Question: “What is the Great Tribulation?”
Answer:
The Tribulation is a future time period when the Lord will accomplish at least two aspects of His plan: 1) He will complete His discipline of the nation Israel (Daniel 9:24), and 2) He will judge the unbelieving, godless inhabitants of the earth (Revelation 6 – 18). The length of the Tribulation is seven years. This is determined by an understanding of the seventy weeks of Daniel (Daniel 9:24-27; also see the article on the Tribulation). The Great Tribulation is the last half of the Tribulation period, three and one-half years in length. It is distinguished from the Tribulation period because the Beast, or Antichrist, will be revealed, and the wrath of God will greatly intensify during this time. Thus, it is important at this point to emphasize that the Tribulation and the Great Tribulation are not synonymous terms. Within eschatology (the study of future things), the Tribulation refers to the full seven-year period while the “Great Tribulation” refers to the second half of the Tribulation.
It is Christ Himself who used the phrase “Great Tribulation” with reference to the last half of the Tribulation. In Matthew 24:21, Jesus says, “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall.” In this verse Jesus is referring to the event of Matthew 24:15, which describes the revealing of the abomination of desolation, the man also known as the Antichrist. Also, Jesus in Matthew 24:29-30 states, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days . . . the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.” In this passage, Jesus defines the Great Tribulation (v.21) as beginning with the revealing of the abomination of desolation (v.15) and ending with Christ’s second coming (v.30).
Other passages that refer to the Great Tribulation are Daniel 12:1b, which says, “And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time.” It seems that Jesus was quoting this verse when He spoke the words recorded in Matthew 24:21. Also referring to the Great Tribulation is Jeremiah 30:7, “Alas! for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s distress, But he will be saved from it.” The phrase “Jacob’s distress” refers to the nation of Israel, which will experience persecution and natural disasters such as have never before been seen.
Considering the information Christ gave us in Matthew 24:15-30, it is easy to conclude that the beginning of the Great Tribulation has much to do with the abomination of desolation, an action of the Antichrist. In Daniel 9:26-27, we find that this man will make a “covenant” (a peace pact) with the world for seven years (one “week”; again, see the article on the Tribulation). Halfway through the seven-year period—”in the middle of the week”—we are told this man will break the covenant he made, stopping sacrifice and grain offering, which specifically refers to his actions in the rebuilt temple of the future. Revelation 13:1-10 gives even more detail concerning the Beast’s actions, and just as important, it also verifies the length of time he will be in power. Revelation 13:5 says he will be in power for 42 months, which is three and one-half years, the length of the Great Tribulation.
Revelation offers us the most information about the Great Tribulation. From Revelation 13 when the Beast is revealed until Christ returns in Revelation 19, we are given a picture of God’s wrath on the earth because of unbelief and rebellion (Revelation 16-18). It is also a picture of how God disciplines and at the same time protects His people Israel (Revelation 14:1-5) until He keeps His promise to Israel by establishing an earthly kingdom (Revelation 20:4-6).
问题：“大灾难是什么？”
答案：大灾难是未后的时期，主完成祂的计划的两个方面：
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1）祂将完成他对以色列民族的纪律 – 但以理书 9:24：为你本国之民和你圣城，已经定了七十个七，要止住罪恶，除尽罪恶，赎尽罪恶，引进永义，封住异象和预言，并膏至圣者。
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2）他将审判不信的，无神的地上的居民（启示录 6-18）。大灾难的时间是七年。这是通过对但以理七十周的理解来确定的（但以理书9：24-27;也参见了关于大灾难的文章）。大灾难是大灾难期的后半期，长达三年半。它与大灾难时期不同，因为野兽或敌基督者将被揭示，在此期间上帝的愤怒将大大加剧。因此，在这一点上重要的是要强调大灾难和大灾难不是同义词。在末世论（对未来事物的研究）中，大灾难是指整整七年，而“大灾难”指的是大灾难的后半期。
基督自己使用了“大苦难”这个短语来参考大灾难的后半部分。在马太福音24:21中，耶稣说：“那时候将会有一场大灾难，例如从世界开始到现在都没有发生，也永远不会发生。”在这节经文中，耶稣指的是马太福音24:15的事件，它描述了荒凉的可憎之物的揭示，这个人也被称为敌基督者。此外，耶稣在马太福音24：29-30中说，“在那些日子的灾难之后立刻。 。 。人子将出现在天空中，然后地球的所有支派都要哀悼，他们将看到人子以力量和伟大的荣耀降临天空的云彩。“在这段经文中，耶稣定义了大灾难 –
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第21节： 因为那时必有大灾难，从世界的起头，直到如今，没有这样的灾难，后来也必没有。
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开始于揭示凄凉的憎恶（第15节），并以基督的第二次降临你 – 第30节结束： 那时，人子的兆头要显在天上，地上的万族都要哀哭；他们要看见人子，有能力，有大荣耀，驾着天上的云降临。
关于大苦难的其他段落是但以理书12：1b，其中说：“并且会有一段时间的痛苦，例如从那时起就没有发生过这样的事情。”当耶稣说出马太福音24:21 中记载的话时，耶稣似乎在引用这节经文。耶利米书 30：7 也提到大灾难，“唉！因为那一天很棒，没有人喜欢它; 这是雅各遇难的时候，但他将从中得救。” “雅各的痛苦”一词指的是以色列民族，它将遭受前所未有的迫害和自然灾害。
考虑到基督在马太福音24：15-30 中给我们的信息，很容易得出结论，大灾难的开始与荒凉的憎恶有很大关系，这是敌基督的行为。在但以理书9：26-27 中，我们发现这个人将与世界达成“契约”（和平契约）七年（一个“一周”; 再次，参见关于大灾难的文章）。在七年期间的中途 – “在一周的中间” – 我们被告知这个人将违背他所做的约，停止牺牲和粮食供应，这特别指的是他在未来重建的寺庙中的行为。启示录 13：1-10 给出了关于野兽行动的更多细节，同样重要的是，它还验证了他将掌权的时间长度。启示录13：5说他将执政42个月，即大灾难的长度，这是三年半。
启示录为我们提供了关于大苦难的最多信息。从启示录13开始，直到基督在启示录19章中回来，我们就会因不信和反叛而得到上帝在地上的忿怒的惩罚（启示录16-18）。这也是上帝如何训练并同时保护祂的子民以色列（启示录14：1-5）的图景，直到祂通过建立属世的国度来保守祂对以色列的应许（启示录20：4-6）。