The Last Half of the Tribulation: Target Israel, Matthew 24:9-14

Basically were going to look at Matthew 24:9-14 which describes the second half of this seven year period predicted by Daniel in Daniel chapter 9, and that this last seven year period was related to Israel. This second half we are told in Daniel chapter 9 verses 24 and following that what kicks off this last period is a peace treaty signed between the prince who is to come, which is another title for the future Antichrist, and Israel. That treaty will guarantee or protect them for a period of time. That seems to be the first half or first 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation period. And then he is going to violate that covenant, at which time everything changes for Israel. The focus here in these verses is how that will change and the dynamics that shift from the first half when Israel is living in peace. But even though Israel is living in peace there are wars and rumors of wars or reports of war that go on around the world as the Antichrist is consolidating his power, but Israel is like an island of peace—unlike today when that seems to be the focus of everybody's concern it in the Middle East. During that period of time Israel will have peace and stability.

We are looking at this second half of the Tribulation. Just to remind you a little bit of the context, chapter 24 flows out of what happened in chapter 23 where Jesus announced through seven woes of condemnation upon the Pharisees. When He ended He announced that their house, that is, the temple was left to them desolate; it would be destroyed. He further explains this in the first part of Matthew 24, where He says that to the to His disciples from the Mount of Olives, "Look back, see the temple buildings, not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down". All will be destroyed and so they asked Him while He has taken his seat there on the Mount of Olives, "Tell us first question when will these things be?" When is the temple going to be destroyed? And second, what will be the sign of your coming? Not the signs of your coming, but the sign. We see that this term sign is used later on in relation to the coming of the Son of Man.

In verse 30 then the sign of the Son of Man will appear. So there are certain things that will take place prior to that sign. A lot of people talk about signs but the Bible doesn't call them signs they're just the things that precede the sign. What Jesus is doing here is instructing His disciples about His future coming, that He is coming to establish His kingdom, and the events that immediately precede it.

The Olivet discourse is the last thing Jesus will say in his ministry about Israel. The next night He will talk about the church, but in the Olivet Discourse nothing is said about church age believers, or has direct application for church age believers. The next night He will talk to them about the church. That's the first time He begins to teach about how things will be different in the church age. And then last of all church age believers don't have to worry about going to this time because this they will be raptured, taken to heaven, according to First Thessalonians 4:13-18. There is no tribulation in this in the big sense, there is no seven-year period of Daniel's intense time, those last seven years, because they're related Israel and not to the church.

In Matthew 24 what we have studied so far in verses four through eight is it that was described as the beginning of labor pains. In verse six, though, Jesus said when you see this, the end is not yet hasn't happened yet. We haven't come to the end. This is just the beginning of labor pains. Something is going to be given birth to. What can be given birth to? The kingdom, but before the kingdom can come these labor pains on the earth have to take place. It is a time of God's cleansing judgment on humanity in preparation for the coming of the kingdom.

In the second half we see increased labor pains, and then in verse 14 Jesus says, "Then the end will come." So first 3 1/2 years of Daniel's 70th week is the beginning of sorrows; the second 3 1/2 year years in Daniel's 70th week is increased persecution of Jews under the Anti-Christ. Anti-Semitism is going to go on steroids. It will break loose like it has never broken loose before in human history. The anti-Semitism of the Holocaust under the Nazi regime is going to pale into insignificance. The anti-Semitism that occurred in Spain beginning in 1492, when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expelled the Jews from Spain, and if they didn't leave they were tortured and their property was confiscated from all whether the left or not, that is going to be nothing. This is going to be a worldwide systematic approach to eradicate all Jewish people from the face of the earth. This is worldwide anti-Semitism in a way that has never happened before.

In the first part of the of the discourse that we've see from we seen already from verses 4 to 8, Jesus warned his disciples, He said, "Take heed that no one deceives you". It will be very easy to be deceived during this period. People who do not know the Word of God, people who have not been taught the Word of God, will easily be easily be led into deception.

This happens a lot today. This is a problem in the church age because you have many false teachers. The Scripture calls on false teachers in this age, not false prophets. False prophets are mentioned in this passage, but false prophets show that this is specifically talking about Israel. There are only a couple of times in the New Testament, in the epistles of Paul where false prophets are mentioned and those references are historically refer either back to the Old Testament or to something that is happening within the framework of Israel, not something that's related to the church age.

So they're warned: "Take heed that no one deceives you". And this is a major problem. There will be deception—from the Greek verb PLANAO, which is where we get our word planet, meaning to wander, to be led astray. That's important because when we get down into the middle of the section we are studying this morning the Scripture reads that there will be many who will be offended. That's not what the text says. The Greek says there will be many who will be entrapped, and the word there that is used is a word that would refer to the trip stick in a trap. That was its original meaning. And so the idea is that there will be many who will be entrapped. They will fall into this deception that was warned about in verse four and verse six.

In verse 6 Jesus gave another warning, and He said after saying you will hear of wars and rumors of wars, "See to it". The previous warning also used a synonym for seeing, BLEPO, which means to watch out. In verse six he uses the synonym HORAO, also meaning to see, to pay attention, to be on the alert. "See that you are not troubled." The word there for "troubled" is a distinctive word in the New Testament. It is only used a few times, each of which is a context of this period that we call the great Tribulation or The Tribulation. It means to be terrified, to panic, to be scared to death, to hardly be able to sleep, and when you do you wake up in a sweat because you are so frightened about your very life and being able to survive.

So there's this warning in verse six see that you are not troubled. Why? Because we know that God's in control. We can relax no matter how horrible it might get around us. And that's a great application for us to today because the intensity in the heart of the persecution, the suffering, the adversity that we see today is nothing in comparison to what it will be during this horrible time in the future. Yet, as if Jesus tells them in that horrible time, "Don't be fearful, don't panic, don't be terrified", then that means that even more today we are not to be terrified, we are not to give in to anxiety.

This is what Philippians says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension shall defend your hearts and minds." That's a lesser level of anxiety so it applies even more to this level, so we can learn from this and we can relax.

Now we saw in that first section the beginning of birth pangs that false messiahs will arise. There are those who will rise up like the false Christ, the false prophet; he is one of many. False messiahs will arise. That is a particular Jewish concept. We are not warned about false messiahs in the church age, we are warned about false messiahs only in that in time.

Many will be deceived by them into thinking that the end has arrived, but Jesus says this is only the beginning of labor pains. The end isn't here yet. This will likely be directed at Jewish people—the false messiahs, because of this increase in anti-Semitism during the end times, during Daniel's 70th week. There will be wars and rumors of wars and famines, pestilences, and earthquakes that developed. That summarizes verses four through eight.

I went to Revelation to show that this parallels the events that John describes inn the first six seal judgments described in Revelation chapter 6. Now it's not a one-to-one correspondence. Some people have asked to wait a minute. Certain things are mentioned there that Jesus doesn't mention? Jesus is just giving a summary of what is going to be like in that first half. He is not giving all the details. John is the one who's given that responsibility to reveal, that there the six seal judgments, that their consecutive and what each one involves. He gives the specifics. Jesus is just giving the summary, the outline, and He concludes in verse eight by saying, "All these are beginning of sorrows".

In verse nine He says, "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation." That is the first time we see that word in this passage. "… they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake." This seems to relate to a specific persecution to Jewish believers in the second half of the Tribulation, not that there's not persecution in the first half towards all Christians. But Jesus is talking to them as Jewish Christians, as messianic Jews, that they were representing Israel. He is talking to them as Jews about Jewish prophecy and he says, "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation". That is, those you represent, Jewish believers in the second half. "… they will kill you and you will be hated by all nations". The fact that they will be hated by all nations isn't talking about just Gentile Christians being hated by people, but there's always this animosity that we find, even in the Old Testament, between Jews and the "nations" as a as a term representing the Jew the Gentiles. And so in many cases this terminology here should be translated not nations but Gentiles.

An important word here is the word "then." The word "then" in the Greek is the word TOTE. Like many words, it has different uses. It can mean "then at the same time". This word is used several times as you go through Matthew chapter 24. And it has led some to look at the first meaning, the primary meaning listed in the lexicon, that this is saying that, then at the same time. If you take all of these as "then at the same time" that what you end up with is saying that everything in Matthew 24 basically happen simultaneously. That's a real problem.

So the second way in which then is used according to the major lexicon be dad is to introduce a sequence of events to what follows next in time. This is a major debate that goes on in trying to understand the chronology of this passage. Matthew 24:4, 8 which sets the context for this first section, is followed by 24:9 that says, "Then they will deliver you up, and then many will be offended and betray one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many." These three "thens", which are in these three consecutive verses, are indicating a series of events that happen in the second half. They are not saying at this time, that is, the time of verses four through eight. These things will happen. That is a very popular view. In fact, I was just reviewing Dr. Ice's papers on the Olivet Discourse, and that this is one of the things that we had a lot of discussions over, and he has now changed his view that this then is important, and that my arguments or the arguments of this position, because there are many others who take this view, is a much better way to understand the passage.

Because Matthew uses this word hope to have more than anybody else, and he frequently uses it, especially in this context, to relate to consecutive action. For example, in Matthew 22:15 we read after the expression of opposition from the other groups, "Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in his talk." And then in Matthew 22:21, "They said to Him, 'Caesar’s.' Then He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s'.” It's consecutive; it's a discourse. They ask the question, He responded. Matthew 23:1, "Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples …" It's the next event following the debates in Matthew 22.

Matthew 24:9 continues this, and verses 9, 10 and 11 all use the word there as consecutive action. And then Matthew 24:14 uses "then" also. "Then this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations." That comes first, and "then the end will come". That comes second. These are consecutive descriptions. Matthew 24:6, "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains …" So it's used contextually for this comes first; that comes next; this comes after that.

Matthew 24:21 continues this progression of action, and it seen in verses 21, 23, 30 all clearly consecutive action. That's important, because of just trying to put together the complexities of this particular passage. Therefore, Matthew 24:4-8 describes the first half of the Tribulation. Matthew 24:9-14 describes what comes next in the second half, and it must focus on the intensified hostility toward Jews in Israel during that second half.

Once the Antichrist breaks the covenant and enters into the temple we are told that he will bring a cessation. He will end the daily sacrifices. He is violating the Mosaic Law and he enters the temple setting himself up to be worshiped as God. That's described in second Thessalonians chapter 2. Once he does that then this is what is described as the abomination of desolation, and what is described in verse 15.

Now verse 15 and following comes back to talk about specifics. That is typical of Hebrew writing. In fact, I saw an example of that in Revelation 12. It gives this overview of what's happening in heaven with the serpent being cast out, and he drags 1/3 of the stars with him. That's the overview and then around verses 9 or 10 it shifts and starts giving us the specifics of what happens. That is standard Hebrew narrative. Genesis 1 covers all seven days of creation; Genesis 2 comes back and just gives us the details of what happened on the sixth day. You can see example after example of this in Scripture.

So what happens is that Jesus is warning Jewish believers in the second half of the Tribulation of the persecution that will come upon them, and that they will be delivered up to tribulation. "They will kill you and you will be hated by all nations for my namesake". Now the word that is translated "tribulation" is the word THLIPSIS in Greek, which just means adversity. It is used in many places to describe the kind of general suffering adversity difficult time people will go through living in a fallen world. We will become sick; we will become fatally ill; we will grow old, and we will suffer pains and difficulties and all kinds of aches and illnesses that we didn't have when we were young. We are going to live in under oppressive governments, corrupt governments that overtax people, all kinds of problems. We will live in regions of the world's Christians were we are brutalized, as is happening in Syria and in happened in Egypt, and is happening in Iraq and Iran and many other parts of the world, like Africa, where Christians are being persecuted.

But this is talking about an intensified type of adversity that will come in the future. It's used generally for all suffering. John 16:33 Jesus said, "These things, I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation." We are going to have adversity, but Jesus promises us stability and tranquility and peace no matter what those other circumstances are. And he says, "Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world."

The Rapture isn't an escape from adversity, or even an escape from serious suffering and persecution and hostility in some parts of the world. Some people have that impression that idea. 2 Corinthians 6:4 Paul says, "In all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God in much patience [endurance], in tribulations, in needs and distresses." Paul went through all kinds of adversity. In fact, when Paul died right before he died when he was imprisoned in one of the most horrific pits of imprisonment called the Maritime Dungeon in Rome, he'd been deserted by nearly everybody who he had ministered with, all of his associates; he was isolated, they deserted him and he was he was all alone in that horrible filthy pit. So he went through, difficulty, adversity, persecution.

Romans 12:12 says that we are to rejoice in hope, and be patient in tribulation. So this is going to characterizes our lives. Romans 15:4, "Whatever things were written before, were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of scriptures might have hope". So we can have hope by enduring this tribulation. Three times the word though was used in Matthew 24 to describe this intensified adversity of Daniel's 70th week.

Matthew 24:9 says they will be delivered up to tribulation, and "you will be killed, and you will be hated by all nations." The Greek word there is ETHNOS. Often that is a translation from the Hebrew of goi. It refers to the Gentiles. When we read nations we think countries an official government policy. I think this is more basic than that, they will be hated by all Gentiles. This will be anti-Semitism on steroids turned up to its greatest intensification in all of human history. The reason for that goes back to what I read in Revelation 12, and that is because God promised a kingdom to Israel. Satan opposes God. Satan was defeated at the cross. His only opportunity now to finally win is to destroy the Jewish people. It would prevent God from fulfilling His promises if Satan can destroy the Jewish people before God fulfills his promises. Anti-Semitism, any belief that is anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, anti-Zionist is going to bring the judgment of God.

In Genesis 12:3 God made a covenant with Israel, an eternal covenant that is still in effect. He said those who bless you, I will bless, those who curse you I will curse. Any nation that is anti-Semitic and that makes decisions that are hostile to the existence of Israel, the Jews and the Jewish state, will come under the judgment of God.

So this will shift in the second half of the Tribulation. Old Testament prophets warned about this in Jeremiah 30. The whole first half of the chapter talks about this in time. But in verse seven, Jeremiah says, "Alas for that day is great so that none is like it". Notice again and again we'll see that this period is spoken of in the Scripture as unique. Nothing like it has ever happened in human history. "None is like it. It is the time of Jacob's trouble". That's that last 70th year of Daniel's timetable. "… but he [that is, Jacob] will be delivered out of it." That's not talking about spiritual salvation, that's talking about physical deliverances.

Jeremiah 30:11, ‘For I am with you,’ declares the LORD, ‘to save you; For I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you, Only I will not destroy you completely. But I will chasten you justly And will by no means leave you unpunished.’ There will be judgment upon Israel, but they will be delivered from total destruction.

Daniel 7:25 speaks of this was in regard to the Antichrist, the little horn in Daniel seven: "He shall speak pompous words against the most high …" Blasphemy against God "… he shall persecute the saints of the most high". Those are not church age Christians. The word saint refers to the believer of any era or any dispensation, so this is talking about the believers during the Tribulation. "He shall persecute the saints of the most high and shall intend to change times and law… and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time". We saw that same phrase in Revelation 12 referring to the second half of the Tribulation.

Daniel 12:1 ^NASB “Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands {guard} over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued". That is, at this time of the end. Michael shall stand up, "the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people" talking to Daniel about the Jewish people. Notice it's talking about a physical rescue there.

Matthew 24:10 ^NASB “At that time many will fall away [be offended] and will betray one another and hate one another." The word "offended is the Greek SKANDALIZO, from which we get our English word scandal. It originally had the meaning of part of a trap, a trip wire. The idea here is, they would be entrapped by sin, or fall into the trap of deception, which is what is in the context. So there will be many Jews who will be deceived by the false messiahs and the falls prophets. As a result of that, and because of the hostility of the Antichrist, they will betray one another. That's the Greek word PARADIDOMI, the same word used to describe Jesus' betrayal by Judas Iscariot. It is used in John 13:2; 13:11, 21 and 18:2. They will betray one another. This is not talking about believers. I believe this is talking about unbelieving Jews and they will betray one another, turn against one another, and they will hate one another. There will be a total fragmentation of society worldwide, not just among the Jews in Israel but worldwide. But this is focusing on what happens among the Jews.

Matthew 24:11 ^NASB “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many."

False prophets—once again, a Jewish oriented term. This is not a problem for church age believers in the church age. Romans, First Corinthians and many other places talk about false teachers but not false prophets. In first 1 John 4:1 there is a reference to false prophets, but if you pay attention to the Greek verb it's a perfect tense verb, which means past, completed action. So even that passage is talking about something that previously happened and is talking about the Old Testament.

Matthew 24:11 ^NASB “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many"—massive worldwide deception: people following these different claims to Messiah ship and false prophets, especially the false prophet.

The Jewish henchman for the Antichrist is the one who is going to insist that people have to take an oath, get a tattoo or some mark of the beast, and they can only engage in commerce if they had that mark of the beast. And to take it, it's not like site filling fill out a credit card application, there's going to be an oath of allegiance that is clearly of spiritual value. It will be swearing allegiance to the god, the Antichrist. It is going to be clear that it's a spiritual issue, not just some sort of getting the ability to do business.

Matthew 24:12 ^NASB “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold". This describes this general period as a time where all law breaks down on the one hand, and it also implies spiritual rebellion that will come about. First John chapter our talks about lawlessness being sin, and sin is lawlessness. This goes beyond that, because it picks up on phrases like in Daniel chapter 7. The little horn is going to try to redo times and laws. He is going to try to change things, like in the French Revolution. They tried to change from a seven-day week to a ten-day week. It just didn't work, but that's what the Antichrist is going to try to do, change the fundamental laws of God's creation.

We learn about that in passages like 2 Thessalonians 2:3. "Let no one deceive you by any means for that day (talking about this day of the Lord which describes the whole period of the Tribulation) will not come unless the falling away comes first…" I take that as the Rapture, not to be translated falling away but departure, the departure the church "… and the man of sin (the man of lawlessness) is revealed, the son of perdition … [7] For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains {will do so} until he is taken out of the way".

Daniel chapter seven and 2 Thessalonians 2 both describe the Antichrist as someone who is lawless. This is more than just somebody who spiritually rebellious, it's an intensified form that's again unique to that period.

Matthew 24:12 “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold." The word is PSUCHO and it means not only to grow cold but to make dry. There is such hostility, such persecution, such instability; everything in everybody's life is going to be falling apart. You have the all the great intensified judgments of the last series of bowl judgments described in Revelation and people aren't going to care about anybody else. They're only going to care about survival. They are not concerned about friends or family or anybody else; they just want to survive, and so everyone will end up fighting against one another.

But there is a promise in Matthew 24:13, "The one who endures (or survives) to the end will be saved".

Now I can do a whole message on this because this is been historically misinterpreted and misapplied. Go back to Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo in the fifth century AD. He was the first to make a major interpretation of this related to salvation: that if you persevere in your faith, if you can trust in Christ to the end of your life, only then will you be saved. He took the word saved as referring to justification. But that doesn't fit the context. Nothing here is talking about how to get into heaven. The Greek word SOZO, which is the word translated saved, has as one meaning spiritual salvation, to spend eternity in heaven. But that's not based on doing anything. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God not of works …" That means your salvation is based on endurance. Your salvation, your spiritual salvation, is based on faith in Christ, trusting in Jesus alone for salvation.

But this word SOZO is used in many regular senses, such as deliverance from a difficulty, being rescued from a bad situation, even being healed from a disease or being helped. But has also the idea of being preserved are being kept from harm. Now the context is all the horrors of the Tribulation. And what Jesus is saying is if you survive to the end you will be rescued, you will be delivered. Well, what's going to rescue you? It's going to be the coming of Jesus at the second coming. He is the one who will rescue them, and they will go into the kingdom.

Dr. John Walvoord, past president of Dallas Seminary, one of the foremost for prophecy experts in the 20 century, said, "The age and general, climaxing with the second coming of Christ, has the promise that those who that endure to the end, that is, survived the Tribulation and are still alive, will be saved or delivered by Christ at his second coming. This is not a reference to salvation from sin, but rather the deliverance of survivors at the end of the age. As stated, for instance, in Romans 1126, where the deliverer will save the nation Israel from their persecutors".

The Old Testament taught this. Daniel 12:1, "Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people that Israel, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time and at that time your people shall be delivered."

In Luke 21 Jesus says in reference the persecution, "Not a hair of your head will be perished by your endurance, you will gain your lives". It's talking about salvation from the difficulty.

Romans 11:26, "So all Israel will he saved". This is the physical deliverance of the Jews at the end of the Tribulation. It's national salvation. They are only in the wilderness because they listen to Jesus who said, "When you see the abomination of desolation, flee to the mountains" (Matthew 24:15). Unbelievers won't flee to the mountains. Only those who have trusted in Jesus will flee to the mountains. Those who flee to the mountains, then, corporately, will call upon Jesus to save them. That's the national salvation from people who are already individually saved, who have trusted in Jesus. So 11:26 isn't talking about individual justification, it's talking about the salvation deliverance of the nation.

Matthew 24:14 ^NASB “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come".

Now this verse is often ignored or it's taken out of context. When it's taken out of context you will hear many missionaries who have raised many funds saying we need to go out to every tribe, every tongue, every nation the world because Jesus can come back until everybody on the planet is heard the gospel. That's not what this is talking about. This is not talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is talking about the gospel of the kingdom, and the gospel of the kingdom is different. In other words, we don't have to get the gospel to every single person on the planet before the Rapture because the evangelism that takes place in the Tribulation period is going to be supernatural and exhaustive. Everyone will hear the gospel of the kingdom.

First we have to understand the kingdom here is not talking about the gospel of the church. The word kingdom is used 53 times in the Gospel of Matthew. Stan Toussaint who specialized in this wrote an article in the late 80s called The Kingdom in Matthew's Gospel, based on his dissertation, and said every time the term kingdom is used theologically in Matthew, it refers to the same thing: the kingdom yet to come on this earth, inaugurated and governed by the Messiah. It doesn't talk about the church it all. It is the message that John the Baptist and Jesus and the disciples gave at the beginning of His ministry: "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." If they had believed, if they had repented, the kingdom would have come. But it didn't, so was postponed.

Toussaint asks the question: "What is this gospel of the kingdom. It must be the same good news as was described in Matthew 3:2; 4:17, 23; and 9:35. Entrance into the coming kingdom was based on repentance—changing your mind about God and turning back to Him for deliverance. That was and is the gospel of the kingdom, an expectation that the Messiah would bring in the kingdom. In the context, however, it would also portray the nearness of the kingdom during the Tribulation".

Dr. Pentecost, another great professor and student of God's Word, says in his work on the life of Christ: "During the time that the politico religious system of the beast [the Antichrist] is an absolute control the gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world. The gospel of the kingdom was preached by both Jesus and John—Matthew 3:2 in Matthew 4:17. This was the announcement of the good news that the kingdom was near". Gospel means good news. EUANGELIZO means to proclaim the good news. The good news at that early stage in Jesus ministry was the kingdom is going to come; we are going to have the perfect King. They said no, we don't want it. In the Tribulation they go back to that message.

Now, that message also includes the gospel of Jesus. But it's more than just believing Jesus to be justified, it is believing Jesus to be justified, accept Him, and the kingdom is coming, and it's almost here, we are in the final countdown. So the gospel of the kingdom is not the same as the gospel of Jesus Christ, but it includes the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is oriented to the good news that Jesus is coming to establish His kingdom.

Throughout all of human history salvation is the same: believe in the promise of the Messiah in the Old Testament who will save us from our sins, and during the life of Christ it was the same message. After his death on the cross it was believe in Christ who died on the cross for your sins.

The gospel of the kingdom is different though. It is a good news about the kingdom; that it is coming. Today we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. But in the Tribulation everyone will hear. In fact, in Revelation 14:6, 7 we read, "And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.”

Angels are going to announce the gospel to everyone. Nobody is going to miss out. There are not enough missionaries and missionary organizations to get the gospel to every single human being, but the Angels will do it before Jesus returns.

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