Session 14: The Great Tribulation

Satan is a powerful fallen angel who is like a vicious, rabid dog, and he is determined to destroy God’s people. But Satan is on a leash. Michael the archangel is described as a powerful angel who restrains him, limiting the extent of evil he can perpetrate against God’s people. According to the books of Daniel and Revelation, when Michael is removed from restraining Satan, he will be cast down to the earth. Knowing that his time is short, he will direct his demonic wrath against the saints. The Antichrist will be revealed, and the Great Tribulation will begin. It will be an age of demonic humanity. Much of Revelation is devoted to describing God’s anger toward this unprecedented evil against his people. Numerous plagues and other examples of God’s wrath are executed—culminating in his wrath at the battle of Armageddon. But why does God allow Satan to delude mankind and instigate the Great Tribulation? Perhaps God wants to reveal to heaven and earth the full extent of the fallen nature of mankind, and what a truly godless humanity under the direct influence of Satan is capable of without redemption.