same characters, but only different
vowel points. This is the word
“charam,” which has the meaning of being exterminated, annihilated,
or destroyed completely.
Therefore,
once again we see that what is being said here is that this great and terrible
day of Yahweh that has been transpiring for 2,000 years, is cut short by Him
sending Elijah, lest He smite the land with complete annihilation and
extermination.
This
promised deliverance for the church is equally attested in Zechariah
14:6-11. When you read this, you
cannot think literal Jerusalem, literal gates, literal water, or literal
luminaries. The message here is
obviously the Millennial reign when Yahshua returns, when Jerusalem above comes
to the earth. But pay special
attention to the last verse.
In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. For it will be a unique day which is
known to Yahweh, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening
time there will be light. And in
that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the
eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as
well as in winter. And Yahweh will
be king over all the earth; in that day Yahweh will be one, and His name
one. All the land will be changed
into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise
and remain on its site from Benjamin's Gate as far as the place of the First
Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's wine
presses. People will live in it, and
there will not be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.
The
word “curse” here is the identical word found in Malachi 4:6, the
final word in the Old Testament.
And what we read here in Zechariah 14:11 is that that curse does not
come upon the church – “there will not be a curse,” a total
annihilation and extermination.
Why? Because Yahweh sends
Elijah, cutting that great and terrible day short.
In
Bible translations, the word “not” used here is translated
“no longer” or “no more.” But that too is not an accurate message, nor is it
appropriate. The Hebrew word used
here is “lo,” and it means “not,” or even
“never.” Otherwise,
the false indication is that this utter destruction of the kingdom has taken
place. But the message of Malachi
4:6 and Zechariah 14:11, both using the identical Hebrew word, is that Yahweh
does not allow this complete destruction.
This is why He stated that if He did not cut the days of the great
tribulation of the church short, that no flesh would be saved. Or as we have noted already, it would
be the same as the death of all three sons of Judah. This cannot be!
Thus
we see yet another sound evidence regarding the abomination of desolation and
the great tribulation:
6. As stated in Malachi 4:5-6, Elijah comes in
the time of the great and terrible day of Yahweh, in the 3,000 year period of
the church, the great tribulation, in order to cut those days short to 2,000
and Yahweh not smite the church with utter annihilation.
Along
with these testimonies, we find the same evidence of this tribulation period in
the church when reading the New Testament. You will see this in the following passages. A like list could be made by examining
the word “afflictions,” insomuch that it is the same Greek word.
… strengthening the souls of the disciples,
encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” [Acts
14:22].
And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance [Romans 5:3].
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword [Romans 8:35]?
… rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer … [Romans 12:12].
You also became imitators of us and of the Lord,
having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit [1 Thessalonians
1:6].
But remember the former days, when, after being
enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a
public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who
were so treated [Hebrews 10:32-33].
I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because
of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus [Revelation 1:9].
And
from the book of Revelation, speaking to the church of Smyrna, the prophetic
first Remnant, as well as to Thyatira, Yahshua declared:
“I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the
blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of
Satan” [Revelation 2:9].
“Do not fear what you are about to suffer.
Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be
tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown
of life” [Revelation 2:10].
“Behold, I will throw her [Jezebel] on a
bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds” [Revelation 2:22].
Here
is another testimony from Revelation, which will be addressed shortly:
I said to him, “My lord, you know.”
And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb” [Revelation 7:14].
Thus
we can add yet another confirmation:
7. The New Testament itself abundantly
evidences that the period of the church is the period of great tribulation.
In
the remainder of this section, we will address two more evidences of the
church’s fulfillment of the great tribulation, beginning with what we
just read in Revelation 2:22. Here
we will find a very revealing testimony.
Who
again is the “her” that is being spoken of in this passage –
“I will throw her on a bed”?
It is “the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she
teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit immorality and
eat things sacrificed to idols.”
Let
us now go to another account and see what is prophetically testified regarding
this woman’s influence and impact on the church. In 1 Kings 19:1-4 we read:
Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed
all the prophets with the sword.
Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods
do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them
by tomorrow about this time.”
And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba,
which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and
came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he
might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O Yahweh, take my life, for I am
not better than my fathers.”
Let
us get right to the point. This
account tells us yet another reason why the church went into the great and
terrible wilderness, the great tribulation. Where did Elijah flee in his fear of Jezebel? Into the wilderness! How long was he there? Verse 8 tells us that it was for forty
days and forty nights, during which he neither ate nor drank. In other words, he entered into the
identical prophetic period entered into twice by Moses (Exodus 24:18 and 34:28)
and once by Yahshua following His baptism into death by John (Matthew 4:2)
– Christianity. Likewise, in
fulfillment of Exodus 33:22, Elijah was hidden in the cleft of the rock, in a
cave on Nebo – the breach period of Christianity where they do not
see. And even as Elijah wanted to
die, so kingdom men have therein died.
Elijah’s flight from Jezebel was a testimony, once again, of the
failure of the first Remnant and the church’s entrance into the
tribulation period of the great and terrible wilderness.
What
was it that the first Remnant did, or even accepted, relative to this
Jezebel? We do not know, other
than it was a feminine spirit. The
feminine spirit is the weaker vessel that is easily deceived. Possibly the very fact that they were
deceived and erred was sufficient to qualify as giving in to that spirit. But we know from Revelation 2:22-23
that giving in to that Jezebel effects the great tribulation, even as we read:
“Behold, I will throw her on a bed, and
those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the
churches will know that I am He
who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according
to your deeds.”
Thus
we see yet another testimony that the abomination of desolation that led to the
great tribulation took place at the very beginning of the church:
8. As evidenced by Revelation 2:20-23 and 1
Kings 19, “the woman Jezebel” immediately impacted the church,
causing it to go into the great tribulation, the great and terrible wilderness.
But
most importantly, what does this say to us today, we who are the true
Elijah? It is both a warning, as
well as a hopeful promise. In type
here, Elijah was in the place of the first Remnant. Technically, the first Remnant preceded the great and
terrible wilderness with its breach experience. Also, remember that the two Remnant often flip in their
testimonies. In this account,
Elisha then represented the second Remnant – the one anointed at the close
of the wilderness period, receiving a double portion of the spirit of Elijah.
But
very importantly, this account is a warning for us today, the true Elijah, to
not give in to “the woman Jezebel.” That Jezebel spirit has NEVER been more prevalent than it is
today. We see it in families,
where the woman wants to rule over the home, or be equal to her husband. We see it in society, where women dress
like men and cut their hair short like them. We see it in the church, where women take the roles of
teachers and pastors. We see it in
government and in society, where women have the right to vote, to govern, to
work in jobs that should be occupied by men only. Of course all of this is nothing less than the outcome of
the Curse of 1920, where the woman
is now consumed by the original curse that her “desire will be for [the
place of] her husband” (Genesis 3:16), and men do nothing to stop it.
Today
is the true test of Jezebel! Will
we give in to this Jezebel spirit and go into another 2,000 years of wilderness
wanderings, or will we face Jezebel and win this test? Elijah won the test of Carmel, but he
lost the test with Jezebel, costing him a wilderness experience! In like manner, the first Remnant
obviously lost the test with Jezebel.
Will we now win this test today?
There
is no greater evidence of this test right now than the election of 2008. The word “election” is most
revealing at this time, asking the question as to who is Yahweh’s
elect. In Revelation 2:24-28, we
further read concerning this response to Jezebel:
But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this
teaching [of Jezebel], who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they
call them – I place no other burden on you. Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come. He who overcomes, and he who keeps My
deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron as the
vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; and I will give him the morning
star.
Yahweh’s
elect will rule the nations. This
is quite a significant and timely statement in light of the anticipation that
as of Trumpets, October 25, 2007, the time of the nations is complete. At that point, the kingdom of heaven
should have the legal right to rule over the nations. (More to come on this.)
There
has never been a more attesting election than this of 2008 when a woman is
running for the most significant office in the world, even as the head of the
kingdom of heaven at the nations level.
The Jezebel spirit has already provided a woman to be the Speaker of the
House, evidencing the woman doing likewise in the home; and now that spirit is
pursuing the highest office in this nation, and she must be stopped! There is never a more obvious testimony
of Ahab and Jezebel than that which is evidenced in Bill and Hillary
Clinton. They are Yahweh’s
clear testimony to this conflict with Elijah.
Moving
on to our next account from Revelation 7:9-14, Yahshua identified those whom He
said came “out of the great tribulation.” Though this account is not as specific as some of the other
attesting accounts, it does identify the second Remnant as having its location
in the great tribulation. This is
in fact the case, for the great tribulation would last 3,000 years if it were
not cut short.
We
will not quote the preceding verses in Revelation 7:1-8 that address the 144,000
who were sealed. The two groups of
144,000, here and in 14:1-5, represent the two Remnant, evidencing here the
more specific testimony to the first Remnant. Whereas in 14:1-5 we see once again the second Remnant
testimony of defeating that Jezebel spirit, in that they “have not been
defiled with women, … and no lie was found in their mouths.” But back to Revelation 7, following the
first Remnant 144,000, we fittingly find another exceptionally clear testimony
of the second Remnant.
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no
one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and
before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud
voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the
Lamb.” And all the angels
were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their
faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen, blessing and
glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These
who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come
from?” I said to him,
“My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones
who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb” [Revelation 7:9-14].
First,
it is interesting that the elder’s question is remarkably similar to that
of Zechariah 4 where the angel asked Zechariah like questions: “Do you not know what these
are?,” referring to the lampstand with the two olive trees; and again,
“Do you not know what these are?,” referring specifically to the
two olive trees. In both passages,
it is as though the matters are hidden to men, and it is important that the
information be revealed. And in
the case in Revelation 7, it is even one of the twenty-four elders who asks the
question and gives the answer.
Such it is now whereby you will understand who this great multitude is
that comes out of the great tribulation.
First,
this multitude is identified as taking place “After these
things.” They obviously have
a relationship with the 144,000, yet take place after them. Next, we see that they are a great
multitude “from every nation and all tribes and tongues.”
Finally, we see them standing before the throne with “palm
branches in their hands.”
To
begin with, when you think of people bearing palm branches in their hands, who
do you immediately think of? Is it
not those who went before Yahshua at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem who
“took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of
the Lord, even the King of Israel.’”? There is only one group who fulfills that prophecy –
the second Remnant Elijah company who prepares the way for Yahshua’s
return. Branches also speak of
Tabernacles, used in making the booths; and the second Remnant is the multitude
who are established as a result of Tabernacles being restored to its rightful
place as the first of the year, beginning the Tabernacles era.
Also,
the first Remnant was formed solely in Jerusalem. And based on the numbers in Acts (first 3,000, then 5,000),
as well as Yahweh’s reply in 1 Kings 19:18 to Elijah, there were probably
7,000 people in the first Remnant.
(Both 144,000s are solely prophetic numbers.) But as we see regarding the second Remnant, they are a
“great multitude … from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues.” With today’s lightning-fast world
communications, such is the probability for a latter rain work in today’s
global society. The latter rain
would effect a harvest from the whole earth. (The matter of these being those “which no one could
count” cannot be addressed here.)
Thus
we see clearly that this great multitude that is identified with, yet comes after,
the attesting first Remnant, is the Elijah second Remnant who prepare the way
for Yahshua’s return. And
finally, once again we note that they come out of the great tribulation, the
3,000 year period of the church that is cut short to 2,000 years. Therefore, we see yet another evidence
to the true place and duration of the great tribulation:
9. The Elijah second Remnant identified in
Revelation 7:9-12 come out of the great tribulation, cutting its duration short
from 3,000 years to 2,000 years.
Continue
to page 5 of The Great Tribulation
for GOSPEL COMPARISONS