“great tribulation.” Jesus would have learned a lot about the Tribulation period from the Old Testament. For example, Isaiah 13:9-13; 24:1-23; 34:1-8; 63:1-6; Jeremiah. 30:6-7; Daniel 12:1; Joel 1:15; 2:1-11; 3:14-16; Amos 5:16-20; 8:8-14; Obadiah 1:15-16; Micah 5:10-15; Zephaniah 1:7-18; Zechariah 12:1-9; 14:1-6; and Malachi 4:1-3. It is a terrible time on earth in which most people will be killed.

Those who survive the Tribulation and Armageddon are divided by Jesus into two groups: the sheep and the goats, and the sheep will be allowed into Christ’s kingdom, while the goats will be thrown into the Lake of Fire (Matt. 25:31-46).

[For more on the terrible time during the Great Tribulation, see commentary on Isa. 13:9 and Dan. 12:1. For more on the Sheep and Goat Judgment and the chronology of the events in the end times, see commentary on Matthew 25:32.]