Where does Paul introduce the seven-year tribulation in his writings?
Paul introduces the seven-year tribulation in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. There he comes closer to prophecy than in any other portion of his writings, introducing the seven-year period Jesus called the time of tribulation in Matthew 24. He writes to reassure believers they had not missed the rapture.
Les explains that in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, Paul is coming as close to prophecy as he does in any portion of his writings, and he is introducing the seven-year period of time that Jesus in Matthew 24 called the time of tribulation. The Thessalonian believers had been under persecution and pressure, and they were afraid the rapture had taken place and they had missed it. Paul therefore wrote 2 Thessalonians to reassure them that they had not missed the rapture. He points to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto Him, which Les says is set apart from the second coming, because at the rapture Christ gathers His own to Himself. Paul was setting their minds at ease and giving them points to look for so they would know they had not missed it.
More Questions
Did Paul teach about the tribulation and the Antichrist?
Paul was not primarily a teacher of prophecy but of grace and the mysteries, yet in 2 Thessalonians 2 he connects the end of the church age with the tribulation age by describing the Antichrist's coming.