Birth Pangs of the Tribulation
By Mike Wingfield
We are living in a most incredible moment in church history. Almost two millennia have passed since Jesus promised His disciples that He would one day personally return for His church. He said: “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also.” (John 14:2-3) While the disciples did not immediately understand the meaning of Jesus’ words, the book of Acts and the epistles of the New Testament tell us that they ultimately grasped what the Lord had told them. As a result, their faith was greatly impacted, transforming their ministries and how they lived their lives on a daily basis. An examination of the epistles of the apostles reveals that about 30 percent of the content of their exhortations and writings were riveted upon the expectation of the imminent return of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
It is my personal opinion that the doctrine of the rapture of the church became the very heartbeat of the early church. It colored everything they did – the motives of their actions, the expressions of their worship and the urgency of their prayer life. It was the driving force behind their evangelism, discipleship, and church-planting efforts. When they met one another, the common greeting was “maranatha.” This is an Aramaic word that was coined by the early church as a greeting within the circle of believers. Some Biblical scholars believe this word means, “our Lord comes,” and served as a reminder of the final prayer of the Bible: “Even, so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20) This seems to be supported by the use of the word by the Apostle Paul in the context of 1 Corinthians 16:22. Previous to the last chapter of this epistle, which contains final personal exhortations and greetings to the church at Corinth, the Holy Spirit directed Paul to give a lengthy revelation concerning the hope of the resurrection or rapture of the saints of God at the time of our Lord’s return. Therefore, when believers came into each other’s presence, it was their intention to greet one another in such a way that they were reminding one another of the coming of their Lord. In other words, it was always on their minds and was the daily longing of their lives!
According to the Scriptures, the Rapture of the church will be followed by a seven-year period of God’s wrathful judgment upon the nations. This time of great upheaval, known as the Tribulation Period, will be a prelude to the Lord’s return to establish a literal kingdom upon this earth for 1,000 years. (Revelation 20:1-6) This time of judgment is called “the day of the LORD” in the Old Testament Scriptures (Isaiah 13:6, 9). Jesus referred to this time as a time of “great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matthew 24:21)
This approaching Tribulation Period will not take place in a historical vacuum. It will be preceded by a series of very detailed events that will set the stage for the exact developments spelled out in hundreds of prophetic passages. The disciples of our Lord understood this, and it prompted them to ask Him: “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the [age]?” (Matthew 24:3) The response of Jesus is known as His Olivet Discourse and is recorded in three of the four gospels. (Matthew 24:1-25:46; Mark 13:1-37; Luke 21:5-36) A reading of Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question gives a summary view of the trends that should be anticipated by believers. These trends will precede and therefore set in motion the events that will lead into the unique developments of the Tribulation Period. I am personally overwhelmed by sheer volume of truth that we have been given in the prophetic Scriptures that give the specific details of what will take place during the Tribulation Period.
Throughout the Scriptures, the prophets and apostles, and the Lord Himself, used a perfectly understood metaphor that sheds incredible light upon what is taking place in our world today. The trends that will set the stage for the end-time events to unfold are described as a woman going through the natural and painful process of giving birth to a baby. (Isaiah 13:8; 66:8-9; Micah 5:3; Matthew 24:8; Mark 13:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:3) In the process of natural child birth, two things take place. First, the birth of the child suddenly begins with painful muscle contractions that intensify until the child is born. At the same time, these muscle contractions follow a prescribed pattern. In this natural process, the painful muscle contractions are initially relatively mild and subside and reoccur with increasing intensity and frequency until the moment the baby is born. Similarly, we can expect the events that are shaping our world today to become more frequent and intensify as we approach the Tribulation Period. For those of us who are following world events, especially those occurring in the Middle East, it is apparent that we have entered into a very unusual era. Global trends, including politics, changes in the global economy, social and religious patterns and geological upheaval are ushering in movements that will reach their climax in the Tribulation Period. These trends are manifesting themselves with increasing intensity and frequency. Let us examine a few of them in this brief article.
At the center of all our attention are developments involving the divine process of the return of the Jewish people to their own land, and the world’s opposition to this work of God. The Lord promised the Jewish people: “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries and will bring you into your own land.” (Ezekiel 36:24) The Scriptures predicted that when the Jews would return to their land in the last days they would face great opposition by the Arab/Islamic nations that surround Israel. (Ezekiel 36:1-7) Furthermore, the Bible tells us this regional opposition would eventually be supported by the global community. The Scriptures say the nations of the world will conspire to divide the Promised Land, and especially the city of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount. (Joel 3:2: Zechariah 12-14; Revelation 11:1-2) Since the end of World War I, the world has witnessed a massive immigration of Jewish people back to their ancient homeland. And, as this occurs, there is growing opposition to the fulfillment of this divine prophecy. Islamic hatred of Israel has reached a fever pitch. We have witnessed the world’s attempt to appease the Muslim nations by joining the opposition against the Jewish presence in the land God promised them forever. (Genesis 13:15) There have been repeated attempts to force Israel to concede the land promised to her, which she has acquired while defending herself from the military aggression of her enemy neighboring nations. In essence, Israel is being forced to concede land to enemies that are sworn to her destruction.
It is very apparent that this process is intensifying and has entered a final stage. It is evident that there is a concerted effort on the part of the Obama administration, supported by the Europeans and the rest of the world, to force Israel into a covenant with the Palestinians. According to Aaron Klein, a Jewish journalist with World Net Daily living in Jerusalem, the Obama administration has made it one of its main objectives to reach an agreement that will create a Palestinian State on the West Bank. According to Klein, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is promoting a call for a final agreement that will create a Palestinian state. This plan promotes the following major points of agreement: (1) The Palestinian Authority and Jordan will
“receive sovereignty over the Temple Mount while Israel will retain the land below the Western Wall.” (2) Within the old city of Jerusalem, the Jewish areas will remain under Israeli control, while the Arab sections will remain under Palestinian control. (2) An international force will join an unarmed Palestinian police force to maintain security control of the Jordan Valley. Israel will “retain security posts in some strategic areas of the Jordan Valley.”
(3) Israel will be asked to surrender about 90 percent of its Jewish communities that are currently located in the West Bank (a total Jewish population of 340,000). Israel will surrender some Israeli controlled areas in the Negev to the Palestinians in exchange for some of the larger Jewish settlements on the West Bank that will be retained by Israel. (E-mail from Aaron Klein, Trouble in the Holy Land, “Secret Obama Plan Forfeits Temple Mount to Palestinians,” July 21, 2013)
While the world forces the Israelis to surrender land to the Palestinians, it ignores what is happening on the West Bank and in Gaza. The Palestinian people are currently divided with two governments, Fatah on the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza. In reality, both governments are sworn to the destruction of the entire state of Israel, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan Valley. The Palestinian leader on the West Bank, Mahmoud Abbas, continues to work behind the scenes to promote incitement against all Jews in Israel. Maps in their political offices and school books do not recognize the state of Israel. State controlled media and the Islamic leadership in the mosques continually promote hatred of the Jews and the destruction of Israel. Recently, the Palestinian Authority took $148 million from U.S. aid and gave it as “grants” to convicted Palestinian terrorists who have Israeli blood on their hands. (www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/07)
Abbas recently visited Egypt, where he provided his vision of an Israeli-Palestinian peace to Egyptian journalists. He said: “In the final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli – civilian or soldier – on our lands.” (The International Jerusalem Post, “Palestine without Jews,” August 2-8, 2013, p. 7) Is this the language or vision of a man who really is seeking peace with Israel? The real issue, as Israelis have come to realize, is that the Arab Muslims fail to recognize the right of Jews to live in any part of the land formerly called Palestine. It is all an act of deception to take control of the land of Israel piece by piece, until the Muslims have it all and the Jews are all gone.
All of this is rapidly setting the stage for “the covenant of death” that the prophet Isaiah declared the rulers in Jerusalem would sign with those who are filled with lies and are promoting the destruction of Israel. (See Isaiah 28:1422) This is the same covenant that is mentioned in Daniel 9:27 that will officially begin the Tribulation Period. [For more insight, order Mike’s message: #024-“The Tribulation Covenant.”]
The Tribulation Period will open with a massive global Islamic Jihad against all non-Muslims and especially professing believers in Jesus Christ. (Revelation 6:1-11; 7:917) While all true believers in Jesus Christ will be raptured before the Tribulation begins, there will be millions of professing Christians who are not really born-again that will be left behind.
In my opinion, the four horses of Revelation 6 represent a powerful military conquest and its devastating effects at the beginning of the Tribulation. This text predicts that Islam will reach its global goal with the restoration of a Caliphate (Islamic global dictator who will rule the world by the law of the Koran) during the opening months of the Tribulation. As a result, there will be a massive Islamic slaughter of one-fourth of the world’s population. [For more on this interpretation and application see Mike’s message #165: “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.”)
In recent years, in conjunction with the spread of radical Islam, Christians are being murdered and persecuted, causing millions of them to flee from their homes as a means of survival. Hudson Institute scholars, Paul Marshall, Lela Gilbert and Nina Shea, who have documented their findings in their new book, Persecuted, The Global Assault on Christians, state that Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world. They document that Christians are suffering in 133 nations. (The Jerusalem Post Christian Edition, “Covering for Islamic Cruelty,” July 2013, p. 28)
Raymond Ibrahim, a Coptic Orthodox Christian and scholar with the Middle East Forum, states: “Wherever and whenever Muslims are in power or getting more power, churches are outlawed, burned and bombed, while Bibles and crucifixes are confiscated and destroyed. Freedom of speech – to speak positively of Christianity or critically of Islam – is denied, often on pain of death. In many places, Christian women and children are routinely abducted, raped, and forced to convert to Islam.” (The Jerusalem Post Christian Edition, “Covering for Islamic Cruelty,” July 2013, p. 27) In his new book, Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians, Ibrahim “notes that in the early part of the 20th century, 20 percent of the Middle East was Christian. That number now stands at around 5 percent and is dwindling fast.” (The Jerusalem Post Christian Edition, “Covering for Islamic Cruelty,” July 2013, p. 27)
In light of this, the slaughter of professing Christians across the Middle East in the last few months is very significant. One of the main Islamic groups behind this bloodshed is the Islamic Brotherhood. It is this same group, founded in Egypt in 1928, that has as its main goal the establishment of the Caliphate once again. In Egypt alone, hundreds of Christians have been killed and over 60 churches burned to the ground in recent weeks. One of these churches was built in the 4th century.
Michael Snyder recently commented: “Over the past couple of days, we have witnessed some absolutely horrific examples of Islamic terror groups specifically targeting Christians and those from other non-Muslim religions. Sadly, this is not a new phenomenon. The recent events in Pakistan, Kenya and Egypt may have taken this persecution to a new level, but this is just the continuation of a trend that has been building for years. Unfortunately, Barak Obama does not seem too concerned about Islamic terrorism. In fact, he specifically directed that ‘all references to Islam’ be removed from terrorism training materials that the federal government uses.” (www.theendoftheamericandream.com[link no longer recommended], September 23, 2013)
It is also most alarming to note the Vatican’s response to all of this. Pope Francis, on the day after his installation as the new pope, “urged the Catholic Church to ‘intensify’ its dialogue with Islam and Muslim leaders to influence ‘all people in such a way that everyone can see in the other not an enemy … but a brother or sister.’” (The Jerusalem Post Christian Edition, “The Vatican and Islam,” July 2013, p. 44) This compromising and ecumenical position by the Vatican demonstrates that they will not oppose the march of Islam to become the global religion of the Tribulation Period.
It is very frightening to observe that the United States is focused upon the condemnation of Israel as the aggressor against the Palestinians, while ignoring the slaughter of thousands of Christians all over the Middle East. Furthermore, it seems that the world is ready to come to the aid of the rebels in Syria that are killing Syrian Christians and are promoting a global Islamic Caliphate. Israel Today reports that the Al-Qaeda rebels have vowed to slaughter Christians in Syria after the U.S. helps them liberate Syria from the Assad regime. (www.israeltoday.co.il, “Al-Qaeda Vows to Slaughter Christians after
U.S. Liberates Syria,’ September 12, 2013) This is not only shocking, but very revealing concerning the direction our world is moving. This trend is gaining momentum and is a definite birth pang of the Tribulation Period. Speaking of the Tribulation Period, Jesus warned His Jewish apostles: “ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.” (Matthew 24:9) Jesus also told His Jewish disciples: “The time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.” (John 16:2)
While all of these significant developments are escalating and intensifying, the entire world is rapidly moving toward an unprecedented global economic meltdown. Most Americans think that the economic downturn that took place in 2008 is history and that global markets are recovering and moving once again toward a health global economy. An examination of the real economic facts reveals that we are tediously standing on an economic cliff and are ready to plunge into a chasm of economic oblivion that the modern world has never experienced. This is significant because the Tribulation Period will begin with global hyperinflation that will force the average person to spend an entire day’s wage to buy one quart of wheat – the equivalent of two loaves of bread. (Revelation 6:5-6) Most Americans are not aware that this is already a reality for about one-half of the world’s population.
Looking at the Asian economy, both Japan and China are facing economic uncertainties. Japan’s economy is on the verge of an economic collapse. The total amount of the Japanese government’s debt is more than 211 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This debt is so large that the Japanese government is spending 51.5 percent of its tax revenue just to pay the interest on its debt. Private domestic debt in China has increased from $9 trillion in 2008 to $23 trillion today. (www.thethruthwins.com [no longer a valid link], September 17, 2013)
The European debt is still rapidly rising. Greece, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Spain, and Netherlands are all getting worse, not better. The collective Euro area’s debt ratio compared to its GDP has increased from 88.2 percent a year ago to 92.2 percent today. (www.thethruthwins.com [no longer a valid link], September 17, 2013)
However, the real threat of an economic meltdown is still present because of what is taking place in America. The U.S. debt is now approaching $17 trillion. The U.S. government debt per capita is more than that of Greece, Portugal, Ireland or Spain! In essence, every American citizen’s portion of their government’s debt is currently over $188,000. In addition to this, Americans are witnessing the approaching collapse of city and state governments. Most of these governments are in trouble because they can no longer fund pension programs that have been promised to retired employees. The Federal government is facing the same kind of scenario with Social Security. “It is being projected that the number of Americans on Social Security will rise from 57 million today to more than 100 million in 25 years.” (www.thethruthwins.com [no longer a valid link], September 17, 2013)
In reality, the American economy is more vulnerable to collapse today than it was in 2008. This is primarily due to trends within the U.S. banking system. Since 2008 there has been an alarming trend of six big banks swallowing up hundreds of smaller banks. Michael Snyder writes: “The too big to fail banks are now much, much larger than they were the last time they caused so much trouble. The six largest banks in the United States have gotten 37 percent larger over the past five years. Meanwhile, 1,400 smaller banks have disappeared from the banking industry during that time. What this means is that the health of JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley is more critical to the U.S. economy than ever before. If they were ‘too big to fail’ back in 2008, then now they must be ‘too colossal to collapse.’ Without these banks, we do not have an economy. The six largest banks control 67 percent of all U.S. banking assets, and Bank of America accounted for about a third of all business loans by itself last year. Our entire economy is based on credit, and these giant banks are at the very core of our system of credit. If these banks were to collapse, a brutal economic depression would be guaranteed. Unfortunately … these banks did not learn anything from 2008 and are being exceedingly reckless. They are counting on the rest of us bailing them out if something goes wrong, but that might not happen next time around.” (www.theeconomiccollapseblog.com, September 20, 2013)
The developments mentioned in this article are only a very small part of the overall picture of the intensifying conditions that are setting the stage for the beginning of the Tribulation Period. In light of what is happening and what the Bible projects into the future, our world is staring into the face of a horrific time. We are about to embark on an era of deception, wickedness, wars, revolutions and social upheaval on a level never experienced in the annals of human history. This will be magnified by the fact that there is a record 7 billion people living on this planet at this hour.
I will be the first one to admit that the mental consideration of all of this is very difficult to grasp. There is a part of all of us that wants to live in denial that we are near the end of this age and that our world is facing, perhaps in just a very short period of time, the horrors of the Tribulation Period.
We need to recall the message of the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3: “But of the times and season, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord [the Tribulation Period] so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they [the world] shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” In this text, the Spirit of God reminds all of us that when the final time comes, people will be oblivious to the world events that will bring sudden destruction upon their world, from which they will not escape. In the following verses of this text, Paul exhorts us to remind our fellow believers in Christ that we are not in spiritual darkness because of our Biblical world view. Our Lord exhorted His disciples to be watching world events so that they would know that their redemption is very near. (Luke 21:28)
In 1 Thessalonians 5:3-11, the Spirit of God directed the Apostle Paul to remind the church that when they see these things coming to pass that it is not a time to be spiritual lazy or asleep. It is a time to be serious about letting our light shine for the Lord Jesus. Furthermore, this should not create a spirit of doom and gloom for the believer. This is intended to “comfort” the church. God commands us to live in a spirit of joy as we come along side of our fellow believers and exhort them to look past all of the pain of the present age. We should remind them of the woman who is giving birth to a baby. The birth pangs will be painful. However, the precious hope that at the end of this pain she is going to have a baby should help her to endure the pain of childbearing. Likewise, what we are and will experience until Jesus comes will be painful. However, let us not forget that at some point in time our redemption will be complete and we will be suddenly and supernaturally ushered into the presence of our Lord Jesus in the twinkling of an eye. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)
“It will be worth it all when we see Jesus. Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ. One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrow will erase. So, bravely run the race, till we see Christ.”
Get ready to fly! We are going home!
The Gog and Magog Coalitions
According to Ezekiel 38-39, in the last days Russia will lead a coalition of Islamic nations in an attempted invasion of Israel. This coalition will include: Magog [Russia], Persia [Iran], Cush [the area of Ethiopia and Sudan], Put [Libya], and Gomer with the house of Togarmah [Turkey]. It is usually overlooked that there is another coalition of nations mentioned in Ezekiel 38:13 which will express concern that Russia and her Islamic allies are invading Israel. This verse mentions: “Sheba [Northern Arabia], and Dedan [Southern Arabia along the Persian Gulf], and the merchants of Tarshish [perhaps a reference to the European nations, especially Great Britain], with all the young lions…” [Some think this could refer to the former nations that were once a part of the of British Empire that surrounded the globe – the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and other nations in the free-world.] If our identification of the nations in both of these coalitions is correct, it is very significant to note what is happening in the Middle East at this time. It is apparent that the rearrangement of the nations that is taking place in what is called “the Arab Spring” is shaping these two coalitions.
Israelis are watching these developments in their Islamic neighborhood and are very concerned about the new alliances that are forming. “The political Middle East is being arranged around the religious fault-line that has run historically between Sunnis and Shi’ties. This is what is happening in Iraq, where Sunnis feel they are being taken over, this is what is happening in Bahrain, where the Shi’ites are on the defensive, and this is what is happening in Syria, where the Alawites [the political party of Assad] are allied with Lebanon’s and Iran’s Arab and Persian Shi’ites.
“Turkey is essentially aligning with Russia.” (The Jerusalem Post Christian Edition, August 2013, p. 200) In addition to this, “Iran is building a Red Sea naval base at Port Sudan facing the coast of Saudi Arabia. … a large-scale munitions production and distribution center for supplying Iran’s Middle East allies is going up in Sudan.” (www.debka.com, DEBKA file, September 24, 2013) So, the coalition that will invade Israel is already beginning to form.
What has happened in recent weeks concerning the global division over what to do about Syria reveals something about the other coalition that will be questioning the invading Shi’ite – Russian forces in the Gog and Magog invasion of Israel. Notice that the United States, some European countries, and the Sunni Islamic states of the Persian Gulf – the same group mentioned in Ezekiel 38:13 appealed to the United Nations concerning a military strike against Assad in Syria because of his use of chemical weapons upon his own people. It is apparent that Obama and his allies backed down from their threat of a strike against Syria because of the strength of those who opposed their plans – Russia, Iran and their Shi’ite friends.
China also opposed the attack upon Syria because of her friendship and economic cooperation with Iran. One cannot tell, but, perhaps the U.S. also decided to back away from a strike against Syria because China owns about $1.275 trillion of our national debt and Russia about $138 billion (collectively, about one-fourth of our national debt owned by foreigners). Should China and Russia decide to start dumping our debt because of a military strike against Syria, it could begin a trend that would bring about a collapse of our economy. Therefore, the weakness of the United States and her allies, in the Middle East is beginning to come into focus. This is of great concern to our allies in the Middle East. Our great friend and long-time ally, Israel is especially concerned because they know this makes them very vulnerable in their dangerous neighborhood.
More than ever before, we need to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and stand still and see the salvation of Israel. The God of Israel will defend His people in His land for His glory. The fireworks are about to begin and somewhere in the midst of all of this we will fly home to be with our Lord!
Get ready for the shout that will take us out!