Revelation: The Great Tribulation

 Revelation: Justification by Faith

The Great Tribulation

Revelation 7:13

Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”
14. And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”
So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

The 144,000 are those who come out of the great tribulation.
Throughout the whole Bible, we find references to this great tribulation.
Jesus said:

Matthew 24:21
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.
29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

This distress will occur just before the return of Christ and the final judgment upon the wicked. Even the wicked will increasingly experience distress in judgment, but before that judgment we see a time when God seems silent and there is a tribulation like never before and never will be again.
All previous tribulations are merely examples or shadows of this final great tribulation.
The only tribulation more severe was that of Jesus Himself on the cross.
Daniel says:

Daniel 12:1
At that time Michael shall stand up,
the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people;
and there shall be a time of trouble,
such as never was since there was a nation,
even to that time.
And at that time your people shall be delivered,
everyone who is found written in the book.

There will be tribulation, but they shall be delivered.
Michael—whose name means “Who is like God?”, the warrior, the Deliverer, He who cast out Satan and is above the angels—will arise and deliver His people from tribulation.
Isaiah and Jeremiah also speak of this:

Isaiah 33:2
O LORD, be gracious to us;
we have waited for You.
Be their arm every morning,
our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3. At the noise of the tumult the people shall flee;
when You lift Yourself up, the nations shall be scattered.

Jeremiah 14:7
O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us,
do it for Your name’s sake;
for our backslidings are many,
we have sinned against You.
8. O the Hope of Israel,
his Savior in time of trouble,
why should You be like a stranger in the land,
and like a traveler who turns aside to lodge for a night?
9. Why should You be like a man astonished,
like a mighty one who cannot save?
Yet You, O LORD, are in our midst,
and we are called by Your name;
do not leave us!

This period is also known as Jacob’s time of trouble:

Jeremiah 30:6
Ask now, and see,
whether a man is ever in labor with child?
So why do I see every man
with his hands on his loins
like a woman in labor,
and all faces turned pale?
7. Alas! For that day is great,
so that none is like it;
and it is the time of Jacob’s trouble,
but he shall be saved out of it.

8. ‘For it shall come to pass in that day,’
says the LORD of hosts,
‘That I will break his yoke from your neck,
and will burst your bonds;
foreigners shall no more enslave them.
10. Therefore do not fear, O My servant Jacob,’ says the LORD,
‘Nor be dismayed, O Israel;
for behold, I will save you from afar,
and your seed from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return, have rest and be quiet,
and no one shall make him afraid.
11. For I am with you,’ says the LORD, ‘to save you;
Though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you,
yet I will not make a complete end of you.
But I will correct you in justice,
and will not let you go altogether unpunished.’

Why does God allow this tribulation?

Jeremiah 30:12
For thus says the LORD:
“Your affliction is incurable,
your wound is severe.
13. There is no one to plead your cause,
that you may be bound up;
you have no healing medicines.
14. All your lovers have forgotten you;
they do not seek you;
for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy,
with the chastisement of a cruel one,
for the multitude of your iniquities,
because your sins have increased.
15. Why do you cry about your affliction?
Your sorrow is incurable.
Because of the multitude of your iniquities,
because your sins have increased,
I have done these things to you.”

Jacob—the 144,000 from every tribe and nation, spiritual Israel, the last generation of God’s people on this earth—must go through a painful time, just like the nation of Israel went into exile in Jeremiah’s time.
This is because of their sin.
But even then, God does not abandon them completely.
He disciplines them, but He does not make a complete end of them.
When that time comes, Satan will accuse us.
We will feel and realize our sins and feel alone, but God has provided a way out.
The 144,000 are also described as those who washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.
They do not stand right with God through their own works or through sanctification, but through justification by faith:

1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light,
we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Hebrews 9:14
How much more shall the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God,
cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

This is the assurance they have.
They will not stand right with God in a different way than previous generations.
They will not be great heroes.
No—they will cling to the blood of our God, who died in our place and has already paid for our sins and cleanses us.
That is how they will stand on the day of wrath.