Page 128 - Eschatology - Masters revised

Why the tribulation period?

Dwight Pentecost, in his book, Prophecy For Today, gives four reasons for God sending a tribulation of
seven years on the earth.

1. The first purpose for the tribulation is related to the nation of Israel. When Jesus came to Israel, He
was rejected by the people and leadership. The Bible says, “He came unto His own, yet His own did not
receive Him.”(John 1:13). In Ezekiel 20:33-38, we see that God will bring Israel to Himself and that they
WILL receive Him as their Messiah. God will use the “time of Jacob’s troubles” to bring His people to
their knees to accept Him as their true Messiah.

2. The second purpose is related to the Gentile nations. God is going to judge Gentile nations that have
been oppressors of Israel. The Lord will pour out his fury on those who belong to the earth.

3. The third purpose of the tribulation is to reveal the program of Satan in its true character and permit
his system to come to its logical end. The entire world will see that the rulership of a demon-possessed
antichrist will bring death and destruction and eternal damnation. God will remove the Holy Spirit from
the earth and allow the hearts of mankind to have full domination on the flow of life. It will be a
horrible display of the wickedness of Satan and all those who worship him.

4. The fourth and final purpose of the tribulation is that God is going to pour out judgment upon sinful
men themselves, to punish them for their lawlessness and for their rejection of the Gospel. So great will
be their suffering that they will seek physical death but will not be able to kill themselves. In spite of
their suffering, men will continue in their rejection and their impenitence.

Thus we can see God’s purpose in the Tribulation. For Israel it is to purge the nation and bring a
remnant to Himself; for the Gentiles it is to punish them because of their despicable treatment of the
Jews; in relation to Satan, it is to reveal the true character of his kingdom; and in relation to men, it is to
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punish them for their rejection of Christ.

Let’s Practice…

1 – 7. Briefly describe the seven bowl judgments at the end of the tribulation:

8. For how long will the Antichrist be permitted absolute authority on the earth?

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