The end time and the great tribulation
When will the end times begin, and what is the Great Tribulation? These are questions that come loaded with emotion — and the real question underneath them is how much of the information out there is reliable, and how we can judge that. So let’s turn to our favorite book to find some answers: the Bible.
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What is the end time?
There’s a lot of confusion around the end times and its terminology, so let’s untangle it. The place to start is the Day of the Lord — the time when the Kingdom of God comes. In the Old Testament, this was described as the time known as the second Exodus.
When Jesus came to earth, though, he fulfilled only one part of the Day of the Lord — the saving aspect — while leaving the other part, the judgment, to be fulfilled when he comes again, in our future. This period, beginning with the first coming of Christ, could itself be considered the start of the end times. That makes it very relevant for us, since we live in it — though it’s also a somewhat confusing time. If we take this broader view of the end time, then the whole book of Revelation speaks directly to it, and offers a great deal of guidance along the way.
Here is a quick overview of the timeline in the book:
This broader view of the end time is covered throughout the New Testament, not just in Revelation.
On the other hand, you could argue that the end times refer more narrowly to Jesus’ second coming and the short time leading up to it. On that reading, only a certain part of the book of Revelation gives direct answers, and the rest may seem less relevant — though many other New Testament passages speak to this narrower sense too.
The great tribulation
The Great Tribulation is a term that appears in the book of Revelation, and the definite article — “the” Great Tribulation — signals that this term has a history behind it. It originates in Daniel:
“‘At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people — everyone whose name is found written in the book — will be delivered.”
This passage is referenced in Matthew and Mark, where Jesus also speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
In Daniel’s own context, this was meant to emphasize the loyalty of God’s people during the time of Antiochus Epiphanes and beyond, and it served to purify the saints and divide between the saints and the wicked — since some of God's people will be deceived and will turn away from God.
This oppression can take an economic form, as in Smyrna or for the third horseman, or it can mean prison and even death. We see this tribulation already foretold by Jesus to the disciples, playing out during the mission of Paul, described as a catalyst of hope that cannot separate us from Jesus, issued as a warning to Timothy, and addressed again in the letter of Peter.
The term itself is taken up as a warning to the church in Thyatira, in a judgment on its leader, identified as Jezebel.
All of this makes the Great Tribulation something that stretches across the whole time between Jesus’ first and second coming. But how is that possible? Not all interpreters read it this way — many understand the Great Tribulation as a specific, limited period still ahead of us, rather than the whole church age. But the pattern of New Testament citations above suggests a broader, already-and-not-yet scope. (For a fuller look at how this reading bears on the timing of the rapture, see pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, pre-wrath, or post-tribulation?.)
Look again at the passage in Daniel: “Michael, the protector of Israel, will arise.” This is picked up in the Book of Revelation in connection with the first coming of Christ in chapter 12, where Michael fights with the dragon — the devil — and defeats him, casting him out of heaven.
But because of his defeat, he is ruthless, knowing he has only a little time left, so he tries to do as much damage as possible: first against Israel, and when that doesn’t work, against the church.
So the Great Tribulation refers to all the tribulations that we, as the Church, face throughout this entire period.