scholar said something which supports the idea that Christ's presence starts before the great tribulation. Before I explain that I provide the following context.
On page 13 of this topic thread I said the following as part of a reply to Jeffro. "I noticed that the tribulation mentioned in Matthew chapter 24 (which is described as happening in Judea) is very different from the tribulation of Revelation and of the bowl's of wrath mentioned in Revelation. It is very difficult to correlate Revelation with Matthew chapter 24."
On page 14 of this topic thread scholar made a reply to Vanderhoven7 which besides addressing something Vanderhoven7 said, also pertains to whether the great tribulation follows or precedes the presence of Christ. There scholar said the following. "The book of Revelation with the Four Horsemen which nicley parallel those significant events discussed earlier in the Olivet Discourse ....".
How is Revelation related to the debate mentioned? [Note: the following quotes are from the 1984 NWT.] Well in Matthew 24:6-8 Jesus says what is to take place before the end. There he mentions wars in one place after another, food shortages, and earthquakes, and says such are "a beginning of pangs of distress". The parallel passage in Luke 21:11 amplifies this by also saying there will be pestilences. Furthermore, Luke 21:9 says "... these things must take place first, but the end does not [occur] immediately." Jesus indicates that such are to happen before the great tribulation, for in verse 9 of Matthew chapter 24 he says "Then people will deliver you up to tribulation". Still later, after he says the disgusting thing that causes desolation will be seen, in verse 21 he says "for then there will be great tribulation". Still later in 27 he says "so the presence of the son of man will be." The comment in verse 27 can be understood as meaning that after the great tribulation occurs, the presence of Christ will begin, but the specific wording in verse 27 can also be understood as saying that the presence of the Christ will be while the events of Matthew 24:6-26 are taking place, including visible people on Earth being falsely proclaimed as the Christ!
Now I tie in what Revelation says about the ride of the four horsemen. Revelation 6:2 mentions a rider on a white horse with a crown and conquering. Verses 3-4 mention a second rider on a horse, one who takes peace away from the earth so that people slaughter one another. Verses 5-6 mention a third rider on a horse, one who proclaims high prices for the basic food staples, thus indicating food shortages. Verses 7-8 mention a fourth rider on a horse, one who will bring death resulting from violence to people, from food shortage, and from deadly plague [it also says from wild beasts]. Revelation 6:3-8 thus well correlate with Matthew 24:7,12 and Luke 21:11! After the description of these events Revelation 7:14 speaks of those who "... come out of the great tribulation". Revelation 7:14 thus ties in with Matthew 24:21.
In the above verses we thus see a consistent sequence of events, with what is described in Revelation 6:3-8 being well correlated with Matthew 24:7,12 and Luke 21:11. But what about the first rider on a white horse, the one mentioned in Revelation 6:2, whose rider is mentioned as being noticed before the other three riders? What is the identity of this rider whose is wearing a crown that was given to him, who also went forth conquering? Well Revelation 19:11 speaks of a white horse with rider upon it who "is called Faithful and True" and who "judges and carries on war in righteousness" and verse 13 says "he is called The Word of God" (and the Gospel of John identifies the Word of God as Jesus Christ). Furthermore, Revelation 14:14 says that on "a white cloud" is 'someone seated like a son of man, with a golden crown". Well in the gospel of Matthew Jesus Christ refers to himself as the Son of man and in Matthew 24:30 Jesus says that "the Son of man" will be seen "coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." Regarding Revelation 6:2 saying the rider of the white horse "went forth conquering" Revelation 17:14 says that "the Lamb ... because he is Lord of lords and King of kings" will conqueror the ten kings. We know from other verses that according to the Bible Jesus Christ is Lord of lords and King of kings and that he will conqueror human "kings" and their governments. As result, the rider white of the horse mentioned in Revelation 6:2 must be Jesus Christ according to the Bible.
Furthermore, it appears as a result of analysis of scriptures in Matthew and Revelation that are highly correlated with each other, the Bible is saying that Christ was foretold to become crowned as king and to begin a conquest before the signs of: nations fighting nation in place after place, and food shortages and pestilences in place after place, and BEFORE THE GREAT TRIBULATION all begin, and that during this time people on Earth won't literally see Jesus Christ! It thus seems to also support the idea that Christ will be thus be present literally unseen before the great tribulation begins and before he comes noticeably/detectably to all people of the Earth. Furthermore, when did our world first experience a large number of nations fighting each other at the same time - in the same war? It was during the Great War (later called the World War 1) from 1914-1918!
It thus looks like I might have been wrong in thinking that the scriptures say Christ's presence comes after the great tribulation. It looks like scholar and the WT thus might be right that the Bible says the presence of Christ is initially invisible and begins before the great tribulation. Such an idea is a shock to me since it is the opposite of what I deduced about 22 years ago as an independent Christian (or even about 5 years earlier while I was still an active JW).
Regarding references in Matthew 24:20 pertaining to "YOUR flight" and to "on the sabbath day" in our modern day there are Christians living in Jerusalem, even likely some Jehovah's Witnesses. In fact, recently JW.org announced that the entire NWT has been translated into modern Hebrew and is now available and that there are Hebrew speaking JW. The JW website says there are 2,021 JW "Ministers who teach the Bible" in Israel. Thus from a biblical perspective, could be a future secondary fulfillment of Christians needing to flee Jerusalem and Judea before a future great tribulation starts.