Some argue that the Book of Revelation predicts a Great Tribulation - it doesn't, just as it never refers to The Antichrist. The word "tribulation" only appears five times in the Book of Revelation, each time it references tribulation in general and not as a specific event. Rev 7:14 is often quoted as supporting the nation - "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" - but that is clearly a reference to tribulation in general. Note that the original Greek does not say that they came out of "The Great Tribulation" but that they came out of great tribulation - it is a reference to the state of their life experience, not the name or description of a period of time they were living in. The surrounding verses indicate that the "they" referred to here is everyone who received God's salvation - they are a vast crowd no one could number - not a select few or the small proportion of the total number of redeemed who would be alive during one particular seven year period.
Chapters 24 and 25 of the Gospel of Matthew have always appeared somewhat contradictory to me whenever I have used them in my studies on the End Times, particularly when trying to determine whether or not Christians will live through The Great Tribulation. I have heard all the arguments for and against it and I must admit that I found them all so confusing, I eventually gave up trying to work it all out. Then a few years ago, I felt to go over some of the scriptures that I have had trouble understanding over the years, but this time I would ignore any previous teaching or pre-conceived ideas I had as to what those scriptures were saying. With this new and fresh approach, I used a Lexicon to go back to the original Hebrew or Greek words to determine what was really being said, thereby avoiding any changes in word meanings that have occurred over the years or mis-translations, whether deliberate or accidental. I tried this method of analysis on Matthew 24 and 25 - the only specific reference to The Great Tribulation in the Bible, and it finally makes sense. I share my findings with you here.
Reading the two chapters, we discover that they begin by the disciples saying to Jesus how impressive the Temple in Jerusalem was. He responded by saying that one day it would be torn down, with not a single stone left upon another. Surprised, and perhaps disturbed by this comment, the disciples responded by asking Him two questions:
1. When will this take place? and
2. What will be the sign of His coming at the end of the age?
Chapters 24 and 25 document the answers to these two questions. It is most likely that the disciples, not yet fully understanding that the kingdom Jesus was about to establish was not an earthly kingdom requiring the overthrowing of the Romans, thought the these two events would occur simultaneously, but Jesus knew differently and answered the questions one at a time, addressing first the question of when the temple will be razed.
Their question was specifically the timing of the destruction of the temple - "when will this take place?" - so His answer is about the events surrounding the destruction of the temple and nothing else. History (and the lack of a temple in the modern city of Jerusalem) tells us that the destruction of the temple has already taken place. Logic tells us, as we read these verses today, that these events that Jesus describes here must therefore have already taken place, and cannot be events that have yet to occur.
Chapter 24 verses 4 to 31 record Jesus' answer to the question. He lists a chronological series of events that will take place that will culminate in the destruction of the temple in a time of great tribulation. As the temple is no more, then history should show us whether or not it all came to pass as He said it would. It does.
From verse 29 to 31 he tells what will happen in the aftermath of the tribulation; in verses 31 and 32 he tells a parable to show the importance of reading the signs of what is happening, then concludes the answer to the first question by giving the time frame in which all the events surrounding the destruction of the temple that he has just recounted will take place (verse 34).
He states that "This generation will not pass until all these things taken together take place". Just as we refer to a period of 100 years as a century, in Bible times they referred to a period of forty years as a generation. If you choose to believe that Jesus was referring to a 40 years period when he used the word "generation", he was telling His disciples that everything listed from verse 4 to 31 was going to have taken place by the year 73AD, since he was speaking to them in the year 33AD. If you choose to believe he was referring to the lifespan of the people alive on the day in which he spoke those words, He was saying that they will have all taken place by the time the last person still alive at the time he was speaking had died. Either way, they will have taken place at the very least some 1,800 years ago.
So what were these events that Jesus said were going to take place over 1,800 years ago? Essentially, it is what we refer to as The Great Tribulation, in which there would be kingdoms rising against kingdoms, troubles, pestilences, famines, earthquakes, people being put to death for their faith, false prophets claiming to be the Messiah, people fleeing to the mountains of Judea etc. Jesus said that all these things were going to take place around 1,800 years ago, which makes me wonder why so many Christians are quibbling over whether or not the Church will go through the Great Tribulation. We can't live through an event that has already happened.
If the Great Tribulation did happen within 40 years of Jesus predicting it would, then history should be able to verify this. It does. Historians of the time, particularly a scholar named Josephus, recorded these events. Josephus tells that the Masada, a mountain near the Dead Sea, was first fortified by Johnathan the High Priest. A Roman garrison appears to have been stationed there from 6 to 66AD when, at the outbreak of the Jewish War, Menahem, son of Judah the Galilean who was the head of a band of Zealots, captured Masada. After Menahem was murdered in Jerusalem by Jewish rivals, his nephew Eleazar ben Yair escaped to Masada where he became its "tyrant" until its fall in 73AD. For three and a half years, Masada served as a place of refuge for all who were in danger of capture.
After the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD. Masada remained the only point of Jewish resistance. The few surviving Jewish fighters managed to travel across Judean mountains and joined the defenders of Masada, which became the rebels' base for raiding operations. In 72AD. the Roman governor Flavius Silva resolved to suppress this outpost of resistance. He marched against Masada at the head of the Tenth Legion, its auxiliary troops, and thousands of Jewish war prisoners, total ten to fifteen thousand people. The troops prepared for a long siege; they established eight camps at the base of the Masada rock and surrounded it with a high wall, leaving no escape for rebels.
Then the Romans started to build an assault ramp to the top; thousands of slaves, many of them Jewish, have done that in nine months. After the ramp was complete, the Romans succeeded to move the battering ram up and to direct it against the wall. They broke the stone wall, but the defenders managed to built a wall of earth and wood that was flexible and hard to break. Eventually Romans managed to destroy it by fire, and decided to enter the fortress the next day.
At night Eleazar gathered all the defenders and persuaded them to kill themselves rather than fall into the hands of Romans. The people set fire to their personal belongings, and then ten people chosen by a lot killed everyone else and then committed suicide. In the morning Romans entered a silent fortress and found only dead bodies. Two women and five children survived the mass suicide by hiding in a cave; they came out to Romans. Josephus describes all the dramatic details of the last hours of the Masada defenders as told by these survivors. All Jews who had not managed to "escape to the mountains" before the fall of Jerusalem were taken captive by the Romans. They accompanied the Romans back to their homeland and from there to the occupied territories of the Roman Empire (northern Europe) as slaves.
It is worth noting at this juncture that 73AD, the year in which the rout of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judea was completed by the Romans, is exactly 40 years after the year in which Jesus prophesied the event. The prophet Daniel predicted a Great Tribulation in the 70th and final week of his prophesy about Israel. It is generally accepted by scholars that this week (seven days) refers to a seven-year period. It is also worth noting that the violent quelling of the Jewish rebels that resulted in a 'Great tribulation' for Israel, not only took place within 40 years of Jesus predicting it, but it lasted from 66AD to 73AD, a period of seven years, and that it took a turn for the worse at the half way point (3 1/2 years).
Now we will examine the events that Jesus stated would occur and compare his predictions with recorded history to verify their accuracy.
"Many will come in my name claiming 'I am the Messiah' and lead many astray."
Between the death of Jesus and the time of the invasion of Jerusalem, many Jews set up themselves to be deliverers and redeemers of the people of Israel: who had each of them their followers in great numbers, whom they imposed upon, and brought to destruction. Of this sort was Theudas (not he that Gamaliel speaks of in Acts 5:36) who,, when Cuspius Fadus was governor of Judea; persuaded a great number to follow him to the river Jordan, which he promised to divide, by a word of command, and give them a passage over; and thereby, as the historian observes "he deceived many".
There was another called the Egyptian, mentioned in Acts 21:38 who Josephus records made an uproar, and led four thousand cut-throats into the wilderness. This same man persuaded thirty thousand men to follow him to Mount Olivet, promising a free passage into the city; but he being vanquished by Felix, then governor of Judea; fled, and many of his followers were killed and taken. There were others also besides these who set up for deliverers, who called themselves by the name of the Messiah. Among these was Simon Magus, who proclaimed expressly that he was the word of God, and the Son of God, which were known names of the Messiah; Dositheus the Samaritan, asserted himself to be Christ; Menander affirmed, that no man could be saved, unless he was baptized in his name.
"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars"
The word 'wars' used here by Jesus is more accurately translated as commotions, insurrections, or seditions, and in that period of time stated by Jesus there were many such uprisings by Jews against the Romans and their governors that pushed the Romans into destroying Jerusalem. Under Cureanus the Roman governor, a sedition was raised on the day of the passover, in which many perished; after that, in another incident, many were destroyed by cut-throats: with others in Ascalon, Ptolemais, Alexandria and Damascus. Much unrest in Israel was stirred up when the Jews were told that the Roman emperor intended to put up his image in their temple.
"for all these things must come to pass; but the end is not yet"
Jesus says He is not meaning the end of the world that they had just asked Him about, which is why He had to qualify that point, but rather, the end of Jerusalem, and the temple, the end of the Jewish state; which were to continue, and did continue after these disturbances in it.
"Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom"
During the forty year period after Jesus spoke these words, the Jewish nation rose up against others, the Samaritans, Syrians, and Romans: there were great commotions in the Roman empire, between Otho and Vitellius, and Vitellius and Vespasian. Claudius Caesar made war on Britain, which no Roman since Gaius (Julius) Caesar had attempted to attack. It was a period of great instability in the Roman Empire; history records that every single nation bar none across the then known world experienced war or internal revolt during that period. Never in the history of the world before or since has the majority of the people on the earth been at war with each other. Today, only 2% of the people of the world live in nations that are at war with another nation. In 67AD the Romans rose up against the Jews to quell the rebellious uprisings once and for all, destroying their temple in 70AD, completing the obliteration of Israel as a nation in 73AD as Jesus and Daniel had accurately prophesied.
"There shall be famines and pestilences"
In Claudius Caesar's time, there were a number of famines, one of which was foretold by Agabus, and is mentioned in Acts 11:28. Another occurred while Jerusalem was besieged, and before its utter ruin, as related by Josephus.
"and earthquakes in various places"
In the writings of the first century historian Tacitus a description of the conditions in A.D. 51 in Rome read: "This year witnessed many prodigies signs or omens ... including repeated earthquakes." Josephus accounts that an earthquake in Judea was of such a magnitude that "the constitution of the universe was confounded for the destruction of men." He also wrote that earthquakes were "a common calamity", and indicated that God Himself had brought them about for a special purpose. Then there is the book of Acts that records "a great earthquake that shook the foundations of the prison house" (Acts 16:26).
There were earthquakes in Crete, Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, Samos, Laodicea, Hierapolis (totally destroyed in 17AD, shaken again in 60AD, rebuilding commenced in 70AD), Colosse, Phrygia (totally destroyed in 63AD), Campania, Rome, and Judea. Paul started churches at Colosse and Hierapolis. However, these two cities, along with Laodicea, suffered a great earthquake and was totally destroyed in 60AD. Laodicea was rebuilt soon after the earthquake. This major time of geological instability in the region came to an end with the eruption of Mt Versuvius on 24th and 25th August 79AD, burying Pompeii in ash and cinders and covering Herculaneum in mud as hard as rock.
"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted"
The Jews, continuing in their obstinacy and unbelief, often delivered Christians up to the civil magistrates, to be scourged and imprisoned by them; either to their own sanhedrim, as were Peter and John; or to the Roman governors, Gallio, Festus, and Felix, as was the Apostle Paul.
"And shall kill you"
The two James', Peter, Paul, and all the apostles, excepting John, suffered martyrdom before the destruction of Jerusalem.
"And many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many"
Numerous people are recorded both historically and in the New Testament as having taught heretical principles. It was the unrest caused by these so-called prophets that led to the Romans sending in their troups to stamp out insurrection in 67AD. These include Simon Magus, Ebion, and Cerinthus, who denied the deity and real humanity of Christ; Carpocrates, and the Gnostics, his followers; the Nicolaitans; Hymcneus; and Philetus.
"And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world"
It is understood that by the time of the death of the last apostle, every country in the then-known world had been reached by the Gospel in some way, just as Jesus had instructed his followers to do.
"The abomination of desolation"
By the time the Romans attacked Jerusalem in 67 AD to quell the Judean uprising, they had already erected images of Caesar in the temple (the abomination) but at that time they razed the temple to the ground, stripping the building of anything of value and leaving it in ruins. More significantly, when the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, its altar was desecrated by Jews. A group of insurrectionists against Rome holed up in the temple, which had huge walls around its courts, and used it for a military fortress. That, in itself, would have been considered an abomination by any Jew who cared about his religion, but it got much worse than that. As armaments of various kinds were hurled over the walls by the Romans and people inside died, these insurrectionists piled the corpses on the temple altar.
According to the Jewish historian, Josephus, the dripping bodies filled the gutters around the sacrificial altar with human blood. Now, that was an abomination! The religious laws that God had given to Moses made it clear that no human blood was ever to be shed inside his temple. In fact, the rule was so strict that a woman in her period was not allowed into the temple because she might drip blood onto its pavement stones. Neither could anyone with an open wound enter the temple. God gave that command in order to put an absolute end to the pagan practice of human sacrifice, bringing into question why God would demand the sacrificial death of His son as an atonement for sin, but that's for another study to examine. Now, here was the altar itself piled with bodies and dripping with human blood that overflowed the gutters and collected in puddles in the temple court, truly "an abomination of desolation".
"flee into the mountains"
Masada is a mountain near the Dead Sea where, in 66AD at the outbreak of the Jewish War, Menahem, son of Judah the Galilean, led his band of Zealots who had escaped from Jerusalem and captured a Roman fortress on Masada, making it the place of the Jews' last stand against the Romans. After the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD Masada remained the only point of Jewish resistance and it was to it that those who managed to escape the Romans fled. It became the rebels' base for raiding operations until it, too, was taken in 73AD.
"For then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world, to this time, no, nor ever shall be"
This event was the only time in Jewish history that that temple was destroyed by being razed to the ground with no stone left on top of another, as Jesus had predicted. No attack on Israel before or since has had such a devastating effect. The Jewish religious structure of scribes, Pharasees etc, crumbled and eventually disappeared, and has remained that way for 1,848 years until the re-creation of the state of Israel in 1948. A multitude of captives were carried away by Titus and glutted the slave-markets of the Roman Empire and it was at this time that the dispersion of thousands of Jews throughout northern Europe occurred.
Many Jews, particularly those in the coastal communities who surrendered to the Romans, were spared and Jewish settlement of the area remained, but with the power and authority of the established religious order gone. There is no record of God even having any further communication with the Jews via prophets from that time on. Jesus says very clearly that the tribulation he was referring to would take place in the lifetimes of the people who were listening to him when He spoke those words (Matt 24: 34). He also said that there will never be another tribulation like this one (Matt 24: 21). Thus, to believe that the Great Tribulation Jesus spoke of is yet to come, or that some other tribulation of a similar magnitude or description will occur before the world ends, is to brand Jesus a liar on both counts.
"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders"
One Barcochab who survived the attack was later proclaimed the Messiah by Akiba; upon which a Roman army was sent against him, and a place called Bitter was besieged, and taken. He and a prodigious number of Jews were destroyed. One of his followers pretended to show signs and sights; and Barcochab made as if flame came out of his mouth, Many of the Jewish doctors in these times, and following, gave themselves up to sorcery, and the magic art; and many of them were to be (Myonb Mydmwlm), "expert in wonders".
"Where there is a corpse, there the eagles will flock together"
The disciples knew all too well that the symbol of the occupiers of their country - The Romans - was the eagle, and that the Romans would be picking over the the corpse of Judea after it fell. History shows that is exactly what happened.
Jesus stated in verse 34 that "this generation will not pass away" until all the events listed in verses 4 to 28 would take place and history records that all the events did in fact take place as Jesus said they would. As the Great Tribulation is listed as one of those events that has already occurred, there is no point in trying to determine whether or not we will live through it - the Great Tribulation has already been and gone over 1,800 years ago.
The only parts of the predictions Jesus gave, for which there is no historical evidence that they happened, are those recorded in verses 29 to 31, they being the events that were to occur immediately after the Great Tribulation is over. There are no records of a period of time where the sun, moon and stars are darkened, or of any sign about Jesus (note Jesus said 'sign of the Son of Man, not 'sign of the coming of the Son of Man') being seen, nor the gathering of God's elect by angels.
One could be excused for believing these events might occur at some later date, except for the fact that Jesus stated they would occur 'immediately after the tribulation of those days'. For that same reason, Jesus could not have been referring to a rapture in the Last Days or the Last Judgement either.
The preceding chapter (Matthew 23) and verse 28 gives vital clues. The conversation between Jesus and his disciples was precipitated by a visit to the Temple, during which Jesus made a scathing attack on the Scribes and Pharisees. His words in chapter 23 are a pronunciation of judgement on them; His reference to a fallen body in verse 28 is clearly about them, their fate and the religious order they presided over, just as verse 8 speaks of the birth pains of the replacement order God was about to put in place. Though the translators of the scriptures have inserted a chapter break between the two conversations, the text shows that in reality it was one continuous conversation.
Jesus always saw the spiritual as well as the physical - many times this confused the disciples who only saw the natural and could not equate what Jesus was saying to it. Here Jesus is doing it again; he sees the destruction of the temple during the great tribulation spoken of in verse 21 as both a physical and a spiritual act, so the reference to the sun, moon and stars 'going out' would be His reference to the close of the spiritual era of the Old Testament. After all, the glory of God which filled the tabernacle was manifested as a light described as being as bright as the sun, which shone in the holy place as a symbol of God's presence. The disciples knew this, as did the Scribes always referred to it as such. Since God was removing Himself from the temple - Jesus had just said that a few minutes earlier (Chapter 23 verses 38 and 39) - it is obvious what He meant by the the light going out.
The ceremonial law and Jewish festivals that the scribes and Pharasees presided over were regulated by the observance of the moon. From the time of the destruction of the Temple, those observances ceased and to this day have not been revived, thus the moon ceased to shed its light on the religious observances of the day. In Biblical times, stars were used to determine direction. The 'stars falling from the sky' may well be the spiritual guides of that time - the scribes and Pharasees - both falling from God's favour in accordance with Jesus' pronunciation in the previous chapter, and falling from a position of being able to give spiritual guidance to the people.
The scribes and Pharasees were seen as 'stars' lighting the way, and if that were so, this is how Jesus' comments would have been understood. Read in the original Greek, the phrase "and the powers of the Heavens will be shaken" literally translates as, "And the power and authority of God (the powers of the Heavens) will be moved around from one location to another (shaken)". If they didn't follow what Jesus had been talking about before, they would have had little doubt about what He was referring to upon hearing that!
If you are not convinced, be aware that when Jesus said "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken" in Mat 24:29 he was in fact quoting the Old Testament - from Isa 13:10 which refers to the destruction of Babylon. Jesus was familiar with the writings of the Old Testament prophets and often quoted them in support of His teachings, thus Jesus was likening the events about to happen as being like the fall of Babylon.
Isaiah shows that at the fall of Babylon, a new spiritual era will be ushered in for God's people, that replaced the old contaminated era. Thus Jesus is saying that with the destructiuon of the temple and the religious institution it represented, a new spiritual era will be ushered in. That is exaclty what happened - the Christian era was born. It was the "new and living way" which replaced the old method of communication between man and God via Temple worship with direct access to The Father through The Son.
Consider also what verse 30 is really saying about the sign of the Son of Man appearing in the sky and the son of man coming on the clouds of Heaven. This can be determined by examining the meanings of the original Greek words used in it. According to the Greek Lexicon, their exact meaning in the context in which they were spoken are as follows:
Coming: revelation of things that were previously known or understood.
Cloud: a manifestation of God's presence, as in the cloud that guided the Children of Israel to the promised land (see Exodus 19:9).
Power: strength by virtue of one's nature.
Glory: one's position after achieving one's purpose.
Redemption: bought back.
Sign: indicator, evidence by which one is distinguished from another, or identified.
Appear: to allow to be seen.
See: identify and recognise its identity
Heavens: universe (great expanse including heaven, earth and hell), as opposed to the earth's atmosphere (the sky) or the spiritual domain of God.
Using those meanings, verse 30 is literally saying: "Then the evidence by which Jesus will be distinguished and identified will be allowed to be seen in heaven, earth and hell, and when they see that evidence, all the scattered tribes of Israel will mourn and lament as they recognise the identity of Jesus revealed in a way that was not previously understood or known to them, in a manifestation of God's presence, and his strength by virtue of His nature, and his position after achieving His purpose."
Using the same meaning of the original words in Greek, The Gospel of Luke's version of what Jesus said (chapter 21 verse 27 and 28) reads thus: "And then the people whose hearts failed them for fear of what was to come shall observe Jesus being revealed in a way previously obscured from them, in a manifestation of God's presence, with great strength by virtue of His nature and position, having achieved His purpose; when these things begin to occur, open your eyes and perceive with your hearts what is taking place, because God's act of buying you back is about to come to fruition".
Now, let us examine verse 31 in the same way. The key words, with their exact meaning in the context in which they were spoken, according to the Greek Lexicon, are as follows:
Send: despatch
Angels: messengers, who can be but are not always heavenly beings as we perceive angels to be.
Loud trumpet call: literally "with a trumpet and a great voice" - this is the same phrase used to describe the Old Testament announcement of the year of jubilee.
Gather: round up, cause to be assembled together
Elect: chosen to fulfil the task of spreading God's word to the world
Four winds: the four corners of the world - the east, the north, the south, the east and the west.
Universe: inhabited areas.
Using those meanings, verse 31 is literally saying: "And He will despatch His messengers with an announcement (of a period of jubilee that will bring liberty to prisoners, a release of debts, and restoration of inheritances) and they will round up and cause to be assembled together those chosen to fulfil the task of spreading God's word to the world from the north, the south, the east and the west, from one end of the inhabited areas to the other".
These verses are clearly talking about the Church of Jesus Christ and the era of the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20) and not the Second Coming of Jesus or the rapture of His Church as is so often taught. The description of the rapture in I Thessalonians 4 verse 16 is quite different from these words; they could not be describing the same event. Thessalonians says it will be the Lord himself - Matthew says it will be a group of messengers. Thesselonians speaks of a descent - Matthew does not describe or infer a descent. The Greek word used to describe the Heaven that God descends out of is that of the 'spiritual domain of God' - the word 'heaven' in Matthew is a different Greek word, which means 'the universe'. Thessalonians says it will be with a loud cry or summons accompanied by the shout of an archangel and the trumpet of God - Matthew does not speak of the shout of an archangel. Thessalonians indicates that the rapture will be instantaneous - Matthew describes a rounding up and assembling together, which by nature of the very process, must occur over a period of time.
Jesus' response to the disciples' second question begins in verse 35. Having just qualified that everything he has said thus far will take place before the present generation passes, he then begins to answer the second question with the statement, "Sky and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away". But unlike the first question where He was able to give a definite period of time in which the destruction of the Temple would occur, He points out that, with the end of the age, the situation is quite different - "But of the exact day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father".
He then describes the conditions prior to his coming, which differ considerably from the conditions prior to the destruction of the temple as we have already seen. Those prior to the Great Tribulation (verse 30) were in a state of great tribulation, overcome by affliction, oppression and distress, escaping to the mountains, totally aware and in fear on what was about to happen. At his coming (verse 38), the people are eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, totally unaware of what was about to happen. Jesus depicts people getting on with their lives, ploughing in the fields when some of them disappearing in an instant, with no prior warning or knowledge of what is about to happen; the other depicts people in panic leaving their ploughs and running for their lives in fear, knowing full well what is about to happen. The reactions of the people are so different, He could not have been talking about the same event.
He paints a picture of those times as being like the days of Noah, in that a warning was given of an impending judgement on the earth. In their complacency and unbelief, the people ignored the warnings and continued to indulge themselves in the pleasurable things of this life, not knowing or understanding the gravity of the situation until it was upon them and it was too late to do anything about it. You have to have a pretty vivid imagination to see that as a picture of people in great tribulation.
So when will this event (the return of Jesus) take place. "No one knows the hour" says Jesus. One will be taken and one will be left, and we won't know anything about it until it happens. I don't know about you, but it all sounds rather like death to me. Jesus is describing perfectly what it is like for all of us when death strikes at the end of our individual "age" or "era of time" as opposed to a collective "age". Now we are taught that Jesus was referring to a time when he would return for his own collectively and simultanously, but he never said that would be the case; in fact by stating "one would be taken and one would be left" Jesus is stating quite the opposite will be the case. Some argue that those left are those who are not born again, but Jesus never says this, and as the rest of the chapter is referring to the peoples of Judah collectively, Christian and non Christian, there is no logical reason why we should believe that is what Jesus meant.
From verses 43 to the end of chapter 24, Jesus shifts the focus onto His servants who have heeded the warnings and are prepared for the impending judgement, and points out that some of that number will not survive the coming judgement. These are they who do not follow His commandments (verse 45) and begin to treat others as the non-believers do (being overbearing, self focused, oppressing them and not catering for their needs) or they indulge in the pleasures of life that those who, in their complacency and unbelief, had ignored the warnings.
Continuing in Matthew 25, Jesus tells the disciples that not all of the remaining servants who have heeded the warnings and have kept themselves ready are going to make it either. Some will be the bride at a marriage feast; others will be invited guests; yet others will be bridesmaids, some of whom won't be allowed in, having not kept their lamps trimmed (ever watchful and ready to make sure they are ready when they hear the master's call).
To explain the difference, Jesus told His disciples the Parable of the Talents, where a different number of talents were given to different servants. In the story, the one who ends up being banished by the Master felt that His master was unfair and was afraid that he would be punished if he were to invest his talent and, in the process, lose it, therefore he buried the talent and did nothing with it until his master returned, when he gave it back to him. From verse 34 to the end of the chapter He illustrates how He equates our actions to one another in this life - as though we were doing those things to Him. The parable shows that a professing Christian's eternal destiny will be determined by how they treat others (in accordance with his commandment to love one another).
Back to our original question about whether or not the Church will go through the Great Tribulation. The prophecy Jesus gave his disciples, detailing the signs surrounding it, clearly show it came and went around 1,800 years ago. That said, God does not promise we will not go through troubles and persecutions. Rather, we are to endure to the end (Mat 10:22) with a promise of great reward should we be persecuted for our faith (Mat 5:12).
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