The Tribulation Period — Daniel's 70th Week

The Tribulation is the 70th and final week of Daniel’s 490-year program (Dan 9:27), a period of seven years of unprecedented divine judgment upon Israel and the nations. It is also called “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer 30:7), “the great tribulation” (Matt 24:21), and “the hour of testing” (Rev 3:10).^33,10

A. Duration, Structure, and Purpose

• Exactly 7 years = 2,520 days (two halves of 1,260 days each, calculated on the 360-day prophetic year)³³
• Primary purpose for Israel: the “time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer 30:7) — disciplinary judgment that leads to Israel’s national repentance and conversion (Zech 12:10–13:1; Rom 11:26)
• Purpose for the nations: divine judgment on a Christ-rejecting world (Rev 6:16–17; 14:7; 16:1)
• Purpose in redemptive history: to bring to completion the six purposes of Dan 9:24, particularly the fulfillment of the New Covenant for Israel

B. The First 3½ Years — The Beginning of Sorrows

The first half of the Tribulation is characterized by the Antichrist’s rise, apparent peace, and the opening of the Seal Judgments.^33,34

• Antichrist rises to power and confirms a 7-year covenant with Israel (Dan 9:27) — possibly guaranteeing Israel’s religious freedom and temple worship
• Apparent peace: the Rider on the White Horse (Rev 6:2) presents himself as a peacemaker — but carries a conqueror’s bow
• 144,000 Jewish witnesses sealed and divinely protected (Rev 7:1–8) — 12,000 from each tribe, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom
• A great multitude from every nation saved through their witness (Rev 7:9–17)
• Ministry of the Two Witnesses begins in Jerusalem (Rev 11:3–6): 1,260 days of prophetic proclamation under divine protection

The Seven Seal Judgments (Rev 6) — Individual Effects

The Seal Judgments are opened by Christ Himself (Rev 5:5–6; 6:1) — they are not merely permitted but actively initiated by the Lamb. Each judgment has a specific and distinct effect on the earth.^34,10

• Seal 1 — White Horse (Rev 6:1–2): The Antichrist rides forth as a false peacemaker with a crown and a bow but no arrow. Effect: political deception on a global scale; nations accept a false peace. The world is deceived into believing genuine peace has arrived.
• Seal 2 — Red Horse (Rev 6:3–4): Peace is taken from the earth; men slay one another. A great sword is given. Effect: global warfare breaks out across the earth. The false peace of the first seal is shattered. This is war on an unprecedented scale.
• Seal 3 — Black Horse (Rev 6:5–6): A pair of scales; a quart of wheat for a day’s wages; a quart of barley for a day’s wages. Effect: severe economic famine and hyperinflation. A day’s labor buys only one meal. Oil and wine (luxury goods of the wealthy) are protected — economic inequality intensifies catastrophically.
• Seal 4 — Pale (Ashen) Horse (Rev 6:7–8): Rider named Death; Hades follows. Effect: authority given over one-fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts. If the current world population is approximately 8 billion, this seal alone kills 2 billion people. The combined effect of war, starvation, disease, and animal predation.
• Seal 5 — Martyrs Under the Altar (Rev 6:9–11): Souls of those slain for the word of God cry out for justice. Effect: not a judgment on earth but a revelation of the scale of Tribulation martyrdom and God’s acknowledgment that justice will come. White robes given; they are told to wait a little longer.
• Seal 6 — Cosmic Upheaval (Rev 6:12–17): Great earthquake; sun black as sackcloth; moon like blood; stars fall; sky splits; every mountain and island moved. Effect: global geological and atmospheric catastrophe. Kings, generals, rich, poor, slave, and free all hide in caves. They cry to the mountains: “Hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.” Universal recognition that this is divine judgment.
• Seal 7 — Silence in Heaven for Half an Hour (Rev 8:1): Effect: a pregnant pause of awe before the next series of judgments. The seventh seal contains and releases the seven Trumpet Judgments.

C. The Two Witnesses — Identity and Ministry

Revelation 11:3–13 describes two individuals who minister in Jerusalem for the first half of the Tribulation, clothed in sackcloth as a sign of mourning and judgment. Their identity has generated careful debate across the history of biblical interpretation, with three serious candidates emerging from Scripture.^33,34

• Their powers: shut the heavens so it does not rain, turn water to blood, strike the earth with plagues as often as they wish
• They are called “the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth” (Rev 11:4; cf. Zech 4:1–14) — symbols of Spirit-empowered witness
• They cannot be killed until their testimony is complete — during their 1,260 days, they are supernaturally protected (Rev 11:5)
• After 1,260 days the Antichrist kills them; the world celebrates for 3½ days (Rev 11:7–10)
• They are resurrected after 3½ days, visibly ascend to heaven while their enemies watch (Rev 11:11–12) — a great earthquake kills 7,000 in Jerusalem

The Three Candidate Identifications

Option 1 — Moses and Elijah (Pentecost, Walvoord — the Majority Dispensational View)

The strongest and most widely held identification among dispensational scholars is Moses and Elijah literally.^33,34

• Elijah (for): Malachi 4:5–6 explicitly predicts Elijah’s return “before the great and terrible day of the LORD” — a direct OT prophecy pointing to the Tribulation. Jesus confirms this: “Elijah is coming and will restore all things” (Matt 17:11). John the Baptist was Elijah only “in spirit and power” (Luke 1:17), not literally, and this did not exhaust the Malachi prophecy.
• Elijah (for): He was taken to heaven without dying (2 Kgs 2:11) — he has not yet experienced physical death. His return would allow him to die (Rev 11:7), fulfilling the universal human appointment.
• Moses (for): His body was preserved and disputed by Michael and Satan (Jude 9) — a highly unusual circumstance pointing to a future role. He appeared at the Transfiguration alongside Elijah (Matt 17:3), the two standing together on the Mount of Transfiguration as they will stand together in Jerusalem.
• Moses (for): His power over water (turning it to blood) directly mirrors the Egyptian plagues (Exod 7:20); Elijah’s power over rain (1 Kgs 17:1; James 5:17) directly mirrors the Two Witnesses’ power (Rev 11:6) — the correspondence is exact.
• Weakness: Moses did die physically (Deut 34:5–6); his resurrection would require a prior glorification distinct from the general resurrection. Some scholars resolve this by noting his body was uniquely preserved and may be awaiting exactly this purpose.

Option 2 — Elijah and Enoch (Minority View, Tertullian, Hippolytus; theologically grounded)

A theologically compelling minority case exists for Enoch replacing Moses as the second witness. The argument rests on a principle drawn from Hebrews 9:27 and the unique status of both Enoch and Elijah in redemptive history.

• The Hebrews 9:27 principle: “It is appointed for men to die once, and after this comes judgment.” This is the universal human appointment — physical death precedes judgment.
• Enoch and Elijah are the only two human beings in all of Scripture of whom it is clearly stated that they did NOT die: Enoch (Gen 5:24: “he was not, for God took him”; Heb 11:5: “he was taken up so that he would not see death”) and Elijah (2 Kgs 2:11: “helijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven”). All other OT figures who appear after death (Samuel, 1 Sam 28; the saints at the crucifixion, Matt 27:52–53) had previously died. Moses died (Deut 34:5).
• Therefore: if the Two Witnesses must die (Rev 11:7–8), and if Heb 9:27 is universal, then the most logically consistent candidates are the two men for whom physical death is still outstanding — Enoch and Elijah. Their deaths in Jerusalem would fulfill the divine appointment that applies to all humanity.
• Enoch (for): His translation without death (Gen 5:24) is the earliest example of the pattern. He was a prophet (Jude 14–15: “Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied...”), establishing his prophetic credentials for a final prophetic ministry.
• Enoch (for): The absence of Moses-specific powers in Rev 11:6 (water to blood) does not require Moses. The Witnesses’ powers are described as discretionary (“as often as they wish”) — they could employ them in any form God directs.
• Weakness: Malachi 4:5–6 specifically names Elijah, but says nothing of Enoch; a Moses-Enoch pairing loses the explicit OT prophecy of Moses’s unique post-mortem role. The Enoch view works best as a Elijah-Enoch pairing, not as a replacement for Elijah.

Option 3 — Two Unknown Tribulation Prophets (Symbolic / Non-Literal)

• Some interpreters hold that the Two Witnesses are symbolic figures representing the Law and the Prophets, or two unidentified Tribulation-era prophets raised up by God
• This view is generally held by amillennial and some historic premillennial interpreters; it is not the standard dispensational position
• Weakness: Revelation 11 describes specific individuals with specific miraculous powers, specific duration of ministry (1,260 days), a specific location (Jerusalem), a specific death, a specific resurrection, and a specific ascension — the level of concrete particularity argues strongly for literal historical individuals

Conclusion: The View to Follow

D. The Midpoint — The Abomination of Desolation

At the 3½-year mark, the Antichrist dramatically reveals his true character in a series of cataclysmic actions.^33,10

• He breaks the 7-year covenant with Israel (Dan 9:27b)
• He invades Israel and enters the rebuilt temple (Dan 9:27; Matt 24:15; 2 Thess 2:4)
• He sets up the “abomination of desolation” — an image of himself (Rev 13:14–15) — and demands universal worship
• He proclaims himself God (2 Thess 2:4: “he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God”)
• The Mark of the Beast enforced (Rev 13:16–18): no buying or selling without the mark (chi-xi-stigma, or 666)
• Israel commanded to flee immediately (Matt 24:15–20); a faithful remnant escapes to the wilderness for divine protection (Rev 12:6, 14 — “a place prepared by God”; possibly Petra in Edom)

Matt 24:15–16 “Therefore when you see the Abomination of Desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place… then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.”

E. The Second 3½ Years — The Great Tribulation

The second half of the Tribulation is the period Jesus called “such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will” (Matt 24:21). Divine wrath is poured out in escalating intensity through two further series of seven judgments.^33,34

The Seven Trumpet Judgments (Rev 8–9) — Individual Effects

The Trumpet Judgments are announced by seven angels and strike the physical creation, human life, and the demonic realm in escalating severity. Each judgment has a specific and identifiable effect.^34,10

• Trumpet 1 (Rev 8:7): Hail and fire mixed with blood hurled to the earth. Effect: one-third of the earth burned up; one-third of trees burned; all green grass burned. Agricultural catastrophe on a continental scale.
• Trumpet 2 (Rev 8:8–9): Something like a great mountain burning with fire thrown into the sea. Effect: one-third of the sea becomes blood; one-third of sea creatures die; one-third of ships destroyed. Catastrophic marine ecology collapse; global commerce paralyzed.
• Trumpet 3 (Rev 8:10–11): A great star called Wormwood falls on one-third of the rivers and springs. Effect: one-third of fresh water becomes bitter; many people die from the bitter water. Fresh water — already scarce from earlier judgments — now poisoned.
• Trumpet 4 (Rev 8:12): One-third of the sun, moon, and stars struck. Effect: one-third of daylight eliminated. The shortening of daylight has cascading effects on agriculture, climate, and human psychology. An angel pronounces three “woes” over the remaining three trumpets.
• Trumpet 5 / Woe 1 (Rev 9:1–12): The abyss opened; a star falls (a demonic being); a smoke-like plague of demonic locusts emerges. Effect: these creatures torment — but do not kill — all who do not have the seal of God for five months. The agony is like a scorpion’s sting. Men seek death but cannot find it. Psychological and physical torment beyond anything previously experienced.
• Trumpet 6 / Woe 2 (Rev 9:13–21): Four angels bound at the Euphrates released; a demonic cavalry of 200 million. Effect: one-third of mankind killed by fire, smoke, and brimstone. Combined with Seal 4’s 25% death toll, more than half the world’s population will have died by this point. Yet Rev 9:20–21: the survivors “did not repent” — the hardness of human hearts in the face of obvious divine judgment.
• Trumpet 7 / Woe 3 (Rev 11:15–19): Loud voices in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.” Effect: not yet a final judgment but a proclamation of the certainty of Christ’s coming reign. The seventh trumpet contains and releases the seven Bowl Judgments.

The Seven Bowl Judgments (Rev 16) — The Final Undiluted Wrath of God

The Bowl Judgments are described as “the seven last plagues, because in them the wrath of God is finished” (Rev 15:1). They are poured out in rapid succession with no intervals, representing the final concentrated outpouring of divine fury before the Second Coming.^34,10

• Bowl 1 (Rev 16:2): Loathsome and malignant sores break out on all who have the mark of the beast and who worship his image. Effect: physical suffering for the entire Antichrist-worshipping population. There is no medical relief; the sores are described as painful and foul-smelling.
• Bowl 2 (Rev 16:3): The sea becomes blood like that of a dead man. Effect: every living thing in the sea dies. All remaining marine life — not merely one-third as in Trumpet 2 — is destroyed. Global maritime food sources eliminated.
• Bowl 3 (Rev 16:4–7): Rivers and springs become blood. Effect: all remaining fresh water becomes blood. An angel declares: “They poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.” Divine justice — those who shed blood now have nothing to drink but blood.
• Bowl 4 (Rev 16:8–9): The sun is given power to scorch men with fire. Effect: fierce heat; men are scorched with intense heat. Yet “they blasphemed the name of God” and did not repent. The hardening of the human heart continues even as the judgments intensify.
• Bowl 5 (Rev 16:10–11): The throne of the beast is struck; his kingdom becomes darkened. Effect: total darkness over the Antichrist’s kingdom; men gnaw their tongues in agony. Combined with the sores of Bowl 1 (still present), the suffering is compounded. Still no repentance.
• Bowl 6 (Rev 16:12–16): The Euphrates River dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east. Effect: removal of the geographic barrier between east and west; armies of the world converge on the Valley of Megiddo (Armageddon). Three unclean spirits like frogs (demonic spirits performing signs) go to the kings of the earth to gather them for “the war of the great day of God, the Almighty” (v.14).
• Bowl 7 (Rev 16:17–21): Poured into the air; a loud voice from the throne: “It is done!” Effect: the greatest earthquake in human history; Babylon the great city split into three parts; cities of the nations fall; every island fled; mountains disappeared; enormous hailstones (about 100 pounds each) fall on men. Men blaspheme God because of the plague of hail. The final destruction of human civilization before Christ’s return.

• Fall of Religious Babylon (Rev 17) — the apostate world religious system centered on the Antichrist; destroyed by the ten kings who give their power to the beast
• Fall of Commercial Babylon (Rev 18) — the global economic system; destroyed in one hour; merchants and sea captains mourn; heaven rejoices
• The Campaign of Armageddon (Rev 16:16; Zech 14:1–3): nations converge on Jerusalem for a final assault; the Antichrist’s armies mass in the Valley of Megiddo

Israel’s Mortality in the Tribulation — Zechariah 13:7–9

The only specific mortality statistic for the nation of Israel during the Tribulation appears not in Revelation but in Zechariah 13:8–9. No NT passage provides this data. Fruchtenbaum (Footsteps of the Messiah, pp. 177–181): “Israel will suffer tremendous persecution (Matthew 24:15–28; Revelation 12:1–17). As a result of this persecution of the Jewish people, two-thirds are going to be killed.”⁴⁴

Zech 13:8–9 “"It will come about in all the land," declares the LORD, "that two parts in it will be cut off and perish; but the third will be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are My people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'"”

• The one-third who survive are not merely Tribulation survivors — they are the refined remnant, brought through fire, who call on God’s name and receive the covenant answer: “They are My people.” This is the Millennial Israel — the covenant remnant whose purification the entire Tribulation was designed to accomplish.⁴⁴
• Proportional scale: the Holocaust killed approximately one-third of world Jewry. Zechariah’s two-thirds makes the Tribulation's persecution of Israel twice as severe — which explains Jesus’ description in Matthew 24:21 as unprecedented in all of history (Dan 12:1).
• Verse 7 explains the cause: “Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” The Tribulation is the culmination of the scattering that began at the rejection of Israel’s Shepherd. The remnant’s conversion ends it: “They will call on My name” (v. 9) — the national confession that Hosea 5:15 and Zechariah 12:10 require before the LORD returns to Jerusalem.

F. The Old Testament Theological Foundation of the Tribulation

The Tribulation is not primarily a New Testament concept. It is the fulfillment of a long-established Old Testament prophetic category — the Day of the LORD — that the Hebrew prophets described in detail across eight centuries before a single line of Revelation was written. The NT describes the events of the Tribulation; the OT establishes its name, its theological purpose, its legal basis, its mortality statistics, and the geographic detail of its culminating campaign. Both Testaments are required for a complete picture; neither alone is sufficient.

Pentecost, Things to Come, p. 237 (verbatim): “The prophets constantly speak of the day of Jehovah. Descriptions of it are found in such passages as Isaiah 2, the Book of Joel, and Zephaniah 1:14–18. They picture it as a time of great distress and indignation when God arises to shake the earth mightily and to destroy the wicked out of it. One of the clearest descriptions of this period of trouble and judgment is found in Isaiah 24:1–20. This is called especially the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he is assured that he shall be saved out of it (Jeremiah 30:7).”

1. The Name and Purpose of the Period: Jeremiah 30:1–17

Jeremiah provides the foundational OT theology of the Tribulation. He names it, defines its purpose, and guarantees its outcome — all of which the NT assumes without restating.

Jer 30:7 (NASB) “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 name: “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Heb. tsarah). This is the OT name for the period that the NT calls “the great tribulation” (Matt 24:21) and “the hour of testing” (Rev 3:10).

The purpose: disciplinary judgment leading to Israel’s national redemption and repentance (Jer 30:11).

The guarantee: “he will be saved from it” (Jer 30:7) — the survival of a faithful remnant is covenantally guaranteed.

2. The Uniqueness of Its Severity: Daniel 12:1

Daniel 12:1 is the OT source text for Jesus’ statement in Matthew 24:21. This is a direct quotation — Daniel is primary.

Dan 12:1 (NASB) “Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time...”

3. The Day of the LORD Framework: Joel 2; Zephaniah 1; Isaiah 13

The “Day of the LORD” is the OT’s own theological category for the Tribulation — broader than it, but concentrated in it. The NT uses the phrase (1 Thess 5:2; 2 Pet 3:10) but draws its content entirely from the OT prophets, who used it centuries earlier for both near-term national judgments and the final, global Day.

• Joel 2:1–11 — the most vivid OT description of a Tribulation judgment army; background for the Trumpet 5–6 armies of Rev 9.
• Joel 2:31 — “The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon into blood before the great and terrible day of the LORD.” Peter quotes this directly at Pentecost (Acts 2:20); Rev 6:12 echoes it.
• Zeph 1:14–18 — the most comprehensive OT catalog of Day-of-the-LORD characteristics (quoted above via Pentecost); the Revelation judgment categories draw on this taxonomy.
• Isa 13:6–13 — cosmic signs (sun, moon, and stars darkened; the heavens shaken) applied historically to Babylon’s judgment; the OT source for Matt 24:29 and Rev 6:12–14.
• Amos 5:18–20 — the corrective to any reading of the Day of the LORD as blessing alone: “Woe to you who are longing for the day of the LORD… It will be darkness and not light.” This corrective appears nowhere in the NT.

4. Israel’s Mortality Statistic: Zechariah 13:8–9

Zechariah 13:8–9 (treated in full above under “Israel’s Mortality in the Tribulation”) supplies the only specific casualty figure for the nation during the Tribulation — two-thirds cut off, one-third refined as a remnant — with no NT parallel. The one-third who survive are the purified remnant who enter the Millennial Kingdom described in Appendix G, restored as “My people” with God as “My God” (Zech 13:9).

5. The Geographic Detail for Armageddon: Joel 3; Zechariah 12; Isaiah 63

Revelation 16:16 names the Armageddon staging area but supplies no geographic narrative of the campaign itself. The OT fills in the detail Revelation assumes.

• Joel 3:2, 12 — “I will gather all the nations … and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat.” Joel names the judgment location east of Jerusalem.
• Zech 12:2–3 — Jerusalem as “a cup of reeling” and “a heavy stone for all peoples” explains why all nations converge on the city.
• Isaiah 63:1–6 identifies Christ’s geographic route through Edom/Bozrah during the campaign’s final phase — treated in full below under Section VI.B, “The Geographic Route.”

6. The Legal Basis in the Covenant Curses: Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28

The most foundational, and most overlooked, OT contribution to Tribulation theology: the judgments are not arbitrary. They are the Mosaic covenant curses of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 — warned against Israel for persistent covenant unfaithfulness — reaching their eschatological climax.

• Lev 26:14–39; Deut 28:15–68 list the covenant curses: sword, famine, pestilence, wild beasts, exile, darkness, plague — identical in category to the Seal, Trumpet, and Bowl judgments of Revelation cataloged above and in Appendix H.
• Randall Price identifies the Deuteronomy 28 covenant-curse catalog as the OT legal foundation for the Tribulation judgment categories — a dimension entirely absent from the NT itself.

7. The OT–NT Relationship: Direction of Dependence

Points 1–6 show a consistent pattern: the OT supplies the Tribulation’s name, severity, theological framework, mortality statistics, campaign geography, and legal basis; the NT describes its events in narrative and apocalyptic form. The direction of dependence runs consistently OT → NT — the OT is the foundation, the NT the superstructure built upon it. Appendix H presents the OT–NT Master Prophetic Relationship Matrix documenting this relationship across both the Tribulation and the Millennial Kingdom.