Last week, we saw from the Scriptures that from its opening statement and chapter (Revelation 1:1, 1:4, 1:11) to its concluding chapter (Revelation 22:16), the book of Revelation consistently asserts that it is written to the church, especially God’s faithful servants, leaving no room for speculation on this point.
Furthermore, when the book of Revelation describes the great tribulation and the mark of the beast, it continues to maintain that these warnings are written directly for God’s faithful ones in the church to endure. They are not written for unbelievers, half-hearted Christians, or a separate category called “tribulation saints”, a category the book of Revelation never mentions or introduces. Revelation 13:8–10 says: All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast — all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. Whoever has ears, let them hear. If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.” The phrase “tribulation saints” never appears in the book of Revelation. No such group is described or defined anywhere in Revelation or in the entire Bible. It is a theological construct that attempts to explain away the obvious: that God’s faithful church is present in the heat of the great tribulation, and is called to patiently endure. The book of Revelation not only rejects this idea of “tribulation saints”, but reaffirms the presence of the church, specifically God’s faithful ones, within the great tribulation, when a solemn warning is given about taking the mark of the beast.
In Revelation 14:9–12, an angel warns that those who take the mark of the beast will suffer eternal damnation in the lake of fire. This warning is addressed specifically to God’s faithful servants who believe in Jesus. They are called not to take the mark but to patiently endure and remain faithful, even in the face of death. This is what Revelation 14:9–13 says: “A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: ‘If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.’ This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'” Now, pay careful attention to this: If all of God’s true servants, to whom the book of Revelation was written, will be raptured before the great tribulation, why would God warn them in advance not to take the mark of the beast during the great tribulation? Such a warning would be utterly senseless and unnecessary. But God never speaks senselessly or needlessly. The very fact that God is warning His faithful ones in the church, right now, in advance—not to take the mark of the beast proves categorically that the church will be present on earth during the great tribulation. This is precisely why God issues this warning, so that we will know how to conduct ourselves when the great tribulation arrives, and so that we will remain faithful to the end. It is a call to prepare and to patiently endure what is coming, not to expect escape from what we have been forewarned to prepare for.
To summarize: from its very opening statement, and repeatedly throughout its first chapter, the book of Revelation declares that its audience is the church, specifically God’s faithful ones within the church. At the very end of the book, before any of its prophecies unfold, Jesus Himself declares that He gave these prophecies for His church (Revelation 22). And within the book, when the details of the great tribulation are laid out and a solemn warning is given about the mark of the beast, God warns His faithful servants in advance to refuse the mark and to patiently endure, even unto death (Revelation 13–14). Why would God do this repeatedly if His faithful ones would not be present when the mark of the beast appears?
It is critically important that we understand this truth. As Scripture says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). We must not perish needlessly through the great tribulation by being caught unprepared.
Kwadwo Omari, PhD
March 19, 2026.