Great Tribulation

Definition and Meaning

The term Great Tribulation (Korean daehwannan, 大患難) means "great suffering." It refers to a period of intense suffering said to come upon the world and upon the people of God immediately before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The term derives from the phrase "great tribulation" in Matthew 24:21. In eschatology, it is discussed together with the appearance of the Antichrist, the Rapture, and the Millennium. Views differ on how long it lasts, whether it is still future or has already taken place, and whether the church will pass through it.

Biblical and Historical Background

The principal texts cited are Daniel 9:27 and 12:1, Matthew 24:15–31, 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4, and Revelation 7:14. The visions of judgment involving the seven seals, trumpets, and bowls in Revelation 6–19 are also cited.

• Dispensational premillennialism: Dispensationalism regards the last of the "seventy weeks" of Daniel 9 as a future seven-year period and identifies this period as the Great Tribulation. Its best-known form is the pretribulation rapture view, which holds that the church will be caught up before the tribulation begins. Other views place the rapture at the midpoint or at the end of the tribulation. This interpretation was shaped by John Nelson Darby in nineteenth-century Britain and later spread widely in the United States.
• Historic premillennialism: This view holds that Christ will return after the church has passed through the Great Tribulation.
• Amillennialism and postmillennialism: These views are widely held in the Reformed and covenant theology traditions. They do not posit a distinct, fixed seven-year period; instead, they often understand the Great Tribulation as the suffering that extends throughout the church age or as the climax of suffering immediately before the Second Coming.
• Preterism: This view interprets the great tribulation of Matthew 24 as the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

The Great Tribulation in the Korean Church

Revival preaching in the early Korean church frequently emphasized the last days and the Second Coming, and the Great Tribulation was often mentioned in this context.

• Presbyterian: Because Park Hyung-nong taught historic premillennialism, this view is widely known within conservative Presbyterian denominations. A considerable number of theologians, however, hold to amillennialism.
• Holiness: The Holiness Church emphasizes the Second Coming as one element of its Fourfold Gospel (regeneration, sanctification, divine healing, and the Second Coming) and is known for a strong premillennial tradition.
• Full Gospel: Preaching based on dispensational premillennialism and the pretribulation rapture view is widespread.
• Methodist and others: These churches generally do not adopt any particular prophetic timetable as doctrine.

In 1992, the Dami Mission and other groups claimed that the rapture would occur on October 28 of that year and would be followed by the Great Tribulation. The prediction was not fulfilled, and the episode became a public social issue. Since then, many denominations have warned against date-setting eschatology and against exploiting fear of the Great Tribulation to win converts.