Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Friday February 20, 2015
The Tribulation period will begin with Satan promoting a false peace on the earth and solving a lot of problems that will exist because the Church is no longer on the earth.
1CO 15:51-52, Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
The Tribulation period will begin with Satan promoting a false peace on the earth and solving a lot of problems that will exist because the Church is no longer on the earth.
The unholy trinity led by Satan will make a false treaty with Israel and begin to bring in all forms of prosperity to solve the chaos and fears that have taken place because of the Rapture or the resurrection of the Church.
JER 6:14 "Peace, peace,' when there is no peace."
In the middle of the tribulation all hell literally will take place.
WHERE some of the prophecies are that God predicted in the Old Testament that have already been fulfilled.
Some of those that have already been made and fulfilled because God's track record of divine fulfillment gives us confidence and assurance concerning the ones that have not yet been fulfilled.
1. There is the prophecy of the brazen serpent being lifted up, NUM 21:9 fulfilled in JOH 3:14-16.
2. The prophecies of certain events which would take place around the Cross as in PSA 22:6-8, where people would mock Him and ridicule Him, fulfilled in Luke 23:35.
3. The prophecy of His hands and feet being pierced in PSA 22:16, fulfilled throughout the gospels when they nailed His hands and feet to the cross, Matt 27:31 and MAR 15:24.
4. Then there was the prophecy of casting lots for His garments, PSA 22:18, fulfilled in MAT 27:35.
5. There is the prophecy that not one of His bones would be broken, PSA 34:20, fulfilled in JOH 19:34-36.
6. Then there is the prophecy of the false witnesses, PSA 35:11, fulfilled in MAR 14:57-58.
7. There is the Old Testament prophecy of the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, PSA 41:9, fulfilled in LUK 22:47-48.
8. The prophecy that they would offer The Lord Jesus Christ gall and vinegar, PSA 69:21, fulfilled in MAT 27:34.
9. The prophecy of the physical abuse and humiliation of Jesus, ISA 50:6, fulfilled in MAT 26:67, ISA 53:5.
10. The prophecy that He would be silent as He approached the cross, ISA 53:7, fulfilled in MAR 15:4-5.
11. The prophecy of His crucifixion with thieves, ISA 53:12, fulfilled in LUK 23:33-34.
12. The prophecy of the piercing of Jesus' side, ZEC 12:10, fulfilled in JOH 19:34.
13. The prophecy of the nailing of Jesus' hands and feet, ZEC 13:6, fulfilled in JOH 20:27.
14. The prophecy that he would be born in Bethlehem, MIC 5:2, fulfilled in MAT 2:1.
There is at least 354 prophecies mainly just about our Lord who fulfilled much more than what I just mentioned and will fulfill even more to come.
Because of these prophecies and hundreds more which have already been fulfilled, then we ought to respect what our Lord has to say about the future prophecies concerning the Tribulation period and the Millennial reign.
He marks the Tribulation Period as a unique time frame of human history.
Since trials, tribulations, and persecutions are something that the saints of God have encountered in every age, the Tribulation that our Lord was referring to in Mat 24 must be something entirely different.
The things that will occur during the seven-year Tribulation Period have never happened before since the beginning of the world = the reign of Antichrist upon earth.
It will be a time of beyond compare of any other time of suffering for the inhabitants of the earth as the wrath of God is systematically poured out from Heaven.
Though the Tribulation Period begins with the Antichrist promising peace and prosperity to the world, it will be a time of unparalleled judgment as the wrath of God is poured out upon the inhabitants of the earth.
Since the saints of God will be removed in the Rapture, the fury of the Lord will be unleashed upon the inhabitants of the earth.
REV 9:1 And the fifth angel [this is Seraph angel - a sixth winged winner from the elect angels] sounded [his trumpet],
and I saw a star from heaven [Satan] which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit [the Abyss] was given to him [that
is to Satan].
REV 9:2-6, And he [Satan] opened the Abyss; and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the atmosphere became darkened by the smoke of the pit. And out of the smoke locusts [the first demon army from the Abyss] invaded the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And they were commanded that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, except the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
REV 9:5 And they [the demon assault army] were not permitted to kill anyone [mankind living in the cosmic system during the Tribulation], but to torture them for five months; and their torture was like the torture of a scorpion when it strikes a man.
Because of crisis evangelism which is the fact that God would rather see His creatures be tormented in time because of their very own free-will decisions rather than for all of eternity. And in those days [the last half of the Tribulation period] men [believers and unbelievers living in the cosmic system during the Tribulation] will seek death and will not find it; and they will long to die [they will have an intense desire to die] and death will allude them.
Then the second judgment permitted by God with some divine restraint begins in REV 9:7-15.
Next is the third demonic army attack, here is when much of the divine restraint is removed and they will kill one-third of mankind.
REV 9:13-15, And the sixth angel sounded [this is another winner angel from the first angelic conflict], and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, one commanding the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels [that is the demon army commanders] who have been imprisoned at the great river Euphrates." And the four angels [the demon generals commanding this second assault army group], who had been kept in state of readiness for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they might kill a third of mankind.
As you can see, no wonder why this period is called the greatest period of suffering, disaster, heartache and difficulty in all of human history. -----The tribulation Period!
JER 30:7 "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"
DAN 12:1, And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.
Joel 1:15, "Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come."
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."
LUK 21:25-26, "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
1TH 5:3 "For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape."
REV 3:10 "I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth."
What is the real divine purpose of the Tribulation period?
Is it a manifestation of divine frustration?
Is it the payment for sin from man owing God?
Is it Satan's ultimate expression of being a sore loser?
In reality, the first great purpose of the Tribulation Period is to prepare Israel for the reception of her Messiah.
This is why the Tribulation Period is referred to as "the time of Jacob's trouble" (JER 30:7) because God will be dealing with the nation of Israel specifically.
JER 30:7 'Alas! for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob's distress, But he will be saved from it."
Jacob represents Israel, remember that Jacob's name was changed to Israel in GEN 32:28.
The individual described as "a man" was literally TLJC in a Theophany form.
How do we know that this was God or TLJC, we know that because of who the Bible says is the only visible member of the Trinity, according to JOH 1:18; JOH 6:46; 1TI 6:16.....and that is TLJC.
I have seen God "face to face," it doesn't mean Jacob has seen the deity manifestation of God but he had seen the overt manifestation of God in a human form, though not in His hypostatic union for He had not been born as of yet.
This falls under the doctrine of a Theophany which is an Old Testament manifestation of TLJC.
There was never was a time in history when some part of the world did not "see" TLJC - that's the doctrine of Theophany.
A Theophany is a manifestation of the person and work of Jesus Christ in His pre-incarnate state which is the appearances of Jesus Christ before the First Advent.
TLJC appeared as the angel of the Lord, the primary Theophany in the Old Testament.
He appeared to Moses in the burning bush, EXO 3:2 cf. Acts 7:30‑35.
As the Angel of God, TLJC was in the pillar of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night to lead Israel through the desert; EXO 13:21; EXO 14:19; EXO 23:20‑23, 32:34, 33:2; NUM 20:16; ISA 63:9.
He also appeared to Abraham as a man in GEN 18:1‑33.
He was also the wrestler with Jacob in GEN 32:24‑32.
He also appeared as an angel in HOS 12:4.
How do we know that this was God or TLJC, we know that because the Bible says who is the only visible member of the Trinity, according to JOH 1:18; JOH 6:46; 1TI 6:16?
1. Because the man or the individual had the authority to bless Jacob, verse 29.
2. Because Jacob said I have seen God face to face, again JOH 1:18; 6:46; 1TI 6:16.