24:29 the tribulation. The great tribulation begins with the very temporary exaltation of the man of sin as the world’s humanistic god (Matthew 24:15; II Thessalonians 2:4). It ends with the permanent coming of the Son of man in such great glory that nothing else can be seen in the heavens; all else will be supernaturally darkened (as at the cross when He died) and only His magnificent glory can be seen over all the earth.