23.The World at the Beginning of the Tribulation Period God's Purpose for Man

Chapter 23
The World at the Beginning of the Tribulation Period

So many believers have the thought that when the Tribulation Period begins is when the chaos on earth will begin.  That, however, is not the case.  The world will already have been primed and in full gear with the one-world government ready to take over, and the leaders of society having full control over the masses of people throughout the world.  Fear will be the dominating factor throughout the world.  Because it is a slow process, the masses will see that as their new normal as the chaos in the world gets worse and worse.  Sad to say, we are seeing these things being lined up and put into place right now.

The whole world in chaos (2 Tim 3:1-5; Matt 24:4-8):

• Every country throughout the world is in chaos in one way or another. 
• Many countries are run by crooked leadership that take advantage of those they serve.

Healthcare:  Pestilence, plagues, sickness and disease will be rampant throughout the earth (Luke 21:11)

• We have experiences a pandemic with its multiple variants, where many people have died.  This has been worldwide, and fear is everywhere.  
• Forced mask wearing and social distancing was the norm in society for two years.
• Volunteer vaccines, which was only meant for emergency use, and not FDA approved were given without rendering positive results.  Thus, more and more vaccinations have been offered.
• Many who refused vaccination lost their jobs and were unable to move around in society, fly to certain destinations because of the forced vaccine mandate.
• Some countries, such as Australia and New Zealand had forced lockdowns camps for those who were not vaccinated.

This alone gives us a taste of the Mark of the Beast

Rev 13:6-17  It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, ¹⁷ so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.

Finances:  Famine and poverty in various places (Luke 21:11),

• The United States is so heavily in debt to where it is an impossibility to pay it off.  Regardless, the present administration keeps spending trillions of dollars that we do not have.  As such, China is soon becoming the super power of the world.
• Many containers of food and goods are being refused by our present administration to enter our harbors to distribute the goods, and as such, some of the grocery shelves are bare.

Crime:  Crime and lawlessness will be rampant (2 Tim 3:1-5)

• The United States is divided by racial tension, controlled by hate groups, such as Antifa and Black Lives Matters, who riot, damaging businesses.  
• Lawlessness has brought about crimes which has increased expedentially as many cities are demanding defunding their police.
• Hate groups being hired by certain wealthy leftist elitists of our society to riot in the streets of America.  If arrested, they are immediately released, having bond paid by these wealthy elitists.
• Rioting, property damaging, shoplifting and stealing has been given full reign without being punished.  Lawlessness is running rampant.
• Innocent people have been beaten or killed on the streets.
• Crime rate has doubled and tripled over the past two years in the larger cities throughout America.
• We are in a generation where many children have not been taught right from wrong by their parents and they do exactly as they please. 
• The public schools and colleges are teaching a godless agenda, such as Critical Race Theory, teaching the children of today to hate.  
• The children are rebelling against their parents, against society, and against the government.
• Illegal drugs have doubled and quad-tripled over the past few years as drug trafficking has become big business around the world - with the United States being on the top of the list.  Marajuana is now legal in most states, which is the gateway to more drug usage.  People kill to pursue the drugs to peddle, and for those who are trapped into its grip, many die from overdose, while others lives are ruined.

Sexual perversion:  Sexual perversions will be extreme (Rom 1:24-27)

• We are living in an age where homosexuality is legal, including homosexual marriages being legal and encouraged.
• Gender identity is being promoted.  It becomes difficult at times to tell who is cross dressing or those who have had surgical procedures.  Parents are even allowing their young children to change gender identities.
• All this gives rise to pedophelia, and horrible sexual abuses to children.

Infastructure, energy, strange weather anomalies and increase of earthquakes (Matt 24:4-8)

• The Green New Deal proposals is multi-faceted and multi-functional, which in part addresses climate change, net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same time, government is spreading chemtrail poisoning in in the air via aircraft to supposedly manage climate control.  In other words, the government is controlling our weather through chemtrail, while millions of people are breathing in its poisonous gasses. 
• The primary climate change goal is to reach net-zero greenhouse emissions in a decade. “Net-zero” means that after tallying up all the greenhouse gases that are released and subtracting those that are sequestered, or removed, there is no net addition to the atmosphere. The goal, then, is slightly less ambitious than calling for no greenhouse gas emissions at all.  This will cost the taxpayer trillions of dollars.
• Earthquakes are on the rise; however, some are controlled by man to accomplish his purpose.  Either way, there is an increase in earthquakes upon the earth worldwide.

Increase of wars around the world (Matt 24:7-8; Luke 21:10; Matt 24:4-8)   

• The United States administration suddenly and unwisely pulled the troops out of Afghanistan, leaving hundreds of Americans and allies stranded.  We have yet to see the percussion from that.
• The Middle East is always at war and the United States is in danger of loosing their superpower status to China.  Only time will tell how this situation will play out.
• Russia is at war with Russia, and the United States stands in the balance of getting involved in that war.

False teachers in the Church where many pastors are no longer preaching the truths of the Word of God (1 John 2:8; Matt 24:11; 1 Tim 4:1; Matt 24:24)

• There have been many changes within the Church over the past 50 years, changing the message to be more society driven instead of Christ centered.  There have been an increase in cults and false doctrine from the pulpit, changing the whole purpose of the Church.  Many people either preach a watered-down Gospel or have taken Christ out of the Church.  We are at a point in history where there are only a small percentage of churches who preach the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, becoming a remnant Church. 

Apostasy within the Church where many are leaving their the church and their faith.  (2 Thess 2:3; 1 Tim 4:1; Matt 24:24)

• Ever since the government shut down most of the churches in the United States due to COVID (2020/2021), many churches had their services online.  Over time, however, believers got lazy and stopped watching church on TV.  As a result, apostasy grew within the Church where many have left not only their faith, but stopped going to Church, and have never returned.
  
• Only a small percentage of people go to church today and America is no longer considered a Christian nation.  Over the past fewyear we have spedily moved toward a nation under Socialism heading straight to Communism.  What happened?

I have not covered all of the negative changes in the world; but it is certainly obvious from what is listed here that the world is in a very dangerous place - all primed and ready for the onset of the anti-christ to come on to take over the world.  Jesus said the Rapture of the Church will happen in the twinkling of an eye at the time of the Father's choosing.  We, as the Church will know the times and seasons, but not the day nor the hour.  It sure appears that we are in that time and season.

Matthew 24:36"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

We are definitely living in a day where evil is good and good is evil.

Peace Treaty With Israel

Dan 9:27  He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven...' (seven years)

How long after the Rapture of the Church will this event take place?  Scripture is quiet on that.   Biblical scholars suggests that the earth needs to settle down after millions of people suddenly disappear at the Rapture of the Church.  A global marshall law may be implemented out of the chaos the world will be experiencing in an attempt to bring law and order back to the earth.  All of this will take some time.  Biblical scholars speculate it could take anywhere from 30 - 50 days or even longer.

Seventh Dispensation

Tim LaHaye - Charting the End Times

We have learned that there are a total of nine dispensations which constitute the totality of eternity - beginning to end.  We are winding down the end of the seventh dispensation - the end of the dispensation of Grace, or the Church Age, and entering into the Tribulation Period, which is still part of the seventh dispensation. We have also discovered that Christians are not part of Jewish history and judgment, and therefore NOT part of the destruction that is about to come upon the earth.  The Tribulation Period will be for the Jews who rejected Christ, along with anyone else who rejected Him, or had no knowledge of Him.

Religion Will Still Remain Upon the Earth

"Religion" of many variations will still be upon the earth during the Tribulation Period because inside the heart of every man is a search for a god in his or her life.  At the time of the Tribulation Period, many false religions will reign upon the earth.  People are continuously looking for God; however, many are deceived into who that god is.  That god, whomever it is, must have reign, whether it is other gods, golden images, past dead rulers, any leader in power, sex, money, power, themselves, things, or even pseudo-Christianity.  And the core of their god, or religion, is Satan, whether they realize it or not.  

The Church, the real Church of Christ, will have left the earth in the Rapture of the Church.  While there will be some who will sincerely come to Christ during the Tribulation Period, there  will still be religion left on earth because man continually is trying to find a god in their life.

Because the inhabitants of the Tribulation Period will be Jews and Gentiles who did not believe and trust in Jesus, we need to study about the end-times from a Jewish and Gentile perspective by looking at the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation and related scriptures.  That way we will have an understanding of the Tribulation Period from studying both the Old and New Testaments.

Daniel's Prophecy - Israel's Future Then, Now, and in the Future

Because the Tribulation Period is primarily meant for the unbelieving Jews, we need to look at some Old Testament prophesies because the Old Testament as a lot to say about the Tribulation Period.

There are at least 49 times that the Hebrew prophets of the Old Testament told us of the Tribulation Period.  As such, it would be wise to include their prophecies in this book as well.

Daniel, through revelation of God, prophesied these various kingdoms that would rise and fall.  
The Babylonian Empire would be overtaken by the Medo-Persian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire would be overtaken by the Greek Empire, and the Roman Empire would overtake the Greek Empire in 160 B.C.

• The Prophet Daniel lived during the time of the Babylonian Empire.  He began his prophecies by writing about the 70 years that Israel/Judah was held captive in Babylon. 
• Daniel the prophet revealed about Israel's future - what needed to be done before the Jews could go back to their promised land following their exile in Babylon.
• God also revealed to Daniel who prophesied in Dan 9:25 about the coming of Christ - from the issueing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks - meaning 483 (7 weeks of years = 49 years) Dan 9:22-27.  The Amplified Bible makes it much clearer by stating:

Dan 9:27 AMP And he shall enter into a strong and firm covenant with the many for one week (seven years).  And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and ofering to cease (for the remaining 3 1/2 years), and upon the wing or pinnacle of abomination (shall come) one who makes desolate, until the full determined and is poured out on the desolator.

God also revealed to Daniel of a time in the far distant future when Israel would gain full control over their land for all eternity.  They first, however, needed to come into submission to God and His ways.  Daniel had revelations of what things must take place before the coming of the "Day of the Lord" when Christ would come back to earth to take over His millennial reign upon the earth.  That period of time would include the Church coming back with Christ to co-rule and reign with Him.

Remember, the Church and the Church Age is a parenthetical in the future history of the Old Testament Jews.  In other words, Daniel's prophesy did not include the Church - it was as if the last 2000 years have never happened.  Daniel completely bypassed the Age of the Church - and went right into end times in his prophesying in the Old Testament.

Because the Tribulation Period is primarily about Israel, let's look at the purpose of the Tribulation Period:

• Israel needs to be judged for their rebellion.
• Israel needs to be judged for their rejection of their long-awaited promised Messiah. 
• Israel needs to come to a place where they are willing to turn to God for help.  Repentance needs to replace rebellion.
• Israel needs to ready to accept Christ when He comes back for the second time, which will come at the end of the Tribulation Period. 
• Israel needs to be purified and brought back to a place where God can fulfill the everlasting covenant made with their forefathers.
• Other nations need to be judged by God for their persecution of the Jews and Israel.
• All those who have, and is rejecting Christ will need to be judged.

How Far Will the Tribulation Period Extend?

How far geographically the tribulation effects will extend is not known.  The whole world, however, will be deeply affected.  The nations that rejected and persecuted Israel, however, will be severely judged by God during this Tribulation Period. The more the world become a one-world government, with a one-world order and money system, and working toward a one-world religion, the more the whole world will be affected. 

From this point on, we will bounce between the Old and New Testament.

Click here to view Chapter #24 - The Tribulation Period Begins