The Rapture and The Tribulation Period

Here is the next section of our prophecy outline.

Why the Tribulation and Why the Rapture?

I. What is the purpose of the Tribulation Period and who is it for?
To purify Israel and to call them to God; to punish and eliminate sinners.

Dan9:24 – Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people (Jews) and your holy city. 
(69 weeks are completed and one week remains to be fulfilled to accomplish the following),
1. to finish the transgression, 2. to make an end of sin, 3. to make atonement for iniquity,
4. to bring in everlasting righteousness, 5. to seal up vision and prophecy and 6. to anoint the most holy.

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 (Jacob is Israel, not the Church).

Is.13:9 – Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it.

Dan.12:27 – I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed.
(The purpose of the Tribulation Period in addition to that which is listed in Dan.9 and the punishment and elimination of sinners; is to eliminate the spirit of self- reliance from the Jews and to cause them to turn to God for deliverance. See Zech.12:7-14).

II. Is there a difference between general tribulation and the Tribulation period? Most definitely.

Mt.24:21-22 – For at that time there will be great tribulation, the kind that hasn't taken place from the beginning of the world until now and never will again! (Dan.12:1; Joel 2:2)

Jn.16:33 – “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (II Tim.3:12; I Cor.10:13; Jas.1:2)

III. Does the Bride of Christ require chastening or further purification; is the Church destined to suffer the wrath of God or the wrath of the Lamb (Christ)? No, the Church is made righteous through the finished work of Christ on her behalf.

Jn.3:36 – "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." (The wrath of God is released upon the entire world from the very beginning of the Tribulation Period, not just the 2nd half – Rev.6:16)

I Thes.1:9-10 – you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,
10. And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.

I Thes.5:9 – For God has not destined us to receive wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,

I Jn.5:4-5 – For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
5. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Rev. 3:10 – Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from (Gk. ek – out of; not dia – through) the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth (A technical phrase used throughout Rev. for unbelievers – 6:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8, 12, 14; 17:2, 8).

Lk.21:34-36 – But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.
35. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth (unbelievers).
36. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength (Mt.26:41; Jn.17:24)
to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Jn.14:1-3 – “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
2. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
3. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (Where believers will stand before the Son of Man; in heaven).
4. “And you know the way where I am going” (Jn.7:33).

IV. What are the birth pangs all about and who or what is about to be born? (The restoration of the Kingdom of Israel).

Jer.30:4-11 – Now these are the words which the LORD spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah: (the Jewish people).
5. “For thus says the LORD, ‘I have heard a sound of terror, of dread, and there is no peace.
6. ‘Ask now, and see if a male can give birth. Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in childbirth? And why have all faces turned pale?
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.
8. ‘It shall come about on that day,’ declares the LORD of hosts, ‘that I will break his yoke from off their neck and will tear off their bonds; and strangers will no longer make them their slaves. 9. ‘But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. 10. ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant,’ declares the LORD, ‘And do not be dismayed, O Israel; For behold, I will save you from afar and your offspring from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return and will be quiet and at ease, And no one will make him afraid.
11. ‘For I am with you,’ declares the LORD, ‘to save you; For I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you, Only I will not destroy you completely. But I will chasten you justly and will by no means leave you unpunished.’

Rev.12:1-2, 5-6, 13-14, 17 – A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; (Israel).
2. And she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.
5. And she gave birth to a son, a male child (Christ), who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne (The ascension).
6. Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days (Last ½ of the Tribulation).
13. And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.
14. But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
17. So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children (Jews), who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.