Revelation 7:13-14 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
In verse 14 we find the words “great tribulation”. Tribulation is from Greek word for pressured, thlipsis. That which presses down upon, pressures, seeks to crush a thing. Great means just that, great, loud, intense. That’s any faithful life lived in a sinful, fallen world. You may have noticed that the words in “great tribulation” are not capitalized in the Bible as they are a generalized noun with adjective. But in the theology and writings of many churches and popular teachers, these words will be capitalized and described as a proper noun denoting a special 7 year period at the end of the age.
Notice also that those who emerge into heaven are believers, not a special group. The basis for their presence in heaven is that they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. The common belief that they are special servants of Jesus in the last days must be imposed on the verses as the verses themselves teach no such thing. This view also misunderstands the previous context and ignores Christian symbolism that was common in the days of John’s vision. Chapter seven begins with a symbolic representation of the perfect, complete people of God represented by 12,000 of 12 clans (144,000) or tribes of ancient Israel. It then seamlessly shifts to the fullness of all God’s saved people gathered in heaven who have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus. The Fourth Seal is a promise of God’s perfect kingdom that Jesus establishes despite the horrors of sin and judgment occurring in all times including the end of the age.
Some churches have embraced an extensively system of end times events. I took college courses in this theology early in my Christian life. I’d already read lots of their books before this and it seemed that they understood the Bible better than anyone else. But after many years of reading the Bible including gaining advanced training in the Greek original text, some of it at a college that taught this theology, I realized that their entire system is wrong. It depends upon at least two major mistakes.
First: eisegesis. Literally, reading into. Eisegesis occurs when we decide that a text means something it does not say. Then, we easily see the same thing in other texts that don’t say it. The popularized rapture event is among the most pervasive examples of blatant eisegesis in church history.
A 2nd error arises from using an unbiblical framework to interpret and connect Scripture verses in ways the Bible does not. The basic theological system that developed into current rapture and last days theology was developed by a rather smart, but erring pastor-theologian in the later 1800’s. (See this post) It quickly became a significant belief system in the US during the first half of the 1900’s and has increased influence since. Many Christians are taught to understand the Bible by fitting various verses into a dispensational framework that is not found in the bible but is considered more reliable than the bible’s own prophetic framework. There is much more on both these subjects on this website’s blog.
Tribulation: many in America read it as prophecy. Many Christians in world see it as history and current events. While the end of times will be hard, they won’t be as predictable as some churches think. Thankfully, we are saved by faith in Jesus, crucified and risen and not by having perfect, or as some think superior theology. But I do pray that many who are misled by this false theology may come to a better understanding of God’s loving Word and his gracious work to save us.
Will the world get worse at the ends draws near? Surely. But will it follow the specific pattern claimed by those who teach the false rapture and Great Tribulation events? Nope. But as we often say in our church theology about such prophecies, “Let God be God.” We might suspect what he will do, but we also realize that His ways are above our ways and his actions will likely differ from our predictions.
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