The Great Tribulation is History

From Preterism.com -- English

by Todd Dennis

Matthew 24:21,32 "For then shall be great tribulation.. this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."

Revelation 1:9 "I, John, also brother and fellow-partaker in the tribulation.."

The period known as "The Great Tribulation" is introduced by Jesus in his Olivet Discourse. This is the passage where Jesus speaks of what is going to happen to Israel in the "Last Days." As part of the signs surrounding the destruction of the Jewish temple (Matt. 24:2), Jesus said "For then shall be great tribulation."

Preterist Christians believe that the last days were those of the Old Covenant and not the universe. Dispensationalist and other Futurist Christians, on the other hand, believe that the great tribulation Christ mentioned is yet to come, but is soon to break out as a seven-year global war, in the midst of which a Satanic peace treaty is signed.

Important in the study of seven year tribulation period is the Old Testament prophecy known as "Daniel's Seventieth Week". Most of those who believe the tribulation is yet future also believe that this prophecy is future; in fact, the two are considered to be the same period. It is through an examination of the "Seventy Weeks" prophecy that we can understand the relevance of both prophecies to the first-century Christians to whom Christ spoke.

If it can be shown that Daniel's prophecy (Dan. 9:24-27) has been fulfilled, then we should consider the Tribulation to be part of past history.

In another article, we have seen that Daniel's Seventieth Week, which is the cornerstone for the future tribulation theory, has been fulfilled. (See The Seventieth Week is Fulfilled). We have also seen that God has redefined his relationship with the nation of Israel "after the flesh" (I Cor 10:18) in the New Covenant era. These two points are directly related to our study, and will help demonstrate that The Seventy Weeks and Great Tribulation both were determined upon the same set of people -- first century Judaism. From henceforth, the only ones who qualify as "God's Chosen People" are those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

No Jewish person can expect redemption through their religion. Except they be saved by a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, they will not enter into His rest. Those unsaved 'Jews', 'if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in," (Romans 11:23) by becoming 'circumcised in heart' (Rom. 2:28-29). All saved become "fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God" (Eph. 2:19).

We have seen in Daniel's seventieth week that this period will culminate with the destruction of the city and the sanctuary (See Seventieth Week). According to Preterist Christians, this desolation was accomplished in the Roman-Jewish war (AD66-73), when all of Palestine was reduced to rubble by the armies of numerous Roman generals.

Included in the destruction of Palestine and Jerusalem was the Second Temple in Jerusalem, also called "Herod's temple." This building was the center of religious life for all Jewish people under the Old Covenant. Its destruction meant that the Roman desolation deprived them of their nation and their religion simultaneously.

Not surprisingly, those Futurist Christians who believe the "Great Tribulation" is yet to be fulfilled don't place much significance on the Roman destruction. It is not seem by most Dispensationalists, for instance, as having anything but a foreshadowing role in God's grand sovereign plan. In other words, the entire desolation of the Jewish nation is not seem as having come from the judgment of an angry God. Famous Dispensationalist Jerry Falwell (The first Gentile ever awarded the Jabotinsky Medal for Zionist Excellence), for example, wrote:

"I certainly do not believe a vengeful God inspired the Roman army to surround Jerusalem and brutally slaughter hundreds of thousand of Jews. It seems to me that even then the vicious serpent of Anti-Semitism had raised its head. Satan would have liked to destroy the Jews in order to nullify God's promises to them." (Jerry Falwell and the Jews, p. 13-14)

I have to ask: If the utter destruction of the political and spiritual place of that nation is not the vengeance of God, what is it? This belief is willfully ignorant of how God views Israel "after the flesh," solely to protect the poor theology which makes the temporal nation the recipient of God's eternal blessing in the millennial period (which follows the great tribulation, according to Dispensationalism's "Left Behind" theology). The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple MUST be as a result of judgment upon the people, if only through His negligence in its prevention.

Besides this, the Seventy Weeks of Daniel are spoken in terms of judgment against God's people. Daniel 9:24 states specifically, "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression.." There are a couple of different ways of looking at this judgment upon the people and the city (cf. Matt 22:1-7)

I. Personal

The purpose of these seventy weeks is identified as being "to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness.." (Daniel 9:24) among others. This verse shows that a new spiritual economy will be in existence at the completion of this time period. We have already identified this as being the 'New Covenant' of Jesus Christ, which was but a fulfillment of the Old Covenant of promise (See Christ, the Everlasting Covenant).

The stated way the goals of the seventy weeks were to be accomplished was through judgment, and that not only upon a national scale, but also on a personal. For each individual, there is no finishing of transgressions, end of sin, or reconciliation for iniquity without personal judgment. Jesus Christ declares, in John 10:39, "For judgment am I come into the world." Hebrews 9:22 reads, "and almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission". This includes transgression and sin.

Put in other words, there is no reconciliation for iniquity, end of sins or righteousness without the judgment of the shedding of blood. The born-again believer possesses these traits, but only AFTER He places his sin upon Christ for judgment! Jesus Christ was judged for our sins, on an individual basis. This necessity of judgment is true for 'Israel after the flesh' as well, if Daniel 9:24 is going to accomplish what it says it is. Therefore, the "Seventy Weeks of Daniel closes with the ending of the 'Old' Covenant (Heb 8:14 - Christ confirmed the covenant), and the national relationship between God and 'Israel after the flesh', ushering in the personal relationship with Jesus Christ, for there is "no other name under heaven that is given whereby we must be saved." It cannot be referring to a national relationship, for we know that salvation is only on a personal basis.

II. National

On the national scale we can see that the 'seventy weeks' is final judgment upon 'Israel after the flesh'. Proverbs 16:7 is the summation of a series of promises given to the nation of Israel. It reads, "If a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." God further promised Abraham and his seed, Jesus Christ, in Genesis 22:17 that they would "posses the gate of his enemies." Israel 'after the flesh' was told in Exodus 23, Leviticus 26, Deut. 28, Joshua 7, and I Kings 9 (among others) that if they obeyed God, he would give them temporal peace, but if they disobeyed, he would destroy their city and their sanctuary, and that he would use other nations to do so. II Chronicles 7:19-21 specifies the destruction of the city and the sanctuary as specific signs of God's judgment. Therefore, ANY destruction of "the city and the sanctuary", by themselves or others, including that spoken of in Daniel 9:24-27, is a sign of God's judgment against the nation, and his removal of his Spirit from among them, as he promised he would do.

Again, this is what happened in A.D. 70 to the "generation" that Christ told, "behold your house is left unto you desolate," (Matt. 13:24) and "there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down" (Matt. 24:2). Christ also declares, "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled" (Matt. 24:34). Luke 21 identifies these as being "the days of vengeance, that all things which are written might be fulfilled." Keeping in mind the personal judgment needed for the remission of sins, Christ told the 'Israel after the flesh', in Matthew 21:43, that "The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof,"

Also, Matthew 24:15 reads that the 'abomination of desolation' spoken of by Daniel will stand in the 'holy place'. Remember that there is no 'holy place' after A.D. 70, aside from the body of the born-again believer. The destruction of the temple, removed from the earth the last dwelling place of God made by man. Therefore, if the verses used to support a "seven-year tribulation period" are to have occurred after A.D. 70, the abomination would have to stand upon a Christian.

The kings of Daniel 2, and the image of Nebuchadnezzar have been fulfilled, at A.D. 70, as Christ said, "these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written might be fulfilled." (Luke 21:22) We have also proven that the seventy weeks of Daniel chapter nine have been fulfilled, which is the sole basis and purpose of the seven-year tribulation period in the future. God is finished dealing with any 'Israel of the flesh', and is not going to give them another opportunity at some future date, as they were but a shadow of Christ's 'heavenly kingdom' (See No Millennial Reign of Christ on Earth). All men must be saved by Jesus Christ as he said in John, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the father, but by me." Therefore,

There is No Future Seven Year Tribulation Period