Great
Tribulation --- What is its Purpose?
One can learn about the
purpose of something by observing what it produces. For instance, when people go into a grocery store, they come out
with groceries. When people go into a
gas station, they come out with a tank full of gas. When people go into a hospital, they hopefully come out in better
health. When they go to school, they
come out hopefully with some education.
When people go into great
tribulation, they come out having washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb.
After these things I
looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every
nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and
before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands
. . . Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are
clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come
from?" I said to him, "My lord,
you know." And he said to me, "These are the
ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:9, 13-14)
Hence we can say that a
purpose of great tribulation is to make a people who have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Just to make sure that we understand that these who come out of great
tribulation are the church (at least some of the church), we need to read
Jesus’ warning to His church at Thyatira:
'I gave her time
to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. 'Behold, I will
throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her
deeds. 'And I will kill her children
with pestilence, and all the churches will know
that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of
you according to your deeds.'
(Revelation 2:21-23)
So we see the church can
find herself in great tribulation if she does not repent. Notice that Jesus says that each one in the
churches will receive in that time according to their (our?) deeds. There is no way to avoid this truth. People who wash their robes and make them
white in the blood of the Lamb are by definition the church. And it is those in particular who need
cleansing. They may not be the whole
church, but it is a large number of the church for they are described as
“without number”.
It seems like great
tribulation can be compared to a washing machine. You go in dirty; you come out clean. And from the comment “according to their deeds”, it would seem
that there are different cycles; i.e., “power wash”, “normal cycle”, and
perhaps if one is not so dirty, “gentle cycle.” God will only give to each what is needed in order to emerge
clean.
Why all of a sudden at
the end of the age is there this thing called “Great Tribulation”? I think it is because Jesus is coming back
for a bride without spot or wrinkle, and the only way He can get such a
cleansed and holy bride is to put His saints through great tribulation. We have the promises of God with which to
become holy and set apart from the world.
But we also know that the flesh fights that sanctification every step of
the way.
I heard a Bible teacher
on TV once say that if Jesus puts His bride through great tribulation, the
Bible would have to be rewritten. The
idea was repugnant to him. The obvious
letter of scripture can be completely ignored in favor of some doctrine that
pleases man, but is a total lie. The
truth is that Jesus can only get a bride by putting her through great
tribulation, because it is only through great tribulation that His bride can be
made ready.
Is there a way to escape
great tribulation? It would seem
so. There is a company of believers
seen in heaven before the onset of great tribulation who are called first
fruits of the greater harvest to come.
These are found at the beginning of Revelation chapter 14. The final harvest comes at the end of that
chapter. Why do they escape great
tribulation? Because they are pure and
holy and no lie is found in them and they follow the Lamb wherever He
goes. In other words, they hear His
voice and obey and they have applied the promises of God to their lives. When God said, “Be holy, for I am holy”,
they took Him seriously. Satan consequently
has nothing in them in which to gain a claw hold. They are already clean and they don’t have to go through the
washing of tribulation. That should be
a lesson to us all. We can apply the
promises of God to our lives now, or He will take us to the woodshed and apply
the scrub brush for us.
There may be other
purposes for great tribulation, but considering that God has created all things
in order to demonstrate His wisdom through the church and this is His eternal
purpose in Jesus Christ, I venture to say that purification of the church is
the most important purpose and the very reason for which it is created. We cannot be those through whom God
demonstrates His wisdom if we are trapped and mired in sin. There will be no victory without holiness, and
God’s intent is for His church to be victorious because it will be to His
glory!
V. Kuenzi
http://www.restoringthevision.com