GOD'S PLAN
The Time of Jacob's Trouble
The time period prior to the return of the Lord is commonly referred to the Great Tribulation, but to be technically correct the entire period is best described as the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. This title comes from Jeremiah 30:7 (KJV), which says, “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.” This is referring to the entire period in which God returns His focus to Israel, ending with the return of the Lord.
The term “great tribulation” comes from Matthew 24:21 (KJV), which says, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” This is a reference made by Jesus Christ Himself to the end times. A few verses earlier Jesus tells us about these perilous times leading up to the great tribulation of which He speaks. In Matthew 24:15 (KJV) Jesus tells us, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)” Jesus is talking about the prophecy made by Daniel, which is in Daniel 9:27 (KJV), “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” We know from other Bible scriptures that this is speaking of a week of years, not days. It is at the halfway point of the 7-year period that this abomination that causes desolation occurs. We will cover more of this week in the section on Daniel’s 70th Week below (see below).
In Genesis, we find the story of Jacob, one of the patriarchs, who was Abraham’s grandson. Like Abraham, who had is name changed by God from Abram to Abraham (Genesis 17:5), Jacob also had his name changed by God to Israel (Genesis 35:10). However, unlike Abraham, Israel was often referred to by his old name when he was acting in the flesh and Israel when he was acting in the Spirit. Jacob (Israel) was the father of the 12 tribes and hence, the nation was eventually named after him as Israel. The term “Jacob’s Trouble” is representative of the fact that the nation of Israel was not following the ways of God, so they were referred to as “Jacob” (fleshly).
Jeremiah was describing in chapter 30, the restoration of Israel after a long period of captivity. This is rebuilding of the nation of Israel, which started on May 14, 1948. The end of that period was what he called the Time of Jacob’s Trouble.
In Matthew 24:32 (KJV), Jesus said, “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:” The fig tree is Israel and the leaves returning to it is it being reborn and gathering back together. Jesus follows this in Matthew 24:34 (KJV) with, “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”
Putting all of this together, we can see that Jesus is saying that the generation that sees the return of Israel will not pass away until his prophecy was fulfilled, and the period of Jacob’s Trouble had come.
1. Daniel's 70th Week
The Book of Daniel includes a number of interesting prophecies that tell of Israel’s fate. He was taken captive by the Babylonian’s in 606 BC by King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel first explains the vision or dream Nebuchadnezzar had that was the 4 part statue with the gold head, silver chest, bronze waist and hips and iron legs, mixed with clay for the feet (Daniel chapter 2). See the Lesson on the Book of Daniel for more detail on this and his other prophecies. Daniel has his own vision of 4 animals that represent the same thing (Daniel chapter 7). Both visions were detailing the 4 empires that include Babylon at the time and their succeeding empires, the Medo-Persians, the Greeks and Romans. In Daniel chapter 9, the prophecies turn to end times and are given to Daniel by the angel Gabriel. He tells Daniel what will transpire in the end times.
“[Dan 9:24-27 KJV] 24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
This prophecy has 3 main parts that need to be understood in detail. Verse 24 tell of the total time period of the prophecy, ending with the return of the Messiah, which is 70 weeks. In Hebrew a week can be a week of days, a week of months, or a week of years. In prophecy, it is very common for the weeks to be referring to years, which is the case here. That means the entire period is to last 70 x 7 years, or 490 years.
In Verse 25 the starting point for counting is identified. It is the decree to “restore and rebuild Jerusalem…and the wall”. We cover this topic in detail in the Book of Daniel, so read that for more information. For purposes of this lesson, we will continue on noting that 7+62 weeks or a total of 69 of the 70 weeks are accounted for in verse 25.
In verse 26 we need to look closely at the language. “After threescore and two weeks”, that is the 62-week period that followed the 7-week period. We will not go into the details of what these specific periods are for, that is covered in the Book of Daniel. What we are focused on here is that after 69 weeks of years, or after 483 years, “shall Messiah be cut off.” This means that after 483 years after the decree to rebuild the city walls of Jerusalem, Christ would be crucified. See the book by Sir Robert Anderson, “The Coming Prince” (public domain) to get a detailed look into how this prophecy has been proven to be exactly fulfilled to the very day.
Pay very close attention to the language that follows Jesus being “cut off”. It says, “the people of the prince that shall come.” This means those who live in the area of the future prince, not necessarily the prince himself. Then it says they “shall destroy the city and the sanctuary”. This happened in 70 AD at the hand of Titus and the Roman army.
Verse 27 switches from the “people of the prince that shall come, to the prince himself. It says, “he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week.” Some people have trouble with this and try to apply this personal pronoun to Jesus, but any grammar teacher, even Hebrew, will tell you that the pronoun can be applied to the last proper noun used. That was the “prince that shall come”. This is clearly not Jesus because it goes on to say “he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease.” This means he will stop the sacrifices in the Temple. Then it says, “and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate.” This is the abomination of desolation Jesus was speaking of in Matthew 24:15. We can see that it is at the halfway point of the 7-year period that this takes place by the word “midst”, for which the Hebrew word means middle. This “week” is the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy. It takes place after a large period of time in which the Church age happens.
2. The Focus is Israel, Not the Church
Daniel was in captivity at the time of the prophecy, and was being told of what was to come after that, up until the very end times. He was not told of the period of the Church, but was told up until Christ’s death and then His return. The period of Israel’s exile and the following time in which Israel was under the rule of other nations is what Daniel’s prophecies were dealing with. It was specifically not addressing the Church.
The Book of Hosea 3:4-5 (KJV) says, “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.” Here, the Hebrew word for “latter” is “achariyth”, which means “end, last or hindermost”. It is referencing the end times, not just the time after the exile.
Then in Hosea 5:15 (KJV) it says, “I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early (earnestly).” The Lord is going to be silent with Israel until the end times, which is exactly what has happened.
The entire chapter of Romans 11 deals with the fact that Israel is not cast away, but will be redeemed. Let us look at Romans 11:7-11 (KJV) “What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for (salvation); but the election (Church) hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.”
Paul is describing how the Jews are blinded to the truth until the end times. The gentile Church receives the salvation the Jews have longed for but failed to find. The Church is used to “provoke them to jealousy”.
Then in Hosea 6:1-2 (KJV), it says, “Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.” This follows the verse from above (Hosea 5:15) and shows the Jews response, which is they will return to the Lord in the end times. Here it says after “two days”. Understanding Biblical codes, we can use 2 Peter 3:8 (KJV) to interpret. “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Two days here could be interpreted as 2000 years. Israel was “revived” as a nation in 1948. This is the first and only instance in world history of a nation being “revived”. No conquered nation that has been destroyed and had their name removed from the map has ever come back to life, until now.
3. Ezekiel 38 War
Ezekiel 38 deals with the war of Gog and Magog against Israel. Do not confuse this war with Armageddon. We will talk more about that confrontation in the next few sections. In this chapter, we are given a prophecy of the areas of “Gog of the land of Magog, Meschech, Tubal, Persia, Ethiopia and Libya.” There nations will war against Israel. These nations have modern day names which we will better understand.
Most Bible scholars acknowledge that Gog is a title of the king of Magog. Magog can be traced back to the land to the far North of Israel, which is Russia. Meschech and Tubal can be traced back to the area known today as Turkey. Persia is known today as Iran. These are the 3 big players in this war with Israel. There are some supporting characters, Ethiopia and Libya. Although the Ethiopia of the Bible has different boundaries of the Ethiopia of today, let us not get hung up on that detail. Libya is pretty much the Libya that we know of today. This is a list of 3 major players and two minor players in this battle against Israel. This is very different from Armageddon, which calls for all the nations of the earth to war against God (see the section on Armageddon below).
Ezekiel 38:8 (KJV) describes the following, “After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.” This is just before the attack. Israel is back in the land and living peacefully and safely.
Ezekiel 38:13 talks about how “Sheba and Dedan” will come to the defense of Israel. These locations are known today as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emerites. Both of these countries have recently made historic peace treaties with Israel.
When the attack comes God will intervene and cause a great shaking (Ezekiel 38:19-20) and God will turn every man against his brother (Ezekiel 38:21). Then in Ezekiel 38:22-23 (KJV), we read, “And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.” This indicated that God will defeat the enemy. It implies great fire from the sky. Could this be a failed nuclear attack?
Ezekiel 39:9 (KJV) gives us a clue, “And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:” The Israelites will be able to use the enemies weapons as energy for a 7-year period. This is another argument against this battle being Armageddon, as the Lord is back after that battle. Here we see the Israelites out gather energy for 7-years. Doesn’t that sound like the 7-year period of Jacob’s Trouble?
Ezekiel 39:12 (KJV) says, “And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.” For the next 7 months, the Israelites are burying the dead in order to cleanse the land.
Following this 7-year period, we read in Ezekiel 39:25-26 (KJV) “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.” Ezekiel is saying their (Israel’s) punishment is now over. Ezekiel tells us God is driving the Jews to repentance and punishing them for their rebellion.
4. Punishing the World for Sin
In Isaiah 63:3-4 (KJV) we read, “I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.” Here, the Lord is taking out His vengeance on an evil world.
Then again, in Isaiah 13:9 (KJV), “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” There are many other scriptures like these two that drive home the point that the “day of vengeance” or “wrath” is the day in which Jesus returns and cleans up a sinful world. The entire 7-year period leading up to that day is used not only to provoke the Jews to repentance, but also to judge the world for its sin, with the climax coming on the day of His Return.
The first part of the 7-year period includes the first judgements discussed in Revelation. These start with the “7-seals”, followed by the “7-trumpets”. These judgements, starting with the seals include 1) conquering power, 2) war, 3) famine, 4) pestilence and death, 5) martyrs, 6) physical changes and 7) the 7 trumpets (Revelation 6:1 – 8:5).
The 7 trumpets, as described in Revelation 8:7 – 11:19, include 1) hail, fire and blood, 2) burning mountains, 3) Start Wormwood, 4) the sun is smitten, 5) plagues of locusts, 6) plagues of horsemen and 7) the 7 bowls to follow.
The seals are considered to be horrible, and the trumpets are even worse! Things will be very bad at this time, but it is going to get worse. These all take place in the first half of the time of Jacob’s trouble. The antichrist is on the rise and has made a 7-year peace deal with Israel. Let us talk about him next.
5. The Antichrist
Another major component of this dispensation is the presence of the antichrist. See the lesson on The Antichrist for a detailed study of this Satan driven world leader that wishes to be worshiped as a god above all other gods.
He is described in Revelation chapter 13:1 (KJV) as the “Beast from the Sea”. “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.” The horns and crowns are representative of the nations he rules over. We know from Daniel 7 he will come out of the area of the Roman Empire at the time of Christ, so not just Rome as we know it today.
In Revelation 13:3, we see this person appears to be mortally wounded and miraculously healed. In 13:4-5 he is given power by the dragon (Satan), which is most likely how he is healed. This person has the power of Satan behind him and he becomes the most persuasive, powerful leader the world has ever seen. He convinces many to follow him. He has setup this peace plan with Israel and is winning people over in the first half of this 7-year period. He will likely allow the Israelites to rebuild their Temple, which will make them very happy.
Think of the antichrist as the son of Satan, much like Christ is the Son of God. Satan takes everything God makes and perverts it. He can’t do any real creating himself, but he can twist and contort what God does in an attempt to glorify himself. Glory is what he wants. That leads us to the Great Tribulation.
6. The Great Tribulation
At the half-way point of this period, the antichrist is going to do that act that Jesus warned about in Matthew 24:15. He’s going to break the treaty with Israel and take over the Temple and set himself up as the god to be worshipped. This is the abomination of desolation described by Daniel (Daniel 9:27). After this the antichrist implements the mark of the beast, 666 (Revelation 14:9-11). This mark is required in order to buy or sell anything. We can already see today how this can happen. The technology is already in place and governments are moving rapidly towards doing away with cash as a currency. We are preparing for this to happen.
Those that don’t take the mark and pledge their loyalty to the antichrist (Satan wants his worship), are rounded up and put to death. Sounds crazy, except we can already see how hatred is growing at exponential rates and division is growing everywhere. It is not too far-fetched to see this playing out in our lifetimes.
This second half of the 7-year period is when God send the 7 bowls, the worst of all the punishments. The bowls are 1) boils, 2) 1/3 of the sea turns to blood, 3) 1/3 of the rivers turn to blood, 4) extreme heat, 5) darkness, 6) Euphrates River dries up, massive earthquake, followed by Armageddon and then the return of Christ (Revelation 15 and 16).
7. Armageddon
Revelation 16:14 (KJV) tells us, “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” All the nations of the earth that had armies gathered together to go to war against God. Really? Their hearts are hardened, and they believe the lie, as it says in 2 Thessalonians 2:11 (KJV), “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:” They still don’t get that God is in charge and it is too late for them.
Revelation 17:14 (KJV) tells us of the outcome. “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” Jesus defeats them alone. We are with but he doesn’t need our help.
8. The Return of Christ
Revelation 18 deals with the return of our Lord and His defeat of the enemy. Revelation 19:2 (KJV) says, “For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.” He judges the sinful world and punishes the wicked. This destroys those who took up arms against him, but does not kill everyone left on earth. There are those who did not take the mark of the beast and managed to survive and there are some Jews who hid in the mountains or elsewhere that also survived. These are the ones who have not died who will populate the next phase, the Millennial Kingdom. We will talk more about that in the next lesson.
9. Summary
The time of Jacob’s trouble is intended by God as a way to stir the Israelites to repent of their sins and accept Jesus as the Messiah and to punish the rest of the world for its sin. It follows the rapture and removal of the Church, who becomes the bride of Christ. The antichrist rises in this time and makes a peace deal with Israel following the Ezekiel 38 war.
This coincides with the first two seals, conquering and war. The remaining seals follow and then the trumpets. During this time the Temple is rebuilt and then at the half-way point, the antichrist declares himself as god and requires the mark of the beast to buy or sell. He then has killed anyone who refuses to take it. The 7 bowls then take place, and everything falls apart. Our Lord then returns and brings an end to the punishment and wars.
This is a short 7-year period, but it is very important in God’s Plan. There has to be punishment for sin and that is death. God doles out that punishment on the nations here in this period. He also judges us individually, but that is only after death. This punishment is for an evil world, not for us individually.
