God's Judgment During the Tribulation: From Theology Or Scripture?

 Bernard Pyron

I want to call attention to several New Testament Scriptures:

I Peter 4: 17 says ."For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"

 Judgment is a key word in I Peter 4: 17, because some commentaries suggest this may this may be only God's chastisement on his people. Judgment is Strong's Exhaustive Concordance number 2917 which means, "a decision, for or against crime - avenge, condemed, condemnation, damnation..."

Number 2917 is translated as damnation in Matthew 23: 15. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation (2917),"

 In Romans 2: 2 number 2917 is translated as judgment." But we are sure that the judgment (2917) of God is according to truth against them which commit such things."

"Having damnation (2917), because they have cast off their first faith." I Timothy 5: 12

"Of the doctrine of baptisms , and of laying of hands , and of resurrection of the dead , and of eternal judgment (2917).Hebrews 6: 2

 Revelation 17: 1 says "And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials , and talked with me , saying unto me , Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment (2917) of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters :" The Great Whore is false religion.

The next scripture is Matthew 24: 9-11 "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many."

 Luke 10: 19 is the next text I want to call attention to. "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." Taken literally, why would Christ give us, or some of us, the power to tread on literal snakes and scorpions? Serpents and vipers are used as metaphors in Scripture (Matthew 3: 7; Matthew 23: 33, Luke 3:7). Scorpions appear figuratively in Ezekiel 2: 6, where God says about the scorpions, briers and thorns "be not afraid of their words.." Did you ever hear a scorpion or a thorn speak? People are being called scorpions. Scorpions appear figuratively in Revelation 9: 3, 10 - and serpents are found figuratively in Revelation 9: 19. And who is given power to tread on figurative serpents and scorpions - in the Tribulation?

 Next look at Luke 21: 16 "And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death." "Some" has been added to the King James English in Luke 21: 16, because the Greek word "tis", or "men", meaning some is not in the Greek Textus Receptus, from which the KJV is translated. The Textus Receptus says "paradoqhsesqe de {BUT YE WILL BE DELIVERED UP} kai {EVEN} upo {BY} gonewn < {PARENTS} kai {AND} adelfwn {BRETHREN} kai {AND} suggenwn {RELATIONS} kai {AND} filwn {FRIENDS,} kai {AND} qanatwsousin {THEY WILL PUT TO DEATH [SOME] ex {FROM AMONG} umwn {YOU,} In the Greek it reads "...and they will put to death from among you."

The Westcott-Hort 1881 Greek text, which is the basis for most modern New Testament translations, has no "tis" in the Greek. It says "paradoqhsesqe de kai upo gonewn kai adelfwn kai suggenwn kai filwn kai qanatwsousin ex umwn" It says exactly the same thing in Greek as the Textus Receptions - for this verse. No basis for adding "some."

They will put to death not "some" but from among you. You implies Christians, those who profess to be Christians, not from among the entire world.

 "And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say:" Luke 12: 11 The reference to synagogues might be seen as Jewish synagogues. Synagogues is Strong's number 4864, meaning "an assemblage of persons, a Jewish synagogue, by analogy, a Christian church, assembly, congregation, synagogue." Sunagoge in the Greek, or synagogue, can mean a Christian church. Magistrates probably refers to judges, to whom Christians are brought on some kind of charge, such as blasphemy under the Noahide laws or hate speech laws.

 John 16: 2 adds that "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service," Synagogues here is from Strong's number 656, meaning, "excommunicated." The so called protestant churches will kick Christians out of their churches because these Christians no longer conform to the theologies of the churches. The last part of John 16:2 is significant, "...yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service."

The serpents in Revelation 9: 18-19 are responsible for the killing of the one third of the people of God in Zechariah 13: 8-9 who come through a fire (tribulation) call on the Lord and he accepts them. The group of the Sixth Trumpet Judgment who cause the Christians to be killed think they are doing God a service by their actions against the saints, who they consider to be their enemies.

 Revelation 9: 18 says "By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone which issued out of their mouths." In verse 15 it says "And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men." The fire, the smoke, the brimstone and the four angels are figuratively telling us that the group identified as the serpents are demon possessed.

 The third part of men who are killed in verse 15 are not one third of all people on earth at the time of the Sixth Trumpet Judgment. To be consistent with Zechariah 13: 8-9, Luke 21: 16, Luke 12: 11 and John 16: 2 the one third who are caused to be killed by the serpents are from those who are the people of God.

 Christ called the Pharisees of his time "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" The serpents in Revelation 9: 18-19 are the Pharisees of the Church when this comes to fulfillment.

There is another verse in Luke 21 I want to emphasize. This is Luke 21: 36 "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." This says that some Christians during the period of the Tribulation will be found worthy by the Lord to escape these things which are coming on God's people, and to some extent also on the earth. And these people who are found worthy to escape the judgments during the Tribulation are not followers of Hal Lindsey or Tim LaHaye who think they will be raptured off the earth before the Tribulation judgments begin.

There is an Old Testament text I want to throw in. This is Daniel 11: 33. "And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days." Both parts of this text are important. First, those who understand, that is, who have the truth of Jesus Christ, will teach some other group who before did not have that truth. Second, the group that receives this instruction in the truth are to fall by the sword, meaning they will be killed, by captivity, meaning they will be put in prison, and by spoil, meaning their money and possessions will be taken from them. Flame may mean some kinds of severe trials these people undergo.

A Christian who believes that the Tribulation period will involve God's judgment upon the wicked world and not on the Church has very likely learned this from man made theology, from the traditions of men. Scripture teaches that the Tribulation is about God's judgment on the apostate Church.

 II Thessalonians 2: 10-12, on the importance of having a love for the truth, would help us understand why God's judgment is upon the Church during the Tribulation. For want of a better word, the teaching that the Tribulation will be about God's judgment on the Church for false doctrines comes out of "Remnant Theology."

 Ezekiel 5: 1-12, Zechariah 13: 8-9 and Revelation 16: 19 teach that the people of God are to be divided into three groups. Zechariah 13: 8-9 says two thirds are to be cut off and will die, but one third will come through a fire (Tribulation) will call on the Lord and he will accept them. Look again at the players of the Trumpet Judgments in Revelation 9, the scorpions and the serpents. There are two groups in Revelation 9 who persecute a third group. The scorpions can also be called the locusts. The grasshoppers in Amos 7: 1, Strong's number 1462, can be translated also as locusts, and in this text the locusts are used figuratively as part of God's judgment. Bernard