The true nature of the final Tribulation period is the release of the spirit of Antichrist and the increase in lawlessness. In a spiritual sense it is the unbinding of Satan “for a short time” before he and his angels and all of Gods enemies are everlastingly destroyed in the Lake of Fire.  It is a real spiritual battle, not primarily against “flesh and blood,” but against the Satanic forces of evil in the world.  “But He who is within me (Jesus) is GREATER than he who is in the world.”