What is tribulation most commonly associated with in the New Testament?
Tribulation in the New Testament is most commonly associated with the activity surrounding the believer, particularly persecution and suffering that believers endure. The term appears about 29 times, and with rare exception it relates to the believer's experience. It is linked to the church at Smyrna, where crushing persecution produced a stronger testimony.
Les explains that tribulation is used about 29 times in the New Testament, and he says it is almost always associated with the activity surrounding the believer, maybe with one exception. He points to Revelation chapter 2, the letter to Smyrna, where verse 9 mentions tribulation. Smyrna means myrrh, and myrrh does not give off its fragrance until it is crushed. That pictures the church at Smyrna: the more persecution crushed those believers, the more they exuded their testimony. Les notes that Satan had to give up persecuting the early church because the more he persecuted it, the more it thrived. So he took the office attack and joined them, and then Christianity began to slide.