“HOW TO SURVIVE the Great TRIBULATION – FIGHT, FLIGHT, OR FAITH”

This is the title of the latest book I just finished reading. The author is Charles Cooper and in this book Mr. Cooper looks at three options for surviving the coming Great Persecution against the people of God.

Option One: FIGHT

Mr. Cooper points out that on the night the Lord was arrested Peter cut off Malchus’s ear. Jesus then tells Peter, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.” (Matt. 26:52) Jesus was saying that the one who attempts to stay alive by killing others will himself be killed. Using violence as a means of protection will only have the opposite effect. Towards the end of his ministry Peter gave these instructions on how to endure under persecution…

1 Peter 4:12-16, 19 – “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God. Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.”

John MacArthur points out in his study Bible notes that Peter gives us four attitudes we should embrace to be triumphant in persecution:
• Expect it (v. 12)
• Rejoice in it ((vv. 13,14)
• Evaluate its cause (vv. 15,16)
• Entrust it to God (v. 19)

Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians gives us a near/far prophetic perspective on suffering and affliction. 2 Thessalonians 1:6,7 - “For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire.” The Thessalonians were experiencing affliction when Paul wrote this letter to them and Paul says that at the revelation of Christ believers can expect relief from affliction.

The one who lives godly in Christ will suffer persecution. We are not to fight back but to entrust ourselves to God. Peter even goes so far as to say that some suffer according to the will of God! 1 Peter 4:19 – “Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.”

This brings up a question. Is it God’s will that believers suffer during the Great Persecution? Charles Cooper asks this in his book. He points to Revelation 13:10 as a text that speaks directly to this – “If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.” Mr. Cooper says that Revelation 13:10 affirms that God’s elect will experience imprisonment and capital punishment during Daniel’s Seventieth Week.

Mr. Cooper also points out that from Revelation 6:11 we learn that God knows the precise number of His elect that will be killed.

“And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren were to be killed, even as they had been, should be completed also.”

We understand from this verse that an exact number of saints have an appointment to martyrdom by Satan and his Antichrist and I believe we must conclude that it is according to the sovereign choice of God.

The second option Charles Cooper examines for surviving the great tribulation is FLIGHT.

He states that a number of God’s elect “are persuaded that they can avoid Satan and his Antichrist by fleeing to a place of safety in the unpopulated regions of the world.” He says, “Some would take Matthew 24:16 as proof that flight to any place of safety is workable. The Lord Jesus, in explaining the severity of the persecution by Satan and his Antichrist, exhorts those believers living in Judea that they must flee to the mountains upon the visible appearance of the abomination of desolation in a holy place in Jerusalem.”

While I am not persuaded that I will be able to avoid Satan and his Antichrist by fleeing to a place of safety in unpopulated regions of the world, because I believe the choice is ultimately the Lord’s, I do believe Jesus is teaching principles for His followers all over the world in Matthew 24, one of them being, go into hiding if you are able because the slaughter is going to be great.

We know from Revelation 12 that there will be a group of people that will be protected in the wilderness of Israel by God.

Mr. Cooper discusses all the modern day technology that is used for tracking people. It is rather spectacular and I come to the same conclusion that he does, hiding from Satan and his Antichrist will be next to impossible.

While I believe it is the sovereign choice of God as to who will be killed, I also believe it is the sovereign choice of God as to who will survive – and there will be survivors.

Jesus foretells the coming Great Persecution in His Olivet Discourse. Matthew 24:9,10 - “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name. And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another.” And verse 21 – “for then there will be great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall.”

Jesus also said in this discourse, “But the one who endures to the end (of the age, at His coming), he shall be saved/delivered.” (v. 13) He also says that for the sake of the elect those days of great tribulation will be cut short otherwise no flesh would be saved. (v. 22) While believers all over the world will be suffering persecution and death prior to the Lord’s return, there will be some that make it to the end. We can expect that some will survive.

In Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians when he discusses the catching up of the saints at the second coming of Christ he says that those “who are alive and remain/survive shall be caught up together with them (the dead) in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air…” There will be survivors.

These words were written to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, “Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth.” (Rev. 3:10)

Some understand this to mean the Lord will guard within the sphere of danger during the Great Persecution a group of faithful believers. Others see this as removal from the earth before the day of the Lord’s wrath. I believe both apply. The Lord's elect who He protects from physical death during the Great Persecution will be gathered to Himself before He pours out His day of the Lord wrath. As the Lord uses miraculous means to protect the group that flees Jerusalem at the abomination of desolation, I believe He will supernaturally protect some of His elect all over the world as well. I believe this group will be familiar with the Lord’s instruction in Matthew 24. They will not be lead astray by those who say that Christ is here or there on various parts of the earth. They know that Christ will return to gather His elect after the sign of the end of the age occurs and His first appearance will be in the sky, after the sun and the moon are darkened, which is the sign of the end of the age.

God determines what will happen and the choice is ultimately up to Him as to who remains alive to the end of the age, when Christ returns and gathers the elect, but I believe He will protect some of those who heeded His instruction and warning in Matthew 24.

The last option the author considers is FAITH. The book consists of ten chapters and he spends the last seven on faith. Mr. Cooper discusses what “little faith” is as opposed to “great faith.” Scripture is clear that God is the bestower of faith. I agree with Mr. Cooper that the difference between “little faith” and “great faith” is knowledge of God’s word and God’s ways which come to bear on a given situation or circumstance. He says, “Education makes faith great…one does not need a seminar on growing his or her faith, but a class on learning the doctrines of God’s word.”

I believe the choice is ours as to whether we will exhibit little faith or great faith as we move into the last days. It will be determined by how much time we’ve spent in the Word, learning about God and His ways. I believe the choice is God’s as to which
of the elect will not suffer physical death at the hands of Antichrist. Remember, we are not to be surprised at persecution, we are to expect it and when it occurs, entrust it to God.

I said in my previous post that when we are in the Word on a consistent, daily basis, our view of God expands. We see that God is sovereign, working out His plan for His glory and our benefit, and He is trustworthy no matter what the circumstance. When we drench ourselves in the Word, our faith then has the opportunity to become great faith; it becomes either-way faith. “Either-way faith” says that though God is able to deliver us from Satan and his antichrist, the choice is God’s. Either way we will trust in Him, no matter what.

Revelation 12:11 – “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death.”