Matthew 24:21-27 “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. (22) And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. (23) "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. (24) For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (25) See, I have told you beforehand. (26) "Therefore, if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it. (27) For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
The church is not appointed to wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9), but she is appointed to tribulation (1 Thessalonians 3:3). And so the church will not experience the wrath of God that is to be poured out on the earth as is recorded in the book of Revelation. Scripture teaches us that before God’s wrath is poured out on the earth, that the church will be caught away from the earth in the first resurrection. However the last key event that will take place on the earth before the first resurrection is the event that our Lord called the “great tribulation”. In the above passage of scripture our Lord tells us that the level of tribulation experienced during that time will be greater than any experienced on the earth before. If you think of past trials that have taken place on the earth, such as the Jewish holocaust for example, our Lord’s statement is very sobering indeed. The tribulation period that our Lord was referring to is the period when the Anti-Christ will reign in the earth. Therefore our heavenly Father has shortened the days of the reign of the Anti-Christ, because if He hadn’t then no flesh would be saved in that time. When our Lord tells us that no flesh would be saved unless those days had been shortened, He is referring to saints still being found alive on the earth. For during that time, as revealed to us in the book of Revelation, there will be multitudes of the Lord’s saints who will be martyred on the earth (Revelation 15:2). Because this will be a severe time of trial for the saints, they will be tempted to look at the many false christs and false prophets that will rise up at that time. The temptations will be real, because the false christs and false prophets will show great signs and wonders to deceive if possible even the elect.
Michael E.B. Maher
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