Tribulation, Essay Example

Tribulation is generally a time of grief, trouble, oppression, affliction or sorrow that one may encounter in a certain period of time. Followers of God will go through this kind of trying time where they will be prosecuted all over the world but are expected to be strengthened and purified by it. This short period of time is also referred to as tribulation. Jesus, is coming soon and during the period preceding His actual coming, is when so many things will happen which will mostly be negative things against the devoted Christians. Tribulation could be in the form of having Christians locked up in a cell or prison where they could even be tortured.

One might wonder why Christians would go through pain in order to prove devotion to Christ. The truth is that as painful as it could be, tribulation is like an exam for a student which should be passed well so as to go to the next level. Christians who pass their tribulation and still remain strong enough are believed to be blessed because that is what Jesus said as documented in Matthew 5:11 that “God will bless you when people insult you and mistreat you, and tell all kinds of evil lies about you because of me”(Contemporary English Version).  It has been noted that that over time, in the Muslim countries, Christians are prosecuted in very gruesome ways unlike in other countries which are not comprised of just Muslims who are more lenient.

Tribulation is expected to occur before the end times and is expected to last for seven years. There will also be events that will occur before the tribulations which are also referred to as pre-tribulations. Christians who will be alive by then will experience rapture. Rapture is a word that is used to describe the disappearance of Christians in the thin air which is believed that they go to heaven. The tribulations will therefore affect only those who will become Christians after rapture since the other Christians will have vanished due to rapture.

There are different versions of rapture. The first is what is discussed above where rapture will occur before tribulation. The other believes are that rapture will occur during tribulation but halfway through while there are others who believe that Christians will be received by Christ into the Kingdom of God but will not go to heaven. Unlike the other two believes the last one focuses on the earth as the meeting point of Christ and His followers. Other things that Jesus warns about are: false prophets, who will claim to be Jesus and will fool many people, there will also be wars and threats of wars among individuals and even nations. Many people will give up and hate each other. People are however encouraged to keep being faithful until the end and they will be saved.

Luke 21:8-19 also explains other things that will happen then and some of them include great earthquakes, people will suffer from terrible diseases and will starve to death in many places. People will also be arrested and punished, tried in their synagogues and put to jail. Christians will be placed on trial before kings and governors to testify about their faith and Jesus promises to give wisdom on what to say such that no enemy will be able to oppose the believers in any way. Some people will be killed and betrayed by their close friends, brothers, parents and the other members of the family.

Different books of the bible explain what will happen after tribulation. For instance, Matthew 24:29-31 states that “Right after those days of suffering, the sun will become dark and the moon will no longer shine. The stars will fall and the powers in the sky will be shaken.” Then a sign will appear in the sky and there will be the Son of Man. All nations on earth will weep when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with powers and great glory. At the sound of a loud trumpet, he will send His angels to bring His chosen ones together from all over the earth.