The Great Tribulation: Future or Fulfilled?

Welcome to the Kingdom Family Podcast, where

we rediscover our identity as sons and daughters

of Yahweh and learn to live the life of the Kingdom.

Let's jump in to today's episode. All right,

guys, we are back again, jumping into our series.

Rethinking the end times this week talking about

the tribulation And the real question is not

will there be a tribulation the real question

Is which tribulation was Jesus talking about

so that will help us kind of set the tone for

this week But I want to I want to Bring something

up that I brought out during our Bible study

when we talked about this and to me it just hit

at the perfect time because it's a perfect example

if we don't understand the original intent of

something how we can misconstrue it and twist

it even so I'm sure you have heard the phrase

blood is thicker than water that is something

I have heard a lot in my lifetime and what I

have understood that to mean is that the blood

of the covenant or excuse me is that the the

family is Blood is thicker than water. So family

is more important than friends. That's essentially

what I understood But I heard the actual quote

this this during this time frame. It's been a

couple weeks now That said this the blood of

the covenant is thicker than the water of the

wound Changes everything because it means that

chosen bonds are more significant than the bonds

with family or water of the wound More directly,

relationships you make yourself are far more

important than the ones that you do not choose.

So do you see how just us misunderstanding something,

an original quote written that the blood of the

covenant is thicker than the water of the womb,

just remove a few words and you can flip that

entire thing to make it mean something it did

not originally mean. You can take the blood of

the covenant is thicker than the water of the

womb, remove a few words and say the blood is

thicker than water. All you do is remove a few

choice words, and now you understand what this

writer was actually trying to convey. So to me,

that's just an important thing to think about.

I thought it was a perfect example. You may not

have, but I did. So anyhow. So I want to start

with the word tribulation itself And it's meaning

the Greek word is the ellipsis and it means pressure

affliction trouble and persecution This is not

and has nothing to do with planet destruction

and it has nothing to do with the end of existence

So we're going to read John chapter 16 verse

John 16:33

33 and it says and everything I've taught you

is so that the peace which is in me will be in

you and will give you great confidence as you

rest in me for in this unbelieving world you

will experience trouble and sorrows but you must

be courageous for I have conquered the world.

I love Dr. Simmons has a footnote here it says

Jesus has taken away the power this world has

to defeat us and has conquered it for us, I would

add and as us. And he says peace is resting in

his victory. So the question is in that verse

that we read, did Jesus say that you might have

trouble and sorrow someday? No, he said you will

have tribulation. You will have trouble and sorrow,

meaning it was already a part of life and it

was not some future event that he's trying to

declare. Another verse, Acts chapter 14 verse

Acts 14:22

22, and it says this. At each place they went

they strengthened the lives of the believers

and encouraged them to go deeper in their faith

and they taught them it is necessary for us to

enter into the realm of God's kingdom because

that's the only way we will endure our many trials

and persecutions. Dr. Simmons again has a note

here says that is the only way to avoid the oppression

of the age is to enter deeper into God's kingdom

realm an alternate translation would be through

great tribulation we enter into God's kingdom

realm neither translation of the sentence implies

a future kingdom but a kingdom realm that is

presently presently accessible It's important

for us to understand that. So the tribulation,

not the tribulation, but tribulation in general

is not rare. It is part of living faithfully

in a broken world. So another verse that people

like to use when referring to the tribulation,

it comes from Matthew chapter 24. Let me pull

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

that up. Matthew chapter 24. Verse 1 is where

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

I'm going to start at. It says, Jesus was leaving

the temple court. It says, disciples came to

him and pointed out the beautiful architecture

of the temple. And Jesus turned to them and said,

take a good look at all these things, for I'm

telling you, there will not be one stone left

upon another. It will all be leveled. So Jesus

says not one stone on the temple will be left

upon another that's important because that starts

the whole conversation then we have Matthew chapter

Matthew 24:3

24 verse 3 Where Jesus asked when will these

things be? What things a destruction of the temple

again? He's not talking about the end of the

planet This is some of the stuff we addressed

in previous episodes if you didn't listen to

those go back and listen to those But now let's

pick it up in Matthew chapter 24 we're going

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

to start in verse 15 and run through about verse

21 and it says this when you witness what Daniel

prophesied the disgusting destroyer taking his

stand in the holy place let the reader learn

then those in the land of Judah must escape to

the higher ground On that day, if you happen

to be outside, don't go back inside to gather

belongings. If you're working out in the field,

don't run back home to get a coat. It will be

especially hard for pregnant women and for those

nursing their babies in those days. So I pray

that your escape will not be during the winter

months or on a Sabbath, for this will be a time

of great misery beyond the magnitude of anything

the world has ever seen or ever will see. Unless

God limited those days, no one would escape.

So again, he's giving very specific language

and very specific timelines for them. And basically,

basically he's telling them all this stuff and

he plainly tells them, let me go back up. Where

did my first go that I'm looking for? that day

if you happen to be outside so he's giving them

very specific timeline very specific instructions

not for something later on 2 ,000 years later

he's giving the people he's talking to a very

specific timeline it's about a real location

not symbolic this time not global it is local

talking about a local place. So Jesus described

the tribulation connected to Jerusalem, not the

entire planet. And that's a major clarity if

you really let it get to you. So again, let me

get back to where my notes are. So again, this

actually happened. The tribulation that Jesus

is warning about here became reality in AD 70.

So about 40 years after Jesus spoke these words

in Matthew 24 Jerusalem was surrounded by Roman

armies This happened in AD 70 under Roman general

Titus So again, and I know this some of the stuff

is repetitive I'm trying to see if I can cut

any of this out but Really, I think it all ties

to the tribulation. So you got to go back and

think. I know we discussed this previously, but

this what Jesus is saying that's going to happen

actually happened. Jerusalem was surrounded.

They were trapped. They were cut off. Food ran

out. Water became scarce. And what happens when

you start doing all that in a city? Violence

broke out inside the city. People were starving.

Chaos increased fear began to spread Inside the

city you got different Jewish factions who fought

each other So instead of unity you have division

which guess what guys this made survival much

harder So then when you understand some of this

You understand what Jesus said stuff if you work

on the field Don't run back home to get a coat

It'll be especially hard for pregnant women and

for those nursing their babies in those days

So pray that your escape will not be during the

winter months or for the Sabbaths He's literally

telling them this is gonna be tough When you

see these signs get out flee leave this area

because the truth is With all this the temple

was in fact destroyed Eventually what happens

is Romans, again I know we went over this previously,

but eventually Romans breached the city, the

temple was in fact burned, exactly as Jesus predicted,

not one stone was left standing. So when you

have Jesus warning in Luke 21 and 20, when you

see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that

its desolation is near, that is exactly what

happened. So the tribulation Jesus warned about

did become reality in AD 70. All right, let's

look at Matthew chapter 24 verse 21 again. Jesus

Matthew 24:21

again here, that's the passion translation. Other

translations would say there will be great tribulation.

This is not random suffering, but it's connected

to a specific event. It's connected to Jerusalem.

It's connected to the temple destruction, and

it's connected to covenant transition. Again,

why was it so severe? Why was this such a horrible

time? Because it was national, it's religious,

it's cultural, and it's historical. Everything

changed on the temple. Everything centered on

the temple collapsing. That changed Jewish life

forever. This tribulation was great because it

ended an age. It ended a particular era. Not

because it destroyed the planet. It transitioned

old covenant to new covenant. It separated something.

So this was very severe. It's very intentional.

What happened, what Jesus prophesied actually

did happen just as he proclaimed that it would

happen. And all of it was really intentional.

So what about tribulation after that? So I'm

not sitting here saying that tribulation stopped

after that because tribulation did not stop.

in AD 70. Christians still faced persecution,

still face pressure, suffering all throughout

history and even today. Now I want to say something

that's going to hurt some people's feelings but

not in America. Let me help you understand you

are in this nation as far as I know We are a

very free people. We are not facing persecution.

We are not facing pressure and suffering like

some other nations, and we'll get to that in

a minute, like some other nations are. I've heard

pastors and stuff talk about the persecution

that we're facing. My friend, I live a pretty

good life. I mean, I'm a dad, a husband. I got

three beautiful children. My wife and I had been

married for, let's see, 14, it'll be 14 years

this year. We've got three beautiful children,

two girls and a boy. I mean, we have life pretty

good. I mean, you can see I'm in my basement

in my office area, the place that I've made my

office. You can see I've got a bookshelf behind

me. We're very blessed people. Now we're not

millionaires or anything yet, but we're very

blessed people. I don't feel persecuted at all.

I can sit in my basement and record this video

and post it when I get done with all this and

send it out globally and don't have to worry

about anybody coming to tell me I can't do this.

Now could any of that stuff change? Certainly

if we don't as a nation exercise our rights and

our voting privileges and stuff like that. and

sure something could change but at this present

moment if you're a christian in america you're

not suffering you're not facing persecution um

so but not not like they are in other nations

at least and let's talk about this let's let's

look at some i got some stuff wrote down here

So countries where Christianity is essentially

illegal. In North Korea Christianity is banned.

Believers can be imprisoned or executed. Somalia

conversion from Islam can lead to death. Yemen

open Christian practice is extremely dangerous.

Saudi Arabia public Christian worship is forbidden.

In Libya Christians often operate secretly due

to threats or instability. Some analysts do conclude

Afghanistan, Iran, and Eritrea. I'm not sure

how you pronounce that. In these nations Christianity

may not always be officially banned on paper,

but in reality it must be practiced underground.

Again, countries where Christianity is extremely

dangerous to practice. These are commonly recognized

as most restrictive environments for Christians

in North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan.

Christians must have their faith. Saudi Arabia,

Iran converts are often imprisoned. Eritrea,

I'm not sure where that's at. But many Christians

held in long -term detention. These are often

listed among the most dangerous places to be

openly Christian. There is a much larger group

around 50 countries are considered very high

or extreme risk. Examples of that Pakistan, India,

Nigeria, China, Sudan, Myanmar, Bangladesh. These

places may technically allow Christianity, but

believers will face harassment, arrest, violence,

or church closure. Some big picture numbers here

about five to ten countries. Christianity is

effectively illegal or banned in practice about

50 countries very high extreme persecution. So

again not in America but you do have about 380

plus million Christians worldwide who face significant

persecution or discrimination. See, we talk about

tribulation like it's only coming Sunday, but

for millions of believers around the world, tribulation

is not prophecy. It's daily life. Meanwhile,

we gather freely here in America, open our Bibles,

openly worship without fear. That's not normal.

That's a blessing if you live in this country.

The idea of a seven -year Tribulation does not

even come from a verse that says there will be

seven years of tribulation. It comes from interpreting

Daniel's final week as seven years, then placing

that week into the future, separated by a gap

of thousands of years. That system again became

popular like we talked about last week. in the

1800s not from the early church. So again let's

connect all this back to Revelation. Revelation

was written to believers that were already suffering,

they were already in tribulation, they're not

waiting for one, they're actually living through

it. So here's the thing that if we believe tribulations

only for the future, we may decide to live in

fear. We expect disaster. We look for all the

headlines to fall in place. We focus on survival

instead of faithfulness, hope, and kingdom living.

Jesus' goal was preparation, not panic. He gave

warning so people could act wisely, stay faithful,

and remain steady. Jesus did not want to scare

people He warned to prepare them and that is

something that you really have to pay attention

to So look let's look at a couple things Just

a couple truths here number truth number one

Tribulation does mean pressure not planet destruction.

You will face tribulation You will face struggles

and troubles. Number two is Jesus warned about

a real historical tribulation, again connected

to the fall of Jerusalem fulfilled in AD 70.

Number three, God sustains his people through

tribulation. He doesn't always remove us from

tribulation, but he walks with us through tribulation.

Just to end in closing, this is gonna be a shorter

one. Some of this I feel like again, we're repeating

a lot of things but I just want to take time

and cover each of these topics So hopefully it

helps you understand and get a better grasp of

what some of this stuff actually means Tribulation

is not the end of hope. It's not the end of God's

faithful it faithfulness It's not the end of

God's people Jesus warned about tribulation.

So believers would not panic but instead endure

and History shows us something powerful that

Jesus was not wrong His words were fulfilled

and the same Jesus who warned them is the same

Jesus who walks with us today so my friend In

my opinion, there's not some great tribulation

coming that what we read in Matthew 24, especially

a lot of the historical things that Jesus is

telling people that. I think we have to remember

he's speaking to real people who's getting ready

to face some real problems. Not saying that we're

not gonna face hard times and difficult seasons,

but to take those and throw it 2 ,000 years into

the future, I believe is not correct. Jesus was

talking to a specific group of people and these

people experienced exactly what Jesus told them.

And I feel like he does tell us that, you know,

you're going to have struggles and you're going

to have troubles. You're going to have tribulation

in this world. Here in America, we are free people.

We should not take that for granted. Because

we don't face, we're not a part of that 380 million

who face actual persecution every single day

for their beliefs. I think that should be something

that we hold on to, that we learn to appreciate

and to value and to protect with our rights as

an American citizen. Now I'm kingdom first, American

second. That's just my take on things. I think

it's important to understand some of this, how

Jesus meant it. I think it helps give us more

hope and the ability to look more hopeful into

the future. To know that there's not, and again

in my opinion, that there's not some great big

tribulation coming, not a rapture coming. We

are here to occupy until he comes. Catch that.

We are here to occupy until he comes. That's

what it's about. Us lighting it up, us expanding

the kingdom of heaven, releasing the kingdom

through us, partnering with Holy Spirit, partnering

with the Trinity, partnering and releasing heaven

on earth. As it is in heaven, so it is on earth.

On earth as it is in heaven. So again, like last

week, I'm hoping this helped you. I'm hoping

this kind of brings some clarity to you. And

until next week, I believe next week we'll jump

into talking about the Antichrist. So that will

be another fun one to do and dive into. So until

next week, guys, be blessed and I will see you

next week. Thanks for spending some time with

me today on the Kingdom Family Podcast. If this

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