What is the Gospel that will be preached during the tribulation?
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ANTI-CHRIST – “FALSE PROPHET”
Turn to Revelation 7. The Book of Revelation primarily deals with those final seven years before the return of Christ at His Second Coming; then the setting up of His Kingdom upon the earth. This seven years is primarily God dealing with the Nation of Israel; however, all the world will become involved. Remember Jeremiah 30:7?
Jeremiah 30:7
“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.”
We’ll look at this verse more in detail later. It’s God dealing with His Covenant people and for this reason they are still coming back to their homeland, getting ready for these final seven years.
The best way to study Revelation is not to try to take it chronologically, but find the events at the beginning, at the middle, and at the end of the Tribulation, and then fill in the gaps. Chronologically it won’t make all that much sense to you. The past several lessons we have been looking at things at the beginning. 1. The appearance of the Anti-christ when he will sign that seven-year peace treaty with the Nation of Israel, which will again kick God’s time clock back in gear, as it has been stopped now all during the Church Age. 2. The appearance of those two witnesses. They will come to the Nation of Israel in Jerusalem. And they will begin proclaiming God’s Word to the Nation of Israel, and out of the ministry of these two… 3. God is going to seal and commission the 144,000 young Jewish men whom God will use to circumvent the globe. They won’t be preaching the Gospel of Grace as we know it, but, rather, they will be reverting back again to the Gospel of the Kingdom as it was being proclaimed at the time of Christ and Peter and the eleven.
There is a vast difference between the Gospel of Grace and the Gospel of the Kingdom. When you understand that, the Bible is much less confusing. At that time, the Age of Grace has ended and the Church is gone. A person will no longer have the opportunity to join a local congregation. But rather these 144,000 will be telling the world that the King is coming. After all, that was the message in Christ’s earthly ministry. He Himself referred to it more than once as the Gospel of the Kingdom. The King and His Kingdom were about to come on the scene. Of course Israel rejected that, and the King was crucified. God raised Him from the dead, called Him back to heaven to sit at the Father’s right hand until His enemies should be made His footstool. That `until‘ signifies the time when He will once again deal with His Covenant people of Israel.
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Matthew 24:14
“And this gospel of the kingdom…”
This Gospel of the Kingdom. Not the Gospel of Grace. We preach today the Gospel of Grace that you must believe for your salvation, that Jesus died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead. Jesus Himself revealed that to the Apostle Paul, and Paul alone, in I Corinthians 15:1-4, Romans 10:9-10 and many other places in Paul’s writing. But Jesus and the twelve preached the Gospel of the Kingdom which is believing for salvation that Jesus was the Messiah, repentance, and baptism. This is found in Matthew 3:2, Matthew 4:17, Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38 and many other Scriptures in the four Gospels and the Book of Acts through at least Chapter 15. So this gospel of the Kingdom:
Matthew 24:14b
“…shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
Isn’t that plain? But you have to know which Gospel. Paul tells us in Galatians 2:7-9 that there were two Gospels, one that he (Paul) preached to the Gentiles (uncircumcision) by revelation from Jesus Christ. And the other that John the Baptist, Jesus, Peter and the 12 preached to the Jews or Nation of Israel (circumcision). So as you study, notice who is speaking and who is being spoken to.
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Matthew 24:14
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall (at a future time.) be preached in all the world for a witness unto (how many?) all nations; and then shall the end come.”
Now, you see how simple that is when you put it in the right prospective. I’ve had good friends of mine lift this verse out of context, and say we have to get the Gospel into every nation before the Lord can come. That’s not what Jesus was talking about. The Gospel of Grace is a calling out a people for His Name, absolutely. But it’s going to end, and the Tribulation is going to come in and then Jesus said, “The same Gospel of the Kingdom that He preached in His three years of ministry will be proclaimed again during the Tribulation.” Now can you keep that? Put that up here. Just stop and think. If that Good News is proclaimed to every nation on earth, that the King is coming, it will last for the whole seven years. Notice Jesus did not mention the Church Age and the Gospel of Grace. He skips over it from His ministry to the Tribulation. And that will be the message that the 144,000 young Jewish men will preach to the world. The King is coming, and indeed He will be!
Editor’s Note: After the rapture takes place, the Age of Grace will have ended. Then during the tribulation, the 144,000 young Jewish men will be teaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. The message will be that the Kingdom is at hand and the Messiah, the King, is coming, as it was prophesied. Therefore, repent of your sins and be baptized with water.