Tribulation--The Time of Jacob's Trouble

We are in the last days of this year's Rosh HaShanah (Feast of Trumpets) season. One of the significant themes of Rosh HaShanah is 'the time of Jacob’s trouble (the birthpangs of the Messiah)'. Jacob refers to the natural-born of Israel.

As I have written before, it is significant that the United Nations is taking into consideration a bid of statehood for Palestinians which would, if approved, tear the city of Jerusalem in half and be in total opposition to almighty Yahweh's covenant with Israel. Could this be the precursor to 'the time of Jacob's trouble', the seven-year tribulation period? If so, where does the rapture or gathering of the saints fit in God's timetable?

In Matthew 24:8, Yahshua, our Jesus, refers to The Tribulation as 'the beginning of sorrows'. The Greek word translated as 'sorrows' here is odin, which means "birthpangs". The birthpangs of the Messiah are also spoken of in Revelation 12:1-2 and Jeremiah 30:4-7:

And these [are] the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
Alas! for that day [is] great, so that none [is] like it: it [is] even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. - Jeremiah 30:4-7 KJV 

"The interpretation here [of verse 7] is of the day of Babylon's overthrow. The application is of the yet future Great Tribulation of Matthew 24...Jacob's [trouble] Not Israel's, for it is the natural seed that is here in question, not the spiritual." [Note from page 1058 The Companion Bible, Zondervan Bible Publishers.]

To clarify, those who believe on Yahshua, Jesus Christ as the Messiah, are grafted into spiritual Israel (see Romans 11:11 and 17) so that Jew and Gentile become one new man (Ephesians 2:12-16). Those who are natural born of the tribes of Israel who do not accept Jesus as Messiah are not of spiritual Israel.

...For they [are] not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, [are they] all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these [are] not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. - Romans 9:6-8 KJV

So the tribulation will be experienced by the natural born Israelites who have not yet accepted Yahshua as their Messiah.

This period of time will be Israel's most trying time ever... There shall be great tribulation in Israel such as never was since there was a nation (Daniel 12:1). It will also be a time when G-d will ultimately judge sin and all the nations on the earth. Through it, the nation of Israel will be physically saved from total destruction by G-d, and will, as a nation, accept Yeshua as the Messiah. "...But he shall be saved out of it" (Jeremiah 30:7)...[excerpt from page 113 of The Seven Festivals of the Messiah by Edward Chumney]

Another excerpt from The Seven Festivals of the Messiah reads: The festivals will, beyond a shadow of a doubt, tell you that the resurrection of the dead precedes the time of Jacob's trouble (also known as the tribulation). First Thessalonians 4:16-17 says that the dead in Messiah will rise first, and that the catching away of the believers will immediately follow. [Ibid, page 129]

There are many interpretations of the Book of Revelation. This is where I am at in my understanding at this time. I am open to being convinced otherwise if anyone has Biblical evidence. One thing I am certain of is this, however--we are saved from the wrath to come! 

Tribulation--The Time of Jacob's Trouble updated 8/14/21