Introduction
The page “The Blessed Hope”, in referring to the rapture of the church, directed you here to identify when the tribulation period, and hence the pre-tribulation rapture might be. A good starting point would be Jesus’ own words in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, extracts below). In verse 15, Jesus refers to “the abomination of desolation” and directs us to Daniel’s Seventy Weeks prophecy, and specifically the seventieth week in Daniel 9:27, during which there will be a covenant enforced for one week (7 years ). This covenant will be interrupted half way through when sacrifices and oblations will no longer be allowed and an abomination will desolate the Holy Place. Then the great tribulation, the second half of this covenanted period, will begin ( Mat 24:15, 21 ). It is because only the second half of this period is described by Jesus as being a “great tribulation” that the whole seven years is referred to as the seven-year tribulation. It is from Daniel 9:27 that we can identify clues as to when the seven year tribulation might start. Although we cannot specify dates, we can deduce signposts that help us to identify the start of the tribulation seven year period and, consequently, when the pre-tribulation rapture might be. However, it has to be mentioned here that recognising when the seven year tribulation has started might mean the rapture has already happened!!The Olivet Discourse
The Olivet Discourse is the last of five discourses reported in Matthew’s gospel. The importance of this discourse is that it is the most prophetic of all Jesus' words in that it provides some detail of the end-times. Parallel passages are found in Mark 13 and Luke 21:5-36. For our purposes here, we just need to set the scene from chapter 23, and the first three verses of chapter 24, before homing in on the relevant verse 15 where a key event is mentioned: “ the abomination of desolation” In chapter 23, we read about Jesus’ tirade against the scribes and Pharisees, given as seven woes against them in which He overwhelmingly refers to them as hypocrites. The last three verses are a lament over Jerusalem, the last of which says For I say to you, You shall not see Me from now on until you say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." This will be at Jesus’ second coming when the Jews will finally welcome Him as their Messiah. Chapter 24 opens with Jesus leaving the temple with His disciples and heading towards the Mount of Olives.Matthew Text
Comments
Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple
24:1
And
Jesus
went
out
and
departed
from
the
temple.
And
His
disciples
came
to
Him
to
show
Him
the
buildings
of
the
temple
2
And
Jesus
said
to
them,
Do
you
not
see
all
these
things?
Truly
I
say
to
you,
There
shall
not
be
left
here
one
stone
on
another
that shall not be thrown down.
His
disciples,
perhaps
reeling
from
the
preceding
exchanges
and
wanting
to
lighten
the
situation,
brings
Jesus’
attention
to
the
magnificence
of
the
temple,
only
to
be
told
it
will
be
destroyed.
This
prophecy
was
literally
fulfilled
in
70
A.D.
when
the
Romans destroyed Jerusalem.
Signs of the End of the Age
3
And
as
He
sat
on
the
Mount
of
Olives,
the
disciples
came
to
Him
privately,
saying,
Tell
us,
when
shall
these
things
be?
And
what
shall
be
the
sign
of
Your
coming,
and
of
the
end
of
the
age?
The disciples asked three questions:
when
shall
these
things
be
(the
destruction
of
the
temple)
what
shall
be
the
sign
of
Your
coming
as
the
expected Messiah
and the sign of the end of the age.
They
almost
certainly
had
in
their
minds
the
destruction
of
the
temple,
as
without
a
temple
the
Jews
would
no
longer
be
able
to
perform
their
sacrificial
ordinances.
This,
to
them
would
be
the
end
of
an
age
.
The
Messiah’s
coming
would
be
the
end
of
the
current
age
and
the
beginning
of
a
new
one.
Hence
the
question
“And
what
shall
be
the
sign
of
Your
coming,
and
of
the
end
of
the
age?”
Their
questions
then
were very relevant at that time.
However,
Jesus
didn’t
answer
their
first
question
but
their
second
and
third,
talking
about
the
signs
of
His
second
coming,
which
we
know
is
at
the
end-times.
This
is
confirmed
by
the
use
of
the
word
‘end’
in
verses
6,
13
and
14.
Here,
the
context
and
use
of
the
word
end
means
exactly
what
you
would
expect
it
to
mean.
Jesus’
response
was
relevant
to
events
they
would
experience,
but
we
can
see
they also relate to end-times.
It’s later in verse 15 that Jesus refers to the prophet Daniel.
Here
Jesus
refers
us
to
“the
abomination
of
desolation,
spoken
of
by
Daniel
the
prophet”
and
requires
us
to
understand
it.
There
are
three
examples
of
the
abomination
of desolation in Daniel:
Daniel
9:25-27
tells
us
when
the
abomination
will
occur:
after
the seven and 62 weeks of Daniel 9:25
Daniel 11:31
tells us how the abomination will occur
Daniel 12:11 tells us how long the abomination will be in
place - 1290 days
From
Daniel
9:27
we
know
this
will
be
halfway
through
the
end-time period of seven years.
The Abomination of Desolation
Mat 24:15 Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand).
Having been directed by Jesus in verse 15 to Daniel’s prophecy, we should now look at this prophecy to understand the source of
the seven year tribulation, and any indication of when it will occur.
Click here to divert to Daniel’s Seventy Weeks.
The Tribulation
29
Immediately
after
the
tribulation
of
those
days
shall
the
sun
be
darkened,
and
the
moon
shall
not
give
her
light,
and
the
stars
shall
fall
from
heaven,
and
the
powers
of
the
heavens
shall
be shaken:
30
And
then
shall
appear
the
sign
of
the
Son
of
man
in
heaven:
and
then
shall
all
the
tribes
of
the
earth
mourn,
and
they
shall
see
the
Son
of
man
coming
in
the
clouds
of
heaven
with
power
and great glory
Returning from Daniel’s Seventy Weeks
Mat
24:15
Therefore
when
you
see
the
abomination
of
desolation,
spoken
of
by
Daniel
the
prophet,
stand
in
the
holy
place (whoever reads, let him understand).
27
Jesus will be appearing to everyone at the same time.
The Great Tribulation
21 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. 28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together
Matthew now describes the signs in the heavens, after the tribulation, that will indicate that the Son of Man is coming.
The
final
3
1/2
years,
the
great
tribulation,
are
outlined
in
some detail in verses 21-28.
25
Jesus warns us this will happen.
A reminder of verse 15
This is the last of the primary site pages.
In summary
‘The Blessed Hope’ introduced the rapture of the church
‘The Tribulation’ explained where the tribulation was introduced and it’s place in eschatology
‘Daniel’s
Seventy
Weeks’,
embedded
as
a
link
in
the
tribulation
page,
joined
the
dots
between
Jesus
teaching
of
the
rapture
and end-times events.
You can readily access these pages from the ‘quick links’ below.
Quick links to the primary pages
The Tribulation and
link to Daniel’s
Seventy Weeks
Verses 4 to 14 provide the signs of the
‘end of age’. They are not necessary for
the purposes of this site, but click here if
you want to read them.
Verses 16 to 20 describe actions to be taken
after seeing the ‘abomination of desolation.
They are not necessary for the purposes of this
site, but click here if you want to read them.
22
The
tribulation
to
come
will
be
so
great
that
God
will
shorten the time for the sake of the elect - the Jews.
23-26
People
will
be
claiming
to
have
identified
the
Messiah
in
various
places,
but
Jesus
warns
against
believing
such
claims and the deceptive signs warned of in verse 24.
28 This is a difficult statement. Perhaps a figure of speech
with the idea of divine judgement, suggested by Rev 19:17-
18 from Jesus’ second coming.
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