THE LAST DAYS TRIBULATION

THE LAST DAYS- TRIBULATIONS


In this midrash, we will approach a topic which many have look at, by making a difference looking at the words meaning, with the hope to discover something to help us to understand the so called "tribulation" also called "Ya'acov's trouble", in the "last days". I came across a verse during one of our weekly parasha study:


Gen 42:21 And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.


We have learned in different study that in order to understand the last days events, we need to look in the Torah for YHWH has spoken it:


Isa 46:9 “Remember the former events of old, for I am Ěl, and there is no one else – Elohim, and there is no one like Me,


Isa 46:10 declaring the end from the beginning, and from of old that which has not yet been done, saying, ‘My counsel does stand, and all My delight I do,’


End: H319 אַחֲרִיתּ 'achariyth (akh-ar-eeth') n-f.
1. the last or end
2. (hence) the future
3. (also) posterity


[from H310]
Beginning: H7225 רֵאשִׁיתּ re'shiyth (ray-sheeth') n-f.
1. the first, in place, time, order or rank (specifically, a firstfruit)
[from the same as H7218]


In the quoted verse from b'reshit 42:21, Yoseph at this time seat at the right hand of Pharaoh in all authority over Egypt. He requires the presence of HIS brother Benyamin while his brothers refused to bring him. The reason why Ya'acov didn't want is not obvious but with a little understanding, we see that the refusal of Ya'acov is due to the fact that for him, from the two sons he had with Rachel, one was already "dead", and if the second (Beyamin) would also die, he would have no more descendant from the wife he loved.
Let us look at the word "distress" in this verse:


Distress: H6869 צָּרָה tsarah (tsaw-raw') n-f.
1. tightness (i.e. figuratively, trouble)
2. transitively, a female rival
[feminine of H6862]
KJV: adversary, adversity, affliction, anguish, distress, tribulation, trouble.
Root(s): H6862
The Hebrew word "tzarah" means tightness, afliction, anguish, tribulation, trouble.


The root word from "tzarah" is the word "tzar", written, Tzade, and resh. Please keep this word in mind during this reading.


In the book of D'varim/Deut. 28 the chapter with the plagues due to disobedience to the Torah, we read verse 57:


Deu 28:57 and against her seed which comes out from between her feet, and her children whom she bears, for she eats them in secret for lack of all, in the siege and distress with which your enemy distresses you in all your gates.


Distress: H6693 צּוּק tsuwq (tsook) v.
1. to compress, i.e. (figuratively) oppress, distress
[a primitive root]
To oppress and distress!


The prophet Yeshayahu gives us details:


Isa 29:2 “And I (YHWH) shall distress (tsuwq) Ari’ĕl, and there shall be mourning and sorrow, and it shall be to Me as Ari’ĕl.


Isa 29:3 “And I (YHWH) shall encamp against you all around, I shall lay siege against you with a mound, and I shall raise siege-works against you.


Isa 29:4 “And you shall be brought low and speak out of the ground, and your speech shall be low, out of the dust. And your voice shall be like a medium’s, out of the ground, and your speech whisper out of the dust.


Isa 29:5 “But the crowd of those strange to you shall be like fine dust, and the crowd of the ruthless ones as chaff blowing away. And it shall be in an instant, suddenly!”


Isa 29:6 You shall be visited by יהוה of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and storm, and flame of devouring fire.


Isa 29:7 Then the crowd of all the gentiles who fight against Ari’ĕl, even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and distress (tsuwq) her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.


Ariel is another name for Yerushalayim (see verse 1)


Jer 10:16 The Portion of Yaʽaqoḇ is not like these, for He is the Maker of all, and Yisra’ĕl is the tribe of His inheritance – יהוה of hosts is His Name.


Jer 10:17 Gather up your bundle from the ground, you who live under siege!


Jer 10:18 For thus said יהוה, “See, at this time I am hurling out the inhabitants of the land, and shall distress (tsarar) them, so that they feel it.”


Distress: H6887 צָּרַר tsarar (tsaw-rar') v.


1. to cramp, literally or figuratively, transitive or intransitive (as follows)
[a primitive root]
KJV: adversary, (be in) afflict(-ion), beseige, bind (up), (be in, bring) distress, enemy, narrower, oppress, pangs, shut up, be in a strait (trouble), vex.


Lam.1:20 Behold, O YHWH; for I am in distress (tsarar): my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.


Who is speaking here?


Lam 1:1 How alone she sits, The city once great with people! Like a widow she has become, One great among the nations! A princess among provinces has become a slave!


Lam 1:2 She weeps bitterly at night, And her tears are upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no comforter for her. All her friends have betrayed her, They have become her enemies.


Lam 1:3 Yehuḏah has gone into exile, Because of affliction and because of harsh labour. She has dwelt among gentiles, She has found no rest. All her pursuers have overtaken her Between narrow places.


Lam 1:4 The ways to Tsiyon mourn For no one comes to the appointed times1. All her gates are deserted, Her priests sigh, her maidens are afflicted, And she has bitterness.


Narrow places: H4712 מֵצַר metsar (may-tsar') n-m.
1. something tight, i.e. (figuratively) trouble
[from H6896]
KJV: distress, pain, strait
The Hebrew letters, Tzade and resh, form the word "tzar", root word for "Tzarah" (see Jerem 10:18 above).


The prophet Obadiyah speaking to the descendant from Esav (Edom):


Oba 1:12 “And you (descendants of Esav) should not have looked on your brother’s day in the day of his estrangement, nor rejoiced over the children of Yehuḏah in the day of their destruction, nor made your mouth great in the day of distress (tsarah),


Oba 1:13 nor have entered the gate of My people in the day of their calamity, nor looked down on their evil in the day of their calamity, nor have seized their wealth in the day of their calamity,


Oba 1:14 nor have stood at the parting of the way to cut off his fugitives, nor handed over his survivors in the day of distress (tsarah).


Oba 1:15 “For the day of יהוה is near upon all the gentiles. As you have done, it shall be done to you, your reward shall come back on your own head.


Zep 1:14 Near is the great day of יהוה, near and hurrying greatly, the noise of the day of יהוה. Let the mighty man then bitterly cry out!


Zep 1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress (tsarah) and trouble, a day of waste and ruin, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,


Zep 1:16 a day of ram’s horn and alarm – against the walled cities and against the corner towers.


Zep 1:17 “And I shall bring distress (tsarah) on men, and they shall walk like blind men – because they have sinned against יהוה, and their blood shall be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.”


Zep 1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of יהוה. And by the fire of His jealousy all the earth shall be consumed, for He makes a sudden end of all those who dwell in the earth.


Yehoshua tells us how to enter the Kingdom of Elohim:


Mat 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:


Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.


Mat 24:21 “For then there shall be great distress, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
At first view we may ask, what have these two verses to do with one another?


Let us read:


Narrow: Greek G2346 θλίβω thlibo (thlee'-bo) v.
1. to crowd
{literally or figuratively}
[akin to the base of G5147]
KJV: afflict, narrow, throng, suffer tribulation, trouble


Great distress: G2347 θλίψις thlipsis (thlip'-sis) n.
1. pressure
{literally or figuratively}
[from G2346]
KJV: afflicted(-tion), anguish, burdened, persecution, tribulation, trouble


We see that the word used for "great distress" comes from the Greek word G2346:
G2346 θλίβω thlibo (thlee'-bo) v.
1. to crowd
{literally or figuratively}
[akin to the base of G5147]


KJV: afflict, narrow, throng, suffer tribulation, trouble
This is the word used by Yehoshua when telling his disciples how to enter the Kingdom in Matthew 7:14!


Luk 21:23 “And woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing children in those days! For there shall be great distress in the earth and wrath upon this people.


Luk 21:24 “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away
captive into all nations. And Yerushalayim shall be trampled underfoot by the gentiles until the times of the gentiles are filled.


Luk 21:25 “And there shall be signs in the sun, and moon, and stars, and on the earth anxiety of nations, in bewilderment at the roaring of the sea, and agitation


Rom 8:35 35 Who shall separate us from the love of the Christ? tribulation (thlipsis), or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?


Distress: G4730 στενοχωρία stenochoria (sten-okh-o-ree'-ah) n.
1. narrowness of room
2. (figuratively) calamity
[from a compound of G4728 and G5561]
G4728 στενός stenos (sten-os') adj.
1. narrow (from obstacles standing close about)
[probably from the base of G2476]


G5561 G5561 χώρα chora (kho'-rah) n.
1. room, i.e. a space of territory
{more or less extensive; often including its inhabitants}
[feminine of a derivative of the base of G5490 through the idea of empty expanse]
KJV: coast, county, fields, ground, land, region


Here we can see clearly that Sha'ul was well acquainted with what will befall Yerushalayim after his departure, confirming that the "narrow way" to enter the Kingdom is to go through tribulatio, distress, calamity.


Zep 1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble (tsarah) and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,


Distress: H4691 מְצוּקָה מְצוּקָה mtsuwqah (mets-oo-kaw') (or mtsuqah {mets-oo-kaw'}) n-f.
1. narrowness, i.e. (figuratively) trouble
[feminine of H4690]
Same language used in the text of Sha'ul.


Jer 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble (Tsarah)); but he shall be saved out of it.


Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation (thlipsis) , such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.


Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.


Tribulation: G2347 θλίψις thlipsis (thlip'-sis) n.
1. pressure
{literally or figuratively}
[from G2346]
KJV: afflicted(-tion), anguish, burdened, persecution, tribulation, trouble


Dan 12:1 “Now at that time Miḵa’ĕl shall stand up, the great head who is standing over the sons of your people. And there shall be a time of distress (tsarah), such as never was since there was a nation, until that time (compare Matt.24:21). And at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book,


Hope for the Qedoshim (Saints):


Psa 91:10 No evil (ra'ah) befalls you, And a plague does not come near your tent;


Psa 91:11 For He commands His messengers concerning you, To guard you in all your ways.


Psa 91:12 They bear you up in their hands, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.


Psa 91:13 You tread upon lion and cobra, Young lion and serpent you trample under foot.


Psa 91:14 Because he hath set his love (chashaq) (to cling or delight) upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.


Psa 91:15 “When he calls on Me, I answer him; I am with him in distress; I deliver him and esteem him.


Psa 91:16 “With long life I satisfy him, And show him My deliverance.”


Evil: H7489 רָעַע ra`a` (raw-ah') v.
1. (properly) to spoil
2. (literally) to ruin by breaking to pieces)
3. (causitive) to make good for nothing
4. (figuratively) to be good for nothing
5. (physically, socially or morally) to be bad
[a primitive root]


KJV: afflict, associate selves (by mistake for H7462), break (down, in pieces), + displease, (be, bring, do) evil (doer, entreat, man), show self friendly (by mistake for H7462), do harm, (do) hurt, (behave self, deal) ill,


Love: H2836 חָשַׁק chashaq (khaw-shak') v.
1. to cling, i.e. join, (figuratively) to love, delight in
2. elliptically (or by interchangeable for H2820) to deliver
[a primitive root]


KJV: have a delight, (have a ) desire, fillet, long, set (in) love.
Deliver: H6403 פָּלַט palat (paw-lat') v.
1. to slip out, i.e. escape
2. causatively, to deliver
[a primitive root]


KJV: calve, carry away safe, deliver, (cause to) escape.


So we could write:


Psa 91:10 No evil (spoil, ruins, affliction,) befalls you, And a plague does not come near your tent;


Psa 91:11 For He commands His messengers concerning you, To guard you in all your ways.


Psa 91:12 They bear you up in their hands, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.


Psa 91:13 You tread upon lion and cobra, Young lion and serpent you trample under foot.


Psa 91:14 Because he hath set his love (chashaq) (to cling or delight) upon me, therefore will I deliver (make him to escape by carrying him in a safe place), him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

Psa 91:15 “When he calls on Me, I answer him; I am with him in distress; I deliver him and esteem him.

Psa 91:16 “With long life I satisfy him, And show him My deliverance.”

Set him on high: H7682 שָׂגַב sagab (saw-gab') v.
1. to be lofty, especially inaccessible
2. (causatively) to make lofty
3. (by implication), safe, strong
{literally and figuratively}
[a primitive root]

KJV: defend, exalt, be excellent, (be, set on) high, lofty, be safe, set up (on high), be too strong

Yehowah will make his people escape by bringing them to a place inaccessible to the enemies????

1Th 4:16 Because the Master Himself shall come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of a chief messenger, and with the trumpet of Elohim, and the dead in Messiah shall rise first.

1Th 4:17 Then we, the living who are left over, shall be caught away together with them in the clouds to meet the Master in the air – and so we shall always be with the Master.

1Th 4:18 So, then, encourage one another with these words.

Shall be caught away: G726 ἁρπάζω harpazo (har-pad'-zo) v.
1. to seize
{in various applications}
[from a derivative of G138]

KJV: catch (away, up), pluck, pull, take (by force)
2Co 12:2 I know a man in Messiah who fourteen years ago – whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, Elohim knows – such a one was caught (harpazo) up to the third heaven.
CONCLUSION:

Yehowah has spoken from the beginning that trouble will come upon the House of Ya'acov, because of SIN (transgression of the Torah). Again and again, Yehowah warn His Children from the evil coming upon them, warning them that only a remnant will be saved, giving the pattern how to enter the Kingdom, and that those who put their trust in Him, following Mashiach Yehoshua will be secured.
The Last days started at the first coming of Maschiach Yehoshua and with his first coming tribulation (in increasing intensity till the end), only those who endures to the End will be saved.
I hope this short midrash will help the readers to get another view on the last days?

© copy right: Daniel ben Ya'acov Ysrael