Page 41 - The Rapture Question by John F. Walvoord

The Tribulation
clarcd to be unprecedented in the words “How awful that day
will be! None will be like it” (Jer. 30:7). It therefore stands in
sharp contrast to trouble that was characteristic of Israel and
even to that trouble to be experienced in the coming cap­
tivities of which Jeremiah wrote. Further, it is plainly stated
that the predicted time of trouble will culminate in the restora­
tion and tranquillity of Israel which will follow the breaking of
Gentile political dominion. All the main elements of the
Tribulation are therefore mentioned in this brief passage in
Jeremiah and should constitute a full answer to those who
equate the Great Tribulation to trouble in general.
Through the prophet Daniel much additional material is
given on the character of the Tribulation in his revelation of
the seventy weeks of Israel’s program. The final half of the
seventieth week is plainly described as a time of great trouble
with the coming of the “one who causes desolation,” the world
ruler of the Great Tribulation (Dan. 9:27). The people in­
volved in the prophecy are “your people” (Dan. 9:24), which
is an obvious reference to the Jewish people. In a further
revelation immediately following a tribulation passage (Dan.
11:36-45), the period of trouble is described in the following
words: “There will be a time of distress such as has not hap­
pened 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” (Dan. 12:1). In this important
verse from Daniel the same elements are found as in the
Jeremiah passage. The Tribulation is said to deal with the
Jewish people primarily, to be an unprecedented time of trou­
ble, and to be followed by their deliverance from their ene­
mies, the Gentiles.
Many other passages in the Old Testament enlarge and
confirm the teaching of Daniel and Jeremiah. In the Book of.
Daniel itself, considerable detail is given concerning the
Tribulation (Dan. 7:7-8, 19-27; 11:36-45; 12:11-13). Many
sections in the other major prophets bear on the same subject.

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