The Great Tribulation: A Pentecostal View
As taught in the Pentecostal / Charismatic tradition
Understanding the period of unprecedented trouble on earth following the rapture.
The question of "The Great Tribulation" is not merely a matter of speculative chronology within the Pentecostal tradition; it is a question of the nature of God’s relationship with His Church and His redemptive plan for Israel. For the Pentecostal believer, the doctrine of the end times—eschatology—is inextricably linked to the "Blessed Hope," the imminent return of Jesus Christ. The central question this subtopic answers is: What is the purpose of the final seven-year period of human history, and what is the Church’s relationship to the wrath that characterizes it? In the Pentecostal view, specifically within the Classical Pentecostalism of the Assemblies of God and similar bodies, the Great Tribulation is understood as a literal, future period of unprecedented global suffering and divine judgment that serves to prepare Israel for her Messiah and to judge a Christ-rejecting world.
By the end of this lesson
- **Identify** the specific biblical markers that distinguish "The Great Tribulation" from general Christian suffering within the Pentecostal tradition.
- **Distinguish** between the "Rapture" (the Blessed Hope) and the "Second Coming" (the Revelation) as two distinct phases of the end-times timeline.
- **Explain** the role of the Holy Spirit as the "Restrainer" in 2 Thessalonians 2 and how His "removal" triggers the Tribulation.
- **Articulate** the primary purposes of the Great Tribulation regarding the judgment of the Gentile nations and the restoration of Israel.
- **Trace** the historical development of Pentecostal eschatology from early 20th-century revivalism to contemporary systematic formulations.
- **Defend** the Pre-tribulation position using the provided Scripture anchors and the theological concept of the Church being "not appointed unto wrath."
- **Apply** the doctrine of the imminent return of Christ to the practice of holiness and the urgency of the Great Commission.
- **Compare** the Pentecostal Pre-tribulational view with Mid-tribulational and Post-tribulational perspectives, noting the areas of scriptural disagreement.
Scripture
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