Great Tribulation
Jesus prophesied on great tribulation in Matt.24:21-22. This prophecy need not be interpreted, as this is a plain revelation. According to this prophecy, there will be great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. Let us note that for the sake of the elect, these days of great tribulation will be shortened.
In Luke 21:9-19, it is mentioned that there will be persecutions of the people of God, apart from the natural calamities like great earthquakes, famines and pestilences. Today, we find persecutions of the people of God throughout the world. Before all these things, they will lay their hands on the people of God and persecute them, delivering them up to the synagogues (now the established churches who are not of the Body of Christ and who enjoy recognition of the rulers) and prisons. The people of God will be arraigned before the Pharisees and the Chief Priests of the present days and with their consent, will be put behind the bars.
But it will turn out for them as an occasion for testimony. They will boldly testify before the kings and the rulers. The Holy Spirit will give a mouth and wisdom, which their adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.
The people of God will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and some of them will be put to death.
They will be hated by all for His Name’s sake. In spite of all the severe persecutions, “But there shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls”. This is a great assurance given to us by Jesus. Not a hair of our head will be lost because God will protect us supernaturally.
According to Jesus, there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. In this regard, I quote an incident, which happened in a mission-field in India. There is a village namely Maharaichend in the District of Dangs, Gujarat State, India. Samuel, a 15 year old boy, the son of a believer, namely, Dewram was sick unto death. The villagers advised Devram to take his sick son to the witch doctor for healing. But Devram refused to do so. Ultimately, Samuel died and was buried. The enraged villagers decided to teach a lesson to Devram. They filed a case in a court of law against Devram accusing him of causing death to his son by negligence.
A miracle happened after the burial. At dusk, some people saw a reddish Cross coming down slowly upon the boy’s grave from heaven. The Cross stood upon his grave for a few minutes. Many villagers ran to see what was happening. After some time, some flower-shaped rays of light descended on the Cross. Oh, the glory of His Cross shined here. Upon seeing this miracle, a villager shouted, “Really, this boy has gone to the Heaven, and his God has come to tell us that he is in the Heaven”. Then the villagers withdrew the false case against Dewram. Through this miracle, the people in that village came to know about the true God.
Jesus said in Matt.24: 23-27, we should not believe any person who would say, “Lo, here is Christ, or there”. In those days, we should not go by the statement of any person who would say that Jesus would be in the desert or in the secret chambers. Jesus will not appear to any particular person or any group who may claim as such. He will appear to all of us as the lightening coming from the east and flashing to the west.
- Job Anbalagan