a great affliction such as has not occurred

Originally posted on May 06, 2026 – by Andre Piet

The question is sometimes raised: will the great affliction of which Scripture speaks be worse than the Holocaust? After all, the Lord Jesus says in Matthew 24:

For then shall be great affliction, such as has not occurred from the beginning of the world till now—no, nor under any circumstances may be occurring.
-Matthew 24:21-

These words are taken directly from Daniel 12. There we read:

And come will an era of distress which will be such as never occurred since there came to be a nation until that era.
-Daniel 12:1-

In both Scripture portions the context is clearly connected with Daniel’s people, the land, Judea, the temple, and the flight to the mountains. Daniel 12, moreover, stands explicitly within the framework of “the era of the end” (Dan.11:40; 12:4,9). It is therefore not a general description of world history, but a unique period of affliction that will strike Israel in the land.

Usually these words are read as though they must necessarily refer to a greater number of victims than ever before. But is that really where Scripture places the emphasis?

First of all, it is striking that the Lord says in Matthew 24:

Then shall they be giving you up to affliction and killing you, and you shall be hated by all nations because of My name.
-Matthew 24:9-

The core of this affliction, then, is not merely anti-Semitism. It is about hatred because of the Name of the Messiah. It concerns a witnessing remnant in Israel that refuses to submit to the Beast and his emblem.

That closely connects with Revelation 11. There we read about the two witnesses who, like Moses and Elijah, prophesy in Jerusalem for 1260 days. Their testimony calls forth worldwide hatred. When they are killed after three and a half years, the world responds with joy:

And those dwelling on the earth are rejoicing over them and are making merry, and will be sending approach presents to one another, seeing that these, the two prophets, torment those dwelling on the earth.
-Revelation 11:10-

Never before has there been an era in which hatred against a Messianic testimony will be so universal, open, and collective as then. Revelation 12 furthermore shows that a part of the people will have taken flight in time to a hiding place in the wilderness. There we read about a woman who has a place in the wilderness prepared for her by God, where she is being maintained for 1260 days. This flight takes place after the male son whom she brought forth is about to be snatched away to God and His throne. That last point speaks of the ekklesia which, as Christ’s body, is evacuated to take up its heavenly position. After that, the period of the great affliction breaks forth for Israel, while a remnant in the wilderness is preserved beyond the reach of the enemy.

There is something else besides. Revelation 13 describes the same period in which one can no longer buy or sell without the emblem of the Beast. It is therefore not only about the threat of violence, but about complete exclusion from social and economic life. One simply can no longer function without conforming to the system of the Beast.

That too makes this affliction unique. Not necessarily because it numerically produces the most victims, but because it is a total affliction of all who hold fast to “the testimony of Jesus” (Rev.1:2,9; 12:17; 19:10; 20:4). The pressure will be religious, social, economic, and political all at once.

That does not take away from the fact that other prophecies do indeed speak of very large numbers of victims in the land. For Zechariah says:

And it will come to be, in the entire land, averring is Yahweh, Two-thirds in it shall be cut off and expire, Yet one-third shall be left in it.
-Zechariah 13:8-

Still, in that case one should probably think rather of the war situation around Jerusalem and the invasion of the nations into the land, as Zechariah 14 also describes, than specifically of the affliction because of the testimony of the Messiah. It therefore does not necessarily concern the same aspect of the end time on which Matthew 24 and Revelation 11–13 place the emphasis.

When the Lord says that there will be an affliction such as never before, that therefore does not first of all have to be understood as a comparison in numbers of victims with earlier disasters from history. Scripture places the emphasis on the unique character of this period: a worldwide hatred against the Messianic testimony, total social exclusion of those who refuse to worship the Beast, and a pressure on the believing remnant such as the world has not known before.

Delen: