Welcome to the Kingdom Family Podcast, where
we rediscover our identity as sons and daughters
of Yahweh and learn to live the life of the Kingdom.
Let's jump in to today's episode. All right,
guys, we are back again, jumping into our series.
Rethinking the end times this week talking about
the tribulation And the real question is not
will there be a tribulation the real question
Is which tribulation was Jesus talking about
so that will help us kind of set the tone for
this week But I want to I want to Bring something
up that I brought out during our Bible study
when we talked about this and to me it just hit
at the perfect time because it's a perfect example
if we don't understand the original intent of
something how we can misconstrue it and twist
it even so I'm sure you have heard the phrase
blood is thicker than water that is something
I have heard a lot in my lifetime and what I
have understood that to mean is that the blood
of the covenant or excuse me is that the the
family is Blood is thicker than water. So family
is more important than friends. That's essentially
what I understood But I heard the actual quote
this this during this time frame. It's been a
couple weeks now That said this the blood of
the covenant is thicker than the water of the
wound Changes everything because it means that
chosen bonds are more significant than the bonds
with family or water of the wound More directly,
relationships you make yourself are far more
important than the ones that you do not choose.
So do you see how just us misunderstanding something,
an original quote written that the blood of the
covenant is thicker than the water of the womb,
just remove a few words and you can flip that
entire thing to make it mean something it did
not originally mean. You can take the blood of
the covenant is thicker than the water of the
womb, remove a few words and say the blood is
thicker than water. All you do is remove a few
choice words, and now you understand what this
writer was actually trying to convey. So to me,
that's just an important thing to think about.
I thought it was a perfect example. You may not
have, but I did. So anyhow. So I want to start
with the word tribulation itself And it's meaning
the Greek word is the ellipsis and it means pressure
affliction trouble and persecution This is not
and has nothing to do with planet destruction
and it has nothing to do with the end of existence
So we're going to read John chapter 16 verse
33 and it says and everything I've taught you
is so that the peace which is in me will be in
you and will give you great confidence as you
rest in me for in this unbelieving world you
will experience trouble and sorrows but you must
be courageous for I have conquered the world.
I love Dr. Simmons has a footnote here it says
Jesus has taken away the power this world has
to defeat us and has conquered it for us, I would
add and as us. And he says peace is resting in
his victory. So the question is in that verse
that we read, did Jesus say that you might have
trouble and sorrow someday? No, he said you will
have tribulation. You will have trouble and sorrow,
meaning it was already a part of life and it
was not some future event that he's trying to
declare. Another verse, Acts chapter 14 verse
22, and it says this. At each place they went
they strengthened the lives of the believers
and encouraged them to go deeper in their faith
and they taught them it is necessary for us to
enter into the realm of God's kingdom because
that's the only way we will endure our many trials
and persecutions. Dr. Simmons again has a note
here says that is the only way to avoid the oppression
of the age is to enter deeper into God's kingdom
realm an alternate translation would be through
great tribulation we enter into God's kingdom
realm neither translation of the sentence implies
a future kingdom but a kingdom realm that is
presently presently accessible It's important
for us to understand that. So the tribulation,
not the tribulation, but tribulation in general
is not rare. It is part of living faithfully
in a broken world. So another verse that people
like to use when referring to the tribulation,
it comes from Matthew chapter 24. Let me pull
that up. Matthew chapter 24. Verse 1 is where
I'm going to start at. It says, Jesus was leaving
the temple court. It says, disciples came to
him and pointed out the beautiful architecture
of the temple. And Jesus turned to them and said,
take a good look at all these things, for I'm
telling you, there will not be one stone left
upon another. It will all be leveled. So Jesus
says not one stone on the temple will be left
upon another that's important because that starts
the whole conversation then we have Matthew chapter
24 verse 3 Where Jesus asked when will these
things be? What things a destruction of the temple
again? He's not talking about the end of the
planet This is some of the stuff we addressed
in previous episodes if you didn't listen to
those go back and listen to those But now let's
pick it up in Matthew chapter 24 we're going
to start in verse 15 and run through about verse
21 and it says this when you witness what Daniel
prophesied the disgusting destroyer taking his
stand in the holy place let the reader learn
then those in the land of Judah must escape to
the higher ground On that day, if you happen
to be outside, don't go back inside to gather
belongings. If you're working out in the field,
don't run back home to get a coat. It will be
especially hard for pregnant women and for those
nursing their babies in those days. So I pray
that your escape will not be during the winter
months or on a Sabbath, for this will be a time
of great misery beyond the magnitude of anything
the world has ever seen or ever will see. Unless
God limited those days, no one would escape.
So again, he's giving very specific language
and very specific timelines for them. And basically,
basically he's telling them all this stuff and
he plainly tells them, let me go back up. Where
did my first go that I'm looking for? that day
if you happen to be outside so he's giving them
very specific timeline very specific instructions
not for something later on 2 ,000 years later
he's giving the people he's talking to a very
specific timeline it's about a real location
not symbolic this time not global it is local
talking about a local place. So Jesus described
the tribulation connected to Jerusalem, not the
entire planet. And that's a major clarity if
you really let it get to you. So again, let me
get back to where my notes are. So again, this
actually happened. The tribulation that Jesus
is warning about here became reality in AD 70.
So about 40 years after Jesus spoke these words
in Matthew 24 Jerusalem was surrounded by Roman
armies This happened in AD 70 under Roman general
Titus So again, and I know this some of the stuff
is repetitive I'm trying to see if I can cut
any of this out but Really, I think it all ties
to the tribulation. So you got to go back and
think. I know we discussed this previously, but
this what Jesus is saying that's going to happen
actually happened. Jerusalem was surrounded.
They were trapped. They were cut off. Food ran
out. Water became scarce. And what happens when
you start doing all that in a city? Violence
broke out inside the city. People were starving.
Chaos increased fear began to spread Inside the
city you got different Jewish factions who fought
each other So instead of unity you have division
which guess what guys this made survival much
harder So then when you understand some of this
You understand what Jesus said stuff if you work
on the field Don't run back home to get a coat
It'll be especially hard for pregnant women and
for those nursing their babies in those days
So pray that your escape will not be during the
winter months or for the Sabbaths He's literally
telling them this is gonna be tough When you
see these signs get out flee leave this area
because the truth is With all this the temple
was in fact destroyed Eventually what happens
is Romans, again I know we went over this previously,
but eventually Romans breached the city, the
temple was in fact burned, exactly as Jesus predicted,
not one stone was left standing. So when you
have Jesus warning in Luke 21 and 20, when you
see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that
its desolation is near, that is exactly what
happened. So the tribulation Jesus warned about
did become reality in AD 70. All right, let's
look at Matthew chapter 24 verse 21 again. Jesus
again here, that's the passion translation. Other
translations would say there will be great tribulation.
This is not random suffering, but it's connected
to a specific event. It's connected to Jerusalem.
It's connected to the temple destruction, and
it's connected to covenant transition. Again,
why was it so severe? Why was this such a horrible
time? Because it was national, it's religious,
it's cultural, and it's historical. Everything
changed on the temple. Everything centered on
the temple collapsing. That changed Jewish life
forever. This tribulation was great because it
ended an age. It ended a particular era. Not
because it destroyed the planet. It transitioned
old covenant to new covenant. It separated something.
So this was very severe. It's very intentional.
What happened, what Jesus prophesied actually
did happen just as he proclaimed that it would
happen. And all of it was really intentional.
So what about tribulation after that? So I'm
not sitting here saying that tribulation stopped
after that because tribulation did not stop.
in AD 70. Christians still faced persecution,
still face pressure, suffering all throughout
history and even today. Now I want to say something
that's going to hurt some people's feelings but
not in America. Let me help you understand you
are in this nation as far as I know We are a
very free people. We are not facing persecution.
We are not facing pressure and suffering like
some other nations, and we'll get to that in
a minute, like some other nations are. I've heard
pastors and stuff talk about the persecution
that we're facing. My friend, I live a pretty
good life. I mean, I'm a dad, a husband. I got
three beautiful children. My wife and I had been
married for, let's see, 14, it'll be 14 years
this year. We've got three beautiful children,
two girls and a boy. I mean, we have life pretty
good. I mean, you can see I'm in my basement
in my office area, the place that I've made my
office. You can see I've got a bookshelf behind
me. We're very blessed people. Now we're not
millionaires or anything yet, but we're very
blessed people. I don't feel persecuted at all.
I can sit in my basement and record this video
and post it when I get done with all this and
send it out globally and don't have to worry
about anybody coming to tell me I can't do this.
Now could any of that stuff change? Certainly
if we don't as a nation exercise our rights and
our voting privileges and stuff like that. and
sure something could change but at this present
moment if you're a christian in america you're
not suffering you're not facing persecution um
so but not not like they are in other nations
at least and let's talk about this let's let's
look at some i got some stuff wrote down here
So countries where Christianity is essentially
illegal. In North Korea Christianity is banned.
Believers can be imprisoned or executed. Somalia
conversion from Islam can lead to death. Yemen
open Christian practice is extremely dangerous.
Saudi Arabia public Christian worship is forbidden.
In Libya Christians often operate secretly due
to threats or instability. Some analysts do conclude
Afghanistan, Iran, and Eritrea. I'm not sure
how you pronounce that. In these nations Christianity
may not always be officially banned on paper,
but in reality it must be practiced underground.
Again, countries where Christianity is extremely
dangerous to practice. These are commonly recognized
as most restrictive environments for Christians
in North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan.
Christians must have their faith. Saudi Arabia,
Iran converts are often imprisoned. Eritrea,
I'm not sure where that's at. But many Christians
held in long -term detention. These are often
listed among the most dangerous places to be
openly Christian. There is a much larger group
around 50 countries are considered very high
or extreme risk. Examples of that Pakistan, India,
Nigeria, China, Sudan, Myanmar, Bangladesh. These
places may technically allow Christianity, but
believers will face harassment, arrest, violence,
or church closure. Some big picture numbers here
about five to ten countries. Christianity is
effectively illegal or banned in practice about
50 countries very high extreme persecution. So
again not in America but you do have about 380
plus million Christians worldwide who face significant
persecution or discrimination. See, we talk about
tribulation like it's only coming Sunday, but
for millions of believers around the world, tribulation
is not prophecy. It's daily life. Meanwhile,
we gather freely here in America, open our Bibles,
openly worship without fear. That's not normal.
That's a blessing if you live in this country.
The idea of a seven -year Tribulation does not
even come from a verse that says there will be
seven years of tribulation. It comes from interpreting
Daniel's final week as seven years, then placing
that week into the future, separated by a gap
of thousands of years. That system again became
popular like we talked about last week. in the
1800s not from the early church. So again let's
connect all this back to Revelation. Revelation
was written to believers that were already suffering,
they were already in tribulation, they're not
waiting for one, they're actually living through
it. So here's the thing that if we believe tribulations
only for the future, we may decide to live in
fear. We expect disaster. We look for all the
headlines to fall in place. We focus on survival
instead of faithfulness, hope, and kingdom living.
Jesus' goal was preparation, not panic. He gave
warning so people could act wisely, stay faithful,
and remain steady. Jesus did not want to scare
people He warned to prepare them and that is
something that you really have to pay attention
to So look let's look at a couple things Just
a couple truths here number truth number one
Tribulation does mean pressure not planet destruction.
You will face tribulation You will face struggles
and troubles. Number two is Jesus warned about
a real historical tribulation, again connected
to the fall of Jerusalem fulfilled in AD 70.
Number three, God sustains his people through
tribulation. He doesn't always remove us from
tribulation, but he walks with us through tribulation.
Just to end in closing, this is gonna be a shorter
one. Some of this I feel like again, we're repeating
a lot of things but I just want to take time
and cover each of these topics So hopefully it
helps you understand and get a better grasp of
what some of this stuff actually means Tribulation
is not the end of hope. It's not the end of God's
faithful it faithfulness It's not the end of
God's people Jesus warned about tribulation.
So believers would not panic but instead endure
and History shows us something powerful that
Jesus was not wrong His words were fulfilled
and the same Jesus who warned them is the same
Jesus who walks with us today so my friend In
my opinion, there's not some great tribulation
coming that what we read in Matthew 24, especially
a lot of the historical things that Jesus is
telling people that. I think we have to remember
he's speaking to real people who's getting ready
to face some real problems. Not saying that we're
not gonna face hard times and difficult seasons,
but to take those and throw it 2 ,000 years into
the future, I believe is not correct. Jesus was
talking to a specific group of people and these
people experienced exactly what Jesus told them.
And I feel like he does tell us that, you know,
you're going to have struggles and you're going
to have troubles. You're going to have tribulation
in this world. Here in America, we are free people.
We should not take that for granted. Because
we don't face, we're not a part of that 380 million
who face actual persecution every single day
for their beliefs. I think that should be something
that we hold on to, that we learn to appreciate
and to value and to protect with our rights as
an American citizen. Now I'm kingdom first, American
second. That's just my take on things. I think
it's important to understand some of this, how
Jesus meant it. I think it helps give us more
hope and the ability to look more hopeful into
the future. To know that there's not, and again
in my opinion, that there's not some great big
tribulation coming, not a rapture coming. We
are here to occupy until he comes. Catch that.
We are here to occupy until he comes. That's
what it's about. Us lighting it up, us expanding
the kingdom of heaven, releasing the kingdom
through us, partnering with Holy Spirit, partnering
with the Trinity, partnering and releasing heaven
on earth. As it is in heaven, so it is on earth.
On earth as it is in heaven. So again, like last
week, I'm hoping this helped you. I'm hoping
this kind of brings some clarity to you. And
until next week, I believe next week we'll jump
into talking about the Antichrist. So that will
be another fun one to do and dive into. So until
next week, guys, be blessed and I will see you
next week. Thanks for spending some time with
me today on the Kingdom Family Podcast. If this
episode spoke to you, take a moment to share
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Ministries. Until next time, live loved, live
free, and live from the life of the Kingdom.