Jennifer Rothnie Supporter Housewife, Artist, Perpetually Curious

The Day of the Lord and the Tribulation are not the same thing. The Day of the Lord is God pouring out His wrath upon the nations. The Great Tribulation (or tribulation in general) is a time of heavy persecution of believers.

The greek words used for tribulation in the Bible are thlipsis and diógmos. Primarily, they are used to refer to the affliction of believers by non-believers or the world. (Rev 2:9, Rev 1:9, John 16:33, Rom 5:3, Matt 13:21, II Cor 1:4, Deut 4:20, I Thess 1:6, 1 Thess 3:7, etc). Only a couple of times is it used to represent general affliction.

Conversely, the Day of the Lord always refers to judgement. There have been many 'days of the Lord', in addition to the ultimate Day of the Lord that is yet to come. 

A tribulation is a time of testing for believers. Those who overcome and endure until the end will be saved, even if their body is destroyed. (Rom 5:3, Matt 13:31, Rev 2:22, Rom 8:25, John 16:33, Deut 4:30, James 1:12)

A day of the LORD is a time of wrath, wherein God judges a nation for their sin: (Zeph 1:1-18, Zeph 2:1-3, Joel 1:15-20, Zech 14:121, Ezek 30:1-3, Amos 8:1-14, Lam 2:22, Joel 10:12, Joel 3:9-16, Amos 15:18-27, etc)

As such, the "Great Tribulation" refers to the the heaviest persecution of believers the world has ever seen (Matt 24:21-22), wheras the ultimate 'Day of the Lord' refers to God's final outpouring of wrath upon the nations (which ends with the actual melting of the earth and the universe itself! (II Peter 3:10-13))

***

As for what the book of Daniel teaches, it does not teach of a future tribulation wherein the Antichrist will be worshiped for 'seven years'. Rather, that is a more modern theory (arising in the past couple of centuries) that uses Dan 9:24-27 as its basis for a seven year covenant between the Antichrist and humanity.

Yet this is a deep misunderstanding about this important prophecy in Daniel. It was Christ who confirmed a covenant with many by His own blood (Matt 26:28, Mark 14:24, I Cor 11:25, Luke 22:20); Christ who put an end to sacrifice and offering by becoming the perfect sacrifice once and for all (Heb 9:24-28, John 1:29, Rev 21:21-23, Heb 10:14, etc); Christ who was cut off 'in the midst of the week' (his ministry lasting ~3.5 years: John 2:13; John 5:1; John 6:4; John 11:15).

Indeed this was considered by many of the church fathers to be one of the most important fulfilled prophecies of Christ in the Bible, and was often used in evangelism.

There is no reason from the Hebrew grammar of the passage to take 'the prince who is to come' as the subject the prophecy is referring to, it would actually be quite a dubious grammatical link. Whether or not this 'prince who is to come' is a future Antichrist is also debated widely. [Some see the people of the prince who is to come as a direct reference to Rome and the siege of Jerusalem, for example: a decently strong theory given the abomination of the idolatrous standards of the Roman Military (the eagle); that the siege lasted ~3.5 years; and that the siege certainly 'completed' the destruction of the Holy City and the temple].

Furthermore, the grammar of Dan 9:27 actually says something close to, 'and upon the wing of abominations [shall be] a desolater until the consummation' - this part does not refer to Christ, but rather that a desolater will come with abominations until the prophecy is completed.

As such, there is no direct and clear link between Daniel 9 and a future Antichrist, or a direct link between Dan 9 and a future tribulation yet to come.

There are many theories regarding the Tribulation, such as when it will occur or how long it will be, but the reality is we can best prepare for times of tribulation (and for the Great Tribulation) by standing firm in Christ (I Pet 3:14-16, II Tim 2:13). If we abide in faith, then we can overcome the world (I John 5:4) and endure all sufferings for the sake of Christ (Phil 1:29, II Cor 12:10.)

November 20 2013 • 9 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

---

View All Answers