The Great Tribulation and the Return of Christ Pt. 2: The Mid-Tribulation View
“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering…And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” - Daniel 9:24, 27
In our last article we looked at the first of the three views on the Great Tribulation, which was the pretribulation view. You can read about that here if you haven’t already, but in essence, the Church is removed, or raptured, from the earth prior to the revelation of the Antichrist and the subsequent Great Tribulation at the end of which Christ will physically and visibly return to judge the nations and establish His earthly kingdom.
What is the Mid-tribulation View?
We now move to the second tribulation view, called mid-tribulation. In this is the view, the Church is raptured, or removed from the earth halfway through the Great Tribulation of seven years. Remember, the word rapture comes from the Greek word harpazo, meaning to be snatched away. So, suddenly and without warning, the Church will be taken from the earth to meet Jesus in the clouds (1 Thess. 4:17). According to this view, the Church sees the revelation of the Antichrist and may suffer under Him, although there is debate on this, but will ultimately be spared the worst of the Tribulation and the wrath of God.
Biblical Basis
In Daniel 9:24, the angel Gabriel comes to Daniel having been sent by God in response to his prayer to reveal to him a prophetic vision of what God has determined to do. In essence, the course of human history up to the end of the age is laid before Daniel symbolically in the form of seventy weeks. It would take too long to explain all of these weeks here, but you can read a very helpful article on this topic from a reputable source here. What we need to focus on is the seventieth week. In the mid-tribulation view, the sixty-nine weeks are world history leading up to the end times and the seventieth week is the seven-year reign of the Antichrist. The interpretation goes as follows: The Antichrist comes onto the world stage to make a seven-year peace treaty (referred to in Daniel as a covenant) between Israel and the nations of the earth, which will appear to accomplish world peace. This is, understandably, going to get him a lot of attention since world peace has thus far eluded humanity.
Halfway through that covenant, however, he violates it, declares himself to be God incarnate, desecrates the Temple, begins a world religion where he is the object of worship, and begins persecuting the Jews. Either just before or just after He does this, the Church is raptured to be with the Lord. I want to mention also that Daniel’s seventieth week is the basis for the pre-tribulation view of the rapture in that this is how we know that the reign of the Antichrist will be seven years. The difference is when the Church is removed.
Additional biblical appeal for this is found in Revelation 11:15, “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” It is believed in the mid-tribulation view that this is the trumpet Paul refers to in 1 Cor. 15:52. Chronologically, this occurs just before the time of tribulation on the earth that ensues in the next five chapters of Revelation.
Strengths of the Mid-tribulation View
One major strength of this view over the pretribulation view is that it offers an explanation as to why the Bible even bothers to tell us about the Antichrist at all. Many do find it compelling that, in a letter to the Church, so much detail about the Tribulation and the Antichrist is given. The logical conclusion that many have come to is that we will be here for it, so God in His grace has told us what to look for so that we can be prepared and endure. A second strength, strange though it may sound, is that it allows for the Church to suffer persecution. Not all who hold the mid-tribulation view believe we will suffer under the Antichrist, but there are those who believe he will begin a time of persecution of the Church prior to his desecration of the temple.
Holding that the Church would suffer persecution under the rule of the wicked is consistent with the history of the Church in Scripture but also throughout all of history and adheres to Paul’s warning that “All those who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). Proponents of both the mid and post-tribulation views rightly point out that God doesn’t spare the Church suffering in this life for His sake and the Great Tribulation will be no different. Thus, Jesus encourages His disciples in Matthew 24:13 to endure to the end. This is a keen observation and is certainly one to keep in mind.
Weaknesses of the Mid-tribulation View
Critics of this view point out that the trumpet from Revelation 11 is one of judgment, while the trumpet from 1 Corinthians 15 is the trumpet call of God to remove His people, so the blowing of these trumpets is not the same event. Further, much like the pretribulation view, the mid-tribulation view assumes a clear, chronological timeline. However, the justifying Scriptures can be interpreted symbolically, meaning that we do not have a concrete timeline, but we do have major events to look for so as not to be caught unaware. There are some who hold that the tribulation, while it will occur, should not be taken to be a literal seven years, but rather see this as the Bible telling us that the reign of the Antichrist and the Great Tribulation in general are both going to be extremely short in comparison to the whole of history. This critique makes sense in light of Jesus saying that these days are cut short for the sake of the elect (Mt. 24:22). Further, Daniel’s vision was not seventy literal weeks, but these weeks were symbolic of world history being broken into sections over a very long period of time. Scripture does make use of imagery to explain prophetic events so we could be talking about a chronological timeline, or we could be talking about symbolic language. The reality is, we simply don’t know but either way, we do know what to look for.
On a related note, we would do well to pay close attention to the events surrounding the war in Israel and Gaza for this reason. Military strategists are saying we are closer to world war than we have been since the end of the last one. If we are thrust into a world war as a result of this conflict and someone comes along with an answer that makes everyone happy and ends in peace, this is something to wary of. The reality of this world is that there will never be world peace apart from the reign of Christ. Sin will not allow it. There will never be a lasting two-state solution in Gaza. This conflict has raged for millennia and will not end with everyone deciding to play nice. It will end when Christ returns, judges the nations, saves His people, and establishes His kingdom in righteousness and not a moment before. So long as sin, death, Satan, and his demons remain out of the Lake of Fire, peace remains out of our reach.
Summary
The mid-tribulation view of the rapture teaches that the Church will see the revelation of the Antichrist and the beginning of the seven-year tribulation through His making peace with Israel and the nations of the earth. However, at the halfway point of the seven years, he will declare himself to be God in the Israelite temple, set up a world religion where he is the object of worship, and will then violate the peace he made by beginning a time of persecution against Israel. The Church may suffer persecution but will be raptured at this mid-way point and will not suffer the worst of the Antichrist’s rule nor the wrath of God that is coming upon the earth. This view, like the pretribulation view, has biblical merit, but is not without its weaknesses. It is wise, therefore, for God’s people to hold any debatable eschatological view lightly. The important thing to remember is that God knows, God is sovereign, and God wins, and as a result, one day we will be with the Lord Jesus forever.
Soli Deo Gloria
