July 12, 2026
The term originates from Jesus’ words in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24) and the Book of Revelation (chapters 6-18).
As we begin our discussion of “The Great Tribulation,” there is another term we need to familiarise ourselves with: Millennialism. Simply put, Millennialism is a religious or social belief that a major, imminent transformation will radically alter society, resulting in a 1,000-year era of peace, justice, and prosperity. Evangelicals, Baptists, Pentecostals, Charismatics, Seventh-Day Adventists, Mormons, and JW’s are all Millennialists, who are divided into two principal schools. Premillennialists, who believe that Jesus will return and set in motion a millennial age, and Postmillennialists, who believe that He will return at the end of the thousand years.
In the first seven verses of Revelation 20, there are six references to a period designated as “a thousand years.” The correct understanding of this period is that Satan will be bound and Christ will reign, and that those who had a part in the first resurrection will reign with Christ. The first resurrection is the new spiritual life of sinners when they were brought to faith in Jesus. So, in this section of Scripture, what John is seeing is a picture of the New Testament era. The one thousand years represent the sum total of time between the first and the second coming of Christ. The binding of Satan is when Jesus broke Satan’s power through His redemption and through the preaching of the gospel. It is not a literal one-thousand-year period as taught by Millennialists.
The Great Tribulation is a time when Millennialists believe Jesus will return secretly during a seven-year period of great trouble on earth, and is described as the period of the ghastliest pestilence, bloodshed, and starvation the world has ever known. During this time, there will be cosmic disasters and the outpouring of God’s wrath prior to the one thousand years; Millennialists believe that those without the Antichrist’s mark will be unable to buy or sell. They base this on Revelation 13:16-17. At the midpoint of this seven-year period, a great dictator, the Antichrist, will arise. Premillennialists believe that Christ will raise those who have died in faith and take them away from the trouble of this earth. This is what they call the “rapture.” Christ will come invisibly to rapture (that is, remove) believers from this earth, so they will not have to suffer its trials. After the seven-year period of the Great Tribulation, Christ will begin His visible, one-thousand-year rule of righteousness and peace on earth, making Jerusalem the centre of His rule, and, it is believed, there will be a general conversion of the Jews. At the end of the thousand years, Satan, who has been bound during that time, will be released for his final assault on the church, but will ultimately be defeated.
The idea of the rapture is a misinterpretation of Paul’s teaching in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. There Paul wrote, “For this we tell you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are still alive, who are left until the Lord comes, shall certainly not arrive ahead of those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead who are in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we shall always be with the Lord.”
The word Paul used to describe believers being “caught up” was translated by the Vulgate (a Latin translation of the Bible made by the church father Jerome around A.D. 400) with the word rapiemur, which means “we shall be snatched or seized.” The word rapture conveys the same thought. Believers will rise to meet Christ in the air, not prior to but on the last day of the world. We could say that there will be a “rapture” then, but at the end of time. We shall all be gathered together at the resurrection, the dead as well as the living, when Christ returns. Millennialists are mistaken as to the time and nature of this rapture.
Millennialism is not a minor error. It’s teaching on “The Great Tribulation” and the “Rapture,” as with all errors, ultimately undermines Christ and His gospel.
According to foundational Lutheran doctrine outlined in the Augsburg Confession (1530), there is no future, literal 1,000-year earthly golden age or political kingdom of God. Instead, Lutheran teaching summarises the end times through these core points:
- As stated above, the “Millennium” is now: The 1,000 years mentioned in Revelation 20 is interpreted symbolically as the entire current era between Christ’s first coming and His second coming, during which He reigns spiritually through the Church and the Gospel.
- Christ’s Kingdom is Not Political: Grounded in Jesus’ words that His kingdom is “not of this world,” we reject any teachings that predict a physical, earthly government ruled by Christ or believers before the end of time.
- A Single, Visible Return: We believe in a straightforward timeline: Christ will return once, visibly and gloriously. This single event will simultaneously trigger the resurrection of the dead, the final judgment, and the creation of the eternal new heaven and earth.
- Rejection of the “Secret Rapture”: Because of this timeline, we completely reject modern dispensational theories, such as a secret rapture of believers, a subsequent seven-year tribulation, or the necessity of a rebuilt physical temple in Jerusalem.
In short, our teaching focuses entirely on the spiritual reign of Christ today and the singular hope of the final resurrection, dismissing millennialism as a misguided distraction from the gospel.