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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Purpose of the Great Tribulation
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:29,30)
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days."
The event described above is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The "tribulation of those days" is the great tribulation.
The coming of the Lord will take place "after the tribulation of those days."
In verse three of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, the Lord's disciples asked him, "What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?"
The Greek word used for "coming" is parousia, the same Greek term used for "coming" by the Apostle Paul in I Thessalonians 4:15. Every time Paul speaks in First and Second Thessalonians of the Lord's "coming" he employs the Greek term parousia. This is important to understand because of the current "any-moment pre-tribulation rapture" heresy that views I Thessalonians 4:13-17 as a special secret withdrawal of Gentile believer in order to avoid suffering.
"What shall be the sign of your parousia and of the end of the age?" the disciples inquired.
Jesus answered that His coming (parousia ) would not be a secret but would be as the lightning that shines across the sky (Matthew 24:27).
Then the Lord went on to explain that immediately following the tribulation of those days there would be awesome signs in the heavens. After that, the nations of the earth would see the Son of Man coming and the elect would be gathered together from one end of the heavens to the other.
And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:31)
"They shall gather together his elect."
Compare:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (I Thessalonians 4:17)
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, (II Thessalonians 2:1)
The "tribulation of those days" is described in Matthew 24:21 as "great tribulation, such as was not since the creation of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."
The common teaching of today is that the Lord Jesus will descend from Heaven and catch up a so-called Gentile Church to Himself before the great tribulation. This doctrine is not found in the twenty-fourth chapter of the Book of Matthew, which may be the main passage of the entire Scriptures concerning the return of Christ. The "rapture" doctrine as it is taught today is not found in any passage of the New Testament or the Old Testament.
In fact, the "any-moment pre-tribulation rapture" is one of the false "secret appearings" against which Jesus warned us. It is to be rejected by the saints. It is error and leads to further error.
To be continued.