I’m going through your Revelation study and noticed this. In explaining Rev. 7:14 you say that “the great tribulation has not begun yet” but the Biblical text claims that that IS where the martyrs arriving in Heaven are from. Can you elaborate on your thoughts here?
In identifying a large group of martyrs who’ve just arrived in Heaven an angel tells John, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation” (Rev. 7:14)
In reading the English it appears as if the Great tribulation has already begun, but this is a translation problem. The Greek word translated “out of” means out of both the time and place of the event being referenced, in this case the Great Tribulation. The same Greek word is translated from in Rev. 3:10. I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. It means the Lord will keep us out of both the time and place of the End Times judgments.
Since the Great Tribulation begins on Earth in Rev. 13, the spirits of martyrs mentioned in Rev. 7 will arrive in Heaven beforehand, having come out of both the time and place of the Great Tribulation.