Luke tells us in Luke 21:23, “there shall be great distress (G318) in the land…”, but Matthew refers to this time as great tribulation (G2347 – Matthew 24:21), while Mark simply calls it affliction (G2347 – Mark 13:19). Both Matthew and Mark describe this trouble as a sort set apart from all other seasons of history for the Jewish people. There was never a time of trouble quite like this tribulation in the past, nor would there be a season of trouble like it afterward (Matthew 24:21; Mark 13:19). Therefore, this tribulation is unique in the history of the Jews, never to be repeated, which rejects the possibility of it being a type of something ‘greater’ in the future.
Notice, as well, that Daniel 12:1 also describes this very time, saying: “…there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”[1] There can be little doubt, among folks who believe the Bible is the word of God, that all these scriptures (Matthew, Mark, Luke and Daniel) are speaking about the same event—the Great Tribulation, which would be a unique time of trouble in Jewish history.
It is important to see that Daniel, while describing the gravity of the time of trouble for the Jews, also connects the Great Tribulation to the time of the resurrection and the judgment of the living and the dead: “…thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book” (Daniel 12:1; cf. Revelation 20:12). In the Synoptics the words: “immediately after the tribulation,” refer to the time of Jesus’ coming (Matthew 24:29-30; Mark 13:24-26; Luke 21:25-27) to judge Jerusalem. At that time the text says the elect’s redemption would have drawn near (Luke 21:28), which is the language of resurrection. Both Matthew and Mark agree with Luke in that at Jesus’ coming: “…he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (Mathew 24:31; cf. Mark 13:27).
Earlier in Matthew Jesus described this event in his Parable of the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43). In that context, Jesus sent forth his angels to gather the elect at the end of the age (Matthew 13:39, 41). In other words, the disciples’ question at Luke 21:7 concerned when those things that Jesus mentioned in Luke 21:6 (i.e. the destruction of the Temple) would be fulfilled, and Mark uses similar wording (Mark 13:1-4). However, Matthew describes the fulfillment of these things by pointing to Jesus’ coming and the end of the age (Matthew 24:1-3). So, everything is connected. The Great Tribulation is connected to Jesus’ coming, because he “comes” immediately following the “tribulation of those days” (Matthew 24:29-30; Mark 13:24-26). Moreover, Jesus’ coming is connected to the end of the age and the time of the harvest or resurrection, because, when he “comes” he sends forth his angels to gather his elect, separating them from the wicked, and judges them out of the book (Matthew 13:39, 41; 24:31; Mark 13:27; Luke 21:28; cf. Daniel 12:1; Revelation 20:12).
Daniel, speaking of a “time of distress, unlike any other from the nation’s beginning up to that time…” (Daniel 12:1 – NET) records an angel asking a similar question that the Apostles asked Jesus: “…How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?” (Daniel 12:6; Luke 21:7). Another responded, saying, “…when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished” (Daniel 12:7 – JPS). In other words when the power of the Jewish people is crushed, that would end the matter. The power of the Jews had always been their covenantal relationship with God. When that Covenant ended, that age (the Old Covenant Age) would be complete. The end of that age occurred at the coming of Christ (Matthew 24:3, 30; Luke 21:27), which then sparked the time of the resurrection and the judgment of the living and the dead (Matthew 13:39, 41; 24:31; Mark 13:27; Luke 21:28; cf. Daniel 12:1; Revelation 20:12), and all these things occurred immediately following the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:29), which culminated in the end of the Old Covenant Age cir. 70 AD, when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple (Daniel 12:7). From that point onward, the animal sacrifices to God had ceased. The Old Covenant was no longer in existence, and the New Covenant was established.
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[1] That is, since there was a Jewish nation: “…since your people have been a nation…” (LEB); “There will be a time of distress unlike any other from the nation’s beginning up to that time…” (NET); “since the beginning of the nation until then.” (TLV). Thus, the Great Tribulation points to a unique trouble in Jewish history, not necessarily world history.
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