by Ptr. Art Calaguas<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shalom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last time, we discussed \u201cthe abomination of desolation\u201d (in Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14). Now, we will take up the phrase \u201cgreat tribulation\u201d in Matthew 24:21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a review, Matthew 24:16-20 are verses containing dire warnings that direct the disciples (and believers of their time) to escape Judea and to flee without delay or turn back to get anything when they see the \u201cabomination of desolation\u201d in the holy place; or where it should not be in Mark\u2019s version; or more concretely, when encamped armies encircle\/surround Jerusalem, as Luke puts it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Matthew 24:21 the Lord Jesus tersely explains why the disciples must leave in haste:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u1f14\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b3\u1f70\u03c1 \u03c4\u03cc\u03c4\u03b5 <\/mark>\u03b8\u03bb\u1fd6\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2 \u03bc\u03b5\u03b3\u03ac\u03bb\u03b7<\/mark> \u03bf\u1f35\u03b1 \u03bf\u1f50 \u03b3\u03ad\u03b3\u03bf\u03bd\u03b5\u03bd \u1f00\u03c0\u2019 \u1f00\u03c1\u03c7\u1fc6\u03c2 \u03ba\u03cc\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf\u03c5 \u1f15\u03c9\u03c2 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03bd\u1fe6\u03bd \u03bf\u1f50\u03b4\u2019 \u03bf\u1f50 \u03bc\u1f74 \u03b3\u03ad\u03bd\u03b7\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9.<\/mark><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For then there will be great tribulation<\/mark> such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now nor ever shall be.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The parallel verse in Mark 13:19 omits the descriptor \u201cgreat\u201d and simply calls it tribulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As previously written, Biblical scholars say that the term \u201cgreat tribulation\u201d comes from Daniel 12:1. Joel 2:1-2 may also be in view here as the prophet speaks of the coming \u201cday of the LORD;\u201d a day of \u201cdarkness and gloom;\u201d and there has never been anything like this \u201cday of the LORD\u201d nor will there be after it in the future. The LXX translates the word in Daniel 12:1 with \u03b8\u03bb<\/em>\u1fd6<\/em>\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2<\/em> (\u201cthlipsis\u201d meaning tribulation, distress, trouble) also. The Lord thus warns of a coming unprecedented future event or period of time that precedes his (second) coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u03b8\u03bb\u1fd6\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2 \u03bc\u03b5\u03b3\u03ac\u03bb\u03b7<\/mark><\/em> (\u201cthlipsis megale\u201d) without the definite article is translated as \u201cgreat tribulation\u201d or \u201ca great tribulation.\u201d It is a disastrous event or period of time and the verse says it will not ever be surpassed any time before or after it occurs. The Lord apparently prophesied the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem by the Roman legions under General Titus in 70 A.D. This is probably the single event that rivals the Exodus in its effect upon the Jewish nation and Judaism. One cannot claim this to be hyperbole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For more on the usage and eschatological significance of this phrase, it would be good to reproduce here 2 reflections I had written in the past. The following is an excerpt from \u201cPentecost, Israel, Tribulation and Revelation 2:22-23 (Thyatira)\u201d written in May 23, 2021 as part of our study of the 7 Churches of the Revelation. Those who had read or have access to this reflection may skip this part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tribulation and Revelation 2:22-23 (Thyatira)<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Revelation 2:20-22 the leader\/pastor is charged with tolerating a woman named Jezebel who may be a member of the church; who calls herself a \u201cprophetess\u201d and because of her teaching, misleads the other church members into sexual immorality and eating of sacrificial offerings to idols; has been given by the Lord Jesus time to repent, but apparently she was not willing; and so is now threatened to be thrown into a (sick) bed (Greek \u03ba\u03bb\u03af\u03bd\u03b7<\/em>; cf. Matthew 9:2, 6; Luke 5:18 where the same word is used for the healing of paralytics on their sickbeds); and those committing adultery with her into \u201cgreat tribulation\u201d if they do not repent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The words used by John for \u201cgreat tribulation\u201d come from the Greek \u03b8\u03bb<\/em>\u1fd6<\/em>\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2 \u03bc\u03b5\u03b3\u03ac\u03bb\u03b7<\/em> (transliterated \u201cthlipsis megale\u201d) where \u03b8\u03bb<\/em>\u1fd6<\/em>\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2<\/em> is a noun meaning \u201ctribulation\u201d and \u03bc\u03b5\u03b3\u03ac\u03bb\u03b7<\/em> an adjective meaning \u201cgreat.\u201d These are the same words Matthew uses in his chapter where the Lord Jesus gives his end times discourse (Matthew 24:21).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many years ago, while studying at the Asian Theological Seminary (ATS) to focus on Biblical Hebrew and Greek, I made a word study of the Greek word \u03b8\u03bb<\/em>\u1fd6<\/em>\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2<\/em> (\u201cthlipsis\u201d). I found out that 15 New Testament (NT) books contained one or more instances of \u03b8\u03bb<\/em>\u1fd6<\/em>\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2<\/em> and\/or its other grammatical forms (\u03b8\u03bb\u03af\u03c8\u03b5\u03b9<\/em>, \u03b8\u03bb\u03af\u03c8\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2<\/em>, \u03b8\u03bb\u03af\u03c8\u03b5\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd<\/em>, \u03b8\u03bb\u03af\u03c8\u03b5\u03c9\u03bd<\/em>, \u03b8\u03bb\u03af\u03c8\u03b5\u03c9\u03c2<\/em>, \u03b8\u03bb<\/em>\u1fd6<\/em>\u03c8\u03b9\u03bd<\/em>); altogether 45 instances. Two (2) NT books, Romans and 2Corinthians; each even had 2 instances of this word used in a single verse. If one reads the various English translations, one cannot always see the word \u201ctribulation\u201d as other words are used. These translations use \u201caffliction,\u201d \u201cdistress,\u201d \u201cburden,\u201d \u201ctrouble,\u201d \u201cpersecution,\u201d \u201csuffering,\u201d or \u201canguish\u201d for the same underlying Greek word \u03b8\u03bb<\/em>\u1fd6<\/em>\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Studying the various 45 instances of the use of the Greek \u03b8\u03bb<\/em>\u1fd6<\/em>\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2<\/em>, I also found out that there seems to be 2 different types of tribulation. One kind is apparently used for the saved believers of varying times and all time, including the church in the time of John (Revelation 1:9, 7:14; cf. 1Peter 4:12-17). The other kind is apparently for the unbelievers, sinners, and those who backslide and do not repent (Revelation 2:22). But these 2 types may overlap at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Going further, in only 4 out of the 45 instances was the noun used with the adjective in the phrase \u03b8\u03bb<\/em>\u1fd6<\/em>\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2 \u03bc\u03b5\u03b3\u03ac\u03bb\u03b7<\/em>. And only 3 NT books had this phrase: 1 instance in Matthew 24:21 as mentioned above; 1 instance in Acts 7:11 with Stephen narrating the great famine that struck Egypt and Canaan that Joseph handled very well (cf. Genesis 41-47); and 2 instances in Revelation. The first instance is in Revelation 2:22 which we are studying now; and the second in Revelation 7:14 where one of the elders identified to John the great multitude in white robes before the throne of God and the Lamb as the saved coming out of \u201cthe great tribulation\u201d (the Greek has the definite article here).<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the foregoing, it is obvious that the NT writers used the Greek phrase \u03b8\u03bb<\/em>\u1fd6<\/em>\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2 \u03bc\u03b5\u03b3\u03ac\u03bb\u03b7<\/em> quite sparingly or only when especially needed by the context. Matthew, Stephen (as quoted by Luke, the author of Acts) and John used the phrase purposefully and intentionally. Matthew\u2019s usage seems to be of the first kind of \u03b8\u03bb<\/em>\u1fd6<\/em>\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2<\/em> (for the faithful believers and the church). The context was definitely eschatological for Matthew and may have pointed to the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 AD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Stephen (through Luke) the use of the phrase means that tribulation and suffering affect the people of God and unbelievers too, as the famine affected Jacob and his family and all Egypt and Canaan. Stephen\u2019s speech before the Sanhedrin also contained at the end a warning of God\u2019s judgment to those who did not believe in the Lord Jesus as their Messiah. If Stephen was also thinking of Judgment Day at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, his speech can be considered eschatological in intent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Revelation 2:22, John speaks of a great tribulation for those who do wrong in the eyes of God and do not repent (i.e., Jezebel and her cohort). God\u2019s judgment for them would be at hand and continuing. Revelation 7:14 speaks of all nations, ethnic groups, tribes and languages coming out of the great tribulation that was happening to the persecuted church in John\u2019s time. This \u03b8\u03bb<\/em>\u1fd6<\/em>\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2<\/em> is of the first kind; for the church and all the faithful and it was already happening (John 16:33; Revelation 1:9). John and the other Apostles believed the End Times had already begun and will be completely fulfilled by the Second Coming (cf. Acts 2:17-21), the Millennium, the Final Judgment and then the everlasting reign of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next past reflection, \u201cThe Long Tribulation and Revelation 1:9\u201d was written even earlier, on October 18, 2020. It was also part of our study of the 7 Churches of the Revelation. It is reproduced here in its entirety. Again, those who had read or have access to this reflection may also skip this part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Long Tribulation and Revelation 1:9<\/p>\n\n\n\n Continuing our study of the Apocalypse of John we read that in Revelation 1:9 John considered the prophesized tribulation (\u03c4<\/em>\u1fc7<\/em> \u03b8\u03bb\u03af\u03c8\u03b5\u03b9<\/em>) was on-going and that he and the believers of Jesus Christ were already suffering in it; for some even decades earlier. The Apostle John himself, even in his old age was in the prison island of Patmos as a result of the persecution of Christians by the Roman Emperor Domitian. The deacon Stephen had been stoned to death a few years after Pentecost and the believers scattered. John\u2019s own brother James had been martyred a few years later. The brother of our Lord Jesus, known to us as James the Just and the leader of the Jerusalem church had also been martyred in 62 AD. The Emperor Nero had carried out the 1st<\/sup> systematic Roman Empire-wide persecution of Christians in 64 AD. It is recorded that Christians were actually burned while hanging on crosses lining up roads in Rome. The Apostles Peter and Paul were martyred during his reign (ca. 68 AD). Then the First Great Jewish Revolt had begun and ended in the utter destruction and desolation of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 AD. The last standing Jewish redoubt at Masada fell a few years later. (When I visited Masada in 2009 in Israel, the outlines and remains of the embankments and the rectangular-shaped Roman forts surrounding the fortress were still very much visible while ascending up to it via a cable car.) Then for John\u2019s time, Domitian, the younger brother of Titus, was conducting his own persecution of Christians. By no means was this going to be the last systematic persecution aimed at eradicating the Way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Truly for John, this must really be the \u201cGreat Tribulation\u201d spoken of by the Lord Jesus and recorded in the Synoptic Gospels ushering in the Last Days as he saw the eschatological visions revealed to him at Patmos. And John may have prophetically understood, if not intuitively, that at his age the tribulation they were enduring was not only \u201cgreat\u201d but was also quite \u201clong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unique in the Gospel of Matthew, after the Lord Jesus gave the signs of the End Times to his disciples, was the warning of our Lord in parable form that the tribulation would be with them for quite a long while before he returns. He warned the disciples 3 times. These are found in Matthew 24:48, 25:5 and 25:19 within the context of their surrounding verses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In Matthew 24:36-51, the Lord warns his disciples that no one knows the exact date and time the Son of Man would return in judgment. He asked his disciples to keep watch and gave them the parable about being a wise and faithful servant while the master is away and assigned the servant to take care of his household and other servants. If the servant acts wickedly (Matthew 24:48): \u201cBut if that wicked servant should say in his heart, \u2018my master delays,\u2019<\/mark>… \u201d<\/em> he would later be judged for his actions. The Greek verb used is a form of \u03c7\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd\u03af\u03b6\u03c9<\/em> (chronizo) which means to spend or take time, delay or tarry or linger. In this parable, the Lord Jesus is hinting at the possibility that the return of the master may take a while so the servant should still remain faithful and do his job rather than acting in evil ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Immediately in the next chapter, in Matthew 25:1-13, the Lord tells another parable about ten virgins who brought lamps and went to meet the bridegroom for a wedding. Half of them were wise and brought extra oil but the other half were not so prepared. So in Matthew 25:5 a situation occurs: \u201cBut the bridegroom delaying<\/mark> \u2026\u201d<\/em> and they all fell asleep. The same verb \u03c7\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd\u03af\u03b6\u03c9<\/em> is used in the Greek but in a participle form. The Lord warns of a delayed arrival the bridegroom, similar to the long time the master of the servant returned. Both parables speak of an \u201cunexpected\u201d long time before the return or arrival of the central character and thus, the need to be faithful, patient and prepared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The third parable, immediately following this is about the talents. Talents were once a unit of weight (around 33 kg.). During that time one talent was equivalent to 20 years wages for laborers, given a 6-day work week. The Lord Jesus tells about a master who goes on a journey and leaves some talents to 3 of his servants, each according to his ability (Matthew 25:14-30). Given 5 talents, the first servant would have 100 years-worth of wages. The next one was given 2 talents, or 40 years-worth of wages while the last one was given just one talent, or 20 years-worth of wages. It is exaggerated, but one can get a feel of the length of time the master was going to be away; certainly more than enough time for the servants to make productive use of the talents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the master of the 3 servants return, an accounting would be made and the master expects the talents he left each of them to have been put to good use. Matthew 25:19 says: \u201cBut after much time, the master of those servants comes<\/mark> \u2026\u201d<\/em> This verse uses the familiar Greek noun \u03c7\u03c1\u03cc\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2<\/em> (chronos), meaning time. This noun is a cognate of the verb \u03c7\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd\u03af\u03b6\u03c9<\/em> which was used in the 2 previous parables. The phrase \u201cmuch time\u201d in the Greek connotes a delay or an unexpected long period of time. The situation mentioned for the third time in a row now in close contextual proximity with the previously cited verses highlights the fact that the master goes away for a long time.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eschatologically, the significance of this long waiting time period characterizing the 3 parables is put into sharper focus in the succeeding verses. After this time period immediately comes the Judgment depicted in the separation between the sheep and the goats found in Matthew 25:31-46. Hence, the implication: the waiting is for a long period of time before the Master comes back and upon his return Judgment Day immediately follows. Matthew\u2019s meticulous recording of the Lord\u2019s warnings in these parables therefore informs our exegesis that believers should expect quite literally, a long tribulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the foregoing, it would seem that \u03b8\u03bb<\/em>\u1fd6<\/em>\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2<\/em> was of 2 kinds, for us believers and for non-believers; but the 2 types of tribulation may and do overlap. The prophesied \u03b8\u03bb<\/em>\u1fd6<\/em>\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2 \u03bc\u03b5\u03b3\u03ac\u03bb\u03b7<\/em> (\u201cgreat tribulation\u201d) would not be just a single event but a period of time. Furthermore, this period should not only be described as \u201cgreat\u201d but also a \u201clong\u201d tribulation for believers in the Lord Jesus for all time. But there is a message of perseverance and hope as we shall see later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We will continue next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God bless us all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Ptr. Art Calaguas Shalom. Last time, we discussed \u201cthe abomination of desolation\u201d (in Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14). Now, we will take up the phrase \u201cgreat tribulation\u201d in Matthew 24:21. As a review, Matthew 24:16-20 are verses containing dire warnings that direct the disciples (and believers of their time) to escape Judea and to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":298,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297\/revisions\/298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}