sowhatnow We always have tribulation. the great tribulation was , in mu opinion, the destruction of Jerusalem in 70.
Wow, your Bible knowledge astounds me! You must have a photographic memory! At any rate...
RE: The "great tribulations": There are two "great tribulations" -- one that occurs before the 2nd coming and the other that occurs after it. Basically one occurs in relation to the Jews and was the Holocaust, where 2/3rds of the Jews were exterminated as prophesied (Zech 13:8), and that foreshadows when God will come and basically exterminate 2/3rds of the gentile world at the second "great tribulatoin" which happens at Armageddon.
So please note that the second great tribulation that leads into Armageddon happens after Christ has returned and has sealed the last saint into the kingdom. That is, when that last person is sealed, then the "four winds" are said to be released. But Matthew 24 is a reference to the firsts "great tribulation" that is connected to Daniel 12 and the Jews and that tribulation is focused on the "holy ones" meaning the Jews. That tribulation was to be an event that never occurred before nor would occur again and is a reference to the Holocaust. But note Matthew 24:29 which clearly notes this is not a reference to Armageddon: "Immediately AFTER those days...then the sign of the son of man would appear in the heavens."
See? The tribulation of Matthew occurs just before the second coming is supposed to take place. So one great tribulation takes place before Christ arrives, which was the Holocaust, and the second "great tribulation" which is associated with Armageddon happens a while after Christ has arrived and gathered all his elect. Of course, JWs never did figure out that the tribulation of Matthew happens before the second coming and the great tribulation/Armageddon in Revelation is a different tribulation, one that affects the gentiles.
70 CE was a "great tribulation" as well that foreshadowed the Holocaust. In fact, Jesus being surrounded in the garden of Gethsemane after passover creates a pattern that is also played out in 70 CE in regards to the Holocaust. That is, being surrounded in the garden by an army foreshadowed when Jerusalem would be surrounded by an army in 70 CE. But that in turn foreshadowed when anti-typical Jews in modern times would be surrounded by an army as well. That is, Warsaw, Poland, would be the capital city of the Jews in exile and it was literally sounded by the Nazi army at one point. That was the sign to flee the city, which represented Jerusalem. If you didn't, then you were sealed up in the Jewish ghettos and exterminated.
So sure, 70 CE was a great tribulation, but the specific "great tribulation" of Daniel 12 and thus Matthew 24 relates to a one-time event. An event that was to happen during the end times. An event that never happened before nor would happen again. An event that would see 2/3rds of the Jews exterminated within a 7-year period (1940-1947) and the Jews restored to their homeland after those 7 years (1947). That "great tribulation" was specifically aimed at the "holy ones" who would have been completely exterminated unless the "days were cut short." In other words, 2/3rds of the Jews (six million out of nine million) were to be exterminated during the 7-year tribulation period of 1940-1947, but by late 1944 Hitler had killed off six million Jews. Had he continued he would have killed off more Jews! So the "days were cut short" for the sake of the holy ones, that is, the 1/3 that were to survive. Even so, they did not come out of official exile until the end of the 7-year period on November 30, 1947.
Bible prophecy is loosely interpreted by many when they have a loose reading. But the close reading narrows down the fulfillments.
At any rate, whatever. Separating Armageddon from the Holocaust is probably the most significant issue here. Not hard to see one tribulation is before Christ returns and the second one is after he has returned and gathered his anointed ones, just before Armageddon. Jesus being surrounded in the garden links to Jerusalem being surrounded by the Roman army, which foreshadows the Nazis surrounding Warsaw, Poland just prior to the Holocaust. The great tribulation of Matthew, though, is a one-time event that occurs during the end times, so it wasn't 70 CE, but it is also not Armageddon.
