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The Tribulation (or "Great Tribulation") is an event referred to in the New Testament of the Bible at Matthew 24:21 ("For then shall be great tribulation..." - King James Version) and other passages. In the futurist view of Christian eschatology, the Tribulation is a relatively short period of time where people who follow God will experience worldwide persecution and be purified and strengthened by it.

In the Christian preterist view the Tribulation took place in the past when Roman legions destroyed Jerusalem and its temple in 70 AD, and it affected the Jewish people rather than all mankind.

Dispensationalist or futurist view

While it is considered a period of immense suffering and sacrifice, greater than anything before in history, believers are promised strong faith and powers to help them endure and prevail. Persecution is attributed to the believers rebelling against the Antichrist and his regime.

The Tribulation is generally thought to occur before the Second Coming of Jesus and the end of the world. A viewpoint first made popular by John Nelson Darby in the 19th century and recently popularized by Hal Lindsey in The Late Great Planet Earth is that it will last seven years in all, being the last of Daniel's prophecy of seventy weeks. It is theorized that each week represents 7 years, with the timetable beginning from the order by King Artaxerxes to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. After 7 plus 62 weeks, the prophecy says that the messiah will be "cut off", which is taken to correspond to the death of Christ. This is seen as creating a break of indeterminate length in the timeline, with one week remaining to be fulfilled.

This seven-year week may be further divided into two periods of 3.5 years each, from the two 3.5-year periods in Daniel's prophecy where the last seven years are divided into two 3.5-year periods, (Daniel 9:27) The time period for these beliefs is also based on other passages: in the book of Daniel, "time, times, and half a time," interpreted as "a year, two years, and half a year," and the book of Revelation, "a thousand two hundred and threescore days" and "forty and two months" (the prophetic month averaging 30 days, hence 1260/30 = 42 months or 3.5 years). The 1290 days of Daniel 12:11, (rather than the 1260 days of Revelation 11:3), is thought to be the result of either a simple intercalary leap month adjustment, or due to further calculations related to the prophecy.

Many other groups, such as Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in a rapture at any point.^{[citation needed]} According to Jehovah's Witnesses, the Great Tribulation is coming and is soon to arrive. This period will see the fall of Babylon the Great, the Great Harlot, as spoken of in Revelation. After Babylon the Great has been removed, they say, the world powers shall move against God's chosen people for a short while. This will then usher in the ending of this "world" (not the earth, but the removal of all those who do not wish to follow God by standards).^{[citation needed]} The Great Tribulation ends with the battle of Armageddon.^{[citation needed]}

Seven seals

• 1^st Seal (Rev. 6:1-2): The White Horse of the Apocalypse. When he comes, he is given a crown and he goes out bent on conquest. This represents the Antichrist's rise to power through diplomacy.
• 2^nd Seal (Rev. 6:3-4): When the Red Horse comes he is given a large sword and he takes peace from the world, causing men to kill each other. The Antichrist reveals his true war-like self, and a world war erupts.
• 3^rd Seal (Rev. 6:5-6): When the Black Horse comes he causes severe famine possibly resulting from the war.
• 4^th Seal (Rev. 6:7-8): The Pale Horse causes pestilence and death from the sword, famine, plague and wild beasts and Hades follow it. 1/4 of the world's population die from the horsemen.
• 5^th Seal (Rev. 6:9-11): Martyrs begin dying during the Tribulation (The Antichrist begins his persecution of believers).
• 6^th Seal (Rev. 6:12-17):
  • Worldwide earthquake;
  • Visible sunlight ceases and the image of the solar disk goes from granular to woven;
  • The image of the moon resembles blood (possibly intensified transient lunar phenomena);
  • The stars of the heaven fall to earth (possibly aircraft and orbiting satellites);
  • The sky rolls up;(possibly intensified auroral activity or nuclear Mushroom Cloud)
  • Every mountain and island are dislodged;
  • The entire world population flees to caves, dens, and cliffs; and
  • The world population interprets the Sixth Seal events as signs for the beginning of the wrath of the Lamb (the Day of Wrath).

• 7^th Seal (Rev. 8:1-6): Silence in Heaven, seven angels given seven trumpets, followed by fire being hurled to the Earth.

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