By Steve MacGlade
Moving on now , the following verse has been used in an attempt to locate the New Testament church on earth at the time of the Great Tribulation.
" It was granted to him ( the beast ) to make war with the SAINTS
and to overcome them ".
Revelation 13 v 7.
It is assumed that because they are called saints therefore they must be the Church.
The Bible very clearly refutes this assumption.
As Old Testament believers were also called saints.
For example -
Let Your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation,
And let Your SAINTS rejoice in goodness ".
2 Chronicles 6 v 41b.
David said -
As for the SAINTS who are on the earth ,
they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. "
Psalm 16 v 3.
So what can we discover about these saints from the scriptures ?
First we need to recall the mission that Christ gave to the Church before his ascension -
" Go therefore and make disciples of all nations - these instructions end with Jesus saying , lo I am with you always even to the end of the age , amen ".
Matthew 28 v 19 - 20.
The crucial point is that right up until the end of the church age this is her mission.
We are told to GO FORTH.
Now this being the case it is impossible for the church to be in the great tribulation because Jesus commands believers NOT to " Go forth " at this time but on the contrary " TO FLEE ".
" Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the Holy place ( Whoever reads let him understand ) Then let those in Judea FLEE to the mountains ".
Matthew 24 v 15 - 16.
Although the order to " Flee " is to the believers in Judea , yet by implication and extension it would apply to believers worldwide.
Why then at the beginning of the church period were we told to GO FORTH ?
Whereas at the start of the great tribulation believers will be told to FLEE ?
The reason is that Jesus only sent the church out to evangelise the world because he had equipped them to do so.
Whereas that equipping is not available during the Great tribulation period.
For example before commanding the church to go forth into all the world Jesus said to them -
" ALL AUTHORITY in heaven and earth has been given to me therefore go and make disciples of all nations ".
Matthew 28 v 18 - 19.
What Jesus is saying here is that He has all authority and we are in him so we possess His authority , therefore go !
It was the same on mount Olivet Jesus Jesus said you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses.
Acts 1 v 8.
But during the great tribulation period -
" It was granted to him ( Antichrist ) to make war with the saints and to OVERCOME them.
And authority was given him ( Antichrist ) over every tribe tongue and nation ".
Revelation 13 v 7.
At this time period the whole world is given over to Satan and this is his time.
So they worshipped the dragon who gave authority to the beast.
Revelation. 13 v 4a.
If the saints spoken of in Revelation 13 who will be on earth during the great tribulation are the church , then the implications are staggering beyond belief.
For seated in Christ , the church is high above ALL principalities and powers , including Satan himself.
And that is the position of the church throughout all eternity ( in Christ ).
The church ONLY has authority by virtue of its lofty position in Christ.
So if it is the church that is in the great tribulation , who Satan is given authority over , then Satan must also be given authority over the Lord Jesus Christ as well.
And this is impossible , as Christ is established as HEAD over ALL principalities and powers including Satan himself.
Although believers are commanded to flee during this time yet the Lord will not be completely without a witness during these dark days.
For just like in the days of Gideon when the Lord chose a specific number ( 300 ). The Lord will again choose a specific number 144,000 from among the tribes of Israel to serve him during these dark days.
After the Rapture of the church these witnesses will be sealed to witness worldwide in order to gather in a harvest , in preparation for the coming of the husbandman.
For after explaining the fact that they are sealed as God's servants BEFORE the seven years begin , we are then shown the harvest , a great cloud of people from all over the world which no man could number who are said to have -
" Came out of GREAT TRIBULATION , and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb ".
Revelation 14b.
Also there will be two witnesses who give a tremendous testimony to the whole world from the Temple area during the first three and a half years.
Three and a half years will pass ( a thousand two hundred and threescore days ) during which time two witnesses will witness at the area of the rebuilt Temple at Jerusalem.
Their witness will be so powerful that it will be covered by media from all over the world.
After this time the world leader will destroy the two witnesses , stop the Jewish Temple worship , destroy the great harlot , and sit down in the most holy place ( naos ) of the Temple , declaring himself to be God.
There will also be an image to this beast set up which all must worship on pain of death as well as swearing allegiance to the beast by taking his mark.
At this point it will be very instructive for us to go back to the verse in question and look at it very carefully in its immediate context.
" It was granted to him ( the antichrist ) to make war with the SAINTS and to overcome them.
And AUTHORITY was given him over every tribe tongue, and nation.
All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
If anyone has an ear, let him hear ".
Revelation 13 v 7 - 9.
What happened to protocol here ?
When Jesus is speaking to the churches in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation , he ends His discourses with the phrase -
" He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says TO THE CHURCHES ".
Revelation 2 v 11a.
This happens every time that the Lord speaks to the churches.
Here is another example -
" He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says TO THE CHURCHES ".
Revelation 3 v 6a.
This is how Jesus concludes his address when speaking to the Churches in the book of Revelation.
Now when we come to the great tribulation part of the seven weeks when the antichrist reveals his true colors , the scripture says -
" It was GRANTED to him ( the beast ) to make war with the SAINTS and to OVERCOME them ".
Revelation 13 v 7.
Then two verses later -
But significantly when the same phrase is used during the great tribulation period , reference to the churches is omitted.
“ If anyone has an ear let him hear ”.
Revelation 13 v 9.
What possibly could be the reason for this change in protocol ?
The reason that the word “ churches “ is left out is because the churches will not be on the earth at that time.
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