Tribulation is the seven years
period that is started by the antichrist's agreement to Israel, offering a
false peace, according to Daniel 9:27:
"He
will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven'
he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple
he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is
decreed is poured out on him."
Important
note: Some translations say "one week" instead of "one seven". See the topic "Why seven years of Tribulation?"
to understand why "one week" means "seven years" in above verse.
The
Bible names this period as Tribulation. Other names are also named by
the Bible to refer to same period:
Some
names in Old Testament:
The
wrath - Isaiah 26:20 "Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide
yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by"
The
wrath - Daniel 11:36 “The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every
god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be
successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined
must take place."
The
day of vengeance - Isaiah 61:2 "to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of
vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn."
The
wrath, day of distress, day of trumpet - Zephaniah 1:15-16: "That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and
anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and
gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, a day of trumpet and battle cry
against the fortified cities and against the corner towers."
Some
names in New Testament:
The
distress - Matthew 24:29 "Immediately after the distress of those days
“ ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its
light;
the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be
shaken."
The
day of the Lord - 1 Thessalonians 5:2 “for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the
night."
God's wrath - Revelation 15:1 and 15:7, 14:10 and 14:19, 16:1 "I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with
the seven last plagues–last, because with them God's wrath is completed."
(15:1)
"Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden
bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever." (15:7)
"he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full
strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in
the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb." (14:10)
"The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them
into the great winepress of God's wrath." (14:19)
"Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go,
pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth." (16:1)
The
great day of the Lamb's wrath - Revelation 6:16-17: "They called to the mountains and the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us
from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For
the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?'"
Like
Jesus said in Matthew 24:21, this period will be the biggest
suffering for the human kind since the beggining of the world:
"For
then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world
until now–and never to be equaled again."
John
divided this seven years period into two three and half years period. Within
this seven years period, God will send three judgements to earth: