Q - The Tribulation - What will occur during those 7 years?

A - This is based on my understanding of the Bible.

Soon the world will experience a horrible period of 7 years the first half is called the Tribulation the second half is called the great tribulation.

When it comes to Bible prophecy there is no event that causes more fear or more questions than the Tribulation. The Tribulation is an event that will involve the whole world.

The Bible says it will start just after the Rapture occurs, (The Rapture is when born again Christians that are found worthy will ascend to up to Jesus Christ to safety with him).

After this the world will be in a very confused state, a large number of people will have just vanished without a trace off the face of the Earth. Families driving together in cars may all ascend, while one person on a full bus may be the only one who ascends, Jetliners may fall from the sky as their pilots ascend, subways and trains will derail as their drivers ascend, people will ascend from their homes, off the streets, in stores, and at work, and many others will even ascend from their graves, where they were buried for years or just recently. Some of the saints that were dead and some of those that were alive will remain for 40 days to witness and warn of the coming tribulation and to prove that Jesus is real and he is the King of kings.

Please understand that after the Rapture takes place some saints will remain (In their new bodies) for 40 days to witness and warn and then they will ascend, however the "Age of Grace aka Church Age" will be over so anyone that accepts Christ within these 40 days or after will become one of the tribulation saints and will have missed the Rapture.

The TV will probably be full of NEWS reports from around the world with leaders and others trying to calm the public, and trying to explain what may have happened to all of the people that seemed to have vanished. They may say it was some type of new weapon, or some extraterrestrial involvement, or that some new-age experience has occurred.

In a short time, someone originally from the Middle East (He could be an American President now) will come forward and say that he has the answer to what has happened. This man will also bring about a 7 year peace plan between Israel and her enemies. This man will gain respect and admiration from folks around the world, many will even come to think of him as the messiah or God, in fact in time he will declare himself as God, he will demand that everyone on the planet will be required to get some type of implanted computer chip or mark in their right hand or on their forehead, that pays homage to him or his image, this is the famous 'mark of the beast', mentioned in Revelation 13: 16-17 (NIV Version) - " He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name ".

From this we can see that this mark, symbol or device that is placed on the hand or head, is used to not only pay respect or allegiance to the antichrist or his image, but you will not even be able to buy or sell anything without it. We are now seeing more and more use of the new RFID tags, that allow any item to be tracked on the globe by satellite, and we now have VISA cards that allow instant buying simply by waving the card near a scanner, the day when we can buy and sell with some type of mark or device is already here. But not the mark of the beast that will come after the Rapture.

This man, the infamous antichrist, will have the 3rd temple, the temple of Solomon to be rebuilt in Jerusalem, he will allow sacrifices and other services to occur, but half way during the 7 year peace treaty, he will break his pact, and will stop the sacrifices and worship, and he will place an image of himself or some other item in this temple, and require the worlds inhabitants to worship this image. The bible says that this image, statue or whatever it is, will come to life in a sense, and it will have the ability to talk. Revelation 13: 14-15 (NIV Version) - "He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed ".

While these events are happening in the Middle East, other horrible things are occurring around the world, in fact during the 7 year tribulation there will be over 18 different judgments that come upon the earth. The Bible says there has never been, nor there ever be such a time of trouble as the 7 year tribulation period.

One of the biggest and probably the best known of biblical things that will occur, is the 'Battle of Armageddon'. This is a 3 phase war that occurs during the 7 year tribulation. Sometime during the peace plan, Russia marches against Israel, maybe along with Arab nations such as Iran, Syria, and others.

The Bible says that Russia will be driven back and it's army almost destroyed. Then the remaining Russian forces will attack and this time China will also, and China or Russia may also unleash a nuclear attack against the U.S. at this time, then the Bible says that all remaining armies of the world will gather against Israel during the end of the 7 year tribulation, at the climax of this phase of the battle, the Lord will return with his saints from heaven to put a stop to all war, and Jesus will set up his 1000 year kingdom on the earth.

For more information on the Tribulation click on the link--> http://www.rapture-soon.net/Tribulation.html