Reading that passage in Matthew gives us a hint of what is to come in the second half of the Tribulation, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21). (emphasis added)
So the level of devastation, especially in the second half of the Tribulation, has never happened before and will never happen again. Even the great flood of Genesis, when all the world, except for Noah and his family, drowned, doesn’t equal the judgments that are poured out on an unrepentant world during the Tribulation. But, before we start examining the seven bowls, there is something else about that passage in Matthew that bears a closer look.
“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (Matthew 24:21-22).
“But for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”
It is interesting to discover that there are multiple “expirations” or assigned times in Revelation: the church at Smyrna is told they will have tribulation (thlipsis) for ten days, the locusts of the fifth trumpet cannot kill their victims but only torment them for five months, and of course, we have the Two Witnesses who are given power for exactly “one thousand two hundred and sixty days.”
But the two that seem to be in contrast to that passage in Matthew would be first when the Two Witnesses are given their authority for a specific time, and second, when the Antichrist is given his authority for a specific time:
- “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth” (Revelation 11:3).
- “And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months” (Revelation 13:5).
We know the Tribulation, or the Seventieth Week of Daniel, is the fulfillment of the seventy weeks, or 490 years in prophetic terms, of God’s promise to Israel in Daniel 9. “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy’’ (Daniel 9:24).
The specific timeframes in those appointments add up to seven years: “one thousand two hundred and sixty days,” according to the Hebrew calendar of a 360-day year, equals exactly three- and one-half years. The Two Witnesses are appointed a time of three- and one-half years – the first half of the Tribulation.
The Antichrist is appointed “forty-two months,” which is also exactly half of seven years. While he is present during the first half of the Tribulation, it isn’t until the midpoint that Satan empowers him and he is given the authority to continue for forty-two months.
So we have the time appointed unto the Two Witnesses = one-half of seven years, plus the time appointed unto the Antichrist = one-half of seven years, for a total of seven years, as stated in the verse in Daniel.
But when we read that verse in Matthew, something doesn’t add up. “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (Matthew 24:22).
Which period is shortened? Is Scripture telling us that either 1) the time allotted for the Two Witnesses is shortened, or 2) the time allotted for the Antichrist is shortened? Which is it?
Actually, neither. To understand this seemingly contradictory passage, we have to go back to the original Greek. The part of that verse that reads “were shortened” is, in the Greek, “ekolobōthēsan” (Strong’s. Greek.2856.koloboó, verb, “to curtail, to cut short, shorten, abbreviate”).
So this is a verb from the Greek, and it means to cut short, shorten, or abbreviate – no surprise there. But the form of the verb in this passage is aorist passive indicative, which means it is past tense – it already happened. To put it simply, the decision to cut that time short had already been made.
We don’t know when our Heavenly Father made this decision, but we know it was before Daniel’s time, or that promise to Daniel in chapter nine would be quite different. Nor do we know what it was changed from – 72 weeks or more? We don’t know and won’t know until we can ask Him.
We also don’t know the process for the change. We know Abraham wasn’t shy about negotiating with God before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, as presented in Genesis.
“So the Lord said, ‘If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.’ Then Abraham answered and said, ‘Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?’ So He said, ‘If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.’ And he spoke to Him yet again and said, ‘Suppose there should be forty found there?’ So He said, ‘I will not do it for the sake of forty.’
Then he said, ‘Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?’ So He said, ‘I will not do it if I find thirty there.’ And he said, ‘Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?’ So He said, ‘I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.’ Then he said, ‘Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?’ And He said, ‘I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.’ So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place” (Genesis 18:26-33).
Was this change another instance of Abraham negotiating with God? I can imagine how that conversation went, but it isn’t in Scripture, and I would only be speculating. And it isn’t important when or how the time for the Tribulation was changed – shortened – so there would be some flesh alive at the end of that time.
What is important is what this tells us about who our Father is. We know, from that verse in Ezekiel and others, “Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’” (Ezekiel 33:11) that our Heavenly Father takes no satisfaction from the death of the wicked. He has done everything to turn those who have rebelled against Him back to Him – the Two Witnesses, the 144,000, the angels in the heavens, but there are still those whose hearts have been hardened and will not repent.
Our Father is a loving Father, and He is also a just and righteous God. I’m not sure our human brains can even comprehend just how exacting that righteousness is, and must be.
There are many verses throughout both the Old and New Testaments about how much God hates sin. We’ll look at just one of those. “The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but He loves him who follows righteousness” (Proverbs 15:9).
We know we are all sinners, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And we know there is a price to pay for those sins. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Yet God, in all His mercy, sent His Only Begotten Son to take that punishment for our sins upon Himself, that we would be saved. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
God’s love and mercy did not end with His Son’s sacrifice upon the cross. He still loves us, still wants that we would repent and turn back to Him, and even until the end, desires that we would turn away from the wickedness in this world and seek Him.
Justice, true righteousness, demands punishment for sin. While our earthly courts and system of jurisprudence emulate that, they come nowhere near the totality of true justice and true righteousness. But our Heavenly Father does.
There is no contradiction in that passage in Matthew and the times appointed to both the Two Witnesses and the AntiChrist. God knew the time of His final judgment would have to be shortened, or no flesh would survive it. So He changed it – long before the first Scripture with that promise to Israel was ever written.
He also knows the judgment that is coming has been long deserved, but He has been patient. But the time has run out, and the full wrath of God is about to be felt on earth.
Susan Mouw