The Tribulation is a seven-year period where the earth’s inhabitants will experience calamity and suffering like never before. The Tribulation will begin when the Antichrist rises to power, confirms a seven-year covenant with Israel, and ends after Jesus returns at His second coming.
Although the Antichrist will be in earthly power during the Tribulation, God will be pouring out His wrath against sin, evil, and wickedness upon the earth’s inhabitants during this period. There will be unmatched wars, famines, plagues, and natural disasters the world has never experienced before.
During the Tribulation, the Antichrist will perform many counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and carry out every deceptive act of evil. He will suffer a fatal wound but be healed or resurrected, which could refer to his person or kingdom (Revelation 13:3). Additionally, he will be joined by another satanic figure, the false prophet. This individual will carry out the desires and exercise the authority of the Antichrist. He will draw the world’s attention to the Antichrist and cause them to worship him by performing great and miraculous counterfeit signs.
The Antichrist will rule the world during this time, having received great power and authority from Satan to exercise dominion over every tribe, people, language, and nation. He will receive worship from around the world and require everyone to receive “the mark of the beast” upon their forehead or right hand. This mark will be needed to buy or sell within the world’s commercial system. Given the necessity of this mark for commerce and the technological advances of modern times, many speculate this “mark” will be an implanted microchip containing each person’s data and banking information. Everyone on the earth will be required to receive this mark, and those who refuse it will be killed. Those taking this mark will offer worship to the Antichrist and will, in turn, not be saved.
Many will place their faith in Jesus and be born-again during this time; however, most of them will be martyred for their faith and refusal to worship the beast. Nonetheless, there will be a group of 144,000 Jews among those saved who will be sealed by God during the Tribulation. This group comprises 12,000 Jews from the 12 tribes of Israel who have the name of Jesus and God the Father written on their foreheads. It is unclear whether this seal is God’s divine protection during the Tribulation so they can serve as His ministers of the gospel or merely intended to describe their salvation itself.
The Tribulation ends after the Antichrist gathers the kings of the earth to launch a final attack upon Jerusalem. This is the Battle of Armageddon. Jesus will then return to the earth as a Man of war, along with His army of glorified believers from heaven. The Antichrist will attempt to wage war against Him but will be captured, along with the false prophet. These two will be thrown alive into the Lake of Fire, and his soldiers will be killed with the sword that comes from Jesus’ “mouth.”
Following that victory, Satan will be seized, bound with a great chain, and thrown into the bottomless pit for 1,000 years. Jesus will set up His Millennial Kingdom on the earth to rule and reign throughout this period. He will govern the believers who survived the Great Tribulation and those born to them during these 1,000 years.
(See the Scripture References link at the top of the page.)
